Blood Moon Series

LEILA

Leila slowly opened her eyes to the sound of a boat’s loud foghorn. She could hear the lapping of the water against the rocks, and the smell of the sea was strong.

The room was dark, aside from a light that brightened the curtains of the window every few seconds. It cast slanting shadows across the room.

She stared up at the strangely angled ceiling for a moment to allow the fog of sleep to fade away before she swept a glance over what she could see of the rest of the room.

It was a massive rectangular room with a circular sweep along the far wall. It was sparsely cluttered with books and other trinkets, clearly a male’s.

She lay on an unmade bed. Her body felt completely relaxed, almost like she had been asleep for days.

Leila slowly tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. She flopped back down on the bed with a groan. She felt like she’d been run over about a hundred times.

She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a male’s plain green shirt that reached down to her mid-thigh. Leila ran a hand back through her tangled, unbrushed hair; it was dry.

She remembered the shower. Shouldn’t her hair be wet?

Her thoughts were so foggy, why?

It took her a moment to realize the terrible maddening ache she had been suffering had dulled to a tolerable nagging.

Leila turned her head on the pillow and found the digital clock nearby. It illuminated a red 8:38 p.m. She stared at it for a moment and wondered how long she’d been out.

Leila looked up to the ceiling again. She felt…odd. There was some kind of fullness in her chest now.

Through the fog in her head, she didn’t fully understand it—it was strange…there was some kind of weight there. Some kind of…bond. Leila’s eyes widened…a mating bond…

And not just one.

She concentrated on the feeling and could clearly discern five distinct links.

Five…

Leila took a sharp breath. She felt the flush on her face at the rush of memories that surfaced.

She didn’t even think it was possible for a female to be able to have multiple mates. At least, not all at once.

It was the female wolf that held the mating bond within herself. Because of this, it was possible for males to have multiple mates, but not females.

Once mated, they lost interest in others; in fact, it would make them physically sick to even try to be with another.

So how was this possible?

She brought a hand up to make a slight fist in the shirt’s fabric above her heart as she tried to make her thoughts settle.

Five bonds…

That meant five mates.

Leila felt the shock of that realization full force.

What the hell was she going to do?

Leila took several deep, slow breaths to keep herself from hyperventilating. She felt her heart start to race.

Leila glanced at the window and forcibly shifted her thoughts to the fact that she had no idea where she was.

Despite the discomfort, she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her whole body felt sore, like she had just run a massive marathon. Several, in fact.

Leila lifted the shirt over her hips where the worst of it was, and a deep blush reddened her face at seeing the bruising on both her inner and outer thighs.

She glanced over the rest of herself and ran a hand up along her neck where she felt the most soreness.

She was covered with the marks of that night.

Leila took a hard breath to keep from thinking of the memories of how it all happened and moved to the window to open the curtains and peer out into the darkness.

A pleasantly cool ocean breeze brushed over her face. It was refreshing, the room was warm, and she still felt the flush of heat on her skin.

The bright light of a lighthouse shone above her every few seconds. It illuminated the rippling water of the bay.

She could just make out the outline of a boathouse and dock at the bottom of the gently slanting bluff, and several small sports boats were tethered to it.

She was in the house under the lighthouse. Leila glanced out over the water and tried to recognize any identifiable landmarks in the dim light of the moon. Nothing looked familiar…

Sudden shouting downstairs caught her attention. It wasn’t angry; it sounded competitive. Leila stood still for a time. She felt extremely awkward.

Their smell was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place why. Another smell had been nagging at her senses from the moment she woke up.

Leila glanced back toward the bed to locate the source. On the bedstand were several large, empty brown bottles.

She moved over and picked one up. It was unlabeled and smelled awful. A bit coppery and acrid. On the floor, five more empty bottles lay scattered about.

She idly pushed one with her bare foot and furrowed her brow. They had drugged her.

Leila licked her parched lips; her throat was dry. An immense thirst suddenly overcame her as her mind cleared, and she became aware that her stomach was painfully empty.

Leila glanced back at the window and noticed her backpack hanging on a chair. She had left it at the motel…they must have tracked where she came from.

She moved toward it and snatched it up. It was light and obviously empty. Bastards. She growled.

Nothing was left, even her sister’s letter was gone. An escape attempt would be rather futile now.

After spending some time searching every nook of the room, Leila turned back to the door.

If she were going anywhere, she’d need to at least get her ID back. Her thoughts were torn. She was mated, but it didn’t matter.

Leila forced herself to focus on one thing.

She needed to get back to her family…and then…and then they would somehow figure this all out. Leila couldn’t even let herself think of what her mother would say.

That thought alone horrified her.

She moved to the door and inched it open carefully to listen for any sign that they had noticed her. The TV was blaring. Explosions and gunfire alluded to some war game.

There were currently only two of them.

Leila crept into the hall, careful with each step she took along the wood floor.

She paused at the next two doors she passed to peer inside. Both were wide open. The first was a bathroom and the second another bedroom.

Leila scrunched her nose. The first room was pristine in comparison. The second was just as big as the first, but it had two beds in it, and the bathroom was just as bad.

Clothes and all manner of personal items were strewn about. She stopped when she neared the spiral staircase heading downward.

Leila crouched low and peered through the railing. The room below was oddly angled, like the rest of the house.

