A Time for Change

by Marquaylla Lorette

  When Chelsea didn’t move her hands, James smacked her ass, causing her to become wetter, her juices flowing over Ace’s cock. “James, I think our mate likes to be spanked. She just gushed all over my cock.”

  “Is that right, well let’s see how wet we can make her,” James said, with a wicked glint to his eye.

  “Mmm, how about you make me come, are you capable of that?” Chelsea teased her mates.

  Again James spanked her ass, making her ass cheek burn, turning her on even more. Chelsea complied and moved her hands so they were next to Ace’s head.

  In and out they went, building up their speed, James smacking Chelsea’s ass when she tried to move her hips forward or back, not sure which way she wanted to go, but needing to move.

  “Please let me come,” Chelsea panted to her mates. James and Ace continued moving in and out of her, alternating turns. They pounded into her. She was loving how all three were connected. As they approached their orgasms, James and Ace thrust into at the same time, filling her to the hilt and her fangs dropped, knowing she was close, and close to marking her mates. “Guys,” she hissed through her fangs, “I’m gonna come.”

  “Go ahead, babe,” Ace said through his fangs.

  “I’m there, too, loves,” James said.

  Chelsea leaned down, licked Ace’s neck where it met his shoulder, and bit, drawing his blood into her mouth, as she felt James lean down and lick the junction of her neck and shoulder, and bit down on one side, and Ace leaning up and biting her on the other, throwing her into an orgasm so powerful, she saw stars. When her vision cleared the men pushed one final time as they both shot their seed deep inside her, filling her with warmth.

  Instinct took over, she pulled her fangs from Ace’s neck and licked the blood off, then turned her head to James’s neck and bit down, drawing his blood into her mouth, claiming him. When she pulled back, James reached over her and bit Ace’s neck on the opposite side of her claim, and Ace bit him, each claiming the other, their connection snapping into place.

  After coming down from her powerful orgasm, Chelsea realized she was lying in bed, no longer on top of Ace, wondering how the hell she got there and how long she was out of it. Looking left and right, she saw her mates laying on each side of her, cocooning her in between them, keeping her safe, and loved.

  Shit, in my wildest dreams I never imagined it would feel so good, Chelsea thought as her eyes drifted closed, her body exhausted from her climax. Chelsea felt James get up and heard him walk to the bathroom, only to return moments later with warm washcloths. He cleaned her first, then leaned over and cleaned Ace. “I could have done that,” she said to James.

  “I know, but I like to take care of my mates, and that includes cleaning you afterwards,” James informed her and Ace. Throwing the washcloths toward the bathroom, James climbed into bed, leaning over to kiss Ace on the lips, then her, before he pulled the covers over the three of them and laid down himself.

  Closing her eyes, Chelsea felt whole for the first time ever, and she knew it was because of her two mates, and them claiming each other. She felt her body relax as she heard Ace’s and James’s breathing even out as they fell into a deep sleep. The last thought she had before sleep overtook her was how lucky she was to have these two wonderful men for mates.

  ***

  James sat up quickly in the middle of the night and yelled out his sister’s name, waking his mates in the process.

  “What is going on, James?” Ace asked as James jumped out of bed and began pulling on his clothes.

  “Something is wrong with Charity. I can feel it. I think when we claimed each other last night we also connected with each other’s family,” Chelsea said.

  They were all dressed and not even five minutes later were heading out the door. Then they heard Trevor growl and the sound of glass crashing, causing them to all rush out the door quickly.

  James threw Charity and Trevor’s suite door open, hitting one of the intruders in the face in the process. When James saw his sister battling with a shifter who was more than likely involved with the murder of their parents, he immediately shifted into his lion and roared loud enough to wake and alert the whole house. James had tunnel vision on the shifters who scents were in his parents’ home that night. He made sure to roar at his sister while in lion form, pointing out the shifters who were in their parents’ home to her that way, since everyone else was a wolf in the room. What he didn’t expect was for his mates to understand him as well and growl back, letting him know they had the others in control and for him and Charity to focus solely on those who killed their parents.

  By this time, Jadelyn, Eli, Greg, Treasure, and some of the Enforcers arrived to Charity’s room, leaving other Enforcers on guard throughout the house just in case the scene in Charity and Trevor’s room was a decoy.

  James pounced on two out of the three shifters who were there when his parents were killed, as Charity continued to battle with the other one. James knew Charity was just torturing the shifter she had or else he would already have been killed. James extended his sharp claws as far as they could go and placed them on the necks of the two shifters who were under him. He then placed all his weight onto his palms and watched as his claws slowly sank into their necks. James didn’t stop until he severed their arteries.

  Charity knocked her opponent down and dragged him to her brother who was still in lion form. She tapped into her cat abilities and roared at her brother. ‘Let’s rip him apart piece by piece like he helped do to our parents.’

  James was shocked that she knew how their parents looked when they were killed, until he realized she must have used her powers on him or he forgot to block the images in his mind from her. James shifted back and looked around the room littered with the wolf shifter bodies who had snuck into his sister’s room.

