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When the two pleasure shafts began to vibrate together, Arie’s cries turned to screams of ecstasy. It was so strong that her body felt like it shattered. She was overwhelmed with pleasure to the point that it became her whole world. Only dimly did she hear her mates’ dual roars and felt the hot splashes of their cum marking her—Rager’s inside of her and Kyx’s over her ass and hips. It seemed to take forever before she sank back down into full awareness, pressed between the bodies of her mates. Warol looked on, the corners of his mouth tipped up.
“I want to try that next time,” he said with a chuckle.
Both males groaned out their sated, exhausted pleasure, and Arie, draped bonelessly between them, couldn’t find the energy to do more than laugh.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Warol inhaled the cool spring air and turned to look at his family exiting the den just behind him. It was the perfect day to begin their journey home. Days of rain had delayed them, but it had done its work melting much of the snow. Now the warm sun shone down on them, and the snow was shallow in most areas. There were plenty of bare patches with grass and flowers shooting through, and few deeper drifts. He found himself grinning like a rog at the sight of their mate exiting the den, her eyes squinting against the sun, a pleased smile on her face. Rager, as was his norm, hovered behind her, his ears and eyes alert.
As Arie stopped to adjust the supple skin of her leather dress, Kyx bounded by, making her laugh. Rager’s ears flattened, startled by the younger Ragoru bursting past them, but even he huffed in amusement. Spirits were understandably high. They were finally leaving for their territory. Although the sudden appearance of huntsmen had been dealt with, none of them wanted to chance lingering any longer than they had to.
Even Emala and her mates were preparing the merchant wagon her mates had reclaimed from the forest to transport their possessions. Although Kyx was unhappy leaving his parents behind, Korash had insisted they would meet Warol and Kyx at the bordering markers of their territory within a week’s time. Until then, the den was well-hidden, and Korash was confident that he could protect his family if any huntsmen were unlikely enough to cross into their territory. Warol, having seen two of the males in action, did not doubt it.
Rager shouldered the leather pack that Arie had made containing her spare dresses and the travel rations that Emala had gifted them. Made from meat cooked down in fat with harvested summer berries, they were filling and didn’t taste all that bad. They would make traveling much easier than their previous practice of relying on the stores of dried meat that they’d stocked their claimed caves with over the summer months.
There was something to be said for human ingenuity. Not that the Ragoru didn’t have their own skills; it had just never occurred to him to make a fatty, energy-providing food that could be carried with him when hunting and drying meat to store had worked well enough.
With his peripheral eye he watched Kyx disappear through some trees, but kept his primary eyes on his surroundings. Finally, he turned to move out in the same direction, knowing that Arie was directly behind, guarded on both sides by him and Rager. It was in that manner they traveled uneventfully through the forest. Every now and again, Kyx reappeared from out of nowhere as he circled back to check on them or suggest an alternate route to Rager. This part of the forest was familiar to Kyx, and his sires had not allowed any predatory plants to take root anywhere near their territory.
Still, call it his particular brand of paranoia, but Warol couldn’t help but feel like everything was happening a little too easily. After their encounter with the huntsmen four weeks ago, he’d been vigilant, expecting another attack that didn’t come. But there was no sign of huntsmen, and though the forest seemed quieter than normal, it was otherwise undisturbed. That didn’t stop the anxious itch between his shoulders, however, that warned him to be on his guard as they traveled for hours through the forest.
The cave Kyx led them to was small, much smaller than they were accustomed to sleeping in even when it was just their triad before Arie had joined their family, but it was still suitable to serve as shelter for the night. Rager, who carried their exhausted mate the last few miles, deposited her gently on the floor. This cave had no furs to pad their resting place, but they’d make do for the night. Kyx pulled Arie onto his chest so she could rest easy while he stretched out beneath her, his own eyes half-shut in exhaustion.
Warol looked down at them with a wide grin and glanced over at Rager as the male circled what little room there was available in the cave.
“I don’t think Kyx is going to move any time soon.”
Rager glanced down at the couple curled up together on the ground, the corners of his mouth kicking up.
“Kyx has earned his rest and then some. The cave appears to be secure. I will go out to see if there is any fresh game available. It is best to save the rations if we can.”
Warol nodded, his attention focusing on the entrance of the cave. “While you hunt, I will scout a bit farther around the cave for any signs of potential danger occupying this part of the forest with us. I think we are still close enough to his parents’ territory to discourage the presence of rival Ragoru triads or large predators, but it doesn’t hurt to check. I wouldn’t want anything to sneak up on us while we sleep.”
