Chapter 31
EMME
After the most intense locker room sex that left me breathless and ready to collapse in a puddle on the floor, there was no time for post-coital cuddling.
The boys re-dressed me in jeans, my jersey, and sneakers before handing me off to Hunter.
Right around the time the first members of the Wolves entered the room to get ready for the game.
Hopefully they all enjoyed a sweet treat before they played, since our sugary scents were not going anywhere anytime soon. No doubt my possessive alphas were in there growling and demanding their teammates stop breathing.
“I missed you, little mate,” Hunter said on a soft sigh. “If this wasn’t life and death, I would never have left you.”
His plane had landed only thirty minutes earlier, and after a quick stop home to change, he’d come straight to the rink. I was so relieved that he’d finally returned, I hugged him for at least ten minutes straight, out in the hallway of the locker room.
“As long as you’re safely back here,” I murmured, voice thick. “Did you find anything useful at the old house?”
When I pulled away, I could see exhaustion in his normally unruffled features.
He’d worked hard to tear Fletcher’s house apart, oftentimes literally.
A frustrated huff left him. “Nothing that’s immediately useful, but there might be a few items we can work with.
I left everything with Constantine and Slade.
If anyone can figure it out, it’ll be those two. ”
When we reached the main floor of the stadium, it was only sparsely populated, the game still a good hour away. We ended up in our usual seats with a dozen empty spaces around us, since no one else from our pack was joining today.
It was nice to have some one-on-one time with Hunter; there’d been too little with him lately.
Despite our early entry, food was already available, and Hunter managed to find a shifter to deliver us nachos, two cartons of fries, and a funnel cake. He always knew when I was starving.
In my defense, there had been a lot of strenuous exercise today.
“Slade wanted to catch the game with us tonight,” he said, looking satisfied when I started to wolf the food down.
Pun intended. “But it’s more important that he keeps researching Fletcher’s notes and helps Constantine with a plan to track Jewels.
Or any witch. Talon has fully taken over enforcer training too. ”
We were all working on the assumption that all the magical community was holed up together somewhere. Most likely with Jewels. Find one and we’d find them all.
“I dropped more baked goods off for Cora and Warrick this morning,” I said softly around a bite of corn chip that didn’t taste quite as good now. “They still wouldn’t even let me near the house. I had to leave the basket with the guard stationed at the end of their road.”
After what they’d gone through, I wasn’t surprised by the extra security, but it hurt all the same to be left out like a stranger.
Cora hadn’t responded to any of my messages, or returned the missed calls.
I knew their time to grieve wasn’t about me, but I wished they’d at least let me know they were alive.
“You’re doing everything right, Emme,” Hunter told me as his hand ran soothingly over my arm. “Just keep showing up. Grief is a weird thing. There’s no timeframe on it, but one day they’ll remember how you showed up for them.”
I nodded, my eyes burning as I blinked rapidly. “It kills me to think that Cora blames me, you know? Her pack wouldn’t have been attacked if not for me.”
It was my greatest fear, but at the same time there was nothing I could do if they hated me. I was indirectly to blame, and I couldn’t fault them for having strong feelings about being around me. “No one blames you,” Hunter assured me. “They just need time.”
And I’d love to give it to them, but time was the one thing we were all running out of. Every second we couldn’t find that fucking witch was a second closer to losing our beasts.
The stadium filled eventually, and as the noise level rose around us, my melancholy faded. I let myself enjoy the excitement of being at one of their games.
After I’d eaten all I could manage, Hunter lifted the cartons from me to finish the food off. With each one of his bites though, he’d scoop up a fry or corn chip to feed me, and despite my groaning stomach, I enjoyed wrapping my tongue around his fingers.
It was a fun game we played, his beast rumbling along with the alpha.
On the fifth time, I used a little teeth and his eyes darkened. “You’re playing with fire, Emmeline.”
My smile grew. “Didn’t you hear? I love fire. So toasty and warm.”
He leaned closer until I stared into his glowing eyes. “It also burns, baby. Don’t forget that.”
Goddess above. “There’s no way to forget with two dragons in my pack,” I rasped.
Hunter moved forward so fast that I gasped into his kiss as he swiped his tongue across my bottom lip. “You had a little something there,” he murmured, pulling away to leave me lightheaded and craving a firmer touch.
