by Maia Dylan
Judy turned to Xanthe with a wide grin. “Washing machine,” was all she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Xanthe laughed over Sophia’s groan and had to lean on the counter to hold herself up. Over her own laughter she heard the chime over the door sound, signaling a customer’s entrance. She glanced up to see two men she had never seen before enter the shop. Both of them paused in the doorway and took deep breaths, inhaling strongly with closed eyes before opening them to level intense stares at one person in the room.
Sophia, who stood frozen in their gaze, and Xanthe noticed that all color had bled from her face.
Xanthe’s gaze narrowed, and she reached her hand out toward the box cutter she had been using. The look these men were giving the young woman was hot and laced with desire, and had Xanthe wanting to leap in front of them to block their view. Sophia might have been nineteen years old, but she had been through a lot before she had come to live with the Jamiesons and Xanthe would not stand by and let anything happen to her.
Who the hell were these men?
Xanthe’s heart kicked into high gear as the men took a step forward, but they stopped at the sound of a low, tension-filled growl. Xanthe flicked her gaze to Judy because even though female wolf pack members didn’t shift, Xanthe could definitely hear a wolf in Judy’s voice.
“Take one more step toward my daughter, and I will gut you both before you even have the opportunity to breathe in her direction let alone touch her,” Judy threatened, her tone gruff, abrupt, and completely the opposite of the woman herself. The men in the doorway turned their heads in her direction, and Xanthe watched as they both blinked the glaze of arousal from their eyes, and then shot a quick glance at each other.
In that moment, Xanthe knew two things in quick succession. These men were shifters, probably brothers given how similar they were to each other in looks, and they were communicating with telepathically. They were similar in height, and had to have been around six feet tall with black hair cut short. But where the one on the right had bright blue eyes, the one on the left were brilliant green.
When their gaze returned to Judy, they both took a couple of deliberate steps away from Sophia. The blue-eyed one held his hands out toward them, as if trying to show he was defenseless, which almost had Xanthe laughing. These men moved silently and with such fluid grace that she knew they were trained. And highly military trained, from the looks of them.
“Look, ma’am, I’m sorry. My brother and I didn’t mean to scare y’all.” The man’s voice held a definite Southern drawl to it. “We only came here looking for two friends of ours, who told us to look for them here when we got into town. We had no idea that we’d run into, um—well, that we would walk in and find our … ah.”
“Mate.”
Xanthe swung to look at Sophia, who had dropped that particular bomb into the room. Color had returned to her cheeks, but Xanthe could tell that the girl was still pale beneath it.
“That’s right, love. Mate. Our mate.” This time the one with the green eyes spoke as he moved in front of blue eyes, and Xanthe could hear his wolf clear in his voice. “We felt that bond snap into place just as you did. You are our mate, and you belong to us.”
Xanthe saw the blue-eyed one roll his eyes, and groan as Sophia’s mouth opened on a silent ‘o’. But she was quickly lost from view when her mother stepped in front of her.
“You’d better watch your tongue and your tone, boy.” Judy snapped. “Before you think about anything to do with mating and my daughter, you had better start by telling me who the fuck you are. The woman behind me is my daughter, and the sister of the Grey River Pack alphas. If you ever hope to be allowed to even have a conversation with her, you had better get to telling me who the hell you are, and what you are doing in our town!”
“Ma’am, please ignore my asshat brother.” Blue Eyes pushed past his brother and moved to stand in front of him. “We are as taken aback as you are by the turn of events here today. We had no idea that we would walk in and find our mate. Hell, we had no idea until we were almost in the damn door because of all the scents and smells in this store.” Blue Eyes gestured to the scented products that lined all the shelves and display units in her store. “But we came at the request of two friends, who, judging from the scent on the lady there with the purple streaks in her hair, know her very, very well.”
