Rugged Salvation

Rugged Savage Valley, Colorado 3

Rugged Salvation When James, Jeremiah, and Johnny Greenwood return bearded and exhausted from a month in the woods, they’re looking for nothing but an easygoing night at the local honky-tonk, Catdaddy’s. But in walks country music starlet Marina Andrews, and all bets are off. Unfortunately, Marina doesn’t believe in magic or fate, and she especially doesn’t believe in love. Besides, her label is waiting for new material, and her life is so much bigger than some small, tucked-away town in Colorado. Despite these aversions, however, she can’t resist the wild attraction she feels for the scruffy brothers. As the Greenwoods get more and more tangled up in Marina’s heart, the idea of what she’s always wanted begins to blur. The longer she stays in Savage Valley, the more her life outside of the mountains begins to crumble. Can the Greenwoods show one disenchanted singer just how powerful love can be? Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter Length: 70,409 words

RUGGED SALVATION Rugged Savage Valley, Colorado 3

Edith DuBois

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

RUGGED SALVATION Copyright © 2012 by Edith DuBois E-book ISBN: 1-61926-267-3 First E-book Publication: January 2012 Cover design by Les Byerley All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of Rugged Salvation by Edith DuBois from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Edith DuBois’ livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. DuBois’ right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION To my editor – because you see my story in all its raw nakedness, and instead of screaming in horror and running away, you poke and prod at all the soft, vulnerable bits until it starts to look like something beautiful. Thank you. Always.

RUGGED SALVATION Rugged Savage Valley, Colorado 3 EDITH DUBOIS Copyright © 2012

Prologue Six years ago Marina hugged her sister. This was it, the shining moment she’d been working so hard to reach. She smelled the old wood stage beneath her black boots. She basked in the hot light flooding down on her face from the bulbs above. Just behind the curtain, only a small distance away, she could hear the Grand Ole Opry crowd, and they were waiting for her. All those people were waiting for her. “I can’t do this,” she said, her words muffled by Michelle’s dark waves. “I was stupid for thinking I could. Michelle, I can’t.” “Hush. You’re already shining so bright.” Her big sister squeezed tighter. “Just keep on shining, and they’ll love you. They always do.” Marina sucked in a deep breath, fighting back the nerves that told her to run away, that told her she would fail. She forced down all her doubts, all the insecurities and screaming voices in her head that said she was born a nothing and would die a nothing. The Opry emcee began announcing her name. Michelle gave her one last squeeze and then ran off to stand in the wing. Marina was alone, and it had to be that way.

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A beat began in her earpiece, and on the right count, she started playing. The curtain slowly began to rise. For a moment, all she could see were more lights. She liked it that way. If she saw all those faces at once, she knew she would falter. After a couple measures, it was time for her to sing, so Marina opened her mouth and let the notes fall out. The first few notes were thin and a little shaky, but the music started to wash through her. The chords lit her up, moved through her blood, and shook against her insides. She couldn’t deny its power, and she surrendered herself to it. Soon she was smiling and moving, taking herself from one side of the stage to the other. She looked in people’s eyes. She let them know that she was here, and they were hers. The whole audience was hers. She could feel their fascination growing with each song that she finished for them. They loved her. She knew it. They loved her, and she loved them. She was intoxicated with it. As she slammed out the last chord, her breath came in heaving spurts. She smiled so big her lips hurt, and she blew a kiss into the roar of their applause. Then the curtain fell. Michelle ran onto the stage, hugging her before she could even get her guitar off. “You are so beautiful, Marina.” She kissed her forehead while Marina laughed with the pure, giddy pleasure of her success. “That was perfect. You were perfect.” They laughed and hugged and stumbled off the stage together. When she got to her dressing room a few minutes later, she found she had a guest. “Marina Andrews, my pet, my dove, I’m Jeffrey Nolan, A&R, Artist and Repertoire, from Gefrin Records.” He thrust his hand toward her. She noted his fingernails were very shiny. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” “Did you say Gefrin Records?” Michelle asked from the dressing room doorway.

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Marina had been in a daze. She hadn’t quite recovered from the performance high, but Michelle’s voice brought her back to reality. “Oh my god,” she said, her mouth falling open. “What are you doing here? Why are you in my dressing room?” “You really are a doll,” Jeffrey said, his nose pinching as he smiled. Michelle poked her in the back. “Marina, have some manners.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “That sounded awful. I’m so sorry. Please, sit down,” she stuttered. “Have a soda or some jelly beans. Whatever you want.” She rummaged through a couple of the gift baskets she’d received before the show, looking for something suitable to offer. But Jeffrey waved her away. “I’m not here for sugary sweets, gosling. I’m here because my boss, Mr. Gefrin, is very interested in you.” Marina wiped at the sweat on her brow. She took in Jeffrey’s tailored gray Tom Ford suit, his slicked-back hair, his sharp nose, and his thin lips. He spoke in a fast, slurring way, and she had to fully focus her attention to process everything he said to her. “Miss Andrews. I am here under strict orders to get you on a flight out to Los Angeles. Mr. Gefrin is most anxious to meet you. He wants your signature and your name. He wants to help you make records and go on tours and get music videos on CMT. All in all, he wants to make you the next country music star, and if that sounds agreeable to you, the sooner the better, we say.” Jeffrey laughed, and because she was so nervous, Marina laughed, too. She looked to Michelle, unsure of what she should say. “Your offer is very generous,” Michelle jumped in, taking the hint, “to say the least. And moving up from an indie to a major label is definitely something we’ve discussed and thought about with regards to Marina’s career. We would like to visit Mr. Gefrin in LA, but only as long as we all understand that at this point in time, that’s all it is—a visit.”

