Hour of the Lion

Chapter Twenty-four

The heady aroma of coffee wafted through the cabin as Vic blinked awake. Morning, huh? The night had ended.

God, the way last night’s events were hazed over, she felt as if she’d gotten drunk.

They’d eventually left the little room in the tavern and gone downstairs. She’d seen Heather in the hallway of the tavern. Her friend had waved and laughed when Alec and Calum had pulled Vic down into the cave. The men had stripped her naked and dragged her out into the freezing night, as she spit curses at them.

But then… She sighed. In cougar form, they’d played in the last of the moonlight, chased each other through the mountains and valleys, tussled in the snow, and run together-Calum on the right of her, Alec on the left. The world had been beautiful…magical.

Now morning had arrived. Magic all gone. Back to reality. She poked her nose out of her warm cocoon of blankets and considered the chill in the room. Maybe she’d give it another hour. Surely one of the guys would put a bigger log on?

“She’s awake.” Alec’s voice.

“Do you suppose she will join us sometime today before the sun goes down?” Calum’s dry tone.

Hell, that was known as peer pressure. And it worked, dammit. She flung the quilts back, shivering as the cold air touched her nice warm body.

The guys sat at the little table wearing only their jeans. God, would she ever get tired of looking at them? Alec’s broad chest had a light golden furring over his thick pectorals. Calum’s silky chest hair contoured his sleek muscles. Her fingers tingled with the need to touch-until she saw the red scratches across their chests. Bite marks on their shoulders. Had she done that?

Flushing, she rolled over and buried her head. Various aches roused with her movement. Her leg muscles complained that she’d run all the way up a damned mountain. Her breasts felt tender and swollen, and every private part down below was extremely sensitive. Her asshole held a lingering burn as if reminding her of how Calum had taken her.

Then the rest of her memories of the night returned with horrifying clarity. First she’d bedded Calum, and…she’d actually let Daniel drag her upstairs. Had wanted him, at least for a while. And the guy named Zeb… Fucking-A. She’d acted like some nympho with a broken on/off switch, and she wasn’t sure whether she should feel guilty about going upstairs with Daniel and Zeb-or saying no to them. Hell.

How could Calum or Alec think she cared after she’d enthusiastically flirted with those other men? Although Zeb had told Alec that nothing happened, but why would Alec believe him?

Could she tell them she’d never realized there was a difference between fucking and making love? And, didn’t that sound lame? But true. Because it wasn’t just the physical stuff. Sex with Alec and Calum touched everything: her emotions, her spirit, her mind. Yeah, like they were the whole orchestra after listening to just the piano, changing a sweet melody to something rich and immense. But damned if she could explain that.

With a sigh, she knotted a blanket around her and rose to her feet. Unable to face them yet, she held her hands out to the fire.

“Victoria?” Calum’s deep voice.

She shook her head without turning.

“Told you she’d be embarrassed.” Alec’s footsteps padded toward her-and when had she become able to tell his gait from Calum’s?

“Vixen?” He set his hands on her shoulders, and when she didn’t answer, pulled her back against his bare chest. “You thinking about last night?”

Okay, she was braver than this. She wasn’t a little girl unable to fess up to her actions. She’d done the deed-deeds-and now it was time to pay the piper. She stared into the fire and confessed, “I almost went to bed with Daniel. And Zeb.”

When he heard the guilt in Victoria’s voice, Calum closed his eyes. His littermate had been right. She was more than embarrassed; she felt she’d done something wrong. He crossed the room. A glance at Alec, and his brother turned her from the fire to face Calum.

Her lower lip trembled, but her gaze was level, and he could only marvel at her courage. He’d never loved her more.

“I went upstairs with Daniel and with Zeb too. Nothing happened, but…I wanted it to. At first.” She looked away and back at him. “You two didn’t…go with anyone else. But I did.”

“Didn’t Heather talk with you yesterday?” Alec asked, one hand stroking up and down her arm.

She nodded.

Calum frowned. Heather had promised she’d go over everything. He could have explained, or Alec, but they’d decided a female friend would be more believable than the two men who wanted her so badly. What would she have thought when they said, Go to bed with anyone you want, especially us two-that’s what shifters do. Really. “Heather told you what happens during a Gathering?”

