Lords of the Were (11 page)

You three were meant to be, and I couldn’t be happier for you.” Jilly grabbed her hands and squeezed, her enthusiasm spilling over even as Allie blushed fiercely.

Allie sniffed at her hands when Jilly released her, inviting them to giggle at her antics. “What I want to know is, if I’m half were cat, how come I don’t have such sharp senses?”

“Ah,” Tim sat down on her other side and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a smacking kiss, “but your mother was a priestess. You may not have all that much of the cougar in you—which is a good thing when you consider you’re mated to wolves—but you more than make up for it in other ways, sweetheart.”

Jillian rose and plunked the two-year-old down on Allie’s unsuspecting lap. “Hold Janice for a minute while I take a potty break, okay?”

Without waiting for an answer, Jilly took off down the hall, leaving Allie with a squirming baby on her lap and three grown men smirking at her. Allie hadn’t been around a lot of little kids in her time and was a little afraid of the tiny, rambunctious thing crawling around on her lap.

She put her arms out reflexively when the baby tipped back to smile up at her and nearly toppled off her knees.

Rafe and Tim were there too—one of each of their big hands moving like lightning to bracket hers and save the oblivious baby girl from a tumble.

“She’s a handful,” Allie commented to Ryan, though the baby’s father seemed occupied in chasing down the seven-year-old, an energetic little boy named Harry.

“You’re doing fine,” Rafe crooned near her ear, letting the baby grab one of his big fingers as she cooed up at him. She was a charmer, there was no doubt of that, with her happy golden eyes and wispy blonde curls.

“I’m not used to babies.”

“Yeah,” Rafe chuckled near her ear, “I sort of figured that out. Don’t worry, you’re a natural.”

Baby Janice decided to travel, crawling haphazardly across Allie’s lap to pin herself to Tim’s chest. Allie laughed, thinking Tim wouldn’t know how to handle the little girl, but he amazed her with the natural way he sheltered the little munchkin in his arms. He was so good with her, so loving and attentive and completely unconcerned that the little girl seemed to want to drool all over his shirt.

Hell, Allie thought with a chuckle, she knew how the little chick felt!

Tim’s chest was indeed drool-worthy and even the younger generation seemed to appreciate it.

A small towel pitched through the air and before Allie even realized what exactly it was, Tim’s hand shot up and caught it, sweeping it under the little wet chin against his chest. Those were reflexes were really something.

“Thanks, Ry.”

Ryan winked as he settled back in his chair, the five-year-old now on his lap, blinking sleepily.

“No problem. She hasn’t grown out of the drooling thing yet.

Hopefully soon.”

“But before long you’ll have a new little drooler, won’t you?” Rafe asked.

Allie watched the almost envious light in Rafe’s eyes as he watched the kids all around and wondered if he was thinking of starting a family with her. They hadn’t discussed anything, but then, they hadn’t used any protection that morning either.

The idea of children awed her. Allie hadn’t really thought about having kids. She’d always thought she’d have to find a man who could put up with her before she even thought about reproducing, but that problem had been amply solved. She hadn’t found just one man who wanted her, but two!

Now the thoughts of having their babies had serious traction. Allie watched the way Tim cradled the happy, sleepy toddler, realizing he’d be a great father. The look in Rafe’s eyes spoke eloquently of his hunger for a child too, but there was still one major problem. How would they know exactly whose baby she was having, if she managed to get pregnant?

A DNA test wouldn’t work because these two were identical twins—

even if they wanted subject their were DNA to testing. She had to guess they didn’t want any regular lab getting their hands on what was probably some very non-standard DNA. Rafe tugged her closer, placing a kiss on the crown of her head.

“Don’t think so hard, Allie. We have time yet to answer all your questions.”

That shocked her gaze up to his. “You are reading my mind, aren’t you?”

Rafe shrugged. “Not really. Not completely. But your expressions are open to me. I’m learning you, Allie, just as you’re learning me.”

“Rafe, I don’t have a clue about you!” She laughed up at him, floored by the tender teasing in his expression.

