by Marla Monroe
Shay strode down the street as if she had nothing in the world to worry about. She didn’t want to attract attention so that no one would remember her when her father started questioning people about her whereabouts.
“Hey, hon, need a ride? I’m heading to Marquand. I can take you that far.” A nice-looking woman driving a pickup that had seen better days pulled up next to her.
Shay hesitated for only a second before she agreed. The woman was human and didn’t look like a crazed psychopath. She prayed she wasn’t making a mistake. Marquand was an entire town away. It was a good start.
* * * *
“While the Alpha is working with the Sylphies on the problems with our mountain, I need the two of you to head over to Marquand and see if you can find out anything about what HAS is up to. We know they’re here and are probably scouting over there, as well.” Levi looked at him and Lee.
Evan could tell that he was stressed with all of the problems showering down on them. They still hadn’t had time to talk to them about their female. He worried that it would only cause more pressure on his older brothers. Lee had agreed they would wait to see what came of the Sylphies’ suggestions on how to strengthen their hold on the mountain.
“What do you want us to do if we find HAS there? Stay and watch or come back and report?” Lee asked.
“Stay there for a few days and call in reports. If you think you’re in danger, hightail it back here. We’re safer on our own land with everyone close by, but we need to know just how widespread HAS is now. If they’ve populated both Marquand as well as Cascade, we may need to thin them out.”
“Well keep in touch.” Lee nodded at Evan. “Better get going.”
They each packed a bag before heading out. Evan didn’t like leaving their pack behind, but could understand that they needed intel on HAS. He also didn’t like leaving their potential mate back in Cascade with those men. His wolf fought him for control the farther they got from where she was.
“My wolf doesn’t like this, Lee.”
“Neither does mine. He wants to go claim our mate no matter if she’s part of HAS or not.”
“We know she’s mixed up somehow. We’re going to have to claim her eventually. Depending on where she stands in the mix, we may have to leave Shoewater land. The Alpha might not allow her entrance even if we’ve claimed her.”
Lee’s grip on the steering wheel worried Evan. The other wolf’s knuckles turned white. Much more and he’d crush the thing.
“Better get a better hold of yourself, brother. I depend on you to keep me from weirding out.” Evan tried to joke about it to ease the tension.
“If it comes down to that, we’ll start our own pack and claim land close by. I don’t want to be an Alpha, but claiming land will strengthen us should that happen.” Lee relaxed his hands so that they no longer curled as tightly around the wheel as before.
“She’s gorgeous, Lee.”
“She is. I love her curves.”
“I want to feel her hair on my chest. I bet it’s as silky soft as it looks.”
Evan sighed. Talking about her had him hard and his wolf growling inside of him. Waiting to claim her would be the death of him. If not, it would certainly drive him insane.
“I wish we’d driven through Cascade in case we might have caught a glance of her,” Lee said.
“It would have taken us longer to get to Marquand if we had. I want to get this over with so we can go back home.”
Evan thought over everything they knew so far. No matter how he moved the pieces of information around, he kept coming up with there being a second witch, and Shay was on the short list of suspects because she was new to the area. In fact, she was their only suspect. His only hope was that if she were the culprit behind everything that she’d been forced to by the men she was with.
If she is their witch and she is being forced, why would she be allowed out on her own? I can’t make this work no matter how I try. Why would the fates give us a mate we can’t have?
“They had Sienna chained up and held prisoner with iron. They could have someone else in a different location. It doesn’t have to be our mate.” Evan looked over at his brother in hopes he would agree.
“I know, but I don’t know how we’re going to find out without taking her to the Alpha. Once they know she’s our mate, we’ll have no choice but to comply with their orders unless we leave with her.”
“This bites. You know that, don’t you?” Evan punched at the door with his fist.
“Don’t lose it while I’m driving. Hold it together until we get where we’re going. Then you can go for a run and sniff around. Just don’t shift in the truck.”
“I’m not going to shift. I have more control than that, and you know it.”
“I don’t know anything right now. Everything is up in the air for us,” Lee snarled.
“My wolf wants her and I do, too. We’ve got to talk to Levi and Aaron when we get back. Holding back is only going to make things harder for us and her.”
“I agree. Now let’s focus on what we’re going to Marquand for and get it finished so we can go home.”
They arrived thirty minutes later and located a motel room for their stay. Evan prayed they would only be there a couple of days, but learning about possible HAS members was going to be tricky at best. If they had a witch working with them, she might be able to tell shifters from humans. Before witches, they’d just pretended to be like-minded men and identified them that way. Now spending any amount of time among them could be a death warrant.
“I guess the first place to look is the local bars. Let’s drive through town and see which ones are still open. It’s been a year since I’ve been here,” Lee said.
On their first pass, they located The Swill and at the other end of town was a pub called Casey’s. The other place they would check out would be the truck stop just outside of town.
“Let’s hit the truck stop for something to eat before we hit the bars,” Evan suggested.
The diner there usually had good food. Evan was hungry, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to check out bars without something in his stomach. His wolf got testy when it was hungry.
