Four weeks later

Hearing the gruff tone rounding the corner, Aaron prepared himself for what was about to come. The tall Latino doctor stepped out into the darkness of the parking lot, his attention on his phone and the person on the other end of the line when it should have been on the shadows.

Before his eyes could adjust, Graver reached for the phone in the hand of the bastard who had attacked his mate’s hands, threw it to the floor, and dug his heel into the electronics.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Rodriguez, Toni’s manager, shrieked. “Do you know how much that fucking phone cost me?”

“No. And I don’t care.” Before Rodriguez could bitch any harder about his goddamn piece of shit status symbol, Aaron lunged forward, slipped his forearm against the bastard’s throat and dragged him back against him. Heading for the shadows, he ignored the other man’s struggles. His attempts were pitiful at best, but against a Shifter with his hackles firmly up, the fucker had no choice.

When he felt the wall of the hospital’s reception at his back, he took a quick glance around to make sure he was still out of range of the limited CCTV within the parking lot. Seeing he was good to go, he spun around and smashed Rodriguez into the wall.

Dazed, the man gawked at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m your worst fucking nightmare.”

“Take my wallet, man. The keys to my Porsche are in my pocket. Just don’t fucking hurt me.”

Aaron’s upper lip curled in disgust. “I thought you liked pain.”

He stiffened. “What?”

“Or is it that you like giving it just not receiving it?”

“That fucking whore. She was begging for it. And I paid her extra to keep her fucking mouth shut. Are you her pimp?”

“I might as well be,” Aaron growled. Disgust filled him at the realization Toni wasn’t the first woman he’d hurt, but it gave him the perfect excuse to beat the ever-loving crap out of him without leaving a trail of breadcrumbs right to the MC’s door. “I’m going to make you pay until you realize what a sick fuck you are. I’m going to make you wish you weren’t the perverted bastard you are.” He punctuated his statement with an uppercut to the gut, one which had Rodriguez coughing and gasping as he bent over, folding in half around Aaron’s fist. “What are you?” he peppered, a demand in his tone. When Rodriguez just spluttered, he snarled, “I asked you what the fuck you are?”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t fucking know,” Rodriguez whined.

Graver shot his knee up, sinking it between the bastard’s legs until the man was doing more than whining. Pumping his fists into the man’s face, he hissed, “You’re a perverted bastard. You don’t deserve to walk on this fucking earth.” Each word he topped with a punch, a hit, a fist or his knee or elbow aimed at some soft part on the weakling in his grasp.

It wasn’t a fair fight. It could never have been. Not between a male Shifter and a human. Not even the MMA fighters could keep up with a Shifter in his prime, but this bastard was weaker than most—in body and spirit. He got off on making himself look bigger, better, stronger by demeaning those weaker than him.

“Stop it! Stop!” Rodriguez pleaded as the rage fueled Aaron on, spurring each fist to hit somewhere else, somewhere new. Desperate to make the man beg for mercy. To put him, for just a moment, in the shoes of the women he’d hurt, degraded.

His bear roared in his head, and that, and only that, was what stopped him. His aggression had whirled him away to another land, to another world, to a place that terrified him, one he’d visited when he’d challenged Moses. He hadn’t been so far gone this time, as he’d only wanted to give this bastard a lesson he’d never forget, but as he stepped back and let Rodriguez crumple to the ground, he realized he’d taken it farther than he’d wanted.

Shaking his wrists, stretching out his fingers, he willed away the ache and realized only a shift would disperse it. As that wasn’t possible at the moment, he grunted. “You watch who you pick on next time, bastard,” he warned to the man laying limp on the pavement. “Predators come in all shapes and sizes. Usually, they’re bigger than you.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Rodriguez gasped out as he curled into a self-protective ball on the slick pavement.

Graver stared down at him. His night vision was a hundred times better than a human’s, but when headlights shone in the distance, adding a faint illumination to this part of the parking lot, he winced at the sight of the bastard’s face.

Jesus, he’d worked him over.

“I’m just someone who watches out for the little guy.”

“I know someone like that,” Rodriguez panted. “You watch yourself. I have connections too.”

Graver laughed. “Yeah? They’ve served you well tonight, haven’t they? Where were your connections when I was teaching you a fucking lesson?”

Rodriguez didn’t reply, just coughed and rolled up onto his knees. Aaron watched as he tried to stagger up, thankful that the man was well enough to try to walk. But he didn’t stick around. He had no intention of watching the bastard get back up and walk into the ER where he’d assaulted Toni. Instead, he slipped into the distance then walked around the side of the building where he’d parked the truck.

