26. Lila
26
LILA
H aving all three men around wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. For the most part, I spent my time with Weylin, but that was mainly because of the case. As much as he was the first to make me laugh or roll my eyes, when it came to his work, he took it seriously.
On top of setting up patrols and working on a plan to keep alphas safe from the serial killer, Weylin was helping me tap further into my shifter senses, often taking me out in the city and playing a game called “shifter or human.” At first, I realized I was completely nose blind to humans, but when I picked up the scents of shifters, I was beginning to distinguish the two.
Humans were rather plain to me. They had an underlining odor that wasn’t completely unpleasant, but when compared to a shifter, it was lacking. Shifters had a smell that was very complex. Weylin had said that, among our kind, our scents were appealing, depending on the level of attraction. While I didn’t find coconut particularly alluring, to another shifter, it might create the same pull that Weylin’s sweet and tangy scent created in me.
Admittedly, this game didn’t last too long. After a couple days of me getting the hang of scenting other shifters, I’d trailed after one man a little too long. It wasn’t that his scent was appealing; it was that I was trying to place it. Weylin wasn’t too keen on my proximity, and such, the man ended up pinned to the wall in an ally, Weylin making him vow to never set eyes on me and me apologizing profusely for the situation. I hadn’t stood for it. Weylin had gotten the cold shoulder for it the next day. He hadn’t felt the least bit upset and stated he would do it again.
Rainor would show up randomly throughout the week, sometimes during the day, letting himself in and hanging out with Max until I returned home. Though, he often showed up in the middle of the night. His lack of clothes let me know he had run here. I wondered if it was the beast that forced him to come over or if it was a joint effort. Whatever it was, I was growing accustomed to the late-night slipping into my bed. I had also convinced Weylin to acquire some clothes, so Rain didn’t have to wear my fluffy robe around the house. Weylin put up a fight at first but eventually relented, adding a few articles of each of their clothes to the closet in the other room. My old bedroom.
Kage came around a couple of times a week to have a meal with us or sometimes just to crash on the couch. He worked more than I had realized, often continuing calls while he was here. Only once, when he being hounded by the phone, and Rainor took it upon himself to shut the damn thing off. I watched him deflate into the couch, his head slumping a bit to the side, and that’s when I realized he came to my house to get away from it. Maybe any other woman would’ve demanded his attention when he was here, but I let him have his peace, only coming to him when he called for me.
In the human world, I had somehow hitched myself to three boyfriends. It was unorthodox, looked down upon, and likely to fall apart. If anyone in the human world found out, I would be criticized and ostracized.
However, with the three of them, I was wolf first.
In the shifter world, I had three mates. I hadn’t met a single gamma that blinked twice at me holding Weylin’s hand, only for Rainor to dip down and kiss my neck, as he often did when he was leaving me.
Gamma. Task force, police officers, cronies, minions—they were the bulk of the enforcing group in the Cridhe pack. They looked after everyone, upheld the laws, and ensured the safety of the pack. Learning these terms meant something to me. I was part of my own kind. I wasn’t standing in a room full of wolves and feeling like an outsider anymore. I was no longer someone who missed the joke or was ignorant to the cultural situation as I had been during my first debriefing.
Weylin and Rainor made me feel included. Kage was… Kage, but he treated me the same as any other shifter. It meant something. I wasn’t integrated into their pack—I remained a separate entity on my own, Rainor had assured me—but still, I felt part of the pack.
“What do you think?” I asked, holding up a little black dress and a red dress.
Max turned his head to the side.
“Supposedly, every girl needs a black dress in their wardrobe, but I’m kinda partial to the red.” It was a deep red, and it reminded me of those times the beast and Rainor shared the light together. Rainor had said they were working on it, making slow progress but working on it all the same.
I blinked and looked back down at Max. I held the dresses out. “Touch,” I said.
Max stood up, walked the couple steps to me, and then placed his nose on the red dress. I smiled. “Who needs girlfriends when you have man’s best friend?”
I got to work dressing, applying some light makeup, and styling my hair. Putting it partially up, so it would be out of my face, with strands of soft curls coming down. All the while, Max watched me like the best wingman a girl could ask for.
The guys had invited me out on a date, a night out with the three of them. It wasn’t just that, though; it was a night out with other shifters, immersed in their world. I had gone out and bought the two dresses, since I wasn’t able to settle on which one I wanted at the store. I knew the brands were cheaper, when compared to the guys’ clothing, but I loved them. That’s all that mattered to me.
