Instead, Hope turned her head and looked at her shoulder. She stared at the spot where they nipped her and frowned. “What’s that?”
One mark on top of the other marked the spot on her shoulder. It looked like a cross between a tattoo and a scar. A wreathe of leaves surrounded a starburst, her skin red and just a bit swollen around it. There were two puncture wounds in the center that made Hope wonder if they had managed to each bite her in exactly the same spot.
Braxton examined her shoulder for a minute then grinned. “It’s the bonding mark. It means that our mating took. If you weren’t compatible with us in every way, you wouldn’t have that mark.”
Joran pressed a kiss to her temple. “It means that tomorrow you will be one of us and we can have children together. Most wolven cannot breed without their true mates.”
Hope bit her lip. “I’ll be one of you?”
“You’ll be wolven like us. You’ll have every ability we have as though you were born with it.”
“That’s nice.” With a sigh, Hope closed her eyes. “I’m tired. Can we go to sleep now?”
“Not yet, little one.” Braxton kissed her temple. “You must know that you can, and eventually will, change into a wolf just like we do. You will have a heightened sense of smell and you will hear better.” Also, you will have a telepathic link with us.
“That’s nice.” Hope smiled, her eyes closed. The lids just seemed too heavy to hold open. “I really need to go to sleep. I’m so tired. I can’t think.”
The last thing Hope remembered was Braxton lifting her into his arms. “As you wish, little one.”
* * * *
Hope awoke the next morning feeling better than she had in years. Stretching, she turned her head to look at each of her mates. Who knew that being the mate of two gorgeous werewolves would make her feel like a million dollars?”
Sandwiched between them, it was difficult to get out of the bed. She had to scoot down to the foot of the bed between them just so she could get out to go to the bathroom.
Still uncomfortable walking around them undressed, Hope yanked the comforter from the bed and wrapped it around her. There was no sense advertising that she had cellulite. Besides, who wanted to see it jiggling as she walked to the bathroom?
It wasn’t until she was in the other room with the door closed that Hope noticed a difference. She looked at the hand she used to push the door shut and gasped. With wide eyes, she turned to look at herself in the mirror and her mouth dropped open.
Leaning closer to the mirror, Hope grasped her chin, her fingers rubbing her clear, wrinkle-free face. Gone were the laugh lines she had around her eyes. Also gone were the strands of white hair near her temples.
Looking down, she noticed that her breasts were perky once again and her thighs were firmer than they ever had been in her life. Still at least a size sixteen, Hope realized that while she looked younger and thinner, she wasn’t skinny by any means. Still, she was in the best shape of her life.
“They never told me about this,” Hope said as she turned toward the door. Grasping the doorknob, Hope opened the door and rushed out into the other room. “Oh. My. God! You two didn’t tell me about this!”
Her exclamation woke up the guys, and they looked at her through bleary eyes. “What?” they said simultaneously. Braxton ran his fingers through his hair while Joran yawned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hope stared at her two men. They were truly the best thing that ever happened to her. Yesterday she had been a nearly fifty-year-old Plain Jane. Today she was in the best shape of her life and looked…beautiful.
“Why didn’t we tell you what?” Joran asked, and they both looked sincerely confused.
Dropping the comforter, Hope took a flying leap into the center of the bed. “That when we mated, I would get younger and that it would make me beautiful.”
They both looked at her for a moment and grinned. “Baby, you were already beautiful. Our DNA only made you appear younger. How you appear now is what a wolven of your age looks like.”
They wrapped their arms around her, their lips pressed tenderly against her temples. They both nuzzled her nipples for a moment, their hands skimming gently over her flesh.
“I was worried about what we would look like together. How we would explain why I look so much older. Now I don’t have to worry about that.” She held her arms out and looked at them with a smile. Tears slid down her cheeks as she looked at her two beautiful men.
They both smiled then leaned close to nuzzle her neck. “Welcome to our world.”
THE END
WWW.TIANNAXANDER.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tianna Xander is the author of several paranormal, time-travel, and science-fiction romance novels. She loves reading everything from romance novels, murder mysteries, and encyclopedias to handbooks on solar energy. Tianna is the first to admit she spends far too much time surfing the Internet and chatting with her online friends and critique groups.
Having written several novels and working on at least one more at any given time, Tianna still finds time for her family, friends, and her many pets. She currently lives in Michigan with her husband, two children, four cats, one big dog, and one occasionally terrorized Netherland Dwarf bunny that loves raisins. Her life is anything but boring.
For all titles by Tianna Xander, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/tianna-xander
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Where There is Hope [Taos Wolven Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 15
