by Zelda Knight
Two other arms came around me then and I sank back into Brighton's ready embrace.
He pulled me down, laying me atop the soft covers and continued where we'd left off, kissing me so deeply my toes curled, and heat pooled between my legs.
When we parted long enough for me to open my eyes, Caine was next to us, watching me, warmth in his gaze, his fingers trailing through my hair.
I reached up and pulled him down.
He didn't fight me, kissing me deeply.
When his kisses trailed lower, Caine replaced his lips on my own, kissing me. As Brighton’s tongue delved into me, I finally broke the kiss with a gasp. He kept licking me, kissing me between the thighs in a way beyond anything I’d ever imagined. He moaned in pleasure, enjoying it nearly as much as I was. My entire body felt like it was on fire. Nerves I didn’t know existed burned with pleasure.
“Now,” Caine whispered above me.
Brighton immediately stopped pleasuring me with his mouth, lifting and positioning his hard length between my thighs.
My gaze was fixed on the display as he slowly thrust into me.
Truthfully, I’d thought it would be pure pleasure and nothing more, but the way his cock stretched me and just kept sliding in further. It burned.
I gasped, my entire body tensing, eyes squeezing shut.
Above me, Brighton moaned as though in discomfort, and I managed to open my eyes to see Caine’s hand on Brighton’s shoulder to keep him still. He was watching me closely, measuring my reactions.
Embarrassed, I tried to breathe through the discomfort. I knew neither of them would go further until I was ready.
That thought comforted me and slowly my body relaxed around Brighton.
His eyes were squeezed shut with the effort to remain still, but Caine continued to watch me with his sharp gaze.
“She’s ready,” he said softly, and Brighton began to move.
It wasn’t a bad feeling, just unfamiliar and the more he thrust into me, the more the feeling shifted into pure pleasure.
I began to moan and gasp, unable to stop my reactions or stifle my pleasure. Why would I?
I began to thrust back, bracing my feet against his back and meeting his movements.
As my head fell back, an orgasm nearing, he suddenly gasped and pulled back, freeing his cock as he came.
I gasped, watching Brighton come, even more turned on than ever. I’d always wanted to see this side of him and the way his flushed skin gleamed with sweat, the look in his eyes as he lost all control of himself, it was beyond anything I’d imagined.
He rolled to my side, breathing heavily, fingers finding mine as Caine began to move.
He took Brighton’s previous position between my legs, parting them and reaching down, feeling how slick and wet I was.
My body arched from the confidant touch, over too soon.
I was desperate for more and something told me that Caine wasn’t going to finish until I got it.
He pressed his hips forward, pulling my ankles apart to expose myself more.
His cock felt different sliding into me. Thick and heavy, stretching me in a different way.
I moaned, spreading my legs further for him. He obliged, pressing deep and grinding against my pussy.
I few dee hip rolls and I was an incoherent mess, groaning and panting on the edge.
That was when he reached down, expertly teasing my clit, fingers slick from my arousal.
I came harder than I ever had before. My own fingers never could have prepared me for the mind-blowing pleasure that ravaged my body. I held onto him, twitching and clenching as he thrust harder.
It didn’t take Caine long to join me. The way he strained into me, entire body tensing with pleasure, the low groan that tore from his throat, nearly made me want to go again.
But it had been a long day and I’d just had all my fantasies come true, so when he collapsed on my other side and both of my mates wrapped their arms around me, delivering sleepy kisses, I was helpless to the sleep that overtook me.
Somehow, everything had worked out just fine. In this moment, I didn’t believe that anything else could ever go wrong.
Chapter Eight
CAINE
I should have known we weren't alone. Caught in the softness of Mina’s embrace, it wasn’t until a cold, clammy hand closed over my shoulder that I knew we had been found.
My eyes flew open, body tensing for what was to come, but too late.
I was yanked from the bed at the same moment that Brighton was dragged out from the other side.
Mina's shout tore through my chest but I could do nothing before my arms were tied tightly behind my back despite my struggles. If I shifted in this position, my bones would snap. Still, I wasn't completely useless as a human. I fought to free myself from the hands holding me down.
On the other side of the room, Brighton fought four shifters. Just as they nearly had him tied down, he shook an arm loose.
His claws struck out at once, lashing one of our captors across the chest but it was futile. With four of them on him, a hard knee into the center of his back was all it took to pin him down again despite his best efforts.
When I was hoisted up again, it was into a hard chair. Brighton was dropped roughly into the one next to me.
I looked at Mina. She was exactly as we'd left her; untouched in the middle of the bed, hair tousled, beautiful body bare and barely hidden beneath the thin bedsheets.
Her eyes were wide with fear, but she remained perfectly still, gaze flitting between everyone in the room, clearly assessing what the next move would be.
There were ten of them, each reeked of alpha strength. I recognized all of them from their arrival in our pack two days ago. The Cliffmont pack alpha, Rafe, was among them. He stepped up to the bed and right up to Mina. My Mina.
A growl tore from my throat.
"Stay back."
