Wolfen (30 page)

 
Jared jolted to Earth less pleasantly, encountering Xavier's hand when he reached to stroke Danika in appreciation. Xavier grabbed his finger and gave in a vicious twist before flinging if off and rising up to glare at him.

 
For several moments, they bristled at one another before it dawned on Jared to wonder how long they'd delayed their meeting. “Shit!” he muttered under his breath. “They'll be coming back to look for us!"

 
They scrambled off the bed and dashed toward the bathroom to wash off as much of the evidence of their inequity as they could, colliding briefly in the doorway before Xavier managed to gain the upper hand and beat Jared to the lavatory. “They'll smell her on us anyway,” Jared said pointedly. “Not that I give a fuck."

 
"There's no sense in giving them an edge by pissing them off,” Xavier pointed out. “My knees feel like water. I hope to hell I didn't just fuck myself up."

 
He tripped and nearly sprawled out trying to get his legs in his jeans on the run. Jared, having a similar problem, hopped on first one leg and then the other and finally managed to drag his jeans up his hips. He didn't bother to fasten them, figuring he was going to be shucking them again shortly.

 
"That was ... different,” he muttered as he and Xavier let themselves out of Danika's cabin and bounded off the porch.

 
Xavier sent him a sharp glance. “Different. Jesus it felt good, though."

 
"You think it's better in the ass?” Jared asked curiously.

 
Xavier glared at him. “I wouldn't know,” he growled, but then shrugged. “It was so fucking hot and tight I thought I was going to explode before I could get inside of her."

 
"Maybe we could switch positions next time? Just so I can try it ... although it's hard to imagine better. You think she's going to be pissed off when she wakes up and remembers?"

 
"Not as pissed off as the others are going to be when they find out what took us so long to join them,” Xavier said, nodding toward the group glaring at them as they rounded an outcropping of trees and he spied Dakota, Con, and Balin waiting for them near the lake. “I was insulted when he suggested it, but under the circumstances I think the chances are in Balin's favor that he's going to kick both of our asses without a hell of a lot of fucking trouble."

 
"Gods fucking damn it!” Balin growled with a mixture of anger and disgust when they neared him. “I don't fucking believe you two took advantage of Dani when she was so drunk she hardly knew which end was up!"

 
Jared and Xavier shared an uncomfortable glance and turned to glower at Balin.

 
"She offered a...."

 
"
Shut
the fuck up!” Jared snarled, cutting Xavier off, then swinging a punch at him that caught him on the side of the jaw and twisted his head around to one side.

 
Recovering swiftly, Xavier swung around and landed a punch on Jared's chin.

 
Jared staggered back a couple of steps, uttered a snarl of rage and launched himself at Xavier, plowing his fist into his belly twice in rapid succession.

 
"Knock it off!” Dakota bellowed. “You're supposed to match with Balin not each other gods damn it!"

 
Neither Jared nor Xavier paid him the least bit of attention, battering at each other with their fists. Dakota plunged between them, trying to break the fight up and caught Xavier's fist with his face and Jared's in the belly. He staggered back at the double blow, shook his head and uttered a snarling growl, going into half-shift.

 
"Foul!” Con growled, going into half-shift himself, grabbing Dakota by his shoulders and slinging him away from the brawlers. “We agreed on full transition!"

 
Dakota slammed into Balin before he could catch himself, flattening him on the dirt on his back. Uttering a roar of rage, Balin transitioned into half-shift, as well, shoving Dakota off of him and springing to his feet. Dakota rolled to the balls of his feet and charged Balin, burying his head in Balin's belly and driving him back into Con. Managing to maintain his feet when he'd staggered back several steps, Con grabbed Balin with both hands, slung him out of his way, and hammered his fist into Dakota's back, driving him face first into the dirt. Thrown off balance, Balin landed on his shoulder in the dirt and rolled into the lake. His eyes glowed with fury when he emerged, slogging water as he stalked back toward the melee and swung at Con. Con ducked and Balin's fist connected with Dakota's face instead, rocking his head back on his shoulders.

 
Jared and Xavier, by now as furious as all the others, morphed into man-beast form as the others had and began tearing at each other with their teeth and claws.

 
"No claws!” Con growled, grabbing Jared and dragging him away from Xavier.

 
"No teeth!” Balin snarled, punching Xavier in the mouth with his fist and slicing his knuckles open on Xavier's sharp teeth.

 
Dakota, disoriented by Balin's punch, managed to get his bearings, bellowed with rage, and launched himself at Balin. Xavier sat up as Dakota threw Balin off of him and checked his teeth. Finding several loose, he spat the blood from his mouth, pushed himself up, and looked around for his cousin with blood in his eyes. Spying Balin and Dakota pounding on one another at the edge of the lake, he stalked toward them.

 
Con, by now on the ground beneath Jared, threw an arm out in search of leverage to get Jared off of him, grabbed Xavier's leg as he stalked past and leveled him. Enraged when he'd pushed himself up and spat out the dirt he'd bitten when he slammed into the ground, Xavier's gaze zeroed in on Jared. Pushing himself to his feet, he stalked back to where Con lay with Jared straddling his waist and pounding him in the face and kicked Jared hard enough beneath the jaw he executed a backwards flip off of Con.

