Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
EMMA
I blink, unsure of how to react. The guys are all quiet now, waiting for my response.
I know what I should do. The sane course of action would be to tell them thank you for their hospitality, then get my clothes from the laundry room and demand they take me to Clearwater.
Troy and Sebastian would try to persuade me to stay. Their growling at Carter’s words earlier was enough to convince me that they don’t want me to go. But Carter would take me, and somehow I know they’d all respect my decision in the end.
I chew on the inside of my cheek, mulling it over. “So…if I ask you to take me away from here, we could still, um, get together after the full moon has passed?”
This time, it’s Troy who lets out a low whine. He reaches for me and pulls me back against his chest as if he can’t bear to let me go.
But it’s Carter who answers, “Yeah, of course. We can take things as slow as you’d like.”
Even he can’t hide his disappointment at my question, though. And there’s something more—a hint of worry, perhaps.
I narrow my eyes at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He averts his gaze, staring at the wall opposite. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
I lean forward and poke him in the leg. “Carter.”
“Emma.” He matches my tone but doesn’t answer me.
Fine. I turn to Sebastian instead, take his hand, and hold it between my palms. “You’ll tell me, won’t you? What am I missing?”
Sebastian throws a glance at Carter, then focuses back on me.
“Seb…” Carter’s voice holds a hint of a warning, yet not the command I heard him use earlier.
But Sebastian’s eyebrows draw together in a frown, his expression turning stubborn.
“No, Carter, she’s right. She should have all the information about this.
How else is she going to make an informed decision?
” He interlaces his fingers with mine and squeezes back.
“If you leave, this full moon will be torture for us. To know that our mate is out there will chafe at us, and not having the mate bonds in place will hurt like hell.”
“That’s what we heard,” Troy adds. “We’ve never experienced it, but it’s supposed to be terrible.”
“Guys!” Carter explodes from the couch, then towers over us, his hands at his hips. “This is coercion. Now she’ll stay out of pity and put herself at risk.”
“I don’t pity you,” I retort, anger rising in me. “But what if I want this, too? Did you think about that? I feel safe here, Carter. I’ve never felt more protected in my life, and everything in me is telling me I’m exactly where I need to be.”
I place my palm over my chest, where heat is gathered, a strange, shimmery ball of energy.
“We could hurt you,” he forces out through gritted teeth. “Not just by biting but by knotting you.”
“Knotting?” I ask, then remember the shape of Troy’s and Sebastian’s cocks when they shifted. “Oh, that’s what that is?”
I didn’t have a chance to explore Troy’s wolfy knot in the shower because he’d shifted to his human form, but I remember the bulge at the bottom. And yeah, I can see how that could present an issue. Clearly, human anatomy is different from theirs.
“We wouldn’t be able to hold back,” Carter snarls.
“Already, I want nothing more than to get you on your hands and knees and shove my knot into your tight pussy. Every time I catch your scent, I can barely resist. When the moon takes hold of me, I won’t be able to.
I’ll be on you so fast, you won’t be able to run away, and if you’re not ready for me, I could hurt you.
” He makes an agitated motion with his hand.
“Do you think I could live with myself after that? After I hurt my mate?”
My eyes well with tears. “I didn’t… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
He collapses back on the couch and presses the heels of his palms to his eyes. “Yeah. You couldn’t have known. But you seem to be under the impression that I’m pushing you away because I don’t like you.” He lifts his palms enough to peer at me. “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”
His words resonate through me. He’s telling me the truth, finally. All of it.
“Can humans take a knot?” I ask. “I mean, are we even compatible?”
“Oh, yes,” Sebastian says immediately. “Several humans live with the New Hampshire pack, and also in Alaska. I’m sure there are more we don’t know of, but we’ve visited those packs, and I can tell you their humans are very happy.”
Carter snorts at this enthusiastic reply, then adds, “He’s right. But it takes preparation. You saw how large we are. You’ll have to work to let us in.”
My pussy clenches, and not in fear. The image of Troy looming over me in his office flashes through my mind. I’d asked him to fuck me—and he’d refused. It seems he had more control than me.
“Emma…” Troy puts his nose to my neck and drags in a deep inhale. “Fuck, honey, you smell so sweet.”
His cock is thickening behind me, and since he’s still in his half form, that means…
I push away from his chest, enough that I can turn in his arms and sit back.
Troy put on a pair of sweatpants after his shower—the guys seem to prefer them, which I understand, because they’d rip through jeans when shifting.
They’re larger than humans when in their half form, their thick thighs full of ropey muscle I want to bite.
And then there’s…this. The outline of Troy’s cock is clearly visible beneath the soft black fabric, reaching right up to the elastic waistband.
Biting my lip, I stare at it, my fingers itching with the need to explore.
Sebastian fits himself at my back and puts his chin on my shoulder. “Go on,” he murmurs. “You can take a peek.”
I shoot a glance up at Troy, who’s lying so still, clearly doing his best to hold back. He gives me a strained smile and digs his claws into the couch cushions, punching holes in the fabric.
It’s now or never. If I want this, if I want them, I need to know. Otherwise, I had better ask Carter to take me away from here—and I can’t bring myself to do that.
So I hook my fingers into the stretchy waistband and pull down. Troy helps me, lifting his hips so I can tug the sweatpants over his ass.
