“You are truly amazing, Peata, such a strong woman,” Calder said, cupping her cheek with his callused hand. He almost purred when she rubbed her face against it.
“I worked and studied to become a social worker. It felt right to help others, and I love it. I’ve been working in a youth center in Montrose for the last year, that’s where all of this mess started.” Peata put the half-finished soup down on the tray and picked up the bottled water.
“You have achieved so much, honey, how old are you?” Axel asked her. Calder watched him slide his hand under the blanket and place it directly on her thigh.
“I’m twenty-two, but I feel about a hundred right now.” She sighed. “I’ve made a mess of things, and I don’t know what to do about it.” She started to cry, tears streaming down her face. Max turned her into his chest and held her tight.
Calder stroked his hand down her back and tried to soothe her. It hurt to see her in so much pain. He wanted desperately to know what had happened. Then he could kill whomever it was who had made her this scared.
Eventually, the tears stopped and Peata began to tell them what had happened that night. He was torn between feeling proud of her, and wanting to tan her ass for putting herself in so much danger.
When she finished retelling the events of the past seventy-two hours, she drifted into an exhausted sleep. The catharsis of crying, and reliving that horrific night, had left her drained.
Max lifted her gently off his lap and they tucked her tightly under the blanket. They needed to talk somewhere she could not overhear them.
Chapter 9
Max led the way downstairs. He needed desperately to hurt someone. He even hoped Calder would be his usual, asshole self, so he could beat on him.
As mad as he was at her for endangering her life the way she had, he was also very proud of the person she had made of herself. She was going to be a magnificent mate to them, and an asset to the pack as a whole.
“I want to spank her ass raw for being so foolish as to follow that young boy. What was she thinking?” Max finally spat out, when they all stepped outside.
“I did too, at first, but if she had done the right thing and gone to the police…” Axel said with a shudder.
“She did it to protect the boys from prosecution. Her motives were good, but she’s young, she didn’t think it through. Thank God too. Those fuckers would have killed her if they thought she had discovered their operation,” Calder said.
“Shit, I hadn’t even thought of that yet. I was just so mad at her. Mad at them. Fuck it, you’re both right. This is way more than we can handle on our own,” Max said, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“We have to get all the Frederick’s here tonight. Hunter and Dane will know who to call to get those bastards put out of business. Plus, more importantly, they need to know of the danger that may have followed our mate to Eminence.” As the sheriff of Eminence, Hunter would be able to coordinate law enforcement involvement, while they protected Peata.
“I feel like I need to pound on someone,” Axel stated, pacing the deck.
“I know, it is hard to imagine all the things that could have happened to her, and still reconcile the fact that she is now safe here with us,” Max said. “You two go for a run, I’ll stay with our mate.”
“We’ll run to the Alpha’s home. Someone will be there with Melanie. they never leave her unprotected. We can tell them what’s happened and arrange for them to come over as soon as they can,” Calder stated, stripping off his clothes. “I can’t stand that she is so confused about her feelings toward us. I need her to understand.”
“I want her to know about us, too. I feel dishonest somehow,” Axel agreed, stripping off his clothes.
“I’m sure they will come today,” Max said.
Once the twins had left Max returned to his room. Stripping off his jeans he joined her under the blanket, spooning against her back. She stirred briefly, but quickly drifted back to sleep. He purred against her back, happy that she was so comfortable with him.
They would make her safe, then move on with their lives together. He was elated that he had found her and he never wanted her out of his arms again. He chuckled at that impracticality. How the hell did the Frederick men get anything done now that Melanie was in their lives?
“Is something funny, Max?” Peata whispered.
“Sorry I woke you, baby. I was just thinking about how I never wanted you out of my arms. You feel so damn good there.”
“I feel the same about all of you. Will you tell me why?”
“I need us all together when we discuss that. Can you be patient a little longer?”
“I’ll try, but this really is so unlike me. I can’t usually be around men without having a panic attack. It’s why I work at a youth center.”
She spoke the words so softly that if he hadn’t been a shifter, he may not have heard her.
“Can you tell me why, or would it be easier if we were all together?” he murmured softly against her ear.
She sighed deeply and remained quiet for several minutes, her hesitancy speaking volumes. He was not going to like this.
By the time she started to speak, Max had steeled himself for her explanation. His eyes shut eyes tight to stop their glow lighting the room.
“I was barely eighteen,” she began, “in my first year of college. My work and study schedule were so full that I had no social life. One Friday night, the diner I was working at was closed due to a kitchen fire. My friends were thrilled I finally had a night off and dragged me along to a frat party. It was the first party I’d ever been to.”
She stopped talking and was quiet for a long time. “Do you want to wait for Axel and Calder?” he asked her again.
“No, I think this is easier,” she said. Taking a deep breath before continuing.
“I was overwhelmed by all the noise and the sheer number of people present, so I stood back against a wall and just watched my friends enjoy themselves. One of the boys at the party came over and gave me a bright pink drink, telling me to ‘loosen up.’ I felt embarrassed and out of place, so I drank it, wanting to fit in.”
