by Viola Rivard
We walked for hours without speaking. The wolf hummed a tune while I festered in my rage. I was furious, not just at the philandering alpha, but at the audacity of this doe-eyed waif who thought I would ever go back to him.
As if all I needed was ‘time’.
Day broke as we reached the foot of the mountain. The path ahead was illuminated with golden light, and I knew that it would lead me back to civilization. There, I could put all of this behind me and move on with my human life.
The wolf changed, and I climbed onto her back in a daze. The way back up the mountain was hard, facing Rein was harder, but there are worse things.
Marie du Luponte, 1931
An excerpt from Wolves of the Cordilleras
1
She awoke gradually, drifting between sleep and reality. Various sensations brushed against the edge of her consciousness. A caress along the curve of her neck. Something warm and wet travelling up her belly and toward the swell of her breasts. Sharp canines gently scraping across delicate flesh. A heated mouth latching onto a hardening bud of pleasure. She moaned, squirming restlessly against the assault.
Waking up had become Mila Foster’s new favorite thing.
The canines moved up until they captured the sensitive pad of flesh at her ear. A hand worked its way between her thighs, fingers slipping past the nest of curls to find the part of her that was already wet with need.
She didn’t have to open her eyes to know which of her alphas was handling her where. After three nights of sharing her bed with the two males, she knew them by touch alone.
Asch liked to work her slowly, bringing her awake with teasing touches and soft nips as he nuzzled her neck. His fingers were nothing short of incredible, and in just a few short days, the man had found every erogenous patch of flesh she knew she had and even a few she hadn’t known about.
Caim loved her breasts. He went to sleep with one in his hand each morning, and each evening, when he awoke, his hungry mouth would seek her out, marveling at her chest as if it were the first time he had experienced it.
The two wolves were completely insatiable. They woke up hard and ready for her every night, immediately seeking to pleasure her awake. For the first time in her life, Mila woke up to a reality that was more amazing than anything she could’ve ever dreamed of.
And then it quickly devolved into a nightmare.
She stiffened as she felt Caim’s finger sink inside her. He flexed within her, and then let out a rumbling sound of pleasure against her breast. Against her better judgment, she arched into his touch, her over-stimulated body craving the friction.
Predictably, Caim took this as an invitation. He grunted, removed his finger, and placed his hand on her bare hip in an attempt to nudge her to her side. Asch stopped his ministrations abruptly, slapping a hand down over Caim’s.
“No,” Asch growled.
Here they go again.
Mila cracked an eye open to see Asch and Caim locked in a heated glaring match. The tension between them was palpable, and two days ago, it had scared the crap out of Mila. Today, it just annoyed the hell out of her.
The planets must have been aligned in some sort of mystical harmony the first time they’d had sex together. Or, they had been on their best behavior because she had been so obviously intimidated. Whatever the reason, both males had been completely insufferable since.
Caim jerked her hip back in an attempt to loosen Asch’s hand. Asch wasn’t letting go. His voice low and threatening, he said, “You had her first the last time.”
Mila threw an arm over her heated face and groaned.
Asch was supposed to be the diplomatic one. He was typically the less dominant of the two alphas and usually allowed his much less amicable counterpart do as he pleased. Somewhere between the first time they’d had sex and around, oh, six hours later, he had turned into an uncompromising, possessive psycho.
Caim raised himself up on one arm, giving Asch a measuring look.
“I will have her first every morning,” he declared, then smugly added, “I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
Mila was seriously going to punch him if he said that one more goddamn time. In the past three days, they had discovered a very extensive list of things that Caim was “not willing to negotiate on.”
“You may touch her breasts, but not with your mouth. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
“You are not permitted to sleep with clothes on, human. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
“You may only mark her body above the neck. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
“You are not permitted to pull the human away from me when we sleep. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
He seemed to make up new rules on the fly, and the list went on and freaking on. The worst part of it was that, because Asch had gone all crazy possessive, he completely ignored Caim’s mandates. Usually, Caim was too involved in the actual act of having sex to notice when Asch broke one of his rules, but when he did notice, he became downright obstinate.
Sounding more wolf than man, Asch bit out, “Not. Fucking. Happening.”
Mila instinctively flinched at the familiar tone. No matter how stubborn Caim could be, Asch was always the quickest to aggression. They hadn’t fought since her second day with the pack, but with Caim taking every opportunity to provoke Asch, it was only a matter of time.
Sitting up, she put her hand on top of theirs and pursed her lips. Asch looked only slightly apologetic while Caim was completely unrepentant. He gave her a sly look and glanced back at Asch, parting his lips to say something that would no doubt piss him off further. Not giving him the opportunity, Mila’s hand shot out to cover his mouth.
“Cut it out,” she scolded. She looked between both men. “You two seriously need to stop fighting. It’s really getting on my nerves.”
Caim swatted her hand away with a flick of his free wrist. “Do not try to silence me, human.”
Mila let out a seething breath through her teeth. “And that’s another thing. My name is not Human,” she told him, jabbing a finger at his chest. “And if you don’t start calling me by my first name, then you’re never gonna be the first to do anything again.”
