Chapter 7: The Forest

“I don’t want to,” I shivered as I stared at the huge black wolf in front of me. Dorian smiled softly at me; the black wolf lowered for me to climb on.

I was not prepared to be riding a wolf. My body was still sore and still naked. I was not getting fur in it.

“We’re running to my territory, Sweet Siren. It will go faster that way,” Dorian tried to convince me, but I clutched my cloak tighter.

“I’m not getting on the wolf with my body all freshly ravaged and still very naked,” I said firmly. Was it a little high maintenance for someone who had just escaped vampires and lived uncomfortably her entire life? Probably. But I wasn’t backing down.

“It will take a long time to walk,” Atticus urged.

I shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I was allowed to walk more than a few feet to the other side of my cell.” Every time I mentioned my life before—the one where I was a captive—the alphas’ expressions grew dark. This time was no different.

The eyes of the wolf narrowed as Dorian frowned. Atticus growled, then looked over me. He eyed Zachariah’s clothes that were in a pile on the ground and picked up the pants.

“Wear these; they’ll protect you while you sit,” Atticus offered.

I eyed them, considered denying, but a cold draft swept up between my legs. I quickly put the pants on and rolled them at the waist over and over until they fit.

“I’m still sore,” I murmured.

Dorian pulled the vial of electric blue water out. “Take this,” he offered it to me.

I grabbed it and looked at it warily. I didn’t want to lose the feeling of them inside me. Or the feel of their hands on me. Their mouths, their caresses. I wanted to feel it. But I didn’t want it to hurt riding a werewolf.

Atticus came over, his lips brushing across my ear. “Don’t worry, Fox. We’ll make sure you feel us all over you again.” He grinned, winking as he walked further away and shed his pants.

I licked my lips as he shifted, his big body breaking into an even bigger wolf. I sucked in a breath, power pulsing inside me when he did.

I drank the vial of healing elixir. The reaction was instant. The ache between my legs disappeared, the bruises on my skin sunk into my skin, all traces of my night left my body. I tried not to pout as I handed the vial back.

Dorian smiled and pulled my lips in for a kiss. “You are ours for the next month, Sweet Siren, and we will make sure you remember it, so don’t pout.” He kissed me, his mouth demanding on mine.

As soon as his lips touched mine, I fell into the feelings that pulsed with it. My core fluttered, the ache that used to be there turning to a burn. I craved him and his skin. I ran my fingers down his chest, moaning as he cupped my neck, pulling me closer.

A soft nudge at my side with a low growl interrupted my moment, and I broke away from Dorian. He grinned before lifting me onto Zachariah’s back.

He huffed at Dorian, who just shrugged. “She’s choosing one of us. I’m going to make it damn hard for her to turn me away,” he said, striding over to the edge of the forest.

He shifted and I gasped as all three of them together formed such a beautiful sight. On top of Zachariah’s wolf, I could feel the power in his muscles, in his body. In all of them.

They were so big and even on top of them, I was in awe. Their bodies radiated power that my own power reacted to. It was new and hit me hard.

My fists curled into Zachariah’s fur and I panted. My stomach tightened, my body throbbing as their shifting flipped some kind of switch in my own body. Like the powers were communicating, desperate to combine in the most carnal of ways.

My head spun with it and I lay down against Zachariah, trying not to fall off. Zachariah’s back tensed before he barked. It made it worse.

I grimaced, a sharp shot of pleasure turning in my core. I bit my lip, holding back a whimper. How embarrassing. I had been ravaged all night, I had been well and truly looked after, and yet my body was craving more. I was desperate for it.

A second later, some of the need lessened and Atticus’ strong hands pulled me off Zachariah. I let out a sigh as the blonde giant curled me into him.

“I’ve got you, Fox. Take a breath. Dorian is calling his pack to have a carriage brought back to us,” he whispered, patting my hair down.

I nodded and breathed in his scent—like fresh rain. I loved that smell. Not much broke through the dungeon walls, but I always knew when it was raining. It was a comfort now.

Zachariah shifted, frowning as he stood there, naked as hell.

“Are you okay, Little Red?” he asked.

I nodded, “Do you want your pants back?”

He smirked, shaking his head, “No. If you take yours off, I might cave and give your body what is begging for. Then we’ll never make it out of this clearing.”

