Pursuing Paige (11 page)

“Try.”

“
It was busier here than here. Big cities,
lots of people. Amazing, magical things everywhere. I was taught
magic, too, but when I showed no progress they proclaimed me
void
and put me in regular
non-magical school. Of course they didn’t know I was
Lycaon.”

“Are people poisoned against the Lycaon from
birth over there?”

“Yes.” Alisa got a faraway look in her eyes.
“Some are intelligent enough to overcome it, like my adoptive
parents.”

Paige reached out and touched her shoulder.
“I’m sorry about all the loss you’ve endured. My mother left when
my sisters and I were young, so I can relate, but only in a small
way. I still have my dad.”

“Is it wrong that I miss the Magica after
everything they’ve done to me?”

“No.” Alisa looked so sad that Paige wrapped
an arm around her and hugged her against her side. “It’s your home,
but maybe in time this will also become home.”

“I hope so.” She glanced at Paige and wiped
her eye. “You’re really lucky to have Kaiden and Jarek.”

“They are incredible men. I wish I could take
them home with me.”

“So, you’re leaving?”

“I have to.” She paused. “But it breaks my
heart to think about leaving them. I don’t know how I’ll cope
having known them and having left them.”

“Why do you have to leave?”

“I have a sister on the other side and she’s
all alone.”

“All alone? If she’s anything like you or
Kaitlyn, she won’t be alone for long. Anyway, I think she would
understand if you stayed for something as amazing as what you have
with your men.”

Paige just smiled. “If only it were that
easy.”

“I hope I meet men like Kaiden and Jarek one
day.”

“Stay here and I’m sure you will, Alisa.”

“That is a compelling reason to get used to
Lycaon territory.” She grew glum. “Not that I have a choice.”

Paige searched for something to say that
would make the young woman feel better about her predicament, but
couldn’t find anything. That wasn’t unusual for her. She was a
mover, not a talker. “Hey, do you want to learn a few basic ballet
moves?”

Her face lit up. “That would be incredible.
Thank you.”

Paige got up, offered her hand to Alisa, and
prepared to teach a bear to dance.

* * * * *

“You did a good thing with Alisa today,” said
Kaiden, sinking down onto the couch beside her.

She snuggled against his side and watched
Jarek walk in from the kitchen. “It was a pleasure to spend the day
with her. She’s a really nice young lady, although she’s lost right
now and definitely feeling lonely.”

“I think I might have some good news for
her,” said Jarek. “I’ve been doing some research into her family
history. Her family lost contact with us early on. I’m not sure why
and we may never know, but we did find an aunt who lives in town.
We’ll meet her in the morning.”

“That’s fantastic news! I think meeting a
family member will really help Alisa feel more Lycaon. Right now, I
think she feels out of place and lonely.”

“And how do you feel about being here,
Paige?” asked Jarek, sinking down into a nearby chair.

She considered his question for a long
moment, staring into the flickering flames of the fire. “I
feel
. I can put
it that simply. I
feel
more than I
ever have. Peace, joy, lust.” She met each of their faces in turn.
“Love. There’s that too. But there’s also fear and
despair.”

“Despair because of the sister you left
behind,” commented Kaiden.

She pressed her lips together, a lump forming
in her throat. “Despair because I have to return to her.”

The room plunged into silence.

“I have asked all over the village,” said
Jarek quietly. “I’m certain your sister will have a Lycaon mate,
just like you and Kaitlyn. I’m certain she will eventually be
brought over here, however I can’t find the man or men to whom
she’s linked.” He paused. “I wish I had better news.”

Paige drew a shaky breath. “It’s cruel, this
whole system. Cruel to tear me away from my life and my family,
introduce me to you both, then force me to tear myself back without
you.” She paused, struggling with her emotions. “I left two things
I love behind, my dancing career and my sister. The dancing career
is difficult to say goodbye to, but I see glimmers of a possible
replacement career here and it excites me. My sister, though…I just
can’t say goodbye to her. It’s not because I don’t think I wouldn’t
eventually love you both like my own soul, and not because I
couldn’t be happy here. It’s because of duty to my last remaining
sibling.”

