Untamed (Two Marks 0.50)

It also made my pussy clench. I didn’t have this reaction to Rob when he issued alpha orders. Nope. He and all the other guys in the pack were like brothers to me. My reaction was specific to this particular alpha. The one who I seemed to enjoy being the boss of me. My new mate. One of two.

Ben slid his hand up my thigh to cup my bare mons. “She gushes nectar every time you do that,” he observed to Gibson.

Gibson growled, pleased. “Don’t worry, kitten, we’ll give you another reward soon.” He squeezed one of my breasts and pinched my nipple. “After we learn all your secrets.”

“But—”

“Was that your only job?” Ben asked, cutting me off.

I shook my head. “I’m a ski instructor in the winter and raft guide in the summer. And I have a juice stand I run at the local farmer’s markets and events.”

Gibson smiled. “You like being outdoors. I can’t fucking wait to run with you.” He meant as wolves, of course. “What color?”

“Tan.” I held up a lock of my honey-colored hair to show him what my wolf looked like. “Similar to this.”

“Show me.”

I didn’t even know if he put command in the words, but my body literally transformed before the thought made it to my brain. One minute I was naked between them in human form, the next my she-wolf was on her back, showing her belly to her new alpha.

“Oh fuck, she’s gorgeous,” Ben rumbled, rubbing my belly as Gibson stroked my ears and face.

“The most beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen,” Gibson agreed. “Shift, baby.”

In seconds, I was back, Gibson’s body on top of mine, his lips crashing down. He kissed me with the ferocity of a claiming male until I was breathless, until his canines descended, and he had to throw himself off me to keep from biting.

“Yeah,” I panted, dizzy with lust. “Marking my face would definitely be a mating foul.”

Ben chuckled. “Kitten, you don’t understand how hard it is to hold back.”

I put my hand between my legs to alleviate the ache there and felt how wet and swollen I was. “When is my reward?” I heard the pout in my words.

“A few more questions,” Ben pressed. “When can we meet your family?”

That one took me by surprise although I guessed I should have expected it. They weren’t from around here and wanted to claim me. We’d essentially be merging families.

“It’s just me and my mom,” I admitted.

Gibson came close again, his wolf under control. He ran the backs of his knuckles down my arm. “Your dad’s dead?”

“My dad left,” I snapped, a little of my teenage bitterness leaking through in the words.

Both males drew back slightly. It was unusual for a male to abandon his mate and pup, which had made it all the more humiliating for my mom and me. We hadn’t been shunned, but it had been embarrassing, nonetheless. It still was.

“That’s why you won’t let us claim you yet,” Ben said softly, stroking a finger over my bare leg.

Something flip-flopped in my chest like a pancake. Was it because of my dad leaving and not because they were practically strangers? If my dad hadn’t been an abandoning dick, would I already be halfway to Wyoming with them by now?

Maybe so.

“You don’t trust us to take care of you,” Gibson added.

I looked up at him. “Why should I? We just met.”

He settled back beside me. “Because we’re your mates. We know it. You know it. Your she-wolf knows it. It’s that simple.”

“But not for you,” Ben added.

I didn’t expect the rush of emotion that came with their words. I was a strong woman. I’d basically taken care of my mom since I was sixteen. I didn’t see myself as a victim or mope around—I stayed cheerful and positive. But suddenly, tears filled my eyes. All the tears I’d kept in when my dad abandoned us.

“I don’t need you to take care of me.”

Gibson stroked his fingers through his beard. “You’re a brave girl. Need? Maybe not. Want? Definitely. You just need to let go, and we’ll help you carry all your burdens. Your mates will take care of everything.”

Males handed over burdens. They didn’t take them away. Here were Gibson and Ben telling me the opposite. “Yeah, just like my dad? As if.” I pressed my lips together, realizing what I’d said aloud. “Oh, fate,” I choked, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes to hide the tears.

Gibson peeled them away as Ben molded his body against mine, his arm circling my waist where we sat propped against the wall behind my futon. “Don’t ever hide your tears from us, Shelby,” Gibson said. “Your pain is ours.”

I’d heard a she-wolf’s tears sobered her mate. It was one of nature’s ways of balancing the power differential. It prevented or reduced domestic abuse in partnerships that lasted a lifetime. Ben and Gibson crowded close, enfolded me between their bodies. Sheltered me. Protected me.