Mating Games

by Nikki Jefford

  Jay watched Jordan with an approving smile. “Jordan appreciates your cooking, Sissy.”

  The woman started humming louder as though to tune her brother out.

  Jay put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Isn’t that right, Jordan?”

  Jordan lifted her lips in a silent snarl. “I’m hungry.”

  “Too bad you couldn’t help me hunt.”

  “I’d love to,” Jordan said, sweet as steel. “Mankind is my favorite type of game.”

  The woman stopped humming.

  Jay merely nodded. “Your pups will learn obedience. They will help their mother.” He glanced at his sister.

  This time, Jordan’s snarl wasn’t silent. Jay was out of his chair in a flash, yanking Jordan out of hers by the back of her dress.

  “Every time you behave like an animal, you go back into the kennel.”

  She didn’t struggle. She didn’t want to tempt Jay to hurt her in a way that would hinder their escape. She didn’t want him to do anything that would permanently damage her, such as chopping off a paw. She thought of Kallie limping around on her bad foot.

  The evening meal churned inside Jordan’s gut.

  Jay opened the door of the kennel and pushed her forward. Jordan had no choice but to go in face-first, turning her back to the door and her enemy. The space inside was cramped, with no room to turn around, sit up, or lie down.

  The lock clicked into place.

  Heavy footsteps moved away from her then stopped. Jay began to whistle a tune. At least he didn’t talk to her.

  Kirk joined Jay later, and they let her out to relieve herself beneath a tree then brought the kennel inside for her to spend the night on the kitchen floor.

  “It will be more comfortable if you shift before getting in. Sissy, wait outside.”

  The woman left the cabin wordlessly while Jay and Kirk backed up, leaving David beside Jordan.

  She hated that they were right. It would be more comfortable for her to be locked inside in wolf form. More importantly, she might be able to chew her way out of the plastic walls. But that meant undressing in front of these human scumbags. David must have seen her naked at some point. They were always dressing and undressing in the open. Jordan rarely paid much attention unless casting an admiring glance at one of the muscular males. She’d never stolen a peek at David, but he might have at her.

  He flushed and turned his back to her.

  “How are you going to shut the cage door if your back is turned?” Jay barked.

  David flipped around and looked at the ceiling rather than Jordan. He had told the humans he would hump her, but it was one thing to say something under threat and another to actually violate her. Jordan wanted to believe that, in the end, David would not go through with it if given the chance.

  As soon as her dress hit the ground, she joined the articles on the floor and began the shift. Once in fur, her wolf snarled at the humans by the door. Jordan had to call her back from deep within her subconscious.

  The men aimed their guns at her.

  “Into the kennel, wolf,” Jay said. “One wrong move, and you’ll leave us no option.”

  Jordan bared her fangs and snarled as she backed slowly into the kennel. With a shaky hand, David closed and latched the door.

  “Try to get some sleep, Jordan,” he said softly.

  The plastic felt all wrong against her belly as she placed her head on her front paws and listened to the movements within the cabin. Wilma came back inside. Wood creaked as she and her husband ascended to the loft. Jay dragged blankets over to the kennel and tossed them on the floor beside it. He gave a grunt as he lowered his body over the bedding, causing the fur to rise on Jordan’s back. So much for chewing through the plastic. Jay would probably wake up if he heard her—if the man even slept. Jordan wouldn’t put it past him to lie awake all night making sure she remained captive.

  “David, guard the door.”

  Jordan lifted her head, watching David as he moved to the door and undressed. He was of average height and skinny. His young body had yet to fill out. After he shifted, a stump appeared where his left front paw used to be. He sat on his haunches, scooting around awkwardly to face the front door. A whine seeped past Jordan’s teeth. David’s ears twitched, but he didn’t turn around. He spent the night staring at the front door.

