“I’m so tired, Barrett.”
“Sleep, my Jade. I have you. I’ll always have you.”
His voice was deep and smooth, the timbre a pleasurable rumble that resonated through her body. This time as she let sleep claim her she was content in her belief that her men were there for her. As she allowed herself to open her heart she felt their love. They loved her.
* * * *
Wes followed Asher and Troy as their cats sprinted through the forest toward their parents’ home. He hated being away from Jade, but was strangely content knowing Barrett was there with her. It felt like he’d left a piece of himself there with her.
“I feel the same,” Troy said. He stopped beside Asher as they stood on the rocky outcrop above their parents’ property. The snow had blanketed the trees and paddocks in a covering of snow. The sky was filled with pale lavender snow clouds as the sun sat low on the horizon. It looked like a postcard, but to Wes, it would always be home.
“I think she’s going to cement a new bond between the four of us,” Asher said. He shook the snow from his coat as he leapt off the outcrop.
“Fuck.” Wes ran to the edge of the hundred-foot drop, expecting to see Asher plummeting to the rocks below. What he saw was just as startling.
“How the fuck did he do that?” Troy asked. Wes just moved his head from side to side, incapable of rational thought as his heart pounded painfully in his cougar’s chest.
“You just need to let your cat free to do what it does best.” Asher said.
He and Troy looked at each other. Troy’s cougar had his mouth open and Wes was certain his cat looked equally dumbfounded.
“He’s human,” Troy said. The statement clearly redundant as they were both looking at Asher climbing down the sheer rock face, his hands and feet finding holds that they couldn’t see from this angle.
“And yet he’s still talking to us,” Wes agreed.
Asher was waiting for them on the porch of their family home as they rounded the side of the two-story house. The smug bastard looked immaculately dressed in fatigues and a black T-shirt as he sipped a glass of iced tea and chatted with their parents.
“You better not have told them about Jade yet,” Troy said, a low rumble coming from his cat’s chest as his whiskers pulled back flat against his face.
“We had an agreement, Asher,” Wes added.
“Your distrust wounds me,” Asher said, as he smiled warmly at their mother. “I told you they wouldn’t be long.”
“It’s been two weeks since you all came over to see us. Where’s Barrett? Has Samson got him running some grueling obstacle course again?” their mother, Marguerite, said as she poured two more glasses of iced tea.
Their father, Brett, moved two piles of laundered and neatly folded clothes toward them. Their mother always kept a supply of clothes on hand in case company came calling in their fur, especially her four sons.
Wes shifted and quickly dressed, anxious to tell their parents they’d found their mate. Troy leaned beside him at the railing as all conversation stopped, their parents looking from Asher to them, and back again.
“They’re feeling anxious,” Wes said.
“Smells more like fear.” Asher intruded again on their twin link.
“When we find out what’s scaring our parents I want to know how long you’ve been able to hear our private conversations,” Troy said, glaring at Asher.
“Is it that bad?” Marguerite asked, her voice barely above a whisper as her normally dark complexion paled.
“How badly has Barrett been hurt?” Brett asked. “You all stink of blood and anger.”
“Mom. Dad,” Asher said in his best lawyer voice. “Barrett is fine. More than fine actually. We’re upset because someone dear to us has been badly hurt.”
“But it’s not Barrett,” Wes added before Asher could. He didn’t want their parents getting any more stressed. They’d come to tell them happy news.
“It’s fucking monumentally fantastic news we’ve come to share, Wes, not just happy,” Troy said, speaking out loud in his excitement.
Asher shook his head as Marguerite ran to the twins and embraced them. Troy had spoken out loud, not through their link.
“Your company won the International Business Award again? I told you, Brett. Our sons are geniuses.”
“Mom,” Wes said calmly. He placed his hands on his mother’s shoulders to stop her bouncing on the spot in her excitement. “We did actually, but this is even better news. Please listen while Asher explains.”
