Abby Blake - Suddenly Wolf

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Suddenly Wolf No. No. And hell, no. There was no such thing as fate…or werewolves. Three testosterone-laden, alpha male types claimed she belonged to them? And that they were willing to share? Nope, couldn’t be happening. She must’ve hit her head harder than she’d realized because something was clearly messing with her usually sensible thought processes. But how the hell could she explain the crazy way she heard their thoughts in her head? Or the inexplicable way her body reacted to them all even though they were absolutely not her type? Oh, and, yeah, the wild, blazingly hot dreams of foursomes? They totally sucked. So why then, when faced with a chance to reclaim her quiet life, was Andrea suddenly desperate to make Xavier, Daegan, and Isaac live up to their promise of forever? Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves Length: 33,266 words

SUDDENLY WOLF

Abby Blake

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

SUDDENLY WOLF Copyright © 2011 by Abby Blake E-book ISBN: 1-61034-974-1 First E-book Publication: October 2011 Cover design by Les Byerley All art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of Suddenly Wolf by Abby Blake from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Abby Blake’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Blake’s right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION For my wolfman

SUDDENLY WOLF ABBY BLAKE Copyright © 2011

Chapter One Shit! The stupid chime signaled the arrival of yet another customer. Cursing herself for forgetting to lock the door when she’d turned the open sign to closed, Andrea plastered on a fake smile and decided to get rid of this person as quickly as possible. She’d already packed the stock in the safe, so there was no jewelry to actually show them anyway. Besides, it had been a very long day, and there was cold mac and cheese waiting for her upstairs. “How can I hel…” Her words trailed off as she found herself face to face with three men wearing balaclavas. Considering that it was the middle of fucking summer, she took that as a bad sign. Tired, cranky, and maybe not thinking quite as rationally as she should’ve been, she placed her hands on her hips, looked them straight in their blank eyes, and asked, “What the fuck do you want?” The men—she assumed they were men by their fat beer guts, and because the idea that she was about to be robbed by a gang of pregnant women was just a little too difficult to swallow—gaped at her as if she’d grown a second head. “Hands up!” the closest one said nervously. She rolled her eyes, tried not to laugh, and glanced around the room. “Or what?”

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“What?” gun-toting-beer-gut guy asked in what appeared to be drunken confusion. Obviously this robbery wasn’t going the way he’d planned. “Or we’ll…we’ll…” He trailed off and stupid-dick-in-a-ski-mask standing to his left answered for him. “Or we’ll shoot ya.” “We?” she asked with a half laugh and a smirk. “You only have one gun, so technically that’d be he’ll shoot me.” Skinny-legs-and-no-ass guy had already decided he didn’t like the way things were going because he started to shuffle back the way they’d come, clearly intent on leaving his friends behind. “Okay, he’ll…um…shoot you?” She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped as the man somehow made a threat into an uncertain question. “How about,” she said, stepping closer to the man with the weapon, “you put the gun down and leave the way you came. Seems to be working for your acquaintance.” Startled, both of her remaining would-be attackers turned to the front door in time to see their fellow robber turn tail and run. “Aw shit,” gun-guy said, slurring his words slightly. “Stan’s supposed to be driving us home.” “I reckon if you run fast enough, you could catch up to him.” Gun-guy scratched his belly, burped, and considered her proposal. “Guessing ya might be right.” He turned to leave the store, but turned back suddenly to hand her the gun. Of course the stupid walking dipshit didn’t have the safety engaged and the weapon fired. Even knowing the impact came from a bullet, Andrea couldn’t believe how similar the pain felt to when she’d been sucker punched in the gut a few years back. She managed to stay upright long enough for her killer to apologize, hand her the gun, and drunkenly weave his way out of her store. Angry enough to shoot the bastard as he meandered away, clarity finally returned when her legs wobbled and she slid ungracefully to the ground. She tried to partially roll so that she could reach the cell

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phone in her back pocket, but her hand seemed less coordinated than her legs. And then, as her lungs seemed to grow heavy and a metallic taste filled her mouth, she finally realized that she was in a shitload of trouble. Great. Fucking great. Eleven years on the police force without a scratch, and this was how her life was going to end? Fate sure had a fucking pathetic sense of humor. **** Isaac breathed deeply. When he’d planned this mini vacation, stumbling across a victim of violent crime hadn’t been on his agenda, but that was definitely human blood he could smell. He followed his nose all the way to the small jewelry store tucked between a bookstore and a women’s clothing shop. Curious about the owner—it was a small town, but even small towns had crime—Isaac pushed the front door open, dismayed to find it unlocked. But he was quickly distracted by the overwhelming smell of bleeding human. He found the woman half-propped, half-slouched against a wall, her hands pressed against her gut as if to somehow hold the blood inside. But blood was everywhere, and his better-than-human hearing picked up the sluggish thumping of her heart as her life clock ran out. There was no way human medicine would be able to help her now. She was going to die. Unless he did something. But that was against the laws he lived by. He couldn’t interfere in petty human concerns, despite the curiosity that had brought him into this store. He leaned over and brushed a lock of golden-brown hair from the woman’s eyes, his wolf picking up her sweet scent even over the

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coppery, metallic smell of blood. He froze, his mind racing as he processed what his wolf already knew. “Daegan,” he called to his brother telepathically. “Jewelry store on Main Street. I need your help.” Daegan didn’t question him. He simply arrived at the store a few moments later using his preternatural speed. It was getting dark outside, so at least the few humans left in the area this late in the afternoon would not have gotten a good look. “S’up bro?” Daegan asked as he walked into the store. It was obvious that he could smell the blood, but Daegan lived by the same strict code. Isaac wasn’t surprised when his twin didn’t immediately move to the woman’s aid. “She’s our mate,” he said without preamble. “Save now. Deal later.” He glanced around the store, hoping like hell that he was doing the right thing. What if she was married? Had a family? Was it fair to make her a werewolf and take that away from her? “We…you want…are you sure?” Isaac growled at his brother. Without their help the woman was dead. At least by changing her they’d save her life. They could deal with the fallout later. “Yes, I’m sure.” Daegan didn’t look convinced but moved closer to the woman that Isaac had pulled into his arms. Isaac held her tightly, unprepared for the feelings of loss that assaulted him as her heart beat slowed even more. But as Daegan reached out a hand to touch the smooth contour of the woman’s cheek, he took a deep breath and nodded. Between the two of them they managed to get her to a sitting position, strip off what was left of her shirt, and let their wolves come to the forefronts of their minds. This wasn’t the usual way to do things, but time was running out, and it was very literally now or never. One on each side, they bit into the flesh where her neck connected to her shoulders, their sharp canine teeth piercing the skin, their saliva beginning the change from human to werewolf.

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She groaned, but didn’t wake. The transformation, if they’d done it properly, shouldn’t take long to begin, so hopefully they’d gotten here early enough to stop her from dying. Daegan pulled his teeth from her, his long tongue lapping at the small wounds several times before he moved back. “Now what?” “I don’t know,” Isaac answered irritably. “I’ve never done this before either.” “Chill, dude,” Daegan said as he climbed to his feet and moved around the area. “I’m just going to look around. See if I can figure out what happened.” “She had a gun in her hand when I first got here.” “What’re you thinking? She did this to herself?” “I don’t know.” Isaac glanced around the small room. “Everything’s packed away. Maybe a thief got pissed off and shot her.” “Maybe,” Daegan said as he stepped around a corner and out of sight. He was back a moment later. “I think she might live on the upper floor. There’s a door marked private at the top of the stairs.” Isaac moved easily, standing with the woman in his arms. She’d stopped bleeding, but he couldn’t be certain she was healing until he could get a closer look at her. His wolf vision was better in the dim light, but without the full color of human sight he couldn’t tell for sure. Daegan didn’t bother knocking. He simply twisted the handle and stepped inside. “Not locked?” Isaac asked as he stepped into a small but tastefully decorated living space. He looked around, found a doorway that he assumed led to the bedroom, and shouldered it open. The room had no windows, but just like the living area it was decorated in a comfortable if somewhat sparse design. Isaac was about to lower her to the mattress when Daegan said, “I wouldn’t do that.”

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“Why not?” “Look around you. The woman is a neat freak. No way is she going to appreciate blood all over her bed. We’ll need to clean her up first.” Isaac nodded tightly. He should have noticed that. If he’d been thinking beyond his need to keep her alive, he probably would have. He hesitated as he turned to what he assumed was the bathroom. She was still injured, possibly still bleeding, and jostling her around was not going to help her condition. Daegan laughed at him. “Take a deep breath, bro. She’s already lupine. I can smell her sweet scent from here.” Isaac took a deep breath, somehow unable to trust his brother’s words without knowing for himself that Daegan was right. And there it was, his mate’s wolf scent, the sweet, tantalizing aroma that made his own wolf sit up and take notice. “It worked,” he said with no small amount of relief in his voice. “Yup,” Daegan said from the bathroom as he turned on the shower and began stripping from his clothes. “Hand her over. I’ll get her cleaned up.” Isaac glanced down at his own clothes covered in the woman’s blood and shook his head. “I’ll clean her up.” Daegan gave him that “whatever, bro” look he did so well, but it was obvious to Isaac that his brother wasn’t happy. Isaac stepped into the shower fully clothed, half expecting the woman to wake up, but she didn’t. She stayed unconscious as Isaac managed to get most of her clothes off by shredding them with his claws. His wolf howled joyously in his mind, and images of licking her all over danced in his head, but the part of him that was rational realized the woman probably wouldn’t be impressed. It didn’t matter that she was also a wolf now. Until her first shift she probably wouldn’t understand what had happened to her, and he didn’t think she’d be happy if she woke up while he explored her body. He washed away as much blood as he could, pleased to find the gunshot wound in her abdomen mostly healed. A few moments later

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Daegan opened up the shower door and stood there holding a towel open. This time Isaac unbent enough to let her go. Jealousy was misplaced. The woman was mate to both of them, and now that she wasn’t in immediate danger of dying they had a lifetime—a long werewolf lifetime—to get to know each other. Daegan wrapped the still-unconscious woman in the towel, nodded his head once, and then carried her from the room. Isaac turned his attention to his own clothes but ended up shredding them as well. The warm water would have set the blood into the fabric. There was no way he was ever washing that out, so he cleaned himself up, wrapped a towel around his hips, and headed into the bedroom to check on their woman. Daegan had placed her under the blankets, but positioned himself on top. He lay beside her, his head propped on his hand as he watched the woman sleep comfortably. She was still very pale, but the change would take care of that soon enough. Isaac looked at his brother, raised an eyebrow, and waited for an answer to his most obvious question. Isaac shrugged. “I didn’t think she’d appreciate waking up sandwiched between two strangers. She might be a werewolf now, but she’ll still think like a human woman for a while.” Isaac nodded. They’d shared many a willing human female between them, but they needed to be patient. This woman was their mate. They’d be together a long time, and they sure as hell didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot. Waking with them both in her bed might not be the best way to impress their mate. Add to that the fact that newly made females had a tendency to underestimate their improved physical strength and Isaac was more than willing to wait for her to wake up. “I’ll make some coffee,” he said and turned to the kitchen. ****

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Andrea woke slowly. As always she didn’t really want to climb out of bed—it was too damn cold in this part of the country in the mornings, even in summer—but she had jewelry to make and customers to serve, so she went to roll out of bed. That’s when she noticed her pajamas were missing. When did I get naked? The attempted robbery, the drunken fool who’d shot her accidentally, and his idiot friends all spun wildly through her brain. She grabbed at her gut, where she’d been wounded, almost crying out at the lack of pain. What the fuck? She threw the blankets off her, amazed to find no evidence of a wound. But she remembered being shot, didn’t she? Had she dreamed it? But then her fingernails caught her attention, the line of dark stain under each of them had not been there earlier, and she lifted her hands closer to her face for a better look. The stench of old blood assailed her nostrils, and she dropped her hands into her lap. Was she dead? This wasn’t exactly her idea of heaven. She glanced around at the familiar room and decided she probably wasn’t in hell either. Maybe she was in some kind of afterlife waiting room—she’d read about them in some literature once—or maybe she really had dreamed it all. “It’s okay, Andrea,” a voice said from her left. Panic slammed her. She scrambled off the bed, uncaring that she was naked, and dropped to a fighting position as she faced the man that belonged to the voice. “What do you want?” she demanded and then growled. Actually growled like a dog, the noise rumbling up from deep in her throat. “What the fuck?” She hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but the entire situation was proving to be ridiculous. Maybe she was hallucinating, and she was really still just slumped in the main room of her shop bleeding to death.

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The bedroom door opened behind her, and she damn near leapt the length of the room to put space between herself and the newcomer. She glanced back at the guy in the chair. Two of them? Twins? Or was she just seeing double. Shit. “Hello, beautiful. Would you like some coffee?” She shook her head. She could really do with the caffeine boost, but unless someone started explaining exactly why two strangers were in her bedroom, she was going to start knocking heads. “Andrea.” The guy who’d been sitting in the kitchen chair he’d obviously moved without asking stood up and took a small step toward her. “Sweetheart, everything’s going to be fine. We’re not here to hurt you.” “Good to know,” she said as she inched toward the closet where she kept her gun. Except that, fuck, she’d locked it in the safe because she hadn’t needed it in the three years since she’d arrived here. She’d moved to this tiny town in the middle of nowhere because of its low crime rate, yet in the space of—she glanced at the clock and realized she had no idea if it was night or day—maybe a day she’d been the victim of an attempted drunken robbery, an accidental shooting, and now a home invasion. Except…how could she remember being shot when she had no evidence? “What day is it?” The guy lounging against the doorjamb shrugged as if she were a bit crazy but answered with, “Tuesday.” “What’s the date?” She’d been shot on a Monday. Could it be possible that it was Tuesday several weeks or months later? “Andrea,” guy number one said again, taking another step closer. She held out her hand for him to stop, and he took the hint and stepped back. “We’ll explain everything. You just need to stay calm.” Not. Fucking. Likely. Talk about triggering an opposite response. Her ex-husband had always been telling her to calm down as if she were some kind of

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recalcitrant child. She hadn’t taken it from him, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to take it from two fucking strangers. But that growl happened again, this time so deep and loud she startled herself into silence. “That’s part of what we need to talk to you about.” “What did you do to me?” A part of her realized that question wasn’t exactly rational. After all, how could two strangers do something that would make her growl? But she wanted answers, and since they were here now, she may as well go asking—she glanced down at her nakedness—as soon as she pulled on her robe. Moving carefully, unwilling to turn her back on either man despite how calm they seemed to be acting, Andrea inched back toward the closet to grab her robe. She managed to slide it on, tie the belt closed, and hold both men in her sights without too much fumbling. “So who’s going to go first?” Damn. Poor choice of words. She pulled the robe tighter around her. “Which one of you is going to explain how we got here?” The guy lounging on the doorframe gave her a sexy grin and indicated the other guy. The other guy rolled his eyes at his brother’s obvious willingness to pass the buck and then took a step closer. Just to be certain he understood the situation she took a step back. She wasn’t frightened of them per se, but if she was going to fight she needed space. It had absolutely nothing to do with how delicious he smelled, or how sexy he looked with one of her bath towels wrapped low on his hips exposing chiseled pectoral muscles and lickable abs. “Why are you naked?” Well, not naked, but a part of her wanted him to be. Fuck, she must have hit her head on her way down to the ground. But wait, if she wasn’t actually shot—and considering her uninjured state it seemed unlikely—why would she have hit her head on anything? “I cleaned you up,” he said quietly.

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“Cleaned what?” She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but since it was impossible to get shot and bleed all over everything and somehow have no wound or scar, then she must be mistaken. “Andrea, we have a lot to explain to you.” “How do you know my name?” Again not the most intelligent of questions. It was a town small enough for everyone to know someone who would know her name. “Driver’s license,” the guy propping up her doorframe answered with a mischievous grin. It seemed he expected her to be upset about that. Why would a woman be upset that some stranger pawed through her handbag, found her wallet, searched the contents, and looked at the world’s worst driver’s license photo in the history of photo licenses? “You went through my bag?” Her ears protested as her voice reached a higher pitch, and she narrowed her eyes when both men winced at the shrill sound. Well, it would serve them right to end up with bleeding eardrums. No male she’d ever known had been bold enough, or stupid enough, to go through her handbag, ever! But again she was forced to face her own ridiculousness. She’d been shot, and they’d helped her? She shook her head. She couldn’t have been shot, so why would she have needed help? Unless…had these guys attacked her? “Andrea, sweetheart, please just listen to what we have to say, and then, if you still want us to, we’ll leave.” “Fine,” she said, rubbing her forehead in an effort to preempt a damn headache. “And don’t call me sweetheart.” She glanced at one and then the other. “Start with names. Who the fuck are you two?” The man leaning on the doorjamb laughed. Of course the sound was deep and husky and so darn sexy it made her toes curl, but she chose to ignore it. She gave him an irritated scowl, and he just laughed harder. Great, fucking great. If he kept that up, she was liable to growl at him again…or maybe leap on him and lick him all over.

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Crap. Did her libido have to choose now to reawaken? “I’m Isaac Cloveck,” the man near the chair said. He gave the other man a dark scowl. “And that’s my twin brother, Daegan.” “Twins?” she asked in a smart-ass tone because her own reaction to these two men was pissing her off. “I never would’ve guessed.” “Ouch,” Daegan said with another laugh. “Our mate has sharp claws.” “How,” Andrea asked as she shot a dark look at the handsome invader in her doorway, “did you end up in my bedroom?” “You were shot.” She went to interrupt hunkalicious-in-a-towel, but he held up a hand to stop her. “You were dying. We saved you by turning you into one of us.” “Us?” she asked on a squeak. Just her luck that she would hit her head—that was the only rational explanation for this whole ridiculous episode—imagine she’d been shot, and then get “rescued” by a couple of good-looking, but bat-shit-crazy, guys who’d watched too much TV. What was the latest craze? Vampires? Witches? Demons? “Yes, you’re one of us now, beautiful.” “Uh-huh,” she said, inching back to where she kept her gun. Maybe she could get the safe open while she pretended to swallow their delusional drivel. “And what does that make me, exactly?” “A werewolf,” the guy at the door—Was his name Daegan? She couldn’t remember—explained with a casual shrug. “So you guys, what? Change on the full moon?” “Nope, you will though.” “So next full moon, I’m going to change into a werewolf and you’re what? Going to watch?” Daegan laughed happily, obviously turned on by her sarcasm. His brother—Isaac?—looked very annoyed and shot his brother an exasperated look. Now that she could relate to. Completely exasperating described this conversation perfectly. Daegan stopped laughing and grew suddenly serious. “Just show her.”

