by Lee Savino
After a few minutes, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor. Wulfgar paused in the doorway to request entry, and waited until Samuel allow it.
“Alpha,” Wulfgar rumbled respectfully.
Brenna stiffened and started to turn around.
“Eyes to the wall, lass,” I said to Brenna. “This is part of the punishment.” Her body stiffened and I leaned and spoke soothingly. “Tis only one of our soldiers, come to see that we upheld the laws of the pack. We will not let him harm ye.”
“Wulfgar,” Samuel greeted the visiting warrior. The two had fought many battles together, since the witch changed them both to Berserkers.
“There she is,” the Alpha continued, inviting the warrior to look at the woman standing in disgrace like a naughty child. My wolf didn’t like exposing our beloved like this, but Samuel had to follow protocol. “You see she has been punished.”
Wulfgar nodded. For all his great mass, he was the most in control of all the wolves. Not quite as dominant as Samuel, but certainly strong enough to challenge for Alpha, if he wanted it.
The Viking’s eyes, when not gold with magic, were grey. They swept over Brenna’s naked form, heating only for a second before he politely averted his gaze and nodded to Samuel. He would report to the pack that justice had been done, punishment delivered.
“She is new. She will learn,” Samuel said.
The giant nodded again.
“How is Fergus?”
“I’ll keep him in wolf form a few days,” Wulfgar grunted. “Cool him down.” Custom called for the injured party—poor Fergus—come to inspect the wrongdoer and see that punishment was meted out, but Wulfgar had come in the more unstable wolf’s stead. Most pack discipline was carried out in public, but we would not stand for our beloved to be put on display in front of all of the Berserkers. Not unless it was necessary.
“Will the pack be satisfied?” Samuel asked.
Wulfgar nodded. “I’ll carry word to them that justice was done.”
“Thank you, Wulfgar.” Samuel said.
Another nod of the shaven head, and Wulfgar left.
I leaned against the wall, running my hand down Brenna’s back when I noted her trembling.
“It’s alright, lass. He’s gone.”
She blinked hard, forcing back tears of anger or embarrassment.
I took her into my arms, holding her stiff body close, tipping her head back and brushing away one tear that escaped down her cheek. “None of that now. We would not let ye come to harm.”
I paused, silently asking Samuel to help me explain.
“We bent the rules by disciplining you in private. Fergus is not so lucky. The whole pack knows he is forced to stay in wolf form for a few days, as punishment for nearly attacking you. Wulfgar will carry the tale of your punishment back to the rest of the warriors. Otherwise they would come and demand to see evidence of your discipline themselves.”
“We cannae abide that.” I shuddered. Brenna shot me a furious look as if to say “It must be so difficult for you.” She wrenched away from me. Her red bottom jiggled enticingly as she strode to the dais and picked out a pelt to cover her naked form. Her chin stayed in the air, as haughty as a queen’s.
I bit back a smile. The punishment had bruised her pride, but not broken her. As bright as her bottom was now, the marks would fade quickly. We had to make sure the lesson stayed.
“Brenna,” Samuel called. “Come here.” Our beloved avoided my eyes as she marched to where he sat. The big blond set her on his knee. She winced as her punished behind hit his hard muscled thigh, but gritted her teeth.
“You’re a brave girl to take your punishment so well. I know you are new here but you must understand. Any wolf who harms you will be put to death. If Daegan had not interfered…We do not wish to see you hurt.
She glared at Samuel as if to say, Then why am I sitting on a red arse?
“You live among us now. Wolf packs thrive best when there’s a series of rules.” Samuel spoke quietly but firmly. “You must abide by the rules, or next time, I’m afraid, your punishment must be public.” He ran a finger over the silver circlet at her neck.
“This torc claims you as ours, but it is small protection against a raging warrior.”
“We were lucky today,” I spoke up. “Fergus is the smallest of us, and weak. But if ye had challenged a more dominant wolf...”
Samuel shuddered, real fear on his face. “Please, please do not test our control,” he pleaded. Brenna blinked as if shocked the Alpha would beg so humbly. “Please, Brenna. We cannot lose you. Do you see why Daegan had to punish you?”
