“I’m confused more than anything.” She stood taller, pulling her shoulders back. “I want you to know I won’t do anything to intentionally hurt your son.”
“Of course not, dear. We all know that.”
“If I thought there was a better option than staying with Reid, I would jump on it in a heartbeat. But this is what Nolan wants, so I’m going to stay there. In his mind, this is the lesser of the evils, so to speak. He’s afraid my presence in your home is worse than me leaving, and he wasn’t willing to budge on the idea of me finding another place to live with a random roommate. Hopefully this trial won’t take long to get to court, and the three of us will be free to figure out what the Universe is suggesting.”
“We’re here for you,” Oleta said. She twisted around to face Reid. “Both of you. I don’t have the answers, but I know you’ll make the right choices. When the time is right, you’ll know.”
Reid hoped Oleta was right. At the moment it seemed hard to believe since the time was right now, and they did know. What they knew didn’t make a bit of sense though. How could one person belong to two mates?
It was impossible for Reid to fully grasp. Every time he forced himself to think about their predicament, all he could come up with was that Adriana was mistaken. Reid was certain she was his. He knew it to the bottom of his soul. But then he took one look at Nolan and knew his best friend felt the exact same way. He’d seen it in his eyes when they first arrived, and the sentiment was confirmed the moment Reid came back up to the suite.
And then there was Adriana. She was the link. He had to believe her when she said she felt the same pull toward both of them. Who would make something like that up?
The answer wouldn’t be found in one of them mistaking their instinct. It was something bigger. Something bigger than any of the three of them could possibly fathom yet.
Reid knew one thing—patience was his only option. He needed to focus his energy on keeping Adriana safe and let time sort this insanity out for them. He had to believe eventually something would happen to solidify who was truly meant to bind to Adriana. Either she would realize it definitively one day, or one of the two men would lose the strong connection.
Was either of those scenarios possible?
He had to believe so in order to get out of bed each morning and face the day.
Stanton pushed from the table and headed for the kitchen counter about five seconds before the home phone rang. He returned with it in his hand. “It’s Nolan. He wants us to put him on speaker.” After connecting the call, he set it on the table. “Hey, son. We’re all in the room. Your mom, Reid, and Adriana.”
“Good. I wanted to update you. The police stopped by to let me know they picked up my client. When we hang up, turn on your television. It will be all over the news.”
“That big?” Stanton asked.
Reid stiffened, setting his elbows on the table as Oleta and Adriana came closer.
“Huge. I have to admit, I didn’t grasp the enormity of this case. When I went to the police yesterday with my findings, I thought I was turning in some random guy laundering a bit of money. Apparently, it’s much bigger. The name my client has been using with me was an alias. The police knew the name. A red flag went up. His dealings with me were the last in a series of events that finally gave the police enough evidence to arrest. His real name is Stephen Rimouski.”
“I’ve heard the name,” Reid said.
“Not surprising. He owns a lot of property north of here and many other businesses and high-rises under other aliases. Not going to get into the details, but now I see why the police yanked me into witness protection yesterday.”
Oleta lowered herself back into the seat she’d vacated minutes ago. “Why do the police think your life is in danger?”
“Arresting Rimouski isn’t good enough. A lot of people work for him that wouldn’t want to see him convicted. They’ll do anything to ensure he’s acquitted.”
Reid sucked in a breath. “Including eliminating anyone set to testify.”
“Exactly.”
Adriana had inched closer to the table, and she set a hand firmly on Reid’s shoulder, squeezing. He reached across his body and set his palm on top of her fingers, though he doubted the gesture would be reassuring. He wasn’t sure she even realized she was leaning on him for support.
Stanton cleared his throat. “I think we need to alert the Arcadian Council.”
“Yeah.” Nolan sighed. “That thought crossed my mind. So far I’m not aware of any shifters being involved. If I’d run into even one officer working on the case who was grizzly, I would have let him or her handle it, but I haven’t. Better to keep the council informed. Just in case.”
Adriana swallowed her nerves. This was serious. The Arcadian Council was their governing body. They operated out of the Northwest Territories. She hadn’t met any of the forty members, but she was aware they could and should be called into any crisis situation. If things got hairy, they might be able to step in. In most instances, the council didn’t like to interfere in human affairs unless it was absolutely necessary. Considering the seriousness in this case, she agreed. But the thought of taking that step made things even more real. And scary.
“I’ll make some calls,” Stanton responded.
“Thanks. Anyway, I’m not going to be able to keep using this phone. Too risky. The police will move me later today and give me a burner phone. Dad, I can keep in touch with you and Mom, thank God. Reaching out to Reid and Adriana is going to be more difficult. I won’t tell any of you where I am, and you won’t be able to call me.”
Stanton flattened his hands on the table, spreading his fingers. “Anything you need me to pass on to Reid and Adriana at any time, you let me know.”
“I will, Dad. Love you all.” There was a hitch in Nolan’s voice that Reid had never heard in all the years they’d been friends.
“Can you take me off speaker and let me speak to Reid for a minute?”
