A Wolf in the Fold

  The two puppies focused on BettLynn, then laid down and stared up at her as if in love.

  Elain leaned in close to Ain. “You’re sure those are two bio dogs, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Brodey scratched at his chin. “That’s the damnedest thing I ever saw.”

  Apparently, the Beasts approved of the puppies’ behavior. The boys reached out and stroked the puppies’ heads before they both laid down next to BettLynn.

  “What’s going on?” Mai asked. She stared at them, wide-eyed.

  “I say we don’t question it,” Lina said. She sat on the end of one of the couches, her elbow on the armrest, her chin in her hand. “Frankly, I’m too damned tired to question it. They’re all getting along great. Mahvelous, simply mahvelous.”

  “You know,” Elain said, “every time I pick BettLynn up, I feel this sense of peace wash over me.” She looked around. “Is that just me, or does everyone feel that?”

  From the looks on everyone’s faces, she realized it was just her.

  “Never mind,” she mumbled.

  Ain hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “It’s all right, babe. Maybe it’s one of your Seer powers coming through. She is a remarkably happy baby.”

  “I’m not a baby expert,” Carla said, “but from what I remember from when Elain was a baby, and other babies her age at day care, BettLynn does seem to be pretty content.”

  “Gee, thanks, Mom.”

  “I didn’t mean you weren’t a good baby,” Carla clarified, “but you were…intense.”

  “Not helping.”

  Carla smiled. “You always made it perfectly clear what you wanted. Better?”

  Elain thought about it. “Sure. Let’s go with that.”

  “I would,” Lina snarked. “Stop while you’re ahead.” She started to smile, but it dissolved into a yawn. “Sorry.”

  Rick caught her hand and helped her to her feet. “I think you need a nap, lovely.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “Go on,” Jan told her. “We’ve got this under control.”

  Lina looked like she was about to say something else, but it dissolved into another yawn. She waved at everyone and headed down the hall toward her bedroom.

  * * * *

  Brodey watched Elain all afternoon after they returned from Mark’s. The dogs had been mostly his idea, but he didn’t want to take any credit away from his brothers. He was happy for it to be billed as a joint present, especially since it seemed to make Elain happy.

  It was wonderful to see her smile.

  More importantly, their house really felt like a home again.

  He knew they’d likely have some overwhelming crap to deal with in the next few years. Still, he wanted at least one aspect of Elain’s life, of their lives, to be as normal as they could make it. A normal home life. Family. Pets.

  They hadn’t owned dogs in years, since before their parents had died. With Elain now the center of their universe, Brodey realized how deeply empty he’d felt since they’d lost their parents. Even when he had a woman to fill his bed, they’d never filled his heart. There’d been Kimberlie, but when he knew Ain and Cail didn’t have any feelings for her, he’d had to let her go.

  They’d been brothers, and living together, but it was only…existing.

  More joy had entered their lives in the past six months than they’d felt in the past nearly twenty-eight years.

  He knew it would kill him to ever lose this happiness. He wouldn’t want to live.

  When he walked out to the kitchen to get himself a drink of water, Liam followed him a few moments later. “She looks very happy, lad,” he softly said. “Ye all do.”

  Brodey nodded. “Thanks.”

  Liam held his arms open wide, an invitation for a hug, and Brodey stepped into his embrace. Even though Liam was approximately forty years younger than him and his brothers, and roughly looked the same age as they did, it was still easy to think of him as a father figure. He’d made an ultimate sacrifice to protect his daughter, at the expense of his mate’s life and being able to raise his baby.

  Brodey knew even he didn’t have adequate words to explain his gratitude to the shifter.

  “Ye did good,” Liam said, emotion tingeing his voice. “All three of ye. I’m glad ye found each other.” He stepped away, wiping at his eyes. “It’s the best Christmas of my life. My little girl and her mates. My mate.” He let out a sad breath. “I wish we hadn’t borne so much loss to reach this point.”

