Theirs (2 page)

My wolf howled, saddened for her mate.

I looked to Jerry. What had we done?

—

Chapter Three

KATE

“
No!” At some point I had to stop being the meek mouse. That was probably what made me such an easy target. I…I couldn’t do it anymore. Today had been long, full of ups and downs. I was exhausted in every way, particularly emotionally.

My whole life, I’d given up the reigns. My parents, though absent often, somehow still micro-managed my schedule. Billy wasn’t as bad, but he was stern. He said it would be over his dead body that I ended up homeless, addicted or a teen mom. He was over-protective to this day, even from a distance, like my parents.

Donovan had killed my social life. I cringed just going to the grocery store, in fear of running into him.

Now, Ellie and Jerry, a set of beautiful strangers I’d just met, were attempting to do the same. They all wanted me to be, act and respond to their liking. In so many ways, I felt like a thing, a toy they all wanted dominion over. Well, I wasn’t for sale. The rights to me weren’t on the market.

Dang it.
A few tears slipped past my barrier. I didn’t want to be weak. I didn’t want to be objectified or fought over. I…I…
Crap.
I didn’t know what I wanted. Ellie had confused the heck out of me. There was only one thing I knew I wanted, I needed.

Tears cascading like a fool, I lifted my chin and forced myself to face them.

Their expressions were identical masks full of concern that held all else, all other feelings, reactions, at bay.

“
I’m going to that bed to sleep. Alone.” I motioned towards the door behind me. “I wouldn’t rest with either of you near me. If you have a problem with that, I’ll leave. I’ll find some way back to town.”

In unison they caught each other’s gaze from the side. I absently wondered if some of the paranormal fiction stories got it right when they portrayed a mental link between the pack members. I felt my brows furrow as I pursed my lips, attempting to hold it all in, even as my mind created more drama for my heart to reply to.

“
No, it’s not a problem,” Ellie stated. She gave me a small smile, but it didn’t touch her eyes in the least. It was wistful, hopeful, mustered as a last resort it seemed. “Sleep well, sweet cheeks.”

I forced myself to meet Jerry’s hard stare. My heart paused briefly, awestruck by the heavy emotions now vivid in his chocolate brown depths.

His lips curled at the edges. Arms crossed over his chest, showcasing his expansive muscle, he nodded once. “Sleep well, Kate.”

For one short moment, I questioned myself. Guilt was rearing it’s head from nowhere, plucking at my vulnerable, sensitive strings. Irrationally, incredibly, I wanted them, yet confusion, fear, all the negatives associated with risk seemed to squash my courage. One minute I was falling into bed, like a true and tried tramp, the next, I was kicking them out, fighting to erect a last-minute wall of protection. The truth was though: I didn’t have any. I’d never been so raw; Donovan had worn me down and out. I no longer had a safe haven thanks to him.

And Donovan was the reason I needed to put some space between myself, Jerry and Ellie. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know why, but I cared. I cared about what would happen to them if I chose wrong, acted impulsively. Jesus, I had to care to not have a more impressive, more human reaction to their were side. I should have screamed my bloody head off. I should have shied away and ran the first chance I had.

But I didn’t.

It was the puzzle, the riddle of how, why, they affected me the way they did, why I responded to them the way I did that kept my mind busy even as my heart found new reasons to cling to them. Logically, I knew it was too soon. I hadn’t abandoned sensibility, but it did seem irrelevant since their mere existence was outside the realm of sensible, logical or realistic.

With a sigh and a final glance in their direction, I spun towards Ellie’s bedroom door. I felt their eyes boring into me as I disappeared into the room. Last minute, thinking better of it, I shut and locked the bedroom door behind me.

I didn’t sleep though. I tossed and turned in the large bed. I heard them moving outside the door, pacing, then whispering before pacing some more. It was unnerving and comforting simultaneously. Crazy as it sounded, I irrationally rationalized that it was proof they cared. I didn’t know how much, but for knowing me less than a day, caring at all was beyond the realm of normal, nearly unfathomable in the human world.

Yet I, as a human, reciprocated it.

—

Chapter Four

JEREMIAH

Dammit.
I fought hard against every instinct that had me smashing through the bedroom door, holding her down as I claimed her and then tasted her until she passed out. The fact that it bordered rape had me denying my wolf. He was a feisty ball of snarls, roaring and snapping with every labored, bitter breath. He paced within me, unsettled, driving up my own angst.

“
That went well,” Ellie scoffed. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head negatively as she paced between the sofas.

I leaned against the mantle. I didn’t have kind words at the moment. As an alpha, I always had to remain in control. Speaking my mind could unbind my wolf. I couldn’t risk it with her so close. A door wouldn’t save my mate. Hell, an entire forest of distance nearly wasn’t enough.

Ellie stopped moving. She cocked her head, assessing me. Ellie was the one person who could see past my alpha barriers, when she wanted to. She licked her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why didn’t you tell me from the get go?” Her voice was low, quiet for my often loud and obnoxious beta.

I pursed my lips, considering her. She appeared mostly calm and perhaps a bit perplexed. “I didn’t want it to become a competition.”

