And Then There Were Four
Chapter 61

"Ivy."

A taunting voice called from outside the cottage, followed by a scratching sound that made me bite my bottom l!p. "Why are you hiding from me?"

As much as I wanted to reply, I couldn't. Instead, I remained quiet, and with my silence, I heard the cottage door crash open. His thundering steps echoed over the flooring as he stepped inside. "Are we playing hide and seek?" he chuckled deeply. There weren't many places to hide in my cottage. The distant voices of James and Damian echoed outside. "Hale!"

Holding my breath, I watched Hale's shadow from the closet door. He knew where I was, and as the doors flew open. I tried to push past him, only to be snatched by sharp claws and pulled back. A cry escaped my lips as he chuckled. "Why are you running? You said you wanted to play with me.

"Hale, what are you doing?" I whined as I looked up into two dark, swirling eyes. "How are you shifted like this?"

"Because I'm not Hale... well, technically not."

Confusion laced my mind as I tried to come to terms with what he was saying. He was Hale... his human form was present, but small characteristics had changed, and with them, something else came forward.

A more primal side of him took the forefront.

"What do you want?" I asked breathlessly as his tongue slid over my neck before tossing me onto the bed. I was turned on at the moment... To know he and his wolf had a need only I could fulfill, and as he stood over me, I waited.

Waited for him to pounce waited for him to take me.

The swollen and sensitive mound between my thighs ached, and with every movement my thighs teased me, begging for a release only he could give me.

"You should have listened to them," he said with a predatory gaze that caused fear to creep in slowly. "You shouldn't have run."

Before I knew it, I was pinned beneath him as his lips met mine. The kiss was not as before, and his touch was not soft at all. Most women would have screamed, but me... I didn't.

I was utterly entranced by what he was doing to me, and as his thick er3ction parted my folds, impaling me all I could do was moan in pleasure.

I was his to do as he wanted, and the voices of Damian and James were distant in the fog of pleasure that clouded my mind.

Hale's hand gripped my throat as he fucked me with a force no human man could ever compete with and cries of pleasure escaped my l!ps over and over again.

"Oh, shit!" I screamed as he flipped me over and slipped himself back in from behind. The penetration was deep and slightly painful. Yet, it was nothing compared to the sensation of the knot at the base of his cock swelling and pushing against my walls. "I can't-" I whimpered as he held me down. His l!ps trailed over my neck as he created more arousal within me

**You are mine, Ivy. Say it. Say you are mine."

"I'm yours," I replied breathlessly. "Make me yours." Overloaded to the max, I tried to pull myself together, but his whispered words in my ear stopped me cold.

"Oh, I will. And as I empty myself, you will carry the future." The voice wasn't normal and panicking, I realized it was that of his wolf.

"Wait, what" elongated teeth bit down at the base of my neck, and pleasure flooded through me as I screamed coming undone as I felt the pressure of his release settled deep within my womb.

I didn't care at that moment what he meant anymore. I was willing to surrender to his desires.

Chapter 61: Taken by the Darkness

Desires that made my heart flutter as darkness slowly crept into my vision. I wasn't sure what the future would hold, but as my eyes began to close, I saw the creature within the darkness. A force unlike anything I could have imagined

It was a beast waiting to be released. A force of nature that didn't fit with the world we were currently in and none of it made sense.

"Ivy." It called out in a soothing voice that wrapped around me like velvet. I have been waiting for you."

Fear spiraled through me as my heart began to race. The beast in the darkness stalked towards me slowly as if it owned me. Yet, even though fear was there, I wasn't entirely afraid.

The creature was more familiar to me than I understood, and something deep down inside my soul recognized it. Something deep inside me was calling to it, and as it did, the creature reached for me, plunging me into a dark abyss of constant pleasure and comfort Was this the end... Or was it simply the beginning of something new?

Something that could potentially destroy us all if we weren't careful. James POV

Bursting through the door, I watched as Hale slowly became himself again. His eyes flickered for a moment as he looked at me, and then down at Ivy whose beautiful neck was now lined with another mark next to mine.

