Mated to Three (2 page)

“I always get his coffee wrong.” She bites down on her lip, wishing she hadn’t revealed her secret. “I’m sorry. You probably should find another waitress to work here.”

Alex held his hand up. “Reese is a difficult kind of guy.”

“I don’t really know him. I’ve seen him around and all, but not much to say usually.” She didn’t have much to say about anything. Bethany found it a struggle to talk to new people, or to be around new people. One of the reasons she decided to work in Alex’s shop was to get used to being around others. At school, she’d always been a bit of a loner, never fitting in. She’d never seen the need to have a best friend when she was always happy by herself, or off in her books. Of course, in the adult world, that was not the best thing to do. She had to learn to mingle, to talk, and to be social.

She had been working for Alex for a good few months, nearly a year now, and she found talking to people… easier. Riser Woods wasn’t the best kind of place as there seemed to be large groups of people that didn’t really mingle. Her dream was to go to the city and find her place in the world, kind of like her father before he settled down. Her parents had once been big corporate people. Her mother had been a lawyer, and her father working in the stock market. Then she came along and, rather than stay in the big city, they came to Riser Woods.

This was where she felt at home. Bethany didn’t know any different.

She was happy here.

“Have you ever thought that he may have a thing for you?”

“No.”

“Not even an inkling?”

“Not at all. I make his coffee wrong. I’m sure he’s more infuriated with me than anything.” She removed her apron, placing it down on the counter. “Do you need me to do anything else?”

“Nah, you can head home.”

Glancing outside, Bethany took a deep breath. She didn’t want to go outside. Her stomach was twisting and turning but instead of asking for help, which a normal person would do, she stayed silent. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Going toward the back, she grabbed her bag from the staff waiting room then ventured outside. It was getting cold now, and she quickly pulled a jacket on and zipped it up. What she hated about Riser Woods café was the large expanse of woods. The community benefited from large tourism and the woods near the town offered activities for hiking, exploring, and all the kinds of things that Bethany hated. Yes, she was a boring person, a completely boring person.

The rustling of trees didn’t help to calm her nerves, nor the way shadows seemed to dance and almost transform.

You can do this, Beth.

Just keep on walking, and pretend it’s daylight.

A howling in the distance made her even more nervous. Picking up speed, she headed toward her home, and of course, there was a lot more trees to fight with.

The sound of branches breaking made her pause and look toward the woods. Instead of constantly moving, she actually made her way toward the sound. What the hell was she doing? Even as she was cursing her own stupidity she didn’t turn away. No, she kept on going.

“Is anyone there?” she asked. In the distance she was sure she heard a scream, and unable to ignore it, she made her way into the woods. “If anyone is watching me right now in a movie, they’d be screaming at me to go the other way. I think I should go the other way, right? No.”

Another scream echoed through the woods, and Bethany broke through the clearing seeing a young woman holding onto her leg. She vaguely remembered serving coffee to the hiker.

“Please, help me,” the woman said.

“What happened?”

Collapsing to her knees, she placed her hands on the woman’s leg.

“I was attacked. Bret, the guy I was with, they dragged him out of the tent, and they grabbed me.”

“They?” She looked around the forest. “Can you describe them?”

“They’re big and furry. They’re wolves, werewolves.”

Bethany paused, reaching out to touch the woman’s head. “Have you been taking something? Do you struggle with allergies?”

“No. I’m being serious. I’m not crazy. We were attacked by werewolves, they bit me, and they’re coming back.”

Bethany looked up and screamed. Something large, dark, and furry attacked her. She tried to fight but as she went down, she hit her head, sending everything black.

Reese didn’t like the sudden shock of pain that rushed through him. In his wolf form, he stared across the lake. Most of his pack was out in force enjoying the feel of the full moon. Several of the pack women were fertile, and some of the wolves were taking advantage of that and mating with them. Reese wasn’t interested in mating. Even though the scent of fertile women was intoxicating, he couldn’t get the image of Bethany out of his head. He wanted her so damn bad.

