by Jane Jamison
“A beast is a beast is a beast.”
His scowl grew, confusion etched in his brow. “I don’t think shifters of any kind—theoretically speaking—would think of themselves as beasts. To top that, I don’t think wizards are all that great, either.”
Gone were the butterflies. Now her pulse raced for an entirely different reason. “At least they don’t change into a dog.”
He stopped dancing and simply stared at her. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Why?” She tried to backpedal, doing her best to undo some of the damage she’d done. Why was she pushing the topic anyway? “Why are you getting defensive? It’s not like they’re real.”
“Look, Shelby, maybe you should know—”
“Sugar, what you need to know is that Taylor is not the man he says he is.” A handsome man with sun-streaked blond hair plucked her hands off Taylor’s shoulders and spun her around then led her several feet away. Pulling her closer, he continued the dance he’d interrupted. “He’s no animal, but he’s no Prince Charming by any means. Although he does his best to act like it.”
“He’s got game, I’ll give him that.” She stared up into the angular face that was almost too interesting to be called handsome. Yet she couldn’t find a better word to describe him. Green eyes accentuated the high cheekbones. His hair was of average length, but two rows were shaved on the side of his head, making his bone structure even more pronounced. A longish, narrow nose completed the picture. For some reason, he reminded her of a bird.
Was he a shifter? Or was she letting the fact that shifters were on the island make her believe everyone was a shifter? If she wasn’t careful, she’d get into real trouble.
“I need to find Reagan and get back to her house.”
“Before I get to know you?” He chuckled. “It’s Shelby, right?”
She arched an eyebrow. She’d expected news to travel fast in a small town, but the West End gossip train had moved with lightning speed. “That’s right. And who are you?”
“I’m Bryton Sabel. I’m a friend of Reagan’s and co-owner of the River’s Bend Ranch, along with Taylor and his brother J.B.”
“Taylor has a brother, huh?”
Bryton groaned, but the laugh lines around his eyes never faltered. “Damn. Please tell me he doesn’t already have his fangs in you. Don’t go falling in love with him or his brother. Not until you give me fair chance to win you over.”
He wasn’t as tall as Taylor, who she guessed would be around six feet in height, but his build was just as solid. A swimmer’s lean body with a few added muscles thrown in for good measure.
“Are all the men on this island smooth talkers like you and Taylor?”
“It’s not considered smooth-talking if it’s the truth. But forget about him. And just so you know? The ladies say I’m a much better kisser.”
She had to laugh. While Taylor was the romantic one who could melt her knees with only one sentence, Bryton was the playful one, the one who could make her laugh.
“Are there more of you guys?” Maybe she’d get lucky. With no future to look forward to, why not make the most of the present? “I heard the stories about shifters and wizards around here, but I also heard another kind of story. Stories of a more natural kind.”
“Stories about what?”
Yet she had a feeling he already knew.
“I’ve heard that it’s not uncommon for people on the island to end up in threesomes or even foursomes.” She thought for a moment. “If that’s even a word, much less a thing. And I’m not talking about random hookups but lifelong relationships.”
“Okay. You’re a woman who gets right down to it. I like that.”
“And your answer would be…” She lifted her chin, shooting him an expectant look. Damn, he felt as good next to her as Taylor had. How had she gotten so lucky to dance with two hot men in one night?
“If only I was lucky in another way,” she mumbled.
“What’d you say?”
“Sorry. I talk to myself sometimes. It’s a bad habit.”
“Are you asking about ménage relationships because you’re interested? If so, just say the word, sugar, and I can make your dreams come true.” He bent his head lower.
She whipped her tongue along her upper lip. It would be so easy to kiss him, but maybe kissing two men in the same bar on the same night wasn’t such a great idea.
Then again…
“I’m curious is all.”
“Like a cat.”
Surely he hadn’t meant it like that. As though she might be a werecat. “No. Like a normal woman.”
