The Tension

LORELAI

I spent three days getting put on my ass by my alphas, and not in the good way I wanted—although that was becoming a steady part of our routine too. Training had become so much more intense, usually ending in broken concrete walls, cuts, and bruises that healed before my alphas fucked the life out of me. It did a good job at relieving some of the tension, if only for a while.

We were waiting on Tabby—again. She was making the trip so we could discuss whether getting the beast to join the pack would upset the balance, or whether it would be safe to do so. Or even if we could still go with our plan to give Adrenna and the beast their chance back. It was a long shot, like Derik said, but it could solve so many problems, so we had to try. But that meant waiting again.

The hunting parties were taking out singleton vampires, stragglers that wandered too close, but nothing substantial yet. They were too solitary and seemed to know that their chance for survival lay in the numbers in their territory. It was infuriating when all I wanted to feel was the bones beneath their skin crack, even if I could only feel that through the link at the moment.

I had tried to convince my alphas to let me actually join one of the hunting parties soon, but they were adamant I wasn’t ready to face a vampire. I wasn’t fast enough; I wasn’t strong enough. But I didn’t think I would be given permission even if I managed to beat them. They were too convinced I was a pretty porcelain doll that needed protecting. Which was bullshit because they were rough as hell with me, and I hadn’t broken yet. So as much as their concern warmed my vengeful heart, it did nothing to sate it.

“We want you in one piece, Spitfire. It would take a single second of losing your concentration for one of those things to tear you apart. Do you think we could forgive ourselves for not protecting you if that was to happen?” Brax asked.

He was reading my mind as I took a minute in the middle of training. The hall was empty other than us. I was puffing, a hand on my hip, as he dabbed his sweat away. The walls had body-sized damage in sparse bits along the walls; the pillars were crumbling, and the dust was only just settling.

My magic was warm, tingling in my veins as my shadows swirled, finding Brax’s, soothing them, tasting them, making sure he was okay after we had fought. I liked fighting with Brax; he didn’t go easy on me. Kai refused to fight me, letting me throw punches and hit while he always played defense. Derik was a fucking machine; I couldn’t even land a hit. But Brax? He was fun. He taught me the underhanded ways he used to beat them, including our shadows.

Mine warmed against his, swirling around each other, dancing a seductive dance that leaked back into my body and had me breathing even harder. I met his eyes with a smirk, and he stepped closer. My soul buzzed at just how close he came. My mate. The word whispered in my head over and over again had me moving into his arms as his hand went behind my neck, dragging me in for a deep kiss.

Our shadows grew, the pressure of them filling us both. It was potent being with him intimately with our shadows riding shotgun. Before, when I had been off the deep end, I’d kept mine away, not wanting the euphoria that came with fucking Brax. But now that I had everyone where they were meant to be, it was hard to resist that pull. Especially when we were alone and our shadows no longer had any interest in watching us fight each other, or doing it for us.

“I think training is over,” I whispered, my mouth moving against his as he pulled me onto his waist with an easy tug under my ass. His arms were strong, and I clutched his bicep, loving the way he held me and the way his shadows caressed mine. They fed the desire inside me, his breathing life in the form of fire and spark straight into my core, and I was helpless against it.

I gasped as his tongue found mine, turning with it, tasting me as I did the same, trying to remember that breathing was technically essential but not wanting to waste time on it.

“As hot as you look in these new pants and vest combos, I really miss the easy access of those dresses,” Brax chuckled breathily, and I laughed, tugging at the strings of my pants, then his as he put me down. We both knew where this was going.

I undid my vest, dropping it on the floor as Brax’s shadows slid up my body. I held my breath as the move felt like silk, sensual and slow, turning over my nipples, teasing them into peaks as I moaned, fisting my waistband. I stepped out of my pants and was on him in a heartbeat. He laughed as I pushed him down on the wooden bench that ran along the side of the arena.

“I’m surprised I have any dresses left. After you savages get done with them, they are in shreds,” I teased.

He grinned. “A calculated reward.”

I smirked, then moved my shadows over his body, teasing him the way he did me before leaning over him and stealing his mouth with mine. I kissed him hard, tasting every part of him as my body pulsed with need.

