by Becca Van
She was vaguely aware of Luke shouting as he came, and not long after, Damian yelled as he, too, reached his peak. White, hot pain seared into her shoulders as her men bit into the crook of her neck and shoulders, claiming her. Stars formed in front of her eyes as more fluid dripped from her body, drenching her and Luke, and then she knew no more.
Chapter Eight
Melissa woke up and by the look of the sun, it was mid-morning. She realized she couldn’t have been asleep for much more than an hour or so. Her stomach rumbled reminding her that she was hungry since she hadn’t eaten breakfast earlier and that it was definitely time to eat. After showering and donning a T-shirt she found in one of the drawers in the bedroom, she followed her nose to the wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. She watched as Luke and Damian bustled about, preparing bacon and eggs.
She must have made a noise because Luke turned toward her and spoke. “Come on in, honey. Take a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, please,” Melissa answered as she took a seat at the table.
“How long have you guys lived here?” she asked after a few moments.
“All our lives. We were born and raised here,” Luke answered as he placed a mug of coffee in front of her on the table.
“Thanks.” Melissa sighed, inhaling the aroma of the coffee, then took a sip. “Do your parents live here?”
“Not anymore. They moved to a warmer climate about twelve months ago, but they come back for a visit every now and then,” Damian answered as he placed three plates heaped with bacon, eggs, and toast on the table.
“Eat, Mel, you’ve got to be hungry,” Luke said.
Melissa dug into her food. She was so hungry she didn’t say another word until she had eaten her fill. She thought about the morning activities, and how she was drawn to the two men. Just being near them had her libido reviving again.
What was it about these men that turned her on so much? She had been around handsome men before and hadn’t reacted to them beyond a second glance. So what made these two so different? They drew her like animals in the throes of heat. She just couldn’t explain it.
“Mel, we want you to move in with us. We’ll help you pack up your things so you won’t have to do it alone.” Damian glanced at Luke and then back to her.
“I want that, too. I really do, but don’t you think we should have a sort of a trial run before making such a big commitment?”
“Honey, we told you once you were mated to us that there would be no going back.”
Luke looked a little upset and Melissa felt guilty. It wasn’t that she wanted to back out, it was just that she was worried how Sara was going to react once she knew that she was now in essence married to two men, who also happened to be werewolves. She was hoping for a bit more time with her men before the outside world encroached on them. Maybe that was selfish of her, but she didn’t want to deal with any recriminations from her older sibling, either. Even though she was pretty sure Sara would be happy for her after she got over the shock of what Melissa was doing, she was pretty certain Sara would read her the riot act first. She knew she was being a coward, but she had looked up to Sara for so long she didn’t want to see disappointment in her sister’s eyes when she looked at her.
“I have some leave time owing to me, but I would really like to stay here with you at the moment. I’ll call work tomorrow and arrange for time off, and maybe in a week or so we can move my stuff.”
“What are you so worried about, baby?” Damian asked. “Talk to us, Mel.”
She didn’t know what to say without hurting them any more than she had, so she just shook her head, rose to her feet and left the room. She wandered outside and drew in air, and tried to get the turmoil in her brain under control.
Melissa came to a halt amongst the trees when she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. Turning quickly, she scanned the brush for human or animals. She saw the glow of bright green eyes staring at her. She stepped back slowly as a large wolf moved into the clearing.
“Oh my God,” Melissa muttered under her breath.
The wolf moved closer as Melissa walked backward, never taking her eyes from the animal.
“Nice doggie,” Melissa crooned to it. “Please don’t eat me. I don’t taste very nice. I promise.”
If she hadn’t been watching, Melissa would have missed the smile that crossed the wolf’s face. Even then, she wasn’t sure the wolf was smiling or snarling at her. Its eyes looked intelligent, almost human.
Hearing another sound behind her, she spun around quickly to see another two wolves walking toward her. One had a chocolate-brown coat and brown-flecked green eyes, and the other had a deep black coat and brown eyes. She whimpered with fear, adrenaline coursing through her system making her heart beat loudly in her ears.
The wolves came closer and closer until she was surrounded on all sides. Then she heard a terrible popping and cracking as two of the wolves’ spines began to lengthen. The fur covering their bodies receded. Their legs elongated as they began to lose their wolf form and became human. It took a few seconds for her to realize that Damian and Luke now stood before her, totally naked.
She didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until it was too late and she felt herself falling to the ground as darkness closed in around her.
Melissa awoke cradled in Damian’s arms on the sofa in their living room.
“What the hell were you trying to do, baby?” Damian frowned down at her. “You had us so worried.”
Melissa sat up and was glad when Damian let her. She met Luke’s concerned gaze before looking away.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why were you scared of us, sweetheart? Don’t you realize that we would do everything we could to protect you?”
Melissa pushed to her feet and began to pace. “I wasn’t really scared of you. I didn’t know it was you that was stalking me. You could have been real wolves for all I knew and there were three of you.” She took a calming breath when she realized her voice was escalating in pitch.
