Triple Dog Dare

Chapter Fourteen

Ain hung up the phone and stared out over the pasture. He’d been fixing a broken strand of barbed wire on one of the fences when Blackie’s call came through. He wasn’t looking forward to a return trip to Maine regardless of how many assurances Blackie gave him.

At least I know he’s a man of his word.

Too bad he couldn’t say the same about Abernathy.

He called Mark.

“I didn’t rat you out, I swear,” his friend said as soon as he answered.

Ain smiled. “I know. Blackie told me. That fucker Abernathy just won’t give up, will he?”

“Nope. I would love to know exactly who his spy is,” Mark said with more than a little growl in his tone. “I’d love to run them out of town on a rail.”

“Settle down. I don’t think it was a local. I think it was that guy Elain saw a couple of times. The same one Lina calls Fat Boy. Lina thinks he’s the one who killed Bertholde out in Yellowstone.”

“Oh. So when are we leaving?”

“Sooner rather than later. I’ll let you know, but probably in the next day or two. I want a chance to plan while we’re up there. I also want to bring Wally, Doug, and Oscar in on this, too, if they can make it.”

“No problem. I think that’s wise.”

“If Abernathy thinks he’s just going to walk in there and take Elain and Mai, he’d better think again.” Ain had to fight to keep the growl out of his voice.

“That’s exactly what he thinks, because he doesn’t understand how a closely knit pack works. Or a closely knit Clan. He’s been on his own for so long he thinks he’s invincible.”

“He’s wrong.”

“You and I both know that. Like Blackie said, we have to put on a show before we put him out of our misery.”

Ain ended the call and put his cell away. He had to complete the fence repair before he could do anything. An hour later, he drove to the main barn and found Brodey.

Brodey frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Trouble.”

Brodey cocked his head, his expression darkening. “I need more than that, bro.”

Ain sighed. “I only want to tell it once. We need everyone together in the house. And I mean everyone. Are the women home yet?” Elain, Lina, and Carla had taken Mai out again that morning. This time just into Arcadia, where all of them were getting their hair and nails done.

“If not, they should be soon. This doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. Let’s go.”

Cail was at the house in his office and doing paperwork for the ranch. When Ain and Brodey stepped inside his office, he immediately sensed there was a problem. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t know,” Brodey said. “Ain won’t tell me yet.”

Ain glared at Brodey but let it go. “We need everyone together to talk. Five minutes, in the dining room.”

“Everyone?”

Ain nodded. “Including Lina and her guys. And Micah and Carla and…everyone.”

Cail stood, his expression now equally dark. “Oookay.”

It took a little longer than five minutes to get everyone together, but with a few extra chairs dragged into the dining room from the kitchen and elsewhere, they were ready. Ain looked at everyone and did a quick head count. Brodey and Cail. Elain, Carla, and Liam. Lina, Rick, Jan, Kael, and Zack. Micah, Jim, and Mai.

His family.

His pack.

How could it be that just a few months ago he wondered if they’d ever find their One, and now they had a mate as well as a whole new extended family?

He took a deep breath. “Please let me get through the whole story before anyone starts asking questions or saying anything, all right? I know what I’m about to say is going to be both upsetting but not unexpected.” When everyone had nodded, he continued.

By the time he finished telling the latest events, all the men wore nearly identical dark, murderous expressions, and the women appeared worried.

Poor Mai looked nearly hysterical. “Do we really have to go?” she asked.

Micah put his arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, we do. It’s okay.” He looked at Ain. “You’ll be safe. I promise.”

Ain nodded. “Absolutely. I have Blackie’s word that even if he has to rule against us, he will take care of it on the back end. Unfortunately, I agree with him that we have to make it look legit. We can’t afford the Abernathys picking up any allies because someone thinks we rigged the Council hearing.”

“I won’t go with Abernathy,” Elain said. She looked around the table before looking back at Ain. “I flat will not go with him if Daniel has to rule against us.”

Ain nodded. “Babe, please. Stay calm. This will be okay, but we have to stick together and work together.” He looked at Brodey. “Please get in touch with Wally, Oscar, and Doug. Fill them in and see if they can meet us up in Maine on Wednesday.”

He nodded and left the table.

“So how do you want to handle this?” Rick asked him. “Make it look like Abernathy had a ‘tragic accident’ on his way to the meeting?”

Lina laughed and cracked her knuckles. “Ooh, pick me! Pick me!”

Ain smiled. “No, that would be too obvious. Don’t worry, we will have a plan in place by the time the Council meeting happens.”

“I want another shot at those cockatrice, too,” Lina said. “Maybe we can get a twofer. Take care of Abernathy and frame the cockatrice for it.”

“You realize you’re talking about murder, don’t you?” Carla asked.

