In Need of Love

Chapter 25

Dotty weaved in and out of the trees, Cassian and Harlan close on her tail. They were playing a game. It was supposed to be like hide and seek, but it was totally unfair since they could find her by smell.

The sun warmed her fur. It was warm out, finally. The weather was turning. Winter was behind them, the worst was behind them.

After they grew tired, the two Alphas left her in the cover of the trees to shift back privately. Cassian offered her his shirt, petting her on the head, before going into the house.

Dotty was a bit embarrassed by her lack of clothing. Of course Cassian had to choose his smallest fitting shirt, one that left nothing to the imagination.

She knew it was on purpose. They were such boys. Hopefully, they would be busy enough that she could get to the shower without too much attention.

She had made it to the upstairs hallway, when she ran right into Harlan, literally. He held her arms, holding her in place. Her heart started beating rapidly.

"Someone's in a hurry," he teased with a sinful smirk. She saw a glimmer of a canine, of a wolf that had yet to fully retreat. "You didn't want to show us your pretty legs?"

"Harlan," Dotty whined, feeling heat rush to her cheeks.

"What, sweetheart?" he backed her up slowly until she was against the wall. "Do you want me to let you go, or maybe I should call Cassian up here to show him how good you look in his shirt?"

She sputtered some kind of unintelligible words as his hands moved down her lower back.

"Poor baby," he whispered, dropping his head so their lips were brushing as he spoke. "Can't even get your words out."

"I was wondering where the hell you guys were," Cassian said. "Lunch is almost ready."

"Look what I caught," Harlan said. "She was a little nervous to show us how pretty she looked."

Cassian stepped closer. "You do look beautiful."

Dotty knew they'd let her go if she asked, but she didn't really want to. She liked the attention and the heat it made her feel.

Cassian thumbed the bottom of his t-shirt that she was wearing, his fingertips brushing dangerously high on her thigh.

"Our pretty mate," Cassian hummed, leaning down to capture her lips in one hard kiss. She gripped his t-shirt with her fists, pulling him closer.

He released her, stepping back quite abruptly, leaving her cold and alone.

Harlan was the one who spoke next. "You should shower, baby, so we can get some food in us."

She was quite confused at the shift in energy. She was almost certain they would have kept going, and she would have let them do whatever they wanted to her. Their teasing had really put her on the edge this time, and now they were just going to leave her? It was so unfair.

"Okay," she agreed quietly.

Harlan gave her a surprisingly gentle kiss before he and Cassian went back downstairs.

---

The shower did nothing to ease her heated body, but Dotty waas hoping the feeling would go away all on its own.

Cassian and Harlan were in the kitchen. Whatever Cassian had cooked smelled amazing, and her abandoned stomach grumbled. Because of all of their silly games, her wolf didn't get a chance to hunt.

She tucked close to Cassian as he made her plate, piling it high with chicken.

"Here you go, angel," he said, pressing his lips to her forehead.

She sat next to Harlan, and Cassian sat across from them.

"You're pretty quiet," Harlan said, his foot nudging hers under the table. "Did I bother you earlier?"

"No," she admitted honestly. "You just stopped a little abruptly, that's all."

Harlan choked down a laugh, and she pouted.

"It's not funny," she protested.

"We did it on purpose," Cassian said. "We didn't want you to get too caught up."

"And our wolves still had more control than normal," Harlan said. "Nothing you said or did turned us away."

She nodded, going back to eating.

"Something is stil wrong," Cassian said. "Talk to us."

She felt the heat creep up her neck and into her cheeks again.

"I can't."

"You can't what?" Cassian asked. "You can't tell us that you didn't want us to stop?"

"Is that true?" Harlan asked, his breath fanning over her cheek. He turned her face to meet his.

They knew it was. They were just torturing her.

"Yes," she finally admitted. Harlan rewarded her with a punishing kiss that made her toes curl.

"Such a good girl," he cooed. His hand skimmed her waistline, dipping under her t-shirt and across her belly. The skin to skin contact made her eyes flutter.