A Mate to Treasure [Wolf Pack Mates 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “People are sitting in mixed gender groups at all the food stands too. Some of them sit there for quite long times talking over a coffee or a sandwich. I think that’s very positive,” added Bianca, smiling at Aragon.

  Josie hid her own smile. Bianca had recently mated Aragon and another wolf who was currently out on security patrol, Kyan Marrok. It was good to see them standing up to the wolf who was the ultimate in bossiness, Zedekiah.

  “Have we heard anything about rogue wolves planning an attack on the Konference Kabins? There’s been time now for the destination to become public knowledge even though we made everyone sign a confidentiality clause about the location.”

  Harry Harrison, the head of security for the event and a bear shape-shifter answered. “One of my IT geeks back in the office has a search running twenty-four-seven on the location, and a few other key words, and he reports no action whatsoever. Of course, that doesn’t mean a pack won’t attack us tonight, but it’s a good sign. All my people also report everyone has been extremely cooperative about the security checks all the time. Our scanners tell us where everyone is at any given moment, and no one at all has asked to leave the property.”

  Josie frowned. “I think the danger time will be in the last few days, when women have made their decisions and the men who will not come out of the event with a partner may get desperate.”

  “We had a thought about that.” Taige York, a creative artist and a human, gestured to herself and her two closest friends, Eve Lang, and Ginnie Thomas.

  “What is your thought?” asked Zedekiah.

  “Well first, all the women will be asked if any man bothered them during the event. Any man who did will automatically be disallowed from coming back. But other than that, men who didn’t find a partner this time will be given priority registration at next year’s DADISP. We’ve already had some interest from packs and women much farther away, and expect to plan a bigger event next year. Also there were a few women who we thought were going to attend this year and didn’t. We’ll be following up with them and if the expense was too much for them, we’ll get them sponsored at least for the travel to the venue. That might encourage a few more to come.”

  “We’ve also been interviewing every woman for links to other women who know about shape-shifters. Several of them come from communities where there are other women who will certainly be interested in attending in the future. It was just that this year’s dates didn’t suit them or that they were waiting to see how this one went. I don’t think we’ll have any problems getting more women along next year,” added Bianca.

  Josie smiled. “Hey, that’s great news and I like the idea of giving the men who missed out priority for next year. Hopefully this year they’ll have learned a few hints that will help them next time around.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s still the likelihood the shit will hit the fan and we’ll be attacked. We’ll have to deal with that first,” said Zedekiah.

  “I’m on top of it,” replied Harry.

  Josie looked around the room, assessing everyone in it as the conversation wound down. Everything was going extremely well so far. Much better than she’d hoped for in her wildest dreams. All the attendees seemed determined to be on their best behavior. There’d hardly even been any drunkenness. The wait staff had strict orders to call security to remove anyone who was even slightly intoxicated, and they’d only been called a handful of times and never to the same person twice.

  Yes, sure, as Zedekiah’d reminded them, it was early days yet, but Josie knew from long experience that when things were going to fly off the rails the signs were there right from the start. And so far it was all good here.

  The meeting ended and everyone left except Zedekiah. Damn the man. What did he want now?

  She stood by the open cabin door, refusing to remain inside with him and hoping he’d take the hint and leave. He remained stubbornly seated at the meeting table. Unlike most rooms, the two beds were not in the center of the room in her cabin. She’d pushed one hard against the wall to use as additional seating, so there was enough space for the meeting table and the extra chairs she’d requested.

  “Shut the door, Josie.”

  “This is my cabin, not yours.”

  “It could be ours if you’d only agree to mate with me.”

  “I’ve told you no often enough you should have gotten the message already.”

  He sprang out of the chair and behind her in a heartbeat, slamming the door shut with one hand and dragging her body hard against his with the other. Then his lips seized hers in a fiery kiss so scorching she expected her skin to blister from his passion.

  She felt her bones beginning to melt from the heat of him, and resolutely pushed back away from him. He gripped her even more tightly and she twisted her body hard, breaking his hold on her.

  “Leave.” Her voice was raspy and breathless, but she’d managed to get the word out.

  “You want me. Your body tells me so.”

  “Not without Steve as well.”

  “A worthless, weak human.”

  “Steve is neither worthless nor weak. He’s a better man than you will ever be. Now get out.”

  * * * *

  Harry Harrison took his position as head of security for the DADISP very seriously. He’d spent many hours poring over maps of the Konference Kabins property looking for every weak spot. Then he’d spent even more hours walking every inch of the fence line both inside and outside the property, working out how and where he’d break in if it was up to him. The problem was that most of the fence line could be breached by a determined group of male wolves. Sure they’d get scratched and wounded from the hedge and the wire, but likely they’d consider a bit of skin and blood a fair price to pay for escaping with some unmarried women. Which was why the women were all allocated the nearest cabins to the main building, and the men were in the more distant ones. Except for damn Josie Smith, the administrator of Wolf Central who’d insisted she be in the most distant corner of the property. Well, she was a wolf and a mighty determined female. No wolf who’d ever dealt with her would risk annoying her since she worked for the Supreme Alpha of North America. So she ought to be safe enough. It was the guests he was really worried about.

