by T. S. Ryder
The Wolf howled, dropping Elena, as both Alphas sank their teeth into him. Will jolted with shock at the pure iciness of the flesh he bit into. He growled and shook his head, trying to tear a chunk free, but the Geisterwolf seemed to melt out of his mouth like butter.
Another howl rang through the air. The Geisterwolf turned, snapping at Lukas. The smaller male was just able to dodge its jaws. Will bowled into the Geisterwolf's side, snapping and biting at its neck. The great white Wolf snarled, slapping at him with a paw. He lunged forward again, but as abruptly as it came, it disappeared. Will was left panting and shivering, staring into nothing. Had it all been a dream?
The smell of blood told him it wasn't.
He turned. Elena lay on the ground, one arm cradled against her chest, her face twisted with pain. Lukas was already kneeling beside her, urging her to her feet. She whimpered, clinging to the other Alpha.
Will did not transform as they made their way to Lukas' ramshackle house. He walked behind the other two, his ears rotating as he searched for any sound that might indicate the Geisterwolf might come back. But there was no more sign of it, and when Lukas and Elena disappeared into the house, he transformed and followed.
"What in the name of all that's holy was that?" Elena demanded as Lukas guided her to a couch that looked like it was from the sixties.
"The Geisterwolf," Lukas replied grimly.
"The what?"
"I don't know everything," the Cedar Grove Alpha said. "I'll grab the first aid kit and tell you about it."
Elena nodded, still shivering. Lukas disappeared into another room, and Will sat beside her, wanting to offer a little comfort. His mind churned as he considered what had happened–and what had almost happened. Out of all the Alphas in the world, and all their mates, the Geisterwolf had chosen Elena. Why? And why had it looked so much like his father?
"You could cover up you know," Elena muttered.
He jerked out of his revere and glanced at her. "What?"
"You're naked."
"So?"
Elena shifted uncomfortably. "Just cover up, will you?"
Will shrugged and pulled a pillow into his lap. Given what had happened, he didn't think now was the time for jokes or bragging. Humans weren't as comfortable with nudity as Shifters.
"So what was that thing?"
Lukas returned with a first aid kit and set about cleaning and binding Elena's wound. Will noticed that she didn't tell him to cover up. He would have mentioned it, too, but Lukas began talking first.
"The Geisterwolf. I was doubtful that it was real. Certainly didn't think that it would come after you."
"Back up." Elena winced and held up her uninjured hand. "First things first. What is the Guy String Wolf thing?"
"It's a Germanic word. I'm not sure if humans have similar stories, but the story that I was told was that he was an Alpha long, long ago. He fell in love with a woman and took her as his mate, but she was in love with someone else. Because she couldn't be with the one she loved, she took her own life. They say this Alpha was driven mad by the loss. And ever since then, when Venus, Earth and Mars align, he comes back and chooses an Alpha's mate to attempt to bring back his own lost mate."
Elena closed her eyes. Her hands trembled, and she shook her head rapidly. "I'm not your mate. I don't want to be your mate. I'm only here because if I didn't, my father would lose the land he's mortgaged, and then he'd lose his business and be destitute."
Lukas flinched back from her, blood draining from his face.
"This is crazy. An ancient dead ghost comes back because of a planetary alignment and suddenly I'm going to be sacrificed to bring back a woman who didn't want to be with him in the first place." Elena sucked in a deep breath. "Not happening. How do we stop it?"
"I don't know off hand," Lukas said. "I'll phone Xavier to see what he says. You shouldn’t have left that meeting when you did." He shot a glare at Will. "If you hadn't, I wouldn't have had to leave so soon and I could have found out how to protect my mate."
Will growled, but Elena shook her head. "I'm not your mate."
"Maybe that's why the Geisterwolf chose you," Lukas said. His voice was heavily loaded with bitterness. "Because you were made to be my mate against your will. Just like his mate all those years ago."
