His Mating Mark

by Alicia White

  “Thanks.” Nicole stood still and waited for Addison to take her hand. They walked together, this time slower, and Nicole was able to keep up.

  “I guess I should’ve driven, but I thought it would be easier to walk. I guess I don’t think of you as a human, no offense.”

  “None taken, I am human.” Nicole silently laughed to herself. “I–I’m kinda nervous,” she whispered, wanting to have a few minutes of girl talk before they reached their destination.

  “I understand, although, I don’t have a mate or mates. I can imagine what you must be feeling.”

  “Can you?” she whispered not really believing that Addison understood what she was going through.

  “Yeah. I’ve seen mates together.” Her voice sounded sad, and Nicole felt guilty for thinking that she didn’t understand how she was feeling. “They crave each other constantly. They can’t stand to be separated for too long. They love deeply.”

  “Oh.” That’s how she had been feeling. She had felt so lost and alone.

  “I don’t have a mate. Instead, I watched the man I love find his mate,” she whispered, and Nicole felt a pang in her heart. Did Addison love Gabe or Josh? She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. They walked in silence for a while, and Nicole could only hear her breathing. She was panting, but Addison seemed to be fine.

  Nicole heard a howl and knew that they were getting closer. The forest noises came to life, and her heart hammered in her chest. She took steady steps, trying to keep up with Addison, not wanting to fall behind.

  “Listen, Addison, I’m sorry about the man you loved.” She felt the need to say something, wanting to clear the air before they reached the rest of the group. She didn’t want Addison to be left heartbroken, and she didn’t want to make an enemy out of the woman who had been kind to her.

  “That’s the thing with mates, each one of us will end up with the perfect person. Even though I did love him, I hold no hard feelings. It wasn’t meant to be, and soon, I’ll find my mate, and I’ll love him.” Her voice was full of excitement, and Nicole realized that she was looking forward to finding her perfect match. Relief swept over her hard and fast, and she picked up her pace, needing to get to Gabe and Josh.

  “It’s a full moon tonight,” Addison commented, and Nicole looked up, searching for the moon.

  “Okay.” She shrugged. She wasn’t sure what exactly that meant and wondered if Addison was just trying to change the subject.

  “They might be more aggressive than usual,” she added.

  “Okay.” Nicole had no idea what to say to that.

  “Don’t run from them. Hold your ground and don’t be afraid. They will be able to smell your fear.” Addison squeezed her hand once more as they stepped past the tree line and into an open clearing. A huge fire pit sat in the center of the large circle and Nicole’s eyes adjusted slowly, allowing her to make out the different faces. It seemed like the whole town was there, and they all moved to stare at her.

  She felt like the prey to their predator and tried to stand tall, wanting to be confident. She stood in place, holding Addison’s hand, glad that she had some support. Six large men walked out of the tree line across from them, and she knew that Josh and Gabe were among them. It was the way they walked, as if they owned the place and demanded the attention of the others that had been waiting.

  She stood transfixed on the scene in front of her and couldn’t help the little gasp that escaped when the men stripped off their shirts. Clothes flew off in every direction, and she moved to stand behind Addison. She bit her lip and stared directly at Gabe and Josh. All around the clearing, people shifted, their bodies contorting and changing into wolves. She swallowed hard and held on to Addison as if her life depended on it. The change happened quickly, and she was shocked to realize that she couldn’t hear the cracking and popping of bone and muscle. It was nothing like she imagined.

  Smooth, sleek beautiful wolves stood waiting for their leader. Gabe smiled broadly as he pulled his jeans off and stood naked in the clearing. Within moments, he was the huge wolf she remembered from that night. She closed her eyes and buried her face into Addison’s back, wanting to run and hide. She had known all along, but she didn’t want to believe that the man she had grown to love could be the wolf who bit her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she tried to hold back the pain that sliced through her heart.

  “Nicole, pull yourself together. I know this is new for you, but this is a huge part of our lives. Do you want to be with Gabe and Josh? Decide now.” She nodded her head and wiped the tears off her face. She needed to be strong and accept them or close the door, and she knew that she didn’t want to end things with them. Her life had become so horribly lonely, and she couldn’t stand the thought of being without them.

  Loud howls surrounded her, and she stood frozen behind Addison, wondering what her next move should be. Addison grabbed her hand and pulled her to stand next to her. They walked toward the center of the clearing to where Gabe and Josh were. “They can smell you, and they all know that you have been claimed.” Addison explained as the wolves around them stared at her openly. It was strange to see their eyes and to know that they were human only moments ago. “When we stop in front of Gabe, I want you to look at the ground. He might take it as a challenge if you make eye contact first. And whatever you do, don’t run,” she warned, and Nicole swallowed hard, nodding slightly. She looked at the ground and let Addison lead her to where Gabe and Josh stood in front of the pack.

  Addison pulled her to a stop, and Nicole stared at the ground. It was a hard thing to do, especially since she wanted to run and protect herself from the wolves surrounding her. She heard a deep growl and was ready to bolt when Addison hissed in her ear “Kneel.” She awkwardly fell to her knees, hitting the hard ground.

