Redeeming Rue AP4

by R. E. Butler

  When the wigs were ash, they joined her as she knelt next to the box and pulled out an envelope of pictures. As each one went into the flame, she told them the names of the people on the photos, her biological family and members of her clan. The heat curled the photos, warping them before they succumbed to the flames and burned away.

  “I don’t know why I kept these. I think my…biological mother was the one who packed up my belongings before they banished me that night, and she grabbed a photo album I kept in my room. I used to stare at the photos and wonder why they didn’t love me enough to let me stay.”

  James and John put their arms around her as the last photo turned to ash and held her while she cried. She’d destroyed everything that had been part of her life before she met them. All of the things that she had used to keep people from knowing any truths about her were gone, and she was stripped bare, emotionally and physically.

  James cupped her chin and turned her head until she was looking at him. “Thank you, love.”

  “You’re all I have now,” she said the words slowly, not realizing until that moment how very true they were.

  James growled softly. “We’re not going anywhere.”

  John gripped her hand. “You’re ours forever.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. For more years than she could count, she’d wanted someone to want her. The people who were supposed to care about her — her family, her clan — had betrayed her. Worse than their betrayal was that they’d cost Rue the ability to trust others.

  She swallowed hard. “I trust you both…with my secrets, my fears, my heart. Everything I am is yours.”

  James’ fingers tightened fractionally on her flesh and his eyes shone with unshed tears. “We won’t let you down, Rue. Your trust is everything to us.”

  John murmured his agreement, moving closer until she was surrounded by them, cocooned in their warm embraces; the worries and fears she’d carried eased away, much in the same way that the flames had turned her past into ash.

  They sat there for a long time just holding each other, and it was the sweetest moment she’d ever had.

  * * * * *

  Jilly watched her dad and uncle hug Rue. Her mates stood on either side of her as they watched from the trees, deciding to wait to make themselves known.

  “You’ve got a mom now, kitten,” Wyked said, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder and squeezing her hand.

  “I know. It’s weird and cool at the same time. I wish she’d been around when I was younger.”

  Fate hummed. “You’ve got a new brother, too.”

  “Don’t forget that you’ve got a mother-in-law and another brother-in-law now.”

  Fate looked down at her and smiled. “I love you.”

  Her heart clenched. “I love you, too.”

  Wyked made a soft, snarling sound. “Hey.”

  She giggled and looked at her other mate. “I love you, too.”

  “Damn straight.” Wyked dropped the backpack and pulled Jilly against him. “I love you, Jilly. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.”

  He stroked her hair and tucked a lock behind her ear. “Not even my age?”

  He snorted. “Not even that.”

  Fate said, “If we don’t head into the campsite now, I think your dad and uncle are going to start stripping your mom.”

  Jilly looked over and saw that the sweet embrace between her parents had morphed into something decidedly uncool. At least from her perspective.

  “Oh my gosh, I have parents,” she said and laughed at the thought.

  “Yeah you do. And we need to let them know we’re here before we end up seeing a lot more of them than necessary,” Fate said.

  Laughing, Jilly stomped noisily toward the campfire and toward her dad, her uncle, and their mate.

  * * * * *

  “Whoa, impressionable minds here, so keep the groping to a minimum,” Jilly said as she and the twins walked into the clearing.

  John lifted from Rue’s drugging kiss and blinked at his daughter and her mates, trying to switch gears from sexy-mate-time. “Hi, honey.”

  Jilly rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Hi, Daddy.”

  John looked back to Rue who was blushing a lovely shade of pink and smiled. “Kids.”

  She grinned. “They usually have impeccable timing.”

  John stood and joined the twins in helping them to set up their tent, which was similar to their own but slightly larger. James came over with the pump and began to inflate the mattress. John stifled the urge to send the twins home so they weren’t sleeping in the same tent as Jilly. Jilly was an adult and mated to the males. They’d already proven that they would do anything to keep her safe. Didn’t John also trust them to keep their word, that nothing physical would happen between them until Jilly was twenty-one?

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw Jilly sitting next to Rue, their heads bent together as they talked in low voices. Rue put her arm around Jilly, and Jilly dropped her head to Rue’s shoulder.

  Fate whispered, “Jilly wants to call Rue ‘mom.’ She’s afraid she’s too old to do that.”

  John frowned. “Too old?”

  Wyked straightened from where he’d affixed a corner of the tent to the ground. “Our mom said Jilly could call her mom, and she does, but it’s not the same, you know? She never had a woman who was just her mom, not her mom through mating. I think she’s afraid that Rue will think she’s too old to call her mom and she’s a little jealous of how Henry just started calling her that without giving it a second thought.”

  John hummed in his throat and looked at his mate and his daughter. “It’s easier for Henry because he was never really exposed to the females like Jilly was. She probably questions every emotion she feels.”

  “She does. We help as much as we can, but she could use a woman on her side,” Fate said.