The whole place had an aged scent mingled with a hint of the sea, like the saltiness of the ocean had seeped into the very walls...but it wasn’t unpleasant.

She couldn’t see much from her vantage point, only a portion of an empty couch and the edge of a very large flat-screen TV.

Leila glanced toward the end of the hall.

A curved staircase led to a higher hallway with what looked like two more doors, likely bedrooms, up along a large open balcony-style space and another spiral staircase that headed upward toward the pinnacle of the lighthouse.

Leila slowly stood and made her way toward it.

The first step creaked under her weight. She stopped dead and listened intently. The gaming sounds continued. Leila stepped over the next few steps and made her way into the corridor.

A railing along the edge of the hall opened up into the foyer below. Leila lowered herself to the floor and crawled forward until she could peer through the railings.

She was sure to duck low to keep out of view.

The room below was a large studio-style room. There was no rhyme or reason to the way it was arranged or the random pieces of furniture that were scattered about.

A large flat-screen TV was mounted to the wall. A variety of cans, boxes, bottles, and wrappers littered the floor and flat surfaces.

Two males sat on different couches, their focus entirely on the screen with controllers in hand. Both were her age, if not a year or two older.

The smaller of the two had a darker shade of sandy-blond hair, and the other had dark brown, nearly black hair. She clearly remembered their light blue eyes.

Leila’s breath caught, and she struggled to keep the flush of heat from coursing through her body at the recollections that surfaced.

She quickly moved out of view and pushed back against the wall to gather herself. Although dimmed, her heat was still there; she could feel it threatening to bubble to the surface.

She didn’t trust herself...or them, for that matter. The TV’s blaring continued.

After a moment, she quietly made her way to the next bedroom. It had a king bed and was just as messy as the second. Like the other two, there didn’t seem to be anything worth looking in.

Finally, she made it to the last bedroom. It was the largest and by far the cleanest with a king bed.

There was an open door in the corner of the room, and she recognized the tile of the bathroom. She had been in here at some point.

Leila slipped inside and partially closed the door before she turned to glance around the room. She immediately went for the small desk in the opposite corner.

Leila quietly pulled open drawer after drawer and briefly shuffled through the papers. Frustration overtook her as she yanked open the last drawer and riffled through it.

She glanced around the rest of the room, but there was no place else worth looking.

Leila heard the sound of a truck’s engine pulling up to the house. She glanced toward the open window.

There was no place to go, so she stayed put. Not long after, the front door opened, followed by a voice.

“I told you to clean this up,” a very annoyed voice said. Quinn. Her subconscious immediately connected it. Someone had said his name. He was the one she had met on the street.

“I’ll get to it…,” another said distractedly.

“That loud enough?” Quinn’s voice was still dripping with annoyance, and he practically had to shout over the TV. There was no verbal response.

“Did Logan call?” Quinn asked. Logan? Leila furrowed her brow. Had she heard that name yet?

“Yup,” a different voice said, just as distracted.

“When will they be home?” Quinn asked again, his tone increasingly irritated.

“Soon,” the first voice said indifferently.

The TV went silent.

“What the FUCK?” the second voice shouted in anger. She recognized him as the one who had said Quinn’s name in the bathroom.

“When will he be home?” Quinn asked again, more calmly.

“He didn’t specify,” the first one replied.

“Did he say anything else?” Quinn asked.

“Well…obviously, they aren’t happy, but no, he didn’t say anything else,” the first said with a bite to it. She could hear the irritation in his voice.

“Where’ve you been?” the second asked.

“And what’s all that?” the first said.

“None of your business,” Quinn snapped. There was a short pause.

“How is she?” Quinn asked in a different tone. It was a mix of awkwardness and concern. Leila felt immediately uneasy. There was another pause.

“Uhh…fine… I…guess?” the first said uncertainly. He paused between each word as if suddenly realizing something he’d forgotten. There was another pause.

“When was the last time you—” Quinn began accusingly. Leila shifted uncomfortably, the floor creaked, and she no longer had the cover of the TV.

There was a sudden silence.

“It was Joss’s turn to douse her,” the second voice said quickly in an accusing manner. Leila scowled.

“Well, she seems fine now,” Joss spat back defensively. There was another long pause.

“You may as well come down,” Quinn called up. His tone was not hostile, but there was clearly some awkwardness there. Leila pursed her lips into a thin line and purposely did not move.

“A little late to be shy,” the second voice said. She could almost hear the grin in his tone. Her cheeks flushed.

“We’re fine now, it’s safe,” Joss added, his tone was serious. Leila glanced back to the window. She was suddenly tempted to make a bid for freedom regardless. She took several steps back.

“I wouldn’t try anything…you won’t get far,” Quinn said with sudden seriousness. There was a real threat in his tone. Leila was instantly angered.

She didn’t care that it was night, that she was thirsty, hungry, and unclothed, had no idea where she was, and had no money or identification. Leila darted for the window and yanked off the shirt as she went.

Even before her paws hit the ground from the three-story fall, she already heard them coming. Leila ran through the open field and headed toward the unfamiliar woods at full speed.

The lighthouse stood alone upon the bluff. She had expected other houses.

Their pack must be spread out, Leila thought, and was momentarily relieved. She’d only have to deal with the three of them.

She ran swiftly and swerved smoothly between trees as she kept a steady, rapid pace, but she was quickly becoming fatigued from her sore body, lack of sustenance, and poor maintenance of her endurance.

