Claimed by the Mate, Volume 1 (23 page)

He was so pissed he was shaking, and he knew he had to get out of there before he blew it. “Obviously, you don't know how to have a good time unless you're hurting someone else.”

“Cain? What the hell's going on?” Trak stepped into the dining room and got right up in Cain's face. Cain had no intention of challenging his alpha, but the man needed to know.

“Talk to your girlfriend, Trak. She'll tell you what a sweetheart she is.” He spun away from Trak and headed into the kitchen to tell Brad what he'd learned.

*   *   *

Cherry managed to drive and not cry almost all the way to Redding, when Christa banished her to the backseat and took over driving. By the time they got to Willows and pulled over for Steph and Christa to trade places so Steph could drive, Cherry was curled up in the backseat, beyond sobbing. She hadn't said a word to her sister or Steph, and they'd left her alone.

She was beyond talking about anything at that point.

She kept wondering if she should have gone straight to Brad and Cain, if leaving without confronting them had been the coward's way out. The women had almost reached San Francisco before she finally admitted to herself that yes, she'd been a coward.

She'd never wanted anything or anyone as much as she wanted Brad and Cain. It had been easier to run than to find out the truth, that they really didn't care for her the way they said they did. That they'd just been doing their job and they'd picked Cherry because she was fat and a loser and they were truly nice guys.

But what if that wasn't it at all? What if they'd meant everything they said? What if they really wanted her, but they were as afraid to talk of love as she was?

And there was another option, one she hadn't even considered. What if that bitch Fred had lied? Except Suni had been the one to bring up the guys just paying attention to Cherry out of kindness and she wasn't a bitch.

But Suni was a peacemaker, always trying to make Fred seem nicer than she was. Could she have made that up? What a stinking mess! Cherry curled into an even tighter ball of misery.

She didn't know. Damn it all … she just didn't know.

*   *   *

“Are you going to be okay here by yourself, hon? I'm worried about leaving you alone.”

Christa had helped Cherry get her suitcases into her apartment and now her little sister sat on the side of her bed. Cherry had walked in and crawled into bed. She pulled the big comforter up over her and waited for Cissy to leave. Steph waited downstairs in Cherry's car.

“Just go.” Cherry couldn't talk to anyone right now. “I'll be okay. I'm just really tired.”

“Okay. I'll bring your car back in the morning. I checked your kitchen and you've got plenty in the freezer to eat until then. If you need me, if you want to talk, even if it's the middle of the night, you call me, okay?”

“Thank you, Cis. I really don't deserve you.”

Cissy leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I know. I'm wonderful, and don't you forget it.”

Cherry squeezed her sister's hand. “Never. Now go. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.” She sniffed. “I think that, right now, I need to wallow in my misery a bit and figure out what to do next.”

Cissy and Steph left, and Cherry pulled the small package with that beautiful scarf out of her bag and laid it across the chair in her bedroom. Staring at the painted silk, at the picture of the two familiar, beloved wolves, she curled up on her bed and sobbed.

Chapter 21

Sunday

“Okay. We've got about four hours before the first of the new group show up. I want some answers. Cain? What the hell happened yesterday? You can't talk to one of our guests like that and think no one's going to notice.”

Brad glared at Trak. While Cain had occasionally challenged their alpha, Brad had never before forced eye contact with the man, but he couldn't recall ever being so angry before, either. “You're right,” he said. “But only because calling her what she is, a bitch, is an insult to every single female wolf here. Trak, you spent most of the week with Fred. You, of all people, should have figured her out.”

“It wasn't by choice, believe me. I only stuck with her to keep her from leaving and taking her two friends with her. She's the one who arranged for the private plane. Look, I know she's petty, mean, and spiteful, but I have no idea what happened that put a bee up Cain's ass. Or why your woman and her sister and friend bailed out at the crack of dawn.”

“Only because you didn't want to hear.”

