Blessed with an Angel [Grey River 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Maia Dylan

  “He was trafficking artefacts and guns. Anything of value he could get his hands on, he was grabbing and selling. A fucking mercenary at times, available to the highest bidder, and we were doing his wet work for him. When I questioned a mission that involved infiltrating a building that housed fucking families, I found out I was the only one in the unit that didn’t know, and wasn’t getting a slice of the action.”

  Chris felt his own anger rise. How dare some bastards use his brother like that? Noah was a protector and worked to keep people safe. To find out he was actually hurting innocent people or working operations that were unsanctioned would have destroyed him.

  “I tried to stop them, Chris, but by the time I worked it all out, it was too fucking late. Those bastards slaughtered that family, all because their father refused to pay a goddamn protection fee to the head of a local organized crime group. Who incidentally were the ones who hired us to go in there in the fucking first place!” Noah’s voice was harsh and filled with despair and no small amount of shame.

  “I called it in, spoke to the CO, and told him what was going on. He had suspected that Bear was on the take and gave me the go-ahead to stop them using any and all means including deadly force.” Noah stopped on a sob and Chris stepped forward with the intention of pulling Noah into his arms but stopped when Noah threw up his hand.

  “That’s what I did, Chris. I killed three men and a wolf shifter, men that I had worked, lived, and fought beside for eight months. The entire time I tracked them through that house, I could hear them taunting that family and laughing at their pleas. I killed them without hesitation or regret.”

  “Anyone would have, Noah,” Chris said and hoped Noah could hear the sincerity in his voice. “Noah, anyone with half a heart would have done the same damn thing. What you did was righteous, brother, so why have you been pushing me away since you got back and why in the hell would you sprout that shit about Angel?”

  “Because I didn’t figure it out fast enough!” Noah suddenly raged, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “I was a part of their bullshit, Chris. I made unsanctioned kills and I have to live with that for the rest of my life. I am broken and so damn stained with the blood of innocents I would not dare bring that into your life. And I sure as hell wouldn’t sully Angel’s with it! You both deserve better!”

  “Noah, you douche, there is no one better than you! In a fucked-up way, it’s because you feel so goddamn damaged and broken that you do deserve a home and happiness.” Chris ignored Noah’s posture and stepped in to wrap his arms around his brother. “Let us help you, Noah. Let me, Angel, and Mateo heal those wounds for you and show you that you do deserve a family.” Noah wrapped his arms around Chris and held tight, and Chris felt him shudder then the heat of Noah’s tears as his big brother finally leaned on him.

  “We can have what we’ve dreamed about all our lives, Noah. All we have to do is work together and there is nothing we cannot accomplish. We will protect our mate and take out whatever asshole thinks he can threaten her. Then we work to build her trust in us enough that she lets us, well, fuck it, court her.” Chris shook his head at the fact he had used the word court. They really needed to find an alternative and perhaps more modern word.

  Noah gripped him a little tighter and Chris felt him nod. Chris’s grin broadened. Hell yeah! The Carson brothers were finally on the same page and they were going to convince their mate to give them a second chance!

  * * * *

  “Grey River, you are called here to witness the Binding of these four people. This woman, Rowena Whitley, has been chosen by the fates as the one true mate in truth, blood, and right for our three pack brothers Wyatt, Luke, and Chase Greyson. Do you stand in witness of this?”

  Angel joined the guests, which looked like the entire town, and said, “We do.” She held Mateo in her arms as she watched her best friend bind herself forever to her three mates. Knowing that the journey the four of them had to survive to get here was one fraught with danger and could have very well ended in disaster made the whole day even more special than it already was.

  “Who has been chosen by these brothers to stand for them in this Binding Circle today?” Ty called.

  “We have.” Kyle and Grant Snow stepped forward and removed what looked like ropes of silk from their pockets. Grant had been gone since the night Baxter had almost destroyed the union they were there to celebrate. Angel was glad to see him back. Kyle and Grant used one rope to tie Rowena’s right hand to Wyatt’s left and then her left to Luke and Chase’s right hands. They used an intricate pattern to weave the binding together over the four of them.

