Wendy's Wild Wolves [Shy River Pack 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (8 page)

Donovan knew there had to be more to the story. Gop-tru-alcarn was a spoiled, selfish product of an important and influential royal family. It was obvious he was cleaning up the story to play on Wendy’s emotions. He had no doubt that the feathered fraud would have read her books over her shoulder. He’d know exactly the type of person Wendy was from her writing. It was partially why he and Sogarn had fallen for her. She believed in good triumphing over evil and heroes righting wrongs. Clearly Polly was taking advantage of Wendy’s core beliefs.

“Now tell me the real story, Polly.”

Donovan smiled at Wendy’s demand. Perhaps she wasn’t as easy to manipulate as he and Polly had believed.

The bird made a sound of annoyance, but Donovan could see the beginnings of the change into humanoid form as the avian-shifter admitted the whole truth.

“Fine,” Polly said again. “I was young and arrogant and spiteful, and I stole Kris-anda-coral away from De-polandra-alcarn because I could, not because I wanted to save her.” The partially feathered shifter let out a soft sigh. “I’ve had forty-four years to think over my behavior, and I haven’t liked myself for a very long time.”

But just when Donovan thought Polly had finally remembered how to shift, the process suddenly reversed. The cockatoo squawked in agitation and flew from the room.

Donovan quickly followed him. Whatever else was going on, they still had a job to do.

* * * *

“
Okay
, that went well,” Wendy said with a sarcastic laugh.

“Actually,” Sogarn said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace, “that’s more information than we’ve been given since beginning this assignment.”

“Your forty-four year assignment?”

He nodded.

“Do you ever get any time off?”

“We used to,” Sogarn said, glancing at the doorway where Donovan had exited, “but the alpha has never approved of our relationship. That attitude filters through to the rest of the pack, so it was easier to not go home.”

“Relationship?” she asked as something one of them had said earlier slid into place. “You’re a couple?”

Sogarn nodded warily, apparently waiting for her rejection. She shook her head, denying a negative reaction only to realize how her nonverbal response could be misinterpreted. When Sogarn glanced away, it was obvious that he’d dealt with prejudice quite often in his life.

“No,” Wendy said, “that’s not what I meant.” Sogarn looked at her, the sparkle of hope in his eyes almost too painful to witness. “Donovan’s a great guy. Why wouldn’t you love him?”

“I agree,” Sogarn said with a half smile. “Hopefully one day you’ll grow to enjoy his attentions as much as I do.”

“Oh, I couldn’t. I mean, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of what you two have.” She closed her eyes against the memories of already having been in the middle of them both. “I mean…” Her words faded away as she realized she had absolutely no idea what she meant.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Sogarn said sympathetically. “Donovan and I have been fantasizing for a while now about you joining us. Having you finally know that we’re not just wolves is a bit like a dream come true.”

“Oh,” Wendy said, trying to process all that this meant. The orgasm they’d given her only a few minutes ago had been truly amazing, and she wasn’t strong enough to deny her chance to feel the same things again. But was she able to have a sexual relationship with them both without giving them her heart as well?

Donovan managed to catch up to his feathered charge just as Polly tried to switch off the perimeter alarm.

“That would be easier in humanoid form,” Donovan said, no longer willing to put up with the bird’s attitude. He was obviously planning to fly off again. Keeping him safe was one thing. Keeping him safe while trying to track his sorry ass was something else entirely.

“Fuck off,” the parrot said in a sulky version of his usual insulting tone.

“Believe me, Polly, I would if I didn’t know it would damage Sogarn’s standing in the pack. Things were bad enough when he changed me from human to werewolf without the alpha’s permission. Losing an Alcarn prince would likely get him banished.”

“And you also,” Polly said, looking at him strangely.

Donovan shrugged. He’d never held any real love for any of the bigots who made up the pack hierarchy. They’d always treated him like a stray mongrel dog. It had only been his size and ability to fight that had kept him in the alpha’s favor. But Donovan had lived as a human for twenty-five years before becoming a wolf. He knew there was a different way of life out there. It was only in deference to Sogarn’s belief that pack was important that he stayed.

Sogarn was the important one to him—more important than a few insults from werewolves too cowardly to say anything to his face—so Donovan had stayed with the pack and made a life with the man he loved. Despite the alpha’s reasons for giving them this assignment, it had actually been a relief not to have to deal with their packmates each day.

“I want it over,” Polly said quietly.

“You want what over, Polly?”

“I recognized the snake-shifters,” he said as he gave up trying to switch off the alarm and settled back onto the sideboard table. “They were sent by my father.”

“Your father?” Donovan asked, wondering if he’d heard correctly. Hell, he thought werewolf culture was fucked up. A father sending assassins after his own son wasn’t a possibility he’d considered. “Why would he do that?”

The bird lifted its feathers in a type of shrug. “Maybe he’s tired of paying for my protection, so he planned to have me assassinated on your watch. That way he can claim you failed and demand a refund.”

“After forty-four years? Why now?”

“My son has come of age by now. Despite my banishment, I am still the heir to the throne. If I’m dead, that will fall to my firstborn.”

“And he has most likely been raised in your father’s image.”

“Ironic, huh?” Polly said, not even seeming to realize that he was morphing into his human form. He was apparently surprised when his voice came out in a less bird-sounding tone. “He pretty much ignored me my entire life. It’s why I fucked up the union he arranged for me. I was young enough and stupid enough to think it might garner his attention.”

“It did that,” Donovan said, feeling a little bit sorry for the avian-shifter. He himself knew what it was like to feel young and invincible. It had been that type of arrogance that led to him being attacked and left for dead on a mountain far from home. Sogarn had given him a second chance at life. Maybe everyone deserved the same thing. “What now, Polly? How do you want to handle this?”