Elena bit her lip at she looked at him, but didn't say anything. Lukas stared at her a moment, then stood and left the room, pulling his phone from his pocket. It left Elena and Will alone again, but he didn't know what to say. Not considering everything that had happened.
Lukas returned soon enough. He sat down beside Elena again. "The alignment will only last for about a month. The Geisterwolf can only attack at night, it will keep growing stronger every night. In order to drive it off for good, so it never comes back in the future, we have to wait for thirty-three days, and then perform a ceremony on the night when the Geisterwolf is at its strongest. We'll have to pledge our devotion to one another and share blood, and then I have to fight it off."
"You're supposed to fight it off?" Will grunted and shook his head. "How are you supposed to fight off something like that? You couldn't fight against a chicken. Everybody knows you are weak."
"What did you just say?" Lukas jumped to his feet. "I'm weak? I'll fight you right now!"
Elena pushed her way between them. "Save the testosterone. Am I the only one that is completely freaked out? It's nighttime. That giant wolf thing already attacked once. What's to stop it from attacking again? And this place is hardly Fort Knox. If I have my tools I could do a few things to make it more secure, but I am not sleeping tonight."
Lukas nodded, tearing his eyes away from Will. "I'll get your tools. I think it would be safer for you to stay inside."
"And I'll stay with her in case the Geisterwolf comes back," Will said, glaring at Lukas as he left. He fumbled in his pockets. He needed something to calm his nerves. A smoke was just the thing for it. But as soon as he pulled out a cigarette, Elena snatched it from him.
"Hey, I'm breathing here," she said.
"So?" Will reached for his cigarette back. "Give that back."
"Not around me. I don't want cancer from second-hand smoke, thank you very much. My mother died from lung cancer. You want to smoke, you can take it outside."
Will opened his mouth to remind her that a little second-hand smoke was nothing to worry about compared to the Geisterwolf coming after her, but stopped. So what if she wasn't his mate yet and Lukas was going to perform his little ceremony with her. It would be beneficial to the packs to combine River Basin and Cedar Grove, and she would be his mate. He didn't want to start off their relationship fighting.
And he'd enjoy putting a baby inside their shared mate before Lukas did. But for that, he had to be smoother. Yes, this had thrown him for a loop, but that didn't mean he should give up on what he wanted. He put his pack of cigarettes back in his pocket.
"Sorry. It's just nerves. I know it's a nasty habit, but Wolves don't suffer the ill effects. Guess I'm not used to having to worry about it."
Elena's expression softened. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so snappy. But it's a terrifying situation for me. And you heard Lukas. He doesn't want me for a mate any more than I want him. Will he really fight for me?"
He could have told her that yes, of course Lukas would fight for her. He could have told her that even if Lukas didn't have any strong feelings for her, he was an Alpha, and Alphas always put their mates first. But he didn't. He squeezed her hand. "I'll fight for you."
She smiled hesitantly, and he smiled back. Yes, this was what was for the best. But thank God he'd already called off things with Harriet and Catherine.
Chapter Five – Elena
The wall was perfectly even. Elena shifted her level to the next stud, nodding in satisfaction. She and Lukas had both moved into Will's house for the duration of this whole Geisterwolf Month, as she had taken to calling it, and the construction in the house was driving her crazy. It wasn't that it was badly built, just fair
ly old and in need of a few updates. Which was odd, considering Will was so rich. But apparently that was fairly recent, so maybe he just hadn't taken the time to get a new place yet.
Elena stepped back and admired her work. She was glad that Will had authorized her to do whatever she wanted with the house during the nights that he and Lukas were fighting off the Geisterwolf. Otherwise, she thought she might just go insane.
Drywalling and plastering was done. She wasn't sure what color Will had ultimately decided to paint it, but in the meantime, she could move to the next room.
A howl from outside the house had her running to the window. All around the house were dozens of Wolves, both from Will's and Lukas' packs. The Geisterwolf always followed the same routine every night. First, as soon as the sun set, it would appear just outside the house and go after Elena. Lukas and Will, together with a few Alphas from other packs, would drive it off. Sometimes it shook them of its trail and returned to the house, in which case the patrol would hold it off until morning.
