Protecting the Pack

by Tabitha Conall

  Oh, wow, did he love her. Trying to wear jeans over the injuries in his leg and back would have been painful at the least. He grabbed her wrist. “Thank you.”

  Alex smiled. “Let’s get these on you.”

  ***

  An hour later, Alex and Chris sat at a table square in the middle of the bar. Shortly after they’d arrived, they’d ordered thick burgers with all the fixin’s. Alex wanted to get as much meat into Chris as she could.

  A waitress had just cleared their plates. Mike had already agreed to let the wolves use the bar as their base of operations through the night, and was working on finding wait staff and a cook who could work a few extra hours.

  The door to the bar opened. Wolves had been stopping in every few minutes. But when she saw the woman and two men who stepped into the bar, Alex froze.

  “What is it?” Chris said. “Who are they?”

  Alex couldn’t say anything for a minute. Then the woman saw Alex and cried out, putting her hand to her mouth.

  “My parents,” Alex whispered.

  Chris put his hand on her back, pushing her up. “Go to them.”

  Alex stood, her legs wobbly. Her parents walked toward her slowly. Mom had tears in her eyes. Alex started in their direction.

  Why were they here? What did this mean? After all the rejection, she didn’t think she could stand going through it in person. Not again.

  A few feet away from them, she stopped. “Hi.”

  Mom had been shorter than Alex for quite a few years. She looked even smaller now, and older than Alex remembered. Mom reached out toward Alex’s face, then touched the side of Alex’s arm, finally grabbing her and pulling her into a hug.

  Like a dam had broken, both her dads wrapped their arms around her too.

  Alex realized she was crying. They still loved her.

  Dad pressed his lips to her temple. “We were so worried.”

  Mom pulled back enough to look up at her. “Why didn’t you call for so long?”

  Alex sniffled. “I was waiting for you to call me.”

  Mom smacked her shoulder. “How could we? You changed your phone number.”

  “But I left it on your machine. You had it. I figured you didn’t call because you were still mad.”

  Papa rubbed the back of Alex’s neck. “We weren’t mad for long, Lexxie. But then we couldn’t find you.”

  “There wasn’t any message on the machine,” Dad said.

  Mom took a deep breath. “The storm. There was that big storm, remember? We lost power. I thought there was a message on there when I got home that night but after the power came back on it was gone.”

  Oh, God. Had this all been because of a stupid power outage? That, and her pride. She could have called sooner, kept trying.

  “We hired a private detective but he couldn’t find you,” Papa said. “I’m so glad you called.” He kissed her forehead.

  “But that night when I called, you didn’t answer. I thought you were avoiding me.”

  Dad rubbed her shoulder. “We were away. Your sister Tara started college at Tulane and we had to drive her down there. Everyone went, and we stayed in a hotel that night on the way back. We got your message the next morning.”

  Yet another stupid misunderstanding. And she’d missed so much. “Tara got into Tulane?”

  “Yes. She’s thrilled,” Mom said. “But we can catch you up on that later. Is that one of your mates sitting over there?”

  Alex turned to see Chris watching them intently. “Yes.” She led them to the table. “This is Chris. Ben isn’t here right now.”

  Chris gripped her arm. “Help me stand.”

  “No. You’re too injured to stand,” Alex said. “He was just in a challenge. The third in a row. He won again, but he’s very…sore.” He’d hate it if she enumerated his injuries. Even to her parents.

  Chris tried to push to his feet.

  Dad stepped forward. “None of that. Just by looking at your face, we can see you probably shouldn’t even be sitting.”

  Wasn’t that the truth?

  Dad put out his hand and Chris reluctantly settled back into the chair before taking it. “We’re so glad to meet you,” Dad said.

  “Likewise. Alex means a lot to me,” Chris said. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe and happy, I promise.”

  Papa and Mom both shook hands with Chris as well, while Alex pulled up an extra chair so they could all sit.

  “Three challenges in a row?” Papa said.

