Greyriver Shifters

by Kristina Weaver

  I ignore Hannah’s screeching and fall, immediately, my mind and body melting as I kiss him back and let him push me against the hall wall. He swallows my gasp, his growl filling me when he thrusts his hips between my legs and grinds into me so hard my clit screams a hallelujah.

  It feels so good. I get wet, instantly, and my breasts go heavy and swollen, tightening at the tips when he palms one and pinches the nipple. I can hardly form a thought when his grinding and pumping slam into my clit, sending shooting arcs of pleasure straight to my empty core. I want this, I think, my own mouth devouring his desperately. I want him all over me, inside me. I want filling, hard-pounding thrusts and orgasms that leave me boneless.

  I don’t get that though. I get him grinding me into a shattering orgasm that makes me scream so hard my throat feels raw. When I can think again, it’s to find him licking at my mouth, slowly, seductively before he smooches my lip and lowers me to the floor.

  Blain keeps hold of my hips until my legs can hold me and then steps back, gazing down at his crotch with a rueful smile.

  “Choose soon, bria. The next time I kiss you I want the taste of your lips on mine,” he purrs, his statement making sense when he looks down between my legs and smiles.

  I blush like a school girl as he saunters off, whistling a catchy tune with an air of nonchalance that makes me blink and doubt what the hell just happened.

  Chapter Eight

  Jules

  You got whammied by sex.

  I sigh, totally agreeing with Hannah’s assessment, and fall back against the wall to catch my breath. Blain Seers, my mate—

  Nope. Be clear now, girl. He made it clear there won’t be any mate bond, sooooo technically you guys won’t be mated. You’ll be the princess whore living in sin with your—

  Fuck off!

  Fine. Just stop at Grady’s Bakery on the way here, would you? I have a craving for jam-filled donuts that is not going anywhere.

  No money.

  Which is not easy for me to say since I am used to walking out of the house and being able to buy a car if I want to. Hannah sighs and seems to roll her eyes mentally, if that’s even possible, and by the time I make my way downstairs Blain is stalking out of what I think is his office and handing me a black card.

  “Be good out there, bria, and don’t let that bitch corrupt you with her sense of humor.”

  I’m so shocked all I can do is blink and look between him and the card before he grabs the back of my head, shoves his tongue in my mouth, and turns my center to liquid. Again.

  When he pulls back, I feel ravished and so needy it’s difficult to so much as breathe without him against me. Blain just smiles, licks his lips, and gives me another once over, humming as if he likes what he sees.

  “Go to Denise’s and get some lingerie, bria. I’d like to see you in lace.”

  With that, he turns on his heel and stalks back into his office, closing the door without a backward glance. Well hell.

  Sighing, because I really don’t know what the heck to think or feel—besides hot out of my mind—I leave the house and make the short trek down to Grady’s where I buy enough sweet things to satisfy an army.

  Cass jogs up to me just as I’m making my way back onto the street and rolls her eyes when Lync chuffs to a stop behind us, scattering people so fast I blink when the street clears.

  Interesting.

  “Hey! Can I help? Ooooh, are any of these the little chocolate-filled pies that Hannah keeps raving about?”

  I laugh at her enthusiasm and grin when Lync takes all four boxes out of my hands and carries them, his snarls when people so much as walk near us making me laugh harder.

  By the time we get to Hannah and Logan’s place, I feel like a pariah because even with Lync scaring the hell out of anyone within sniffing distance, people still come out of their homes and shops to glare at me. Some going so far as to spit on the floor before turning their backs.

  “Don’t even pay one bit of attention to them, honey. They’re all assholes,” Cass mutters, her wince at calling other people names making me giggle.

  I try not to let it get to me, even as the seclusion of Logan’s house surrounds us in trees, hiding us from prying eyes. The problem is that I can’t exactly blame them. No one likes a traitor, and I am definitely on that list now that I told anyone who was within hearing distance that Dad isn’t my Alpha.

  Not that I meant it that way, mind you. All I was trying to say is that the male in front of me was not the father and Alpha I knew. I didn’t get to qualify it though. Nope. Dad and the council had me down in the cells so fast my head is still spinning.

