Loving Her Two Werewolves [Werebears of Shatland, Texas 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 4

  It had been a calculated risk to go through the pharmacy, but she’d figured it gave her a good shot at not being seen. Not only did Deacon rarely come out during the day, leaving the daytime management to his human employees, but he divided his time between both towns’ pharmacies.

  Her heart sank when she finally made it into the alley and didn’t find them already there. She stepped behind a Dumpster, hiding from people passing by on the sidewalk.

  Had she misunderstood Case’s gesture? Or worse, had they changed their minds and no longer wanted to meet her? What if they’d seen her and hadn’t recognized her? What if they hadn’t liked what they’d seen? Did they like brunettes? Her brown eyes? Was she too fat? Too short? Too…werebear?

  No, she’d seen how Brennan had quickened his pace toward her. He’d known her and he’d wanted to go to her. And there’d been no mistaking Case’s quick nod toward the alley.

  She leaned against the wall and studied the pavement then drew in a long, slow breath. If they did come, she didn’t want them to see how flustered she was.

  “Nicole.”

  She jerked her gaze up to see Case and Brennan hiding behind the other Dumpster resting against the wall across from her. “You came.” She blushed, realizing how she’d sounded. As though she’d yearned for them. As though she was relieved to see them. The fact that both were true didn’t matter. She had to find out how they felt before she let them know how much she’d missed them.

  “We couldn’t have stayed away.” Brennan checked the street, then hurried over to her side of the alley. He leaned against the wall on her left side as Case strode over and took her other side.

  Just being so close to them was enough. Yet when she reached out and placed a palm on each of their chests, she knew. There was no mistaking the surge of sexual electricity searing between them, sliding up her arms and into her body.

  It was real. The connection she’d felt years earlier was still there. If anything, it was stronger than before.

  Reflected in Case’s dark depths was the same yearning she felt. Joy burst inside her. Turning to Brennan, she looked for the same reaction and found it.

  They’d only spent the one night together so long ago, cocooned in the innocence of their ages, but it had been enough. Enough for her to feel like she knew them. Like she wanted them for the rest of her life.

  If only it were possible for them to be together.

  “How have you been, Nicole?”

  She frowned at Case. That was what he wanted to ask her? As though they were school friends reconnecting at their high school reunion? A few moments before, she’d been sure of their feelings. Positive they’d experienced the connection, too. But now? After what he’d said? Could she have been wrong? She wasn’t sure how she should answer.

  “I’m fine. And you?” She wanted to scream at Case, to demand he tell her he knew what she knew. That they were destined to be together even if they were werewolves and a werebear.

  “Are you two serious?” Brennan took her chin and turned her to face him. “Why the hell are we making small talk? We don’t have any time to waste.”

  “He’s right,” added Case. He glanced toward the street before continuing. “Meeting in Shatland is just asking for trouble.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest. “We can’t meet in Forever.” She didn’t care where they met up as long as they still wanted to.

  “Then you’ll meet us somewhere else? Some neutral place?”

  She ached to skim her fingers along the stubble on Brennan’s jaw. “Name it and I’ll be there.” Did she sound too eager? Yet she didn’t care.

  “Do you know The Underground, the human bar, in Wayland?”

  She nodded at Case. “Sure.”

  The town of Wayland wasn’t too far away. She’d have to make an excuse to get out of the house, but it wouldn’t be too hard. Living with her parents was her way of helping them out with the bills. At least that was what she told herself. In reality, she hadn’t wanted to leave town, hadn’t wanted to strike out on her own. Not yet anyway. If she had, it might’ve made it harder for the Cagle brothers to find her. In the end, it had paid off.

  Brennan did the checking this time, then leaned back. “Meet us there tonight at eight, okay?”

  She nodded again, already forming the lie she’d tell her parents. She lived her own life, not asking her parents’ permission, but she respected them enough to tell them where she was going. Now she wouldn’t be able to tell them. She had to think of something. To suddenly not tell them would raise suspicion.

  “Good. We’d better get going. Staying this long in Shatland makes my fur stand up.”

  “Easy, bro. No one’s going to start anything.” Brennan leaned closer, putting his face to her hair. “You smell better than I remember.”

  “Save all that for later.”

  And yet, when she turned to Case, he hesitated, then cupped her neck and pulled her to him. His mouth crushed against hers, hungry, needy, urgent. She kissed him back with all her heart. He nibbled at her lower lip, dragging it in, then releasing it to sweep his tongue along her lips. She moaned and leaned into him, relishing the long-awaited moment. They hadn’t kissed as teens, but she’d fantasized about how it would be. Reality was so much better.

  “Hey, my turn.”

  She barely had time to take a breath before Brennan pushed Case back, then pulled her into his arms. He hugged her close, pushing her breasts against his solid chest. She moaned again when he kissed her with as much need as his brother had. His fingers dug into her hair and gripped it, holding her to him.

  As though she’d ever want to stop kissing him. Wrapping her arms around him, she gave him the consent he hadn’t asked for. His hand gripped her butt, fondling it, using the leverage to force her crotch against his. His hardened cock pressed against her, flooding her panties with her juices.

