The Rejected Wolf and Her Three WereMates

Chapter 10 : Usual fragrance

RYDER

~~~

The digital LED clock on my desk glowed a harsh, lemon green: 2:14 AM. The storm had lessened, leaving the air completely chilly.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, staring down at the glowing tablet screen. I wouldn't even be done for another hour. As the Alphas of Black Pine Springs, our responsibilities didn't end with physical borders.

I was currently wading through the quarterly tax remissions from our vassal territories–the Stonecrest pack, the Ironwood clan, and the low-elevation wolf territories that paid us incentives and taxes in exchange for our protection and resource access.

The numbers were perfect and they tallied, but I couldn't focus on a single column of figures. The air in the pack house was too quiet. Too still.

Then, it happened.

A sound wave vibrated through the door of my bedroom, carried across the private wing of the mansion. It was a breathless, feather-light sound. A whimper.

"Mason... Ryder... Dallas..."

Harper!

My heart violently seized against my ribs. A second later, the ventilation system delivered a thick, concentrated wave of her scent right into my room.

But it wasn't just her usual fragrance of rain and sweet, wild honey anymore. It was spiked with something raw–the undeniable, intoxicating musk of a she-wolf's pheromones, blooming in the heat of a restless dream.

My eyes flared into a blinding, feral gold as my bear surged violently to life beneath my skin. My c**k twitched, instantly hardening into a rigid, throbbing ache against the fabric of my sweatpants. She was dreaming of us. She was calling for us.

I slammed the tablet onto the desk, my chair scraping loudly against the floor as I stormed out of my room.

The moment I stepped into the dimly lit hallway, I realized I wasn't the only one. Mason and Dallas were already standing in the corridor, cast in the deep shadows of the landing.

Both of them were shirtless just as I was, their massive, heavily muscled chests heaving in the quiet air, hands clenched into tight fists, and their eyes were burning with the exact same golden fire.

"You feel it too?" I growled, my voice a thick, distorted rumble that sounded barely human.

"I can't control my beast," Mason hissed, his large shoulders flexing as his veins thickened with the strain of holding back. "Not while she's right through that door. Not when she smells like that."

"I'm on the very edge," Dallas muttered, a dangerous, reckless edge to his usually calculated tone. He pressed a hand against the wall, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "I want her. I want to sink my teeth into her skin and mark her. I want her writhing beneath me."

"I want her so bad it's tearing me apart," I admitted, stepping closer to them, the heat radiating off the three of us making the hallway feel like a furnace.

We looked at each other. Five years of agonizing separation, five years of fighting the void of an empty bond, had brought us to this exact precipice. We knew what we were supposed to do, but I had to let them know one important thing.

"We don't have to fight each other over her, you know," I whispered thickly. "We all own her. We all share her. She belongs to all three of us."

Mason and Dallas held my gaze, the raw understanding passing between us. They both nodded, their jaws locking in unison. There was no jealousy between our beasts when it came to Harper–only a massive, unified hunger to reclaim what was ours.

We walked down the hall, our silent footsteps bringing us to her door. Without a sound, Mason turned the handle, unlocking it easily, and we slipped into the dark bedroom.

The room was suffocatingly hot, sultry with the thick cloud of her pheromones. Harper was curled up in the center of the massive king-sized bed, the silk sheets tangled around her ankles.

She was lying on her stomach, fast asleep, her face turned to the side, flushed with a deep, sensual heat.

I stopped at the edge of the mattress, my breath catching in my throat. The silk pajamas Dallas had picked out molded perfectly to her breathtaking curves.

I stared at the soft, elegant dip of her waist, the lush, generous flare of her hips, and the round fullness of her ass cheeks beneath the thin fabric. She was magnificent. Soft, plush, and built perfectly for us.

Behind me, I heard Mason and Dallas let out low, gravelly groans of pure agony. They quietly retreated to the leather couch in the corner of the room, settling into the shadows to watch, their bodies tense and ready.

I kicked off my sweatpants and climbed onto the mattress, the bed dipping under my massive weight. I moved like a shadow, hovering over her plush form.

"Ryder..." she moaned out into the pillow, her body shifting restlessly against the sheets.

"I'm here, baby," I whispered, my voice a deep, soothing purr. "We're all here for you."

I leaned down, pressing my lips against her flushed cheek, tasting the salt of her skin. I trailed my lips down the line of her neck, dropping light kisses that made her tremble and gasp in her sleep.

I kissed my way down the curve of her shoulder, tracking the line of her spine through the silk shirt until my lips found the smooth, soft roundness of her ass.

I pressed a deep, burning kiss right against the center of each cheek, my large hands coming down to grip her hips, anchoring her against the mattress.

From the darkness of the couch, Dallas let out a low, breathy, "Fuck."

I could hear his and Mason's heartbeats hammering like war drums in the quiet room. They were completely captivated, their dark gazes locked onto my hands as I touched our mate.

Harper stirred, rolling sideways into my arms, her back arching deeply against me.

I dragged my tongue lightly over her skin before kissing my way back up her spine, over her shoulder, until I was hovering directly over her face.

She must have felt my presence because she slowly opened her eyes. Her lashes fluttered, and her heavy, sleep-filled eyes locked directly onto mine in the dim lamplight.

She blinked, a soft, breathless gasp escaping her lips as she stared up at me in utter confusion, as if she couldn't tell if I was an apparition from her dream or a living, breathing reality.

"Ryder...?" she whispered, her voice cracking with sweet vulnerability.

"It's me, sweetheart" I murmured, leaning down until my lips brushed against hers, letting her feel the solid heat of my body trapping her beneath me. "I heard you calling for us. Don't worry about anything tonight. We're right here for you."