by L. V. Lane
I do not know the man standing there. He is not a Ralston warrior.
“Found them!” he calls. Lowering the ax, he stalks inside.
Jessa has not lowered her blade, so I tighten my fingers over the plank of wood and get ready to attack.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, eying the knife Jessa holds.
“He is Lyon,” she hisses and lunges for him with the knife.
He laughs as he batters her strike away and fists her wrist. Crying out in pain, she drops the blade to the floor. Enraged, I put every bit of my strength into the blow as I send the great lump of wood crashing to the side of his head.
“Uff!” He grunts and releases Jessa just as I beat him over the head again.
He tries to snatch the wood from me, but I’m charged with wild fear, and I beat him once again. Jessa leaps for his back as he rips the wood from my hand. Roaring, he spins around as she sinks her teeth into his ear.
Snatching the blade from where it has fallen on the floor, I ready myself to strike.
Another great crash sounds behind me as the shattered door is slammed open
Jack!
The world turns to a jumble. Jessa is flung from the warrior’s back. Jack swings his arm, striking the Lyon warrior’s head with his ax. It makes a sickening popping sound as it enters the skull and another as Jack yanks it back out. Blood arcs in a great spray. The warrior drops to his knees before crashing to the side, dead.
Eyes stretched so wide they hurt, I stare at the fallen man. I don’t see Jack until his fingers gently enclose my hand. He coaxes the weapon from my fierce grip, and tossing it to the floor, heaves me into his arms, purring manically.
“Brandon,” I hear Jessa sob. The fierce Beta, soon to be mate, lifts Jessa into his arms.
“Fen,” I say. “Where is Fen?”
“I am here, lass.” As Fen presses up behind me, enclosing me between his body and Jack’s, I feel myself go slack. I’m tingling everywhere and suddenly as weak as a newborn kitten.
“We’ve got you,” Jack says. “You are safe now, our sweet little Beta mate.”
Jack
The feeling of her tiny, trembling body in my arms is enough to unman me. Tears run down my cheeks as the chill holding my chest a prisoner finally eases its grip.
I purr. I can hear Fen purring.
It makes no difference to our instincts that she is a Beta.
She is ours, and she is safe. That is all I care about.
She is also fertile. Despite my prior belief in my self-control, the stress of the night and the fighting past has me hanging on by a thread.
“She is fertile,” Fen says thickly. I hear my desperation for our mate echoed in his voice. “We need to get her home.”
Hazel weeps and clings, insisting she inspect both of us before she is satisfied that we are well. Not that I’m ready to put her fucking down.
“What is wrong?” I demand seeing her wince with pain. Instantly, I’m torn between checking what is troubling her and taking up my ax so that I might kill whoever was responsible.
“I cut my foot,” she says. Growling low, I set her on the floor so I can see what has happened. It is not only her foot that has suffered. Her arms and legs are covered in welts.
“It was Nola,” Jessa says.
Turning back, I see that Brandon has his soon-to-be mate in his arms.
“I will fucking kill her,” Fen growls behind me. He will have to get in the fucking queue.
“She is dead,” Jessa says. “Gage ordered her death for taking us.”
I hear Brandon cursing; he would not appreciate the mention of the other male who is an Alpha where he is a Beta, nor what Gage’s protectiveness toward Jessa implies.
Gage has a history with Jessa. One that tolerates no harm coming to the tiny Beta.
A tic begins thumping in my jaw as I turn back to my little mate. I owe Gage for that. The Alpha, who stood over his father’s fallen body, was never cut from the same stone. He is a strong Alpha where his father and brother were weak. Danon will not survive killing the Halket king. They will have fun with him before he dies.
It would seem the Halket clan is not alone in gaining a new king this day.
My lips tighten as I inspect Hazel’s foot. It is filthy, and dirt has gotten into the wound. It is not deep, which is a small blessing, but it will need to be cleaned.
