Chapter Two
Two. Liam had two mates. Although he’d heard of it happening, he never thought it would happen to him. One blond, one with jet-black hair. Two. That number kept circling his brain. What were the odds of him finding one mate, let alone two?
And what was he supposed to do about it?
“Your turn’s coming up.” Aiden nudged him with an elbow, holding out the darts.
Taking them mechanically, Liam lined up his shot. The dart sailed wide, embedding itself in the wall a full foot from the board. Plaster dust drifted down.
“Jesus, what’s wrong with you tonight?” Aiden retrieved the dart, examining the fresh hole in the wall. “You usually clean my clock at this game.”
Another throw. This one at least hit the board, though nowhere near where he’d aimed.
The crowd noise faded to background static as Liam tracked movement near the bar.
Both men had emerged from Ash’s office, Hayden already chatting with a customer while Teagan hung back, fingers drumming against his thigh.
“Earth to space cadet.” Aiden snapped his fingers in front of Liam’s face. “Seriously, man, what’s going on? You look like someone just told you Christmas got canceled.”
Liam’s final dart bounced off the wire and clattered to the floor. “Those two guys I brought in? The ones who just started?”
“Yeah?” Aiden bent to grab the fallen dart. “What about them?”
“They’re both my mates.”
Aiden froze mid-throw then straightened slowly.
His mouth opened, closed, opened again. Then laughter exploded out of him, loud enough to draw stares from nearby tables.
“Both of them? Oh, man.” He clutched his stomach, doubling over.
“Good fucking luck with that. Two mates means twice the drama, twice the compromise, twice the—”
“I get it.” Liam’s wolf prowled restlessly, attention locked on the two humans across the room. “You don’t have to be a jackass about it.”
“No, I don’t think you do.” Aiden wiped tears from his eyes, still chuckling.
“My cousin has two mates. Know what happened? They argue about dinner for three hours. Every. Single. Night. One wants Thai, one wants Italian, and my cousin just wants them both to shut up so he can eat.” He clapped Liam on the shoulder.
“You’re gonna have your hands full, brother. ”
Across the room, Hayden worked the crowd like he’d been born to it, leaning across tables to take orders, laughing at jokes, touching shoulders as he passed.
Natural charisma radiated from him. Meanwhile, Teagan stayed near the service station, organizing napkins and straws with intense focus, only approaching tables when absolutely necessary.
Not scared though. Liam could see the difference. When Teagan did interact with customers, his voice stayed steady, his hands didn’t tremble. He just preferred the edges of things, the quiet spaces where he could observe without being observed.
It made Liam want to create a bubble around him, a safe zone where that gentle nature could exist without pressure. His wolf agreed, pushing closer to the surface with each passing second.
“Check out the drunk,” Aiden muttered. “Never understand why humans get that wasted. They’re only setting themselves up to be robbed or arrested.”
A guy in a Broncos jersey stumbled toward the service station, beer sloshing from his glass. Teagan stepped aside to let him pass, but the drunk's hand shot out, palm connecting with Teagan’s ass with a loud smack.
Red hazed Liam’s vision. His wolf snarled, canines threatening to lengthen.
Teagan jumped, spinning around with wide eyes. The drunk laughed, reaching out to grab Teagan’s wrist. “C’mere, pretty boy. Keep me company.”
Liam crossed the room in three strides. His hand clamped down on the drunk’s wrist, applying just enough pressure to make him release Teagan. “Hands. Off.”
“Who the fuck’re you?” The guy swayed, breath reeking of whiskey and beer. His free hand balled into a fist.
“Someone suggesting you piss off.” Liam kept his voice level despite the urge to put this asshole through the nearest wall. The guy could barely stand. There was no sport in destroying someone that wasted.
“Is there a problem here?” Hayden appeared beside them, black hair falling across his forehead as he looked between them. “Because if you’re hassling my friend, we’re gonna have a serious fucking issue.”
Friend. Not roommate this time. Liam filed that away.
