by Abby Blake
“Hey, Zeek,” the guy leaning in the doorway called over his shoulder, “come meet Ruby. Turns out we’ve got ourselves a famous houseguest.”
* * * *
Zeek shook his head before he left the kitchen. The last thing they needed was for the woman to be famous. Considering the side effects of the healing magic, it could be a serious, perhaps even deadly, complication for them all.
The day had started with such promise, yet it was barely breakfast time, and it had already made a rapid dive into trouble.
“Zeek,” Levi said with a broad smile, “this here is Ruby Rickardson.”
“Never heard of her,” Zeek said, grumpy enough to say the words quite loudly. “What is she famous for?”
“Um,” Levi said as he turned to the woman and waited for her to answer. How the hell could the woman be famous if she wasn’t famous for actually doing something? Zeek ground his teeth together. For fuck’s sake, please don’t let her be one of those spoiled Internet brats who was famous for being famous. The last thing they needed was a woman who thrived on public adulation. Fuck, their quiet, peaceful existence could well find its end at this woman’s hands.
Ruby sat on the bed looking pale and confused. Zeek knew exactly how that felt.
“I’m not really famous,” she said, raising Zeek’s hopes momentarily before smashing them onto hard rocks. “I’m only well-known because of who my parents are.”
Great. Just great. All she needed to do was upload something about bear-shifters to a social networking site, and their mountain would be crawling with people searching for true evidence. He still shuddered at the memory of meeting a couple of Sasquatch hunters a few years ago. Fanatical kooks.
“Where’s her cell phone?”
Levi looked puzzled by his tone, but pointed to the small pile of possessions they’d taken off Ruby before cleaning her up and tucking her into bed. Ruby dived for the phone, nearly falling out of the bed in her haste to grab the damn thing. Obviously the woman trusted them about as much as he trusted her.
Zeek snatched the phone from her hand, threw it to the floor, and ground it under his boot. The crunch and snap of delicate technology was music to his ears. The screech of rage, however, was not.
“What the fuck did you do that for? That phone was made to order. Only three people in the world have a phone like that one.”
“Seriously?” Zeek asked, momentarily distracted by the fact that she would care more about the actual phone than the fact that he’d just destroyed her connection to the modern world.
“What do you assholes want?” she asked furiously, her arms crossed over her breasts, her chest heaving as she telegraphed her annoyance very clearly. Zeek had to remind himself not to admire her guts. Not many women, or men for that matter, would be ballsy enough to demand answers from all three of the Brockman brothers. Even in human form they were an intimidating bunch.
“Ruby,” Nickolas said as he approached the woman like one would deal with an injured animal, “we don’t want anything from you. We found you dying, we healed you, and now we need to explain the side—”
But clearly the woman wasn’t listening to reason because she began yelling even before Nickolas had finished his reassuring speech.
“I don’t give two fucking hoots what you want. My parents won’t pay you. They don’t deal with terrorists.”
“Terrorists?” Levi asked with a half laugh. “How did we get that label?”
She seemed taken aback by Levi’s question. Hesitantly she said, “Because you guys have been…um, terrorizing me since I…you know…woke up.”
“Darlin’,” Levi said, smiling widely, “I believe by definition terrorizing someone means scaring them. You don’t exactly seem scared.”
“Yeah, well…” She glanced around the room, seeming to finally notice she was dealing with three very large men. “I don’t deal with terrorists either.”
Levi laughed, sounding delighted at her outburst. Zeek grudgingly admired the woman’s ability to stand up to them, but wanted nothing more than to smack both his brothers upside the head. Even Nickolas seemed amused. Didn’t they realize how serious this was? This spoiled brat of a woman could literally be the end of them.
“That’s right, princess,” Zeek said, stepping into the room, annoyed enough to not really think things through. “We’re terrorists who turn into bears.”
