Lost Faith [Grey River 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Maia Dylan

  Judy had talked openly about shifter life. She discussed the fact that the females in the pack were not full shifters. They shared some of the same enhanced traits, like strength, speed, and fast healing, but did not carry the full spirit of the wolf. She talked about what would happen during a mating. When Faith tried to explain that she wasn’t their true fated one, Judy shook her head at her with a sad smile but continued. Faith had no idea how to interpret that.

  She loved spending time with all the children and was thankful to see that they had come out of the experience at the compound without too many emotional scars. Well, at least the five younger children had. But for Sophia, she still had nightmares, and Judy shared her fears with Faith that it would take many years for her to truly heal.

  Sophia had an intense fear of the males around the farm. When they entered the house to take a break or for food, she would clam up completely and often go back to her room. All of the men, including Ty and Trent, had tried to talk with her, or at least ease her fears about being around them, but so far nothing had worked.

  Faith had spoken to Rowena about Sophia on more than one occasion during their weekly catch-ups. Without Sophia talking about her experiences at the compound, it was difficult to choose the right path to help her, but Rowena kept reminding her that it would simply take time—time, gentle persuasion, and unyielding and unconditional love. Between Judy and her, they had that in spades!

  It was her nights that would go on to live in her memory forever. Her nights were filled with laughter, joy, and hotter-than-hot-holy-hell sex with two wolf shifters. She had learnt a thing or two about herself during those nights.

  She loved sex. It wasn’t just her twins who reached for her in the night, but she did her fair share of reaching as well. On more than one occasion over the past two weeks, she had woken one of them in a way that just thinking about made her blush.

  She was actually quite good at sex! At least if the satisfied smirks and cries of passion she was able to rend from Ty and Trent were anything to go by. They continually told her how beautiful she was, how they loved her body, and how wonderful she made them feel. The amazing thing about that was that she was actually starting to believe them.

  But by far the biggest thing she had learnt about herself was that she was more in love with Trent and Ty than she had ever been before. The realization that this would and could at any time come to an end would hit her at any time, and her spirits would plummet. When she was questioned about the sudden sadness in her eyes, she would ultimately divert with sex, a fight that would lead to makeup sex, or food. Never failed.

  They had heard from Noah a couple of times since he had been on the hunt, but each report had confused them and the situation more and more. It appeared Parks had doubled back to Houston three days after the escape. He had spent time there years before, and Ty believed he still had friends and resources in the area.

  Then Noah tracked him to Phoenix three days ago, and that was the last they had heard from him. Faith secretly thought that the Reverend wasn’t going to come back to Grey River. He valued life too much. Correction, he valued his own stinking life too much. But every time she mentioned that to Ty and Trent, they would become all possessive and growly.

  Tonight they had been on shift and returned to the house just before dinnertime. Faith, who had pretty much taken over the kitchen, had prepared dinner for them: a beautiful endive salad with a homemade aromatic dressing followed by roast beef, rare for the boys, medium for her. They had eaten that with lots of praise and pledges of being her slave for life if only she would continue to cook for them. “Slaves for life” had a certain gratuitous ring to it that she admitted appealed in no small way to her.

  Then she had brought out the big guns, a homemade apple pie made from their mom’s recipe, with vanilla-bean ice cream. Once they had indulged, the boys insisted on doing the dishes, and then they curled up on the couch to watch a movie. Curled up on Trent’s lap on the couch as Ty left to answer a phone call, on top of all that food, had the inevitable result. Faith felt herself dropping off.

  * * * *

  Trent couldn’t stop staring at his mate. She was so damn beautiful. He and Ty were more in love with their Faith than ever. The last two weeks had been the best of his life. Every day Faith seemed to become stronger and more accepting of their lives together. The three of them lived in the mistress suite, and she slept each night peacefully pressed between his brother and him just as the gods and nature intended. He never would have thought that Faith was such a sexual being, but she had given him more pleasure than he ever thought possible, each night better than the last.

  Faith squirmed a little in his lap, and Trent felt his dick harden at the move. Down, boy! This is not the damn time to get happy and hard.

  Trent stilled when he heard both Ty and Faith’s laughter. What caused him to still was the fact that he heard them both down their link. Not wanting to draw attention to it, he pressed a soft kiss to Faith’s forehead and snuggled her a little until she relaxed against him.

  Then he closed his eyes and looked within to see what was happening with their bond. He could see the link to his brother clear as day, pulsing with the anger and protectiveness he was obviously feeling. But what made him drop his mental jaw in shock was the barrier that blocked the bond that led to his mate.

  It was almost transparent.

  He could see their bond beyond the barrier clearly. He could sense her feelings as well. She was warm and happy, safe. There was a thread of uncertainty there, but there was a healthy dose of trust there, too. She was starting to open herself to their bond, and soon she would be able to sense what they were feeling and hear what they were thinking. It would only be a matter of time.

  Trent came to the realization that they were going to have to talk with Faith about their inner wolves, the Quickening, and the fact that she was their fated mate before that happened. He could only hope that she handled that with as much strength and courage as she had everything else that had happened to her. Drawing away from the beauty of that bond and the imaginings of what their life could be together, Trent opened his eyes and took a trembling breath.