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“Why me?” Isaac seemed really pissed about his brother’s suggestion. “Because you’re undressed already. Because I’m in the best position to catch her when she freaks out. Because Xavier will accuse me of trying to freak her out deliberately, but will understand why you did it.” “True,” Isaac said with a small laugh. “Fine.” He stood up and unwrapped the towel. It took every ounce of strength Andrea possessed to stop herself from looking at the part of him that had been hidden by the terrycloth. He stood there smirking, and she realized the rotten man was actually waiting for her eyes to drop lower. “Get on with it,” she said irritably. Was she really asking some naked guy to turn into a werewolf in her bedroom? Considering the fact that her eyes refused to stay above his waistline, it was probably the safest choice. But all the air was suddenly sucked from her lungs when the handsome man began to sprout hair all over his body. In a strangely fluid motion his body moved and contorted and changed into a wolf right before her eyes. The silver wolf yipped once and then sat on its haunches, wagged its tail, and watched her. “Ho…ly shhhhh…it.” Andrea swallowed hard. She was dreaming. Surely she was dreaming. Shit like this just did not happen in real life. The wolf made a sound very much like a doggy version of a human laugh. “I need to lie down.” She sat on the edge of her bed, swung her legs around, and lay back on the pillow. But the damn wolf leapt onto the bed, leaned over her a moment, and then moved to lie down beside her like some faithful guard dog. It rested its head on both front paws and gave her what could only be described as a sad puppy-dog look. She lifted her hand to scratch the creature’s ears, not really willing to acknowledge the fact that she had the biggest damn wolf she’d ever seen lying on her bed next to her.

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“No fair,” Daegan said from the doorway. The wolf wagged its tail as if pleased by the outcome. Daegan merely laughed again. “Oh crap,” Andrea exclaimed as probably the least important fact she could think of at this particular moment leaped into her head. “Does this mean I can’t make jewelry out of silver anymore?” “Actually,” Daegan said as he stepped closer, “silver is a myth. It doesn’t hurt werewolves—well the bullets do, but it doesn’t kill us— but don’t go telling the monster hunters. As long as they think they killed us, they leave us alone.” “Can I wake up now, please?” The wolf moved closer, and Daegan stepped to the edge of the bed and touched her face with a callused finger. “I’m sorry, beautiful, there’s no going back. Under normal circumstances we would have explained all of this before we turned you, but you were dying, and we needed to act.” He ran a finger over her lips and smiled softly. “And besides we’ve lived too long without you.” “Without me?” “Yes, beautiful. We’re your mates.” “Mates?” She knew what that meant in the wild, but what, exactly, did that mean to werewolves? “Yes, Andrea, in human terms it means we’re your husbands.” “Husbands? Both of you?” She wriggled off the bed, stood up, placed her hands on her hips, and yelled at the top of her voice. “Not on your fucking life!”

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Chapter Two Xavier stepped into the small store. The lights were off, but he could make out the dark stain, smell the spilled blood, and knew that his brothers were telling the truth. Their phone call had been short and to the point. They’d found their mate dying and had no choice but to turn the woman. Nobody in his family had expected his younger brothers—identical twins and therefore extremely unusual for werewolves—to find a mate, so if she was truly the one made for them, then Xavier was very happy for his younger brothers. It wasn’t often that werewolves discovered their mate was a human, but it did happen. Usually, though, the human was introduced to the werewolf way of life before they were turned. Humans didn’t feel the same mating link that werewolves did, so it was only fair to give them a choice. Almost all chose to stay, but Xavier knew from years of experience that taking away a human’s right to choose their future was a very bad idea—especially for modern women. He had a feeling that his younger brothers may just have bitten off more than they could chew. If the conversation he could hear going on upstairs was any indication, he was going to have one very pissedoff female wolf to deal with. He got to the door of her apartment just as the argument exploded. “Now, beautiful—” Daegan began, but she cut him off with a voice angry enough that he could hear the deep growl of her wolf. “Don’t you ‘beautiful’ me! I’m not marrying two strangers. No way, no how, never, ever, ever, ever going to happen.”

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Xavier opened the bedroom door to find Isaac in wolf form sitting in the middle of the bed tracking the woman’s pacing movement. Daegan was quite happily watching the woman rant. But it was the woman herself that caught his attention. She wasn’t at all like the women Daegan and Isaac usually dated. Even when they dated werewolves, his younger brothers tended to go for the timid, quiet, less confident females. This woman seemed to be the exact opposite and at the moment looked angry enough to remove their testicles and serve them up for lunch. So intent on pacing, the woman Xavier assumed was Andrea didn’t even see him step into the room. Something must have alerted her to his presence, though, because she stopped dead and turned her eyes on him. Anger gleamed from their brown depths, and his wolf did happy circles in his head. Oh, hell. “Who the fuck are you?” He glanced at his brothers, saw their incredulous stares, and said the words anyway. “I’m your mate, too.” “Not happening. Absolutely, not fucking happening.” Andrea returned to her pacing. At this rate she was going to need new carpet very soon. “Who are you people? Any more ‘mates’ where you come from?” “I fucking hope not?” Daegan said with an irritated scowl. “Don’t swear in front of our mate,” Xavier said without really giving it much thought. His mother had always taught him not to swear in front of females—perhaps old fashioned but something he’d tried to uphold—yet he was fairly certain his mom hadn’t taken into account foul-mouthed females like their mate. Oh, this was going to make Thanksgiving dinner so damn extra special this year. Xavier rubbed the headache forming behind his eyes. As the lady said, this could not be happening.

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The woman had three mates. Three! And he was one of the three. Hell, she hadn’t met any other werewolves. What were the odds that she could have more than three? One in a billion? One in a trillion? So far she had three from three. Hell, maybe taking her home and introducing her to the pack wasn’t such a hot idea. How many more mates could she have out there? Xavier took a deep breath, trying to calm his chaotic thoughts. Maybe something was off, and she wasn’t really their mate. He’d never heard of it happening before, but there was always a first time. Ironically, the thought was a depressing one. He hadn’t planned on taking a mate just yet, but the euphoria of finding the woman far outweighed the inconvenient timing. But if there were some sort of glitch, and she wasn’t meant to be anyone’s mate—apart from the disappointment he would feel soul deep—he would still have one pissed-off, newly made werewolf to deal with. As leader of his small pack it was his responsibility to make certain she knew the rules and understood the constraints they all willingly lived by. “Andrea,” he said, stepping closer to the irate woman. He wanted to take her in his arms, but he got the feeling that would be a very poor choice. She wasn’t fragile by anyone’s standard. She was tall, moved like an athlete, and from what he could see of her legs, had quite nice muscle tone. He couldn’t tell through the thick terry robe, but he suspected that she was perfectly curved in all the right places as well. If she was his mate, at least fate had chosen a woman that would suit him in a physical sense. Now if he could only get her to calm down. “Andrea!” She stopped pacing and ranting to give him a glare that should’ve melted him into a big pile of goo. “What?” she growled. Making a decision he sincerely hoped he wouldn’t regret, Xavier said, “The full moon isn’t for another three weeks. We can give you

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time to pack away this life, but for your safety and the safety of the humans, you need to be inside the compound before the full moon rises.” Xavier’s brothers looked ready to protest, but he gave them both his most arrogant stare. He was leader for a reason, and unless they were up to challenging him for control of the pack, they would fall into line. Isaac, still in wolf form, managed to glare at him, obviously annoyed that Xavier would pull rank in this situation. But at least his younger brother was sensible enough to realize that the woman needed some space. The initial changes to becoming a werewolf were already complete. Strength, agility, all of her senses were already enhanced. Her ability to heal was obviously working, and there were no immediate threats from monster hunters in this area. She’d be safe while she closed off this part of her life. Of course, that didn’t mean he would leave things to chance either. “Daegan and Isaac are staying in the motel down the street. They’ll give you their mobile numbers. If you need anything, all you have to do is call.” She nodded. “What about you?” He hadn’t been expecting the question. She seemed quite relieved to see them go. “I need to get back to the pack, but Daegan and Isaac are more than happy to drive you up the mountain and show you around your new home.” “Uh-huh,” she said skeptically. “And if I refuse to come to the compound before the full moon?” “Then I’ll come get you.” **** Arrogant assholes!

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Every one of them had kissed her good-bye. And, hey, hadn’t that been totally awful? So awful in fact that she was considering calling them back and getting them to do it all over again. And maybe this time they could try it lying down, or in the shower, or up against the wall naked. Naked was good. Naked would be very good. Andrea shook her head, trying to rationalize the arousal coursing through her body. She’d been shot. They’d saved her life. It was just hero worship. Yup, hero worship, nothing more. So why was she staring at the bedroom door, wondering if perhaps she had time to run down the stairs and stop them before they left? Holy crap! What had they done to her? Her libido had never been this out of control. She lifted her index finger to her mouth, subconsciously falling into her old nervous habit of biting her nails, but the stench of stale blood filled her nostrils once more. Her stomach heaved slightly, protesting the smell. Maybe she should have another shower. She glanced at the clock and finally noticed that it was only three in the morning. She didn’t need to get up for another five hours. Making a quick decision, Andrea stepped into the shower, scrubbed herself from head to foot, pulled on her pajamas, and went back to bed. **** “I can feel her,” Isaac said. So could Daegan. In fact, even though they were about three hundred yards down the road, the link to their mate was getting stronger. “Did you ever think we’d find her?” “Not really,” Daegan answered honestly. They’d always figured the two of them would share a mate, he’d just doubted that she would exist. The type of telepathic communication they shared as identical twins was usually reserved for mated couples, so it had seemed likely

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that they would never find their true mate. What were the chances that one woman would be made to suit both of them? Except that she’d been made for Xavier as well. “What do you reckon about Xavier’s theory?” “That something’s wrong and we only think she’s our mate?” His brother nodded. “I think Xavier is going to learn the hard way that you can’t fight fate.” “Andrea, too,” Isaac said, sounding sad. Personally, Daegan couldn’t wait to live the fireworks that would be life with their mate. After their explosive beginning he had no doubt that loving Andrea for the rest of their lives was going to be one hell of a rollercoaster ride, and he couldn’t wait to get started. But Isaac was a peacemaker. He liked life to run smoothly, so he usually tried to make everyone happy. It didn’t always work, but he was the reason their pack managed to get by with very little bloodshed—quite unusual for werewolves, even in a pack as small as theirs. “Our mate will be fine. She’ll adjust to life as a werewolf quickly enough. We just need to give her a little time is all,” Daegan said, hopefully sounding a little more confident than he felt. He might look forward to the fireworks, but it promised to be a difficult time for his brother. “I know,” Isaac said as he lay back on his own bed and stared at the ceiling. “I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I’m pretty sure Andrea wasn’t it.” Daegan bristled at the apparent rejection of their mate and found himself halfway off the bed before he could pull his temper under control. Shit, he and Isaac never fought. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time they’d even disagreed, but here he was ready to beat the shit out of his twin for a perceived slight against their mate. Fortunately, sense kicked in, and he was able to see the comment for what it was—just an observation about their mate’s unexpectedly abrasive personality.

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Daegan lay back on his own bed and laughed quietly. “If nothing else, life will never be dull.” **** Andrea writhed against the cool sheets as her faceless dream lover kissed her all over. She groaned as he reached her breasts, sucking hard against her straining nipple before biting down gently. She moved her hands, intending to thread her fingers through his hair and hold him to her. But her wrists were caught by another man, and he pressed them against the pillow as he climbed over her, straddling her chest, his hard cock bouncing close to her mouth. “Suck me,” he growled as he pressed his erection against her lips. The other man moved lower, pressing kisses to her mound, his hands pushing her thighs wide, his tongue seeking her clit, his fingers pushing into her pussy. She gasped at the incredible sensation, and the man above her quickly pressed his cock into her open mouth. He was thick and wide, and she hurried to adjust, but the first taste of him on her tongue was ambrosia, and she sucked harder against the soft flesh. The man groaned, tangling his fingers in her hair, holding her steady as he pumped slowly into her mouth. The angle was awkward, the thrusts quite shallow, but he moaned as she licked him with her tongue, tasting his pre-cum, sucking him harder, wanting more. “Open your eyes,” a gruff voice demanded. She looked up to see Xavier, a smile on his face, his naked cock mere inches from her hand. She wriggled her fingers, and Daegan laughed softly as he released his hold. She reached out to take Xavier in her grip. He groaned, his hips thrusting his cock into her hand as his brother pushed deeper into her mouth. Daegan pumped harder into her mouth as the third man thrust his tongue in her pussy, fucking her hard and deep, holding her legs still as the three of them drove her insane. She mewled in protest when

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Daegan pulled out of her mouth, but he grabbed her other hand, wrapped it around his cock, and made room for Isaac. Isaac moved up her body, his smile promising heavenly delights. Daegan and Xavier each moved to grab her knees, pulling her wide open as Isaac thrust his cock into her pussy. She growled, the noise seeming to inflame her lovers as Isaac began to move more forcefully. He pounded into her, his hard cock going deeper, the movement pushing her harder into the mattress, only Xavier’s and Daegan’s grip on her legs holding her still for Isaac’s fucking. She pulled on their cocks, her hand massaging harder, their groans spurring her on to greater heights of need. Everything inside her tightened, her orgasm spinning closer, her breath catching in her throat as… The fucking alarm clock went off. Andrea practically leapt from the bed, her hands shaking, her insides quivering, her arousal damn near overpowering. She slammed a hand on the snooze button, willing herself to calm down, taking deep breaths, trying to relax even as the dream replayed in her head. She glanced around the room, somehow convinced her dream lovers were here, were real. But the room was empty, and she was completely alone. Andrea lifted her pajamas away from her sweaty skin and shakily decided she may as well get her day started. She was about to step into the shower when the rest of her dream, the part that had come before the incredible ménage scene, unraveled in her head. She lifted her pajama top, smoothing her hand over the soft skin, assuring herself that she hadn’t really been shot. But it had seemed so real—well, except for the werewolf part, because there was no such thing as werewolves—so she turned off the shower, pulled on her robe, and headed down the stairs. If she’d been shot, there would be some evidence—blood, a spent casing, a bullet. She felt a little silly searching for something that obviously wasn’t there, but she could swear she smelled blood exactly where she’d been shot in her dream.

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But that had to be psychosomatic. She’d only dreamed of being shot. There was no way she could smell blood where there wasn’t any. Yet her logic didn’t stop her from heading upstairs, pulling on some clothes, and scrubbing the area over and over. Andrea scrubbed harder, trying to get the smell out of the wood grain of the floorboards. In her time as an officer in the LAPD she’d seen the evidence of enough violent deaths to know what should be there if she’d been shot. The fact that she was still walking around and felt better than ever—faster, stronger, her senses greatly enhanced—would certainly discount her theory. Where the hell she dreamed up Isaac, Daegan, and Xavier from was still a mystery, but she took it as a sign that her libido was sending her a rather loud message. She’d been divorced for several years now. Maybe it was time to get back on the dating horse, so to speak. Of course the fact that she’d dreamed they were werewolves just proved she watched too much television. The doorbell to the store jingled, and Andrea quickly stripped off the gloves and dropped them into the bucket behind the counter. It wouldn’t be convenient to try and explain what she was doing to someone trying to buy jewelry. When she turned around, she found the sheriff’s deputy standing near the front door. “Hi, Louise,” Andrea said, trying to sound casual despite the fact that Louise was one person she didn’t really want to talk to right now. She and Louise had been good friends ever since Andrea had moved into town, but right at this moment she wasn’t sure she wanted to try and explain why she was cleaning away imaginary blood. Considering she was still standing, it would take a shitload of arguing to convince a psychiatrist that she wasn’t crazy. Hell, she was beginning to question that herself. “What brings you here?” “Jed Hawthorne,” Louise said with amusement in her voice. “He’s spent the last fifteen minutes down at the station blabbering about

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how he remembers shooting someone last night. He said it was you, but unless I’m talking to a ghost, I reckon he’s mistaken.” “Ghost, yeah right,” Andrea said, trying to hide the note of panic in her voice. If Jed had been here, then was it possible that the rest of her “dream” had really happened, too? If werewolves were real, was it possible that ghosts did exist? What about vampires, shape-shifters, elves, sprites, leprechauns? Andrea’s head was starting to spin, and she struggled to come up with an explanation that didn’t involve the supernatural. “I…um…had three drunks in ski masks come in late last night. I figured one of them was Jed Hawthorne. They called the skinny guy with a beer gut Stan, but I’m not sure who the third one was.” Louise looked concerned and was probably pretty annoyed that that Andrea hadn’t reported the attempted robbery. “Did they have a gun?” “No,” Andrea lied. Well, it wasn’t a lie, not really. If Jed had actually held a gun on her, then that would mean she had been shot, and since she had no wounds, she must not have been shot, so he must not have had a gun. Feeling better from her own rambling logic, no matter how flawed, Andrea tried to come up with a plausible explanation instead. “Jed did point his finger at me like a little kid playing cowboys, so maybe that’s what he remembers.” Hey, the theory worked for her, as long as she didn’t look at it too closely. “Anyway, I just figured it was a joke and let them stagger out of here.” Louise laughed, but Andrea didn’t miss the relief in her friend’s voice. It was a small town. The sheriff and his deputy spent most of their days dealing with traffic accidents on the nearby highway. An exciting night would involve having two drunks in the drunk tank instead of just the usual one. “Jed’ll be relieved,” Louise said, glancing around the small store. “Of course, you’re more than welcome to press charges. Technically what they did is still considered attempted robbery.”

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“No,” Andrea answered quickly—maybe a little too quickly judging by Louise’s searching look. “I mean, I don’t want to press charges. It was just a drunken prank, but maybe you could use it to get them all into an AA program.” “Not bad,” Louise said with a conspiratorial grin. “By the time I’m finished with them, they’ll be too frightened not to sign up. I swear if I have to spend one more shift listening to Jed’s drunken snoring, I might just go back to my old job at the grocery store.” Andrea grinned with her this time. They both knew Louise was far happier as a sheriff’s deputy than she ever was as the manager of the local grocery store. Although, her life would have been simpler if the current sheriff wasn’t a walking dick. Louise closed her notebook and turned to leave. “We still on for lunch this Friday?” “Sure,” Andrea answered, determined to live her life normally no matter what was going on in her head. Just as Louise was about to step through the door, she turned back. “Oh, by the way, I’ve had a couple of reliable reports about a wolf hanging around the area. Give us a holler if you see it. I’d rather Cal Sanders get to it with his tranquilizer gun before some of the yahoos start shooting in the middle of town.” “Will do,” Andrea answered on a wobbly voice. Wolf sightings? Could that have been one of the Cloveck brothers in furry form? No, because the Cloveck brothers weren’t real. She’d made them up. Again Louise gave Andrea a concerned look, but thankfully she waved good-bye and stepped out the door. This was turning out to be one hell of a week.

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Chapter Three By closing time Andrea almost had herself convinced that last night had just been a strange, protracted dream. There was no such thing as werewolves. Therefore they couldn’t have saved her life, which meant Jed hadn’t accidentally shot her. Going by that logic, she felt certain that the Cloveck brothers were simply part of her libido reminding her that it had been a very long time. Perhaps it was time to pull BOB back into service. She glanced at her watch and wondered if she had enough time to duck down the road and grab some new batteries. Although, come to think of it, the last time she’d used her vibrator she’d made a mental note to buy a new one, so maybe that wasn’t such a good thought. Abandoning the idea of a date with the battery operated boyfriend, Andrea headed to the door, flipped the sign from open to closed, and turned the key in the deadlock. She was walking away when a strange sense of déjà vu filled her. She looked over her shoulder, feeling certain that the Cloveck brothers were somehow behind her, maybe even in the room with her. Her vision wavered as the feeling of being watched permeated every thought. “Where are you?” she whispered. But of course nobody answered. She was alone, just like she was this time every night. Andrea took a couple of deep breaths and tried to brush the irritating notion aside. She finally managed to convince herself everything was okay when a loud banging sound came from the front door. She practically leapt from her skin, but sweat trickled down her spine when she recognized the two men peering through the window.

