Feral Wolf by Caroline Peckham
“Come on,” I barked, the relief in me slowly being swallowed by anger as I led our group down the stairs as fast as we could go.
Sin kept pace with me, chattering excitedly like that had all gone exactly to plan. But I’d felt Ethan’s pain as his throat was cut, I could see the blood staining his jumpsuit and I knew exactly how close I’d just come to losing both of my mates back there.
And a big part of the reason for that happening was down to Sin and his bullshit delusions that we had some kind of secret language in which me firmly telling him not to do something somehow equated to him doing it.
By the stars, now we had the entire prison free to use their magic however they liked and as brutally as they wanted with zero ways for us to stop them. It was a fucking disaster.
We made it to the next level down from the Mess Hall and I paused, chewing on my lip for a moment as I tried to figure out what our best move was now.
“We could go to level seven,” Roary suggested. “Use the Belorian’s cage. I doubt anyone else has thought to make use of that space since they can’t know the thing is dead and we can take a bit of time to figure out what to do from there.”
I nodded vaguely, happy with that plan for somewhere to hide but still having no idea on how I was going to get us out of here now. We were fast running out of time and now we had a whole new host of problems to deal with. Not to mention the fact that if we didn’t make it out of here after all of this, the other prisoners all officially wanted our blood which made the prospect of us serving out sentences in here even less appealing that it had been before.
“You should take these, hound,” Pudding said as we began to move downstairs again and I looked around at him to find him holding out a stack of pudding cup transmitters. “That way we can update you on the results of our diversionary tactics.”
“What?” I asked in confusion, accepting the cups from him as he smiled knowingly.
“You need time to make a new plan. Me and your other hounds aren’t needed for that. We’ll distract The Watchers so that they think you are somewhere other than where you are. It’s a good plan.”
My brows went up and I found Sonny, Brett and Esme all nodding along eagerly.
“We can hide our faces and run them all in circles, Alpha,” Sonny promised. “They won’t know what way is up by the time we’re done.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, looking between them and they all nodded in agreement.
“Yes. We’re the ones they’re least interested in. We can do this, Alpha,” he promised me.
I moved closer to them so that they could all hug and nuzzle me and they yipped excitedly as they turned off on level four with Pudding to go and cause their distractions.
“Aren’t we going back to the guards’ quarters?” Hasting asked Cain, his gaze flitting between Roary, Sin and Ethan nervously.
“Not yet,” Cain said gruffly. “It’s not safe to head down to the hatch at the moment. But don’t worry, we’re safe with this group.”
Hastings nodded, though he didn’t seem sure and I offered him a warm smile as he looked my way in an attempt to reassure him.
“We’ll look after you,” I promised softly and he offered me that sweet smile of his in return.
“I knew you were one of the good ones,” he said, giving me a doe eyed look and Sin snorted a laugh.
I punched him in the bicep, glancing in the direction my Wolves and Pudding had taken as my heart knotted with concern for them, but I was relieved too. I desperately needed a bit of breathing room to think and they were going to buy me that time away from being hunted by the rest of the prisoners.
“Do you think Esme’s tits are natural?” Sin asked, moving closer to me and ignoring the low growl that escaped me as we all began to jog down the stairs again. “Or do you think she spilled an engorgement potion on them once? I knew a guy who once spilled an engorgement potion on his ear. Big eared Ralph we called him - on account of his big ear. Never did figure out why he didn’t just shrink it again. The thing was so big that small children used to crawl right inside it and it was so heavy that he used to have to hang his head to one side and drag the ear along the floor all the time.”
“Stop talking,” I growled and Ethan perked up to my right, his gaze locking on me as he sensed the shift in my mood faster than Sin seemed to be picking it up.
But I couldn’t help it. I was pissed. Everything that was supposed to go right had gone unbelievably wrong and though a lot of it was just shitty luck, there was a whole heap of issues which we were continually facing because Sin thought anarchy was a good pastime.
“How about I tell you the story of three dicked Pete instead?” Sin offered, not seeming to catch on to my boiling temper at all as we reached level seven and headed straight for the Belorian’s cage.
As far as I knew, we were the only ones who were aware the beast was dead so most of the prisoners probably believed it had returned here, making it the perfect hiding place as no one in their right mind would choose to face that monster. Magic unlocked or not.