It was always so fierce; my mates were that addictive. I didn’t think I would ever not feel obsessed, like I was constantly in heat, in need, my body demanding a touch, craving it like a cool drink on the hottest of days. It was hard to think through most of the time. Especially since I was always close to them, and that wasn’t enough to sate the hungry voice in my brain telling me to claim them, to mark them as mine so the entire pack could see who they belonged to.

At least my alphas seemed to be just as enamored and fed that craving whenever they could.

“That’s what it is to be mated, Spitfire. Constantly calling for the other piece of your soul,” he said against my mouth, and I kissed him harder, rolling my hips against his hard cock that pulsed, sitting straight up against my abdomen. I wanted to feel him inside me, but the urge to taste him had me salivating.

Before I could, he was lifting me off him, still kissing me as he stood us up. I didn’t have time to ask him what he was doing before he pushed me back down, spread my legs apart, and moved his head between my thighs. He looked up with a smirk.

“First in, first served, Spitfire. Thought you said you were getting better at being quick?” He winked, then before I could shove him off and claim him right back, his mouth was on me, tasting me.

I gasped, my hand clutching the bench so hard, the edge crumbled in my hands. I cursed as Brax chuckled, the sound muffled by my pussy that was thrumming, shocking me with pleasure. He pushed his tongue inside me and swirled before his teeth teased my clit. It was excruciating, but it was exactly what I wanted. I pushed my hand into his messy blonde hair, the strands spilling over my fingers as I gripped it. Hard.

He groaned, and I bucked into his feasting mouth, gasping and moaning, his fingers pushing inside me until I was releasing, my head full of sparks like a firecracker that never ended. And then his canines were there, his fangs scraping at the skin on the inside of my thigh.

“Fuck, Brax, I can’t. Please, I need you.”

“I know, Spitfire, which is exactly why you’re going to.” He grinned, his eyes red as he met my gaze a second before his canines sunk into my flesh.

My orgasm was fierce and immediate. It was an explosion going off in my body, a blast so big it wiped out every brain cell leaving a blank canvas that had my mouth open, but no sound could escape.

I shook as my pussy spasmed, the toxin mixing in my blood like the most intoxicating lure I’d ever had. Pure heat, pure pleasure, pure fucking bliss captured every part of my soul and cradled it in its dangerous arms that I couldn’t get enough of.

And when it passed, I was more than desperate. I was feral.

I snarled, my own wolf coming to play as my shadows whipped out. They latched around Brax’s wrists, yanking him back and pinning him to the floor. I grinned as I came over him, my eyes burning, my teeth sharp, my claws too.

I stepped over him, smirking as I slowly bent down, on my haunches as he smirked, his tongue licking around his mouth, my juices coating his shiny lips.

“You taste so fucking good when you come like that,” he teased, his teeth still stained with my blood. I lowered myself onto his waist, my thighs either side of his stacked body.

“You’re not going to be able to walk once I’m through with you, Alpha.” I ran my finger down the dip between the left and right side of his abs. He grinned.

“Damn, I hope not.”

I smirked before leaning down, kissing each pec, and nipping at the V of his hips before going even lower. His cock twitched as I got closer, and I gripped his base, licking up him.

But before I took him in my mouth, I wanted to taste him in a different way. I wanted to give him the same euphoric bliss he gave me.

I went to his thigh, kissing the spot as he sucked in a breath. His eyes were wild, a frenzy starting in the link, his shadows beginning to rile up.

“You want me to bite you?” I breathed, and he nodded.

“Not there, though, Spitfire. I want everyone to see your mark,” he said, turning his head so his neck was exposed.

I wasn’t sure whether I was just meant to let my fangs do the work or whether there was such a thing as too deep since I had never bitten anyone before.

But apparently, I was overthinking it because the second he exposed his neck to me, the frenzy that was in him infected me.

My wolf controlled me as I moved back to his waist, leaned over him, and slid onto his thick, bulging cock. At the same time, my fangs buried themselves in his veins.

He roared so loud, the room shook. He fought my shadows that kept him pinned, but it was a wild desperation, and I knew if he could, he’d be pounding me into the arena floor.

