Page 6 of It’s Kind of a Bunny Story (Hey There, Hop Stuff #3)

T he cave shook as bodies slammed against the entrance, and the tunnel amplified the chilling snarls until it seemed like I was in the middle of the brawling beasts outside.

Smoke rolled into the cave, bringing the coppery scent of blood and the stench of unbathed coyotes.

It was becoming harder to breathe with each passing second.

Biting down on my knuckle, I tried to muffle my cries.

Copeland whined and licked at the tears streaking down my cheek.

As the heat of the battle and my body escalated, I split my focus between trying to hold off my bunny’s demands and straining to hear Linc’s growls, needing to know he was still alive.

How much longer before the pack showed up? More importantly, how long could Linc hold off the coyotes before he was too exhausted and got injured?

My answer came minutes later when Linc howled in pain. A sharp warning bark had Copeland leaping off me and bounding into the dark tunnel.

Lifting my head, I listened as Copeland’s vicious snarl filled the chamber. A coyote tried to respond, but his bark was abruptly cut off, and the cave trembled as something collided with the wall.

Was Linc injured? Dead? I hadn’t heard a sound from him since he’d called Copeland into the fray.

A second agonizing bark tore at my heart, causing all the self-control I’d summoned to evaporate.

I’d shoved my heat into a mental box and had been barely holding the lid closed, but with my concentration broken, the box exploded as though it held a bomb.

My temperature spiked, burning me alive from the inside out.

I tried to move, but none of my muscles would obey.

Gasping, I struggled to inflate my lungs, sucking in the dense, foul-tasting air.

All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and sob until the nightmare was over, but I couldn’t sit there listening as my mates died defending me. There had to be something I could do.

Scanning the cave, my gaze landed on the silverware Copeland had brought for me. A steak knife. It wasn’t my first choice of a weapon, but it was one I’d used before. I shuddered, trying not to think about how that had ended.

I pushed to my knees, crawling until I could snatch the knife off the ground. Using the protruding stones that lined the cave wall, I pulled myself to my feet and staggered toward the tunnel. Each step felt like I was moving through quicksand that was intent on dragging me down.

The room tilted back and forth like a nauseating teeter-totter, sending bile rushing up my throat. My knees wobbled, refusing to hold my weight. Collapsing to the stone floor, I swallowed my scream of frustration.

I couldn’t give up. My mates needed me. Nothing else mattered.

A low growl had my head snapping up. I was fully prepared to come face-to-face with a mouthful of coyote teeth. Instead, I found Linc’s wolf towering over me. He growled again, dropping his head as though preparing to charge.

One look at the glowering wolf was all it took to spur me into action. I didn’t even bother to stand, but crab-walked backward.

Linc matched my every move, forcing me back into the cave.

His upper lip curled as he bared his glistening white fangs at me.

I knew this man was my mate, the one who swore to protect me, but catching sight of the blood dripping from his jaws, I could no longer silence the voices—or more accurately, the screams—of my ancestors.

With the surge of adrenaline coursing through my blood, I rolled to my stomach and pushed to my knees in a single, smooth move. My muscles tightened as I bolted, intent on escaping the snarling predator.

Where I was planning to go to get away from him, I didn’t know. Fight, flight or freeze was in control, and all I knew was I was going to fly like I’d been born with wings.

And fly I did… like I was a freaking penguin.

I’d only made it a few feet when I face-planted on the pile of blankets, thanks to Linc’s massive wolf tackling me from behind.

Since flying wasn’t happening, I went with plan B: play dead.

Some predators liked to play with their food and grew bored if their dinner didn’t give them a show first. I just hoped Linc’s wolf was that type of predator.

Closing my eyes, I lay perfectly still, not daring to even breathe. A cold nose poked my butt cheek and then my back as the wolf moved to stand over me. His soft fur brushed my bare skin, a shocking contrast to the rough, wet tongue that ran along my ribs.

What the buck?

Was he checking to see if my ribs would make a nice appetizer? Fury pushed aside some of my terror. If my mate was going to eat me for disobeying one little order, maybe I’d shift into my rabbit form and turn myself into a bite-sized snack. It would serve him right if he got less meat!

