Chapter 8
1647 Words
8
SHELBY
Ben pulled his shirt off and sat down backwards in one of Alan’s kitchen chairs. “I want Shelby’s name in big letters across my back,” he said.
Alan, a fifty-something wiry half-breed who never shifted but was still part of the pack, tipped his head to the side to consider. “Colors?” His regular profession was as a clay artist, but his ink skills had prompted him to become one of the most sought-after shifter tattoo artists in the West.
Ben looked at me. “What do you think, kitten?”
Alan snorted. “Never heard anyone call a she-wolf kitten before.”
“I like it,” I told him. Funny how I was already defending my mates. Claiming them. I did like the pet name. It made me feel innocent and cared for. “I think blue.”
“Blue it is.” Alan sketched out the letters on a large piece of paper first for scale and spacing then prepared his pen with the ink and a little silver dust.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked. Their decision felt as impulsive as all my decisions to get tattoos had been. I didn’t regret any of mine, but I’d also never tattooed someone’s name on my skin.
“You’re our mate. I want everyone to know,” Ben growled.
Alan looked from Gibson to Ben. “Our mate? You guys from that pack in Wyoming?”
Gibson gave a silent nod.
Alan looked impressed. “Whoa.” He glanced at me. “Finding your mate and realizing it’s two males… how are you taking this?”
Gibson sat in a chair beside Ben and pulled me onto his lap. It seemed to be my new home. Not that I was complaining. His body was sturdy and solid beneath me, his hold gentle.
“Um…”
“She’s still adjusting,” Gibson supplied. He brought his nose to my nape and inhaled deeply, tickling my skin with his beard.
I wasn’t sure if Alan had the ability to scent that they hadn’t marked me yet. The truth was that my resistance was futile. I couldn’t fight fate. Well, I could, but it would mean sending Gibson to his death because of moon madness, and I obviously would never let that happen.
Besides, I didn’t want to resist my mates. The more time I spent with them, the happier I felt. A deep happiness I hadn’t believed was possible. It had me believing that maybe biology was enough. Maybe I would get my happily ever after, despite my instinct to duck and run from it when it was looking me in the face.
“Where should I have your name tattooed?” Gibson asked, holding out his arms and hands for inspection. “I want somewhere more visible. Where everyone will see it, every day.”
“Right here,” I squeezed his right biceps, which was rock hard and beautiful.
As Alan finalized the sketch for Ben’s artwork, I settled on Gibson’s lap and just… savored. Their scent was heady and powerful swirling around me. I had no idea it could be so potent. That they could be so… virile. Powerful, yet gentle with me. Caring. Concerned. Not just that but a whole lot naughty. God, what they’d done to me. With me. My p***y clenched in eagerness for more. The idea of their kind of claiming, when they f****d me at the same time.
I mentally fanned myself. They’d done some ass play with me, getting me ready for having more than just a finger or two inside me. Their d***s were big, and it was going to be—
“What has you squirming and sighing like that?” Gibson whispered.
I blushed and didn’t say anything. Alan, with his shifter ears, would hear anything we said, even over the buzz of the needle.
I just shook my head, and he nipped my ear lobe. I’d never fooled around with a guy who had a beard, and it was soft and ticklish. Everywhere.
“Later, kitten. Whatever you’re thinking, we’ll do it to you later. Promise.”
Gibson inhaled, and I felt his chest rumble against my side. Yeah, he’d just figured out how wet I was.
My phone rang, and I looked down at the screen. “It’s my mom.” I slid off Gibson’s lap. “I’ll be right back.”
“Tell her we look forward to meeting her,” he rumbled in his deep baritone.
Butterflies’ wings flapped in my stomach. This was really happening. I was going to bring these two shifters home to meet my mom. To introduce my new mates.
“Hi, Mom.” I stepped outside for some privacy.
“Hey, sweetie, how’s it going?” She sounded tired. Working two jobs had aged her before her time. But she was strong in spirit and always had a smile, even in the toughest of times.
I never really questioned why she never took another mate. I loved her with all my heart. She was open and generous, caring and giving. There had to be a shifter out there who she’d be interested in. Lots of shifters never found their one true mate and settled down with someone compatible. It was more common than finding your true mate, honestly.
