Two days later

“Do you think we should wake her?”

Justiss scraped his jaw as he peered down at their still sleeping mate. “I don’t know.”

“She’s probably missed some days at work,” Graver hissed. “If she blames anyone, you make sure you let her know it’s your fault. I told you we should charge her cellphone…”

“And have it wake her up when she’s exhausted? I don’t think so. How the hell can she prepare herself for the bonding if she’s so tired she can’t think straight? You told me yourself, she fell asleep standing up. Who does that unless they’re on their last nerve?” Justiss shook his head and put his hands on his hips.

“She won’t appreciate it. I know already she’s a stubborn little thing.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes we have to look out for her in ways she wouldn’t look out for herself. I fully expect she’ll do the same to us. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

Graver grumbled, “You say that now because you can. She’s asleep and can’t argue the difference.” He let out a sigh. “Two days. Jesus, I didn’t know you could sleep that long. It’s not like the clubhouse is all that quiet either.”

“I don’t think she’s been sleeping well for a long time.”

“What makes you say that?”

Justiss shrugged. “It fits. She’s a doctor. When do they have healthy sleep schedules?”

“True.”

“Plus, she was a little jittery in the truck when we brought her home. Of course, that could have been nerves from being with us.”

“Are we just going to leave her until she wakes up?”

Justiss stared at his sleeping mate then nodded. “I think so. Come on, I need to speak to Mars anyway.” As he turned away, he fought the inclination to duck down and kiss her on the forehead. He wanted her to rest for as long as she needed, and apparently, she really needed it.

The white space of the rooms they’d been given two nights ago was a blank canvas. Over the past few months of her being the Prez’s mate, Annette had been taking older quarters, which were naturally reserved for mated couples—of which, until recently, there’d been few—and had been bringing them up to par. They were blank so the female mate could take the room and decorate how she wanted it to be. Even when he told Tonia that, he figured she would still be dissatisfied with the space.

After all, even the MC’s finest wasn’t the country club’s worst.

He pursed his lips at the thought then shrugged it off. He refused to be like his old man, forever trying and failing to prove to his mate that he could provide for her.

Justiss could and would give Tonia everything she needed. Unlike his father, he had the money. But sometimes, it went beyond money. It was about choices. They could throw tens of thousands of bucks on this room, and it still wouldn’t satisfy her.

By the same rote, the MC was his home. At least, it had been until she’d come along.

The thoughts ran in tangent as he made it down the hall toward the council room, Graver at his side.

“You’re unusually quiet,” he pointed out when Graver didn’t pepper him with questions or shoot any shit as was his usual way.

“Not much to say.”

“That blood sacrifice sure as hell went a ways to shutting your trap a lot.” He looked at him from the corner of his eye. “We still haven’t talked about that. You keep changing the subject whenever I do.”

“Not much to say.”

That he repeated his earlier words verbatim seemed to shock Graver more than it did Justiss.

He gulped, cast a shifty look about, and hunched his shoulders when he realized no one had been looking.

“What’s going on, Aaron?” he asked, using his given name to denote how serious he was. When no answer was forthcoming, he knocked on the council room door. When no one replied, he knew it was empty. It came as a relief because he and Graver could clear some air, but he had been hoping to talk to Mars, and he tended to use this place as his office as well as his war room.

When he stepped inside, Graver followed. The scratched table had once been a nice piece of wood. He’d seen it when an old Prez had installed it brand new. Now, scarred and scraped from misuse, it needed sanding down and polishing again. Not that that would ever happen.

Contrary to the distressed table, there were expensive ergonomic armchairs surrounding it, and not a hell of a lot else in the room. Save for the head, where Mars had left a lot of papers untended. Not that they interested him.

MC business had been of no interest to him for decades.

He stuck around because this was his bear’s home. His bear’s family. A Clan was more than any human could ever understand. It was a safe spot, sure, but more than that, it enabled a connection to form between bears. Dragging a solitary creature into a communal space where other bears became more than just rivals, they became brothers.

If it hadn’t have been for that aspect of the Clan, he’d have left years ago. Jefferson hadn’t been the first shitty Prez. He’d been one in a string of many shitheads. His rules, however, had been harder than most, and when Justiss had tried to oppose them, he’d been internally exiled. Not cast out but cast aside. Most of the men had ignored him or spoken to him with guilt lining their every word because they didn’t want to be seen talking to him and felt bad for it.

Even that hadn’t made him leave the MC. Now, he had hope. He had a place in this room, on the council, where he should have been a long time ago. He had ideas, many of them, ones which would take the MC from being a piddling club of outlaws into a company that could run on the right side of the law.

Which was probably why Moses had tried to kill him.

Some of the dicks in the MC really preferred the outlaw tag.

Shaking his head, he rolled out a desk chair and plunked himself down. Rocking in it a little, he watched Graver to see what he’d do and wasn’t altogether surprised when he just walked over to a window and looked down onto the backyard.

