Connected: Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Chapter 11

Abby

Ten minutes into the drive to Grandheart Trailhead, Kyla bolted upright in the passenger seat. “I can feel her!” she exclaimed, unable to mask an excited grin. “She’s really out of the lab. I can feel her.” 

I smiled with some relief of my own, but from the back seat, Luna said, “But why? Why are they letting her out?” 

“I know,” I agreed, “it doesn’t make any sense.” 

“You think they got what they wanted?” Luna asked. 

Kyla’s excitement faded as she shrugged. She thought about it for a few seconds before saying, “Or they’re using her as bait and it’s a trap.” 

Luna cursed mentally. “And they have that annoying sound thing.” 

“It won’t affect me,” I said, gripping the steering wheel harder in my hands at the very idea of it being a trap. “I’ll go down swinging before they get their hands on any of you.” 

Neither of them said anything as they prepared for the possibility of an attack. Kyla thought to urge me to drive faster, but though she didn’t say it, I sped up anyway, pushing over the speed limit as much as I dared to risk getting stopped. The rest of the drive was tense, and it didn’t help that tonight was a full moon – they were both beginning to feel the restlessness of the pull. Luna fidgeted constantly in the back seat, shifting to glance out either window, bouncing her knee, or playing with the AC dial in the rear of the center console. 

Kyla’s anxiousness was more mental. She considered the need to run and what it would be like for Camille tonight, she thought about all the possible outcomes if this really was a trap, and she worried about the condition we’d find Camille in. That last was concerning to me, too. Sure, Kyla could feel that she was alive, but that could mean anything, and the last I’d heard from her was that she was about to fight to the death. 

We flew over highway and then backroads, first paved and then dirt as we traveled through dense forest. Eventually, we turned onto the single-lane road that would lead us to the trailhead, and Kyla tried to keep herself calm even though we were close enough now for her to feel Camille as strongly as ever. A minute later and we could see it on the left, the sign that marked the beginning of the trail, and I didn’t bother pulling left into the tiny gravel parking lot. Camille was there. Sitting in the dirt and leaning back against the wooden sign post. 

I hadn’t even put the car in park before Kyla threw her door open and jumped out, sprinting the handful of yards. I rushed after her without turning the car off, Luna right with me as we knelt at Kyla’s side. 

“Camille?” Kyla asked frantically, reaching out to grab her face. There was no response; she was unconscious. “Camille? Hey, wake up.” 

While Kyla tried to bring her back to consciousness, I searched for signs of the life and death fight she might’ve been through. She was barefoot but wearing dark blue scrubs that looked mostly clean and intact, her curly blond hair was a mess, but it didn’t appear as though she’d been dragged through the dirt to get her here. I couldn’t see if she had many injuries beneath her clothing, but I found my evidence on the exposed parts of her flesh. Her arms were covered in red scratches where teeth or nails had just broken skin, and there was a bloody piece of gauze on her right forearm. There was another mark just deep enough to draw blood across the corner of her jaw, and a spot near the calf of her left leg where blood had seeped through and stained her scrubs. She had been fighting, but it looked like her fierceness had paid off. 

“Camille,” Kyla said again, gently shaking her. 

Camille finally began to stir. Her mind was heavy with a drug-induced sleep, and she was confused and groggy as she opened her eyes. “Kyla?” she murmured, but the shock of who she was seeing seemed to wake her up a bit faster, and she glanced at me and then Luna. “What?” 

Kyla threw her arms around Camille’s neck, pulling her into a tight hug with an immensely relieved laugh. I was so happy that Camille was okay that I didn’t think about letting them have this moment to themselves. I hugged her from what little space Kyla had left on the side, and felt one of her arms leave Kyla’s waist so she could wrap it around mine and embrace us both. 

Luna stayed squatted down next to us, letting the hug go on for half a minute before teasing, “Your girlfriends sure are happy to see you.” 

“Give me a break,” Camille sighed in exasperation, but there was a smile on her face as she let Kyla and me go to glare at Luna, her cheeks tinting red. Mine shaded too, and I was glad none of them noticed. 

“You look like shit,” Luna told her. 

“I feel like shit.” 

"You miss me?” 

“No.” 

“Liar,” Luna laughed, giving her an affectionate punch on the shoulder. 

Camille smiled, but it faded as she glanced around, taking in our surroundings with growing confusion. “Where are we? What happened?” 

“Some trail in the middle of nowhere,” I answered. Nowhere that would help lead us to the lab’s location. 

“And we shouldn’t stay here,” Kyla added. “Can you stand?” 

Camille nodded, reaching out so we could help her up, and Kyla and I pulled her to her feet. She wavered unsteadily for a moment before finding her balance, and then followed us to the car. She and Kyla got into the back, snuggling close while Luna jumped into the passenger seat. 

I pulled back onto the single-lane road, asking, “Where am I heading?” 

Kyla immediately began to consider all our options – an anonymous hotel where no one would think to look for us, or my apartment in town where it was more populated and hopefully safer, or- 

“The Pack house,” Camille said immediately. At a curious look from Kyla, she explained, “If I Phase, I need to be somewhere with the least amount of collateral damage.” She didn’t say everything she was thinking. She didn’t say that, because she’d gotten a third dose of Serum Twelve, she couldn’t Phase without being dangerous. Or that she wanted to be around as many wolves as possible if she couldn’t help but Phase, so they could subdue her and keep her from killing anyone. I nodded, and Camille asked, “How’d you find me?” 

