Mated to the Pride: A Military Shifter Reverse Harem Romance

by Jade Alters

  Still, I had no choice now. Shanice was already halfway down the street.

  I plucked up my courage and rang the doorbell.

  When the door opened, I was immediately glad I hadn’t run screaming. The guy who opened the door was… well, really hot. My first thoughts didn’t get any more eloquent than that. I forced my mouth into a smile so that my jaw didn’t drop open, and held out my hand,

  “Hi,” I said, hoping my blush was light and rosy and not completely humiliating. “I’m Jess Dorsey. I’m supposed to be here for an interview, though I think I’m a little early.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” he said. When he took my hand, I felt his grip strong and serious around mine. His hand was huge, and his jaw so firm and square that it looked like somebody had cut it that way on purpose. “It’s great that you’re here. Come on through. And, uh. Sorry about the mess. I swear it’s not usually this bad.”

  “Hey, no problem. That’s what you’re advertising for, right?”

  “I think this is beyond the scope of one person’s daily duties,” he said, throwing me a sheepish look over his shoulder. God, he had a handsome smile. “We’ve just been a little busy getting ready for our trip, that’s all. It’s kind of mounted up. I’m Hale, by the way.”

  We stepped into a living room space, with a huge corner couch and huge bay windows. Of course, the room wasn’t really what I paid attention to — because as well as Hale, there were three other intimidatingly good-looking men scattered around the place.

  Holy shit. What do they do…?

  “Alright,” said Hale, clapping his hands together. “Jessica. Like I said, I’m Hale. This is Preston, with the piercings. Stone’s the bottle blonde.”

  Stone threw him a withering look and shook his head at me. “The shit I get from this guy,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe.”

  “And I’m Blake.”

  My eyes shifted away from Stone’s easygoing smile to a much more serious face. His deep grey eyes seemed to carry a lot of weight, and his dark, short-shaven hair had a pretty military aesthetic. All this, and he also had muscular arms even thicker than the rest of his colleagues. He looked almost dangerous. The kind of guy you’d like to have on your side, and definitely wouldn’t want as an opponent.

  “We appreciate you coming down here on such short notice,” said Blake, gesturing at an armchair that sat beside the couch. I dropped down into it, trying not to look nervous or outnumbered — though of course, I definitely was outnumbered. “We know it’s a fast turnaround. We really should have started looking a long time ago, but… as you can see, we haven’t been fully organized for a little while.”

  I smiled, appraising the room around me. It was a little messy, sure, but nothing too heinous. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, or felt like I’d need to take a shower as soon as I stepped outside. “It’s not so bad,” I insisted. “Hale was telling me that you’ve been pretty busy getting ready for these three months away.”

  Blake nodded. “That’s right. And we’d like to tell you more about that, but… before we do, I just want to point out that what we do is pretty serious work. It’s classified, and we’ll need you to sign non-disclosure forms and complete background checks if you’re successful.”

  “Don’t worry about all that,” Stone advised. “It’s just government rules. If we trust you, we trust you. We like to think we’re pretty good judges of character.”

  I nodded, taking it all in. “I understand. It’s fine with me, anyway. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  “Open book, huh?” said Stone.

  I smiled, spreading my hands. “What can I say?”

  Casual as I was acting, this was all very strange. Government rules. Classified. Maybe the ‘military’ feel I had detected on Blake wasn’t far off the mark. What exactly had I walked into?

  “You wouldn’t be doing anything dangerous yourself, of course,” Blake continued. “What we described in the ad is exactly what we’re looking for. While we focus on the reason we’re out there, you’ll be helping us by keeping everything running smoothly in a domestic sense.”

  “Right,” I agreed. “Making sure there’s food on the table and clean clothes to wear.”

  “Honestly, we’re not real fussy,” Hale added. “We’re not going to expect shiny sinks and three-course dinners. Probably, we’ll be able to take care of a lot of things ourselves. We just want to make sure we’ve got you there to handle the basics if we’re pulling really long hours.”

