“Oh really?” Elsa turned her back to Sophie and faced Johann. “You must really suck then, Johann. I don’t remember fucking you.”
He stiffened at the insult and Sophie sucked in her breath. Elsa could bite worse than any bitch she’d ever known.
He studied Elsa’s face for a moment, his scent undetectable, and then glanced over her shoulder at Sophie. His dark, intense blue eyes were captivating. Sophie never understood why Elsa refused his advances over the years. She gave Johann credit for never giving up though.
“Both of you run with me. We’ll keep it platonic. Please, Elsa.” Johann didn’t belly up too often. Although his plea had a hard edge to it. No matter that he sounded calm, emotions swarmed inside him even if they couldn’t be smelled.
“I’m sure Simone would love the invitation. And I know you well, Johann. You want anything but platonic.” Elsa turned to leave.
Johann grabbed her arm and for a moment, there was a spark of silver flashing in his eyes. Sophie saw it, but when Elsa looked his way, she glanced at his hand wrapped around her arm before focusing on his face. By the time she looked up, his eyes glowed a rich blue.
“Simone and I are friends. That’s it. That’s all it’s ever been. With the new pack law, she has her three mates. We’ve already agreed there will be no further sexual activity between us. She’s cool with that. Go ask her.” Johann relaxed his expression, smiling easily. For the first time, a hint of determination seeped from him. “Both of you should run with me.”
“I’m a mated bitch,” Sophie said, not sure if backing out of the run would help Elsa or not.
“That’s right.” Johann gave both of them that mischievous grin that Sophie had seen on him since they were cubs—that look that showed he successfully achieved the upper hand and would now strut around with the knowledge. “And I know Nik just took off into town for a bit to spend some time with your other mates. I’ll give him a call and let him know his mate is well chaperoned.”
Johann let go of Elsa and quickly placed the call. Elsa glanced at her, resignation lining her pretty face. Even her youngest littermate didn’t have the strength to fight Johann when he set his mind to something. Sophie’s ears perked up when she heard Nik’s baritone through the cell phone. The two males exchanged a few words, all of them sounding casual and friendly, then Johann hung up his phone.
“Everything’s arranged. Shall we, my dear bitches?”
Elsa fell in alongside him as he walked toward the other side of the barn where they would undress. Sophie walked behind them, glancing around the yard and wishing more than anything that she could be with Nik. Why was he hanging out with her other mates and leaving her out of it? She didn’t know whether she liked that or not.
As she scanned the yard, Simone grabbed her attention. The bitch stood alone at the side of the house, watching Johann and Elsa. And she looked anything but pleased.
Chapter Sixteen
Nik concluded that Jonathan Abram simply didn’t have a lot to say. The male rode with him to his den, at Nik’s request, and remained silent when they entered and spoke to John.
“I can’t come home to my own den and watch the show?” John would have to be a prick about things.
Nik shook his head, keeping calm. “Sophie will be nervous. Just stay out until dawn. It’s not like you would be doing anything different from any other night.”
If he growled at his littermate for being difficult, he’d never get him to cooperate.
“Well, I get all the juicy details when I get home.” John took his time getting off the couch and then grinned devilishly at Jonathan. “I must say, you’re one hell of a lucky bastard. That Sophie is one hot bitch.”
Nik gave silent thanks that Jonathan didn’t say a word and simply watched John until Nik’s older littermate got the hint that his perversion wasn’t welcome this evening.
“We’ll be back later this evening. You’ll be gone by then.” Nik spoke quietly, but he watched his littermate for any sign of protest.
Although the oldest in their den, John wasn’t the aggressive male. He stared Nik down only for a minute, his scent never turning angry. With a shrug, John grunted and then headed into the other room. Nik gestured for Jonathan to follow him, and they left his den.
“You’ll promise me one thing.” Jonathan stopped before reaching the car. He was a large lunewulf, muscular and in shape. His blond hair, pulled back in a ponytail, and the large leather coat he wore gave him a dangerous edge. “You’ll never leave Sophie alone with that male.”
