by Marla Monroe
“What is she talking about?” Aaron asked, looking up at him with surprise on his face.
“Nothing happened, Gabrielle. I had gone outside to get some air, and she followed me. We talked, and that was it. I made it plain to her that I wasn’t interested.”
“But you had been lovers in the past,” she said.
He ground his teeth, wishing he could say no to her. It shouldn’t matter who he’d been with prior to their mating because it would never happen again. Wolves were unable to cheat on their mates.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Gabrielle. I’ve had lovers in the past, but that is the past. We’re mates now,” he told her, staring directly into her tear filled eyes.
“For how long, Levi? If you aren’t really experiencing the mating heat, how long before you look somewhere else?”
* * * *
Gabby watched Levi’s face closely. To his credit, he didn’t flinch or even blink at her words. Instead, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving her alone with Aaron. She closed her eyes and sank back into the pillows. She had her answer.
“He would never cheat on you, Gabby. You should know that,” Aaron said.
“I don’t understand what you expect of me, Aaron. Are you telling me that you still want to go ahead with the mating, or are you saying we need to wait until Levi figures out what he wants?”
Aaron looked up at the ceiling, then back to her. She could see the torment on his face, though he quickly hid it. The grim line of his mouth gave her a hint at what she could expect him to say.
“We still want you as our mate. I want you. You belong to me—to us, but we need to wait a little longer to figure out what is happening to Levi. I’m afraid that if we try to seal the mating right now, either your wolf won’t accept his or his will not accept yours. You and I will be bound, but without him, we just don’t know how you will react. We don’t want there to be any chance that you would suffer,” Aaron told her.
“I’m suffering now. Every day, every hour that goes by, my wolf sinks deeper inside of me. She’s already accepted that you don’t want us and is surviving on instinct. It hurts me for her to withdraw like this, and it hurts the human side of me to know that Levi doesn’t want me.”
“He does want you, Gabby. It’s complicated, but he lost nearly all of his emotions with whatever magic had been attached to us. He’s slowly getting it back. We think the mating heat will come with the full return of his emotions. Give us a little more time. Please.” Aaron’s words along with the pleading look in his eyes melted some of the tension inside of her, swaying her toward his request.
“I’ll try, Aaron. What choice do I really have?” she asked, looking down at where their hands were still joined. “I want to clean up some and change clothes. Can you give me some privacy, please?”
“Of course. Remember not to get your sutures wet.” He stood up after kissing her cheek and running a hand over her hair. “I’m just outside the door if you need anything.”
Gabby nodded without looking at him and waited until she heard the soft click of the door closing behind him. Then she threw back the covers and slowly swung her legs off the side of the bed. Her hip ached some but no longer hurt to the extent that she couldn’t stand it. She knew with her accelerated healing abilities that it would be fine in three or four days.
Pushing off the bed, Gabby stood up, moving carefully to keep from pulling too much on the stitches, then walked across the room to the bathroom. Just that short walk left her shaky and sweating. Seconds later, she sat on the toilet with a warm bath cloth and gave herself a spit bath. She felt much better afterwards despite being exhausted. She was at least halfway clean now.
After resting a few minutes, she finished up in the bathroom and walked into the bedroom to find something to put on. As much as she wanted out of the bed to sit in the living room, Harper had said she needed to remain in bed for now. With that thought in mind, she chose a modest, overly large T-shirt and pulled on a pair of women’s boxers that weren’t too short. She ran the brush through her hair then all but collapsed back into the bed, her body weak from exertion.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her it had been a long time since she’d eaten. One glance toward the window told her it was late afternoon by the way the sunlight sifted in around the edge of the curtains. She’d lost the entire day. Another rumble from her gut had her trying to sit up once again. She managed to slide back out of the bed and walked slowly to the door. When she opened it, Aaron immediately straightened from where he’d been slouched against the opposite wall.
“Are you okay? Do you need something?” he asked, looking her over.
“I’m fine. I was just going to fix something to eat. I’m a little hungry,” she admitted.
“You aren’t supposed to be up on your leg. Go back to bed, and I’ll fix you something to eat, Gabby.” Aaron rubbed up and down her arms with his big callused hands. She shivered.
“I can fix myself something to eat, Aaron.”
“I know you can, but you don’t have to. Levi and I are good cooks. We’ll take care of you while you recover. Go on back to bed. Do you need me to carry you?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I think I can manage on my own,” she said.
His half-hidden smile sent goose bumps down her spine. Millions of tiny butterflies lifted to the air in her stomach. He was delicious to look at, just like his brother. Gabby knew she wouldn’t be able to resist either of them if they chose to seduce her. She already loved them to the point of obsession. Aaron had no idea just how hard this was on her.
When she was safely ensconced under the covers, she allowed herself to think over what Levi and Aaron had said earlier. Who was working magic around them, and why? Why would Levi and not Aaron be affected? What did they hope to gain? Their land? Gabby didn’t think that was their ultimate goal, but she didn’t know what was.
