The next few days of travelling were monotonous. After leaving the estuary pack, they drove through the next day and halfway into the second evening before parking up on a seemingly deserted forest track.

As they all piled out, stretching their legs after 36 hours more or less straight in a car, Ezekiel hauled the sheepskins for them to sleep on out of the car while Sam banked up a pile of rocks from a nearby river for a makeshift fire pit.

"This is as far as we drive. Over this hill and two days running should take us to where your sister is hopefully waiting. If she's not there, we'll have to enter North territory, and I'm not sure I want to do that," Ezekiel informed as the younger lycans piled their camping gear out of the car.

Four dog saddle packs were stuffed with most of what they would need, and a large army backpack was full of dried food, baby equipment, and medical supplies. Zion had brought everything he could think of, including a hypodermic needle of anaesthetic, which he hoped he would not have to use.

Akela had avoided Abel's smug grin all through the journey, but as they placed their sheepskins on the ground, he lay his next to hers and leaned in with a smarmy smirk.

"You luuurve me..." he whispered and got a deadpan look in return.

"You were jealous. You want me.. You want my hands on your skin and my..." he sing-songed with an audible grin in his voice.

Akela clapped a hand over his mouth to stop the rest of the sentence. His eyes narrowed with the widening of his grin.

As soon as she thought he had got the point, Akela slowly released her hand from his mouth and demonstratively wiped it on his jumper with as much disdain as she could muster.

He looked at her with a satisfied little smile while she turned away from him to move her bedding from practically under his.

"I know you're kinda innocent, but I still think double mating with both me and Zi could be an option," Abel grinned behind her before taking a step closer to lay his arms around her waist.

Akela struggled to hide the way her breath felt tight and forced at his touch. His hand was flat on her stomach, not moving, just splayed on her skin.

"We'd have to figure out the technicalities of the claim, but my brother is taller than me, so I think it would be most practical if he claimed you... the ordinary way. And I do something I've never done before and claimed your backside," he whispered into her ear.
His free hand moved to her ass, stroking gentle circles to emphasize his idea.

Akela's brain threatened to blank out with sheer shock at his suggestion.

"But. Kira!" She breathed, her voice breaking in her throat.

Abel's laughter fanned across her neck before his lips gently nipped at her skin.

"Well... if she wants, we'll do the same with her. No more worrying about who belongs with who..." he grinned.

Zion walked over, shaking his head. 

"You're an idiot if you ever think I'll share a mate with you!" he huffed.

Abel straightened, not releasing Akela from his grip which meant she her feet left the ground and a pathetic squeak left her throat.

While she was still coming to terms with being lifted off the ground, Abel maneuvered them over to Zion. The instinctive need to ground herself, made Akela's legs wrap around Zion.

"Just like that," Abel chuckled as he ground the three of them together.

Akela's horrified face looked at Zion's equally wide-eyed shock in front of her.

The next few seconds, with Akela's wide eyes staring into Zion's, felt like an eternity. Her blush raced across her face, and her blood was slowly pumping in areas it had no business being. Zion's pupils dilated, making the metallic bronze almost retreat to nothing while gaining a red tint. 

"See. It would be an option!" Abel grinned into Akela's neck while she was seemingly unable to tear her eyes from Zion's. Abel's soft chuckles sent vibrations through her, rubbing parts of her up on the front of Zion's hiking trousers. She wondered for a moment if he had a flashlight in his pocket and caught herself wondering about the positioning of the pockets before her brain finally made the connections. 

Her face scrunched in embarrassment while her body released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Slowly she inhaled the intense apple scented musk telling her that Zion was having the same problem as her. Slowly she opened her eyes to see a small, lusty smirk on Zion's face. 

"Not a bad idea is it?" Abel grinned before he licked the side of her neck.

Zion's grin widened with an apologetic little twist before he laughed softly and brought his mouth to the opposite side of Akela's neck. 

With the two of them holding her, both licking her neck at the mating spots, Akela's senses went into overdrive, Her head fell back on to Abel, opening her neck more to both men as they teased her. A soft moan left her lips uninvited which brought a responding sigh from Zion and a soft chuckle from Abel.

I knew you'd like this idea!" the younger brother smirked with a final nip at her skin. Zion scraped his teeth carefully across her neck before he and Abel both straightened and delicately setting Akela on the ground, still tightly sandwiched between them. Her eyes fixed on Zion's. He looked almost feral. For the first time, Akela could imagine how he would become a different beast if he ever let go of his carefully guarded control.

Her back felt cold when Abel released her and took a step back, but she hardly registered it. The wild, burning flame in Zion's eyes kept her immobile. She suddenly wanted him to lose control. She wanted him to release that growl she felt below the surface of him. She wanted to know what it would feel like if he bit her neck for real. The nerves on her neck were still fiery and sensitive with the residue of the two brother's saliva. Unable to fight it she pushed herself into Zion, needing his touch more than air.

Slowly her body arched into Zion's, pressing her chest into his while his hands pulled her closer, softly stroking her back. The contact between them was fading the surroundings into a fog with the drumming of her heartbeat in her ears the only sound she could hear.