Jumping in, satisfaction flooded him at finally having taught the bastard a lesson. He knew Toni thought they’d forgotten about the bruises on her wrists that night they claimed her, but they hadn’t. What kind of mates would they have been if they’d let that kind of transgression go unpunished?

He’d have told him, spat his identity in the bastard’s face, recounted word for word why he was being punished, but Aaron wasn’t stupid. Toni would pay for her mates’ need to dole out retribution, and that was the last thing either of them wanted.

As he set off back to the clubhouse, he pondered exactly who Rodriguez’s connections were. Not that he was concerned. He had some connections of his own—connections that came with fur, claws, and teeth that no human, be they a nasty-ass foot soldier for a cartel or a little girl, wanted to see.

The drive home sped by as he allowed himself to focus on what he was coming back to.

He and Justiss had agreed that Aaron would go and dole out the punishment that Rodriguez had been begging for. Said agreement had been made after a fistfight in the yard and then a game of rock, paper, scissors when neither of them had been willing to concede the fight, both desperate to be the one doling out vengeance.

So, Aaron had gone out and done just that, leaving J to occupy their mate and keep her unaware of what was going on. When she was at the clubhouse, it was unusual for her to be with just one of them. They tended to crowd her as much as they could unless they were out on a run or on business. And at this time of night, they’d both realized she’d be suspicious of where Aaron had gone. As a result, they’d decided to take her mind off things entirely.

He couldn’t wait to walk into his bedroom and see how well she was taking her surprise for himself.

* * *

Toni squealed. There was no nicer way to phrase it. No other way to wangle it. The squeals were so damn high pitch they were hurting her own ears, but Jesus, what was Justiss was doing to her? It should have been illegal.

With her butt in the air, her legs spread and feet cupping Justiss’s thighs, and her face smashed into the pillows, she couldn’t have been in a more ignominious position. And she loved every fucking minute of it.

Still, what he was doing, God, it was killing her.

Ever since they’d claimed her, the pair of them had taken her every which way but Sunday. She’d never had so much sex in her life and figured that the excess was as a result of the starvation she’d had to endure for most of her years. They only stopped when they thought she’d had enough, and though she was sore most of the time, they were always the one to back off. Never her.

She found she didn’t care if her pussy ached or if her limbs felt like she’d been on a marathon. It didn’t matter. Just being connected to them was what counted.

Her talent, the one the Goddesses gifted new mates, was a bizarre one. It was nothing like Christie’s, a talent that seemed beyond useless in most aspects, especially when pregnant and still suffering with morning sickness. Even in the short second trimester of a Shifter’s gestation. It was actually useless to the outside world, but helpful in their relationship and for work. Her empathy levels had shot through the roof.

She’d underplayed it to her mates, not wanting them to worry, but she could sense their agitation even if she was at work and they were here at the clubhouse. With patients, she could sense when they were lying about the stories they gave the staff about their injuries and was able even to understand when their pain levels weren’t being correctly managed by their medication.

It was bizarre but helpful.

It was why, even though she was squealing like a pig, she knew Aaron was up to no good. And she could sense, through their link, that it was probably to do with her boss. She was off work for the next three days, but she knew, just knew, that when she went into her department, Rodriguez would likely be battered beyond recognition.

The weird thing was, with the empathy came an understanding of the rampant emotions her mates had to deal with on a daily basis. The pull of the Bear fucked with their heads in ways she was slowly coming to understand. Their need for her, their possessiveness, their desire to cosset her and protect her, it wasn’t just about two men being dominant. It was the push and pull of their animal working in tangent with the man. If she wasn’t happy then the Bear wasn’t happy, and if the beast wasn’t happy, Aaron and Justiss were the ones who suffered for it.

As if it wasn’t complicated enough being mated to two men, there were the bears to contend with too. While this gift of hers had brought attention to that, it was also helping her calm them down. At least, she’d figured it was helping until Aaron had had to run into town on an ‘errand’. And suddenly, out of nowhere, Justiss had decided he needed to rectify her ‘very tight asshole’ situation, as he’d so charmingly phrased it.

It was for this exact reason she hadn’t let on the extent of her new gift. Not that it was getting her far at the moment, something that was forced home when more lube was splashed against her asshole and J’s fingers went diving for gold. At least, she hoped there was gold at the end of it. Jesus. Well, that or an orgasm.

