Direwolf's Desire (Ice Age Alphas Book 3)

by Lily Thomas

  Zuri patted his bareback with a hand. “Get some food, and I will see if Darc is heading out with the hunting party.” His sister strode away. She wore an animal skin shirt and animal skin pants, not a dress like most of the other women.

  When Zuri found her mate, Rokki would never have to worry about her. Zuri knew her place in this world, and her dire wolf would show anyone and everyone. He might actually pity any male who mated with her.

  The last flickers of sunlight disappeared as the sun sank below the horizon. Darkness crept over the land, casting shadows for predators to lurk.

  Rokki’s mind shifted back to his mate… his human mate, who was somewhere out there. He prayed to the gods, whichever would listen, that his mate would be fine without him by her side. Their world was dangerous, and she seemed to attract danger.

  The flickering orange light drew Rokki in as he weaved his way through the huts and towards the village fire. As he neared, he caught sight of a pack member passing out chunks of fresh meat, blood still running out of the piece.

  His stomach let out a rumble of hunger, and his footsteps hastened towards the fresh meat. “I’ll take a piece.” He held out his hand.

  The man cutting up the animal sent him a brief smile before slicing a slab off the animal with a stone blade and then handed it over to Rokki.

  Taking his piece of meat, Rokki sat down in front of the fire, his back pressed to a log as he snarfed his raw piece of meat down. Some day soon, he would have to give his dire wolf some freedom and go on a hunt in his other form, but for now, he had enough to worry about, like his mate.

  Ruub plopped down on one side of him, and Naab plopped down on the other side.

  “I heard Darc left to go hunting with some of the men,” Ruub commented.

  Rokki arched a dark brow. “Why does this concern me?” He finished off his meat and licked the trickles of blood off his hand.

  “One of you needs to find your mate, so this prophecy can be determined, and the other can leave.” Ruub frowned at the leaping flames of the fire. “The whole pack is tense and worried about the two of you. We’re waiting for one of you to rip out the other’s throat. It’s no good.”

  “Darc and I haven’t had a fight in months, and it was barely anything the last time.” They’d been hunting together, to try and bring them closer like when they’d been pups, but in the end, their dire wolves had decided that fighting each other would be better. It had been a small scrap, nothing more.

  “Because the two of you haven’t set eyes on each other since the last fight.” Ruub countered.

  That was true. He and Darc had kept their distance since the last scrap.

  Rokki stretched out his long bare legs towards the fire until he could feel the warmth of the flames touching the bottoms of his feet. As the cold night air settled around them, his human skin was beginning to prickle in an effort to conserve heat.

  “One of you needs to find their mate.”

  Rokki glared over at Ruub. “You’ve said that, and if you have any great ideas of where one of our mates might be, I’m sure we would listen to you.”

  Ruub shook his head of shoulder-length brown hair. “If I knew how to find mates, I’d have a bigger hut and my own mate!”

  Naab and Rokki chuckled.

  The men fell into silence as more pack members joined them at the fire, some in their dire wolf forms, and some naked, like himself. A few female pack members had animal skin skirts around their waists, but nothing covered their breasts, exposing them to anyone’s view.

  Rokki didn’t stare at any of them, though. All he could think about was his mate. He still felt irritated with her disappearance. What bothered him was the fact that he couldn’t do anything. He was useless. Powerless. He’d never felt this way before, and he wasn’t fond of the emotions.

  A shadow fell over Rokki, and when he glanced up to see what was blocking the light from the fire, he saw a female pack member standing over his legs. Each of her small feet were on either side of his calves.

  “Ira.” Rokki greeted her.

  “Rokki.” She purred in a smooth voice that spoke volumes. Reaching up, she cupped the undersides of her breasts and lifted them slightly. “Want to see if we’re mates?”

  Rokki rolled his eyes. “My dire wolf doesn’t respond to yours.” They’d even tried sex to see if the wolves would respond to each other, but nothing had happened, except now Ira was determined to see them mated. It had been a mistake.

  “Maybe we weren’t mates back then, but our wolves could have changed. We could be mates now.”