  And it hurts. It hurts me that people, who just days ago would smile and yell greetings at me, are now not willing to even look at me without contempt.

  To make matters worse—and yeah, they can get worse—the only reason I was served at Grady’s at all is because Hannah called in and threatened to neuter the owners if they didn’t serve me.

  So now, not only am I not welcome at home, it seems the entire town is on the bandwagon. That sucks. Especially if Blain is expecting me to be the freaking female of the house and get deliveries and all that stuff.

  Last time I heard the Seers weren’t popular among anyone but the elite and no one would work for them, no matter how well they paid. So yeah, I’m getting the feeling that it’s just me in that big old house now that Banner has mated Cass and likely won’t allow her to work for Blain.

  Not that I mind. I mean we never had a maid growing up, and I can clean and cook and do all of that female stuff. I just don’t know how I’m going to do it all if people are refusing to let me into their businesses.

  Another loud sigh later and I follow Cass into Hannah and Logan’s feeling immediately at home in the familiar surroundings. See? This is a home. I can walk in, sit down on the couch, and not feel as if I’m about to ruin something worth thousands of dollars just by sitting on it.

  Hannah, sitting on her throne as I see it, surrounded by pillows and covered by a blanket, is so huge I almost stumble when I see her.

  “Oh you! Stop gawking. I know I’m huge, okay. I get it. My male seems to like it,” she mutters, rolling her eyes when we both sit, still gaping and unable to take our eye from her belly.

  No seriously. The female is small all over but for the beach-ball-sized belly that practically dwarfs her. I can’t form one coherent thought but to pray God that never happens to me, if I ever have young. Suddenly, Lync surprises us all by dropping the boxes on the table, falling to his knees and placing his large paws on Hannah’s belly.

  “Life.”

  “Aaaaw! That is so sweet demented. Three! There are three in there, and they’re so jammed up together the doctor couldn’t tell the sex of not one. I swear Logan is going crazy at the moment. He even went into work today to put in early leave because he’s afraid to leave me alone with just Tina.” She sighs, smiling when Lync puts his face against her as if listening to the young inside her.

  She doesn’t seem at all bothered that a huge feral is practically worshipping her unborn young, just reaches past him, grabs a box, and moans when she bites into a jam-filled confection.

  “Oh God. So good. I have to eat like twelve times a day, or I get so hungry I pass out. Althea says it’s the young who stay hungry because they’re huge. Huuuuge. They tried to take a photo in Whitefish, you know one of those ultrasound thingies, but it just looked like one blob, so there was no point. Fred says I could have been abducted and impregnated by aliens. What a hoot! Logan growled about that for hours. Until puffer distracted him.”

  She keeps rambling between big bites of half-chewed donut before Cass and I share a look and fall back onto the couch with sighs of our own. I swear to God my life has become so strange.

  “I can’t believe you keep forgetting to invite me over, you bitch. Oh hush Branny, Mommy’s sorry. There you go, buddy. Go back to sleep.”

  I almost laugh when Mika walks in, orders Barbie to open up the pl
astic prison that masquerades as a playpen, and lays Brandon down on the cushions that are put down for him.

  My nephew is adorable, maybe the only thing in this life that I would die for, and as I look over at the sleeping young and see the love his mother has for him I both long for that and feel terror strike me.

  I could have that with Blain, if he allowed it, and we could…

  I don’t know what could be, all I know is that it hurts to think none of it will be unless I find a way to make this mating work. If I can even turn it into a mating.

  Mika grins when she steps back from her sleeping son and turns to look at us all, her eyes narrowing before she stalks my way and grabs me into a hug.

  “Oh honey. I’m so sorry I haven’t been around to see you, but Bear is being a real fucking dick about all this and refuses to let us choose sides.”

  I grunt, hugging her back, and let her go to greet Cass before she steps back and takes a look at Hannah.

  “Holy shiiiit mama, that looks painful,” she mutters, taking in the almost misshapen shape of Hannah’s body and the strawberry jam that is currently resting on the top. Like a cherry.

