Chase sobered up long enough to say, “Not here, you’re not.”
David wavered as he got to his feet and took his first stumbling step forward.
“Hey, you gonna be okay, little wolf?” Chase asked.
David nodded.
“Next time take it slow, yeah?”
David nodded again. His face turned green, and he hurried off into the woods.
Legs planted wide, Jordan put her hands on her hips and smirked at her friends. “Such wonderful role models. You two better have left me some.”
“And then some,” Hudson slurred. He looked at Chase and the two burst into laughter.
Jordan nudged them apart and took a seat on the log between them.
“Here, have mine,” Chase said, placing his cup in Jordan’s hands. Their fingers brushed as she took hold of the cup.
“Maybe I should take his.” Jordan nodded at Hudson, who blinked at her several times.
“Nothing we can do for him now,” Chase said with a chuckle. “Huds is a goner.”
“How much have the two of you had?”
Chase smirked before whispering beside her ear, “Look behind you.”
It took a moment for Chase’s words to register. Having his lips so close to her skin caused an eruption of tingles to rain straight down to her toes. Once she had her breathing under control, Jordan peered over her shoulder and looked down.
A pot of brew had been stashed behind the log.
“What did you two do?” She swatted Chase’s arm playfully.
“Filled it up before anyone ever noticed,” he boasted.
She shook her head, smiling, then lifted the cup and gulped down the brew. The stuff tasted foul, but it made her feel good in no time.
“Easy there, shifter,” Chase said.
“Gotta catch up,” Jordan said, twisting around to refill the cup from the pot.
“That’s right,” Hudson said with a hiccup.
“A toast to Tabor, Sasha, and the moon,” Jordan said, lifting her cup.
Hudson took up her salute with his own cup. “To Tabor, Sasha, and the moon in all her glory.”
He and Jordan guzzled down the brew.
“Allow me,” Hudson said, reaching behind for the pan.
“Not out in the open,” Chase warned.
Hudson nodded and tittered. He swiveled around and managed to refill their cups without spilling a drop of Jager’s infamous brew.
“To the stars,” Hudson said, lifting his cup.
Jordan smirked and held her cup in her lap. Maybe she should go easy on the moonshine. The alcohol already hummed pleasantly in her veins, and she wasn’t about to go all goofy like Hudson.
Chase nudged her. “How was dinner?” His dimples looked like moon craters in the darkness. The shifter was all kinds of cuteness, more handsome than Hudson. While she adored them both equally, Hudson had been the first to make a move. And, while she couldn’t see claiming either male, she wasn’t opposed to a little action on the side. Being with Hudson hadn’t done anything to weaken their friendship. If anything, it made them closer.
“No bloodshed,” she answered with a laugh.
Chase laughed. “Any biting?”
“No, we kept our teeth to ourselves… this time.” Jordan chomped down and grinned.
“Shush, you two,” Hudson said. “My favorite part is coming up.” He attempted to place two fingers over his lips, but they slid across his cheek.
Tearing her eyes away from Chase, Jordan glanced at the bonfire. The enactment of the claiming ritual had begun. The females pretended to bite the males on the neck. Knowing Camilla, she’d probably try to bite Raider for real. After the males mimed biting back, the females bent over for their dance partners, who grabbed them by the hips and thrust against their backsides.
Jordan lifted her cup and chugged down the brew. Why did Hudson have to remind her about the stupid dance? “I wonder how many actually kept their loincloths on,” Jordan muttered. She stared into her cup, wondering if the blur was a result of too much brew or a trick of the firelight.
“We haven’t scared Elsie off yet,” Hudson said, nodding in the female’s direction, “but Tabor doesn’t look too happy.”
Tabor had gotten up and now stood in front of Elsie as though to shield her from the erotic spectacle, which only made the shifter crane her head around his legs to get a better look.
Jordan gave a snort. “Tabor’s going to have to get over it if he wants little sis to become more like us. If Camilla gets her way, Elsie’s in for a real shock.”
Usually, Chase expressed similar disdain for the dance, but tonight he made no comment. Curious, Jordan looked at him, only to find he was staring at her.
His dimples deepened as he smiled at her. “Want to get out of here?”
Jordan’s body shivered pleasantly. “Yeah,” she said. All her usual witty retorts took too much breath. She was currently in short supply of that.
Chase’s eyes slipped over Jordan’s lap and found his friend. “Huds, you mind?”
The dazed grin remained on Hudson’s lips. “Nah. You two go on with your moon gazing. I’ll just sit here and keep an eye on things.”
“Okay, cool,” Chase said, standing. His brows lifted when he looked at Jordan.
Heat pooled between her legs. She stood carefully, not sure what kind of state the brew had left her in. Where her skin had itched with irritation on her way in, coolness now slithered over her body, leaving goose bumps in its wake.
Chase inclined his head to one side before heading away from the madness.
Jordan followed him into the forest, feeling buzzed but not drunk enough to suppress her sister’s and Taryn’s earlier words. They swirled around her with every step.
“You’re in the game whether you wish it or not.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Shut up! she screamed at Emerson and Taryn in her mind.