She was quiet again and started to shake. As painful as this obviously was for her to talk about, he hoped that once he knew, he would be able to help her to heal. So he held her close, trying to infuse her with his strength.
“I woke up vomiting and alone in a strange bedroom. I had no memory of how I had gotten there or what may have happened to me. My clothes were torn, my underwear missing and…I was bleeding. I took myself to the hospital. They found I had extensive bruising and tearing, so they did a rape kit. After they repaired the damage, they tested my blood and gave me a contraceptive.”
Max clamped his jaws so tight that his teeth ached. His gums stung as his canines broke through. He was fighting his cat hard. It wanted to roar its pain before it tore into flesh. He felt blood trickling into his clenched fists where his claws had unsheathed. Despite his whole body thrumming with the need to kill, Max simply held her in his arms and waited for her to continue.
“Repeated blood tests over the next six months showed no infections, so I was considered lucky. No matches were found for the DNA they recovered, but they determined that four different men were involved. I have never regained any further memories of the attack, even the boy who gave me the drink is still just a blur.” She sunk further into Max’s embrace, her shivering escalating.
Max was rocked to his core, horrified at the depths of depravity that some men could sink to. He wanted to find them all and kill them. He had known someone had hurt her, but even his worst nightmare didn’t compare with the reality of what she had lived through.
He was humbled at the strength of their mating bond, that it could overcome such pain and allow her to trust again, to feel again.
He would make sure he was worthy of that trust by giving her his unconditional love for the rest of their long lives. He and his brothers, together would ensure she was nev
er hurt again.
He tried to think of a way to convey those feelings to her.
“That was a horrible event to shape your young life. You don’t know how sorry I am that I didn’t know you then. I would have never let anyone hurt you. Axel, Calder and I will never do anything to you against you will. We are big men, physically, but we would never force you in any way.” Max was trying to keep his tone calm, even though he felt anything but.
“Have you been with a man since, baby?” He suspected he knew the answer to this already, but he had to be certain. They would be making love to their mate and he needed to know if they would be the first men she had ever made love to.
“Until the three of you, I have been incapable of even having a man near me. Honestly, until the three of you, I had never felt aroused before.” She shivered, and he suspected that particular shiver was not from being cold.
“Thank you for sharing that with me. I can’t conceive of how hard that must have been for you. I’m honored that you felt you could trust me.” He ran his hands over her softly rounded stomach, placing soft kisses down the side of her neck. “My brothers and I are very attracted to you. What you just shared with me does nothing to change that fact.”
“I don’t think I can say it all again, Max.” He knew what she was asking of him and he would gladly take that burden from her. “Do you think it will change their feelings for me?”
“I know it won’t, baby.”
Calder was going to be…. He had no words for what Calder was going to feel. Axel would probably bottom out at murderous rage, like him, but Calder was going reach a new, and as yet undiscovered, level of fury.
But right now Max had to show his mate that he still desired her. The rest could wait. As he rolled her to her back, she reached for him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Giving her time to say no, he slowly lowered his mouth to hers.
Her lips were soft and warm and she quickly opened them in invitation. He wasted no time, gently teasing his tongue into the warm cavern of her mouth. The taste of her was a joy to every cell in his body. She was sweet and so fucking delicious. He withdrew from the kiss reluctantly, nibbling on her lips before settling her head against his chest. She swiftly drifted back into an exhausted sleep.
He knew his brothers would be back soon from their run. He didn’t want her anywhere near Calder when he told them. He wouldn’t harm her, but she would blame herself for his hurt and anger, and she had suffered enough.
Chapter 10
Peata woke to find she was surrounded on all sides by naked skin. She opened her eyes to see Max staring at her, he closed the gap and kissed her hard on the lips.
“Axel and Calder have brought back company from their run. Do you feel up to visitors?” Max asked her. “They are close friends of ours who are anxious to meet you.”
“Why would they want to see me?” she asked, yawning. She felt a rumble at her back and knew it had to be Calder. She turned to look at him.
“You are important to us, so of course they want to meet you,” Calder said. He leaned down and kissed her, it started out light, but when Peata moaned, he swept his tongue into her mouth and stroked along hers. He tasted different to Max, more musky, but just as delicious. He lifted his head and licked his lips, smiling widely at her.
“Why do you have no shirt on, Calder?” she asked, trying not to stare at the beauty of his muscled chest. It was wide and chiseled with a light sprinkling of dark curly hairs.
“Max said you were cold, so I shared my body heat with you,” Calder answered with a smirk. She surprised herself when she giggled.
“Enough flirting, you two. Let’s get dressed and see to our guests before Axel bores them all to death,” Max teased.
He was right, she had been flirting a little with Calder and it felt nice. His kisses were to die for, too. She would like to do that again. Her lips were still tingling and her panties were damp again. She definitely wanted more kissing.
Max handed her a pair of his shorts. They were huge. “None your pants are going to fit me, Max, even with my fat ass.”
Everything went quiet. She looked up to see Max and Calder staring at her with their jaws clenched tight. Oops, she had a vague recollection that she had made them angry once before when she referred to her weight. She was curvy and she knew it. She had never cared what men thought, but women could be real bitches to each other. So to stop the skinny women from thinking they could hurt her, she had gotten into the habit of putting herself down instead.