When I went into my room to get ready, the house was empty, just Max and me. When I stepped out of my room and walked into the living room, three large, devilishly sexy men stood before me.
Rainor leaned against the counter, arms crossed as he watched Weylin and Kage banter back and forth about something. He wore one of his usual dark suits but with a twist, no tie and the first few buttons undone. Apparently, this was Rainor’s way of relaxing and letting loose. I loved his exposed neckline and wanted to run my tongue along his collarbone while slipping my hands under the warmth of his jacket. The thrilling part was, he would let me.
Rainor caught me staring at him and gave a slow perusal of my body with his red eyes. I could feel myself flush under his gaze, but I wore it with pride.
Only then did Kage and Weylin cool off, both of them sniffing the air. Pheromones weren’t reserved only for heat cycles, I had learned.
I didn’t get a chance to fully take Kage in before I was spun around in Weylin’s arms.
“I vote for staying here,” he said, then he dipped his face to my neck, his tongue doing exactly what I had wanted to do to Rainor just moments ago. “Fuck, you are delicious.”
I slipped my hand under the lapel of his vest, right over his heart, and a shiver racked through him.
Rainor stepped to my other side, taking my hand and gently pressing a kiss to my knuckles. “We have a reservation.”
My eyes lifted to Kage’s. He held himself back, hands in his pockets as he watched us through heated eyes. Kage wore a dark blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, despite it being a cold autumn evening. He had on dark pants with a black belt. His wrists were bare, his usual watch still missing, even though I had searched the entire house for it.
Kage cleared his throat, catching the other guys’ attention. He tossed the keys to Weylin. “You’re driving.”
After giving Max some extra pets and loving, I fed him quickly before saying my goodbyes. “See you later, Maxy! Be good,” I called back to him.
To my surprise, Kage got into the back seat with me. Weylin and Rainor didn’t show a hint of surprise as they took the front seat.
“We need to set some ground rules,” Rainor said as soon as we left the driveway.
“Oh?” I asked.
“Yeah, no accepting any damn challenges. I swear to the fates, Lila, I will spank you.” Weylin used his serious voice, the one he normally reserved for talking to the gammas.
“I’m not backing down.” I couldn’t back down. Maybe I was too confident in my abilities, but I refused to work at the head of a task force and not prove my spot in the pack. Even though I wasn’t part of the pack, there was still a pecking order.
Kage placed his large calloused hand on my bare thigh, his fingers long enough to curl along the inside of my leg. “I think she handled herself well the last time,” Kage said, and my jaw dropped.
“You chewed me out.” I glared at him. “I got a man exiled.”
“Shifter,” Rainor corrected.
“Being,” I shot back. “Clark is a being, with a family, a pack, and a job, and I made him lose it all.” My eyes swung back to Kage. “You exiled him!”
“He gets his rocks off when you think for yourself and make good decisions that he has to punish you for because you broke the rules.” Weylin sighed.
“Sometimes, doing what’s best for the pack isn’t always what you want to do,” Kage said quietly, his eyes focused on something outside.
I placed my hand on his, and his arm froze. I wondered if he expected me to push him away. I didn’t. I threaded my fingers through his, and all at once, his body relaxed.
“There shouldn’t be any challenges,” Rainor said. “Not only did she prove herself, we’ve also announced, to the elite in the pack, that we are courting her.”
Now it was my turn to go still. “Courting?”
Weylin scoffed, “Wolves don’t court, more like she is our mistress.”
Rainor’s hand came out, smacking Weylin in the chest and knocking a breath out of him.
“Courting, it’s a fancier term for dating,” Rainor explained.
“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Weylin grunted, rubbing his chest.
Rainor shook his head before continuing, “We announced it to prevent any advances on you during our functions. Since you don’t smell like our pack, you will draw attention. We just set the boundaries before you did.”
“So, no one will know we are mates?” I asked.
“No,” Kage answered before Rainor could. “Nor can they know.” He reached over, hooking his hand around my other thigh and pulling me across the seat towards him. Then he placed his arm around me.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay. And they can’t know because…?”
“You’ll be even more of a target, making the pack a target as well,” Rainor said. He turned in his seat to look at us, giving Kage the same expression I had given him. He shook his head silently before turning back around. “Once you've been claimed, and the bond is created, you will have a deeper connection to us all. We will be able to find one another, talk to one another, feel one another. It will be similar to the link between the three of us but deeper.”
“So, the link between you three formed because…?”
“We don’t know,” Kage said, pulling me into his side, his hand gripping and releasing my arm.
