by T. S. Ryder
Amelia hesitated. There was no reason for her to trust the werewolf, not after the way she had acted. Yet, there was something about her that screamed of the truth. Finally, she nodded. "But I need to take my car."
"No time," Lucinda said. "It's faster to go through the forest, rather than around it."
"I'm not exactly dressed for a hike."
Lucinda rolled her eyes. That was rich, coming from her. Amelia opened her mouth to tell her just that, but before she could, the other woman had backed up against her, picking her up piggy-back style. Amelia yelped, instinctively holding on. Lucinda began walking, and she didn't show any signs that Amelia was heavy to carry. Amelia yelped again, not comfortable being so close to the naked woman.
"I'm not really that type of girl—"
"Hold on," Lucinda interrupted. "I'm going to shift now. Try not to fall off."
Amelia responded by clutching the werewolf tighter. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was disappointed that her first time riding a Wolf wasn't with either of her Alphas, but she dismissed the thought as Lucinda began to shift. She did it slower than when Amelia saw Timothy shift, but that was probably so her rider could adjust her hold as necessary.
The Wolf Amelia ended riding was the size of a horse, and it was all she could do to hold on. Wind whipped in her face, snatching away her breath as Lucinda dodged trees and branches. Searing pain slapped over Amelia's exposed arms and legs as they rushed through the forest, unable to avoid all the twigs that snatched at her. She gritted her teeth and held on tighter.
By the time they emerged from the trees, Amelia's arms and legs were aching with the effort of holding on, and Lucinda was clearly tired, her pace having slowed significantly. A motorbike was sitting just outside the trees. Lucinda shifted back to human form, letting Amelia drop, and climbed onto the bike.
"Get on," she ordered even as Amelia was scrambling on after her. She wrapped her arms around the Wolf's naked waist, too worried about her Alphas to be embarrassed. She could hear fierce snarling in the air already.
The sight that greeted her at the Alphas' house had her heart in her throat. Two giant wolves, both coal-black, were tearing into each other, growling and snarling. Fur was flying everywhere, teeth sinking into flesh. Abruptly, it stopped and they backed away from each other, staring one another in the eye.
Lucinda grabbed Amelia's arm when she jumped off the bike. "They are fighting for dominance. The right to be Alpha and mate you."
"If I don't get both of them, neither of them gets me," Amelia snarled back.
Her voice seemed to jerk the one on the left back from whatever was going on in his brain. He lunged forward again. He grabbed the other one by his scruff, flipping him onto his back. That one responded by kicking with his back legs, hitting his attacker in the stomach. The front paws pressed against his attacker's neck until he choked and released his prey.
"Stop!" Amelia shouted. "Both of you, just stop."
The one that had attacked the other turned ever so slightly. Green eyes shone from the black fur. Timothy. Even in his Wolf's form, Amelia could see the hurt in his eyes. A low growl erupted from Xavier's chest and Timothy glared back, his hackles rising.
They were going to start fighting again, and the cause was clear: her.
After years of friendship, she was the one to come between them? Had Xavier pushed too hard when he told Timothy what she had told him? Her heart broke to see the two Alphas snarling at each other. She dashed forward, ignoring Lucinda's gasp, and planted herself between the two wolves.
The growling stopped immediately.
"You two are going to stop fighting and tell me what happened!" she shouted, looking from one to the other as tears filled her eyes. She pointed at Timothy. "Whatever is going on in your head, you can just forget about it. I want you! Yeah," she continued as his eyes widened, "I want you. But unless you can take your head out of your butt and put a little trust in me, it's over. Today, one way or another, either the three of us are going to be together or I leave, never to see either one of you again!"
Both wolves began backing up from her. Timothy's gaze went from her to Xavier. He shook his head, as though finally coming to his senses. Amelia held her breath, waiting. What would she do if they started fighting again?
"Please," she whispered. "Timothy…"
***
Xavier could only hope that Timothy would listen for once in his life. He didn't like how Amelia was between them, but if there was one thing he knew, it was that Timothy wouldn't harm her. His attack on Xavier was because of Alpha rage. He assumed there was a threat to his position and mate, and thus reacted to it. His instincts to protect his mate would be even stronger than his need to establish dominance, though.
Slowly, Xavier shifted back to his human form. Timothy growled when he stepped up beside Amelia, but the Lakeland Alpha didn't move.
"Tim, come on. We have been best friends our whole lives. You said that I betrayed you. How? What did I do? I didn't sleep with Amelia. All I did was hold her while she cried. I would never betray you. You know that."
The growl lessened and Timothy cocked his head to one side. Regret flashed in his green eyes and Xavier let out a deep breath. Good. The Alpha was retreating from him, returning as his friend and partner. Cautiously, he stepped away from Amelia, towards the other werewolf.
"Let's talk."
Timothy's form shifted from Wolf to human and he dropped to his knees, bowing his head. His chest heaved, fingers clawing into the dirt. After letting him recover his senses for a long moment, Xavier knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go inside."
Timothy nodded. "Do you really want me?"
"Yes. Yes, I want you."
