by Crymsyn Hart
“This isn’t a hoax. We’re aware of your mother’s passing. She was well known even for those not belonging to the pride. Please hear us out,” Pierce said with a slight plea in his voice. He reached for her, but pulled his hand away before it touched her arm. The fight in his eyes made it apparent that he yearned to caress her, but he had clamped down on it.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
The top of his ears turned bright red. “Sorry. I’m Pierce.”
“Orianna. Nice to meet you.” She felt some sympathy for him, but it was Ryker who seemed to be making fun of her for proposing that they were her mates.
“Ori, you—”
“Don’t call me that. Only one other person called me that. And you don’t know me well enough to call me that!” she growled at Ryker, her rage bubbling up before she could clamp down on it. Hearing the nickname flashed her back to the happy days she had with Mason and how those had vanished.
“Sorry,” Ryker muttered. “We’re telling you the truth. I don’t expect you to believe us. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. It’s rare among our kind to discover that one individual who we know is our other half. You catch that sweet scent, and it drives you insane until you find the person it’s attached to. Most of us are lucky to find a mate and settle down. Pierce came into the house and told me he discovered a scent he had to follow. We weren’t going to let him go alone.”
She got up and shook her head. “Look, guys. I appreciate the ahh . . . compliments you find me irresistible, but you have this all wrong. I’m not a shifter anymore. I’m a freak. I can’t be your mate. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my room. Please don’t follow me when I leave tomorrow night.”
Orianna pushed past Pierce and wove through the thinning crowd. The overwhelming need to escape into the night and never look back seized her. It took everything she had to stay on course and go back up to her room where all her clothes were. When she slipped into her hotel room, she peered out the balcony window and saw the three men were back at the bar drinking and staring up at her window. She pulled the curtains closed and glanced at the clock. There was still time for her to slip away and hightail it out of town. Her backpack sat slumped in the corner. Her purse was on the nightstand. All she had to do was shove what she had in there and make a run for it. I’d have to be careful because they’re going to follow me. She ran her fingers through her hair. Think, Ori. Think. No one just suddenly comes up and claims they’re your long-lost mates. Not three men. It hadn’t happened that way with her and Mason. She’d been at a pride gathering, and her cousin had introduced her to Mason. It wasn’t the magical scent that drew her to him. He was kind. They started dating, and he asked her to marry him. It was few and far between that shifters were enticed by scent. It had happened to her parents and she had always wanted it, but it had never happened to her.
No. I’m not a shape-shifter anymore. The cat died in my soul the same time my body did. They probably have me confused because I don’t smell like a vampire, and I don’t smell like a shape-shifter either. Even if I crossed their land and killed a deer. It just can’t be. Orianna gathered her things and threw them on the bed. The urge to flee split her in two and drove her onward. She couldn’t deal with the idea of having another mate, let alone three of them. In the end, they would bring her heartache, and she’d had enough of that. Love wasn’t something she wanted to foray into again. She wasn’t sure if she believed in it anymore. That had always been one of the arguments she had put to her mother. How could a shifter, like her parents, know their mates by instinct or smell even if they didn’t love them at first? Her mother had answered that the love grows over time. Orianna didn’t think she had that animal attraction in her anymore. This was a time when she needed to talk to her mother. A pang of sadness hit her heart. That wasn’t going to be possible ever again. Now her mother was cold in the ground and her home was gone forever. The only lifeline she had to her past was her sister, and it was hard now to talk to her.
A knock echoed through the room. She spun around and clutched her purse to her chest. Just a few more minutes and she could have been gone from the hotel. The knock sounded again but softer this time. Orianna glanced toward the window. It was possible for her to leap from the first-story balcony, but it would cause too much of a ruckus with the people below who remained at the bar. Shit! She went to the door, looked through the peephole, and then opened it. Ryker stood in the doorway.
“Planning on running out?” he asked.
“What? No!” She threw her purse across the room so it landed on her bed.
“You’re a horrible liar.” A smirk curled up the corners of his eyes.