  “Wyatt, do you take this woman as your mate in truth, your mate for life, and bind yourself to her?” Ty called out and placed his hand on the ropes that bound him to Rowena.

  “Rowena, you are everything I have ever wanted in a partner, a wife, and a mate. You are as strong as you are beautiful and I cannot wait to start our life together. I love you, Rowena, always and forever. I bind myself to you.” Wyatt’s deep voice rang clear throughout the clearing and Angel sighed happily. She was such a romantic!

  Ty pulled on the chord and it tightened until their hands were clasped and then turned to Luke. “Luke, do you take this woman as your mate in truth, your mate for life, and bind yourself to her?” Ty called out again, placing his hand on the ropes.

  “Honey, throughout my life I have often wondered if my brothers and I would ever find a woman who could put up with either of them, let alone both of them together.” The crowd laughed gently and Angel smiled as Rowena giggle-snorted, which ended with a happy sob. “When we met you, I knew immediately that you were the one for me. That you would be the one for us, and I thank God and ever deity in the world that the Fates decided we were worthy of you. I love you, Rowena, always and forever. I bind myself to you,” Luke spoke strongly then Ty pulled on the rope and it tightened until Luke’s hand clasped the back of Rowena’s. Angel saw him give her hand a little squeeze.

  Ty turned finally to Chase and Angel had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. He stood there so tense he was practically vibrating. His jaw was clenched so tight Angel thought that if she were to listen carefully she would probably be able to actually hear his teeth grind together.

  “Chase, do you take this woman as your mate in truth, your mate for life, and bind yourself to her?” Ty called out again, placing his hand on the last loose part of the rope that bound the four mates together.

  “Hell yeah I do!” Chase practically shouted almost before Ty had even finished speaking. It made everyone, including the woman he was binding himself to, laugh in delight. “Baby, you know I love you, and I’ll talk all pretty to you as much as you like later but right now, know that I love you, Rowena, always and forever. I bind myself to you.”

  Angel felt tears spring to her eyes. It was so beautiful to witness something so beautiful and so pure. She could hear Rowena sobbing softly and imagined how loved and overwhelmed she must be feeling right in that moment.

  “Rowena, the decision is yours, the fates have determined you belong with these men, do you now accept them as yours?” Ty looked at Rowena, and Angel could see the warm smile he gave her.

  Rowena took a huge calming breath and turned to face Wyatt. “Wyatt, you are my rock. I never thought I would say this to anyone, but I love how bossy you are. I know that you will always do what is best for me and I swear to you, I’ll try to listen, when you are being reasonable and I don’t think you’re wrong. But I will try.” Rowena grimaced and the crowd laughed again and Wyatt shot her a grin filled with love. “I love you, Wyatt, always and forever. I bind myself to you.”

  She turned to Luke, who stood quietly to her left and looked as if he were biting his lip. “Luke, you are my heart. Wherever we go in life, I know you will always be there for me. To be what I need, when I need it. Hell, you seem to know what I need before I do, and I love that you know me so well. I love you, Luke, always and forever. I bind myself to yo
u.”

  Lastly, she turned to face Chase, who stood with a grin that if Angel had to name, she would say cocky! “Chase, you are my soul. I love you for everything you are. And even though I love you so much I could wax lyrically about it for the next hour”—a look of true alarm flitted across Chase’s face—“I won’t because I am as anxious to be bound to you as you are to me, my love. I love you, Chase, always and forever. I bind myself to you.”

  The four newly bound mates seemed to shudder at the same time as the mating bond within them united them together for all time, a beautiful and poignant symbol of a true and lasting love. Angel felt a small twinge of envy at the thought of such a thing, but pushed it away as a frivolous emotion that held no real benefit for her or Mateo and their future. Damn it.

