Triple Dog Dare

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, they were all awake and ready to leave by daybreak. As Zack fell in line behind Lina and Carla’s cars, he glanced at the gas gauge.

“We need to fill up,” Zack said. “Otherwise, we might run out before the next planned stop.”

“Let’s hit that convenience store at the edge of town,” Kael suggested. “I could use the can one more time before we hit the highway.”

Zack pulled in and texted Lina that they were stopping and would catch up. “Can you bring me a coffee, please?” he asked Kael.

“Sure,” he said. “You want any snacks?”

“Yeah, get some muffins or something breakfasty.”

“Okay.” Kael headed inside.

She watched from the edge of the woods, desperate. Despite running all night, she hadn’t managed to lose them yet. Her pursuers would catch up with her soon. As exhausted as she was, there was no way she could continue to outrun them. She eyed every vehicle that pulled into the parking lot. That would be her only chance to escape. She watched as a car carrying two men in it pulled in, with a Florida license plate on the back. One man got out and started pumping gas. The other walked inside.

She jumped as behind her in the distance she heard the howl of a wolf.

Gaining on her.

Frantic, she prayed for an opportunity. Then the second man returned and opened the back passenger door of the car. He put his purchases in and, without closing the door, he walked around to the driver side where the other man still pumped gas.

She bolted, streaking across the parking lot tarmac as fast as she could. She dove into the open door and, thankfully, found the floor behind the driver empty. She reached up onto the seat and with her teeth grabbed a jacket lying there. Pulling it over her, she curled herself into a tight ball, nose to tail, and prayed they didn’t throw her out when they discovered her.

Or that they didn’t discover her before she put some distance between her and her pursuers.

It took every ounce of her will not to flinch when she heard the back door shut. She listened to the two men talking outside the car. A moment later, both men got in, the car started, and they drove off.

She wanted to sob with relief. She didn’t know what these two men were, because one smelled like a shifter, but not a shifter breed she was familiar with. They also had been with friendly wolves. She could smell the scent on the jacket covering her.

Closing her eyes, she tried to nap, the first real sleep she’d managed in over three days.

They caught up with Lina and the others within five miles. Zack eased up on his lead foot to fall into line behind Liam’s car.

Kael wrinkled his nose. “You need a bath.”

“What the fuck? We had a shower this morning.”

“You smell like a wet dog.”

Zack rolled his eyes. “Enough with the wolf jokes, okay? They’re as good as family. Get over it.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” He looked around, then shrugged. “It must have been Lacey’s dog from yesterday, maybe on your jacket. I’m still smelling something.”

“Yeah, well you’re no Princess Petunia yourself, buddy.”

At lunchtime, Lina decreed they needed to stop or she’d roast one of the men for lunch. They pulled into a family buffet restaurant after the cars had been filled with gas. Once they were all seated, Lina stared at Zack and Kael from across the table.

“What?” Zack asked.

She looked at Elain, who was seated on her right. “Do you smell that?”

“See?” Kael said, smacking Zack on the shoulder. “I told you.”

Elain frowned, but shook her head. “Smell what?”

Lina looked at Zack and Kael. “Something’s off.” Her eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”

Zack rolled his eyes. “Okay, I get it, I spent too much time playing with Jasper yesterday. I get it. Fine. I’ll go change clothes again and ditch the jacket.”

“No, it’s not that.” Before he could react, she reached across the table, grabbed his hand, and stared at him. A moment later, she released him.

“Yes,” she cryptically said.

“Yes what?” Zack found himself rapidly losing patience. He hated long car rides, but with Lina’s fear of flying, they didn’t have much choice.

Lina tucked a napkin into her lap with a playful, curious smile. “Just yes.”

He didn’t have time to ask her more. The waitress appeared to take their drink orders. Rick volunteered to get Lina’s plate for her, so she didn’t have to get up and waddle over to the buffet.

Zack stood and rounded the table, leaning in close to Lina. “You are insufferable sometimes. You know that?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

He rolled his eyes before heading to the buffet line.

Elain studied the two men. Something was off, but she wasn’t sure what. She couldn’t tell if she was just hyperaware because of the trip, or her newfound shifter abilities, her newly revealed Seer powers, or what. She held back as everyone else headed to the buffet.

“What’s going on?” she asked Lina.

Lina’s smile disappeared. “I don’t know. I think our lives just got way more complicated.”

“Because they’re not complicated enough already?”

“I know. Tell me about it.”

“So what was that about? With Zack?”

Lina lowered her voice even more. “Don’t react. We have a stowaway.”

Elain’s senses perked up, anxious. “What?”

Lina nodded. “I don’t want the men to know yet. But my ‘yes’ was that she can stay. Because they’ll be wondering that themselves.”

“‘She’? She who?”