“Of course.” Stanton grabbed the phone and tapped the screen before handing it to Reid.
Reid’s body was trembling as he held it to his ear.
Stanton and Oleta quietly went out the back door to sit on the deck.
Adriana leaned her face in and pointed to the hallway, mouthing that she was going to finish packing. He doubted she had anything more to pack but nodded all the same. It was possible Nolan would say things to Reid that were better kept from Adriana for the time being. Not that Reid had any intention of keeping secrets from her, but some things might require a bit of finesse.
“I’m here,” Reid finally stated into the phone.
Nolan sighed. “This is the biggest clusterfuck of my life.”
“Agreed.” Reid tried to chuckle, but it came out choked.
“Listen, I’m going to forward Detective Carl Schaefer’s information. He’s in charge of this case. If anything happens, call him.”
“Okay.” Reid took a breath. He’d never heard Nolan sounding so serious.
“I need you to promise me something,” Nolan continued.
Reid shook his head even though Nolan couldn’t see him. “You know I’d do anything for you. You know I’ll keep her safe. I’ll guard her with my life. You don’t even have to ask because she means as much to me as she does to you.”
“Reid,” Nolan interrupted.
Reid halted his rant, his ears ringing. He knew what his friend was going to say.
“She’s not safe as long as she isn’t bound to someone.”
“She’s safe enough. She doesn’t need to be bound to anyone as long as I don’t let her out of my sight.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“Of course I can.”
“You going to go to class with her?”
“Yes. Sure. If that’s what it takes.”
Nolan sighed. “Listen to me.”
“No. Don’t say it. We’ll get through this. Pretend we’re human and she’s dating two men. People do that. As long a
s neither of us is having sex with her, she can date whoever she wants. There’s no verbal commitment.”
“You’re rambling, and you aren’t making any sense.”
“I’m not going to bind to Adriana so you can martyr yourself. It’s not fair to any of us. We’ll wait and see.”
Another sigh. “Okay, how about this, if there’s ever evidence of clear and present danger, then you do it. Do it to protect her. Do it to keep her alive. Don’t let someone take her and leave her vulnerable because you were too stubborn to bind to her. You’ll hate yourself later. All the posturing will be for naught if she’s kidnapped or something and has no way to reach out to either of us. Promise me.”
Reid rubbed his temples with his free hand. “Okay.” He had no intention of binding to Adriana while Nolan was in hiding. It wasn’t fair. It would take away her free will. She couldn’t make informed choices if she only “dated” one of them and had occasional phone conversations with the other. And hell, “dated” was an inappropriate term for what they were about to do—live together.
Reid also recognized the gravity of the situation. He understood where Nolan was coming from. It would give him comfort to know that in a crisis Reid wouldn’t leave her vulnerable. And he was right. Reid never intended to be put in that position, but he would promise his friend anything that would give him peace of mind. “You know I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Even if you have to bind to her to ensure her safety.”
“Even then.” I just won’t let it come to that.
“Thank you. I’ll sleep better knowing she’s in good hands.” He paused, catching his breath. “Can I speak to her?”
“Of course.” Reid pushed from the table. “Give me a second.” He lowered the phone to his side and headed down the hall.
Adriana was sitting on Nolan’s bed in his childhood room. She lifted her gaze as Reid held out the phone. “Your turn.” He smiled as warmly as he could and then left so she could speak to her other mate, shutting the door behind him as he returned to the front of the house.
Her other mate…
Fuck.
Chapter Eight
Adriana put the phone to her ear. “Hey.” She fell back against the bed.
“Hey.” His voice. Damn. All she needed was to hear his voice about once a day to be reminded what they had.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” He sounded anything but okay.
“When are they going to move you?”
“Not sure. In a few hours, I think.”
“Will you still be in Calgary?”
“Don’t know that either.”
“I’ll be fine. I don’t want you to worry about me.”
“Be smart. Please. I know you like to assert yourself and be all self-sufficient, but this is serious.”
“I’ll be fine, Nolan. The guy doesn’t even know I exist. You worry about lying low and keeping yourself alive.”
“I’d worry less if you would bind yourself to Reid and move on with your life.”
“We’re not discussing this again. No one is binding to anyone while you wait for this trial.”
“It could take months.”
“Then we wait months.”
He exhaled sharply. “I hate this.”
“You and me both.”
“I’ll call you when I have an opportunity.”
“Okay.”
“Bye, Adriana.” He ended the call before she could speak again, leaving her name as the last thing she heard from him. So much feeling came out in that one word. She’d never heard her name from anyone’s lips with so much emotion in it.
Nolan Osborn, you better come back to me.
Heaving herself off the bed, she joined the others in the living room. “I’m ready to go.”
Reid stood from the couch and crossed the room. He picked up her backpack from the kitchen floor. Her suitcases were already missing from the hallway. He must have put them in the car while she’d spoken to Nolan.
This was the craziest thing she’d done in her life. Crazier than quitting her job at the brewery just months after finishing her degree to move to Calgary. Which reminded her that she needed to reach out to her parents. What was she going to tell them?
