Mated to the Pack

by Sam Crescent

  She was part of his life now, and there was no way he could ever let her go. Stroking the backs of his fingers down her cheek, he pressed his face against her neck, right where he’d bitten her. Inhaling her sweetness, it calmed the beast within, allowing him to think once again.

  “I was captured many moons ago,” he said. “I know they told you I was taken. I was kept for months where they beat me. They drugged me, and they made it next to impossible to even think straight. I didn’t know what I was, human or beast. I was nothing but a piece of meat to them. A dog that had been trained and forced to do as they told. They wanted me to hunt, to help them locate more of my kind. I refused. Even when I wanted death, I didn’t give in.” Lucia’s arms tightened around him. “I’m not surprised by humans hunting or wanting our kind. There is always someone who’s wanting a fresh kill, a challenge, and we give it to them.”

  “You got away.”

  “One of the guards was drunk. When they were taking care of us, guard duty, they’d been ordered to be alert. So, I waited, and when he was close enough, he wasn’t a match for me. I killed him. Snapped his neck, took the keys, released as many wolves as I could, and I ran. I ran so fast that I couldn’t even remember the direction I took. I just know that one day, I stumbled into my father’s arms and no more bad stuff happened. I was done. Any human that came near me, I vowed I’d kill them.”

  “You stayed here?”

  “Yes. I didn’t leave this land again. My father knew I was ready to take over. When I left, I didn’t even know if I wanted to be alpha. I’d hoped to find all my answers far away, and in turn, I lost a part of myself.”

  She held him tighter, and he was aware of his pack at the door. They’d heard the truth that he’d told Lucia.

  He didn’t mind that they knew. They’d all been curious for so long now.

  What happened to him had been a lifetime ago, and yet it stayed with him. It always stayed with him.

  It never ended.

  There was no reprieve from the darkness that surrounded his soul and tortured him every single day.

  Turning to the men, he saw their worry in their eyes. “We can’t split up. We’re going to have to stay as one unit.”

  “They’re that close?” Noah asked.

  “They could stumble onto us at any moment. We all knew it was a risk.”

  “You can’t find them?” Billy asked. “Can’t we go and follow their scent?”

  “They’re masking it,” Ryan said. “Besides, if we leave our land we could be walking into a trap.”

  “Do you think it’s the men that went after my pack?” Lucia asked. She tensed at his side.

  He held her tightly this time. “I don’t know.”

  “If they’re on our land, they know about us,” Luke said.

  “Or they know that no human has ever been found once they’re here,” Noah said.

  “We can debate this all night, but I’m tired. We need to take care of each other and to protect what’s ours. I don’t know how many are out there, and I’m not willing to risk it. We stay here. We fight here, and when we’re done, they will all die.”

  Chapter Ten

  “You have guns?” Lucia asked the following morning as Luther demanded she stay at his side. The rest of her men were putting up wooden reinforcements on the inside of the house to offer more protection. They were also running drills just in case.

  “Yes. The one thing I learned from my time in captivity, humans love their guns, and they’re one of our biggest weaknesses, especially if they get a shot at us. The best thing about these things, we can kill them with one bullet.”

  She rubbed at her temple. “If I wasn’t here, would you be out there, hunting them?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate.

  “Luther, I’m a strong fighter. I can be by your side, fighting them.”

  “Not happening.”

  “Why? I want to hurt them. They took my family from me.”

  He continued to empty out the cases, and she waited as he picked them up. “First of all, we don’t know if they’re the ones that hurt your family. Secondly, you’re part of our pack, so I would never put you in danger. Third, we’ve been waiting for you for so long. You really think I’m going to give you up and let someone else take you? You’re mine. You belong to all of us.” He held the guns in one hand. “And that means you will always come first.”

  “He’s right,” Ryan said, coming downstairs and helping. “You will always be our first priority.”

  She followed the men upstairs as they started to load each weapon. They looked like rifles, and she picked one up that wasn’t loaded. “Then at least show me how to shoot.”

  “You’re not going to need to do that.”

  “Please, you guys get to have all the fun, and I have to sit back and cower? That is so not fair.”

  “Life’s not fair, sweetheart,” Luther said.

  “I vote that Lucia should at least know how to handle a gun,” Noah said, coming into the kitchen to grab a drink.

  She smiled and rushed to his side, throwing her arm around his shoulders. “See, he’s on my side.”

  “Me too,” Billy said, entering the kitchen.

  “Do you even know what we’re talking about?” Luther asked.

  “Taking care of our woman.” Billy placed a hand on her stomach. “No matter what. She wants to learn to shoot, if it’s more than a couple of humans and an entire gang of them, we’re going to need all the help we can get, including help from her.”

  She smiled over at Luther.

  “I’m not sure,” Luke said, entering the kitchen. He held a hammer in his fist. “It’s our duty to take care of our woman. Five of us, no matter how many of them, is a lot.”

  “I’m not willing to risk it,” Lucia said. “You may think you’re all the big bad here and you can handle everything that is thrown your way, but what about me? You think I want to see you guys in trouble? You guys dying? We don’t know how big the threat is, and I don’t want to risk it. I’m going to learn, and you can either help me or stand aside and let someone else.”

