Chapter Fifteen

Hunter The snow was beginning to buildup. Erin had taken my car for her little adventure, the one that I would use on a non-snowy road. Its luxury was unbeatable, but it didn’t stand a chance in a snowstorm or driving through the accumulation that covered everything as far as the eye could see. It was the only vehicle I owned that didn’t have four-wheel drive. I put snow tires on it, but it doesn’t handle near as well as the cars we’re driving. At least it had all-wheel drive and could do a passable job in weather, but this was more than a light snow shower.

“Why the hell are you out here anyway, woman?” I yell into the empty cab of my SUV. “Don’t you know we love you? That you’re ours?”

But that was the point, she didn’t. She didn’t know any of the things I knew. Not yet. She was returning to Wolf Pass and that was a good sign, but there were a few areas of the road that were more dangerous than others. Where was she? Had she passed the road closure area? The strip of asphalt wasn’t bad enough to close, but that could change with the snow accumulation.

As I rounded the next corner, I could see a vehicle several miles away from my vantage point. It appeared to be mine. Thank God, it was. She looked to be in a broad section of the road. She didn’t seem to move farther, but all that could be a trick of space and my movements. It was a distance away. I slowed down and took a quick look at my screen and called Gage.

“I think this is her. She doesn’t seem to be getting farther away from me. I’m moving, but she appears stationary.”

Gage confirmed it was Erin. We’d found her, but was it too late? As we got closer, I could see she was on the inside of the road. A white stag was standing to the right of the car. Protection? A white wolf sat on the clifftop above them. A light-colored grizzly bear was off to the left of the road. They were all sentinels over Erin. He could hear the wolf howl, see the bear stalking as if walking a parameter, but the stag never flinched or showed any fear. They were sent to shield her from harm. I’d never seen anything like that in my life. It was as the elders said. The animal kingdom guarded those who were chosen. A screech called out across the sky as an eagle swooped along the roadway. They protected our mate. If I had any doubts as to how extraordinary she was, this confirmed it.

As I got closer, the stag moved away from the front bumper of the car that was smeared with a dark substance and damaged. She’d hit something or something hit her. I maneuvered around to park in front of Erin, my vehicle facing the wrong way, but I didn’t care. Gage, Race, and Barrett pulled up, but I didn’t acknowledge them as I tried to yank open the door of Erin’s car. It’s locked. Looking in through the fogged window, I could see she was inside. I knocked on the cold glass.

“Erin, baby, open the door.” No reply. She was hurt. She had to be to not even move when I next banged on the window.

Gage rushed to me and clicked the locks open remotely. The doors wouldn’t open fast enough. Gage opened the passenger side. We both saw her slumped over the middle console. Panic immediately slammed into me at what I saw. I worried about the cold on her limp body. She was only wearing a light jacket, which offered no real protection to the elements. From the waist down she was saturated in blood and the iron scent was overwhelming.

On my first view, it seemed there was blood everywhere. My heart seized at the possibility that the Hellhound discovered her before us, but there was no telltale stench inside, only outside the vehicle. I reached in to touch her and found her warm in certain places. The bleeding was uniform, not the bloodbath a Hellhound leaves. She wasn’t just bleeding, she had hemorrhaged menstrual blood. Her estrus was out of control. But it was too early. Regardless of timing, it flooded the seat, her hands, and her pants. And she was freezing, her lips had a distinct blue hue and her body trembled uncontrollably. Without fast work, she would die. The cold seemed to have slowed the bleeding, likely saving her for now.

“What’s going on?” asked a panicked Gage. “Why is she bleeding?”

“Elder Sims said that she has to shift, or she’ll die. She’s waited too long to do the first shift, and this is her final day. I’d thought she would go into her estrus after midnight, but it appears it is now. Finding us, her natural mates, has put her on an irreversible timetable to be mated, marked, and shift or die.”

I have to get her pulled together enough to shift or we’ll lose her. I stared a moment longer before reality hit my brain. She was actually dying but we have the cure. Crude though it was, if we didn’t get started immediately, she wouldn’t ever regain consciousness. We will have lost our true mate and the shifter world, a rare human hybrid.

“Let’s get her moved to the back of my SUV.”

