Blackwood Falls [Blackwood Falls] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

  When he didn’t say anything else, Sarah realized he was finished. What the hell was that all about? Did he honestly expect her to believe him and Brax were wolves? She wanted to laugh, but the look on his face stopped her. He looked torn between hopeful and frightened. Then something about the story came to her mind. Cody and Brad were mates. Sarah only came to one conclusion about this whole thing. “Oh, you’re gay and with Brax.” She laughed then, only at herself, “And here’s me throwing myself at you. I’m sorry, really I am, I didn’t know. It won’t happen again, I promise.” Why did her chest hurt at the thought of not being with him? She had just met him for crying out loud. That didn’t matter to her heart though. Her chest was hurting as if someone had hit her with a sledgehammer right through her heart. She had to leave. She couldn’t stay knowing she couldn’t be with him. Quickly pulling her top back on, she turned back to him. “Look, could you tell me where the nearest town is, or the closest garage? I will get my car out of here as soon as I can.” She looked at Conner when he hadn’t said anything. She moved back when she saw the murderous look on his face. What’s his problem?

  “You are going nowhere, Sarah. Didn’t you listen? No, me and Brax aren’t gay, we’re bi. And as you seem to not understand, you, my sweet, beautiful angel, are our mate. You’re meant to be with us. That shock you felt when we touched was the mating bond starting. It happens when true mates touch for the first time. Me and Brax were going to wait until you were more comfortable being here before bringing this up, but I couldn’t stand seeing you cry and nothing for me to do about it.”

  “Do you honestly expect me to believe you’re a werewolf? Come on, Conner, I’m in a bad spot in life, not an idiot. If you didn’t want to take that kiss any further, all you had to say is that you’re not interested or something. Not make some bullshit story like that up. Forget about my car and giving me directions. I’ll get Zoë or Sky to help me out.”

  Sarah stood as she spoke, wanting to get out of the house before the pain in her chest made her cry. She could already feel the tears stinging her eyes. She heard Conner stand as well. She heard him say, “I didn’t want to do this this way, but here it goes.” As she made it to the door, she heard what sounded like clothes being ripped. Turning to see what he was doing, Sarah gasped in shock. Sitting in a pile of shredded clothes was a huge silver wolf. The last thing she saw before passing out was its eyes. They were the same shade as Conner’s.

  * * * *

  “Shit,” Conner said to himself as he shifted back. He knew he shouldn’t have shifted like that, but it was the only thing he could think of doing to stop her from leaving. Reaching her, he bent and picked her up from the floor. Moving her in his arms, he reached forward and opened the door. Heading toward the stairs, Joshua came out of the living room.

  “What the hell? I thought she was awake and moving about,” he said, looking down at Sarah.

  Conner didn’t stop moving when he spoke to Josh. “She was, until I shifted in front of her.” Josh followed him up the stairs to the lilac room. Conner wasn’t bothered about being naked in front of the other man. Being a werewolf, you got used to being naked around the pack. He laid her on the bed, resting his palm on her cheek.

  “What did you shift in front of her for, you idiot. No wonder she passed out.”

  “It was the only thing I could think of doing. I explained about us but she didn’t believe me. She thought I made it up because I didn’t want her. She was planning on leaving and wouldn’t listen to me, so I just shifted. And she hit the deck.”

  Josh looked at him and laughed. It pissed Conner off, but he ignored the other man and looked back down to Sarah. “Can you do me a favor and go and find Brax? He went running in the woods to the east of the house. Find him and bring him back, but don’t tell him what’s going on. I’ll do that, okay?”

  “Yeah, sure. I was here looking for him anyway, but Zoë said he was busy in the office and to give him some time. I’ll talk to him on the way back. Catch you later.” He walked out the door, closing it as he left. Two minutes later, Zoë and Sky came running in. Conner said the same thing he told Josh, knowing the head sentinel would have told the twins of how he found her passed out in his arms. Laughing no doubt the whole time.