 
As furious as they all were after the battering they'd managed to mete out to one another, they began to tire after about an hour. The brawl slowed and eventually petered out about an hour after that when none of them could get up enough energy to get up again. The five of them lay panting for breath, still glaring at one another with the promise of more once they'd caught their wind—except for Jared and Xavier, who'd been tired when they'd arrived and were just content that they were still able to draw breath.

 
"Who won?” Xavier asked, arousing to consciousness a short while later.

 
Balin, the only one of the five who'd managed to at least sit up, glared at his cousin. “Nobody fucking won, you jackass! It was a fucking rout! No order whatsoever and nobody paid the least attention to rules or the order of competition!” he growled tiredly. “We'll have to try again tomorrow. I'm too gods damn tired to beat your ass again tonight.” Getting to his feet, he wavered a moment, checked the distance between himself and the cabin, and staggered toward it. “I get the shower first!"

 
Dakota struggled and managed to push himself upright. “It was my gods damned turn to be first!” he bellowed at Balin's retreating form.

 
"Bite me!” Balin snarled, lifting a three fingered salute skyward.

 
"I think I might just sleep here,” Xavier growled after a moment.

 
"Not like that!” Con ground out. “It'll scare the piss out of Dani if she sees you in half beast."

 
"I'm not sure I've got the energy left to morph,” Jared said tiredly. “Between the booze and the fucking she'll sleep late anyhow."

 
"Do it anyway!"

 
"Just wait there,” Dakota snarled. “Because as soon as I'm able I'm going to beat the shit out of you for fucking her, you prick!"

 
Jared struggled and managed to lift one arm high enough to shoot him a bird. “You want a piece of me? Have at it! I'll beat the fuck out of you."

 
"It ain't your call anyway,” Xavier muttered. “She invited...."

 
"I swear to gods, Xavier, if you don't shut up I'm going to roll over and put my fist down your throat!” Jared growled.

 
Dakota studied the two in fuming silence for a moment and finally got up and headed toward the cabin.

 
Jared considered tripping him as he staggered past him but decided he didn't have the strength for another bout at the moment.

 
Con got up a moment later and followed Dakota.

 
"What's your problem anyway?” Xavier demanded.

 
"I just don't want to talk about it, alright?"

 
* * * *

The first thing Danika noticed when she woke up was the disgusting, horrible taste in her mouth and the sunlight spilling through her window and striking her eyeballs right through her eyelids like sharp spikes. After struggling with the diametrically opposed impulses to race to the bathroom and get rid of the taste and the urge to roll over and try to sleep until she either died or got better, she finally decided she was going to puke if she didn't wash her mouth out and got up.

 
That was when she noticed the second two things. She had a pain in the ass, literally, and her head felt like it might explode. Holding her head with both hands, she crept carefully toward the bathroom and braced herself against the lavatory long enough to dig out mouthwash and her toothbrush and toothpaste. The mouthwash swept the horrible taste from her mouth for about five seconds and then made her throw up. When she finally decided it was safe to stop hanging over the toilet bowl, she crept back to the lavatory and used the toothpaste. It was a near thing, but she managed it without throwing up again. After downing a couple of painkillers, she crept into the shower, merely standing under the water for a while and allowing the steam and pelting water to ease some of her pain.

 
It came to her while she washing her nether regions why her ass hurt.

 
She tried without a lot of success to dismiss the memories that surfaced but discovered there was too much evidence to the contrary to convince herself she'd actually only
dreamed
she'd talked Jared and Xavier into a cozy three way. Everything was a little foggy after Dakota had started plying her with beer but, unfortunately, not foggy enough. She only had a vague idea of any of the things she'd said at the cookout, but she certainly remembered she'd had diarrhea of the mouth.

 
She'd felt so exuberant and chatty and not the least bit self-conscious like she usually was—like she should've been considering she'd slept with more than half the men present, all in the past week and half.

 
Now all the men present, she reminded herself, groaning at the memory.

 
She could mark getting drunk at a party with five men and fucking two at the same time off her list of ‘things to do before I die', she thought glumly.

 
Her head was still pounding when she got out of the shower, but she felt marginally better. At least her mouth didn't taste like a backed-up septic tank and she'd mastered the nausea. She had to hold her head with one hand and try to pull her panties and jeans on with the other because every time she bent over it felt as if the top of her head was going to fall off.

 
Settling at her table with a cup of instant coffee, she propped her head in one hand and tried decide whether she should pack up and sneak off at dusk to keep from having to face the bikers again or if it might be best to just hide out in her cabin and try to finish her job before she slithered off into the underbrush.

 
She'd certainly taken care of the infinitesimal possibility that any of them would actually consider dating her!

 
She packed that morbid thought away. It shouldn't have even occurred to her. It didn't matter if they thought she was a pushover because she was never going to see any of them ever again anyway. That was the main reason she'd thought it would be safe to have a wild adventure with them to begin with—not having to face them again, not having to worry that they might pass the information around to anybody she knew.