I smiled and pulled off his cloak, already wearing his shirt too. I handed it to him.

“Wear your cloak then or I won’t let us leave either,” I teased, eyeing his pierced body that was growing the longer I looked at it.

His eyes narrowed in a heated way, and I licked my lips. Zachariah put his cloak on and winked before closing it around him, pulling his cowl over.

Dorian came back then, his eyes going straight to me, “A carriage will be here soon,” he said.

“Sorry,” I winced.

“Don’t be. We didn’t realize shifting would affect your magic like that. We know now,” Dorian smiled.

“It didn’t feel bad. It was just a lot. Like the blood moon,” I whispered, shivering as Atticus dragged his fingers over my skin. It felt good. Relaxing. Things I had never expected to feel any time soon.

It was still surreal to think I could feel other things that weren’t pain.

“The magic you absorbed responded and tried to overwhelm you. It called out to us, our wolves too. So, no shifting until you have been grounded, hmm?” Dorian said, pressing his lips to my cheek.

Atticus pulled me out of Dorian’s reach, “You already stole your kiss. Don’t be greedy,” he growled.

Dorian just smirked, “I’ll be as greedy as I can until she makes her decision.”

Atticus grumbled and pulled me back with him, holding me tighter. This was going to be a long ride to the forest territory.

The carriage arrived sometime later, and we climbed in. Atticus tried to keep me on his lap, but Dorian shook his head, pulling me onto his.

“My carriage. My territory. My turn.”

Atticus cursed him out. Zachariah sat in the corner of the carriage, his cloak tight as he said nothing, sending appropriate glares at the other two.

“Are you three going to behave like this the entire time?” I asked.

None of them responded, which was as good as a yes. I sighed and climbed off Dorian’s lap. I went to the small window and peered out as we moved through the forest.

It grew darker the deeper we got under the canopy of deep green trees. My magic tingled and moved inside me, responding to the growing scent of oak and pine—a very Dorian scent.

I knew when we were there, though. I sucked in a breath, getting as close as I could to the window.

“Wow,” I breathed.

The forest opened up into a stretch of huge trees that had homes in them. But the homes didn’t look like they were built on the branches; they were built in the trunks or formed in them. They looked so natural, like the tree itself had provided these havens in between their branches.

Lanterns hung between the trees, lighting up the rope bridges between branches and homes. They lit paths along the ground with some glowing bugs on flowers. The carriage took us along the grass path outlined in small white flowers and around the rows of treehouses, moving us around to the very back end of the trail.

When we came to it, my breath left my chest. I put my hand to it, no words able to break through.

There was a big mansion of wood and glass, candles and flowers with vines decorating the outside. The home was huge—the biggest tree house I had ever seen—not that I had seen many.

“Welcome home, Sweet Siren,” Dorian whispered as the carriage came to a stop. It was beautiful—the side of the tree leaning over the river that flowed through the forest.

Dorian climbed from the carriage and held his hand out to me. I took it, and he helped me down.

I stood at the foot of the tree and looked up in awe. It was like a dream—something I would see in a fantasy rather than real life.

And it wasn’t a dungeon.

I could see rooms with entire glass walls that opened up in parts of the tree, and the stairs leading up had so many colors of flowers that I was lost to the beauty.

“Damn it,” Atticus muttered as he climbed from the carriage.

“If you didn’t expect the girl from the vampire dungeons to be awed by the beauty of our world, no matter what territory, then you’re already losing,” Zachariah smirked, his voice low as he strode forward and pulled a white flower from the grass.

He turned to me and tucked it between my head and ear, brushing my hair back. I blushed as he did, his affection and touches still foreign.

“Thank you,” I said, eyeing him, wondering when it was okay to have them again. The ceremony had been a sure thing, but to just expect to have them whenever I wanted? I wasn’t sure it worked like that.

The world outside the vampires was still so new to me that everything felt like a dream. It was easy for me to forget that it was all so normal for them.

Was picking little flowers and putting them in a girl’s hair normal for them too? I didn’t want to know the answer to that yet.

“Come, I’ll show you inside,” Dorian said, grabbing my hand and leading me up the wooden, moss-covered steps to the mansion in the trees. It was just as beautiful on the inside.

