by Lori King
“Good, Whitney and Victoria were there, too. Do you know how long the surgery on Tasha Whetsone will last?”
Bryson shook his head and so did Devin. “They were re-prepping the space when I left to find you all.” He turned to address Cadence and Mateo. “My partner in our mating triad is Thomas Jameson, Tina’s brother. He’s also the doctor doing the surgery on Tasha right now. Tina and Caroline are assisting as nurses, and I think now is a good time for me to assure them that everything is okay down here.”
“Taken care of,” Liam said, coming out of the woods after helping deliver the body of Nicolas Kaplan to his wolves. “They were already at it, so I just yelled through the door that it was all clear.
Devin nodded. “Thanks, Liam. I’m going to go in and have a beer. If any of you want to join me, you’re welcome to.”
Several men followed Devin inside, but Cadence and Mateo went on with Bryson and Ryley to their women. Opening the door of the house, Ryley was confronted with not one but four furious she-wolves.
Shandi stood shoulder to shoulder with KJ and Victoria Gray, while Whitney was seated on the sofa with Axel in her lap. All four women glared at them all as they entered the house. Apparently none of them liked being left behind during a battle.
“Bryson Samuels, the next time you tell me to plant my ass somewhere and stay safe—” KJ started.
“You will do it, because otherwise you will get the spanking of a lifetime,” Bryson said calmly, raising one bushy blond eyebrow at her. “I was protecting you, Ice, so get down off of your high horse and kiss me.”
She looked ready to argue when Axel spoke up in his little four-year-old voice. “Spankings are no fun, Aunty KJ. Do what you’re s’posed to so that you don’t get one.”
Everyone chuckled as the tension eased. The guys hurried to explain what had happened, and Cadence saw KJ visually deflate when she was told that Nicolas Kaplan was finally dead.
“Thank the stars! Wait, is that blood?” KJ gasped, noting Bryson’s hands finally. She scolded him as she dragged him out of the living room and disappeared down the hall.
“Is everything okay?” Whitney asked as he and Mateo took seats on the sofa, with her and Axel in the middle.
“Of course, flower. It was just a minor pack dispute. It’s all taken care of,” Cadence answered.
“Winnie, I broke it again! Can you build it for me?” Jordan interrupted their reunion by tugging on Whitney’s hand, and she shrugged at them as if to say “what can you do?” The little boy handed her a tiny wooden boat with a broken mast. It looked like it had come unglued, but Whitney managed to jam it precariously back in its notch. “Thanks, Aunty Winnie.”
“Let’s play knights and princesses, Jordy. I’ll be the knight and I’ll rescue you from the princess,” Axel directed as he and his brother ran back to the toys.
Cadence laughed at Axel’s misinterpretation of the story, and he slid his hand around to cup Whitney’s abdomen and whispered in her ear, “We’ll have one of those soon.”
When she whispered back, “I hope so,” his mind stopped working, and he hugged her tightly. She always managed to say what he needed to hear.
It was nearly an hour after they all returned when Rafe’s phone rang. KJ and Bryson had long since returned to the Alpha cabin, and everyone was just waiting for news on Tasha’s surgery.
For several agonizing moments they all stared at Rafe as he listened to the caller. When he smiled widely and said, “Fantastic, I’ll fill everyone in,” they cheered. Hanging up, he explained that Tasha made it through the surgery and was recovering nicely.
After the celebration, Whitney asked if they could go back to their own home. Victoria had gone up to the Alpha cabin to be with Henley, and Shandi was filling Rafe and Ryley in on everything she had gotten in preparation for the two boys coming to live with them.
“You know I’m going to miss these moments with my family.” Her eyes seemed so sad that Cadence grabbed her chin and kissed her deeply.
“I’m sorry we have to take you away from your family, love. I can only promise that Mateo and I will do our best to give you a family of your own,” he said, resting his forehead against hers.
“Mi amor, if there was any other way—” Mateo said. His voice was tight with emotion as he ran his hand through her long black hair.