“It wasn’t that he had three dicks attached to his body,” Sin went on excitedly. “It was that he had this old shoebox with three severed-”
“Stop,” I snapped, flicking a silencing bubble up around him as the last of my patience withered away and I found myself glaring up at the Incubus who still didn’t seem to have the faintest idea that I was pissed at him.
“I need a word with Sin in private,” I told the others, my gaze flicking to Hastings for a moment to let them know what I really needed was for him not to be listening in on us.
Sin was still chatting away within his silencing bubble but none of us could hear him for now which he didn’t seem to mind one bit.
“Come on, Jack, you look exhausted,” Cain said, catching on quickly and drawing Hastings into the cage ahead of us. “Why don’t you get some shut eye while I keep watch?”
“What’s the plan for Wilder then?” Roary murmured as he fell into step with me and the rest of us moved inside the abandoned cage too.
“Firstly, I intend to kick him in the dick, then we’ll see where the wind takes me from there,” I muttered.
“He means well.” Ethan nudged my arm gently and I looked up at him in surprise.
A sigh escaped me but it didn’t do much to calm my temper. “Well if he wants to be a part of our pack then he’s going to have to learn to do better than that,” I growled.
“He’ll be out of it for at least an hour,” Cain said, drawing my attention to Hastings who was now sitting against the cage wall with his head tipped back as he snored softly.
“Good. I have an incubus to deal with.” I flicked a silencing bubble over Hastings just in case Cain’s sleep spell wasn’t strong enough to keep him out of it through the noise of this discussion and Roary closed the cage door behind us, leaving us in the dim red lighting within the room.
Ethan cast a Faelight to hang above us and brighten the space and I turned to Sin with my jaw ticking before releasing him from the silencing bubble so that his voice could fill the space again.
“What if I tell you about twelve holes Sally?” Sin suggested brightly and a snarl ripped from my throat.
Cain smirked as he took a position beside the door to the Belorian’s holding cell, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall as he watched us like he couldn’t wait to see the show.
“Do you even understand what you’ve done?” I gritted out, my hands fisting at my sides as I fought against my temper and my instincts which were demanding I force him into line whether he liked it or not. Because I was an Alpha Wolf and this little crew of convicts and a seriously unwilling guard were becoming my pack whether they liked it or not. I could feel it in our interactions now, the shift in our dynamics, the way we were finding our places amongst one another.
Ethan and Roary were getting it. I could tell by the way they’d shifted in their attitudes towards me and each other. They were willing to bend, to accommodate, to grow into their roles as a part of this famiglia. And maybe that was to do with the mate bonds I’d secured with them, but I was pretty sure it was also because they were pack animals at heart. A pride wasn’t so different to a pack after all. Just another form of beast whose instincts drove them to surround themselves with family and protect them at all costs.
But Sin wasn’t falling into place. He wasn’t learning to work with us the way my instincts demanded he should. And he was flouting my commands far too often for my inner animal’s liking.
“Are you referring to the hats I’ve been making for everyone?” Sin asked innocently, raising a hand and conjuring a selection of hats made out of flames for each of us. “I just need to figure out how to make the fire less hair burnish - because the rest of us don’t want to end up looking like Roary, amirite?”
“Fuck off,” Roary snarled at him and Sin sighed dramatically before banishing the hats again.
“I’m not talking about some fucking hats, Sin,” I said, fighting to contain my anger as my Wolf paced back and forth inside my skull, fangs bared and ready to pounce. “I’m talking about you going against my direct orders and releasing the magic of every prisoner in this place. I’m talking about you ignoring my plans and following your own crazy ideas to the bitter end despite being specifically told not to do it.”
“Hey, I can’t help it if Officer Randy got a rager for me and tried to slip me the D while I happened to be holding the remote for the cuffs and-”
“Are you even sorry?” I barked.
“What? Why?” Sin looked at me in utter bewilderment and for a moment I almost felt bad for calling him out, for getting so angry at him and wasting energy on this when we needed to be focusing on our escape. But then he opened his fucking mouth again. “Is it because the others aren’t on our level? That they can’t understand our secret language and don’t get that this is all just a show for them to watch while I know deep down you’re really pleased I pulled off your plan to perfection and-”
Sin stumbled back as I shoved him, a snarl ripping from my throat as I had to fight the urge to shift and completely lose my shit.