"Let's get inside and patch up these scrapes," Xavier said, helping his partner to his feet. He winced as his ribs ached. "Then, we need to talk. You need to tell us what happened."
Timothy grunted, and his head swung round, focusing on Lucinda. She paled and backed up a step.
"You will wait for us inside," Timothy ordered.
The female dropped her head and nodded, following the triad in.
Chapter Nine
Amelia forced herself to not interrupt while Lucinda confessed to what she did and why she did it. The Alphas both looked grim and told the werewolf female they would decide what to do with her at another time and sent her on her way. After she was gone, Timothy hung his head, staring at the floor as he stumbled over an apology.
"I don't know if I can forget it that easily," Amelia said slowly. "I'm also not so sure that I can really forgive you right now."
"I understand," Timothy said. He glanced up at her. "If the tables were turned, I'm not sure I'd ever want anything to do with me again."
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave again."
"It doesn't?"
Amelia shook her head. She leaned against him. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't angry over the whole situation – it was still very raw and new. Of course, she was still angry. "In the future, though, you have to promise to hear me out, no matter what you think. No more leaping to conclusions and then attacking somebody. I'm sorry for jumping to my own conclusions. I think we can try to start this over. "
A light knock on the door interrupted them. Xavier sighed, but left Timothy's side and went to see who it was. Amelia leaned to one side, trying to look through the kitchen to the front step, but she couldn't see who it was. Timothy stayed where he was, holding Amelia's hand.
"I'm sorry for everything I thought about you," he said. "It was stupid of me."
Amelia nodded her agreement but shifted closer to him. "Not any stupider than what I thought."
Xavier returned to the room then, tension radiating from him. Behind was a dozen or so old werewolves who looked just as ill at ease as he did. Timothy tensed when he saw them and got to his feet. The two Alphas stood together. Amelia didn't hesitate before she took her place beside them, her shoulders back and her he
ad up.
One of them stepped forward. "The council has discussed the situation."
"Have you decided to abide by our leadership or challenge us?" Xavier asked calmly.
The old man scowled. "Even if we are not pleased with our Alphas mating a human, we have to remember what is most important, and that is the solidarity between the packs. We are aware that my granddaughter's efforts to separate you from the human could have had disastrous consequences."
So this was Amelia's grandfather? The man who told her she deserved to be the Alpha female? Amelia narrowed her eyes.
"We will accept the human, if only because a human female Alpha is better than tearing our two packs apart when we need one another."
Did he really think that it was going to be that easy? Amelia put her hands on her hips, glaring at the old man. "Excuse me, but that's not good enough."
The council all looked at her with raised brows, clearly caught off guard that she would speak to them. Or maybe it was her tone that they were surprised about. In any case, if they thought that she was just going to be the wallflower in this triad and let them talk about her as if she wasn't in the room, they were sorely mistaken.
"First off, Lucinda didn't get those ideas in her head by herself. This falls just as much upon you and how you have been telling her that she was going to be the Alpha female from the time she was a little girl. Second, I am not just some human that your Alphas are going to mate instead of another werewolf. I am the completion of their Alpha triad, and I will not be spoken of like I'm a Band-Aid slapped on a problem, understood?"
Lucinda's grandfather stared at her with a slack jaw.
"Third," Amelia continued, taking his silence as understanding. She realized too late that she didn't have a third point. "Uh… I want an apology. And from this day forward, you will not talk about me as though I'm not present."
The council stared at her. The old man mumbled an apology, but a smile tugged at his lips.
"Are you sure she isn't the Alpha female of another pack?"
Amelia put her hands on her hips. "What did I just say?"
"I'm sorry. Are you really human?"
"Yes," she replied. "And don't you forget that. It doesn't make me any less worthy of being mated to your Alphas."
"I see that now." The old man nodded. "Welcome to the pack, Amelia."
Amelia nodded graciously back. Well, that was over easier than she thought it would be. She supposed the Alphas fighting was enough to get anybody to come to their senses.
Now it was just a matter of introducing her two mates to her brother…
***
A couple weeks later, Amelia had Adrian over to her house so she could introduce her brother to her two Alphas. He arrived, scowling, and her heart sunk instantly. Fortunately, he didn't bring Mr. Abs with him, which was something he had threatened to do for a while. The Alphas wore dress shirts with jeans, looking very neat and presentable. As nervous as she was, Amelia had high hopes that this would go well.
Adrian, however, didn't seem to be interested in having pleasant conversation. "So which one of you was it that had my sister calling me in tears because she thought you were just after her to be a breeding mare?"
Amelia winced. "Adrian, it wasn't either of them. I told you that. There was a woman who lied to me about it."
"Lucinda," Xavier added. "She has apologized for her actions, and we believe she is sincere."
"That's it? You're not going to punish her?"
"We're Alphas, not dictators," Timothy said. "As personally upsetting as it is, she didn't break any laws. If we used our position to settle personal grievances, it would be an abuse of power, wouldn't it?"
Adrian relaxed a little, drinking his cup of wine. "I'm glad that you two seem reasonable, because if either one of you ever makes my little sister cry again, I'll have to come after you with a twelve-gauge shotgun."