  “I know. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I just wanted to make sure I said it out loud. Nothing ever left unsaid.” He glanced out into the living room where Elain was talking with Mai and some of the others. “Never leave anything unsaid, lad. Life’s too damn short sometimes. We don’t always get another chance later on.”

  Brodey thought back to his parents, how they’d been murdered on their way to Arcadia to see them. “Truer words were never spoken, Dad.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elain delayed going to bed as long as she could. At least she could use the excuse of walking the puppies to stall.

  Unfortunately, she knew she couldn’t put off this talk any longer. She needed to tell her guys she’d gone back on the pill.

  Later that night, once she was finally alone in the bedroom with them, Elain decided to break it to her men. “I think,” she said, “that I’m not ready for a baby yet.”

  She felt a little surprised, and relieved, when her men didn’t seem to take it as hard as she thought they might. Ain took point with the response. “We respect your decision, sweetheart.”

  She felt like she owed them more of an explanation. “I’m just finally getting to see what it feels like to have a large family. We’ve only been together six months. And now that we know Callie’s cursed and we have to get rid of it, I’m worried what might happen if something goes wrong—”

  Ain gently gathered her hands and pulled them to his chest. “It’s okay,” he assured her. “You don’t need to convince us.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing,” Cail said.

  “But what we talked about—”

  “I know what I said. Like I told you the other morning, all three of us are willing to wait. Or if you decide never, then that’s not going to make us love you any less. The fact that you feel so conflicted about it means that maybe this is the right decision for you to make right now.”

  “Really?”

  Ain let Cail take her from him. “Really.” He cupped her cheeks in his hands and gently brushed his lips across hers. “We love you and nothing will change that. Everything else is a bonus as long as we have you in our lives.”

  “Ditto,” Brodey added.

  She tousled his hair. “You’re such a romantic.”

  He shrugged. “I’m being honest. We’re not having to fight for our lives every day. Waiting for a baby? I can do that. I think we can wait a few years, or longer, without complaint. Or, forever, if that’s what you want.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Thank you. I appreciate you being so understanding about this.”

  Ain pulled her back into his arms for another embrace. “I want you to be ready when it happens,” he softly insisted. “I want it to be because you want it, not because you think it’s what we want. I don’t want there to be any regrets in your heart when you make the decision.”

  “Then what if I regret waiting?”

  Brodey groaned. “Oh. My. Goddess. Stop with the what-ifs, baby. Listen to what Prime is telling you. We’re okay with it. You have our honest opinions.”

  “You know we can’t lie to you,” Ain said. He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips across hers, slowly, sweetly. “So let’s enjoy what we have now, in the present, and quit worrying about what happens in the future. All right?”

  Cail pressed his body against her back and slipped his arms around her waist. He nibbled along the nape of her neck, sending pleasant shivers
down her spine and straight to her clit.

  “All right,” she mumbled. Her eyes dropped closed and she wiggled her hips between them, gaining instant attention from both men as their cocks hardened.

  “Hey,” Brodey said. “I won’t lie. The upside to not becoming parents yet is that we can have uninterrupted nakey time.”

  She cracked open an eyelid. His playful grin helped stir up the fires even more. He’d pulled off his shirt and stepped close. From the way the front of his shorts had tented, she knew he was just as ready as his brothers.

  Reaching out, she brushed her hand across his chest. “We just have to have quiet nakey time so we don’t wake the whole house.”

  Brodey shrugged. “I think Mom and Dad are too busy with their own play—”

  “Ew!” She clapped her hands over her ears. “Not listening! Lalalalala.”

  She’d give Ain credit. He tried not to laugh. He clamped down on his lips in an attempt to hide the smile forcing its way through. Cail chuckled against the nape of her neck. “Okay, you guys need to make me happy, right?”

  They nodded.

  “No more talk about my parents’ sex life. Especially during our sex life. Capice?”

