24. Cherry
Cherry
I’m not sure when I shifted back to my wolf, but as I wake up, I find it very annoying. At least my mates are here. I can smell all five of their scents filling my nose as I stretch out my legs and yawn.
“So fucking cute,” Chase chuckles as I shake out my fur.
“Why do you think she shifted?” Hunter asks as I push myself to a seated position.
“Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” Maddox asks, reaching out to stroke down my neck. I move closer, leaning my body against him as he wraps an arm around me.
I wonder why I shifted while I was asleep.
I was kind of hoping after yesterday that I had better control of it by now.
I lift my head and see Gage, Hunter, and Chase watching me from where they’re sitting at the end of the bed.
If I want to complete my mate bonds with them, I’m going to need more control.
Chase is wearing sweatpants and nothing else. It has my eyes roaming his large chest and the beautiful tattoos there. A flash of Bain and Maddox holding me between them last night has me wondering how Chase and Hunter would take me.
I’ve already been lucky enough to have a taste of the twin sandwich, but they had told me they wanted to take me at the same time, just like Maddox had mentioned. So far, nothing more than a finger had penetrated me there before, but I was extremely curious about it.
“God, she smells so good,” Hunter says, practically groaning. My eyes move to him, a little surprised by his words. He’s not normally so forward.
“The next time she’s human, we’re sealing the bond,” Chase says, sounding almost feral. “I can’t wait any longer.”
“Jealous?” Bain asks, sounding smug.
“Fuck off. You have any idea how hard I am right now? Having to listen to her with you two last night and not being able to join?”
“She’s not a fucking pincushion, Chase,” Gage says and I glance at him in confusion. Not because I don’t understand what he’s saying, but I’ve never heard him speak like that before, either. They all sound a little strange. Less soft, but also, like they are speaking right into my ear.
“You know that’s not what it’s about,” Chase says. Except… his lips don’t move. “I’ve been dying to complete the bond since the moment I met her. It’s killing me to hold back.”
“Don’t you think I feel the same way? We need to give her time to recover. We don’t know what completing five bonds in such a short time could do to her.” The words are in Gage’s voice, but his lips don’t move. What the heck is happening?
Then it hits me. I’m hearing their pack bond in my head!
Before I can tell them, Chase speaks through the bond again. “I get it. I’ll wait as long as I need to. She’s worth it.” He smiles at me as he adds. “I just love her so fucking much.”
“I love you too,” I try to say through the bond. And from the wide-eyed look he’s giving me, I think it worked.
“Did you just—” he speaks out loud and cuts himself off as he stares at me in shock.
Wanting to say it again, in person, I close my eyes and tell my body to shift. A shiver rolls through me, and I smile, opening my eyes, realizing it worked.
I just shifted at will for the first time!
An elated laugh bubbles out of me as Chase’s eyes grow impossibly wide. Maddox's hand tightens my hip. My human hip.
“I love you too,” I blurt out, laughing at the way Chase’s jaw just dropped open. Then I launch myself across the bed at him.
“Omph!” he grunts as I collide with his firm body, wrapping myself around him. It takes all of one second for him to snap out of his shock and hug me back.
“Cherry pie,” Chase whispers, making me chuckle at the new nickname. “You shifted.”
“I did,” I whisper back. “On purpose.”
He pulls back and clasps my face in his hands. “Because you heard me.”
A large smile covers my face as I nod happily. “Tell me again.”
It’s his turn to grin as he offers me his dazzling smile, then whispers, “I love you, Cherry Rosewood.”
“I love you, Chase Timberland.”
His smile grows even bigger before he pulls me closer and kisses me. My fingers find his bare chest, and I close my eyes, letting him take control. It’s soft and gentle and leaves me hoping it will never end.
Eventually, he pulls back, giving me a final peck on the nose before tucking my head under his chin and hugging me close.
I wish I wasn’t so sore from Bain’s monster cock. Otherwise, I’d be eager to strip him down and straddle him.
Chase bursts out laughing, and I pull back a little to glance up at him. “Monster cock, hmm?” he asks as he chuckles.
“You heard that?” I gasp in shock.
“You spoke through the bond,” Maddox tells me.
“Oh my god!” I say, burying my face in Chase’s chest. “I didn't know!”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Maddox tells me. “We can teach you how to shield and how to speak to specific people.”
“Thank you,” I whisper from where my face is still buried in Chase’s chest.
“I’d prefer we don’t,” Chase says, sounding amused. “I rather like hearing everything she’s thinking.”
“Rude,” I whisper, and he laughs, squeezing me a little tighter. So tight it almost hurts.
“Ease up, you’re holding her too tight,” Bain growls out, and I glance over my shoulder at him.