Marguerite looked puzzled, but Wes saw a smile spread across his dad’s face. Troy smiled widely and gestured for Asher to start talking.
An hour later Wes struggled to their father’s ute, his arms so loaded with clothes, linen, and cookware that he couldn’t see where he was going.
“This way, ‘gorgeous boy,’” Asher teased, tugging on his elbow and steering him in what Wes hoped was the right direction.
“Don’t start or I’ll tell Barrett what she called you.”
Asher just laughed. Their parents had been thrilled over their mating and had given them an amazing gift. Nothing could dampen his good mood.
“I can’t believe they’ve kept it a secret all these years,” Troy said. “Sorry.”
Troy ran right into Wes, being similarly blinded by several boxes of canned food.
“Should we take all this over to the house now, or wait until we can take Jade there?” Asher asked. “See it for the first time when we’re all together.”
Wes was surprised that Asher had such a soft and sentimental side. He was always so cool, analytical, and logical, it was easy to forget he had a heart as well.
“Mom says they haven’t been over to the old place for several years now,” Troy said. “It will need cleaning. I’d like it perfect when we carry Jade over the threshold.”
Wes put all the supplies in the bed of the truck and pulled out his cell phone. He sent a message to Barrett and had his reply by the time they’d arranged all the boxes of food in the truck.
“Barrett says to go and make it perfect. He doesn’t want Jade to have to do any cleaning when she gets there. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“We can’t even consider mating Jade until she’s healed,” Troy said. “But she’ll be in so much less pain if we mate her, and her injuries would heal in a matter of hours, not weeks.”
They were all silent, trying to find a solution when there really wasn’t one.
Wes’s phone vibrated and he saw Barrett had sent a photo message. Wes gazed at the image for several long seconds, letting it burn permanently onto his retinas. Their gorgeous mate was asleep on Barrett’s chest, a smile on her swollen and bruised lips.
He handed his phone to Asher, who stared at it silently for a few heartbeats, then passed it to Troy.
“We trust in our cats and the mating bond,” Asher said firmly. “Our cats have the instincts we need to care for our mate. They will know exactly what to do, and when to do it, we just have to listen to them.”
Wes could dispute that belief with the argument that the advances in technology and modern medicine were what they should rely on, but he didn’t. He’d seen his brother do some amazing feats in the last few months, the most amazing not two hours ago.
“We aren’t all as in tune with our cats as you, Asher. So we’ll follow your lead, brother.”
Asher smiled at him briefly and nodded. “Let’s go and get our new home ready for our mate. My cat’s sure we’re going to need it very soon.”
Chapter 7
A soft tap to the door had Troy instantly awake. He rose stiffly from the implement of torture the chair was disguised as and walked to the door. He scented both Dane and Hunter Fredrick on the other side.
“Is this official?” Asher asked. He moved to stand beside Troy, his expression severe.
A quick glance over his shoulder showed Troy the worried expressions on Wes’s and Barrett’s faces as their eyes glowed amber in the dim ligh
t of the room. Barrett still held a sleeping Jade on his chest, his arms a protective shield against the bad news Troy felt was coming.
“I’ll stay with her,” Wes said. “I’ll be listening.”
Dane and Hunter were looking serious, their anger clear in both their eyes and their scent. Troy and Asher moved out into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. Troy wanted Jade to get as much rest as she could.
“Seeing as the sun’s not up yet, I imagine you have news on Jade’s abuser,” Asher said, the lawyer front and center.
“Yes and no,” Dane said. “Finn is acquainted with the Alpha of the coyote pack in Duckwater. He contacted him yesterday to tell him what the wolf had done to Jade.”
“The Alpha is also the captain of the Tribal police,” Hunter said. “Elan Tsosie is a good man. Their pack is very solitary, they like to avoid local politics and generally keep themselves out of the spotlight.”
“Have they found the wolf who hurt Jade or not?” Troy’s anger was being fueled by the rage Wes was feeling and it was making his cat crazy.
