GINGER“If I wanted to, I could have killed you,” Sara taunted. “Remember that for next time.” She swiftly closed her switchblade and hid it within the confines of her clothes. She then walked away without looking back, disappearing into the distance. I didn’t fail to notice Tyce glaring daggers at her, but I was proud of him for not intervening. We had a long talk the night before about how he wouldn’t unless Sara actually hurt me to the point where I ended up in the hospital. And anything less than that, he would stand back. But I could certainly feel his anger and frustration through our bond.“Are you okay?” Tyce rushed over to me, taking my hands to help me up. I was in too much shock to even try to get up, but he lifted me as if I weighed nothing. I instantly went from horizontal to vertical, with Tyce’s arms wrapped around me.“Yeah.” I sighed.“You were out here for hours.”“I know.”“You don’t seem happy about it. You don’t have to keep training with her if you don’t want to.
THERESAThe next time I woke, he was still wrapped around me, holding me as if his life depended on it. His even breathing informed me that he was still sleeping. I didn’t want to accidentally wake him, so I laid as still as I could. Not that it was exactly a burden.Something about his touch sent a slow, delicious warmth coursing through me. At first, I barely noticed it as something other than the natural comfort of shared body heat. But then… then it became something else. The faintest friction. A shift in his breathing. The tension between us changed, thickening in the cold air.A soft vibration traveled from the surface of my skin to my bones, energizing me from the inside out. My nipples were stiff and peaked against him, and not because of the cold. I couldn’t help but try to bring myself closer, greedily gliding up against him while it was socially acceptable. A soft, deep moan escaped his mouth and echoed along the walls of the small cabin we were in. The warmth of his body
THERESANikolai’s hands strengthened their grip, and his fingers dug into the flesh of my bottom. Mid-stroke, I was halted, unable to finish what I’d started.His breathing was ragged. His hands were trembling against my skin, torn between pushing me away and pulling me closer. His lips parted, as if about to say something, but nothing came out.I didn’t know how to react. I had been so close, just at the cusp of being swept into a hurricane. I tried one last time to move, but he had me in a death grip, walling me off from proceeding. Without meaning to, I let out the saddest whimper that had ever come out of me.I immediately burned with shame—shame that I had gotten so carried away, just assuming he’d wanted the same thing, not checking in and making sure—not even pleasing him before I went ahead and did myself! And shame that I had reacted like a toddler when I didn’t get what I wanted. He stiffened beneath me, jaw clenching. “We can’t,” he choked out, voice thick with regret. “Th
NIKOLAII couldn’t get her out of my mind. She was consuming my waking and dreaming thoughts. What she did. How she had climbed on top of me like that, took control, and rubbed herself all over my cock. She looked like a damn goddess with her flawless warrior body, her long dark, voluminous hair, her pert breasts with prominent, perfect nipples. I was helpless under her, in awe of her power. I’d never felt so out of control in my life.Even now, standing here, thinking of her, my body reacted like a desperate fool. I gritted my teeth. Pathetic. I was pathetic.I was so used to demure, submissive women. And there was nothing wrong with them. But, boginya moya! That. That was so unexpected and… I didn’t even have words for it. It was something beyond our mortal understanding. That was otherworldly. For those few moments that she was riding my shaft, I had forgotten everything—the war, the pack, my family that was now gone, this barren nothing that would be our future pack land—everythin
NIKOLAIA few days after we returned, I found myself in the office with Tyce. He pointed toward some packages sitting next to his desk. “Hey, bro, so we got all these sports bras for your pack.”“What?” I blinked a few times, not understanding why, out of every supply our pack could possibly need, he’d gotten bras for us.“Oh, Terri didn’t tell you?” He looked up at me from the paper he had in his hand. “She asked me to get your pack some sports bra. Said your female warriors needed more support. So Gigi measured all of them, and put in the order, since I obviously had no idea what I’m doing.” He smiled and shook his head.“Terri asked for these to be ordered?” I asked, making sure I heard right.“Yeah, she’s a good kid,” Tyce replied. “Always thinking of other people. I constantly tell her she needs to take care of herself too. Not sure where she got it from. Couldn’t be from our parents.” He chuckled.We unboxed the packages together, and double checked the order. Then we chitchatte
NIKOLAI“Morning,” Tyce greeted Sasha and me as we entered the warrior gym to get our workout in before our pack arrived for training. I glanced around, taking in all the empty equipment. The gym that was usually fully packed by now only had a handful of Tyce’s warriors in it.“Where is everyone?” I asked. “Outdoor training today?”“Nah,” Tyce replied. “They have the next week off. The first sunrise of the year is in 6 days, so we kicked off our sunrise festival today and gave everyone the time off. Feel free to use the gym as much as you want.” I nodded and he continued speaking with a glint in his eyes. “Be careful out there. You’ll be seeing a lot of plastered wolves on the prowl. Lotsa drunk, horny she-wolves too.” He gave me a friendly punch in the arm. “Used to be my favorite time of year. But I’m a changed man. They’re all yours now.” He lit up with a bright smile and then turned to load up a barbell on the ground.Sasha smirked and shook his head as we headed toward the dumbbe