He spared me a glance and a twisted, cruel smile.
"You're in no position to be giving me orders."
With that, he turned back to Mina, leaning down and slowly reaching for the covers. Her grip tightened on the sheets as he began to pull.
"No," she whispered, but he gave a hard yank and the white fabric slipped from her fingers exposing her shoulders and the curves of her breasts and most importantly, the bite marks on her collar.
She yanked the sheets back up hastily, but a growl of frustration left Alpha Rafe.
"You!" he shouted, turning to face us. "You've sullied what was mine!"
"She was never yours!" Brighton shouted.
Rafe marched to Brighton and me, Mina forgotten, and even though he was most likely about to at least try to kill us, I was still flooded with relief.
"She was unmarked, unsullied, completely fresh!" His fist struck out, clasping around Brighton's neck so tightly that I could see his knuckles turn white as Brighton's face flushed with blood.
“Let him go!” Mina screamed and maybe she thought she could take them, maybe she thought it was a last-ditch effort as we all went down together, but despite any better judgments, she shifted.
My entire body went cold as she stood in wolf form, growling at Alpha Rafe who took one look at her and began to laugh.
His hand dropped from Brighton’s neck and my comrade immediately began to cough and gasp the air back into his lungs.
“Mina,” I hissed, heart racing. “Step down.”
She didn’t move, hard gaze fixed on the Cliffmont Pack’s leader. From what I’d seen, each one of the alphas was worse than the last. She couldn’t attack their head; it was bad enough that we’d killed one of their own. It was even worse that we’d already claimed what—they thought—was meant to be theirs.
“Please Mina,” I whispered.
Her ears twitched as though trying to shake my voice away. Perhaps she heard the desperation in it because her snarl faded, curled lips relaxing. The rest of her remained in place, focus entirely on Alpha Rafe.
His laugh crac
ked through the tension, piercing and unpleasant.
"You have her well trained for me, at least," he bellowed, and Mina's growl rose once more. I had to bite my lip to remain calm. My hands were shaking, fury and fear mixing in my gut.
I glanced at Brighton and caught his gaze at once. The look he gave me, like he was waiting for me to tell him what to do to get out of this mess only made my stomach hurt even more. Truthfully, I didn't know what to do.
The only option was to go along with this until we were untied and then make them pay for coming between us and out mate.
"We won’t let you touch her," Brighton said, voice low, menacing.
A chuckle ran through the room, Rafe's boys found the statement funny, apparently.
"It's not up to you," Rafe informed him.
As though on cue, the door swung open.
A chill traveled through me at the sight of Greer, Mina's father and the leader of my pack for the last ten years. I hadn't wanted to face him again, not until the smoke settled, at least. He'd taken us under his wing, and we'd stolen his main asset. Too bad for him, we hadn't had a choice. I would never have given Mina up to these beasts.
Still, shame filled me as his furious gaze landed on me and Brighton, tied compliantly to the chairs, and then to Mina, still crouched on the bed, ready to pounce on anyone who so much as made a wrong move.
"Mina!" he snarled.
She flinched, gazing back at him but did not back down.
Pride filled me as I watched her.
He marched into the room, behind him, his four main guards followed. I knew them all well from our years living together in the small pack that we had called home. This was a complete betrayal, a stab in the back to the whole pack. Giving Mina to the Cliffmont Pack would better the lives of our whole pack—everyone's lives except Mina's, of course. And as far as I was concerned, hers was the only one that mattered. Not even mine or Brighton's. The way Alpha Greer looked at each of us, I think that fact was finally becoming clear.
Finally, his hard gaze fixed on mine.
"You've given up everything for a single night with my daughter. You had years to act, why now?"
"You're the one who decided to sell her off to this trash!" Brighton spat.
"Brighton," I hissed, but I was already forgotten.
Alpha Greer swung out, striking him across the cheek, claws gashing his flesh. Blood sprayed, splattering the floor.
Brighton hissed and bowed his head, taking a slow breath against the pain, red dying the tips of his golden locks.
“They mated with her, she’s worth less now,” Rafe suddenly said.
Greer’s lips twisted with disgust as he looked down at us. Slowly, he wiped the blood from his fingertips.
“She’s still an omega. She’s young and healthy. She’ll last longer than your other omegas have.”
“We won’t pay.”
Greer addressed Rafe coldly.
“We won’t pass her over for nothing.”
For a moment Rafe was silent.
“You can have your border patrols; I’ll station some of my boys around your village. And we’ll have your back. Pack invasions, skirmishes, business deals, you’ll have the Cliffmont Pack name behind you—“
“You can’t be serious!”
The words burst from my lips, resolve broken. I couldn’t keep silent while they continued to plan Mina’s sale as though she was nothing more than a commodity.
Their gazes turned to me.
“We won’t take them though,” Alpha Rafe sneered.
“They’re my mates.”
Mina’s sudden voice from the bed drew everyone’s eyes.
She crouched, nothing but the deep red locks of her tousled hair to hide her. Still, she held her head high, gaze fixed unwavering on her father.