Lina smiled. “Her name’s Mai. Don’t say anything to the others. She’ll reveal herself when she’s ready. She needs our help getting to Florida.”

Elain nodded. “Oookaaaay.” Leaving Lina, she headed to the buffet line. She noticed Liam—Dad, she corrected herself—talking to her mom. Her mom smiled at something he said.

It made Elain feel good in a way she didn’t understand and couldn’t explain. For the first time, it seemed like her mom felt totally at ease, without worried creases on her face.

Her lonely secret finally lifted off her shoulders. Not only that, but she now had someone to talk to about them.

The smile her mom wore was even enough for Elain to forgive her telling Liam all her embarrassing childhood stories during the car ride.

Like the time she tried to wash her Barbie dolls in the toilet when she was four.

Elain had forgotten about the exchange with Lina until she got up and headed for the bathroom. Glancing out one of the windows on the way, she saw something moving in the backseat of Zack and Kael’s car. It looked like a dog, but she couldn’t tell for sure. She started to return to the tables to tell them, then stopped when she remembered Lina’s entreaty not to say anything.

What fresh hell is this? she wondered as she continued on to the bathroom.

They finally got back on the road an hour later, with full tummies, full gas tanks, and empty bladders. Zack and Kael took the lead this time, and Elain had changed vehicles again to spend some time with Liam and Carla. Lina asked to ride with them, too. The two women piled into the backseat of Carla’s car.

Lina insisted on sitting in the backseat with Elain despite Liam trying to give her the front passenger seat. She leaned in close to Elain with a smile. “It won’t be long now,” she said.

“What won’t be long now?”

Lina nodded toward Zack and Kael’s car.

Sure enough, an hour later, the men’s car swerved in front of them, across the lane.

“Annnd here we go,” Lina whispered to Elain with a smirk on her face.

Mai knew they’d already crossed over into Massachusetts based on listening to what the men had said. She felt relief washing over her and fought the urge to cry. Then another problem hit her.

She had to pee. Really, really badly.

Okay, no time like the present.

The men, Kael and Zack she’d discovered from eavesdropping on them, were playfully bantering about something. She still wasn’t sure what they were in terms of creatures, except that they were a couple. Zack was driving.

Sticking her snout out from under the jacket, she realized neither man was paying attention to her. She sat up and stuck her head between the front seats.

Kael spotted her first. He let out a startled scream, which scared Zack. Zack turned, saw her, and let out another scream, also causing him to swerve across their lane.

She cringed until he quickly brought the car under control.

“What the fuck is that?” Zack screamed.

She wanted to laugh. I’m a who, not a what.

Kael shook his head. “It’s some sort of dog.”

Coyote, actually, but whatever. She wouldn’t be picky. They had saved her life. Literally. They could call her whatever they liked as long as they didn’t kick her out.

Zack pulled over to the side of the highway and parked on the shoulder. Mai glanced out the rear window and saw two other cars pulling over, too. Must be the others they keep talking about.

Zack and Kael got out of the car and were quickly joined by the others. They stood outside the car, discussing her. She pressed her nose against the back passenger window and whined. Come on, guys. I reeeally have to pee! Someone, please, let me out!

One of the women, who looked very pregnant, laughed and opened the back door. Leaving her pride behind, Mai jumped out, quickly squatted and emptied her bladder with a sigh of relief in the grass next to the road. Then, before they could lock her out of the car, she leapt back inside and settled herself on the seat.

I’ll give ’em puppy-dog eyes.

Zack and Kael still looked stunned. “Where the hell did that come from?” Zack said.

Kael laughed. “Don’t know. But at least you’re off the hook for smelling like a dog.”

Zack swatted him on the shoulder.

Another woman leaned in and cautiously held out her hand. She definitely smelled like a friendly wolf. Mai whined and licked her hand.

The woman felt around Mai’s neck. “No collar, Lina,” she said to the pregnant woman. “I guess you guys now have a dog.”

Lina smiled at the two men. “See? Told you.”

“Told us what?” Zack asked, sounding exasperated.

“Yes, you can keep her. Duh.” Lina looked in at Mai and winked.

Crap! Whatever Lina was, she knew Mai was more than she appeared to be. Oh, shit. Wag tail. Mai wagged her tail, which drew smiles from several of the people.

Good. That worked.

After a few more minutes of discussion, another man, who also smelled like a friendly wolf, went to his car and returned with some cheese sticks and a bottle of water. He unwrapped the cheese sticks and offered them to her.

With a soft whine, she gratefully inhaled them. He coaxed her to the edge of the seat so he could use his hand to cup water from the bottle and let her drink. After she finished, she sat up and gave him a lick on the cheek.

Hope the older lady with you isn’t jealous, but thank you, mister!

Lina reached out and stroked her head. “I think you should call her Mai.”

Mai knew her eyes widened. It startled her so much she nearly shifted right there, but she caught herself in time.