  Two huge wolves instantly surrounded her. She could see their large paws as they walked around her, sniffing her. Deep inside she knew that it was Gabe and Josh, but she couldn’t help her body’s reaction. She was shaking, scared out of her mind, and she was having a hard time thinking clearly. She felt two large mouths, sharp teeth on each shoulder. She shrieked and fell to the ground. Her instincts kicked in, and she jumped up and started running.

  “Stop!” Addison yelled, and she fell to the ground, feeling a small body on top of hers. She started fighting but stopped as realization dawned, telling herself that it was Addison and that she was okay. “Damn it, don’t move.” Addison moved, and she took slow deep breaths trying to calm down. She lay on her stomach and didn’t move as she felt herself surrounded once again, allowing the wolves to smell her.

  “Gabe, Josh, please.” She was scared out of her mind and was on the verge of begging them to shift back to their human form.

  Chapter 12

  Gabe couldn’t believe that Nicole was on the ground in front of him. He wanted to shift back, but his wolf was in control. His wolf wanted to be near his mate after so much time apart. Gabe inhaled deeply, smelling his mark on her body, and growled.

  “Gabe, Josh, please.” She begged quietly, and he could smell the fear coming off her in waves. She had willingly come to the meeting place in the middle of the forest, and he could barely believe it. He turned and howled. The other members of their pack responded in kind and took off on their nightly run without them. He wanted to be alone with her, and he knew Josh felt the same way.

  He watched as Josh laid down next to her, nuzzling her, trying to get closer to her. Using all his strength, he pushed his wolf to the back and took over power, shifting back into his skin. He leaned down and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

  “It’s okay, baby, turn over.” He helped her to turn, and she looked up at him with big sad brown eyes. “Come here.” He held out his arms, and she climbed into his lap. He sat there naked on the ground, holding his mate, rocking her in his arms. He had so many questions, but he didn’t really want to know how or why she was here. He tightened his arms around her, and breathed in her perfect honey-jas
mine scent.

  Josh moved toward them and pushed his muzzle against her cheek, wanting to comfort her as well. When she moved and whimpered, Gabe turned her, putting her back against his chest. He needed her to overcome her fear of wolves. The only way a relationship would work is if she accepted them fully. “Josh, lie down.” Josh lay down in front of them, and Gabe took Nicole’s hands in his and reached out, helping her to pet his thick coat. Her muscles were tight at first, but after a couple minutes, she loosened up and started to touch Josh on her own.

  “Wow, he’s softer than I thought he would be. His hair looks coarse but it’s not.” She sounded genuinely happy, and Gabe relaxed a little. He let her move off his lap and watched as she kneeled next to Josh, scratching behind his ears. Josh made small noises in his chest, and Gabe knew what he was feeling.

  “Nicole, I–I’m so glad you’re here. Um, do you want to come back to our house and talk for a bit?” He didn’t want this moment to end and hoped that maybe her being here was a good sign of her wanting to talk more about the future.

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” She turned her head and looked up at him, and Gabe smiled. For the first time in weeks, he felt relaxed. Having her here in his presence made him feel complete. “I really want to talk to both of you.” She bit her lip, and he nodded. He lifted her up, standing in the process. He shielded his naked body from her view as he moved, grabbing his clothes and quickly getting dressed. She stared at him with such longing that Gabe wanted to touch, taste, and take her right there, but he resisted, keeping a tight rein on his desires.

  Gabe grabbed Josh’s clothes off the ground and held out his hand, waiting for Nicole to walk to him. She held on to Josh’s thick coat of hair and moved toward him. She didn’t seem to be scared any longer. She looked like Little Red Riding Hood walking with the big bad wolf. She grabbed his hand, and they walked toward his house. He was just glad that they didn’t have a huge hike ahead of them. He wanted to get her home so that they could talk and make up.

  “How have you been?” he asked. He thought that having some small talk might help make the walk move faster.

  “Um, honestly, I’ve missed you both.” He stopped, and she ran into him. Those words were music to his ears. Gabe turned around, leaned down, and brushed his lips against hers. She moaned and leaned into him, and Gabe took full advantage of the situation. He picked her up, holding her in his arms, and kissed her harder. Nicole threw her arms around his neck and dug her small, blunt fingernails into his scalp. The small bite of pain felt good, and he groaned, rubbing his body against hers.

  They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, devouring each other until he heard Josh growl, wanting to join in the fun. He pulled his lips away from hers. “You have to shift before you can join in, Josh,” he said, taking possession of her lips as he continued to walk toward the house. He moved quickly through the trees, wanting to be at home, needing to lay Nicole down on their soft bed and make love to her.

  Gabe stepped through the tree line and went to the house. He opened the front door and walked directly to the bedroom. He sat her down on the couch and threw Josh his clothes as he moved into the bedroom. He knew that they had lots to talk about, and he wanted to hear everything that Nicole had to say. He sat on the floor at her feet while Josh got dressed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was so beautiful, complete perfection in his eyes.