“I got a call,” Kyla answered. “All they said was to pick you up.” 

Luna swiveled in her seat to turn around. “Why’d they let you go?” 

Camille considered it for a few moments before her stomach turned. She hadn’t felt at ease even with this new freedom, but the thought that fluttered through her mind made her chest tighten with fear. “It’s a test…” 

“What?” Kyla asked. 

“Everything they’ve been doing to me is a test,” she said. Her fists clenched with anger. “Before they dropped me off, they made me fight two other wolves with a connection like ours because they wanted to test us. It would’ve killed me if Palmer wasn’t there.” The fresh anger burned away whatever drowsiness she had left, leaving her fully awake and susceptible to other emotions. Like panic. “They could force me to Change.” She yanked her shirt up and off. “Check me.” 

“For what?” Kyla asked. 

“Did Luna have a dosage capsule in her?” she asked. Luna nodded. “Check me for one too.” Kyla was so stunned by her earnestness that she hesitated. “Check me!” 

“Alright,” Kyla said soothingly. “Alright.” She pressed her fingers into the skin of Camille’s back, exploring every inch while silently taking note of the various fight wounds that had been hidden by clothing. It made her furious, but she did her best to keep the emotion under control so it wouldn’t add to Camille’s agitation. “I don’t feel anything.” 

"Are you sure?" Camille asked. “If I Phase I’ll be dangerous. I could hurt you, or if I bite Abby, the connection will kill her. You have to be sure. You can’t let me-” 

“Hey,” Kyla interrupted, scooting closer and turning Camille around to take her hands. “It’s okay, Cami. Breathe.” She brushed Camille’s hair behind her ear, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and caressed her cheek. 

But Kyla could feel how the fear was testing Camille’s control just as much as I could hear that Camille was aware of it. It wasn’t just the panic either. The serum already made it harder for her to control a Change if she was upset, but the afternoon was getting later and the pull of the full moon stronger, and she’d been given a stimulant that had outlasted whatever sedative knocked her out. She was restless, and it would only get worse. 

“I’m sorry,” Camille murmured. She leaned forward, setting her head against the back of my seat and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “They planned this, I know they did. They made me Phase and fight because they knew it’d exhaust me, and then they let me go during the full moon to see if being around you is enough to keep me from Changing.” 

Kyla put a hand on her back, rubbing across the backs of her shoulders. “We’ve got you,” she said. “And we’ve seen it before with Luna, we know what to do. Nothing’s gonna happen.” 

Camille picked herself up to see the assurance on Kyla’s face, and then met my eyes in the rearview mirror. I nodded at her. At least somewhat put at ease, she pulled her shirt back on and leaned back in her seat. 

“Who’s Palmer?” Luna asked. 

“He’s the wolf in the cell next to mine,” Camille answered. 

“He saved you?” Kyla asked. 

Camille nodded, letting out a heavy sigh. “They gave him a serum that prevents him from Changing.” 

Luna’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Ever?” 

“Yeah,” Camille said. “No matter how badly he wants to, he can’t.” 

“That sounds like torture,” I muttered angrily. 

“No,” Camille said, “the actual torture is torture.” 

“They hurt you?” Kyla demanded. 

“Not me.” Camille shook her head. “Not like that. But him… they call it testing, but really they just want to make sure that no amount of stress will override the serum.” Her body was tense with holding back the same kind of fidgeting that Luna had been guilty of. “That’s why they put him in with me and the other two. I tried to fight on my own so he wouldn’t get hurt, but I almost lost, and he saved me.” She dropped her head back, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching a fist to ease the restless energy in every muscle of her body. “He’s still in there, and so is Marion. We have to find a way to get them out.” 

“We will,” Kyla said. “But let’s get you through tonight first.” 

The rest of the ride back to the Pack house was quiet and tense. The moon was getting to all three of them, but most notably to Camille. Kyla did her best to help Camille relax, sitting close for comfort, a hand massaging her thigh, but it wasn’t helping, and Kyla’s own growing energy made it more difficult by the minute. Camille tried to think of ways to get through the night without a Change, like a human run, or meditation, but every time she tried to think of something that would relax her, her mind went to anything that wouldn’t. Anything that would stir up the emotions that already had her skin tingling. Sex came through repeatedly, and every time she forced away a visual, she gave me a mental apology. Fighting was another, and I knew the aggressive urge was because of the serum, and I’d felt the rage when Luna was dosed, but every other stimulus bearing down on Camille was so intense that the fury made me shudder. 

It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, with only another hour or two before sunset. Eli and the others were overjoyed when we walked through the door with Camille, and so shocked that they asked us boundless questions about how we’d found her, and we had to disappoint them with our meager answers. As badly as they all wanted to ask Camille endless questions too, her tension was palpable, and Eli openly stated that investigating could wait till after tonight. 

