Honesty Read online

  Her mouth fell open. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  Her words seemed to spark something feral in him and the air between them was charged with an electric heat.

  “You are so frustrating,” he bit out.

  Taylor’s anger abruptly began to dissipate as something occurred to her. Her brow furrowing, she slowly raised her hand, placing it on his arm. When he didn’t pull away from her, she gently brushed her thumb in a soothing motion. She felt some of the tension leave his muscles and his eyes softened.

  Hale was worried about her…

  “I’m okay,” she said, hoping to reassure him. Instead, the words seemed to break whatever enchantment her touch had placed on the alpha. He shook her hand off and took a step back, huffing loudly.

  “Like I give a damn.”

  Hale stormed off, heading down a narrow path alongside the river. Taylor moved to follow him, then remembered she wasn’t alone. She looked back towards the dead wolf, where Alder and Fenix were still standing. Fenix was talking and gesticulating with his hands, but Alder’s gaze was focused intently on her.

  Taylor’s face heated and she suddenly felt ashamed, though she wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “I’m just going to, um…” She pointed towards where Hale had gone, grasping for a good excuse. “I’ll be right back.”

  She turned away before Alder could respond, padding after Hale.

  They needed to talk, she reasoned. There was something weird going on between her and Hale and they needed to straighten it out now, before it impacted their relationship with Alder.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Taylor had almost given up on catching Hale when she finally saw his golden hair, glinting in the last vestiges of sunlight. He was standing motionless in the center of the river, the water up to his shoulders.

  She didn’t bother trying to approach him quietly. If his hearing was anywhere near as good as the other shifters’, Hale had probably known she was following him the entire time. She wasn’t sure how far they were from Alder and Fenix, but they’d walked long enough that her legs were officially out of commission.

  Hale’s back was to her as she made it to the water’s edge. There was a long, flat rock that stretched from the shore to the center of the river. She climbed onto it, walking carefully as parts of the rock were slick with moss.

  Stopping a few feet from the alpha, she sat down on the edge of the rock and dipped her feet into the water. Noticing that her legs were in need of a shaving, she opted to submerge them to the knees, making a mental note to ask Lark how she kept her own legs so smooth.

  “I asked Alder if we can stay in the valley,” she said, unsure where else to begin. “He hasn’t said yes yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to convince him.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “That night, in the den, I could tell that it bothered you that he was leaving. I thought it might still be bothering you.”

  He cocked his head towards her. “And that’s why you came here?”

  “Not really,” she said, resisting the urge to look away. A question that had been nagging at her during the walk spilled from her lips. “Did you kill that wolf because of me?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” he said sharply.

  Taylor sighed, running a hand through her hair. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry to bother you.”

  Before she could stand, Hale was beside her, his wet hand clamped over her bare thigh. There was nothing sexual about his touch, but her body reacted nevertheless, the inner walls of her sex clenching in anticipation. She could feel herself begin to throb and she knew Hale would be able to smell it, but she didn’t pull away from him.

  “I look forward to my enemies encroaching on my territory because it gives me an excuse to kill them,” Hale said. His tone became menacing. “But later, when I hang his body on the border of my territory, that will be for you. It’ll let every one of those bastards know that if they come anywhere near you again, I’ll gut them.”

  Taylor tried to swallow, but her throat wouldn’t cooperate. Every time she found herself in Hale’s orbit, he was doing or saying something that should have scared the hell out of her, should have repulsed her. Instead, she was wet.

  His predatory gaze shifted to her thighs and she knew he was at the perfect angle to see up her dress. Gathering her wits, she pressed her thighs together. His eyes narrowing, he put his hand on her other thigh, moving to pull them apart.

  “Hale, don’t.” It was more of a plea than a command, but he obeyed.

  His lips pulled up in an empty smile. “Are you saying that because you don’t want me or because you don’t want my brother to catch us?”

  “I’m saying that because you don’t really want—”

  “You don’t know what the fuck I want,” he shot back.

  Taylor threw her hands up in capitulation. “Fine, you’re right. I have no idea what you want from me, but I do know that you have nothing to offer me.”

  “So Alder does, then? You’re using him?”

  She reached down to splash water at his face. “No, stupid. Alder cares about me. He wants a future with me, and as much as it scares me, I want a future with him, too.”

  His gaze turned calculating. “What if I cared about you as well?”

  She blinked at him. “Do you?”

  Hale placed his hands on either side of her, pushing up from the surface of the river until they were at eye level. Water rolled down his golden-bronze torso.

  Smirking, he said, “Not in the conventional sense.”

  Taylor’s hand moved to her mouth in an effort to contain her laughter. To her surprise, he was laughing as well. If it were possible, it made him look even more handsome and that was the last thing she needed right now. Pressing a foot to his chest, she pushed him back into the water.

  Hale turned his head towards the shore and the laughter died in her throat when she saw Alder standing there. His face was unreadable and her arousal vanished, replaced by dread. She almost wished he would be angry, because at least that was something she could work with.

