by Bec Adams
Brigden shook his head. “I don’t think your injuries were quite that bad, but without werewolf intervention you would have needed emergency surgery and a long time to heal. I suspect it would also have caused issues for the rest of your life—thick scars, muscle weakness, hernias.”
“Instead I get to turn into a furry mythical creature with two mates and a chance at true happiness.” She lifted up so that Brigden could see the smile on her face. “It wouldn’t have been a difficult choice.” She leaned over to kiss him softly. “Thank you.”
He smiled and lifted her so that she was lying over him, her naked parts pressed very intimately against his naked parts. She wriggled down slightly, enjoying the feel of his hard cock pressed against the entrance of her pussy as she ran her hands over the muscles in his arms.
Compared to Gideon and the other two giant men sharing this cabin, Brigden might have seemed smaller but he was still larger than the average human. It was quite a novelty for Suzanne to feel petite. Thanks to her above-average height, the handful of the men she’d dated over the years had been mostly as tall as her, if not an inch or two shorter. It probably hadn’t helped that she tended to wear hiking boots everywhere, but she’d often felt oversized and clumsy next to women of more average heights.
But with Brigden and Gideon she felt like a perfect fit.
Brigden reached up and framed her face with his hands, then guided her lips to his. The kiss was gentle at first, his leashed strength very appealing as he slowly deepened the contact. She could already feel her pussy throbbing with need, her juices coating the head of Brigden’s cock as they gently moved together, not actually penetrating her pussy, but just rubbing against each other in a sensual dance.
“Sorry, baby girl,” Gideon said in her head, “but the alpha has just ordered the three of us to go tender your resignation.”
“Huh? How can I do that? Won’t they notice the purple?” she asked telepathically even as she instinctively pushed lower, taking Brigden’s cock into her pussy. She and Brigden groaned out loud. Gideon groaned in her head.
“I’ll explain later, Suzanne. Right now, finish what you’ve started.” She got the impression he was very pleased that she and Brigden were doing what they were doing. “I can’t join you, so make love to Brig for both of us, baby girl. But make it quick. I’ve never met an alpha who doesn’t expect immediate action when he issues an order.”
* * * *
Brigden groaned as he deepened the kiss, his cock throbbing almost painfully as he slid all the way into his mate’s pussy. She shifted, lifting up and then slamming her hips back down over and over as their tongues dueled and their hands explored.
It was almost too much, the sensations too many, too intense, her movements becoming more desperate with every moment.
Unable to control himself, Brigden rolled them over, caging her with his body as he took over, thrusting his cock into her pussy again and again as the desperate need to claim this woman filled his mind. He dragged his mouth from hers, worried that he might hurt her with the sharp incisors that grew from his gums. He ground his back teeth together, denying the impulse, determined to give Suzanne the chance to choose when and where they claimed her.
The bedroom door opened, and despite his distraction, he knew it was Gideon. He didn’t speak. He just closed the door and came to sit on the bed beside them. His hands roamed over both of them, his silent worship all the more potent as he nodded in approval.
It was then that Brigden remembered his own inexperience. He’d spent the past three decades imagining Gideon taking him the way he’d done in the cave yesterday. He understood the mechanics, obviously, but hadn’t given much thought to what a female partner might need from him. Yesterday Gideon had been the one to guide him.
Awkwardly, he tried to balance his weight on one arm and tried to slide his hand between them so that he could caress her clit. Gideon touched his face lovingly, perhaps appreciating what Brigden was trying to do for their mate.
“Let me,” he whispered almost soundlessly into Brigden’s ear. He nodded gratefully, managing to balance himself again with both hands. He and Suzanne both groaned when Gideon slid his hand between them and managed to caress her clit and his cock at the same time.
Suzanne began to shake immediately, her pussy muscles squeezing around him as Gideon’s fingers caressed his cock with each stroke. Each thrust was both heaven and hell, his need growing out of control, his orgasm overtaking all rational thought.
He thrust deep, his hands moving to hold Suzanne’s hips tight against him, his seed pumping from him in staccato bursts. He jolted, his skin oversensitive, his cock throbbing as exquisite sensation flowed up and down his spine.
Finally he collapsed against her, his arms not quite holding his weight off Suzanne’s prone form. Instead of panicking, she held him fiercely, her emotions somehow clearly conveyed to his mind.
Gideon knelt beside the bed for a few more moments before smiling and pushing Brigden sideways.
“We have time for a quick shower, baby girl, and then we need to get moving. The alpha wants you to resign today.”
“The alpha?” Brigden asked, still trying to find the energy to move. He knew that Suzanne would need to quit her job, but he hadn’t expected the alpha to be the one to order it.
“The alpha wants me to have a word with Jay Holks. If he is a shifter, maybe we’ll find out what the hell is going on.” He helped Suzanne off the bed, lifting her into his arms when it seemed she was very wobbly on her feet. He stepped into the shower area and turned on the taps as he continued talking. “Once the excitement died down last night, the bear cub we found told his mother he’d been talking to an unfamiliar bear-shifter when he got lost in the woods. Considering where we found the kid, we’re beginning to suspect it wasn’t an accident that he ended up that close to a human camping area.”