I followed Camille, Kyla, and Luna upstairs to Camille and Kyla’s bedroom. None of us said anything. I took a seat on the surface of the desk while Luna leaned back against the dresser, and Kyla sat at the foot of the bed while Camille just stood. We were all waiting on Camille to decide how she felt or what she wanted to do, but she wasn’t sure either. She could hardly think at all over the whirlwind of emotion she was feeling. What made it all worse was that she knew it was a test. She knew that they’d let her out and returned her to us because they wanted her to Phase. Wanted her to lose control. The struggle for composure had gotten so bad as the sun neared setting that her skin was itching, and the discomfort was visible on her face. Repeatedly she thought that she couldn’t do it, and as much as I wanted to comfort her, she didn’t like when I was in her head. This wasn’t the time to remind her that I was snooping. 

After a few silent minutes of standing there, she hurried out the door without a word. Kyla and Luna stared after her in confusion, wondering if they should follow, and then glanced over at me. 

I knew where she was going, and I didn’t like it any more than they would when they found out. “She’ll be back,” I said quietly. 

A minute later, she returned, pacing into the room and to where I was sitting at the desk. She dropped something heavy onto the surface, a chill going up her spine as she let it go, meeting my eyes and taking a step back. It was the one and only gun the wolves kept in the house: a pistol loaded with silver bullets. A weapon meant solely for emergencies. She put it beside me for a reason, but the very sight of it made my blood run cold, and I didn’t know if I ever could. 

“Camille,” Kyla protested, “no.” 

“It’s just in case,” she whispered. 

“Fuck that,” Luna said. “You don’t need it.” 

Camille wheeled around and met Kyla’s gaze, a gesture laden with the aggression she was trying so hard to keep down. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you think I have control,” she challenged. Kyla’s mouth fell open with the confirmation she didn’t want to give. “You feel me,” she said, holding her thumb and index finger less than a millimeter apart, “you know I’m this close.” 

"I know," Kyla said. She slid off the bed, closing the distance between them to set her forehead against Camille’s, reaching down to take one of her hands and massage the itching out of her palm. “I remember what it’s like to lose control. I know it’s scary.” 

“This is worse,” Camille whimpered, swallowing hard to force down the stressed moisture building in her eyes. She knew she could Change if she couldn’t take it anymore, knew that a cage was waiting in the basement so she could do it without hurting anyone, but she didn’t want it. She didn’t want to be locked up after just getting out, and more than anything, she didn’t want to give Butcher the satisfaction of her losing control. She was fighting it as hard as she could because, as she specifically thought, fuck him and his serum. 

"You can do it," Kyla encouraged. “What do you need?” 

Camille focused on breathing for half a minute, trying to pull comfort from Kyla’s forced calm. “A shower might help,” she murmured eventually, thinking the hot water would distract her from the aggravating itch of her skin. 

Kyla nodded and kissed her, and Camille stepped back to remove her clothing while I fixed my gaze anywhere else. I listened to Kyla and Luna’s anger as she peeled bloody pieces of gauze off wounds from the fight and threw them into the small trash can in the corner of the room. Once she was done and her scrubs were a pile in the same corner, she grabbed fresh clothes and a towel hanging near the door, and left the room to head to the shower. 

As the door closed behind her, Luna blew a breath through pursed lips and said, “She’s got me tense.” She was restless enough without Camille around, and considered leaving to see if anyone else in the house wanted to go on a pre-moon run, but hesitated with uncertainty. 

“You can go,” I told her. “We’ll take care of her.” 

“You sure?” she asked, glancing at Kyla. 

Kyla nodded. “The less pressure she feels to relax right now, the better.” 

"Okay," Luna strode to the door, saying as she left, “just, you know, howl or something if you need me.” 

Kyla and I lingered alone in the room for a minute in silence, and then she let out a heavy sigh and trudged to the bed, sitting once more at the foot of it. I let her decompress for another minute before asking, “Is the shower helping her?” 

She waited a few seconds while focusing on their connection before shaking her head. “She’s getting worse.” Her eyes flicked to the gun still sitting on the desk beside me. “You wouldn’t… would you?” 

“No,” I said instantly. “I promise. I’d take a bite from her before I ever touched that thing.” That was somewhat of a relief to her, but I added, “But she doesn’t need to know that,” and she nodded her agreement. “Do you think she can do it? Keep from Changing?” 

Kyla turned her gaze on the closed door, taking in a thoughtful breath and then letting it out as she shrugged. “She’s never felt like this before,” she said. “If she doesn’t get some kind of release soon… I don’t know.” 

She meant sex. It was their greatest source of tension relief when they couldn’t run. “Just say the word and I’ll…” I gestured toward the door. I was almost certain Camille would need it and it’d happen eventually, and when it did, maybe I’d go home and actually get a full night of sleep. Though I doubted it. How could I sleep if I was still worrying about how Camille was handling things? Or worrying if Kyla was safe if Camille did lose control? Or if I couldn’t stop thinking about who else was left in the lab? 

“I was thinking,” I mused, changing the subject, “Camille seems pretty sure that this is a test.” Kyla hummed. “But how would they know the outcome? You checked her back for capsules, and would’ve felt any kind of tracking device too. So how will they know if she loses control or not?” 

Her eyebrows furrowed with thought, and she cast a look toward the single curtained window near the desk. “You think they’re, what? Watching?” 

“Could be anything,” I answered. “They’re using magic for other things, so it could be magic. Or they could be watching, they did take Camille from right down the road the first time.” 