“
Sharing on a permanent basis isn’t in our nature. We’re always going to be competing for her attention.” Frustration raised her voice enough for her to self-consciously glance at her bedroom door.

“
We grew up together, El. It didn’t matter than you were two years behind me; you were the only one who had my back when I was a skinny sissy in elementary school. I love you on some level. Not in the romantic sense, but enough to give you a go at my-
our
mate first. That’s gotta count for something.”

She narrowed her gaze on me. She mashed her lips together, clasping, pinching the flesh of her upper arms. “Yeah, that counts…as bullshit. Why don’t you just say the truth out loud, Jer?”

I sneered. “And what would that be, Ellie May?”

She leaned towards me, glaring. “That you didn’t think I had a chance in hell. That I was the underdog who needed a bone because I haven’t scrapped my way to the top in any other part of my life, right?” Sarcasm thickly coated her words. She cut her eyes at me, her lips curling viciously, warning of her wolf looming at her surface. “Newsflash, alpha, I didn’t need your charity. I’ve always held my own, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have surrendered my mate without a fight to the death.”

My vision flickered in and out of focus as my wolf made a strong effort to break loose. Ellie had challenged us; whether she meant to or not remained to be seen.

I forced my wolf down. Tearing each other apart would solve nothing. It wouldn’t endear Kate to either of us. “That wouldn’t solve anything and you know it.”

We fell into silence, each of us pacing in turn. Knowing Kate was just beyond the doors had our wolves on edge, hyper alert, aware of everything. Their would be no sleeping tonight.

—

Chapter Five

ELLIE

Motherfucker. I wanted to scream and curse and throw a royal tantrum to match the centuries, but Jerry was right; it wouldn’t solve anything. I hated how levelheaded he was. Sure he saved my ass a time or two, but his steady calm only made me resent my free spirit.

We caught each other’s gaze. Jerry and I had always been in sync since we were young. Dammit, looking back now, I should have known nature was up to something with that shit.

It was hard to swallow my pride. I sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t know if my wolf will share.”

He studied me long enough to rouse my wolf. “She doesn’t have a choice.” His muscles flexed unnaturally, alerting me to his wolf. “We only have to watch once.”

A smile split my face. “I’m nosy as hell. There’s no way I’m not gonna watch her fall apart every damn time.”

He smirked, his eyes lighting with humor. “I think your work schedule is going to be changing soon.”

I gave him my best evil stare. “Don’t even think about it. I have no problem neutering you.”

His lips retreated as his brows drew down. It looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

How many times had he come to my rescue, talked me off the ledge, kept me out of jail for the night? Deep down, I knew, before he ever spoke these words.

“
Listen, El, I don’t want to lose her, but I also don’t want to lose you. For years we were bitter and jealous that we didn’t have a mate or a permanent other. Now we do. If I’ve got to share with someone, I’m glad it’s you, but that’s within reason. Watching her come in your arms in the kitchen was hot as hell, but watching her cry her eyes out because you hurt her wasn’t. If you’re willing to try, I’m willin’ to try, but if you hurt her again, all bets are off, Ellie May.” His eyes glowed unnaturally; proof the threat came from both of them.

Always so damn levelheaded. He sounded perfectly at ease throughout his delivery.

I straightened my stance, meeting him head on in the center of the sitting area. “Right back at ya, bub.” I felt the heat of my wolf as she made her presence known to Jerry.

My lips pursed their way into a grin; the competitive girl in me, the one who was surrounded by rough and tough male wolves growing up, rushed up. “What do you wanna bet I get her off more than your prickly dickly?” I wagged my brows.

Jerry assessed me, giving my whole body a once over. “Plastic is cold, and I’m pure warmth on a cold night, Barbie.”

“
Put your money where your mouth should be. She leaves in a week. Fifty bucks says I’m better than you.”

He seemed to toss the idea around in his head, his lips turning down further with each passing second. “She won’t even look at us right now.”

“
Tomorrow’s a new day. She’ll have to come out at some point.” I quirked a brow, continuing to challenge him. It would be over my dead body that he considered me the weakling of our clique.

He inhaled deep. “She ever finds out-“

“
She won’t.”

He nibbled his lips. He gave nothing away. Suddenly, he shook his head negatively. “This isn’t a game for me, Ellie.”

“
Yeah, well, treating me like an underling who needs a leg up was a nice little blow to my ego.” I blew out a heavy breath. “She’s not a game to me either, Jer, but damn if I don’t feel like you want to show me up.”

He moved into my space. His eyes blazed; a snarl curled his upper lip. “I want you to get your head out of your ass and your ears out of the swamp so you can hear. I gave you a fuckin’ head start, Ellie. I want us both to have our mate and live long, happy lives, but you’re being so damn stubborn.” His nostrils flared, his eyes fully glowing gold. “You can either put her first, which means we both sacrifice a little to make it work, or you can be a hard headed bitch and send her running; and she’ll either run into my arms or back to Miami, but you still lose her regardless.”

My veins burned with bitterness. Angry tears pierced my eyes. “Some fucking choice that is.” Either I gave up a little or I gave up a lot; I still lost something either way.

This wasn’t what I wanted. It was unfair. Nature was being an unjust bitch.