by Jade Alters
Well, at least I’m good and sleepy now.
I wash my hands again for good measure and hurry back to bed, crawling under the covers and hoping against hope that nobody heard me being a horny lunatic tonight.
I finally fall asleep. But my sleep is restless. I’m not anymore sated than I was before. Worse, I still don’t know which of them I’d choose if I could only choose one.
Dora
“Dora?”
I’m dreaming, and it’s a good dream. I managed to finally fall into a pleasant sleep, and my dreams have taken me away somewhere wonderful. I dream I’m living in the house with the bear shifters. It’s as if I’ve always lived there. Even better, they’re somehow all with me. They don’t mind sharing at all. We’re all in a relationship together and going about our days in quiet contentment. In my dream, they want to expand their magic shop, and they need the extra help. I get to spend all day just laughing and talking with them as we work. Occasionally, I fall into somebody’s lap, lazily kissing them before I return to whatever I was doing before. Being a nonsensical dream, there’s no real narrative. In the middle of a workday, the five of us fall into bed together, naked and sweaty, just like I imagined last night.
“Dora?”
Now I’m dreaming I’m in bed with Grant, and he’s whispering my name. He strokes my cheek, looking at me lovingly, trying to coax me away. His thick, brown hair, that goes every which way at the best of times, is a disaster from lying in bed with me. He’s smiling so sweetly, amused that I refuse to wake. But I can sense how close he is, and I lean in and kiss him, pulling him closer.
Grant utters a surprised little laugh into my mouth, and I deepen the kiss, curling my tongue around his. He moans now, falling into the kiss with me, and when he finally moves back, I pout.
“Mmm, no…” When I open my eyes, Jesse is looking at me, blushing terribly.
I don’t think I dreamed that kiss, except it was Jesse and not Grant.
“Oh!” I sit up with a start, clapping my hands to my mouth. Jesse is laughing. He sits next to me on the bed, laughing so hard he has to cover his mouth too. “Oh Jesus, did I just kiss you?”
“Well...yeah,” Jesse says. His nose scrunches up when he smiles. It’s the cutest thing. He’s also only wearing pajama pants and no shirt, and I nearly go cross-eyed when I see his perfectly sculpted chest. His abs look like they came from a catalog of flawless six-packs. He pats my shoulder and thoughtfully taps his lips. “But you were asleep.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “I was dreaming…” I open and close my mouth.
Oh, I was just dreaming I was in an orgy with you and your friends. No big.
“I—I was just, ya know...having a weird dream. I’m sorry about that.” I shrug and Jesse’s eyebrows shoot up.
“You really don’t have to apologize for kissing me,” Jesse says, looking a little sheepish. He reaches up to stroke my hair, and I swallow. I don’t know what I’m doing with these men. I just hope I don’t fuck up whatever is actually happening. I want more. More of everything. “It’s my pleasure. Believe me.”
“No, it’s just...” I lick my lips and wince when I say, “I kissed Brett yesterday—”
“That’s okay,” Jesse says. He kisses my cheek now and stands up. Good God is he sexy. He stands in front of me looking a little turned on and very flirtatious with his thin white pajama pants and muscles, his blonde hair still messy from sleep and tousled just right. He bites his lip. “Really. It’s all okay.”
I have no idea what that means, but Jesse just spins on his heel and whistles as he makes his way out. I chuckle to myself. I can’t tell if they’re all separately telling me they’re interested or if it’s just Jesse and Brett… But Grant was also pretty flirty yesterday so…
I’m way too shy to ask about something like that. I’m just going to have to wing it.
I’ve never been a big breakfast person, but the bears seem to be all about their morning meal. There’s a big eggs and bacon production going on, but they’ve also got croissants, which are more my wheelhouse, so I take a croissant and groan with relief when I’m handed a cup of coffee.
I like the informality of breakfast in this house. They all eat in the kitchen where there’s a large table by a corner window that looks out on the street. We’re all still in our pajamas, still stumbling into wakefulness. I’ve only brushed my teeth, and I’m a little embarrassed to be hanging out in my pajamas with no bra. But the guys seem comfortable enough in various states of undress. There’s a whole lot of chest on display though. I clutch my coffee, sipping, and trying not to look like I’m staring at Nathan, and the dark chair hair that dusts his Superman physique, as he stands by the window, ankles crossed, reading something from his iPad and drinking coffee.
