He said nothing as he carried them both down to bathe. The pool was blessedly empty, though when Sten lowered her into the hot water, it was almost more than her body could take.
Once she’d adjusted to the temperature, she finally allowed her hand to travel up to her neck. Her fingertips brushed across the twin puncture marks, resting in the same place where Zane had marked Ginnifer almost a year ago.
“I don’t normally do that.”
Sten was sitting on the edge of the pool, only his calves submerged in the water. He was staring at the mark with an expression that, were it on anyone else, she might have thought was embarrassment.
“You don’t normally bite?” she asked.
“I don’t normally lose control of it.”
“Of what?”
Sten pressed his lips together. “Never mind. It should heal in a couple of days.”
“I heal better with fresh meat and fresh air,” she told him, a smile creeping over her face.
“That doesn’t mean you can come with me. But I will bring you back fresh meat. You’re always welcome to share meals with me.”
“I’ll eat whatever my pack eats,” she said stubbornly.
Sten looked like he was going to say something, but whatever it was, he held his tongue.
He pushed off of the edge, dipping into the water to stand beside her. Reaching out for her neck, he brushed his thumb across the mark. Indigo shivered, feeling aroused all over again. He was still hard, and she rubbed her hips against him.
“We have to get back to the pups,” he said.
“They probably haven’t even noticed we’re gone.”
He smirked. “Anyone could walk in on us.”
She took him into her hand. “Tell me to stop, and I will.”
Chapter 22
“I can’t believe how obsessed you are with him.”
Indigo looked up from her empty plate to see Lake shaking her head woefully at Kya. The dark-skinned female was gazing across the main room, at where the betas were congregated. Usually the males and the females didn’t mingle with one another, but today Henna and Brynn were sitting with Sylvestre, Ciel, and three other large males Indigo knew only in passing. They were all conversing as they ate their meal of the day.
Their one meal of the day.
When Sten had told her that the Amarok wolves ate one meal each day, she’d assumed he’d failed to mention a light breakfast, a pre-bedtime meal, and snacks throughout the day. But that had not been the case. Somehow, they managed to maintain their giant bodies and absurd muscle mass with just a single meal, and really, only the betas ate what Indigo would consider a satisfying meal.
She had mentioned it to Sten that morning, after very reluctantly turning down his offer to bring her something from the food stores. Sten had told her that they managed to subside on one daily meal by remaining largely lethargic during the day. Only the scouts and hunters expended a good deal of energy, and they were permitted to forage while on their duties.
Since coming to Amarok, the Siluit wolves had adopted the Amarok mealtime, mostly out of necessity. They’d brought a limited amount of food, and they needed to make it last, so only pups got more than one meal per day. Indigo had been doing fine until this morning, when the fatigue had finally caught up to her. She felt run down, and her measly lunch of dried fish was an undigested lump in her stomach.
She wanted meat—real meat. The kind of stuff that Sylvestre and the betas were gorging on. Tomorrow, she would probably take Sten up on his offer to feed her, pack solidarity be damned.
I’ll probably be part of the Amarok pack in a few months.
What a scary thought. Her fingers surreptitiously glided over the mark on her neck, just barely concealed by the collar of her blouse. Whether she was his mate or not, Sten had marked her as his own. He hadn’t said anything else about the mark, neither last night nor this morning. Not that there had been much time though.
After another frenzied romp in the pool, they had hurried back to the room, which had been occupied by even more pups than before. When Indigo had gone up to check on Ginnifer and Luken, she had discovered that Tallow and Boaz had managed to ferret all of the pups out of their room for the night, and both of them were in remarkably good moods.
Indigo had stayed with Ginnifer far longer than she’d intended. Luken had woken her up every hour on the hour to nurse, and Ginnifer was exhausted to the point of tears. Zane was not much better, and they both agreed to let her hold Luken for a couple hours so they could nap. Her arms still felt all wrong without his weight in them.