“Oh, no?” He tugged her even closer and bent to whisper in her ear. “I bet you can tell what I’m thinking about right now.” The hot, wet tongue swiping a seductive path around her earlobe gave her the first clue. He bit down gently but with enough force to make her take notice.

“Behave, Rafe! We have company.”

“Don’t mind us.” Jilly swept into the room like whirlwind and sat back down across from Allie. “We were young and newly mated once ourselves.” She clasped her mate’s hand across the distance between their two chairs and the look they shared was so tender, so loving, it touched Allie’s soft heart.

“The early days are good,” Ryan said softly, still holding his wife’s eyes, “but a true mating only grows better with time.” He looked over at Rafe, Allie, and Tim who now cradled a sleeping baby Janice on his chest. “You three should start thinking about a family.” Allie nearly choked, inhaling down the wrong pipe as Rafe thumped her on the back and laughed. She felt her cheeks flushing with bright red heat as all attention focused in on her. Surprisingly it was Tim who came to her defense.

“There’s time for that discussion yet, Ry. This is all still very new to Allie.” His softly pitched voice washed over her senses and the look she caught in his eyes melted her heart. Tim might be a bit gruff on the exterior, but he was gentle when it counted. He knew how to care for little things and he didn’t mind the mess the baby made of his shirt. For that alone, she loved him.

Love?

Now where had that thought come from? Allie sat back and let the conversation flow around her as the realization set in. She loved Tim.

And Rafe. How it had happened, or exactly when, she still didn’t know, but it was there all the same—the fragile kernel of love, just beginning to sprout.

Oh, there was a lot more to it, she knew, but it was a beginning.

These two incredible men had somehow wiggled their way into her heart and the seed they’d planted there was beginning to grow. A fragile thing now, she knew if given half a chance, it could bloom into something magnificent.

The question was, dare she let it grow and find out?

So much was at risk—her heart, her life plan, even her sanity. What if they didn’t love her back? She knew that would destroy her and a sudden fear settled in the pit of her stomach.

Rafe’s warm hand tunneled under her hair to cup the back of her neck.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

Allie put away her troubling thoughts and tried to smile for him, but she knew it failed to convince him.

“Sure.” She allowed him to tug her closer until her cheek rested against his shoulder.

“I keep forgetting that though you may look like your daddies, you don’t have were stamina.” Her aunt Jillian’s voice was gentle as were the golden eyes turned on her when she looked over at the older woman. “We have all the time in the world now to get to know each other and be a family.” Jillian stood and took Allie’s hands in hers, tugging her upwards into a warm hug. “I’m so glad you’re back with us, my dear. So glad you’ve finally come home.”

Ryan and the twins stood too, gathering the kids’ belongings and settling the sleepy younger ones into various carriers and coats. Inside of a half-hour, the entire family was packed up and on their way home, leaving Allie alone once more with her two new mates.

“Are you really tired?” Rafe asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Tim was unbuttoning his shirt, but Allie figured it was because he wanted to change out of the baby drool. Then he started shucking his jeans and Allie’s eyes widened.

“No, not really.” She hedged. “Why?”

“We have a few things to show you, Allie. Things you need to learn about being were, and things you need to understand before you begin to test the limits of your new and evolving powers.” Tim was all seriousness as he stood before her now, naked and without a hint of self-consciousness. Then again, with a body like that he probably never would have a reason to feel self-conscious. Nope, no reason at all.

“Okay…” She jumped when Rafe came up silently behind her, pulling her back against his chest. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Big brother is going to demonstrate the various stages of the change for you. It’s not something we like to do often, but when needed, a partial shift can be very useful.”

“You mean you can do the wolfman thing from the movies?” She couldn’t help but tease a little as Rafe rocked her back against his chest.

“And why did you call him ‘big brother’? Aren’t you twins?”

“Well, Tim was born first by a few minutes, so he’s just slightly older.

And to answer your rather disrespectful question—yes, a half-shift can leave us standing upright while giving us the benefit of claws and teeth.”