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No. Fucking. Way. “Open up, Andrea,” Daegan said as soon as he spotted her in the dark area of the shop. “We can see you, beautiful, so there’s no use hiding like a frightened maiden.” Fabulous. The damn man knew exactly what buttons to push to make her do precisely what he wanted. Maiden? Sheesh. She marched to the door, unlocked the deadbolt, and opened it a crack. “I’m closed. What do you want?” “You,” Daegan said casually as he pushed the door open and walked in as if he owned the place. “Yeah, well you can’t have me, so go away.” But she was still shaking in reaction. Their arrival had blown her denial fantasy to smithereens, and she was both happy and angry about it. Isaac wrapped his arms around her, and she gratefully snuggled into his warmth. She had no idea why she was allowing him to hold her, but she did it just the same. Daegan must have realized something was wrong because he stepped closer and ran a finger down her face exactly as he’d done the night before. “Are you okay, beautiful?” Still off balance in an emotional sense, she somehow managed to dredge up her sarcasm and pour it into a single word. “Peachy.” Daegan laughed and then wandered over to the spot where she’d spent most of the day cleaning. “I got as much of it up as I could last night, but it was kind of hard in the dark, and I sure as hell didn’t want to attract attention by turning on the lights.” He moved back to stand beside her. “You did a good job. I can’t even smell the blood anymore.” “Yeah, well turns out my nose is pretty sensitive today. I had to keep scrubbing.” And even as she’d done it, she’d wondered what it meant. If she accepted everything she’d seen and heard last night, then it meant her life had changed forever. With these two standing in front of her, it seemed unlikely that she could once again convince herself that the events of last night were all imagination.

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She turned into Isaac’s embrace, happy for the moment to deny the undeniable. She didn’t even realize she was crying until Daegan pressed against her back and whispered, “It’s going to be okay, Andrea. I promise you everything will work out.” “I nearly died last night, didn’t I?” Hell, was that breathless, tiny voice really hers? “You would have if we hadn’t changed you,” Isaac said quietly. She nodded against his chest, swallowing hard as emotion crowded her thought processes. “We’re sorry we didn’t have a chance to give you the choice,” Daegan said, “but we couldn’t let you go.” “Because I’m your mate?” she whispered. She still had no idea what that meant. The way they’d described it felt an awful lot like an arranged marriage. Even if it was some higher power calling the shots, she much preferred the idea of making her own decisions. “But what if you don’t like me? What then?” “Trust us, beautiful. We already like you. Love will come.” “Seriously?” It sounded way too simple. These men were strangers. Just because her body seemed to have a mind of its own at the moment, it didn’t mean the future was bright and easy. She’d done the whole married thing before, and to say it hadn’t gone well was a seriously huge understatement. “So how does this ‘mate’ thing work?” “It starts with what we call a mating link. You’ll feel a connection to us, just the way we feel connected to you.” “Because of what you did last night?” “No, changing you doesn’t make you our mate. You were our mate even before you became a werewolf. If you hadn’t been dying we would have taken time to get to know you before making you a wolf.” “Oh, so I would have gotten a choice?” She didn’t mean the words to sound so snarky—they’d saved her life after all—but she couldn’t

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quite shake the feeling that the future she’d planned had been stolen before she’d truly begun to enjoy it. Of course, that was probably more the shooter’s fault than Isaac and Daegan’s. She shook her head sharply, trying to think rationally. “So then what? Last night you said claiming me was the werewolf equivalent of a marriage.” “That’s right. When we all agree the time is right,” Isaac said with a kind smile, “Xavier, Daegan, and I will give you a mating mark— it’s a special kind of bite that will leave a silvery sort of scar on your skin—and when you have control of your wolf side, you’ll do the same for us.” Isaac looked so hopeful she wondered if she should remind him again that she wasn’t going to marry, or mate, three strangers. “Come on. We’ll help you lock up and take you to dinner. We can do the whole dating thing if you like,” Daegan said with a happy grin. “Ah, sure, I guess.” She glanced around the room, wondering if perhaps this was the hallucination. They both seemed so nice and not the least bit annoyed even though she’d spent a good deal of time yelling at them last night. “I need a shower though.” Daegan’s chuckle was pure sin. “We could help.” Hell, the way her insides damn near liquefied, her body thought that was a really good idea. But the sex had been imaginary, right? She was sure she’d dreamed that part after they’d left. She was still shaking inside from the alarm clock’s poorly timed interruption. Her body wanted them. There was no doubt about that, but thankfully her brain was still in charge—for the moment at least. “I think I can manage by myself this time.” Daegan stepped away, pulled her gently from his brother’s arms, and turned her toward the stairs to her apartment. “Go get ready. We’ll wait here.” “Oh, you can wait upstairs if you like.” Daegan’s eyes seemed to flare brighter for a moment, but he grinned and shook his head. “Not with you naked we can’t.” He winked and sent her on her way.

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All through her shower, images of Daegan, Isaac, and Xavier and everything the four of them could do together in the tiny bathroom wound though her brain. She tried to concentrate on washing herself down, but a shudder ran through her as she imagined the soapy hands touching her skin belonged to someone else. Her hands drifted lower, pressing over the soft flesh of her mound, her fingers finding her clit as her imagination ran riot. She’d seen Isaac naked last night, and her memory combined with fantasy, and she suddenly found herself gasping for air. Shit, what was wrong with her? Was this part of being a werewolf? She’d never been this turned on this fast before. “Behave yourself, beautiful, or that shower is going to get awfully crowded.” She spun around, sure that Daegan must be behind her, but she was in the bathroom alone. “What the hell?” she asked the shower tiles. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t respond. Distracted for the moment, she finished her shower and threw on jeans and a T-shirt. Determined to keep the date casual, she pulled her hair back into a functional ponytail, but then went and ruined all her good intentions by adding makeup and a touch of perfume. Several minutes later she rushed down the stairs. She couldn’t quite explain her eagerness to spend time with the men—she was dead set against getting married again—but something nagged at her to get to know them better. “Ready, sweetheart?” Isaac asked with a smile as he claimed her hand. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as she stared up at him and remembered what it had been like to be kissed by this man. Almost as if he’d heard her thoughts, he leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against her own. Just like last night the kiss was slow and sensual, the gentle assault on her senses wrapping her in pleasant emotion. She sighed into his mouth, and his tongue slid into hers, exploring and caressing the warm recess.

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He groaned and pulled away, his hands shaking slightly as he set her away from him. She tried to hide her emotions behind a careless smirk, but he cupped the side of her face with his warm hand and whispered, “If we keep doing that, we will definitely miss our reservation. And as much as I want to explore every inch of your delectable body we did promise to try the whole dating thing first.” “True,” she said, licking her lips and wondering if sex on the first date was such a bad idea. After all, she’d never actually tried it, so who was she to judge? Good grief. She shook her head sharply and tried to find the woman she knew was inside. Somewhere. “Wait. Reservations?” There wasn’t a restaurant in this town busy enough to need a table booked on a Tuesday night. “Where are we going?” “There’s a good Italian restaurant about halfway between here and home. Xavier is going to meet us there.” She glanced at their expressions and again questioned her sanity. They were strangers—despite the horny dreams. Did she really want to leave town with them? “So the whole dinner-date thing was planned before you stepped inside my door.” “Yup,” Daegan said with a sexy grin. “Although, Isaac and I are more than willing to carry you up the stairs and love every inch of you until you come, screaming our names over and over and over.” Oh, wow. What happened to all the oxygen? Daegan gave her a lecherous grin, and the wicked, horny woman inside her wanted nothing more than to tear his clothes off and get started right here. But Isaac rescued them both from their baser desires and grabbed her hand to lead her out the door. Making a decision she hoped she wouldn’t regret, Andrea followed them out of the store. If they’d been planning to hurt her, they’d had ample time last night. Something in her brain urged her to

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stay close to these men, and besides, she really should find out more about this werewolf thing. Sheesh. Werewolf thing? Who would ever have thought she’d need to think about something like that? The men waited as she locked up and set the alarm. She’d always felt a little silly having an alarm for what was essentially an empty shop—all the jewelry was stored in the safe at night—but since last night’s events, it seemed rather prudent. It helped, of course, that it gave her an excuse to stay pressed between the two men for a little longer. She wasn’t looking forward to sitting in the backseat while they drove miles out of town. But when they led her to their vehicle, she was relieved and maybe a little dismayed to realize they drove a huge monster truck with three seats in the front. Not sitting in the back alone and trying to make conversation was a good thing, but being pressed between both men for the whole trip might just do her in. She was already horny as hell. By the time they reached the restaurant, she might burst into flames. “I can smell your arousal,” Daegan said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. Isaac leaned over and cuffed the back of his brother’s head, but Daegan just grinned unrepentantly. “So big trucks turn you on, huh?” Andrea giggled, surprised that she was even capable of laughing when she felt so off balance. Weirder still was the fact that she felt like she belonged here, despite having spent all day denying the men’s existence. “So what’s life like as a werewolf?” “Pretty much the same as a human, I suppose,” Isaac said with a shrug. “You suppose? What, you don’t remember? How long have you been a werewolf?” “We’ve always been werewolves. We were born this way.”

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“Seriously? I thought the only way a person could become a werewolf was to be bitten by one.” “Two actually,” Daegan said with a broad grin. “It takes two werewolf bites to turn a human. Usually it’s the alpha and the human’s werewolf mate that do the changing, but we were in a bit of a hurry. You know, with you bleeding to death and all.” “The alpha? What’s an alpha? Is he like the top dog or something?” Both men laughed but nodded in answer. “So who’s your alpha?” She giggled slightly as lyrics to a song bounced into her head. “Who’s the leader of your pack?” “Actually,” Isaac said as he pulled her hand into his own. “The leader of our pack is Xavier.” “Xavier? As in your brother, Xavier? The Xavier who kissed me last night like the world was ending? That Xavier?” Both men frowned at her choice of words, but she couldn’t help remembering how Xavier’s good-night kiss had curled her toes and set her heart beating triple time. The fact that Isaac and Daegan had followed up with equally devastating kisses just made the memory that much hotter. Both men took a deep breath, and she finally realized they really could smell her arousal. This werewolf stuff was going to take some getting used to. But, damn, a man who could tell when she was horny. Now, that had to be good news. “Whatever you’re thinking about, beautiful,” Daegan said, gripping the steering wheel tighter, “I suggest you stop, or our first time together is going to be on the side of the highway in a cramped truck.” She nodded, doing her damnedest to think of something else. But the words were out before she could call them back. “So last night really was just a dream?” “The hot ménage à quatre? Yup that was just a dream.” “So how do you know about it then?”

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“Because we dreamed it, too. Your alarm clock going off was damned annoying.” “You what?” Shit, lucky she wasn’t driving because that little piece of news would probably have run them off the road. She could feel embarrassment coloring her cheeks and tried very hard to ignore the fact that both men had raging erections now pressed against their jeans. Of course she also tried very hard to ignore the fact that she’d noticed their hard cocks in the first place. “It’s okay, Andrea. That sort of dream is common when a mating link first forms.” “Or so we’ve been told,” Isaac added quickly. “This is a first for us, too. We never expected to find a mate who would suit us both.” “Of course, we never expected to have to share with the alpha, either.” “So you’re all okay with this? With the sharing me part?” “We are. We’re not so sure about Xavier,” Isaac said quietly. Her heart did that little uncomfortable twist in her chest, and she tried to swallow the apprehension. “Xavier never expected to share a mate, so he might take a little convincing.” “At the moment he’s working on the theory that there is some type of glitch, and you’re not really his mate.” “Is that possible?” “Maybe. I suppose anything’s possible, but I think it’s more likely that Xavier is mistaken,” Daegan said with a quick wink. Why was she even discussing this? Yes, she was physically attracted to the three men, but physical attraction was not love. Far from it in fact. And since she had no intention of ever getting married again, why was she even contemplating life with three bossy, overprotective, gorgeously handsome, incredibly sexy…Um, what was her point again? Oh, yeah, never getting tied down to a man again. Hmm, tied down? Tied up, maybe? And spanked? She could do spanked.

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She shook her head trying to dislodge the crazy thoughts. Where the hell they were coming from was a complete mystery. She’d never even contemplated bondage or kinky sex play before. They traveled the rest of the way in silence, each of the men seeming lost in their own inner reflection as well. She was very grateful for the chance to get her own thought processes under control. She was almost relaxed by the time they stepped into the neat, tidy, and elegantly decorated restaurant. But the first thing Andrea saw was a she-bitch hanging off her man. **** Xavier saw Andrea’s eyes flare brightly with her anger. His first instinct was to extricate himself from Sheila’s annoying claws and move to placate his mate. But she wasn’t his mate. How could she be? He’d heard of rare occurrences where a werewolf had two mates, but never in his long life had he heard of someone having three. It simply wasn’t possible. Yet, something inside warned him to move away from Sheila before Andrea got any closer. He plastered on a smile and stepped toward his woman—no, their woman, his brothers’ mate, not his. But the woman did exactly the opposite of what he’d been expecting. Despite being in the middle of the crowded restaurant, Andrea marched over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and lifted her lips to his own. His wolf yipped happily inside his mind as the rest of him went into sensual meltdown. Hell, he couldn’t wait to mark her, and if he didn’t step away right now, he was liable to bend her over the table and fuck her like his animal demanded. Andrea’s needy sigh was almost his downfall, but thankfully she had sense enough to pull away. He held her in front of him, hiding his

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erection from the humans in the vicinity. Werewolves were used to carnal displays of affection, but he doubted the restaurant owners would be impressed. He shuffled her toward the table to introduce Andrea to his beta and the man’s wife, careful to avoid getting too close to Sheila. The woman may be his beta’s sister, but her ambition to be mated to an alpha was becoming annoying. Ironically, he wouldn’t have said that as recently as yesterday. Yesterday he’d considered the attentions of unattached females of the pack his due as alpha. Now he wasn’t so sure. Judging by the tension running through Andrea, he knew for certain letting Sheila stay after she’d “accidently” run into them at the restaurant had been a very, very bad idea. “Andrea, I’d like you to meet Dave Kinsky and his wife, Jessie, and his sister, Sheila. Jess, Dave, Sheila, this is Andrea, my mate.” He nearly winced at the fierce expression on Sheila’s face. He should have told her as soon as she’d waylaid him at the restaurant, but he hadn’t meant to introduce Andrea as his mate. He’d spent all damn day convincing himself that he’d been mistaken, but one look at Andrea’s beautiful face and he’d known he’d been lying. She was his mate, as pure and as simple as that, and now that he’d found her he had no intention of letting her go. Unfortunately, Andrea looked at him with such anger in her eyes he had the very real urge to cup his manhood protectively. But Isaac, ever the peacekeeper, wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her into the seat beside Xavier and then took the seat on her other side. Daegan made certain to move his chair closer to Isaac’s so that there was a wide gap between himself and Sheila on the circular table. Andrea was already acting territorial over her men. The last thing he needed was the newly made werewolf ripping someone’s arms off—and at this stage he couldn’t be certain they would be Sheila’s arms Andrea went for.

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Xavier placed his elbow on the back of her chair and softly caressed her shoulder with his fingers. He noticed that Isaac had his hand on her thigh, his touch just as gentle, just as soothing. With one more sharp look at Sheila, Andrea finally took a deep breath and relaxed. Potential disaster averted…for now. **** Andrea leaned into Isaac as the two men caressed her. She couldn’t understand where the anger had come from. She’d never been the jealous type, yet the moment she’d seen that over groomed, perfectly polished bottle blonde near her man she’d been ready to attack. Hell, she’d seen the blood-red talons wrapped around Xavier’s bicep, the sycophantic look on the woman’s face, and smelled her obvious arousal and had wanted to rip the bitch’s face off. The fact that she felt capable of actually doing it scared the living shit out of her. She’d seen Isaac wince when she’d squeezed his hand tight, and his unexpected reaction had been just about the only thing that had made her think twice. Well, that, and Xavier’s enthusiastic response to what probably amounted to her publicly stamping her ownership on him. The woman obviously didn’t know the score because she glared daggers at all three men, but when she went to say something, the other man, Dave, shook his head, and she shut up. Good thing, too, because Andrea wasn’t the least bit interested in what the woman had to say. Andrea took a deep breath, trying to find the calm that she usually possessed. It wasn’t like her to make snap judgments. She’d learned as a police officer that a situation was often more complex than it first seemed. She leaned over to Xavier and whispered, “Why did you invite her?”

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“I didn’t,” he said with a shake of his head. “We ran into her as we arrived at the restaurant.” “I’ll bet,” she said sarcastically. “Rather convenient for her, don’t you think?” “What I think is that my mate needs to claim me so that the others know I’m taken.” “Claim?” What was he, baggage on an airport carousel? She was still riding a green haze of jealousy, so she couldn’t have heard that correctly. “What does that mean?” “It means, sugar, that until you are able to control your wolf well enough to be able to bite me and claim me officially, then you better make sure I’m covered in your scent.” “What?” Did it say something about her that she had a vision of a dog marking its territory? Eeew. But Xavier must have interpreted her expression correctly because he leaned closer and licked her ear. “It means,” he whispered, his warm breath caressing her earlobe as he laughed softly, “that you need to fuck me hard and long.” **** Daegan glanced at his watch. It was still quite early, but he was so impatient to get their mate somewhere private that the meal seemed to take forever. It didn’t help that Sheila had stayed, despite it being clear to everyone else that she hadn’t been invited and was not really welcome. It was almost as if she expected Xavier to choose her even though his mate sat at the table. It seemed that nothing short of an order from her alpha would make her leave the restaurant, and Daegan knew his brother well enough to know Xavier wouldn’t do that. Xavier would feel guilty for what he considered leading Sheila on for the last few years. But Daegan could see the woman for what she was—an ambitious, powerhungry, young bitch who’d set her eyes on Xavier and wouldn’t back

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down without a fight. But, of course, she kept that side of her personality carefully hidden from the alpha. “Do you make the jewelry yourself?” Jessie asked with a gleam in her eye. Daegan knew Jessie and Dave’s first anniversary was coming up and wondered what the woman had in mind. “Some of it,” Andrea replied. Daegan noticed she was caressing the top of Isaac’s hand as Isaac caressed her thigh. It was obvious by her squirming that her mind was elsewhere, but she was trying valiantly to be polite. He was grateful for her attempt. Being the alpha’s mate came with responsibilities that she probably had no way of understanding just yet. Her life would have been far simpler if she’d only been his and Isaac’s mate. Although, simple didn’t quite describe the dynamics of such a complex relationship. Even without Xavier involved, a triad relationship would have been hard to maintain—although he had no doubt he and Isaac were capable of it—but with Xavier involved, the situation had the potential to spiral out of control. Just because destiny had chosen Andrea as their mate, it didn’t guarantee that they’d all get along. Hell, he’d seen mated pairs who’d made each other miserable. “Relax, Daegan, you’re making Andrea nervous.” “Sorry,” he sent back to Isaac in a strained telepathic voice. “I just don’t know how much more polite conversation I can take. I need to mark Andrea as our mate. I need her to mark me.” He glanced to his right and added, “And I need to get as far away from Sheila as possible.” The fawning expression Sheila wore every time Xavier spoke was absolutely sickening, especially since Daegan knew that it was completely fake. Sheila had been careful to hide her real personality in front of Xavier, but both Isaac and Daegan had seen what the woman was really like. She had no time for anyone she considered beneath her, and since she considered herself superior in every way, that meant she treated

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just about everybody with contempt. If her brother wasn’t the beta, and a genuinely nice guy, many in the pack would not have tolerated her this long. “Do you want to order some dessert?” their waiter asked in a friendly voice. “No,” Daegan replied sharply. He cast an apologetic glance at Andrea, but didn’t miss the grin plastered on Dave’s face. “I mean, no thanks. The meal was delicious. Could we have the check please?” “I think that’s our cue to get going,” Dave said with a laugh. He helped his wife from her seat and then cast a pointed look at his sister. Sheila seemed not to notice until Xavier cleared his throat and wished her good night. She looked momentarily stunned by the dismissal, but hid her reaction quickly and hurried to catch up to her brother. Daegan was pretty sure he could hear Sheila grinding her teeth as she wished them all good night in a pleasant voice, but it was Andrea’s blatantly false, almost mocking demeanor that took him by surprise.