“Do you want me to sit on your lap next?” I asked jokingly.
“Yes, actually. That would be helpful.”
In an attempt to call him on his bluff, I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed onto Kage’s large thighs. He shuffled over, spreading his legs to balance me on them. Then he began to comb his fingers through my hair.
“I’m not saying stop.” I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand. I swear, it was as big as my skull. “But out of curiosity…why this?”
Silence.
“Hey, maybe instead of talking in your heads, you can just answer me out loud. It’s not like there’s anyone else in the car.”
“Habit,” Rainor said.
“I’m covering you in my scent.” Kage’s voice was low in my ear, traveling all the way down and had me squeezing my thighs together. Immediately, he placed his fingers under the skirt of the dress, meeting the fabric of my panties. “But perhaps, little alpha, it’s your scent I need on me.”
He pushed my panties aside and slipped two fingers into me. I gasped at the sudden invasion, my head falling back against his shoulder. I tried to breathe through it, but I couldn’t help clenching around him. “Where are we going that I need your scent?”
“Anywhere. Everywhere. You will always have our scent on you.” He hooked his fingers, finding the spot that had my thighs pressing tightly around his hand. Then he picked up his pace, coaxing, demanding. “I’m torn between showing you off as mine, and taking any challenges for you, or locking you up in a room so that no one can set eyes on what is mine,” he growled.
I shivered at the sound, tilting my head up and pulling his face down to me, so I could capture his lips. I sucked and teased Kage’s lips, tasting that spicy whiskey on his skin, more prominent whenever he was touching me.
The orgasm built up quickly, Kage’s fingers relentless, demanding. As I climaxed, his lips chased mine, swallowing my gasp and owning me. He dove his hand back into my hair, pulling so that my chin was up, exposing my neck. Kage’s teeth teased as he gave little nips and kisses.
“You are mine. You will always be mine. You were always made to be mine. I refuse to share you with any more males. Do you understand?” It was the undertone of a threat that had goose bumps spreading along my skin. The sensation after the orgasm was exciting.
“Yes, Alpha,” I found myself whispering automatically.
“I will allow you the same respect.” He pressed his lips up my neck, traveling along my jaw. “I will take no other female.”
Damn, my heart was singing, my wolf was pleased, and I fell maybe a little for Kage Cridhe.
We were at Rainor’s restaurant, the same place we had gone to before, with the robot server. Only, this time, it was packed, and as far as I could tell, every single person was a shifter. We met with clan leaders; they worked directly below Kage. The food was amazing and the drinks were delicious, which meant by the end of the evening, stories were flying around with little filter.
I was placed between Rainor and Weylin, and the two of them were driving me absolutely up the wall. Little touches here and there, fingers trailing up my thighs, only to stop short and be removed.
There were no challenges, no growls or fights. Just a large group of shifters getting together over delicious food. It was late before we called it a night. It was past midnight, and the party was still going on as a few people left the restaurant and started heading into the back of the building.
“What’s back there?” I asked Rainor.
“The club. It’s underground, shifters only.”
I smiled. “You guys have a thing for underground floors.”
“Would you like to go?” he asked.
No. It was late, and Max was waiting for us to return. “Next time,” I said.
Utterly exhausted, I leaned into Rainor, resting my head on his chest for most of the car ride home. I was having the best night of my life, surrounded by my mates, among others of my kind, and I couldn’t imagine a better evening.
The glowing orange was the first to catch my attention, which, in hindsight, was quite out of place because you would think the smell of smoke would’ve reached me first. Though, perhaps, Rainor’s scent was masking it.
The red and blue flashing lights were the next to hold my attention. I sat up in the seat and leaned forward. “Was there an accident?” I asked, my eyes trying to focus.
Odd, not recognizing my own street. The street my house was nestled in. The street my parents would drive me home on after a late night at the movies. The street I where learned to ride a bike. The street where I had my first kiss on. The street… my house burned down… on.
Time moved slowly, yet it was all a blur. The firefighters stood there with a hose, not even aiming it at my house but beside it, wetting everything around, as if they had already given up on my childhood bungalow, an ambulance waiting on standby.
Rainor, Kage, and Weylin were out of the car the moment it was thrown into park, but I remained sitting there, watching the flames devour my house, licking up to the sky. I moved slowly, still blinking, trying to comprehend what the hell was happening as I walked up on the scene before me, stepping next to the guys.
And then it clicked.
A single word.
A single name tore from my lips.
