“You want those kids?” Shelly asked softly when Eli ended the kiss and eased away from her.
“Yes,” Eli said without hesitation.
“What about you, Max?” Shelly asked him, needing to know the truth.
“Yes, baby,” Max said immediately. “I want you. I want us to have a life with you. And I want us to make those beautiful cubs together. What about you? Do you want that with us?”
Shelly felt their worry. She also felt their guarded hope. Looking into Eli’s brown eyes and Max’s hazel eyes, she knew that she was already experiencing deep feelings for them. They would be so very easy to care deeply for. She hesitated to say that she would love them. She was too cautious to make such a daring statement, but she couldn’t push aside the soft growls of her wolf as she demanded that they claim their mates. Her wolf recognized them as their true mates. Shelly couldn’t deny it. She didn’t want to deny it. What she wanted was that beautiful life, loving her men and their children that she had seen in the vision.
“I do,” she whispered, smiling at the relief she saw on their faces and felt within their hearts.
“Thank you,” Max whispered, leaning forward and resting his cheek on her shoulder before he kissed her neck lightly.
“You’ve made us very happy, Shelly,” Eli said as he rested his forehead against hers.
Shelly couldn’t help but moan as she twisted her body to hold her men. Vera had really done a number on her. She felt the loss of both men as they pulled away quickly.
“You need to shift,” Max said firmly. “You need to heal.”
“You both do, too,” Shelly insisted.
“We all need to shift,” Eli said, standing and grabbing for the hem of his black T-shirt and pulling it over his head quickly before dropping it onto the recliner to the right of the couch.
Max stood and did the same to his navy T-shirt, looking down at their woman and smiling at the way she was watching them. In that moment, he was thankful for all the physical labor that he and Eli did every day on Randall’s pack land. They were both packed with muscle, something they never really thought about until now. If it allowed Shelly to look at them in appreciation and heighten her need for them, it was something that he was going to encourage. But not now. They couldn’t initiate their physical joining now.
“I think you need to go into your bedroom and shift, Shelly,” he said after a moment. “If we see you naked, we’ll want to complete our mating, and we can’t do that until you turn twenty-one.”
Shelly nodded in agreement, slowly eased off the couch, and walked from the living room, quickly running up the stairs to the bedroom she had slept in when she had been a little girl. She had to concentrate on her impending shift, but the luscious vision of her mates’ naked torsos that had been revealed to her had sent her desires into serious overload. Her men were kind, caring, and sexy as hell. She wanted to claim them immediately. She knew that the strength and the power of their bodies that was only the outer shell of their physical being, was home to the gentle kindness and caring that she felt deep within their souls. She felt the beauty of the love that they were destined to share with her.
Keeping the bedroom door open, she quickly took off the leather tie that held the gold omega charm and tucked it carefully within the handkerchief she took from the top drawer of the bureau to protect and hide it. She removed her clothes and shifted. It was only seconds before her wolf left the bedroom and bounded down the stairs to join her mates.
Eli and Max had already shifted and were waiting for her in front of the fireplace. Blankets were placed before the hearth and the lights were extinguished. The fireplace was aglow with warmth and light. It was all that they needed to see in the darkened home.
Shelly trotted over to the two massive wolves and nudged at their noses lightly. Eli’s white wolf and Max’s black wolf were absolutely beautiful. She whined softly as they licked at her muzzle, enjoying their sweet tenderness.
They moved as one to nudge her toward the center of the pile of blankets. Once she was lying down, they took their places beside her. Shelly closed her eyes and allowed her mates’ scents and warmth to surround her. Resting between their strong bodies, she realized that she felt safe and protected. It was more than right. It was home.
She chuffed softly to let her men know that she was content. When they nudged her and licked at her face, she felt her entire body shiver with pleasure. She had found her two sweet wolves.
If she could have smiled, she would have when she realized that both of her wolves were gripping a blanket with their teeth and dragging it over her. She knew that they were doing so to protect her modesty when the three of them shifted back into their human forms once their injuries had been healed. It was sweet. She was touched by their thoughtfulness.
Thank you, Mother Fate, for sending me my mates. Please help me give them happiness and love. I can feel that they’re good men. They deserve tenderness. Please help us to have a loving life with those beautiful children that I saw in the vision. I want to have a lifetime with them. I want to give them kindness and love. I want to give them babies.
Shelly whispered the prayer in her mind, hoping that Mother Fate heard her and would help her make those wishes come true. She had no doubt in her mind that Max and Eli were going to be loving mates and fathers.
She chuffed lightly once again as both of her wolves moved closer to her and pressed her between them carefully. Their bond was already beginning. Their lives were becoming one.
Chapter 9
“Max, we need to get her into bed,” Eli whispered in the middle of the night.
Max sat up slowly and looked down at the adorable woman who was sleeping between them. It was the nearly midnight and the fireplace had died down to lightly burning embers, but the soft glow of the cinders still illuminated the area before it and allowed them both to appreciate the gentle beauty of the woman who was theirs.
“Why, Eli? I don’t want to leave her.”
“Who says you have to leave me?” Shelly whispered, never opening her eyes.
