Emmett’s beast, primed and ready for a fight, was anxious to slough off the adrenaline remaining after Whitney’s scare. He turned toward his mentor. “She’s right. You
should
be running. And pray we don’t find you.”
Sarvis bared his teeth. “You don’t understand. She’ll weaken you. Destroy you. The Elders won’t stand by while you ruin everything. Women disrupt the balance of power, that’s why Warden matings were outlawed. We worked too hard to prevent this and now—” With an echoing snarl, the Elder whirled and flew from the room, the heavy wood door slamming in his wake.
“That guy is a crazy assed douche of epic proportions.”
Emmett had learned Gabby wasn’t one to mince words.
“Word to our mother.” And Scarlet was, occasionally, a woman of few words. Though he didn’t always understand them all. She must have noticed the confusion filling the room. “You know, like ‘word to your mother,’ but we’re sisters so it’s ‘word to our mother?’” She raised her eyebrows. “No? No one is getting this?”
Beside him, Whitney vibrated with barely leashed tension, tremors, and shakes overtaking her at an ever increasing rate and Emmett brushed Scarlet’s rambling aside. “Whitney?”
“He wants me dead,” she whispered, but Emmett heard her loud and clear.
As did Levy. The wolf growled. “That’s not happening.”
“Ever.” He’d rip apart anyone, wolf or man, who dared come near their mate with harm in mind.
Emmett opened his mouth to explain that he’d gut whoever came near her with malicious intent, but Gabby stepped forward and he swallowed his words.
The middle Wickham sister raised her hand as if in school. “Let’s slow our roll and think about something no one else has brought to the table. Whitney is Emmett and Levy’s mate. As in
mate
. Like, the Holy Grail, it’s a miracle, she’s glowing like those weird algae in the ocean, has mad Marks, and she isn’t supposed to exist
mate
.” Gabby heaved a breath. “Whew, that was a lot to get out.” She shook her head. “Point is,” Gabby waved a hand at Whitney, “she wasn’t supposed to be here, and she is. She isn’t supposed to be anyone’s mate, and she is. Which—big picture—means the happy little laws you wolf boys—” growls filled the room, Emmett and Levy’s included, and the woman rolled her eyes. “Whatevs. The laws are partly based on mistaken beliefs that Wardens don’t get mates. That guy said they
outlawed
matings, not that they didn’t
exist
. So, those laws you’ve been clinging to like your favorite chew-toy are wrong. Makes you wonder what else is all made up. And by who?”
Breath stilled in Emmett’s lungs, the mere idea…
“What else ‘doesn’t exist,’ but really does? Like vamps. Are they real? Do they sparkle? Are they hot? Because, lemme tell ya, there isn’t a wolf alive that’s been hit by the ugly stick.” Scarlet fanned her face. “Whew. The hotness that surrounds me is—” Keller slapped a hand over Scarlet’s mouth.
“Unless you want to be bare-assed over Madden’s lap, now would be a good time to be quiet.”
Based on Scarlet’s expression, Emmett didn’t believe she’d mind.
Beside him, Whitney twitched, another jerk reminiscent of the tremors that had overtaken her body hours before. It was enough to pull his attention back to the woman at his side. He moved to stroke her, soothe her with is touch, but froze when his hand hovered less than an inch about her skin. Would it pull a scream from her as it’d done when her sisters had attempted the same?
Emmett didn’t have another moment to question himself. Whitney leaned into him with a whimper while she sought out Levy with her other hand. All connected, the touch sent a wave of happiness and calm through him. It eased his wolf’s agitation and the frayed edges of his magic smoothed. He hadn’t even known he was so close to losing control, and now he realized Sarvis was lucky to be alive.
Whitney shivered, another whimper, and tugged Levy to her other side. He and his partner shared a look, one that said they’d protect her at all cost, she belonged to them, and their feelings went beyond affection, on to lov—
“How old are the Warden laws? Hell, mating laws? When did they pop into existence?” Her voice was strong despite her obviously weakened state. “Like, Texas outlawed dildos in 1973, you know? It’s public knowledge. Can I get a date on the mating laws? Maybe Wardens are able to mate with humans. If there can even be the beginning of a mating process, mates for Wardens had to exist at some point. And what about single wolves?”