Thinking my mom should do so seriously hadn’t crossed my mind before now because I hadn’t had mates of my own. Now, though, I could see that my father was one kind of shifter, and Gibson and Ben were another.
She deserved someone to take care of her. Besides me.
“Mmm, good. Really good.” I stretched in the sunlight. My body felt worked over. The soreness disappeared immediately since I was a shifter, but I still felt traces of their touch. I’d been f****d hard and very, very thoroughly. Not with one guy, but two. My heart skipped a beat thinking about my mates and how they wanted to claim me. Yes, I was wary of them still, but I knew deep down they were mine. And I was theirs.
I couldn’t wait to tell her. While she hadn’t said it outright, I’d seen her look longingly at little Lizzie and Lily, the new babies in the pack. She wanted grandpups, and I was the only one who was going to give them to her. It had been a far-off dream, until now.
If I hadn’t made the guys use condoms the night before, it might actually be a reality. I set my hand on my stomach at the possibility. It wasn’t as daunting a thought as it had been not even twelve hours earlier. A pup. Man, I had it bad.
“I’ve got news,” I began.
“They want you to lead the children’s program at ski school next season, don’t they?”
I’d mentioned the possibility to her a few weeks ago when the nearby resort closed for the spring. The job would be good, and there’d be an increase in pay, but it didn’t start until next winter.
“I haven’t heard yet.” I walked out to Ben’s truck and leaned against it. “What’s up? Tell me what’s going on with you first.”
“Ugh. My news isn’t good. I lost the job at the motel.”
Oh s**t. I froze in place, waiting to hear the rest.
“The boss’s niece is graduating college, and she’s returning to Cooper Valley. She’s taking over for me.”
“Taking over?” I asked, steaming. “That means you’re going to be doing something else. They gave your spot away.”
“I have two weeks left, so that’s good. I’ll have that time to find another. Maybe in Meade.”
I frowned. “Mom, you work at the grocery store the rest of the time. When are you going to look? And Meade?” I began to pace the cracked sidewalk. “That’s thirty miles from here. Your car can’t take that kind of mileage round trip every day.”
I’d paid for new tires over the winter because they’d been bald and unsafe. But that didn’t make the engine reliable, and there wasn’t money for a replacement.
“Something will come up. It always does.”
I plopped down to sit on the curb and rested my forehead in my hand. “This sucks.”
She sighed. “It’s not your problem, Shelby. I’ll figure things out.”
She wouldn’t, though. My mom had never made more than minimum wage, which just didn’t cut it when it came to paying the bills.
I needed to go back to Hoedown where I could make quick cash, so she wouldn’t be tempted to drive to Meade every day. Just the thought of her on those roads before dawn had me freaking. I had to stay. I had to. She needed support, and I couldn’t do it from Wyoming.
I glanced back toward Alan’s house. Heartache—yes, even after less than a day—set in to accompany the twinges of being sexually satisfied… multiple times. My she-wolf wanted to be with her mates, practically nudged me to get up and go back inside to them. Hell, I wanted to, too, but my mom needed me. She relied on me, and I couldn’t walk away now. She wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage. Or the second. Or the car p*****t. Or the lights. Or food. Not if she only had the cashier job.
It was all because of Dad. This mess, this never ending hand to mouth arrangement was all because of him. I didn’t want him in our lives since he was an asshole, but if he’d stayed, Mom wouldn’t have to drink five cups of coffee a day because she worked herself weary. Wouldn’t have to debate if she should pay for heat or food.
I’d fallen for Gibson and Ben, and their wickedly skilled d***s, in less than a day. How could I build a foundation of a lifelong mating if they were anything like my dad and bailed on me? It was a good thing we’d used condoms. I refused to be like my mom. Oh, f**k, I loved her, but I didn’t want to be trapped in a cycle of unhappiness.
“Now, tell me about your news,” she said, cutting into my thoughts. “I heard that smile in your voice. I want to hear all about it.”
This was the moment I did the one thing I was used to. I lied to protect my mother. “I heard Lizzie’s crawling.”
- Writer