At the moment, she was so goddamn sensitive it wasn’t building her up to orgasmic heights. Instead, it had her wriggling around on the mattress like a crazy person.

Suddenly, J seemed to have had enough. His hand whipped through the air, slashed down, then SMACK. It hit her ass with enough of a clap to have her freezing.

What the hell?

Had he just spanked her?

Before she could complain, he did it again, then scissored his fingers in her butt, stretching the muscles wide enough that she had to clench her stomach to keep her from rocking her hips.

It was the oddest combination of pleasure and discomfort. The truth was, she wanted to have both her mates take her at the same time. She wanted it with such a depth it stunned her. It was why she was letting him take a goddamn age to prepare her for what was to come tonight.

She shuddered when the spanking hand slid down to her pussy, connected with her clit, before sinking deep into her core. Both sets of fingers rubbed against each other, a move which set her to shrieking again. She whimpered into the pillow when he began to gently thrust, before scissoring the digits once more.

“Imagine how it’s going to feel when we’re both claiming you,” J whispered, his voice sultry, temptation soaking every word until she wanted to beg him to get on with it already. She knew he wouldn’t though, not until Aaron was back.

Goddammit.

He’d better get his butt here quickly. How long did it take to beat a man up, anyway?

The thought was so unlike her, it jerked her to attention, but the truth was she’d long since stopped giving a damn. Her mates were going to do what their Bears wanted, and Rodriguez was a fuckwit anyway. The hospital admin had ignored her complaints, and this was the result. All she cared about now was having her mate here, in this room, and his cock very, very close to her.

“I’m going to fuck you here first,” J whispered, letting the words gust over the small of her back. “Make you mine while Aaron fucks your pussy.”

She whimpered. “Where is he? When’s he coming home?”

A wicked chuckle sounded from the doorway, and her head whipped around at the noise. Seeing Aaron standing there had chills running down her spine, a chill based in need. She reached for him, desperate for him to be near her. Her fingers unfurled when he approached, and as he clasped her hand, she tugged him closer.

“Has J been teasing you?”

Justiss grunted. “Preparing her for what’s to come more like.”

She knew from this new sense of hers that a silent conversation was occurring above her. She could sense Aaron’s supreme satisfaction, a sentiment that was soon shared by Justiss. Before she could huff in irritation, J pressed a kiss to the bottom of her back. “You’re ready, princess.”

She grunted at the new nickname, one that had come about thanks to a visit to her home where they’d seen all her childhood pictures, most of them with the little tiara her grandma had called her fairy princess one and that she’d loved Toni to wear at special occasions before she’d hit middle school. She still had the tiara, had kept it out of sentimentality when she wasn’t the most sentimental of people. Now, with J and Graver in her life, she wondered if they’d have a little girl she could pass the tiara on to.

Once upon a time, the prospect would have filled her with terror. Now, she was realizing that fear only went so far as you yourself allowed it to take hold. Her new talents were showing her that. Plus, with these two at her side, she couldn’t be scared. They were like bodyguards. There was nothing to be frightened of when they were about.

The bed rocked as both men moved away from the mattress. Before she could complain, she turned her head to the side and saw that Aaron was starting to strip off and that the jeans J had been wearing up to now were also about to anoint the floor.

Satisfied that the teasing was over and the good stuff was about to go down, she wiggled her butt and slipped her hand between her legs. Bold as brass, she began to caress her pussy, frigging her clit before sliding her fingers inside and fucking herself in front of them.

Twin groans had her smiling into the pillow.

“That’s ours to play with,” Aaron growled as he climbed onto the bed again, and almost like this was ‘let’s spank Toni’ night, his hand whistled through the air too and connected with her butt. She let out a shriek this time though. He’d hit harder than Justiss, and the burn was hotter. For some reason, though, the discomfort was enough to have her wriggling some more. It seemed to be on a direct line to her clit. That spank had done more for her than her rubbing herself had.

Stunned by the notion, she bit down on the pillow as Aaron dropped down and pressed a wet kiss to her gushing pussy. She moaned as he thrust his tongue into her slit, fucking her with the small muscle until she was riding his face, rocking her pussy against his lips and mouth, begging him for more, silently pleading for everything.

She felt a hand on her hip and knew it was J. She waited to see what he’d do then groaned with disappointment when Aaron moved away. The mattress shifted on both sides as Aaron maneuvered up to the head of the bed, and J positioned himself behind her. His cock brushed the curve of her ass and she felt how wet it was, unnaturally so. He was lubed up and ready.

