Phoenixflare: #6 in The Rogue Witch: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Strange, KT

  “Yeah…” I whispered. Doubt filled my mind. What had become of those other wolf packs that Calen had claimed had joined with Dragonpack?

  “I must see to this,” Wolfe said. “I have sent hundred of wolves to them. Hundreds.”

  “Oh god.” I pressed my hand to mouth. “Do you think they’re dead?”

  Wolfe closed his eyes.

  “I cannot say, only that I would pray not if I were a religious man.”

  In a lighter time I might’ve made a joke about him catching fire if he ever prayed, but the thought of Dragonpack murdering helpless werewolves that came to them for aid made me feel too sick.

  “We’ll go to our pack,” Eli said. “I have to clear my mind… but then…” He sighed. “If you need help, with…”

  “No. This is my problem,” Wolfe said. “I cannot think that I have sent so many wolves to their death. That I have been betrayed by Cassandra—”

  “She’s crazy,” I said. “So I’m going to have to say you might wanna prepare for the worst.”

  Wolfe flashed me a glare and guilt bit at me.

  “Sorry,” I said. Wolfe sighed.

  “I am only one being, and there is so much need. I did not pay careful enough attention.”

  “Hey.” I walked straight to him and wrapped my arms around him tight, holding him close.

  “I nearly sent Frank to them,” Wolfe said, his chin resting on top of my head. I felt the tremor in his muscles as he hugged me back.

  “We will help you avenge them, or whatever, find them, maybe they’re there, hiding? They can’t all have been killed,” I said quietly.

  “I just must find out if it happened, and if so, why. That is the mystery.”

  “Wolves don’t make a rule of murdering each other, no,” Eli drawled, the pain evident in his own voice despite the casual words.

  “Are you going to be okay?” I asked as I pulled away. Wolfe gave me a dark smile.

  “That is one absolute. I am always okay.”

  I didn’t believe that for a second, but the stairs creaked. Levi and Landon had returned. I didn’t want to face them just then. I looked at Eli and he nodded.

  “Let’s go. Wolfe? We’ll call.”

  “Mmm. Oh, take my car. That van needs to be dealt with.” Wolfe held out a set of keys. Landon stepped into the living room, Levi bypassing it to disappear down the hall.

  “Good seeing you,” Landon nodded at Eli, before looking at Wolfe. “Who are we killing now?” Wolfe closed his eyes and sighed.

  My heart ached as we slipped down the steps, both of us quiet. It was only when we were down in the parking lot, beside Wolfe’s promised silver SUV, that Eli wrapped me up in a tight hug.

  “Do you really think that Dragonpack killed the wolves that Wolfe sent to them?” I asked, feeling shaky. Frank had almost been sent to them.

  “I’m not holding out a lot of hope,” Eli said. “But whatever it is, whatever’s corrupted them, Wolfe’ll get to the bottom of it. Those two demons up there with him? They’ll take care of the problem.”

  “Demons?” I asked, my eyebrows shooting sky-high. Eli sighed.

  “Let’s go home,” he said.

  Nineteen

  Darcy

  The doorman gave us an odd look, but didn’t say anything.

  We were home.

  My whole body trembled with anticipation and relief that Finn was actually safe. Whoever was moldering away in jail could wait. For now I just needed to focus on my guys, my pack.

  The elevator doors parted, and they were standing there, the four of them.

  With a cry I threw myself at them. Charlie caught me first and bound me up in his arms. Ace was next, peppering the side of my face with sweet kisses . Cash pulled me in for a hug, deeply inhaling my scent, his chest softly rumbling to tell me just how much he had missed me.

  Finn stood apart, staring hard at me, his gaze flicking to Eli and back again. I gulped. I didn’t want him to be angry. Too much had happened. I just needed his unconditional love; his forgiveness for running.

  I held my hands up and he unbent, scooping me up in his arms and kissing me fiercely. The next moment he went to Eli and hugged his twin so hard that it was a wonder that he could still breathe.

  “Fucker,” Finn whispered, the two of them standing, forehead to forehead, as close as they could. “You kept safe? You kept her safe?”