As soon as the sun rose, the Geisterwolf disappeared. But in just a week that they had been following this routine for, Elena could see that it was a powerful creature. It took all the Wolves to protect her.
Every night when Lukas and Will disappeared into the darkness, chasing the glowing white specter, her heart nearly stopped. She told them she couldn't sleep because of the threat of the Geisterwolf, but the truth was that if she didn't keep herself busy, she would go mad with worry for them.
There was no sign of either the Ghost Wolf or her two Alphas–the, she reminded herself. Neither she nor Lukas had much of a choice in the matter (something that caused Elena's heart to twinge with a feeling that wasn't quite a pain and not quite despair, although it was close), but whether they could actually be 'real' mates was to be seen. It wasn't like he wasn't attractive, but she didn't want to be with somebody who didn't want to be with her.
And then there was Will.
Elena turned at the sound of footsteps and scowled when she saw the two Wolves who entered, both carrying a tray of food. One was blonde, the other a redhead. Will's old girlfriends.
"We thought you might want something to eat," the redhead said.
When Elena first found out about Catherine and Harriet, she'd nearly flipped her lid. In her rage, she told Will in no uncertain times that she wasn't going to be his mate, regardless of the politics or his insane amount of wealth, if he was going to have girlfriends on the side. He apparently broke up with them before that on account of her… But how long was that going to last?
"Thank you." Elena took the tray from Catherine. "Have you heard anything?"
Harriet was silent, the way she always was around Elena, but Catherine shook her head. "Not yet. But they'll be back soon. It's almost morning."
Elena sighed. She really didn't want to like either of these two, but Catherine was so shy and sweet that she couldn’t help herself. Harriet on the other hand… Well, she didn't say what she thought, but Elena knew the blonde didn't like her. Although there was something very satisfying about seeing that both of them had the curvy, maybe a little too curvy, figure that she herself had. Will's professed attraction to her wasn't a farce.
Although why they had to stay with her at night, she didn't know.
"Elena, I just wanted you to know that I don't bear any ill-will towards you," Catherine said. "About Will, I mean. I'm glad he found a mate. I always knew he would never choose me."
Elena flinched. She opened her mouth to remind the Wolf that she wasn't Will's mate, but Harriet beat her to it.
"She hasn't accepted him as her mate yet, Catherine. Who knows, she could be using him like he was using us."
For some reason, that rankled Elena. Not the accusation that she was using Will, but that he was using the two females. She set the tray aside. "As if you weren't using him. You look at him like a piece of steak. You don't love him. I don't think you even like him. You just wanted him for his position."
"That's not true," Catherine protested.
"Not you, maybe, but definitely Harriet."
Catherine shook her head.
Harriet's eyes narrowed. "I served the Alpha as was my duty. If I thought that perhaps I might one day be Alpha Female—"
"I bet you were just waiting for the other Alphas to start really bringing the pressure down on him to mate before you threatened to leave him if he didn't. How long was it going to be before you forced Catherine out?"
"She would never do that!" Catherine cried. "You don't know us. I'm willing to overlook this because from what I've heard your father is horrid, but you have to right to talk to Harriet like this."
Elena opened her mouth to snap at the redhead, but at that moment the door downstairs banged open and Will's voice came up the stairs. Elena's heart jumped to her throat and she raced from the room. She had to resist the urge to jump over the banister when she ran down the stairs.
Both Will and Lukas were in the sitting room. Will was laying on the couch, Lukas sprawled on the floor. Vivid black bruises were raising on various parts of their bodies. A third Alpha was with them, slumped in a chair. Xavier Knight, his dark skin gleaming with sweat. All three parties were stark naked, but Elena didn't care. Nudity seemed part of the parcel when dealing with Shifters and she was getting used to it.
"You're back," she said, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Do you need water? Something to eat? I can throw something together quickly."
"Water," Lukas rasped. "Room temperature, please."
