by Anna Craig
She wasn't sure if she should be ashamed of the pulse-pounding surge of desire that thundered through her body at his dangerous words, or even more turned on.
Finn leaned a little closer. “We own you, Cassie. Come with us now so you can pay for the freedom of everyone in your town.” He reached a hand down to her.
Feeling light-headed, she blindly groped her own hand toward him. As if she were nothing more than some feather plucked from a baby chick, he pulled her up, almost off her feet. A distinct tingle raced into her from his touch, and one more involuntary little gasp left her. Swallowing back any other obvious signals she was already aroused, she met his stare with as brave a one of her own she could muster.
In the twenty-first century, men shouldn't say things like that to women, she thought around the roaring in her head. Then again, these weren't regular men. These were ancient werewolves, who got crazy with lust and demanded a fresh new surrender every season. If they didn't get their female sacrificial lamb, they went on a rampage, destroying everything before them and deflowering all the girls in town anyway.
Or so Cassie had always been taught. Since all the younger women and girls were kept in the dark about what really happened to the surrenders after they left, there was a lot of wild speculation. Cassie had even been captain of the betting pool all through high school. She'd made a killing, which was part of how she'd managed to make it through three years of the nearby state college without needing to work more than ten hours a week at the campus coffeeshop.
College had been great. Until she'd come home for this year's mandatory spring gathering, had her name cast into the lot of eligible applicants as it was for every town female ages eighteen to twenty-two, and heard it called as the one who would be served up to the pack that year. A mere two months shy of her twenty-second birthday. All her plans for a great future, up in smoke. She had only vague ideas of what life as the surrender to the pack would hold for her. She knew sometimes it worked out well. Sometimes, not so much.
Her family, of course, had told her nothing that shed any light. All her mother had said was, Behave.
Helpful.
Head held high in spite of the desperate racing of her heart and the slight fear sweat that dampened her flesh, she let Finn pull her along toward their home. Her new home.
“You can talk, you know,” Finn said suddenly, his mesmerizing voice igniting the slick warmth between her legs even more. “You're allowed, I mean.”
His grip on her hand wasn't tight, but it was firm enough she knew he would not release her if she tried to pull away.
The funny thing was, she didn't really want to pull away. Finn, the wild, tender, passionate, amazing lover of her dreams for many years now, was just as attractive in person as in her fantasies. She could feel the heat of a blush steal over her face she thought of a few of the compromising positions she'd imagined him in.
“Are you already thinking about what it will be like?” His amused chuckle slipped over her, though his steps didn't slow. “Your skin has the most enchanting rosy glow to it right now. Cassandra,” he added.
“Um,” she said. Hearing him say her name made little shivers tap dance all over her skin. “I—am I allowed to say what I'm thinking?”
He laughed as they strode through the summer-lush meadow toward the house. Cassie could smell sweet wildflowers and the savagely enticing scent of the aroused men as they got closer to her destiny. “Of course you may speak your mind. Especially if it involves sharing your fantasies with us.” Finn side-eyed her, his navy blue eyes alight with mischief. “Despite the fact you might not have much choice in this situation, sweet Cassie, we actually aim to please.”
Ahead of them, Mac chuckled out a laugh again, although his steps didn't slow. It seemed to Cassie they were quite eager to get up to the house. The bedroom. The bed. Would they all fit on one bed? she wondered. Her blush deepened even more as she felt her clit swell.
“We aim to be pleased as well, Cassandra,” Trevor said. His voice, Cassie decided, was like a barnacle-covered sea rock barely covered in a plush assurance of dark cravings. “Don't forget that.”
She swallowed. “Okay. Sir,” she added as her feet barely skimmed the ground. Finn had really long strides. Damn, he was tall. She felt very small around these huge, drop-dead gorgeous men.
When they reached the enormous front doors of the “house,” though, she finally managed to drag her feet to a stop. Finn slowed with her, giving her another glance. A little grin quirked up his lips. For a split second, though, she barely noticed his breathtaking gorgeousness. She was too busy staring at the twenty-foot high solid oak doors, which were so solid they looked like they were forged from steel rather than wood. The entire place soared above, three stories high and probably four wings wide.