Xanthe fought the blush and won this time. “You know Hunter and Dane?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Blue Eyes nodded. “My name is Jack Casey. And this here is my brother, Maurice. We’ve been working on a missing persons case for Hunter and Dane and we have some information for them. When we realized that the woman they were searching for was heading in this direction, we thought we’d beat her here and let them know.”
Xanthe felt her blood turn cold within her. What in the hell was this all about? Hunter and Dane had been looking for another woman? While her mind was trying to make sense of that little snippet of information, the door to the shop almost flew off its hinges. The room filled with an essence so strong, and so powerful, that Xanthe found herself fighting the urge to drop to her knees as the air pressure built in the store.
Judging solely by the strength of the dominance that filled the room, Xanthe had immediately thought it was Ty Jamieson who had stormed into her shop, but the name badge on his shirt under the sheriff’s badge he wore clearly said Trent. Ty was the more dominant of the two identical twins, and sometimes it was easy to forget that Trent was just as much an alpha as his twin. But he was, and everyone in the room right now knew it, too.
“You had better tell me,” Trent Jamieson’s voice was slightly garbled by his wolf, his eyes blazing the arctic blue of their kind, and the room filled with his dominance, an almost tangible essence, “why in the fuck I should let two rogue wolf bastards live when they have scared my mother and my sister, because I’m telling you, if I don’t like the answer, I’m simply going to rip your fucking throats out.”
“You and your brother gave us rights to enter your lands, Alpha,” Maurice answered, his wolf clear in his voice as well, and his eyes blazing blue. “When our team helped to bring Baxter under control, you gave our team leader the right to enter.”
Trent’s gaze narrowed. “You’re Enforcers? With Hunter’s and Dane’s team?” When both nodded, Trent dipped his head in acknowledgement and Xanthe thought that would have been the end of it all, but then Trent stepped toward them. He seemed to swell in size and a low continuous growl rumbled from his chest, the pressure built around them even further and Jack and Maurice Casey both wavered under it. Before tilting their heads to bare their throats, growling their displeasure at Trent’s obvious superior dominance over the two.
“You may have permission to be here,” Trent’s snarled, “but you have no fucking right to my sister. Do you fucking hear me? I don’t give a flying rat’s ass that you are Enforcers, and I sure as shit don’t care that you think the Fates have deemed you worthy of a mate like Sophia, because I’m here to tell you that’s bullshit. You ain’t worthy of her, and you may never be.”
Sophia whimpered and Xanthe turned to watch as Judy walked over to wrap Sophia in her arms.
“Alpha,” Jack said and his eyes had cleared. He had obviously succeeded in pushing his wolf back from the surface. “You know as well as we do that you cannot pick who the Fates have chosen for you. Once the mating bond snaps into place, the people involved are connected together in a way that can never be severed.”
“But you can block it,” Xanthe said gently, but when both Jack and Maurice flinched, she knew they had felt the words like a physical blow. “I know that it’s possible to block it. I’ve felt that moment when the mating bond snaps into place, and the feelings are overwhelming. You feel like you’ve lost a part of yourself, and are no longer able to function alone. For some women, I’m sure that must be frightening as hell. Look at Sophia. Look at her.”
Xanthe realized that what she was asking of the Casey brothers was hard, and that it would
no doubt be difficult for them to maintain. But one look at Sophia and she knew that the young girl was close to breaking. She had “belonged” to someone in the past. Jonas Parkes had proclaimed himself a prophet, and had ruled and terrorized the women in that compound of his fucked-up cult under the pretense of saving their souls. It had taken Sophia a long time to come out from under that oppression.
Maurice’s words had no doubt triggered a wave of memories, and thoughts that Sophia had probably hoped had been dispelled for life when they announced that she now belonged to them. Her eyes shone with fear and her breathing had turned erratic. There was no missing the fact that she was scared, and lost in her own private hell, as memories no doubt fell down around her.
Jack and Maurice both frowned and stepped toward her, but slammed to a stop when Trent dropped into a fighter’s stance and growled.