But I wanted the control. I wanted to mark him, I wanted to have him shaking beneath my prowess.

It was working.

Brax’s hips lifted us off the floor as he tried to fuck me, but I kept us there, with him firmly seated inside me as I tasted the sweetness of his blood. And the utter fucking pleasure that came with that taste.

My gums released my own toxin into him, and the second it did, my hips were moving on their own. I was riding him relentlessly and hard. The need to devour him, to make him mine, to have his pleasure meet its peak inside me was impossible to resist.

I needed him more than my next breath, more than I needed my life. His essence was mine, and whatever made up mine was feeding his. It was a cycle, a sharing of souls, and I understood in that moment.

We weren’t just lovers, we weren’t just an epic love that could fizzle out, we were mates. Our fates would always be connected, and the pleasure, the pain, the pieces of ourselves that made us who we were, would always be shared.

I yanked my teeth back, sitting straight as I moved on him, still fucking him as his hands gripped my hips, thrusting up into me. I gasped, the feeling blinding me from anything but the feel of him.

Not just his cock and the way it rammed inside me, but the sound of his heartbeat, pulsing so fast yet perfectly in time with mine.

The way his breath rushed out of his mouth every time he pumped into me, the feel of his skin electrified against mine, each raised goosebump because of me.

“Kai’s fucking pissed, Spitfire. You were meant to mark him first, so we’ve got to finish, okay?” Brax breathed, and I came back down enough to understand what he was saying.

He was right, Kai was pissed, and Derik was not amused, even a little jealous. It wasn’t surprising since there were three of them, but it was hard to feel sorry for them when what I had just experienced was the epiphany of a lifetime.

I finally got the wolf fated mate thing. They should be happy about that because there was no way I was fucking them without marking them every damn time now.

Brax chuckled from beneath me before leaning up to kiss me.

“You just wait, the orgasm is going to blow your mind. Just keep moving, don’t stop. I’m going to get big, it might hurt, but it’ll be worth it, and it’s going to last longer. But the way it’ll feel when we’re falling off that ledge, Spitfire? Fucking epic.” He grinned before kissing me again.

I met his mouth, shivering at his words, wondering how the hell I was meant to take bigger. But also desperate to find out.

It didn’t hurt. My body stretched to accommodate every thick inch of him as I moaned and gasped, trying to escape the pressure of the pleasure claiming the oxygen around me. I couldn’t breathe; it was too intense, the weight was too much.

My orgasm rammed into me in wave after wave as I screamed, clutching his shoulders, my claws ripping through his skin.

That made his cock swell more as he groaned, his own release going and going. His come filled me, the warm seed making me tingle and ache, but in such a good way I couldn’t even beg for it to stop.

My thighs ached, my ribs ached from gasping, and how tight Brax held me to him, but my mind? My soul? It was replenished, as if nothing could touch it, as if I were invincible.

My magic poured out of me, swirling everywhere, a purple mist filling the room as we fucked through our climaxes. We were still falling with each other when the door burst open. Kai was there, his eyes dark and angry, but the second he saw us, it was just fire.

A raging fire that had me spending my last few strokes of pleasure in some kind of trance. Brax groaned and shuddered out the last of his cum before sagging against me.

I held him, his shoulders bleeding over me, his bite still raw and red, but it made my heart swell, my soul happy. I grinned, licking over it. Brax sucked in a breath and shivered, then kissed my neck before his eyes closed.

“Little Luna,” Kai breathed, coming forward and sinking to his knees.

“Nikolai.” I smiled without moving. The need to stay until I had kissed Brax took over any movements toward my other mate.

“If your teeth aren’t in me at the same time my cock is next in you, I am going to break a lot of things,” he warned in a low voice, his eyes stuck on Brax’s bite.

I chuckled before kissing Brax, soft and slow, licking over his swollen lips as he tugged at mine.

His fingers went over my skin, dragging slow, caressing me as his shadows slid over me again, soothing and calming until that was all I felt and my heart rate had returned to normal.

Once it was, I climbed off Brax, and Kai helped me up. He pulled me into him and kissed me.