He paused in his next step then started dancing again. The song ended, and another slow one began. Had someone played several slow songs on purpose? Or was it simply good luck?
“You don’t need me to give you the answer.” He swept his arm around her and led her off the dance floor. “Look around you, Shelby. There’s your answer.”
She gave the customers a good, hard look. He was right. Her answer had been there all along. Two to four men surrounded each woman. Every once in a while, there would be only two people together, sometimes a man and a woman and, at other times, two people of the same gender. But the majority was that of three men to one woman. “You’re saying all these people are in relationships?”
“For the most part.” He pointed at Reagan, who was in a group of three women and six men. “We have our singles here like you, me, and Reagan, but folks around here tend to get committed early in life. Since it’s a weeknight, more mated people come in than single people.”
“Mated.” She hadn’t asked it as a question. Why should she? She’d heard the term often enough.
“Mated, pledged, married, whatever term you want to use will work.”
“What’s the divorce rate around here?”
He laughed, drawing the attention of others. “Are you looking for mates? Or interviewing me for an article about ménage relationships?”
The blush shot to her cheeks. “Sorry. It’s an occupational hazard. I’m a freelance reporter for a number of small newspapers.” Not any longer. She’d quit a month earlier. Newspapers weren’t the only things dying.
“No problem.” He cleared his throat, suddenly appearing nervous. “Say, if you’re not doing anything tomorrow—”
“Shelby, are you all right?”
Reagan had appeared out of the crowd. Shelby, even more embarrassed now, averted her gaze from Bryton’s. “Hi. I was just coming to find you.”
“Hey, Bryton, it’s good to see you.” Reagan looked from one to the other. “Did I screw something up?”
“Yes.”
“No.” Shelby put her back to Bryton and shot Reagan a warning look. Once she had, she turned back to him, her composure securely in place. “Um, thanks for the dance, Bryton. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
His mouth parted as though he were about to say something. Whatever it was, it was obvious he’d quickly changed his mind. “Yeah. Sure. See you soon. You girls have a good night.” Turning on his heels, he stalked off, swallowed by the crowd.
“I showed up at a bad time, didn’t I?” asked Reagan.
You sure did.
Then again, maybe it was better that she had. Bryton Sabel wasn’t the kind of man a woman could have a fling with and then forget. “No. In fact, you showed up at just the right time.”
Chapter Three
J.B. Legacy leaned against the tree, doing his best to appear nonchalant. Doing so wasn’t easy, however, with Taylor and Bryton jabbering on about the new woman in town. The more they talked about her, the more he wanted to see her. If she were even a tenth of what they said she was, then he’d count himself a lucky man simply to gaze on her face. Still, it wouldn’t do to let them know how excited he was. If they did, they’d haul his ass into town, ready to claim her for all three of them.
Instead, he did his best to keep his tone calm. “What’s her name again?”
“Fuck you, brother. Like you didn
’t hear us the first three times we told you.”
Taylor stalked to the left then back to the right. If he didn’t calm down soon, his enthusiasm would spill over to the cattle and get them riled up. They’d already started stomping their feet and making noises like they were ready to take off to greener pastures.
“She’s a tourist.” J.B. wasn’t ready to call her their mate yet, but he was surprised that his brother and friend were willing to do so. Super-hot looks was one thing, but a mate needed to have a lot more than superficial charms. He wanted a woman with brains, style, heart, and spunk.
“What the hell does that matter? Lots of tourists end up staying and becoming mates,” asked Bryton. He wasn’t pacing like Taylor, but he was just as eager.
“You’ve seen her one time, danced with her, and you already want to claim her as your mate? Bullshit.” He’d purposefully referred to her as being their mate. As much as he loved both men as his brothers, blood or not, he wasn’t ready to share a mate with them. From the day they’d started planning a future, saying they wanted to find a woman for the three of them, he’d hadn’t jumped on board. The more he’d thought about it, the more he liked the idea of having one woman just for him. Why share when monogamy sounded so good? Once he found the right woman, he wanted her all for himself.