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“Of course, of course, of course.” Jeffrey clapped his hands, making Marina jump. He pulled out a cell phone, dialed a number, and after a moment, said, “Gina, strawberry, call the boss. Tell him we’ve got extra luggage. Then be the sweet darling that I know you are and bring the bubbly.” He kissed the air twice and then snapped his phone closed. All of a sudden her dressing room was crowded, so crowded with people she didn’t know that she couldn’t see from one side to the other. Jeffrey had an entourage, and there was the press, and a couple other musicians all stuffed into the tiny space. Someone pressed a glass of champagne into her hand, saying, “Congratulations on the record deal.” She tried to shout back that there was no record deal, but the person was gone. Marina looked for her sister, but it seemed she’d also been sucked into the mess. She sniffed at the champagne. She’d never had any before although she’d heard it could be pretty potent if one wasn’t used to it. She was only eighteen, but she thought one glass probably wouldn’t hurt her. With a shrug, she took a cautious sip. The bubbles danced down her throat and shimmied in her stomach. She took another sip, giggling at the delightful sensation. A few moments later, her cheeks were warm, but the hotness was not unpleasant. The room was golden, and she floated in its humming loveliness. Everything felt good. Just perfect and good.

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Chapter One Present day Dear sweet lord. Marina Andrews groaned, trying to pull thoughts through the groggy remnants of her sanity. Somebody make it stop. Somebody make the infernal yapping stop! Roy was in the bathroom that connected to her room, barking his head off. She’d begged her sister to let her keep the puppy, but now that her sister was gone, she actually had to feed it and take it out and make sure it didn’t feel neglected or whatever. “I want sleep!” she yelled. Now was not the time to give him attention. If she ignored him, he would stop. But the yapping grew louder. “Shut up,” she whimpered. “Please.” With a loud groan, she grabbed an extra pillow from beside her and held it tight over her ears. Even so, she could still hear the high-pitched, screeching yaps grating across her eardrums. “Oh god, it hurts,” she said under her breath. She hadn’t crawled into bed until around five in the morning. That was after spending hours at Catdaddy’s and then spending more hours carousing around town with the Yeats twins and their speciallabel sour mash. That was what her brain felt like this morning—sour mash. Suddenly, everything was quiet. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered into the covers, curling her legs up and burrowing herself deeper in soft, feathery warmth. “I knew you were a good boy.” Her mind had just started to whirl and drift back into a dream where she and Roy were

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frolicking and rolling down grassy knolls when the most awful and pungent odor smacked her right back into wakefulness. “Oh god!” she yelled, throwing the covers off her body. “Roy!” She roared the puppy’s name, flying out of bed and stomping over to the bathroom door. When she ripped it open, she couldn’t help taking a few steps back in horror. Roy had pooped right in the middle of the tiled floor, but he’d stepped in it, too, and had tracked shit all over the bathroom. There were even some flecks on the shower curtain and on the sink cabinets. Screaming, she picked up the puppy—who in fact was almost fullgrown and weighed about thirty pounds—and ran out the bedroom to the front door. Shifting Roy’s weight to one arm and making sure none of his sullied paws touched her, she ripped the door open and then tossed him out. “You’re sick!” she yelled at him and then slammed the door. “Aunt Agnes,” she called. After a long moment with no answer, she called for her aunt again. This time she filled her lungs up and let her voice explode through the house. Six years of vocal lessons had taught her how to really project. She would be surprised if the neighbors didn’t hear her, but she didn’t care. She was not cleaning up dog shit. She waited another long moment, but still, no one answered. With a scream of frustration she stalked down the hall to her aunt’s room. The bed was empty and made up. “What the fuck?” Letting loose a fresh string of obscenities, she stomped into the kitchen. Next to the sink was a note in her aunt’s scrawled handwriting. Went to the Ashleys’ early to help set up. See you at two. Don’t be late. Much love, A. Agnes

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Marina stared at the note for a long minute, unable to process what she was reading. Her aunt was gone? There was no one else in the house? She glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was only nine in the morning, and Aunt Agnes had already left for Michelle’s engagement party? She would have to clean the shit up by herself? Unexpectedly, tears sprung up in her eyes. Why did everyone leave her when she needed them the most? She and her sister had arrived in this godforsaken town a couple months ago. Already her sister was engaged, and not to one man. Oh no. Her uptight, overbearing, my-head-is-up-my-butt sister couldn’t settle for one fiancé. She had to have three. And not only that, Marina had seen, she’d actually witnessed, one of her sister’s fiancés morph into a bear. A friggin’ bear! It wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t, she kept telling herself. But at the same time, hell! She’d seen it with her own eyes. She wiped the tears away, angry that they had even made an appearance. She couldn’t think about stubborn sisters or weird bear fiancés. She grabbed some cleaning supplies, a plastic bag, and some rubber gloves and stomped back into her bedroom. “Oh, god, the smell,” she said to herself, covering her nose with her arm, but she forged ahead, pushing the bathroom door open. She recoiled away from the ghastly sight for a moment, but then she straightened her shoulders and began cleaning. About an hour later, after she had scrubbed the bathroom down and washed the shower curtain twice, she started the water for her shower. The muscles in her back were sore from scrubbing. She hadn’t cleaned anything in almost five years, not even her own laundry, and scrubbing the bathroom had felt like hard labor on her soft muscles. As the hot water cascaded over her body, she thought about all the freaky circumstances that had brought her to this dog shit fiasco.

