Chasing Peace, Love & Fur [3xtasy Lake 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Corinne Davies

  “Starting with this whole equality and fears of jealously bullshit,” Nouel chimed in from the driver’s seat. She turned her head and met his gaze in the mirror.

  “It’s true. I was…am still worried that I might cause any strife between the three of you.”

  “Let us worry about that.” Luc moved to her other foot. “We’ll keep the communication open and if one of us needs time alone or some one-on-one time then we’ll say it.

  Georges wrapped his arms around her torso and tucked the blanket around her. “As for jealousy between the three of us, don’t you worry about that. There might be a few hiccups along the way, but we’re committed to making this work with you, Clara.”

  “A shattered garden door is a bit drastic for a mere hiccup.” Clara snuggled against Georges’s warm body as Luc massaged her toes and she felt the tension melt out of her muscles.

  “True, but we have it cleaned up and sealed for now and that’s not going to happen again. Just relax and let me hold you for now. I imagine that each of us is going to need to reassure ourselves that you are going to stay with us. You will stay for a little while longer? Give this a chance.”

  Clara knew she should run and run fast and far. Her heart was already compromised and if she stayed it would only be more difficult later on. But could she live with herself not knowing what could have been?

  * * * *

  “This would be much easier if you were naked, you know.”

  Clara scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Nouel’s head. “You’re demented. It’s freezing out. I’m not taking a single stitch of clothing off.”

  The three of them had convinced her over breakfast to go for a walk in the forest with them. Little did she know the perfect trail they were talking about was out in the middle of the forest. The three of them had been focused completely on her from the moment she woke up this morning, snuggled up against Nouel in his bed. She vaguely remembered falling asleep in Luc’s arms in front of the fireplace as the four of them talked about everything and nothing last night.

  “Looks like I have to be the one to go first.” Luc grinned and stripped off his down vest and then pulled his T-shirt over his head. His broad chest was sprinkled with a liberal amount of soft brown hair, and she remembered how it had tickled her nipples when she rubbed against it. He stepped out of his boots and slid his pants down to his thighs when the air around him shimmered and in a blink a huge stag was stepping out of the material.

  She’d never realized how big moose really were. A large, thick, dangerous-looking rack sat on his head like a crown. When she stepped closer and reached out her hand, he lowered his head so she could feel them. “I didn’t expect you to be soft.”

  Luc snorted as if she’d insulted him, making her laugh. He lifted his head and bit at the toque on her head, pulling it off and prancing away.

  Clara tried to grab for her hat but he pranced back a few steps. “Hey! Give that back, you big bully.”

  She ignored the laughter from Georges and Nouel as she chased after Luc. The big jerk kept looking back at her, as if to dare her to catch up to him. He didn’t run too fast but just enough to stay ahead of her.

  He’d charged through a dense area and out into an open space when a sickening twack reached her ears. Something warm splattered on her face as Luc’s front legs crumpled and he hit the ground, a thin deadly looking bolt sticking out of his neck.

  “No!” Clara screamed, her feet frozen to the ground as she gazed in horror at the scene in front of her. Lifting her hand, she wiped at her cheeks and looked down at the bright red smear on her fingers and another shrill scream filled the air.

  Clara felt like her mind was shattering as the bear she thought she had control over charged to the surface, exploding out of the mental prison she’d kept it in.

  Free from the suffocating darkness it had been kept in, the bear roared out her anger, focusing on the source. She ran past the animal on the ground and headed straight for the putrid human scent ahead of her. Instinct demanded that she kill the human who threatened what was hers. She lifted up onto two feet, proving she was the mightier animal, when a crack echoed in the air and a sharp pain made her roar again. She swung out her paws to kill what had hurt her but she couldn’t find it. The smell of human markers hung heavily in the air. The bear nosed around, looking for the source, but the human was gone. She bounded back to the fallen animal, not understanding why she was drawn to it. She smacked the side of it with her muzzle, trying to encourage it to move before the human came back, but the creature didn’t move.

