Out of Smoke and Ashes Read online

  “George and Luke,” Liam said with a nod. “Fine names for fine lads.”

  “I’m just glad they’re healthy,” Rick said. When Jan smacked him, hard, on the shoulder, Rick glared at his brother before noticing Mai’s sad look. “Oh, sorry, hon. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Elain, who stood closest to Mai, draped a comforting arm around her shoulder.

  “It’s okay,” Mai said as she leaned into Elain for support. “Please, I am really happy for you guys and I want you to be happy. You have every right to be proud parents.”

  Elain felt the worry in her friend’s heart, almost as thick as a visible cloud surrounding her.

  “Hey,” Lina said, “you’ve got all of us, and me and Callie will both be there for you when it’s your turn. Won’t we?”

  Callie nodded from the other side of the bed. “You bet we will.”

  “I don’t want to be a wet blanket on you guys,” Mai said. “The uncertainty’s killing me.”

  Dr. Alberto added her opinion. “Hey, I was just happy these boys were born with two feet and two hands and not as dragons.” She kindly smiled at Mai. “Your little girl will be okay. Not saying there won’t be challenges ahead of her and you both because of the Down syndrome, but with a family like this around you, they won’t let you down.”

  Micah and Jim made their way over to Mai. Elain stepped out of their way, the cloud of worry melting as she disengaged from her friend.

  “Right now,” Lacey said, “I think it’s time for all of us to leave them alone. Not to mention we are all overdue for a visit with our beds.”

  “Amen,” Elain said.

  Chapter Five

  Cail headed out to patrol the grounds again once he heard Elain and the others were on their way back.

  He didn’t want to be caught off-guard again.

  That Abernathy had sent men stinking of him to their property, their home, enraged him beyond words.

  Fortunately, Ain hadn’t questioned him about it.

  His next job would be trying to keep his rage from Elain. She had enough to deal with right then, although he wasn’t sure he quite understood Brodey’s quick explanation of what had happened on the way to the hospital.

  He paused, head up, ears focused, listening to sounds in the night. As a raccoon emerged from beneath a stand of ferns at the edge of a wooded section, he let out a chuff at it.

  It paused, blinking at him before turning around and returning to the safety of the trees.

  Wise move. I’m not in a mood to be fucked with tonight.

  He was in a mood to maim and kill. To rip Abernathy’s throat out with his teeth.

  How deep and strong that desire ran scared him a little.

  * * * *

  Back from the hospital and at the Lyalls’ house, Daniel tried to go to sleep. Morning would come way too fast for his liking, not if they wanted to make their flight, which he did. Beside him, comfortably nestled against him, Callie had already drifted off to sleep.

  He wondered just how long she would remain lying there so peacefully.

  Her nightmares came more frequently now. At first, they happened only occasionally. Then a couple of times a week. Lately, it’d been nearly every night, to the point he’d quit saying anything to her about them.

  She never remembered them. He knew she wasn’t lying to him, because as his mate, she wasn’t capable of lying to him.

  Lacey had no advice or insight on the matter.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When an odd sensation swept through him, as if he’d lifted off the bed, he opened his eyes.

  And found himself standing in a strange living room.

  “Hello, Daniel Blackstone. Or would you prefer I call you Blackie?”

  He spun around. The middle-aged woman stood behind her kitchen counter.

  “Where am I? Who are you?”

  She waved his questions away. “You’re mated to my sister. It shouldn’t be difficult to guess.”

  He stared. “You’re Baba Yaga?”

  “That’s me.”

  He looked around. “How’d I get here?”

  “I brought you here. To talk.”

  He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. “About what?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Do we really need to play games? I thought you were concerned about Callie’s nightmares.”

  Now he was tracking. Didn’t mean he trusted her. “Yes, I am.”

  “You have no idea what they’re about?”

  He shook his head. “She never remembers them. We’ve tried everything. We talked to Lacey about it and she didn’t have any clues.”

