by Hazel Gower
Wiggling, she pushed away from Duncan, trying to get out of his embrace, but he held her tighter. All of this was happening so fast. Karen hadn’t even known the men for twenty-four hours. She hadn’t signed any papers to say they had married or any such thing. Her home was in Australia.
“Neither of you know me. What if you don’t like me, or I don’t like you once you’ve spend some time with me? My God, you said you live longer. I’ll grow old and die.” Karen pushed on Duncan again and this time he let her go. She stood and glared at both men. She needed them to see reason. “How old are you two, anyway?”
“We are two hundred this year. We’ve waited over a century for you,” Duncan whispered against her ear and tugged her to him.
She turned and grinned up at him. “You’re like way old. This mate thing has to be wrong. I’m way too young for you two oldies.”
“The mating bond is never wrong.” Brad gathered her to him and leaned down, taking her lips to his own. She pushed to get away before the overwhelming need to be with them consumed her. She could feel it thrumming through her, but wouldn’t give into it. “We’re not that old. We mated you, so now you’ll age the same as we do.”
Holy shit this was getting to be too much.
“Give us a couple of weeks to get to know one another. I promise we will prove to you that you are our mate, the perfect woman for us.”
Standing between the two gorgeous men, body aching for them, Karen knew she wouldn’t be able to convince them of anything other than what they believed. Brad seemed convinced he and Duncan could show her that she was theirs. They really thought she was their mate. She and Jacky had two and a half weeks until the next concert. Karen would give them a week and a half to convince her she needed to be with them before she drove away. Glaring at the two of them, she sighed, because she knew she would regret it if she didn’t at least give them a chance. “You two have two weeks to convince me. Jacky and I have tickets to a concert that’s two and a half weeks from today.”
Huge Cheshire cat grins came over the men’s faces. Duncan stood, and he and Brad sandwiched her in. “That’s all the time we need.” Duncan turned her, and his lips came down on hers.
Karen’s body lit up like an inferno at the touch of Duncan’s lips. She felt his fingers glide into her hair. Brad pulled the tattered clothing off her body. She then felt Brad’s lips on her neck, and his hands sliding around to play with her sensitive clit. She moaned as his fingers found their target and drew lazy circles around her nub.
Her mind was clouded with images of all the things she wanted the men to do to her. Karen had never been a hugely sexual person, but Duncan and Brad brought out a passion she never knew she had.
A ringing noise in the background became louder and louder, and the haze around her cleared. Duncan tore his mouth from hers, and his fingers fell from her hair.
“This better be fucking good. I have been craving to be in the heat of your pussy again, since I woke.” Duncan’s dirty words turned her on more, and she almost begged him to come back as he stormed to a table and picked up the phone. “Speak.” Brad moved from behind her when Duncan growled, “Brad and I will be there in a moment. They should know we are mutual, and our land is mutual ground, no matter what the species.” Duncan hung up and turned his blazing blue eyes on her. “We need to find you some clothes and get you dressed. We have a situation at the lodge.”
Brad held her hand and walked toward the bedroom she’d slept in. “I brought your suitcases in early before you woke this morning. Duncan’s not a morning person, but I am.”
Karen saw her bag against the vanity. She let go of Brad’s hands and went straight to get clean clothes. “I’m not a morning person. I worked afternoons and night shifts at an after-hours doctors' surgery.”
“What do you mean by you worked? Don’t you mean you work at an after-hours doctors' surgery?” Duncan asked as he came in and leaned against the door with his arms crossed on his muscular chest.
Crap. She’d slipped up. Karen debated what she should tell them. Did she tell them she’d quit and didn’t have a job? Would that make them think she had more freedom to move here and go along with this mate thing, or did she say she meant work? Chewing on her bottom lip, she grabbed her clothes and got up, staring at the two men. Maybe if she didn’t answer, they would let it drop. “Can I use your shower, please? Jacky and I had been on the road for most of the day yesterday. I really could do with freshening up.”
Duncan’s eyes bored into her, and she nearly caved as he stared at her as he leaned on the wall.