  “It sucks! If I didn’t love these horrors so much I would be so pissed. Thank God shifter healing will restore me back to my glory after I give birth though. No more stretch marks!”

  We all cheer an AMEN, and even Beeber—as Hannah now calls Barbie—lets out a war cry and starts muttering at her belly.

  “Are you…?”

  “Hannah, honestly, that isn’t good manners. And no. At least I don’t know yet. It hasn’t been that long since me ‘n Brig got together,” Beeber huffs, leaning over to reach for a cream pastry.

  “Well, apparently that male believes in quality time!”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault you keep popping in without ringing the doorbell.”

  “Well, it is your fault that you two screw like rabbits. Honestly. How can I invade your space when it sickens me to be in your head half the time? You’re supposed to be my BFF.”

  “Hey!” Cass yells, grabbing a chocolate slice while I watch this all unravel with a piece of fudge trying to fight for its life.

  I don’t give it a chance before reaching for another.

  Lync grunts, rises, and stalks out of the room, going God knows where but possibly somewhere I want to be. Away from this…

  “What about me! You never mind call me!” Mika wails, her eyes going wet as she clutches her stomach.

  Her tiny stomach that I know is baking another little Bear.

  Hannah snorts, rolls her eyes, and looks down at Mika’s belly pointedly.

  “You’re as bad as Beeber, Cass, and even old Mrs. Cummings. God, that name just gives me the willies.”

  We all pack out laughing at that, her delight in pushing a dick theme making even me snort and choke on my fudge.

  “You should have seen her mate’s face when she started yelling ‘I’m coming’ and I yelled right back, that’s your name bitch. She stopped mid-orgasm! It was hilarious.” She chortles, grabbing her beach ball as she shakes with mirth.

  Even I can’t hold back a giggle and admit, albeit reluctantly, that I really like Hannah. Sometimes. She’s got a great sense of humor, that’s for sure. At least I think so, until she opens her fat mouth again.

  “The only person who isn’t having screaming orgasmic sex is Juju because Blain discovered she still has her V card.”

  Everyone splutters, Mika throws me a frown. Okay, so maybe I don’t exactly let people know I’m a virgin. I hear Tina snort in the kitchen where Lync is currently eating—I sniff—steak and a side of fried chicken.

  I blush, going so hot I feel my hair catch fire and glare at Hannah with a scowl of annoyance.

  “That wasn’t nice.”

  “Didn’t mean it to be nice, Juju, just telling the truth. Besides the two bone-chilling times Blain has dry humped you like a boss, you haven’t had sex.”

  “The male just got over having his throat ripped apart. For me. What do you want me to do, Hannah, put on crotch-less panties a cowboy hat and jump him like I bought him?” I huff, getting myself a handful of little cream puffs while she makes it look like she’s murdering another donut. With her mouth.

  “Giiiiirl, the male is being a dick. Of course I don’t expect you to be a hooker right off the bat but come on, even Mika can smell you’re in heat.”

  Mika nods wide eyed.

  “This isn’t exactly the time to be carrying around that membership, baby cakes. First time sex isn’t exactly shits and giggles.”

  “Unless Blain’s pre-ejaculate soothes her first,” Beeber points out.

  “Oh puhlease. That male will go feral when he finally gets his hands on her. You do not want to know the dirty shit he was thinking about when he was staring at her ass earlier. Yikes. Even I had to grab my puffer fish to stop her from crawling away.”

  I choke, reaching onto the table for a bottled water when everyone else laughs lewdly and all eyes turn to me.

  “Wha…ahem. It wasn’t…”

  “He was ready to throw you down right there and ride you like a bucking bull, Juju. Trust me, I saw it. And I happen to know he’s got your boobs down pat from those fantasies he keeps having. Like right now? He’s supposed to be calling council members to talk to them about his seat and all he keeps thinking about is eating—”

  “Okay! I think I have totally heard enough.”

  “Aaaw look guys, redheads blush hard. Stop being such a prude. You’re here because we’re going to help you seduce him.”

  “He doesn’t need seducing, Hannah. He said we’d only have sex after I decide,” I mumble, though how that whole weird conversation boiled down to this is beyond me.