  “Have you tried edicting her to remember?”

  He stared at her again, blinking. “No,” he admitted. “I didn’t think of that.”

  “Here’s the thing. Regardless of what powers I do have, I’m not powerful enough to read her mind like that. Not her. If she was a mortal-born human or even some of the shifters, possibly. Her? I couldn’t even if she wanted me traipsing around in there.”

  “Then why are we having this discussion if you can’t help?”

  “Because I want you to keep your eyes and mind open if edicting her doesn’t help.”

  “Open how? Can I get a clear answer out of you?”

  She smiled. “No. Frankly, this time, I don’t have a clear answer for you. But you might run across another who can assist you at some point in time. If you don’t piss them off.”

  “A name would be nice.”

  “Any name I give you might not be valid when you meet with them.”

  He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Lina’s right. You are a bitch.”

  She grinned. “Thank you. And safe journeys.”

  She waved her hand before he could reply. Next thing he knew, the alarm on his iPhone was blasting beside the bed.

  He sat up and silenced it before swinging around to sit on the edge. Four hours had passed, and he’d apparently slept.

  On the other side of the bed, Callie sleepily mumbled something.

  He sighed. “Wake up, pet. Time to head for home.”

  “Five more minutes, Sir. Please?”

  He stared at her, beautiful even in the darkness to his keen lupine eyes. “Five more minutes, pet.”

  * * * *

  Once home and exhausted, Elain dropped her clothes onto the bathroom floor and stepped into the shower. Mentally, physically, emotionally, she felt completely drained by the day’s events.

  No, definitely not the way she’d envisioned spending her wedding night, but she was happy for her friends.

  Unfortunately, now she was forced to think about the exchange she’d had with the spirit of Maureen Alexander while on the way to the hospital.

  I’m too tired to even shave my fricking legs.

  She rested her forehead against the cool tile and let the soothing hot water sluice over her.

  So much to absorb. So much to think about.

  And I don’t have a damn clue what to do with any of it.

  The last thing she’d expected during the birth of her friends’ babies was a conversation with the spirit of her dead mother.

  Must. Get. Back. On. Birth. Control. After hearing what Mai went through after the wedding, and knowing Abernathy hadn’t given up, it was more important now than ever to stay focused.

  She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. Just when she thought she had a handle on all the weirdness that now formed the fabric of her life and family, the Universe raised the bar even higher.

  She never heard the bathroom door open, but then Cail was standing with her in the shower, naked. He engulfed her in his arms, holding her close. “It’s okay, babe. Let it out.”

  “Where were you?”

  She heard him sigh. “I ran another patrol around the perimeter.”

  Safely folded against his chest, let it out was exactly what she did. When she finally cried herself dry, she stood there, still too tired to move.

  “I think,�
� he softly said, “you need a long, uninterrupted sleep.”

  She nodded.

  He made sure she was steady on her feet before letting go of her. With gentle hands, he grabbed a washcloth and sudsed her up. She stood there and let him bathe her, eyes closed, trying to simply be in the moment and not follow the tortured course of her brain’s meanderings.

  To not think about what she wanted to do to Abernathy when she finally got her hands on him.

  To not think about what she had done to Paul Abernathy.

  “Cail?” she softly asked.

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “What if I shouldn’t have kids,” she whispered. “What if I’m…what if I’m too vicious? What if I get mad and can’t control myself?”

  He looked shocked at first, his sweet brown eyes widening before he hugged her again. “Sweetie, I think, when you want to be a mom, you will be the best mom ever. You’ll viciously protect your kids. But you don’t need to think about that now. We have lots of time for that when you’re ready.”

  “But look what I did to that guy.”

  “He deserved it and more.” He held her at arm’s length, his expression serious. “Do you want to know some of the things the three of us have done throughout the years? We’ve fought a lot of battles. In the old days, it wasn’t people a few hundred yards away from each other sniping with rifles, never getting up close and personal. What you did, compared to some of the things we’ve done and seen, was a preschool brawl.”

