Page 50 of Unleashed

Nina laughed and turned in his embrace to wrap her arms around his thick neck. The fur of his mane tickled her bare skin, and the collective heat of their bodies chased away the biting cold.

“I have three mates,” she said with no small amount of wonder. She’d left home to seek a companion. A human mate. Instead, she’d found these three powerful men, valos no one else knew existed, lost members of her father’s tribe. They were her links to the past, her pathways to the future.

Vortok eased them down but didn’t break the circle of his arms; she felt his happiness strongest of all, as though he could barely contain it. She knew, somehow, that this was the old Vortok, the man he used to be, shining through.

“I…am sorry, Balir,” Aduun said.

“You do not need to apologize, Aduun,” Balir replied. “We are all guilty of falling prey to the beasts we harbor, from time to time.” He turned his head toward the open entrance. “I smell blood.”

Vortok released the others but kept Nina tucked warm against his side. Easing back, he sniffed the air, nostrils flaring. “The two of you certainly splattered enough of it around.”

Nina frowned, surveying Balir’s and Aduun’s cuts, which were already sealing. “Their wounds are healing.”

“No. Not our blood,” Balir said, voice strained. “From outside.”

“My hunt was successful,” Aduun said. “We need only build a fire.” He dipped his chin toward the side of the shelter.

Nina followed the gesture to find a pile of grass and dung tucked in the corner. “When did you do all this?”

“While you slept.”

He’d done all this…alone. He’d taken it upon himself to trek out into the storm while Vortok and Balir remained at her side to keep her warm and safe.

Among…other things.

Smiling, Nina moved closer to Aduun, cradled his face, and brought her mouth to his. He flinched, jaw tensing beneath her palms, but his lips soon yielded to hers. He settled his hands on her hips.

She knew this was not a surrender; it was curiosity. The tips of his claws grazed her skin as his fingers flexed, sending excited tingles through her, rekindling a flame deep within her core. She stepped back before the flame heated any further.

Aduun stared at her, his half-lidded eyes burning with promise, and she threw up her mental shields as his thoughts turned to the pleasure he intended to share with her and the primal claiming he envisioned.

“You and Balir see to the fire,” he said, his voice deep and gentle but leaving no room for argument. “Vortok, come tend to the kill with me. We will need to fashion tools and dig another shelter, so you may cure the hide.”

His eyes lingered on her another moment before he turned and crawled back outside.

Vortok moved to follow, pausing beside Nina. One of his big hands cupped her backside and squeezed. She yelped, then laughed upon seeing the wicked tilt of his grin. “I still have not had my taste,” he rumbled before squeezing himself out through the opening.

“Maybe later,” she called, blushing.

Definitely later.

Chapter Eleven

Two days passed faster than Vortok could’ve imagined possible, sped on by seemingly endless activity. It was good to have purpose, to have distractions; his beast remained silent for long stretches, rousing only when Nina sparked his desires, which he’d had little time to act upon. There was too much to do. Meat to cut and prepare, hides to cure, tools to make of stone and bone. At almost all times, one of them was out digging through the snow to find adequate fuel to maintain their fires, and that was after Vortok had spent half a day moving dirt to make their first shelter deeper and digging a second to use for smoking.

He would’ve liked some wood to build frames for stretching the hides, but he made do with the materials available. Balir, Aduun, and Nina all helped as needed, though they deferred to his expertise. He wasn’t sure if it was due to Nina’s intervention or the amount of work to be done, but the valos had avoided further conflict — though their lack of time to be intimate with her had likely gone a long way in keeping the peace. They were simply too busy, and Nina was exhausted by the time night fell. She pushed herself just as hard as the valos, if not more so.

If she’d not earned their respect already, she certainly had it now. Orishok had taught her well.

Given their limited time and resources, he was happy with the results as their third day in the snow shelter had dawned. He and Balir now sat on Nina’s blanket, weaving plant fibers and sinew into thread.

Aduun’s hunts had yielded two more frostfur kills, providing the group with several tough hides, a collection of bones and sinew, and a few crude waterskins. Additionally, the valos had controlled their hunger enough to stockpile dried meat for the coming journey.

Vortok frowned at that thought. Hardship and fear had seen them to this place; the cold had nearly killed Nina on that first day. They would not allow that to happen again, couldn’t bear it. But all the same, their time here had been pleasant. Though it would never be the same as his life before the change, he’d been reminded often of those times, warming his heart and his heartstone alike.

Whatever else Kelsharn had taken, they were still a tribe. They were still holding on to those ties, those bonds, despite the wild, bestial natures they’d been instilled with.

But their time here was nearing its end. They couldn’t wait much longer, couldn’t risk conditions worsening.

---