EIGHT

Billie

THE FOUR OF US are climbing the stairs up to my bedroom to get changed for tonight, and I guess for my first lesson in beta power sharing. Whatever that means. Marcus and Jake are downstairs. Dom, Enzo, and Brandon will meet us at the bar later. Micky and Jimmy are finishing up with postfight interviews, first aid, and pictures. The fight was insane! Jimmy showed a whole new side of himself as a boxer. Him having to fight a wolf-shifter was nothing I would ever have wanted... or imagined. Though, it did force Jimmy to expand his skills and tactics, so in that sense, it was a good thing. Right?

Entering my room, where my pack-mates have sandwiches and beers in hand, I step over to the far side and grumble, "Okay, beta power lesson stat, because there's no way we can stay up here too long."

Jax places his sandwich and beer with mine on my nightstand, then drops down on my bed like it's his own. It creaks under his weight, and he stretches out and coyly grins. "So, this is where you slept and had teenage dreams of a blond-haired, blue-eyed wolf-shifter. I bet you imagined him swaggering up to you in a college cafeteria, looking all suave, while you looked..." He snorts a short laugh. "Like a walrus with fries as teeth."

I laugh so hard I almost choke on my sandwich. Ethan steps over and pats my back. "You okay, love?" he asks with an uptick of his lips.

I nod several times while my face turns red from lack of oxygen. Frantically chewing down the remaining bite and finally able to breathe, I take a swig of beer and roll my eyes. "Yeah, you got it, Jax. Me dreaming of shifters that I never knew existed." Handing a laughing Jax his sandwich, I usher him into a seated position, and he scoots over so I can climb up to sit next to him with my back against the wall and my feet hanging off the side.

Xander closes and locks the door. Placing his food down on the small white-washed desk, he pulls out the cushioned chair and looks up at me through his lashes. "Hot-as-fuck shifters," he adds with a curve to his lips.

"Right, hot-as-fuck shifters, how could I forget?" I retort with a sly grin. Ethan chuckles lightly, crossing over to the foot of my bed and sitting down on the old wooden trunk cushioned with the stars and moons quilt my former social worker, Mama Celeste, made me as an adoption present after Micky signed the papers. Conversation stills, our attention focused on eating and looking around my room, which is cast in the soft glow of the two small lamps set on the desk and nightstand.

It's a decent-sized room for a third bedroom. Most of the furniture is from Micky's mother's old bedroom set from the fifties, all bleached mahogany. My bed is an old white iron frame with a metal spring. It resembles one of the hospital beds from World War II but full-sized, and the spindles are a little more decorative. We added a box spring and mattress on top, making it super high. The walls are covered in band posters, as well as some draperies with the chakras, Ganesha, and a few floating bookshelves. I have a little area in one corner with my two-foot-tall Buddha and my asana (mediation pillow). I wish I didn't need the bureau, but the closet is the narrowest one I've ever seen. We had to put in shelves and rods on either side because you couldn't use hangers and close the door otherwise. My chewing stops when I notice how intently the three of them are looking at everything. Feeling a little exposed and flustered, I swallow down the bit in my mouth and clap my hands. "All right, so what do you want to teach me, Xander?"

Xander drags his eyes from the pictures tacked up on the wall above the desk and rotates his head around to look at me. Popping the last bite of sandwich in his mouth, he observes me while chewing. His eyes lock onto my hand tugging on my ear, a dead giveaway that I'm uncomfortable. If he were Jax he'd exploit it, but he's not. He's Xander. Nodding, he takes a sip of beer and adjusts himself to face me with forearms resting on his thighs. He says, "You allowed me to pull a significant amount of energy from you tonight, and I used some of my own."

Hearing that he had to use some of his energy has me feeling guilty, and I tilt my head down in regret. Not wanting to look at him, I start peeling the label off my Smithwick's and mutter, "I didn't know how much you'd have to use." I falter because even though it hurt when he pulled from me, I don't feel depleted, not that I know what being depleted exactly feels like. Then I wince and add, "And I didn't think you'd need to use yours."

