Page 131 of Brutal Reign
She covers my hand with her own, smiling softly at me. “As much as I love these marks, I think this one’s my favorite,” she breathes, lifting the hem of her t-shirt with her opposite hand.
I dip my chin to glance down between our bodies. River’s leggings are riding low on her hips, showing off her fresh ink. “Think I have to agree with you on that,” I reply with a smirk.
“Let me see yours again,” she prompts.
Tugging at the collar of my t-shirt, I stretch the fabric down my chest so she can see the black club tattoo inked on my left pec. She immediately leans in and presses her lips to it, a shiver of delight running through me as sparks tingle between our skin.
Pivoting toward Ace, River gives him the same treatment, moving in closer, lifting up on her tiptoes, and pressing a kiss to the spade inked on the side of his throat. Then she steps back, placing a palm to the center of each of our chests and looking between us adoringly.
“I love you guys, and I love our bonds,” she declares, getting all sentimental on us.
Not that I mind.
I’m feeling all warm and squishy myself right now, so I hook an arm around her waist and pull her in, stealing a strawberry-tinged kiss before passing her off to Ace so he can do the same thing. The asshole tips her back and deepens it before pulling back, leaving her red-faced and flustered as she straightens.
“While we’re out here, I wanna try something,” I say, deciding that now’s as good a time as any to test the theory I’ve been brewing up.
“Oh yeah?” she asks, her puffy lips sliding into a devious smirk. “What’s that?”
I flicker a glance toward Ace. “Do you trust us?”
“Well, I just bonded myself to both of you for life, so yeah,” she snorts.
“Then try shifting to your wolf.”
River barks a laugh, rolling her eyes. “You just trying to get me naked?”
“I mean yeah, always, but now that we’ve got our own dorm, we can fuck whenever we want to,” I reply with a smug lift of my chin. “I’m trying to do something else here, though, so humor me. Don’t just shift, but fully give yourself over to your wolf. Let her take control.”
Her playful expression evaporates in an instant, eyes widening and lips turning down in a frown. “Are you out of your mind?” she questions, her voice strained. “You know that isn’t safe.”
“We’ve already proven that she’s not a danger to us, and that was before we sealed our bonds,” Ace remarks, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m with Seb on this, babygirl. I think it’s important that we learn how to pull you back out when she takes over, in case that happens during the challenge. We were able to do it somehow at your packhouse, remember?”
“Well yeah, but…”
“No buts,” I interrupt tersely. “You know this is a good idea, Riv. One we probably should’ve thought of sooner and been working on.”
Her hazel eyes flicker between us as she chews on her lower lip nervously, still considering. I don’t blame her for being apprehensive about letting her wolf out, given her history, but something feels different since we marked. I don’t think she’s even realized it yet. River has become so accustomed to shutting out her inner animal that she didn’t even seem to notice how easy it was for her to push her wolf back last night while Ace was tattooing her. I don’t want to be too optimistic here, but I’m beginning to suspect that when she sealed her mate bonds, it might’ve also bound River’s wild wolf.
My connection to my own wolf strengthened after we sealed our bond, so it stands to reason that hers would, too. We can’t know for sure until she shifts, though.
“Okay,” River finally agrees, blowing out a shaky breath. “I’ll try it, but I’m trusting you guys to subdue her if something goes wrong.”
“Easy,” I scoff. “Your wolf is a powerhouse, but there’s two of us.”
“We’ve got you, babygirl,” Ace murmurs in agreement.
She nods, slowly backing away as she peels her t-shirt off over her head. I could be polite and avert my eyes while she strips down, but where’s the fun in that? She’s mymate, andI fuckingloveher body. Which is why I keep my stare firmly trained on her as she undresses, raking my appreciative gaze over every inch of her bare skin.
“Here goes nothing,” River sighs once she tosses her clothes aside, balling her hands into fists as the air around her starts to shimmer. Her bones snap, body rearranging. A heartbeat later, she’s taken on the form of her stunning white wolf.
No matter how many times I’ve seen her wolf, I’m always awestruck when she first shifts. Her wolf is larger than that of any other female shifter I’ve seen, and her snow white fur is striking. She shakes it out, looking, looking from me to Ace, and then just as quickly as she shifted to her animal, she shifts back.
“Well shit, that was fast,” I comment as the air clears and River rises to stand in her human form.
“My wolf didn’t fully take over,” she grumbles, her brows pinching together and a little crease forming between them. “I tried, but she doesn’t seem to wanna play ball.”
“Hm,” Ace muses, swiping a hand over his chin in quiet contemplation. “Let’s try again.”