by Kate Rudolph
A Night with Two Mates
By Kate Rudolph
Copyright 2015
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter One
Darla Martin didn’t believe in werewolves. She’d heard the stories when she was a little girl. Men who turned into wolves and hunted in the night, driven to find their mates. And even as a child, she’d laughed despite her grandfather’s serious tone. It was ridiculous to believe such codswallop. It was equally ridiculous for a twenty-two year old woman to think of words like codswallop, but that was her grandfather’s fault. No supernatural explanation needed.
And if her grandfather could see her now, he would have had a few more choice words to throw in her direction. Words like poppycock and horsefeathers. It wasn’t only because she was out looking for werewolves, though that would have earned his ire.
But walking into unfamiliar woods just before dark in the winter with no supplies would have been beyond the pale.
Most days Darla missed her grandfather, but when she made moves like this she was almost relieved that he’d been dead for three years. She still missed him like crazy, he had adopted her when she was a baby and her parents died in a car accident, but she had to live her own life and couldn’t let herself stagnate simply because he wouldn’t have approved.
A part of her did question this decision, though. What exactly was her endgame? Would she be able to snap a photo of some sort of half-man, half-wolf monster? And if she did, would she be able to get her money’s worth for the picture? It was hard enough to make a living as a freelance photographer, as a paranormal freelance photographer it was nearly impossible.
Thank god for Photoshop.
But her skill with photo editing software wasn’t what had Darla traipsing through the darkening woods. No, she followed something even more despicable. Rumors.
Ohio wasn’t known for its wild wolf population. There were occasional sightings, but nothing like the reports she’d been hearing for the past week. Just after nightfall, every night someone in the nearby town saw a wolf. The reports had hit the internet quietly, blog posts by local teenagers and wildlife aficionados. If it continued, the state might send someone from Fish and Wildlife to take a look.
That wasn’t what interested Darla.
Two of the blog posts referenced a local legend about a pack of werewolves that had been killed off by settlers a hundred years before. The legend wasn’t specific. The shapeshifters might have been from a Native American tribe, or they might have been another group of Europeans. And she wouldn’t have paid it any attention, except those blogs referenced a Confluence.
It had to do with planetary alignment.
The sightings had all been leading up to tonight, the blogs alleged. The planets would align just right and the werewolf could take a mate of his own, turning her into a wolf to bear his pups and restore his pack to its former glory.
Darla didn’t buy it. But a story like that with a picture of a wolf would definitely sell an article. And while she normally just took the pictures, she’d put pen to paper when the price was right. And right now, that price was definitely right. Paranormal Daily, a blog growing in popularity, had offered her $500 for the picture and article, plus a feature on their website.
Yes, that meant she was sleeping out of her car, but if she got the money she could pay her mortgage and the electric bill. Just what she needed to start the month off right.
Darkness had fallen faster than she expected. Even just after five o’clock, it was getting hard to make out the ground beneath her feet. Her breath puffed out in front of her, the cloud of air evidence of the recent freeze. Snow covered the ground in patches and drifts. But the trail was well worn and Darla didn’t expect any problems making her way back.
She just needed one freaking picture and then she could leave.
Something gray flashed in front of her, illuminated by the bright moon overhead. It stood in a clearing, just far enough away that she couldn’t be certain if it was the wolf.
Darla pulled out her camera and approached slowly. She would scare it away with the flash, so she needed to be careful. Just as she pulled the device up to her face, the animal darted away.
Now certain that it was the wolf, Darla gave chase, sprinting after it and making all sorts of noise. She could barely make out the ground in front of her, but every time she thought she lost the animal, it showed itself again.
She knew she should be paying better attention to where she was going, but she needed that picture. She tripped on a root and went flying, her camera dropping out of her hands.
A good thing too.
She tripped down the edge of a ditch and found out that a small stream ran through this forest. The cold hadn’t been enough to freeze the water and she fell in, everything but her face submerged in the near freezing liquid.
Her scream could have woken the dead and she was sure it had scared the wolf away. She scrambled to the edge of the water, her foot tangled on a root. It took several moments for her to get free, and by the time she was, her skin was frozen and pebbled, her teeth chattering and her nipples tight against her shirt.
She stripped off her soaking jacket and threw it beside her fallen camera. She sat shivering in the woods and a hopeless thought assailed her. Her grandfather was right, she was going to end up freezing to death in the woods all because she wanted a little money and wasn’t careful enough to watch her step.
A huff of breath disturbed her misery and Darla looked up, her eyes tearing from the cold.
A gray wolf stood inches away from her, its form stock still.
Chapter Two
Jace walked the perimeter of the forest. It had been years since he'd been free to do so in his natural form and he was not as careful as he should have been. Since he was a boy, he and his siblings had been warned to stay hidden from the humans in the local village. He'd been told that they would fear him if he went among them in his fur.