"Adrian!" Amelia stared in shock at her brother. "Why couldn't you have been this protective when I said I didn't want anything to do with Mr. Abs? You pushed and pushed me to be with scumbags. When I finally find two guys who I actually like and who don't say 'Babe, make me a sandwich,' all the time, you threaten them with a shotgun? What is that?"
"I'm just looking out for you."
Amelia rolled her eyes and threw her napkin in her plate. He was an idiot. "I'm going for a walk. I can't handle this right now."
***
"I'll talk with her," Xavier said, getting up from the table.
“Great,” Timothy mumbled, not looking forward to be alone with Amelia's brother, who clearly didn't like them.
"So, Adrian," he said, trying to mimic Xavier's calm way of talking. "Why do you object to Xavier and I? Is it because we're werewolves?"
"I don’t have anything against werewolves."
That wasn't what it sounded like, but Timothy elected to go a different route. "Then is it because of the triad dynamic?"
Adrian made a face but shook his head. "I can't pretend to understand that, but if it's what Amelia wants…"
"Then why? Amelia has told us about your friend Mr. Thompson. Why are you so insistent that they be together?"
Pushing back from the table, Adrian folded his arms. "Daniel would give her a good, stable life. He'd provide for her, she wouldn’t want for anything. He would protect her. Yeah, he's a bit immature, but he'd change once he realized what a catch Amelia was. But with you two, how does she know what to expect? You've known each other for how long? It's already been a roller coaster. At least with Daniel she knows he won't just up and leave her!"
"And neither will Xavier and I," Timothy replied calmly. "Yes, our relationship didn't get off to the best start, but we have made a commitment to communicate from now on. I'm confident that we can make it work. Xavier and I love your sister. We have a steady income; she won't want for anything. We will protect her – to the death if need be."
Adrian narrowed his eyes. He muttered something in Spanish but stuck out his hand. “I will try to be more supportive of my sister's choices. But I'm serious about the shotgun. If you ever hurt her…"
Timothy nodded seriously as he shook Adrian's hand. "I understand. We hurt her, we get our heads blown off."
Adrian cracked a smile. "Good. Now, let's go find my sister. Food's getting cold."
Chapter Ten
"We're almost there."
"Okay, I just need to rest a moment."
Amelia paused to drink water and rest her aching calves. Timothy and Xavier paused on either side of her. It was something that they were very good at, giving her time to rest without seeming impatient for her to continue.
For the past three months since the Alphas had brought this up, she had been doing extra hiking to prepare to climb this mountain with them. She wasn't especially outdoorsy, so the hike presented her with a challenge, but she wanted to do it all on her own and was proud of herself for only having to take three breaks so far. Her legs were burning, though, and she would be glad when they made it to the top.
As they started walking again, Amelia considered the last time they had dinner with her brother. He had brought along his wife and children for the first time, and Amelia was hopeful that he was coming around. At least he had stopped bringing up Mr. Abs. The man himself had showed up a couple of times, but he finally seemed to get that Amelia was telling him no, not try harder.
The packs also seemed to be handling the situation better now. Amelia had started spending nights with the Alphas on the packlands, thus there were no more midnight serenades from females howling outside their windows, hoping to entice them away from their human choice.
"You're doing really well," Xavier encouraged her as they began walking up the mountain again. "Only fifty feet left or so."
Amelia sighed and pushed on.
When they reached the top, Amelia couldn't stifle a gasp. They emerged on a wide, open clifftop. The ground beneath her feet was covered in soft grass and the surrounding view was simply breathtaking.
A deep valley covered in trees looked as soft as velvet. A ribbon of a river running through the valley. The tiny anthills of cities. Amelia went as close to the edge as she dared, drinking it all in.
"Wow."
"I know, right?" Timothy grinned at her. "A hard journey to make, but so worth it in the end."
Amelia nodded. "Thank you for bringing me up here."
"It was our pleasure." Xavier moved up behind her, nuzzling into her neck. "We talked it over and thought that this would be the perfect place."
Amelia turned a puzzled look on him. "Perfect place for what?"
Her Alphas gave each other a conspirator's glance that had Amelia's mouth going dry. It had been three months since they started to seriously see each other… could it be that they wanted their first time to be out here in the open air, with nature all around them?
Xavier pulled a blanket out of his pack and laid it on the ground. Oh, boy.
"What if someone sees?" she blurted.
"Nobody will see us up here," Timothy assured her, taking her by the hand.
Amelia's face and body heated. Excitement was kicking all through her, and she struggled to think clearly – to know what the rational choice was. "How is this going to work? Is it one at a time or… double?"
Timothy reached under her shirt and tugged it off over her head. "Xavier and I have talked about it… If you want, you and I will start, and then we'll see what you want after a bit. We'd like to make you a sandwich, but it's up to you. There's no rush. We have our whole lives together."
Amelia nodded, her heart pounding as Xavier sidled up behind her. He unfastened her bra and tossed it aside while Timothy undid her jeans. Xavier's big hands cupped her large breasts, his mouth sucking at her neck, sending tingles flooding her body. A hand slid between her legs. Timothy stepped back, stripping off his own clothes as he watched Xavier prepare her. He took himself in his hand, readying himself.
