Thrown to her Wolves by Margo Collins (best motivational novels txt) 📗

I wondered what other side effects might be in store for me.

When Tara finally looked at me and said, “Okay, it’s time,” I discovered I was shaking.

Still, I was ready. I walked down the stairs that led into the back of the restaurant part of the bar and inhaled deeply.

Increased sense of smell.

That was definitely one of the changes. I wasn’t sure if it was something that should go in the pro list or the con, but I could smell the burgers from earlier that day—the ones we had cooked even though the Moon Moon was temporarily closed.

More than that, from where I was in the kitchen, I could smell all the people milling around in the bar on the other side of the wall.

I could hear them, too, their glasses clanking as they were served pre-ceremony drinks. Their hushed mumbling as they waited for me to arrive.

And in all that cacophony of sound and smell, I realized I could pick out individual threads. If I concentrated, they shimmered like bright gold woven into a tapestry.

I couldn’t make out the words—not yet, although I had a sense that this might be developing—but I could hear Owen chatting with someone. He was at the front of the room. Up on a tiny stage where I’d been told sometimes they had bands play.

Somewhere in the crowd—it sounded like about the middle of the room?—I could hear Liam and Dean talking to each other in low whispers.

I opened my eyes, not even having realized that I’d closed them, and turned to Tara. “Let’s do this.”

We moved into the main room. The crowd had been talking in hushed tones up until my entrance, but now they fell completely silent.

James, the pack historian, was the one who stood on the small dais with Owen. I stepped up and took Owen’s outstretched hand.

James began talking, a brief discussion of the history of werewolf alpha matings.

“In Wolf tradition, the alpha takes a mate not only to share the burden of leadership, but to act as interim leader should something go wrong. Yesterday, our alpha Sienna chose not one, but three mates. Today, she begins the process of placing her mates into hierarchy. She does this to protect the pack.”

As he said the words protect the pack, everyone there tilted up their heads and let out a howl.

Hearing wolves howls from human voices startled me, but the sound also felt comforting and familiar. It sang to a part of me that I hadn’t even known existed.

Then James turned to the two of us and said, “Repeat after me.”

The oath we swore were clearly based on the same ones we had sworn to the pack the night before. But they been transformed to match our particular situation.

“I do solemnly swear, from this moment forward, to consider all my actions in light of my mate’s needs, and to act, in word and deed, for the good of my mate and the pack. I will always do whatsoever is necessary to strengthen, support, and the aid in the survival of my mate. This I swear in the name of all that I hold dear and holy.”

As I spoke the oath, I felt it in the air around me, almost if it is if it hovered over me. When Owen repeated it, it seemed to settle down around us, wrapping us like a warm blanket in winter, then sinking down into my skin, and settling in my bones.

It felt like magic.

“Welcome Pack Alpha Sienna, and her First Mate, Owen.”

When James said Owen’s name, the pack once again howled its approbation, and it was like everything clicked into place. I was as inexorably bound to all these people—all these werewolves—as I was the three I had married.

Different bindings, but no less strong.

I blinked in surprise, and James leaned toward me. “Pack magic,” he whispered. “You feel it, don’t you?”

I nodded, my eyes wide.

“Not every alpha does,” he said, reaching out and patting my hand. I hoped that meant it was a good thing.

Owen and I ended the ceremony with a light kiss, and the rest of the wolves began cheering and shouting a chant that I didn’t understand.

“What does that mean?” I whispered to Owen.

“It kind of translates to, Go have sex now. But it’s a little cruder.” He grinned, and I blushed. But we headed to the stairway.

Chapter 5

“This is nice,” Owen said once we were in the room, as he ran his hands along my side.

“I got three dresses in the same color,” I confessed. “I felt bad spending the packs money when really, I could wear the same dress all three nights.”

Owen laughed. “Don’t worry about that. The pack can afford to buy you a few new dresses.” Taking my hand, he led me over to the bed and sat down. I stood in front of him, not certain of what to do next.

“Where should we start?” I asked, turning suddenly shy.

“I thought maybe we could begin here,” Owen said, slipping my dress up over my hips and then my head. He dropped it into a red puddle on the floor. Somehow, even that was hot.

“Wow,” he breathed, taking in the lingerie I had chosen for him. “This is nice.” “I thought it might be something you’d like,” I replied, still feeling shy.

“I like it. Classic, but—” He ran his hand along the lace curved around my hip. “Yeah. Also incredibly sexy.”

He stared up at me for a long time.

“So what’s next?” I finally asked.

Owen—the one who was the strongest, who seemed most in charge of all three of my wolves, said, “I thought maybe I should let you take control tonight.”

I froze, arrested by the thought.

I stepped up a little closer