She inhaled to say whatever thought was coming to her mind next, but it went blank. In her interest in the conversation, she’d stopped focusing on how Camille felt, but that feeling came back at such full force it stopped her mid-thought. The possibility of sex was a lot nearer than I anticipated, and Kyla could hear Camille coming down the hall as clearly as she could feel Camille getting closer. She was trying to think of how to prepare me, or to ask what I’d do in the meantime, but she didn’t get the chance. Camille came in, dressed but with her hair still wet, and closed the door behind her, flicking the lock as a whirlwind of thought and emotion assaulted my mind. 

The shower hadn’t helped even a little. She was so close to losing control, and her chest was heaving beneath the shirt she’d put on as she struggled to maintain composure. Her mind was a confused mess of rage, aggression, fear, arousal, and restlessness. She desperately needed release, and she couldn’t wait any longer to get it. She paced forward, reaching Kyla at the foot of the bed and not wasting a moment to pull her into a deep kiss. 

I pushed off the desk, pacing toward the door as I said, “I’m just going to-” 

But as I hurried by, Camille half-turned away from Kyla and reached out to catch my hand. “Stay.” 

I froze in my tracks. That one word made my heart stutter so hard I almost choked. There’s no way I heard right. “What?” 

Or maybe I did hear right, because Kyla looked at Camille in shock. “Yeah, what?” 

Camille just stood there, breathing as heavily as I suddenly was, unable to bring herself to look at me or Kyla. She just stared at where she was still holding my hand, and couldn’t bring herself to let go. “I don’t trust myself,” she whispered. Her other hand was on the bed instead of on Kyla, and she fisted it in the blanket, teetering on what shreds of control she had left. “I don’t know if I can do this without Phasing, but I need it. I’m in pain, Kyla, I can’t… But if Abby stays, she can do something if I lose control. She can stop me from hurting you.” 

Kyla was struggling for air too, and the nervous fluttering of her stomach was a close rival to mine. She glanced over at me, scanning my face as she tried to keep her thoughts in check, but her ready acceptance of the idea wasn’t just because of what Camille needed. “You know how she feels,” she told Camille, “…you know how I feel.” 

It was the first time since we’d stopped being together that I heard her acknowledge out loud how she felt about me, and how I felt about her. But she didn’t know the half of it. I hadn’t told her that my friendship with Camille was getting almost as difficult as my friendship with her. That my feelings for Camille had stopped being just platonic months ago. Both of them felt it, and in some deep part of them, I knew that they knew, but they had yet to think it. I didn’t even like admitting it to myself, and it definitely wasn’t something I wanted to say. Not when it would ruin the friendship we’d built, or maybe even my relationship with Kyla. Not when Camille was on the edge of losing herself. 

"I know," Camille murmured. “It’s okay.” Her thumb brushed over the back of my hand. “If you’re both okay with it, it’s okay.” 

“For the sake of transparency,” I forced out, my voice a harsh whisper. I cleared my throat, and then worked my tongue around my mouth because it was so dry I could hardly speak. “I don’t think I can stay and not… look…” Not watch. Not get completely turned on by it, because the very idea of it was already doing things to me. 

Camille finally gathered the courage to look at me, and she stared at me for a moment before looking at Kyla. I dug deeper than usual into their thoughts, needing to know exactly how they felt about this. Kyla wanted it. For reasons she wouldn’t say but that both Camille and I knew. She was thinking about what I’d see, things that made me lightheaded and that I had no idea how I’d actually handle witnessing, and her body was reacting. To Camille’s arousal and pull and to her own desire and to me. 

Camille was entirely different. She was too much of a mess, and her excitement and emotions were being caused by so many different things it was impossible to pick out exactly how she felt. All I knew was that she was okay with this, so comfortable with it that she was touching me in a way she never did, and she didn’t want to think about anything else. I didn’t want to think either. Didn’t want to think about what would happen afterward, or what this would change. 

Neither of them said anything, but the charged silence that filled the room said what they couldn’t. Camille still hadn’t let go of my hand, and so I stood there, unsure of where to go from here. I was being allowed to watch, not participate, but I couldn’t think of what to do over the anxious nerves in my stomach, and I liked the feel of Camille’s hand on mine too much to be the first to pull away. It only took a few moments before Kyla slid past me. She took the chair from the desk and turned it toward the bed, and waited at it until I gathered the sense of mind to stumble over to her. 

Maybe I looked terrified, maybe I still looked like I was in disbelief; all I knew was that Kyla’s hand slid down my forearm until her fingers locked with mine, and it reassured me even more than the comforting look in her eyes. She wanted this, Camille needed it, and there was no way I’d let it slip by. I nodded, and Kyla gave my hand a squeeze before letting go and returning to Camille. 

She moved back into place between Camille and the bed, glancing over at me one last time, her green eyes searching my face for the final consent I hadn’t found the words to give. The only thing I could do to give it was to step sideways and lower myself into the chair. She turned that same look on Camille, hesitating for several long seconds before the tension finally broke. She pitched forward to meet Camille’s lips. 

The moment they kissed, I could no longer hold back my reaction to what was happening, because I knew it wouldn’t stop. My body flushed with an anticipating heat that surged through my belly and settled between my legs. A heat so strong that my knees might’ve given if I wasn’t already sitting, because my seat to their side offered a perfect view of everything they were doing, and this wasn’t just kissing. It was foreplay. It was Kyla slipping onto the bed, Camille gripping the backs of her knees to pull her nearer the edge, and her legs wrapping around Camille's hips. It was Camille pushing closer until they were chest to chest, and Kyla’s lips parting for such a deep, open kiss that I could see the tip of her tongue dip into Camille’s mouth. 

