Mated to the Pack (13 page)

“Well, Michael and I… we’ve… it’s hard to
explain,” Allison said. “We kind of have a love-hate
relationship.”

“Say no more,” Willow said, winking. “Some
of the very strongest relationships start out with two people at
odds. I take it things are getting better?”

“They’re… passionate, I guess you could
say,” Allison said.

“Ah, the very best kind of relationship!”
Willow grinned, rubbing her hands together rapidly.

“The trouble is that Luke and Logan are
jealous,” Allison told her. “They found out Michael and I had…
well, first that we kissed and then…”

“More than kissing,” Willow finished the
awkward sentence.

“Yes,” Allison agreed. “Luke disavowed the
pack and tried to be Alpha, which ended quickly enough when Michael
rescued us from Victor. But there is still so much tension.
Sometimes I wish…”

“You wish what?” Willow urged her.

“I wish I’d just mated to all of them from
the beginning so there wouldn’t be so much jealousy.”

“I don’t know if that would have worked out
the way you think it would have,” Willow said. “If Michael is
feeling possessive of you, the mating may not have gone
smoothly.”

“Why not?” Allison asked.

“Well, I think I have the solution to your
problems,” Willow said. “There’s a ritual that can actually mate
multiple pack members to a single female, and…”

“No!” Michael said flatly. “I won’t allow
it.”

They turned to see Michael entering the room
followed by Luke and Logan. He stood before them with his arms
crossed.

“Hear me out,” Willow pleaded. “Look, how do
you think Seth and Wyatt manage it? They share a human mate. And
you know how must Seth and Wyatt used to be at odds.”

“Fine,” Michael grumbled. “I’m
listening.”

“It’s called the Bond of Three,” Willow
said. “Or in your case, I guess it’d be the Bond of Four.”

“Go on,” Michael said.

“You must all bite Allison at once,” Willow
said. “Your scent will then meld with hers, and because you’ll all
smell each other on her, meaning you’ll all have equally marked her
and claimed her as your own, there will no longer be any jealousy.
It will be just as if you’d all claimed her the old fashioned way,
by the ancient laws.”

“And you’re
sure
this works?” Michael
asked cautiously.

“You’ve seen it with your own eyes,” Willow
said. “If it can work for Seth and Wyatt, it can work for
anyone
, trust me.”

“I don’t know,” Michael said. “Every time I
think of Allison being touched by someone else… by
anyone
else… I feel this… rage.”

“It will go away,” Willow promised.

“I must think about it,” Michael said.

“Of course,” Willow agreed. “Why don’t you
think about it and make your decision after dinner tonight?”

“Agreed,” Michael said.

“For now, I’d like to take Allison to let
her get cleaned up and find her some clothes,” Willow said. She
looked at Allison and said, “You must be freezing! I know humans
get cold so much easier than we do. I bet Seth and Wyatt’s mate,
Callie, has some things that would fit you.”

“Oh, I don’t want to cause anyone any
trouble,” Allison argued.

Willow grabbed her hand and started to drag
her down the hall, saying, “Callie’s as sweet as can be! You’ll
love her! And she’d be horrified to know someone was in need and
refusing help. Come on, let me introduce you!”

Allison reluctantly allowed herself to be
pulled along by the bubbly girl, and they headed down a very dark
corridor and stopped outside an opening in the wall.

“Callie?” Willow called. “Can I come
in?”

“Of course, Willow,” called a voice weakly
from inside the room.

Callie pulled Allison through the opening
and into a small cave-like room. On the floor, upon a pile of furs
and hides, lay a very pregnant young woman.

“Allison, this is Callie,” Willow said.
“Callie, this is Allison. She is visiting and could really use some
clothes.”

“Of course,” Callie said softly. Allison
noticed little droplets of sweat mottling her forehead. Callie
lifted her hand and pointed toward a trunk in the corner. “You may
take anything you need for her from my trunk.”

“Oh, no!” Allison cried. “Please, I don’t
want to be any trouble.”

“Visitors here are never trouble,” Callie
said. “You are a gift. Please, take anything you need.”

Willow was already rifling through the
trunk, and she pulled out a number of pieces of clothing. She
started to hold them out to Callie for approval, but Callie waved
her hand to silence her.

“Clothes are replaceable,” Callie said
gently with a weak smile. “Friends are not. Allison, I believe
those will all fit you just fine.”

“Thank you,” Allison said sincerely, taking
the bundle that Willow had thrust into her arms.

“Will you be staying long?” Callie
asked.

A wince changed Callie’s expression, and
soon a tall figure emerged from the darkness and kneeled beside
her, taking her hand. Allison hadn’t even seen him in the shadows.
She recognized Seth immediately.

“Are you alright, darling?” Seth asked
Callie, pushing her sticky hair away from her face.

She nodded and released a held breath. “It
won’t be long,” Callie whispered.

“Willow, can you find Wyatt?” Seth
asked.

“You got it,” Willow answered.

Willow placed her hand gently on Allison’s
arm, and Allison nodded her acknowledgement, following Willow from
the room.

“Just head that way and you’ll find Michael
and the others,” Willow said. “I’ve got to find Wyatt before the
pups are born.”

Willow quickly disappeared into the
darkness, and Allison used her hand to feel her way along the wall.
She soon found the guys sitting silently around the unlit
bonfire.