Jonathan’s pale blue eyes watched him intently. Nik wasn’t intimidated. Although he was surprised. Something akin to respect flooded his insides. This male wouldn’t intrude on Nik’s relationship with Sophie. That much he’d assured himself already. But knowing he’d care about her well-being, would protect her if needed, raised his appreciation for the male a bit.
“She’ll be with me.” He started around the front of the car, letting the male know silently where he stood with Sophie. Jonathan would fuck her, but her well-being and security remained in Nik’s hands.
“The pack is in an uproar over this damned law.” Jonathan apparently had stored up a few things—he spoke now more than he had since Nik had sought him out before the meeting. “Your littermate isn’t the only one who will sniff after her. And you won’t be with her all the time. When you can’t be, I want your word now that you’ll call me.”
Nik stopped on his side of the car, staring at the lunewulf. The darkness added shadows to Jonathan’s hard expression. In a fight, he would be a deadly competitor. But there was no aggression coming off the male—only determination. If anything, he seemed calmer than Nik felt at the moment.
“You will never fuck her without my consent.” That had to be made clear.
Jonathan nodded once. “You have my word.”
Nik nodded as well. “Then I appreciate your offer of protection.”
That would have to do for now. He got into the car and started the engine. Jonathan climbed in on the other side, taking up more than half the space with his large body.
Howley’s was quiet. Nik guessed the pack meeting stole most of the patrons from the bar. Jonathan pulled open the door and held it so Nik entered first—silently acknowledging Nik’s rank in their bizarre new den arrangement.
He spotted Lukas at the bar, waiting for him as he said he would. The lunewulf turned, sniffing the air, and focused on Nik and then Jonathan. If the male was drunk, Nik would kick his ass into sobriety. Sophie wouldn’t endure a drunken mate, especially tonight, her first time with all of them.
“Where’s Sophie?” Lukas asked, then raised his glass to Shackley, who stood attentively behind the bar. “A round for my friends here.”
Nik nodded at Shackley, who put down his bar rag and pulled a couple of clean glasses from the counter space behind the bar.
“I’ll pick her up soon.” Nik took the stool next to Lukas and then glanced around the quiet, dimly lit establishment. A couple old-timers sat at a table in the middle of the bar. Their conversation was quiet and unobtrusive. Jonathan moved to stand next to him, blocking his view of the older males. Nik studied the large male for a moment and then looked at Lukas, who didn’t smell drunk but had a stupid grin on his face.
“You two will stay here and I’ll call you once I have her over at my den.” He was eager to have Sophie with him. Just imagining her fresh scent after showering and preparing for the evening made him even more eager to go get her.
“Why can’t we all go get her?” Lukas asked.
“Because she’s nervous,” Nik snapped, but then released his breath and took the tall glass of beer that Shackley set in front of him. “Sophie is mine. Either of you want to challenge that, let’s get it out of the way right now.”
Neither male said a word although the air around them suddenly grew a bit hostile. More than likely, most of the stench came from him. He focused on the smell of the hops when he took a long, slow drink of his be
er.
He started again, wanting tonight to be perfect—for Sophie and for him. “I’ve known Sophie for years. Had things been a bit different, she would be my mate right now and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Jonathan and Lukas drank their beers. For all he knew, neither one of them wanted to be here either. They hadn’t said as much. It would take a hell of a lot of howling to make him believe that they wouldn’t want to fuck Sophie. But he had to believe, had to accept, that Sophie would always be his. This law wouldn’t last forever. But for now, while they worked to reverse it or get Grandmother out of leadership, he would let these two males fuck her. But that would be all that they did.
“Things aren’t different. At least not right now, they aren’t.” Jonathan spoke so quietly. The male had a way of grabbing everyone’s attention when he spoke. More than likely because he was a lunewulf who didn’t howl simply because he liked the sound of it. “I’ll honor pack law until it changes, but my terms stand. She is under my protection as long as she holds the title of my mate.”
