“Where? I don’t see it.” Hannah couldn’t hold back her hope; it reflected in her voice.
“Me neither.” Josh’s voice was weak, filled with pain.
“It’s there; I can just see farther than you. But it’s there. Believe me.”
They both nodded. Again, relief filled his chest at the thought of their trust.
They walked a bit farther until the cabin came into view for everyone. With a grunt of relief, they reached the door. Reed let Josh sway on his own two feet, leaning against Hannah, as he went to the door. Locked. Reed took about two seconds to search for the key before shouldering the door open. The lock busted with an audible snap, and he ushered them both in.
Hannah flicked the light switch to find no electricity. Josh looked lost on his feet, so Reed moved to help him stand, while Hannah found a lantern and matches. The soft glow illuminated what appeared to be a hunting cabin. The floor plan was larger than most hunting cabins he’d seen. A small living room with a hallway off to the side led to most likely a bedroom. A table and chairs stood off to the side in a makeshift dining room and there was a doorway to what must be the kitchen. Fur skins littered the wooden floors, insulating whatever heat it could. Stuffed dear, bear, and wolf heads adorned the walls.
Reed gulped. He really hoped those were all normal animals and not werewolves. Not something to think about.
Luckily, during their trek to this abandoned cabin, they’d left Central land and now stood on neutral land. No Pack held deed so Reed was safe from meeting another Pack and be called out for trespassing. But they weren’t on Redwood land either. No, they were further away then when they started. They’d had to go in the opposite direction of his Pack because they wouldn’t be able to reach the Redwood land without crossing the Central land unless they made a wide circle. It sucked but couldn’t have been avoided. They were sheltered, maybe would even be fed soon. And they were away from the Centrals, at least for the time being. Things could be worse.
The feel of Josh’s weight against him reminded Reed of where he was. Oh yeah, things were worse. They needed to take a look at that bite.
Reed shifted slightly and inhaled Josh’s scent. He smelled of ponderosa pine, a sweet wood. Odd, since that tree was typically found in the southwest, but that really wasn’t the point.
Reed cursed under his breath, startling Josh. He shouldn’t be sniffing this man, no. He had Hannah. And Josh was most likely a narrowly straight man.
But hell. Reed’s wolf knew.
“He’s our mate, too.”
Shit.
When Josh had first walked through that metal door to rescue him and Hannah, Reed had gasped. The human had stood tall, with a powerful body that demanded attention—and maybe Reed’s tongue. He had brown hair that stood up in long spikes that begged for Reed’s hands and blue eyes that saw into Reed’s soul. When the connection set in and his wolf growled in contentment, Reed knew he was done for. His cock, already hard from Hannah’s presence, had throbbed and ached for release.
How fucked up was fate anyway?
How could he have two mates at the same time? Was he supposed to choose? Could he have them both?
What if they both walked away?
Holy shit.
This was why he didn’t really want a mate to begin with. All decisions went out the door and choices right along with them, and the world revolved around another person who may or may not even return their love. And if they weren’t a werewolf, they couldn’t feel the mating heat. It was just a simple attraction to them.
Fuck.
Again, Reed shook out his thoughts. He didn’t have time to worry about the inevitable. No, he needed to get Josh resting and try to figure out what to do with a fucking demon bite. Not to mention, he still had the overwhelming need to protect Hannah, to protect them both, because, even if they both walked away from him once he told them they were his mates, they were still his mates. He protected what was his.
Huh. Who knew he had such Alpha tendencies?
“Reed, get Josh to the couch,” Hannah ordered in a soft voice. “I’ll set the wards.”
Reed merely lifted a brow at her stern, yet, sexy tone while Josh whistled in appreciation.
Their mate was full of surprises.
Wait, their?
So, not going there. He couldn’t. It was taboo. But he still smiled at the thought. Could it work?
Reed walked Josh to one of the plush brown couches and set him down carefully.
Josh winced in pain.
“Shit, did I hurt you? How can I help?” Because at this moment, he’d do just about anything to save him. Anything.
“No, you didn’t do anything.” Josh heaved a breath as Reed pushed him onto his back and covered him with the blanket from the back of the couch. “My arm just hurts like hell. What was that thing, and why did it bite me?”
Reed let out a breath. He could almost forget Josh was human until he’d ask a question like that.
“It was a demon.”
Josh’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a new one.”
Reed would’ve asked what he meant by that, but then he got a good look at the wound on Josh’s forearm.
It looked as if a ravaging beast had taken hold of the flesh and tugged and torn until a mess of ligaments, muscles, and flesh swam in a pool of blood. He was pretty sure he could see bone fragments floating in the open wound, as well one of the bones in the forearm, though he didn’t know if it was the radius or ulna.