“Seriously, what is it about him?” Lake asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You didn’t even pine over Zane this badly.”
“You liked Zane?”
It was the first thing Coral had said since Indigo had sat down. She sat only a few paces away from them, but with her chin on her knees and her eyes staring blankly at the floor, she might as well have been in another universe.
“Liked him?” Lake repeated. “Kya and Zane were lovers.”
That was a generous title. Kya and Zane had been juveniles when they’d slept together for a few weeks, and Indigo knew it was only because Zane had had a falling out with Tallow.
“Oh,” was all Coral said, before resuming staring at the floor.
Coral’s habit of disconnecting wasn’t a new thing. It hadn’t even begun when Zane had taken Ginnifer as his mate, though that had made it a thousand times worse. It seemed that when Coral wasn’t making some snide remark, or having one delivered to her, she was zoning out.
Lake was nudging Kya’s shoulder. “Come on. Was it really that good?”
Kya chewed her bottom lip. “It was…weird.”
“Okay, now you have to tell me.”
Even Indigo’s interest was piqued. For once, she had nothing better to do than hang out with the other females. After handing Luken back over to Ginnifer, she’d headed straight for Boaz and Tallow’s room, feeling the need to find Maia or Halley. The room was empty, and from another pack mate she’d found out that they’d taken the pups above ground to play while the sun was out. Hunger had brought her to the main room, where she’d stayed, hoping to catch Sten before he left for the hunt.
“Okay…” Kya sighed, rubbing her knees. “Before we, ya know, he gave me a speech.”
“The this-is-just-a-one-time-thing speech, or the you-aren’t-sleeping-here—”
Kya shook her head vigorously. “Neither of those. I know those speeches. I give them myself. This was…different.
“He told me that I wasn’t allowed to make him…” Kya paused, looking around to make sure no one else was listening. “I wasn’t allowed to make him come more than once. He said that when he finishes twice in one night, he’s too tired the next day and it affects his duties. He said I could sleep in his bed if I wanted, but if I tried rubbing up against him or mounting him, he’d kick me out and he wouldn’t invite me back into his bed again.”
Lake’s jaw appeared to have come off its hinges. “Oh my God!” She tried looking at Sylvestre, but Kya gave her face a light smack.
“Don’t! He’ll know we’re talking about him. Now do you want to hear the rest, or not?”
“Fine, fine,” Lake said, rubbing her chin. “What did you say?”
“I almost walked out,” Kya said. “You know I have a big appetite. I need a male that’s willing to go all night, but…there was something about the way he said it, I don’t know, I guess I was intrigued…”
“So what happened?” Indigo asked before she could catch herself.
She had always made it a point not to involve herself in Kya and Lake’s talks, which usually revolved around their bedroom activities. She wasn’t sure if they’d known she’d been a virgin, or if they’d just assumed she was prudish when it came to sex. Perhaps it had been a bit of both, but now that she was enlightened, she was curious to know what other couples did. She just hoped they didn’t ask her to share stories about Sten.
/> “It was…insane,” Kya said. “It would have been the best sex of my life if I didn’t spend half the time worrying that I was doing something wrong. It took him hours to come, and when he finally did, he put his hands around my throat and, I didn’t actually think he was going to strangle me, but when I came, it was…”
Indigo put a hand on Kya’s shoulder, shaking her from her recollection. “Well, you must have left quite an impression on him, because he’s headed this way.”
Kya and Lake’s heads jerked in Sylvestre’s direction. Indigo had noticed him casting glances their way for a while, and he’d finally gotten up while Kya had been speaking. She didn’t think he’d been able to hear them over the ambient hum of the main room, but she still scooted away from Kya and feigned interest in her empty plate.
Indigo didn’t look up until Sylvestre was almost in front of them. His long hair was loose today, rather than in its customary braid, and he wore an outfit made of longhaired grey fur. It was the first time Indigo had seen him wearing a stitch of clothing, as he usually walked around the den completely naked. She thought that it was a nice change of pace, and then thought that she was probably the only female in the den that found his nudity objectionable.