“Same here,” Lukas added, and nodded quickly. “So how long until we go to your den and see her?”
Nik finished his beer with a few swallows and put the empty glass on the bar. He pulled out a wallet and slapped a few bills down next to the glass. “Stay here and have a couple on me. Don’t get drunk.” He glared at Lukas. “I’ll head out and go get her and call you shortly.”
“Support your bitch. But you don’t need to support me.” Jonathan picked up the bills and handed them to Nik.
Lukas looked ready to protest but held his tongue. After a minute, Nik silently took the money and shoved it into his pocket.
“Very well. I’ll call you soon.” He turned and left the bar.
Now to call his sweet little bitch and prepare her for the evening. A mixture of trepidation and lust created an unsettling sensation in his gut. He pulled his cell phone free while heading to his car. Everything that could be done to make tonight perfect, he’d done. For the most part, Nik trusted Jonathan and Lukas. They wouldn’t hurt Sophie. And they sure as hell wouldn’t take her from him—hell, they would die trying.
Now for Sophie. He punched her number into his cell and pushed send. It rang and then went to voicemail. Her sweet, luscious voice spoke into his ear, asking him to leave a message.
“Where are you?” It was the only voicemail message he’d ever left on her phone as long as he’d known her.
So he wasn’t the most original lunewulf on the planet. But when it came to his bitch, that was what he wanted to know. He left the parking lot before remembering he’d approved her running with Johann.
Hell.
Where had that son of a bitch taken her?
His cell phone rang and he grabbed it. Sophie’s number glowed at him in the darkness.
“Where are you?” he asked as soon as he accepted the call.
Sophie laughed. “Sorry. I was in my fur when my phone vibrated against my neck.”
Her happiness flowed like a sweet addiction through his soul. “I’m coming to get you. Where are you right now?”
“We just reached the Potter’s Lake.” They had to have run at full speed in order to get that far north. “Johann is trying to convince Elsa to go skinny-dipping. Hurry and join us.”
“It will take me almost an hour to drive that far. I’ll park at Johann’s and meet you up there in my fur.”
“Hurry,” she pleaded in a breathless tone.
He hit the accelerator, wishing traffic would just disappear. Even though he made it to Johann’s in record speed and tore through the meadow in his fur faster than he’d run in quite a while, it still seemed to take him forever to reach her. He’d had to call Jonathan and Lukas to explain that his little bitch had been escorted a bit farther north than he’d realized. But he would call them when they got back into town. Now to make sure Johann didn’t have too much fun with Elsa and Sophie.
The cold night air felt good against Sophie’s naked, sweaty skin. They’d hauled ass across the countryside. Elsa ran like her life depended on it. Sophie finally nipped at her, urging her to slow down after they’d run almost an hour. It had been almost a year since she’d been to Potter’s Lake, and when they slowed, Johann had led them to it.
“That water has got to be freezing.” Elsa’s long hair fell to her ass and down her front. She held her clothes to her chest, more for warmth, Sophie guessed, than out of modesty.
Sophie and her littermates had run with Johann most of their lives. Seeing each other naked wouldn’t bother any of them, unless of course they weren’t on a run. She shoved her phone into her jeans pocket and watched Johann when he surfaced for air. Dark water rippled around him as he shook his hair and laughed.
“It feels great. You had me sweating like a pig running that fast.” He splashed water at them and Elsa jumped to the side, laughing easily. He grinned broadly, his white teeth glowing in the darkness. “See. It feels great. Come on in.”
“Was that Nik on the phone?” Elsa dropped her clothes along the bank and stepped closer to the water, ignoring Johann when she looked at Sophie.
“Yeah. He’s headed out this way.” She was thrilled to see Elsa looking happy. Running that hard had freed some of her demons, and as anxious as she was for Nik to show up, it meant a lot to her to spend time with her littermate when she wasn’t scowling and pouting. “He said he’d park at Johann’s and cover the rest of the distance in his fur.”
