Page 74 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

CYRUS

Cyrus!

I woke with a start, my gaze darting over the moonlit glade, searching for what had woken me.

The Sisters were near full, their soft ever-so-slightly pink illumination bathing the long grass and wildflowers and, on the far side of the open space, lay a huddled form whose power felt like Knox’s. No one else was around and there was nothing to indicate why I was suddenly awake.

Inside the cabin, Audrey whimpered and moaned, the sound hoarse and strained. She cried out with a strangled sob then almost immediately went back to whimpering, her orgasm giving her no reprieve just like she’d been all afternoon.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to will myself to go back to sleep. If we were heading out in the morning, I needed as much rest as possible.

I wasn’t sure how I’d managed to fall asleep on the porch swing the first time with the sounds of the exhausted sex marathon going on or Audrey’s scent taunting me every time the wind shifted, but I had, and I needed to figure it out again. It was the only thing I could do.

Fuck. Cyrus! Bishop gasped in my head, his mental voice filled with panic.

I jerked upright, my heart racing. What’s wrong?

Get the sedative.

Audrey’s whimpering grew louder and her moans more pained than pleasured.

Get the sedative now. Please, Cyrus. He groaned and mental whispers of soft, soothing words ghosted through me as he tried to soothe Audrey without breaking our connection. I can’t bring her fever down. I’ve tried cooling her in the tub. Even put in ice. Nothing is working. She isn’t even giving me time to recover. And I knew without him saying anything that he’d made her come as many times as he could before losing control and coming himself.

I scrambled off the swing as quietly as I could. I didn’t want to alert Knox that anything was wrong. His wolf would break his collar and he’d seal the bond without a second thought.

Which would solve our current problem, my wolf snarled at me, pissed that we weren’t doing everything in our power to help her.

It’s a last resort, I snarled back. If the sedative didn’t work then I’d talk to Knox and deal with the consequences — one of which could be Audrey hating me for forcing her to bond with a mate she didn’t want.

I hurried inside and grabbed the bottle of sedative and dropper from my pack, grateful I’d visited the town healer right after my conversation with Bishop.

Hurry, he gasped. “It’ll be okay. I promise,” he cooed, his voice half in my head and half out loud.

Please let him be right, I prayed and raced into the bedroom.

Audrey lay on her side, her arms wrapped around her stomach and her knees pulled up. Desperate, heartbreaking sobs wracked her body and tears streamed over her cheeks onto the pillow.

Bishop lay tucked up against her, stroking her hair and murmuring to her while his other hand was buried between her thighs.

She whimpered and rocked into him, but from the sheen of sweat on her skin and how fast she was panting between her gut-wrenching sobs, I knew the fever was too strong to be satisfied with just his fingers.

Her body tensed and shuddered with a release, but her sobs didn’t stop, and Bishop shot me a gutted look, his eyes begging me for help.

Get her on her back, head raised, I commanded and set the bottle of sedative on the dresser, as far away from the bed as possible without leaving the room. I didn’t want to risk her fighting me like she had every time we’d tried to feed her.

The sedative had been a gift for saving the villagers from the grimalkins — just like the use of the cabin — but I suspected it was worth a lot and I didn’t want to have to ask for more.

With a steadiness I didn’t feel, I unscrewed the bottle, dipped the dropper in the pungent, glowing green liquid, and sucked up the dose for a human female.

When I turned around, Bishop had her partially rolled over, her head in his lap. She was still curled in a ball, hugging herself as if her insides hurt — which they probably did — but at least her head was raised mostly facing up. Hopefully that would mean she’d swallow the sedative and not let it dribble out of her mouth.

I climbed onto the bed, realizing that even in my panic I was fully erect, my cock straining against the confines of my pants… and that Bishop wasn’t. Heat radiated from Audrey’s frail body like an oven and her eyes stared off into nothing.

“Please,” she sobbed. “Please. Why don’t you want me? Please. I need—” Her sobs turned to agonized wails and she writhed on Bishop’s lap.

I emptied the dropper into her mouth and Bishop followed the sedative with a sip of broth that thankfully encouraged her to swallow.

“Ida said it could take ten to fifteen minutes before it works and only if we’ve gotten the dose right.”

“That long?” Bishop shot me a panicked look.

“Just keep her comfortable,” I said, but her breathing turned ragged and her body jerked, her muscles starting to convulse.

Bishop shoved his hand between her thighs again. “We don’t have ten minutes.”

And Bishop was just too exhausted. Shifters had increased healing and stamina, but even we had limits, especially when we were sleep deprived.

Fuck. The fever had to be brought down long enough for the sedative to work, and I was the one who was going to have to do it.