"Wilhelmina, it's okay. I wanted to help," he asserts, and my gaze lifts back up to him. "What they were doing is not allowed. Not only that, it was poor sportsmanship." Taking another sip, he leans back and stretches his legs out long, crossing them at the ankles. "You can see how dedicated Jimmy is to his training. How many years he's put in. It wouldn't be right for him to lose like that, especially not even knowing who he was going up against." Both Ethan and Jax nod in agreement, and their appreciation of Jimmy's dedication has my eyes welling up and the corners of my lips twitching. They really are trying to get to know my family. "Regardless," Xander continues, eyes on me. "There are dubious shifters in the area who are probably pissed off at us for interfering with their plan, and you and I both drained some of our energies. I don't want us going out tonight without restoring them."

"Did you just say dubious ?" I ask, grinning around the top of my beer.

Xander huffs a low laugh and jerks his chin. "Yeah, dubious , and because of them and the amount of power we used, we'll need to ask our pack-mates for help." My stomach rolls with apprehension, not wanting to take energy from any of my mates, especially after learning that Xander already expended some for me earlier.

Before I can voice my concern, Jax launches off the bed and raises his hand high in the air squealing, "I volunteer as tribute!"

A stuttering laugh stumbles past my lips. I glance from Jax back to Xander and shakily inquire. "What are you suggesting, Xander?"

He stands up from the chair and motions for Ethan to stand with Jax. Ethan nods and sets his empty plate and beer down on my desk before getting up and standing next to Jax, both facing me. "You and I will sit on the edge of the bed," Xander states, doing so himself and reaching out for me to scoot down alongside him. Ignoring the fact he's yet to answer my question, I set my empty plate and beer on the nightstand and sit next to him. Xander places a comforting hand on my thigh and nods. "Good, now Jax will stand in front of you and Ethan in front of me." Jax and Ethan both take off their T-shirts and stand in front of us close enough to touch, giving us their backs. My eyes take in their muscular forms, how one is wide and broad, while the other is long and lean. Both beyond attractive, they make my fingers tingle with the desire to touch.

Xander notices my distraction. Cupping my jaw, he guides my face around to meet his. His thumb caresses my warm cheek and goosebumps bloom under his touch. His searching eyes soften as he whispers. "Remember last weekend when you pushed some of your energy into me?"

My body heats with the memory, and the tingling in my fingers swirls up my arms. Rubbing my lips together, I answer in a somewhat breathy voice. "Yeah."

Xander's eyes dance around my face, and his fingers join his thumb in rubbing. He licks his lips. "Good. How did you feel when you gifted that energy to me, il mio cuore ?"

Closing my eyes, I'm momentarily back in that garage, holding him in a loose embrace, looking into his tired eyes as energy heats my chest and flows down my arms and into my hands. My palms on his back, stroking up and down his spine, infusing him, his spirit, with my energy. I sense the pleasure he felt in receiving it, heightening the pleasure I felt in gifting it, and the deep connection the process required. A full-body shudder ripples through me, and I exhale, "Good... like, really good."

My heavy eyelids flutter open at the sound of Jax chuckling. "Great, because we want to feel like that too. But we can't do it on our own. You need to take it." Sitting up straighter and out of Xander's hold, I swing my now-wary gaze between Jax and Xander.

Xander nods. "Yes, and eventually you could do this without touching. For now, we'll use touch. It's easier to control this way, and"—his eyes drift to Jax, and he smiles — "I'm pretty sure Jax would prefer it too."

Jax half twirls around to look at us and laughs. "Damn straight. Lay those little hands on me so Blondie can help out Little Fox."

My hands stay in my lap, fingers fidgeting with each other, unwilling to reach out. I'm nervous about doing this. It seems wrong, even more so after seeing Alpha Knight's abuse of his luna, betas, and pack members. Ethan twists his head around to look at me over his shoulder and pleads, "We want to help, my love. Especially you and Xander. We're pack-mates. True-mates. It's part of the bonding that makes it give and give, instead of give and take. Not to mention we've got to hurry. We're not going out with either of you drained. None of us will stand for it."

Jax backs his shaking ass up and nudges my legs like a puppy begging for some pats. I laugh, putting my hands on his low back. "Okay, tell me what to do."

"I'm fairly confident you can do this without needing my power since you were able to gift yours to me so easily," Xander comments like it's an afterthought.

Ripping my hands off Jax, I slash my wide eyes at Xander and whisper-screech, "What do you mean fairly confident ? You don't know if I can even do this?"

