by Amy Sumida
I reached the bottom of the stairs and eased along the wall to the kitchen. The sounds of growls were punctuated by yips of pain and crashes. I reached the kitchen, and saw, through the window, a wolf go flying. A roar echoed in the night. A bear’s roar, very possibly one of my lovers. No, I pushed that thought away as I pulled a knife from the block beside the sink. We’ll handle this mess first, Goldilocks. Then we’ll sort out the supes.
I nearly snorted. Bears. Fucking bear-shifters. How damn ironic was it that I’d slept with three bears? I would have laughed had I not been so damn in love with them. I closed my eyes briefly as pain lanced through my heart. I was a professional, I could deal with this. No problem.
I stepped outside and saw Raptor.
It paralyzed me for a second. I’d been prepared for the sight of grizzlies battling wolves, but not of a traitorous SCCIT agent fighting among the Pack. I was so surprised, I didn’t see the wolf heading right for me. Not until a bear paw knocked it out of my way. I looked up, and up, and up, at the bear towering above me. His thick fur was matted with blood, and pieces of flesh were caught in his claws, but it was his eyes that held me transfixed. They were blue, a pale, husky blue.
“Zaire,” I whispered, my own eyes watering.
The bear whimpered and dropped to all fours. His massive head angled forward to nudge me. I backed away. Those eyes went liquid, sorrowful. The bear let out a haunting cry, then was knocked to the ground as two wolves hit him simultaneously.
“Zaire!” I rushed forward, slashing at the wolves who were attacking my lover.
Zaire took a swipe at one, but the wolf was tenacious, locking his jaws in Zaire’s hide. I stabbed the other in the gut, and he dropped away. I would have helped with the remaining wolf, but Zaire was thrashing too much for me to get close enough. Another bear came roaring out of the shadows, and swiped an enormous paw across the wolf. It went sailing into the side of the house, a crack announcing breaking bones. It slid to the porch and laid still.
The new bear was even larger than Zaire, shoulders rolling beneath thick, black fur. It set its gaze on me, brilliant green eyes in the sleek ebony of its face. Kael. It had to be. He started forward and then a shot rang out. Kael jerked, head turning to the source of the gunshot.
Raptor held a handgun aloft, aimed directly at Kael. He pulled the trigger as Kael started to charge him. Two more shots went off as I screamed, but they weren’t from Raptor’s gun. They were fired from above us, by SCCIT agents hanging out the side of a helicopter. As soon as Raptor went down, the agents took out the werewolves. From the sky, it was easy for them. The bears, three of them total, gathered around me protectively. The largest was bleeding from its shoulder, but the other two appeared unharmed. The smallest of the lot was the one who looked the most like a normal bear, with gentle brown eyes. He eased up beside me, weaving his body around mine.
“Hello, Blaise,” I said as gunshots continued to go off around us.
Within minutes, the Sander’s Pack was dead. All of them. Along with Raptor, AKA Alfonso Tremaine. The helicopter landed and the team captain approached me. He warily eyed the bears, holding his gun like a baby. The man lifted a brow at the biggest bear, and it shifted, fur receding, bones shrinking until Kael stood there naked. He dropped to a knee, clutching at his shoulder.
“Medic!” The captain called. “Any others hurt?”
Blaise and Zaire shifted back too, and then I was surrounded by naked men. I looked them over critically, just seeing if they were wounded, then shook my head to the agent.
“Looks like we’re good here,” I said to him. “Thanks for the help.”
“It was our pleasure, Goldilocks.” The man blinked as he fully comprehended the irony, but he didn’t note it. Too professional for that. “I’ve got the director on the line for you,” he unclipped his com unit and handed it to me.
“Bry…er”—I cleared my throat—“Director Langdon?”
“You’re alright,” Bryan sighed. “Good. What happened?”
“The Pack is dead,” I reported. “So is Raptor. Your men arrived just in time.”
“Good, I’ll give them medals or some shit like that,” Bryan’s voice fell into a growl. “Which I wouldn’t have had to do if you had given me the names of those men you’re shacked up with.”
“I was trying to be loyal to some people who had saved my life.” I sighed, glancing back at the brothers.
The SCCIT agents had found blankets for them. Not that the brothers seemed shy, but I doubted any man there wanted to be confronted with all that masculinity.
“I know, which is why you aren’t fired,” Bryan huffed. “But I found out who they are anyway.”
“How did you”
“I’m the fucking Director of Shifter Affairs, Tempest,” Bryan snapped. “Did you really think you could hide three bear shifters from me?”
“I’ve only just found out about their… supernatural status.” I swallowed hard.
“You didn’t know?” Bryan lost some of his steam.
“No.” I continued to stare at the brothers, and they just stared back. “You think I can catch a ride back with your boys?”
