Once Forgotten Twice Loved (13 page)

Larsen looked at Larken with shock on his face. “What happened? What’s wrong?” Larsen didn’t know that Ash was still a virgin.

Larken sat on the edge of the bed knowing that he had just hurt his mate. “She was still a virgin.”

“What? A virgin,” Larsen asked, looking back at the bathroom door.

Ash stood at the door listening to what they were saying.
I should have listened to myself. I just thought that for once it was real for me
.

Then they heard the crying. Larsen and Larken ran to the door and knocked. “Baby, I’m sorry. I was just shocked. I thought I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you.” Larken pleaded as he placed his head against the door. “I’m so sorry, Ash. You didn’t do anything wrong, baby. I was just shocked and then I was mad at myself because I should have gone slower so I didn’t hurt you. Please come out and let me check to make sure I didn’t hurt you. Please, baby.” Larken knew that he had screwed up big time now. He made his mate feel like she had done something wrong. If she only knew how happy he was that she had never been touched.

Larsen looked over at Larken with a frown on his face. “Why did you yell at her? You scared her. Now she probably won’t see us again. Dammit, Larken, you’re an asshole.”

Larken looked up, shocked at Larsen’s outburst. He looked over at Larsen and narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Watch how you talk to me.” Larken pushed away from the door in an aggressive manner. This made Larsen’s wolf come to the surface. Larken could see Larsen’s wolf trying to take control. Larken became mad and shoved his brother into the wall then pointed his finger at his brother. “You had better get control of your wolf, brother, or I will.”

This infuriated Larsen, who jumped at his brother, knocking him to the floor. Both of the brothers started punching each other, rolling on top of each other on the floor.

Ash could hear Larsen getting angry. Then she heard what sounded like furniture being thrown against the wall. Ash opened the bathroom door a crack and saw her mates rolling around on the floor hitting each other. Ash opened the door and knew that if she didn’t stop this then one of her mates, probably both, would be hurt. Ash ran out without thinking of her safety. She reached out and tried to grab Larsen’s arm so she could pull him off Larken. When she reached down, she got too close and Larsen’s elbow hit her in the forehead. Blood immediately flowed down her face. Ash fell backwards onto her butt. Larken and Larsen stopped fighting and looked over at their mate. Blood was dripping off her face. The look of pure anger was etched on her face. Ash growled then jumped up into a crouched position and charged her mates. She grabbed both of them and threw them into the wall. They hit the wall so hard that it caused a crack to form.

Larken and Larsen didn’t have time to protect themselves before they were thrown through the air and into the wall. The air whooshed out of their lungs. When they looked up, Ash was breathing hard and putting her clothes on. She was so angry she could hardly breathe. Larken and Larsen both tried to get up and apologize to their mate, but she wasn’t having it. When they tried to walk toward her, she turned around and growled at them. They had never heard her growl before. She turned around and unlocked the bedroom door, opening it to Jonas and Pelton standing there in their underwear. They had heard the commotion and thought something was wrong or someone was trying to hurt them. When they saw Ash’s face and it was bleeding, they both straightened and narrowed their eyes at Larken and Larsen who were standing there in the nude. Jonas pulled Ash out of the room. Then Jonas and Pelton charged the brothers.

Ash didn’t care what happened to her mates. She was so mad at them and then elbowing her in the face only made it worse. Ash knew it was an accident, but she was mad at Larken and Larsen so she just wanted to stay mad for a while. Ash heard things crash into the walls and knew she probably should have said something to Jonas and Pelton, who obviously got the wrong idea, but thought her mates deserved what they were probably getting. Ash ran downstairs, grabbed her coat, and then ran out the door. She knew it wasn’t far to the lodge and knew she needed to head down the mountain to get there. She also needed to cool off so she just ran toward the road. The moon was bright enough outside making it easier to see where she was going so ran for about three miles before she stopped running and started to walk.

Ash felt bad now. Then she didn’t. Her emotions were jumping all over the place and she didn’t like that feeling.
Why did he have to stop? Why did he have to make such a big deal out of her being a virgin
? Ash knew they would probably tell Jonas and Pelton and then she would be humiliated even more for being a virgin at twenty-nine years old.
I bet they will get a kick out of that. An almost thirty-year-old virgin.
Ash could see the lights twinkling from the ski slopes. She knew she wasn’t far now and just wanted to be left alone for a while. Nash would probably be sent to fetch her, but she wasn’t going. They needed a mate who was more experienced than she was. Obviously that is what they were used to. The more Ash thought about it the angrier she became.

