Alpha Queen (Claimed by Wolves 4)

But even the laughter and the good-natured joking between the guys isn’t enough to fully calm my nerves. I’ve been drawn as tight as a bow string all day, and I can’t imagine it’s going to get any better before tomorrow, when we march on Wolfsbane Mountain.

I’m lost in thought for the dozenth time, my imagination spiraling through possible scenarios of what we might face in the fight, when Trystan nudges me with an elbow. “Pass the pepper, sweetheart?”

“Say please.” I shake myself out of my reverie, shooting him a teasing look as I reach for the shaker sitting by my plate.

Trystan leans in and nips at my ear, then presses a purposefully wet kiss to my cheek. “Please.”

Archer chuckles, and Dare snorts. Ridge shoves his fork in his potatoes and grins as he mutters, “Kiss-ass.”

Trystan accepts the shaker from my fingers and upends it over his food, winking at me as he does.

And suddenly, everything seems to slow.

All the turmoil that’s been haunting me all day, all the worry I’m clinging to for their safety, for my safety, for the safety of our combined pack… it’s all gone as quickly as if a wave of crystal clear water came through and washed everything clean.

The fear fades. All I’m left with is a soul-deep certainty.

I love these men.

With my whole entire being.

I put my fork down next to my plate, then reach across Trystan’s body and take the pepper shaker from his hand. He raises an eyebrow at me as I set it firmly on the tabletop, clearly wondering what I’m doing.

But I don’t let him wonder for long. Reaching up, I grab the front of his shirt and yank him in for a kiss.

He stiffens a little in surprise, but even taken off-guard, it doesn’t take my mate more than a half-second to start kissing me back. He cups the back of my head as my lips part, allowing his tongue to slide into my mouth. The kiss is deep and possessive and hungry, and the way it goes from zero to one hundred in just a few heartbeats tells me that although he might’ve been hiding it better than I was, he’s been feeling the exact same way I have.

Anxious and unsettled, fearful about what the future may bring and desperate to cling to what we have here and now.

The rest of the table grows silent, and after a long moment, I feel fingers tug gently at my chin. Trystan must feel it too, because he releases me, stealing one more quick peck before Dare turns me to face him where he sits on my other side. He’s the one to initiate this kiss, and it’s all teeth and tongue and hungry, demanding lips. It’s like he’s trying to communicate everything he’s feeling through this kiss, as if it’s too much for words and he has to show me instead.

I give myself over to it, shifting in my seat to angle my body closer to his.

It’s not close enough though. Dare makes a frustrated noise in his throat, and a second later, I’m being lifted out of my chair. I half expect him to carry me to the bedroom, but instead, he perches me on the edge of the table, shoving his own chair back and stepping between my legs to deepen our kiss.

“Suddenly, I’m not so hungry anymore.” Archer’s voice comes from behind me, where he sits on the other side of the table. There’s a teasing lightness to his tone, but there’s something else beneath it that makes my heart beat faster.

“I am,” Ridge says, and I know exactly what he means. It’s the same thing Archer meant.

All of us are hungry. All of us are starving.

But the thing we’re craving is no longer food.

There’s a scraping sound as dishes are shoved aside, and a moment later, Dare wraps his arms around me before gently laying me back on the kitchen table. I tilt my head a little as he releases me, looking up at the upside down faces of Ridge and Archer.

“Hi,” I murmur, a slow smile spreading across my face.

“Hi, beautiful.” Archer smiles back at me. Then he kisses me, our lips meeting upside down as Ridge nuzzles his nose against my hair.

When my kiss with Archer breaks, the two of them reach down in such perfect synchronization that I’d swear they’re sharing a brain. They each grab the hem of my shirt and pull it upward, and I arch my back a little to help them, raising my arms to allow them to drag it off. At nearly the same moment, Trystan and Dare begin to undo my pants, shimmying them down over my hips and down my legs.

There might’ve been a time when the idea of four men undressing me at the dinner table would’ve struck me as scandalous or, at the very least, strange. But now it feels like the most perfect, most natural thing in the world.

This might be the last night we all spend together in this house, safe and whole and together.

And I don’t want to waste a second of it.

Ridge and Archer are still kissing me, trailing their lips over my mouth and jaw as they cradle my head in their hands. Trystan leans over the table to press a kiss to my stomach before dragging his mouth upward and flicking his tongue over the swells of my breasts.