“There is no need for you to get up and down when there are plenty of men here to help you. You’re in pain, Nessa. I can feel it.” Joseph returned to eating without look at her again.
Once everyone had finished, Lee and Evan took over clearing the table and doing the dishes. When she’d offered, she’d been informed that it was their jobs to clean up after dinner.
“We all take turns cooking, cleaning, and such,” Jessup had said.
She had struggled to learn everyone’s name as they had talked and joked around the table. With dinner finished, they all seemed to be heading toward the living area of the house. Jessup took her hand and led her over to a couch where he helped her get comfortable with a pillow to her back. Looking up, she realized that Joseph was nowhere to be found.
“Where did Joseph go?” she asked.
“He’s just checking on some things. He’ll be back.” Jessup checked her pillow for the second time.
“Nessa, do you know how to ride?” Galen asked her.
“Um, I’ve never ridden before,” she said.
“That’s not a problem. Jessup and Joseph will teach you,” Kindle said with an easy smile.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I’m afraid of heights.”
“Don’t worry, precious. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Jessup lifted her hand to his lips placing a kiss in the palm.
She couldn’t control the shiver that raced down her spine at the soft touch of his mouth on her skin. Had he actually licked her with his tongue?
“We have some very gentle mounts here, Nessa. You have nothing to fear. Most of the, um, children around here learn on our horses,” Aaron assured her.
Jessup’s brothers talked to her about life there on Shoewater land for the next twenty minutes. Joseph and Jessup’s brothers really seemed to want her to feel comfortable there. Just as she had begun to relax, Joseph walked back in the room. Just like that, her awareness of both him and Jessup shot up so that she had to fight to take a normal breath.
Jessup nodded at his brother before standing up. When he tugged gently on her hand, she frowned up at him.
He said their goodnights to his brothers then steered her down the hall toward the rooms she’d napped in earlier.
“I thought we were going to talk,” she said.
“We are, but this is personal between the three of us right now.” Jessup closed the door behind them.
Nessa felt her eyes widen at that. “The three of us? What has Joseph got to do with you and me, Jess? I don’t understand.”
“Sit down, precious, and I’ll explain.” Jessup indicated the comfortable-looking chair near the closet.
She lowered herself to the chair, careful not to jar her low back, then sat back and waited for him to begin. Joseph leaned against the closet door while Jessup settled at the foot of the bed. He looked over at his twin before saying anything. She wanted to yell at him to get on with it already, but held her tongue. She had a feeling that whatever he was going to say was going to change everything. For a second, she wanted to tell him to stop and just take her back to the trailer then she thought about how angry her stepbrother was going to be that she hadn’t been home when he had gotten home from work.
“Just spit it out, Jess. You’re scaring me.”
“I need you to promise to not say anything until I finish and have an open mind, Ness. Can you do that for me?” he asked.
She felt her stomach drop. This didn’t sound good at all. She nodded her head slowly.
“No. I need you to answer me out loud.”
“Okay. I’ll listen to you and keep an open mind.” She prayed she didn’t need to run after whatever he told her because she was sore enough she knew she wouldn’t have a chance of escaping if it came down to it.
“Have you ever heard of shifters, Nessa?”
“You mean like werewolves and such? Well, yeah. I read a lot of paranormal books when I have time.” She wasn’t sure where this was going.
Jessup and Joseph exchanged glances. Neither of them appeared happy with her answer.
“So you have only heard the term in relation to books?” Jessup asked.
“Well, in books and movies. Why are you talking about this?”
“Nessa, shifters are real. They exist.”
She stared at him then turned to look fully at Joseph. He hadn’t moved from his casual stance against the closet. What were the chances she would end up falling for someone crazier than her stepbrother? She started to stand up in preparation to run, but Joseph stepped closer to her.
“You promised him you would listen first,” was all he said.
She let go of the arms of the chair and tried to relax her hands back in her lap. She couldn’t stop her heart from stuttering as it raced away without her.
“Easy, Ness. Calm down. I can hear your heart beating too fast. I’m not going to hurt you.” Jessup’s eyes seemed more worried than crazed.
