Pack Punished, page 15
part #3 of Thrown to the Wolves Series
“For me being here practically naked, you guys are pretty focused on other guys,” Sabrina comments, calling us out.
It sets the twins off, and within seconds, she’s sandwiched between them. The only real bright side about being surrounded by shifters is not having to worry about anyone here commenting. Her mom haunts her enough as it is, making it difficult for her to get close to anyone. This is the one connection that should be easier than breathing, but it looks like she’s taking Kaige’s words from the other night to heart. It took her breaking to let us past her defenses, so I can’t be happy about it, but I am relieved that she’s starting to get comfortable with the idea of allowing herself to have things that make her happy.
Slade hooks a finger in her necklace, pulling her closer. “I think Bo might be onto something. It’s embarrassing how much I like the thought of doing something to mark you as mine.”
Haltingly, she states, “Like I told him and Cinjin, I’m not opposed to a little spoiling as long as it’s within reason.” The only sound to be heard is across the pool until eventually, low, rumbling growls surround her and she groans in annoyance. “It’s incredibly weird how excited you guys get about spending money, you do realize this, right?”
“It’s not about the money,” I point out, since the others are too busy eye-fucking her to think straight. “It’s about you giving us permission to stop holding back.”
Holding my gaze, she swallows. “Then I apologize in advance for whatever I unwittingly unleashed.”
Smirking, I lean forward to brush a drop of water from her cheek. “I’m not.”
Returning to my position, I watch the others drag her into their games, gradually calming down as they simply enjoy having nothing to do, and nowhere they have to be. As time ticks by, someone drags out a volleyball, the group of single men getting carried away enough that the mated ones call it, taking their women back inside and out of the line of fire. Without any humans around to need to worry about hiding their strength, they launch the ball at each other with enough force that I’m shocked it hasn’t popped yet.
A breeze picks up with the next smack, sending it veering off course and across the invisible line to our side. Bo pulls Sabrina out of the way a split second before it hits the water hard enough that it sends a spray of water over me as well.
Kaige picks it up, glaring at the smug jackass from earlier. “Seriously?”
Without an ounce of remorse, he lifts his hands, expecting it back. “Sorry ‘bout that.” To Sabrina, he adds, “You’re welcome to play with us if you’d like, though.” Two of his friends share a nervous look behind his back, so at least they aren’t completely fucking stupid.
Sabrina politely declines, but Kaige is grinning now, and I massage my temple to stave off my building headache, because there’s no way this is going to end well if Kaige’s counterpart is involved. Of all of them, I would’ve bet on it being Reid or Bo that snapped at her nearly being hurt, but I should’ve guessed as much. Kaige’s wolf gets his rocks off by lulling people into a false sense of security, and then completely destroying them.
“Happy to.” Tossing the ball in the air once, Kaige catches it as it comes down, gaze bouncing between the nine remaining men. “Catch.” Whipping it harder than any of them had up until now, one of them manages to catch it, but it knocks him off his feet and under the surface.
Coming up sputtering, he narrows his eyes at Kaige as if he can laser it off. Drawing his arm back, he launches it back with more force than before, but while he never takes his eyes off of him, he throws it at Slade.
Who snags it before it caves his face in and laughs, the sound more lighthearted than anything I knew the man was capable of.
All of us look at the guy like he’s lost his damn mind except for Sabrina, who’s grinning ear to ear. Swimming over, she braces one hand on his shoulder and cups the other so we can’t read her lips while she whispers in his ear.
Turning to face her, he presses a quick, hard kiss to her lips before agreeing. Sending her my way, Slade passes the ball to Damian before hoisting himself out of the pool and immediately disappearing.
“What’s he doing?”
Sabrina folds her arms on the ledge beside me. “If you want me to spoil the surprise, you’re going to have to actually get in and play with us.”
“Someone needs to be on watch,” I argue, to which she gives me a withering look.
