Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete (33 page)

As I drove to my apartment, I couldn’t help but think of what Kane had said. In his mind it seemed that a partnership of three was a normal, natural thing. Of course, that was out of the question for me. Me—with Vic
and
Max?

My mind wandered to thoughts of Max. There was no question I found him intriguing. I’d enjoyed our chats when he came into Kane’s and when I ran into him at the Big Bull Inn. I also had to admit I found him extremely sexy. His body was hard and muscular from years of working hard. His face was scarred, but it didn’t bother me at all…it told his story. I flushed as I thought of being naked with him. I had to admit, it turned me on a lot. And the idea of making love to him
and
Vic at the same time—well, I knew deep down it would be mind-blowing. 

Of course, my brother, Kane, whom I loved and respected, didn’t see anything wrong with it—but he was a shifter. And once we talked about it, Marcie had seemed open-minded about it too. So what was stopping me?

I had to admit, it concerned me what other people would think. Sure, I’d heard of other shifters that were in three-way relationships, but though it was accepted in shifter society, people in regular society didn’t approve of it. If the people I used to work with knew I was in a triad relationship, they would be
shocked
! They would not care for it one little bit. But thinking about it…those were the same people who had made disapproving comments about my curves.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was society. Our culture’s rules were keeping me from embracing the possibility of a triad with the two men; the same society that had poked fun of my size and curves in the past. What made that right? Why did I have to think and act the way society dictated? So long as I wasn’t hurting anyone, what could possibly be wrong to opening up to a triad relationship with Vic and Max?

I was almost at my apartment when I heard the sounds of fire engines in the distance. “Shit!” I prayed it wasn’t a fire. There hadn’t been one in Shifter Villages for a few weeks and I knew everyone was hoping that the arsonist had stopped for good.

Over the months I’d lived in Shifter Villages I’d grown attached to the community. Although I felt drained emotionally, I had to go find out what was going on. I pulled into the parking lot of a nearby business and turned my car around, following the direction of where the alarms were coming from.

I gripped the wheel harder as I heard the wail of fire engines becoming louder. Driving as quickly as I could, I followed the sounds. Within minutes I could see smoke billowing from a rooftop. It was coming from an area near one of the smaller strip malls in town. Many of the store owners were local vendors who worked hard to make a living. I dreaded finding out which building it was.

I parked my car a short distance away, got out of the vehicle, and hurried to the area. I put my hand up to my nose to try to avoid inhaling the smoke. The smell was overpowering. A feeling of dread rushed through me as I noticed the sheer magnitude of the flames. I hoped no one was hurt.

As I grew closer to the scene, I realized it was an empty building in the plaza and a sigh of relief washed over me. I could see Sheriff Matthews was near the front of the building. I squeezed my way past several bystanders to try and get closer to find out what was going on.

As I walked closer to the building, my foot crunched on something on the ground and I almost tripped. I looked down to see a potato chip bag. I picked it up, shaking my head. People could be so sloppy. I sure didn’t want to break my leg again, and I didn’t want anyone else to break theirs either. I headed over to the trash can.

“Sabrina, what have you got there?” Sheriff Dirk Matthew’s voice boomed out at me. “Is that a chip bag?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I was just going to throw it away.”

“Give it to Deputy Bob. He’s over there. It may be evidence. Tell him to handle it with care.”

I wasn’t sure how a potato chip bag could be evidence, but I was happy to do anything I could to help. “Of course,” I replied. I turned in the direction the Sheriff had pointed.

“Fuck!”

“What is it?” Dirk said, squinting at me.

“Nothing…nothing…sorry…” Vic and Max were standing next to Deputy Bob. I really wasn’t ready to see those two, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I would just have to hand the potato chip bag to Deputy Bob and ignore the two brothers.

As I came closer to the three men, I saw Deputy Bob punching the air with his fist in Max’s direction, snarling at him. And Max…normally Max wore a morose expression on his face, but not now. He looked like he was ready to pounce on Bob. His eyes were filled with rage, his nostrils flared wide. Vic stood between the two men, waving his hands. It looked like he was trying to diffuse the situation.

“Umm, Deputy Bob?” I interrupted. “Sheriff Matthews said to give you this.”

Vic and Max turned to look my direction, seeing me for the first time that day.

“Sabrina!” Vic started towards me, but I put my hands up.

“Just
don’t
, Vic.”