Brad saved her, seeming to feel the unease she felt, by opening a door opposite Duncan. “Sure. If you could have a quick shower, that would be appreciated. Once you’re dressed, we’ll take you to your friend. She is in our brothers’ cabin. You’ll be safe there while we sort out the situation.”
Karen was unsure of what to say. She wanted to see Jacky, and she wanted time away from the two men, but she didn’t know if she’d feel safe. “Okay. I’ll be quick.” She almost ran to the bathroom, eager to get away from Duncan’s assessing eyes and Brad’s gaze. She hoped if she had a moment to herself, she could figure out more of what she should and shouldn’t tell Brad and Duncan.
Brad snarled at his brother. “Duncan, we want her to stay mates with us. You could tell she wasn’t, isn’t, ready to tell us certain things about her life. We have to earn her friendship and love first.”
“I’m not letting her go, Brad. I don’t know why you let her think we would. She is our mate. I have waited many, many, years for her. I was ready for her over eighty years ago. I will follow her. I am not ever giving her up, and if anybody ever tries to use her against us, I will act the Peacekeeper when I deal with them. I’ll turn into a beast.”
Brad felt the same as Duncan, but where Duncan was always the aggressor, the one who solved things going in with guns blazing, Brad was the thinker, the organizer. It had always worked out perfectly for them, but Brad was unsure if the technique they usually used would work on their mate.
Chapter Three
Duncan and Brad had dropped her off at a cabin that looked the same as theirs, just on the other side of the hotel. A guy that looked a lot like Duncan and Brad answered the door and introduced himself as Ashten. Karen had been pushed into the cottage and saw Jacky sitting on the lap of a man who introduced himself as Raylock. Jacky sat on Raylock’s lap, seemingly content, until she saw her.
“Karen, I’m so happy to see you. I’ve been asking to see you for a while. Can you believe what has happened? We are mates to polar bear shifters. I got to pat a friggin' polar bear. How awesome is that?”
Karen closed her eyes and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Good God, trust Jacky to think what had happened to them was awesome. Karen cracked an eye open and studied her friend. She looked happy; her eyes were shining, and she wore a bright smile. Had the two men that stood beside her brainwashed her? Before they’d left on this trip, Jacky had just broken up with her long-term dickhead boyfriend, and she’d been devastated. It was one of the reasons Karen knew she couldn’t bail on the holiday, and had quit her job so she could help cheer her friend up.
Opening both her eyes, Karen sighed. She’d talk to Jacky and find out what was going on when the men left. “I don’t know about that, Jacky. This wasn’t in our plans. We don’t even live in America. I don’t kn—”
The phone rang, interrupting her, and the men swore. Duncan pulled her to him and captured her mouth, branding her, and any thoughts she had of this situation being bad and unwelcome disappeared. When his lips left hers, she was panting and her body was on fire.
“Stay here. We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Duncan left, and Brad winked at her as he followed him.
Karen shook her head to clear her passion-filled mind and smiled at the look on her friend’s face. It was full of want and lust as Ashten and Raylock followed Duncan and Brad. Karen had never seen that look on her friend’s face. When the door close
d behind the men and they were alone, Karen went over and sat on the sofa next to Jacky.
“Do you know what the hell has happened? Because I have no idea. I remember driving down the winding driveway to the lodge, parking the car, and as soon as I got out, Duncan was on me, and my mind and body seemed to burn up with an all-consuming desire.”
Jacky gathered Karen’s hands in her own and held them tightly. “Well, there is a reason the brochures can guarantee that you will see a polar bear, because they are polar bear shifters.”
“I have gathered that by now, Jacky. I saw Brad when he changed and scared the shit out of me. I thought he was crazy. I didn’t think shifters were real. My God, Jacky, people can turn into animals.”
“They are that, without changing, in bed.”
“Jacky, way too much information.”
Jacky waggled her eyebrows. “Mine are wild. Are yours too tame and not satisfying you?”
“Jacky, what the hell happened to you just getting over a break-up?”
