At the moment she was fast asleep, her wounds fully healed but her body still recovering from blood loss. He might have been freaking out about now if he hadn’t personally experienced something very similar forty years ago. Maggie had the advantage of being in a very healthy physical condition before the attack. He felt confident that she would recover fully.
He watched the man in front of them and hoped the same could be said for Gavin. He was far harder to read. He’d shoved his emotions so deep that the only one Kade could truly discern was anger. What he didn’t know was who Gavin’s ire was directed at—them or himself.
Deciding to try to at least talk to the man, Kade patted Hensen on the shoulder and then jogged a few steps to catch up to Gavin. As desperately as he wanted to throw himself into this man’s arms, it probably wasn’t the best approach at this moment.
“How long were you in the Navy?” he asked as he drew level with the man.
Gavin gave him a hard look that Kade suspected had made many young recruits shake in their boots over the years. Fortunately, the one thing Kade knew for certain was that Gavin would never hurt him, so the effect was kind of moot.
“From the moment I was old enough to sign up to the day they gave me a medical discharge a couple months ago.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly informative as to length of time, but it did suggest that the Navy had dominated the majority of Gavin’s adult life. Perhaps part of his confusion was related to his unplanned change in career. In some ways that was a good thing. At least he’d met his mates at a time in his life when he wouldn’t have to give up something that was so important to him.
But his nearly growled answer hadn’t really encouraged further questions. Kade walked beside him for a while, his thoughts turning to the new life he’d suddenly found. Only a few hours ago he’d been dodging Hensen and yearning for Maggie. Now he had a newly made female mate, a guilt-laden werewolf mate, and a very confused ex-Navy SEAL to deal with.
He smiled, suddenly feeling the optimism he’d tried to instill in Hensen earlier.
Whatever happened now, they had each other. They’d found their true-mates.
The rest was just details.
* * * *
Gavin resisted the urge to pull the naked, purple-hued man into his arms.
Fuck, he was really glad he didn’t need to have any more psych evaluations. He wasn’t certain how he would explain away this delusion. He couldn’t really be walking down a little used track, heading to the home where his mother had grown up, with two naked men who could turn into wolves and a sleeping woman who should have died from her injuries but was instead now displaying the same purple hue as one of the men.
Nope. None of this was real. He had to be deep in crazy town.
The man walking beside him suddenly radiated happiness, kind of lending credence to his theory. Considering the circumstances, that was just seriously ridiculous. Gavin glanced at Kade only to find that he wore a wide grin on his lips and moved with a spring in his step. Considering everything the four of them had been through in the past hour or so, it seemed rather inappropriate.
“Why are you so happy?” he asked in a deep growly voice.
“After waiting eleven years Maggie is finally here. Hensen’s no longer avoiding me.” He seemed to be about to say more, but he closed his mouth and gave Gavin another happy smile. “Even with the wolf attack it’s a good day.”
It was ludicrous that Gavin wanted to be part of the reason that Kade was so happy, but the disappointment drilling through him couldn’t be denied.
“And that all outweighs me trying to gut you.” Fuck, what was wrong with him? The last thing he wanted was to remind his man that he’d nearly killed him.
“Hey,” Kade said, reaching for his hand and stopping him from moving forward. “Don’t worry about that. You were protecting yourself and Maggie. I shouldn’t have attacked you.” He glanced at Hensen, who moved closer and stopped as well. “In fact, it’s probably best not to mention that to anyone. My alpha wouldn’t be very happy to learn that I attacked a human. We’re supposed to stay out of the way. Not attack on sight.”
“Agreed,” Hensen said as they started walking again. “The alpha is very concerned that wild wolves would act so out of character. The last thing we need to do is highlight Kade’s ill-planned reaction.”
Gavin nodded. Kade still had a hold of his hand, but for the life of him he couldn’t find the strength or the will to pull away. It felt natural and very comforting just to know that someone wanted to be close to him.
He glanced at Hensen, his eyes dropping to Maggie before he looked away. It actually felt quite amazing to consider that with these three people he could have nearly everything he wanted. Unwilling to dissect that thought too closely, Gavin walked faster, pathetically trying to outrun the problems that the man holding his hand represented. Kade kept up with him, squeezing his fingers reassuringly as they finally stepped into the area considered the backyard of Suzanne’s house and headed toward his car.
“I’ll drive,” Hensen said in a tone that suggested he was taking charge. Gavin raised an eyebrow, but the man merely shrugged. “I know the area,
and
the potholes, so it will be a more comfortable trip for Maggie if you hold her and I drive.”
“Um…” For the life of him he couldn’t think of a reason that would make that sound like a bad idea. Not wanting to bond with the woman while she slept seemed kind of pathetic even in his own mind. He nodded and handed over the keys.
* * * *
Maggie woke suddenly, unsure of where she was or how she’d gotten here.
“It’s okay, sugar,” a man—Gavin if she remembered correctly—said as warm fingers filtered through her hair and a strong arm pulled her closer. “We’re almost there.”
“Almost where?” she asked as her eyes seemed to close without her wanting them to.
“This is the Dry Creek pack lands,” another voice answered. She was pretty sure that was Kade, the man who claimed to be the wolf that had kept her from freezing to death eleven years ago. “Do you remember what happened, Maggie?”
“I think so,” she said as she tried to piece together the disjointed memories. “I’m still not sure I believe it.” She opened her eyes momentarily, checking that her skin was still the same color she remembered. The purple glow certainly suggested she hadn’t imagined what she remembered. She forced her eyes open again and found herself staring into those deep-blue eyes once more.
“Hi,” she said a little sheepishly. She almost giggled when she realized that was probably not an appropriate behavior for a wolf. But, hey, if she was a werewolf why did she feel so damn tired?
