Morgan (7 page)

He looked down at her, his eyes hooded, as he settled her against his chest. “I like the way you smell, Morgan. You smell sweet and feminine.”

“I like the way you smell, too. Like the forest after it’s rained. Fresh and woodsy.” Morgan hit her head on his solid chest as she groaned. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed. You can say anything to us,” Cameron said. He stood on her other side and boxed her in. The sensation of both of their hard bodies surrounding her overwhelmed her. She liked it, but it was too much. She struggled to get away, kicking her legs and pushing at their chests with her elbows. Agonizing pain shot down both of her arms, and she couldn’
t stop her scream.

“Step back, you’re overwhelming her,” a soft voice said.

Cameron pressed closer to her, a growl rumbling through him. Her breaths were small pants now as her panic attack made her hyperventilate.

“Listen to her and step back, Cameron,” said a male voice. “You know that I’m no threat.”

As Cameron
and then Ben slowly stepped back Morgan felt her panic subside. Her arms ached terribly, and she hunched over as she tried to slow her breathing. When the pain returned to a dull ache, she lifted her head and saw a woman standing in front of her. She’d never seen her before but her heart skipped a beat with the joy of recognition she instantly felt.

“It’s you,” Morgan said softly. “I feel like I know you. You’re Bethany.” Tears filled her eyes and she screamed as she automatically went to wipe them away with her hand.

“Please, Doc,” Evan said, “we need to get her arms looked at.”

“No,” Morgan said, she looked again at her sister. She knew it was her. She felt as though she were connected to someone for the first time in her life. “Please don’
t leave me.
”

“Morgan,” Bethany said quietly. She reached up and put her hands her on Morgan’
s cheeks.
“This is my home. Your home now.” She looked up at Ben and smiled. “For a while, at least. Jason is one of my husbands and he’s going to look after you.” She wiped Morgan’s tears away with her thumbs.

Morgan just stared at her sister and nodded. The small woman had the exact color eyes and hair that she did. “We could pass for sisters,” Morgan said, then laughed at how ridiculous her statement was.

“I know,” Bethany said. “I was about to say the same thing.” She lowered her hands and rested them on her protruding stomach.

“You’
re pregnant,
” Morgan said. This was amazing. She had a sister and she was here in front of her. A pregnant sister.

“I’m going to be an aunty. Did you say husbands?”

“I’
m Jason,
” said a huge man standing beside Bethany. “I’m one of Bethany’s husbands and the doctor here in Eminence. Let’s get your arms seen to and your head stitched up. Then you and Bethany can talk.”

The next hour went by in a blur. Morgan was placed on a cot and wheeled into a room with X-ray equipment. Then she was wheeled into another room and her head wound was cleaned and sutured. Ben, Cameron, and Evan remained at her side, apart from when she'd had the X-rays. They had been outside the door though. She’d heard them all growling and it had made her feel safe knowing they were close.

“Your wrists and arms have several bad breaks. A brace won’t be sufficient support. I’ll need to apply plaster casts to both lower arms,”
Jason said. “You don
’t require an anaesthetic, but it will be painful. I’d like to administer something for the pain?”

“Drugs for pain make me really sleepy,” Morgan said. “I’ll be fine.”

As the procedure drew out, she had time to examine her feelings toward Ben, Cameron, and even Evan. She didn’t know when it had happened to her, but somewhere in the day’s events she’d become a clingy female.

Prior to today she’d always preferred her own company, but apparently not anymore. Not when it came to the Harvey brothers, at least. She liked the way they touched her every chance they got. She liked the way they looked at her. She liked looking at them, too.

She’d only just met them and she already felt like she was going to miss them when they left. Her eyes teared up at the very thought of going home and leaving them behind. She was an idiot.

Cameron and Ben held her arms while Jason wrapped them in plaster bandages. Evan sat behind her with his muscled legs boxing her in and his arms wrapped protectively around her middle. She found that she’d snuggled into his chest again.