“You are a voluptuous woman, Peata, who has curves that a sensible woman would envy. I have found it difficult to think of anything other than stripping you, and exploring every inch of your skin, since I laid eyes on you. Would I feel that way if I thought you unattractive?” Max walked to stand in front of her, grasping her hips and pulling her close against his large frame. She could feel the length of his rigid erection against her belly.
“Damn the flowery words. I’m so hard for you I think my eyes are crossed,” Calder said. Standing behind her, he pressed into her until she could feel his hard, and very big, cock. Calder wrapped her long hair around his hand and gently pulled back her head, kissing her until she was breathless.
“Sorry,” she murmured, when Calder released her lips.
“We will make you see how beautiful you are to us, Peata. In fact, very soon you will be in no doubt at all,” Max said cryptically. He released her hips and went to rummage in his closet. He returned with a pair of sweatpants and they pulled the cord tight to stop them falling off.
Calder picked her up and carried her downstairs, despite her assertion that she could walk. She felt refreshed after her sleep, and the drugs had made her throat a lot less painful, but she was apprehensive about meeting new people.
She heard male voices as they reached the bottom step and her body stiffened, the panic rising instantly inside her. What if their friends got too near her? She felt bile rise in her throat, stinging the tender tissues.
“No one will touch you, Peata. I will tear off the hand that tries,” Max whispered in her ear. He had obviously seen her rising panic and correctly guessed the cause.
“What’s wrong, Max? You know the Fredericks would never hurt Peata,” Calder said, sounding confused.
“We will talk later. Let’s get Peata settled in the kitchen with Melanie and Shana.” Max preceded them into the living room.
The men standing with Axel were so huge that the room seemed small now. All four were taller than him and one looked to be the size of a mountain. They had hair in varying shades of blond and looked so similar that they would always be picked as siblings.
As the men all turned toward them, Peata could see that there were two women sitting on the sofa. One was around seventy, with long grey hair. The other was a petite woman, around Peata’s age, with long strawberry-blonde hair. They were both smiling kindly at her.
Axel stepped forward and took Peata’s hand. “Peata, this is Shana, our local healer.” He gestured to the older woman, who stood and came toward her.
“A pleasure to meet you, Peata. Have no fear, no one here will lay so much as a finger on you,” she said. It was unnerving. How could she know what Peata was feeling?
“This is Melanie. She is married to these big lugs, Finn, Cooper, Hunter and Dane,” Axel said. He gestured to the four men in turn, but she was so shocked at the idea of the tiny woman being married to these four giants that she didn’t really listen.
“Hello,” she finally replied, after a small, impolite pause.
“We’re a lot to take in at first meeting, but you’ll get used to us,” Melanie said, rising from the sofa to shake her hand. “It’s good to have you here, Peata. Let’s leave the men to talk, I need a cup of tea. Would you care for one, Shana?”
“Are you happy to visit with them for a bit?” Calder asked.
Feeling overwhelmed, but wanting to get away from the room full of men, she nodded her agreement.
Calder sat her on
a chair at the big kitchen table, squeezed her shoulder and left.
* * * *
Striding purposefully back to the living room, Calder found that Axel was now its sole occupant.
“They’re waiting for us in the barn,” Axel said, motioning for him to hurry.
Max had obviously discovered the cause of their mate’s fear of men. “We’re not going to like this are we?” Calder murmured through his gritted teeth.
“Not one fucking bit,” Axel replied acidly.
As he jogged out to the barn with Axel, he had murder on his mind for the ex-boyfriend, or whoever it was who had hurt her.
Max closed the door behind them as he and Axel entered the big barn. Calder watched as Dane and Hunter moved in front of the doors to block the exit.
“Being a little over dramatic, aren’t we?” Calder asked, glaring at his brother.
“I don’t want Peata hurt, if she sees you upset she will feel responsible,” Max reasoned.
“Fucking spit it out, Max,” Axel said. He looked as pissed as Calder felt.
Five minutes later Calder was consumed with a rage he had never imagined possible. He had partly shifted. His hands had blood dripping from them where his protruding claws had punched through his skin. He felt the heat from his eyes going amber, but he saw nothing but red. Dirt was raining on him from the roof timbers as the sound of his roars shook the barn. He had to go, he had to make them pay. As he ran for the door, Cooper leapt to stop him. He lashed out with his claws, raking them down Cooper’s chest and arm.
“Calder, stop, or I will take you down myself,” Finn commanded. The compulsion to obey his Alpha was all that was stopping him. He stood rooted to the spot, his chest heaving with the effort it took to contain his rage.
He had been here, right fucking here. Fucking oblivious, while his mate had been brutalized. Through the pounding of his heart and his own growling he could hear that Axel was tearing the barn apart.
He concentrated on his breathing. Finn would not release him until he was calm enough to do no further damage. Fuck, he may never be calm again. So he decided to focus on revenge instead. Cold, steely and deadly revenge. It helped.
Peata [Eminence Shifters 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 5