“Did you have a nightmare last night?” Grant suddenly pipes up. Everyone looks at him, and I see Nathan frown, mouthing something I can’t make out.
I suddenly realize what Grant is referring to, and I flush beet-red.
“Grant!” Brett appears to kick him under the table, and he yelps, wincing.
Grant coughs and says, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I was actually really wondering if you had a nightmare.”
I take a sip of coffee. Initially, I’m totally embarrassed. But I’m almost amused by how embarrassed the guys seem on my behalf. Apparently, they’ve all guessed exactly what I was doing, except maybe for Grant who I think had a different theory that’s just been proven wrong. Which means they all discussed this, probably before Jesse woke me up. Nathan, however, looks almost pleased, though he tends to be the serious one. I know shifter groups always have an alpha. Nathan is obviously theirs. He’s holding his iPad now, but he’s not looking at it. He’s staring into his coffee, with a smug little smile on his face as if he knows exactly what he was thinking about when I was making myself come last night.
It kind of makes me want to surprise him.
I clear my throat and cross my legs, sitting back in my chair. Everyone’s eyes are on me. “No, I didn’t have a nightmare,” I say lightly. “I was having a really good dream.” I see Grant’s mouth drop open a little and the tension in the room skyrockets. I feel as if all four guys are suddenly radiating a bit of heat, and I press my thighs together. “And you were all in it,” I say softly.
“What…” Brett coughs and waves a hand. He looks like he’s trying to hold himself together, and I cover my mouth, amused. “What exactly were we doing?”
Having finished my croissant now, I stand up from the table and take my coffee, meeting each man’s gaze as I stand there in my tiny shorts and camisole.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” With that, I turn around and walk back to my room. I swing my hips a little, smiling to myself as I feel all their eyes on me.
I take a shower, and I can’t stop myself from giggling, thinking about what happened at breakfast. I also can’t quite help my soapy hand traveling down to touch myself as I think about being with them. Again. Something’s going to have to give at some point with these guys. I can’t just keep masturbating all over their house. Of course, given what I know about men and what I’ve heard about shifters, I’m sure they do it plenty.
When I finally get out of the shower, I put on something casual but cute for the day: jeans, a nice sweater, and my favorite pair of boots. I don’t really know what I’m doing today. I’ve heard that when you get fired, you’re supposed to give yourself a little time to breathe before you jump right into finding a new job. That sounds good to me. I’m not even sure Ted is done fucking with me yet. He accused me of stealing client files and selling them. For all I know, he’s going to try to sue me or something. That thought makes me tense up, and I take a deep breath as I slip in a pair of hoop earrings and put on a fresh coat of lip gloss. I brush out my hair and style it a little. For some reason, I have this sneaking suspicion that one or two of the guys is fascinated with my hair. Might as well play to my strengths.
I�
�m about to leave my room when there’s a soft knock at my door. When I open it, Nathan is there. He looks serious and bothered, though I do see his gaze flick up and down my body even though I’m not wearing anything special. It’s so quick, I almost miss it, but it’s definitely there.
“Dora, there are cops here to see you,” Nathan says. I can tell he’s trying to sound gentle, but I feel the tension in my neck, suddenly, like I’m being throttled.
The only possible reason a cop would want to talk to me is because of Ted. Given the things he accused me of, the thought is terrifying.
“Okay.” My voice sounds so small. I head downstairs, and I do feel comforted when Nathan rests his hand on the small of my back as he follows me.
“Listen,” he says softly. “Just don’t talk too much—”
“But I didn’t do anything,” I say a little too quickly, my voice pitching up much higher than usual. I already feel like I’m on the defensive. Nathan faces me at the foot of the stairs in the middle of the store, and I can see the cops waiting at the front door of the shop. Despite the fact that I’m completely innocent, I can’t help but feel guilty the guys are going through this hassle because of me. And now they’ve got cops swarming their antique store. That’s just bad press.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Nathan says, steadily meeting my gaze. “I promise you, Dora. We’re gonna figure this out.”
