Page 62 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

“There you are.”

Gael came first and my ears pricked forward as he appeared at the bed’s end in his human form, followed quickly by Weyland. When I was in fur, it didn’t seem to matter as much that they were naked, hard and wanting. My wolf eyes caught Weyland’s hand tugging at his cock, earning him a sharp jab to the ribs from Gael.

“She found the place?” Axe asked, shouldering forward, and we stiffened then.

He seemed to fill the room in a way the others didn’t and that had my wolf watching him closely. But it was Dane we should’ve attended to. He slipped in like a thief in the night, staring at all of us with those keen eyes of his.

“And she’s not come back to skin,” he said, then looked at his brothers. “That should tell you something. Perhaps she’s not ready for this yet.”

It was his tone that brought me back to myself. Dane was always caretaking, but he did so in a way that seemed to assume that he knew what was going on with us, but that we didn’t. I let out a little growl and was doing the same when I returned to my human form. He blinked, then looked down at me.

“Stop making decisions for me,” I said.

“See, brother?” Weyland flopped down on the bed beside me, the warmth of his body welcome in the cool room. He ran a finger down my spine, making me shiver. “Darcy is fine.”

“You always think everything is fine if it looks like you’re going to get your knob wet,” Dane muttered.

“And you are always controlling everything because yours isn’t.” Weyland tossed me a lazy look. “Perhaps you should take pity on the bastard, love. He might become a whole lot sweeter if he expelled some of what’s pent up inside him.”

“Weyland, stop trying to force things,” Dane growled.

“Dane, stop trying to control things,” I shot back. I shifted forward on the bed and, I admit, my feminine ego was stroked by the intensity of their collective gaze. “I have to assent to that, don’t I? That’s what you were attempting to teach me.” I held out my wrists, keeping them pressed against each other in a way he found oh so distracting. “That you can’t take control of me unless I give you permission?”

“Yes.” Dane ground the word out, his eyes fixed on my hands.

“Then I don’t give permission.” I jerked my wrists apart, and he winced at that. “You can’t control me, or this. You need to stop trying to move us all around like pawns on a board.” His mouth opened to protest, but I shook my head sharply. “I don’t give you permission to do that. You need to share what you’re planning and run it past the rest of us before you go and play your games.”

“Gods above, if you can make that stick, then you’re even more of a miracle than I thought,” Weyland said, pulling me closer until I was tucked up against his body.

Dane watched his brother kiss my shoulder, then stroke his hand down my side, catching every response I made.

“You want to be a conscious participant? Go into everything with your eyes wide open?” Dane replied, his voice taut. “Then show me.”

I stared at him as he walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a pair of trews, jerking them on before taking a seat in the chair beside the bed.

“Give me control tonight,” he said.

“What?”

“Sometimes I will know better. I’ve been taught to navigate court politics since the moment I was born. Just as you have skills that I don’t, I have the same. I don’t divulge all the ridiculously tedious details I’m forced to keep track of, because I’ve not seen any indication that you or my brothers want that.”

Dane surveyed the room with a defiant air, every inch the prince, even as he slumped bare chested in the chair.

“Quite the contrary. Axe was schooled to see himself as a soldier only, trained to fight my battles for me. Weyland has enjoyed all the delights of court with little care for the power struggles that lay beneath, because his charismatic ways brought closer those I needed to influence.”

“And what about me, brother?” Gael asked with a sardonic twist to his lips, an expression I wasn’t keen to see resurface.

“Father keeps you around because you’re the only trueborn prince. You’re kept small, side-lined, to try and unconsciously prompt you to do exactly what Father wants.” Dane smiled then, but without mirth. “To legitimise my position every time you throw your support behind me.” He let out a small sigh then. “I learned Father’s lessons, and I learned them well, but for our purpose, not his.” His gaze returned to me. “Let me show you what it can be like, when you give me conscious control.”

“Here, tonight, or all the time?” I asked him and then his smile became an actual spontaneous one.

“Don’t tempt me with that idea, lass. Tonight, in this room. Let me control what goes on between you all and then perhaps you’ll see.” His focus shifted abruptly to the rest of the room. “You’ll see what the five of us can achieve.”

“Under your guidance,” Gael said in a snarky tone.

“Or yours, brother, if you’re willing to step up.” But Dane’s prompt went unanswered, and he nodded in response. “Then get on the bed if you’re in or step away from it if you’re out.”

For a moment, there was just the quiet stillness of the night as we all looked at each other. Weyland wiggled slightly on the bed, shifting a little closer to me.

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