Hidden Alpha [Alpha Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (15 page)

Chase chuckled. “Do you really think that fate would mate you with someone that has another mate, or two as in our case, and not mate you to them, too? Did you really think that you would just be sharing her with another male and not be mated to him, too? Do you know nothing about multiple mates? Fate would never be so cruel. Could you imagine what it would be like to have to watch your mate with another male that you’re not mated to also? It would be like hell on earth. You would want to kill each other just for touching her if you didn’t also have a mate’s connection. Fate may have screwed up and mated all three of us to Amalya, but as sure as I am that I am mated to her and Devlin, I am also sure that you are our mate, too. You may not want anything to do with us, and we may not want anything to do with you, but we are all mates. Whether we like it or not, we are all in this together.”

“Bullshit!” Gavin spat. “I don’t believe a word you are saying. There is no way in hell I’m mated to two men.”

Chase reached out and again Gavin wasn’t quick enough to dodge his hand. The wolf wrapped his hand around the back of Gavin’s neck and pulled him into his neck. Gavin tried not to breath in the other male’s scent for fear of what he would find. Smelling Chase from a distance he could tell that he was Amalya’s mate, but up close and personal he wasn’t sure what he would find.
What if Chase was right?
Gavin held his breath and struggled to get out of Chase’s hold. It was a losing battle, and he eventually gave in and smelled the other man’s neck. He couldn’t believe what he found. Chase was indeed his mate, and what made matters worse was that Gavin was actually getting turned on by the combination of the scent and the closeness of Chase’s body. Before Gavin could tell them no, his traitorous hands came up and landed on Chase’s hips. He inhaled deeply and was conflicted. He wanted to push Chase away and get as far away from both of them as possible, but a small part of him wanted to crawl into Chase’s arms and never leave. His sane side finally won out when he heard a loud growl and was pushed backward again.

“You know, I’m really getting sick of being pushed around,” he said as he regained his balance.

Devlin growled again. “Then keep your hands off my mate, and I won’t have to push you again.”

Gavin watched as Chase turned to Devlin and placed a hand on each side of his face. He wasn’t sure if it was desire or revulsion he was feeling as he listened to Chase calm him down. “Baby, calm down. Everything will be okay. Like I said, he is our mate, too. Just take a minute to think about it, and you will see I’m right.”

Gavin barely held back his gasp when Chase leaned in and kissed Devlin softly on the lips, and Devlin melted into his arms. Gavin had always wanted to be as close to someone as the two seemed to be and had been that close with Amalya before he screwed up and left her. That’s what he got for trying to do the right thing. He knew he had a lot of explaining and groveling he needed to do to earn her love back. But first he needed to talk to Devlin and Chase and explain why she was so sick and what they had to do to make her better. At least now that he knew they were his mates, too, he knew that they wouldn’t kill him when he explained what had to happen before she would get better.

He watched the other two leaning with their foreheads together, talking quietly. Even with his excellent hearing he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Devlin turned to him and asked, “May I?”

Gavin knew what he was asking permission for and tilted his head to the side. As Devlin leaned in and inhaled, Gavin thought how strange it was that he had now basically submitted to both Devlin and Chase. Never in his life had he bared his throat to anyone, and today he had done it to two wolves. When Devlin raised his head, Gavin looked him directly in the eyes. He was silently telling him that he was his equal and wouldn’t be pushed around anymore. Mate or not, he wasn’t going to condone abuse. Gavin was an alpha, too. He wasn’t sure how this was going to work out, but he wasn’t going to become subservient to either of them. He knew if he stayed with them in Devlin’s pack that he would have to give up being alpha of his pack, but that didn’t mean he was ready to give up all control to someone else. “Can we sit down and talk about how to help Amalya now without anyone else shoving me around?”

Devlin tipped his head forward. “Yes, let’s go sit. We will not harm you. You are safe here.” Devlin led him back up the steps and around the side of the house to the back deck. Chase followed but didn’t get too close. When they all had taken a seat at the glass-topped table, Devlin spoke. “Please tell us what you know about what is wrong with Amalya and how we can help her.”

Devlin watched as Gavin seemed to arrange his thoughts. He held Chase’s hand as he listened to Gavin speak about their mate.

“Half-breeds are special. Some wolves won’t associate with them and think they should all be executed or, at the very least, exiled from their packs. They think that since they are not a
whole
wolf they are not as good as we are. Others know their true treasures. Some are completely normal, but some have something special about them. I have heard of half-breeds that can read minds, move things without touching them, and even some that can tell the future. They are all born human and cannot shift like a full shifter can. Some go their whole lives without even knowing what or who they are. If they never find their mate, they will never be able to shift. If their destined mate is human, usually nothing happens. But sometimes they will be able to shift after they have sex for the first time. Their mate is usually a shifter, and once they are claimed they will be able to shift. You both know that a claiming involves both the bite and sex. This process intertwines the mates’ souls for their rest of their lives, and nothing but death can break that bond. I’m not sure how, but that claiming stimulates the wolf genes, causing them to be able to shift. It will also trigger any special powers they may have. ”He took a deep breath before continuing. “Amalya is very special. Beyond being a half-breed, she is also daughter and granddaughter to alphas. This makes her an alpha also. Being an alpha yourself, I’m sure you were taught at a young age that you would have two mates, correct?”

Devlin nodded his head.

Gavin went on saying, “I’m assuming that you claimed Chase a long time ago.”

Devlin knew it wasn’t really a question, but he answered anyway, “Yes, we have been mated for eleven years.”

