“My sister and I have been very lucky to be a part of this pack,” she continued softly, loving that both men held her hand so tenderly as she spoke. “Jace and Jackson are good men and strong leaders. They’ve helped to give us a loving family to watch over us. I guess everyone knew that Vera wasn’t the best in the caring and love departments. Martha Gregg has kind of been our adopted mother. She was good friends with Jace’s and Jackson’s mothers.”
“I’m glad you had someone to watch over you, honey,” Eli said softly, worried that their mate had been denied the love that every child should have.
“Martha is the best. She really is,” Shelly agreed. “She made me a beautiful dress to wear tonight. I’d like you both to come to my party. Will you…I’m mean, if you want to…I would like it if…”
“Of course we’ll be at your birthday celebration, baby,” Max said, stopping her. “I hope Eli and I don’t embarrass you.”
“Now, why in the world would you embarrass me?” Shelly asked, squeezing their hands tightly. “I’m going to be very proud that I have two of the kindest, most caring men by my side.” She leaned into both men and kissed their lips lightly, loving the soft growls that escaped her wolves. “And I’m going to be fighting off the other women so that no one touches either of you or tries to steal you away from me.”
“Never gonna happen, Shelly,” Eli said firmly. “You’re it for us. Forever.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Max?” Shelly asked, looking to the quiet man for reassurance.
Max smiled softly, slipping from the couch to kneel beside their mate. He waited until Eli did the same and knelt by Shelly’s right side. He and Eli had talked about this. Although they were both certain that Shelly was theirs, they couldn’t help but feel nervous about losing the best thing that had ever happened to them.
“Shelly, Eli and I want to give you something,” Max began for them both.
“You don’t need to give me anything,” Shelly protested. “You guys are already my presents.”
Max leaned forward and kissed Shelly’s lips lightly, pouring into the kiss every bit of happiness and belonging that he was feeling. When he eased back, he rested his cheek against Shelly’s shoulder and breathed in her calming scent as Eli kissed her. The feeling of complete calm and acceptance that Shelly surrounded them with gave him encouragement that what he and Eli had planned would be received well.
Reaching into his front jeans pocket, he pulled out the small jewelry box and eased back to look at Eli. Eli turned toward him and nodded, his brown eyes glowing golden as his wolf came forward to share in this moment. Max knew that his own eyes had to be golden because he could feel the power of his wolf pressing forward to be a part of this important moment, too.
He opened the small black box and held it out, watching Shelly carefully for her reaction. He saw the surprise on her face when she saw what was in the box and was worried for a moment before he felt the rush of happiness and love that washed over him and Eli.
“Max and I wanted to give you something that reminded us of you and would represent what we feel for you,” Eli said quietly. He reached to take the ring from the box and presented it to Shelly proudly. “We saw this ring. It reminded us of your pretty blue eyes.”
Shelly looked down at the blue topaz that was in the shape of a heart. It was set in a gold setting and had a diamond placed on either side of it. The way it sparkled was absolutely beautiful.
“We wanted to ask you to wear this, baby,” Max told her, his voice holding the pride that he was feeling. “Eli and I want you to have this ring so that you’ll always have our love with you.”
“Your love?” Shelly whispered, looking into the beautiful golden eyes of her men and feeling the sincerity of their emotions.
“Yeah. Love,” Eli said gently. “We love you, Shelly.”
“You love me?” Shelly whispered, unable to grasp the intensity of the moment.
“We love you,” Max said quietly. “Shelly Brooks-Lancaster, you own us completely. Our hearts are yours.”
Eli took the ring and slid it onto the ring finger of Shelly’s left hand, sharing the move with Max as he helped to glide it into place. They held Shelly’s hand and viewed the beautiful sight of it on their mate’s hand. That ring was meant to be on Shelly’s finger.
“Thank you,” Shelly whispered, completely overwhelmed by the beauty and the sentiment of the gift. “It’s beautiful.”