She knew she’d hurt Levi with her statement suggesting that she couldn’t be sure that she could trust him. It was a valid fear. If he wasn’t fully in heat when they mated, the bond might not form between them like it would between her and Aaron. She felt that Levi would try to be faithful, but that one day he wouldn’t be able to silence the need for another wolf and would stray. It would not only humiliate her, but it would devastate her. If a male, who was fully mated, stepped out on his destined mate, their pack would never be the same. It would negate everyone’s belief that destined mates were real. Others would look at her as an inferior wolf that her mate would cheat on her.
No, Gabby couldn’t risk it. It didn’t matter that her wolf might one day be lost to her. In truth, it was slowly already happening. But to risk the pack, much less her own sanity, just to claim him as hers and then for him to stray was selfish. The fallout of her mate rejecting her one day would be ten times worse.
Levi had to figure out what was wrong and fix it before she could allow them to claim her. The consequences were much too harsh to risk doing otherwise. She only hoped they would understand.
The thought of not being with them at all was like acid in her veins. It burned and choked her. There had to be a way to fix whatever was wrong. Surely fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to change the way nature had worked for thousands of years. It was unconceivable, yet here she was.
Gabby fought back tears once more, cursing how emotional she was. It wouldn’t help to cry yet again. She’d feel horrible afterwards, and she didn’t know how Aaron and Levi would react if she had a total meltdown. They weren’t typical wolves like the mated wolves she knew. They were the next ruling Alpha and Beta of the pack.
There was a slight knock on the door, and then it swung open as Aaron entered carrying a tray. The wonderful aroma of food drifted toward her.
“Here you go. I hope you like it. I don’t really know what you do and don’t like yet.” He placed the tray over her lap as she scooted up in the bed to lean against the headboard.
Aaron quickly adjusted the pillows behind her to make
sure she was comfortable. That small gesture moved her. She wanted that with Levi as well. Could she live with Aaron as her mate and Levi as whatever he ended up being to her? She wasn’t sure she could.
She looked down at her plate and smiled. Her mouth watered at the sight of the cheesy omelet with what looked to be ham in it. He’d also included several pieces of perfectly cooked bacon and a large glass of orange juice.
“Is it okay?” he asked. “I can make something else.”
“No! This is great. I love omelets, and the bacon looks wonderful. Thank you, Aaron.”
“Levi cooked it. I just fixed the orange juice and carried it,” he confessed with a grin.
Somehow knowing that Levi had cooked for her softened her heart for him. He’d told her that he cared about her, but deep down Gabby hadn’t really believed that he meant it. She’d felt he was only trying to soften the blow that he didn’t feel the mating heat. He claimed to feel it, but not as strongly as his brother. Could she believe that as well? Did it change anything?
Maybe.
Gabby took a bite of the omelet as she considered it all. The flavor exploded over her tongue. She actually moaned at the taste, making Aaron chuckle.
“Good, huh,” he said.
“Yeah. Very good.”
“He does care about you, Gabby. I think he even loves you but doesn’t realize it yet. His emotions have been missing for a long time, so he doesn’t quite know how to categorize them yet. Please don’t give up on him. He’s my bond mate and will be yours as well. I promise.”
Gabby struggled to figure out what to say. She started to open her mouth not having any idea what would come out when Levi burst into the room wearing a dangerous scowl.
Chapter Seven
Levi’s eyes pored over her before jerking to his brother. Fury boiled his blood at the news he’d just received.
“Aaron, we need to go talk to the dads. They’ve found out who owns the land next to ours.”
Aaron frowned and stood up. “Who is it?” he asked.
Levi looked over to where Gabrielle sat staring at them. He didn’t want to talk about it in front of her, but he had to think more like a mate and less like the Alpha he was. By not talking in front of her, he would be snubbing her. Had she not been his mate and any other member of the pack, he could insist they wait to discuss it once they were on their way to their parents’ home. As it was now, she was their mate. He needed to remember that until they figured out how to fix him, and then he could make those decisions naturally because of the mate bond they would share.
“Officially, it belongs to a Harry Roper from Billings. When you dig through the layers of cover-up though, the real money behind it is a special interest group. Can you guess who it is?” he asked sarcastically.
He saw Gabrielle’s face pale even as his brother cursed. They knew who he was talking about and understood the danger they were all in now.
“Humans Against Shifters,” he confirmed. “HAS bought the land from this Harry Roper about six months ago with Harry retaining the title in his name. They don’t really want the land. They just want to use it to get to us.”
“How did we not know what was going on? I thought we monitored all of that,” Aaron said in a raspy voice bordering on a growl.
“It was so well hidden that since nothing changed on the surface to the title or registration, our people didn’t know about it. We’ve never dug down before. We’ve never considered that there was such a possibility of that level of deception. Obviously we screwed up, and now we have to figure out how to remove the threat.” Levi looked over at Gabrielle once again. She looked a little less spooked now.
“Do you remember if it felt like anything was luring you away from our land?” Levi asked.
“I don’t remember. I was upset at the time,” she said without looking up at his face.