Gage leaned in to scoop her up and for the first time, I felt my wolf growl in a jealous warning aimed at Gage. I called my animal down. Gage doesn’t seem to notice. I don’t have time to tease things out right now. I have a plan of action and Erin cannot afford my wild side to take over. Not yet, anyway.

I put the tea mixture in hot water and placed it outside to cool off as it steeps, while he gently laid her in the back of my vehicle, and it struck me how much our lives have changed in the last week. This nymph has taken over our whole existence and our hearts without any effort. I have no doubt she is the one we have been waiting for and we never knew it. I waste a moment to kick myself for not listening to Gage over a year ago when he first mentioned her. This whole thing would have been avoided. Maybe. We might not have known she was a shifter. I don’t have time now to think about anything, but the here and now.

“Send the others back with the other vehicles. They’ll find a couple of towels in the back for the blood-soaked seat in the car.”

As we scrambled in behind her, I reached down to bring the still cooling cup in with me, closing the door to retain the warmth.

Flipping the interior lights on and turning on the engine, we had the heat on full blast. I told Gage about the plan and braced for his response. “We have to strip her down. I know it isn’t ideal, hell, it fucking sucks, but she needs the tea, we need to warm her up, and get on with the rest of it. Unfortunately, the back of the SUV isn’t anywhere near the setting we wanted to take her and claim her but there is no choice now.”

“What the hell are you talking about? She is fucking bleeding out.”

“No, the cold slowed all her processes, but now that she is warming up, our time is short. Elder Sims told me what to do. We need to mate with her and mark her, but if that can’t happen, we must at least mate. Then we have to get her to follow her animal and shift with us. We then must immediately mark her with our scent. Her body will naturally heal itself.”

“But she’s unconscious.”

“I know. I have the tea and it should fix that part.”

“Hunter, can you hear yourself? She is not going to drink tea if she’s not conscious.”

“I pray as she warms up, she will regain enough consciousness to sip some of the tea which will help her become more able to respond and drink more tea. I know what you’re thinking, but trust me.”

“I guess I’ll have to, but I don’t care if you are the Alpha if you cause her to die on us—” Gage bared his teeth and gnashed them.

“I won’t. I would never do anything to harm her.”

“I know. I know.”

“Okay, now never mind the glorious first time. We’ll get her home and give her whatever she needs, but tonight is about saving our woman and her wolf or whatever she shifts to.”

Gage held her and between rubbing her chest, arms, and legs, and me pouring the tea in the lid of the cup and dripping it into her mouth, she stirs. She’s somewhat bleary, but awake.

“Erin,” I say sternly. “Wake up.”

I help give her more of the tea and strip our woman down. Gage calls the men and sends them home. I see the taillights of the other two vehicles as they return home. It’s all on us now. Gage is cleaning her up with wet wipes and another towel. He caresses her as he cleans up as much of the blood from her body as he reasonably can. She arches into his touch. She’s still desperate to mate. Good. We’re about to fulfill her wish.

***

Gage I held Erin tight to my chest as I spoke to our too cold woman, trying to coax her awake. The warmth of the vehicle, her nakedness and something in the tea brought her awake a little. I don’t know what’s in the drink, but it seems to give her enough energy to open her eyes and smile at us.

“I found you.” Her words were said with a sigh of relief. “No, you found me. We found each other.”

Hunter encouraged her. “Yes, sweetheart, now drink more of this. We have things to do.”

“Mm, so good.” She drank the rest of the tea and even some of the tea leaves in the bottom. She scrunched up her face.

Hunter looked at me and I knew what had to happen next. “Baby, I’m sorry, but we need to breach you.”

“What? That’s an odd way to put it. You do know I’ve had sex, right?”

“But it’s the first time with us,” I say to the woman who appears a little intoxicated. I send an inquiring look in Hunter’s direction. He shook his head and shrugged. At least her bleeding has almost stopped.

“You want to have sex here? In the back of the car? While we’re driving? I’m kind of tired, Gage. How about tomorrow? Full moon, remember?” She wiggled her eyebrows half-heartedly as she closed her eyes again. With my whole being, I didn’t want to tell her she couldn’t sleep right now. That she had no choice, but it was the truth. Hunter, ever the alpha, had no hesitancy in telling her the plan.

Hunter spoke in his no-nonsense tone, the one she had yet to comply with on the first try. “Erin, you have to mate and shift, baby. We promise not to drive while we do it.”