NIKOLAITyce and Gigi made conversation with me, so I politely turned to give them my attention. Sasha and Liam both made sure I was never without a drink. I had to admit the apple drink was pretty damn good, and, before long, I was feeling a buzz.It must have made me more social than usual because Sasha exclaimed, “We should hang out and drink together more often. It’s good for you. You’re too wound up. It’s not healthy.”“What’s not healthy is what happened to our pack,” I bit back.“Goddess, you’ve changed,” Sasha snapped at me. “You used to be cool. But now, you’re just this miserable little fuck. I know what happened sucks and we’ve all been mourning everyone we lost. But we’re alive! What point was there in battling so hard for our pack’s survival when you have no plan to actually live?” I was thankful that our dispute was in Russian, so the others sitting near us didn’t know what we were saying. Except maybe Julia, but she seemed to be off somewhere else at that moment.“Sasha
THERESAEarly in the morning, I kicked all the layers of sheets and blankets off me. My body was drenched in sweat. For a second, I had to remind myself that it was, in fact, the middle of winter, and I hadn’t suddenly overslept several months and found myself waking on an uncharacteristically hot day in the middle of July.When I unlocked my phone, I was greeted by the unwelcome alert I dreaded from my period tracking app every month. “Ovulation.” I groaned into my pillow, and then whispered a prayer of thanks to Artemis that it was a day that most people would be out of the packhouse for the continuing sunrise festival and I was unlikely to be bothered. For once, something was going right. I just had to make it through today without incident and I’d be golden. By the time ovulation rolled around again, I’d be back at school, secure from detection.Fortunately, I was mostly safe within the confines of the packhouse. No one in my immediate family would notice, which was just about eve
THERESAI shook my head, pushing the thoughts away, and then continued. “Everything changed this past spring. I came home for summer break after my sophomore year of college. By then, I’d mostly gotten used to the idea that I’d stay a virgin until I met my mate. And then... I met him. My now-ex.”My mood darkened at the thought. Kolya seemed to sense it, as he gave my upper arm a squeeze.“Honestly, I didn’t even like him at first. He was a friend of a friend of a friend. My friend Kaylynn had a crush on this warrior who she invited to a party she was throwing. He had duty and couldn’t make it, but he asked her to invite one of his friends in his place that he said was kind of a loner. Said he was trying to get him to meet more people. And Kaylynn, of course, agreed.“We were all just sort of hanging out. I’d made some silly joke, teasing him in a flirting sort of way. And instead of laughing, he flipped me off. I don’t even remember what I said, but I’m sure it wasn’t anything that r
THERESAI stirred awake, blinking against the lamp light. Had I fallen asleep? I glanced upward to find a pair of silver eyes meeting mine.“Oh, shoot! Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” I stammered, scrambling to get up. Gosh, last thing I needed was for him to think that I believed this to be a relationship where we spent the night together and stuff. Moreover, my family was likely getting back soon, and it was in my best interest to scram before they figured us out.As I sat up, readying to grab my clothes and get out of his way so he could leave, his hand closed gently around my wrist. “Wait.”I glanced back at him, searching his face for a clue to his thoughts. As usual, his expression was unreadable.“Would it be wrong to want to spend a little more time with you?” he asked.“Oh,” I replied, caught off guard.“When we can speak to each other,” he added.I blinked, then smiled faintly, the tension in my shoulders easing. “Look who wants to talk all of a sudden,” I teased, play
NIKOLAIWhen she finally lifted herself, and lined her entrance up with my cock, I was a goner. Any other misgivings I may have had were wiped from my consciousness.I let out a deep, appreciative moan as she lowered herself onto me in a slow grind, rocking her hips to allow each bit of my length to methodically enter her. The inner walls of her pussy clench around me. My hands dug into her thighs in reaction. I couldn’t believe such a beautiful angel was allowing me inside her, packing every inch of me into her. She continued to slowly and carefully lift and lower herself onto me until she was filled to the hilt.“Fuuuuck, you feel so good!” I cried out.She smirked and lifted her arms over her head, elevating and emphasizing her sporty, pert breasts. I couldn’t take my eyes off them as they bounced with every movement. Using only her thick, well-muscled lower body, she easily slid up and down the length of my cock, impressing me with her display of athleticism.I wrapped my large ha
