Stalking the Pharmacist

by Desconhecido(a)

  “Come inside.”

  A sob escaped her and she wiped at her eyes with her palms. Everything hurt so much.

  Laura all but dragged her from the car, and Ash moved in a daze toward the house. There were no more words spoken. She was led through the house and into a bedroom. Her body moved in strange motions, but eventually she lay on a soft bed and heard distant male voices. Ash didn’t want to see them. No men, no strangers, no shifters.

  A gentle hand touched her forehead and she curled up onto her side, sighing as a warm cotton blanket was pulled up over her, creating a cocoon of heat.

  “Sleep, sweetheart.”

  She nodded and let the blackness consume her.

  ****

  Ash opened her eyes and stretched out her aching legs, feeling a welcome relief as the muscles lengthened and popped.

  She blinked several times and rolled onto her back, stretching again. She sat up slowly and looked around for the first time. Her head throbbed from all the crying and her eyes felt like they’d been rubbed raw with sandpaper.

  She was in a bedroom of some sort. It was free of photos and personal trinkets, yet was comfortable and friendly. There was even an en suite bathroom.

  She groaned as she turned and swung her legs off the bed. The world wasn’t quite steady yet. She stood up and waited a moment while her head spun and her stomach tightened, in need of nourishment.

  “I…feel…like crap.”

  It was the understatement of the century, but it made her feel better to say something out loud, and she didn’t have the words to express exactly how bad she felt. Ash pushed herself to walk to the bathroom and splash some cold water on her sore eyes. She turned the faucet, gathered the liquid, and threw it in the direction of her face. The icy water made her gasp as it touched her skin and she let it slide over her lips and into her mouth, swallowing some of the clear, clean water.

  Her belly gurgled and she stood up, staring into the mirror.

  Wow, I look like shit.

  Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were red and bulging, and her hair was just about sticking up on end.

  She splashed more water on her face and patted down her skin, running her hands through her hair and straightening it out as much as possible.

  Ash couldn’t work out why her tummy was jumpy and nervous. It was only Laura out there in the house. Maybe her husbands too, but Ash didn’t want to think about another pair of men. She needed to relax. She’d come here for help, and she was sure she’d find it here.

  She checked her reflection once more before she moved through the bedroom, opened the door, and crept along the hallway toward the sound of voices.

  She was almost at the end of the corridor when she heard a rather sexy male voice say, “Are you going to get her up soon, Laura?”

  Ash halted and listened. They were talking about her.

  “Maybe. It’s getting dark and she might be hungry.”

  As though on cue Ash’s tummy gurgled again, so she gathered her courage and stepped into the modern, brightly lit kitchen.

  “Yeah, I kinda am.”

  Her heart thumped against her ribs as the three people in the kitchen turned to look at her. The men jumped up and Ash stepped back, the testosterone and energy in the room moving the same way it had with Jack and Scott.

  “No! Don’t do it! Please.”

  Laura jumped up from the kitchen stool where she was perched and put both her hands out. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Tyler and Brandon won’t hurt you, honey. They’re just big. Sit down, boys. Please.”

  There was a moment of silence in which all the air from Ash’s lungs left her and a squeezing sensation wrapped around her ribcage. She didn’t want to see those lions again. She really didn’t!

  Brandon and Tyler both sat back down and Ash sucked in some much needed air, her mouth burning with the force, as the atmosphere in the room calmed.

  Laura moved forward and gestured to the stool on her side of the island bench. “Sit down here, sweetie. I’ll make you something to eat. Do you want a sandwich, or there’s leftover chicken stir-fry.”

  Ash’s stomach growled and she giggled nervously. “I’d love some stir-fry, Laura. Thanks.”

  She needed something to drink too.

  Tyler, the dark-haired husband, quietly walked over to a fridge and took out a few bottles. Without speaking he placed them on the table in front of her and took out a couple of glasses from the cupboard. He lifted his gaze to her once again as he backed away and sat back in his chair.

