by Jane Jamison
“I know this may come as a shock, but let me explain something first.” Brandon leaned closer, taking her hand in his. “We love you. We have from the first moment we met you.”
She let out a breath, only now realizing that she had held it. “I–I don’t understand how or when it happened, but I love you, too. All of you.” The tingling sensation she always got whenever they were around her grew strong. She bit her lower lip, wanting to do the same to Brandon’s.
She’d never seen Brandon smile so big before. “You’ve felt the connection, the pull between us, right? That energy you felt, that you’re feeling even now. That we’re getting, too. That means we belong together. Fate brought us together, but you have to choose to stay with us. After you know what we are.”
“What you are?” Her heart picked up speed. Did she already know?
“Whatever you do, please know that we won’t hurt you. Please, just stay where you are.” Brandon and DJ stood up and started disrobing.
“Guys, what’s going on?”
The men were already naked when Joe came through the back door. “Miss Heather, are you all right?”
Everyone froze, including Joe. Slowly, Joe moved closer to the men. “Miss Heather, are these men…I mean, do you want them here? I know what I said before, but I need to make sure you’re all right.”
“We were about to show her what we are.”
Joe darted his attention from them to her. “Do you want to know?”
She swallowed hard. “I think I already might. But I have to see it to believe it.”
“Wait a minute. You know?” DJ covered his crotch and glared at Joe. “And you know, too?”
Heather answered first. “My mother told me stories about werewolves. She said she believed they were real, but I wasn’t sure what to think. At least not until I saw the wolf that jumped on top of Duke’s car. I think after that, it started to sink in.”
Joe pivoted and faced her, putting his back to the men. “Did she ever tell you about us? About our relationship?”
“Your relationship? I know that you cared for her. But what does that have to do with the existence of werewolves?”
Moisture formed in the corners of his eyes. “I did more than care for her. I loved her. She was the married woman I told you about.”
Heather gripped the end of the couch. “Are you saying you had an affair with my mother?”
“No. She was too honorable for that. But she was my world. She was my intended mate, but by the time I’d found her, she’d already married your father and given birth to you. I asked her to leave him, but she refused.”
“She was your intended mate?” Heather stared at her as she grappled with what he meant.
“Then you’re pack?” Rick covered his crotch with his shirt, as did Brandon.
Her mind spun. Her mother and Joe? And Joe was a werewolf? What other secrets were there?
“I hope you’ll forgive me for not telling you, but that’s how your mother wanted it.”
Then her mother had known what Joe was and she’d kept his secret. “She knew and she cared about you anyway.” But had her mother loved Joe more than she’d loved her father? “Wait. That’s why you told me to accept love in whatever form it came in, isn’t it?”
“Yes, miss. Can you do that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to try.” She put her head in her hands and tried to let the startling information sink in. The men remained quiet until Joe broke the silence.
“Now that I know you’re all right, I’ll leave you with your friends. If you ever need me, you know to call, right?”
She nodded, glanced at him, and watched him retrace his steps to the back door. Turning back to the brothers, she drew in a long breath. “I’m not going to totally believe this until I can see it with my own eyes. Show me what you are.”
Almost as if they’d been holding back and were finally free to change, they began moving, their bodies blurring as limbs broke and re-formed. Stunned, yet incapable of turning away, she watched as they fell to the floor, their bodies writhing.
Were they in pain? How could they not be when the sound of their transformation was so terrible?
Claws sprang from their fingertips even as their hands shortened and widened. The handsome faces she loved so much grew longer, narrower, until nothing of their human expression remained. Fur flowed over their skin like a grass fire over the plains. Ears lengthened and tails sprouted from their buttocks. Within what could’ve been only a few minutes or a lifetime, the men she was prepared to devote the rest of her life to were no longer men.
Three large werewolves stretched, twisting their heads back and forth, and shook their bodies. But when three sets of glowing amber eyes fixed on her, she had to fight not to run.
The largest one, the wolf that had jumped onto the car, stepped closer. Within a foot of her, he stopped, his ears pricked forward, his tail held high.
“Brandon?” She wasn’t sure why she’d asked. She’d seen him change.
The amber eyes still glowed, but they also held an intelligence, a spark that she would’ve recognized anywhere. “It’s you.” She reached out and slid her palm along his muzzle.
The two other werewolves, sensing that she wouldn’t run, padded closer. Before she knew it, all three werewolves pushed against her body, urging her to scratch behind their ears. She laughed, amazed and thrilled.
She hugged them close until she felt their bodies change yet again. The men were morphing back into their human forms. Once they had, DJ and Rick sat on either side of her while Brandon knelt before her.
