The urge to jerk off nice and slow under the delightfully hot spray was a very tempting one but Tyler didn’t want to walk into a room full of wolf shifters knowing they could probably smell his own cum on him. Wolf shifters had incredibly sensitive noses, at least that’s what Tyler had learned in the twenty-four hours he had before coming to the island. While Tyler’s own sense of smell was heightened, it was nowhere near as good as theirs. His eyesight, on the other hand, was pretty damn sharp.
Once he was clean he gave himself a few more minutes to enjoy the massage he was getting from the showerhead before getting out and wrapping a big fluffy towel around his waist. With his pores now nice and open from the steam, Tyler set about shaving his face and moisturizing it as usual. He had never tried to grow a beard but he doubted very much that he could. There was definitely something sexy about a man with a beard but in reality Tyler suspected it would itch and prickle like hell to kiss one, so he was glad that both Eric and Finn were clean shaven.
When Tyler finally came out of the bathroom, wearing just the towel around his narrow waist, he found Finn sitting on the bottom of the bed. The man had clearly gotten ready for the party while Tyler took his long shower, because he was dressed in a nice dark gray suit with a pale blue shirt underneath. He wasn’t wearing a tie and the two top buttons were undone. He looked amazing. Tyler swallowed thickly as he took in the man’s appearance. His pale blond hair was neatly pulled back into a low ponytail that was tied with a piece of black leather.
“Just call me your fairy godmother,” Finn said with a smirk as he picked up an outfit from the bed that was on a hanger.
Tyler smirked back and raised his eyebrow at Finn’s joke. “Really?”
Finn shrugged easily. “I’ve been called worse.”
Tyler took the outfit from him and inspected it. It was a pair of charcoal-colored dress pants that looked like they might be a little snug, and a lavender shirt with silver pinstripes. There was also a charcoal tie loosely threaded through the collar of the shirt. It was nice without being overly dressy.
“I hope it fits. I ran over to Lisa’s clothes store with her and picked it out,” Finn told him. Tyler remembered that Lisa was Eric’s little sister. He was impressed that someone of such a young age owned her own store. He made yet another mental note to thank her when he met her downstairs and another one to learn more about the pack businesses as soon as possible.
When he turned around to thank Finn, the werewolf was staring shamelessly at Tyler’s mostly naked body. Both Eric and Finn were such large and beautiful men that Tyler felt hugely inadequate. Though given the way that Finn’s eyes were suddenly heavy with arousal, Tyler guessed that Finn didn’t mind how scrawny and pale he was.
“Um, so I should change,” Tyler said, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.
Finn looked up from Tyler’s chest and smiled at him. “Don’t be shy, little bunny,” he said as he rose from the bed and stalked toward him. Finn leaned in slowly, as though not wanting to spook Tyler, and kissed him gently on the cheek.
Tyler gaped at him as Finn pulled back. The larger man stroked his hand down Tyler’s cheek. “There are so many jokes I could make right now about how the big bad wolf wants to eat you up, but I’m nothing if not a picture of restraint.”
Tyler couldn’t help but smile at that. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”
He could hear that his own voice was tinged with desire and he swallowed thickly. Without a word Finn turned around and left. The moment he was alone again, Tyler leaned back against the dresser and let out a long breath. It was going to be a very long night.
* * * *
By the time Tyler made his way downstairs, after fighting with his hair for a good twenty minutes before giving up and letting it win, the party was in full swing. It seemed as though the entire pack were already there waiting for him. He stopped on the stairs and took several deep breathes.
“Okay,” he said to himself as he straightened his tie. “Show time.”
He walked past a few people who smiled at him and said hello as he made his way to the kitchen to find his mates-to-be. There were people in every room of the house, drinking, eating, and talking as some music played softly in the background. It was quite folksy and sung in a language that Tyler guessed was Swedish.
“Oh you look great,” a young woman with a dark, straight bob said to him suddenly before leaning in and kissing his cheek. “I’m Lisa, Eric’s sister.”
“Oh sure, of course,” Tyler quickly said as he smiled back at her. She was very pretty, with the same dark hair as the rest of the family he had met so far, and the same sparkling green eyes. Lisa’s hair was fairly short, though, and straight. “Thanks for the clothes.”
“You’re welcome. I thought the pants were a little snug, but Finn seemed to like that,” she told him with a wink. Tyler felt his cheeks flush as the girl took his arm and led him through to the kitchen. “You should come by the store tomorrow and get some more new clothes. Finn mentioned that you didn’t bring much with you.”
“Yeah,” he said, looking down at the floor. “It was all kind of a rush.”
When he looked back up she was smiling at him kindly. “If tonight gets too much for you and you want to escape, come and find me. I grew up in this house. I know all of its secret hiding places.”
He smiled back at her gratefully. “Thanks.”
