by Jess Buffett
She flicked her gaze over to the small granny flat her siblings were in. Chase had offered to help look after the kids while Tessa mingled with the Pride. As the Alpha’s mate, it was expected for her to attend, even if things were still new.
A snigger off to her left caught her attention, a niggling feeling crept over her when Tessa saw a small group of people eyeing her off. The looks she received weren’t exactly pleasant, which just served to rattle her more. Tempted to turn back and find Sage, Tessa steeled herself. No. She wouldn’t allow anyone to make her feel uncomfortable.
Reaching for the nearest unused cup, Tessa let out a startled sound when the jug of juice was abruptly yanked out of her hand. “What the hell?”
“What the hell, is right,” spat the woman in front of her.
“Excuse me?” Tessa gaped. “Is there a problem?”
Surely these people wouldn’t think of attacking her? She was the Alpha’s mate. Tessa didn’t know much about Pride law, but she was fairly certain that was a no-no.
The rude woman, shifter, gave an exaggerated sniff. “Christ. She smells like prey, like a bird.”
A tall man with green eyes and a number of tattoos behind her chuckled, “Cats eat birds.”
“This isn’t funny, Travis. How is that a good fit for an alpha mate?” another dangerous looking man snarled, hands formed into fists.
By that point Tessa had been surrounded. She didn’t know how many there were, enough that her view was completely blocked off from the rest of the gathering.
“Bricker is right. How is she supposed to help produce the prophesy children?”
Bricker, the dangerous looking one, let out another growl. “Christ, it’s bad enough the other is a guy, but at least he is a lion. A fucking black one too. What is she? A diluted bird who can’t even shift to fly away from the big bad putty cats?”
Tessa’s pulse beat frantically when Bricker reached for her, his fingers digging into her arm hard enough to hurt. They clearly were not impressed with her and seemed to be of the mind to do something about it. Their actions contradicted everything Tessa had been told about Prides and Packs.
“What the fuck?” the snarl was abrupt and almost savage.
Tessa turned her gaze to Leontis, claws already extended and vicious sharp looking canines protruding.
“Back the fuck away from my mate now, before I tear you limb from limb.”
“You against all of us? All right then,” Bricker taunted, looking as though he were about to shift.
“Oh, you really are stupid, aren’t you?” Leontis ground out, before slowly stepping to the side. Tessa gasped. In the distance she could see an enormous, familiar White Tiger darting toward them, a low rumbling sound coming from the animal's chest. Sage.
Most of the little bunch that had closed her in made a run for it, though Tessa notice the one called Bricker idiotically stood his ground. As if he somehow thought he had the ability to take on the Alpha himself.
Everything happened within the blink of an eye. She watched in detached horror as Sage took Bricker down before he had even had the chance to shift. Jaw clamped on the prick who had been tormenting her, Tessa could see Sage’s sharp teeth digging in and piercing the skin.
“Sage?”
Leontis thrust out his arm, dragging her to him and effectively stopping her from moving forward. “Don’t,” he whispered into her ear. “The bastard was threatening his mate. He is Alpha. He can’t let that go.”
“So what do we do?” she asked bewilderedly.
“Come with me.” Leontis ushered her away even as a crowd began to gather. Summer stopped them briefly, as did Veronica to make sure she was okay, but Leontis barely gave them a chance. In fact, her mate didn’t stop until they were not only safely inside Sage’s home, but had made their way down the hall, into the main bedroom. Leontis situated her on the bed before heading toward the bathroom.
The sound of water running hit her ears and then Leontis return, washcloth in hand. Tessa frowned when Leontis moved to sit next to her, lifting her arm. Only then did she notice the small mark littering her skin where Bricker had held her too hard, obviously having broken the skin.
“Ouch,” she winced as Leontis dabbed the area. “Why is it things don’t hurt until you see them?”
Her mate didn’t answer, his sole focus seem to be in the tiny marks. Tessa jumped when she heard more snarls and growls before a small, pathetic whimper filtered through the air.
