Unexpected Mates (Red Moon Shifters Book 1)

by Grace Brennan

  “What the hell is going on?” Chase said in a low voice.

  Garret hushed him. “Come on, pretty wolf. Change back.”

  The wolf just watched them all warily, whining in the back of her throat.

  Garret sighed. “Are you in there, Kelsey? Come on. Shift back. Wolf, let Kelsey come on out. You’re safe.”

  Kelsey? Who the hell was Kelsey?

  The wolf watched them for a moment before a smattering of bones popping rang out. A moment later, there was a girl huddled on her knees where the wolf had just been. Girl, woman, Ty couldn’t tell. She was skinny and dirty, hair matted with dirt and even a few twigs as it hung in front of her face, concealing her from them. He wasn’t sure, but he thought maybe it would be a light brown when it was clean, kind of like his own.

  “Do you know this girl, Garret?” Chase asked, voice puzzled. “Kelsey, was it?”

  Garret shook his head. “I don’t know her, but you guys will.”

  What the hell? Chase and Ty exchanged puzzled looks while Garret shrugged out of his shirt, approaching the girl slowly and laying it in front of her. He told her to put it on in a hushed voice before he stepped back.

  A long moment later, the girl reached a trembling hand out and grabbed the shirt, pulling it over herself awkwardly before she shakily stood up. The shirt devoured her small frame, the sleeves hanging halfway down her forearms and the hem almost hitting her knees. She took a breath before looking up at them, pushing the hair off of her face with a hand that still trembled.

  Ty inhaled sharply as he caught a glimpse of her face. He heard Chase curse under his breath, and Ty knew he saw it, too.

  Kelsey was a delicate, much more feminine, version of his dad.

  That’s why Garret said he would regret it if he killed the wolf. She was his sister.

  Parker’s hand tightened in his fur as she leaned into his side. “Ty, she looks just like you.”

  Garret reached out a hand to Kelsey, but she flinched away from him, her wary brown gaze shooting between them all. Parker stepped forward and Ty stiffened, blocking her with his head and nudging her back.

  Parker grabbed his face and looked him in the eyes, showing no fear. “Ty, if I’m not mistaken, that girl right there is your sister. And she’s terrified right now. All of you big brutes watching her every move probably isn’t helping. Let me go to her. Let me help her. She looks like she’s starving. She needs food, clothes, a shower. She hasn’t tried to hurt me. She hasn’t tried to hurt any of us.”

  Ty debated for a quick second before shifting back to his human form. There were enough shifters present to stop the wolf… his sister… if she tried anything. As soon as he was standing on two legs again, he pulled Parker into his arms and held her tight for a moment before pulling back to look into her eyes.

  “I don’t want you hurt.”

  Parker stretched up and kissed him. “I won’t be. She’s not aggressive, just scared. Let me do this. You can stay close while I get her settled. Just stay out of sight.”

  Ty looked at Kelsey, who was hunched into herself, staring at the ground. She was still trembling, and he had to admit that everything Parker had said was true. And they couldn’t stand around here forever without doing something,

  “Okay. But I’m staying close, and I have sensitive hearing. I’ll be there before you can even finish calling for me.”

  Parker smiled at him. “It’ll be okay,” she said, starting to move toward Kelsey.

  Ty pulled her back to a stop, tugging her around to look at him. “Parker. You’re not scared? Or disgusted?” She looked at him with a question in her eyes and Ty gestured to himself. “Of me. You didn’t run. You’re still here.”

  She shook her head, smiling softly at him. “Of course not, Ty. Besides, I already knew.”

  Ty stood, stunned, as Parker walked slowly toward his sister, speaking softly. She already knew? How? He rubbed at his chest, where his wolf was alert but silent and content in his chest.

  Shit. How many surprises could one man take in a day?

  Parker sat at the table with Kelsey, watching as the girl ate slowly. Or maybe calling her a woman was accurate. She couldn’t be more than a few years younger than Parker. Kelsey was freshly washed, wearing some of Parker’s clothes. The leggings and shirt were still far too big, but they were clean, and Kelsey had seemed happy with them.