  Ash swallowed the lump that rose. Why had she been so afraid of these men? They were obviously kind and loving; she’d seen it at their wedding.

  “Thanks, Tyler.”

  She took the bottle of apple juice with two hands, opened it, and poured some into a glass without spilling any. Which was impressive, considering the amount of shaking her hands were doing.

  Laura placed a bowl of hot food in front of her and she picked up the fork and ate automatically. The chicken had a beautiful honey soy marinade on it, and Ash ate most of it without lifting her head. Once her tummy was happy, she looked up to see her cousin staring at her with those assessing green eyes of hers.

  “What?”

  Laura burst out laughing, then slapped her hand on the table.

  “What? What do you mean ‘what’! What the fuck happened?”

  Ash couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “Did you just…” She put a hand over her mouth and another over her stomach as she let the happy ripples fill her body.

  Had her very proper cousin, the talented Dr. Laura, just said “fuck”?

  Laura grinned at her, her understanding obvious.

  “Yeah well, some situations call for it.”

  Ashleigh giggled for a while longer, but finally the hysteria dissipated and she wiped away the tears that had gathered.

  “That was just too funny.”

  “Yeah, yeah, don’t change the topic. What happened since our wedding? The last thing I knew, Jack and Scott were sniffing around you, looking very much like another perfect pair that had found their mate, and now you’re here in tears. I’m guessing that would be ’coz you saw them in lion form, yeah?”

  Laura’s summation was like a bucket of cold water, sobering her instantly.

  “How did you… Yeah, that’s about right.”

  The men moved, slowly, as though she’d bolt like a frightened animal, and pulled up stools next to Laura at the kitchen bench.

  Brandon spoke first, his muscles a little too like Jack’s for Ash’s mental health. God, she missed him already. “They obviously screwed it up. Even Laura didn’t bolt the first time she saw us.”

  Ash huffed out a little laugh. “Yeah, well, I’m sure she had some warning! I knew something unusual had to be up with the whole perfect pair thing, but animals! For goodness’ sake!”

  Tyler poured more juice into her empty glass and smiled kindly.

  “What happened, exactly? Can you start from after the wedding?”

  Ash sighed and let her shoulders sag. She didn’t really want to regale them with the whole scenario, but she had come here for help.

  “Well, Jack took me home after the wedding and pretty much told me I’m their chosen mate and—oh shit! Now that makes sense, I never got the whole mate thing, weird word to use…anyway. We spent some time together and despite all my hang-ups about men, Jack somehow managed to convince me pretty much straightaway that we were perfect together.”

  It all seemed so stupid now.

  Laura smiled at her and glanced at both her men. “Of course he did, because you are, honey. Did you get the electrical zap thing when you touched them?”

  “How did you…?” Ash glanced between the trio and shrugged. “Of course. It’s one of the signs, isn’t it?”

  Laura nodded with a big smile on her pretty face. “Yes, as well as feeling completely safe and happy while you’re with them. Their personalities match every list you ever made about your perfect man
, don’t they?”

  Ash smiled a little, stinging hot tears gathering in her eyes. “Yeah, they do. I always knew you couldn’t get a guy that was relaxed, yet serious, smart and crass, super funny and super intelligent.”

  The men around Laura laughed and high-fived behind their wife’s back. Brandon puffed up his chest as he spoke. “Did she just describe us as her perfect man?”

  Ash shook her head at Laura’s pair while her cousin got covered in kisses.

  “Stop, both of you. We need to fix this.”

  Laura fixed her with a stare. “What’s the actual problem? I know it’s freaky, but it’s just a genetic thing, like having blue eyes. They have full control over everything and they’d never hurt you.”

  Ash wasn’t so sure about that teenage daughter of Scott’s, but really, she was the least of her worries. Ash looked away and down, picking at her nails and trying hard to focus on something that she actually understood.