“And you’re going to protect me from the nine frat boys hyped up on caffeine currently in the pool from all the way over here?” Pushing off from the side, she lazily swims backwards into what’s quickly becoming a battlefield with as viciously as the guys are smacking that ball. “If some other people show up, sure, go back to your perch. But until then-”
Her statement tapers off into a squeak when Reid yanks her out of the way as Cinjin is sent flying back several feet with the force of stopping the ball. Tongue in cheek, I slide into the water, swimming over to where Reid still has her held hostage.
“Alright, now where’d you send Slade?”
Swiping water out of her face, she bites back a smile, and honestly? She could tell me anything right now and I’d be relieved, if only because that smile actually reaches her eyes. “Dollar store on the corner.”
I don’t get the chance to interrogate her further, diving forward to intercept the ball when Boden fumbles it. Getting a solid grip, I seek out my target, launching it at the overconfident jackass and smirking when it hits his shoulder with an audible smack, bouncing off to where Damian can snatch it before any of them and go for a double hit.
Before long, Slade returns, standing on the side of the pool with a trash bag like a low budget, jolly old Saint Nick. One after another, he tosses some children’s play balls in; the light, rubbery plastic, cheap kind.
“You sent him on a weapons run? Like you haven’t already nearly lost your head with one ball in play?”
Catching the one Slade tosses her way, she tucks it under one arm before lifting her hand and splaying her fingers. “It’s not fair, I can’t palm a volleyball like you guys with your freakishly large hands.” Without even turning around, she cuts off Cinjin before he does more than open his mouth. “Didn’t say I didn’t like them or that you don’t put them to good use, said it wasn’t fair.”
Grinning at her back, he left himself open, the ball nailing him in the back and sending him face first into the water. Chuckling, Sabrina returns to making her point. “Anyway.” Holding up the new ball, she demonstrates how she can actually get a grip because it has more give. “Now I can play, too.”
Turning around, she jumps partially out of the water, throwing it across the pool. She doesn’t have the same force behind it that the rest of us do, but she has surprise on her side since up until now, she wasn’t actively playing. It nails one of them directly in the face, and he simply blinks, stunned, before grinning. Snatching it up, he returns fire, but dials back the velocity to a safe level since he’s actually aiming for her.
When it makes its way to me, I toss the volleyball out of the pool, sending it rolling towards the lounge chairs. While they’re pulling back when they aim for Sabrina, they’re still going all out when targeting the rest of us. Last thing we want is an accidental slip-up that can get her genuinely hurt.
Reluctantly, I’ll admit it’s actually... fun. I can’t remember the last time that I did something simply for the hell of it. How can I justify wasting time on things like this when there’s so much that needs to be taken care of, or my time could be better spent picking up some extra jobs in town so no one back home will starve during the winter? It lasts all of twenty minutes before it becomes abundantly clear that they’re using this as a way to flirt with Sabrina, subtly getting closer under the guise of the game. She isn’t buying into any of it though, completely ignoring their attention. She simply uses it as an opportunity to nail them; and not in the way any of them are hoping.
Logically knowing she couldn’t care less doesn’t mean shit; not to me, and not to the feral demon prowling between my chest and head snapping his jaws at nothing. With every smile or subtle wink tossed her way, the pressure builds until the skin on my arm splits a fraction, stinging at the rush of chlorine on the open wound. Rubbing the heel of one hand over my chest in a bid to ease the ache, I use the other to grab one of the balls and take aim. Waiting until they’re all distracted by the rest of the pack, I adjust my angle, and whip it forward with everything I have.
Hitting my target on the side of his head, it bounces off to nail another, sending them stumbling apart and farther away from Sabrina. They glare daggers at me, promising vengeance, but I point at Kaige, throwing him under the bus without remorse. As they converge on him, Boden bands an arm around Sabrina’s waist and strides across the pool, dropping her off closer to me. Stepping in front of her to act as a living shield, he gives her a chance to catch her breath while she massages her shoulder.
