Fire of the Wolf [The Gray Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (13 page)

They seemed to be conversing through their eyes again, and it pissed her off.

“What are you two saying? I know somehow you are talking, but I don’t understand it.” Her head swiveled between the two men, waiting for their answer.

Open your mind to us, sugar, and you will understand, too.

Caroline’s eyes were huge as she stared at Devin. His mouth hadn’t moved, but she had heard him as clearly as if it had.

As mates we will be able to share each other’s thoughts telepathically. You just have to listen for us, and if you try you can send your thoughts to us as well.

What the fuck?

Devin and Damon both started laughing at the words their mate sent to them with her first conscious and focused thoughts. Still laughing, Devin started explaining out loud.

“I know it seems little overwhelming, but let me back up. When Damon rescued you from the fire, he was somehow able to smell your scent. Wolves have a particularly good sense of smell, and each individual—wolf or human—has their own specific scent. A wolf’s mate will always have a particularly appetizing scent that is more attractive to him than anyone else’s. Your scent is what first told Damon and me that you were our mate, and once we got close enough to know you, we both fell in love with you.”

“You can’t love me yet,” she argued. Her head was slightly spinning already, as she grasped for the patience to understand everything he was telling her.

“Why not? You are in love with us.” Damon said it so matter-of-factly that Caroline knew she couldn’t argue.

“So we live happily ever after? Two wolf firemen and the human woman? How does that work, guys?”

“Not exactly. You see, once we mated…er…made love, the mating bond started to form. It’s an invisible imprint on your heart that bonds you to each of us for life. Everything you feel will affect us, and vice versa. We will be able to sense you and your feelings from now on, and if something happens to a wolf’s mate, the surviving wolf won’t last long.” Devin was trying to go slow, and he was hoping that she would read between the lines. He really didn’t want to shock her with the words.

“Guess it’s a good thing that we aren’t all three wolves then.” She laughed nervously, but she caught the look exchanged between the men. “Oh my God! Are you telling me that I’m a wolf, too? Did you turn me into one, or was I always one and just didn’t know it?”

Damon pulled her against his chest, trying to calm her nerves as Devin kept explaining.

“You became a wolf the first time we mated, because we both claimed you. The bite marks on your shoulders. They will never go away, and they mark you as our mate. We aren’t completely bonded yet, because you have yet to mark us with your own bite. You will do that when you are ready. After that no other wolf will dare to approach any of us, because they will see the marks and we will carry each other’s scent.”

It was crazy to think about. Surely she was crazy to even believe it. Her thoughts zipped around in her brain making her slightly dizzy.
I’m a wolf, and these are my wolf mates?

“You guys did it without telling me first? Why? So that you would have some sort of sicko hold on me? Am I going to sprout fur now?” she asked sarcastically. She knew she was lashing out in fear at them, but she couldn’t help it. This decision was something she had no choice in now, and she felt violated somehow. The idea that her men would make a choice so important for her, hurt her to the bone. She pushed Damon away from her, and stood up to pace the room.

“No, you won’t just start sprouting fur. At the full moon, you will change, yes. For now you won’t be able to stop it, but one day in the future you will have that kind of control. I’m sorry. We should have taken the time to explain more, but damn it, I wanted you so badly.” Devin watched her patiently, as she put space between the three of them so that she could gather her thoughts. “We only have a few days until the full moon, and I would really like to present you to the pack as our mate.”

“The pack?” She looked over her shoulder at him in confusion.

“Our family is called a pack—a wolf pack. We have a den—a home—just outside of the city. I am the Alpha of the pack, which basically means I’m the leader. In the human world it would be the king. Damon, Liam, Owen, and Cash are some of my Betas or second-in-command. You will be an Alpha’s mate, which in the human world is like a queen,” Devin stated, and she spun around to stare at them.

“Queen? Me?” Her self-esteem issues clawed to the surface, and she felt her knees buckle. Damon was moving to catch her before she even knew she was falling. He sat in the chair with her in his arms, and stroked her hair from her face.

