Ana.
Owen had never used a nickname for me before, but I loved it instantly.
“Get the hell out,” Maximus growled.
“Oh, shit,” Owen said, backing a step toward the door.
“No,” I said quickly. “Stay.”
For a second, no one spoke. Even I couldn’t believe I’d said that. But I knew as the words left my mouth that they were right. I needed my mates—all of them. The more, the better. I would heal so much faster with Owen here tending to my bear.
“What?” Maximus asked, looking down at me from where he was propped on his fists. His cock was thick and bare inside me, stretching me until I could hardly stand it. I wanted Owen just as much, though. After today, I knew that mating had unlocked my bear, and now it needed his.
“I need you, Maximus,” I said, reaching up to caress his cheek. “But I need him, too.”
“I can wait,” Owen said, lingering at the door.
“No,” I said. “Don’t leave. I need you both inside me.”
I could hear Maximus’s swallow. “At the same time?”
“Yes,” I said. “Are you okay with that?”
After a long moment, Maximus nodded. “Anything that’s good for my mate makes me happy. If you care about them, then I care about them.”
“And you?” I asked, reaching for Owen.
He approached the bed slowly, his hulking form a shadow in the darkness. His huge, strong hand engulfed mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I always want you, Ana. Every day, every way. Whenever and however you want me, I’m here.”
I shivered at the sound of his new nickname for me, something that was just for us. “Let me taste you the way you tasted me,” I said. I dropped his hand and trailed my fingers down the ridges of his abs.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
“I’m sure.”
As Owen slid out of his clothes, Maximus leaned down to kiss me. “Let me turn you over,” he whispered.
I knelt on the bed, leaning down to take Owen’s thick cock in my hand. It was already starting to stiffen, and at my touch, it grew longer and harder until I couldn’t close my hand around it. Maximus gripped my hips, positioning himself at my entrance. As I took Owen into my mouth, Maximus pushed into me from behind. I moaned at the amazing sensation of both men filling me to the brim at once. Owen’s strong hands massaged my shoulders and stroked through my hair, and a groan of pleasure escaped him when I sank my mouth over his incredible length, taking him to the very back of my throat.
As I moved my mouth over Owen’s cock, Maximus began to pump into me faster. I arched my back, spreading my knees, moaning at each delicious pinch of pain when he hit my depth. I bobbed up and down, marveling at the softness of Owen’s skin against my tongue, at the roughness of Maximus’s thrusts.
“I’m gonna come,” Owen said suddenly, tightening his fist in my hair. Instead of pulling away, I mumbled a yes and sucked harder. Waves of pleasure rippled through me, and my own walls tightened around Maximus’s shaft as hot, salty liquid filled my mouth. I gasped, an erotic charge shooting straight through me. An orgasm gripped my body, and Maximus groaned, slamming into me and holding me pinned against him as he flooded my core with his own release.
For a second, we remained as we were, locked together. When the last tremors had left my body, and I’d licked Owen clean, Maximus slowly drew out, and I rolled onto my side on the bed. Owen went to fetch a washcloth from the ensuite bathroom, and Maximus and I curled together on the bed. When Owen returned, he cleaned me up without a word, then slid onto the bed next to me. “You cool with me staying?” he asked.
“Of course,” I said, pulling him closer. “If that’s what you want?”
I wanted nothing more than to curl up between my two mates in complete bliss and fall asleep. I wasn’t sure what they wanted, though. Inviting Owen to join us had been a spur of the moment decision, one I’d known in that moment was right, but I didn’t know how much more he or Maximus was willing to give. After being alone, having no say in what happened to me, asking for both of their attention at once seemed way too demanding. What had been so natural the moment Owen entered the room, so natural that I’d had no doubt about it in the moment, was suddenly awkward in the aftermath.
“So, this is cozy,” I muttered as I snuggled down between the two men.
“Ariana,” Owen said with a deep, satisfied sigh. “You’re incredible.”
