by Dianna Hardy
“Lydia?”
One, two, three, four … shit! “There's one missing.”
“What?”
“There's a Trident missing! I counted eight when we were attacked. Three have left and four are dead – there's one missing.”
Lawrence's face grew pinched with anger. “Did anyone see it escape?”
Among shaking heads and blank stares, he bellowed a curse into the air. “Humans. Why else would it run away from its pack during a much loved slaughter on a full moon – it caught the scent of humans!”
The penny dropped for Lydia, a second after it dropped for Pete.
Before she could blink – before she could even twitch a muscle – a giant, black and white bundle streaked past her so fast, she felt the breeze of his fury as surely as that Trident would meet it head on.
She looked at Taylor and her heart dropped.
“Lydia, what is it?”
She reached up and kissed his mouth, relishing in the softness of it, blinking back new tears at how close she'd come to losing him. At knowing she might lose him all over again.
“It's Sarah. Sarah's here.”
~*~
Her first thought should have been that a great, big, ugly monster had just broken down the door. Turned out, that her first thought was, in fact, that it was now dark outside and the full moon was both beautiful and visible. The storm had mostly cleared up.
This irrational line of thinking was a sure indication that she had just lost her mind, but she wasn't the only one. Holly stood to the right of the room screaming her lungs out. Beth stood to the left of the room, stock still and gaping. And she, herself… Well, she was staring death in the face because that monster was staring right back at her, and it looked hungry.
It charged at her.
And then, it came to an abrupt stop and … sniffed her.
Holly was still screaming.
The monster seemed confused.
Sarah was also confused, and oddly calm. And it was odd, because deep down, she knew she was afraid – could feel the fear, tight and coiled inside her, ready to spring up at any given time – but something else, and she had no idea what, suffice to say that it felt like instinct, told her the monster wouldn't hurt her.
To her left, Beth suddenly seemed to come to her senses and remembered the gun in her hand. She raised it, but her hands were shaking and she was too slow. The … thing … caught onto her movements in a flash and by god, did it move fast for its hulk.
It backhanded Beth across the face and she flew across the room and crashed into the mantelpiece, dropping the gun in the process.
“No!” Sarah lunged at the thing, unicorn in hand, unwittingly repeating the exact same actions she had just a few nights ago. But whereas the dog she'd attacked at the theatre had collapsed when stabbed by the unicorn's horn, this thing didn't even seem to feel it.
It swivelled around, bared its teeth at her, and for a second, she thought her instincts were all off and it was, in fact, going to pounce on her and eat her alive. It certainly looked like it wanted to, but another flare of its nostrils stopped it. Apparently, she didn't smell like dinner.
Unfortunately, Beth did. She groaned, trying to move. There was blood on her forehead from what looked like a cut; how deep, she couldn't tell.
The monster landed on her with thought-out precision, demonstrating the ability for intelligence: its front legs pinned her arms, its lower half crouched on her legs, holding them down, and protruding from under its belly was…
Holy Mary, mother of God – guess it's male.
Beth saw what she saw and now she screamed, taking over Holly's screech, which had died out due to either lack of oxygen or loss of voice.
Sarah's brain stopped malfunctioning and kicked into gear: the gun!
She dropped onto all fours to where she thought she'd seen it fly out of Beth's hand, and caught sight of its handle, sticking out from under the sofa. She launched herself at it, grabbed it on the first go, rolled onto her back, took aim and—
The panda from hell came flying through the door.
Sarah blinked.
No, not a panda – a dog. A huge one – bigger than the one at the theatre – and it went straight for the beast.
The monster spotted it too late.
The dog sank its teeth into its neck.
It howled – a bloody awful, heinous noise – and then punched its paw into the dog's underbelly; claws extended.
The animal yelped, lost its grip and was flung to the ground.
Beth had always been an animal lover and dogs were her favourite. As she had pointedly reminded Sarah earlier that evening, it didn't matter if it was a little terrier, or a great big Alsation, or a scary-as-shit Rottweiler – if it had fur, a tail and a lolling tongue, she somehow lost her brash exterior and became the softest touch you'd ever meet. So, it didn't surprise Sarah – because the whole day had been fucking weird anyway – that the dog's cry of pain reached a part of her best friend that almost nothing else ever did.
Her face went red with fury in an instant, and she hauled herself to a crouch, wincing slightly, and then sprinted towards the gun that Sarah still held in her outstretched hands.
She didn't bother taking the gun off her, but moulded her hands over her own, marking her target as she did so.
The monster charged at the dog and leapt.
Beth rammed her finger into the trigger guard, right above Sarah's, and squeezed.
The dart made no noise on firing. That didn't mean its impact was unnoticeable – anything but. It caught the brute of a thing in its side, and Beth's face fell because the dart seemed to do sod all as the monster landed hunched over the dog.
But then, it wobbled.
And then it whined.
Then it looked like it was shivering, but on closer inspection, its skin was actually undulating under its fur.
It whined again, turned to look at Beth and Sarah, its forlorn gaze almost pitiable, and then it exploded.