“I…uh.” Bryan sighed. “I’m sure it will be fine. They’ll have to clear the scene first.”
“Understood.”
“Put Captain Mueller back on,” Bryan said.
“Okay.” I started to hand the comm back, but Bryan shouted suddenly.
“Tempest!”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thanks, Director,” I said. “I’ll see you soon.”
I handed the com back to the captain and then turned towards the bear brothers. My lovers. But not for long.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“You’re supernaturals,” my voice was a careful monotone. “I feel like an idiot for not seeing it.”
“We couldn’t tell you.” Zaire sighed. “Not after finding out who you were, and how you felt about our kind.”
“I understand that.”
“You do?” Blaise asked.
“Wait for it,” Kael growled.
“What I don’t understand is how you thought it was okay to sleep with me without telling me,” I snarled. “I loved you. All of you. I ignored all the signs that should have warned me because of the way you made me feel. When all along, it was a lie. That’s the last time I trust my emotions over instincts.”
“There were no lies spoken to you,” Kael snarled. “I love you, Tempest. That’s real. We are real. Don’t destroy us because of my DNA.”
“I may have got over your DNA, if you’d been honest with me.” I grimaced. “But now I just feel manipulated.”
“Because you slept with animals?” Zaire glared at me.
“Zaire!” Blaise snapped.
“I didn’t know you were a shapeshifter when I said that,” I ground out.
“Oh, so that makes it alright?” Zaire got in my face.
“Do you want her to leave?” Kael grabbed Zaire’s shoulder and pulled him back.
“Nothing we say to her will stop her from leaving,” Zaire said to Kael, then turned to me. “Will it, Goldilocks? You don’t actually want to live with three bears? Admit it, we disgust you.”
“Your duplicity disgusts me.” I swept by them, and headed upstairs.
They followed.
“Tempest, please,” Blaise cried. “Don’t leave. We can work through this. We’re meant to be together, the four of us. It’s perfect.”
“Hardly.” I grabbed my bag and started filling it.
“I love you.” Blaise snatched my arm.
“Then you should have told me who you really are so I could love you back,” I said calmly. “The real you.”
His arm fell away.
“Instead, you built all of this on deception.” I zipped up the bag. “I loved you. I wanted this. I may have even wanted it enough to ignore my issues with supernaturals. But now we’ll never know.”
I w
alked down the stairs and across the lawn to the waiting chopper. The men followed me but they didn’t say any more. They just stood on their back porch and watched as I got into the helicopter and flew away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The investigation into Leighton revealed that he’d been working with several supernatural organizations to line his own pockets. He’d cover for them until their actions became obvious, and then he’d send a disposable agent down to investigate. If the agent turned up anything solid, Raptor would go in and handle the situation. A lot of agents worked alone and didn’t have much family to speak of. So when they went missing, no one really missed them.
Suffice it to say he went to prison. Not jail, prison. Hard core, in your face—and other places—prison. He was not a candidate for parole. Ever.
The Sander’s County Pack was destroyed. Derick Wright had been killed in the attack on the Medvedev’s home, and all his brothers with him. Most of the pack died that night. Those who did manage to escape the main battle didn’t get very far. It’s hard to evade a helicopter. There were a few wolves who had not joined the raid that night. They were tracked down and dealt with. As was their little go-between, Madeline. She’s currently spending time in a women’s correctional facility.
I was given an award and put back to work under Director Langdon’s command.
My first mission after the Montana episode, as I was calling it, was in Detroit. There were some nagas running rampant in the city, selling drugs to humans. That may sound like a minor crime, there’s a lot of drug dealers out there, but these were supernatural drugs. They were made with snake venom, naga venom to be exact. Nagas were a type of snake shifter.
I was reminded of the Medvedev brothers several times during that mission, but mainly due to this new drug. It reminded me of the salve the brothers had put on my wounds, the one their mother had created. The salve may not be a hallucinogenic drug, but it had supernatural properties to it. I had healed much faster than normal. Looking back, I was able to see all of the indications that things were not quite human around the Medvedev home. The salve was one of the glaring signs. Neon pink.
But they had healed me. They had taken me in, protected me from the wolves, and healed me. I was a stranger to them, an interloper on their property and in their home. I broke in, ate their food, and slept in Zaire’s bed. Still, they had looked after me. It had been the brothers that night when I was running from the Pack. They were the grizzlies I’d heard. They had attacked the wolves for me, saved my life, and the werewolves hadn’t returned until SCCIT had destroyed all of their criminal activities. Then they couldn’t let me slide, they had to settle things with me, despite the fact that three grizzly-shifters were protecting me. All that time and I hadn’t known I’d been in capable hands… paws.
“Fuck,” I growled and pushed aside the memories that threatened to weaken me every moment of every day.
