Choices (2 page)

Taylor nodded, though really, he hadn’t answered any of the questions that had been swimming in her head since the night before. How often were they all going to do it together? When were they going to do it again? Did Alder harbor resentment for her because of how willing she’d been to have sex with his brother? Or had he actually enjoyed it?

The last thought made her skin tingle, but she wasn’t bold enough to ask him, not yet.

“I have a few things to do tonight,” he said. “I may not be back until after morning.”

She was unable to keep from pouting. “Again?”

It was the second time he’d be away since they arrived in his valley, and this time his absence was particularly upsetting. Taylor had spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning the cabin to near spotlessness, motivated by the prospect of being able to have Alder sleep over.

It wasn’t even about the sex—though that would be a nice bonus. But really, all she wanted was to fall asleep beside him, preferably in his arms. When she was with Alder, all of her worries seemed so insignificant.

Alder bent to kiss her, his warm lips causing heat to flicker in her belly. After a gentle nip at her bottom lip, he pulled back, gazing down at her with affection in his eyes.

“It’ll probably be like this for a few weeks,” he said. “This conflict with Whiteriver is bound to blow over, but until then, I need to make sure that the valley stays safe.”

“You won’t be in any danger, will you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

They both turned as Fenix arrived. The shifter’s hawk form was huge and it was impossible to ignore him as he swooped down from the sky.

Of all the shifters she’d seen, Fenix’s shift fascinated Taylor the most. She loved the way he shifted in mid-air, his legs stretching into thick limbs while his powerful wings receded, taking the shape of arms. He must have been well-practiced, as his timing was impeccable. He hit the ground gently, just as his human body came fully into its form.

Taylor was so impressed by the shift that she was staring at him for several seconds before she realized he was nude. She kept her eyes on his face, willing herself not to blush. If she was going to live with the shifters, nudity was something she’d have to get used to.

She expected the men to exchange words, but after pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head, Alder step back and removed his jeans, shifting into his wolf form. While Fenix was the most interesting shifter she’d encountered, Alder and Hale’s wolf forms were by far the most stunning.

“See you in the morning?” she asked the wolf, running her hand along the back of his neck.

Alder licked the side of her face, which she hoped meant yes, before taking his leave. She felt the muscles in her body sag as she watched him go, as if she needed his strength to fuel her own.

“Aren’t you going with him?” she asked, tilting her head towards Fenix.

His lips curved. “Nope. I’m here to make sure you and your friends don’t go off on any more forest excursions.”

Alder had just given her a babysitter.

“Are you seriously going to watch me undress? Seriously?”

Taylor put her hands on her hips and glared up at the hawk shifter. Unaffected by her ire, Fenix returned her gaze, looking nothing short of bored.

Lark had arrived a few moments after Alder left. Somehow, between going to the den and back, she had gotten covered in dirt. Gross and sweaty herself, Taylor suggested they take a bath break.

Without fans and air conditioners, they spent a lot of time cooling off in the lake. Taylor was becoming much more comfortable in the water and often looked forward to their bath times. That is, when it was just her and Lark.

“I’m not interested in you,” Fenix said.

“Why not?” Taylor asked before she could catch herself. “I mean, it doesn’t matter. I still don’t want you to see me naked.”

Muttering something under his breath, Fenix turned around so that his back was facing her. Marginally satisfied, Taylor slipped out of her dress, casting it aside on the grass. Her underwear had still been drying on the clothesline this afternoon and she decided to keep her bra on, just in case Fenix had a sudden change in interests.

Lark was already in the water by the time Taylor stepped into the lake. The bottom of the lake wasn’t slimy, but felt more like a thicker version of beach sand and Taylor enjoyed the feeling of it between her toes.

It was early evening and the sky was still light enough for her to make out dark smudges on her hips. Bruises, no doubt caused by Hale.

When she glanced up, Lark was staring at the bruises, speculation shimmering in her eyes. Not commenting, Taylor waded out until the water came up to her breasts, the farthest she could go while still staying within her comfort zone.

“Alder and Hale seemed normal today,” Lark said. “At least with one another. There’s been a lot of friction between them since you came. It’s good to see them getting along again.”

“Are they close?” Taylor asked, ashamed that she didn’t already know the answer.

In fact, she didn’t know much of anything about them, except that they had an older brother and family that lived farther south.

“Oh, yes,” said Lark. “You wouldn’t think so, because they’re so different, but Alder and Hale have always been inseparable.”

Taylor arched her head back, rinsing her hair in the cool water. “Well, I’m glad they seem to be working things out.”

“Me, too. I was surprised to see that Alder was okay with our quail coop. He doesn’t seem to be in a rush to leave the valley anymore. How were you able to convince him to stay?”

“I dunno,” Taylor hedged. “I suppose he just realized how silly the whole idea was. He and Hale aren’t animals. They’ll work things out.”

Taylor was referring to the fact that, apparently, when she became fertile, the alphas were going to fight over her body. She had spoken about it with Alder, albeit not in great detail, and she was sure that the others were exaggerating the issue. Alder hadn’t seemed overly concerned that he was going to lose control of himself and she found that comforting.

One thing Alder had made clear was that he wanted children. She should have been honest and told him flat out that she didn’t, but she’d been afraid of losing him, so she’d lied. How long would it be before he realized the truth, and by then, would he still want her regardless?

Wanting to think about something else, she asked, “Hey, what’s going on with Whiteriver? Do you think there will be more attacks, like yesterday?”