“Next time, Kai,” I promised against him, and he growled in response. I grinned, then pulled away. Brax had slipped on his pants, then handed mine back.

“You can bet on it, Little Luna. But for now, let’s go see our beast. He is growing restless, his need for Adrenna hunting starting to make him a little testy.” Kai chuckled. I nodded and pulled my clothes back on.

Once we were dressed, I tucked under Kai’s arm and let him lead me to the barns, while Brax went to bathe and then see the twins.

That was on my list after dealing with the beast, who I knew was restless by the roaring that was shaking the barns as we approached. The ground was muddied with snow, and the night was dark; our path was only lit by torches, but with wolf vision, I could see clearly.

It helped because before we could enter, Tatum was being thrown out of the barn, ripping his clothes as he shifted into his wolf, a big brawny thing with dark brown hair and silver strands.

He snarled and went to pad back into the barn with a sneer of his snout, but I stopped him, putting my hand on his coat. He jumped and went to snarl at me before his eyes went wide, and he bowed his head, his nose almost on the ground as he whimpered.

“Apology accepted.” I smiled before sighing and turning to the barn.

“We can’t keep him in there,” I said.

“You have another idea?”

I shrugged. “You know my idea; I want to add him to the pack. I just wish we knew when that would be. I don’t like knowing Adrenna is out there without the beast hunting her.”

At her name, the beast howled loudly, the sound making me shiver as the winter cold bit into my skin. I thought I would be immune to the cold thanks to the wolf thing, but out of the perks I got, winter immunity was not one of them.

“Tatum, go on patrol. We’ll look after the beast,” Nikolai said, and Tatum nodded before running off.

I took the lead and headed into the barn, frowning when I saw the beast, tied in chains, trying to break free from them, shuffling, pacing, anger radiating from his shaking form.

His head snapped to me when we walked in, and I nodded in greeting, not stepping closer until we knew how volatile he was.

“It won’t be long now. We need to make sure adding you to the pack won’t hurt it.”

It paused, then nodded, whining at the shackles. I went to step forward, confident I could undo them, when Nikolai stopped me.

“No, Little Luna. We wait for Tabby.”

“I didn’t almost die in that shadow realm to release a beast, then tie it up again. I want him released so if he senses Adrenna, he can go after her, protect us,” I explained, and Kai looked at the beast before looking back at me.

“I need more than hope, Little Luna.”

“Then use the trust you have in me. Because I trust it, Kai.”

I went to the beast then, getting as close as I could before raising my hand to it. The beast studied it before inching forward, his head turning from one side to the other before nudging my hand.

“I want to let you out of these shackles. But I need you to promise you will only attack Adrenna if she comes near. You can stay here until you sense her, but when she is near, take us to her,” I asked, and the beast nudged my hand again, a second before bowing low.

I grinned and turned to Kai.

“Is that enough?” I asked, and he nodded once, coming forward to let the beast out. He shook out his almost non-existent fur, the sporadic patches seeming that little bit thicker.

The beast nudged me before nuzzling against my body. Then it curled up on the hay with a huff and laid its head on its mangled paws.

“When Tabby gets here, we’ll do what we have to do. But the beast needs to be a part of the pack, and we need to find Adrenna. Then, once we find her, we’ll give them both back their lives,” I said quietly, not sure if I was telling Kai, the beast, or myself.

Kai wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek from behind.

“You are a better wolf than I am, Little Luna,” he whispered.

I leaned back into him. “A better human, maybe,” I said, and he kissed me again a second before Derik strode in.

“A better soul,” he said, and I smiled, going to him as he kissed me. His lips were tender before they went to my ear.

“I want your bite too, beautiful,” he said, and I shivered, biting my lip as I looked back at his intense gaze.

He hid his crazy well, but those wild eyes were still there, revealing that part of himself to me. I smiled and nodded.

“I’ll mark you all, Derik. You’re mine. My mates,” I promised, and he let out a low growl before kissing me. The beast whined and interrupted our moment, so I stepped back. Derik sighed and put his hands in his pockets.

“Tabby is almost here,” he announced. My brows shot up, and I grinned.

“Tell her to meet us here.”

“She can’t, beautiful. She is as weak as Cain said. She needs to be outside, in the gardens.”