  I’m still reeling after he shoved his fingers in me. Lord have mercy, I think, swallowing at the memory of what it felt like.

  “Just stop. That is gross. Besides, I don’t….oh no. No, he did not,” she breathes raggedly, her eyes sparking like two electric diamonds over her belly.

  I can hardly see the rest of the face, and it looks like she’s peering over a mountain.

  “That’s not nice. But I’ll let it go for now because I am so pissed for you,” she mutters, shoving her donut into her mouth in on piece.

  “What? What did he say?” Cass asks, all other eyes on me.

  “He said I need to accept sex.”

  “Okay. Well that sounds good since you’re in heat. Right?” Mika asks, grabbing a beignet from a box while I nurse another cream puff.

  “Eh, well, I mean, sure. If that’s all I was looking for here.”

  “But—”

  “Be realistic, Cass! The female just got disowned by her whole family.”

  “Not me!”

  “And she has nothing to her name. You’d think Blain would realize that and actually want to try to make her happy, but all he’s offering is a mating of convenience.”

  “Oh nooooo.” Beeber breathes, her eyes wide and shining with horror.

  Mika, the only human among us besides Cass—who doesn’t seem at all fazed by anything—looks around with a frown.

  “That’s bad right?”

  “Awful! It’s like living with a male for years and years and years—”

  “I get it,” I grate, shooting Hannah a glare.

  “Well anyway, it’s like never being the bride. She’ll be the whore no one wants to claim. Stop glaring at me, Ju. You know what everyone will say. It’s an insult to have your Fated submit and then not mate her.”

  Yeah. A huge insult that will no doubt be spread all over the town soon, something I can never escape from. A stain that will shame me and my family, even if they’ve disowned me.

  My eyes go hot, burning with the need to shed tears, and it takes everything inside me not to give in and let them fall. Me, the princess of Greyriver, pack darling and the catch of the fucking decade, and my own Fated doesn’t want anything more than ass.

  I hate that. I hate more that I didn’t even k
now that’s what I wanted until after Blain laid out his rules and regulations. And now I’m in heat, and it’s not as if I’m going to be able to just not sleep with him. Which means I’ll have to accept his terms and then—

  I only realize I’m crying when Cass hugs me and Beeber leans in to hand me a tissue, her eyes going soft when I sob and bite into my lip to stop the pathetic sounds.

  God, I am so lame.

  “You’re not lame, Jules. You’re just having a hard time. You just lost your whole family.”

  “Not me!”

  Cass laughs and rubs my back when I lean into her shoulder, shamelessly looking for more comfort.

  “See? You haven’t lost your whole family, but you must be so lost, and now the one thing you were clinging to isn’t exactly stable on the storm tossed seas. I understand, honey. It must hurt to hear the man you want—”

  “I don’t want him! He’s an asshole.”

  “Erm, ‘kay. Well, it must hurt to have the guy who should want you—only offer sex. But hey! I mean this is a start, right?”

  “Cass, no offense but don’t try to bright side this shit right now, okay? I woke up to someone I thought would maybe appreciate that I wanted to try, got an orgasm, no mating, another orgasm up against a wall, a card thrust at me as if that’s all I could care about and then…nothing. I have Mika, which I appreciate, but can’t really count on because I would never expect her to go against Bear for me. I don’t want that Mika, so don’t even argue. I’m stuck in a house that is not a home, my ma—Blain has decided that we’re not going to fully mate and my Alpha can’t stand to look at me. I don’t see a bright side to any of this.”

  “Well no, you wouldn’t because you’re not exactly a see-beneath-the-surface kinda gal. Not that I’m judging you! I’m not but we’ve talked about this, honey. You can’t just see the outside and not look in. Blain has been hurt all his life, he lost someone he loved, and he’s not exactly going to willingly hand his heart over to a woman who, sorry to say this and I heard this from Hannah if you wanna get mad, you’re not exactly pooping rainbows and happily ever after, Jules. You can’t basically tell a guy the only reason you’re there, with him, is that he’s your only option.”