“Would you like another drink?” Mark asked her. “We can take our drinks out by the pool. There’s a nice breeze, and it would be cool in the shade.”
She thought that sounded like fun. “Sounds good to me.”
Mark handed her another glass of white wine. She headed outside to the loungers in the shade while Mark and Tom followed her. She thought that Tom was doing really well with his sore ankle and arm. He got around fairly easily with the crutches.
“How long do you think you’ll need to use the crutches?” she asked him.
“Not long,” he said. “I usually heal real fast.”
“That’s good,” she said. He had a great positive outlook. She figured that helped the healing process, as well. She chose the lounger in the middle of the three in the shade. Tom took the one on her right side, and Mark sat down on the other one on her left.
She sipped her wine and enjoyed the warmth outside with the breeze ruffling her hair.
“Have you heard about the shape-shifters of Heat Springs?” Mark asked her.
She looked at him, wondering where that question had come from. “I’ve heard some rumors about this area,” Brenda said, smiling at him and then Tom. “But that’s just a fantasy some folks like to believe in, I think.”
“Actually, there are shape-shifters in this area,” Tom said.
“Would you still love us if we told you we were shape-shifters?” Mark asked her, his voice gentle. “Or would you leave us and never look back?”
Brenda gave them each a long look, searching their serious faces for their reasons for saying and asking such a thing. The thought of ever ending her relationship with them worried her because she’d realized she could actually trust them with her heart. Since she was last with them she’d known that she was falling for them big time. She had to admit to herself that she loved them. This love she felt for Mark and Tom was different from what she’d experienced before. Their loving had made her feel safe and secure.
Suddenly she felt uneasy. Were they trying to end their relationship with her by saying such things? “Why are you saying this?” She looked from Tom to Mark.
“Please, believe that we’ll never stop loving you and we want you with us always. We hope you’ll stay with us forever. We love you so much. But it’s only fair to tell you that we’re shape-shifters.”
Unable to take them seriously, she frowned and shook her head. “Do you really love me and want me to stay with you forever?”
They both nodded. “Yeah, we do,” Mark said softly.
Tom, a worried expression on his face, never took his eyes off hers.
“Explain to me exactly what you mean by this,” she said, needing to know what this was all about and not ready to believe what they’d said.
Mark cleared his throat and took her hand in his. “We come from a long line of people who are shape-shifters. We work with other shape-shifters to protect and help people in trouble. Some of the people we help are shifters, and some are not. Our parents, grandparents, and other family members are all shifters. We only shift if there’s a need for our other shape in a dangerous situation and sometimes for the fun of being in our shifter forms.”
“Why haven’t I seen you shape-shift?” She looked at them, still doubting.
“We haven’t been in a situation that called for it when you’ve been with us,” Tom said. “We didn’t want to shock you or frighten you, but if you want, we can shift for you whenever you want us to.”
She thought about asking them to do just that, but how would she feel if they did? She wasn’t sure. “Does Lacy know about these stories of shape-shifters in Heat Springs?”
“Yeah,” Mark said, looking down at her hand as he held it and caressed her fingers.
“How do you know that?” She still doubted them.
“She’s seen it happen with her brother and his friends, all of them members of the Alpha Protectors,” Mark said, his voice gentle.
“She saw lots of us shift when we rescued her from Wra. Did she tell you about that?” Tom asked softly.
“She told me about being kidnapped by a horrible man named Wra, but she never mentioned anyone shape-shifting.”
“We hope you never need us to shape-shift to protect you like we did for Lacy.” Mark’s tone was perfectly serious and he didn’t look away from her. Neither did Tom. She believed they were being honest with her, and she could hardly grasp that they were really shape-shifters. What if she got pregnant from making love with them? She’d been careful so far. “What if I got pregnant after having sex with you?”
Mark’s gaze remained serious. “If you have a boy, he’d probably be a shape-shifter like us.”
“The women in our families don’t become shape-shifters,” Tom added.
The unfairness of that gave her an exasperated feeling. “That’s not fair,” she protested. Evidently, even the women in shape-shifter families didn’t get to do the same things the men did. She wasn’t sure she could truly grasp and believe this whole shape-shifting thing yet, but maybe if she saw them shift, she would. “Is life for you the same as for other people, except for the shifting part?”
“Absolutely,” Mark assured her.
Tom nodded in agreement.
“Honestly, as crazy as all that sounds, it doesn’t change the way I feel about you two. I don’t feel the need to break off our relationship. I still love you both, so much.” Tears threatened to fill her eyes. Life wasn’t perfect or fair, and she could deal with their shape-shifting claims and continue to love them as long as their love for each other was strong and they showed their love for her. “I need you to hug me.” She held her arms out to Tom first, and after she hugged him, she turned to Mark and hugged him even tighter.
They kept their hands on her, stroking her as they smiled and held her gaze. She squeezed their hands in hers. They each leaned close to her and pressed soft kisses to her cheeks. She reveled in their kisses and caresses.
“I love you so much, babe,” Mark said.
“I’ll always love you,” Tom said.
