by Becca Van
“A trick of the light?” Pepper whispered.
Kat sighed and released her hand before moving to stand beside her. When Pepper glanced up at the others, she gaped in shock. Everyone had moved away from the center of the room and were now leaning against the wall. Someone had also pushed the examination bed and the x-ray machine to the side, and Cal was standing in the middle of the room without a shirt and he was undoing the belt around his hips.
She couldn’t help but stare at his wide shoulders, muscular pecs, and washboard defined abs. The man was sex on two legs, and seeing him half naked was doing wicked things to her body. Her breasts felt swollen and heavy. Her areolae had contracted, and her nipples were hard and aching. Her labia and clit were engorged with blood, and she could feel cream coating her folds.
She gulped when Cal undid the button on his jeans and watched mesmerized as he lowered the zipper while kicking off his boots. She inhaled raggedly when he bent over to remove his socks and blew out a noisy breath when she saw the muscles in his upper back and shoulders flexing. He straightened once more, locked gazes with her, and pushed his jeans and underwear down over his hips before kicking them away.
Pepper squeezed her eyes closed, but it was way too late. His long, thick erect cock was imbedded in her mind for all time. She’d never seen a real live penis before. Of course she’d seen pictures online when she’d become curious about sex, but nothing had prepared her for seeing one in real life. Her pussy clenched, causing more juice to drip out onto her lips and panties. She tried to make herself speak, to ask what he thought he was doing stripping off naked in a room full of people, but she couldn’t get her brain and mouth to work in sync.
Just as she thought she might be able to ask, the outline of Cal’s body shimmered and then a blindingly bright light flashed, making her blink a few times to clear her vision. When she saw a massive polar bear in the place where Cal had been standing, she began to shake with shock. She peered around the room to see everyone was watching her intently, and when she noticed Fin’s mouth was moving as if he was talking to her, she shook her head. A loud ringing noise had taken up residence in her ears, and while she tried to remain on her feet, her knees buckled and she slid down the wall, landing on her ass. Even though she cried out in pain, she didn’t hear it because the ringing in her ears got louder and louder. Blackness encroached on the edge of her vision, and though she tried to blink it away, the darkness won.
Right before Pepper passed out, she wondered if someone had managed to drug her without her knowing about it.
* * * *
“Fuck!” Fin raced over to Pepper’s side and wished he’d realized sooner she was about to pass out. He was thankful that Kat had helped to ease his mate to the floor when her knees had given way. He’d honestly thought she was going to be fine once she was sitting down because some color had returned to her cheeks, but then she’d gone as pale as a ghost and slumped into unconsciousness before he could react.
Kat knelt quickly and grabbed hold of Pepper’s shoulder as she fell forward, preventing her from toppling over.
Fin got down onto his knees beside Pepper, lifted her into his arms, and sat with her in his lap. She was so fucking small he barely felt her weight, yet having her in his arms, against his chest, felt so fucking right.
She was his and Cal’s mate, and now that they weren’t hiding who they were from her, he hoped she would want to spend more time with them asking questions. He’d only been away from her once, when Serge and Ward needed to x-ray her ankle, and his sabear had gone crazy the whole time she wasn’t in his line of sight.
Fin hadn’t realized how hard his beast would fight him trying to get out and get to his mate. He just hoped that he could keep control of his animal, because if he couldn’t…he didn’t even want to contemplate the consequences.
“Let me take her,” Cal said after he’d changed back to human form and dressed.
“I’ve got her,” Fin snarled as he started walking toward the door.
“You need to ice her ankle,” Serge called out. “Ten minutes on, twenty off. If the swelling doesn’t go down, or she’s in too much pain, call us. Give her some over-the-counter painkillers when she comes to.”
“Thanks,” Fin replied, knowing Serge would hear him.
“Do you want Tammy, Kat, and me to come over?” Celeste asked using the stealth link.
