by Becca Van
“Didn’t that scare you?” Jaimie asked.
“Hell yes it did, but the draw was too strong to resist. You need to give them a chance, Jaimie. They love you and will never, ever stray. If you mate with them, the bond you share with your men is unbreakable. Death is the only way to break it. I love my guys so damn much and wouldn’t want to be without them. Don’t get me wrong, we have our ups and downs since no relationship is perfect, but they’re worth every single struggle you’ll face. They will and would treat you like you’re the most precious person alive because to them you are. Yes, they’re all overbearing but not because they’re dictators. They protective sometimes to the point of being smothering, but I wouldn’t change a single thing about my guys if I could. They’re my heart and soul and I’m theirs.”
Jaimie shook her head. “I’m scared.”
* * * *
Beckett sucked in a breath of self-disgust when he heard Jaimie say she was scared. He and his brothers had been standing on the front porch beside the living room window from almost the start of Elsa and Jaimie’s conversation. It was his fault she was hurting and scared right now. If he hadn’t almost lost control of his tiger, causing him and his brothers to argue, she wouldn’t have left.
If she ever deigned to forgive him for fucking up so badly, he’d do anything and everything to make sure she felt loved and happy, but if he was in her shoes, he wasn’t sure he’d give a person who’d frightened and hurt him another chance.
“What are you scared of, Jaimie?” Elsa asked.
Beckett was staring at Preston, and while the Kodiak bear shifter looked pissed, he didn’t really care. All he cared about was his mate. Maybe if he apologized she’d go back home with them where she belonged.
“That they’ll get hurt.” Jaimie’s reply was so soft even he had to strain to hear her.
“Why do you think they’ll get hurt?”
“Because I’ve been targeted by a crazy man.”
A low rumble built in his chest, working its way toward his mouth. Beckett didn’t even realize he’d taken a couple of steps toward the front door until Preston grasped his shoulder to hold him back. The other man shook his head at all three of them as he pointed to Daire and Crispin, one after the other. When he had their attention, he placed a finger over his lips to keep them quiet. It looked like you could take the man out of the feds but couldn’t take the feds out of the man. Preston was no doubt gathering information for when he contacted a fellow FBI agent to help.
“Shit!” Elsa snapped before saying in a calmer voice. “Most of the women in this town ended up here because they were in danger for one reason or another. You couldn’t have picked a better place to land. The guys aren’t just shifters, Jaimie. They’re also retired Marines and in my mates’ case, retired FBI agents, as well. They will band together to keep you safe no matter the cost to them.”
“But I don’t want that,” Jaimie cried out. “I had to leave Natchez for the very same reason. The asshole was leaving threatening notes on my car and on my desk at the hospital. When I found one on my kitchen counter, that was the last straw. I knew I had to leave. He threatened to kill everyone I worked with. I couldn’t stay. I didn’t want to be the reason innocent people lost their lives.”
“Did you go to the police?” Elsa asked.
“Of course, I did.”
Beckett peeked in the window to see Jaimie pressing her fingers into her eye as if trying to relieve a headache and or tension. His heart clenched. She looked so small and fragile, but she also looked defeated. If he hadn’t wanted to hear the rest of her story, he would have rushed inside, scooped her up into his arms and held her tight. He wasn’t sure if that was for her benefit or his. Maybe both. He wanted nothing more than to embrace her and make sure she was all right, but he’d have to apologize first.
“They even dusted the envelope and letter for prints, but there was nothing.”
“Do you know who has it in for you? A disgruntled boyfriend or maybe someone you worked with?”
“No. I’ve never really dated anyone. I have no idea who’s targeting me or why. All I know is the bastard has to be off his tree insane. He’s out for revenge. He thinks I killed his son. He has to have me mixed up with someone else.”
“Not necessarily.”
“What!”
“Wait!” Elsa said. “Let me explain before you get pissed.”
“Okay.”
