by Lacey Thorn
“Introductions first,” Laramie said and pointed people out. “My brother, Koby, who you met earlier, along with his wife, Sida.”
Sidia’s hands clenched, and Koby tugged her onto his lap, wrapping one arm around her waist and spreading his palm over her there. Emersyn concentrated and tried to inhale without being obvious. It was there. A subtle scent, just beginning. Life. The couple were expecting a baby bear of their own.
“On the couch there are my brothers, Jensen and Slade. Jensen’s our family doctor. He can take a look at Ruby tomorrow.”
“No.” Emersyn kept her voice soft, but the silence that followed her comment let her know how rare it was for Laramie to be challenged.
“Ruby is a member of this pack, and as such—”
“No,” she said again, interrupting Laramie. His hand tightened on her shoulder, and she pointedly flicked her gaze from his fingers to his face until he relaxed them.
“As her mother, my wishes outweigh yours.”
He shook his head slowly as if making sure she caught the motion. “You may be human, Emersyn, but in this pack, I’m alpha, and my word is law.”
She smiled, all teeth. He had no clue who he was fucking with. “As Ruby’s mother, I don’t care. My child. My choice.” She held up her palm when he opened his mouth. “End of discussion, Laramie. She’s four, away from her dad. Among strangers. She’s tired and scared. The last thing I’ll let you do is have her poked and prodded just so you can learn that she’s fine. Which she is.”
“Emersyn—”
“Don’t make me regret coming here.” She interrupted again and could tell by the way his jaw jutted out that he wasn’t happy about it.
“Malachi sent you here,” Laramie told her as if she didn’t remember what she’d told him earlier. “To ask for my protection.”
“He also told me to use my own judgement and gave me instructions on what to do if I didn’t feel as if Ruby and I would be okay here.”
Laramie stepped away from her as a growl rumbled up his throat. She felt the loss of his touch immediately but refused to back down. He needed to know she was in charge when it came to Ruby. She flicked her gaze between the two women in the room. They all needed to know it.
“I’ve had my fucking fill of people questioning my ability to protect.” He all but roared the words, and Emersyn could tell by the expressions around her that he was referring to more than what she’d stated.
“I’m not doubting you, Laramie.” She spoke softly, in contrast to his harsh tone. “I’m merely asking you to trust me and give Ruby time to adjust to our new surroundings. She’s already feeling overwhelmed. Please.”
She held his gaze, not looking toward anyone else in the room, and knew she’d gotten through to him when he nodded.
“For now,” he agreed.
“Thank you,” she replied then turned back toward Jensen and Slade. “Nothing personal, Jensen.”
“No offense taken,” Jensen assured her. “I’ll be happy to see to both of you, if you need me to.”
“I’m human,” she reminded him. “But I’ll keep you in mind if Ruby needs you.”
He opened his mouth, glanced behind her, and shut it again, before smiling and nodding. She wondered briefly what silent exchange he’d had with Laramie, but introductions continued.
“My brothers, Brock and Matheus, on the other sofa, and Declan and his mate, Xandra, on the half-couch.”
“Xandra?” she questioned, leaning forward in her chair. She already knew the answer but needed them to admit it.
“Blackstone,” the woman stated. “Malachi’s sister.”
“We were told you’d died,” Emersyn told them. “All of you. Malachi…” She paused, swallowing. “He was devastated.”
“So devastated he didn’t bother to come pay his respects,” Xandra snapped.
“That’s not fair,” Emersyn rebuked and watched Xandra flush—with embarrassment or anger, she wasn’t sure. “Amber was pregnant by the time news reached us. Malachi… He fell apart.” It broke her heart to remember her friend then. Amber had been his sanity. The one thing to keep him going when his heart had shattered. “He’d planned to come back here once Ruby was born.”
“Why didn’t he?” Laramie asked softly, and his warm palm cupped the back of her neck. God, she wanted to lean into his touch, let it bring her strength as she thought of what had prevented Malachi from coming home.
