“When you’re next to her, can you smell her scent, and it calls to you?” Mitchell asked, wanting to know exactly what Dean had experienced.
“I don’t know if that’s what’s happening. I just know that she smells really good,” Dean admitted. “I shouldn’t be able to be affected by scents, though, should I? I mean, I’m not wolf.”
“I’m really not sure how this works, Dean,” Mitchell told him honestly. “I think we should talk to Drew. He’ll be able to help us since he has one father who is human and one father who is wolf. He would probably have a good understanding of how things will work for us.” Mitchell reached out and touched Dean’s forearm, turning him slightly so he could face him directly. “I haven’t really asked you how you feel about all of this, Dean.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, your life and future have totally changed because of me.”
“That’s true,” Dean admitted.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to deal with having a triad partner and a mate that we’ll share? That’s probably not what you’d ever thought you would have as a wife.”
Dean looked at Mitchell and saw the worry in his gray eyes. He didn’t understand why he was feeling what he did. Maybe it was destiny. Maybe it was because of the Fates that Jace and Jackson always talked about.
“I have to be honest, Mitch, I’ve never thought about sharing a woman before,” Dean told him sincerely. “Since I came to the Circle Three Ranch, I’ve seen triad relationships that surprise the hell out of me. My mom’s relationship with Jace and Jackson seems right. Aunt Nikki’s relationship with Alexander and Butler is the same. Julia’s mating with Adrian and Colin is amazing as well. Suzie’s mating with Drew and Carter has been able to withstand years of pain and separation, yet they still love each other and are sharing a life that was destined to be lived together.”
“Yeah, that’s a big example of how a triad mating is blessed by the Fates,” Mitchell agreed.
“When I look at Martha and her husbands, or Drew’s mother Samantha and her husbands, I see how triad relationships last and remain loving for many years. Even though this is all new to me, it feels like it’s supposed to be my future, too,” Dean continued, talking through his thoughts and feelings. He turned back toward the window display to look at the beautiful necklace and took a steadying breath. “I don’t understand it, Mitch, but somehow, I know these relationships are right. I feel like Janey belongs to us, and I want us to give her that necklace to let her know that we want her as ours. I think we also need to let her know that we’ll be willing to wait until she’s ready to commit to us.”
Mitchell was quiet for a moment, happiness filling him that his triad partner was so accepting of a situation that he knew had to be so foreign to him. Dean was a good guy. He had a great sense of humor and a caring nature. When Mitchell was with him, something inside of him settled. Getting their triad mate to accept them would complete the bond every shifter hoped for—to be a part of a blessed triad mating.
“Okay, Dean,” he said firmly. “Let’s go inside. You and I are going to buy that necklace for our future mate.”
Chapter 24
Mitchell was horrified!
“Drew, I am not biting Dean,” he said firmly.
“Wait, Mitchell,” Dean interrupted calmly. “Let’s hear what Drew has to say.”
Mitchell’s gray eyes flashed with determination as he looked at Dean. “Dean, I’m not going to bite you,” he insisted.
“Just wait and listen to Drew’s explanation,” Dean said softly, trying to calm him. “Go ahead, Drew. Why does Mitchell have to bite me?”
“I’m not biting you, Dean!”
“Mitchell, be quiet.”
Dean looked at him and couldn’t help but smile. His friend had been through hell and back in his life, yet he came out the other end of chaos and pain to be a person whose kindness and caring was evident in everything he said and did.
“Go ahead, Drew,” Dean encouraged him. “Explain.”
Drew leaned back in his office chair, pushing away slightly from the large mahogany desk that seemed to dominate his small office on pack land. He placed the stack of papers he had in his hand to the right corner of the desk and looked at the two young men before him. His mate’s younger brother was an outstanding young man. Drew smiled at the resemblance to the woman who held his heart.
“As you both know, my mother is wolf, but only one of my fathers is wolf. My other father is human,” Drew explained carefully. “I know that my wolf father had to bond with my human father before they mated with my mother. They explained it to me when I was starting medical school. I guess they never really thought about it before then, but since I was going to become a doctor, and they saw that I had an interest in pack physiology, they wanted me to know and understand what was needed to make an interspecies triad mating successful.”
“That’s great that you can help us through this,” Dean spoke up, looking at Mitchell briefly before returning his full attention to Drew. “It’s important that we know what we have to do.”
“Dean, I’m not biting you,” Mitchell insisted.
“Quiet,” Dean told him quickly, never taking his attention off of Drew. “Why does the wolf partner have to bite the human partner?”
“I’ve done some research on this, and I’ve found that the saliva that is transferred from the wolf to the human partner has qualities that affect the partner,” Drew explained. “Much as the mating bite changes the physiology of a human female in a mating so that she gleans healing properties and a longer lifespan from her triad mates, as well as changing her physiology so that she can successfully carry the embryo of the combined DNA of the men, the same benefit occurs with the triad partner’s bite to his human partner.”
“So, Mitchell’s bite will give me the ability to heal quickly and make my lifespan equal his?”
“Yes.” Drew looked from one young man to the other. “But it will affect you in more ways than that.”