“Where did you work?”
“The Promise Hospital of Miss Lou in Natchez, Louisiana.”
“And your role there?”
“I was a triage nurse in the emergency department.”
“This is a hard question to ask and probably even harder for you to answer, but did you ever lose patients?”
“Of course, we did—oh shit. You think that this is a grieving family member out for revenge.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“What the hell am I going to do?”
Beckett moved as soon as he heard Jaimie’s tortured “Oh shit.” Daire, Crispin, and Preston were right on his heels.
He didn’t care if she never spoke to him again, but after hearing the threat against her, there was no fucking chance he was leaving her on her own again. He and his brothers needed to protect her to keep her safe.
If that meant giving his life to do so, so be it.
Chapter Eight
Crispin stood back, letting his two older brothers get to Jaimie first. They needed to apologize, and once they were done, it would be his turn. He eyed her up and down, grinding his teeth when he saw how pale she was and smelled how much pain she was in.
His ears pricked when he heard a truck coming up the road, and he hoped like hell it was Dr. Broden Higgins. Crispin needed to know that his mate was going to be okay. After Broden had examined her, he wished that he and his brothers could talk her into coming back home with them. She was going to need their help while she healed.
Beckett sank to his knees beside the sofa, took her hand in his, and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for scaring you, baby. We didn’t mean to upset you when we started in at each other. Crispin and Daire were worried I was about to claim you without your consent. While I trust that isn’t the case, I’m not totally sure it’s true. I didn’t even notice my claws were out or that my tiger was so close to the surface.”
“I—”
“I haven’t finished,” Beckett interrupted. “Being shifters, when we meet our mate we tend to become more aggressive the more time we spend in her presence. We saw this happen with the others, and while it’s no excuse, we should have realized what was going on. Please, forgive me, baby?”
“I’m sorry, too,” Daire said as he sat on the sofa next to her hip. He cupped her cheek since he couldn’t hold her injured hand. “Even though we didn’t know why we were feeling antsy, we should never have gone at each other’s throats in front of you. Will you please forgive us?”
Jaimie sighed, licked her lips, and glanced over at Crispin before looking at Beckett and Daire again. She nodded. “Okay, I forgive you.”
“Thank fuck!” Beckett lowered his head, resting it on Jaimie’s shoulder. She surprised Crispin when she threaded her fingers into his brother’s hair, massaging his scalp. Jealousy tried to rear its ugly little green head, but he quickly quashed it. He wasn’t really envious of his brother per se, but he wanted Jaimie’s hands on his body more than anything else in the world. Nonetheless, he was going to have to be patient and go at her pace. Usually, he was the most patient out of all three of them, but his calmness had blown out the window the second their mate had entered their lives.
He just hoped that the more time she spent with them, the more she liked them and the more time she’d want to be with them.
His ultimate hope was that she agreed to be their mate, but after their fuck-up, he wasn’t about to hold his breath.
Beckett lifted his head from Jaimie’s shoulder, kissing her on the neck before moving aside to g
“Thank you for giving us another chance, sweet thing. I promise we’ll try to curb our aggressive tendencies.”
“Okay, but I-I don’t want to change y’all.” She licked her lips, nervously glancing from one to the other and back again. “I like you just as you are.”
“Do you mean that?” Crispin asked hoarsely as hope surged into his heart.
She nodded. “I do.”
“You’re so fucking amazing.” Daire threaded his fingers with hers before raising her hand and kissing the back of it.
Jaimie didn’t say anything, but Crispin could tell she didn’t think she was anything special. It was up to him and his brothers to convince her of how special she really was. She was a miracle sent to them by the fates. She was the love of his life, the very air he breathed, and he was going to do everything he could to make her happy.
He just hoped that she agreed to come back home with them.
It would shatter his heart if she refused.
