Chapter 9 - Inseparable

Bella

I blinked. This was surely the strangest pack house in the world. Why would the notorious twin Alphas ask to sleep in a bed with a slave? Why were these powerful men standing in my room, looking at me with pleading puppy-dog eyes? But I found that I couldn’t deny them. I didn’t even want to. I bit my lip and nodded my consent, still feeling awed that they were even asking my permission.

Their faces lit up with happiness, like little kids being offered their favorite sweet treat. I tried not to look at their perfect, half-naked bodies as they lifted the covers and slid onto the bed on either side of me. Byron slipped an arm around me, and turned me slightly so that my back was pressed against his front. I felt my face heat up as I realized my bottom was being perfectly cradled in his pelvis. His arm tightened around my middle.

But before I could dwell on the intimate position, Wyatt had cuddled me from the front. My breasts were pressed against the hard plains of his chest. I was glad they had turned the lights out, so they couldn’t see how red with embarrassment my face must be. I was sure he could feel the way my nipples had hardened against him. He made a satisfied grumbly noise in his throat and threw his thigh over my legs.

And just like that, I was sandwiched between two of the most powerful men in the Werewolf world. I should have been more apprehensive, but instead, I relaxed easily into their body heat, their sweet aroma wrapped around me, filling my nostrils, and I felt… safe. My eyes drooped, and I eased into sleep.

Wyatt’s hand was stroking up and down the sensitive skin of the inside of my thigh. Everywhere the rough pads of his fingers touched, my skin was tingling with heat. I held my breath, not knowing what I should do. If he knew I was awake, would he stop? Or would he do more? I knew it wasn’t right to let a strange man touch me in such a familiar, intimate way, but it felt so good. I was about to open my mouth, when Byron’s hand slipped upward from my stomach, slipping under the hem of my pajama top, to cup my breast. He squeezed it gently, and I couldn’t stop the groan that slipped from my lips. Wyatt’s hand slipped upwards between my legs, cupping my mound through my clothing, and pressing against my center, before creeping up to slip under my waistband. Just as I felt his warm fingers touch my lower lips, Byron began to pinch and roll my hardened, sensitive nipples. I writhed between them, arching my back, trying to simultaneously press my breasts into Byron’s hands, and roll my hips into Wyatt’s exploring fingers. Heat had built in my stomach, and I felt a strange and unfamiliar dampness between my legs. From somewhere deep within my mind, I heard the most satisfied growl.

I startled awake and tried to sit up, but found that I was still pinned under the heavy limbs of the Alpha brothers. Their hands were still in respectable, neutral positions. I had only been dreaming.

Oh my god, what a dream! I could smell the scent of my own arousal, and I was thankful that the brothers seemed to be heavy sleepers. The situation was mortifying. They couldn’t know I was thinking such dirty, inappropriate thoughts about them! I didn't know what they would do to me if they knew! I wriggled my way out from between them and went to the bathroom to wash myself down there.

I tried to block out the steamy dream as I used a hot, soapy washcloth to wash my lady parts. I was tempted to touch myself, to relieve that ache, but I didn’t dare do any such thing with the brothers just on the other side of that door. I rinsed and re-rinsed the cloth before I put it into the hamper, and then put on clean underwear and my pajama bottoms. I hoped I had removed all the evidence. I shut off the light before I eased the door open.

The brothers, having sensed my absence in their sleep, had rolled away from each other, and now faced opposite directions. The blankets had gotten bunched and shoved around, leaving their torsos gleaming in the moonlight. I took advantage of the private moment to drink in the sight of them.

They were so beautiful, so powerful, so perfectly masculine, even in the throws of slumber. That strange something inside me, the same thing from my dream, made a strange noise in my head and said, “Mine.”

I gasped and covered my mouth.

Was that… the voice of a wolf in my head? But that wasn’t possible. I didn’t have a wolf. Everyone at the White Pine’s pack had said so. It was only further proof of my inferiority. But I felt her, stirring in my psyche now. She might be a little delusional, trying to make a claim on the twin brothers, but she was there!

What now? Was I actually going to shift like other werewolves? I shivered and pulled anxiously at my hair. I eyed the bed and the narrow space between the sprawled alphas.

That’s where I wanted to be, back in that safe, warm place between them. I carefully crawled back into bed, contorting my body so that I could slip back under the blankets without disturbing them.

I pulled the sheet back up around my neck and arranged myself on my side so that I wasn’t lying on my injuries. I was facing Byron’s broad muscular back. I wanted to touch it, I wanted to trace the lines of his spine and the ridges of his muscles, but I was afraid. I fisted my hands and willed them to behave, tucking them up under my chin instead. I reminded myself harshly that I was nothing and nobody, and I had no business touching an Alpha. What was I thinking?

Wyatt

I woke up tangled up in sheets and arms and legs. I pushed Byron’s leg off my knees and turned my attention to my little mate. She was using my chest as a pillow, her warm breath teasing my skin as she breathed. Her hair had gone wild and was tickling me around my neck, but I didn’t mind. I picked up a lock of that hair and ran it between my fingers. It was silky soft, and such a strange color, inky black strands intertwined with deep red. Together the colors blended like a black cherry. I buried my nose in her hair and sniffed deeply of the sweet, minty chocolate scent.

I was going to wake up to this sweet woman every day for the rest of my life. I smiled at the thought. I just had to be patient, and give her time to adjust, time to heal.

I glanced across at my brother. He had one arm stuffed under his head and the other circling Bella’s hips. We had always known it was a high probability that we would share a mate. I didn’t resent him or feel jealous, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she would love us both equally, or if she would favor one of us over the other.

I hated to leave her, but we needed to go train with the rest of the pack. I kicked Byron’s leg under the blanket.

He grumbled and peeled open his eyes. He gave me a glare, and then his eyes moved to Bella, and he relaxed into a sleepy smile. He reached over and brushed her hair away from her face, so he could see her better. “I could get used to this,” he said, echoing my own thoughts.

“Training,” I grumbled, carefully shifting her from my chest back onto the mattress. I was trying not to wake her, but when I eased her off my chest, she jerked and snapped awake, sitting up sharply and looking around the room in anxious confusion.

“Hey, shh, sorry. We didn’t mean to startle you.” I stroked her forearm. She followed my hand with big, round eyes. “You can go back to sleep. Byron and I need to go to training.”

Her eyes shot to the window, which was just barely beginning to glow in the pre-dawn light. As usual, she pressed her lips together, and didn’t say anything. Byron smiled at her and took her other hand. “When you are recovered and feeling better, you will join us for training.”

Her mouth puckered into a little “o”. Of course, she had never been to training, slaves are not allowed to learn to fight. But if she was going to be our Luna, she needed to learn. Byron and I would always protect her, but she also needed to show the world how strong she was. She was going to be like a mother to our pack, and she had to lead by example.

Again I couldn’t help but wonder at the Goddess. Why would she put a slave girl into such a demanding position? It didn’t make sense. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward and kissing her forehead. “Get some more rest, Bella. Hailey will be up to help you in a couple of hours.” My lips tingled as they connected with her soft warm skin. I looked down at her lips and imagined kissing them instead. The wolf inside of me whined impatiently. When? When???