  Chapter Nine

  “Shhhh…” Nouel stepped slowly toward the panting animal. “Look at me, Clarabear, you know who we are.”

  The large creature swung its massive head in his direction. Jet-black eyes peered at him as she snorted and growled. Her teeth were white and intimidating as she bared them. She was magnificent in this form. Shiny black fur covered her entire body, except for a soft-looking beige muzzle. There was no doubt she was vicious the way she bared her teeth and stood up on two legs.

  Georges stepped closer, both hands held out in front of him. “Clara, you know us. We need to look at Luc. Is he alive?”

  Her growling stopped and she tilted her head to the side, watching both of them for a moment. She dropped back down to her four paws, shifting her weight slightly to the side, bumping Luc’s antlers. His head rolled and then flopped back down, and the bear made a wounded keening sound in her throat.

  “Clarabear?” Nouel stepped closer, but she didn’t move this time. He looked over to Georges, who took another step closer. He was fairly certain that he could move quicker than Clara if she decided to attack but he imagined that she would be snarling and back on her feet if she was in a killing mood. His stomach cramped at the sight of his brother’s limp body.

  She turned and looked at him, flopping a paw in his direction. He frowned at the way she was holding herself, the seemingly useless movement to her paw. He stepped closer and held out his hand. “Are you hurt, Clarabear? Let me look at you. Georges will take care of Luc.”

  He kept his arm outstretched and as soon as he touched her fur and she didn’t act aggressive he knew they were safe. “Let me look. Is there a bullet?” Lifting his hand, he looked at the bright red streaks on it. “She’s bleeding, Georges. How’s Luc?”

  The large moose moved slightly and Nouel felt his heart start to pound. He’s not dead. He followed the path of blood up Clara’s arm, wiping his hand on his leg every few inches so he’d know what was fresh and where the wound might be.

  “He’s got an arrow in his neck but by some miracle it looks to have missed anything completely vital.”

  “You hear that, Clarabear? Luc’s going to be okay. He’s going to need some TLC from you after this, just like you’re going to need from us, but we’ll all take care of each other like a real family.” He found the origin of the blood near her shoulder.

  Trying to peer through the dense fur to her skin underneath was almost impossible. “I don’t want you to shift back yet. Not until we are certain we aren’t going to trap a bullet in your skin.

  There was a familiar shimmy in the energy in the air, and a moment later Luc slapped Nouel on the shoulder. “How is she?”

  Nouel glanced up at his brother never more thankful for their natural ability to heal. Moose were often stalked by hunters. As long as a projectile was removed from their bodies, they had the ability to shift back into human form with almost no lingering damage. Luc looked a little paler than normal and there was a pink discolouration near the crook of his neck where the arrow would have pierced his moose. “You okay?”

  Luc gently arched his neck to the side and stretched the skin and muscles. “Feels a little tight, but considering Georges just pulled an arrow out of me, I’m doing pretty damn good.”

  Georges had moved to the other side of Clara’s shoulder and was looking through her fur from that angle. “There’s blood everywhere and I can make out a bru
tal gash here. I don’t think she was hit directly. More like a deep graze.”

  Luc had Clara’s muzzle cupped in his hands and he was rubbing his cheek against her forehead. Her black eyes were closed but he could sense the tightness to her body. “We’re not afraid of you, Clara. You’re so beautiful, the most beautiful bear I’ve ever seen.”

  “You’re not a crazed killer, Clara.” Georges stroked his fingers through the fur on her head. “I know you didn’t kill that hunter. Aside from needing new shorts and not sleeping well for a while from nightmares of hungry bears, he’s alive. Not enough punishment for putting an arrow in my brother and shooting a bullet at you, but it’s enough. He won’t be back, I bet.”