“Stop!” Xanthe yelled, as she moved quickly to stand between the three men. Jesus, they looked like they were seconds from throwing down right in the middle of her store. “The last thing that woman needs is for you three to suddenly decide to rumble in front of her. Jesus Christ, she has seen enough violence in her life to last twelve lifetimes. So, would you please show some restraint, and think of her?”
Jack and Maurice shared a quick glance, and then turned tortured looks back on their mate, who stood silently crying in the arms of her mother, clinging to her like a lifeline. They nodded and stepped back to the other side of the store, never taking their eyes from her.
“Mom,” Trent said and although his wolf no longer echoed in his words, his voice still rang with authority and anger. “Take Sophia next door. Rowena and her mates are there waiting for you.” Judy didn’t respond, just moved slowly with the young woman out the door that led to the back of her shop. They walked out into the now shared back yard of her store, and Rowena’s Coffee and Quills bookstore.
Once the door closed behind the two women, the room remained filled with tension that was only heightened when the door opened again, and Hunter and Dane filled the entranceway. Both of them took one quick glance around the room, obviously felt the tension and anger in the room, and seeing her standing smack in the middle of it, were not too happy about it.
* * * *
With a growl, Dane stepped forward to sweep Xanthe into his arms and move her out of harm’s way. Hunter stepped into the room and moved to take her place. He stood near both Trent and the Casey brothers and crossed his arms. “Wanna tell me why you three had my mate refereeing whatever the hell had you wanting to rip each other’s throats out? Because walking in and seeing her standing between three fucking wolf shifters giving off murder vibes pisses me off like you wouldn’t believe.”
Dane could believe it, because he felt the same damn way. He held his arm back, gripping onto Xanthe and pressing her into his back. Each time she tried to move out from behind him he would tighten his hold, or move with her. He almost groaned out loud when he felt her little teeth bite into the muscle of his shoulder. Little hellcat! She obviously did not like being kept out of the way, but Dane was not about to let her go and now had to fight the hard-on that threatened at the feel of her teeth.
“You told us to come here, Hunter,” Maurice said, but Dane couldn’t help but notice he never took his eyes from Trent. “We had information on the woman you and Dane are so fucking desperate to find, and thought we would bring it to you in person.” Dane felt Xanthe freeze behind him and he fought the urge to turn and pull her into his arms. Damn it, she must have put two and two together, and got cheating asshole-bastards as the answer.
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why one of the damn alphas of this pack looks like he’s simply waiting for any excuse to rip your assholes out through your nose.” Dane shook his head at that. Hunter always had a colorful way of putting things.
“Because they believe,” Trent filled that word with disdain as he crossed his arms across his broad chest, “that my sister is their Fated mate.”
Oh. Shit. Hunter’s eyebrows shot upward and Dane knew he was thinking the exact same thing.
“You can’t fucking mistake the Quickening, alpha,” Maurice growled, frustration clear in his tone. “As soon as we walked in and caught her scent through all this other sickly-smelling shit, we knew exactly what she is to us. You damn well know that there is no fooling Fate.”
Dane sympathized with his friends, but he also knew a little of Sophia’s story and why Trent was so damn protective of the young woman. Hell, the whole fucking town was.
“What I do know is that Sophia is only nineteen fucking years old,” Trent growled as he stepped forward, brushing past Hunter to stand toe to toe with Jack. Despite Maurice being the most vocal of the two brothers, and the first to voice his frustration, Jack was the more dominant of the two, and that made him the most dangerous. Trent had obviously recognized that immediately.
“She is too young to have to deal with the two of you. Hell, if you are Enforcers, then she may never be old enough to deal with the two of you. But you have to give her time, and let her come to you when she is ready. That girl has lived most of her life in a prison. She has been tortured and fucking terrorized by a madman who just happened to have been her father, and all in the name of his fucked-up religion and what he called love.” Trent’s voice was harsh, and Dane heard both Maurice and Jack growl. “I need your promise that you will keep your distance.”