“You damn well were scared of us,” Damian snarled. “You even passed out, for fuck’s sake.”
“Damian, back off,” Luke snapped.
Melissa turned to face them and hoped she didn’t look as sheepish as she felt. “I was holding my breath and forgot.”
“What?” Damian frowned.
“Put yourself in my shoes for a minute. There I was in amongst the trees and see three huge wolves stalking me. Of course I was afraid, until you changed back into your human forms. But I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I was falling to the ground.”
The concerned expressions left their faces and even though she was a little embarrassed, she was glad to be able to relieve their concern.
Damian rose from the sofa and walked toward her. He took one of her hands in his and led her back to the couch. “Melissa, please talk to us, baby. Tell us what is worrying you.”
Melissa bit her lip in indecision. They had spent their time caring for her and loving her, hopefully they wouldn’t get upset her when she told them why she was hesitating about making a decision to move in with them.
Damian gently pulled her into his side when he sat down next to her. He encircled her shoulders with his arm, pulling her into the shelter of his big, warm, muscular body, and stroked her hair in a soothing manner, crooning to her until she relaxed against him as the tension inside receded.
Damian pulled back from Melissa slightly and ran his hands down her arms until he grasped her hands. Luke scooted across the sofa until his body was also touching hers.
“I’m worried what my sister will think,” Melissa blurted out.
“Tell us why,” Luke said.
Melissa told them her concerns and felt the rest of the tension she didn’t know she was holding onto dissipate. Now that she’d told them the truth, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“If you want more time here with us first before you move, then tha
t’s what you’ll have.” Luke kissed her temple.
“We want to make you happy, baby.” Damian squeezed her hand. “We’d give you the moon and the stars if we could.”
“Speaking of the moon…Since it’s not a full moon, I presume you can change whenever you like. Is that right?” Melissa asked.
“You are very perceptive, baby. We can make the change whenever we like. We don’t have to change when it’s a full moon. However, we do feel the pull of the moon when it’s at its zenith,” Damian explained.
Melissa was glad that her mates could control when and where they wanted to change. She’d seen a couple of horror movies as a young teenager which had werewolves in them and those wolves had killed when the pull of the moon couldn’t be ignored anymore, and the men had changed into gruesome versions of half man, half wolf. But her men were nothing like that when they shifted forms. Thank God.
Damian squeezed her hand to get her attention and she hoped she didn’t look too stupid as she thought back, but he wasn’t looking at her with concern so she figured she hadn’t.
“Please don’t try and run from us again, baby. We want you to talk to us, hash out any concerns you have,” Damian said.
“As long as that goes both ways,” Melissa said. “I don’t know any of the rules around here and I would hate to offend anyone by fucking up and getting you into trouble, let alone myself.”
“We’ll try, honey,” Luke said. “But you have to remember we are used to taking care of and protecting others. We have to make decisions on the spur of the moment sometimes and don’t have time to talk things through.”
“Okay, I think I can deal with that, as long as neither of you want to take over my life.”
“That’s the last thing we want, baby. I thought we already explained that to you?” Damian asked.
Melissa shrugged. She didn’t care if she was repeating herself. She wasn’t going to have her men making decisions for her. She was a grown woman and could decide what she wanted for herself. From what she’d learned of them so far, she knew they wouldn’t have any qualms about taking over and running her life, but by laying all their cards on the table first up, if the shit hit the fan and she gave them what-for for making unnecessary decisions for her, there couldn’t be any recourse for her or surprises. Hopefully, in theory, anyway.
She had so much information rattling around in her brain she felt a little overloaded, but she was sure she still didn’t know the half of what she should in regards to her werewolf mates. There was one question that was still niggling at her that she needed a full answer to. Melissa wasn’t sure if it was out of sheer curiosity or because she was a little afraid, but she needed to know one way or the other.
“I know you guys said that you were born werewolves and I wouldn’t go all furry if you claimed me, but is it possible for a werewolf to change a human to be the same as you?”
“Why do you ask, honey? Are you interested in becoming like us?” Luke asked.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but no, I don’t want to become a werewolf. I’m quite happy with the way I am. Just put it down to…curiosity.”
“If it was necessary for a werewolf to change his mate then she would need to drink the blood of all her mates.”
Melissa hoped the revulsion she was feeling didn’t show on her face but wasn’t sure she had pulled off a blank mask when Damian and Luke frowned at her. The thought of drinking blood turned her stomach. And even though she wasn’t sure she really wanted an answer to the next question rattling around in her brain, she found the words coming out of her mouth anyway.
“What would make such an event necessary?” Melissa didn’t realize her agitation was showing until her mates held her hands again to stop her wringing them in her lap.
“There isn’t any need to get upset, honey. We wouldn’t force you to become the same as us,” Luke said.
Damian gripped her hand a little firmer, as if trying to offer her comfort or a little strength to hear the answer to her question. “The only time a werewolf would ever give his mate his blood is if her life is in peril.”