“I know, Mat,” she interrupted. Kissing him gently, she smiled at them both. “I wouldn’t stay now if you offered me the option. The Gray pack will always be my family, but you two are my home now. Wherever you are is where I’m the happiest. Let’s go home and pack.”
She stood and headed off to say good-bye, and Mateo frowned at Cadence. “Packing wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for this evening.”
Cadence grinned. “I don’t know. I can think of a few uses for Bubble Wrap and packing tape that might surprise our little she-wolf.” The two men were still laughing when Whitney joined them, and they hurried her out the door.
* * * *
Anxiety warred with desire in Whitney’s head as she lay on the bed with her hands secured over her head. Cadence had laughed as he wrapped a layer of bubble wrap around her wrists, followed by a strip of packing tape that was tight enough to hold her, but not so tight that it hurt. After ensuring that she was stuck, Cadence vanished out the bedroom door as Mateo took scissors to her T-shirt.
“Hey! I destroy enough of my clothes shifting out of them. Why are you cutting them off?” She gasped as the cold metal of the scissor blades scratched a line from her belly button to her collarbone, but Mateo just grinned down at her.
“Shh. I need to concentrate. I don’t want to hurt you.” He moved to cut a line through the sleeves, and she shivered as he purposely drew the blade lightly across her skin. “Hmm. Goose bumps. That’s interesting.”
“You have a dangerous weapon near my body. Of course I’m going to shiver.” She concentrated on breathing deeply so that she didn’t panic. This was her first experience with being restrained and while her pussy was weeping onto her thighs, her brain was experiencing a mild malfunction.
Mateo snorted and cupped his impressive erection. “Not the first time.”
Mateo jerked her shorts off of her legs and pressed a kiss to her damp pussy lips. He met her eyes as he inhaled deeply, and ran his tongue over her slit, and then promptly moved away from her so that she could see Cadence walking back into the room. It took her a few breaths to focus on Cadence again, or more specifically the bowl he was holding. “What is that?”
The wicked smile on his face did nothing to calm her anxiety, and she tugged at her bonds. Each man dipped a finger into whatever was in the bowl, and then sucked the mysterious substance off of it before nodding to each other.
“Hey! What’s in the bowl wolf-man?” she snapped, her wolf rising to the surface a little more.
Mateo jerked his head around to look at her in surprise and before she could say anything more he was at her side. “Is it too much? I told Cadence this was moving too fast. I’ll let you out, mi reina.”
His hands were carefully undoing the tape binding her by the time she found her tongue. “No. Stop, Mat. I’m okay. Just a little unsettled because I don’t know your plan.”
Concern filled his eyes as he searched her face for confirmation that she was really okay. “We would never hurt you, amor.”
“I know that. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have let you tie me to the bed to begin with,” she answered, turning her lips up to accept the sweet kiss he pressed to her lips. The tang of her own pussy juices was on his tongue, and she nipped at his bottom lip, making him groan.
“Let us? Oh, so now you think you would have had a choice?” Cadence said, placing the bowl on the night table next to the bed and crawling up beside her. Both men were still dressed, and being the only naked one made her feel particularly vulnerable between them.
“I always have a choice,” she responded haughtily.
He stared into her eyes and without even the slightest expr
ession change he nodded. “You’re right. You do. So, tell me, which would you prefer. Hot or cold?”
Words stuck in her throat, and she frowned back at him. Her eyes darted between Mateo, who grinned like a boy about to cause a ruckus, and Cadence, who dared her with a challenging gleam in his dark eyes.
“Cold.”
“I was hoping you would say that, flower. Mateo here has encouraged me to get with the program and test out your theory that ice cream makes everything better.” He reached for the bowl and dropped a spoonful of the ice cold treat on the breast closest to his mouth.
Whitney couldn’t hold back her shriek of protest as the cold sensation shot through her skin and nerves. Cursing him, she struggled against the tape holding her down and planted both feet on the bed to give herself stability while she bucked up, trying to dump the ice cream off of her chest.