  “I get you,” I said. “That makes sense.”

  My eyes flicked over the four men again. Stone seemed the least scary, but he was still the kind of model-pretty you’d follow right away on Instagram. The one with the fleck of premature grey in his hair and the ear piercings — Preston? — hadn’t spoken at all, but he was definitely paying attention. I felt he was observing me, not in a creepy way, but it still made me a little hot under the collar. I hoped those blue eyes found that I was up to par.

  “We’re leaving in one week exactly now,” said Blake. He spared a glance at each of his colleagues, then turned back to me. “Since the location is classified, you’ll need to travel with us, and we really would need you to stay for the full three months. Could even be longer, depending on how things go for us. Will that be okay with you?”

  I nodded, listening. Then I realized something.

  “Oh. Does that mean I got the job…?”

  My cheeks flushed. That was quite an assumption to make, but something in the tone of his voice sounded like he was making an offer — not checking, just in case. I looked at each of the team members again, hoping I hadn’t made a fool of myself.

  “If our terms work for you, and you’re still interested,” said Blake, with a little smile. “Then yes. We’d love to have you join the team.”

  I flushed. They hadn’t even discussed it. How could they possibly know that I was the right person for the job? But despite the fact that this didn’t make sense, I couldn’t fight the happy feeling that was flooding through my chest. As certain as I had been only twenty minutes ago that this was a pointless endeavor, I was thrilled. In fact, I was already composing my letter of resignation. Hopefully one week’s notice would be enough.

  If not, well… tough.

  “I’d be happy to,” I said despite myself, feeling the hair on the backs of my arms stand up. This was sheer madness, but at the same time, it felt so right. “Thank you so much. I’ll start making my preparations right away.”

  My Uber driver on the way home wasn’t nearly as talkative. It was then that I realized I hadn’t even asked about the pay. No wonder they offered me the job on the spot. They probably thought I was the dumbest candidate they’d seen — but even so, I still couldn’t bring myself to regret accepting their offer. Something felt good about that group of men, even beyond how painfully attractive they were. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet, but… hey.

  I was about to have three whole months to work it out.

  Hale

  The drive to the cabin was long and uneventful, but it gave us an excellent opportunity to confirm that we were 100% right about Jessica. No matter who was driving and who was hanging out with her in the back of the van, she seemed totally comfortable with us. It was obvious that she was a little nervous, but that made sense. She had no idea where she was going, and had only met us a couple of times.

  Still, she was managing to laugh and joke along with us. We heard a little about her family, and how lame her past job was. The story about her asshole boss’ reaction to her leaving with such short notice had us all in stitches.

  All our instincts about her had been right. When we met each other’s eyes in that brief moment before Blake offered her the job just one week ago, we had already been pretty sure. Now, finally pulling up to the cabin after many hours of driving, there could be absolutely no uncertainty left. At least, not on our part.

  We probably still had to earn her full trust.

  “Alright,” I sai
d, closing the door behind her as she climbed out of the van. “Honey, we’re home.” Was it weird that I was so drawn to hang around her? Probably not. She was a beautiful woman. Her smile was really charming. Even when it had been my turn to drive, I could see her lighting up the van every time she flashed it.

  I wasn’t the kind of guy to get smitten, but… suffice to say, I knew she had my attention.

  “Shall I get my bag?”

  “Not yet,” said Blake, heading straight for the front door. “We’ll get them later. Let’s just go settle in first. I think we’ve earned that.”

  The cabin itself was pretty basic, with wood-panel walls and an open fire. The place was open-plan on the inside, and not quite as spacious as our home, but it would definitely do for the time we spent here. Most of the time, we’d be working in shifts anyhow; we wouldn’t need to share the space altogether much.

  “Hale,” said Blake, nodding down the hallway. “Why don’t you show Jessica to her room?”