“Even if a hundred other wolves mate me, they’re my mates too. I won’t go anywhere without them. They’re mine.”
“Darling,” Alpha Greer said, voice touched with something like sadness. “There’s a very easy way to fix that problem.”
The moment they said it, I knew what they intended.
All my effort to remain calm and wait for the right moment was useless. We never going to be untied from these chairs, not until they were disposing of our bodies.
From behind, an arm came around my neck just as I started to thrash, attempting to break free. The chair creaked and groaned but did not break. My hands and ankles remained firmly in place as the hold on my neck tightened.
Mina started screaming.
There was thrashing and noise everywhere, but it was soon drowned out by the rushing of blood through my head.
Even as my eyes began to roll back, the room darkening, my hands reached out blindly, straining against the ropes, searching for freedom or a way to fight back or something to hold onto. Maybe I reached for Mina in the last seconds as the world went black.
Her voice cut through the darkness, screaming in desperation. Whatever she said worked.
Suddenly, I was released, air came rushing back all at once, flooding my system. I coughed and choked on the sudden flow of oxygen. I slumped over, gasping as the spots started to clear. Next to me, Brighton was wheezing.
When I could finally see, Mina was across the room, being held back by two of the other alphas, tears streaking her face.
“Let them go,” she demanded, “and I’ll go with you without a fight.”
“No!” I wanted to say more but the single word was like fire on my throat and I erupted into a fit of coughing.
“We can survive apart,” she went on as though I hadn’t spoken. “But if you kill them or harm them in any way, I promise you, I will not be in this world long enough for you to use me on the next Wild Night.”
“We’ll tie you up,” Rafe snarled. “You won’t be able to move more than a finger. We’ve done it before. The last omega didn’t enjoy it very much. I doubt you’ll be any different.”
He turned a furious gaze to Alpha Greer.
“Go on with it,” he spat. “End them. I will not have them coming after any more of my pack.”
Alpha Greer remained very still. Finally, he glanced at the ones behind us, the ones who had very nearly ended our lives already.
Only then did I realize that it was our own pack members who had been choking us. It was alpha Greer who had stopped them from finishing the job at his daughter’s threat.
“My daughter is being handed off to you. My own flesh and blood,” he reminded Alpha Rafe. “She’s valuable, as you well know. Her plight as an omega is to be mated… but I won’t have her tied up for the rest of her days.”
Rafe’s gaze darkened.
“You’re calling off the deal?”
Before hope could so much as flutter through me, Alpha Greer shook his head.
“No, but I will take care of these two as I see fit, they’re my pack, after all.”
He looked at Mina.
“This is my parting gift,” he said. “You’ll go with them without a fight now, won’t you?”
“You promise you won’t hurt them?” she demanded, voice trembling.
Alpha Greer nodded.
“As long as they never go after you, they will live.”
Mina bit her lip and nodded resolutely, her chin trembling.
“Mina,” Brighton whispered next to me. “Don’t do this.”
Her gaze darted to his, then to mine. There was so much in the quick glance. Desolation, longing, regret and resolve all flitted through her eyes along with more that I couldn’t identify.
Then she shook the other alpha’s hands from her shoulders and went to the door.
She took a slow, trembling breath and then glanced back at Alpha Rafe.
“Ready?” she asked.
Her small voice shook but she did not back down, just waited, gaze unwavering, until finally, Alpha Rafe nodded.
“Let’s go boys,” he said.
They each followed him to the door and one by one, filed outside
, Mina in their midst.
Just like that, they were gone.
“You foolish old man!” Brighton spat. “What makes you think that they’re going to deliver any promises they’ve made? You just gave her away.”
Alpha Greer’s gaze narrowed.
“Alpha Rafe gave me his word—”
“Ah, yes, the word of a low life criminal. What a fantastic reason.”
His voice dripped with disdain. I expected Rafe to come give him another scratch, deeper than the last one, but Brighton’s words must have dawned on him for the first time because he turned to the two guards flanking the door.
“Follow them,” he growled.
Chapter Nine
MINA
I shivered in the cool air. I could feel the eyes of the alphas on me. Each of them was aware of me—like they were starving, and I was a nice piece of rare steak.
Without asking for permission, I shifted. My fur offered instant relief from the cold, and their roaming eyes. Most of them were dressed, the ones who weren’t shifted into their wolf forms, closing in on me from all sides as they began to walk. When I took the time to count, there were ten of them.
My pack was a moderate size. There were thirty total members, only six were omegas, all mated but me—until yesterday, of course.
Pain lanced me.
I’d never felt such a physical blow from my emotions, it was like my heart had been stabbed. My steps faltered.
Was I really walking away from Caine and Brighton? Was I really leaving them forever?
Sorrow blossomed inside me. There was a life I could have, one that I had always wanted, and I was literally walking away from it.
One of the men reached down, his dirty fingers sliding over my fur. My hackles rose and he chuckled.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I’d made a promise to my father. To save the men I loved from dying right before my eyes, I would do anything.