“You did notice it is impossible to resist them. Did Brad or Duncan not tell you about the pheromone that makes them irresistible to their mate?”
“Yes, they did.” Karen slipped her hands out of Jacky’s and ran her fingers through her still-damp hair. “What the hell are we going to do? I told Brad and Duncan I’d give them a chance. I’ve given them a week and a half to convince me, before we drive off to the next concert. I didn’t even think about the other things we have planned in Alaska. I wanted to spend time in Canada if we had time. Doesn’t look like I’ll get to do that. Jacky, we only planned to stay here a couple of nights. That is just the start of our dilemma. We are out in the middle of nowhere, and I don’t do good without civilization close. Sure, I can handle a couple of nights but…” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to get too attached to these guys, only to have to go home to Australia where it is warm and it never snows.”
Jacky stood and paced in front of her. “I know, Karen. If we overthink everything, we’ll never have fun and enjoy ourselves, or really give this mated-to-shifters thing a go.” Jacky pulled her off the sofa. “I decided after seeing a wolf shift in front of me last night, before Ashten took me away, that I was going to give this all a go. I don’t want to regret this. I know if I run, I will always wonder. You know, Karen, you will too.” Jacky bumped her hip. “And anyway, it’s not like you have a job to rush back to.”
“What! When did you find out I quit my job?” Karen thought she’d kept her secret from Jacky, but apparently she hadn’t done a very good job.
“I called the day before we left, and was told you had resigned. You didn’t have to do that for me.” Jacky hugged her tightly.
“I didn’t do it just for you. I was miserable there. My boss was a dick.”
“Yep, he sure was. I have no idea how you stayed there for as long as you did.” Jacky let her go and held her hand. “Let’s get out of here. You have to see the werewolves that are here. They are…just…wow. So yummy, all dark and muscled, the total opposite of our polar bears.”
Karen snorted; she’d caught Jacky’s claim on the bears already, but Karen wasn’t going to submit so easily. She was intrigued to meet werewolves, though. Walking hand-in-hand, they opened the door and walked in the direction of the huge lodge.
Duncan was getting pissed off with Davis, who was a lone wolf and usually a spokesperson for most packs, but he wasn’t helping the situation currently going on in the meeting room. Two groups of wolves were attacking each other. Raylock, Ashten, Abraham, Jaylen, and Brad were in the middle of over twenty wolves attacking each other in a melee.
Duncan had given up trying to stop the fight. The Red Blood Pack and the Blue Blood Pack were killing themselves, and solving his problem without him having to step in. They had intruded on his time with his and Brad’s mate.
Brad was holding off the Alphas of both packs in his human form, while both packs were in wolf mode. Usually they would have to change to hold off that much power, but Duncan could tell his brother was just as pissed off about being disturbed as Duncan was.
Fresh summer breeze wafted through his senses, and Duncan growled as he looked at the doorway to see Karen standing frozen, her eyes wide and her mouth agape as she stared at the scene before them.
“Holy shit,” Jacky muttered beside her.
Karen’s mouth snapped shut, and she glanced at Jacky, nodded, and turned back to the scene before her.
Duncan needed to get Karen out of here before she got hurt by these idiot mongrels. Stripping out of his clothes, he let the change take over him. His hair grew longer, his body stretched, and he felt the magic wash over him. Landing from two legs to four, he roared. Duncan knocked all the wolves to the walls as he charged through the throngs of wolves to guard his mate and end this dispute once and for all.
Brad, Ashten, and Raylock got out of his way as he rammed through the crowd. Once all the wolves got the idea they meant business, Brad stepped forward and snarled, “Change back to human form, now.” Brad’s Peacekeeper voice had them all changing back to their human form.
“I told you, it’s like heaven. Yum, yum, yum.” Duncan turned his head as Jacky whispered to Karen.
“Wow. They are all naked and just…just…wow.” He growled and nudged Karen as she licked her lips, studying the changing men. Karen glanced down at him. “I’m not apologizing. I’m only human, and this is better than any eye candy we have seen so far, well besides you and Brad. I mean, I’d have to be blind not to notice that.”