  “Sorry, babe,” Brodey said. But he didn’t look a bit sorry.

  She poked him in the chest. “I mean it.”

  “I know you do.”

  She poked him again. “I really mean it.”

  “Point taken.” He grabbed her hand and sucked her finger into his mouth, his green eyes holding hers as he swirled his talented tongue up and down and around her digit.

  He knew damn well what it would do to her, and it did. She felt her pussy begin throbbing, her juices already starting to flow. It was like an autonomic response at that point. Brodey’s tongue anywhere on her body immediately equated with damp panties.

  Not that she was complaining.

  Cail quickly stripped before pressing against her back again, his cock resting along the seam of her ass. When Ain stepped away to remove his clothes, Cail wasted no time getting Elain naked and onto the bed. She thought he’d roll on top of her, but instead, he spooned her, rolling them onto their sides, before sliding his cock into her pussy from behind.

  “Oh, yeah,” Brodey moaned. He knelt on the bed in front of her and dove for her pussy. She would have let out a moan at how good it felt to be fucked and licked at the same time, except that the head of Ain’s cock brushed against her lips and she opened, sucking him in.

  Cail nibbled down her neck to her shoulder, where he nipped her on her mating mark. She let out a moan around Ain’s cock.

  “Do that again,” Ain hoarsely told his brother.

  Cail nuzzled her shoulder, then paused. She knew what was coming next, but it still didn’t prepare her for the sweet, searing pleasure that accompanied the pain of Cail’s teeth sinking into her flesh.

  Brodey kept her legs spread apart, his tongue flicking her clit and making her explosion that much better. Her cunt clamped down on Cail’s cock, drawing a pleased growl from him that reverberated throughout her entire body.

  Ain gently held her head in place, taking over and doing the work. All she had to do was lie there and enjoy being fucked and licked, Ain sliding his cock back and forth between her lips harder, faster.

  Cail cupped one of her breasts in his hand and found her nipple, pinching it and drawing another moan from her. His hips rocked, thrusting hard, his cock hitting different places inside her from that angle and the pleasure overwhelming her.

  When the taste of salty pre-cum rolled across her tongue, she knew Ain was getting close. She reached up and palmed his sac, enjoying the moan he gave her as she played with his balls.

  “Yeah, baby,” he said. “Just like that.”

  She felt them tighten, begin to draw up at the same time his cock hardened even more, growing hotter, nearly ready. He fucked her mouth faster, deeper, until he let out a groan and his balls emptied, giving her a mouthful of his cum.

  He didn’t pull out immediately, letting her lick and suck every drop out of him before finally moving.

  Brodey took over once more, redoubling his efforts and sucking hard on her clit, triggering another explosion inside her.

  Cail growled into her shoulder again, his thrusts turning into hard, deep jabs, his cock buried deep inside her cunt as he drew close to coming, until his climax hit him. She felt his cock swell and pump her full of his cum, his grip on her shoulder finally relaxing. Breathing heavily, he licked her shoulder, soothing it and sending more shivers through her.

  Brodey moved fast. As soon as Cail pulled out, he had Elain on her back, her legs over his shoulders, and his cock deeply plowing her pussy. He grabbed her hands and pinned her down to the bed, his eyes blazing with passion. “My turn, baby.”

  She wasn’t sure she could come again like this, but Brodey had stamina despite his desire. He slowed down and sped up, her sensitive clit gliding along his cock with each thrust, until she realized she was about to come again.

  He sensed it and held back, timing it just right, waiting until he felt the muscles of her cunt once again clamping down on his cock before he pounded into her, driving her up the bed with the force of his thrusts.

  Elain squeezed his hands, her cries muffled when he leaned in and kissed her, his tongue even fucking her mouth the way his cock was fucking her pussy. He kept it up until he and she both finished, falling still while their climaxes faded into a sweet afterglow. He rolled to his side, taking her with him, arms wrapped around her, legs twined together. Ain pressed against her back, warmth and security now enveloping her on all sides.