“Cain? Shut the fuck up.” Trak glared at him and Cain had no choice but to lower his eyes and bare his throat, but Trak wasn't through. “You've lost any right to this discussion, and you wouldn't even be here if not for your partner. Brad? I asked you. What happened?”

So Brad told him. About falling in love with a badly damaged young woman, feeling as if they'd finally gotten through to her when, inexplicably, she'd taken off without a word. Brad repeated what Fred had said about her, what Suni had admitted to saying.

Ronan and Wils were at the table, included because of their involvement with Steph and Christa, and both men listened closely.

“In Suni's defense,” Ronan said, “and that's only because I really like Suni, she may have overheard me saying something to your brother, Trak. Lawz asked me what the attraction to Cherry was for Brad and Cain. At the time I didn't have any idea how you guys felt about her, and I said that you were both good guys and I'd watched you pick out the least attractive women in the past and show them a good time. It wasn't meant as an insult, and personally I think Cherry is a beautiful woman, but Lawz likes women who are a lot thinner, and my answer made sense to him.”

Wils shrugged. “Face it, Lawz likes to see bones. We don't, but he can't see past a woman's figure to what's really important.”

Trak nodded, and then he sighed. “Well, crap. You're right. He likes skinny women.”

Trak turned to Cain, facing him head-on. “I apologize, Cain. I'm sorry. I had no idea what was going on, but it sounds as if Fred deserved your anger. Have you heard from Cherry since she left?”

Cain shook his head. “They wouldn't have gotten home until late yesterday afternoon at the earliest.”

“Why don't you call her today? Let her know how you feel. That you'll be there next week. I still think a week's wait is a good thing, for both of you, human and wolf.”

Sighing, Cain glanced at Brad. “We talked about it,” Brad said. “We've never told Cherry we love her. We don't want the first time to be over the phone.”

“Why didn't you say anything?”

Cain took Brad's hand and held on to it as if it were a lifeline. There were times like this when Brad thought he understood just how deeply Cain loved. The man had so many more levels to him than most people saw. Brad smiled at Cain and turned to Trak.

“Cherry had a horrible experience years ago with an absolute bastard, something that damaged her in ways we'll probably never truly understand. Neither of us felt she was ready to hear the words and accept them. The fact that she's as successful as she is shows us just how strong the woman can be, but I imagine Fred's hateful words have been harder for her to handle than something like this might be for another woman.”

Cain sighed and glanced at Brad and then at their clasped hands. “My feeling is, we get through this week and then Brad and I want to take off at the end of the week. Plan on us being away for the weekend. Can you get someone to cover until at least the following Monday?”

“For us, too.” Ronan looked at Wils and shrugged. “Hell, Trak … the entire point of Feral Passions is for us to find mates. I think we've found ours as well.”

Trak leaned back in his chair and stared at the two men. “You, too? Cherry's sister and Steph?”

“Yep.” Wils grinned at Ronan. “We're a team. Turns out Steph and Christa are, too, and they both like both of us. Face it, Trak. It just doesn't get any better.”

Trak shoved his fingers through his hair and then pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “Okay. I'll make sure you're all covered. But that's one thing I guess we haven't thought through. Will you be leaving Feral Passions once you're mated, or do you think you can continue to work here, or maybe cover for some of the guys who haven't felt comfortable leaving their jobs to be here? At this rate, I'm going to end up shorthanded.”

Brad glanced at Cain, who nodded. Then Brad grabbed Trak's hand and shook. “Cain and I are staying on. I think the women will be an asset, once they've gone through the change.”

“I dunno,” Ronan said. “Women? Change?” He shuddered. “Scary thought. Gentlemen, I think life as we know it is about to change.”

They were all laughing by the time the meeting broke up.

*   *   *

Christa and Steph showed up just after nine with café mochas for the three of them. Cherry'd just gotten out of the shower and was trying to figure out where to go from there when the girls walked in without knocking.

There were times she was sorry she'd given Christa a key to her apartment.

This was not one of those times. She ducked her head when they cornered her. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I really am. Yesterday was so wrong on so many levels.”