  “She kept me safe,” Eli said with a watery chuckle and I blinked. Was he crying? His eyes were bright when they caught mine as he pulled away from Finn.

  “So are we gonna talk about the Twinpersonator or are we just gonna… be together?” Charlie asked. I’d missed his jokes so much. I slid up under his arm, my fingers slipping across his chest. I just wanted to curl up in the middle of a gigantic puppy pile.

  “Hey.” Max’s voice caught my attention. She stood at the edge of where we were gathered.

  “Max,” I whispered. God, what had she gone through in that shitty apartment, under Levi’s lecherous gaze and Landon’s oppressive presence? I vowed to never let anything happen to her again. I ran the few steps to her and hugged her tight.

  “I missed you,” she said. “It’s been the worst.”

  “It wasn’t any better where we were,” I said. There was a low murmur behind us as the guys spoke.

  “Are you hungry?” Max gave me another firm hug.

  “Honestly I don’t think I could eat,” I said, overwhelmed with emotion. It was such a relief to be back with them, but it felt like doom and danger hung right outside the door, waiting to lash out at us as soon as I turned my back.

  “Video games?” Ace suggested, and it was such a break from the unending panic I’d been feeling, that I nodded hard.

  “God yes. And I guess snacks.”

  Cash laughed at my expression.

  “Whatever you want, princess,” he said, scooping me out of Max’s arms.

  “Hey, I get my bestie back for some of today,” she protested. “You guys don’t get to hog her.”

  “We’d never keep her from you,” Cash lied neatly, and we all laughed, the sound fragile and almost desperate. We needed normal. We needed safe.

  How different everything is now from the first time I went on the road with them. I clung to Cash, his arm around my waist, as we walked to the living room and collapsed on the large couch. Werewolves were strewn over the furniture Max sat on the floor cross-legged with her back up against the base of the couch.

  “I’ll get the snacks then,” Ace said with a grin. “Since no one’s volunteering themselves.”

  “Youngest does the grunt work,” Cash said with a lazy sigh, tugging me into his lap. “There’s perks to being an old fucker.”

  Max snickered and set about handing us game controllers.

  That was what we needed right then, right? Eli caught my gaze. He looked hollowed out. I felt the same. But what could we do? I didn’t want to bleed out our memories for the other guys to choke on. Today we just needed to be with the pack and not worry about the past.

  It was going to catch up with us all too soon anyway. Life had a way of doing that, I was coming to realize.

  Max commandeered me for a few hours to de-grossify me as she put it, and she only shoved me back to the pack after my toenails were painted bright blue, and my curls were no longer a thick, knotted mess. I found myself in bed with the guys, the moonlight spilling down over their skin, lighting them all up.

  “This is nice,” Finn said from behind me. He was spooning me, an arm wrapped around my bare waist. I melted in the warmth he was throwing off, so glad that pajamas just weren’t a thing with wolves. The looks all of their faces, especially Eli’s, when I’d emerged from the bathroom completely naked had chased all of the bad memories right out of mind. I didn’t even mind when Eli hung back, acting like we hadn’t been as intimate as we had been.

  Finn had pulled me down, curling around me in a heartbeat, and Cash had quickly found his own spot, shifting up to bracket my front, k
issing me softly.

  “You guys need to learn how to share,” Charlie commented, but that was rich coming from him. His fingers walked along my hip as he pulled back the blankets.

  “Air’s cold,” I complained, and then sighed when Finn brushed my hair off my neck, planting a warm kiss right there. It was perfect, heat coiling hard inside me as three sets of hand wandered over my body, teasing and touching me until I was sighing in their arms. Ace knelt down by my feet, watching me as I shifted restlessly between them all.

  “You took good care of her, Eli?” he asked.

  “Good enough.” Eli was on the other side of Cash, staring up at the ceiling. I wanted him close, not holding himself apart from us. We hadn’t lived through all that we had just for him to shut himself off again.

  I was about to say something when I felt Ace’s hands on my knees, pushing them apart. My gaze skipped downward. His eyes were closed, his mouth hot when he kissed the curve of my thigh. I trembled.

