by Leigh Kelsey
“You look like shit,” Gray complimented me.
I gave him a vulgar gesture but even that required too much energy and I let my arm flop back to the ground. I heard Cas and Jack come through—Cas’s grunted curse distinctive from Jack’s ragged inhale—but I didn’t lift my head to check they were alright because I was busy keeping the contents of my roiling stomach from spewing out of me. Gods, portal travel was hell. But it beat driving a few hours to the nearest safe forest to shift in.
“Lyra?” Cas asked, crawling over to prop me up against him. I let him, gratefully slumping against his chest as he rubbed my back.
“M’fine,” I moaned. I peeled my eyes open to find a large expanse of bare chest and three worried faces peering at me. Jack was ashen, clearly as sick as I was, and even Cas was off colour. I sighed and pulled myself together, fighting off dizziness that had crept up on me and taking slow breaths to settle my stomach. As much as I felt like hell, we were on a time limit. Namely the glowing orb hanging over us somewhere, blocked out by the mammoth trees and foliage of the rainforest.
It wasn’t the natural habitat for four wolves but when we asked for a forest, this is what the witchcraft gave Rita. And it was beautiful, I had to admit, even if it felt more like I was drinking the air than inhaling it.
“I’m fine,” I repeated, pushing off Cas and shoving the guys back. I tried to ignore how Cas’s skin felt under my fingertips—hot, like there was a volcano trapped inside his body, and smooth, already dripping with sweat. “How long left?”
Cas checked his watch, unbuckled from his wrist and ready to be stashed somewhere. “Two minutes.”
I drew a long breath. Two minutes until the shift came over us, until the moon was completely full. I nodded, gave my pack one last look, and set off walking. We each changed a safe distance apart—though we loved each other and our wolves were pack, the shift was disorienting and it was safer to come around separately. I’d taken a bite out of Cas before, and I’d rather not repeat the process. Unless that was a euphemism.
This was getting out of hand. The closer I got to claiming them, the hornier I became. And I usually had a healthy appetite. I fanned myself as I trudged through leaves and dirt, kicking aside branches as I went, and I told myself it was the oppressive heat of the rainforest making me sweat. Which wasn’t a total lie—it was hot as hell here, and it’d be worse in fur.
I craned my head back to try and see the moon but it was pointless. Leaves and branches crowded overhead, blocking out the night. It had to be close. I knelt on the hot earth, stretched to scratch an aggressive itch on my backside, and the shift came over me with a rush.
It hurt like a bitch but it was over fast. Within a minute I was panting on the ground, my belly pressed to the dirt, processing everything around me through wolf senses. Scents overwhelmed my nose—damp, heat, so many different species of leaves and trees and moss and bark, and not far away, the individual scents of my wolves. Sounds bombarded my ears—leaves rustling as loud as a hurricane, trees creaking, wolf claws carving into tree roots off to my left and movement to my right, but no insects or other signs of life. We’d been specific about that; if we had to put up with soaring heat and foreign plant life, the least the witch could do was evict all insects. A few rabbits would have been nice though; my wolf liked to chase.
I pushed to my paws, shaking my head to clear the last dizziness of the shift and get rid of the residual aches of bones shattering. My head snapped up and my ears pricked at the sound of a howl. Alpha. Cas. My heart sped as I broke into a run, sweeping dirt and fallen leaves under my claws. The sounds of my heavy breaths filled my ears as I answered the call.
LYRA
My wolf knew it was different to every over shift the moment I entered the clearing. Their scents were sharp with interest but it was their lowered heads and the glint in their eyes that gave them away. Even Cas’s head was ducked slightly, his brilliant silver eyes fixed on me from within his pure white face. He was the only white wolf of us. Jack was grey, Gray was ironically a rangy brown with a lighter beige patch across his throat and belly, and I was black.