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She had been living with a man named Skyler Fischer. He used to have an apartment a few streets down from her aunt’s, but his boss— the owner of some company in Denver called NormCorp—had basically kicked him out. So Skyler had moved to the Woodland Den the week before, and Marina couldn’t really say that she was too broken up about her new living arrangements. When she’d first met him, he’d seemed sexy and dangerous and mysterious, but that mysteriousness had quickly devolved into coldness, which quickly devolved into overwhelmingly boring nights. She shook her head under the water, sending droplets everywhere. A talk with her sister would definitely be occurring that afternoon, whether Michelle wanted it to or not. Despite having discussed the whole three-fiancés issue with her sister a couple weeks before at the local diner, Savage Hunger, there was still a part of Marina’s brain that couldn’t accept the idea of three men sharing one woman. Marina sighed. And there was another thing on her mind. That being that Marina wasn’t sure if Michelle really wanted her at the engagement party. They hadn’t been on the best of terms over the last couple of weeks. Granted, they had lived through a holdup at Savage Convenience the week before, and that sort of thing tended to put familial arguments into stark perspective. At the same time, though, things between Marina and her sister were askew. And it made Marina uneasy. She wanted things to be the way they’d always been, and she didn’t understand why Michelle was being so difficult about it. As she climbed out of the shower a few minutes later, she almost slipped. She’d suddenly remembered that she’d left the dog outside. Aunt Agnes didn’t have a fence. The little turd was probably halfway to Denver by now, and as much as he annoyed her, Marina didn’t want him to fall in the lake or get run over or eaten by a mountain lion or something gruesome like that. Rushing to dry off, she scrambled to pull on a T-shirt, jeans, and some boots to go in search of the little shitter.

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When she stepped outside, a chilly breeze slapped her right in the face. “Damn,” she said, her eyes watering up. “Where did that come from?” Another gust whipped through her wet hair, and the end of one strand hit her in the eye. Crying out, she covered her stinging eye and then began calling for Roy, taking long, angry strides through the wet grass as she did. She walked down Treaty Lane for a few minutes, the sting in her eye receding but the cold air penetrating her thin, damp clothing while she called Roy’s name. She soon found a little paw-print trail in the dew-covered grasses leading off the road into the woods. Thinking Roy could have made the trail, she followed it, and not long after that, she found him sitting on his haunches, whimpering and shivering on a pile of dead pine needles. “There you are!” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Well, come on. Let’s go.” She waved her hand and took a few steps back in the direction she’d come from, but he just watched her and let out a low whine. He had a dark strip of fur across his eyes that usually made him look like a ne’er-do-well rapscallion. Right now, though, he looked utterly pathetic. “Come on,” she said again, stamping her booted foot. Roy whined, looking away from her and putting his head down. “Oh man.” She looked at his forlorn body, shivering in the cold. “I’m sorry, okay.” She hated the waver in her voice. Marina Andrews never cried. Not ever. “Please just come back with me, Roy.” His head stayed down. “Okay, fine, I’ll come to you first, and then we’ll go home. Okay?” When she took a step toward him, he looked up at her, his brown eyes big and sad looking. With a grunt, she plopped down next to him. She pulled him into her lap and hugged him close to her body. “Damn it, I’m sorry, Roy,” she said in a fierce whisper. “It’s not your fault. I should have never kicked you out.” She buried her face in his fur. “I didn’t mean to leave you alone for so long. I’ll take care of

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you, Roy. From now on, you are always safe with me. I promise, I promise, I promise.” She held him, and she sat on the cold ground, and she watched tears splash onto dead brown needles. **** Jeremiah Greenwood scratched his great bear-paws at the earthground. He wanted to take more steps, to move farther along the stone ledge. But he could not. He strained against the feeling in his bearheart, but the magic held his powerful body still. It was the old Shoshone magic. The magic kept him from moving one step farther away from Savage Valley. Savage Valley was his heart, was his blood. He could leave it no more than the silver-scaled fish could leave the great, shimmering lakes and rivers or the soft-feathered birds could leave the endless skies. He lifted his great bear-paw. He had to try. He had to make sure this was the Edge. When he tried to move forward, a great and terrible sadness, a most horrifying misery filled him up. His paws shook with the effort of moving forward, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t stand the breaking of his mighty bear-heart. It was too much. He stumbled backward, hearing the clickity-clack of stones. His huge paws dislodged them. They tumbled down the steep rock face. When he regained his footing, he took deep breaths. Suddenly he felt his bear-brothers again. Now that he was away from the Edge. It didn’t feel as if his bear-heart would explode into millions of bits of stars, expanding forever into nothing. He could sense the shaking, moving world around him again. He shook his head. He wanted to clear the cloud that the Edge had brought to his mind. It took him longer than on his last test. He stood still, but he could hear the Edge biz-buzzing in his mind. He could

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feel it thrumming through his bear-blood. He tried to walk forward again. He couldn’t. He was too exhausted. With a huff of resignation, he let his bear recede. He pulled his human thoughts to the surface, and he shifted back into human form. His brothers were waiting for him at the base camp they had set up about a thousand yards away from the Edge. “Back so soon?” Johnny asked, one eye following Jeremiah. His younger brother was stretched out on a cot, one arm thrown over his forehead to provide some relief from the high afternoon sun. Despite the sunny weather, there was a bite to the wind and an unmistakable chill in the air, and Johnny had put on a sweater for his nap. “No one made lunch?” Jeremiah poked through their supply bags, grumbling and cursing because there didn’t seem to be any decent food left. “Hey, you weren’t supposed to be back for another hour, so you can take your crying elsewhere.” “And you can quit being a lazy wastrel. Why didn’t anyone make anything?” “At least I did my whole shift last time.” “That’s real cute, wise-ass.” Jeremiah kicked Johnny’s cot, making it tip over precariously. He knew it was just the Edge testing that caused grumpiness to surface, but he couldn’t curb the instinct to lash out. Johnny happened to be the nearest target. As soon as the cot had resettled, Johnny exploded up and pushed Jeremiah in the chest. “Back off, man! Just because your delicate constitution can’t handle a whole shift of Edge-testing, don’t try to take that out on me.” “Are you calling me weak?” Jeremiah roared, shoving Johnny in the chest. “Don’t fucking push me!” Johnny shoved back, trying to knock Jeremiah’s hands away, but Jeremiah had been expecting that, so he quickly snagged one of Johnny’s wrists and twisted until he had Johnny’s arm pinned behind his back. Johnny didn’t waste a second.

