Cherry #2
Now I’m here, in the woods, surrounded by five male wolf shifters who won’t let me leave, but also aren’t harming me…
yet. In fact, they seem to be caring for me, bringing me food and water, tending to my injuries.
I noticed how they cleaned my stab wound to help it heal.
They must have done that during those first three days when I was out cold, recovering from my journey.
That reminds me that I’d been unconscious around them for days, and they didn’t do anything to me.
So why do I still fear them?
They scare me, not because I feel threatened by them, but because I don’t know what they want, or why they’re still here. They said they just want to help me, but that couldn’t be the only reason. Why do they want to help? What’s in it for them?
I move to sit at the edge of the cave and watch as they do things around the clearing. The lumbersnack stands shirtless, chopping some more wood for the fire. His chest is the widest one I’ve ever seen.
How did he get to be so big? Does he bench-press trees?
Maddox sits by the fire, whittling a piece of wood with a sharp knife.
Something about the way he’s concentrating makes me want to move closer, to see what’s caught his focus.
I’ve never seen anyone like him before. Not just the way he looks with his hair pulled up into a knot at the top of his head, and the sharp glint in his green eyes, but I can sense a strange energy coming from him.
They all have it, actually. But Maddox is different.
Although he appears to be the smallest of the group, he has this larger-than-life presence about him.
Something that’s natural. He doesn’t need to announce that he is the leader of this pack, the alpha, because the energy just rolls off him, making me want to sit up and listen, my whole body eager to do whatever he asks.
The sharp sound of an ax hitting a log has me turning back to watch the giant lumbersnack in action. All of their bodies are extremely drool-worthy. As my sisters would have said, they’re built like Greek Gods.
Their mates are lucky ladies.
That thought has my stomach churning. Were any of them mated? Maybe some of them were still single. Or all of them? They are all handsome alphas; there is no way they could be single, is there?
They had been out here for almost a week now. Surely they wouldn’t leave their mates alone to tend to another female?
I try to recall what I know about bonded and mated wolves.
My family had never hung around other shifters, so I really only knew what my parents had told me.
I knew they had been fated mates. Mom said as soon as they cast eyes on each other in a nightclub, they knew.
They said it was like being struck by lightning, and they felt an undeniable pull to each other, along with other sensations they didn’t go into. They were never apart after that.
When I look at these five, I do feel something, but I wouldn’t say it was a bolt of lightning, so none of them are my fated mate.
Mine.
I gasp at the intrusive thought. My wolf hasn’t had separate thoughts from me in years, which probably means it’s me who felt the need to lay claim to them.
Shaking off the intrusive thought, I turn to look at the others. Gage has his nose shoved in a book, the title unreadable from here, but his eyes are lifted as he stares at me with a frown pinching his brows.
“Bain!”
I jolt in surprise, the loud voice startling me, and look to see Hunter beckoning the blond giant over. So the lumbersnack’s name is Bain.
“Want to play?” Hunter asks as he holds up a soccer ball. Where did they get that from?
“No,” Bain simply replies before turning back to chop another piece of wood.
Hunter shrugs and drops the ball, letting Chase kick it into the clearing. The two of them spread out and start to kick it back and forth.
That looks kinda fun.
Fun? When was the last time I did anything fun? What would they do if I tried to play, too? They hadn’t harmed me yet, but I know there are motives driving their actions. There always is.
Maddox suddenly stands, turning to look at me with those gorgeous green eyes of his.
“I think I’ll go take a bath. What do you think, little wolf? Ready to clean up?” I pull my head back a little in surprise. Where would we even bathe? I glance around, expecting to see a bathtub I’d previously missed, but I just see the twins grinning at each other, then at me.
“Heck yes! Come on, gorgeous. The pond isn’t far from here,” Chase says excitedly as he tosses the soccer ball aside and heads toward a worn trail that leads off from our clearing to the right.
There was a pond nearby? I guess I hadn’t gone further than being able to relieve myself in privacy since I arrived.
“Come on, little wolf,” Maddox motions after Chase and Hunter as they disappear down the path. Every time he calls me little wolf, it feels like a caress against my skin. It’s the strangest sensation, and I sort of hope he keeps calling me that, even after he learns my name.
I debate staying behind for a moment, but decide a swim sounds great. There’s blood matted in my fur along with a lot of dirt. In fact, I haven’t had an actual bath in over ten years. That thought sends a wave of sadness through me.