  “As Grey River alpha, I bear witness to and bless this Binding,” Ty called out as the bindings wrapped around the wrists of the four newly bound mates began to unwind by themselves, slowly slipping away although no one had actually touched them.

  “We take this binding as true and right and we celebrate that the fates have once again helped to make our Pack stronger!” Ty roared into the clearing, sparking a huge, joyful howling chorus from the entire pack.

  Angel stood with tears on her cheeks, so thankful to be a part of this beautiful ceremony. She had never felt connected to the house or even the entire city of Dallas. But in a very short period of time she had come to see Grey River as home. She looked down at Mateo as he rested comfortably in the baby sling that Chris had purchased for her, and she felt a small pang of longing ripple through her.

  It had been two weeks since she had thrown Chris and Noah out of the house, and even though they were now allowed to come into the house, she refused to be alone with them. She knew from Faith that they had gone out into the forest and had some come to Jesus moment that now saw them acting as brothers, and she found herself growing more curious about what was said between them.

  She didn’t know if she was ready to hear everything they had to say about that night, but she had to admit she had gotten to know them both quite well during the meetings and meals that she hosted for the men who guarded her.

  Noah spent most of his time guarding her, even when Chris had to work a shift at the hospital, so she had watched his interactions with the other members of their pack and she saw how caring and protective he was of the entire pack. The more she learned about them as individuals and as brothers the more she was wavering about talking to them.

  Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, Angel took a breath, plastered a smile on her face, and walked over to congratulate the recently bonded foursome.

  Despite the crowd of people standing around them, Rowena spotted her instantly. She stepped away from the arms of her mates and stepped over to Angel, wrapping both her and Mateo in her arms.

  “I am so glad that you were here.” Rowena leaned back to look into Angel’s face with a smile so bright it lit up the whole binding circle. “It just wouldn’t feel the same if you weren’t here to celebrate with me. We started this journey together and it just feels right that you are here.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world! Congratulations, you deserve to be happy, loved, and cherished.” Angel leaned in and squeezed her friend as tight as she could without causing Mateo any discomfort. “I am so happy for you, Rowena.”

  “Angel.” Rowena had her doctor voice on. The one she used with people when she was about to say something important. “Please tell me that you know that you are just as deserving of love and happiness as anyone else. I know that you sparked the Quickening in Chris and Noah. It is so damn obvious that all three of you are fated every time you get near each other, but I also see that there is something holding the three of you back.

  “I believe that I can help and if I could convince the three of you to allow me to work with you to resolve this conflict. Perhaps learning how to communicate effectively to better understand each other may help to enhance your emotional connection and strengthen your bond.”

  Angel stared at her best friend who had just launched into what Angel called her therapist mode. Oh, it was obvious that Rowena wanted to help Angel to find her own happily ever after just as she did, but the thought of the three of them sitting down to have a heart-to-heart about a relationship that had never even started filled her with horror. It would be bad enough to listen to what her failings were that had Noah running for the hills by herself, but it would be a thousand times worse to have Rowena witness it.

  “Baby.” Chase came to Angel’s rescue and she threw him a grateful look as he drew his mate into his arms. “You know that I love to hear you speak all doctor-like and Angel knows that you have nothing but her best interests at heart. But I think there are a couple of people here who might like the opportunity to try and enhance that emotional connection and strengthen the bond you were just talking about on their own.”

  Angel stared at them in confusion as Rowena’s mouth formed an “oh” and she cast a reassuring look in Angel’s direction. She watched in confusion as the two of them turned to walk away. Angel glanced around and was startled to see that there were not that many people left in the clearing, all of them obviously heading out for the Country Blue to carry on the celebrations.

  “Angel.” The familiar voice had her gasping.

  “Don’t go, sweetheart.” The second voice had her closing her eyes against the sudden sting of tears. Goddamnit, would it always be like this? Just hearing their voices sent shivers down her spine and her heart rate racing.