“Was that…”
“Don’t.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you don’t need to think about it.” Tessa’s eyes zeroed in on Sage. The Alpha leaned casually against the door frame in a pair of sweats as if nothing were the matter. She knew though, could see the fire burning in his gaze, the tension running through his body.
She stood, beckoning him forward. “Come here. See, I’m okay. Just come here.”
Sage pushed of the wood and walked, no prowled, to her. Her breathing kicked up a notch when he dropped to his knees in front of her, undoing her jeans and easily pulling them down. She automatically lifted each foot, allowing him to remove the denim. Leontis follow suit, relieving her of her shirt as Sage slid his hand underneath her underwear and between her legs. “Open up, sweetheart.”
Her nipples hardened as Leontis pushed her bra aside and freed her breasts. He tweaked them, making her cry out. With a wicked smirk, Leontis bent and took one into his mouth. She whimpered again as his tongue danced from one nipple to the other.
Her clit started to throb even harder as Sage’s fingers found it and started massaging the sensitive muscles. She clenched her thighs, trying to capture his hand and keep it there. She gasped as Sage used the ball of his hand on her clit and thrust fingers inside her pussy. Her body heated even more as she reached forward and grabbed a hold of Leontis’s shoulder for support.
Every part of her body hummed. They were owning her, claiming the very last part of her she had held onto.
Leontis pinned her with his golden eyes. “You’re ours, Tessa. No more leaving in the middle of the night, sneaking in once the kids have gone to school. You’re our mate, we love you and are never letting you go. Admit it. You love us too.”
Oh God!
She couldn’t deny it anymore, didn’t want to. “Yes. Yes, I love you both.”
She gasped as Sage thrust his fingers in, then out, quickening his movement. “Marry me!”
Both men paused their movements and Tessa wanted to growl.
“What?” Sage sounded as shocked as Leontis looked.
Tessa growled. “Seriously? You claim me, talk about forever and love, and yet freak out when I ask you to marry me?”
“Ah, no?” Leontis appeared unsure how to answer her. Her expression must have indicated how very wrong that answer was and he corrected himself. “Of course we want to marry you. If that’s what you want. We’ve claimed you, to us as shifters, we are more than married now, but I get it. We get it. And yes.”
“Sage?”
“Yes,” Sage’s voice was rough, deep. “God, yes. I’ll take you any and every way I can get you.”
She sighed. “Great. Wedding plans later. Sex now.”
“Bossy,” Sage muttered as he went back to his ministrations.
She cried out in pleasure unable and unwilling to hold back. “Please.”
“Please what, honey?”
“Please, fuck me.”
He tangled his hands in her hair, tugging her head to expose her neck. Leaning in, he nipped at her delicate skin. “Oh, we plan to.”
“Now!”
He smiled, pleased at her shout. “Not yet.”
A hard tug from Sage and her panties tore away. His tongue pressed against her clit stole the strength from her legs. She cried out again, on the verge of a climax. He sucked on her, tugging her clit into his mouth as he continued to plunge his fingers into her. Her walls clamped around his digits.
She’d wanted them. So bad. Maybe she hadn�
�t fully realized it at first, but now she understood. They wanted to own her, but they wanted her to own them as well. She was theirs and they were hers equally.
In desperation, she reached out to Leontis, taking his long, dreadlocked hair and trying to pull his mouth back to her nipples. He took one inside, then reached around her to skim his hand along her butt cheek. She tensed, never having had a man from behind.
“Relax, honey. I know you’re not ready for that. We need to work up to it.”
She let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t want them both like that, Tessa just wasn’t sure if she was ready.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. We have you.” Sage kept his eyes pinned on her as he moved his fingers between her arse cheeks then down to tease her hole. She flinched when he ran his fingers around the puckered entrance, but the more he did it, the easier it was to relax.
“That’s it. Take it easy. I’m not going to do anything you can’t handle.”
She didn’t care what he did to her just as long as he didn’t take his hands away. Her body trembled.
She whimpered when Sage pulled his fingers from her and she suddenly felt her body being nudged, her feet stumbling. The bed. Before she could work out what her men had in mind, Sage was spinning her around forcing the top half of her body onto the bed. Leontis climbed up, settling in front of her. She blinked up in confusion at the sight of his naked form.
