Zane tossed some clothes her way. A set of sweats that were so big that she had to fold the waist and sleeves to get them to sort of fit. Then he grabbed a bottle of water and sat down next to her on the bed.

“Are you hurt?” Zane asked as he handed her the water.

“I’m a bit bruised and I have a couple of scratches,” more like claw marks, “but I’ll survive.”

“Let me see.” Zane moved the hoodie of the sweatshirt and leaned in to examine the back of her neck and throat. She thanked God that he stayed away from her hips, which had taken the brunt of the assault. When he pulled away, his mouth was set.

“It’s fine,” she shrugged.

“It’s not fine. We were too rough, but it won’t happen again.” Zane turned to look at Brant who sat on his haunches back on the far side of the room.

“It won’t happen again,” Brant repeated leaning his arms onto his thighs. “I won’t watch you rut with her again though. This will only work if we remain separate. We’ll have to find a way to share.” More of the same shuffling from one coven to the other. She sighed.

“You need to move to my castle. We agreed it would be best,” Zane added more gruffly.

“As a short term solution. Separate towers. I’ll only agree on long term if we build on neutral ground. Something fit for both covens.”

“Fine, but how do we share the female?”

Brant shrugged.

“For now we’ll stick to the current arrangement, but when she’s in heat—”

“We’ll take turns. One cycle she’s mine and the next she’s yours.” Brant stood in one graceful motion.

Zane chuckled. “Fine, but since this is my twenty four hours with the female I get to spend the rest of the time with her. I get to have her first cycle. You can consider what just happened as a gift. Happy fucking birthday!”

Brant snarled. His eyes glowed. “Like hell.”

Zane chuckled some more. “On occasions like this, the three of us will have to try and get along.”

Brant growled something incoherent.

“Let’s hope our seed takes and we won’t be faced with this problem again for a while.”

Brant nodded once while sliding back down onto his haunches. His head hung, he looked defeated. Tanya wanted to go to him, but didn’t dare. She had no idea how he would react. It hurt. She’d really banked on a future with him. It looked as if she would remain torn between the two kings with one who saw her as a business arrangement and the other who wouldn’t be able to hold feelings for her because he had envisioned a more normal relationship. Her hand tightened around the bottle that Zane had given her earlier, she opened it and drained half the contents.

“Are you hungry?”

She shook her head but her stomach growled. Zane smiled, a sexy grin that had her nipples tightening. Other parts responded with a throbbing ache. Her body was telling her that she was ready for round two, yet her mind responded with a hell no knowing full well that her body didn’t know what it was talking about.

Zane tore open a silver foil package and offered her a biscuit. Tanya took the snack and nibbled. Not bad. The second pack had dried fruit in it. Between the biscuits and the fruit, she ended up enjoying it and felt much better even though she was still exhausted.

Tanya yawned. She’d spent half the night waiting for Brant to come home and her morning had started long before dawn.

“Sleep, Ysnaar. We will need you again soon. The scent you give off during this time will make a male lose his mind with need. Vampire female’s only go into heat twice per year.”

“Really? Because with us it’s every month.”

Brant growled, the sound more frustrated than angry as he spoke. “We have to go through this once every moon cycle. Sleep, Cenwein.” His body tightened as he looked in Zane’s direction. “I get to take her first.”

“Calm the fuck down. You can have her first so long as you go easy.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Brant’s lips curled back into a snarl that had her feeling a little hot. Must be all the testosterone flying around the room, she thought.

“Actually, Brant, everything feels a bit tender. You will need to take it slower.” She didn’t like picking sides, but her body wouldn’t take much more of what had been dished out previously.

“I’m sorry.” Brant averted his eyes and Tanya longed to wrap her arms around him.

“I know you are,” she added. “It felt really good at the time even if it hurts a bit after.”

“You smell so good and seeing him rutting you made me want to lose my mind.” Brant growled again. The sound evoked a feeling of terror this time even though she knew he wouldn’t really hurt her.

Brant’s nose twitched. “You have nothing to fear.”

“I know.”

Zane chuckled. “Watching us rut made you want to lose your mind…don’t you mean lose your load?” He pretended to hump the air.

Brant growled, “Like fuck. Fuck you!”