“So you think someone is trying to out us to humans?” Brigden asked as dread flooded his stomach.
“Nothing’s certain at this stage, but if a shifter was involved in the child’s disappearance it’s very worrying. Add that to the raccoon-shifter’s report of an unknown shifter with a funky smell, and we’ve got more than one alpha worried enough to want to investigate.”
* * * *
Despite the fact that Gideon climbed into the shower behind her, the touching between them was quite impersonal. It seemed that when an alpha ordered, shifters jumped.
“Correct,” Gideon said into her mind. “That’s one thing about life as a werewolf you should never forget.”
Suzanne moaned softly when he ran his fingers over her pussy lips, but his gentle touch ended far too quickly. “Why don’t I have this sort of link with Brigden?” she asked as Gideon quickly rinsed the soap off her skin.
“I suspect this link is related to me being the one to change you, but from what I understand once true-mates claim each other the connection is even stronger.”
“So I will have a link like this with Brigden?”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Gideon said as he turned the taps off and reached for a towel to dry her down. “There are very few true-mates in the history of our pack, so I’m not really sure what information is accurate and what’s just legend.”
“Oh,” she said out loud as she realized just how much Brigden and Gideon were missing out on by not being able to claim each other. Her heart ached for the loneliness they both must have felt since realizing their connection.
“It was always worse for Brigden,” Gideon said quietly into her mind. “First he was shunned by his pack for not being as physically strong as the rest, and then destiny gave him a mate who couldn’t risk claiming him.” She could feel the ache deep inside Gideon as he shared emotions he’d kept to himself for too many years. “I’ve spent the past thirty-five years watching him from afar. Even before he knew who I was, I protected him without ever letting anyone—not even Brigden—see what I felt for the man.” He shook his head sadly. “I should have b
een stronger yesterday. I’ll never be able to claim him openly. Giving us both a taste of what things might have been like under different circumstances only highlighted how much we’ll be missing for the rest of our lives.”
“Does having me in the middle help?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he answered telepathically as he wrapped the towel around her. Out loud he added, “Brig is going to loan you some clothes. We’ll swing by your place on the way and gather what you need before we go visit your boss.”
“Um…” she said, looking at the purple tint of her skin.
“It’s okay,” Brigden said from just outside the bathroom. “Humans have made rather wonderful advances in the manufacturing of makeup in recent decades.”
“Oh.” She felt a little bit silly for not having thought of that herself. “Why don’t you just wear it all the time?”
Brigden gave her a sad smile that suggested he’d considered that question on more than one occasion himself. “Even with the best brands it only lasts a couple of hours before the purple tint starts to shine through.” He held up a pair of jeans that were too long in the legs and too narrow in the hips for her to wear. He shook his head and went back to dragging clothes out of his drawers. “Plus it’s very uncomfortable if you need to change into your wolf. The transformation pushes a lot of it off when our fur sprouts so we end up with an itchy muzzle, watering eyes, and a case of severe sneezing.” He shook his head. “It’s rather unpleasant.”
“And an unnecessary expense according to the alpha, despite the fact that these days the Shy River pack is quite wealthy,” Gideon said as he grabbed one of Brigden’s shirts and helped her put it on. “Most of that is due to Brigden. It took a lot to convince the alpha to invest money in computers and cell phones when they were first being developed, but Brigden has proven over and over that he knows what he’s talking about. He is a very valuable member of the pack.”
Brigden gave her an embarrassed smile and then stepped into Gideon’s embrace. Thankfully she didn’t hear what he whispered—so that meant no one outside the room did either—but it was clear that Gideon had noticed everything that the rest of Brigden’s idiotic pack members hadn’t.
“Your idiotic pack members now, too,” Gideon whispered into her mind.
“Gee, thanks for reminding me,” she sent back, angry enough over Brigden’s treatment to hate them all on his behalf.
“They’re not all bad,” Gideon said to her as Brigden moved to pull her into their embrace as well. “My mother is going to adore you. And there are others who are more accepting. It’s just the pack leaders who are intolerant of those different to themselves.”
“Is that your way of asking me to give peaceful werewolves a chance?”
“Yes, baby girl.”
“Even your father?” she asked quietly. She’d heard more of last night’s video call than he’d probably wanted her to hear, but between the mental link and the increased auditory ability it had been kind of hard to avoid. She’d held Brigden closer with every malicious word that had fallen from the beta’s mouth.
“I’ll deal with my father,” Gideon said in a tone that suggested he wouldn’t tolerate the man’s attitude any more in person than he had over the video chat. “We better get moving,” he said out loud. “It’s a long drive from here to your place.”
* * * *
The trip wasn’t nearly as long as Gideon had indicated back at the cabin, but the closer they got, the more excited Brigden began to feel.
“You lived all the way out here? On your own?” he asked, suddenly realizing how dangerous it would have been for a woman living alone. “I just assumed you lived in town.”
“My grandfather left me the cabin. He bought the place for my grandmother nearly sixty years ago. Apparently it was a bargain price at the time, but my mother hated growing up in such isolation, so she headed for the city as soon as she was old enough and never looked back.” She glanced around the area, a soft smile on her face. “I only met my grandpa a couple of times, but he’s the reason for my interest in conservation. According to my mom, he was always lecturing her on saving the planet.”
