Climbing the Ladder (17 page)

the end of his days—whole, happy, settled in those flighty bones.

Mesa pushed one finger inside Kody’s body, testing that tight warmth. Soon. Very soon.

Just a little more open…

“Please. Please…” Kody’s abs rippled, body arching, hole clenching around his fingers.

Nodding, Mesa pulled back so he could position his cock where he needed it most. There.

He pushed in, gritting his teeth against the pleasure. His Beta, his Kody, was suddenly right

there, loud, sunk into his skin, and he howled, driving in deep. His body moved without any

thought or intention, his hips sawing back and forth. Tight, hot, perfect, Kody held him, rocked with him.

The sun sank, and Kody’s motions got wilder, faster, his mate barely hanging on.

Grunting, Mesa let his movements match Kody’s, desperate to come, but needing to hold

on until Kody let go. Kody’s eyes glowed, rivaling the moon. Soon. Soon. Mesa could feel it in his bones. He reached between them, tugging at Kody’s cock. He needed that ripple around his

prick.

He got it, too, Kody barking, body milking him.

Mesa howled, his head tipping back, his body shaking. He spent deep inside Kody, filling

him up.

Kody came with hard, jerking motions, calling for him, the pleasure huge, spunk

spreading up along the lean chest. He leaned down, licked a line over the warm skin, feeling

Kody’s heartbeat under his tongue as they relaxed.

A cold nose on his bare ass made him jump, Sammy chuffing softly.

Mesa fell back, laughing, his body letting the moon take him. His wolf came to the fore

effortlessly. Kody was next, bounding up to head bump them, then down the stairs to howl, then back up. Mesa trotted down the stairs before stopping to stare back at Sammy.

Pale and fine, Sammy was smaller than he would have expected, but quick, agile, moving

toward the trees.

He followed her, making sure she seemed confident and happy, watching her tail wave

like a flag. The others came in slow waves, curious and happy, barking and yelping, meeting

Sammy.

There was Grandma Minnie, her gray muzzle pushing against Sammy’s, sharing scent.

There was a tiny pod of females—three of them—posturing and watching, but Sammy ignored

them, gently grooming Minnie, Junie, even Canyon. Such a lady, his mate. Her instincts were

fucking amazing, and Mesa almost burst with pride.

She moved through the Clan, acknowledging each and every wolf, up until she reached

the posturing females, then she growled once, the sound a clear warning. They bristled at her, breaking off to form a circle, or a triangle he guessed, around her.

Kody whined softly, but Sammy ignored him, sizing the trio up carefully, eyes sharp. The

entire Clan watched—if Sammy was going to be the Alpha female, she had to pass her trials, too.

Mesa thought, belatedly, that maybe he should have warned her.

Then again, maybe she did better when she just had to go on her gut. She went right for

Alicia, taking the bitch down with one pull. Sammy held Alicia down until she submitted, then

shook her once before backing off. The other two were cowed, one offering Sammy her belly.

Sammy grunted before barking to him. Mesa came to praise her, licking her whiskers.

He let the Clan see how proud he was of her, to stand with her.

He loved her so much already. He praised Kody, too, for finding her. Kody preened, head

tossing, tongue lolling. Canyon padded up, big head bowing to him and Sammy. That tongue

lolled in lupine laughter, though.

Kody chuffed and Canyon took him down, gently, teeth shaking Kody’s ruff. Kody

kicked the air, barking happily. Silly thing.

Sammy headed for the trees, her pale fur moving fast enough that it was a blur. Mesa put

his nose to the ground and followed.

She was hunting, so quick, so smart, and his. Her nose was to the ground, feet almost

silent. Mesa hung back and watched. He would help if he needed to, but he wanted her to do it.

There was a hare, a big one, and she flushed it out easily, driving it toward him. Mesa

snapped it up, ignoring the cut-off squeal when it died. Then he offered it to Sammy. Sammy

lapped his muzzle once, tore the beast open, and snapped up the heart, dropping it as his feet, then giving the liver to their Kody, who had finally caught up with them.

Yes. He rumbled his approval, taking his due. The liver would make Kody strong. She

was a good provider.