* * * *
Daire saw the skeptical look in her eyes and knew she didn’t believe him. He released her hand, reaching up to cup her cheeks between his palms before resting his forehead against hers. She smelled so fucking sweet. The floral scent of her perfume or body wash was entrenched on his soul as was the musky aroma of her wet pussy. He swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth and pushed his carnal thoughts aside after imagining burying his head between her legs.
“You are amazing, sweet thing. Not many people would give someone a second chance after they’d been hurt. Including myself. I thank fuck you’ve got such a big heart.” Daire didn’t give her a chance to respond but kissed her lightly, lingeringly on the lips.
He shifted away when he heard Broden clearing his throat, and with a sigh of reluctant resignation, shoved to his feet to give the doc room to get closer to his woman. He crossed his arms over his chest, digging the tips of his fingers into his biceps and swallowed down the possessive growl that was building. He had no reason to be jealous of Broden. He was already happily mated to Dusty.
“Jaimie,” Elsa said as she scooted from the end of the large sectional sofa closer to his woman. “This is Dr. Broden Higgins.”
Jaimie smiled at Elsa as she pointed to her casted arm. “I know. We’ve already met.”
“Oh! Yeah, sorry.”
“Thanks for trying to make me feel comfortable,” Jaimie said.
“Figured that out, did you?” Elsa asked.
Jaimie giggled. “It was kinda obvious.”
Elsa shrugged.
“Well, at least you’re more alert this time,” Broden said as he knelt near Jaimie’s knee as he met her gaze. “Preston told me you’ve hurt your ankle.”
Jaimie nodded. “It’s just a sprain.”
“How do you know that? It could be broken.”
“It’s not. I’m a nurse.”
A speculative gleam entered the doc’s eyes and Daire wondered what that was about. “Maybe when you're fit and healthy again, you’d like to come and work with me in the clinic. My brothers are also trained medics, but it would be great if I could rotate them out to give them some time off now and again.”
“What about you, Doc?” Jaimie asked. “When do you get a break?”
“Actually, more than you’d think,” Broden murmured as he poked and prodded at Jaimie’s ankle before gently flexing it and trying to rotate it. “Until the women started showing up, we hardly ever worked. Even though I’d prefer that no one got hurt, we’ve been much busier lately.”
Daire hated the pained gasps and moans coming from his mate. His first instinct was to rip Broden away from his woman and slam his fist into the Kodiak bear shifter’s face, but he held himself back and kept telling himself he was trying to help Jaimie, not hurt her.
“It’s definitely sprained.”
“Told you so,” Jaimie snipped.
Daire knew what she was doing. She was trying to hide the fact she was in worse pain than before, but there was no way she could hide it from any of them. They could smell strong emotions easily.
“I want you to stay off that leg for at least a week. Ice it every hour for ten minutes at a time.” Broden gazed at her broken arm and frowned. “You’re not going to be able to get around on crutches.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
Broden smirked before gazing at Daire, Beckett, and Crispin. “You’re going to have to be with her twenty-four seven. She’s going to need help with everything.” The doc turned to meet Jaimie’s eyes again. “Consider them your own personal servants, Jaimie. How’s the wrist feeling?”
“Sore,” she answered.
“Have you been taking the pills I gave you?”
“I’ll deal.”
Broden rolled his eyes. “Why are doctors and nurses always the worst patients?”
“Because we know what’s going on and want a say with our treatment.”
“Hmm, you’re probably right. However, you’re going to take two of those capsules as soon as you get back home. Is that understood?”
Daire could tell by Jaimie’s pissed-off expression she wasn’t happy being told what to do. Even though she gave a slight nod, he didn’t think she was going to follow the doc’s orders without a fight. He narrowed his eyes when she met his gaze and let her see his determination. She huffed out a defeated breath and closed her eyes. He let the smile he’d been trying to hide curve his lips. Their mate was stubborn, but she was going to end up backing down. He, Crispin, and Beckett were way more stalwart than she was. They’d had to be to serve their country with the Marines and come off the endless war alive.