I barged into my home—my house really, it wasn’t a home. It was just a place I slept and ate in occasionally. It wasn’t something passed down to me from my mother, like the mountain home of the Medvedevs. I paused, thinking about the love their mother had shared with their fathers, about the love I had shared with them.
“God damn it!” I threw my stack of mail across the barren kitchen, wishing it was full of massive bear-shifters making me dinner. “Why do I have to be so stubborn?”
“Good question,” Kael noted as he turned on a lamp in my living room.
“What the fuck?” I looked around my living room and found two more bear shifters lying in wait for me. “What are you doing here?”
“We figured you’d had enough time to think things over.” Blaise stood and walked over to me. “You’ve got a temper but it simmers down eventually. Are you simmered yet, Tempest?”
I stared at him. I couldn’t even breathe, he was just so damn beautiful. Those cheekbones, those wide shoulders, those soft, brown eyes. His lips were so sensual, like they had been created for the pure purpose of kissing. I had missed those lips. And that chest, and those arms, and…
“Tempest, this is stupid.” Zaire joined Blaise. “We love you, and you love us. Come home, honey.”
“Home?” I asked, looking in shock from brother to brother.
“Home.” Kael eased forward, and suddenly his tough veneer cracked, and his jaw clenched. Tears coursed down his chiseled cheeks, and his lips trembled. “I can’t do this without you, Gold.”
“Do what?” I frowned, confused.
“Live,” he whispered and pulled me into a kiss.
The kiss was like a tidal wave, washing away any doubt or reservations I had. All I could think of was how happy I was, how much I wanted to grab hold of Kael, and never let go. I pushed into his tight muscles, feeling them twitch in surprise, then ease in relief. Kael groaned and tightened his hold, his tongue lashing against mine defiantly. And as I kissed him, the others closed in around us. They surrounded me, gently letting me feel their love as I reunited with Kael.
And it was a reunion. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t turn off my love for the Medvedevs simply because they were afraid to tell me they were something I openly professed to hate. The weeks away from them had made me realize just how right Zaire had been. My hatred was a form of racism. These supernaturals were people, not animals, and I couldn’t let a few criminals color my opinion on an entire race. I could still police them without being so set against them.
Or set against loving some of them.
“Wait.” I pulled back.
“No, hell no.” Zaire pulled me into his embrace. “I’ve waited three weeks to touch you again, I’m not waiting any longer. Just deal with it, Goldilocks.”
Then Zaire was kissing me, his hands like manacles on my wrists, unyielding. His body was insistent, and his mouth was merciless. I met it with the same ferocity, upping his ardor with my own. By the time Blaise joined us, my clothes were in a pile on the floor. Then there was only love and the physical expression of it. My heart wept with relief to have them beside me again. I hadn’t realized just how lost I’d felt without them. Life had returned to its shadow existence for me, a world where I fought evil to return home to emptiness. Empty home and empty heart. I had grown accustomed to my empty life, but the Medvedevs had given me a taste of true bliss, and now I was achingly aware of the emptiness. I couldn’t return to the Void. I would simply have to forgive them.
“I love you,” I whispered, and once again, let go.
They caught me, my three bears, and together we forged a love that was just right.
About the Author
Amy Sumida is the Internationally Acclaimed author of the Award-Winning Godhunter Series, the fantasy paranormal Twilight Court Series, the Beyond the Godhunter Series, the music-oriented paranormal Spellsinger Series, and several short stories. Her books have been translated into several languages, have made it to the top sellers list on Amazon numerous times, and the first book in her Spellsinger Series won a publishing contract with Kindle Press.
She was born and raised in Hawaii, and brings her unique island perspective to all of her books. She doesn’t believe in using pen names, saving the fiction for her stories. She’s known for her kick-ass heroines who always have a witty comeback handy, and her strong, supporting male characters who manage to be sensitive and alpha all at once.
All she’s ever wanted to do, since she was a little girl, was to write novels. To be able to do so for a living is a blessing which she wakes up thankful for every day. Beyond her books, she enjoys collecting toys, to keep herself young, and cats, to keep herself loved.
When she’s not writing, which isn’t very often, she enjoys lounging with her cats, reading, painting, developing her digital art skills, and shopping. She fancies herself a hedonist and believes in pleasure above stress. “If it doesn’t make you happy, don’t do it.” Her other beliefs include eating well (not healthy but whatever you enjoy), drinking well, buying presents for yourself, keeping an open mind about others, and
loving wherever your heart leads you. If it happens to lead you to a god, all the better.
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Table of Contents
Falling for Them Volume 3
Table of Contents
Title Page
Benji's Decision by ZL Morris
Copyright
Also By
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen About the Autho
Title Page
Her Reasons by JL Akins
Copyright
Also By
Dedicated
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight About the Autho
Title Page
Savor Life by TB Mann
Copyright
Also By
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six