Motor City Wolf

by Cindy Spencer Pape

  He played with her curls, before delving deeper with his fingers, slipping into her cleft and spreading the wetness back and forth. Fee moaned and pushed into his hand. When he slipped his other arm beneath her, reaching around to fondle her breast, she squealed and arched her spine.

  “You like this, don’t you?” He nipped at his mark at the same time as he finally moved his fingers up to her swollen clit. “Admit it, princess, you like the way I make you feel.”

  “Of. Course.” She gasped for breath between the words.

  “Then come for me.” He strummed her clit and pinched down on her nipple.

  Her spasm shook the bed and a wash of moisture filled his hand. Before she finished, he coated his shaft with her cream and positioned the tip at her entrance. While she shuddered with aftershocks, he pressed inside.

  Her muscles rippled around him, gripping as he drove deep into her channel. Once he was seated, he held himself still, kissing her throat and ear, caressing her breast and belly with his hands while she rode out her orgasm.

  As soon as he felt her start to tighten again, he began to move. He kept it slow, making sure her arousal returned, working with hands, mouth and cock to bring her to another, higher peak. He’d always thought of himself as a considerate lover, but never before had his partner’s pleasure been so much more important than his own.

  Finally, Fee began to whimper and buck against him, straining toward another climax. Greg pumped into her and used his fingers on her clit, pressing hard against the tender nub.

  Fee exploded around him and Greg nearly lost consciousness from the power of the orgasm her pulsing muscles dragged out of him. He poured into her, burst after burst until he was sure there’d be nothing left of him but a husk. Nothing had ever felt so good.

  Afterward, they fell asleep again, still entwined, their bodies sheened with sweat. The last bit of energy Greg had was barely enough to pull the covers up before he fell back into the darkness.

  They missed breakfast. It was nearly noon by the time Fianna and Greg made it downstairs to find the dining room empty. The butler glowered down his nose as he informed them that lunch would be served in an hour. Fianna’s stomach rumbled in protest.

  Following the voices coming down the corridor, they found Lana and Katy in a big, sunny sitting room, playing a board game with three young children. The fourth slept on a blanket beside Katy, his little pink hands curled into fists.

  “Hey.” Katy smiled up at them. “Wondered when you two would show your faces.”

  “Grandfather’s looking for you, Greg. He made it clear this is a male-only war council.” Lana’s disgusted tone let Fianna know she wasn’t the only one annoyed. “Better get moving if you don’t want him to bite your tail off.”

  “You’ll be all right, won’t you?” Greg turned to Fianna, his expression soft as he toyed with a lock of her hair. “I’ll catch up with you at lunchtime.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She looked forward to spending some time with Katy and her children. “Go ahead.”

  With a kiss on the top of her head, he sauntered off down the hallway, leaving Fianna to make her way into the sitting room. Her stomach growled again as she stopped beside Lana.

  “Join us,” Katy said with a conspiratorial smile. “My mother’s keeping Greg’s grandmother busy and out of the way. Besides, we have cookies.”

  “And coffee,” Lana added. “Which you look like you could use.” She gestured to a table in the corner, where a tray held a coffee urn and a pitcher of juice, along with plates of cookies and muffins.

  The thought of coffee made her mouth water, but she settled for orange juice and a blueberry muffin, then took her goodies back to the group and settled down on the floor beside the coffee table holding the game. Lana eyed the juice suspiciously but said nothing.

  “You wanna play?” The middle child, four, according to Fianna’s memory, eyed her dubiously. The little girl had the same dark eyes as Greg, meaning she won Fee’s heart in an instant.

  “Thank you for asking. Why don’t I watch this time, so I can learn the rules? Then maybe I can play another time.” Fianna took a drink of her juice, amazed at how thirsty she was after this morning’s exercise.

  “Delaney, that was very nice,” her mother said with a smile. “Now say hello to your Aunt Fee. Fee, this is Delaney, Tessa and Kevin.” She pointed around the table, lastly to the toddler by her knee. “And Jack. Kids, this is the lady marrying Uncle Greg. Be nice to her.”

