by Becca Van
She stopped struggling. “Do you promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“We’re very attracted to you, Alyson, and we want to make love with you, but we know you aren’t ready for that just yet. You have to understand that there is more to what we’re feeling than just attraction. We care deeply for you.”
“Oh, come on. You don’t even know me.” Her hand landed on his shoulder, and she pushed again.
“Stop it! I haven’t finished.” Tarkyn shifted her in his arms and slung a thigh over hers. He wrapped an arm around her waist. Taking a deep breath, he went for broke. “We are werewolves, Alyson, and you are our mate.”
She stared at him as if he were crazy. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, and then she tightened her lips into a thin line and burst out laughing again. Lowering her head against his chest, she chortled and snickered until finally she got herself under control once more.
“Yeah, and I’m Sleeping Beauty,” she snorted and looked from Rylan to Chevy and back up to him.
“I’m not joking, Alyson. We are werewolves and you are our mate.”
“Oh, pull the other one,” she sniffed and pushed against his chest again.
“Show her.” Tarkyn nodded at Chevy.
Chevy pulled his T-shirt up over his head, kicked off his shoes, and then began to remove his jeans. She glanced at his feet for a moment, looking utterly entranced at how large they were, and then her eyes traveled up the length of his body.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alyson gasped, her eyes glued to Chevy’s body. She squirmed on Tarkyn’s lap, her heartbeat escalating and her breath panting fast as she stared at Chevy’s naked form. He smelled her arousal as it seeped from her body and couldn’t contain a growl of approval from rumbling up out of his chest. “You are crazy.”
“Watch Chevy, honey, and don’t be scared. Just remember that we are your mates and would never do anything to hurt you. It’s our job to protect you.”
The outline of Chevy’s body began to blur, and then he dropped down to his hands and knees on the carpeted floor. His muscles and bones contorted, and popping and cracking sounds filled the room as his brother went through the change. Tarkyn kept his eyes on Alyson, gauging her reaction to the phenomenon of their Lycan genes at work. She was clutching his arm and digging her nails into his skin as she hyperventilated. Finally Chevy was before her in wolf form, and he moved slowly toward their mate, whining quietly.
“No fucking way is this true. I have to be hallucinating. What did you put in my drink?”
“It’s real, baby.” Rylan sat down beside them and took one of her hands in his. “Deep down, you know what you’re seeing is real. You feel the attraction, the pull toward us. I know you do, so don’t you dare deny it.”
“How is this even possible? There’s no such thing as werewolves. It’s just myth and legend,” Alyson whispered, her voice sounding hoarse with emotion.
“Haven’t you ever thought that some stories may have been based on fact? We were born with the Lycan gene, honey. It has been in our family for generation after generation. Only the males in our family are born shifters. In fact there are hardly ever any females born at all. Most of us go through life hoping to meet the one true love meant for us, but not everyone is lucky enough to find their mate. We are some of the lucky ones, and there is no way we are letting you get away.”
* * * *
Alyson stared at the large, golden-furred wolf with incomprehension. She had seen Chevy change from man to animal with her own eyes and still couldn’t believe that what she was seeing was true. The wolf walked closer and stared at her with his glowing gold eyes. Pressing herself closer to Tarkyn, she dug her nails into Rylan’s hand as nervousness permeated her body. Again, she wasn’t afraid, but she was anxious and tense as she stared at what she thought was an apparition. The animal stopped within touching distance and then nudged her knee with its snout and whined again.
Without thought she released Rylan’s hand and, trembling, reached out to the wolf. Another gasp escaped from between her lips as her fingers connected with his fur. A smile of awe pulled at the corners of her mouth. She hadn’t expected that his coat would feel so soft and silky. Alyson had thought his fur would feel thick and coarse. She jumped and began to pull her hand away when Chevy rumbled with pleasure, but when he moaned, she sank her fingers into his coat and scratched down his back. She slid her fingers up again until she was rubbing behind his ears. He tilted his head as if giving her better access and chuffed with satisfaction.
