by Maia Dylan
Walking over to join their friends, she grinned when she saw Lucy and her mates on one side of the table, and Faith and her mates sitting around the top corner with Judy sitting talking with Trent as she slowly sipped a frozen margarita. She sighed happily as she took a seat between Luke and Chase at the table with Wyatt sitting across from her. Within moments her men had beers and Cassadee was handing her a frosty glass of strawberry-flavored frozen tequila goodness.
Angel and Mateo hadn’t come tonight but were still in the apartment over the store, and even though she still worried about Angel being there alone, she knew that the entire population of Grey River was watching and looking out for her. One brown-eyed, delicious, and obviously smitten doctor in particular.
Chris spent almost all of his spare time in that apartment with Angel and her baby, and Rowena had never heard her complain. Rowena had yet to meet Noah Carson. Apparently he had been hunting Baxter the night he took Rowena, but Noah had left in the confusion of Angel giving birth and everyone fighting to save her and Xanthe. Angel got this sad look every time the conversation turned to Noah, and it seemed that Chris was trying hard to turn it in that direction often.
Rowena reached for her glass and caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Faith. She was sitting there practically fizzing with excitement and her eyes glistened in glee. There was something going on with her and she was dying to talk about it.
A quick glance around the table and Rowena knew immediately that Judy was the one looking pointedly at her, which meant she was the one who was trying to get her to keep a lid on it for the moment. The conversation at the table had only just started when Faith squealed, “Finally!” Obviously not able to keep silent a moment longer, she reached down and grabbed something from beneath the table.
“We all belong to this club, well Lucy, Cassie, Sophie, and I are card-carrying members and Mom is an associate member. And because of Baxter that makes you a member, too! So we—OK, I—got you this T-shirt and we all have one and it makes you officially part of the pack and part of us and that means you have to tell us everything that is going on with the three hotties and you because the curiosity is driving me crazy and I am pretty sure I see claiming bites on all four of you!” Rowena’s jaw dropped as she listened to Faith talk, never knowing that anyone could actually talk that fast. Her mates had obviously witnessed it because they simply grinned at her in affection. She threw a brightly wrapped package across the table at her.
“This is for you! I had to think twice about the color because I wanted it to be perfect, but I think pink is absolutely your color, and when I asked Luke and Chase about it, they both said they loved to see you in dark pink and I am not sure but I have the feeling that they were thinking something sexual at the time because they got this far off look in their eyes. And oh, my god!” Faith slumped back in her chair. “I thought I was going to burst not giving this to you straight away. I waited exactly five minutes since you came into the bar before I gave it to you. Ha! See, Mom! I can keep something to myself for five minutes.” Faith stopped to take a deep breath and Rowena wasn’t entirely sure she had taken a breath at all during that entire speech.
“Faith, you had to wait until she was seated and then start the five minutes.” Judy shook her head at her daughter-in-law with a huge grin. Faith looked at her for a few seconds.
“Why in the hell”—Faith frowned and threw her hands up in exasperation—“would you think I could do that?”
“Because, Faith, patience is a virtue,” Lucy chipped in.
“Yeah, so I’ve heard. But why is patience a virtue? Why in the hell can’t ‘hurry the fuck up’ be a virtue?”
Everyone threw their heads back and laughed. Rowena laughed so hard tears ran down her cheeks, and it felt good. “Oh Jesus, Faith, you are good for the soul.” Rowena breathed through the stitch that had formed in her side.
“Yeah that’s me.” Faith chuckled. “Chicken soup for the soul. Now, open the damn present already!” Still smiling, Rowena reached for the gift and carefully removed the tape holding the paper together, steadfastly ignoring the impatient groans from the woman across from her.
She eventually uncovered a T-shirt in a dark-pink color that had her blushing as she shot a quick glance at her mates.
“Yep, baby, the color is definitely something sexual between them,” Trent teased as he took a slug of his beer. There were a few sniggers and snorts from their friends. Smiling, she pulled the shirt out and gently unfolded it so that she could read the print on the front.
In clear pale pink cursive writing it read I was targeted by a crazy man and I survived. She gasped as she read it a second time. Then she turned it so that the others could all see. “I love it!” She pulled it on over her sweater and wore it for the rest of the night with pride. There were a lot of reasons why she felt connected to the people of Grey River. The fact that many of the women she now called friends had faced their own demons and lived to tell the story was definitely a part of it.
The rest of the dinner passed with even more laughter and Rowena sat back at one stage and listened to the men talk smack to each other, thinking about how much her life had changed. She had left Dallas to start a new life, but what she never expected to discover was that her life hadn’t actually started until she had laid eyes on her mates. Her life in Dallas and everything that had come before had just been a prelude to her life starting in Grey River.
“You’ve gone quiet, Red.” She looked up and saw that all of her mates were watching her carefully, as tuned to her mood as they always were. She sent them a smile and sighed.
“Just thinking about how much I love my life here in Grey River and how much I love all three of you.” Rowena closed her eyes to revel in the love and warmth that swarmed to her down their link.
“I love you, too, princess.” Luke placed his hand on her knee, giving it a little squeeze. His hand resting high on her thigh, making her quiver knowing how close he was to where she would really like him to put it.