Brenna gave a short nod.
“Daegan enjoys meting out punishment, but he will make it up to you.” Samuel glanced my way. “Won’t you?”
“Oh aye,” I said glibly. I seated myself on a stone close to the dais, a jar of salve in hand. “Come lie over my lap.”
Brenna raised an eyebrow and I grinned at her.
“Ye don’t trust me, lass?”
Samuel pushed her towards me. I enjoyed the sight of her bare body sashaying back towards me. When she draped herself over my knees, my cock hardened further, I gave a contented sigh.
“I could sit like this all day,” I joked. I stroked a hand down her back, and she shivered. “Ye did so well talking yer punishment. Let me give ye a little reward.”
Scooping out a generous handful of salve, I rubbed it into her reddened bottom. The spanking’s sting would already be fading, leaving a warm glow behind.
Brenna squirmed a little and I caught a whiff of her sweet musk. The heady scent told me just how much the spanking affected her. Perhaps this was the source of her humiliation.
I let my fingers wander lower, slipping between her legs to check.
“Just as I suspected. Soaked.”
Samuel chuckled.
Brenna started to rise up and I held her down.
“No, no, no lass, let me see to ye. Tis only fair after I caused ye pain.” I kept her pinned as I swirled my salve covered fingers over her sweet lower lips. She squirmed in earnest, giving my cock its own lovely massage.
It was a fun game.
Finally I let her up and she backed away, her face as red as her bottom. I raised my fingers to my mouth and slurped at my juice covered digits.
Brenna frowned and I winked at her.
Samuel caught her, pulling her back flush to his front. His big body dwarfed her. He wore a loin cloth and quickly pulled it off, rubbing his cock into her hot rear.
“Did you like how Daegan made it up to you?”
His hands roved over our beloved’s bare form. She struggled but her eyes glazed and her mouth fell open, panting a little as he tugged at her nipples and reached down further to stroke his fingers over the tiny pleasure spot between her legs.
Her knees buckled and Samuel held her up as she sagged against him. He continued growling softly in her ear
“Anytime you cross us, Daegan will spank your bottom. But I promise we’ll take care of you. You’re ours now.”
He held her up with a burly arm under her breast. Her nipples stood out hard and pink, ready for a hot mouth to suck on them. My mouth watered.
“You’re not afraid of us are you, little love? We would never truly hurt you.”
I approached, fisting my cock. Bending my head to her breasts, I worried the little nubs, alternately sucking and licking and catching them between my teeth.
“A little spanking never hurt anyone,” Samuel went on. “And you were such a good girl. We’ll give you a reward.”
His hand worked faster between her legs and she stiffened, mouth parted, eyes almost rolling back in her head.
“Come, Brenna,” Samuel ordered.
I watched her body stiffen. Little gasps escaped her lips and I drew her forward into a searing kiss. “Pain and pleasure, lass,” I breathed against her mouth. “But only at our hands, and ours alone.”
“Ours alone,” Samuel echoed softly, still ho
lding her up. “Did you like that?” He nuzzled her ear as she blinked and recovered. “Are you ready to thank Daegan for correcting you?”
“Give us a kiss, lass.” I stepped back, stroking my cock.
Samuel held her hips as she bent towards me. I stepped back and guided her lower.
“Not on my mouth…there’s a good lass.” My cock speared her mouth and she sucked obediently, still in a submissive haze.
Samuel lined up behind her and eased inside. We held her up as we scythed in and out, me at the fore and Samuel behind
He pistoned his hips hard, driving her onto my cock. I kept my hand gentle in her hair.
She held on to my side.
The bond hummed as Samuel and I moved in perfect sync.
My thumb brushed her cheek.
“So perfect for us.”
Samuel reached down to swipe at her pleasure spot and she sighed over my member.
“Gods,” I cried out, my own knees weakening. Vibrations moved up my entire body. Muscles tightening with pleasure, I came so hard I saw stars.
Samuel grunted as he sped up his thrust.
