Possessed By The Wolf (Werewolf's Harem Book 3) (6 page)

The door knob rattled softly, then silence lapsed. Walker made a frustrated noise, and for half a heartbeat Ella felt like a bratty teenager.
 

As his footsteps retreated down the hall, she shook herself. Yes, he’d saved her, but he’d also brought her to this place against her will and wouldn’t let her go. Unless Ella wanted to share space with Walker or his associates, she was confined to the large, dark bedroom and adjoining bathroom of her suite. He’d made it clear that she wasn’t allowed outside the house, and Ella was too angry to sit in the living room, idly flipping channels and hanging out with her captor.

Still, after two full days of being trapped in the bedroom, the airy living room and open kitchen did have a certain appeal. She’d only seen the common rooms for a few moments, really. When Walker had pulled up to the house and announced that she needed to remain inside the house, she’d locked herself in her assigned bedroom. Walker had brought clothes, toiletries, and a laptop for her use and left them outside the door, but he hadn’t attempted to enter.

Ella was willing to bet that he was kicking himself for having brought her here. She was nothing but a burden to him, and an ungracious one at that. Their bedrooms shared a wall complete with a sliding door, and she’d heard more than a few curses and angry thumps coming from his room. It gave her a bit of petty, cruel satisfaction to know that he wasn’t any happier with the arrangement than she.

She wondered, for maybe the hundredth time, what Walker actually wanted from her. Her guesses, ranging wildly from fantastic to macabre, seemed widely off the mark. She laid out what she knew about him: he was domineering, stubborn, persistent, and yes, entitled. On the other hand, when she looked around at the carefully-chosen clothing he’d brought, at the homemade meals he kept leaving outside her door… somewhere in him there was tenderness, too.

Another knock at the door startled her, and she half-tumbled off the bed.

“Walker, I told you to go away!” she shouted, scowling as she tried to right herself.

A throat cleared in the hallway, and Ella could hear hands pressing softly against the door.

“It’s not Walker?” came a female’s voice, tone uncertain.

Ella slid off the bed, straightening her clothes and hair. She walked over to the door, hesitant.

“Is Walker with you?” Ella asked.

“What? No. He came downstairs all pissed off, and went for a run. He looks like he’s got some bad energy to work off.”

Ella bit her lip, then reached out and unlocked the door. When she opened it, she blinked at the female on the other side.

A tall, curvy redhead stared curiously from the other side of the threshold. She wore patterned leggings and a tight black tee shirt that said
Pretty Girls Make Graves
. Her heavy mass of red hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she sported a number of vividly colorful tattoos on her arms and feet.

“Aurelia!” the female said, by way of introduction. She stuck her hand out, pulling a feigned expression of seriousness.
 

“Ella,” she replied, unable to keep from laughing at the friendly female’s goofy expression.

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to get out of this room for a while,” Aurelia said, crinkling her nose. “It’s dark in here.”

“I don’t really want to hang out in the living room,” Ella said, her gaze dropping to her feet.
 

“Walker must’ve done something stupid, I’m guessing,” Aurelia said. “He’s such a storm trooper. He just stomps around all mad and barks orders at everyone.”

Ella couldn’t help but smile at the description. Accurate, to say the least.

“Yeah,” Ella said, not wanting to elaborate.

“Well I’ve got a pretty sweet TV in my room, and I have Netflix set up too. I was thinking of watching the worst romantic comedy I can find. I think there’s one with Justin Timberlake where he raps that Kris Kross song. I hear it’s awesomely bad. Plus, I just made some cheesecake brownies, and I can’t eat them all. I’ll get fat,” Aurelia pouted.

“Wolves don’t get fat,” Ella said, laughing.

“You haven’t seen how many cheesecake brownies I made. Like two giant plates, and I have a pint of vanilla gelato to go with them,” Aurelia countered.

Ella’s stomach rumbled at Aurelia’s description. Aurelia raised a brow, crooking a finger enticingly.

“Come on. I’m on the second floor,” she said, turning and leading the way.

Ella swallowed, and then gave herself a shake. She had to trust someone, some time, and Aurelia was obviously awesome. Ella shut the door to her room, and followed the redhead downstairs.