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Chapter Four Andrea was livid. Not only did the woman have her eyes on Xavier, she’d actually spent the night deliberately ignoring Isaac and Daegan. And it wasn’t just the actions of a woman smitten by a man and distracted by his charm. It was the deliberate calculation of an elitist snob who considered herself more important than everyone else. A growl rose up in her throat as the woman walked away, her hips swinging in an obvious attempt to attract Xavier’s attention. “Who is she?” Andrea asked the moment the three were gone from the restaurant. “Dave’s sister,” Xavier answered, looking a little startled. Stupid man. “I know that,” she said, trying to contain her temper. “Who is she to you?” Xavier looked very uncomfortable, and judging by the way Isaac’s hand had once again started caressing her leg, Andrea knew she wasn’t going to like the answer. “We’ve dated a few times,” Xavier said dismissively. “But there was never anything serious.” “Have you fucked her?” She deliberately made the question offensive. “Andrea, calm down.” Oh, that was the absolute worst thing he could have said at that very moment. Talk about a flashback to her disastrous marriage. She dragged in a breath. “I need some air.” She shook off Isaac’s hand, anxious to be alone. “Stay,” she growled when Daegan tried to get out of his chair.

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Angrier than she could ever remember, Andrea stomped out the front door of the restaurant and around the corner. She tried to steady her breathing as a cool breeze hit her face. Unfortunately, it also carried words to her ears. “I don’t care if he has a mate. She’s not worthy of him. He’s an alpha, and she’s some pathetic little human his brothers probably dragged out of the gutter.” “Sheila,” her brother warned angrily, “Andrea is the alpha’s mate whether you like it or not. You can’t change that, so don’t even try.” “Of course I can change it. I haven’t worked this hard or this long to see my rightful position handed to some human whore,” she said smugly as she slid into the driver’s seat of her car. She slammed the door closed, and the vehicle started a moment later. Andrea watched, her mind racing with thoughts, as Dave and Jessie exchanged a few quiet words and then headed to their own car. Andrea continued to gaze at the road long after both cars turned onto the highway and headed up the mountain. “I expected Isaac would be the one to follow me,” she said as Xavier slid his arms around her from behind. “I know,” he said with a sigh. “But I just got a rushed, truncated version of what has been happening behind my back for the last couple of years and thought I better be the one to deal with it.” “You didn’t know?” she asked incredulously. How could he not know the woman’s true personality? Was it obvious to everyone but him? “No, I didn’t know,” he answered in an irritated tone. “It seems that my brothers spend a lot of time trying to protect me. I suppose none of it really mattered until you came along anyway. You’re my mate, Andrea, and I will always be faithful to you.” “You don’t even know me,” she whispered, feeling wretched. Less than twenty-four hours ago she’d been screaming blue murder at the idea of getting married to anyone, yet now she couldn’t imagine

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not tying her future to these men. Was it the nearly dying or the changing into a werewolf that had fucked up her thinking? “I know you,” he said with a confident laugh. “I know that when I do this”—he licked her earlobe and then sucked it into his mouth for a moment—“it makes your knees wobble and your breath catch.” He pressed a line of kisses down her throat. “I know that the idea of having sex with the three of us makes your panties damp and your pussy swell with need.” He turned her in his arms and pressed her head against his heart. “And I know that you don’t like having your feelings dismissed. I’m sorry, sugar. I spoke before I gave any thought to how the words might affect you. I’m the leader of our pack and used to giving orders. I just hope you believe me when I say it won’t happen again.” “Bullshit,” she said with a quiet laugh. “I know it will happen again. As you say, you’re the top dog, used to pushing others around.” “I…” He seemed lost for words. “But don’t worry, puppy,” she said with a smile as she tapped his cheek with her palm. “I’ll make sure to point it out to you each time.” “Puppy?” he asked, sounding rather affronted. Obviously he was used to the fawning type of respect Sheila had been projecting. “What? You prefer ‘pooch’ perhaps?” She couldn’t stifle the giggle, and he moved her away from him to look into her eyes. “You’re teasing me?” he asked with a relieved smile. “Of course,” she said as she tried to comprehend his reaction. “Hasn’t anyone teased you before?” “Actually, no,” he said as he pulled her back into his embrace. “Have you always been the alpha?” “In a way the answer is yes. My father was the alpha, and when I was born, everybody knew when I grew up I’d take over the pack.” “So you were what, born to be king?” He nodded. “You could say that.”

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“Holy shit. You’re the werewolf equivalent of royalty?” He laughed, setting her mind at ease even though he didn’t actually deny it. “What about Isaac and Daegan?” He let out a deep sigh and pulled her closer. “Twins, even triplets are quite common in werewolf families, but identical twins are rare. So rare in fact that for generations identical twins have been considered bad luck, a curse on a pack or a dire warning of things to come. If they’d been born to someone other than the alpha and his mate, they may not have survived their childhood.” “What? You can’t be serious. The pack would have killed them?” “No,” he was quick to deny. “More like…they wouldn’t have been protected.” He took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment, as if he were trying to find the words to explain. “Just like humans, werewolves raise their children in a family environment. But like wolves in the wild, werewolf families create a pack environment for protection. In a way, every adult provides for and protects the offspring of everyone in the pack.” She nodded her understanding and waited for him to continue. “But accidents still happen, children still find ways to make mischief, and of course teenagers simply think they’re indestructible. If the adults in charge somehow turned a blind eye to the child’s dangerous behavior, the outcome could be devastating.” “Putting them at risk like that still sounds barbaric,” she said quietly, but she’d been called to enough domestic disputes in her time as a police officer to know that the human way wasn’t necessarily any better. “It is,” he conceded with a sigh, “but fortunately, in our pack at least, most can see past the old superstitions and see Isaac and Daegan for what they are—decent men who contribute greatly to the pack’s well-being.” “What about Sheila?” “Until about ten minutes ago, I would have said Sheila was one of the many. But after some of the things Isaac and Daegan just told me,

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I’m no longer sure of Sheila’s concern for our pack or the werewolves in it.” “Would you have married her?” It hurt to ask, but she needed to know. She felt a connection to these men whether she wanted to deny it or not. “Extremely unlikely,” Xavier said with a relaxed laugh. “Apart from the fact that the woman drives me crazy, do you think Isaac or Daegan would have let her get that close to me? They know what she’s like. She has apparently never even tried to hide her contempt for them unless I was around.” “So why didn’t they tell you earlier?” Xavier shook his head slightly and shrugged. “Because it wasn’t necessary,” Daegan said as he stepped around the corner. “Ready to go home, beautiful?” “I…don’t know.” It wasn’t like her to be so uncertain, but she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she already was home. “Come home with us,” Xavier said as he hugged her tighter. “I want to,” she admitted, “but I need to open the shop at nine in the morning.” “How about we promise to have you home in plenty of time. Isaac and I will even help you in the shop.” “Uh-huh,” she said skeptically even though she was very tempted. “And how much do you know about jewelry?” “Not a thing,” Daegan admitted cheerfully. “But we’re quite prepared to do whatever our mate needs done. What do you say, beautiful? Come home with us. Let us make last night’s dream into reality.” She must be crazy. Something they did to her last night must have knocked a screw loose, because she nodded and let Xavier lift her in his arms and carry her to his car. Even knowing none of the feelings she had for these men could be real—that sort of connection took years, not hours—she was willing to follow what her heart wanted.

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**** “We’ll meet you there,” Xavier said over his shoulder as he closed the passenger door of his car. Neither Daegan nor Isaac looked happy about traveling the winding mountain roads without their mate, but they probably realized arguing would just waste time. He slid into the driver’s seat, leaned over to press a quick kiss to Andrea’s mouth, and then started the engine. “Are you cold?” he asked as he adjusted the temperature. He knew from experience that newly made werewolves tended to feel the cold more keenly than their older counterparts. He wasn’t sure why, but he suspected it had something to do with the extra strength the change gave them temporarily. “A little,” she said, rubbing her arms as if she’d just noticed. He turned the heat up a few more degrees, put the car in gear, and headed to the highway. They drove in companionable silence for several miles, each seemingly lost in thought, but a quick glance at Andrea suggested that the woman wasn’t as relaxed as she first seemed. He placed a hand on her thigh, gently caressing her through the denim. “Everything all right, sugar?” She looked startled at first, but then huffed out an embarrassed laugh, and her leg relaxed slightly. “I’m just wondering what your home is like.” “Our home,” he growled before he could hold back the words. She seemed ready to argue the point, but then took a deep breath and ignored his comment for the moment. He had a feeling she was going to bite his ass on that one later. By changing her the way they had, she really had no other choice than to live at the compound. At least until she learned to control her wolf. He took a deep breath, trying to think clearly enough to answer her question.

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“Have you ever seen a ‘gated community?’” She nodded. “It’s very similar. Each family has their own home. Most of the adults work for our community business or for the community in some way. We have a few who commute into town, but most are happy to stay within the compound.” “They commute?” she asked with a hopeful lilt in her voice. He knew what she was thinking, and he needed to squash the impulse. “They do, but none of them are newly made werewolves. In fact, all except one were born werewolves.” “And the one?” It was obvious she wasn’t going to let it go. He didn’t like the idea of her not wanting to live at the compound with them, but he’d do what he could to make her happy. “Her mate died a long time ago. She’s been a werewolf for longer than you were human and has shown a level of control previously not considered possible for created werewolves.” “Oh.” They fell silent again as he maneuvered the car up the mountain road. It wasn’t very far in a distance sense, but the winding roads made it quite a long drive. As they crested the final rise and turned onto the private road that led to their community, Xavier sensed Andrea’s curiosity rise. She sat up straighter as they approached the gate. Xavier stopped the car, rolled down his window, and nodded at the security guard who waved them through. Isaac and Daegan were right behind them. “How many people live here?” Andrea asked in a voice filled with wonder. He glanced around, trying to see the community that had always been his home through the eyes of a newcomer. “At the moment we have one hundred and forty-two families.” It truly was a spectacular place to live. In a lot of ways it was similar to most suburban developments, but instead of destroying nature to build their homes, his pack had made an effort to blend into the land. Most of the structures resembled sturdy log cabins with one major

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exception—they were all huge. Well, that and the myriad of modern conveniences on the inside. “No streetlights?” He laughed quietly. “We’re all wolves. We prefer the light of the moon.” She smiled softly, nodded her head, and went back to gazing out the window. “So…um…which place is yours?” “At the end of this street.” The alpha’s home was by necessity the largest in the community, but not because of his position. It had more to do with the need to have a meeting place big enough to hold the entire pack. It was also the headquarters for the pack’s business. Andrea seemed a little intimidated as he stopped the car in the driveway. “This is your home?” **** Holy shit. Andrea glanced around at what amounted to a damn parking lot. The front yard alone would park two dozen cars. What the hell had she stumbled into? She’d been joking about the royalty part, but maybe she hadn’t been so far from the truth. “It’s not as big as it looks.” “Uh-huh.” She found that hard to believe. It looked like a freaking mansion. “Trust me, sugar,” Xavier said as the door beside her opened. Daegan stood there with his hand out, waiting for her to take it. She hesitated a moment. This was it. This was the point where she either stepped into their arms or backed away forever. Okay, maybe not forever. They seemed a little more determined than to just let her leave, but was she willing to stay and explore this new life?

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“Trust us, sweetheart,” a voice whispered into her mind. Her gaze flew to Isaac’s grinning face. “How the hell?” “We call it the mating link,” Daegan said as he pulled her closer. “Only true mates can build a telepathic link—well, with the odd exception.” He glanced at his twin, and some sort of meaningful look passed between them. “We can already feel your emotions, hear the occasional thought. Soon you’ll be able to contact us no matter where we are.” “Seriously?” Okay, probably a stupid question, but… “Seriously?” Isaac stepped up behind her, his warm breath teasing her ear as he whispered, “Seriously.” She wanted to ask more, but arousal was winding through her so fast that words didn’t seem to hold any meaning. Her knees wobbled slightly, and all three of her men groaned as she felt her pussy moisten with need. “Inside,” Xavier growled as he herded his brothers and Andrea into the house. She barely had a moment to look around before Isaac lifted her against the wall, thrust his tongue into her mouth and his cock against her pussy. She was panting hard, her body undulating against his, straining to get closer, desperate for him to fulfill the promise he made. She gasped when he moved them away from the wall, still holding her up as Daegan lifted her shirt over her head and unclasped her bra. He kissed the red lines the restrictive garment had left behind. “No more bras,” he said as he stood behind her, kissed her neck, and massaged her swollen breasts. “But—” “No buts,” he growled as his fingers found her nipples. They were hard and begging for his attention, and he didn’t disappoint. Sharp arousal flared outward as Daegan tugged the sensitive nubs, his rough

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treatment somehow more incredibly amazing than anything she ever remembered experiencing. His hands dropped lower, pressing against her mound, pulling her back against his hard cock a moment before he fumbled with the button on her jeans. He slid his fingers inside the material, pushing the denim down to her knees. She tried to step out of the tangled clothing, but she stopped when Daegan growled low in his throat. “Lean forward,” he said as he pushed her down with a hand between her shoulder blades. She complied, trusting them to keep her safe. With her legs tangled in her jeans, she was off balance, but Daegan’s strong hands gripped her hips, his fingers caressing her skin, as Isaac supported her shoulders. Isaac already had his jeans undone, his hard cock close to her face. She swiped her tongue over the slightly rough skin, smiling when he groaned and told her to do it again. She could feel her juices pulsing from her pussy as Daegan lowered her underwear and slid his fingers over her slippery flesh. She tried to lower onto his fingers, desperate to be filled, her need for all three men somehow spiraling out of control. She tried to lift her head to see where Xavier was, but Isaac tangled his fingers in her hair and pushed her down onto his cock. She opened her mouth, suctioning her lips around his hard length, sucking hard against the bulbous head when he wouldn’t let her take him deeper. Rough fingers thrust into her pussy, stretching her, spreading her juices, making her desperate for their possession. “Please,” she whimpered inside her head, closing her eyes on the silent plea. A warm hand touched the side of her face. “Soon, sugar,” Xavier said quietly. Had he heard her thoughts? Or maybe he’d just read her body language. Hell, she must make a strange sight. Head down, ass up, about to be fucked by two brothers while their older brother watched. Liquid heat sizzled through every nerve ending as Xavier caressed her shoulders and spine and

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confirmed he’d heard every word. “You look incredible, sugar. Relax and let Isaac and Daegan show you how amazing sex as a werewolf can be.” Werewolf? Oh, yeah, she’d forgotten about that part. Isaac pushed her head lower, his cock thrusting to the back of her throat, holding her down, holding her trapped. She began to wriggle as fear tried to take over. “Shhh, sweetheart,” Isaac whispered reassuringly into her mind. “We won’t hurt you. Now that you’re a werewolf, your body is a lot stronger than you realize.” She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, trying to calm herself, trying to concentrate on the incredible feelings their touches invoked. “Good girl. Now swallow.” She did, the awkward motion suddenly more appealing when Isaac groaned in appreciation. She did it again, her whole focus on Isaac’s pleasure. He caressed her hair as he slowly began to fuck her face. “That’s it, sweetheart,” he groaned out loud as he sped the pace. He was thrusting into her mouth harder than she thought possible, the speed almost unimaginable to her recently human mind. But then Daegan grabbed her hips harder, thrust his cock to the hilt inside her pussy. She practically squealed at the forceful entry, but the word “condom” screamed through her mind before she could make the sound. “It’s okay, sugar,” Xavier said as his brothers pounded into her harder and faster. “You’re a werewolf. We don’t have the type of sexually transmitted diseases humans need to fear.” Only half aware of his words, Andrea sucked harder against Isaac’s cock as he fucked her face, his forceful movements in counterpoint to his brother’s thrusts. She relaxed into their care, her own arousal climbing higher as they took her hard and fast. But then Daegan wrapped his arm under her, his hand finding her clit, the frantic movements of his fingers over her swollen nub matching the desperate beat of her heart.

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She screamed around the cock in her mouth as her orgasm exploded over her. Every muscle was shaking, every nerve ending buzzing from the electric current that streaked through her. They moved even faster, fucking her frantically as her climax seemed to go on and on and on. Isaac stilled inside her mouth, pushing deeper, holding her harder against him a moment before his cum pulsed into her throat. She swallowed his essence, licking him clean as he caressed her face and neck with his warm hands. As Isaac moved away, Daegan suddenly pulled out, turned her around, and dragged her jeans off her legs. He lifted her against Xavier, pressing her shoulders against Xavier’s chest, and then rammed to the hilt in her pussy once more. Xavier cushioned her against the forceful fucking as her entire body quivered and tightened with need yet again. Daegan pressed his mouth against hers, his tongue pushing into her almost as forcefully as his cock. Everything tingled, the pins-andneedles feeling spreading outward from her pussy, setting her whole body alight with sensation. A thick finger touched her anus, the strange pressure against her virgin hole sending her reeling once more. “Come for us,” he said as the finger pushed into her ass. Her anal muscles gripped him, the squeezing motion echoing in her pussy, the loud groan from Daegan as he exploded inside her tipping her into pure bliss. She moaned low and long as wave after wave of heat washed over her. She closed her eyes, gasping for air, trying to slow her heart rate as Daegan finally stopped moving and pressed his forehead against hers. She opened her eyes sleepily, the feeling of belonging, of being where she should be echoed in all three men’s emotions. She couldn’t explain how she knew they were content and as happy as she felt at that moment, but she knew without a doubt that she was right.