Rager sighed. “It does seem as if something is a bit off. Part of me keeps expecting huntsmen to descend upon us from the forest, but it seems more and more likely that our encounter with the huntsmen truly was an isolated incident. If any were lying in wait for us to leave the protection of Korash’s territory, they would have attacked by now. At this point I would agree that our primary concerns would be checking for predators and triads that could pose a danger but be thorough, Warol, and I will also keep an ear to the wind.”
Warol nodded and parted quickly from the cave. The sooner he was able to verify their security and get back, the better. Even as he left the cave, he couldn’t help the gnawing feeling in his belly that there was something he was missing. He sniffed the air, drawing it into his lungs, his eyes and ears alert. When nothing greeted him but silence and the clean, sharp taste of the air, he loped away from the cave, his senses alert for any possible discrepancy.
Arie curled into the soft fur of Kyx’s belly, her nose snuggled into the male’s scruff around his neck so that she could feel her breath stirring the strands of fur with her every exhale. Kyx communicated his enjoyment of it as he rumbled beneath her, his mouth curving in a content smile. Her heart warmed at the look of contentment on his face and, leaning forward, she pressed her lips lovingly against the side of his muzzle. All four of his arms immediately wrapped around her, pressing her close to him, and Arie smiled, relishing the closeness. She didn’t think anything could possibly disrupt the peace of that moment. Without Rager and Warol there, the cave was silent save for the soft sounds of their breathing.
Kyx arched beneath her as her fingers trailed down his pecs and abs, neither of them quite able to resist the sweet torment of the way they rested against each other. Arie had just begun to slide her hands down Kyx’s belly when a light sound, like the faint jingle of metal, caught her attention. She frowned and lifted her head, but before she could even glance behind her toward the sound, her mate’s body went rigid, and he spun her beneath him so that she was shielded beneath him. A threatening growl rose from his chest, his arms braced around her, protectively caging her in as she saw several men burst into the cave.
They spilled into the cave in such numbers that they were surrounded before Kyx could even properly assume a defensive position. Her mate snarled and snapped his teeth at the men in the warning, just aware as she was that they were completely vulnerable in the center of the cave where they’d been resting, all sides exposed to the enemy.
That didn’t stop Kyx from trying to fight them off. He valiantly tried again and again to strike, but every time he turned at an angle to protect against an assault from one, another pushed forward to attack.
Whenever they were able to get close enough, the huntsmen stabbed at Kyx with their knives. Not one raised a rifle against him, but shooting him probably would have been a mercy compared to the torture they submitted him to. The humans were clear in their desire. Their faces were twisted cruelly with hatred as they struck, the shallow cuts slowly draining blood from her mate. He yelped with every impact but refused to allow her up from beneath his cover no matter how much she begged him.
When two of the huntsmen looped chains around his neck at either side, Arie wept and clung to him, trying desperately to work the chain off even as she pulled her knife and slashed desperately with one hand at anyone who came without range. Her fingernails broke below the quick, drops of her blood smearing across his fur, but it was to no avail. Using the chains, the men were finally able to pull Kyx away from her. He snarled and roared with helpless fury even as Arie fought off the hands grabbing at her, slashing and stabbing at them until a well-delivered blow sent her knife flying from her grip. Arms brutally grabbed her, yanking her painfully to her feet but it seemed insignificant compared to the pain of her heart breaking as the men dragged Kyx back against the wall of the cave before they began to cut into his flesh with their short blades.
She didn’t see much of it because Arie’s view was obscured when the huntsman restraining her shifted his stance, but their laughter taunted her. Even though she couldn’t see him, she could still hear every pained cry, every enraged snarl and desperate growl.
He was suffering.
She screamed her fury and jerked forward, breaking free of her captors’ grips as she made for her knife, determined to deliver to death to at least one of Kyx’s tormentors, only to be knocked to the ground without mercy. A hard boot pinned her between her shoulders, pressing her chest flat against the hard stone.
Finally, one moved and stepped aside just far enough that she was able to see the blood flowing freely from one of Kyx’s ruined eyes. Arie screaming, venting her anger and horror at what they’d done to sweet mate. Her grief swallowed her as the man pinning her yanked back on her hair with one hand so she would be forced to watch her mate die. Arie wouldn’t have turned her eyes away even if she could. Kyx deserved better than that; he deserved her to be present with him as he suffered so he didn’t die alone with no kindness or love looking upon him.
