by J. L. Wilder
But at the same time, he felt strangely compelled to protect her. He felt as if he wanted to enclose her in a shell and shield her from all the dangers in the world. Minutes ago, he had been afraid that the bears might catch up with him. Now he was afraid that they might find her.
Who was this girl, and how could she make him feel such intense emotions just by looking at him?
Marco knew the answer. He didn’t need to be told. His father had explained imprinting to him years ago, before he’d died, when it had just been the two of them ranging through the woods together. It had always seemed like a mythical concept to Marco, who after all had never lived with a woman before. His father had always been a loner. Marco had always been the same.
But he knew now that he would never leave Sophie. Already, he couldn’t imagine returning to a life without her.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she demanded. “It’s creepy.”
He shook himself. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I suppose I should help you clean up,” she said. “Would you mind that?”
“I’d appreciate it,” he said, his heart beating faster. She would have to sit beside him to do that. She would have to touch him.
She took a bottle of water and a rag, sat down next to him, and carefully began to wipe away the dried blood around his wounds. “Did those bears find you too?” she asked as she worked.
“Did they find you?” he asked, horrified at the idea.
“Yes,” she said. “I gave them the slip, though, and then I made it here. To Ryker’s cave.”
“And is he your alpha?” Marco was fascinated by the dynamic between these two. She seemed as if she already belonged to him. He had certainly acted possessive of her. But if she was his, how could he have imprinted on her?
Sophie sat back on her heels. “You’re asking a lot of questions for someone who hasn’t even told me his name yet,” she remarked.
“Marco,” he said. “I’m Marco.”
“I’m Sophie,” she said.
He nodded. “I know. I heard you talking to Ryker out in the woods.”
“Well, I thought I’d formally introduce myself anyway.” She resumed cleaning his wounds. “You shouldn’t move around until those heal up a little bit more. I don’t have anything to wrap them with.”
“You haven’t answered my question,” he said.
She wasn’t looking at him. “Why do you want to know?” she asked.
“I’m curious.” Was it possible she knew why he was asking? That would certainly explain the way she kept pivoting away from the subject.
He wanted to ask her. He wanted to tell her what he had felt and to question whether she had picked up on it.
But before he could do so, Ryker came back inside.
“No sign of bears,” he said, eyeing Marco suspiciously. “And it looks like it’s going to rain.”
“Marco can stay for the night, can’t he?” Sophie asked.
Ryker glared. Marco knew he wanted to say no.
But he also knew that he wouldn’t. And Marco could relate. If Sophie had asked him for something—anything—he would have found a way to give it to her, no matter how difficult it was.
“Fine,” he said. “Just for the night, until his wounds heal.” He pointed. “You stay on that side of the cave, though.”
“I will,” Marco promised, his eyes still on Sophie, his hand on her arm.
He would find a way to stay with her forever. Now that he had found her, he wasn’t going to let her go.
Chapter Nine
SOPHIE
How was it possible?
She and Marco had barely interacted. They had only known one another for a few hours, for God’s sake! And more to the point, Sophie already had an alpha.
She glanced at him now. Ryker sat beside the fire, staring moodily into the flames and turning the spitted meat slowly. He had already cooked dinner for her and for Marco—he wouldn’t even allow Marco to approach the fire to cook his own meat—and he was the last to eat.
Was Marco an alpha too?
He had to be. That burst of power she had felt from him when they had touched...even in his wounded state, she had known in that moment that he had the strength to do whatever he wanted with her. He could have thrown her down on the ground and taken her.
She would have let him. That might have been the scariest thing of all.
But her feelings toward Ryker hadn’t changed. She had examined them carefully, wondering whether it was possible that he hadn’t imprinted, wondering whether they had misjudged what had happened. He was the first man who had ever been nice to her, after all. It wasn’t so crazy to think that she would allow herself to get carried away.
But she felt as strongly for him as she ever had. She felt as strongly for him as she did for Marco. If she had been asked to choose between the two of them, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to do it.
Ryker finished cooking his meat and got to his feet. “I’m going to eat outside,” he said. “I want to watch the sunset.” He cast a mistrustful look at Marco. “Sophie, you’d better come with me.”
“He’s not going to hurt me,” Sophie said.
“Yeah,” Ryker said doubtfully. “Well, I want to talk to you anyway.”
Sophie bit her lip. She hadn’t been alone with Ryker since she had insisted on their saving Marco. Was she about to get into trouble for what she had done?
She couldn’t help glancing over at Marco as she got to her feet. He was watching her with worry in his eyes, and she knew—without knowing exactly how she knew—that he was worried about her. He was worried that Ryker was going to do something to hurt her.
He didn’t want anything to happen to her.
Confused, her head swimming, she followed Ryker out of the cave.
He walked several yards, down toward the river, and Sophie could tell that he didn’t want to be heard. Finally, he sat down and began to pull the meat off his spit. He handed her a piece.
“You don’t have to give me that,” she protested. “I had mine already. That’s yours.”
“Just eat it,” Ryker snapped.