“Beautiful, don’t doubt that you will make a great queen. You are sexy and smart, and you already have the two most important pack members wrapped around your little finger.” He smiled, and his dark-green eyes sparkled with love.

Leave it to Damon to make her feel better about something that scared her so much. Caroline couldn’t stop turning the word
queen
over and over in her mind. She was just a regular person, a nurse at the local hospital, not a queen. There was nothing about her life that was even minutely royal. She couldn’t pull it off, and the twins would regret choosing her as their mate.

“Not a chance, darlin’.” Devin growled as he heard her thoughts. Her startled eyes looked straight into his, and she automatically held her arms out to him. She needed him to comfort her, too, so that she didn’t start to panic at all of this new information. And he was there. That fast he was on his knees in front of her with his head on her chest and his arms around her middle. Her heart swelled with emotion as Damon held her securely in his lap, and Devin embraced her, silently offering her the comfort and support that she needed.

Her world had just been flipped on its side, and she was struggling to get her feet back under her. She was in love with two men that she didn’t really even know, and she was considering giving them her future. How would she explain this to her friends, and coworkers. The more she forced herself to look at the situation, the more her heart led her down this path. She knew that she had to follow this through and see where it took her. She wanted them to know that they hadn’t scared her off, even if she was scared out of her mind.

“I love you, Devin, and you, too, Damon. Whatever happens, I love you guys. I don’t know if I can do this, so don’t start planning a wedding, but I’m not walking away. I need to know if this is real. I want to believe it is.” She whispered it, but she needed to say it out loud.

They held her for what seemed like hours, but it was probably only minutes. It was Damon who broke the contact first, using his fingers to lift her chin until their eyes met.

“Hot damn, Dev. We’ve got ourselves a mate.” His smile warmed her to her toes, and she couldn’t help but return it. Grinning back, she turned to see Devin’s reaction to his brother, and his beautiful face had burst into a radiant smile. She kept herself from restricting his statement, or playing the what-if game with herself. No matter what, she was just going to let this happen like it was intended, and enjoy every second she had with them.

“Come on. We are going out tonight, sugar. We need to talk with the boys more, and I definitely need to take you dancing.” Devin pulled her up into his arms, and spun her around into a dip. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen yet. Usually he was so serious, but this side of him was more like Damon, playful and happy. She couldn’t hold her laughter in as he righted her and pulled her close. She looked up at them to find them smiling and staring at her again.

“What?” she said, laughing.

“You have to do that more often, beautiful. Your laugh is the sexiest sound I have ever heard in my life.” Devin’s words drove the sexual tension in the room high as she felt her stomach ball up with desire. “Oh, and your horny scent might get you fucked again instead of getting you to the store for clothes, so you better tame your thoughts.”

Caroline smirked, and just to tease them a little, she deliberately pushed a few scandalously dirty thoughts their way.

* * * *

Both men growled and then moaned as she sashayed off down the hallway to get her shoes.

She’s going to be the death of us,
Devin thought.

Yeah, but if I have to die, that’s how I want to go.
Damon couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. He and Devin were mated now, and hopefully soon they would be starting a family. He was relieved that Caroline had taken their secret so well, but a mental image of her confusion and hesitation flitted through his brain. He was apprehensive that the conversation wasn’t over yet. Shaking off his nerves, he followed his woman back down the hallway to get ready. He was determined to take her out and show her a good time.

As they pulled into the gravel lot of a small country western bar, Caroline’s stomach dropped to her knees, and she wondered for the millionth time how she possibly thought she was going to go out into public like this. When they left the house Devin and Damon had taken her directly to the mall to pick up more clothes. Devin pointedly ignored her arguments that she could pick out and purchase things for herself, and they spent the better part of an hour making a pile of bags and boxes from several upscale stores to restock her wardrobe. They picked out the expected dresses that were figure hugging, and heels and strappy sandals, along with sexy lingerie, and even a pair of delicate silver moon earrings that Damon caught her admiring. Then they surprised her by stopping in a Western-wear shop where they purchased skintight blue jeans, a button-down plaid shirt, a pair of lady’s white cowboy boots, and a matching white cowboy hat. She had laughed at them and resisted saying she wasn’t country enough to wear boots and a hat, but they wouldn’t listen.

