Careful What You Ask For (20 page)

P
atrick

P
erhaps I should’ve been
nervous about the first time I’d have my new Pack all together in one place, but I was
so
looking forward to it — I didn’t even consider worrying. Everyone who’d oathed to me wanted their old Pack back. They’d left because of Frank. No one dared challenge him, so they went to Randall’s Pack.

Briana and I made more lists and divvied up the tasks. I double-checked to be sure she was handling her items a few times, and she did the same for me. We made a great team, and by the time the first guests arrived, we were more than ready for them.

An hour in, I knew Briana was going to have to face off with one of the wives. I wasn’t sure what Misty had against my pet, but she bristled several times as Briana organized food, or started the kids on a new activity, or resituated the outdoor fans to blow where the most people were. Briana ignored Misty’s snide remarks and kept things on an even keel, but it was only a matter of time before it blew up.

I could’ve stepped in, but Briana was in her position because I’d claimed her. She was mine, and I’d given her Alpha Bitch status. Whether it was going to be a ceremonial position or an actual one was up to Briana. If she
needed
me to step in, I certainly would. If she asked me to, I’d do so. But so far she was handling everything okay, and her energy told me she didn’t want me interfering.

So I didn’t.

More people arrived at eight — a lot of humans, and a coyote boyfriend to a wolf female who’d oathed to me a few days ago. Jonathan wasn’t the only non-wolf, though as I’d feared, more people seemed to be having a problem with the foursome than with the fact a cat was in our midst.

Still, everything seemed fine when I asked a few men to walk with me downstairs to bring more beer up.

B
riana

I
didn’t
like the way Misty was looking at Bethany, so I made sure I stayed close to her. I didn’t know if her men had picked up on it — sometimes men can be clueless to passive-aggressive bitch behavior.

I helped her spread their blanket and then saw one of the kids higher up in a tree than he should’ve been, and I jogged to the edge of the clearing as I told him he might want to come back down. His parents joined me and his dad started climbing, so I turned back to head towards Bethany — only to see Misty in her face, speaking quietly.

I zeroed in on the conversation and heard Misty asking, “So, you fuck all of them?”

“Don’t answer that, Bethany.”

I said it loud enough, Jonathan and Mac moved closer to her, now clued in something wasn’t right.

“Her kind aren’t welcome here,” Misty said with a snarl.

“She’s most certainly welcome here tonight, and if either Mac or Ranger oath in, then the four will be welcome to anything we invite immediate family for.”

Mac stepped closer and Misty gave him a low growl before saying, “You aren’t Pack. You lay a hand on me and you’ll pay for it, mongrel.”

“He’s a new wolf and his maker’s Pack. He doesn’t have to take your abuse,” I told her. “But just to make sure everything’s all legal, let me be clear when I tell you that if you lay a hand on Bethany,
I
will rip you to shreds.”

She curled her lip in disdain. “You? You’re a new wolf, too. What can you possibly do? Patrick hasn’t shared his Alpha energy with you. You aren’t a true Alpha pair and you can’t do
shit
, little cub.”

I’d moved between Misty and Bethany by this time, and I heard Mac and Jonathan moving her between them behind me.

I stood as tall as I could and told her, “Jonathan protects someone I consider a friend. Mac and Ranger have gone out of their way for me, and Bethany was kind to me when it wasn’t popular for the other women to give me the time of day. I’m your Alpha’s mate, and you’ve threatened someone dear to me. You owe me an apology.”

I knew she’d never apologize, but I also knew if I didn’t up the ante then the two of us were just going to stand here and mouth off to each other. I honestly didn’t know if I could take the bitch or not, but I knew I needed to step up and do
something
. Patrick wasn’t here, so it was up to me to protect our guests.

Some wolf things, you have to work on for days and days, or even weeks and weeks, and you still struggle to do them. Other things just kind of
happen
. I’d found my warrior form by accident, and Ranger and Mac had helped me control how I went into it earlier in the week, and then taught me how to fight with a different center of gravity.

