Suzie had always thought her friend was absolutely stunning, and she secretly hoped for two wolves to find that they were Meeka’s triad mates. She would never tell Meeka that, though. She was more than gun-shy of a relationship with any man as a result of her experience with Eric’s father abandoning her and Boyd’s cruelty toward her after he had found her. Suzie knew Meeka would be terrified by the fact that there might be two men out there that would want her to be their mate.
Suzie had dreamed that Meeka would find her mates on Jace Beckett’s pack land, but she had never told her friend. Some dreams she chose to keep close to her heart. There were some dreams that would just upset those that the dreams were about. Meeka would totally freak out if she had been told about the dream. Suzie knew Meeka didn’t want any man, and she definitely didn’t want two mates.
Suzie felt the presence of two hulking men suddenly standing close to her and Meeka. The lights in the kitchen were pretty bright, allowing her to see the shadows of the two who stood silently beside them. The men had to be at least six feet four inches tall and were broad with powerful chests. Even with her very limited sight, Suzie could tell that these men were commanding and strong.
“It seems like you have two protectors,” Suzie whispered in Meeka’s ear.
“They’ve been by our side since we got here,” Meeka whispered back, almost in a panic. “They’re making me really nervous.”
“I think they’ll make sure you and Eric will be safe and happy,” Suzie assured her. “Don’t be afraid of them. Give them a chance, Meeka.”
Meeka stepped back and looked up at the two men who stood like sentinels beside her. She had been nervous enough traveling alone with Jace and Jackson and had finally relaxed enough that she wasn’t shaking anymore. When she had entered Drew and Carter’s home and had met his family, the two men had appeared out of nowhere and had immediately set themselves up as her personal bodyguards.
She found out soon enough that the two men were part of Drew’s and Carter’s families. Reece was Carter’s twin brother, and Wade was his best friend and triad partner. As she watched them out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but appreciate that they were tall, heavily muscled, and drop-dead gorgeous. And they smelled absolutely heavenly. She had never felt so intimidated in all her life.
“Have Alexander and Butler returned yet?” Drew asked, worried about the two enforcers and their mate Nikki.
“They arrived about forty-five minutes ago,” Jace told him, his blue eyes glowing golden as he thought about the members of his pack that were still in jeopardy. “Nikki is unharmed, but both men have been shot with silver bullets. Nikki and Mia worked together to remove them and have helped them as much as they can. It’s up to their wolves to take over and heal them now.”
Randall’s pack had been nothing but trouble for his family for a very long time. Now that he had threatened their pack by kidnapping Nikki, Jace was going to make sure that nothing like that would ever happen to any member of his pack again. The cruelty Randall had shown to Mitchell and Suzie had just put the final nail in his coffin.
Drew nodded, relieved that Nikki had been able to use her nursing skills to help her mates. “I’ll check on them later,” he told Jace.
“It can wait until tomorrow, Doc,” Jace insisted. “There’s nothing more you can do for them right now, and you’re needed here with your mate.”
“Suzie, it’s so good to see you, sweetheart,” Drew’s mother Samantha spoke up as she stepped forward and enveloped Suzie in her arms. “I’m so glad you’re finally home with us where you belong.”
“Thank you,” Suzie whispered, choked up by the love she was suddenly surrounded with.
“We’re all here, Suzie,” Drew’s father Jack told her, hugging her quickly and stepping back to allow the others to welcome her.
“Pop, did you bring the tools we need to remove the collar from Suzie’s neck?” Drew asked, more concerned about getting the collar that was poisoning their mate off of her than social niceties. There would be time for welcoming later.
“Yes,” Russell told his son quickly. “Reece and Wade brought a few saws that might work.”
“Okay, let’s get on with this,” Carter spoke up. “The exam room in Drew’s office would probably be the best place to get this done.”
They all moved to Drew’s office. Drew had Suzie lie back on the examination table, making sure she was comfortable and covering her with a sterile sheet. Reece walked over to the table and reached out to take hold of the collar, grabbing for the scraps of material that surrounded it and pulling them away carefully. When the collar touched his skin, he hissed in pain as the silver of the collar burned his hand.
Suzie pushed his hands away immediately, knowing she was able to remove his hands only because he was surprised by her movement. She grabbed for the rags and tried to wrap them around the exposed parts of the collar, ignoring the searing pain in her hands that she had often felt over the last fifteen years.
Both Drew and Carter reached for her hands to pull them away from the collar. Drew tucked a sterile cloth between the collar and Suzie’s neck, protecting her skin once again.
“Be careful, Mate,” Drew whispered against her temple, kissing it lightly.
“Thank you, my Drew,” she gasped, threading her fingers through his curly, black hair and pulling on it gently.
Drew growled with happiness at her possessive words and leaned into her hair, breathing in deeply. For the first time in such a long time, he felt a rush of love push through him. He knew that it came from Suzie.
“My Carter,” Suzie called to him softly, reaching out and searching for his hand.
Carter smiled as he took hold of her hand and leaned down to kiss her lips gently. “I’m here, baby,” he whispered.
