Heart of the Pack Read online

  Heart of the Pack

  The Wolves of Wild Junction

  Kristen Banet

  Copyright © 2018 by Kristen Banet

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Abigail

  2. Thomas

  3. Abigail

  4. Abigail

  5. James

  6. Abigail

  7. Antonio

  8. Abigail

  9. Abigail

  10. Thomas

  11. Abigail

  12. Abigail

  13. Abigail

  14. James

  15. Abigail

  16. Antonio

  17. Abigail

  18. Thomas

  19. Abigail

  20. Abigail

  21. Abigail

  22. Abigail

  Dear Reader,

  About the Author

  Also by Kristen Banet

  Trust Your Heart

  1

  Abigail

  Abigail woke up in a pile of blankets, a warm chest pressed against her back. She was curled into another chest, and the even rise and fall meant the man she laid on was still asleep. She blinked slowly, taking in the light of the new day flooding from the window.

  “Good morning,” a quiet voice greeted her as she pushed herself to sit up. The blankets fell away from her and Thomas smiled at her. Abigail couldn’t resist smiling back at him. His sky-blue eyes were twinkling, and his dark curly hair was a mess. He hadn’t brushed it yet, and he hadn’t even put on clothes. Shirtless and in a pair of boxer briefs, he looked like a guy who’d just woken up himself.

  “Good morning,” she whispered, holding back a yawn. She failed and held up a hand to tell him to wait. When it was done, she looked at the men at her sides. Antonio had been wrapped around her back and James had been the chest she’d claimed.

  “I have coffee, when you’re ready to get out of bed,” he told her, leaning in the door.

  “When did you get out of bed?” she asked, trying to assess how she was going to do the same.

  “About thirty minutes ago,” he chuckled. “Come on. I’ve got breakfast started.”

  She watched him leave, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. This was nearly every morning now. She woke up pinned between two of them until they decided to let her out of bed, normally when the third finished making breakfast.

  A hand moved around her waist and pulled her back down. Her head hit the pillow and Antonio moved to look down at her. Without a word, he leaned down and kissed her. It was a slow, lazy kiss good morning that still set her on fire, though it was a low burn, a promise of a bonfire later, if she was willing to stoke the flame.

  “Stay in bed,” he whispered against her lips, sleepy and slurred. “There’s no reason to get up. Fuck Thomas.”

  “I can’t stay in bed all day,” Abigail giggled, kissing his cheek.

  He growled softly, kissing her more passionately this time. He moved further over her, one of his legs bracing between her own. He pressed his thigh against her core and drew a moan from her.

  A coarser hand with calloused fingertips trailed up her abdomen. James was now awake as well. She put a hand on Antonio’s shoulder and pushed him back, creating distance between them. She grabbed James’ hand with her other, to stop him from going after her breasts.

  “I’m getting out of this bed,” she told them firmly, trying to hold back a smile.

  Antonio groaned and fell to her side again. Then he gave a taunting grin, as if he remembered something she didn’t. “You’ll have to go over one of us,” he reminded her.

  She shook her head. They’d played this game before. If she swung a leg over one of them, it was over. She would be a goner and they would never get out of the bed. She pushed the blanket away and crawled down the middle of the bed to the end and slid off.

  “Cheater,” Antonio growled playfully. She looked back at them, winking as she grabbed a pair of sweats. She didn’t know who they belonged to, but she knew none of them would care either.

  What a sight the bed held. She slipped into the sweats as the two wolves reclined in the nude, legs kicked out and tangled in the sheets. She grabbed a tank and pulled it on, causing James to growl. He started to sit up to look at her in aggravation.

  “You don’t need that,” he told her.

  She threw her head back in a laugh, shaking her head as she left the room. She could hear them moving now that she was gone, realizing they didn’t need to hang out in bed together since she wasn’t there.

  She moved into the farm house’s kitchen to see Thomas flipping something on the stove. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheek on his warm, shirtless back.

  “Happy spring,” she whispered.

  He hummed and nodded, continuing what he was doing. “It is spring today, isn’t it?” Thomas murmured, pulling the pan off the stove and dumping the scrambled eggs onto a plate. When he was done, he turned in her arms and wrapped his around her as well. “Let’s try to make it as good as winter,” he continued, leaning down to kiss her.

  Winter had been very good for them. They’d created a paradise for themselves in some ways. She would come over and they could just pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist: playing cards, going on runs, spending nights in each other’s arms. Then she would leave - back to work, back to helping the shifters of Wild Junction and pretending like none of this was real. It was easy, since sometimes Abigail couldn’t believe it was real.

  “Let’s try,” Abigail sighed happily against his lips. One day she would need to leave Wild Junction, get a new job, but she was going to keep this for as long as she could.

  “Any plans today?” he asked, holding her to his chest.