My eyes flicked between the three of them, waiting to see if any of them would move an inch. They didn’t. Either Cas had pulled some alpha shit and warned them or they were deadly serious. Good. They were going to follow the ritual instructions to a T, then. I let a growl build in my chest, trying to hide my thrill, and put a paw forward. They all inched back and I gave the wolf version of a grin. Not even Gray matched it—he wasn’t fucking around with this. Also good. This was the part I’d been looking forward to.
Without warning, I let the snarl tear from my throat as I raced across the clearing. Cas bared his teeth, the alpha in him unwilling to back down, but he must have corralled his wolf into a semblance of submission because he darted away after a moment. They all scattered, fleeing, and I gave chase. This should be the male’s place, and the female’s running, waiting to be caught and claimed, but my pack understood me too well to do that. And besides, there were three of them; I didn’t know how that would even work. I’d get mauled.
Trees and leaves whipped by, heat surrounding me like a net, but I kept pushing on, delighting in the stretch of my muscles, the liberation of flying over the ground at full speed with the moon filling me with power. I wanted to stop and howl but I was too focussed on the chase.
Cas was our alpha and the biggest in wolf form but he was nowhere near as fast as the others. He slowed first, peeling in a different direction, and I sped after him. We both knew I’d catch him. He’d win in a fight, but in this hunt he was going down. I let out a joyous sound as he veered too close to a tree and had to correct his path, the diversion eating more of his lead. He was only a few lengths in front of me now. I put on an extra burst of speed, the strength and power of my wolf like a drug I could never get enough of, and I had him.
A growl rumbled his chest as I leapt upon him, flattened him to the ground beside a fallen tree limb—a victim of Gray and Jack’s brawling a few months ago. Cas made a token struggle, snarling like a mad dog, but when I nudged him, he rolled onto his back like a puppy wanting belly rubs. Maybe later.
My heart swelled as I met his silver eyes, read the steadiness and willingness there, and more—excitement. He wanted this. Wanted me. The need struck to fall back into submission, flatten myself to the ground, or lick his muzzle for apology. My wolf was warning me to back off. She loved him as much as I did, if not more. Losing him would kill her. But we weren’t losing him. We were claiming him.
I hesitated only that second before lowering my head to gently, so gently, take his throat between my teeth. It occurred to me that I could easily take advantage of him here. I could kill him. He trusted me that much.
And that was officially all I could take.
I scrambled off him, a whine low in my throat, nuzzling my head against him. Alpha—he was my alpha. I was terrified I’d made a misstep, that this could only go wrong, that my alpha couldn’t possibly trust me this much, love me this much—because I could feel that now, through our newly strengthened bond. Love, pure and strong enough to bring down the whole world.
Cas made a sound in his throat, more human than wolf, and nudged me with his nose. Made me lift my head to look at him, into those steady, certain eyes. The panic in my heart lessened, especially when I saw his happiness. He jumped up, circling me, touching me with every pass. In seconds, he was bouncing like an excitable pup. His giddiness caught to me and I followed his every movement.
My mate.
While my wolf and his skipped around and playfully swiped at and nudged each other, I felt for the pack bond to locate Jack and Gray and drew a breath through my nose, pulling their scents out of the air. Normally, this would be where Cas and I took the mating to a more literal level, but I still had two wolves to claim. I wanted to wait, for it to be fair, and Cas would never dream of instigating anything. That was my right, as hunter.
I calmed my wolf and brushed close t
o Cas one last time, burrowing deep into his coat and inhaling his fur and woods scent. Not rainforest—pines, oak, real woods. Home, my wolf corrected.
I gave Cas a look I hope conveyed I wanted him to stay, that I’d call him to us when I was ready, and spun dirt under my claws, diving back into the thick of the forest. To claim the rest of my pack.
LYRA
Jack was the next easiest to catch, if only because Gray was a fast, slippery bastard. I had him one second and he was gone the next. He wanted to be last. Fine.
I let the moon’s power skate along my spine and fill me up, increasing my speed, my sense of smell, my strength, until I vibrated with it.