“All good?”
She waves me off. “Yep. Just using muscles that I haven’t had to in ages.”
Without turning around, Bo says, “Don’t worry, pretty sure date day comes with a back massage.”
Eyes sparkling with amusement, she replies, “Oh, does it now?”
He chuckles. “If not, it should.”
“You’re looking for an excuse to get me face down on a bed, aren’t you?” she teases.
At that, he turns around, giving her a heated look. “I don’t need an excuse.”
I could have warned him about the ball sailing toward his face, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as funny.
Grabbing Sabrina, I pull her out of the way as he goes down, the waves pushing us close to the side. Still chuckling, she capitalizes on the reprieve, letting me keep her above the surface while giving her arm a break.
“Here.” Lifting her up, I set her on the ledge before hoisting myself up beside her.
“Thanks.” Wringing out her hair, she looks over the pool with a smile. “For everything.”
“I didn’t really do anything,” I dismiss, tracking the couple of guys that follow our lead and climb out of the pool on the opposite side, heading over to grab their towels off of their chairs.
Covering my hand with hers, she gives it a squeeze. “You did, and you damn well know it, so take the win, okay?”
She pulls her hand away, but I swiftly recapture it, pinning it beneath mine this time on the concrete. “Maybe I just like hearing you admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That you need me.”
It’s pushing her farther than I probably should, but every sign she’s been giving us today has been encouraging us to stop holding back.
Trapping me in that hypnotic stare of hers, she takes a deep breath. “Then you better cherish it, because it was a one time thing.” Smirking, she pushes me into the water.
Fighting through the cool rush, I come up sputtering, swiping the water off of my face with a scowl. She’s already got her feet up and out of my reach so I can’t drag her in, but I’m hauling myself out of the pool before she can fully get to her feet. Capturing her wrist, I tug her down, and the moment she lands on my lap, I palm the back of her neck.
And crush my lips against hers.
Stiffening for only a moment, she quickly melts against me, parting her lips as I kiss the absolute hell out of her. While part of it is from the instinctual drive to stake my claim on her, the other is simply my own desperation. I watched her take hit after hit and keep getting back up when she had no reason beyond spite to prove everyone wrong. I watched her slowly destroy herself, as she claimed me, only to fall unconscious for days and leave me with a raging beast, terrified we were going to lose her.
I wasn’t going to watch her walk away from me next.
Eventually, I pull away, breathing ragged. “Because when you say it, I don’t feel so bad admitting that I need you, too.”
Chapter 11
Sabrina
Staring down at my phone where the account alert popped up on my screen, I attempt to shove away the awful feeling in my gut. But as the numbers stare back at me, letting me know the bonus from successfully completing the Byte-Ware project was deposited, it’s incredibly hard not to puke.
“It’s not your fault that Jonathan’s dead, it’s his. And Reid put in for our time off in advance, so it isn’t suspicious that we disappeared the same time that he went missing. I have a job, or at least a reference, if I need it. I can go back, or transfer elsewhere if I want to. My old life isn’t completely over, it just requires more careful navigation.”
Glaring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror of the hotel, I take a couple of deep breaths and tighten my towel at my chest so it stays firmly in place. The shadows are gone from beneath my eyes, but not within them, and I need to accept that as the blessing in disguise that it is.
Kaige was right. I’ve always been afraid to look too closely, since every time I caught a glimpse of my reflection, I was reminded of who I might become if I wasn’t better. I let the people I resented craft my entire identity, ensuring I was nothing like them, but that didn’t make me, me. It just made me ‘not them,’ and that’s where I messed up.
The silver lining that comes with falling apart; I get to construct someone new out of the pieces.
“My driver’s license is going to be wrong forever. They’ll never let me update my eye color on it.”