I helped lower Brenna to the floor and Samuel went to one knee, body bent over her.
As soon as I laid a pelt under her body, Samuel picked up her legs so he could drive as deep as possible. He held her easily. Her body flushed as pleasure rolled over her.
Samuel cursed in his old language as he finished. Below him, Brenna’s body still trembled.
I rolled her in the pelt and carried her to the dais, laying her pale body out like a sacrifice to dark gods.
Samuel came to his feet, already recovered. We didn’t take our eyes off the woman before us. Blood roared through our bodies, hardening and making us ready.
Samuel stepped forward. “Again.”
Behind us, someone started clapping. “What a thrilling performance,” a cool voice wafted over the three of us.
I scrambled to my feet, snarling, and faced the tall, blonde woman standing at the entrance. A mocking smile curved her mouth. I’d been so taken by my thoughts I hadn’t scented her approach. One sniff and I realized she had camouflaged her scent somehow. She smelled as bland and flat as the stone wall behind her.
“Witch, what are you doing here?” Samuel growled behind me, a powerful sound, tinged with magic. He stood at the foot of the dais, blocking our beloved from the witch’s view. Beyond him, Brenna lay blinking, her face still soft from the pleasure we’d given her. Her hands grasped at the pelts, pulling them over her nakedness.
A growl sounded deep in my belly at having such a private moment disturbed by the unwanted guest.
“Ye tempt danger, Yseult, coming here uninvited,” I said. “Best ye leave while we’re in a good mood.”
Samuel was less diplomatic. “Get out.”
Yseult’s eyes flashed, and I felt anger recede a little, beaten back by worry. Yes, she’d interrupted and shattered a beautiful moment. But the blonde witch was dangerous. She’d never been our true enemy, but we could not control her. If roused, she would be a formidable foe. I reached out to Samuel on our shared path, and our wolves snarled with shared sentiment.
We didn’t want this woman around Brenna.
“If you don't want to be interrupted then why are you playing in an open cave in the middle of the day? Anyone could walk in and join you.” The witch’s voice was as cool and emotionless as her scent, making it damned hard to read her true feelings.
“The pack knows to stay away,” I said, stepping forward, keeping my body in the line of sight between her and Brenna.
Yseult pretended to sniff. “I can smell her heat halfway down the mountain.”
“You dare-” Samuel’s rage choked him. I felt his grasp slip on the beast.
Samuel, no. I threw my energy down the bond, trying to hold back the tide of Berserker rage. As much as I wanted the witch out of our sanctuary, a wolf on the rampage would spell disaster. Not to mention as Alpha, he was likely to pull the entire pack into a bloody rampage.
Yseult wouldn’t survive. But Brenna and most of the pack might not, either.
Samuel transferred his anger to me, and I staggered back, fighting to stay upright. The beast didn’t want to be placated or stopped. I heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing but blind outrage. My world focused to a single intent: savage the witch. In my mind’s eye she was already dead and bloodied on the floor.
And if we eat her, we absorb her power.
Magic rolled over me, and my knees started to buckle: a natural submissive reaction to my Alpha’s anger. Pain blossomed in my skull: the brother bond opened me up to compulsion, but at least I would buffer it for the rest of the pack.
Why isn’t she dead yet? The beast raged…no longer a wolf, but a mad thing, tainted by magic.
“Please,” I choked.
Beyond Samuel, Brenna now sat upright, her face alert and expression worried.
As Samuel started to move forward, ready to hurt the witch, or me, or both, Brenna leaned forward and caught his hand.
“No, Brenna,” I gasped, tearing my body off the floor in a desperate attempt to stand between her and the Alpha on the brink of losing control. Samuel could not hurt her.
Before I reached him, Samuel whirled towards Brenna, teeth bared His arm already looked shaggier with the impending Change.
His eyes fell on our beloved, calm and innocent in her cocoon of pelts.
The beast quieted.
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed it. Part of me wanted to glance at Yseult, to see if her mouth fell open at the sight of the raging Alpha, calmed with one woman’s touch, like a sea storm blown away by a summer breeze.