“Your friend’s got a nice ass,” the drunk slurred, reaching again.
Hayden’s fist connected with the guy’s jaw before Liam could intervene. Not a wild swing either—proper form, weight behind it, knuckles aligned. The drunk crumpled.
“Shit.” Hayden shook out his hand, grimacing. “That hurt more than I expected.”
Liam frowned. “That your first time clocking a guy?”
It couldn’t be. Hayden’s swing had been too damn perfect.
“No, but it catches me off guard every time,” Hayden admitted, his knuckles already bruising.
Ash materialized from behind the bar, taking in the scene with one glance. He grabbed the semi-conscious drunk by the collar, hauling him toward the door. “Drunk or not, nobody harasses my fucking employees. Don’t come back.”
Silence spread through the tavern like ripples on water. Then someone started a slow clap, and normal noise resumed.
“Thanks,” Teagan said quietly, not quite meeting Liam’s gaze. Pink colored his cheeks, though whether from embarrassment or something else, Liam couldn’t tell. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, I did.” The words came out rougher than intended. ‘Though it was your friend who did all the heavy lifting.”
And his wolf was going apeshit over Hayden protecting their smaller mate. The two were about the same height, but Hayden had a slight build, whereas Teagan was slim. Fuck if Liam didn’t want to take Hayden to Ash’s office and screw the guy’s brains out.
Hayden rubbed his knuckles, studying Liam like his mate had read his filthy thoughts. “Still appreciate the backup.”
“Anytime.” Liam meant it. His wolf would tear apart anyone who touched either of them without permission. The possessive instinct ran deeper than thought, older than words. He accepted the ice pack Ash handed him then passed it to Hayden.
His mate placed it over his bruised knuckles, sliding a little closer to Teagan.
Music thumped through the floorboards. Someone called for another round.
The normal rhythm of the bar resumed, but Liam couldn’t shake the electric awareness of standing between both his mates, their scents mixing in the air—Hayden’s cologne and soap, Teagan’s something softer, like vanilla and rain.
“My truck’s outside when you’re ready to head home,” Liam offered. “Save you the walk.”
“Yeah, okay.” Hayden nodded immediately. “Our car’s still dead on the side of the road anyway.”
Teagan stayed quiet, but Liam caught him glancing up through those long lashes, hazel eyes holding something unreadable before darting away again.
Three more hours until close. Three hours of watching them work, of fighting every instinct to claim what his wolf recognized as his. Three hours of sweet torture.
Worth every second.
* * * *
Liam eased his pickup alongside the shoulder hours later, parking right behind Hayden and Teagan’s dusty beige sedan. He slid from the driver’s seat, boots crunching on gravel as he approached their car.
“Damn,” he muttered, realizing he should’ve asked for their keys.
“Need me to jimmy it open?” Aiden asked, yawning. “Won’t leave a mark.” He scratched his jaw. “Though, this could’ve waited, Liam. You got us out here at the ass-crack of dawn. The sun’s barely over the mountains.”
Liam tugged the door handle. Locked tight. No way to pop the hood without getting inside first.
“Have at it,” he said, stepping aside as Aiden produced a slim metal tool from his back pocket. With a practiced twist, the lock surrendered with a soft click. The door popped with a rusty creak.
Mental note: WD-40 those hinges later.
Leaning into the car’s interior, something caught his eye. There, nestled in the cupholder like loose change, sat a spare key.
His mates had actually left a spare in plain sight. He’d need to have a serious talk with them about basic safety.
Yep, that still blew his mind. In the cosmic lottery, Liam had pulled a deuce. He’d never envied the other wolves who’d had to explain the supernatural world if their mate was human. Liam was tasked with telling two guys.
Lucky him.
With a sigh, he found the hood release and pulled.
“Get her started once I’ve got the hood up,” he said, tossing the key to Aiden.
“They seriously left a spare in the car?” Aiden’s eyes danced with amusement.
“Shut it,” Liam growled, though he couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips. His pulse quickened at the thought of seeing Hayden and Teagan again.
