Fifteen

For the next two days, the three of them never left the cabin, even choosing to order in their food, instead of venturing out to stock the shelves. They spent their time exploring each other’s bodies in the bedroom and sitting around the cabin exploring the possibilities of the future. Their panthers were calmer; at least, in the manner of the mating call, they were. In terms of the lust that filled the room, they were as insatiable as their human counterparts. The three of them had a difficult time keeping their hands and mouths off each other, and Mandy found herself buried between Kinsey’s legs several more times since Sunday.

They agreed there would be no sleeping in separate beds. They would live together, love together, sleep together, and every other together that existed. They weren’t separate relationships trying to coexist; they were one relationship with three parts. Unorthodox, perhaps, but for them it would be how they lived. Mandy bore Fitz’s mate mark, as did Kinsey, and Kinsey bore Mandy’s. Their panthers calmed, and Fitz, for the first time since his wedding with Mandy, seemed to be able to focus clearly, so much so, he left that morning to find his siblings to figure out what to do with their father and tell them of his plan to become alpha of the family. While Mandy knew Fitz enjoyed not having to think of Daniel Everest or the Order for a couple of days, basking in the glow of their threesome, they all knew they couldn’t ignore the situation forever. That Jeremiah Prescott and his Order of Wardens hadn’t made a move so far to carry out Daniel’s request was probably more of a miracle than luck on their part. They couldn’t expect the problem to just go away. They needed to face it and deal with it.

While Fitz was off to talk to Dimitri and Lainie, Kinsey decided to organize the space in her cabin so there would be more room for the combining of their lives. Mandy stared around the cabin, suddenly feeling suffocated, but not knowing why. “I think I’m going to just go for a walk,” she told Kinsey. “Get some fresh air.”

Kinsey stopped what she was doing and turned to face Mandy, her brows pinched with concern. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if Jeremiah’s men catch you out there on your own?”

Mandy shook her head. “They’re not after me,” she said, and felt positive it was true. “At least, not because of Daniel. He wouldn’t permit them to harm me for fear my father would retaliate in kind. I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m not going far, just around a couple of blocks.” She walked over to Kinsey, grinning. When she reached the other woman, she snaked a hand around Kinsey’s neck, pulling her in for a soft caress of a kiss. When she pulled away, both women had to take a deep breath. “Besides, we’ve been holed up in this cabin since Sunday. My body could use some fresh air. I may even let my panther go for a run.”

Kinsey still didn’t look convinced. “Well, just be careful and keep your phone on you.” She reached out and squeezed Mandy’s arm. “I just got the family I was destined to have. I don’t want anything or anyone to harm it.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Mandy assured the other woman. “I won’t be gone long. Besides, as much as the three of us are going to be around each other, we all may need some quiet time once in a while.”

Kinsey just nodded. They kissed one more time, a quick peck on the lips, and then Mandy stepped out into the mid-afternoon sun. Humidity struck her in the face and almost stole her breath, but Mandy walked on, determined to get some quietness for her mind right then.

She wasn’t sure what caused her sudden claustrophobia, but the moment she stepped onto the gravel road, she felt the weight leave her shoulders. She sighed. That wasn’t the truth. She knew what caused her sudden feeling of suffocation. It was the fact that Kinsey was making room for them in her cabin. Mandy came to Bull Creek to get her mate, but she never intended on moving her life here. She had a family in Draven Falls, friends, a home, a life. Granted, Daniel Everest suddenly complicated all that with his hit out on Kinsey, but did that mean they could never return home? She wasn’t ready to give up her life.

At the end of Journigan Road rested a small little lake. Bull Creek was dotted with them, small bodies of water that were fed by small streams and ultimately Crabgrass Creek. Mandy slipped her hands into her jean pockets and ventured toward the water, her mind still churning over what life with her mates now meant and what she might have to sacrifice.

As she neared the small lake, her phone started to ring from her back pocket. She pulled it out, and started to smile, but then her lips twisted into a frown. Her father. Did he know what was going on? Had Daniel Everest called him?

She took a deep breath and swiped her finger across the screen to answer the call. “Hey, Pops. How’s it going?” No sense offering up information he didn’t have, she figured.

“Hey, Pumpkin.” At least, he sounded chipper. “How’s your trip going? You two able to get some relaxation?”

“Well, I have spent the past couple of days just lying around the cabin,” she said, grinning as she thought of their naked bodies all over the place.

“Cabin? I thought you said you were staying in a motel.”

Shit. “We did, at first, but then, well, things kind of changed.” A twisting started in her stomach at the notion she would eventually have to tell her father about Kinsey. How would the rest of her family handle her being in a triad?

“That sounds a little mysterious,” her father said, wariness in his tone. “You changing your plans doesn’t have anything to do with Daniel Everest heading down there, does it? Your husband lets his father walk all over him way too much for my tastes.”