He suddenly realized why she had been so upset that she might not recognize a compulsion spell or danger around her. She’d been upset over seeing him with Avery. It hit him then that she could have been killed, and it would have been his fault. His heart skipped a beat, then raced at that thought. He had to fight to breathe for a few seconds.
Levi walked across the room to kneel by the bed at her side. He cupped her face in both of his hands and stared into her eyes, hoping she would see the sincerity in them.
“I’m sorry, Gabrielle. I would never hurt you in a million years. I know I don’t feel the mating heat like Aaron does, but I do feel it, and it’s all for you. I will do everything in my power to take care of you and make you happy. There is nothing between me and Avery, and there never will be with anyone other than you.” Levi leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips before pulling back and standing up. Her lips had been soft against his, and her taste was exquisite. He desperately wanted more, but that wasn’t happening right now.
“We need to go, Gabrielle. Stay in bed until we return. I don’t want you up by yourself while you’re injured in case you have a weak spell and fall.” Levi gave her a smile then watched as Aaron bent and kissed her as well.
He turned and walked out of the bedroom and crossed the living room to open the front door. Aaron closed the door behind them without saying anything. It wasn’t until they were halfway to their parents’ house that he finally spoke.
“Thank you for not shutting her out, Levi.”
He glanced toward his brother then returned his eyes to the road. “She’s our mate. Mates don’t keep anything from each other. If I had, she’d lose all hope that everything would be okay one day. I couldn’t take that from her.”
“I love her, Levi. Mating heat or no mating heat, I adore everything about her. I’ve always been attracted to her. I can’t stand seeing either one of you like this,” Aaron said, looking out the passenger window.
“We’ll figure out what to do and fix it, Aaron,” he said. It was all he could think to tell him at the moment.
They pulled up at their parents’ cabin and climbed out of the truck. They were met on the porch by one of their fathers’ guards. He looked pissed and frustrated all at the same time.
“I’m glad you’re here. The Alpha is so upset I’m afraid he will bust a vein or something. Not even Phillip seems able to calm him down. As his brother and our Beta, he should be able to help him relax some. I’m worried.”
“We’ll take care of him. You just keep them safe,” Levi told the man.
He and Aaron knocked once, then opened the door and walked into the large living room. All three of his parents were sitting on the couch talking to the council members of their pack who kept up with their interests in the outside world. Levi could smell their nervousness even though it was obvious by how they didn’t look his fathers in the eyes that they were upset. His fathers in an angry mood could be frightening.
“Sons, come in. We need all the help we can get to figure out what to do about this mess,” Deland said with a low snarl.
The council members seemed to cringe into themselves with that. He didn’t pity them since they hadn’t detected the HAS association with the owner of the land bordering theirs. They had obviously gotten lazy over the years when they hadn’t had much reason to worry. They’d become complacent, and now the pack was reaping the consequences of their lack of diligence.
Despite the relative calm acceptance they’d had when humans had found out about the paranormal world around them, other shifter groups had had to fight to stay alive. The government had quickly recognized the dangers of refusing to acknowledge them as citizens entitled to the same benefits and rights as full humans enjoyed. A shifter revolution could decimate the country, even if they lost in the end. No, it was in their best interests to accept them and continue on as if nothing had changed. Unfortunately, some humans didn’t share their foresight, and hate groups were formed, not unlike the Ku Klux Klan, also known as the Hooded Order, the White Aryan Resistance, or RAW.
“What do we know so far?” Levi asked as he and Aaron took the lovesea
t to the right of their parents’ positions.
“About eight months ago, Harry Roper met with some top members of HAS in Billings. Roper had never appeared unsympathetic to shifters up until this meeting,” Phillip told them. “We aren’t sure what the catalyst was to shift him from pro-shifter to against us, but something pushed him over the edge. He not only sold the land to them, but he turned over a lot of money as well. They wouldn’t let him sell it for peanuts, though, and required him to keep the money. I guess they thought it would attract less attention that way. Who knows what they were thinking?”
“So they own the land bordering ours and can do anything they want on it. That means if they are mixed up with magic like we think they are, they have access to us and can use it against us,” Aaron said.
“They already have,” Levi ground out, staring at the now actively trembling council members.
He was sure that with not only both of their fathers and mother in the room, but also he and Aaron, the amount of power packed quite a punch when some of it was directed at them.
“W–what happened?” one of them asked.
Levi wasn’t about to tell them his mate had been attacked. Instead, he generalized it, so they didn’t know about the problems he, Aaron, and Gabrielle had right then.
“One of our wolves was out running and ended up on their land. We think they’ve managed to place a dulling spell along the border of their land that leaks onto ours. The wolf didn’t have a clue they weren’t on pack land anymore, and the dulling spell kept them from scenting the approaching armed humans.” He told them that the wolf had nearly been killed as a result. If anything, they grew paler.
“H–how is the wolf?” one of them asked.
“Recovering,” was all he was willing to say.
“Now, what are we going to do about it?” Deland asked quietly.
