by Marla Monroe
Evan paced and growled at any shifter who came close to where his mate lay below. Unless it was his Alpha or the healer, he didn’t want anyone near her.
“Evan. Stand down, brother. What happened?” Aaron and Levi stepped closer to the porch. “Where are Gabby and Nessa?”
When Aaron tried to race past him, Evan lunged and grabbed hold of the other man’s leg. Evan growled around it as Aaron stopped cold.
“Evan. What’s wrong? Stand down and let us see about our mates. That’s an order, Evan.”
Evan whined and let go of Aaron’s leg then circled a few times before shifting to his human side. He leaned his head back to show his neck as a show of respect. Aaron and Levi were his older brothers and would be his Alpha and Beta when their father stepped down.
“What the hell is going on? Are the females okay?” Levi asked as Aaron swept past them to the door leading below ground.
“Our mate stood up to her family and protected the females. She shot and killed them and was injured when doing so. I’m sorry for standing against you. My wolf is crazy inside of me right now. Your mate and the others are fine. Lee is down there with them.”
“How bad is your mate’s injuries? I am in her debt for what she did.”
“Lee said it is a flesh wound, but she also hit her head. He doesn’t think it’s bad. I am worried about how she will handle the fact that she killed the only family she’s ever known. That will not go easy with her even though they lied and used her. Killing one of you would tear me up inside even if it were for the same reasons.” Evan shook his head. “I am worried and my wolf won’t calm down yet. He needs to see her.”
“The danger has passed. We chased off those we didn’t kill. The guard is out and disposing of the bodies. You can go down and see about your mate in peace. Come with me, Evan.” Levi held out his hand, and the two clasped arms as they walked across the room to the door leading downstairs.
Evan burst into their suite, stopping in the doorway to the bedroom when Lee held up his hand to stop him.
“She’s sleeping. Don’t wake her up.”
“I need to see her. My wolf is fighting me, Lee.”
“Just don’t wake her up. Come lie next to her. That will soothe your wolf and help her feel safe to have us both surrounding her. She’s fine, Evan.”
He didn’t believe it until he crawled up the bed to lie down next to her. The sight of the bandage covering her upper arm had his wolf yelping inside. He managed to contain the sound, but a soft groan still escaped as he nuzzled next to Shay.
“We could have lost her, Lee.”
“I know. But we didn’t. She’s a strong mate, brother. We don’t have to worry nearly as much as I thought we would. She can protect herself given the need.” Lee rubbed his chin next to her hair.
Evan kissed her softly on the shoulder then curved around her body to be a shield on that side of her. Lee mimicked him on the opposite side but had to be careful of the injury to her upper arm.
“I love her, Lee. More than anything in this world.”
“I do, too. She’s my life. The only thing better than having her in our lives is having her carrying our cubs. I can’t wait to feel her belly swell.”
“Not until she’s ready. I don’t want to force anything on her until she’s ready.” Evan sighed, content for once in his life.
“I’d never let that happen.”
“How is she going to take having killed her family for us?”
Lee shook his head before laying it next to Shay’s. “We’ll have to see when she wakes up.”
“We should have been here so she wouldn’t have had to make that decision.”
“It wasn’t our call as to where we served our pack, Evan. You know that.”
“We were too divided. That can’t happen again. It will mean losing more of our females and males if we are.”
“We’ll talk to Levi and Aaron about it tomorrow. I agree. We were spread too thin.”
Evan was glad his brother felt the same way. It meant they would be listened to. Evan was always considered a little of a wildcard with how close his wolf stayed to the surface. Lee was the calm controlled one. They’d listen to him and take his advice into consideration.
“Sleep, Evan. We need to be well rested to take care of our mate.”
He tried to relax, but sleep didn’t come. Instead, all of the ways that things could have gone wrong played through his mind. The shotgun could have jammed, and Shay would’ve been at their mercy. She might have stayed below, and then all of the females would have been killed. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about it? It was over, and they had won.
