by Lori King
Glancing up, she watched as her dad settled her mother into a comfortable chair, before standing behind her like a guard dog. Her mom had weakened significantly, and it looked like she wasn’t going to be able to travel with them to Kansas City. How KJ was going to face leaving her mother was anyone’s guess.
“I’m not exactly sure that I have the right words for this.” Graham paused, swallowing hard. “Losing Rudy, Zara, Brick, and Kelly…Well, it feels like they’ve cut one of our arms off and we’re trying to figure out how to get it reattached. The truth is that it’s never going to happen. We have to learn how to support ourselves with the other arm, and move forward.”
Wesley Todd let out a loud, empty laugh that echoed with grief for his dead wife, and KJ felt hot tears on her own cheeks. What do you say to a man who’d just lost his wife, and had to raise his two sons on his own? KJ felt guilt that she felt relief in knowing that Wesley and Zara were not bond mates. It meant that at least Fabian and Justus would have one of their parents to lean on. Had they been true mates instead of just in love, it would have been Wesley’s death sentence too.
“Graham, I understand the need for sensitivity, but we have to get everyone moved back to Kansas City as quickly as possible. We don’t know for sure how long we have before the Kaplans come after us again.” Samson met Graham’s eyes steadily. Always the reasonable one, Samson had been scared out of his mind at how close he had been to losing one of his children. KJ had never seen the giant man so emotionally frazzled.
“We have to wait until Tasha can—”
Tasha cut her husband off. “No, Graham, they can’t wait. What is the purpose of waiting around for a dead woman? I intend to stay here at Quiver Creek until I finally breathe my last breath. However, I want to see my children safely off before I do so. Rafe, Ryley, Katie Jo, I can only imagine how difficult this is for you, but I need you to accept that I know my own body. I am dying. I can’t make it to Kansas City, so instead I will enjoy my final moments with my husband.”
“Mama, Thomas said that he could do the surgery…” KJ stopped when her mother turned her sad eyes her way and shook her head.
“Katie Jo, you will go back with all of them, taking your brave mates with you, and building a life that you can be proud of. The Gray Pack will protect you from Nicolas Kaplan, and you will not have to fight for every step forward like I have. Please, move on. For me.”
It was impossible to deny her mother anything, but more so when she looked so lost and sad. KJ could only nod her agreement. Rafe, however, had a different approach. Standing and moving across the room, he dropped to his knees in front of Tasha, taking her hands into his, and staring into her eyes.
“Tasha…Mom…maybe this is wrong, it’s probably extremely selfish, but damn it you owe Ryley and I time with you. I can’t deny that I’m angry, and I’m still trying to forgive you. I don’t know how to have more than one set of parents, but I’m not willing to let you give up without trying everything. At least do us the favor of traveling back to the den and attempting the surgery. I want my wife Shandi to meet you.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room, as Rafe knelt in front of the mother who hadn’t been there physically for him growing up. KJ could understand her older brother’s anger and frustration at Tasha. Honestly, she didn’t know if she would have been strong enough to forgive their parents if the situation were reversed.
Tasha and Rafe shared a silent moment that seemed almost too personal to watch. After several breaths, Tasha’s weakened body slumped into the chair and she nodded her agreement. It was almost as though Rafe had taken the burden of deciding her fate onto his own wide shoulders so that she didn’t have to carry it anymore. The big man held his arms out and for only the second time in more than twenty years he gave his birth mother a hug. KJ’s heart lifted at the pure joy that broke over Tasha’s face. There had to be salvation at the end of this miserable path, right? Fate couldn’t be so unforgiving as to steal Tasha and Graham away after it just took four other family members from them.
“So it’s settled. We leave tomorrow morning for Kansas City.” Ryley’s voice cracked with emotion as he watched his older brother holding his mother tightly. “Everyone needs to go back to their cabins or beds, and double-check that they have all of their personal belongings. Nothing more than you must have to survive, because we don’t have a lot of room.”
“Gamma Tasha?” KJ’s heart stopped in her throat, when little Axel Poplin spoke from where he was settled in Lily Griffin’s arms.
