Red: Through the Dark (5 page)

“That makes sense. So the newer, young families will always have space. Wolves are frequently moving around as their family size changes.”

“Yeah. No one uses more than they need. At least, that’s the idea. Some people think they need bigger suites than the rest of us just because they have big heads.”

“You mean Tessa.”

“Ding, ding, ding!”

“She can’t be all bad,” I protest, even though I know that’s not really true. I’ve known some mean girls like her and they won’t stop until you call them out. It’s just that I already have plenty of attention on me. I don’t really need more.

When we turn into the lounge, I bite back a growl.

“Damn,” Karen says under her breath.

Tessa is standing in the middle of the room wearing “clothes.” She has on a thin tank top and booty shorts. Nash is arguing with her, but she keeps touching his arm. He bats her away at first, then he stops and just keeps talking to her. I stare at her hand on his forearm, glaring. Neither one of them has noticed our presence yet.

“I don’t mean to boss you around,” Karen says quietly. “But remember what I said the other day about ignoring her and letting things go?”

“Yeah.”

“Forget it. You don’t need to ignore her. You need to bitch slap her. Go!”

She shoves me forward and I scurry over to Nash and Tessa. Neither one of them notices me approach, nor do they seem to notice the crowd that’s gathered to witness their little argument.

I move closer and closer, listening to their raised voices.

“Unacceptable,” Nash is saying. “I don’t want to have to revoke your privileges, Tessa, but I will.”

“Over clothes?” She screeches. “This is insane, Nash! Everyone here has seen everyone else naked before. Why is it such a big deal now?”

“It’s a big deal because I’m trying to run the damn pack! I can’t have my wolves swooning over each other anytime someone doesn’t have clothes on. We need some order, and this is the first step.”

“Bullshit,” she spews. “You’re just upset because your mate is fat and I’m not.”

“Actually,” I say, stepping forward and grabbing a fistful of her perfect blonde hair. “He’s upset because he gave you an order and you didn’t listen.”

Tessa squeaks in protest but from where I’m standing, she can’t escape from my grip.

“Red,” Nash begins, but I place my hand on his arm and squeeze, silently telling him that I’ve got this. I’m not freaking out. I’m not going to go all crazy on Tessa. I’m in full control of myself and, for the first time in awhile, of the situation.

“Clothes, Tessa. Wear them or you’ll lose kitchen rights, hunting rights, and even running rights. Once those are gone, it’s going to be pretty damn hard to earn back the trust of your fellow wolves.”

A few shifters murmur in agreement and she glares at me, but I’m not done yet. I give her hair another hard yank.

“It’s not a hard request. If you have trouble finding things that will fit you,” I eye her tiny clothes. “You can talk to Germaine and ask her to help you come up with something. She has a lot of great clothes available and if she doesn’t have something you can wear, I’m sure she would be happy to create you something from scratch.”

Ryder approaches and stands next to me. He doesn’t touch me, but his presence calms me. He reminds me so much of Nash. They have similar attitudes and statures, but Ryder also radiates a lot of strength. Part of me wonders if Nash realizes what a natural born leader Ryder really is. At some point, I imagine Ryder will go start his own pack. Leading is in his blood and there’s only room for one Alpha per pack. There’s no way he’d ever challenge Nash for leadership, but at some point, his ability to guide a pack is going to become too strong to handle without an outlet. Leadership is something Alphas tend to crave. When they don’t get that fill, they freak out.

“Trouble?” He asks, looking at all of us. In addition to being Nash’s beta, he’s also sort of Nash’s bodyguard, and mine, whether I want to admit it or not. I like knowing that even when Nash is gone, there are other wolves who will look after me. Aside from some of the females, I don’t have much to worry about when I’m alone in the pack.

“Not at all,” I say with a sweet smile. “Tessa was just leaving.” I release her hair and motion for her to go. Part of me expects her to whirl around and slap me, but that doesn’t happen.

Instead, Tessa shoots me a nasty glare, but turns on her heels and begins to walk away. Then she stops and whispers, loud enough for just me to hear, “This isn’t over.”

I know Nash and Ryder heard her with their sensitive wolf-hearing, but I don’t think any of the other wolves were close enough to catch what she muttered before she left.

“That’s it, folks, move along,” Ryder says to the gathered wolves. With groans, the group begins to disperse. A few shifters head to the kitchens to begin preparing the evening meal, a couple go to start butchering the fresh meat, and several head back to their private suites.

“Need me for anything else?” Nash asks Ryder, but Ryder shakes his head.

“Nope, she’s all yours,” he winks at me and disappears.

“Have fun!” Karen squeaks from behind Ryder, and he looks surprised to see her. I had forgotten she was there.

“My lady,” Nash says. Then he swoops me into his arms and guides me back down the hall toward our suites.

Nash

“Finally,” I murmur, carrying Red into the bedroom. I place her on the bed and strip off her clothes, kissing every inch of her skin.