As many times as I’d heard them both think about sex, I didn’t know what it was really like for them. Didn’t know if they were soft or hard or if they liked to take their time, but there was desperation in every kiss and touch that made it seem like this was different. Camille’s restlessness made her impatient, and their connection left Kyla just as eager. I wanted to listen to it. Listen to their thoughts as they did this so I could feel for myself what that connection was like, but all I could hear was the pounding of my racing pulse in my ears. All I could feel was my own impatience as Camille reached for the bottom of Kyla’s shirt. 

They hadn’t forgotten I was here, and they’d never been shy about nudity, but Kyla lifted her arms and Camille pulled her shirt up and over her head, and I glanced away out of habit. My eyes darted across the room, but my attraction to both of them and the fact that I had near-explicit permission to look made it impossible to keep my gaze there. My focus wandered back just as Camille undid the clasp of Kyla’s bra, so that I caught the moment it slid away from her breasts, and my breath hitched in my throat. 

It was one thing to have seen glimpses of Kyla’s body, it was another thing entirely to be allowed to look. Everything about her was gorgeous. Her skin was darkly tanned and flawless except for various scars, and she had the most adorable birthmark beside her belly button. It made her look soft. The curve of her waist was gentle, and her breasts were just heavy enough to fall toward her ribs, but she still had so much lean muscle. It rippled in her arms as she clutched Camille closer, and the sex appeal of that power and the tattoo across her ribs was so attractive that my fingers dug into my thighs. 

I wanted to touch. Wanted to caress the smooth and accepting bend of her neck as Camille’s lips left hers to kiss at her pulse. Wanted to trace my hand along the bow of her back as the suction of Camille’s mouth made her arch. I wanted to encourage the haste of Camille’s hands as they rushed to undo the button of Kyla’s jean shorts, but all I could do was watch as she flicked it open and fumbled for the zipper. Her lips didn’t leave Kyla’s neck as she wrapped one arm around Kyla’s waist, lifting her off the bed just enough to slip both shorts and underwear at once past Kyla’s hips with her other hand, and it wasn’t until then I realized I was holding my breath. 

Because Camille stepped back just enough to fully remove the rest of Kyla's clothing, and that breath I'd been holding escaped in one heavy huff at the rush of arousal that shot straight to my core. With her knees on either side of Camille’s hips, Kyla’s legs were parted just enough for me to see how ready she already was. How much she wanted Camille and how that translated to the glimmer of need between her thighs. And she heard the breath I let out, and though she wanted so badly to look over at me, to see on my face what I was thinking and feeling, she didn’t. That wasn’t something we talked about before this, and so she pulled Camille back into a kiss and reached for the bottom of her shirt instead. 

It joined the other articles on the floor only a moment later, but I didn’t get a chance to appreciate the fact that Camille wasn’t wearing a bra before she pushed Kyla onto her back. Her lips left Kyla’s to kiss down her neck and chest, and fuck, they were going to kill me, because I held my breath all over again. I couldn’t think to breathe over the anticipation of the downward path of Camille’s mouth, and the deliberate thoughts she had of her destination left nothing to my imagination. She wanted Kyla’s taste, and the desire for what she knew so well put such vivid sensations in my mind that my mouth watered. 

The wet trail of open pecks and nips got to Kyla’s naval before she sat up, reaching for Camille’s face to direct the kisses back to her mouth. Camille was so impatient for any kind of relief that she growled a protest at the delay, and climbed onto the bed to straddle Kyla’s lap, pushing forward so earnestly into the kiss that Kyla ended up on her back again. She didn’t stay there. She flipped them over so skillfully that they’d reversed positions before Camille could resist, and she pushed herself up just enough to reach between them for Camille’s sweats. She pushed them down Camille’s hips, and Camille lifted her knees so Kyla could take them completely off without having to put more space between them. 

Kyla had every intention of picking up where Camille left off, but Camille’s hands set on either side of her waist, using a surge of strength to lift and bring her forward. It shifted her so far upward on the bed that her knees landed just above Camille’s shoulders, and she was in the perfect position for Camille to reach her with her mouth. It was as unexpected and arousing for Kyla as it was for me, but something unspoken passed between them that made Camille hesitate after she’d adjusted her arms under Kyla’s thighs. Through all the irritating itching in her skin from holding back a Change, and the desperation for relief and the hurricane of emotions, she stopped. 

It was a rare glimpse of intimate communication through their connection. There were no words, and neither of them could hear it as clearly as I could when they locked eyes and Camille’s hesitation asked, Should I slow down? Am I being too assertive? But Kyla knew what it meant anyway, and the lull in action lasted such a brief second that I’d have missed it if I couldn’t read them. Because hardly a moment after that spark of question, Kyla reached down to thread her fingers through Camille’s hair, and it was all the permission she needed. 

Camille lifted her head to meet the heat between Kyla’s thighs with her tongue, and the start of contact drew such a breathy moan from Kyla’s lips that I nearly melted right out of the chair. I choked down my own whimper of need, trying not to think about how badly I was throbbing, or that I could feel the slick evidence of my attraction collecting in my underwear. But that was damn near impossible as I watched Kyla’s head drop back with pleasure, her free hand shooting down to join the other in Camille’s hair. I couldn’t even remember why I was watching, or what I was supposed to be doing, all I knew was that this was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. 