  “Break it up. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  She was breathless when Brennan finally heeded Case’s demand. If he hadn’t kept her steady, she might’ve fallen. He gazed into her eyes, searching her, probing her for the answer.

  “You’ll meet us there? Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “Come on.” Case gave her one last heated look, then jogged out of the alley and into the street behind the buildings.

  “Check you later, Nicole.” Brennan took off, following his brother.

  Seeing them leave was so hard. She was both thrilled and terrified. Thrilled at the idea of meeting them at The Underground, yet terrified they wouldn’t show up.

  She touched a finger to her lips. After waiting for what seemed like forever to have them kiss her, she couldn’t get enough.

  “Later,” she whispered.

  Chapter Three

  “Speed it up, Case.”

  Case ignored Brennan, even though he could definitely sympathize with him. If it was a safe thing to do, he would’ve shoved his foot hard on the gas pedal and put the car doing a hundred or more. The afternoon had passed as slowly as molasses dripping down a tree. At last, it was time to go to Wayland and The Underground. “Want to get us killed before we get to see her again?”

  “Fuck off.” Brennan’s jaw worked, a sure sign he was anxious.

  “Just sayin’, is all.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  He didn’t bother trying to talk about anything else. Neither one of them could keep their minds off her. “She looked hotter than hell.”

  And she had. He’d been happy to see that she hadn’t gained weight or lost her hair or, worst of all, gotten married. Not that her looks would’ve mattered. She was their mate and they were connected. They’d want her no matter what she looked like. Looks faded eventually, anyway. What never faded was the bond they shared.

  Brennan and he had talked about Nicole for years, preparing for the day when they’d come back to Shatland and claim her. Now that the time had come, he wasn’t sure how they would handle things. Talking about it, planning what
they’d do once they found her was easy in theory, but not when it was actually time to do it.

  Although they’d discussed it more times than he could count, he had to bring up the questions once again. “What if she’s married?”

  Brennan’s growl was low and mean. “Then we take the bastard out at the knees.”

  Although he could understand the urge to do so, he knew his brother didn’t mean it. They’d never hurt anyone she loved. At least, not if they could help it. “No can do and you know it.”

  “Then we do what we said we’d do. We tell her how we feel, make sure she feels the way we do, then leave it in her hands to decide. I have to believe she’ll make the choice to leave him.”

  And she would. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure she would, but if he knew anything about the bond between mates, he knew she’d have hell trying to resist the pull toward them.

  “And if she decides to stay with him?”

  He could sense Brennan’s animal getting anxious, ready to claim her whether she wanted them to or not. The connection would pull at her, but she still had to make the choice to be with them. “Keep in control.” He shoved down his own wolf clawing at the surface. “We do what we said we’d do. If she chooses another man, or men, over us, then we have to respect her decision. We leave and never look back.”

  “Think you can still do that now that you’ve seen her? After kissing her?”

  No. “We won’t have any other choice.” He’d do it for her, but it would condemn them to living a life without her. Without their mate. They could take another woman and even fall in love with her, but it would never be the same. The closeness the connection formed between mates would always be missing.

  “And if she has a family? Kids?” Brennan was running through the questions as they’d done so many times before.

  His gut churned at the idea of her lying down with another man or having given him children. Yet if she was already a mother, they’d have no choice. They’d never break up a home with children. “Then we do what we have to do. We back off. Maybe we should’ve found out before we let her see us.”

  They’d screwed up. The plan had been to ask around about her before trying to find her. At least among the vampires and a few human friends. He doubted any of the werebears would’ve answered their questions. If they’d found out she had kids, they would’ve left town without contacting her. But then, how could they have known what fate had in store? Seeing her across the street had been sheer dumb luck. Once they’d seen her, hell and high water couldn’t have kept them away.

  “Don’t you think it means something that we just kind of ran into her?”

  Case kept his attention on the road. He wanted to say no. He believed in logic, not fate. At least in other things. Yet another side of him, the part of him that had yearned for her, wanted to say yes. He wanted to tell his brother what he wanted to hear, wanted to say it was meant to be. That there were no accidents, no coincidences whenever the connection was in play. Instead, he took the middle ground. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I do. I think it means a lot. She’s our mate, bro.”

  Brennan was an eternal optimist while he was more calculated, logical to a fault. Sure, most of the werewolves in Forever swore by the automatic attraction between men and their woman, but he’d always chalked it up to people making self-fulfilling prophecies. They just went along with the mate thing and fell in love on purpose.

  Even after feeling the connection with her at the bonfire so many years ago, he’d talked himself into being cautious. Memories had a way of becoming more, making the mundane seem extraordinary.

  And yet, as soon as he’d seen her, he’d felt drawn to her.

  “Don’t get your hopes up. Just because you’ve got it in your head that she’s our mate, doesn’t make it so. And it doesn’t mean she feels the same way.”

  “Why the hell not? She said she’d meet us. She wouldn’t come all the way to The Underground if she didn’t want to see us as much as want to see her. I know she felt the connection as much as we did. Why are you trying to deny it?”

