by Fiona Starr
“He looks just like…” I can’t find the words. I feel like I am having déjà vu and hallucinating all at once.
“The wolf from your visions,” Angus finishes my thought. “Yeah, we know.” He turns his arm over and shows me the tattoo he has on the inside of his forearm. He got it to commemorate their dead brother, Tobias, the wolf who has appeared in my visions since the night my magic sparked.
My visions are like dreams; they morph and change each time they come, but the wolf has so far always appeared in the distance. I never realized he was so big.
“Van and Tobias were twins. They are identical in every way, even as wolves,” Angus says.
“Wow.” It’s all I can say.
“I’m glad you came with us, Joely.” Marco grins and then he’s gone in a blink, replaced like Van was by a huge black wolf. His hazel eyes seem to glow against his dark fur. He pads toward me and brushes by as I reach out and let my hand run over his fur.
“You ready?” Angus asks.
“What color is your fur?” When they told me they were wolves, the idea kind of settled in my mind but I never tried to picture them. Now, I am so curious I can hardly contain myself.
He smiles and laces his fingers through mine. “You’re the first to see this, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that we’ve never let anyone in. Not like this.”
He raises his hand for me to press mine against it, and the gesture makes me smile. “You and your secret messages,” I whisper.
Angus plays with my hands all the time. He says that hands have a language all their own, sending secret messages. I know that this one is for when you’re meeting someone new, trying them on to see if they’re a good fit. He opens his fingers and our hands fall together naturally, and when he squeezes me gently I can feel my pulse pounding in my fingertips.
“Do you remember what this says?” he asks.
My heart is racing in my chest. “Hold on. Don’t let go.”
Angus nods and bends to kiss me. “Hold on,” he whispers. “Don’t let go.”
The air around us shimmers for a second and then Angus transforms into a huge gray wolf. He bends his face to mine and I place my hand on his snout. His face is mostly white, with a blaze of smoky gray rising from his nose all the way over the top of his head. The colors in his fur seem to shift from light gray to dark gray to white in rolling waves.
He presses his face against my neck and nuzzles me gently, a soft rumble rising from his throat. When he pulls back, he watches me with his beautiful blue eyes.
“Angus, my god.” I press my fingers into the fur along his jawline. “Can you understand me?”
He bows his head once to let me know he can, and I just shake my head, laughing. “This is incredible.”
He gets down on the ground, turning his head to look at his own back. His tail is fluffy and white, and looks to be as long as I am tall.
“This is unreal, Angus. Are you sure you want me to get on your back?”
He nudges me with his nose and huffs out a breath.
I climb on, trying to find a place where I can balance. I grab thick tufts of Angus's fur and brace myself as he gets to his feet. Once he’s standing, my body settles into the shape of him. I bend my knees and find that I can hold on with my legs just behind his shoulders. I wonder what this part is called on an animal, and make a note to look it up later.
He turns back and looks at me, and I know without thinking that he’s asking if I’m ready.
I squeeze my legs and re-grip his fur, preparing for anything. “Let’s go,” I say.
Chapter Three
VAN
The moment Angus shifts into his wolf, my head fills with the scent of her. Joely Everstar smells like sweet honeysuckle and the sensation hits me like a blast of heat. I knew this would happen. Once we’re in our wolves, we’re so connected it’s like we’re one mind, one heart, one set of senses. And right now, Angus is on overload with Joely and it’s driving me mad.
Fuck!
Marco’s thoughts fly through my mind. Chill out, brother. It’s going to be all right. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later.
Drop it, Marco. I don’t need to hear this from you.
Whatever. You think you’re the only one struggling with this? You forget who you’re talking to. Marco bounds off into the trees, challenging me to catch him.
I take off after him, trying to force my thoughts away and focus only on his scent.
I know he’s right about Joely. It was only a matter of time before we let her all the way in. We have to. There is no other way. And I’m being a dick for thinking Marco wasn’t in the same boat as me. Hell, between the two of us, I bet this whole thing with Joely is way worse for Marco. He can tap into the wolf side even with his chain on. When he’s free? Well, he may as well have a wire plugged in to me and Angus. He can feel everything we’re feeling as if it is happening to him. Smell every scent, hear every thought…
Once we realized Joely was the Nightbird that the old witch, Salma, mentioned in the prophecy, there was no way to deny it, even if the evidence wasn’t already surging through every inch of my body.
We’ve been alone for so damned long, I was beginning to wonder if the prophecy was bullshit. We went to Salma for help, and she ended up taking us in. She taught us how to use our mage side and trained us to control our wolves. She knew what it meant when I told her how Master Damon seemed to track us whenever we shifted. She’s the one who realized that because we killed the two vampires while in our wolf forms, the shifter spirit would retain that magic as well. The three of us drank the vampire blood. And while it is what keeps us alive all these years, it also bound us forever to the man who was hunting the wolves who killed his sons.
I shake my head as I chase after Marco, trying to clear my thoughts. I can feel Joely’s legs around Angus, sense the pleasure my brother feels with her on his back. I can smell her through his senses.
Fuck!