Zane chuckled a second time but thankfully dropped it. He turned to her and said, “Sleep.” Zane adjusted himself in his pants, a pinched look came over his face. He sat on the edge of the bed, but within a few minutes was up and pacing. “Oh, to hell with it,” he said. There was a rustling noise. When Tanya looked, his pants were in a heap on the floor. “I’m sorry female but I need to take care of this and I realize that you are too sore.” He gestured to his engorged shaft, turned and walked over to the toilet and palmed his cock. His back was to them with his tight ass in full view. Zane used one hand to lean against the wall. His elbow moved back and forth with increasing speed.

“Really?”

“It is extremely difficult for us to scent you and not be heavily turned on.” Brant spoke while keeping his eyes averted. “I will need to do the same once he is finished. It will be better this way. Maybe we can be gentler if we take care of ourselves first. You sleep.” Brant’s cock jutted up against his belly.

“Like hell,” she whispered. “This shouldn’t be happening, but I’m feeling really turned on anyways.”

“It’s the heat.” Zane grunted, his hand still moving back and forth.

Tanya took off her sweatpants and walked over to Brant whose eyes started to glow as she stood in front of him. “I’ve never felt this turned on before,” she added.

“You’ve never been around vampires before during this time. Never rutted with our kind.” Even though his hand was still wrapped around his member, Zane had stopped fisting his cock. He had turned and was watching her and Brant intently. She straddled Brant, who put his hands on her hips. She winced.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Brant’s brow furrowed as he took in the scratches on her hips.

“Put your hands on your thighs and leave them there.” Tanya unzipped her sweater knowing it would be shredded if she didn’t. “If you so much as lay one finger on me then this stops. Do you understand?”

Brant swallowed hard, his eyes on her breasts, he nodded once.

“Good.” She took his shaft in her hand and guided it to her opening. It stung a little at first but she was soon riding him, chasing yet another orgasm. He felt so good inside her, filling her. His face was taut with desire, his eyes dark. They studied her, moving from her face to her bouncing chest. It felt so good to be in control but when he thrust into her from below, she came undone on a long wail. Brant grunted, right there with her. As soon as she slowed her movements, Zane picked her up off of Brant.

He used the wall to anchor her. “Wrap your legs around me, sweetness.” She did as he said. “Good girl.” He grunted as he entered her in one swift motion. “I’m already close.” He grit his teeth while fucking her with exquisite slowness.

She moaned, feeling yet another orgasm build. “Oh God, me too.”

“How you holding up?” Zane whispered between rugged pants.

“I’ll be sore and sorry for myself later…” She moaned. “Feels really good right now though.” She moaned again as her body tightened. “How long will I stay this way?”

“I”—he grunted—“don’t”—he groaned—“know.”

She just knew there was no way she would survive too much more of this. That thought quickly dissolved as his finger brushed her clit. It wasn’t long and she was coming apart again. Between his deft strokes and skillful fingers, she didn’t stand a chance. Zane grit his teeth, growling low as he found his completion. His eyes never left hers.

Brant growled pulling her away from Zane the moment he stilled.

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I mean it this time.”

“You will sleep with me,” Brant said, his eyes on Zane.

Zane’s eyes hardened but he nodded. Tanya picked up her sweatpants and headed for the bed. She could deal with her males later, right now she needed to sleep. Yawning, she moved to lie between the sheets. Brant pulled her against him, leaving his arm tightly around her middle. It was hard to believe that it was possible, but his hard erection dug into her lower back.

“Can you move that please?” It would be hard to fall asleep with his dick throbbing against her. “You might bruise me with it.”

Brant made a sound of disagreement. “I can’t,” he paused. “I feel a little bit better when I am pressed up against you.”

How could she argue with that? It was actually kind of sweet in a weird way. “Fine,” she huffed, sure that she would never fall asleep. Above them a battle raged, another one raged just as fiercely right here in this room. She glanced over at Zane who sat with his back resting against the wall, a stony expression on his face.

Tanya awoke some time later to the sound of a loud grunt. She turned to see Zane hunched over the toilet jerking as he found his completion. As soon as he was done Brant planted a kiss to the back of her neck and slid from the bed taking up Zane’s position, dick in hand.

“Is it really that bad?”

“Worse.” Zane’s chest rumbled against her as he took Brant’s place in the bed, he pulled her against him. The familiar feel of an erection dug into her.

“You can’t be horny already?”

“Wanna bet?” Zane grinned. “Don’t worry, sweetness, we will wait until you are ready again.”