  Silence met her demands, and she stared at Luther, waiting to see if he’d deny her.

  “You know, you are incredibly sexy when you boss me around,” he said.

  His smirk always made her ache for more of him. She couldn’t think as he stepped closer to her, taking the gun from her hands.

  The tension in the room changed, and she knew he was doing it on purpose. As he took her lips in a searing kiss, she let out a whimper.

  With her hands empty, she wrapped them around his neck. He trailed his lips down to her neck, sucking on the bite that he’d given her.

  She heard all the men moan, and she stared past Luther’s shoulder, watching them. They looked like they wanted to eat her, and she had no problem with that.

  “Move the guns,” Luther said.

  She let out a gasp as she was lifted up and then placed down on the table. Within a matter of seconds, he had her jeans off and spread her thighs open.

  Luther’s shirt was already gone, and he opened up his own pants but made no move to pull out his cock. Her mouth watered. Her nipples were so hard as she stared at him.

  He knelt before her, pulling her close to the edge. She cried out as his tongue latched onto her clit, biting on the bud.

  Ryan and Noah each took one of her nipples, and she closed her eyes, her body going from alert to pure pleasure.

  Luther pushed two fingers inside her, stretching them open and sucking on her clit.

  All it ever took from them was a few strokes, and she was always ready to go up in flames.

  “Always so wet. So perfect,” Luther said, mumbling the words against her pussy.

  “Don’t forget sweet,” Noah said before biting down on her tit. It was almost too much, and she screamed.

  She wanted it again. She didn’t want any of them to stop.

  Luther sucked all of her clit into his mouth, his teeth grazi
ng around the nub, and she cried his name, wanting more. He added a third finger and started to rock inside her. It wasn’t enough. She wanted his cock sliding in and out of her.

  He’s stopping you from thinking!

  I don’t care.

  I need him.

  “Please, Luther, I want you.”

  “You want my cock inside you?”

  “I want you all inside me.”

  “All in good time.” Luther pressed a kiss to her clit.

  She was so close to coming.

  Luther’s cock moved against her pussy, and she moaned his name. She stared down between them, and he ran his cock up and down her slit, bumping against her clit, driving her need higher. When he moved to her pussy and she felt him start to slide in, she was so ready for him, so hungry for his cock and what he wanted to give her.

  Spreading her legs wide, she gave herself over to her pack, to their touch, and knew this was what she wanted for the rest of her life.

  What about love?

  It was the only thing that remained, and she didn’t know if she could live without it.

  ****

  Later that night Luther sat down in the sitting room, staring out of the window. The lights were out, and he heard his woman and his men taking her. After making love to her in the kitchen, they’d moved it upstairs until they had to stop for some food. He cooked for them all, but while Lucia had gone upstairs to take a shower and the others followed, he’d stayed.

  He’d cleaned up all of the dishes and then stared out at the night, waiting, preparing.

  “You know, you can’t stay there forever,” Luke said, coming into the room.

  “I know. Shouldn’t you be upstairs?”

  “We’re a pack. You need some company.”

  “I know I’d rather be upstairs,” he said.

  “You can’t just fuck her whenever she asks to take care of us.”

  “That’s not the plan, but it sounds like a good one.”

  “Do you love her?”

  “I don’t do love.” The lie spilled from his lips easily.

  “Really? Because if you didn’t care she’d be learning to fire a weapon right now. You know it. We all know it.”

  He stared at Luke. They had all grown up together, so they all knew each other’s business.

  “You in love with her?” Luther asked.

  “We all are. That’s the bond of mating, Luther. You know this.”

  He gritted his teeth.

  “Why are you so afraid to say you love her?” Luke asked.

  “Because then it will hurt too much if I fail her.”

  “You won’t fail her.”

  “You don’t know that. I’m the best damn tracker this pack has, and I can’t find them, Luke. They have managed to completely fucking hide their scent, and I can’t find it. I shouldn’t be sitting here guarding this house because all of those hunters should be dead. I can kill them so easily, but I can’t kill what’s not there.”

  “Then help me,” Lucia said, drawing his attention to her.

  He hadn’t realized she’d joined him. She wasn’t alone either.

  Ryan, Billy, and Noah were all there.

  She’d pulled on one of his shirts, and she moved into the sitting room, going straight to him. She took the gun from his grip, putting it on the floor and straddling his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes.

  “I never thought I would love a man, let alone five. We have no idea who our mates are and what that all means, but with you, I know. When I look at you, and Noah, Luke, Ryan, and Billy, I feel this need inside me. I love you all as a pack and separately. You are my world, and I will do whatever it takes to protect you all because that is why love is worth fighting for. I love you, Luther. I am going to be by your side for the rest of our lives, and we can only do that if you let me help you. Don’t close me off. Don’t pretend the fight isn’t here. It is, and I want to be by your side to help you. To love you, and to make those bastards pay for all they’ve taken from us.”

  He gripped her ass and smiled. “We haven’t known each other all that long.”

