SWNOVELS Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
You got big.
It's Conn.
He's circling my wolf, appraising us from all sides.
It's true. I'm almost twice my size.
I'm not nearly as large as Cam's massive wolf, but I've packed on at least eighty pounds of muscle and added considerable height. Even my teeth are bigger.
I bare them now.
Conn barks appreciatively. He nuzzles my throat. Licks at my snout.
Nala's tail thumps back and forth. She's missed him.
We both have.
What's this? He nudges my shoulder. There's a white patch of fur there. A perfect circle. It wasn't there before.
I dunno. It appeared after I gave birth.
Like any woman can tell you, pregnancy does all sorts of weird things to a body. This white patch resembles a moon. Aside from the color, my flesh and fur are normal, so I don't mind it so much.
I give the wolf equivalent of a shrug and Conn nuzzles my face again.
Follow me.
With one playful nip, Cam takes off, and I dash behind him into the trees.
We run fast, leaping over fallen branches and logs, darting right and then left around towering pines and ancient trees.
The ground is soft beneath my paws, the scents are strong and I breathe deeply. For the first time, in a very very long time, I feel free.
I know these lands, I don't think there's much space on Healmsworth grounds that I haven't explored at one time or another, but I'm not sure where Cam is leading us.
He lengthens his stride and I relish the rush.
I'm faster, no way near as strong, but my lighter body lets me pour on the speed.
I take the lead, running flat out, not holding back and Conn's bark is full of pride. He isn't threatened or angry. He cheers me on and I dash ahead.
Air saws in and out of my lungs, Conn's stride is like thunder behind me. I gradually tire, and when I start to slow, I'm tackled from the side.
We roll in a tangle of limbs and fur, his body taking the impact and tumbling until I'm sprawled beneath him.
Conn pins Nala.
He lowers his jaw and bites my throat.
Not to mark me.
Just enough to assert his dominance. Change back.
I resist the command just to see if I can.
Change back, he growls again. Please.
I shift and when I look up, Cameron's hair is almost touching my face. I brush back the longer strands. His shoulders block out the sky as he holds himself above me.
He's thick and hard and pressed against my core.
One roll of his hips will have us joined.
I'm wet and hot and when I grab his shoulders, Cam shudders.
He wants me, with an aching need that is impossible to ignore.
His lips brush my forehead, my eyes, my cheeks. He dots soft, reverent kisses along my throat and jaw.
The passion simmers at the surface, and it would take only the slightest flicker for it to erupt, but Cam banks it, showering me with affection, letting me know there is something other than lust, there's...more.
And I know.
Nala knows.
The connection is even stronger than before.
Cam tenses above me.
He growls.
I smell it then.
Wolves. Lots of them.
And they're not Healmsworth packmates.
He jumps to his feet, his arms at his sides, already shifted, his legs sprouting hair and muscles snapping to allow his lycan form. He gains almost two feet, making him tower over me.
I stand up quickly.
Nala makes a rumbling sound. It isn't a growl, it's more a wolf's form of amusement, if such a thing is possible.
"Cam?"
We're downwind and the scent that carries to me is... Eric!
He steps into the clearing.
We aren't in a wide space. It's maybe twenty feet across, just enough for the moonlight to filter in and for the ground at our feet to be open enough to move around. Had we been in the heart of the forest, we'd have no way to maneuver.
"Hello Mia," Eric's eyes trace over me.
My chest and face burn.
I'm naked.
Cam's naked.
This is a man who not two days' ago had asked me to be his mate.
Oh Goddess, I feel sick.
Nala gives the wolf equivalent of laughter in my head.
He steps right up to me and touches my chin. He lifts my neck up. His touch and scent like a balm.
How can this be? How can I be drawn to two men? The very notion contradicts everything we know of a true mate bond.
"Not marked yet," he whispers.
Cam growls. "Get your fucking hands off her. Now."
Eric's smile is spiteful as he glances back at Cameron. "No. I don't think I will. You had your chance. She's moved beyond you, wolf."
"Never," Cam argues.
I can't handle this. I'm not some object to be torn back and forth between them until I break.
The wolves at the outside of the circle...they're menacing. Cam and I are severely outnumbered. I'm not worried about my safety. But I'm terrified for Cam. He's not fully recovered. We are a long way from the pack.
And I know for a fact that Eric covets both Cam's powers and these lands.
And Eric wants me.
I swallow hard.
Corinne shifts and lets out a bemused whistle. Her Ravens are assembled and many of Eric's huge wolves are here too. They box us in.
There is no way we're getting out of this clearing. Not unless Eric wants us to.
"Remind me to buy that witch something expensive," Eric tells me.
So he knows what happened at the Trial.
"I don't think you need to concern yourself with her," Cam says calmly. His eyes are bright gold and his voice simmers with rage. "I think you should be more concerned about getting out of these woods alive." The ground rumbles.
I hear it in the next second. A thunder of wolves. From the growls and beating of paws against the earth, it sounds like the whole pack has mobilized.
And they are very close.
But that's not possible. We're miles away from the packhouses. Even syncing with his pack mind-to-mind, it would take time... unless...
"You were expecting them?" I'm in shock.
Cam nods. "My men informed me of everything that has happened since I woke up, Mia." He looks at me and a flicker of hurt shows in his eyes. "And when I carried you from the circle...I could still smell this motherfucker's scent on you."
Gods, I feel sick. "So you knew he would come?"
"I suspected."
"And bringing me here..."
Cam shrugs.
I was the bait.