I try to swallow around the lump in my throat, but there are tears in my eyes. Nathan gives me a tragic look and wraps his huge arms around me in a hug. I melt into it, feeling so comforted. I’ve needed this since I got fired, or maybe since Ted screamed at me the first time. He’s strong and warm, and I want to rest there forever. Unfortunately, I can’t.
Nathan lets me go, and I heave a sigh. I’ve got my phone, wallet, and keys. I picked up an extra set of car keys at my place last night for the guys so somebody could go pick up my car. At the door, there are two cops, a woman and a man. They’ve got street uniforms on and their patrol car is parked right in front of the store.
“Hello there, ma’am,” the lady cop says, tipping her cap. “I’m Sergeant Beckett. This is my partner, Officer Crawley. You’re Dora Langley, is that correct?” They read me my address and a couple of particulars, and I just nod, paralyzed with fear. I feel like anything is possible at this point. For all I know, I’ve got a murder rap on me or something. “We’re gonna need you to come down to the station for questioning, Miss Langley. Can you come with us?”
I squint at them. I think they need a warrant or something to do this but that seems like making a big fuss when I really didn’t do a goddamn thing. I might be naive, sure, but it’s hard for me to imagine they’re going to put me away for something I didn’t do. What proof could Ted possible have anyway?
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll go with you.”
I hear grumbling behind me and glance back. Grant and Jesse both seem upset that I’m going with the cops, and I see them frowning, whispering furiously with Nathan and Brett who look like they’re trying to calm them.
“Hey!” I holler back at them. I try to muster a smile and shrug. “I’ll be alright. I think. Don’t sweat it.”
“Will you come back here when you’re done?” Grant says. He sounds so laid back usually that hearing him sound so panicked doesn’t make me any more relaxed, but I just nod and smile.
“Just have some hot cocoa ready for me, okay?” I try to joke. The guys just smile tightly.
None of us are happy about this.
But it was when the cops put me in the back of their patrol car like I really am some kind of hardened criminal, that’s when I start to feel real fear. It’s the kind of fear I don’t think I’ve ever really felt before.
My life as I know it really might be over.
Jesse
Well, this totally blows.
I have to admit, I’m not a planning type of guy. I’m good at my job, which is tracking down pieces for our antique shop, as well as stock for the magic shop, and I’m good at what I do. I’m a professional shopper. I love shopping. It’s kind of the best. Who doesn’t like buying shit? I leave the planning stuff to Nathan or Brett because he knows what’s going on with the money. Grant is kind of the same way. We’re two peas in a pod. I buy, Grant sells, Brett and Nathan do everything else. I like to think I’m pretty good at going with the flow. Life is so short, I don’t like to sweat things too much. Nathan and Brett sweat plenty as it is.
So when Grant said Dora was staying at our place, I didn’t think much about it. I was pretty psyched actually. Dora is crazy hot, and I know there’s some kind of freaky, magical thing going on with us. I only want to know more about it. I didn’t expect the sexual tension to ratchet it up several notches, like, immediately. But all the better, I guess. I certainly didn’t mind getting a surprise kiss, the only problem being I want more.
But then the cops took her way.
I really hate cops.
I’ll be honest. I don’t know a shifter who doesn’t hate cops. We’re kind of terrified of them. Partly because they have tasers and guns. Tasers can sometimes make you shift, and sudden stress, in general, can make you shift if you’re in the wrong mood. I don’t know what causes sudden stress more than getting a gun pointed in your face.
So when the cops took Dora away, I was pretty pissed. So was Grant. We’re absolutely sure she hasn’t done a goddamn thing. It must have to do with that Ted asshole accusing her of stealing those files. Typical wolf shifter!
It’s a bias I have. I know that. But still. I wouldn’t say I hate wolf shifters. It’s more of a political thing than anything to do with them as a species. But ugh. Wolf shifters, man.
