Page 47 of Wanted by the Wolves (The Last Shifters #2)

Chapter 46

Nova

D ex doesn’t speak. My warrior mate rips the chains from my neck, tossing them aside before he picks me up like a bride and carries me from the leftover destruction of the king and his followers.

I loop my hand around his thick neck, rubbing his wolf’s fur. He isn’t really his wolf, nor is he the man; he’s trapped somewhere in between. I don’t even bother to guess what this means or why it’s happening. All of that will matter at some point, but right now, he smells like home and safety, and that’s the only thing I need to know.

Behind us, I hear Briggs’s confused voice. “Does that mean we follow?”

“I don’t know. I’m just glad he isn’t taking her here in front of his dead enemies like a true Viking. For a second, I wasn’t sure,” Gage grumbles. “I swear it’s always the quiet ones.”

“Of course you follow,” I tell them between giggles.

I don’t know why I find their conversation so funny, but I keep picturing their faces when Dex looked our way, and I can’t stop laughing. It’s a deranged sound, hysterical and half-full of the giddiness of my rising heat. It shakes loose some of the tension in my muscles. I snuggle against Dex’s furry chest, content not to think about anything that just happened.

I let my eyes track the beams of moonlight spilling from between the trees, getting lost in the shadows and light. My mind is fuzzy, the heat rising under my skin. The feral wolves sound in the distance as we move through the forest, but I’m not afraid. Instinctively, I know that another feral will never hunt me.

My alpha mates fall in behind Dex, the two of them shit-talking the whole time. Their banter is comforting, and the scent of my pack makes my racing heart settle even as my blood heats.

When we reach the river, Dex wades through the icy water, lifting me so I don’t get wet before settling me back against his chest once he hits the other bank. The longer he jogs through the forest toward home, the more the heat seems to take over my thoughts.

By the time we’re in the courtyard, the moon's haze has made me slick. I run my hands through the fur on Dex’s chest and squirm in his arms, desperate.

Dex growls a sexy sound that zips straight through my core.It’s a wordless command I don’t understand, but it seems to get my other two alpha mates moving.

Something warm and tingling settles around me, and I recognize Gage’s magical touch. Green sparks swirl around me as Gage’s hands soothe my neck, taking away the last of the wolfsbane. The other aches and pains just below the surface of my raging heat abate as a rush of magic floods my system, sweeping away the last of this strange night.

“Rest, little star, and let the magic work,” Gage murmurs.

Before I can comply, a wave of cramps makes me whine. My core clenches, empty and desperate.

Dex moves, but I close my eyes, unable to focus.

Hot water jolts me back to the present, and I roll my head around, trying to take in my surroundings. It’s a shower in the cabin but not ours. It’s Gage’s old room from when he was hiding out.

Good. I don’t want to go back to our room. The thought of those wolves in my nest makes another whine creep up my throat, but Dex’s steady palm soothes my back.

“It’s all right, sweet girl. Let me get you cleaned off, and then I promise there will be no more waiting.”

The clarity of Dex’s voice draws my eyes to him, and I realize my mate has returned to me. He still looks a little more wolf than man, his eyes wild, but the red has receded, and his voice has lost that strange rattling power.

He gingerly sets me in his brother’s waiting arms, his deep purr rumbling around us. I brace myself against Briggs’s chest, plastering my cheek to his glowing mate mark while Dex gently washes me.

“You’re all right, pretty wolf. We’ve got you. You're safe and ours,” Briggs murmurs, his big palm rubbing my soaked hair.

I refuse to open my eyes, refuse to see the sickness washing down the drain. The king’s darkness has no business here with my mates and me.

Dex’s slow, soothing motions and his rumbly purr combine with the warm sound of Briggs’s quiet reassurances. Together, they send my body into a trance of good vibes and heated skin. My nipples pebble, and I focus on the ache in my core, rubbing my legs together to get friction where I want it.

My hunter’s big hand brushes between my legs, lathering me. The soap mixes with my pooling slick as he rubs me clean. It’s so good I push my ass against Dex, mouthing along Briggs’s chest and sucking along my mark.

Briggs groans. “You’re wrecking my control, baby.”

His brother growls. “Fuck, little wolf. I know what you need, but just a little longer.” Dex’s words are at odds with his hand, the pads of his fingers kneading my clit.

“Please, alphas,” I beg.

Dex shuts off the water and picks me up in one hurried movement.

Briggs hops around us, gathering towels while Dex sets me down, kneeling in front of me. The towel is scratchy against my skin, the roughness making my nipples ache. I bite my lip, looking at my sexy hunter on his knees, trying to fight off the urge to bend over the counter and offer myself for the taking.

A warm chuckle brushes against my neck. “You gotta hold on because once we get started, we’re not leaving wherever we end up until you’ve been knotted and claimed.”

Briggs’s words are the final straw. I turn, pouncing on him and stealing his lips while I wrap myself around him like a vine. His arms anchor themselves across my back, and he picks me up, never backing away from the kiss as we stumble out of the bathroom.He bangs into a wall, but I don’t care.

Dex growls something, then we’re wrapped in a blanket. Briggs pulls back from the kiss with a curse, but I’m undeterred. I suck along his neck and rub against him, rocking my wet center along his stomach.

Freezing air whips across my heated skin, and the contrast makes my nipples burn. I’m on fire, heat raging up my spine. The world shimmers and shines, my body feeling like liquid gold. I lick Briggs’s skin, tasting his rich, salty flavor.

The temperature changes again, and it’s like stepping into a blooming garden of sunshine. I peek up just enough to see we’re in Gage’s greenhouse. The lights are off, but the room glows with Gage’s magic. Soft white orbs hover in the air, sending little starbursts of shimmering light to dance among the lush flowers of his fragrant garden. It’s like stumbling into a secret fairy world.

Briggs stops at the back of the large greenhouse where Gage is waiting. Gage runs a nervous hand through wet hair, his lean chest glowing with a patchwork of runes. My favorite is the new one glowing over his heart.

“It’s—”

“It’s perfect,” I promise him, giving him a starry-eyed grin.

Gage has transformed his makeshift office into a nest. No, not just a nest— my nest.

He’s carried my blankets and bedding here and rearranged them to look exactly as they did before, adding sage and lavender sprinkled all along the outside of the nest.

My throat gets tight at the same time another wave of cramps hits. I love these fucking men so damn much. I would tell them, but my omega is insistent on showing them.

I scramble from Briggs’s hold and crawl to the center of my fairy-tale nest. I sit on my heels and lick my lips. “Come here and claim me already.”