And just like that, I knew I wasn’t alone in my contentment with the arrangement. I snuggled closer to his massive frame, feeling safe and protected with him and Maximus on either side of me.
“I think I can safely say the same for you,” I said. “Both of you.”
“I want to tell you something,” Maximus said, his voice serious. “Before you were taken, you said you loved me, and I didn’t say it back. I don’t want to go another night without telling you that I love you.”
“Oh, Max,” I said, my throat suddenly tight as I rested a hand against his cheek. His stubble was pleasantly rough against my soft palm, and I could barely contain my own emotion as I cradled his face in my hand. Of all my mates, he was the most reticent, and I’d never expected him to confess his feelings in front of another alpha. But he needed to tell me more than he needed to look strong right now. The fact that he could show his vulnerability in front of Owen made me love him even more. Maybe, just maybe, we really could be one big family. Somehow, this four-mate thing might work after all.
“I love you, too,” I said, tears prickling my eyes. “But you didn’t have to say it for me to know you love me. You’ve shown me in every single thing you’ve done since the moment we met.”
I lifted my chin, and Maximus leaned in and pressed his warm lips to mine, tightening his hand around my waist.
“Except when he threw you in that cage,” Owen said from my other side. I thought Maximus was going to jump over me and murder my other mate, but I pressed a hand against his chest.
“Except when you threw me in that cage,” I said, smiling so he’d know I held no hard feelings about that. “I’ll never let you live that one down.”
“I guess you have to have something to hold over me,” he grumbled, rolling onto his back.
“I’m kidding,” I said, leaning in to kiss his bristly cheek. “I forgive you. If this is going to work, I’m not going to be keeping score or holding grudges against anyone.”
“Just don’t do it again,” Owen said. “Or I might have to kill you.”
“Ha,” I snorted. “Don’t count on it. If any one of you ever try to lock me up again, I’ll be the one doing the killing.”
20
Jett
I sat up and nearly doubled over from the pain battering my forehead. My hand flew to the goose-egg bump Quicksilver had left me as a parting gift.
“Damn it,” I muttered, swiping my wallet from the floor beside me and checking to confirm my suspicion. I already knew she was gone. I would have felt her in the room with me. But I made sure the keycard was gone before pocketing my wallet, nonetheless.
I should have known she was tricking me. I was the last person on this earth Ariana would want to kiss. I had turned her over to these humans after all. And I couldn’t expect the benefits that came with being her mate after I’d refused to accept that role. But damn, I’d wanted to kiss her. It was almost worth the concussion.
Fuck that. It had been more than worth it.
I turned to the door, only to realize I was locked in. The irony was not lost on me. I banged on the door, yelling until I heard footsteps in the hallway. The door slid open, and two guards blinked in at me. I pushed past them and ran down the hall. I didn’t know how long I’d been out, but the sirens had stopped, and the hallway was in chaos. Bodies littered the floor, and plaster dust drifted down from holes in the wall and gritted under my shoes.
“What the hell happened here?” I demanded.
Dr. Siegfred scurried in my direction, her hair a tangled mess and
her eyes wild. “She broke out,” she said.
“I got that,” I said, touching the lump on my forehead. “How? Where’d she go?”
“Some other shifters took her,” Muriel said. “They must have heard about the blood, and maybe they were afraid it would work on them, too.”
“Shit,” I swore under my breath. I knew exactly which shifters had come for Ariana, and they couldn’t care less about the lab. They’d come for their Silver Shifter.
“When she came running out…” Muriel began, then shook her head. “You didn’t tell me she was a bear! We only had her wolf and dragon subdued.”
“A bear?” I said. “Huh. I didn’t know she was that, too. That means she’s most likely a panther, too…” My panther purred in agreement, showing me how appealing he found that idea.
“What? Why?” Muriel asked, looking confused.
“No reason,” I said with a shrug. “She seems to be any kind of shifter she wants.”
