by Chloe Adler
Everyone piled into the main compartment. I peeked my head around the wall briefly. There were two strangers with Jonas. Quickly I pulled back out of sight again, holding my breath.
My phone rang; it was Carter. I pressed the button to silence it.
“She's still here?” Jonas barked. “What the hell, Elijah? We have to set sail. Like now!”
Elijah sighed deeply. “I'm sorry to spring this on all of you, but Burgundy is our chosen mate.”
“Our?” The woman's voice rang out.
“Elijah's and mine,” Tiyah said.
Carter called again.
“Go ahead and take that if you need to Burg,” Elijah called out.
“Hello,” I answered my phone.
“Hey, where are you?” Carter asked.
“I'm with Eli and Tiyah.”
“Is it safe?”
“I think so,” I whispered. The group in the main cabin was speaking in hushed tones and I didn't want to disturb them.
“I'm at the V with Chrys. It's overflowing. Benedict had to turn people away.”
“Because of the full moon?”
“Yeah, it's crazy. I had no idea how werewolf obsessed people were. There are humans camping out in the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse.”
“You're kidding.”
“Truth. I called to tell you. I think it's a good sign.”
I had to agree. If this many people were into it, surely they'd want the werewolves to make a home here. When I hung up a few minutes later, I realized the boat was moving. With me on it.
I waited in the berth until Tiyah came to get me, clasping my hand in hers. She tugged me gently into the main room. A tribunal?
The male and female I didn't know stood up and introduced themselves to me, shaking my hand. Melanie and Hale, who hen sat back down at the table together and held hands.
Elijah gestured for me to sit on the loveseat and I squeezed to the side to make room for him and Tiyah. Jonas wasn't there and I assumed he was the one maneuvering the boat.
“This is our pack.” Eli motioned to the group. “And like Jonas, they don't understand our relationship, but . . .”
“We accept it,” Melanie finished. “Any mate of our pack is part of our pack. Welcome.” She beamed at me.
“There's a lot more discussion to be had but not right now,” Hale said, tapping his watch. “Elijah and Jonas have told us that you've advocated for our kind even before you knew about them and Tiyah. Is that correct?”
I nodded.
“And we understand that you're estranged from your father, partly because of the way he was trying to treat us?” Hale asked.
“Yes, that's true,” I said.
“We're tired of running,” Melanie said.
“I can understand that.”
“Tiyah thought that if you were here to witness our change, you could report back to the others, letting them know that we can control ourselves,” Melanie said.
“People fear what they don't understand,” I said, “and I'm honored that you trust me enough to let me stay here.” My heart rate had increased and I wondered if any of them could pick that up with their advanced senses.
“We don't,” Hale said. “But we do trust our pack, and three of them are vouching for you. Let's hope you don't prove them wrong.”
Tiyah squeezed my hand and I bit my tongue.
The boat's engine ceased its rumbled, followed by the loud splash of the anchor dropping.
“It's almost time,” said Elijah. “Everyone on deck.”
Melanie and Hale filed out of the cabin, Eli and Tiyah remaining behind.
“Here's what we're asking of you,” Eli said.
“Anything,” I replied, filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
“We're trusting you enough to let you stay, but we ask that you remain inside. You can watch through the window after we've turned.”
I nodded. “Of course, I would never watch the turning. My best friend's a shifter, I know how private it is.”
Tiyah leaned in to peck my cheek. “I wish I could stay for a longer kiss.” Her eyes were unguarded and fathomless, framed by those soft, mascara-less lashes.
Eli gave me that long kiss and then my lovers were gone, leaving me alone inside.
When the shifting started, I put my hands over my ears out of respect, but familiar sounds bled through. They were almost identical to the way Jared and Alec sounded when they shifted, like bones breaking and skin tearing.
Screaming floated by and then snarling and then . . . howling. Wow, they really did that? Chills ran over my skin; the howls were terrifying. I peeked through my fingers, then removed my hands entirely, pressing my face to the porthole. The creatures were mesmerizing. Thick hair and wolf bodies. It was obvious these were no ordinary wolves, though. They were too large for one, almost twice the size of a normal wolf, and their snouts were not quite as long. Two were gray, two brown and one was black. At first I couldn't tell who was who. But the black one was the largest and the first to howl. His teeth were huge, pointed and ripe for tearing flesh. Jonas, their leader.
More sharp teeth shone in the moonlight as they howled together, standing on two feet. Why had I expected them to look more wolf-like? They stood upright, and then as though they could hear my thoughts, they dropped to all fours. I watched, fascinated, as they circled one another, sniffing, like dogs.
I picked my lovers out next. Elijah was brown and Tiyah gray. Their eyes were darker than when they were humans but I could see a glimpse of their humanity. No other way to explain it. I simply knew, without a doubt, that these were my lovers.
Fascinated, I watched as a tongue shot out, lapping at another creature. Then they fell on each other in a pile of fur, teeth and tongues.