She tried to relax, but it wasn’t happening. She tried to focus on her hands and not look at either of the two men standing too close to her. Finally, Joseph returned to the closet where he once again leaned as if nothing was wrong.
“Shifters have always been around. We kept it a secret because when anyone found out about us, they hunted us like wild animals. We’re not wild animals. We’re people just like humans.”
She couldn’t stop her head from jerking up to stare at him. He was including himself in that group. He was telling her that he was a shifter. She stared at him but couldn’t move. She felt as if her body had frozen in place. Fear poured through her bloodstream like ice water. What was she afraid of, that they were shifters or that they were crazy and believed that they were?
I’ve got to get out of here. Dear God, he’ll kill me!
“Nessa, don’t do it. Don’t try and run from us. You’re already in pain, precious. I don’t want you to hurt even more. Let us show you.” Jessup moved closer to her.
She couldn’t stop her reaction to pull her legs up in the chair and sink back as far as she could get. It was instinctive. Nessa tried to make herself as small as possible.
“You’re scaring her worse, Jessup. Watch her while I shift. Don’t let her hurt herself trying to get away.” Joseph pushed away from the closet door and stood in front of her several yards away.
She watched as he began to pull his clothes off. She’d been right. The scars were all over his body. Horror at what he had to have suffered temporarily distracted her from the fact that a strange man was stripping in front of her. When he stepped out of his jeans and wasn’t wearing any underwear, it finally registered that he was naked with her supposed boyfriend standing next to where she sat. She started to drop her head so she couldn’t see him.
“No. Look at him, Nessa. Watch him.” He rested his hand on top of her head, his voice compelling.
Even as she watched, Joseph crouched in front of her. She didn’t hear bones crunching or snapping, but she felt a strange electric-like tingle along her skin as well as a growing heat as the man before her slowly turned into a wolf. She blinked her eyes several times, but the huge fur-covered animal didn’t disappear. Neither did Joseph reappear.
“Joseph, let her touch you.” Jessup took Nessa’s hand and gently pulled it toward the massive beast in front of her.
“J–Jessup?”
“Easy, sweetness. He won’t hurt you. He’s still Joseph, my brother.”
The wolf stood a good four and a half feet tall on all fours with dark-brown fur that appeared thick and luxurious. His eyes were dark and almost glowed when he looked at her. As he moved closer, she felt her entire body begin to shake. He could tear out her throat before she could open her mouth to scream.
The wolf that was Joseph inched closer and lowered his head so that Jessup could easily lay her hand on his head. She’d been right, it was soft and silky. She buried her hand in the thick fur before she realized what she was doing and froze. The wolf didn’t move. Slowly she released the fur she’d gripped and pulled her hand back.
“See. He won’t hurt you. We would never hurt you, Nessa.” Jessup stroked her hair with his other hand.
The wolf stepped closer and nuzzled her thigh. She didn’t know what to do. He seemed to want something, but she didn’t know what. Nessa looked up at Jessup for guidance. She didn’t want to do something to make the animal mad.
“He wants to sniff and lick you. Hold out your hand to him. Don’t be afraid. He won’t hurt you.”
She slowly extended her hand once more but didn’t touch him. Instead, she waited, being as still as she could manage with fear coursing through her veins. The wolf lifted his muzzle and licked the back of her hand. His tongue wasn’t exactly raspy, but it wasn’t smooth either. He licked her wrist next then opened his mouth and closed over it without actually biting her.
“See. He won’t hurt you.” Jessup stroked her arm as he spoke.
“D–does he understand us?” she finally asked.
“Of course. He is still Joseph even when he is in his wolf form. He understands and reasons and feels just like when he is in his human form. The only difference between us and you is that we have two forms, Ness.” Jessup kissed the top of her head.
Joseph let go of her wrist and backed away. Then he slowly returned to the man she knew. His long, muscular body, though covered in scars, was no less beautiful. He was built like a runner more than a body builder, with a narrow waist and strong arms and legs. His wide chest had a smattering of hair that stretched between his nipples to trail down to where his huge cock stood out from the nest of black curls at his groin. Nessa immediately dropped her eyes when she realized she was staring at him with her mouth open.