“I—wow,” she breathed, everything else momentarily forgotten. “You really call this a house? It's a damn mansion!”
Ahead of them, hand on one of the huge brass door handles, Trevor stopped and sharply rounded on her. Cassie's eyes popped open so wide she thought they might spring out of her head. Shit, shit, shit. Would she not learn to keep her big mouth shut around the wolf shifters who held her fate?
Face thunderously dark, Trevor advanced on her a step. Cassie tried to backpedal, but Finn held her firm. One of his hands, however, went to her back and began to rub encouraging circles on it. Like she was a skittish filly about to bolt, and he was trying to calm her. But all it really did was abruptly remind her he was still incredibly hot, he was holding her close, and his touch sent tingles through her body. Even so, it didn't quite alleviate her fear as Trevor came closer. Finn might be the stuff of her erotic dreams, but insanely attractive Trevor was the pack alpha and no mistake. He radiated sheer power.
Planting his feet when he was about six inches away, Trevor stood solid, towering above her as mightily as the mansion-house towered above them all. Cassie swallowed audibly. Slowly, the ultimate master of her fate shook his head.
“You,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “You are entirely too talkative at this point. I'm not certain you have the right amount of appreciation for your role here.”
Cassie thought her heart might have stopped at the ominous undercurrent in his voice. “I'm so sorry,” she managed to squeak out.
Trevor's dark eyes narrowed at her. Then he shook his head. “We've been having this problem the past several decades. All the surrenders have been very uppity. No respect for the old ways.”
Cassie's jaw dropped. Did he really just say uppity? What the hell century did he think this was?
With a sudden laugh, Mac rolled his beautiful eyes and stepped toward Cassie as well. “Trevor, leave the poor girl be for a moment. You're making her pale as a sheet. I think she has perfect respect for her position. Don't you, Cassandra?”
She nodded vigorously, although she couldn't wrench her gaze from Trevor's. Something electric snapped between the two of them, something that made her shiver deep inside. His aquamarine gaze promised something much darker, something that also curiously tugged at her heart while stirring molten desires deep in her belly.
Trevor suddenly snorted, a half-mocking, half-startled sound that broke the strange connection. Shadows dropped over his eyes before he snapped, “Look closely at our door, our sweet young Cassandra. You will see your future.”
“Uh—” she began, but Finn gently tipped her chin away from Trevor so she had to examine the doors. “Oh, my god,” she breathed, so stunned she momentarily forgot about anything else than what was on the massive doors.
They were covered in carvings that looked positively medieval. Upon close inspection, some of them depicted really nasty acts being performed by—satyrs? Like, the devilish goat-men of myth? Why, yes, yes, they were. They were fucking satyrs, in fact. Literally fucking one another. Their carved faces clearly broadcasted licentious, wickedly satisfied carnal lust. Then she noticed werewolves in their human forms, huge and strong and fierce even in carved form. They, t
oo, were fucking one another. Each pairing—or group, since some were in threes and fours—was entwined in amorous embraces, some of the positions straining her sense of the possible. Even so, the images stirred twitching between her legs, perking her nipples. She felt Finn's erection insistently poking into her rear, which somehow made it all even more erotic. More tempting.
Her future. Oh, god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.
A low, long growl broke into her thoughts and she jumped. Finn's grip on her had tightened. “Careful, beautiful Cassandra,” he breathed into her ear. “You are giving us all some very distinct ideas again. We may not make it inside if you insist on still thinking those thoughts.”
Mac then came close enough to touch Cassie, stroking his hand down her chest. Her nipples peaked even harder, feeling like tight little pebbles when Mac trailed his fingers over them, first one, then the other. She bit her lip to stop the moan. Terror, desire, and awe at the huge mansion all mingled into something that threatened to explode out. Still uncertain what her reactions should be, she tried to still them all. Finn, though, seemed to sense everything.