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“Come on, sugar,” Xavier said as he lifted her into his arms and headed up the curved staircase. “Daegan and Isaac are going to make some coffee while we get you cleaned up.” “Oh.” She glanced at the two men over Xavier’s shoulder, worried that they would be upset by his dismissal, but they both sent her reassuring smiles, and she relaxed into Xavier’s embrace. **** Xavier carried his mate up to his private bathroom. He had no doubt that it was about to become less private than he’d enjoyed previously, but it made sense for the four of them to move into the largest room in the house. He hadn’t quite worked out the logistics of sleeping arrangements between three brothers and their mate, but he figured it would somehow sort out. Andrea had her eyes closed, but he knew she wasn’t asleep. He could sense her mild embarrassment, but it was her concern that he might not want her that shocked him to the core. “That was incredible to watch,” he said sincerely. Funny, if he’d been asked a week ago, he would have said he didn’t have any voyeuristic tendencies. Hell, he would have been dead wrong. Watching Isaac and Daegan make love to their mate for the first time had been incredible. His cock had been hard practically since the moment he’d met Andrea, but the beautiful sounds she’d made, the sweet scent of her arousal, and the wild image of her exploding into orgasm would stay with him for a very long time. He couldn’t wait to mark her, for them all to mark her as their mate, but he knew she wasn’t ready. Not yet. “How will this work?” she asked quietly. She seemed so uncertain as he placed her on her feet in the shower that he stepped in fully clothed and pulled her close again.

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“However we want it to work,” he said as he smoothed her wild curls away from her face. “Just let it happen, sugar. Don’t overthink it.” She smiled at him shyly, and he could barely believe that this was the same woman who’d been ready to attack in a jealous rage back at the restaurant. He cuddled her closer. She was the perfect mix of strong, confident, sensible, protective, wild, and demure, and he couldn’t think of a woman more perfect to be his mate. “You think I’m perfect?” she asked with a mischievous smile. He released her, stepped back, and grinned that she’d heard his thoughts. Even the mating link was building exactly as it should. If there were ever any doubt that she was meant to be his mate, that alone wiped it all away. “Yes, sugar, I think you’re perfect. So does my wolf.” “How does that work exactly?” She blushed as he leaned into the shower and turned on the taps. Once the water was the perfect temperature he eased her under the warm flow and stepped away to remove his own clothes. She watched him undress, and he was a little amused that she had difficulty keeping her gaze above his waist. “I mean, you guys talk about your wolf like it’s a separate entity. Almost like you’re possessed or something.” Surprised by her observation, he stopped and thought about it for a moment. “I suppose we do talk about our wolves that way, but they’re not a separate entity. More like a different side of our personalities.” “So, I’m going to, what? Develop a split personality disorder now?” He shucked off his pants and stepped into the shower with her. “No, smart-ass,” he said with a laugh in his voice as he landed a playful slap on her bottom. “You’ll understand what I mean once you’ve been through the change yourself. The way we think in wolf form is more elemental, more primitive than when we’re in human form, so we tend to think of it as a different side to ourselves. But it is

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still us. We’re still only one person. We just have two physical forms.” “Okay,” she said, obviously willing to take his explanation at face value. That was another thing he loved about her. She wasn’t just blindly following or blindly fighting them, but rather making up her own mind and reserving judgment on things she didn’t yet understand. “You know that thing you said in the restaurant…” She hesitated, but didn’t look away. “Um, could we try that now?” He grinned. “You mean the part where I said you need to fuck me hard and long?” She nodded, her grin now matching his own. “I think that’s how you put it, yes.” “Absolutely.” Without giving her a chance to change her mind, he lifted her against the cold tiles and rammed his cock deep into her pussy. Barely able to breathe at the incredible sensation of his mate’s gorgeous body wrapped around his erection, Xavier stilled. His control weakened further when her warm, wet pussy muscles fluttered around him, caressing his cock as she clung to him, panting just as hard as he was. “Holy shit,” she said in a voice filled with wonder. Just pressed together, holding each other, their bodies reacting to the contact without their obvious thought or control was the most incredible feeling he’d ever encountered. “Andrea,” he said on a ragged sigh, his wolf side demanding he claim her, urging him to bite her, to officially make her his mate. He held still a moment longer, imprinting the memory, savoring the unexpected closeness he felt to Andrea already. But then his need took over, and he slid out carefully, thrusting back in urgently, unwilling to be apart, needing to be inside her. She clung to him, her arms shaking, her legs wrapped around him, her thighs squeezing him with werewolf strength. He did it again. Sliding out of her slick channel only to thrust back in harder. Again and again, he moved away, each thrust more

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powerful, each withdrawal and return more urgent. He moved his hands, trying to cushion her against the cold tiles as he fucked her harder, faster, deeper. She cried out, her need overwhelming them both as her muscles quivered around him. Her orgasm burst, her entire body shaking in his arms as he took her even harder. His own climax boiled in his belly, his mouth opening over her shoulder, his teeth elongating, his wolf side urging him to claim her. He licked her skin, his sense holding on by a thread as his balls drew up, and his groin tingled. A moment later orgasm burned through him. Pulse after pulse of hot seed spurted from his cock, filling his mate, sealing his future. Even without claiming her, she was his, his and Isaac’s and Daegan’s, and they would never let her go. He pulled her closer, turned them around so that he leaned against the tiles and she lay against him. The words “I love you” floated unbidden through his mind. “You can’t love me,” she said, quietly pulling away from him, the sad tone in her voice tugging at his heart. “Why not?” He let her go but reached over and tilted her chin so that he could see her eyes. “What’s so wrong with falling in love with my mate?” “It’s too soon.” She shook her head and tried to turn away, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and forced her to look at him. The tears in her eyes didn’t make any sense. “Talk to me, Andrea. Why is it too soon?” She sucked on her bottom lip, worrying it with her teeth as she searched his expression for something he didn’t understand. “I just…know from experience.” “You’ve been in love before?” “I thought so.” Things were starting to make more sense. He held her gaze, hoping she would explain more without him having to ask. She did.

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“I was married for six years. We were high school sweethearts. We promised each other the world and married when we barely knew each other. I thought things would grow, get better, but the opposite happened. We held it together for as long as we could, but in the end all we did was make each other miserable.” “That won’t happen to us,” he said confidently even though he could see her point. Unfortunately they probably weren’t the best choice of words under the circumstances. “I already know that being mates doesn’t guarantee we’ll actually like each other.” “I know. It’s just…it won’t happen to us.” “What makes you so sure?” Her belligerence was understandable under the circumstances, but it didn’t make it any less annoying. Surely part of building a successful relationship was being optimistic that things would work. He turned off the shower, stepped out, and held open a towel for her to walk into. She took the material and wrapped it around herself instead. He huffed an annoyed breath. “Call Isaac and Daegan.” She looked at him like he’d lost his mind. Eyeing him warily, she opened her mouth to do as he’d asked. “Call them with your mind.” “Seriously?” That word was seriously starting to piss him off. Did she believe nothing they told her? He ground his teeth together and gave her his stubborn look that would have scared the hell out of anyone else in the pack. But not his beautiful mate. She rolled her eyes and growled at him. After a few moments of glaring at each other, she finally closed her mouth and did as he asked. She looked rather surprised when his brothers answered. At least he assumed they answered since they came through the bathroom door wearing wide grins. “If that doesn’t convince you, beautiful,” Daegan said as he and Isaac wrapped their arms around her. “I don’t know what will.”

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Chapter Five Andrea felt like she was living in a perfect bubble where all of her dreams were coming true, where she felt safe and protected and free to be herself. The trouble was she expected the bubble to burst. Nothing good lasted for long. Life had taught her that long ago, and she couldn’t come up with a reason why it wouldn’t happen this time. “Hey,” Isaac said as he lifted her into his arms and carried her into a bedroom. “We don’t have to think about the future yet. How about we just enjoy being together tonight?” He placed her in the middle of the bed, unwrapped the towel, and stood back as Daegan and Xavier joined him. The three of them stood there smiling, watching her writhe against the cool sheets as they somehow sent images of what they planned directly into her mind. She moaned, opening her legs, begging with her body as they continued simply to watch. “Touch yourself,” Daegan ordered. She swallowed, feeling the heat of embarrassment creep over her face. She shook her head, but he gave her a look, and suddenly the need to please him—to please them all—overrode her embarrassment. She moved her hands over her breasts, her nipples already hard little nubs, her breasts aching and swollen. Andrea ran her nail over the tight flesh, her breath catching as warm arousal slithered through her and her men shuffled on their feet. She smoothed her hands down her stomach, moaning as she caught sight of her lovers’ arousal. The towel Xavier had slung low on his hips bulged and pulsed even more as she watched. Isaac and

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Daegan both sported hard erections pressed against their jeans that she suspected hurt like hell. The pained looks on their faces only grew worse when her fingers slid along her mound, grazing over her swollen clit before moving lower and teasing her labia. She lifted her hips off the bed, her fingers pushing into her pussy as three identical groans rose from her audience. “Hands and knees,” Xavier ordered in a gruff voice as he dragged the towel off his hips and climbed onto the bed. Isaac and Daegan quickly stripped off their clothes and followed. She felt her pussy clench as all three men helped to move her into position. Isaac lay down on the bed, pulling her over him so that she straddled his hips. Daegan moved to stand in front of her and Xavier caressed her ass from behind. He slid his fingers between her cheeks, his thumb pressing hard against her puckered opening. “Daegan, drawer behind you,” Xavier said as he wrapped an arm under her belly and pressed his thumb harder against her anus. She squeaked and tried to scurry forward, but he held her trapped and gentled her with soothing strokes. “Relax, sugar.” Daegan handed a bottle of lube over to his brother, the grin he cast her way promising wicked delights. Isaac caressed her breasts, his touch gentle, his calm demeanor soothing. “You’re going to love this,” Xavier said as he drizzled cool lube down the crease of her ass. She gasped and nodded, her ass clamping down as he tried to press his lubed thumb into her. “Sugar, you need to relax. We don’t want to hurt you.” Daegan moved closer. “Open,” he said as he pressed his cock against her lips. She did as he asked, suctioning onto him as he pushed deep into her throat. She concentrated on swallowing him, swirling her tongue over and around the head of his dick. He groaned as she took him deeper, her enthusiasm growing as he started to pump shallowly into her mouth. A hand—probably Isaac’s—found her clit, his fingers sliding over her slippery flesh again and again. Orgasm built rapidly, the promise

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of rapturous meltdown flying toward her at dizzying speed. She barely noticed when Xavier breached her ass, the muscle clamping down on his thumb, dragging him deeper. She groaned as he pushed more lube into her ass and swirled the thumb in her hole, widening and stretching the muscles as he poured more lube between her ass cheeks. Andrea moaned around Daegan’s cock, moaning even louder when his legs wobbled, and he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck to keep them both steady. Xavier added his other thumb to her ass, his fingers splayed over each ass cheek as he worked them both into her back passage. But then he was gone, leaving behind only emptiness. Her ass burned, the muscles clenching against nothing, the nerve endings throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She heard the lube bottle, the sounds of the slippery fluid being spread, and then Xavier’s cock pressed against her back passage, the feeling so wonderful that she pushed back, eager to be filled by him. He held her steady, his big hands gripping her hips, holding her still, holding her safe. He worked his cock into her dark hole inch by incredibly slow inch as he thrust forward a little, pulled back, and then thrust a little deeper, a little farther, his cock filling her ass just a little more each time. Finally, finally, he filled her completely, his cock pulsing inside her as he panted for air. “Stay still a moment, sugar.” He caressed her thighs gently as Daegan eased his cock from her mouth and pressed her face against his thigh. Even Isaac stilled his movement, his fingers cupping her mound but no longer touching her clit. She moaned, her arousal making her shake, the wait making her impatient. But then Isaac slid lower, and she felt his cock probing her pussy, his head pushing into her suddenly much tighter channel. She could barely breathe as he, too, worked his way slowly into her body. It was uncomfortable, both massive cocks making her feel overstretched, overfilled. She whimpered as she tried to pull away.

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“Trust us, beautiful.” Daegan pressed his cock against her lips once more, and she opened for him, eager for the distraction. Everything ached, everything throbbed, and she panted at the strange sensation of Xavier pulling out of her ass one slow, slow inch at a time. But then something changed. Something flowed over her, a wave of heat, a wash of sensation. Electricity sizzled every nerve ending, her entire focus on these three men and the feelings they created. Without warning they all started to move faster, thrusting into her body, building a rhythm, building her need, building all sensation. Every feeling, every reaction, every emotion spiraled higher, tighter. She moaned as her orgasm crested, holding out of reach, waiting for something. “Come for us,” Xavier demanded as he pushed her hard against his brother and ploughed her ass almost violently. She shook, unable to stop, unable to gasp, unable to breathe as wave after wave after wave of heat flowed over her, through her, beyond her understanding. The men took their own pleasure, her ass and pussy clenching around them, her throat swallowing convulsively, her arms shaking with the effort to hold her up. Daegan caressed the back of her neck as he stilled all movement and his seed pumped into her throat. She caressed him with her tongue, the movement automatic, unthinking as Xavier poured his cum into her ass. Daegan eased his cock from her mouth, and she fell forward onto Isaac, her arms no longer able to hold her up. She felt Xavier pull from her ass, his hands gently caressing the soft flesh as her ass muscles tingled and pulsed. She was practically asleep, completely relaxed when Isaac grabbed her hips, lifted her off his cock, and then slammed her back down. Over and over, he plunged into her pussy, her exhaustion morphing into excitement, her contentment climbing toward need once more.

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Suddenly he rolled, pinned her beneath him, slamming into her pussy again and again and again. Her swollen clit zinged with renewed eagerness, her climax spinning violently through her, every muscle quivering and jumping as Isaac fucked her harder and harder and harder. He shouted his completion, his cock pulsing in time with her clenching pussy as liquid heat seemed to drench her veins. Panting hard, he fell forward onto her, careful not to crush her with his weight. “That was incredible,” he whispered in her ear. Then he kissed her, taking her mouth in a slow, drugging, passionate kiss. “Stay right where you are.” Panting, she nodded. Since she was fairly certain that all of her bones had somehow dissolved, Andrea didn’t think that was going to be a problem. They must have heard her thought, or maybe felt her humor because Daegan and Xavier both laughed and leaned over to press a kiss each to her lips. Isaac was back a moment later, a warm, wet washcloth in his hand. He ran it over her thighs, the skin so sensitive she jumped away, her flesh covered in goose pimples. “I can do that,” she said as heated embarrassment once more crept over her face and neck. “Be quiet, beautiful,” Daegan said as he smoothed the hair away from her eyes. “Let us take care of you the way you deserve.” “Oh, well since you put it like that…” It was meant to be just a little bit sarcastic—she was quite capable of taking care of herself after all—but it came out breathless and needy, and Isaac went back to what he’d been doing. She lay still and let him do what he wanted, too tired to argue the point. She woke several hours later, pressed between Isaac and Daegan. A quick flutter of panic churned her gut until she realized that Xavier lay across the end of the bed, one of his big hands wrapped around her calf muscle. She settled back onto the pillow, determined to sort a few things out in her head, but the warmth they generated, the sense of

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peace their presence gave her, and her exhaustion from their love play all conspired to drag her back into unconsciousness. **** Daegan woke a few minutes before the alarm was set to go off. There was no feeling of confusion or disorientation. He knew exactly where he was and exactly who slept in his arms. He pulled the woman closer, content for the moment to steal her from his brother’s sleeping form. She snuggled against him, and every hope he’d had for the future suddenly seemed brighter, somehow closer than he’d ever imagined possible. As much as he’d wished for a mate and a family, he’d never truly believed it would happen. He rubbed a hand over her belly, imagining what it would feel like to have his—or his brother’s—child growing in her body. It was something they would need to talk about. Once she went through her first full moon, her fertility would change, and she’d be at risk of becoming pregnant. It was a risk he hoped she’d be willing to take. Of course he first had to convince her to let all three of them claim her, and considering her views on marriage, that wasn’t going to be a simple task. Deciding to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, he sat up and pulled his lovely mate with him. “Shower time,” he whispered in her ear as he sent mental instructions to his twin to get his lazy ass out of bed. Fortunately, Isaac rolled out of bed, gave their mate a quick hug, and then headed downstairs. Considering how good he was at cooking, Daegan had no doubt that he’d chosen the right brother. Xavier wouldn’t know a skillet from a spatula. His eldest brother stirred, his eyes tracking Daegan and Andrea as they stepped into the bathroom, but Xavier seemed content to let them have some time alone. Daegan maneuvered his sleepy mate into the

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shower and stepped in behind her. She snuggled against him as he adjusted the water temperature and began soaping her down. As much as he would love to spend the next few hours exploring her delicious body, he knew they needed to get on the road if they were going to get her home in time to open her jewelry store. He could sense how important the place was to her. It wasn’t just a business owner concerned for her livelihood. Her feelings toward the little jewelry store in a tiny little town ran much deeper than that. Daegan wanted to know why, but at the moment it was more important to make certain they got her back in time. The last thing he wanted was for Andrea to feel that they didn’t understand how difficult such large and unexpected changes would be for her to deal with. It didn’t matter that they’d had no choice but to change her. He still wished they’d been able to give her some time to get used to the idea before making her a werewolf. He cleaned her down, unable to resist the lure of touching her almost everywhere with his soapy hands. She cuddled closer, but he removed her hand from his rapidly hardening cock several times before he growled and pinned her hands behind her. “Unless you want to be late for work, I suggest you behave.” She giggled softly at his growled words, but then the meaning must have sunk in because she stared into his eyes for a moment before leaning up to press a kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” she whispered softly. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and he worried that she’d heard at least some of the thoughts swelling through his mind. “Don’t thank me,” he said with an exaggerated leer. “We’re not out of the shower yet.” She laughed when he pinched her bottom but didn’t protest when he turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. He started to wipe her down, but the vision of his mate so openly trusting and happy and, oh god, so gloriously naked was messing with his good intentions. Desperate to keep his promise, he wrapped the towel around her,

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turned her toward the door, and patted her bottom as he sent her on the way. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Xavier had grabbed one of his shirts and was pulling it over her head with a warm smile. Daegan finished drying himself off and headed into his own room to throw on some clothes. “Breakfast is ready,” Isaac called telepathically. Daegan smiled when he realized that he could sense their mate’s reaction to Isaac’s words even with her in the next room. **** Andrea took a deep breath, inhaling Xavier’s spicy scent. The shirt he’d placed on her was way too big. It came almost to her knees, and she’d had to roll the sleeves several times just to find her hands, but it would do until she got home. She pulled her jeans on without underwear. She had no idea where her panties or bra had landed last night, and it just seemed too embarrassing a question to ask. Hopefully she’d find them at the bottom of the stairs and be able to pocket them before anyone noticed. The smell of sausages, ham, and eggs was deliciously enticing. She’d never been much of a breakfast eater, but she suspected this might be part of being a werewolf. Xavier held her hand as he led her to the kitchen area, and she was pleasantly surprised that Isaac was the one cooking. She’d feared that in a house so large they might have a cook, or housemaid, or even a butler. Heated embarrassment suffused her face when she remembered what they’d gotten up to last night in the foyer, and she felt doubly glad they didn’t seem to have servants. Of course memories of last night’s carnal activities made her acutely aware of the fact that she wasn’t wearing panties. All three men in the room turned her way, three near-identical grins aimed in her direction. She dropped her head forward and rubbed her eyes.