When the hell had he taken off his clothes?
Within seconds all thought left her as Leontis cupped the back of her neck, bringing her mouth to his cock. Just as Leontis nudged at her lips, she felt Sage slowly enter her from behind. She moaned, taking Leontis in further.
“Yeah,” Leontis grunted. “That’s it, honey.”
They worked in tandem, both taking her in a way she had never been before. Sage thrust hard into her, pushing her toward Leontis. One of his hands clamped firmly onto her hip, while the other trailed over the top of her arse and sliding down in between her cheeks. Her pleasure began to spiral, Tessa lost herself in the enormous feeling of completion being with these two men.
The closer Sage’s fingers drew to her back entrance, the louder her whimpers grew. God, she wanted it.
Leontis chuckled. “Sage, put her out of her misery.”
Sage groaned. When his finger slipped just inside of her, her body reacted, exploding with her climax. She sobbed out her release, feeling them lose themselves in her. Drinking down as much as she could of Leontis, Tessa’s body milked Sage. When they were spent, Tessa collapsed to the bed, panting heavily. Peeking up at her mates above her, she couldn't contain her moan as Sage leaned over her, claiming Leontis’s mouth thoroughly.
“I think she likes that,” Sage chuckled.
Tessa made a noncommittal noise, feeling herself drift off.
“Sleep, sweetheart. We can take care of everything else later,” Sage reassured her. “Including the wedding plans.”
Later. She was all for later.
Chapter Ten
Sage and Leontis walked Tessa back to the granny flat sometime later. Sage had called Chase to check in on the kids and he knew everything was running fine, but the moment Tessa had opened her eyes, she had needed to see them.
They would save the talk with the kids tomorrow given the late time, but Sage knew they needed to know soon about shifters, and exactly who they were to their big sister. A ridiculous part of him worried the kids would reject both he and Leontis, that they wouldn’t be comfortable with either of them. The children were everything to Tessa.
However, it turned out his worries were for nothing. As soon as the door opened, a thundering herd of children swamped all three of them.
“Ah, hey,” Sage said awkwardly.
Leontis on the other hand gave a big, deep belly laugh before picking up the youngest, Ryder, and throwing him on top of his shoulders.
“Better be careful with him. Not much oxygen up there,” he snickered.
Leontis rolled his eyes. “Watch it or you’ll be next.”
Sage stumbled to a stop, desperately willing himself not to get a semi-erection in front of the children. He was an Alpha, the thought of his much larger mate being able to lift him like that should not turn him on.
Nope. Not at all. Like ever. Dammit.
Beside him Tessa giggled, and Leontis raised a brow that suggested they both knew exactly what he was thinking.
Clearing his throat, he attempted to redirect attentions. “So, have you terrors had dinner and everything?”
Oliver snorted. “Of course they have, it’s like ten-thirty at night, dude.”
“No need to worry, big brother. Kids are already bathed, showered, whatever.” Chase shrugged as he got up from the lounge, making his way to the kitchen, no doubt about to raid the coffee stash. Man had a serious problem with caffeine. “They are all fed and ready for bed, but I figured you’d want to see them first, and since it wasn’t a school night I let them stay up.”
Sage stared after his brother, slightly bemused by Chase. It was sometimes easy to forget that his jokester brother had another side of him.
“Well, at least it looks like Chase has everything organized,” Tessa said with a smile.
“Who the hell said I was organized?” Chase's head shot around the corner from the kitchen, his gaze darting around as if trying to find the guilty party.
Tessa laughed. “Do you have to look so offended and appalled by the idea?”
“Yeah, I kinda do actually.”
“No one's ever gonna accuse you of being organized?”
Chase seemed to consider that for a moment then shook his head. “Not even on my death bed. And people are usually nicer and tend to lie more to make you feel better.”
Leontis snickered. “Death bed. Seriously?”
“Think about it….no one wants to make a dying person feel worse. I mean, come on, that’s like a whole new level of going to hell.”