Her eyes widened in surprise. It had been a command, and he so rarely gave her orders that hearing one from him was a bit of a shock. Wordlessly, she held out her hand, and he gave her the meat.
She began to eat, waiting for him to speak, knowing that eventually, he would say what was on his mind. What had been on his mind all day.
Finally, he spoke. “Why did you do that?”
“Why did I do what?” she asked.
“Damn it, Sophie. You know what. Why did you make me bring him back to the cave?”
“I didn’t make you,” she said, surprised. “I couldn’t make you do anything, Ryker. You’re the alpha here, not me.”
“Not anymore, I’m not,” Ryker said.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he’s an alpha too. You couldn’t tell?”
“I thought he might be,” Sophie admitted. “But...I don’t understand why it matters, Ryker. He’s leaving in the morning. Who cares if he’s an alpha?”
“When two alphas meet, there’s almost always a battle for dominance,” Ryker said. “You must know that. You grew up in a pack, for God’s sake.”
“I think you can take him, though,” Sophie said dryly. “He’s not going to be stupid enough to try to fight you tonight, right? He can’t even stand!”
“He might,” Ryker said. “Didn’t you see the way he was looking at you? He wants you. He’ll try to take you away from me if he can.”
Sophie hesitated. “I don’t think he will,” she said, carefully.
Ryker scoffed. “You can’t be that naive! You told me what happened to you back at your old pack. What that Josh guy did. You can’t honestly believe that a feral alpha wouldn’t try to take you from me.”
“I’m not saying the idea is impossible,” Sophie said. “I’m saying...Marco wouldn’t do that
.”
“Marco wouldn’t do that?” Ryker stared at her. “You can’t start thinking of him as your friend, Sophie. He’s not your friend. He’s not one of us.”
“Ryker...just listen.” Sophie took a breath. She was going to have to tell him what had happened. It might be the only way to keep him from trying to attack Marco preemptively. “While you were out running the perimeter, looking for bears...”
Ryker’s face fell into a frightening growl. “Did he try something?” he asked. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” Sophie said hurriedly. “Nothing like that. But...something happened. While I was cleaning up his wounds.”
“Something happened?” Ryker repeated.
Sophie closed her eyes and pressed her hands over her face. She felt horrible. Abysmal. She knew she had to tell Ryker the truth, but how could she? It was going to hurt him. Her alpha. The only person who had ever been kind to her.
She was horrible.
His hand came to rest on her arm. “Sophie,” he said quietly. “Tell me what happened.”
She couldn’t look at him. “I think he imprinted on me,” she said. “It felt the same as it did with you. All I did was try to clean his wounds, I promise, I swear...we didn’t do anything else. But just from that...there was some kind of connection. Something happened.”
She was afraid that he would pull away from her. Surely he wouldn’t want anything to do with her now that he knew the truth.
But his hand remained steady on her arm. After a few moments, she dared to look up at him.
“Really?” he said. He didn’t sound angry, just interested. “He imprinted?”
Sophie didn’t know what to think. “You don’t sound mad,” she noticed.
“I’m not mad,” he said. “If you’re right...it could really help us, actually. Because you’re definitely right that he won’t try to drag you away against your will if he’s imprinted on you. A key component of imprinting is care. If he’s imprinted on you, it means he actually gives a damn about your happiness.”
Sophie nodded fervently, relieved that he seemed to understand. “That’s what I mean,” she said. “He won’t take me away from you because he knows I love you. He knows I want to be here with you.”
Ryker examined her face. “You’ve really been worried about this, haven’t you?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t understand what’s happening!” she said. “How can he imprint on me when you’ve already imprinted on me? Is that even possible? How can I belong to both of you?”
“It’s been known to happen,” Ryker said. “I’ve heard of it before. There were stories told around the fire, back before I left my pack. Legends—or so I thought. The story goes that a powerful omega might have the allure, the magnetism, to draw in more than one alpha. Supposedly, back in the early days of shifter culture, that was how the first packs got together. Back then, they were centered around serving the omega, not the alpha, and because of that, each pack could have more than one alpha.”
Sophie stared, fascinated. “The omegas were in charge?”
“Not in charge, exactly, but the goal of the pack was to care for and protect the omega, to do what was necessary to make her safe and comfortable. Somewhere along the way, modern packs shifted their focus and became about providing for the needs of the alpha. The omega became just a tool to serve that end.”
Sophie nodded. That was how things had been in Josh’s pack. It was strange to think that things could be different here, that a pack might come together with the goal of taking care of her.
“Does that mean Marco can stay with us?” she asked.
Ryker’s expression was benevolent. “I think you’d better go and talk to him about that,” he said.
She was shaken. “Me?” she asked. “But I’m not...I’m just the omega, Ryker. I’m not in charge here.”
“You’re the one he’s imprinted on,” Ryker pointed out. “If he stays with us, it’ll be for you. Not for me.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
“I’m okay with it if it’s right for you,” Ryker said. “I’m here to protect you. I’m here to make your life the best it can be.” He rested a hand on her shoulder. “Go and talk to him. Find out.”
