Her Keepers (3 page)

Duncan watched as his mate drifted to sleep. With his bear sated and happy now that they’d had their mate, Duncan was back in control. He had never had his bear take over him like he had when they’d scented their mate. Duncan had always thought he’d woo his mate before he mated her, but his bear took him over and took away his choice. As he lay watching his mate, he had no regrets about what his bear did. Mates were gifts, and his bear had made sure they didn’t lose her. His bear had made the right choice.

“We’re going to have a lot of explaining to do when she wakes up,” Brad whispered.

He sat up to look over at Brad. “Yes, but we’ve waited so long for her. We live twice as long as most shifters. We’ve been Peacekeepers here for over a hundred years. Our parents have passed to the other world. We are getting on in years, and have only now found our mate to start the new generation.” Duncan gripped the precious bundle tighter. “Just think how lucky we are to have found her. From what I remember about the Johnson booking, they come from the other side of the world.”

Brad stroked their mate’s back. “I’m worried about how this is going to work. She doesn’t live in America, and she’s so young.”

Duncan laughed at his brother. “We made the right choice mating her. Everyone is ‘young’ to us, Brad, or should I say, Bradrick. This coming year we turn two hundred. Raylock reminded me.”

Brad chuckled. “Speaking of one of our brothers, you’ll never believe why I arrived so quickly. Raylock and Ashten came home early from the Vampire conflict in Texas. They came in and attacked me, as it seems we have their mate in our hotel.”

Duncan winked at his brother. “Well, what do you know? It seems we’ve been in the wrong country all along.”

Brad sat up. Karen shivered, and her hands reached out, searching for them. He slid back down and she moved herself onto him, sighed, and fell back into her deep sleep.

“We’ll talk when she wakes. I know she’ll have many questions.”

Brad nodded, and he shut his eyes, content for the first time in many years.

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Chapter Two

Karen’s body ached, but it was a good ache. She snuggled into the warmth, not wanting to wake from the best dream. She sighed. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep for just a little while longer, the answers to her weird behavior might magically come to her.

“Are you going to go back to sleep?” The deep, soothing tone of Brad’s voice made her eyes pop open, and she shot up in bed, clutching the covers around her naked body.

“Are you by yourself? Where’s Duncan?”

Brad’s blond hair fell to his shoulders, his warm, light-green eyes devouring her, making her feel hot and needy again.

“No need to cover yourself, angel. I’ve seen every delicious inch of your body. Duncan should be back soon. We had a situation at the hotel.”

Jumping out of bed, the sheet still wrapped around her, she looked for her clothes, when suddenly her brain seemed to come back on, and she remembered her friend. “Jacky! Crap. I’m the worst best friend in the world. How can I forget about my best friend? I have to make sure she’s okay.”

Arms came around her, and Brad turned her into his chest. “Jacky is fine. She’s as safe as you are right now. My brother, Ashten, wouldn’t leave her, and with Raylock, Duncan, and our youngest brothers, Jaylen and Abraham, helping with the situation, I expect Duncan back any moment.

“What’s the situation?”

He groaned, “I have no idea how I should say this. So here it goes. We have a werewolf situation. Two clans are fighting.”

She laughed, “Ha, ha, very funny. What’s really happening?” A million situations went through her mind; Jacky had been attacked because they hadn’t stayed together; a gunman had wreaked havoc; and another good one—an animal had broken into the hotel and gotten to her.

“I’m not joking. You might want to sit down, and maybe I should wait for Duncan so I can show you as he explains.” She didn’t sit, and he moaned and ran his fingers through his long hair. “Fuck it. I’m a polar bear shifter, and we are Peacekeepers.”

Karen groaned as she looked at the crazy guy before her. He was so handsome. What a waste that he was crazy. She gazed into the green eyes that were narrowed in on her. His face was a straight mask; he believed he was a shifter—a polar bear shifter, no less. Brad’s body seemed tense, and she hoped she didn’t anger him by not believing him. Then it dawned on her what she had done with him. “Oh, no! I’ve had the best sex of my life with an insane man.”

