Lunar Mates Volume Two: Books 4-6

by Loribelle Hunt

  The quiet stretched, and she suddenly realized her escort—and potential chaperone—had disappeared. Alarm, belated and sharp, filled her. Was she seriously thinking about getting naked with two werewolves? One who was her mate and could easily tie her to him with a simple little bite? All he had to do was break her skin and mix the enzymes in his saliva with her blood and she was screwed in more ways than one. Shit. Why had she listened to Gage and David? She was definitely not safe here.

  “Where’d Billy go?”

  The long-haired one, who still hadn’t introduced himself, arched a perfect eyebrow. “Probably home to his mate.”

  She hid her reaction. She knew Billy and Chloe were mates, but these guys didn’t know she knew what they were. Damn, what a tongue twister, but he should have said wife. Was it a slip or a test? She ignored it for now. Billy had left her here, so he must trust these two men. That meant she could to a certain extent.

  “Who are you?”

  He grinned at his brother. “Not a y’all in sight. She definitely isn’t Southern.” He turned back to her. “I’m Cooper. This is my brother, Aaron.”

  She nodded. “Nice to meet you. And no accent. I moved around a lot growing up.”

  For some reason they relaxed, and she was bizarrely pleased. Dangerous ground. She had to be careful, had to be positive about them and this pack or get out before it was too late. Her stomach growled and she tried to remember how long ago lunch had been. The easy mood was cut off as if they had a switch, and the long-haired one, Cooper, held his hand out to her.

  “Let’s get you fed.”

  She stood but hesitated, watching him. Them. Glowing blue-grey eyes, shining blond hair. They were beautiful, unearthly, irresistible. Everything her mother would have warned her against if she’d lived to. Yet, Delilah felt as if she knew them. She’d never experienced anything like it before.

  Was it the Christmas wish? Her heart skipped a beat. No way. It was a stupid tradition she’d picked up from one of Pop’s friends years ago. Make a wish on Thanksgiving for what you wanted for Christmas. Why she’d kept it up she had no idea, and usually she kept it to something so simple she knew it would be a possibility if not a probability. Hedging her bets. The scholarship she’d been all but told she’d get. The purse she couldn’t resist buying herself. Her first job out of college that she knew she’d get an offer for because, really, how much could one man ogle your legs? A few weeks ago, in a moment of insanity and intense loneliness, she’d wished for a home, for a man that was hers, who accepted her, weirdness and all. A man who accepted she was half wolf and wouldn’t try to cage or breed her for it.

  “Delilah?” Aaron stretched his hand out next to Cooper’s.

  Was this it? The wish? And if it was, which one? It would be damned near impossible to choose between them. Damn it, there was something important buried in her memories. She didn’t take either hand but forced a smile, hiding her frustration, feeling like the knowledge she needed was right on the edge of her consciousness.

  “Dinner sounds great.”

  Cooper turned and walked into a hall. She followed, and Aaron brought up the rear, his hand resting on the small of her back. Her body tingled in awareness, and she had to fight the urge to strip and shift, rub up against one—or even better both—of them. Very stupid idea.

  She wondered if she’d be able to eat. They walked a short distance to the kitchen, and Aaron guided her to an island counter where she sat on a stool. The brothers worked together gathering bowls and spoons. They ladled out spicy smelling chili and set it before her, then poured glasses of tea before sitting, too, one on either side of her.

  “They sent it down from the big house,” Cooper said. “Chloe’s probably. She does most of the cooking up there.”

  Aaron winked. “Her cooking is the most edible.”

  Delilah picked up the spoon. She remembered Chloe’s cooking from their college dorm days. It was more than edible, and she knew it was Chloe’s from the first bite. She moaned her pleasure. Awesome. She’d never known anyone who could cook as well and had spent hours trying to learn from her. She loved food, and her ass showed her devotion to it. Cooking was a joy, a way to relax at the end of the day, but she’d never matched Chloe’s skill.

  “Definitely Chloe’s,” she said, sighing when she finished the bowl.

