more than shadows in the corners of her eyes. They failed to register as beings of importance. Just a faceless audience standing by to verify her consent.
As Beck pushed her to the bed, she made the conscious decision to give without reservation. Not even the Moon could take issue with her willingness as she stretched on her back beneath the open window, spreading her arms and legs as wide as she could.
In Heat, she took, but in bonding, she gave.
Beck’s sharp intake of breath spoke of his approval. A growl rumbled from Anders seconds before he crawled onto the bed, claiming a place between her legs.
Beck stretched out beside her. His cock was hard against her thigh, a contrast to his lips, soft on the upper swell of her breast. She worked her fingers through his hair and held him to her, waiting breathlessly for him to reach the crest.
And he left her waiting as he kissed between the heavy globes and licked the underside of her other breast. January moaned and brought her knees up, seeking a foothold to rise up and force his mouth. Strong hands robbed her of satisfaction. She looked down over Beck’s dark head to Anders, who held her pinned with his hands on her splayed knees.
He’d come closer in her distraction. Now he met her gaze with eyes full of moon glow, feral and hungry. His thumbs dug into her inner thighs as he licked his lips and shifted his attention to her core, which clutched and fluttered, hungry in its own right.
Lowering his shoulders between her thighs, he nuzzled into her folds, boldly tonguing her at the first lick. Groaning, she lifted her hips. Beck blocked her this time, palm sweeping across her belly and settling over the sigil that marked her for what she was meant to be.
Alpha’s mate.
In all the years of hope, and then the years of despair, she’d never allowed herself to dream of claiming this birthright. As both her alphas caressed her body, pushing higher and higher, she realized this was something she couldn’t have dreamed even if she’d dared.
Not alpha’s mate, but alphas’ mate.
Anders shouldered her thighs and replaced his tongue with his fingers, stretching her inner walls with slick, wet thrusts. He pulled her clit into his mouth at the same time Beck finally captured a nipple. Together, they worked her most sensitive flesh until she gasped, desperate to get away, to go farther and farther.
Anders flattened his tongue against her clit and pulsed the hard, swollen bud. She tore at his hair. Her body jittered and shook, muscles straining for something she couldn’t reach and he wouldn’t give.
“Please,” she whispered, twisting under the hands that restrained her.
Beck raised his head and lifted up, supporting his upper body on one arm. Turning her face to his, he bared his teeth. The points gleamed in the same moonlight that felt like it was burning her skin.
“I take you as mine,” he said roughly, more growl than speech. He seemed to grow larger beside her, stronger, more wild. His fingertips pricked her skin as claws replaced fingernails.
“We.” Anders snarled the word. Something sharp glanced her clit and tore a short, high scream from her.
Lowering his open mouth to her neck, Beck echoed Anders. “We claim you as ours.”
They bit her at once, piercing pain at her neck and inner thigh. Anders did something deep inside her, a rough, firm touch that freed her muscles like snapping rubber bands. Release took her under, pain and bliss that should have dragged a cry from her lungs. But her vocal chords seemed paralyzed and she accepted their claiming with a silent, rasping breath.
While she shivered and jolted through pleasure and pain, her witnesses left the room. Anders turned her onto her stomach with hands that no longer felt like hands. Beck moved beneath her, still pulling at her neck. He grasped her waist and shoved into her with one hard lunge.
A warm, soft pelt brushed over her back, shielding her from the icy hot shine of the moon. As it