My stomach churned. This was more than I had been prepared for, far more, and yet I couldn’t look away.
The bear’s legs seemed to tremble and it collapsed to the ground in a heap, two of the wolves springing free just in time to avoid getting crushed. It was oozing blood from a number of puncture wounds and seemed defeated – and I would have fled there and then and never questioned what had happened again, until I noticed the blood dripping down and onto my paws and felt something give deep inside of me. I slumped into the snow, dead to the world.
Chapter 4
I opened my eyes slowly; it took me a moment to figure out where I was and what exactly I was doing there, but then I remembered the attack from the bear and the blood on the snow.
I looked down to find that I was now laid out across a pile of cushions, wrapped in a thick fur blanket, the weight and warmth of it keeping me from shivering in the cold. I was naked beneath it. My head was pounding as I tried to make sense of what had just happened, and finally it sank in. They must have brought me back here, these shifters that had saved me – but why?
And exactly how much of me had they seen naked?
Before I could think much further on those topics, I heard voices – my ears pricked up and I sat up a little on the couch, despite the fact that my leg was still throbbing angrily. Shifter wounds healed quickly so I wasn’t concerned about being crippled for life, but it still hurt like a bitch, and that feeling of completely accepting my fate and my death was all too familiar in my head. It would be hard to get away from that.
Four voices. That’s what I could make out – same as the number of wolves that had saved me for some reason. What, did they just prowl the woods looking for shifters in distress that they could help out? It didn’t seem likely. I strained to hear what they were saying but I couldn’t make out the details, just their low voices, like they knew I might be listening.
I looked around this place – where the hell was I, anyway? I had never seen a place like this inhabited by shifters before. It looked like a log cabin from where I was lying, but big and warm and sprawling, enough room for all four of them as well as me. I was in what looked like a living room, a fire crackling loudly beside me, and mismatched chairs scattered around the place. How had they gotten me here? Were they going to let me go once they saw that I had woken up? What pack were they a part of? If it turned out they were part of the MacLarens and thought they had managed to steal away some prime victim, I had bad news for them. I propped myself up, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as I listened to their voices – I wasn’t sure what it was about them, but they drew a very specific kind of reaction out of me, one that I hadn’t felt this intensely in a long time.
A loud creak came from the couch beneath me and I guessed it must have attracted the attention of the men in the next room, because a moment or two later the door opened. And four men walked in, one by one.
The first one to enter was clearly the alpha of this group; he was the tallest by a few inches, with dark brown hair and eyes that almost seemed to gleam golden in the light of the fire. He was wearing a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, to show off the muscles in his arms; I couldn’t help but let my eyes trail down to his hands, noticing the length of his fingers, the strength evident in him.
The next guy to enter was half-turned to speak to the man behind him, a grin on his face, and I found myself instantly warming to his crooked smile and playful half-cocked eyebrow. He had a scrub of messy light brown hair atop his head, was wearing some old band t-shirt, with green eyes that quickly swerved to meet my own. He was skinnier than the rest but lean, a slim waist tapering out to wider shoulders, like he didn’t spend a lot of time trying to get his body looking a certain way and had just turned out hot by accident. Well, it was a happy one.
The third man, the one that the second was talking to, was covered in tattoos – well, at least the skin that I could see. Inked from the top of his chest down, he was thickly muscled and looked like the brawn of the group – and none of them were exactly weaklings. His hair was almost black and his eyes were the same, and the smile that had been on his face as he talked to the second man vanished as his eyes travelled over to me. I felt a shiver run down my spine; I wasn’t sure whether he was mad or worried over me, and couldn’t figure it out from the way he was observing me right then.
The final guy had a faraway look in his eyes and wasn’t interacting with any of the other dudes. His slightly overgrown hair flashed with auburn as he moved and he had paler eyes, more distant, like he was lost somewhere in his own head. He blinked a couple of times and glanced over at me, apparently surprised to see me awake. I couldn’t tell much about the way he looked, other than his face, since he was draped in a thick, heavy sweater like he was trying to hide from the cold, or something else.
“Uh, hello,” I greeted them, offering them a slightly nervous smile; I mean, it wasn’t often that a girl woke up in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a bunch of men and it ended well. But, even despite the slightly suspicious way that tattooed guy was looking at me, I didn’t freak out. I felt safe. They had protected me and kept me warm so far. That had to be good, didn’t it?
“Hello.” The alpha strode towards me, running his fingers through his hair swiftly. I felt my heart lurch as he approached. “You hungry?”
“Yeah, starving.” I nodded, tugging the covers tight around my body and offering him a smile. “I haven’t eaten since…”
I trailed off. I didn’t want to tell them too much – I still didn’t know who they were or what they were doing all the way out here.
“We have a stew if you’re hungry,” the faraway one remarked. “You want some?”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” I replied, suddenly distinctly aware of how very naked I was beneath these covers. I flushed when I realized that everyone in this room had seen me naked. Much of the clan back home – not home anymore, but still – had seen me naked, but that was different, we all saw each other nude at one time or another when we were shifting. But this felt different.