What tore him apart was the fact that she was human.

There shouldn’t be this call, this need to mate with her. He was the Alpha. The call to mate with someone should be with his own pack.

Changing back into his human form, he reached out, touching the water.

She needs us.

He couldn’t get rid of a sick feeling filling his stomach, nor the pain that was threatening to tear out of his chest.

“Hello, Reese.”

Looking up, he saw that Mischa, the strongest female within the pack, was walking toward him. She was a slender woman, confident in her own body. Like most pack females, she possessed slender hips, small breasts, and a physique that he didn’t find attractive.

“Yes, Mischa,” he said, thinking about the woman that worked at the café. She made him hard when she was fully clothed, taking orders from everyone.

“Are you not going to join in the running?”

“I’m content to stay here.”

“Oh, would you like some company?”

Reese knew she was trying to get into his good graces. She wanted him to mate with her so that she could have full control of the pack along with him. He wasn’t interested in her. Reese scented her cruelty, and he didn’t like it.

“You may sit.” He walked into the water, staring up at the full moon as he glowed full in the night. Nights like tonight, he felt the full power of the calling. Closing his eyes, he basked in the scent, and that was when he felt it. Something new, something unusual.

Opening his eyes, he spun, and found Mischa right beside him. She placed her hand on his chest. “I can make you feel so good, Alpha,” she said.

He took hold of her hand and moved her away from him. “I’m not interested, Mischa.”

“Alpha, I’m the best in the pack.” She went to touch his cock, and he slapped her hand away.

“You don’t belong to me, nor have I made a claim to you. Don’t even think of taking what doesn’t belong to you.” He moved out of the water, scenting something new in the air. She hadn’t scented it, which told him that she may be strong, but she wasn’t powerful.

Leaving the lake, he followed the path of his calling. His wolf was desperate, clawing to get out, and he ignored it. This new scent, it made his mouth water, and he wanted more. Moving through the forest, he felt his second in command, Draco following behind.

“Do you smell it?” Draco asked.

“I smell something, and the air, do you feel that?” Reese asked.

Draco, besides Alex, was the only wolf he trusted to be this close to him. They were all shifters. Alex being that of a bear, while he and Draco were wolves.

“What is going on with you two?” Mischa asked, clearly losing patience with being pushed aside.

He wasn’t interested in her.

For the next twenty minutes, he rushed through the pack, and then he heard it.

“Reese! Reese! Reese!”

Alex, the bear shifter, was calling his name. The scent of death hung heavy in the air, and part of him just knew that something had gone wrong. Rushing toward the shouting, he entered a clearing in the patch, and saw blood, death, and the unmistakable scent of wolf.

“I can’t stop the bleeding,” Alex said.

There was a torn leg that he stepped over. One body was torn to shreds, and when he got up to Alex, his heart broke. There on the ground, unconscious, dying, was Bethany. She had three claw marks across her face, oozing blood. Across her chest he saw the bite marks. Her body was broken, fragile, and she was dying.

Collapsing to his knees, he cupped her head.

He didn’t care about his nakedness.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Isn’t that the waitress?” Draco asked. “Bethany?”

“It is.”

“She left to go home, and I didn’t think to walk her. It’s a full moon. You guys are always around the lake. The café isn’t near the lake. I thought she would be safe.” Alex had tears flowing down his cheeks. “She was supposed to be safe.”

“She must have come into the wood.”

“Her scent was all over the dead woman. I think she tried to help her. Got in the way of whatever wolf was intent on attacking her.”

“The scent of the wolf. It’s not familiar,” Draco said.

“I shouted for you. I knew you’d hear me.”

Reese frowned. “I didn’t hear you to start off with.”

“You must have,” Alex said.

“No. I was by the lake. My hearing is good, not that good.”

“Then how did you know to come?”

“There’s a scent, something new, something… exciting,” Draco said. “Can you still smell it?”

Reese could smell it. The scent was coming from the dying woman he never got a chance to taste. Pressing his head to hers, he tried to contain his anguish, but it was hard.

