Call of the Wolf (23 page)

* * * *

A flicker of amusement fractured the rage that had been building inside of Seth as he lay staring at Cameron above Abby's head in the darkness. It eased some of the sexual tension, as well, and he relaxed fractionally as he felt Abby drifting toward sleep, listened to her breathing even out.

He would've liked to have thought that he was high-minded enough that he'd sensed her need to be comforted, understood her hunger for reassurance after all she'd been through earlier. In point of fact, he had and he did.

Unfortunately, he couldn't claim that that had been uppermost in his mind.

Her needs had translated in his mind to a desire to make love to her.

Not that it took a hell of a lot to push him in that direction, especially now, when the moon had reached its greatest pull on his beast and the gathering was so near.

Cameron had correctly assessed the situation.

Most likely, he thought with a fresh surge of anger, because the bastard had had the same goal in mind.

He supposed it was just as well that Cameron had balked him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have succeeded in doing anything but convincing Abby that he was an insensitive asshole, he thought wryly.

As if what had happened earlier hadn't been bad enough.

Beyond the pull of their instincts, they'd all been running on adrenaline, though. Fortunately, they hadn't been so mindless they'd hurt her, and Abby seemed to have weathered it well enough. She hadn't seemed to be afraid of them afterwards or repulsed by their animalistic tendencies.

He still should've had enough sense to leave well enough alone, he thought with disgust. Aside from the possibility that pushing Abby too fast might just succeed in pushing her away instead of binding her to him, it would've outraged the entire clan and infuriated the council, which none of them could afford to do.

He wasn't entirely sure why he couldn't seem to keep his head together. It was never easy controlling his beast at such times as this, and he was well aware that the beast side of himself was more at the mercy of instinct than reason and he still, in general, managed to retain control.

The difference now was Abby—just being Abby, he supposed. He'd never been caught in the grips of his instincts to mate before—desire, yes, but not to procreate.

As he lay wrestling with it, however, still struggling with his urges because he found it nearly impossible to master them lying so close to her, feeling her warmth and softness against him, her scent curling tantalizingly through him, he abruptly became aware of something he hadn't noticed before. Or, at least hadn't realized he'd noticed.

She was in heat. He shook that thought off. She wasn't Wolfen—or Were. She was human and human women, he
did
know, didn't go into heat. She was ripe, though. As faint as the scent was that threaded her natural scent, he realized that honeyed, almost undetectable fragrance underlying it was the chemical reaction of her body releasing the seed of her womb.

His throat closed. Heat washed through him dizzyingly.

Abruptly, he realized why he'd felt the uncontrollable urge to take her when his rational mind had been trying to reason with him. She was ripe for him.

Ripe to be bred, in any case.

The instant that thought solidified inside of him, his urges surged to the forefront, shattering reason. She was his—his woman. He wasn't going to fucking let anybody else plant their seed in her—not until he'd insured she was carrying his pup.

His eyes narrowed on Cameron.

Cameron, either because he'd abruptly become aware of the situation the same as he had or because he sensed the sudden tension in him, pushed slowly up on one elbow. “Don't even think about it,
mon ami
,” he growled.

"Fuck you, Fontaine!” Seth snarled back at him, tightening his grip on Abby. “She's mine, god's damn it—my woman."

Roused from a deep sleep, Abby listened to the exchange, completely baffled as to what had set it off when it had seemed to her that they'd settled to sleep.

"If you're just going to fight, go away,” she muttered.

Seth transferred his attention from Cameron to Abby, wrestling with his inner beast. He lost. The absolute determination to plant his seed inside of her and claim her brought the dark side of his aggressiveness to the forefront. Dragging her thigh across his hips, he shoved his jeans out of the way, grasped his cock and curled his hips to press inside of her.

She wasn't aroused. He realized that in a dim corner of his mind when he discovered there wasn't enough moisture to help him sheathe his erection inside of her, but he wasn't about to accept defeat. Dipping his head, he covered her mouth the moment she gasped, thrusting his tongue into the warm, wet cavern. She tensed, but instead of trying to pull away from him, she nestled closer.

It was all the encouragement he needed.

