Pack Possessed, page 12
part #4 of Thrown to the Wolves Series
Unlike the memories I pulled from the others, what I get from Kaige is simply emotion. The flood of desperation hits bone deep with all of the subtlety of a drill, halting my movements. It’s a rush of yearning, encouraging me to chase down any lead that puts me on the path towards a solution to this agonizing ache that consumes my entire being. Every nerve ending feels like it’s being pulled apart, lost without a sense of direction and desperately seeking anything that makes sense.
Then, peace. Cool, calm, and absolute, even though nothing’s actually been solved. But the solution is staring me in the face, my reason for being making herself known and every chaotic sensation finally settling into place. Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes sense in a world where you don’t have anything you’re willing to fight to protect. Now? It doesn’t matter that nothing makes sense. I have a reason, and that’s the only thing I ever wanted.
Shaking my head, I focus on the feeling of Cinjin’s fingers around my wrist, pinning me against his chest. With a long exhale, relief floods my body as Kaige slides a hand down my arm, tightening around my ribcage and reminding me of the most important thing.
I’m not alone anymore.
“Slade?” Instantly, his eyes meet mine, and I find enough worry in his gaze to kick myself in the ass, clearly unable to conceal the slip as much as I’d hoped. Chucking the emotional onslaught I took from Kaige into my proverbial burn pile with a sigh of relief. “Do me a favor?”
“Of course,” he responds immediately, gaze raking over me once more in concern.
Wetting my lips, I swallow, praying the heat in my cheeks is written off as a side effect of our current activities instead of embarrassment. “Let me see how much you enjoy seeing me getting thoroughly fucked by your brother and his friend.”
If I thought shadows were dancing in his eyes before, it’s nothing to the way they consume them now. Slade’s inner demon may not be a separate entity fighting for control, but it’s still there, enjoying it alongside him.
“That, my love, is a dangerous request.” Still, he palms his cock, slowly pumping himself.
As Kaige slams into me, I suck in a sharp breath, clenching around him and Cinjin. “Oh? And why’s that?”
Holding my stare, he smirks. “Because it’s tempting to show them how it’s really done.”
My hips jerk as Cinjin pinches my clit, amusement alighting his gaze. “If I didn’t want to win the bet before, I certainly do now. How about it, beautiful? I’ll split the money with you if you help me win.”
Kaige gently bites the side of my neck, and I clench around them both. Muffling his groan, he bites down harder, threatening to break skin, and it only serves to have me tightening further, on the brink of coming again.
“If you’re going to help anyone cheat their way to victory, it should be me,” he teases, racing his fingertips down the column of my neck. “As someone that’s had the pleasure of coming down your throat, I’d definitely recommend.” As I flutter around them, he continues his taunting. “Isn’t that right, Slade? There are few things better than the feeling of our mate’s lips wrapped around your cock as you force her to swallow you down.”
“Fuck, I’ve unleashed another one.”
Three dark chuckles surround me before Cinjin circles my clit faster, gripping my hip and slamming me down hard as he lifts his hips. Cursing as I combust around them, Kaige wraps a hand around my throat, pulling from me in a last-ditch effort to stave off coming. It only serves to drag out my orgasm, compounding with the rush of pleasure in the best form of stress relief. Kaige loses the battle, cock jerking as he comes in my ass, pinning me back against his heaving chest.
Panting, I come down from my high, languidly rolling my hips and lazily riding Cin through the aftershocks. As Kaige pulls out, so does Cinjin. In a flash, he simultaneously rolls us and swipes out an arm, the clattering of a few toys falling to the floor. Capturing one of my legs, he slings it over his shoulder while pinning the other straight against the mattress. Holding my gaze, he slowly presses into me, each ridge on the sleeve wrapped around his cock dragging out the trembling aftershocks.