Any kind of shifter that’s her mate.
Maybe that was how it worked. Maybe she couldn’t be a panther until I’d claimed her as my mate. Not that it mattered right now. Ariana was with the rest of the alphas, which meant she would have told them everything by now. Fuck. My clan was about to have war declared on it…by every other New York clan at once.
One of the guards shifted and cleared his throat. “Would you like us to keep looking, Ma’am, or stay near you?”
“Continue the search,” Muriel said before turning back to me. “Another small problem, I’m afraid.”
I crossed my arms, squeezing my fists to hold in my frustration. “A small one? Because if it’s not of major importance, I’ve got some things to do back at my clan headquarters.”
“Well, see, that altered vampire woman, she was in a glass observation cell.”
“And?”
“And it was shattered during your friend’s escape.”
“So, now we’ve got a vampire-curing shifter in danger from the vamps, who won’t want to leave her alive. At least here, she was protected. We’re never going to get another chance with her.” My panther let me know his displeasure with that theory by mewling like a kitten.
“We have plenty of extra samples of her blood,” Muriel said. “We should be fine.”
“I don’t care about her fucking blood,” I said, my claws extending from my fingertips. “I care that they’re going to find her and kill her.”
“Oh,” Muriel said. “Well, of course. There’s that, too.”
“She’s got three super pissed off, super powerful mates, and they’re going to be after both of us,” I said. I didn’t mention that they’d be especially angry at me.
“We’ll be safe here,” Muriel said, but she glanced around as if regretting she’d sent her guards away.
“And we’ve got this weird-ass Nosferatu vampire-hybrid creature running around New York,” I finished. “We have no idea what that thing wants, or what it’s capable of, or even what it is. I think it’s safe to say your little scheme to protect humans has not been a success. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a clan to protect right now. If you need me, you know where I’m at.”
I gave her a mock salute and hurried down the hall. Ariana had left my phone, so I flicked it on as I stepped over collapsed sections of wall and made my way out of the building. The lights in the parking lot illuminated my car. Well, at least they hadn’t been so hell-bent on revenge that they’d slashed my tires.
Still, I approached with caution, scenting the air to make sure no one was hiding under it or ready to ambush me from behind the building. When I didn’t find anything suspicious, I climbed in the car and clutched the steering wheel. After a second, I leaned forward and thudded my skull against the wheel. What had I done? I’d only wanted to get rid of the threat to our clan, but I’d managed to make enemies of every single pack in New York—including my own.
Instead of uniting the clans and working with the Silver Shifter, I’d had her kidnapped and experimented on. The experiment had failed spectacularly, and I’d probably fucked us all in the process. My clan was not going to be safe from vampires. Not only were the vampires still here, but I didn’t have the support of the three other New York Clans to help me fight them the next time they attacked.
The gravity of the situation sank into me, weighing me down until I could hardly lift my hand to put the keys in the ignition. But I couldn’t run from this. I was the clan’s alpha, and it was time to go home and face my mistakes. The consequences could be dire. I might have to send some of the families away so the other clans wouldn’t annihilate our population. The other alphas would fight my pack if it stayed in New York, but they wouldn’t hunt them down to kill them if they left. Except me. They’d probably hunt me down.
And with good reason, I thought as I eased my car along the streets of New York. I wasn’t going to run. New York was my home. I’d been born here, and I’d die here. Instead of going into hiding, I would die fighting, like my father had. But first, I had to get the other panthers out of here. This wasn’t their fight or their mistake. If the other clans attacked, there would be casualties—probably a lot. Together, the three other clans could wipe us out. It wasn’t fair to ask the panthers to fight the other clans, to risk their lives, for a mistake that their alpha alone had made. Sure, some of them would do it. Most of them would if I asked. That’s what clans did.
What alphas did was protect their clans. I’d failed with the vampire extermination idea, but I wouldn’t fail this time.