Come on. You’re getting slow, old man.
A growl rumbles through me at Marco’s taunt. Careful now. I’m coming for you.
Marco calls out to Angus. Hey Silver Socks, meet us at the peak!
On my way, Cinders. Angus's elation hums through the air like something physical.
The sensation makes me stop running. I can’t remember the last time he gave off that kind of vibe. I try to trace back through my memory… damn… I don’t know how long it’s been. Hearing them throw around fake names like that… we haven’t done that in ages.
Out of my way, Snowball! Angus bounds past me in a flash of gray.
I catch a glimpse of Joely riding him, her chest against his back, her body clutching his as she presses her chin into his neck. I inhale her scent, letting it fill my lungs for real this time. I close my eyes and let my wolf take her in. Her scent hangs in the air and clings to the leaves and the bark on the trees. It is settling right now on the dried leaves and dirt beneath my feet. Her presence is so bright that it feels like it will blind me.
Let’s go, Iceman. Marco calls to me.
I know he can feel the battle waging inside me. I know he is dealing with it too. I have no idea how to handle any of this. Nothing Salma ever said mentioned anything like this.
I would never do anything to hurt my brother. And getting in between him and Joely would definitely hurt him. But I can’t deny what I’m feeling.
We haven’t lived by pack rules in so long, it would be impossible to force them to fall back into it now. But when we were a pack, I was the Alpha, and those instincts are clawing at my insides right now. The alpha takes what he wants, and right now, all it wants is Joely.
Fuck!
I break through the trees and meet my brothers on the edge of the stone cliff. Joely stands between Marco and Angus, her head reaching almost to their shoulders. Her face is flushed with the ride and the excitement, and she’s smiling so wide it makes me happy just to see her so elated and plea
sed.
You all right, man? Marco asks, his tone makes it clear that he’s very aware of what I am thinking.
Perfect.
Angus's thoughts are one-hundred percent consumed by Joely, which is a good thing, for once. If he got even a whiff of what I was thinking about back there, he doesn’t show it at all.
“This is incredible, you guys. Truly. I could never have imagined this.” She reaches up and touches both of them on their shoulders, running her fingers through their fur.
I want that to be my fur under her hand. I want her to touch me. I want so badly to step closer to her so she’ll do that to me, but I have to find a way to control myself. I can’t keep thinking these thoughts.
Angus tilts his head at me and I know he’s picked up on what I’m feeling. I don’t know if he read my thoughts exactly or just the intent. Does it matter? No.
Fuck.
Joely steps over to me and touches my chest. “Thank you for letting me come with you, Van. I feel so… honored.”
A tiny whine escapes my throat and I curse myself. I can’t give in to these feelings. Not only that, I have to stop having them. How would I feel if the roles were reversed and Joely were mine, and I knew my brothers wanted her? I am not that guy. I won’t betray my brother and I need to protect the plan. We’re here to do a job, and the only way we’re going to see it through is by following the prophecy and that means we need to work with Joely… even if we have no idea how she fits in with all of this.
We run for another hour before it’s clear that Angus is exhausted from carrying Joely, and Joely is getting tired herself. When it’s time to head home, Joely seems to sense that Angus needs a break.
“Would it be okay if you brought me back, Marco?”
Marco crouches down and lets her climb on his back.
The moment Joely wraps her legs around Marco, the sensations start all over again. But this time, without her on his back, Angus feels it too. He looks over at me and then at Marco, then up at Joely.
I can’t tell what’s going through his head, but there’s definitely something. He’s confused, thinking.
Don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe. Marco turns to look at his passenger.
Joely is still smiling, even though she’s obviously exhausted. “Ready when you are.”
The ride back home on our bikes is the first time I feel safe with my thoughts. We’ve lived so long without having to keep anything from each other, it was never anything I really worried about. As important as our job here is, I won’t ruin this for Angus. He’s only been with Joely for a month, and they are clearly doing great.
I should talk to Marco about this some more. Maybe hearing his perspective on Joely will help me get a grip on my own.
We get back to the house and I head up to my room. I need to get back to the Cottage and make the most of the time Damon’s out of town. I’ve been working for him since the start of last school year, and I haven’t made much headway at all.
The man is so secretive, almost paranoid, and being a vampire, he’s got his own tricks that I need to be really careful of. The guy could rip my head off if he wanted, and I know that if he realizes who we really are, it would all be over.
We have to do this right. If nothing else, Salma made that point crystal clear. We would never be able to overpower a vampire as powerful as Damon by ourselves. And if we have any chance of ending him, it is through the prophecy.
I strip out of my clothes and leave them where they fall, stepping into the shower and breathing in the steam. I can’t let myself get distracted like this. We are so close. I don’t know yet what we’re supposed to do, but I can feel it and I am determined to figure this out.
I’ll keep working on the prophecy. I continue studying it until I decipher all the little codes hidden inside. I’ll figure out how we’re supposed to move forward now that we’ve found the Nightbird.
Joely is the Nightbird.