“Why that?” Zack said. “I think she looks more like a Gigi.” He reached out and petted her, uncertain at first, then gaining courage as he realized she wasn’t going to bite. She licked his hand, making him laugh.

Dude, I’m soooo not a Gigi.

“Because she looks like a ‘Mai.’” Lina said. “It means ‘coyote.’”

Wow. You get bonus points, lady.

“Hey,” Kael said. “She does sort of look like a coyote, doesn’t she? Wait, how do we know she’s a she?”

“Would you like to feel her up?” Lina asked in a snarky tone.

Mai chuffed in amusement. I really like this lady.

Kael studied Mai. “If you say she’s a she, I guess she’s a she.”

“Trust me.” Lina looked up the road. “There’s an exit up there. Let’s pull over. I need another bathroom stop, too.” She patted her tummy. “Let’s find a store so we can get her supplies for the drive home.” She held Mai’s head in her hands and looked into her eyes. “You are going to stay with us so we can help you,” she whispered. “Aren’t you?”

Stunned, Mai nodded.

Lina patted her on the head and gently pushed her back so she could close the door. “Allons-y!” Lina declared as she headed back to another car. A few moments later, they were heading toward the exit.

After an hour, they were back on the highway again. Mai now sported a pink collar with rhinestones on it and a matching leash. It was a little froufrou for her tastes, but that she could handle.

At least I’m not a Gigi.

The men had bought her food and water dishes, a gallon of bottled water, and some top-shelf canned and dry dog food that wasn’t as good as human food, but tasted a hella lot better than the scavenged, rotten roadkill she’d subsisted on for the past week.

Mai didn’t understand Lina’s joke about Callie being envious of the collar when Zack buckled it around Mai’s neck, but apparently everyone thought it was funny because they laughed their asses off.

With relief in her heart and her first full tummy in several days, Mai settled back on the seat, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

They stopped at a hotel in Virginia, south of Richmond, sometime in the early, predawn hours. Kael clipped the leash to her collar and led her across the parking lot to a grassy area to do her business. She made sure to be the perfect dog, didn’t pull on the leash, and stood patiently while he used a plastic baggy to pick up her waste.

Perfect. I get two hunks waiting hand and foot on me, and they’re gay and I’m their dog.

She even stood patiently in the bathtub while they gave her a quick bath with orange-scented dog shampoo they’d apparently bought, along with the other accoutrements.

Truth be told, it felt damn good to have them massaging her aching muscles in the warm water.

She obediently sat on the tile bathroom floor while Zack went after her with the hair dryer. When he finished, her coat was poofy, but clean and smelling citrusy fresh.

It was nearly four in the morning when the men exhaustedly climbed into one of the beds. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. The carpeted floor would be fine, but before she could curl up, Kael pointed to the other bed.

“Go ahead, Mai. You can sleep on the bed. I don’t know where you came from, but you’re a good girl.”

She nearly shifted in shock at that, wanted to cry. His voice sounded so tender, so loving.

She walked over to their bedside and put her front paws up so she could lick him in the face. Then she turned, jumped up on the other bed, curled herself nose to tail, and went to sleep.

I could get used to this. She didn’t know what she’d do in a few months when she couldn’t hide her secret any longer, but at least she’d have a few months of peaceful living.

Mai awoke late the next morning to someone knocking on their room door. Zack and Kael, who’d still been asleep, stirred. Zack got up and answered the door, greeting Lina and welcoming her in.

She immediately walked over to Mai’s bed, sat down, and gently stroked her head. “Good morning, Mai.”

I wish I could talk to you, lady. Whoever you are.

She looked at Lina’s bulging belly and felt a sad pang of envy. No doubt Jan and Rick, the other two men she’d figured out were Lina’s mates, were desperately eager for her to have their child. Probably loved the hell out of her.

Who’s going to love us? She’d have plenty of time to think about that later, when she was safely in Florida. She still wasn’t sure how she’d broach the subject of her true identity, but she suspected it would be Lina she came out to first.

Lina offered to take Mai out for her walk while the men got their shower. After Mai finished and Lina had picked up after her, Lina looked at her. “I promise, whatever it is, we’ll help. I mean it. Okay? And we can help you.”

Mai swallowed hard, but nodded. I don’t know if anyone can help me, lady, but you might regret making that promise. I won’t hold you to it.

Back in the room, the men were getting out of the shower. Neither acted bashful around Lina, and she was apparently used to seeing them in the buff, because she didn’t react. Lina dished her out a can of food and freshened her water. After eating, Mai curled up on the bed and waited for further orders.

The others were going to breakfast before checking out and would come back for her.

Before leaving the room, Lina turned on the TV.

“Why are you doing that?” Zack asked.

“So she doesn’t get bored. Duh.” Lina turned and winked at her.

Mai winked back and wagged her tail.