He acknowledged Kya with a slight nod, and then walked right past her. He walked past Indigo as well, and they all turned to see him crouch down in front of Coral. Startled from her stupor, Coral gaped up at him, her tan cheeks tinged with pink.
Indigo hadn’t noticed that Sylvestre was carrying a wrapped bundle until he dropped it into Coral’s lap.
“It’s meat,” he said. “From what I hunted yesterday.”
“It’s for me?” she asked, not quite having regained her composure.
“I just gave it to you, didn’t I?”
She looked down at her lap, and then quietly thanked him.
“Don’t read into it,” he said as he stood. “I’m giving it to you because you’re too thin. It’s annoying to look at you.”
Coral’s face hardened, but she clutched the meat close to her chest.
Sylvestre turned his attention to Indigo. “I heard you’re coming with us on the hunt.”
“I am?” she asked, confused.
“She is?” Kya and Lake asked in unison. Indigo had already told them she wasn’t going, and now they were both eyeing her suspiciously.
“Oh. Maybe it was suppose to be a surprise. You’ll act surprised when Sten tells you?”
“Yeah, sure,” Indigo said, still a little shocked. “When did Sten tell you?”
Sylvestre shrugged. “This morning.”
“At the meeting?”
“No, I think that’s happening right now.”
Indigo cocked her head. “Why aren’t you with them? I thought all of the betas were going.”
Indigo had also tried to worm her way into the meeting, more out of curiosity than to spend time with Sten, though that was an added bonus. Neither Zane nor Sten had budged. Unfortunately, being the sister of an alpha didn’t hold much sway, and she still wasn’t sure how much she could press Sten before she found the limits of his patience.
“When Erik says all of the betas, he means Sten and Sab—” Sylvestre stopped, his eyes going distant.
“Who?” Indigo prodded.
He turned abruptly, waving his hand vaguely in her direction. “I’ll see you aboveground.”
As soon as Sylvestre was halfway across the room, Kya and Lake collapsed on Indigo, pummeling her with questions. She almost missed Coral’s murmured response.
“Sabine was his sister. The one who died.”
“How do you know that?” Kya asked.
Coral gave a slight shrug. “I listen to things. You’d be surprised what you hear when no one pays attention to you.”
“God, she’s so depressing,” Lake said in a loud whisper.
Kya ignored her friend. “Why did he really give you that? Are the two of you… I won’t be mad. It’s not like I have any claim on him.”
Her lips twisted as she said the words.
“No,” Coral said. “I think it’s just like he said. I doubt he’s interested in me. He’s hardly said anything to me since I’ve gotten here, and it’s always rude like that.”
Kya pushed her hair to one side of her neck. “What kinds of things has he said to you?”
Suddenly, Coral’s eyes narrowed to slits. “If you want to know, why don’t you go ask him? And while you’re at it, ask him if he likes you or if you were just a warm place for him to stick it for the night, because I’m sick of listening to you talk about it.”
Indigo wasn’t sure why Kya and Lake looked so shocked. Coral took a lot of shit from them, from everyone really, but backed into a corner, she would always give worse than she got.
“Why the hell are you even hanging around us, Coral?” Lake asked, her high-pitched voice more nasally than usual. “None of the males are going to look twice at us with you here.”
“Then go,” Coral seethed. “I was here first. You’re the ones who sat down next to me. I wanted to be alone.”
Kya stood, bringing Lake up by the arm. “Come on, let’s leave her highness alone. You coming, Indigo?”
“I’m going to clean up and get ready to go,” Indigo said.
Both females gave her curt farewells before leaving. As soon as they were gone, Indigo snatched up their plates, pinching up the crumbs of dried meat that they’d left behind.
“Gross,” she muttered as she licked her fingers clean.
“Here.”