  There were CCTV cameras covering all the fence line. Photo ID checks took place before anyone could participate in any event or enter any buildings, and there was an ink pass stamped on the back of everyone’s hand. It wasn’t the kind of ink that washed off either. It would wear off in about a month. If there was any doubt about a person’s identity a quick wipe over their hand with a high-powered skin cleanser should be enough to identify a gatecrasher even if they’d forged a registration document.

  He’d deliberately used a random number generator to assign the numbers to people attending as well, not giving them the order in which they registered or anything guessable.

  The real problem would be if one or more of the men attending the event was in league with a group of people on the outside and arranged for them to get in and take some women. That would be how he’d do it. He and his partner would invite some women to a picnic or something like that in the gardens then send the attackers their exact location. Half a dozen women could be stolen very quickly. If they had a helicopter or even a very fast car, he’d be in real trouble finding them again, even allowing for the resources the Wolf Central Alpha could assemble.

  Consequently he didn’t rely on the CCTV cameras although all the film was being kept in case it was needed. He insisted his teams ran or walked the fence line at regular, though unpredictable, times and never more than an hour apart.

  He’d just sent off a team of runners, who would overtake the team that had left twenty minutes ago to walk the boundary. As far as he was concerned, that was all good. If anyone was trying to forecast his actions, that should confuse them.

  He could think of nothing more to do to protect these women. He’d go talk to his partners, Tegan and Jayden. They might h
ave some more ideas for him. Right now he didn’t have the itch between his shoulder blades that signified trouble was about to burst over his head. But that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen in half an hour. Didn’t some famous person give a speech about the price of freedom being eternal vigilance? Well that was him this week. Eternally vigilant.

  * * * *

  Robert was feeling a little nervous about this evening’s country-western ball. He’d watched plenty of line dancing YouTube videos and was almost positive he’d be able to follow along with anything that wasn’t too hard, especially as there was no risk of him standing on a partner’s toes. He knew how to do the Texas Two-Step so he was all good there, but he was less sure about the Boot-Scootin’ Boogie. That one might just embarrass him.

  The real problem was that Bethany had spent several years living in Texas, so likely she’d be as brilliant at all these dances as she’d been with the dance steps the previous two nights. She was so elegant and graceful moving around the room he was in awe of how she did it. Any step she took she made look so easy and he knew it wasn’t simple at all. Well, he’d just have to hope she’d stand beside him in the line dancing, and do the Texas Two-Step with him.

  It felt a bit strange to be wearing his boots and jeans to a ball, even though they were his best jeans and he’d polished his boots to a mirror shine. He was also wearing a white button-down shirt with a string tie. He’d considered buying a Stetson to complete his outfit but had decided against it. Now he worried that all the other men would be wearing them except him. “I should have bought one anyway. I could always take it off if I didn’t want to wear it,” he grumbled to himself.

  “With a bit of luck it’ll be fifty-fifty with and without the hats,” said Edward as they walked down the path to Bethany’s cabin.

  Jill opened the door to them and she and Bethany came out immediately. Jill’s jeans hugged her curvaceous hips, looking very sexy, but Bethany’s slender form looked even better, the tight jeans emphasizing her little ass and long lean legs.

  “You both look very lovely tonight,” he said.

  Bethany had a blue T-shirt under a denim jacket over her jeans, and Jill wore a cropped red T-shirt that highlighted her waistline. They both also wore Stetsons which had him worrying again, until he remembered Bethany’d lived in Texas.

  “How long did you live in Texas, Bethany?” he asked.

  “Four years. Long enough to know how to dance at a boot scooting party.”

  Suddenly Robert felt sick. Why didn’t I spend more time preparing for tonight? I could have learned how to boogie if I’d made the effort. Now all the other men will claim Bethany and I’ll have to just stand and watch.

  He relaxed a fraction when he saw other people walking toward the main building without hats, and when Bethany and Jill’s conversation seemed to tell him there’d be a caller for all the dances not just the line dancing. That’d sure help if there was.

  As usual the women were processed into the ball room first, then Edward and finally him. Inside he heaved a sigh of relief when he counted heads and the ratio of bare heads to hats was about fifty-fifty as Edward had predicted.

  The caller was already into his patter and Robert was just in time to see Jill and Bethany line up. Bethany had her thumbs hooked through her front belt loops, elbows slightly out, and as soon as the music began he watched in awe as she danced so fluidly she seemed to glide over the floor except when she was supposed to kick or stomp. He could watch her all night, but knew other men wouldn’t be content just to watch. He’d need to claim her as well.

  He and Edward bracketed her with their bodies for the next dance, but he had to respect her wishes when other men asked to dance with her.

  She accepted some offers, including for the dreaded Boot-Scootin’ Boogie, but waited happily with him and Edward between dances and danced with them a lot as well. When he took a deep breath and worked it out, she really didn’t leave them for even a quarter of the night, although his heart pounded every time a man spoke to her and he watched her every moment she was away from him.