The engine clattered to life under the hood then immediately died.
Grease smeared across Liam’s knuckles as he tightened the battery cable.
Morning heat already pressed down, making his shirt stick to his back.
Beside him, Aiden leaned against the car’s back bumper, tossing his wrench between his hands.
“Try it now,” Liam called out.
Aiden reached through the driver’s window and turned the key. This time the engine caught and held, settling into a steady purr.
“Just a loose battery terminal.” Liam wiped his hands on a rag that had seen better days. “Ten-minute fix.”
“Lucky for them you’re handy.” Aiden gathered the tools scattered on the asphalt. “Though I’m guessing you’d have rebuilt the entire engine if it meant seeing those two again.”
Heat that had nothing to do with the weather crept up Liam’s neck.
His wolf stirred, already anticipating being near his mates again.
Dropping them off after their shift ended had been torture—Teagan pressed against him in the truck, that vanilla-rain scent filling the cab, while Hayden’s presence on the other side created a different kind of pull.
Raw attraction mixed with something deeper, something that made his wolf pace restlessly all night.
And had kept him rock hard.
“Follow me back?” Liam slid behind the wheel of the sedan.
His knees hit the steering wheel immediately.
Christ, how did either of them drive this thing?
After adjusting the seat as far back as it would go, he still felt like a giant trying to fit into a dollhouse.
The rearview mirror needed tilting too, set for someone who couldn’t be more than five-four.
The drive took fifteen minutes through residential streets lined with oak trees.
Liam pulled into the driveway of a small rental house with peeling yellow paint and an overgrown lawn.
He’d seen the condition of the house hours ago, but it looked even more in need of a paint job during the daylight hours.
Before he could knock, the door flew open.
“Holy shit, you fixed it?” Hayden bounded out in basketball shorts and nothing else, black hair sticking up at odd angles. Sleep lines creased one cheek, but his grin stretched wide. “I thought we’d be walking to work for weeks.”
Behind him, Teagan appeared in an oversized T-shirt that hung to mid-thigh as he rubbed his eyes.
The morning light caught those hazel irises, making them glow amber-green.
Both of them were barefoot, rumpled from sleep, looking so domestic that Liam’s wolf wanted to crowd them both back inside and—
“Loose battery cable.” Liam cleared his throat and tried his damnedest to stop thinking about what he wanted to do to both of them. While naked. “Should hold fine now, but you might want to replace it soon.”
“Add it to my growing list of shit I can’t afford.” Hayden ran his fingers through his messy hair, which only made it worse. Or better. “What do we owe you?”
“Not a dime.” The thought of taking money from his mates made Liam’s stomach turn. “But there’s a pack barbeque at our place later if you want to come. Good food, great company.”
And a chance for his mates to get to know the others. They were family now, and Liam just bet the two would fit right in.
Or so he hoped. Hayden, definitely. Teagan? Questionable. He was the one Liam would have to work hard to earn his trust. Someone had broken it, made him wary, and Liam wanted to show his shy mate that pack was safe.
Pack was protection.
Teagan’s shoulders tensed slightly. “Pack?”
Shit. Liam had let that slip. The word had flowed so freely in front of his mates.
“Just what we call our group.” Aiden appeared beside Liam after parking the truck. “Big house outside town, bunch of us live there. Very commune-like without the weird cult stuff.”
“Free food sounds good to me.” Hayden glanced at Teagan. “What do you think?”
“We should probably—” Teagan started.
“Actually,” Liam interrupted, an idea forming, “how about breakfast first? Hash It Out makes killer pancakes.”
Teagan shook his head immediately, fingers twisting in the hem of his shirt. “You already fixed our car. We can’t ask for more.”
Something in his tone made Liam study him closer. It wasn’t embarrassment exactly. More like someone keeping careful track of debts, making sure the scales never tipped too far. His wolf didn’t like it. The wariness, the distance Teagan maintained even while standing three feet away.