“I—”
“But—”
He and Levy spoke at the same time. He sensed his partner’s disbelief, shock, and growing anger at the realization the laws they’d been living under were nothing more than lies created by demented wolves.
“Dildos? Outlawed?” Scarlet turned to her mates. “We’re never going to Texas. I’d be arrested and I’m too annoying to be put in prison. I’d be shanked in a week.”
Whitney snorted. “Who are you kidding, you’d rule them all.”
Emmett smiled. Despite her fatigue, Whitney was still cracking jokes at her sister’s expense. That meant she’d be okay, they’d be okay. The three of them had to get past their current troubles and then they’d be fine.
“Troubles?” Whitney snorted. “Captain Understatement.”
Emmett stilled and looked to Levy. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Say what?”
It was Whitney’s turn to stiffen. “You didn’t…”
He shook his head.
“Which means I read your…”
He nodded.
“Anyone wanna share with the rest of the class?” Gabby pulled everyone’s attention.
“I can hear them.” Whitney’s tone was shaky.
The middle Wickham rolled her eyes. “Duh. You’re mated. Mostly. It comes with the gorgeous, yet annoying and domineering, men beside you.” Gabby pointed at Whitney. “And no take backs.”
Their mate’s heart rate soared, breathing increasing until she was near to hyperventilating.
Shit.
“Okay, everyone out.”
“But—”
“Our sister—”
Levy solved the problem with a booming, echoing roar. “Out!”
*
Breathing was beyond Whitney. Her brain deserted her and movement so wasn’t happening.
Mate?
“Didn’t you hear everything, sweet?” Levy rubbed her back, his gentle touch soothing her and her pulse lowered the tiniest bit.
“Sarvis screamed the words, love. You’re ours.” Emmett’s gruff voice filled her ear as he rubbed his chin over her shoulder.
Their bodies, their scents, surrounded and comforted her more than words could ever express. Right there, right then, she was at peace despite the panic that continued to attack her.
This very second was the culmination of her dreams and fantasies. And okay, she had heard the words everyone had been tossing around, but they finally sank in.
At five years old, she’d known she was different from Scarlet and Gabriella.
They’d been homeschooled while Whitney was sent to the local kindergarten.
They learned to read books filled with werewolf stories while she had to see Dick and Jane run.
They played princess and her sisters were always rescued by two princes…
When they played with dolls, they always had two boys and a girl. Every time Whitney had attempted to play the same game, her mother had plucked the extra toy from her hand. That “wasn’t for her.”
Their mother was never cruel, but the truth had never been hidden from Whitney. Her sisters were Marked, she was not, and that meant their lives would never be the same. A wall stood between the three of them and it’d never, ever be broken. Whitney needed to get over her dreams and accept reality. Scarlet and Gabriella had always included her in everything non-wolf and never made her feel less due to her lack of a Mark, but that wall always remained.
Now she was the same. She glanced at her arm. Okay, she was same-ish.
Tears burned her eyes, she was like them now. She wasn’t on the outside looking in, wasn’t the little girl who watched her sisters wander off to do those things only the Marked got to do. She wasn’t
different
.
The glow emanating from her body pulsed brighter for a brief moment reminding her she was a little different. But at least she had two mates as she’d always dreamed. Her soul had always known a life with one man hadn’t been her future. And now everyone else knew, as well.
Still reeling from the acceptance of Sarvis’s words, Whitney replayed them in her mind…
You see what you’ve done by violating the laws? What you’ve created? You’ve tied this human to you and are turning her into an abomination. You began the mating process and this is what’s left. You started it. You finish it. Permanently. Because this cannot continue further.
“We began the mating process,” she whispered the words, still not believing everything that had happened.
Emmett gave her a slow nod and Levy did the same.
“But we didn’t finish it. Do you think,” she licked her lips, anxiety rising with every syllable she uttered. She hated her insecurities. Hated them. Her sisters were just as curvy as her and their mates worshipped the ground they walked on. Could Emmett and Levy feel the same? “Do you think the world would end if we did finish it? Because that guy said… I mean, if you want, we could. And not right this second. Because you don’t have to. Because—”
Levy placed two fingers over her lips, silencing her before she managed to hyperventilate once again. “I don’t think it would end the world. You wouldn’t have come to us, mated to us, if we weren’t destined to be together. Just as Scarlet and Gabriella found their intended mates, so have we.”