Late that night, they crossed the state line from Georgia into Florida north of Jacksonville. They took I-10 west to I-75 and continued south. Just before dawn, they pulled off the interstate and Mai realized they were “home.” Or what would temporarily be her home.

They let her out of the car without the leash, and she pulled up short in shock. The house was huge and from the looks of it most likely built within the past couple of years. She had a bathroom break before being welcomed inside by her new friends.

She couldn’t help but let her tail wag. The place looked wonderful. Homey, not ritzy, yet well furnished.

Lina showed their three human guests to their rooms. She’d discovered from listening that Carla and Liam were Elain’s parents, but they weren’t married. And Elain was a good friend of theirs.

Zack put Mai’s food and water dishes on the floor in the kitchen, poured her out some dry dog food, and headed to another part of the house with Kael.

Lina let her two men go upstairs ahead of her. She waited until she was alone in the kitchen with Mai to open the fridge, pull out some lunch meat, cheese, and bread, and make an impromptu sandwich, which she placed in Mai’s food bowl.

“You’ve got to be sick of that other stuff. I’ll sneak you what I can when I can so I don’t blow your cover. Okay?”

Mai wanted to cry. She whined in gratitude and licked Lina’s hand. Lina gave her a friendly smile and patted her on the head. “If you need to go outside, come upstairs and bark at my door to wake me up.” Then she headed upstairs.

Mai considered shifting back to eat, then decided against it. She didn’t want to take the risk. She grabbed the sandwich from her bowl and devoured it in a few bites. Then she headed over to the couch where she curled up and went to sleep.

Mai discovered later that day, once everyone had slept and arose to have dinner, that this wasn’t their last stop in their journey, even though it was home to most of them. They’d be on the road again, this time to Arcadia, where Elain lived with her mates.

Lucky woman.

With sneakily whispered asides from Lina, Mai was now up to speed on who Carla and Liam were as well. Ironic that she was in a very similar situation as Elain, only she damn well knew how much danger she was in.

Asshole. Why had she ever trusted Paul in the first place? Oh yeah, because he was handsome, rich, and said he loved her.

Barely twenty-one, my family’s dead, and now I have an asshole wolf on my tail. Literally.

This was not how she’d planned to spend her life.

After dinner, just before sunset, they all loaded up again and headed south. She sat up and watched the unfamiliar landscape pass by outside the car. They were now heading to Elain’s home, in Arcadia, where more wolves awaited their return.

For the first time since her ordeal started a few weeks earlier, she truly felt safe. Like maybe she could figure a way out of this damn mess.

When they turned off the highway and down a long driveway, Mai took a sniff of the air. Cattle.

They pulled into the yard surrounding a large, one-story ranch-style house. Three men, who appeared identical, stepped out onto the front porch at their arrival.

Elain jumped out of the car she was in and ran into their welcoming arms.

Mai watched, her heart aching. She wanted that, someone to love her.

Kael opened the back door of the car and coaxed her out. She jumped out, sniffing around, and running over to the fence line to do her business out of the way. Then, sticking close to Lina’s side, she headed inside with the others.

Micah dozed in bed with Jim curled in his arms. They’d had the house mostly to themselves for the day and had taken full advantage of it to wear each other out. Elain and the others would return soon.

He wasn’t sure at first what awoke him. His eyes snapped open, ears and mind on full alert.

Something’s wrong.

He sat up. Jim barely stirred as he swung out of bed. That’s when he heard everyone coming inside and he knew what had set his senses off.

A shifted coyote.

With a growl starting deep in his throat, he threw the bedroom door open and ran out into the living room.

Mai sat and stared at Elain’s three hunks.

Lucky, lucky woman. Then she heard a door open somewhere down the hall. She barely had time to register the sound of a wolf’s dangerous growl when the naked man appeared in the doorway and glared at her.

When he spotted her, she didn’t even think before turning and bolting with a terrified squeal toward the first open door she saw. Unfortunately, with everyone now shouting and the naked man on her heels, Mai realized she’d put herself into a dead end, running through a huge bedroom and into a bathroom. She spotted a window, but with a terrified yelp she went sprawling across the tile as the man tackled her.

He wrapped his fingers tightly around her throat. A horrific snarl rumbled through him as he screamed, “Who are you?”

Micah spotted the shifted coyote immediately. She spotted him, too, and took off running toward the master bedroom. She couldn’t escape him. Before she could jump for the window, he threw himself at her, tackling her and grabbing her by the throat. “Who are you?”

With speed that shocked him, he was suddenly holding a naked young woman by the throat. She clawed at his fingers. “Please don’t hurt me!” she gasped.

Ain, Brodey, and Cail caught up with them first, with the dragon men on their heels. Micah resisted their attempts to pull him off of her.

