Gertrude and Elsa looked at her, dumbfounded. Grandmother didn’t often have personal conversations with any of them. Sophie smelled their shock at Grandmother’s words and was dying to ask the question she’d bet all of them wanted to ask.
Had her mate cheated on Grandmother? He had died before Sophie had been whelped. And Grandmother had become pack leader when Sophie was still a cub. There had been controversy around it, but the stories explaining that time so long ago varied and were full of holes. Sophie never had the nerve to ask what Grandmother had done to become pack leader. The obvious had to be true. She’d killed the previous pack leader. That was the only way any lunewulf led a pack.
“Nik wouldn’t have cheated on me,” she said quietly.
Grandmother turned around with more agility than she usually used. “All young bitches make that claim. But mark my words. He won’t cheat on you with pack law. He’ll be too busy making sure he is the alpha male in your den. The three of you should be thanking me, and not acting like cubs.”
Elsa grabbed several folding chairs and one of them clanged against the floor, making a loud banging sound. Her anger made it so spicy in the room that Grandmother made a show of wiping her finger over her nose.
“You’ll regret your lack of appreciation long before I do.” Grandmother pointed her bony finger at Elsa, and the room filled with even more anger.
Elsa didn’t say a word. Neither did Sophie or Gertrude. Obviously feeling she’d put her granddaughters in their place, Grandmother walked out of the room and into her office.
Sophie finished unfolding the chairs and lining them in rows. Her littermates worked alongside her, none of them saying a word. No matter how old and decrepit Grandmother made a show of being, Sophie didn’t doubt for a moment that she’d overhear anything they said while in the living room.
They had twenty minutes before the pack would show up and Sophie hurried toward the stairs, her littermates at her heels.
“Shit,” Gertrude said when the three of them closed the door to Sophie’s room. Gertrude collapsed on Sophie’s bed and shook her head in disbelief.
“Grandmother is insane.” Sophie cocked her head toward the door, fighting her human senses to try to hear more than she could while in her skin. She was pretty sure no one was upstairs who might overhear them.
“I wonder if she had a mate who cheated on her,” Elsa mused.
“Kind of sounds like she might have,” Gertrude said.
“That would explain why she’s gone nuts with this new pack law.” Sophie moved away from her door and looked in her mirror. A little makeup wouldn’t hurt. Even though she’d just seen Nik, she wanted to look her best when she saw him again. Not to mention, her other soon-to-be mates would be there too. That thought twisted her stomach into knots. “I don’t get why she used the lack of females in the pack as an excuse.”
“Especially when it’s true,” Gertrude added. “We don’t have that many single females. But she could have ordered all of us to have lots of cubs instead of giving us three mates. By the way, have either of you mated yet?”
Sophie powdered the shine away from her nose and forehead. Then reaching for her brush, she worked the tangles out of her hair and glanced curiously at Elsa before meeting Gertrude’s attentive stare.
“You?” Gertrude asked.
“Yes,” Sophie said, unable to hide her smile.
When Gertrude grinned too, Sophie hurried to the bed and plopped down next to her oldest littermate. “I want all the details,” she announced.
Elsa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, but she didn’t leave the room. No matter how much of a prude their youngest littermate tried to make everyone think she was, Sophie had an idea that she was just stubborn. God help the male Elsa finally set her eyes on. He would have his work cut out for him.
“Matthew and I mated last night,” Gertrude told both of them. She smelled happy about it and looked to Sophie for her blessing.
Sophie immediately hugged Gertrude. “I can smell how happy you are.”
“Well he’s a good male, and the pack doctor. He spoke with Grandmother this morning, and I’m moving into his den with him this weekend.” Gertrude bit her lip, nervous for obvious reasons. “We haven’t discussed my other mates yet, but Doug Fleming called me today.”
“You’ve mated with the pack doctor?” Elsa asked in disbelief.
