“I want to know from you both just exactly what you are. What’s going on with you?” She blinked back the burn of threatening tears. Now was not the time to shed tears. She needed honest, straightforward answers from her guys so she could figure out what the hell kind of future she had with them.
She crossed her arms and waited for them to give her their stories. She wasn’t going to ask them to sit down because she didn’t want to draw this out if what they told her now was something she couldn’t abide. The horrors of her childhood, the stepfather who abused her mother, flooded over her like a smothering dark cloud.
Cole rubbed the back of his neck. Jase met her gaze.
“We come from shape-shifter families. I don’t know how much Lacy told you, and I don’t really know how much she knows about it.”
“I need to hear whatever you want to tell me about it,” she said.
“It would be better if you were sitting down, but I’ll give you the short version. Our shifter families, and there are quite a few here in Heat Springs, have been around for centuries. We took form in this continent as spirit guides, originally, for the Native Americans’ Shamans. We represent many different animals. My family members are black panthers.”
“Mine are black jaguars,” Cole said softly.
Emily stared at them, looking from Jase to Cole and back to Jase. “You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not.”
She waited for him to continue.
“We realized there was a need for a place where people could go if they needed help. It would be a sanctuary for people to go to hide and be protected while they recouped. So our families founded the town of Heat Springs.”
“We have sworn to protect those in need,” Cole added, “and to help and heal those in fear and pain who come to Heat Springs. As shifters and guides we not only protect people, but we’re also pledged to be spirit companions, for help to those in trouble who are seeking aid in our town, or to find their way.”
“Also,” Jase said, “our animal powers make our abilities to care for those people much stronger. Our truths work for others as well as for ourselves, and we’ve learned from each other and through experimentation over the centuries how best to help people who come here looking for help, a hideout, or peace.”
“Sometimes we have to fight other shifters who have chosen to form ruthless gangs of predators,” Cole added.
Even though Emily found all this hard to grasp, she was relieved that what they told her sounded positive. But she also hated to think of her guys being hurt. “Have you been injured?”
They both smiled. “We heal fast,” Jase said.
“That’s one of the perks,” Cole added.
“The downside is that it’s hard to hold onto girlfriends for any length of time when they discover we’re shifters.” Jase’s voice was soft and full of what sounded like worry.
She sighed at the amazing new information she’d just learned about Jase and Cole and most of the people in Heat Springs. “Why did you almost start a fight with Austin tonight?”
“You’re my girlfriend and I won’t have anyone get close to you but Jase.” Cole looked at her with determination in his face.
“I feel the same way,” Jase said. “We can’t help the way we feel. It’s part of our feral nature. We can’t abide someone else moving in on our girl.”
“First, it’s my decision not yours whether I want only you two as my boyfriends. No one makes that decision for me.” She gave them each a no-nonsense look. “Second, I need time to think about all of this. I’m finding it hard to grasp the reality of you being shape-shifters. Will you give me some time to think before I make any decisions about our future relationship?”
They gave each other that look and nodded in the affirmative.
She released a shaky breath in relief. She didn’t need to decide anything right now. There was time to think about all this.
“See you tomorrow?” Jase asked.
“Are you coming to the steakhouse for lunch?” Her voice almost broke. She blinked back tears.
“Yeah,” Cole said.
“I’ll see you there in that case. Now I’d better get to bed.” She started toward the door. They headed there with her. Jase opened it.
“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Cole said, meeting her gaze before walking outside and down the front steps.
Jase tipped his hat. “See you tomorrow, baby.”
“Goodnight,” she said, looking from one to the other, seeing the sadness in those eyes. She closed the door. She felt completely overwhelmed and worn out with the enormity of what she’d found out tonight about the guys she’d come to care for so much. What should she do? She didn’t have any answers.
Chapter Twelve
Business was going as usual the next day at lunch time. They had a big crowd and that was normal. It was about the only thing that felt normal in her life at the moment. She looked up as her two big guys stopped at the entrance to the dining room. They saw her and nodded just like they always did. She couldn’t help but smile at them, and they walked inside the dining room and found a table in her section.
“What would you like to order today?” They were as handsome and sexy looking as usual, and aroused her as much as ever.
She took their order and headed for the kitchen. The heat that surged through her to settle between her thighs reminded her of the love-making and care Jase and Cole had shown her so often.
Could she trust them to always be that way now that she knew they could also be dangerous shifters? She felt like she’d been running from violence her whole life.
She took their drinks to them amidst the noise of patrons’ conversations and the clatter of tableware. Frustration at the way things had changed made her feel impatient.
Jase looked up at her and she met his gaze. “Would you take a minute or two to talk with us in private after we eat?”
“I’ll try to. It depends on how busy we get.”
“That’s fine, whatever time you have,” Jase said. “We understand.”
Cole nodded in agreement, looking unsure and worried. She turned toward the kitchen to wait for their meals. What did they want to talk about? Did they have something to tell her that would change how she felt? She hoped so.
