Desired (Two Marks 2)

“But—” I heard my mate’s voice, then Shelby’s, prodding her to agree. Rachel must have gone out to get Shelby, since this was her house.

“Get off me, asshole.” I pushed at Cord. “My mate’s leaving.”

Cord popped up and swayed a little, but was stopped by Gibson with a hand on his chest. “Stay the fuck there, Doc.”

Using the couch, I pushed myself up, wiping the blood from my lip with the back of my hand. It stung, but would be healed within a few minutes.

Gibson stood before us, hands on hips. Ben was behind him, waiting and watchful. No one else from the party was in the house—they were probably told by their alpha to remain outside. “Explain why you two are destroying my house.”

“He touched my mate,” Cord snarled.

“My. Mate,” I countered, turning to face Cord to attack again.

“Enough.” Even though Gibson wasn’t my pack alpha, I couldn’t do anything but still and obey. Only our ragged breathing could be heard.

The alpha took a step closer, and took a deep breath. His eyes widened, his nostrils flared, then he glanced back and forth between us.

“You’re both right,” he said.

“You’re wrong,” I said, then bit my cut lip. Had I just backtalked an alpha?

Gibson eyed me, but didn’t do anything more than set his hands back on his hips.

“What do you mean?” Cord asked, which was what I should have said.

I frowned, looked to Cord. His hostility seemed to clear as he blinked and took a step back.

“Sniff. Figure it out,” Gibson added.

We did. I didn’t smell anything. “He doesn’t have a scent,” I said.

“No, he doesn’t,” Cord added.

Gibson ran a hand over his face. “For a doctor, Cord, you’re acting like an idiot. You’ve been wishing you were scent matched. Well, it seems you are. Nash, here, is your match.”

“What the—” Cord began, eyeing me now in a different way.

Holy shit.

“I have a scent match?” I asked. “No way. I’m not from here.” This guy? A doctor? In West Springs? A scent match? That meant…

Gibson laughed. He came over, slapped us on the shoulders. “You two better figure your shit out—and fast, because you just drove your mate away. Your shared mate.”

4

RACHEL

I had never in my life witnessed anything so absurd. Grown men fighting over me?

I found her.

I found her first.

What did they put in this town’s water, anyway? Testosterone? And here I’d thought Cord was a gentleman. More like a Neanderthal. And the other guy, Nash. He was the same way.

“Does that happen often around here?” I choked to the outdoorsy-beautiful young woman leading me out the front door. I glanced one last time over my shoulder. At the mess that had been made. At the two raggedly breathing men eyeing each other as if they wanted to go back at it.

The young woman laughed and stopped walking once we were away from the house. Their place was nestled back in the woods, but set in a pretty clearing. “No. Never. I guess they both found you irresistible. I’m Shelby, by the way. This is my place.”

She indicated the giant log house we’d just left. It wasn’t modern or fancy, but built with lots of rooms for perhaps a large-sized family who lived here originally. It was absolutely nothing like my parents’ place in California. This place was lived in, a home. While my parents had parties often, they’d never think of having a potluck. The image was laughable.

“The growly guy who broke up the fight is Gibson, my boyfriend.”

“I’m Rachel. I’m new in town.”

She gave me a smile and raised her arms in the air. “Welcome to West Springs. Chaos and all. I’ve only been here a few months myself, actually. I’m from the same town as Nash. The guy back there—your second admirer? The blond hottie who couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

“Nash,” I repeated, then blushed. “I don’t think he saw me that way.”

She came over, set her hand on my shoulder. “Oh, he saw you that way.”

A thread of guilt ran through me at being as attracted to Nash as I was to Cord. What was it with me? The first two well-built men who gave me the time of day, and I wanted to drop my panties for both of them! Maybe I was the one who shouldn’t drink the water.

It was like the sexual switch got turned on the moment I landed in West Springs. I went from no sex drive—because my only option to fool around had been Chester—to being attracted to two men in the course of a few hours.

“Nash is a great guy,” Shelby said, interrupting my thoughts. She was probably a little older than me, but she seemed to have her life completely pulled together. A hot boyfriend whom she was living with. Me? I’d run away from home, and now I was a virgin who didn’t know what to do with two men.