“Don’t tell me I’ll be able to get pregnant,” Dean asked, deadpanning.
“Very funny,” Mitchell muttered.
“Do I get to shift?” Dean asked, his eyes sparkling with humor and a bit of excitement.
Drew chuckled. He truly enjoyed Dean. He was such a great kid. Laurie was blessed to have such a son. He thought about her and her children and couldn’t keep the smile from his face. His alpha and beta had never been happier or more content since they had met and mated with her. They loved Dean as their son and his sister Mia as their daughter and were thrilled at the prospect of becoming fathers to the cub Laurie was currently carrying.
“No, Dean,” Drew told him, smiling. “You won’t get to shift. A wolf cannot be made. A wolf is only born.”
“So our kids will be able to shift even if I’m not wolf?” Dean asked worriedly.
“Yes,” Drew answered without hesitation. “I’m going with the assumption that your triad third is a wolf. If that’s the case, she and Mitchell will contribute the dominant gene that will allow your child to shift. Any children you create would have all the perks of being wolf, but they would also carry the human genetics they would receive from you. Together, you and Mitchell will contribute half of the DNA for any child conceived with your mate. She will contribute the other half. Every child will biologically belong to all three of you. Would you be okay with that?”
Dean looked at Drew calmly. Drew could see that he was thinking very hard about the information he had just given him.
“If I bite Dean, and I’m not saying that I will bite him, where would I have to bite him?” Mitchell asked, his voice containing obvious concern as he spoke up.
“I don’t think the location of the bite is key to the bonding. My human father showed me the bite on the left side of his neck closer to his shoulder from my wolf father and the mating bite on his chest that he received from my mother. My wolf father has the same marking on his body. My human father had given him the same
bonding mark. My mother has mating marks from both of my fathers. You will have to bite your third in order to complete the mating ritual and solidify the bond. She will have to do the same to both of you.” He watched as Dean turned to Mitchell and reached out to touch his best friend’s forearm.
“So I get to bite Mitchell, too?” Dean asked, smiling smugly at his friend.
“Yes, Dean,” Drew answered, laughing. “It’s the only way to link you both together so you can form a true triad partnership that will bond you and make you both ready for your third.”
“Sounds fair to me, Mitch,” Dean teased.
“But your bite won’t change my physiology, Dean,” Mitchell argued. “You won’t hurt me or alter my genetics. My bite will affect you in ways we don’t even understand. I don’t think I can deal with that.”
Dean was quiet for a moment, thinking through Mitchell’s concerns. He had concerns, too, but the outcome of a happy future for them outweighed any worries he had.
“Mitch, I think it’s worth it to do what Drew is telling us,” he told him quietly. “I want us to be able to have a triad mating someday. If this is the way to do it, we should do it.”
He faced Mitchell with complete seriousness. He thought about the young woman who already filled his mind with thoughts of a loving and lasting relationship.
“What effect does my bite have on Dean other than the increased healing and longer lifespan?” Mitchell asked Drew, facing him squarely, his eyes never wavering from his. “I want to know everything about it before we make this decision. I’m not going to be the cause of making something Dean doesn’t want be his future. And I’m absolutely not going to do something that will harm him.”
“Dean will go through some physiological changes once you have bitten him,” Drew explained calmly. “His sense of smell and hearing will increase. His saliva will eventually hold the same healing properties that our wolves have. Over time, his strength will increase and the ability to lengthen his canines will present itself. Dean, you won’t be able to bite Mitchell until his bite has changed your physiology so that your canines can drop. It will probably take about two months before that can happen. Once that bond is made between you and Mitchell, you will have the ability to bite your triad mate in order to claim her during the mating. This is needed in order to perform the mating ritual. This will bond the three of you together. It will also allow the threads of the bonding to snap into place so that you will be gifted, just as all triads are blessed, with the ability to share your souls, be able to speak to each other telepathically, and share thoughts and visions. It will also put into place the DNA sequencing needed to produce your children.” Drew looked at both men silently, watching them as they thought through all the information he had given them.
Mitchell eyed Drew carefully. He had to make sure that Dean wouldn’t be hurt in any way. Dean was the one man who had accepted him as a friend without hesitation despite his inability to shift and his sorry physical state when he had first arrived at Beckett’s pack land. Dean had stepped forward and defended him, offered him friendship and humor, and had appreciated what Mitchell had to offer as a friend. He had been truly blessed when he had found out that Dean was his fated triad partner. Just as Dean had defended him and looked out for him, he was going to do the same for Dean.
“You are aware that during the bonding you will need to take your mate vaginally at the same time, right?” Drew asked them both, his voice very serious.
“At the same time?” Dean choked out. “As in, inside of her at the same time? In the same place?” He turned to face Mitchell, the shock clearly evident on his face. “Did you know that, Mitch?”
Mitchell blushed and nodded abruptly. “I knew. I just forgot to mention it to you.”
“Shit, Mitchell! That’s a pretty important fact to share, dude.” He saw the way Mitchell cringed and knew his friend hadn’t withheld the information on purpose. “Is that the only way it can be done, Drew?” he asked calmly as he turned to face the older man.
