by Dace Everan
Farron released an exhausted breath. “We have a meeting tonight with the elders. To decide what Celeste’s fate shall be.” His gaze shot to the area she had disappeared through then fell back on Logan. “If everything goes well”—he paused and his heart cringed—“Celeste and I will stay within perimeters of you so you can get what you need to do done.”
Logan narrowed his eyes. “Within perimeters?” he asked.
Farron nodded. “You made it five miles away from us before you stopped. We will stay out of your way till you get done what needs doing.” He looked Logan over. “Of course if you would just fill us in we could possibly help,” he offered.
Logan snorted. “Oh I think your little bitch there has helped me enough.”
Farron’s shoulders tightened. He didn’t like Logan calling Celeste a bitch in that manner. “She is my bitch in the sense that we are mates. Which makes her your bitch… The bitch you speak of is nowhere near the phrase you should ever use on her.” He took an authoritative step toward Logan. He felt no rush of territorial possession or contest. “You will call her your bitch one day and take pride in it. She will carry your pups and give you many to be proud of.”
Logan bared his teeth. “Like she said. She ain’t no baby making machine.” He tossed the words at Farron.
“Yes, but she will be lead bitch. She has the duty to make sure there are heirs.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Well, while the two of you figure that shit out, I have things to do.”
Farron growled in frustration. “When the fuck are you going to get it, Logan! You cannot go! You have to face the elders. You are the one deciding what will happen to Celeste. You will help decide her punishment.”
“Spank that bitch till she understands her goddamn place!”
Farron staggered back. “We don’t hit our women,” he announced, appalled.
Logan snickered. “Yes, well, isn’t she in for a surprise then,” he replied, feeling weak again. He sighed, looking toward the trees Celeste had disappeared through. Yes, their little bitch needed a good spanking and to be put into her place.
* * * *
Logan studied all the elderly people at the table. This wasn’t what he’d imagined when it came to an elders meeting. Six tall, thick men sat around the table. On one side, three of the six men had light hair, silver he’d say, if not white. On the other side, black. Pure black hair. At the head sat Celeste’s father and mother. At the other end was Farron’s father. He had been told Farron’s mother had gone missing some years back without a trace. Logan’s shoulders tensed in regret, in wanting to defend and protect Farron from hurts like that happening to him again. Celeste, himself, and Farron sat in chairs a few feet behind her parents. Everyone talked like it was Sunday dinner. Casual, calm, and airy. He waited patiently for things to begin. For something to begin. Not this back and forth of laughter and sharing family memories.
“Relax, would you?” Celeste grumbled, crossing her legs and relaxing back into her seat.
Logan gave her a sidelong glance. “I have things to do. The sooner this is dealt with, the sooner I can get back to my life.”
“Your life is now a part of ours, young Logan.” The thick husky voice pulled Logan’s gaze away from Celeste and her beauty, to the table. Farron’s father stood and was looking right at him.
Logan raised a brow. Was he supposed to stand? “Yes, well, before that happens I have unfinished business in my world,” he replied, leaning back in his chair and draping an arm over the back of Celeste’s chair.
Fallon, Farron’s father, narrowed his eyes and shot a look at his son. “Have you not explained to him our ways, Farron?” he asked.
Farron gave a nod. “We discussed it a little.”
Fallon released a breath. “Logan. You will not return to your life. You can’t. You will hurt people.”
Logan snorted. “I’ve been given this lecture. I don’t care. I have things to do.” He looked pointedly at Celeste. “Maybe someone should have taught this one manners and some honor.”
Celeste straightened up. “Excuse me!” she blabbered out.
Logan nodded. “Yeah, you. You ungrateful, selfish little twit.” He sat up and stared at her. “I don’t care how fucking hot you are. The fact that you only thought of yourself in taking my life and changing it shows you are nothing but selfish and immature.”
Celeste growled and narrowed her eyes on him. “Had I not have done it, Farron would have!” she seethed, glaring at Farron for back up.
“Enough!” Fallon yelled, glaring at the two. “Logan. You cannot leave! You are a danger to the humans. You are not protected out there if you leave us.”
Logan stood then. “I don’t need protecting! I have my own protection.”
Farron straightened out at the intimidating stance Logan took. “What will you do when the scientists get their hands on you?”
Logan narrowed his eyes. “What scientists?” he asked, intrigued. Maybe this explained some of the species they had been gathering. He was sure the women Jariko and Alisha had gone after had had the DNA of animals in them. Fuck, he wished he could contact someone! Fallon pulled out a chair motioning for Logan to join the head table.
