Claimed by the Pack

But damn… something was wrong.

Resting there alone, I could feel a distinct pull. A impulse to be near them again, especially Broderick. That part made no sense, because I didn’t even know him. Then again…

You didn’t know Damien last night either. And look at how that panned out.

I sighed, tossing and turning in some restless half-sleep. I’d never been addicted to anything in my life — except for caffeine — but I could imagine what I was going through would be similar to withdrawing from alcohol, or even a drug. I felt hot and itchy and sweaty. Shivering yet not cold. And I felt this yearning, too. A strange compulsion to get up, cross the kitchen, and go curl up with the two of them… over in Broderick’s bed.

It was so strong at one point I actually did get up. Or at least I dreamed that I did. In my dream I threw off the covers and wandered trance-like through the kitchen, all the way to Broderick’s room where I opened the door.

They were sleeping together in there, the two of them, their bodies rising and falling gently with the rhythm of their breathing. For several moments I watched them, just feeling the pull. Enjoying that pleasant heat in my belly — and below, in my loins — that compelled me to grow even nearer to them.

In the dream I crawled into bed with them. Crawled between them. Beneath the cool sheets their bodies were shirtless — all smooth and beautiful and warm with sleep. I needed them, physically and beyond. Broderick most of all.

You belong there…

As my body slid up alongside theirs they rolled over to spoon me, the both of them. Pressing against me from in front and behind. The feeling was rapturous, like a dream within a dream. I’d never felt so safe and protected. So warm. So loved and held and—

I woke up with a start and realized I had crossed the kitchen. One minute I was trying to sleep, and the next I was actually standing there with my hand on their doorknob.

What the—

My hand even turned it, mechanically, but found it locked. And if it hadn’t been locked…

If it hadn’t been locked…

Thwarted, I went back to lay in Damien’s bed, which still smelled like our combined sex. In fact, for some strange reason the smell was stronger than ever now. We were on the blankets, the pillows, the headboard. Yes, I could actually smell us on the headboard!

The whole thing was just really fucking weird.

In lieu of sleep I kept going over and over what they’d said. Together, the two of them had told some pretty outlandish stories. I’d laughed at first, yet everything they told me about being ‘claimed’ was almost exactly how I was feeling. The heat. The tingling. The—

Bond.

Yes, that was it. I could feel in my veins! It was beneath my skin now, running hotly through my bloodstream. And the more I fought it — the more I tried to ignore it? The more concentrated and intense it became.

I don’t remember when I finally drifted off, but I woke up with Broderick standing over me. His hair was still wet from the shower. He wore a plain white T-shirt that rode high up on his biceps, showing off his massive upper arms.

“Serena wake up,” he said loudly, in his hard Scandinavian accent. Hearing him say my name made my stomach flutter. For some reason he was still refusing to look directly at me.

I looked up at him though. I couldn’t not look at his beautiful, angular face — at his piercing blue eyes. He was gorgeous, inside and out. Cut, chiseled, strong. Confident and—

“It’s time.”

15

SERENA

It was quite a sight to see, really. A stronghold, or rather the ruins of one, in the brambled countryside just outside of Paris. Sure it was little more than crumbling mortar and moss-covered stone, but it was still beautiful in its own way. There was a a story here. A history, whispered every time the wind picked up and whistled its way through the castle’s shattered, broken teeth.

As much as I hated Europe, as an American I had to be jealous. Places like this simply didn’t exist in our world.

“What’s it called again?”

“Château de Bardenois,” Damien whispered. “And keep your voice down. Sound travels.”

The ride out of the city had been smooth and uneventful. We’d left before dusk and stopped to pick up some food on the way through — something doughy and delicious that I scarfed down before I even knew what it was. Damien lamented about not having had a good taco in way too long, and Broderick ultimately told him to shut up. But not until he’d mentioned it for the third time.

By the time we parked the truck — oddly with the keys still in it — I was ready for whatever happened next. And what happened next pretty much sucked… a two mile hike through a vine-choked forest, as the chill of darkness settled over our group.