  “It was Brett.” Might as well tell them all of it. “It was all a lie, from the beginning. He and this other guy wanted to take over the two packs here in Marysburg. They wanted a woman who was Chris’ type, who could distract him, so they chose me. That’s why Brett approached me.”

  Chris put his hand over hers. “Of course, they had no idea she was really my mate. They also underestimated her. As soon as she realized what they were doing, she did the right thing, told me everything. Without her, things could have gone very wrong.”

  He had to be kidding. “But they still challenged you. Nothing I did changed that.”

  “They were trying to erode my support in the pack. You stopped that cold.” Chris squeezed her hand. “Challenging me was their backup plan. Maybe they suspected it wouldn’t work.”

  She looked at his wonderful, beat-up face. “They underestimated you, too. I don’t believe for a second they could have convinced your pack to turn on you. They love you.” She loved him, too. But she didn’t want to tell him for the first time in front of her parents.

  The conversation moved on. Dad and Papa wanted details on everything that happened, all the way down to the fights and injuries—particularly Brett’s injuries. Then Alex told them Ben’s parents had passed away, mostly so they wouldn’t say the wrong thing when he was feeling so raw right now.

  When Mom found out Chris’ parents were on their way, she got very excited. “Your mother and I can plan the wedding,” she said.

  Chris’s eyes met hers and he smirked, probably remembering what she’d said about being happy to visit the justice of the peace. Looked like that wasn’t happening.

  All the while, wolves came in and out and called Chris constantly, updating him on the progress as one rogue after another was rounded up and driven out of town.

  Alex tried to convince her parents to get a hotel room somewhere and meet them again in the morning, but they wouldn’t leave her. Instead, they tipped the waitress extra to keep the coffee coming, and talked long into the night.

  ***

  When Ben entered the bar it was nearly eight o’clock in the morning. When he’d checked in a few hours ago, Chris had told him Alex’s parents had arrived, and Chris’ parents were due any minute.

  Ben was pretty sure he looked like he’d been up all night. He needed a shave, a shower, and a clean change of clothes. He wasn’t going to get any of those, so he’d have to make due. He shoved a breath mint in his mouth and straightened his shirt.

  Still, he paused by the door. A woman who looked like an older miniature version of Alex stood talking with a taller woman who looked remarkably like Chris. Clearly, Ben was the last to the party.

  All four of the fathers sat with Chris talking. Alex stood next to her mother, their arms around each other’s shoulders.

  It looked like a beautiful family scene. And it was missing something. What wouldn’t he give to have his parents here, too? Mom would have been so thrilled to meet Alex and Chris. Dad would have jumped in to help Chris, one pack Alpha to another. And Papa could have given Ben tips on being mated to the leader of the pack.

  Right at that moment, he felt their absence more acutely than he had for a long time. But he also knew it was all in the past. The challenge Dad had lost, Papa’s murder, Mom’s suicide. It was all in the past. And Chris, Alex and Ben didn’t have to repeat that past. Instead, they could make their own future.

  “Ben!” Chris called from across the room.

  As Ben walked t
oward his mates and their parents, he heard the women talking about a wedding. One of the dads pulled a chair over for him next to Chris.

  Ben didn’t know if he believed in life after death. But if he squinted, he could almost imagine his parents were right here.

  The conversation stopped as the fathers looked at him. Still standing, Ben extended his hand to the father in front of him. “I’m Ben.” After he’d been introduced to all of them, he sat down and slid his hand into Chris’. “All done.” Ben squeezed Chris’ hand.

  “The rogues, is that what you’re talking about?” one of Chris’ fathers said.

  “Yes, sir. We rounded them up and escorted them out of town. They’re all gone.” And they’d better stay gone, too. Ben and the others had made sure to get that message across.

  The other man laughed. “You don’t have to call me sir.”

  “Sorry. Force of habit. I was in the military for a lot of years.”

  “Alex told us your parents died,” said a man with black hair who looked a lot like Alex. “We’re so sorry to hear that.”

  “Thank you, sir.” When the man raised an eyebrow, Ben said, “That is, thank you. I know they’d have loved to have been here now.”