  Cail leaned in for a kiss. “Merry Christmas, babe.”

  She managed to open her eyes to look at him and spotted his smile. Reaching up, she stroked his cheek, her heart fluttering when he kissed her palm. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered.

  “Best. Christmas. Ever,” Brodey muttered, already falling asleep, his cock softening inside her.

  She kissed the tip of his nose. “Absolutely.”

  Ain nuzzled the back of her neck. “The first of many best Christmases to come.”

  She giggled. “And come.”

  “Absolutely,” Brodey agreed.

  As she drifted to sleep, Elain realized all three men were wearing the necklaces she’d given them, as was she. Yes, they had rings. This felt even better, for some reason, comforting. And it was a nice thought on which to sail into dreams.

  Chapter Fourteen

  By the time New Year’s Eve rolled around, Gigi and Oscar, Blackie and Callie, Kitty and Wally, and Jocko and Lacey had all headed back to Maine.

  With all their other guests still in residence, the house didn’t feel empty at all.

  Once it got dark, Elain sat out in the backyard with her mom and dad, Mai, Jim, Micah, Zack, and Kael. They’d had a hearty steak dinner and were now working on their adult beverages of choice.

  Lina had opted to stay inside with the babies and the puppies rather than watch the pyrotechnics.

  The Lyall men, along with Rick and Jan, were setting up the fireworks.

  “Ready?” Brodey called out.

  “With the hose? Yes,” Elain yelled back.

  “Smart-ass.”

  She grinned and held up her beer bottle in a salute. “You should know.”

  He flipped her a bird from where they were setting up the fireworks in the next pasture over. They’d moved all the cattle out of that pasture earlier in the day and had a hose of their own at the ready nearby.

  Hopefully they wouldn’t need either one.

  “Is this safe?” Carla nervously asked.

  “Probably not,” Micah said, “but they do this every year and haven’t burned their house down yet.”

  “Yet being the key word there,” Elain snarked. She looked over her shoulder at where Lina stood inside by the sliding glass doors. “You sure you don’t want to be out here?” she called.

  She cracked the door open. “Nope. I’m good.??
?

  “Chicken.”

  Lina grinned. “Bok! Hey, I can make my own fireballs. I don’t need store-bought ones.” She closed the door again.

  Zack chuckled. “Don’t worry. Jan can put out anything if it starts. It’s like having a two-legged fire extinguisher on hand. It’s great for when Lina accidentally blows stuff up.”

  “I didn’t think she did that anymore,” Elain said.

  “No, not lately. But just in case.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the house. “And we don’t know for sure yet what the Beasts will be able to do. I’m personally hoping neither of them are firebugs.”

  “With Lina’s luck,” Kael said, “they’ll both be.”

  The sliders opened again. “I heard that!” Lina hollered at him.

  He snickered until a small ball of slush hit him in the back of the head. He turned and flipped her a bird. “That all you got, girlfriend?”

  He ducked a larger snowball she threw at him. “I can do this all day, Kael. The swimming pool’s right there. I’ve got all the ammo I need.”

  Carla’s eyes widened in shock. She hadn’t witnessed Lina’s powers before now. “How on earth did she do that? It’s seventy degrees out here!”

  “It’s a blessing,” Zack said. “And a curse.”

  Kael got up, walked over to the sliders, and hugged Lina. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Forgive me?”

  “For trying to curse me by saying they’d both be firebugs? Yes.” She stuck her tongue out at him before ducking inside the doors, closing them as Cail lit one of the mortars and it launched skyward.

  Kael returned to his seat next to Zack.

  “It was nice of her to volunteer to stay inside with the kids and the puppies,” Carla said.

  Zack laughed. “It wasn’t nice, it was self-preservation.”

  “Huh?”

  “The big, bad Goddess is scared of fireworks.”

  Elain stared at him as another mortar sailed skyward. “You’re kidding.”