I patted his shoulder and then lay on him fully and sighed. “Wolf fur is so soft and warm,” I purred.
He lay down, carefully, so I didn’t fall off his back, and huffed softly.
“Thank you, for coming hunting with us,” I whispered.
Cinnamon, a brown colored wolf, trotted towards us with blood on her muzzle. She yipped at me and dropped the front half of her body down and wagged her tail. I darted off of Deryn and tackled her. She rolled with me and nipped at my hands and arms, but never hard enough to draw blood. We stopped rolling and squared off, me standing and her in a playful bow.
Deryn growled softly.
“She’s not going to hurt me,” I told her. “Cinnamon and I have known each other since junior high. Right, Cinn?”
Cinnamon yipped and stood on her back legs, letting her front paws rest on my shoulders as she licked my face.
“I missed you, too,” I whispered and hugged her.
Deryn shifted into his human form. “This isn’t normal,” Deryn said softly. “I’ve never seen a wolf pack act like this.”
“Just because it’s not normal for you, doesn’t mean it’s not—”
“I don’t mean just my pack. I’ve visited dozens of packs and spent weeks with them. I’ve seen them interact with humans who had married into the pack. None of them accepted the human like they accept you. This pack treats you like a pup. No, not a pup… I don’t know! They treat you unlike anything I’ve seen!” Deryn yelled.
Cinnamon dropped down to all four feet and faced him. She tilted her head and yipped at him.
“She’s not pack, though,” Deryn said. “I appreciate the sentiment, but she’s not in your pack by marking or connected through a mate.”
Cinnamon yipped again.
Deryn’s brows furrowed. “She…what?”
“I had a temporary mark,” I answered, guessing what they were talking about. “Abraham marked me when I started coming around and then removed it when I turned eighteen.”
“Why?”
“To protect me, I think, but it didn’t help since my dad was a vampire,” I explained.
Deryn’s brows were so deeply furrowed, I worried he would have permanent lines. “He marked you, but then removed it? You were part of this pack, but then left it. Now, you’re part of my pack.”
“Permanently,” I said with a wide smile.
He looked up and the frown disappeared, replaced by a wide smile. “Yes.”
I ruffled Cinnamon’s ears. “They were my family. Still are.”
“A werewolf pack that took in a human. Just…because?” he whispered and shook his head. “Who treated her like a wolf, despite her being nothing of the sort.”
“She’s always been special,” Martin said, standing behind me in his human form. He ruffled my hair and smiled down at me.
“Dinner!” Abraham yelled.
“We just ate,” Martin chuckled.
“I didn’t,” I said. “And, I’m starving.”
Deryn shifted, and I leapt onto his back again. He ran back to the house and then shifted into human form before linking our fingers and walking into the house.
Dinner was full of laughter and stories from my first encounters. Deryn listened, but he didn’t smile much. He didn’t look mad, but like he was thinking really hard.
The trip home was quiet, and we stopped at the den to visit Dan. Deryn and Dan went to Dan’s office and left me downstairs.
“What’s wrong?” Sharla asked, bumping her shoulder against mine.
We both sat on the floor with one twin in each of our laps. Madison was in my lap, curled up in wolf form while I stroked my fingers through her fur.
“Deryn’s been acting really weird today. He can’t understand why Thor and Martin’s pack treats me like they do. I just don’t get why it bothers him so much,” I admitted.
Sharla shrugged. “When you’re used to something being done a certain way, having it done any other way is strange and you won’t understand it.”
“Yeah, but I just don’t get it in this case. So what if they treated me like pack? So what if they still treat me like pack even though I’m in Deryn’s now? What does it matter?” I asked.
“Maybe he’ll explain it later, once he figures out how to properly explain himself,” she suggested.
I hoped so.
“Have you talked to Ezio, since that night?” Sharla asked.
I sighed and shook my head. “No.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“It’s not on purpose. I just haven’t had the time,” I explained. “I’ve been so worried about Nico.”
“How is he doing?” she asked.
“Better. He’s stressed with all his new duties and the transition,” I said. “But, he seems to be doing better now.”
“Jolie?” Ezio asked, peeking his head into the living room. He smiled and then saw the pup in my lap, so he squatted down to hug me. “How’re you?”
“Good,” I said. “How are you? I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”
He kissed my cheek, then sat back, crossing his legs. “You’re busy. I know how it is. Plus, I was fine the next day. The spell was just some type of sleeping spell.”
“I can’t believe all that happened,” I mumbled.
“You’re always full of trouble,” he teased me. His smile faded a bit, and he leaned forward to smell me. “Where have you been? You smell like a bunch of strange wolves.”
“I went and saw my old pack,” I explained.
“Martin’s pack,” Sharla clarified.
“Oh,” Ezio said. “How was that?”
“Fun,” I said, then glanced at the stairs that led to Dan’s office.
“Deryn with Dan?” Ezio asked.
I nodded.
“Talking about you?” he guessed.