Xander just holds my frantic and somewhat accusing—fine, totally accusing—glare with an infuriatingly composed expression. He lifts a shoulder. "As I said, I'm fairly confident you can, and if not, then I can gift some of mine to you. But. . ." He pauses for what seems like dramatic effect. Is Jax rubbing off on him? "I figured you'd want to try on your own first since you seemed rather... perturbed about me using some of my power earlier tonight." He ignores my mouth hanging open in shocked indignation. He takes hold of my hands and returns them to Jax's back. "Now," he continues, "I want you to connect with Little Fox and her energy."

Knowing we really don't have time for me to complain—and yes, he is right—I do not want to use his energy if I don't have to, I begrudgingly close my eyes and look inward, letting my inhales and exhales expand and contract my diaphragm, ribs, and lungs, opening myself up to Little Fox. My chest warms with her presence, finding her yawning and stretching as she unwinds from her curled-up position. She sits back on her haunches and gives me a little wink. Embracing her lazily confident and fun energy, I giggle. "Got her."

"Good," Xander affirms. "Now like when you worked with Alessandro, I want you to pull a little of energy from your pool, then heat it up and visualize it elongating and stretching down one of your arms into your palm, all the way to your fingertips on Jax's back without breaking the thread."

I nod and begin working with Little Fox to create the energetic rope we had with Alessandro and his fox, pulling from our reservoir, and looping it as we go.

"It shouldn't take too much, Billie," Xander adds as if he can tell what I'm about to ask. "And it can be thread thin."

"Okay," I distractedly mumble, my focus mostly on what Little Fox and I are doing. Determining we have enough rope, we snip it from our central source and then, um, heat... huh? "What do you mean by heating it up and sending it down my arm?" I ask with an edge of frustration in my voice. "When we worked with Alessandro and his fox, we merely twined our ropes together, and they took it from there."

After a moment of abated silence, Xander grunts. "Huh."

"Huh?" I parrot back in a clipped tone. Little Fox reprimands my slight attitude with an arched brow and a shake of her head.

"When you gifted me your energy last weekend, you didn't even think about what you were doing, did you?" Xander observes more than asks.

"Nope, I didn't," I reply, still keeping my eyes closed and staying with my fox. "Little Fox wanted to help X-Wolf. She could tell he had pushed himself and. . ." I pause as the deep-seated burning need to help Xander that I felt that day overtakes me. I remember the control he exerted over his emotions and his wolf, how he calmly handled the horrific scene and threats being thrown at us—how tired, drawn, and despondent he was coming out of that broadcast. My agitation dissipates on a long exhale. "And I wanted to hold you, bolster you from deep within like. . ." I groan "Like infusing part of me into the marrow of your bones."

The room is silent but for the muffled voices of Marcus and Jake and the music resounding through the house from the first floor. No one speaks. The silence stretches, thickening the air around us. I'm left holding onto that deep-seated need and desire to infuse part of myself into Xander, into my mate, and my chest begins to flush with heat as my heart rate rises. "Just like that," Xander breathes against my temple, his lips caressing my skin. I inhale sharply at the feel of his plush, wet flesh, while Little Fox cants her head to the side, smiling as if she can feel his kisses. "Think of seeking out Jax and Blondie with that energy," he continues, his words brushing their way along my scalp, sending tingles down my spine. Pressing his nose and mouth against one of my braids, he sucks down an inhale and groans. "Feel Jax's back, his skin, his flesh and muscle under your palms. Then go deeper."

My hands, which are almost always cold, are suddenly feeling rather hot. I move them across Jax's back, skimming over his flesh, pressing into the sides of his rib cage, massaging my way up and over his shoulder blades, discovering the width of him through my hands. Feeling his firm body press into my palms with the expansion of his lungs, I soak up his tremoring exhales. Each swipe and knead feeds off the previous one, intensifying my awareness of Jax's body. And, fuck, does his body feel good. The sound of my own moan jolts me out of my exploration, and I return my focus back to Little Fox.

"I think you're hot enough now," Xander surmises in a somewhat teasing voice, his lips no longer touching me but close nonetheless.

Feeling the dewiness on my chest and back, and the burning in my cheeks, I inhale a choppy breath and reply, "Yeah, I am."

"Good, now send the energy down your arm in a stream and hold it in your fingertips."