Mateo flattened his massive hand on her belly and pressed her back to the bed. “No. No. No, mi amor. If you’re going to fight it, I’ll have to take steps to distract you.”
“Fuck you! He just put ice on my nipple and you want me to just lay here and take it?” She snarled in her throat, and both men chuckled.
Mateo sat up, shaking his head as he moved between her spread thighs, forcing them wider with his shoulders. “I’ll take that as a request for a distraction.”
Her loud moan of need was probably heard by people two counties away when his lips latched on to her swollen clit and he sucked on it hard. While he was masterfully playing her pussy, Cadence dropped his mouth to the melted cream on her chest and lapped it up with his rough tongue. He continued to torment her, with cold ice cream and the hot fudge she had in her cabinet. First he would drizzle stinging hot chocolate all over her belly and then follow it with the snap of cold ice cream before he indulged in his own version of a hot fudge sundae. At some point in the midst of sensation, the two men switched places, and Mateo tasted the sweet dessert while Cadence took up residence between her legs. Between them they managed to bring her to two separate climaxes, and Cadence had her pussy and anus stretched and ready for both of them.
“Please! I can’t take it anymore!” Begging wasn’t her favorite thing, but in this case, she had to admit it turned her on to be at their mercy.
They must have agreed to her demand, because she was suddenly cut free from the bedframe, and a warm wet washcloth ran over her chest and belly before Mateo lifted her up onto his chest. His cock lined up perfectly in the V of her pussy lips and she rubbed her oversensitive clit back and forth against him. Behind her, Cadence spread cold moisture over her asshole, sinking two fingers back into her and kissing the base of her spine.
She couldn’t take any more torture from them, so she lifted her hips and lined Mateo’s hard dick up with her pussy. His groan matched hers as she sank down onto his cock about halfway and then rose back up, grinding down until he bottomed out inside of her. Hissing out a breath, she bent forward and forced herself to relax as Cadence began easing his own cock into her backside.
Tight and full. Everything felt stretched to capacity as he worked himself into her body, and he and Mateo began to rock back and forth inside of her rhythmically. They didn’t rush toward completion, even though she knew that their balls must be aching by now. Instead they continued to caress her body with their hands and lips, driving her own need higher.
Just the feeling of being sandwiched between them, with Mateo’s hard chest pancaking her breasts, and Cadence draped over her back, teeth grazing her neck, had her ready to scream.
She couldn’t reach Cadence, but she tucked her head into Mateo’s neck and licked the bite mark she had put there. Fire crackled through her veins as her wolf’s incisors dropped and she sunk them into his skin.
Mateo’s head dropped back, and he thrust up hard into her as he yelled out his release and pumped her womb full of cum. Behind her, Cadence latched onto her shoulder, and she screamed as her body convulsed and her vision went black. Inside of her she felt her wolf submitting to its master, and her body went limp while he shot his own release deep into her bowel.
The three of them collapsed into a pile of exhausted but satisfied limbs, and in her head she heard both of their voices.
I love you, little flower.
You’re perfection, mi reina. I love you.
And her heart nearly burst with love for her mates. A week ago she dreamed of a day when she would have a man of her own who loved her with his whole heart. How she got lucky enough to find two, she would never know.
“So tell me, did ice cream make it better?” Cadence whispered in her ear, and they all three burst into laughter.
“I’m not sure one experiment is enough to give a thorough evaluation. I think we’ll have to test my hypothesis again in the near future,” she responded as she drifted off to sleep, held between the two men who held pieces of her heart and represented her soul.
* * * *
Whitney sat on the floor of her now empty cabin in the Gray pack den and buried her head in her hands. Tears burned tracks down her cheeks and she couldn’t swallow the lump in her throat. “I can’t do this.”
Mateo sat on the hard floor beside her but he didn’t speak. In that moment she adored him even more for just letting her cry. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to leave with her men. God, no. She wanted to be with them more than she wanted to breathe, but she had never lived anywhere but the Gray pack den. This was her childhood home, and the only safe place she had ever known.