“Not right now,” Cal answered. “Give us some time to get our mate settled.”
“Call if you need us,” Tammy said.
Fin ran from the clinic back to his and Cal’s house. Even while Pepper was unconscious, he could feel her shivering from the cold. Cal hurried forward, opening the front door and closing it behind them. Fin walked over to the sofa and sat with Pepper in his lap.
“She has dark smudges under her eyes,” Cal said as he snagged the throw rug. He placed the rug over Pepper and sat beside him.
“She does. Can you get an ice pack from the freezer?” Fin asked.
“Shit! Sorry.” Cal shoved to his feet and hurried to the kitchen. He flipped the end of the rug up, to Pepper’s knees, sat on the sofa cushion, and draped her legs over his. He set the ice pack on her ankle and then put the rug back in place.
“I hope to never see our mate so scared ever again,” Fin murmured.
“Yeah, me, too.” Cal ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you think she’s going to give us a chance?”
“I don’t know.” Fin sighed. “But she won’t be going anywhere for a while. We need to fix her plane and make sure the crash landing didn’t damage anything.”
Cal nodded.
“How long is this storm supposed to hang around for?” Fin asked.
“From what I saw on the weather radar, at least the next four days or so.”
“Let’s hope the mating heat kicks in and does what it’s supposed to.”
Cal met his gaze. “I want her to like us for who we are not because of our animal pheromones.”
“I do, too, but if the pheromones are they only way we get to be with our mate”—Fin paused to look down at Pepper’s beautiful face—“I’ll take what I can get.”
“Our mate is full of vinegar.” Cal smirked.
“Yeah, I noticed. Makes me think she’s had a lot of pain in her life,” Fin said.
“Why do you think Ward and Serge mentioned the broken leg?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say that someone hurt her.”
“Fuck!” Fin scowled. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. That’s what I was thinking, too. If we find out who hurt her, I’ll rip the bastard limb from limb.”
“I’ll help,” Cal snarled.
Fin glanced down at Pepper when she sighed. Her eyelashes fluttered, and then she blinked a couple of times before opening her eyes. She gasped when she met his gaze, quickly looked away, and glanced about the room before looking into his eyes again.
“What are you doing?” she asked angrily and tried to sit up.
Fin eased her upright but kept his arm around her waist and pulled her tighter against his chest. “Settle down, Pepper. You passed out.”
She gaped at him with disbelief and then frowned. “I did not,” she contradicted and then met Cal’s gaze. Her pupils dilated, and her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she pointed at Cal. “You were a polar bear.”
“A sabear actually.”
“What?”
“Our inner animals are called sabears. A mix of the extinct saber-toothed tiger and a polar bear. Remember?”
“How is any of this possible?” Pepper asked as she shoved at Fin’s arm.
Fin ignored her struggle and was pleased when she gave up and leaned back against him. He could hear the rapid beating of her heart, and when he inhaled, he smelled a mix of jasmine and honeysuckle as well as aroused woman. His sabear moaned and butted his head against his insides.
Cal shrugged. “Who are we to question what the spirits, gods, or fates do?”
“Were you bitt
en and changed into…sabears?”
“No,” Fin replied. “We were born this way.”
“All the men on this island are the same?” Pepper asked.
“Only the men in the stealth. The locals are native to the area and are normal human men.”
“How’s the ankle?” Cal asked. “Do you need some painkillers?”
Pepper eyed him suspiciously. “What sort of painkillers?”
Fin’s heart clenched with pain at his mate’s distrust, and while he knew he shouldn’t be upset about it since she’d only just met them, he was.
“Over-the-counter medicine.” Cal carefully shifted Pepper’s legs, slid out from under them and gently placed them onto the sofa before standing and heading to the kitchen. He was back moments later with a glass of water and some ibuprofen. He handed the packet to Pepper.
