Pack Violet Shadow

by C. M. Stunich

  I opened my lips first and flicked my tongue my tongue against Anubis' mouth. He parted his own lips and we worked our way into an easy, natural sort of kiss. You'd never know it was only our second kiss ever together.

  His hands slid down my arms, fingers curling loosely around my hips, bracing himself for our kisses but leaving any further steps to me …

  I pulled back a minute later and laid a palm on his chest, those crimson eyes even prettier up close than they were from far away. Face to face like this, I could see darker striations of purple and a gradation of red in his irises. Like two little planets, each a world in their own right, drawing me deeper and deeper into that gaze …

  Outside, a rash of raucous coughing ensued follow by low, sensuous laughter.

  Nic and Silas.

  “You head up to bed,” I told the Alpha-Son of Pack Crimson Dusk. “And I'll be up in a bit.”

  I turned away in a swish of bloodred skirts and black fur trim, and headed outside into the waning moonlight to find both Silas and Nic on their backs in the grass, looking up at the blanket of night and all her little silver stars, tucked away beneath her navy folds, twinkling pretty in their eternal slumber.

  “Since when did you start smoking?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips and looking down at Nic, sprawled across his fur cloak, a cigarette in one hand and a disgusted facial expression on his handsome features.

  “Since never,” he said, stabbing the cherry out in the wet grass and passing it over to Silas as he coughed and hacked, rolling onto his side as I reached out and unhooked the clasps on the front of my dress. The thick heavy fabric fell away as it was intended to—to make it easier to shift—and I was left standing pale and nude in the moonlight.

  I threw the dress down to make a little bed and laid between the boys on my back, so I could look up at the sky and the waning moon, too.

  Normally, being nude like this wouldn't mean a damn thing …

  Right now, it felt like it meant a whole lot of things. I knew my nipples were hard, peaked into sharp points, and my sex … it was swollen and warm and wet from kissing Anubis. The boys could smell my arousal, I knew.

  “I seriously don't know how you manage to choke those things down,” Nic said, pretending not to notice the sexual tension that had stretched nice and taut between the three of us. I wondered if this hyper-sexuality we were all feeling would lessen over time? I hoped so. Or … not. I mean, I liked it but it was distracting as hell.

  “When my dad first caught me smoking,” Silas said, blowing the sweet smell of cloves and tobacco into the night sky, one tattooed arm tucked behind his head, the other lying by his side. “He broke my arm, and then he told me I'd either learn to smoke them properly or he'd break it again. Basically, he forced me to learn to take it. I think he figured no werewolf in their right mind would be able to do it, but fuck him, I proved him wrong.”

  Silas stopped talking and the world went quiet for a few moments, the only sounds the rustling of the tree limbs and the distant night sounds of the forest.

  “That guy is such a piece of shit,” Nic said, and I knew we were all thinking of Allister and his involvement in this witch-vamp war of ours.

  “We haven't been kidnapping 'weres', Zara Wolf. Allister Vetter and his people … they've been delivering them.”

  Whitney's words were loud in my mind, almost a scream. Of course a wolf was helping facilitate this. My people were strong; it'd be quite the challenge to round them up like chattel and carry them off. But if someone they trusted were to call a meeting? Invite them to a rendezvous point? Hell, he was the alpha male of Pack Obsidian Gold. He could simply … command wolves of lower rank to go where he wanted and do what he wanted …

  “I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner,” Silas whispered, his gold eyes focused on the endless ceiling of navy and stars above us. I looked over at him, my head pillowed in a sea of red hair, and then I reached out with my right hand and touched my fingers to the bare skin of his hip, just above the waistband of those deliciously tight leather pants of his. “I should have. I … he's always inside my head, smiling and baring his teeth. He's … he invades my every waking moment. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells still, even though I know I'm technically out of his reach now …”

  “Now you're mine,” I told him and Silas visibly shuddered, rolling away from me and curling into a fetal ball. I watched him go, and then I scooted close enough to spoon him, curling one arm around his stomach and pressing my face to his back. He smelled like cherries and vanilla, like tobacco and cloves. I was starting to really fucking like that smell.

