She tasted like she was mine.
And by mine, I meant mine and Landry’s. Because our pack’s species mated in pairs, and Landry was my scent-match. His scent almost exactly matched mine, meaning we would smell identical to our mate. Two males for every female. A quirk of our DNA—evolution’s rapid solution to a dwindling female population who could still shift. Or a quirk of Fate, if one chose to believe in that fickle mistress. Neither science nor Fate could explain why our mate would be a human, though.
Or why it would be a pint-sized wolf biologist hell-bent on tagging the wolves on our pack land. Which meant I was a shit enforcer, an asshole to the entire pack, and yeah, a mate dying to claim what was ours.
Back in her apartment, as she’d come all over my face and fingers, I’d had to get out of there before I claimed her all on my own. The need had been so strong. That wouldn’t have been cool, because Landry had to be in on it. I’d needed his confirmation that I was right.
Caitlyn Shriver was ours.
In the fourteen days since, I’d been confident that she was our mate. But waiting had been near impossible. I’d told Landry all about her. Every detail I had etched in my brain. The short time with her had changed me. The monthly full moon pack run had been different. I hadn’t wanted to fuck a female shifter, to take the edge off. None held any interest to me or my wolf. Or my dick. Because of that, Landry hadn’t taken a female either. So I’d spent the time before the twelfth and Caitlyn’s arrival stuck with a cranky temporary alpha. I hadn’t kept her away, and was impatient because I’d ensured when she’d show up. When he’d find out I’d been right.
And fuck, I’d been right.
Now she was in my arms, where she belonged. Between me and Landry. She’d agreed to stay at my cabin. With us.
Landry was in trouble with her too. He’d done the same as me, allowed her to come to pack land instead of pushing her away. He’d even gone as far as forcing her to stay. My wolf was thrilled, but it was a danger having her on Two Marks land. Her research was a danger to shifters and our animal cousins alike. We had to make her ours, in all ways, and soon. Keep that research from getting published.
She had to be all in or all out. Right now, she might be in our arms, but she was neither of those things.
Even with my thoughts warring, the sense of perfection rang through my bones like a bell. She was here, she was ours. She was satisfied by her men.
Except, judging by the way she was adjusting her bra, she was suddenly turning self-conscious.
“Let’s get your clothes back on, sugar.”
“Don’t you want to fuck me… or um, something else?”
Ah, this was a repeat of what had happened at her apartment, but with two men.
“We can make sure we all get our happy ending somewhere a little more comfortable.” We’d gone down on her and gotten nothing in return. Neither of us had taken our pants off. Her insecurities were man-made. Literally.
They were unfounded, but we would prove her wrong. Just not in a meadow over a boulder.
“Trust me, what we have planned takes time… and a big bed,” I added, and Landry nodded, adjusting himself. I knew how he felt. I’d have a zipper print in my dick.
I straightened her bra and t-shirt as Landry picked up her panties and jeans.
Now that it was over, Caitlyn seemed a little nervous. Of course she was unsure. She was a human. She couldn’t scent us. Couldn’t be drawn to us like a compass to north. She couldn’t be content in her submission that it was forever.
She had no idea what Landry had meant when he said she was ours. It probably freaked her out. Or maybe she was embarrassed about what we’d just done. She didn’t strike me as the most hedonistic of women. I had a feeling our sexy scientist was up in her head most of the time.
Oh, we’d gotten her out of it, if her screams were any indication, but only for a short time.
Knowing I needed to distract her, to get her back in her comfort zone, I brought the conversation back to wolves. And talking about how we planned to fuck her wasn’t going to help either of our cases of blue balls.
“So you want to get trackers in the area wolves, huh?” I asked.
“Um, yeah.” She attempted to hop down from the boulder, making Landry lunge to catch her waist and lower her gently down. She was still in her socks—her hiking boots kicked off during our encounter.