Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3) (10 page)

He had barely been ready for Mandy and Oliver. Let alone the ability to handle the emotional and physical health of an entire Pack and two more that were slowly joining theirs.

“Knock knock,” Mandy said from behind him. He turned at the sound of her voice, his wolf pushing against him for even a glimpse of her.

He smiled despite the weight on his chest at the sight of her. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair in wild waves around her head, and he thought she’d never looked sexier. She smelled of that delectable sweetness that was hers, wrapped in the warmth and strength that was Oliver.

Gibson wanted his scent mixed with the two.

And he would make that happen.

Soon.

He prowled toward her like he was a damn cat instead of a wolf and cupped her face, lifting her chin so he could look down into those eyes of hers he loved.

“Good morning,” he rasped before taking her mouth with his. She leaned into him, her breasts pressing into his chest.

“Good morning,” she breathed before leaning back to fan her face. “I swear, between you and Oliver I’m going to need a nap at some point so I can catch up.”

Gibson grinned. “Yeah? We too much for you, are we?”

She rolled her eyes. “Not too much. Just enough. Though sometimes I guess it feels like too much. And then at those times, I guess it will be up to you and Oliver to…play.”

Gibson licked his lips at the thought. “It does help that there’s always someone waiting in the wings in case we need to tap out.”

She snorted and hugged him around his waist. “Yes, because it’s just like a cage match.” She sighed into him and inhaled. “You smell…happy.”

He laughed. “Oh, really? How can I smell happy?”

She wrinkled her nose, and he leaned down to kiss it. Funny, he was still horny as hell, like he’d been before, but instead of the angst and worry that had come with it, he felt…relieved. Mandy had done that to him by just being near. He didn’t know what that meant, or rather, he didn’t want to think too hard about what that meant, but he’d take it as it was. For now.

“I don’t know. It’s not like you with the whole actually feeling emotions things, but when I came in, my wolf perked up because yours did. I guess that’s what I mean.”

He looked down at her, his heart in this throat. That she’d caught that with one look told him he hadn’t been hiding how he felt about her well at all. Why he felt the need to hide anything from her was beyond him though. Maybe it was because they were moving awfully fast for two wolves who had done their best to stay out of each other’s way in the past.

“You do make me happy,” he said softly. He ran his thumb over her jaw and swallowed hard. If he didn’t slow down, he’d take her against the wall, and he needed to breathe first. She deserved more than a rut to get him off. “I was just going to have a soda. You want one?”

She tilted her head as she studied his face. “I could use something to drink. Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here and Oliver isn’t?”

He blinked and cleared his throat. “I guess I was just so happy to see you I forgot the usual things like not being a selfish asshole.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you being happy to see me is one thing, but you’re not a selfish asshole, not with that kiss. As for why I’m here, I have a few things to do workwise, but I brought it with me.” She pointed to the satchel he’d failed to notice that she wore across her body. “Oliver is playing Uncle Big Bad Bear with the cubs today. They missed him apparently, and he wanted to make sure you and I had some time alone together. If I’m not mistaken, he’s planning on making sure the two of
you
have time to spend together alone, as well. And then the three of us.” Her eyes crossed. “It’s a lot of relationships when you put it all out there like that.”

He shook his head, a smile spreading over his face. “Yeah, but we’ll find a way to make it work. And honestly, it only seems like a lot, I think, because Oliver and I usually do our best to stay on the fringes.”

She nodded as he led her to the kitchen and got her a soda of her own. “Yeah, and while I might know a lot of people, I tend to stay by myself. Too many dominant shifters at once and my wolf needs a timeout.”

He took a sip of his drink. “I get that. Well, at least I sort of do. I’ve never liked being around a lot of people, even though I usually have one or two in my shop daily. I don’t know if it’s my wolf or just me that makes that happen, though. I know Oliver needs to be on his own a lot because of the whole Foreseer thing, but I don’t know what it feels like to have a wolf inside that’s not even a little dominant.”

She smiled then, her eyes brightening. “And I don’t know what it feels like not to be submissive. My wolf, much like me I guess, needs to comfort, too soothe. It’s not that I’m weak, but more…a different kind of wolf I guess.”