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He slammed his free elbow into Jeremiah’s gut, and Jeremiah’s grip on Johnny’s arm relaxed enough for him to escape. They continued to grapple with and curse at each other. Jeremiah got Johnny pinned to the ground, and Johnny shoved his hand up against Jeremiah’s face when their older brother, James, exploded out of the tent. “What the hell is going on here?” he bellowed. He stomped over and ripped Jeremiah apart from Johnny. “We have maybe half a mile of the Edge left to test, and I’m awoken from my nap by you two squabbling.” Jeremiah tried to straighten his clothes and maintain his dignity, no easy feat while also digging at some pine needles that had managed to fall down his pants and were now poking him in the ass. James crossed his arms and pinned his younger brothers with a fierce glare. “So what’s going on here?” “Nothing,” Johnny said, not meeting James’s eye. “Nothing, huh? Jeremiah, do you have anything to add to that bit of eloquence?” Jeremiah glared at both of his brothers, annoyed that James could still make him feel like a miscreant teenager, and shook his head. As the oldest, James was usually the silent overseer unless Jeremiah or Johnny managed to annoy him past his limit. At the moment, he opened his mouth to spit out some scolding remark, no doubt, when a sharp wind blew through their camp. Jeremiah took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, biting air deep into his lungs. Then he eyed both of his brothers. They had matching expressions—eyes bright and gleaming and enlivened. “You both smell that?” James asked. “There’s snow behind that wind.” Jeremiah nodded, seeing Johnny do the same out of the corner of his eye. “All right, listen up. I know the testing is strenuous and taxing and…well, it’s painful, but we only have about two more days. We have to do this. It’s tedious and exhausting, but it’s shaman’s orders.

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The Shoshone elders want to know exactly where our borders are, and I shouldn’t have to remind you of your duty to them. Once we’ve finished, though, it’s warm beds and home-cooked meals again. The more we bicker and argue with each other, the longer this shit is going to take. So you two pull yourselves together. That was a cold-smelling wind. We’re high enough up, and this is going to be a long winter. I want to be finished with all this before any snow falls. Got it?” Jeremiah nodded curtly when James’s black eyes darted to his face. After James had retreated back into his tent and Johnny had collapsed onto the cot, Jeremiah dug out some dried fruit and granola from the supply pack. He hadn’t said anything to his brothers, but he’d picked up something else twining through the winter wind. It was only for an instant, and it was so faint that Jeremiah almost doubted he had smelled it at all. But there it was, the delectable smell toying with his brain. He thought he’d smelled something in the air. It was sweet and tantalizing. It tickled his bear-blood. Something delicious was waiting for him in Savage Valley. **** Marina fought back a gag as more classical music crap played in the background. Typical of Michelle to have that kind of uptight, slumber-inducing music at her engagement party. Hell, she was marrying three men. Why dress this thing up and make it all fancy? Why not just really go for it and play heavy death metal? Marina nabbed a third flute of the champagne cocktail her sister was serving from the bar between the kitchen and the living area. She’d only been at the Ashleys’ for fifteen minutes, and already she felt like screaming. “My beautiful, darling niece,” Aunt Agnes said, wrapping Marina up in a hug. In her ear she whispered, “Do try to smile. That ferocious

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scowl makes you look like an ostrich, dear.” With that, she kissed Marina on the cheek and floated away, her high silver bun bobbing through the crowd. Marina turned away from the rest of the guests, looking out the large windows of the Ashleys’ living room. Across the lawn on the opposite bank of the creek, she saw a red-tailed fox drinking from the gurgling waters. She was surprised it would venture this close to the house with so many people visible inside. After it finished drinking, the fox sat down and wrapped its tail around its feet. Its face snapped toward the house, and the fox looked right at her. “Whoa.” Its gaze transfixed her. “That’s funny,” Michelle said, coming to stand next to her at the window. “What?” Marina took a blasé sip of her champagne, executed a blasé flick of her hair over her shoulder, and then offered a blasé glance to Michelle. But Michelle wasn’t even looking at her. “Well, it’s funny that she’s looking at you like that.” “Who? The fox?” Michelle nodded and smiled. Marina jerked away at the smile. That was a “real” smile. She’d never seen Michelle with a “real” smile, and it gave her chills. Marina had a classification system for smiles, and each one had a specific purpose and meaning. “Real” smiles were a rarity, a precious diamond among the pebbles and gravel that made up other smiles. A “real” smile was untouchable. It went down deep. It came from some near-mythological place in the human soul that most people never came close to discovering, not even in a lifetime. Marina had seen maybe seven “real” smiles her entire life. “What about it?” she asked, feeling shaken and a little bit sick by the smile. “Well, I’ve seen her around here a time or two, but always in tiny glimpses. You know, I’ll see her tail flicker around a tree. Or I’ll see

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her splashing through the creek for a moment, but I’ve never seen her just sit and stare at someone like this.” Marina shrugged. It wasn’t like she cared about some dumb fox staring at her. At least that was what she told herself while ignoring the chill that continued to race across her skin. “But what’s really funny is that she’s a rescue fox. Up until about a month ago, she was living at the Wildlife Preservation Center over by Brown Trout Lake. The Greenwood brothers take care of the center, and they nursed her back to health.” “Michelle, does this story have a point?” Her sister smiled that smile again. “Guess what her name is.” “I dunno…Fox Who Ogles Humans?” “It’s Reba.” Marina glared. “No it isn’t.” Michelle nodded. “Apparently one of the Greenwood brothers loves Reba McEntire, and since the fox has red fur…” “That is so precious, Michelle.” Marina patted her sister on the cheek. It was nothing but a freaky coincidence. Just because her favorite country singer was Reba McEntire, and just because some hicks decided to name a rescue fox after her, it didn’t mean a damn thing. Besides, she didn’t know why Michelle was suddenly being so nice, not now when she was engaged to three men. It wasn’t like she would have time for Marina anyway once she signed her life and name away. Marina shook her head, making her braid whip across her back. “Now let’s cut the crap,” she said, meeting Michelle’s eyes. “This insanity has gone on long enough. I thought I would give you a little space and a little time to move past this, but honestly, Michelle, what the hell do you mean by getting yourself engaged to three different men? I mean…what are people going to say about this when we go back out on tour? You’re going to make me the laughingstock of country music. You know they’re all a bunch of Bible-huggers. You’ll be condemned to the deepest depths of hell, and I’ll be dragged