Suzie nodded and grabbed his long, light brown hair, pulling at it to hold him closer to her face so she could rub her cheek against his whiskers. “It hurts,” she told him softly.
“I know, Suzie Q.”
“We’re going to need some towels to surround the collar while we work on removing it,” Reece rasped out, his voice almost painful to hear. His voice had never been the same since that night fifteen years before when Randall had sliced his throat open with claws that still dripped with the silver alloy that had been used to torture both Carter and Suzie.
The office door opened and Mitchell, Laurie, Dean, and Mia entered, followed closely by enforcers Lucian and Cole. Mitchell rushed over to Suzie and embraced her tightly. Carter and Drew stepped back to give Mitchell room.
“Suzie,” he whispered against her cheek. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
Suzie smiled through her tears as she hugged her brother to her tightly. “Mitchell.” She kissed his cheek lightly. “I’m so glad you found your way here. I heard you found your triad partner and you can shift into your wolf form. Way to go, little brother!”
Mitchell laughed and pulled away from his sister’s embrace. “Geez, Suzie. Do you always know everything?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” she answered, smiling.
“You’re too smart for your own good,” Mitchell teased her.
Suzie’s good humor left her immediately. “I know,” she whispered. “But my dreams have pretty much stopped, so I wasn’t any use to Randall anymore except for breeding.”
The angry growls that erupted from both Drew and Carter filled the examination room. Suzie jumped in surprise, her heart racing. When both men reached out to take her hands in theirs, she realized suddenly that she had the need to soothe them. Taking their hands, she brought them to her mouth and kissed their knuckles lightly.
“It’s okay,” she told them softly, releasing their hands and rubbing her eyes tiredly.
“We need to get this damn collar off now!” Carter shouted, punching the wall above the examination table. “I want our mate free from this suffering.”
“We’ll get it off her, Carter,” Reece promised, stepping forward to stan
d behind the table to get a better angle to begin working with the diamond hacksaw he held.
Wade stepped forward and reached out to take hold of the collar and keep it in place. He winced slightly, a low growl escaping him as he pushed aside the material to expose the collar, allowing the silver to rub against his fingers.
Meeka reached out and touched Wade’s forearm lightly. “I don’t think you should be the ones to do that,” she told him with certainty. “Suzie told me that silver is dangerous to all wolves. You and Reece are wolf, right?”
Wade removed his hands from the collar and turned to face the adorable woman. His gray eyes softened as he looked down at her and saw how her concern for his and Reece’s pain had overcome her fear of them.
“We’ll be fine, little one,” he told her. He pulled away from her touch, unable to handle the gentleness that she offered him.
“Meeka’s right,” Suzie spoke up. “I don’t want anyone who is wolf to try to get this collar off.”
“Suzie, you have to allow us to take it off,” Drew protested.
“She’s right, son,” Jack spoke up. “There are enough of us here that are human. We can work together to get the collar off of her.”
“I’ll help,” Laurie spoke up, stepping forward.
“No, Mate,” Jace told her firmly, taking hold of her arm and pulling her back so that he and Jackson surrounded her with their arms.
“The silver won’t hurt me,” Laurie protested.
“We don’t know that, Laurie, and we don’t know what it will do to our cub growing inside of you, darlin’,” Jackson told her gently.
“I’ll help,” Mia offered, stepping forward.
Luc and Cole grabbed for her arms and pulled her back against them quickly.
“You will not help,” Luc growled. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s not dangerous to me,” Mia told him angrily. “I’m not wolf, and I’m not pregnant.”
“Not yet, Mate,” Cole whispered against her ear. “We’ll do our best to make sure you’re carrying our cub soon enough.”
Mia froze against Cole’s chest. Her heart pounded at his words. Pushing out of his arms, she was surprised when he let her go. She twisted her body and faced the two men who had been persistent in their pursuit of her. As much as she was attracted to them, she couldn’t give in to her desire for them. Not yet. Unable to think of anything to say to them, she turned and reached out to her brother Dean. Dean took her hand immediately and drew her toward him.
“We can help, Dean,” she told him quietly.
“Yeah, we can,” Dean agreed, stepping toward the examination table.
“Wade and I will do it,” Reece spoke up.
“No. Carter and I will remove the collar from our mate,” Drew insisted.
“Jace, I can help,” Laurie insisted.
A shrill whistle brought all conversation to a screeching halt. Every person in the room turned to face the woman whose fingers were still in her mouth as she ended the sound that would make any New Yorker proud and stop every damn taxi in the city!
“Enough of this crap,” she told them angrily.
“Suzie!” Carter stammered, trying really hard not to laugh.
“Be quiet!” Suzie told him with exasperation evident in her voice. “All of you listen to me. I am not going to be the reason anyone gets hurt. So this is how it’s going to go.”
Drew looked at Carter and winked. Their Suzie was becoming more like the spirited young woman they had mated with. Not only were they relieved that her personality was slowly returning to the comfort level that made her unafraid to challenge them, but they loved the fact that she was still the strong, confident woman that they remembered.
“All wolves and pregnant women stand over there,” she demanded, pointing to the right side of the office. “Those of you who are human and not pregnant can come closer to me. Everyone else, stay the hell away from me.”