  “Make her feel good,” Cash said, adjusting me in Finn’s arms. They turned me so I slid down onto my back as Ace crawled up between my thighs. His kisses laddered up my legs, and a spiral of heat curled tighter inside me. My breath caught in my chest as Ace looked up at me through his thick, dark blond lashes, curving his lips into a smile. Charlie’s hand joined Ace’s, pulling my thighs apart, fingers exposing me to Ace’s perusal and his tongue.

  My eyes slammed shut as the warm sensation filled me, Ace’s mouth on my pussy making me gasp.

  “You’re right back where you belong,” Finn’s voice was fuzzy in my ear, and I clung to him and Cash. “In our arms, where we can keep you safe, make you feel so good.”

  “Sweetheart, don’t hold back,” Cash’s lips brushed my other ear as they held me still between them. Ace’s tongue slipped through my folds, teasing me with the lightest touch. “Let him know how good it is.”

  I cried out, and Charlie groaned.

  “You’re so wet for us already.”

  There was no hiding from them. There were too many hands holding me down, fingers sliding across the most secret parts of my body, kisses placed on my shivering skin.

  The only thing that was missing—

  “Eli,” I moaned.

  “Get over here, asshole,” Cash said. Eli rumbled in response, but I heard him moving. My breath kicked up a notch, my hips rocking in tiny, short movements. A finger, I wasn’t sure whose, brushed my entrance and I tensed. Ace never let up, his lips soft on my clit, his tongue flicking it slowly over and over.

  “Darcy,” Eli’s deep voice had me gasping, and I opened my eyes. He was kneeling over me, his face upside down over mine, watching me with a smirk on his face. “Don’t you dare come.”

  “Uhn, what?”

  The finger threatening to slip inside me did just that, and I moaned, lifting my hips up to meet Ace’s tongue.

  “I said, don’t… you… dare… come,” the threat was liquid in his voice, making me shiver.

  “Somebody likes being told what to do,” Cash murmured into my ear. I whimpered.

  “Good thing somebody else likes being a bossy dick,” Finn said, before laving his tongue over the bond marks on the side of my neck. The skin there was so touch-sensitive that I winced.

  “I—” I needed to let go, that tight feeling inside of me getting more intense, the bright feeling right on the edge of my consciousness. It would feel so good, why did I need to—

  “Darcy, final warning. Ace, stop,” Eli said, and Ace pulled away with a groan. I cried out at the loss of his hot mouth on me. Charlie pushed him aside, a second finger sliding into me. My muscles tightened, so close to the edge. Eli growled.

  “What?” Charlie snickered. “You told Ace to stop, not me.” His fingers curved inside me, his thumb nudging up into the side of my clit until I couldn’t stop it.

  My muscles shuddered, my feet drawing up the sheets, and I reached for Charlie’s wrist, wrapping around it to keep his fingers inside of me as I moaned through an intense orgasm.

  I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see Eli’s face.

  Cash let out a low chuckle.

  “Somebody’s in trouble.”

  “I’m right here,” I gasped, “stop talking about me like I’m not.”

  Finn kissed me, half moving over me.

  “Should I fuck you now before I let him get his hands on you?” he teased, his lips brushing over my jaw. “You might be too sore afterward.”

  “Go ahead,” Eli said, sounding amused. I snuck a peek at him, and he caught me. “I want to hear the noises she makes for you.”

  Finn kissed me slowly.

  “You good, doll?” he asked and I shivered, because yes, yes, I was so good. To encourage him in whatever he was planning, I nudged my knee against his hip. A grin cracked his face. “Sexy girl. You’re always good for us.”

  “Except for me,” Eli’s voice held a promise and a threat that made me shiver under Finn. “She seems to like being bad for me.”

  “Give it a few weeks. She’ll learn to be good for you,” Cash commented, the smile audible in his words even if my view was blocked by Finn’s bulk. Ace crowded into my side, kissing me as Finn’s hips slid through mine.

  My guys surrounded me. Was there any other place in the world I was supposed to be but right there between them all?

  I moaned with the first thrust of Finn’s cock into me, the second sensation that followed was Cash’s hand between us, teasing the soft rise of my clit making me tense up around Finn.