“Oh, who told you?” Erin sounded as though he ruined her surprise. She was so damn cute. I planned on getting her drunk sometime soon and have some fun. “I wanted to surprise you. Wait, you know about shifters? Is that okay? I mean, what does that change for us?” Her ramblings continued until she disclosed what he already knew would be the hardest part of this plan. She looked into my face. “Gage, I don’t know what kind I am or even how to do it, but I do or can, in theory, shimmer.”

I watch her close her eyes and then open them again when Hunter kissed her lips hungrily. I wanted to yank him off her. She wasn’t ready. We can’t do this, but my wolf wasn’t listening any longer. I mentally called to her wolf or whatever she shifts to. Hunter’s wolf must be doing the same because she smiled at us and she spoke much clearer.

“You want to mate?” asked a more engaged Erin. “I don’t know how to do two of you at one time. Hell, I barely know how to do one of you at a time. But I’m willing to try.”

All right, so we’re doing this even though the daddy side of me is warring with the untamed side of me. “We gotcha, but I need you to get in the position you want,” I tell Erin as I lean down to kiss her nipple. I manipulate the other nipple as I kiss her again. I’m gratified and relieved when she moans and arches to me. She has been so needy this close to her estrus that it won’t take much to arouse her.

Hunter looked down and nodded. “She’s stopped her bleeding. Her body knows she is going to mate. Somehow the tea and our touch are doing the trick.”

Relieved that the crisis was over, for now, we had the luxury of a little more time to make love to our girl. She was soon writhing as we stripped down.

“Please, I need it now. I need you to come inside me. Hurry. My core feels as though it will burst out of me.”

“That’s your wolf or whatever you shift to, honey. It’s your animal.”

I slide into position and take her missionary. I don’t want to traumatize her, but by the way she’s reacting to her mating call, I don’t think there’s an issue with that. As Hunter teases her clit, I take a moment to revel in the sensation that is Erin. I love her. I love every fucking thing about her, and I will defend her with my last breath. This wasn’t a flowery phrase, it’s a statement of fact. I picked up the pace but tried not to be too rough as she comes all over my cock. I have to let my wolf out some so he can mark her, but not so much that I scared her. She may be a shifter, but she has never seen one up close and personal. As Hunter turned her face toward his lips and elongated her orgasm, I felt my teeth do the same. Leaning down, I sank those teeth coated in my oily essence in her shoulder, piercing the skin, leaving my mark, my scent, claiming and life binding with her.

Erin froze and screeched as she thrashed in the sharp streak of pain, but soon she settled down. The wound was deep and bled. I’ve been careful where I placed my mark and I know when she shifted it would begin to heal immediately, leaving only a red reminder by tomorrow. I took her face and dropped another kiss on her lips before backing away to give Hunter his turn. Being the first was an honor most Alphas would never have offered, but it is the way Hunter was with his littermates. We are equal amongst ourselves. In the pack and everywhere else he was the undisputed leader, but privately, things were different. Our woman truly meant ours.

***

Hunter I watched Gage claim our woman and I had to hold my dominant wolf back. My littermates are essential parts of my life and for years, Gage and I knew we would likely share our mate if she were drawn to both of us. Now is the time we waited for and I hate that we’ve had to rush it. By the responses of our Erin, though, we were the only ones who mourned the delivery.

She whined. “More, I need more.”

“You do, do you? Okay, sweetheart, it’s my turn.”

I flipped her over to all fours. She immediately arched her back and presented her ass like a cat looking for satisfaction. This girl might be a cat. She had done this arching a number of times. I don’t know, but I intended to find out shortly. Under any other circumstances I’d smack that presenting ass, but right now, I can’t help but kiss her prominent cheeks while I inhaled her essence. Erin and Gage. Soon I would mingle with them to complete the triad.

I grabbed her hips as Gage slipped underneath her to tease her tits and twirl her clit, rubbing her own essence over my stiffness. I slide inside and stop for a second. The sensation was so incredible, that my wolf was battling to take over. I have a hard time keeping him at bay, but it won’t be for much longer, I tell him.