That’s when she stopped fighting him and protectively curled her hands around her obviously swollen belly. “Please, don’t hurt me,” she begged again, tears streaking her cheeks.

It felt like a shock wave slammed into him as an all too familiar sensation took control of his mind. He didn’t have time to process what it meant, only that instinctively, a switch had been flipped and one word pounded through his soul.

Mate.

He shook the Lyall brothers off as he grabbed the woman and pulled her protectively into his arms. Jim, apparently awoken by the ruckus, appeared in the doorway behind all the others.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, pushing his way through the other men to get to Micah’s side.

Micah fought a wave of emotions threatening to swamp him. Anger at the intruder had given way to protective fury—for her.

Love.

Holy fuck.

The girl, now sobbing in his arms, had stopped fighting him once he’d let go of her throat. He placed one hand on the swell of her belly, on top of her hands. “You’re pregnant,” he said in wonder.

Jim dropped to his knees beside them. The world shrank until it seemed only the three of them filled it. Jim looked at him, shock on his face. “Who is she?” he asked.

Micah had changed position on the floor so he could cradle her in his arms. He brushed her tangled blonde hair from her face. “Ours,” he whispered. He looked at Jim. “She’s ours.”

Jim nodded, also reaching out to stroke her cheek and brush away her tears. Micah knew his mate felt it, too. After all that had happened, he wouldn’t question that he knew this woman was meant to be theirs, whoever she was. He felt as strongly about her as he had about Jim.

Please, don’t let her be mated to someone!

Jim grabbed a large bath towel and covered the girl with it. She looked up into their faces, her brown eyes red from crying. She wasn’t marked. Micah could tell that instinctively. But did she have a partner? Husband? He also sensed how terrified she was.

How alone.

The Goddess does have a twisted sense of humor. He cupped the back of her neck with his hand and looked deeply into her brown eyes. Her sobbing quieted as she stared up at him.

“You don’t have anyone else, do you?” he asked her.

She shook her head.

Micah touched his forehead to hers. He’d sort the details out later. For now, he knew only one thing. “You’re ours,” he whispered.

She softly whimpered, but nodded.

Jim joined them, leaning in so his forehead also touched theirs. He wrapped his arms around them both. “Ours,” he echoed.

She nodded. “Yours,” she whispered.

Could my life get any more whacked out? Mai didn’t even know who these two guys were, just that the one who’d almost ripped her throat out was a wolf and the other was a human, and they were mated to each other.

She also felt a pull to them like no other. Certainly nothing like the tepid sexual attraction she’d had in the beginning with Paul.

The wolf stood, easily lifting her in his arms and carrying her out of the bathroom while the other man hovered close by. She threw her arms around the wolf’s neck and buried her head against his chest, afraid to let go of him now that she felt waves of protective fury flowing from him. They returned to the living room, and he sat on the couch with her still in his arms. Lina appeared with a bathrobe, which she offered to her.

“Let me introduce you all to Mai,” Lina said. “Mai, the man holding you is Micah, a wolf shifter and cousin of the Lyalls. That other man is his mate, Jim.”

Mai blushed as the two men helped her into the robe. Jim reached around and unbuckled the collar from her neck while everyone gathered around, questions flying so fast Mai couldn’t process them.

Lina grabbed Mai’s hand and raised her other one to silence everyone else. “I’ve known since she joined us that she was a shifter. She needed to reveal herself at the right time.”

Jim took the bottle of water from her. With her free hand, Mai grabbed Jim’s other hand and held him close.

Lina smiled at her. “We can talk about all of this tomorrow. For now, let it suffice that yes, you three were meant to meet.”

“Mate,” Micah said again. Then he looked at Jim. “Our mate.”

Jim nodded. “Ours.”

Mai rested her head against Micah’s shoulder and burst into tears. She sobbed against him, wailing in relief and fear and a bunch of other emotions she couldn’t even begin to process.

Micah kissed her temple. “It’s okay,” he softly soothed. “We won’t force you. If you don’t want us… It’s okay.”

She let go of Lina’s hand and grabbed his arm, pulling both of the men’s hands onto her belly. “I do want you. I don’t understand this, but I do. And… and…” She couldn’t finish.

With the help of Jan and Rick, Lina carefully lowered herself to her knees next to the couch, where she could whisper to the three of them. “It’s okay,” Lina told Mai. “I’m a Seer. This was meant to be.” She laid her hand on top of all three of theirs, on Mai’s belly. “All that matters is chosen family, not bloodlines. You were meant to meet and mate with them and become a family.”

Micah squeezed Mai’s hand. “His loss, and our gain. You’re ours, and since you’re not mated to or marked by him, that baby is ours, as far as I’m concerned. Code of the Ancients doesn’t say anything about someone who’s pregnant, just if they’re marked or mated or not.”

Mai burst into tears again. This was too much, too soon. She wouldn’t deny or fight it, and she wouldn’t claim to understand it, but it still overwhelmed her.

