Page 170 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

“So does this mean all is forgiven then?” I asked them as Jared passed me another cut of meat from the makeshift spit over the fire. I’d just finished explaining everything to them and answering their million questions and was ready to finally eat.

We’d have to put the fire out when the sun went down, and it was already on its descent down the sky.

We had maybe twenty minutes of burn time left and still a good bit of meat left to cook.

Though many didn’t mind eating it raw in their wolf forms, and that was exactly what most of the weakest of them did.

They’d heal faster that way, without expending the energy needed to shift back.

“Not even close,” Clay growled, tossing me a tall bottle of water from the pack at his feet. “Drink,” he ordered. “You can put on a strong face for them, but we know you need it.”

Jared tapped the meat on the bit of cloth in my hand, and I obediently took a bite, moaning as the flavor coated my tongue.

“Don’t look so smug,” I said between bites and sips of water. “I was fine. Now I’m just...better.”

“Mhmm,” Jared hummed. “If you say so.”

The truth was I’d been trying to make sure everyone else had their fill first, but Jared and Clay were right.

I had no idea how long I’d been passed out in that cellar and the journey to the mill had been long.

I hadn’t touched a single morsel of the supplies Charity and Seth managed to wrangle for the others, knowing we wouldn’t get more than a few miles if they didn’t regain a good amount of strength first.

Not for the first time, I thanked whatever fuckery allowed for shifters to heal quickly. Without it, I didn’t know where we’d be. Where I’d be right now.

As it was, by my third bite of the juicy meat and about halfway through the liter of water, I was already feeling back to my regular self. Minus a few pounds maybe, but that didn’t matter.

“Hey, Allie, mind if—” Charity started, coming over from one of the other cook fires when Clay interrupted her.

“Not now, Char,” he growled. “Let her eat.”

She held up her hands in a placating gesture and stepped away.

“Char, wait,” I called after her, but she was already gone.

“What did you do that for?” I demanded, elbowing Clay in the ribs.

He grunted but didn’t reply.

“I’ll deal with it,” Jared offered, rising and passing his retractable metal skewer to Layla. “Probably just wants clarification on something. You just eat. I’ll be back in a sec.”

I shook my head absently as he left, catching Layla’s raised brow. “See what I mean?” she whispered to Seth, who was seated behind her, his arms loosely wrapped around her middle. He chuckled, making me think I was more than likely the butt of some private joke between them.

I didn’t care though. I’d be the butt of all the damned jokes in the world so long as everyone was okay.

Once I’d polished off the entire bottle of water and every last morsel of meat on my makeshift plate, I sighed, leaning back against a tree. I put a hand to my contented stomach and jumped when something poked me in the ribs.

Clay held out a toothbrush and small tube of paste for me, and I grinned, taking them with a curious tilt of my head. “A toothbrush?” I asked, unable to conceal my smirk.

When they were busy gathering supplies to run far and fast away from camp, he’d dubbed a toothbrush necessary?

He shared my smirk. “Yeah. I was...we were all a mess, Allie. I somehow remembered my toothbrush but not a single scrap of clothing, or even the water. It was Layla who thought to fill a bunch of bottles and wrap some of the meat to take with us.”

He heaved in a breath, looking haunted by the memory still, even with me back here, right in front of him.

I rested a hand on his thigh, shivering at the contact as his passion speared through me from the mate bond, awakening a primal urge deep within that pooled heat between my thighs.

“She’s really great you know. Both of them are. I’m glad they’re with us.”

“Aww, love you, too, Clay,” Layla said with a cheeky wink, having overheard.

He rolled his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his naked chest.

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Let’s go share this around,” Seth said, maybe taking Clay’s subtle hint at wanting a modicum of privacy to talk to me. He took the rest of the meat that’d finished cooking and together he and Layla kicked dirt over the fire until it snuffed out before moving on to share the meager supplies.

“Hey, make sure Piper gets some, will you?”

She had found a place sitting with Archer, Callum, and a few others, but by the way she was sitting, with her knees hugged into her chest, I could tell she wouldn’t be asking for any handouts.

“Will do,” Seth said with a little salute.

“Have fun,” Layla called back, giving me a knowing look that made a hot flush creep up my neck to roost in my cheeks.