He whispered in her ear how brave she was, but she didn’t feel brave. She felt stupid for having developed an attachment to law enforcement officers who were simply doing their job. They’d brought her here to protect her and because they knew her sister. That was the only reason.

“I know I refused any pain relief, Jason, but I’ve changed my mind.” She’d initially wanted to stay awake to talk to Bethany, but now the pain in her arms and the rising despair over her ridiculous attraction to the Harvey brothers was making her wish for the temporary oblivion of a drug-induced sleep.

“We’re all done,” Jason said. She looked down and saw he’d finished plastering both of her arms.

“
Oh. Well, I
suppose that I don’t need Cameron, Ben, and Evan here anymore, so I’ll say good-bye. I’d like to thank you for bringing me here to meet Bethany.” She wriggled forward away from Evan’s chest only to have him draw her straight back.

“And where would we be going, pray tell?” His deep, husky voice sent shivers down her back.
Shit and damn, he was sexy.

“I feel the same about you, love. You have to be the sexiest woman ever created.”

Morgan gasped. “You
can
read minds. I knew it.”

“No, honey,” Ben said. “You said those words for all of us to hear. I’
ll admit I
’m feeling a little jealous right now.” He stared at her with such intensity that her heart missed a beat. He was so damned hot he could be a god.

“Now I feel better,” Ben said. His smile was wicked, and his eyes had darkened.

“I said that, didn’t I?” When Ben nodded she shifted her gaze to Cameron. “I may as well just say that you’re gorgeous, too. I’m attracted to all of you, but I’m also fully aware that you’re just doing your jobs. I really am very sorry for behaving so inappropriately. I hope I haven’t made you feel uncomfortable.”

Cameron lifted her chin with his finger until their eyes met. “We have a lot to discuss tonight, Morgan. But know this: None of your feelings are inappropriate. We are just as strongly attracted to you.”

“I think the time has come for Morgan and Bethany to talk,” said a female voice. Morgan looked to the doorway and saw a tall woman with grey hair standing there. Behind her stood the biggest man Morgan had ever seen. He must have been seven feet tall with shoulders as wide as the doorway.

“
Hello, Morgan. It
’s a pleasure to have you in Eminence with us. My name is Finn Frederick. This is Shana, our town healer.” He shifted his gaze to Ben. “Bring Morgan into the kitchen. Shana and the mates will speak to her first.”

His tone had changed completely when he’d addressed Ben. This was a man used to being obeyed. He and the older woman left and Morgan was gently lowered to the floor by Evan. She looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing.

“Bethany is the same size as you. Well, she was before she was pregnant,”
Cameron said.
“Once they’ve finished talking to you I’m sure Bethany will find some clothes for you to wear.”

“Are you sure you can’t read minds?” Morgan asked.

“No, they can’t.” Morgan looked up to see a small woman with long strawberry-blonde hair standing in the doorway. She was beautiful. “They just have a very good sense of smell. Now scoot, all of you. I’m here to help Morgan dress and use the bathroom.”

The men all nodded at the small woman. They each kissed the top of her head gently as they filed obediently from the room without another word. Morgan wanted to ask them to stay, but they were gone in the blink of an eye.

“
My name is Melanie. You just met Finn. He
’s one of my husbands, and he’s kind of in charge around here. We’re going to be great friends, Morgan. Bethany and I are best friends and we’re in business together. Can you cook?”

Melanie was shorter than Morgan and she’d just said she was married to that seven-
foot-
tall man, plus he was only one of her husbands.
Bethany had said that too. Was the town part of some cult?

“
Come on, let’s get you washed up and dressed. I can tell by the pained expression on your face that you didn’t understand half of what I just said.” Melanie opened a door to reveal a small bathroom. Morgan needed to pee, and she’d have loved to wash her face and hands. Well, her fingers, anyway.

“I have two broken arms,” Morgan said pathetically.

“That’s why you have me to help you,” Melanie said. She smiled and Morgan knew she’d been right. They were going to be friends. “Between me, Shana, and Bethany, we can answer all those questions you have. Believe me, I’ve been
exactly
where you are.”