Gavin nodded. “Half-breed alpha have two mates, too. Or I guess, in Amalya’s case, three. The only difference being that they need both of their mates to claim them at the same time or very close together, before it is too late. You did not have any problems because you are a full wolf and could shift from birth, but Amalya is sick because you and Chase claimed her without her other mate. Me. When you two claimed her, it stimulated the wolf genes, and her body wants to shift. The problem is that she needs all of her mates before her body can complete the shift. Let me guess. She is in pain. Her whole body hurts. She’s tired all the time and very weak. Am I close?”

Devlin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had to admit, he didn’t know a lot about half-breeds and had never met one that he knew of. He wondered why no one had ever felt the need to explain all this to him. He answered Gavin. “Yes, all of those. As you heard, the doctor doesn’t even know what is wrong with her. So what you’re telling us is that this is all our fault. She is like this because we claimed her?”

Gavin reached across the table and took Devlin’s hand. Softly, he said, “No, this is my fault. If I had been strong enough to resist her and had stayed here, I could have explained all of this to you when you met her. I take complete responsibility for all of this. I should never have left her. If you two and Amalya will let me, I will make up for this. I know she doesn’t want anything to do with me, and I hurt her, but I need to make things right for her. If afterwards, none of you want me here, I will leave, but I need to make her whole. I know this is a lot to take in and digest, but I’m not sure how much longer she will last if she’s as bad as you say she is.”

Devlin could hear the sincerity in Gavin’s voice but still wasn’t sure if he could trust the other wolf. He knew that they were all mates, and mates trusted one another doubtlessly, but Gavin had hurt Amalya once. When Devlin and Chase had found her, they had promised her that they would take care of her and would never share her with another male. They had made it exceptionally clear to her that if she did not want them and only them that they could not be with her. They knew they were taking a chance with her being human that she would one day leave them. But they loved her with their whole hearts and took the leap of faith. Devlin would listen to the rest of what Gavin told him before he would decide if he could trust him enough to let him go near Amalya. He knew they were going to have to explain all of this to her. He wasn’t sure how, but by the sounds of it, he was going to have to break his promise he made about sharing her. She wouldn’t understand. Until two weeks ago, she knew nothing about shifters and mates. She had accepted the information better than he expected. He knew she truly did love them and could feel the bond between them. Now he was going to have to break that trust and let Gavin claim her. That was, if she would let him anywhere near her. Devlin couldn’t think about the alternative, but when Gavin had said ‘before it is too late’ he knew what ‘too late’ meant. If Gavin did not claim her soon, they would lose her.

“Tell us how you know all of this and why you kept it from her,” Devlin said.

* * * *

Amalya was exhausted, and her whole body ached. If that wasn’t enough, she felt like she was on fire again. For the last few days, she had the burning up feeling. All she had to do was make love to one or both of her men and the feeling would go away for a while. It was strange. The more tired and achy she felt, the hornier she was. She wanted to call her mates into the room and jump them but knew that she didn’t have the energy for it. She also knew that even if she begged them to make love to her, they would refuse. They had refused her advances since yesterday, saying that they didn’t want to make her sicker than she already was. She accepted their excuse because she also didn’t want them to catch whatever it was that was wrong with her. That was why she moved into one of the guest bedrooms down stairs from theirs. She felt bad for making them take care of all four children by themselves but wouldn’t risk any of them getting sick, too, especially the babies that were only two weeks old.

She lay in bed, body on fire, aching all over, until she heard a voice from her past that set her blood boiling. She would know that voice anywhere. It had been five years since she heard it, but it was forever embedded in her memory.
Gavin.

For a brief second, she thought maybe she was dreaming until she heard Gavin, Chase, and Devlin having the strangest conversation. She could only make out some of the words, but she did catch her name mentioned quite a bit. She was in too much pain to stand, so she rolled out of the bed to the floor. After a few tries, she was able to lift herself off the ground enough to crawl to the French doors that led out onto the deck. Luckily, Chase had left the door open a little so she could get some fresh air. If not, she wouldn’t have been able to reach up high enough to reach the knob and open it. She propped herself up against the wall and peeked out. Sure enough, there sat Gavin talking to Chase and Devlin. She studied the face of the man that she had loved for so many years while he spoke.

“Her mother was the daughter of the alpha of a pack in Texas. She was a full-blooded shifter and an alpha, too. She had found one of her mates. He was a human male. Her uncle was power hungry and knew that if she were to be killed that his son would be the next alpha. He didn’t think that a woman could run a pack, especially a woman that would mate a human. He hired an assassin to kill her, her mate, and their unborn child. Her father found out his plan and sent her away. He told her to go as far away as possible and to not try to make contact with him. He told her that he would take care of his brother and the assassin, and when it was safe for her to return and become the alpha, he would find a way to contact her. She and her mate left home and made it to my pack’s lands before she went into labor. They hadn’t gotten away quickly enough, though. The assassin had been able to follow their trail and found them just before she was ready to give birth in an abandoned farmhouse outside of town. My father was alerted to the presence of two wolves on his land and went to investigate. When he arrived, he saw a wolf running from the house and was about to follow him when he heard a weak yelp come from inside. Worried that there was someone injured inside, he went in. He found Amalya’s father already dead and her mother barely holding on. He called an ambulance, and she told him the story of how they had gotten there and asked him to please take care of her daughter for her. He knew there was no way she was going to live and promised her that he would take the child and protect her. They did an emergency C-section on her, but were unable to save her. She died before she ever got to see her baby girl. My father, being alpha, was able to keep everything quiet and brought her home from the hospital the same night she was born. My parents and their beta discussed it and decided the best way to hide a half-breed was to place her with human parents. He assumed that the assassin would report back to the uncle that he had killed all three and thought it safest that there not be a baby that appeared to be human living with a shifter family if he ever came looking for her. He felt bad for not contacting the alpha of the other pack to tell him that the grandchild was safe, but he couldn’t risk it. He had promised her mother that he would keep her safe and that was what he did.”