Ethan and Roary moved closer behind him, offering me silent support while Sin continued to look at me like he couldn’t understand what I was laying out so clearly for him.
“I did not in any language on this earth tell you to give the prisoners their magic back. We had a plan. We just needed them to help us push the guards back. But now every stronzo in this place has full access to their power and wants to use it against us, because of you!”
“Wait,” Sin said slowly, the smile slipping from his face. “Are you...actually angry at me for this?”
“Angry? Of course I’m fucking angry you pazzo bastardo! Ethan almost died up there because of what you did! I almost lost my mate for the sake of some reckless idea you had to liven up this shit storm by giving a bunch of psychopaths the means to kill with ease. When we were the only ones with our magic free, we had an advantage, we were safe. But thanks to you we can’t even move around the prison safely anymore. I don’t have the support of my pack and everything has gone to hell!” I roared at him, unable to hold back the tide of my fury over everything that had gone so wrong for us now that I was finally letting it out.
Sin gaped at me, his eyes darting to the others who stood firm around him, clearly on my side with this.
“But the lemons were a good shout though, right?”
I could only blink at him for several long seconds and then I really did lose it.
“No, Sin, the lemons weren’t a good idea. They were a fucking insane idea cooked up by a man who everyone in here says is insane. And I didn’t want to believe them, I wanted to see the real man beneath all of that bullshit, but maybe I was just kidding myself because you are insane! You’re a fucking liability and if I end up stuck down here for the rest of my miserable life thanks to your half cocked plans and imaginary secret language with me then I can promise you that I’ll never speak to you again. You fucked up and if you seriously can’t see that then I don’t know what to say to you because I can’t be your fucking babysitter, and I can’t cope with you doing this over and over without ever taking any star damned responsibility for your actions!”
Sin stared at me as he finally seemed to grasp that I wasn’t kidding and the spark in his eyes dulled into something dark and unreachable a moment before he lost his shit.
With a bellow of rage, he turned and slammed his fist into the wall of the Belorian’s cage, denting the metal as he fuelled the punch with air magic and causing the whole structure to rattle and echo around us.
He roared like an animal and ripped an enormous feeding trough from the wall before hurling it to the back of the cage with a furious energy that made my heart skip a beat. The others all moved to stand around me, magic brimming in their hands as they tried to place themselves between me and the monster who was Sin Wilder, but I wasn’t afraid of him. I refused to feel anything other than the fury that had set my blood boiling at this point.
“If I’m such a burden to you then you won’t be wanting me here for your special little meeting of the mates then, will you?” Sin roared, his eyes flaring with a dangerous aura that was potent enough to scorch the air surrounding us. “Come on, Mason, let’s leave them to it.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, you fucking nut job,” Cain growled, flames igniting in his hands as he stood his ground before me.
Sin looked from him to Roary and Ethan then his gaze finally met mine and a mournful howl escaped him before he turned and raced away from us.
“Shit, do we need to go after him?” Ethan asked, taking a step in that direction, but I was too fucking angry to indulge Sin’s temper tantrum right now.
“No,” I barked, my Alpha tone ringing in my voice and making Ethan turn a scowl on me as I tried to force him under my command. “Just let him go. We don’t even have a plan to get out of here anyway, so what fucking difference does it make now?”
I turned and strode away from them, blowing out a harsh breath as I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to gather myself.
My hands were shaking with a violent energy and my mind was racing with so much anger that I couldn’t think straight to even begin to form a plan.
A soft whimper drew my attention to Ethan as he moved to my side and I looked to him, letting him see how fucking hopeless I felt and drinking in the emotion in his eyes as he leaned close and pressed a kiss to my neck.
“It’ll be alright, love,” he murmured, his hand moving over the base of my spine as he drew me closer and continued to kiss my neck.
“We’ll figure it out,” Roary agreed as he moved to my other side and reached out to push his fingers into my hair.
“I’m too angry to even try and think right now,” I hissed and Roary nodded.
“We know. We can help,” he said, leaning down to kiss the side of my jaw.
“Let us help,” Ethan agreed, his hand moving to grip my ass as I fell still and tried to focus on the feeling of their hands on my body instead of the rage which was still coiling through me.