“It can also vastly increase our strength.” Tim picked up the narrative as he stretched his limbs in preparation. “It’s all a matter of degrees, but it’s not easy to hold a partial shift and it consumes a lot of energy. We don’t do it lightly, but you need to see it.” Allie sobered up immediately. “I don’t want you to do it if it will cause you pain, Tim. I can take your word on it.”

Tim paused as if surprised, then shrugged. “No, you need to see this.

I don’t want you being afraid of us if we need to do this someday in an emergency situation. You need to know what to expect.” She would have objected more, but the look on Tim’s face, along with the tightening of Rafe’s arms around her warned her not to push further.

Instead she settled back against Rafe and waited for the show.

She didn’t have to wait long. Tim started to shift, as she’d seen before, but this time it was slower, much more deliberate. It was beautiful in a grotesque sort of way as she watched his bones reshaping themselves and his handsome face distort into an elongated snout that wasn’t quite wolf and not quite human either. It was a mix of the two and Tim was right—it scared the crap out of her.

But Allie was a strong woman and having Rafe’s arms around her helped. As did the power spiking through her newly awakened magical senses. She steeled her spine as Tim stalked forward on legs that moved differently than normal human legs. When he put his snout right in her face menacingly, she fought the urge to shut her eyes and turn away.

This was Tim! She’d seen him change into this sinister form not minutes before. Why then couldn’t she control the fear?

“It’s all right, Allie. What you’re feeling is part of our power. In the half-shift, we can use our abilities to project fear into our opponents, but it isn’t very exact. We can’t direct it to specific people—only in general. So if we’re ever in a situation where we half-shift to protect you, some of this projection might spill over to you.”

“You need to know what it feels like so you can recognize it and learn to shield it out.” Tim’s voice was closer to a growl through the larger teeth, his words slurred slightly and in a deeper tone, but he could still talk, which amazed her. Allie tried to erect a mental wall between herself and the feelings of fear bombarding her. Now that she knew what to look for, it was relatively easy to recognize the manipulation of her feelings.

She tugged against Rafe’s hold and he cautiously let her go, one inch at a time. Steeling herself, she touched Tim’s shaggy face, marveling at the change in the man she knew. It was the eyes that finally settled her nerves. Those were Tim’s eyes. Not the eyes of a beast.

She stepped closer and lowered her hands to his muscular shoulders as she learned the new shape and feel of him. Daring greatly, she wondered how it would feel to hug him. She stepped closer and tried it out, shocking him, she could tell, from the way his arms hesitated before closing around her.

“It’s okay. I’m not scared anymore.”

The brothers looked at each other over the head of their petite mate and Tim’s eyes reflected Rafe’s own astonishment.

“You’re a miracle,” Rafe whispered, watching Allie settle into the arms of the beast that was his brother.

After a short time, she let go of Tim, stepping back, deliberately taking in the full view of the man-monster. Her head tilted as her eyes narrowed.

“Does it hurt?”

Tim nodded slightly. “It’s bearable for short periods.”

“But the change wants to complete. Either wolf or human. We weren’t designed to hold the line between the two for long.” Rafe stepped up next to her and tucked her under his arm. She was such a precious thing.

“Then let it complete, Tim. I don’t want to see you in pain.” Tim growled softly as he worked the roped muscles in his shoulders.

With a sigh, he let the change go until he stood before them once more in fully human form. The lines of strain were evident on his face as he bent to pick up his pants and began to tug them on.

Rafe stroked her arm, feeling her distress. “We practice holding the half-form, Allie. It hurts and it’s hard to control, but it can also be very useful.”

“In what way?”

“We’re stronger in that form than we are in any other.” Even Tim’s voice sounded weary.

“We have the heightened senses of a wolf and the dexterity of a human. We also have nearly double the strength than we have in either form.”

“Amazing.”

“Glad you think so.” The twinkle in Tim’s weary eyes warmed her. He was so different at times from his twin, yet he had the same dry wit Rafe showed in abundance. It was just better hidden.

“About what Ryan said before…” Allie seemed to want to say something but the enchanting flush on her rosy cheeks told Rafe she was embarrassed. He thought back to what the were cat had been talking about that might make her blush so prettily.

“You mean about us having children?”