Now that most of the Ukrainian women had left the MC to try and find their own paths to the American Dream without their help, it was more likely a brother would spot a bear out there. When the women had still been at the clubhouse, they’d all had to stop shifting, which had merely augmented internal tensions. As a result, there’d been a lot of bitterness growing between the old Prez’s cronies and ex-council, and the new and current Prez.

Mars was a good man, and Justiss fully intended on helping him become the best Prez they’d ever have. To do that, he needed to figure this situation out with Graver and his mate, because until that was resolved, his mind wouldn’t be focused.

“What’s going on, Aaron?” he asked again, a tad more demanding now they were alone.

Silence was his answer until Graver turned around, leaned against the windowsill, and folded his arms against his chest. “Just trying to make things fit in my head, that’s all.”

“You saved me. Do you regret it?” It hurt him to ask the question, but that hurt disappeared when Graver immediately scowled.

“Do I hell. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“So, what’s the problem then?”

Aaron gripped the windowsill, clenching down until his knuckles bled white. “When I initiated the sacrifice, it wasn’t how I expected.” He ruffled his shoulders as though trying to offload the tension gathering there. “Mars has never spoken about it, but I get the feeling what I did was different.”

“Well, it was. I mean blood sacrifices are usually for mates, aren’t they? We can do it between men, it’s not like it’s forbidden or anything, but we just don’t. Do we?”

“I guess not. But after I initiated it, I spoke with a Goddess.”

Justiss gulped. Surprised, despite himself. “Are you kidding me?”

“No,” Aaron breathed. “I wish I was. But I’m not.”

“What did she have to say?”

“That we’d pay a price for my sacrifice.”

That had Justiss frowning. “How?”

“She never said. I just figured she was talking about a mate, and then, when we met Toni so shortly afterward, I thought that fit.”

“I know it’s hard us sharing her, but we’ll get used to it. We just need time.”

Aaron shrugged. “I don’t dispute that. It’s going to be tough, and I’m not always going to defer to you like I usually do just because you’re older than me. That’s not fair—not when she’s my mate too.”

“I have no problem with that.”

“I think you do. You’re taking charge. But in this situation, no one is.”

“I’m not taking charge,” Justiss countered. “I’m making sense. And even if that sense is running against what you want, you’re not stupid. You know right from wrong. If you’re listening to me, it’s not because you’re placing me in charge, it’s because you know what I’m saying is right.”

Graver scraped a hand over his jaw. “Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong. But regardless, don’t get used to me always doing as you say.”

“Like I would anyway.” He snorted. “You’re no yes-man, Aaron. And I haven’t thought that of you anyway. We’re buds. We always have been. We know each other well enough to figure out what’s going on, even in a crazy ass situation like this one.

“I know speaking to a Goddess must have been tough. It must be messing with your mind, and I’m sorry about that, but you’ve been blessed. You’ve seen what no one has ever spoken about. So now I know, I’m here. If you need to talk about it more then we’ll talk about it more, but for now, the priority is, and always will be, Tonia. We have to do what’s best for her. You get that, right?”

“Of course, I do. That’s all I want for her as well.”

“Well then, if we have a shared goal, we’re a united front.”

Graver smirked. “You’re a shit.”

Justiss grinned. “Why? Because I’ve dragged you out of your funk?”

As Graver flipped him the bird, the door to the council room opened and Mars wandered in, head bent over some papers in his hand, Kiko behind him.

Both men reared back a little at the sight of the two of them in the council room, but Mars only said, “You guys have a problem?”

Justiss grunted. “You know we do.”

Kiko shut the door behind him, rested his back against it, then grumbled, “Moses?”

“What else?” Justiss slammed a hand down on the table. “You should have caught him by now.”

“There ain’t no ‘should haves’ where this is concerned, J,” Mars immediately countered. “The bastard’s laying low, and we can’t find him. Doesn’t mean we won’t. Just means at the moment, it’s tough when he’s hiding out somewhere.”

“He nearly killed me, Mars. You want me to just settle for that?”

“No. I’m not saying that. We’ve had three teams scouring the area for him, but Channelview isn’t exactly small fry, and Houston ain’t easier, is it?”

“I wonder if you’d have found him if it had been Kiko almost dying in the clubhouse, Mars?” It was hard not to let the bitterness spew, and even when he’d released it, he didn’t feel much better.

“Justiss, don’t start,” Kiko grated out, holding out a warning hand for him to take heed.

“I’m not starting shit. I’m stating a fact.” J flashed his glance between Kiko and the Prez, and firmed his jaw when he saw Mars glaring at him.

“What the fuck would you have me do, Justiss?” Mars snarled, slamming the papers in his hand down against the table so he could lean over it and glower at him. “I can only do so much when most of the territories out there no longer welcome us. I have no idea if Moses has friends among the gangs and the cartel at war with us, and if he is, he’s in a no-go zone.

