Chapter 5
Angel woke up feeling more content than she ever had in her life. She’d fallen asleep between Ian and Brin, with her arm over Brin’s side so she could hold hands with Quill. Before her mates she’d never really much cared for cuddling with guys she slept with, not that her list of lovers had been all that long. She’d liked having her bed to herself at night. But this morning, as she woke up toasty warm and feeling as safe and cared for as she ever had in her life, she knew she’d never want to be alone in bed again. Not when she could have the three sexiest guys she’d ever met surrounding her.
Ian stirred behind her, waking with a soft growl and kissing her neck. She shivered as a spike of arousal shot through her.
“Fuck, you smell good in the morning,” he said, his voice a low rasp that made her skin prickle in awareness.
Brin and Quill woke, greeting her with sweet smiles and kisses. She wiggled to her back and stretched with a squeak.
“Did you sleep well?” Brin asked.
“Oh yeah, in spite of having three devastatingly sexy guys in bed with me.”
Ian grinned. “Any sexy dreams you might like to act out in real life?”
With a laugh, she said, “I slept so hard I don’t remember if I even had any dreams.”
Brin scooted off the bed. “Eggs and toast okay, love? I don’t have much in the way of fancy breakfast stuff right now.”
Ian asked, “What’s fancy breakfast stuff?”
“You know, like English muffins or cinnamon rolls.”
“You don’t make that for us,” Quill said.
“You’re not my mate,” Brin said.
“Some caretaker we have,” Ian said, “hoarding all the goodies for our mate.”
“I promise to share. Can I help?” she asked.
“Not a chance,” Brin said. He disappeared from the room; she heard the rustle of clothing and suspected he was getting dressed. She didn’t think she’d want to cook naked, either. Too much of a chance of burning a body part she liked.
“After breakfast, we’ll take you home,” Quill said. “I’d suggest you could shower here, but frankly the hot water tank isn’t really efficient. Chances are you’d wind up freezing before you got the soap off.”
“That’s no problem. I wouldn’t want to take a shower and put dirty clothes on anyway. Unless I’m really funky smelling,” she said.
Ian lowered his head and pressed his nose to her throat. She could feel his breath on her skin as he inhaled slowly and then growled. “Good enough to eat.”
Quill lifted her hand and kissed her fingertips one by one, then her palm. “The whole day is yours, what do you want to do?”
“I want you to meet Brierley and my bosses, and I totally want to find out if all four of us can fit in the shower at my cabin at the same time. But after that, I don’t know. As long as we’re together, I kind of don’t care what we do.”
“I think we feel the same way, sweetheart,” Quill said. “We can see about a rental home in the area, and then we can search for one to buy. Unless you don’t want to stay here?”
Her brows rose. “What do you mean?”
“Your family is in New Jersey. We’re not tied to anything in the area. We have jobs, but we can work construction anywhere. If you wanted to move back to where your family is, we’d do that for you.”
She stared at him in surprise. She’d known couples who had been together for years that weren’t nearly as willing to relocate as her mates were. She thought of Bliss, whose mates had been willing to stay in Beyton even though their family was in Maryland. And Whisper’s mates, who had joined a baro in Kentucky, but left it to join the pack for her. Maybe it was natural for them to want to be where their mate was happiest.
“I love it here. I love the mountains, even though it’s crazy cold in the winter, and I really like Ally and her husbands, and the campground. I…” she paused, unsure if she should say what was on her mind.
Quill cupped her face and kissed her. “Sweetheart, whatever’s on your mind, just say it.”
Brin walked into the room with two plates, bottled waters under his arm, and forks sticking out of his pockets. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s too early for what I was going to say.”
Ian snarled softly. “We’re your mates, Angel. We’re not humans who want to have a long engagement; we’re in it forever, right from the moment we met you yesterday.”
Brin climbed up onto the bed, dropped the bottles on the mattress, and handed the plates to his brothers. Then he pulled her up gently until he could hug her. She snuggled into him, splaying her hands on his back. It was the oddest thing, because just holding onto one or all of her mates, or being held by them, sent all her worries away. “We’re yours, love. Say what’s on your mind.”
She exhaled and then said, “I was thinking that I like working here, but I don’t know that I want to keep working forever. My mom worked when I was growing up, and I was always jealous of kids who had a mom who stayed home. I guess it’s not the same because there are four of us, but I was afraid you’d think I was jumping the gun by bringing up kids.”
“It’s not too early,” Ian said.
“We’re not mated yet, though.”
Quill hummed. “No, but that’s only because we weren’t expecting to find our mate in the woods yesterday. If we’d had any idea you were in the area, we would have been looking everywhere for you, with all the mating ceremony supplies ready to go.”
She turned to face her other two mates and leaned back against Brin’s chest.