Lina kissed her forehead. “Congratulations, Mai. Welcome to our family. Boys, why don’t you take her to your bedroom and let her calm down and, oh, say, introduce yourselves properly. Elain and I will bring her some clothes to wear until we can take her shopping tomorrow. And we’ll bring her a proper dinner. I don’t think she really wants to eat dog food anymore.”

Mai clung to Micah as he carried her down the hallway he’d emerged from a few minutes earlier. Jim followed and closed the door behind them. Micah gently set her on their bed and the men sat on either side of her while she cried.

Not even ten minutes ago, she’d been terrified this man was going to rip her throat out. Now?

She couldn’t imagine life without these two men, and she didn’t even know their last names.

Goddess, help me understand.

Silence fell over the living room after the three left. Elain cleared her throat. “Well, folks, I do believe we’ve reached a new level of weirdness, even for us.”

A nervous laugh filtered throughout the group. Lina, with Rick and Jan’s help, lumbered to her feet. “I do believe you’re right. Since I shouldn’t be drinking, I’ll take a cup of hot tea. Elain, would you like to join me and do my drinking for me?”

“Amen, sistah!” she said as she headed for the kitchen. Lina started after her.

“Wait for me,” Carla said. “I could use one, too.” Followed by Liam, Carla headed to the kitchen.

“Hey,” Zack said. “Don’t leave us out. We just lost our pet dog to a couple of wolves. There’s something just plain wrong about that.”

“Coyote,” Lina shot back over her shoulder. “And don’t forget Jim’s human.”

“Details, details.” Despite his playful, teasing tone, Zack looked more than a little disappointed.

“What’s wrong?” Kael asked him. He slung an arm around his shoulders.

“I was looking forward to having a dog.”

Brodey slapped Ain on the back. “We know where the local animal shelter is, don’t we, bro? We can get them hooked up, right?”

Ain glared at Brodey, but nodded.

Cail laughed. “Hey, Prime, you deserved that one for what you put us through.”

They all crowded into the kitchen. Lina plopped herself down into one of the chairs while Elain got her hot tea started. Zack played bartender. Once everyone had a drink, Lina lifted her steaming mug in a toast.

“To love. As fucked up and crazy as it is, it’s still a pretty damn good thing.”

“You can say that again,” Elain agreed.

Micah and Jim let Mai cry herself out, holding her, comforting her. At some point, Lina softly knocked, and she and Elain brought in a stack of clothes, some bath supplies, and a tray of food. Micah nodded their thanks to them. The two women silently departed, quietly shutting the door behind them.

“Let’s start at the beginning,” Micah said after getting the tray for her and making her eat. “What’s your name, and how did you end up with them?”

The longer Mai talked, the more enraged Micah felt. Mai Gallatin had only turned twenty-one a couple of months ago. Her parents and two older brothers were killed four years earlier, in a car wreck in Montana that she barely escaped from. Between her medical bills from the wreck, paying bills owed by her parents’ estate, and severe mismanagement of the remaining funds by one of her uncles, who’d been appointed her guardian, she was now broke. She’d decided to leave Montana and try to make a go of it in Connecticut with one of her cousins from her mother’s side, humans who had no knowledge of her shape-shifting abilities.

“It was just my bad luck I met Paul,” she said. “He knew I was a shifter when we met, and I sensed he was one, too. He had money. I was lonely and stupid and gullible and I fell for him hook, line, and sinker. I don’t mean like I thought he was my mate or anything,” she said, sniffling. “But the way my life had gone, I was willing to overlook common sense and the truth. Then my period was late three months ago. I thought we were careful. I thought I was careful.”

She shook her head. “I was scared to tell him at first. Then I couldn’t hide it any longer. I knew he wasn’t my mate, and I didn’t want to marry him. I wasn’t looking for a handout. All I wanted was to see if he wanted to be part of the baby’s life. He demanded I get an abortion. I told him no.”

“How long have you been on the run from him?” Micah asked.

She sniffled. “For a couple of weeks now. He said if I wouldn’t get an abortion, then he’d kill me. That his family didn’t want any ‘mutts’ in their line was how he said it. I couldn’t go back to my cousin’s house because he knew where she lived. So I ran. I had to shift because he kept catching up with me. I thought if I could get to Maine, maybe the wolves there could help me. But he tracked me there, too. I was so, so tired.” She sniffled. “Then I saw Zack and Kael stop for gas, and they had Florida plates on their car. I thought maybe I could get far enough away from Paul he couldn’t find me.”

Jim stroked her arm, but spoke to Micah. “Do you think maybe this is why you and I were brought together in such a whacked-out way?”

Micah nodded. “Yeah, that thought occurred to me, too.” When she looked at them questioningly, he smiled. “Jim and I are straight.”