For how long? I know they won’t give up. Shay’s family is dead, but HAS has more men in their group than the pitiful few who’d fought tonight.
Had it only been a test to see how they would react and fight? Maybe they should consider that this hadn’t been the all-out war they’d expected. They knew that there were at least twenty HAS members in Cascade and more in Marquand. He was sure there had been less than twenty plus the three of Shay’s family who’d attacked them today.
I don’t think they were planning to win. They were only playing with us to see what we’d do.
Evan would talk to his bond brother in the morning about it. He was sure Lee would agree. They needed to make sure Aaron and Levi warned the Alpha of their worries. They needed to change their fighting tactics for the next time because Evan knew there would be a next time.
There always was.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m fine. Stop babying me.” Shay wanted to scream.
Both Evan and Lee had restricted her to bed the next day, saying she needed to rest. She needed to get up and move around. She’d rested all night.
“You were shot, Shay. On top of that, you hit your head hard enough to leave a goose egg back there. One of us will be here with you all the time so you don’t get lonely.” Lee kissed her to stop her from arguing.
“That will be me. Lee is going to talk to the Alpha about yesterday’s attack. I’m going to keep you company.” Evan waggled his brows and plopped down next to her on the bed.
She lifted her chin. “If I can’t get up and move around, then I sure can’t engage in sex, now can I?”
Evan’s brows furrowed even as the corners of his mouth dipped below freezing. Shay couldn’t help but laugh at the disappointment in his eyes.
“She’s right, Evan. No messing around. If she feels up to it, we might have some fun tonight.” Lee winked at her.
“Don’t be gone long, Lee. I might forget what time night actually starts if I’m left alone with our mate for very long.”
Shay giggled. It was interesting to see the usually more guarded Evan tease his brother. Normally it was the other way around. Lee tended to pick on Evan while his bond mate seemed to need to hold back his wolf more than Lee did.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Behave, you two.” Lee walked out of the bedroom, and a few seconds later, the door to their suit closed with a soft click.
“He said no sex, but he didn’t say anything about fooling around,” Shay told Evan.
“Oh, no. I’m not about to get into a word game with you. Semantics be damned. Lee will have my hide if you are too tired or feel bad tonight because we skirted the line.” Evan’s eyes lowered even as his lips thinned out into a straight line.
Shay sat up, letting Evan prop pillows behind her as she did. “I’m bored, Evan. Tell me about growing up as a shifter. I bet I missed out on some fun times.”
“We had our days.” Evan’s eyes lightened up as a smile lifted the ends of his mouth. “Lee and I knew we were bond mates almost from the beginning. Aaron and Levi didn’t know until they were in high school. Some males never find a bond mate. Our healer doesn’t have a bond mate. He’s never found his mate either.”
“That was the man who you had look me over last night, right?”
“That was him. He’s very gifted. We’re lucky to ha
ve him.”
“Is there something going on between Ariel and Kindle and Galen? There’s a lot of tension between the three of them.”
Evan sighed. “We think that they are mates, but Ariel is fighting them. I’m not sure why, and neither of my brothers is being open about it. Time will tell. I can assure you that staying away from you wasn’t going to happen. Even when we didn’t know your connection with your family, we were so attracted to you that we had to keep watch.”
“I’m surprised you gave me a chance. I’m so ashamed of what I’ve done.” Shay felt tears burn the back of her eyes.
“Don’t start that. It’s not your fault. Pointing out shifters didn’t kill them. Jack and his family killed them. You were caught up in a bad position, sweetheart.”
Shay tried to put it behind her, but was sure it would be something that bothered her for a long time.
I’m so lucky that they aren’t blaming me and didn’t turn me out. I have a home and an extended family who I will protect with my life.
“So, if you didn’t go to school, how did you learn so much?” Evan asked.