I handed the chip bag to Deputy Bob. “The Sheriff said it might be evidence. He said to handle it with care.”

“Handle it with care? This is bullshit!” Bob yelled out, crushing the bag between his fingers. “I don’t need any evidence. I know exactly who started these fires. He’s standing right in front of me!” He glared at Max. “I’m arresting your sorry ass, and this time the Sheriff better not let you go.”

Regardless of what Vic had said to me and how I felt about it, I knew Max well enough to know he would not have started the fires. He was in a lot of pain, but he was a goodhearted man.

“You’re looking in the wrong place, Bob! Max is a good man. He would never have started those fires!”

“Sabrina,” Max growled. “I can handle this.”

“Yeah, fuck off Sabrina. This is no business of yours!” Bob screamed, reaching for his handcuffs. “I’m arresting you, Max, for starting the fires!”

“My brother did not start the fires,” Vic stated firmly.

“…and,” Bob sneered as he gazed at Max, “you’re too fucking ugly to be in public anyway!”

“What?” I gasped. “Max Harris is one of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen…”

Max jerked his head towards me, his eyes widening in surprise.

“…and he is one of the nicest.” As I said it, I realized it was true. Max was a great guy, and he was hot. I really didn’t see his scars at all. I saw Max Harris—the man.

Bob squinted at me. “You sure sound like you like Max an awful lot. Is he your lover too, girlie? Is that why you didn’t want to go out with me—because you like having two lover boys?”

“I…I…” I stumbled over my words. Bob was so nasty and mean. I didn’t know what to say.

“And you think he’s gorgeous, huh? That’s a joke!” Bob snorted. He turned towards Max. “You’re under arrest—for starting the fires…and for just being fucking ugly.”

As Deputy Bob spoke, Max made a loud bellowing sound and his body began to change.

I’d never seen Max or Vic shift. Vic said Max shifted often to let off steam or when he was angry but Vic rarely felt the need. I’d accepted that. I’d seen plenty of other folks in Shifter Villages shift into their bear, wolf, or whatever animal form they took on. I figured one day I would see Vic shift, and until then, it was no big deal.

But now watching Max transition, I was in shock. I had no idea how
huge
bulls could be. His bones elongated and became thick, and his neck and head grew twice the size. Sharp, knobby horns grew out from his head as his body transitioned into a burly mass of muscle and power.

“What the fuck?” Bob yelled. Bob was starting to sweat and he backed away. It was obvious he’d never seen this before.

“Change back, just change back and I’ll go easy on you…” he begged feebly.

Suddenly shrill screams blasted the night air. They were coming from the direction of the fire.

“Oh my God,” someone exclaimed loudly. “Look in the window! There are people in the building. They’re trapped!”

I glanced up at the burning structure. In the night sky I could see the outline of two men inside, pounding frantically on one of the large glass windows. “There’s two men in there!” I screamed.

Suddenly I felt a whoosh. Max rushed by me in his bull, his nostrils flaring, his sharp horns pointed towards Deputy Bob. He was going to charge him!

“Shit!” Bob screamed, his eyes bulging out of his head, “”Don’t!”

But instead of charging Bob, the burly shifter ran towards the burning flames of the building!

“Max, what are you doing?” I cried out as I watched him barreling towards the burning building. I turned towards Vic, “We have to stop him from…” My jaw dropped open. Vic had transitioned while my back was to him and he was standing before me in his bull. Like his brother, he was a huge magnificent beast; muscular and powerful. Before I had a chance to say anything else, he was running after his brother, snorting and bellowing as his legs took massive strides.

I gasped as I saw Max head directly into the building without hesitation. Vic was right on his heels.

I felt terrible for the man trapped inside the building, but Vic and Max would likely die from the fire trying to help him. I grabbed Deputy Bob’s shirt. “Oh my God! Do you see that? Go after them. They’ll be killed in the fire!”

“Good riddance to ‘em,” Deputy Bob grunted, spinning on his heels as he walked towards his patrol car. “Oh…” he turned back towards me, “and if your
lover
boys
go up in smoke and you decide you want to go out with me, I’m willing. But just one thing—I don’t share my woman!”

I couldn’t believe this. Here was Vic, the man I loved, and his brother, who I cared about deeply, running into a burning building and this man who called himself a Deputy was doing absolutely nothing about it. I raced towards the building. I couldn’t let them get hurt…I just couldn’t.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sheriff Matthews grabbed the top of my tee and pulled me back as I rushed by him. I struggled to get free.