“Max!” Gut-wrenching pain swallowed my heart whole. He would’ve come immediately after the first call. “Max!” I tried to run to the house, but arms wrapped around me, holding me back. I threw an elbow to someone's face, screaming from the top of my lungs. “Max!”
Kage ran. No one stopped him, not even the firefighters, though they yelled at him not to enter. Kage broke through the front door and disappeared into the fire and smoke. Half of the house collapsed, right where the bedrooms and bathroom were.
“No!” Sobs racked my body as I screamed. No tears fell, and my body was in too much shock to fully understand what to feel.
Rainor ran next, not even hesitating as he entered what was left of the flame-encased home.
My dog. My home… my wolves. Weylin was saying something as he continued to hold me back, words I couldn’t grasp with the chaos of the moment. Firefighters were getting their tanks on, ready to go in after the others, when Rainor stepped out from the burning home.
Over his shoulder, he carried a black wolf, only this wolf was not Kage. This wolf had white paws.
When Kage stepped out of the house, Max in his arms, wrapped in his shirt, my whole world fell apart at once. I was shaking so hard, Weylin could no longer hold me. I slipped free and ran to them. Once he was clear from the fire, Kage set Max’s limp body down on the ground. He moved, as if he was going to check for a pulse, but I pushed him out of the way.
“M-m-max?” The tears flowed now. “I can save you, buddy.” I really thought I could. His fur was missing from most of his body, skin peeling from third-degree burns that continued to cook his flesh.
I couldn’t feel his pulse, and he wasn’t breathing, so I breathed for him.
Breathe. Breathe.
I started giving him chest compressions, just like they had taught us at the academy. Before I’d even set eyes on Max. The instructor had started the class by saying, “I hope you will never have to use this, but just in case.”
Just in case.
I kept pushing on Max’s chest, each compression a reminder of all those times he’d pushed me through the hardships of life. Of losing my parents. Of isolating myself from humankind.
I breathed air through his muzzle, a reminder of the nights he’d breathed life back into my lonely soul. I had nothing, until I had Max.
Max was every reason I got up in the morning.
He was every reason why I could sleep at night.
He was my first pack.
Max was my only pack. From the tiny puppy that had picked me, to the spunky pup that always had my back, no matter the assignment, to the older dog he was now, living out his retirement.
Without him… I had no pack.
I screamed as I pounded on his chest. The firefighters rushed over at some point, attempting to place an oxygen mask on him, but when they felt there was no use, they left us.
“We need to get him to the car.” Rainor’s hand touched mine lightly. “We have a doctor.”
I nodded slowly, though I couldn’t see anyone. I could barely hear beyond the blood flowing in my ears. I just focused on my boy. Kage picked Max’s lifeless body up once more and carried him to the back of the car. I got in and continued the compressions. I don’t know how long I went on for, but I had more hope than them. It didn’t matter if it took hours or days, I wouldn’t give up on him. I wouldn’t leave him. I can’t leave him.
“Wake up,” I yelled, breathing two more puffs into his muzzle, my knees against the seat as I leaned over him. “Place! Fetch! Car! Yes! Sniff!” I screamed every command I could remember until I collapsed next to him, my legs numb as they gave out. I placed my forehead to his chest, tears overflowing into what was left of his fur. “Don’t leave me too.”
I closed my eyes, running my fingers over his heart. I swear, I could feel the faintest of pulses, though whether it was my own thumping pulse or his, I couldn’t be sure. I pretended it was his, though. I imagined the heart pumping. I pictured the flow of energy. The same flow and connection I felt all those times it was the two of us. The ultimate duo. Bringing justice to every case we closed.
I felt the energy flow from my own heart as I pleaded with the fates, not fully understanding what or who they were, but if they could just hear me, if the heart truly held all the power, I begged them to take my power and return Max’s.
The car door opened the same moment Max’s paw twitched. He was pulled from me and placed on a gurney in the parking lot. The black wolf with white paws was removed from the trunk of the car and placed on another gurney.
“He moved,” I whispered, watching the doctors with white lab coats running into the facility. I quickly wiped my cheeks. “He moved.”
Kage stepped in front of me, his large hands framing my face.
“Did you see him move?” I begged. “Tell me you will save him.”
Kage bent down, pressing his forehead to mine. “He will be treated as a pack member. Cared for and grieved like a pack member.”
“But no,” I cried. “He moved.” I swear… I swear I had seen it.
Kage scooped me into his arms when my legs gave out again, my head swimming. Had it just been my desire that had me seeing the movement?
“Don’t make me leave him,” I whispered as I fell against Kage’s chest. “I promised. I promised to never leave him.”