  “The pack is pretty interrelated, so everybody uses aunt and uncle for relatives even if they’re not technically accurate,” Lana explained.

  Fianna’s only experience with children was with Aidan’s four-year-old daughter. Since Dina was a powerful witch and very mature for her age, Fianna wasn’t sure how to speak to a group of varying aged werewolves. “It’s nice to meet you, Kevin, Tessa, Delaney. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “I can shift,” Kevin announced. “Wanna see?”

  “Kevin, what do you know about shifting?” his mother asked sternly.

  “Only in front of family,” he replied. “But you just said she’s our aunt.”

  “That’s true. But we’re still in mixed company, so it’s not polite.” Katy turned to Fianna and sighed. “Six is a little young to be shifting, but he’s a precocious one. Most cubs don’t pick up the ability until they’re seven or eight.”

  “That’s good to know.” Fianna had wondered about that, but hadn’t had the courage to ask Greg if their child would be born in human or wolf form.

  “Your hair is pretty.” Little Tessa pulled a finger out of her mouth and reached up to touch a strand of Fianna’s hair, which she’d left loose, held back from her face with a headband.

  A year ago, even six months ago, Fianna would have flinched and tugged her hair away from the damp fist that clutched it. Now she smiled. “I think yours is pretty, too. I always wanted curls.” The child’s glossy brown locks would probably look a lot like Lana’s when she was older.

  “Come on, Tess, it’s your turn.” Kevin’s patience with his younger sisters had run out. “Spin already.”

  Tessa reached for the spinner, but had to stand to do it. She stumbled, her hold on Fianna’s hair pulling her into Fianna’s lap. “You spin,” she said, refusing to let go. “I can’t reach.”

  Fianna settled the child on her lap and flicked the spinner with her finger, following Tessa’s instructions on how far to move her piece on the game board. The soft weight of the child and the sweet smell of her touched something deep in Fianna’s heart.

  If she married Greg, even if they didn’t have children of their own right away, all this family would be hers by association. They’d already been told to call her aunt. Clearly, Katy trusted Fianna around her babies, which both terrified and thrilled her. She broke off a piece of muffin and popped it in her mouth to hide the trembling of her lower lip.

  Once again, Lana cast a suspicious look at Fianna, but didn’t say a word. Instead, she took her turn and passed Kevin for the lead. “Beat that, pal.” She stuck out her tongue, making the children laugh, along with their mother.

  Greg found his grandfather in his den, surrounded by the other males of the pack, including George and Jase, who grinned at him when he walked in. Greg ignored them and made a beeline for the coffee urn. He perched on the arm of a sofa since there weren’t any chairs left vacant and raised his cup in salute at the old man. “So, what’d I miss?”

  His uncle Julian lifted one eyebrow. “Most of the morning.”

  “Sorry. It was kind of a long night.” He sipped the strong brew and sighed in appreciation. “Something you should all know. Both the firebug and the shooter were addicts. This is a new drug, one that seems to be targeted specifically at paranormals. According to the Wyndewin, there’s demon magic mixed in with the chemistry. I’ve got a small sample here, so you can all smell it, and Des Sutton has a bigger batch to be analyzed. Somehow, though, whatever is going on is mixed up with this
drug.” He took the small baggie out of his shirt pocket and passed it to Peter.

  “This is familiar,” Peter said, wrinkling his nose at the acrid odor. “But I can’t quite put my finger on it. The demonic magic overpowers everything else.”

  Greg nodded. “It also either masks an individual’s scent, or they have some similar chemical they use to do so. I could tell both the arsonist and sniper were lupines, but nothing more—not even male or female.”

  “Given the randomness of the arsons, I’m pulling all the packs into safe areas.” The look on Ivan’s face was as grave as Greg had ever seen it. “We’ll pack as many as we can into this compound and the other well-protected sites in Milford, St. Clair Shores and Belleville. Anyone who can get out of town will be encouraged to do so.”