  Words failed her and she tried to give Alder her best this-isn’t-what-it-looks-like face, but his eyes were focused solely on his brother. He stepped into the water, silently approaching them. Hale backed away, though Taylor could see his muscles were rigid, as if he was prepared to lash out.

  “Don’t fight,” she said, finally finding her voice.

  Alder stopped in front of her, placing his hands on her thighs. It was reminiscent of how Hale had touched her only moments before and her heart sped up. Had he been watching them the whole time?

  “I don’t have to fight him,” Alder said in a roughened voice. “You’re mine, Taylor.”

  She sucked in a breath as Alder pushed her thighs apart and pulled her into the water. The sudden movement and the cold water shocked her, but not as much as Alder’s hard length piercing her body.

  She clung to him, her nails digging into the flesh of his shoulders. After the initial thrill of having him inside of her, she remembered that they weren’t alone.

  “Alder, what are you…”

  He silenced her with a kiss. As his mouth moved over her, devouring her protests, his arms hooked under her legs. He hoisted them up until her legs were on his shoulders. With one muscular arm behind her back, acting as a buffer between her and the rock, he began to thrust.

  Alder thrust into her in deep, possessive strokes, her body jerking with the force of each blow. With her legs on his shoulders, he could go so much deeper than ever before and her head tilted back, eyes squeezing shut. The feeling of being filled over and over again was made even better by the fact that she was still wet from her encounter with Hale.

  As Alder pistoned in and out of her, she worked up the nerve to look over to where his brother had been. She’d thought—no, hoped—that Hale had taken his leave, but he was still standing in the water, watching them. Raw desire burned in his
eyes.

  The sight of him ignited a fire in the pit of her stomach. A wave of heat swept through her body, making her skin feel hypersensitive. Only seconds ago, she had been torn between excitement and embarrassment, but one look from Hale had shot her to the precipice of climax.

  She struggled for breath as pleasure washed over her, her inner walls squeezing Alder’s stiff member. Alder let her legs fall to his hips as he bent to kiss her again. The soft, gentle kiss was in sharp contrast to his final hard thrust. He released himself inside of her, groaning as he came.

  Burying her head in Alder’s neck, she took advantage of his preoccupation and tried to make sense of what had just happened. It wasn’t the first time Hale had looked at her like that, and while it was a major turn-on, she knew that what had taken place was more complex than that.

  It had nothing to do with Hale or Alder specifically, and everything to do with being craved by two men. Alder and Hale were wildly different, but they shared not only the same beautiful body, but also the same powerful desire to possess her.

  With a sharp exhalation, Alder pulled his softening penis from her and gathered her up securely in his arms. Assuming he was taking her away from the river, she began to chew her bottom lip, anxious about the talk they would inevitably have. She had no idea where she stood with him. Was he the bad guy because he’d just had sex with her in front of his brother, or was she in the wrong because she’d liked it?

  As she contemplated this, Alder situated himself with his back against the rock. Large hands grasped her hips from behind and she gasped at the unexpected contact.

  Hale.

  Her first impulse was to push him away, but before she could react, Alder ran a soothing hand down her cheek. Her wide eyes searched his face, finding no anger or resentment. When he bent to kiss her, his touch was firm and reassuring.

  Instead of relaxing, her heartbeat began to accelerate, until she could no longer hear the river over the rush of hot blood moving through her body. Hale’s strong hands lifted her hips and she felt him nudge the blunt tip of his cock over her heated entrance.

  She gripped Alder’s hair, crying out as his brother thrust inside of her. Being taken from behind felt so different, and she wasn’t sure if it was the new position, the fact that she was still tender from Alder’s lovemaking, or because Hale was so much rougher than Alder, but the pleasure was edged with pain.

  Alder growled low in his chest—a warning. Hale slowed his pace, though his grip on her hips tightened, trembling with pent-up aggression. She pushed her tongue into Alder’s mouth, deepening the kiss and trying to calm him. His protectiveness turned her on, but so did his brother’s rough handling of her and she wanted more.

  Hoping to encourage Hale, she flexed her inner walls, squeezing them around his cock. A feral sound tore from his chest and he began thrusting harder and faster than before, until she could feel him slamming against the back of her channel.

  The force of her orgasm was overwhelming. Despite the humid summer air, she dissolved into a shivering heap of flesh and bone, her head falling onto Alder’s shoulder as she moaned and whimpered.

  Hale was relentless. His pace became more brutal as he reached his peak. With an animalistic roar of triumph, he slammed into her, his seed gushing into her body. Her first coherent thought since coming was that she wanted to see his face, wanted to know what he looked like as he poured himself inside of her. Either because she lacked the energy or the confidence, she kept her head on Alder’s shoulder.

  They stayed like that for a while, Alder holding her up and Hale behind her, still buried in her body. They were all panting for breath, and she could feel Alder, hard against her pelvis. She wondered if he had been aroused by what they’d done and the idea excited her, though she didn’t think she’d be able to have sex again. Now that she was coming down from the high, her body felt like it had been demolished. Breathing in and out and holding onto Alder was the most she could manage to do.

  As Hale slipped out of her, Alder repositioned her in his arms and then pulled her up onto the rock. The sun had set, but the rock was still warm as he laid her body out beside him, gingerly settling her head into the crook of his arm.

