Legacy Read online

  “You’re our mate. All of us. All of ours,” Escher blurted then shrugged when the rest of them shot daggers at him. “What? No one else was saying anything.”

  A tingle began at the top of my head and fingered its way down along every pore of my skin and every cell inside my body. My heart thrummed overtime in my chest, so hard I was sure they could hear it, hell, maybe the whole damned pack could.

  “All…” My throat went dry, and I had to swallow. “All of you?”

  Gods above, the images floating through my head were beyond R-rated.

  “Yes. At first, I thought you were just mine, but something felt off, like there was more,” Brandon started. “And the day you came here, you met Cash.”

  Cash nodded. “I knew from the first moment I saw you, but I was confused because Brandon was clearly putting off mate vibes.”

  “And I knew the moment I opened the door for you at school. My wolf completely lost his shit when he scented you. I barely kept him in the entire class,” Moss added.

  “For me, it wasn’t until you touched my hair. First time my wolf has settled in years.” Escher. My wild and unbridled one.

  My? Mine? Was I accepting this?

  “Wait, maybe there’s a mistake. Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe it’s weird because I’m the healer or something.”

  Each of them chuckled, and the collective sound did things to my stomach. “There’s no mistake, female. A man knows when he’s found his mate.”

  I leaned forward and put my head between my knees. Surely, the foggy feeling d was me about to pass out. “I’m gonna faint.”

  They were in front of me in seconds, all of them, asking if I needed anything. Moss got up, muttering something about a glass of water.

  “I don’t understand. Why me?”

  “Because you are everything. You are our world, Wendi. All of us. You have been for a while now. Somewhere, the gods or fate decided we belong together. And we do. I know it’s a lot to take in. I’m sorry, but we couldn’t let this go on any longer. You had to know who you were in our lives.”

  I scoffed at Cash’s sweet but had-to-be false words. Had to be since I felt completely unworthy of these men. And yet, my wolf and my gut told me everything they were saying was right on.

  “Wait.” I raised my head and sat up. “Is that why Rattlecreek wants me?” I shuddered at the thought. “Eew.”

  Each of their faces lost all color, and Moss paused halfway through the living room, water in hand.

  “Eew to the harem, or eew to that pack? Explain, please,” Brandon begged. The tone in his voice made me want to embrace him, but I wasn’t there quite yet.

  “Eew to Rattlecreek. I’m not…oh, gods, I’m in a harem. I’m a slut.”

  I put my head back between my knees for good measure while the guys fought to quell their laughter. It didn’t work.

  “You’re not a slut, female. Goodness. You’re a virgin, for goodness’ sake.”

  I raised my head. “How do you know? Maybe I just go around humping everything that moves.”

  Escher got closer, calling my bluff with a growl that seemed mostly beast. “Liar. You can’t lie to us, Wendi. We are your mates. We know. It tastes like rotten pennies on my tongue. Besides, we can smell no other males have been inside you.”

  He got popped on the head again by Brandon, and I thought for a minute they might fight but they settled with one word from me. “Stop.”

  “I was simply telling the truth.” He shrugged. “She deserves nothing but the truth from her mates.”

  “Yeah, but…I’m buying you a book on finesse for Christmas.” Moss gave me the glass of water which I downed in one go and handed back to him empty.

  “Please don’t wait for Christmas. He needs it now,” Cash urged.

  “Don’t you dare,” I interjected. “I need the raw truth sometimes. Thank you, Escher.”

  The dark-haired man puffed out his chest like I’d given him a Best Mate trophy.

  I took a minute to process and finally came to a conclusion. If this thing was true, if I had more than one mate—four, in fact—then I would accept it. Or try to.

  I wasn’t climbing into bed with…oh, man. All four…at the same time or…

  “What now?” I focused on moving forward rather than wallowing in the what-ifs.

  “We would like you to begin living here for the time being. The patrols and even being outside your house, under your window, clearly aren’t deterring them. The only way we can guarantee your safety is to have you here.”

  Moss got some agreement from the others in the form of grunts and nods.

  “I just got my own house. It’s mine. I won’t give it up.” I sat up straighter. Harem or not, my independence was everything to me. Those Rattlecreek assholes could, well, kiss my ass.

  Moss broke through the others and knelt in front of me. “We would never ask you to give up your home or your freedom. We know how hard you had to fight for those things. And I think we have all supported you in reaching your goals. But temporarily, until we know you are completely and totally safe, we would like you to stay here. You can have your own bedroom and bathroom. Just because you are our mate doesn’t mean we expect anything until you are ready.”

  I didn’t answer immediately, and he looked worried, scrubbing a hand through his strawberry-blonde hair.

  “I can move out if you like. I don’t have to be here. Or maybe the alpha would allow you to stay in his home if it makes you more comfortable.”

  Goodness. We all had a group case of self-depreciation today.

  “I would never ask you to move out of your home, Moss. And living with the alpha is not really on my bucket list. Escher, give it to me straight.” I looked at my brown-eyed mate…oh, gosh.

  My mate.

  Ours. All of them. Told you.

  She certainly had not.

