by Becca Van
“He’s big, but I’m bigger and while she was a little trepidatious, which is understandable since she got ill in a small town full of strangers, she wasn’t scared of me.” Tatum scrubbed a hand down his face.
“But?” Rex quirked a brow.
“I think she’s scared of Broden because he’s a doctor.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Shaffer turned his gaze toward the glass front of the diner as if he was trying to see their mate.
Rex shook his head. “You’re right, that doesn’t bode well for any of us. When is Broden going to release her?”
“He wants to keep her in overnight for observation. She did just have surgery, after all.”
“If she is terrified of Broden, then one of us should stay there with her,” Shaffer suggested.
“I have a better idea,” Rex said. “We should take it in turns to be with her. That way if she wakes through the night we all get the chance to get to know her and she us.”
“Makes sense.” Tatum nodded.
“So, who’s with her right now?” Shaffer frowned.
“Emmy.”
“How are we going to tell our woman that we’re lion shifters without freaking her out?” Rex asked the question he had no doubt was on his brothers’ mind, too.
“We take each day as it comes. We can’t just go spouting off what we are while she’s recuperating,” Shaffer replied.
“Shaffer’s right,” Tatum agreed. “We give her time to get used to having us around, and when she’s comfortable we tell her.”
Rex nodded but his gut clenched with nervousness. He wasn’t sure there would ever be a right time to explain to their mate that the men in this town were all shape-shifters.
He just hoped that Pixie didn’t think they were insane.
Chapter Three
Pixie slowly surfaced from her drug-induced sleep and sighed. Even though she was still sore, she felt way better than she did the last time she woke up. Plus, this time there was no incessant beeping to drive her crazy and her headache was gone. She still felt as if her body weighed way more than it actually did and she was still feeling tired, but at least she was no longer experiencing the hammering inside of her head or the burning pain down low on her stomach.
She forced her gritty eyes open and blinked to clear the sleep haze from her vision, and frowned. The ceiling was different, and she wondered if Broden had moved her to another room. As she glanced about, her frown deepened. This didn’t look like any hospital or clinic she’d ever seen before. The walls were a pale mint green and there was a huge dark wood dresser against the far wall. She looked down to the bed she was lying in and was surprised to find herself in a bed so big, it had to be bigger than a king-sized one.
The quilt covering her was a wonderful contrast with a mix of pink, brown, green, blue, and white. There were swans on the cover swimming in a pond with trees all around. It was beautiful, but it also confirmed she was no longer where she was the last time she was awake. It took her a few moments to realize the catheter had also been removed from her hand. In its place was cotton gauze covered in surgical tape.
Pixie began to get scared and glanced around frantically. Her heart slammed against her ribs, and her breathing escalated after hitching in her throat. She wanted to know where she was, but she didn’t want to be alone with Broden. It wasn’t the man that scared the shit out of her, but what he represented. While she knew she was being unfair, she just couldn’t seem to overcome her fear of medical professionals.
She didn’t want to be here all alone anymore with a doctor she didn’t know. Pixie decided it was time to leave. She threw the covers aside and grimaced when she saw the white hospital gown covering her body, and while she hated the damn thing, she was thankful she wasn’t naked. Moving cautiously, she inched her way toward the edge of the mattress and swung her legs over the side of the bed before sitting up. Pain shot into her side and sweat broke out on her brow, but she breathed through it until it waned down to a dull throb.
After sucking in another breath, she braced her muscles and shoved to her feet. She moaned when her side ached, protesting the sudden movement, and she was feeling lightheaded. When the wooziness passed, Pixie took a step toward the closed door on the side of the room, hoping it was a bathroom, but before she could take another step, the door to the bedroom flew open.
“Shit! What are you doing out of bed? You’re supposed to be resting.”
The man who’d just spoken looked similar to Tatum, but it wasn’t him. Pixie sidestepped as he advanced toward her. He stopped and held his hands up in an I surrender, or I’m not going to hurt you sign, but she didn’t know him so she wasn’t about to take any chances.
