Hidden Alpha [Alpha Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (7 page)

They held her a few more moments before Chase pulled away and asked, “Are you ready, Milaya?” She wasn’t sure how long it would take her to get used to the pet name he had given her. To her, it sounded like he was mixing up her name with someone else. She somehow knew he would never do that, but she had to admit she was still insecure about men since Gavin promised her forever and then left her. She was so worried that these two men would do the same thing to her. While they were definitely different than Gavin, there was something kindred about the three men, too. She would have to try to figure that out later. Right now, she was going to leave her house that she loved and go home with two men she’d just met.
I must be insane.
Still, she nodded and held Dmytri and Adryk’s hands while the men carried the babies and her bag to the Tahoe.

When they were all settled and buckled up, Devlin got behind the wheel and started the engine. He backed out of the driveway and headed south. She watched as her home and life for the last five years disappeared from view. When she was in college she had rented the house out to a few college students who she trusted to pay for her rent at the university. She usually came home on the weekends to check on them and stay at the house with them. Maybe she could rent it out again. She didn’t want to sell it but knew that she wouldn’t be back for a while, if ever. Even though she couldn’t explain the feeling, she knew she would be staying with Chase and Devlin from now on. It was time for a new life.

The drive home seemed to take forever. It was going to take Devlin a while to get used to having children around. Between the boys having to go to the bathroom three times on the way home and him trying to drive more cautiously, the drive had taken almost twice as long as it usually would. Not to mention they had to stop at Anya’s and pack some clothes for the boys and babies. They had taken care of everything at the hospital, and since Anya was a member of their pack and only lived in the city because that was where she and her husband had moved, they would make all the funeral arrangements at home. There was no reason to stay in the city. Both of the babies slept the whole way, which was enough to make Devlin nervous that something was wrong. He thought all babies ever did was cry. Amalya had assured him several times that babies slept a lot, too, and they were fine. She sat between their car seats the whole way and kept checking on them every time Devlin voiced his concern.

By the time they pulled in the driveway, the boys were getting restless, and he was thankful the children had lots of room for them to run and play. He got out of the Tahoe and opened the back door. He took Katrya,
still in her car seat, out so the boys could fold the seat down and get out.
Or is it Anya? How am I going to tell them apart?
He and Chase got everyone’s belongings into the house. When they came back out of the house, they found Amalya standing in front of the house staring at it. Devlin knew what she saw. He and Chase had built the log cabin when they had first moved here and taken over the pack.
Wait until she sees it from the other side.
The cabin looked like it was a simple two-story cabin from the front because you couldn’t see the basement. From the back it looked like the mansion they had wanted to provide their mate when they found her. The front of the cabin, where they were now, was two stories with a porch that wrapped all the way around the entire cabin. There was a porch swing big enough for three by the front door. Yeah, he was proud of their house and hoped his new mate would like it.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was so tall he only had to tilt his head to kiss her on top of the head. “What do you think,
golubushka
?”

She snuggled into his arms and rubbed her ass into his cock. He had been rock hard since they were at her house. His cock throbbed. He knew he needed to claim her soon. Shifters couldn’t be around their mates for long once they found them before the need to claim them took over. She had admitted that she was a virgin and knew he needed to be gentle with her and wait until she was ready.
The wait is going to kill me.
He tilted his head to the side and kissed her neck, whispering, “You’re playing with fire, little one.” He ground his cock into her ass to prove his point, and she giggled. That little giggle was almost his undoing. Between her rubbing her ass into him and that little giggle, he almost embarrassed himself like a young pup by coming in his pants.

* * * *

Devlin told her she was playing with fire, but Amalya couldn’t seem to find a reason to care. She wasn’t sure where her bravery was coming from, but she wanted to tease Devlin. She had never felt this way. Even for Gavin. She had loved Gavin and had thought she was ready to take the next step with him before he left, but she was now happy that she hadn’t. She liked to think that if they had done more than kiss and sleep in the same bed together, he would have loved her enough to stay. On the other hand, she knew deep down that he would have still left her. If they had had sex, she would have been even more devastated than she was when he left. She had been ready to give herself to him, and he not only turned her down but left her alone. She still didn’t understand how he could have told her that loved her every day and still left her, but she was done worrying about him. She had two men who truly seemed to care for her, and she didn’t quite understand the whole ‘mate’ thing, but she was going to try and trust them. She just hoped that they didn’t hurt her like Gavin had.

It felt good to be held in Devlin’s arms, and to feel the proof that she excited him when he rubbed up against her was empowering. She had never had that effect on a man before and wasn’t really sure what to do about it. He body was telling her to turn around and wrap her legs around him, but her mind was worried he would either turn her down or worse. She was afraid that he would take her innocence and then leave her. She had to get away from him for a few minutes. She couldn’t think with him touching her. She stepped away from him and started walking around the cabin. She thought it looked more like a log mansion in the woods. She could feel him watching her and tried to ignore him.

