Timber Pack Chronicles - 28. Chapter 28

Parker began to stir awake.

His last memories were of being dragged kicking and screaming from his home. When Jed tried to stop the rogue, they fought. They crashed into one of the cabins, and the man stabbed Jed in the back with some kind of dagger. The howl of pain that came from Jed curdled Parker’s blood.

Jed was hurt!

He had to help him.

When he tried to move, he groaned as his muscles protested. Parker opened his eyes. Colton was there, standing naked. Fury poured off of him, his body tight, ready to fight.

Jed lay near the door, panting. His eyes were half-open, but they were glazed over. Trey’s wolf jumped over Jed, then shifted back to his human form to attend to his fallen friend.

“Ah fuck!” Trey shouted with a hiss as he pulled an embedded silver dagger from Jed’s back. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air as the dagger burned into Trey’s palm. Trey tossed the offensive metal blade out the door, into the backyard. With the dagger taken care of, Jed could hopefully start to heal. Trey shifted back into his wolf form to stand guard over his injured pack-mate.

“Colton,” Parker croaked out.

“Stay down, pup,” Colton replied without looking at him. His attention was on the rogue. “What are you doing here, Ethan?”

Parker turned his head to look up at the naked man standing over him. The crazy man had a name.

Ethan.

Who the hell was Ethan?

* * * *

Colton stared at the man he hadn’t seen in two years. Ethan Braxton. The son of the Santa Fe Pack’s former Alpha.

There was something seriously fucked up with him. His skin had a bluish-grey tint to it, and the irises of his eyes had a greyish-silver color to them. He didn’t smell right.

Ethan was only two years older than Colton, but he looked like he’d aged twenty years since he last saw him.

“Why are you doing this?” Colton asked. “You know there’s no way I will let you walk away.”

“You don’t deserve to be an alpha!” Ethan barked. “I was supposed to be alpha, but you took that away from me! When they found out what you did to me—”

Colton scoffed. “What I did? You were more than willing, Ethan. In fact, you were begging for it. You bent over and spread your legs like a bitch for any wolf who came sniffing. I wasn’t the only one who fucked you.”

“No.” An evil smile spread across Ethan’s face. “But you’re the only one left. They tossed me aside, exiled me. But I made them pay, all of them.” He snickered, then he swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, wiping away the gathered spittle. “And now it’s your turn.”

A wolf could easily go feral or insane without a pack, but there was something more than that going on here. “What have you done to yourself?”

“Wolfsbane and silver-sulfadiazine injections. It masks your scent.”

Colton’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re fucking crazy. That shit is poison! It’s killing you.”

“I’m not crazy!” he shouted, saliva flying from his mouth and dripping down his chin. “You took from me, and now I’m gonna take from you!” His gaze dropped down to his feet, where Parker lay still. Ethan’s eyes moved back up to Colton and he sneered. “I think I’m gonna make you watch while I fuck your little bitch.”

Colton’s chest heaved. He let out a snort, and he ground his teeth together in an attempt to remain calm. “I already warned you. I told you if you touched him, I would kill you. I plan on keeping my word.”

Ethan tried to goad Colton further. “He’s got a nice mouth on him. I’ve watched the two of you. He’s real good at taking cock; drops to his knees or bends over like a good little whore whenever you want it. I wonder if he’ll scream for me when I—”

“Shut your fucking mouth.”

“Not before you watch me kill him. And then I’m gonna kill you. And all of this will be mine.”

Colton heard a low growl, and he let his eyes drop down to Parker. Still lying on the floor, Parker was glowering at Ethan. And he was pissed. He snarled, showing off his descended canines.

His mate’s eyes flashed amber, and his body jerked as he started to shift.

Ethan kicked at the white wolf, who was still tangled up in his clothes. Parker still managed to latch onto Ethan’s ankle with his sharp teeth. Ethan howled and kicked his leg in an attempt to loosen Parker as his own body began its transformation.

The distraction was enough for Colton to shift into his half-wolf shape.

Colton let loose a roar that echoed off the cabin’s walls and rattled the windows.

Before Ethan could completely shift and attack Parker, Trey’s wolf had managed to grab Parker by the scruff of his neck, dragging him over to Jed. Jed lumbered up onto all fours, and blocked Parker with his massive body. The enforcer bared his teeth, daring the rogue to come at his charge.

Trey stalked back and forth in front of his two pack-mates, making sure the fight would be only between Colton and Ethan.

Colton turned his attention back to Ethan.

This would be a fight to the death.