Meeka was about to step forward, but the men who had been introduced to her as Reece and Wade held her back. She looked up at both men in question. Their hold on her was firm but not threatening, and she realized suddenly that she wasn’t afraid of them one bit.
“I’m human and I’m not pregnant,” she explained to them. “I can help without any danger to me.”
“You must stay back and take care of your son,” Wade explained.
“You can hold him while I help,” she said calmly. “Eric, go to Wade while I help Aunt Suzie.”
Eric reached out his arms without hesitation and giggled as Wade plucked him out of Meeka’s arms to hold him comfortably against his chest. Eric patted Wade’s chest lightly as he looked up at the powerful man.
“You’re big,” Eric told him.
Wade nodded curtly. “Yes,” he said simply.
Eric turned to Reece and reached out his arm to have Reece come to him. “You’re big, too.”
Reece nodded, trying very hard not to smile as he stepped toward his triad partner as he held the sweet child that Meeka had given birth to. They could feel the goodness and kindness in her. He saw a moment’s flash of a vision of Meeka between them, naked and reaching out to them to hold them tightly against her body, and knew a moment of desire so raw he could barely breathe. He looked at Wade and knew that he had seen the same vision. They both looked at Meeka with eyes that were glowing golden as their wolves pushed forward to urge them to go to her.
“We have enough help, Meeka,” Drew told her softly. “Just stay with your son.”
Before Meeka had a chance to protest, Reece reached out, encircled her waist with his arm, and pulled her back to rest against him and Wade. Eric reached up and took hold of her hair, wrapping it around his fingers lightly.
“Stay with us, Mommy,” Eric told her happily. “The big men will take care of us.”
Meeka wanted to protest but remained silent. The fact that she felt so calm and protected within the circle of their arms bothered her, but now was not the time to make a scene.
“I want to help,” Mitchell spoke up, walking over to his sister and reaching out to hold the collar.
“No, Mitch!” Dean called out, grabbing for his triad partner’s arm and pulling him back. “You’ll be hurt.”
“Dean, I’ll be fine,” Mitchell insisted. “You worry too much.”
“Yeah. It’s a family trait. Ask my mom and Mia. Get used to it, dude,” Dean warned him. “Now get back. My sister and I will help.” He crossed his muscular arms across his chest and looked at Mitchell, not moving until Mitchell took a step away from Suzie.
Mitchell sighed with resignation. He knew Dean was just looking out for him. He was actually pretty relieved to have found his triad partner and know that he was a good guy who looked out for the safety of others all the time. He took a step back and waited. He may not be able to help his sister right now, but he was going be there to supervise the removal of the collar.
Jack, Dean, and Mia stepped forward to get to work. Jack took the hacksaw from his son and stood behind the examination table. As one cohesive team, the three of them slowly covered Suzie’s face and neck with the sterile towels that Drew and Carter handed them.
Both men stepped back and took Suzie’s hands in theirs, squeezing them reassuringly as Dean and Mia unwrapped the silver collar. They were careful to make sure that the towel Drew had settled beneath the collar was in place and covering every bit of Suzie’s skin before pulling the wrappings free to expose the collar completely. Jack positioned the hacksaw on the collar and started to saw at it in clean, measured movements. Mia and Dean held the collar in place as the teeth of the saw slowly sliced through the half-inch thickness.
“Suzie, Dean is my triad partner,” Mitchell introduced them.
“Nice to meet you,” Suzie’s voice mumbled from beneath the towels.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Dean greeted her, chuckling. “Mitchell has told me a lot about you.”
“Don’t believe anything he’s said to you,” Suzie ordered f
irmly. “He’s a brat.”
“Hey!” Mitchell protested, smiling broadly as his sister’s spirit calmed his heart. “Look who’s talking!”
Suzie’s soft laughter made all of them relax. The silence that followed was definitely more comfortable. All that was heard was the rhythmic slicing of the hacksaw through the collar. Once the first cut was finished, Jack carefully pulled the blade away from Suzie’s neck and settled it at the left side of the collar. Mia and Dean held the collar steady, and Jack began to saw with light, firm strokes.
“They’re almost done, baby,” Carter told her softly.
Suzie’s response was a light squeeze to both of their hands. Neither man spoke but both squeezed back reassuringly.
“We’ll get rid of the shackle on her ankle once we’re finished removing the collar,” Jack told them quietly. “It doesn’t look like it’s made of silver, but we can’t take a chance. Mia, Dean, and I will remove it.”
“It’s not made of silver,” Suzie told them, her voice strong despite the covering of towels. “It doesn’t burn.”
Drew.
I know, Carter. Our Suzie has suffered.
It’s my fault.
No. You were injured, and Randall was ready to kill her. I was the one who made the decision to leave.
“Finished.” Jack’s voice broke into their silent conversation.
Dean and Mia each slid their hands beneath Suzie’s neck and slowly pulled the collar away. Drew reached out and removed the towels that covered their mate’s neck, growling softly as he saw the many scars on Suzie that attested to the way the collar had burned her skin over the years she had been separated from them.
Susannah's Saviors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 14