He had a feeling he could out obstinate her any day.
Daire looked forward to butting heads with his mate.
* * * *
It took all of Jaimie’s concentration to keep herself from moaning in pain as Crispin carried her back toward their house. While she knew Broden had only been doing his job when he’d checked out the rotation and flex of her ankle, it had made the throbbing pain worse.
“Not much longer, honey.”
She raised her eyes to Crispin to find him frowning down at her. Daire and Beckett kept giving her concerned glances too. “I’m fine.”
“I fucking hate it when you lie,” Daire snarled. “We can fucking smell how much pain you’re not in.”
Jaimie sighed, closing her eyes as she rested her head on Crispin’s shoulder. She kept forgetting they could smell such things. It was going to take her a while to remember they weren’t exactly normal human men.
“I haven’t apologized for my part in the earlier fiasco,” Crispin said. “I only yelled at Beckett to make him aware of his protruding claws. I didn’t want him cutting you or hurting you, but we ended up doing that anyway.”
Jaimie cupped his face, gasping when he nuzzled into her hand. He was such a big, handsome, sexy man. All of them were. They could have their pick of women if they wanted but they’d set their sights on her. “None of you hurt me. It was my own fault for being so impulsive.”
“If you say so,” Crispin replied.
Jaimie realized he didn’t believe her, but she was too tired and in too much pain to put up much of a debate, so she remained quiet.
She was having a hard time believing that such good-looking, brawny men would choose her, but now that Elsa had explained things a little more clearly to her, she wasn’t going to question it.
If she wasn’t hurting as badly as she was right now, she would have told them that she agreed to be their mate but was glad she hadn’t. That sinking feeling in her gut had turned to a knot of dread, and Jaimie knew it had nothing to do with Crispin, Beckett, and Daire.
For some reason, she had a feeling it was a precursor to the danger coming her way.
Maybe it was a good thing she was injured and incapacitated. If she hadn’t been, she might already be mated to them and that would have put them in the line of fire.
She didn’t want these gruff, sexy shifters getting shot or killed because she’d brought trouble with her. While she didn’t see how the bastard could know where she was, she knew it wasn’t that hard to trace missing people in this day and age with all the technology there was.
Jaimie had done everything she could to lose herself, but she wasn’t sure she’d done enough.
Perhaps the only way to keep them safe was to move on as soon as she could.
* * * *
As soon as Beckett entered the house, he hurried into the kitchen for Jaimie’s painkillers and a glass of water. She was settled on the sofa with her leg propped up against a pillow. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed, and she was so fucking pale she looked as if she was about to pass out.
He sat on the edge of the cushion near her hip and met her gaze when she opened her eyes. Without a word, he handed her two capsules which she took without a quibble, and then she grabbed the glass before taking a couple of sips.
Daire came into the living room with a towel-wrapped ice pack and handed it to him. Beckett gently placed the ice on her swollen ankle, then carefully lifted her legs and scooted in under them. He leaned back against the sofa, tilted his head up, and stared at the ceiling. He wanted to address the issue of the threat she was running from but wasn’t sure how to go about it tactfully. He didn’t want to upset her but he and his brothers needed to keep her safe.
“What’s wrong?” Jaimie asked.
Beckett glanced toward the end of the sofa where Daire was perched on the edge of a cushion before looking over at Crispin to see he was sitting in one of the armchairs with his elbows resting on his knees and a frown on his face.
“How long have you been running, baby?” Beckett felt her tense and wondered if she was going to try to get up. He placed a hand on her hip, ready to hold her down if she did. He didn’t want her doing any permanent damage by walking on that ankle.
“You heard,” she stated rather than asked.
“We did,” he answered honestly. “We don’t usually eavesdrop, Jaimie, but when it comes to you, we want to know everything. Good, bad, or ugly. We only have your best interests at heart.”
She blew out a breath and lowered her gaze.
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