I shrugged. “I’m guessing so. Deryn was talking to the pack a lot and then went straight to Dan when we got here.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Ezio said. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes. “I’m so tired,” I whispered.
“Just close your eyes and rest,” Sharla said. “Ezio and I will stay here and make sure you’re safe.”
“I can’t move anyway,” I whispered. “I’ve got a sleeping pup in my lap. It’s against the rules to move now.”
Sharla chuckled. “Right you are.”
Strong arms picked me up against a comforting body. “Warm,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry I left you for so long,” Deryn whispered.
“’s okay.”
“Did you have fun today?” he asked.
“Mmhm,” I mumbled, eyes still closed.
“What was Ezio doing?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“He was lying on the floor in wolf form near you,” he explained.
“Protecting me,” I said.
“Protecting you…inside the house?” he asked. I didn’t need to see him to know he was smirking and trying not to laugh.
“I’m danger prone,” I mumbled, burying my face against his chest.
“You are,” he agreed.
He set me down on a big warm bed and I snuggled down into the blankets. He spooned his body around mine and kissed my head. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“Promise?” he whispered.
I chuckled and snuggled closer to him. “Promise.”
Chapter 5
Jolie
I woke to lips kissing their way from my shoulder, to my thigh, and then was pushed onto my back and my clothes removed.
“Morning,” I whispered with a chuckle as I opened my eyes, looking down my body to see Deryn sitting with his face above my stomach.
“Morning, beautiful,” he whispered. He lowered his head and kissed the bottom of my stomach and then traveled lower.
I gasped as he licked me and within minutes was moaning his name.
He slid inside of me, and I g
rowled with pleasure.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” he whispered. “You’re a queen, my queen, and I need to make sure you know that.”
He pumped his hips, and I arched up to meet him.
“There are lots of people in the house,” I reminded him.
He leaned down and whispered, “Then you better be quiet.” He kissed me deeply and thrust into me fast and hard.
I bit into his shoulder to hold in my scream as I orgasmed.
“Oh, baby, you’re so wet.”
“I’ve been wanting you for a few days,” I admitted as I panted with his thrusts.
“You know you just have to ask,” he said.
I pushed his chest, and he lay on his back, so I could take control. I sat down slowly and he groaned. “You know how I feel about asking when you’re all with me,” I said, raising myself up and down slowly, enjoying the feel of him filling me.
He gripped my hips and met my movements with his own. “We need to teach you to communicate telepathically, so you can just ask one of us specifically.”
“But, the others would know when we left the room together,” I said, throwing my head back as I orgasmed. I tightened around him and couldn’t move as much.
“So?” he asked. “It’s not like they don’t know we have sex?”
“It’s different,” I growled.
He spun me around, pushing the top half of my body down onto the bed and raising my lower half up until I was on my knees. He slid his hand along my butt, slipping his hand around my hip bone, gripped it, and then thrust into me.
I bit the sheets and screamed into them as he pounded me from behind.
“You’re so sexy. You have the most perfect ass I’ve ever seen,” he growled.
He made me orgasm three more times, and then slammed into me one more time, finishing with a loud groan.
We lay in each other’s arms for a bit and then took a shower. Dan hugged me when we entered the dining room.
“Morning, Dan,” I said as I stepped out of his embrace.
“Morning, Daughter,” he said with a wide smile. “Hope you’re hungry, because I had a feast put together.”
I looked at the empty table and he laughed.
“Not in here, girl. The dining hall,” he said and pushed me out of the room. I walked outside, and he led me to one of the many buildings that made up the den. This one was used when they wanted the entire pack to gather together. Dan held open the door for me, and I stepped inside to find all of my exes, my mates, and the other kings. There were a few other people I didn’t know as well from each of the four clans, but I was surprised to find them all here.
“What is this?” I asked Dan.
“Business meeting,” he said with a smirk.
“This is a trap,” I said and folded my arms across my chest. “What do you want?”
“Sit and eat,” Dan said, turning away from me to head to the front table where the other kings were.
“Deryn,” I growled.
He chuckled. “Well, I was hoping our morning fun might put you in a better and more receptive mood,” he said.
“So, you only slept with me to butter me up?” I asked, putting a hand to my heart. I was totally faking it. I knew Deryn and I knew that wasn’t why, but it was fun to occasionally mess with my guys.
He pulled me into his arms, dipped me, and kissed me senseless. “You know exactly why I slept with you.”
“Because I’m pretty?” I asked.
He chuckled and stood straight, bringing me with him. “Yes.”
Nico teleported to me and kissed my cheek. “Hello, gorgeous.”
“Hi, Sparkles,” I said and kissed his cheek back.
“Ready for fun?” he asked.
“I’m deducting five points from all of you for this deceit,” I said.
“Five points?” Nico asked. “That many?”
“Fine, I’ll make it ten points,” I said and walked by him.
“What are the points for?” Thor asked.
“It’s their experience points. They were all really close to leveling up, but now they’ve lost some points,” I said. It was really just a silly thing we said and didn’t mean anything.