  “Ashleigh!”

  “What?” She looked up to see that her cousin was now glaring at her. “I don’t know, Laura, I don’t. Number one, it isn’t just freaky. It’s bloody, amazingly, out of this world. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

  Tyler sat forward a bit. “What did Jack and Scott say?”

  Ash shrugged. “I haven’t spoken to them. Scott and his daughter ran into the kitchen and started fighting, then all three of them transformed into snarling cats and ran out of the house. I haven’t spoken to them about it.”

  “So you haven’t even talked to them about all this. Shit, no wonder you ran.”

  Brandon tsked loudly. “Well, Laura pretty much summed it up. We’re born with the ability to shift at any time, and it kicks in around puberty. Our whole family does it. You can’t catch it. We have full control in our animal form and would definitely not harm anyone, especially not our mate.”

  Ash’s head had begun to ache again and her brain was definitely overloaded. “I think I might go lie down again.”

  She slid off the seat, a weird sort of numbness slipping over her. “Is that okay?”

  Laura jumped off her chair and walked back around the bench, taking Ash’s hand in her own.

  “Of course it is. Let’s go.”

  They walked along the long hallway once more and Ash made her way to the bed, climbing onto the comfortable mattress and pulling up the blankets. Her eyes were heavy and everything was too hard at the moment. She needed sleep. Everything would make more sense in the morning. She hoped.

  “You know they love you already, Ash. No matter what else is going through your head, you need to know that those men would have fallen in love with you from the moment you touched. Nothing will keep them from working everything out with you.”

  Ash forced her lids open for a moment, feeling the hot tears gather at the back of her eyes.

  “I’m not sure I want to work things out, Laura. The shifting thing is scary, but you can obviously overcome it. There’s more to it than that.” She took a steadying breath and spoke the words she’d been terrified to even think about. “Scott’s so broken, and his daughter was just horrible. I don’t know if I can join a family with so much pain already in it.”

  Her voice caught on the words as she voiced one of her biggest fears. Taking on a man who already had children had always been something Ash swore she’d never do. Let alone two men, both with children to other women. She’d already escaped a bad marriage and poisonous environment; she didn’t want to join another one.

  “I’m sure there’s a way for you all to work things out, Ash. Please don’t give up on them. These men are a dream come true. You have no idea.”

  Ash let her eyes drop down, shutting out the light and her optimistic cousin.

  “Night, Laura.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jack banged on the glass door to Scott’s laboratory, again. He wasn’t going away until his brother let him in. They needed to sort out this bloody mess as soon as possible.

  Scott’s annoyed face finally surfaced behind the glass, and the door swung open.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Jack glared at his twin. “We need to talk.”

  Scott groaned and turned away, marching back across the sterile environment of stainless steel, white floors, and microscopes.

  Jack let the door close and walked behind Scott, who quickly sat back at his work station and ignored him.

  “Guess who I ran into today?” Jack asked his twin, leaning back against the stainless steel bench.

  “Who?” Scott asked, not even bothering to look up from his microscope.

  “Kane and Reid. They’re on some sort of extended holiday. Catching up with the family or something.”

  Scott went unnaturally still, his hand that had been rotating the knobs on the lens now completely frozen.

  Jack continued, his heart still aching strangely from the conversation he’d had with the perfect pair from his father’s side. “Did you know Kellie died last year?”

  He hadn’t known. Kane and Reid were second or third cousins, and rarely talked about. Not that Jack would have listened anyway. He’d always been insanely jealous of any perfect pair that had managed to find their mate.

  Scott sighed and straightened up, swiveling on his stool and facing Jack.

  “Yeah, I did. I can’t believe they’re back in town, though. I thought…”

  Scott looked away, his face pale in the stark light.

  “You thought what?” Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest. His brother was acting even weirder than usual.

  Scott coughed and cleared his throat, finally looking back at Jack with a pained expression.

