by Milly Taiden
“I know it doesn’t, but you decided you wanted to continue working. We’ve given you the option to stop.”
She shook her head. “No way am I depending on you two for money for the rest of my life. I’m an independent woman. I pay my own way in life.”
He slid his hands down her back and pressed her ass forward until her pussy was flush with his erection.
“Oh, Theron, stop...”
“I won’t. You are my mate and I want to fuck you every hour of every day. You have a body that makes me so hard I can’t think straight.”
She gave up. Heck who was she kidding? She wanted him to fuck her too. She walked back and tugged the dress over her head. He was so easy. He growled and she giggled. “Connor will be sad he missed this.”
“He can have alone time with you later.” Theron grinned.
That was the amazing thing about them. They both knew she needed to spend alone time with each so their individual relationships could deepen. It was what made the entire mating that much more special. She glanced down and before she knew it he threw her over his shoulder and ran for the bedroom.
“Theron!”
“You walk too slow, baby. I want to fuck now!”
She laughed as she landed on the sheets in a tangle. She didn’t get a chance to fix herself when he was on her, his hands held either side of her head.
“I love you, Tally.”
She gasped, her heart beat painfully loud in her ears. “Are you sure? It’s so soon.”
He nodded. “I don’t want to hear you say the words if or until you ever feel the emotion. But I wanted you to know. You’ve seeped into my pores, sunk into my blood and made me an addict. I can’t be without you. I don’t want to be.”
She blinked back tears. She didn’t think Theron had those kinds of words in him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, love.” He pressed a kiss over her lips. “You’re here. That’s all I need.”
She nodded and kissed him back. The relationship between them grew another string at that moment to make their link that much stronger. When he made love to her that day, she felt it in the deepest areas of her heart. Those areas she’d thought untouched until then.
TEN
Tally bit her lip. Nerves sucked. But she didn’t know how to stop herself from showing them. Theron led her into a community of houses in a forested area. It was growing late in the day. The sun’s light had dimmed through the thick trees. She’d swear it was closer to nighttime than early evening.
“Theron...”
“Relax, darling. You shouldn’t be afraid,” he admonished.
“I’m not afraid.” She truly wasn’t. She was nervous. Meeting people had a bad effect on her. She tended to be sarcastic and a lot of times nerves made her babble. “I’m a little weirded out about meeting new people is all.”
“Don’t worry, love. We’ll both be here for you.”
Lovely. The fact both her men, which happened to be the leaders of this pack, were there as her babysitters didn’t really give her any warm fuzzies.
“Where’s Connor?” she asked just as they reached an open area where a large group gathered at the center. She stopped dead in her tracks.
There were a lot of glowing gold eyes staring at her. Instinct told her to move back. To get away from the danger, but something new and angry roared to life inside her. An emotion she’d never known she possessed spread wings and took hold of every one of her cells. Dominance.
She squared her shoulders and continued forward. No longer worried about what the people might think, now she worried about what Connor and Theron would think of her.
“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Connor greeted the large group. His voice was low, so she didn’t know how she could hear him so far away.
“We want to meet your new third,” a woman said. She was tall. Much taller and slimmer than Tally. With beautiful porcelain skin and rich auburn hair. The woman didn’t smile. She eyed Tally with open interest. “My name is Aura. What is yours?”
Tally opened her mouth but Theron answered for her.
“Her name is Talia or Tally,” Theron said to Aura.
Another woman, circled by three others, moved forward. She had chocolate-brown skin and short curly hair. Almond-shaped eyes glared at Tally. “She doesn’t look to be Alpha mate material.”
Theron growled low. Tally almost got whiplash glancing to the side to see his partially shifted face and looming stance. “You have a problem with our choice of mate, Keya?”
The woman, Keya, continue to stare at Tally with hostility. Her eyes brightened with her animal. “Maybe. You know the rules, Theron.” Keya took a step forward. The other women hovered behind her. “She can be challenged.”
“Why would she be?” Theron growled. “She’s our choice. It is not up for debate.”
Tally’s insides burned with anger. She’d never been a people person, but Keya’s death-glares were making it hard for her to want to like her. Fury bubbled in her blood, growing heated and explosive with every word thrown back and forth between Theron and Keya. Her muscles burned. She blinked the group into focus, but it was hard. Her vision swam every few seconds. It was like having her pupils dilate and try to focus once again.
“She looks like a weakling,” Keya spat. She took another handful of steps until she stood in the center of the clearing. People moved back to give her space. The crowd was quiet.
Tally glanced at the spot where Connor stood. She cocked her head to make out what his features tried to tell her. Then, she heard it. A distant calling to her in her mind.
“What exactly do you want, Keya? You were not a choice for us at any point.” Theron’s voice sounded like it was coming from under water.
“I demand a challenge for the Alpha third spot. Now,” she said, her voice deep with her coming shift.
“Talia is not ready for a challenge,” Theron argued.