And now, as Misty took her first swing at me, my body
changed
as I blocked her swing. She morphed into a warrior form as well, but I got there first and didn’t pause to get my bearings as she had to.

I’ve felt the edges of Patrick’s power a few times, and now I tugged on it as I dodged razor sharp claws before moving in to swipe her abdomen with my own claws.

So many friends had warned me about the power surge I’d get when Patrick shared the Pack’s energy with me, but I hadn’t been prepared. Patrick later told me he knew something wasn’t right, but didn’t know what was happening and he had to make a split second decision of whether to parcel it out or just let me have it.

And he let me have all of it. Every bit of the energy of our new little Pack was mine to work with. I had no idea what to do with it, so I didn’t worry about it. I just fought with all my heart, and focused on what I had to do to keep from getting my ass kicked by Misty.

Who knows how Pack magic works? How a group of wolves become a unit? It isn’t a hive mind, like I imagine for bees, and yet I knew when it was time to back off. Misty had been wrong, I’d spanked her for it, and now it was time to give her a chance to show proper respect.

Patrick was above ground by now. My fight with Misty hadn’t taken more than two minutes, but he told me he’d dropped everything and ran upstairs when I tugged on our bond.

I had Misty on the ground, pummeling her, and I stood and took a step back and shifted my mouth and throat enough to speak. “Patrick hadn’t shared the Pack energy with me because he wanted to ease me into it, not because he didn’t trust me with it. I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea about our relationship. I’m his and he’s mine. We’re a pair.” It’d been so hard to shift single body parts yesterday, but now it was as easy as nodding my head.

Misty shifted from her warrior form to her human one, went to her knees at my feet, and bowed her head before me. “So I see. I can’t condone or approve of your friend, but if she’s under your protection, I’ll stay away from her and the men she’s sinning with.”

I
changed
all the way to human with a sigh. It was on the tip of my tongue to point out Jesus never treated people he considered sinners as she’d just treated Bethany, but I couldn’t think of a way to say it without making it sound like I agreed Bethany was sinning. Instead, I told her, “I know sometimes it’s hard to understand things so far from what we’re used to, but the four of them are in a committed relationship. They don’t sleep around, and they all genuinely love one another. Bethany isn’t damned — she’s one of the most loved, most adored women I know. I hope you’ll get to know them all as people, but if you don’t, it’s truly your loss.”

I offered a hand to help her up, and she accepted it.

“I’d still like you to apologize to Bethany, but I’ll let Patrick oversee that while I go in and warm the barbecue. Once ya’ll get that sorted through, meet me on the deck and we’ll eat.”

We’d both need a good bit of food after our
changes
, but in all honesty, I went in to prepare the food because I needed time alone. Power was still surging through me, and if I didn’t figure out how to control it, I was going to be like one of those livewires that sling power all over the place. I was barely holding on, and I breathed through it as I climbed the porch steps.

It took several minutes for me to pull the largest tub of pulled pork from the fridge and put it in the oven to heat. Once it was in, I turned the cold water on in the sink, leaned forward, and splashed my face. I’d lost all my make-up during the
change
, and there was no telling what kind of shape my hair was in, but at the moment I cared nothing about how I looked.

Patrick came in several long moments later, and pulled me into his embrace without saying a word.

And just like that, I was okay. He didn’t take the energy from me, he didn’t
do
anything. He just surrounded me in the warmth of his love, and everything was okay.

I relaxed in his arms, took a dozen slow breaths, and reluctantly pulled away. “Thanks. We’ll need to talk about that later, but for now, I need to brush my hair into a ponytail and maybe put some eyeliner on. Can you check on the food, please?”

T
he rest
of the evening was without incident, and it was nearly one in the morning before the last of our guests left. We cleaned up the basics and fell into bed without even a thought of sex.

He did not, however, forget to lock me in for the night.

I’m not sure how I’ll feel about being restricted to the bed ten years from now, but my feelings have changed as I’ve grown accustomed to it. It annoyed me at first, then it kind of pissed me off… but now it somehow creates this tangible piece of proof that I’m his. I belong to him.