Sophie glanced past Elsa when Johann crawled out of the water. Droplets clung to his chest, and the hair there curled and looked almost brown. His cock was semi-hard when he hit the ground on all fours, like a predator making a dash after his prey.
Elsa turned in time to see him leap up, and squealed when he grabbed her. They struggled while she called him several choice names, although laughing through all of it. He finally overpowered her and the two of them fell backward into the dark water.
“God, you two,” Sophie said, laughing so hard she bent over and held her belly. “If that is a mating ritual, I’m not sure I want anything to do with it.”
“It is not a mating ritual,” Elsa yelled, spitting water from her mouth and struggling to get hair out of her face before Johann dunked her again.
“You’re next,” Johann warned when he shoved her littermate under the water.
“Like hell,” Sophie claimed, putting her clothes down before they got soaked. “I’m already a mated bitch and last time I checked, you aren’t on my list.”
She grinned and her cheeks hurt from laughing. It might be smart to ease herself into the water before Johann took her on too. She wouldn’t put anything past him. She touched the water with her toes and then pulled back quickly.
“It’s cold as hell,” she squealed.
Elsa resurfaced a few feet from Johann and shoved her hair back. “No shit,” she cried out. “Whose idea was this anyway?”
Johann laughed and made a show of diving at her, but she splashed him in the face and proved she was just as fast in the water as she was on land. Johann dove at her and got a mouth full of water. Sophie sat on the bank, dangling her legs and getting accustomed to the frigid water while enjoying the show. This time when Elsa surfaced, she was behind Johann. She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him under.
“Take that, you brute,” she shrieked, laughing when he disappeared under the water. Her expression quickly changed to one of surprise and then suddenly she was yanked under too.
Sophie wasn’t sure if Elsa was actually loosening up when it came to Johann or not. They resurfaced with their arms wrapped around each other, both of them laughing. She tried picturing her younger littermate mated to him. Johann had always been around. He was a good lunewulf, although a bit on the wild side. And Elsa had a good argument when it came to his promiscuity. Sophie would have pictured him with Simone before she would have guessed him mating with Elsa.
Pack law would change all of them. No matter if Grandmother died or t
he law got changed, already the effects of it shown in her and her littermates. Regardless of what happened in their future, events occurring right now would stick with them for life.
Like fucking three males at once. Sophie never would have guessed she would do something like that. And she would—soon.
“Someone isn’t wet.” Johann’s words pulled her out of her thoughts too late to stop him from grabbing her legs and yanking her into the water with them.
She landed on her back in the water, kicking quickly while the icy chill attacked her. Going under, she blew out air, instantly frozen to death.
“Shit!” she screamed, flapping her arms and legs as she blew water from her mouth. “How can you stand this?”
“I don’t know. I’m staying rather warm,” Johann said, grinning mischievously with his arms wrapped around Elsa.
He held her in front of him with her back to him and Sophie shoved hair from her eyes in time to see Elsa make a face.
“Would you get that hard cock of yours out of my ass?” she demanded.
“It’s really warm there,” he teased and nipped at her neck. “But if you like, I can move it a bit.”
Elsa’s eyes grew wide, and for a moment Sophie wondered if he’d penetrated her. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind that her littermate was a virgin.
“Don’t you dare!” Elsa transformed, changing while in Johann’s arms until her skin disappeared and white fur quickly covered her.
Her face changed, her eyes taking on an eerie glow and her mouth stretching as her nose grew and turned black. She howled and Johann let her go, unable to match her strength in his human form. Instantly she leapt out of the water and disappeared into the darkness.
“Damn it.” Johann let the change consume him too. He raced after her, leaving Sophie alone in the cold, dark water.
She would freeze her fucking ass off lying on the bank in her flesh. Her blood boiled with the change taking over. The contrast of the frigid water and her suddenly overheated system shocked her and stole her breath. Quickly kicking out of the water, she hit the bank on all fours as fur and a thick hide replaced her soaked human flesh.
Lunewulf Law Page 19