NIKOLAIBefore long, Terri’s legs were shuddering against my cheeks, her nails were digging into my scalp, and her moans were echoing off every surface of her bedroom. I ate her as if this were my last meal. Her moans turned to a euphoric scream, her thighs trembled against my ears, and I drew every bit of orgasm I could out of her. When I finally withdrew my mouth, she was left panting and limping, finally collapsing into her bed. “Wow!” she said, as she spread out in a starfish position. “You’re amazing at that.”Pride radiated throughout my body. My shoulders straightened in pleasure, basking in the vision of her rosy, glowy skin, the rise and fall of her chest as she caught her breath, and satisfaction on her face. I couldn’t help myself from climbing into bed with her, pulling her into my arms, and nuzzling against her neck to inhale her sweet, musky scent, now ripe from the day and what had just gone down.I jolted; a surge of shock coursing through me at the sudden touch of he
NIKOLAITerri pranced along the perimeter of the summit, radiating pure joy. It was infectious. A force tugged at something buried deep within me. Slowly, a rare smile crept across my face, waking muscles that had lain dormant for ages. Then it hit me—a realization so startling it shocked me to my core. I was happy.I couldn’t remember who started it—whether it was an unspoken agreement or some shared, instinctive understanding—but before long, we were play wrestling each other, rolling around in the snow, barking and growling with delight. I nipped at her dark fur—fur that was full and glossy under the sun’s rays. Absolutely stunning. She licked at my face and I returned the affectionate gesture. Before long, our tongues were touching, licking at each other as we lay on our sides. Our paws rested against each other’s faces, and our hind legs tangled. Heat radiated throughout my body, but I refused to advance things further. Especially when she couldn’t verbally confirm it was what sh
NIKOLAIThe wind whipped around us, lifting fine dust from the snow and swirling it in the air, obscuring the path ahead. But I pushed forward, relying on my nose instead of my eyes. From when I’d first gotten my wolf, I’d always had a strong sense of direction. Once I traveled a path, the scent stayed with me, etched in my memory like a map. My mother had been the same.Something hitched in my throat at the thought of her. Although I had remained calm that morning, Terri had ascertained correctly that it was difficult to hear of others' mothers and to be reminded of her. What I wouldn’t give to hear her strong opinions today, as much as they had always annoyed me.Terri came closer and whimpered. My attention instantly went to her. What had happened? Was she okay?Nothing seemed amiss. I tilted my head at her in question. But she just looked at me with puppy eyes, as if she could sense what I had been feeling and her own mood sobered correspondingly. It was eerie. But I pushed it fro
NIKOLAIEarly on Tuesday morning, I jumped into the hot shower before it was time to leave. They say a full moon can make one do crazy things. And in our culture, we were especially affected by the first full moon of the year—the wolf moon. It was days away. And there was no reason to believe that a sunrise couldn’t affect us much the same. Especially after having lived in persistent darkness for so long. I’d practically forgotten that there was a time in my life that I’d walked under the sun’s rays.As planned, I met Terri at the dining table that morning, munching on some buttered toast. “Shh, don’t tell my mom.” Terri winked at me and giggled. I stared at her, not sure what she expected me to tell her mom. That I was taking her on a private adventure? Her mother would be elated at the news.I continued into the kitchen, where I heated up a pre-prepped breakfast sandwich that Tasha always had on hand for the alphas when we’d be up early for training. I fumbled with the fancy Nespres
GINGER“Now your turn,” Sara said.Could I refuse?Her dark eyes burned into me as she waited for me to take the knife.What had I gotten myself into?“Take it, Gigi. Do it for Tyce.”My hand shook as I extended it. I forced myself palm to wrap around the handle. I was trembling so much, I almost dropped it, barely able to get a grip on it. I wrapped my other hand around the first just to make sure I wouldn’t.“Now, ask him something. If he answers, we can give him a break. But if not…” She smiled widely at him, leaving his fate unspoken.“Are you trying to take over my pack?” I asked. Please answer, please answer, please answer.But he didn’t. He continued to hold his silence.“We’ve got a stubborn one,” Sara said. “My absolute favorite.”To be fair, it did seem he was starting to relent. When I’d first entered the chamber, he’d seemed tougher. He was a tall, robust man. But something in his face showed the uncertainty he saw about the future of this exercise. I could see why someone
GINGERI took a deep breath. My mind was blanking. What was I supposed to ask him? He looked so pathetic at that moment. I almost felt bad for him.“He. Wants. To. Murder. Your. Mate,” Sara emphasized.“Why do you want to murder my mate?” I blurted out, feeling put on the spot.He stared at us and didn’t say anything. Sara chortled.“Thinks being silent will save him and his pack.” Sara stepped forward. “Dumbass.” Before I could process what she was saying, she had her knife shoved so deep into his stomach her hand was practically inside it. High pitched shrieks echoed off the walls, floor, and ceiling. I clutched at my stomach as blood spluttered out of his. “First time you’ve been penetrated, eh?” Sara said as she pulled the knife out. “It’s okay, after the first time it only gets better and better.” She chuckled. “At least for me.”At first, I just felt cold. An unnatural cold, one that seeped into my bones despite the warm basement air. Then, my head started to ache, a dull throb