Once they emerged and stood at the edge of the open field of grass, they began to run. The exhilaration of being in their wolf forms and running free was nothing compared to the overwhelming urge to find and reclaim their mate and their cub.
I’m never letting her leave pack land again, Hunter’s voice filled Clay’s mind.
She may have something to say about that, buddy, Clay answered.
Yeah, well, we’ll have to have a discussion about that, Hunter conceded.
Their powerful bodies ate up the distance between them and their woman. As they neared the land that belonged to Abbey, they slowed but were not about to stop. Their mate was waiting for them. She may not know it, but she was.
Both wolves skidded to a halt when they saw the body of the woman that they loved on the ground at the edge of the grassy area just before the cliff.
Clay.
I see, Hunter.
The fear in both men’s voices was evident. Sprinting forward with every bit of speed and power they possessed, they didn’t stop until they were beside her. Their wolves whined as they nudged her hands as she lay on her back with her arms spread wide.
They sniffed her carefully, relieved when her scent filled them and they were reassured that she and their cub were alive and strong. Before they could do more than press their snouts against her stomach, they found themselves within her embrace and her fingers gently carding through their fur from the top of their heads, down along their spines, and to their hips before the motions were repeated over and over again.
Resting their chins against her shoulders, they allowed her to pet them. It seemed to be soothing her. They could sense her happiness and contentment. They could hear her heartbeat slowing and her relieved sigh filling the quiet of the early evening.
“Nice,” she whispered, her arms tightening around their bodies as she pulled them closer to her. She took a deep breath and drew in their scents, her brow furrowing in confusion as she fought to muddle through the haze in her mind.
Sweetheart, Hunter called to her, his happiness expressed with that one word.
“Hunter?” she asked softly, opening her eyes and looking at the large black wolf with such soft, brown eyes. Happiness filled her as he looked back at her.
Honey, Clay whispered in her mind, his voice tight with emotions.
“Clay?” she whispered back as she looked at his dark brown wolf, smiling at the striking blue eyes that gazed at her. Memories flooded her mind, and she realized that these wolf shifters were her mates.
She bolted upright, laughing when both wolves’ faces fell into her lap. Memories of her two men lying on their couch in the exact same position while she carded her fingers through their beautiful hair was clear in her mind. Relieved laughter escaped her. She continued to pet them, hugging them with each downward motion of her hands.
“I remember,” she whispered.
She looked down at both wolves as they stared up at her. She smiled as she heard their soft growls and was comforted by them. When the blue swirl of their shifter magic surrounded them and she was suddenly surrounded by two very happy and completely naked mates, she couldn’t help the joy that filled her or the laughter that escaped her.
She didn’t have a chance to speak again for many minutes as her men hugged and kissed her repeatedly. They rubbed their bodies over hers and she knew they were replacing her husband’s scent on her body with their own. Thinking about her husband and the way he had touched her body as he lay next to her in bed earlier made her stomach clench and disgust fill her.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she moaned, pulling out of their arms and rolling over on her stomach. She barely had time to climb to her hands and knees before she vomited.
Both men held her gently as she wretched over and over again. Hunter held his hand against her forehead, steadying her as weakness filled her. Clay pulled her hair away from her shoulders and rubbed her back soothingly.
“Is our baby making you sick, honey?” Clay asked her gently.
Abbey shook her head, sitting back on her feet and leaning against both men as they held her between them. “No,” she whispered. “Your baby makes me happy and calm.”
Both men’s immediate smiles made her smile weakly. Wiping at her mouth with the hem of her sweater, she sighed and closed her eyes.
“We love you, Mate,” Hunter whispered against her temple.
“You have no idea how much we missed you,” Clay added. “We ached without you.
Abbey lifted her hands slowly and gently stroked their chests. “I did, too. I just didn’t understand why. But I do now. I don’t like being away from you.”
“We don’t like it either, honey,” Hunter told her firmly. “We forbid you to ever leave pack land again.”
“You know, when I’m feeling better, I’m going to kick your ass for saying that, but right now I agree,” she told Hunter, tugging on his hair gently.
Both men chuckled, making her smile. Their gentle kisses against her neck made her hum with happiness. She wasn’t about to argue with them. She just wanted to go home.
“Oh, my goodness!” she nearly shrieked, her eyes flashing open as she pulled herself out of their arms.
“What, honey?” Clay asked, fear filling him.
“I was supposed to pick up my friends at three o’clock. What time is it?”
“It’s almost seven,” Clay answered.
“They’re going to be out of their minds with worry,” Abbey nearly whimpered.
“Let’s get back to the truck,” Hunter suggested. “I want us out of here and on our way home. You can call them on my cell phone when we get to Clay’s truck.”
Abbey’s eyes widened and tears filled them as she looked at Hunter. “Hunter, I’m so sorry I crashed your truck,” she told him, looking down at her hands as guilt filled her.