Gibson frowned. “I never thought you were weak. It takes a certain kind of strength to aid the dominants when they can’t help themselves. Who thought you were weak?” His wolf rose, needing to know, as well. A tendril of sensation slid over him, and he knew it was Mandy. He couldn’t tell what emotion it was exactly, but it felt a little like shame. He didn’t understand it until she spoke next.

She bit her lip. “There were a few, but Claire honestly was the worst.” She let out a sigh, and Gibson set down his can so he could bring her close. “Once Holden mated Ariel and everything happened with the SAU, things were different, but I was always careful around her. And I hate that I’m even saying this because she’s gone and can’t speak for herself. Someone ended her life, and we have no idea who it was. Yet a small part of me is relieved I will never feel trapped and scared because of her again. She wasn’t a good person, but she didn’t deserve to die like that.”

Gibson kissed her temple and held her to his chest. She snuggled close, and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

“No, she didn’t deserve to die like she did, and we
will
find out who did it. Just like we’ll find out who hurt me and why the SAU is so silent right now. As for how she made you feel… Her dying doesn’t change that. It doesn’t make you a bad person for remembering what she did to you.” His wolf pushed at him, wanting to avenge her, but there was nothing to avenge. Not yet anyway.

“I feel like things have been up in the air yet changing so quickly ever since Holden found Ariel in the woods,” Mandy said after a moment. “It’s strange to think how things might change again.”

He ran his hand down her side. “I know,” he said softly. “I never thought I’d be here, be the Omega.” A beat of silence. “Be with you.”

She moved away from him then, and he felt a pang of disappointment until she stood on her tiptoes and reached up to kiss his jaw. “Make love to me, Gibson. Make me yours in truth.”

He slid his hands down her arms and gripped her fingers. “You want that now? You want me on you, over you, in you?”

“I’ve wanted it for a long time,” she answered. “The way the world is changing isn’t going to stop that. I want you as I want Oliver, though each way is unique.”

He nodded. “Same for me.”

She smiled then. “When you take Oliver, do you think I can be in the room?” she blushed, and Gibson laughed.

“You want to watch me take him? And how do you know it’ll be me taking him?”

“I’m sure you’ll take turns,” she said dryly. “But I think our big bear needs to relax every once in a while, and you can do that for him.”

He lowered his head, his lips a breath from hers. “I think we both can.” And with that, he took her mouth, relishing her taste, her touch. He lifted her into his arms and turned so he could sit her on the kitchen table, thankful it was sturdier than the one in her home. He pulled away and tugged at the bottom of her shirt. “I need this off.”

Her eyes widened. “Here? In the kitchen?”

Gibson grinned then. “Hell, yeah. The kitchen is the perfect place to eat.” And with that, he took off her shirt, moaning when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. “Damn I love your breasts.”

She cupped them herself, a blush rising on her skin. “Oliver broke the hook on my bra last night and I, uh…haven’t been home to fix it yet.”

He pulled her hands away and cupped her breasts, using his thumb and forefinger to play with her nipples. “I noticed you were wearing the same clothes as last night. You’re a dirty little wolf, aren’t you?”

She licked her lips. “You’re dirtier.”

He chuckled roughly. “Yeah, I am.” He lowered his head and took a nipple into his mouth, sucked. She arched toward him, putting her hand on the back of his head. He pulled away. “Hands on the edge of the table, Mandy.”

“What?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“Hands. On. The. Table.” He growled out each word. “If you touch me now, I’ll lose control.”

“So you can touch me but I can’t touch you?” she asked even as she put her hands on the edge of the table as he’d ordered.

“Yep.” He began working on her pants, slowly sliding them, along with her panties, down her legs. Soon, she was naked before him. Sexy, curvy, and hot as hell.

“That doesn’t sound fair,” she said, though it was more of a gasp as he went to his knees in front of her.

“You’ll have to punish me later for it,” he growled. Then he licked her, nibbling and biting until they were both panting. She had her legs wrapped around his neck, and he couldn’t help but hum in satisfaction at her taste. As soon as he did, she stiffened before coming, her body arching over the table.