Kyla’s hips stirred to life, rocking against Camille’s mouth so she wouldn’t lose contact even for a second. Through their minds, I could follow every flick and caress of Camille’s tongue, and how the jolts carried through the connection into pulses of pleasure in Camille, and they were so vivid and strong that I could practically feel them in me. But I couldn’t see Camille’s tongue working, so my eyes wandered to take in every glorious detail they could. 

Camille was stretched out on her back, naked and finally in a position for me to admire her body. She wasn’t soft in any of the same ways Kyla was, but she was every bit as gorgeous. She had etches of sinewy muscle in her thighs and abs, where Kyla only had light definition. Her hips and chest were slimmer, smaller, but still with such deliciously feminine curves. Despite the raw beauty of her athletic body, what caught my attention most was her hands. 

My sudden fixation on them was the last thing I expected. I’d seen her hands countless times, and touched them enough that they were familiar, but I’d never looked at them in the context of sex. They weren’t the delicate hands of a musician like Kyla’s, but they were strong and her fingers were dexterously long. They were firm as they clutched at the plump skin of Kyla’s ass, squeezing with the perfect amount of rough that flesh spilled through her fingers, and Kyla moaned as they guided her hips through a rock. The best thing about them, though, was that they were capable of the same incredible gentleness as Camille herself, leaving red imprints behind to graze upward along the dip in Kyla’s lower back, so carefully I could see the goosebumps they produced from here. 

From there, my eyes wandered up, taking in Kyla’s delicate shoulders and tipped-back head. Back down to her heaving chest and the shudders of pleasure that clenched through her abs and her forearms. She was getting close, both of them were thinking it. Both of them could feel it, and as Camille doubled her efforts because she needed that release to bring her closer to her own, I was so worked up that I needed it almost as much. 

I sat forward on the edge of my seat, waiting, silently urging Camille to bring Kyla tipping over the edge because I desperately needed to hear it. To know how the sounds of climax differed from those of building pleasure. And after only seconds more of Camille’s wonderful tongue, those sounds finally came. Kyla tensed, a visible tremor going down her body as it drew a gasp with it, and then she was falling apart. The bow of her back deepened as her eyes slammed shut, and she moaned and whimpered and struggled for air, the rhythm of her hips turning jagged as she tried to maintain it, riding out her climax against Camille’s mouth. She shook and trembled with every wave that went through her, each one bringing a fresh noise from her lips until not even the continued stroke of Camille’s tongue could earn another. 

Kyla collapsed back to sit on Camille’s chest, untangling her fingers from Camille’s hair to set her hands on her thighs and pant for air. Camille’s head fell sideways so she could nip and kiss at the side of Kyla’s knee, and her gaze unintentionally met mine. It was brief, and she purposefully glanced away before she had time to think anything she shouldn’t, but that didn’t curb the look’s effect on me. She still needed release, and her eyes had been so dark and full of desire that it sent a piercing stab of want straight through my core. I wasn’t just throbbing anymore. I was aching. I ached so bad it hurt. 

It took everything in me to keep my hands on my thighs as Kyla shifted. She lay over the length of Camille’s body, kissing down Camille’s neck while wasting no time in trying to bring relief. While her mouth continued a downward path, her hand went straight for its destination between Camille’s thighs, and the first slip of a finger through Camille’s folds forced a stuttering breath from her lips. One of Camille’s hands tangled in the blanket, and her other set against the back of Kyla’s head as her hips rose off the mattress to meet the touch. 

But Camille was restless. Even when Kyla focused all her attention on Camille’s clit, circling that stiff point of nerves to offer what she so desperately needed, it wasn’t enough. Her hips stirred impatiently, pushing against Kyla’s hand for more pressure, and when that didn’t work, Kyla adjusted. She lined up two fingers at Camille’s entrance and sank forward into hot, clinging depths, and Camille’s lips fell open with a breathless whimper as the fullness melted some of the consuming tension at her core. 

“Harder,” Camille panted, her eyes fluttering shut as Kyla’s mouth reached her chest. 

I watched Kyla’s tongue circle the hard peak of Camille’s breast at the same time as she withdrew her fingers to the tip and then thrust back in, and I didn’t know anymore where to look. Where to watch. The sight of Kyla’s slick fingers driving deep into Camille was so erotic that every push made me clench. But just as tempting was the look on Camille’s face every time Kyla hit the perfect spot inside her. The furrowing of her brow and the way her mouth hung open to allow the escape of every pleased sound. The way her warm brown eyes watched Kyla with a mixture of gratitude and desperation, or how her tongue wetted her lips just before they parted again to release another moan. 

Then there was Kyla’s mouth at Camille’s chest. Her perfectly full lips sealing around Camille’s nipple, sucking and kissing and releasing so that she could make the barest tug with her teeth. Her tongue, soothing the nip with one long, sensual stroke, just to tease again with a flick from the tip. 

Every one of these things made my already stunted breathing shallower, and I couldn’t bring myself to watch just one. My eyes established a rhythm to follow that matched the aching pulse at my core – nip, withdraw, gasp; lick, push, moan. But as much as Camille loved everything Kyla was doing, it wasn’t bringing her to the edge fast enough. She was still too restless, the thrumming energy in her body too much of a distraction for her to be so passive in her pleasure. Her moans turned to pleading whimpers, and the pleas to frustration. 