“Tatum, get in here,” the man said in a low deep voice.
Pixie frowned. There was no way Tatum could have heard the man calling for him. She’d barely heard him herself. However, she was amazed a few seconds later when Tatum entered the bedroom. He skirted the other guy and moved toward her quickly, a deep scowl on his face.
“What are you doing out of bed, baby?” Tatum stopped a couple of feet in front of her and grasped her upper arms. “Is there something wrong? Are you in pain?”
She glanced around Tatum when the other man walked closer. “My name is Rex King. He’s my brother.” Rex jerked his thumb toward Tatum.
“Where am I?” Pixie asked as she tugged her arms from Tatum and took a step back. She couldn’t help but compare the two huge men. Both of them stood well over six foot tall, and they were handsome in that rugged manly way. Rex’s hair was darker than Tatum’s, almost a brown hue, and his eyes were more brown than amber, but there was that same feline slant to their shape. He wasn’t as brawny at his brother, but he was still packed full of muscles, just with a leaner physique.
Pixie gasped when her breasts began to swell and her nipples hardened. Her clit started pulsing and her pussy moistened and clenched. She met Tatum’s gaze when he cleared his throat and took another step away from him when she saw the lust in his eyes. He inhaled deeply through his nose, closed his eyes, and turned away from her.
“You’re in our home,” Rex answered her question.
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?” Rex frowned.
“Why aren’t I still in the hospital?”
“Broden thought you’d be more comfortable in a bigger bed and in a home environment. He gave us medication for you to take.”
“What sort of medication?” she asked suspiciously.
Tatum turned to face her again, and she was pleased when she saw there was no heat in his eyes this time. He pointed at her. “That’s the reason you’re no longer under Broden’s care.”
“What?” She frowned.
“You think he or the rest of us didn’t know that you are scared of Broden?” Tatum asked.
“He doesn’t scare me,” Pixie lied as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, and while she tried to hold his gaze, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing to the side. “Is that the bathroom?” She pointed toward the closed door she’d been heading toward before Rex and then Tatum entered the room.
“It is,” Rex answered. “Do you need some help?”
“I’m fine.” Pixie huffed out a breath and slowly made her way toward the facilities. She’d just told another whopper. Lethargy was invading her limbs, and the longer she was on her feet the more her incision site began to hurt.
Maybe leaving today wasn’t such a good idea after all.
* * * *
“She’s a stubborn little thing,” Rex said, his gaze locked onto the closed bathroom door.
“Yeah.” Tatum grinned.
“How the hell are we going to mate with her without hurting her?”
“She’s stronger than she looks.”
“Let’s hope so, Tatum. I’d hate to hurt her in any way.” Rex combed his fingers through his hair.
“You’re putting the cart before the horse, Rex. Don’t be so impatient.”
&nbs
“You think I’m not in the same boat?” Tatum snarled.
“Take a breath, bro. We don’t want Pixie thinking we’re fighting over her.” Rex tilted his head when he heard water running, but when he heard their woman gasp and groan, he hurried toward the bathroom. He beat Tatum to the door, turned the handle, and rushed into the room.
Pixie was standing at the sink with her hands braced on the edge of the vanity, and she was gasping for breath. Even though her hair was hanging down around her face, he could see how pale she was in the mirror.
Rex sniffed the air and cursed when he scented her pain. He moved up beside her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and bent to hook her legs over his other arm and carefully lifted her up against his chest.
He realized she was in way more pain than she was trying to hide because she rested her cheek on his shoulder and closed her eyes without any protest. Rex turned and headed back toward the bedroom. “Call Broden to come and check her over.”
“I’m fine,” Pixie mumbled.
