by Cara Adams
“Because the price is high so they can entice a developer? Likely it cost a bit to get all the permits and approvals they’d need to have it rezoned as housing.” She nodded, understanding the logic. Obviously the sellers wanted to get the best possible deal for their property.
“Not tract housing, but houses on large allotments, yes.”
Phoenix looked at the men. They both seemed very concerned, and rightly so. It was a worry.
“Can we walk though there and look at the house and land? I’d like to read the signs, too, please.”
“They have a security fence around the property. It’s been empty a long time. It was the subject of a disputed will. But we can drive around to that road and the front of the house if you’d like,” said Callum.
“Yes, please, I would.”
Phoenix couldn’t imagine herself coming up with a solution to the dilemma, but anything that worried two such strong and capable men had to be a major problem. So she’d look and learn, and see if she could think of any way around the problem. She was a fresh mind, a new set of eyes. Maybe she could think of something different they could do.
Chapter Six
Lachlan was touched that Phoenix wanted to help them. As an admin in a publishing company he didn’t imagine she’d have any expert knowledge to advise them, but she was a clever woman, a quick thinker, and some different ideas might come to her. He really should talk to his neighbors again, he supposed. None of them was interested in the idea of the area becoming housing. All of them wanted to remain on the land and none of them was so rich they could consider buying the extra land for themselves.
Lachlan collected the keys to his car while Callum took the bags of fruit inside. Callum got out to open and close all the gates on the way down to the road.
“That’s a hell of a lot of gates. Don’t you get tired of opening and closing them all the time?” she asked.
“It’s only once or twice a day. It’s not a big deal,” said Callum.
“Can’t you get electric gate openers, like you can get electric garage door openers?”
Lachlan took his gaze off the road to stare at Phoenix. He drove in and out every work day opening and closing all four gates, and it had never once occurred to him to think of a solution like that. Fuck, she was smart. Maybe she could solve the problem of the land behind them after all.
Deliberately, he drove a circuitous route, wanting to show Phoenix their neighborhood. He had to concentrate on the road—not that there was a lot of traffic—but he knew Callum would be watching her every moment of the journey. He also let Callum answer her questions, only replying to some of her comments when he couldn’t help himself. She was very alert and had a real sense of appreciation, commenting on everything they passed, from the horses looking over a neighboring farmer’s fence, to a bush vibrant with purple and blue flowers.
He stopped at the entrance to the property for sale, where Phoenix could read the signboard without getting out of the car if she wanted to. She bounced out of the backseat the moment he stopped the vehicle. Callum jumped out after her, following her the few paces to the signboard where she read everything. Lachlan stepped out of the driver’s seat, leaning on the roof of the vehicle, watching her as she finished reading and trotted along the fence line to the next sign. He and Callum had read all the signs several times and they were just either repeating the for sale details, or warning trespasses not to enter the land.
Not that trespassing would be easy to do as the fence had to be eight feet high at least and was topped with barbed wire. It had been installed shortly after the old woman who’d lived here when he and Callum had purchased their farm, had died. Apparently she’d never married and her siblings were both long dead as well. It was their children, her great-nieces and great-nephews, who’d been arguing over the will.
“Where does the school bus stop? Are there children who catch it along this road? Which houses do they live in?” asked Phoenix.
“I don’t know.”
Phoenix stared at him. “You don’t know where the school bus stops? You must know if there are kids and where they live.”
“I don’t think any children live along here but I’m not sure. The farmers either side of us are older people with adult children who don’t live around here,” he said.
“The farmer we borrow the bull from has a son who works on the land with him but he’s finished school. He’d be nineteen. Twenty even maybe,” added Callum.
“Probably twenty. He’s studying farm management over the internet.”
“If they’re going to build homes for families here, the first thing the parents are going to ask, is where’s the school and how are the kids going to get there? If there’s no school bus the parents on the new estate will have to car pool the children to school which means they won’t be able to work full-time jobs in town. So you need to find out that.”
“Likely there’s a school bus route website or something.” Lachlan was waiting to hear what she said next. She might have finished talking for the moment but he could almost see another paragraph forming on her lips. Her mom had been absolutely correct about that. Phoenix had no concept of brevity, or of asking one question at a time.
Phoenix pointed to the sale board. “If you look at the tiny little print at the bottom, you’ll see the letters STCA. I don’t know exactly what it means, but I reckon it’ll be something along the lines of ‘Subject to City Approval’ or words to that effect. In other language, I think this is an ambit claim. My guess would be those squabbling descendants haven’t agreed on anything at all yet, and are simply hoping this will work. There’s nothing saying the division of the land has been approved. Why isn’t there a map showing the new allotments? Buyers would want to see where the new road goes and what position their house would be in. I don’t think this is anything like a done deal.”
Callum picked her up and swung her around in his arms, hugging her. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.”
Lachlan wanted to believe her. What she said sounded very reasonable. But could she possibly be correct or was it just all wishful thinking?