Kyla felt it and heard it, and she left Camille’s chest to kiss the edge of her jaw, and then her ear, whispering, “Tell me what you need.” 

“I don’t know,” Camille whined. 

She brought Kyla’s lips to hers, giving her a hard, deep kiss before dropping her head back to the bed. They locked eyes, searching each other for a solution before Camille finally decided what she wanted. She flipped them over so Kyla was on her back, and then pushed Kyla’s legs apart and threw one of her own over Kyla’s hip, so she was straddling the space between Kyla’s thighs. It lined their centers up perfectly, and Camille ground down against the moisture at Kyla’s core, a flood of relief washing through her as she established a rhythm. 

That was what she needed. To move and work and play an active role in the friction between them, to give her body something to do to release the agitation that had built in her. And I’d been so, so wrong. This was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen, because Camille dropped forward to brace her hands on either side of Kyla’s head, their lips crashing together as they began to move in perfect harmony. Kyla’s hands wrapped around Camille’s back, fingers clutching and nails digging into her skin with every thrust of their hips, the taut muscles in Camille’s back tight and rippling with the motion. 

They were breathing so heavy with arousal that Camille left Kyla’s lips to suck at her neck, and my own breath was coming in fast and shallow huffs. The ache between my legs was so far beyond painful that it was unbearable. My need for relief so uncomfortable that I didn’t know if I could wait till they were done. Didn’t know if I could wait till after and I could hide away in the bathroom to take care of it. My left hand drifted upward from my thigh to the button of my jeans as I debated how wrong it would be for me to do it now, or if they’d mind. 

What made it even worse was that, now that Kyla was on her back, she was in the perfect position to see me. And she wanted to. Her need to look at me was back stronger than ever, and just her desire for it was enough to put me on the brink. But it was strong enough that I wasn’t the only one to notice. Camille knew it too, could feel it as powerfully as I did, and if I’d even had the presence of mind to start worrying how she’d feel about it, I would’ve stopped immediately. 

Because when she caught on to how badly Kyla wanted it, she thought it was nothing compared to the lines the three of us had already crossed. “It’s okay,” she whispered. She nuzzled into the damp spot of Kyla’s neck that she’d been kissing, saying through ragged breaths, “Look at her, it’s okay.” 

Kyla’s eyes found mine almost instantly, and finally meeting my gaze sent such a powerful wave of lust through her that Camille whimpered from the aftershocks, and the spark of desire that coursed through me sent several pulses through my clit that were so strong I almost came on the spot. It didn’t escape Kyla’s attention that my hand was still lingering at the button of my jeans, and she knew what I wanted. She cupped Camille’s face, directing her attention so she looked back at me too, and could see what I didn’t have the courage to ask. 

The sight of my inching hand made Camille’s chest tighten with a stunted breath. “Hurry,” she breathed, head falling weakly into the crook of Kyla’s neck, “I’m so close.” 

That was all I needed. I flicked open the button of my jeans and thrust my hand to the soaking mess between my legs. The only thing that kept me from climaxing the very moment my fingers brushed my clit was the vague thought of how embarrassed I’d be about finishing before they did. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long at all. Camille tipped over the edge she’d been building toward, her teeth sinking deep into Kyla’s shoulder and bringing Kyla over it with her. The yelp Kyla let out turned into a cry of ecstasy, and I was gone. 

My head tipped over the backrest of the chair as my back arched, ass leaving the seat as my hips bucked into my hand. I pursed my lips to keep from screaming, muting my yells of pleasure into muffled moans while I came harder than I ever had. Wave after wave rolled through me, tensing every muscle of my body and ending at the consuming clenching and pulsing at my core. At the edge of my focus, I was aware of every noise Camille and Kyla made, and aware of the fact that they felt each other so deeply it kept them riding on the high, and that kept me going. Fuck, I couldn’t stop. I came until I was spent, and then fell weakly back against the seat, slumped into it with exhaustion. 

I couldn’t move, could barely think over the after-hum in my head. I just sat there, gasping for air as Camille collapsed on top of Kyla and both of them panted too. It felt like minutes that we lingered in silence, recovering, before I finally got my head back enough to think. The first coherent thought I had was fuck. That happened. That really just happened. I was so suddenly terrified that a spark of panic shot through my chest because what did I just do? What did we just do? Every day I struggled with being respectful of their relationship and not letting my feelings dictate how I acted with them, because I cared about them too much to lose them, but I just came while watching them have sex and I hadn’t even given it a second thought. Fuck. I needed to think and calm down, but I couldn’t do that here. 

“C-” God my mouth was dry. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Camille, are you good?” She hummed a tired affirmative, and I scrambled out of the chair and said as I hurried toward the door, “I’ll be back.” 

I pulled it closed behind me, scanning the long hall to make sure it was empty, and then I paced across it to the bathroom. My limbs were still weak with pleasure as I shut and locked the bathroom door. I leaned over the sink to gather myself, only noticing then that my hands were shaking from the panic. What if I just ruined our friendship? What if, now that it was over, one of them got jealous? Or one of them regretted it? What if they didn’t trust me around them anymore and I just completely screwed up everything? 