“Our mate. Come on, man, don’t go pulling that shit again.”
J.B. didn’t like disappointing his brother, but what else could he do? Mate with a woman just to make his brother and his friend happy? Not a chance.
“J.B., you’ve got to see her. She’s fucking beautiful. She has long blonde hair and—”
“And the softest brown eyes you’ve ever seen. Plus, her body has curves in all—”
“The right places,” finished Taylor. “And her scent? Man, oh man, her scent will drive you crazy. I knew the first second I got a whiff of her that she was the one.”
“So you’re choosing a mate because of the way she smelled?” Not that it didn’t happen often enough with shifters. As a werewolf, he knew a woman’s scent could drive a man wild. His brother might not be a full werewolf, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have the heightened sense of smell shifters had.
The memory of the attack on his brother ripped into him. Pain hit him in the gut, and he bowed his head, doing his best not to let them see. If only he’d been around the night it had happened. He watched his brother pace back and forth. Still, he was thankful the vampire’s bite hadn’t killed Taylor. It should have, and they didn’t know why it hadn’t, but he was glad his brother had survived an excruciating week of pain and torment. The fact that his brother had been changed, becoming a werewolf-vampire mix, was something he and the rest of the town had struggled to accept. He doubted everyone in West End had fully accepted his brother, especially the witches and wizards who already didn’t trust shifters much, but they could go to hell as far as he was concerned.
“Are you planning on telling her you’re a shifter? And a vampire?” His brother was unique. Not only could he change into a wolf but he had the power of a vampire, able to compel those with weaker minds. Still, that also meant he had two revelations to make to a prospective mate.
“Sure. In time.” Taylor shrugged. “Granted, it won’t be easy, especially with her feeling the way she does about shifters.”
J.B. pushed away from the tree. “Wait. How does she feel about shifters?”
“I don’t think she likes them much.”
“Hell, I’m not worried,” added Bryton. “Once she spends more time with us, she’ll change her mind.”
“Oh, right.” Not only did they have an uphill battle getting him on board but their soon-to-be mate didn’t like what they were. As a human, she’d have a hard enough time accepting three werewolves, but what about a werewolf-vampire, werewolf, and werebird? “You’ll win her over with your feathery charms in no time.”
“Yeah. We will.” Yet Taylor didn’t sound as confident as he had a moment earlier.
“Look, man, I saw her outside while I was perched on top of the roof. From the first second on, I had to touch her. That’s why I changed and got my ass inside as fast as possible. Then when I swooped her away from Taylor and felt her soft skin under my hands, what little doubt I had flew away.”
J.B. often joked about the way Bryton talked in bird terms using “swooped” and “flew,” but now wasn’t the time for joking around.
“Give her a chance.” Taylor planted his feet apart and crossed his arms, but his tone was conciliatory, almost pleading. “I know that once you meet her, you’re going to feel the way we feel. If any woman can change your mind about wanting to share a mate with us, it’s her. I’d bet my last dollar on it.”
“Then you’re going to end up flat broke.” Yet J.B. had to wonder. If she was as good as they said, could she change his mind? Would the right woman be worth sharing? After all, they’d shared women before, and he’d enjoyed it. But those women weren’t anything more than a simple fling, women they knew wouldn’t become important in their lives. Women they never would’ve considered as their mate. He sloughed off the thought and swore he’d stick to his guns. One woman for one man.
“Look at him. He’s thinking about it.” Bryton slapped J.B. on the shoulder, a huge grin filling his face. “You are, aren’t you? Come on, man, like Taylor said. Just give her a shot.”
“No woman’s going to change my mind. Besides, I don’t think you want me to give her a shot. If I do and she gets to know me, she’ll choose me over the both of you. Then what’ll you do?”
Strangely, instead of joking back, Taylor and Bryton grew angry. Taylor snarled, showing vampire fangs as wolf fur spread along his jaw line. Amber flared in Bryton’s eyes as he shook himself, getting ready for a layer of feathers to overrun his flesh.