  Around eleven he noticed Jill leave the ballroom with the two men who’d shared lunch with them. Keir and Jarrah? Was that their names? Whatever. He was very glad to know they were interested in Jill, not Bethany.

  As midnight approached, he and Edward led her away from the crowd. “Will you come home with us again tonight, please?” he asked her.

  She looked around the room, pushed her Stetson back on her head, and then nodded decisively. “Yes.”

  “Thank you.”

  They made their way out of the ballroom and through the grounds. “It’s been good the way each night has been different. It must have taken them quite a while to think up so many different kinds of parties,” said Bethany.

  “It’s been very well organized all through. I’ve been to conferences where rooms have been double booked, meals have been awful, and people have spent most of the time complaining about one thing and another. Here everything’s been perfect,” added Edward.

  “This is the first real event I’ve ever been to. I’ve almost never even stayed in a hotel, and I’ve seldom been on an airplane. I guess I’m a small-town girl at heart,” said Bethany.

  “How did you get from the Rocky Mountains to Texas then?”

  “Oh, in Mom’s car. I was too young and didn’t have a license so Mom and Ben shared the driving. We were lucky we even had the car, but it was Mom’s, not Dad’s. We piled all our possessions in it that would fit, so I was crammed up on the backseat surrounded by clothing, and cooking utensils, and books, and games. I didn’t get bored on the trip at all. There was so much surrounding me every time we hit a pothole something would land on top of me and I’d entertain myself looking at it for a while.”

  “Isn’t there a Supreme Alpha for the panthers the way there is for the wolves? Someone who would hold your father to account for disinheriting his family?” asked Robert. Once again he was hurt by the fact her father had discarded his family like old socks when the political situation had changed.

  “I don’t think so. But these days Omar, the Alpha of my current pack, is very powerful and very well respected. If anyone could become Supreme Alpha, it would be him.”

  “Didn’t he mind you going to a wolves’ mating party? Aren’t there too few female panthers as well as too few female wolves?” asked Edward.

  “Yes, there is a shortage of women which is why the panthers were upset my father sent us away, but Omar said who I mate is completely up to me. There were some unmated male panthers at Carnal Connections. Paul wanted to get to know me better. But no, he didn’t fire my blood. None of them did. I’m sure he’ll find someone else who’ll suit him much better than me.”

  They’d been walking slowly, enjoying the crisp night air, but now they’d reached Robert’s cabin. He hurried to open the door and then picked up a taper and lit the candles, leaving the flickering light from them as the only illumination. It should be enough that they didn’t trip over. They were all shape-shifters with enhanced night vision after all.

  As soon as the door was closed, Robert pressed his body against her back, wrapping his arms around her waist, letting her feel how thick his cock was inside his jeans. How much it wanted out of his pants and into her hot, wet pussy. Or her equally hot ass.

  Edward leaned against her from the front, his arms around her shoulders. Robert knew Edward’d be able to feel her nipples pressing into his chest, as well as Bethany being able to feel Edward’s cock against her belly.

  “Tonight we both want to fuck you together. Simultaneously. Double penetration. One of us in your cunt and the other in your ass,” said Edward.

  “Can we, please?” asked Robert.

  Chapter Five

  Oh hell yes, she wanted to. There was nothing she’d like better than to have both these men inside her, fucking her to a world-class orgasm. Last night’s sex had fulfilled all her dreams. She’d only lived at Carnal Connections for a few months but
it was plenty long enough to have heard several of the women there say that two men together was the best sex ever, and that even a dildo and butt plug couldn’t give anything like the satisfaction of two genuine cocks.

  The only thing making her hesitate was that once she’d done that, she’d pretty much committed herself to these men. Jill’s advice about not deciding until the last day made good sense to Bethany. There was no need to tie herself down. The DADISP was all about a woman choosing her man or men. And yet she’d looked at other men for the past three days. She’d even looked at some more tonight. But no one made her smile like these two did. None made her pulses pound and her panties grow wet as Robert and Edward could with a single heated look her way.

  Besides, they’d both been endlessly giving and patient with her. She’d made the decisions about what she would do every step of the way and they’d made no attempt to demand she stay with them. Oh, sure, they’d asked. But her no had been respected. Her desire to spend time apart from them had been accepted. They’d made it more than plain they wanted to be with her. They’d told her frequently how much they appreciated her, but at no time did they try to force themselves on her. They always requested her to give them their wish.

  When she thought about it like that it made them sound a bit weak and malleable, but she knew they weren’t. Their strength was demonstrated in their control of themselves. It was so obvious they were choosing to let her make the decisions, not that they needed her to choose for them. In fact their power was all that much stronger as it was demonstrated by giving, not by receiving.

  All of which boiled down to—what? She wanted them. She liked them very much. It was almost certain she would agree to mate with them. But she wasn’t ready to make that final irrevocable step just yet. She needed more time to prepare her heart and mind that they were the ones. Meanwhile, double sex. Yes.