Blake, Abby - Suddenly Wolf (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

Unfortunately, Andrea looked at him with such anger in her eyes he had the very real urge to cup his manhood protectively. But Isaac, ever the peacekeeper, wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her into the seat beside Xavier and then took the seat on her other side. Daegan made certain to move his chair closer to Isaac’s so that there was a wide gap between himself and Sheila on the circular table.

Andrea was already acting territorial over her men. The last thing he needed was the newly made werewolf ripping someone’s arms off—and at this stage he couldn’t be certain they would be
Sheila’s
arms Andrea went for.

Xavier placed his elbow on the back of her chair and softly caressed her shoulder with his fingers. He noticed that Isaac had his hand on her thigh, his touch just as gentle, just as soothing. With one more sharp look at Sheila, Andrea finally took a deep breath and relaxed.

Potential disaster averted…for now.

* * * *

Andrea leaned into Isaac as the two men caressed her. She couldn’t understand where the anger had come from. She’d never been the jealous type, yet the moment she’d seen that over groomed, perfectly polished bottle blonde near her man she’d been ready to attack. Hell, she’d seen the blood-red talons wrapped around Xavier’s bicep, the sycophantic look on the woman’s face, and smelled her obvious arousal and had wanted to rip the bitch’s face off.

The fact that she felt capable of actually doing it scared the living shit out of her. She’d seen Isaac wince when she’d squeezed his hand tight, and his unexpected reaction had been just about the only thing that had made her think twice. Well, that, and Xavier’s enthusiastic response to what probably amounted to her publicly stamping her ownership on him.

The woman obviously didn’t know the score because she glared daggers at all three men, but when she went to say something, the other man, Dave, shook his head, and she shut up. Good thing, too, because Andrea wasn’t the least bit interested in what the woman had to say.

Andrea took a deep breath, trying to find the calm that she usually possessed. It wasn’t like her to make snap judgments. She’d learned as a police officer that a situation was often more complex than it first seemed.

She leaned over to Xavier and whispered, “Why did you invite her?”

“I didn’t,” he said with a shake of his head. “We ran into her as we arrived at the restaurant.”

“I’ll bet,” she said sarcastically. “Rather convenient for her, don’t you think?”

“What I think is that my mate needs to claim me so that the others know I’m taken.”

“Claim?” What was he, baggage on an airport carousel? She was still riding a green haze of jealousy, so she couldn’t have heard that correctly. “What does that mean?”

“It means, sugar, that until you are able to control your wolf well enough to be able to bite me and claim me officially, then you better make sure I’m covered in your scent.”

“What?” Did it say something about her that she had a vision of a dog marking its territory?
Eeew.
But Xavier must have interpreted her expression correctly because he leaned closer and licked her ear.

“It means,” he whispered, his warm breath caressing her earlobe as he laughed softly, “that you need to fuck me hard and long.”

* * * *

Daegan glanced at his watch. It was still quite early, but he was so impatient to get their mate somewhere private that the meal seemed to take forever. It didn’t help that Sheila had stayed, despite it being clear to everyone else that she hadn’t been invited and was not really welcome. It was almost as if she expected Xavier to choose her even though his mate sat at the table.

It seemed that nothing short of an order from her alpha would make her leave the restaurant, and Daegan knew his brother well enough to know Xavier wouldn’t do that. Xavier would feel guilty for what he considered leading Sheila on for the last few years. But Daegan could see the woman for what she was—an ambitious, power-hungry, young bitch who’d set her eyes on Xavier and wouldn’t back down without a fight. But, of course, she kept that side of her personality carefully hidden from the alpha.

“Do you make the jewelry yourself?” Jessie asked with a gleam in her eye. Daegan knew Jessie and Dave’s first anniversary was coming up and wondered what the woman had in mind.

“Some of it,” Andrea replied. Daegan noticed she was caressing the top of Isaac’s hand as Isaac caressed her thigh. It was obvious by her squirming that her mind was elsewhere, but she was trying valiantly to be polite. He was grateful for her attempt. Being the alpha’s mate came with responsibilities that she probably had no way of understanding just yet. Her life would have been far simpler if she’d only been his and Isaac’s mate.

Although, simple didn’t quite describe the dynamics of such a complex relationship. Even without Xavier involved, a triad relationship would have been hard to maintain—although he had no doubt he and Isaac were capable of it—but with Xavier involved, the situation had the potential to spiral out of control.

Just because destiny had chosen Andrea as their mate, it didn’t guarantee that they’d all get along. Hell, he’d seen mated pairs who’d made each other miserable.

“Relax, Daegan, you’re making Andrea nervous.”

“Sorry,”
he sent back to Isaac in a strained telepathic voice.
“I just don’t know how much more polite conversation I can take. I need to mark Andrea as our mate. I need her to mark me.”
He glanced to his right and added,
“And I need to get as far away from Sheila as possible.”

The fawning expression Sheila wore every time Xavier spoke was absolutely sickening, especially since Daegan knew that it was completely fake. Sheila had been careful to hide her real personality in front of Xavier, but both Isaac and Daegan had seen what the woman was really like.

She had no time for anyone she considered beneath her, and since she considered herself superior in every way, that meant she treated just about everybody with contempt. If her brother wasn’t the beta, and a genuinely nice guy, many in the pack would not have tolerated her this long.

“Do you want to order some dessert?” their waiter asked in a friendly voice.

“No,” Daegan replied sharply. He cast an apologetic glance at Andrea, but didn’t miss the grin plastered on Dave’s face. “I mean, no thanks. The meal was delicious. Could we have the check please?”

