They extracted their fangs and kissed the marks, and then Ray lifted his fingers from between her legs and sucked the wet tips into his mouth.
“I’m definitely calling you sweetness from now on,” he said before stretching out on the rug on his back. “Come put your beautiful mouth around my cock so we can all come together one more time.”
She turned her head and smiled at Wes, kissing him briefly before lowering herself over Ray and hooking her fingers in his boxer briefs. It took no time to lower them past his erection, the thick length hard and ready for her. Grasping the base with one hand, she held herself over him with the other planted on the rug next to his hip and groaned as Wes pushed inside her from behind.
“Ah, fuck,” Wes growled. “She’s so fucking wet.”
Scarlett moaned as Wes pushed inside her, his hands gripping her hips tightly. She glanced up Ray’s body and found him smiling, his fangs peeking over his lips. She licked the silken head of him and he exhaled loudly and shivered. Laving the length of him with her tongue, she swallowed the glossy bead of fluid that leaked from the tip, finding him sweet and tangy.
Wes began to move within her, his strokes sure and steady, and she tossed her hair over her shoulder and took Ray into her mouth. She moved on him the way that Wes moved in her, their strokes the same, but her tongue adding to the play as she wiggled it around Ray’s cock, finding the thick vein and the notch just under the head. She watched him watch her until she sucked hard and his eyes rolled back as he gave a loud moan.
She grinned around her mouthful and then moaned herself as Wes slipped a hand under her body and began to strum her clit. She didn’t think she could come a third time and also keep up with Ray. As if he could tell what she was thinking, he leaned on his elbow and cupped the back of her head, guiding her on his cock. She let herself go to her mates’ care as Wes pushed her into another climax that made the center of her body feel like it was melting and her vision blur. Ray came with a snarled grunt and she sucked up every last drop of him as Wes filled her body with his come, shouting her name as he gripped her tightly.
Wes pulled out of her with a soft groan and she flopped on top of Ray, pleasantly sore but blissed out. Ray scooped her up and carried her to the bed, climbed up and laid her down. She blinked a few times and yawned.
Wes joined them on the bed holding a washcloth. He pressed it to her neck and gently cleaned the marks. “Do they hurt? Do you want something for the pain?” Ray asked.
They did ache, but she cherished it. “I’m good, just really tired.”
Wes put the washcloth away and joined them on the bed, curling around her back as she snuggled on Ray’s chest.
“Are you happy, love?” Wes asked.
“I’ve never been happier.”
After dinner on Thursday, Wes looked around the basement, scanning the floor for anything they might have left behind. They’d decided to just get back to Ashland. He missed the pride and wanted to share it with Scarlett, but he also knew they couldn’t live in their Dad’s basement forever. They had jobs waiting, not to mention dealing with Scarlett’s family. He felt an edge of urgency surrounding them now that they were heading home. Yes, Scarlett was carrying their cub and they were fully mated now, but her dad didn’t really seem like the sort of guy to just roll with the punches. They had no idea how he’d reacted to discovering that she was gone. Scarlett was worried about her mother and brothers, especially Christian, who had helped them get away from Bent Creek safely.
While he was packing, Scarlett and Ray went with Max to get snacks for the trip home. They’d considered leaving in the morning, but the drive would take eleven hours no matter what time they left, and he and Ray were actually hoping that Scarlett might be able to sleep on the trip so she wouldn’t be so exhausted.
“The house is going to seem really empty with you guys gone,” Miles said as he came into the basement.
“We’re going to miss being here, too. You guys could always come live in Ashland. There are rooms left in the boarding house.” He and Ray had separate bedrooms on the third floor of the large house. They would be picking one room as their own and the other would be empty for someone else.
“I don’t think your dad would leave King, and I wouldn’t go anywhere without him.”
“There are only two groups at the house without mates now,” Wes said, thinking of the trio of cousins – Dylan, Chase, and Hunter – and Melody’s uncles, Jax and Holden. “There’s always a chance that some more lions could join the pride, though.”
“The kids are growing up, too, right? It seems like ages since the Fallons left.”
Wes nodded, zipping up Scarlett’s bag. “John’s son, Henry, is sixteen, and Jilly is eighteen and mated to twin panthers, although they aren’t living together technically yet. Grant’s two kids are ten and eleven, and Aaron’s three kids are ten, eleven, and twelve. Our child will be the first one born at the house, though. None of the other mating groups at the boarding house are pregnant.”
“I hope you’ll be coming back to visit often,” Miles said, offering to carry one of the bags upstairs.
“We will, as long as you promise to come out to Ashland to visit.”