“You fought for me, you challenged in my stead. You know the honor that goes to you for doing that for me. I’ve sent unmated councilmembers out on the search; I wouldn’t do that if you were nobody to me. So, drop the attitude. Yeah, you’ve been dosed a shit hand with how Jefferson treated you. I’ll give you that. But I haven’t treated you like shit. I’ve promoted you to the council,3 and I did it in a way that doesn’t look like I’m promoting friends. I did it to try to restore your position in the MC back to you. I wouldn’t have done that if we weren’t friends.”

“He’s right, J,” Kiko inserted. “Don’t let past grievances intrude on future relationships. That’s just stupid.”

J pursed his lips, finding sense in what Kiko said, and nodded. “Look, I just want him found. The minute he is, it’s a huge load off all our plates. With Logann gone and Moses too, that’s Jefferson’s biggest allies down for the count. The rest will scatter.”

“I know that, Justiss. I’m not an idiot. We can safely get rid of Moses without having to risk another challenge, which makes it imperative we hunt him down. But like I said, I can only do so much. If we can’t find him, we can’t find him. I’ve put the word out that the MC’s baying for blood and that any snitches will be well rewarded, but after that, what can I do?”

“Have you involved the cops?” Aaron asked, involving himself in the conversation he’d stood on the sidelines for thus far.

“I’m hesitant to involve them,” Mars replied. He rubbed the back of his neck, apparently uncomfortable with his next admission. “Annette is trying to stop me from bankrolling dirty cops.”

“Well, I agree with her, that’s for the best. But in this instance, we’ve bigger fish to fry. Tensions in the MC have been rife since we’ve been at war with the cartel. Our territories have reduced in size and prominence, and with other gangs after us, we can’t travel anywhere without a target on our backs. Then, when we saved the Ukrainian girls, we couldn’t shift… None of it has helped this cause.” Justiss rocked back in his chair. “Internal war is not how I want to die, so we need to wrap up this side of things and move on. I have ideas of how to do that, but I feel we can’t step forward without dealing with Moses.”

Mars narrowed his eyes at J. “Kiko mentioned you had ideas about the MC. I’d like to hear them. You know we’re trying to streamline, go more down the legal route. Any advice on that would be appreciated.”

J nodded. “I know that’s where the MC is trying to go, and I wholeheartedly approve. It’s getting too risky. With all the cartels and Latin American gangs out there, it’s too fucking hard. They’re insane. The levels they’re willing to sink to? That isn’t us. Sure, we’re bikers, but we’re bears. Even schmucks like Moses work to a different level than the gangs. Desperation has made them feral, but not us.”

Graver moved away from the window and took a seat at the council table. Kiko followed, and Mars sat down too until all four of them looked to be doing nothing more innocuous than having a meeting. It couldn’t have been more different than a few minutes before when tempers had been fraught.

Kiko broke the small well of silence with, “Is it true, J?”

Justiss cocked a brow. “Is what true?”

“That you’re rich.”

“Oh. That.” He jerked a negligent shoulder. “Yeah. I am. The route I tried to make Jefferson take was a profitable one.”

“How rich?” Mars asked.

“How badly in the red is the MC?” Justiss countered.

“Close to five million. I don’t know what the fuck Jefferson was doing when he sat here, but money slipped through his fingers like fucking water. That’s probably why he tied us up with the cartel. Only that kind of debt would encourage any bastard to get into human trafficking. And ever since we’ve been at war with Martinez, we’ve been losing money hand over fist. The situation’s dicey if we don’t find alternative sources of income.”

J rubbed his ear, the admitted, “I can afford to clear the debt.”

“Why would you do that?” Mars asked, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

Kiko whistled. “You could afford to do that?”

Most Shifters plowed their earnings back into the MC. Justiss, raised by a man who had never been good enough for his mate, had never been so generous. In his long life, he’d always been money savvy. He was a wealthy man where his brothers probably just had good savings. Because the fact of the matter was, no Shifter really thought about the future until he found his mate. Then, having money took on importance, because they wanted the best for her. But before then, the endless waiting took its toll.

Had Justiss not seen his father’s desperate attempts to provide his mate with the best, had he not been so affected by that, he’d probably have been the same.

To Kiko’s question, he murmured, “I’ve invested wisely over the years.” To Mars, he stated, “I want Graver on the council without having to challenge for it.” Before Aaron could complain, he held up a hand and continued, “I want to build a house, close by here, for my mates and me. I suggest that other mated couples do the same, and we make it a tradition. Mated couples live on their own. I can buy a plot of land that would suffice size wise.”

“Why would you do any of that?”

“Because the MC is my home, and it’s my family.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Most of the brothers shunned you, Justiss. Why would you want to help them?”

“Because they’re family,” he told Mars. “Where the hell else would we go if we didn’t have this place?”