“Sweetheart, look at me,” Hunter told her softly, waiting until she did as he asked before continuing. “Do you think I give a shit about my truck?” He watched her as she shrugged and tightened his hold on her. “The only thing both of us were concerned about was that you might be injured. We would never be able to survive without you, Mate,” he whispered against her temple as he held her tighter against his body. “The only thing that matters to us is that you and our cub are all right.”
Abbey smiled and took a breath of relief as both men’s hands covered her belly and caressed it gently. “I’m a little sore, but our son is as strong as his fathers.”
She smiled at the immediate grins that covered her mates’ faces. When they bit down on her shoulders lightly, she couldn’t prevent the whimper that escaped her.
“I think you both need to claim me again,” she whispered. “I need you to claim me again,” she clarified.
“We will, baby,” Hunter promised. “We just need to get out of here. This is not where you belong.”
“Let’s go home,” Clay whispered, kissing her neck lightly.
Both men stood and helped her to her feet. Kissing her neck one last time, they called upon their magic and allowed their wolves to emerge. They rubbed their bodies against her legs, covering her with their scent, then stepped away to start walking toward the trees. They kept even with her pace, placing her safely between them as they made their way back to where they had left their clothes.
“It’s a shame to cover up all that gorgeous maleness,” Abbey teased them as they dressed.
“Believe me, sweetheart, you’re going to have a whole lot of naked time with us when we get home,” Hunter promised, his smile devilish.
“You’d better not plan on wearing any clothes for the rest of the night and well on into tomorrow,” Clay told her as he buttoned the last button of his police uniform. “Let’s go.”
He reached out his hand and smiled when she took it without hesitation. When Hunter claimed her other hand, they all walked back to the truck, determined to get back to pack land.
“Is there anything you want from your house, Abbey?”
Hunter asked her as they walked toward Clay’s truck.
“I have some pictures I would like,” Abbey answered thoughtfully. “I don’t really care about anything else. I’ve already put all the important papers and my mother’s jewelry in a safety deposit box. My friends have the keys and access to them.”
“You don’t want anything else?” Clay asked, wanting to make sure she had whatever she wanted before they left.
“I have everything I need right here,” she told them softly, squeezing their hands gently. “I have both of you and our baby. I don’t want anything else.”
She was immediately surrounded within a tight embrace. The fierceness with which they hugged her to their bodies made her laugh softly.
“Abbey, you’re a treasure,” Clay whispered against her temple.
“Baby, you’re all we’ll ever need,” Hunter added, kissing the top of her head and hugging her.
“The only thing I don’t understand, though, is why Peter is living in the house. I want Peter out of my father’s house,” she said firmly. “I remember setting it up before I left that he would be legally notified to vacate.”
“Then he’s in breach of a legal order,” Hunter told her. “We’ll make sure that’s put to right. I’m actually looking forward to it.”
“Let’s go and get the pictures you want,” Clay told her gently. “Then I want us out of here.”
Helping her into Clay’s truck, both men made sure she was settled before retrieving their gun belts from the locked box in the back. They were by her side within moments and reached out to squeeze her hands to reassure her.
“Okay, baby. Time to get what you want and get the hell out of here,” Clay told her, starting the engine, turning the truck around, and driving toward Abbey’s home.
He pulled into the long driveway, parked, and turned off the engine. He saw the way Abbey was sitting so quietly, but he also saw the calm determination that was filling her. Their mate was a strong, capable woman. The Fates had truly blessed them when she had come into their lives.
“Ready, honey?” Clay asked her gently.
“Yes.”
They left the truck and walked to the front door of the huge house Abbey had inherited from her father. She had always liked the house, and it would always hold good memories of her life with her father, but it wasn’t home. The home she made with Hunter and Clay was the place she wanted to be. That warm and loving home that they offered her was the home she wanted to share with her men and the babies she hoped they would have.
Hunter covered her belly gently, kissing the side of her neck and biting down with just the right amount of pressure. “Clay and I will do our best to give you as many babies as you want, sweetheart,” he whispered against her ear.
Abbey blushed at the realization that she had allowed both men to share her thoughts. The happy growls that rumbled against her made her glad that such a link to them existed.
“Love you, Abbey,” Clay whispered, kissing his mating mark on her shoulder. His hand carefully covered her belly, sharing the intimate touch with Hunter. “Can’t wait to feel our cub moving inside of you, Mate.”
“Me, too,” Abbey whispered back. “I can’t wait to hold him.”
A flash of a vision of the three of them sitting on the comfortable couch in their home filled their minds. Abbey was sitting between Clay and Hunter. Their son was settled comfortably on her lap, facing up at them and sound asleep. Abbey had her hand on his belly, keeping him safe. Hunter and Clay each had their hands on him as well—Hunter holding his tiny hand and Clay gently stroking his cheek with the back of his index finger.
Abbey looked at both men and smiled. “You’re both going to be wonderful fathers,” she told them, placing her hands over theirs and pressing them lightly against her belly.