She served them their meals and waited on other people who came in and sat in her area. Unfortunately the man who caused a big problem a few days ago showed up and took a table in her section. Everyone was too busy, so she couldn’t ask one of the other waiters to take care of him. Shoot. She’d have to take his order.
He made her temper rise as he leered at her every time she had to take something to him.
Returning used plates to the kitchen, she noticed that Jase and Cole had paid the cashier and were heading down the hall to the front door. Without stopping to pick up the tip they always left her, she walked down the hall after them.
They turned and waited for her.
“Have you come to a decision yet about us?” Jase asked.
“I need more time,” she said, hating to keep them hanging.
“Sweetheart,” Cole said, “I don’t want to lose you. I need to know soon if we’re going to continue our relationship and take it farther. I want you to know that I care for you so much, that if you left me I’m afraid I’d never find anyone to love ever again.”
“I feel the same way,” Jase said and paused. “Cole and I would be left to live our lives without your love.”
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked them. “I’ll never love anyone like I love you, but I need more time to get used to you being shifters, if you can give me more time. Please, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m sorry,” Jase said, looking sincere. “I don’t think time is going to change how you feel. For my part, I’m sure you’ll find someone else to love. I need to get back to the ranch.”
Cole looked at her, hurt written all over his face, his dark-green eyes even darker. He held his hat in his hands, almost crushing it
. “I’m afraid of getting hurt by your doubts, sweetheart.”
Emily knew then that she wanted them back. “I think there’s more going on that is keeping you from continuing our relationship.” She suspected there was a reason on their part that made them believe the three of them couldn’t work this out and continue their close, loving relationship. “Tell me. I trust you. Trust me.”
Jase looked at her with the saddest expression, his eyes dark and haunted as if he’d been deeply hurt by something in his past.
“You would never accept or be able to live with what happened when I was a kid and my part in it,” Jase said, his voice lowered so no one nearby would hear.
Cole shook his head. “You weren’t the only one, Jase. I was about four or five at the time. I still remember that nightmare, and I didn’t do anything to protect Rex and Austin because I’d felt helpless.”
“But I could have done something to prevent what happened to them,” Jase said. “I didn’t because I wanted to hurry to the calf pen where all the action was taking place. I ignored the stranger who walked into the barn where Austin and Rex were cleaning tack.”
“Why were Austin and Rex in the barn instead of at the calf corral?” Emily asked.
“Because cleaning the tack was their after-school job,” Jase explained.
Emily couldn’t believe they thought they could have done something to keep the stranger from hurting Rex and Austin. “How could you have stopped the stranger from attacking them if you were only seven years old?”
“I ignored the unusual occurrence of the stranger walking into the barn. I should have told one of the adults or my parents who were there, but I could only think about what I wanted to do, which was join everyone else at the calf pen. Because I ignored the situation, Rex was physically attacked, and Austin was terrorized. He was unable to keep the stranger from hurting Rex. Austin came running to the calf pen to get help for Rex. We were all hanging out there that day.”
“I didn’t go to the barn to hang out with Austin and Rex that afternoon as usual because I was also interested in the action at the calf corral,” Cole said. “If I had gone to the barn to see Austin and Rex like I always had, I could have done something to prevent them from being attacked by the stranger.”
Emily shook her head in denial. “But you were also too young to prevent the attack from happening. You could have been hurt, or worse, killed by the strange man. You were not responsible for what happened to Rex and Austin.”
Jase gave her a sad smile. “I still remember vividly what the stranger did to Rex. When the adults got him out of the barn, he was all bloody from cuts on his legs from some sharp instrument. The adults brought Rex to the house and called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Austin has suffered nightmares about what happened that afternoon. I could have prevented their pain and terror if I had done the responsible thing and alerted the adults when I noticed the stranger near the barn. I can’t gloss over it. My lack of responsibility contributed to what happened to Rex and Austin, an attack that has affected their lives in terrible ways.”
Emily looked at Jase and Cole. “How bad was the physical attack?”
Jase shook his head. “The brutality of that attack was traumatic.”
“Has Rex had a happy, productive life since that happened?” Emily looked at both Jase and Cole. “He seems well-balanced. Has he suffered from depression?”
Jase shrugged. “He seems happy.”
“My mother was abused by her husband,” Emily said. “She changed because of it, I believe, and became overwhelmed by depression. As a child, I hadn’t been able to protect my mother, and I was put in foster homes. I knew it was not my fault that my mom was abused, but it was the fault of the man who abused her. It was not your fault, Jase’s, or Cole’s, that Rex was physically abused and Austin was terrorized. It was the stranger alone. The stranger was responsible. You were too young at the time to stop the stranger even if you had tried to. You would have been hurt, too, and possibly killed. I think you should talk about the way you feel with others who were there that day, as well as Austin and Rex.”