Caim gave her a sour look but didn’t reply. She pried their hands from her hip and got up from the bed.
It wasn’t entirely dark yet. From her window, Mila saw the brilliant evening sun preparing to dip behind the chain of mountains that flanked the valley.
The light aided her in picking out a dress to wear. She had always been a huge fan of skirts and dresses, but over the past few days, she would have killed for a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Unfortunately, her luggage had yet to arrive, and she was stuck picking from the pile of dresses Rosie had given her. The quirky wolf had very good taste, but her dresses were made to look nice in and weren’t suitable for daily life in the wilderness.
She chose a simple black dress with a leather trim. Feeling a little vindictive, she shimmied into it slowly. She felt their eyes boring into her back. Weak-willed woman that she was, she refused to look at the two wolves until she had made it to the door, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from getting back into bed with them.
After putting on her boots, she went to leave the room. Once she had a foot outside the doorway, she glanced back, struggling to look indifferent as she regarded them. Asch’s golden skin seemed to glow in the rosy hues of twilight. His eyes gleamed as he looked at her imploringly. She chewed her lip as her knees went weak and she felt herself leaning back into the room.
Fortunately, Caim spared her from making a fool of herself and diving back into bed. He turned toward her, his hand fisting his massive erection. With narrowed eyes, he said, “You cannot leave me in this state. Get back in bed.”
Mila snorted in disbelief. “Well, good luck finding someone to help you out with that, because it’s not gonna be me.” She turned to make a dramatic exit, but pivoted on her heel, snapping her head back aroun
d. “And don’t you dare think of actually finding anyone else. You’re not allowed, and that is something I will not negotiate on.”
2
Much like their alphas, the wolves were just starting to rouse from sleep. In the spacious central cavern of the Cairn, they rose up from their fur pallets, yawning, shaking their heads, and stretching their limbs. Most slept in their wolf forms, which Mila knew from her reading was because were-beast senses were heightened in animal form.
She was getting to know them little by little. The handful of males tended to stay in their wolf forms. They kept their distance from her, and she suspected it was because of some sort of unspoken rule that they weren’t allowed to associate with her.
The women spent much more time in their human forms, and Mila was relieved to see that they weren’t all unnaturally beautiful, though most were at least moderately attractive. When she had initially come to the den, many of them had been openly hostile toward her. They had simmered down after the first day once Asch and Caim had both imprinted on her. Now, they just seemed curious about her, but also strangely intimidated.
Brae was already awake and conversing with a small group of females toward the entrance of the den. Mila was relieved to see her. The she-wolf had helped her to come up with the idea of letting the alphas share her, and she was probably the only one that Mila could confide her problems in.
As she made her way across the room, she raised her hand up, preparing to call out for Brae, but Rosie intercepted her.
“Good night, Mila,” she said, materializing in front of Mila. Her auburn hair was braided into two thick pigtails that were tied with green ribbons. She was wearing twin sets of gold bangles on both wrists, and Mila noticed that her nails were painted a deep red.
“You have nail polish?” Mila asked, grabbing Rosie’s wrist. She brought the hand up to examine her meticulously manicured and lacquered digits.
“Do you think they are pretty?” Rosie asked, wiggling her fingers.
“Yeah, you do a good job. I’ve gotta have you do my nails sometime.”
“Were you going to see Brae?” Rosie questioned, glancing at the blonde from over her shoulder. She looked back to Mila. “I can take you to relieve yourself. Do not bother with her. I am a much more valuable friend.”
Mila dropped Rosie’s hand and gave her a tight smile. “That’s fine, but I need to speak with Brae first.”
Not giving Rosie time to object, Mila sidestepped her and approached Brae. When she noticed Mila, Brae stopped talking and gave her a wide grin. The women she was with, whom Mila recognized as Kallie and Trina, clamped their mouths shut and shifted uncomfortably.
“Good night, Mila,” Brae said in her lyrical voice. “Did you sleep well?”
In predominantly female packs, alphas typically had certain women they preferred to sleep with, or “favorites.” Although no one had outright told her, Mila had inferred that Brae had been Asch’s favorite. It was easy to tell why he would choose her. Aside from being beautiful, she was genuinely kind and sweet. Back home in New York, Mila would have probably never been friends with a woman as nice as Brae, but in Lazarus territory, Brae was a much-needed friend.
“What are you guys talking about?” Mila asked, inserting herself into the circle. Kallie and Trina stepped back, both looking as though they were suddenly fascinated by the floor.
Mila’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t know how she was supposed to get through to the other females, and frankly, she had enough on her plate with Asch and Caim right now.
“Nothing important,” Brae said, waving a hand. “Are you hungry? Do you do you need to go outside?”
“I am taking her out. You do not have to concern yourself with her,” Rosie cut in.
Oh yes, and there was that.
Brae folded her arms across her chest. “Do you truly believe that Asch would allow Mila outside of the den with you? A hawk could carry her away and you’d be none-the-wiser.”
“Why do I care what Asch permits? He is not my alpha.”