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down right along with you. This needs to stop now.” Marina leaned in close and quickly glanced around, making sure no one could overhear. Then she whispered, “And that’s not even going into what happened at…well…what I saw…that you know I saw…that you haven’t mentioned but we both know that it happened.” “Are you referring to the fact that my husbands-to-be are bearshifters?” Now it was Michelle who took a blasé sip of her champagne cocktail. “Michelle,” Marina whispered, glaring at her sister. “Lower your voice. Shit. Do you want to be committed to an insane asylum right here and now or what?” Michelle looked at Marina in that way she hated the most. It was an “I feel really sorry for you” look. Then to make matters worse, Michelle put her hand under Marina’s chin. “I told you, Marina, and I meant it. I’m not going on tour with you. There’s no more ‘us.’ I’m engaged. I’m settling down here. Savage Valley is my home now. Not your tour bus. Not a hotel room.” Michelle looked out the window, her “real” smile playing at the corners of her lips. “This is my home.” Marina made a noise of disgust. “That is so bogus. You’ve always wanted to travel. That was like your life dream or whatever, and now you get your first real boyfriend…friends? Fuck, whatever the fuck they are. Now just because you’re engaged, you think all that is going to change? You think you’re suddenly going to be satisfied with a static life? No! You won’t! People don’t change, Michelle. You won’t want to stay here forever.” “Yes, I will.” “No, you won’t,” Marina insisted. “Marina, yes, I will. Nothing you say—no matter how much you want it to be true—can or will change that.” Marina glared at her sister. There had to be something else behind Michelle’s reluctance, something more than being married that made her sound so confident.

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Sucking in a deep breath, Marina realized she already knew the answer. It wasn’t about being engaged or having a permanent home. Marina suddenly realized that the reason her sister was so happy was because she wouldn’t have to be with Marina anymore. “You can’t wait to get rid of me, can you?” “Hmm?” Michelle gazed over at her, eyes all dreamy and distant. “It’s not about being married or staying in one place, is it? That’s not it at all. You want to get away from me.” “Marina, no. That’s not it.” “And you took the first guy that came along. But that guy came with two others, so then you said, ‘What the heck,’ and went for it, right?” “Marina, please listen to me.” Michelle stepped toward her, a hand outreached, but Marina shook her head. “You’re just like Mom and Dad. You can’t stand to be around me for too long.” Much to Marina’s horror, she heard herself sniffle, so she flicked Michelle’s still-reaching hand away. “Please, Marina, I swear this has nothing to do with you.” “How can it not, Michelle? We’ve spent the last six years on the road together and all of a sudden, you’re done. Easy as that, you can leave?” “There’s more to it. I just can’t…you wouldn’t possibly understand.” “I wouldn’t understand? Is that really the line you’re going to use? What makes you so sure? I honestly want to know. How can you be sure that in a couple months, maybe even a year, you won’t look around and say, ‘Enough’?” Michelle frowned, looking discomfited for the first time during the conversation. “There are things I want to tell you about my fiancés, Marina, things you should know about who they are, but I don’t know if I can…and not here.” That wasn’t the direction Marina expected the conversation to go. “If you’re referring to what I saw one of your fiancés do at Savage

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Convenience, you can forget it. I think I’ve seen enough to last me a lifetime, thank you. And you know what”—she threw the rest of her champagne cocktail down her throat—“this engagement party blows. I’d rather hang out with the shitting puppy.” She turned to stomp away, but Michelle caught her by the elbow. “What the—” “I can’t leave Savage Valley, Marina. I can’t ever leave it. It’s because of them, my fiancés, because of what they are. They are bound to this land, and I am bound to them.” “Ew,” she said, trying to twist away from her sister. “I never took you to be one of those romantic bimbos.” “I’m not being romantic. I can’t leave. Literally. Their bear magic won’t let me.” Marina stopped struggling against her sister’s hold, feeling a sort of numbness spread through her body. “I don’t regret it. I’m the happiest I can ever remember being in my whole life, even before everything, when we first left Nashville, even then…it doesn’t compare.” The smile drifted back onto Michelle’s face. “This is who I am now. I’m here, and I’m with them. Please, believe me, Marina.” “I need–I need—” She stumbled away from Michelle. “I think I need to leave.” “Marina?” She jerked out of Michelle’s grip and crashed through the crowd. When she got to the front door, she turned back toward the living room, back toward the friends and family of the happy foursome. Marina locked eyes with Michelle, rage filling up her veins. Unable to stop herself, she threw her empty champagne flute across the room, and it smashed and shattered against the large glass panels. The people standing nearby jumped back and let out startled screams, but Michelle didn’t move a muscle. She kept her eyes locked with Marina’s, and they had that same look. The one that said, “I feel really sorry for you.” Marina turned on her heel and fled out the door, away from the party. With tears in her eyes, she climbed into her Escalade. With no way to keep her rage in check, a wild scream built up inside her. After