  “You know, so far all the attacks have been either inside the city limits or damn close. There hasn’t been anything out in the suburbs.” Greg bit his lip. “Maybe the goal is to push all the wolves out of the city. We know demons are involved in the drug. This could be as simple as a turf war.”

  Peter nodded. “He’s right. There haven’t been any attacks more than a few miles out of the city. And we have had a higher than usual number of overdoses among lupines, which is unusual. It takes a hell of a lot of heroin or crack to kill a wolf.”

  “We also know someone calling himself Beowulf was working with elven rebels to destabilize the Seelie Court.” Greg drained his mug and set down the cup. “Along with a djinni, and who knows what other races, all reporting to someone called Nightshade. It could be that the demons simply want all the other paranormals the hell out of the city and are using whatever tools they can find to expedite that.”

  “The thing is there are at least a dozen different species of demon.” Peter’s lips set in a grim line. “This could be one or more working together, and we have almost no information on any of them.”

  Greg nodded. “The Wyndewin have been fighting demons for years now, so they have more intel than we do. With your permission, Prime, I’d like to ask Desmond Sutton to come speak with you. He may have insights that we can use.”

  “Granted.” The old man looked like he’d swallowed a lemon whole, but at least he’d agreed.

  The door to the den flung open, and Vince sauntered in, bleary-eyed but grinning. “Sorry I’ve been AWOL for a couple of days, but there were these twin sorority girls—ah, never mind. What’s up? I got orders to get over here ASAP.”

  Greg stifled a grin as his grandfather launched into a lecture. At least this took some of the heat off him for a while.

  “So how do you put up with having the males make all the decisions?” Fianna asked Katy and Lana after the game was completed. The children were crowded in front of the television watching an animated movie, so the three women relaxed across the room.

  “Poorly,” Lana replied. “That’s one reason I left with Greg and George. They aren’t nearly as bad as the older generation.”

  “I agree. My Derek knows better than to make important decisions without me. But when it comes to one of the Prime’s meetings, there’s not much even he can do. I’ll guarantee, though, that none of our males will agree to anything without subtly checking with us.”

  “Lunchtime, ladies.” Sofia Bartok lounged in the doorway with a bored expression on her face. “In honor of the unwashed hordes, it’s a buffet in the main dining room.” Before any of them could respond, she turned and stalked away.

  “I think we’re going to go hang with Olga in the kitchen,” Katy said, hoisting her youngest into her arms. “Aunt Marja gets grumpy about the kids running around the tables and putting sticky fingerprints on the drapes. Want to join us?”

  “Oh, yes,” Fianna sighed.

  “Sorry.” Lana shook her head. “You’re one of the guests of honor, Fee. Besides, no telling what kind of crap Sofia will spread around if you’re not there to defend yourself.”

  “Oh, bother!” The quote was from the cartoon teddy bear on the video and it felt most appropriate. She bid goodbye to the children and followed Lana into the formal dining room.

  Clearly, other pack members had begun to arrive. A few with small children were being shuttled off, probably to join Katy’s family in the kitchen. Others helped themselves to plates and mingled, but all had worried expressions. At first, Fianna didn’t spot Greg in the crowd, but she felt him the moment he followed his grandfather and uncle through the door at the far end of the large room. Not only did the tenor of the room change when the two most dominant males walked in, but some of the tension eased from her spine at the knowledge of Greg’s presence. When he made eye contact with her and smiled, another load of stress melted away.

  Moments later, he reached her side and greeted her with a chaste kiss on the forehead. With his arm possessively around her waist, he introduced her to more pack members than she could possibly keep track of. Her court skills served her well, though, as she shook hands and made small talk with each of the myriad strangers. A familiar face in the corner of the room caught her eye.

  “Vince, I’m so glad you’re all right.” She hurried over to hug Greg’s friend. “We were worried.”