She sat down on a log and began to look at
the clothes Willow had collected for her. She chose a warm sweater
and a pair of thick jeans and wiggled them over her tank top and
shorts. She instantly felt warmer, but her toes were numb from the
chill. She began to rub them.

“Are your feet cold?” Logan asked.

“Yes, and it’s making my toes numb,” she
answered.

Logan smiled and winked, quickly shifting
into his wolf form and lying down across the foot that rested on
the ground. Allison looked confused momentarily, and then she
realized how warm that foot was growing and she lowered her other
foot to the ground and slipped it underneath his furry body.

“Thank you, Logan,” she said, reaching down
to scratch the space between the wolf’s shoulder blades.

Michael glowered darkly but said nothing.
The jealousy was still deeply rooted within his psyche, and Allison
had a lot of reservations about whether this Bond of Three, or Bond
of Four in this case, would even work.

The guys were eerily silent, and it remained
that way for the longest time. Allison was so bored that she soon
began to yawn, and before she knew it she’d drifted to sleep
sitting up.

Thud!

Allison jerked awake as a sharp pain shot
through her head and shoulders. She muttered a cruse word and
looked around, befuddled at the darkness that shrouded her.

“Look what you let her do!” Michael
shouted.

“Don’t yell at Logan!” Luke snapped. “It’s
not his fault.”

Michael’s arms reached underneath her and
pulled her into a sitting position, and Allison rubbed her aching
head.

“What happened?” she muttered.

“You fell asleep,” Michael said. “And
Logan
just let it happen.”

Logan, still in his wolf form, whimpered
with shame.

“Michael, stop it,” Allison warned him.
“It’s not his fault.”

“If he’d been paying attention…”

Michael suddenly silenced himself as voices
began to murmur down the corridor. Seth and Wyatt’s pack was making
its way into the room. Before long, the bonfire was lit, the pack
was crowded around it, and the heavenly scent of roasting meet
filled the cavern.

Willow sat down beside Michael and grinned
at him, and he tried to ignore her. She continued to stare at
him.

“What?” Michael finally asked her.

“So have you decided anything yet?” she
chirped.

“About what?” Michael groaned.

“About trying the Bond of Three!” she
squeaked. “Or Four.”

“You can’t even wait until after we eat to
start bugging me?” Michael asked her sternly.

“Oh, what’s going to change between now and
then?” Willow asked. “Are you willing to at least try it?”

“And what if it goes wrong?” Michael
challenge her.

“Ah,” she murmured. “But what if it goes
right?”

Michael sighed and rolled his eyes, but he
finally said, “I’ve been thinking about this, and I really don’t
see any other way I can keep my pack intact. If it means resolving
this peacefully, then I guess I have no choice but to try.”

He glanced at Luke and Logan. Luke nodded
his approval, and Logan shifted quickly and sat beside Allison.

“It’s fine with me,” Logan nodded. “After
all, it’s very similar to the old ways. We’ll all be bonded, just
as if we’d claimed her as a pack originally.”

“Agreed,” Michael said. Then he looked at
Allison and asked, “Have you any objections?”

Allison was silent. She glanced at Michael,
and then toward Luke and Logan. Logan’s eyes were soft and
pleading.

“I’m willing to try it,” she relented. “But
if this doesn’t work… I mean… is there a way out?”

“Wolves mate for life,” Willow said. “Once
the bond has been made, it cannot be broken.”

“Wait a minute,” Allison quickly objected.
“If this doesn’t work out, what…”

“It’ll work,” Willow interrupted
confidently.

Allison opened her mouth to protest further,
but she realized she truly had no choice. She wanted to be with
Michael, and she very much cared for Luke and Logan. She must
try.

“No objections,” she sighed.

“Wonderful!” Willow shrieked, clapping
excitedly. “After dinner you four can take one of the empty rooms
in the back of the den to complete the ritual.”

“What exactly does the ritual entail again?”
Allison asked.

“All four of you will… you know…” Willow
flushed pink.

“More than kissing?” Allison offered.

“Yes, that,” Willow said. “Thank you. And
just before you… um… consummate… all three must bite you at the
same time.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Allison asked, her face
awash with anxiety.

“Maybe for a minute,” Willow said. “But
after that I don’t think you’ll care much.”

This time it was Allison’s turn to flush
deeply at the implication Willow had just made.

“Let the feast begin!” shouted Seth from the
entrance to the cavern. “Our pups have been born! Please help us
welcome Gabe and Jonas into the world!”

A great cheer arose from the Primrose pack,
and Allison and the others applauded along with them. Babies were
born! It was a great cause for celebration!

The feast was a stunning array of wild
foods, including roast venison and wild turkey, fruit and nuts,
roasted root vegetables, and a few things Allison had never before
seen. Although most of these foods were totally unfamiliar to her,
they were absolutely delicious. She was quite certain she could get
used to living this way.

After the feast, Willow approached them and
said, “It’s time.”

Allison exchanged glances with Michael, who
then looked to Luke and Logan. When no one objected, they followed
Willow down the dark hallway.

The room that Willow led them to was dark,
but she’d lit a few candles for the sake of Allison, the human
whose eyes could not see in such an inky depth of darkness.

A very pile of furs sat near the wall, but
otherwise, the room was empty. Michael took Allison’s hand and led
her to the furs, and she sank down among their softness.