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a tense, trembling moment, she let it spill out of her lungs and her throat and her heart. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel, and her eyes clenched. The scream kept coming. It squeezed every breath and every thought from her body. Finally, she slumped over onto the wheel, gasping for air. After a moment, she turned the engine on. She didn’t understand where her rage came from. She should be used to people leaving her by now. But she wasn’t. Every time it hurt like it had never hurt before. Every time it felt like a fresh cut, a fresh gouging inside her heart. So she would do the one thing she had always done. She would get away. From everything and everyone, she would flee. She would run to the only things she did know—alcohol and music—because everything else was too unbearable. **** A few hours later Marina found herself hovering on the brink of sleep. A loud crash sounded from her aunt’s computer room, and she groaned, roused from the cusp of dreaming. It had to be the puppy. Aunt Agnes was still at the party. “Roy,” she called out. “What are you doing?” He answered with two short barks. “Roy, come on. Come back in here.” She called his name a few times and whistled, but he didn’t come prancing back to her room like he normally did. Thinking he might have gotten stuck under whatever had fallen, she rolled off her bed and trudged to the computer room. He sat on the floor across from the door, waiting expectantly for her to come find him. As soon as he saw her, his tail began to swish back and forth on the tiled floor. “Okay, dude. What’s with you today? First you take a crap all over my bathroom, and now you want to ruin my nap? What’s up?”

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He barked at her, standing up in his excitement. Then he trotted to the corner of the room and began sniffing at her guitar. Aunt Agnes had reorganized the computer room so that all of Marina’s musical equipment could fit inside the house. She was supposed to be writing songs for a new album, but she hadn’t been feeling too inspired lately. Roy sniffed at the Blueridge acoustic-electric guitar. It had an Adirondack spruce top and mahogany sides and was a sweet, rich golden color. When she’d signed to her indie label, two years before signing with Gefrin, they’d told her to go to a music shop and pick out whatever guitar she wanted, no matter the cost. She’d had her eye on the Blueridge at the music shop around the corner from her house in Nashville since she was fourteen. She couldn’t count how many times she’d been in there, fiddling around with it on the store amps. As soon as she got off the phone with the label, she marched down to the shop and told Maurice, the owner, to put it on hold for her because she’d be back the next day to buy it. She loved that damn guitar. It had been with her since the beginning, and it had never let her down. Of course, now she had several custom-made guitars that she used for her live shows, but she always wrote new songs on the Blueridge. Affectionately, she’d named it Ethel Rose after her great-great-grandmother, who was known for her quick hands, both on the piano keys and with a gun, her mother had told her. Supposedly, she was the harlot of the family, too. Roy sniffed around the fret board on the guitar and then gave it a big lick. “Roy!” Marina snapped, clapping her hands to get his attention. He jumped and looked back at her with a guilty expression. “Get away from Ethel Rose, right now.” Slowly, as if maybe Marina wouldn’t notice if he moved at a snail’s pace, he turned his head back to the Blueridge. “Roy,” she warned. He tipped his nose toward the guitar. “Don’t you dare do it, Roy.” His tail wagged once or twice. She knew he was going to do it, so she lunged for him.

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He was too quick, though. He got in one long swipe of the tongue and then darted out of her reach. “You are sick,” she yelled at him as he ran out of the room, his claws clicking on the floor as he made his escape. She couldn’t help giggling, though, as she grabbed the edge of her shirt and picked up her guitar, wiping off his slobber. “Disgusting.” She started to put Ethel Rose back on her stand, but then, shrugging, sat down in the office chair. She strummed a G and then a C. And then a D and then a C. A melody—beautiful and so perfect—floated like morning mist in a field through her mind. She caught the melody and smiled, and then she started to hum. For some reason, ever since she could remember, melodies had floated into and through her. She didn’t know where they came from or why they chose her, but sometimes, it felt like music was the only thing that made sense, the only thing she could count on. After she had the first strain, her fingers and her voice took over. A song was building up, and suddenly, despite the hectic morning with Roy and despite her loss of control at Michelle’s engagement party, Marina felt better. The music made her feel human again. She clung to that. She always had. Always would.

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Chapter Two “Hey, where the hell do you think you’re going?” “To get myself a woman!” Johnny shouted over his shoulder at Jeremiah as he strode away from the wildlife center toward the Jeep. They’d returned earlier in the afternoon with enough time for him to check on the few animals in the shelter, take a quick shower, and then tug on a pair of jeans and a dark-blue and green button-up shirt. He hadn’t even taken the time to shave. His beard was thick, and the curls on top of his head had grown out to an awkward, floppy length. But tonight, that kind of shit didn’t matter. Tonight, there was only one place in the world he wanted to be after more than a month of traipsing through the forest with limited food rations, no proper bathing, a grueling job to perform, and with only his brothers for company. He was going to Catdaddy’s. He ripped open the driver’s door. “Johnny, you better wait for us, asshole!” Jeremiah called out and then ran back into the housing part of the center where they all three lived. He revved up the engine in warning, but when they hadn’t come back out after a minute, he shifted the Jeep into reverse and spit up gravel as he began to whip the vehicle around. A second before he flicked it back into drive, James leapt into the passenger seat. Jeremiah grabbed the crossbar and swung his legs inside, landing with a thud in the backseat. The second he did, Johnny shifted into drive and put the pedal to the floorboard. The Jeep lurched forward, and they flew all the way to