Hot air blew against the back of my neck, making it hard to stick with my pretend-to-be-roadkill plan.

I whimpered as Linc’s jaws wrapped around my neck, his sharp teeth pressing into my skin.

Still, I remained motionless, not wanting to antagonize a wolf who held my future—or lack thereof—in his jaws.

As if recognizing the opportunity to make me as miserable as possible, a spasm caused my entire middle to contract.

Pressing my face into the blanket, I gritted my teeth and hissed through the agonizing contraction.

Just when I was about to ask the wolf to do a quick chiropractic adjustment on my neck and put me out of my misery, he released me.

Instead of leaving, he continued using his weight to pin me down. He was careful not to hurt me, but enough to get his point across. Move, and he’d be on me faster than a rabbit to a garden.

A single wolf howled in the distance, and Copeland responded with a call of his own. It was answered by another wolf and then a third… and fourth. A heartbeat later, the silence was filled with an army of howls.

Linc lifted his head and joined in the war cry of his pack. It was like nothing I’d heard before and sent chills racing from my toes to my scalp. Even if I lived for a thousand years, I knew I’d never forget the masterpiece composed by a unified pack protecting their land and family.

Logically, I knew I was safe with the pack, but with survival instincts ruling my mind and body, I couldn’t help but tremble in terror at the wolves’ savage serenade.

I wanted to know how badly Linc had been hurt, if Fletcher had made it to safety, and to make sure Copeland was unharmed.

But the crescendoing pain made it impossible to get my scattered thoughts into coherent sentences, let alone get to my feet.

The air crackled with static, and Linc’s weight eased on top of me. Instead of fur, bare skin brushed mine.

“Why do I smell fear, little mate?” Even though it was his stubble-covered jaw nuzzling against my cheek, there was a roughness to his voice that hadn’t been there before. Just how close was his wolf to the surface? “The pack is here to protect us.”

“To protect you and Copeland,” I croaked, my throat dry. “I’m a stranger to them.”

It didn’t matter to me why they’d answered the call; I was beyond grateful for their presence.

“Wrong. They came to protect you, too. You and Fletcher are family.”

“Okay, Dom.” The words were out before I could stop them. I couldn’t help that sarcasm was my coping mechanism for pain.

“Dom?” Linc’s hand slid under my hip, flattening against my stomach. “Are you into the BDSM stuff?”

“BDSM?” I racked my deep-heat-fried-brain trying to figure out the acronym.

Boy Don’t Sniff Me?

Bouncy Dicks Stab Me?

Bunny Does Sexy Men?

Beast Dudes Savor Me?

Bombastic Dicks Slay Mate?

Frankly, I liked the sound of every option my brain could come up with. “I’m not sure. Maybe? Dom is from a movie about fast cars. He’s obsessed with family.”

Linc hummed in acknowledgement, his mouth busy sucking and kissing down my neck. Liquid heat rushed between my legs, and my fingers curled into the blanket.

Yesss! This is exactly what I need. No, wait!

“Linc, are you hurt?” I tried to twist around to check for myself, but received a warning growl for my efforts.

“Yeah. I’m so hard it hurts.” Rocking his hips, Linc’s erection slid against my butt, letting me feel the truth of his words. “How about I make us both feel better?”

“What about Copeland? Fletcher?” Desperate to accept what he was offering, I wiggled my behind, trying to give him better access.

“They are fine. Now stop thinking.” Using the palm pressed to my belly, he lifted me from the blanket.

I barely had time to register his cock bumping against my soaked entrance before he buried himself inside me. Pinned to the floor, there was little I could do other than cry out his name as he took me hard from behind.

This wasn’t gentle lovemaking. It was raw, animalistic sex. A testosterone-filled warrior male claiming the reward of having protected his woman. And my inner shifter was eating it up… not that I had any complaints either.

Chills ran along my skin as Linc’s free hand brushed against my ribs, moving upward until he could cup my breast. The roughened skin of his thumb teased my nipple, causing my channel to spasm around his length.

“Linc!” It was all I could say as the man pounded our bodies together, driving us faster and faster toward the precipice.

“Mine,” he murmured, his mouth trailing kisses over my shoulder.

