Her howling harem book t.., p.5
Her Howling Harem: Book Two, page 5
As he slowly withdrew from me and the two of us did our best to get ourselves looking something close to presentable again, I stole a look at him and found he was doing the same to me.
He smiled, reaching over and touching his finger to my cheek. “I needed that.”
“I did, too,” I confessed. Although, even now, I sometimes felt a little guilty for being so able to jump between the men I loved so much with such ease. That was just years of training telling me that I was doing something amiss. The truth of the matter was that they were happy like this, and I was, too. If only we could get Rafe back, everything would be perfect…
“Oh, shit,” Anton sighed, pulling his hand away from my face. My heart dropped.
“What is it?” I demanded, but soon enough, my ears tuned in to what he was hearing and I shook my head. Shit was right. I could hear their voices downstairs, Luke and Ethan, both raised. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but judging from their tones it was nothing good. We needed to get down there, fast, before they made too much of a scene and attracted attention to who we were and what we might have been doing there.
“I thought I told Ethan to keep him the hell out of trouble,” Anton growled, pulling the rest of his clothes on and briefly checking himself in the mirror. I lingered for a second, watching him, wondering if I could steal one more kiss, one more second before the two of us returned to the real world. But he strode towards the door and I hurried to follow. As alpha, he didn’t get to stand around and wait for someone else to deal with problems like this one when they turned up.
We made our way quickly down the stairs, and followed the sound of their voices. They were still just about hidden by the hubbub, but they were getting louder. I scanned the room and laid eyes on them, over by the bar, arguing with someone animatedly. Luke was waving his arms around and I could tell it wouldn’t be long until he got physical.
“Crap,” I muttered under my breath as I headed over there, grabbing Ethan by the shoulder and tugging him aside so I could see what the problem was. But as soon as I saw who the two of them were arguing with, my heart stuttered and I forgot about everything else for a moment.
“Tristan?” I gasped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Time seemed to flex as I stared at this sliver of my past standing before me. “What the hell are you doing here?”
7
Tristan looked between Luke, Ethan, and Anton, and then finally let his gaze fall on me once more. Luke’s hands were clenched at his sides and I could tell there was more than a small part of him that wanted to take a swing at this guy. I couldn’t say I blamed him. But I pulled him aside and took a step towards Tristan, staring at him, taking in every inch of him as best I could, as though he might blink straight out of reality at any given moment.
“Seriously…what are you doing here?” I repeated, a little more forcefully this time, and Tristan forced himself to look up and into my eyes. There was an apologetic look on his face, one that I was firmly owed.
“I’m so sorry, Arianna,” he began, the words tumbling out of him as though he had been sitting on them for weeks. “I didn’t mean to – I shouldn’t have let them – ”
“You care to explain who this asshole is?” Luke snapped, not taking his eyes from Tristan once. “Because he won’t tell me but he sure as fuck knows who you are and I don’t like one bit of that.”
“He’s a…friend from my former pack,” I replied, taking Luke’s hand and squeezing lightly, letting him know that I was more than capable of handling this situation as it unfolded in front of me; he had nothing to worry about, not from Tristan.
We had grown up together, raised in the same cluster of kids, side-by-side all those years ago. I would have recognized him anywhere. There were about a half-dozen of us, of the kids who were taught and raised in the same little group, including me and Cora. Even though we had mostly drifted apart as we had gotten older, and I hadn’t seen him face-to-face in years, I’d long considered him a friend.
What was he doing so far from the Kellum compound? And why hadn’t he come to my defense when I’d been on trial and needed a champion?
Still, he must have known how much danger he was in at this moment. Surely, against the wishes of his alpha and surrounded by my lovers.
Yet, here he was. His eyes were still that dark brown, the dark brown I’d had that crush on when I was an awkward teenager. They were cast aside now, as though he didn’t even want to look at me for too long in case it sparked the anger that I was doing my best to quell.
“A friend?” Ethan demanded. He looked about as impressed as Luke did, though he wasn’t being quite as pointed about it.
“Yeah, we learned to shift together and hunt together and…all of it,” I explained as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to linger too long on those thoughts, given how badly they stung me. Just imagining the rush when the group of us had first been allowed out to run together, it brought back this wave of joy that had been sullied by everything that had come after it.
“And what the fuck does he think he’s doing here, now that your pack turned its back on you for a second time?” Luke demanded, pushing his face right up to Tristan and making Tristan flinch.
He had never been one to cower, but his face was full of trepidation and I couldn’t say that I blamed him. Luke could be scary as hell when he wanted to be, and, right now, he certainly wanted to remind this incomer who was boss around here.
Anton grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back roughly.
“Let him talk,” Anton ordered, and turned to Tristan expectantly, nodding at him as though to let him know that now was the time to jump in and state his purpose.
I wasn’t sure how much time the three of them would give him; after all, he could still be loyal to my father. But in that case, why would he look so damn scared, like he was worried the whole world would come crashing down on him at any moment?
No. My gut told me that Tristan had come to help, and I had to trust it, one last time.