Actually, he hadn't needed any. He was pretty sure, later, that short of knocking him unconscious she couldn't have beat him off. Cameron's arm, still around her waist and pinned between the two of them, tightened. Seth rolled with her when Cameron pulled her onto her back, using the shift in position to burrow his cock a little deeper into her channel.

Cameron uttered a warning growl.

He ignored it, pumping his hips the moment he felt her channel growing moist for him until he managed, by dent of sheer determination, to drive himself completely inside of her.

Cameron yanked his arm free and grabbed a fistful of his hair, dragging back on it until he broke the kiss and pried Seth upwards, arching his back.

He ignored that, too, reluctant to let go of Abby long enough to beat the bastard senseless. She was ready and she was his, by gods! That little egg had his name written all over it! He pumped into her in deep, rapid thrusts until he'd pumped his seed into her and kept thrusting, slowly, until he felt his cock growing hard inside of her again.

Cameron rolled off the bed with a frustrated growl of defeat the moment he realized Seth had spilled his seed.

As badly as he wanted to drag the son-of-a-bitch off her and kill him, as near mindless with his own maddening urge to claim her seedling for his own as he was, he was still cognizant of the fact that doing what he wanted to do would put Abby at risk of injury.

He couldn't do that.

Seth, the son-of-a-bitch, knew it, too!

He stood indecisively beside the bed for several moments, still wrestling with the urge to drag Seth off of her and beat him to a bloody pulp. Leaving didn't occur to him, though. Instead, he watched Seth through narrowed eyes ... waiting for him to give out.

He would, no matter how determined he was—eventually.

The chances were Seth's seed would've already claimed precedence by that time, but by-fucking-god he meant to challenge him!

* * * *

It was a rude awakening—to say the least! Abby discovered Seth had thoroughly distracted her before she could summon any anger, however. The only thought, in point of fact, that occurred to her when she felt his thick flesh plowing into her was that his timing sucked. She'd been willing and interested
before
she'd fallen asleep. She hadn't felt any great
need
for sexual release, but she'd wanted it.

Sort of like her earlier search for comfort food.

His kiss convinced her with very little effort. Warmth was already stirring inside of her, bringing moisture to her nether regions to ease his way, when he broke the kiss.

Which was when she discovered that Cameron was not only still with them but furious. The discovery caused a sharp dip in her enjoyment, which experienced another setback when Seth came before she'd more than warmed up good.

She was, in fact, tempted to clobber him herself for stirring her up and then leaving her hanging. She realized fairly quickly, though, that he didn't have any intention of doing so. Just about the time she expected him to pull out, she discovered he was growing hard inside of her again.

It disconcerted her, but the discomfort from being unprepared the first time around had vanished. The readiness that had filled her leveled out in its downward spiral, hesitated for a moment, and began to rise again. As if he sensed the rise in her toward completion, he dropped closer to her, shoving his hands beneath her hips to change her position. A low groan escaped her when he did. She felt each stroke in just the right spot. Her breath quickened to match his ragged breaths. It almost seemed as if the slower awakening built the pleasurable tension higher, wound everything inside of her tightly together for a cataclysmic storm. When it broke over her, her entire body seized as if she'd had electric current shot through her, every muscle going taut so that she hovered in breathless suspension for many moments before the rapturous waves began to jolt through her.

The pleasurable tremors rattling her seemed to travel through Seth, as well. He uttered a choked sound, lost his cadence for a handful of seconds, and then began to thrust into her in short, deep strokes as he joined her.

Reeling with the magnitude of her own climax, Abby held Seth tightly to her as his tremors reached a crescendo and began to taper off, stroking his broad back with light, appreciative caresses that drew more shivers from him. He made no attempt to withdraw from her, either because he was enjoying the post coital closeness as much as she was or, more likely she thought wryly, because he was just too weak in the aftermath of two climaxes to escape her clutches. She didn't care at the moment, either. It was enough to have the illusion of deep affection that she'd needed far more than she'd needed release and well worth having been awakened to experience it.

As welcome as his weight was on top of her, though, he grew heavier and heavier as he lay sprawled limply on top of her until she began to think he was going to crush her. With obvious effort, he finally stirred himself to drag his hands from beneath her to support some of his weight on his elbows. He hesitated again when he'd managed it and she wondered if he was reluctant to roll off of her or merely trying to summon the strength to do so.