“He is a respected male in our pack.” Gertrude defended him immediately. “And he really isn’t that bad. I’ll have the rank offered with his den, and Doug Fleming is one hell of a sexy male, you have to admit.”
“But do you love either of them? What about your third mate?” Elsa challenged.
“This isn’t about love.” Gertrude waved her hand in the air as if the question was silly. She then combed her short blonde hair with her fingers and looked down at her lap. “I’m the pack doctor’s mate. That is an incredibly honorable position in the pack. Doug Fleming is hot as hell. I don’t know Roger Peugeot—the other male I’m supposed to mate with—that well, but I’ve seen him and he’s definite eye candy. So I get rank and good looks. What else matters?”
Sophie had a feeling love mattered quite a bit to Gertrude. “Maybe you’ll grow to love at least one of them.”
Her littermate glanced at her and smiled. “Maybe. And you? How are things with you and Nik?”
“We mated last night.”
“Finally,” Elsa said with exaggerated exasperation. “So now both of you are moving out and leaving me behind.”
Sophie jumped off the bed and Gertrude was right behind her. Both of them pulled Elsa in to a group hug. Their youngest littermate stiffened for only a moment and then relaxed against them. For a moment the three of them held each other and Sophie wished she could wipe the smell of sadness off her youngest littermate.
“Nik hasn’t spoken to Grandmother yet.” She quickly gave her littermates a summarized version of the story that Nik told her earlier today about their den situation. “The land we checked out earlier though is beautiful. I can’t wait until our den is on it.”
“And what about your other two mates?” Elsa asked. She rubbed Sophie’s shoulder, really sounding like she wanted to know.
Sophie licked her lips. Sharing what Nik had told her felt like exposing the intimacies of their sex life with her littermates. Although in the past the three of them had always told each other about the males who came sniffing around, this somehow seemed even more personal. She’d bonded with Nik now, become his mate, and her loyalties now lay with him. But Elsa asked because she cared, not because she was being nosy or wanted to spread gossip. She couldn’t stop the heat that spread over her cheeks or the sour smell that seeped from her pores when she grinned at Gertrude and Elsa.
“Well,” she began, whispering. “Nik has arranged for my other two mates to join us.”
“Join you?” Gertrude asked, wrinkling her brow.
“Yes. I’m going to fuck all three of them at the same time.”
The pack filled all of the folding chairs, and most of the males stood along the walls. Grandmother had the chairs in rows facing her for a reason. She paced in front of them, adding to the already overwhelming sensation of ill ease.
Sophie stood in the back, near the doorway heading into the dining area, with her littermates on either side of her. She watched Nik, whose attention was on Grandmother. He stood along the far wall, his arms crossed over his muscular chest. His straw blond hair was windblown, and his brooding expression offered no clues of what he thought about the meeting so far. Sophie didn’t give a damn about the disputes between dens—like any of the arguments she’d heard presented to Grandmother so far were a bit of a surprise. Nik respected pack laws. She wouldn’t doubt for a minute that he’d agree that all complaints presented by the dens standing before Grandmother should be resolved according to the letter of the laws.
Two dens, each convinced the other had done them wrong, howled their grievances to Gran
dmother. She mediated calmly, her tone firm. Sophie couldn’t help but notice that the frail old bitch they so often saw around the den was nowhere in sight at the moment. Grandmother appeared strong, aggressive and ready to fight if needed. In spite of her petite stature, she looked like a bitch to be reckoned with.
“She is enjoying this way too much,” Elsa whispered loud enough for a few of their pack mates to turn and sniff in her direction.
“Shush.” Sophie didn’t want Elsa in even more trouble with Grandmother.
The dispute seemed petty and Sophie turned her attention to Nik. Even across the room he made her wet with desire. Then she noticed Jonathan Abram standing next to Nik. She’d never known the two males to spend that much time running together. He was a couple years older than Nik, and Sophie hardly knew him at all. But she would know him really well soon.