  When I closed my eyes, I could feel his body pushing inside of mine, his hips hitting my ass as he fucked me over the bathroom sink. And I wouldn't soon forget the look on his face in that mirror … or the one on mine.

  “I've been waiting a long time to be mated,” Silas said with a tired sigh, letting his cigarette fall from his fingers to fizzle out in the wet grass. “Just so I could get the fuck away from him, and yet … he found a way to infiltrate everything. Everything. He's literally putting the future of every werewolf on this fucking planet at risk with his bullshit.”

  “We're going to fix this,” I promised, because the White Wolf … never broke her promises. I'd have to hold myself to the words falling from my lips, my voice a husky whisper as fragile as the icy drops of dew that clung to the grass. I'd been completing my tasks lately with less than stellar results … finding Faith's mom … but finding her dead. Or discovering the fate of our missing pack mates … but spending days slogging through politics and bullshit as I tried to find a way to rescue them.

  Silas turned back toward me and I scooted a few inches so he could lie on his back again, flicking his gold eyes to the side to watch me. In the distance, a branch cracked from the weight of the still melting snow. In a few days, it would be gone completely and spring would finally get a change to blossom and bloom, turning the pack's property into a fragrant garden of scents and smells, plentiful with prey.

  “Nic and I were just discussing his uh, feelings,” Silas said, obviously desperate to change the subject. He sat up and looked back at me, his scar barely visible in the light. As a wolf, it should've healed. We rarely scarred. And yet … whatever his father had done had left a permanent mark. One day I'd ask, but now was not the time. “Tell her what you told me,” he said, pushing up to his feet. “And then come join us in the house, okay? Like, you're a fucking annoying little asshole, but you need to speak your damn mind.”

  Silas grabbed his cloak and the discarded cigarette, and headed toward the front porch, leaving me and Nic alone.

  Alone.

  For the first time in days.

  “Your feelings?” I asked, because I'd heard just enough of their conversation to wonder.

  “Zara,” Nic said, and his voice sounded broken. I turned toward him and found his aubergine eyes locked on the moon, refusing to look at me. “I … I'm not all that good with words, you know that.”

  “I know that,” I said, a slight smile blooming on my face. “But I don't care. I can read you like a book, Nicoli Hallett.”

  “You probably think of me as a possessive asshole …” he started, but I was already sitting up and crawling over to him, straddling his leather covered pelvis with my hot, warm heat. The motion made us both catch our breaths. Sitting up there, with the stars above my head and the wet grass and snowy forest around us, the air perfumed wth the homey smell of honeysuckle and pine, of Pack Ebon Red, I felt my arousal like a weight inside my tummy. I needed to sate it.

  But first, I would talk. Because Nic needed to talk. And he deserved it. He'd loved me his entire life, wanted me for years, and yet he'd known for a long time that he could never have me. Even now, even after managing to sneak him into the Pairing, he didn't believe he was going to be with me at the end of it. No, as far as he was aware, one of these cocky assholes, like Che or Jax or Silas, these boys who waltzed in here with bad attitudes, was going to be my
mate forever.

  We lived in a society of monogamous pairs, pairs that mated for life. And although Nic and I had mated, he wasn't guaranteed the same security that any other werewolf would've gotten. No, he was left sitting here, watching me fuck men I barely knew when he'd been waiting years. And no, that didn't entitle him to anything, but he had a right to be upset. In fact, I was surprised he wasn't more upset. To the other alpha sons, he might've been a bitchy little asshole that needed to be put in his place, but to me, he was my childhood friend and the man … no, the person that I loved.

  “If I close my eyes,” I told him, looking down at his beautiful face, that arrogant haughty little face that hid the most loyal and the most loving man I'd ever met in my life. “And imagine that you were the alpha-heir, that we'd just had our first time together and then all these … these beautiful, sexy girls waltzed into your life and got to kiss and touch and fuck you when I'd been waiting forever … Nic, I'd probably challenge and kill them.”

  “Zara,” he started, but I wasn't done.

