by Ivy Asher
“Um, there is no chance in hell that I’m getting in that bed,” I tell him and try to tug my hand out of his grip.
“They get a new mattress and new sheets after every mated couple. They give the couple the mattress and sheets for their own use as a present.”
I furrow my brow in doubt at his statement.
“Everything smells clean,” he tells me, folding back the bedding and pulling me hesitantly into the sheets.
They’re cool and soft and smell like pine trees. Torrez’s warm body is inviting, and I press into him for warmth and a much needed distraction from lying in an unknown bed, in an unknown country, in an unknown pack’s territory. He nestles me under his arm, our naked chests pressed together, and plays with the ends of my long hair down my back as we settle in.
“So, Torrez—”
“Teo, call me Teo,” he interrupts.
“But I know you as Torrez.”
“Yeah, but that’s my last name, and we’re all mated for life and shit, so you should call me Teo.”
I’m quiet for a beat, mulling over how weird it would be not to think of him as just Torrez. “So, Wolf,” I say instead.
He laughs. “Fair enough,” he concedes. “Yes, Witch?”
I chuckle at the equally hideous pet name. “Like you said, we’re all mated and shit, so we should probably, you know, get to know each other?” My statement comes out more like a question, and he vibrates with laughter against my body.
“What, you’re telling me you want to know all about my childhood and every detail of my life until now? We might be here for a while,” he teases and then presses my body tighter against him. “Although I suppose there’s nothing wrong with being here for a while,” he admits, his voice lowering seductively.
I run my fingers through the short black hair on his chest and laugh. “No, nothing wrong with that at all,” I agree. “I don’t need every detail; I’m sure there’s a lot of time spent on the toilet that’s not pertinent to our future lives together, and in your case, a good chunk of time scratching yourself in wolf form. You can skip all of that,” I tell him.
He laughs even harder and slaps my ass. I squeak in surprise and clench my thighs together as the sting moves from my cheek to my clit. I can practically smell the arousal that suddenly perfumes the room, but Torrez doesn’t acknowledge it.
“You want details, but not too many.” He trails off for a second. “Let’s see… I’m originally from a pack in Canada, but most of that pack, including my parents and four brothers, were wiped out in a fight over land with another pack.”
I sit up to stare at Torrez’s face, but he’s not wearing any hurt or sadness. He’s just stating the loss of his family as fact, just a part of his story. I run my hand over his cheek, and he leans into it slightly and nuzzles my palm. I rest my head back down on his chest and wait for him to say more.
“I migrated south with other survivors of my pack and broke off on my own with a couple of other bachelors when we came of age. We traveled a lot and ended up in Maine somehow. One of our group met his mate in the Silas pack. I was tired of roaming, so I petitioned Silas to join, and I’ve been there for about forty years now.”
I choke on air and sit up to cough. “You what? How old are you?”
“I’ll be 109 in January.”
13
“Holy shit!” I exclaim and try and then fail to process that number.
“Shifters live about four times the lifespan of humans. We age at the same rate as most nons until we hit puberty, and then it slows down. Did you not know that?” he asks confused.
He sits up next to me and watches my face. “I did not know that. I mean, it is what it is, but what are you doing with a twenty-two-year-old? Don’t you want to be with someone who can talk about the good ol’ days of prohibition and the discovery of the Americas and shit?”
He narrows his eyes at me and then pounces. He presses me back against the bed, and I laugh hysterically. He starts to tickle me, and I squeal and writhe to get away from him.
“The discovery of the Americas, really?” he demands.
“It’s not my fault you’re old!” I shout at him and wiggle to get away from his hands.
“I’m not old; by shifters’ standards, I’m like twenty-eight.”
“Yeah, but by my standards, you’re ancient as fuck. Oh man, just wait until the others find out. I can hear the geriatric jokes now.”
“Ancient or not, I can still kick all of your asses, so bring it,” he challenges.
“Pshhhh, I seem to recall fucking with that undefeated record you were so proud of.”