She nodded and got to her feet. “You’re a really good alpha, Ryker.”
He bit a chunk of meat off the spit and swallowed it. “Oh, trust me,” he said. “I know I’m amazing. Why do you think I don’t feel threatened?” He bared his teeth.
Sophie laughed and made her way up to the cave.
Marco was dozing when she arrived, but his eyes opened as soon as she entered the room. “You’re back,” he said. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. Where’s Ryker?”
She crossed to his side of the cave and sat down beside him. “Ryker thought it was best if you and I had some time alone to talk,” she said.
He immediately looked wary. “He did? Why?”
Sophie swallowed hard. She wasn’t used to taking the lead, especially not with people she didn’t know. It was awkward, and it made her feel uncomfortable.
But she remembered what Ryker had said. There had once been a time when packs had been organized around the needs and desires of the omega. That was the way shifter culture had been, way back at the beginning.
It was in all of them. It was in their genes.
“Is there a chance you might have imprinted on me?” she asked Marco.
He exhaled heavily. “I thought you must have noticed,” he confessed. “But I wasn’t going to say anything. Don’t you belong to Ryker?”
In answer, she climbed into his lap, careful of his injuries, and kissed him deeply.
It was like a cold drink of water after having been lost for weeks in the desert. She hadn’t realized until that moment how much she had been craving him.
“I can belong to both of you,” she whispered.
He stared up at her, clearly awestruck as she peeled off her shirt. His gaze flicked down to her breasts, but he forced himself to look back up at her face.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You can look.”
“I can’t survive a fight with Ryker right now,” he breathed. “I don’t have the strength.”
“He won’t fight you,” Sophie said, pleased to know that it was the truth. “He sent me here to invite you to stay with us. If you’ve imprinted on me, if you and I are mates, that means you’re one of us now. You belong here.”
He raised a hand and slowly caressed her face. “God,” he said quietly. “You’re the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Do you know that?”
He was smaller than Ryker—his body narrower, leaner—but she could tell that when he was healthy, he would be incredibly strong. She wanted him inside her more than words could express, but she was afraid to hurt him.
But that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy each other.
She stripped off the rest of her clothes and pulled away his pants. Carefully, she helped him lie back on the cave floor. She wanted to lie on top of him, to grind against him until she was satisfied—she might never get enough, she feared—but she couldn’t take the risk.
She lay down beside him and began to explore his body with her hands.
He turned his head toward her, and then they were kissing again. She breathed him in, overwhelmed by the heady scent of him, and finally—finally—his hand found its way between her legs. He slipped two fingers inside of her.
She took his fingers easily—God, she was so wet—and began to rock her hips into his hand. His fingers were longer than Ryker’s, allowing him to reach deep within her and stroke her from the inside. She moaned into his mouth, trembling, already on the verge of orgasm.
She took him in her hand and felt him throb. It felt as if his cock was reaching for her, calling out for her. She never would have believed that this could be so amazing, that just using their hands on one another could feel so powerful and intimate. But this was sex, just as much as what she had done with Ryker was.
She still wanted him inside her. She still looked forward to that. But what they were doing right now felt no less special.
“I’m going to come,” he said, his voice hoarse with need and effort.
She couldn’t form words. She nodded vigorously, pulling herself closer to him, pressing into his hand with every ounce of energy in her body.
He groaned, and they came together, pleasure flooding Sophie’s body as Marco spilled onto her hand.
Afterward, when they had cleaned themselves up and put their shorts back on, she lay in his arms, her head resting on his chest, and he stared up at the ceiling. “So it’s going to be like this now?” he asked her. “The three of us together?”
“Looks that way,” came a voice from the mouth of the cave.
Sophie sat up and looked over at Ryker. She would have expected to feel as if she’d been caught doing something illicit, but the expression on Ryker’s face made it clear that he felt nothing but happy with what he was seeing.
“Are you two about finished?” he asked. “I can spend the night outside if you need more private time.”
“Get in here,” Marco said, beckoning lazily. “It’s going to rain tonight. You can’t sleep out in the rain, for God’s sake.”
Ryker grinned toothily, entered the cave, and lay down on Sophie’s other side. Being between her alphas was a feeling nothing could have prepared her for. It was divine. She turned toward Ryker and kissed him deeply, welcoming him home.
Two sets of arms closed around her, and Sophie didn’t feel at all as if they were fighting for possession of her. They were cooperating. They were working together to shelter her.
She nestled into their combined embrace and fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
RYKER
It amazed him how quickly he had been able to accept Marco into their lives.
But, then again, it was still amazing how quickly he had been able to accept Sophie into his life too.
It was only a week since the day he had found her, and already the little pack felt as if it had been together forever. Ryker had gotten used to sleeping later in the mornings now that he didn’t have to worry about moving on every day. It was a little uncomfortable at first, staying in one place all the time when he was used to roaming, but it really was the better strategy now that they had a group.