“Yes, darling?” Tasha pulled away to face Axel, and opened her arms to him. He climbed out of Lily’s lap and made his way into Tasha’s.
“Gamma, where am I gonna go? Am I gonna go to heaven like Mommy and Daddy?” Axel’s pale green eyes were filled with worry and fear, and his words caused more tension in the room.
Tasha seemed too choked up to speak, as she held the child against her breast. “Oh no, darling. You aren’t going to go to heaven for many many years to come. You’re going to stay with your pack, well, with your new pack. There will be a place for you.”
Rafe who still knelt in front of Tasha and Axel reached out and tipped the boy’s face so that he met his eyes. “Axel, how old are you, son?”
Axel sniffed, and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “I’m four and a three quarters. My little brother Jordy is only three but I take care of him.”
Chuckles rumbled through the room at the fierce sibling loyalty in the statement. His childish voice made the word sound more like free instead of three, but the message came through.
“Hmm…four and three quarters, huh? Well, see, my brother and I just married this beautiful princess back home, and we are looking for a couple of boys to be our sons. I was thinking we needed someone about five years old though, because we need someone who is made of tough stuff.” Rafe paused as though he was thinking hard about the decision, but his challenge had perked Axel right up.
“I’m tough! I’m tougher than any five-year-old I know! Could I be your son?” His eyes widened with hope and he puffed his little chest out like a champion.
“I think that might work out all right. Do you think you would like to have two dads?” Rafe asked, and Axel frowned. His tiny tongue peeked out between his lips as he thought about the options.
“Can Jordy come too?”
Ryley stepped over and bent to be eye level with Axel. “We definitely want Jordan, too.”
Axel turned back to Tasha. “Gamma, did ya hear that? I’m gonna have two daddies, and Jordy is coming too! And we get to have a princess for a mama!”
“I heard, darling! I heard!” Tears spilled down Tasha’s face, and KJ sobbed loudly in Bryson’s arms.
To watch Axel gain so much pleasure out of such a small thing just warmed her soul. Losing so many lives seemed so worthless until the silver lining peeked through the clouds. KJ knew that Shandi wasn’t able to have kids because of her cancer treatments. That had been a point of contention between her and the guys when they first met. To hear that they would be willing to take in the two boys that were like nephews to her already melted the rest of the barrier she had erected between her heart and accepting her brothers. They were all going to go to Kansas City to the Gray Pack den and build a new life. One way or another.
With everything settled, the wolves all scattered to go finish their packing, or tuck the little ones into bed. Axel didn’t want to leave Rafe’s side until he promised to come and give him a goodnight hug after a few minutes.
The moment the room was cleared of all but Tasha, Graham, KJ, Bryson, and the original Gray Pack members, Bryson nudged KJ off of his lap. He looked down at Thomas, and gave a sharp nod. To KJ’s surprise, Thomas shifted immediately, and stood to his full height. There was a light pink ridge around the side of him, from just below his ribs to his hip bone, but it was healing well. He bent and dropped a kiss on her parted lips before turning back to Cash with fury in his eyes.
Cash must have seen the anger
in his eyes, too, because he took a deep breath and tilted his chin in challenge. “I won’t apologize, Doc. I did what was necessary.”
“You tried to kill my wife,” Thomas said in a voice that would have formed icicles in the desert.
“Hey! Not your wife yet, buddy!” KJ protested, but Bryson sent her a quelling look.
“My soon to be wife, whatever. You tried to get her killed.”
Cash shook his head violently. “No, man. I wasn’t trying to get her killed, I was trying to save your life. There was no other way. Please understand. KJ has forgiven me, why can’t you and Bryson?”
“You betrayed me, Cash. You were willing to turn her over to be a sex slave, in order to save my mangy hide! Next time, if I’m meant to die, let me die, because I could never live without her,” Thomas said, and KJ gasped at the passion that rolled off of him as he met her eyes. “I love her.”
KJ stood, but Thomas held one finger up, stopping her. Before she could say anything else, he turned and slammed his fist into Cash’s jaw knocking the man backward to the floor. The sound ricocheted through the room, and was followed by her scream, and Cash’s grunt of pain. She started to move forward, but Thomas snagged her around the waist, while Bryson moved to Cash’s side and held his hand out.