“Nobody’s asking for anything,” Liam said carefully. “Just thought you might be hungry.”
“We are.” Hayden’s stomach chose that moment to growl pretty damn loudly. “See? Proof.”
“We have food here.” Teagan stepped back toward the doorway. “You’ve already done enough.”
The dismissal felt like a boot to the gut. Liam’s wolf pushed forward, not aggressively, just needing to be closer, to understand why one mate pulled away while the other leaned in.
“Look, I get it.” Liam kept his voice level despite the urge to crowd Teagan against the doorframe until he explained that guarded expression. “New town, random guy keeps showing up. That probably seems weird.”
“A little,” Teagan admitted, hazel eyes finally meeting his directly.
Electricity shot through Liam at that small connection. His wolf rose up fast and fierce, causing Liam’s gums to throb and his fingertips to burn. His beast wanted free, wanted to wreck Teagan in the most pleasurable way.
Get a fucking grip.
“How about this,” Hayden suggested, clearly trying to play peacemaker. “You guys come in, and we’ll cook breakfast here. That way nobody owes anybody anything. It’ll be our payment for giving us a ride, twice, and fixing our car.”
Before Teagan could protest, Hayden grabbed his arm and steered him toward the kitchen. Liam caught fragments of their hushed conversation—Hayden’s “just relax” and Teagan’s “I don’t like this” and something about “too helpful” that made Liam’s wolf huff in frustration.
When they emerged, Teagan’s expression had shifted to resignation. “Fine. Breakfast. But we’re cooking.”
“Deal.” Liam would agree to anything that kept him near them longer.
The rental interior matched the exterior. Worn, but clean. Mismatched furniture that probably came with the place, boxes still stacked in corners, the feeling of transient people who hadn’t quite committed to staying. The kitchen was cramped, with barely enough room for two people, let alone four.
Watching his mates navigate the space felt like a choreographed dance. Hayden reached for the eggs just as Teagan turned with the pan, their bodies sliding past each other without a collision.
There were years of practice in those movements, the easy familiarity of people who knew each other’s rhythms.
After dropping them off, Liam had thought about the way Hayden’s fist had connected with that drunk’s jaw when he’d touched Teagan.
A fact that still astonished Liam.
And a huge factor in why he’d stayed hard.
But the protective fury in Hayden’s eyes had been unmistakable.
What exactly were they to each other? Actual roommates? Best friends? Something more?
Was he reading too much into it? The universe had a twisted sense of humor, but would fate really give him two mates who only wanted each other? Or worse, neither wanted anyone?
Surely fate wouldn’t be that goddamn cruel. He was almost positive the two were lovers, but with Liam’s luck, when it came to men, he would end up with two straight guys, feeling the pull but fighting against it.
His wolf snarled at the thought.
Same, buddy. Same.
The sizzle of bacon pulled him from his thoughts, maple-scented steam rising from the pan like a sweet fog.
“How long have you two known each other?” Aiden asked, snagging bacon from the plate before Hayden smacked his hand away.
“Since we were kids.” Hayden flipped pancakes with practiced ease. “We grew up on the same street, just a few houses apart from each other.”
Liam envied their bond. They’d had a lifetime together while he was showing up late to the party. He wanted to get to know both of them, to be as close to his mates as they were to each other.
His wolf snarled to kick Aiden out and claim what was his. To show Hayden and Teagan what being with a wolf shifter truly meant.
Down, boy. We’re not going to scare our mates.
“And you’re just roommates?” Aiden’s tone stayed casual, but Liam heard the probe underneath.
Liam was five seconds away from smacking Aiden on the back of his head. The two were hiding their relationship, even if Aiden hadn’t caught on.
Teagan’s hand stilled on the orange juice pitcher. Just for a second, but Liam caught it.
“Cheaper that way.” Hayden didn’t miss a beat, but something in his voice had gone flat.