Even before they got out of the truck, Evan could feel his wolf moving restlessly inside of him. When he stepped inside the truck stop, he knew why. Their mate was there.
“Lee?”
“I feel her. Why is she here?”
“Careful. We don’t know if the others are with her or not. I don’t understand why she’d be here in Marquand when she was just in Cascade yesterday.”
“They might have moved here to hunt.” Lee looked around.
“There she is in the diner. Let’s sit behind her. It looks like she’s alone.”
Evan led the way inside the diner and took a booth behind her. He was certain she hadn’t seen them yet.
“What can I get you?” The waitress smiled and stood ready with pen and pad.
“Coffee and water. We’ll need a few minutes to look over the menu,” Lee said. “Do you have any specials?”
“Hamburger steak comes with mashed potatoes and gravy. If you’re interested in steak, we have a twelve-ounce rib eye with baked potato and side salad.” She nodded at them then moved to their mate’s table.
“Decide what you want?” the waitress asked her.
“Yes. I want the hamburger steak, please.”
“I’ll get you a refill on your tea in just a second. Let me put in your order.” The waitress walked away.
To Evan’s surprise, Shay stood up and walked over to them.
“I thought I recognized your voice. What are you doing in Marquand?” she asked.
“I guess we could ask you the same thing. We’re just here to get some supplies we can’t get in Cascade.” Evan thought fast.
“I’m just here until I can get a ride to Boulder.” She hesitated then leaned closer to Lee. “Look. I know you’re shifters. You need to be very careful. There are men here and in Cascade looking for shifters to kill.”
“How do you know we’re shifters?” Evan asked.
Shay looked around then whispered, “I don’t know. I’ve just always been able to tell.”
“Why don’t you sit with us and tell us what you know.” Lee stood up and walked over to sit next to Evan.
Shay grabbed her pack and glass of tea to move it over to where they were. She sat down across from them and held her nearly empty glass between both hands, tracing the swirls in the glass with her fingers.
“I’m afraid to tell you much. You see, my father hunts shifters. He and my brother and my cousin. They’ve dragged me around with them for years now. I’ve had enough and am trying to get as far away from them as I can so they can’t find me.”
Holy fuck! She’s one of them. Our mate hunts shifters. I don’t believe it.
Evan felt ice water flow down his back. “You’ve been leading them to shifters, haven’t you?”
She shivered as if she could feel his building anger. Evan worked at controlling his wolf.
“Yes. At first, I didn’t realize what I was doing. I was just a child and wanting my father’s approval. He never had much to do with me until he found out I could sense shifters. Suddenly he noticed me and treated me more like a daughter. Well, until I grew up. Now he only tolerates me.”
“How could you betray someone you didn’t even know?” Lee asked her.
“It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized what I was doing was wrong. You see, a shifter killed my mother. I was there when my father killed it. I was barely old enough to understand what had happened. So now I’m trying to get away. If my father finds me, he’ll probably kill me, too.”
“Where do you plan to go?” Evan asked.
“I don’t know. Just anywhere but where he is. I figure I can get a job waitressing somewhere and make a living. The only real education I have is what I’ve taught myself. My father registered as home schooling me, but that’s a joke. I never would have passed my GED if I hadn’t studied on my own.”
I can’t let her go wandering around. Her father will eventually find her.
“You guys know what you want now?” The waitress returned with coffee and water and refilled Shay’s tea.
They ordered steaks and waited until she walked away to turn in their order before they continued their conversations.
“Shay, we’ll keep you safe, but you have to stay with us. We’re here a few days and then will be returning to Shoewater Mountain. You can go with us, and we’ll get to the bottom of why you’re able to sense shifters.” Evan hoped she would agree.
“Look, I appreciate it, but I’m dangerous to you. If my father finds me, he’ll suspect that you’re shifters, or at the very least, he’ll assume you took me. I’m afraid he’ll kill you.”
“He won’t find us or you. Trust us, Shay. Let us help you get away from him. He’s going to end up getting himself and your brother killed. Shifters just want to live their lives without fear of death. We don’t bother humans and do business with them all the time. HAS and people like your father threaten that for us.” Lee sipped his coffee.
“I know that, but your people won’t accept me among them. I’m human, and I’ve got blood on my hands as sure as if I’d killed shifters myself.”
“You said yourself that you didn’t understand what you were doing until recently. Now you’re trying to hide from your family in order to stop the killing.” Evan wanted her to trust them.
“I’m scared of him. You should be, too. If he joins up with that HAS group, he’ll be even more dangerous,” she told them.
“He’s made contact with them, hasn’t he?” Evan wanted to see if she’d be honest with them.
“Yes. He said he’d met some of them last night and that they claimed they had a way to get to you guys. I don’t know what it is and don’t think my father knows either.”
“All the more reason for you to let us protect you. We’re smarter than them and have managed to outsmart them for years.” Lee leaned in, wrapping both hands around his mug. “Shay, we feel like you’re special. We don’t want anything to happen to you. Let us help you.”