“I want to go home,” Hazel says. “Please, I’m sore, but I just want to go home.”
Ignoring her protests about going home, we cleanse it as best we can. Lifting her back into my arms, we emerge from the shack into a scene of devastation.
Gage still stands over the ruined body that was once his father. All around, more killing continues as Gage’s supporters find and slay those who once supported his father. Collectively, the eastern clans have a bloody reputation. Today, that reputation is realized in all its devastating glory.
I try my best to keep Hazel’s head in the crook of my neck, but her gasp tells me she is looking. “Close your eyes, lass,” I say. “There is nothing here you need to see. We are going home now.”
I meet Gage’s steady gaze. He nods. We will need to talk soon. But not today.
Gage’s eyes shift to the side, and I know he is staring at Jessa. I’d hoped that nonsense was long over and done with, but alas, an Alpha is ever a determined beast when he sets his sights upon a mate.
A worry for another fucking time.
Now, Fen and I have a mate we need to care for.
Hazel
Jessa is carried by a naked Brandon, but I see her eyes dart to Gage as we emerge into the Lyon village. In my heart, I know there is unfinished business there.
I gasp as I take in the blood and death that has swept through the village.
Jack growls, cupping the back of my head against him as he stalks toward the horses. He tries to shield me from the terror, but it is too late, and I have seen. All around are the sounds of weeping, dying, and suffering. The Lyon clan has been well punished for what they dared to do.
“We ride!” Jack calls. Now the hoots of victorious warriors fill the air.
Tossing me up into the saddle, Jack mounts behind me. I swing my face around, making sure I can see Fen. He is behind us, mounting his horse, handsome face serious.
I know their tension is about more than my capture. I am fertile. Fen said as much, and they are compelled to rut me and get me with child.
The battle past has raised their blood lust. But there is only one place for such hunger to go.
Rutting.
Beta fertility has a rut-like impact upon an Alpha. “The scent of a fertile Beta will rouse an increased appetite,” Jack had said. “Only unlike a rut, it is far more controlled, but no less compelling need to fill the sweet little Beta all up.”
They are more controlled, for there are no pheromones at work. But as soon as we reach the safety of our home, they will need to couple with me. They will rut and knot me, over and over until I am bred.
And Goddess, I want them to. I crave the feel of them inside me, filling me all up. Alphas are so basal compared to a Beta male. They have rough ways and demands.
And a knot . . . They also have a knot. I am not frightened of it anymore. They have trained and prepared me.
My mates are fierce and protective. I loved them before the wicked lass, Nola stole me away. Now, I love my brave mates even more, and I wish to be perfect for them in every way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Hazel
WE RIDE FOR many hours. Exhausted by the terror of the events, I sleep fitfully.
The slowing of the horse rouses me, and I open my eyes to find we have arrived at the shores of the loch.
Ralston is a source of picturesque beauty in the glistening sun. The sky is bright and cloudless blue, while the trees covering the mountains’ lower slopes are a vivid green. The loch barely suffers a ripple as it reflects the beauty of the scene. There is something about the closeness of death that make
s my heart swell seeing the jumble of rooftops and buildings where the settlement meets the loch shore.
Home.
I have never thought of Ralston as my home. Now and today, I realize that this is where I shall live the rest of my life with my two proud mates. Here we will have children. We will watch them grow and have children of their own. With two such mates, I know we shall be safe. Villagers soon emerge, following us all the way to our home. Calling out for news of what has happened.
As we pull up the horses before the steps, Fen dismounts first. Gathering me from the horse, he carries me up the steps. I look back, seeing Jack addressing the assembling crowd. More returning warriors are dismounting, greeted by their loved ones.
“He will not be long,” Fen says. “But they will be worried and need to hear what has happened. And they need to hear it from their king.”
Food and drinks are set upon the table should we desire. Fen takes me straight to the furs where I am comforted by the familiarity and lingering scent. “Let’s get this off,” he says, stripping my tattered dress away and tossing it to the floor. He growls, eyes darkening as he skims gentle fingertips over the welts that litter my skin.