He pushed backwards after a moment instead of rolling away, nuzzling his face against hers in appreciation. Finally, with obvious reluctance, he shifted his weight to the mattress beside her.

Before she could even discover whether he intended to pull her close and cuddle her, Cameron snaked a hand around her quick as a flash and yanked her across the bed, rolling on top of her.

* * * *

As near to blacking out as Seth was, he was well aware that Cameron was just waiting for an opening to grab Abby for himself. His reluctance to give the bastard the opening warred with the realization that he'd so thoroughly expended himself that he was not only crushing Abby with his weight, but that the best will in the world wasn't going to get his dick up again inside of an hour—if that soon.

He was still far too weak from the shooting. His rapid cell regeneration had closed the wound quickly and the rage and fear had shot enough adrenaline through him to get him on his feet and charging after the men who'd taken her, but the bullet had done extensive tissue damage. He'd lost a lot of blood, and not even a Wolfen could recover from that serious a wound so quickly and completely.

It still rankled to accept defeat, infuriated him to know he was too weak to defend his prize from the other Wolfen, but he finally realized he had no choice but to move off of Abby before he crushed her to death with his weight.

The moment he did, before he could even gather enough of his wit and strength to attempt to preserve his claim, Cameron snatched her away from him. He shoved himself upward with a tremendous effort to challenge the bastard, but Cameron was expecting it. He slammed his balled fist into his jaw so hard the threatening darkness enveloped him for a handful of seconds—more than long enough for Cameron to stake his own claim.

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Chapter Eighteen

Abby's nerves were wound so tightly by the time they reached the rendezvous point that the tension she'd sensed in the men had been completely overshadowed. She thought the strain she sensed in them was contagious and a good bit of her own was purely reaction to them, but she was unnerved at the prospect of the unknown.

And most of it still fell in that realm even though she'd sat down with Seth, Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico before they'd left her house and they'd given her a sort of overview of what the gathering was like. Experiencing, she felt sure, wouldn't begin to compare to the mental image their explanations had produced. Beyond that, their world was so familiar to them she knew there must be a great deal that they'd left out simply because it wouldn't occur to them that she would be ignorant of them.

They'd driven to the pasture that had been used as a parking lot the night before for the barn dance. By the time they arrived, the place was nearly as packed with vehicles as it had been the night before.

Seth had told her that most of the ‘people’ present were Wolfen. She hadn't realized, then, that he'd meant it. She supposed that was because she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around the fact that they existed at all, let alone in such numbers. Obviously, they were very good, and very careful, about maintaining the secrecy of their existence. It seemed almost as hard to grasp that more ‘humans’ like herself didn't know about them when there were so many as it was to assimilate their existence at all.

She didn't think she would've believed if she hadn't seen with her own eyes. In fact, she knew she wouldn't have. It was almost embarrassing to realize she'd been so wrapped up in her own affairs that she hadn't even had a clue that there was anything the least bit unusual about the festival. Maybe they were just that good, though?

Bypassing the barn, they took a trail beyond it that led into the woods. Despite the full moon overhead, the trees blocked so much of the light that Abby began to strain to see almost as soon as they stepped beneath them. None of the men seemed to have a problem.

It confused her. She could understand how, in wolf form, they would have night vision far superior to hers, but they were still in human form and their eyes looked the same as hers. How much, she wondered for the first time, of their unique abilities carried over into whatever form they took?

Surely not everything?

She discovered when she met Adrian's gaze, though, that his eyes glowed in the darkness like ... a wolf.

A shiver skated through her.

It seemed to her that all of them were angry with her. She thought she could understand Adrian's and Jerico's resentment a little better. Seth and Cameron had both been coiled around her when she'd woken that morning and it was obvious Adrian and Jerico realized immediately that she, Seth, and Cameron had spent much of the night having sex instead of sleeping. Aside from the fact that the room wreaked of sex, both of them had still been in her bed when Adrian and Jerico had come in.