Cash flinched backward. “You gonna take your turn next, Samuels?”
Bryson laughed. “Nope. I think Doc did a fine job. In fact it’s exactly what I would have done if he hadn’t gotten to it first.”
Cash took Bryson’s hand and climbed to his feet before turning back to Thomas. “I’m sorry, Doc, I had to do it.”
“I know, Cash. That’s why you’re still breathing,” Thomas said, pressing a kiss to the crown of KJ’s head.
“You’ve got a hell of a punch there, Doc,” Noah said from across the room. “Where did you learn to hit like that?
“Who would have thought he might have some value?” Luke growled under his breath, but Thomas ignored him.
“The boxing ring, actually. I didn’t have much of a social life, but I spent a lot of time at the gym. Guess you boys will have to practice to be able to take me…”
Luke snorted his disagreement, while Noah just grinned back. Everyone but KJ laughed. “What the fuck? Is this some sort of male bonding ritual? We’ve all come within inches of death in the last couple of days, and I for one am tired of the fighting.” She spun on Thomas and poked him in the chest, her rage bubbling to get out. “You! You don’t get to stay in wolf form when I’m worrying about you, and then just shift on a whim!” Turning her anger to Bryson she snapped, “And you knew! You knew he could shift, and you were just waiting for it! Didn’t either of you two asshats think that I might like to know my mate was going to survive? I mated you, Doc! If you go, I go!”
Thomas and Bryson exchanged looks before turning back to her. Suddenly her world was upside down and all she could see was Bryson’s tight ass in front of her. Casually tossed over his shoulder she wailed and beat against his back in a rage. Just who did he think he was? She wouldn’t be treated like this!
But she was being treated like this. Thomas held the door open as Bryson carried her outside and the other guys all told them goodnight. They were going to just take her away like none of her feelings even mattered. As angry as she was, she was also aroused. Having the choice taken away from her was a little bit of a turn on, and she clenched her thighs together when Bryson slapped her ass.
“No more, ice. You’ve said your peace. We’re going back to the cabin and finishing the mating ritual, so that we can go back to your den as an official triad. If you don’t want your ass to be red you had better chill out.” Bryson’s voice rumbled through her body, and her nipples perked up at his threat.
“Don’t I get a choice?” She paused long enough to ask, but when he just laughed, she screamed again. Her fists hit everywhere she could reach, and she even bit into his fleshy ass through his jeans. His grunt of irritation was the only response she got, and Thomas remained silent at their side.
“Aren’t you going to stop him, Doc?” Turning her eyes up to him, she forced tears to fill them, knowing that Thomas hated seeing her cry.
A slow wicked grin that made her pussy drip spread across his face, and he laughed as his eyes took on a telltale glow. “Hell no. I like watching him spank you, and I fully intend on getting a few licks in myself, right before I fuck your ass.”
Her breath caught in her throat and she choked on whatever words she might have said. He wanted to fuck her ass? Did that mean that Bryson would fuck her pussy? Did she even want that? Questions raced through her mind, and she struggled to keep from moaning at the rising heat in her blood.
“Hell, Doc. If we’d have known that threatening to fuck her ass would shut her up I would have started with that instead of ‘Hi, I’m Bryson, your mate.’”
“You’re a jerk.”
“Yep, and you’re horny. I can smell you from here, peaches. Now hush, so that we can get to the good part faster.”
Bryson carried KJ all the way into Rudy’s old cabin where he set her down just inside the living room. The dining room table sat to their right, and it looked like the perfect height for what he had planned. When she stood upright on her feet again, he spun her quickly toward the wooden tabletop, and pushed her down until her chest was pressed to the top of it.
“Perfect,” Thomas said softly as he followed them in and saw what Bryson had done.
“I think so. Now, would you like the honors, or should I go first.”