Instinctively, I leapt back. Were they fighting? I remained quiet, listening to their growling and wailing. Peeking again, they were tumbling and turning until I realized they were engaged in some sort of sexual behavior. Well, that was one way to pass the time. My favorite way. Nice.
They were having werewolf sex and it was fascinating. They'd wanted me to watch this and my heart pounded with blood.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When I opened my eyes I was lying in the front berth, sandwiched between my lovers, all three of us covered with a blanket. The boat wasn't moving so either we were still anchored out at sea or we were back in the harbor.
I placed soft kisses on Eli's face and then on Tiyah's, their eyes opened in unison.
“Thank you,” I murmured, “for letting me experience such an intimate moment. I've fallen hard for both of you. Madly, crazy hard.”
Her lips curved upward and she closed her eyes, sighing deeply. Eli's arm wrapped around me and Tiyah, pulling us both closer to him.
“We love you too,” he breathed.
“So much.” She nestled her face into my hair.
Heaven. The scent of ripe peaches and deep sandalwood wafted over me.
My phone pinged on the nightstand and Eli reached for it, handing it to me lazily.
It was a text from Benedict. They're in. The vote was unanimous.
“Hola, Mama.” I opened my front door. “Did you have a good flight?” I leaned in to kiss her cheeks. We stood for a moment facing each other, neither of us daring to even breathe, and then she threw her arms around me, pulling me in tightly.
I looked behind her but she was alone. “Juan didn't want to come see me?”
“He's having a difficult time with your father leaving and didn't want to accidentally run into him. It was not an easy decision.”
The disappointment must have shown on my face because my mother reached out and smoothed my hair, the way she used to when I was a little girl. I'd forgotten that. “Come in, please.” I stood aside as she walked past me, her head swiveling from left to right.
I knew my house was a lot to take in and I tried to read her while she looked, slack jawed. When she finally turned back to me, her lips were curled into
an enormous smile, which took me off guard. I unclenched hands I hadn't realized were twisted into my palms.
“I love the way you've decorated.”
“Thank you.” Wow, in a flash, my boho Moroccan theme was redeemed.
“What are those boxes?” she pointed to the far wall. “New things?”
“No.” I shook my head, letting a breath of air escape. “I'm packing up.”
“What? Why?”
“We can't afford to live here anymore.” So much had happened, I wasn't sure what to tell her or how.
“But, Maria . . .”
I stiffened.
“I'm sorry. Burgundy.” She offered me a smile. I took it. “I thought you owned the house, no?”
“No.” I clenched my jaw.
“But when you moved here, I insisted that your father buy it for you. I don't understand.”
It had been my mother's idea all along? Figured. “It turns out he financed it, keeping it in his name so that he could pull the plug when I displeased him.”
“Bastardo,” she growled.
My eyebrows shot up. She rarely cussed. “Do you want to sit in the kitchen and have some tea?” She followed me in and perched on the edge of a wooden chair. “I don't have your favorite but I do have licorice.”
“Muy bien.” She looked down at her hands. “Is your father still here? With that woman?”
I poured hot water into two mugs. “No, they left.”
“He's not speaking to you?”
“I'm not speaking to him. Our relationship is over.”
“I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”
Her response surprised me. I don't know what I was expecting. An I told you so or what did you expect? “You're doing it. You're here.” Either she had changed or I had. Maybe it was both of us?
She waited, silently, wearing a look of pure empathy.
“He's not who I thought he was,” I blurted.
“I know what you mean.” She sighed. “It's easiest for us to lie to ourselves, no?”
“I guess so, yeah.” I brought her tea over and took the seat beside her.
“You're sad?”
“I'm sad that I never got to have a loving, caring father. Instead, I got someone whose love was always conditional. But right now, surprisingly, I'm also relieved. I wanted so hard for him to accept me that I became someone I didn't like. I became like him. I don't want to do that anymore.”
“But you aren't like him. And even if you think you were, each day we can strive to be better than we were the day before.”
I got up, pacing around the kitchen. She radiated such peace while I was still struggling to process everything. “How can you not be angry at him, Mom?”
She shrugged. “I am, a little.”
“He gets a fucking do-over. Hervé Rosales gets to reinvent himself with an entirely new family.”
“Sweetheart. Who knows what is in his heart and mind? I'm devastated at the loss of my marriage, yes. But I'd rather not be living under his tyranny anymore.”
“Why'd you stay for so long?” I had to know.
“For you and Juan. I couldn't support either of you on my own and I wanted you to have the best of everything. I thought . . .” She looked away, bloody tears forming in her eyes.
I reached out and took her hand. “What is it, Mama?”
“I'm so sorry.” Red tears spilled onto her ruddy cheeks. “Chica, I love you so much. I've always wanted what was best for you and I thought that was letting you think your father was a good man, a better person than me. Yet in the end I failed you.”