“The den Malachi was with was attacked. Many were killed, including the alpha. Malachi barely survived, then we almost lost him again during the aftermath,” she told them, pushing thoughts of her own grief aside as she fought to keep her pulse and breathing even. She had to keep her bear calm. She closed her eyes briefly before continuing. “Amber went into labor during the attacks. She was alone. Labor must have been difficult.”
“Must have been?” Jensen asked, leaning forward.
“When I found them, Amber had cut Ruby from her belly. I don’t know why. Amber was small, barely five feet. She saved Ruby. They think she bled out waiting for help to arrive.”
“I’m sorry.” The words were from Sidia, but Emersyn saw the nods of agreement from the others in the room.
“Ruby was almost four weeks before Malachi held her. He…” She shook her head, remembering the way Malachi had been after Amber’s death. A man possessed. A dead man walking. He’d cared for nothing. “It was a devastating blow to a man already mourning the loss of his entire family. Your brother has a way of wrapping himself in blame for circumstances out of his control.”
Xandra nodded. “He’s always been that way.”
“You said the den he was with was attacked.” The comment came from another man. One standing off to the side by himself. Though he carried the scent of Jaeda Blackstone, he was human. “How do you fit in with that den?”
“As Amber’s cousin and next of kin,” Emersyn said. Truth wrapped in a lie. She was exactly what she said and so much more.
“How many were lost in the attacks?” Koby asked.
“Thirty.” Their strongest males had been targeted. Anyone who would have challenged for alpha. Or at least, that was how it seemed to her. Twenty males, as well as her father, the alpha. And nine females, including Amber. Malachi would have been lost also, if help hadn’t arrived in time to save him.
“Females?” Laramie asked.
“Mostly males,” she corrected. “Malachi thought they’d been targeted. The attacks were too well prepared.”
“As if they had inside help?” Declan asked.
“I… Yes, Malachi thought so.” She flicked her gaze up to Laramie. “It was the same in the attacks here?”
“We were betrayed,” he admitted. “The attack here was mostly centered on the women in our pack. Until recently, we thought they’d succeeded in wiping every female bear from our pack.”
“How do we contact Malachi?” This from the human.
“I’m sorry. Who are you?” Emersyn questioned.
“Holt Reynolds. He’s Jaeda’s mate and an honorary member of our family,” Laramie stated.
She nodded. “Malachi will be happy to meet you. I can’t tell you what it will mean to him when he finds out three of his sisters survived. Or? Did anyone else from your family survive? Is Saphira alive, as well?”
Xandra’s gaze shuttered, her eyes going cold. “No one else survived.”
“I…I’m sorry.”
“How do I reach my brother?” Xandra demanded.
“You don’t,” Emersyn replied, and Xandra exploded up and surged across the room. Her mate leapt after her as Emersyn came to her feet. What she planned to do, she wasn’t sure. There wasn’t much she could do without giving herself away. Then she found herself picked up and placed behind a broad back. Laramie. The man took his vow to protect her seriously.
“Stand down.” The command shot from the man in front of her, and it wasn’t until he reached back and pressed his palm over her
hand that Emersyn realized she’d pressed her fingers against his back. Christ, she wasn’t a cowering woman and refused to play one for anyone. She stepped out to his side, without breaking the touch.
“She comes waltzing in here, smelling of my brother, claiming Ruby is his daughter, and we’re just supposed to accept it as gospel,” Xandra yelled. “Stop thinking with your dick, Laramie. We have no idea who this woman is.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, little sister, but I strongly urge you to take a walk and clear your head before you say anything else you might regret,” he warned.
“I don’t—”
“Xandra.” It was her mate who interrupted as he moved into her. They shared a look that had Xandra snapping her mouth shut with a growl before she turned and walked away, Declan right behind her.
