Seducing Their Mate (11 page)

He smelled fresh coffee but ignored it. The scent of a woman, their mate, was beneath that homey surface, drawing him down the hall. He found her there with Shane snuggled up against her back. He watched them as he stripped out of his clothes. He wanted nothing more than to join them in bed and sleep. But he needed to clean himself off. He took a quick shower, and by the time he walked out into the bedroom, his muscles were quivering with exhaustion. He slid into bed next to Eve, and she moved to him then. She wasn’t truly awake, but she still burrowed her head beneath his chin and wrapped her arms around his waist. Shane smiled at him and slipped from bed. He mouthed the words, “Going on patrol,” then left them alone.

He could feel the need rising in his blood, but something even more dangerous lingered there. Comfort, a sense of well-being, of coming home. Ethan would normally want to think it over, wonder if it were the right thing for them. No matter what any prophecy said, he didn’t always believe in fate. But his mind was too tired, his body exhausted, and so he sighed and slipped into sleep.

* * * *

Eve looked at herself in the mirror, wondering if someone saw her today, would they know she spent the most part of two days having sex with six lusty men. No. she still looked like the same old Eve. The woman who couldn’t even get a date to a dinner honoring her parents. No one had wanted to spend time with her to even get close to her parents.

She tried to push those thoughts aside, but she couldn’t. It was odd that all these men saw something in her that they needed. Wanted. Why? She wasn’t particularly sexy. She knew that. But these virile men wanted her enough to share her with each other.

She had awakened alone, but she had known that at some point, Ethan had been there. Even though they had made love, she wasn’t sure of his feelings for her. Her parents had proven you could have sex with a person and not really like them.

With a sigh, she pushed the thought away. She found a toothbrush with a note attached to it.

Here’s a toothbrush. See ya in the kitchen. N

The man was always one step in front of her. How would she ever be able to untangle herself from him, from any of them? And more, did she want to?

Oh, she knew they were just having a bit of fun, but she was worried it would turn into more for her. She had never been a particularly sensual person, but these men brought it out in her. And she could grow attached. Of course, they weren’t in it for the long haul. What person in their right mind would want to share a woman with his brother and four cousins?

Before she could answer the question, there were shouts from outside. They weren’t happy but desperate. Eve felt the danger in the air, the feeling of worry, panic.

She threw down the toothbrush and ran out of the bedroom and didn’t stop until she made it into the living room. The metallic scent of blood hit her first. Then, she saw him. Ethan. Her heart stuttered almost to stop. His body bloody, large gashes on his torso, and bruises marring his flesh. A wolf stood by his body, the growl, along with the hair raised down its back, told her that he would attack if they weren’t careful.

 
She stepped forward, but he showed his teeth. A chill raced down her spine. The animal was huge, bigger than any of the others she had worked with. His fur was darker, with a long black strip down his back. Intelligent blue eyes watched her every move.

“Shane, snap out of it,” Noah ordered, which made no sense. It was Ethan who was bleeding. Ethan who was hurt.

She opened her mouth to correct him, but the wolf stopped growling. He bowed down, taking on the role of a submissive, at Noah’s feet. Then, he transformed. The fur rippled then started to disappear, revealing human flesh. His back arched up then flattened. The long canine snout melted. His legs turned into human arms and legs, and the body that stood up was Shane himself. He was naked, scratches marring his face. He pulled in huge amounts of air as he shook his head back and forth.

No freaking way. What just happened?
She closed her eyes and then opened them again, but Shane was still standing there over Ethan.

“What the hell happened?” Noah asked as he moved toward Ethan.

Shane shook his head, his huge blue eyes filled with anger and pain. Her brain was melting. Or maybe this was just a dream. Eve could not even contemplate it, couldn’t wrap her mind around what she was seeing. Shane was a wolf. No. Oh, God, he was.

“Sorry, Noah. I found him in the clearing, just about two hundred yards down the path. I was on my way back, and he was just lying there like that.” Pain bled from his voice, anguish she could feel deep in her heart.

She watched as Noah reached out to feel for a pulse, and she noticed his hand shook. Everything in her tightened with worry, fear, but in the next moment, Noah let loose a sigh. “He’s alive. Barely. How is that possible? He should be healing now.”

“He was attacked as a human. Not in wolf. I don’t know how long he’d been out there,” Shane said as he looked down at Ethan. “We need to tell Eve. She can help him.”

“No. Call my mother. If we can get him in the lab, he’ll heal himself.”

“First, getting Aunt Jane here is not going to happen. There is a storm moving in. Ethan needs Eve.”

Noah’s expression darkened more. “She’s not ready for us. Not ready to know the truth.”

Shane opened his mouth, apparently to tell him that she had already seen everything. But Eve had heard enough. Even if her mind was still not working properly, or maybe this was one big nightmare, she couldn’t stand by and not help. She couldn’t leave Ethan lying there, bleeding to death.

“Eve already knows,” she said, striding into the great room. “And she is getting damned tired of finding things out by eavesdropping.”

She allowed her anger to surge, but in that next instant, she saw Noah. The pain in his gaze told her he could not stand to lose his brother. She wanted to turn away, ignore it, but it would be impossible. His love for his brother was something she had always admired, and she knew it would damage him to lose him this way. She could not stop herself from going to him then. She took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

“I would get some clothes on if I were you, Shane,” Noah said.

Before he could leave, Ethan awakened. “Noah.” His voice was hoarse with pain. Her heart squeezed as she tried to stem the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

Noah bent down, his expression intent. He took his brother’s hand. “I’m here, Ethan.”

She watched Ethan swallow convulsively. “Bears. Totems.”

In that next instant, he passed back out. Noah said nothing as he lifted his huge body and carried him into the lab. She followed him, her mind still trying to grasp everything that happened. Then she shoved it aside. What was important was that she save Ethan. Then she could figure out just what the hell was going on with the Dillons.

She glanced at the cage. The wolf was still sedated.

She looked at it then at Noah. He shook his head. “No, just a regular wolf.”

She nodded. “I’ll need help.”

“Can you save him?”

She shrugged as the enormity of what she needed to do almost crushed her. She had many degrees and was a veterinarian, but this was something different, something that she had never faced before. If what she saw was real, this was a different species entirely.

“I will do everything in my power.” She glanced at him quickly. “But don’t think you’re off the hook. When I’m done, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

His frown deepened, but he acknowledged her promise with a nod. She pushed aside the hurt and anger to work. It would take everything in her power to save Ethan.

THE END

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