  Kelsey still hadn’t spoken a word, to any of them, but the wariness had faded from her eyes just a bit. Parker thought she must have been starving, and she wondered when the last time the girl had eaten. She was eating a bowl of soup, going slowly but clearly wanting to wolf it down. Pun not intended, Parker thought with a secret smile that was tinged in sadness.

  Kelsey was holding her spoon in one hand and clutching a dinner roll in the other, almost as if she were scared someone would take it. Parker reached out slowly and nudged the plate of rolls toward her. “There are plenty. Eat however many you like.”

  Kelsey looked at her with a cross of suspicion and nervousness in her dark brown eyes, so like Tyler’s. Parker felt her heart break a little more for Kelsey as she gave her the most reassuring smile she could muster. Kelsey slowly raised the roll to her mouth and tore off a bite before quickly going back to the soup.

  Parker studied her as she ate. Kelsey had light brown hair like Ty’s, just a shade lighter and more blonde, and eyes just a shade darker than his, bordering on black. Her facial features were a mix of Ty and Chase, but she was completely feminine. She didn’t have the brother’s towering height, just a touch taller than Parker, and she was skin and bones. But she was clearly a MacKeltar. That much was obvious to anyone with eyes.

  Parker saw Ty turn his head just a tad to check on them from where he was sitting on the couch, pretending to watch television. She felt a small smile stretch her lips. He’d been hovering the whole afternoon, just a few steps away as she’d gotten Kelsey settled. She knew this was hard for him. He worried so much over her safety, and their baby’s, but he was doing so well tonight. Not speaking or intrusive, just there.

  Parker caressed her baby bump, which was rapidly growing. The baby was measuring big, and her belly was reflecting that, but Parker didn’t mind. She’d assumed she’d have a big little boy, because his daddy was big, and she loved being able to see physical evidence that their baby was growing strong inside of her.

  She let her mind wander as she waited for Kelsey to eat her fill. When she’d walked outside earlier to see a massive tiger growling at a much smaller cream wolf, she’d freaked out. She wouldn’t lie about that. It wasn’t often that you walked outside to find humongous animals looking like they were about to brawl in your front yard. Then Tyler’s black wolf came bounding in front of her and she’d instantly relaxed. She’d still been worried over Ty, but she knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her; and he was so massive in size, that she knew he could hold his own if it came to that.

  His wolf was beautiful. He was pitch black, with no markings at all, with eyes just as black. He’d stood proud, his head just as tall as she was, on paws the size of her head. She’d felt no fear. It was Tyler, and she’d seen him, shining through the wolf’s eyes.

  She knew she’d surprised him when she said she’d already known what he was. But now there was nothing to hold him back. He knew that she knew. Once they talked, they could get everything straightened out and in the open.

  And then they could begin their life together.

  The sound of a spoon hitting a bowl jerked Parker from her thoughts, and she looked up to see that Kelsey had finished her dinner, and was sitting with her head down, staring at her lap.

  “Are you still hungry? Would you like some dessert, cake or ice cream maybe?” Parker asked her softly. Leah looked up from where she was cleaning up, ready to fix another plate but Kelsey shook her head. “Okay, then. Would you like to lay down and get some rest?”

  Kelsey looked up and nodded, gratitude and wariness waring in her eyes. Parker stood and Kelsey
followed suit. Parker led her up the stairs and to one of the rooms on the other side of the house from hers and Ty’s. The room was next to Chase’s, where he could keep an eye on her if she needed anything, he said.

  Parker thought they just wanted to make sure Kelsey didn’t leave.

  Parker opened the door, gesturing Kelsey through. It wasn’t as pretty as the room Parker had occupied when she first came here, where Parker had wanted to put Kelsey, but it was still nice. It was clean and safe from the elements, which Parker supposed was all that mattered. She had a feeling that Kelsey had been sleeping outside for far too long.

  Kelsey came inside and Parker started to turn to go back out when Kelsey’s whisper stopped her. It was low and scratchy from disuse, and Parker had to strain to hear her.

  “Thank you.”