I nodded and followed them out, turning to the beast before we left. “Stay here. We’ll be back soon, and we will make you a part of our pack, Beast. And if we can’t, then we’re going to hunt her down anyway,” I said, and the beast's ears pricked up before he offered a weird smile.

His eyes closed then, and I went with my alphas to the gardens.

Brax was there waiting, the tea was served hot, and my mom was preparing it. Galen watched on with that intense gaze of his, standing with Brax on the far side of the gardens, leaning against the concrete wall of the mansion.

I went to the bench seat with Derik, sitting with him as Kai stood behind me, his arms folded as we waited.

It was too quiet, and my mom served our tea, the porcelain clinking in a way that echoed through the night.

“If this doesn’t go the right way and we can’t make him a part of the pack, then I’m going on the hunt for Adrenna tomorrow,” I said, and the quiet grew tense.

I felt Kai’s no, sensed Derik’s trepidation, and then there was Brax’s fear. It all filtered through me, but I was adamant. I had to know she was caught. I had my magic and my shadows; I could fight, and I had to know she wasn’t out there planning to take Zale or Enzi.

It was all I could think of when I let myself think for longer than a second at a time, and I couldn’t live through that pain again. I had to know it wasn’t a possibility, for myself.

“We won’t live through the pain of losing you, beautiful. It is a lot to ask.” Derik tried to soothe me, but his tone was patronizing, and I knew it was his diplomatic way of easing me into a no.

“Good thing I wasn’t asking then.” I smiled in the same way.

He sighed. “We want you safe.”

“And I want Adrenna in shackles. Those fancy magic ones that the beast wore deserve to be on her, and I want that.”

“We all do. But the vampires are everywhere over there, and that is where she is,” Kai snapped, but I was determined, meeting his glare of warning with my own.

“There is no here or there anymore. The border is gone. The vampires can cross into our territory whenever they want, and so can we. And if it means getting to Adrenna, taking out some vamps, then that’s what we have to do,” I said, but none of them looked happy with my decision.

“Maybe we just see what this woman says, Sweetie. Don’t rush in with that impulsive nature of yours without having the information you need. I don’t want you hurt either,” Mom said, patting my hair down before smiling.

“Why does everyone assume that I am going to get hurt just because I decide to get in the middle of this fight? I’m actually capable of doing more than talking and fucking,” I snapped, making Mom scowl.

“Manners, Lorelai. Wolf, hybrid, winter born or not, you will use them,” she scolded, and I swallowed.

“Sorry,” I conceded, knowing when to back down.

“Have some tea,” she urged, and I nodded, sipping some of the brew before leaning into Derik.

“I’ll see what Tabby has to say, then decide,” I said, and that helped, the tension dissolving enough so I could lean into Derik comfortably without meeting a rigid spine.

He curled me into him and held me, keeping me warm until Tabby arrived, Mom going inside with Galen to wait in the warmth.

When Tabby finally arrived, I let out a sigh of relief and went to her, hugging her.

“Tabby,” I greeted, kissing each of her cheeks. She smiled, hugged me back with her frail frame, clutching her cane tighter than usual before Kai was there, hugging her too.

She was wrapped in her shawls and tightened them across her chest before moving slowly over to the opposing seat. Kai helped her into it, her face pale and drawn out.

“I’m sorry for calling you out here. I didn’t realize how weak it made you,” I said, guilt churning inside me, but Tabby waved my words away.

“I’m here because I need to be, child. I hear you’re one impatient minute away from adding the beast to your pack.” She smiled.

I blushed. “I was thinking about it. Would it work?” I asked.

She sighed. “You want to bring him into the pack, then catch Adrenna and turn him human?” She asked, and I nodded, everything in me tight and crossed, waiting for her verdict. But I knew her answer the second her face fell.

“No, Lorelai. The simple answer is no. It won’t work,” she said, and my heart stopped. The blood drained from me as I tried to force my mouth to ask anything, say something, but it was still stuck, my mind trying to contemplate the disappointment.

I needed hope; it was what I rested every part of my confidence in us winning this war on, and with those few words, Tabby had taken every ounce of it.