Lina smiled at her. “Mom, trust me, if you knew exactly what those bastards have done throughout history, you’d understand why we’re upset.”

Zack agreed. “As a whole, they make guys like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer look like sweethearts you’d want for a son-in-law.”

Carla looked a little queasy at that. “If you say so.”

Elain tried to put her mind at ease. “We’re just making sure the karma bus runs over them a few times and leaves plenty of tire tread all over their backs.”

When they finished talking, it was agreed they would leave for Maine the next afternoon. Brodey hadn’t returned yet. Elain hunted him down and found him on the phone in Cail’s office. She closed the office door behind her and perched on the corner of the desk until he finished his call.

He looked up at her. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Can they all come?”

“Yep. That was Wally. I already spoke to Doug and Oscar. They’re going to fly up tomorrow. Wally will drive up. You’ll like them. They’re good guys.”

“That’s what Lina said.” She clasped her hands together in her lap. “Can you take me out and teach me how to shift?” she quietly asked. “Just you and me.”

He opened his arms to her. She moved to sit on his lap, her head tucked against his shoulder. She loved all three of her men, but all three of them had different strengths despite their nearly identical appearance. Brodey was most in touch with his wolf side. Even Ain and Cail admitted that.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “You’re not worried about ruining your nails?” he gently teased.

She laughed. “No, they’re dry.” She nuzzled closer, her eyes closed, deeply inhaling his scent. “I need to learn this,” she quietly said. “This isn’t fun and games.”

“No, babe, it’s not, unfortunately.” He rested his chin on top of her head. “And I’ll be serious teaching you,” he added. “I won’t screw around.”

She knew from his tone he was absolutely serious. “Okay. Can we do it now?”

“Yeah. Go change into some running clothes in case we need to use a chase to get you to shift.” He ran his hand up and down the seam of her jeans along her thigh. “Do you want me to have Ain or Cail come with us?”

She shook her head. “No. I want to be able to focus. Will their feelings be hurt?”

“No, babe. I’ll tell them.” He patted her leg. “Meet you outside by the pool in five.”

Brodey was waiting for Elain by the time she’d changed clothes. He took her by the hand and stared leading her toward the woods behind the house.

“Were Ain and Cail upset?”

“No. Honey, they understand you’ve been through a lot. And they know I’m a good wolf.” He smiled. “I might be the bonehead, but I’m good for a few things.”

“Stop putting yourself down.”

He laughed and slung an arm around her shoulders as they walked. “It’s okay. I know they’re joking. It’s like Cail and me teasing Ain about the stick permanently wedged up his Prime ass. Let’s face it, I do have a tendency to find trouble when there’s nothing serious at stake. I get bored.” He kissed the top of her head. “But now I have you and I have the best reason of all to stay out of trouble.”

They walked for several minutes, until they reached the pond where Elain had thought she’d caught sight of the mysterious shape.

She shivered despite the warm afternoon.

He frowned. “What’s wrong, babe?”

She nervously glanced around. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “Honey, with everything that’s happened in the past couple of months, you’ve got to be one of the sanest people I know. Spill it.”

“It’s nothing, I’m sure of it. It was just a trick of the light. I thought I saw…something.”

“What kind of something?”

“That’s just it. Like maybe it was a ghost or something. I don’t know.” She kissed him. “I don’t want to talk about that. I want to learn how to shift.”

He studied her for a moment but finally shook his head. “Okay. First of all, do you remember how you felt the night I chased you?”

She thought about it. “Sort of. To be honest, that’s all really fuzzy.”

He held her hands in his. “Okay. I chased you. You started running. Do you have any recollection about what you felt while you ran?”

She closed her eyes and tried to recall the events of that night. “I don’t know. It’s like I fell into some sort of trance or something. I remembered it suddenly didn’t feel right to be running on only two feet.”

“Good. That’s good, babe.” He gave her hands a gentle squeeze before releasing her. Then he stripped. “The first time I shifted was while I was running, too. Everyone’s different. Some people can shift from when they’re young kids. Some don’t start to shift until after they hit puberty. You didn’t know you were a shifter, so that’s probably why you never shifted sooner.”

He shifted into his wolf form. Like that, he obviously couldn’t talk to her, so he used their mental connection. “When I shift, I really don’t consciously think about it. I just visualize changing into a wolf.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Try it.”

“I’m not sure how.”

“Take your clothes off, for starters.”

She blushed, but started undressing. “You just want to get me naked.”

He chuffed. “Duh. But this time, seriously, I’m not trying to get laid. Well, not yet, anyways.”

Once she was undressed, she closed her eyes again. “Any suggestions?”

“Try picture being a wolf.”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“You did it before.”

“Did you actually see me as a wolf?”