Chevy gave her hand a lick and then backed up. His animal body blurred, and once again the horrid popping and cracking sounds echoed through the room as his body seemed to twist and contort until he was once more a man. He rose to his feet, and she couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering over his buff body. The man was built and ripped and his muscles rippled as he moved, but what drew her attention was the large, engorged cock pointing straight at her. It seemed the saying about large feet was true.
Alyson held in the giggle as he dressed, and she sighed with disappointment when his clothes once more covered his sexy form. Her mind was racing at what felt like fifty million miles a minute, but she couldn’t hold on to any one thought until Rylan’s last words echoed through her mind over and over again.
There is no way we are letting you get away.
“Please let me up.” She pushed against Tarkyn again and exhaled with relief when he let her go this time. She paced back and forth a few times in front of them, keeping her eyes on them from her peripheral vision. Chevy was once more leaning against the wall near the door and Rylan and Tarkyn were watching her from the sofa.
She stopped pacing and sat on the edge of one of the large desks. “Is a mate what I think it is?”
“It depends on what you think that term means. Why don’t you tell us?” Tarkyn suggested.
“Um, the only word that comes to mind is like a—wife.”
“That is exactly what being a mate means.” Rylan crossed his arms over his muscular chest. “But the commitment between mates is so much more than a human wedding ceremony. If we claim you, we would all make love with you and have to bite you. The bite from a werewolf somehow transfers some of our DNA to you and we will be linked for all time. We would never, ever leave you. We wouldn’t want to be without you and neither would you want to be without us. If you ever left us after we were mated, you would feel as if your heart had been ripped out. If you left us after we were mated, you would condemn us to a slow, painful death. Wolves mate for life and cannot survive without having their mate close by.”
“Shit!” Alyson began to pace again. “I don’t do relationships. I need some time to get my head around this. I need to go home.”
“Baby, please don’t leave just yet.” Rylan rose to his feet and moved in front of her. “We’ve only touched on us being werewolves. There is so much more you need to know.”
“I can’t handle any more right now. I need some space. You can’t keep me here against my will. I’m going home to think. I will see you all tomorrow.”
Rylan gripped her shoulders and pulled her against his body. Alyson felt his erection pressing into her stomach, and more juices leaked from her pussy as her breasts swelled and her nipples puckered.
He stared deeply into her eyes as he lowered his head, and then his lips were on hers. Her gasp gave him an advantage and he slid his tongue into her mouth and tasted every inch of her. Tangling his tongue with her hesitant one, he then caressed the roof of her mouth, tickled along her cheeks, and swept his muscle over her teeth. Alyson’s body went boneless as it melted from the inside out, her womb felt heavy, and her pussy ached to be filled. If she didn’t have him to lean on, she would have fallen flat on her face.
Alyson had only ever been kissed once, and it had been nothing like this one. It felt like Rylan put his whole heart and soul into that meeting of their mouths, and that scared her more than anything. She was breathless when he finally withdre
w his mouth from hers, but she was pleased to note he was in the same predicament. He released her and stepped back without saying anything, only standing there watching her with a puzzled expression on his face. She decided that was her cue to leave.
She lowered her head and rushed from the room. Her cheeks felt so hot that she knew she was probably as red as a tomato. Sighing with relief when she didn’t hear them following her, she literally ran down the steps to the cellar, across the concrete floor, and up the ramp to her truck. Moments later she was pulling out of the parking lot and heading for home.
What the hell have I gotten myself into now!
* * * *
That went well. Chevy stared at the door Alyson had disappeared through.
“Can’t we go after her?” Tarkyn pled.
“No.” Rylan scrubbed a hand over his face. “We can’t scare her. Our little mate is an innocent.”
“What do you mean?” Chevy asked.
“Just what I said. Alyson Redding is a virgin.”
“How the hell do you know that?” Tarkyn asked. “That woman has a body made for loving.”
Rylan leaned against one of the desks. “She was hesitant, as if she had no idea what to do.”