  “We would all stay here, taking turns sleeping in your room or right outside your room, your decision, of course. No sexual pressure. Just protection. But also a chance to live together, kind of.” Escher shrugged.

  “Okay,” I said, and relief poured over my chest. I had a feeling it was more than just my own relief.

  Moss and Cash reeled back like they had anticipated more of a fight. But I was tired of fighting. Tired of fighting to be independent, fighting for my legs, fighting these feelings constantly plaguing my mind and my heart.

  I was ready to give in. Give in to this gut feeling. Give in to my heart, though it constantly contradicted my brain. Give in to the wolves who claimed they were mine.

  They…were…mine.

  “Let’s go get your things, then.” Escher offered me a hand, and I got up, coming chest to chest with him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  It was painful, packing up enough clothes and things for a few weeks. I wouldn’t be very far away, so if I forgot something, I’d be able to come back for it, but still. This home, this simple place where I’d started to make improvements, the house I’d bought with the intention of living here alone for maybe the rest of my life, was more than just walls and floors and a roof I’d have to replace in a few years.

  It represented my hard-won independence. If I were honest, I’d long ago decided I’d never find a mate. What wolf wanted someone who not only could not get around in the human world easily but who could not run at his side? And if there were babies, they traditionally went out running with their parents… I could walk now, even run a little in this form, but I had not managed to access the other one. My babies, if I had any with these males, would not have their mother to run with.

  I’d been so little when my parents died, but I still had memories of being with them in the woods, before I lost the ability to walk, to shift. They had watched over me with such care, as I gamboled in the fall leaves, tumbling over my fat puppy belly and trying to eat things that were not edible at all. Packing up my toiletries, I let the tears fall, trying not to judge the reflection of a sad woman in the mirror. I had a good life now, here in this house.

  But Moss waited in the living room, and my car was at his house. My wheelchair was in it. Not often had that chair and I been at different locations. Even now. I didn’t really use it at all. But it was like a binkie. I felt secure knowing it was nearby. What if whatever magic had allowed me to walk took it away?

  Why couldn’t it happen? Supposedly I could always walk…did it mean I hadn’t wanted to? That I had been the malingerer the one doctor implied? The pills…I knew in my heart they were the reason, but then that forced me to examine why the aunt, who took such good care of me—step-aunt or not—had also fed me those pills every day. Did she know what they were doing? Was she trying to keep me down so I’d be safe?

  Because my idyllic new life also came with danger. I had guards outside my house day and night. Guards who I certainly was not paying to be there. The pack had provided them at no cost whatsoever to me.

  I stepped into the living room. “I’m ready to load up, I think.”

  Moss sat on my sofa as comfortably as if it were his own home. Would I feel that way at his? “Great, I’ll grab your bags.” He stood up. “And if you forget anything, we can always grab it for you. It’s not like you’ll be a hundred miles away.”

  “I know.” Then why did a tear trickle down the side of my nose and land on my lip? “It’s just…just…”

  He moved so fast, I never saw him coming. One moment, he stood in front of the couch, and the next, he was enfolding me in his arms in the bedroom doorway. I buried my face in his chest and cried. What a crybaby I’d become! But knowing that didn’t make it stop. Or slow. And his hands rubbing circles on my back were almost too much to handle. No matter what happened, he and the others were there for me. I would almost have said it was enough because I was part of some weird healer prophesy.

  After all, it wasn’t as if I had thousands of friends lined up to take their place. But these guys could never be just friends. I didn’t know what I might have done to earn such amazing mates—and four of them—but for some reason, the fates had decided I’d had enough bad in my life and deserved some good—apparently.

  As my sobs finally quieted, I clung to him and tipped my face up. His smile was soft and kind, but his eyes held a whole other kind of emotion. And when his lips crashed down on mine, the world spun out of control. I could only hang on and return his kisses, clinging to his shoulders with trembling hands. My lips parted, and his did as well, our tongues meeting in the middle to dance together in a complex choreography we could never have planned. My nipples were diamond sharp, my legs weak, and not in the usual way for me. No, my blood slowed and pumped in my veins in a fiery and heated way entirely new to the sheltered girl I’d been. Every time I was alone with one of them, this heat rose. I was terrified and excited and desperate for their touch.

  “Hey, Moss, it’s not that I mind you kissing our girl, but you have the whole evening to do that once we’re out of here and have her safe. The alpha is ready to pull the guard as soon as she’s gone and the place is locked up.”

  I extricated myself from Moss’s embrace and turned to face Cash standing by the front door. “I’m sorry, I…”

  “Never be sorry to show affection to any of us, Wendi. I just want to get you on pack lands before dark.” He moved near where we stood and pulled me into his arms. His kiss was sweet and chaste, but I knew it would not always be. Especially when he gave me a light whack on the bottom as soon as our lips parted. “Now, let’s get going. The sun is low, and I’m getting hungry.

  I didn’t have to ask hungry for what. But they’d promised to wait until I was ready.

  When would I be ready to make love to four men?

  And in what order?

  “Wendi? Ready?” Moss was studying my face. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. No.”

  “Which is it?” Cash asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brandon and Escher, I learned on the drive over, were still patrolling around my house just in case one of the Rattlecreek men showed up and wanted, in Brandon’s words, as told to me by Cash, a battle royale.

