28
GOLDIE
“Her eyelids just fluttered.”
The voice is hushed but urgent. It’s close, too. My first conscious sensation is a warm breath on my cheek. A rough hand strokes my hair and cups my face.
“Goldie.”
I blink, managing to get my eyes open for just a second. A handsome face. That’s all I see. Beautiful chocolate eyes that seem pained, high cheekbones, and straight nose. Full lips that are close enough to kiss me.
I blink again, this time seeing more. Shaggy hair. Furrowed brow. It’s Hunter. He’s the one to touch me like I’m a sleeping princess who he’s desperate to awaken.
“She’s okay,” another voice says. “She’ll be okay. Just give her some space.”
“You don’t know that,” Hunter barks. “What the hell have they given her to keep her so sedated?”
“Just chloroform. It’s wearing off. Give her a minute.” It could be Evan or Robert. In my disoriented state, I can’t tell.
“This is our fault,” Hunter says. “We never should have left her alone.”
“She was safe in the house. We had to go.”
“It was all a ruse for them to get us to leave her alone. They want to destroy our future, the future of our clan.” His voice breaks. “They wanted to destroy our hearts.”
“We know.” Is that Evan’s voice soothing? “But it’s over now.”
“For how long? If we’d got there any later…” Hunter’s voice is tight with desperation. His hand strokes over my hair again, firm and frantic. “Wake up, Goldie. It’s okay. You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”
My hand is lifted and pressed to warm lips. Hunter presses a hard, urgent kiss against my knuckles. “We won’t let anyone hurt you,” he murmurs against my skin. This is Hunter. The furious and demanding Neanderthal brother who wanted to claim me. He sounds broken.
“There’s going to be retaliation,” Robert says. “We killed one of them. Wounded more.”
“I should have killed him that day by the house. He tried to take Goldie once. I knew he’d try again.”
“We gave him a warning he should have listened to.”
“This just shows that they’re not thinking clearly. The fire. Kidnapping. Something has changed.”
“They’re waiting for their mate, too,” Evan says. “It’s been slow for our generation, which isn’t good. It can drive a man crazy.”
“Hunter knows,” Robert says, and Hunter scoffs.
I’ve been conscious for a while now, but I’ve tried to keep as still as possible, letting them talk while I soak everything up. Wolves took me. Wolfmen. Other creatures like the Bjorns are out there, and they’re at war.
The fact settles inside me strangely.
Until now, I’ve thought that the idea that I’m destined to be with these bears is crazy—a convenient fiction that Robert, Evan, and especially Hunter have latched on to. But there are other creatures out there that know, too—enough to kidnap me so that I can’t be with the triplets, steal me to crush their hope for the next generation.
This is all real.
I open my eyes again, and this time, I keep them open, taking in Hunter’s furrowed brow and the pain etched in his expression. He was frantic about my safety. His touch is tender and concerned, not rough and selfish.
It’s clearer why Hunter has been this angry and arrogant man. He’s yearning for the next stage in his life and worried about what could stop him from fulfilling everything he’s been promised. I understand what it’s like to have a dream and find that there are barriers to achieving it.
“Goldie,” he says, pressing his rough, bearded cheek against mine.
“What happened?” I croak. Is that really my voice? It doesn’t sound like me.
“You were kidnapped,” Hunter says. “But we got you back. They didn’t do anything, right? They didn’t hurt you?”
He’s obviously worried. Worried there might be wounds that he can’t see.
I wiggle my fingers and stretch out my legs. There’s pain that feels like bruising. Did they do something to me while I was too out of it to remember?
“We had to carry you,” Evan says, noticing my movements. “You might feel a little sore.”
Hunter brings my hand to his lips again, and he kisses it. “Why did you go, Goldie? Why did you put yourself in danger? If something had happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“Killed someone,” Robert mutters under his breath.
“That goes without saying.” Hunter’s eyes burn into mine with more fierceness than I’ve ever seen in another person. “I look after what’s mine. I protect what’s mine. And I avenge what’s mine.”
“And I don’t get a say,” I whisper.
“You get a say… of course you do.”
“You don’t own me, Hunter,” I whisper.
“We own each other.” His eyes shift from dark pools to warm chocolate, and he closes them as though he’s fighting against the intensity of his own feelings. Filaments of connection form between us, tickling my skin, breaking through to my soft center, like magic is at work.
Magic is at work. Fate’s fingers are all over everything, at least, that’s how it feels.
“Hunter,” I murmur, and a shudder runs through him at the sound of his name on my lips.
“I…” He stops, biting down on what feels like the start of a confession. Deep, unexplainable feelings of tenderness and trust well inside me. He exhales a shuddering breath, bowing his head, the weight of the world pressing down despite his strength and fortitude.
“You can’t fight this, Goldie.” His voice is tight, gravelly. “You can’t fight who you are any more than we can. On the night of your birth, we were also coming into the world. None of us knew that this would be our destiny. We’ve just had longer to understand than you have. Will you give us the time to show you how good this can be? Will you stay here without running, without putting yourself in danger? We’re fighting a war for survival and can’t do it without you. We can’t make it if you put yourself in danger to escape us. The wolves won’t matter if you destroy us from the inside… if you break our hearts.”
I gaze up into his face, and my hand rises to cup his cheek.
This man might be arrogant but he’s also passionate, fierce, demanding, and intense. He has a fixed view of how things should be and wants them that way, come hell or high water. He feels with unfathomable intensity that makes my bones ache and my body yearn. He’s steel and I’m magnetized for him and his brothers.