He felt a moment of satisfaction as Ruby’s face showed her confusion. She even shut up long enough to watch him shift into his furry form—tearing a good set of clothes in the process. She looked fascinated, and he was actually starting to feel pretty good about his way of telling her about bear-shifters. If she stayed calm and listened, maybe they’d be able to figure a few things out together without the name-calling and baseless accusations.
But it was the ear-piercing scream that assaulted his sensitive bear hearing and caused him to back up and knock over the bookshelf behind him that finally convinced him it probably hadn’t been such a great idea.
* * * *
Ruby couldn’t make her mouth form words.
There was a big fucking black bear less than three feet away from her. In a bedroom. In a cabin. In the middle of nowhere. How the fuck could there be a bear in the room? Shit, the thing was probably hungry. She wanted to run and hide behind one of the three men. Surely a bear would find their big, muscular, taut, sexy bodies very delicious—she certainly did. Except now there were only two of them.
The third brother, Zeek, was no longer in the room. She tried not to look at the shredded clothing. She knew for a fact that she couldn’t have seen what she’d thought she’d seen, so that meant that Zeek had stood in the room, shredded his clothes, dropped them to the ground, and…and…
“Zeek, knock it off. You’re scaring Ruby.”
…and turned into a freaking bear!
As the bear slowly turned back into a sexy, naked man, Ruby did the only thing she could think of—she screamed again.
Hey, there was a method to her madness—sooner or later all this screaming was going to wake her up.
It seemed like a solid plan. She was only dreaming.
Of course, it was more like a bizarre nightmare, but that was the only explanation. Men didn’t turn into bears, and bears didn’t turn into men, and starting first thing tomorrow no more alcohol, ever! She dragged in another deep breath, ready to scream some more.
“Ruby, honey, that’s something we need to talk to you about.” Nickolas sat on the bed beside her, and she fought the urge to crawl onto his lap. He was deliciously handsome, but maybe she should listen to what he wanted to say first. But then again, this was a dream, right? She was naked. She never slept naked, so it stood to reason that she was simply dreaming. That meant she didn’t have to play by anyone’s rules but her own. She’d caught a quick glance of Zeek’s rather impressive equipment before he grabbed the blanket off the end of the bed and wrapped it around his hips. Were they all similarly built? Wow, maybe this dream didn’t have to be a nightmare after all.
But before she could actually crawl into his lap, Nickolas lifted her and her blankets with his seriously strong arms and put her there himself. She snuggled into his warmth as a strange sense of finally finding where she belonged melted through her body. A large hand cupped her head, pressing her against his heart as she silently wondered what to do next.
“Ruby, we’re bear-shifters. We found you dying. To save your life we needed to use a lot of magic, but there’s a side effect.” He seemed to hesitate a heartbeat before adding, “You’re now a bear-shifter, too.”
“Wow! I can turn into a bear like Zeek just did?”
“Eventually, yes.”
She giggled gleefully. Her dreams had never been so vivid before. Whoever would have guessed she had this much imagination? Maybe she should write children’s books. She ran a hand down Nickolas’s muscled abs and reconsidered. Maybe she was more suited to adult novels. Some of the naughty thoughts swimming in her brain at thi
s present moment would probably be more appropriate for a different genre.
“So do you have any questions?” Nickolas seemed a little thrown by her enthusiasm, but she just smiled and dipped her hand a little lower. If the hard cock pressing against her bottom was any indication, they were finally about to get to the good stuff.
“Yes. When are you going to fuck me?”
Nickolas shoved her off his lap so fast, she almost bounced off the bed and hit the floor on the other side.
“Hey!” she exclaimed indignantly. This was her dream. Shouldn’t she get some say in what happened next?
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” she said in what she thought of as her sexy voice. Granted, her dream lovers were usually more co-operative, but maybe this was a part of her new complex imagination. She smiled as the fun brother, the one who hadn’t yet introduced himself, stepped closer to the bed. She probably should give him a name. Dream lovers were all well and good, but this guy was handsome enough to need a name. “I think I’ll call you Josh.”
