Chapter 23 Syra

Iwake up feeling sore but good.

It's the same soreness I always feel after returning home from a hard but successful hunt. A warm, satisfying ache deep within my muscles letting me know I have pushed my body to its limits, and now it is growing stronger in response. There is something familiar and comforting about that kind of pain.

But I have other aches that are less familiar. There's the ache in my backside, for example. That one's closer to the surface, a kind of tenderness in the skin that almost reminds me of a sunburn, though it's been years since I've gotten one of those. And then there's the soreness between my legs. A deep throbbing ache that almost verges on pleasure.

Then the smell hits me.

The scent.

It is a heady mixture of fur and smoke and sweat and sex—a dirty smell, but a good one—and the effect it has on my body is immediate and intense. Every part of me that can become erect does so. Goosebumps stipple my skin. Slick flows.

Memories race through my mind. Memories of all the dirty, shameful things that happened here in this nest. I relive the sting of Thorus's palm spanking my bare behind. The softness of Markus's tongue writhing against my tingling clitoris. The hardness of Brik's erect shaft sliding against my tongue, and the even greater hardness of his knot pressing against my lips as he filled my mouth with spurt after spurt of his thick, hot cream.

Then I remember the climaxes which the alphas forced me to endure, one after another for hours on end until the pleasure was unbearable and my throat was raw from screaming.

Yet somehow, that was still not enough to end my heat. I want more, and I want it now.

I want my alphas.

I need them.

I sit up in my nest and look around the cave, the walls of which are lit by the warm yellow glow coming from the crackling fire in the middle of the room. A haze of smoke clings to the ceiling like a small storm cloud. A figure is hunched by the fire, feeding more fuel into the flames. Even though his face is turned away from me, I know it is Markus. I can recognize him by his scent, and by the pattern of muscles on his back, which I memorized with my fingers when he was on top of me and inside me.

Brik is a few paces away, sitting on a crate by the wall. He is holding a piece of dried meat in one hand, and he is carefully shaving off thin strips with a knapped stone blade. I can smell the savory aroma of it from here.

I also catch a whiff of blood.

When I look more closely at Brik's left arm, I notice he has added several more notches to the row of scars there. I'm not sure what that's all about, but I assume he must have done it while I was asleep. Even though I didn't sleep for long, those cuts are already scabbed over and halfway healed.

As I watch those two alphas working, I remember the way they shared me and penetrated me earlier. The memory is so vivid, it sets off a miniature orgasm within me, and an involuntary whine escapes my lips.

Instantly, and in perfect unison, the two alphas snap their eyes in my direction.

They look like a pair of wolves who have just spotted some wounded prey.

They are faster than wolves. So fast, I hardly even see them move. I blink, and they are here in the nest with me, one on each side, both naked, both erect, their skin warm and scented with masculine desires. Their hungry mouths are at my throat. Their teeth graze, their tongues lap. They growl and snarl like ravening beasts while they feast upon my bare flesh.

Then their hands are between my legs, warring for domination of my pussy. Two fingers penetrate me simultaneously, one Markus's, one Brik's. They stroke and rub and claw at my insides, fighting for control of that sensitive place on my front wall that makes my pleasure go wild. I'm not sure which one of them makes me come the first time, or the second, or the third. I only know that each successive climax is bigger and stronger than the one before it, and soon I am lying back in my nest, howling with passion while the two savage alphas fuck me with their fingers.

My hands shoot out, moving as if by instinct, and my own fingers find their cocks, hard and hot and ready for mating. They are both long, and both thick. The only difference between them is the metal stud on the upper side of Brik's head.

I stroke both them hard and deep, twisting my hands with each pass, wordlessly begging for their seed.

"Wait!" Markus gasps.

He yanks my hand away from his cock and pins my wrist down against the furs of the nest. For a moment, I think he's planning to mount me. Instead, he just growls and gives Brik a hard shove with his other hand. Brik snarls in return, and my body tenses in anticipation of another fight.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Brik hisses.

Markus keeps his voice level. "Remember what Thorus said?"

Brik just glares at him for a moment, then he lets out a sigh of frustration.

"Fuck."

And just like that, the two alphas who were just fighting over me are now working together, pulling me to my feet and guiding me over toward the fire. I don't want to leave my nest, and I try to resist, but it's pointless. The alphas are far too strong for me, and I have no choice but to go where they lead me.

"What did Thorus tell you?" I ask.

I see a look pass between the two alphas, their anger at each other temporarily giving way to some sort of conspiracy between them.

It is Brik who answers.

"He told us to feed you as soon as you woke up from your nap."

"Then feed me," I growl as I reach down and grab both of them by their cocks again. "Feed me yourselves. Shove your fat cocks between my lips and fill my belly with your seed."

I can hardly believe the words that are coming out of my own mouth. It's as if my tongue has taken on a life of its own, along with the rest of my body.

Brik just gives me a knowing smile, as if reading my thoughts.

"Thorus told us you would say that, but we're supposed to feed you first."