She banged her butt against me and began the rhythm for coitus. By her frantic moves and grunts, she wasn’t going to last long. I pounded inside her luscious body and took over the dance. I’m still the Alpha and I liked to control my mating. Gage is incredible when he is pleasuring a woman and our woman will be on the receiving end of his magic fingers and tongue for the rest of our lives.

“More,” she rasps, “harder. Please, more.”

She tried to take over the rhythm again and I slap her ass cheek hard. Her inner muscles clamped down on my cock. She liked that. Good because mating with me will never be hearts and flowers. That gentleness would be Gage upon request and lucky Erin, she would always have access to both types of loving.

I picked up the pace and slapped her other cheek. That was all it took. She froze and cried out in her climax. I pounded my release and coat her inner sanctum mingling with Gage’s sperm as she came on my cock. The overflow of our combined essence seeped out of her as I finished. Evidently, two coming so close together was her core’s limit.

As Gage kept her climax reaching higher, I leaned down and felt an incredible burst of energy and love as I pierced her skin on the opposite shoulder from Gage’s mark. It landed just to the back in the meaty part where her neck met her shoulder. She cried out but this time she seemed to handle it a little better but still, she’s never shifted, and they aren’t going to heal until she does.

“It hurts,” she whimpered.

That’s our call to action. I turned her over, and Gage and I kissed her and licked her wounds to help the healing process begin.

“Erin, you’re almost done for tonight, baby.”

“So tired. Can’t we finish tomorrow?”

“I know, sweetheart, but it’s time to find your animal. Gage and I are going to shift with you.”

“Shift like shimmer?”

Gage and I grinned at each other. “Yeah, baby, shimmer.”

She frowned. “I don’t know how to find my animal. I can’t shift.”

“I know. So you’ll look at Gage and me and do what we do. Look inside your mind’s eye and look for your animal. Like when you are seeking your inner thoughts, go there. When you find her, follow her wherever she goes. You’ll see Gage and me there as well. We will all go together. When Gage and I shift back, you look for us in the same way and shift back.”

“But I can’t do that. I don’t know how.”

“Erin, you are our mate now. We have life-bonded with you. We are connected and we shift, so you will as well. You’re not allowed to disobey us. I know you don’t understand any of this yet, but you will. For now, you must follow my word. I’ll never knowingly lead you into danger and neither would Gage, but when necessary, when we demand it of you, you will submit to us. This is one of those times.”

“But—”

“Now, Erin. Do. It. Now. Close your eyes and find your animal.”

I nodded to Gage and he opened the back of the SUV. We led her outside and shut the door.

“Oh my God. It’s too cold.”

Gage murmurs into her ear. “Then concentrate, find your animal and shift. You’ll warm-up.”

We hit the auto shut off and locked the door. Hiding the keys, we looked at Erin and saw her trying. We would help her from our wolf side. We shift.

We watched as our girl frowns hard and then her features relaxed. As we continued to call to her animal, she fell to all fours and trawsformed into the most beautiful Siberian Tiger ever born. Her exuberance was incredible. She rolled and rubbed her back along the snowy ground. She ran and leaped through the rugged, snow-covered forest, and we frolicked with her. I remembered the first time I shifted and the freedom it gave me. I loved that she was feeling the joy we all felt on our trawsforming. Tonight we were in the dark, in a snowstorm, in the middle of a near wilderness with our mate. Could there be anything more perfect?

I watched Gage roll and tumble with Erin and my wolf jumped with love and pride. This was my family. We have just made the beginnings of our own pack. Soon, there would be little ones to add, but the frolicking would stay amongst the adults for many years to come. I could feel the weight of responsibility sliding back over my shoulders and I couldn’t have been happier. I relished being in charge. I craved control, but with these two I found fulfillment.

***

Erin It was scary shifting or shimmering as my mother had called it, but once I had done it, the whole world seemed to open up. My vision was sharper, my sense of smell more precise, and my hearing, more sensitive. I didn’t want to think about everything that had happened in one week’s time. I wanted to revel in this freedom. I was mated and the bites that hurt so much earlier were no more than a tingle now. Guess that was one truth about shifters, they heal amazingly fast.

Two men. I was life-bound to two men. Two, incredible, sexy, intelligent and bossy men and they wanted me. Guess the panty sniff test gave Hunter the information he needed. I’m a tiger. A Siberian tiger.