I just didn’t understand him, that’s all. I didn’t see past his rough exterior to his heart, but now I do.
Hunter’s under the most pressure. He’s the eldest and the bearer of the traditions passed down from generation to generation. He carries the weight of the feud with the wolves on his shoulders and the future of his family line.
I’ve fought him, but I was wrong to form opinions of him without truly connecting with him.
They say not to judge a book by its cover, but that’s exactly what I did. What’s between Hunter’s pages is much more complex than I ever imagined.
“I won’t run,” I say. “I’ll stay.”
Hunter’s shoulders relax, and as I look from Robert to Evan, I see that the relief is shared.
“I need time, though. Time to get to know you, time to get used to all of this. Can you be patient with me? ”
Hunter nods. “If it’s what you need.”
“It is.”
He touches my shoulder. “Can you sit? Have some water?”
I nod, and he helps me rise, his powerful arm beneath my shoulders. Evan hands me the water, and I sip it at first, then gulp as I realize how dry my throat is.
It’s then that I notice Hunter’s hands.
His palms are slashed, and blood has crusted over the wounds.
Robert has a cut along his cheek and matching knuckles. Evan is dirty and wounded, too.
These men really fought for me. They risked injury, and goodness knows what else to make sure I’m safe. I reach for Hunter’s hand, holding it tenderly. These are the hands of a killer. A killer who’s a protector. “We need to clean you up.”
He shakes his head as though he’s too big and bad to need medical assistance. “It’ll heal.”
“With dirt in it,” I say. “Bring me a bowl of warm water, a soft towel, and some ointment. I want to make sure you don’t get an infection.”
“We’re bears!” he laughs, but I can see from his expression that he’s delighted at my concern.
“Bears get infections, don’t they? Thorns in their paws?”
“I’ll go,” Evan says.
It takes him a few minutes to return, and then I clean all their visible wounds. They insist that no bandaging is necessary because they heal faster than humans. “Are these the only ones?” I ask, realizing that they weren’t wearing clothes when fighting in their bear form. Maybe their shirts and jeans are concealing more injuries.
Hunter shakes his head a little too vigorously.
“Show me,” I order.
He closes his eyes and grits his teeth, but he reaches behind his head and strips his shirt off with a flourish. Shifting on the bed, he turns until the wide expanse of his bare back is angled to me and I gasp. Jagged lines crisscross his back in deep welts. The blood is dry, and the edges are already pulling tight as his faster healing process kicks in. I reach out, hurting for his hurt, wincing as my finger dances over his heated skin in between the wounds. He shivers. “You don’t need to do this,” he murmurs, curling his spine. The muscles beneath his skin shift, making my mouth go dry.
“Let me help.” I dab gently, trying to clean away visible blood and dirt. He doesn’t flinch with pain. He’s strong and resilient, a rock of a man who resists any kind of care. Evan and Robert exchange glances. I can almost hear their thoughts, wondering if this is the moment that everything changes. When I’m done, Hunter’s wounds are visibly smaller, healing cleaner, and I can’t resist the urge to stroke over the thick corded muscles that joins his shoulder to his back. He shivers again, lowering his head, and a rumbling noise of contentment, similar to a cat’s purr, vibrates his skin.
I pull back as longing hooks around my heart and tugs.
The room's energy shifts. I’ve been touching these men, their hands, their faces, and more. It's such an everyday thing, but it is charged with everything that's lingering between us.
Destiny.
Hope .
A future for us and generations to come.
Security.
I look between these men, feeling an ache in my heart. I left them, but they don’t blame me. They’re not angry, just terrified. I put myself at risk. They came when I needed them and ensured I was okay, at a physical cost to themselves and a huge detriment to the future.
Who knows what’s going to happen next? The wolves are an enemy I wasn’t even aware of. How might they affect our lives?
But the doubt that crouched inside me isn’t there anymore. These men have proven themselves to be good and honorable. They’ve proven that they have my well-being at heart. I’m inexplicably drawn to them, despite their nature. The least I can do is give this a try.
They’re confident that we’re meant to be together, that our union was written in the stars. If that’s the case, then I’ll feel it. There will be certainty where there is doubt and hope where there is fear.
I have to give this a chance, or I’ll regret it. There will always be a part of me that will wonder and an even bigger part of me that will feel guilty. They’re so sure that I’m their mate, their one true partner. If I don’t agree, will they ever be able to find someone else? I can’t face the thought that without me, they might be alone, or that their dreams of a house full of children will be lost to the sands of time.
Hunter turns, staying close. I reach out and take his hand.
“Thank you for rescuing me,” I say. “Thank you for coming for me, even when I was running from you.”
“We’ll always come for you, Goldie. We’ll fight to our last breath to keep you safe.” His voice is low and gravely, his chin set with determination. I believe him, and the happiness, like a downy comforter, settles warmly inside me.
“I won’t run again,” I say. “I’m going to stay here. I want to try to be what you want… what you need. You’re sure we’re fated mates, but I need time. Can you be patient?”
Hunter nods, and I look at his brothers, who also affirm. I didn’t doubt that Robert and Evan would wait for me, but Hunter’s always been different.
My throat tightens with emotion because no one has ever been so patient and dedicated to me, not even my own parents. I don’t know if I’ll ever come close to what they know with such certainty, or be ready to take the next step, but Robert, Evan, and Hunter are willing to fight for me and wait for me.
In the face of such devotion, I have to put my doubts aside and try. They deserve that much.