Page 11

WREN

Puck’s green eyes bled to gold as he glared at my torso. I had the sudden urge to cover myself and disappear. I shifted, turning slightly so I wasn’t quite in full sight.

Everything about my body felt mangled. Ruined. My skin would never be the same. My body would never be whole. Just like my soul. Not when my bond would always be fractured.

“Don’t,” Puck growled. “Don’t hide. Not from me.”

I sucked in a sharp breath as he moved into my space and dropped to his knees. Puck’s hands moved to my hips, gripping me gently around the band of my sweatpants. Then he leaned in, his lips ghosting over one especially bad scar.

Locke’s hand curved around my shoulders, steadying me as my body started to falter. Puck’s lips moved to the next scar. “I’d give anything to save you from these. Keep you from feeling this pain. I’d pay any price.”

His mouth skimmed each healed wound as if he could erase them with touch and word. “But you never have to hide them from me. From us.”

I stared down at the man before me. So massive and strong yet kneeling at my feet. “They made you mad,” I whispered.

“They make me want to find every man who’s laid a finger on you and remove their organs one by one,” Puck gritted out.

His fury blasted off him in fiery waves I could feel. It was like it was a living, breathing thing. “I don’t want you to have that kind of hate. I don’t want it to turn you.”

It was the sort of thing that could ruin you. Twist you up and turn you into someone you didn’t even recognize.

Puck’s thumb skimmed along a scar. “You keep me from the edge. But I’ll always want to protect you. Will always be willing to lay my life down for yours.”

“Puck,” I whispered.

“You have to know, Birdie. You changed everything.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to my belly again. As he pulled back, his eyes had a little more green in them. His fingers hooked in the band of my sweats. “Let’s get you into the bath.”

That was a good idea. I wasn’t sure I could stand on my own anymore. Puck gently pulled my pants and underwear down and stood quickly.

“Do you want me to lift you?” Locke asked softly.

I shook my head. “I can do it.”

But Locke and Puck didn’t let me do it alone. And, Gods, that felt too good. Locke took one hand, Puck took the other, and together they helped me into the tub.

I moaned as I sank into the bubbles, the heat and something else seeping into my muscles. “What’s in here?” I mumbled as my head tipped back onto a towel Puck had fashioned into a pillow.

“Hera left us with a healing tonic to put in your baths for a while,” Locke informed me. “She said it would help you regain your strength.”

“Good,” I murmured, my eyes fluttering closed for a moment. I needed all the strength I could get. Would need to train harder if a human had taken me by surprise.

Hands closed around my shoulders, kneading the flesh there. “You need to give yourself time,” Puck chastised.

My eyes opened again, and Locke filled my vision as he sat on the side of the tub. I didn’t turn to answer Puck, simply spoke the words. “I’m going to need that strength.”

Locke stiffened as Puck’s hands tightened around my shoulders, his ministrations stilling. Their bodies spoke the questions their mouths didn’t.

“I can’t stay here,” I whispered.

There were countless reasons why. Half their pack didn’t want me, and who knew which of Ender’s sources had figured out my link to the Red River pack? I didn’t know whether that information had gotten back to my father. I couldn’t stay here. Not anymore.

“If you leave, we’re going with you.” There was a defiance and certainty to Locke’s voice I’d never heard before.

“Locke—”

“We’re with you,” he growled.

Puck picked up his massage again. “He’s right, Birdie. You’re ours, and we’re yours. We go where you do.”

My eyes stung, the same burn lighting in my throat. The sense of belonging felt too good. But it was dangerous, too. Because it meant there was more to lose.

Locke’s hand slipped into the bath water, taking mine. “We don’t have to figure it out right now. You need time to recover. Take it. We have nothing we need to do at this very moment.”

I knew he was right. It would be stupid and reckless to leave Crescent Creek and the Arcane pack’s protection when I wasn’t at full strength, not to mention the threat of the pack’s alter ego they were known as in many circles, The Diablos.

My wolf let out a snarl. She was furious with Brix, King, and Ender but didn’t want to leave them either.

She also didn’t want us to end up in a madman’s clutches again.

“Okay. I get stronger, and then we figure it out.”

Puck’s lips pressed to my temple. “Will you let us take care of you? Find that strength again?”

A hint of confusion swirled inside me until Puck’s hand slipped beneath the bubbles, his fingers tracing my nipple under the water. My lips parted as the bud tightened.

“Our connection will feed you,” Puck rasped.

