Careful What You Ask For (21 page)

What would that reader think of my relationship with Patrick? I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know.

I’d wanted someone who made me feel like Bud did, though I had no idea what that meant. I’d lucked up and found it with Patrick, and I wasn’t going to screw this up. I nodded and crawled across the bed, over his lap, and let myself down so my bottom was where he wanted it — just the right angle to spank.

I jerked when his hand caressed my ass. I expected pain, but he was gentle. Loving. Warm.

I took a breath and let it out, determined to relax and accept whatever he gave me. My back arched and my ass went up a few inches as his hand moved between my legs. A groan escaped my throat as he sank a finger into me, then another.

He spent several long minutes playing with me, but as soon as I felt an orgasm approaching, he pulled his hand out and popped my ass
hard
.

“I’m spanking you, not your wolf. Keep her down and away from this. If I sense her coming close
I’ll
push her down, and neither of us wants me to have to do that.” He spoke between pops to my bottom, and I grabbed fistfuls of sheet to try to keep my hands in front of me.

The morning session started and ended over his lap, but I spent a good portion of the time bent over the bed with him holding my hands at the small of my back while he belted and paddled me.

I begged him to stop, but I never considered saying my safeword. In my mind, it was for a problem — something I couldn’t recover from — and this just
hurt
. It hurt pretty damned bad, but it wasn’t injuring me.

He’d awakened me at six-thirty, and I’ll estimate he started spanking me about ten minutes later. When he finally finished it was seven thirty-five, and there’s no telling how many hundreds of times he struck my ass and thighs. I was bawling my eyes out, and yet I don’t think I’ve ever loved him more. When he gave me a break, he’d rub the sore spots — or around them, if they hurt too much for contact. He stroked my hair out of my face, he kissed my tears. He acknowledged my pain, but he did more, somehow. It was as if he honored it. He made sure I knew how much he valued the trust and love I was giving him.

Of course, this being Patrick, he didn’t end the spanking by holding me, but by vigorously fucking my ass with only the barest amount of lube needed to keep the friction from hurting his cock too badly.

And at the end, when we both screamed through our orgasms, my face pushed into the bed by his palm — our wolves did something I can’t explain. The four of us were suddenly present, but as one big ball of energy. I’ve felt like my soul joined with someone’s before during orgasm, but never quite like this. I was exhausted — mentally, physically, emotionally, and possibly metaphysically as well. It was as if he took my energy when he gave me pain. Or, perhaps my submission was so complete, I gave it all to him? However it happened, the important part is that when he came in my ass, I got an infusion of his energy. It was as if he took mine, made it his, and then gave it back to me… and in the process, somehow made all the energy the two of us controlled
ours
. If my aura was blue and his was red, we were suddenly both purple.

Neither of us spoke for probably five minutes. Patrick held me as he fought to catch his breath, and I floated in his arms.

I’m pretty sure I fell back asleep, and I’m pretty sure that’s what finally roused him.

“Oh no, you’re up for the day, pet.” He popped me on the ass cheek, I yelped, and he chuckled.

“We’ll cut it down to a three mile run this morning. Run with no complaints and I’ll take you to Farm to Fork for breakfast.”

My ass and thighs were on fire, and he wanted me to
run
?! I turned my head, saw the expression on his face, and said, “Yes, Sir. Can I shower first, please?”

“No sense showering before the run. We’ll get clean when we get back.”

P
atrick

B
riana was more settled
today than she’d been since I met her. I wasn’t sure if it was because she and her wolf were finally totally comfortable with each other, or if she’d broken through some kind of submission something-or-other in our morning scene, but it was too new for me to poke at and try to figure out.

She had access to the Pack’s energy now, though, so it was time we both got a crash course in handling it. I hoped to everything holy that the Pack hadn’t picked up on our orgasm this morning. Something wonderful had happened, but I didn’t totally understand it so it was time to get some help from Randall.

I brought a cooler with fifteen pounds of steaks, and a tub of potato salad. Briana needed the steaks when she
changed
back, but the human in her still needed the carbs on the side. I’d noticed she never seemed satisfied with just steaks, and it was Mac who told me he’d learned bitten wolves need more carbs after a
change
.