The Diego den was foreign and scary. It was full of the unknown and traumatized wolves, who might or might not accept her place as their leaders’ mate. As much as she wanted to be with them, leaving behind her friends and family was turning out to be significantly harder than she anticipated.
They had delayed their good-byes for three days, and now everything was packed, and everyone was ready, except she was still sitting on the floor of her cabin crying like a pup.
The front door creaked as someone came in, and she scented coconut in the air. Kissing the top of Whitney’s head, Mateo rose and left Tawny and her alone. He was probably glad to be away from her. For three days all she had done was cry and puke. It seemed Delaky’s ability to see the future was spot on from the moment of conception. Even though it was still too early for a pee test, Whitney knew in her heart she was pregnant.
“It sucks, doesn’t it?” Tawny murmured, lacing her fingers with Whitney’s.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re probably anxious to put this place hundreds of miles behind you, but it just all happened so fast.” Whitney scrubbed tears away with the heel of her hand. “We’re moving to a place and a pack we’ve never seen before. What if they hate us?”
Tawny flashed her a smile. “Then we’ll just have to ply them with sweets until we win them over. Stop worrying so much. They will love you.”
Together the two of them sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts for several minutes. “Do you think they packed my camera where I can reach it?” Whitney asked randomly, and Tawny giggled.
“Nope. I wouldn’t let them. It’s sitting on the backseat.”
“Have I told you lately that I love you?” Whitney asked, pushing herself up to her feet.
“Yep. I know. I’m a goddess,” Tawny said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
“Um, do you think you two goddesses could pick up the pace a bit? The rest of us mere werewolves would like to get home before winter,” Chance called from the front porch.
Whitney rolled her eyes, and Tawny snorted. “Men. Can’t live with them, can’t live without…wait, yes I can. I’m certain I can.”
The two women walked out of the cabin laughing and smiling, but once they reached the steps, they both stopped in their tracks. The entire Gray pack had turned out to see them off, both original members and new Quiver Creek members. More than a hundred people filled up the front yard and driveway, spilling out onto the road. They held signs that said, “We’ll miss you” and “Good luck.”
Whitney couldn’t breathe for a moment. Her mom and dad stood directly in front of her with her three brothers and their wives. Next to them were the three Truehope brothers, and then Devin, Damon, and Caroline. Out of the corner of her eyes, Whitney saw a blur of movement, and then Cash was enveloping the two women against his muscular chest.
“I’ll miss you two mites. Who am I going to pick on without you two here?” he asked, and Whitney swatted at him. Tawny had stiffened at the embrace, but she gave him a smile and patted his shoulder before he released them.
“You can pick on KJ and Tina. They need it,” Whitney suggested.
Cash looked pale. “KJ maybe, but Tina’s a viper. She’d rip my balls off and feed them to me. I’m a lover not a fighter, remember?”
He gave her his classic charming smile as she laughed, and she saw Liam and Tina both scold him when he reentered the fold of family. Staring out over the crowd, Whitney let the tears fall again as she spoke to them. “Thank you. You all will never know how much you mean to me, and I promise just because I’m moving on to be a Diego, I will never stop being a Gray.”
The crowd cheered, and Tawny stepped forward. Whitney knew how hard this must be for her shy friend. Standing in front of a crowd of people—even family—was hell in Tawny’s mind.
“I agree with what Whitney said, and I want to add how grateful I am for the support you’ve all shown me. I couldn’t ask for a better family.”
They took the time to hug all of their immediate family members while the Diego wolves watched, and when Whitney’s mom hugged her tight, she whispered, “You have a something special with those wolves, sweetheart. Don’t let fear ruin it. We’ll talk every single day on the phone or on the computer, and I’ll come up for the birth.”
Whitney’s eyes widened and then she returned her mother’s teary smile. “I love you, mom. Thank you.”
Henley came up next to them and wrapped his arms around them both. “My queen and my princess. How will our kingdom survive without half of its heart?”