She wasn't sure she understood the animosity she sensed in Cameron and Seth. True, she didn't know much more about the Wolfen than she had before she'd discovered their existence, but they'd indicated that they formed packs, family groups, much like ordinary wolves—which she
also
didn't know a lot about. She distinctly recalled, though, that they'd suggested that, although the Alpha female in essence belonged to the Alpha male of the pack, she also bred the ‘pups’ of the other upper echelon pack members.

It occurred to her that the way things had happened might not fit the customs, but if not, then why had both Seth and Cameron gotten into her bed to start with? Why had they, despite the obvious animosity, shared her?

She didn't get that.

She'd realized as soon as she'd begun to consider the idea of seeking a place for herself among the Wolfen that she would be expected to conform to their customs and she'd accepted that. She couldn't say that she had a lot of reservations about it. As novel as the idea was that she would ‘belong’ to all four of the men, she'd grown very fond of all of them since they'd begun taking care of her, and she found them all very attractive. She certainly didn't see it as a hardship or a reason to refuse the offer Seth had made for her to join them.

She found it distressing, though, that they seemed angry about her having sex with them. If this was the way it was going to be every time she had sex with a different pack member, it sure as hell didn't look like things were going to ever be peaceful living with them!

She supposed she shouldn't cavil over it. Being with them meant she had a chance for something at least approaching a ‘normal’ life and happiness. It meant she wouldn't have to spend every waking moment expecting someone to pop out of nowhere and blow her head off. She would feel safe enough to sleep at night—free of nightmares.

They'd given her that already, just by staying with her and watching over her. Despite the attack the day before, she'd felt safer and less stressed since she'd been with them than she could remember being in years. If she hadn't liked them at all. If she hadn't felt the powerful physical attraction she did to them, she thought she
still
would've been willing to trade off constant fear for the security they represented.

The fact that she
did
like them so much and was so strongly attracted to them physically had eliminated any real debate in her mind.

The gathering was the only part that actually worried her. She wished they could just skip it and Seth and the others could just go ahead and do whatever it was they had to do to claim her. She was used to the guys, enough so that the discovery of what they were hadn't created much conflict inside of her—it had scared her, thrown her into shock—but it hadn't changed the way she felt about them. As soon as she'd realized that they were what they always had been, accepting what she'd learned about them had been a foregone conclusion. She cared too much about them for anything to change that.

By the same token, though, the discovery that the strangers surrounding her, who'd already made her uneasy, were Wolfen, or Weres, just made them that much more unnerving. She knew her discovery didn't make them any more of a threat to her than they had been. The fact that they'd come to her rescue without question when she'd needed help made her feel uncomfortable that she felt any reservations about them at all, but she couldn't make herself
not
feel that way.

Then, too, the doubts Seth and the others had put in her mind didn't help. She couldn't see how her being present at the gathering was going to help the others accept her as one of their own. She couldn't become a Wolfen and the men had made it clear that becoming a Were wasn't an option they were willing to entertain. To her, it seemed that that meant that she couldn't expect anything more than an ‘honorary’ position in the clan—and she might not even get that.

She hadn't allowed herself to consider what it might mean to her if the others didn't accept her, but it was still circling the back of her mind as they trudged along the path through the woods.

The clearing they came upon after walking for nearly thirty minutes was already crowded. Abby instantly felt her tension increase. They looked like ordinary people, but the moment she arrived it seemed to create a stir.

She hoped that was just her imagination.

Catching her elbow, Seth guided her through the people gathered until he found a position that seemed to appeal to him on the fringes. The clearing had allowed the bright light of the full moon to spill over the assembled group, which helped her vision even though most everyone was still shadowy enough it made recognition difficult even if she'd known all of them, and she discovered when Seth stopped that she couldn't actually see over the crowd in front of her. She didn't know whether she was glad or sorry that she couldn't really see that much. It was frustrating in a way, and yet she was still too anxious about what might happen to be certain she wanted to see everything.

They weren't the last to arrive, but they didn't miss it by much. Abby could tell from the shifting of the crowd when others arrived. Finally, though, the crowd began to shuffle to rearrange itself and she discovered that they'd formed a large circle. A half dozen men claimed the center.

To her surprise, the man who spoke did so in a language she dimly recognized as French. She had no idea what he was saying but the crowd began to shift and look around. She wasn't terribly happy to discover she was the reason for it.

