Falling For Them: A New Adult Reverse Harem Collection

by C. L. Stone

  “Yes, with our minds. It’s only while in our bears forms, unless it’s with a mate. We’d be able to talk to each other even over great distances.” Torben shrugged.

  Ellie shook her head. “How is this even possible?” Maybe I should pinch myself?

  “Maybe it’s magic or maybe it’s evolution, no one ever told us why. Sure, there’s lore that’s been passed down, but most of it sounds like they were high when they wrote it.” Mathin laughed and mimed smoking a joint.

  “Hmm…so if I decided to become your mate—officially—how would that work?” Ellie nibbled on her lip. Please say it doesn’t involve blood…

  “Well, there’s a ceremony, we know that much.” Torben sat down at Ellie’s feet.

  “Wait. You don’t know what happens?” Ellie was incredulous. They wanted her to commit to something they weren’t even sure how to complete? As if. She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “In our defense, we were kids when we lost contact with other weres. It’s not like they have this information on the internet. We don’t know because they didn’t think little kids needed to know.” Torben pulled at the weeds that grew in the cracks between the slabs they sat on.

  Mathin sat forward. “But, there are other weres in the state, we could reach out to them. Find out what we would need to do to bind ourselves together. It’s not that we couldn’t have a relationship now, it just wouldn’t be complete until the ceremony.” He moved to squat beside Torben.

  “Kind of like dating before marriage?”

  “Yeah, just like that.” Dov signed. He picked at a string on his pants wishing he could explain the situation better, but he didn’t know how.

  “So you guys came from one of these bear communities…would we need to live in one?” Ellie didn’t like the idea of moving where she might be the only human.

  “No, that wouldn’t be necessary. We’ve lived without a bear community this long, there’s no reason for us to return to that life now.” Torben reached for Ellie’s hand, and this time she let him hold it. “Life wouldn’t really need to change. You’d still have us and we’d have you. The only difference being that you would know the truth and be able to stay with us forever.”

  Forever, huh? “That part doesn’t sound so bad, it’s the ceremony part I don’t like. What if it requires some kind of sacrifice or bloodletting?” Ellie hated the sight of her own blood as it made her queasy. Eww…no, no, no.

  “We can’t say for sure, but I doubt it,” Dov replied, fingers flying.

  Oh, thank God! No blood, and I get to be with my bears. This should be harder to swallow, why am I so cool with this? I should take some time and… Ellie hugged herself. “I should ask for time to think about it, but I don’t think I can. Whatever being mates means, I can’t leave you, I don’t think I could walk away if I wanted to. Not seeing you all those years…we were kids, and it felt like my heart was being torn out. As adults, I think it would be too much for me to bear.” Cue bear joke.

  “Bear, hahaha.” Mathin chuckled.

  Do I know my guys or what?

  “Grow up,” Dov signed.

  “Alright you two.” Torben intervened before they got going. “So if you don’t forgive us, but you won’t leave us—where do we stand?”

  “I guess you guys have to woo me.”

  Dov grimaced, Mathin smiled, and Torben remained neutral.

  “You realize we don’t know how to do that, right? You’re the only girl we’ve ever spent any real time with. We avoid most humans.” Torben sat back, but kept his eyes locked with Ellie’s.

  Hm…that’s not a bad thing. “Well, sure, but it’s not that hard. Show me you’re serious. Don’t keep secrets. You guys are already making a good start by telling me what you know. It’s going to take time.” Don’t ask me, I really don’t know either, I’m totally making this up as I go.

  “Are you wanting flowers and chocolate?” Dov signed.

  “No, well, I wouldn’t turn it away. I would like to go on dates though, maybe spend some time away from the house.” Ellie stood up and yawned. “I’m beat. Now that I’m not buzzing with questions, I’m getting pretty tired.”

  “Sorry, we forgot how late it was.” Mathin stretched.

  “It’s okay, but can I ask one more quick question?” Ellie hesitated, she wasn’t sure she should even bring it up, but she couldn’t help it. “Do you always shift in the nude?” Mathin doubled over laughing, while Dov covered his face with his hands.