“You didn't fail me, but you did fail yourself.” I got up and got her one of my black handkerchiefs. Our relationship had been strained for so long. It felt like she'd rarely hugged me growing up, or even spoken to me. Like I'd been invisible to her. But how much of that reticence on her part had been because of my father? How much had he driven a wedge between us, made us think we were in competition for his love, so we'd try harder for his affection? My mother was supposed to love me unconditionally, but Hervé Rosales had poisoned those around him for decades. Maybe without him, my mother and I could have a second chance.
“I've been seeing a therapist since he left. She's helped me figure out so much. I wanted to formally apologize, it's why I'm here.”
“I appreciate your courage.” I felt closer to my mother than I had in a long, long time. Maybe the silver lining to everything would be our mended relationship. “We all make mistakes.”
Just then, Jared bounded into the kitchen, back from his walk with Rex.
“Mama!” he cried out, throwing his arms around her and almost knocking her out of her chair.
“Jaredito,” she crooned happily into the crook of his neck, her chair sideways.
I loved seeing him with my mother. I had worked so hard for so long to make my life here, to make my chosen friends my support group. My family. And now here was my mother, so openly accepting of them. I was losing the house my father had provided me, but maybe I was regaining my mother.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dancing with Tiyah eased my mind. Both men and women approached us to stuff bills into our G-strings but we hardly noticed them. We were too focused on each other and Elijah. He was standing to the side of the stage, riveted, alternately licking his lips and smiling. After our set, we would sequester ourselves to a back room so Elijah could ravage us both. The three of us had explored our sexual relationship further, but it was the emotional component that shined through in the movements between Tiyah and myself. We could read each other like braille and had no problem improvising a sequence, one of us finishing the other's moves like old married couples finishing each other's sentences. Well, if that old married couple was showing off for their mate.
The problems at home had sloughed off. I'd packed up all of my belongings and moved them into storage. My lovers had asked me to move in with them on the boat, and while I loved their boat, which we'd christened “Wolfie,” it was too small for the three of us. Where would I put my clothes?
Instead, I was looking for a rental. Jared and Alec had already found a house to rent; Chrys and Carter were bunking there for now. They hadn't decided on anything long-term yet, but whatever happened now, Casa Mañana was gone. The loss of my dream home hurt less than the loss of my roommates. Living without them was painful but, I reminded myself, the only constant in life was change. Another chapter closed to start a brand new book. My future with my chosen mates.
As I whipped Tiyah across the stage, then turned back to the audience, I caught sight of Amber waving and smiling from the back. She was sitting at a table with two gorgeous male suitors, each one draping a hand behind her chair. My heart swelled for her.
When Tiyah slid back into my arms, I twirled us sideways again to give Elijah a better view. An overwhelming sense of peace and acceptance flowed over me.
No longer alone and lost at sea, my lovers represented the home I'd always yearned for. They were my private island, my lighthouse on the shore, my welcoming harbor.
Tiyah and I finished our dance with nothing on but tiny G-strings and pasties. The din of the appreciative audience faded as I grabbed my woman's deliciously sweaty body and pressed my mouth to hers.
Entwined on the stage, we made out, oblivious and uncaring, our bodies crushed together, hands exploring curves with soft caresses under the burning lights. Hands reached out from the audience, but there was no more room in our G-strings, so they littered the stage with bills.
We finally broke our kiss and smiled out into the crowd to our standing ovation. Elijah approached us with robes and draped them over our shoulders, kissing each of us in turn.
He escorted us to a table in the back.
“We have something to ask you,” he said as they flanked me.
“Shoot.”
“We want to move off the boat and get an apartment with you.” Tiyah reached for my hand, clasping it tightly. Elijah took my other hand and b
rought it to his lips.
“That sounds perfect.” I smiled at them both. “I trust you two with my future. What matters to me is that we're all together. Home isn't a place—it's not something that can be bought or sold, or held over one's head as a conditional, material object. Home is what lives inside.” I pressed a hand to my chest.
“We know what losing Casa Mañana has meant to you,” Tiyah said softly.
“I think I named my house Casa Mañana because happiness was always just out of reach. I was always striving for tomorrow. But that's moot now that I have you two. Today, my dreams have come true.”
My lovers and I embraced, and all memories of my prior loneliness were swept completely out to sea.
The End
Afterword
If you enjoyed what you read, please consider leaving a review for this book on Amazon and joining Chloe’s Newsletter - to receive news, blog posts, updates, sales and information about new releases - both mine and those of other authors in similar genres. If you haven’t read the other books in this series yet, you’re in for a treat! Each can be read as a standalone.
Excerpt from Book 1 in The Vectum Chronicles
Chapter One
I’m perched alone on a red velvet couch with my legs crossed, looking around. Girls in all manners of costume lounge around with stately looking vampires. This is not what I expected but at this point I am on the verge of desperation. After leaving my job at the restaurant with no notice I couldn’t get a job anywhere else. No one would hire me without a reference. And there was no way I was going to ruin my parent’s second chance at a life by calling them in Taiwan and begging for money. They’d leave their dream behind again and move back to help me without even thinking twice. And I could not do that to them, I already had once, by being born.
“You’re new,” a deep voice says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I look up to see a very tall vampire standing over me.