  Parker smiled at Kelsey, pleased. “You’re very welcome, Kelsey. Please, don’t hesitate to ask if you need or want something. No matter what it is.”

  Kelsey nodded, looking down at her hands. “You’re my brother’s… Ty’s… mate?”

  Parker nodded, eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn’t expected Kelsey to say more, and she wasn’t sure exactly what ‘mate’ meant, but if it meant her being Ty’s, then she absolutely was. “Yes, I am.”

  Kelsey nodded, gesturing with one hand to Parker’s middle. “Congratulations. And thank you again.”

  Parker watched as Kelsey turned away, apparently finished talking. Parker walked out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her, not in the least bit surprised to see Ty down the hall, leaning against the bannister of the stairs.

  “She all settled in?”

  Parker nodded, walking toward him. “Yeah, she’s all good.”

  “Good. Are you hungry?” Ty asked, taking her hands in his.

  “No, I’m fine for now. You?”

  Ty shook his head, lacing the fingers of one hand with hers and tugging her to their bedroom. Once inside, he shut the door and then pushed her up against it, taking her mouth in a scorching kiss. When he finally pulled back, they were both breathing heavily and his erection was pushing into her stomach.

  “No more of that,” he said, leading her to sit on the bed. “Talking first. Loving later.”

  Parker laughed as she sat. “And you think putting us together on a bed is going to accomplish that?”

  “Good point,” Ty said wryly. “But I want answers first. Such as how long you’ve known I’m a wolf shifter?”

  “Is that what you call it? Shifting. It fits,” she mused. “I’ve known since I was fifteen.”

  Ty looked at her, incredulous. “Since you were fifteen? Seriously?”

  “Yeah. I saw you shift one day.” Parker proceeded to fill him in on what led her to the clearing that day, seeing him shift and fleeing right after. She got up and rummaged through her underwear drawer, coming back with the scrap of shirt she’d kept all these years. She handed it to him as she sat back down. “It was windy that day, and that blew over to me. I picked it up before I ran home. I knew I’d kept it, but I didn’t realize I had it with me until I moved my stuff in here. I found it in a pocket of my suitcase.”

  Ty sat quietly for a moment, fingering the old scrap of his shirt. “I think I remember that day. I was pissed at my dad again, and then Jared came over, full of his plans to tell Cassie what he was and ask her to be his mate. I told him I was going to fight for her, and we argued. After he left, I ran to the river and then went wolf. I stayed that way for almost three days before I changed back.” He looked at her. “So all this time, you’ve known? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Parker sighed. “Because it wasn’t my secret to tell. I wanted you to come to me, to trust me with it. I didn’t want to force it from you.”

  Ty rubbed his head wearily before scooting closer to her and taking her hand in his. “I wanted to tell you. More than anything, but I was scared. I didn’t know how you would react, and I couldn’t bear it if you ran. I need you.” He dropped a hand to her belly. “I need him. I need you both, and I didn’t want to see you run.”

  Parker laced her fingers with his. “You didn’t trust me enough to know I wouldn’t do that? Don’t you know me well enough to know I wouldn’t run?” Parker asked, unable to keep the hurt out of her tone.

  “Parker, no, I trust you. Please believe that. I do. It’s me I don’t trust.” He looked up and sighed when he saw the confusion on her face. “I didn’t trust that I was good enough. That I would be enough to make you stay, even in the face of something like that. This is what I didn’t tell you about Cassie. She hated what Jared is. She called him unnatural.

  “Jared didn’t tell her what I was. He only told her about himself. I guess I just spilled his secret, since you probably didn’t know about them,” he said ruefully. “The Montgomerys are grizzly shifters. When Cassie turned eighteen, Jared told her what he was and explained to her about shifters. He told her that she was his mate, and that he wanted to claim her. She freaked out and disappeared for a few days. When she came back, she told him she loved him and would be with him, but only if he never talked about being a shifter in front of her again. She said he was a freak of nature. And if Cassie, his best friend since he was five, who he’d been with for years, could react that way… how would you react? You and I connected five months ago, but it was brief. We only started really getting to know each other a couple of weeks ago. I just… I couldn’t trust that I would be enough to keep you, when Jared barely held onto Cassie, even after all that time.”