Of course, he could walk down there in his human skin with no issue. The women would flock to him, eager to share his bed for the night. Eager for his touch, his seed. And he would share it, though it was empty to be alone with those women. They did not understand him truly. No one in that village was his mate.
Was their mate.
But in the last days he had been careless. The harmony of the moon rang through him, calling him out to dance under the stars. And he could not resist, his paws prancing in the fresh snow. He did not fear the hunters; he knew their tricks, he was no longer a child.
And the woods were his territory, his pack's territory. He was one of the alphas, sworn to protect this land and to protect his people.
In ages past he would have been a king, lavished with gems and silks, sitting upon a throne and enjoying the virgins tossed before him in offering. But he had not been born into that time. Instead, he was one of two alphas of a dying clan of shapeshifters, hidden away from puny humans who could not hope to understand what really went bump in the night.
Something was different about this night. The moon's call was more insistent, pounding within him, making his blood rush. He knew that if he heeded the call, he would come through a changed man, better, but completely different from who he was now.
He scented her long before he saw her, and for the first time in weeks he was disappointed that he wore fur instead of his human skin. She prickled against his skin and he wanted to throw back his head and howl, but even in these moon drunk tim
es, he wouldn't do anything so foolish.
After long moments he finally saw her in the trees. She stood tall, a camera in hand and a scowl on her face. This woman, his woman, was proud. She would not be felled or discouraged by the woods. Standing near the trees, he could tell she was tall, her eyes would be level with his lips. And even from this distance he could make out the color through some quirk of the light. They were wide and blue and beautiful.
Her skin was pale and haunting in the night and long dark hair hung past her shoulders. It was so thick he could get lost in it for days, playing with it, letting it spread out over his bed. Oh yes, this woman would be his for many, many nights.
He led her into the forest, never letting her fall too far behind. By the time he got her home she would be unable to make her way back, and when she met him on two legs, he would take her. She would be his before she knew what he was.
And then she would be theirs.
Storm waited for him back at the cabin. His fellow alpha felt the pull of the moon just as much as Jace, but Storm had insisted on staying home this night, his gray eyes clouded with thoughts that Jace couldn't see.
It had been too long since the men had shared a woman. They did not venture out together any longer, the pull of the forests and their wolves too strong to fight on most days. But this was fate, a beautiful woman alone in the woods and already intrigued by one wolf.
He knew she would not be able to resist two.
But thinking of what was to come distracted Jace and he led her through a treacherous path. He heard the woman tumble forward and then a splash as she fell into the small stream. She was undoubtedly human. A wolf would have never been so clumsy.
He ran back towards her. They were less than a quarter mile away from the cabin and he would not let this magnificent creature escape him now. Not when he could almost taste her.
Her blue eyes were even brighter up close. Her face was perfectly proportioned, a small nose over bee-stung lips. When he was human he would kiss her for days. But for now he would settle for seeing her dry, ensconced inside his home with his own alpha partner there to see to her safety, her pleasure.
She'd thrown her coat to the ground and sat shivering in front of him, her teeth chattering. Jace lurched forward and she fell back with a yelp. But he did not attack her, he would never do that. He latched onto her coat with his teeth and took off running, just slow enough that she could hope to catch him.
And when she did, he rejoiced. A woman who would chase a wolf was the kind of woman who would be intrigued enough to take two alphas to her bed.
Chapter Three
Darla had to curse as the damned wolf took her coat and ran away. Her soaked state forgotten, she chased after him. The coat wasn't expensive, but it had been a gift from her grandfather before he died. She couldn't lose it to some wild animal.
Part of her questioned why she wasn't scared. It questioned why she was running after a wolf instead of away from it. But logic was not going to rule her. Not when it came to her things.
She had no idea how far they ran, but it could not have been long before she made it to a clearing where a large wooden cabin stood. The wolf dropped her coat and gave a quick bark before running off away from her. Her camera was still in hand, but she hadn't been able to snap a picture between falling into the stream and the canine theft.
"Hey!" She yelled after the wolf, but he didn't understand her or care to stop. She shivered in place, forgetting the wolf and clutching her arms about herself. In her mad dash she had forgotten that she was soaked. Now the cold seeped into her, bone deep and dangerous. She was in trouble.
Or she would have been, if a savior hadn't walked out of the cabin at just that moment. Thoughts of the cold momentarily evaporated as heat surged through her. She'd never before felt such instant attraction, such cloying, instant lust. But she could feel desire coil within her, making her wet in places the stream hadn't touched.
He was tall, well over six feet and covered in delicious, lickable muscles. Her fingers longed to feel every inch of him, from his bare six pack abs to the outline of his cock that she could almost see beneath his sweats. His hair was dark and short, his skin pale, but a recent pale, like his tan had only just faded. He walked closer and she saw stony gray eyes and his hard jaw. She had to swallow to keep from letting her own jaw drop.