Damn. Maybe she is their mate. Why else would they get so riled up?
“Calm the hell down, you two. I’m not about to steal your mate.” If Shelby Winters proved to be the right woman for his brother and his friend, then he’d back off. Even if he, too, developed feelings for her, but still didn’t want to share. He loved both men and would lay down his life for them. Still, that wasn’t likely to happen. More than likely, they’d soon fall out of lust and move on to the next pretty face.
He had to admit, though, that he was curious. Any woman who could get them hooked in one night had to be something amazing.
Taylor’s fangs disappeared along with the fur. “What are you saying? Are you saying you’ll meet her?”
“Yeah, I guess there’s no harm in welcoming her to the island. As a friend, of course. Where’s she staying?”
“Reagan took her out to her ranch since everything in town was booked.”
“She did?” Reagan was friendly enough and ready to help a lending hand, but to open her home up to a stranger was going beyond being neighborly. That meant only one thing. Reagan must’ve liked Shelby right from the start. His cousin had a good head on her shoulders, which meant that, along with the glowing reports of Bryton and Taylor, Shelby had to be pretty damn good.
“Great. Then we’ll head out to the ranch tomorrow morning.”
“Slow down, brother.” He paused, hoping they’d listen and not disregard him. “You two can visit her again. In fact, get your fill of her.” Once they did, maybe they’d realized they’d jumped the gun. Surely, they’d find something they didn’t like about her. Right now she was the new girl in town, the fresh blossom on the rose bush. They hadn’t had time yet to get pricked with her thorns.
“But you said you’d meet her.” Bryton blinked, his green eyes growing slit-like like that of an eagle. A sure sign of being a werebird was blinking like their winged counterparts.
“I said I will, and I will. But I want to observe her from a distance first.”
“What the hell for?” Taylor’s jaw clenched. He was getting riled up again. “You can’t get the full effect of her beauty if you’re too far away. Don’t get me wrong, she’ll still knock your socks
off, but up close will leave you dazed.”
“Yeah, and you need to meet her as a man first, not as a werewolf,” added Bryton.
What Bryton said wasn’t exactly true. Maybe he wouldn’t get to know her as a man while in his wolf’s body, but his wolf had other senses and intuition his human part didn’t possess. Perhaps it wasn’t the same for werebirds.
Besides, he wasn’t ready to get caught up with her charms. Someone needed to stay objective. “What if she’s a witch? Who knows? Maybe she’s already cast a spell on you guys.”
“Not likely. We would’ve noticed.”
“Are you sure about that?” Not that J.B. actually believed Bryton and Taylor were under her spell—at least not in a magical way—but he’d rather be safe than sorry.
“Pretty damn sure.” Taylor’s voice took on a gravely sound. “And so what if we are? What if she is a witch? Don’t tell me you don’t like witches. You’ve been with your fair share of witches and never complained once. Or don’t you want a witch as your mate?”
J.B. let out a hard breath. Arguing with them was like banging his head against a brick. He wasn’t going to get anywhere. “Look. If she’s a witch from the mainland and she doesn’t like shifters, then maybe she’s here to cause trouble. Maybe she’s using an alluring spell on both of you and not because she’s actually interested. It wouldn’t be the first time a witch outside West End tried playing shifters for fools.”
“Nah, man.” Bryton shook his head, adamantly denying the possibility. “She’s not the type. She’s as genuine as they come.” He fisted his hand over his heart. “I know it in here.”
Hell. He’s already in too deep.
“I guess we’ll see tomorrow.” J.B. leaned against the tree. “I do it my way, or we leave her alone. That’s how it’s going to be.”
* * * *
“Do you think I could find a place to rent for a few months?” Shelby loved Reagan’s ranch. With the breeze coming off the ocean and the green of the island making the world seem peaceful, she could easily imagine herself spending her last days there. But she couldn’t impose on Reagan’s generosity much longer.