  She blinked as she stared up at him. No, in reality, there was a lot she didn’t know about her men.

  “Do you love us any less for all those things?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “Then why do you think we’d love you any less? You are our life. You stood up to a bully, not just for yourself, but for Mai, too. We all know it. Everyone knows it. Despite how Daniel ruled in her favor, that fight wasn’t just about you and the damn blood oath. It was about Mai and her baby, too. It was a loud and clear statement for people not to screw with our family. Our Pack.”

  She glanced at her hands. No blood there. Despite what Callie had done for her by the water at Lacey’s thinking place in Maine, the informal ceremony helping her cleanse her hands, she still sometimes recalled the feel of Paul’s blood coating her flesh.

  He pulled her close and gently tipped her chin so he could look into her eyes. “You’re exhausted. The wedding, Lina’s babies, worrying about Mai, talking to…” He trailed off and didn’t finish.

  “Maureen,” she said. “My mother. Don’t dance around it.”

  He nodded. “That’s a lot. Yeah, we’re wolves. We’re also not indestructible. We need rest and downtime as much as anyone else. So quit beating yourself up. It’s been an emotional couple of days. An exhausting couple of days. We’ll get you some good sleep. Then when you wake up, a good meal and some quiet snuggle time. You’ll feel a lot better and be able to process all of this.”

  She snorted. “You mean some ‘fuck my brains out’ time.”

  “No, maybe Brodey might want that right now, but he can go rub one out if he gets too horny. I think you need to just chill out and relax and let your body tell you what you need.”

  “Sleep,” she said with a sigh. “Lots and lots of sleep.”

  He quickly soaped up and they both rinsed off. After drying off, he climbed into bed with her.

  She snuggled tightly against his side, his scent filling her lungs and helping to settle her racing brain.

  * * * *

  Cail watched as she fell asleep in his arms. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

  He worried about her, sometimes. Like tonight. Knowing how tortured she still felt about defeating Paul, it killed him he couldn’t take those feelings away from her. That he couldn’t make it all better for her.

  I’ve had a lot of years as a wolf. She had just found out what she truly was. Learning to cope with what they could and sometimes had to do in their lives wasn’t something he could actively help her with.

  All he could do was be there for her and hope the mental strain didn’t weigh too heavily on her.

  I need to talk to Brodey. Despite him and Ain frequently teasing Brodey about being the “bonehead,” neither of them would ever disparage his abilities as a wolf. He was far better at it, and dealing with the sometimes unpleasant things that came with it.

  He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

  * * * *

  Elain awoke at some point early in the predawn hours after experiencing swirling, nebulous dreams of a more than sexy sort. Her and her men doing all kinds of kinky things together.

  She didn’t know what had awakened her, but she knew from the sounds that all three of her men were snuggled in bed around her.

  Dammit. Now she was horny.

  And, apparently, wide awake.

  She was sandwiched between Cail and Ain, that much she could tell in the darkness based upon their scent. She never had trouble telling the brothers apart, even with her eyes closed.

  Too bad Brodey had ended up on the outside tonight. He could practically make love in his sleep.

  She stifled a giggle over that.

  Rolling onto her side to face Ain, she pressed her body against him in hopes of an automatic response of some sort short of having to wake him up. He mumbled a little, but she felt the unmistakable sensation of his cock stiffening between them.

  Bingo.

  For her part, her pussy was already wet. She didn’t know if it was the dreams that had done it to her or not.

  He mumbled a little again when she gently grasped his cock and slowly stroked it. It responded immediately, growing hard beneath her fingers. Carefully, she wiggled herself into position on her side and swiped his engorged cockhead back and forth between her labia a few times before nestling it into position and sinking it home inside her ready cunt.

  Ahh.