For a split second, I thought about capturing her attention and getting her consent, but she was too far gone. I wouldn’t be able to get her lucid in time to save her… if I could even get her lucid.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

I jerked off the bed and yanked off my clothes. My wolf leaped to the front of my consciousness, thrilled we were finally going to do what we should have done days ago, but he didn’t take over. He was happy to let me stay in control since he was getting exactly what he wanted.

Bishop watched with a grim expression but didn’t say anything. He knew what had to be done, although he didn’t know entirely how I felt about it. And he never would.

No good could come from telling my brother I wanted his mate when I shouldn’t have her, and without a doubt, Bishop was going to woo her into being his.

I shoved those thoughts aside and tugged on her knees, urging her to open for me.

Her body jerked with another convulsion, and I took the split-second afterward, when her muscles relaxed, to pry her legs open and shove my hips between them. Bishop had two fingers pumping inside her and they glistened with her multiple releases and her body’s need for more.

I watched them slide in and out of her, unable to tear my gaze away. Her breath turned into short, sharp gasps and her hips bucked violently. With a growl, he picked up his pace and ground his thumb on her clit, tearing another orgasm from her exhausted body.

Then he pulled his fingers free and I pushed inside her tight, hot sheath.

Audrey and I both groaned. Audrey with the relief of being properly filled, and me with the relief of finally being buried inside her. I’d been aching for her since before we’d even left Stonehaven, fighting my wolf to stay in control because I couldn’t claim her like he wanted.

This was going to be the closest we’d ever get to having her and the circumstances made my soul weep.

A soft orgasm rippled through her, her walls fluttering around my cock, and she weakly rocked her hips, chasing it but unable to make it bloom in full. I slid my thumb over her swollen clit, helping it grow, and was rewarded with a breathy moan and her inner muscles squeezing me tight.

Fuck. I sucked in a breath, fighting the ache in my cock and balls and the need to pound into her and fully claim her. Even if she was mine, she physically wouldn’t be able to handle that right now, and I needed to hold out until it looked like the sedative was taking over.

Audrey panted and trembled, her eyes glassy and unfocused. I couldn’t stand to see her like that. I wanted her to rise up, embrace the strength within her that I saw every time she squared off against a grimalkin. And I never wanted her to fight one of those beasts again. I was the alpha. It was my job to protect her.

The urge the hold her, comfort her, protect her overwhelmed me, and I pulled her to my chest, my arms around her body supporting her. I hated how light she was, how weak. I hated that she had to walk all the way here, and I hated how the spell failed. Not because I didn’t want to share her with Knox or that I thought Knox shouldn’t be her mate, but because it had hurt her and had torn a gash in her far-too fragile hope.

I held her still and rolled my hips, sliding in and out in long, slow strokes. She’d already worked herself to exhaustion. I could take over now and do the work, give her what she needed.

Her desperate, sharp pants evened out into deeper breaths that turned into soft moans, and her hands tangled in my hair while she buried her face in the crook of my neck and breathed in my scent.

Another orgasm rolled through her and then another. Her moans grew louder, filled with pleasure, the sound of her satisfaction and her muscles clenching around me, straining my control. A warmth radiated around my heart, our shifter souls connecting and calming. It was as strong as the warmth I felt when my brothers’ souls steadied mine… the same strength I’d felt as a child embraced by my mother or fathers.

It was the feeling of home.

And I only felt it because the stress of the situation heightened my emotions, not because it actually meant something.

Audrey came with a weak cry, and I continued to thrust into her, my pace building, my own release threatening to break free.

Another release shook her, strong enough to make her frail body tense against mine, but her cry of pleasure was weaker, softer.

“I think she’s about to pass out,” Bishop said. He leaned against the headboard, his expression exhausted. He looked like he was about to pass out as well.

His words shattered what little control I had, and I thrust faster and harder, determined to give her one more orgasm before I lost control.

She tried to rock into me, matching my speed, and pulled on my hair. Her lips captured mine in a weak, needy kiss, and my wolf seized control and kissed her back.

He knew I didn’t want to cross that line of intimacy and wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by. Having sex to relieve the fever was one thing, but kissing made it personal, deepened the connection between our souls, and sent searing desire straight to my cock.

She came with a sharp inhalation, her body tensing, her inner muscles seizing my cock and yanking me over the edge.

I came hard, my seed spilling into her satisfying my wolf even though he knew she was on birth suppressant and this wouldn’t give us the pups he wanted.

Then she went limp, the sedative taking over, and I laid her on the bed beside Bishop. He watched me with wolf-darkened eyes, but I didn’t see aggression in them from having been with his soon-to-be mate. No, they were filled with understanding.

Yeah. I was so fucked.