“I read a lot. I didn’t have much to do other than keep house and cook for them. I would go to the library and check out books. I’m horrible at math, but I’m good with history, geography, and science. Anything to do with English and literature, I’m your gal.”
“All you have to worry about here is being happy. We take turns cleaning and cooking around here. Sometimes we all eat together, and sometimes we stay to ourselves.”
“That sounds like a great way to live. I can’t wait until the babies are born. I want to spoil them and dress them up.” Shay laughed. “Do you think they’ll let me babysit sometimes?”
“I’m sure they will after the bonding is complete.”
Shay narrowed her eyes. “Bonding? What is that?”
“When a shifter family has a cub, baby, they spend the first two weeks secluded to bond with the baby so that he or she always knows his or her parents and can find them anywhere. From birth, they become attached to their family through this.” Evan leaned back against the headboard next to Shay.
“Wow. That would be awesome. I’d cook some meals for them so they don’t need to go anywhere to get groceries.”
Evan kissed her on the cheek. “That’s part of what the pack does in the weeks leading up to the baby’s birth. We all pitch in and contribute by filling their pantry and freezers with meals and food.”
“Being part of the pack is going to be so nice, Evan. I never felt part of anything before. Now I have a huge family and can help out when they need me. I’m a great cook and would love to have a garden where I could put up food for the winter.”
Evan chuckled then wrapped his arm around her, being careful to avoid her sore arm. “Sweetheart, you’re perfect just like you are. If you want a garden, we’ll fix one for you, but you don’t have to do anything at all other than be our mate.”
“I’m so happy, Evan.”
“I am, as well, Shay. I love you, mate.”
Shay’s eyes watered as she bit her bottom lip. “You love me? Really?”
“Yes, really. I know Lee does, too, but he’ll tell you. You’ve made our lives complete.”
“Thank you. I think I’m falling in love with the two of you, as well. I’ve never felt this way before. I want to laugh and cry all at the same time.”
“Don’t cry, Shay. That would break my heart.” Evan squeezed her and pulled her over to rest her head against his shoulder. “Rest for a while. Then we’ll play some until Lee returns.”
“Play?”
“Well, as much as we can without getting into trouble.”
* * * *
“What are you two doing?” Lee’s voice sounded both amused and angry at the same time.
“Nothing.” Shay giggled.
“I thought I told you both no messing around.”
Evan’s brows lifted. “We aren’t. We’re bathing.”
Lee shook his head. “That looked like fooling around to me. You had your tongue halfway down her throat, brother.”
“Cleaning her tonsils for her. That’s all.” Evan’s grin finally broke through. “Want to join us?”
“Please, Lee. You can tell us what was said.” Shay scooted closer to Evan. “There’s plenty of room in here. I’ve never seen a tub this large before.”
“The Alpha’s agreed with us, Evan. They think it was all a test to see how we’d react and what our vulnerabilities were. They think the Franks were guinea pigs for the test. Losing them didn’t hurt them at all. They lost four others besides them, but they have a much larger group. Aaron thinks that they number closer to fifty than thirty-five as we’d estimated.” Lee undressed and slipped into the tub with them.
“How did they manage to get in so close to us before we realized what was going on?” Evan asked.
“The warlock they have is strong, but Ariel feels that he’s holding back. She doesn’t know if it’s on purpose to give us a false sense of hope, or if he, like Sienna, is being used against his will.” Lee leaned over and kissed Shay on the neck then on the shoulder over his bite mark.
“How would they control a warlock? Sienna is sensitive to iron. A warlock wouldn’t have that weakness,” Evan said.
“No, but we don’t have all the answers yet. It’s going to take time to figure out what their game is.” Lee ran a hand up Shay’s arm and kissed a spot over the bandage before checking to be sure it was dry.
“I’m being careful,” Shay told him.
“Just checking. I don’t want it to get infected. You seem to heal fast, but nothing like how we do. Did you ever notice that in the past?” Lee asked.