  Jordan didn’t sleep. Anytime she made the slightest movement, Jay cleared his throat. Finally, she lay down, setting her head on her front paws, alternating between closing her eyes and staring with forlorn eyes at David.

  chapter twenty

  Daylight wasn’t too far off when Jay rose to his feet. Jordan suspected he’d lain awake all night. She’d never heard a snore or the sound of deep breathing.

  “Time to get up,” Jay announced.

  The floorboards creaked, and the ceiling rumbled above their heads. Jay crouched in front of the kennel.

  “Time to shift, wolf.” He stood and rapped his knuckles twice on top of the kennel.

  In front of the door, David shifted and dressed while seated on the floor, putting on his shirt and pulling up his pant legs before getting to his feet to secure the zipper and button one-handed.

  Jordan’s muscles tensed for the shift. Once she was in human form, Jay picked up his rifle and unlocked the kennel door. Jordan crawled out and snatched up the blue dress.

  Kirk and his wife descended the stairs. On the ground floor, Kirk whispered something into Wilma’s ear before planting a kiss on her temple. He left the cabin while the woman entered the kitchen and opened cupboards, humming softly to herself.

  “Go ahead with Kirk,” Jay said.

  David went outside.

  Jay held onto his rifle, keeping his eyes on Jordan.

  “I have to pee,” she said. It would be much easier to flee in the murky light of dawn.

  “I’ll take you out after breakfast.”

  Jordan pressed her legs together. “I really have to go.”

  “You’re not going anywhere, so have a seat.”

  Scowling, Jordan plopped into a chair and folded her arms over her chest.

  Kirk and David soon returned. Kirk took up Jay’s place while the other man went outside. With tentative steps, David walked into the kitchen.

  “Do you need help, Wilma?” he asked.

  “No. No,” she chirped. “Don’t you worry about the food, David. It will be ready to eat soon. Have you had any water? Has your partner?” She grabbed a long silver bottle from the counter and handed it to David.

  “Thank you,” he said and brought it to the table, setting it in front of Jordan. “Thirsty?”

  Jordan looked from the bottle to David and scowled. He winced and looked at her with pleading eyes, but Jordan stubbornly ignored the water.

  When Jay returned, his sister sang out, “Breakfast is ready.”

  While they ate their meal, murky light spread through the cabin’s windows.

  “Time to go.” Jay wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood up. “I’ll take Jordan outside first.”

  Jordan’s heart lifted. Freedom, her mind sang.

  The fresh air that hit her nostrils had never smelled so sweet. She started for the woods until Jay said, “No, you go here.” He nodded at the ground beside the cabin’s outer wall. He didn’t aim the rifle at her, but he held it ready—cradling the barrel in one hand while curling a finger loosely around the trigger.

  Jordan hissed through clenched teeth and scowled at him. She really did need to relieve her bladder before she made a dash for the trees.

  Glaring at Jay, she lifted the dress just below her waist and squatted, looking away from him while he watched. She shook herself off then stood and let the dress fall over her legs.

  “Time to go,” Jay called to the cabin.

  David and Kirk were wearin
g large backpacks. Kirk handed another bulky pack to Jay, and David held out the smaller pack that had been used in the trap. She snatched the pack from his fingers with a snarl, hating the sight of it.

  Jay led the way westward with Kirk taking up the rear. The woman followed from the very back, behind her brother. Jay moved quickly, first leading them up the mountain, then along the ridge. He stayed away from woods, keeping Jordan and David in the open.

  They walked for hours without ceasing. Soon, the city disappeared at their backs as though it had never existed. Vast, endless wilderness surrounded them in valleys below, and distant mountain peaks protruded from great heights and various angles. The sun popped into the sky and beat down on them hours before noon. Sweat beaded at Jordan’s hairline and beneath her breasts. The next time David offered her water, she drank from the bottle with greedy lips.

  She assessed their surroundings with every step. They were too exposed. The humans would have a clear shot of them if they ran. She might have to wait until nightfall. They hadn’t brought the kennel along, which made Jordan wonder how they planned to contain her at the end of the day.