Ethan snarled in anger and lunged at Colton. Colton’s clawed hand batted him away, slamming the grey wolf into the cabin wall. The entire wall shuddered and groaned, sending dust into the air.

Colton advanced on Ethan, picking him up and throwing him against the fireplace. He landed with a sickening crack, but it still didn’t stop him. Ethan rolled over and lunged at Colton. He managed to get his teeth into Colton’s leg, but Colton’s fists knocked him free.

With a roar, Colton punched the grey wolf, then he used the claws on his left hand to slice across his belly, sending a spray of crimson across the room to splatter against a boarded-up window.

Despite his injury, still Ethan did not submit. The wolf threw himself at Colton, hitting him square in the gut with the force of his body, knocking him backwards into a canvas covered table. The table splintered under the weight of the two lycans.

Straddling Colton, Ethan snapped at his head, razor sharp teeth trying to get to the sensitive flesh of his neck. Saliva dripped from Ethan’s foaming mouth onto Colton’s face.

Colton used his forearm against Ethan’s neck to hold the snarling rogue back. His alpha form had the distinct advantage of articulated arms and hands. He was able to use this benefit to go on the offensive.

Bucking his body up, Colton reversed their positions, slamming Ethan’s wolf onto the wooden floor hard enough to make the wood crack. With a leg on each side of Ethan’s squirming body, he latched onto the grey wolf’s throat with his powerful claws and tore.

Ethan let out a breathy whine and slumped to the floor. Blood gurgled from the open wounds, pooling around his head.

Colton reached down and gripped Ethan’s head. With a sharp twist from Colton’s clawed hands, his neck snapped with a sickening crunch.

A final breath escaped the grey wolf, and it went still as the last traces of life left his body.

The alpha threw his head back and howled triumphantly, the sound echoing throughout the forest.

* * * *

Parker shifted back into his human shape, and jumped over Jed’s wolf. He ran straight to Colton, and jumped into the arms of his furred alpha beast.

Colton shifted back, and ravaged Parker with kisses. He bit and sucked the base of Parker’s neck, leaving a fresh hickey and teeth marks on top of his mating scar.

“Are you okay?” Colton asked as he ran his hands all over Parker, looking for any cuts or bruises.

“I’m fine. He hit me on the head,” Parker said as he rubbed his temple. “But you got here before he could really hurt me. Is your leg okay?”

“It’ll be fine. Did he… touch you?”

Parker shook his head, knowing what Colton was really asking him. “No.”

Colton leaned down and kissed Parker. His voice was quiet, bordering on desperate. “I was so worried about you. Don’t ever put me through that again.”

“I’m fine too, by the way,” Jed’s gruff voice interrupted.

Parker and Colton turned to see Trey holding up Jed, who was struggling to stand. Parker ran over and grabbed Jed’s other side, and helped to stabilize his shaky pack-mate.

Colton frowned at seeing his naked mate touching his naked enforcer.

“Stop growling, Colton,” Parker said. “Jed’s hurt. He’s not trying to hump me.”

“Trey, send for the doctor. He can give Jed something to counteract the silver poisoning from the knife.” Colton reached out and squeezed Jed’s shoulder. “Thank you for protecting my mate.”

Jed nodded once at Colton, then winced as the movement sent a burst of pain through his body.

Colton looked at Parker and frowned. “And for fuck’s sake, everyone put some clothes on.”

He pulled Parker away from Jed. The smell of another on his mate smacked him in the face. “You smell like that dead fucker.” A growl built in his chest. “I need to claim you again.”

“You mean…?” Parker took a quick peek at Colton’s crotch, then glanced at the others, then down at the corpse on the floor. “Now?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

Colton grabbed Parker and threw him over his shoulder. Before he stormed out of the cabin with his mate, he glanced over his shoulder toward Trey. “Call the Sheriff and have him get rid of that mess.”

“Yes, Alpha,” was Trey’s reply.

* * * *

“I’m going to fuck you.”

“Yes. Fuck me,” Parker begged. He tugged at his wrists, which were pinned to the bed, firmly captured by Colton’s hands. He arched his back up, wanting more contact with his wolf.

Colton thrust his hips forward, sinking his slick cock deep into Parker’s body.

“Yes,” Parker moaned as he writhed underneath his mate.

Getting right to business, Colton jackhammered into Parker’s ass. Their bodies loudly slapped together, the sound echoing through the room. The bed shook and thumped against the wall.

He was wild, feral. His beast was just below the surface, wanting to push through. The musky scent of Colton’s body hit Parker’s senses.