“We moved too fast,” Chevy said grimly. “Fuck. I was afraid of that.”
“No wonder she ran,” Tarkyn speculated. “Although learning that werewolves are real could do a human’s head in.”
“Call Jerry,” Rylan ordered Chevy. “We need him to check up on her and make sure she’s all right.”
While Tarkyn paced and Rylan brooded from one of the desks, Chevy called Jerry. The lone wolf’s first words were, “What did you do this time, pup?”
Chevy explained that they’d shown themselves to Alyson. “Could you go check on her tonight? She knows you better. Maybe she’ll trust you.”
“I will, but at the end of the day, you’re the ones who have to protect her,” Jerry said.
“Give me that.” Rylan grabbed the phone from Chevy. “We know we have to protect her. I want her living with us at the pack house as soon as possible.”
“And you don’t want her running off.”
“Fuck, no!”
“Then wait. She needs time to accept what she’s seen and what you’ve told her. I’ll keep you posted.”
The line clicked, and Rylan dropped the phone on the desk in irritation. “Stubborn old wolf,” he grumbled. “She’s our mate, not his.”
“But Jerry’s trustworthy. He’ll find out what Alyson is scared of.”
Tarkyn was still pacing. He shook his head and said, “I don’t know how much more I can stand. My wolf is pushing at me hard to go and claim her.”
“You think any of us find this easy?” Chevy asked. “My cock is so fucking hard I could break a glacier, but she needs more time.”
Leaving the office and his brothers, Chevy paced out to the front. Cherry ducked out of the kitchen to bat her eyes at him, but Chevy brushed past her. He needed some mundane chores to help cool his raging hunger and settle his animal to a more manageable level.
After that, there was nothing for them to do but wait until Jerry called back.
If he doesn’t get some answers, what then?
Chapter Five
Every time the image of Chevy changing from man to wolf flashed across her mind, Alyson pushed it aside. She couldn’t deal with what she had seen and heard this afternoon. Sighing with fatigue, she finished dressing after her shower and tried to decide what to have for dinner when there was a knock on her door. Frowning because she never had visitors, she cautiously made her way to the entrance and peeked through the peep hole.
Jerry. What’s he doing here?
Alyson opened the door and stepped back to admit her boss. The delicious aroma of pizza wafted to her nose as he passed her, carrying a large box.
“I thought you’d be hungry after your day and decided that I didn’t want to eat alone.” Jerry carried the box into the small kitchenette and placed it on the counter. “You got any beer?”
“Yeah,” Alyson replied. “Let me get it.”
She got them a beer each and then took out two plates and some napkins. After they loaded their plates with pizza, she led the way to her small two-seater sofa and turned the TV on then lowered the volume and turned toward Jerry. He was eying her speculatively as he took a big bite of his pizza. Alyson could see he wanted to say something to her, and she wanted to ask the real reason he was here, but she decided to wait him out. After taking a bite of her pizza, she chewed thoughtfully and watched as a frown marred his face.
“You are attracted to Rylan, Tarkyn, and Chevy Friess, aren’t you?”
“What?” Alyson asked. She had heard him clearly, but she was stunned. Why is he asking me about the Friess brothers? Does he know they’re werewolves?
“Don’t play games with me, Alyson. I can smell Rylan and Tarkyn all over you.”
What does he mean he can smell them on me?
“Look, Jerry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know they told you what they are. Chevy told me he shifted in front of you, and I can smell their scent on you. I’m a werewolf, too, Alyson. We have a great sense of smell, so don’t you dare deny that you are attracted to them.”
Alyson knew she probably looked stupid with her mouth hanging open as she stared at her boss. He’s a werewolf, too? Jerry reached over and pushed her chin up, closing her gaping mouth, and smiled at her.