“May I enter?” Jessa and her mother wait at the bedding chamber door, arms laden with salves and clean bandages. Fen waves them in.
Shifted to wolf form, Brandon paces near the entrance, eyes never leaving Jessa.
“I am fine,” I say. “You are injured, Jessa, too.” She is as grubby and draggled as me and has clearly rushed to get supplies.
Tears dampen her cheeks as she kneels before me, placing the bowl and supplies beside her on the floor. “I am not hurt so badly. Only bruises for nothing broke the skin. Nola was determined to punish you. Bad enough what she did the first time,” she says, voice low and angry.
Fen growl-purrs the whole time the two women tend to me. “My brave, sweet little Beta,” Fen says. “This will soon be over, and you will feel better.” He holds me on his lap while they care for my wounds, purring and pressing kisses to my hair.
I am cleaned, each welt checked and treated as they work her way down my body.
Jessa’s lips tremble when she gets to my injured foot. I wince and steel myself to be brave and endure the cleansing of the cut. They are gentle with me, but I still sob.
“They are too wicked,” Jessa’s mother says. “War is for warriors. To snatch lasses as are not warriors and treat them thus is sacrilege. The Goddess will not show them favor.”
It stings, but less so as she applies the soothing balm and carefully bandages my foot. “You should not walk until it has a chance to heal,” her mother says as she gathers the supplies before wrapping an arm around her daughter.
“That won’t be a problem,” Jack says from the entrance to the chamber. “Our mate will be busy for the next few days while we tend to her.”
Dimples flash on Jessa’s cheeks. Leaning in, she presses a gentle kiss to my forehead. “May the Goddess bless you with a child,” she whispers before hastening out with her mother bobbing her head in deference to Jack.
Then Jack enters the bedding chamber, and my breath traps in my lungs as I study my fierce mate. Fen was my first kiss, but Jack was the first to show me pleasures. Individually, my two mates are stunning, but together they are beyond earthly dreams.
Jack growls as he strips. I have never heard him growl this way before. It is a terrifying sound. Yet, it is also the sound of my mate in great need, and I respond. Fen stands, laying me upon the bed with a gentleness that belies what will soon come.
Goddess, they are primal, deadly mates who have battled to keep me safe. I want to show them how well I love and need them. Eyes never leaving mine, they put aside weapons and strip their hide pants.
They are watching me in the way of an Alpha who needs his mate.
My breath catches as all that this means crashes through my mind. Of all the times, this is the most important time for me to present. I feel better after I have been treated with care. The welts sting only a little. My foot is sore, but I barely notice it any more.
I need to present.
I want to present.
Laying back against the soft furs, my whole body softens, and I flush with anticipation. There is no fear in me; they have prepared me well for this day. The thought of them rutting me, of them filling me with their seed, of that seed catching inside me and blooming into life is more compelling than my next breath.
Gloriously naked, they approach the bed. Letting my eyes roam over their thick, brawny bodies until I arrive at their cocks. Thick, monstrous, and enough to make my mouth water, they hang heavy, bobbing. The tips glisten as copious pre-cum leaks. Unlike a Beta male, there is a thick deep red swelling near the base—their knot.
I smile, and raising my knees, let my legs fall open and apart.
Their purrs shift to low growls. Fen fists his ruddy cock and slowly works his fist up and down.
Here, I lay, waiting, presenting myself to the dominant males that they may fully mate and breed me. “I am yours,” I say. “I will take all of you tonight, or the Goddess may take me, for I would gladly die trying.”
I see the softening in their faces before calculation takes its place.
“What a perfect little Beta you are,” Jack says. “You will not want for our attention. We will rut you through the rest of the day and the night if need be. We will take you over and over, one after another.”
The thought of them taking me over and over makes me groan. “Please,” I say. “Please, fill me.” I am desperate for their touch, growing slick between my thighs in anticipation of the two powerful males making me completely theirs.