  Chris squeezed his hand.

  The black haired father nodded. “I wish I could have met them. I just want you to know, you can turn to us if you need anything.”

  The other three fathers started nodding.

  “Anything.”

  Ben’s eyes felt a little moist but he blinked it away. He’d gone from lost and alone to having not just mates but twice as many parents as before. He couldn’t ask for more.

  ***

  Later, much later, after they trundled the parents off to a hotel and caught a few hours of sleep, Alex woke sandwiched between her mates in Chris’ not-quite-big-enough bed. Chris had insisted they sleep together in spite of his injuries. He hadn’t said it, but she knew he wanted them close, wanted to feel their touch soothing him while he slept. So they’d snuggled together, did their best not to press on any of his wounds, and fallen asleep.

  Now she blinked at the ceiling. The late afternoon sun painted patterns on the walls. It took Alex a few minutes to remember why she was sleeping when it was light out. Then she felt Chris’ hand rubbing her thigh.

  “You’re supposed to be sleeping.” Her eyes met his.

  “Your sexiness woke me up.”

  She snorted.

  “Or it might be that I get horny after a fight.” On each stroke, his hand inched closer to the apex of her legs.

  “The fight was hours ago.”

  “Yes, and I’ve been horny ever since.”

  Alex gazed at him for a second. “Aren’t you supposed to go to the doctor if it lasts longer than four hours?”

  He grinned as he leaned in to kiss her. His fingers reached their goal, pushing aside her panties and grazing lightly over her folds.

  When they took a breath, Alex said, “Shouldn’t we wake Ben?”

  “I was thinking you could go down on him.”

  “After I wake him up?”

  “In order to wake him up. Believe me, it’s every guy’s dream to be woken up by a wet mouth around his cock.”

  She felt her cheeks turn pink at his words. Odd, that she could do things like let both her mates penetrate her at once, but a little dirty talk made her flustered.

  “I’ll help you turn over.” Chris’ fingers left her pussy wanting. He gripped her hips.

  He had said he’d ‘help’ her turn over, but instead he lifted her easily and flipped her onto her knees. Alex pulled the blanket down Ben’s body. He only had his boxers on, and they were loose enough that she could pull the elastic waistband down to reveal his cock. She didn’t remember ever seeing it lie flaccid like this, soft and curled up on itself.

  “Go ahead,” Chris said. “He’ll love it. I promise.”

  Alex gripped Ben’s cock around the base. It felt different and didn’t stand up the way she was used to. Instead, it flopped over the edge of her thumb. She took the head into her mouth and sucked lightly on it, amazed to feel his cock getting harder almost immediately.

  The harder he got, the easier it was to take more and more into her mouth until she was giving him a proper blow job.

  His legs moved and he groaned. Alex looked up just in time to see his sleepy eyes opening and settling on her.

  Ben grinned. “Good morning.”

  Chapter 21

  Alex continued to suck Ben, enjoying the look in his eyes.

  Chris rubbed Ben’s chest. “Afternoon. And we’re not done sleeping. Just having a little interlude.”

  His head falling back on a moan, Ben said, “I like interludes.”

  Alex continued to suck him while Chris eased closer to give Ben a wake-up kiss. Chris tweaked Ben’s nipples.

  “Want to try something new?” Chris said.

  Ben’s fingers tangled in Alex’s hair as he rested his hand on her head. “Like what?”

  “We could take things to the next level.” Chris’ hand slid down Ben’s body to rest on his groin. “You in Alex, and me in you.”

  Alex paused, watching her mates’ faces. This moment seemed inevitable. Male mates spent years having sex with each other. But this first time…was Ben ready?

  Ben rubbed Chris’ cheek. “You’ll be as careful as you were with Alex?”

  “Of course.”

  The side of Ben’s mouth quirked up. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

  Ben’s cock popped out of Alex’s mouth. “You’re injured. How are you going to do this without hurting yourself?”

  Chris’ hand gripped Ben’s cock, stroking it right under her chin. “Before I woke you up I took a painkiller.”