  “You’re a badass, Clarabear.” Nouel cupped her heavy paw in his hand. The weight of the deadly limb was considerable and she had long thick claws that had the ability to do an incredible amount of damage. “You didn’t trust yourself, but we trusted you. Come back to us now. Your bear will still be there, there’s no reason to hide anymore.”

  Luc continued to cup the edges of her jaw in his hands, his face level with hers as he stared into her eyes. “Come back to us, pretty girl.” If she wanted to attack, Luc wouldn’t have a chance, but by doing this he was proving to her that he trusted her animal.

  She tilted her head to the side and then the ethereal glimmer shimmered around her, like sunlight glinting off plastic wrap. A second later, Clara stood before them. Nouel couldn’t help the burst of lust that shot through him at the sight of his gloriously naked Mate. A second later an icy wave of sadness dosed his arousal when she burst into tears, collapsing into Luc’s arms as she sobbed.

  For Nouel, listening to her heart-wrenching tears felt like someone was stabbing him in the chest with a jagged piece of glass. He knew Clara needed to purge all those fears she’d just proven wrong to herself, but he would willingly do anything she asked to make her happy again. He and Georges crowded around her, trapping her in the middle of their little triangle. She reached out and wrapped her fingers around his and he watched as she did the same to Georges, keeping them both close to her.

  “Clarabear, tell me what you need and I’ll do anything.”

  She hiccupped and tried to speak but he couldn’t understand what she was trying to say.

  “This isn’t the way I wanted this to happen, Clara.” Luc sounded as devastated as Nouel felt. “I’d hoped to tease your bear to the surface, I’m so sorry. I should have been paying more attention. The combination of extreme emotion combined with a mighty dose of adrenaline pumping through your system must have made your shift incredibly painful.”

  Clara lifted herself slightly from Luc and turned in his arms to face Georges. Luc slipped his arms from her and Georges cuddled her close to him. “S–s–s’okay,” she hiccupped as she tried to catch her breath between her tears.

  Her eyes were red, her skin all blotchy, and she was sniffing to stop her nose from running too much, but Nouel still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She turned her face into Georges’s neck and nuzzled. She wouldn’t let go of Nouel’s hand so the three of them shuffled around her until everyone was comfortable again. She grasped one of Luc’s hands as if she couldn’t stand not to be in contact with them.

  They stood there quietly and let her calm down, offering the only thing they could at the moment, their quiet support. Not for the first time, Nouel wished he had the ability to read her mind, learn exactly what she was battling in her thoughts, and slay her dragons for her.

  She wiggled around one more time to move into Nouel’s arms, pressing her warm, damp face against his neck as he wrapped his arms around her. His animal side stopped butting its head in aggression and a higher sense of peace washed over him. He stroked the back of her head as his brothers ran their free hands over her as well. Her tears had stopped and it didn’t take long for her breathing to even out and her heart to slow down. “There you go, Clarabear. All better now?” He spoke softly but looked over at Luc to see if he could judge her mood by the expression on his brother’s face. Luc looked like a lovesick puppy, standing there with a dopey grin on his face.

  “Is she smiling?”

  Luc shook his head no, but a soft snort followed by a huff and a sigh against Nouel’s neck made him smile.

  “She’s asleep on her feet.” Georges leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her temple. “I would imagine she’ll be out for a while.”

  “Let’s get her home,” Luc said as he looked around skeptically. Nouel couldn’t hear anything in the woods around them that he would perceive as a threat. But he wasn’t willing to take any chances.

  Georges bent down and slipped his arm under her knees and lifted her up. Nouel appreciated the help because he didn’t want to jostle her too much trying to pick her up. Luc pulled his pants back on but laid his shirt over Clara’s naked body. Her clothes were destroyed, shredded beyond repair.

  She felt as though she’d been made for his arms. Carrying a luscious bundle of naked woman was making his cock twitch. Nouel remembered how incredibly passionate she was and hoped this was an end to the inner doubts she carried and a start of a lifetime of happiness. She snuggled up against him in her sleep and his gaze landed on the pink streak across her arm. That sight deflated his cock faster than jumping into the lake this time of year. By the time Clara woke up, he was certain the scar would be faded by then. But he’d never forget how close they came to losing everything.