“I’m afraid if I do, you’ll end up hurt because of me. My father is ruthless, and I’m afraid he’s a little insane, too.”
“We can’t let you take chances, Shay. You matter to us. The bruising on your face tells us that he’s abusive,” Evan said.
“I’m afraid to trust you. Once your people know what I’ve done, they’ll want to kill me just like my father has killed shifters.”
Lee shook his head. “We’ll protect you from anyone who wants to hurt you, Shay. You’re our mate.”
“Your what?”
Chapter Seven
“Our mate. Our wolves sense you and know that you are supposed to be theirs. I think it’s why you didn’t turn us in. If you can sense shifters, then you probably realized we were special to you.” Lee watched her with a single-mindedness that made her a little self-conscious.
“Are you sure? I’m not a shifter. Can you have human mates?”
“Yes. Two of our brothers have a human mate,” Lee told her.
“Wait. You said our mate. Are you saying I’m supposed to be a mate to both of you? That’s not possible.”
“It is with our pack. Many in our pack share one mate between them. It’s how we’ve been able to keep them safe for years,” Lee told her.
“I don’t understand the mate thing anyway. There’s no way I could live with two men. It’s just not right.” She couldn’t believe she was even having this conversation with two shifters.
Up until recently, they’d been her enemy through her father. Now that they weren’t, she was supposed to accept what Lee and Evan were telling her? Shay couldn’t do that. It was too unreal to her.
“It’s all a shock to you right now. It’s been a shock to us. Your father kills our kind. Finding out that you’re our mate has been stressful for us, as well. Give it some time and you’ll feel more comfortable with us. We’re not dangerous like you’ve been taught. If a shifter killed your mother, it was a rogue. We eliminate rogues because they’re dangerous. I’m sorry if that’s what happened.” Evan reached across the table and took her hand.
Instantly sparks prickled along her skin. She seemed to be drawn to him, finding herself leaning toward him. Shay didn’t pull her hand away right then, but when the waitress returned with their meals she did.
They ate in silence. She noticed that the two shifters ate just like everyone else. They didn’t wolf up their food like her father talked about. Neither did they growl while they ate. Many of the things her father had told her about shifters just weren’t true. That had made her think differently over time.
Seeing the two of them act just as human as she did solidified her conclusions that they were just like her except for having the ability to change into an animal at will. While that was pretty major, it didn’t mean they were animalistic in nature, did it?
“You have a very expressive face, Shay. What are you mulling over in your head?” Lee asked her.
“Just trying to figure out why it took me so long to understand that shifters weren’t dangerous.”
“You were following your father’s demands. He kept you shielded at first, I’m sure.”
“He did. Then, when I was old enough to understand, he stopped trying. He just threatened me until I found him someone. Then I stopped finding them here and he started to get more abusive, so I left. Now I’m afraid of what he’ll do if he finds me.”
“We’ve told you that we’ll keep you safe. You have to trust us. We know what we’re doing.” Evan pushed his plate away. “Shay, as our mate, you’re important to us. Our wolves won’t let us leave you in danger.”
“I can’t go from helping to hunt you to staying with you out of the blue like this.”
“Tell me you don’t feel something for us. Tell me that there isn’t something electrical there.” Lee touched her hand, sending those sizzling sparks across
her skin again.
“See. You felt that. I can see it in your eyes, Shay,” Evan said.
“I suppose we have chemistry, but that doesn’t make it right. There are two of you. I’ve never heard of anyone having two husbands before.” Shay shoved her hair out of her eyes. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“That’s because you’re seeing it in a human way. We aren’t human; we’re shifters,” Evan said.
“But I’m human. It’s the only way I know to look at it.” She shook her head. “I need time to think about this. I can’t just take your word for it. I’ve already made too many mistakes. I don’t want to jump into another one.”
“That’s fine.” Lee drained his water. “You can think about it as long as you need to, but you’re staying with us while we’re here so you’ll be safe and then you’ll come home with us when we leave.”
Shay’s mouth dropped open. That sounded like an ultimatum to her. She was done with being told what to do and when to do it. She wasn’t about to let the two shifters order her around.
“Don’t tell me what I’m going to do. I can think and decide for myself. I’m not one of your shifter women who follow orders and do what you say all the time.” At Evan’s abrupt chuckle, Shay narrowed her eyes at him.
“Shifter women give orders. They don’t follow them unless it is related to their safety. You’ve got this all wrong, sweetheart.” Evan’s eyes danced with amusement. “Our females are the most important people in our lives. We strive to keep them safe and happy at all times.”
“Yet you’re telling me that I’m going to stay with you no matter what. Don’t I get a say in anything?” she asked.
“Of course, you do. It isn’t any different than if you were a shifter female. The only time we insist on obedience is when your life is in jeopardy. It’s in danger now, so we want you with us where we can keep you safe.” Evan reached across and took her hand. “Please trust us. Trust your instincts. I can promise they’re telling you to go with us.”
“I don’t like being ordered around. I got that with my father.” Shay wanted to be able to do what she wanted to for a change.