It took her miles to realize they were following her, but not trying to run her down. She soon found out why. Leila stopped abruptly as the forest ended at another bluff.

Her initial fears were confirmed. The ocean was on the wrong side of the west coast. She was on an island. Likely…one of the San Juan Strait Islands.

She changed direction and continued running along the edge of the forest that ran along the bluff until she caught the scent of humans.

Quickly, she moved back into the depths of the forest as homes began emerging along the coastline. The scent grew stronger, and lights came into view in the distance.

The passive following stopped.

Leila was unprepared for how fast they were. One quickly overtook her and swung around to block her way.

He was the sandy-blond one, and he was fast. He must have been the one who caught her that night.

Leila swerved to avoid him, but she couldn’t help but play right into his leading. He pushed her away from the town, back toward the other two.

The forest broke momentarily as she crossed over a paved road. The two others were close on her heels now, and it became clear they were toying with her. It infuriated her.

Again she changed direction, and again the sandy-blond wolf moved to block her way, but she expected it this time.

She ran straight for him, bounding onto the trunk of a tree for leverage, and cleared his head. Leila landed beyond him and swiftly padded back toward the paved road.

White streaked by her peripheral vision just before she felt the fierce impact.

Like before, she felt the breath ripped from her lungs as his weight toppled onto her once they skidded to a stop upon the forest floor. Leila growled viciously, but he kept her firmly pinned.

“What the hell are you doing?” a furious voice yelled. She heard three sets of paws stop nearby. Her pinner was not one of them. All but the one on top of her shifted back.

“She—” Joss, the sandy-blond, began.

“Shift back, now,” the alpha said in anger. Leila felt the tug to obey.

The one on top of her let up enough for her to shift, and he followed close behind.

She felt his hands slip beneath her arms to help her up, but she angrily shoved him away and got up on her own. She spun around to scowl at the five males.

It was the first time she got a good look at them without the cloud of lust fogging her judgment.

Joss and the dark-haired one were the youngest. Joss was the smaller of the two and had an almost lanky form compared to the others. He stood around six-two. The other was around six-three.

Quinn was in his early twenties at least and was the tallest among them. The fourth was the white wolf who had pinned her.

He had platinum blond hair and pale green eyes, clearly not from the same breeding as the other four, and stood around six-four.

He was also in his early twenties, she wagered. Leila’s eyes finally shifted to the last—their alpha—the only one still clothed.

He had dark hair like Quinn and the second youngest, whatever his name was. He was nearly the same height as Quinn, though not quite, but he was bulkier. Stronger. He looked dangerous.

He seemed to be in his mid-twenties as well. Leila furrowed her brow; he was far too young to be an alpha.

Regardless of his age, however, the look he favored her with made her insides twist unpleasantly, and she fought the urge to kneel.

His alpha authority was powerful. She hadn’t felt one like this from any other alpha she had ever seen. Especially considering her heritage.

Who the hell was he?

Looking at them all together made one thing blatantly obvious. Four of them were more than just pack brothers; they were blood brothers.

They were all watching her, and she suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. Her anger further melted when she noticed how beaten up they looked. Bruises, bite marks, and scratches littered their bodies.

Memories of the fighting the night before hit her hard, especially when she noticed the scratch marks and bite marks that were clearly not made by a male. Leila felt the flush of heat on her face.

She had made her mark on them as well.

The moment grew tense and awkward.

His non-verbal point made, the alpha turned and stalked back toward the road without saying another word. The others quickly followed.

The white-haired one gave her a nudge of warning, and she reluctantly trailed along after them.

She cast one last glance toward the town lights and her lost chance at freedom.

A single cab truck sat idling nearby. The three youngest hopped into the bed, and the white-haired one gave her another gentle nudge inside the cab.

Slowly she complied to slide into the middle as he climbed in beside her. The alpha was already in the driver’s seat and shifted into gear once everyone was in.

As they drove along the road in silence, Leila’s adrenaline rush began to abate.

She was becoming all too aware of their proximity, and her prior fears of not trusting herself came back full force. She felt her skin flush as the residue of her heat reawakened her longing.

Leila pressed her thighs tightly together in desperation. Despite all her efforts to mentally soothe her growing arousal, it did not go unnoticed.

Both males on either side of her shifted uncomfortably. Neither was looking at her.

Finally, they exited the forest road, and she could see the lighthouse come into view at the end of the open field. The alpha pulled into the garage she hadn’t seen before.

A truck with dealer plates sat beside several motorcycles.

“Out,” the alpha said, and she had a distinct feeling he was talking to everyone but her.

As the rest of them got out and headed into the house, Leila hesitantly tried to slip away, but a firm hand on her arm stopped her. He waited until the others were all out of sight.

Leila hated how much her wolf was reacting to him. His hand on her arm made her insides warm in the most pleasant way.

It made her angry for some reason.

“I’m only going to say this once,” he said in a slow, hard tone. A brief pause followed.

“Like it or not, you’re with us now,” he said firmly. Leila stared at him, the anger inside her flaring anew. A long, tense moment passed.

“I ha—” he started again in a calmer tone, but she cut him off.

“You don’t get to decide that,” she growled. Even as she said it, she knew how foolish she sounded. But she couldn’t help her pride. His jaw tensed.