She took advantage of the pack surrounding them and let her gaze travel slowly down Jonathan, checking him out. He wasn’t an unattractive lunewulf. His lanky physique would probably appeal to many bitches. Did he have a girlfriend? If so, no bitch had sought her out to challenge her. His longish blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The black leather coat he wore gave him that badass look. She’d seen him in Prince George working construction and knew he had a few tattoos. Would he be a rough and demanding lover?
Suddenly her pussy throbbed hard enough to make her smell like lust. She turned her attention to Grandmother—anything to make the musky scent go away. No matter how boring the pack meeting was, she couldn’t get the thought of fucking all of them out of her head.
She would know soon enough what it would be like.
“I will say it again—there will be no more challenges over the assigned matings. All of them will be consummated within thirty days or the males will be killed.” Grandmother gave the pack a shrewd look. “Now, is there any more business that needs addressed?”
The pack shifted in their seats, and the many standing along the walls grew edgy, anticipating the end of the meeting. The old bitch nodded at the group. “Very well. This meeting is adjourned.”
Grandmother Rousseau took her time returning to her chair at the other end of the living room, but Sophie sighed with relief. She almost floated across the room when Nik started moving toward her with Jonathan at his side. Her insides danced nervously, but she couldn’t wait to be in Nik’s arms. She had no problem getting to know Jonathan if the three of them were together.
“Sophie.” Gertrude grabbed Sophie’s arm to get her attention. “Matthew just got word that Grandmother wants to talk to you in her office in five minutes. She said you’re supposed to go there now.” She ran her finger across her throat and made a face.
Sophie glared at Matthew’s backside when he moved away from them and out of the living room.
She glanced toward Nik, who’d been detained by an older couple. She couldn’t get his attention. Resigned that she would have to deal with the old bitch by herself, she made a face and nodded. “She can’t accuse me of doing anything wrong.” She hoped.
The pack mingled in the living area and the dining room, where food was laid out for everyone. Sophie walked down the quiet hallway, staring at the closed office door that suddenly looked very foreboding. The doorknob was cold in her damp palm when she turned it and pushed the door open silently.
Grandmother entered her office from the adjoining door to the living room. She closed the door behind her and stared at Sophie with icy, pale blue eyes. Sophie shut her door, leaning against it with her hand still on the doorknob, hating how her heart thudded in her chest. But damn it. She hadn’t done anything wrong and refused to feel like a cub being called in for some punishment.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked.
“I hear you are now Niklas Alexander’s mate.” Grandmother didn’t waste time getting to the point.
“Yes.” Since she was ordered by law to mate with him, she didn’t see any problem in admitting to it.
She extended her hand to Grandmother and helped her to her upright office chair, which had always looked incredibly uncomfortable. Once again Grandmother moved slowly, taking her time relaxing into the chair while her stale scent clogged Sophie’s nostrils.
Grandmother let go of Sophie’s hand, then slapped her hard on the ass.
“What?” Sophie cried out, jumping away from Grandmother while her ass stung with pain.
Damn the old bitch for mastering the ability to look so frail and then managing to still come out with all teeth and claws extended.
Grandmother’s slap didn’t hurt as much as it was humiliating. “What have I done wrong? He is one of my assigned mates.”
“Sophia.” Grandmother seldom used her given name. She clasped her hands in her lap and pursed her lips with obvious disapproval. “You mated with him in the woods, like a common mutt. You are a Rousseau!”
Sophie stood facing her, silent. It would be pointless to ask how she got this information. Any member of the pack could have guessed that was what happened when the two of them disappeared. Not that Grandmother would announce who any of her informants who sniffed around for her were. The best thing to do was get the reprimand over.