Fin watched her analyze the packet, pull a blister pack out, and pop two pills into her hand. She turned the tablets over and studied the engraving on them before putting them into her mouth. Cal handed her the glass of water, and she took a sip to swallow the pills with.
“Thanks.” She handed the glass back to Cal.
“Are you hungry, Pepper?”
“No.”
“Then why can I hear your stomach growling?” Fin asked as he lifted his gaze to hers.
He watched in fascination as pink crept up into her cheeks. When he lowered his eyes to her throat, he saw the flush of color disappeared under the collar of her jacket and wished he could strip her down and discover how far that blush went. His half-hard cock twitched and rapidly filled with blood. His sabear was clawing to get out, and each time he inhaled, he was assailed by her delectable aroma.
When his skin started to itch as his beast surfaced more and the tips of his nails began to ache, he knew he was fucked.
Chapter Five
Pepper shoved off Fin’s lap when she heard a low rumble deep in his chest. She cried out in pain as she put weight on her injured ankle and stumbled toward the coffee table. She bent and grabbed the edge of the table and looked back over her shoulder at Fin. His eyes were glowing brighter than she’d ever seen before, but that wasn’t what had her straightening and limping around the table farther away from him.
His canine teeth were longer and pointed, fur was rippling over his arms before receding again, and long, thick talons punched from the tip of his fingers before retracting. It wasn’t that she was scared of him, because deep down she had a feeling he and Cal would never do anything to purposely hurt her, but she was concerned that she’d done or said something to anger his sabear.
Cal stood before taking a step toward her, and though his animal wasn’t as prominent as Fin’s right now, his eyes were glowing, too. Pepper wondered if she’d ever get used to seeing such an anomaly, even if she was still having trouble believing something so astounding. It didn’t seem to matter she’d seen such an amazing mythological thing with her own two eyes.
“Fin won’t hurt you, Pepper. Neither will I. None of the men on this island would ever raise a hand to a woman or child.”
“What’s wrong with him?” she asked as she took another limping step backward.
“His sabear is wanting out. You’re our mate, Pepper. Our animals are pushing us to claim you.”
She blinked as those words sank in. Her heart flipped before slamming against her ribs. While she was attracted to them, she’d decided long ago that men weren’t to be trusted. She didn’t want a relationship with anyone, yet as she tried to make herself turn and head toward the door, her body wouldn’t obey.
She didn’t understand why she couldn’t make herself leave. Nor why every time she looked at them tingles of heated desire raced through her blood, through her body. Liquid desire pooled low in her belly, and although she tried to ignore it, the yearning to have Fin and Cal touching her, kissing her, grew stronger with each passing second.
Pepper didn’t understand any of this. All she’d ever had was her work, and as far as she was concerned, flying was her life. Nothing and no one was going to come between her and her dream job.
This time when she inhaled, she did so through her mouth, and as her lungs filled, she pushed the intense lust for them to the back of her mind. “I want to see my plane.”
Cal and Fin glanced at each other and then back to her. “As much as we’d like to tow it into the hangar and check it over, we can’t.”
“I don’t care what you think. I want to see my plane.” She sighed with relief that Fin seemed to have control of his sabear. Now that she knew that he and Cal were struggling with their inner animals, she was worried. Actually, that was a lie. Pepper was scared that their animals would break free and end up claiming her without her consent, even if she didn’t know what was involved.
“There’s a blizzard outside,” Cal snarled. “If you think we’re going to allow you to go out into that storm and end up making yourself sick, you can think again.”
“You have no right to tell me what to do!” Pepper yelled. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. There was a knot of anxiety in her gut, and it was turning into anger. Anger over her lack of control. Anger over the weather. Anger over the situation with her plane, and anger that they were keeping their distance from her.
Wait! What?
Pepper felt adrift at sea without a rudder. She’d never been in this situation before and didn’t know how to handle it. The whole thing felt as if she was locked inside a sitcom that should be on TV.
“You’re not the boss of me,” she said in a calmer voice.