“Rafe, could you?” The alpha-looking guy glanced over at the dude with that crooked grin and the latter nodded and headed in to what I assumed was the kitchen; we stood there in silence for a moment, just looking at each other, as we waited for him to return. Moments later, he did, with a steaming bowl of something that smelled delicious. So, at least one of the guys here could cook. That made them even more attractive, if that was possible. I grabbed the spoon and started eating, too hungry to give a hoot about being ladylike.
They each took their seats; the alpha on the other end of the couch from me, forcing me to curl my feet up to make space for him, and the other three around me in various armchairs and stools. The one with the tattoos sat far away from me, glaring slightly still, and I eyed him for a moment as I continued to eat.
“So, what were you doing out there all by yourself?” the alpha finally asked. I swallowed my mouthful and paused. I didn’t want to tell them anything that they could use against me, not yet, not before I knew them.
“I was hunting.”
Which was part of the truth, at least.
“What are you guys doing all the way out here?” I asked, changing the subject. They glanced around at each other, as if silently conferring on whether or not to tell me the truth. “Are you a pack or something?”
“We’re brothers,” the alpha finally replied, looking back to me.
“And you just live out here? The four of you, you’re not affiliated with a pack?”
“No. We are a pack. It’s just the four of us,” the one with the smile piped up again. “I’m Rafe Robicheaux, by the way.”
“Yeah, I’m Anton.” The alpha nodded. “That’s Ethan, and that’s Luke.”
He pointed to the faraway-looking dude, and then finally at the tattooed guy.
“So, you got a name?” Rafe asked, and I shook my head.
“Not that I want to share with you right now,” I replied primly,
returning my attention to my food. I didn’t want to give away too much but I also abhorred lying. Rafe laughed, and the tattooed guy shot a look at him that was clearly intended to shut him up.
“Hey, I’m allowed to laugh.” He held his hands up. “She’s pretty funny.”
I hadn’t intended to be funny and realized I was being peevish. “Arianna,” I murmured, cheeks stinging. These guys had saved my ass. It wasn’t their fault that I’d so recently had my trust obliterated. “My name is Arianna.”
“It’s a nice name,” Rafe said with a half-smile.
A low grunt sounded from the one with the tattoos. Luke, he’d said.
“The wind’s picking up outside.” Luke got to his feet. “I should go and get some more firewood. We’re running low.”
“Don’t run into any bears out there,” Rafe murmured, and watched as the other male walked out the door and headed to gather some more firewood. He slammed the door behind him, perhaps intentionally, perhaps just because he was too strong to realize his own strength.
Anton slid a little closer along the couch to me and I shifted away from him without thinking. It was just the way I’d been taught – you didn’t interact with people who were outside the clan. But I didn’t have a clan any longer, so it wasn’t like those rules applied to me anymore. Ethan held his hands up, calming me.
“I just want to check on your wound, that’s all,” he explained. “Can I?”
“Yeah, sure.” I stretched my leg out from under the cover, and he pushed the blanket away with one strong hand and touched the skin around the wound. My breath caught in my throat for a moment as his fingers finally connected with me for the first time; his hands were as strong and beautiful as I had thought when he had first walked into the room, and I tried to ignore how hard my heart was hammering in my chest. I was just nervous, that was all. I looked up at his face as his brow furrowed slightly while he looked at me, and I noticed how full and sweet his lips were. I glanced away, flushing slightly, and pulling the covers back over my leg.
“Sorry, I’m cold. It looks okay, right?”
“Yeah, it looks fine.” He nodded, glancing away, too, like he had felt the heat between us as well. He got to his feet. “I’ll let you finish your food.”
He headed out of the room and across to what I assumed was the kitchen, and I heard him pacing back and forth within a few more times, leaving me in the room with Rafe and Ethan. Ethan steepled his fingers and looked over them at me, and I shifted back and forth in my seat.
“What is it?” I asked, and Ethan blinked and shook his head, glancing away.
“Sorry, I didn’t even realize I was looking at you,” he apologized. “I get lost sometimes.”
“No, that’s okay,” I replied softly – there was something about the way he spoke that made me want to treat him with a gentleness, like he might smash if I spoke too harshly to him.
“Are you cold?” He got to his feet. “I can get you another blanket.”
“Actually, that would be great.” I nodded nervously. “It’s freezing. I always get cold when I have to heal up.”
“Yeah, that bear took a fair chunk out of you,” Rafe remarked, cocking an eyebrow. “Surprised to see you awake so soon.”
Ethan grabbed a blanket off one of the opposite chairs, headed over to me, and carefully draped it around my shoulders. He paused for a moment, his hands resting on the top of my arms as the blanket settled, and then he stepped away quickly, like he hadn’t meant to go so far.
“I should go help Anton with the kitchen,” he muttered, shooting another glance at me before backing off. It was just Rafe and I in the room now, and Rafe tilted his head to the side and regarded me.
“What?” I asked, shifting back and forth slightly beneath his gaze.
“Oh, nothing.” He grinned, not moving his gaze from mine. “Come on, if you’re feeling up to it, I can show you around the place.”