Her heart stuttered in her chest as she realized what was about to happen.

Sucking in a deep breath, she whimpered when his dick rubbed her rosette, then let out a moan as he started to thrust into her, working at muscles he’d already teased and tempted this evening. As he forged ahead, taking his time, being gentle if insistent with her, his hand dropped down to her clit. Still slick with Aaron’s saliva, his touch ignited the fire in her that had burned down to embers. Suddenly, she wasn’t content with waiting. She wanted this. She needed it.

Rocking her hips back into him, she felt him forge a path inside her and reveled in the burn, the heat. She didn’t shy away from it this time. Instead, she embraced it until every inch of him was inside her.

Though she wanted it, more desperately than anything, she still had to catch her breath at the thickness of his penetration. Jesus, he was deep. And he was big. She felt both split apart and glued together. They always stirred these contradictory emotions in her. Sometimes, it left her bewildered, other times, like she was right at home.

Now?

She was bewildered but too horny to care.

The ache in her butt hadn’t dispelled any of the lust flooding her. If anything, it had ratcheted it up… taking it to a whole other level that had the breath she’d just caught turning into panting gasps that were loaded with desperation.

Her hands tore into the bedspread as he began to rock in and out, not pulling free, not even moving all that much, just shifting his hips, letting her get used to the fullness.

She must have been insane to let the words spill from her lips, but she couldn’t withhold them. Now J was inside her, she had to have Aaron too. It was too soon, her body wasn’t used to all this attention, but she didn’t care. If it meant walking bow-legged tomorrow and having Christy snicker at her, she’d endure it. She needed them both. Now.

“Please, Aaron, please.” The whimpers escaped her, and she could sense their confusion at her uttering Aaron’s name when it was J inside her. Until suddenly, the penny dropped.

“You want me, baby?” came the silken tone. “You want me in your pussy?”

“Please, please,” she begged. “Yes. I need you. I need both of you.”

Almost like her words were the equivalent of her pulling the trigger on a gun, Justiss’s hands slid between her legs, and he hoisted her up so that she fell deeper onto his shaft. The unexpected movement had a scream bursting from her, one that ricocheted around the room. They froze then chuckled as her body, already on the knife edge, decided to take that moment to explode into an orgasm.

Another scream fell from her as fireworks exploded behind her eyes. The sensations were too much, too everything. They burned and froze. Exploded and imploded. They decimated her… took her to an edge she’d never reached before.

She didn’t even feel herself being maneuvered around. J spread her legs and let her come to a resting position on his lap. He moved so that he was supported by the bedhead, and let her settle against him, her back flush to his chest, her limp noodles for bones all supported by him.

In this position, he was deep, and the orgasm that had come from out of nowhere started to sizzle through her like a live wire that refused to burn out at the pressure inside her. Her eyelids were twitching as she forced them open, and then she felt like crying at the sight of Aaron, between her thighs, his cock hard in his fist, pre-cum wetting the tip. He was so beautiful. The earnest desire on his face, his feelings were written into his features, and just like she couldn’t endure not letting J claim her fully, she couldn’t withhold her emotions any longer.

“I love you, Aaron,” she whispered on an exhalation. When his eyes grew wider than saucers, she turned her head and nuzzled her forehead against J’s prickly jaw. “And I love you, Justiss. My mates. My everything.”

Her words were like the start of a controlled explosion. She could see as well as sense their reaction to her declaration, but it was their bears which had tears pricking her eyes. They’d been so lonely, so alone before her. And now, they weren’t.

Aaron had once told her a legend among his kind—that until a Shifter found his mate, the creature within him had no peace. Because of her unique capabilities, she knew that to be the truth. It seemed crazy, considering these men lived as long as they did, but as the Bears soaked up her words, her tears began to fall.

What these men felt for her was far more complex than love. It was so all encompassing that love was nothing in comparison, but she had no other means of expressing herself, and when Justiss breathed against her cheek, “You’re my world. My life. My heart. I love you with all that I am,” her soul fluttered with the glory of it. This was more than love. It was everything.

Aaron jerked her away from the moment by pressing his dick against her pussy. He rubbed her clit with the spongy glans, sparking it to life once more, then slid the tip against her gate. As he pushed in, he had to fight for space.