“Shouldn’t she be dead already?” Mischa asked.

Sitting up, he felt his wolf come to the surface. “Leave, female!”

Mischa bowed down, showing her submission. “I mean no disrespect, Alpha. She’s human, and her injuries should have killed her, but she’s not dead.”

Reese tried to calm his wolf enough to focus.

Bethany was still breathing, and as he leaned down to press his ear against her mouth, he heard her getting… stronger. He didn’t know how that was possible. She was a human. The other human had been torn to shreds, and yet Bethany not only lived, she was surviving. “We need to move her.”

Draco came close and sniffed. “What the fuck is happening to her?”

“I don’t know.” He was going to find out. “Out of the way.” Going to her side, he picked her up, and she didn’t make a sound. Not a gasp, no noise at all. With Mischa, Alex, and Draco with him, he carried her all the way to his cabin.

“Do you want me to call the doctor?” Mischa asked.

“What will he do?” Alex asked. “Tell us everything we already know.”

“It’s just a thought.”

“Look, right now, I just want to get her somewhere comfortable. If these are going to be her last few moments on earth, I want her to at least be comfortable.”

They walked for several steps, Draco falling in step beside him. “She’s not dying. The scent of her is changing. She’s becoming wolf but also human. What is going on?”

“He bit her.”

“That’s fiction, Reese. You and I both know you cannot change from a bite alone. It has to be in your blood.”

“Or not. Just because we don’t know of it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

Alex rushed on ahead to get the door, opening it up. Reese went straight through to his bedroom, placing her on the bed. He quickly grabbed a pair of pants, pulling them up his thighs.

Stepping close to her once again, what he saw amazed him. The blood was covered by flesh. Her body was healing in ways he’d only ever seen a wolf heal.

“That’s creepy,” Mischa said, rubbing her arms.

Reese didn’t find it creepy. He was just so damn happy that Bethany wasn’t dying.

* * * *

Bethany couldn’t recall ever being this warm, this happy, or this content. The nightmare of moments ago had faded, and now she just saw brilliant warmth and light. Everything was perfect.

We have to go back.

She heard the female voice but didn’t recognize it.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Beneath her feet, air turned to sand, and she sank down, enjoying the grains rushing between her toes.

He needs us.

“No one needs me.”

Suddenly, the ground changed, and she was back at the forest, the wolf attacking. She threw herself in front of the other woman, the injured one. It was no good. The beast bit her, throwing her across the ground. She tried to save the woman, and all she did was see her torn apart. Next, the wolf turned on her, slashing, biting, killing her.

Only instead of waking to the warmth, she stayed within her body, and a large brown wolf stood over her.

You have to listen.

“Are you talking to me?”

Yes.

“This is creepy.”

You have to wake up.

“You took me away from my happy place.” Tears filled her eyes as she thought about how happy she’d been, and now how sad she felt.

It’s not your time yet. This is your fate, your destiny.

“I want to go home.”

Wake up, Bethany.

“The pain?”

Will fade quickly.

“What happened to that girl?”

Silence fell.

“Please, tell me.”

She passed away. It was her time, and she wasn’t destined to be with a mate.

“Life matters. All life matters.”

Which is why he needs you. The pack needs you. The pack is dying without you. They will all need you.”

“They?”

Everything is changing. It was one, but now it’s three. Interesting. You’re going to be one lucky girl.

The wolf before her made no sense, and suddenly, the world was fading once again.

“Bethany, can you hear me?”

The voice was distant.

Her eyes were so heavy.

“Bethany?”

“Bethany?”

She recognized the voices. Bethany opened her eyes, and looked up at three men and one woman.

The events of the past few hours collided, and without thought she opened her mouth and screamed.

Pushing up from the bed, she curled her arm around her legs, holding herself together.

Everyone moved away, and she was panting, breathing heavily. So much noise, and the smells; it was too much. Howling in the distance, screaming so far away. She covered her ears and begged for them to make it stop.