His mark... his claim on her.

"You didn't," I gasped, realizing what it meant that he had laid with her in that form. He had claimed her and mated with her in a way that very well could produce a child by the end of a year.

"Oh, fvck-" he said as he realized what I was talking about. "I-I didn't mean to."

Heavy footsteps echoed behind me, and as I turned, I took in Damian's dark glaring eyes assessing the situation. Hale slowly moved as his knot released and grabbed a blanket, laying it over Ivy's now sleeping form. The mating process took every last bit of energy from her.

"What's done is done," Damian replied firmly through gritted teeth. She is one with you both now, and it can not be undone as it was before."

"Damian, why haven't you claimed her?" Hale finally asked as I grabbed a pair of shorts from a stash in her closet we had left weeks before and tossed them at him.

"I have given my reasoning before," he sighed. "You all deserve to have her before I make my claim. As should have been done in the past."

"We need to replace Talon." I interrupted, causing them both to turn to me before nodding in agreement.

Finding Talon would be a problem. After losing Ivy, he had gone off the radar and stayed to his animalistic side. A side that was hard to reach at times, considering how out-of-control Talon was.

No matter what we do... you, Hale, can not let that happen again. You have controlled that side of you for years. What the fvck happened up there?"

Damian's scolding question caught Hale by surprise, and I knew I was at fault for what happened, as well as Ivy. I pushed her to do what she did, but never did I think that Hale would have lost it.

"It's my fault," I whispered, causing them both to look at me. "Ivy wanted you, Hale, and I could feel how bad it was breaking her to not be with you. To have you so indifferent to her. She expects it from Damian, but not from you. So I pushed her to do what she did." "I knew it." He yelled as he stormed towards me and shoved me against the wall. "I could have killed her, James!"

"Enough!" Damian roared, causing us both to back down. "I will not tolerate any more of this shit in my pack. We are stronger together, and I will not have us divided. I said what I said, what's done is done."

Damian was more than serious, and I was well aware of what he had to say. "What would you like to do about Ivy ?"

His eyes cast down to her as he shook his head, 'take her to the room and lay her down. Whatever happens though from here on out, she can not be a part of retrieving Talon. Especially if the goddess takes pleasure in our situation, and she does become pregnant." I didn't miss the way his eyes darted to Hale with swirling blackness as he said pregnant.

Yes, she belonged to all of us. However, the Alpha wolf in him wanted to have that right first.

It was about dominance and control. Even if she was shared. His wolf didn't care.

"Of course," I muttered as I walked towards her and lifted her sleeping form in its blanket.

My wolf howled in protest in the back of my mind to a danger lurking around us. I wasn't sure what it was but the pacing he was doing caused me to grit my teeth as pain radiates through my skull.

'Mate.' It whined as if to try and tell me something was wrong with Ivy.

A feeling of despair slowly grew within the pit of my stomach as nausea swept through me.

"I think something is wrong," I whispered, causing Damian to look at me with concern.

"What do you mean something is wrong?"

Shaking my head I looked at him with confusion, "I don't know... Just something isn't right."

Our eyes lingered on Ivy's sleeping form in my arms. Her hair swept around her face causing her to seem more delicate than she was. "Isn't the bond the same as before?"

"No." I said softly, "Hale didn't bond with her like he did before. This was different. There is something in Ivy that is different than before, and my wolf is going crazy"

As Damian and my eyes lingered on Hale he stood speechless, "I can't feel anything."

That isn't good. With the bond solidified between them, he should have been able to feel what I did, and yet, he couldn't.

*Take her to her room and lay her down. We will take turns keeping an eye on her. In the meantime, we need to replace Talon. That has to be priority. if we don't. I have a feeling she will turn to drastic measures of trying to replace him." Nodding my head, I made my way back to the house trying to calm the beast within my mind.

I had no doubt that she would be out for a while. The mating process with anyone was draining, but to mate with the mixed ones... Well, that was sure to be more dangerous.