“Too bad. You are Alpha. You know our rules. She accepts or she leaves and her position is mine,” Keya said.
Theron growled next to Tally. She’d swear she could understand his growl which was absolute insanity.
Then she heard the calling in her brain again. She marched to the woman, ignoring Theron, and stopped in front of her.
“They don’t want you. Don’t you understand English?”
The shifter smirked and Tally’s new and unusual anger flew off the handle. She slapped the other woman hard. So fast she almost wouldn’t believe it had it not been for the shocked gasp that sounded around them.
“You are so dead.” Keya growled and swiped a shifting claw across Tally’s arm.
Fire spread across her shoulder and blood oozed down to her elbow.
“Enough!” Theron’s voice thundered.
“Let them fight, Theron,” Connor ordered. “You know our rules. We cannot break them for anyone. Especially our own mate. She will be fine.”
Tally almost smiled at the amount of conviction in Connor’s voice. She could hardly see one step ahead of her and her insides felt like they were going up in flames.
The burning in her limbs increased. Keya pushed her hard. She stumbled back and lost her footing. She twisted her body at the last second and landed on all fours.
“Look at her. How could you want her when she cannot even defend herself in her human body? Do you think she will survive my wolf?” Keya’s voice grew so rough it was impossible to make out her words. “We shall see now.”
Tally forgot all about Keya and her animal. She focused on the pain and spreading fire taking over her muscles.
“What is she doing?” someone asked.
“She’s in pain,” she heard Aura say. “She needs help. She is our new Alpha.”
“No interfering,” Connor commanded. “Tally will be fine.”
Tally wanted to yell at him to shut the fuck up and help her. If only she could figure out what was wrong. She’d lost control of her body. Muscles shook and burned. The sound
of something breaking came from so close she worried Keya had attacked her and she was too far gone to notice. Of all the people, the last person she’d think would allow her to be in pain was Connor. That big jerk.
She grabbed hold of her anger and let it grow. It expanded. Something tickled under her skin, pushing out. Then a large growl tore from her throat.
“She’s—”
“Shifted,” Theron said with pride.
The fact she was on all fours and in a wolf body would have to wait to be dissected at another time. Keya’s large brown wolf charged to Tally. Keya was fast. She zoomed right for her, canines on full display. But Tally wouldn’t let anyone, man or woman, abuse her in any form. Fuck that.
She waited until the last second, jumped to the right and turned, kicking Keya’s wolf with her brand new hind legs. She kicked as hard as she could and it seemed to work. When she turned, she saw Keya’s animal sliding on the dusty clearing.
“You think you can beat me?” Keya spoke through some kind of animal link.
“I am not trying to beat you. You’re the one that doesn’t know how to understand that Connor and Theron don’t want you. Why don’t you stop? It doesn’t have to be this way.” She tried to reason with the other woman.
“No.” She growled and made a leap for Tally again. This time she managed to dig a claw right into Tally’s side.
“Fuck!” Pain shot all down her side, igniting the fury that pushed for her change.
The wolf within wanted to be in control. There was no other way. Tally allowed the beast free rein.
It was like watching a movie. She was doing things but no longer in control. The wolf in Tally was angry, hurting and not willing to give Keya another chance to back down. She didn’t try to push off the other wolf. She went right for her. Keya appeared shocked and was caught off guard when Tally clawed at her muzzle and snatched up one of her paws in her mouth. She crunched down, breaking something in the process.
Keya scratched back. She kicked and fought to push Tally off. Her angry efforts served for Tally to release the paw and dig her claws into Keya’s side. Tally bit down on Keya’s tail and yanked her back.
Keya howled in pain. Another round of gasps went around the clearing. Tally’s animal was bent on revenge. She eyed the other wolf as Keya tried to turn with a broken leg. Tally jumped on her back and bit down on the neck area her animal knew to go for. Keya was no longer in control. The tighter Tally squeezed her jaw on Keya’s neck, the louder Keya howled.
Death and killing was not in her. She might be a bitch, bitter and angry, but she wasn’t ready to take anyone’s life.
“Let her go, Tally,” Theron whispered softly in her mind.
“You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to,” Connor added.
Tally released the injured wolf and took steps back until she stood between both Theron and Connor. The wolf inside her retreated at that point and her body took control once again. Limbs shifted. Connor and Theron helped her stand in front of the crowd.
Connor wrapped a blanket over her shoulders. “Sorry about your clothes, love. But it happens when you shift. You tear through things.”
She nodded. Her throat was dry and she needed a bath. A nice long hot one.
“This is our third,” Theron said, his voice steely. “The next person who wants to challenge her will deal with me directly.”
Aura stepped forward. “There is no need for any challenges. We have not seen a human take to the wolf so quickly and aggressively. Clearly she is the right one to help you lead.”
Tally cleared her throat. Keya was dragged from the site, still in her wolf body. Tally hadn’t thought someone would dislike her just because she hadn’t shown enough aggression. In her human life, she’d always been told she was too aggressive and bossy. Her life had changed to something so different she didn’t know if she would ever understand it fully.