  “What’s up?” Ty asked from the other end of the couch, having returned from their office while Trent had been examining their bond.

  Trent spoke softly so as not to wake her. “Ty, have you looked at her down our bond lately?”

  Trent waited as Ty obviously did just that. The shocked jolt of his body and the soft “Holy fuck” that came down their bond made Trent smile. Apparently he hadn’t looked in a while either.

  “It won’t be long until she can hear us.” The awe and anticipation in his brother’s voice was very clear.

  “Yeah, we will need to come clean with her, and soon.”

  “Agreed.”

  “How the hell do we tell her? How do we explain that things with us aren’t what they seem?”

  “I have no idea, Brother. I’m scared that this will throw her recovery back, too.” Ty exhaled heavily. “I don’t know how she will react.”

  “What if she can’t handle it? What—oof.”

  Faith suddenly launched herself from his lap, narrowly missing crushing his balls. She whirled to face them from the other side of the coffee table, chest heaving, hands on hips, and a face full of fury. Fuck. Me. She really was gorgeous when they pissed her off.

  Every relationship had their fair share of come-to-Jesus moments. Trent guessed this was as good a time as any for one of theirs.

  * * * *

  Faith was pissed. No. Not pissed. Fucking. Livid. She had fallen asleep with a sweeter-than-sweet kiss from Trent on her forehead. She had simply floated off on a sea of warmth, feeling safe and happy and content and…damn it, happy! Then Ty had muttered, “Holy fuck,” right in her ear! Who the hell could sleep through someone talking directly into the ear? She had crashed back to awareness, and what had she heard?

  “We need to come clean with her, and soon.”


  Faith had felt her whole world crumble. Was Ty talking about their relationship?

  “Agreed.”

  Faith felt the word rumble from Trent’s chest pressed against it as she was.

  “How the hell do we tell her? How do we explain that things with us aren’t what they seem?”

  Things between the three of them were not as they seemed? What the ever-loving hell? Did they not want her anymore?

  “I have no idea, Brother. I’m scared that this will throw her recovery back, too. I don’t know how she will react.”

  React to what? Oh fuck. Faith felt dread fill every inch of her soul. Had they found their mate? Had they experienced the Quickening?

  “What if she can’t handle it?”

  At that, Faith’s anger consumed her dread. How dare they. How. Fucking. Dare. They.

  They treat her like a queen and make her fall in love with them harder than she ever had before, and then they think she wouldn’t be able to handle the truth? OK, yeah, there was that time she zoned out, but give a girl a moment to get her head on right! I’ll show them what I can handle!

  Faith had leapt off Trent and stomped across the room to place the coffee table between them.

  “Why the hell don’t you two just pull on your big-boy panties and fucking tell me.” Faith growled, eyes flashing in rage. “Now.”

  Trent was still frozen on the couch, his arm stretched out as if reaching to stop her. Ty sat back against the couch, folding his arms across his chest, that ever-present scowl in place.

  “Faith, what the hell has gotten into you?” Ty growled at her. Growled, the wolfy bastard. “We have a crazed maniac bearing down on us, hell-bent on getting to you, and you want to start a fight?”

  “Damn it, Ty.” Trent closed his eyes and dropped his head back. “Will you ever learn to think before you open your big trap!” He lifted his head to glare at Ty. “Let’s hear what has Faith so upset before we start on the recriminations, hmmm?” Then he looked in Faith’s direction.

  “I heard you both.” Faith spoke quickly, her tone hard in a desperate attempt to keep the fact that her heart was shattering inside her to herself. “You have something you want to tell me, and you don’t know how to say it. You don’t know how I’ll react. Well just spit it out, boys, and we’ll see what my reactions are.” Faith folded her own arms and glared at the brothers.

  They shared a look then glanced back at her. Both had wary expressions. “Yeah, baby, we do need to tell you something about us. And it might affect how you feel about us.” Trent stood up slowly and held out his hands toward her, palms out as if trying to calm a wild animal. Well, yeah, she did feel pretty damn wild right about now.

  “Well, what is it, Trent?” Faith decided to throw caution to the wind and rip the Band-Aid off what she thought might be the issue. “Have you and Ty found your mate? Is that it?” She waited as the brothers’ faces radiated both shock and confusion at the same time.

  “Um, yeah,” Trent admitted with a shy shrug of his shoulder.

  “Oh.” Faith thought she said it, but the fact that her heart had just been ripped from her chest and was now being crushed under the feet of the men before her may have meant that she simply mouthed it. The roaring in her ears would have prevented her from hearing it anyway. She suddenly felt light-headed and swayed on her feet a little. They had found their mate. Their one true love. The woman meant for the two of them. The woman that was not her.

  Faith watched as if from outside of herself as the brothers suddenly leapt toward her, grasped her arms, and led her back to the couch. She could hear Ty talking to Trent, and from the tone of it, he was yelling and swearing at him. Trent looked sheepish and was nodding at whatever Ty was saying or calling him. Then she was sitting on the couch. Trent sat on the coffee table before her grasping her hands, and Ty sat beside her, arm warm and comforting around her back.