Whenever I remind myself of that it feels surreal. That night she showed us the mark on her chest… it looks like a tattoo of a raven but it appeared when her magic sparked. Her magic sparked under a full moon. And her magic sparked with a vision of my brother, Tobias. So there can be no doubt at all that she’s the one. I just wish her arrival had caused more than this disruption. It would have been great if all the secrets of the prophecy revealed themselves to me now that she was here. But nothing has changed as far as that goes; I am as in the dark as I was before we found her.
I wish I knew what to do.
The memory of this afternoon and the sensations that washed over me the moment Joely climbed on Angus's back… I couldn’t even see them and I knew what had happened. Her legs wrapped around him, pressing into the fur behind his shoulders. I can feel her right now, as if she’s riding on my back, pressing her chest into my withers as she clutches my fur in her fists.
“Fuck.”
I close my eyes and let the feeling run over my skin, ignoring my shame as my cock hardens in response. I don’t want to be consumed by her. And yet…
The water pounds against my head, but it does nothing to drown out the feeling of Joely on my back. She never rode me, and yet I can feel every memory of her through Angus and Marco as if she had.
The smell of her in the air… The weight of her on my back… The taut strength of her body squeezing against my sides… Her eyes watching me undress and stand before her completely naked…
I imagine her pressing against my hardness, her warm hand teasing me as she strokes my length. I run my soapy hand down over my stomach to my cock and grab hold, allowing myself this one moment of indulgence for a woman I should not be thinking about at all.
Chapter Four
JOELY
We’re back at the house and my head is spinning. My body is so tired from the hours running with the guys, but I can’t stop my mind from racing. This afternoon was absolutely unreal. Seeing Angus and Marco and Van turn into enormous dire wolves before my eyes was like something out of a dream. Everything about today was extraordinary.
I can still smell them on my skin. Angus's outdoorsy scent mingles with Marco’s, which is like the aroma of rain on autumn leaves. I can still feel the heat of Angus and Marco under me, their muscles working while they run with me on their backs. I can still hear their breaths coming fast as they loped through the woods. Angus's rhythm was different from Marco’s, and the fact that I know that feels really strange to me.
I feel like I’ve stepped over a line into a new place with the three of them, but I can’t be sure what that means. Angus mentioned that I was the first person they’d ever allowed to see them like that. And what did it mean when Marco said that I was here to stay?
I think of Angus and I see this sweet man with his gentle hands and his huge heart. Nothing about our relationship feels rushed or overwhelming. It just feels… right. I feel like I am where I am supposed to be. And not just with Angus…
Crap. That’s the problem, isn’t it?
All of these crazy, spiraling thoughts… this afternoon, seeing them naked, watching them shift, riding them as wolves… none of that is what has me reeling. That isn’t why my mind won’t stop and let me think straight. None of those exceptional and amazing things are causing this stress and anxiety.
No, there’s something else.
Something I’m not sure I should talk about. But I can’t deny it and I feel like I really need to tell Angus. The only trouble is, I have no idea how to put into words what the hell actually happened out there, and I don’t want to say the wrong thing.
Angus slides onto the bed and runs his hand over my waist. His fingers are damp on my skin. “Your bath is ready, my lady.”
The thought of soaking my aching body right now… it seems decadent. “Oh, show me the way, kind sir.”
He takes my hand and pulls me off his bed, leading me to the bathroom which has a huge antique claw-foot tub. The room is full of daylight, but he’s lit candles anyway. The flames from the tiny votives twink
le and reflect off the white tiles.
“Bubbles? How unexpected,” I say, taking in the room. The air is warm and a hazy mist rises over the tub, fogging up the window and giving the space a dreamy haze.
“Allow me.” Angus lifts the hem of my shirt and kisses me as he pulls it up over my face and my arms which I raise above my head. He runs his hands over my wrists and along my arms, caressing my skin as he makes his way down to my jeans. He undoes my belt and then opens the button, sliding them down my hips and onto the floor. I step out of them and stand there in my underwear, letting him watch me.
“God you’re beautiful,” he whispers, his voice low and husky. He reaches for me but I step back. I want him to watch me some more.
I smile and undo my bra and then push my panties down, running my hands over my legs as slowly as I can. Every inch of me feels his gaze. I want to touch him and let him touch me, let him take me, but instead I pull the elastic from my pony tail and I turn around, shaking out my hair as I let him get a good look.
He bites his lip and smiles. “That was very nice, thank you.”
“It’s only fair, considering the show I got this morning,” I say, feeling shy but not giving in to the urge to hide myself from him.
“Oh, you liked that, did you?” Angus takes my hands and pulls me to him.
I lean against him and feel his arousal through his jeans, the denim fabric is rough against my skin. A surge of heat explodes between my legs just thinking about what’s under his clothes.
“Yeah. I really did.” I undo the buttons on his shirt and push it back to expose his shoulders. I run my hands over him, taking in every line of his body with a new appreciation for his form. This is the same man who transformed himself into a gigantic beast today.
I shake my head. “It’s hard to believe you’re the same person as the wolf. I mean, I know it’s you. I was there. I saw it all with my own eyes. Felt you with my own hands…”