“Anyone else?” Laramie thundered, and Em watched him meet and hold the gazes of everyone else in the room before turning to her. “There’s no denying Ruby is Malachi’s daughter. Xandra knows that as well as every other bear in this room. We also know Ruby’s marked you as her mother. I gave you my word earlier that I would protect the two of you as Malachi asked. I’m giving it to you again, so no one in this room will question it again. Am I clear?”
His gaze never left her as his brothers all gave verbal agreement. “Sidia?”
“Yes.”
The reply was tight, clipped, almost hostile, but Emersyn took no offense. These women had lost their parents and youngest sibling. Malachi hadn’t been here. Who knew what hell they’d lived through. Plus, Laramie had mentioned he and his brothers had believed all the females in their den had been killed. Emersyn was curious to hear the rest of that story.
“Holt, you’ll make sure Jaeda knows.”
“Of course,” the other man answered though Emersyn knew it hadn’t been a question.
“Now.” Laramie’s focus was completely on her. “How do we contact Malachi?”
“Perhaps, I wasn’t clear before,” Emersyn replied. “We don’t. He’ll call me again in three days. I’m happy to let him know you’d like to talk to him then.”
The growl that left Laramie’s throat probably didn’t have the effect on her he meant for it to. Unless he’d wanted her nipples hard and her panties damp. The way his nostrils flared made her wonder. Then she broke the pull between them by yawning so big her eyes briefly closed.
“Sorry, it’s been a long trip. I’m exhausted. As much as I’d love to continue this interrogation, I’d like to get back to Ruby before she wakes up and can’t find me.”
Another rumble sounded in his throat, and she reached out and patted his chest without thought. “Enough, Laramie. We can talk more in the morning. Please.”
“It’s not an interrogation, Emersyn.”
She merely shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “Is there a room Ruby and I can use? I believe Sidia was going to show us to one upstairs.”
“You can stay in the room Ruby is in for now,” Laramie assured her.
“Don’t tell me this place isn’t big enough that we need to stay in your room,” Emersyn challenged.
“For tonight, you’ll stay where I put you,” he ordered. “Baby bear is already asleep, and I don’t want to move her.”
Emersyn wanted to argue, but another yawn caught her by surprise.
“For tonight,” she agreed. “But tomorrow, we’ll move to another room.”
“Tomorrow,” he said, but she had a feeling he wasn’t agreeing with her so much as giving her warning.
Chapter Five
Laramie walked Emersyn back down stairs toward his bedroom and couldn’t help but wish it was for another reason. One that didn’t involve him leaving her there to spend the night without him.
Jaeda rose from her perch on the side of the bed when they entered. She rushed across the room to Emersyn and hugged her. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Emersyn questioned, her pale, blue gaze meeting Laramie’s.
“For bringing my niece here. For finding us. For loving her and my brother enough to do it.”
Laramie watched Emersyn’s eyes close as she hugged Jaeda back. “I’d do anything for Ruby and Malachi,” she vowed.
“May I spend time with the two of you tomorrow?,” Jaeda asked as the two women stepped apart. Leave it to Jaeda to accept without question. Hadn’t she done the same when her bear had picked Holt as their mate. For all she’d been through, there was still an air of innocence around her that Laramie hoped never changed.
“Of course,” Emersyn offered. “We’d like that.”
“Thank you,” Jaeda rushed to say. “Please let me know if you need anything. I’m just down at the other end of the hall. In fact, we’re all here. Each of the brothers has a room down here. Then there’s the floor below this one where—”
“Jaeda,” Holt called softly from the doorway. Jaeda immediately moved to him, gripping his shirt in her hands and rising on tiptoe to kiss him. “We’ll see you in the morning,” Holt said as he led his mate away.
Emersyn glanced around the room, suddenly seeming uncomfortable around him. Laramie didn’t like that at all. He pushed the door shut and maneuvered them until her back was against it with him facing her.
“Laramie, it’s late. I’m tired.”
He nodded in agreement even as he stroked a finger down her cheek. “I want you,” he admitted. “Tell me you don’t feel the pull between us.”