Walking toward the driveway of twinkling lights, she was tired now. She felt like she was on an emotional rollercoaster. Up and down. Around and around. She needed a break from the two brothers. Ash forgot that her forehead had been bleeding and blood was all over her face. When she walked onto the front porch, the women sitting in the rockers looked over at Ash and smiled until they got a good look at her face. The look of shock was written on the women’s faces. Ash brought her hand up to her face, trying to feel if she was still bleeding. When she opened the door, a group of young women were standing near the gigantic fireplace. One of the women looked over and saw Ash walk into the room. She gasped and ran over to Ash.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” Lilly looked up at Ash, whose forehead had stopped bleeding, but the blood had run down her cheeks and all over her face. Ash looked like someone stuck her face into a barrel of blood and pulled it back out. She had blood in her hair and all over her shirt. Lilly and the group of women hovered toward Ash, pressing a rag to her forehead. They had Ash by the arm, leading her toward an office off to the side of the reception desk. When Ash entered the room, the pictures of Larken and Larsen and other women bombarded her. They made Ash sit down in the chair while they took wet paper towels and washed the blood off her face. The young woman who rushed to Ash first started sniffing the air. Then she leaned over and took a deep whiff of Ash.

The woman leaned back with a frown on her face. “Why do you smell like my brothers?” All the other ladies in the room stopped what they were doing and looked down at Ash.

“Wh-what?” Ash stuttered.

“You smell like Larken and Larsen,” said Lilly.

Ash looked up at the young women and tried to get up, but the young woman pushed her back down.

“I will ask you again. Why do you smell like my brothers? I didn’t see them when you came in and you have blood all over you. What did you do to my brothers?”

The air in the room shimmered and felt heavy to Ash as she tried to control her breathing. All the women formed a circle around Ash as if they were going to attack her. Ash knew she was in trouble and knew they wouldn’t give her a chance to explain. The women started growling as they sniffed the air, smelling their brothers’ scent on her. The youngest woman sniffed again then growled even louder. “I smell my brothers’ blood on you.” Ash could see the women’s eyes turning yellow. She knew she was really in trouble now. They were turning and she would have to hurt some of them if she wanted to get out of this room alive. Ash felt like a caged animal as her fangs dropped down and she started growling, too. She jumped up and got behind the chair, hoping to put the chair in front of her if they charged her.

***

Nash got off the phone with Larken, rushing to find Ash. When he entered the living room area, he heard the growling and smelled Ash’s scent. She was hurt. Nash could smell her blood and the closer he got to Lilly’s office, he could smell her fear. Nash opened the door to find his cousins surrounding Ash. They were about to shift and attack her when they saw Nash open the door. He growled at them and jumped in front of Ash, who was shaking with anger. Nash looked over at Lilly, who was in the most aggressive stance. Nash spoke in his Alpha voice.

“Lilly, why are you trying to attack your brothers’ mate?”

This got everyone’s attention. Lilly narrowed her eyes and frowned at Nash. “What? Mate?”

“Yes, their mate. Ash is their mate. She was accidentally hit in the face when she tried to break up Larken and Larsen fighting. She ran away from them before they could apologize to her.”

“Mate? They didn’t even tell us,” Meg said as she looked at her sisters.

“They didn’t have time yet. You were gone for the day and Larken wanted to get to know his mate first. Then Larsen found out that she was his mate, too. Everything has happened so fast and then this happened.”

Lilly tried to walk toward Ash, who was still in a crouched position. Her fangs were still down and she was breathing hard. Her eyes were narrowed and looking around the room at the sisters. Lilly reached out toward Ash, but she growled at her. Lilly jerked her hand back knowing that Ash was scared, and you never try to pet an animal when they felt like they were surrounded. She lowered herself to the floor, sitting on her knees. “Okay, sisters, get on your knees so she will not feel so threatened.” All six sisters lowered themselves to the floor.

Ash watched as the sisters lowered themselves to the floor. Nash turned around. “Ash, it is okay. These are your mates’ sisters. They won’t hurt you.”