Twisted beams of branches moved through the rooms, small flowers on each of them. Lanterns lit up the space with warm glows that made it seem so welcoming.

The lobby had a spiral wooden staircase up to the other parts of the trees and shot straight up the middle. A glass ceiling looked up at the sky, and I sucked in a breath, staring up at it.

I could see myself here, staring at the stars like I used to.

Dorian led me up the stairs to a wooden landing. He pointed to archways to one side of the first staircase.

“Alphas. Pick either of those rooms.” He turned to me, “Sweet Siren, you’re with me,” he smiled.

Zachariah didn’t move out of the way so Dorian couldn’t take me wherever he intended. Atticus’s growl shook the tree we were in.

“She stays with all of us or none,” Atticus snarled.

Dorian shrugged, “She stays with me while we are here. She can stay with you when it is your turn in your own territories. Here, I am the Alpha. There are perks,” he grinned.

It sounded fair, but I didn’t want them fighting over me the entire time. I was also feeling greedy myself and wanted all of them touching me.

“I was hoping we could stay together?” I interrupted before things escalated, “I get nightmares courtesy of the vampires. I don’t know if my magic will retaliate. I think I need all of you there to make sure it doesn’t,” I admitted, blushing as I admitted a weakness.

I wished it wasn’t true, but it was. I was hoping the nightmares would leave now that I wasn’t there, but since I didn’t know, I had to tell them.

Dorian’s features softened, “Of course, Sweet Siren. If that’s what you need.” I nodded, “It is.”

Atticus huffed and nodded. Zachariah eyed me, his stare always making me think he saw more than he said. He always stared before he spoke, and if he wasn’t so hot with his searing green eyes, I might be intimidated.

Instead, it turned me on.

“This way then,” Dorian said, leading me up another spiral staircase. It led to the only room at the very top of the tree. It was huge.

There was a huge bed with four posts growing into the ceiling. And it was surrounded by glass walls that overlooked the river.

Bookshelves lined the other walls with a seating area. There was a bathroom with a tub, some kind of bowl that I assumed was what I had used a bucket for with the vampires. I looked at the tub longingly, and Zachariah saw—like he saw everything.

“We will get some refreshments. Bathe, Little Red, enjoy some moments alone and safe,” he said—words that melted me.

I looked to Dorian for confirmation since it was his room. He smiled and nodded, “I’ll get you some clothes. And if you want, the ceiling opens—just pull the chord to the side of the room,” he nodded to it.

I moved through the archway of the bathroom and pulled the chord. The ceiling opening made me grin. The sun was already setting, our trip to the forest territory having been a long one. But it made the timing perfect.

I let out a long sigh. Safe. I felt safe. For the first time in forever.

I looked over my shoulder to see the empty room. The alphas had left me to it, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I hadn’t had a minute to myself, a minute to understand since I had escaped. I filled the tub, poured in some oils I found under the wooden vanity, then stripped and climbed in the bath.

I spent a long time in there, soaking, relaxing, coming to terms with the future I was faced with. It hit me that I was going to spend my life with one of the men who had claimed me—an alpha.

I wasn’t angry about it. Not when they had treated me with nothing but kindness since they had saved me. But it did make me wonder if they knew what they were signing on for?

I was a siren. I had a voice that vampires would always hunt me for. I had a past that would always haunt me.

Did they really want that? Or was it the power in my veins that connected us?

I had a month to figure it out.

I climbed from the bath and dried, then dressed in the dresses that had been left for me at some point. The dress was deep green, soft, and silky as it clung to my body. The sleeves and skirts flared out. The brown string belt at my waist pulled in my figure, and my long red hair curled down to my waist.

I felt beautiful for once.

I smiled and looked down at myself as the alphas came in.

“You are a dangerous creature, Fox,” Atticus smirked, circling me and licking his lips.

“That you are,” Zachariah mused. Dorian agreed with his narrowed eyes.

He placed a tray of food down on the table by the sitting area before coming over to me. “Hungry, Sweet Siren?”

I nodded, but there was something more pressing on my mind, and I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the food until I had dealt with it.

“I am. But not for food,” I whispered, looking at them all with the same heat they had in their eyes.

And that was all it took to get the answer to my previous question. I could have them whenever I damn well wanted.

~