  Calling on every ounce of inner strength she had, she turned around. Her heart ached at the sight of them standing there. Both wore dark jeans, crisp white shirts, and suit jackets, no doubt in reverence to today’s celebrations. Angel always thought a man looked best when he wore a custom-made jacket, and standing before two men as hot as the Carter brothers just didn’t seem fair.

  “I know I have no right to ask this of you, Angel,” Noah spoke softly, but Angel could hear the desperation and need that rang through every word. “But could we speak with you alone for a moment please? What we have to say will only take a moment and then we’ll walk you and Mateo back to your car.”

  Angel stood quietly for a moment. It was a fairly innocuous question, one that could be answered with a simple nod or shake of her head. So why did Angel feel like she was standing at the edge of an abyss with nothing but darkness in front of her with one foot already over the rim?

  * * * *

  Noah had faced off against some pretty nefarious people and lived to tell the tale. Hell, he had even faced death on more than one occasion and had managed to come off best, but never had he felt more nervous or scared in his whole life than he did right this minute.

  Angel still hadn’t said a word. She just stood there with both her hands cupped beneath Mateo’s little round butt currently cradled in a cloth wrap thing that held him against his mother’s body, staring at them like she had no idea how to answer his question.

  Not that he could blame her. He and Chris had behaved like asshats a couple of week ago and had abided by her wishes during their guard duty, no matter how damn hard it had been. Every time Noah thought about how they had argued in front of her and not let her get a word in, his entire being filled with shame.

  Noah let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding when their Angel nodded her head in their direction. She was willing to at least hear them out, and Noah couldn’t help the spear of hope that shot through him.

  “There is still a lot of work to do to win our mate back, Noah,” Chris warned down their link, no doubt sensing Noah’s hope.

  “I know, brother, but I will take whatever sign of hope she is willing to give us and hold it to my heart because now that I have pulled my head out of my ass, I want to be what she needs so damn badly, I ache with it.” Noah heard the desperation in his own voice, and did nothing to hide it from his brother. Not only did he have to prove himself worthy of her to Angel,
he had to show his brother that he would be the partner he needed as well.

  “Thanks, Angel,” Chris answered and the two of them stepped closer to her. God she was so damn beautiful she made his heart ache.

  For the first time she had her beautiful long dark hair twisted up into one of those roll things that tempted a man to pull out the clip and wrap it around his hands. She wasn’t hiding her scar, not that Noah thought much about it. Nothing could detract from how insanely hot their mate was. Angel would quite often hide behind that curtain of hair, and seeing her with it up made him think that perhaps she didn’t feel the need to hide anymore. And if he and Chris had any say in the matter, she never would feel the need again.

  She wore a pretty light blue and white sun dress with this wrap thing that fell to her knees. Her beautiful dark brown eyes glittered with nerves, and her chin was tilted up in defiance. She looked as if she were awaiting some bad news and Noah wanted to beat himself stupid for making her feel that way.

  “The first thing we wanted to say to you is that we are so damn sorry for the way we behaved.” Noah leaned forward a little, wanting desperately for her to feel how sincere he was. “There is no excuse for yelling like that and scaring you and Mateo. But, sweetheart, please believe me when I tell you that is not how we were brought up, and not how we normally act.”

  “Noah.” Fuck, her voice did something wicked to him. It had his heart pounding and his blood thickening with desire. “I’ve met your friends and have heard nothing but great things about how you are as brothers. So yeah, I can believe that you weren’t brought up that way and that your behavior was something beyond the usual, but if that’s the case then the only new element to this whole drama is me. And I sure as hell am not going to be the cause of the two of you falling out.”

  “Angel, it’s not like that,” Chris was quick to assure her. “Nothing could be further from the truth. You were not the cause for any falling out between me and Noah. You are and always will be what brings us together and makes us stronger men, stronger wolves, and sure as hell stronger brothers.”