“It’s not too early to talk about anything. With shifters it’s different than when everyone is human. You have all these pre-conceived notions about there being certain lengths of time between dates and engagements and weddings, and for us – we saw you, we recognized you, we want to be with you forever,” Quill said.
“It’s not exactly that simple,” she said.
Brin kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah it is, Angel. If you want us to go slow, we will, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have three hyena mates who would do anything for you.”
She was warmed all the way through by their affection. Part of her felt like things were moving too fast, but she couldn’t deny that it felt entirely right, too. Her friends had known immediately when they met their mates that they were meant to be together forever. She’d always assumed that it was because they were shifters. Maybe shifters and humans weren’t so different when it came to finding their forever mates.
“Okay,” she said. “I’d do anything for you three, too.”
Brin worried that the breakfast was too cold, but she didn’t mind, and neither did Ian or Quill. She lifted one plate from the bed and tried to share it with Brin, but he wouldn’t eat until she was full, leaving the other plate for Ian and Quill to share. While they ate, they talked about the town of Little Hope where the campground was, and Woodville, where the construction company they worked for was based. She knew she could live outside of Little Hope and still work at the campground, but she secretly hoped that when she took her mates to meet her bosses, they would offer for all of them to live and work there. It was probably a stretch on her part, since her mates were strangers to her bosses, but she’d seen some fantastical things happen lately. Like meeting her mates in the woods.
When breakfast was over, her mates packed a bag of clothes to change into after their joint shower, and then Quill went across the river to pick up her basket of flowers and brought it to her.
She looked at the wilted and unusable flowers and sighed, dumping them into a covered trash can outside the camper. “Oh well.”
“What do you do with the flowers?” Brin asked as he opened the passenger door and helped her into their truck. He and Quill climbed into the back of the extended-cab truck, and Ian sat behind the wheel.
“Dry them, and then use them to make cards to sell in the campground gift shop.”
Ian followed a dirt road through the woods and out onto a country road. “We came to the campground last year,” he said.
“For the gathering?”
“Yes,” Ian said.
“So you know the owners, then.”
Quill said, “We met them when we checked in, but we didn’t have much interaction with them.”
“You were hoping to meet your truemate,” she said.
Ian squeezed her thigh. “We’re hyenas. Unmated males and females go to gatherings. It’s just what our kind do.”
“There are hyenas who don’t care about finding their truemate; they just want to be with hyenas,” Quill said.
“You guys cared?” she asked.
There was a long moment of silence, and she looked back at Quill and Brin, who wore matching frowns, the same as Ian.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Wait,” Ian said. “Let’s table this for later. We’re here.”
She turned and looked out the windshield, facing the registration cabin, and then looked back at her mates. “I’m missing something.”
Quill shook his head. “We’ve got some family stuff to talk about, love, but not here. Okay? It’s not about you, it’s…”
“Complicated,” Brin said. “Extremely complicated.”
“Right.” Quill said, blowing out a breath.
“You don’t have a mate stashed somewhere else, right? It’s just me for you three?” She arched a brow.
Ian snarled. “Only you.”
She was relieved, at least a little. It was strange that her mates had clammed up so quickly, but they hadn’t really shared anything about their family history with her. All their chats had been about her family and their future together. It hadn’t occurred to her until that moment that she didn’t know anything about their past.
Of course it had only been a day.
She opened her door and said, “Let’s meet my pseudo-family, and then I’m pretty sure that I was promised some shower fun.”
Ian flashed her a smile that was laden with heat before he got out of the truck and came around to her. Quill and Brin joined them, and the four headed up to the registration cabin, where the campground’s offices were located. Ian grabbed the door for her and she stepped inside, smiling at Ally, Richard, Troy, and Blake, who were standing behind the counter.
“Well, hey,” Ally said, putting down a brochure that she was folding. “Brierley told us that you found your mates.”
“I’d say so,” Troy said, smiling.
The clan walked around the counter and greeted them, as Angel made the introductions.
“You look familiar,” Blake said.
Quill nodded. “We were at the gathering last year.”
“Oh, right!” Ally said. “Oh, if only you hadn’t needed to work last year, Angel. You could have come with your friends and met your mates ages ago.”
“That would have been wonderful,” she said. “But I think I wasn’t supposed to meet them until now.”
“Timing is everything when it comes to love and mates,” Blake said.
“We were just getting the new brochures ready to mail out,” Ally said. “Would you four like to join us for dinner?”
“That would be great,” Angel said.
“Brierley is out on a grocery run with Harry, Mark, and Taylor,” Richard said. “When they get back, I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thanks.”
“Where do you guys live?” Ally asked.
“We’re staying in a camper,” Quill said. “Now that we found Angel, we’re going to find a place to live in town that’s convenient for her to get to work.”