  “You know, Jess is fine,” she said, following after me with an awkward smile. “But I’d love to see home for the next few months, sure.”

  I swept my arm, leading her down the corridor. There was only one direction to go, so it wasn’t exactly a grand tour, but there was no harm in playing. I opened the door for her with a slight bow. “Right this way, madam.”

  “You’re too kind, sir,” she said, bowing right back. She stepped into the room and took a look around. Judging by the smile on her face, she wasn’t disappointed. “It’s nice. Much bigger than my bedroom back in the city.”

  “I guess that’s the benefit of being out here in the wilderness,” I said, choosing not to tell her that we’d given her the biggest room on purpose. She seemed like the type to try and refuse it. “No Starbucks unless you drive for two hours, but… man, plenty of room to swing a cat.”

  “I will not be swinging any cats,” she said, dropping her bag onto the bed with a playful smile. “But it’ll be nice to go through my morning yoga routine without bumping my head on the dresser, for one thing.”

  “Right, right,” I said, folding my arms. “I thought the same thing.”

  Jess smiled at me, shaking her head. “Don’t make fun of me. We can’t be all that bendy with muscles like that.”

  “Glad you’ve noticed.” I grinned, pleased by the blush on her face. “You want to see the rest of the place, anyway? May as well get familiar.”

  Back out onto the main corridor, I pointed out the rooms on the side opposite to hers. “Alright. That door’s Blake and Stone’s room. This one is mine and Preston’s. Bathroom on the end there will probably be ours, since you, Blake and Stone are all en-suite, but… you know. We’re easy.”

  “And this is the main room,” she said stepping out into it. “Kitchen, dining room and living room all in one.”

  “Right you are,” I said. “Pretty cozy, I guess. Convenient.”

  “Does that door lead to a garden?”

  She stepped over to it, peering out through the glass. I pulled up beside her. “It does,” I said, “but you might want to watch how often you’re out alone, especially after dark. Not to freak you out, but… you know. Safety first, on a job like this.”

  “Oh.” She blinked, glancing at me. “You aren’t kidding…?”

  “No, ma’am.” I ruffled my hair, teasing my fingers through the longer bits on top. I kept my voice serious to make sure she could tell the difference; it was easy to forget that strangers couldn’t immediately detect when I was and wasn’t joking. “I mean… don’t be scared, you know? We wouldn’t have you here if it was unsafe. You want to go out and get some fresh air, you’re more than welcome. I just wouldn’t stray too far, just in case.”

  “Got it.”

  I could see I’d unnerved her. It made me feel bad, but even stronger than that it made me want to make her feel safe again. It’d probably be weird to put my arm around her this early on, wouldn’t it? Instead I shifted between my feet, opening the door to take a few steps outside. Hopefully that would prove the situation wasn’t too dire. “Nice out here, actually. Looks like somebody had a vegetable garden here once.”

  “Shame we don’t have time to restart it,” she said. “Bet you guys would love eating fresh.”

  “Oh, ‘cos of this?” I tapped my bicep, wrinkling my nose. “Nah. That’s all Taco Bell.”

  “Jessica, your bag is in your room,” Blake called. “Just in case you want it.”

  “Thank you!” she called back. “And honestly, really — Jess is fine…”

  I watched her go, fighting the instinct to let my eyes drift down to her ass. Maybe something could happen between us further down the line, but I really didn’t want to push it. She seemed like a cool person in general, and we had three whole months to spend here. I didn’t want to make things awkward or uncomfortable for her, or for anybody else on the team.

  But she’d definitely noticed my arms…

  Jessica

  This whole endeavor was still definitely the biggest risk I’d ever taken in my professional life, but I felt more certain about it as time went by. The drive to the cabin was long, but it gave me a chance to get to know my new employers — or colleagues, really. They treated me more like an equal than as a subordinate, and I appreciated that.

  Blake seemed pretty insistent on calling me by my full name, but I hoped to be able to persuade him out of that before long.