“Brother, she is embarrassed at looking at your impressive dick,” Jessup said with a chuckle.
“More like she is disgusted at the picture I make.” Jessup jerked on his jeans then grabbing his shirt, socks, and boots, started to leave.
“Don’t go.” Nessa wasn’t sure where her courage came from, but she couldn’t let him leave thinking she couldn’t look at him.
“We haven’t talked to her yet, Joe.”
Nessa had figured Joseph’s part in the situation to be the one to help show her their wolf so Jessup could keep her calm. She didn’t understand why he needed to be there while they talked. She merely wanted to be sure he knew that she didn’t see him as deformed or ugly.
“You talk to her. I’m scaring her.” He started to leave again.
“No, you’re not. I’m not scared of you.”
He slowly turned around and stared at her. “Well, you should be. I’m not fit to be around most days, and on those that I’m not as bad, I’m still a bastard.”
“Fuck, Joseph! Stop it. We’re in this together, the three of us. Stop trying to sabotage us before we’ve even started.”
“Jess, I told you I’d help you claim her, but I’m leaving after that. I’m not good for her. I’d only hurt her in the end.”
Jessup growled deep in his chest above her. She couldn’t help but sink back into the chair again. Were they going to fight right there in the bedroom?
“Don’t growl at me, brother. You know it’s the right thing to do.” Joseph’s knuckles were white as he gripped his boots.
“I need you, Joe. Promise me you won’t go anywhere until she’s safe at least,” Jessup demanded.
Joseph stared at her then looked back at his brother and nodded. “I’ll help keep her safe. I’ll always come if you need me to keep her safe.”
“Stay and help me talk to her now.” Jessup didn’t look thrilled with his brother’s promise, but he seemed to accept it.
“Why do you need his help to talk about us? I don’t understand any of this, Jessup. First I find out that not only do werewolves exist but that you’re one and now you’re talking like Joseph needs to be here for us to talk about us, if there even is an us.” She licked her lips and stared between the two brothers.
“Nessa, you’re my mate,” Jessup said. He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “And you’re Joseph’s mate as well. You belong to both of us, sweetness.”
Jessup saw the instant it registered with Nessa what he’d said. Her eyes widened and she drew in a quick shallow breath before launching herself out of the chair and across the room. He let her go since she wasn’t heading toward the door. His brother had that avenue of escape blocked.
“You can’t be serious.” She crossed her arms tightly across her chest as if she were trying to hold herself together.
“Nessa…”
“Stop! Don’t say anything else. I—I get that both of you are werewolves.”
“Shifters,” Jessup said, interrupting her.
“Whatever the hell you are, but what I don’t understand is why you think I
belong
to you, much less both of you. Jessup, we’ve only been out a few times. We don’t know anything about each other.”
Nessa shifted from one foot to the other as she spoke. He knew she was barely holding it together by the scent of fear and the frantic beating of her heart. It pounded, worrying him that she would make herself sick if she didn’t calm down. He hated the acrid taste of her anxiety on his tongue.
Looking over to his brother, it surprised him to see that Joseph was obviously fighting the same things he was. They wanted to go to her and take away all of her distress, calm her fears. Unfortunately, they were the greatest part of her anxiety at the moment.
“Nessa, you need to calm down, sweetness. You’re going to make yourself sick like this. Let’s talk about it. I shouldn’t have just blurted that out without telling you more about us, about our wolves.” He eased closer to her, praying that she wouldn’t panic again and try to run.
“I—I need to leave. I can’t stay here,” she said, looking around the room as if willing a hole to open up and swallow her.
“You can’t leave, Nessa. I won’t let you go back to where your stepbrother can beat you to death.” Joseph stepped away from the doorway he’d been blocking.
Jessup wanted to tell him to back off, but worried that it would only stir him up more. He prayed that Nessa wouldn’t challenge him. He had no idea what his twin would do. Since his return to the ranch, he didn’t seem to have total control over his temper anymore. While he didn’t think Joseph would actually hurt her, he couldn’t predict how he would react to her challenging him.