Mandy took a deep breath, bracing herself for the conversation she knew she needed to have with her father. “Well, to be honest, Daniel is part of the reason, but not in the way you would think. Dad, I need to tell you something, and I’m not sure how you’re going to react.”

When her father spoke, she could hear the reassuring smile in his voice. “Pumpkin, you can always tell me anything. There isn’t anything that would change my love for you.”

Mandy prayed that was the truth. With another deep breath to fortify herself, she started speaking, telling her father everything since she confronted Kinsey in her driveway the morning she left for Bull Creek. She told him about the mating call her panther felt, about sharing her need to get to Bull Creek with Fitz last Friday, about Dimitri and Fitz overhearing Daniel working with the Order of Wardens to put an end to Kinsey and drive the paranormals out of Bull Creek. She even told him about being mated to Kinsey as well as Fitz, almost holding her breath as she said it in case he reacted with anger and disgust.

When she finished telling her father everything there was to tell, silence echoed back at her.

“Daddy? Daddy, are you there?” She felt her insides churning, felt her nerves making her legs tremble. She feared collapsing right there if her father rejected her.

She should have known better, however. Josiah Taylor was nothing like Daniel Everest. “Pumpkin, what you and Fitz do within your marriage is between the two of you. I’m not one to judge, nor would I ever allow something like that to come between us. I remember you telling me about Kinsey before you married Fitz. I’ll be honest, this is something I never expected, but I’m happy for you if you’re happy. You are happy, right? I mean, you’re doing this for you, not Fitz, right?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the worry in her father’s voice. He had always been there for her. Even when he suggested she marry Fitz over a year ago, it was because he knew she had carried a torch for Fitz since high school. “I promise, Dad. I know you don’t believe in the call of a destined mate, but I assure you, it’s very real. I love Kinsey. I know now what Fitz suffered this past year because he didn’t follow his panther’s yearning. I’m just glad we both felt pulled to the same mate.”

“I never said I didn’t believe in the call, sweetie,” her father said. “I actually thought you felt it toward Fitz, and that’s why you wanted to be with him so badly. If I had known that wasn’t the case, I would have tried to talk you out of marrying him. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that truly matters.”

“I’m happy, Daddy. I promise.” She was, too. Happier than she had been even after marrying the man she had loved since high school.

“Good. Now, tell me what this bastard Daniel is planning,” her father demanded, and his tone changed, tinged with anger that quickly. “Paranormals working with that damn Order turns my stomach.”

Mandy filled her father in again about what Dimitri and Fitz overheard, sharing how Adira made wards for everyone, and how Fitz was determined to take over the family from his father.

“Do you think Fitz can do it?” her father asked, and Mandy knew the question wasn’t meant to mock Fitz’s abilities. Everyone knew Fitz had a weak spot when it came to his father.

“With Kinsey and I behind him, I think Fitz can do anything,” she said, and knew it to be the truth. Together, the three of them could accomplish anything, defeat any foe. Daniel wasn’t just facing his son; he was facing the three of them.

“All right,” her father said. “You watch your back down there. I’ll make some calls up here and see what I can do to help you from my end. The Paranormal Council isn’t going to be too happy with Daniel running to Jeremiah for help. Or that he’s permitting them to use his property to carry out their twisted mission.”

“Thank you, Dad,” she said. “For everything.” He accepted her, accepted the way her life seemed to be changing, and didn’t judge her. He still stood by her.

“Anything for you, Pumpkin. You should know that.” He promised to call when he had something for her, and Mandy promised to be careful.

The lake no longer pulled her, her feeling of suffocation replaced by the elation that she had support from her family, that they all had support from her family. She headed back to the cabin, eager to tell Kinsey about the phone call. Mandy wasn’t sure what the Paranormal Council would do once they discovered Daniel’s dealings with what they considered the enemy, but she prayed it would help get her back to her home and give Kinsey a safe feeling about returning to Draven Falls.

Fitz still wasn’t at the cabin by the time she walked up the driveway, but she hadn’t really expected him to be. The problem of Daniel would not have an easy solution. She bounced up the wooden steps to the front door, her steps lighter than when she left. “Kinsey!” she called out as she opened the door. “Wait until I tell you about the call I just had with my father.”

Silence.

Mandy scanned the front room, but Kinsey wasn’t there. Probably still organizing drawers and closets. Then she saw the broken window, the shattered glass everywhere, some of it coated in blood. Panic gripped her as she screamed, “Kinsey!” Mandy rushed past the kitchen island toward the hallway, noticing the claw marks gouged into the wood flooring, the broken pictures that had been knocked off the walls, the glass shattered on the floor. “Kinsey, where are you?”

She searched the spare bedroom first, but nothing. A dread sent chills down her back as fear twisted in her stomach. What happened while she was gone? Kinsey would have called out to her. “Kinsey!” As she stepped into the master bedroom, a coffee cup lay shattered on the wooden floor, coffee pooled in different places around it, a streak of the dark liquid dragged toward the bedroom door.

Kinsey was gone.