“Good. That means we might get some answers this morning.” Christa handed her the mug topped with a layer of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. So what she didn't need, although she'd gotten on the scale last night and had actually lost a few pounds.

Good sex and hiking in the mountains must work for her.

“Cherry? What happened?”

Christa flopped down on one of the kitchen chairs and Steph took another. Cherry sat on a third and stared at the little chocolate sprinkles on the whipped cream. And then she told them. Everything—about the sex with both men and the things they'd said to her, that they wanted her forever. “And I believed them because they had no reason to lie to me. I was willing to be with them just for the week, because I knew it might be my only chance for such an experience, but then when I heard Suni and Fred talking—”

“Fred's an absolute bitch, and for what it's worth, Suni was always trying to make Fred look like she's nicer than she is.” Christa grabbed Cherry's hand. “If the guys really love you, you'll hear from them, though I'd say to give it a week.” She glanced at Steph. “Remember what Ronan and Wils were talking about, that day when they didn't know we were in the dining room?”

“I do.” Steph grabbed Christa's hand and smiled at Cherry. “You know, I've wanted to hold your sister's hand in front of you for the past few years, but I wasn't sure how she felt about it, that I wanted to be her lover as well as her best friend. We learned a lot this last week that's changed our lives. I'm so glad you're okay with it.”

Cherry gave her a wide-eyed, innocent look. “Think about it, Steph. Christa's my sister and I love her. You might as well be my sister, and I love you, too. This just means you're really going to be my sister, right? And now that we have that nonissue settled, what were Ronan and Wils talking about?”

“Sorry. Got off track. Something about there being a rule that they had to wait a week before contacting any women who'd been at Feral Passions because Trak didn't want anyone getting involved with a guest unless they were really sure of their feelings, although I don't know why that would matter.”

Cherry's mind was spinning, and no matter how she tried to dissect the convoluted conclusion she was coming to, it always spun to exactly the same point. She'd suspected all along, but—

“I think I know why it matters, but you're going to think I'm nuts. First I want you to look at some pictures I took.” She pulled out her cell phone and went to the photo album. “Just look through the first four pictures.”

Steph and Christa scrolled through the first four shots Cherry had taken of wolves at the resort. “These are great shots.” Steph raised her head and looked at Cherry. After a moment, she shrugged. “What am I looking at?”

“Their eyes. Specifically eye color.”

Christa grabbed the phone. “Okay. Pretty brown eyes. This one has green eyes. This one's got grayish green eyes. And this one…” She raised her head and stared at Cherry.

“Bright blue eyes, right?”

“What are you saying?” Steph grabbed the phone and looked again.

“Brad has dark brown eyes. They're so pretty. They make me think of bittersweet chocolate. Cain's eyes are green. Dark green, like pine tree green. Ronan's are that really stormy grayish blue that reminds me of the ocean on a cloudy day. And Wils has—”

Looking at the picture, they all said, “Bright blue eyes,” at the same time.

Steph swallowed. “Where are you going with this, Cherry?”

“Did you read that one paranormal romance that I recommended?
Alpha's Woman
? The one about the sexy werewolves?”

“Oh, Cherry. C'mon.” Christa laughed. “You're not saying these guys are werewolves, are you? That's crazy! Werewolves don't exist.”

“Did you ever see the blue-eyed wolf and Wils at the same time? Or the one with green eyes when Cain was around? Or the gray-eyed wolf with Ronan or the brown-eyed wolf with Brad? I'll bet you never did, because I'm convinced they're one and the same. I never saw man and wolf together, and believe me, I was watching for them. What else would explain wild wolves with manners? Wild wolves that cover their eyes when told not to look? Wild wolves that came to me when I was sad and stayed with me all night so I wouldn't be alone? I know you think I'm nuts, but if you can come up with another reason that these wolves are humanly intelligent and never appear at the same time as the people I believe they turn into, then I'm wide open. Except I don't think you can.”