by Strange, KT
Of course, I wanted to snap at her.
“Yeah, pretty much. His brother’s his twin so…”
Rory was about as subtle as a billboard on the highway.
Her eyes widened and she nodded.
“Ah well, is he not taking his duties seriously, then?”
“His duties?”
“To grow the pack,” she said. “I’d heard there were only five of them left of Phoenixpack.”
“Six,” I said, “one’s younger, not a pup, but not quite an adult yet.”
“He’ll be looking outside of you for a mate then, since the pack has to grow again, and they won’t just want one mother,” Rory’s words were making the back of my throat tight and uncomfortable.
“Yeah I have no idea,” I said, and then spotted Calen at the far edge of the fire. “Oh, hang on, Calen’s waving at me,” I lied and scooted away from her, trying not to let my expression tell everyone what I was thinking.
“Heyyyyyyyyy,” I dragged the word out as I half-skidded into his side. “Where’s Katybear?”
“Sleeping with the other pups,” Calen said, “they had a late night last night, telling stories of witches and phoenixes.” He winked down at me before glancing in the direction I’d come from. “Rory was speaking to you?”
“Mhmmmm,” I said, leaving it at that. Calen gave me a sly smile.
“She’s set her sights on Eli, and is digging at you for information. She hasn’t found a single male in our pack that she likes, I suppose.”
“Yeah I noticed.” I turned my face to the fire, and tried not to look for her where she stood beyond the hungry flames. “Does Eli have a… uh, a duty to have a bunch of pups?”
Calen laughed.
“If he wants his pack to survive, yes, or the pack might merge with a larger pack, since there’s so few of them left. We’ve had a few packs join us for that reason. My grandfather was from a pack like that, but I couldn’t tell you what they were called. We’ve forgotten the name, it was so long ago.”
Because we have been murdering so many werewolves that we’ve forced you to abandon your culture and your homes in order to stay alive. Nausea surged in the back of my throat.
“It’s getting late, isn’t it?” I asked. “Shouldn’t they be back by now?” I looked over my shoulder at the woods, wondering which direction they’d gone.
A warm hand wrapped around my shoulder and I glanced up. Calen smiled down at me, his eyes soft.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “we’ll take care of you should anything happen to him.”
If he’d said anything else, anything at all, I wouldn’t have felt as freaked out as I did right then. I swallowed hard.
“Right,” I whispered.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked, edging closer to me.
“No, I—”
His eyes were so big. My instincts were screaming at me to move, to get away.
An exclamation rose up around the fire, and I turned. The adults were moving, pointing. At the far edge of the clearing I saw the flicker of flashlights in human hands and the flood of bodies as the wolves returned home from the hunt.
“Oh thank fuck,” I muttered. I stepped away from Calen, my eyes searching the darkness for Eli.
Ryatt was at the front, his brother Redric with him, both carrying the field-dressed carcasses of deer over their shoulders. Their level of raw strength was amazing.
I took a few more steps, trying to see into the dark, searching every face...
His blond head lifted, and I saw him finally.
My heart soared, relief flooding my entire body. His eyes met mine, fifty paces out. He looked filthy, dirt caked down the side of his neck, streaking his clothes. A wide grin split his face and he picked up his pace until he was racing toward me.
I lifted my arms up; his hands spanned my waist and I was airborne. Hysterical laughter bubbled out of my throat, because I’d been so sure that something would happen to him on the hunt, that he wouldn’t come back to me.
The heat of dozens of eyes burned into my back when he pulled me down, his eyes glowing in the light cast by the fire. I inhaled, one of my arms wrapping around the back of his neck.
And then he kissed me.
Eleven
Darcy
His mouth was so hot on mine as he held me in the air, against his body, his muscles firm even as mine trembled.
A moan filled my ears, which I realized was my own, and I shivered as we broke apart for air.
Around us a howl rose up, a hundred voices adding to it. The power in it sparked something in me, the need for him suddenly rushing through me, mixed with the most anxious adrenaline I’d ever felt.
Eli’s eyes darkened, his pupils flaring, like he felt it too. He pulled me in for another kiss, this one rough and demanding, his tongue licking into my mouth. My lips parted and I let him, my shoes pressing on the sides of his thighs so I could wrap my legs around his hips.
Shivering, anxious heat pooled in my belly as I rocked my hips against him. That noise the other wolves were making was driving me crazy. My fingers raked through his hair, and Eli snarled when I scratched him.
I knew what we had to do, needed to do. I fought him until he stopped kissing me, and he shoved a nearby wolf out of the way as he started walking fast toward our cabin. The heat of the fire pit receded, but not the urgent need inside me as I slipped down his body and tagged along after him, my hand in his.
I stumbled over something in the grass, and he grabbed me against him. He was rock hard through his jeans, and I gasped. His eyes were almost lit from within when he gazed down at me.
“Darcy,” he groaned, his thumb stroking along my lower lip. I shivered and pulled away, running toward the cabin.
A second later he scooped me up, one arm around my waist, and lifted me off the ground. He slammed the door open. I fell on the bed, and a moment later he was on top of me, his mouth finding mine in the pitch black.