  I leaned down and put my cheek against his, his hands sliding up my back.

  “If it were you, and I told you how upset I was and you just told me to fuck off, that it was none of my business and you could mate with whoever you wanted … that would kill me.”

  His hands tightened on my hips and he sucked in a sharp breath. I could feel him hard and ready and wanting inside his leather pants, so I sat back up and scooted down, just far enough to reach his button and zipper.

  “It's not like I think I own you or anything,” he whispered, but he was preaching to the choir. I knew. I knew and I understood and I honestly didn't give a flying fuck if somebody else was too ignorant or too broken or too unwilling to understand it, too. “I just … you get one mate, Zara. One. And all of these guys, these … fucking strangers have a better chance than I do. It's not like you can choose us all,” he said, his voice strangled and far away.

  But as I sat there and looked down at him, I wondered about that. Why choose? That was the thought I'd been entertaining for a few days. It was just a seed of a thought, and I had no idea how the packs would react to it, how these men would react to it, but it was worth exploring, wasn't it?

  Because as I sat there and looked down at my childhood friend, I knew that I couldn't pick him. And yet I knew that I wouldn't give him up either.

  “You said you'd be my paramour?” I asked and he nodded, a sharp sudden movement that told me so much. He would and he'd feel grateful to sit in the shadows and watch me rule with another man.

  “Or just your guard. Zara, if you don't pick me … and you don't want me, then please, for the love of Mother Earth, don't mate me to another female. You're it for me, Zara. It's just you. There might be a million stars in this sky, but there's only one moon. I think … I could see it being possible for you to love like the night loves stars, but not me. I only get one great love in my life. I'd rather castrate myself and be your guard than take another lover.” He paused and closed his eyes. “Whatever decision you make, I'll support it.”

  I popped the button on his pants and then curled my claws—because I'd somehow shifted claws without even meaning to—and yanked the ridiculously tight leather of his pants down and over his erection. The thick hard length of his shaft bounced out, excited to be free, and I grinned.

  “I won't let you go,” I told him because … at the end of this year, I'd be the Alpha Female of all the packs. Me. I'd be the boss. And I wouldn't have to let Nic go. My word … it'd be fucking law. “I promise, Nic. I promise.”

  “Fuck, Zara,” he said, but it was hard to read the emotion in his voice because I was lifting myself up and positioning him at my opening, sliding down the warm length of his velvety cock as I tossed my head back and sighed with pleasure. “Fuck, Zara,” he said again as I moved my hips, rocking nice and slow, wanting to drag this out as long as I could.

  Nic looked like a fucking king, lying beneath me on a black fur cloak with red silk lining, his dark red hair fanned around his head, his eyes the same inky purple color as my own. He slid his hands over the swell of my hips to my waist, and then palmed my breasts, kneading the tender flesh with strong, sure fingers.

  I bit my lip and moaned at the same time he teased the hardened points of my nipples with his thumbs. I was so wrapped up in the moment that I didn't realize my tail and ears were peeking out until Nic's mouth curved to the side in a smile.

  “Oh, Zara, so cute,” he murmured, grabbing a handful of my long red hair in his hand and gently tugging my face toward his. He kissed me at the same time as he stroked the soft fur of my wolf ear, kneaded it between thumb and forefinger and making me groan. I could feel my tail wagging in response. “So fucking cute,” he said again as our tongues danced to the ancient rhythm of our bodies, the beautiful sonata of a forest night.

  Long, slow movements slicked my wet heat along Nic's shaft, working his body with the tight clamp of my muscles. The first two times we'd had sex, I'd felt more human than wolf. This time, I felt like a nice, even mixture of both. I loved Nic, cherished him as a friend, but my wild side also responded to him the way a female responds to a male when she's ready to mate … I wanted him in so many ways right then, so many, many ways.

  I sat back up, pressed my body to Nic's and made sure I was holding every inch of him inside of me. Bloodred hair cascaded over my shoulders, strands of it hanging over my breasts as I put my palms flat on Nic's chest and rode him like a queen rides her king, like an alpha female rides her alpha male.