“Shelly, are you pretending to be asleep?” Eli asked her quietly, leaning toward her and kissing her lips lightly.
“Shhh, I’m sleeping,” she told him, smiling.
“You are, huh?” Max asked, laughing softly. He leaned down and took the tender kiss that he’d been dying to experience with their mate.
“We need to get you to bed, honey,” Eli said gently, tucking the blanket more securely around Shelly’s body.
“Okay. You’re going to stay with me,” she said with determination.
“If you insist,” Max said, laughing softly.
“Well, I do. Now that I’ve found you both, I don’t want to ever be without you.”
The look of shock, then the look of complete adoration on Max’s face, made Shelly melt. Turning to look at Eli, she saw the same expression on his face. She could feel the sense of relief and happiness within both men and knew in that instant that she wanted to wrap her arms around them, hold them tightly, and never let them go. She had found her two wolves. They were hers to love and care for. Forever.
“Can you hear what I’m thinking?” she asked gently. At both men’s slow nods, she couldn’t help but blush as she smiled up at them. “Good. Never question how important you are to me and to the rest of this pack. You’re family now. Both of you.”
“Baby,” Max whispered.
“Yes, eventually,” Shelly said quietly.
“What?” Eli asked, confused.
“A baby. Eventually,” Shelly explained. “You both said you wanted a family with me. Have you changed your minds?”
The instant growls and lunging of both men so that they completely covered her made her laugh with pure joy. Their gentle kisses along her face, her lips, and her neck were sweet, but it was the gentle bites they both placed on her shoulders that made her moan. She wanted them to claim her. She wanted to be part of a mated triad with them. She could sense their goodness, t
heir kindness, and their loneliness. She could also sense their gentle caring. They were good men who would be sincere in their feelings toward her.
Yes, daughter. You are correct. These men have known great cruelty and loneliness. They will love you and honor you for the rest of your life. Trust in the joining.
Eli eased back and looked down at Shelly in surprise. “Did you hear that, Shelly?” he whispered.
Shelly nodded. “Mother Fate talks to me sometimes,” she told him quietly. “I don’t know what I would do without her in my heart.”
“We’ve been truly blessed,” Max said in wonder, looking at his triad partner and seeing the same shock that he knew had to be apparent on his own face. He returned his gaze to Shelly and smiled gently. “Mother Fate is right, Shelly. Eli and I will honor you forever. I think that I’ll be completely in love with you by Saturday.”
“How did you come up with that day?” Shelly asked, her smile wide. She couldn’t imagine how her men could possibly know the real importance of that day to her. It was going to be the day that she would be free from Vera’s cruelty.
“That’s the day you’ll turn twenty-one. Eli and I will be able to claim you,” Max explained, his voice gentle. “I think by the time Saturday rolls around, I’m going to be hopelessly smitten, baby.”
Shelly’s blush deepened. The way Max was looking down at her made her entire body tingle with happiness. Easing up, she kissed his lips lightly, loving the soft growl that escaped him as he pressed against her mouth firmly and slipped his tongue inside to sweep her mouth and taste her.
She felt Eli kissing her right shoulder and slipped her hand beneath his body to hold him tightly against her side and caress his back slowly. She could sense his emotions just as she could sense Max’s. Eli was just as overwhelmed with the fact that they had found her. She could feel his relief and his thankfulness that someone had finally accepted them as the men that they were. She knew that both men were finally happy that their true nature as a triad partnership could be honored.
Max broke the kiss with a final taste of their woman’s lips before traveling kisses down her neck as Eli claimed the sweetness of her mouth. When he reached the juncture between neck and shoulder, he opened his mouth and bit down lightly, his deep growls vibrating against their sweet mate’s body. He felt Shelly’s loving caresses against his back and sighed with contentment and happiness. He had never been touched with such kindness and caring in his life. Shelly was filled with goodness. He felt blessed to have such a good woman care about him. He could feel how deeply Shelly already cared about both him and Eli.
“We need to get you settled into bed, honey,” Eli said softly as he eased away and looked down at the sweet woman beneath them. He loved the delightfully disheveled look of her. Her beautiful hair was mussed adorably. Her cheeks were flushed with the pleasure that he and Max had given her. Her blue eyes were sparkling with the happiness that they had helped put there. Nothing in his life had ever compared to this moment of happiness and belonging.
He gathered the golden afghan that was covering Shelly, tucked it carefully around her, slid his hands beneath her shoulders and beneath her bent knees, and stood slowly, pulling his precious cargo tightly against his body as he straightened. Turning, he walked through the living room and up the wide staircase, careful not to trip on the blanket that he had quickly secured around his own waist. He felt Max right behind them and smiled at the way they always moved so easily together. He guessed that was the way of triad partners. It was a natural blending of awareness and caring. He was looking forward to a lifetime of sharing this bond with Shelly.
“When I changed the linens on the bed in the master bedroom tonight, I had no idea I would be the one sleeping there,” Shelly said as Eli carried her down the hallway and stood in front of the open doorway of the alpha’s bedroom.
“We’ll just get you settled and leave you to rest,” Eli said softly.
“No.”