  Cooper turned to her and, lifting his napkin, wiped the corner of her mouth. His face was serene, but his eyes were hot and scorching. Her pussy clenched, and she wondered what it would be like to have him. No, for him to take her. Because as independent and untrusting as she was, she longed for something else. Someone to take charge, someone she trusted enough she could give over all control. Because she was all alone in the world, she had no one to count on but herself, sometimes she longed for the freedom to just let go. And what better way to get it? She’d met few people—few men—who understood that longing.

  Instinct told her Cooper would, but she couldn’t take the risk. She pulled away, jerking up out of her seat, and backing several feet away. To hide her nervousness, she picked up their bowls and moved to the sink, losing herself in the simple ritual of washing up. When she was finished, she set the dishes in the drainer and turned back around to face them. Both watched her steadily, as if they saw right through her. She wondered what would happen next, and thought it was her vagabond upbringing that allowed her to consider it without freaking out. She wanted to belong but didn’t want the danger of the process. Wanted to know from the get go it would all work out. Needed reassurances and promises that were impossible to give.

  It was better to keep her distance. Just showing up here was the biggest risk she’d ever taken. It was a lot to consider, and she didn’t know nearly enough about mating. Neither of them had given much indication they wanted her on a personal level. She couldn’t begin to justify the strange conversation with herself. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions but how else could she explain being so drawn to two complete strangers? She’d been up hours before dawn, anxious about exposing herself to this pack. It was long past dark now, and she found herself fighting a yawn. They noticed. Was there anything they didn’t notice?

  Aaron motioned with his head for her to follow him and walked back out into the living room. He picked up her bag and went up a flight of steps she hadn’t noticed earlier, stopping at the first door on the left and pushing it open. He walked in and set her things down on the bed.

  “You’ll be staying here for a few days. The cabin isn’t ready and with this snow it will be a little while before the crew can get back into it.”

  She nodded understanding, keeping her questions to herself. Why wasn’t she staying in the alpha’s house? She approached the window and stared out, wondering not for the first time what drew her to this place.

  “Well. I’ll let you get some sleep.”

  Realizing how rude she was being, she turned and forced a smile, hoping it looked grateful instead of tired and ungracious. “Thank you. I’m sorry to put you and your brother out like this.” Her smile was closer to real this time. “I really appreciate the room. And dinner.”

  He smiled, a slow measured lifting of his lips. Amazing how sexy that was. When he moved, the motion was so smooth, so lithe, it took a moment for her to concentrate on his face. What she saw there made her gasp. Hot. Hungry. Territorial. So it wasn’t just her in the grip of…whatever this was. She should move and put herself in a better position than her back to the wall, but his eyes held her frozen in place. He stopped right before her, close enough that his chest grazed hers, but the contact was enough to make her nipples pebble and her pussy clench. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the scent of her arousal. He lifted one hand and lightly caressed the side of her face.

  “You aren’t putting us out, Delilah. You’re no inconvenience at all.”

  His gaze held hers, filled with a silent promise that made her knees weak. As quickly as the contact had come, it was gone, his hand back at his side. He was across the room and
holding onto the door before she could blink. Damn, he moved fast. Either that or he’d completely killed off her few self-preservation instincts.

  “We’ll see you in the morning.”

  He gave her one last, burning look before pulling the door shut behind him.

  Four

  Delilah opened her suitcase and pulled out her sleep clothes, a thin-strapped tank top and pair of flannel pajama bottoms, and the small bag that held her personal items. There were doors on the far wall and she opened both, relieved to see one was a bathroom. The other led to a huge bedroom.

  She decided to take a quick hot shower, hoping it would banish the lingering chill in her body and help her sleep. She was out in minutes, toweling her hair as dry as possible and yanking on her pants to ward off the cold. After hanging the towel to dry over the shower curtain rod, she climbed between the sheets of the king-sized bed and closed her eyes.

