Authors: Morgan Fox
Brie smiled coyly as she said, “I’ll leave you two gentlemen to discuss your business.”
Sebastian winked at her, kissing her on the cheek before letting her take another step away from him. Sneaking a gentle pat to her little ass, he closed the door after her and turned to see his guest taking a seat.
“Mr. Rodale, thank you so much for joining me.” Sebastian’s diplomatic tone was in full effect as he moved around his office and got straight to business. “I understand you paid Reyes and Dr. Shaw a little visit today.”
Nolan Rodale’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yes, I went to visit my son. Sebastian, excuse me for asking, but what business of it is yours?”
Sebastian smiled, the type of smile that would alarm anyone who knew him well enough, because that smile said one thing and one thing only.
Don’t fuck with me or my friends or you might find yourself six feet under.
“I’m not sure if you know much about Dr. Megan Shaw, but she is a highly respected doctor in our lycan community and worthy of the highest level of respect.” Nolan began to interrupt, but Sebastian merely growled low and menacing in his throat, abruptly halting his words. “I also think it’s important for you to know that Dr. Shaw is my wife’s physician. She is personally overseeing the birth of my first child. Unlike you, Mr. Rodale, I find that it is important for a mother to be a part of her child’s life. I spent so much of my own childhood growing up in teaching and training facilities I feel I’ve missed out on so much of what a nurturing home might have been like.” He paused, meeting Nolan’s gaze head on. “Reyes and I are in agreement with this way of thinking.”
Nolan scoffed. “Of course the boy is in agreement with this insanity. His affections for the doctor have made him soft. He was never supposed to find a mate, never supposed to settle down. A woman will only be a distraction for him. She will make him weak.”
“Do you think me weak?”
The blood seemed to drain from Nolan’s face. “Of course not,” he spat. “I mean no disrespect to you, but Reyes has become soft and seriously lacks the discipline he was trained to have.”
Sebastian leaned against the front of his desk, staring down coldly at the older man. “Why exactly is that, Mr. Rodale? Because you decided it was to be that way? Or maybe it was your father or his father that decided that, and because you didn’t have the balls to stand up for yourself, you can’t stand to see your son do that to you?”
Nolan stood abruptly. “You know nothing.”
“Sit down, Nolan.” He did. “If I truly know nothing about your family then you won’t mind if I enlighten you on what I do know. I learned through certain scientific channels that the mating bond is something that can never be removed from the lycan body or spirit. It’s an instinct we are
all
born with. I’ve done my research, sir, and there’s no possible way that Reyes could’ve been born without the mating instinct intact. However, manipulation can make a person think something that is clearly false, and in this case, that is exactly what you’ve done to your own son.” Nolan’s face flooded with red heat. “I also know that you were in love with Reyes’s mother, Regan, but your own father forced you to send her away never to see her again. You didn’t have the strength to stand up to your father and claim your mate so the years of longing for her turned you into a cold-hearted bastard.”
“Why you—”
Nolan’s fists clenched at his sides, and Sebastian simply arched a dark eyebrow and smirked, practically challenging the old man to do something as ridiculous as charging at him or, better still, taking a swing. At this point, he’d like nothing more than to put the old fart in his place.
“You couldn’t be further from the truth, and I’m not sure where you’ve received your information, but you are very wrong.” A single vein bulged at his temple. Nolan added, “You know nothing of my past or who my family was. For generations we have been chosen to—”
“I know exactly what your family has been chosen to do, just as I know the sacrifices your son has made over the years of his life to make you happy and to keep his people safe. I also know that, if you or anyone else tries to come between him and his mate, I will personally see to your extermination.”
Nolan stood brusquely, and his chest and nostrils flared in anger.
“Sit your ass down, Mr. Rodale, or I will put you down myself.” He towered beside his guest, and a wild, angry roar shot from his voice as he said, “Do not make me tell you again.”
Nolan’s eyes widened as he slowly did as his alpha commanded. “You have no right to interfere with me and my son,” he said with a hushed growl.
That did it for Sebastian. He was ready to become undone, ready to beat the revered diplomat in the head with a bat, but he’d hold it together. He had to for Reyes.
Leaning over Nolan’s chair, Sebastian gripped the armrests, and he pressed closer to Nolan, causing him to ease back in his chair. Sebastian loved intimidating those who liked to push others around, enjoyed giving them a taste of their own medicine. “As my personal guardian soldier, and best friend, I have every right. Need I remind you, as alpha, I even have the right to have your fucking head removed from your body if I so chose?” He held his rounded-eye stare, smiling at the fear lingering behind his gray gaze. “Unlike you, I’m not a complete and total asshole.”
“You go too far, young alpha,” he bit out.
“Perhaps I haven’t gone far enough, Mr. Rodale. Your son is an honorable man and deserves your respect and some goddamn happiness. Do you even care about him?”
Surprise splashed across his expression. “Of course I care about my son. He’s all I have in this world.”
“Mr. Rodale, I wish I could believe that.”
“Reyes means the world to me. I only want the best for him.”
“Then maybe you should let him live his life as he was destined to and not in the way you think he should.”
“What exactly do you think you are doing? You’re interfering just as I have.”