He ran a hand over his face and inhaled deeply; there was a smattering of stubble on his chin and he looked exhausted, as though he’d been running at top speed to catch up with us. And then, at last, he began.
“I wasn’t there for the trial…I was on a hunt, but I heard about you getting exiled.” He turned to me at last, addressing me directly, not sparing a glance to the three men clustered around him, looking at him as though they were primed to attack. “I felt bad, but I was also sure…” He swallowed hard, his lean throat working as his gaze filled with regret. “I was sure that if your father had thrown you out then there had to be a good reason for it, right?”
I didn’t want to say anything that might spook him away right now, but I could hardly contain my sadness that he believed I truly might have done something to intentionally hurt the pack. He had known me so well for so long. Was that how he remembered me?
“But then I found out what happened with the boy and I knew it had been a mistake. I put my head down and carried on. No one knew where you went and I hold no power within the pack. I had no choice but to accept things. Then, today, I overheard the guards telling Malcolm that you were back. That one of our pack had been captured by the MacLarens.” His expression went tight. “I was sure he was going to make it right. Prove that he was still the leader we had all placed our trust in so many years ago. When I saw you leaving, I – fuck, Arianna, I don’t know what you did to get tossed out like that, but I know that your father has been growing darker and crueler with every day this war stretches on. He’s not right in the head. I can’t just sit by and watch him do this.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. There was something unbelievably validating about hearing someone else from inside the pack telling me something like that. I knew I had done the right thing, and someone else--someone I had long respected--now knew it, too.
“He’s going to leave Cora behind.” Tristan looked at me intently. “Are the MacLarens as bad as they say?” he asked, touching my shoulder lightly, as though he could sense whether or not I was telling the truth. I nodded.
“Worse,” I admitted. “I don’t know how long we have. And even if we succeed, the Cora we get back might well not be the Cora that you last saw, Tristan, you understand that, right?”
He paled and then nodded. “Yeah, I do.” I could see that flash of terror in his eyes, as he no doubt tried to figure out precisely which Cora would walk through the door back to the Kellum compound when we retrieved her.
“So, what, you want to come fight with us?” Anton demanded, frowning. Tristan shook his head.
“Me going missing for days on end will be noticed, and then all they have to do is track my pack scent to the four of you. I’d do more harm than good.”
“So, what are you doing here, then?” I pressed him, disappointed that I’d misjudged his intentions. It didn’t make sense to me, what he’d be doing in this place if he didn’t intend to help us.
He glanced around the place furtively, like he was expecting to find dozens of people listening in to what he was telling us. “Shit, I don’t know…I’ll get cast out of the pack if they catch me outright aiding you after your father refused to help.”
“You shouldn’t let him define how you live your life,” I implored him. “I did that for so long, and my life is a thousand times better now that I’ve let go of all of that.”
“Arianna, can you look me in the eyes, and tell me with any truth at all, that if you had the choice you wouldn’t have stayed at the Kellum compound with the rest of us?” he shot back, his voice terse.
I blinked. I hadn’t even considered that question, not in a long time, but it was a fair one to pose to me given the circumstances. I fell silent for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy all the men around me. But Tristan softened before I could come out with anything too damning, and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter,” he admitted. “Look, I can’t come with you, but I know some shifters who can,” he explained, speaking urgently, like he knew he didn’t have much time left in this place. “Mercenaries. They passed through the compound a few weeks back, asked if there was any work that needed done. They heard about the war and they assumed that they would be recruited by one side or another, and decided to put themselves out there first. Your father balked at their price and their alpha said that they would be in the area for another month or so looking for work if he changed his mind.”
“Mercenaries?” Anton furrowed his brow, looking unimpressed. “If Malcolm didn’t want to pay their price, what makes you think we can?”
Tristan pulled a small pouch from his pocket, heavy and clinking.
Gold. I could smell it on the air, metallic, sweet and dangerous. To my surprise, Tristan pushed the pouch into my hand, closing his fist around it quickly to make sure that no more people than was completely necessary saw it.
“Take this,” he urged me. “It should be enough.”
I stared at him. The bag was heavy and must have had a year’s wages in it, maybe more. He fumbled in his pocket once more and pulled out a small scrap of paper, which he also pressed hurriedly into my palm.
“This is the name of the man you need to talk to,” he explained. “Ask around here. I’m sure someone’ll have an idea of where they are and if they can help.”
My heart had begun to pound at the thought of increasing our numbers, with trained professionals, no less. This could be huge.
This could be everything.
“Tristan, thank you-”
“Just make sure that Cora makes it back to the compound in one piece, alright?” he pleaded. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him, tight and brief.
“I will do my best,” I promised, murmuring the words into his ear and he nodded, seemingly satisfied by what I had told him. He leaned away, and glanced around at the three men still glaring him down.
“Just please don’t tell anyone that I was here,” he instructed as he straightened. “I have to leave now. If they notice I’m gone…”
“Go, get out of here.” I waved my hand. “I won’t forget this, you know.”