Randall was waiting for us when we arrived, and he walked with us to his field. Everyone undressed, folded our clothes and stored them in his outdoor cubby, and I stood with my hands behind my back at parade rest.

“Briana handled a situation yesterday at our picnic. She kicked ass when needed, and then backed off and let Misty save a little face. I’m proud of her.”

Randall nodded. “I knew when she took control of your Pack’s power. I’ve talked to a few people this morning who felt good about the way it was handled, so congratulations.” He scratched his jaw as he looked us over. “I’m told several lone wolves from Drake Security are talking to you about joining?”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Randall grinned and sat on the edge of the stage. “An unexpected bonus, if they decide to join. Okay, let’s begin. Face each other and hold hands.”

He had us route our energy through our hands in a circle, then he had us touch feet and make circles with them as well. He put me behind Briana so my right hand was on her right shoulder, left hand on left shoulder, and I discovered it was nearly impossible to move the energy this way unless I routed it through my body differently.

“Think of your bodies like batteries, each with a positive and negative charge. Things can go boom if you hook up the wrong way, so try not to do that.”

He worked with us in human form, in wolf form, and in warrior form.

Finally, he brought out one of the men from Sand Mountain — one of the friends the brothers had turned. “Bobbie-Joe here scared little Evie on purpose a few days ago, when he didn’t know I was home. Turns out, he’s been telling her as soon as he gets her away from me, he’s going to make her his — and he’s been quite descriptive about his plans for her. I’m going to take care of him once and for all tonight, but I figured he’d make a good practice wolf for me to show the two of you how to properly dole out consequences.”

I’ve had my wolf yanked out of me enough as a rowdy teenager, it was easy enough to figure out how to do it once I was gifted the Pack energy as an Alpha. I’ve done it to Briana a few times, though only once or twice at a time, never enough to make her sick, or to make her lose contact with her wolf.

Randall frowned at Briana. “You’ve seen me do this to your brothers. You know they were sick for a while, and probably heard about them losing contact with their wolf. You received a small taste of it from me, but you’re going to need to more fully experience it before you can try it.”

I stepped between them. “I’ve done it to her, to give her incentive to control her wolf. I usually rip her from wolf to human, but I’ve done it the other way once. I’ve never kept going until she lost contact with her wolf, but she understands the process. You don’t need to show her.”

Randall stepped back as he looked between the two of us. He zeroed in on me as he said, “I didn’t show you how to do it.”

I shrugged. “Figured it out. It seemed pretty intuitive.”

An hour later, I knew a whole lot more about doing it than I had before, and I think my pet took a lot more enjoyment in hurting the man who wanted to hurt Evie than I was comfortable with. I didn’t protest, though.

“Okay,” Randall said after he returned from locking Bobbie-Joe back in his cell. “Final lesson of the day, and then we can spend some time with Evie — assuming she’s finished her lessons, but she knew she was only going to get to spend time with Briana if she did, so I expect they’ll be done to perfection.”

He leapt onto the stage as if it were nothing, and deepened his voice as he said, “I’ve known a few Alphas who stepped onto the stage, said the bare minimum, and were done, but I don’t recommend it. Think of yourself as a coach before a big game, giving a rousing speech to make everyone feel unified and proud. Or maybe think of yourself as the Dalai Lama, speaking simply but wisely, making people want to follow you for your insights about life and the universe. You’ll have to invent yourself as an Alpha, and you’ll be a work in progress for a while, but you need to figure out how you want to be perceived. The speech before a full moon run is just the tip of the iceberg. When there are dramas playing out, or a war between your Pack and another, or your Pack and a rival shapeshifter group — you’re going to need to draw from your experience to unify everyone and get them headed in the same direction.”

B
riana

W
hen Randall was finally finished
with our lessons, I was
so
happy to see Evie, I skipped back to the house.

She came off the back porch and flew into my arms, and I couldn’t believe the transformation. Not just the fact she’d gained a few pounds and looked much healthier, but she seemed more confident, and so much more human.

Best of all? Evie was wearing a turquoise shirt with white jeans, her hair was pulled away from her face, and she was
smiling
.