Her brain fizzed into action when her nose impacted with Zion's. She blinked, breaking the eye contact and took a deep breath before making the conscious effort to step back. Zion's hands clutched her for a second before he let his hands slide down her back to rest gently on her hips.

When she opened her eyes again, Zion's were brimfull of unexpected tenderness.

"Or you two just go on and fuck without me!" Abel commented from the side. Akela turned her head to look at the confident grin on his handsome face.

"I still think a three-way mating is the way to go," he shrugged.

Akela shook her head, unable to speak while Abel took a step forward again, cupping her face between his hands. Zion was still holding he, loosely as if she would float away on the breeze if he let go.

"I feel it! Zion feels it! You feel it! There is love here. A lot of love," Abel said. The cheekiness from earlier was still there but overpowered by intense fear.

Akela shook her head, forcing her mind away from the way the touch of the two brothers felt like heaven.

"Kira..." she breathed, not trusting her voice not to crack.

"A four-way mating then!" Abel said, a cheeky grin flying across his face for a moment before he became serious.

"Akela! I can't deal with you flirting with other guys. I wanted to kill Solomon!" he admitted and was joined in his sentiment by a throaty growl from Zion.

Akela looked between them, seeing severe, possessive glints in both brothers and feeling herself cocooned in their protection.

"But I don't feel like that when you hug Zion anymore. Not after the estuary pack. I've been thinking about it ever since we left them. I feel it when you touch Zi, but it's not painful. It's not achy like it used to. It's comfortable. Akela! Please consider it!" Abel begged.

Akela turned to look at Zion again who nodded.

"I'm the same. It hurt when you showed Abel affection before, but after the estuary pack... or because of this journey, it feels... natural. You love us both, and we can both feel you," he agreed.

Akela closed her eyes and felt her bond with the two of them as if both were forged in steel.

"But Kira?" she asked again.

Zion shrugged. She felt the movement in the way his hands still rested on her hips.

"We can wait. I can see where Abel is coming from, but things might change when we find her," he said softly, and Abel reluctantly nodded.

"I think the three of you might want to wait with any kind of mating until we are home... or go into the woods for the night. Us adults would appreciate not being witness to ALL of your shenanigans," Sam sarcastically called over from where he'd gotten the fire going. A dripping wet Zeke dropped a couple of fishes from his jaw before he looked at the trio of youngsters.

"Or you could help to get some food?" the alpha mind linked them, not hiding how he and Sam had made every effort to ignore their dry-humping.

Akela's face lit up.

"There's fish?" she grinned, remembering the times her dad had taught her to stalk a fish in human form and hunt it as a wolf.

"Trout!" Zeke linked.

Two seconds later, Akela's wolf emerged from her clothes between her two potential mates. She ignored their surprised faces and leapt into the nearby river, cooling her heat off in a shallow pool before she carefully waded into the grassy bank where she spotted a trout, glinting in the setting sun.

She returned with two large fish which she carefully placed next to Sam who had a disgusted scrunch to his nose while he was gutting the ones Zeke had already caught.

"A mate who can provide! My kind of woman!" Abel grinned proudly.

"Speak for yourself, brother. I'm aiming for an equal partnership," Zion smirked as he came wading up from the river with a trout hanging from his fingers.

Akela sat down and felt her tail wagging in appreciation.

"When you roam the territory on your own you learn a few tricks. Such as tickling trout," Zion shrugged at his brother's curious face.

"Show off!" Abel grumbled before grabbing another knife to help Sam out before the delta started dry heaving all over their food.

With a belly full of fresh food and a warm, potential mate either side of her, Akela curled up to rest. Her mind reached out for her sister, feeling the faint trace of her. Someone was carrying her. Someone Kira trusted implicitly. And the baby was strapped to her body. Akela opened her eyes in shock. Kira was travelling in human form. Slowly. But she was on her way to the cabin. If whoever carried her was able to haul her up the steep slope in front of them, they would be able to get there within a day. But Kira was weak. Her mind was foggy, and her body ached with an unknown amount of bruises. And she was concussed and would need to rest soon to avoid permanently harming herself.

"We'll get to her. We'll get there," Zion's voice whispered soothingly into her ear. 

His hand moved to wipe wetness from her cheek.

"We'll find your sister, Akela. And we'll carry her back if we have to," he smiled reassuringly.

Akela's wolf nose sniffed its way into the crook of his neck and the scent that always had a calming effect on her. She sent a wave of her own strength and love to Kira, feeling her sister receive it. Zion's hand stroked Akela's ear, just like Akela used to do with him. She opened her eyes to see he were closed, and she wondered what it would take for him to let go and trust himself. He was always taking care of her, always looking out for others, never giving that tight ball of control release. She felt him before dinner, the way he held everything so close and she wondered what it would take for him to share that burden. Something had happened to him that made him fear his true self.

As she fell asleep, she remembered how Zion was kidnapped by rogues at a young age. His hand had slipped from her cheek as he fell asleep and was resting just in front of her nose. She gave it a gentle lick, promising herself that as soon as Kira was safe, she would find a way to ease Zion's mind.