She whirled around and pushed Chase against the nearest tree, fisting his shirt and yanking it over his chuckling lips until it cleared his head and she could toss it aside.
“Whoa, Jordan. You’re a beast,” Chase said, sounding both drunk and delighted.
He stepped forward, reaching for her tank top only to be pushed back. Jordan held him against the tree one-handed, using her free hand to pull her top over her head and fling it aside. While Chase stared at her breasts, she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, and allowed him to do the same to hers. Once naked, they switched places, Jordan giving Chase her back as she gripped the trunk of the tree to keep herself upright and far enough away from the rough bark to avoid chafing her skin.
She was still digging her fingers into the bark when Chase entered her. The moonshine numbed her, and it was the thought, more than the feel, of him back there pumping between her legs that excited her.
Their heavy breaths were covered by the beating drums and howls by some of the more vocal performers in the glade. They hadn’t gone far into the forest, so anyone could come upon them, but Chase was quick, his grip tightening on her hips as he thrust into her one last time with a spasm and a guttural moan. His seed spilled down her inner thigh, mingling with her own wet heat as he pulled out.
That was it? She felt like she’d been handed a grilled deer flank only to have it snatched away the moment her mouth began to close over the juicy morsel.
Jordan straightened and faced Chase’s diffident smile.
“Sorry,” he said, eyes shining in the dark. “Got caught up in the moment and couldn’t hold myself back. Next time, I’ll pace myself.” His grin widened.
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Uh, huh. Next you’ll be blaming the moonshine.”
“Speaking of which, should we get back to the party?” Chase grabbed his jeans from the ground and stepped into them one leg at a ti
me.
“You go,” Jordan said. “I want to rinse off.”
Without waiting for Chase to respond, she charged through the brush naked and headed to the nearby Sakhir River. The long, fan-like leaves of a fern tickled her legs as she took a stumbling step over a network of thick tree roots shadowed by night. The vegetation spun, and the stars blurred overhead. As she picked her way through the brush, the memory of Chase inside her sent a fresh wave of heat throbbing between her thighs. Perhaps next time should be now, but no, he was already back at the glade, likely drinking himself impotent while her body flamed and moaned for completion.
The river could help her on one count—extinguishing the inferno blazing up her legs and lapping at her sex.
Male shifters could be such dogs, satiating their own needs then leaving the female panting in heat. It was a good thing Chase was so cute.
The rush of water beckoned Jordan the remaining steps to the Sakhir. She reached a plateau overlooking the river from roughly five feet high and swayed slightly, as though her legs were saplings dancing in a soft wind. The slight bluff led down to a sandy bar and a gentle current. Before heading down, Jordan followed the mesmerizing flow of the water, her eyes going out of focus as her body relaxed.
She never heard the other shifter approach from behind. It wasn’t until she was slammed in the back that she realized she wasn’t alone, but by then, it was too late. Stumbling forward, the ground gave way to the rushing river and rocks below. The fall was short and broken by the slap of icy mountain water and pain that lit up Jordan’s knees and palms as she scraped rocks and hit the bottom.
She pushed away and broke the surface, sputtering and blinking water from her eyes. The swift current swept her away from the shallows she’d been headed toward before being shoved in. Shocked out of her drunken lethargy, Jordan swam for the nearby shore, her feet touching rocky ground as she crawled to the edge of a sandbar, coughing up water.
She grabbed a jagged rock and squeezed it in her fist as she searched her immediate area before squinting at the plateau where she’d been assaulted, glaring into the darkness. But all was quiet, and no figure waited in the shadows.
“Coward!” Jordan screamed, throat burning and nose stinging from the water she’d inhaled.
She slammed the rock against a bed of stone and stormed into the forest, dripping water with every step. Her hair stuck to her back in a wet clump that dribbled down her legs, while her teeth chattered even as she seethed. Jordan got to the ground, shifted into the warm comfort of her fur, then ran to the bluff to sniff around, but the area was constantly in use by shifters. No single scent stood out, and whoever pushed her must have taken off immediately—as though they’d hoped she might not surface at all.
chapter four
Thunk!
Hudson groaned early the following morning as Jordan’s ax bit into the wood beside him. Ignoring him, she lifted the blade over her shoulder and swung again.
Thunk.
Another moan.
Thunk.
A louder and longer moan.
Exasperated, Jordan lowered the ax and sighed. “At this rate, we’ll never finish in time for supper.”
Hudson took a seat on the fallen log and cradled his head. They had walked to their patrol area fully clothed, axes and saw in hand. There was no need for shifting when their day involved grueling manual labor.
“Remind me never to drink that much moonshine ever again,” Hudson said, head bent.
“How many times have I heard that one?” Irritation rushed through Jordan, who was as unyielding as the Sakhir River. She hadn’t said a word about the river incident to anyone. She couldn’t very well tell Hudson that she suspected his sister, and if she mentioned it to Chase, he would only tell Hudson and likely confront Taryn. Jordan wanted the she-bitch to herself.
After returning to the celebration on four legs, Jordan had searched for Taryn with no luck. The shifter had left, which made her appear even more guilty.
“I mean it this time,” Hudson said, still focused on his hangover.