  “That’s not going to protect you from getting hurt worse.”

  Chris shrugged one shoulder. “Sex releases all these endorphins and things. They’ll help me heal better.”

  “Right,” Alex said. “That’s why doctors always say, ‘when you’re injured, go have sex.’”

  Ben rubbed her head. “He’ll be fine. We’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Now, come and lie down.”

  She sat up. “Why?”

  “Cause this time, honey, you’re on the bottom.” Ben grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down on top of him, trapping Chris’ hand between them.

  Chris and Ben both eased backward so Ben could roll her onto her back between them. While Chris pushed her tank top up above her breasts, Ben pulled her panties off and tossed them across the room. He pulled one of her legs over his and slid his fingers over her already slippery pussy.

  “You’re already wet. Did going down on me do that for you?” Ben said.

  “I fingered her before she woke you.” Chris rubbed one of her breasts and then the other.

  Ben half-sat up, pushing his body to the bottom of the bed. “That just means she’ll be even juicier when I eat her.”

  Alex felt her cheeks heat again. What was it with men and talking dirty? Especially when these two got together?

  But when Ben attached his magnificent mouth to her pussy, she forgot about being embarrassed. God, he knew exactly what to do to drive her wild. His tongue felt like it was everywhere at once, stroking and massaging and all nice and wet.

  Chris cupped her face and pulled her in for a kiss. When she closed her eyes she saw little shooting stars but wasn’t sure which of her mate’s mouths brought it on.

  Ben’s tongue kept licking her, his mouth sucking her, until she shuddered over into a crazy orgasm made even sharper when Chris bit her marks. Her body tensed then careened into an even stronger orgasm. The fingers holding so tight to the bed sheets sprouted claws that dug into the mattress.

  Finally her body fell back onto the bed, spent. “Amazing.”

  Ben loomed over her, leaning on his arms. “That’s just the beginning.” He kissed her quickly. His knees nudged her legs apart. “You sure you’re up for this?” he said to Chris.

  “
I’m sure.”

  His hand firmly on his cock, Ben positioned himself and slid into her. He went to his elbows over her and kissed her as he moved in and out.

  ***

  The bed moved and groaned as Chris reached to the bedside table for the lube and another pill. His back hurt worse than he let on, but he didn’t want to stop. He missed being close to his mates, touching them, making love to them. This whole thing with the rogues had screwed up what should have been an amazing honeymoon of discovery. It was time he got things back on track.

  He popped the pill and sipped a little water. Then he took the lube and crawled over to kneel behind Ben. Leaving the bottle lying on the bed, Chris kneaded Ben’s ass. It looked completely different from Alex’s but every bit as alluring.

  Just as they had with Alex, Chris applied lube and worked it into Ben’s puckered hole. Ben slowed his thrusts as Chris pushed the first finger inside. As Chris worked him, Ben stopped moving entirely.

  “How’s it feel?” Chris said.

  Ben was breathing a little heavy. “Surprisingly good. I mean, like—really good.”

  “Glad to hear it. I’d like this to be a regular thing.”

  Ben twisted his head around to look at him. “In both directions.”

  Chris’ stomach jumped a little at the thought of Ben sliding into him. This mate thing was frickin’ amazing.

  After working a second and then a third finger into Ben, Chris said, “I think we’re ready.” He lubed up his cock to be sure he’d be extra slippery then pushed slowly into Ben.

  Ben groaned.

  Chris froze. “Too much?”

  “Don’t stop.” Ben buried his face in Alex’s neck. “So good.”

  Chris pushed in a little further. It was so good. Tight and slippery and tight. Chris got far enough in that he was able to start thrusting, gently sliding in and out of his mate.

  As he did, Ben moved a little forward on each thrust, pushing into Alex and then pulling out again. Her hands came around Ben’s back to grip him tighter.

  “This is amazing,” Alex said.

  “Faster,” Ben said.

  “You sure you can take it?” Chris didn’t want to hurt Ben.