“Your grandfather was way ahead of his time,” Gideon said as he stopped the car beside the small cabin, “and obviously a very wise man.”
Brigden nodded in agreement and offered his hand for Suzanne to take. The area seemed vaguely familiar as they climbed out of Gideon’s truck and for a moment Brigden had a feeling of déjà vu. He often visited the different packs, clans, and flocks closer to Shy River pack lands to assist with electronic surveillance, but Brigden was fairly certain he’d never been in this area before. Perhaps it just resembled a place he’d been to over the years.
As they stepped onto the veranda, Suzanne’s hand started to shake, distracting him from his musings.
“Suzanne?” Gideon asked urgently, reaching for her as she wobbled on suddenly unsteady legs.
“What is it?” Brigden asked anxiously.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Sorry, I…um…it’s nothing.”
“No, baby girl, it’s something.” Gideon lifted her into his arms and waited for Brigden to take the keys and unlock the door. The cabin wasn’t very big, so they found her bedroom with no problems, but she was already trying to climb out of Gideon’s embrace by the time they reached her bed.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry. It’s just…”
“Just what, sweetheart?” he asked, trying to stay calm. Gideon was almost as pale as Suzanne seemed.
“I just…realized that this is actually happening.”
Brigden wasn’t quite certain how to respond to that. It didn’t help that Gideon seemed lost for words as well.
Suzanne shook her head as her eyes welled with tears. Brigden wanted to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything would be okay, but right at that moment he wasn’t certain that it ever would be. He had no idea what was happening right now. Less than an hour ago she’d seemed perfectly happy with the sudden changes in her life.
Thankfully Gideon put her down and she stepped into Brigden’s embrace, wrapping one arm around his waist as she reached for Gideon as well. Gideon held them both fiercely, his muscles shaking violently as he reacted with the same sort of emotions that seemed to be controlling Suzanne.
It took a little while for Brigden to realize that the sad feeling and fear for the future weren’t entirely all his.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said as he caressed her gently.
She half laughed as she sobbed against him, clinging to him as Gideon pulled them both even more tightly into his grip. Brigden moved one of his hands, caressing Gideon as well as he tried to understand what had happened.
All three of them stood there at the edge of her bed until Suzanne finally stopped crying and Gideon ceased shaking.
“I’m sorry, Brig,” Suzanne said as she moved out of the three-way embrace and scrubbed the tears from her cheeks. “It’s so silly. I haven’t enjoyed my life for a long time.” She took a deep, faltering breath and gave him a tiny smile. “The past twenty hours have sort of felt like a vacation—like I’ll have some fun and then go back to my real life. Having you both here in my house…” She hesitated, glancing at him and Gideon before shrugging.
“Just highlighted that you can’t ever go back to your old life, as boring and as unfulfilled as it was,” Brigden finished for her.
She shrugged again and nodded. “Stupid, I know. I can sense both yours and Gideon’s happiness at finally having a way to be together, even if you’re not really together. I suppose I got caught up in that without really considering what I might be losing.”
“What are you losing?” he asked. Everything she’d told him about her life so far had made the changes—even as dramatic and as unexpected as they were—sound like they were quite welcome.
She laughed softly. “That’s the thing. I’m gaining far more than I ever thought I would get. The part of me that is still human is worried
that I’m just imagining the feelings you both have for me. I can practically see myself making the same mistakes my mother made, rushing into relationships with men she barely knew only to get hurt over and over again.” Brigden shook his head, denying that he or Gideon would ever hurt her, but she held up her hand to stop him and gave him a very happy smile. “But the werewolf part”—she glanced at the purple hue on her arm—“knows that I can build a happy life with both of you.”
“So the crying?” Brigden asked, glancing at Gideon, worried at his lover’s reaction to Suzanne’s distress as well.
“Is just a silly human thing and something I plan to get over very quickly.”
“Good to know,” Brigden said, relief washing through him as Suzanne stepped back into his arms.
“Brig, I want you to claim me.”
“I will,” he said, still trying to process everything that had happened since they’d climbed out of the car. “When you’re ready.”
“I’m ready now,” she said, reaching up to press a kiss to his jaw. “I want everyone to know that I’m yours.”
Brigden glanced at Gideon, concerned by Suzanne’s choice of words, but their mate merely smiled and nodded in agreement. When Brigden didn’t move to do as they suggested, Gideon stepped closer and pressed a kiss to his lips. Suzanne tilted her head, offering her beautiful neck to him.
“Sweetheart, there’s no need to rush.”
“You don’t want to claim me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“More than anything,” he said quickly, anxious to reassure her on that fact, “but only a few moments ago you were crying at the sudden changes in your life.”
“I also acknowledged that there is no going back.” She framed his face with her hands, pulling him down so that he was staring into her eyes. “I want to go forward, not back.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Gideon said, his hand at the back of Brigden’s neck as he urged him closer to Suzanne’s throat. “I want this for you both. I want you to share this with each other.”