My back arched as I leaned into his touch. The lore said that every aspect of physical closeness helped mates grow stronger. Physically. Emotionally. Supernaturally. Every part of our being was better with that intimacy.

Puck’s finger circled the hard peak. “Say the word, Birdie. Tell us we can take care of our girl.”

My walls were no match for Puck. “Yes,” I breathed.

A low, rumbling growl slipped from Puck’s lips. “Locke. Help me.”

Locke’s gray eyes sparked with silver beneath those black-framed glasses, but there was also uncertainty. Something about that pricked at my heart.

“I need you,” I whispered.

That was all it took for Locke—just knowing I’d asked for something he could give. His hand slid up my thigh in soothing strokes. My blood heated as my nerve endings came alive.

Puck’s lips skimmed the column of my neck. “You smell like heaven and home. Everything about you is so damn perfect.”

I tipped my head to the side, granting him better access, relishing the feel of his lips and the occasional prickle of his scruff.

“Tell me what she feels like.” Puck’s words were a gentle order, and Locke’s eyes flashed again.

“So smooth,” Locke whispered. His finger traced a scar on my thigh. “Her body is a map of her life, telling me everything she’s been through to get to me. To us.”

Tears pricked my eyes. “Locke.”

Our gazes collided, chaining us there. “She’s so damn strong. Been through a war. And now we’re going to make sure she never has to fight again.”

I wished I could believe those words, but I knew life didn’t usually play out that way. Still, I loved that Locke wanted to give me that peace.

“Higher,” Puck ground out, his fingers twisting my nipple into a hardened point.

Locke’s hand shifted closer, almost to the apex of my thighs, but he didn’t take his eyes off my face, as if constantly checking that I was okay. That it felt good. His gentleness and care nearly broke me.

My hips shifted, needing to get closer to Locke’s hand, to him .

His fingers gently grazed my slit, coaxing in gentle strokes. Locke hissed out a breath. “Silky heat. A dusting of hair.”

“Fuck,” Puck muttered. “Need more. Need to know how she feels inside. Every damn detail.”

Locke didn’t look away from me, wanting permission, needing it before he took the next step.

I nodded, my hips rocking again.

He didn’t wait. His fingers coaxed me open, and I let my knees fall to the sides, resting on the tub. Locke slid two fingers inside me, and my head tipped back at the delicious feeling.

“Tell me,” Puck ground out.

“Tight, strangling heat,” Locke said, his voice tense.

“In and out,” Puck ordered. “Nice and easy. Drag your fingertips down her walls.”

Locke instantly obeyed. Somehow, their cadence worked together as if their bond made their timing perfectly in sync.

My body bowed as Locke’s fingers curled inside me, and Puck twisted my nipple. My breaths came quicker, short pants of need.

“Faster,” Puck clipped. Locke picked up speed. It was almost too much: the feel of them both after feeling nothing but alone. Puck’s lips trailed to my ear. “Tell me I can mark you.”

My whole body shuddered. I knew what that mark would bring me. More pleasure. More connection. But it would also tighten our bond.

“Yes,” I whispered. Because Puck made me want to be reckless. Wild. His.

Locke’s fingers thrust in and out of me as I felt Puck’s canines lengthen against the delicate skin of my neck. My inner walls fluttered in response to them both.

“She’s close. I feel it,” Locke croaked.

“Now.” Puck bit into the skin where my shoulder met my neck.

The moment his teeth slid into me, everything was more. Sparks danced along every nerve ending. Waves of sensation crashed over me in an endless cascade. I broke. My body pulled both men into me as if it wanted to keep them forever. And my wolf agreed, letting out a howl of pleasure.

Locke muttered a curse as he stroked me through my orgasm, coaxing out aftershocks one after the other. Puck’s teeth pulled from my body, and he licked his mark clean. I shuddered again. The brand would be the most sensitive part of me until it faded weeks from now.

I found myself yearning for that permanent mark, the one that would link Puck and me together forever. Only I wanted one from Locke, too. And, if I was honest, I wanted it from all of them. Even the ones who had hurt me.

Puck pressed a kiss to my temple. “How do you feel?”

My mouth curved. “Like my bones turned to soup.”

Locke chuckled. “You’re beautiful when you come apart.”

My gaze locked on his. “Thank you.”

“Nothing makes me happier than giving you what you need.”

I just hoped I could do the same for them. That we could find some miracle that would allow us to make this bond work. But some dark voice in my mind told me it would never happen.