“Stop lying to us, Pixie. We can smell your pain.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Rex knew he’d fucked up. She stiffened in his arms and lifted her head from his shoulder. He kept his gaze away from hers and gently lowered her to the mattress before tugging the covers up over her petite body.
“That’s the second time someone’s said something like that. What the hell do you mean you can smell my pain? No one can smell feelings.”
“We can,” Tatum said as he disconnected the call he’d made to Broden.
“Are you like superhuman or something?” Pixie snorted.
“Something like that.”
“Glad to see you’re awake.”
Pixie gazed toward the doorway Shaffer had just come through. Her mouth gaped as she eyed him up and down. Rex was the one having to struggle with his beast when the sweet scent of her desire permeated the air. He was glad she was back in bed with the covers over her, because if she hadn’t been her desirous perfume would have been a hell of a lot stronger and he wasn’t sure he would have been able to reign supreme over his inner lion.
“This is our other brother, Shaffer,” Rex introduced.
“Hey there, gorgeous.” Shaffer gave Pixie a big smile. “How are you feeling?”
“She’s in pain,” Tatum grumbled.
Pixie met Shaffer’s gaze and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Can you smell my pain, too?”
Rex cursed under his breath when Shaffer inhaled deeply through his nose and nodded. He hedged closer to his brother and nudged him with his elbow, hoping he wouldn’t say anything to get Pixie’s mind working any more than it already was.
Lust flashed across Shaffer’s eyes and his lion began to purr.
Rex turned his gaze back to find Pixie staring at Shaffer with her mouth agape and her eyes wide with shock. She closed her lips, licked them, and then asked, “Are you purring?”
* * * *
Fuck!
Shaffer rubbed a hand down his face as he tried to think how to answer. When he noticed Pixie struggling to sit upright in bed, he took a step toward her, but Tatum was closer and moved faster.
His brother hooked his hands under her arms and tugged her up the bed before releasing her again. He fluffed the pillows and Pixie nodded at him just before she sank back into them.
She cleared her throat and glanced nervously from him, to Rex, and then to Tatum. “What are you people?”
Shaffer opened his mouth but quickly snapped it shut again when Broden entered the room. The pungent aroma of fear drifted to his nose and he gazed about the room looking for a threat, but when he looked at Pixie again, he saw she was watching Broden warily. Tatum had told him and Rex that he thought their mate was afraid of the Kodiak shifter, but seeing it with his own eyes had the hackles on the back of his neck standing on end. His lion roared with fury, and while he tried to stop himself from echoing his animal’s warning, he failed.
“Oh God,” Pixie sobbed as she scrambled further up the bed and away from them all.
Everyone one froze as the bitter fragrance of her terror permeated the room.
Shaffer realized they were going to have to tell her what they were before she ended up hurting herself, or busting her stitches open.
* * * *
Pixie pinched her arm just to make sure she was awake. She felt as if she’d been entrapped in a horror movie and she was starring in the leading role. Maybe she wasn’t really awake after all. Maybe her appendix had burst, and she was hallucinating while she lay in a coma fighting for her life.
Were these men really aliens hiding in a small town so humans wouldn’t be aware? There was no way a human being could smell fear, pain, or lies. Neither did they purr or roar like a fucking lion.
She glanced toward the door, but there was no way she was getting around four huge men. Plus, she didn’t know where her clothes were, let alone her purse or the keys to her car. The only other solution was to race into the bathroom and lock the door behind her.
“Pixie, you don’t need to be scared of us. We’d never hurt you, baby,” Tatum said.
That was another thing that wasn’t normal. Men—if they indeed were men—didn’t go around calling women they didn’t know “baby” or any other type of endearment. Pixie was beginning to think she was cracking up, or maybe she already tumbled over the edge into insanity.
Tatum walked slowly toward the bed and then sat on the edge midway. She had a feeling she wouldn’t even get her feet on the floor if she tried to get to the bathroom. All he needed to do was reach out one of those long, masculine arms and restrain her, so Pixie decided to remain where she was. Her side was hurting more and more, and though she knew the position she was in wasn’t helping the situation, she was too afraid to move.
