Claiming Her Warriors

by Savannah Stuart

  So he’d decided to be proactive and retrieve Brianna’s things without asking. Right now he was feeling possessive, protective and scared as hell that he’d almost lost her so he didn’t care if she got pissed. He and Aeron would just give her so much pleasure she wouldn’t be angry anymore. Because he couldn’t let her go.

  When he’d seen Ipsa raise that dagger he’d lost too many years of his life to count. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Brianna had completely worked her way under his skin.

  She was sweet, giving and even her insecurities were adorable. He hadn’t understood that by not introducing her to that monster Ipsa earlier, that they’d hurt her feelings when they’d meant to protect her. But he had seen the flash of jealousy in her dark eyes. The woman had nothing to ever worry about on that count where he and Aeron were concerned.

  He entered the guest room to find the closet door open and Aeron hanging the clothes Hauk had brought over. “Where’s Brianna?”

  “Taking a shower in my bathroom. She said she wanted some space.” Aeron shrugged jerkily and there was unmistakable hurt in his gaze.

  “Fuck that.” Hauk stalked out of the closet and tossed the rest of her clothes on the bed.

  Without turning around he could sense Aeron behind him as he headed down the hallway to his brother’s room. He wasn’t letting her be alone right now. Humans were strange sometimes but she’d just been terrorized. She shouldn’t be by herself.

  As he entered the massive bathroom, he paused at the sound of soft sniffling. The large glass and stone enclosure of the shower blocked Brianna from view and the noise was barely audible above the running water, but he knew what it was. Aeron stiffened next to him, frowning when he also realized Brianna was crying. The sound absolutely pierced him.

  Wordlessly, they stripped and Hauk stepped down into the tiled enclosure first. It was big enough for four grown warriors—not that they would ever invite anyone else into their shower or bed. Even the thought of anyone touching her made him crazy. Water from the ceiling shower head poured down over Brianna’s small, shaking form. Her back was to them, her hair plastered down her back and he couldn’t take seeing her in pain one second longer.

  She yelped as he turned her around and gathered her in his arms. Her eyes were red-rimmed as beads of water rolled down her face, but at least she wrapped her arms around his neck. Brianna looked from him to Aeron who was hovering right next to him. “What are you guys doing?”

  “You don’t get to be alone right now,” Hauk said, much harsher than he’d intended.

  “What he means is we’re worried about you.” Aeron’s voice was soothing, calmer than Hauk’s. Hauk was thankful Aeron was the more level-headed of them at the moment.

  Hauk wasn’t sure how they managed it, but he and his brother balanced each other out when necessary. “No, what I mean is you’re moving in with us permanently and you’re going to agree to be our mate.” Damn it, why was he ordering her? He tried to force some finesse into his words, but was barely holding onto his control. Hauk just needed to know she was safe and protected. And theirs, forever.

  Brianna’s expression was soft as she smoothed her hands over Hauk’s chest as if to placate him, but before she could respond, he lifted her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. He savored the feel of his cock pressing against her belly, though he wished he was pumping deep inside her.

  Aeron moved behind her so that she was completely caged in. Hauk could see the pulse point on her neck going crazy, as it tended to do when she was excited. She glanced over her shoulder at Aeron, then looked back at him. “What are you two doing? I thought we wanted to take things slower…” She trailed off as Aeron cupped her breasts from behind and massaged them.

  Hauk barely kept his voice from becoming a guttural growl. “No, you wanted to take things slower. We want you in our lives forever. I don’t need to think about shit. I know what I want and I want you. So does Aeron. We understand you’re scared about being a mom to Finn, but it will work out. Trust me. The only thing we need to know is…do you want to be mated to us?”

  A mixture of warmth and lust filled her gaze as she watched him. Aeron was slowly strumming her nipples and she wiggled against Hauk. “Of course I do. It’s just… I can’t think when you’re doing that.”