Jarek and Kaiden said nothing, but Kaiden
pulled her closer to his side.

“Paige,” said Jarek finally, coming to sit on
her other side. “Kaiden and I have been talking about this
together. We are concerned at the increased activity of the
Magica.” His voice sounded rough with emotion. “We don’t want to
lose you, but we are even more afraid we won’t be able to protect
you if the Magica discovers our location.” He paused. “As hard as
it is for us to admit this, you would be safer back home.”

For Paige, it was a moot point. To hear Jarek
say it, though, just broke her heart even more. She put her hand in
Jarek’s and rested her head on Kaiden’s shoulder, absorbing their
warmth and enjoying the leathery scent of them. “How am I going to
leave you two?”

Kaiden’s voice rumbled through her, “How can
we let you go?”

Paige woke cuddled in Jarek’s bed with Jarek
and Kaiden on either side of her, fast asleep. She yawned,
stretched and snuggled back down, enjoying their closeness. She’d
fallen asleep on the couch the night before and she guessed one of
them must have moved her to the bed.

Before she’d fallen asleep, they’d talked
deep into the night. Sexually, they’d made no move. Apparently
they’d made some kind of agreement not to tag-team her yet. She
wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Part of her was nervous about
experiencing both of these virile men at one time…another part of
her couldn’t wait.

They’d come to one major conclusion in their
talk. They would take advantage of the time they had left. Savor
it. Tuck it away in their hearts forever. She turned her mind away
from the fact she would have to leave them. Right now, nestled
between them, she couldn’t bear the thought.

Beside her, Kaiden stirred, stretching and
pulling her close. “Good morning, beautiful,” he grumbled into the
curve of her throat, making goose bumps rise along her skin.

“Good morning.”

He pulled her beneath his body, finding her
mouth and kissing her deeply. Beside them, Jarek still slept. She
gave Jarek a sidelong glance, but Kaiden directed her gaze back to
him. “Are you still worried about jealousy?”

“Maybe. It’s just strange, being with two
men.”

“Don’t worry about it, okay? This is our
culture. It’s what we expect.”

She relaxed a little and smiled. “All right.
You know, I could never share either of you with another woman,
right?”

He chuckled. “That’s not fair.”

“Yeah, I know. Not fair and completely
true.”

He rested on his side and smoothed the hair
away from her face. “Neither Jarek nor I would ever want any other
woman.”

“That’s not true. What will you do when I’m
gone?” She wished she’d never said it. It dampened the mood, made
them remember she would leave. She immediately wished she could
take the words back, but it was too late. “I-I mean, I wouldn’t
expect you not to take another mate.” The words physically hurt to
say.

His smile faded. “We will remain alone
forever.”

Surely he was joking. “Kaiden, please. You’re
both beautiful, strong men. You’ll find another woman.”

“No.” That came from Jarek. He’d woken and
was watching her intensely. “We never will.”

She chewed her lower lip, thinking about how
she would cope without them and she realized they were being
completely honest and were utterly correct. She couldn’t imagine
ever being with another man, either. She gasped. “This mate
bond—”

“—is for life,” answered Kaiden. “The Lycaon
mate for life and once the mate bond is formed, there’s no choosing
another.”

Yes, now she understood.

She found Jarek’s eyes, then Kaiden’s. “Kiss
me,” she whispered. She needed distraction. She needed to not think
about leaving them and living the rest of her life alone.

Kaiden’s mouth came down on hers and soon
made her senseless with desire. Jarek moved to her side and ran his
lips over her arm, his warm hand slipping over her abdomen. Ah,
yes, that’s that she wanted—both them to distract her. Both their
mouths on her, both their hands.

She broke Kaiden’s kiss and rolled toward
Jarek, who caught her up and dragged her beneath his body. She
quickened, growing warm between her thighs as their hands roamed
her body, pulling at her clothes, their lips traveling over slowly
revealed skin.

Kaiden pulled her back toward him and she was
lost in a wash of building sexual need. She reached for both of
them and they both came, their bodies descending on hers.

Someone knocked loudly on the door. “Kaiden?
Jarek? Are you in there?”