Breathe, Abby. It wouldn’t be that bad, right? I’d read them both before it happened, and the only hesitation in the room had been Camille’s fear of hurting Kyla. She hadn’t hesitated to tell me to stay. She hadn’t been jealous when Kyla looked at me. She hadn’t given a single hint of protest to me touching myself. 

I shook out my trembling hands and turned on the sink to splash some water on my face. Thinking about it rationally and the cool moisture on my skin helped me to calm down, at least enough that I stopped shaking and the knot of fear in my stomach eased. I desperately needed a drink of water, but I’d never wandered around the Pack house on my own before, and wasn’t comfortable enough to venture to the kitchen and get one. So I cupped my hands under the faucet to drink from the tap instead, replenishing enough moisture to my mouth that I hoped I wouldn’t have trouble speaking. 

I lingered for a couple of minutes in the bathroom before trying to clean myself up. It didn’t help much and I was still uncomfortably wet, but I didn’t have many options. Once I felt confident enough to return, I slipped out and back across the hall to Camille and Kyla’s bedroom door. Though I couldn’t make out any words, I heard the faint sounds of conversation coming from the other side of the door, and the last thing I wanted to do was interrupt. Especially if they were talking about what just happened. It was nerve-wracking, leaning against the wall outside their room, hoping everything would be okay between the three of us, but not once did their voices seem to rise, and the lack of a fight was an indescribable relief. 

It was a few minutes more that I stood there before the door opened. Only Kyla came out, and she closed the door behind her and leaned sideways against it to face me. “Hey,” she said, and the small but somewhat nervous smile she gave did more for my worry than I ever thought it could. 

“Hi,” I sighed in relief. 

As hard as she was trying, she couldn’t keep herself from thinking about what happened, but she was thinking about more than just the sex. She was thinking about how quickly I’d left afterward. “Are you alright?” she asked. 

“Yeah, um,” wow, it was still unbelievably hard to talk, and I swallowed to help the words come, “to be honest, I panicked a little bit.” 

That made her panic a little bit. “If you only did it for Camille,” she began to say, her voice full of apology, “or if you were uncomfortable, or-” 

“No,” I interrupted, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, “no, I didn’t. I wasn’t.” 

She moved into the touch, and a moment later my arms were around her neck, and hers around my waist. God, she felt good, and somehow the flood of emotion and thoughts that she never could hold back about how she felt, they weren’t as staggering after the sex. I thought it might be harder to be around her, thought that crossing the line we’d crossed would make it more difficult to restrain myself. But it didn’t. She felt more comfortable than ever, like what happened and the fact that Camille was clearly so okay with it had given us something that we needed. Some extra space hovering between friends and more-than-friends that was easier to exist in. I didn’t feel the need to let her go, not even when she pulled back to set her forehead against mine, and though I still wanted to kiss her, the desire to wasn’t painful. 

“It doesn’t seem like you’re panicking anymore,” Kyla mused, lingering for one more second before letting me go. 

“I’m not,” I said, leaning back against the wall again. “It’s just that I care about you, both of you, a lot and… I don’t know, I got scared that it’d change things. In a bad way. Or that you’d regret it.” She immediately thought of all the reasons that she didn’t regret it, and wouldn’t regret it, and she let me read them candidly as they came instead of saying them out loud. “And Camille…?” I prompted. 

She inhaled to say that Camille didn’t regret it either, but hesitated to consider it more. She knew on some level that Camille was attracted to me the same ways she was, she’d felt it in the same ways I’d heard it, but Camille’s attraction to me was restrained and unwilling. It wasn’t something she’d ever acknowledge, or something I ever thought she’d want to act on. 

“She doesn’t know how to say what she’s feeling,” Kyla answered, “and I can feel it, but I can’t…” 

“Translate it,” I supplied. 

She nodded, one corner of her lips pulling into a grateful smile. “But she’s okay, and we talked and we’re okay. Nothing’s different.” 

“So is it…” I drew in a breath, wondering if I should even ask, but I had to know what to expect. “Was it something that’s never going to happen again?” 

She didn’t have a good answer for that. As much as the sex had helped Camille regain control, it hadn’t completely relaxed her, and they hadn’t talked about that. All she knew was that if Camille asked, she’d do it again in a heartbeat. What she didn’t know was if Camille ever would. 

“It’s okay,” I said, offering a comforting smile, “it doesn’t all have to get figured out tonight.” She nodded again, and I finally glanced toward the door and asked, “How is she?” 

“In control,” Kyla said. “But she’s still really anxious and I still need to Change. I ain’t helping her relax when I’m itching for a run too, so I’m going to find Luna.” She winced both apologetically and pleadingly, “That is, only if you don’t mind keeping her company…” 

Keep Camille company… alone… That was a bit nerve-inducing given that I wasn’t sure what things would be like between us. As comfortable as things were with Kyla, Camille was always a different story. “Yeah,” I nodded, “of course.” 

“Thanks.” She reached for my hand, slipping her fingers between mine. “Wes already ran, so he’ll be around if anything happens.” She meant if Camille lost control. “Just… be careful.” 

“We’ll be okay,” I told her. “Have a good run.” 

She smiled and gave my hand an affectionate squeeze, and then let go to wander down the stairs. Once she’d disappeared, I turned toward the door of their bedroom and reached for the handle, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves about facing Camille. Here goes nothing.