The guy smiled, touched her face with his big paw of a hand, and said, “I usually answer to Levi, but you can call me whatever you want, darlin’.”
“She still thinks she’s dreaming,” Nickolas pointed out with a slight hint of amusement. She growled in frustration. At this rate she was going to wake up before they even got to the good stuff.
“I suppose that’s to be expected,” Levi said as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her freaking forehead! Maybe this new imagination stuff wasn’t so hot after all. Maybe she should go back to dreaming about her faceless lovers. They were far more fun. She crossed her arms and pouted, not caring that she probably looked like a kid doing a tantrum.
“Ruby,” Levi said as he again touched her face. “I promise you all of this will make sense…eventually.”
“Uh-huh.”
Why did it feel like she wasn’t actually dreaming?
* * * *
Several hours later Nickolas still wanted to crawl back into bed and hold the woman. In all of two minutes cuddling Ruby in his arms, he’d discovered something amazingly wonderful. Ruby was his mate. It seemed completely incredible that he’d actually found her, but as excited as he felt, and as much as he wanted to tell her, a part of him realized he needed to be cautious.
When she’d asked him to fuck her, it had taken every ounce of mental strength he owned to not follow through. Images of her gorgeous body laid out for his enjoyment, his hard cock sliding into her warm, wet pussy, her cries of passion filling his ears as he took her over and over had played through his mind. Oh, God, he’d desperately wanted to make it a reality. But bear-shifters had to be a completely new concept to the woman, and considering her lifestyle thus far, it was a safe bet that she wouldn’t take it as welcome news.
Fortunately, Ruby had stayed awake long enough to eat a little breakfast and then had promptly gone back to sleep. The healing magic had helped reverse the damage, but it was very likely she was still exhausted. He laughed quietly to himself as he dried the last dish in the rack and put it away.
Levi appeared almost as happy as Nickolas felt, but it was Zeek’s behavior that seemed out of character. He’d always been the strong, silent type, preferring to avoid social contact rather than seek it out, but his reaction to Ruby was troubling. Granted, it wasn’t every day they stumbled across the daughter of a billionaire who needed their special healing skills, but it didn’t quite explain Zeek’s dark mood.
“Where are my car keys?” Zeek growled as he stomped into the kitchen and started opening and closing drawers at random.
“In the basket near the front door,” Levi answered as he also stepped into the kitchen area. “What bug climbed up your butt?”
“Fate and its fucking sense of humor.” Zeek growled as he slammed the drawer he’d been searching and tried to push past Levi to get into the hallway.
When Levi attempted to stop their younger brother, obviously intending to ask for more details, Zeek let loose with a straight jab to Levi’s face. The blow hit Levi hard. Levi, of course, returned the favor.
They hadn’t fought amongst themselves since they were teenagers, but it seemed that some things, once learned, were never completely forgotten. Zeek’s jawline was already swelling, and Levi’s eye had started to close over. Nickolas grabbed two dishcloths, filled them with ice, and handed one to each brother. They could shift later, that would heal the damage, but right now they needed to talk.
“What the hell was that for?” Levi asked Zeek as he shook his knuckles and used the other hand to cradle the ice against his eye.
“Sorry, bro,” Zeek answered in a surly voice. “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Levi growled low in his throat, but thankfully chose not to beat the shit out of his brother.
“Not good enough,” Levi answered. It was obvious he was holding on to his temper by a thread. “Is it about Ruby?”
“Of course it’s about Ruby. She’s a spoiled brat, probably never worked a day in her life. She wouldn’t know hardship if it bit her on the ass, but fate chose her to be my mate. Can you believe that? My mate. If there was ever anyone less suited to me, I haven’t met her.”
“Whoa,” Levi said, looking even angrier. “You’re mistaken, little bro.” He practically spat the words at Zeek. “She’s my mate, and if you talk like that about her again, I’ll rearrange your teeth.”