“I’m yours.” My eyes crossed as pleasure began rippling through me.

“Tell me.” He punctuated the order with a hard thrust of his hips.

It took me a minute to understand what he wanted me to say. “You’re mine.”

His hand moved down from my breast until it slid between my legs. “Say it again.”

The man was asking a lot of me. I was struggling to remember my name, let alone what we were talking about only moments before.

“Linc, you belong”—I gasped as his finger began stroking my clit—“to me.”

“Um-hmm.” His steady rhythm had me whimpering with the need for release.

“Mine for today and forever,” I assured him as blood pounded in my ears.

“Charlee, I want to mark you.” His voice was rough, but his words were so soft it took me a heartbeat to understand what he’d said.

“Then mark me.”

For the first time, he stumbled, missing a beat with his steady thrusts. “It means biting you. And I don’t want to scare you.”

The man could have ripped me apart when he’d found me in the tunnel with a knife. He’d had enough control to keep that from happening. I wasn’t scared anymore.

“Mark me.”

Linc’s cock jerked inside me and his chest rumbled with a sound that wasn’t quite human. His beast was close.

There was no warning before his teeth sank into my neck, but the instant they pierced my skin, my orgasm exploded like a grenade.

My body tightened around Linc’s erection, squeezing him until he was jerking hard inside me.

The sounds of our pleasure filled the cave as he swelled, locking us together.

As we lay there, catching our breath and basking in the afterglow of sex, the soft thud of approaching paws came down the tunnel. I stiffened. Had a coyote somehow snuck past the wolves? Was someone from the pack about to find us naked?

“Relax. It’s Copeland,” Linc assured me, his words muffled against my neck.

Blinking in the dim light, I watched a brown wolf step out of the shadows. His tail swished across the floor as he moved close, presenting me with something that hung from his mouth.

“GREAT LOPPING LAPIN! You killed Fletcher!” I screamed, trying my best to scoot out from under Linc’s body.

“Sugar, calm down?—”

Dropping the bundle of slobber-covered black and white fur next to my face, Copeland lay down on his belly and whined.

“Or what? You’ll eat me too?” I demanded, struggling as he tried to hold me still.

Things were about to get real Watership Down in that cave, if you know what I mean. But the furball sat up with a grunt. Eying Copeland, he sat back on his hind feet and pulled an ear between his front paws as he tried to clean the wet fur.

I choked on a sob. “You’re alive!”

Linc snorted. “Of course he is. We aren’t monsters. Bunny Boy was too exhausted to make it back to the cave. Copeland went to retrieve him because he thought you’d rest better if you had all your mates here.”

Copeland stared up at me and whined again.

Well, great. Guilt hit my stomach like acid, and my eyes burned. I should’ve been thanking him, not accusing him.

“I’m sorry, Copeland.” Reaching out, I tried to brush his cheek, but he was just out of reach.

To my relief, the wolf scooted closer and rubbed his face against my palm. His tail swished the floor, stirring up dust. But I didn’t care. I was too happy to have my mates with me to care about the crappy air quality in the cave.

Linc rolled us so that we lay on our sides, my back still tight against his chest and his erection still filling me. “Copeland said the pack is stationed around the cave. They will keep guard tonight to give us time to rest before we have to move.”

I chewed my lip, hating the idea of leaving my nest, but knowing it couldn’t be helped.

Fletcher finished grooming himself and ducked under my arm so he could tuck himself against me. As he stretched out, I did my best not to laugh at the way his fur stuck out in random patches.

Copeland had shifted during my distraction and lay down as well, sandwiching me between my two wolf mates.

“I’m sorry?—”

“Don’t start that again. Go to sleep.” Copeland kissed my forehead, then lay back and closed his eyes. “But if you decide to have sex again, keep it down. I could hear the two of you over the fight?—”

“The whole pack heard us?” I whisper-shrieked.

“Yes.” Copeland chuckled. “How could they not?”

“Then I hope you were planning on us moving far, far away. How can I look them in the eye when I meet them?”

“Proudly.” Linc nipped at my neck. “That’s how I plan to do it. Let them be jealous of how my mate pleases me.”