“Uh-huh.” She bit her lip. “But you two didn’t-”

He dared to move closer and stroke her cheek. “When a female comes into heat, the need to join with a male can’t be controlled, cariad. Your instincts are to mate, and to whatever males are the best. Or who appeal to you most. To limit yourself to one-or even two-is impossible unless you’re lifemated.”

When a frown appeared on her forehead, relief eased the tightness in his gut. She was thinking, not reacting.

“But you two-” she started to repeat.

He glanced at Alec, and his silver-tongued, cowardly brother jerked his chin for Calum to continue. “Indeed, we did not join with anyone else.” He let a wry smile appear. “Males do not come into heat. The scent of a female’s arousal is all we need. But as the years go on, the desire to mate with every interested female begins to flag. Alec and I are no longer cubs, and we are very much in love with you. Last night, you were the only one we could see.”

The glimmer of tears in her eyes was shocking. Terrifying. What had he said wrong?

“I…care about you too. And Alec. But I still went upstairs with-”

Alec picked her up in his arms and sank down into the blankets. “You’re not hearing him. Shut up and listen, Vixen.”

She stiffened, her gaze meeting Alec’s eyes, and then she sighed. “You’re right. Okay.”

Calum sat beside them. He pressed a kiss to her wrist, felt the tiny pulse throbbing away. “For our race to continue, a woman needs to mate with many, Victoria. And we recognize that. We honor that. The Gatherings are not only biological, they’re traditional.”

“I really didn’t do anything wrong?” She bit her lip.

She looked so like a little girl for a moment that Calum had a flash of how appealing her children would be.

“And,” she continued, “neither of you are mad at me? Or at Daniel, or-”

Alec gave a short laugh. “What’s there to get mad at? You can’t fight biology, Vixen.”

“You really aren’t,” she said wonderingly. “Okay. Well, okay.” She tipped her head back to kiss Alec and bestowed one on Calum.

“I very much needed that,” Calum murmured. “I was quite worried there.”

“Me, too.” Victoria took a deep breath. “Where I come from, what I did-well.”

“You wanted the other men-and then you didn’t. That shows you’ve formed an attachment. To us.” Calum nodded at Alec. His brother set Victoria gently onto the blankets, and went to rummage in the small pack he’d carried up the mountain.

Finding it hard to think, Calum continued. “Some people set up households. Much like human marriages.”

“Heather told me. And that sometimes there were more than just one man, one woman.” She stared at her hands. “I was glad, since I… I…”

Calum’s heart gave a massive thud. “Since?”

She scowled at the floor, then at him, her hands fisting. “How can this be so fucking hard to say?” Her mouth firmed and her chin came up and she looked like Joan of Arc heading for the fires. “Okay. Listen up-I love you. And Alec. Both of you.”

She pressed her hand over her chest, wheezing a little.

It took all Calum’s control not to just grab her right then. Alec, finally, returned-the slow bastard-and handed Calum a lifemating bracelet, keeping one for himself. They knelt together, shoulder to shoulder, as they’d spent their life. The rightness of it made Calum’s throat tighten.

Victoria’s eyes had widened. “What-”

Alec cleared his throat, his eyes suspiciously shiny. “Vicki. We love you-both of us love you. And-”

Calum opened his hand, showed her the thin bracelet of tiny silvery discs held together with interlaced strands of special elastic. “Will you be our lifemate?”

Oh. My. God. Vic wrapped her arms around herself, unable to speak. The brothers knelt in front of her, Alec like a golden god, Calum a dark lord, both powerfully masculine. The most courageous, honorable men she’d ever known. Honest. Caring. And they want me.

She’d never thought she’d find a family outside of the military. But…they wanted her. Alec’s eyes had no laughter in them, just…need. He needed her and Calum… His gaze was steady, controlled, but she could see-when had she learned to read him so well?-could see he needed her too. And loved her. They wanted her in their lives. Even as her throat tightened, tingling fireworks were going off in her chest. Yes, yes, yes.