“I’d like that.” I shifted, holding the blankets tight around me to make sure they didn’t slip away and render me completely naked. Rafe headed over to me and offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet, and for a second I was just an inch or two away from his face. He met my gaze steadily, and for a split second his eyes flicked down to my lips and then back up to my eyes.
“So, this is the bedroom you’ll be sleeping in as long as you’re here.” He pushed a door open, the one next to the kitchen, and I followed him inside.
“Wow, it’s huge,” I murmured as I headed inside – an enormous double bed dominated the floor, and there was a bookcase packed with ancient-looking tomes next to a small window. “Are all the bedrooms this big?”
“No, this is the master,” he explained, leaning up against the door.
“I can’t take it,” I protested. “I’m happy going as soon as I can find some clothes and-”
“Not a chance,” he replied firmly. “You’ll be sticking around as long as it takes to get you back on your feet. You going to tell us what you were doing out there?”
“Eventually,” I replied, delivering my words with a half-smile. “I just don’t know you yet and I’m not feeling myself. Is that all right?”
He seemed to take it well, pushing off the doorframe and back to his feet. “For now it is. When it’s not anymore, I’ll let you know. There’s a bathroom there.” He nodded over to a door that led off the room. “It’s the only en suite in the place.”
“I can’t accept this,” I said as I shook my head in protest. “It’s too much-”
“Oh, you think any of the rest of us want to share a bathroom with a woman?” he asked with a grin. “Take it. It’s yours. Trust me, you’re doing us a favor.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, pulling the blanket tight around me; it was dragging on the ground behind me like a wedding gown, and I was hyper-aware of how little I was wearing under this.
But the worst part was, when I glanced back at Rafe, the look on his face told me he was thinking the same thing…
“There’s a shower in there.” He glanced away from me. “You can use it to wash the blood off. We’ll get you some clothes in the meantime.”
“Thanks.” I nodded, and watched as he walked out of the room and left me there alone once more. There was something…about him, about all of them. But that was ridiculous. I couldn’t be attracted to four different males all at the same time, could I? It was just a reaction to having no pack of my own anymore, that was all. Just relief that I had found shifters once again, shifters who accepted me without even knowing me. Who had asked gentle questions and hadn’t pressed for answers. Which, right now, was exactly what I’d needed.
I headed for the shower, craving the simple relief of hot water and clean skin.
Once inside the stall, I washed the blood off quickly, scrubbing it from beneath my nails, and used a little of the plain soap that they had sitting in the soap dish – it was unscented but for that delicious clean smell that just reminded me of boy.
I instantly felt more myself as I stepped out of the shower, and without thinking, opened the door without bothering to cover myself up once more. Back home, nakedness had just been part of the deal, and I had a feeling that was going to be a tough habit to break. Thankfully, none of them were out there to catch me strolling about in the nude.
There were clothes laid out on the bed – sweats and a large shirt, obviously the property of someone else in this house. I supposed it wasn’t like they had any need for women’s clothes, but even still, I couldn’t help but chuckle as I rolled over the sweats three times and pulled the enormous baggy shirt over my head. I could barely make out the shape of my body beneath the fabric, though I supposed that was probably a good thing if I didn’t want my stupid, lingering thoughts to go on any longer.
The clothes smelled of one of them in particular – Anton? – and, despite myself, I hugged them close and enjoyed the scent on my skin.
As I dried my hair with a towel that had been left in the bathroom, I went to the window t
o see what was outside; I squinted, and through the flurries of snow I could see a porch area with something sitting on it. I cupped my hands around my face and pressed it up to the window, and realized I was looking at a hot tub, of all things. What on Earth were guys like that doing with a hot tub? Where had they even gotten it from? And what did they use it for? I found myself flushing slightly when I thought about everything that I could have gotten up to in that hot tub with one or more of them, but I brushed that thought to the back of my head at once. I was a guest, probably a short-term one, and there was no point getting attached when I’d be out of here as soon as I was feeling better.
I headed through to the living room, craving company, and found the four of them sitting around a large piece of paper spread out on the table in front of them; I headed over to join them, and saw that it was actually a map. It looked hand-drawn, all lines and nicknames and routes sketched out in red.
“Hey,” I greeted them, and they all looked up. Fuck, how did guys this gorgeous manage to hide out in the woods for so long without anyone seeking them out? If I had known about them before now, I would have spent weeks hacking my way through the undergrowth to get to them.
“Hey,” Rafe said, that twinkle in his eye once more. “Feeling better?”
“Yeah, much.” I returned his smile, then looked down at the map in front of them. “What are you guys doing? Planning a hunt?”
“We need to stock up for the winter,” Ethan explained, glancing up at me for a moment and then looking away, as though he couldn’t quite bring himself to look me in the eyes. “It gets too cold to hunt pretty soon and we need to make sure our reserves are strong.”
“You know there’s a town not far from here, right?” I glanced between them. “You could go out there for supplies if you’re worried about running short.”
“Oh, we know about the town.” Rafe cocked an eyebrow and glanced around the table, specifically at Luke, who seemed to be pointedly avoiding his gaze. “We’re alone here but that doesn’t mean we don’t head into town for some…entertainment from time to time.”
Her Howling Harem 1: A reverse harem fantasy (Arianna's Story) Page 3