Brant grunted. Tanya glanced over feeling a bit like a voyeur. Legs set apart, ass pinched, arm moving back and forward in a rhythm that had her mouth turning dry. That familiar need resonated from between her thighs, but she was just too sore to be able to act on it.

“Think of our female’s tight sheath,” Zane threw at Brant.

“Shut it,” Brant bit back.

“Think of her lush tits against your chest, of her little pants and moans as she’s about to cum.”

“I said to…” He grunted, his ass jerking as his hand pumped harder.

“I know. Impossible not to cum isn’t it?”

Brant finished up. He used a bottle of water to wash his hands. “I can fantasize about Tanya without your help.”

Zane chuckled, he trailed his finger along her arm. She was tempted to drift back to sleep but pulled herself up instead. She glanced at Zane. “Tell me about growing up. Where are your parents?”

Zane tensed. “I think we can save that for another time.” He looked at Brant like he expected the other male to say something. Brant put on some pants and took up his position on his haunches at the wall.

“I might be pregnant with your child. I need to know more about both of you if we are to make this work.”

“Female,” he paused. “It is done whether any of us likes it or not. In eight days we will officially mate, hopefully your womb will quicken before then. It must work between us.” Zane pulled away rising to a sitting position.

“I want to know more Zane.” She sat in front of him, putting a hand on his chest. Feeling the warmth of the skin somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. Again he glanced at Brant. Maybe she should’ve brought this up when they were alone, but at the same time they were in this together. All three of them. She didn’t want to have to go back and forth for the rest of her life.

His dark eyes settled on her. “My mother was not technically my father’s first choice. He wanted a female that he couldn’t end up having and chose another at the ceremony. It didn’t work out,” he paused. “Although he chose my mother, she always knew his heart had been set on another. She could never come to terms with that.” Tanya wanted to know more about why he couldn’t have the female he really wanted but didn’t want to interrupt. His eyes clouded for a second. “She was never happy. A fragile, timid human. My father tried hard to please her, but by the time I was born they had drifted apart and had even taken up separate rooms.” His mouth became a thin white line. He seemed to be composing himself. Tanya wrapped her hand in his.

He squeezed. “She wasn’t a very good mother. Thankfully there were many females at the coven to take care of me. She would spend days in her room. She cried often. I can only ever remember her hugging me once. I fell and skinned my knee. Even though it healed almost immediately, I cried. She comforted me while telling me that life was unfair. It was the first and the last time it ever happened. I saw her less and less and when I did, she had a vacant faraway look. On my sixth birthday I was told that she had died.”

Tanya gasped, “On your birthday?”

Zane smiled humorlessly. “I only found out much later that she had taken her own life. Cut her wrists in the bath. How cliché. Couldn’t even wait one more day.”

She could see how much he hurt. “Look, Zane. I realize that by some sick twist of fate that I also am not your first choice. I’m really sorry that she died the way she did, and that your first choice died. That they both died…” Shit. She was babbling, she took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry about…”

Zane cupped her chin. “Be still, Ysnaar. You are nothing like those humans.”

Brant cleared his throat about to say something it seemed. Tanya was just turning toward him when Zane’s hand tightened on her chin. He moved forward and kissed her. It wasn’t fumbly like before. His soft lips caressed hers for a brief second before he slanted his head in the opposite direction. She made a sound of frustration as he pulled away altogether.

“I thought you liked to kiss, sweetness.” Zane whispered.

“I do, but there’s more to it than that.”

He looked confused. “Kissing is the touching of lips. Have I missed something?”

She couldn’t help but to smile. “Kissing me like you just did was really great.”

“I don’t see the problem then…” His eyebrows had drawn together.

“Let’s use sex as an example.” She said watching his delectable lips form a sexy, half smile. “A quick brush of the lips is great. It’s similar to rubbing your dick along my slit. Feels good right?” His eyes turned a little hooded and he nodded. “But not as good as thrusting into my pussy.”

He rolled his eyes and covered his ridged shaft with his hand like he was about to shoot off at any moment. “Careful, sweetness, I don’t have much control at the moment and you’re still sore.”

“Yes, I am. So no ideas.”

“I still don’t understand what you’re—”

She leaned in cutting his sentence off with her lips and tongue, which she swiped across his lips. Thankfully he caught the hint and opened. He was a quick learner and it wasn’t long before he took the lead groaning as their tongues swirled together.