“I love you both,” she told them softly as they covered her with warm touches and kisses, making her wish for another bit of lovemaking and pleasure.
“Can you stay with us tonight?” Mark asked her.
“Yes, I’d love to. I’ll give Lacy a call after a while and let her know I’m staying with you guys tonight.”
“Stay with us as long as you want,” Tom said.
* * * *
Wra watched the pitiful man who pretended to be a prospector in his hunt for the location of the valuable metal. “So you believe you can control the private investigators by threatening their girlfriend? What do you plan to do about the girl and the two men?”
The man frowned, clearly angry and frustrated that he hadn’t been able to discourage the investigators. Now they were investigating his rock hunting activities.
“I’ll control them by taking her captive. Once I have her, they will have to do what I tell them and back off.”
“Do it then. I’m losing patience with the time it’s taking you to find the metal. We know it’s somewhere in the caverns. Find it, or I’ll get someone else to take your place. I want results.” Wra waved the man out of the room. If he didn’t produce the results Wra wanted soon, he’d get rid of him and hire someone who could get the job done.
Wra knew from ages past of the power the precious metal held. It would enhance his already powerful abilities, make him stronger than any other shape-shifters. None of them would be able to stand against him, or keep him from becoming the ruler over all, once he had access to that metal.
* * * *
Mark knew that Tom felt like he did. They wanted Brenda to be with them forever. They’d all three agreed last night that they should live together and see if it worked out. He and Tom understood why she wanted to give it a try. She’d had a rough time with her previous boyfriend, and now she was faced with the two of them and she knew what they were. She knew now tha
t they were shape-shifters. It was only natural for her to be concerned whether it would work for the three of them together. He sincerely hoped it would work.
This morning she had gone over to Lacy’s home to pick up some more clothing.
While she was over at Lacy’s, Mark wanted to discuss with Tom their inability to find Wra so they could figure out how to take him into custody. Now was a good time while they were taking it easy in the recliners in the den so Tom could rest his ankle. He was healing fast, but he had a little way to go yet with the soreness.
“I believe more than ever that Wra must be shifting to a form no one knows about or else has noticed. What do you think?” Mark asked Tom.
“I think you have a valid point,” Tom agreed. “He could be hiding right in sight in another form that we haven’t seen around before. Probably a human form. Maybe a cowboy who pretends to be passing through.”
“It could be any disguise,” Mark said, thinking that it was almost impossible to guess what Wra would do. “I can’t fail at finding him. He’s too dangerous to everyone in this part of Texas. His treatment of Lacy and Mary and others has been outrageous, mean, and dangerous. I couldn’t bear to see another woman, like the C.P.O. agent who ended up in danger, be injured. As hard as I try to put that behind me, it’s still there. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. She decided to leave the agency afterward.”
“I feel the same way,” Tom said. “The resignation of such a good agent was really hard to deal with both mentally and emotionally. The investigation reported that she had put herself in serious danger during that raid. We all put ourselves in serious danger on a regular basis in the work we do. We’ve been lucky, though. Maybe she was in more danger that day than she could deal with and continue to do her job. We need to try and put it behind us while we’re involved in this investigation.”
Mark knew Tom was right. They were both still dealing with what had gone down in the past and would continue to deal with it for the foreseeable future.
“We have to put that behind us and focus on protecting Brenda,” Mark said, “as well as everyone else around here while we search for Wra and discover what the suspicious billionaire is really looking for in this area while claiming to be a rock hunter. I think we need to focus on discovering if what he’s doing is legitimate. Why would he take exception to anyone rock hunting in the hills around here? We need to ask headquarters to find out if he actually owns any of the land he’s saying is his. I think he must have another reason for being in this area. We need to find out what that is.”
“I’m with you,” Tom said. “The sooner the better for everyone. He’s sort of a loose cannon.”
Mark met Tom’s gaze just as Mark’s cell phone buzzed. “Yeah,” he answered.
“Mark, this is Ry. Jeff has had a bad fall in the cave on the mountain.”
Ry sounded worried. “Where are you?” Mark asked him.
“I’m on the hillside outside the cave right now,” Ry said.
“We’re on our way. Will you be inside the cave near Jeff?”
“Yeah, although I can’t get down to where he landed. Hurry. He needs help right away.”
“We’ll bring help and get him out of there and to the hospital if he needs to go there. We’re on our way. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Hang in there.”
“Thanks, Mark.”
Mark closed his phone. “We need to get there quick. I’ll drive while you call Austin to get the word out that we need the Alpha Protectors’ help and an ambulance. Jeff fell inside the cave, and Ry says he needs help right away.”
Chapter Ten
Brenda and Lacy decided to have lunch at her brother’s place after Brenda picked up her suitcase and clothing from Lacy’s home. It was early yet for the lunch crowd, so they had privacy to talk for a while. Brenda wanted to talk things over with Lacy and see if she thought Brenda was doing the right thing.
Brenda worried that her love for Mark and Tom could never be shared long-term because they were shape-shifters. She couldn’t forget that she had broken up with her college boyfriend when she discovered he had changed drastically.
“Lacy, Mark and Tom told me that they’re shape-shifters.”