“Oh god,” Parker cried. His canine teeth pushed through his gums. He felt his eyes shift and his vision sharpened. Parker’s body trembled as Colton’s thick cock pushed him closer and closer to coming undone.

Colton looked down at Parker, noticing the signs of Parker’s arousal, and the loss of control of his eyes and teeth. A growl built into his chest. His own fangs burst through his gums. He snarled and a string of drool dripped from the sharp teeth to splatter on Parker’s chin.

Parker was so close. He stared up into Colton’s glowing eyes and recognized what Colton needed. “Shift, Colton. Take me like only an alpha can. Claim me. Make me yours. Make me come.”

A growl built in Colton’s chest. His body jerked and his muscles began to stretch. Hair erupted from his skin to cover his entire body. He grew bigger and taller, taking on the half-man/half-beast shape that was unique to his alpha status. His cock grew in girth and length, and Colton continued to relentlessly slam it against Parker’s sensitive prostate gland as he took Parker like the beast that he was.

The alpha’s voice was deep and guttural, muffled by the oversized teeth. “You are mine.”

“Yes, yours.” Parker tilted his head to the side in submission.

Then Colton struck. His teeth latched onto the sensitive bite scar, piercing the skin. He began to suck, drawing the sweet precious blood into his mouth.

It was too much. Parker screamed as his orgasm hit him like a freight train. His dick jerked, spewing ribbons of hot juices all over their bodies. With each contraction of his groin muscles, his ass clamped around Colton’s girth and milked it.

With a howl, Colton thrust forward and arched his body back, releasing his load like a geyser, pumping an inhuman amount of come into the depths of Parker’s body.

Colton slumped on top of Parker and practically passed out. His drained body slowly shifted back into his human form as he drifted to sleep, still buried inside Parker.

Parker knew Colton used a lot of energy when he shifted into his third form. After the fight, Colton must have been utterly exhausted.

He affectionately caressed and soothed his mate, whispering tender words of love until he too fell asleep.

* * * *

Colton ended the call on his phone. He swung his legs out of the bed, and picked up his clothes to get dressed.

“They’re here?” Parker’s sleepy voice asked from underneath a mound of blankets.

“Yeah.” Colton reached out and brushed the hair from Parker’s forehead. “You can stay in bed if you want.”

“No. I wanna come. I’ll be okay.”

With a moan, Parker crawled from under the blankets and grabbed his clothes. His neck was freshly bruised, and he had a trail of dried spunk between his legs. Colton smiled smugly. Everyone would know that Parker had been re-claimed.

Parker Montgomery belonged to him.

“Don’t cover your neck,” Colton said.

Parker shot Colton a look. “Really? Don’t be such a caveman. They all know I’m yours.”

Colton pulled on his boots, and stepped out of the cabin with Parker right behind, bundled up in his winter coat.

Scar covered.

Stupid coat.

Sheriff Forrest stood near his department issued SUV, looking around at the campground. Carlton Butler and John Stone—his father and Jed’s father—stood with their alpha, flanking him in a familiar protective stance. The lycan doctor, along with two deputies—all of them members of the Forest View Pack—followed behind.

“Forrest,” Colton greeted the other pack alpha. “Good to see you.” He turned to the others and nodded his head. “Dad, John, Doc. This way.”

The Forest View Pack followed Colton and Parker to the last cabin where Jed and Trey were waiting on the porch.

“Hi, Dad,” Jed said, then gave his father a weak smile.

“You okay, son?” John asked quietly as he looked over his boy’s bruised face. He stroked a thumb underneath one of his bloodshot eyes.

“I’m fine, Dad.”

Jed’s breathing had settled, but he looked exhausted, as if he was about to collapse.

“He protected my mate,” Colton said to John.

John patted Jed’s cheek and smiled proudly. “You did good.” He stayed with Jed, watching over him, while the doctor proceeded to check him out.

Forrest and the others followed Colton into the cabin.

“That’s him,” Colton said with disgust, nodding his head towards the body on the floor.

Ethan lay nude on the floor in a pool of dark blood, now in his human shape. His muscular body was tinged an eerie pale blue color, his neck twisted at an impossible degree. The mauled body was covered in bleeding wounds. The most serious were the open throat, torn by Colton’s claws, and the exposed vertebrae from the snapping of his neck.

“Did you have to kill him?” Forrest asked. “He should’ve been brought before the Council to answer for his crimes.”

“He threatened my mate and my pack. Repeatedly. You weren’t in any rush to do anything about it, so I took care of it.”

Forrest glared at Colton. Colton didn’t care. He wasn’t going to pussyfoot around and coddle the older man’s feelings.

