Suzanne's Sexy Shifters [Shy River Pack 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (11 page)

“Correct,”
Gideon said into her mind.
“That’s one thing about life as a werewolf you should never forget.”

Suzanne moaned softly when he ran his fingers over her pussy lips, but his gentle touch ended far too quickly.
“Why don’t I have this sort of link with Brigden?”
she asked as Gideon quickly rinsed the soap off her skin.

“I suspect this link is related to me being the one to change you, but from what I understand once true-mates claim each other the connection is even stronger.”

“So I will have a link like this with Brigden?”

“That’s what I’m hoping,”
Gideon said as he turned the taps off and reached for a towel to dry her down.
“There are very few true-mates in the history of our pack, so I’m not really sure what information is accurate and what’s just legend.”

“Oh,” she said out loud as she realized just how much Brigden and Gideon were missing out on by not being able to claim each other. Her heart ached for the loneliness they both must have felt since realizing their connection.

“It was always worse for Brigden,”
Gideon said quietly into her mind.
“First he was shunned by his pack for not being as physically strong as the rest, and then destiny gave him a mate who couldn’t risk claiming him.”
She could feel the ache deep inside Gideon as he shared emotions he’d kept to himself for too many years.
“I’ve spent the past thirty-five years watching him from afar. Even before he knew who I was, I protected him without ever letting anyone—not even Brigden—see what I felt for the man.”
He shook his head sadly.
“I should have been stronger yesterday. I’ll never be able to claim him openly. Giving us both a taste of what things might have been like under different circumstances only highlighted how much we’ll be missing for the rest of our lives.”

“Does having me in the middle help?”
she asked.

“Absolutely,”
he answered telepathically as he wrapped the towel around her. Out loud he added, “Brig is going to loan you some clothes. We’ll swing by your place on the way and gather what you need before we go visit your boss.”

“Um…” she said, looking at the purple tint of her skin.

“It’s okay,” Brigden said from just outside the bathroom. “Humans have made rather wonderful advances in the manufacturing of makeup in recent decades.”

“Oh.” She felt a little bit silly for not having thought of that herself. “Why don’t you just wear it all the time?”

Brigden gave her a sad smile that suggested he’d considered that question on more than one occasion himself. “Even with the best brands it only lasts a couple of hours before the purple tint starts to shine through.” He held up a pair of jeans that were too long in the legs and too narrow in the hips for her to wear. He shook his head and went back to dragging clothes out of his drawers. “Plus it’s very uncomfortable if you need to change into your wolf. The transformation pushes a lot of it off when our fur sprouts so we end up with an itchy muzzle, watering eyes, and a case of severe sneezing.” He shook his head. “It’s rather unpleasant.”

“And an unnecessary expense according to the alpha, despite the fact that these days the Shy River pack is quite wealthy,” Gideon said as he grabbed one of Brigden’s shirts and helped her put it on. “Most of that is due to Brigden. It took a lot to convince the alpha to invest money in computers and cell phones when they were first being developed, but Brigden has proven over and over that he knows what he’s talking about. He is a very valuable member of the pack.”

Brigden gave her an embarrassed smile and then stepped into Gideon’s embrace. Thankfully she didn’t hear what he whispered—so that meant no one outside the room did either—but it was clear that Gideon had noticed everything that the rest of Brigden’s idiotic pack members hadn’t.

“Your idiotic pack members now, too,”
Gideon whispered into her mind.

“Gee, thanks for reminding me,”
she sent back, angry enough over Brigden’s treatment to hate them all on his behalf.

“They’re not all bad,”
Gideon said to her as Brigden moved to pull her into their embrace as well.
“My mother is going to adore you. And there are others who are more accepting. It’s just the pack leaders who are intolerant of those different to themselves.”

“Is that your way of asking me to give peaceful werewolves a chance?”

“Yes, baby girl.”

“Even your father?”
she asked quietly. She’d heard more of last night’s video call than he’d probably wanted her to hear, but between the mental link and the increased auditory ability it had been kind of hard to avoid. She’d held Brigden closer with every malicious word that had fallen from the beta’s mouth.

“I’ll deal with my father,”
Gideon said in a tone that suggested he wouldn’t tolerate the man’s attitude any more in person than he had over the video chat. “We better get moving,” he said out loud. “It’s a long drive from here to your place.”

* * * *

The trip wasn’t nearly as long as Gideon had indicated back at the cabin, but the closer they got, the more excited Brigden began to feel.

“You lived all the way out here? On your own?” he asked, suddenly realizing how dangerous it would have been for a woman living alone. “I just assumed you lived in town.”

“My grandfather left me the cabin. He bought the place for my grandmother nearly sixty years ago. Apparently it was a bargain price at the time, but my mother hated growing up in such isolation, so she headed for the city as soon as she was old enough and never looked back.” She glanced around the area, a soft smile on her face. “I only met my grandpa a couple of times, but he’s the reason for my interest in conservation. According to my mom, he was always lecturing her on saving the planet.”

“Your grandfather was way ahead of his time,” Gideon said as he stopped the car beside the small cabin, “and obviously a very wise man.”

Brigden nodded in agreement and offered his hand for Suzanne to take. The area seemed vaguely familiar as they climbed out of Gideon’s truck and for a moment Brigden had a feeling of déjà vu. He often visited the different packs, clans, and flocks closer to Shy River pack lands to assist with electronic surveillance, but Brigden was fairly certain he’d never been in this area before. Perhaps it just resembled a place he’d been to over the years.

As they stepped onto the veranda, Suzanne’s hand started to shake, distracting him from his musings.

“Suzanne?” Gideon asked urgently, reaching for her as she wobbled on suddenly unsteady legs.

“What is it?” Brigden asked anxiously.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Sorry, I…um…it’s nothing.”