“Amen to that, Karen,” Jacky crooned beside Karen.
Raylock came over and tried to block Jacky’s view.
Karen grinned down at Duncan. “You can change back, if you don’t mind, and add to my view.”
Huffing, he let the magic take over and changed back to human form. Karen giggled as he stood naked in front of her.
“If all this hot nakedness is what you’ll be showing me to convince me to stay, I think I just may.”
Gathering her into his arms and blocking her view of all the naked bodies, Duncan pulled her tighter to him and breathed in her fresh sent. “I like your smile and that giggle is worth whatever you want.”
Davis cleared his throat, and Duncan swung around with Karen. “Duncan, the sooner we sort out this feud, the sooner you can get back to your mate.”
Duncan kept Karen against his chest, hiding her from the view of naked men and concealing his erection. “I had organized a meeting with the surrounding council packs but they couldn’t keep it together for a couple of hours. You all know our property is neutral ground. I didn’t think I, Brad, or my brothers had to stay and babysit you all twenty-four seven.” Duncan glared at the Blue Blood Pack. Dean was a new Alpha, who had only taken over his father’s leadership a decade ago. He was young and hot-headed. This wasn’t the first dispute that he, Brad, and his brothers had had to intervene in. Garth, the Alpha of the Red Blood Pack, was usually very quiet. In the whole time he and Brad had been Peacekeeping, they’d never had to step in with any of his business. Garth was very powerful. He could buy his way out of a lot of situations, and if that didn’t work, his pack was one of the largest and could be quite intimidating. The Red Blood Pack had done well under Garth’s leadership.
Karen pushed on his chest, and he eased his hold so she could turn in his arms. “What are you all fighting about?” Garth and Dean spoke at once, and Karen shook her head.
Brad whistled. “One at a time. Dean, you go. You have five minutes. Then it’s Garth’s for five.”
Dean’s smug face stepped forward and looked Karen up and down. She stiffened in Duncan’s arms, and straightened her back.
“Our pack borders Garth’s pack. There is an unclaimed city between us. I need the room for my expanding pack, but Garth now wants the land, and some of my wolves who moved there have been attacked by his pack.”
“Why can’t you share it? Why do you have to have only one or the other of your people in this town?”
Duncan liked this idea, but he knew the wolves would never go for it. The wolves were a possessive bunch. They didn’t share.
“That is not our way. We are an animal of territory and possession.” Garth stepped forward, and Duncan didn’t like the look of interest in his face as he studied Karen.
“How much territory do you both have? Is it even? Who is more in need of this land?” Both Alphas replied to Karen’s question, both saying they had the most need for the extra land. Karen turned her head up to him. “I don’t envy you for sorting out this silly feud. If it was up to me, I would confiscate the land and use it as mutual ground. They sound like children arguing, so I’d treat them like children, and take away the toy they are arguing over. What I’d like to know is, where are all the women? Are there any woman shifters?”
Duncan liked Karen’s suggestion. He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “Yes, there are women shifters, but the men here aren’t mated. The mated ones are at home with their mates.”
“I like our mate’s suggestion at the moment,” Brad said as he came and stood next to Duncan and Karen.
“What will happen to my people who already live there?” Dean stepped forward, anger pouring off him.
“They can stay until all the council gets together in a week.”
Karen held his arm. “Garth, do any of your people live in this area?”
“No.”
Karen sighed. “It’s easy then, the land should go to Dean. He already has people living there. You don’t have anyone there. I th—”
“I don’t have anyone there because I didn’t need it at the ti—”
“Aha, you’re sounding more like a spoiled child to me. Another kid had that toy, and then you saw it and wanted it.” Karen turned to Dean, and Duncan tried not to laugh as she dismissed Garth. “Dean, why did your people move to the area?”
“Because we were running out of room in the territory I had. They needed a home near the forest. They have moved into a new estate that backs onto bushland. There are jobs there for them, too.”