“Well, now that you’ve seen us, can you accept what we are, Heather?”
Could she? Could she live with men who could change into animals? Yet, she couldn’t imagine a world without them. Joe was right. She wanted them in whatever form they held. “I can. But what about me? How can a werewolf and a human make a life together?”
Rick skimmed his hand along her back. “As long as you accept what we are, we can live together with you staying as a human or, if you want, we can change you and make you one of us.”
She spoke her answer almost before she realized what that answer was. “Change me. Here and now.”
“Are you sure? Don’t you want to think about it first?”
DJ growled at Brandon, making her laugh. “No, I don’t need to. I’m used to listening to my gut and it’s telling me that I belong with you. But if I stay with you and become your mate, I still want to continue my work. There are so many people who need a lawyer but just can’t afford one. I won’t bring much money in, so if that’s not acceptable—”
“Don’t worry about money. We want you to be happy. Whatever you want to do is fine with us.” Rick took her hand. “And if you want children, that’s a possibility, too.”
“Would they be born as werewolves?” What would it be like to raise children who could change the way they looked?
“Sometimes. There’s no way of knowing until they’re born.” Brandon slid his hands along her legs. “Do you still want this? You need to be sure. Once it’s done, there’s no turning back.”
“I’m sure.” She drew in a ragged breath but knew she’d made the right decision. “Tell me what to do.”
Brandon glanced at the curtains. The light was fading and night would come soon enough. “Get undressed. We have to bite you to change you. It’ll take a day or two for you to recover, but we’ll be right here by your side the entire time.”
She stood and walked to the window. With her heart filling with joy, she took off her clothes then turned and faced them. “Okay. I’m ready. Make me yours.”
Epilogue
Heather couldn’t remember much about the past two days. The last thing she recalled was the pain of having three sets of fangs digging into her skin. The agony had swept through her as a heat greater than she’d ever experienced and seared through her blood. Soon after, blackness overtook her.
She’d come in and out of consciousne
ss, the pain traveling along her neck and down into her arm. But each time she came to, the men, her men were there, comforting her with their touch and their words. When she’d awakened, the sun was setting in the sky as it had been the day they’d changed her from human to werewolf.
The transformation wasn’t as painful as she’d assumed. She’d changed in the living room with her mates surrounding her. After dropping to her hands and knees, she’d suffered through the contortions, keeping her gaze on them as they gave her silent support. At last, the world had changed to an amber-filled view and she’d made it through to the end, morphing from her human body into her werewolf form.
Brandon pushed his nose against her flank, urging her to follow them. Jumping off the porch, he led them into the valley, past the lake where she’d met DJ and Rick, then into the trees.
Running with her mates sent her spirit flying. She’d never felt as strong or as free as she did when she was answering her inner wolf’s call. They tussled together, rolling over each other, nipping at the others’ paws, then dashing away to run again.
DJ took over the lead until she caught up with him. She was a golden werewolf among the three dark ones.
She circled back, not to lead them to the house that she shared with them but to take them to the place that was closest to her heart. Bursting out of the trees, she slowed her pace then padded over to stand in front of the simple headstone.
The men came up behind her and lowered their heads then put their bellies on the ground in a sign of respect. She edged closer to her mother’s grave and touched the grass covering it with the tip of her nose. Fresh yellow tulips, no doubt left by Joe, rested on top of the stone.
Sitting on her haunches, she studied the grave that was now enveloped in an amber haze. Joe had assured her that her mother would’ve wanted her to be happy. Even if that meant changing into a werewolf.
The pain of missing her mother still hurt, and she whimpered, voicing that ache the only way she knew how. Quietly, Brandon, DJ, and Rick came to stand beside her. Brandon pushed at her, gaining her attention.
He jerked his head up not once but twice, telling her what to do. Together, Heather and her werewolf lovers lifted their faces to the sky and howled.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Jamison has always liked “weird stuff” as her mother called it. From an early age she was fascinated with stories about werewolves, vampires, space, aliens, and whatever was hiding in her bedroom closet. (To this day, she still swears she can hear growls and moans whenever the lights are out.)
Born under the sign of Scorpio meant Jane was destined to be very sensual. Some would say she was (and remains) down right sexual. Then one day she put her two favorite things together on paper and found her life’s true ambition: to be an erotica paranormal romance author.
Jane spends at least six days a week locked in her office surrounded by the characters she loves. Every day a new character will knock on the door of her imagination. Her plans include taking care of her loving husband, traveling, and writing at least twelve books a year.
For all titles by Jane Jamison, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/jane-jamison
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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