  John knew that Rue was that woman. Rue and Jilly hugged as John watched them, and Rue’s eyes met his and she smiled knowingly. His heart tugged. Hell, the thing was about to beat out of his damn chest he was so touched by the scene.

  Turning away to finish helping with the set up of the other tent, he gave Rue and Jilly their privacy. When the tent was up and the mattress in place, Wyked and Fate disappeared inside to set it up, and James and John returned to the fire to join Rue and Jilly and get out their snacks.

  By the time the twins joined them, sitting on either side of Jilly on a separate blanket, marshmallows were roasting on skewers and sodas had been passed around. Wyked and Fate shared stories of their camping adventures with their clan, and James shared the time he and the other males had taken all the kids camping and chased them around in their shifts. Rue didn’t have any camping stories to share, but she said that was okay because she was starting off her new life with a really great camping story courtesy of her mates.

  As the night waned, Jilly and her mates headed into the tent after Jilly hugged and kissed James, Rue, and finally John. Jilly whispered in John’s ear, “I love her, Daddy. Take good care of her.”

  He patted her back. “I will, honey, I promise.”

  James extinguished the campfire and put their things away. Rue entered the tent and toed off her shoes, and John followed her example and set his shoes in the corner. James came into the tent after shaking out the blanket and folding it up and placing it with the rest of the supplies and zipped the entrance closed.

  They were in darkness for a minute while John located the battery-operated lantern and turned it on. The light was bright blue and blinded him for a second, until James tossed his T-shirt over it to dull the light. Rue laughed and rubbed her eyes. “That was crazy bright.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart,” John said.

  Rue stripped off her pants and folded them neatly, laying them on top of her shoes. John moved to drop his jeans when Rue said, “James? What is that?”

  James froze and looked at John with wide eyes. John hadn’t even paid attention to James taking off his shirt to toss it over
the light and exposing the thing they had done that morning while Rue spent time with Lachlyn, Sam, Lisa, and Callie.

  John pulled off his shirt and tugged James’ shirt off the lantern so the tent was once more filled with light. He and James turned away from Rue to show her their backs and he held his breath.

  Rue stepped behind him and James with a soft sound, somewhere between a gasp of surprise and a quiet sob. Her fingertips touched his back with a feather-light touch, and he felt a shiver race up his back.

  Nerves settled over him as he suddenly wondered what she would think of what he and James had decided to do.

  * * * * *

  Rue couldn’t believe what she was looking at. James and John had gotten identical tattoos of her brand on their backs. They were fresh looking, as if they’d done them recently, and she was fairly sure they had. She didn’t think they’d had tattoos the night before and she was sure she would have noticed them at some point.

  The tattoos were solid black and looked just like her brand. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard as tears stung her eyes.

  “Wh-what did you do?”

  James’ body tensed and there was silence for a long moment before he and John turned at the same time to face her. “John and I decided that we wanted to carry the same mark that you do.”

  “Why?”

  John shook his head slowly and picked up one of her hands. “Rue, you’re the most important woman in the world to us. You’re not alone. The brand on your back doesn’t have to mean loneliness. It can mean a new beginning, a joining of our families, a bright future. We asked Dom to draw the brand for us, and we took it to a tattoo shop this morning while you were busy with the girls.”

  “We were going to show you tomorrow night when we took you out to dinner,” James said. “I messed that up when I ripped off my shirt. It was supposed to be a surprise.”

  “It is,” she said, completely overwhelmed. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. No one had ever committed to her in such a permanent way, made such a grand gesture to show her they weren’t going anywhere.

  Her heart felt as though it was being squeezed in a vise. The emotion was so great she didn’t know whether to shout in happiness or cry at the pure sweetness of the gesture. The tears won out, and when James and John pulled her between them to try and comfort her, worried that they had upset her, she had to explain that she was just that happy for what they’d done, that thankful they were part of her life, and that lucky she was their mate.

  The comfort swiftly turned to passion as her tears were kissed away and the heat of their bodies scorched her inside and out. As John’s hands lifted her shirt and James’ fingers hooked around her panties, a bucket of ice water was tossed over them in the form of Jilly’s annoyed voice calling across the campsite.

  “Excuse me, parents, but impressionable young adults with excellent hearing are very close by. You’ll give me nightmares!”

  The three of them froze and then burst out laughing.

  “Sorry, sweetheart,” Rue called.

  John ducked to his knees and turned off the light as Jilly called back, “Thanks, Mom.”

  Rue grinned and James kissed her neck. “She called you mom.”

  “I know,” she sighed happily, turning in James’ arms. “I have a daughter.”

  “And five sons including my three,” James said, “plus a bunch of nephews and a few grandkids.”

  She pressed her forehead to James’ shoulder and said what was in her heart. She’d always censored herself in the past, thought carefully over what she was going to say to make sure she didn’t reveal anything too personal. But right now, she wanted to get as personal with her mates as she could.

  “I have a family now.”

  “You sure do, love, and we’re not going anywhere.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, either.”