  The first day after we arrived, things were pretty calm. The boys still had some unpacking to do, and I got up early to get breakfast going. The smell of cooking bacon soon tempted four hungry Norths out of their rooms, just in time to have it served up fresh and crackling onto their plates.

  “I knew this was a good idea,” said Hale, ruffling a bit of life into his hair. “I think you just earned every cent we’re going to pay you with this one meal.”

  “You haven’t eaten it yet,” I warned. “You remember my training is in finance, right?”

  “The culinary courses missed out,” said Stone, already halfway through his plate. “You’re amazing. Thank you for this.”

  “You’re welcome, Mr. North. That’s why I’m here!” As they carried on digging in, I remembered another question I had. It was a slightly awkward one, so I figured it was better to get it out of the way early. “Hey, uh… listen. I have to ask. You’re all Norths. So, are you… brothers…?”

  They certainly didn’t look like it.

  Stone and Hale glanced at one another, and Blake sat up a little straighter to answer my question. “It’s a long story,” he said, “but no, we’re not technically related. We consider each other family, but we’re not connected up that way.”

  I nodded, but that hadn’t really clarified things.

  “More like cousins,” said Stone, trying to be helpful. “Think of it that way. We grew up together. Our families are so close they’re basically all the same thing.”

  That didn’t explain the shared surname, but I decided to give up on asking before things got even more awkward. “I see. And now you all work together.”

  “We make a good team,” said Hale. “The kind of work we do, you need to be able to communicate quick and fast. You need to be able to trust each other. Just kind of makes sense.”

  “Plus,” said Stone, “we each have different skills that complement each other. I’ve studied a lot of first-response medicine, so I’m our unofficial medic.”

  “Weapons and communication,” said Preston, holding up a hand. It was one of the only times he’d spoken directly to me so far, and it surprised me to see him meeting my eyes. I’d already decided that he was deathly shy — either that, or he didn’t like me.

  Blake pushed his plate away from himself, finally finished. “I take the lead.”

  “And I back him up,” said Hale. “Blake’s a pretty strategic thinker. Very methodical. Great ideas. I’m more of a people person.”

  I looked at each of them, impressed by the wide array of skills. I still didn
’t really know what they were here for, but I’d heard ‘military’ and ‘classified’. I’d signed a non-disclosure agreement — and now the word ‘weapons’ had been thrown into the mix. They were so capable that I felt a little intimidated simply to be in their presence. Trying to make light of that, I held up my hands. “And I… make a mean breakfast.”

  “Let’s not undervalue that,” said Stone. “I’d take breakfast over Hale’s supposed people skills any day.”

  “You see what I put up with?” said Hale. “Every day!”

  “Not every day,” said Blake. “Because this is the part of the conversation where I remind you that I am working with Stone on shift this time, and you’ll be teamed up with Preston.”

  “You’re not all working together?” I asked, then pulled a face and covered my mouth. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”

  “It’s fine,” Blake insisted. “It’s like Hale told you before. The fact that you’re here at all proves that we trust you. If we need to keep something from you, we’ll let you know; otherwise, ask away.”

  His eyes were so intense that I couldn’t help but blush and avert my gaze. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll bear that in mind. Thank you.”

  “No,” Blake continued. “You’re right. We’re not all working together. To make sure we’re covering as much ground as possible in these initial stages, we’ll be operating in shifts. We won’t be sleeping or eating at the same time so that there’s somebody out working almost at all times.”

  That’s intense. What are they really working on here?

  “That doesn’t mean you need to make every meal twice,” Stone added. “We can reheat stuff. We’re not trying to work you twice as hard as we agreed.”

  “You’re not eating reheated food if I can help it,” I insisted. Now that we actually had discussed pay, I knew that I was going to be compensated for every single hour I spent here, even while asleep. There was no way I was going to slack off on those terms. “You’re going to be working so hard; I’m sure you’ll be exhausted. The least I can do is make sure you have something good to eat when you get back.”