“We have one more thing,” Eli said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of white tissue paper that had been folded over and over again. He handed it to Shelly and smiled. “We wanted to give you this so you can put your omega charm on it.”
Shelly unfolded the paper slowly and was shocked to see the length of gold chain within it. She stared down at it in silence. It was absolutely beautiful, but the thought behind it was what brought her to tears. Her men wanted the charm that her fathers had given to her to be displayed proudly.
She waited while Eli removed the leather cord from her neck and slipped the charm from it. Max helped him unclasp the gold chain and slip the loop of the charm through it before wrapping it around her neck and securing the clasp. Eli lifted her hair free of the chain and settled its length around her shoulders while Max allowed the chain to fall free and sparkle against her shirt, the gold charm nestling perfectly against her breasts.
“Do you like it?” Max asked.
Shelly nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Both men’s wide grins sent a surge of happiness through her. Their feelings were so deep and true, she didn’t doubt their words of love for one minute. She was experiencing her own wealth of deep emotions—relief, happiness, deep friendship, and love. Her men were the reason she finally felt those things.
“We’d wanted to escort you to your party tonight,” Eli offered hesitantly.
“Of course, why would you think you couldn’t?” Shelly asked, confused.
“Jace came to see us this morning,” Max explained. “He said he and Jackson would come by tonight to take you to the dance.”
“What? Why? I want to go with you guys,” Shelly protested.
“We want that, too, baby,” Max said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and drawing her toward him so he could kiss her forehead.
“Then why aren’t you and Eli escorting me to my birthday party? It’s my birthday party. Don’t I get to choose who takes me?” Shelly asked, pushing him away and crossing her arms across her chest to stare at both men angrily. “You’re meant to be by my side. I’m meant to be by yours. Today, I’m recognized as an adult within this pack. I have every right to attend my own party with the two men who are my triad mates. I’m going to spend my life with you two. Why can’t I be escorted by the both of you so we can announce our mating to the pack tonight?”
Both men looked at each other, pride for their mate and the need to be by her side to make that declaration of their triad mating warring with the understanding of what Jace Beckett had explained to them. They were proud of the strength of their mate, but they had to remain strong, as well. It was their determination and strength that were going to protect Shelly.
“Shelly, let us explain,” Eli said softly. “Jace and Jackson told us that they had to escort you to your party so they could declare your emancipation from your mother.”
“What?” Shelly whispered.
“They said they had to declare that you were now an adult,” Max explained. “They have to make the announcement so that your mother could no longer have any control over you.”
“Jace said that once the pack hears the announcement and the party was over, we would be free to claim each other. Actually, you’ve already claimed us. It would be our turn to claim you,” Eli said, leaning forward and kissing Shelly’s lips lightly. “Max and I are glad that you’ve already claimed us. We want to claim you as ours tonight, honey. We want to make love to you and seal our triad bond.”
&n
bsp; “Do you understand why Jace has to escort you, baby?” Max asked gently.
“I do,” Shelly admitted. “Do you promise to be by my side and show everyone that we’re together? Do you promise to claim me tonight after the party?”
“Baby, try and stop us,” Max declared.
“Never,” Shelly whispered. She was quiet for a moment as she looked at both men. “You two had better get used to it.”
“Get used to what?” Eli asked, confused.
“Having someone love you as much as I do,” Shelly told them softly.
Chapter 12
Shelly placed the basket of bread on the table, adjusting the dishes that held the lunch meats, lettuce, and tomatoes. The small glass decorative plates that contained the black olives and green olives that she knew her men loved to snack on were already on the table. She made one last adjustment so that they were situated perfectly between the place settings she had set for the three of them.