All three of them froze. Paige closed her
eyes, hoping she’d only imagined Alisa knocking on the door.

She knocked again.

“We better answer that,” whispered Paige.

Kaiden groaned and rolled off the bed, while
she and Jarek adjusted their clothing and caught their breath.
Kaiden opened the door to reveal Alisa.

She fidgeted, glancing toward the bed.
“Sorry.”

“No problem,” called Paige. “Are you all
right?”

“Torrent was here. He needs Kaiden to meet
him in the woods at the southern edge of the territory right away.
More Magica have been spotted.”

“Curse the Magica,” swore Kaiden. He strode
back to the bed and kissed Paige deeply. “I’ll be back as soon as I
can,” he murmured against her lips and was gone.

Forlorn, Paige watched him leave. She’d been
hoping to spend as much time as she could with him before it was
time for her to leave. She gave Jarek a look of sadness and crawled
off the bed. “Well, breakfast, then?”

Jarek sighed and met her eyes. “Breakfast.”
He shifted his gaze to Alisa. “And then I’ll take you to the
village to meet your aunt, Alisa.”

A smile flickered over her face, but it
didn’t reach her eyes. “I can’t wait.”

Paige frowned and wondered if that was really
true.

“I’ll make something to eat.” Alisa
disappeared down the hallway.

Jarek pulled Paige into his lap and wrapped
his arms around her. “I feel guilty getting all this time alone
with you.”

She had a catch in her throat. “I love spend
time with you, but I miss Kaiden already.”

“Me too.”

“Do you? Really?” She tilted her head and
smiled.

He grinned and ran his hand up her arm.
“Really. Kaiden has been a good friend for many years.”

She dropped her forehead to his. “You are an
incredible man.”

He made a hungry noise in the back of his
throat and tossed her down onto the bed. “If only I could show
right now just how incredible I am.” His mouth came down on
hers.

She squirmed beneath him, breathless. “And I
want you to,” she whispered, “but the door is open and Alisa is
bound to come back up.”

“I know.” After a moment he rolled off her,
stood and offered her his hand. “Until tonight, I guess.”

She took his hand and stood. “I can’t
wait.”

After they bathed and dressed, they met in
the kitchen and settled into a delicious breakfast of roasted
vegetables and eggs prepared by Alisa.

“This is delicious,” said Paige, taking a
final, savory bite.

“Thanks. They use herbs and spices a little
different on the Magica side of the land.”

“I’m surrounded by great cooks and I can’t
cook at all.” She sat back and rubbed her stomach. “I’m going to
get fat.”

Jarek picked up her plate and kissed her
temple. “If you ever got fat, there would just be more skin to
kiss. How do you say it over in your reality? It would be a win-win
situation.”

Alisa smiled at them. “You two remind me of
my parents.”

Paige smiled back at her. “Really? Do they
love each other?”

“Very much.” She paused, the smile fading
from her lips. “Even their magick is related.”

“I’m sure there’s much you can teach us about
the Magica,” said Jarek from the kitchen. I’m looking forward to
hearing about it all.”

Alisa glanced out the window toward the
woods. “I’m looking forward to meeting my aunt. Will we be going
soon?”

“Yes, you two should go,” said Paige. “I’ll
clean up the kitchen.”

“Are you sure?” asked Jarek.

Standing up, she waved him away. “Positive.
Go on. I may not be able to cook, but I can certainly clean up
after the people who can.”

“Okay, then let’s head out,” he said to
Alisa, who popped out of her chair.

Jarek kissed her lingeringly while Alisa
grabbed a small bag she had packed by the door. She raised it. “A
gift for my aunt.” She smiled. “I made it yesterday afternoon from
carved branches I found in the forest.

“That’s a really nice gesture,” said
Paige.

“It’s Magica tradition.”

Paige walked over to Alisa and gave her a
hug. “Good luck today. I hope your aunt is everything you’re
dreaming of, plus more.”

“Thanks, Paige.”

She watched from the window as Alisa and
Jarek left the yard and disappeared into the woods, then she set
about clearing the dishes and washing them. Once that was done, she
went to her room and changed into her dance clothes, then headed
out to the barn to get some practice.