They each kissed her neck, humming their happiness against the warmth of her skin. Abbey knew these men were going to be her source of happiness for the rest of her life.
“Let’s get your pictures and get out of here,” Hunter told her gently. “I want you home with us where you belong.”
Abbey reached out and tried to open the front door. It was locked. Anger filled her that she had to get Peter to open the door for her. She knocked, taking her anger out on the dark wood that was shined to perfection. It was only a matter of moments before the door was opened and Peter looked at her in surprise before he turned his attention to the two police officers who stood beside her.
“Abigail. What are you doing? You should be in bed,” he chastised her, his voice soft with concern.
Abbey smirked as she stepped into the foyer of the house, glad when Clay and Hunter immediately flanked her. Peter’s concern may look sincere to others, but she knew better. He had never cared about anyone but himself. She just wished she had figured that out before she had married him.
“Save the act, Peter,” Abbey told him firmly.
“What are you talking about, Abigail?” His voice held just the right amount of confusion and hurt. “You need to rest. Our baby needs you to be healthy.”
Abbey faced him with fire in her eyes. “This baby is not yours and you know it,” she told him firmly. There was no way she was going to let him have that delusion.
“Yes. The baby is mine,” he insisted. “If you try to keep the child from me, you’ll find yourself deep in litigation. I’ll have DNA testing done to prove that I’m the father.”
Abbey’s heart clenched at the thought that she might be subjected to that testing—not because she feared the testing would prove that Peter was her baby’s father, but because the testing might jeopardize the promise she had made to always keep the shifter world a secret from the human world.
In that moment, she worried that she would have to cave in to whatever demands Peter made of her. She didn’t care about the loss of money he might cause her, but she would not allow him to have anything to do with the raising of her child. Turning to Hunter and Clay, she knew her face had to be betraying the panic she was feeling.
“Before you make any threats, you may need to know some facts, Mr. Jordan,” Hunter told him calmly. “Ms. Tyler was admitted to Denver Memorial Hospital six weeks ago. She had been found in the woods a few miles from here. It was determined that she had been shot. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you Mr. Jordan?”
“Of course not!” Peter sputtered.
“Didn’t think so,” Hunter said softly, his voice carefully controlled. “During her admittance, several tests were run to ascertain the health of Ms. Tyler. One of them was a pregnancy test which turned out to be negative.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Peter insisted. “She could have been newly pregnant and it was too new to show up as positive.”
“That’s true,” Hunter admitted. “It is possible but not in this case. Ms. Tyler began her period while she was in the hospital—a fact that has been noted in her chart. Subsequent blood work verified her health and her status as not being pregnant.”
“So, Mr. Jordan,” Clay continued for all of them. “You have no case. You can go ahead and file any motion you want, but you will not force Ms. Tyler to undergo any testing since hospital records already prove that she was not pregnant the last time she had been with you. Since you filed a missing person’s report shortly after her disappearance, and have continuously checked in with the police to see if they had found her, you’ve given more proof that Ms. Tyler has been away from you for six weeks. The blood work just completed on her today indicates that she is four weeks pregnant. You have no case, Mr. Jordan.”
“It’s also been brought to our attention that Ms. Tyler filed papers to have you removed from this address,” Hunter told him, smiling. “If I were you, I would remove myself from this residence before the police arrive and arrest you for disobeying a court order.”
Peter’s passive expression slowly turned to one of complete anger. His cheeks became mottled with blotches of red, and Abbey had to make a conscious effort
not to smile.
“You can leave with just the clothes on your back,” she told him, folding her arms across her chest and staring him down. “At least I’m giving you the opportunity to take your car and leave without taking a gun and shooting you. That’s not the same consideration you gave me.”
She waited while Peter thought through his prospects. When he reached out to remove his keys from the ceramic dish on the tall credenza in the foyer and walked away, she smiled. She would be glad to have him out of her father’s house.
“I’d like to wait for a locksmith to come and change the locks before we leave,” she told her men softly. “I don’t want him to be able to come back and trash my dad’s home.”
“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” Hunter told her, pulling out his cell phone and searching for a local locksmith. “It shouldn’t take long to get someone out here and have all of the locks changed. I think it would be a good idea to call your security company and have the passwords to your system changed, too.”
“Don’t worry, honey,” Clay told her calmly. “We’ll get this straightened out quickly.”
Abbey nodded. She would wait as long as she needed to. A little more time to clear things up was not a hardship now that her mates were with her. All that mattered was that they would be going home. Together.
Chapter 34
Synthia took a calming breath, looking at her sister for support as they stood on the top step of the porch that led to the main door of the pack family’s lodge. Shelly nodded and smiled.
“Go ahead, Syn,” she encouraged her. “I have a good feeling about this.”
Synthia nodded, reaching out and taking her sister’s hand in hers and squeezing it lightly before releasing it and leading the way to the front door. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door firmly then stepped back and waited for the door to open and change their lives. It was time for that change.
Abbey's Protectors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 39