“Or maybe we all belong to one another,” Liam put in. “Now, if you’ll allow us to put you to bed, we can undress and join you.”My breathing stopped. It was so real all of a sudden. I’d made the decision, but what if it didn’t go well? “I don’t have any experience with two men at once,” I said when I sucked in enough oxygen to create words. “Or even one.”“We don’t care what came before,” Mia said, drawing back the covers and helping me to lie down. “Because nothing matters but what comes now.”The two of them undressed quickly. They only wore T-shirts and jeans and socks. Nothing else, so it didn’t take long, and the shadowy room didn’t let me see nearly as much as I’d have liked to, but what I saw was stunning. I’d had a quick glance at Liam when he shifted that first day, and I’d helped bathe Mia, but it had been in my capacity as a healer.This was different, and I murmured thanks to the Goddess for her gift to me of these two. They were handsome, strong, and every woman would be
LiamThe alphas welcomed us at the door, our appearance generating great surprise, and inside we found that there were just a few other guests, elders of the pack who, as it turned out, remembered many members of ours. Ludy Lake pack had an old connection with Triple L, but it had been a while since anyone had visited. Still, shifter bonds once formed were long-lasting.Analise kept plying us with appetizers and eggnog or hot buttered rum as we told them everything from our alpha having hoped we’d get to see them to bolster our friendship to what we found when we returned home.The alphas listened, asking leading questions and allowing us to explain at our own pace. When we finished, Tal set down his hot buttered rum and shook his head. “And Jessica thinks it’s something to do with one of those old mines they’re reopening?”“She does.” Our mate was currently in the kitchen helping Analise to make the final dinner preparations, so I confirmed that for her. “She can tell you more, but s
Mia Not that you’d know it to look at me. None of us wear a T-shirt that saysWant a Bite?Also, we don’t bite people, under ordinary circumstances, although most of my pack enjoys hunting for small-to-medium prey, and a few enjoy larger types.I’m not much of a hunter. My wolf and I prefer burgers and fries to stringy squirrel meat with fur that gets caught in our teeth. And fish and chips to raw salmon or trout. Not that we get fast food often, since we live so far out in the countryside, even the school bus doesn’t come here. And there is no Internet. Which means we’re all home schooled in a lax way using out-of-date workbooks and whatever the adults can mail order. Most of us can read and write and do basic sums. Few can do more. Our elders, led by our alpha, are hidebound and traditional.Which is why I woke up to a horror show on my twentieth birthday.“Mia, get dressed, it’s time!” My stepmother bustled into my room, followed by several of the other women of the pack. They all w
Mia My dress, my stepmother’s dress, suffocated me. She was slimmer than me, but due to the laced dirndl-bodice, I was able to draw shallow breaths and, as she pointed out, it wouldn’t be for long. I could see them gathering for the ceremony outside my window, in the clearing where we usually held pack feasts and celebrated the turn of the seasons. Or had, when Mom was alive. Somehow, since she passed, the joy had gone out of not just our family but the whole pack. Oh, we gathered for the important holidays, but without Mom to make the arrangements and plan all the food and decorations, to stir the spirit of the pack, it always fell flat.Nikki, who even now was directing the final touches to my coiffure and fluffing the ridiculous poufy veil, just didn’t have what it took to be a true pack mother. And she couldn’t hide her joy, didn’t even try to hide her elation, at my leaving. She even smiled at my reflection in the mirror. “You look very pretty, Mia. But you have to smile.” She p
LiamMy mate’s embrace surrounded me as the warm water poured over us, cleansing away the sweat of the day’s labors, but nothing could wash away the fact I could not give him his heart’s desire. Dan was born to be a father. I often came upon him playing soccer with some of the young ones, a sport he’d enjoyed growing up and had made popular among local packs. Visitors who had the opportunity to see our children in action were excited to introduce the game at home. We might be the only wolf shifters who had a youth soccer league.Dan had been in love with a female years ago, when quite young, but she’d chosen someone else, a fact he said now was fated or he’d never have found me, but she would have given him many children, unlike me. It ripped at my heart not to be able to fill every one of his desires, especially this one, even though he insisted we should be happy with our lives, grateful for what the Goddess gave us, and not tempt fate by wishing for more.Pack was family, true, and
Dan“What a beautiful night.” Liam paced at my side as we strolled under the full moon, enjoying the evening and making sure all was well with our pack. “Maybe the storm will die out before it gets to this side of the Sierra.”I considered the possibility. “It would be nice. Especially if it leaves us a nice half inch of rain along the way. It’s already adding to the snowpack.” Studying the clouds, I noted something odd. “Does that storm appear oddly…narrow?”“What?” Liam followed my gaze. “Have you ever seen one that focused that way? There’s hardly any snow on the peaks on either side, but the pass looks almost winter full. Like when it shuts down to any travel in late December or early January.”“That’s what I mean. Strange.” We’d walked longer than I planned, but the cattle and that fence were seriously on my mind. “I thought we had time before the storm, but if it does pick up and roll in tonight, I’m going to regret not being better prepared. I’d like to go to the western pastur
Dan“Where is she?” I came in to find the place lit up like a Yule tree and Liam in the kitchen stirring a pot that smelled like his “famous” chicken soup. It started out in a can, but he added so many ingredients it was hard to tell. You didn’t lose the female along the way, did you?”“If I had, would I be cooking her dinner? There was some steak left, too, so I thought soup and sandwich? And maybe we’d have a mug of soup to keep her company.”“And the trespasser we took into our custody is doing what right now?”“I was showering.” The bathroom door opened, letting out a blast of steam and the scent of our shampoo and soap. “For which I’m grateful.” Her blonde hair was wrapped in a towel on her head, her body enveloped in a set of my mate’s sweats, leaving only her face and hands and feet visible. But in the well-lit room, I was able to see what I hadn’t before. Those luminous eyes were green with flecks of gold and a gold ring around the iris. Her cheeks were flushed, her stance det
MiaTheir voices reached into my exhausted slumber. I’d never intended to go to sleep at all, but sitting there in the warm comfortable room, wearing cozy sweats, with a tummy full of delicious food had put me out. The alphas in the kitchen spoke in low tones, words I couldn’t quite make out that blurred into a soothing murmur. My brain couldn’t keep hold of consciousness, no matter how hard I tried. My last coherent thought was that if I got an hour or so’s rest, I’d be better able to escape after they went to bed.I likely wouldn’t have managed that catnap if not for the alphas pausing by where I slept on their sofa to talk dirty to each other. My assumptions they were bachelors waiting for a mate fled when one of them used the term for the other. I lay still, hoping they still believed me asleep, but they were so busy teasing one another about some plan they had for sex later that my presence had interrupted, I probably could have opened my eyes and watched.Then, as if they hadn’t