His hand stroking her back slowly began to go lower, to her hips, then just above the swell of her rear. Caught between his touch there, blond Mac's lazy grin while his hand began to gently tweak her nipples, and Trevor's darkly smoldering alpha presence, Cassie felt a gasp lodge in her throat as she desperately tried to contain it. But then Trevor spoke again, his voice so low it sounded like shifting boulders.
“We shall soon see how much respect she has for her position. Cassandra,” he addressed her directly, pinning her with his light eyes. “Remove your dress.”
The gasp exploded out of her. Shock whipped through her, even as her stupidly turned on little pussy swelled even more at his demand. How the hell she could find this hot was beyond her. She wasn't some sex doll puppet for their pleasure.
No, wait. She was. And that thought made her moan. She was a wanton woman, here to please in order to keep the peace between the pack and the town. Right? Willing her pulse to slow down, she collected herself before answering.
“Excuse me? Sir?” Her voice sounded rather shaky. “I thought you said we would wait until we got to the, um, the bedroom?”
Trevor's thick, heavy brows drew down even more, shadowing his aqua-green eyes. How was it possible for one man to be so gorgeous and terrifying at the same time? Slowly, he said, “Are you questioning me, Cassandra? Questioning our right to your body? To do whatever we wish to do with it?”
Mac's fingers tightened on her nipple, now pinching it. Pinching it a little painfully, but oh, it shot her arousal level up even higher. She murmured and tensed, pulling back a little at the pleasurably stinging pain, but all that did was back her right into Finn's rock-hard chest. And what felt like his now massive erection pressing right into her ass. He deliberately bumped his hips into hers, his rigid shaft feeling like it was two feet long, even though that was impossible. Right? Right?
Against her own will, Cassie groaned once more. Loudly. Everything felt like it was spinning, whirling her around in some sort of amazing festival of sensation. Three huge, sexier-than-hell, wild wolf-shifting men trapped her in a cage of man-flesh. Knowing she was theirs, by choice and by ancient design, lit such a sharp bolt of desire in her clit it literally hurt.
“Cassandra,” Trevor said. The alpha power in his voice lifted her eyes to his. Her breath heaved in and out, making her breasts strain against the flimsy little dress. “Take it off. Now. We want to see that beautiful, lush body of yours.”
Chapter 3
At his words, Cassie suddenly quailed, but this time for a totally different reason. She wasn't exactly heavy...but she was a little on the generously-sized side. Always had been. Her mother called it pleasing, where Cassie called it too much and spent time just covering it up as cutely as she could, her whole life. She'd been taught her entire life size made no difference to the pack, but that was then, before she'd been the surrender, and this was now. Now, when Trevor wanted her to remove the only thing left between her and them. The only thing still slightly covering her body. In what was still daylight, even though that was rapidly fading.
Stalling, she said, “I'm a little overwhelmed. Sir. Is there any way we could wait to do that until we get inside? Um, maybe to a room that has no lights? If that's okay with you, of course. Sir,” she added again, her voice a high-pitched warble that came straight from her jagged nerves.
Silence dropped so hard and fast it seemed like a large rock had been chucked into a glass-like pond with an ugly thunk. Finn's hand stopped stroking, Mac's fingers stopped pinching. Only Trevor, that huge, stunning specimen of male perfection, loomed in her vision. His expression teetered between astonishment, fury, and...something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
“Are you defying my orders?” His voice crackled. It made the little hairs all over her body stand up, and, despite its ferociousness, still sent tendrils of desire zinging around her really wet pussy.
“Well...no,” she said in as level a voice she could manage. Her legs shook a bit, though it seemed to be from some combination of trepidation and lust. Crazy. “I'm just asking if we could wait. Until...until you all can't see me as clearly,” she finished in a whisper.
Trevor kept staring at her. Despite the lowered brows, she still saw a convoy of other emotions ripple across his chiseled features. He drew breath as if to speak, them shook his head. “No. You willingly gave yourself as a surrender to the pack. Your body is ours. You will remove that dress. At once.”