The Prez studied him for a handful of minutes, long enough for Kiko to murmur, “You know J’s good for it, Mars. Don’t be looking at him like he’s some kind of goddamn criminal.”

“I’m trying to understand his motivations, Kiko. They don’t make much sense to me.”

“And they don’t have to, so long as they make sense to the man himself.” The second-in-command shook his head. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Gift horses sometimes come with large price tags.” Mars scraped a hand over his jaw. “You want to be Prez, is that it? Because you all know I’m doing this because I have to, not because I want to. I never wanted to be President.”

“Maybe not, but you’re good at it. And no, I don’t want to be Prez. I have no desire to lead. It’s not in my nature to be the boss. I’m too much a loner. But I want to help. I want to make this place better for all of us.

“The truth is, the clubhouse is no place for mated females and cubs to be running around. I don’t care what any of you say; you’re lying if you think it is. But if we have extra territory, Clan territory that belongs to us all and not just the council, I think it would make the women a lot happier. I know my mate wouldn’t be happy living here. It’s just too much for her, and let’s face it, Christie isn’t all that happy about being here either, is she?”

“Just because you intend on footing the bill, doesn’t mean your opinion is the only one that matters. The land has to be selected by all the council first.”

J shrugged. “Whatever you want. We can go up to ten million for a plot large enough. I’ll get my real estate broker to send us over some land that fit our needs… although I guess we’ll have to have a meeting about what those needs are in particular.”

Mars clenched his jaw. “Just how fucking rich are you, Justiss? You can clear the club’s debts and buy a plot of land worth ten mil? Why is this the first time I’m hearing of you being Rockefeller?”

“I made a killing a hundred years ago on iron and steel. I’ve been playing ever since with the markets.”

“You’ve been rich all this time, and you never said a damn thing?” Kiko demanded, his shock almost amusing to behold.

J’s lips twitched. “It had nothing to do with anyone but me.” To Mars, he said, “I’ll need my accountants to run over the books before I pay off the debts. Are you amenable to that?”

“Do whatever the fuck you want with them,” Mars retorted. “Once that slate is clean, we can start afresh.”

“Good. I’ll give you the firm’s details, and I’ll instruct them to handle the account.”

Mars nodded, then rubbed his hand over his chin. “This is the first time we’ve been able to talk in private, but you’re sure you two share the same mate?”

Graver cleared his throat. “Positive.”

Justiss stated, “Without a doubt.”

“How do you know?”

J looked over at Aaron, letting him answer. What he’d just disclosed about talking to a Goddess, well, if anyone understood, it was Mars. The Prez had endured a blood sacrifice too, after all. But it was down to Graver if he wanted to share that or not. It took a handful of seconds, but Graver eventually said, “We’re tied together because of the blood sacrifice. Toni is tied to us both as a result.”

“You bound her to you yet?” Kiko asked, gaze darting between J and Graver.

“No. She’s been resting.”

“All this time? It’s been two days since we brought her here.”

J shrugged. “What can I say? She was tired.”

“I hope this doesn’t blow up in your faces when it comes time to claim her,” Mars said gently. “I don’t want either of you to be hurt.”

“We won’t be hurt,” Graver replied, confidence lacing his tone. “If I hold Toni’s hand, the connection is there. But if she holds Graver’s too, it’s like a lightning bolt.”

Mars didn’t look convinced but he nodded. “Just keep me apprised of the situation, okay?”

“Of course, we will.” He rubbed his hands together, determined to change the subject because he knew Graver didn’t want to discuss it further. “Now, have you been doing any research on micro-breweries?”

Kiko and Mars looked at one another, before they both shook their heads. At their confusion, Justiss grinned and sank back in his chair.

It was time to get this show on the road.

* * *

It was a noise that jerked Toni from sleep. Well, several noises, in fact.

The first was an annoying clack-clack that never seemed to end, as well as a low hum of conversation and laughter that had her eyes slowly opening onto the bright, over-white room before her. When she saw where she was, at first, she figured she was in hospital. It was anonymous enough to be a ward. Then, when she didn’t smell the usual perfume of disinfectant and ozone, she rolled over onto her back, registered the comfort of the mattress—something that deserved an A+—and realized there was no way in hell this was a hospital.

She sat up, peered over at the noise’s source, and squinted when she saw a very pregnant woman knitting and watching Ellen on the big screen TV.

The belly registered first, and her voice was hoarse and croaky as she asked, “Christie? What are you doing in here?”

When she heard Toni’s voice, Christie shot her a grin and said, “Watching Ellen, of course. I never used to like daytime television, but ever since I’ve been stuck at the clubhouse, it’s grown on me. I get in such a mood if I miss my daily dose.”

That had Toni snorting. “I hate those kinds of shows.”

“I did too, but boredom has a way of skewing your taste.” She held up some wool that could only be considered knitted in a Salvador Dali dreamscape. It had more holes in it than weave, with big gaping spaces dotted here and there. “Never thought I’d enjoy knitting either, but here I am. Doing it.”