Carlton pushed the body with his boot, turning it so that he could see the face. “Ethan Braxton,” he said with surprise. “He’s the rogue? What the hell was he doing up here?” he asked in an attempt to cut the tension that was forming between the two alphas.

Colton reluctantly turned his gaze from Forrest to his father. “He killed everyone he blamed for his father’s death, for losing his pack. I was apparently last on his list. He wanted what was mine.”

“I kinda feel sorry for him,” Parker said quietly. “He was clearly sick. He didn’t have a pack.”

Colton reached out and rubbed the back of Parker’s neck. Parker let out a quiet sigh and moved closer to Colton. The wolf had tried to kill Parker again and again, and still his pup felt sympathy for him.

Damn, he loved the hell out of his pup.

After the deputies took care of the body, scrubbed and cataloged the “crime scene” for the Council investigators, Colton walked with Forrest back toward the Sheriff’s SUV. Their pack representatives followed behind them at a distance, giving the two alphas a degree of privacy.

“You should know that two of your pack members have petitioned. I plan to accept them into Timber Pack.”

Forrest ground his teeth and growled in his chest. “I’ll let you have those two, but any more defections, and you and I are going to have a problem.”

“I didn’t come to them. If people are looking to leave your pack, then that’s your problem, not mine.” Colton slapped his hand twice on the hood of the Sheriff’s SUV. “Thanks for coming out,” he said with a smile that was just a tad condescending, but it was time for the Forest View Pack to leave his land.

Forrest’s lip turned up in a snarl. He spun on his boot heels and got into his vehicle.

Colton stood with his arms folded across his chest, with Parker at his side. Jed and Trey took their positions, and the Timber Pack stood ground proudly on their territory, patiently waiting until their guests left.

* * * *

A week later, the pack gathered around the camp’s main firepit. A bonfire blazed, wood crackling, hot embers drifting. It bathed the camp in flaming light.

The moon, full and bright, began its rise into the sky, signaling the start of the ceremony.

With their backs to the bonfire, Parker, Trey, Jed, Buck and Stan stood behind Colton.

Curtis and Shell stood before Colton. To Parker’s eyes, Shell seemed perfectly calm. She should be going crazy with the urge to shift.

During his first change, Parker was a mess. In fact, he was already feeling the full moon’s effect on his body. It was as if it was tugging at the wolf inside him, trying to pull it from his body. Parker squeezed his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. He didn’t know how she did it.

“Tonight we welcome a new brother and a new sister into our pack. Do you pledge your loyalty to Timber Pack?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Curtis and Shell replied together.

Colton turned back toward the Timber Pack. “Do you accept their pledge?”

“Yes, Alpha,” the group replied.

Colton grasped the back of Curtis’s neck, urging Curtis to tip his head to the side. Colton scraped the sharp claw of his thumb down the side of his neck, drawing a drop of blood. Colton leaned forward and sniffed, then he repeated the same with Shell.

“Welcome to Timber Pack, my brother, my sister,” Colton said.

After handshakes and hugs all around, the entire group turned expectantly to Shell.

“How do you feel, babe?” Curtis asked.

Shell shrugged. “I’m a little queasy and a little nervous, but I’m fine. I feel great, actually.”

Parker looked up into the sky and his body shuddered. “I feel it. I have to shift.” He turned to Shell. His voice trembled as he fought for control. “Don’t you feel it?” he asked as he rubbed his arms and stared at the moon.

“I guess.”

“You guess? How can you— Oh god.” Parker began to tear off his clothes. “I can’t stop it.”

Knowing that Parker didn’t have control yet during full moons, Colton encouraged his mate to shift so that he wouldn’t hurt himself. “Go ahead, pup. Don’t fight it.”

Shell turned to Curtis, her eyes widened in panic. “Is there something wrong with me? Why aren’t I shifting too?”

Curtis took Shell into his arms. “There’s nothing wrong with you, babe.” He stroked her back as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Parker dropped to a crouch as the moon’s pull took the last of his control. His body transformed, and the white wolf pushed free. Once he finished shifting, he walked over to Colton. He nosed Colton’s hand, wanting the contact of his mate. Colton pushed his fingers into Parker’s white fur, rubbing and scratching him.

A knowing smile spread across Colton’s face as he looked at Shell. “When was your last period?”

Shell put a hand on her hip, raised a finger, and rolled her neck. “Excuse me, no you didn’t!”

“Your body won’t shift if you’re pregnant.”

The entire pack gasped. Parker let out a surprised woof.

“Oh shit,” mumbled Curtis as he dropped to the ground and then passed out.