“It didn’t seem like that a few minutes ago,” Ash hissed as she continued to stare at the women.

“It’s okay, baby. They smelled Larken and Larsen on you and you are bleeding so they thought you had hurt them.”

Ash quickly leaned up. “I would never hurt them.” Ash retracted her fangs and ran from the room. The elevator was about to close when Ash ran through and the doors shut behind her. She pushed the button for the third floor then gasped as she looked up and saw her reflection in the mirrors on the wall, thankful no one was on the elevator. She was embarrassed enough. After she walked quickly to her room, she inserted the key. The door opened and Ash rushed in, and closed and locked her door. All she wanted to do was take a shower and wash this day from her body. All in one day she found out she had two mates, attacked two men who were really werewolves, then lost her mates when they found out she was still a virgin, and now she was almost attacked by her so-called mates’ sisters. “What in the fuck was I thinking?” Ash said aloud.

Ash quickly stripped out of her clothes and turned on the hot water to the Jacuzzi tub. She groaned as she stepped into the water, feeling the sting as she lowered her body into the water. Blood was smeared on her thighs as she remembered what Larken said when she lost her virginity. The tears fell down her cheeks as she thought about her mates. She told herself that she really did care for them. And if she let herself believe it, she probably loved them. Ash grabbed the soap and washcloth and scrubbed her face and body clean. She washed her hair, thinking that she needed to go ahead, check out of the lodge, and go home. She doubted that she could catch a flight this late to New York so she decided that she would pack and leave early in the morning for the airport before Nash or anyone else could stop her. She was too tired to leave tonight. Ash got out of the tub and dried off, walked back into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She picked up the phone and called the front desk, asking if they could call the airport and change her flight from Sunday to tomorrow morning. Peggy, the clerk, advised her that she would take care of the change of plans for her. Ash then asked for a wake-up call at five in the morning. She couldn’t think anymore. All she wanted to do was sleep. She had an early flight and needed to sleep. Ash didn’t even put on pajamas, as she slipped between the sheets, and drifted into a deep sleep.

***

“Dammit, Jonas, get off me. I didn’t hit her and neither did Larsen. We wouldn’t hurt our mate on purpose. She reached in and tried to break us up from fighting when Larsen accidentally elbowed her in the head.” Larken lay on the floor along with Larsen, Jonas, and Pelton. They fought for a while until Canaan and Wind Wilder rushed into the room yelling at the four who were fighting.

“Mate? Did you say your mate?” Canaan asked.

Larken looked up at his two brothers who were back from school. “Yes, our mate. We found our mate,” Larken responded as he got up off the floor. Canaan and Wind ran to their brother and hugged him. Larken had blood on him but hugged his brothers anyway. Larsen got up and walked toward his brothers. Canaan reached out and dragged Larsen into the hug.

“Well, where is she? When can we meet our new Alpha?” Canaan asked.

Larken and Larsen looked at each other and frowned. “We need to find our mate.” Larken started to walk out the door when Wind reached out and grabbed his hand, stopping him. “You may want to get some clothes on first.” Larken looked down at his naked and bloody body.

“Damn. She is going to run, Larsen,” Larken said as he looked up at his twin.

“No. We won’t let her. Go get in the shower and I will call Nash,” said Larsen.

Larken walked toward the shower, inhaling a deep breath, smelling his mate’s anguish that he caused. He closed the door and turned on the shower, hurrying so he could get to his mate and make her understand that he was only afraid he had hurt her and he wasn’t mad at her.

Larsen hung up the phone as Larken came in the kitchen looking at him with a worried look on his face. “What happened?”

“Well, Ash ran down the mountain and when she entered the lodge, Lilly rushed to her because she thought she was hurt and took her in the office with the girls. Then Lilly smelled us on Ash and smelled our blood. They almost attacked her, thinking she had hurt us in some way. Hold on, Larken. Nash got to her in time.” Larsen could see the look on his brother’s face when he thought his sisters had hurt Ash. “She is locked up in her room; however, she has made arrangements to change her flight for in the morning instead of Sunday. She’s trying to leave, brother, but we won’t let her. Nash is standing guard in front of her door. He won’t let her leave before we get there. He said she is asleep. He went in and checked on her and she is passed out on the bed.”