  “No, Charity, we will not rip him apart like he did to our parents. We are going to send him back to the others he works for with a message,” James said after he shifted.

  “What message would that be?” Cornelius asked.

  “That they will have two options: either I hunt all of them down, one by one, and kill them all the way they did my parents if they continue with this or the second option is to step back and accept the changes on the Isle of Paradise. If they harm any of my family or friends again they will forfeit the right of the second option,” James said as he held the shifter his sister had toyed with.

  James walked toward his sister’s window and hung the shifter out of it. “You are going to leave the same way you came,” James said right before dropping the man out of the window.

  “What happened?” James asked as he turned toward Charity and Trevor.

  Before either of them could answer, Baron ran through the door asking what happened. They all walked to the living room. Charity and Trevor told them how they were awakened by the sound of their window breaking right before wolf shifters came barreling in.

  Baron would have been there but an emergency council meeting was called. He hated to have to tell Chelsea, James, and Ace this, but he had to so they would be prepared when it happened. “James, I have to tell you and your mates something. Instead of a little under two weeks, the Beta Battle is happening in three days instead. Also, there has been another change. Instead of the winner of all the battles having a week off, the battle will be the next day now. What that means is whoever loses three out of the four battles will fight for the chance to be in the finals that same night. We will only have a two to three hour break before the battle to see who will make it to the finale with the winner of the battle. Remember, the battle will be the following day instead of the following week.

  “I couldn’t prevent this from happening. I would if I could but a petition has been signed by many shifters and is now enforced. The council just received the petition tonight and couldn’t stop it either due to Isle rules.

  “My advice, as well as my First Beta’s and Second Beta’s, regarding the battle, is for you not to pract
ice anymore, you all are ready. The best thing to do now is relax, there is such a thing as too much practice. I cannot have any of you exhausted during the battle. Continue the plans with your friends tomorrow but rest the next two days,” Baron was exhausted and they all could hear it through his voice as he spoke.

  “Come on, Baron, you cannot help anyone either if you are too exhausted,” Rose said as she reached for his hand.

  “But I have to help the pups come up with a plan first and then I will go to bed,” Baron said.

  “Baron, they are not pups anymore, they can come up with their own plans. They will be in charge of the whole Isle soon and need to learn how to make decisions and plans on their own. Have you forgotten that they are the ones who rescued Ella and I, and defeated the witch who killed your first mate? And that goes for Cornelius and Gabe as well. I know it is hard and you want to protect them, but you have to let them go,” Rose said as she pulled Baron up and began to drag him toward their room.

  Baron knew Rose was right. He just wanted to hold on to all of them a little while longer, not just Jadelyn. Baron knew he had to let go soon, but he didn’t know how.

  Chelsea, and her mates waited until all of their parents left for their rooms and the Enforcers left to guard every entrance point into the Alpha’s house before either of them spoke.

  “We have three days now instead of a week and a half for the battle. I would like to get one more practice in tomorrow before we go camping and whatever else we are doing, so I will need all of you to battle against us like we have done the other day. I also think we need to have motion sensors installed at the Alpha and Beta house along with a security system. We can have Cornelius pick his most trusted Enforcers to monitor the system,” James said.

  Everyone agreed with James before heading back to their beds.

  “Charity, I will add a bed in our room for you,” James said. He didn’t want to think about what could have happened to Charity if he hadn’t woken up, so he was going to have her sleep in his room, that way he could know she was truly safe.

  Charity laughed, she couldn’t believe her brother was trying to make her sleep in the same room as him and his mates. James and her parents were always overprotective but not that overprotective. She knew some of this had to do with him finding their parents the way he had and not wanting to lose her. So she didn’t jump up and argue her point with him like she would have done before her parents died. Instead, she took a more gentle approach with him and gave him some reassurances. “James, I am not sleeping in the same room with you and your mates. Trevor had his father station an Enforcer outside and at the door of all of our rooms already. We will be fine, remember, I had the same training you had. I can protect myself.”

  They all laughed at James’s overprotectiveness before heading back to their beds. Charity and Trevor headed to a new bedroom that Rose had prepared for them, while a couple of the Enforcers fixed their window throughout the night.

  Chapter Six

  Chelsea was the first one to wake the next morning. She quietly slipped out of James’s and Ace’s arms, being careful not to wake them, and headed for the shower.

  Last night after the impromptu meeting, Ace and James, along with Eli, had setup the security system right away after talking to Cornelius and Baron instead of going to bed like everyone else. They had also setup a security control room next to the panic rooms in the attic and basement. Right now, there were three members of the Enforcer team in each control room. There would be a shift change in the afternoon, one in the evening, one at night, and another one in the morning.

  Chelsea took a quick shower and got dressed even quicker; she had many things to accomplish before the camping trip and practice battle. Camping was a relaxing activity for her and her friends. Cooking was also a relaxing activity for Chelsea; instead of getting angry and stomping around or throwing things like others, she cooked.