  “Good.” Aeron nipped her shoulder while Hauk kept his gaze on her. For some reason his brother was being much calmer about the whole situation. Or maybe he was just giving that appearance for Brianna.

  Hauk couldn’t fake it right now. It was a struggle to draw breath and his heart was pounding out of control. He felt desperate and out of his element. And he didn’t want to wait any longer. He swallowed hard, feeling strange saying the words he hadn’t said in a long time. “What I feel for you is… I…”

  “What he’s trying to say is that he loves you. So do I.” Aeron raked his teeth over her earlobe before sucking on it in the way that drove her crazy.

  Brianna’s eyes widened even as she slightly arched her back, brushing her breasts against Hauk. The feel of her hard nipples on his skin was going to short circuit his brain.

  “You do?” she whispered.

  He stared at her. “Of course I love you. How could we not?” She was perfect, everything he’d ever wanted.

  An almost shy smile touched her lips but he could still see worry lurking in her gaze. “I love you both too. So much so it scares me. What if I suck as a mother? Or as a mate? What if Finn hates me? What if—”

  Hauk crushed his mouth over hers, not wanting her to dwell on what-ifs. Not when they had each other and their whole lives ahead of them. She loved them and they loved her. It was all Hauk needed to know. Everything else would work itself out. Everything he’d learned about her so far he loved, and he couldn’t wait to learn everything there was to know about this brave, beautiful woman.

  Epilogue

  Six Moon Cycles later

  Aeron stepped off the transport platform into the home he shared with his mate, brother and son. A tantalizing scent teased his nostrils as he headed in the direction of the kitchen. He and Hauk had been sent on a two week mission and Brianna had been nervous about being alone with Finn for the first time even though their son had instantly taken to her.

  He paused in the doorway of the kitchen. Brianna and Finn stood at the stove with their backs to him. Even though Finn had just turned ten, he was almost Brianna’s height. He had his arm around her waist and her arm was slung around his shoulders in a motherly gesture.

  “It’ll be all right. We just won’t tell your fathers,” she murmured to what was clearly an upset Finn. Even though Aeron couldn’t see his expression, Finn’s shoulders were hunched.

  Worry instantly surged through Aeron as he stepped into the room. “What’s going on?”

  They both turned, surprised to see him, though the worry on Finn’s face tore at Aeron. “Dad, I—”

  “I broke the handle on your favorite sparring dagger while cleaning,” Brianna said quickly. “But, I’ve already sent it off to be fixed. You wouldn’t have even known about it, but you’re back early.” She dropped a quick kiss on Finn’s forehead then covered the short distance to Aeron before throwing herself into his arms. “Not that I’m sad you’re back early.”

  Aeron kissed her soundly before setting her on her feet, but didn’t let her completely go. She wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. “I missed you,” she murmured.

  “I missed you too. We both did. Hauk will be home soon.”

  “Good. The house is way too quiet without you two in it.”

  Behind her, Finn looked as if he was about to confess to what Brianna already had so Aeron held up a finger against his own lips. He knew without a doubt she hadn’t broken anything—mainly because she hated cleaning. And she was a terrible liar. But if it helped her bond with Finn, he didn’t care.

  Finn’s entire demeanor relaxed as he smiled and hurried over to hug Aeron. “I missed you too, dad.
”

  A few minutes later Hauk entered the kitchen, looking as tired as Aeron felt, but the second his brother saw Brianna and Finn, Aeron saw the relief and love spread across his face. They were finally home with the mate of their hearts.

  Thank you for reading Claiming Her Warriors! I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review at one of the major retailers. It’s a great way to help other readers discover new books!

  Keep reading for a sneak peek of Claiming His Mate, a sexy paranormal novella now available!