  Oh, how he wished he could tell her, he’d found his mate, and it wasn’t her. But he couldn’t. Not now.

  “I’d be willing to see if we are mates.” Ruub sent Ira a saucy grin.

  Ira’s lips drew down in a scowl as her eyes slid over to him. “We’d know by now if we were mates.” And then she walked off with a stiff back.

  Rokki was thankful for the save by Ruub, whether the man had meant to or not.

  “I wish I was an alpha sometimes,” Ruub commented. “Then, females would flock to me like they do with you, and unlike you, I would enjoy every single one in my bed.”

  Naab leaned over so he could see Ruub past Rokki. “If you were alpha, your life would continuously be in danger. Other males would always be challenging you.”

  “True.” Ruub nodded his head, then he patted Rokki’s back. “Maybe I should be glad to be middle of the pack. No one wishes me dead.”

  Sometimes Rokki wished he was just a normal pack member, not an omega, not a beta and especially not an alpha. The position did come with its issues, like the lingering threat of death, but it also came with great moments, like leading his clan to success and seeing them through hard times.

  Shoving himself to his feet, Rokki strode away from the fire and his pack mates. He needed to find some clothes. He strode over to his hut, pushed through the animal skin flap guarding the entrance. Some warm coals glowed in his personal fire pit, which meant someone in the clan was kind enough to keep his fire going so his hut didn’t get cold.

  Opening a basket made of dried reeds, he dug out a shirt and some pants. Then he found a pair of moccasins and slipped them around his feet. Now he just needed some female clothing for his mate. So far, she kept appearing naked. He didn’t need his human mate catching a chill and dying on him.

  Slipping out of his tent, and with a quick glance around to make sure most of the pack was around the village fire, Rokki loped over to the hut his sisters shared. With another quick glance, he made sure no one was around before sliding into the hut, which was empty.

  Scrounging through the hut, Rokki dug around as he searched for some clothing that he thought would fit his mate. He’d felt her curvy body, and he knew none of Zuri’s clothing would fit her, but maybe Ibi would have some clothing that would fit his mate. Ibi was his middle sister, younger than him, but older than Ode, and she had a few curves.

  Once Rokki found a shirt and pants, he maneuvered over to the hut entrance. Slipping a finger through the entrance, he brought back the flap and peered out. There still wasn’t anyone nearby to spot him, so he slid out of his sisters’ hut and into the forest.

  He needed to be careful with how much he left the village lest someone grow interested in his movements.

  Rokki couldn’t stop the hop in his steps as he wandered back to the spot where she’d disappeared. Soon, he would have her in his arms again, and this time he was removing that bracelet from her wrist.

  Chapter 8

  Andrea woke in her hotel bed, the sheets tangled around her legs. Her body was hot and soaked in sweat. The sweet spot between her thighs ached, and she groaned as she flipped onto her stomach and mumbled into her pillow. She beat her fists against the mattress in frustration.

  Regret filled her, and she resisted the temptation to slip the wooden bracelet back on her wrist and go back to mister dreamy. His black shoulder-length hair and those piercing golden eyes that sent her
heart skittering in delight. Oh, and those lips. They’d been so hard and demanding, but at the same time, soft and gentle.

  These thoughts were the exact reason why she didn’t want to get intimate with her dreamy werewolf friend. Now she was hot and bothered and wanted something more than what they’d already shared. She wanted that man between her thighs, penetrating her, sucking on her breasts, and bringing her the best god damn orgasm she’d ever experienced.

  But now Andrea was alone in her bed.

  The alarm next to the bed began screaming with a high-pitched buzzing noise like a banshee gone wild.

  Screech! Screech! Screech!

  “I’m up!” Andrea screamed back at the machine. A flailing hand tried in vain to find the snooze button, but eventually, she had to give up after she knocked a couple of items off the nightstand and onto the hotel bedroom floor.

  “Fine!” Andrea scrambled to sit on the edge of the bed. She reached out and grabbed the alarm with two hands. The red numbers on the front of the screen blinked at her in annoyance. She smacked the off button.