I’d never needed anything or anyone as badly as I needed him right then. My blood sang for him, every muscle in me demanding that I take him right then and there.
I cried out when his mouth left mine, only to kiss over the side of my neck. His tongue slicked over the bond marks his pack-mates had left on me, scorching hot on my skin when he touched Finn’s mark. I shuddered.
“Bet that feels real good,” he murmured, his hands caressing my arms, his fingers wrapping tight around my wrists. “You gonna be good for me, Darcy?” The tone of his voice send shivers of electricity racing through my body and I blinked at him in the dark. My eyes were adjusting to the barely-there light coming in through the windows, and I could just see the outline of his face, and the gleam of his eyes.
“W-what?”
“I asked if you’d be good for me?”
My mouth went dry at what he meant by that, the intention written on his face. He wanted me to be good for him. A heated blush rose in my cheeks. He bit at my neck, softly at first, and I moaned, turning my face to the side to give him more room. My pulse was heavy under his mouth as his teeth grazed it, and he lifted my arms over my head, pressing them hard into the rumpled blankets of the double bed.
He was so big, his broad shoulders dwarfing mine, the power in his muscles making me feel smaller than even Finn or Cash did. There was not much difference to his build, but his presence weighed me down in a way that was wildly dissimilar. I could barely catch my breath when he watched me, a solemn expression on his face.
“Stay,” he said, with a soft press of my wrists, before he let them go. I bit my lip and left my arms there, sprawled above my head, just as he’d told me. The thought of me obeying him was… it went against everything I’d ever done with him. We never saw eye to eye, argued about everything, but now?
I wanted to listen. I ached to do what he said. The adrenaline was surging inside me as he pushed my shirt up with careful fingers, exposing the soft skin of my belly. He sat back on his heels, observing me without a word. I shifted my hips
a little, feeling nervous and vulnerable even though I was still fully dressed.
Any moment it felt like he’d lunge at me, rip the clothes right from my body.
God how I wanted him to.
He was holding himself back, the need apparent in his face and from the bulge in his jeans. He reached behind his head and snagged the neck of his shirt, hauling it up over his head. It landed on the floor beside the bed.
I couldn’t help it. His skin was mostly smooth, marred only by the faint red marks of his injuries where they’d healed. I reached out and grazed his chest with my fingers. He snatched my wrist in one hand.
“What do you think you’re doing?” his tone was a mixture of amusement and command, forcing me to tell him without a moment of hesitation.
“I need to touch you,” I said. His eyebrows rose and he held my wrist down by my hip, not letting go.
“I thought I asked you if you’d be good for me.”
“I never said yes,” I sassed, the itch, that burning need for him, stripping away all of my self control and preservation. His eyes narrowed and I knew I’d made a mistake.
He shifted over my body, his hips sliding between my thighs before I could stop him.
Not that I wanted to.
No, it went against every feminist thought that had ever trailed through my brain, but I wanted him to tell me what to do, to take from me what he wanted. His next move, the hard nudge of his erect cock between my legs, pushed every single memory of political science debates out of my head.
I stared up at him, breathing hard. He barely seemed affected, and if it hadn’t been for the tension of his muscles, and the slow roll of his hard-on into me as he rocked his hips, I would have sworn he wasn’t anywhere near as into this as I was.
“Eli,” I moaned, reaching up for him. His eyes flashed.
“Breaking all the rules,” he said.
“I don’t know what the rules are,” I complained. He smirked and bent his head, his lips brushing mine.
“I guess I better teach you then.”
“You had better.”
He growled at me and swatted the side of my thigh. I yelped.
“Okay, no back-talk.”
“No back-talk,” he agreed, kissing me slowly. I melted, letting him kiss me deep, his tongue a faint echo of the moves his body was making against mine.
It was working me up, the slow, terrible friction that had me squirming to arch up against him.
He kissed the corner of my mouth, his tongue flicking along my jaw, before he nuzzled into my ear. His breath was hot in my hair, and I had to close my eyes. It was so intense, all of it.
“God, please,” I whispered. His fingers dragged up my hips, over my bare stomach, before cupping my breasts in his large hands through the fabric of my shirt. Heat radiated from him into me, spooling down my spine to settle right between my thighs.
A tight feeling inside me pulsed softly at first, and then became more demanding. I needed him.
It wasn’t like it’d been with the rest of the guys in the pack, but at the same time it was. I’d just never felt so overcome before, like if I didn’t have him I’d burst into starlight. I lifted my fingers to run them through his hair, before I dragged them down his back.
Maybe I could encourage him to just get fully undressed, so we could finally break the tension inside of me that was mounting with every passing second.
My fingers teased over his lower back and he thrust his hips hard down into mine, evading my touch.
“Stop that,” he said, reaching around to grip my arm.
“Ow, Eli,” I hissed, irritation sparking in my gut. “Let go.”
He yanked back like I’d burnt him, staring at me hard in the semi-darkness. I swallowed, the lingering buzz of arousal still humming under my skin.
“What?” I asked, a defensive feeling crawling up the back of my throat. His eyes had gone from intent to horrified. He got off the bed in a breath, grabbing his shirt from the floor.