“What Damian is trying to say is that we would only give you our blood if you were dying,” Luke clarified. “A werewolf can’t live without his mate and he will do anything to save his or her life.”
“Okay.” Melissa exhaled as the tension in her muscles eased. She was glad that werewolves weren’t changing humans willy-nilly, at the drop of a hat, just because they could. “Thank you for clearing that up.”
When she looked at Damian, he nodded and then lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Just as she turned to look at Luke, he sat up a little straighter, his eyes got this sort of glazed look, and he tilted his head. She glanced back at Damian again and saw the same expression on his face.
“What?” Melissa asked as the tension returned. “What’s going on?”
“One of the other Omegas thinks we’ve had a breach on the property. We need to go and investigate,” Damian said.
“How could you know that?”
“We can communicate with our pack members using our minds,” Luke said as he stood up. He tugged her to her feet and then kissed her lightly on the lips. “We can also talk to each other the same way.”
“Wow…that’s…just…wow.”
Damian gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. He took her mouth with hunger, but just as she started to respond—she’d been too surprised to react at first—he broke the kiss. He cupped her face in his hands and stared deeply into her eyes.
“I want you to go up to the main house. I’ve already contacted our Alpha and Betas. They are expecting you. I don’t want you here alone until we know what’s going on. Okay?”
“All right,” she answered. The words barely left her lips and her mates were guiding her to the door. Luke pointed to the main house through the trees and the pathway. Before she even had the chance to tell them to be careful, they were off. Her men disappeared amongst the trees and when she could no longer see them, she headed toward the main house.
Even though she was expected, she didn’t feel right just walking in, so when she arrived at the front door she knocked and was glad to see it was Tessa who answered.
“Lucien told me you were coming.” Tessa stepped back and beckoned her inside. “It will be nice having another woman to talk to. There are so few here and the testosterone can get a little overwhelming. Come on into the kitchen. I can introduce you to more of the pack.”
Melissa followed Tessa into the kitchen and was surprised by the huge room as well as the massive table, which was currently full of men. The talking stopped and every man seated at that table turned to look at her and Tessa. A least she hoped they were looking at Tessa, too. The looked like they were sniffing, too.
“Everyone, this is Melissa Wise, she is mate to Damian and Luke.”
The men all nodded their heads and smiled at her, so Melissa did the same.
“I won’t introduce you to everyone because there are too many of us to remember. They can all introduce themselves later, but for now I’d like you to meet Alice.” Tessa grabbed her hand and then pulled her into the kitchen section.
“Alice I would like you to meet Melissa, she is Damian and Luke’s mate. Melissa this is Alice, our wonderful cook and housekeeper,” Tessa introduced.
“Pleased to meet you, Melissa. My, you’re lovely,” Alice said with a smile.
“Hi Alice.” Melissa held out her hand and hoped she wasn’t making a muck of werewolf protocol, but Alice took her hand and shook it, the smile still on her face.
“Could we please have some coffee, Alice?”
“Certainly, my queen.”
Tessa rolled her eyes, but then led Melissa over to the large dining table. When they were both seated and Alice had supplied them with coffee and biscuits, Tessa began to speak.
“So, what have they told you?”
“Um, quite a bit, actually, but I’m sure there is a lot more I have to
learn,” Melissa replied. She was glad that she and Tessa were seated at the end of the table and no one seemed to be paying them any attention, and relaxed back in her chair.
“Okay, here is what I know,” Tessa said, and then continued on. “They seem to be compelled by their wolf to claim their mate the first time you have sex together. I don’t think their human side has a choice in the matter, although they put up quite a struggle to keep their wolves at bay, but eventually the urge to claim their mate becomes too strong and nature seems to take over for them.”
“Uh, okay.”
Tessa paused to take a sip of her coffee. “If you leave them, they will eventually die. They can’t live without their mate, it would be like having their heart ripped out. They don’t have to change when the moon is full.”
“Yes, they told me that.”
Tessa smiled at her. “Good. You will not turn into a werewolf just because they mate you, and when you get pregnant you have babies, not puppies.”
“Thank God for that,” Melissa muttered.
Melissa and Tessa turned toward Alice when they heard her snort of laughter.
“I had to find the last one out by asking when I became pregnant. I was terrified,” Tessa confessed as she placed her hand on the slight bump on her lower abdomen.
“You’re pregnant?” Melissa asked, and then she smiled and covered the hand Tessa had resting on the table and squeezed it.
“Yeah,” Tessa replied with a dreamy smile on her face.
“Congratulations.” Melissa was a bit envious at the look on Tessa’s face, but when she thought about her mates, she was sure she probably looked just as sappy. Her head came up at a sudden thought. “So if you’re married, mated, to the Alphas of the pack, that makes you queen. Why do you not like being called by your correct title?”
“Um, uh,” Tessa hedged and she looked uncomfortable.