Emily was sure they would find out they were taking on responsibility for what happened when they shouldn’t. “I refuse to let you beat yourselves up for it. I love you, and I’ll never love anyone ever again as much as I love you guys.”
Jase and Cole looked at each other as if they were amazed.
“Do you really want to break things off with me?” Emily didn’t know what more to say to them. She heard a man arguing with one of the other waiters. Shit, it sounded like that bastard who gave her a hard time every time he came here. Oh, God, she didn’t need that now when she needed to talk with Jase and Cole. She couldn’t bear to have things end this way. She glanced inside the dining area and saw him pick up her tip from Jase and Cole’s table as he headed toward the hallway.
It didn‘t matter right now, but still it made her angry. “The nerve of that guy.”
“What guy?” Jase asked.
“The one who has been so nasty before,” she explained.
“The same one we had to straighten out that time?” Cole asked.
“Yes, him,” she said. “He took the tip you left for me. Now he’s arguing with the cashier.”
Jase and Cole immediately headed his way. They each took hold of a shoulder and clamped down on it.
“Hey!” he yelped.
“Pay the cashier and don’t say another word,” Jase said in a low growl meant only for that man’s hearing.
“And while you’re at it, put that tip money you just stole on the counter and leave it there,” Cole ordered.
Emily stood still and watched. The man did as he was told.
Jase and Cole pushed him gently toward the front door. “Don’t let us see you do that again,” Jase said.
They followed the guy down the hall to the front door. They stopped there when he hurried outside.
“See you later.” Jase smiled at her.
“We’ll be here for dinner,” Cole added.
“I’ll be here.” Thank goodness they were coming back.
* * * *
That evening, Emily realized she could hardly wait for Jase and Cole’s arrival at the steakhouse for their dinner. She’d given everything they’d said a lot of thought and it seemed to her that she loved them so much, the shifter thing wasn’t that important to her in reality. However it might be a good idea to give themselves more time to get to know each other before they became irreversibly involved. And she had questions she needed answered. For instance, if she became pregnant would the child be a shape-shifter? And would she become a shifter? She didn’t think she’d want to be one.
She noticed that the nasty guy who tried to steal her tip today was back for dinner. It looked like he’d brought some friends with him. They followed him inside and sat down at the same table with him. He had picked her section of tables again. Good grief. She knew it wasn’t nice to think it, but she hoped he left Heat Springs soon. He was over-the-top irritating.
Jase and Cole entered the room, too. They headed for an empty table and smiled at her. She smiled back. They’d picked a different table than usual and she realized it gave them a clear view of that nasty so and so and the men with him.
She had to wait on the awful man first before she could take Jase and Cole’s orders.
She took the strangers’ orders for drinks and left their table as fast as possible. After giving the order for their drinks to the woman in the kitchen whose job it was to fill them, Emily headed for Jase and Cole.
“Hi,” she greeted them and gave them both a friendly smile.
They both smiled and said hi. “Looks like you’ve got some rowdy people to serve,” Jase said.
“We’ll keep an eye on them and send them on their way if they give you any trouble,” Cole said.
She knew that Jase and Cole would do exactly that. “Thanks. I feel better knowing you’ve got my back.”
They grinned at he
r. What had she said?
“Can we see you after you’re off tonight?” Cole asked.
“I’d like that.” She smiled at them. “I’d better take your order. I see some more people are coming in.”
She took their orders for drinks and headed back to the kitchen with them, picked up the tray of drinks for the nasty guy and his friends, and headed to their table. She felt more at ease about serving them knowing that Jase and Cole would keep an eye on things. She took their orders for their dinners. She knew Jase and Cole would be ready, so she took their orders and headed for the kitchen.
The night proved busier than usual. The people at her tables kept her busy all evening. The sounds of conversations and dishes clattering in the kitchen surrounded her, giving her a sense of normalcy.
Finally the nasty man and his friends appeared to be getting ready to leave. She wrote up the bill and took it to them. Just as she thought that it was nice to get them out of here without any problems, she heard that damn nasty guy arguing with the cashier about their bill. She walked over to talk to the cashier and settle the dispute, using her newfound confidence to solve the problem.
It didn’t matter what the cashier or Emily said though. The man would not calm down. He refused to pay the large amount which was exactly what he and his friends spent.
“What have we here, boys?”
Emily would know that horrifying voice anywhere. Her stepfather had now joined the group that was arguing about the bill.
Chapter Thirteen
She froze. She hadn’t seen him in so many years. Why did he have to invade her peace here in Heat Springs? She didn’t look his way, and hoped he wouldn’t recognize her. It had been a long time since she’d last seen him. Maybe she’d changed so he wouldn’t know who she was. Or, maybe, since she’d run away from home and his abusive behavior when she was very young, there was a chance he wouldn’t recognize her. But she knew it was him. She’d know that voice and his face anywhere. It was a face that had terrified her when she was little.
Alpha Mate [Alpha Protectors 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 9