  She heard Hale climb out of the water, but she didn’t turn to face him, choosing instead to curl into the side of Alder’s chest. Alder murmured something indiscernible before nuzzling the top of her head.

  Willing herself not to think, she closed her eyes and let her body go limp against him. She was nervous, but swirling with her apprehension was a satisfaction the likes of which she’d never felt before. It was the satisfaction of a woman who had just discovered her deepest fantasy—and then had it fulfilled.

  ***

  Hale lay on the rock, staring up at the night sky in a daze. His mind sifted through memories. The first kill he made. The death of his father. The first female he took. The day he became an alpha. He tilted his head towards where the human lay, sleeping in his brother’s arms. Now there was her. He knew that somehow, this experience had taken its place among the most significant memories of his life.

  His brother had been right. Being inside of her had felt incredible, but coming in her—that was a fucking revelation. As he experienced the greatest pleasure he’d ever known, Hale had been inundated with images of the future they would have together. He had never wanted a mate, but the thought of her belly growing round with his pups was enough to make him hard all over again.

  He sat up and reached for her, his body primed to take her again, but was stopped by a sharp look from Alder.

  “No.” A soft command. “Leave her alone. She hasn’t been sleeping well.”

  Hale opened his mouth to protest, to tell his brother that she could sleep when he was done fucking her, but instead he let out a heavy sigh and lay back down. He remembered that she had looked very tired earlier. Besides, she would need all the rest she could get, because tomorrow night he wasn’t letting her out of his bed.

  He wondered how much his brother had taught their human about mating with a wolf. All he needed to do was figure out a way to get rid of his brother for a few hours and then she would be his to play with. He would teach her all of his favorite positions and he could be as rough as they wanted—and he knew that she wanted it rough.

  When Hale looked over at the two of them again, his brother was stroking her hair. Something burned in his chest at the sight of them and he didn’t want to examine it.

  Since they had been pups, Alder had always been able to understand Hale’s moods, even when Hale couldn’t. As if lifting the thoughts from Hale’s mind, Alder said, “I won’t leave, so long as you honor our agreement.”

  “What agreement?” Hale said stubbornly.

  Alder’s gaze shot up. “Don’t play dumb.”

  Hale turned away, not wanting to look at them any longer. Beka’s words echoed in his mind. As long as she has him, she’ll never want you.

  “We share her body,” Hale recited. “Everything else is yours, brother.”

  Hours ago, Hale had only wanted two things, aside from Silas’s head on a spike. He wanted to keep his brother in the valley and he wanted to be able to fuck his brother’s human. Now, he had both of those things. So why did he suddenly feel so fucking dissatisfied?

  EPILOGUE

  “I’m going to have Glenn patch up the roof as soon as he’s done with your, uh…” Alder scratched his head. “What is it called again?”

  Taylor smiled at him. She could tell the alpha had woken up and come right down to the cabin. His hair was still bedraggled and he looked to be making an effort to keep his eyes open.

  “A quail coop,” she told him.

  She pointed out the window to where Glenn had begun building the coop. After Hale’s verbal lashing the day before, the teenager had seemed more determined than ever to be useful. He’d finished clearing out the cabin just before dawn and then had woken them up at noon, already working on the frame.

  Taylor hadn’t minded being u
p so early. She’d gotten a lot of sleep the night before, when Alder had brought her back to the den to nap for a few hours. Plus, it had given her plenty of time to clean. The cabin was nearly spotless and aside from one broken window and a few scuffs on the floor, it looked beautiful and cozy.

  Alder casually slung a hand around her hips as his brother stepped into the cabin. Hale carried folded pelts under one arm. His eyes moved around the room, displeasure evident in his expression.

  “I don’t see why you’d rather stay here than in the den.”

  She hadn’t spoken to them about the interlude at the river, but she sensed that they had spoken to each other. Neither seemed at all awkward about it and Alder had made no mention of leaving the valley. On the contrary, he seemed eager to get her settled into the cabin, despite Hale’s opposition.

  “The cabin is a stone’s throw from the den,” Alder said in her defense. “She’ll be safe here.”

  Hale grunted in acknowledgement before hefting the pelts at her.

  “What are those for?” she asked, not reaching to take them.

  “To keep you warm.”

  Taylor gave him a quizzical look. “It’s, like, 90 degrees out.”

  She thought she heard Alder chuckle as Hale tossed the pelts onto the floor.

  “You’ll appreciate them, come winter,” Hale said brusquely.

  Lark entered the room, carrying a crate that was overflowing with…stuff.

  “I went through some of the things in my room and I found some great things for the cabin,” she announced.

  “This place is small enough as it is,” said Hale. He pointed towards the door. “Take that shit back to the den and don’t let me catch you bringing anything else in here.”

  Taylor was inclined to agree with the alpha, but Lark’s crestfallen face won her over.

  “Don’t be a jerk,” Taylor said to him. She picked up one of the objects from the crate, an egg carton. “I’m sure we can find some use for this… How about we leave it all on the porch for now?”