Chapter 44 #3
Reinn’s arms shook and then he collapsed, his body heavy but wonderful. A welcome, comforting weight.
He paused for a moment to rest, and then he rolled over to his back, taking her with him.
The three of them were silent, catching their breaths, closing their eyes and then opening them to look at each other.
Eidan brushed the hair from her face. “How are you feeling? Are you alright?”
She smiled, wiggling herself further onto Reinn’s knot. Reinn’s moan turned into a chuckle, and he rubbed her back in slow circles.
This was how it was supposed to be, she realized. There was no fear Reinn or Eidan would leave her. There was no pain.
Only affection, warmth, and comfort.
Her whole body tingled, and she ignored the small part of her the still craved the alpha who’d claimed her first.
“I’m perfect.”
Eidan smiled. “Perfect.”
“Definitely perfect,” Reinn said, holding her closely.
His cock and knot softened after a few minutes, and he slid out of her with much reluctance.
“I could be inside you all night if you’d let me,” he said. “But I think your other alpha might have something to say about that.”
“I will in a moment,” he said, laying down on his bedroll. He beckoned Fern to his side, and she eagerly joined him. He kissed her hairline and sighed. “But I will wait until you’re ready for me.”
Fern was satisfied for now, the heat definitely, finally, almost over.
She wasn’t sure exactly how she knew, considering this was her first one, but the cramps were further and further apart now. The restlessness had been replaced by a sense of calm and satisfaction she hadn’t felt since the whole ordeal started.
It could, she supposed, be because of the alphas tending her now versus Darion, whose very presence kept her from ever feeling truly at ease.
“If… If I don’t need you… like before,” she started, her fingers slowly skating across his chest. “Would you still…”
“Fern,” he replied softly. “This isn’t about your heat to me. I have desired you from the start, and would gladly take whatever you have to give to me. Even if you never wanted me in your bed again, as long as you allowed me to walk by your side, I would die a happy wolf.”
Fern burst into tears, and he shushed her. “Don’t cry, please. I mean every word.”
Reinn came to her other side, his hand on her hips, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“You are—”
He stopped mid-sentence and sat up straight. Alert.
“Someone’s coming.”
Reinn moved at once, pulling on his breeches.
“Cover her, Eidan.”
Eidan wrapped the cloak around her, about to rise when Reinn held his hand out to steady him.
“They’re here.”
Fern’s heart raced, and she clung to Eidan as her gaze locked on the surrounding woods.
She didn’t hear anything aside from the breeze, see anything aside from shadows.
But then she smelled it.
Blood.
Was it Darion? Had he found them already?
Oh gods… if he had punished her as the Ashpaw for running away by forcing her to sleep on the roof, how would he punish her now?
Just as her mind began to spiral, a wolfkin, his face stained in red stripes, slipped into the moonlight.
And then another.
And then several more.
“Bloodmoons…” Eidan growled.
“Well, well, well, what have we here?”
One of the wolfkin broke from the group, approaching with an easy gait.
Fern could not make out his features yet, obscured by darkness and the paint, but his voice…
She had heard it before.
The clouds in front of the waxing moon parted, and she whimpered when his face became clear.
He smiled, tilting his head and giving a dramatic bow.
“Little omega… I’d hoped to find you for another dance someday.”
It was the flutist… the traveling musician.
But his scent… it was different. She’d thought him a beta back then, but he was all alpha now.
How was that possible?
Reinn stood to shield them, his body coiled and ready for attack.
“Took you long enough,” he snarled.
The Bloodmoon alpha stared at him, and Fern braced herself for what could be the end of them, for Reinn had no weapon, no armor… Eidan wasn’t even dressed.
It wasn’t fair. She’d only just begun with Eidan and Reinn, her alphas. And now they were going to die, all because of her stupid heat.
A strange smile broke over the Bloodmoon alpha’s face. “I missed you, too.”
He opened his arms to beckon Reinn into them. And then, to her shock, Reinn rolled his eyes playfully and made his way towards him, entering the embrace.
Eidan jumped to his feet with a roar. “What is this? Reinn, you—”
Fern clutched the cloak around her, her eyes darting from one wolfkin to the next.
There were so many… too many… And she didn’t understand.
Eidan gasped in horror and her gaze refocused on Reinn as he kissed the alpha on the lips, whispered something in his ear, and then turned around with a grin.
“I told you I would get her out,” Reinn said, appearing proud of himself.
She whimpered. This didn’t make sense…
Reinn threw his arm around the Bloodmoon alpha’s shoulder with a delighted sigh, his eyes full of affection.
“Look at her, Calder. Is she not perfect?”
The alpha smiled.
“She certainly is.”