And there it is, Troy’s erect cock in all its glory.
Holy shit, it’s large.
I saw it earlier, but Troy had been hiding from me, curling his body so I couldn’t get a good glimpse.
And when he’d pumped his fist to come all over me, his hand hadn’t looked that small against it—but that’s just because his hands are also bigger than human now, the palms broad, the fingers thick.
I saw Sebastian’s cock, too, touched it, even, but I only gripped the shaft, not the knot.
Troy had made me come seconds after that, and I’d lost all focus.
Now, I have Troy’s cock right in front of me, and it’s magnificent.
It’s not just the thick, heart-shaped knot at the bottom that’s different from human anatomy, though I’ll have to explore that for sure.
But the tip is somehow more tapered, as if it’s made to nudge directly at the pleasure center in my pussy, and the shaft is hefty and veiny, probably to prepare the way for the big knot.
“You see,” Carter says, jerking me from my observation. “Your pussy is too tight to take that without proper preparation.”
I swivel around to stare at him. “But it could be done. If we waited for the next full moon, I could…?”
His dark eyes flash golden for a moment. He seems in control, but he’s close to breaking, too, and the thrill of that realization rushes through me. What would Carter do if his wild side broke through?
“Yeah, baby,” Sebastian purrs, his breath warm on my neck. “We’d spend the time taking things slow. Stretching you out while our instincts are fully in check, making you work for our knots. Then you’d be ready for it.”
“And we’d get you a contraceptive charm strong enough to withstand the strength of the mating bond,” Carter adds.
I glance up at Troy, thinking of what he told me earlier in the office.
He sends me a smirk. “Or not. Maybe you want us to fuck you full of our cum until you’re carrying our pups.”
My belly clenches at the thought. He’s dangling something in front of me, but he doesn’t know how much I want it.
Somehow, without realizing it, Troy has hit on the deepest fantasy I’ve had since growing up in a loveless home.
To have a big, loud family of my own, the kind I’d mostly only seen in movies.
A house full of kids and laughter and love.
Troy’s expression changes as he traces his gaze all over my face. He sniffs, his nostrils flaring. “What is it?”
I try to sit back, but Sebastian is there, so I end up in his lap. He closes his arms around me immediately and tucks me under his chin. He puts his nose to my temple and draws in a deep inhale. “What’s wrong?”
I bury my face in my hands, willing my emotions to calm down. But everything that’s happened has been so intense, so powerful, I don’t know how to handle it.
A warm palm lands on my knee, and I know without looking that it’s Carter. He’s right there, next to us, and Troy leans in as well, until I’m surrounded by heat and enveloped in their delicious scents.
“We don’t have to do anything,” Troy is saying, his voice gruff. “Forget I said that. It’s too much, and we don’t even have to talk about babies for months. Years. Whenever you’re ready, honey.”
A shudder goes through me as I force down tears. “I’m okay,” I croak. “Just…”
I pull my hands away from my face and focus on them. They seem so worried, all traces of earlier lust and teasing gone. They’re only worried about me—about making me feel safe.
They’ve been nothing but honest with me, explaining their issues, their wants. Now I owe them the same.
“I want to try,” I begin. “Being with you. All of you. I still feel like this might be a really nice dream, and if that’s true, I’ll be devastated when I wake up, but for now, I’d like to try.”
Carter stares at me, his expression unreadable. My heart pangs at the sight, because I know he’s shutting off his emotions to keep the hope at bay. He acts like the tough alpha he is, but I see right through him.
If that’s what the mating bond does—cuts away the bullshit, leaving nothing but the truth—then how can I resist it?
“I don’t think we have to worry about pregnancy right now,” I continue. “I’m on the pill, so that should count for something, and it’s the wrong time of the month.” My period ended two days ago, so unless this heat will trigger an early ovulation, I should be safe for the duration of the full moon.
“But the knots…” Carter protests.
Sebastian kicks him in the leg, as if to shush his objection.
But Carter has a point. I press my lips together, trying to find a way to say this without dying of embarrassment.
“We could, um, spend today and tomorrow…exploring this?” I squeak, my voice rising with each word. I glance up at Sebastian. “You said you’d prepare me for it. So we could do that. If you’d like.”
Now I’m very aware of the fact that Sebastian is also hard, his cock poking me in the hip. I don’t move, not wanting to make things worse for him.
For a long moment, the living room is quiet, the sound of our breaths too loud in the silence. From how Sebastian’s heart thuds against my ear where I’m leaning on his chest, I’m not the only one imagining what that preparation might entail.
Then Carter clears his throat. “I-I’m not sure it can be done so quickly. But if you want to try…”
There’s that hope, breaking through his walls.
I reach out and take his hand, squeezing it. “If I feel like it’s too much, I promise I’ll let you know. And if it all goes sideways, you can take me to Clearwater tomorrow morning. Would that give you enough time to then prepare yourselves?”
Carter meets Sebastian’s gaze over my head, then glances at Troy. I don’t know how they’re communicating, but some sort of agreement passes through them, and at last, Carter nods.
“Yeah.” He runs his hand over his short hair and lets out a huffing laugh. “Yeah, that sounds good. Are you sure, Emma?”
I look him in the eyes. “I’m sure.”