Toni wouldn’t have called whatever Christie was doing ‘knitting’, but she didn’t have the heart to say it. “What are you doing in my room though?”

“I figured you were ready to wake up,” came the easy retort, but the other woman’s attention was on a kid making pasta and getting more flour on his face than in the bowl. “Two days is overkill, and I knew you must have a shift at work soon. The way Graver and Justiss have been hoarding you though, I figured they’d let you carry on until you turned into Sleeping Beauty.”

Toni blinked, only one part of what Christie had said registering, “Two days?”

Finally, she caught Christie’s full attention. “Yeah. Two days. You’ve been asleep a hell of a long time. I thought you would be ready to be up and about by now.”

“What time is it?” she asked, and though a part of her was panicking, another part felt so damn good for having slept as long as she had that she couldn’t really find it in herself to get mad.

The last time she’d binge slept like this had been after her finals at med school. She’d slept fifty-six hours, breaking that only to get up to pee and drink water straight from the faucet.

The fact she’d slept so well now was a testament to two things.

Firstly, how exhausted she’d been since working evenings and nights. Sleep had never been a close friend of hers, but when she had to work in the dark, it became an enemy. Secondly, how safe she’d felt here. It might have looked rough, like the entire building could fall down at any minute, and it might very well house dangerous outlaws, but hell, subconsciously, she’d been A-Okay staying here.

The former reduced her irritation with the reason behind the latter.

She couldn’t be too mad at the guys who made her feel safe enough to glut herself on sleep, even if that meant she’d missed a day’s work. And truthfully, Toni couldn’t be bothered going into work today either. She’d have time, if she rushed through the traffic, to get there, but the impetus wasn’t strong.

The bosses had shafted her, shoving her on night shifts when she’d protested, heavily, against it. They’d chosen to ignore her when she told them Rodriguez was a pervert, and instead, had told the supervisor she’d filed a sexual harassment charge against him—making the man even more of a bastard to work for.

At this moment in time, when she felt more rested than she had in months, she really couldn’t find it in herself to be that mad.

She hauled herself up the mattress and sank against the headboard for support. She was still feeling a bit weak from all the sleep and kept yawning, watching Ellen make some celebrity Toni had never heard of before laugh.

“You seriously like this?” Toni asked after a few minutes of twaddle passed between the two women.

Christie’s grin was contagious. “Yeah. Shocking, right? But she’s funny.”

Toni yawned again. “If you say so.”

“You slept well, I take it?”

“Which part gave it away?” she teased. “But yeah. I feel better for it. I haven’t been sleeping well since my shifts changed. I hate working nights.”

Christie wrinkled her nose. “One good thing about being a dentist. Regular working hours.”

Toni clucked her tongue. “I should have thought of that when I was younger.”

The other woman laughed and said, “I’m surprised I managed to sneak in here if I’m honest. One of them has been in here with you while you slept, and they only just left now because they went to the council room. I saw them both go in and seized my chance to come pester you.”

“More like act like my human alarm clock.”

“Well, that too.” She went back to knitting. “You’re not too mad at my waking you up, are you?”

“Nah. I needed to get up eventually, right?” she asked, a tad rhetorically. There was something about Christie that Toni liked. A kind of cheeky hesitance, like she’d been made to feel a nuisance at some point in her life and didn’t want to impose on anyone as a result.

At her reply, Christie beamed. “Do you want to get some coffee?”

“Are you supposed to be drinking that?” Toni asked, brows raised as she sent a pointed glance at Christie’s extended stomach.

“Hey, I can drink decaf, thank you very much.”

“How do you know? You haven’t been to an OB/GYN for bloodwork or tests or anything. No coffee at all might be good for you.”

Christie stuck out her tongue. “You’re going to do all that for me though, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, and break a couple dozen laws while I’m at it.” Toni rolled her eyes. “But still, until we’ve run some tests, you need to take it easy on the usual culprits.”

The other woman wrinkled her nose. “Yes, doc.”

Toni hid a smile. “So, while I’m having coffee, you can have some tea or something.”

“Aren’t you generous?”

On creaky legs, Toni climbed out from under the sheets and got to her feet. She ached like a bitch. Her back was sore, and her knees felt like they’d been kicked out from under her, but as she moved around a little, she got her rhythm back.

“You look like me first thing on a morning. If I get any bigger, Mundo’s going to have to fireman lift me out of bed.”

Toni snorted. “I can guarantee you’re going to get bigger. You’ve another couple of months to go, don’t you?”

Christie’s nod was sullen.

Toni snickered. “The joys of pregnancy. Getting to look and feel like you swallowed a basketball whole.”

“I’ll make you feel this good when it happens to you, fear not,” came the false-cheerful retort. “And with two mates, it’s bound to happen sooner rather than later. Hell, you’ll be waking up like that every day.”