Randall may not have done right by me as a teen, but he’d done right by Evie and I was grateful. As I hugged her, I said, “Please tell me you’ve finished your schoolwork so we can have some time together?”

“Every bit of it, and a little of tomorrow’s assignments, too. Cora said you’re the Alpha Bitch over the new Ringgold Pack! What’s it like?”

We walked through the porch and into the kitchen as we talked. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll know more after the first full moon run, but so far it’s a pretty big responsibility. I mean, staying on top of everything, watching for issues and putting out fires before they start… or waiting for them to start before you stomp them out, because there’s nothing you can do until someone lights the fuse.”

“Yeah, I’ve watched Randall and it looks like a
lot
of work.” She closed the door and quickly said, “I want to join the Pack. Will you be here with me when I tell my mom?”

She’d asked me in a way so Randall wouldn’t hear, which set me on alert. “I’d love to be your support, but Randall’s in charge right now so I can’t make any promises until I talk to him. If he okays it, I’ll be here. If he doesn’t, I’ll talk to him and see if we can find a compromise. Okay?”

She sighed. “Yeah. Okay. He thinks my mom and I need to talk on our own, without even
him
there. Before I can go home, we both have to graduate from this martial arts class he teaches on the weekends. He’s teaching her to be more assertive, because he says I need a mom who’ll stand up to me and set boundaries.” I suppressed a grin as she spun in a circle with her arms up, looking like the typical teenage drama queen, but without all the angst she’d had before. “I just want my mom back!”

“And you’ll get her back, but I agree with Randall about her needing to set boundaries for you.” The men walked across the porch and I gave her a quick hug. “It’ll all work out, Evie.”

B
riana

P
atrick
and I stood on his deck while the Pack gathered around us on the ground.

“We’re starting over,” Patrick told them. “We get to decide what we want the Ringgold Pack to be. How close we want to be. How others define us. But most of all —
how we define ourselves
. Sometimes, you get a clean slate and you don’t know what to do with it, but I think we all know we want a working, productive,
healthy
Pack.” He looked around the group and made eye contact with everyone before he continued. “Everyone here tonight has oathed to me, and we’re all a single Pack as well as unique individuals. Some of you have loved ones in the basement of my house, and I’ve brought a few trusted people to keep watch over them until we establish our Pack as a powerhouse. Our people are safe, and tonight is about taking the first steps to define our Pack. We’re the original members of this new alliance, and I’m proud to have every single one of you here tonight.”

Patrick took my hand and we stepped into two chairs in front of the railing, stepped up onto the railing, and then stepped off. We landed side-by-side on the ground, still holding hands. We stood for a few heartbeats before we let go of each other and began hugging the members. Randall had explained in detail how this part worked, but it came so naturally I immediately relaxed and just let it happen. As the individual energies mixed and mingled, my logical brain shut down and I merely moved through the crowd, experiencing the magic in this safe, warm, dreamlike,
enchanted
spot.

Patrick and I directed the energy until it flowed through and caressed every cell of every member’s physical body. I could sense chakras being cleansed and love pouring through the field as we all became a single unit — as we formed our Pack. I was joined to each person individually, as well as to the group as a whole, and it was
magnificent
.

We don’t have a fancy cubby like Randall yet, so I took my clothes off and put them on a table we’d set up under the porch. Others followed suit, and before long most of us were wolf. Patrick waited to
change
last, and then he and I led the group through the woods on our first full moon run.

If the Pack energy had been glorious in our human form, words can’t describe how this felt as a wolf. Our feet pounded the ground and the trees flew behind us in a blur as we ran together. On this night, there was no posturing, no competition for Alpha.

I knew we’d have those things eventually, but I was happy we had our first night to bond. I’d looked forward to joining a Pack for the first twelve years of my life, and then I’d been heartbroken when I couldn’t. I’d convinced myself I’d be a lone wolf even if I managed to let my wolf out. She’d always been inside me, she just hadn’t had an outlet before.

And now, my wolf and I ran in perfect harmony as one of the leaders of our Pack.

I never expected to claim this kind of happiness, and as our feet thundered through the forest, my heart knew we were finally home.