“Max and Vic are in there!” I shouted, pointing frantically towards the building.

Dirk grimaced. “I know. I saw those bulls run in there like fools, but they were too quick for me to stop.” He looked at me, shaking his head, “I can’t let you go in there.”

“But, I…but…” I could see from the look in Dirk’s eyes he wasn’t going to let me out of his sight. His big hand clutched me firmly. All I could do was stand there, helpless, choking back sobs as I watched the flames lash around and up the building. I was crying uncontrollably. Time seemed to slow down and minutes felt like ages.

But suddenly—I saw the two bulls run out of the burning building; each of them pulling a limp body with their mouths. They dropped the bodies in front of the structure and an emergency team rushed to attend to them.

“Vic! Max!” Dirk released me and I ran towards the two bulls. But a group of firefighters were huddled around and I couldn’t see them.

“Please, let me through,” I screamed, pushing one of the firefighters to the side.

“Vic, Max…thank God you’re ok!” The two men had transitioned back into their human forms. They were standing next to each other wrapped in dark gray blankets.

“Sabrina!” Vic rushed towards me. He wrapped his arms around me, enveloping us in the blanket together. I looked over at Max who was staring right at me. As he caught my gaze, he lowered his eyes to the ground, but not before I saw the raw emotion he was feeling. I couldn’t mistake the look in his eyes. They were filled with need, longing, love—and anguish. No wonder he’d been avoiding me. He was in love with me and didn’t want me to know because he hadn’t wanted to ruin things for me or his brother. Of course, because I was with Vic, he thought I could never be his.

“Max, come over here,” I called to him. Max lumbered over to us slowly. His one hand was balled into a tight fist. I let go of Vic, giving Max a big hug. I could feel the tension in his body release slightly as I wrapped my arms around him. “Relax, Max…I promise everything will be ok.”

He averted his eyes and started to pull away from me, his one hand still clenched. “Sabrina…I need to get going.”

“Max, please look at me.”

Before Max had a chance to say anything, I heard Sheriff Matthew’s voice boom out. I turned to see the husky officer walking towards us.

“That was a damn foolish thing to do, running into that burning building like that.”

“Sorry, Sheriff,” Vic said somberly.

Dirk looked closely at Max. “I guess you wanted those two Thacker men alive, didn’t you?”

Max nodded.

“So Vic and Max pulled the Thacker men from the building?” I asked.

Sheriff Matthews nodded.

I wasn’t surprised. Chip and Snake were known for causing trouble in town.

“Yep, they’re suffering from smoke inhalation and minor burns, but it looks like they’re gonna make it.”

Vic frowned. “Chip and Snake Thacker—they’re responsible for this fire and the other fires too, right?”

Dirk pursed his lips. “I believe so. The problem is proving they did it. They can still try to say that Max started the fires and that they just happened to be in the building.”

“Who would believe they were just hanging out in a vacant building?” Vic questioned scornfully.

“Well…” Dirk scratched his head. “I have to admit, Deputy Bob has convinced a lot of people that Max is guilty.”

“But he was with us!” I protested.

“He was with you all evening?” Dirk asked.

“Yes—he was with us all eve…” but then it hit me. I’d left Vic and Max at the Big Bull and stopped at Kane’s to vent to Marcie and my brother about Vic mentioning a triad. I guess it was possible that Max had gone out during that time and started the fires. I knew he’d been upset, and Vic had probably told him about my reaction when he’d made the suggestion of bringing him into our relationship.

“He’s not guilty!” I stated firmly.

“I believe you, but he’s got to have an alibi,” the sheriff said disappointedly.

Max shook his head, his voice low and guttural. “Thanks for your support, Bree, but I can deal with this myself. I don’t want you to get involved in this mess.”

Max walked over to Sheriff Matthews and opened his hand to reveal a black cell phone. “Maybe this will help.”

The sheriff looked at it quizzically, “a cell phone?”

He handed the device to the sheriff. “Not just any cell phone. It belongs to Snake Thacker. It fell out of his pocket while I was carrying him out of the fire. I thought you would want to hold it at the station until he regains consciousness. And,” Max added quietly, “maybe it will help with the investigation.”

Dirk raised his brows. “Snake Thacker’s cell, huh? Well, what do you know?”