“No, but I smelled it when you shifted. You smelled like a wolf. So I know you did it. Just try.”

Elain tried to recall the night of the chase. Everything was so fuzzy. She’d been running, fleeing. Then it turned…

Fun.

She’d always enjoyed running. That was one of the reasons she excelled in cross-country in high school and college. Running was fun and just came naturally to her. She didn’t go jogging on a regular basis, either.

The smell of the breeze she created as she settled into a rhythm, the feel of her feet hitting the trail, the way her blood pumped through her body, her pulse pounding in her ears…

She opened her eyes and looked at Brodey. “I’m stumped.”

He chuffed and barked at her, his tail wagging. “You did it!”

“What?” She looked down and realized the ground was a hell of a lot closer than it should have been. Looking more closely, she realized she had four legs and paws instead of arms and legs and feet and hands.

Startled, she looked up at him. “How did I do that?”

“You need to figure it out, babe.”

“How do I get back into human form?”

“Now, honey, don’t pan—”

“Shit! Brodey, how do I shift back? I don’t know how I shifted!”

He shifted back into human form. “Babe, please, calm down!”

She realized her voice came out sounding as a panicked whine. “Brodey! I don’t want to stay a wolf!”

“You won’t stay a wolf. Just think about shifting back.”

“But I don’t know how I did it! I—”

She was suddenly lying in the dirt. She looked at her hands and broke down crying, relieved.

He laughed as he gathered her to him, rocking her, trying to console her. “Honey, it’s okay,” he gently said. “This is new to you. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“But I need to know how to do this before we go to Maine.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I just get the feeling it’s really important I know how to do this.”

He brushed her hair out of her face. “Do you think it’s related to the Seer stuff?”

She nodded.

“Okay.” He hugged her to him again. “It’s okay. We’re going to keep you safe, I promise. You have to trust us. I’ll help you but you need to stay calm for me.”

They spent the next hour working on her shifting. She finally figured out what to do to reliably shift into a wolf. It was more a feeling than a conscious decision. Visualizing herself as a wolf seemed to help her. Shifting back into human form was easier than shifting from human to wolf. If nothing else, she could rise up on her hind legs and that seemed to help her pull back into human form.

Finally, Brodey dressed and handed her clothes to her. “Lesson’s over for the day. Let’s head back to the house and have a swim.”

“You don’t think I need to practice more?” she asked as she started pulling her shorts on.

“Yes, but not right now. You’re worn out. You did really good today. Seriously. But you need a chance to decompress and rest. The next few days will be pretty stressful.”

“That sounds like an understatement.”

“It is, but it was the best word I could think of.” He smiled. “Come on. We’ll cook steaks for everyone tonight, have some drinks, and chill out before we head up to Maine.”

“Tell me the truth. Is this going to be okay?”

He pulled her into his arms again and kissed her. Not to get into her pants, but the long, slow, sweet kind of kiss that settled her heart and soul and made her want to curl up in his arms and take a nap. “Yes,” he whispered. “It will be okay. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but you will not go with that asshole. I promise.”

She nodded, comforted. With his arm resting reassuringly around her waist, he led her back to the house.

It didn’t take Elain long to pack. When she finished, she tackled Ain in their bed and had no problems getting him hard. He smiled up at her as she impaled herself on his cock.

“Well, aren’t we eager?” he teased.

“Best way to get to sleep,” she responded.

He grabbed her hips and held her still for a moment, his expression growing serious. “Babe, this is going to be okay. I promise.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I just want you to fuck my brains out.”

Brodey emerged from the bathroom. “Did I hear the magic words ‘fuck my brains out’?”

“Yes, you did,” she said, still trying to move despite Ain holding her still.

“Oh, good.” He jumped onto the bed, making her laugh. “What’s on the menu tonight?”

Cail also emerged from the bathroom. “A little from column A, a little from column B, a little from column 69?”

She giggled. Then her face reddened. Her voice dropped. “I want all three of you,” she whispered.

Ain looked confused. “You have all three of us, babe.”

She tucked her chin, unable to look him in the eyes. “At the same time,” she whispered.

Brodey got it first. “Ahh.” His hand gently stroked her back. “Are you sure, sweetheart?” he asked, his tone concerned. “I know I’ve teased you about it—”

She nodded. “I’m sure.” She took a deep breath and fought back her embarrassment to look Ain in the eyes again. “I want all three of you.” The only time she’d had that was the night they’d claimed her. Now, she was ready for it again.

He reached up and stroked her cheek, a sweet smile curling his lips. “Okay. Just tell us to stop if you change your mind.”

She nodded. He pulled her down onto his chest and kissed her while Brodey left the bed for a second. She heard a drawer open and close. Then the mattress dipped behind her as he returned.