“If you can get Cora out of there, I won’t, either.” He smiled at me, and then ducked his head down as he made for the exit of the bar and left the four of us standing around, a name in one hand and a purse of gold in my other one. We had just become substantially richer, and with wealth, came power.
“Well, shit,” Ethan muttered, a grin stretching his lips. “So what now, people?”
“Now, we get a fucking drink, a meal and a good night’s sleep,” Anton said, flagging down the barman. “And then we go find ourselves some mercenaries.”
8
I woke up early the next day, as I usually did, my head still whirring with everything that had happened over the last few hours. It took me a moment to remember what had happened the night before; the four of us finding our way to the inn for the night, Tristan, the few drinks we’d had before I went to bed – Anton’s arm tossed out over me protectively, as though he didn’t want anyone else in the world coming near me for the rest of the night.
I sat up, watching the light as it traced its way through the window towards us. Luke and Ethan were still asleep on the floor.
Still bleary from sleep, I walked over to the window and was met with the sight of a fresh snowfall. It was pure and white and untouched, which meant it was some ridiculously early hour in the morning. I liked being awake before everyone else, always had, as it felt like the world had unfurled itself especially for me. But eventually, the chill in the room started to get to me and I turned to reach under the covers to grab the clothes that I had peeled off in the middle of the night. When I turned around, I was met by three hungry stares that told me the clothes could wait.
My heart leapt in my chest as I looked back at the males before me. They all looked so damn good, messy hair and tense jaws and that look on their faces that told me that this was sure as hell about to happen. I felt something wake inside me, something that had been sleeping since my encounter with Anton the night before, and I made my way back over to the bed, moving slow, wearing nothing but an old pair of boxer shorts. Ethan ran his tongue over his lip, like he could already taste me there, and I felt something melt and give inside me. I was ready for this. I needed this. I had never been with so many of them at once before, but there was no denying the fact that I was responding to the feel of their eyes on me the way they were right now.
“Here,” Anton ordered, pointing to a spot next to him on the bed.
I did as I was told, feeling as though they had somehow enchanted me and I couldn’t quite think for myself anymore. But, given the thoughts that wouldn’t leave my mind, that was a welcome change for the time being. I shot a look at Ethan and Luke, and nodded my head to the bed to indicate that they should join us. They didn’t need telling twice, Ethan sliding next to me and landing a soft kiss on my neck while Luke ran his hand roughly over my breasts, groping and grabbing at my flesh in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Fuck, this felt good. Anton just sat there, watching us, as though trying to figure out what to do next. He slid his hand beneath the covers and started to stroke himself, naked from the night before, and I closed my eyes as the overwhelming sensations and considerations passed through me. Ethan lifted his head and kissed me on the mouth. I raked my fingers through his hair, forgetting about the logistics and logic of what we were about to do and letting myself get lost in the unbridled pleasure of having these three men obsess over me the way they were doing right now.
Luke began to move down the bed, pulling my legs gently to unwind them from beneath me; he started at my feet, taking each one in his hands one at a time and planting kisses from the sole up to my calves, my knees, and then my thighs. Ethan fought for my attention, slipping his tongue into my mouth, and I felt Luke’s hands trace up towards my breasts again as he settled himself between my legs, pushing my thighs apart with a growl of pleasure. I opened my eyes briefly and found Anton watching us, still stroking his cock, and knowing how much this was all getting him off sent a shiver of desire through my system. He grinned at me playfully, as though he knew how dirty this all felt and what a relief it was to know that they all wanted me anyway.
I had become distracted from where Luke’s kisses were going, but suddenly his mouth was on my clit and then I couldn’t think about anything but the feel of it there between my legs. I pulled back for a moment from Ethan and let out a long groan of pleasure, but he pulled me back to him, kissing me harder than before. I liked this side of him, possessive and hungry for me. I would have to see what else I could do to indulge it.
“I want you in my mouth,” I murmured to him, right in his ear, slipping my hand down over his bare torso and into the soft pants that he had slept in, finding him pleasingly hard beneath the fabric. I supposed he didn’t need telling again, because he at once got to his feet and positioned himself behind me. It took me a moment to cotton on to what he was doing, but as soon as I did, I let my head tip off the edge of the bed and parted my lips, looking up at him expectantly. He took his cock in his hand, as thick and tempting as I remember it being, and guided it to my lips, rubbing his head across my mouth gently a couple of times before he eased it past my lips.
The feeling was explosive, lying on my back between the two of them and letting them both take me like this; Luke’s tongue was soft and urgent against my clit and Ethan thrust himself shallowly into my mouth a few times, as though letting me get used to the feeling of him there. He tasted good, a reminder of the encounter I’d shared with these two in the hot tub, and I slid my hands around the back of his thighs and guided him inside me deeper. The angle I was at made it simple for him to push deep into my throat and I wanted to feel him there, wanted to feel full in a way I never had before. Luke traced slow circles around my clit, sliding his hands beneath my ass and tugging me possessively closer to him. And all the time we were at it, I could feel Anton’s eyes on me, his gaze making every nerve ending in my body stand to attention for my alpha.