“You don’t get a choice,” he said with a furious tone, which only flared her stubborn pride all the more. But before she could retort, he went on.

“What you did was at the height of stupidity,” he growled. She gritted her teeth. At that point, she couldn’t argue.

“I wasn’t exactly in my right mind!” she yelled back defensively, regardless. The tension was growing.

“And I certainly didn’t ask to be shared,” she growled again. To say their current arrangement was an odd one would be an understatement.

His face changed to a strange mix of rage and something else. Guilt? Regret? She couldn’t quite tell. But there was clearly a flinch there, for the briefest of seconds.

“I wasn’t about to let my pack kill each other over you,” he growled viciously. Leila stared at him for a moment with mixed emotions.

“I can’t stay with you, I have a pack,” she said firmly.

“Really? The one you abandoned?” he said. His tone dripped with sarcasm. Leila felt the sting and her eyes narrowed on him in anger.

“Give me back my letter,” she demanded harshly.

“Not until we’ve discussed a few things,” he said calmly. Leila knew what it looked like from his standpoint.

It was almost unheard of for a female to be away from the safety of her pack, especially during a blood moon. Leila glared at him and quickly moved to get out of the truck.

“Where are you going?” he asked with annoyance. She heard his car door shut. He was following her. She ignored him.

“Leila,” he said firmly when she continued. The fact that he’d stolen her name from her very personal letter, only furthered her anger.

“Get ba—” he began in his authoritative alpha tone. Before he could finish the command, Leila spun around and cut him off.

“You’re NOT my alpha!” she screamed. Leila realized her mistake too late. The wolfish anger in his gray-blue eyes was unmistakable.

She felt the alpha power radiating off him. Leila quickly backed away as he advanced. He caught her by the upper arm and yanked her back toward the house.

“Let go,” she said through gritted teeth, but no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t get out of his strong grip. He said nothing.

By the time they were through the door, she had begun to resist too much for his liking. Wordlessly, he spun around and tossed her over his shoulder. Leila scratched at the arm he was holding her with.

She kicked and fought hard.

“Let go of me!” she shrieked, but all her struggles did was make him tighten his hold on her.

“Logan…,” Quinn began as Logan passed through the front room where the others were gathered.

“Go easy, man,” the second youngest said.

“Stay out of it,” Logan snarled. The others backed off. Leila glared at them all as she was effortlessly hauled up the stairs.

He crossed the final steps into the open hallway at the top of the house, to the door of the room she’d searched before her eventful attempt to escape. Logan roughly released her.

Leila stumbled into the bed and took a deep, frustrated breath before she turned her glare back on him. His eyes were wolf-glazed, and he looked to be trying to calm himself.

“Just let me go,” she said more calmly. His eyes narrowed.

“You are not to leave this house,” he said in a calm, firm tone. Leila felt the tug of the command, and her anger flared. Leila was beyond frustrated; she’d never sworn loyalty to him!

“I did not accept you as my alpha,” she snarled with aggravation, more to herself than him.

And that was all it took to send his temper over the edge.

Leila was tossed face down onto the bed. His weight followed suit as he pinned her down with one hand pressed firmly between her shoulders.

Leila made fists in the blanket and pushed up against him as she tried to squirm off sideways, but she didn’t bother arguing. He was beyond hearing it, and she knew it.

He didn’t budge at her squirms, and she felt him move behind her. Finally, his other hand hooked beneath her hip and pulled her waist upward.

The moment she felt the tip of his arousal press against her opening, Leila’s breath caught, and she stopped squirming.

Her whole body relaxed, and she pushed her hips up further against him as she arched her back and spread her thighs in eager acceptance.

The whole reaction was almost involuntary, but she willfully wanted it, badly.

His weight left her for a moment, and confusion mingled with disappointment washed over her. Logan roughly flipped her over and pinned her once again.

“Care to repeat that?” he growled. Leila stared at him, horrified. She had submitted to him, in more ways than one.

His anger hardly abated, and it wasn’t until he saw the brimming of tears in her green eyes that he pushed off of her and raked a hand back through his dark hair.

Leila took a deep breath, a mixture of emotions coursing through her, but at the forefront of it all was overwhelming arousal. He had stirred up that torturous need again.

Leila felt his eyes return to her. She knew the frustration he’d built in her was quite obvious, despite her stubborn efforts to try to compose herself.

Leila’s skin was flushed with want and she lay on the bed, her breaths deep and slow, her green eyes full of unshed tears. She felt overwhelmingly hot.

She desperately pushed her thighs together and angrily turned away from him as she tried to force herself to calm down.

There was a tense silence. She heard him emit an annoyed breath, and the bed tilted as he moved back over her.

Leila glared and attempted to shove him away. Her injured pride fueled her stubbornness. He returned her angry glare as he gripped her wrists and pinned them hard against the bed.

“Enough,” he growled. He hadn’t commanded it, but Leila stopped regardless.

A brief moment of stillness passed between them as they stared at each other.

Leila felt…strange. Strange and aroused.

A tense moment passed before finally Logan released her wrists and slowly leaned down to lightly brush his lips to the side of her jaw.

Leila pulled in a slow breath as he started to nuzzle against her. She brought her hands down to awkwardly touch the sides of his chest.