Seth, looking grim faced, gripped her arm and began to lead her toward the center of the group.

"What's happening?” Abby whispered uneasily.

"The council has acknowledged your petition to become a clan member,” Seth responded in a carefully neutral voice. “They want you to come forward to be introduced to the clan."

Since she hadn't ‘petitioned,’ she could only conclude that Seth had done so for her. It unnerved her that she had to present herself to be examined, but she could tell from Seth's reaction that he hadn't expected it himself. The council members closed around her and Seth once they reached the center of the circle, studying her, she thought, though she wasn't certain. After several unnerving minutes passed, they lifted their gazes from her and fixed Seth with hard looks. The one who'd addressed the crowd spoke to her finally. “Banner has told us that you know about the clan of the wolf and that you willingly and freely and without reservation accept the laws of the clan as your own."

Like Cameron, his voice carried a heavy French accent.

Swallowing around the knot of nerves in her throat, Abby nodded. “I do."

"You understand our customs and our laws?” he asked sharply.

Abby shifted uncomfortably. “Not ... not really,” she finally answered honestly. “But I'm willing to learn ... and abide by them."

Some of the tension seemed to leave Seth, which relieved her tremendously since she'd feared an honest answer might not be the best under the circumstances.

The council nodded ... and apparently dismissed her.

To her relief, Seth led her back to the others.

She had the distinct feeling that the Wolfen and Weres she passed were
sniffing
her. She wasn't certain if it was her imagination or not, but
something
seemed to stir them. The tension she realized that had been radiating from all of them almost from the moment they'd begun gathering increased until it was almost palpable.

The head of the council began speaking again before she and Seth reached Cameron and the others—again in French, which she recognized but didn't understand.

She was still puzzling over the circumstance when she realized everyone around her was undressing. Stunned, she glanced at Seth in surprise. “Shifting with clothes on can be a little ... awkward,” he murmured in response to the question in her eyes.

It made sense, she realized.

What didn't really make sense was the way
they
had reacted to her being naked.

She didn't dwell on the thought. The discovery that she was in the midst of a group—primarily male—that was stripping naked completely absorbed her focus. “Should I...? Am I supposed to?"

Seth's lips tightened. “Since you can't shift ... no."

Abby glanced at him in dismay and then looked at Adrian and Jerico a little uncomfortably, feeling chastened whether Seth had meant it that way or not, feeling more of an outsider. It wasn't as if she'd actually wanted to get naked, but it certainly made her stand out as not being one of them.

Trying to dismiss her dismay, she glanced at Cameron. “Why did he speak French?"

Cameron lifted his brows. “The origin of the clan goes back to France."

Surprise flickered through her. She hadn't actually considered where they might've originated from—or that they'd know. “So ... French is sort of the official language?” she asked hesitantly, wondering if she was going to have to master it.

He smiled lazily. “Sort of. Doan worry,
amour
. I will teach you."

He flicked a challenging look at Seth when he said it.

Seth ignored the remark. “You'll wait here for us."

It wasn't a question, but Abby nodded.

When she glanced around again, she discovered that Adrian, Jerico, and Cameron were no longer standing around her as they had been. Instead, she saw wolves—everywhere she looked. As unnerving as it had been to be surrounded by so many people that she knew were of the wolf clan, it was
more
unnerving to see them in what they had told was their ‘true form'.

Fear wasn't all she felt, though, or even the prominent emotion that gripped her. She thought that was awe. As handsome as the men she'd begun to think of as ‘hers’ were in human form, they were beautiful as Wolfen. She stared at the huge black wolf she knew must be Seth and lifted a hand tentatively. Pleasure wafted through her when he moved closer, nuzzling her hand and then bumping and rubbing against her. Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico moved closer, as well, nuzzling her, rubbing all over her. She stroked them, enjoying the silky feel of their fur, thoroughly enchanted by the affection their touch conveyed.

A lone wolf bayed abruptly. The sound jolted through all of them. They left off rubbing against her, lifting their heads, and then Seth uttered a response. Within moments, the wolves around her were baying at the moon—or simply communicating with one another, Abby thought in bemusement, wincing at the volume of the chorus. As suddenly as the cry had been taken up by the Wolfen, they charged away.