Looking around for her clothes again, Karen shook her head as he walked closer, and the fresh woodsy smell floated around her again. Finding her ripped clothes piled in a corner, she put her hands up to ward him away. “Stay back. Um…I think you need help. I don’t know what perfume you have on, but you do something to me. Or you have covered yourself in a smell? Maybe that is what’s making you insane. It’s making me kind of crazy, I think.”

Brad didn’t slow, and she could feel her resistance slipping the closer he got. He smiled, and her stomach flipped. No, no, no something was wrong with her. She was attracted to a man who believed werewolves existed, and believed that he was a polar bear.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

Delicious shivers raked through her at his sexy voice. What did she say? Oh fuck. Karen didn’t want him to hurt her. “Argh, yeah, sure I believe you. Why don’t you explain it better back at the hotel once I check on my friend?” Karen needed to get out of here. She would grab Jacky at the hotel and make a run for the car.

“I can smell that you’re lying.” His naked body now stood in front of her. “I’d show you, but you have to promise you won’t run, because I’m a predator and running will make my bear want to chase.”

Karen eyed Brad, nodded, and put her tattered clothes on and slipped her boots on. She maneuvered her body out of the corner and waved her hand. “Okay, show me.” She slowly backed away from him as lights started to shine around him, and he grew in height and his hair turned white.

Speechless seconds later, she stared at a fucking polar bear. Swallowing several times, Karen found her voice and muttered, “Holy shit,” before she screamed, turned, and ran.

Karen had no idea where to run to; she just knew she had to get away. Leaving the bedroom, she ran out of the house and headed toward what she hoped was the direction of the hotel. Bear growls followed behind her, and she yelled, “Help! Help! Please!”

Karen told herself not to look back, but as she heard the bear huffing and panting, she glanced behind and tripped and fell. Knowing the massive polar bear was close, she didn’t let the pain of the fall stop her, instead, she started crawling away.

A pair of white joggers and grey tracksuit pant came into view, then arms came around her waist and picked her up, and the woodsy smell clouded around her again. “You’re not running, well, crawling away from us?"

Karen gazed up at Duncan. “P…pp…polar bbb…bear.”

Duncan shook his head and looked behind her. “You couldn’t wait until I got back to explain to her?”

Karen didn’t need to turn. She knew whom Duncan was talking to. “I need to go. I need to get away. He’s a…he said you’re a… Oh, God, polar bears. Put me down. I need to leave. You can keep the money. I won’t tell anyone. I promise. No one would believe me anyway. Please let me go.”

She‘d lost her mind. She just wanted to go home and be safe. Karen’s whole world had just changed. She had learned that shifters existed, and they weren’t the fictional characters she’d always assumed they were.
Now that she knew, would they kill her?
Would they let her go?
Would they keep her prisoner to protect their secret?

“What are you going to do with me?’”

Duncan’s lips brushed hers, and she flinched. He frowned and shot a glare at the bear behind her. “We are going to keep you. You’re ours.”

Karen tried to take deep breaths of air as he started to walk back in the direction she’d just run from. Crap, they were going to keep her; she was theirs.
Did that mean theirs to eat, to kill, to hold hostage and do terrible things to?

“Are you going to kill me? Or are you going to turn me into one of you?” Then she remembered they’d bit her last night, both of them had. “You bit me last night.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed, and his lips turned down. “We would never hurt you or harm you. You’re our mate. The other half of our soul. The only woman who can give us cubs.” He walked through the front door that was still wide open and placed her down near the sofa.

“What the hell do you mean ‘cubs’? I can’t have cubs. I’m human,” she screeched.

Karen pushed on his chest and got out of his arms, turning in time to watch Brad slowly become a man again. She rubbed her eyes and went over what she’d seen and still couldn’t believe it.

“Talk. One of you needs to talk now, or I swear I’m leaving, and you better bloody well let me go,” Karen snarled at both men, hoping false bravado would work.