  “Yes, we do. Our clothes would all be ruined otherwise. Whatever magic or science lets us shift does not apply to our clothing.” Torben blushed.

  That’s so sexy…

  4

  The guys had a meeting early the next morning on the patio. They needed a game plan—how to woo Ellie. If chocolates and flowers weren’t what she was looking for, they needed to figure out what was and fast. The summer was slipping by quickly, and then Ellie would head back to college. They wouldn’t get to see her unless they visited her there; she rarely left campus during the semester.

  “Okay, what if we cook her a romantic dinner?” Mathin was ticking off ideas on his fingers.

  “Do you know how to cook, cause I don’t,” Dov signed. We don’t want to poison her.

  “Well, no, I guess not. I figured we could use one of Julia’s cookbooks.”

  “Not if we want to impress her. Burning her food wouldn’t help us.” Dov sighed. Damn, Mathin, think.

  “Fine, what about serenading her?”

  The look on Dov’s face could be described as a “duh” look. It spoke to the level of idiocy Mathin had reached in suggesting a mute man sing.

  “Right, ok, I’m out of ideas.”

  “Take a break before you hurt yourself.” Dov pushed Mathin lightly with one finger on the bridge right above his nose.

  “Down boys. What’s something Ellie loves, besides us?” Torben scratched his scalp.

  “Shopping, but we don’t have much money,” Dov replied, face drawn tight as he signed. “This isn’t looking good, maybe we need a different approach.”

  Torben shrugged. “How so?”

  “She loves us because we understand her. We don’t need things or to take her places, we need to do what we’ve always done to make her love us. Be there for her in a way no one else could.”

  Torben lowered his hands from his head, swiping them over his face. “That is true, I’m not sure that it’s enough.”

  “It may have to be,” Dov signed.

  “Wait, I have an idea, hear me out, guys. What if we take her to do things she’s never tried before? Dov, you could take her riding on your bike. I could take her out on the lake—introduce her to some new water sports. Torben you could…um, well…” Mathin faltered.

  “Are you implying I’m boring?” Torben raised an eyebrow.

  “Maybe.” Mathin laughed.

  Torben rubbed his chin. “I could take her noodling.”

  “Really? You think she’d want to stick a limb down a catfish’s mouth after what you told her about the lake?” Dov signed. Ha! Good luck.

  “Oh right, well maybe she’d want to go fishing with me on the bank. I might be able to convince her to try noodling after she got comfortable. It’s not like we’d be catching monsters where I’d take her.”

  Dov patted Torben on the shoulder. “Your funeral,” he signed.

  “Nah, I think our girl might give it a go,” Mathin said. “She’s got balls, big ole lady balls.”

  “Shut up, Mathin.” Dov hit his cousin upside his head. Dumbass.

  “She’s tough, it makes sense, being mated to three large werebears.” Torben nodded.

  Julia stuck her head outside. “Alright boys, what’s the powpow about this time?”

  “Ellie’s mad at us for not telling her we’re shifters. She found out last night.” Mathin hung his head as he spoke.

  “Ah.” Julia cringed. “What’s the plan to get back in her good graces?”

  “Dov’s going to tak
e her on his bike, I’ll take her on the lake—”

  “No, no, no. Ellie won’t ride a motorcycle, and she’s afraid of flyin’ too high, not that she lets on. Look, you boys mean well, but you’ve got to do somethin’ she likes. Here.” Julia handed them a bunch of tickets. “The fair’s in town this week. I was gonna give you the tickets before, but I think now y’all actually need them. Win her a prize, take her on some rides, and remind her how much fun it is to be with y’all.”

  Torben threw his arms open. “But she told us not to buy her things…”

  “It’s different if you win it, she’ll be impressed. The parade was yesterday, but you can still catch most of the events. I think there’s even a small concert one night. I bought y’all the season passes for what it’s worth.” Julia smiled and handed Torben the tickets.

  “Thanks, Julia,” Dov signed.

  “Yeah, thanks. We would have really fumbled this without you,” Mathin said.

  “That’s what I’m here for. Now get in the house, and go back to bed, it’s too early for all this talk.” Julia yawned.

  “Why are you up then?” Torben leaned on the side of the house.