When I arrived back at my apartment, I wasn’t even a little surprised to see the light on. I opened the door and stepped inside, my hands already raised in surrender. To my relief, it wasn’t Cash here to rip my throat out, although that was almost as bad as what I found. Cassandra was sitting in my recliner, tapping her artificial nails on the table as she stared straight at me.
“Before you say anything, I need your help,” I said.
That melted the grimace from her face. “What?” she asked, sitting up straight. “This must be serious. What happened? Everything okay?”
“No,” I said, sinking onto the edge of the couch. And then I told her. I told her everything, from the moment I met Ariana and my panther started insisting she was my mate, to the moment I’d tipped off the humans to her location, to the moment she’d smacked me in the head and knocked me unconscious. When I finished, I raised my eyes from my linked hands.
“I thought I could get rid of them once and for all,” I said. “For all the shifters in New York, but especially for Dad.”
Cassie sat silent for a long moment. At last, she sat back in the chair, shaking her head. “Man, you are so dumb.”
“I know,” I said. “But I think it would be best if you took the rest of the clan and left for now.”
“We aren’t leaving you in New York by yourself, Jett,” she said. “No matter how many dumb decisions you make, you’re our alpha.”
“Except you shouldn’t have to stick by me when I make decisions like that,” I said. “It wasn’t in the clan’s best interest.”
She squinted sideways at me. “Yeah, but in your own dumb way, you thought it was. It’s not like you deliberately set out to hurt the clan.”
“Yeah, but I did hurt them.”
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “You made a mistake. Everyone does that, Jett. Even alphas.”
“You wouldn’t have made this mistake,” I said, my shoulders slumping in defeat. “Or the one that lost the last alpha.”
Cassie stared at me, her eyes narrowing. “I wouldn’t have made this mistake, that’s true,” she said. “But negotiating with the vampires for a hostage? Yeah, Jett, I would have made the same decision you did.”
My eyes snapped up to meet hers. “You would?”
“Of course,” she said. “That was a no-win situation. From the moment Dad got captured, we’d already lost. If we’d gotten him back, and fought on the vampires’ side, we would have lost a lot more than just Dad. You
made the decision an alpha should make. You put the clan above your own personal needs—even your family.”
“I can’t believe you’re not scrambling to take alphahood from me,” I muttered. “I’m practically begging you to take over the clan and move them out of New York.”
“And I’m saying no,” she said. “You’re being a good alpha, and I’m being a good Second. My job is to talk you out of your asinine ideas. If you’d let me do that before, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“You’re right,” I gritted out. “So, now I’m asking you for advice, as my Second.”
“You don’t need my advice,” she said. “You know what to do. We need all four clans to fight the vampires. You’re the alpha. Make it happen.”
“There’s no way they’re going to talk to me now,” I said. “Even if I apologize, they won’t listen.”
“Well, you have an instrument that’s supposed to bring the four clans together,” Cassie said. “So, I suggest you start there. Not to mention she’s your mate. Not that I care about that, because I don’t. If you don’t want to take a mate, it’s none of my business. But she is the Silver Shifter, so you’d better get ready to pucker up those lips because you’re going to have to suck up like you’ve never sucked before.”
“Ariana’s not going to want me as her mate anymore,” I pointed out. “Not after what I did. She’ll never trust me.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “We both know it doesn’t work like that. If she’s your mate, neither of your cats are going to stop until you share the mate bond. Mark my words, Jett. Let your panthers lead the way, and it’ll happen.”
21
Ariana
The next morning, I lay on the bed between Maximus and Owen, my head cradled on Owen’s arm. I didn’t think I could get any happier. My wolf and my bear were snoozing in bliss inside me, and my human was just as content lying between these two amazing men. The sheet lay over our three bodies, and it was all I could do not to lift it and peek underneath again. I couldn’t believe this was real, that I could feel this good again after what had happened to me over the past week.
Her Bear: An Urban Fantasy Romance (Silver Shifter Book 3) Page 12