"Same," Will grunted.
Elena glanced at Xavier. "And you?"
"Please."
She hurried to get them all water, although by that time Catherine had joined her. Harriet was gone, presumably off to pout, but the redhead helped Elena carry the water back to the three Alphas. She took her glass of water to Xavier–showing Elena she wasn't stepping on her toes. Elena was grateful to that. All three had covered themselves by this time as well.
"How did it go?" Elena sat beside Will and he swung up to drink his water.
The tattooed Alpha grunted. "Could you head back upstairs? I really need a smoke… Ah, hell. Maybe I ought to give that up."
"You really are a miracle worker," Catherine said to Elena. "I always tried to get him to stop, but he never would."
"Thank you," Will gave her an annoyed glance. "You can go now, Catherine."
She nodded and skirted out of the room. Xavier stood. "I should be going as well. Amelia and Timothy are waiting for me. Apparently, the baby cried all night, asking for me. But as for you two, you have to remember that the Geisterwolf will only get stronger the closer we get to the time for the ceremony, and I won't be able to help you during the actual ceremony."
"Yep," Lukas said. "Thanks."
Xavier looked a little troubled, but nodded and took his departure. Now that they were alone, Elena started to feel a little shy about the Alpha's nudity. It wasn't that she didn't like to see what they had to offer–the problem was she liked it a little too much. And yeah, she was a virgin but that didn't mean she wasn't a sexual person. Whenever she started thinking of them and her, whether one at a time or both at once, a deep, aching heat began to build in her lady parts.
Kind of like it was doing right now.
But it wasn't right to act on it, not when the question of whether they were mates or not was still up in the air. Lukas didn't have a choice, but that didn't mean they couldn't find a way around it. And Will… well, it was hard to read him.
"Did either of you get hurt?" she asked.
"Just bruised. But they'll heal up in half an hour." Will set down his glass and gave her a cocky grin. "So now that we've returned victorious, is our lady fairy going to reward us for a job well done?"
"Reward—" Elena's jaw dropped. "You can't possibly have fought all night and still want to… you know."
"Claim you?" Will seized her around her waist and pulled her into his very naked lap. She gasped. "What do you think?"
&n
bsp; It was obvious that he wanted it. His mouth caught hers hungrily, hands roaming her body. The spark that was already there flared, and she leaned into his touch, moaning with desire.
Chapter Six – Lukas
If the sight of Will embracing Elena felt Lukas shaking with anger, the sounds of her moans lit something else entirely inside of him. She held nothing back from the other Alpha, wrapping her arms around his head, bringing her body as close to his as possible. The dust on her pink coveralls smeared onto Will's chest, but neither seemed to notice.
Lukas' grip on his glass of water tightened. He didn't have the same experience with women that Will did. He'd never strung along girls like the other Alpha; he'd been completely faithful to the mate he never met. But now watching the two of them, he couldn't help but wonder–could a virgin like him really please her?
He'd been ecstatic when she accidently revealed she was a virgin as well because he thought it put them on the same footing. Now, however, he couldn’t help but wonder if she wanted somebody with more experience for her first time.
Elena's head fell back, her eyes sliding half-shut with ecstasy. Will unbuttoned the first few buttons on her coveralls, kissing the delicate skin that was revealed. Lukas jumped to his feet. Enough was enough! He marched over to them and easily pulled Elena away from Will. He didn't bother with buttons, merely grabbing either side of her coveralls and tearing them apart.
"Whoa," Elena gasped, but when he buried his face in her cleavage, pushing her lacy bra out of the way, she moaned again and wrapped her arms around him.
"Let me have some," Will growled.
Elena's body was pushed against Lukas', letting him know that Will was pressing on her from behind. His hands got in Lukas' way and the Alpha glared up at him. He tried to pull Elena away, but Will wouldn't let him.
"You get to give her her first baby," Lukas growled. "It's only fair that I should get her virginity."
Elena stiffened. She shoved at his chest. "What did you just say?"