"And give you water," Markus adds. "Afterward, we can tend to your other needs."

"But I'm not hungry," I protest.

An instant later, my stomach rumbles in disagreement. The alphas just chuckle and set me down in front of the fire. Markus goes to retrieve a waterskin for me to drink from, while Brik prepares a simple wooden platter with some pieces of the dried meat I noticed him cutting earlier.

It's only after I've scarfed down several strips of meat, and knocked back several big swigs of water, that a very obvious question forms in my mind.

"Where is Thorus?"

"He just went out for a little bit," Brik answers. "To scout the vicinity around the cave and make sure everything is safe."

He's a skillful liar. There's nothing in his voice or expression that gives him away, but somehow I just know he isn't telling me the truth. There's a connection forming between us, a connection that runs deeper than words. I feel the same connection with Markus too, and even with Thorus.

As a matter of fact, there's something inside me that can sense Thorus's absence. I can feel that he is far away, and it hurts me a little, like a barbed hook tugging at my soul.

I set down my tray of meat and look at Brik.

"Tell me where Thorus really is."

I'm not angry at him for lying to me. I understand he was only trying to protect me and keep me from being concerned. But I need to know where Thorus is.

Brik sighs.

"Last night, Thorus and I found the remains of the burned barn where Delphine and her alphas attacked you. A gang of Farlanders had been there after you left. A big gang, who we've been trying to track down for some time now. They killed our pack brother a year ago, and we've been hunting them ever since."

My eyes go wide at this news. I did not realize Brik and Thorus had lost a pack brother so recently. I reach out and touch his arm in sympathy. He places his hand on top of mine and smiles sadly.

He goes on.

"We'd been following the Farlanders' scent trail, but at the ruins of the barn, the trail split. Half of the Farlanders followed you and Markus to that graveyard where we found you."

"I bet I know which way the rest of them went," I say. "They followed Delphine and her alphas, right?"

Brik nods. "That's where Thorus has gone. He is tracking down the rest of the Farlander gang."

"What?"

I jump to my feet and rush to the wall where my spear is leaning, but Markus catches me by the arm and turns me around.

"Let me go!" I cry. "We have to go help Thorus! There's no way he can fight all those Farlanders by himself! They'll kill him!"

Brik comes up beside me and rubs my back soothingly.

"He's not going to fight them, Syra. He's just going to spy on them."

That makes me feel better, but only a little.

"It's still dangerous," I say.

"Thorus is no fool, Syra. He is one of the smartest and most resourceful alphas in the Zone. He will be fine, and he will be returning here soon, I promise."

I want to tell Brik he shouldn't make promises that someone else has to keep, but I have a feeling he is right. The same part of me that can sense Thorus's distance can also sense that he is alive and well, at least for the time being.

Is it the mate bond that is letting me know that? Could the bond really happen so quickly? Thorus hasn't marked me yet, but—

"Come on," Markus says, gently guiding me back toward the fire. "You should finish eating."

"I'm full," I tell him.

This time, it's the truth. I only ate a little of the meat, but I drank a lot of water, and I'm feeling pretty sated.

I don't feel like returning to my nest either. I'm too worried about Thorus.

The other two alphas sense my uncertainty.

"Is there anything else you need?" Markus asks.

I look down at my bare body. At this point, I'm no longer ashamed about being naked in front of the alphas. They've already seen and touched every inch of me, inside and out. There is nothing left for me to hide from them. However, I am a little embarrassed about the filthy state my body is in. Even though I bathed just a few hours ago, my skin is already grimy with sweat and other things.

"I'd like to wash myself," I say.

Without a word, Brik takes me by the arm and starts to guide me toward the dark passage leading to the spring. An instant later, Markus jumps in front of us, blocking our path.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Isn't it obvious," Brik answers. "I'm taking Syra to the spring to bathe her."

Apparently he missed the part where I said I wanted to wash myself.

He starts to push past Markus, but Markus presses a hand against his chest to stop him.

"You got to bathe her last time," he says. "It's my turn."

"You don't know the way," Brik says with a cocky smirk. "Besides, somebody needs to stay here and keep an eye on the fire."

Markus's face darkens with rage, and for a moment I think there's going to be another fight, but instead he brushes past us and goes to a crate by the wall. Brik and I both watch him, curious to see what he is going to do.

After a bit of rummaging, Markus comes up with a wooden stave that has one end wrapped in cloth—a torch.

"Hey, what are you doing with that?" Brik asks in a tone of mild annoyance.

Markus doesn't answer. He goes to the fire and plunges the torch into the flames. The cloth wrapped around the end must have been soaked in something flammable, because it catches immediately, and it burns evenly and brightly.

"What are you doing?" Brik asks again.

Again, he receives no answer.

With the burning torch clutched tightly in his fist, Markus uses his foot to shove away the stones ringing the fire. Then he kicks dirt over the fire, smothering the flames.

"Hey!" Brik shouts. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Now nobody needs to keep an eye on the campfire," Markus says calmly as he strides past us, torch in hand. "Let's go. We're both going to bathe the omega."