“What do you do for work?” Blake asked.
“We work for Blackhawk Construction in Woodville.”
“They’re a good group,” Blake said. “We used them a few years ago for some remodeling. One of the cabins had a run-in with a tree during a big storm and they helped us out.”
“We’ve been with them since winter,” Brin said.
“Where is your baro?” Ally asked.
“We’re all that’s left,” Quill said. “We’re originally from Tennessee.”
Angel looked at him as he spoke, and noticed that although he sounded normal, his whole body had subtly tensed while he talked. She had a feeling that family history was a sensitive subject for her mates, and it was clear to her that they needed to talk. Soon.
“We’re sorry to hear that,” Richard said.
“Thank you,” Brin said.
“Come over for dinner at six,” Ally said. “I made a big batch of chicken salad, Angel. I know it’s your favorite.”
“Only if it’s served on those awesome buttery croissants from Wilda’s Bakery,” she said.
“They were the first thing on Brierley’s list,” Ally answered with a chuckle.
After saying goodbye, Ian gave Angel the keys to the truck, and she drove them to the cabin that had been given to her as part of her salary. She loved the cabin, with its wide front porch and creaky wooden porch swing. Her favorite times had been taking a cup of coffee out in the morning and enjoying the peace and quiet.
Her mates walked with her into the cabin. “When I met Brierley, I felt like we were meant to be friends, and that my life and hers were somehow tied together. I was watching my best friends get mated and move on to the next chapters of their lives, and I felt like I was spinning my wheels. Everything just kind of fell into place when I came here. I love the campground and the owners, and hanging out with Brierley. Now, I feel like I came up all those months ago so that I could meet you guys.”
Brin smiled. “We’re glad you’re here, too.”
“Nickel tour?” she asked.
“Only if you’re starting with the shower,” Ian said, his voice dropping to a growl at the end.
Grabbing the hem of her top, she flashed a grin to her mates and then pulled it over her head. “Race ya!”
* * *
Angel snuggled on top of Brin, rubbing her cheek on his chest and stifling a yawn. She was blissed out and worn out, but so happy. The shower had been fun, with her mates taking turns under the water with her, and then they’d tumbled into the bedroom, leading to her current state of feeling like her bones had melted. Her skin was still tingling from the pleasure.
Ian wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger and tugged gently. “What’s that secret smile for?”
She opened one eye and said, “I was just wondering if a person could die from too much pleasure.”
“Is there such a thing as too much when it comes to climaxes?” Quill asked.
“I’ll let you know when my body stops humming.”
“You’re giving us quite the egos,” Brin said.
A glance at the clock on the nightstand told her that they had an hour before dinner with her bosses. She kissed Brin and scooted off him, pausing as she stood at the end of the bed. Her mates were the sexiest guys she’d ever seen. Brin with his adorable smile, Ian with his ropes of muscles, and Quill with his dark eyes. Individually, they were gorgeous, but all three together were an amazing sight. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“I thought we could get dressed and talk,” she said.
“We can’t talk naked?” Quill smiled from where he lounged with his hands behind his head, his body on display for her like a sexy buffet. Her brain fogged over for a moment as she thought about crawling up his body and licking his abs.
Shaking the wonderfully naughty thought from her mind, she shook her head. “We don’t talk when we’re naked and in bed.”
“Sure we do,” Ian said. “You were saying a whole lot earlier.”
Her cheeks heated as her mates teased her about being vocal. She knew they didn’t mind, and she’d honestly never been that noisy in bed before, but her guys just knew exactly how to touch her. If she was a shifter, she would’ve been howling or growling or purring in happiness.
Quill’s gaze slipped from sexy to serious. “Right. Let’s get dressed.”
While her mates got ready with the clothes they’d brought, she put on a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. She went to the kitchen and filled up four glasses with ice and lemonade, then joined her mates on the big couch in the family room. The family room had exposed beams, a stone fireplace with a flat-screen TV mounted above it, and a super-comfy couch.
She set the drinks on the coffee table and sat between Ian and Brin. “Earlier we were talking about the gatherings and you guys looking for your mate. Then you clammed up like you were about to spill nuclear secrets.”
Quill sat on the coffee table facing her. “Our past isn’t really great, sweetheart.”
She looked at him for a long moment and saw the worry and distress in his eyes. “We’re mates, right?”
“Of course,” he said.
“I just…unless you’re serial killers, I can’t imagine anything you might tell me that would change how I feel. I know we just met yesterday, but I feel so close to you, so connected. I can’t explain it, but I know that it means we’re meant to be together.”
Ian laid his arm over her shoulder with a sigh. “How did we get so lucky?”
She rested her head against his. “I’m lucky, too.”