Brae let out a harsh bark of laughter. “I would enjoy seeing you say that to Asch’s face, you tick.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” Mila snapped, rubbing at her temples. “Why does everything have to be an argument with you people?”
It was just her luck that the only two women who wanted to make friends with her hated each other’s guts. Mila was sure there was some sort of sordid history between the two of them, but she just couldn’t bring herself to care about it.
“Look,” she said, cooling off a little. “I just want to go outside, go pee, and maybe take a walk or something. If you both insist on coming with me, then you aren’t allowed to fight.”
Both women nodded stiffly. Mila noticed that Kallie and Trina had slunk off, and hoped her own outburst hadn’t driven them away.
“We really should ask Asch before we leave the den, though,” Brae told her.
Mila put her hands on her hips. “I thought the valley was supposed to be safe from your rivals?”
“Cairn Valley is the safest of our dens,” Brae agreed. “However, there are other dangers outside besides rival packs.”
“Okay, whatever,” Mila said, flicking her hand dismissively. “But I’m not going to wait around for permission to leave the den. Rosie can look out for bears and you can watch the sky for hawks. Now, let’s go.”
They left the den together, none of them happy with the company. The fresh night air did little to stave off Mila’s foul mood.
She had never considered herself to be an outdoorsy type of girl. She had grown up in the city, and while she had often fantasized about living in the wilderness, the reality of it was a hard pill to swallow after two and a half decades of modern life.
Time sped by in the city, and everyone was racing to keep up. In the valley, time seemed stagnant, but Mila felt dizzier than ever. She thought that for the first time in a long while, she wasn’t adapting to change, but was changing herself. Into what? She had no idea.
* * *
The tawny wolf set the piece of luggage on the forest floor and shifted in place. Fur receded into tan skin and taut flesh. It seemed to travel up and sprout from her head where it poured down her back in a golden disarray.
When she met Asch’s gaze, Lotus raised her chin, giving him a circumspect look. Beside her, Gem unceremoniously dropped the luggage she’d been carrying and dashed forward, shifting as she dove into his waiting arms.
“Asch!” she cried, flinging her arms around his neck. The young female buried her head in his chest and inhaled deeply before letting out a squeal of delight. “You did it! I knew it would be you!”
He put his arms on her shoulder, prying her off his chest. He forced a smile as he looked into her round face. “Welcome back,” he said. He glanced around the clearing. “Where are the others?”
Asch had caught Lotus’s unmistakable scent just a few minutes earlier. He had peeled off from the hunting party, ordering one of the betas to take the lead. He hadn’t anticipated they’d be back so soon, and he wasn’t pleased about it.
“River and Fern are still marking the borders,” Gem offered. “Sable is …” She looked up thoughtfully and tapped her chin. “Sable is in a mood.”
Thank God for small favors. Lotus was enough to deal with. The last thing he needed was the two of them back and screwing everything up.
He looked to Lotus, who stood frozen in place. In the moonlight, she looked like a chunk of marble, hewn into a goddess of righteous indignation.
Not taking his eyes off of Lotus, he patted Gem on the shoulder. “Take the bags to the den. We’ll be back shortly.”
Gem complied without protest. Nearly all of his pack obeyed him without question, even those who favored Caim as alpha. The one glaring exception was now standing before him, giving him a look that would have cowered a lesser man.
Once Gem had bounded off with the bags, Asch sauntered over to Lotus. He gave her a slow smile, purposely baiting her. Lotus
didn’t bite. She saw right through the act, visibly relaxing.
“You are many things, but cruel is not one of them. Where is he?”
Asch nodded to the east. “Back in the den. I was leading the hunt when I caught your scent.”
“Good,” she replied curtly.
She stepped past him, striding purposefully toward the den. They were still two miles out from the Cairn, and he knew she hadn’t shifted because she wanted to talk. He fell into step beside her. She was unnaturally stoic, and for the first time, he wasn’t sure what to say to her.
They walked in silence for a few moments. The only sounds were the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the distant chirpings of crickets. From the corner of his eye, he saw her lips part and close several times.
“Blackthorn raided three of the human farmsteads on the edge of Tye,” she said, breaking the silence. “River and Fern are seeking an audience with Talon, though I doubt they will cease hostilities unless you intervene.”
Asch’s jaw clenched at the prospect. He had sent his best to handle the situation. He hadn’t planned on leaving the valley for at least a few months, and he sure as hell wasn’t leaving when Mila would be fertile any day.
“I’m not the only alpha our pack has. Why don’t you ask Caim to handle it?”
Lotus shot him an impatient look. “Do not patronize me. You know as well as I do that if Caim handled such matters we would never be at peace.”
“And yet you wish it was Caim who had imprinted on her and not me.”
It was a low blow, and she immediately fell silent again. His words had been more bitter than he’d intended, and he realized that no matter how irrational it was, Lotus’s rejection stung.
Over the years that they had been friends, and later pack mates, Lotus had almost always taken his side over Caim’s in important issues. She was a shrewd diplomat and a clever mediator and always recognized Asch as the superior leader. But while she valued Asch as an alpha, he had no illusions about where her loyalties lay.