  My first love cursed, his head bent low as he thrust hard and fast. He gripped my thigh, holding it tight.

  “Since you’ve already decided you know what’s best for you,” Eli said, “give him everything. Come for him, Darcy.”

  “Bossy,” Charlie commented from somewhere. Cash’s fingers dragged over my clit, and I cried out, the fast pace of Finn thrusting into me, filling me up, getting me there before I could even catch my breath.

  Finn groaned, his pace stumbling. He threw his head back and growled so loud that I shuddered under him at the sound.

  My eyes closed as my muscles went loose and slack.

  “That was fast,” someone commented, and Finn snorted.

  “See how long you last after being away from her that long,” he settled over me as he spoke, kissing me slow. “Eyes open, sweetheart.”

  “Nah uh.” My body felt wrung out. God, I was tired. Finn slipped from my body and I whined, curling up under him.

  Someone’s hand brushed one of my nipples, and I swatted at them, my skin oversensitive.

  “Let her rest,” Cash scolded. I sighed as Finn swathed me in his body and blankets. Rest was a good idea.

  “I’ll um,” I mumbled, “fuck somebody else after I nap.” My eyes drifted shut and I relaxed in Finn’s embrace.

  Twenty

  Darcy

  “Put on some clothes!” Max’s voice cut through my sleep and I groaned.

  “Noooooo.” I hid my eyes under one arm as the bodies around me shifted.

  “Seriously, I’m coming in. I haven’t seen my girl enough and you guys are being selfish.” Max laughed from out in the hall. “Hurry up.”

  “Can we murder her?” Finn asked softly. “What’s a little murder between friends?”

  “I heard that. I’ll just be reborn, and I will totally fry your balls when I get back. I’m coming in there in two minutes, and if I see any dick, I’m going to rate it out of ten. You guys are already at a minus five handicap.”

  “She’s a menace,” Cash mumbled as he sat up, shifting off the bed and opening a dresser drawer.

  “Pass me boxers?” Ace asked. He snuggled up to me. “Morning, beautiful.”

  I had to smile at him, squinting in the morning light. Boxers hit Charlie and Finn in the face, Charlie answering Cash with a snarl before kissing my temple.

  “Get our girl clothes, since you’re up already,” Charlie ordered.

  “Who’s boss alpha now?” Cash mocke
d him. “Jumping in Eli’s boots fast, aren’t ya, son?”

  “I’ve seen her naked. Trust me, girls aren’t weird about that. We do the naked thing all the time.” Max called. I rolled my eyes as five pairs of eyes were glued to me for a moment.

  “Stop thinking about it,” I said and kneeled in the bed. I caught a glimpse of Eli’s face before he looked away. His gaze had been locked on the curve of my hip. Heat, deep inside me, pulsed.

  “I’m not sure if I’m jealous or turned on,” Finn grumbled, trying to fold me into his arms. I ducked away from his grip as Cash brought me a shirt and underwear.

  “Seriously, counting to five, and then…”

  “Alright, alright,” Charlie groused as he went to the door, opening it wide for her. “We’re all decent.”

  “Thanks babes,” she said, smacking him lightly on the chest with the back of her hand as she swooped into the room. She catapulted herself at our giant bed, sending wolves scattering to get out of her way as she half-landed on me.

  I laughed and snuggled up to her for a big hug. My guys were great. Perfect. But there’s something about hugging your best friend that can never be replaced by a guy, no matter how wonderful he is.

  I quelling the urge to look Max all over for damage as I flopped back into the thick duvet. The reality check of where she’d been staying with the demons was still haunting me,

  “Somebody should make us pancakes,” she declared, lifting her head to cast a long look at Eli, who was lounging on his side at the far end of the bed. His hips were covered by blanket, and I wasn’t exactly sure if he’d even put on boxers at all.

  “Why are you looking at me?” he asked.

  “Cause you’re a somebody, and you’re good at making faces out of the batter,” she said. “I saw you make them for Ace. Everyone else got normal pancakes except for him.”

  Was that a blush on Eli’s face? He glanced away and cleared his throat. The rest of the guys just hung back awkwardly around the bed, looking like underwear models who didn’t know where to put their hands.