  Why was he refusing to believe? Because he didn’t want to believe they’d gotten lucky and found their mate again? Or was he afraid?

  Case didn’t want to hope. If hope failed them, then it would shatter him. “Even if this fated mate thing is true, we still have the whole werebear problem to get past. How can there be a connection between two werewolves and a werebear, anyway? It just doesn’t make sense.”

  He’d struck a nerve, pointing out a huge obstacle. One even Brennan had a difficult time ignoring.

  “I don’t know. Werewolves and a werebear? It’s freaky strange. Damn, I hate that you might be right, but…” Brennan let out a string of curse words. “Why couldn’t our mate be a werewolf? Or a human? Anything but a damn werebear.”

  Case laughed, his excitement spurring the blood in his veins. His wolf howled, picking up on his nerves as he pulled the pickup into the parking lot behind the bar. “I guess it could’ve been worse.”

  “How?”

  Would it have been better if she was a vampire?”

  “Shit, no. They’re way too cold. Can you imagine spooning one of their chilly butts?”

  “Fuck, no. But at least we wouldn’t be risking a breakdown of shifter relations between our two packs.” He tried again. “Or clans. Or whatever they call themselves.”

  “Have you ever heard of a werewolf and a werebear having a connection?”

  “Hell, I’ve never even heard of a werewolf and a werebear getting together for fun. Maybe it’s our human sides that are attracted.”

  “Maybe.” Brennan tapped on the dashboard, showing his nervousness again. “Is this physically possible? I mean, us being with her? Her having our kids?”

  “Beats the hell out of me. But I damn sure want to find out.”

  “Ditto.”

  Brennan already had his door open and was slipping out of the truck before Case could put the gear into the park position. He couldn’t blame his brother. The chance of seeing Nicole again was enough to send him running toward the door. They reached the entrance to the club at the same time, then bumped into each other, each of them fighting for the right to be first through the door.

  “Take it easy, guys. This ain’t no strip joint. No need to rush.” The huge African-American doorman crossed his arms and glared at them. “Play it cool. You keep acting like fools and the ladies will pick up on your desperation in record time.”

  Was it that obvious? Did they look desperate? Case pulled himself straight and met the big man’s gaze. But, hell, they were desperate. Desperate to get with Nicole. “We’re meeting someone here.”

  Brennan shot him a what-the-hell glance. “Let us in, man.”

  “Are you good to go now, guys?”

  The big man was playing with them. He was most likely bored and needling them just to get his jollies. If he knew they could change into very large, very dangerous wolves, he’d back off. As a human, he was strong and powerful. But no human could stand up to a werewolf in his prime.

  “We’re good.” He lifted his eyebrows, silently suggesting the doorman move out of their way. Letting a little of his wolf escape, he gave the man a hard glare, knowing amber flecks shone in his eyes.

  The man’s attitude adjusted. “Sure, guys. No problem. Y’all have a good time in there.” He stepped to the side and let them pass.

  * * * *

  Nicole did another scan of the club. The Underground was packed, mostly with humans, although she’d seen a few eyes with amber flecks in them. Fortunately, she didn’t recognize any of them.

  Hurry up and get here.

  “I’m sorry I hung up on you, Jasmine. How many times do I have to say it?”

  She put a finger in her left ear and pressed her phone harder against the right one. Jasmine had phoned her twenty times since she’d hung up and she hadn’t called her back. Although guilt had hit her, she hadn’t even texted her friend. No wo
nder Jasmine was angry, but she’d wanted time to think. Time to quietly celebrate the Cagle brothers coming back.

  “Fine. But don’t do it again. You know how hanging up on me drives me crazy.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She heaved another sigh. “I’m sorry.”

  “You can stop apologizing now. Are they there yet?”

  I’m still talking to you, aren’t I? “Nope. Not yet.” The awful thought hit her. “What if they don’t show up?”

  “They will. They wouldn’t have asked you to meet them otherwise.”

  “Oh, sure. Like no woman in the history of the world has ever been stood up.” She motioned to the bartender to refill her beer. Keeping a clear head was important. Being around them was intoxicating enough. The last thing she needed was too much alcohol.

  “They wouldn’t dare. If they do, we can hunt them down and skin them alive.”

  Only Jasmine could get away with making a joke like that to a werebear. Or at least to her. Some other shifters, including her father, wouldn’t find it amusing.

  “So are you going to hook up with them?”

  “Yeah. I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “You know what I mean. Really hook up. Try out one of the club’s private rooms. Trust me. The rooms are amazing.”

  She lowered her voice although it was doubtful anyone could hear her above the music. “I don’t think so.” She bit her lower lip, not for the first time wondering if she’d made a major mistake. “Jasmine, do you think they’ll mind? You know. Once they find out?”

  “Once they find out you’re not a virgin? Do you really think they thought you’d save it for them? You didn’t even know if they were coming back.”

  “I know, but I feel terrible about it. I should’ve saved myself for my mates.” As horrible as the idea of them rejecting her because she’d already had sex was, she couldn’t help but smile. Just thinking about them as her mates made her happy.