“More,” she moans. “More.” Red thrusts her hips up, silently begging me to eat her pussy, and I’m happy to oblige. Hooking her legs over my shoulders, I grip her hips and pull her firmly toward myself. She shivers in anticipation as I begin to lick slowly. Starting with each lip, I nip lightly, sucking and biting as I gradually make my way up to her clit.

Then I lick around it, careful not to touch.

“Please,” Red begs, but I ignore her as I continue to lick and tease her body. This is what I want, what I need. This is what I’ve been dying for all fucking day.

“You and me, baby,” I murmur. “This is all I need. You’re so gorgeous like this, Scarlett. Baby, you’re so damn beautiful.”

“Nash,” she moans, and thrusts her hips up toward me again. I slow my pace, licking up and down her slit without touching her sweet clit. I can see it getting swollen, silently begging for my touch, but I haven’t had Red all to myself in what seems like forever.

I want to drag this out.

I want this to count.

Gently, I run my hands down the outside of her thighs, then back up again, still carefully licking her pussy. She grabs my hair and tries to guide me, but I pull back and nip at her thigh.

“Naughty girl,” I admonish her. “Who’s in charge here, Red?”

“You are,” she doesn’t even hesitate before answering and my dick gets even harder.

“Hands up, baby,” I direct, and even though she moans in protest, she obeys. She’s getting close. It won’t be long now, even without paying attention to her clit. I lap closer and closer to that special spot, the one she’s quietly begging me to touch, until I can’t handle it anymore.

I need her to come undone for me.

“Come for me, Scarlett,” I command, sucking her clit into my mouth. I suck hard, pushing her over the edge. Her hips grind into my face and I slide my hands to her ass, gripping her tightly, pulling her closer.

I need her closer.

She rides out the orgasm and I keep licking her clit, making it last as long as possible. Suddenly, the sensations are overwhelming and she pulls me up toward her.

“Nash,” she whispers.

I kiss her, claiming her mouth. I know she can taste herself on my lips, but she doesn’t mind. She shouldn’t. She’s fucking gorgeous, amazing. I love her sweet scent and the way she tastes on my mouth.

“I need you inside me,” she whispers.

How can I say no to that? Gliding up over her body, I part her legs with my knee and position myself between her soft thighs. My cock nudges her entrance, but I don’t take her just yet. No, I want to savor this moment. I want to make it last as long as possible.

The last few weeks have been hard on both of us. Hell, our entire relationship has been hard on all of us. The trauma of losing her grandmother may have propelled Red to me, but I don’t want that to be what our relationship is based on. I don’t want us to be together because she was sad and I was there. I want our relationship to be based on the fact that we can’t live without each other, that Red needs me just as much as I need her, that she craves me the same way I crave her.

Sliding my cock through her soft juices, I drag it up to her clit and swirl around.

“Nash,” she groans again, and it’s all I can do to keep my coming all over her soft belly.

I lean forward, my elbows on either side of her, and I kiss her.

“Mine,” I growl, a fierce possessiveness welling up inside of me.

Her eyes go wide, but Red nods. She nods and leans up, kissing my mouth softly, tenderly.

“Only yours. Always yours, Nash. Always.”

I thrust into her, biting her neck as I do. I can’t help myself. She calls to my inner-wolf and makes me feel so damn alive. Free. Red makes me feel so many different things that without her by my side, my life would be boring, dull.

Before she came into my life, that’s exactly what my world was like.

Before she waltzed into that little cabin and made herself at home in my space, I wasn’t truly living. I was existing, but that was it. I was managing to get by. I was sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Then
she
happened.

Thrusting harder, faster, I pump into Red’s sweet body, loving the flush that’s spread over her face. She’s going to come again for me. I need her to. Before I fill her with my seed, I need to feel her pussy pulsing over my cock.

Quickly, I flip her over so she’s on all fours, then I position myself behind her and plunge my dick into her tight channel.

“Nash,” she cries out. “Please!” I reach around and rub her clit softly, quickly, until she comes undone around me. She pushes back onto me as the orgasm crashes over her body and I come, too, whispering her name, pulling her hair.

Exhausted, we collapse next to each other on the bed. Her back is to my front and I just hold her, tracing lines over her body, rubbing her breasts, pinching her nipples. She’s so sweet like this, so perfect. When we’re wrapped up together, it’s like our own secret world that no one else can reach. No one can touch us here. No one can bother us when we’re one like this.

“You’re mine, baby,” I murmur.

“Always yours, Nash. Always yours.”

Her voice is a soft whisper and as she starts to fall asleep in my arms, I stroke Red’s hair softly, playing with her dark curls. I don’t know how I’d be able to handle the pack without her by my side. She’s everything to me.

Her breathing deepens and when she’s asleep, I quietly climb out of bed and go to the table. Paperwork is waiting for me. Ryder notified me earlier that there have been some discrepancies in the pack finances, so I have to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb and figure out exactly what the problems are.

His previous assessment that someone wants to harm the pack seems to be true, unfortunately. Although the pack, as a whole, has become more unified, strange things still seem to happen at random. A bunch of meat went missing after a hunt the other day and now there are strange withdrawals from one of our bank accounts.