She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

She shivered as she felt his lips caress along the smooth, sensitive skin of her throat, and she couldn’t help but tilt her head back submissively. It brought about a soft growl of approval from him.

Why had she done that? It was almost involuntary.

Leila lay still as he explored her smooth skin. She felt slightly dazed by the eager reaction of her body to his touch.

He trailed his lips back to the base of her neck where it curved into her shoulder as his large hand moved up to trace along the curve of her breast.

He gently kissed the sensitive spot there, before he unexpectedly bit down, hard.

Leila pulled in a sharp breath and jerked her hips up hard against him from the intensity of the sensation.

Logan nudged her leg, and Leila eagerly spread for him. She slid her thighs up urgently against his waist as he settled his weight on her pelvis.

His large hand cupped her breast and she felt her nipple tighten under his palm. Her breathing increased, and she fully felt the heat of her flushed skin all the way down to the ache between her thighs.

Slowly, he moved his mouth lower and circled his tongue around her hardened nipple.

Leila received an immense jolt from the sensation and pulled in another heavy breath as he took the tip of her breast into his mouth for a hard suck.

She arched into his mouth as her hands slid up along the muscles of his back beneath his shirt. Leila made fists in the fabric and pulled it up.

Logan paused to let her pull it off before he moved to her other nipple to give it the same treatment.

Leila took deep, steady breaths as she felt the wetness of her core dampen her inner thighs. She let herself give in to the lust, but unlike last time, she kept her wits about her.

She arched her hips impatiently as she desperately sought out some friction to soothe the ache, but with his attention on her breasts what she truly wanted was out of reach.

Leila groaned as she caressed her fingers slowly up along his back and shoulders. She could feel all the healing marks she had given him.

He barely had any from the fighting. Everything he had seemed to be from her.

Leila studied the bite marks along his neck. She only vaguely remembered doing that…

Her face burned a little deeper. She wondered just how crazed she must have gotten.

He suddenly took hold of her hips and dragged her forward. It splayed her hair back behind her on the bed.

Leila spread her thighs as he moved into position and her eyes immediately trailed down to where they would soon be joined. A soft gasp escaped her at seeing his size.

No wonder she had been so sore…

Not that it deterred her now. She wanted him—badly. She even emitted a soft growl of impatience when he didn’t immediately mount her.

He moved forward and she felt his thickened tip press against her. Leila’s eyes turned up to his face and she watched him intently as he gripped her hip firmly with one hand.

They held gazes for a moment. Another strange feeling coursed through her. She couldn’t explain it…but looking into his eyes felt…intense.

Logan reached up to gently run his thumb across her lower lip.

Leila gave him a confused look right before he unexpectedly leaned in and kissed her hard as his large hand cupped her jaw to keep her still. With one hard thrust, he planted himself inside her.

Leila arched against him and gasped against his mouth as she felt him fill and stretch her so completely.

Immediately parts of her insides ached.

He held still and she slid her thighs up onto his hips as she adjusted to the feel of being filled with a focused mind.

It was no longer painful despite the sore areas, but she still felt filled to the brim. He was stretching her wide, just bordering on a tinge of pain.

Her whole body reacted to the pleasurable sensation, and just as she began to respond to his mouth, he pulled back from her. He seemed to be gauging her reaction.

Leila’s wolf-glazed eyes stared up at him as she let every ounce of desire show through.

She let her thighs drop off his hips to spread them wide in invitation as she struggled to steady her breathing. She could feel the heat of her skin.

She could care less about anything else at the moment.

She just wanted this…badly.

It must have been what he was looking for because Logan growled and propped himself forward on his arms.

He slowly pulled back to drag himself along her sensitive inner walls before he slammed forward again hard enough to jerk her whole body in a rough thrust and rock her breasts hard.

Leila pulled in a sharp breath and emitted a soft groan as he soothed the lingering fire of her heat.

Logan leaned his weight forward against her and carried it through with his thrusts as he began to move with deep hard strokes.

Leila arched off the bed and canted her hips in passionate approval.

She watched his face intently as he held that steady pace and it didn’t take long for her movements to grow more desperate as she felt the pleasure rapidly build.

She moaned and shoved her hips against his as he growled in pleasure and picked up the pace in response.

Leila felt her muscles start to tense, that hot winding pressure building deep in her lower pelvis.

She arched her back more and finally couldn’t hold his gaze any longer as he began to relentlessly plow into her over and over. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

She gasped as his large hands suddenly gripped her bottom to lift her hips and yank her into his thrusts as he slammed down into her again and again. He was deeper at that angle.

It was almost too much, that hot pleasurable friction inside her. She felt him hitting the deepest part of her—that wild pressure with every hard thrust hitched her breaths.

Even the tinges of pain from the soreness were making her hotter.

Leila moaned between short and shallow breaths as she quickly began to teeter on the brink. She felt her inner wetness start to rhythmically clench around him as his thrusts grew rougher.

The rapid wet slapping of their skin was all she could hear anymore as she felt her increasing heat coating them both and trickling down to the bed.

Leila gripped the sheets harder and harder and just when she thought she could take no more, she suddenly felt that intense hot pressure deep inside her pelvis released in a flood of icy cold, followed by searing heat.

Her breath caught as her body jerked against him. Her inner muscles clenched hard around his girth.

She felt her brain go to mush.

Logan fell forward against her with a pleasured growl at her tightness as he started to truly pound into her without restraint.