But she’d kept her hands on the edge.

He quickly stood up and stripped out of his clothes. He was rock-hard, and so close he might end up coming before he even had her. He knew he had to slow it down, had to remember that this was only the first chance at a beginning.

Gibson kissed her hard, wrapping her hair around his fist. “Mine,” he growled. “Mine.”

“Yours,” she promised, her eyes dark. “Yours. Always.”

He wasn’t sure he could handle the idea of always, or at least he hadn’t been. Now, he couldn’t help but think it.

Passion, heat, and the scariest thing of all—love—filled him, and he wasn’t sure if it was his or Mandy’s. His wolf took everything in, the emotions mixing and tangling until they became almost one. That itself was a new kind of almost bond, a new kind of feeling altogether.

He’d have to work through that and find a balance, but for now, he could only stop and stare at the woman before him.

“You’re everything,” he whispered. “Everything.”

She shook her head. “Just one third of a whole,” she said softly. “Now please, get in me before I have to take care of things myself.”

He snorted and cupped her breast firmly. “Going to take charge, are you?”

She arched into his grasp, her nipple hard against his palm. “If you won’t.”

He pinched her nipple and she gasped. “Wench.”

“Heathen.”

“Little wolf.”

“
My
wolf.”

He liked the sound of that. He kissed her again, using one hand to guide himself to her. As he pressed in, he met her gaze, their breaths quickening as he filled her slowly, oh so slowly.

When he seated himself to the hilt, he paused, sweat sliding down his back. She was so warm, so wet, and absolute perfection.

“I’ve never…” he cleared his throat. “I’ve never felt anything like this.”

Tears slid down her cheeks as she nodded. “Gibson.”

He kissed her as he moved, their bodies moving as one. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer, and he gripped her hip so he could go as deep as possible. And when she came, her body tightening around his, he followed her, filling her, marking her as his own in that way.

One day soon, when it was the three of them, they would mark each other. There was no other option now. He’d fallen. Fast. Hard. And in every way possible.

This wolf and the bear who was close had laid claim to his heart, his body, and his future.

It didn’t take an Omega to know the others felt the same. Just as it didn’t take a Foreseer to know that as the world crumbled around them, spun on an unsteady axis, they would have to fight for what they wanted.

Because this was only a reprieve in the darkness.

Something was coming.

And it was coming soon.

The dream came quickly. Oliver braced himself for the onslaught, yet did his best to remember every detail, every ounce of pain. The darkness slammed into him, an ever-present entity that told him that what happened next wasn’t going to be easy, wasn’t going to be pretty.

He let out a breath, focusing on what mattered—the vision.

They were standing in a group of trees, though he couldn’t tell if it was night or day because the branches made a canopy, only letting in some light. If he’d been awake in truth, he’d have felt the sun’s warmth or perhaps the moon’s pull, but for now, he only knew that what happened would be in this small patch of forest.

Growls sounded in front of him, and he moved forward. From the murky darkness, two figures emerged, this time not in wolf form. Gibson and Mandy stood back-to-back, cuts covering their body. A large, jagged gash marked Gibson’s torso. Blood seeped through Gibson’s shirt and ran down his pants to mix with the dirt on the ground. The Omega was pale, his body shutting down from the mortal wound.

Mandy clawed at her attacker, a dark shadow he couldn’t quite place, her face scrunched even as her eyes filled with fear.

Oliver threw his head back and roared. The hump on the back of his neck grew as he began to shift into his grizzly form. The need to save them, even in a dream that was no dream, took over, and he put all sense of reality out of his mind.

He would not allow these two to die.

Not when he’d just found them.

He tackled the dark shadow in front of Gibson as the male wolf fell to his knees, his eyes wide and vacant. Mandy turned toward them, screaming their lover’s name as Gibson hit the ground. Oliver reached out with a large paw to bring her close, but couldn’t get to her in time. Instead, a shadow jumped onto her back and clawed her neck. Blood poured from the gash, and she reached up to staunch the flow.