KJ was growling low in her throat, but the burst of female arousal in the air told him that their little act was turning her on like crazy. She might have been cussing them under her breath, but her hips were cocked so that her ass was presented to them neatly. He ran one hand over the denim covered curves gently while the other hand held both of her arms behind her back so that she couldn’t move.
“These have to go first, peaches.” With that he shifted enough to have his claws pop through the skin, and he cut through the denim, careful not to cut her pale soft skin. It was like opening a delicious present as he pulled the material away from her body, leaving her completely bared to their eyes. He loved that she didn’t bother with panties.
Thomas moved to his side, and ran his own hand over KJ’s rump, too. She couldn’t keep from moaning as they both gently caressed her back, butt, and thighs. As her muscles relaxed, Bryson felt his muscles harden. His cock was beating against his zipper like a hungry animal smelling its prey.
He pushed two fingers between her swollen pussy lips and groaned out loud when her body clenched down on him. She was so soft and hot that he nearly came in his jeans. Looking at Thomas’s clenched jaw and large erection was like looking in a mirror. To be a man of his word he had to spank her first, but damn he wanted to sink into her until she was choking on him. Thomas beat him to the punch so to speak, when he brought his hand down on the fleshy part of her ass with a loud crack. She jumped and arched up off of the table, but didn’t protest.
Her pussy approved, that was for sure. Bryson only debated for about two seconds before he dropped to his knees, releasing her arms, and gripping her hips. He pressed his face into her drooling cunt, and licked her from top to bottom and back. She tasted musky and sweet at the same time, and when she gasped and whimpered his cock throbbed again.
Focusing on her clit, he heard Thomas spank her ass again, and then was treated to a tongue full of cream. It took everything he had not to beg Thomas to spank her again, but he couldn’t figure out how to say it without it sounding creepy, so he just waited patiently for him to get on with it. They began a back and forth system of a slap or two and then a moment of clit worship, seeming to simultaneously agree that KJ was going to be the first one to come in this trio tonight.
He used his tongue like a finger, directing the pressure around her sensitive opening, and then just barely in before he flicked it back and forth. She squealed and then he heard the begging start.
; “Please! Doc, please! Bryson, oh my God!” Over and over she repeated their names and begged for release until Thomas finally slid both hands down to grab her pink ass cheeks, and spread them wide open for Bryson.
Bryson took advantage of the assistance and slowly rimmed her tiny rosebud. That did it. She shot up off of the table against his mouth, and came like a faucet. Her juices ran all over his chin and cheeks, while her ass muscles clenched around his face. He stopped moving long enough for her to catch her breath, and then he stood, and moved around to where her face was so that he could take her mouth in a hot kiss. She moaned against his lips and tangled their tongues, and he wondered what she thought of her own flavor. Breaking free of her, he watched as Thomas began to rub his cock in the crease of her ass.
“Bry, grab the olive oil, and toss me that spoon right there.” The suggestion burst in Bryson’s brain like a firework, even as KJ spoke.
“What the hell? Are you fixing a meal or fucking?”
Thomas growled back at her, which seemed to shut her up temporarily. “I’m going to fuck you, little one, but I refuse to hurt you. Now be quiet, or you won’t get to come again all night long.”
KJ and Bryson both let out matching grumbles of protest, but the fire in Thomas’s eyes told Bryson that he was deadly serious.
Thomas stared at KJ’s pink asshole and it winked back at him. She was anxious, but excited, or she would have been fighting like hell to get away from him. His mate wasn’t a weak woman, and she wouldn’t just lie there if she didn’t want to.
Bryson handed him the olive oil, and placed the wooden spoon on the arch of KJ’s back. She squirmed at the foreign touch, but calmed when Bryson tangled his fingers into her hair, and directed her face to his open fly. Thomas watched for a moment as KJ tongued her mate before opening her jaws and swallowing him down. That was a priceless moment. He envied Bryson, but he remained focused on his end goal.
Taking the wooden spoon in his hand, he landed it right in the center of her pretty pink ass cheeks, making her jump. The pretty oval red spot it left made his mouth water, so he did it again on another soft part of her ass cheek. He noticed after the third time that her hips were squirming and he realized that she was trying to grind her clit against the edge of the table.