  Excerpt from

  Claiming His Mate

  by Savannah Stuart

  Copyright © 2013 Savannah Stuart

  Lauren Hayes shoved a wayward strand of hair under the knit cap she wore as she slid up to the outside back wall of the quiet, two-story house. The black cover over her hair had nothing to do with the chilly October weather. Right now she was all about blending into the shadows this cold fall night. Which meant dressing in all black, like a sneaky burglar.

  Because she was about to do something stupid. Incredibly stupid. She inwardly berated herself.

  There was no turning back now. Shifters were notorious gossips and word had spread through the grapevine that Grant Kincaid, alpha of the Kincaid wolf pack in Gulf Shores, Alabama was on a honeymoon.

  With his new human mate.

  That by itself had shocked the shifter world. Kincaid’s father had been a brutal bastard—before he’d died. A shitty alpha who’d hated anyone who wasn’t supernatural. Or at least that’s what Lauren had heard.

  The current alpha was two hundred years old and she was twenty-five so it wasn’t as if they’d ever run in the same circles. She’d also heard Grant wasn’t like his father and from the brief meeting she and her pride had with him six months ago, she had to agree that he seemed pretty decent.

  Even if he was a stubborn ass who refused to give her family back what was rightfully theirs. Now that the alpha was out of town, she and some of her pridemates had decided to break into his house.

  To steal from him.

  Maybe steal was a bit of a stretch, she thought as she moved against the side of the house. Wind whipped around her, sending another shiver racing through her. She was simply taking back something that belonged to her family’s pride. She had to remind herself of that. Her sister was getting married in two weeks and the broach the elder Kincaid had taken from her family almost a hundred years ago was supposed to have been a wedding gift when the oldest Hayes daughter got married. The piece of jewelry had been in their family for centuries. Well, the jewels had been. Three, four-carat—colorless—diamonds and a handful of emeralds had been passed down from oldest daughter to oldest daughter in some form of jewelry ever since. When Lauren’s mother had received a necklace from her mother, she’d had the jewels put into a broach instead.

  And Lauren desperately wanted to give it to her sister Stacia as a wedding gift. She deserved it.

  Since Lauren was one of the few shifters on the planet who could mask their scent from other shifters, vampires and pretty much all supernatural beings, she’d been more or less volunteered for the job by her cousins. She also had a knack for breaking into places. Not that she was normally a thief. Her cousin Tommy, however, was. When she’d been twelve he’d taught her a lot of tricks, including picking locks and hotwiring cars. Her parents had been so pissed when they’d found out. After she stole back what was rightfully theirs, she bet they’d be glad she had those extra skills. Of course they’d be angry at her for doing this, but she’d known if she told them they would have ordered her not to. She figured it was better to do this then beg forgiveness later.

  She had a few pridemates waiting a mile away in case she ran into trouble, but they had to stay out of sight unless she called them.

  Right now they were all on Kincaid territory. Didn’t matter that it was a touristy beach town right on the Gulf Coast and that humans had no idea a shifter pack had carved out an area to live here. As a jaguar shifter, she knew she shouldn’t be here without permission so if she got caught she was so screwed. Wolves weren’t known for being forgiving. And stealing from an alpha? She shoved those thoughts out of her head. If she was scared, she couldn’t work.

  Here goes nothing.

  The two story house was raised like most houses on the beach but he also had an upstairs patio that she planned to use to her full advantage. She shimmied up one of the columns with a preternatural speed and hoisted herself up and over the lattice style barrier. Being a cat, she was nimble and quick on her feet, but it still took strength to do this in human form.

  Crouching low to the ground, she carefully looked around the large patio at the closed French doors and then back at the beach. The waves sounded softly about a hundred yards away, the calm methodic rhythm doing little to soothe the nerves punching through her. She was about to break into an alpha’s home. So, so, so stupid. But it would make her mother and sister happy.

  Thankfully the quarter moon was hidden by clouds, further helping her cover. She’d been watching the Kincaid pack’s comings and goings for the last week in preparation for tonight. It was midnight so almost every one of them was at one of the many bars or the hotel Kincaid owned. They all worked together as a big family. Their hours were more like vampires’ than shifters’, but clearly it worked for the pack because they were ridiculously wealthy.