With a playful wink Lisa turned and left to go talk to some more people. As Tyler made his way toward the kitchen, he saw the three women who had been glaring at him on the beach earlier. He looked them over quickly. The tall, pretty one in the middle was clearly the ringleader, as the other two hung off her every word. She was wearing a low-cut red dress that she filled out very well, with matching lipstick. She had very long blonde hair that she had pulled back into a sleek ponytail. As he passed them she turned and caught his eye before glaring at him again. Not knowing what the hell her problem was, Tyler kept walking, his eyes scanning the throng of people for signs of Finn and Eric.
When he reached the kitchen he saw that the back doors were open, revealing to him that in the short time he had been asleep someone had put up a large gazebo outside. Inside the tent there were a lot of children running around playing, all of them dressed in formal wear. It made him feel cold just looking at them, but he saw that there were some space heaters outside. His eyes barely skirted over the food he could see set up out there when he felt a hand take his elbow.
“And here is the man of honor,” Finn said as he turned Tyler toward him. “You must be hungry.”
“Starving,” Tyler answered honestly. The wolf leaned in and kissed his cheek again, this time without any heat, and led him over to the table where a large array of food was laid out. “You look delicious by the way,” he whispered.
Tyler smirked and looked at him. “More wolf-bunny jokes?”
Finn looked back at him seriously. “Not at all.”
The two men held each other’s gaze for a moment and Tyler felt his cheeks begin to flush at the honest compliment.
“If you need to get away from it all, just let me know. We should have a code word or something,” Finn told him as he handed him an empty plate. “Something we can easily drop into conversation, like anal beads.”
Tyler snorted and shook his head as Finn’s eyes danced with mischief. It was kind of sweet how everyone seemed to feel the need to protect him, but at the same time it was making him more anxious.
“Honestly, I wish you would all stop saying things like that to me, you’re making me more nervous than I need to be,” Tyler insisted as he looked over the food, trying to decide what he wanted. “I’ll eat some food, meet some people, and it’ll all be over before I know it.”
Finn just smiled at him and began fixing himself a plate. As Tyler looked at the food he started to notice a specific theme. Amongst all the food that was laid out on the table there was carrot cake, carrot sticks with dip, carrot and coriander soup, and carrot muffins.
“Did most of them decide to make something with carrots in because I’m a bunny shifter?” Tyler asked.
Finn smirked and bit his lower lip. “It does look that way doesn’t it.”
Tyler snorted. “I hate carrots when I’m in human form. Changing my form changes my taste buds. I’m guessing you wouldn’t eat raw meat while in human form.”
Finn reached down and grabbed a slice of carrot cake before taking a large bite out of it. “The cake is good at least,” he said, holding the same piece out to for Tyler to take a bite. Tyler held the other man’s smiling eyes and leaned in to take a small bite.
He was ravenous and the cake was sweet and moist. He could hardly taste the carrot over everything else in it so he guessed that it was okay. He licked some of the frosting from his top lip and watched Finn’s eyes follow the movement of his tongue.
“We’ll have to make a list of things you do like,” Finn finally said. “We have to keep our little bunny happy.”
Tyler mock glared at him. “You make me sound like a pet.”
Finn just winked at him before looking over Tyler’s shoulder with a smile. Turning to see what Finn was smiling at, Tyler saw Eric come up behind him.
“Are you okay?” the alpha asked quietly as he took in Tyler’s appearance.
He didn’t know what it was but there was something about being the object of Eric’s intense gaze that made him feel both very important and very uneasy at the same time. He nodded quickly and looked back over at the food.
“There’s more food outside,” Finn whispered to him. “The carrot stuff was made just for you but there are burgers and steaks out on the grill for us meat eaters.”
Tyler moaned and right on cue his stomach rumbled. “I’d kill for a steak.”
Finn laughed and patted him on the back. “Stay here, I’ll go and get you one.”
As he went past he stopped to give Eric a quick kiss on the lips. “Want anything?” he asked.
Eric smiled at him fondly and shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”
Once alone, save for all the people milling about in the kitchen, Tyler felt a little uncomfortable again. Being in Eric’s presence seemed to have that effect on him.
“So, it’s a nice party,” he said, finding nothing else to say.
“It’s my idea of hell,” Eric told him. “Unfortunately we will have to do it all again for our mating ceremony in two weeks.”
Tyler smiled at him, feeling a little shy again. Two weeks was really no time at all, not when it came to getting to know the people you were going to be spending your life with.
“I was wondering about your pack businesses and how they work,” Tyler said, wanting to change the subject. “Back at the warren all the businesses gave a percentage of their earnings to the chief and everyone was given a few options of what they could do with their lives.”
He knew he sounded a little bitter as he spoke about the inner workings of the warren, but he couldn’t help it.
“Here everyone is free to do what they want,” Eric answered simply with a shrug. “Some chose to go off to college and decided to stay on the mainland and end up joining a pack that is closer to a main city. Those who live here have various jobs. People own their own homes and businesses. Taxes are paid to the treasury and all the money goes to maintaining the island. I, and my family, own several businesses. We, along with some others, own a fishing company. We also have an online business where we make and sell jewelry. Well, our employees do. Lisa has her own clothing store. Someone usually makes a run to the mainland every week or so to send off orders and pick up supplies.”