Lachlan was still staring at her, wondering, hoping, thinking, when she took out her cell phone and typed in a number. He had no idea what she was doing, or why she was doing it, but he knew it’d all be obvious shortly.
“This is Phoenix Moore. I’m looking at the farm for sale at…”
She was still talking but he was staring at her. Who the fuck was she talking to? And why?
“How big is each allotment going to be? Why can’t you tell me exactly? Can’t you just read it off the plans? If I need to pay for a set of plans, that’s fine. I can give you—”
Phoenix smiled and punched the air. “Okay. Thanks. Thank you. You’ve been very helpful. Good-bye.”
“There are no plans. You were right,” he said. However had he been so lucky as to find this amazing woman?
“Exactly.” In a sing-song voice, obviously copied from whoever had taken her call she said, “The new owners are still considering their options. At this stage they’re open to selling the farm as a single unit, or dividing up the land to make about ten family parcels.”
“Since they don’t have either plans or approval that means the city authority isn’t all that enamored of the idea, or else the new owners still can’t agree on it,” said Callum slowly.
“Or both of the above. That’s what I think, too. Now, where are we going next?” asked Phoenix.
Phoenix was their woman. She was just so perfect for them and he couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing her in their arms, in their bed, every day and night from now on. But they still had to tell her that they were werewolf shape-shifters. There would be no more appropriate day to tell her than today. Lachlan was terrified she’d spurn them once she knew. But if they didn’t tell her today they really would have been hiding an important fact from her for far too long. She was here with them now. It had to be done. Fuck. He was so scared of what
she might do when she found out.
* * * *
Lachlan handed Callum the keys to their car, so he slid into the driving seat while Lachlan helped Phoenix into the passenger seat. Lachlan hadn’t told him where to go or what to do, so Callum drove them back home, leaving Lachlan to open and close all the gates. But hell, Phoenix was a genius. He’d look into automatic gate opening systems tomorrow. No, not tomorrow. He wanted to spend tomorrow with Phoenix. But Monday for sure.
Back in the house, Callum took Phoenix into the kitchen and put a fresh pot of coffee on for them. Then he took out the tray of double-chocolate chocolate-chip cookies he’d made yesterday. Lachlan disappeared into the office, likely to check the security hadn’t been breached.
When they were all sitting at the table, Lachlan picked up one of Phoenix’s hands, and Callum picked up the other one. He had a premonition that Lachlan was going to tell her about their wolves. Why now, inside the house, and not when they’d been outside and could shift and run for her, he wasn’t sure. But Lachlan was the Dom and was always thinking and planning everything, so Callum trusted him to have the timing correct.
What he didn’t know, what neither of them could possibly know, was how Phoenix would take the revelation. Would she be afraid of them? Would she hate them? Would this mean the end of their relationship? No, it fucking wouldn’t. Even if she was frightened and disgusted he wouldn’t give up on her. Sure, he’d give her as long as she needed to adjust and come to terms with their shape-shifter status, but he wasn’t going to quit loving her or quit showing her he loved her.
Callum watched Phoenix as Lachlan said, “There’s something about ourselves you need to know. Something we don’t usually tell people. But for us to deepen our relationship as a triad, we want to trust you with our story.”
“I thought you were too upset about people getting onto your property just to be worried about them stealing your fruit. The double fences are a sign, too. It’s not just that you’re a Dom, is it?”
“Damn, you’re smart,” said Callum, smiling at her. How ever did they get so lucky as to find this amazing woman?
“Those erotic romances your company publishes. Do any of them ever have paranormal beings in them? Vampires or whatever?”
“Of course. Paranormal is a huge seller. It’s incredibly popular. You must have heard of the Twilight books. But you aren’t vampires. I saw you walking around in the daytime without you covering your skin, or sparkling in the sunlight.”
Callum snorted. “No. We aren’t vampires. But if you’d like me to bite you, I could do that.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Paranormal beings are really very similar to everyone else. It’s genetic. There’s a gene that makes a person, for example, a shape-shifter. But anyone who is different is likely to be persecuted. Humankind has always looked for anyone different from the norm and ostracized them. It used to be gay people, or kids who needed eyeglasses. Now, it’s often someone who is overweight. But it’s also shape-shifters. To announce that difference is to open oneself up to being hounded out of a community as a monster.” Lachlan stopped talking, but Callum didn’t take his gaze away from Phoenix.
She looked thoughtful and then gently pulled her hands out of theirs and leaned back in her chair. “So you’re telling me that shape-shifters are real, not just the stuff of books and movies, and also that one or both of you is some kind of shape-shifter.”
She stared at Callum in a way that pierced him to the soul. It was as if she was weighing up his worth as a person. It wasn’t cruel, but it was comprehensive and straightforward. When she switched her gaze to Lachlan, Callum found himself wanting to heave a sigh of relief. But of course it wasn’t over yet. They still hadn’t told her the truth and she hadn’t been given an opportunity to reply.
“It’s both of you. That’s why you’re so close to each other and get along so well. You understand each other through and through because you’re both different. What are you?”
“Wolves,” said Lachlan.