She weighed Levy’s words, the expressions flitting across his face, and analyzed them. The heat in his gaze was unmistakable. The man’s wolf peered behind his human eyes, the amber shining past the pale blue. Then a ripple of white slithered through his irises.
“What the hell?” She leaned toward him. “What was that?”
He grimaced, a pained twist of his lips. “Don’t be afraid, sweet. We’re Wardens and that comes with the wolf and a little something extra.”
Vulnerability surrounded him. As she heard Emmett before, she now sensed Levy’s emotions. The big, bad wolf was nervous, scared that despite their half-mating, she’d become disgusted and leave him.
Ah, her sensitive wolf. She recognized Emmett’s rough, forceful personality with ease, but Levy would be the one she had to worry about hurting. Ferocious wolf or not, he had a gentle heart.
Aching to put him at ease, show that the bit of “extra” didn’t bother her, she held up her hand. “Kinda like being glow in the dark?”
Pain suffused the connection between the three of them. A hint of it came from Levy, but a good dose emanated from Emmett. No longer feeling the aches from before, she easily shifted and faced the larger wolf.
“Hey, I’m not mad.”
He shook his head. “You didn’t see it. My God, love.”
She held back the thrill at being called “love.” Several times the word had tumbled from his lips and she prayed it wasn’t something he tossed around as easily as he breathed.
“You…” Emmett trembled. “We held you in our arms and then you wouldn’t stop screaming. Your body… It just…”
Without hesitation, she reached for him, cupped his cheek and leaned forward to brush a soft kiss across his lips. “I’m fine.” She looked at the radiant hand pressed to his skin. “Well, fine-ish.” She shrugged and took a deep breath then released it slowly. “I don’t understand this. I can’t even pretend I do.” Whitney shifted and rested against the bed’s headboard. “But I
can
accept that a wolf knows its mate. I can accept that the feelings I have for you go so far beyond what I’ve ever felt for any of my exes combined.” Twin growls rumbled and vibrated the air around her and she rolled her eyes. “They’re exes for a reason, guys. Anyway, I can stretch my reality to accept all of this. But it doesn’t change the fact that the man who practically raised you believes I should be ‘resolved’ permanently.”
Emmett stroked the back of her hand, his blunt fingertip tracing the new swirls that covered her skin. “He
did
practically raise us, and the penalty for a Warden mating is severe. The Elders would force our shift and then lock us in animal form for the rest of our lives.” Anger coated his features. “We’d go feral simply because we found happiness. I can’t believe this is wrong. The spell wouldn’t have called you to the Gathering—we wouldn’t have found you—if it wasn’t meant to be.”
Whitney flipped her hand over and gripped his, immediately doing the same and reaching for Levy. “What? They would—”
Levy shook his head. “It’s not gonna happen. We’re the most powerful Wardens the world has seen.” He gently squeezed her. “There’s nothing to worry about. When we’re ready, we’ll complete our mating and—”
She sat up straighter. “When? Like, now? ‘When’ is now.” She nodded so they knew she was serious.
He grimaced and Emmett’s face held a similar expression. “Whitney, you don’t understand. If a nick did this…”
She shook her head. “No. I think I’m simply stuck somewhere in the middle of not-mated and mated. Normal matings involve more bodily fluids and sticky stuff. We didn’t get past second base. Wrapping things up should make it all better. I think. Maybe?” She grinned at them, imagining the pleasure that was surely to come while also praying she was right. “I vote we get to squishy.”
They both shook their heads and Levy dropped the news. “No. We’ll go back to the Ruling Alpha’s compound and dig into the archives. I want to know exactly what’s going to happen to you before we risk you further. Someone has to be hiding something… somewhere.” He traced circles on her palm. “I care too much to endanger or lose you, Whitney Wickham. If you…” His eyes glistened and he blinked away what had to have been tears. “If something happened to you, if you got hurt because of us, we would go insane.” His gaze bore into her. “Feral is the last thing they’d need to worry about. We’ve never pushed our magic, never explored how far we could truly go, but if you were injured, no one in the world would be safe. No one.”
Okay then.
“So, it’d be best, if we held off on boinking until we know you won’t level the world.” She jerked her head in a quick nod. “Got it.”