  “Didn’t you ever listen when we were younger? This is one of the main reasons I never wanted to find our mate.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Perfect pairs who are mated are linked.”

  “Yeah…and?”

  Jack tapped his foot against the linoleum floor and bit his tongue against the need to scream. Getting words out of his twin was literally like pulling teeth sometimes.

  “When one of them dies, especially the woman…the perfect pair die too.”

  “What! How did I not know about that?”

  Scott shrugged. “It’s not really talked about because most families die late in life and are happy to perish together anyway.”

  Jack swallowed, the life they’d led without their mate suddenly seeming like an all right alternative now.

  He shook his head. Nope, he’d give anything to feel that connection just once.

  “Okay, so what’s your point? And don’t give me any shit about not wanting to love Ash because of this. You’ve been living like a fucking corpse for twenty years now.”

  Scott swallowed hard, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

  “I know. Trust me, I know.”

  “Good.” Jack grunted and nodded.

  “My point is, it’s been over a year for Kane and Reid. The longest any perfect pair has lasted was twelve months, absolute maximum.”

  Jack shrugged, still not understanding the point of this conversation.

  “Ah well, they’re only, what…thirty-something?”

  Scott’s eyes flickered a little. “Yeah, thirty-eight I think.”

  Jack let his arms drop and he stood up straighter. “Well maybe they made a mistake or something. I don’t know. Anyway, they’re down and they want to catch up, but we have bigger things to deal with at the moment. How are we going to get Ash back?”

  Scott growled at him, the sound strangled and borderline menacing. Jack rumbled back, his lion baring its teeth within him.

  “Just go away, Jack. The romance is over.”

  Not by a long shot.

  “No fucking way is it over, you bloody fool! Get up off your ass and come with me to Brandon and Tyler’s place.”

  After their fruitless night before, he’d taken the day off, unlike his brother, and made some phone calls. He knew whe
re she was, but they needed a plan of attack to get her back.

  Scott stood up with stealthlike slowness, and Jack took a step back and pivoted on his toes as though readying himself for a fight. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure what his brother was going to do.

  “We had our night with her, and it’s done, Jack. Why can’t you just let it be?”

  Jack relaxed his posture and let his mouth drop open in shock. Then the anger set in.

  “Let it be? Let it be!” Jack slammed his clenched fist on the metal table and jerked when he heard glass shatter nearby. He didn’t give a shit whatever it was that he’d just broken.

  “We have been missing a piece of us for forty fucking years. We finally found her, and you want to just let her go? Didn’t you feel anything Saturday night?”

  Scott blinked a few times, then looked away, his voice cracking when he spoke.

  “Of course I did, but…”

  Jack waited, his belly clenching with fear and anger. Oh, what he wouldn’t give to plant his brother right into the wall.

  “But what?”

  He waited again, biting his cheek until he tasted blood. He struggled to stay still as he swallowed the vile, metallic tasting liquid down.

  Scott straightened his shoulders and looked directly at him, all warmth gone from his green eyes.

  “But we aren’t meant to be together, Jack. It’s too hard, too much water has gone under the bridge. Maybe you and Ash can work something out, but I can’t.”

  Jack grabbed the closest thing to him, which was something heavy and metal, and threw it as hard as he could across the room, roaring as he released it and it slammed into the wall with a loud crack.

  “Fuck, Scott! No!” He roared again, hot anger spilling over into every cell of his body. He felt his skin vibrate, and fur began to push through…

  He couldn’t shift here. He forced the animal down, focusing in his mind on Ash’s smiling face, her tender kisses, her warm hands on his skin.

  His humanity returned and he panted hard, twisting to glare at his brother once more.

  “This is on you, brother mine. You broke this, you fix it! But know this. I will never forgive you if you don’t at least try. She is our destiny, do you understand? Ours! And if you let her go over this stupid bullshit, I’ll…”