It takes him perhaps thirty or forty seconds to buckle the cuff and lock it to the chain, but it’s almost as if the cuff hugs my ankle as a proxy. It’s Patrick keeping me close, holding me all night, even when we drift apart so we aren’t touching in our sleep. Some mornings I awaken in his arms, other mornings I’m sprawled in one corner and he’s in another. But the cuff is always there.

I can reach the bathroom and the sink now. He’s yet to put me in the cage for the night, but he’s warned me it isn’t off the table. He’s put me in for brief periods during the day. Twice when I wasn’t in total control of my wolf, but he’s put me in as part of a power-exchange thing a few times, too. Once, he plugged my ass and put a huge gag in my mouth, and locked mitts on my hands so I couldn’t use them. I was only in there for perhaps an hour while he worked on a few things in the bedroom, but it showed me what it’s like to be
stored
. I can’t come up with a better word for it. He needed me out of the way for a little while, so he stored me in the cage.

We had a lot to do the next day, so he woke me at six-thirty. You’d think he’d take a break from running the morning after a party, right?
Nope
. Patrick runs and works out nearly every day, and he spars with others who fight at his caliber several times a week, to keep his already fast reflexes up.

So the next morning when he woke me, I tried to climb back under the covers, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“You can either use the restroom and then get your spanking, or I can give it to you now.”

I grumbled as I finally stumbled out of bed and walked along my little path to the bathroom. I’d felt so big and strong and powerful last night, with the energy of the Pack running through me.

And yet this morning, I was going to have to bare my ass over his lap for a spanking. Just the thoughts of having to do it had my heated blood rushing to my clit.

Most mornings so far, Patrick had given me less than a dozen swats. Some mornings were hard and had me yelping, others were more of a token spanking and had me giggling. Only twice had he spent a good amount of time, and I’d assumed it would be quick this morning, too.

I was wrong.

My first clue that this might not be a normal morning spanking was the array of paddles on the table beside the bed.

My second clue was the look on his face.

My heart paused a few beats, and then beat like I was sprinting. “Are you upset with me?’

Patrick shook his head. “I loved the way you handled Misty. You put her in her place, but then graciously allowed her to save face a little. Also, letting me handle the apology worked perfectly. Being powerful means creating a safe place. Yes, we have to make sure everyone sees us as the leaders, but we don’t have to be assholes about it. I’m proud of you.”

“But?”

He shook his head. “No
but
. Within our dynamic, I’m the leader. I want to spank you this morning, and I’m in the mood to see you crying. Do you want to make me happy?”

My breathing grew even shallower as I gave him a tiny nod. I
did
want to make him happy, with every fiber of my being. But, did that mean when he wanted to make me cry, I should want to cry for him?

I crossed my arms, realized what I’d done, and relaxed them at my side.

“What if I just want a fun spanking?”

“Some days, if I don’t already have something in mind, you’re more than welcome to ask for what you want. However, when I’ve already made my intentions clear and you ask for something else, it borders on impertinence.”

“I don’t want to be impertinent, but I…” I crossed my arms again. Uncrossed them again.

“Say it, pet.”

“I want to ask if you’ll get me horny first, but maybe I’m supposed to trust you will, and asking for it isn’t okay?” I crossed my arms again. “I feel lost, Sir. I don’t like this feeling.”

“Of course you feel lost, you’re over there and not over here. You know I’ll always take care of you, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but sometimes this is hard.”

“You’d get bored with it if it were easy, pet. Let’s get started.”

He unlocked my cuff, sat in his usual morning spot, and silently waited for me to take my position.

Nothing can bring back humility like baring your ass over someone’s lap, but Patrick somehow kept it from being humiliating or degrading. I’d seen a book review on a spanking book a few days earlier, and was shocked to see someone who thought the Dom had humiliated the woman he loved. They said he’d degraded her and treated her horribly, when I’d seen it as him loving her, paying attention to her, and making sure their relationship was solid.