Tyler smiled as he listened to Eric talk. He was happy to hear that they had a thriving community full of possibilities, but even happier that they had internet. “So what do you and Finn do, day to day?”
Eric crossed his hands over his chest, which Tyler was starting to realize was his relaxed pose. “Well, mostly a lot of paperwork. Finn’s main job is his woodwork business. He makes pieces for order in his studio out in the woods and ships them all over the world. Sometimes I go out with the boats and catch fish which we sell to fish mongers on the coast, but mostly I’m stuck in the office. Being the alpha comes with its own responsibilities. It’s a job in itself at times. I’m the law here, as well as the mayor I suppose.”
“That must be hard sometimes,” Tyler said earnestly.
Eric smiled at him gently. “It can be.”
“Well, I hope you’ll let me help in some way. I’d like to pitch in wherever I can. I didn’t get to go to college or anything, I wasn’t allowed, but I’ve taught myself a lot over the years with computers and I’m pretty good with Excel.”
Eric’s smile grew and he clasped Tyler’s arm gently. “I’m sure we can find something you want to do. I certainly wouldn’t say no to help with all the paperwork.”
Tyler grinned at him. “Great. Maybe tomorrow, or whenever you’re free, you can walk me through it all.”
Eric nodded thoughtfully, still smiling at Tyler’s enthusiasm. “It’s a date.”
While the two men were busy smiling at each other, Finn came back in with a big, juicy, mouthwatering steak. Tyler actually heard himself moan when he caught a whiff of it and he held out his hands for it eagerly. Both Finn and Eric laughed at him but he didn’t care. Not even waiting for utensils, Tyler picked it up from the plate with his hands and tore into it, closing his eyes and groaning as he enjoyed the first bite.
“Do you know you make sex noises when you eat?” Finn asked, his voice laced with amusement.
Tyler opened his eyes and swallowed his mouthful. “You have no idea the noises I make during sex,” he told the wolf playfully. Suddenly both the men were looking at him like a wolf should look at a bunny, like he was their prey.
“Well, I think that’s something we can all look forward to,” Finn said with a smirk while Eric simply gaped at him.
Chapter Five
After a couple of hours, and three glasses of champagne, Tyler was feeling very relaxed and didn’t even care when Lisa came to walk him around the party, introducing him to people who had asked her for an introduction. He shook a lot of hands and heard a lot of stories from people. It was pretty nice to feel like he was interesting to them, to feel welcomed by them. A full stomach was certainly helping his mood, too. Every so often he would glance over to where he had last seen Eric or Finn and catch their eyes. A secret sort of smile would pass between them, heating Tyler up from the inside. While he listened to a middle-age lady talk about her grandchildren, Tyler’s mind wandered to the end of the night and the big bed he would be crawling into with his mates-to-be. He felt the champagne, and the desire he suddenly felt, warm his cheeks, and he desperately tried to concentrate on what the woman was saying. As he listened to her his eyes traveled past her to the three women he had seen earlier, the ones who had been glaring at him. As he watched them talk with a group of people, he studied the ringleader. She was watching him carefully with a shrewd look in her cold blue eyes. Once the middle-aged woman had stopped talking and the group had moved away from them, Tyler took hold of Lisa’s arm, pulling her to the side slightly to ensure that they were alone.
“Hey, Lisa, what’s that woman’s problem?” Tyler said quietly into her ear, hoping that said woman’s wolf hearing wasn’t good enough to hear them over the sounds of the party.
Lisa glanced behind her in time to catch the woman glaring again. Lisa rolled her eyes as she turned back to him. “That’s Milla Claesson, one of the mean girls.”
“You’re kidding right?” Tyler asked in disbelief. They were wolf shifters who lived on a remote island and still they had the stereotypical gaggle of bitches.
“Nope,” she said, popping the p. “Milla wanted to be the alpha mate, and for a while it looked like it might actually happen.”
“What do you mean?” Tyler asked with a frown on his face. “I thought that Eric and Finn had been together since they were teenagers.”
&nbs
p; “Oh they have, but until recently Eric was either going to have to stand down and hand over his alpha status to me, or mate with a woman so that he could produce heirs,” she explained. “Can’t tell you how much I did not want to be alpha.”
“It’s so archaic,” Tyler said. “It was the same with my warren. People acting like we were the royal family or something.”
“Well, here we kind of are,” Lisa said with a shrug. “Anyway, Milla wanted to mate with Eric, even though she knew he could never love or want her. She actually made a play for our older brother Anders but he mated young, and Milla was younger back then than I am now. She’s just a power mad bitch who wants to be the alpha mate. Her mom pushes her all the time. I think she herself wanted to mate with my dad or something, which is just beyond gross. Eric would never have gone through with it though, not if it meant giving up Finn. Then when Nana Elsa found the old texts in the library about a three-person mating that happened like a hundred years ago, Milla thought she would be asked to be their third and carry the Snövarg heirs. But, luckily, they found you,” she said, ending with a big smile.
The Happily Ever After Mating Agency Presents Snövarg Island (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) Page 5