  Life would never be without challenges, but that is what made it worth living. Nouel believed with every fiber of his being that if they stayed together, they could face anything. Now if only Clara believed that deeply as well.

  * * * *

  Clara blinked awake, unsure of where she was, but there wasn’t a kernel of fear or uncertainty inside of her. She felt like she was floating in a cocoon of warmth. A bright shining awareness of her men curled around her body vibrated like a reassuring hug inside of her as she listened to their soft snoring. She let her eyes drift closed and basked in the warmth of this new awareness. My men.

  She easily admitted to herself now that by denying such a large part of herself, she was causing the bond to break down, almost like having a split personality. She hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten until this moment. There was a soul-deep calm inside of her. It felt like the morning after a dangerous blizzard when someone opened a window and looked out over the pristine beauty of the world. A pang of sadness hit her heart when she thought of what she almost missed out on by torturing herself. Living in fear of such an intrinsic part of her personality was no way to live.

  A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and slipped down her skin into the hair by her temple. How did I ever let it get so bad? By denying herself, she’d also punished her Mates. How could she ever ask forgiveness for that?

  “Shhhh, you’re safe,” Luc’s voice whispered in the dark and she felt him brush another tear from her cheek.

  “I know.” Clara opened her eyes and turned her head in Luc’s direction. His face was on the pillow next to hers, scant inches away, but suddenly he felt miles away. I don’t deserve to be forgiven. “I’m so sorry.”

  Luc frowned slightly. “You have nothing to ask forgiveness for.”

  “But I do. By fighting myself, I closed myself off from my natural abilities. I was downwind and I should have known there was a hunter nearby. I almost got you killed.” As she spoke, the implications of her actions piled up in her thoughts.

  Luc slid his hand along her jaw and wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck. His grip was firm, preventing her from moving her head. He inched close enough that his face filled her entire vision. “You listen to me, Clara Fitch. You are not to blame for any of that. My brothers have perfectly good noses as well.”

  “In our defense, we were a little distracted.” She heard Georges’s sleepy comment and felt Nouel nuzzle against her tummy with his prickly cheek. She couldn’t help the smile that pulled at the corner of her lip
s and Luc smiled back. That quickly, all of her anxiety floated away.

  “But you could’ve been killed,” she tried to argue.

  “That bastard shot you. Luckily he was terrified enough that he missed and just grazed you. An arrow can be removed, and we heal when we shift, but if you had a bullet lodged inside of you, it would have been much more dangerous.”

  She felt them all move a hair closer as Luc spoke and she didn’t mind. She didn’t like the idea of being shot at either. “I don’t even remember that part at all. I remember the…” A shudder vibrated down her spine as the image of an arrow piercing Luc’s thick neck flashed across her mind’s eye. “After that it’s a blur until I remember Nouel calling me ‘Clarabear’ and Georges with his hands up asking to see you.”

  She turned her head and Luc gentled the grip on her neck. “Oh god, I didn’t threaten you two did I?”

  “No, honey, you didn’t.” Georges pressed a kiss against the end of her nose. “We knew you wouldn’t hurt us, but you were running on instincts at that moment and we didn’t want you to feel intimidated.”

  “You’re so sexy when you’re dangerous, Clarabear.”

  She reached down and ran her fingers though Nouel’s silky hair. “You’re demented.”

  “Nah, I’m a moose. We’re horny.” She felt him grip her hand and nip at the sensitive pads of her fingers.

  Clara laughed at the silly joke, something she truly appreciated about Nouel. He used humour to diffuse tense situations. She liked the way he made her laugh.

  “I can’t believe he just said that.” Luc claimed her attention again by running the backs of his fingers along her jaw.