Clay cleared his throat. He’d settled one of the large packs they’d brought to transport supplies into his lap to conceal his junk and was now adjusting it. Shoving it down with the palm of his hand.

“Problem?” I asked him knowingly. “You’re wicked, woman.”

I wrinkled my nose, playing it off. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jared returned a second later, making me dangerously aware of just how flushed my skin was. How my thighs squeezed together, and I fought to maintain composure.

Now that we were here, together, and everyone was all right. Resting and fed. And we had a plan. I could think of nothing else on this earth that I wanted more than I wanted them right now.

Nothing.

“Sorry, I was just…” He trailed off, sensing the vibe through the mate bond. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he slowed to a stop right in front of me. “I, uh, was just going over everything with them one more time. A bunch of them are going to try to sleep now while the rest take the first watch.”

I glanced between him and Clay, biting the inside of my cheek to keep myself in check. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, that’s good. Thanks.”

“I can go and, uh...I mean, if you guys want some privacy.”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking virtually anywhere but at me. It seemed Jared had remembered to pack a pair of jeans, and suddenly I was wishing he hadn’t, noticing the bulge begin to form beneath the strong denim.

I licked my lips.

“No,” I said on a breath. “I don’t want you to leave.”

His amber gaze flicked up to meet mine first, and then Clay’s, his lips parting in silent question.

Please.

Clay let out a low rumble beside me, and I turned to see his blue eyes lit from within, his face stormy.

He nodded to Jared, just one tight bob of his head, before moving to stand, taking the pack with him. “I’m up for a walk...” he said, a muscle in his neck straining. “...if you are.”

My gaze snapped back to Jared and something in my expression must have undone him because his rigid stance loosened and the look in his eyes softened. He held out a hand for me, offering to help me stand. “Yeah,” he said. “I could go for a walk.”

We left Layla and Charity in charge, promising not to go very far.

They didn’t say as much, but the knowing smirks wriggling at the corners of their mouths told me they knew exactly what we were up to.

And being some of my best friends, they also knew I’d been wanting this for as long as I could remember.

The night crept over the forest swiftly, the last dregs of sunset sucked away by the shadows.

We didn’t speak as we wandered through the foliage, not heading in any direction really except away.

Far enough away that we wouldn’t be heard, but close enough that we could be back in a flash if we needed to.

Jared slid his hand into mine as we neared a gnarled old beech tree, its branches low lying, reaching out near its base like waiting arms.

The sounds of the nighttime forest droned in my ears, humming almost as loud as my own heartbeat. I shivered, even though I was anything but cold. The late summer night just the right temperature to be comfortable. At least, for a shifter.

Jared tugged sharply on my hand, making me spin as we walked up to the tree until my backside met the low branch and he helped me sit atop it, the cool bark surprisingly soft against my skin.

Some unspoken thing passed between my mates as they regarded each other, each seeming to have made a decision I wasn’t privy to.

“We’re…” Jared began, trailing off to tug his lower lip in between his teeth, considering the right thing to say. Reminding me of the Jared I’d first fallen in love with.

“We’re going to try,” Clay finished for him. “But if this doesn’t work—”

“It’s okay,” I blurted, my pulse spiking with an injection of adrenaline and something far more potent. “Just try. That’s all I want.”

All I needed.

Had been needing for so damn long it felt like forever.

Jared stilled as Clay brushed his strong fingers down the line of my neck, making me tremble with need. A moan was already building in my chest, but I worked to contain it, not wanting to spook either of them away.

“Don’t hide from us,” Clay demanded, sensing me holding back. “We can feel you.”

I bit down on my tongue as his hand swept lower, passing over my breast to pebble my nipple.

When Jared leaned in to press a hot kiss to my throat, I swear I saw stars, light, and color bursting around the edges of my vision as I gasped at the dual sensation. Of three souls joining into one.

He kissed a path down my throat, pausing briefly at my collar before delving lower, his fingers tripping up my spine until he pressed his palm flat to the middle of my back. Holding me in place while he took my aching breast into his mouth, making a stuttering moan tumble from my lips.

All the while, Clay’s fingers continued their downward descent, teasing lightly around my hips, my thighs, until they inched toward their mark. He groaned at the first touch of his knuckles against my core, already so wet for them both.