“Oh. What do you think about that?” Lacy asked her
“I couldn’t believe it at first, but they convinced me it was so, and now I’m doubting it again. Have you ever heard of anything like that before?”
“Well, yes, I have,” Lacy said. “There are lots of shape-shifters in Heat Springs. Most of them are good guys, like my guys, and my family. There are some in this area who are not nice. They’ve been giving people a hard time. But we don’t see them that much.”
Brenda stared at her friend and shook her head, surprised. “I’m still getting my head around all of this. It’s just fantastic and unreal to me. And yet, from what they told me and what you’ve just said, it seems that it’s reality right here in this town. It’s the first I’ve ever heard about it being anything more than fiction in a book or a movie. So, there’s nothing I can do to change this?”
“No, there isn’t. But I only know the good guys, and they work hard to help other people,” Lacy said.
“I love them, and I guess if I want to live happily with them, I will need to accept who and what they are,” Brenda said. Lacy nodded in the affirmative. “I can’t change them. I might not have let myself fall for them if I’d known beforehand what their reality involved. But I’ve fallen hard for them both.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the shape-shifters. I’ve just always kept quiet about it. We all do. It’s something that mainly only the families of shape-shifters in this area know about and talk about. My brothers and my dad are shape-shifters. I’ve always taken it for granted.”
Brenda shook her head. “I’m not blaming you at all for not telling me,” Brenda assured her. “If I want to live my life with them, I’ll need to come to terms with their reality and embrace what makes them who they are. I’ll need to accept the total package in order for a ménage with them to work.”
“You can do it,” Lacy said. “They don’t shift that often, usually only in emergencies or to help someone in big trouble.”
“Yes, they told me about why they shift,” Brenda said. “I hadn’t wanted to ever fall in love again, and I’d vowed not to love anyone as much as I’d loved my boyfriend at college. Now I’ve broken my own rule not to fall in love again. Loving anyone, whether it’s Mark and Tom, or someone else, frightens me, Lacy. I’m afraid if this doesn’t work out, it’s going to hurt worse this time.”
“I can tell you that the shape-shifters I know, including my guys, are loyal to the woman they love,” Lacy said. “It’s a forever love for them.”
“Well, even though I’m afraid of being hurt again, I absolutely can’t walk away from Mark and Tom. I love them too much to leave them.”
“It will work out,” Lacy said. “You’ll see.”
Brenda heard Austin’s cell phone ring as he crossed the room toward their table.
“Hey, Tom, what’s up? Jeff fell?” Austin asked, sounding surprised. “How the hell did that happen?”
Brenda could hear Tom’s worried-sounding voice as Austin stopped at their table.
“Jeff and Ry have been investigating the area for unusual minerals and one particular prospector,” Tom said. “Ry thinks the fall was planned for one of them and Jeff happened to be in the wrong place. I think someone tried to kill him.”
Brenda couldn’t help but overhear exactly what Tom said. She was shocked by what she heard in Austin’s voice and what he said, but she noticed that the nearby waitress she’d seen there before, and also at Jeff and Ry’s party, looked terribly shocked and upset.
Brenda gave Lacy a look and saw that she also understood the enormity of what they were hearing.
Brenda looked back at the worried waitress. “We can take you to the hospital to wait for Jeff to arrive there, if you need a ride.”
“Thanks,”
she said, her eyes looking like she was ready to cry. “I could use a ride. I can’t believe he’s been hurt.”
“I’ll send the Alpha Protectors out there, Tom,” Austin said. “Rex and I are on our way now.” They ended the call.
Brenda could hardly believe how fast all of this was happening. “Let’s go,” she said to Lacy and the waitress.
“Wait,” Austin said. “There could be big trouble out there. It would be better if you didn’t go.”
“I have to,” Brenda said. “If they need help, I need to be there for them.”
“I’m going with her,” Lacy said. “She needs me with her.”
“Stay out of the way and get to your vehicle and take off if a fight starts with whoever caused this to happen,” Austin said. “Let’s go.”
They all left together. Brenda took the waitress to the hospital first, and then she drove with Lacy out to the rocky hill where the cave was located.
When they reached the area, she saw a fire engine and rescue truck parked below the hill. “Someone made a good decision in calling the fire department.”
“I imagine that Austin or Rex called them. They know how to rescue folks out here,” Lacy said.
Brenda parked her car near the path that headed up the hill to the cave. She noticed that Austin’s truck was there, but there was no sign of them. “Your brother must be inside the cave already.”
“Yeah, they don’t waste any time when someone’s in trouble,” Lacy said.
Brenda turned as she heard Tom call to her. He was waiting on the other side of his truck and she hadn’t seen him when they’d driven in and parked. She waved to him and headed over to wait with him. “I was worried about you being out here with your sore ankle,” she said as they joined him.
“It’s almost healed,” Tom said. “But Mark asked me to stay by the truck and let him know if anything suspicious happened out here.”
Brenda and Lacy looked up the hill as they heard some voices. The rescue people were coming down the path with Jeff on a stretcher. They moved out of the way to give them all the room they needed. Austin and Rex joined them.
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