“Now what?” I ask, crossing my arms. I dressed up a little because I thought I’d be spending the whole day with Dora. I was going to show her some cool stuff in the magic shop and maybe tempt her into having lunch with Grant and I. I wore a tie and everything. It’s a vintage tie, and I’m wearing it with an old checkered shirt because I’m trying to go for an ‘80s New Wave thing, but still, I did dress up.
“She needs a lawyer,” Brett says. We’re all crowded together in the empty space where a piano used to be before we sold it the other day. Grant’s still looking out the window as the patrol drives off with Dora. He looks like a puppy watching his master disappear, and I lean against him, reflexively offering a little comfort.
“I think we should get a P.I.,” Grant says. He turns and sighs, half sitting in the window sill. The bitch of it is, we have to figure out how to help Dora, but we also need to run the shop. This is the problem with running your own business. Although, I imagine it’ll come down to Grant. Usually, if something is going wrong, Grant runs both the antique shop and the magic shop while the rest of us are busy. That’s only in big emergencies when we have to run on a skeleton crew. Grant’s a good salesman, but he can’t do everything. Also, every time he’s left to his own devices something goes missing or the receipts are slightly off. Not that he’s doing it on purpose. He’s just Grant. “We should get a lawyer as well,” Grant clarifies. “But I think we need to get some eyes on this Ted asshole. And shifters only for the lawyer and the P.I. And...no wolves.”
“I hope this doesn’t become a pack war,” Nathan says darkly. “Not that I don’t love a good fight.”
I roll my eyes at that. I can practically hear Nathan growling. He’s probably drooling at the thought of it. Nathan saying he likes a good fight is like a cat saying he kinda likes fish.
“I know a lawyer who would be good,” Grant says, snapping his fingers. “He’s a mountain lion from the city. Or his office is there, but he has one in Coleridge too. I think he’s in town right now.”
“Call him,” Nathan says with a nod. Grant pulls out his phone and runs off to make his call. Even that little act makes me feel slightly better about things. Nathan might be in charge, but I know none of us likes feeling helpless when somebody’s in trouble. It’s just that usually the person in trouble is one of us. Nobody
else has mattered this much. Not in a long time.
“I can’t think of any private investigators off hand,” I mutter, scrolling through the contacts in my phone and scowling. “Not shifters anyway. But I’ll ask around.”
“We need a wizard or a witch too,” Nathan says. He’s rubbing the back of his neck, which is one of his tells. He only does it when he’s super stressed out. But other than putting his fist through a wall or something, it’s his only tell that something is getting to him. “Somebody more advanced than us. Maybe they can reverse that love spell or protect Dora when we can’t.”
Not that I’d need the tell. We’re bears, and we’re pretty empathic. I can feel Nathan’s discomfort a mile away, and I can tell that Grant feels a weighty sense of dread about the whole thing and that Brett is on the verge of being really depressed. Me, I’m optimistic, I guess. I think we’ll get Dora out of this, and we’ll be okay. Then we can do really important things like, oh, I don’t know, give her a few dozen orgasms. That’s what’s at the top of my priority list anyway.
“A good wizard or witch shouldn’t be hard to find.” I’m firing off texts to a few of our most loyal customers who we’ve known a long time and asking about P.I.s. A few of them would be good for our purposes too. I squint, contemplating. “Oh...how about Christa? Grant, Christa?”
Grant’s nibbling on his thumbnails. That’s his tell. Too bad. He hasn’t bitten his nails in years. He must be super into Dora. “Christa?” Grant nods. He knows all the customers best. “Yeah, Christa’s very solid. Advanced magic user and she doesn’t say shit to anybody. She’s a very no-nonsense, head-in-the-game type. And retired. She’d help us for almost nothing too. She’s a good egg.”
“Call her,” Nathan says in his most commanding voice.
Most of us get on our phones to make our calls, and I field texts. Grant ends up calling Christa just as I’m texting her. Oops. She laughs it off and takes Grant’s call. She says she knows a P.I. and would be happy to help us. Good ole Christa. In the meantime, I gather all the information we found on the love spell and compile it for her to look at. It’s not that we aren’t decent magic users, we’re all right, but magic used by shifters is always a little different than magic cast by humans. That’s been the whole problem with the spell Dora cast in the first place. We could use someone with more expertise on our side.