  “No need. I was only having some fun.” Vince patted her back and stepped away quickly. “I hear I missed the big announcement, you two. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” Fianna smiled up at him, noting the lines by his eyes and the rumpled state of his clothing. Even she could smell that he needed a shower. “Are you staying here now, too?”

  “So the old man tells me,” he murmured. “I hear you and Greg are getting hitched. You sure that’s a good idea? You don’t really want to hang around wolves all the time do you?”

  Fianna shrugged. Something about Vince was off. He’d never been as friendly or accepting as the others, but she’d never thought he disliked her.

  “I thought you planned to go back to your own people someday.” The way he sneered the words made it into an insult. “Leave us short-lived lupines in the dust.”

  “Vincent.” Peter came up and slapped the younger werewolf on the shoulder. “You look beat. Why don’t you go up and get a shower and some sleep.”

  Vince looked like he was about to argue, then shook himself. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Without another word to Fianna, he wandered off.

  Peter turned on his heel and walked away from her, too.

  “Lovely. It’s as though I have the plague.”

  “Is something wrong, Fee?” Greg handed her a glass of sparkling water with a lemon slice.

  Fianna shook her head. “Something about Vince seems off.”

  Greg shrugged. He shook his head and smiled down at her. “It’s probably nothing. Too many girls, not enough sleep. Now let’s get some food before there’s nothing left.”

  Chapter Nine

  Des and Ric arrived during lunch, and once again, Greg found himself dragged off into his grandfather’s study, without Fee. This was a smaller group, with only the immediate family and Peter and Maurice present while Des brought everyone up to speed on his investigation.

  “Basically what we’ve learned is that this drug’s primary component is sodium chloride, common table salt.” Des leaned against the mantel as he spoke. “And the chemical traces in the salt indicate it’s totally unrefined, and not recently harvested sea salt. At a guess, someone is using the abandoned mines under the city as a source. There are also chemicals in it that are simply not found on this plane of existence. Along with the magical residue, this makes us certain it’s demonic—probably Gravaki demons, which are about the nastiest-assed kind there is.”

  Ouch. No wonder Des was willing to work with the lupines on this. He hated demons, especially Gravaki, even more than he disliked shifters. About five years earlier, one of the monsters had raped and nearly killed Des’s sister, Elise. Considering Des’s ability to carry a grudge, Greg was sort of surprised there were any Gravaki left alive in the city.

  Greg ran through his knowledge of demons.
Unlike some religious beliefs implied, demons had nothing to do with good, evil, heaven or hell. They were simply beings from other planes of existence. They came in all shapes and sizes, and Greg thought most of them avoided Earth as much as possible. Humans weren’t known for being friendly to other creatures. Still, sometimes the species that could pass as human did wind up living among them. Greg didn’t know much about any of the various types, but he did know that Gravaki was a plane full of aggressive, violent beings that didn’t have any problem with rape or murder. Anything to do with them was going to be trouble.

  “The problem with this particular drug is that it seems to be most addictive to Fae and witches,” Ric added. “Anyone with any trace of magic in their genetic makeup is particularly susceptible. We think there might be another version—one targeted at shifters.”

  “Which might either be an effort to get rid of other paranormal beings or just to get control over them.” Ivan nodded at the two guests. “Thank you for bringing us this information.”

  Maurice shook his head. “I can’t see that this is relevant to us at all. Frankly, I don’t see a pattern. There’s always been violence between the smaller packs. That doesn’t equate to some grand conspiracy.”

  “I agree.” Peter glared daggers at Greg. “The problem I see is lupines forgetting their place and their obligations.”

  Maurice smiled slowly. “Perhaps instead of chasing after petty criminals, we should be getting our own house in order.”

  What the fuck is this? Greg had never been more glad to see his grandfather than when Ivan walked over and took his arm.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to have a word with my grandson about his upcoming nuptials.”

  Greg breathed a sigh of relief and followed the old man into his private study.