Chapter Seven
It had been two weeks since Torren, Rafe, and Seamus had killed Gwen’s father and cleaned out his old pack. The lodge was near to bursting with female wolves who had jumped at the chance of a better life. Most of the males had scattered, but a few of the younger ones had stayed, the youngest being seventeen. Olivia had pushed for the teen to attend school in the nearby town, but Torren had argued it was too dangerous. So instead, a small building was being erected on the edge of the village. If the wolves couldn’t attend school elsewhere, Olivia insisted that a learning lab be set up with computers so they could take online classes. Torren hadn’t seen the point, but she’d argued that everyone should have at least a basic education.
Nearly three dozen new cabins were going up as well. Enough space for the new wolves, with a little room to grow in case others found their way to Torren’s pack. Olivia was relegated to the sidelines since she was pregnant, but she’d found she was excellent at giving orders. Whenever Torren was busy, Seamus was nearby, watching over her. It was a little strange that the man who had wanted to kill her now made sure no one so much as spoke a harsh word to her. As much as she’d hated the fear she’d felt when his claws had been at her throat, she’d understood his pain and had forgiven him.
The few vehicles the pack owned had grown as well, and now there were three covered parking areas with a combination of trucks, SUVs, a van, and two cars. The other Alpha’s pack had brought them when they’d joined Torren’s pack, and since Torren had taken out the old Alpha, by pack law all of their riches now belonged to him. Olivia had worked hard to convince him to take it. She’d known with all the things their expanding pack needed, the funds would come in handy. For an asshole, the other Alpha had known what he was doing when it came to finances.
One of the women from the other pack approached Olivia, her head bent, but Olivia knew it wasn’t so much an act of submission as the woman was trying to hide her face. Her eyes were a little too big for her face, her nose crooked from being broken, and there was a port wine birthmark across one cheek. It hadn’t taken Olivia long to learn the female shifter was self-conscious about her looks.
“Teema,” Olivia said. “Please look up.”
The wolf slowly lifted her head.
“Never be ashamed of who you are,” Olivia said. “You’re sweet, and you’re beautiful. Some lucky wolf will realize that one day.”
“I’ll never mate,” the young woman said softly. “No one will ever want me, and they shouldn’t. It would be best if some of us didn’t breed.”
It wasn’t the first time Olivia had heard such a comment from the females who had recently joined them. Because of what they considered tainted blood, they didn’t want to risk having children with bad genes due to all the inbreeding in their previous pack. Olivia could understand the concern of their children having problems, but she didn’t consider any of the female shifters tainted. She’d gotten to know each of them over the last two weeks, and she’d gladly call any of them family.
“May I help with something?” Teema asked.
Olivia watched the men working hard on the cabin frame in front of her. “Why don’t you find some fresh lemonade and offer a glass to the males working on the cabins today?”
Teema nodded and scurried off.
“Are you matchmaking?” Seamus asked.
“No. But so far, the females from your old pack seem timid around the males. They need to learn that no one will hurt them or force them into something they don’t want to do.”
Seamus nodded. “It will take some of them time. A lot of them were abused by the males who were forced to mate with them. To them, males are the enemy.”
“I understand.”
He watched her a moment then nodded. “Yes. I think you do.”
The sun was beating down on Olivia and sapping her energy. Even though it was a cool fall morning, her body was running hotter these days. Torren had promised it was normal for a female expecting a wolf-shifter pup. She’d narrowed her eyes and chased after him with a butter knife for calling their son or daughter a pup, but he’d easily wrestled it from her, then made her forget her name as he stripped her bare and pleasured her for hours.
Seamus coughed and looked away. “I think you need to find Torren.”
“Why?” she asked, her brows lowering.
“Because every wolf within a few hundred feet of you will smell your arousal. While none of them will touch you, it will make them uncomfortable.”
Her cheeks flushed and she hurried off in the direction she’d last seen her mate.
He was speaking with Luke and Jaxon when she approached, and he stopped mid-sentence to turn and pin her with a heated gaze that made her panties even wetter. He didn’t say anything as he quickly walked toward her, tossed her over his shoulder, and began striding toward their cabin.
“Torren, I…”
His hand smacked her ass. “Knowing you’ve been walking around smelling like this where my entire pack can scent your need is enough to make me want to punish you.”
She moaned as she soaked her panties even more.
He rubbed her ass. “Sounds like you’d enjoy that.”
“You know I like it when you get all dominant with me. And my hormones are all over the place right now.”
He stomped up the front steps of their home, flung open the door, then slammed it shut behind them. Torren eased Olivia off his shoulder then pointed toward their bedroom. “Get in there and strip, then bend over the bed.”