“No, unlike you, I’m just telling you what Reyes has already shared with me. I’ve asked him what he wants, and he wants a life with his mate. His need for Megan runs deeper than maybe you will ever be able to comprehend.”
Nolan sat in silence for a long moment before he muttered, “No, young man, I think I understand more about him than you know.”
Chapter Thirteen
Megan sat stunned at the edge of the bed, her heart fluttering in sync with her trembling belly. Sucking in a sharp breath, she held her head in her hands and hoped for answers to the plethora of questions bombarding her. Two men, her mates, desired and wanted her, and she couldn’t tell if she should be awake or dreaming. Her heart, body and mind seemed unable to get onto the same page.
It was not but a month ago that she’d simply been a doctor, focused on her career and only her career. Now, two incredible men fought for her affections. They’d both told her they longed for her, loved her, and desired a life with her. How could she make this work without the relationships driving her completely insane? Dividing her time between her career and one man would be hard enough. How could she possibly balance a life, a career, and two men?
Gnashing her teeth together in frustration, she had to believe that she was intelligent enough to figure this out. Then she shivered, realizing that both gorgeous and godlike men were hovering over her like vultures preparing to devour a decaying carcass. For distraction, she bit the inside of her mouth and the flavor of coppery, metallic blood flooded her taste buds.
“Red.” Jarred from her thoughts, her fingers spread apart to reveal her eyes.
“You’re doing that thing where you think too much,” Dominic said.
She sighed, her hands slapping down into her lap. “Well, what do you expect from me? For years, you and I have been so distant and now…” Her face and neck suddenly felt hot.
“We had sex and shared that we love each other,” Dominic said with confidence, finishing her thought.
She reluctantly nodded, still feeling a raging amount of guilt for having sexual and heartfelt feelings for both men. Was it fair that she did? She just wasn’t sure, even though her heart and soul told her it was. “Right,” she said. “Then there’s the crazy notion that I somehow managed to score two mates.” She forced a laugh. “After years of yearning to find someone to love me and despising what I thought the mating boding was…” She closed her eyes for a long moment and then opened them slowly, gazing down at her shaking legs. “It’s all a little difficult to comprehend.”
“I’m sure it is, but it doesn’t change anything between us,” Reyes said, moving to sit on the other side of her.
She hissed as if he’d just struck her, inclining her head and narrowing her eyes. She strongly disagreed with him. “It changes everything. I have a practice in Dallas, Dominic has a house here—”
“I also have one in Dallas,” Dominic added, silencing her ranting for a brief second.
She inclined her head to her other side to gaze at him. “Yes, but you clearly want me to be here with you. Then there’s Reyes and his home. What do we all do? Just date, knowing that I’ll be fucking both of you?” Where the hell did that come from? she thought as she groaned, her fingers raking through her hair and her gut twisting tight as she revealed so much. Then again, didn’t she have to? It was only fair for them to know how she truly felt. The one thing she’d come to enjoy most about the three of them was how different the physical intimacies were. Reyes and his sensuality, Dominic and his take-me-now, take-me-hard mentality. She needed them both. She knew it. To not have that as part of their relationship seemed wrong and unacceptable. Besides, she liked it a lot. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, but let’s face it, you are both great in bed, and if I should date either one of you, I’m not sacrificing that.”
“We certainly wouldn’t want you to,” Dominic said, grinning. “That’s a part of the relationship I’m looking forward to the most.”
Her pussy convulsed. “Dominic, be serious,” she said, trying to sound stern, but all the while all she could do was picture him naked as he took possession of her body and fucked her until she came over and over again.
“I am serious, Megan. Why are you worried about dating one of us when we have clearly agreed to share you? We don’t want you to have to choose between us.”
“Splitting myself up in two is not what I call a great plan.”
Reaching to hold her hand, Reyes said calmly, “Megan, I think you should understand that my job allows me to live anywhere. I must maintain a residency in Dallas for pack reasons, but to travel here to be with you would be no issue.”
“You might not realize this, but I’m loaded,” Dominic teased, but was obviously very serious.
She knew he had come into money as one of the founding senior partners for a high-level security company. MMR Systems was a small company he helped expand into one of the nation’s largest, and he’d earned a lifestyle that would keep her well taken care of for the rest of her life. It wasn’t money she wanted, and it wasn’t something that would make her truly happy. Security meant more than just financial stability.
“Maintaining dual residencies would not trouble me in the slightest. Reyes and I will have pack responsibilities at McCarthy Ranch, so there is no reason why we can’t spend time in our own place when we do.”
Megan scoffed. “Don’t you mean your place?”
“No, our place,” Reyes corrected. “Megan, Dominic and I are in agreement with the purchase of this land and home. We decided to have this house built because we were coming to McCarthy Ranch so often for pack business. Staying with Sebastian no longer made sense now that he has a mate and soon a child.” He squeezed her hand. “We want you to be a part of our lives, and we are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to make that happen.” He held her narrow-eyed gaze. “Are you?”
She swallowed the rising bile churning up into her throat. Nerves swirled in her stomach and waves of questions slammed against her skull. Fear soaked, she didn’t know what to do.
“Megan, what does your heart tell you to do? Before Reyes arrived, you were ready to make love to me. What’s changed?”
She hesitated for a long moment, gazing down at the ground, unable to truly admit her feelings. “I’m…”