Leila gasped in protest as she squeezed her thighs against his hips and hooked her arms beneath his shoulders. She buried her face in his neck as the sensation became too much.

He growled against her ear and buried himself inside her clutching embrace with one final lunge. She felt him flood her with warmth.

After what felt like an eternity of tension, Leila began to calm down. She gasped for breath as she relaxed her hips. Her pulsing center was still wrapped around him.

Logan pushed her back into the bed and stayed buried between her trembling thighs only a moment longer before he slowly pulled out.

Leila shivered from the emptying sensation that seemed to highlight how sore she now felt and watched him as he pushed off to her side.

A long awkward silence passed as they caught their breath. Finally, he stood and began to dress.

Leila just laid there, confused. Her emotions hadn’t yet sorted themselves out. Once dressed, he moved back toward the bed and pulled her to the edge by her leg.

Leila gazed up at him in alarm as he leaned over her in a domineering way with his hands planted on either side.

How had she not noticed how much bigger he was than her until that moment?

The look in his eyes was dark and possessive. Almost angry…but she didn’t feel threatened by him.

Quite the opposite.

“You come to me first,” he said furiously and left the room. She heard some brief words exchanged downstairs before the front door slammed.

Leila sat up and glanced at the door, completely puzzled. Her anger slowly began to return.

What the hell?

She pushed off the bed in annoyance and slowly sank to the floor beside it. The minutes passed by and she tried to make sense of what she was feeling.

Her emotions were jumbled up… She was practically being held hostage after all, but she couldn’t blame anyone but herself.

Leila heard someone move up the stairs, and soon the door creaked as it was pushed open. She didn’t bother looking at who it was.

“He’s got a bit of a temper, but he’s not so bad.” Quinn’s tone was slightly joking but held an underlying hint of awkwardness.

Leila finally glanced over at him, and she could easily see the frustration in his eyes that her arousal had stirred up. He had redressed since their run through the woods.

“I, uh, got you some clothes,” he said when she glanced away and didn’t respond. She could hear the strain in his tone. Another silent moment passed.

“They’re in my room. You can stay there for now…,” he added. It went silent again as she sat in miserable brooding.

Her post-orgasm glow had finally settled, and she felt the tug of arousal begin to surface anew. That dreaded ache of longing steadily began to build again.

The frustration and anger increased tenfold. She wanted to cry. This was torture…how much longer could this possibly last?

She knew a newly mated female’s first heat was prolonged. She started to wonder if being mated for the first time in heat made it somehow worse.

Or maybe having five mates made it worse…

It hit her then that she could feel them all. Only a little bit… Leila knew mates had an empathetic connection.

Strong emotions, particularly frustration and arousal... though it was hard to tell which were theirs and which were hers.

Leila glanced back at him. She didn’t have to feel it to know he was aroused.

The slight flush on his skin and desire in his eyes were clear. Her pride was already bruised. What did it matter anyway?

At that moment, all she cared about was soothing her need, and she shoved everything else out of her mind.

“You must be hungry…” Quinn’s voice trailed off as she suddenly stood and moved toward him. His expression turned suspicious, at least, until she yanked open his pants.

Logan’s words of “come to me first,” boiled a bit of the anger inside her. Like hell, she would!

For some reason, her wolf felt hotly angry at him. Incredibly angry at him.

Leila glanced up at Quinn’s face as she took his semi-hard length into her inexperienced grasp and stroked him several times.

It wasn’t the first time she’d done it; in the frenzied haze that overcame her, she remembered at least several occasions, but now that she had a focused mind, she couldn’t help the heated blush that pinked her skin.

It was a strange texture; she never knew something so hard could still feel so soft.

Seeing the size of him too, she felt a moment of apprehension despite that part of her mind that felt a tinge of excitement from it. She didn’t know how she managed to take them so many times...

Leila shifted her thighs a bit as she felt the ache of arousal inside her.

Somewhere in her mind, she felt like she should be ashamed of herself, but at that moment... Leila had no shame, she just didn’t care.

Her need won out.

Quinn stiffened slightly in surprise, his hand slowly threading through her hair as a low groan of pleasure escaped him.

As she coaxed his impressive asset to full hardness, Leila glanced up and noted the glaze of lust that had overtaken his eyes with smug satisfaction.

He tugged her up suddenly to toss her over a shoulder and turned to tote her back to his room.

Leila squirmed free of his grasp before he could toss her on the bed and have his way with her. Something inside her was protesting hard at her lack of control.

After she helped him remove the remainder of his clothing, Leila shoved him back on the bed and quickly followed along to straddle his waist.

She watched his blue eyes intently as she lined him up to her overly ready entrance. He obliged her unspoken request for control and slid his hands up to her hips.

Leila felt a sudden surge of something at his compliance, but at that moment, she couldn’t focus on anything else.

She wanted him inside her.

Leila lowered herself down on him and took a deep, slow breath. She rested her hands on his hard abs as she continued to slowly sink her hips. He felt so big.

She felt every thick inch of him stretching her, and she groaned at the feeling. Just before their hips met, Quinn tugged her down eagerly as he thrust up from below to sheath himself roughly inside her.

Leila gasped at the tinge of pain it caused, but the feel of him stretching her full made that lingering fire in need of soothing flare up again.