“You can feel that?”
He nods. “Now we’ve bonded, I can sense your emotions.”
Really? I had no idea mates could do that.
I take a second to see if I can feel how he’s feeling.
It takes me a moment to feel inside and the jumble of emotions there, unsure which ones are mine, and which are his and Maddox’s.
I feel love, pride, and happiness swirling together, and I glance at Maddox, realizing that’s him I feel.
I search again and find amusement, love, and worry. Bain.
“I can feel both of you!” I say in surprise.
Maddox smiles as he explains, “It might be harder for you, having multiple mates will mean multiple emotions to sift through.” He reaches out and squeezes my knee. “But don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”
“I vote we go eat breakfast,” Hunter says as he climbs off the bed. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving.”
I start to let go of Chase, but that’s when I realize, “I’m naked!”
“We’d noticed,” Gage drawls as he moves closer. I peek out and see he’s pulled his own shirt off and is holding it up for me.
Nervousness fills me. He saw me naked when we snuggled on the couch together. His hand was even on my breast the entire time we made out. So I take a deep breath of courage and pull myself away from Chase. Turning to Gage, I don’t cover myself. I let him look as I raise my arms.
His eyes heat as they travel across my skin. When they land on my face, he whispers, “Beautiful,” through the bond, making me blush, then pulls the shirt down over my arms and thighs.
He holds out his hand, and I place mine in his, letting him help me off the bed. “Whoa,” I whisper when I’m standing almost toe to toe with him. “You’re really tall.”
He smiles in amusement. “You have three mates taller than me.”
“Yeah, and you’re all so tall. I’ve really had no chance to stand around you yet.”
“That’s because you’re clumsy,” Chase says as he swoops me up into his arms.
“Chase!” I say in mock annoyance. “I need to practice.”
“You need to eat,” Bain says as he leads the way out of the bedroom and into the hall.
Hunter pulls out a chair, and I think Chase is going to set me down in it, but instead, Hunter takes a seat and reaches up for me.
I try not to smile, not wanting to encourage them to constantly pass me around, but I can’t seem to care. I kind of love the way someone always seems to be needing to hold me. After years of being alone, it’s impossible to resist.
Bain and Chase move into the kitchen and start pulling things from the fridge as Maddox and Gage stand in front of us, staring down at me.
“What?” I ask nervously. “You look like you’re thinking really hard about something.”
They glance at each other then back at me and my cheeks heat. Why does their attention do that to me?
When it was Bain and Maddox together last night, I felt their possessive, protective gazes. But Gage and Maddox… it’s like two chess players on the same team, calculating and scheming on the best way to… do what, exactly?
“Do you think you can shift?” Gage asks, making my brows furrow.
“You want me to shift back into a wolf?” I can’t help but feel a little hurt. I’m finally able to shift and he prefers my wolf?
“Sweetheart,” Maddox says, stepping closer and caressing my face. “We just want to know if you have full control now. We all prefer you in this body.”
Hunter dips his head, kissing my neck right over Maddox’s mating bite, and I suck in a sharp breath as a pulse of desire shoots through me.
“Stop working her up while we’re cooking!” Chase yells. “You’re gonna make me burn the eggs!”
I realize he can smell my arousal, and I press my legs together, trying to pull my shirt lower.
“Cherry?” Maddox asks as I glance back up at him. “Can you shift for me? Just for a moment, then you can shift back again.”
Desperate to do anything he asks, I nod, and he pulls his hand back as he praises me. “Good girl.”
Wanting to hide my blush, I tell my body to shift, and as I do, Hunter’s arms shoot around me, keeping my wolf form from falling from his lap.
“You did it!” Hunter says with a laugh before kissing the side of my head.
“Now try to shift back,” Gage says, leveling me with a serious stare. I keep his gaze for as long as I can before my eyes shut and I shift.
“I’m proud of you, angel.” I glance over at Bain, and the look he gives me confirms what he just said through the bond. I look inside and find his emotions are bursting with pride.
“Good girl,” Maddox says. I turn to him and he leans down and kisses me. It’s quick but enough to make me forget what I’d just been thinking about.
The sound of raindrops hitting the window reaches my ears, and I turn toward the windows and see it’s starting to rain. I haven’t felt rain on my skin in over a decade. I used to love a good rainstorm. Suddenly, the need to feel it is the only thing I can think of.
I unhook Hunter’s arms from around my waist and slip off his lap. “Where are you going?” he asks, but I don’t answer. I can’t. The need to feel the rain is my sole focus.
My skin prickles with excitement as I move toward the sliding glass patio door, trip over my own feet, and promptly slam my forehead into it.