I cornered Jack in a part of the jungle where a huge rock face rose up and the stream that wound around our ankles became a waterfall on the far, other side. It wasn’t visible from here but the rush almost drowned out the low growl pouring from between Jack’s sharp teeth. My heart pounded fast, exhilarated by the hunt, the fight. Jack would not easily submit as Cas had, although I knew he wanted this bond as much as I did.
He threw a look around him, at the corner of stone caging him in and me, stalking closer. He realised his mistake and bared his teeth. As a wolf, he wasn’t as big as Cas, nowhere near as powerful as his human form but every bit as beautiful. His fur was grey and silver and moonlight, and I looked at his wolf properly for the first time, drinking in the sight of him. Bristling and powerful and elegant. Mine, my wolf decided.
I lunged forward, dirt and leaves crunching under my paws, and slammed into him. The whuff of breath that hit the side of my neck said I’d been a little rougher than he’d expected. Well, he shouldn’t be growling at me. That snarl tapered off and my stomach coiled tight, scenting his abrupt mood shift. I pinned him against the wall where I could get easy access to his throat, and we were flush against one another. Jack’s wolf ran hot, like an oven, and he smelled amazing. Warm fur and honey. I nudged my nose into his throat, inhaling, and Jack whined impatiently. If I was in woman form, I’d be grinning at how eager he was.
He jostled me, and I got the feeling he was asking what was taking so long, but the wolf part of me wanted to curl up around him with her head against his back and stay there for a few hours. Or a few months. She wanted that as badly as she wanted to claim him, so I exerted my own will over her and pried my jaws open, running the length of my teeth down Jack’s throat. His whine changed, impatient to grateful. But a deeper meaning, like he felt lucky just to be here, with my fur pressed to his, my jaws slowly, gently clamping over the pounding pulse in his throat.
Unlike with Cas, I felt the bond snap into place. It fell alongside my pack bond with him instead of replacing it, a deeper, stronger link. My pack bond felt like silk—refreshing, cool, a lifeline—but this was velvet warmth, alluring darkness and the shuddery brush of a touch. This felt physical. And so close to Jack, my response was immediate.
I whined, suddenly needy to be with him, mate him. Jack echoed the sound, resting his head against my shoulder and sighing. It was the frustration in that sound that reminded me why I had to wait, to restrain myself when I wanted to lower myself to the floor and wiggle my ass in the air, a weird, desperate merging of wolf and human gestures. I groaned as I drew away from him, that bond twisting around in my chest, yanking me back to him, unwilling to accept no for an answer. By the conflicted shine to Jack’s brown eyes, I knew he felt the same.
I took a moment to pull myself together, to process the world around us again—rainforest and rushing waterfall, everything smelling green and alive and thriving. I tipped my nose into the air and inhaled, passing over Cas’s scent, lingering nearby but distant enough to give us privacy, until I latched onto the citrus, pepper scent of Gray. Unlike the others, his scent never changed. Even as a man, he was wild and lycan.
I drew that scent deep into my lungs, my stomach tightening in want, gave Jack a final nuzzle, and raced back into the forest. My path took me in a circuitous route around trees and roots and fallen branches, until I realised I was heading in a wide arc around to the waterfall on the other side.
I stopped, fifty meters or so from where the scent of pepper and orange was leading me and tipped my head back, howling long and loud into the night. Not to call Jack and Cas to me—no, this wasn’t a rallying call or a howl to place location. No, this was a warning to Gray. He wanted to play games with me and that was fine. I was coming, and I was ready.
LYRA
Clever bastard. Gray had wedged himself into the little nook at the base of the waterfall, deep in the rock where only one wolf could fit. Not because he was hiding and running from the bond I wanted to form with him. No, because he was a contrary fucker and he wanted to piss me off.
I paced by the entrance, cursing him under my breath. In wolf, it emerged as a rolling snarl. Come out, you little shit, I thought.
Telepathic communication was the holy grail to a wolf pack’s bond. Sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn’t. If you spent your life searching for it, you’d never find it. If an argumentative dickhead you couldn’t stand joined your pack, the universe would decide to ‘bless’ you with it. You might then be forced to spend time together, and in the course of arguing and insults, realise you actually liked them. That could lead to accidental friendship, then actual friendship, and then the two of you being inseparable.