Turning, she walked over to the counter next to the stove and took the platter that held the newly baked brownies with chocolate frosting to bring it to the table and place it in the middle of the table among the other plates. She stepped back and viewed the feast, smiling with satisfaction. She felt a great deal of pride in giving her mates a meal that she knew they would enjoy. What was even nicer was the fact that neither Max nor Eli expected it of her. They had been adamant that that they wanted to be the ones to take care of her needs, but Shelly wanted their relationship to be one of equal caring.
She brushed her hands down the front of her jeans and tugged down on her red T-shirt, suddenly excited to call her men to lunch. They had been working diligently all morning, replacing shingles on the roof of the home that Jace had told them was now theirs. The men were so proud to be a part of Jace’s pack. Shelly could feel that pride, but what she felt most was the deep love that they had for her.
She heard two thuds and muffled groans coming from outside. She felt the pain in Max’s side and Eli’s shoulder. It was instant and deep. Shelly almost fell to her knees at the pain she felt because of the connection to her mates. She pulled open the kitchen door and ran outside, panicking when she saw both of her men lying on the ground behind the house.
“Mother Fate! Help my mates!”
She ran to them so quickly, the dirt and grass along the cobblestone path that led from the kitchen door to the garden pathway behind the house kicked up in a cloud of fury as she rushed toward her men. Before she could even get to them, both men were already rising. Max had a deep cut across his forehead, and Eli had a gash that ran the length of his left bicep.
“Eli, are you okay?” Max asked as he struggled to get to his feet.
“I’m fine,” Eli said, disgust in his voice. “You shouldn’t have reached for me, Max. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“There was no way I was going to let you tumble off that roof without trying to stop it,” Max said defensively. “Why the hell are you yelling at me?”
“Because you put your life at risk for me,” Eli snapped. “If we both got killed, who would protect Shelly?”
“I can protect myself!” Shelly yelled, wrapping her arms around both of them and hanging on tightly. “I don’t ever want either of you to put yourselves at risk again, do you hear me?”
The men’s anger disappeared immediately at the feeling of panic that they could sense coming from their woman. They looked at each other and had the decency to be ashamed of the anger that they were directing at their triad partner. Shelly was upset. Their attentions should be focused on her.
“We’re fine, baby,” Max said, caressing her back in order to soothe her.
“No, you’re not,” Shelly said angrily. “You’ve got a gash on your forehead and Eli has one on his arm.”
“Honey, we’ll be okay. We just have to shift and our injuries will be healed,” Eli reminded her gently.
“Come into the house and let me clean the dirt from your wounds,” Shelly insisted, pulling at both men and drawing them into their home and over to the sink. “I don’t want you to shift until your wounds are as clean as possible.”
“Yes, baby,” Max said, smiling down at her as she reached for the towel on the counter, wet it thoroughly with warm water, and rubbed in some of the soap from the pump bottle next to the sink.
“Don’t you even dare make light of this, Maxwell Oliver,” Shelly said firmly. She wiped at his forehead carefully, ignoring the killer smile that he was giving her. She rinsed out the towel, squeezed out the excess water, and held it to Max’s forehead. “Hold this while I help Eli.”
Max did as he was told, smiling at their mate as she turned and grabbed another towel to wet it and rub some soap into it. When she turned and carefully cleaned away the dirt and the blood from Eli’s arm, Max watched his triad partner as he watched Shelly and saw the adoration in Eli’s eyes. Max had his own adoration party going on. Shelly was such a kind and gentle woman. Her care of them was unselfish and instant. Not only was her omega gentleness rolling through their bodies and soothing them beyond belief, the deep caring and love that she was feeling was filling their hearts. They were truly lucky men.
A knock at the front door drew all of their attentions. Shelly pressed the clean towel against Eli’s arm and looked up at him in concern. He touched her cheek lightly and leaned forward to kiss her lips lightly.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said softly.
“Keep firm hold on it,” Shelly said, blushing lightly.
“Okay, Mate,” Eli said, tugging on the length of Shelly’s dark hair.