Nothing is ever going to be simple again, and I need to prepare myself. Even the trivial little things like paperwork are going to require excuses and lies in order to blend in for the rest of my life. I was never human, but I was better at masquerading as one before my eyes changed. I’m going to have to get creative if I want to survive in a world where humans and shifters alike would rather I didn’t exist, but that’s okay. I’ve always lived out of spite. Now? I’ll take it to the next level by being happy, too.
The rest of the world can suck my metaphorical dick before I let them bully me out of existence.
“Think of it like a team building exercise. Because if we're always at each other's throats, how the heck are we supposed to survive that place?”
The running shower behind me helps drown out my whispers as I psyche myself up, but there’s enough psychological pressure that I may as well be a virgin on her wedding night. With seven men on the other side of the door, and that’s if you don’t even factor in the toy in my ass. Pressure all around, but at least it’s of my own making this time.
“How the fuck do you get up on this stupid ledge?” Hunter growls, followed by the muffled sound of mashing buttons.
This morning, Reid disappeared long enough to pick up the new handheld game system that released a few days ago, and honestly, I’m stunned that he remembered. I only mentioned it once in passing my first week at work. Naturally, the rest of them went out to grab their own so they wouldn’t be left out, and I kind of... love it. It was an easy way for us all to spend time together today, focusing on virtual quests instead of our own for a little while.
“Have you already unlocked the winged boots?” Slade asks.
Hunter pauses. “What winged boots?”
“That'd be a no.” After a dramatic sigh, Cinjin intervenes. “Give it here.”
Smiling to myself, I run a quick brush through my hair. "Kaige is right. I need to be all in.” Mentally, I snort. More like they need to be all in.
If we're going to murder mountain, we need to be a united front, not have the guys fighting amongst each other at any opportunity. I can at least get rid of some of the tension. In a fun way. I'll claim Reid and Kaige, then we'll have an orgy to celebrate. No big deal, low key event, just the eight of us.
My poor orifices. They’re never going to be the same.
Like a coward, I don’t move from my spot, and I’m not completely sure why I’m freaking out. Kinky sex? Awesome. Totally on board with the idea. But this is a lot even by my standards. Seven guys? Unless they suddenly decide that experimenting between themselves sounds like fun, that leaves me the star of the show, and I hate being the center of attention on the best of days. What the hell do they even do while I’m... otherwise occupied? Stand around jacking off while watching me get railed? Line up and wait patiently to swap out after one finishes?
This is going to be super awkward for everyone involved.
“You’re going to go out there and soak up all of the benefits of having multiple mates that will fight over the privilege of eating you out,” I tell the mirror, hoping some of the projected confidence bounces back to me. “It’s their problem to figure out what to do with their dicks until it’s time to hop on the train; my job is suffering through countless orgasms. It may just kill me, but damn, what a headline for my obituary. I’ve got this.”
I’m never going to be able to walk again.
Throwing some cold water on my face and smacking my cheeks, I shove all of my anxieties into the darkest depths of Tartarus. Even if I make a fool of myself, what idiot is going to call me out on it and get ejected from the gangbang?
With one last deep breath, I exit the bathroom without the faintest clue of how I’m going to kick things off, but quickly find it an unnecessary concern.
Because they’re completely unconscious.
“Damian?”
Even when I shake his shoulder, he doesn’t stir. None of them do, spread out between the bed and couch on the other side of the room. It sets off every internal alarm bell and then some, and I hastily scramble for a plan, but it's slow coming. Every thought is difficult to hold onto, and I use that fact as my grounding point. Because even with muddled thoughts, it doesn’t take a genius to click together that unconscious mates plus scrambled thoughts equals something bad, likely airborne. If it was something in our food, Hunter would be fine since he skipped dinner.
Missing a step, I stumble forward, landing on Cinjin’s back. Shoving my hand down his pants pocket, I snatch one of the knives he always keeps on him. Head spinning, I make my way to the window and turn my panic inward.
