Cricket either knew the log would roll or she caused it. Challenging are we? He leapt out of the water. Little Wolf won’t get too far.
Cricket enjoyed the game more than ever, but maybe she’d gone too far with the log trick. Hope he doesn’t go all pissed alpha on me. Okay, no more fun at his expense.
The scent of wet wolf drew closer.
Her adrenaline pumped.
Would the big bad sexy alpha mount her? No. Most likely he’d discipline her for humiliating him. Better find a way to say sorry from a safe place.
Cricket stared up at the towering trees. Nope, too hard to reach the first branch.
The explosive sound of paws raking the ground gave her no choice. Cricket squeezed into a hollow log.
Ugh. Spider webs and slimy fungi pressed against her coat. She crawled toward the exit, but failed. Stuck.
She whimpered. Now what? Her pulse raced. Can’t breathe. She tried to use her claws, but couldn’t stretch them out. Shifting into her larger human form would make it worse. The wood too thick to splinter, even if she could budge. Enclosed spaces triggered panic mode, but reasoning didn’t damper her terror, thanks to her bully half-sisters.
Her mind travelled to the time her evil sisters chased her down a badger den then entombed her with a boulder. Not an easy task, but the two alphas had no problems moving it even in wolf form. “Please Dacia, Oriana, let me out!”
Dacia laughed. “Not until you promise to lick my ass clean.”
“Mine too,” said Oriana. “Seems like the wild berries gave us soupy shit.”
“Screw both of you.”
“Then stay here. Buried alive,” said Dacia.
Would they really leave her to die? Weren’t they satisfied in another year, the change would kill her anyway? Her heart thrashed in her ears. Which would be worse, a slow death of dehydration and starvation, or the long painful death brought on by the change? No. I don’t want to die, not now, nor during the change. Cricket yapped. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Oriana snarled. “Do what?”
“Lick your ass.”
A distant howl called them for the hunt.
Dacia snapped. “Too late. We need to go.”
“No. Wait!” Cricket yowled.
The next morning the alpha, her older half-brother, Colby, followed her scent. He and his betas shoved the boulder out of the way and freed her. Her claws bled to the quick from the scratching, and she almost died from an infection. As punishment, Dacia and Oriana were forbidden to eat meat for a week.
Slade’s paws pattered around the log, and she snapped out of her bad memories and managed to whimper.
His deep warning growl reverberated through the quiet forest. “You have five seconds to come out.”
Alpha bully. “Or what?” Bite her delicate nose, or spank her? At this point, she’d welcome even licking his ass.
“Or, you do all night guard duty.”
“Umm. I think I’ll need more than five seconds. Maybe a buzz saw.
He pawed at the log. “Huh?”
“I’m stuck.”
Slade lowered his head and stuck his nose in. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.”