  Cash and Moss seemed to think it was funny. Must’ve been a boy thing because it sounded goofy to me.

  But I wouldn’t complain, not for a minute. These men were bending over backward, sideways, and any other way to keep me from being Rattlecreek soup or a Rattlecreek bride. I didn't know which one was less appealing, truth be told.

  “I saw you practically drooling over the stove, so I took the liberty of having some groceries delivered. Thought we could cook dinner together. A stay-at-home kind of date.” Moss opened the fridge, and boy had he ever ordered groceries. It was enough food for three meals a day for a crowd—for a week.

  Cash had gone upstairs but swore he was only putting my bags in a room to get them here. I would be able to pick my own room for my stay.

  “That sounds like my cue,” Cash said with an accompanying chuckle while coming down the stairs. He walked over to me and wound his arms around my waist. “Tomorrow is my night.” He waggled his eyebrows, making me laugh. He tended to keep to business around the others, but when he was speaking to just me, it was like he was free and happy—playful.

  “Where are you taking me? Or am I allowed to leave?”

  Moss answered while cutting up something. I could hear the sound of the knife against a cutting board, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Cash to actually look. “Of course, you are allowed to leave. This isn’t a prison. We would…prefer to escort you if you choose to leave.”

  Moss had a way of making everything sound like a rose garden, making me forget the thorns.

  Cash’s eyes dipped to my lips then returned to my eyes. “I’m not telling you anyway. But yes, we will be leaving this house, but maybe not pack lands.”

  “Tease,” I replied, leaning forward to kiss him quickly. Moss was in the room, but they said they didn’t mind, so I was taking them at their word.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment from the master,” he said before kissing me back. “I’m out. Take care of our girl.”

  Moss nodded, and I watched Cash leave. I sighed, wondering if I would always miss one of them when they were gone. Would I constantly lament the loss of one while simultaneously trying to be present with the other?

  This harem thing would take some getting used to.

  “Ideas for dinner? I mean, this is about the limit of my cooking ability.”

  I whirled around, intent on focusing on Moss and the fact I was here in my mate’s home…alone.

  “Whoa, it’s just dinner. No need to get carried away.” He winked, and I joined him in the kitchen.

  “What are you talking about?” I picked up a slice of golden cheddar cheese along with a slice of apple.

  “Part of being mates is I can pick up on your feelings, the strong ones. Like when you were angry in the graveyard.”

  I decided to test the waters. “And what was I feeling just now?”

  His neck turned red as he rubbed the back of it. “Nervous and…slightly…aroused. Truth be told it’s a blow to a man’s ego.”

  I laughed. “Well, you can blame the slightly on the nervous part. Trust me, once you peel away the anxiety, it’s there. I mean, look at you.” I waved my hand in the air, referring to this beautiful man in front of me, head to toe. “How could I resist?”

  “You do things to my ego, woman. Now, dinner. I’m feeling the need to get my mate fed.”

  Boys, I swear.

  “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.”

  I found chicken in the fridge along with cream, butter, and cheese and fished out some pasta from the cabinets. “I hope you like Alfredo.”

  “I don’t know who that is, but I think we have plenty in this harem already.” His smile told me he was kidding, but still, all of this open talk about our harem made me blush and my belly flip-flop.

  “Seriously?” I held up the cheese in one hand and the butter in the other.

  “Of course, mate. Anything you want to make is fine with me. I can cut up a salad like nobody’s business.”

  Within minutes, we’d fallen into a comfortable flow. He moved around me, and I around him. He stole kisses and always found a way to touch me as we cooked alongside each other, and though the other guys were always in the back of my mind, my focus was on Moss.

  I scarfed down my meal like I had been starving, and so did he.

  “That was absolutely delicious,” he said, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. “I’m gonna have to run more to keep up with your cooking or else you might be rolling me around before long.”

  I’d intended to answer with sarcasm but it came out as a yawn.

  “You’re tired, Wendi. How about I get these dishes done, and you can go upstairs and pick your room.”

  I glanced upstairs as the thought of a long, hot shower sounded amazing. “I think I will take you up on the offer. You’ll—”

  He put his hand over mine. “After I clean, I’ll come up and you can decide how this is going to go tonight, sweetheart. No matter what, my feelings won’t be hurt, and I want you to feel no pressure about anything because you know you are our mate now. Your comfort and your wants are our first priority.”

  “Okay.”

  I made my way upstairs and checked out each of the bedrooms, three in total, and knew right away which one belonged to Moss. I stayed in the doorway, taking in his scent, caught between wanting to be there, enveloped in his presence, and also not wanting to take his room away from him.

  It was clean and well kept, like the rest of his house. A simple yet elegant, modern four post bed sat in the middle of the room. It was covered with an inviting looking billowy white comforter and white pillows, giving the entire room a dreamy feeling. There was no carpet on the wood floor and the dressers were plain wood, no trinkets or junk on the tops. But on both side tables, stacks of books lay discarded. Some open, face down, and some with bookmarks in them, awaiting the reader to pick them up again.