“Eli?” I sat up. It felt like my breath wouldn’t catch up with all the oxygen I needed. That burning sensation in my stomach was still there, demanding he come back to me, press me down into the blankets.
“I—” he said, with a hard shake of his head, before he yanked the door open and bolted outside.
A hiccup of shock erupted from my chest and I got to my feet, my legs unsteady. What?
I ran out after him into the dark, stopping short on the porch. The shore near the cabin was empty. I glanced out toward the fire pit, and saw his form, walking with intention, away from me.
I swallowed a cry as I stood there, feeling bereft and a little used.
What… had just happened?
A tear ran down my cheek. I wiped at it angrily as my feelings went from turned on to hurt. He melted into the gathering of wolves, and I took a step back before walking back into the cabin and sitting down on the edge of the bed.
More tears followed the first. I didn’t bother wiping them away.
They’d be the last tears I ever cried over Elias Gunner, I swore to myself.
Twelve
Darcy
The next day I wore the hoodie I’d bought for him, pulling it up to hide my face as I sat by the fire and listened to the wolves around me talk. They mostly ignored me, though Rory glanced my way a few times. Katy had come up to sit near me, followed by the rest of the children.
At least the pups didn’t hate me.
Eli was nowhere around. Another day on the hunt, apparently, according to what I’d been told.
I didn’t care. I just wanted to go home, to my pack, to the men who loved me more than life itself.
“What’s wrong?” Katy sat next to me, piling up pebbles to make a small tower before smushing them down with her hand. “Does the lightning make you cry? It scares my little brother, he doesn’t like it,” she said. “Does it scare you when you call it?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “It used to scare me a lot when I first started, but now it’s not so bad,” I said.
She smiled up at me, before whispering,“If I could call the lightning, I would cook my dinner with it,” she said. “Then I wouldn’t have to pick up any kindling ever.”
Her comment startled a laugh out of me, slightly mending how hollow my heart felt.
“That’d be really smart. Some people can call the fire, and that’s even easier for cooking with,” I said. It was unlikely that Creston had ever cooked a meal in his life, but if he ever chose to give up his life of villainy and become a hermit, his magic powers would come in handy. Max on the other hand… going camping with her now would be pretty cool, I theorized.
With the sun melting over me, and surrounded by the curious wolf pups, I was able to ignore the adults (including Rory who kept giving me weird looks) for most of the afternoon.
It wasn’t until I heard Cassandra saying my name that I looked up.
She observed me for one moment and then offered me her hand.
“Walk with me?” she asked. Who was I to say no to a dragon? I got to my feet as she patted Katy’s head.
“Your friend will return to you soon,” she promised, hooking her arm through mine. “Come, let’s go to the waters.”
We left the fire behind and I let the breath rush out of me, my stresses going with it.
“Elias was in quite the foul mood this morning,” Cassandra commented as we toed up to the water’s edge. “I was certain he and Redric would come to blows. There aren’t many wolves I would bet on challenging Redric, but your mate is one of them.”
“He’s not my mate.”
“Oh? I see. He scented of you this morning, but it was weak, so I was unsure. The howl was strong last night, and I did not count on him having the fortitude to resist the call.”
“The call?” I stared at her, confused.
“The pack sensed that you two were close to mating. Surely you felt it as well? When they all howled? You’d have to be deaf not to have felt it in your marrow, and even
then, if you hadn’t thrown yourself at him, I would have been shocked.”
I swallowed down a curse.
“Are you telling me that what I felt last night—” My cheeks were so hot they felt like Max had lit them on fire. “That… me and Eli, the pack forced us to feel… with their howling?”
Cassandra gave me a pitying look.
“It’s not—”
“They what, wolf-roofied me?” Anger, and an intense feeling of shame for falling for whatever the hell it was that they’d done with their stupid… wolf voices, and their stupid wolf magic, rose up inside me until I could barely speak.
Cassandra’s gaze turned from pitying to hard.
“Do not speak of what you don’t know, witchling," her voice was clipped. “They only reacted to the very real feelings that you two were putting out, and the pack rejoiced in another mated pair about to find one another.” Her eyes were heated. “Do you understand?”
“Kinda not, kinda yeah,” I muttered, kicking a rock. “So like, when Eli called for the pack, when we first came to the edge of your territory, it was like I couldn’t control myself. I ran to him because he sounded so sad, so lost.”
Cassandra gave a wise nod, and I had never hated feeling out of my depth so much. I wished Daria was around to explain things, or Wolfe. Even though he was a condescending sass master, he would have made everything better.
“That is the power that the wolf has over the witch, it has been this way as long as I have been alive, and in my mother’s time as well. Just as you cannot quell the urge to obey them, he cannot stop himself from protecting you even if it’s against his better instincts. You are promised to one another, by the stars, and fighting it would only end up in sadness for both of you.”
“Well last night he fought it,” I said, finally realizing why Eli had bailed without saying anything.
He was still an asshole. I wanted to kick him in the balls. He could have at least explained things to me.
“And he paid a price for it,” Cassandra said gently. “He looked like a haunted man this morning, denied the comforts of his mate.”