No. Think, Sergeant. Could she accept? Really? But the idea of saying no was intolerable, and her answer escaped before she talked herself out of it. “Oh, yes. Yes, yes. Fucking-A, yes.”

Alec grinned at Calum. “I think that means she accepts.” He grabbed the knot on her blanket, yanking her forward to kiss her, oh, so sweetly. “I love you, Vixen,” he whispered.

And then Calum pulled her toward him. He framed her face with his hands, seemed about to say something, and kissed her instead. Tender and yet with that unconscious demand that she offer all of herself. He raised his head and traced her wet lips with one finger, then said, “Give me your hand.”

She put her fingers in his, and when he slid the bracelet onto her left arm and pressed a kiss to her wrist, her eyes blurred with tears.

“My turn.” Alec cupped her face, using his thumbs to wipe away the wetness. He took her hand and slid his bracelet onto the same wrist. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he muttered, making her laugh before she kissed him.

“Now you.” Alec handed her two larger bracelets.

Her eyes widened. “I get to tag you as mine?” Damn right. When they offered their left hands, she slid one on each man, admired the glinting discs against the dark and golden skin. “Hey. What happens when we trawsfur?”

Alec’s smile was almost lethal. “We’ll show you. In a bit.” Grinning, he hauled her out of the blankets. “Why don’t you have something to eat? Calum and I need to chop up some firewood before we leave.”

Leave huh? She sighed. Reality always came too soon. After she took care of necessities, washed up, and dressed, she found that they’d left a pot of soup simmering on the fire. Coffee. Soup. Not a bad breakfast.

As the men came back in, stomping snow off their boots, she blinked at the view through the open door. The last rays of the sun showed in the west. “I slept all day?”

Calum joined her at the table, nuzzling her neck. “We thought you’d never wake up. How do you feel?”

“Fine.” Her eyes narrowed at his odd expression. “Why?” she asked suspiciously. Why were they watching her as if she was a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie?

Alec came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her. “The bracelets show we’re lifemated-married, so to speak. Tonight is”-he thought for a second-“kind of a bonus ritual. If everyone in the lifemating is the same animal, like we’re all werecats, then there’s a special magic for us.”

“Like what?”

Calum glanced at Alec, smiled slightly. “You’ll see.”

“Let’s go play in the snow,” Alec said, his voice hoarse.

Again? “Excuse me, but it’s really cold out there, guys. I don’t feel like freezing my ass o-”

Calum’s eyes were intent. “Strip, cariad. Now.”

Her nipples tightened under the power of his gaze, and heat unfurled inside her. Protest? Hell, no. Sir, yes, sir. She pulled her shirt over her head, then the rest.

Following suit, the men dropped their clothing on the floor and dragged her out the door.

Fuck, it couldn’t be more than twenty degrees. She shivered, her feet burning on the frozen ground. Forget sex; find me a fire. She backed up to the threshold.

Calum’s eyes caught hers, darkened. “Trawsfur. Now.”

It felt as if he’d shoved her through that weird shifter door in her head. How did he do that? The tingling washed over her skin, sank deep inside, and she could almost feel her bones changing. She dropped to all fours and chuffed a complaint at him. But at least the snow didn’t freeze her paws. Her lifemating bracelets gleamed on her front leg, half-buried in thick tawny fur, and delight washed away her irritation.

Still in human form, Alec leaned over, stroked her back. As his scent curled around her, heady and powerful, she purred and butted her head against his bare leg. He put his hand underneath her muzzle. “Vixen,” he said. His grin was carnal. Dangerous. “Run.”

Without him? It must be part of the ritual. So she leaped away, bounding up the mountain, the snow flying behind her. Her muscles stretched and warmed, and a minute later, she heard the men behind her. The scent of their musk on the wind changed something inside her and heated her blood. Her leaps grew longer, stronger.

A shadow-Calum’s dark fur-flashed through the trees to her left. He ran in front of her, his powerful grace mesmerizing.

She barely saw a movement to the right before it struck, blindsiding her, and tumbling her onto her side. Her paws scrambled uselessly in the snow for a second. Too long.