  Chapter 20

  James and John sat on either side of Rue at the small Italian bistro he and John had chosen for dinner on Sunday night. Originally, their plan had been to take her to dinner, then bring her home to the boarding house and ask her to marry them and show her the tattoos. Since she’d already seen the tattoos, they could check that item off their list, which left them with only the most important aspect of their evening — asking her to be their wife. She was already their mate in spirit; they’d marked her and they’d made love to her. But she felt as though they’d glossed over the actual asking of her to be theirs, so they were going to kill two birds with one stone and ask her to be their mate and wife at the same time.

  The day had passed quickly for them. They’d woken up in the tent, packed up, and had breakfast together at the boarding house. Then John had gone to Lisa’s to pick up the rings that he and John had ordered from a local jeweler’s website, and Lisa had picked up for them. John also talked to Lisa about organizing the wedding. The final date of the wedding would be up to Rue. In James’ mind, there was no rush on it, because she was already his and a piece of paper didn’t change anything. Then they had taken her to dinner for their first date.

  As he watched her finish eating at the restaurant, he wondered at his growing feelings for her. It was no surprise to him that he was falling in love with her. She was amazing. Stronger than any woman he’d ever known, selfless to a fault, and so damn beautiful he wanted to drop to his knees and thank whoever was in charge of mountain lion matings. His feelings for her in the beginning had been shallow — the sort of love-at-first sight that’s borne of finding one’s truemate and physical attraction. But those shallow feelings had steadily grown as he’d gotten to know the woman who was both as fragile as glass and as strong as steel.

  “I think I’d like to work there, maybe not every night but a few nights a week. Hunter said they had openings,” Rue said, drawing his attention back to the present.

  “I’m sorry, love, what?”

  “Hunter said that Kickers had an opening for a part-time bartender. I thought I could apply. It would be evening hours, but you guys work in the evenings so that would be perfect.”

  “Do you like bartending?” John asked.

  “It’s not bad. I like talking to people, and it was a good job when I was trying to keep my identity secret, because most people don’t give much thought to their bartender.” She touched her hair, almost self-consciously he thought, and smiled. “I still can’t get over how freeing it is not to have a wig on.”

  “If you want to bartend, then that’s what you should do. I hope you know that you don’t have to work if you don’t want to. John and I are your mates and that means we support you in all ways,” James pointed out.

  She smiled and leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I’m not ready to put my feet up just yet.”

  James signaled the waiter and handed him his credit card. While he waited for the receipt, Rue excused herself to the bathroom. John leaned his elbows on the table and squeezed his hands together. “I’m nervous.”

  James chuckled. “Me, too. She’s already ours, though.”

  As James signed the receipt, he glanced up and saw Rue walking from the bathroom. She wore a simple black dress that hugged her curves and her white hair was pulled to the side so it hung over one shoulder in a thick mass. Men turned to watch her as she walked toward them, but she was completely oblivious to the heads that turned her way...her eyes were on them alone.

  “I’m ready,” she said, her lush lips curving into a smile.

  “We are, too,” James said. Standing, he took her hand and escorted her out of the restaurant. His cat prowled in his mind, anxious to get her home and get her naked, and James agreed wholeheartedly. The night was still young…he couldn’t wait to make her theirs forever.

  * * * * *

  John’s hands were sweating as he drove back to the boarding house. Rue sat in the passenger seat, but she was turned sideways so she could talk to James who was sitting in the back. It was silly for John to be so nervous, but he couldn’t help it
. He parked in front of the boarding house and turned off the engine. James got out first and opened Rue’s door, and John got out and joined them.

  “So I don’t know if I told you or not, but we’re going to go hunting tomorrow,” James said as he opened the front door.

  “Really?” she asked, stepping into the house.

  John entered then shut and locked the door. “Really,” he said, slipping his hand into hers. “Tomorrow night, here on our property. The boys can come out with us and some of the pride members.”

  “That sounds amazing, I can’t wait,” Rue said.

  They walked upstairs. John loved the way that her hand felt in his; it was just one of the little things that he enjoyed about her. Like the way she ate a cupcake, tearing off the bottom portion and eating it separate and saving the frosted top for last. Or the way that she and Dom never said “goodbye” but always said “see you soon,” because according to her, goodbye sounded too permanent. Ever since they met that night in the woods, he’d been wholly captivated by her, but every day he learned something new about her that made him feel closer to her. The albino panther had stolen his heart in more ways than one.

  John followed Rue into the bedroom, and James shut and locked the door. James walked around the room lighting candles, and John walked over to Rue and looked down at her.

  “Have I told you today that you’re beautiful?” He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger.

  She placed her hands on his hips and smiled at him. “I think you mentioned it once or twice. A girl could get used to so many compliments.”

  “You should, sweetheart, because I plan to shower you with compliments for the rest of our lives.”

  She shook her head in awe. “Sometimes I feel like you and James are so perfect that I must be dreaming and I’m half afraid I’m going to wake up and none of this will have happened.”