A growl escaped me, but they ignored it, the two of them manhandling me and ushering me towards the wall where Roary pushed me back against it in a clear demand.
“You need to relax, little pup,” he said firmly. “You’re coiled too tight and you need this release.”
I growled again, but as their mouths moved to either side of my neck and their hands began unbuttoning my jumpsuit, the noise seemed to turn into more of a purr. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, concentrating on the blissful feeling of their flesh against mine as I gave in to what they wanted.
“Seriously?” Cain growled, but I ignored him.
“Let us worship you,” Ethan said. “Let us own you, Rosa.”
“Okay,” I agreed on a breath, feeling the need in the two of them as well. We were all knotted up with dark energy and still reeling from escaping that encounter with The Watchers. We needed a moment to lose ourselves in, to reset the restless, anxious feelings inside of us and let it all go for a little while.
My jumpsuit was tugged open and I let them pull it off of my arms before they peeled my tank top and bra off next.
Ethan dropped his hand to the top of my panties and slowly began to push his fingers beneath the fabric as the two of them kissed their way down to my tits and each began sucking on my nipples.
A throaty moan escaped me and my eyes flicked open again just as Ethan found my clit and began to toy with it.
Cain stood opposite us, his arms folded as he watched us, his grey eyes flaring with heat and want while his body remained rigid and unmoving.
I moaned again as Roary pushed a hand into my panties too, my gaze still locked on Cain’s as my Lion slicked his fingers around my opening and began to tease my throbbing pussy.
Cain didn’t make any move to leave as I began to fall apart beneath the touch of my mates. He just kept standing there, watching us, the weight of his eyes on me making my skin burn and the words I wanted to use to call him over to join us weighed heavily on my tongue.
But I didn’t speak them, wanting to see how far he’d let me push him, how much of this he’d stay for, how much hungrier that look in his eyes might grow before he’d snap.
“I love you, Rosa,” Roary growled against my breast before sucking hard and pushing his fingers into me, making me moan loudly.
I clawed my fingers into Ethan’s hair and fisted the fabric of Roary’s jumpsuit as the two of them began to work together to destroy me. My moans and words of praise filled the air as I switched to Faetalian and Ethan groaned hungrily in reply.
They found this perfect synchronicity, the two of them thrusting and circling their hands in a way that had me panting for them, but no matter how perfectly they touched me, I couldn’t quite let go.
Roary released my nipple from his teeth, moving up to kiss my lips in a demand, but the tension in my body was knotted so tightly that I couldn’t reach my release.
I growled in frustration, kissing him hard before shoving his head back down to torment my aching nipple, bathing in the feeling of the two of them worshipping me as I tried to chase down my climax.
My gaze fixed on Cain once more and I lowered my eyes to the solid ridge of his cock inside his pants while he continued to watch us.
“What’s the matter, Twelve?” he taunted as I rocked my hips into the movements of Roary and Ethan’s hands, loving every second of it while still chasing that moment of annihilation. “Have you been down here so long that you’ve forgotten how to do something without being told when to do it?” he taunted.
“Fuck you,” I panted, moaning as Ethan circled my clit harder, pushing me so close to the edge that I felt like an elastic band poised to snap.
“Is that what you need? My cock inside you to make you come?” Cain asked, a dark smile colouring his lips as he said it, causing my mates to growl angrily as they upped their efforts to bring me to ruin. “Because it seems to me like you’re lacking something with your moon mates because they’re not getting the job done.”
“Get lost, asshole, no one invited you to this party,” Ethan snapped as Roary drove his fingers into me even harder and I cried out, so close that every muscle in my body was locked up with tension, but it still wouldn’t break.
“Be a good girl and come for them, Twelve,” Cain commanded and my back arched as I fought against him on principle, but I could tell that he wasn’t going to let me off that easily. “Now, Twelve,” he growled in that boss man tone of his that always got me so riled up. “Come.”
And like a backstabbing little bitch, my body gave into him, a cry escaping me which echoed off of the walls as my pussy clamped tight around Roary’s fingers and I finally fell apart, my body sagging back against the wall as all of the tension inside me tumbled away.
“Good girl,” Cain mocked as the others drew back and I breathed a laugh laced with irritation.
“Fuck you,” I muttered again. But unfortunately for me, none of us had time for that.