“You know that you’re my world, baby. I love you.” Chase took her hand from where it rested on the table and drew it to his lips. Rowena shivered when she felt the swirl of his tongue on the inside of her wrist. Her pussy clenched and moisture filled her panties.
“Darlin’, you know I love you.” Wyatt dropped his voice to the tone that sent her libido into overdrive. “You are the other half of each of us, the one woman that completes us as men, wolves, and as a family. Marry us.”
“What!” Rowena had almost shouted that out loud, but had managed to hold it back. He never broke his gaze with her, no outward reaction at all, just his beautiful eyes staring intently into hers.
“He said marry us, princess, and I’m asking, too.” Rowena turned to look into Luke’s eyes and saw the same hope that had shone in Wyatt’s. She knew her mouth was open and her shock was clear on her face, but she couldn’t help it.
“Come on, baby, say yes.” Chase pleaded and when she turned to him, his uncertainty made her heart ache. Her first reaction was that it was too fast, that there was no way they could be talking forever after such a relatively short time together. But then, almost like the Fates reached in and turned on a projector, a slideshow of everything they had been through since she had met them ran through her head. The final shots were a kaleidoscope of images and feelings that had been a part of the night they had claimed each other. Forever.
And there was her answer. They were destined by the Fates and mated in truth. She belonged to the Greyson triplets just as they belonged to her. There was no turning back from this, and hell she would never want to. The three of them were true north for her compass.
She smiled and turned so that all three could see the joy and happiness on her face and she watched as their faces softened as well. “My loves, you are my mates. My future is here in Grey River and very much in the arms of the three of you. So yes, my loves, I will marry you.” Rowena felt tears spring to her eyes as she watched all three of the
m fill with elation and joy.
But before any of them could move, a very feminine, “Hell yes! Congratulations!” came from the other end of the table. Everyone turned to Cassadee, who was sitting on AJ’s lap, her hands clasped under her chin and happy tears on her cheeks.
“Were you eavesdropping?” Rowena teased as her friend grinned even wider.
“No way! Well, not really, but the three of you drop your shields super-fast when you get all emotional and I couldn’t help but overhear!” Cassadee wiped the tears in her eyes and her mates hugged her tighter.
“What the hell did I just miss?” Faith glared down the table at her and Rowena grinned back.
“Oh, nothing much, just my mates asking me to marry them and me saying yes.” There was a whole ten seconds where everyone sat and stared at them and then the table erupted!
“Fan-fucking-tastic!” Faith screamed as she barreled toward her and pulled her into a hug. Then people were hugging her, kissing her on the cheeks to the growling complaint of her fiancés—holy cow, she had fiancés!—until it became too much for Wyatt, and with a growl, he pulled her up high against his chest, claiming her mouth in a kiss that had her toes curling.
“Mmmm, you taste delicious, wife,” Wyatt murmured against her lips. Then he placed her gently on her feet and turned her toward Luke, who slammed his mouth to hers. “I love you, I love you, I love you so damn much!” he whispered down their link to her as his kiss turned from scorching hot to sweet and loving.
“I love you, too, Luke,” she whispered against his lips when he put her back on her feet. Then she turned to Chase, who opened his arms and she jumped into them and wrapped her legs around his waist. Knowing that he had to wait the longest for her kiss, she poured as much into it as she could. When she felt his fingers clench convulsively against her hips, she grinned against his lips.
“Minx,” he growled as he pulled back to press soft kisses against her lips.
“But you love me anyway,” she teased.
“Hell, yeah I do,” he proclaimed as she dropped her legs to stand on her own slightly shaky feet and when Wyatt and Luke drew in close around her, she sighed happily.
Her future stretched before her and never had it looked so bright. Hell, with the triple threat Greysons by her side, how could it possibly be anything else?
THE END
WWW.MAIADYLAN.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maia Dylan lives, loves, and works in beautiful New Zealand. She married her best friend and they have two adorable, but stubborn children who obviously take after their father.
Maia’s career has featured a lot of travel, and she has filled her time at airports and in the air with books, books, and more books. Her love of erotic paranormal romance has seen her amass a huge library. She has been an avid reader and lover of ménage romances since she read her first book in this genre about three years ago.
In January of 2015, Maia submitted her first ever manuscript to Siren Publishing. She wasn't at all confident that it would be accepted and in fact she was expecting a nicely worded e-mail with a resounding no! Much to her surprise less than two weeks later she had an acceptance and a signed contract in hand and since then she hasn't looked back.
Outside of writing, Maia loves to eat, so she loves to cook! Her herb garden is legendary, but she still has issues getting tomatoes to grow. She’s been a performer for years, and has even sung on international stages. She would love to own a classic Ford Mustang one day and of course have the opportunity to race it on a race track without fear of a speeding ticket.
Although ultimately her dream is to be able to write full time on a sandy beach with a Mai Tai in hand, she is quite happy to fit her writing in when she can. As long as someone reads her books, gets a laugh, and maybe comes to love her characters as much as she does, then she feels that she is living her dream no matter what!
For all titles by Maia Dylan, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/maia-dylan
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
