Page 43 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
I woke alone in the windowless shed. Someone, probably Bishop, had brought me inside and covered me with a blanket, and from the light leaking around the door, it looked like I’d slept all night and into the morning.
With a groan, I sat up. My legs and feet throbbed from walking all day yesterday while the rest of me throbbed from yet another sexy dream.
Like before, Knox had pounced on me like I was his favorite meal, and I’d gone from those initial first moments of confusion to wet and ready in a heartbeat — thank you dreams!
This time, he’d lifted me up, pinned my back against a tree trunk, and brought me down onto his cock in one fast powerful stroke. As usual, all I could do was hold on for the ride and submit to the pleasure, so I’d wrapped my legs around his waist and let him pound into me until stars burst across my vision and his cum exploded into me.
The memory sent a miniature climax shuddering through me and a sensual moan escaped my lips.
I pulled the blanket over my head and groaned. I’d hoped I was too tired for another sexy dream or that somehow leaving the town would help, but nope. Exhaustion or change of location didn’t matter, and, like all the times before, I woke only partially satisfied and aching to give myself a little more.
Except I should probably practice a little self-restrained. After today, I wouldn’t have privacy. I’d be out in the open, camping under the stars with the guys and I couldn’t just give myself an orgasm with them watching.
The thought of Bishop and Cyrus with hungry, wolf-darkened eyes and hard cocks watching Knox push into me sent another miniature climax rushing through me.
Oh, fuck.
I liked that idea.
What was wrong with me?
The mating bond was urging me to have sex with Knox and I was in heat. I had to be. That was what was wrong with me.
There was no point in hiding it or feeling ashamed. As soon as one of them opened the shed door, or as soon as I stepped out, they were going to smell that I was just as achy and desperate this morning as I was yesterday morning and the morning before that. And if I was going to get through this journey without begging Bishop or Cyrus to sleep with me or giving in and sealing my bond with Knox, I was going to have to relieve the pressure.
I pushed my hand down the front of my pants and ran my finger through my folds. I was so wet I had to have come in my sleep, and I was still strung so tight, I came almost the second I rubbed my slickened finger over my clit.
Jeez, we couldn’t get to this death god’s altar soon enough.
I gave myself two orgasms, hoping it would be enough to take the edge off, then squared my shoulders, my cheeks hot with embarrassment despite my determination to not be ashamed, and stepped out of the shed.
All the men instantly turned to look at me, even Deacon, still in his wolf form, who stood forty feet away on the road. Swell.
My embarrassment burned hotter, searing over my whole face and sweeping down my neck. But I made myself march to the fire, checked the direction of the smoke, and sat downwind from Cyrus.
“It’s going to take half the day to reach Anakar,” Cyrus said, not addressing my obvious arousal, his attention locked on the pot hanging from the rotisserie over the fire. “We’ll make sure Whil and the hunt team are set, then carry on.”
I nodded as Whil scooped what looked like oatmeal out of the pot into a bowl, added a spoon, and handed it to me.
“I want to get as far away from Darkweald as possible before we stop for the night,” he continued, still not looking at me.
“I understand,” I said even though I wasn’t a hundred percent sure he was talking to me.
“Good.” He stood and dumped the bucket of water on the fire. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
“Good morning to you, too,” I mumbled to his back as he strode away. His shoulders stiffened, obviously hearing my words with his better-than-human hearing, but he didn’t turn back and scold me.
“He has a lot on his mind,” Bishop said as he gracefully sank to the ground beside me, slid his hand under the back of my shirt, and pressed his palm against my skin.
His touch reignited the fire in my core that I’d tried to get down to a manageable level with my morning orgasms.
“Not going to pull me into your lap,” I breathed.
“If we want to leave in ten minutes, probably not a good idea,” Bishop said, his voice strained. “But you still need as much contact as we can give you.”
“You mean, you ,” I said around a mouthful of oatmeal flavored with chunks of last night’s rabbit. “As much contact as you can give me.”
“Cyrus will help if you need him.” Bishop’s attention jumped to his brother and his expression grew sad. “But he’s got obligations to the pack and he’s worried?—”
“It’s okay,” I said, cutting him off, knowing he was going to bring up the fact that I was a powerless shifter and not worthy to be Cyrus’s mate whether I wanted to be his mate or not. Right now, I was turned on and achy, not icy and hollow, and I wanted to keep it that way. “I understand.”
I finished my breakfast and washed my bowl and the oatmeal pot while Bishop took the telescopic metal pieces making up the rotisserie, shrunk them down, and secured them in his pack.
Everyone grabbed their packs and we headed off again, this time leaving the road to wade through the thigh-high grass. My feet and legs started complaining right away but there wasn’t anything I could do about it, so I tried to distract myself by looking at the stunning scenery of endless rolling foothills and, when we reached the top of a hill, the forests in the distance.
By mid-morning we crested the top of a tall hill and looked down at a thick, dark forest. Mist seeped from between the trunks and melted the second it reached the sunlight, and the weight of something dark and ominous whispered against my senses.
It felt like the power I sensed from the shifters around me, particularly Deacon and Cyrus who had so much power they struggled to contain it, except somehow I knew it wasn’t coming from a shifter.
“Stay on the trail and stay by Bishop,” Cyrus said, his attention locked on the forest. “There are beasts and spirits in Darkweald. Some more dangerous than grimalkins.”
He didn’t wait for me to answer before striding down the hill toward a marginally wider opening among the trunks. Four brown wolves rushed down the hill ahead of him and slipped into the misty darkness. Deacon stayed with me, Bishop, and Whil, while Knox was already in the forest.
I hadn’t seen him since the meeting in Whil’s greenhouse cottage, but I could always sense him, and my attention kept jumping to wherever I felt he was even though I couldn’t see him and didn’t want to look for him.
The marginally wider opening among the trees was a narrow trail that forced us to walk in single file, leaving me feeling exposed on either side the second we crossed the threshold into the forest and were cloaked in shadows and mist and silence. There was no bird song or even the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
The only sounds were our footsteps crunching on dead leaves and twigs, and the heavy ominous power seemed to muffle even that. It thankfully didn’t grow in strength, but it was like it had substance and had plugged up my ears and nose.
“Do you have spirits in your realm?” Bishop whispered as if he didn’t want to disturb the hush among the trees or perhaps grab the attention of whatever possessed the ominous dark power.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen or heard of one, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist in my realm,” I replied, although for all I knew his realms spirits were supers I already knew about and were called something else.
“They’re manifestations of a god’s power,” he said. “The closer you get to a god or goddess’s resting place, the more likely you are to encounter one.”
“How powerful are these manifestations?” I asked, peering into the thick, misty shadows around us. The guys had said there was a malicious god sleeping in this forest, which meant these spirits wouldn’t be friendly.
“They get more powerful the closer you get to the god.”
“And how close are we getting?” Although I had a bad feeling I already knew the answer.
Too close, Deacon said in my head. To the heart of Anakar. But most of the area is out in the open, so we should be fine if we leave the forest before sundown.
Which would explain why Cyrus didn’t want to spend the night here… not that I’d want to spend the night even with just the pressure from the ominous power.