Asher put his hand on Troy’s shoulder. “Just take a few breaths. Jade is with us now. We’ll protect her.”
“We had a rogue hunting Melanie when we first found her,” Dane said. “It got past me to take her.” Dane’s cat moved across his skin in a wave. “I understand what this feels like.”
Troy nodded as Hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. They both understood how hard this was for them.
“Elan and his pack enforcer, Mason, went to her apartment after Finn had contacted them. They could scent wolves as well as finding…”
Troy saw Hunter swallow as his scent of anger grew thicker. “The evidence of Jade’s captivity and abuse.” Troy finished for him as the growls from inside the exam room grew louder.
“Yes, but Elan said the interior of the apartment had been completely destroyed,” Hunter said.
“They weren’t happy when they returned to find Jade was no longer there,” Asher said.
Hunter nodded, his face going stony as he continued. “Elan called Finn first thing this morning. Mason found a body last night in the desert, about ten miles out of town. The native coyotes had been making a meal of it, but the victim was a local human who’d lived in Duckwater his entire life. Mason recognized his scent even though the murderer had gone to great lengths to make his victim unrecognizable. Mason also scented those same wolf shifters.”
“The victim owned the diner Jade worked at,” Asher said. It was a statement not a question, and it had Troy looking to his brother in surprise.
“Why would you even…” Troy stopped speaking as Hunter and Dane remained silent.
Barrett’s snarl of anger had Troy’s cat snarling inside his mind. He didn’t like that there was obviously more to this. Asher and Barrett seemed to understand, but Wes and Troy were completely in the dark.
“The wolf, Beau Rennie, is searching for Jade,” Asher said.
“That’s the conclusion we came to as well,” Hunter said.
“He’d have no reason to torture the human for information on her whereabouts if he didn’t intend to come for her,” Asher said. His brother’s cold-as-ice demeanor at war with Troy’s rising fury.
“Jade’s awake now if Hunter needs any further information on the wolf who hurt her,” Wes said.
“I think Barrett’s displeasure has woken Jade,” Troy said. “Do you need to talk to her about the wolf?”
“Elan has asked us to,” Hunter said.
Wes opened the door to the exam room, and Troy saw Barrett standing outside the door to the room’s bathroom. He was glaring at the door as though it had somehow offended him.
“She won’t let me help her,” Barrett mumbled. “What if she falls and hurts herself?”
Bethany and Jason walked down the corridor toward them, their baby boy asleep in Bethany’s arms.
“Of course she won’t,” Bethany said.
Handing the baby to Jason she took a bundle of clothes from under his arm and moved to stand beside Barrett.
“She’s not ready for you to see her naked.”
“Oh,” Barrett said, his expression softening as he took a step away from the door.
“Jade, my name’s Bethany. I’m Jason’s mate. He’s the doctor who’s been looking after you. I’ve brought some clothes for you to wear.”
Troy saw the door open a crack and Bethany smiled as she opened the door wider and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her.
“I think we should talk in the kitchen,” Jason said, rocking his baby in his arms. “Jade’s human. I’m not sure she’s strong enough for an interrogation right now.”
“I’m afraid I need to insist,” Hunter said. “We have reason to believe the wolf who hurt her is not ready to let her go. We need to be prepared.”
Hunter’s blunt summation of the danger to his mate had Troy losing the fight to stay in control of his cat’s rage. He shifted, roaring his fury. Jade had suffered too much already at the hands of a sadistic shifter. That she faced the prospect of him seeking to inflict further trauma, even just emotional, was too much for him to bear.
“This is what you’ve been training for,” Asher said. “What we’ve all been training for. We’re soldiers for the pride for this very reason. We protect the mates. All of them.”
That fact had become clear a few months ago when Morgan and Bethany’s father had tried to take them from their mates. But Troy hadn’t been protecting his own mate then.
“We’re strong now,” Wes said. “We can do this.”
They had to, because Troy wouldn’t live without her. He wouldn’t want to.