“Lust,” she replied, and he growled in denial. “It’ll go away if we ignore it, which I intend to.”
He leaned in to her until they were flush, and there was no way she missed the heavy weight of his arousal against her core. God, they fit perfectly. She was tall, lean, made for him. “What if we don’t ignore it?”
“I—”
He didn’t let her finish whatever denial she’d planned. He slipped his mouth over hers and brushed his tongue against her full bottom lip as he pushed his way inside. Cinnamon and honey. Her taste filled his senses, igniting a hunger deeper than he’d ever known. He slid one hand to cup her hip while slowly skimming the other under her shirt until her full breast filled his palm. He brushed his thumb over her tight nipple then gave it a slight pinch that had her crying out into his mouth as she rubbed her core along his length.
He wanted to strip her naked. To touch and taste every inch of her. Would her pussy taste as sweet as the scent of her need? Or would it be spicy like the cinnamon of her kiss? He kept kissing her as he worked the front clasp of her bra and pushed the cups aside until his fingers met nothing but flesh. He pulled and tugged on her nipple, working her into a frenzy.
He turned them, flipping the lock on the door, before guiding her across the room toward the bathroom. He kept kissing her, keeping her lost in the moment with him. As soon as he shut the door and pressed her against it, he pulled away long enough to jerk her shirt over her head then leaned in and flicked her nipple with his tongue. She moaned, and he glanced up to see her eyes closed tight as she rolled her head back and forth.
He took her nipple between his lips and sucked it deep. God, she was exquisite. The needy sounds she made had his dick punching against his zipper. He worked her breast until the nipple was red and swollen then moved across to the other. He made quick work of her jeans, shoving them over her hips to mid-thigh as her breathing became erratic. She softly whimpered between catches in her breath, and he knew she was close to orgasm. He wanted to taste it on his tongue.
The back of his knuckles brushed the front of her damp panties, and as he grazed her clitoris, she broke with a low groan. He dropped to his knees, jerking the gusset of her panties aside to expose the slick lips of her sex. He traced the curves with his tongue, dipping inside to rub over the hard kernel of her arousal before skimming lower to thrust inside. She was small, tight, and so fucking sweet he almost came in his pants.
He needed more, needed deeper. He growled against her folds as he jerked her pants to her ank
les, pulling one shoe off and freeing a leg, so he could pull it over his shoulder, opening her up for his exploration. He ripped her panties free and spread her wide with one hand. Pink glistening flesh greeted him. He kissed her clit, rubbing circles around it with his tongue before sucking it softly while he worked a finger inside her. She gripped him tight, and he felt the aftershocks of her recent orgasm. Fuck! She was incredible.
He palmed her ass in his hands and lifted until she was exactly where he wanted her. Her fingers clenched in his hair, ripping at the strands as he ate at her. She mewled and the sound wrapped around his balls and gave them a hot squeeze. He worked her toward another orgasm, using every pant and catch of breath to guide him. He fucked her with two fingers, stretching her tight sheath around his digits. He couldn’t wait to get his cock inside her. Knowing he’d be the only man to take her brought his beast roaring to the surface, primal and ready to claim their mate.
She gave another low, guttural groan, and her juices coated his fingers, dripping from her pussy as she came. He pulled his fingers free and lifted her onto his tongue. He drank her down, moaning against her as he jerked his pants open with one hand and came with her.
He kissed her thighs softly as they both came down from the high. He knew the moment she’d regained control. Her legs briefly tightened around him before she released her hold on his hair and tapped for him to let her free. He slid her off his shoulders and balanced her until she had her feet under her. The way she trembled stroked his pride because he wasn’t the only one shaking in the aftermath.
When he felt capable, he eased away, rising and turning to the sink. He felt her gaze on his cock. It was still hard as stone despite the orgasm he’d had. He washed quickly and tucked himself away before turning back to her.
“I can get you a washcloth or a fresh towel so you can make use of the shower,” he offered.