She gave Oleta a hug and followed Reid outside. “I’ll follow you in my car.” She pointed to her cherry red Honda Accord.
He shook his head. “Leave it for now. We’ll get it later.”
“Why?” She didn’t want to put herself in a situation where she relied on him.
He opened the door to his SUV and turned to look at her. “I’m stressed and tired right now. I just want you in my SUV. We’ll figure out your car another day.”
She nodded and climbed inside, equally stressed and tired. He was right. It would only add to their tension if he had to worry about her following him. And she wasn’t sure she had enough brain cells to avoid an accident. It didn’t escape her notice that both Reid and Nolan had a bossy side that might push her over the edge, given enough time.
As soon as he had her settled in the front seat, he rounded the hood. Those were the last few seconds she would have without his constant potent scent smothering her. Tempting her. Taunting her.
Sure enough, as soon as he climbed into the SUV and shut the door, she inhaled nothing but Reid. Potent. Her mate.
One of them anyway.
“Have you communicated with your parents?” he asked as he started the engine.
Was he a mind reader?
She almost chuckled. Yes. He was a mind reader. And chances were she was doing a piss-poor job of blocking him completely. Even if she hadn’t specifically communicated her last few thoughts with him, he could pick up on the gist of her concerns if he tried to delve into her mind.
“Not yet. I can’t imagine what I’m going to say.”
“Will Alton tell them? I mean at least about Nolan. He was here last night. He knows, right?”
“Yes. I don’t think he would share my secrets. He’ll let me handle it. Besides, if he’d told them anything, they would have reached out to me themselves by now.”
“Good point.” Reid drove.
Adriana worried. He didn’t say anything, but he had to be thinking the same things she was thinking. How was this going to work? The connection between them was already so palpable she couldn’t imagine how they could avoid binding. It would be a challenge to get through the drive to his condo, the evening in his home, the night… But weeks or months?
She shuddered and closed her eyes, trying not to pay attention to what happened to her body every time she inhaled. She wrapped her arms around her middle, totally aware of the pressure against her bra from her swollen nipples and the throbbing of her sex against her jeans.
All her life she’d heard people speak about what happened when two grizzlies met and completed the binding. Few people told stories that matched what she’d experienced in the last twenty-four hours—even half of what she’d experienced to be precise. Most shifters dated and got to know each other and fell in love and decided to bind.
The binding could be powerful. Or perhaps it always was. No matter how close the couple was before the binding, they would be united so tightly afterward that separation was inconceivable. Grizzly shifters didn’t have breakups. They didn’t usually marry in the traditional sense unless they decided to do so for the purpose of fitting into human society, but their connections were stronger than humans. Divorce or any type of separation was unheard of.
Lately, relationships between grizzlies had been crazy weird though. People had been meeting and knowing instantly more and more often. She’d been skeptical, until yesterday. Now she understood what her brother had insinuated he felt for Joselyn. And then there was Paige and Wyatt. Now she got it. But none of them had met two people.
She really needed help figuring this out.
Half the reason she was reluctant to contact her parents was because she was embarrassed, as if something was wrong with her
for feeling a connection to two people. What would people say? Was she some horny crazy woman who was being punished for some unknown transgression?
What did she do to deserve this?
Or maybe the fact that she hadn’t given herself to any man was exacerbating the draw toward more than one man. Though that seemed ludicrous since it could have happened at any point. Why now?
“Adriana?”
She startled, realizing the car was no longer moving. Reid grabbed her hand. It was kind of dark. She glanced around to find them in a garage. “Guess I spaced.” She hadn’t paid attention to anything as he drove. She had no idea where they were in relation to the university or the city or the suburbs. Lord.
He smiled. “You were a million miles away. I wasn’t sure if you were sleeping or worrying.”
“I was inside my head.”
He gave her hand a squeeze and exited the SUV.
She opened her door and climbed down to follow him toward the rear of the SUV. She looked around outside. His was an end unit in a row of four condos. While he grabbed her suitcases, she picked up her backpack and put it over her shoulder. She followed him to the back of the garage and into a downstairs media room where he turned to punch several buttons on an alarm pad before they climbed the stairs to the main level. She wasn’t surprised he owned a fancy security system, considering he was in the business of keeping people safe.
The main floor was bright and spacious. Inviting. “Nice.” She set her bag down in the open kitchen area and draped her coat over a chair while Reid put her suitcases next to the stairs. “How old is this? It looks brand new.”
“About a year. I’m the original owner. I even got to pick out the colors, appliances, tile, paint, everything.” He approached her and grabbed her hand. “Come on. I’ll give you a tour.”
She threaded her fingers with his, more aware of the electric current running between them than the surroundings. It was difficult to focus on his condo with him touching her. And it was going to be nearly impossible with his scent all over the place. It filled her lungs with every inhale.
Yeah, this was a bad idea. Horrible.
Grizzly Perfection_A Paranormal Shifter Menage Romance Page 8