Drew nodded, his eyes never wavering from them. “Double vaginal penetration when the mating bite is first made by the two of you with your triad mate is needed in order for your mate’s DNA to accept both of you. During this act, you must both bite and claim her as you release inside of her. The mating knot will engage, and your seed will be prevented from being expelled from her body until it has been absorbed by hers so the necessary changes in her physiology will take place.”
“A mating knot?” Dean questioned, looking at Drew in surprise.
“Yes,” Drew told him. “It’s a wolf shifter trait that you will also have once the triad partnership bonding has been completed between you and Mitchell.”
Dean leaned back in his chair, taking in a calming breath as he tipped his head from side to side to loosen the tenseness of his neck and shoulder muscles. The information was somewhat overwhelming, but it didn’t scare him. He knew that any changes that happened to him would be worth it in order to have a happy life with the woman he knew was meant for him and Mitchell. Just thinking about Janey belonging to them both was enough to give him the courage and determination to do what he had to do in order to make that triad mating happen.
“Dean, think about this very carefully,” Mitchell told him seriously. “Committing to this is big. This means sharing a mate and children. I know you said you accepted that already, but can you really do that with no regrets?”
Dean hesitated a moment, weighing his words. “I see happy triads every day,” he said thoughtfully. He turned and looked at Drew and saw that he was nodding and smiling at him. “This is all destined by the Fates, right? If this is meant to be, then who am I to argue? They must know what they’re doing and know that I would be good with this.”
Mitchell listened with guarded hope. “And what’s the downside of this, Drew?” he finally asked his sister’s mate, looking at him intensely.
“There is no downside,” Drew told him honestly. “Dean will suffer no health risks. He will be bonded to you and, eventually, to your triad mate. He will suffer no ill consequences.”
“Wrong, Drew,” Dean spoke up, drawing Mitchell’s worried expression back to him. “I’m going to have to get used to having my junk next to his when we claim our mate.”
Drew’s bark of laughter made them all smile. Mitchell couldn’t help the blush that stole across his face.
“Trust me,” Drew told them both sincerely. “When you’re finally with the woman who will complete your triad, everything will be natural and comfortable. The only thing either one of you will be concerned about is that you’re not hurting your mate. She’s the one who will be your main focus. She’ll be the one that holds your heart. There will be nothing more important than her safety and her happiness. You’ll be gifted with a bonding that you’ll feel deep in your soul. Nothing in your life will ever compare to that perfect feeling of oneness that will bind you together forever. It’s wonderful.”
Dean and Mitchell smiled as they saw the expression of complete happiness on Drew’s face. They were not embarrassed to admit that they wished they would find the same happiness with the woman they both felt was their mate, just as Drew and Carter had found with Suzie.
“I’ll take a blood sample from you, Dean,” Drew explained. “Mitchell will have to bite you repeatedly over a two month period. It can be done under my supervision if you’d like. I’ll continue to compare your blood samples to make sure the necessary changes to your physiology are taking place. You should be a fully bonded triad partnership before you leave for college.”
Dean was quiet for a while as he thought through all the information Drew had given them. It was a big decision to make, and he wasn’t taking it lightly. After a few moments, he turned to Mitchell and smiled.
“We deserve this, Mitchell.”
Mitchell faced his friend and searched his eyes for any bit of hesitation. He didn’t find any. “There’s no turning back if we commit to this, Dean. You have to be sure,”
he told him seriously.
Dean nodded.
“Mitchell.” His voice was strong as he faced his triad partner.
“What?”
“Bite me.”
Chapter 25
Dean walked with Mitchell toward the pack playground in search of Janey. They had gone to the visitors’ lodge thinking she was working the front desk as she always did and found that Janey was no longer working there. Sandy, the girl who had taken Janey’s place, had told them that Janey would be leaving the following week to travel to the college she would be attending in the coming semester.
“Why didn’t we know Janey was going away to college, Mitchell?” Dean asked his friend angrily as his long strides ate up the distance from the visitors’ lodge to the playground.
“Dean, we barely know her,” Mitchell told him, trying to calm him. “We can’t possibly know any of her plans.”
“Well, we’re gonna find out right now,” Dean nearly growled. “I don’t really get why this upsets me so much, Mitch, but it does.”
“It upsets me, too, Dean,” Mitchell admitted. “It’s the mating pull. We’re drawn to her. We won’t feel better until we have her between us and an understanding is in place.”
“Now I understand how Lucian and Cole are feeling every time my sister ignores them,” Dean said softly, trying to make an effort to calm himself. “I think I need to have a talk with Mia so she can understand what her future mates are going through. I don’t think she really realizes how awful the feeling of isolation and frustration is.”
“Dean, if Janey is leaving for college, we won’t see her for at least four months,” Mitchell spoke up as they neared the playground. “And that’s only if she decides to come home for winter break.”
Dean nodded sharply. “We’ll deal with that once we find out where she’s going,” he said determinedly. “We can at least get her to understand that we want her with us as part of our future triad. We can try to get that in place before she leaves us.”
Susannah's Saviors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 28