The promise of violence resonates in Kaige’s voice. “Fuck, I’m not sure if this is better or worse, Sabrina. Flashes of images are one thing, but living the memory through your eyes?” Scrubbing a hand down his face, he paces the room. “We shouldn’t have let you talk us into letting Annika walk away in Khalida. When this business with Ash is settled, we should tie up the rest of our loose ends just to be safe, starting with her."
Cinjin saves me from answering. “Pretty sure no girl wants you to talk about her mom while she’s getting fucked, Kaige. Keep your hit list to yourself.”
Pulling him down into a searing kiss, I try to convey all of the appreciation I can’t find the words for right now. Thumb stroking over my cheek, he matches every roll of my tongue with one of his own, his thrusts growing more erratic.
“We can’t let him win, angel.” Driving to the hilt, he rolls his hips. “So tell me; how do you want to torture him?”
I glance over at Slade’s smug face as he leisurely strokes himself. “She shouldn’t still be able to form a coherent sentence.” Never once tearing his gaze from mine, he smirks. “Let me apologize on their behalf, love.”
“And here I was going to give you an offer you couldn’t refuse, but if you don’t want to play nice...”
Rolling over, I pin Cin beneath me, bracing a hand on his stomach and riding him in earnest. Every hiss of breath as he grits his teeth encourages me to rock my hips faster, getting off on his pleasure as much as my own. Sliding my free hand slowly up from between my legs and over my stomach, I bite back a smirk as Slade’s strokes slow in his distraction, tracking the movement of my fingers.
“Don’t leave me hanging, my love. Consider my curiosity thoroughly piqued.” His heated gaze darkens as I reach my breast, toying with my nipple.
“Well, I was just thinking about how it seems to me that nobody we meet is convinced that I’m yours and they could do with a reminder.”
Cinjin’s grip tightens on my hip as Slade’s eyes darken, hand stilling. “Such as?”
Turning all of my attention to Cinjin, it’s nearly impossible not to grin as the subtle brush off pulls a soft growl from Slade’s chest. Not men or demons, a new breed that’s not only territorial by nature, but a hell of a lot of fun to instigate.
Taking my sweet time to answer, I kiss Cin, breathing in his quiet laughter. Banding an arm around my back, he takes over, fucking me hard and fast from beneath.
Annoyed at being left hanging, Slade fists my hair, gently craning my head in his direction. “Such. As?”
“Clearly my scent is far too tempting and you should drown it in yours.”
A few more brutal thrusts and I’m coming, nails biting into Cin’s chest as I slam my lips against Slade’s, forcing him to swallow down my strangled cry as his brother makes me splinter apart. With a dangerous sound, Slade tightens his hold on my hair to keep me trapped against him while getting to his knees on the bed. Fisting his cock, he pumps himself hard and fast before finally tearing me off of his brother, throwing me onto my back. With a few more strokes and groaned curses, they explode, coming on my stomach and chest.
“That was a dirty trick.” The sound of Slade’s rapidly beating heart seems to fill the room as he gently brushes his thumb over my breast, spreading his cum across my skin.
Cinjin releases a breathy chuckle. “But you’ve got to admit, she makes a pretty picture.”
The sound of a couple of phones chiming around the room has me pushing up on my elbows to see a shirtless Kaige tucking his phone into the back pocket of his jeans with a sly smirk. “Looks pretty nice on video, too.”
Chapter 9
Reid
“Looks like we were worried for nothing.” Damian leans against a tree, staring at the cabin across the clearing wistfully.
Between the sounds of the four of them going at it, there are random snippets of laughter that bring a small smile to my face. The fact that Sabrina has found a way to be happy in the middle of the hell that our lives have become really helps put things into perspective.
Good things happen when you stop trying to control everything that happens in your life. We can’t choose what happens to us, only how we react to it, and Sabrina? She refuses to let this hold her back from living. If that’s not proof that we’ve used being cursed as an excuse to justify our misery rather than do something about it, I don’t know what is. But I do know that I was right in the beginning, even if I didn’t understand it back then.