“No, baby girl, it’s something.” Gideon lifted her into his arms and waited for Brigden to take the keys and unlock the door. The cabin wasn’t very big, so they found her bedroom with no problems, but she was already trying to climb out of Gideon’s embrace by the time they reached her bed.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“Just what, sweetheart?” he asked, trying to stay calm. Gideon was almost as pale as Suzanne seemed.

“I just…realized that this is actually happening.”

Brigden wasn’t quite certain how to respond to that. It didn’t help that Gideon seemed lost for words as well.

Suzanne shook her head as her eyes welled with tears. Brigden wanted to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything would be okay, but right at that moment he wasn’t certain that it ever would be. He had no idea what was happening right now. Less than an hour ago she’d seemed perfectly happy with the sudden changes in her life.

Thankfully Gideon put her down and she stepped into Brigden’s embrace, wrapping one arm around his waist as she reached for Gideon as well. Gideon held them both fiercely, his muscles shaking violently as he reacted with the same sort of emotions that seemed to be controlling Suzanne.

It took a little while for Brigden to realize that the sad feeling and fear for the future weren’t entirely all his.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said as he caressed her gently.

She half laughed as she sobbed against him, clinging to him as Gideon pulled them both even more tightly into his grip. Brigden moved one of his hands, caressing Gideon as well as he tried to understand what had happened.

All three of them stood there at the edge of her bed until Suzanne finally stopped crying and Gideon ceased shaking.

“I’m sorry, Brig,” Suzanne said as she moved out of the three-way embrace and scrubbed the tears from her cheeks. “It’s so silly. I haven’t enjoyed my life for a long time.” She took a deep, faltering breath and gave him a tiny smile. “The past twenty hours have sort of felt like a vacation—like I’ll have some fun and then go back to my real life. Having you both here in my house…” She hesitated, glancing at him and Gideon before shrugging.

“Just highlighted that you can’t ever go back to your old life, as boring and as unfulfilled as it was,” Brigden finished for her.

She shrugged again and nodded. “Stupid, I know. I can sense both yours and Gideon’s happiness at finally having a way to be together, even if you’re not really together. I suppose I got caught up in that without really considering what I might be losing.”

“What are you losing?” he asked. Everything she’d told him about her life so far had made the changes—even as dramatic and as unexpected as they were—sound like they were quite welcome.

She laughed softly. “That’s the thing. I’m gaining far more than I ever thought I would get. The part of me that is still human is worried that I’m just imagining the feelings you both have for me. I can practically see myself making the same mistakes my mother made, rushing into relationships with men she barely knew only to get hurt over and over again.” Brigden shook his head, denying that he or Gideon would ever hurt her, but she held up her hand to stop him and gave him a very happy smile. “But the werewolf part”—she glanced at the purple hue on her arm—“knows that I can build a happy life with both of you.”

“So the crying?” Brigden asked, glancing at Gideon, worried at his lover’s reaction to Suzanne’s distress as well.

“Is just a silly human thing and something I plan to get over very quickly.”

“Good to know,” Brigden said, relief washing through him as Suzanne stepped back into his arms.

“Brig, I want you to claim me.”

“I will,” he said, still trying to process everything that had happened since they’d climbed out of the car. “When you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now,” she said, reaching up to press a kiss to his jaw. “I want everyone to know that I’m yours.”

Brigden glanced at Gideon, concerned by Suzanne’s choice of words, but their mate merely smiled and nodded in agreement. When Brigden didn’t move to do as they suggested, Gideon stepped closer and pressed a kiss to his lips. Suzanne tilted her head, offering her beautiful neck to him.

“Sweetheart, there’s no need to rush.”

“You don’t want to claim me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“More than anything,” he said quickly, anxious to reassure her on that fact, “but only a few moments ago you were crying at the sudden changes in your life.”

“I also acknowledged that there is no going back.” She framed his face with her hands, pulling him down so that he was staring into her eyes. “I want to go forward, not back.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Gideon said, his hand at the back of Brigden’s neck as he urged him closer to Suzanne’s throat. “I want this for you both. I want you to share this with each other.”

Brigden could feel love flowing between all three of them, the true-mates bond growing even as they just stood talking. Unable to fight his instincts anymore, Brigden opened his mouth wide, his sharp incisors growing from his gums just as he made contact with Suzanne’s soft skin. He held her close as he bit her, keeping her still as he punctured the skin. Heightened arousal flowed through all three of them, Brigden’s urge to bury his cock inside her almost too overwhelming to ignore. He could sense the same need from both his mates. He wasn’t certain how he was interpreting and separating their emotions from his own, but it seemed to be a natural evolution of their true-mates link.

“That is so beautiful,” Gideon said as Brigden finally eased his teeth out of her flesh. He licked at the small drops of blood, his wolf side howling in his mind as he tasted his mate’s essence. “You two lay down for a while, and I’ll grab some essentials for Suzanne to take back to Dry Creek.”

“Uh-uh. No way,” Suzanne said with a laugh. “Werewolf society might be different from what I’m used to, but I’m guessing males in your culture don’t have a clue what a woman considers essential either. The last thing I need is you packing the wrong underwear.”

“Underwear?” Gideon asked with a laugh. “Why would I pack that? Brigden and I both prefer our mate naked anyway.”

“Nice try,” she said as she pressed a quick kiss to Brigden’s lips and stepped away. “How about I pack and you two get some rest?”

Brigden’s heart sped up at the idea of spending some intimate time with Gideon far from the prying eyes of other wolf-shifters.

“Well I guess we know who’s going to wear the
under
pants in this relationship,” Gideon teased as he grabbed Brigden and rolled onto the bed. “But just this once, we’ll let our bossy mate pack while we stay out of the way.”