  Putting more distance between herself and Raider tortured her soul but strengthened her resolve to find an opening for escape.

  They didn’t stop to rest until midday, when they came across a mountain spring. Jordan drank directly from the source while David refilled the bottle and passed it around before refilling it again.

  A couple hours later, Kirk’s voice rang out. “You okay back there, hon?”

  Jay slowed his steps and glanced back. As though her head were wired to his, Jordan also looked back. Wilma walked hunched over and stumbling. When she smiled at her husband, it came across as more of a grimace.

  “I’m fine.” She waved at Kirk. “Keep going. I can rest tonight.”

  There were still maybe two hours of daylight when Jay led them into a small alcove surrounded by boulders that blocked the wind and, Jordan noted grimly, any view from passersby. Smaller rocks had been arranged in a circle around kindling, as if the place had been set up in advance.

  It must have been, because Jay took off his pack then pulled another out from a hidden crevice between boulders.

  Wordlessly, David set to work with Jay emptying the packs. They erected two small tents in the time it took the woman to catch up. Jordan stood frozen in place, stunned by how coordinated it all was—as though it had all been arranged well in advance, and she’d been fated to end up in this mountain alcove one night before the full moon.

  A shiver twisted down her spine. She had less than twenty-four hours to escape.

  Kirk ripped up grass and knelt in front of the circular fire pit, stuffing the blades beneath the kindling. He struck a rod flint with deft strokes that produced instant sparks, which took on life as he blew on the grass. The flames rose and licked the awaiting wood with red, blazing heat.

  Wilma sat in front of the fire with a big sigh. She removed her pack, pulled it between her legs, unzipped it, and began digging around, removing items.

  “What’s on the menu, Sissy?” Jay asked as he tossed a sleeping bag inside one of the tents.

  “Freeze-dried chicken gumbo and cinnamon-apple crisp,” the woman answered. “But those are for tomorrow. Tonight, we’re having freeze-dried chili mac and beef.”

  “Sounds delicious.” Jay rubbed his tummy and grinned at his sister.

  She pulled a plastic bag out of the pack and handed it to Kirk, who pulled a knife out of his boot and used it to slash the bag open before handing it back to his wife. She gave a hum as she emptied the contents into a pot. She slipped on a pair of gloves and grabbed the pot’s handle.

  “When is the full moon, David?” the woman asked in a singsong voice, never taking her eyes off the pot as she held it over the fire.

  “Darling, he’s already told you a hundred times,” Kirk said gently.

  “I want to hear it again.”

  “Go on,” Jay said to David.

  David sucked in a breath and released it as he took a seat across the fire from the woman.

  “Tomorrow is the Full Buck Moon. It will take place in the evening, before dark—around this time, actually.”

  The woman’s face beamed while Jordan’s guts writhed as though filled with eels.

  Wilma leaned forward eagerly. “Tell me again about the Full Buck Moon.”

  “The Buck Moon—” David cleared his throat. “Uh, it’s called that because this is when bucks begin growing new antlers. It is also known as the Thunder Moon because there are a lot of thunderstorms in July, or rather, there used to be before the weather got all wacky, as our elders tell us.”

  “Buck Moon it is.” Jay nodded. “I’d say it’s meant to be, Sissy. We’ve got our young buck, David, here, and a lovely doe.”

  “We’re wolf shifters, not deer.” Jordan sneered.

  “David, can you get out the tin cups and spoons?” Wilma asked, ignoring Jordan.

  The female was out of her mind. Non-lethal, but mad as a rabid wolf with only one goal in mind: an obsession with babies.

  “And what is the moon nine months from now?” Firelight danced in the woman’s eyes when she looked at David.

  “Uh.” David glanced up and began whispering the months and counting them off on his fingers. “March. That’s the Full Blue Moon.”

  “Blue! A boy!” Wilma squealed and clapped her hands together one moment then covered her mouth the next, rocking back and forth. A muffled sob of happiness squeezed past her fingers.

