speculatively. “But I was also shutting him off from all the stuff that would have clued him in that you weren’t having a good time.”
“That…that’s useful,” Caleb said, but when he moved closer, Jai growled. I shot him a look, shaking my head. “You’re persuading rather than controlling.”
“Yeah, I guess. With animals, they have all these instincts and behaviours. I enhance the ones that help and suppress the ones that don’t.”
“According to humans,” Gaden said drily.
“Right. With people, it's thoughts, feelings. Kazimir was feeling…frisky when I arrived.” I heard the shuffle of feet. “I saw a memory of him and Nero together, and I expanded on that. He was with me and with Nero simultaneously in his mind. I joined some dots and—”
“And he forced his cock down my throat,” Nero finished. “It was consensual, initially.”
“And how’d it feel?” Zane quipped in a low mutter.
“Incredible at the start,” Kazimir said. “Then… It was curious, to be devoid of feeling, other than your own selfishness. I imagine our jailer feels the same on a daily basis.”
“Which brings us back to the purpose,” Jai said. “Shan, do you think you could try to do the same with the men next time they’re down?”
“I’ll need to practise, but I hope so. I don’t think it's your beasts that make it so easy for me. I…I think we’ve always been able to do this. It’s why Nan was always running, why she kept so quiet. I think she wanted to avoid this or how the pack would react if they ever found out.”
“They’d kill you,” Gaden said bluntly. “That’s what we do to threats.”
“And Hollingsworth would use you,” Caleb said. “He doesn’t need your child.”
“He does if he wants them biddable and sharing his point of view,” Nero said. “So if Shannon is to practise, who’s next?”
“Me,” Jai and Caleb said at the same time, their eyes flashing silver.
Chapter 34
“Maybe we should establish some ground rules first.”
We stood in neutral ground, near the glass wall and between our cage and Gaden’s. I said the words, but neither man looked at me or acknowledged them. Instead, the two wolf shifters had their eyes on each other.
“Or I could try to force the two of you to kiss and make up.”
That got them focused. Two sets of silver eyes swung around to me, and I fought the urge to shiver.
Whatever Jai had done to me was confusing. They were so completely other right now, with so little humanity showing in their alien eyes and expressionless faces. These were beasts on the hunt. But the heat hadn’t been fed for a bit with everything that was going on, and I was feeling…itchy, despite the shame of what had happened before.
Or because of it, a dark voice suggested, providing me with a lovely range of scenarios where I crawled on the bed, the two of them hot on my heels and catching one foot in each of their hands, pulling me to them and then apart.
Their growls were music to my ears, as was their slow prowl towards me. They breathed me in, twin smiles spreading across their faces that were dark, carnal things, promising me everything I’d ever wanted and more. Until they got close and each saw the other.
Oh fuck. Bodies stiffened, lips pulled back in snarls, fangs slid down, hands shifted into claws. They squared off, obviously ready to sort things out, but my eyes flicked over the two of them, cataloguing the ways they could irreversibly hurt each other.
“No!” I shouted, leaping to my feet and striding over, but they didn’t listen.
There was some kind of male posturing bullshit here that shut me out entirely. I didn’t matter anymore. It was this, each other, taking out the competition.
“She’s mine,” Jai growled. “She’s always been mine.”
“But still, you never mated her. Says something right there, pal.”
“That I was willing to wait for the right time.”
“That you hurt her.” Disgust was written plainly on Caleb’s face. “I can smell it, that residual stink of pain on her. I’ll never do that to her. Finding my mate? Fuck, what the hell were you thinking?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter now. I’ll make her mine and keep her safe with every breath left in me.”
“The fuck you will! She’s gonna take me—” A roar clawed its way out of Jai’s throat, choking off the words as his beast fought to take control.
“No, no, no!” I cursed. Hands were drawn away, claws flexed, feet shuffled as they looked