At first, it was uncomfortable. She had to fight to keep still atop J’s lap, and it was a fight. She panted and gasped through every inch he staked a claim on until finally, he was deep inside her. He pressed his weight onto her, but rather than suffocate her, it was like a blanket—a hot, slightly hairy, gorgeous blanket. One she wanted to cocoon herself in.

With his chest pressed to hers, their faces were close together. His lips brushed her mouth, and his tongue peeped out to swipe along the seam of her own. As he tasted her, he whispered, “I was nothing before you, and now, you are my everything. I love you with all that I am.”

She closed her eyes, her heart wrenching at the earnestness of his and Justiss’s words. How had she ever become so lucky? How had she found these two men who wanted her, flaws and all? Two Bears who embraced her phobia and tried to ease it, who chauffeured her hours at a time to be with her on the journey to and from work. Two lovers who took her to the stars and carefully brought her home again, who protected her, loved her enough to defend her from the world…

Toni reached up to cup his face with her hands. “Make me yours,” she whispered. “Both of yours.”

And like the words were a challenge, a wicked grin stretched across his lips. Sandwiched so tightly between them, she couldn’t move and didn’t want or need to. Aaron started to rock his hips back, and almost like they were in sync, J jerked his hips up. With all the weight on him, he had less freedom of movement than them all, but still, Justiss managed to make his presence known. She whimpered at what that presence did to her and cried out when she felt them start to move in tandem, one pulling in as the other pulled out.

Dear God, what it felt like when they both touched, the heads meeting and clashing. Stars began to burst in front of her eyes. Her ears roared with the sounds of their harsh breaths, and deep in her nostrils, she smelled them, the earthy scent of their Bears as the creatures reacted to the intensity of the moment.

They fucked her. Claimed her. Took her for everything she was until she felt like a limp noodle between them. Every inch of her was staked with their possession, and she’d never felt so loved, so adored as she did at that moment.

They dragged her to a precipice, took her to the edge, and made her stay there. She hovered as they worked her higher and higher, forcing her to another level she’d never even imagined in her wildest fantasies. And then, Justiss’s hand moved from her hip to between her thighs and with a few simple rubs to her clit, that was it.

She was a goner.

A roar echoed through the room, one she felt certain had to belong to one of her men but knew, deep down, belonged to her. The sound was an honest reaction to the power of her pleasure. It made her combust. Her veins and arteries loaded with scorched blood that branded her heart, etching their names firmly onto the organ. The brand burned deeper when her roar was joined by their own, and the searing hot splash of their seed inside her was the final nail in her coffin.

She slumped between them, knowing they’d care for her and help her back into bed.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to pass out after sex, but she stayed fully aware this time. Her body buzzed with the aftermath of having them both, and she knew, without a doubt, that sex would never be the same again unless the pair of them were making her theirs simultaneously.

She felt their cocks soften inside her, a moment they waited for so they could retreat. Aaron was careful not to hurt her, not to press too much weight onto her chest. When his cock slipped from her, he lifted her against his chest, momentum dragging J’s shaft from her depths. She felt empty without them, empty and wet from their cum. The notion started a spark within, but she dampened it. Her body was out of action for the foreseeable future because it wasn’t just her pussy and ass that were sore, her very nerves were still sparking and fizzing.

Aaron rested her gently against the mattress then moved away, heading for the bathroom. Knowing what he was about, she turned her face into Justiss’s side, loving how he stroked her hair, soothing and gentling her as he silently reaffirmed how deeply he felt for her.

Her other mate returned with a wash cloth. He pressed it to her ravaged sex, cleansing her and preparing her for sleep. The cool fabric tickled and made her squirm as it rasped against sensitive tissue, but it wasn’t long until he was climbing into bed next to her.

The sheets floated over them all. They didn’t need a duvet or comforter. With all three of them in bed, they were plenty warm, and any other covering just made them swelter. As the cotton brushed her, she could still feel how sensitive she was and marveled at it.

Her men curled into her, turning onto their sides so that even in sleep, she’d be their focal point.

It could have been too much, could have continued being overwhelming as it had been at the start, but now, she knew they were what she needed. She’d been living a half-life before, but no more.

As she closed her eyes, a smile graced her lips. Something tugged at her senses, a feeling of disquiet, but she was exhausted, to the bone, weary and desperately in need of sleep. She dozed a little fitfully, was inches away from sleep when the door burst open, ricocheting against the back wall, and Mundo’s panicked shout ripped her from slumber.

“Toni! Wake up! It’s Christie. I think she’s miscarrying!”