Brenna smiled…and the sun came out.
Samuel smiled back, fully man, his wolf calm and sedate as a pup with its mother.
Yseult cleared her throat.
I had almost forgotten she was there.
The witch also smiled, but she looked uneasy, as if she’d seen something she didn’t quite understand. “You did take my advice. And I see the results were satisfactory.”
Her gaze flicked between us, and my wolf still felt uneasy, hating the smug look on her face.
Brenna’s brow furrowed.
“It’s alright, lass,” I heard myself say. “It’s only the witch—the one that led us to you.”
Brenna’s face went carefully blank. I felt a twinge of guilt. We’d approached her stepfather, paid him to lure her away from her family, and sell her to us. It wasn’t the way I’d wished to meet the woman who would be our salvation, but it was fast. And Brenna had settled into her role.
At least, it seemed she had. I studied her guarded expression, wishing we could speak to her. Ask her what she thought of being consort to two Alphas. Whether our care for her would be enough to please her.
Back at the dais, Samuel helped our beloved rise and hovered over her while she tugged on a gunna. Yseult smirked at the sight of the burly warrior acting as a lady’s maid, but Samuel ignored her, focusing on our beloved, taking care to stay calm after coming so close to losing his hold on the beast.
I turned my attention to the witch who’d stirred up so much trouble in the few minutes she was here. “What do you want, Yseult?”
“Merely to check on you. The last I saw you were hanging on, one claw away from descending into Berserker rage forever. The runes I cast gave me a glimpse into your possible future—and it was dark. But for the woman, of course. I’d wondered if you found her.”
“We did.” Samuel grunted. His tone made it clear that he wanted the woman to leave.
“Found and mated, I see.” Yseult cocked her head, studying us as if we were particularly ugly insects crawling on her boots.
“Humans can’t mate with wolves.” I said automatically. It was true. Only a woman with some magic—part witch—could bear a werechild. My mother had been one of them. There were female weres but few and far between, and most would not mate with a Berserker wolf, tainted as we were wit
h dark magic.
“Perhaps. Perhaps not.”
“What do you speak of?” Samuel was losing patience. The big man crossed his arms over his chest.
“Funny, I sensed her heat. How often is she fertile? Every full moon? Have you not noticed how much stronger her scent is at that time? Both her scent and her…hunger.”
“That is natural,” Samuel bit off. In the few months Brenna had been with us, we’d noticed her intense need for us every full moon. “Human or wolf, every woman goes through that.”
Yseult raised her eyebrows in silent challenge to his statement.
Brenna’s cheeks were pink, but I could not spare her embarrassment. I had to know.
“Are you saying it is not natural for a human woman? Is Brenna going into heat, like a female of our kind?”
Yseult gave her damned enigmatic smile.
“Why don’t you ask her? See what she says?”
Brenna sucked in a harsh breath. Her hand flew to her throat, covering the white weal across her neck.
“Oh yes,” Yseult purred. “She is mute. I remember now.”
Frowning at the witch’s inconsiderate words, I went to stand by her. Samuel already tucked her to his front, arms around her in comfort
The witch watched us. This whole thing—interrupting our lovemaking, provoking Samuel, was a game. The wolf and man disliked being treated as a pawn.
“You knew this, damn you,” I said in a frosty tone. “You were the first to find her.”
Yseult raised her hands in defense. “Calm, Daegan, I merely read the runes. I never met the girl. I’m glad she suits.”
“She suits,” I agreed bluntly, and turned to look at Brenna. My face softened. She more than suits, I spoke to Samuel through the bond, and he agreed.
Yseult looked annoyed. She knew wolves could speak to one another, and hated it. She liked to be the one who held the secrets.
“Tell us what you know,” I ordered, without much hope that she would.
“My dear Daegan, I know nothing.” She shrugged. “If you’d let me alone with her for a few moments—”
“No,” Samuel growled.
“I might study the mark of the wolf,” the witch went on coolly as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “That is how you knew she was the one the runes spoke of, is it not? The wolf attack when she was young.”