  After several minutes, she sighed and punched the pillow. She wasn’t sleeping any time soon. She was tired but too hyped up, curious about the pack and about the brothers she’d ended up with until her cabin was ready. She could call Gage, probably get a complete dossier on them as quick as he could email it, but decided against it. Getting up, she walked across the room to the window and leaned against the sill, rubbing the goose bumps on her arms. She’d better adjust to the cold weather soon or it was going to be a miserable winter.

  It was still snowing, but the wind no longer buffeted the house and despite the cloud cover, the yard she looked down on was well lit. Lights from the downstairs rooms poured out and illuminated the area surrounding the long back porch.

  A howl rent the night air and she jerked upright, searching the shadows at the edge of the yard. Gage had told her that there were real wolves in these mountains, too. She wasn’t sure if it was one of them or a werewolf that burst from the trees with a second one right on its heels. The pursuer leapt, landing on the back of the first wolf, and she clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a yell of warning. They landed in a heap and instantly sprang back up, rolling across the yard together, nipping and scratching.

  It took her a moment to realize there was no blood, and she decided to try her animal communication ability. If they were real wolves it should work and if they weren’t, well she’d never been able to touch human minds and werewolves were half human. She reached out to them mentally, expecting to feel anger or aggression, and frowned. Their minds weren’t right. Instead of the open emotion she usually felt from animals, these two were mostly closed off, like humans when she tried to read them. She did get a sense of play, that neither intended to harm the other. She wrote the differences off to being wolves. She’d never encountered wolves in the wild before. Maybe that explained it, but there was another explanation that was more likely.

  She watched for a few more seconds, convinced they were playing. Wanting to see them up close, she slipped her shoes on and grabbed the quilt from the bed to wrap around her shoulders. She moved quietly down the hall and steps. In the living room, she turned toward the French doors she’d seen earlier and opened them, relieved when there was no squeak. The wind was no longer blowing constantly, but occasional gusts blew the treetops around in big sweeps against the dark sky. It was bitterly cold. Much colder than when she’d arrived. She pulled the quilt up around her head, covering her still damp hair, and edged toward the steps. She sat down carefully, quietly, not wanting to draw their attention.

  She was confidant in her abilities, she had never feared animals, domestic or wild, and unless she missed her guess these two were werewolves. Aaron and Cooper, judging by their coloring. She was tempting fate, coming out to watch them, but it had been so long since she’d seen another wolf. She wanted to shift too and fought the instinct, concentrated on the wolves instead, smiling at the way they teased each other with light nips at each other’s heels and mock growls amid lunges. God, she wanted to join in. The longer she watched, the more envious she became. She didn’t even notice how cold she’d become, how the shivering had overtaken her body and her teeth chattered, until they both looked up at her.

  She tried to send out calming vibes, tried to assure them she meant them no harm, but couldn’t tell if they understood. They approached. Slow. Cautious. It was almost as though they were afraid of scaring her off. She’d laugh but they wouldn’t understand the absurdity. She should be afraid but wasn’t. Her grandfather was probably rolling over in his grave.

  Freeing one of her hands from the folds of the quilt, she stretched it out, inviting them to move closer. She shook her head. Not her brightest idea. It would serve her right if one did approach and bit off her hand. Both crept up the steps, not stopping until they rested at her sides. She dug her free hand into the pelt on one side of her body and let go of her grip on the blanket to run her fingers through the other. They were soft and silky, light grey, almost silver.

  Her hand shook as she stroked them and after mere seconds they stood, one moving in front of her, and the other at her side. The one at her side lowered his muzzle to her wrist, gently took it in his jaw, and tried to tug her up to her feet. The barrier between their minds came down suddenly, and she felt a burst of disapproval and anger. A vision of herself huddled outside against the cold filled her mind. Sighing, she tried to gather the blanket around her shoulders again, tried to push to her feet, but she was tired and cold. Irritated with herself, she gritted her teeth. She’d stayed out too long, was maybe risking frostbite if she didn’t get her ass moving, but her next attempt to stand was as shaky as the first.