Duncan scrubbed his hand over his face. “You are our mate. The other half of our souls. I’m sorry for rushing into claiming you. This is not how we wanted it to go. We always thought we would woo our mate. We are Peacekeepers. We keep the peace between supernaturals. To do this, everything about us is stronger and better. We live longer, we heal even faster than other paranormal beings, we hear better and so on, you get the idea. The one thing this doesn’t work well with is when Peacekeepers find their mates. We can’t control the passion and the overwhelming need to claim, it takes over. Pheromones help our mate succumb to the mating bond. Once we touch our mate, they will find us irresistible. It is why you let us claim you within minutes of meeting you.”

“Wow. I don’t know if I should feel better that I’m not a sex-crazed slut, or worse that I was drugged with pheromones so I would have sex with two hot men.” Karen bit her lip to stop her groan as heat flushed through her at the thought of last night. “Why are you both saying I’m your mate?”

Brad winked at her. “You didn’t like having more than one man giving you all you need?”

Karen took a step back. She needed space from them before their smell got to her again, and she jumped them. “I’m sure you could tell how much I did.” She had loved it. They had been the best lovers she’d ever had, well not that there had been many. Three, if she counted the guy she’d lost her virginity to.

Brad nodded. “Peacekeepers always share a mate. It helps to protect the mate and keep the Peacekeepers balanced.”

Karen nodded, even though she really had no idea what everything meant. “What do mates need protecting from?”

Duncan sighed and stalked toward her, pulling her into his embrace. He then walked with her and sat on the sofa, settling her onto his lap. “The supernatural world can be dangerous. We can be targeted when someone who has done wrong knows our wrath will come down on them, or when we have to come between feuds. Sometimes a side thinks if they have leverage over us they can force us to side with them. That is why one of us will always be with you.”

Karen didn’t like the sound of that. She’d only just met these men. Granted, she’d had mind blowing sex with them, but she didn’t think she could be with them twenty-four seven. That would drive her batshit crazy. She shook her head. What was she even thinking? She couldn’t be with these men. She was on an American holiday. She was not here to shack up and mate or live together forever with a guy doing lovey-dovey stuff. She would go back to Australia, find a job, and live her life.

“So you two think I’m your mate.”

“Not think, we know. And we have mated you.” Brad stood looking down at her on Duncan’s lap.

“You don’t even know my name. How can I be your mate?”

Brad smirked. “I do. Karen, your name is Karen. Now Karen White.”

“Did Jacky tell you my name?”

Brad nodded.

“It is Karen Striter, not White.”

“Not anymore. Our last name is White. You are now mated to us, so you are Karen White.” Duncan’s breath caressed her bare skin as he talked.

Wiggling, she pushed away from Duncan, trying to get out of his embrace, but he held her tighter. All of this was happening so fast. Karen hadn’t even known the men for twenty-four hours. She hadn’t signed any papers to say they had married or any such thing. Her home was in Australia.

“Neither of you know me. What if you don’t like me, or I don’t like you once you’ve spend some time with me? My God, you said you live longer. I’ll grow old and die.” Karen pushed on Duncan again and this time he let her go. She stood and glared at both men. She needed them to see reason. “How old are you two, anyway?”

“We are two hundred this year. We’ve waited over a century for you,” Duncan whispered against her ear and tugged her to him.

She turned and grinned up at him. “You’re like
way
old. This mate thing has to be wrong. I’m way too young for you two oldies.”

“The mating bond is never wrong.” Brad gathered her to him and leaned down, taking her lips to his own. She pushed to get away before the overwhelming need to be with them consumed her. She could feel it thrumming through her, but wouldn’t give into it. “We’re not that old. We mated you, so now you’ll age the same as we do.”

Holy shit this was getting to be too much.

“Give us a couple of weeks to get to know one another. I promise we will prove to you that you are our mate, the perfect woman for us.”

Standing between the two gorgeous men, body aching for them, Karen knew she wouldn’t be able to convince them of anything other than what they believed. Brad seemed convinced he and Duncan could show her that she was theirs. They really thought she was their mate. She and Jacky had two and a half weeks until the next concert. Karen would give them a week and a half to convince her she needed to be with them before she drove away. Glaring at the two of them, she sighed, because she knew she would regret it if she didn’t at least give them a chance. “You two have two weeks to convince me. Jacky and I have tickets to a concert that’s two and a half weeks from today.”