“I’m sure I can get your dad to make the trip,” Miles said, smiling as he put the suitcase down near the front door.
By the time Ray, Scarlett, and Max returned with snacks, Wes had packed and cleaned up the basement. Scarlett walked into the house and right into Wes’s arms. She sighed softly and snuggled close, and he chuckled and kissed her forehead.
“I missed you,” she said.
“Missed you, too, love.”
While Ray organized the snacks in a soft-sided cooler with some ice packs, Scarlett showed Wes the cell phone they’d picked up. Ray glanced at Wes. “I put her on my plan. When your contract is up, we can add you to mine and that way we just have the one bill to deal with. Maybe we can get a better price, too.”
Scarlett put the phone inside a pink glitter case and said, “I need your cell number so I can put you in my contacts.”
Wes entered his number for her and she sent him a text immediately – the words ‘I love you’ followed by several pink hearts.
After saying goodbye to Max and Miles, they were on their way to Ashland. Wes was driving the first leg of the journey. He felt his anxiety spike a little and couldn’t exactly explain it outside of generally worrying over what would come once they spoke to her family. He’d never been one for confrontation, but he was willing to fight for Scarlett, no matter what came.
Scarlett opened the browser on her phone at Ray’s urging and looked up the community college near Ashland, to see if they had a program for a teaching certificate. “I need to work, though,” she said as she scrolled down the screen.
“No, you don’t,” Ray said vehemently. “You said you wanted to teach and we want that for you. Wes and I make plenty to support all of us. Going to college is what you want to do, and you don’t need to worry about getting a job as well. Our sweetness wants to be a teacher, and that’s just what she’s going to be.”
“And a mate and a mother,” she reminded them, a smile in her voice.
“All of those things,” Ray said.
Scarlett leaned against Wes and rested her head on his shoulder as she read out loud from the course catalog. She’d been forced to leave her art supplies behind when they left Bent Creek, so the first thing Wes wanted to do when they got to Ashland – after getting settled, of course – was replace what she needed. He could hope that she might be able to go to her old apartment and take all her things with her, but he didn’t actually believe that would happen. It wouldn’t surprise him if her father had destroyed all her things in retaliation.
He’d be sure that their children would never know what it was like to live under such an oppressive rule. They’d know that they were loved and protected by two dads who already loved them, before they were even born, and a mother who had given up everything to be with them.
* * * * *
Christian Jamison grunted as his father’s fist slammed into his mouth. He rocked back on his heels, his vision dimming. “You’ll tell me what I want to know!” his father roared. Christian’s eleven brothers growled angrily, but couldn’t help him.
Joseph, his oldest brother, had knocked on Christian’s door early Friday morning, waking him from a sound sleep. Joe had been told that there was a gas leak in the building and everyone had to evacuate. When the brothers walked out of the hallway and into the gathering room of the apartment complex, they’d walked right into a trap. Their father had brought along the strongest pack males, many more than their twelve. The wolves had surrounded his brothers while Christian had been singled out. It was as if their father knew that Christian had been instrumental in helping Scarlett get out of Bent Creek. In truth, Christian had walked into that situation unknowingly, but one look at the protective males who’d come for her and seeing the love for them in her eyes, he’d had no choice. Scarlett was his baby sister. He’d do anything for her.
Blood seeped into his mouth as his teeth cut his gums and he spat on the floor, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Answer me!” His father took another menacing step toward Christian, but he squared his shoulders. His brothers knew he’d helped Scarlett leave the week before, but like him, they didn’t know where she’d gone. He hadn’t even told them that she’d left with mountain lions, but Joseph had scented them in the hallway and had known immediately what type of shifter they were. The brothers had scoured the hall and Scarlett’s apartment with harsh-smelling cleanser to get rid of any trace of their scent, and it had worked. When Scarlett didn’t show up at their parents’ home on Friday evening, their dad had come to the apartment and then promptly flipped out when he realized she’d disappeared.
When Christian met the alpha their dad had picked out for Scarlett – a male in his thirties named Arven, face scarred from brutal fighting during his rise to alpha and a smug and arrogant look on his face – he’d known that he’d made the right choice in helping his sister leave. This was not a male who would treat her well. His sister deserved to be well cared for, loved and honored the way a cherished mate should be. Just because she had the genetic ability to get pregnant quickly and often, delivering alpha-powerful males and Breeding Queen females, didn’t mean that she shouldn’t be loved. He’d hated the idea of her being given away ever since he was old enough to understand that her destiny was out of her control.
Now, Arven stood nearby with his own highly ranked males and angrily waited for news of his promised mate. Well, he could go fuck off, because Christian was
not
going to give Scarlett up. He and his brothers had spent too many years standing idly by while their father played with her future. They’d all had enough.