Jordan forced a smile. “Come on, you should have built up immunity by now.”
Hudson looked up and grimaced. “You saw the pot, didn’t you? Apparently, even ol’ Huds has his limitations.”
Jordan placed her free hand on her hip. “In the meantime, ol’ Huds needs to start chopping.”
With a groan, Hudson stood up and grabbed the ax he’d tossed on the ground after half-a-dozen swings. He shook his head and muttered as he made a face at the fallen tree. “Splitting logs with a splitting headache—the torture.”
“Let’s just get this over with,” Jordan said.
It was easier said than done. For the remainder of the day, the only sound in her ears was that of their axes whacking through dense tree bark. At least Hudson finally resigned himself to the task at hand, attacking the log as though it were responsible for his pounding head.
Once they finished, they headed to the river to rinse off.
The scene of the crime, Jordan thought wryly as they approached the lulling river.
She recalled the term from a Sherlock Holmes novel her mother had once told them about. Coreen had liked to go into vivid detail about all the characters and circumstances. Perhaps that’s why Jordan never felt the need to read, when her mother could engage them in her own lively retelling. Coreen had wanted them all to guess “Who done it?” as she fed them bits and pieces of information.
Jordan had little interest or understanding of human motivations. Shifters, on the other hand, weren’t difficult to figure out. Taryn was jealous of Jordan’s relationship with Hudson and Chase and wanted her out of the picture.
A small, spiteful part of Jordan considered ripping off Hudson’s clothes and pulling him down for a hump beside the very waters his bitch of a sister had tried to drown her in, but her muscles ached, and Hudson deserved better than a revenge fuck.
He couldn’t help who his sister was any more than Jordan could change the fact that her father was a lecher; Francine was a moon-cursed banshee; Camilla was a tramp, even by shifter standards; and Sydney had never seemed quite right in the head.
At least she had Emerson.
After rinsing off, Jordan and Hudson returned their axes and the handsaw to the tiny, one-room cabin nestled in the woods just outside the communal clearing. They’d left the door propped open with a large rock. The cabin had two open windows on either side of the door. No glass covered them, but the thick moss-colored curtains were almost always swept aside to allow light and air into the room. If the curtains were drawn and the door closed, that signaled to other shifters to keep out. It usually meant two shifters were bumping bones on the bed inside.
The cabin also served as the single shifters’ storage of hand tools, ceremonial masks, books, and other odds and ends. Jordan walked in first, quickly scanning the cracked spines of the books jammed on a bottom shelf—all of which her mother had once read, some of them dozens of times, if they were her favorites. Those were the easiest to pick out by their warped or missing covers. Jordan had tried to read one once, but the moment she looked at the words, she heard her mother’s voice, and tears blurred her vision.
The old floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she hooked the ax’s blade between two nails on the opposite wall. She moved aside, giving Hudson room to hang the second ax and handsaw. Above the tools, two rows of fur-trimmed wolf masks seemed to stare at her through their empty eyeholes. They gave Jordan the willies.
The walls of the room felt tight around Jordan, and her breath caught in her chest. She turned and rushed outside into the open and felt as though she could breathe again. Hudson stepped outside as the gong rang for dinner.
Taryn, who usually glared over at Jordan at least half a dozen times during supper, kept her attention fastened on her friends, Gina and Janelle. The three females sat huddled tog
ether on a log, arms pressed against one another in unity.
Way too obvious, Jordan thought disdainfully. Taryn would have made a terrible character in a mystery novel—unless her sole purpose was to be killed off.
“Jordan, why are you smiling?” Chase interrupted Hudson’s latest declaration never to drink again.
Jordan blinked several times. “Am I?”
Chase tilted his head. “Yeah, your teeth are practically gleaming.”
She closed her mouth and shrugged. “Just thinking of a rodent that needs chasing down.”
“I prefer venison.” Hudson chuckled.
Chase rolled his eyes. “I thought you preferred moonshine.”
Hudson smacked him. “Shut up.”
“Excuse me, boys.” Jordan stood and stretched lazily to avoid spooking Taryn, who had gotten up with her friends.
The trio of friends placed their dirty bowls in a basket then headed down the river path. Jordan crossed the glade with swift strides and followed from a distance, missing their conversation from so far back. She doubted Taryn would ever admit her crime—even to her closest friends. No matter what the circumstances, harming another pack member was considered reprehensible, an act that could end in banishment.
Jordan caught up to the group after they reached the Sakhir. She crouched in a patch of prickly shrubs and watched the females step into the river past their ankles and bend down to wash their hands.
If only Taryn were alone, Jordan could push her in and return last night’s favor. “Eye for an eye” was another saying she’d learned from her mother. It sounded reasonable. But unlike Taryn, Jordan wouldn’t run and hide afterwards. No, she’d haul the shifter right back out and have words with her face-to-face.
A snarl rose to her lips, but the river’s flow covered it from Taryn’s ears.
Never one for patience, Jordan straightened and strode into view.
“Here I am.” She spread her arms wide. “I dare you to try drowning me again after last night’s failed attempt.”
Gina and Janelle snapped their heads in Taryn’s direction, their mouths widening in inquiry.
Mating Games Page 4