Suddenly Fated (Wolves of Riverton #1)

24. Ari

24. Ari

“Yes, yes, yes!” Esyn moaned, scaring a flock of nearby birds and causing them to take flight. She gripped a long, fallen tree branch, hanging on as I took her from behind while warm water flowed around us. She grew impossibly round with our cub, and it became harder and harder to find a comfortable position for her to make love. I had the brilliant idea to introduce her to the hot springs. The idea of floating weightless excited her very much. The bathtub was big, but not big enough for her to be able to float in.

We shifted into our wolves and ran through the forest toward the area that held the hidden spring. I’d been nervous about her shifting while pregnant, but the doctor assured us that it was perfectly safe and wouldn’t harm our cub.

Now, I mentally patted myself on the back as the water eased the burden on her body, leaving her relaxed. Her legs floated backward, her ankles locked around the backs of my thighs. The branch lay across the entire spring like a bridge and supported the top half of her body, keeping her head out of the water. Her gorgeous hair waved and danced all around her, reminding me of a mermaid. I bent and gently shifted it to the side, then nipped along her neck, shoulders, and back as I held her hips, moving slowly in and out. I wanted this experience to last, so I took my time, touching her, kissing her, savoring her. I felt her squeeze every inch of me as I slowly pushed into her fully.

“Goddess, Ari, yes, right there, just like that,” she said on another moan, and the sound of pleasure in her voice almost made me come right then. I breathed deeply, in and out. No way was I going to ruin this now. Grasping at control, I reigned myself in. I reached underneath the water and slid my middle finger over her clit gently, teasing her. “Ahhh!” She sighed, her hips moving in slow circles now, trying to take what she needed. My eyes involuntarily rolled back and my mouth dropped open. I tried to slowly torture her, but she unwittingly tortured me instead.

Finally I reached the end of my control. I pressed down harder, circling with my fingers. I kept my strokes deep but sped up just a little, enough to take her over the edge. She came with a cry, taking me along with her as staggering pleasure rocked my body.

Later, we sat submerged in the steaming water and I massaged her lower back. “That’s almost as good as the sex we just had,” she moaned. I laughed. “He’s getting so heavy.”

“He?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Yes, he. Of course it’s a boy. What else?”

“There is another option, you know.”

“Maybe so, but not for us. You’ll see.”

We meandered through the forest, taking our time. Warm in our wolf forms, it didn’t matter that there was still a bit of a chill in the air. We reveled in being together like this, absolutely alone and with nowhere special to be. I’d warned the warriors away from this area for the day, threatening extra pushups if anyone dared defy me.

Esyn stopped suddenly, sniffing the air. I tilted my head but did the same. Shit. Strangers.

Who?

I don’t know, but there are a lot of them. Stay behind me.

We moved into a clearing. A human man stood there with about thirty wolves lined up behind him, all growling low. The man stepped forward. He walked with a slight limp, and I recognized him as one of the guards from the basement, the one I had kicked in the kneecap. I realized then that he wasn’t a shifter, but a regular human. “You killed our Alpha. You and that little bitch wife of yours will pay today for what you took from us. The Sunset pack doesn’t forgive, and we don’t-” He looked down at his bad knee and back up at me with a glower. “Forget.” He stepped back, turning his back on us.

Esyn, run. Get help.

No way in hell am I leaving you here alone.

Esyn, please, don’t-

I didn’t get to finish my thought as the man signaled the wolves to attack as he broke through their line. Esyn and I turned and ran, knowing that the two of us had no chance against so many wolves at once. She let out a long, loud howl that bounced and echoed off the trees. We dodged and weaved under and around trees, branches, and rocks, attempting to lose our pursuers. One of them got close enough to nip at her heel and she yelped, picking up the pace. We gained some ground briefly as one of the chasing wolves stumbled and confused the others. Still though, they ran.

Ari. I’m losing strength.

Fuck. Esyn, please, just a little more!

The baby made it more difficult for her to run for long periods of time. Fear gripped me.

Ari, I can’t. I’m sorry.

Esyn slowed and turned, facing down the pack of snarling wolves. Her sides heaved. I moved immediately to throw myself in front of her. If they wanted her, they’d have to go through me first. I prepared myself to die. Suddenly, a bright light burst to life in front of us. It formed a barrier between us and the horde. The wolves cowered as the earth shook, toppling several nearby trees. Esyn and I backed away in the other direction.

What the fuck?

I don’t know, but let’s go while we can!

We took off once again, taking advantage of this bizarre phenomenon to get the hell out of there. I guided Esyn toward a grouping of nearby caves. If they didn’t see us go in, it would be harder to find us. Just as I nudged Esyn through one of the openings, we heard the wolves begin their growling again. However, this time, there was a new sound - the sound of the cavalry.

Our warriors are coming. Andrew must have heard you howl. I’m going back out there. You stay here and hide until I come back to get you.

Ari, be careful.

Esyn nuzzled my fur with her muzzle. I pushed my forehead against hers.

Stay hidden.

When I located the group of wolves, my warriors were already on them. I jumped into the fight. Ferocious snarls and growls reverberated around the forest. I leapt upwards, twisting to avoid the teeth of a gray wolf and lashing out with my claws, catching him across the eyes. He let out a pained howl and retreated. I spotted Jamie’s red wolf and hurried toward him, as another gray attempted to pin him down. I used my entire body to bulldoze the wolf into the ground, tearing out his throat in one long movement. Jamie huffed out a thank you and we stood side by side, facing the remaining threat.