Shelly laughed softly then turned and walked over to the front door of the home that they shared. Opening it wide, she couldn’t help but smile at the wonderful woman who stood on the front porch with a clear garment bag in her arms.
“Martha! I’m so happy to see you,” she said, opening her arms and hugging Martha tightly. “Come in.”
“Happy Birthday, Shelly,” Martha whispered, kissing her adopted daughter and hugging her. “Oh, dear. I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Shelly asked, laughing softly.
“I’m crushing your dress between us.”
Shelly stepped back and took the garment bag from her to hang it on the railing of the stairway to the bedrooms on the second floor of the home. Turning back toward the main room, she smiled at the woman that she loved so dearly.
“Martha, I want you to meet Maxwell Oliver and Eli Granger,” she said proudly. “They’re the most wonderful men I have ever met.”
Martha turned to face the two men and smiled. “You’ve met your wolves,” she said happily. “It’s very nice to meet you. Will you promise to respect and love my sweet girl?”
“With every breath that we take,” Eli said without hesitation.
Martha looked at both men with a critical eye. She took in the injuries that each man had and knew that Shelly had already begun to take care of them. She could also see the love in the men’s eyes as their gazes sought out Shelly.
“I take it Jace and Jackson know you’re both here,” Martha said, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at the men seriously.
“Yes, ma’am,” Max said respectfully.
“Martha, stop giving my mates a hard time,” Shelly said, stepping between Martha and her men and leaning against them comfortably.
“Mates, huh?” Martha said warily.
“Yes. Mates.”
Shelly faced Martha quietly, but there was protective determination in her eyes. Martha was impressed by the stance her little girl had taken. It was the way it should be when a woman found the men who were destined to be her mates. It seemed to Martha that both Maxwell Oliver and Eli Granger were looking at her with the same fire in their eyes. She saw their wolves in the golden hue of their eyes and knew that they were ready to fight to protect and keep their mate. It was exactly what Martha wished for Shelly.
She walked toward Shelly and gathered her within her arms to hug her gently. “My sweet
little one, I’m so thrilled for you,” she whispered against Shelly’s right cheek.
Shelly relaxed within Martha’s arms and sighed with contentment. “I’m so happy, Martha.”
“I know you are, sweetheart,” Martha said, sniffing her happy tears away. She eased back and looked at the two men who had given her baby such happiness. “Jace has accepted this?” The question had to be asked. She had to make sure that Jace sanctioned what was happening here.
“Jace told me that there were two people who were going to be fixing up this home. He assured me that they would be safe to be around,” Shelly said, nodding. “He said they would be sure I was protected. He also said they needed me.”
“Jace said that?” Max asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Shelly told him, turning to face her wolves and smiling up at them. “Is it true? Do you need me?”
“Always,” Max whispered.
Shelly’s smile was soft and shy. Max’s heart melted at her sweetness. He reached up and ran the tip of his index finger down the side of her face to gently trace her parted lips. He couldn’t help but growl softly when she kissed his finger lightly. He loved the way she leaned into him. He loved the way she looked at him. He loved everything about her.
“Me, too,” Eli whispered, sandwiching Shelly between them and kissing the top of her head tenderly.
“I’ll leave you three to your privacy,” Martha said quietly, smiling as she turned and walked to the front door of the home that Shelly would now share with her wolves. “Don’t be late for tonight’s party. You’re the guest of honor, after all.”
She turned to face Shelly and smiled, but there was a sense of worry about her. Shelly could feel it.
“What’s wrong, Martha?” she asked, stepping toward the older woman and taking her hands within hers.
“Take care, Shelly,” Martha said very seriously. “Please don’t allow Vera anywhere near you until you’ve completed your triad mating. She will not be happy. I fear what she will do.”
Max and Eli came close to the two women, the urgency in Martha’s voice concerning them greatly. Both men surrounded Shelly and Martha within their embrace and held them tightly.
Shelly's Forbidden Mates [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 13