“You ride as well as any cowgirl I’ve ever seen, beautiful!” Damon had argued, and she had given in reluctantly.

So here she was climbing out of Devin’s huge pickup, looking like a rodeo queen, and feeling very out of place. The clothes were surprisingly comfortable, and well worth the arousing reaction that her appearance had on her men, but now she had to pull off the look in front of real cowboys? What was she thinking?

“Stop worrying, you look hot as hell,” Damon said next to her ear as he helped her out of the truck. He moved her mahogany curls aside to kiss her neck, and she let out a nervous giggle.

“If you say so. So who all are we supposed to meet here?” she asked, looping her arm through Damon’s and letting him pull her into the bar. Devin followed slightly behind them with a possessive hand on the small of her back. She loved knowing that she had him behind her, taking care of her.

It’s just the guys from the firehouse, sugar. Relax.

Devin’s words were a calming caress through her head, and she found herself smiling in spite of her nerves. They moved through the crowd quickly, and they led her up onto a raised platform opposite the bar that was surrounded by a short railing. There were two round tables there with plush-looking circular booths wrapping around them. This was obviously the VIP section of the bar, she thought to herself. Her eyes met those of Cash, Liam’s, and Owen’s, who tipped his beer bottle at her and looked distinctly more comfortable than he should have considering his clothing. He was still wearing dress clothes, but had lost the tie and jacket. He looked genuinely relaxed in this gritty environment, and she figured there must be more to him than she first assumed. Shaking off her curiosity at the enigma of Owen, she let her gaze sweep the rest of the occupants of the space.

There were two more men, and a couple of country-clothed bottle blondes snuggled cozily in the circle. The two women seemed to be quite happy seated in the middle of much testosterone, and based on their glassy eyes, also seemed to be quite intoxicated.

Perfect, she thought to herself. All I will have to chat with is sexy men that I’m not supposed to think are sexy because they are related to my boyfriends. She followed Damon in sliding into the booth, and leaned into him as he settled back on the seat. Devin reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he sat next to her, and she smiled up at him. That was better. At least she knew that they wanted to be with her, and not the two bleach-blonde skanks across from them.

Damn, beautiful, chill out. Those two aren’t my type. I promise you that you are so much hotter than they are, especially when you’re riding my cock and screaming my name.

Caroline blushed at Damon, but couldn’t help the gleeful feeling that settled over her as she realized she really was worrying about nothing. Her men wanted her, and no one else. Her confidence high, she leaned over to Liam who was closest to Damon.

“Hey guys, good to see you again! Looks like you’re having fun.” She smiled pointedly toward the bimbo on his arm, and he laughed gleefully.

“Good to see you, darlin’, and we are always having fun! Did you lovebirds work out your issues today?” He grinned at Devin who shot him a black look. “Guess you don’t want to talk about your feelings huh?”

“Fuck off, Gray,” Devin said, and he ordered beers for the table. “Caroline, you know these three shits, but the two new ones are Rafe and Ryley Whetstone.”

She smiled back at the two new faces taking them in and comparing them to her men. They had to be related as well, but she wasn’t quite sure how they connected with Devin and Damon. Unlike the other five guys, these two looked like Norse Vikings. They both had yellow-gold hair and light-blue eyes. She guessed that Rafe was the oldest of the two because he had a few laugh lines around his mouth, and he kept his hair cut shorter. Ryley’s hair was down to his shoulders and looked soft as silk. Their bodies were burly and even more muscular than her men, with thick necks and biceps that were probably bigger than her waist. She knew they were firemen because they both wore T-shirts emblazoned with the firehouse logo on them, but because of their laughing, light-blue eyes she wondered if they were wolves.