Leila wasted no time in starting to desperately bounce. She gritted her teeth in pleasure as he thrust his hips up to meet her hips. Hard and deep.

Quinn’s hands slid up along her smooth abdomen to her heavy breasts. Leila leaned into his touch as he squeezed her soft skin.

Desperation quickly began to creep into her movements as the friction was stirring her insides up toward her peak.

By the feel of him throbbing within her stretched inner walls, she knew he was headed there too.

Leila struggled to breathe as she chased that feeling.

Suddenly Quinn’s hands left her breasts to grip hard at her waist and roughly pulled her down as he lunged his hips upward to bury himself entirely inside her.

He groaned in pleasure as Leila’s breath stilled. That final thrust was all she needed to feel the burst of overwhelming heat inside her pelvis.

Everything else faded away as she felt her muscles clench hard around his throbbing length and her whole body tremble with absolute pleasure.

Leila gasped in shock as she was suddenly shoved forward off Quinn before she had even finished cumming.

She struggled to steady herself as she fell upon the equally staggered male beneath her as another pair of hands gripped her hips.

Leila gritted her teeth as he roughly impaled her clutching depths and filled her to the hilt.

He was big just like the others, almost too big. She groaned as he jerked back and began to immediately pound inside her with hard built-up need.

Leila managed to push up off Quinn enough to balance herself against his roughness. She felt Quinn’s large hands on her sides to help keep her steady.

It was torture being taken through her cum, it prolonged the intense pleasure high...and just as she finally began to come down, she started heading right back toward another.

Leila gritted her teeth as the male behind her pounded her relentlessly until finally, the onslaught was over with another hard cum for both of them.

Leila struggled to breathe as she collapsed on the male beneath her and let her body relax until her eyes drifted toward the doorway, where the two youngest stood waiting, their eyes equally glazed over with wolfish lust.

***

Leila stood in front of the mirror in Logan’s bathroom. Her eyes trailed over all the bruised bite marks along her neck, upper arms, chest, and thighs.

Some had already started to fade. Leila pushed her hair over her shoulder and turned to look at her back. She had nips up there too.

She didn’t know how she’d ever face her mother again. She didn’t know how she was going to face anyone again.

She told herself at least it would all be gone in a few days. Their healing was three times as fast as an average human.

Leila’s hair was dripping wet. She had not bothered to towel dry it yet. She glanced at the door when she heard movement in the rooms below.

Her face turned even hotter. She noticed the house was somewhat insulated between the rooms, but her capacity to hear was only diminished, so it was not entirely sound-proofed.

Leila took an unsteady breath. Her feelings were a mixture of humiliation, embarrassment, and awkwardness, and though it horrified her the most...satisfied.

She finally felt sated.

Sated and...horribly sore. None of them had exactly been gentle...though it wasn’t like she had encouraged them to be.

Her horny inner wolf wanted to be pounded, and they seemed to gladly oblige whatever wordless signal she was giving them.

Leila tried to sort through her mind for everything her mother told her about mating bonds, but none of it would help her in this situation.

Mating five strangers in a frenzy on a blood moon.

Ugh.

Leila covered her face with her hands. She felt the heat of the flush on her skin. Her blush ran all the way down to her chest.

The redness seemed to go so deep into her skin that she wondered if she would ever be a normal color again.

Mating was for life. She was stuck with them for life.

There was no undoing this.

Five mates. Five.

The panic she had initially felt when she woke returned.

She didn’t even know who they were. What kind of males were they? What pack were they from? How many were in their pack?

She could be pregnant.

The thought hit her hard. Leila took several hard breaths.

No, she thought. It was very unusual for a female’s first time to lead to pregnancy. Their first few heats weren’t particularly fertile.

But Leila was on her fifth…

She took another deep breath and shoved that thought aside. She started toweling off her hair.

She did not want to face them again, not after what just happened. But she was thirsty and hungry. Quinn told her he was going to make her something.

Leila walked out into Logan’s bedroom and stared at the tank top and sweatpants he had left for her.

They weren’t her size; the tank top was a little too small, and the pants were a little too big. Leila tried them on.

After Quinn’s bedroom, the tank top made her feel a little too exposed but the sweatpants stayed.

She glanced at the drawers in the corner of Logan’s room. Would he be angry if she took a shirt? One of them had dressed her in theirs earlier. Quinn. It had been his scent.

The frustration of the moment hit her hard. Were they even trustworthy? What would happen if she made them mad?

What if they were like Gregor?

Leila tossed that thought aside the moment it came into her head. She wouldn’t insult them that way.

Given the circumstances, they had been…cordial? That didn’t seem the right word. But none of them seemed vicious.

Those memories from that night just kept replaying over and over in her mind. How much they had fought each other. They couldn’t be vicious if they managed not to kill each other.

It would have taken a lot of restraint. Now knowing they were brothers, it made a little more sense how they pulled what little self-control they had to go for wounding and not killing.

Leila wasn’t so sure if being mated to brothers made her situation worse or better.

She ran a hand back through her hair. She had to stop thinking lest she drive herself mad.

Leila went to Logan’s drawers and pulled out a shirt. Even clean, it held a lingering hint of his scent. She brought it to her nose and nuzzled her face into it.

Why did she like it so much? The others didn’t elicit the same response.

His scent was weirdly comforting, and for the briefest of moments, she felt a flash of guilt that she had other male scents inside her.