The man must have been in an incredible amount of pain. Yet, except for the green hue of his skin and occasional moan or grunt, Josh struggled through it like a pro. What atrocities had the man seen if he was able to withstand this with only minor complaint and remain conscious?
Reed went to the kitchen, and thankfully, the water still worked. He filled a bowl and found some towels. On the way back, he noticed food stores and thanked whatever hunter had left there them for a rainy day because the three of them sure needed it.
Carefully, Reed cleaned the drying blood around the wound, doing his best not to aggravate it further. Josh sucked in a breath through his teeth when Reed got too close to the edges.
“Sorry, man.”
“It’s okay. It needs to be done. It just hurts like a bitch, you know?” Josh smiled at him, and Reed could feel his face heat to the tips of his ears.
Damn, the man was sexy.
Dark brown hair, cut close in the back, but slightly longer in the front, so it spiked up just a bit. Pale, scarred skin on a slightly bulkier and taller body than his own. Ocean blue eyes that seemed to change to a foamy blue in the light.
Like before with Hannah, Reed felt the urge to pick up a brush and paint.
Trying to get a closer look at the wound, Reed placed his arm on Josh’s bare skin. The man gasped at his touch.
Reed pulled back, but not before he saw a wave of desire flash across Josh’s face. The other man’s pupils dilated and his lips parted, a flush rising to his pale skin.
Interesting.
Was Josh gay? No, bi maybe, like him. He’d seen the way Josh looked at Hannah. The expression was probably a mirror image of his own face, but for some reason, he didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy, only a feeling of rightness. In fact, the idea of the three of them felt even more right than the idea of just him and Hannah alone. Weird.
“The wards are set; we’re as safe as we can be, considering. How’s our patient?” Hannah’s brisk steps broke whatever heat had passed between the two men, but Reed didn’t care too much. He was too busy looking at the rosy-cheeked beauty walking towards them.
Still barefoot, she’d wrapped herself in one of the furs on the mantel and looked like a sexy cavewoman with her curly hair going every which way.
Reed rubbed the back of his neck, trying to release some of the sexual tension piling onto the tension from their imprisonment. His cock rubbed against the zipper of his jeans, threatening to leave a permanent scar. Tingles shot up his arms as her bitter app
le and honey scent floated on the air to him, mixing with Josh’s ponderosa pine and he held back a groan. These two would be the death of him.
“I cleaned his wound, but I didn’t try and bandage it. I thought you’d look at it first.”
She blushed. “Okay.”
Reed moved back but didn’t get out of her way completely. He wanted to see her work, to smell her honey and crisp apple scent. She put her small hands around the wound, her teeth biting her bottom lip and tears forming in her eyes. They both gasped as Reed felt the energy in the room shift. The sexual tension calmed as the energy swayed and ebbed before funneling through Hannah and into Josh. He watched as parts of Josh’s arm knitted back together, ligaments winding against the muscle and tissue and his skin fusing together.
Really cool, but still kind of gross. He could totally do a project with some acrylics on canvas.
“Oh, darn it,” Hannah cursed under her breath.
Reed gave a look to Josh. Yeah, she was really cute when she tried to curse.
“What is it?” Josh sounded worried.
Not surprising because Reed was worried too.
“It won’t close all the way. I was worried to even attempt this in the first place since I’ve never healed a demon bite before, but it looked so bad I couldn’t not do it. You know?” She bit into her lip. She was gonna draw blood soon if she didn’t quit doing that.
“It’s okay, Hannah. You tried. Thank you.” Josh placed his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze.
Reed had the sudden urge to join them but held back.
The wound indeed looked better but was not healed per se. It still looked red and angry around the bite mark, and he was sure that, unless Hannah could use some herbs, it would be infected soon. Plus, they still had to contend with the whole bitten-by-a-demon thing and its repercussions.
All three looked at each other. The underlying current of unease at the unknown infection and the connections between them lay heavy.
“Reed, let me heal those bites from the wolves; that way you are at full strength.”
Though he really wanted her hands on him, he shook his head. “I don’t want you to use up all your energy; I’ll heal.”
“No, really, it’s okay. As long as I can go outside at some point and recharge and get some food and sleep, I’ll be fine. Please, let me help you.”
He gave Josh a look, who smiled back at him. “Okay.”
She placed her cool hands on his overheated chest, and he felt the warmth and tingles that came from her healing. He could only imagine those precious hands on other parts of his anatomy. Coincidently, said part started to rise in attention at her touch.
This is looking to be a hard night. Hard being the operative word.
When she finished, Reed cleared his throat again. I really need to stop doing that. “Let’s get Josh to one of the beds and light a fire in there and out here. The couch can’t be comfortable.”