  Conner knelt on the floor beside Sarah’s bed, holding her hand and watching her face as she slept. It wasn’t long before he heard Brax enter the house, running straight up and into the lilac room. Conner could see the anger in Brax’s expression.

  “What’s going on, Conner? Josh said you shifted in front of her. What the fuck were you thinking, baby? You could have scared her away from us for good.”

  “I’m guessing Josh didn’t tell you everything then. I did it to stop her leaving, Brax. When you left, she panicked, thinking you were going to try and get in contact with her father. I assured her you weren’t, that you had anger problems when it came to people like her father and the asshole. She believed me but was still crying, and I couldn’t help it. I wiped the tears from her face and the mating bond shocked her. I told her about us in a roundabout way. She didn’t believe me of course. You see, we kissed. That was before I told her. At first, she thought I didn’t want her and that me and you were gay. I explained she was wrong and she was our mate as well. But she wouldn’t believe me. She got up and went to leave, and not just the room, but the house and us. Shifting and showing her was all I could think to do to prove I wasn’t lying. When she saw my wolf, she passed out.”

  “Damn it. This isn’t how I wanted to do this.” Conner could see Brax was trying to control his anger and didn’t know what to do to help his mate. Without another word, Brax left the room and a few seconds later, Conner heard the sounds of something being broken. He was just about to get up and see what was going on when Brax came back in the room. Conner could see the small cuts on his mate’s hand from where he had been taking his anger out on something. He seemed calmer now which Conner was grateful for. Brax looked from Conner to Sarah then back again before blowing out a deep breath. “Well I guess she knows now. At least she didn’t go running for the hills, or the men in white coats,” Brax said, moving to join Conner at the side of the bed, kissing him lightly on the lips. “So now we just wait. See what she’s like when she wakes up. God I hope she isn’t freaked out too much.”

  Chapter Six

  Sarah opened her eyes to again find herself in the large comfy bed in the lilac room. Looking around this time, she found herself alone. She was glad and sad about it though. Glad because she didn’t have a clue what to say to Conner, and sad because she actually missed him a little. She still couldn’t believe he had turned into a wolf. A massive one at that. How was it even possible? She wasn’t sure how she felt about it at the moment, let alone think about how she was his and Brax’s mate. She didn’t know what she was going to do about the whole thing. Maybe pretend I didn’t see him turn into a wolf and leave?

  But she wouldn’t do that. In her heart of hearts, she would never leave him. She guessed that had something to do with the mating bond that had shocked her when they touched. Deciding to think about it after using the bathroom, she sat up and pulled her feet out of the blanket. That’s when she noticed Conner lying asleep on the floor, Brax spooning him from behind. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight. God, they’re beautiful. Men that looked like they did could get any woman they wanted, but apparently, she was their girl. She couldn’t believe it to be true though. All the women she had seen since waking Monday were beyond stunning, and she was plain, boring, and fat. They would soon tire of her. Just like one of her ex-boyfriends said when he broke up with her, “I’m moving on to someone else. I’m good enough for prime rib, so I’m not gonna settle with some canned burger meat.” His words, not hers. How long would these two last until they realized there were so many better-looking and slimmer women out there? And could her heart really take it, them leaving her? She knew it couldn’t. Sighing with the knowledge that there was only one thing she could do, she tiptoed
past them into the bathroom. After using the toilet and washing her hands, Sarah began brushing her hair, trying to bring it under control. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw the tears start rolling down her cheeks. Before long, she was sitting on the floor, silently sobbing to herself. Just once, she would like a break in life, just once. It didn’t even have to be a big one. Just something small. After a few more minutes, she shook her head, giving herself a talking to about being upset over these men when she had only known them a matter of hours. Getting back up, she tied her hair into a ponytail in the middle of her head before washing her face and brushing her teeth. It took her three tries to open the door. Each failed attempt worried her that the men were awake. Finally she opened it with a plan to as quietly as possible gather her belongings and make it out the bedroom door. When she stepped out the door, her plan went out the window when she saw Brax standing by the bed, yawning and stretching. Topless.