Even as she rolled back onto her stomach, the golden cougar was on her. Alec. His teeth closed on her neck, holding her securely. His front paws wrapped around her, pinning her in place, and heat rose within her at the feel of his body on top of hers. She yowled, almost maddened by the all-consuming craving that roared through her. His purr deafened her ears as she lifted her hind quarters to him, need gripping her even more savagely than his claws.

He entered her, long, hot, and hard, almost painful with his urgency. She took him in, filled with him, the feeling dizzying. And suddenly, they were human, her breasts swayed with his thrusts, her hands buried in the snow. His grip-human fingers-tightened on her hips as he hammered into her from the rear, deep and fast. She braced herself on her forearms, pushing back to meet him. Each thrust sent shivers through her, the sensations more and more compelling, until she screamed as she exploded, coming over and over in massive shudders.

With the roar of a conqueror, he spasmed inside her, filling her with hot seed.

Shaken at the suddenness of the mating, the strangeness, she could only quiver under him and try to get her thoughts together.

As he withdrew, she hissed at the emptiness, the loss.

He rumbled a laugh. “Our mate.” He kissed her cheek before standing. As the moonlight glinted over his skin, he blurred into a cougar again. She felt the tingle and without warning, she was in animal shape.

Confused, she started to turn to face him. What the hell is going on? He bit her sharply on her hind leg, then again, spurring her up the mountain.

Bastard male. Running hard, she left him behind. She didn’t need him, didn’t need anyone, only herself and her powerful body. The moon rose over the eastern peaks, flooding the snow-filled forest with an eerie glow. The air was sharp enough to cut and scented with pine. Her blood sang joyfully with the rhythm of her paws.

As she ran beneath a cliff, something moved on the overhang, and a dark cougar landed on her, pinning her flat.

Calum. His muzzle rubbed over her fur, engulfing her in his scent, before he sank his teeth into her neck. She lunged forward, trying to escape, and his claws curled into her sides in warning. His fierceness sent need sizzling in her veins even as his heavy weight pinned her in place. Heat blazed through her, and she lifted up to receive his savage thrust.

Oh God. His penetration blasted awake every nerve ending, and she pushed up higher.

As his cock hammered into her, somehow, somewhen, they shifted to human, and his bare chest rubbed against her back. His hands were implacable on her hips, not letting her move or evade him. He was hard and thick, filling her almost too full, and she was still sensitive from Alec’s use. His fingers found her breasts, her nipples, pinching just enough to send hot jolts of pleasure to her core. The burning inside grew, pulsing with his thrusts, becoming unendurable. His knees pressed hers outward until she opened fully, and he could slide into her even deeper.

Panting, she tried to move, but one arm curled around her stomach to hold her in place. Growling, he slowed, each stroke sending her closer. And then, with one final intense thrust, he ground into her, so deep, and a blizzard of pleasure engulfed her, spasm after spasm, as his own release came.

Legs trembling, she sagged in his embrace. He nuzzled her neck, his beard shadow scratching and making her shiver. “Beautiful Victoria,” he murmured. “Our mate.” As he slowly withdrew, he kissed her nape, his lips soft against the burning bitemarks. And whispered, “Run.”

Over and over through the night, she’d bound away, escaping in the moon-dappled forest. Each time, they’d trap her and then take her, shifting back and forth between human and cougar, giving her pleasure each time until the moon disappeared behind the western mountains. Until her legs in either form shook and she staggered.

As darkness crept across the world, the two male cougars joined her, one on each side, maneuvering her back to the cabin.

Shifting to human, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Her legs gave out, and only Calum’s quick grip kept her from falling. Lifting her easily, he carried her to the blankets.

As Alec tossed a log onto the fire, Calum pulled her into his arms. Alec snuggled on the other side, sandwiching her between them.

“You guys have a really warped notion of a honeymoon,” she whispered, shivering a little at the memory of teeth biting her neck, claws holding her.

Alec’s hand cupped her breast, comfortingly, possessively. “Only lifemates who are all the same animal get to mate in both forms,” he murmured. “I love you, Vixen.”

Calum’s big palm settled warm against her stomach, his voice rumbled in her ear, “I love you, little cat.”