“Why did you come up here?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the doorjamb. He looked comfortable, as if he could wait there all night for her. When the sun came up, she’d be dead to the world. One of the many things she hated about her condition.
“I’m here for you. I won’t let you out of my sight. Pierce would have my hide. He’s hell-bent on coming up here and begging you to return with us. Him being so young and not able to keep control. He’s only been a shifter for a couple of years. Unlike Dallas and me, he was bitten. I’ll let him tell you his story. Can I come in, please?”
The elevator dinged, and the doors squeaked open. A couple strolled out and toward their room. Orianna reluctantly stepped back into the room. It wasn’t prudent to have this conversation in the open where human ears could hear. Ryker entered and took in the state of her room.
“You’re in. Listen before you say anything else. I’m not looking for a relationship with one man, let alone three. There’s a lot about me you don’t know. I can’t give you any cubs. I’m not even a cat any more. That part of me died the day I did. Don’t you get it?” She shook her head while sadness wracked her body. Now would be the time for a good cry. Try as she might, the tears would never come again.
“Hey.” Ryker lifted her chin so she could look into those oddly colored eyes of his and have her breath taken away. “I’m aware of what you are. You’re a beautiful woman who survived a horrible accident. You’ve been shunned by your pride. The mate who swore to protect you and love you turned his back on you because he couldn’t handle it. When I look at you, I don’t see what fate has turned you into. I see a strong, vibrant woman. Whether you know it or not, your cat is still inside of you. Maybe you’ve lost your way to her. We can help you find it, if you let us. If you trust us, just a little, we can make your heart beat once more.”
He swiped his thumb across her lips so she got a quick taste of his tang. It reminded her of cinnamon with a hint of cayenne pepper. Just enough kick to make her desire more. Orianna desperately wanted to believe him. The past five years she had been all alone. Compelled to keep moving because she belonged nowhere: the vampires didn’t embrace her, and neither did the shape-shifters. Her new condition made the sun her enemy, and she was forced to live on the blood of living creatures. Humans were in danger around her. Being a shifter, the appetite for meat, especially from mortals, was something she had learned to suppress. They had killed wild creatures. So far, the temptation to pierce a vein and drink deeply from a neck hadn’t whited out Orianna’s reason yet. Although the hunger for the hot, crimson liquid haunted her no matter how much she repressed the urge.
“Nothing can force my heart to beat. It’s a shriveled husk inside my ribcage. Look, Ryker, I appreciate you coming up here to cheer me up and plead your case. But nothing you say or do—”
Ryker’s mouth pressed into hers. With his body so close, the warmth of it burned through her clothes and inflamed her skin. He slid his fingers along her cheeks until they entwined with her hair. His nails scraped along her scalp. Orianna went rigid while he sucked in her bottom lip, biting on it. Her hands stayed at her side. If she touched him, the she would be giving in.
He released her lips and kissed a line along her cheek. Ryker tugged on her ear. “Please trust us. Tr
ust me.” He held her face gently between his hands.
She saw the sincerity in his eyes and how vulnerable he was. He was offering her not to be alone. That part of her she still considered human reacted to that. No being should be alone. Her mother wouldn’t want her to be by herself. Ryker offered a reprieve from her wandering, from the long nights of traveling and hunting for food. They had plenty of deer on their land. She had passed by many of the docile animals when she traveled through their property. At the time, she had been so focused on getting blood so she could hide her condition the best she could, that she didn’t catch the scent of the three men. Orianna raised her hand and almost touched his face but stopped herself. Instead, she placed her hand on his and then pulled out of his grasp.
“I’ll come with you, but I have a couple of conditions.”
Ryker smiled. “Anything you want.”
Chapter Three
“So, what did she say?” Pierce asked. The anticipation was hard to hide in his tone. He was nearly jumping out of his skin, tearing up a napkin as they waited. A pile of shredded paper lay on the table with several bent and knotted straws.