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Even after everything they’d shared last night, she was still embarrassed by her responses to these men. Xavier reacted almost as if he’d heard her internal thoughts—and perhaps he had. The link between them had been growing stronger all night. In a move so fast she barely saw it coming, he pinned her against the bench, ground his hard denim-clad cock against her pussy, and kissed her like the world was about to end. By the time he let her up for air, she was shaking like a leaf in a windstorm and so needy for her men that she was certain the heated pink of embarrassment covered every inch of skin she owned. Xavier growled, picked her up, and placed her on a stool at the breakfast bar. “Get over it, sugar,” he said in a thick voice. “Werewolves are very accepting of passionate behavior between mates.” “Don’t worry, Andrea,” Isaac said as he placed a plate laden with food in front of her. “One full moon will cure this shyness.” “Full moon? You mean the night I’m supposed to turn into a wolf.” “Supposed to?” Daegan asked with a laugh. “You still doubt us?” “Well, no, I guess I don’t. Not really. It’s just a little hard to imagine.” She shrugged. The full moon was nearly three weeks away. She planned to deal with one problem at a time, but she would like a heads-up on how they figured she’d be cured of her shyness. Shyness? Since when had she become a delicate flower? She’d swapped bawdy jokes and teasing jibes with the guys in her precinct without even batting an eyelid. Back then she’d given as good as she’d gotten, so what had changed? She glanced at all three men watching her expectantly, and she realized the one major difference. Back on the force she’d been one of the group, but here she was center of attention—center of attention for three testosterone-laden, alpha-male types all willing to share her. She fanned herself with her hand. Hell, had it just gotten way hotter in here?

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Daegan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressed a kiss to her temple, and advised her to eat. “We need to be on the road in fifteen minutes,” Isaac added, glancing at his watch. She practically wolfed down her food, almost giggling at her own silly pun, before it occurred to her that she had no idea what Xavier would be doing today. “Will I see you tonight?” “Probably not,” Xavier said as he finished his own breakfast and pulled her onto his lap. She straddled his thighs, her arms going around his neck as he pressed another hard kiss to her mouth. When he’d somehow managed to suck all the air out of the room, he moved her slightly away and pressed his forehead against her own. “I’ve got a really tight schedule the rest of this week, but I’ll try to clear a couple of days at the beginning of next week.” “Don’t try. Do.” Xavier laughed and pulled her closer. “Yes, boss,” he said in an indulgent tone of voice. He lifted her off his lap, placed her on her feet, and gave her a look that made heat curl through her belly. “I’ll clear my schedule. You go pack up your shop.” “But…” Her words trailed off as he shook his head. He didn’t look any happier about it than she did, but it seemed to be something he wasn’t willing to negotiate on. Well, that was too damn bad. Even if she wanted to sell her jewelry store—and she most emphatically did not—it took more than three weeks to find a buyer, get all the paperwork done, and close off that part of her life. She had no intention of walking away from everything she’d worked so hard to achieve. She’d alter, she’d bend, she’d change a little and compromise, but there was no way she was giving up everything that made her the person she was before meeting them. **** Five hours later Daegan could still sense Andrea’s anger as he watched her deal with a customer. The argument had been swift and

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angry and full of hurt feelings and unsure reactions. It probably sounded opportunistic and self-serving, but he’d stepped back and let his brothers handle it. Xavier had gone all alpha werewolf on her and started giving orders. She’d reacted by defying him even more, digging in her heels, and refusing to compromise one iota. Isaac had stepped into the fray, trying to calm the situation, but had ended up on the receiving end of both their considerable tempers. Daegan had remained quiet, seeing the argument from all sides, and in some ways understanding that it was necessary. Xavier would never be happy with a mate who let him order her around. He needed Andrea for her strength and her ability not to be intimidated by him. She knew he was in charge of the whole pack, but it didn’t mean she was going to docilely accept his decrees—especially when he was acting like a dick. Daegan couldn’t quite stifle the urge to laugh. Xavier sure wasn’t used to compromise. It simply reiterated that he needed a strong mate who could make him think differently. Yes, Andrea was the perfect match for Xavier. Fortunately, she was perfect for Daegan and Isaac, too. “No worries, Mrs. Thomson. I’ll have this repaired by Monday,” Andrea said as she finished making notes about the watch the older lady had brought in. “Thank you, dear. It’s so wonderful to have a jeweler in town that we can trust.” Andrea smiled and followed the lady to the door, but the older woman turned at the last moment, pinned Daegan with her stare, and added, “And it was delightful to meet your new beau. You take care of her now, young man.” “I will, Mrs. Thomson,” Daegan promised with a grin. Wouldn’t the old lady be surprised to discover that her trusted jeweler was now a werewolf and had three new boyfriends, not just one? As soon as Mrs. Thomson was out of the shop, Daegan cornered Andrea and pulled her into his arms. He could still feel her anger from this morning’s argument, but at least she was willing to hug him back.

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Isaac had made himself scarce for most of the morning, finally realizing that Andrea needed space, not consoling. Thanks to the mating link, it was becoming easier to understand what Andrea was thinking and feeling. They just didn’t know why. “Lunch is ready,” Isaac called through their link. “Isaac said lunch is ready,” Andrea informed him. “I know.” “How do you know? Does the mating link build between my mates as well?” She seemed more curious than pissed, so he tried to explain something that he and his twin had kept hidden from all but a trusted few. “Isaac and I have always been able to communicate telepathically. We’re not sure why or how, but it might have something to do with the legends and superstitions surrounding identical twin werewolves.” “So, Xavier?” “Can’t hear us, no. But he can hear you. When the mating link is at its strongest, he’ll even be able to hear you from this distance.” She half smiled, half grimaced. “It’s probably a good thing that he can’t hear me today. I was kind of a bitch this morning.” “Yeah, well, he deserved it. He’s the alpha, so he’s used to getting his own way, but he’s usually more diplomatic. To be honest, I’ve never seen him act quite so out of character. One of his strengths as a leader has always been to see an argument from all sides, and then do what’s best for the pack. He rarely uses his position to get his own way.” She giggled softly and pressed close to his side as they headed up the stairs to her apartment. “So what you’re saying is I manage to bring out the worst in him.” “Pretty much.”

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Chapter Six Xavier had been biting heads off all day. Okay, it wasn’t the literal biting of heads, but if he let his wolf side have his way, it just might lead to bloodshed. Three days. Three long, irritating, infuriating days without his mate. How had he lived so long before meeting her? The worst part was that they hadn’t even spoken since their argument Wednesday morning, so he had no idea what the woman was thinking. When he’d rung Daegan, his younger brother had simply told him everything was under control. Under control? What the hell did that mean anyway? He growled, stood up so fast his chair hit the wall behind him, stalked around the desk, and started pacing. Maybe he should go for a run. Maybe even do a little hunting in wolf form. Maybe he needed to just simply pound out his frustrations in the gym. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d actually had a vacation. “Grace!” he yelled impatiently to his secretary. He heard her hurried movement and regretted frightening the poor woman for the millionth time today. Grace was a good secretary, an efficient administrator, and a close friend of his mother’s. If he didn’t settle down, he was liable to scare the poor woman to death. “Yes, Mr. Cloveck?” Oh shit, it was even worse than he realized. Grace often addressed him formally in front of clients but never when it was just the two of them. Thanks to his wolf senses, he could also smell her fear. Damn it. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and headed back to his desk. He had a feeling his secretary would be more comfortable if he stayed on the other side of the furniture.

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“Grace, can you clear my schedule for the next few days, please?” “Of course. I’ve already cleared Monday to Wednesday of next week. I’ll move this weekend’s appointments to early the week after.” The woman seemed rather relieved despite the huge amount of work he was asking from her. She’d likely have to work late tonight to juggle his schedule around, but it would seem she preferred it over dealing with his growly attitude. No doubt his efficient, if somewhat timid, secretary was looking forward to a long, long, long weekend far away from him. “Thank you, Grace.” She nodded and turned to leave the room. “And Grace,” he added just before she stepped out the door, “I’m sorry for the past couple of days.” Grace gave him a shy, lopsided smile, nodded, and left the room. Now, if only his mate would accept his apology as graciously. **** Andrea glanced up at Isaac and frowned. “When did Xavier say he was coming?” “Sunday night. Why?” Her newly acquired werewolf senses must be off. She could swear she felt the man close enough to nearly touch. Almost as if he were in the same room. A sudden loud banging on the door downstairs nearly scared the crap out of her. “Andrea, open the door.” She was so glad to hear his voice that she almost forgave him the tone—almost. But if he was here to continue Wednesday morning’s argument, she was more than ready to argue back. She stood up, but Isaac grabbed her hand to stop her. “Daegan will get it. The shop’s closed, and it’s already dark outside. The last thing we need is you getting shot in another armed robbery.” She rolled her eyes at his overprotective attitude, even if it did melt her heart just a little. “It’s Xavier.”

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“Oh, well in that case. Can I watch while you kick his stubborn ass?” “Of course,” she said with a mischievous smile. She really hoped he wasn’t here to start another argument, or, more correctly, to finish the last. She’d missed him too damn much to want to waste whatever precious hours he could spare fighting with the man. By the time they got to the bottom of the stairs, Daegan had let Xavier in, and the man was stalking toward her. He didn’t stop until he gathered her in his embrace, kissed her like he wanted to inhale her, and then lifted her into his arms. He practically had her stripped bare by the time they entered the bedroom. He dropped her in the middle of the bed, dragged his own clothes off and covered her with his body. “I missed you,” he said on a ragged breath a moment before he snaked his tongue back into her mouth and sent every one of her senses reeling. “I missed you, too,” she sent telepathically, unwilling to break the incredible kiss just to say a few words. “I need you,” he said a moment before he lifted her hips and plunged his thick cock into her pussy. She squealed at the rough intrusion, but he swallowed the noise as he thrust harder and harder into her body. Holy fucking cow! Every nerve ending was alive, screaming for release. Never had she been taken so roughly, so completely, so overwhelmingly. Damn, if she’d still been human, it would have hurt. But the wolf part of her reveled in the rough fucking, celebrated it with gleeful abandon, willingly submitted to her alpha mate. “Come for me,” he demanded with the full force of his arrogance. If she’d been able to deny him, she probably would have, but he pushed a hand between them, found her clit, and squeezed. Every cell in her body reacted. She screamed into his mouth, her body undulating, shaking, the rocking, rolling, sliding rollercoaster ride drowning her in liquid heat.

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She moaned as he released her mouth, fucking her even harder as he groaned out his own orgasm and then finally stilled. He dropped his head to her shoulder, his mouth opening over the skin, his teeth rasping over her flesh. Instinctively she knew what he wanted, understood what would happen if he bit her at this moment. She shifted, touching his head, pulling him closer, inviting him to finish what he’d started. But instead he pressed a kiss against her skin and moved away. Confusion washed over her, and she whimpered as he pulled his cock from her body. “Please.” The word escaped before she could call it back, and she closed her eyes as humiliation replaced her confusion. As if it wasn’t bad enough that he was denying that they were mates, she had to compound her idiocy by begging. Shit, she’d obviously learned nothing from her disastrous marriage. He still held her trapped against the mattress. “Get off me,” she growled in a voice an octave lower than she’d been capable of before. “Why?” Xavier asked with a confused smile. She rolled her eyes again and answered his question with one of her own. “Why did you come here?” Xavier frowned, his eyes narrowed, but he answered in a mild voice, “Because I missed my mate.” “Oh, so I am your mate. You admit that much.” “Of course I admit that.” “Then why didn’t you claim me?” Two identical gasps came from the doorway, and she looked around the man lying on top of her to realize that Daegan and Isaac had been watching the whole time. Desire swirled again, pooling in her womb as naughty thoughts sped through her mind. Xavier searched her face, for what she had no clue, so she gave him a belligerent look and waited for his answer. “I haven’t claimed you yet because I didn’t think it was what you wanted.”

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Damn. Logic. How was it that she was angry over him not doing something she didn’t want him to do in the first place? She should be grateful that he’d held off. So why wasn’t she? **** Isaac stepped into the room, feeling his mate’s confusion. It had been so unfair that they’d had to change her the way they had. The fact that she would have died without it didn’t really matter in the face of everything she would lose. It had been more than obvious over the past three days that she loved the life she led and had been quite content in this small town. But it didn’t change the fact that in less than two weeks the full moon would force her to change into a wolf. “How long can you stay?” Isaac asked his brother. “I’ve cleared my schedule until Thursday. I’ll need to head back Wednesday night at the latest.” Daegan whistled, the high-pitched noise sounding very much like disbelief. Five days off in a row was longer than Isaac could ever remember his older brother taking. Hell, the guy rarely stopped for weekends. Xavier was a very big reason why their pack was financially secure. He worked tirelessly to make certain that everything in both business and pack life was running smoothly. The fact that he’d taken five days off to be with his mate said a lot about his state of mind. “Excellent,” Daegan said with a wolfish grin. “Maybe it’s time to finally claim our beautiful mate.” “Or,” Isaac said with what he hoped was the right amount of enthusiasm, “we could head home and take care of business while Xavier spends some time with Andrea.”

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Daegan didn’t look happy, but thankfully after a rushed telepathic explanation understood why Isaac was making the offer. Xavier looked surprised by the words, but didn’t say anything. “You’re leaving?” Andrea asked, sounding a little lost. “Only for a few days,” he assured her. “We’ll be back before Xavier needs to leave.” She glanced at Xavier, then at Daegan, and then turned her gaze on Isaac. She looked like she was going to be belligerent, but then her determined expression faltered. Andrea dropped her head into her hands. “Shit, I don’t even know what you two do for a living,” she said through her fingers. “We design computer games,” Isaac told her as he pulled her into his arms. He could feel her genuine distress over not having asked them earlier and wanted to assure her that they hadn’t minded. Their lives would change a little now that they’d found their mate, but it was nothing compared to the impact becoming a werewolf was having on hers. “Games? You’re computer geeks?” She asked the question with such genuine confusion that he couldn’t help but laugh. “I suppose we are,” Daegan agreed as he also wrapped his arms around her. “I dated a couple of geeks in high school, and they didn’t look anything like you two.” She ran her hand over Isaac’s abdomen, and he laughed as he realized what she’d meant. The sheer number of hours they spent sitting at a desk would certainly have affected their physiques if they hadn’t already been werewolves. They still made time to stay in shape, but their werewolf DNA made it a whole lot easier. “We’ll be back Wednesday lunchtime,” Isaac promised as he held her close and tried not to think about how hard the next few days would be. He glanced at the stunned expression on Xavier’s face and knew that their leaving was necessary. Andrea and Xavier needed to spend some time together, and it would do Xavier good to realize how

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much Andrea cared for, and was respected by, the people in this small town. **** Xavier watched his woman work. All day she’d alternated between helping her customers and creating or repairing jewelry, and it was becoming quite obvious why the fates had chosen her to be an alpha’s mate. She knew people. She was quiet and sensible with old Mrs. Keaton, loud and boisterous with Mr. Jackson from the hardware store, and knew exactly how to handle Jonathon Yates’s rude manners. Quite simply she knew people—how to treat them, when to say what was on her mind, and when to back away. He had no doubt that she’d handled the robbers who’d almost killed her with the same amount of skill. He’d almost leapt the counter when some guy named Jed came in to let her know that he’d joined AA and wanted to apologize for trying to rob her the other day. But his woman had even known how to handle him. She’d sent a single word to Xavier’s mind—“Stay”— but had put just the right amount of humor into it that he’d hesitated long enough to realize the guy was genuinely remorseful and truly had no idea he’d actually nearly killed her. He’d even had tears in his eyes as he’d explained how relieved he was that the drunken memory he had of shooting her had been wrong. Andrea had been kind but firm. She’d encouraged him to give up the alcohol, congratulated him on his progress so far, and explained what would have happened to him in prison if he’d “really” had a gun. Xavier shook his head in wonder. He couldn’t imagine anyone brave enough to drink after being given a talk like that. “You’re not Daegan,” an elderly woman accused as she moved closer to the counter. “Where’s Daegan?”

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“He had to go home for a while, ma’am. He should be back in a few days.” “That’s good,” the old woman said as she assessed Xavier from head to toe. “Who are you?” A little astounded to be spoken to so bluntly, Xavier glanced around the shop. Maybe being the alpha really did shield him from some people’s behavior. Nobody in the pack would have the audacity to speak to him in this way. He spotted Andrea, but she was busy with a young couple wanting to buy wedding rings, so he really didn’t have a way out of this conversation. “I’m Xavier. Daegan’s brother.” “So he left you to look after her?” “Something like that,” Xavier said, not wanting to lie to the old woman but feeling fairly certain Andrea wasn’t ready to explain why she had three boyfriends. “Good. You make sure that Daegan takes good care of our Andrea. She’s a lovely young woman, but there was always a sadness in her eyes, until he came along.” “Do you know why she was sad?” Xavier asked, unable to resist the chance to learn more about his mate. But the old woman shook her head. “Nobody knows for sure, but Mavis and I reckon it had something to do with her time on the police force. Something happened to put those shadows in her eyes. Meeting Daegan made them go away.” She shook a gnarled, arthritic finger in Xavier’s face. “You make sure Daegan keeps things that way, or he’ll be answering to me and Mavis.” “Yes, ma’am,” Xavier answered very seriously. He wanted to grin, but since he had absolutely no doubt that the woman would come after him and his brothers if they even looked like hurting Andrea, he decided against it. “You’re a good boy,” the lady said as she reached up and patted him on the cheek. “Just like Daegan.” She smiled a toothless grin and then turned and shuffled from the store.

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“Are you okay?” Andrea asked as she came to stand beside him. He laughed quietly. “I’m fine. Daegan might not be if your latest customer thinks he’s no good for you.” Andrea grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Yes, Mrs. Thomson is very protective. She and Mavis make quite a frightening team when they set their minds to something.” He could sense her genuine affection for the old woman and finally realized that he knew very little about Andrea. “When were you a police officer?” She grimaced, and he could sense her searching for a way to change the subject without answering. Without conscious thought he growled low in his throat, the sound more wolf than human. He didn’t like not knowing, and he wasn’t going to let her avoid answering questions about her life before he and his brothers had exploded into her calm existence. “Stop growling, pooch,” she said with an annoyed sigh. “I was on the force for eleven years. I left three years ago to start this shop, and I’ve been here ever since.” “Why?” “Why what?” “Why did you leave the force? Why did you move here? Why jewelry? Pick one. Answer them all. Just give me something. Tell me what made you sad.” “Wow, you and Mrs. Thomson managed to have quite the conversation, huh?” “Stop avoiding the question,” he said, feeling his anger rise. What he really wanted to do was haul her over his knee and smack her ass. Shit. Apart from the fact that wouldn’t help him get an answer—and she’d probably kick him in the nuts—he usually preferred spanking to be part of sexual play, not a barbaric form of punishment. Jesus, he was losing his fucking mind.