Four hours and nearly three terrible romantic comedies later, Ella was glad that she’d taken the chance on Aurelia. The females were curled up on a loveseat in Aurelia’s bedroom, howling with laughter as they watched a lovesick heroine bemoan her existence in a long, cheesy monologue.
 

“She’s fucking re-
tarded
,” Aurelia cried, wiping a tear from her face.

“Pa-
thetic
!” Ella chirped, and they burst into giggles again.

“I need a break,” Aurelia said, using the remote to pause the movie. She looked around at the empty plates and half-eaten, melting pints of gelato, pursing her lips.

“We’re trapped here,” Aurelia declared, leaning her head back on the love seat with a dramatic sigh.

“There are worse places to be,” Ella said, her smile fading as her own words sunk in. Much, much worse places.

“Hey,” Aurelia said, putting comforting a hand on her arm. “Don’t get sad. You’re free now.”

“No, I’m not free,” Ella said, flinging her arms wide to indicate the house. “I’m just locked in a much lovelier cage.”

“This place is not the least bit like… wherever you were. I heard Walker on the phone telling Lucas about how he found you. Who knows what the hell they were going to do with you?” Aurelia shivered.

“Who knows what Walker is going to do with me?” Ella retorted.

Aurelia stiffened, looking offended.

“Look, Walker’s not exactly the chattiest guy. He’s not even that nice to me, honestly. But he’s not some fucking rapist or human trafficker,” she said.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Ella said, flapping a hand. “I meant more… what the hell am I here for? He dragged me here, no explanations other than saying it’s for my protection. I have no timeline for this little protection project, and I’m not allowed to contact my family or coworkers. I can’t stay here much longer.”

“You’re in a hurry to get back to the place where you were kidnapped?” Aurelia asked, crossing her arms.

“No. I may not even go back to Gulf Shores. There’s really nothing there for me anymore.”

“So what’s the problem?” Aurelia asked, her penetrating violet gaze assessing, probing. To Ella’s consternation, she found that Aurelia was just too easy to talk to, and too smart to believe anything other than the truth.

“I’m in heat, and my wolf is obsessed. With sex, mostly, but she’s crazy for Walker himself too. It’s infuriating,” Ella admitted.

“Ahhh,” Aurelia said, nodding. “Yeah, that’s the worst. I was lucky enough to be deep in the Himalayan mountains, visiting Nepalese and Tibetan monasteries, the last time I was in heat. Thousands of miles of nothingness, and a lot of swimming in icy lakes… really took care of the problem. Mostly.”

“If only,” Ella sighed. “But no. I get kidnapped, then saved by this big, muscular, manly billionaire, and then I go into heat on his lap when he’s saving me.”

“You didn’t!” Aurelia said, eyes going wide. She looked like she was trying to suppress a grin.

“Of course I did. I got naked on his lap, and all but begged him for sex. But…”

Ella dropped her gaze to her lap, heat suffusing her cheeks.

“You called it off at the last second?” Aurelia guessed.

“No, he did. It was mortifying,” Ella mumbled.

“Interesting,” Aurelia said, cocking her head.

“I’m glad you think so,” Ella said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s just that, you know, I’ve only known Walker for a couple of weeks, so I’m still figuring him out. Ben told me that Walker was kind of a man whore until a few months ago.”

“Who is Ben? I thought this was Lucas’s house?” Ella asked, confused.

Aurelia went beet red at the simple question.

“It’s complicated,” she muttered. “Ben lives here, too. Ben, Lucas, and Walker all own this place together. They’re thick as thieves. They share everything, and I do mean everything.”

Ella’s head snapped up.

“Everything, like bed mates?” Ella asked.

“It’s definitely on the table between the three of them. I’m still not 100% sure where the line is, honestly.”

“I can’t believe that three dominant males are friends, much less close enough to be sharing females. How do they do it without jealousy ripping them apart?”

Aurelia’s gaze wandered to the window, contemplative. She was silent for several long moments before changing the topic.

“I think we were talking about you, Ella. About how you’ve got a fire lit under your ass to get out of this place,” Aurelia reminded her.

“I’m going into heat again. The second cycle is supposed to be way worse, I heard. I’m worried that I’m going to do something desperate,” Ella said.

Aurelia nodded.