Morgan let Melanie guide her into the bathroom and began to relax. She was going to talk to her sister, her real flesh-and-blood sister. Then she was going to ask what they put in the water in this town because it sure made sexy-ass men.

Artur swung his clawed hand and raked it down his Beta’s exposed chest. Blood sprayed over the hotel room’s walls, but Yefim remained silent. The fool thought bravery may yet save him.

“What did you say?”
Artur asked.

“I said she was gone from the hospital when I went for her, sir.” Yefim’s voice was just above a whisper. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were wide as they stared into Artur’s.

“You have failed me again, Yefim. I don’t think anyone has
ever
failed me twice.” Artur threw the useless feline across the room. He hit the wall and slid down to sit dazed and bleeding on the expensive carpet of the hotel suite.

“Ignaty, go to this hospital and find where my daughter went.” A blur in the air told him Ignaty was serious in pleasing his Alpha and cementing his new position as Beta.

“What shall I do with you now, Yefim? Death seems too easy a punishment.”

Artur let his cat’s rage and frustration loose as he stalked across the room toward his prey. “No one will ever say that Artur Petrov accepts failure.”

Morgan felt better for being clean and dressed. Melanie was a sweet woman who had her laughing by the time they walked into the kitchen to meet with Bethany and Shana. When Morgan saw her sister standing there, smiling, her happiness dissolved, and tears filled her eyes.

“No, Morgan. Don’t be sad,” Bethany said. She walked to her and tried to wrap her arms around her, but with Bethany’s swollen belly her hands just managed to clasp her shoulders. “We’ve found each other now. The past doesn’t matter. We have the rest of our lives to be together now.”

Morgan sniffed back her tears and held Bethany to her. The empty space that had always dwelled inside of her felt smaller now, like Bethany had always meant to be a part of her life. “This sounds ridiculous, because I only found out this morning that you even existed, but I feel as though I’ve been missing you my whole life.”

“Now that I have you here, I feel the same,” Bethany said. She pulled back and looked at Morgan, her eyes roaming over her face. “I love you already. You can’t ever leave me again. We need to be together.”

“That’s exactly the sensation I’m experiencing,” Morgan said. “It’s crazy, though. You have a life here. A husband and a baby on the way. You don’t need me hanging around.”

“Husbands,” Melanie said softly. “Come and let’s have a cup of tea. Shana has made you one of her special brews.”

“That I have, Alpha mate.”

Morgan turned and looked at the older woman. She must have conveyed her puzzlement as the older woman just waved her hand dismissively and gestured to the kitchen table.

“Soon, soon, Morgan. It will all make sense in a minute.”

Morgan let Bethany lead her to a chair and she sat down, unsure of what was happening. “This special brew. I
t doesn
’t have any booze in it, does it?” Morgan asked. She reacted badly to alcohol and had become violently ill from just one beer in her senior year of high school. She shuddered. “Alcohol and I don’t play well together.”

“I would not give you anything harmful when you are already injured, young one,” Shana said. She smiled and placed a steaming mug in front of her before moving to take the seat across the table from her. “It contains nothing but healing herbs.”

“It tastes like shit, but it will make you feel better,” Melanie said.

“I can hear you, Melanie.” A loud voice boomed from the other room.

Melanie smiled and sat down next to Shana. “Of course you can, Finn,” she said. “It’s because you have such big ears.” Melanie and Bethany both laughed, but Shana frowned at them until they stopped.

Morgan picked up the mug with the fingers of both hands. It made the broken bones in her wrists throb a little, but nothing like the pain she’d felt before they’d been plastered. Sipping the warm brew, she found it to be a little bitter, but she was thirsty so she kept drinking.

“Have you had a good life?” Bethany asked. “I know it’s too much to tell me all at once, but did you have parents who loved you?”

“I did,” Morgan said, setting the mug down and reaching for Bethany’s hand. “My Mom died six months ago from cancer, and my dad is still really sad, but they always loved and cared for me. How about you?”