Even if you still drove each other fucking nuts.
Get your ass out here or I’ll squeeze in there and sink my teeth into it, I snapped.
Gray’s whuff of a laugh came from inside the stone nook. By all means, little wolf.
My snarl grew in volume. Little? You condescending bitch. Sure, I was a little smaller as a wolf but I was tall as a woman.
Vertically challenged wolf? He offered.
I pawed at the entrance, trying to get a grip so I could drag him out. Not to hurt him, or even bite him as I’d promised. No, his riling me up was not just irritating me but driving me insane. I needed to claim him right now. He was mine. My irritating little shit. My best friend. And I was his—and he damn well knew it, which was why I knew exactly how to get him out of there.
But for now I threw back, Asshole. Get the hell out here.
So you can savage me? No, thanks, little wolf.
I bared my teeth on a snarl but stopped the sound at the last second. I wanted him so fucking badly, and worse, he knew it. He thought he held all the cards but I knew his weakness, and it was time to bring out the big guns. I lowered my tail, ducked my head, and whined a long, pleading, needy whine. Please come out, the whine said, please, Gray, I need you.
And lo and behold, he scrambled out of the crevice quicker than I could blink. The tight stone space had rumpled his wiry brown fur even more than normal—and for a man whose long, brown hair was usually a mess or knotted on the back of his head, his wolf always looked like he’d been dragged through a hedge backwards. His eyes—a vivid hazel—glowed as he looked at me, the wicked gleam in them obvious. I didn’t give him a chance to gloat at my needy whine. I pounced on him, knocking him to the ground.
We rolled, fighting for dominance. One second I’d be pinning him, the next I’d be on my back, with Gray’s trademark laugh—a jagged, low sound like a chuckle—in the back of his throat, taunting me. I gathered my strength, coiling my muscles, and pushed him off with my shoulder, digging my paws into his chest to keep him down and lowering all my weight onto him. Thrill flipped my belly, my blood racing as I met his eyes—narrowed and pretending to be dangerous when he wasn’t a danger to me in the slightest. Well, except for flesh wounds and scratches; I had a few of those.
I sensed the moment he stopped fighting. Not because he stopped struggling but because of the calm that washed over our pack bond, like he’d doubted I was actually going to claim him as mine but now he could see it in my eyes. I snorted. Idiot. His eyes flashed at the sound, and I could tell he was about to start arguing with me again, whether mind to mind or physically, but I gave him a stern, freezing look—I wanted t
o claim him, not accidentally tear his throat out.
My stomach flip-flopping all over the place, nerves and thrill and desire all mixed together, I lowered my muzzle and closed my jaws around his throat. The bond was a two-way thing; it was only ever a half-formed thing until he allowed himself to be claimed. I couldn’t bite his throat and take him without consent, not if I wanted a full bond with him—which the wolves who’d tried to take me weren’t too bothered about. The slight hesitation in the bond between me and Gray had my insides squirming, had me wanting to tuck tail and run, but it came to life all at once. A tidal wave surged inside me, filling every part of my mind and body. It wasn’t warm the way Jack’s had been but boiling hot. All my nerve endings sparked and God, I had not realised how horny Gray had been but now I was feeling all of it.
Shit, I thought, and realised I’d sent that word towards him.
He rolled, knocking me onto my back and looming above me. Above, the dense leaf cover had parted, and the stars were bright behind his head despite the lightening sky, the moon almost gone now. But the sky didn’t hold my interest for long, not with that sinful gleam in Gray’s eye, the heady presence of his wolf above me. Holy shit. My heart beat faster than a steam train.
Hmm? came his voice. Something wrong, darling wolf?
Bastard. Even my mental voice was breathy. I nipped his jaw, a whine in my throat urging him to do something.
He laughed through his nose, dipping down to lick my jaw. My heart did an unfamiliar surge, the way my stomach swooped on a rollercoaster. I couldn’t believe he was mine, this wild, fearless creature.