Blood and guts went flying, although, thankfully, not too far. The dog got the brunt of it.
Beth raced to the canine's side, seemingly not in need of taking a fucking second like the rest of them to understand what the hell just happened.
Sarah slowly lowered the gun and turned to find Holly.
She had collapsed into the corner of the room, by the bookshelf, and looked to be on the verge of catatonia.
Like you were last year.
What? Where had that thought come from?
The dog's belly had suffered, but looked to be healing. Beth took its head and placed it on her lap, and Sarah frowned.
Because one half of the dog's face sprouted no fur, as if it had been damaged, or mauled … just like…
She suddenly felt exhausted and kinda queasy. Not just exhausted, but completely fatigued, as if the life had been sucked out of her. Nausea rose from her stomach, and the image of whatever that thing was, sniffing at her, appeared sharply in her mind.
Her hand went straight to her abdomen, a dizzy spell sweeping over her and causing her to drop the gun and reach for … anything to hold her upright.
“Sarah?”
Beth's voice came from really far away.
And then, there were suddenly many voices. Lots of pairs of eyes stared at her from the open doorway. She recognised the green pair from the photo album. So he does exist… She should probably be wondering why he was naked, but there was no room left in her mind for more questions.
She also recognised the red-haired woman: she'd been at the theatre.
A devilishly handsome, yet equally hard-looking blond man stepped into the house in front of them all, and she was praising herself for holding it together. The waves of dizziness kept coming, but she was still upright.
She should have known it wouldn't last much longer.
The red-haired woman from the theatre suddenly let out a little gasp – it sounded like it could have been from pleasure – and clutched her navel. A look
of wonder crossed her face.
The green-eyed man – Taylor – rested his hand on her back, concern and expectation playing across his smooth features, and…
The woman turned into a dog.
Wolf, whispered her mind.
She looked back at Beth who, despite looking bewildered at witnessing the exact same thing, was still stroking … Pete.
That's Pete.
Everything suddenly made sense, even though the sense, itself, was made up of an outrageous conclusion: they're wolves.
The world swayed, and tipped, and then grew dark.
Chapter Seventeen
There was a tug on the nipple of her left breast. It was warm and wet, and delightfully teasing.
Consciousness prodded her, and although she didn't really want to come out of her blissful rest, the glorious smell of Taylor, and of her and Taylor bonded, invaded her senses and had her reaching for him. Her fingers found his hair; curled into it; and she smiled. Relief washed over her once more… Mine…
Lydia let out a little moan as her right nipple was clamped between another set of teeth, the feel of rough stubble and enthusiastic movements so familiar to her … Ryan.
“Welcome back,” came his deep rumble – more of a mumble with her boob in his mouth.
She grinned. “Well, this is a bloody nice way to wake up.” She was in her bed and the sun had risen, spreading warmth around the room.
Then, the memory of her first change hit her. It had happened so suddenly, hadn't it? She bolted upright in bed, enticing noises of complaint from both her mates. “Oi, I wasn't finished.”
She glanced down at her hands and feet; her knees, her stomach … all smudged with dirt and mud. Their naked forms were the same. “It happened. It really happened – I shifted.”
Taylor smiled and caught her lips with his own. “You were beautiful to watch. You were magnificent.”
“I don't really remember anything after I changed.”
“You will,” Ryan had replaced her nipple with her earlobe – he was now tugging at that. “It'll come back to you and every shift will be easier from now on.”
“It's like you become one with the woods here, and everything around you when you shift.” Taylor ran his hand up her inner leg, which automatically fell open for him, and then he grazed his fingers along her entrance, upwards, until he was lazily circling her clit.
She sighed in pleasure.
He continued. “That's exactly what happened to you. You became your wolf, and then you ran, unable to keep the ecstasy of your first change from dominating you.” He slid his fingers into her.
She rocked once against him, threw her head back and moaned.
Ryan went for her neck, placed a hand under her breasts and pushed her back down. “We ran with you.”
“You did?” she asked, although her ability to think was fast becoming thwarted.
“Couldn't let you go on your own – not your first time.”
She frowned, despite her increasing pleasure. “Wait … I just took off? After the mess last night and everything that happened?” How fucking selfish.
“No … don't feel bad. That's the call of the wild – you can't ignore it. The first time you meet your wolf, on your first full moon together - it's magic, and whatever happens, happens. It's impossible to control.”
Yes, Lawrence had said something similar.
Lawrence…
“He's dying to see you.”
For god's sake, was she speaking telepathically without even realising it?
“He took care of everything last night.”
Taylor increased his pace as Ryan spoke, reaching that spot deep inside her he was so good at finding.
“He got Hendrickson and Amelia to look after Pete. Beth, Sarah's friend, wouldn't leave his side, which Lawrence wasn't happy about, but that shrew of a woman gave him an earful about animal rights or something – I wasn't clear on exactly what took place there. Anyway, turns out she hit it off with Hendrickson and Amelia. They told her everything about us. After seeing you change and killing the Trident, well … we couldn't exactly tell her nothing. Apparently, she was intrigued; not overly fearful – it's not the way most people react.”