“None of us have ever raised a hand to a female or a child, Pixie. Your fear of us is unfounded. If we’d wanted to hurt you we could have done so already,” Tatum reiterated his earlier words.
Pixie could hear the sincerity in his voice, and while she knew she was being ludicrous, there was still something strange going on. Maybe if she knew what that anomaly was, she wouldn’t be so worried, so fearful.
Shaffer moved to the end of the bed, garnering her attention. He glanced up toward the ceiling and gritted his jaw before lowering his head to meet her gaze again. “The reason we can smell your emotions and make those strange noises is because we’re lion shifters.”
What? He did not just say that. Lion shifters? Seriously and I thought I was the one who’d lost their marbles.
Pixie blinked at Shaffer and waited for the punch line, but none of the men said another word. The tension in the room was so rife she could have cut through the thick air with a knife. Shaffer was gazing at her expectantly, but she had no idea how to respond to his delusional declaration. She glanced over at Rex to see him leaning against the wall near the open bathroom door with his ankles crossed and his arms over his chest, looking as if he was bored out of his mind. However, when she noticed his knuckles were white from clenching his hands into tight fists, she realized that was far from the case.
Tatum shifted on the edge of the bed, and he was staring at her so intently she was sure he could tell what she was thinking. He looked just as tense as his brothers since the muscles in the side of his jaw were twitching.
Pixie gazed at Broden to see his lips were curved slightly at the edge, and she wondered if he was about to burst out laughing. She began to wonder if this was all a big joke and they were getting a kick out of yanking her chain. She decided to call them on it, hoping to get some sort of response from the quiet men. “Are you a lion shifter, too?”
“No. I’m a Kodiak bear,” Broden answered.
“And I’m little red riding hood. Where is the big bad wolf?”
“That would be Zayn, Karter, and Jace Strike,” Shaffer said.
“Zayn, Karter, and Jace Strike are wolf shifters,” Rex said. “In fact, all the men in this town can shift into some type of animal.”
“Have you all been getting into Broden’s drug cabinet and pilfering the samples?” Pixie couldn’t believe how calm her voice sounded. Inside her stomach was roiling, her heart was racing, and her lungs were burning no matter how much she panted.
She watched Tatum warily when he rose and took a few steps away from the bed. When he tugged his shirt up over his head, she gaped at him and eyed his massive chest over.
Pixie had never seen such a masculine man in her life. He had muscles on muscles. His shoulders were broad, his pectorals were massive, and his pecs were bulging. There was a nest of russet hair between his pecs, and she wondered if that hair was as soft as it looked. His torso tapered down toward his hips, and while her intention had been to peruse his body all over, her eyes snagged onto the defined ridges of his abs and the V disappearing into the low waistband of his jeans. She licked her lips and then forced her gaze lower. She tried to skirt around the large, prominent bulge in his jeans, but she couldn’t seem to make herself look away. When he tugged at the button on his pants and lowered the zipper, she shifted her gaze up to his face again. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to show you that we aren’t lying,” Tatum said as he toed off his shoes. “Just remember that even in beast form the man has complete control. My lion would gnaw off its own paw rather than hurt you.”
Pixie didn’t get to respond because Tatum shoved his jeans and boxer shorts down over his hips. They dropped to his ankles and he kicked them away. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his long, thick, hard cock. She’d only ever seen one real live penis in her life, and it hadn’t been anywhere near as big as the one pointing in her direction. She exhaled when her lungs started to burn, and when she drew in a deep ragged breath, she almost moaned. She could smell his desire, and the scent was so intoxicating, she wanted to sniff it in again and again. His fragrance was a mix between manly musk and sweet pine needles, and it did amazing things to her body. The intense pain in her side receded to a dull ache as the parts that made her female came to life pushing the pain aside.
-->