The crowd glanced at her and her men. Then they tore through their clothes and shifted. The large number of wolves would have scared her at any other moment, but instead, made her curious.
“What are they doing?” she asked.
The wolves huddled close and one by one lowered their muzzles to her feet. When they were all done, they scampered into the woods.
“They were showing you their loyalty. For a wolf to lower its head, they have to feel you are the stronger party. You’re their Alpha now.”
It took her a moment to realize the extent of his words. She shook her head and decided she had way too much to adjust to before she thought about that.
“Show me to a shower.” She wrinkled her nose. “I ache and stink.”
“You got it, beautiful. After that performance you deserve anything you want.” Connor winked.
“Look at you, all blood thirsty. Who would’ve thought you had it in you.” She laughed.
* * *
Tally sat back on the picnic blanket and watched the sunset over the horizon. Theron lay to one side of her and Connor to the other. For the past few weeks, they’d given her exactly what she’d asked for and all they’d wanted was her. Nothing but her. It was time.
“I love you,” she said, still glancing at the setting sun.
They sat up so fast she bit back a giggle.
“Who? Who do you love?” Theron asked.
“Tell us, please,” Connor’s plea tore at her heart. She shouldn’t have made them wait so long. They had embraced her as their woman from the very first day and she’d been too afraid to give in and take what they offered freely.
“Both of you.” She glanced at Theron and brushed her lips over his. “I love you, Theron. You and your quirky sense of humor and amazing oral skills.”
“I love you, Tally.” He kissed her.
She turned to face Connor. “I love you, Connor. Your ability to look deep into my heart and help me see a side of me I never knew existed is priceless. Your care and concern over my feelings is unmatched.”
“I love you, beautiful Tally,” Connor murmured and kissed her softly.
“You both have given me what I never realized I wanted. Two men to make me whole.”
They leaned in, Theron cupping her face to kiss her mouth and Connor sliding his hands under her tank top. She’d always joked that a woman needed two men to make her happy. In her case, that was the absolute truth. Two amazing, growly, possessive men to bring out the Alpha wolf in her.
EPILOGUE
“I just wanted to thank you again,” Tally smiled.
Gerri couldn’t have been more pleased. Something had told her that Tally would be perfect with Theron and Connor. Her instinct never guided her wrong.
“You’re very welcome my dear. I only want to see you all happy,” she said honestly.
Tally grinned at the men to either side of her. “We are. We’re very happy. And I owe it all to you.”
“Thanks Aunt Gerri,” Theron said. “We’ll see you next week for dinner.”
She waved them away with a smile. A moment later her cell phone rang.
“Paranormal Dating Agency, how can I help you?” Gerri answered her business cell phone with a smile.
“Hi, is this Mrs. Wilder?” A woman asked hesitantly.
“Yes, it is. Who might you be?” She glanced at the open file on her desk. An unruly bear shifter who didn’t want a mate but his sister was adamant he get one. The name his sister provided for the mate was a much more difficult task. A human. One she’d recently become familiar with through her neighbor.
“This is Nita, Tally’s cousin. She gave me your card and said you could um...that I could use your services.”
Gerri grinned. Would wonders never cease? It was perfect. A plan formed in her mind. “She told me about you, Nita. Said you were a no-nonsense type of woman.”
Nita laughed softly. “Yeah, that’s me. So, I am interested in seeing who you can match me up with.”
“I think I can help you.” Gerri picked up the address to her unsuspecting bear client. “Tell
me something, do you like mountain getaways?”
“I do, but I was looking for a possible date.”
Gerri picked up a pen and wrote down notes. “This definitely is a date. You’ll have to travel a bit since my client is out of the city, but I know he’ll just love meeting someone just as no-nonsense as him.”
“Oh, wonderful! I’m more than happy to try.”
“Excellent. Come by and see me. I have everything you need.”
Gerri hung up with a smile. That bear had no idea what was coming. Then again, neither did the human. This would be fun.
THE END
About the Author
Hi! I'm Milly (AKA April Angel). I love to write sexy stories. They're usually either paranormal or contemporary with a large dose of heat. My paranormal stories can be anything from wolf-shifters (my favorites) to witches, demons and anything in between. My contemporaries are usually anything from soldiers to corporate romances.
I was born the prettiest part of the Caribbean known as the Dominican Republic. Currently, I live in New York City with my hubby, the bossy kiddo and our little dog "Needy Speedy". Don't ask.
When I'm not working some really long hours at the day job, or hanging out in the awful life-sucking invention known as Facebook, messaging my bestie in the UK or shopping with my sis Julie, then I can be found watching scary movies. But when I'm not doing that, I'm usually writing because the voices won't shut up.
I am addicted to shoe shopping, chocolate (but who isn't, right?) and Dunkin' Donuts coffee.
Come on over and visit me! I love to meet new readers!
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