In the distance, over the bodies of the fighters, I spotted the human with the bum knee. He stalked in the direction of the caves where Esyn hid, limping but moving fast. Silver glinted in the late afternoon light as it reflected off of the knife he held. Oh, hell no. Not today, asshole.

I bolted in their direction. Jamie followed, having glimpsed the man himself. We got sidetracked once, taking out a lean wolf, probably not even fully grown yet. I mentally shook my head at the waste of such a young life but couldn’t take time to stew about it. We left the cacophony of the fight, traversing the distance as quickly and quietly as possible so as not to give away our position. I turned to Jamie and motioned with my head in the direction we needed to go.

A shocking scene met our eyes as we entered the mouth of the cave - Esyn stood with her front paws on the man’s chest, her claws digging into his skin and making him bleed. More blood smeared her muzzle. The knife lay near where we stood, looking as if she’d knocked it from his grasp. Human claw marks formed long lines on the ground and told us that she’d dragged him. He yelped as she pushed her claws in further. I shot a look at Jamie, and we both shifted into human form.

“Ok, Esyn. That’s enough for now,” I told her. She removed her claws from his body, causing more blood to bubble up from his wounds. We grabbed the human underneath his arms, hauling him upright. He sagged in our grasp. Esyn growled.

“You get that bitch away from me” he shouted. “She’s crazy!” Esyn snorted as we dragged him out of the cave. We used his own belt and shoelaces to bind his hands and feet. While tying him up, we discovered that Esyn had bitten him right on the ass. This made us howl with laughter.

“I’ve never been more proud of you,” I said aloud.

He would have hurt the baby.

“Don’t mess with a Mama wolf,” Jamie said, still laughing. “Everybody knows that.”

The battle won and the bodies cleared, our warriors returned. We had a few injuries but no losses. It made me wonder briefly how Blackwell was always so successful in battle, when his warriors were so easily overpowered. Jamie and I sat in an empty room with our human prisoner. We had a difficult time getting Bum Knee to talk. I didn’t want to resort to torture if I didn’t have to. Finally Jamie told him, “Tell us what we want to know or we’ll give you back to the she-wolf. Our Luna doesn’t play around.” We both nearly exploded from trying not to laugh and ruin the serious situation. We sobered up though, when he began to talk.

“Look, I’m just following orders, ok? Alpha is dead and now his son is there to take control of the pack.”

“Wait a minute. His son? Blackwell didn’t have a son.”

“That’s what you think. Ain’t no law that says a bastard can’t take over for his Dad. He turned up shortly after you assholes murdered Alpha. Came all the way from some other country somewhere. Has the same mark his Dad did, proof that he’s the real deal. His Mom was a whore,” Bum Knee quieted his voice as if he told us a secret. “Not that we care about that. Half of us have whore Mamas, myself included. Though she was a human, like me. You wouldn’t know he grew up like that though. He’s real slick. Fancy like. Way more than Alpha was. He says he’s going to change things all around. I don’t care what the man does as long as I keep getting my pay.”

“I hate to tell you this, but you won’t be getting your pay for a long time. You’ll be cooling your heels in our jail,” Jamie told him with a shrug of his shoulders. “You attempted to murder our Luna on our land.”

“She damn near murdered me! You can’t do this! Besides, you all did the same thing!”

“Actually, we can and we are. Not that we have to justify ourselves to you, but I think you remember well that we were Blackwell’s prisoners. All we wanted was to rescue our women. What we did, we did in self defense. What you did today was an invasion. I’ll do you a solid though,” I told him. “I’ll make sure you have a nice cushy pillow to sit on in your cell. You know, to protect that bite on your ass.”

“A son? He said himself that he never had any other children,” Avelin said at dinner.

“I guess he didn’t know?” I replied.

“Does that mean I have a brother?”

“Technically, if he’s the real deal, I suppose it does. But would you want to claim the brother that just sent his people to kill Esyn and I, when he doesn’t even know us?” I asked her.

Avelin shivered. “No. Definitely not. It sounds like he’s not any better than my father was. Though, you know we’re going to have to arrange a meeting. We won’t know his intentions unless we do, assuming you don’t want to wait around and just find out naturally.”

“I think being proactive is better in this case. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. I also want to know what the hell Blackwell thought he was doing employing humans and letting them into his pack. That’s very, very against Wolf Code.” We nodded.

“So tell us again. What was this light thing in the woods?” Jamie asked, shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. Fighting left us all famished.

Esyn told them about the light phenomena again, describing the sound, the way the ground moved, and how the trees fell all around us. “It was beautiful and majestic, but also scary as hell. Almost…angelic. I could feel it, inside. I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and part of me wonders, was that the Goddess helping us to escape?”

“I’ve never heard or read a story that described the Goddess sending a light like that to anyone,” Avelin told her. “In fact, as far as I know, there’s never been an instance of her crossing the barrier between her realm and earth at all.”

“No, she just sucks you into her dream world and then zaps the shit out of you.” I grumbled. The others chuckled at me.

“Well, it may not have been her. But if not, then what was it?”

None of us had the answer.