“Just sit there and listen to me, Alyson. You couldn’t have asked for better mates. The Friess Pack is one of the biggest in the United States. The Alphas, Jonah, Mikhail, and Brock Friess, are very fair and just, and they listen to the rest of the pack instead of just making decisions without any input. This pack has been around for generations, and if you decide to accept Rylan, Tarkyn, and Chevy, they will take good care of you. Wolves mate for life, and they would give theirs to keep you safe. Those three men would love you and protect you, and you would never want for anything. Why are you scared of that?”
Alyson finally found her voice. “I’m not scared of them.”
“You’re sure scared of something.” Keenly eying her, Jerry took another bite of pizza, chewed, and swallowed. “What are you running from, girl?”
“What makes you think I’m running from something?” Alyson mentally cursed the raised pitch of her voice.
“Oh, come on. Do you think I was born yesterday?” Jerry reached for his beer and took a swig. “I see the way you’re always looking over your shoulder. I could literally smell the fear emanating off you when you first walked in to apply for the job. Now, I can sit here all night long if need be, so you’d better think about telling me what’s going on.”
Alyson sighed and debated whether she should tell Jerry what was going on but then decided it was probably best if she did. What would happen if Virgil Minogue found out where she was?
“I lived and worked in Phoenix. I grew up there and was quite happy after I got out of the orphanage I lived in when I was sixteen.” Alyson sipped her beer. “I worked hard and paid my way through college to get my degree and was lucky enough to find employment as soon as I had finished school.”
“What did you major in?”
“Social welfare. I was working for the city helping battered women and children relocate and recover from their abusive families.”
Jerry sat up straighter in his chair and waited for her to continue, but she could see the tension in his body. Alyson knew just how he felt. She felt sick to her stomach now that she was talking about her problems and pushed her beer and pizza aside.
“There was a young woman who had a six-month-old baby. She came into the shelter so battered and bruised she could barely stand. I called in a doctor to check her over, and he suggested she should be in a hospital, but she adamantly refused. Mary Minogue had broken ribs and a fractured jaw, and not one inch of her body wasn’t bruised.” She glanced at Jerry and saw that his knuckles had turned wh
ite from gripping his beer bottle so hard. “I nearly cried when I saw her but kept it together for Mary. God, she was scared. It seemed after her husband had beat her he threatened to kill their baby. Thank the Lord her asshole husband was drunk and passed out before he could get his hands on the sweet little girl.”
Alyson realized she was crying. She wiped the moisture from her cheeks. “Mary was so scared that her husband would wake up and do what he’d said that she didn’t even take the time to pack herself any clothes. She always had a bag packed for her baby, so she grabbed it and ran.
“We placed her in one of the single rooms and got her clothes and constant medical care until she’d healed. It took six fucking weeks before she didn’t flinch every time the doctor came to treat her and she virtually stayed imprisoned in that room the whole time she was in the shelter.
“My boss asked me to help her go through the legalities of taking out a restraining order, and although I urged her to file for a divorce she was too scared at first. Thank God she eventually found some inner strength and divorced that bastard. The details of the proceedings came out, and while Mary never tried to have him put away, the rumors were enough to ruin her wealthy, successful, and formerly well-respected husband’s career.” Alyson took a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled slowly as renewed anger and anguish washed over her as she remembered all Mary’s pain and suffering. “Once she was free and clear of that fucker with full custody of her baby I helped find a place out of state for her to have a fresh start. We had become quite close while she was staying at the shelter, and even though I was sad to see her go, I knew it was for the best. She could have a new life away from her abusive ex and they would be safe.
“I started getting threatening e-mails at work, but they weren’t directed to me, they were more of a general threat to the shelter, and they were pretty mild threats, so I just ignored them and deleted them. Then I started getting e-mails at home to my private e-mail address, and this time they threatened me personally. I knew almost from the first that it was Mary’s ex sending them. I don’t know how that fucker found out Mary had stayed with us or that I was her caseworker, but he did. He wanted to find his wife and baby, but there was no way I was giving him information on his family. That asshole only wanted to hurt them more, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. Not when I had just helped them escape. His e-mails terrified me.”