I don’t know who would want to hurt the pack, but I plan to find out.

With a sigh, I reach for the paperwork and grab a highlighter. It’s time to get to the bottom of this.

***

Over the next few days, things settle into a new normal at the cave. The pack grows more unified as we continue to spend time together hunting and running. Tessa calms down and backs off of Red, which I’m grateful for. Soon the tension I’ve felt since taking over the pack begins to dissipate and I’m able to relax just a little.

It’s early morning about a month after I’ve taken control of the pack when Ryder and I decide to go on a run together. There are just two weeks left until Red and I have our mating ceremony and I’m anxious to run off some of the stress surrounding the planning.

Ryder and I don’t have a lot of time together, so we’re grateful for the chance to spend a morning bonding, running. Maybe we’ll hunt or just swim. I’m not sure. I just know that Ryder is one of my oldest friends, but something has been troubling him and I intend to find out what.

We leave Thorn in charge of the pack. The big guy can handle things without us. Then Ryder and I take off. Just outside the cave, we shift into our wolf forms and begin to run. There’s a light breeze in the clearing and I revel in the way the air rushes over my fur, then I move.

We race over rocks and under fallen trees, over creeks and around corners. My wolf feels satisfied like this. I feel good, strong. I feel in control. We aren’t talking right now, but we don’t have to. It’s enough to just be with my brother. Ryder always has my back and when we’re together, I can relax. For a little while, I don’t have to be the pack leader. I can just be the kid who grew up in a pack where he didn’t really belong and who still doesn’t really belong. I can just have fun.

Ryder and I race around for about half an hour before we stop. We both catch the scent at the same time. He cocks his head at me as he slows, and I nod, silently acknowledging what we’re about to do. There’s a deer nearby. It’s probably a big one, judging by the animal’s scent. I’m starving and I get the feeling Ryder is, too, so silently, we turn toward the smell.

Swiftly, carefully, we hunt our prey. We know that at the end of all this, there will be a delicious meal waiting for us. All the tension drains from my body as I relax at the thought of getting to eat fresh meat.

Ryder and I stalk the deer, carefully and quietly approaching the scent of the creature. I feel young again at this moment, ready for anything, reaching for the world at my fingertips. My stomach growls in anticipation and I begin to salivate, thinking of how good this meat is going to taste.

A lot may have changed over the years, but as the deer comes into focus and Ryder quietly circles around to the other side, I realize some things, namely my love for my brothers, will never change.

With a sharp nod of his head, Ryder motions for me that its time.

Together we go for the kill.

***

When Ryder and I finish, we go for a swim in a nearby swimming hole, then dry off in the sun on a couple of boulders.

“Did you find out what happened to the money?” He asks, and I shake my head.

“It’s been bothering me. I would have pegged Tessa as wanting the pack to fail. She’s the obvious choice. She really got screwed when Jeffrey died.”

“If he was even going to take her as a mate,” Ryder says.

“Well, yeah. He wasn’t exactly the most honest guy, was he? I wouldn’t be surprised if he only said that to get something from her.” The promises sound eerily similar to the ones he made to my cousin, Elise, before her death.

She fully believed Jeffrey wanted to marry her, to keep her forever. As it turns out, the only thing Jeffrey wanted to keep was the pack. Even that he’d been willing to sacrifice if it meant gaining more power. I shake with anger as I remember the way he wanted to betray our fellow pack, Nightfall. Jeffrey wanted to take over their pack and destroy it.

The pack Alpha, Jordan, never would have let him, but both sides would have lost good wolves in the process.

“Is there anyone else who has a grudge against you?” Ryder asks. “Anyone from your childhood?”

“No. All Jeffrey’s guys are dead or gone.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of,” Ryder sighs. “We don’t have anything conclusive to say who’s been stealing or messing with our stuff. I would suspect a rival pack, but we don’t have any.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” I assure him. “Things just might take a little time.”

“Yeah, but that’s time we don’t have,” Ryder comments.

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Nash, I don’t want to be up in your business, but I think things have been a lot harder on Red than you know.”

“Scarlett’s strong,” I protest. “She can get through anything.”

“I don’t doubt she’s strong, Nash, but the single females have really bonded against her in many ways. Some of them are coming around, but a lot of them hate her guts.”

“Why?” The thought infuriates me. “Because she’s human?”

“Because she’s
your
human. Surely you know how handsome you are, big guy.”

“I know no such thing.”

“Yeah, right. I remember all the girls in the pack when you hit your teenage years and had your first shift.”

“They did go a little crazy, I suppose.”

“A little?” He raises his eyebrows. “Allison Martin told her grandmother she was going to marry you the second you came of age.”

“She did, didn’t she?” I laugh at the memory. “Yeah, I suppose a lot of them wanted to get with me. You too, though, if I remember correctly.”

“Nash,” Ryder says seriously. “What if those desires didn’t stop when we came of age?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if those same unmated females still want you? Do you really think they’d let a little thing like your chosen mate get in the way?”

The thought makes my blood run cold.