Fallon gave a nod to Farron, who in turn stood and left the room. Celeste frowned. “What’s going on?” she demanded. What was going on here? Fallon took a seat and glanced at Dolan then back to Logan. “We made the decision to join our clans to strengthen our breeds.” He looked at Celeste. She was a spoiled brat, but the blood that ran in her veins was pure and strong. As was Farron’s. Their children would be strong. “Men of my pack were on a run and came upon a group of humans trapping wolves. Not just your typical wolf… us.” He looked at Dolan. “We have had four bitches taken from us.” He turned when Farron reappeared with a stack of papers in his hands. “Sit, Farron. Perhaps Logan will hear you better than I,” he suggested, pushing a chair out for his son. The elders at the table grumbled under their breath at the inappropriateness for what was happening. Fallon held up a hand to silence any argument. “This is a new era, my brothers. New technology. Farron has studied hard to figure out what he could.” He looked at Logan. “This one would know how to handle this situation.” Logan glanced at the papers, nodding for Fallon to hand them over. Fallon slid them to Logan and all watched as the new wolf went through each piece, one excruciating moment at time.
After long-drawn-out minutes and many pages Logan glanced at Farron. “You have an office?” He had to have some sort of set up somewhere. Someplace he had computers something.
Farron nodded. “In my home,” he assured him.
Logan nodded. “We go there then I want to take a walk and scope this place out.” He motioned to the stack of papers. Somewhere deep in these forests was a hidden lab that Farron’s people had followed these kidnappers to.
Farron shook his head. “They have surveillance,” he uttered. He knew that firsthand. He’d lost two of his brethren trying to help others escape the place and the creatures that had come rushing out. He had lost track of who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. He had seen some morph into wolves and take down others. Hurt filled him to see his own kind attack and viciously kill their own kind. It was one thing to be territorial. But if a wolf ran from you, you did not run them down and rip them apart. You didn’t need to.
Chapter Thirteen
Logan glanced through the papers one more time. The place looked to be a fortress according to the schematics that Farron had managed to apprehend. “How’d you get your information?” he asked, flipping another page, looking over photos of men dragging beaten and bleeding victims through a cave where you could clearly see doors in the depths.
“I’ve been watching them from a distance. I have a friend who is a wiz on the computer.”
Logan wanted to laugh. No one was as good as he was. Well maybe Harley. But that was hardly fair to compare his genius to her brilliance. Hers was planted, his was apprehended by his own will. “I want to go t
o your place. I need to see more.”
Farron furrowed his brow. “There is no more.”
Logan laughed then. “There is always more. This is only the tip of the iceberg in what is happening here. All you have here is men kidnapping your people.” He let the papers fall to the table. “You have nothing on what is happening on the inside. Why are they taking them? What are they doing to them?” The questions whirred through his head. He needed to get a hold of the team and get them the fuck up here. Maybe this was the operation they needed to be going after. These people and their equipment to find out what it was they were doing with Harley and the others like her.
Fallon snarled, clenching his fists. “They are dissecting us! Trying to figure out what makes us what we are!” he argued.
Logan held up a silencing hand. “There is more to the world than dissecting werewolves.” He paused and looked around the table, his gaze coming back to rest on Fallon. “You ever wonder what would happen if a werewolf’s DNA was spliced with an android. Or a human? Or maybe another were-species?” He glanced at Farron. “There are other were-species aren’t there?” He assumed there were. He’d heard tales.
Fallon glanced at Dolan. Dolan nodded and Fallon’s shoulders fell slightly. “There are many species. Everywhere.”
Logan nodded. He guessed as much. “How many different species in this area?” he inquired.
Fallon released a breath. “We would have to know if you are willing to be Farron and Celeste’s third mate before we share any more information.”
Logan looked at the man dumbfounded. “You’re serious? I have to actually be united to these two for the rest of my life?”
Fallon nodded. “Celeste changed you… she scented you. Farron has confided in me that he scented you as well. Either way. Between the two of them you would have been here in due time.”
Logan snorted. “If that’s the case”—he turned his gaze on Celeste—“this little brat needs a good ass smacking!” He looked at Farron. “You may call it beating woman, I call it discipline. She needs to learn there are consequences to her actions.” He turned a heated look on Celeste. “You took it upon yourself to change my whole life! Did it ever occur to you that I had a family? A wife, maybe kids?” He felt a pang of guilt as she seemed to shrink in her seat. She gave her head a shake. Were those tears in her eyes? He turned his attention back to Farron. “I will spank her the first chance I get. If you are not comfortable with that… leave.”
Celeste opened her mouth to speak and Farron held his hand up, silencing her. “You will be my second. If that is something you desire…” He slumped. “I will watch and see. She is my bitch. I will not tolerate you beating her. If it is truly punishment that she is deserving, you have every right.”
Logan nodded. He turned his attention back to Fallon. “How does this work? I answer to Farron?” He didn’t like the idea of that but deep down it didn’t seem to bother him all that much either.
Fallon turned his attention to Farron. “My son would have to answer that for you.”
Logan turned his attention to Farron. Farron gave a nod. “I am Alpha. Like I said, you are my second. Any decision that I make regarding the pack I discuss with you but I have all final words.” He looked to the papers. “That stuff. I do not know enough about the outside world to know how to handle those. You may have final word on how to act upon those issues.”
Logan nodded. He could deal with that. “And what of Celeste?” he asked.
Farron furrowed his brow. “Celeste is our bitch. She will sit in on every discussion that we debate and make her argument.”