  Nic belonged to me.

  The rules of the Pairing … didn't change that. After all, we once had a great heroine who had seven husbands, didn't we? And there were no rules against me having more than one mate. Of course, it all depended on what the other alpha males wanted. I guess we'd ride out the year and see what happened at the end of it?

  Nic and I locked gazes, his hands finally settling on my hips as I rocked, rocked, rocked my body just right, my clit rubbing against his pelvis. The way he looked at me then, I really did feel like the moon, shining with silver love and light from an endless sky.

  The natural rhythm of muscles squeezing his cock, fluttering against his shaft, drew an orgasm from him that arched his back up off the ground and spilled his seed in me. I paused then, but I didn't try to finish myself.

  Instead, I climbed off of him and sat with my butt in the wet grass. I could feel that it was cold—my body registered the temperature—but it didn't make me cold. I loved being a fucking werewolf.

  Nic rolled onto his side and looked up at me.

  “I don't know how you plan to keep me and keep the peace at the end of the year, but … if that's what you say you're going to do, I believe you.”

  “I promise,” I told him again as he sat up and we locked gazes. It was hard to say in words how good it felt to fuck him after wanting for so, so, so long. It was … like the planets in my own personal solar system were finally in orbit. Finally. Finally. Fucking finally.

  “That's more than good enough for me,” Nic said, and rather than tuck his wet cock back into his leather pants, he just kicked off his boots and peeled the pants off, sitting as naked as I was in what was essentially our front yard.

  Good thing we were on pack property, huh?

  “You didn't climax?” he asked, raising his dark red brows. I glanced over at him and smiled sharply.

  “Not yet,” I said, and then I stood up and offered him my hand. He took it, and we went into the Pairing House together, our skin bathed in starlight and sweat.

  It was another of those rare moments of happiness, those distant twinkling stars we were always chasing after … I took hold of the memory, stuffed it in a mental pocket, and promised I'd keep it safe. Even if I lived as long as my Alpha-Majka, I wouldn't forget.

  Not ever.

  After a quick stop in the downstairs bathroom (sex was messier than I'd ever anticipated as a virgin), Nic and I headed upstairs to find most of the alpha ma
les were already asleep … Most of them.

  “Montgomery,” I said, pausing near the foot of the bed, my eyes focused on the Ivory Emerald Alpha-Heir, sitting pretty in the window seat on the far side of the room. His braid was hanging down the front of his muscular chest, and he was still wearing his leather pants and boots, even though his cloak was gone. “Are you okay?”

  I knew okay was a relative term, considering the fact that his family was still missing, but … I hoped he knew what I meant.

  “I'm just thinking,” he said, and as I watched him, his forehead tight with worry, I saw the shadows of my own worry flitting across his face. God, we really are similar, aren't we? Monty was the Ivory Emerald version of me.

  “About?” I asked as I moved over to the opposite side of the bed, sitting on the edge, my knees just inches from Montgomery's. This room had never been intended to hold an eight person size bed. It fit, but just barely.

  Nic crawled onto the bed behind me, giving Che a decent amount of space. I wasn't sure if he was asleep or not; it was hard to tell with the sounds of so many people breathing, shifting, muttering softly while they danced through dreamland.

  Moonlight struck Montgomery's face in a silver wave, highlighting those knightly features of his. He had a warrior's face, strong and stern, but with a slightly soft edge that gave him the appearance of a just man. The perfect face for a king. Well, in this case, an alpha male. But really, they were one in the same.

  Looking at him like this, I could not fucking believe that he was only seventeen. Wait till Faith found out about that part of the equation. She wasn't going to let me live this one down …

  “Everything,” he said, reaching up to push the feathery white bangs from his forehead, his green eyes as bright as new spring leaves. “This … supposed witch spell that's draining our people dry. And the level of greed that it must've taken for the witches to want more. It wasn't good enough to watch the werewolves suffer a slow, uneasy decline. Now they're eating us. Now, they want fucking war.” He went to brush his bangs back again and ended up shoving his fingers through his hair.