“What? Like I’ve been riding a bear?”

The instant the bawdy words escaped, the two of them collapsed in hysterics. Toni clutched her stomach as she went over to Christie and helped heave her onto her feet, and the two of them chuckled their way down to the kitchen.

Toni had no other clothes save the scrubs she’d come in yesterday, and though Christie had offered to lend her something, Toni wanted coffee first.

At least, she did until they passed a group of ten men who gawked at them on their way past.

“Don’t worry. They’d do that even if you weren’t bare-assed naked and walking through the clubhouse,” Christie told her, apparently trying and failing to be helpful.

Toni was grateful the hem was long on her shirt, but she still felt like her ass was hanging out even though she’d worn shorter dresses in her time. She peered back and saw the men were still gawking, their tongues practically hanging out, but it wasn’t in a sexual way.

Which was weird as hell.

In fact, it was so weird, she had to ask, “Is it just me or was that not sexual?”

Christie’s nod was immediate. “No, they’d have done it to me too, and I’m so far from sexy at the moment, it’s nuts.”

“Why though? What’s going on?”

She shrugged. “We’re mates.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we’re like goddesses to them. We epitomize everything they want. They wish we were theirs, but at the same time, they don’t want us, they want the women who were made for them. We’re like forbidden fruit they have no desire to touch or eat, but looking at them fills them with yearning. It’s pretty sad actually,” Christie concluded as they made it into the kitchen. When they did, they saw two large dudes—but hell, when weren’t they large in this place?—bustling around the stove.

Mischa, Kiko’s mate, was there too, stirring a large silver cooking pot with a big paddle.

“Hey, guys,” Christie called out when they didn’t spot them, intent on their tasks.

“Christie, baby, I told you, I’m not sneaking you anything else until that cub has popped out,” one of the men said, propping his hands on his hips as though that was the period at the end of the sentence.

“I want tea, Grizzly, nothing more, nothing less.”

She said it so piously that even Toni wanted to believe her, but Grizzly, it seemed, was used to being hit up. “You said that the last time you came down wanting donuts then spent half the time you were eating them wailing about your swollen feet! I ain’t getting blamed for no swollen feet,” he finished on a huff. “You hear me?”

Christie pouted. “When they swell so much, they hurt!”

“Eating greasy foods probably won’t help,” Toni concurred, grinning when Christie elbowed her in the side.

“Look, I wanted to introduce you to Toni as well. She’s new.”

“Like I needed the introduction.” Grizzly narrowed his eyes at her, scanned her up and down, then grinned. “You wearing anything under that shirt? Because I’d think about a change of clothes before your mates find out you’re walking around this place half-naked.”

Christie spluttered, “She’s perfectly decent! Everything’s covered up, isn’t it?”

“Might very well be, but she doesn’t look decent, does she, Kingston?”

Kingston shot her a swift look before his cheeks burned bright red and he went back to kneading the dough he was working on the counter. “Nope, she doesn’t.”

Toni scratched her hairline and said, “I want coffee before I move.”

“Aaron said you’ve been sleeping since you came here,” Mischa asked, her Slavic tones all the more pronounced in a kitchen where Texas was reigning supreme in the accent stakes. “Is this true?”

Toni cut Christie a glance. “Yeah, it’s true.” When Mischa just nodded, she asked, “Why? Does it matter?”

“No, I was just curious, that’s all.”

“She asks weird questions,” Christie whispered. “Don’t worry about it.”

Toni just nodded but had to admit, the younger woman was a little peculiar. She seemed to watch all the time. Toni had noticed that during the car ride here as well. Mischa had spent some time staring straight ahead, sure, but she’d peered back a lot and had studied Aaron, Justiss, and Toni while her mate, Kiko, had driven them here.

Grizzly seemed to take pity on them all because he reached for a coffee pot and poured a huge cup of coffee for Toni. Grabbing a stainless-steel sugar pot and a carton of milk from the fridge, he brought it all over to a counter which was lined with high stools.

“Thanks, Grizzly, I appreciate that.” She yawned as she thanked him and took a cautious sip of the brew but sank a lot back when she realized it wasn’t scalding hot. After the buzz hit her, she perked up and watched as Christie pouted while the kettle boiled and Grizzly made her some chamomile tea. He pushed a pot of honey toward her and set some butter, preserves, and peanut butter in front of them too. A few minutes later, they had a stack of toast as well, and Toni buttered hers up with some strawberry jam.

Christie ceased pouting the minute she got her mitts on some PBJ, and Toni realized some of the baby weight was probably donut weight too, although Christie could really do with putting a little more on, she was slender from the morning sickness. But the notion of donut weight amused her and told her that Christie, once the morning sickness was settled, would probably be a nightmare after Toni laid down the law, but she wasn’t overly perturbed. She liked Christie, and for someone who rarely liked anyone, that was a large admission to make.