  Chelsea started a pot of coffee once she arrived in the kitchen. She knew the coffee would wake Jadelyn and send her down. She was packing food for all of them for the camping trip when Jadelyn finally made her way down the stairs and went straight for the coffee.

  “Jadelyn, can you get some board games and other games out for the camping trip. I already packed all of the food we will need for tonight and tomorrow morning,” Chelsea said as she began to make french toast for breakfast.

  “Yes, but only if you make bacon and sausage for breakfast this morning with the french toast,” Jadelyn said as she poured herself another cup of coffee.

  “I will even throw in some fresh strawberries and cantaloupes if you have the guys get out the sleeping bags and tents when they come down,” Chelsea said as she grabbed the eggs, fresh fruit, and sausage out of the refrigerator. Chelsea loved to cook and cooked for the whole Alpha house, including the Enforcers, when she was home and had enough time to do so.

  Two hours later, Chelsea was placing over fifty pieces of french toast on the table. A ton of eggs, bacon, sausage, and fresh fruit was laid out on the table as well so it would be a buffet style breakfast. She also placed enough warm maple and pecan syrup, coffee, and orange juice on the table for everyone.

  James, Greg, Eli, Ace, and Trevor were placing the last items they needed to go camping on the back porch when they heard Chelsea ring the bell alerting them all that breakfast was ready. Everyone, including the Enforcers, all came running for the kitchen. The Enforcers quickly filled their plates and made their way back to their posts but not before thanking Chelsea.

  Chelsea, Jadelyn, Charity, and Treasure made their way to the sunroom with their mates following not too far behind them with their food.

  The sunroom was located in the back of the house next to the garden. On the right side of the sunroom was a reading and sitting area. Behind the reading and sitting area was a coffee/tea area. On the left side was a huge dining room table where they would be having breakfast.

  Chelsea had to shield her eyes from the sun when she walked in but the view of the garden was worth the little time spent adjusting to the light. She sat in the middle of her mates while Charity sat next to James and Trevor next to her. On the opposite side of the table were Eli, Jadelyn, Treasure, and Greg. They lightly chatted over the next thirty minutes as they ate breakfast.

  An hour later, they were all in the backyard waiting for Eli to signal the start of the next practice battle. The rules and who they were fighting was the same as the last practice battle they had.

  Chelsea and the others not battling with James, Trevor, and Greg all sat on the porch to watch them.

  They practiced the whole morning and half the afternoon away until Chelsea called a stop. She wanted to get to the campsite and have everything setup before evening so she stopped the practice a little earlier than James wanted to.

  ***

  The group Shifters with a Cause immediately called for a meeting. When the male wolf shifter came in bruised from Charity’s torture and with a message from James, the leader of Shifters with a Cause was pissed. He had sent over ten shifters to the Alpha’s house to kill Charity and her mate. He thought Charity would be an easier target since she was a female and only had one mate with her at the time. He was surprised that she killed five shifters by herself before her brother even entered the room. He wasn’t expecting the connection that she had with her brother to be that strong. The leader of the group knew he had to pull in more shifters to get the job done.

  So he called in someone who wanted justice for their family. He didn’t tell them why they were going after James and Charity, just who their mates and friends were. If they knew he was going after them because their parents were different species, making Charity and James mixed shifters, they wouldn’t have come aboard to help him with his plans for total control of the entire Alpha house.

  He didn’t like that the Alpha or his Betas and Enforcers were receptive to James and his sister. So now, instead of just Charity, James and maybe their mates, he was coming after all of them, includi
ng the Alpha and his family.

  The non-shifter he was waiting for finally arrived with her guards, who were going to help him. He handed one of her guards a note and said to him, “Here is what I need you to do. Take the note, read it, and do as it says. Come back for more information when the first part is complete.”

  “They will. Here are their numbers, call them if you need anything else or to switch to a plan B, and remember, next time it might be one of my sisters coming in when you call instead of me. I still have a colony to set up just in case a war breaks out with a couple of shifters,” the non-shifter female said as she handed him a piece of paper with her guards’ numbers on it.

  The leader of the group watched until the female and her guards left before turning to his shifters. “Follow them, I don’t trust her.”

  “Well why did you give her guards an assignment instead of giving it to one of us?” one of his followers asked.

  “It is their first test to see if we can trust them with other assignments. Now follow them before they get away,” the leader said. The male shifter immediately shifted and followed the non-shifters scents who were just in there only moments ago.

  The leader of the group gathered his things to make his way home to his mate. His mate had no idea what he was doing and would leave, plus tell the Alpha if she found out.

  The leader of the Shifter with a Cause knew the other shifters would leave if they knew why he was really doing this. Katarina was supposed to be his mate; he was the only shifter with Beta blood on the Isle without a second mate. Katarina was supposed to un-mate with Zuri and when she did, she was supposed to mate with him, but she didn’t. Instead, she chose to leave the Isle and continue to be with a lion shifter instead of a wolf shifter.