She really is at home in the darkness that the rest of us refused to embrace. Sabrina’s better at being cursed than any of us, and that’s how I know that it’s going to be okay, even if I don’t know how. Simply being around her will teach us how to thrive where lesser men have fallen prey to something we were never meant to contain, and that comfort takes the fear out of the unknown.
“Yeah,” I murmur. “Looks like it.”
After another minute, I do another scan of the woods and begin the trek back to the warehouse. Damian kicks off of the tree trunk and falls into step beside me, the awkward tension rising with every additional step away from our buffer, and as much as I’m reluctant to admit it, Hunter had a good point. While we agreed on a cease fire between the seven of us, I’ve still been avoiding Damian as much as possible, subconsciously holding a bit of a grudge. With Ash exploiting any weakness he can find, I need to figure out how to let it go and move on, and honestly, I’m not sure why I’m struggling so much.
It’s why despite the fact that I was a better choice to help the Slaughters, and how desperately I want to understand exactly how they make the drug that fucked me up so badly, how they could synthetically replicate the effects of a claiming bite, Hunter kicked me out to join Damian on recon. We needed to be sure that no one circled back to the cabin after we left or decided to riot after Kaige and Damian killed members of their packs.
And he knew exactly what he was doing, because once he planted that seed in my head, neither me nor my inner demon would have been able to focus on anything that was happening at the warehouse. All we’d have been able to picture was my brothers getting killed, of Sabrina being dragged out-
“Dude.” Damian’s fingers snap in front of my face and I scowl, pushing his hand away. “You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep zoning out in the open.”
Shaking my head as if that could physically clear it, I pick up the pace, but Damian cuts me off, stepping in front of me with a look of genuine concern that I’m not sure how to process when I’ve been nothing but a jackass to the man for days.
“Not sure how it works for you, but Boden’s tip helped me out. If your other half is being an asshole, use Sabrina as a bribe.” He shrugs a single shoulder. “Or a threat, whatever works. But it usually gets them to chill out a little.”
Pulling off my glasses, I scrub a hand down my face with a frustrated huff. “It’s not that.”
He gestures for me to go on, and the impulse to hit him is so visceral, I nearly go through with it. Releasing a slow breath, I put my glasses back in place, the simple act allowing me the illusion of putting myself back together.
“Then you want to tell me why you insist on being a damn hypocrite and keep giving me the cold shoulder?” he demands. “Not like you didn’t fuck up, too.”
“I know, alright? It’s just,” tapering off with a growl, I start walking, because anything is better than having to stare at the guy wh-
It hits me like a freight train, and all of my mounting frustration goes up in a puff of smoke. “She was upset in the beginning, but in the end, she came back to us. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have been perfect for us. We could have been happy, and I never would have had to risk her setting my other half free. But then you showed up and removed the block on her abilities, and everything started to fall apart. I know correlation doesn’t equal causation, but I think I’ve been associating you with every bad thing that’s happened in my life since that moment, fair or not.”
With a terse nod, he strides away and I fall into step behind him. Keeping half an eye on the men that we pass, it looks like all of our worrying really was for nothing. They’re giving us as much of a cold shoulder now as the one Damian accused me of, and I can’t help but wonder if this was a part of Acheron’s plan; a display of Sabrina’s mate’s abilities that he can take credit for, inspiring people to back off. Layers and layers of deception packaged up under the guise of benevolence.
“I get that.” Damian’s foot sinks into a muddy patch and we both fall silent for a moment, Sabrina’s conversation with Bo and Cin turning the innocuous thing into a source of paranoia. When nothing happens, he yanks his foot free, shaking off the morbid thoughts and returns to leading the way. “Just do me a favor, okay?”
“What’s that?”
Glancing at me over his shoulder, he pins me with a pointed look. “Stop pushing everybody away.”
“I’m no-”
“You are.” Whirling around, he gets right in my face, my hackles raising instantly. “And I’m not just talking about me, Hunter, and Kaige. I’m talking about your brothers, and hell, even Sabrina.”