She walked up on the porch and ran her hand along the porch swing. She could see spending many nights sitting on the swing with Devlin and Chase. She couldn’t believe she was already thinking about what might be in their future. They had explained that the mating was for life, but she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around it, as they had just met. They may know for sure that she was their mate and fate had brought them together, but what if they got to know her and didn’t like what they learned? She thought she was a pretty nice person, but what if she wasn’t their type? They had tried to assure her that they would love her, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of the mating thing or because they would actually fall in love with her as a person. It was nice that they were so positive that she was the one for them, but she wanted to be the one for them because they chose to love her, not because fate decided they should. How was she supposed to know if they really loved her or if they just mated her because of fate?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Too much thinking of what happened that day and what was going to happen in the future was giving her a headache. She continued on around the wraparound porch to the other side of the cabin. The view from the back was spectacular. There was a large lawn that looked like it would take hours to mow. She wondered if they would agree to mow the lawn topless so she could watch them. She leaned on the railing and looked out of the beautiful yard that was surrounded by woods. She had always loved the outdoors and could walk for hours and admire nature. She would have to ask them how much land they owned and maybe if they could take her for a walk in the woods until she got used to the area.

She looked over the railing and noticed that she was actually on the second floor. She turned her back to the railing and looked at the cabin. From what she, could see it was amazing. The whole second story was floor-to-ceiling windows. She looked up, and there was a deck about half the width of the one she was standing on. She had to get a look at the cabin from a distance. There was a set of stairs in the middle of the porch. She made her way down them and about halfway across the yard before turning around to admire the cabin. It was superb. That entire side was completely covered in windows. She could also see a hot tub on the third-floor deck. She knew she would be trying that out the first chance she got.

She watched Chase walk across the yard toward her. He looked like he was stalking his prey, and she was that prey.

“Sweet Amalya, what are you doing out here all by yourself?” he asked as he approached her. He was looking around like he was checking the area for something, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I’m just admiring the cabin. It is beautiful. How did you ever find this place in the middle of nowhere?”

“We didn’t find it. Devlin and I built it. When we came here to take over the pack, we decided we wanted a place all our own. Devlin insisted on all the best. We knew someday that we would find our mate and wanted her to have a home that she could be comfortable in and love as much as we do. We hope you come to like it and enjoy living here. If you need anything or would like to change something, just let us know, and we will take care of it.”

“Um... live here with you?” She knew deep down when she left her house that she would be staying here with her men. She just thought they should have talked about it first instead of assuming that she would live with them.

Chase pulled into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. He quietly said, “I know it’s a lot right now, but we belong together. I’m sorry. We just assumed that when we found our mate, she would come and live with us here.”

She could feel his body shaking while he spoke. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She just wasn’t sure what to do. She loved her job and had only just finished her first year of teaching. “I’m not saying I don’t want to live here. It’s just a big step to take. I have the whole summer off. Why don’t I stay here with you, and we will make a decision before the new school year starts? Will that work for you?”

She could feel him relax as he answered, “Yes, that sounds good to me. If by the end of the summer you really don’t want to live here with us, then we will figure something out. Even if we have to give up the pack and move in with you, we will make this work. Mates are more important than everything. As long as we have each other, it doesn’t matter where we live.”

She leaned her head back and looked up into his emerald-green eyes before rising up to give him a kiss. He pulled her closer and took control of the kiss. Her arms had a mind of their own as they wrapped around his neck and held tight. She distantly heard someone call their names, but her mind was too busy trying to process the newly awakened feelings Chase was creating in her body to care. When he pulled back and laughed, she came out of her daze enough to realize it was Devlin yelling to them.

She looked around Chase to see Devlin holding a screaming baby in each arm, looking completely lost. She chuckled before saying, “Devlin looks like he could use some help. Do you think we should go rescue him?”

Chase pulled her back into his body and kissed her again. He whispered, “I think we should just go upstairs and get naked and let Devlin deal with the babies by himself.”

She slapped him on the chest and said, “Now that’s not nice. Maybe I’ll let you two deal with the babies, and I’ll go up and get naked in the hot tub I saw. How would you like that?”

“I would like it, but only if we could join you when the babies go back to sleep.”

“How about the three of us get all the children ready and in bed then maybe if you two are good little boys we can all get in the hot tub later,” she teased as she brushed past him and started running for the stairs. She only made it a few feet before Chase had her scooped up and thrown over his shoulder with one hand on her legs. With the other, he gave her a swat on her ass. It wasn’t enough to hurt her, but it did get her attention and heated up her body again. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to the way these two men made her body feel. The only thing she was sure of was that she wanted them both.

Chase carried her up the stairs and placed her on her feet. When she turned toward Devlin, he looked like he was ready to panic as he said, “They won’t stop crying. What do I do?”

She hid her grin. She hadn’t had a lot of practice with babies either, but she knew that they were in this together, and they had to work as a team to make sure all of the children were taken care of. She took Anya from Devlin and handed her to Chase. Next, she took Katrya and let the men into the house to teach them how to make a bottle. What seemed like forever later, they had both girls fed, changed, in sleepers, and sleeping. While she had rocked Katrya to sleep, Devlin had given Dmytri and Adryk a bath. After the boys were in bed sleeping, too, Devlin and Chase led her to their room. They were all too tired to even think about going in the hot tub. Besides, they knew that the babies would probably be awake every few hours, and Amalya had thought it would be a good idea to get some sleep.

They had offered to let her sleep in one of the guest rooms if she wasn’t comfortable with them yet, but she had felt the need to be close to them. She lay between the two sleeping males, thinking over everything that had happened. It seemed like ages ago that she had been sitting at her desk, thinking about how much she hated the last day of school. If she had been told that morning when she woke up that her life would have changed so drastically, she would have never believed it. When she woke up that morning, she had been single, living alone, and dreading the lonely summer to come. Now she had two men who wanted her, two loving five-year-old wolf-shifter boys, and two beautiful newborn girls.
Guess the last day of school isn’t so bad after all.