“The second cycle is way worse. By the third, you’re out of your mind with sex hormones.”

A loud crash sounded in the hallway, making both of them jump.
 

“What the hell?” Aurelia asked, opening the door to the hallway and sticking her head out.

Shaking her head, she retreated back into the room.

“That was weird,” Aurelia said, sinking back onto the love seat. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. You were saying?”

“I can’t beg Walker for sex again. I just… I can’t do it,” Ella moaned. “My poor ego can’t handle the rejection.”

Aurelia’s face screwed up thoughtfully.

“Well…” she said, hesitant. “There’s always Ben.”

There was a quiet, unhappy tone to her words that Ella didn’t understand. Walker had been very clear that Aurelia was with Lucas, and yet Aurelia didn’t seem to like the idea of Ella and Ben together. Between the redhead’s tone, and her earlier comment about the males sharing bed mates…

Ella opened her mouth to tell Aurelia that she wasn’t stepping on the other female’s territory, but before she could get a word out Aurelia’s bathroom door burst open with a bang.

Walker loomed in the doorway, anger contorting his beautiful features. His hands were knotted into fists, veins standing out in his forearms, neck, and forehead.

Aurelia shot to her feet, alarm. Ella was frozen in place, drinking in every tall inch of Walker’s frame. His tall, tautly muscular body was readily apparent through the tight white tee shirt and gray sweat pants he wore. His eyes were nearly black with fury, and he flashed straight, white teeth when he growled at her.

“Walker, what the hell are you doing?” Aurelia asked, visibly bristling. Aurelia was no tiny thing; she certainly had several inches and a few pounds on Ella, but she was hardly up to fighting someone Walker’s size.

Walker completely ignored her, striding over to tower over Ella.

“You are not fucking Ben,” he hissed, grabbing Ella’s wrist and pulling her up off the couch.

Ella yelped when Walker scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, caveman-style.

“Walker!” Ella and Aurelia cried at the same time.

A tall, dark-haired male appeared in the doorway. One glance between Walker and Aurelia, and the male scowled.
 

This must be the famous Ben, then
, Ella thought. Come to rescue Aurelia, she supposed.

Walker turned, pushing past the other male as he carried Ella into the hallway.

“Ben!” Aurelia protested. Ella twisted to see them, and found Ben holding Aurelia’s wrists to gently restrain her from following. The other male was watching Walker with a bemused expression, shaking his head. Ben slipped an arm around Aurelia’s waist, pulling her close. Walker took a corner, heading for the stairs, and the others vanished from view.

“Walker…” Ella said, thumping her fists on his back. “Let me down!”

Walker’s big hand came down hard on her ass, surprising her. He’d spanked her, like some naughty child!

“Walker!” she screeched, kicking her legs.

In the same smooth motion, he slapped her ass again. Her breath caught; he’d spanked her a lot harder this time.

“You can’t just-” she started, only to end her sentence with a strangled gasp when he spanked her a third time. This time, he hadn’t held back in the least. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and her ass cheek burned like hell.

She lifted her head, noticing that they were passing by her bedroom. She opened her mouth to protest, then stopped. Walker barreled through the door to his own bedroom, not stopping until he tossed her down onto the massive bed.

Ella blinked, looking around. His room was all dark wood and white silk, just like hers but with a much bigger bed. That was the last thought she could summon about the room, because Walker grabbed her ankle and yanked her to the edge of the bed.

“Hey!” she protested, kicking her foot.
 

He didn’t release her, or even react to her movement. He stared down at her, struggling to control his breathing. His night-black stare pierced her like a thousand swords, making her heart beat faster.

With obvious effort, Walker ripped his hand from her ankle. He brought his hands up to cover his face for several moments, some kind of calming tactic.
 

When he dropped his hands, he seemed to have gained some bit of control over himself. He scowled down at Ella, leaning close enough that his scent and heat teased her senses.

“There is nothing that Ben can give you that I can’t,” he finally said.

“Walker-” she began.

“No,” he growled. He pushed her knees apart with his hands, and knelt on the edge of the mattress between her legs.

“No?” Ella asked.
 

She bit her lip to keep back a groan of pleasure at the feel him against her inner thighs. Was her skin always this sensitive, her whole body so flushed with warmth?