  Holy fuck.

  She noticed for the first time his entire right arm was covered in some sort of tribal tattoo and she had to admit it was sexy as hell. His chest was just as impressive as she thought, wide with a coating of black hair. His abs flexed as he stretched. He didn’t have a six-pack. It was an eight-pack at least. Sarah’s eyes followed the trail of black hair as it made its way down to the top of his jeans where it disappeared behind the denim. She knew she should have stopped from looking any further, but she couldn’t. What she saw made her lick her lips. A clearly huge erection was straining behind the zipper. She wanted nothing more to go over to him and help the poor thing out of the jeans, freeing it to her view. Perhaps she would lick it, even suck on it for a little bit.

  “See anything you like?” Brax asked, dragging Sarah out of her thoughts.

  Shit.

  He had caught her all but drooling over him. How pathetic could one get? “Don’t worry about it. I’m enjoying looking at your chest at the moment. I just wish you were topless too, so I could see them amazing tits. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on them.”

  “Are you always so rude?” she asked. She felt it strange that normally she would be totally offended by a comment like that, but when Brax had said it, all she felt was a zing go from said “tits” straight down to her clit. She could feel how wet her pussy was, and all she had seen was his mouthwatering chest. She didn’t tell him she had been thinking about sucking his cock though. She had only said what she had to try and give herself more time to get over her embarrassment and think of how to make this situation better.

  “I wasn’t being rude, simply saying the truth. And believe me, I will get my hands on them. And very soon I hope.”

  What did one say to that when deep down it’s what she wanted as well? That and a heck of a lot more. She didn’t need to answer him as it turned out. The bedroom door opened just then and Conner walked in, carrying a tray in one hand. He looked at Brax and smiled, then at her. His smile was hesitant, more than likely unsure of her greeting toward him.

  She watched him place the tray on the desk and hand a mug of what smelled like coffee to Brax. He turned to her. “I’m not sure how you like your coffee, so I brought cream, sugar, and milk with me.”

  “Milk please, and three sugars. I like it sweet.”

  He nodded and turned to fix her coffee to her liking. When it was ready, he moved toward her, slowly, as if approaching a cornered animal. She wanted to laugh, but managed to stop herself. “It’s okay, Conner, I know you’re not going to hurt me. I don’t know how I know, I just do.”

  “It’s a mixture of a few things,” Brax said, reaching over and giving Conner his own cup. “Come sit by the fire, and we’ll explain everything to you.” He made his way over and sat in one of the recliners. Conner knelt in front of the fire and got it going. The heat felt welcoming to Sarah’s body and she couldn’t resist moving to the other recliner, closer to the heat. Conner stayed on the floor, his back leaning against Brax’s chair. “So, Conner said he explained the basics. We’re werewolves, and also mates. You’re our mate as well, our third. Is everything with that okay?” he asked.

  What was okay about anything in that statement? she asked herself, but nodded her head in agreement.

  “Good. Now, when a werewolf meets his or her true mate, the first time their skin touches, a shock travels through both their bodies. I believe Conner explained that as well.”

  Again she nodded.

  “That shock isn’t really a shock, it’s the mating bond between the two snapping into place. It will grow stronger and stronger between them until the more dominant of the two claims the other. As in mine and Conner’s case, I claimed him the first night we met. As we are both wolves, we knew instantly what was happening. When a mate is found, but not claimed or the bond not started, let’s just say things can get pretty messy. Still with me?”

  “Yeah, I guess, but what do you mean by messy?”