“What?” Eli asked, confused.
“Max, give me your hand,” Shelly said, ignoring Eli’s question.
Max came up to stand beside them and offered his right hand while his left hand gripped the edge of the blanket that he held securely around his waist. He wasn’t shy of his nakedness, no shifter was, but he respected Shelly’s age and wasn’t about to compromise their mating by doing something that would put Shelly in an inappropriate situation that was the direct result of him and Eli not following the rules of courtship and mating.
“Not that I’m complaining, baby, but why do you want to hold my hand?” he asked, smiling down at Shelly as she rested comfortably against Eli’s chest.
“Well, actually, I want you to hold my hand and help carry me over the threshold into the bedroom that the three of us will be sharing for the rest of our lives,” Shelly said softly. She turned to look up at Eli and couldn’t help but display the insecurity she was suddenly feeling. “Okay, Eli?”
“More than okay, Shelly,” Eli answered, his voice gentle as emotions filled him.
Max leaned closer, pressing tightly against Shelly’s side as he slid his left hand behind her to support her back. His arm fit perfectly beneath Eli’s and Max knew a moment of happiness so great that he could barely breathe.
As one, Max and Eli carried Shelly across the threshold of the master bedroom. A zing of power surrounded them as they entered, touching their bodies and filling them with warmth and caring.
“Mother Fate is welcoming us home,” Shelly whispered, looking at her two men in complete happiness as she felt the love of the woman who had been her constant companion and protector from the time she had been a young child.
The men walked over to the huge bed and allowed Shelly to slide from their hold until she was standing between them. They pressed their bodies tightly against hers as they embraced her and hugged her gently. Both men were overwhelmed by the feeling of belonging that settled deep within them and knew that it was because of the sweet and gentle woman that they were holding.
“As much as we want to stay with you in this bedroom and hold you between us in that bed, we can’t, Shelly,” Eli said sadly.
“What do you mean?” Shelly asked, confused.
“We can’t take a chance that we’ll invalidate our courtship and mating,” Max explained. “You’re not of age, Shelly. We have to follow the rules.”
Shelly’s heart plummeted. She felt all kinds of wrong at their way of thinking. She knew in her soul that they were trying to do the right thing and respect pack rules, but she also knew that they were being overly cautious about something that they shouldn’t worry so much about.
Stepping out from between them, she walked to the door of the bedroom then turned to face them once again. She saw the sadness surrounding them in an aura of brown that attested to the fact that they were denying what was meant for them and feeling unworthy. She knew it also meant that they were sad. She wasn’t going to allow that to continue.
“I’ll be right back. Do. Not. Move.”
She looked at both men, her right eyebrow raised in challenge. When both men nodded, she turned and left the bedroom, going to her childhood bedroom and dropping the soft blanket that Eli had wrapped around her. Walking over to the bed, she picked up the pink velour pajama pants that she had been wearing when Eli and Max had come home earlier that evening.
Stepping into the pajamas, she pulled them up over her hips and settled them comfortably on her waist. Reaching out, she grabbed for the matching top and quickly slipped it over her head. Once she was sufficiently clothed, she turned and left the bedroom, determined to get back to her sweet mates and make them understand the truth of their situation. There was no way in hell she was ever going to sleep without them beside her from this moment forward. She had found her sweet wolves. She was not about to be parted from them.
Her fathers would be proud of the men who would share her lives—she just knew it, and she knew it with everything in her. Max and Eli were honorable and kind m
en who would love and protect her from the horrors of the world and show her love and support for the rest of her life. Hadn’t they all seen the beautiful family that they would create together? Hadn’t Mother Fate told them to trust in the joining?
Shelly knew that her men had a lot of healing to do, both physically and spiritually, but she also knew that she could help them with that healing. Her fathers had given her the gift of their omega powers, and she was going to use that gift to help the men that were destined to be her mates.
She also had a deep sense that her men needed her love almost as much as she needed theirs. She was going to be certain to show them how loveable they were, every day for the rest of their lives. They belonged to her. She already had deep feelings for them that she knew were going to strengthen as she got to know them.
Their personalities were similar in some ways, but she already saw the differences in them. She knew that she would come to love those differences. She already knew that Eli was a worrier. She also knew that Max had a deep sense of feeling unworthy. She could sense both their pain and their sorrow. It was something that she was going to change for both of them.
Yes, the pain and sorrow of a cruel life could never be forgotten. She was the perfect person to understand that. Vera had made her life one that had been filled with insecurity, abuse, and coldness. It had been the same for her sister Synthia. But, with the introduction of love and caring into her life as well as into Eli’s and Max’s lives, those times and bad memories would begin to soften. Love and happiness would replace them.
You are correct, my daughter, Mother Fate said gently within her mind. You and your men will forge ahead through all the pain and sadness to come out the other side with hope and love. Do not be discouraged by the obstacles that will be placed in your path. Your love will see you through to the happiness and the children that await you.
“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to give my wolves what they deserve,” Shelly whispered, picking up and clutching the golden blanket from her bed to her chest in a grip so tight, she didn’t know if she would ever be able to let go.
Shelly's Forbidden Mates [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 10