Cal sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
Pepper winced internally. She couldn’t believe she’d just said that. She sounded like a petulant two-year-old trying to get his or her own way. She’d never behaved this way before and didn’t like that she was doing so now.
“We know we aren’t your boss, Pepper,” Fin said as he stood. “But we will do anything necessary to protect you. Even from yourself.”
She conceded defeat with a nod. Her stomach roiled with hunger, but thankfully there were no growling sounds. Cal and Fin cocked their heads, and when she followed their gazes, they were both staring at her belly. Heat suffused her cheeks when she realized that they’d heard the internal gurgling. Shit! She was going to have to watch herself around these men. She’d gotten into the habit of muttering to herself under her breath. She was sure if she did that around Cal, Fin, and the others, they would be able to hear her.
“Come on into the kitchen.” Cal stepped closer and held his hand out to her. “We’ll get you something to eat.”
Pepper eyed his proffered hand, and while she didn’t want to touch him—knowing as soon as she did her traitorous body would start pulsing with lust again—her ankle was hurting too bad to ignore his help.
She shored up her defenses as she reached out to clasp his hand. Tingles of heat raced up her arm and into her chest before spreading out to every nook and cranny. Her legs started trembling, but there was no way she was going to let him and Fin see how the mere touch of a hand lit up her body.
Cal turned, and they both began to walk toward the other room. Each limping step was agony, but she wasn’t about to moan or groan. Sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip. When they reached the entrance to the kitchen, Pepper wasn’t sure she’d be able to continue. Her ankle and foot were throbbing in time to her fast-paced heartbeat, and the emptiness in her stomach turned from hunger to nausea. However, she was determined like always and wasn’t about to let a bit of pain make her look weak in front of anyone. Especially Cal and Fin. She had a feeling if she did, they would be ordering her about and expecting her to jump to whatever demand they gave.
She gave a mental snort. Yeah, like that’s about to happen. Not.
* * * *
Cal was glad that Fin had his sabear under control. He’d hated seeing Pepper’s anger since it was directed toward them. He dreamed about meeting his mate and having her look
at him and his best friend with love and adoration in her eyes. Of course, those dreams had been immature, the dreams of a teenager who had no idea what love was.
It didn’t matter that he and Fin had just met Pepper a few hours ago. He was already deeply in love with her. His heart was so full of joy but also of dejection. His inner animal, mind, body, and soul were in a constant war, and he felt as if he was being pulled in four different directions. And that wasn’t the only problem. The mating heat had already kicked in. He hadn’t expected that for another day or so. Maybe he and Fin were dealing with the lustful hunger quicker than the others, because they’d been so envious of their stealth friends finding their fated women.
Just being around Celeste, Tammy, and Kat set their sabears to pacing, whining, and groaning. The scent of their pregnancies was playing havoc with their senses as well as their beasts.
He had no idea why and hadn’t bothered to ask his retired alpha, Royal, and his retired second, Talon. He had no doubt that their mate, Tarik’s and Tammy’s mom Jenny, would be able to explain why the gestating women had such an effect on him and Fin, but that would mean going to their house. Tammy, Celeste, and Kat spent a lot of time with Jenny. Cal and Fin had agreed to spend as little time as they could around the women.
Cal had a feeling the tumultuous emotions were due to jealousy on their sabears’ behalves, and now that their mate was here in their house, his beast was getting harder and harder to keep on a leash.
He hoped that Pepper would give them the chance to court her, but she was a stubborn little thing. When she’d been arguing with him and Fin, her chin had been tilted at a determined angle, and there had been fire in her eyes. But that wasn’t all Cal had seen. He wasn’t certain, but he was sure he’d seen flashes of trepidation or maybe it had been fear in those somber brown eyes. He hated that she was frightened of him and Fin, of what they represented, and wondered who the hell had hurt her. And he had no doubt that she’d been hurt.