  She shook her head as he ran a hand through her hair. “No,” she replied. “I don’t see any of my patients for another couple of days. I’m free for anything.”

  “Anything?” Thomas teased, taking her chin.

  She let him pull her face up and shivered at the growl of satisfaction. Alphas had one specific button another shifter could always push, for good or evil. They all craved some bit of control - and she’d submitted to him by letting him lift her face. She could smell the possessive pleasure he got from it, even if he didn’t crave it like other Alphas did. He claimed her mouth and backed her into a counter. He lifted her to sit on the countertop as he kissed her, pressing his hips to her center.

  “Anything,” she breathed out as he pulled away. She meant it.

  “As good as that sounds,” he crooned in her ear, “I was thinking we could go to Rocker’s and hang out all day there. Play some pool, relax. Get out of the house on this nice day. I have to get some stuff done there today anyway.”

  “That sounds fun!” Antonio laughed, making Abigail jump in shock. She turned and saw him standing at the entry to the kitchen, grinning at them. Thomas chuckled and kissed her cheek one last time before going back to making breakfast.

  “It does,” James said with a yawn. “What time is it?”

  “Only nine,” Thomas answered. “Come help me with breakfast, since you’re up.”

  “Roger,” James sighed, walking over to help.

  Abigail j
umped down from the countertop and grabbed plates and silverware for everyone. Antonio took it all from her to set the table while she got a cup of coffee.

  She leaned back in her seat at the table, sipping on the scorching hot beverage, as the guys brought out the food. They ate in comfortable silence, Abigail checking her emails with her phone. She didn’t have anything important, nothing pressing or concerning. She hadn’t really been keeping up with anything outside of Wild Junction, especially not since she’d taken up with the Pack. She was keeping a loose conversation over Facebook with her sister, but it was nothing serious.

  It made her almost feel like the world didn’t exist outside of this. Wild Junction had become its own bubble for her and she wasn’t ready for it to burst by exposing herself to anything outside of it.

  “What are you thinking about?” Antonio asked her, breaking into her thoughts. “Looks like it’s important.”

  She smiled over to him. “It’s nothing,” she replied softly, locking her phone and dropping it on the table. “Promise.”

  “All right,” Thomas cut in, standing up. “I need to get to Rocker’s and do the payroll before we hang out for the day.” He kissed her forehead before he left the dining room, and James did the same as he followed, leaving her and Antonio to clean up breakfast.

  “Do you have any real clothes to wear today?” Antonio asked as they cleaned. Her job was to load the dishwasher. It was all they allowed her to do, really.

  “What? I don’t look good braless, in a tank and sweatpants two sizes too big?” Abigail giggled, looking over to him as he scrubbed a pan.

  “You look good enough to eat, and I’ll prove it before we head out,” Antonio growled playfully. The suggestion made her hot and bothered, as the blush heated her cheeks and his look heated up her core. “But I think the rest of the world is blind and wouldn’t understand.”

  “That is a good point,” she conceded, turning away from him to put more in the dishwasher. She felt a hand grab onto her hip and pull her gently back.

  “I mean,” he whispered in her ear, “you could go out like this.” His chest at her back, he turned them to the counter and ground against her ass in a slow roll. “Just don’t expect us to let you leave the office. It’s a fucking turn-on to see you wearing our clothes.”

  “I know,” she responded airily. Antonio was probably the most obvious about his attraction to her. He wasn’t afraid to physically show her how she made him feel, and she was thrilled by it. He was unabashedly Antonio and unabashedly hot for her. It made her feel sexier than she’d ever known.

  He kissed her ear, bending them down so her elbows could brace on the countertop. A hand trailed over her stomach, moving up to massage one of her breasts. She moaned as he rolled her nipple gently in his fingers.

  “We haven’t even left yet.” James teased, walking back in wearing real clothes and not the shorts he’d thrown on for breakfast.

  Antonio straightened them up, laughing as he gave her some space. Abigail fixed herself, embarrassed for a moment that they’d been caught neglecting their clean up duties. Not that James had seen Antonio rubbing on her - that hadn’t embarrassed her. She spent more of her time with all of them than just one. She’d only been with them individually a few times each. Even if they didn’t all have sex, they’d taken to the habit of all falling into whatever bed she did for the night.

  “James,” Thomas chastised him softly. “Antonio has the right idea, really. Who wants to clean and work when you can make our doe blush and moan like that?”

  The hazel eyed wolf looked thoughtful for only a second before nodding. “That’s a very solid point, Thomas. Maybe we should say fuck work and cleaning and just fu-”

  “Our employees need to get paid,” Thomas reminded him, laughing.

  Abigail giggled, trying to cover her face, but Antonio wouldn’t let her; he pulled her hand down to kiss her as she laughed. James and Thomas watched them as Abigail tried to push the goof away halfheartedly.