“Flying away seemed like a good idea ten minutes ago,” the eight-inch-high humanoid said as he sat his ass on the sideboard table and studied the hands he probably hadn’t seen in over forty years. “But since that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, I have no idea.”

“I think I do,” Donovan said as a plan started to form in his head.

“Are you sure about this?” Wendy asked as she looked around the giant shed at the back of her property that Donovan and Sogarn had quickly converted into an aviary. Now that it was filled with over forty excited cockatoos, the noise was nearly deafening.

“As sure as I can be,” Donovan said with a shrug.

“But aren’t we putting dozens of innocent cockatoos in the path of snake-shifters?” she asked in a near whisper despite the covering noise that drowned out almost all other sounds.

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Donovan said as he leaned close to her ear so that she could hear him. “The assassins know you’re close and that the area is alarmed. We’re fairly certain they won’t risk the time it takes to try and catch all of the birds.” He tilted his head toward the shotgun she held in her hands. “That should deter them from trying a sustained attack. They’ll back off and wait for an Alcarn to join them so that they can identify which one is the avian-shifter before trying a precision strike.”

“How will that help Polly?”

“Avian politics is very complex. If we can prove that it’s Gop-tru-alcarn’s father behind the assassination attempts, it will create enough instability for Polly to take the throne.” Donovan glanced up as Sogarn came into the aviary. “What happens after that will be up to him.”

Wendy smiled. “Are we sure we want Polly in charge of an entire kingdom?”

Sogarn laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist as Donovan gave them both a warm smile.

“Technically we’re only reacting to a situation. Not creating it.”

“So our consciences are clear?” she asked with a soft laugh.

“Absolutely,” Sogarn said. “Now for the best part of this plan.”

“Best part?” she asked.

“Yes, best part,” Donovan said as he stepped closer to them both. “Time off.”

* * * *

Sogarn was more nervous than he could ever remember. Pretending to be distracted by the beautiful woman between them wasn’t going to be a problem. The problem was going to be keeping his attention away from his lover.

It was one thing for him and Donovan to be known by their pack as a couple. It was another thing entirely to be intimate when surrounded by several other pack members. They might be hiding in the trees waiting for the snake-shifters to take advantage of their “distracted” behavior, but there was a good chance they would also be monitoring what the three of them got up to inside Wendy’s bedroom.

“Nothing has to happen,” he said, leaning into her as he whispered in her ear. “We can just pretend that we’re being intimate.”

She gave him a soft smile and nodded her acknowledgment. They hadn’t really gone over this part of the plan in detail. They were just supposed to appear to be distracted so that the snake-shifters would bring the Alcarn who’d hired them close enough to identify their target.

When Wendy smiled, gripped his hand, and led him and Donovan to the bed, he couldn’t help but smile at the excitement on his lover’s face. It had been a very long time since they’d shared a woman, but it was clear that Donovan was looking forward to it.

“Lie back and enjoy, Sogarn,” Wendy said with a soft laugh as she moved to lie down beside him. She had the snap on Sogarn’s jeans undone before he could voice a protest but was struggling to pull them off his hips. He gave Donovan a startled look but lifted slightly, unconsciously helping her to drag the denim down. He blushed as she hooked her fingers into his boxer shorts and carefully pulled them off as well.

Wendy hesitated a moment and then turned her attention to Donovan. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all,” Donovan said with a grin, “but if you’re expecting me to keep my hands to myself, tell me now.”

“No,” Wendy answered boldly, “you can touch anything or
anyone
you like. Isn’t that what you two want?”

Sogarn nodded his head, unable to force words past the arousal stealing his breath. His cock was already hard as a rock and nobody had even touched him. There was no way he was going to back away from fulfilling his fantasy. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t the loving three-way relationship he’d dreamed of. For the moment he’d pretend.

But then a thought occurred to him, and he couldn’t help but feel selfish. Wendy had only just found out that they were wolf-shifters, she barely knew him or Donovan, and was acting out of character. Surely she’d regret her actions later.

“Wendy,” he said, sitting up slightly so that he could touch her face, “we need to slow this down. You’re not yourself.”

“Actually,” she said placing her hands on her hips with a very Wendy-style smirk on her face, “this is more me than the me you think you know. Granted I don’t usually fall into bed with men I’ve only just met, but I trusted you as wolves. Why wouldn’t I trust you as men?”

“Good to know,” Donovan said, reaching over to caress her face with the back of his knuckles, “but Sogarn does have a point. There’s no need to rush.”

Wendy looked both disappointed and relieved when she gave them both a soft smile. “As long as you realize this is kind of my favorite fantasy—well except for the ‘snake-shifters’ part.” She winked and then slipped down the bed a little way, wedging herself between Sogarn’s spread thighs. Her warm hand wrapped around his cock and squeezed gently. “I’ve always wondered what it might be like to have two men in my bed at the same time.”

Sogarn wasn’t certain what was affecting him more—her warm hand around his cock or the soft confession of sharing similar intimate fantasies as he and Donovan did.

“Maybe I should just watch this time,” Donovan said even though he caressed Wendy’s back lightly with his fingertips.

“Or maybe you should do what I wanted to do but am too scared to in case I hurt him with my lack of recent…ah…practice.”

Donovan grinned happily, his touch growing bolder as he watched Wendy’s face closely. He didn’t ask Sogarn if he agreed. He just slid down the bed and pressed his mouth to the top of his cock. Sogarn arched off the bed, the sudden, intimate touch nearly overwhelming. Wendy caressed him as Donovan sucked hard against the head of his cock and gently guided Wendy’s mouth to Sogarn’s. The kiss they shared was both gentle and exploring, and hot and wild.