Brodey’s hands gently stroked and kneaded her ass, relaxing her even more. She slowly undulated against Ain, her clit rubbing against his cock but not enough to push her over the edge. She paused when she felt Brodey’s fingers slip between her ass cheeks and press against her rim.

“Are you okay, babe?” he asked.

She nodded, then looked up at Cail and smiled.

He smiled back as Brodey continued playing with her ass. Changing position, Cail knelt beside Ain, where she could reach his cock. Ain’s hands found her breasts and started playing with her nipples as she flicked her tongue across the head of Cail’s cock.

Behind her, she felt cool lube drizzle onto her ass and ignored it, focusing on Cail’s cock. Brodey gently pressed one finger into her, holding still until she started wiggling her ass at him again to slowly fuck her with it.

Cail tasted good, salty pre-cum sliding down her tongue as she deep-throated him. She wanted as much of him, as much of all of her men, inside her as she could get. She closed her eyes. Brodey paused, then added more lube and a second finger. The slight pinch as he stretched her ass a little more made her hiss before it started feeling really good again.

“More,” she thought to all of them. She wanted more. As much as she could take.

“Good girl,” Brodey whispered, leaning forward and kissing her spine before sitting up again and adding a third finger to her ass.

The stretching sensation made her whimper until it transformed into pleasure. Deep inside her, she felt her release building, but not yet enough to get her over the edge.

Cail’s fingers tightened in her hair. “I’m going to blow if you don’t hurry, Brod.”

“Just a minute. Hold your horses.” He slowly finger-fucked her ass a little longer until he was satisfied she was ready. She moaned in disappointment when he withdrew his hand.

He chuckled. “Hold on, baby. Just a second.” She heard him squirt more lube out, then felt the cool sensation of it against her stretched ass.

The emptiness was quickly filled by the head of his cock. She tried to press back against him, but he put a hand in the middle of her back, holding her flat against Ain.

“No, just let me drive,” Brodey said. He took his time, frustrating her as the pinch quickly turned into a pleasant fullness.

She whined against Cail’s cock, making him twitch in her mouth. He grabbed her head and forced her to hold still. His voice sounded tight, strained. “Wait a minute, baby. I need to hold back or I’m going to explode.”

Brodey slowly started moving, pausing to add even more lube before he sat up, grabbed her hips, and started fucking her.

He let her move, and she let out a loud moan as the extra fullness in her ass pressed Ain’s cock straight against her G-spot.

Ain let out a grunt. “Fuck, that’s good,” he said. He pinched her nipples, and she cried out as the sensation released her first orgasm.

Cail groaned and started fucking her mouth with his cock. All she could do was moan around him as he easily slid deep into her throat with each stroke. Brodey and Ain found a rhythm and all she could do was hold on for the ride as their cocks fucked and stretched her, pulling more pleasure from her body.

It felt like white heat engulfed her clit as she let go and moaned again. Her mind seemed to step outside her body. For a brief second, she saw herself kneeling on her hands and knees, pregnant but begging Cail to fuck her senseless. Then the feel of Brodey’s balls slapping against her ass as he fucked her slammed her mind back into her head. The sound of her sucking filled the room, accompanied by her men’s groans as they each tried to catch up with her.

“I’m close,” Ain said through gritted teeth.

“Don’t wait on me,” Brodey said.

She felt Ain’s cock explode inside her first, triggering yet another spasm in her clit. Then Cail’s cock hardened and his balls emptied, filling her mouth with his tangy juices. She hungrily moaned, eager to swallow every drop as she tried to fuck Ain and Brodey.

Brodey dug his fingers in the way she loved and fucked her, hard, until she felt his cock shoot his cum deep inside her. The last remnants of her own climax still tingled inside her clit as they all fell still onto the bed.

Ain spoke first, his voice sounding nervous. “Are you okay?”

She giggled, too sated and tired to speak. She nipped his arm, which had ended up close to her mouth.

“Ow,” he said, but she heard the smile in his voice. “I think that’s a yes.”

She winced as Brodey carefully withdrew. Closing her eyes, she felt the mattress move and heard him turn on the bathroom light. She heard water running in the sink. Then he returned a minute later and she felt him wiping her with a wet washcloth.

“Mmm.” She felt cared for. Loved.

Thoroughly fucked and owned.

She giggled again.

“I think that’s a good sign,” Cail said as he stretched out next to her.

“Mmm hmm.”

Brodey kissed first one ass cheek, then the other. She heard him return to the bathroom briefly, then turn the light off, and the mattress dipped again.

She wasn’t about to move from where she was draped over Ain’s body, his soft cock still embedded inside her.

Brodey stretched out on their other side and rested his hand on the small of her back. “Good night, sweetie.”

“Mmm.” Elain crashed into sleep.