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the honky-tonk. Even though it was only a little past six in the evening, there was already a healthy number of vehicles in the parking lot. Just the sort of homecoming Johnny would have asked for. When he reached the entrance, he flung the door open. There was one small hushed moment, and then Letty Hargrove hollered from behind the bar. “Well, tickle me pink if it isn’t those damn Greenwoods back from the wilderness. Decided to grace us with your presence, have you?” “Naw, Letty,” Johnny drawled, nice and easy. “You know it ain’t like that.” “We came to see your beautiful face and hear your little songbird voice,” Jeremiah said, making his way to the bar. Letty, the fifty-something owner of Catdaddy’s, released a wheezy, hacking laugh. “Cut that out and come here, knucklehead. You know I don’t like all that flattery crap.” Letty walked out from behind the bar, and Jeremiah wrapped his arms around her, picking her tiny frame up off the floor with a monstrous hug. Johnny followed up with a hug of his own as did James, and then they all three ordered a bottle of the Yeatses’ home brew. “Oh, that is delicious,” Johnny said, smacking his lips after a large gulp and settling at one of the small tables on the patio in the back. Johnny had always liked the way Catdaddy’s was set up with a breezy patio out back and then a grimy interior joined by the bar in the middle. Johnny and his brothers usually sat outside because they liked to constantly be breathing in the fresh air and looking at the mountains and the forest, but it was nice to watch all the goings-on inside, too. As the night went on and more patrons arrived, old-time friends came to say hello and welcome them back. Even though only the bear-shifters and the lion-shifters plus a few of the longtime Savage Valley residents knew what the Greenwood brothers had been up to, it

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was nice to come back from a boundary testing to find that they had been missed. Surprisingly, a lot of the shifter families were there that night. The Kinmans had arrived early on with their fiancée, Elena Ward, looking serene and glowing with her slightly protuberant belly. Johnny noticed how one of her hands always rested on her stomach, and he surprised himself by feeling a pang of jealousy. Not because the Kinmans had Elena, but because they were starting a family and had found a mate. They looked so nice and cozy. Johnny of course wanted that kind of thing for himself, but he’d always assumed it would be in the distant, distant future. Seeing the Kinmans and their growing family made him realize that the future could be arriving sooner rather than later. In only a few years, he’d be thirty. He certainly wasn’t getting any younger. Neither were his brothers. James was almost thirty-five and Jeremiah wasn’t far behind. They’d always known, just like the rest of the bear-shifters, that they’d share a woman, but Johnny had to wonder how many carefree years he had left. Soon enough the Ashleys arrived, and if that wasn’t a big enough surprise, it looked like they’d come in tandem with the Cashes and the Popes. And to put the cherry on top, all three sets of shifters had mates dangling off their arms. Hell, Johnny’s carefree time could be down to days. After ordering their drinks, the Ashleys spotted the Kinmans and the Greenwoods outside and came to join them. “Well, look who’s back,” Thomas Ashley said, giving Johnny and his brothers a brotherly handshake-back-thump combo. “And who is this lovely lady?” Jeremiah asked, whisking up the dark-haired beauty’s little hand and placing a kiss on it. Her eyes met Jeremiah’s, and Johnny could see she wasn’t one to be easily shaken. “Michelle Andrews, soon-to-be Ashley, the fiancé of your bear-brothers, and judging from Elias’s growl, I’d say he’s none too happy with your flirtation techniques.” She flicked a dainty

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eyebrow up, took a swig of her beer, and then sat down at the Ashley table. “Good one, bro,” James muttered. To Michelle, he offered a gruff welcome and then settled back into his chair. Johnny rolled his eyes at James’s brooding-older-brother routine. Hell, they’d been roughing it for a month and a half. Johnny figured James could let loose for at least one night, but nope. His oldest brother sat there with his arms crossed, glaring at anybody who dared look his way. Shrugging off James’s uptight behavior, he returned his attention to the Ashleys. “Well, goddamn,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “We’re gone for six weeks and come back to find you all got yourselves a wifey?” He chuckled at the proud expressions plastered across each of the Ashley brothers’ faces. “Not officially until January, but yes. That’s the gist of it. You just missed our engagement party a couple days ago,” Thomas said, pulling Michelle in close for a fierce kiss. “We are the luckiest men in Savage Valley.” Michelle blushed prettily at his declaration and returned his kiss with gusto. “I think we’d have to contest you on that statement,” Caleb said softly from the Kinman table, his eyes on Elena. In a much lower voice, Johnny asked the bear-shifters at large, “And the Cashes and the Popes, the lion-shifters? They’ve found mates, too?” Joseph nodded. “Are there any others we don’t know about?” “Not so far, but the idea seems to be catching on. I saw Jack Abbott chatting it up with a pretty girl at the thrift shop.” Johnny sat back in his chair, slightly uneasy at the thought of the lion-shifters finding their mates. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, per se, but he didn’t like thinking about them getting a one-up on the bears. Across the table, Jeremiah grinned. “Well, Johnny…James…it looks like we’re gonna have to man up and find ourselves a mate. We

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can’t let those lions get more mates than the bears. Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to take over the town.” “Love is not a competition, Jeremiah Greenwood,” Elena chided from the Kinman table in her clipped British tones. “You have to let these things happen naturally.” Jeremiah threw his hands up. “I’m not arguing with you there, but you know…sometimes you have to help nature along.” With a wink, Jeremiah downed the rest of his home brew and then shot out of his chair. “Who knows? Maybe our mate is here tonight. In fact, I think I’ll head to the bar. I see a cute little blonde with ‘mate potential’ written all over her. Anyone need anything?” Johnny looked in the direction of the bar, trying to decide if he wanted to stick with the same beer or move on to another flavor. As his eyes scanned across the interior, he saw the front doors fly open, and all of a sudden, standing at the entry to Catdaddy’s, there she was. Johnny had to blink a couple times to make sure his eyes weren’t trying to deceive him, but nope, she was standing right there. And she was the most beautiful woman in the world. And she was here, at Catdaddy’s. Her long, dark braid hung over one shoulder, and she had wide eyes and the fullest, poutiest, pinkest lips he’d ever seen. She had perfect breasts. Their plumpness pressed so insistently against her tight shirt. Johnny felt his cock hardening at the thought of those breasts pillowing his cheek as he nuzzled against her. Her waist tucked in, and her hips flared out. He wished she wasn’t wearing those stockings so he could see the unadulterated perfection of her legs, but he certainly liked those snug denim shorts she wore. Wanting to take in the whole sight of her, Johnny moved his eyes from her face over her breasts and her stomach and her thighs and then down to her feet, noticing a pair of scuffed-up white cowboy boots. And as if she needed anything else, she was holding a wellworn, scratched guitar case in her hand as her eyes scanned the innards of the honky-tonk. She was pure perfection.

