Chapter 4
“My what?”
At least, that’s what I try to say. What actually comes out of my mouth is an incomprehensible jumble of sound halfway between a whimper and a shout. Somehow, Knar still understands.
“Your spanking,” he repeats calmly.
Knar has never been one to joke around, and his steely eyes give no indication that he’s decided to take up the habit now.
“You’re serious,” I say.
He nods, and my heart springs into my throat. Every sense becomes heightened. I can feel the sweat breaking out across my skin, can smell the three alpha males surrounding me. Source, I can even taste them. The tower sways ever so slightly in the breeze.
“You can’t spank me,” I tell him, my voice barely above a whisper.
A shadow of a smile: “Why not?”
“Because I’m nineteen!” I protest. “I’m an adult!”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m the leader of this pack, and as long as you’re living under my roof, you’re going to do as I say. Now get over here and bend that butt over my lap like a good girl.”
Good girl.
Something about the way Knar utters those words sends a shiver of excitement rushing through me.
I’m tempted to point out that if I were a good girl, there would be no reason for him to spank me, but I keep that little insight to myself. I don’t think it would be wise to sass my pack leader right now.
Instead, I turn to Bjor, the softy of the pack. He’s the one who always saved me from Knar’s wrath in the past. If not for him, I would probably still be grounded for some of the things I’ve done. I flutter my eyelashes and stare up at him with the most plaintive look I can muster.
“Bjor, you’re not really going to let him spank me, are you?”
The big alpha still has his arms crossed in front of his chest, but after a few seconds he sighs and unfolds them. He places two massive hands atop my shoulders and smiles at me through his beard.
I knew he would crack.
“Eri, Eri, Eri,” he says. “What do you expect me to do? You think I’m going to fight my pack leader over this?”
“But—”
“Besides,” Bjor goes on, “maybe Knar is right. Maybe we’ve been a little too easy on you in the past. I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if we hadn’t been there to chase those Farlanders away.
And what about those poor young alphas you dragged into it? They could’ve been killed, Eri.”
Shit. He does have a point.
Still… a spanking?
“It’s for your own good,” Bjor says, as if reading my thoughts. “I want you to be safe, Eri. We all want you to be safe. It’s the most important thing in the Zone for us.” He glances at Knar. “Maybe this is the best way to do that.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing!
I twist out from under Bjor’s hands and spin to face Renn.
He’s my only hope now. As the youngest alpha of the pack, he’s always been more sympathetic to my misbehavior.
Source, he’s even encouraged it from time to time.
It’s hardly surprising that he would be the one to figure out my little game, but surely he didn’t expect it would earn me a spanking—right?
Wrong.
As soon as I see the smirk twisting the corner of his mouth, I know I won’t be getting any help from that quarter.
Renn shrugs.
“You made this nest, little omega. Now you’ve got to sleep in it.”
I glower. I’m pretty good at that—especially when I’m doing it at Renn.
“You just want to watch me get spanked.”
“Maybe.” He places a finger under my chin and leans in close, so we’re face to face. Then he whispers: “And maybe you want me to.”
I don’t know what’s more disturbing. The fact that Renn would say something like that…
Or the fact that he may be right.
Over the past minute, I’ve been so focused on what Knar wants to do to me, I haven’t bothered to pay attention to how my body has been reacting. The sudden stiffness beneath my top. The strange, ticklish warmth between my legs. The goosebumps everywhere.
The throbbing.
Blessed Source, what is wrong with me?
Renn uses his finger to turn my face toward our pack leader. Knar is still sitting on the stool beside us, his muscles hard and half glowing in the sunlight through the windows. His eyes burn like gray fire.
“You’ve begged for mercy, omega, and found none.” He pats his meaty thigh a second time. “Now it’s time to take your punishment like a big girl.”
Something in his voice calls to my inner omega, compelling me to obey him, pulling me toward him like a pair of invisible hands. Yet at the same time, something else holds me back. The same something that made me play my naughty games.
“Make me,” I whisper.
As soon as those words have left my tongue, I regret them. I should know better than to challenge the leader of the pack. The wicked grin that spreads across his face tells me I’m about to pay for my insolence.
Knar is so fast, I don’t even see him move. I barely feel it either. One second, I’m standing in front of him, glaring with defiance—the next, I’m face-down across his lap, one arm pinned behind my back to keep me from struggling.
“Daddy!” I gasp.
“You asked for it,” Knar growls. “Now you’re gonna get it.”
He grabs the rear flap of my loincloth and lifts it, exposing my bottom completely. I squeal, and pull it back down again with my free hand. Knar tsks.
“Come now, Eri. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.”
I suppose that’s technically true, but it’s been a long time since the alphas have seen me with my clothes off, and my body has changed a lot since then. I have curves now—lots of them—and fur in places they haven’t seen.
“Let it go, Eri…”
This time, it is Bjor who speaks. He is kneeling beside me now, and his big hand is gently holding my own.
“…Let Daddy Knar do what needs to be done.”
There is a hint of purring in his voice. The same gentle rumbling he would use to ease me to sleep when I was younger. That sound lets me know I’m safe. No matter what happens, my alphas will not let any harm befall me. I release my loincloth and hold his hand instead.
“Good girl,” says Bjor. “That’s our good little omega.”
Knar lifts my loincloth again.
This time, I endure the intense feeling of vulnerability that comes with that exposure, and it feels strangely right. For a moment, my bare bottom warms in the sunlight streaming through the windows of the watchtower.
Then a shadow falls across me. Renn. The third alpha has moved around behind me to get a better look. I knew he wanted to watch.
I twist my head around and glare back at him over my shoulder. He smirks.
And Knar smacks my butt, hard.