  The wolves exchanged a look, woofed at each as if in a language all their own. Hell, maybe it was. They were twins after all. Then they shifted. One minute she was watching the two wolves, and the next they were changing, their bodies shifting forms until Aaron stood before her and Cooper at her side. Both were naked as the day is long. She blinked and fought a sudden surge of desire. Damn.

  Cooper stooped down, his arms sliding under her, and he picked her up while Aaron moved around them and opened the door. For the second time that night, she was deposited on the couch. Aaron left the room, and Cooper pulled the cold blanket from her fingers, replacing it with one from a corner chest. He turned to start a fire and had it blazing when Cooper returned and handed her a steaming mug. She took a tentative sip, smiling when the hot chocolate coated her tongue. She drank it down, sighing as it warmed her insides. When it was gone she considered asking for more, but one look at the brothers’ faces and she didn’t bother. They were good and pissed.

  “That was a damn fool thing to do, woman.”

  It was Aaron who spoke, whose angry voice made her wince. And here she’d been thinking of him as the nice, mellow one for some reason. Cooper didn’t speak but his disapproval radiated from him. For some reason that got her back up.

  “Which part?”

  The question was sarcastic, and Cooper’s eyes narrowed even more, while Aaron just arched an eyebrow. She got the impression she was going to get an earful and then some. A sudden image of being pulled over his lap and spanked filled her mind. His eyes lit up and she gasped, realizing she’d picked the vision up from him, not the dark desires buried in her own mind. It was shocking, not only for the excitement that flooded her system at the thought, but because she’d never been able to pick things up like that from humans. But then, they weren’t exactly human, were they? She’d never tried it with werewolves.

  “What are you so pissed about?” she asked, but she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer.

  “Later,” Cooper said. “First, let’s discuss the ground rules.”

  She leaned back against the couch, letting the blanket fall to her waist, and crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn’t about to let some stranger order her around, mate or not. Cooper started ticking his rules off on his fingers. She would have laughed if she weren’t so furious at his gall.

  “One. Don’t you ever leave this house again after dark without one of us with you. Two. Don’t ever appr
oach a strange wolf like that again. No place is perfectly safe, and we both have enemies. They’d love to strike at us through our woman.” Her eyes widened at that one, and she wondered if she’d walked into a movie mid-reel. “And third. Don’t you have a coat? Jesus Christ, you could have gotten hypothermia out there. Think about what could have happened if we hadn’t been here. I know you’re a beach bunny, but I expected an accountant to have a brain and the sense to use it!”

  Oh, that last bit did it. She jumped to her feet, ignoring the way her body still shivered with cold, and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know who you think you are, buddy, but I’ve been on my own a long time. I can take care of myself, and I sure as hell don’t need some stranger ordering me around. I’ll call Chloe and get out of your hair.”

  No way in hell was she staying here. She circled the couch, determined to go upstairs and prayed her cell phone was charged enough to work, prayed she got reception up here, but her path was blocked. Cooper was several feet in front of her, but he didn’t stay there. He stalked her, his approach stealthy and inexorable. His hot, angry, and lustful gaze held her still. When he reached her, he slid a hand around the nape of her neck and tugged her closer. He bent his head to her shoulder and took a long, shuddering breathing.

  “I’ll tell you who I am, Delilah. I’m Cooper Williamson, and you’re mine. My mate. And you’re not going anywhere.”

  “Ours,” Aaron said softly.

  “Ours,” Cooper agreed.

  Her body thrilled at the idea of being possessed by them, both of them. Thank God caution, that tiny paranoid voice in her head starting screaming a warning and the memory she’d been searching for came back. It hadn’t been one of her grandfather’s lessons. It had come from the mate of a friend of Pop’s. Werewolf twins always had the same mate and were notoriously overprotective. She jerked away from Cooper, saw by the look in his eyes it was only a temporary reprieve, and put some distance between them all. She crossed her arms over her chest in a useless effort to hide the visible proof of her arousal. “I don’t take orders well.”