You’re a traitorous little whore, and we’ll be discussing this later,I tell her.
But beneath the shame, I feel something else. Her joy. And it’s not small or quiet. It’s huge. It fills every part of me, warm and aching and desperate. How long has it been since she felt safe enough to play? How long since she’s been around other wolves at all? I’ve been denying her pack for three years. Forcing her to survive alone when everything inside her screamed for closeness, for warmth, for the comfort of belonging somewhere.
I hate this. I hate them. I hate how good it feels.
Fuck. We really have been lonely, haven’t we?
No. I shake the thought away. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong to anyone.
But my wolf’s joyful yips fill the air, and I can’t pretend I don’t feel what she feels. We’ve been starved for this.
Both of us.
14
Mo
I’m wrapped in warmth. I try to move, but something holds me in place. Heavy, solid, alive. My eyes snap open.
A heavy arm drapes over my waist, and something hard presses against my lower back. Panic floods my system as I realize I’m being spooned by a large, muscular, and very naked male.
I shriek and kick backward with everything I have. My heel connects with something solid, and I’m rewarded with a grunt of pain.
“What the actual fuck?” I growl, twisting around and scrambling away so fast I nearly face-plant, legs tangled in the blanket. I yank it with me, wrapping it around myself because I’m naked too, courtesy of the shift, and there is no way in hell I’m giving this asshole a show.
Elias has the audacity to grin through his grimace of pain. “Morning, sweetheart. Sleep well?”
“Why were you—. How did we—” The questions stumble over each other on the way out. “Why were you fucking spooning me?” I snarl.
He stretches, slow and lazy, and what’s left of the blanket slides off him enough that I get an eyeful of exactly how happy he is to see me this morning.
And what the hell is that? Of course, the fucker who loves being strangled is pierced.
I look away.
“You passed out by the fire last night. I was just keeping you warm.”
“Touch me again,” I point at the grinning idiot, “and I’ll nail your balls to the wall and use them as coat hooks.”
His grin only widens, and he stretches again, completely unashamed of his nudity. “Your wolf insisted we cuddle. And between you and me…” He winks.
The audacity of this male.
“I much prefer choking to ball-nailing. But if that’s what gets you going, I’m open to negotiation.”
I grab the lamp from the bedside table.
He holds up his hands in surrender, finally looking a little concerned about the makeshift weapon in my grip. “Okay, okay! No touching. Got it.”
I set the lamp back down, but keep my glare firmly in place.
“For what it’s worth, your wolf was very affectionate. Practically demanded cuddles from all of us. Especially Silas.”
“My wolf can go fuck herself,” I snap, heat flooding my face.
I bolt for my room, slam the door, and press my back against it. My chest heaves. What the hell is wrong with my wolf? Doesn’t she remember that alphas are the enemy? A few playful moments outside, fine, I can grant her that. But spooning an alpha? Curling up against him like some docile little omega who’s found her forever home?
The shower doesn’t help. I scrub at my skin, trying to wash away the memory of his body against mine. The heat of him. The weight of his arm. The way my wolf had settled into him like she’d found exactly where she wanted to be and had no intention of leaving.