Ryker glanced up at Orianna’s room and then back at his expectant mate. He sighed. Pierce isn’t going to like her conditions since he’s hell-bent on bringing her back with us. Dallas is along because he’s concerned. I’m not sure he really believes Pierce has found another mate.
“She’ll come back with us, but you can’t expect to jump into bed with her right away. She’s a little skittish.”
“Fair enough. What else?” Pierce asked.
“Orianna wants to get to know us before she declares herself anyone’s mate.”
Pierce nodded, but the frustration was clear on his face. “That isn’t the way it happened with you and Dallas. Once we caught one another’s scent, we knew we were meant for one another.”
Dallas ran his hand over Pierce’s shoulder. Ryker knew he was trying to calm their mate, but Dallas’s dark gaze held his concern. They were both of the same mind. This was something they were doing for Pierce. He had insisted they come after her. If it wasn’t to make him happy, then they would have stayed on their land. Ryker knew exactly what Orianna was, and it didn’t please him he had to convince her to come with them.
“We were lucky. Not all mates catch one another’s scent and get together. Normally the attraction grows the way it does between regular humans,” Dallas commented.
“Part of her is still a shifter. She’s the only one I know of who has survived a vampire turning. It’s made her different. Even if you react to her scent, she doesn’t seem to. Woo her like a normal human woman,” Ryker answered.
Pierce nodded. “I will. Thank you for this. I know we’re all going to be happy together.” He planted his lips on Dallas’s and wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck.
Ryker watched his two mates kiss. His cock firmed at the sight of them embracing. He yearned to take them both and fuck their tight asses. Throwing a woman in the mix of things would disrupt their lifestyles, but he couldn’t say no to Pierce. To deny him a mate would be to cut off part of who he was. And he didn’t want to cause any ripples in their relationship. For the first time in a very long time, Ryker was happy. Now having this outcast woman among them was only going to screw things up.
Pierce released Dallas and then went over to Ryker. He conformed his body to Ryker’s so he could feel the firm muscles beneath the material of his shirt. He clutched Pierce’s arms and held him close while he thrust his tongue into his mate’s mouth. The taste of the beer clung to Pierce’s lips, but Ryker didn’t mind. His cat stirred under the strong grip of his mate. It rubbed against his skin wanting to be released from the fleshy confines of the human body. Orianna had been wrong about what he was. Well, only half wrong. He wasn’t a tiger, but a hybrid. A liger. Because he wasn’t a pureblooded tiger or lion, he wasn’t accepted among his pride and no one had wanted him growing up. Being an outcast had made him work harder to gain his status in the shifter world. Accepting Orianna into the house would upset the delicate balance he had precariously built in the world. It was bad enough he had turned down an offer to work on a sculpture for someone in the local pride. The man had left angry and told him he would blackball him with the local shifter businesses. Now he was inviting a freak into his household, and that would alienate him from the pride even more. Before he could let the frustration of the incident consume him, Pierce plunged his tongue between Ryker’s lips. He touched it with his own. They intertwined, and Ryker enjoyed Pierce’s arms for a moment longer and then released him. The love the other man had for him lit up Pierce’s blue-gray eyes.
“I’m going to get another beer and then take a walk on the beach. I’ll catch you guys later.” Pierce walked away with a bounce in his step and a little sway to his hips that made Ryker growl with delight.
After he disappeared, Ryker turned his attention back to Dallas. His other mate sat across from him on the bar stool and pulled another swig from his beer. He sighed, set the bottle down, and examined the label before turning back to Ryker. “Pierce doesn’t understand. Bringing her under our roof might cause problems with the other prides. She is an outcast among them. He doesn’t see it that way, but he’s only thinking about love. You do know she’s the daughter of the pride leader who just died.”
“You know Orianna?”
“No, but I had heard rumors from others who said that what happened to her was impossible. Every shifter knows that vampire venom is toxic to shifters. But she’s an anomaly. Her scent is something I’ve never come across before.”
