An orgasm builds from the pit of my stomach outward, filling every atom of my body. My mouth drops open, but no sound comes out. I don’t think I have any air left to make a sound as my arms shake beneath me.
They almost give out, my elbows buckling, but before I can faceplant on the grass, Ridge wraps his arms around my waist, hauling me upright. His cock feels even deeper from this angle, hardly softened at all even though he just came.
I sag against him as Dare and Trystan both move closer to kiss me. The scent of sex hangs in the air around us, and the air feels warmer even without the fire. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve worked up a sweat too.
Archer swoops in to claim a kiss when Trystan and I break apart. His lips are soft and gentle against mine, and when he draws back, he smiles. “Feel better?”
I nod as I smile back, sated and exhausted. We’ll have to clean off in the little stream nearby before we shift and go to sleep, and we’ve all lost out on a bit of much needed rest.
But it was so fucking worth it.
13
Trystan
I’m on watch as dawn breaks over the mountains. It sheds rosy light on Sable’s pale wolf where she sleeps curled up with the other alphas. They’re a massive pile of fur and limbs, sleeping quietly except for the intermittent snuffle that tells me they’re dreaming.
I took third watch after Archer and Ridge, the latter of whom lay awake for a long time before he finally fell asleep. I’ve never wanted to read minds as much as I did watching him stare up at the stars in the dark, because I thought maybe we were both thinking the same things. Worrying over the same possibilities. Ridge didn’t seem like he wanted to chat, and I don’t always know how to start hard conversations, so I stayed silent and kept my thoughts to myself. I’m getting better at the communication thing, especially with Sable, but it’s a work in progress with the other guys.
Dare will probably get out of doing watch tonight, since I’m assuming we’ll get moving in another hour or so when the sun’s finally over the horizon.
I grin to myself. Lame ass. He’s definitely taking my watch tonight.
For now though, the sunrise is fucking magnificent, and the way the rose-gold hues shine on Sable’s fur makes me forget everything else.
We kept up the watches tonight at her insistence. The ultimate goal wasn’t to watch our surroundings—though we did that too—but to watch over her.
I get it. I really do. Keeping an eye on her as she sleeps is a good thing to do, even if I hate what it implies. But I keep reminding myself it isn’t about whether or not we trust her; it’s about keeping her safe from herself. Part of keeping her safe also means making sure she doesn’t attack any of us in our sleep if the magic rises unbidden and takes control. She’d never forgive herself if that happened, so she’s demanded constant vigilance from us.
It’s smart to have someone awake throughout the night anyway. We’re no longer under pack protection. We left the sigil barrier behind hours before we set up camp for the night, which means we’re sitting ducks out here and need to be ready for anything. Not only could there be witches in this area with a vendetta toward wolves, there could be grizzlies on the move with their cubs who would sooner rip our throats out than let us even look at them. The wilderness is never fully safe, not even for predators like us.
As the light strengthens, I watch Sable sleep. My gaze tracks over her, noticing every little detail. The way her sides rise and fall with her deep breathing. The way she lets out little sighs and readjusts her position. The way she reaches a paw out in her sleep to touch Archer, or turns her nose into Ridge’s side.
I wish I was in the pile too, close enough to feel her warmth or for her to reach for me unconsciously in her sleep.
As I’m watching her, her eyes slowly blink open. I’m floored by how her irises are the exact shade of blue as they are when she’s in her human form. Before Sable, I guess I never paid attention. Maybe I never looked into anyone’s eyes without my own selfish reasons powering me, so I never noticed the details.
She turns her blue gaze to the sunrise as if she’s gauging the time. I can almost see her considering going back to sleep, her eyelids drifting sleepily closed. But then she yawns and sits up before shifting back into her human form.
Sleeping on the hard ground isn’t comfortable in our human forms, though it’s tolerable as wolves. Which is part of why I sit watch as a human—too damn uncomfortable to accidentally fall asleep.
As beautiful as I find Sable’s wolf, her naked body is the kind of splendor people write songs about. I watch her stretch her arms over her head, arching her back so that sunlight splashes over her breasts. A raging burst of need washes over me, and I’m stunned all over again by just how much I want her.
She finally notices me watching, and a sweet red flush colors her cheeks. The moment our eyes meet, my wolf settles, full of contentment and certainty in our relationship. My wolf understands the depth of our bond, even when I don’t.
Sable crawls over the other sleeping wolves, who blink their eyes open for a second before going back to sleep again. When she reaches me, she crawls onto my lap, resting her head on my shoulder and draping her legs to one side of mine. It’s such a casual pose, one that lazily claims me as hers. The sunrise turns her expanse of bare skin to flame, and I slide