Once the toast lined her stomach, Toni felt the gnawing ache that had only just crept up on her dissipate. She hadn’t woken up starved, more like desperate for coffee, but once her taste buds had started salivating at what could only be homemade jam—a jam-making MC, who’d a thunk it?—she felt the hunger beat at her with heavy fists. She buttered more toast, eating it like she hadn’t eaten in days, which she guessed she hadn’t.

Grizzly frowned at her and said, “Jesus, and I thought Christie could eat.”

“Hey!” came the immediate complaint. “I’m pregnant. I’m eating for two. Plus, whatever I put down usually comes back up again an hour later, so I have to stuff my face.”

Toni grimaced. “Yeah, it doesn’t work that way, Christie. Feasting like that won’t do you any favors.”

“You’re on his side?” she asked with a pout and then spoiled it by taking a huge bite out of her impromptu breakfast.

“I’m on no one’s side; I just want you to feel better that’s all.” Toni tried to keep her tone sensible, but probably spoiling it by being unable to hide her smile.

Christie nudged her with her elbow. “I knew I liked you. And you’re not telling me anything I haven’t heard before. Mundo tries to stop me, but I get so hungry, and then booom. I can’t keep anything down.”

“I know.” She patted the other woman’s shoulder. “We’ll try to medicate it and keep it in line.”

Grizzly pursed his lips. “Well, I’m glad someone can talk some sense into her, but it looks like you’re in need of taking in hand too, doc. You need more for breakfast than just bread. What can I make you?”

Toni blinked in surprise. “How did you know I’m a doctor?”

“Aside from the fact you’re talking about medicating a stranger, you mean?” he asked, brows raised until she nodded, flushing all the while. “It’s all around the clubhouse. Talk gets around here. And you, you’re top of the list of things to talk about.”

“Yeah, and they say women are the gossipers. Never mind bears. They’re like a bunch of wing-flapping chickens,” Christie stated with relish, enjoying Grizzly’s moue of annoyance.

Toni hid her smile. His reaction confirmed that both she and Christie could say whatever the hell they wanted and all with a free ride. This ‘mate’ card business seemed to be like a ‘get out of a jail free’ one too. Not that she intended on exploring how far the Shifters would let them take their teasing. Goading men who turned into bears seemed churlish to Toni.

Grizzly let out a small growl, but Christie just snorted, ignoring his little burst of temper. “Mates are our lifeblood, Christie. Even if they eat us out of house and home.”

His pointed remark had Christie sputtering. Deciding to throw down an olive branch, because war on an empty stomach was never that great an idea, Toni murmured quickly, “Put any group together for long enough, and they all gossip. But yeah, I’m a doctor, and I am starving.” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to put you out though. I guess I missed breakfast if Christie was watching Ellen.”

“It was a rerun. It’s ten, after breakfast, but Grizzly is such a gentleman, ain’t ya, Grizz? You like feeding us chickadees.”

“You get any sweeter, I’ll think that baby messed you up more than it already has,” the cook grumped. To Toni, he said, “I can make pancakes. Won’t take me a few minutes to whip up the batter.”

“Are you sure? Because that sounds like heaven.”

Christie made to talk, but Grizzly held up a hand and rolled his eyes. “I’ll make some for you two too.”

He turned around, intent now on his task, and she and Christie mostly just chatted and watched the three in the kitchen as they worked. It was probably the most relaxed she’d been in a long time. Ironic considering things were getting more stressful in her life—more specifically, her love life. She’d gone from no hope to having two, count ‘em two, hotter-than-hell Bear Shifters who were hers for eternity. She’d gone from being utterly alone to the integration into a who-knew-how-many strong MC clubhouse. For someone who was used to controlling her days, who needed to control them, it was a bit much.

Overwhelming wasn’t the word.

But, after that sleep, she couldn’t deny she felt like she could handle anything that was thrown at her. Especially after pancakes.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, a roar sounded through the clubhouse.

Make that two roars.

The cooking in the kitchen stopped, the men’s head rearing up in surprise. Their bodies tensed, arms in their muscles suddenly seeming like steel, and their faces turned grim, every sinew visible as they tried to make out the threat.

Christie spun around, terror lining her features, and Toni hopped down, rushing over to the door to see if the other men in the clubhouse were stampeding outside. After what Christie had told her, she had to figure that the roars were the indicator that something was about to go down. Christie’s reaction didn’t help either. She obviously thought they were under attack again.

The air seemed to vibrate as each Shifter tried to investigate the threat, but no one made a move. There had only been those single roars and nothing else. The men seemed to realize it was a message, not a warning beacon.

As she turned back to Grizzly, who was still tensed up, waiting to spur into action if need be, she heard a clomping thud.

“What the hell is that?”

Mischa had gone back to her cooking, unlike the two Shifters who were still waiting. She answered in their stead, “It’s your mates. They think you’ve left.”

That was Justiss and Aaron making all the noise?