  Owning beach front property anywhere could be pricey, but they also owned an entire condominium building next door to Kincaid’s personal residence. At least almost everyone was at work. And even though she knew for a fact they had a security system, she’d thrown a giant boulder through the back French doors a couple days ago in preparation.

  Lauren had felt like a total jerk doing it, but she’d needed them to replace the doors. Which they’d done this morning. The chances of them having already replaced the security contact that would be standard with the system on the new doors was about five percent. More like zero percent considering she’d been watching the house practically ever since she’d ruined the doors. And when she hadn’t been spying, one of her pridemates had.

  As she examined the French doors now she realized the lock was also new. And it wasn’t the cheap kind either. But, she was very good at getting into places she shouldn’t.

  Less than sixty seconds later she was inside the master bedroom. After a quick perusal of the top part of the door frame she breathed a sigh of relief to see no new contacts in place. Carefully closing the door behind her, she paused and glanced around the giant room. With her supernatural eyesight she didn’t need to turn on a light to see everything—not that she would anyway. Might as well just put up a bright neon sign that she’d broken in.

  The furniture was masculine, but there were definitely feminine touches. Not that Lauren cared about any of the décor. Now she was focused on looking for a safe. If he were going to hide diamonds and emeralds, it would definitely be in a safe. There was a slim chance he’d put it in a bank vault, but shifters and vamps, especially one as old as him, were weird about that stuff. No, they liked to keep their valuables close on hand.

  For all she knew a silent alarm had gone off. There weren’t any visible sensors in the bedroom, but that didn’t mean shit. She knew that by breaking in blind without knowing the complete layout of the security system she was taking a chance but almost no one had sensors in their bedrooms. It didn’t make sense. Living room areas and downstairs areas of course, but bedrooms and any upstairs saw too much foot traffic on a daily basis.

  Moving quickly and quietly she went to the most obvious place to hide a safe. The closet. Nothing there. She searched behind picture frames next, then everywhere else she could think of before moving to the next room. The door was open to reveal an office.

  Pausing, she could hear only the wind and waves outside. There were residual scents in the house but that made sense. She stepped inside the room, her boots silent against the rich hardwood floor. Two steps in, she realized she wasn’t
alone. It was like an abrupt assault on her senses and her inner animal simply knew.

  Before she could turn fully around, she was tackled to the ground by a huge male. Definitely supernatural.

  Strong, muscular arms encircled her from behind, throwing her to the ground, the male on top of her. Somehow he managed to angle their fall so he took the brunt of the impact on his arms. All the air left her lungs in a whoosh as panic slammed through her. She hadn’t heard him, hadn’t even scented him. That alone told her how dangerous he was.

  Though all her animal instinct told her to fight, she knew she was at a disadvantage. Going limp, she didn’t struggle. The second she was set free or her captor loosened his grip, she was running. Wolves might be strong, but jaguars were wicked fast. In human and shifter form.

  “What the hell are you doing sneaking around in wolf territory in my alpha’s fucking house?” a familiar male voice said near her ear, a trickle of his fresh scent that reminded her of the beach in winter enveloping her.

  She hadn’t scented him before, probably because of her own fear and panic at doing such a stupid thing—but now his scent covered her. She shivered at the sound of Max McCray’s voice. Kincaid’s second-in-command. He was supposed to be at the Crescent Moon Bar tonight working.

  Lauren swallowed hard. “I want my family’s fucking jewels back,” she gritted out. There was no sense in lying. He’d be able to scent the bitter, acidic stench if she tried. She could normally cover her scent well, but right now she was nervous and couldn’t keep her gift under control. Blind panic hummed through her, her inner jaguar telling her to run, run, run.

  But she couldn’t. Not with Max’s massive body on top of her, keeping her pinned in place.