“What?” Jack Casey roared and Dane saw that iron-clad control he was known for fracture at the thought of keeping his distance from his mate. “How in the fuck are we supposed to do that? How the hell do you walk away from your mate? Why the hell would we even want too?”
“Because it’s what’s best for her.” For the first time since walking into her shop, Trent’s voice was calm, and where there had been anger, now there was empathy. “And that is what you do for your mate. Everything she needs you to do for her, even if it goes against every fiber of your being to do it. Sophia’s still studying but she’ll be done in eighteen months. Give her that time, and use it to get to know her and let her get to know you, and then go to her again. I’m not asking you to sever all contact, or to cut off the bond. I know how hard that is, and learnt the fucking hard way that it is not always the best course of action.
“You have no idea how hard this advice is to give you. My mate wants me tell you to leave. She wants you to go, and forget you ever met our Sophia. And, Ty? Well, he simply wants me to kill you both now, to save him having to do it later. Hell, if he had been the one on duty and not the one looking after our wife, who is currently suffering morning sickness like you wouldn’t believe, then you would probably both already be dead. But I am not going to do either because Sophia deserves mates. She, above all others, deserves to be loved, cherished, and protected. By men who hold her safety and well-being as the most important thing in their lives. I just have to be sure you are both worthy of being with her, and that you can be what she needs.”
Dane felt Xanthe soften against him. Ty, Trent, and Faith had traveled a hard road to get to their happily ever after. It had involved Ty and Trent cutting themselves off from their bond to Faith, and to each other, and had meant a whole world of pain for all three. Knowing that Trent was willing to give Jack and Maurice the opportunity to win Sophia over showed Dane that for Trent, the happiness of his pack was paramount.
“But if you can’t do that, or if you hurt her in any way, shape, or form, I am going to hunt you both down, and then make you bleed. Hard. Then, just when you think I might let you live, I’ll turn you over to my wife.” Trent growled the last two words. Happiness was paramount, but Trent was an alpha through and through. Hurt his pack and suffer the consequences. Which, in this case, involved a knife and one pissed-off redhead.
Maurice and Jack stood tense for a moment, before they both seemed to deflate, almost as if in defeat. Both of their shoulders slumped, and Dane felt for his friends. Both of them had bled for him and Hunter on more than one occasion, as they
had for them. They were all Enforcers, but they were more like brothers, and it was hard to see two of his brothers in such obvious pain.
“You have our word, alpha,” Jack said as he reached out a hand toward Trent, who looked down at it for a brief moment before he reached out his own.
“If things work out, and my wife lets me live after not actually killing you, chopping you into small pieces, and hiding you in the forest, we may end up as family. So, call me Trent,” Trent said dryly.
“Thanks, Trent,” Maurice said as he took the hand Trent held out in his direction. “We will keep our distance, and we will spend this time letting our mate get to know us, but you should know something, too. When, not if, but when Sophia comes to us, and allows us to claim her, she will be our concern and her safety and well-being will be our job. We will not welcome unsolicited advice at that stage in our relationship.”
Dane bit back a grin at the fierce looks both Casey brothers leveled at Trent.
“Understood,” Trent said with a grin. “But knowing my mate, you may just have better luck pushing a snowball through hell than getting her to not chip in her advice whenever she damn well pleases!”
Dane laughed as he stepped forward, finally allowing Xanthe to step out from behind him. “I have a feeling there is no stopping Faith when she has something she wants to say at any time.”
Trent grinned and nodded. “And that would be one of the many reasons I love her. And, speaking of the woman who melts my heart, I gotta get home. Xanthe, it’s good see you looking so happy, darlin’. I’ll head over and make sure Sophia is all right, then I’m heading home.”
Maurice and Jack watched as Trent made his way out the back of the store. It was obvious that they both wanted to follow and see for themselves that Sophia was okay, and it was costing them a lot to stand where they were and honor the promise they had made to give her time.