  Parker tightened her fingers around his and lifted her other hand to his cheek. “Oh, Ty.”

  “There’s more,” he said, interrupting her when she would have said more. “They managed to be mostly happy for a few years while Jared hid his true nature, but then she got pregnant. She freaked out again. She was carrying a bear shifter. A cub. And she wanted nothing to do with it; she didn’t want it. She thought shifters were abominations. She was taking stupid risks, doing things pregnant women shouldn’t do. Jared thinks she was doing it on purpose, hoping to lose the baby. She was out horseback riding one day, when she was almost as far along as you are now. And she tried to jump a fence that was too high for the horse. She broke her neck.”

  Parker pulled her hand away from her mouth, sure that her eyes were the size of half dollars right now. “Oh God. So much makes sense now, Ty. I can’t even imagine what Jared went through, or what you went through, for that matter. That’s why it makes you so nervous when I do more than you think I should. I can see now, too, why you would put off telling me the truth for as long as you could.”

  Ty closed his eyes briefly as he shook his head. “I didn’t know how to tell you in a way that didn’t scare you. Jared tried to tell me that maybe Cassie’s reaction had been an aberration. He said that Ellie, Jake’s mate, had hardly blinked an eye when she found out about shifters. I couldn’t make myself take the chance, though. How could I be so lucky to have you accept it? And so I kept putting it off, putting myself through hell, torturing myself with all the ways you’d react badly… and here you’ve known the whole time.”

  “You could have avoided that if you would have just told me. You would have had to eventually anyway, Ty. This baby is part wolf. I even tried to push the conversation with that stuffed wolf last night, but you ran instead of fessing up the truth.”

  Ty laughed ruefully. “I even wondered if you were trying to tell me something with that, but I brushed it off as a coincidence. I know I would have had to tell you sooner rather than later, but I kept putting it off. I wanted to keep you as long as I could. I had decided this morning that I would tonight, though. I was determined. I needed to put the uncertainty behind us.”

  Parker squeezed his hand. “You should have listened to Jared. He sounds like he gives good advice. I’m not Cassie. We’re different people, with different reactions. I’m glad you were going to tell me tonight, though.”

  Ty put a hand to her cheek. “You’re right, you’re not Cassie.
You’re so much more, Parker. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if I disgusted or scared you. I was just being a chickenshit, and I knew that, but I couldn’t stop.”

  “It’s okay. It’s done now. Just trust me for now on, okay? Nothing is going to make me run. You’re stuck with me.”

  He leaned in and kissed her, slow and sweet. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ty sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “What a day it’s been.”

  “Yeah, agreed. Kelsey… She’s your sister, isn’t she? Judging by your and Chase’s reactions, you didn’t know about her.”

  Ty exhaled heavily. “We had no clue. If we had, she never would have been out there, alone and hungry, for God knows how long. I hope she talks to us soon. It’s hard, not having answers.”

  “Give her time. She came to the farm on her own, even if she didn’t expect to get caught today. She’s scared, though. You and Chase are going to have to be patient with her.” Parker paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to word the next question she wanted to ask. “Did you know your father was having an affair? Kelsey had to have been born before your mother passed away.”

  He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “The word affair implies a form of commitment, and my dad wasn’t committed to anyone but himself. He slept around on my mom, sure. He lived for his own pleasures. Gambling, whoring, even drinking. It takes a shit ton of alcohol to get a shifter drunk, but he managed it a few times. He was a poor excuse for a man, and anything he could throw money away on, he did. He’d almost pissed away the farm before he died. Me and Chase inherited it just in time to save it. A month more under my dad, and we’d have lost it. It’s taken a lot of years of slaving away to get to where we are today, but we’re finally making some progress. Even turning a profit these days, although it’s a small one.”

  “You guys did good. If you were that close to losing it, I think you’ve done well to be back to making even a small profit so soon.”

  “We can’t totally take the credit for that. Our shifter talents helped a lot. Had we gotten different ones, we might not have been able to save it, no matter how hard we worked.”