“It’s okay.” Josh gave a pained laugh.
“That settles it then. We’ll light the fires, try to get something to eat and maybe some sleep. I can hear anything coming at us for a mile or so since we’re so isolated. What about your wards?”
“I set them about that far, as well, so I’ll know. We’ll be prepared, but I don’t want to stay here too long.”
“I agree,” Josh mumbled,fading into sleep. “Just don’t leave me alone too long and don’t go too far. I like you guys close.” Josh fell asleep as soon as they laid him in the large queen-sized bed in the room with the other fireplace.
Wow, the guy must really be out of it if he was spouting his thoughts like that. Reed kind of liked it.
Reed smiled down at the human. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Josh smiled in his sleep, and Reed let him be, walking out of the room towards his other mate. He took her hand, leading her to the couch. She sat with a vacant expression on her face.
“Hannah, what can I do for you? I’m going look around the cabin and get you some shoes, but what else?”
She smiled at him and shook her head. “I don’t know; everything’s different. What they did back there...” Her voice broke, cutting off her sentence.
Reed placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. He didn’t want to think about what had gone on in that stone basement. The blood, the pain, the loss. It was too much.
“Shh, it’ll be okay. You’re tough. I’ve seen you. We’ll figure it out. Together.” At least he hoped.
“I’m just so tired, but I don’t want to sleep.” Her eyes held horrors he knew would take time to get over, if she ever did.
“Okay, just lie down on the couch and rest. You don’t need to sleep. I’m going to go in Josh’s room, get the fire set, and do the same in here. We need to find a way to contact someone. If we can’t then we’ll get out of here soon and get help. I’ll look for some clothes for us, then some food. How does that sound?” Telling her his plans made him feel better, like he might actually accomplish something. If she knew he wanted to care for her and Josh, maybe she’d relax enough to sleep.
“Let me help.” She made motions of getting up, but Reed stopped her.
“No, not now. Let me get everything but the food. I think you may need to help me with that part.” He blushed a bit. “I’m not a great cook, so that might be your job. But you rest.”
“I’m better with potions than food, but I can do my best.”
“That’s all I ask.” He gave her a smile, fought the urge to kiss her goodnight, and went to do his chores. At least doing something productive would help his rising fears—and rising erection.
“Once Josh sleeps a bit,” Hannah said when Reed came back from Josh’s room, “he’ll hopefully be able to move. I don’t like staying here. Away from everyone.” That haunted look came back in her eyes.
Reed would have done anything to sweep that look away.
He looked around the cabin, noting the lack of phones or radios. Well crap. It looked as though they’d have to wait out their growing strength before they made it home. Wherever home was for his two mates. Reed couldn’t be so lucky to think their home would be his.
“There are no phones, are there?” Hannah whispered.
Reed shook his head. “No, but when we get rested, we can go to my Pack, the Redwoods. They’ll take care of us. Protect us.” He held his breath, waiting for her response.
Hannah nodded. “Okay.” A sad look came into her eyes. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Reed felt for her. How horrible would it be to be Packless? Have no connections? No family?
“I’ll take care of you,” he promised.
She batted his arm. “I said I can take care of myself.”
Reed smiled. “Then you can take care of me, too.”
She smiled back. “Sounds like a plan.”
They paused as the heat grew between them. Reed shifted, his arousal increasing as he inhaled her luscious scent.
Hannah’s breaths came in shallow pants. Her cheeks reddened as she lowered her eyes, her eyelashes dusting the tops of those rosy cheeks.
“I think I’ll try and get some sleep in the room across from Josh’s, the heat reaches there.”
She stood up quickly, and practically ran to the room like a frightened rabbit.
Too bad Reed was a wolf and liked to chase.
“Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”
Reed ignored his wolf. He looked down the hall where his two potential mates lay across the expanse of the hallway from each other. No, this wouldn’t be complicated at all. Right.
Chapter 8
Josh cracked open his eyes, straining at the glow of the roaring fire by his bedside. He quickly shut them again against the raging headache currently doing an Irish jig on his temples. Crap, where was he? Images of wolves and sharp teeth, curly brown hair, then green eyes flooded his mind. Oh yeah, Reed and Hannah.
He’d saved them. Well, he got them out; they seemed fit enough to save them
selves. Another image, this time of the man—no demon—with deep black eyes and sharp teeth impaling his flesh. He flinched at the memory, causing pain to lash up his arm.
Fuck.
When he opened his eyes again, he surveyed his surroundings. The large wooden sleigh bed he slept in took up most of the room. Dark, musty drapes covered the windows so he couldn’t tell if it was day or night. But cold seemed to slip through the slits, letting him know the storm was either just starting fully or in the middle of its downpour.
Trinity Bound Page 6