  “You are incorrigible,” she accused him, still giggling. She looked over at the other two. “The moment we’re done, we’ll follow you to Rocker’s. Go on, you two.”

  “Yes ma’am,” James growled with a grin. Thomas raised an eyebrow at her before giving a short nod with a smile.

  They walked out, leaving her with Antonio. She could hear Thomas’ truck fire up and drive away as Antonio gave her a sly smile.

  “Back to what we were doing?” he asked, shifting back into her space until they stood chest to chest. Her nipples hardened at the memory of what his hands had been doing.

  “I think we should clean,” she reminded him, “then we’re going to Rocker’s.”

  “Spoilsport,” he growled, leaning so his forehead touched hers. A quick kiss before he backed off and they got back to work.

  It was quick to finish the cleanup, and she went to shower. She had gotten her own toiletries at their house now and lathered the shampoo in her hair, enjoying its soft flowery fragrance. Spring. She always loved this season, and her stuff all matched it. She was rinsing it out when Antonio knocked on the door.

  “May I?” he called in.

  “Sure,” she giggled, knowing what he wanted.

  He slid into the bathroom, already nude, and locked the door behind him. “We won’t waste time in here,” he growled softly, capturing her mouth as he stepped into the shower. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he slid his hands down her back and gripped her ass. His erection was firm on her stomach, letting her know that she’d been correct at Antonio’s intentions.

  “Can’t waste water, can we?” she teased, making him laugh.

  He spun her around. “No, we can’t,” he growled, running his hands up and down her sides. She moaned as he leaned them over again, like he had in the kitchen. “I’m not sure how you put up with me,” he chuckled in her ear as he moved a hand between her legs from the front.

  “I’m not either,” she joked. She would have laughed, but a finger rubbed over her clit at that moment and made her moan.

  He was relentless as he stroked her and sent her quickly to the peak. The hot water seemed hotter as her body flushed in pleasure. “I think you love it,” he crooned softly.

  “I do,” she gasped as he slid a finger deep in her and reached for the spot that would send her over the edge. He found it easily enough and she was done. She clenched on him and moaned out his name as she came for the first time that day.

  He pulled his finger out before her orgasm subsided and thrust in his cock, growling as she screamed out. She braced herself on the shower wall as he gripped her hip with one hand and the other went to work teasing her nipple. He set a brutal pace, each thrust harder than the last, faster than he normally went.

  The shower was too hot compared to her body, as steam billowed all around them. The water pounded on their backs as he pumped into her. She spread her legs as much as she could, so he could go deeper, and he did, leaning over her back.

  She screamed one last time as he bit down on her shoulder, his thrusts getting erratic. She was driven back over the cliff, and her abdomen rippled in pleasure. He snarled, still biting down on her. She felt him twitch once inside her and then the telltale warmth of him cumming.

  They were panting afterwards, his arms holding her to him, but they didn’t straighten up.

  “Sorry I bit you,” he groaned. “I try to not do that to you.”

  “I liked it,” she said to him as he pulled them up. He kept his arms around her waist and she turned back around and kissed his chest. “I loved it.”

  “That’s good,” he chuckled. “I never have before, since I know it’s some rough thing we wolves do, but…”

  “I loved it, Antonio,” she emphasized, smiling at him. “If I had known you were holding back earlier, I would have told you to stop doing that. I like it a little rough as well as soft.” She ran a hand down his chest and he kissed her slowly.

  He trailed a hand over the bite and nodded. “It
might bruise,” he whispered. “That I am sorry about.”

  “I can cover it up.” She shrugged as she said it. She’d already known wolves could get bitey when they were feeling incredibly passionate. Bites like the one Antonio had just given her amounted to hickies to them. She wasn’t concerned. She’d known it was going to happen eventually. Gavin used to leave her with some serious marks – but none that she regretted at the time of getting them. She always had liked her predators. “Now, we need to finish getting clean and head out.”

  “We do,” he chuckled, kissing her cheek one more time before grabbing his own shampoo.

  It was nearly an hour later - and a second round on the bed - before Abigail and Antonio made it to Rocker’s. She took a moment to enjoy the warm spring day before heading inside. Winter had finally loosened its hold over the area. While the breeze was still cool and held a chill, the sun was blessedly warmer than it had been in February, when Wild Junction had been pounded by snow. There was one day where she’d been snowed in at the farmhouse for three days, unable to see her patients - now just Andrew from the Pride and Finn, the lone fox.

  “Come on, gorgeous,” Antonio chuckled. “Let’s get in before anyone sees us.”

  She jumped at that. He was right. They were trying to keep this entire arrangement quiet still and walking into the bar before it opened would look suspect. She hurried after him and stepped in as he held the door open.

  When she’d visited Rocker’s for the first time in December, she’d partied with Riley, Phoebe, and Jessie. It had been gorgeous then, but Abigail would always lose her breath at the changes the Pack made to the bar.