She started to sit up, but Jon placed one of his hands on the center of her chest. With the other, he cleaned her pussy and ass. She squirmed and complained, but he ignored her and completed the task with humiliating thoroughness. “I could have just gone and taken a shower,” she concluded when he went into the bathroom to recycle the washcloth.
“I wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt you,” Jon admitted. “I was rougher than I intended to be.”
“You could have simply asked,” she pointed out.
“I will always take care of you, even when you’ve been very bad.” Then Jon motioned toward the bathroom. “I’m going to go clean up.”
Isaac and Kyle undressed and crawled into bed with her. Surrounded by warm bodies and naked limbs, Tara was content and sleepy. Still, Isaac’s comment wouldn’t leave her mind. “What else would change if you claimed me?”
“You’d have complete freedom within the village,” Isaac told her. “Outside the walls, you still need an escort, but inside you could go wherever you want.”
She knew that was true because Lexie no longer required an escort when she went places inside the village walls. “Which bedroom would be mine? You each have your own space, but I’ve always just imposed on one of you.”
They looked at her impatiently, and Kyle insisted, “You’re not an imposition. If you want your own bedroom, I’ll bunk with Jon.”
“Like hell you will,” Jon called from the bathroom. He appeared in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his lean hips. “I need my alone time.”
“I’m the coalition leader,” Isaac reminded. “I also have the biggest bedroom. I think you should keep your clothes in my bedroom and the rest can remain fluid.”
Tara thought about the arrangement for a moment, then nodded. “I’m okay with that, as long as it won’t feel like I belong to you and the others just borrow me.”
Jon and Kyle laughed. “No borrowing,” Jon promised. “You belong to us, and we belong to you.” He smiled and moved deeper into the bathroom to continue with his shower.
“I should probably join him,” Tara said. “I’m not sure a sponge bath is adequate.”
“Relax,” Isaac urged. “We love it when you smell like us.”
She was exhausted and feeling lazy, so she didn’t argue. She snuggled back into the warmth of their arms and released the tension in her muscles. “Lexie told me about the psychic link she shares with her mates. Can you claim me without a soul bond? I’m not sure I’d like having all three of you in my mind all the time.”
“A true claiming requires a psychic link,” Isaac told her. “But there are several kinds.”
“There’s the basic transfer link,” Kyle explained. “That simply allows us to pass thoughts and emotions to each other. It must be accessed intentionally. The next level is called an empathic link. Thoughts and images must be passed across the link, but emotions flow continually. If you were ever threatened or afraid, we would know and come running.”
She smiled sleepily. “That sounds nice, and a little less invasive than the soul bond.”
“We can start with a transfer link,” Isaac offered. “That would give you a chance to see what it’s like to have direct access to our minds.”
“But you would have direct access to mine too, wouldn’t you?”
Jon sauntered out of the bathroom, hair wet from the shower. “We can access your mind now, but we choose not to. We told you that the day we met.”
She nodded as everyone rearranged a bit, making room for Jon on the bed. “I’d like to try the transfer link, but not tonight. I’mstill processing all the things you guys made me feel. I need some sleep.”
“Fair enough.” Isaac leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Sleep well, my love.”
The following morning, Isaac circled Elias, continually scanning his mind. The wolf leader was secured to a chair in one of the unused cabins. His wrists were bound in magnetic cuffs and his throat was encircled by a choke collar. If he attempted to shift, the collar would strangle him. It was a simple but effective deterrent. The wolf’s hostile gaze followed Isaac for as much of the orbit as possible. Elias yanked against the restraints, but Isaac had never seen anyone break free from the magnetic cuffs. Even so, the cabin was surrounded by armed guards. The precaution was probably overkill, but Zion wasn’t taking any chances with this sonofabitch.
Jon and Kyle had gone to meet with the raptor scout and continue the search for the human females. Isaac was hoping to provide them with detailed information that would assist with the search. Which meant Elias needed to start talking.
“Your only hope of surviving your captivity is if you cooperate with me right now,” Isaac told him.
Elias scoffed. “You’ll kill me either way, so go fuck yourself.”
He was right. Elias was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of lives. He’d also beaten, cut, and burnt Akari, and then left her for dead. Elias would breathe his last the moment Isaac finished this interrogation. “Where did your beta take the women?” Isaacknew Elias would never speak the words, but he waited for the answer to appear within his mind.
“Their location is irrelevant,” Elias insisted. “Every one of those females is now a wolf’s mate.”
Isaac scanned more aggressively. “That’s impossible and we both know it. Wolves require genetic compatibility to breed just like we do. The women will need to be tested and then matched with compatible males. That takes time.” Babcock’s craggy face flashed through Elias’ mind. Isaac focused on the image and probed deeper.