  “Breathe, baby. It’s going to be okay.” Trent squeezed her hands, and Ty rubbed his hand gently up and down her back. As much as she wanted to wallow in their comfort for—well, let’s be honest—forever, it was not her right or her place to do so. Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hands from Trent’s and clasped them together in her lap, leaning slightly out of Ty’s arm.

  “I’m, um, very happy for you both.” Shit, her voice sounded small even to her ears.

  “Be happy for all three of us, sweet girl,” Ty spoke beside her, so close she could feel the heat from his breath on her shoulder.

  “Of course.” Faith felt as if they were shredding her from the inside out. “For all three of you. Where, um, where did you meet her?”

  Trent’s brow dropped, and he tilted his head at her. God, he was so gorgeous. What had she thought was going to happen? That they would fall in love with her after all these years and challenge the Quickening and their very nature to be with her? Yeah, right.

  “At Molly’s, you remember.” Trent continued to look at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to suddenly understand something. She tried to smile to ease his concern, but from the fact that he now looked panicked, she knew she hadn’t quite nailed it.

  “No, Trent, I don’t. I wasn’t there,” Faith whispered, lowering her suddenly blurry gaze. Trent slid a finger below her chin and lifted her head. Faith felt a tear slide down her face as she closed her eyes.

  “Baby.” With Trent’s tortured whisper, he leaned forward, and she felt his lips press against her cheek, sipping that lone tear from her skin. A sob broke through her iron will, and she struggled to keep the storm back. Ty pressed kisses to her shoulder and leaned into her from the side. Nothing in the two years she spent in captivity had come this close to destroying her.

  “Please don’t cry, sweets,” Ty whispered.

  “It was you, Faith,” Trent murmured between soft kisses. “That day in the diner, the day we finally found our mate, you were there, because it was you.”

  Faith stilled as those words registered. It was her? She sat back with a startled gasp and looked into Trent’s eyes. They were warm and shimmering with moisture of their own. Wait. It was her?

  “Wh–what do you mean, it was me?” Faith asked breathlessly.

  “You are our mate, Faith.” Trent spoke urgently. “We have known it from that very first day.”

  Faith sat there for a moment, simply processing what Trent was saying to her. It wasn’t like she was thick or anything like that, but to say she was stunned was an understatement. She was suddenly swamped with a range of emotions, all battling for supremacy within her.

  There was joy, no small amount either, at knowing that she was their one true mate. That bubbled along and made her want to laugh and leap with the sheer joy of it all.

  There was shock, shock at what she was hearing, and that made her want to breathe deep, take a private minute, and try to make sense of it all.

  There was confusion. Had she heard correctly? Was she the one destined to be with them? This feeling made her want to ask the million and one questions that were bouncing around inside her head.

  There was regret. That she hadn’t known at the time of their meeting. She had had no clue that they had experienced the Quickening that day because that was what it meant, right? When they said it was her? This made her want to apologize for being oblivious to that life-changing moment.

  And there was anger. Yep, quite a lot of that, too. Anger that they had kept this from her for so long, that they had thought her so fragile that they hadn’t even broached the subject or the fact they could change into fucking wolves at will.

  Then came her rage, flooding back into her with a fury, driving all those pesky smaller emotions out of the way until all she could see was red. It joined happy hands with her anger, and Faith could feel a vein pulsing in her temple. Her appearance must have shown which emotion had just laid the smack down on the other emotions within her, for Trent sat back a little.

  “Faith?” He said her name hesitantly, as if afraid of what was going to happen next. B
ut Faith knew exactly what was going to happen.

  Even though she knew, her eyes flashed with anger. She gave him a large smile. “So, are you telling me that I am your mate, Trent?” Faith was pleased that her voice sounded normal, as if she were simply inquiring after the time or something as equally innocent.

  “Ah, yeah?” Trent was tense, Ty, too, from the feel of him pressed against her. No doubt she was not acting like they thought she would, and their wolves were probably screaming that danger was nearby. And it definitely was.

  “Then on that day, that fateful day when we first met in Molly’s Diner,” Faith continued in an almost upbeat tone, “the two of you experienced the Quickening?”

  Both men jumped at that. “How the hell do you know about the Quickening?” Ty tugged on her shoulder to draw her gaze in his direction. Faith suddenly didn’t feel like being within touching distance, so sprang from the couch to stand again on the other side of the coffee table from them. Her mates.

  A shot of pure glee slammed down her spine at that thought. Oh hell no! You are not going to get all gooey on that, Faith. You have your rage on, and you will keep it there!

  “I lived in Grey River, Ty! And I am an extremely intelligent woman who is not the idiot you obviously think I am! I was a medical professional in the local hospital, for fuck’s sake! Did you not think I would have noticed that my patients healed exceptionally fast, and queried it? I know all about the people of this town! I know that you are shifters, I know that you are the alphas, but I didn’t care about that! You were the only people who ever really saw me. The real me.” Faith thumped her hand against her chest, aware that there was a deep ache there that had nothing to do with her hand.