“You’ll be tired for a while,” another man said as the car finally came to a stop. “You lost a lot of blood, but it’s nothing a werewolf can’t handle.”
“Oh, well, that’s good. I think.”
The man holding her didn’t seem inclined to let go, and since she wasn’t in a hurry to move out of his arms, that suited her perfectly.
Now, if she could just stay awake long enough to enjoy it.
* * * *
Hensen sensed the exact moment Maggie fell back to sleep. Already he could feel her emotions and catch wisps of thought from her. He’d known from Gideon that changing one’s true-mate from human to werewolf created the mating link that usually happened when true-mates claimed each other, but the reality far surpassed anything he’d imagined.
He was fairly certain Kade would let him claim him as soon as they had time, but it was Gavin that he desperately wanted to understand. A part of him wanted to go all dominant wolf and sink his teeth into the man’s neck, thereby forcing his change to werewolf, but an even bigger part of him knew that would only lead to disaster. Gavin wasn’t a man who lost control
or
let it be taken from him. Chances were he’d reach for his knife long before Hensen could change him anyway.
Werewolves might heal instantly but they didn’t do so well when body parts were severed. And he had a feeling he knew exactly which one of his body parts would be in trouble if he forced Gavin to deal with his sexuality at this moment.
Hensen opened the car door and found himself gazing at the man who was gazing at the woman destined to be their mate as well. He could see the raw longing on Gavin’s face. He was attracted to Maggie. That much was obvious.
And it was a place to start.
“Kade, Hensen, the alpha wants to speak with you,” one of the younger pack members said breathlessly as he ran to meet them at the car.
Kade turned to Hensen, willing to follow his lead on this one. Despite the fact that Kade had been a member of this pack for the past forty years, Hensen was the one the Dry Creek alpha knew best. Having worked closely with the man for the past seven months, Hensen had the advantage of being inside the inner circle, even though he was not actually a member of the Dry Creek pack.
“Okay,” Hensen said with a quick nod. “We’ll be there as soon as we get Maggie settled.”
The young man who’d delivered the alpha’s message looked stunned by Hensen’s refusal to jump immediately. Everyone knew when the alpha whistled a good little werewolf went running.
“Maggie was severely injured,” Kade said quietly to the young man. “But Gavin is here as well so it will only take a few moments.”
The younger werewolf nodded and turned to run back the way he’d come. Thankfully the Dry Creek alpha wasn’t the type to “shoot the messenger.” If he had a problem with Hensen’s and Kade’s refusal to react immediately to his orders, there was no doubt they’d get a personal visit.
Gavin climbed out of the back seat of his own car and managed to stand without putting Maggie down. It was clear that she was fast asleep again but it was the possessive way that Gavin held her that gave Kade real hope.
They followed Hensen into the quarters he’d been using while on assignment at Dry Creek and then into a room that seemed to have been mostly packed away. Kade breathed in his mate’s scent, his cock aching as he imagined all of the nights they could have shared in the past seven months instead of avoiding each other.
Hensen reached into a cupboard and came up with clean clothes. He used them to point to the door at the back of the room. “Bathroom’s through there. Towels are under the sink. Maybe you and Maggie can get cleaned up while we report to the alpha.” Kade and Gavin both watched as Hensen quickly dragged on some clothes and then reached for Kade’s hand. He dragged a T-shirt over his head before Kade could protest. They were shifters. Nudity wasn’t that big an issue, even when reporting to the alpha. But Hensen must have sensed his confusion because he pulled him into his embrace and nipped his ear gently with his teeth.
“Because I want very badly to claim you, and having you naked is highly distracting.”
“Oh,” Kade said, kind of glad that he was only wearing a shirt. It hid his erection without strangling his cock. It didn’t do a damn thing to stop the tears misting his eyesight, though.
“I’m sorry I ignored you for so long, baby. I promise to make it up to you,” Hensen assured him as he continued to hold Kade close and turned his attention back to Maggie and Gavin. “We should be back quickly, but in case we’re delayed you two may as well crawl into bed and get some rest.”
Gavin nodded as if he didn’t quite understand Hensen’s words before looking around the room as if in a daze.
“Why?” Gavin asked, his gaze bouncing between them both.
“Why get some rest?” Kade asked, not really understanding what Gavin was asking.
Gavin shook his head. “Why trust me with your mate?”
“Because she’s your mate, too,” Kade said, hoping he was saying the right things.
“So you won’t try and bite off body parts in a jealous rage?”
Kade shook his head, desperate to convince Gavin that distrust would never be a part of their four-way relationship. Hensen released him to step closer to Gavin, and then reached over to place a hand at the back of the man’s neck. “No jealousy,” he said and then leaned over Maggie to press a hard kiss to Gavin’s lips, “but I can’t promise I won’t bite.”
The kiss that followed was soft and sensuous and had Kade rock hard just from watching. Gavin looked shell shocked by the time Hensen moved away, but at least he wasn’t trying to deny the connection he felt.
“We’ll be back as quickly as we can. Have a shower together, but don’t leave these two rooms.”
Gavin raised an eyebrow at the order, but didn’t say anything out loud. As he moved to leave the bedroom Kade reached out to glide his fingers over Gavin’s arm, just needing to touch his reluctant mate, and then he quickly followed Hensen out of the cabin.
* * * *
“Well it looks like it’s just you and me, Maggie,” Gavin said as he managed to step into the tiny bathroom without bumping either of them against the doorframe. “Are you awake enough to shower?”
“I think so,” she mumbled tiredly, clinging to him as he carefully put her on her feet. “But it might be better if you hold me up.”
He laughed softly at her adorable but obviously manipulative words. She’d woken up in the middle of that incredible kiss so she’d heard Hensen’s order for them to shower together.