“Would you have him breed you in the woods?” Grandmother curled her lip in disgust. Even that emotion smelled rank on the old bitch. “I spoke with Niklas this morning, which I’m sure you know by now. He lives with his littermate and has no respectable den to offer the two of you. I know you feel I have no heart, but honestly, I wouldn’t have chosen him as a mate for you if I didn’t know how you feel about him. He’s a hard worker, but he’ll never amount to anything. Just a laborer, like the rest of his den.”
“He’s a good and very loyal lunewulf, Grandmother.” Sophie couldn’t stay quiet while Grandmother insulted him. “You should wish to have more males like him in our pack. Why, he honors and respects your wishes while half of the pack howls…” She stopped quickly, snapping her mouth shut before Grandmother figured out a way to accuse her of listening to slanderous whimpering or some other concocted charge.
Grandmother nodded once, her scent not changing. “Since he doesn’t have an acceptable den for the two of you, you will both live here. At least that way I can ensure that things are done properly from here on out.”
Sophie cringed at the thought of Grandmother standing at the foot of their bed, instructing them on how they should fuck. “I’ll let Nik know you’ve offered your den to us,” she said, hoping like hell that she sounded humble when in truth she wanted to laugh in the old bitch’s face and yell at her that she’d live in a shack with Nik before she would consider sharing a den with Grandmother.
Grandmother nodded. “You may go.”
She was excused. Sophie didn’t hesitate and quickly left the office before Grandmother came up with any more demented ideas. She needed to get out of there, out of this den and as far away from Grandmother as she could.
The chatter of the pack quickly surrounded her and she searched the huge living room and extended dining area where tables were set up. Where was Nik?
Elsa stood at the end of one of the tables and looked at Sophie curiously when she approached. “I’m supposed to tell you that Nik ran into Prince George with a few males and will be by later to pick you up.”
“What did Grandmother want?” Gertrude asked from behind Sophie.
Sophie glanced around them and her littermates closed in around her, their curiosity enough to make a few other pack members glance at them with raised eyebrows. Sophie nodded toward the kitchen, and her littermates followed her outside. A handful of males were out back, wrestling with each other, but Sophie pulled Gertrude and Elsa off to the side.
“Grandmother apparently knows all the details about Nik and I mating. She didn’t approve of our fucking in the woods.”
Gertrude snorted. “She probably masturbated to all of the details.”
“You are so disgusting.” Elsa rolled her eyes. “That old bitch dried up decades ago.”
; “I’m sure,” Sophie mumbled. “She also told me that since Nik doesn’t have a decent den to offer me, the two of us should live here.”
“Oh God.” Gertrude grabbed her arm.
Sophie nodded. “And Nik would have a den for us if Grandmother hadn’t intervened and decided the new construction would be homes for other mates.”
Elsa shook her head. Nothing could be said about Grandmother that all of them hadn’t said before.
“Well, you both have one down and two more to go.” Elsa rolled her eyes, took a quick potshot at Gertrude and then yanked Sophie’s hair.
And I will have all three of them together soon! Fear gripped Sophie, but a rush of nervous excitement attacked her as well. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t wait to find out what it would be like.
“Speaking of which, I’m headed back inside to get to know my other males.” Gertrude winked at them and then sauntered back into the kitchen.
Elsa made a face, scowling after her littermate. The sky was exceptionally black and the moon was full and hung low. Glowing moonlight made Elsa’s long hair look like gold. Sophie had always thought her youngest littermate the prettiest of the three of them. Her troubled expression tore at Sophie’s heart though. She reached for her, but then pulled her hand back when Johann showed up behind them and grabbed Elsa’s shoulders.
Elsa stiffened, immediately trying to pull away, but Johann proved the stronger of the two. “Take a run with me under the moon, sweet bitch?” he whispered loud enough for Sophie to hear.
“Go run with Simone, Johann.” Elsa’s tone was cold.
Johann glanced at Sophie, and although she got the impression he silently begged Sophie to go find something else to do, she stood firm, remaining at her littermate’s side.
“You’re my mate, Elsa, not Simone.”
Lunewulf Law Page 18