Zane was panting when they finally broke apart. “Another human concept that I really like and want to do often.” She was about to kiss him again when Zane tensed up pulling her behind him. Brant jumped to his feet grabbing one of the swords that Zane had discarded earlier.

Then she heard the sound of footfalls. “It’s me.” The sound of Xavier’s voice punctured the room. Two arrows jutted from his back and his face and torso were covered in blood.

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

“Do not be alarmed, my queen. They are merely flesh wounds.” Xavier must’ve seen the look of confusion on her face. “The arrow tips are not poisoned,” he added.

Zane stood, donning a pair of pants. “Casualties?” he barked.

Xavier blinked several times. It was as if he raged an internal war. “Only four when we were taken by surprise. None of your men, although Lance is badly wounded.” Xavier hung his head. “He may not make it.”

“What the fuck happened?”

“Back the fuck off.” Brant turned glowing eyes on Zane.

“What happened?” She asked also needing to know.

“Stephany was taken.” Xavier said, head still facing the ground.

“What the fuck happened? Who took her? I’ll fucking kill them!” Brant raged.

Tanya clasped his arm trying to give him a measure of comfort, but he brushed her off.

“They took Stephany, my lord. Lance was nearly killed trying to save her. As for the rest of us, we had to choose between you”—He turned his head to look them each in the eye. His teeth clenched as they landed on Zane—“or her. I would choose the same way again if given the opportunity.”

“You did the right thing,” Zane said.

“Oh my God. How can you say that? Poor Stephany.” Tanya felt tears cascade down her cheeks. She’d never cried so often in her whole life. Zane wrapped an arm around her.

“We’ll send a party after them right now,” Brant growled.

“Already done. Vampires from both sides.” Xavier looked at them both in turn.

“Good. If I leave right now,” Brant said taking a deep breath. “I’ll be able to catch up to them.”

“No, my lord. You need to stay with the queen.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Zane can take care of her, I will find Stephany.” Brant strode down the tunnel and within seconds it was too dark to see his retreating back.

Tanya buried her head into Zane’s chest and cried. She felt guilty because although most of her tears were for her vampire friend, some of them were for herself. Zane thread his fingers into her hair.

“Why did they take her?” she gasped. “You don’t think the alpha will mate with Stephany do you?”

“Stephany is already mated, so I highly doubt it.”

“It’s not like her and Lance are truly together.” She sobbed harder.

“That is true,” his deep voice rumbled through her.

“How would the alpha even know that she was mated?”

“He would scent it. Then again, Lance has not left his mark on her in many years.”

She sobbed even harder.

“It would be unwise to speculate. Wolves and vampires do not mix anyways, so I am sure he has not taken her for that reason. We will soon know his intentions though. Brant may just get her back before the wolf makes it back to the rest of the pack and into shifter territory. Problem is, the bastards are fast and really good at hiding their trail. Brant might get lucky though.”

At the mention of Brant’s name, she clutched onto Zane hiccupping as her tears came down faster.

“He will get over himself.”

“No, he won’t.”

“Sweetness…” he caressed her back. “Look at me.”

She shook her head, unable to stop the tears.

“Tanya.”

The use of her real name had her pulling back. Red nose, snot and all.

“He will get over himself. This is a big adjustment.”

“How is it that you don’t mind? Don’t you care either way? Is this all about heirs to you?”

His eyes softened turning to melted, rich chocolate. “I care, Ysnaar. For whatever reason, I don’t mind as much as I thought I would. I enjoyed watching him rut with you.”

She gasped, “Really?”

Zane nodded. “Yeah, really. Problem is that Brant doesn’t feel the same, so we’ll need to keep things separate…It will work out in the end,” he shrugged.

It made her feel hot remembering their earlier encounter. Especially now that she knew Zane had enjoyed watching. A shiver raced through her and her pussy gave a little throb of both need and soreness.

Zane chuckled, the sound coming much easier than the first time he had laughed for her. He sniffed in her direction. “You amaze me, female.”

She giggled stopping as soon as she thought of Brant. “He can’t even look at me right now, let alone…” She sniffed and bit her lip trying to hold back another wave of tears.

“Like I said, he’ll get over it and if not then it’s his loss.”

She tried to smile even though half her heart felt like it was raw and bleeding.