Nathan groaned as he rolled in his bed, his head throbbing painfully from a hangover to end all hangovers, but even more strange, his jaw and face ached as well. What the fuck happened? Fragments came back to him: the fight with Dana-another fuck-up in his courtship of her. He'd owe her an apology for acting like such an ass, something he should have done the night before instead of sending John straight into her arms while he turned to drinking beer. Lots of it. He recalled deciding to get sloshed once he realized John and Dana were making love and then mated. A pang of hurt, tinged with some jealousy, hit him. He'd truly wanted to be first, but instead, he'd allowed his stubborn nature to send another man to her when she was vulnerable. The rest of the evening was a blur as he'd drowned his pain in alcohol. But it didn't explain his sore face. He rolled out of his bed, a bed he didn't remember staggering to, and stumbled over to a mirror. He let out a low whis
Sitting in a dark movie theater with a mate on one side and a man she planned to mate with on the other proved interesting. Make that titillating. Dana held the popcorn bucket on her lap, and every time they dug into the buttery box, she couldn't help wishing their hands were diving for a different snack. The darkness thankfully hid her blushes, but it couldn't stop her arousal. John draped an arm over her shoulder and bent to whisper, "Are you okay?" She turned toward him and leaned in close, but instead of speaking, she kissed him. His body went rigid for a moment before he kissed her back. When she moaned against his mouth, frustrated that he wasn't stripping her for more, he pulled back, his breathing ragged. "Behave. We're in public." Dana made a face at him and slumped in her seat. A hand brushed her thigh from the other side, and she peered sideways to see Kody watching the screen as his hand flattened itself on her thigh then began sliding her skir
Dana giggled quite a bit as they hunted for their clothes and brushed them off. Her cheeks heated a few times at her mates' ribald remarks, but surprisingly, even now that the ardor had worn off, she didn't regret a thing. In the space of less than a week, she'd gone from hiding from a mating situation to becoming part of a polyamorous group with three men. Ain't love grand? They crowded back into the SUV with Dana sitting on Kody's lap in the front seat and John holding her hand and driving with his free one. A need to remain close to them imbued her, especially as the sky darkened and they approached the compound. Once again, she feared Nathan's reaction, especially once he realized she'd marked Kody. I've got to stop letting my hormones make my decisions because, in truth, making things right with Nathan should have come before her frolic and claiming of Kody. But nestled in his arms, his lips brushing the top of her head, she couldn't muster the strength to regret
Nathan dropped his duffel bag by the large oak in the clearing where, a lifetime ago, he'd made love to Dana. It seemed only fitting to him that he make his stand in the place where his life had changed and shaped him into the man who now needed to escape. The irony of the situation didn't escape him. She ran because she didn't want to be shared, and now it's my turn to run because my jealousy couldn't handle it. But he wouldn't leave until he could assure himself of her safety, and that meant clearing out the rogues. A part of him screamed at himself for stupidly coming to face them alone. How many times had he drummed into his pack the need to not leave the compound at night unless they were in large groups? What made him think he alone could handle the menace? Sure, he possessed more strength than his brothers of the fur, and he had the unique ability to half shift into a beast-an ability that only the ones with the most control could achieve--but still, he was only one wolf a
It didn't take long for John and Kody to assemble the wolves in the pack to search. Nathan hadn't taken a vehicle, which meant they could track him. They set out on foot to search for his trail. Well, Dana was on foot. The rest of the males adopted their wolf shapes. Dana trusted them to smell anything before it attacked. She had a different plan in mind. Nathan had tried to obscure his trail, and the wolves they'd brought along split into groups of four to follow the false leads. Dana trusted her instincts-and a tugging on her heart. She ended up leading John and Kody. Her pace through the dark forest increased as certainty of Nathan's location blossomed in her mind. Approaching the clearing where her whole life had changed, she slowed, not because of the voices she could hear but because of the sense of wrongness-evil-permeating the air. She walked carefully, lest she give away her presence, all the while straining to hear the conversation. What she did hear made th
Nathan held Dana and marveled that, after everything that had happened, she still wanted him. She'd saved him, not just from his monster of a father but himself. Nathan set her down and, when John cautiously approached, dragged him in close for a hug, a quick one. They were naked, after all. "Thanks for coming, brother," he whispered. Kody had no problem with a naked hug, and he tackled the two of them in his enthusiasm. "Woo! The terrible trio back in action again." It was only when they realized that Dana watched their naked huddle with twinkling eyes and a smirk that they broke apart with a lot of throat clearing and back thumping. "Um, guys, where did Roderick go?" Dana's hesitant words made them all whirl and peer, only to see that not only had Roderick disappeared, but the rogues had slunk off too. The question she wondered was did Roderick get up on his own, or did the rogues carry off their leader? The rest of the pack took that moment to show up,
Dana basked in the attention they laved on her. What a change. She'd gone from playing alone with herself to having three men-my mates-determined to please her. Kody and John had each laid claim to a breast, but while they both tortured her, their technique differed, from the way John liked to swirl his tongue around her areola to Kody, who liked to nibble. She would have arched at their touch had they not held her down. She craned to find Nathan, suddenly fearing he'd left, unable to handle the situation. But she found him, kneeling between her legs, stroking his cock. He caught her perusal and smiled, a slow, sensuous thing that made her quiver at the promise in it. He let go of his rod and bent forward, his mouth hovering over her sex. Dana moaned as he blew on it. He cupped her buttocks and lifted her up. She clenched tight, waiting for his touch, but when it came, it wasn't where she expected. He licked her anus, his wet tongue sliding across her rosette an odd s
Dana lay in a tangle of limbs that made her smile. How she'd made the jump from no mate to three, all at once, still baffled her at times, but she thanked her stars she'd come to her senses. It had been almost a month since the showdown with Nathan's dad, and while rogue activity had dropped, they were still constantly on guard. Dana had also taken to carrying a stake around along with her handy-dandy pistol. Nathan had confronted the Lycan council with the fact of his father's state of being, and things had turned ugly. For the council, that was. A number of packs backed him when Nathan asked for the entire council's removal and a trial for their misdoings, not that the cocky council members were admitting to anything. In the meantime, Nathan, along with some other pack leaders, had taken over interim leadership of the council. He'd already confided to her that if the post became permanent, the first thing he'd do was make changes to the pack laws to give women more rights