Logan nodded. Good, he didn’t want her opinion ousted. He may be pissed at her, but that woman had opinions and they needed to be spoken. She was not someone to be put in a corner and left to wilt. She had strength and her strength could make them stronger. Correction, it would make them stronger.
Chapter Fourteen
Celeste stood in the middle of her room. Her stomach churned as her mother crossed to the closet. “I can dress myself, Mother,” she replied quietly, rolling her eyes, annoyed that the upcoming evening was turning her into a simpering wimp.
Kolana clicked her tongue. “Don’t take the honor away from me my girl.” She glanced over her shoulder at her daughter. “Tonight your father and I hand you to your mates. You will no longer abide in our home.” She paused, her hand holding the hanger to the simple white gown that her daughter would wear. She looked over the shimmering fabric, the string of beads she herself had sewn in place. She inhaled a calming breath. She knew she would give her daughter away one day. But she had not expected to give her to two men. “I trust Farron with you… this Logan fellow. I am not sure of him.” She turned and crossed the room to her daughter. “Come, my girl. Bathe and get ready. You need not go to your men smelling of a long walk.”
Celeste followed her mother down the hall and to the bath. It was tradition to have your mother have that final talk and assure the soon-to-be bride that it was meant to be and all would fall into place, to make sure that the soon-to-be bride was holding up and not getting cold feet.
“Do you have any questions, daughter?”
Celeste shook her head.
“No concerns of how your mates will take you tonight?”
Celeste’s cheeks heated in embarrassment. “Pretty sure I have an idea of how men fuck women, Mother.”
Kolana shot her a look. “I would hope they would not just fuck you,” she replied curtly. “They will take you at the same time. I—”
She paused, her own cheeks turning a tinge of pink. “I laid a plug out for you. Insert it before your bath. Keep it in until we are ready to go. It will stretch you enough to ease the pain of whichever one will claim your ass.” She pointed to the three inch translucent plug lying on the counter.
Celeste’s eyes widened. “Mother!”
Kolana shushed her. “Never you mind! I remember my first time. Had your father not prepared me I would not even want to imagine the discomfort of it.”
Celeste couldn’t tear her eyes away from the plug. “But.”
Kolana shook her head. “If your men were considerate they would have brought you one,” she replied, pushing her daughter further into the room. “I will be waiting in my room for you.”
Celeste gave a nod, not even taking notice of her mother leaving the room or closing the door. She stared at the plug and lube and her pussy tingled. This was happening. They would claim her tonight! In a mere few hours. Shivers of fear cascaded through her.
* * * *
Logan paced the small room he and Farron had been sent to. “What the hell is this about?” he demanded, crossing to the window and looking out at the forest beyond the glass.
Farron leaned against one wall and rested his head back, closing his eyes. “We have to wait for Celeste to get ready.”
“Yeah well, this is retarded.” He grunted, turning his attention back to Farron. “How will this work?”
Farron opened his eyes and stared at the wood ceiling. “We take her in front of the elders.”
Logan released a whistle. He was all for exhibition, but it looked like Farron wasn’t. The man was near sweating and the nervousness dripping from him was overwhelming. “So you have to have sex with your mate in front of your dad? In front of her dad!” He laughed. “Shit, good times. Nothing like watching your children fuck,” he replied.
Farron snorted. “We are pack members. Fucking in front of others is a natural occurrence,” he offered.
Logan nodded. “Then why are you so nervous?”
“I’m not!”
Logan snorted. “Yeah you are. Don’t lie to me. You’ll lose.”
Farron growled and crossed to the table and two chairs taking a seat. “Celeste is a beautiful woman. Her first time should not be like this,” he grumbled.
Logan smiled. He could sympathize with Farron. “Then don’t make it what it’s supposed to be. Make it what you want it to be.”
Farron
turned narrowed eyes on him. “What do you mean?”
“Well this is happening where?”
Farron rolled his eyes. “Near the fire pits.”
Logan wasn’t sure where that was but he was sure they could plan something. Farron was right. Celeste needed to be broken in gently. No need scaring the pretty one away. “Well let’s go plan it out, Farron. You will be Alpha. She is going to be our bitch. How we fuck is our business, not theirs, and if they want to watch”—he grinned—“they can watch, but it happens how we want.” He crossed to the door. “Let’s go get ready for our…” He furrowed his brow. “We call her bitch or wife?”
Farron smiled. “After tonight, both.”
Logan’s heart beamed. Why the hell did that fill him with pride? He was sure eventually his emotions would get back under control and he would have some sense of normality. He ignored the savage hunger gnawing at him. The current need to fuck Celeste overrode that other need by far. He just hoped that this new blood in him didn’t screw with his game too much.
* * * *
Celeste tried to calm her raging heart and steady her shaking hands. She made them into sweaty fists and inhaled a deep breath. She could hear the drums pounding, could hear the men howling at the upcoming claiming of a new bitch. A shiver tore through her at the twin howls that rent the cool night air. How they seemed to collide and tangle with the other. Farron and Logan. It had to be them. She shuddered and glanced to the stars. Fine clouds misted in front of the full moon. Stars, billons of them, sparkled.