Sammy snapped the rest up, eating almost daintily. Kody watched her, panting softly.

They groomed each other for a few moments before Mesa tipped his head back to howl.

Time to gather the pack again. Time to run together.

Time to go.

His Clan came, and they headed up, out, all of them together.

Into the moon.

* * * *

Sammy woke up sore, stiff and headachy, and she stumbled toward to the bathroom,

whining softly.

God, this was like the worst hangover ever.

She leaned on the sink and hung her head, which was when she noticed the bruises. On

her chest and belly, her throat. God.

Then there was the bite mark on her breast.

She must have had a ball. Too bad she didn’t really remember it. Sammy plopped into the

tub, turned the water on, shivering against the cold.

Wow. The hot water felt great, but she looked like she had leprosy or something.

“Mmm. You look amazing.” A cup of coffee was sat on the edge of the tub, Kody’s long

fingers wrapped around the handle. “Are you hungry, love?”

She tried to smile at her lover. “I don’t know. Did you get the number on the truck that

hit me?”

“Mmmhmm. It was called Mesa number one. Want me to wash your back?”

“God, yes.” She leaned forward, moaning as warm water poured down her spine.

Kody grabbed the sponge and started in on scrubbing. It was as much a massage as a

bath. He let the water out, refilled it, then started washing her hair, fingers digging in, rubbing, and she moaned, eyes crossing with it. “You’re so stiff, love.”

“Feel hung over.”

“We had a good run with the moon, huh?” Kody sounded so pleased.

“It’s all very vague. Is it always like that, after?”

“Sometimes.” Kody rubbed the kink out of her neck. “Some people are better at

remembering. Mesa remembers everything.”

“Oh…” She moaned, that touch so good, so sweet. “Do you? Remember?”

“Some things. Some things seem more like watching a movie.” He pushed his thumbs

into her muscles, melting her.

“Kody…” She groaned as his hands worked their magic. “Don’t stop.”

“No worries about that, love. I’m going to work all this out, and then I’ll make

pancakes.”

It was so good, so normal. Kody had always pampered her.

“So good to me.” She thought she could hear his voice, inside her head, admiring her,

telling her how lovely she was.

“I like spoiling you a little. You work hard.” Somehow, Kody seemed to think her being

some kind of Alpha was harder work than going to the bank every day.

“Me? I wander around here…” She had helped Minnie organize the Clan’s holdings into

a more reasonable situation and dealt with the taxes, but… She didn’t even want to think about how different things were becoming. Hell, she’d put her house on the market, was having her

things delivered and stored in Spokane. She’d just walked away from it all. All her friends.

They probably thought she was out of her mind. Why wouldn’t they? Sometimes she

thought maybe she had just passed on or gone crazy, except that Mesa and Kody made her feel

so alive.

“Maybe that part is dead, love. Maybe the real you was waiting to come home.” Kody’s

touch was gentle, sweet.

“I’m not sure how I feel about that, Kody.” She was better with it every day, but it was

still bizarre. She was out in the middle of nowhere and loving it.

“I know. It’s hard, huh? You didn’t grow up like us.”

“No.” Do you think my birth parents knew? Got rid of me?”

“I think something happened to them, love. That’s the only thing that would make them

let you go.” Kody stroked her hair with one damp hand.

She moaned softly. “You ease my soul. You always have.”

“I love you.” He did. She felt it like a glow around her heart.

“I know.” She stood up, let him wrap her in a towel. “Come snuggle a minute?”

Pancakes could wait.

“Always.” He put an arm around her, taking her back into the bedroom.

Mesa was in the big bed, eyes warm, one arm holding the covers up for them. Kody

helped her in, then wrapped around her. Mesa started making this noise—deep and low—that left

her humming, melting into Kody’s arms.

They were her life now. Deep down she knew it, even if her mind still tried to argue

sometimes.

“Don’t you growl at me!” Sammy slammed her hand down on the table, the wood

rattling. “You’ve been a bitch all fucking morning. What is your major malfunction?”