“Sometimes, when I’d cut myself or something, I wondered at how fast I healed, but then I really didn’t have anything to compare it to. Now, looking back, I can see that I did heal faster and that my hearing and eyesight is probably better than most full humans. I didn’t think about it.”
Evan pulled Shay around so that she sat in his lap and leaned back against his chest. She wasn’t a bit surprised to feel his cock long and hard against her ass. Lee played with her toes, kissing them and sucking her great toe into his mouth before nipping the end.
“Hey, I’m ticklish there.” Shay let out a strangled cry when he licked from her heel up to the base of her toes.
“So cute.” Evan sucked in her earlobe then bit it as he rained kisses down her neck. He sucked on the spot of her claiming mark, giving her goose bumps over her arms.
“I’m not cute. I’m attractive, but not cute like a bunny rabbit,” she said.
“Oh, I don’t know. Bunny rabbits are cute, and they’re prey. I think you’d be more like a rabbit on steroids with that gun you can shoot.” Evan grinned and nipped her ankle. “Yep, cute.”
“I’m pretty good with it. Just need to put on some muscle so that it doesn’t knock me back so hard.” Shay was proud that she’d been able to keep the other female mates safe.
Their male mates had brought her gifts of gratitude, much to Evan’s disgust. He didn’t like that another male had brought her anything. Shay had just laughed and thanked them then promptly ate a piece of the cake and slurped on the soda they’d brought. The pretty brush and comb set from Aaron and Levi were precious to her. She’d never had anything so lovely in her life. She wouldn’t let her mates know since they’d feel slighted. She was sure they would bring her gifts just as precious when they were in town again.
“I don’t ever plan on you needing to defend yourself again. That was a huge mistake on our part.” Lee lifted her leg and kissed and licked the back of her knee.
“Stop that. I’m going to drown if you keep that up.”
“No, you won’t. Evan will keep your head above water for me.”
“Aggh.” Shay let her aggravation out as Lee continued to tease her with his tongue and mouth.
Evan chuckled. “Maybe we should finish this on dry land, brother. She’s slippery. I’m afraid
I will lose my grip and let her sink.”
“Fair enough.” Lee stood up and stepped out of the massive tub.
He grabbed a towel off the heated rack and held it for Shay to step into when Evan helped her out of the tub. While Lee dried her off with soft rubs and gentle pats, Evan tended to the bath and dried off himself. The three of them walked into the bedroom, and Shay jumped onto the bed with a giggle.
“Be careful, babe. I don’t want you to hurt your arm. It might start bleeding again.” Lee climbed onto the bed and peeked under the bandage.
“It’s healing fine. I doubt it will break open again.”
“We don’t want to take that chance, babe.”
Evan crawled up the bed and captured her mouth before she could argue with them. His tongue tangled with hers, the tip teasing as he explored with it. She felt thoroughly kissed by the time he finished to move on to her ear then her neck.
“God, you taste incredible, sweetheart.” Evan’s mouth played havoc over her face, neck, and shoulders. He didn’t leave any surface untouched, including her bandage.
“Keep her busy up there, brother. I’m going to explore her sweet pussy.” Lee shouldered her legs apart then spread her pussy lips with his fingers.
“Lee!” Shay couldn’t breathe as he licked from the bottom of her slit to just shy of her clit.
“Easy, babe. We’ve got you. Let go and let us pleasure you.” Evan nipped her jaw then surprised her by skipping down to her breasts, where he sucked in one nipple.
Lee continued to lick at her juices as she bucked beneath him. Evan put an arm over her abdomen while Lee held her pelvis still. She felt captured, but not frightened. She knew they wouldn’t hurt her, but sometimes feeling this good could be hard to take. Shay thrashed between them as Evan worked her pussy with his tongue then his fingers.
“She tastes so fucking sweet. I’m going to have a sugar high before I’m finished with her.”
“Wait until she comes on your face, brother. Now that’s a treat,” Evan told him.