* * * *
Jade was shaking as she heard the snarls and growls of the men in the other room. This was crazy. She was crazy. She’d accepted the fact that there were shape shifters in the world and somehow also accepted that four men, cougars, had a claim on her. Not just because they’d told her this, but because she felt it. She felt it deep inside her. It was as though they’d always been there and life would no longer seem right if she wasn’t with them.
When did I turn into a clingy, dependent woman who couldn’t live without a man? Or men? Dammit, who does this? Falls in love in the space of one night.
One damned night of being in the arms of Barrett Pollock and she never again wanted to sleep without one of them holding her.
All of this raced through her mind as she debated letting the woman called Bethany into the bathroom with her. She wished Melanie were here. She’d felt like this was all normal when Melanie had been explaining it to her.
When she finally opened the door a crack she was surprised to see the face of a woman with creamy pale skin, long blonde hair, and a huge smile. The woman entered and quickly closed the door behind her.
“Hi, Jade, it’s so good to meet you.”
“Bethany?” Jade’s voice hitched as she suddenly felt completely overwhelmed by her pain, hurt, and confusion.
Bethany nodded and stepped forward to wrap her arms around her. Jade returned her embrace, as Bethany patted her back and whispered for her not to cry.
Jade didn’t know how long she cried, but when she stopped she found the catharsis of crying had left her exhausted, but her mood much lighter.
“Thank you, Bethany. I’m not usually prone to fits of crying, but…”
“It’s been a hell of a week,” Bethany finished. “I think you’re entitled to a few tears. Believe me, I understand. All of us mates do.”
“You’re mate to the doctor, Jason, you said?”
“Yes, Jason and his two brothers, Michael and Samson. I bet you’d love a bath right about now?”
Jade sighed and looked longingly at the small bath behind her. She’d been tied to that radiator for days and hadn’t had the opportunity to properly wash the filth off herself yet.
“I washed myself as best I could in the restroom of one of the bus stations. But I was so sore. I must stink.” She sudde
nly felt mortified that she’d slept all night on top of Barrett. She felt her face heat in embarrassment.
“I have a great sense of smell, so trust me when I say you’re fine. In fact, I know your mates all find your scent delicious.”
That did nothing to halt Jade’s blush.
A short few minutes later Jade was sighing as Bethany helped her to sit in the warm water and antiseptic-scented bubbles of the bath.
“Melanie, Peata, Jordanna, and my sister Morgan, we all found out shifters exist after we met our mates. It’s quite a shock, even without one having hurt you the way he did.”
“Melanie is so lovely. She found me, saved me really.” Jade saw Bethany’s face grow pale.
“She is. I love her like a sister. Peata and Jordanna, too. We have so much more in common than simply being mated to cougars in the same pride. We all had horrible things happen to us. Experienced so much pain before we could be with our wonderful husbands.”
The look on Bethany’s face showed true horror. “Maybe one day we can talk about it,” Jade said softly. “One day when it doesn’t hurt you so much.”
Bethany shuddered and her eyes changed from blue to lavender. A soft glowing lavender.
“I can’t wait for that day to come.” Bethany gave her a weak smile, her eyes fading back to their former pale blue.
“I just showed my cat, didn’t I?”
“You’re a shifter? Does marrying a shifter make you one?” Jade was unsure how she felt about that possibility. But she knew she didn’t want the four Pollock men to ever leave her. If that was what it took she just hoped it didn’t hurt.
“No,” Bethany laughed. “I didn’t know I was a shifter until my men told me I was.”
The water in the bath was cool by the time Bethany finished telling of her childhood in foster care, her years in a mental home, and her eventually finding out who and what she was when her madman of a father came to kidnap her and her newly discovered sister.
“Oh my God, and now you have a baby and three wonderful husbands,” Jade said. “Talk about a happy ending. That was the saddest thing I think I’ve ever heard.”
Jade [Eminence Shifters 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 6