"Jax, make sure you and your wolf have some energy partitioned off," Xander instructs while I return to working with Little Fox, taking the limp rope we've looped up and beginning to guide it down my arm. My body seems to allow the energy to flow with greater ease as the rope thins. My shoulder prickles, and the sensation intensifies, spiraling down my arm around my wrist and out to my fingertips.

Jax leans back into my touch and releases a garbled moan.

"You feel her, Jax?" Xander asks in a mocking tone.

"Hell yeah, I do," Jax replies in a thick voice that reverberates through his back and up my arm.

"Thought so. Just had to make sure" Xander comments. "Now, Wilhelmina, in order for you to pull from him, you'll need to push that thread of energy into him, using it like a probe searching for his shifter energy. It should happen smoothly because you'll feel drawn to it. Just let Jax and his wolf guide you and then siphon theirs into you."

"Just reach out for me, B," Jax adds. "Reach out for the energy you know as mine."

The needling from holding my shifter energy in my fingertips has intensified to a zapping, and I'm more than ready to release it. Energy isn't really known for being stable in a stagnant state, right? Inhaling a deep breath of control, I slowly let it spiral out through my fingertips and into Jax. As soon as it enters, Jax's playful energy shoots through me, and a giggle tumbles from my lips. Without even thinking, I feel myself getting pulled deeper into Jax, until in my mind I see a small pool of glowing light-blue energy. "Now what?" I ask.

Before Xander can answer, Little Fox urges our energy toward the pool, piercing it. A sudden jolt races up my arm and down my spine, heating and electrifying absolutely every nerve ending it comes in contact with. Once it reaches my source energy, it starts to change from a light blue to my green, and the heat in my body simmers to a throbbing warmth, specifically along my spine, chest, and clit. My spine arches. My nipples harden. My pussy wets.

"Ohhh, fuck," I moan out long and low, gripping the sides of Jax's torso for support as my body all but falls back into a pool of blissed-out pleasure. My fox purrs, coiling around the new energy, and every muscle in my body goes languid. My hands release Jax, and as if I'm surrounded by fluffy clouds, I float down the last couple of inches onto my bed, arms flopping at my side. I'm panting—panting with need .

A weight moves on top of me. Opening my heavy eyelids, I find a pair of dilated blue eyes above mine. Jax doesn't speak. No. He growls from the depth of his beastly soul and then his mouth is on mine. My entire body is pliant. My supple lips part easily for him in welcome. He lays his body down on mine, his hips pressing between my thighs, and my knees bend, letting my legs fall open. His fingers weave through one of my braids tugging my head back while the other hand slides under my sweatshirt and up my back, arching my spine. I'm still in these damn booty shorts, loving the rough feeling of his jeans as his hard cock grinds against my heated core, igniting a need for more that brings life back to my limbs.

My legs wrap around his hips, pulling him down while one hand tunnels through his hair, gripping his locks. My other hand skims over his heated torso, feeling his taut muscles all the way down to his jeans. Just when I've managed to pop the button off the waistband, Marcus shouts out "DEMON! Get your ASS changed and get down here!" Just a little more. Ten minutes. That's all we need. I shove my hand down Jax's pants, palming his thick and fully hard cock through the damp cotton of his boxer briefs.

"Or we're coming up!" Jake adds, and with that, I feel like I've just been plunged into an ice bath. Remembering how in the past Jake had said similar words to both Marcus and Jimmy, I know full well it's not an idle threat. He will come up here and interrupt in the most embarrassing way he can think of.

"Feckin' cunt blockers!" I wail, releasing my hold on Jax.

Jax pulls back panting. "I was really starting to like those guys too."

I snort a laugh and swipe an agitated hand down my face, willing myself to quell the last beats of need pulsing through my body. They slide just off stage to wait behind the curtain more than ready for an encore. I tap Jax's shoulder and groan with frustration. "Come on, we don't want Jake coming up. Because he will. And I still need to change."

Jax pauses, and his expression morphs from wild desire to something much softer. The backs of his knuckles stroke my cheek, and my hands tenderly cup the sides of his face. Closing his eyes and bringing his forehead down to mine, he croaks, "I love you."

Rubbing my thumb over his cheek and combing my fingers through his hair, I skim my lips over his and exhale. "I love you too, with all my heart." He inhales my words and then presses up off me.