Everybody else in this fucking place may shiver when Mesa snarled and growled, but she

wasn’t going to. She’d been trying to help with this whole North Peak Clan situation. The Alpha there—Gareth or Jared, she wasn’t quite sure and was embarrassed to ask—had killed someone,

was threatening to do something awful to someone else and Canyon was making noises about

going up deep into the mountains to help, which apparently was a big deal because he was

supposed to protect all the poor defenseless people who
could
turn into wolves and bite…

Mesa growled louder. “My problem is that you don’t seem to see how serious a problem

this is! Canyon is my second. What am I going to do if he has to leave to fix this?”

She didn’t think Mesa was going to have a whole lot of say in that, really. Logic stated

that if a crazy man next door was killing people, you had to do something about it because

eventually he’d come to get you. Canyon was a smart dog; the man could deal.

“You have me. You have Kody. Shit, there are a dozen fully-functional grown men out

there. One of them can be puffy and tough. You don’t live in a frigging war-zone, Mesa.”

The man was paranoid as hell.

“He’s my fucking brother and there’s something out there
killing
our kind!” Mesa was

the one slamming things now, and a pitcher sitting on the counter cracked right down the middle.

“Very mature.” She rolled her eyes. “So, just admit you’ll miss him and move on. That’s

totally understandable.”

“Goddamn it, Sammy. This could be serious. A pack Alpha going crazy? Bad juju.”

She nodded. “I get crazy. I grew up in Lala Land. That’s why Canyon is going, right?”

“Jesus, you just don’t get the whole pack thing, do you?” He snarled it at her, his eyes

flashing.

She stood up, ignoring Kody who was suddenly fluttering behind her. “You know what? I

don’t. Weird, isn’t it? It’s almost like some asshole kidnapped me from my home in California

and threw me into utter insanity and told me to fucking sink or swim!”

Mesa started at her, his hands clenching and unclenching. “Well swim, then.”

“Sammy. Mesa, please…”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m going out for a walk. You two commiserate about how you

ended up with a human and then fuck. I’ll be back tonight.”

She’d heard the gossip, after all. How poor Kody had gotten trapped by her when he was

weak, how Mesa was stuck with her now. Most of the time she could ignore it. Most of the time.

She slammed out of the door, headed to Juniper’s little house. She loved Junie’s place—it

was like what she’d imagine a fairy tale gnome’s would look like—filled with herbs and dusty

books, shiny glass things and cushions on the floor.

It always smelled like flowers and herbs, too. Much nicer than Canyon’s place, which

smelled like hamburger.

Although Canyon had Internet access and Hulu…

She smiled a little, thinking of how she and Kody would curl up with the big guy and

watch soaps. Canyon was an addict.

Sammy knocked on Juniper’s door. “Hey, you. Wanna take a wander?”

She pulled her coat closer around her. It was damned cold for her, being the California

girl she was.

Junie came to the door, smiling for her, hand reaching out to take hers. “Sure. I was about

to go crazy in here anyway.”

“You?” Juniper was the only person less attached to her body than Kody. She always

seemed to be floating. “Let’s go.”

Juniper was tiny, made her feel huge and a little ungainly, but she supposed that made

sense. If she was really the Alpha. “So, what were you doing? Communing with spirits?”

It sounded like more fun than fighting with Mesa.

“I was grinding stuff, actually. Rose hips and shit.”

“Rose hips?” They hooked arms, headed into the woods. “What are those?”

“The thingees leftover from the rose.” Junie laughed, bumping her with one hip, just like

Mesa did sometimes.

“Do you use them in perfume?”

“Nope. In jelly.”

She cracked up, both of them heading deeper. “So, tell me why Mesa’s losing his mind

over this Canyon thing? Use small, non-wolfy words, please.”

Junie glanced at her sideways, one eyebrow going up. Sometimes Junie thought she was

dumb. She could tell. “Canyon is his second. It’s a delicate balance, keeping clans together.”

“His second…so he’ll be Alpha if Mesa dies?” Just the thought made her a little sick.

Juniper frowned. “No. No, his job is to protect the Aspen Brook Clan, generally, and

specifically you and Mesa, Kody, and me.”

She knew that Junie was being groomed for Minnie’s job—part witchcraft, part spiritual