Indigo looked over her shoulder to see Coral holding out the bundle Sylvestre had brought her. She’d untied it, revealing at least a dozen chunks of raw meat. Coral plucked one into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
“Thanks,” Indigo said, not hesitating before grabbing one for herself. She groaned as the succulent meat melted in her mouth. Coral hadn’t drawn her hand back, so Indigo took another piece.
“Did Sten do that?”
Indigo’s hand went to her neck, but the collar was still in place.
“I noticed it earlier,” Coral said. “So was it him? Are you together?”
Indigo took a third piece of meat. “I think so. We haven’t really talked about what we are to one another, but I think he wants me to be a part of his life.”
Maybe it was just her thrill over eating fresh meat, but she felt good talking to Coral. Kya and Lake were absorbed in Sylvestre, and neither was interested in hearing about Sten unless Indigo was willing to share the details of her sex life.
“That’s good,” Coral said. “I like him. He’s a nice male.”
Indigo felt herself tense, but her desire to keep sharing the meal made her try harder to be pleasant.
“What about you?” Indigo asked. “Got your eyes on anyone?”
Coral gave a mirthless laugh. “What does it matter? I don’t get to decide. That’s just how things are for me.”
“That’s not true. You’re not bound to Zane anymore. You can be with whoever you want.”
“Your ignorance never ceases to amaze me. What do you think that meeting is about? They’re deciding right now who my mate will be, and I’m not even allowed in the room.”
* * *
Sten watched Erik cast a disdainful look in Zane’s direction. The two alphas had been getting along well the past couple of days, but with Astrid sitting between them, Erik couldn’t control his temper.
“You have a beautiful baby,” Astrid said, smiling as she patted Zane’s back. “Stay here and enjoy him. I’ll send some of our wolves to scout the eastern mountains.”
Erik bristled. “I wasn’t aware you commanded my wolves.”
Astrid ignored him.
“That would be great,” Zane said. “At least for this week. Even being away from the two of them right now is difficult.”
The four of them sat in what Erik called the discussion room, and what Sten and Sabine had once called the punishment room. In the past, the cold, empty cavern had been where Er
ik had brought them when he wanted to dispense orders and hold the betas accountable for any mistakes that had happened during the week. Aside from verbal lashings, most of the actual punishment was listening to Erik rant for hours on end while not being able to get a word in edgewise.
“I know, I want to be with them now, too,” Astrid sighed. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”
“If you’re finished,” Erik said through gritted teeth. “There are other things we need to discuss.”
Sensing his irritation, Astrid leaned into him. Erik put an arm around her, not so subtly pulling her away from the other alpha.
Looking between Sten and Zane, Erik said, “We need to get that little female back to her mother.”
“Coral?” Zane asked. “I’m not sending her back to Sedna. All her mother wants to do is use her.”
“And what else can we possibly do?” Erik asked. “She needs a mate.”
“You’re right about that,” Zane said. “But I was thinking more along the lines of finding someone within my pack. Only problem is that there aren’t any suitable candidates aside from Kuva, and she doesn’t like him. I guess there’s Roch, but he’s too immature. I can’t see him being able to handle the responsibility.”
“What about you?” Erik asked.
Astrid’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“It’s not unheard of for alphas to take more than one mate,” Erik said. “And it would solve all of his problems. He’d only need to have one pup with her, and he could use it to reforge his alliance with Sedna. Between our three packs, we could probably keep the Siluit territory from falling into the hands of the bear tribes.”
Astrid’s hands chopped the air in front of her. “He is not going to do that.” She turned her glare on Zane. “You’re not doing that.”
Zane gave her a tired smile. “I could never do that to Ginnifer, not even for the sake of the alliance.”
Erik huffed. “It is the best thing you could do for your mate. Even she should see the sense in it.”
Zane’s smile tightened. “Then why don’t you take her as your second mate?”
Chasing the Alpha: Shifters of Nunavut, Book #3 Page 19