“I think that’s our cue to get going,” Dave said with a laugh. He helped his wife from her seat and then cast a pointed look at his sister. Sheila seemed not to notice until Xavier cleared his throat and wished her good night. She looked momentarily stunned by the dismissal, but hid her reaction quickly and hurried to catch up to her brother.

Daegan was pretty sure he could hear Sheila grinding her teeth as she wished them all good night in a pleasant voice, but it was Andrea’s blatantly false, almost mocking demeanor that took him by surprise.

Chapter Four

Andrea was livid. Not only did the woman have her eyes on Xavier, she’d actually spent the night deliberately ignoring Isaac and Daegan. And it wasn’t just the actions of a woman smitten by a man and distracted by his charm. It was the deliberate calculation of an elitist snob who considered herself more important than everyone else.

A growl rose up in her throat as the woman walked away, her hips swinging in an obvious attempt to attract Xavier’s attention.

“Who is she?” Andrea asked the moment the three were gone from the restaurant.

“Dave’s sister,” Xavier answered, looking a little startled. Stupid man.

“I know that,” she said, trying to contain her temper. “Who is she
to you
?”

Xavier looked very uncomfortable, and judging by the way Isaac’s hand had once again started caressing her leg, Andrea knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“We’ve dated a few times,” Xavier said dismissively. “But there was never anything serious.”

“Have you fucked her?” She deliberately made the question offensive.

“Andrea, calm down.” Oh, that was the absolute worst thing he could have said at that very moment. Talk about a flashback to her disastrous marriage. She dragged in a breath.

“I need some air.” She shook off Isaac’s hand, anxious to be alone. “Stay,” she growled when Daegan tried to get out of his chair.

Angrier than she could ever remember, Andrea stomped out the front door of the restaurant and around the corner. She tried to steady her breathing as a cool breeze hit her face. Unfortunately, it also carried words to her ears.

“I don’t care if he has a mate. She’s not worthy of him. He’s an alpha, and she’s some pathetic little human his brothers probably dragged out of the gutter.”

“Sheila,” her brother warned angrily, “Andrea is the alpha’s mate whether you like it or not. You can’t change that, so don’t even try.”

“Of course I can change it. I haven’t worked this hard or this long to see my rightful position handed to some human whore,” she said smugly as she slid into the driver’s seat of her car. She slammed the door closed, and the vehicle started a moment later.

Andrea watched, her mind racing with thoughts, as Dave and Jessie exchanged a few quiet words and then headed to their own car. Andrea continued to gaze at the road long after both cars turned onto the highway and headed up the mountain.

“I expected Isaac would be the one to follow me,” she said as Xavier slid his arms around her from behind.

“I know,” he said with a sigh. “But I just got a rushed, truncated version of what has been happening behind my back for the last couple of years and thought I better be the one to deal with it.”

“You didn’t know?” she asked incredulously. How could he not know the woman’s true personality? Was it obvious to everyone but him?

“No, I didn’t know,” he answered in an irritated tone. “It seems that my brothers spend a lot of time trying to protect me. I suppose none of it really mattered until you came along anyway. You’re my mate, Andrea, and I will always be faithful to you.”

“You don’t even know me,” she whispered, feeling wretched. Less than twenty-four hours ago she’d been screaming blue murder at the idea of getting married to anyone, yet now she couldn’t imagine not tying her future to these men. Was it the nearly dying or the changing into a werewolf that had fucked up her thinking?

“I know you,” he said with a confident laugh. “I know that when I do this”—he licked her earlobe and then sucked it into his mouth for a moment—“it makes your knees wobble and your breath catch.” He pressed a line of kisses down her throat. “I know that the idea of having sex with the three of us makes your panties damp and your pussy swell with need.” He turned her in his arms and pressed her head against his heart. “And I know that you don’t like having your feelings dismissed. I’m sorry, sugar. I spoke before I gave any thought to how the words might affect you. I’m the leader of our pack and used to giving orders. I just hope you believe me when I say it won’t happen again.”

“Bullshit,” she said with a quiet laugh. “I know it will happen again. As you say, you’re the top dog, used to pushing others around.”

“I…” He seemed lost for words.

“But don’t worry, puppy,” she said with a smile as she tapped his cheek with her palm. “I’ll make sure to point it out to you each time.”

“Puppy?” he asked, sounding rather affronted. Obviously he was used to the fawning type of respect Sheila had been projecting.

“What? You prefer ‘pooch’ perhaps?” She couldn’t stifle the giggle, and he moved her away from him to look into her eyes.

“You’re teasing me?” he asked with a relieved smile.

“Of course,” she said as she tried to comprehend his reaction. “Hasn’t anyone teased you before?”

“Actually, no,” he said as he pulled her back into his embrace.

“Have you always been the alpha?”

“In a way the answer is yes. My father was the alpha, and when I was born, everybody knew when I grew up I’d take over the pack.”

“So you were what, born to be king?”

He nodded. “You could say that.”

“Holy shit. You’re the werewolf equivalent of royalty?” He laughed, setting her mind at ease even though he didn’t actually deny it. “What about Isaac and Daegan?”

He let out a deep sigh and pulled her closer. “Twins, even triplets are quite common in werewolf families, but identical twins are rare. So rare in fact that for generations identical twins have been considered bad luck, a curse on a pack or a dire warning of things to come. If they’d been born to someone other than the alpha and his mate, they may not have survived their childhood.”