  “I couldn’t sleep a wink, been too busy worryin’ about our girl. I knew somethin’ was wrong with her mopin’ around here for days, but I didn’t know how to fix it. Looks like she swapped one problem for another. Make sure you fix this, I know it’s not really your faults, but it’s important y’all get this right. Anyway, when I woke up, I decided to just get showered and start on breakfast. I’m makin’ biscuits from scratch.”

  “Yes!” Mathin pumped a fist in the air.

  Ellie wore a brightly colored sundress with tiny tennis shoes because she wasn’t about to lose her favorite pair of flips flops on a ride. Her hands trembled, but she wore a grin. I’m not going to let their mistakes ruin today. I’m going to put it all aside and enjoy myself. They gathered in the living room, and Ellie looked her bears over. The guys dressed casual, but with more attention to their appearances than normal, they were trying to hold Ellie’s attention. Saying goodbye, they piled into a car and took off.

  The first thing they encountered was a stand selling funnel cakes, Ellie couldn’t resist, so she bought them each one. Torben tried to pay, but she insisted she’d cover it. Partly, she wanted to show them she still cared despite their fight. Torben finished his in record time while Ellie ate hers slowly. She managed to keep most of the powder off of her face, and Dov helped her remove the little bits that stuck. She giggled as he wiped at her cheek with his hand then proceeded to lick his fingers clean. “Thanks.” Wow, that’s so sexy! She watched him suck the sweetness off his final digit.

  Eventually, Ellie gave up on finishing her funnel cake so she gave it to the guys. Dov didn’t want any more, and Mathin was still eating his so Torben wound up finishing the remaining half of her funnel cake. Ellie wondered where he put it all; there wasn’t an ounce of fat on any of them despite their enormous appetites. It wasn’t like they hadn’t ate lunch before they left, Julia made sure they didn’t leave hungry.

  As they walked along, Dov hung to the back of the pack, and Mathin took the lead. He’d spotted a roller coaster and headed straight for it. Along the path they managed to pull him to a stop so they could play a few games. Ellie lost several rounds of darts, but Dov won a shooting game. He gave the stuffed kitty to a little girl who was crying, because she couldn’t win a goldfish. It made Ellie smile. She didn’t need any of the cheap toys since they were playing for the thrill of it, but he’d made a little girl’s day. I’m proud he’s one of my mates.

  Mathin kept urging them toward the coaster despite Torben’s reluctance. “I really don’t want to ride that monstrosity.” Torben was more of a Ferris wheel kind of guy. He didn’t really care about going fast.

  “Come on, it’ll be fun.” Mathin grabbed Torben’s arm pulling him along.

  While Ellie wasn’t in love with heights, she did okay as long as she could be strapped in and feel something beneath her feet. She didn’t like having her shoes dangling above the ground. Grabbing his other hand, she said, “if I can do it, so can you.”

  The coaster Mathin had decided on was tall, but didn’t go upside down, so the floor was safely locked where it ought to be. There was one surprise as they watched the coaster, half of the seats were facing the wrong direction. Torben figured out why halfway through the ride, the coaster stopped and went in reverse! His eyes crossed before squeezing tight. He held his stomach as his face turned a bit gray and then green. He’d eaten way too much, and he wasn’t fond of coasters.

  He managed not to puke, breathing in through his nose and out of his mouth. He sat beside Mathin, who held his arms in the air and yelled like a madman. Opposite them, Dov sat silently beside Ellie who were now the ones facing forward. Ellie squeezed Dov’s hand as they flew down a dark tunnel at a steep incline. He returned the squeeze to reassure her; he’d keep her safe. Torben kept one hand over his mouth in case he got sick, he didn’t want it getting on Ellie and Dov.

  The ride ended and Ellie released a little giggle, Mathin whooped and hollered his excitement as they stepped off the platform. Dov vowed to hold Ellie’s hand for as long as she would let him. Torben still wasn’t looking so good, so they found a place for him to sit down. Mathin went to buy him a water and Ellie rubbed slow circles on his back. He breathed in and out slowly—trying not to be sick.

  “Are you gonna hurl?” Ellie cringed.

  “I hope not.” He hissed through his teeth.