Sage grunted at Chase’s antics, annoyed that he couldn’t argue the logic behind that. His little brother knew how to talk himself out of a paper bag if nothing else. Probably what made the idiot such a damn good lawyer.
His phone rang, and he glanced down to see Rourke’s name flashing on the screen. “Hey, brother, what’s up?”
“Sage. It’s Ruth,” Rourke sounded gutted. “We were giving her a lift home when we were ambushed. Car ploughed straight into us. When I came to she was gone. There is blood everywhere, man.”
“Fuck.” Sage roughly speared his fingers through his hair. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
“Just off Linderman road. I can’t...I can’t track her. I hit my head and it hasn’t healed, too much blood. Everything is a mess.”
Rourke sounded vague and distant, making Sage worry.
“Just wait there. We’re coming.” He hung up, turning to Tessa and Leontis. “I need you both to stay here, Chase will remain as well. Dom, you’re with me.”
“Wait, what happened?” Leontis asked, frowning in concern.
“Rourke, he was ambushed. Ruth is missing. Please, after everything that has happened, stay here with them tonight. I need you both safe.”
Leontis nodded, leaning in to kiss him briefly. “Go. I’ve got our girl.”
Kissing Tessa, Sage stalked out of the house, the anger coursing through him. First Tessa is attacked, now this. Someone was going to pay tonight. He was sure of it.
*****
A sharp knock at the door almost an hour later had Leontis running down the hall. Having just gotten the last of the kids into bed, the last thing he wanted is for them to be woken up. Chase had left a few minutes before to scout the perimeter telling him he’d check in with Sage and find out what was happening.
“Great guard dog you are,” he mutters, wrenching the door wide open.
The sight before him left him momentarily stunned. Two familiar faces stared back at him. One hopeful, one bored.
“Theron? Yorik? What the hell?”
&nbs
p; “Now is that anyway to treat your brothers?” Theron grinned.
Leontis didn't have a chance to answer before Theron embraced him in a warm hug. Pulling back, his eyes flickered from one brother to the next. While part of him was surprised to see either of them, he admitted finding Theron on his doorstep wasn't that much of a stretch. Yorik on the other hand? As far as he knew, Yorik hated him. Well, maybe hate was too strong a word. Barely tolerated him, would probably fit better. Still…
“What are you doing here?"
Theron’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious? You disappear and we don’t hear a peep from you, then all of a sudden word spreads of the last White Tiger Alpha mating not only a human but a rare black lion...yeah, I’m gonna come and check to see if it is you.”
“Leontis, honey? Who is it?” Tessa called from behind him
Theron smirked. “Honey?”
He narrowed a glare on his brother. “My mate. So watch it, brother.”
Leontis took satisfaction in the way his brother’s eyes widened. “Oh, the human?”
“The human has a name,” Tessa said, nudging him to the side. “I’m Tessa. And if I heard correctly, you must be Leontis’s brothers.”
Yorik graced Tessa with one of his sweet and endearing smiles he used on women. “Why yes, we are. It is a pleasure to meet you, Tessa. Though I must say, you look far too gorgeous to be in my brother’s league.”
Leontis bristled, but Tessa settled him with a gentle touch to his arm. Giving Yorik a droll stare, she asked, “So are we inviting them in, or kicking them out of our territory?”
He didn’t even try to contain his laughter as his mate’s snarky response. Yorik let out a disgruntled noise, and Theron snickered beside him, his eyes lighting up.
“Oh, I like her, brother.” Theron grinned at Tessa. “My name’s Theron, this lunk head here is Yorik.”
Tessa nodded, but said nothing else, instead ushering his brother’s inside. Just as they were seated, a small voice called out from one of the bedrooms and Tessa sighed.
“Ryder.” She grimaced, narrowing her eyes on their guests. “Okay, so here is the deal. I have to deal with my baby brother, but let me make one thing clear. Hurt Leontis in anyway and I’ll take great pleasure in knocking you out, tying you down, and testing out each knife I have in the kitchen back there to see which one is the sharpest.” Tessa smiled sweetly. “Okay?”