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Her eyes widened as if she’d heard every thought in his head, but she let out a deep breath and started talking. “I resigned the day my ex-husband was gunned down by drug dealers. Nick survived, thank God, but it was just one of those lifealtering things that made me reassess everything.” She shrugged like the story didn’t really affect her on an emotional level, but thanks to the mating link, Xavier could feel the ragged feelings clawing at her heart. “Nick and I were high school sweethearts, we did everything together—went to college together, joined the LAPD together. And even when our marriage fell apart and we got divorced, we still worked together.” She glanced up to see his expression, perhaps sensing the jealousy worming through his heart. “Are you sure you want to hear this?” He nodded once, grinding his back teeth as he tried to bring his own emotions under control. “Anyway, the day he got shot, I rushed to the hospital, and all of our friends were there. His parents, other cops from the precinct, almost everyone we knew, but when I went in to visit him there was a woman sitting by the bed.” Andrea pushed the hair from her eyes, and Xavier felt a little more off balance when he realized her fingers were shaking. “I’d never seen the woman before. Her eyes were red and swollen, her fingers entwined with his, and it finally hit me that he wasn’t mine anymore. I’d built my whole life around what Nick wanted and even after the divorce had somehow fooled myself into thinking that things would work out eventually.” “You still loved him?” He tried to keep his voice neutral, but he couldn’t quite phrase his question in present tense. Even if she’d loved her ex back then, Xavier sure as hell hoped she was over him now. If he was in wolf form right this moment, his fur would be standing up, his teeth would be showing, and he’d be growling viciously. He rubbed a hand over his eyes trying to get a grip on his emotions.

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“No,” she answered quietly, and Xavier’s wolf side immediately settled down. “See that’s the thing. I don’t think we ever really loved each other. It had just become sort of a habit for both of us. I’d never given any serious thought to what I wanted to do in life because I’d simply chosen to follow Nick wherever he went.” And finally things started to make sense. Except that now she was being asked to do it all over again. She’d found her niche and had built a life on her own terms. One that she’d found completely satisfying, and now Xavier had no choice but to drag her away from it. “I’m sorry,” he said, pulling her back into his arms. His mind raced with ideas, plans, desperate schemes, but in the end the only safe way to handle a newly made werewolf was to bring her to the compound. It would be years before she learned to control her wolf fully. Even the most willing and skillful members of their pack had difficulty at the beginning. It was no easy task to integrate the instinctive and sometimes violent behavior of a wolf with the reasoned behavior of a human. “If there was another way…” “Believe it or not, I do understand that you’re only trying to protect me and the rest of the pack. And to be honest I don’t even want to contemplate what sort of damage I could do to the people in this town in wolf form.” “It’s not like it was with your ex-husband,” he promised. “Maybe in a few years you can set up a shop closer to home.” It probably wasn’t fair to dangle that sort of carrot in front on her. It was liable to take a lot more years for her to gain control over her wolf side, but he simply didn’t have it in him to take away all of her hope. “Maybe,” she agreed halfheartedly. “Isn’t there some responsibility that goes hand in hand with being the alpha’s mate? I got the impression from Isaac and Daegan that my life would have been less complicated if I’d only been their mate and not yours as well.”

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“Just what every man wants to hear,” he said with a laugh. “That he’s a complication in a woman’s life.” She laughed as well, squeezing him harder as she whispered, “Yup, you’re a major pain in my ass.” “Hmmm,” he said reaching down to caress her bottom through the denim of her jeans. Lust curled through his groin, memories of the loving they’d shared last night before Daegan and Isaac had left fueling the fire, stoking his need higher. “That thought has merit.” She reached up to kiss him, but the bell on the front door jangled, and she winked and moved away instead. He watched as she greeted her customer by his first name, asked about his family, and offered suggestions for a gift for his wife to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Andrea was incredible, everything he’d ever wanted in a wife and mate. And somehow he needed to find a way to give her back everything she was about to lose.

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Chapter Seven Wednesday couldn’t come fast enough. Usually Daegan was able to lose himself in the code, but not today. Today—the last several days in fact—he stared at the computer and saw only letters, numbers, and symbols. He’d designed and written computer code most of his life, actually understood this particular program better than anyone, but no matter how many times he went through it, he couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working properly. “Maybe you should head home for a while,” Isaac said, obviously sensing Daegan’s frustration. “The new bed is being delivered today. You can go make sure the delivery guys don’t damage anything.” Hell, no. They’d already arranged for their mother to meet the delivery truck. No way was he going to subject himself to the million “suggestions” that woman had for them. He loved his mother dearly, but Olivia Cloveck was an alpha’s wife—even if their dad had stepped down for Xavier to take over—and as such, his mother expected to get her own way. The biggest trouble was that Daegan’s emotions were too close to the surface at the moment. It hadn’t made the separation any easier when his mother suggested that they talk their older brother out of mating with a human. She’d suggested that Xavier was mistaken about Andrea, that she couldn’t be his mate as well, and had actually used Isaac and Daegan’s status as identical twins as an explanation for what she termed an “unfortunate mix-up.” Of all the people in the pack superstitious enough to hold the identical-twin thing against them, Daegan had never guessed his mother was one of them. It had shaken him to the core. Isaac had

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brushed it off as poorly phrased motherly concern for all three brothers, but Daegan knew that deep down even Isaac didn’t quite believe that either. It was the only reason they hadn’t headed straight back to their mate. If Xavier was going to face that sort of opposition from his own mother, he needed time to solidify his feelings about Andrea first. “You missed a semicolon,” Isaac said as he pointed out the problem line in several pages of code. “Thanks,” Daegan said, finally able to see the flaw in his program. He tried to hide his annoyance, but it was getting frustrating that Isaac seemed to be even more focused on work than usual when Daegan felt like his life was falling apart. Without his mate by his side, everything was starting to feel pointless. “I think we should head back tonight,” Isaac said casually. “Most of what we’re doing at the moment can be done off-site. If we take our laptops, we should be able to get some work done while we’re there.” “I want to,” Daegan said, not trying to hide the leap in his enthusiasm. Just the thought of seeing Andrea and he could already feel the knot of tension in his chest starting to loosen. “But I’m not sure it’s a good idea. Xavier needs the time with her.” “I’ll call Xavier first, but it might be the last chance the four of us get to spend some quality time together far away from the concerns of pack life.” “Good point,” Daegan said with a nod as a niggle of concern zipped through him. Even though they were brothers and knew each other well, it was probably a good idea to sort out any issues early. With even their own mother convinced that Xavier should mate with a born werewolf—and there was no way she was the only one to think that— they needed to present a united front to the rest of the pack. ****

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“I can’t go back, can I?” The question was so out of the blue that Xavier wasn’t sure what topic Andrea was discussing. “Back where, sugar?” “Back to the quiet life I built here.” He wanted to lie. He wanted to tell her exactly what he thought she wanted to hear, but his innate honesty wouldn’t let him shield her from the truth. “No, Andrea. You can’t go back.” “It’s kind of funny,” she said as she packed away some of the tools she’d been using to repair several watches that seemed old enough to be family heirlooms. “Two weeks ago I would have said I’m perfectly happy here. Hell, a week ago I was willing to fight tooth and nail to get back here, but now…” She ran a hand through her hair in a clear sign of her agitation. “Now, I don’t feel like I fit here any longer.” He stepped over to where she sat perched on the stool. He could feel her sadness and wanted nothing more than to take it away for her, but he stayed quiet and simply wrapped his arms around her from behind. She curled her hands around one of his arms and rested her face on his bicep. They stayed that way for a long while, simply holding each other. “In some ways it’s sort of fitting. Like a type of cosmic balance.” “How so?” he asked. “Without Isaac and Daegan I would have died, and my life here would have been over anyway. By making me a werewolf, they gave me a second chance at life.” She slid off the stool and turned in his arms. “A second chance at happiness. A second chance at having my own family.” Xavier’s wolf spun crazy, happy circles in his head, the thought of having pups with his beautiful mate surprising him by how much he wanted it. “What about your jewelry?” She’d given up so much of herself in her first marriage. He never wanted her to feel that she should subjugate her own wants and desires. There were some things simply

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beyond their control, but for the rest he’d make certain she had choices. “I can make jewelry anywhere. Jessie seemed quite interested the other night at dinner. Maybe I can fill special orders for the pack for a while.” She rubbed her face along his collarbone, subconsciously marking him with her scent without even knowing it. “Maybe one day, when my wolf is under control I can open a shop again.” “What about this one?” “My lease is up next Thursday,” she said with a smile in her voice. “First night of the full moon. Kind of ironic, huh?” “You’re kidding me, right?” “Actually, I’m not. I was supposed to sign the new lease last Monday evening, but I kind of missed my appointment. You know with the ‘being shot’ and all.” Hell, maybe fate or karma or, fuck, some of the mating legends were indeed true. His wolf yipped in his mind, demanding he claim her immediately, but Xavier held back, willing to wait an extra night until his brothers could join him. She was mate to all of them, and he wanted, in their relationship at least, for all three brothers to be equals. It crossed his mind to flip the closed sign over and celebrate upstairs for the rest of the afternoon. But then her phone rang, and again he dismissed the urge. Even with everything she’d just said, he wanted her to know that he would never ignore her needs. He could tell immediately by Andrea’s leap in excitement who was on the line. She spoke to both Daegan and Isaac before handing the phone to him. Andrea winked and pressed her index finger to her pursed lips, making it clear that she wanted to explain her change of plans face-to-face. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then turned his attention to his brother. Xavier laughed happily when Isaac explained the reason for their call. “Absolutely,” he said with a wide grin.

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**** It was only a two hour drive, but from the moment they’d made the decision, Isaac felt impatient to hold Andrea in his arms. They’d spoken to her on the phone every evening that they’d been away, but it just felt too long since he’d breathed her sweet scent or held her lush curves. It didn’t help that concerns on how the pack would accept her had been keeping him awake at night. “How many with Mom’s attitude do you think we’re dealing with?” Daegan shrugged in answer. “No clue, but I reckon Sheila is probably stirring up a mountain of trouble.” That much would be true. It had taken several days, but Andrea had eventually told them what she’d overheard in the parking lot of the restaurant that day. Xavier had been furious and more than willing to do something to preempt Sheila’s plans, but Daegan and Isaac had worried that it would be interpreted badly by the pack. The alpha’s mate would be expected to be as strong a leader as the alpha. Not being born a werewolf already put Andrea at a disadvantage, and having Xavier defend her against baseless accusations would just make things harder in the long run. “At least we know Dad will support Xavier,” Daegan said grimly. “True, but it won’t do much good if the pack decides to support Mom and Sheila’s point of view.” Isaac rubbed at the headache beginning behind his eyes. “You’ve seen Andrea with her customers. She knows how to deal with people—all types of people. I have no doubt she’ll be able to handle whatever the pack throws her way.” Isaac laughed softly. His brother had a good point. Andrea really was perfect, and in some ways it was starting to make sense why she was mate to all three of them. Daegan and Isaac had always supported their brother, even on the rare occasions when they disagreed. Sharing

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Andrea solidified that bond and in turn had the potential to make all four of them stronger. Now they just had to convince a reluctant new werewolf to let them claim her. **** Andrea smiled when she felt them nearby. It was exactly the same feeling she’d gotten when Xavier had turned up earlier than expected. Memories of the frantic lovemaking that followed had her stomach flipping and her panties dampening. Xavier winked and took a deep breath. Andrea blew him a kiss. She was actually getting used to the idea of them being able to smell her arousal, and considering that it almost always ended in several screaming orgasms, Andrea was more than happy. She wasn’t so sure of how she’d handle it, being surrounded by other werewolves, but she’d cross that bridge later. For now, she was content just to go with it. “They’re here, aren’t they?” Xavier grinned and glanced at his watch. “They who?” he teased. She growled her annoyance, but couldn’t quite get the right note simply because she felt so happy. He laughed and pulled her into his embrace. He looked like he was going to continue teasing her, but after a moment’s hesitation he became very serious. “Can we claim you tonight?” She nodded her consent but laughed at the delivery. “As marriage proposals go, that’s not really what I was expecting.” “Would you prefer the down-on-one-knee, diamond-ring-in-a-box routine that humans seem to prefer?” “Well, no. Considering I’m no longer human, it’s probably not appropriate.” She lifted onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “What happens when you claim me?”

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He grinned but didn’t seem inclined to answer. She was about to take him to task when the front door opened and Daegan and Isaac walked in the door. **** The first thing that hit Isaac was his mate’s sweet scent. The second was the delicious smell of her arousal. His wolf howled at him to claim his mate, but it was barely four in the afternoon, and there was no way he would disrupt the business she loved. Her enthusiastic welcome made him smile so wide his cheeks began to ache, but his jaw almost hit the floor when she marched over to the front door, flipped the lock, and turned the sign to “closed.” She exchanged a secretive grin with Xavier. “Upstairs?” “Probably best,” Xavier said with a quiet laugh. He turned to Isaac and Daegan as he finished his words. “Unless you want to be claimed where anyone wandering past the store front can see you.” “Claimed?” Daegan and Isaac asked in strained voices at the exact same time. Isaac’s wolf was practically spinning in dizzying circles in his mind, but the human side needed to be sure he’d actually heard what he’d thought he’d heard and not just what he wanted to hear. “Unless,” Andrea said, a note of uncertainty creeping into her voice. “Unless you…um…want to wait. I mean…” She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Daegan lifted her into his arms and kissed her in frenzied passion. Isaac helped guide his brother to the stairs and made certain they got to her apartment without major mishap. Xavier followed, his grin as wide as Isaac’s. As soon as Daegan set her on her feet, Andrea leapt into Isaac’s embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and her tongue around his own. He could already feel his claws growing, the need to strip his mate of clothing damn near undeniable. Xavier pressed against her back and dropped a lingering kiss on her neck.

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Andrea sighed and relaxed between them both. “I missed you,” she said as she hugged him close. “I missed you, too, sweetheart,” Isaac said as love blossomed in his heart. This was the one. The woman who completed them all, and he’d spend the rest of his life making certain she was happy. “This spot here,” Xavier said, running his fingers over the back of her neck, “is where we are all going to make our mating mark.” Xavier gave Isaac a measured look and then turned to Daegan. Both younger brothers knew that a mating mark could be made anywhere on a mate’s body, but that alphas always claimed their mate by biting high up on the back of their mate’s neck. Until that moment, Isaac had simply assumed that Xavier would do what alphas do and that he and Daegan would simply choose another spot. But by insisting that they all mark her in the same place, he was assuring his brothers that they were equals in this relationship. Isaac nodded, glad to see Daegan nod as well, and then the need to have his mate naked overwhelmed all else. He took a deep breath, trying to slow down, trying to not frighten Andrea with his need. But she was with him all the way, her smile growing wider when Daegan and Xavier started to strip her of clothing. Isaac dragged his own clothes off, pulling Andrea back into his arms the moment he kicked his jeans free. He kissed her wildly, her passion matching his own as she damn near climbed up his body and pressed her pussy to his hard cock. He felt Xavier press against her back, pushing her harder against him, his beautiful woman reacting to something that Isaac couldn’t see. But he could feel her, sense her emotions, her heart open to all three men. He stopped kissing her to stare in wonder at the woman who’d become so important so quickly. She smiled shyly as he used the beginnings of their mating link to send all the emotion he was feeling at that moment. And then he lifted her slightly and sank his cock into her heavenly warmth.

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**** Home. That’s what it felt like to be naked and surrounded by her men. It didn’t matter where they were. It only mattered that they were together. She gasped as Xavier pressed cold lube against her ass. He let Isaac’s movements push her back onto his fingers, stretching and caressing the tight muscles as he kissed and licked at her neck. The skin tingled, her mind already imagining the ecstasy to come. Finally, Xavier pressed the head of his cock against her anus and slowly worked inside. Isaac held still, kissing her passionately, her senses reeling as sensation exploded over her entire body. As Xavier pushed all the way into her ass, Isaac pulled out of her pussy. “That’s it, beautiful,” Daegan said as he caressed a hand through her hair. She tilted her head, exposing her neck, realizing even as she did it that it was what her men wanted, what they needed from her. None of them would force her to claim, or be claimed by, them. This was her choice, her decision. After a few moments of frenzied fucking, winding every muscle, every nerve ending, every emotion tighter, with Xavier plunging into ass, then retreating as Isaac pushed back into her pussy, over and over, all three men suddenly stilled. She whimpered her need, and Daegan caressed her face, his lips pressing against hers a moment before he moved his mouth to her neck and bit down. She moaned, the urge to howl so overwhelmingly strong she wasn’t sure if she held it back or not. Orgasm exploded through her, Daegan’s teeth sinking deep into her skin, the sting overwhelmed by the liquid heat coursing through her. Her pussy and ass pulsed around Isaac and Xavier’s cocks, pulling grunts from them as they both tried to hold still. Daegan carefully pulled his teeth away, licking at the tiny puncture wounds, the slight sting just adding to every other sensation rioting through her body.

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Just as her orgasm started to wane, Xavier bit in nearly the exact same place. Holy shit. Climax burst through her once more, her entire being consumed by the fire, her heart racing, her breathing harsh and uncontrolled, her lower body throbbing around both men. She cried out as Isaac’s cock pulsed, pumping his seed deep into her body before he pulled out of her pussy. Daegan thrust quickly into her as they changed places. Xavier licked at her neck, holding her still as Daegan fucked her. And then Isaac’s incisors broke the skin once more. She screamed, unable to believe the sensations coursing through her. Everything tingled, every muscle shook, every nerve ending danced electricity through her body. She closed her eyes, the pinpricks of light still exploding on her eyelids, as orgasm continued spinning wildly through her. She felt Xavier come in her ass, his cock pulsing in time with her frantic heartbeat. She moaned as Daegan pulled away, slamming his cock into her pussy over and over again. He kissed her briefly, releasing her mouth to drag in his own ragged breath, crying out as orgasm took him as well. The four of them leaned against each other. Thank fuck they were holding her up. She wasn’t sure her arms or legs were even still attached to her body, let alone working. Xavier lifted her slightly, making certain that Isaac held her securely before he pulled his cock from her ass. He pressed a kiss to the place where they’d made their mating mark and whispered, “Shower time.”