Shoving him away from me, I snarl, “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” Not backing down, he argues, “Because yeah, since your demon showed up to the party, you’ve let yourself get closer to her, but you’ve also picked out a spot on the sidelines and are pretending that it’s because you’re being a good mate and sharing nicely.” He scoffs. “Sabrina needs people willing to fight for her, not someone that sits around feeling sorry for himself.”
Clipping his shoulder on the way past, I storm off down the path.
“You’ve been drifting away from Cin when even I can see that he needs you now more than ever,” he continues, unfazed. “Is it because you feel guilty for what happened to him as a kid and didn’t do anything to stop it?”
Spinning on my heel, I cold cock him in the face. Shaking out my hand, I glare at him as he rubs his jaw with a victorious grin. “What the fuck is your problem?”
“That.” Gesturing at my eyes, he cants his head. “Even when you’re pissed off and I deserve it, you’re still trying to keep your other half leashed. I noticed it in the fight outside of the warehouse the other day and have been waiting to see if it was a fluke, but you’re going to get yourself killed if you keep this up, and maybe even Sabrina if she intervenes to protect you. I don’t like the loss of control either, but you need to get over it.”
Striding away, he calls back, “Hate me if you want; I really don’t give a shit so long as it doesn’t start affecting Sabrina. For the record, though, when Hunter was ready to slit you and your brothers’ throats and leave you behind, I was the one that spoke up in your defense. Even back then I could see that if you could get out of your own way, you’d be a hell of an asset. But you’re your own worst enemy, Reid. The rest of us have accepted that we can’t outrun our demons; it’s time you made your peace with it, too.”
Damian’s right; ceding control is difficult for me. I don’t... hate my wolf, per say, but discovering that he’s actually a demon was possibly the easiest revelation to accept. We both have Sabrina’s best interest at heart, but the problem stems from the fact that we want to go about things in very different ways. I want to get her as far away from everything shifter related as possible, settle down somewhere just the eight of us where she can be happy. If it were up to him?
He’d have goaded another challenger or two out of that crowd in a bid to show off like it would impress her. Every night since that first injection has been a trial not to shift and crawl into her bed to lay with her like a needy puppy, and it’s... embarrassing. He has no control, is simply a wild mess of emotions.
“I keep telling you, she’d love it,” he scoffs, and I swear, if he could use my brain as a punching bag, he would. “Our mate doesn’t want distance, she wants to be loved. She’d be flattered if you let go a little; why can’t you see that?”
Why can’t you see that I’m not you?
A few seconds pass before he taunts, “Thank goodness for that. There’s only enough room for one repressed jackass in this body, so I’m happy to let you carry the mantle. I’ll continue being her favorite; the one that was happy to break the wrist of the man that insulted her at the diner, the one that encouraged you to publicly profess your feelings. She liked Reid the human, but she loves Reid the demon.”
I was the one that broke that bastard’s wrist, I snap. The one that took care of her when her wolf was released and she was scared to touch anyone else. The one that killed his best friend to protect her.
“So, you admit it, then?”
I’m forced to pause, putting my hands on my knees and taking a couple of slow breaths to combat the urge to vomit as he writhes around inside of my body like the parasite that he is. Admit what?
“That we’re the same person.” Ignoring me as I freeze, he elaborates, “Because we’re both willing to do whatever we have to in order to protect her, even if it hurts.”
Forcing my limbs into motion, I push myself into continuing along the path before Damian notices that I fell behind. What do you mean, even if it hurts?
“I’m trapped inside of someone that loathes me, and you keep calling it freedom. And still, I look at it as a blessing because it’s more than I’d ever hoped to have. Yet the one bright spot in my life, our mate, you insist on keeping me away from as if you want to torture me. If you want to give her space, fine. Go nuts; on your time. I haven’t forced the shifting issue because you’re already enough of a dick about it, but I will if I have to.”
“Fucking hell, what is that?” Damian coughs. Following him into the warehouse, I cover my mouth and nose, but it hardly does anything to curb the stench.