They do not move, and the air grows heavy with their rich scent.
Pheromones, Jack calls them. I am only a Beta, and they do not have the same impact upon me. Although today, as they keep me waiting, I determine that I could not imagine more than this great deep, well of love and longing that courses through me.
Perfect, Jack said that I was perfect. But I think it is they who are perfect in every possible way.
They are both going to rut me. I know I will be sore long before they are done, but as Jack determined early on in our loving, I enjoy a little pain.
“Please,” I say again. “I need you both. Please, take this emptiness away.”
Fen
There is a feverish glisten to the face of the little Beta open and waiting upon the bed. For a moment, I worry that it might be to do with her terrible suffering at Nola’s hands. But as I open myself and my senses to Hazel, I understand her needs. She is fertile. The young, beautiful woman who presents so perfectly on the bed is waiting to be bred.
I want nothing more than to fall upon her, but I sense Jack has plans, and I do not want to interfere. My cock feels hot and unnaturally heavy in my hand. Soon, I am going to knot her. Once I knot her, there will be no going back. Thank fuck we have prepared her because her breeding scent is devine, and I know I will be a little rough.
A strange otherworldly sensation settles over me. I feel disconnected and hyperaware at the same time. My body is responding to our mate’s need to be bred.
“I’m going into rut,” I say, voice rough and scratchy in my throat. I know little of Omegas, having only met a few who were mated and so muted to me. But I know Omegas can handle an Alpha rut when in heat, while a Beta cannot.
“Aye,” Jack says, voice holding the same edge. “A tempered version, heightened by the battle past, her changed scent, and her natural submission to us. Hazel will handle our needs. She is not averse to our rough ways, nor to a little pain with her pleasure.”
He is right. Hazel will handle all we need.
I draw a deep breath. I can scent her weeping pussy, and I want to taste her.
But I want to rut her more.
Mesmerized by her presenting and the glistening slit of her pussy I don’t even notice Jack move until his hairy ass blocks my view.
I growl. Jack throws a look over hi
s shoulder and growls back. I want to fucking challenge him. I want to rip him away from the breeding Beta and fill her first. His growl deepens. The sweet little Beta spread out on the furs, whimpers.
Jack’s growl dips to a purr, and he turns back to our mate.
Hazel
There is no preamble. No coaxing my body to respond. I am on fire, and the burning need will only be sated by my Alphas. Jack leans over me. He has not cleaned and bears the scent of his Alpha musk, smoke, and blood. I try to grab his cock that I might bring it closer to where it needs to be. Jack is having none of it. He takes my wrists in a single giant hand, and with a sharp growl, pins them to the bed above my head.
“Our mate is out to test us,” Jack drawls. Out the corner of my eye, I see Fen move to the side of us. It makes me even hotter seeing both of them watching me like this and seeing my neediness. I force my legs to open wider still and push my breasts out.
Jack’s grin is all teeth. But I do not linger on his face for long as my eyes lower to his thick, jutting cock. It appears even bigger, hanging heavily between my splayed thighs. It leaks a thin, sticky trail of pre-cum all the way to the furs. Goddess, help me. Alpha males are so basal. I try to lift my hips, placing them closer to his huge cock.
His other hand splays over my abdomen, pinning me against the bed. “Be still,” he growls. “You will get plenty of attention tonight, my sweet little Beta.”
Taking his cock in hand, he lines up with my slick pussy . . . and thrusts.
My back arches and I groan at the glorious fullness as he seats all the way in. “Goddess, yes!”
“Good girl,” he says, voice a low rumble. “All filled up. Does that feel better?”
“Yes!” He is not moving. He should be moving, and I strain under his bulk, clenching over this thick rod buried inside me, trying to entice him to rut. “Please!”
“Gods, she is impatient,” Fen says, a note of wonder in his voice. “Are you all the way inside?”