“But…but you’re mates.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I know. Tell me about it. The Universe works in strange and mysterious ways.”

A fearful look filled her face. “Are you going to make me get an abortion?” she whispered. “Since it’s not your baby?”

Anger filled him. Not at her, at the man who put her in this position from the start. He grabbed her chin and kissed her, tenderly, waiting her out until she finally relaxed in his arms and responded, a soft whimper of need escaping her.

“Does that answer your question?” he finally asked when he ended their kiss. “You are our mate, and no way in hell are you doing that if you don’t want to. If you want the baby, then that baby is our baby. No question. Understand?”

She nodded, then threw her arms around both of them. “I don’t understand why I feel like this.”

Jim chuckled. “Believe me, honey, you shouldn’t question it. Life gets a lot easier when you just go with the flow. We learned that the hard way.”

Mai thought that was very good advice. It was far easier to simply go with the flow and enjoy the feelings of love and safety enveloping her from the men. All her life she’d heard about how you just knew when you met your mate. Now she understood what they’d meant.

Micah stepped out of bed then scooped her up from the bed and carried her into their bathroom. Jim followed, carrying the bath supplies the women had brought for her. A razor and shaving gel, a brush and comb, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, a new toothbrush. Jim quickly stripped. The men gently helped her out of the robe and into the shower.

She stood under the warm water with Jim supporting her from the front. With a tender gentleness she never knew possible, Micah carefully untangled her hair with his hands and the conditioner until he could get the comb through it. Then he shampooed her hair, massaging her scalp and nearly putting her to sleep before he used the conditioner again.

She shaved herself, glad to be rid of leg and armpit hair and able to trim her bush close the way she liked to keep it. She was starting to feel marginally human again.

If they could fall in love with me looking like a mangy monster, they must be in love.

Taking their time, they slowly soaped her entire body, front and back, but avoiding her most intimate areas.

She loved them for it. She wanted a long night’s safe sleep in a comfortable bed before even thinking about that despite her body wanting more from them.

Then the baby kicked for the first time. She gasped, putting both men on high alert.

“Are you okay?” Jim asked. “Did we hurt you?”

She laughed and grabbed their hands, placing them on her belly. After a moment, the baby kicked again. “It’s the first time she kicked. Like she knows we’re safe now.”

“It’s a girl?” Micah asked with a slightly awestruck tone that filled her heart with hopeful joy.

Mai shrugged. “I…I don’t know. I just keep thinking of her as ‘she.’” Now wasn’t the time to mention her dreams.

Micah dropped to his knees in front of her and kissed her belly, wrapping his arms around her and Jim, who stood behind her.

“Ours,” he whispered, his cheek pressed against her flesh. “Both of you are ours.”

Not that Micah didn’t love Jim, because he’d die for his mate. But he wouldn’t deny when he accepted the situation and claimed Jim that part of him mourned the fact they would never have pups of their own. It hadn’t been a huge priority, but he’d always assumed once he found his mate, they would have pups, eventually.

Not biologically possible with a male for a mate.

This whole thing made no sense. Why had the Goddess done things this way? It was unheard of for a wolf to pick a second mate when their first mate was still alive.

And she was a coyote.

He got to his feet and kissed her, tenderly, not wanting to hurt or scare her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

She broke their kiss and looked up into his eyes. “Mark me,” she whispered. “Please.”

She didn’t have to ask twice. He turned her to face Jim. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Micah stroked her back, her shoulders, and pressed his body against hers. He’d sort out the mating aspect later. He wasn’t even sure if he should, for fear of hurting the baby. But he would mark his mate.

He ran his lips over her right shoulder, licking her skin and reveling in her sweet taste. When he grazed his teeth across her flesh she shivered and softly moaned.

“Submit, mate,” he softly said.

“You really don’t care that I’m a coyote and not a wolf?” she tentatively asked.

“I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re a naked pink iguana.” He nipped the back of her neck. “Do you submit, mate?”

She rested her head against Jim’s chest, her eyes closed. “Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”

Micah closed his eyes and bit down, hard. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she cried out, but she pressed herself against his body, making it hard for him to control his willful cock. She shivered as he licked at the wound now marking her as theirs, soothing her, wanting her.

When he turned her to face him again, he couldn’t help but notice Jim’s cock was as hard as his own, Jim’s eyes dark and smoky with passion.

Well, Jim and I can fuck each other’s brains out, if nothing else.

She grabbed Micah’s head and kissed him. As her passion grew, it was obvious the need to rest and sleep suddenly took a backseat for her desire for her mates to fuck her brains out. Passion rolled over her in nearly visible waves. “Please,” she softly begged them. “Please take me.”

He swallowed hard. His first instinct was to fuck her right then and there. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She ground against him. The delicious friction of her slippery skin nearly unmanned his resolve. “You two won’t hurt me.”