  It was time to get back to work, and she felt like she hadn’t slept a wink. Great. This was yet another reason why she shouldn’t be so eager to jump back into her dream world because it was a dream. There was no such thing as a werewolf. If there were, she figured she’d know of them in the twenty-first century.

  Leaping from the bed, Andrea grabbed one of the many pairs of cargo pants that she owned and yanked them onto her legs. Then she grabbed her bra and a shirt and whipped them on. As she danced through the kitchenette area, she grabbed a power bar off the countertop and darted for her door.

  She needed to talk to Emma about this.

  The moment Andrea threw her car into park, she glanced down at her wrist and realized the wooden bracelet was still dangling there. She blinked dumbly for a couple of seconds, before ripping it off and stuffing it into her cargo pants pocket.

  If she found a chance alone, she should return the object to the right table and never think about it again.

  She’d almost worn it back into the dig site like a complete idiot. These dreams had her losing her mind, and if she wasn’t careful, she might lose her job.

  Emma strode past her car and waved at her. A smile always on her red-tinged lips. Her bouncy curls had been pulled into a tight ponytail behind her head.

  Andrea popped the door open and stepped out. “Hey, Emma.”

  “Hey. You look tired.” Emma’s head tilted to the side as her light blue eyes skimmed over Andrea’s face. “Still having some side effects from when you passed out? Should you be here working? Maybe you should get some rest. None of us want you to pass out again.”

  “No,” Andrea waved it away even though she was touched by Emma’s concern, “I just haven’t been sleeping the best at night. I might buy some tea before I head back to my hotel room tonight, something to conk me out.”

  “Well, you let me know.” Emma winked at her. “I have some wicked awesome pills that will put you right out if you end up needing something with a bigger punch.”

  “Uhhh, yeah, thanks for the offer.” Andrea wasn’t someone who was comfortable taking medications that her doctor hadn’t prescribed for her. “But I think I’m good. I’ll try to drink some tea before I go to bed tonight rather than wine.”

  “Any time.”

  “You know those dreams I told you about?” Andrea asked as they started towards the dig site. Her shows kicked up dust every time she took a step. The area they were digging was dry as a bone, and even though the sun had only just come up, it was already sweltering hot.

  “The dreams with the werewolf?” Emma asked as they walked over to a tent and grabbed their supplies for another day of digging in the dirt and cleaning off artifacts.

  “Yeah, that one.” Andrea hefted her heavy bag of metal tools and brushes.

  “What about it?” Emma asked.

  “Well,” Andrea tucked her tools under her arm, “I had them again last night.”

  “Ooo la la.” Emma sang. “End in anything fun this time?” She sent Andrea a wink and a couple of wiggles of her eyebrows.

  Andrea shrugged. “It was decent… didn’t get as far as I would have liked, but I chickened out. My werewolf would have sealed the deal with me if I hadn’t pushed him away.” She still regretted her decision. There were so many things she should do, but she didn’t want to do.

  “You should talk to your dream self because if a hunky werewolf ever visited my dreams, I would jump him like he was a slice of chocolate cake and never look back.”

  Andrea’s eyes skimmed over Emma’s perfect frame. “When do you eat chocolate cake?”

  “That’s the point!” Emma laughed. “I don’t eat cake, but if I ever decided to have a slice, watch out, because I would cramp it into my mouth by the fistfuls.”

  Andrea pealed into a bit of laughter at the image of Emma and her perfect hair and perfect makeup, slamming chocolate cake into her mouth. “Don’t forget to enjoy the occasional slice, Emma.”

  “I enjoy a slice every birthday,” Emma said with a solid nod of her head.

  “Well, anyway, the werewolf and I had a lovely time, and right as we were about to do the nasty, I stopped him.”

  “Bet your dream man wasn’t happy about that.”

  Andrea shook her head. His eyes had widened with shock at her refusal to go further, and she had to admit she was a bit confused why she hadn’t gone further. It’d been a dream! There were no consequences in a dream.

  “Was he in human form, or was he wolfed out?”