  “Someone once told me that as a wolf I don’t need to worry about that.” She kissed him. “And I’m going to take his advice. I don’t know if we’ll be able to face those humans, but I do know a sixth person helping is better than five.”

  He stroked her back, thinking about the first night he saw her. The way she’d crashed into his body and his wolf had gone into instant alert. He’d wanted her so badly, and he’d tried to fight it.

  “I’m done fighting.”

  “And don’t think for one second I didn’t know what you were up to this afternoon. I knew, and I let you get away with it.”

  “I have no idea what you mean,” he said.

  She chuckled. “Play dumb if you want.” She winked at him. “Now, do you want to teach me tonight or tomorrow?”

  He looked over her shoulder at his men, his pack, his brothers. They’d fight by his side and would do anything and everything to help him protect her.

  “I can’t let anything happen to her,” he said.

  “You think we want that as well?” Ryan asked. “I will fight to the death for her.”

  “We all would,” Noah said, to which the other men agreed.

  “Have no doubt, Luther, you’re not alone anymore. You were never alone. We’ve been here this whole time,” Luke said. “You’ve just got to give us a chance to prove to you that we’re as good as you.”

  “Tomorrow morning, we start training. I don’t want any excuses.” They didn’t have time for mistakes.

  The human hunters were coming, and when they turned up, all hell was going to break loose.

  Chapter Eleven

  Instead of using actual bullets, Luther used a paint gun, and Lucia wasn’t happy. Blue paint covered her body, and she groaned as she got his in the side while trying to dodge a bullet.

  Noah had opened his mouth the first morning of training and asked how hard it could be to dodge a bullet. Right now, she wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

  None of them in human form or wolf form had been able to dodge a damn bullet.

  There was only one man against them, Luther.

  He’d shown them how bad it could be because of guns.

  “Each time I hit you that could be the difference between a tranq dart or an actual bullet. You don’t have time to know. One will knock you out if it’s powerful enough in a matter of seconds. The other, it will wound you, if not kill you,” Luther said.

  “I thought the whole point of us training was to use those damn guns,” she said, wiping her hands down her body.

  She was covered in paint and not amused.

  “My bad,” Noah said. “I get it. We can’t dodge a bullet, so now we’ve got to learn to fire a gun.”

  “Now that we’ve wasted an entire morning,” Billy said. “Did you have to go for my neck?”

  “If the hunter behind the gun is a shit shot, yes,” Luther said, lowering the paint gun. “How is your fighting and defense?”

  “Erm, not very good.” She groaned, looking at Luther. “That’s not good, is it?”

  “You got away from the humans when your pack was attacked,” Luke said.

  “That I did. So I can’t be that—” She never got to finish as she was suddenly lifted in the air and tackled to the ground.

  “This is not fair.” Luther had a hand around her neck, but he wasn’t holding her tightly. “You cheated.”

  “You think humans will take their time? You were distracted.”

  “I’m surrounded by five of the sexiest men alive, sue me.”

  “I won’t sue, but I don’t want to be burying your body, Lucia. I’ll be burying mine right along with it,” Luther said.

  “I’m guessing you’d make that all five of us because none of us would be able to live without you.”

  She felt tears spring to her eyes. “I … I didn’t think.” She didn’t want to
have to consider a life without either of them. It would be half a life.

  “So, we keep on fighting.”

  “I’d say we go straight to guns, and I learn to shoot.”

  “Not happening. You’re going to learn to defend yourself. There’s five of us. I want to test your strength.”

  “My strength is not what it used to be,” she said.

  Luther rolled his eyes.

  She was determined to make him smile, but she had a feeling he really wasn’t interested right now, which was more than fine.

  We’re being hunted.

  Get in the damn game.

  Standing in the center of their circle, Lucia looked around at each man.

  “I’m not really fit for this,” Noah said.

  “You’re going to do it, and that’s final,” Luther said.

  Lucia didn’t know what would be worse, that for the next thirty minutes she proved to her men that she wasn’t a fighter or that they looked even more scared by the end of it.

  With Luther on top of her, she saw his worry.

  “I got away,” she said.

  “Yes, and we can see it was blind luck that did it, Lucia.”

  “I can do this. You’re not going to stop me from helping you guys.” She looked at each of her men that had come to stand closer to her. Tears filled her eyes, and she felt like the world’s biggest loser. “So I can’t evade a wolf capture. Even when you’re not trying at full strength that doesn’t mean I can’t escape human hunters.”

  “And if they have wolves on their side?” Luther said.

  “No wolf would help a human.”

  “They would if they wanted the torture to stop. I’ve seen it happen.”

  This was useless. “You’re not getting your way, Luther. I don’t care what you say. You can help me to train using the weapon or I’ll do it myself.”

  “I have a basement.”

  “You won’t sleep freely again. I will scream the damn house down. Don’t do this.”

  “Luther, I know you don’t want her to touch a gun, but she really needs to,” Ryan said.

  The wind picked up, and they all stood up as they looked toward the forest. She inhaled deeply but couldn’t smell anything.