  Mathin bought a giant bottle of water that must have cost a fortune as his guilt drove him to overcompensate. He placed the bottle in Torben’s hand and backed away.

  Ellie stilled her hand. “Take small sips, you don’t want any air bubbles making your stomach worse.”

  “I don’t think I could even take gulps.” Lifting the heavy bottle, he allowed mere drops on his tongue at a time. Ten minutes passed before Torben got a small cup of water down, and his color was turning a more natural hue.

  Ellie brushed his sandy brown hair away from his forehead. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, but no more sweets and no more coasters.” Torben shot a pointed look at Mathin.

  “Agreed.” Mathin held his hands up in front of himself.

  They decided to skip the fun house, they’d come back to it when Torben was more steady on his feet. The guys decided to play more games, and Mathin won a jar of jam by guessing the number of marbles in an oversized bottle. Dov used his bear senses to hit the hammer, centered directly on the head of a strong man sensor, sending the puck sailing toward the top. The bell rang loudly and Ellie cheered. He won a keychain. Mathin went next and managed to hit the bell, but not quite as loudly. Torben waved off his try, straining to ignore the clang of the bell. The guys convinced Ellie to give it a go. They lined her up properly and showed her how to swing. She gave it a hard smack, but only managed to send the puck a quarter of the way to the bell. She was hitting it fairly hard, but the accuracy of her swing was off. She missed the center of the pad.

  “Do you want to try again?” Dov signed.

  “No, I’m good. It was more fun watching you guys play anyway.” Torben sighed as he set his frustration aside and stepped up to the machine. He wiped his mouth, lifted the hammer, and managed to ring the bell harder than Dov. He refused to take the keychain he’d won, so the carnie handed it to Ellie instead.

  “Thanks! Are you sure you don’t want it, Torben?”

  “No, I’m good. We’ve got plenty of keychains at the house.” He smiled at Ellie and slipped his hand into hers to squeeze it. He waited to see how long she’d hold his hand, but she never pulled away. It felt right having her soft skin against his. Only Mathin hadn’t attempted to grasp her palm yet; he’d been too busy racing to the next exciting game.

  Eventually, they convinced Torben to get on another ride, but this time it was his favorite, the Ferris wheel. Ellie sat with Torben, while the others sat opposite them in
the tiny cage. The wheel was enormous, allowing them to see well beyond the fair grounds. Leaning her head on his shoulder, Ellie snuggled against Torben, finally, a reason for him to smile. He laid his arm across her shoulders, holding her close. Mathin, always looking for a thrill, rocked the cage. Rather than being upset, it made Torben happy since Ellie squeezed him tighter as she wrapped her arms around his waist and giggled. Dov rolled his eyes, but kept a smirk on his lips. He’d been able to hold her hand earlier, he was satisfied. Mathin was too busy trying to annoy the guys to do much else.

  “Are you enjoying yourself, Ellie?” Torben leaned his cheek on the top of her head.

  “Yes! It’s nice to finally get out of the house and do something fun.”

  Mathin paused his rocking. “Is there anything you want to do next?”

  Ellie peered out the window at the activity below. “Well, we’ve mainly stayed on the carnival side, we could check out the rest of the fairgrounds. I think there’s animal showings and a truck rally on the other side.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Dov signed. Torben and Mathin nodded. The guys weren’t overly impressed with the animal showings, but they were game for seeing a monster truck rally.

  The show was already halfway through by the time they found a place in the crowded arena where they could sit together. Their spot wound up being at the very top of the stands, which suited them just fine. Cheering along with the crowd, they quickly became immersed in the experience. Thoroughly enthralled with a truck being smashed to smithereens, they almost didn’t hear their cellphones beeping. It was surprising to all receive a text at once, unless…

  Julia was calling them home; there was some kind of emergency. Ellie dialed her quickly. “Hey Maw-Maw, what’s going on? I thought you wanted us to…”

  “Get home now Ellie, a shifter showed up here, says he’s Torben’s father.”

  “What?” Ellie shrieked, as she ended the call, and raced down the risers. She hoped the guys would follow her. They needed to race home. This was either a very good development or a very bad one.