“The baby,” Jim said, tuned in to Micah’s thoughts.

“You won’t hurt her. Please?”

Micah shared a look with Jim. Jim nodded.

Micah reached over and shut the water off. Then he grabbed a towel and the two of them slowly dried her off. With Jim standing behind her, Micah knelt in front of her and parted her labia with his thumbs, exposing her clit.

Gently, he flicked his tongue over it. She softly cried out in an unmistakable sound of pleasure and need.

Like that, he used his tongue, running it up and down her nub, until her body trembled and she let out a cry of pleasure. Her juices flowed over his lips as he didn’t stop, Jim’s arms supporting her as he kept her coming until she finally begged him to stop.

“Let’s take her into the bedroom,” Micah said.

Jim didn’t need him to suggest it twice. He scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom, carefully laying her on their bed. Jim crawled between her legs and buried his tongue there as Micah stretched out next to her and kissed her. They would claim their mate, but before they did, they would make sure she was well and truly sated and ready for them. He refused to do anything to possibly risk hurting her.

She tasted sweet, her tongue eagerly meeting his as he explored her mouth. It didn’t take Jim long to make her come again, Micah’s cock throbbing with need as he swallowed her cries.

Without needing to speak, Jim moved from between her legs and stretched out on her other side. Micah looked at him, and when their eyes met, he felt a surge of love like never before pass between them. Yes, she completed them. Micah kissed him, moaning at the taste of her juices on his lips.

He sat up and positioned himself between her legs as Jim started kissing her. With his voice a low growl, Micah said, “If it even feels slightly uncomfortable, stop me.”

She nodded, but didn’t stop kissing Jim.

Practically shaking with desire for her, he carefully lined up his cock with her pussy lips and forced himself to go slow. She felt deliciously tight, her wet pussy eagerly swallowing his cock as he sank all the way inside her. After giving her a moment to adjust to the feeling, he started moving.

“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. “You’re so tight, baby!”

She pulled her mouth from Jim’s just long enough to gasp, “You can go faster than that!”

Both men laughed. Micah, however, didn’t want to risk it. He kept up a slow pace that had his balls aching and nearly painful, but he refused to rush and risk hurting her. Only when he knew he couldn’t hold back any longer did he take several short, fast strokes inside her, letting out a loud groan as he held himself off her body while his cum unloaded into her.

Shaky, he waited a minute to catch his breath before carefully withdrawing. He kissed the swell of her belly. “Are you okay?”

Jim let her talk again. “Yes!” She looked up at Jim. “You next. Please!”

Micah cradled her against him as Jim changed position. Micah reached between her legs and stroked her clit with his finger. She moaned, wiggling her hips against Jim to urge him on as his cock disappeared inside her.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Micah whispered. He looked down into her eyes. “It won’t bother you seeing us fucking each other, will it?”

She grinned. “I like man-on-man action.”

Jim laughed. “I do believe the Goddess has blessed us with the perfect woman, Micah.”

Micah smiled. “Yes, I think you’re right.” He kissed her as his hand picked up speed. She moaned again, her arm snaking around his neck, her fingers clutching a handful of his hair.

Jim was a little braver than Micah and fucked her harder, drawing moans of pleasure out of her. Between Jim’s cock inside her and Micah’s fingers on her clit, she quickly came again.

“Yes!” Jim gasped as his body went still and rigid.

Micah knew that sign well. Jim had just added his own load to her already full pussy.

Jim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Jesus, I can’t believe how good that felt.”

Micah stroked her cheek and made her look him in the eye. “You’re ours forever. Got it?”

Wide-eyed, she nodded.

He smiled. “Be prepared for a life of being spoiled rotten, baby.”

Jim carefully withdrew and crawled up the bed to lie beside her, an arm carefully draped over her hips. “Yeah,” he echoed as he kissed her shoulder. “We have mad spoiling skills and we’re not afraid to use them on you, sweetheart.”

“I love you two. I can’t believe all this has happened, but I love you two so much.”

Micah’s heart felt lighter than he could ever remember. “We love you, too, sweetheart. Our mate. Forever.”

After she fell asleep, Mai dreamed. It wasn’t the first time she’d had this dream. Unfortunately, knowing it was a dream didn’t change anything. Her baby, a little girl she knew from the dreams, was being born. And while everyone else around her was happy, she was screaming. Not from the pain of delivery, but because there was something terribly wrong with her baby and no one else could see it. No one stood by her side to comfort her. Only the medical staff surrounded her, giving her commands.

As all the other times before, she ripped herself from sleep just after the baby emerged and the doctor started to hold it up for her to see.

Gasping for breath, she waited until her pulse slowed. The men still slept on either side of her, undisturbed by her nightmare.

The baby chose that moment to kick again. Mai rested her palm on her stomach. Please, Goddess, protect my baby. Let her be born healthy and strong.