  She lay there for a moment, hoping Ain would wake up. He didn’t, but she felt his cock twitch a few times inside her as if to say, “Hey, get busy.”

  It was a little trickier than she’d expected, but she slowly started moving, enjoying the feel of his stiff shaft inside her pussy. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the feeling, unprepared when he suddenly rolled on top of her.

  “Sneaky woman,” he grumbled in her ear.

  Something inside her broke free in a good way, her juices flooding her cunt now as his deep, rumbling tone worked its way inside her soul. He reached down and found her hands, laced his fingers through them, and raised them over her head where he pinned them to the bed.

  “Is my mate horny?” he whispered.

  “Uh-huh!”

  “Did someone say horny?” Brodey muttered in the dark.

  “Now you’re in trouble,” Ain said. His hips began moving, every stroke of his cock perfectly hitting her clit and making her gasp at the sensation.

  Next to them, she heard Cail let out a pained grunt as Brodey tried climbing over him.

  “Hey! Watch it!”

  “Well, move,” Brodey said. “Some of us are horny here.”

  “I’m going to make you start sleeping on the floor,” Cail said.

  “Boys,” she said, “you’re ruining sexy time.”

  Ain responded by tightening his grip on her hands and taking a few hard strokes. “Oh, really?”

  “Oookay,” she said, “maybe not.”

  Suddenly, Brodey was there next to her, his lips capturing hers when he turned her face to him. His tongue fucked her mouth as Ain fucked her pussy, swallowing her moans.

  “I guess I’m not getting back to sleep until we’re done,” Cail said. “Now I’m awake and horny.”

  Brodey lifted his mouth from hers. “Wait your turn,” he said. Then he kissed her again.

  She felt the bed shift as someone moved. Cail, by her best guess. Then on her other side the mattress dipped and she realized he’d walked around the bed. His hand settled on her breast, his fingers tweaking he
r nipple as he nuzzled the curve of her neck. He lightly grazed his teeth across her flesh before gently nipping at her shoulder.

  It was enough to send her over the edge. Her first orgasm washed over her as Brodey swallowed her moans.

  “That’s it,” Ain grunted. He started fucking her pussy harder, faster, keeping her release rolling through her as he sought his own. She felt his cock grow hotter, harder inside her, until he let out a deep moan through his last several thrusts before falling still.

  Thisss… Her soul and body cried out for more, wanting them all inside her, wanting time to stand still so she could experience this pleasure, this connectedness, forever. It sometimes seemed she never felt more alive than she did when making love to her men, as if her mind expanded, things felt more real.

  Or, maybe she felt like that because it was the best sex of her life.

  She didn’t care why, all she knew was that Brodey practically panted for his chance to start fucking her. Which was perfectly fine with her, because she wanted him inside her pussy right then.

  Ain managed to get a kiss in before moving out of the way. In the darkness, Brodey grabbed her, flipped her onto her stomach, and pulled her up to her knees. Before she could brace herself he’d unerringly lined his cock up with her cunt and sank it home inside her.

  “Hold on, babe,” he said. “This is going to be hard and fast.”

  Hard and fast was right. She wasn’t even sure if she would manage to come before he did despite how deliciously he filled her, how he hit her G-spot with each stroke from that angle. Then Cail slid his hand underneath her, between her legs, and found her swollen clit.

  When Cail’s teeth clamped down on her shoulder, her release exploded out of her, making her bite down on her pillow to muffle her scream.

  “Oh, yeah,” Brodey said, fucking her harder and faster. “You just keep coming for us like that, babe. Dammit, that feels so good!”

  It felt like she would never stop coming. Not that she was complaining about it. Cail had latched on, not letting go, his hand working faster between her legs to rub her clit even as she felt his low, possessive growl reverberate through his body to hers. The pain in her shoulder from his bite only served to drive her pleasure higher. The scent of their arousal and hers filled the room like a sweet cloud to her sensitive wolf nose.