She had never seen such an attractive man in her life. It was like a movie star or model had walked off the pages of a magazine and right into this forest in the middle of Ohio.
"Are you alright?" He asked. His voice held a hint of some faraway place, perhaps Spain or Italy. She couldn't be sure. He looked concerned and her heart gave a little thump at the thought that he would care about a stranger who had appeared out of nowhere in his front yard.
"There was a wolf..." she said, half numb from shock, the other half on fire with desperate arousal. The more she looked at him, the wetter she became. Moon madness, like they believed in the old days. That was what it was. She had to believe it. "He tried to steal my coat."
When she said it out loud it was ridiculous. He probably thought she was high or something, but the man only looked out where the wolf had run and nodded. He took two steps towards her and froze, his nostrils flaring. She saw him clench a fist at his side and his jaw worked, swallowing hard.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
The man's eyes flared, shining silver in the bright moonlight. "Who are you?" He hissed.
Chapter Four
Storm heard Jace bark and saw the woman. She must have followed his damned stupid brother-alpha. Not brothers by blood, but brothers of strength, of purpose. For nearly ten years they had ruled their small pack, sharing their power, their mantle. And, from time to time, their women. It only strengthened their bond, for how could they rule as one if they did not love as one?
This woman was meant for them both. He knew Jace's wants, and she was as beautiful as any of their lovers. It had been so long since they had a woman between them, and this woman called to something in Storm, something even wilder than the alpha wolf who lived within himself.
He asked after her, noticing she was drenched only after seeing her beauty. What had Jace done to bring her here? But when he took a step forward, he understood. Her scent laced the air, desire and something even better sinking into his skin. This was no ordinary woman.
She would be their mate.
On this night of all nights, it should have been impossible. They had sworn to stay away from humans, knowing that they would be compelled during the Confluence to couple with her if they found her. But of the billions of people on the planet, she was the one meant for them.
Storm was not a man to believe in destiny, but with heat racing through him, hardening his cock, he would allow it this once.
"Who are you?" It wasn't meant to come out in that strangled gasp. He, they, would keep this woman, and he would not let her be scared away. If she ran, both he and his brother would give chase. It was a blood deep need.
The woman bit her lip, sudden nervousness in her frame. Storm suppressed a moan at the thought of those luscious lips wrapped around his cock, sucking him to ecstasy. He needed to taste her.
"My name is Darla Martin. I...the wolf...it's--it's..." her teeth started chattering and Storm sprang into action. His lust had not abated, but his need to protect his mate overpowered it, demanding he bring her inside warm her up.
She needed to be whole for the claiming.
He could feel the moon rising higher and higher overhead. At nine-thirty the alignment of the planets would be complete and he and Jace would feel the call to mate with this woman, claim her for their own, transform and breed her. He would not let her sicken before then.
"Please, come inside," he closed the distance between them and held her under one arm. She instinctively clung to him, craving his warmth. As a werewolf his body burned hotter than a human and he had never been gladder for that biological quirk. "I have some dry clothes." Not that
she would wear them for long. But she would smell of both him and Jace. They were the same size and when staying in this cabin saw little need to differentiate between their clothing.
It would be perfect for their mate.
He guided her into the cabin. It was an almost modern affair, brightly lit with handcrafted furniture imported from overseas. The kitchen was fully outfitted with stainless steel appliances and he and Jace even had a television connected via satellite. This was their home, their private getaway away from the pack. They wanted for no luxuries.
And now they even had female companionship.
"This is a really nice place," she told him as she looked around. "Like, not what I would expect in the middle of the woods."
"Thank you," said Storm, preening at her approval. "The bathroom is just down that hall. I will set clothing outside the door for you and start a fire. Would you like something warm to drink?"
She shivered, teeth still chattering, and nodded. "Please, I don't know if I'll ever warm up again."
Storm knew he was moving too fast, but his mate's discomfort was too much for him. He gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. He was pleased when she didn't struggle, her stance softening. "I will see to your needs," he promised. He would see to all of them.
She walked down the hallway and closed the door behind her. Storm could hear her stripping, her clothes landing in a wet plop on the tiled floor. He hurried to his room and grabbed a shirt and pair of sweatpants to leave for her. She had to be ready before she took both him and Jace, no matter his desire.
As he prepared mulled wine, Jace joined him, naked, his skin pink from the cold. His brother alpha was just as tall and broad as him, though his skin was naturally a shade darker. Both of them wore their hair short, though Jace's fell to his ears while Storm kept his own hair cropped close. Jace's green eyes were bright with the promise of Darla and he leaned his head back, smiling as he inhaled her scent which was already twining its way around the room.
