Xavion and Gabe withdrew as one, Xavion amused, Gabe guilty. I didn't bother to look at them. They hadn't disobeyed an order, hadn't done anything that I wouldn't have done before I'd mated myself to someone and become a father. Sex was taboo for humans, not for us.
You took what pleasure you could in an otherwise fucked up world.
Sadie still panted, though she took the robe. I watched as it slid over her shoulders, wrapped around all that wonderful, bare skin and hid it from view again. Had the matter not been pressing, had I not made up my mind in the car, perhaps I would have joined. Or, more likely, I would have slipped out of the room once more and allowed them to continue their play until they were tired of it.
But there were pressing matters to discuss. There were problems to attend to. And that meant that forcing her to her hands and knees, knotting her, making her howl?
Backburner.
And goddamn did I regret that.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, her voice dreamy and breathless.
I ran my hand through her hair, damp and messy though it was. "I should have warned you. I apologize. We need to take you somewhere. Do you trust us to do that?"
"I trust you."
She didn't meet my eyes when she said it, instead focusing on my chest. My fingers stopped in her hair as she leaned against me. Heart thundering, I combed it through one last time and looked up at Gabe. "Let's get ready for a camping trip."
Chapter 9
Sadie
I'd never been in one of those giant extended Hummer trucks before.
Hudson drove. Gabe played navigator. Xavion snored in the trunk area, stretched out and kicked back. Tommy was fast asleep in his car seat, bafflingly human and looking so much like his dad, midway through the vehicle. But me? I had the entire back seat to myself.
And it was lonely.
Though I'd been able to dress myself before we left, I'd completely forgotten how to fasten a bra. We left it behind with the excuse that no one would care if I were naked in the middle of the woods, much less braless.
Unfortunately, the fog was beginning to clear from my mind. I missed my dogs, though I was certain that they were being well cared for. I missed my house, though there was a place where the roof leaked and the carpet was worn. And I missed my car, hunk of junk that it was, because it was mine.
I felt as though I were whining for no good reason. My God, I'd been in a mansion with finery that I couldn't dream of. Yet all I wanted was to go back home, taking Tommy and my new packmates along with me. Did werewolves den? Was that what I was feeling? So many questions and I only had the men around me as a resource.
Given that the internet was some sort of bastion for curiosities, I was sure that if I went looking I'd probably find both real werewolves and the fake sorts that wear Hot Topic gear and howl at the moon outside the mall on Friday nights. And hey, I'd been one of those, too. Vampires had been my thing, not werewolves, but the Venn diagram overlapped enough between the two groups that it may as well have been a single circle.
The Hummer was great at off-roading, bouncing us but not throwing me out of my seat. I hadn't expected it to handle the rough terrain, but then, they were a luxury vehicle and most of those were decent at it. Did the rich and famous spend their time jumping all over the woods, rolling through lush undergrowth and heading out to personal wilderness cabins?
It was what the commercials made you believe, and it damned sure was what me and my new pack were doing.
I paused on that for a moment. My new pack? Is that what they were? We hadn't made any kind of promise to one another, no undying love or whatever werewolves did. I ran over the potential in my mind and tried it out loud. "My new pack."
"Yes?" Hudson asked.
The heat crept up my neck. "I was just trying it out, that's all."
"Whatever happens, no matter what they decide, it's true. Do you understand that?"
It climbed further, darkening my cheeks as I turned to look out the window. I didn't answer, not yet. I didn't really understand. Just because they were my pack, were they able to protect me from whatever was coming? Is that why we were out in the middle of nowhere? It wasn't like I was judging. I'd spent most of my life in the middle of nowhere and I loved it, despite the comforts of civilization being a long drive.
The thing was, it was a pretty drive. I watched the trees as we drove past them, their colors long since shed. What had been a miracle, avoiding the snow the other night, had come to fruition since I'd left home. Snow lay everywhere, the roads freshly salted. I assumed it was by those who lived in the area, because I really doubted that the local authorities came out and did it so quickly.
"We might be stuck out here if it snows like this again," I called to the front seat.
Hudson didn't respond. He turned down a trail that hadn't been cared for whatsoever. The Hummer easily peeled through the snow, leaving tracks in our wake. It was Gabe who spoke to me. "We're prepared for that. Plenty of wood, tons of food, and there's good hunting this far out. We'll be safe."
"Once you get back," Hudson said.
Gabe shrugged. "Once