“Don’t I get points for this morning?” Deryn asked.
“No,” I said as I took my seat beside Rhys. “You ruined it.”
Rhys chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “I warned you guys she wouldn’t be receptive if you surprised her with a meeting like this.”
“What is this about?” I asked him. “You could be my favorite.”
“You don’t have a favorite,” Deryn scoffed.
“I could,” I mumbled and pouted. They all knew I wasn’t being serious, though. I could never be so petty.
“Let’s eat!” Dan said.
Several wolves from the pack wheeled out carts with trays of food. My mouth watered, and I picked my fork up expectantly. As was usual now, my mates piled food onto my plate and then made their own. I ate most of what they had given me, then leaned back in my chair with a satisfied sigh.
“Most of you know why I’ve summoned you,” Dan said.
I turned and glared at him, but he just smiled at me.
His smile disappeared and he said, “Our spies have obtained information about our enemies.”
That didn’t narrow it down. I had quite a few enemies now.
“A large contingent of dhampirs have been spotted in a remote area about twenty miles outside of Jinla. They’ve been seen transporting large crates of weapons and there’ve been rumors that some local people have been kidnapped by them as well,” Dan said.
“Why haven’t we destroyed them yet?” Ezio asked.
“Because we don’t want to kill the soldier ants until they take us to their hive,” Nico said.
That did make sense.
“So, how do we find the hive?” I asked.
“We put a tracking beacon on one of them,” Dan said.
I laughed. The sound boomed out of me and grew louder, and I laughed until my stomach hurt.
“What?” Rhys asked.
“We have all this magic and power and you used a piece of technology to track them?” I gasped for breath. “They most likely scan for magic, but I doubt they’d think to scan for pieces of technology.”
I could picture Brayden’s furious face when he learned how they were tracked.
Speaking of Trident Douche…
“Have there been any sightings of Trident Douche or Bitchface?” I asked.
There were a few growls around me.
“Not yet,” Katar said. “We’re searching for them, but have no leads so far.”
They were likely hiding, like the rats they were.
“So, why was this meeting orchestrated? Why did you have to trick me into coming?” I asked.
“We have a plan,” Dan said. “And—”
“I’m not going to like it,” I finished for him. I sighed. “Hit me with it.”
“The only way to draw them out is with bait. They won’t come out for anything other than their objective,” Dan said.
“Me?” I guessed.
“Not you specifically. Your heart,” Katar explained.
I glanced at my mates, and then narrowed my eyes at the kings. “No.”
“It will work,” Dan said.
“You can’t guarantee their safety,” I growled and stood. “And, that bitch could sever the ties again!”
“We won’t let that happen,” Deryn assured me.
I spun to face him. “You don’t know that! You can’t guarantee that! She has that fucking knife and she will cut our ties. Don’t you remember how painful it was? Don’t you remember how it felt to lose…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. My chest tightened and pain coursed through me. Not true pain, but the memory of the pain. A memory that I could not get rid of.
All four of my mates moved towards me, but I created a shield around myself, keeping them at bay.
“Whe
n did she learn that?” Fox asked.
“I will not risk you four. I will not risk any of you. I will not have our bonds severed.”
“We’re mates. She can’t break our bond as mates,” Deryn said.
“You were the one who was so adamant about me not removing the curse because of the risk it held. You were the one who held a grudge afterwards,” I reminded him, my voice rising and my anger with it. I felt my body heating up and smoke curled from my mouth. “Why are you so quick to risk yourself now? Have you forgotten what it was like?”
“No,” Deryn ground out between clenched teeth. “I remember.”
“Perhaps you don’t remember well enough,” I said. My body was glowing as my power rose to the surface. “If you want to risk yourselves, I will have no part in it. I will have no part in this.”
“Jolie,” Dan said. “Calm down. We aren’t—”
“Pain and loss can be forgotten. I understand that. I understand that it dims with time. I knew things were too good to be true. I knew Johann was always partially right.”
“Jolie,” Nico warned. “Stop.”
They didn’t remember what it felt like. They didn’t remember the horrible gaping hole that had formed with their bonds gone.
“When you’ve come to your senses, I’ll return,” I told them.
With a whispered goodbye, I teleported myself away from my mates. I teleported to the other side of the world. And, once I landed, I closed down our bonds as tightly as I could. It hurt, so much that I curled into a ball on the ground. I cried and ugly sobbed as I clutched at my chest. I would not lose them. Not again. Not ever again.
Chapter 6
Nico
Jolie had been gone for three days, and we still couldn’t locate her. The pain was excruciating and nothing except her being back by my side would fix it.
We had fucked up before, but never this badly. I knew she wouldn’t like the idea, but had no idea how upset she would be. I’d tried to explain it to the others, but they were adamant that the plan would work.
Yes, it would work, but Jolie was also right to worry about our bonds. Having our bonds severed had been one of the most painful things I had ever felt, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how it had felt to her, to have four of them cut.
Royally Enraged: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Her Royal Harem Book 4) Page 5