They were lying. Liam knew it, his wolf knew it, hell, Aiden had to know by Hayden’s reaction just now. But neither mate seemed ready to trust them with whatever truth they were protecting. Fair enough. Trust would take time to build, especially when you’d been burned before.
Liam knew that feeling all too well. He’d just gotten out of a relationship with Jackson a few months back. It had been an epic breakup, with plenty of toxicity and a public display that would’ve made anyone blush.
Looking back, he couldn’t fathom what had drawn him to Jackson in the first place. The guy had checked none of his usual boxes—too loud, too needy, too convinced of his own importance. Worst of all had been Jackson’s insistence that they were mates, a claim that had rung hollow from the start.
Last night, when Hayden and Teagan had climbed into his truck, the immediate rush of connection had made Jackson’s lie even more obvious. This—this double pull in his chest—was what finding your mate actually felt like.
It was as if heat was spreading beneath his ribs like honey through warm bread, and without thinking, Liam’s hand pressed against the spot where contentment had taken root.
“So this barbeque…” Hayden changed the subject smoothly. “What’s the deal? We supposed to bring something?”
“Just yourselves.” Liam accepted the plate Teagan handed him, their fingers brushing. That small contact sent heat racing up his arm. Teagan jerked back. He’d felt it too, color rising in his cheeks. But he’d acted as though Liam had burned his hand instead of a simple touching of fingers.
“Sounds very casual.” Teagan’s tone suggested he found that suspicious.
Liam had his work cut out for him. Convincing the smaller of the two that he didn’t have to keep his walls up was going to be a challenge.
A challenge Liam gladly accepted.
“Everything’s casual at home.” Aiden talked around a mouthful of eggs. “Well, except when Zeppelin’s cooking. Then it’s serious business. Man guards his grill like it’s made of gold.”
Small talk filled the kitchen while they ate.
Hayden dominated the conversation, asking about the town, good hiking spots, and which grocery store had the best produce.
Teagan stayed quieter, but Liam noticed how he catalogued everything, each answer filed away, probably building a mental map of their new home.
“These pancakes are incredible.” Aiden reached for thirds. “Where’d you learn to cook?”
“Teagan.” Hayden started gathering plates. “His grandmother taught him all the basics a guy would need to survive on his own. He can even darn socks and wield a mean pair of scissors when clipping a thousand coupons. Our grocery bill is half of what it should be.”
A look passed between them, Hayden’s eyes flicking to Teagan then away just as quickly, leaving Liam with the distinct impression there was more to that grandmother’s story than he was hearing.
“Let me help.” Liam stood, but Teagan practically snatched the plate from his hands.
“We’ve got it.”
That careful distance again. His wolf wanted to press, to understand his mate, but pushing would only make Teagan retreat farther.
“The barbeque starts at four,” Liam said instead. “I can pick you up if you want.”
“We have a working car now, remember?” Teagan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “We’ll find it.”
Another polite dismissal. Another step back when all Liam wanted was to step forward.
“Great.” He wrote down the address and directions before handing it off to Hayden. Teagan might burn it in the backyard.
Liam headed for the door before his wolf decided to do something stupid, like pin Teagan against the counter and kiss that suspicious frown away. “See you there.”
Outside, Aiden waited until they were in the truck before laughing. “Man, you’ve got your work cut out for you. One mate who can’t stop eye-fucking you and another who looks at you like you might be planning to murder them both.”
“Teagan’s not scared of me.” Liam started the engine harder than necessary.
“No,” Aiden agreed. “He’s scared of something though. The way he keeps track of everything, like he’s calculating the cost of every interaction? That’s learned behavior.”
Liam’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Someone had taught Teagan that kindness came with a price. Someone had made both of them lie about their relationship like it was shameful. His wolf wanted to rip that person apart.
“They’ll come around,” Aiden continued. “Once they realize you’re not whatever they’re running from.”
Running from. Yeah, that felt right. The boxes, the wariness, the way they’d shown up in a new town with a broken car and desperation in their eyes. They were definitely running from something.
Question was, how long before it caught up to them?