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Chapter Eight Andrea looked around the empty shop. It was a bit sad to pack away the life she’d once thought she wanted, but all she had to do was think of her future with the Cloveck brothers, and warm happiness suffused every part of her. “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” Louise asked quietly. “It seems awfully fast.” “It is,” Andrea agreed. If the situation were reversed, she would certainly be trying to talk Louise out of such a drastic step. But there were things Andrea couldn’t explain, much of which a deputy sheriff was probably better off not knowing anyway. Louise gave her a worried look but didn’t say anything more. One of the things that had made their friendship so strong was the fact that they both respected each other’s independence. “We promise to take good care of her, Louise,” Daegan assured the deputy as he and Isaac came back in the front door. “And we promise to bring her back regularly for visits. I have no doubt Mrs. Thomson and her good friend Mavis will track us to the ends of the Earth if we don’t.” Louise laughed, her tension easing slightly. “True.” But when she turned to Andrea, her eyes were glassy with tears. “I’m going to miss you. Who else is going to listen while I complain about the sheriff’s latest idiotic decision?” “I’ll be only a webcam away,” Andrea answered with a smile. Not only had her computer geek mates made certain she understood how to use a webcam, they’d also upgraded Louise’s computer system and

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made sure she knew how to use it, too. It was kind of like taking the best part of home with her. “Well,” Louise said, looking around the room and blinking rapidly in an obvious attempt to hold her emotions in check. “I guess this is good-bye.” “Nah, more like see you later,” Andrea said as she gave her friend a quick hug. She noticed her men leave the store so the two women could have a moment alone. Andrea felt their whisper-soft assurance in her mind urging her to take her time, and letting her know that they were happy to wait as long as she needed. The mating link was stronger since they’d claimed her. Even with Xavier back at the compound, she could feel his mild loneliness, his sense of frustration as he dealt with problem after problem with the pack, and his relief that she and his brothers would be home soon. “Go on,” Louise said with a watery smile. “I’ll lock up and get the keys back to your landlord.” Andrea hugged her friend once more, then turned toward the front door and headed to her new life. **** Xavier growled loud enough to make his secretary jump back three feet. He smiled apologetically at the woman, but if he had to deal with one more “well-meaning” pack member giving him advice on how he shouldn’t mate a human, somebody was going to get hurt. “Get my father in here.” His nervous secretary nodded all the way out the door, closing it behind her. Even when Xavier had explained to his last visitor that he’d already claimed Andrea, he’d been given a barrage of advice on how, with the mating link not completed until she could claim him in return, he could easily ignore the mild connection they shared. Mild? He’d felt Andrea’s emotions as she climbed into the truck eighty miles away. He could feel her excitement growing the closer she got to the compound. Whether she realized it or not, she loved

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him, and he loved her. There was no way he would even consider not completing the claiming. His phone rang, and he seriously considered throwing the damn thing across the room. Only the thought that it could be Andrea calling to tell him they were on their way home stopped him from following through. He snatched up the receiver and pressed it to his ear. “Your father is on his way,” his secretary informed him. Finally a touch of good news. “And Dave is on line two.” “Thanks.” He’d meant the word to be genuine, but the idea of speaking to anyone related to Sheila at the moment set his teeth on edge. His secretary squeaked a good-bye and disconnected quickly. Xavier sighed and rubbed his forehead. He really should have hired someone a little less easy to scare. He’d gone along with his mother’s recommendations when he’d hired the woman, but he still couldn’t figure out what his mom had been thinking when she’d recommended such a frightened mouse for an alpha’s secretary. He glared at the flashing light on line two. Dave had been his best friend since grade school. He knew the man almost as well as he knew his brothers. It was just unfortunate that Dave’s younger sister was such a manipulative, ambitious, scheming bitch. Xavier really should take this call. Annoyed at his own uncharacteristic behavior—he usually faced trouble head-on, not hiding in his office—Xavier snatched up the receiver. “What?” Okay, not his most friendly greeting, but it was the best he could muster. “Rough day?” Dave asked casually. “You could say that.” “Sorry, but I think I’m about to make it worse. I just saw your mother and my sister heading toward the main gate with nearly half the pack in their wake. I think they plan to challenge Andrea’s status in the pack.”

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“Great, fucking great.” He’d half been expecting a challenge for leadership of the pack, but it seemed that his mother had a scheme to somehow keep him in the alpha position but deny him the mating he wanted. “Where’s my dad?” “Not sure,” Dave answered. “Last I saw him he was headed to your office.” “Okay, I’ll meet you at the gate. Hopefully I’ll run into Dad on the way there.” “No worries,” Dave said. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry my sister is one of the instigators. But I promise you have my support, no matter what.” “Thanks.” Xavier hung up the phone slowly. Considering that as alpha he had the power to ostracize Sheila if he believed it best for the pack, it might prove a difficult promise for Dave to keep. **** Isaac couldn’t help the silly grin that covered his face. Finally he had everything he wanted in life. A good job, a great family, and a mate perfectly suited to them all. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about getting their woman pregnant ever since she’d made the suggestion. The vibration of his cell phone was an unwelcome intrusion. He glanced at the caller ID and really wanted to press the ignore button, but knew she was unlikely to give up, so he answered the damn call. He tried to sound casual. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?” Isaac could feel the tension level increase in the two people beside him and deliberately opened his mind to Daegan so that his brother could listen into whatever their mother had to say. Isaac felt relieved in a guilty sort of way that their link to Andrea wasn’t yet strong enough to allow this type of communication.

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“Something awful has happened.” The woman sounded genuinely distressed, and for a suspended moment, Isaac’s heart damn near climbed into his throat. She sounded like she was crying, but when she didn’t say anything more, Isaac growled, “Explain.” There was a moment of silence—perhaps shock that he’d spoken to her in such a disrespectful tone—but then she dragged in a deep breath and continued. “The pack has decided they don’t want a human mated to the alpha. Several of the men are considering challenging Xavier for leadership.” She took a few gasping breaths, and suspicion wormed into Isaac’s brain. His mother wasn’t the type to cry. She’d always held great pride in being able to endure, with grace and poise, any hardships that came her way. For her to be blubbering over what amounted to a rumor seemed very much out of character. “Where’s Xavier?” “I don’t know. But it’s too dangerous to bring the human here,” she said, confirming Isaac’s suspicion. “Why?” It probably made him an awful son, but he didn’t like the feeling of being manipulated and was finding it hard to believe anything coming out of his own mother’s mouth. Considering some of the comments she’d made over the past few weeks—and her refusal to meet Andrea—he suspected she might even be behind part of the unrest within the pack. “It’s dangerous. Emotions are running high, and she could get hurt. You wouldn’t want your mate to get hurt, would you?” Great, now she was laying the guilt on a little thick. She had a point, though. “I’ll discuss it with Daegan and get back to you.” He disconnected the call, wishing he still had his flip phone so he could have slammed the damn thing shut. Pressing a tiny little off button just didn’t satisfy the anger grinding through him. “Is Xavier all right?” “Relax, sweetheart,” Isaac said as he pulled Andrea’s hand into his own. “Close your eyes and concentrate on him. You should be

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able to sense his mood. The mating link should be strong enough even from here.” She did as he asked, and Isaac tried to hide his own fear from her. They were still at least fifteen minutes from the compound, and the winding switchback roads had never annoyed him more than they did today. Trying to go faster would likely lead to tragedy, so he ground his teeth and hoped Xavier was safe. “Oh, wow,” Andrea said with a small giggle. “That is one pissedoff wolf.” Isaac smiled, relieved to know that Xavier seemed okay. His cell phone rang a moment later. **** Andrea could sense Xavier’s urgency and knew without seeing the caller ID that it was him on the phone. She snatched it from Isaac’s hands before he could let her hear only one side of the call. “Hello, sexy,” she said by way of greeting. “You mother tells us there’s been a bit of trouble at the compound.” “My mo—” He cut himself off and got straight to the point. “I’m sorry, Andrea, but I’ve got Sheila and some soon-to-be ex-pack members stirring up trouble. Tell Isaac and Daegan I want you to head back down the mountain and find a hotel for the night. I’ll join you as soon as I can.” “No.” She didn’t elaborate. Just said the one word and waited for Xavier’s reaction. If she wanted to be accepted by the pack, she needed to show she wasn’t intimidated by any of them—especially her new mother-in-law. Andrea took a deep breath, holding it as she waited for Xavier to say something. She’d thought her last mother-inlaw had been a bitch, but compared to her new one, her ex’s mother had been a sweet old lady.

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Xavier seemed to be weighing up everything he knew, all the pros and cons, the good, the bad, and the ugly truth about some of the members in his pack, but in the end he uttered a single word in reply. “Okay.” Andrea couldn’t hide the relief running through her. She could feel Isaac and Daegan’s fear for her very clearly, but she could also sense their confidence in her and drew strength from it. “Xavier,” she said into the phone, “we’ll be there soon.” “I love you,” he said at the same moment that she felt his emotions wash over her. Just like Isaac and Daegan, he was worried about what might come her way, but he had faith that she could handle it. “I love you, too.” **** Xavier tensed when he saw the truck turn onto the driveway. Sheila, with the help of his mother, had the pack so riled up that they actually jeered at the approaching vehicle. He’d managed to get everyone settled down enough to listen to calm reasoning, but Sheila had riled them back up with a few shouted words. It was kind of ironic that Sheila had the leadership skills an alpha’s mate needed to deal with a pack. Too bad she was selfishly focused on her own agenda and didn’t give a shit how her ambition affected her pack. Xavier growled, physically thrusting his pack mates aside so that he could get to the gate and try to calm the situation once more. He had to smile when, bold as brass, his mate stepped from the truck’s cabin and called Sheila out. “Come on, Sheila. Get your skinny ass out here so we can discuss this problem you seem to be having.” Xavier caught his mother’s expression and almost burst out laughing. Judging by her openmouthed shock, she’d expected Andrea

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to cry and flee like a frightened human. He smirked and raised an eyebrow when his mother glanced his way. She should have made time to get to know her new daughter-in-law before deciding she wasn’t good enough for him, so she deserved every shock she would get. He also noticed that Isaac and Daegan had taken up positions either side, but slightly behind Andrea, showing to the rest of the pack that even though they supported her, the lady was the one in charge. The crowd grew quiet, waiting for Sheila to step up and defend her honor. Xavier leaned against the gate, crossing his arms and ankles in a show of nonchalance that he was sure nobody missed. He knew that the pack was liable to follow his lead, and if they thought he had no doubt of his mate’s ability, then they were less likely to doubt her as well. Sheila looked startled by the challenge, but short of turning away and revealing herself as a coward, she had no choice but to brazen it out. “You’re not welcome here,” she said at the top of her voice. She turned to the people behind her, perhaps expecting a vocal show of support. She got none. “Says who?” Andrea asked with a relaxed grin. Even her body language was nonthreatening. She seemed calm and composed, and her smile invited others to relax also. “Says everybody,” Sheila yelled with no small amount of frustration. It was kind of like watching a bratty four-year-old throw a tantrum. “Nobody wants a human leading our pack.” “Lucky then, that I’m no longer human.” Sheila growled and stamped her foot. Even some of the people gathered around started to laugh quietly. But it was when Shelia started to change into her wolf that Xavier felt fear burst through him. Faster than the eye could see, Andrea pulled a handgun from the back of her jeans and aimed it at the half woman, half wolf before her.

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“Change back, little girl,” Andrea said with steely determination, “or we are going to have a serious problem.” Sheila giggled, the noise sounding strange coming from her current half-changed form. “Stupid human. Bullets don’t hurt us. Not even silver can hurt us.” “True,” Andrea said with a relaxed smile even though her aim didn’t waver in the slightest. “But I hear quicksilver will leave you with a nasty case of dead. You know that’s another name for mercury, right? Amazing how easy it is to add a drop to hollow point bullets.” Sheila looked terrified and quickly changed back to her human form. “No fair,” she said in a high-pitched, whiny voice. “You brought a gun. It won’t be a fair fight.” “And you tried to use your wolf form against someone you know hasn’t yet got the ability,” Xavier added as he realized stepping into the fray now wouldn’t hurt Andrea’s standing. She already had the pack’s approval, even if many of the people standing around didn’t fully realize it yet. “But feel free to challenge me again, Sheila,” Andrea added with a smirk. “I’m sure I’ll have fun smacking you down in wolf form, too.” The woman shot Xavier a baleful look, but left without another word. Dave caught his eye, and Xavier nodded in approval as his beta turned and followed his sister. In werewolf terms Sheila was still quite young, and no matter how poor her choices had been, Xavier wasn’t willing to banish her for behavior that had been most likely encouraged by his mother. His mother on the other hand… The woman was trying to blend into the crowd, but he spotted her easily and headed straight for her. “Mom, I’d like you to meet our mate.” The woman blanched but let him lead her over to where Isaac and Daegan held Andrea in their embrace.

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“It’s very nice to finally meet you,” Andrea said in a friendly tone as she took her mother-in-law’s hand. “I trust that today’s events aren’t going to affect our relationship.” Xavier’s mom nodded, but it was clear that she heard the demand in Andrea’s voice. Andrea was giving her mother-in-law a second chance to make a first impression. Hopefully, this time his mother would take the time to get to know his mate instead of making snap judgments based on superstitious nonsense. “I love you,” Xavier said as he pulled Andrea from his brothers’ arms. They echoed his words, kissing her quickly before letting her go. “Welcome home.”

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Epilogue Andrea pressed a hand against her belly, trying to still the fluttery feeling inside. She hadn’t been this nervous since her first shift into wolf form. She knew it was good news she was about to share, but still, it had taken far longer than any of them had been expecting, and in some ways they’d given up trying. The past eight months hadn’t all been a bed of roses. Her first shift had been a complete disaster. All the planning, all the explanations, all the confidence in the world hadn’t prepared her for the overwhelming primitive instinct to hunt. Andrea hadn’t felt any pain as she’d instinctively changed from human to wolf when the full moon rose in the night sky. She’d taken off outside the house even before the shift had been complete. Thankfully her men had been more than able to cope with her transformation from rational female to rabid huntress, and the only animal to die that night had been a field mouse in the wrong place at the wrong time. Andrea still felt a little queasy over swallowing the poor thing whole, but apparently that’s what field mice were for—at least according to her wolf half. The most amazing part had been her reluctance to change back. Everything in her had fought the need to return to her human form. She’d wanted to keep the less complicated thoughts of a wolf, but her men had gently coaxed her back to reality and then spent the rest of the day showing her how much fun they could have together in human form. Her second shift hadn’t been much better, but since then she’d learned to retain more of her human control in wolf form and had

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even managed to change a couple of times without the influence of the full moon. Last month Andrea had finally mastered enough control over her wolf to complete their mating properly by claiming her men. All three very proudly wore her mating mark. Of course, as with any relationship, they’d worked through their issues together and fortunately come out stronger for it. She’d been accepted quite quickly after her confrontation with Sheila, and Andrea suspected that it had made her adjustment to pack life far simpler than it could have been. In a twisted way, Sheila’s behavior had made it easier for Andrea to show her strength to the pack. Dave had made certain that his younger sister understood her error. Sheila had stayed within the compound for a couple more months but hadn’t been able to get over the embarrassment of humiliating herself in front of most of the pack. Dave had contacted a friend from a different werewolf pack clear across the country, and Sheila had jumped at the chance of a new start. Andrea had no doubt the younger woman still harbored her ambitions of being an alpha’s mate. Hopefully, Sheila had learned from her mistakes and would handle things differently in the future. “Knock, knock,” a clear, high voice said before high heels clickclacked on the wooden floor of the front foyer. “I’m in the kitchen, Olivia,” she called to her mother-in-law as she slid the roast back into the oven. The woman headed straight to her, pressed a sort of air kiss to her left cheek and immediately began talking. In some ways it was probably good that it had taken time for things to happen. Andrea and Olivia were almost exact opposites, but over the last eight months they had managed to find some kind of common ground. They weren’t exactly friends, but they weren’t trying to kill each other either. In Andrea’s book that seemed a workable compromise. “When are my sons due home?” Technically they were already home. The entire east side of the mansion was dedicated to the software and gaming development company that the pack ran, but

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since it was the biggest building she’d ever lived in, she rarely ran across them when they were working. Andrea had never heard of the online game that they’d developed, but with literally millions of subscribers around the world, she didn’t have to take their word for it that it was popular. She’d almost choked on her laughter when she’d learned that the game revolved around a mystical world populated with humans who could morph into animals. “They should be here soon,” she answered. “Good, their father is in the sitting room, watching some silly golf tournament or something. Honestly, I have no idea how that man can spend so much time watching the television.” Andrea knew from her husbands that their father had worked really hard when he’d been alpha. Knowing how hard Xavier worked, Andrea had no doubt their father had earned his time in front of the TV. Her mother-in-law busied herself wiping down an already clean kitchen counter. “I ran into Dave’s wife earlier,” she said casually, “and she was wearing the most beautiful locket. I could barely believe it when she told me you’d made it for her.” Andrea smiled. As comments went, that was as close to a compliment as she was going to get from her mother-in-law. The locket she’d made for Jessie was one of her favorites and had spawned a heap more orders. In her first few months here she’d spent a lot of time creating jewelry for the members of her pack. Ironically, it had also caught her husbands’ attention, and she’d ended up designing jewelry, weapons, and other trinkets for their computer games. The unexpected challenge to her skills had been enormously satisfying. “Something’s different,” Isaac said directly into her mind. “She’s dealing with our mother, of course something’s different,” Daegan teased in a telepathic voice to both of them. “We’re on our way now. Is Xavier finished working?”

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Andrea concentrated on her other husband, still surprised at how easy it was to connect to her men. “I’m just about finished. Five more minutes ought to do it.” “He says five minutes,” she told Daegan and Isaac. “Why don’t you swing by his office and make sure he doesn’t lose track of time.” A few moments later Daegan said, “Stepping into his office, now.” It wasn’t exactly the way she wanted to tell them, but at least if she had them all in the one room, they’d be able to see each other’s reaction. She’d be able to hear and feel everything, and as unkind as the thought was, her mother-in-law wouldn’t be able to interrupt her announcement. She could sense them all together, their easy camaraderie soothing her soul as she took a deep breath and told them her news. She giggled when three grown men came running full pelt through the house, their sneakered feet squealing against the tiles as they entered the kitchen and pulled her into the middle of a tight hug. Their mother looked appalled at such rowdy behavior, but it was obvious she was dying to know what was going on. Andrea grinned, happy to let the woman wait a little longer, but then nearly as one, the three men stepped back and stared at her. “I can’t believe we’re going to have babies. Are you sure you’re carrying triplets?” Daegan asked. She nodded, glanced at her mother-in-law and winked. The woman looked as happy as her sons, and a moment later their father joined them in the kitchen. As plans were made, baby names suggested, and traditions created, Andrea glanced around the room and realized she’d never felt more at home than she did at this moment. Being shot had sucked, but becoming a werewolf and finding her mates? Totally worth it.

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THE END WWW.BOOKSTRAND.COM/ABBY-BLAKE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Abby Blake prefers to read or write romance over just about everything else—except maybe chocolate. Most days she can be found hurrying to do what needs to be done so that she can curl up with her laptop and her latest bunch of heroes.

Also by Abby Blake Ménage Everlasting: Vipers Dungeon 1: Emma’s Education Ménage Everlasting: Fire Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 1: Lost Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 2: Runner Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 3: Hidden Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 4: Stolen Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 5: Soldier Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 6: Traitor Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 1: Mikayla’s Men Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 2: Sweet Captivation Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 3: Wild Fascination Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 4: Keen Inclination Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 5: Hot Inspiration Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 6: Mikayla’s Family

Available at BOOKSTRAND.COM

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