  Jordan knew she needed to wait for night, but the woman’s glee made her anxious to run right then, even if it meant taking a bullet. What were the odds that Jay and Kirk would miss a vital organ from close range?

  “Should we name him after Father?”

  “It’s up to you, Sissy.”

  “Maybe we should name him Buck, after the moon beneath which he will be conceived.”

  Jay nodded. “Buck. I like it. It’s a bold, strong name.”

  Wilma’s grin widened. Jordan felt like retching. The hunger that had been rumbling in her belly was eaten away by acid. By the time the mush had been heated and served into three metal mugs, Jordan knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it down. Wilma and Kirk ate from the same mug, Jay had his own, and Jordan was supposed to share with David.

  It wasn’t enough that they wanted to force them to fuck and breed—she couldn’t even get her own damn mug to eat from.

  All the stupid little annoyances that had gotten under Jordan’s skin in the hollow felt trivial at that moment.

  Jordan sat outside the circle and shook her head whenever David tried to offer her his mug.

  “Please eat something, Jordan. Just a little.”

  “I’m not hungry.” Her mouth felt as though it had detached itself from her body—a voice speaking from the shadowed valley below.

  David frowned into his cup.

  “You should finish that up, David,” Jay said. “It won’t keep.”

  David chewed on his lower lip for a while before giving in and eating the rest of the runny, chunky-looking glop the woman had poured into the mugs. Not only did it look revolting, it smelled wrong.

  After the mugs had been scraped clean, the woman announced that she needed to relieve herself. Kirk got up and escorted her to the other side of the boulders, out of sight.

  “Will you tell us a folktale, David?” the woman asked when she returned.

  Jordan didn’t listen, so much as watch David tell his story. His body and voice relaxed. The smile on his face at Wilma’s gasps were not forced or fake. Unwittingly, he’d bonded with these humans. Her chest felt hollowed out. She was all alone with no forest to run to, no place to hide, and no rescue in sight.

  At the end of David’s story, Jay stood up and stretched before taking up his rifle.

  “Come
,” he said to Jordan. “I’ll take you to the other side of the boulders to relieve yourself before bed.”

  Numbly, Jordan got up and led the way past the boulders. Goose bumps rose over her arms. Shivering, she rubbed them, but it only made her shake harder.

  “There’s a sleeping bag inside your tent,” Jay said.

  Jordan turned her head to glare into his eyes. Did the bastard think he was doing her a kindness?

  “I get why you’re angry,” Jay said. “I’ve been a captive most of my life. I, too, resisted. I raged. I was beaten down and disgraced. The head honcho in the city wanted a big, tough guy like me helping out with the kennels and breeding pens.”

  Jordan’s lips drew back.

  Stone-cold eyes stared back at her. “They’re as bad as they sound. Worse. But once I accepted my place in life, I discovered the one thing no one could take from me: self-possession.” He looked her up and down. “You can resist all you want and as long as you want, or you can set yourself free by accepting the fate now forced upon you. We can be your captors or your protectors. David is a good boy. It could be much worse. The shifters we caged in the city were pitiless predators. We had one named Cujo, who killed and fucked like a wild animal in both human and wolf form. David will be gentle and loving. That’s more than most of us can hope for in this vicious, crumbling world. In time, we’ll let you go, and the two of you can start a family of your own, unless you want to stay with ours.”

  If Jordan weren’t so sick to her stomach she would have laughed bitterly. “You’re crazier than your sister, human.”

  Jay pursed his lips. “I’ve made peace with this life.”

  “Enjoy it while you can.” Jordan grinned viciously as she lifted her dress and squatted over the ground.

  Jay watched her with furrowed brows—the most emotion his face had shown since she had the misfortune of meeting him. Perhaps he heard the promise in her voice.

  He squeezed the rifle in his calloused hands. “We have an expression back home. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

  “I can feed myself,” Jordan snapped. She shook herself off and shot up to her feet.