It was something she’d been meaning to ask, but kept forgetting. She knew that there was bad blood between the two packs. Whiteriver used to rule both mountains and the valley. Hale had killed their leader and he and Alder had taken control of Halcyon Mountain and the valley, leaving Mount Ezra to what was left of the Whiteriver pack.

“They don’t talk about it with me,” Lark said with a frown. “Things like that, they keep between the higher-ups, like Holly, Fenix, and Laurel—she’s one of the beta wolves.”

“I didn’t know Holly was part of their inner circle,” Taylor said, thinking of the snarky fox shifter. “It doesn’t seem fair that they keep the rest of you in the dark.”

“It’s for the best of the pack,” Lark explained. “If we were ever caught by enemies, they could torture the information out of us.”

Taylor was nearly stunned. “Does that happen a lot?”

Lark shook her head. “Nothing like that has happened since the war. Though, there are rumors that we might be going to war again.”

“Why?”

“From what I’ve heard, Whiteriver attacked Hale under false pretenses. That sort of thing might have blown over, but seeing as how they’ve attack you, twice now, I doubt Alder and Hale are going to let things slide.”

“They’re going to war…because of me?”

***

For the first night in as long as he could remember, Hale hadn’t caught a damn thing. He’d spent the entire hunting hour distracted by thoughts of Taylor, his wolf urging him to break away from the pack and go back to her cabin to mate with her.

On another night, he may have done just that, but given Whiteriver’s very recent infiltration of their forest, it would have been negligent of him to leave his pack leaderless during the hunt. So, he’d taken up a high vantage point for the night, opting to oversee the others, rather than actively participate in the hunt.

Occasionally, his keen eyes would take notice of prey flitting through the woods below. His instincts to give chase felt unusually dull and he couldn’t work up the motivation to do much more than watch. He imagined stalking the creature and pinning it down by its neck. In his mind, the hapless prey would turn into Taylor, naked and on her knees. With his teeth clamped down on her neck, he would remain in his wolf form as he took her from behind.

As he emerged from the woods with the other hunters, he was surprised to catch her scent in the air. A small gathering of workers stood beside the river and Hale immediately noticed the lavender dress and red hair of his female.

She was standing next to the raccoon, a big smile on her face. Hale felt his chest swell at the sight of her, only to feel animosity rise as he realized she was smiling at the runt. He watched the shaggy brown wolf prance up to her, carrying the hare he’d caught. Hale had the strong urge to snatch the hare from his mouth.

Shifting into his human form, Hale approached her, stepping in front of Beka’s brother to ensure he had her full attention.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his tone coming out sharp. “I told you that you didn’t have to clean tonight.”

“I’m not here to clean, I just wanted to talk to you.” Her eyes darted from side to side, and she whispered, “Privately, if we can.”

Hale felt his entire mood shift. Wordlessly, he took her by the hand and led her towards the woods, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his mind that said this female had far too much power over him.

As soon as they were far enough away from the others, Hale pinned her between his body and an oak tree, crushing his mouth against hers. Blood rushed to his groin and he was instantly hard. His mind registered that she was making sounds, but his focus was on her soft, plump lips. He sucked at her, drawing his canines across the tender flesh and applying just enough pressure to elicit a moan from her.

His hand moved between her thighs, intent on coaxing a quick climax from her, but she pinched her knees together. He considered wrenching them apart, but decided it would be best in the long term if he dealt with whatever nonsense was going on in her head.

As he pulled back, Hale realized that her hands were between them, pressed against his chest. He hadn’t felt her trying to push him off, but he could tell from her red face and narrowed eyes that she was not happy with him.

“I said I wanted to t-talk to you,” she sputtered, and he realized that she was still trying to push him back. She was even weaker than he remembered.

Taking one step back, but keeping his arms on either side of her, Hale said, “So start talking.”

Taylor glared at him as she adjusted her dress. “I came here to tell you that I don’t want you to go to war because of me.”

Hale reached up to squeeze the bridge of his nose. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Taylor flinched. “Don’t speak to me like that.”

She tried to move away from him, but Hale quickly replaced his hand, barring her in. “Do you want to argue with me or do you want to get to the point?”

He knew that he was being an ass, but all he wanted was to get through he conversation and between her thighs.

“I heard that Halcyon might go to war with Whiteriver because they attacked me.”

Hale let out a sigh. He tried to think of a way to simplify a very complicated situation.

“The issues with Whiteriver go back way before you came here. We may have been at war with them regardless of whether or not you came.”

Her brows drew together. “So we are going to war?”

Hale was pleased that she already considered herself to be part of his pack. “It’s very likely. I’m not going to wait around for Silas to make the next move.”

As he spoke, Hale ran a hand up the side of her thigh, gently stroking her skin. He could smell that she was growing aroused, but when he leaned down to kiss her again, Taylor pressed her hand to his mouth.

“Hale, I really liked what we did yesterday, but I’m not comfortable with it being just the two of us.”

He felt himself scowl. “If you’re worried about Alder, don’t be. He doesn’t care.”

Her eyes widened at that, but then she shook her head. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Looking more flustered than before, she said, “If I tell you, you have to promise not to make fun of me.”

Hale gave her a flat look.

“Fine,” she said, looking away. “You seem very…experienced, and it intimidates me because I’m very…
not
experienced.”

It wasn’t what he was expecting her to say, though she rarely behaved in ways that he could predict. He ran the words over in his head a few times, unsure of what to make of them and what he could say to change her mind.