Ryker sighed. “Shit! Why did Pierce have to stumble upon her? Honestly, I don’t smell what he does. You?”
Dallas shook his head. “No. She’s got an amazing body. Nice tits.” He let out a low whistle. “I’d love to play with those babies. No offense to you.” He patted the other man’s hand and ran his middle finger over Ryker’s.
“None taken. We both knew that this is going to be difficult. I don’t feel the same pull toward her Pierce does. I laid it on thick to get her interested in coming back with us. If Pierce wasn’t so hell-bent on this, I wouldn’t even go near her. Honestly, she’s a little creepy. Besides her mixed scent, there’s a cold energy about her. The air moves around her as if it doesn’t even acknowledge she’s there. It’s very strange. What if Pierce doesn’t get over his infatuation with her?”
“Then we deal with it. We aren’t going to sever our connection with him because of her. If she causes any trouble, then we’ll address it.” Dallas took another swig of his beer.
“For now we need to think about where we’re going to put her.” Ryker gazed at the ocean.
“How about the guesthouse? You’re not using it as a studio right now.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. It gives her a way to come and go as she pleases, and we can watch her. That and she doesn’t have to be in the house.”
Dallas nodded. “I don’t think she’s that bad, but whatever you want.” He got up from the bar and leaned over Ryker. “I’m going to find Pierce. Come and join us in a bit in the room.” He tugged on Ryker’s ear and squeezed his cock underneath the table. “Already hard, I see. That makes my job so much easier.”
Ryker chuckled and batted his mate’s hand away. “Go find Pierce. I need some time to mull over this drastic change in our lives. Take your time. I’ll be up later.”
The other man nodded and walked to the beach to find their third mate. Ryker fingered the drink before him. He had used all of his charms to convince Orianna to come back with them. Orianna was an attractive woman, but he didn’t find her appealing for mating. When he first sensed her, the hairs rose on the back of his neck. There was a wrongness about her he couldn’t describe. It was one thing for him to be a hybrid, but she wasn’t even that. She was an oddity of nature who shouldn’t have survived the vampire attack she’s been subjected to. Yet, underneath the undead energy was that wild, sensuous, untamed nature of the
cat she had once been. He couldn’t fathom what it was like for her existing in two forms.
By putting her in the guesthouse, he would make sure she didn’t bring her victims back to bury them in the fields. The space wasn’t being used for his studio. Ryker was taking a break from sculpting, which was another reason why he had turned down the commission early that day and angered the pride leader. Having the hiccup of Pierce needing to claim Orianna as his mate was something they would overcome.
He glanced up toward Orianna’s balcony. She stood outside gazing at the horizon. The wind caught her brown hair and blew it into her face. She turned into the wind, probably inhaling the scent of the sea. At that moment, he wondered how this whole scenario would affect her. From what he knew of her, she was cast out of her pride. Her mate had also disowned her. No one knew what happened to her once she was banished. To see her now, he could hardly believe it. A wonder to be alive, and yet she was the ultimate hunter. It eked from her pores how dangerous she had become. A vampire mixed with a shifter made for a deadly combination and an oddity among the supernatural community. That peculiarity was a danger to him and his two mates. The cat in him was uneasy around her. It had taken all his charm and patience for him to go up to her room and play at being attracted to her. She could never find out. He clenched his teeth as he contemplated how far he would have to take the charade. He hoped Pierce would fall out of his obsession with this woman and return to wanting to be only with him and Dallas.
Orianna pushed the hair from her face and caught his gaze. A small smile turned the corners of her lips. However, her eyes remained shadowed by the furrows he saw creased in her brow. She was having doubts about coming back with them. He understood her trepidation. In response he raised his drink to her and then gave her an inviting smile. She waved and then headed back inside. Ryker took another mouthful of his beer and then thought about Dallas and Pierce. The idea of them together warmed his soul. It stirred his libido enough he couldn’t ignore the call of returning to their room and joining in whatever activity they were involved with. He finished his drink, got up, from the table and ventured back to the hotel room.