Grizzly scowled at Mischa’s words. “What kind of noise are they making?”

“They’re running down the stairs in heavy boots.”

Mischa’s certainty struck Toni as odd. Very odd, in fact, but if she was right, and somehow Toni knew she was, there was some lessons that needed to be taught.

Hell, she needed to be able to leave the bedroom without them thinking she’d abandoned them.

How long did they think she could sleep?

Pressing her hands on her hips, she stood in the hallway outside the kitchen door. The position gave her ample view of the wide corridor that led to the central foyer, the place where days before, Justiss had been bleeding out. Dying. She gulped at the thought then shrugged it aside because the idea would make her lenient when she needed to take a stand.

They hadn’t even mated yet, and this was their reaction to her getting out of bed?

The sight of them tearing down the stairs had her freezing a second. The panic. She could sense it. It was like nothing she’d ever known, and she’d been a little girl, lost and alone and terrified, when her parents had died. She’d been in the car, had known when they’d passed, had waited for the ambulances and cops to find the vehicle to save them all, her included—trapped in the wreckage, alone with the bodies that once had held her parents’ souls. Even though she’d known they’d gone, hope hadn’t left her until her grandparents had told her they were dead at the hospital.

She knew panic.

And this was that to the nth degree.

It softened her some, she couldn’t deny. “Justiss! Aaron!” she barked, and her voice, their names, had them braking to a halt so quickly Justiss nearly rammed into Aaron, almost pushing the other man down the stairs.

Aaron leapt the final steps to rid himself of the momentum, and Justiss just maintained the insane pace as they made it down the hall, not stopping until they were close to colliding with her. The instant she was in arm’s reach, they grabbed her. Justiss taking her front, Graver her back, cocooning her in their scent, the strength, and the feelings they had for her.

It was heady. The most encompassing sensation she’d ever known.

This was adoration. It was passion and caring. Desire and need. Lust and love.

She was their everything.

Knowing, roughly, how the mate bonds worked was nothing to feeling it.

Their world revolved around her now.

It could have been frightening, instead, Toni felt herself blossom in the cocoon they sheltered her in.

They had her wrapped up so tightly she couldn’t do much, but she managed to plant a hand on Justiss’s lower back and curled the other around the arm Graver had clamped about her belly.

“Where did you go?” Justiss whispered, remembered terror in his voice.

“I was hungry,” she told him. “Christie took me for food.”

Graver gulped. “We thought you’d left.”

She sighed. “I figured as much. Why did you think that?”

“Because this place is beneath you,” Aaron confessed, voice small.

“I never said that,” she denied. She might have thought it, but that was before. Now, today, with all that sleep giving her more energy than she remembered having in ages, she felt differently about it.

Sure, it wasn’t as swanky as her home. The décor was rough and ready, befitting a group of hard men. Her bedroom was brighter and more clinical than the hospital she worked at, but hadn’t Justiss said she could decorate it how she wanted? And that this didn’t have to be their permanent base?

What she did know was that each MC brother she’d come across had treated her kindly. Sure, she’d come across few, and hell, one of them was a rogue who had attacked her mate, so she knew they weren’t all friendly, but… she was one of their own.

She felt that. Knew it to be true. She’d yet to bond herself to Graver and Justiss thanks to sleeping for as long as she had, but that didn’t matter. The men knew she was mate to two of their brothers, and they included her as a given.

Inclusion… something else that was heady.

She’d been excluded almost all her life. Her fault, mainly. Unable to open up, to let go of the fear that came from losing the two people who were supposed to love a child unconditionally, she’d never allowed herself to be included. The hospital staff, her colleagues, didn’t like her. She’d never made any friends. And maybe if she had, maybe if her attitude had been better, the administration would have believed her when she’d complained about Rodriguez. It shouldn’t have mattered, but that was the world they lived in, wasn’t it?

It wasn’t what you knew, but who.

And here, it was the same. Because she was Justiss’s and Graver’s, she belonged here. But they didn’t care if she was anal retentive or a bitch. All that mattered was she was a mate. What had Grizzly said? That mates were the lifeblood of the Clan?

She felt like that, like a vital cog in a machine she’d been born to be a part of.

“Breakfast’s up.” Grizzly’s words broke her silent reverie as she let them embrace her, let them absorb the fact she was here and not going anywhere.

Realizing that the meal was for her, as Grizzly’s voice had been loud enough to carry into the hall, her men started to let her go. But she quickly grabbed hold of them, keeping them close, and whispered, “I will never leave you. You never have to fear that. This is my place now. I-I just needed time to acclimate to this new world that’s all.”

She felt their relief shudder through them and smiled at it, at how her acceptance made them happy.

Justiss croaked, “You need to eat, baby. Then, we need to claim you.”

“I think I’d like that.” Patting her hair nervously, she shot them a shaky smile.

Aaron laughed a little, then teased, “We’ll make sure you love it.”

Toni had no doubt about that.