“I demand a rematch. I was too busy checking you out to fight properly,” he defends.
“Oh please, don’t make me break your jaw again. I can think of way better things I’d rather do with your mouth.” My smile is salacious, and I wag my eyebrows at him.
Heat replaces the amusement in Torrez’s eyes, and he leans down. “Is that right, Witch?” he asks against my lips.
I flick the seam of his lips with my tongue and reach down and palm his hardening cock. “Mmmm, so many better uses for that mouth of yours,” I tell him, and then I flip him onto his back.
He growls in approval, and I waste no time in lining him up and dropping myself down his thick length at a maddeningly slow pace. I watch as Torrez’s eyes grow hooded, his gaze fixed on where I’m connecting us. He loses his patience with my teasing pace and lifts his hips off the bed, pushing deep inside of me. I moan his name and push him back down on the bed. I lean forward and bite at his earlobe.
“You got to be bossy last time. It’s my turn,” I whisper in his ear.
I roll my hips back until he slides almost all the way out of me and then curl them forward until I’m clenched around the base of him again. I skim my lips over his jaw and then bite his neck, leaving satisfying imprints of my teeth in his beautiful bronze skin. I push against his chest with my palms and sit up so I can lift my hips and drop them back down over and over again.
Our eyes are locked on each other, heated and intense, and I fucking love the worship and pleasure pouring out of his molten chocolate gaze. He calls out my name, and the sound of it on his lips spurs me on. I grab his hands where they’re gripping my waist and move his palms up to my breasts. I knead them over his hands until he starts touching me exactly the way I want him to, and I drop a hand down to play with my clit as I ride my Wolf with wild abandon.
I cry out as he pinches my nipples hard, and I rub my clit faster, causing the tingles in my limbs to move into my core ready and waiting to explode out again.
“Fuck, you feel good, Wolf,” I tell him, and with that, he thrusts up into me and practically howls out his release.
I grind down onto him, and just as I’m about to go over the edge, pain punches me right in the chest, and my lungs deflate from the force of it. I collapse on Torrez with a whimper, and I realize through the fog of searing, white hot burning, that every muscle in Torrez’s body is taught and strained and probably experiencing the same brutal hurt that I am right now. I can’t move, and if I don’t get air to inflate my lungs soon, I’m going to pass out. Torrez screams out, but it quickly turns into a snarl, and in the back of my mind, I wish I could comfort him, but I’m just as fucked right now as he is.
Between my strangled cries, I try to tell myself that this is good. I’m hurting because the bond with him is working, and his runes are searing themselves exactly where they always should have been. I didn’t fuck up the connection. I wish I could feel relief about that right now, but all I feel is pain, and it seems like it’s lasting way longer than it did when I got my first Chosen runes. I bite down on another wave of agony and taste blood in my mouth. I know I’m not going to die, but I know I’m reaching the threshold of what my body can take.
Arms wrap around me, and I scream, not able to hold it in anymore. I’m faintly aware of the fact that Torrez is still deep inside of me, and with that thought, I hear Torrez say something to
me, and then I feel his teeth sink into my arm. An orgasm shoots through me, battling the white hot pain in my body for my attention. It’s too much, the feel of so many conflicting sensations in one body, and I feel myself rapidly shutting down before everything blinks black.
I feel like I’m underwater. Everything sounds muffled and fuzzy. I can hear my heart beating steadily in my chest and feel an echo of pain that’s resonating in every inch of my body. I release a small moan that seemed to be trapped in my throat, and Torrez brushes damp hair out of my face and tenderly kisses my lips.
“Fuck, you scared me,” he tells me, and it’s almost as if I can taste his worry on the back of my tongue.
“That was the weirdest orgasm in the history of orgasms. Never do that again,” I croak, and Torrez laughs and helps me sit up in his lap.
The realization of what just happened flashes through me, and I look down at my shaky hands in panic. A new black rune sits on the knuckle of my ring finger, and it’s a perfect match to the rune that sits under the eight-pointed star on Torrez’s ring finger. I breathe out a sigh of relief and quickly go through the checklist to make sure everything is working as it should. I tap into Torrez’s rune in the line of runes on my head behind my ear.
