I jerked from where I lay on the bed. For a moment, the tight bands around me felt like the prick of the Black Wolf’s fangs, and my body struggled to get free, my heart thundering in my chest.
“Jules,” someone said as the fangs grew tighter.
I’m in his grip! my brain screamed hysterically as I thrashed.
“Jules, Jules, it’s OK.”
When my eyes snapped open, I saw I lay on the bed, Hawk and Brandon holding me between them. With an audience, it appeared. Aaron, Finn, and Slade stood at the foot, looking wide-eyed and shell-shocked, and Jack was behind Hawk with a face like a thundercloud.
“Alright, I’ve just come in my pants, and by the smell of it, so have the rest of you,” Slade said, looking around the room. “Anyone wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?”
21
I didn’t get a chance to answer straight away, as Jack marched over and hauled a dazed-looking Hawk to his feet. He stopped for a second, shooting me a scathing look before stomping out of the room, Hawk in tow.
The rest of the guys, their eyes were solely directed at me, waiting, waiting for me to explain.
“Short answer is, I don’t know,” I said, rolling to my feet and pulling on Brandon’s shirt. When I turned around, he smiled, noting my surreptitious breathing in of his scent.
“I’ll have the long answer now, if it’s all the same,” Slade said.
“Sylvan showed all of us a vision, of the black wolves, the Volken. They’re planning an invasion. Sylvan says that the Volken’s fertility has been affected by us.” The men’s frowns grew deeper as I explained what we’d seen in the vision.
“That’s why we’re here, they’re circling the wagons,” Finn said.
“And planning to close the gate. Finn, your dads...” I said.
His eyes narrowed, staring down at the carpet, his fists
beginning to ball.
“We assumed they’d set up a new settlement somewhere, a new life,” Finn said. His laugh when it came was harsh. “You’re saying instead, these...Volken, they laid in wait for them? Captured them and took them to what... produce the next generation until they die?”
I nodded, reaching out and taking his hand. He squeezed it back, harder than I would have been capable of tolerating before the change. “And Kelly? Ophelia? What are they going to do about this?”
“What can we do?”
We all turned to see Ophelia standing in the doorway. No one moved a muscle except Brandon, who scrambled to pull some clothes on. She stared into Finn’s eyes, and all of a sudden, I could see the family resemblance. Both had the imperious, uncompromising look, neither willing to break the stare.
“A town meeting is being called. I’ll need all of you there, presentable, of course. I’ll be declaring martial law and explaining the plan as it stands.”
“I’ll need to check in with my CO,” Aaron said.
“You’re standing down until this is resolved.” I watched Aaron stiffen, his whole body going rigid. “This is no slight on your abilities, but the intel we have is that you are best placed to serve the community by keeping Julie safe.” His eyes darted over to me, and he nodded slowly. “Now, where is Sylvan? I need to get him into some more appropriate clothes.”
We all piled into the shower—well, all of us except for Jack and Hawk. I stood, clad only in Brandon’s shirt, watching the parade of male flesh in front of me and feeling a curious flood of emotions. There was an echo of the joy from before tugging at my chest, along with a shyness. I’d been naked before the lot of them, but not after... How would I describe what had happened? There were no words.
“C’mon,” Brandon said, pulling the shirt over my head, and when I was naked, all eyes swivelled to me. After all that had happened, all we’d done, there was a hunger still there, and not just a sexual one. They closed around me when I stepped gingerly under the water, soapy hands working my body from feet to head, cleaning me with a sensual efficiency.
“Pretty sure my butthole doesn’t need cleaning, Slade,” I said, stepping free of the hands and under the water to rinse.
“Oh, I dunno. Maybe later we can—”
“Not yet, Slade,” Brandon said, working shampoo into his hair.
“No one asked you, Doc.”
“You need to respect Jules’ limits,” Aaron said.