Page 60 of Mated By the Pack
“Nah, we’re underground,” Vance says, turning and studying my bracelet. “Look up. It’s a really big cave.”
I look up and around me, realizing he’s right. I’m so used to the darkness in The Tangle that I didn’t realize there was no moon. No breeze. No trees nearby. We’re on a smooth dirt floor. A large cavern surrounds us. The exit is in the distance, but it’s blocked off by thick underbrush. I’m guessing they covered it up.
“It looks like an ordinary piece of spikeshade.” Vance shrugs. “Glows in the dark sometimes, if it stores too much light, but a lot of plants have done that since the solar flare. Looks like any other vine braided like this, except it pulses. The pieces of spikeshade you cut off never do that.”
“You’re the guy who talks to plants, but even I know spikeshade doesn’t let you glow green, float off the ground, and shoot tendrils out of your wrist like Spider… woman,” Jace scoffs, thenmotions to the other women. “Unless they were embellishing. I was choking on fucking spores.”
“That’sexactlyhow it happened,” Tansy says confidently.
“Yeah,” Fiona confirms. “It was awesome!”
“And I was choking on… spores,” Brenna mutters. “I’ll take their word for it.”
“All of you woke up before I did?” I question, shaking off the last of my grogginess.
“Yeah, the spores don’t knock you out long. We would have probably woken up before he finished digesting us,” Gideon says. “But you’ve been out the entire time. I think it was more than just the tree pollen.”
“He carried you,” Fiona says, motioning to Knox.
My eyes get wide again. I was in his arms. For how long? The entire afternoon. Into the night. Or at least until we got to this cave. I swallow hard, drink more of my water, and pick up another berry, popping it in my mouth.
“She’s just waking up. She’s hungry and thirsty. Let’s give her some breathing room,” Gideon says, some authority in his voice. “Leave her bracelet alone, Vance. Come on, this cave is big. Let’s find somewhere to sleep.”
There are some groans as everyone except Knox gets up. Soreness. A few already treated wounds. Gideon leads the rest of them away, leaving me alone with the next wolf who plans to claim me. I can’t help feeling a flicker of nervousness when he moves closer to the fire.
“Tonight, little girl. Tonight, you’ll be mine,” he growls.
His guttural exhale sends a shiver down my spine and makes my stomach flutter. My core tightens and I feel a tremor that makes me aware of the soreness I still have from being claimed by Gideon and Jace.
“Here?” I shake my head. “Everyone will hear us.”
“I don’t care,” he says, moving closer to me like he’s sizing up prey. “And neither will you once you start screaming my name louder than you were screaming for my brothers last night.”
“No, please,” I whimper. “I agreed to be your mate, and I understand you have a… need, or whatever. But I don’t want everyone to hear it.”
“Some privacy. Okay,” he grunts. “We’ll go outside. After everyone else is asleep. Until then, you can just imagine yourself on all fours, getting rutted by the big, bad wolf.”
The platinum scar in his eyes flickers and he stands up. His lips spread into a hungry grin before he turns and walks away from the campfire.
And I imagine it. It’s in my mind before I can even blink. I squirm in the dirt and can already feel dampness between my thighs. Rutted? It echoes in my head like a warning. Or a promise. Maybe both.
I shift my weight, trying to ease the ache building between my thighs, but it doesn’t help. The friction from the military fatigues makes it worse. My core clenches with every heartbeat, my bracelet matching the rhythm. The fire crackling in front of me doesn’t feel nearly as hot as what’s happening inside my body.
Golden eyes, with a glimmer of the platinum that hangs around his face. Rough, scarred hands. The growl when he calls melittle girl.
He’s going to claim me, just like his brothers did. I’m powerless to fight it, and I don’t even want to. I just hope he’ll do it far enough away that my friends don’t hear. If they didn’t hear it last night. I’m not looking forward to having to tell them they’re going home and I’m not. But maybe they’ll be so happy to see Haven North they won’t care.
“Alright, sleeping arrangements are handled,” Gideon announces as he brings the group back. Everyone except Knox, at least.
“What are you going to do, Nurse Calla?” Fiona asks.
“What?” I ask, glad I didn’t say anything going through my head. “What do you mean?”
“We were just talking about what we’re going to do when we get home,” Nara explains, sitting down next to the fire and rubbing her hands. “I’m going to visit a few of my colleagues and talk about what I’ve seen. What I’ve heard…”
“After a bath!” Fiona chimes. “We all agreed we need a bubble bath first!”
“A bubble bath would be nice,” I admit, a slight pang in my stomach as I realize I’ll likely never have one again.