“Can you hear me?” I ask, and his eyes go wide.
“Did we form a pack link?” he asks me in shock. “I didn’t know that could happen with mates that had different magic,” he confesses, and there’s a spark of excitement in his eyes.
“I’m not sure how a pack link works, but I can do this with my Chosen. The runes that are now behind your ear, this is what they do. We can talk individually, or you can call on all of them and we’ll all be linked and able to talk at the same time.”
I release the magic in the runes on my head and activate the runes on my chest. “Can you feel what I’m feeling?” I ask. I watch his face as it scrunches up in confusion and then surprise.
“You feel relieved and tired…” Torrez tilts his head to the side in thought, and the corner of his mouth lifts up in a wry smile. “How are you horny right now?”
I shut the runes on my chest down, slamming the door on the connection. Torrez laughs.
“Like you said, I’m greedy,” I announce defensively, and he laughs even harder. I shake my head at him and fight the smile that wants to take over my face. “Don’t be jealous of my super powers,” I tell him, and he completely loses it. Tears spill out of his eyes and down his cheeks, and he’s so fucking beautiful in this moment, I almost can’t take it.
“Seriously, give me a cape, and I’d be legit as fuck,” I tell him.
“Edna says no capes,” he deadpans, and it’s my turn to crack up.
“Fine,” I announce through my laughter, “give me some knee high boots and an armored bikini. I’m pretty sure that’s what most female superheroes are allowed to wear these days anyway.”
“And then what do we call you?” he asks, wiping tears from his cheeks.
I think about it for a minute and then lose myself in hysterical laughter. After a couple minutes, I get myself under control enough to say, “You can call me The Greedy Vagina.” I crack up again, laughing so hard my cheeks and stomach hurt. “Watch out, world, here comes The Greedy Vagina and The Geriatric Wolf.”
Torrez throws his head back and bellows out his laughter, and I join him, not able to help it. “Worst…fucking…superhero…names…ever!” he pants between chortles of laughter.
“I know,” I agree. “I should never…be allowed…to name anything…ever again!”
Realization hits me, and I slap a hand to my forehead. “I am the worst mate ever!” I call on the runes for all of my Chosen behind my ear.
“Are you guys okay?”
“You’re a little late, Squeaks; we’ve all been recovering for a good forty minutes,” Ryker announces, and I instantly feel like shit.
“I’m so fucking sorry, you guys! I sort of passed out and woke up a little loopy,” I admit.
“It’s all good, Killer. It freaked the fuck out of Enoch, Kallan, and Nash, so totally worth it.” I laugh at the glee in Knox’s tone, but I feel bad for Kallan and the others. Watching all of my guys drop in pain for no reason would be scary as hell.
“So I take it the transference went okay with Torrez?” Bastien asks, and before I can answer that it did, Torrez speaks up.
“Yup, I’m officially part of the crew,” he announces, and my mind fills up with “welcomes” and “congratulations.” My soul feels like it’s practically glowing with the exchange, and I realize that even though I’ve been terrified to label the things that I’m feeling, it doesn’t change the fact that those feelings have taken root and are blooming on their own. This little flower doesn’t give a fuck if I want to look at it or not; it’s growing, regardless of my desire to acknowledge its existence.
“Everyone have new runes?” I double-check, needing to make sure that nothing is missing.
“We sure do. Everyone is connected to Torrez now, and what’s even better is that Enoch and his boys are still rocking the runes they had before, which further confirms that they’re not Chosen.” I can hear the relief and happiness in Valen’s voice, and I hope that this realization helps all of them get their heads in the game and has them spending less time worrying about shit that’s out of our control.
“Well, we’re going to, um…get dressed, and then we’ll head your way,” I tell them awkwardly. I know they don’t seem to care about which one of them I’m fucking, but it still feels weird to be so casual about it.
“You’re evil, Vinna, making all of us think about you naked right now,” Sabin mock-scolds.