“That’s a pretty big cat to take home for a pet,” teased Gage.

“Yes, she’s a big, beautiful, and naughty cat,” said Hunter.

“I’ve only been a cat for a little bit. I can’t have done anything wrong yet.”

“Oh, you’ve been a cat your whole life. You simply didn’t know. And we will discuss your disobedience after we get home and get some sleep,” answered my Alpha.

I seem to know things on instinct now and that is one thing that I understood. They are both over me, but Hunter is my alpha.

“Sleep? I could play all night.”

“Not tonight. We need to get home. Gage, do you think we’ve had enough for now? We’ll be using the basement tunnel at least once a day for a few weeks. How about we plan on at least one of us going on a run each night?” asked Hunter as he swiped his paw in the air and threw snow in my face.

“Yeah, I think we should shift while she still has enough energy to get back to the car.”

They bounded through the snow and as they came to the edge of the woods, I found myself hanging back.

“What’s wrong?” asked Gage.

“I don’t want to go back. Can’t I just stay like this?”

“No. We all felt like that the first few times, but we’re not meant to stay in any one form forever. Shift, baby.”

I hesitated before I turned to run back into the woods. Gage and Hunter immediately pursued, pouncing on me when close enough. I wasn’t used to the hugeness of my body and running for distance seemed a little harder than I would have thought. I felt ungainly as I tried to escape my would-be jailers. They rolled me to my back, exposing my underbelly and neck. As my dormant instincts come alive, I’m compelled to stay in that position, extending my neck to expose myself further and declare my submission.

Gage backed up slightly, but Hunter straddled me, his breath hot, his gaze hotter. “You will obey your mates. That has earned you more punishment. Alphas and in your case, Betas discipline their mates. Do not defy us again.”

I whimpered but nodded. My head suddenly seemed large and round. The rumble of connection, submission to the men that owned my heart as much as I owned theirs, consumes my being. I can feel the strength of my body, but I have no desire to use that power against my men. Hunter leaned down and licked my face then jumped off.

I remained in position for Gage to have his say. Gage may have the more outward appearance of a badass, and when he is working in the security business, he definitely is one. But with me, he has shown himself the more indulgent of the two. I already know I will use that advantage when needed. He did not scold but leaned down and licked my ear.

“Hunter is the boss and we both must obey him when necessary. In private you are allowed some autonomy, but while you are in your tiger form, there is no defiance. Learn that quickly. I will spank your ass if you are out of line again, Cub. And daddies know how to make their little girls sorry for a long time.” He then did the same licking acceptance of my submission before leaping off to the side of me.

I’m at peace. My inner self, that part of me I’m now so much more in tune with than ever before, is more reserved. Calmer. I don’t feel the urgency to complete things as I often do in my human form. Time is irrelevant. I followed the men back without another word.

“Now you do the same thing you did to shift. Follow your cat. Gage and I will shift with you.”

I closed my eyes and looked for my cat and I find her. It was much easier this time. I wanted to stay in cat form, but both of my men had shifted and were redressing. I followed my cat and found myself naked and freezing. I was naked standing at the SUV. The doors opened, and I was wrapped in a blanket. My clothes didn’t survive the events prior to changing. The difference between who they found several hours ago and who I was now, was inconceivable, but it felt right. So very right.

Gage jumped in the driver’s seat. He was the preferred driver when Barrett wasn’t around. He liked to drive. Hunter didn’t prefer it. Their strengths complemented each other in so many ways.

Hunter sat in the back with me. Gage said I was their ‘sleepy cub’. I was new in so many ways, it was hard to see myself as a full-grown cat right now. I could visualize the incredible animal that I was, but in my diminished human form, it seemed impossible.

I had never seen Hunter as a cuddler, but it seems tonight changed all of that. He was dominant and liked to be in control of all parts of life. He showed that while he enjoyed controlling me best of all, he was more demonstrative when we were alone with only the two or three of us. I couldn’t have been happier.

Tonight, Gage didn’t stop when I was in danger to ensure I felt better. He was all business until he I was safe. Ironically, Hunter did try to appease me by displaying a considerate side, but in all other areas of their life, Gage had shown he was the gentle one. I wondered how they were going to do with me taking back my life now. The Hellhound was dead. I was determined that my scared days were over and that meant going back to my own routine.