“Go ahead, Levi. I’d pay for tickets to be able to watch me knock you on your arrogant ass. You might be older, bro, but you ain’t bigger.”
“Actually,” Nickolas said, stepping into the fray before things got completely out of hand, “I think we need to talk.” It was obvious neither of them was really listening, but he said the words anyway. “She’s my mate, too.”
“What the fuck?” Levi exclaimed loud enough to wake every nocturnal creature in a five-mile radius.
Signaling for both his brothers to lower their voices, Nickolas took a seat at the kitchen table and waited for them to join him. Levi hesitated but sat down. Zeek leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and waited.
“I’m not sure exactly what’s going on,” Nickolas said in a quiet, hopefully neutral-sounding voice, “but it’s possible that she truly is mate to all three of us.”
“I’ve never heard of a bear with three mates,” Zeek said in a belligerent voice.
“I have,” Nickolas said. It seemed rather ironic that the day after their cousin Brandon had called to invite them to a human-style wedding with one bride and three grooms that they would find themselves in a similar situation. Zeek wasn’t pleased with Nickolas’s explanation, but Levi started to laugh quite loudly.
“You can’t be serious. Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“To be honest I was sure I’d misunderstood him, or that Brandon was playing one of his practical jokes. But in light of what we’re currently facing—”
“You can face it,” Zeek said as he rolled his shoulders and pushed away from the wall. “I don’t care if fate chose her. She’s not going to be my mate, not now, not ever.”
Despite the anger Nickolas felt toward Zeek for rejecting their mate, this time both he and Levi let their brother leave. A moment later they heard Zeek’s all-terrain four-wheel drive start up with a roar and then the sound faded into the distance.
“What’s a mate?” a small, frightened voice asked from the doorway.
Chapter Two
“Ruby, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to wake you.”
“What’s a mate?” she asked again, stepping into the kitchen with as much dignity as she could muster while wearing a shirt three times larger than her. She’d searched the room for clothes, hoping to find her own, but all she’d found were work shirts, jeans, and jackets. She’d snagged the smallest-looking shirt off the hanger, dragged it on, rolled the sleeves up about a million times, and gone looking for a way to escape her captors.
It had seemed strange to find that sh
e wasn’t locked in, but a quick peek out of every window she found suggested that they were high up on a mountain somewhere. Clearly they knew she was a city girl and weren’t at all concerned that she would be brave enough to wander off.
Ironically, that’s exactly what she’d been planning until the argument between the brothers had broken out. She’d even planned to use the noise of their fight as a cover for slipping out the front door. But she’d heard their words, and curiosity had overridden common sense. She was pretty sure she wasn’t dreaming any longer, but sorting what actually happened from the foggy dream fantasy was proving to be tough.
“A mate is a gift from the Great Spirit,” Levi said after a quick glance at his brother.
“Uh-huh,” she said as she crossed her arms. This didn’t sound good. Not at all. There was no way in hell she was going to be anyone’s “gift.”
“Ruby, honey, we know this is a lot to take in. Maybe you should go rest for a while longer.” Nickolas looked really uncomfortable, and it was becoming quite obvious that he really didn’t want to explain any further.
“I’ve had enough rest. I want answers.” It was supposed to come out as a demand, but her confusion over everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours made the words more of a breathless plea.
Levi stepped closer, wrapped his arms around her, and held her close. It was probably testament to her addled thinking processes that she didn’t push him away, but rather snuggled into his warm embrace and held on tight.
“Ruby, darlin’,” he said, “I promise you everything is going to work out.”
It was hard to think clearly when she felt so safe in his arms, but she ruthlessly reminded herself that this man had abducted her. She was being held for ransom. Despite what she’d said earlier, her parents would pay dearly to get her back.
Unless…Was it possible they were actually telling the truth about how she got here?