Their father snarled angrily and Christian steeled his spine. His father’s half-shifted hands swung out toward him and clawed through his shirt. Joseph struggled nearby to get past the wall of wolves keeping them apart. “For fuck’s sake, Dad! Stop this, it’s madness!”
“You will address me appropriately,” their dad snarled.
“Alpha, please,” Joseph said through clenched teeth.
Christian dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth against the ache in his chest. He heard a soft, feminine cry of pain and he gasped in shock to see his mother being dragged into the building by the beta and theto of the pack. One eye was blackened, her lips swollen and cut, blood dripping down her chin.
He rushed to his feet. “Mom!”
His father stopped him with a clawed hand on his throat. He squeezed tightly and drew Christian close, and his hot breath wafted over Christian’s face. “I’ll kill her. If you’ve never believed me capable of true violence, then know this truth – I will mate my only daughter to Arven whether your mother is alive to see it or not. If you love your mother, you’ll spare her the pain that will precede her death.” He squeezed harder and Christian’s lungs burned from lack of oxygen.
His mother, hands bound together in front of her, met Christian’s gaze, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Don’t worry about me, Chris. Keep her safe. I love you.”
His dad’s growl echoed in the room and he dropped Christian, who fell to the floor with a thud, gasping for breath. Then he stalked to his mate. He picked up the rope holding her wrists together and wrapped his hand around the pinky finger of one of her hands. He stared at Christian as he bent her finger back until there was a loud snapping sound. She screamed in pain, struggling as the males held her tightly between them. Christian and his brothers shouted, begging him to stop.
“You know how to stop this. Tell me where she is.” He squeezed his fist around the next finger of her hand and broke it.
She sobbed and the sound broke Christian’s heart.
“No, Chris,” she pleaded, but he couldn’t stand it.
“I don’t know, okay? I don’t know where they took her.”
His father wrapped his hand around another finger and Chris screamed, “I said I don’t know! I’m not lying, please!”
His father’s lip curled and he said, “You know who would know, though, don’t you?”
Christian’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “The mountain lions. Melody is living in Ashland with them, and even if she doesn’t know where Scarlett went, she’d know how to get in touch with her or the men who helped her.”
“Helped her? You mean kidnapped her,” his father said.
Christian bit the inside of his cheek to stop from cursing his father out.
To one of the wolves, his father said, “Bring me Scarlett’s phone. It’s on the dresser in her bedroom.” The male disappeared quickly. When it had been discovered that Scarlett had left, their father had personally searched her apartment, but there was nothing to indicate where she’d gone. Christian had known that Melody might have an idea of how to get in touch with Ray and Wesley, but the males had said that no one knew where they were taking her, so Melody wouldn’t be useful for information. Christian now wished he’d destroyed Scarlett’s phone.
The male handed Scarlett’s phone to Christian’s father. He looked down at it dispassionately and then tossed it to Christian, who caught it easily. “You will call Melody and tell her that she must find a way to get in touch with Scarlett because her mother is very ill – near death. You can tell her I have abandoned your mother and she’s being cared for by the pack healer. She’d do well to return before your mother dies.” He glared at Christian, whose wolf howled in dismay. “If you try to warn Melody to keep Scarlett away, your mother’s blood is on your hands. Best call her quickly, my youngest son.”
With those words ringing in Christian’s ears, their father stepped away from their mother and made a motion with his hand. The wolves holding her began to hit her. She screamed in pain with each blow and Christian’s whole body trembled with rage. Of his brothers, he was the least alpha-like, taking after their mother more than their father. He was a good fighter, and the only brother not being held back by the pack, but he was no match for his father’s top fighters.
“Mom,” Christian said, eyes filling with tears.
She gritted her teeth, her eyes rolling back in her head, but they kept pummeling her. His brothers shouted for him, but he couldn’t think past stopping the beating his mother was enduring. With trembling fingers, he opened Scarlett’s contact list and scrolled through until he found Melody’s name. He pressed the icon for her phone and lifted it to his ear, his mother’s sobbing echoing in the room.
As the phone rang, he worried that Melody wouldn’t answer. It wasn’t even five a.m. “Chris? What’s up?” Melody asked.
He inhaled and tried to steady himself. “I don’t know how to get hold of Scarlett, but Mom’s been badly hurt and Scarlett should come home.”
There was a brief pause, during which their mother wailed as the crunch of another finger was broken, and Melody gasped. “Shit, Chris! She’s here, okay? She just got here. Scarlett! Scarlett! It’s your mom, hurry!”