Leila furrowed her brow with confusion but pushed it from her mind.

What did she have to feel guilty about?

It was his fault they were even in this predicament.

Well… she knew she wasn’t exactly blameless.

Leila pulled it over her head and felt a little more secure with how big it was. It covered her completely and reached her mid-thigh.

She took a rubber band from his desk to put her wet hair up in a messy bun.

With great reluctance, she left the room.

Leila awkwardly came down the stairs. She hesitated the moment she came into sight of the others on the spiral staircase when it opened into the living space.

She took a slow breath. There was no avoiding this. She forced herself down the last few steps.

“What are your names?” Leila asked straightaway. She couldn’t stand the awkward silence. The question immediately seemed weird after everything they’d done.

“I’m Quinn,” Quinn said, just as awkwardly. He was in the kitchen.

“Joss,” the sandy-blond said.

“Cade,” the second youngest dark-haired one said.

“That’s Aaron,” Quinn said as he gestured to the living room. Leila glanced over at the white-haired male. He was watching TV and not paying attention to them.

“Leila is your name, right? Not those other ones?” Joss asked. Leila nodded.

She half-expected a whole lot of questions, but none came.

“Uh… I made you a sandwich. I’m sure you’re hungry,” Quinn said awkwardly. Leila glanced over to the kitchen island.

Although she was hungry, she had no idea if she could eat with how she was feeling.

Regardless, she walked over and sat awkwardly on the stool. The loss of her dignity, especially after her recent exploit, had started to really gnaw at her pride.

Despite everything she was feeling, she kept herself up straight. She was an alpha daughter of the Copiii lunii, dammit. She had always been taught to be proud.

She downed the glass of water and took a few bites of her sandwich as she tried to avoid eye contact with any of them. Leila glanced over to the living room.

Aaron, the white-haired wolf, hadn’t once looked at her since she came downstairs. He had been the one who had…er…interrupted Quinn and her.

“How old are you?” Joss asked. Leila looked at him. He and Cade had sat opposite her.

“Eighteen,” Leila said. Joss grinned.

“Me too. April or October?” Joss asked.

“Um… March actually,” Leila replied.

“Geez, you’re almost jailbait,” Cade said. She scowled. Their kind didn’t care about human normals.

“How old are you?” Leila asked him.

“Twenty,” Cade said. Leila looked at Quinn.

“Twenty-three,” Quinn said. Leila glanced over at Aaron.

“He’s twenty-four,” Quinn answered. Leila furrowed her brow. Could he not talk or something?

“And your alpha?” Leila questioned.

“Twenty-five,” Quinn said. Leila stared at him. She had never heard of a male taking alpha that young. Most alphas were only deemed ready in their mid-thirties.

It gave them time to establish their families and fully prepare to take on the responsibility.

It was a heavy burden.

Leila took another bite of her sandwich when the awkward quiet returned. She chewed slowly and avoided looking at anyone. Through her peripheral vision, she could see Cade smirking at her.

It was quickly becoming unbearable.

“How long was I sleeping?” she finally asked in an effort to break the uncomfortable quiet.

“Just over a day,” Quinn said as he refilled her water glass. Leila stared at him. A whole day?

“What were you giving me?” she said with a bit of a scowl as she picked up her glass.

“Uh…just a little sedative,” Quinn said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“A little? It took an elephant’s dose to knock you out,” Cade said with a broad grin. Leila turned her glare on him.

“You didn’t give us much choice. You went pretty feral on us,” Joss added in a more serious tone.

“And we needed a fucking break. Pun intended. I never thought I’d ever say that,” Cade added, his grin widened all the more.

“You were—” he began. Leila felt her cheeks start to burn brighter.

“Leave it,” Quinn snapped at him. She was starting to like Quinn more and more.

“Where are we?” Leila quickly changed the subject.

“Meridan,” Quinn said. Leila stared at him. The irony of it was almost amusing. She was on the very island she had purchased a ticket for.

“Where are my things?” she asked.

“You’ll have to take that up with Logan,” Quinn said calmly.

Leila scowled a bit and took another bite. She glanced back at the TV. It looked awfully new, and the truck outside with dealer plates…

Leila had a feeling they were already enjoying her money.

“Why were you alone?” Joss asked out of the blue. Leila immediately felt uncomfortable.

“Joss,” Quinn said firmly.

Leila fiddled with a piece of bread. Should she answer him?

Elliot’s word suddenly came back to her in a rush: “There will be no place in the world we wouldn’t hunt you down.”

Leila took a sharp breath. She felt her heart start to pound.

How had she not thought of this until now? Their mating her just might have been their death sentence.

Surely their pack couldn’t be a match for the Rugurus. What would they do once they knew? How long would it be until Gregor found her?

“Forget I asked,” Joss said quickly. Leila knew they could hear her racing heart, but it was more than that now. They could feel her emotions.

The full realization that she could never have private moments to herself again was a strange one.

“Where’s the rest of you?” Leila quickly asked in an attempt to calm herself. She watched them exchange an awkward glance, but none of them said anything. Leila stared at them.

“This is…all of you?” she asked incredulously.

“Yup,” Joss said a little awkwardly.

“Sorry to disappoint ya,” Cade answered with a smug tone. Leila was horrified.

She was bound to a bunch of rogues.