  “Excuse me?” Andrea asked as she climbed the metal ladder into the dig site, which was below ground level.

  Emma quickly followed her down the metal rungs before landing in the dirt.

  “Was he in human form or wolf form when you two were getting frisky?” Emma wiggled her brows. “Was he hairy and scary?”

  “What?” Andrea scowled. “No! He was human.”

  “Too bad. I think I’d prefer a slightly wolfed out version of the man myself. Maybe he could wolf out only halfway? Still a man, but with claws and canines?” Emma continued to wiggle her eyebrows, looking like a dumb dumb.

  “I guess it would depend on how wolfed out he was,” Andrea admitted. She wasn’t sure she would want a fully wolfed man, but she supposed there was a certain appeal to a somewhat wolfed out man. As long as he wasn’t covered in hair. Yuck! She wasn’t sure she would be into that.

  “You doing better?”

  Andrea glanced up to see Clyde crouched at the top of the dig pit she and Emma were in. “I’m good.” She gave him the thumbs-up signal.

  “I don’t need you fainting again.” Clyde’s steely blue eyes searched her as though he would be able to visibly assess her for any signs of possible fainting.

  “I’m not going to faint.” Andrea rolled her eyes. Not unless she put the wooden bracelet on her wrist again, but she wouldn’t do that while she was at work.

  “Maybe you should take a couple of days off or see a doctor. It could be low blood pressure or something.”

  “Clyde! You aren’t a doctor.”

  “That’s why I think you should set up an appointment. I’ll pay for the visit.” Clyde insisted.

  Andrea cried out. “I’m fine! Leave us to work and stop worrying like my mother.” Although, to be honest, her mother didn’t worry about her all that much because she was a grown woman.

  “How about this,” Emma interjected, “I’ll stay by her side all day, and if I notice anything weird, you’ll be the first person I tell.”

  Clyde ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair as his eyes shifted between the two of them. “Fine. That will work.” Standing up, he turned and left them to continue working in the dirt.

  “He’s worse than a mother bear.” Emma rolled her eyes. “But at least our boss cares about us.”

  “He probably doesn’t want to fill out an injury report, not that he cares.” Andrea laughed as she took a small pick ou
t of her tool kit and gently removed dirt in case there was anything lying underneath the ground. She’d hate to damage any submerged artifacts.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “He worries about all of us. Anyways,” she waved a manicured hand that shouldn’t be anywhere near dirt, “anything more about this dream of yours?”

  “Not really. Just the werewolf and a little,” Andrea’s cheeks heated as she recalled the vivid memory, “fooling around. It felt so real like it wasn’t a dream. I have no idea how to explain it, but werewolves aren’t real.”

  “Maybe you should join one of these dating apps, you know the ones where you swipe right or left. Get some of those urges dealt with a little fling that means nothing... get the urges itched.”

  “Yeah… no thanks.” Andrea shook her head, causing her ponytail to bounce around as she continued to dig at the dirt with a pick. “I’m not into one-night stand situations… you don’t know who those people are. They could be killers.”

  “True. That’s why I don’t do them.”

  Andrea’s head popped up as she stared at Emma. “So, you suggest that I use apps that you wouldn’t even consider?”

  “What?” Emma shrugged as she laughed the word out. “Maybe you would be into this kind of thing. I don’t know until I suggest something.”

  “We’ve found a mammoth skull!” Someone from another dig pit yelled excitedly.

  “Did they just say mammoth skull?” Emma’s head popped up, and her eyes sparkled excitedly.

  “I think they did.”

  Both of the women dropped their tools and raced up the ladder to find where this fun discovery was located. Andrea loved the thrills of her job… and even more than that, she enjoyed her ice age dreams.

  Andrea laid down on her hotel bed, ignoring the grumbling of her stomach. This bracelet was like an addiction, something that influenced her actions and flooded her mind with wishful thoughts. All she wanted to do was get another dose.

  Slipping the cool wood around her hand and onto her wrist, Andrea shut her eyes and waited for sleep to overtake her. This bracelet was an addiction, and she was helpless to resist it.