  “Well, if the mate is human, and the werewolf doesn’t claim him or her straight away, he becomes, a little desperate, shall we say. The human part of the werewolf knows the human will need time to come to terms with the whole thing, but the wolf doesn’t. The wolf rides the human half of its self, hard, demanding their mate be claimed in case another wolf comes sniffing around. The more dominant the werewolf, the worse it is. They lash out at people, even attack and kill someone they think is a threat. One thing you will learn, is that a werewolf, whether man or woman, will protect its mate with its life. The longer the human refuses, the worse the werewolf gets. Some have even gone mad, or shifted into their wolf, unable to shift back. If the human never agrees, the werewolf will either go mad and die, or simply die. Because once found, a wolf cannot live without their mate. When mated, if one dies, the other will die shortly afterward.”

  Sarah tried to process all Brax had said, but all she could think about was either of the two men in front of her dying. That couldn’t happen. She hadn’t known them for very long, but knew the world would be worse off if they weren’t around.

  “Being mated to a true mate is like coming home. Like finding a piece of you that was always missing. Mates never cheat or leave one another. They are simply unable. Their mate holds their heart in their hands. In all my years, I’ve never met one mated couple that aren’t happy.”

  “What do you mean when you say true mate? Isn’t a mate just a mate?”

  “A true mate is someone who is a person’s other half. A wolf can mate anyone, but not being true mates, they will never be as happy or content as if it was a true mate. Conner explained about Omegas, right?”

  After her yes, he continued.

  “Years ago, they were forced to mate the Alpha, to help him gain more strength and wisdom. In most cases neither party were very happy but just got on with it because it was the way of the werewolf. The law. Now, though, the Omega has a choice. Luckily for me, Conner’s Alpha found his true mate and agreed to let Conner leave his pack, to find his own happiness. I can’t even begin to imagine spending an eternity being mated to someone I didn’t like, and hated in most cases. In the past, Alphas weren’t as civil as they are now. Any more questions?”

  “A few.” When Brax nodded for her to ask, she continued. “When you said live an eternity, what did you mean? How long do you guys live for? How does the whole mating work between three? Why does a werewolf die if their mate dies?”

  “Werewolves are immortal, to a point. The only way to kill one is to decapitate them, or by throwing them into a fire. And I don’t mean a fire like a house fire, I mean an inferno. A truly blazing, white-hot fire. The mating between three is the same as between two. All three come together, each holding each other’s heart. If one were to die, then the future of the ones left depends on how dominant they are. If the one who died is the most dominant of the three, then the other two won’t survive. But if the one who died was submissive, then the dominant wolf in the relationship might be able to save himself and the other mate. One or both may still go mad or die, which would kill the remain
ing one. Each case is different. There are a number of relationships in the were-community that have three or more people in them.”

  “You guys are immortal?” Just when I thought this couldn’t get any stranger. Then another thought struck her. “Hold on, what happens when the human mate gets old and dies? You said one can’t live without the other, so does the wolf die as well? And just how old are you guys anyway?”

  “Yes, we’re immortal. The human is changed where he or she is claimed. How old do you think we are?” he asked her with a smile.

  She looked carefully at each man. “Well, Conner, you look to me to be in your early thirties. Brax, maybe late thirties, or early forties. And what do you mean changed? Changed into what, a werewolf?” She knew that last question was stupid, but couldn’t help asking. She was still struggling with this whole werewolf thing, and the fact she was mated to two of them who just happened to be the sexiest men she had ever seen.

  Both men smiled and laughed a little. She was pretty sure it was at her asking what the human turned into. “Well, sweetie,” Conner said, speaking for the first time since sitting down. “You’re a little off with our ages. A lot off actually, for Brax anyway. I’m sixty-four, and Brax is one hundred and nine. We stop aging between thirty-five and forty-five. And yes, the human changes into a werewolf, unless claimed by a tiger, then they would turn into a tiger. It’s the same process for any were-animal.”

  Sarah looked at both men, mouth hanging open. She guessed they were older than her, but couldn’t comprehend just how old they were. She didn’t really believe them if she were honest.