  Josh joined them. He sat in the chair across from Nicole, and they sat there waiting for her to talk. He could tell that she had lots on her mind. She nibbled on her lip, scrunching her brows together. “You bit me, th–that night. It was you.” She stared at him, looking confused, and he knew that they needed to have this conversation.

  “Yes.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to gather his thoughts. “That night we went for a run. An alert went out that one of the kids had followed us, trying to keep up. He wasn’t very good at shifting yet and got separated from the group. I went with his parents, and we tracked him down at your house. I recognized your scent right away. I tried to control my wolf, but emotions were running high, and I was scared that I might lose you. I marked you that night. My wolf marked you so that I could find you again.” A silent tear fell onto her cheek, and Gabe grabbed her hand, needing to hold onto their connection.

  “Nicole, I’m so sorry. I wanted to shift right there so that I could hold you and explain things, but I was too scared. You were on the floor of your house, bleeding and crying. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He looked down and hoped that she might be able to forgive him.

  “He’s telling the truth. That night he ran back here and found me. He was so scared that he had ruined everything for us. He demanded that we give you space, but I couldn’t stay away. We thought that after time passed you might not be scared anymore. Each week that went by turned into months and then years, and still we were too scared to talk to you. That day in town, I followed your scent. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to be near you.” Josh moved off the chair and sat down on the couch next to her. He didn’t touch her, although the look on his face proved that he was having a difficult time keeping his hands to himself.

  “I don’t know what to do. I’m so lonely without you both. I think of you all day, and I just, I miss you so much.” Gabe looked up and stared into her eyes. She looked so sad, and he wanted to change everything. He wanted to make her happy.

  “We miss you, too. Letting you go, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Tell me what to do to make things right between us,” he said.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you know that we care about you? Do you know that we both want you so bad that when you’re not here it’s hard to breathe? Do you know that we want forever? Do you know that we would never hurt you?” He waited for her to answer his questions, hoping that he was planting positive seeds in her mind. He wanted her to know all those things. They would love her forever if she would give them the chance.

  “Yes, I know. Addison helped me a bit. She explained some stuff to me. It’s weird because now that I know the reason behind everything, I wish I wouldn’t have run away.”

  “We should’ve told you everything sooner. Our only excuse is that we had hoped that we could slowly transition you into accepting the wolf part of us. We wanted to introduce you to the folks around here first, so that you could realize that we aren’t evil. I know that you probably felt a little betrayed when Addison and Harper told you, but they just didn’t realize that they were telling you our secret.” Josh moved closer to her, and their thighs touched. He smiled at her and leaned closer, inhaling the scent of their mate.

  Nicole nodded. “I know.”

  “I guess my question to you is, where do we go from here? Do you want to be with us?” Gabe asked, waiting for her to answer. If she didn’t want to be with them, then he was glad that they had this time to explain things to her. He would always do whatever it took to make her happy, and if that meant not being a part of their lives, then he would accept her answer.

  “I want to be with you both. I don’t want to feel lonely anymore,” she whispered, and Josh grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap before dipping his head down and taking possession of her mouth. Gabe could only smile. She was their mate, and she wanted them. He would do anything and everything to make sure she stayed with them.

  * * * *

  Her words were barely out of her mouth when she was pulled into Josh’s arms. He ate at her mouth, and she leaned into him, pushing her tongue between his soft lips. She had never wanted anything as much as she wanted these two men in her life. She craved them, needed them, and wanted to spend her life with them. Her heart, body, and mind were in perfect harmony with her decision.

  Josh rubbed his hands up and down her back, holding her close. She rubbed her chest against his, and the contact sent a shiver of pleasure rushing through her entire body. It had been too long, and she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do first. She wa
nted them both naked, though, and she wanted to lie in between them.

  “Clothes. Off.” She panted the words out.

  Nicole heard Gabe get up and saw him from her peripheral vision as he walked toward the bed. She stared at Josh, waiting for him to make a move. He picked her up and placed her on her feet. She grabbed the side of the couch to catch her balance as Josh quickly pulled his T-shirt over his head and unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down his lean hips. She licked her lips, wanting to race for the bed.

  “It looks like Gabe is ready for you,” Josh said, and Nicole jerked her head up and her eyes landed on Gabe. He sat on the bed, his back against the headboard, and he stared at her as he stroked his hard cock. She was torn between them both until Josh turned her and gave a little push toward the bed. “I’m right behind you, baby.”

  Nicole pulled her long-sleeve T-shirt over her head, unclipped her bra and threw them onto the floor. She reached the side of the bed and stood there for a minute staring at his hand moving up and down his erection. She wanted to taste him. She wanted to rub her naked body against his.

  “Take off your pants and climb on up here with me.” Gabe winked at her, and Nicole took her time pulling them off her legs, trying to look sexy for him, wanting to turn him on even more.

  “You’re killing me here.” He groaned, and she smiled. Nicole climbed up on the bed and crawled toward Gabe. She touched his warm skin and ran her fingernails up his thigh, unsure of where to start first.