I laugh. “Sorry, not sorry,” I tease and then instantly regret it as I’m flooded with images from each of them of exactly what they’d like to do to me in my current state.
“You sneaky fuckers!” I shout out as I tear away from the connection and have to immediately start talking my libido down.
Torrez cracks up when I shoot out of his lap and speed walk to the bathroom. “You have some very creative mates,” he calls after me. “I’m just bursting with all kinds of new ideas and plans now.”
I slam the bathroom door behind me and lean against it, breathing heavily. I swipe at my face with my hands and chuckle at just how unhinged I am from their delectably dirty minds. I flip on the light and turn to the sink to splash water on my heated face. It doesn’t help. Fuck, maybe I need to take a freezing cold shower in order to deal with the hormones that are currently surging inside of me. I look up at my reflection and immediately my eyes land on the new runes I have on my left shoulder.
“What the hell?” I ask absently, as I lean forward to get a better look at the new symbols that are now marked in my skin. There are eight of them, and they form a sort of half-moon shape. I realize quickly that it’s not actually a half-moon that they’re forming, more like there’s a rune in each place where every tooth pierced my skin when Torrez bit me. I turn around and find eight more runes on the back of my shoulder, too. I open the door and poke my head out.
“Just out of curiosity, how does it work when you mark me?” I ask, going for nonchalant, but coming across squeaky.
“Um, it’s kind of complicated, but the simple version is that shifters sort of partially shift, or at least our mouths do, and we bite our mates. Why?”
“Um, because this happened,” I tell him, stepping out and pointing to the new runes on my shoulder.
“Yeah, those showed up a couple minutes after you passed out. Do you know what they do?” he asks, and I do what I always do when I have no fucking clue about anything, I shrug. I look down and run the pad of my index finger over one of the new runes, tracing the symbol as I contemplate.
“I guess we’ll find out, but I don’t know that this place is the best environment to do that,” I tell him as I motion to the cabin we’re currently holed up in.
“Do you think you might be able to shift?” Torrez asks, and I don’t miss the eager glint in his
eyes.
“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine at this point,” I admit and then rub at my temples. I look around the room, and as much as I want to crawl back into the bed and have a little nakey-nap, the others are waiting for us, and we’ve gotta go. “Any chance you have my jeans and sweater?”
“Oh, you mean the ones you stripped out of before the challenge?” he asks, his tone clearly stating his disapproval.
“I wouldn’t have been able to move like I needed to,” I defend. “You could be in here right now with Brun, so you just think about that before you go trying to get all territorial on me,” I scold, and he laughs.
Torrez walks over to a chair in the corner and picks up my neatly folded clothes, handing them to me. I’m not sure what time it is, but I’m hoping it’s late enough that the pack is asleep, and we can just sneak off without having to do a walk of shame. I snag Torrez’s jeans off the ground and reach inside to steal his underwear. I pull out a pair of black boxer-briefs and shake them at him.
“If I have to go commando, so do you,” I declare, and annoyingly, Torrez seems more amused by this than he is upset. He smiles at me the whole time we’re both getting dressed. I pick up my shredded under clothes and stuff them in Torrez’s pockets. He breathes me in deeply as I manhandle him and pulls me in for a soft kiss before I can step away. I almost give a contented sigh against his lips, and then I remember that I’m irritated that I have no comfy and supportive undergarments on. I narrow my eyes at Torrez, and he laughs. It’s clear he knows the effect he has on me, and he’s playing dirty.
“Careful, Wolf,” I warn, my tone seductive as I trail a finger down my chest. “Two can play that game.” He pulls me closer, and I lean in toward his mouth, loving the heat in his eyes. At the last minute, I veer to the side, denying him a kiss, and whisper in his ear, “Let’s be super quiet as we sneak out of here; maybe they won’t notice that we’ve left.” I don’t wait for him to answer before I’m reaching for the door and pulling it open. He growls irritably and reaches for me, and I laugh quietly and make a run for it.