Cassie swallowed, then tried one last time for reason. She wasn't exactly ashamed of her body—god knew it was capable of some delightful pleasure, which was a hell of a lot of fun—but she didn't know these men. Yet. It would be a lot more comfortable if she could just kind of hide under the covers while they did all sorts of things to her desirous flesh. Right?
Gathering the shreds of her courage, she somehow got the words out in a calm, level voice. “It wasn't exactly a willing surrender, sir. I was required to put my name in the lottery, it was called, so here I am. But if that's your logic, then as a willing surrender, I respectfully ask that you allow me to remove my dress inside the...uh, the house.”
Biting her lip, she waited for his response. The gorgeous aquamarine eyes stared hard at her, betraying no emotion, no clue as to his own thoughts. She did, however, feel very much like a bug pinned to a wall, awaiting her fate. Over the roaring of blood in her ears and the rustle of the trees lining the drive up to the front doors, she could hear her own breathing, but that was it. Damn, silence was a scary thing.
When the pack's alpha finally answered, it wasn't at all what she expected. “Very well, then,” he said in a suddenly bland tone. Behind her, she felt Finn stiffen as if in surprise. “Your request is duly noted.”
With that, the most gorgeous male she'd ever seen reached his hand toward her chest, gesturing Mac away from her. The blond wolf stepped back, his face suddenly grim and even slightly confused. Trevor jerked his head at Finn, who suddenly released his hold on her and retreated a step.
Then, alpha Trevor extended one finger toward Cassie, catching her attention. As she uncertainly watched, his finger began to grow. More precisely, the nail on it began to lengthen and harden. It quickly sharpened into a lethal, very non-human curving point. Wicked and gleaming, it was the deadly claw of a wolf.
Before Cassie could even gasp, the razor tip caught the top of her flimsy dress. With the slightest ripping sound, he slashed downward with it, slicing the dress in two. In a whispering slither of fabric, the rent pieces slid from her shoulders and drifted to the ground, leaving her completely bare in front of all three men.
~~~
Trevor bit his own lip to keep in his groan at the sight of Cassandra's stunning body. He'd known she would be beautiful beneath the scrap of clothing, but to see her actual body halted his coherent thinking. And that sass, that flare of strength as she countered his order—it stirred him i
n a way he hadn't thought possible.
He truly did detest the sauciness of the young female surrenders over the past few decades, mostly because they were not only saucy, they were just annoying in all their blathering on about women's rights ad nauseam. It was part of why he'd always allowed his packmates to take them on instead. Let them handle an uppity woman. He didn't have time to placate one who didn't understand the true importance of her place in the pack.
But something about Cassandra intrigued him. The golden hair, the clear blue eyes, the extremely generous breasts and hips, the sumptuous rolls of flesh a wolf could get a hold of—ah, yes, all that was quite delectable for obvious reasons. Trevor had always liked his women to be full-figured rather than the ridiculously waif-like creatures who'd been showing up since the late 1960s. Quite a pity women these days tended to starve themselves. Clearly, Cassandra enjoyed her food as any healthy, beautiful woman should. Trevor appreciated that. Yet something else about her called to him as well.
To his surprise, he realized at least part of it was that very sauciness he usually so disliked. In Cassandra, it wasn't mere bravado or sheer defiance. This one had a spark of fire, a spark of presence that he liked. It stirred something deep inside him. Something that felt oddly like—possessiveness.
Impossible. Trevor Reginald was not possessive of women. There was no point, when he could have any one he desired, at any time.
Glaring at the girl, he retracted his claw and crossed his arms over his chest. It would be quite interesting to see how the sweet little wench reacted to having her impudent demand not only refused, but countered by a demonstration of how much power he held over her.
~~~
Cassie shrieked loudly, leaping backward and stumbling. “I thought you said my request was duly noted!” she half yelled, half gasped. Before she could fall over her own feet, strong arms easily caught her.