“And this comes from a gene. So your mom or your dad was a wolf. For both of you.”
“All of them are. Both parents are wolves for both of us.”
“But I will never be a wolf. Because I didn’t get the gene.”
“That’s right.”
“Show me.”
“You want us to turn into wolves right now?”
“Yes, I do. Or doesn’t it work that way? Can you only turn at the full moon or something like that? Does it hurt to turn?”
“It doesn’t hurt and we can transform whenever we wish. But are you sure you want us to do that now?” asked Lachlan.
“Yes, I do, please. I want to sit here and watch you both change so I can understand what it’s like and what happens. You need to understand this is not what I was expecting when I came here last night.”
“We do understand, but we didn’t want to hide this side of ourselves from you. We want to be with you with all of ourselves,” said Callum.
“I understand. So hurry up and shift.”
Callum took her at her word and stood at the end of the table where she could see him fully. He unlaced his boots and took them off, tucking his socks inside them. He pulled his sweater over his head and dropped it on the floor beside his boots, before removing his jeans and then his T-shirt. Finally he shed his briefs, feeling his cock lengthen and stretch as he looked at the woman who meant everything to him. But would she reject them when they changed?
* * * *
Phoenix wasn’t really sure what she’d expected to do with the men today. Well, sex of course, and maybe even a dungeon scene, or some kind of modified BDSM activity perhaps. And a meal of course. She knew they’d likely eat together. But apart from that she’d had no expectations. She’d enjoyed seeing the house and land that was for sale. It was an interesting puzzle that the family was causing so much fuss about it all and she really, really hoped all would go well for Lachlan and Callum with the new owners when it was sold.
But being told shape-shifters were real, that the two men were wolves, was not something her mind was prepared for. She’d never even thought about shape-shifters before. She’d read books about shape-shifting wolves, jaguars, dragons, and other animals as well. She’d even read a story she’d really enjoyed about shape-shifting vultures once, but they were stories. This was real life.
Real life about to get up close and personal. Both men were naked now and standing still. It was almost as if they were waiting for her to give them permission to change. She nodded at them and they just disappeared. She supposed it could be called a shimmer, but one minute two naked men stood at the end of the table, and the next there were a couple of overgrown dogs standing there.
She looked down at the dogs. No, they definitely weren’t dogs. For a start they were too big, but also the paws and tails looked different. Well, maybe they’d pass for dogs, but not a breed she recognized. Not that she knew all that much about dogs even though she’d always planned to adopt one from a shelter one day.
Well, it seemed she might have adopted two without even knowing it.
They didn’t look scary. They were big, really big for dogs, but they didn’t seem to be vicious. Her head told her they’d never hurt her, so she waved at them to come closer. Lachlan stood at her knee. She turned sideways in her chair and gripped his head, looking into intelligent black eyes. She rubbed his ears and stroked along his spine. “Your fur is really soft. I wasn’t expecting that.”
He paced to one side of the room and Callum stood beside her now. His coat was only half a shade lighter than Lachlan’s, but his eyes were definitely brown, not black. He rubbed his head affectionately on her knee and she petted him.
“So I’m guessing you’re born human. When do you first shift? As babies or doesn’t it happen until puberty? Are girls the same as boys? Do you actually kill animals and eat them raw? Do you need to change often or can you go for months without transforming?”
Lachlan and Callu
m both shifted back into human form. “Do you ever ask just one question and let a person answer it before you ask the next one, little witch?” asked Callum, reaching for his underwear and pulling it on.
“What for? You might as well tell me everything at once.”
“To shift a wolf has to be able to visualize his animal, so it’s rare for a very small child to shift. Not until kindergarten age usually. Some people need to change more often than others. We have a friend who really needs to go for a run every day but neither Callum nor I are like that,” said Lachlan.
“We eat plenty of food as humans. Although if we ever were starving we could kill and eat something to survive. To answer one of your other questions, for some generations now, far more male shape-shifters have been born than female. That’s why many wolves are mating in ménages and sharing their woman with their best friend, or brother.”
“That’s right. You have a brother, but Lachlan has both a brother and a sister. His mom managed to have a girl.”
“That’s the secret. My mom remarried, and her second husband is human. When wolves marry humans, they often have half girls and half boys and that’s what she had. I have a stepbrother and a stepsister.”
“How does that work?”
“No one knows. There’s currently a genealogical research project going on to try to solve that problem and work out how wolves have survived in the past and how to continue surviving for the future,” said Callum.
“Now, what about you? How do you feel about us now that you know we’re werewolf shape-shifters?” asked Lachlan.
That was a damn good question. How did she feel? She didn’t hate them. She didn’t consider they’d lied to her or misled her. They’d really told her their secret as soon as they reasonably could. But where did it leave them now? What would happen next?
Chapter Seven
Both men were staring at Phoenix as if they were waiting for her to pass judgment on them. She supposed that in a way she was. “I would never expose your secret and cause you to be ridiculed or persecuted. I’m honored that you trust me enough to tell me the truth.”