“Oh, god, Taylor!” She was listening – she was – but why did they have to do this to her, now, while recounting last night's events?
“Sorry, sweetheart, it's hard for us to keep our hands off you since you shifted – the sense of completion; the way you smell – it's all too much.”
She supposed she should find it odd – sex and formal conversation at the same time – but maybe she'd gotten used to werewolf life. The need to mate and, ultimately, breed was always at the forefront – survival was at the forefront. Whereas the human in her might wonder why sex had to come into everything, the wolf in her understood that you could learn through sex, the same way you could pick up on events through scenting another wolf's saliva. In a strange sort of way, their physical connection cemented their recounting of last night and this morning. She hadn't been present for it all, but she now felt like she had been, and she all at once understood the importance of such a nexus for a pack. Those condoms she'd bought suddenly seemed like a ridiculous purchase.
And yeah – she could feel that completion Ryan mentioned. Before, she had felt bonded to each of her mates. Now, she felt bonded to all four of them at the same time. As if they were all one entity, feeding off each other, unable to work on their own any longer. It should have scared her – would have scared her just a few days ago – but instead of feeling suffocated by it, the ruling sense was one of freedom. And strength. There was nothing they couldn't do together.
She wished Lawrence was here.
“You'll see him soon,” Taylor affirmed, and then he lowered his head and put that super-talented tongue of his on her soon-to-burst clitoris.
Her moans turned into whimpers of need.
Ryan's voice was noticeably tighter with lust. “Lawrence has spoken to Sarah and explained everything – she's still here I think. She and her friends are heading back in a couple of hours.
“Richard's a mess, but we're gonna look after him, and we'll see if we can find a way to get Selena back. My old pack are working on it.”
A great sadness passed over her at remembering what had happened to Selena and her father's reaction, not that she had much time to wallow in it with Taylor licking and sucking at the very core of her desire.
She was curious about Ryan's old pack – they'd been the ones dressed in white, hadn't they? But she pushed that question aside for now.
“Lawrence held the meeting at dawn. Everyone was there except yourself and Pete.”
“Oh, no … I wanted to be there.”
“Time's not our greatest ally of late, but there'll be other meetings – you were missed. Lawrence would've liked you to be there, but wouldn't risk the fulfilment of your change, or the rest you needed after it. It's important to him that you're happy as a wolf, Lydia.
“The meeting went better than any of us had hoped. The Wiltshire pack were also present – they'll be here to stay for a bit, and I think the greater numbers calmed everyone down a notch. Lawrence called for total unity in creating a force against the Tridents. The pack knows about Lawrence now; about what happened to him. He told them he was done hiding; apologised for his absence—”
“Ooooh…”
“Are you close, sweetheart?”
“Are you kidding me?”
Ryan crouched over her and held her arms down using his shins, then he reached forward and set to work on her breasts; stroking, teasing…
Taylor brought her legs up and delved in deeper.
Ryan muttered something unintelligible before continuing… “They were all shocked at first, although Hendrickson suspected, I think. Richard cheered the return of the king, with both jubilation and the promise of war on the Trident. Even in his aggrieved state, he publicly welcomed Lawrence back, and offered him his allegiance.”
�
�That's good, I'm … aaahh … glad – oh, shit, I'm coming!”
Ryan let out a growl and tightened his old of her.
Another growl sounded from Taylor, reverberating between her legs as her body bucked against him, and the three of them rode out her climax to its blissful end.
Dazed, sated and completely fulfilled, she looked up at Ryan.
He was staring at Taylor, who had risen from his position. Some look passed between them which she wasn't entirely sure of – which they didn't seem entirely sure of either, suffice to say that desire permeated everything around them.
A slight vulnerability flitted across Taylor's eyes, his breathing sped up a notch, and then he said, “Do you want to taste her?”
There was a deafening pause, and then the bed wobbled as Ryan dove for Taylor. Their lips smacked together the same time their chests did, and if Lydia had had an ounce of need left in her, she would have come all over again at the indescribably hot sight of her two males colliding.
Her mouth dropped open, as her very naughty fantasy played out in front of her. This sure as hell didn't seem like scenting, despite Taylor's mention of Ryan 'tasting' her. This was like they'd been swept away in a tidal wave and had decided to stop swimming against the surge.
Lydia rose to her knees, the need to see their pleasure manifest, too great to ignore. Reaching between them, she took each of them into her hands, revelling in their groans at her touch.
I love you… It no longer felt strange to think it; to feel it; to have that four letter word so entwined in her system she couldn't separate her love for them with anything she felt for herself. And nor should she. They were hers, and she was theirs, and more than that…
They were family.
~*~
Sarah blinked back tears of hurt and anger as Amelia drove her, Holly and Beth to the car they had left parked up outside the locked gates last night.
“You did … what?”
“You had seen things you weren't supposed to see, but more than that … there was no saving Taylor. That was something you couldn't handle – it broke you. It sent you into a shocked stupor and there were no signs you were going to come out of it.