Chapter 9
1387 Words
9
BEN
I sensed the moment Shelby came back into the tattoo artist’s house that something was off. She’d been warming up before she took the phone call with her mom. Hell, not even that. She’d sat in Gib’s lap as I got my tattoo. Her sass, her loving nature had been evident. She’d been her true self. She was comfortable with Alan, trusted the shifter, which was obvious with the amount of ink she’d had him put on her skin. She’d been at ease here and with us. Now, she seemed to be putting on a pleasant front. Like we were friends, not her f*****g mates. Like her p***y hadn’t milked my d**k as she came all over it.
I had to wait until our tattoos were finished and we had her to ourselves again to ask what was up. My back stung where the silver dust had been embedded along with the ink. It was a minute amount. The burn was a reminder Shelby’s name was permanently on my body for all the world to see. She-wolves had the bite and their mate’s scent on them to know they were claimed, but this? No one would question who I belonged to. Same went for Gib, who had his new mark displayed prominently on his arm. We were Shelby’s. Irrevocably.
She was already beneath our skin. Figuratively and now literally.
But the moment we all stepped outside, she crushed us both.
“I can’t move to Wyoming with you,” she blurted, turning to face us and crossing her arms over her chest.
I swore to f**k, it felt like someone punched me in the gut, but I did my best to hide my reaction, the way Gib always did. For an enforcer, I was pretty level-headed, but when it came to Shelby, I was losing my cool.
I forced myself to sound casual. “What’s holding you back, kitten?” I picked up her hand and tried to catch her gaze. Gib came to flank her other side.
She shook her head and wouldn’t meet our eyes. I experienced her upset like it was my own. Tasted her turmoil. Sensed the way her insides twisted and bunched like a wet dishrag. “It’s just… all too sudden. We only met last night!” Her arms went up in the air, her body full of agitation. “I have a life here. Jobs I like. My pack needs me.”
I had a feeling there was something she wasn’t saying. Something didn’t add up because she wasn’t acting like a female who just found—and was thoroughly satisfied by—her mates. I glanced at Gib, who said nothing.
“Well, I’ll stay here with you until you're ready,” I offered. “I’ll take you down to visit Gib since he needs to return for the pack. We can work this out. We’ll do long distance until you’re ready.”
It wasn’t ideal—not by a long shot, but I wasn’t going to pressure her. Taking a mate without consent was unconscionable.
“No, I don’t want you to stay,” she whispered. Guilt shone in her expression. “You can mark me before you go. I know you need to.” She blinked back tears.
“f**k that.” Gib stabbed his fingers through his hair. “We’re not going to claim you if you’re not ready.”
“I’m not going to let you go moon mad,” she countered, looking up at him and almost pleading with her eyes.
Gib drew in a breath and exhaled. “I’ll take my chances.”
Shelby stared at him, arrested, fear swirling in her lovely blue eyes. “You can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t leave here, and you must claim me.”
I wanted to grab her and shake her or spank her or f**k her into giving us her secrets, but I wouldn’t force them from her. She had to come to us willingly, with her whole heart, her whole body. Completely. Otherwise, our match was worthless. That was almost worse than never having found her at all.
“Shelby,” Gib said, a note of alpha sternness in his voice. “What’s going on? Is this about that phone call?”
She shook her head, blinking rapidly. “I don’t want to be dependent on you guys. I’m just not ready to commit.” She walked toward the truck, but Gib caught her around the waist and pulled her back.
Not ready to commit didn’t make sense. That was a human sentiment, not wolf.
“We’re not going to leave you,” Gib said firmly. “Dependence isn’t weakness. It’s strength. It’s… love. We love you, Shelby.”
I’d never heard Gib make himself so vulnerable, but rather than comfort Shelby, it made her chin quiver and tears swirl in her eyes.
“I need to go see my mom,” she said, her voice choked with tears. “Will you drive me back to my place so I can get my car?”
Gib drew in a breath and sighed. “We’ll take you back, kitten. We’ll give you some space and time to think. But this isn’t over.” He rubbed his beard. “Far from it.”
Shelby bobbed her head, agreeable as always, even though the line between her brows showed her anguish.
SHELBY
The moment my mates drove away, it felt like a limb had been ripped from my body. Every cell literally screamed for them to come back.
Ben. Gibson. My mates. My world.
Dammit. Yet I’d driven to my mom’s as planned.
I felt the separation from Gibson and Ben keenly. It was as if I was magnetized to them, like my insides were going to stretch through my skin. My she-wolf howled and prodded me to go find them. To sit on Gibson’s lap again, to feel his arms around me. To hear Ben’s approving voice, feel his gentle touch.
I sank down on my mom’s porch, covering my mouth with my hand. I was lost without them.
“Shelby? Honey? What’s going on?” My mom pushed the tattered screen door open and sat beside me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
I gave into the tears that had been threatening since I told my mates to leave. “Mom, last night I found my mates,” I said between sobs. “But they live in Wyoming.”
My mom gave a surprised laugh. “Wait—mates, plural?”
“Uh huh,” I sniffed, swiping at my tears with the back of my wrist. “Two of them. A pack alpha and an enforcer.”
“Oh, Shelby! This is wonderful! I don’t understand why you’re upset.” I felt her pleasure, the squeeze of her hold, the vibration of joy emanating from her body.
“Wyoming, Mom,” I reminded her. “You just lost your job. The timing’s awful. I don’t want to leave you now.”
“Shelby Jane, you are out of your mind.” My mom stood up to face me, hands on her hips. She wasn’t all that tall, but loomed over me now. “First of all, you make Wyoming sound like Siberia. It’s one state away. I’ll always be a day’s drive from you at most. Second, I am not your child, you are mine. I do not need you to look after me, you silly, darling girl.” She pulled me up and wrapped me in a warm embrace, sniffing my neck.
She pulled back, looked at me with a frown. “They haven’t marked you yet?”
I shook my head, fresh tears swimming at the mention of my beloved mates. The males who wanted to take care of me. Guilt tore at my throat. They’d probably been climbing out of their skin with the need to mark me, but they’d held back.
They refused to pressure me. I wondered how they were feeling right now, being separated.
“I always thought it would be a fairytale,” I explained. “You smell your mate and it’s magic right from the start. But it took me by surprise. I wasn’t ready for them, and now… now I’ve screwed everything up.”
“You’ve screwed nothing up,” my mom insisted. “Come inside and have some coffee. I want to hear the whole story and know why they aren’t here with you. I can’t believe they’d let you out of their sight.” She tsked them, but I set her straight.
“Again, I’ve screwed up,” I practically moaned, realizing how much of a mess I’d made.
I let her usher me into the kitchen, my stomach in knots, my skin burning and itchy to be near my mates again.
They’d be back, though. Gibson promised we weren’t through. He needed me. They’d tattooed my name on their bodies.
It was that thought and that thought alone that kept me from shifting right there and howling at the day-moon.
- Writer