He resumed eating and I was flushed and squirming in my chair, needing him to feel the same uncontrollable desire.
Without considering the consequences of my actions, especially in such a public place, I dropped my mental shield and pushed all my desire into our bond.
Stroking along our glowing connections. Hunter’s scent flared, and I froze as he slowly turned toward me, his eyes as gold as I’d ever seen them.
That was the moment I realized I’d fucked up.
Hunter stood in a flash, and I was over his shoulder just as fast. I was in so much freaking trouble.
“Hunter,” I choked out. “Wait. Not here, mate.”
He was beyond hearing me, and I’d had no idea I could snap his control like this. His hand landed a solid slap to my ass, drawing extra attention our way. Our pack was watched no matter what they did, so of course, shifters were fascinated when they lost it like this.
Scents exploded around us, responding to Hunter’s dominance, and with a snarl, my entitled alpha strode from the stadium and out into the cold evening air.
Thrown over his shoulder as I was, I didn’t immediately see the huge beasts already positioned side by side at the back of the lot, but I sensed them.
Whenever the dragons were around, the air was heavy, filled with energy and electricity that felt magical in nature.
Hunter paused at the sight of them, and I felt his next rasp all the way to my core. “You’re in trouble now, little omega.”
“I have no idea what’s happening,” I said in a rush. “But whatever it is, we cannot do it in a public parking lot.” The breathless nature of my tone didn’t give that statement a lot of conviction, but it was still the truth.
“Lie,” Hunter rumbled, his beast close to the surface. “I can smell how fucking wet you are, mate. You want this. Right here and now.”
Damn him. I’d already slammed the connection in our quintet closed, but it was too late.
Kellan and Finley burst out of the stadium, fully dressed in their skates and gloves, sticks still in hand.
“How is this possible?” I muttered, shaking my head. “How the hell did I call you all like this?”
With my question, Hunter started to calm until his dominance no longer filled the air like snowflakes. When he set me on my feet, he kept both hands on my hips, but I was no longer staring right into his wolf’s eyes.
Slade shifted into his bipedal form and strode across the lot, all but snatching me from Hunter’s grasp. “It’s her magic mingling with our mate bond,” he said, his words still a deep dragon bass. “We need to be stronger than this. We need to control our beasts.”
His pupils thinned, and unlike with Hunter it was all dragon in his gaze, no matter what form the rest of him was in.
Deciding that I’d made this mess and now needed to clean it up, I drew back as much energy into my wolf as I could, reining in my magic as well, just like Constantine had taught me.
It took effort, since I’d given my need for them complete freedom when I’d dropped all shields, but I could do this.
As the power calmed between us, Hunter rubbed a hand over his face and muttered, “Fuck,” before he strode off into the darkness.
“I’m sorry, I whispered, feeling like the stupidest shifter to ever exist. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that would happen. I didn’t know I could even do that.”
As my words grew more frantic, Kellan threw his arms around me, uncaring that Slade held me. “Baby, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. You had no idea that a bit of teasing would release the wrath of all our dicks.”
There was a beat of silence, the snow falling silently around us, and then a rumble of bear laughter broke the tension. To my absolute shock, Slade was next. His hands shook on my skin as he laughed. “A blunt but accurate statement,” he finally said.
Wrath of their dicks. Honestly, I should be more concerned than I was about what had almost happened. “Do you think you’d have been able to stop if I said no?”
I had no idea why I even asked that. It just occurred to me that I’d almost magicked them into losing control, which was not okay of me. My alphas sobered, and I immediately regretted my question. I wanted them just as badly, and would never have said no.
“I could have,” Kellan said, sounding sure. “Your desire drew me out here, but if that desire vanished, then my brain would have been clear enough for consent.”
“Same,” Finley nodded.
Talon moved closer but didn’t shift back. Slade spoke for his brother: “He says that coming to you was an instinctive drive, but it was a drive initiated by you.”
Right. Right. That made sense.
“I always want all of you,” I reassured them. “That question was just a weird random thought related to how strong these pack bonds are, and I guess our desire for each other.”
Slade pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And we want you. All of you. In whatever way you’re willing to share.”