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“Holy shit.” Johnny jumped and then whipped around. “Well, goddamn,” he said with a laugh, “James Greenwood has spoken at last.” **** Marina plopped down on a stool at the bar, propping her guitar up next to her. “You want your usual, honey?” Letty asked as she flew by in her tight black jeans and tight black tank top, tossing glasses onto the counter and pouring shot after shot for the patrons. “Nope. Tonight I brought a special guest.” She patted Ethel Rose. “And we need something a little stronger ’cause we were hoping for a minute or two in the spotlight.” “You want to play for us, honey?” Letty paused for a moment to shoot Marina a tilted grin. “If that’s all right with you?” “Hell yeah, it’s all right with me. I ain’t never turned down live music. And you know what, first round’s on us. Whatever you want.” “Then I’ll take a shot of Jack, straight.” “How about a double?” Marina grinned. “Even better.” After she downed her drink, she headed up to the stage. It had been nearly two years since she’d written any new material, but ever since picking up Ethel Rose after Michelle’s engagement party she’d been working on a new song. She’d finished it about half an hour before and, on a whim, decided to try it out on a live audience at Catdaddy’s. Up on the stage, she pulled Ethel Rose out of her battered case, annoyed to feel slight tremors in her fingers. Letty brought up a microphone and a cable to plug Ethel Rose into the PA system. After she had everything hooked up and her guitar in tune, she figured it was best to dive straight in.

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“Howdy, everyone. I’m Marina Andrews.” A few cheers broke out, and she smiled nice and big, comforted by the familiar sound of applause. “I’ve been working on something new, and I wanted to play it for you fine folks.” The milling occupants had stopped chattering and were starting to gather in front of the small stage. Marina felt her confidence growing, and the tremors in her fingers lessened. “What do y’all say? How about I start with a couple of my classics, and then we’ll finish with the new one.” She felt her onstage persona bubbling to the surface as seconds passed. This felt right. Everything about being onstage felt right. “Does that sound good to y’all?” More applause broke out, stronger and louder than before. “Well, that’s just perfect then. This one’s called ‘Nashville Through and Through.’” With that, she launched into the song. It didn’t take her long. After the first couple of notes, she could feel the blood thrumming powerfully through her body, and the notes fell easily out of her throat. It had been a while since she’d played the guitar in such a raw setting, but her fingers quickly limbered up and got to flying over the frets. After she finished “Nashville Through and Through,” she went into another one of her older songs, figuring after about two more, she’d sing the new one and then call it a night. As she was singing the chorus of her second number—a catchy doo-wop melody—she noticed three frigging sexy dudes standing near the front of the crowd. She kept her looks casual, but she couldn’t resist sending them a couple flirtatious winks and smiles. As she went through her next two songs, really getting into the music and into the vibe of the crowd—a rambunctious and lively vibe—she tried to decide which hottie she would go for after she finished her set. They were all three handsome as sin, but one of them, the tallest one, had a sort of fevered, worshipful look in his eyes. Only, he wasn’t looking at her face. He was watching her fingers on the guitar. For some reason, that made her feel a million times sexier than the hundreds of hungry looks being sent her way from the rest of the men in the crowd.

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Hell, she couldn’t blame the males for their hungry looks. Her breasts were smushed upward by her guitar, affording a lovely view of her cleavage if she did say so herself, and with the way she was bouncing around the stage and waggling her hips, she’d be offended if the men weren’t totally wrapped up in her onstage presence. But damn, his steady gaze on her hands had her confidence shooting straight up. And she wanted him bad for it. With her decision made on which one of the sex gods she would go for, she could concentrate all of her focus on the new song. It was a little outside of her usual style. The guitar was less strumming and more picking, and she’d experimented a lot with the vocals. They were less regimented, less formulaic. The melody flitted from one octave to the next, from a stilted rhythm to a flowing one, from harsh and hard-hitting to gentle and tender. It gave her a lot more room to put in the emotion, but she was suddenly nervous about performing it, about exposing her vulnerabilities so freely. She shrugged. Tonight was a night for being brave. And she had a crowd that was captive and expectant. She’d never been able to let them down. Above all things, she cared about the people listening to her music. She could never leave them unsatisfied. “All right, y’all,” she said softly into the microphone. “I’ve got one more. It’s a new one.” She locked eyes with the sexy man in the crowd who’d been watching her play the guitar with such avid interest. She craved the confidence he gave her. A light shown on his face, and she could see a faint pink line, a scar, running from the corner of his left eye down his cheek. He had a beard, which Marina usually didn’t like on men, but it gave him a terrible, ferocious beauty. He truly was a gorgeous man. “Please be kind,” she said. “It’s a little different, and I hope you like it.” She went into the plucking pattern. “It’s called ‘Mama, Don’t Fly Away from Me.’” Marina closed her eyes and let the first note come out of her throat, clear and chilling. And then she sang.

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She just let herself sing. A few minutes later the song was over, and Marina blinked a couple times, coming out of her trance. For a long moment, nobody clapped, but then he shot her a wide grin and let out a boisterous yell. The rest of the crowd quickly followed until Catdaddy’s was roaring with the sound of applause. “Thank you so much,” she said into the mic, laughing at the sheer joy flying through her blood. She blew a kiss to them and then left the stage. Unable to resist, she shot one hot glance at the sexy man with the scar. As she knew they would be, his eyes were glued to her as she walked down the steps and then headed toward the bar. A moment after Letty supplied her with a fresh shot of Jack, she felt him sidle up next to her at the bar. Resisting the urge to turn toward him and devour the sight of him at such a close range, she said, “You know, I’ve been in Savage Valley a little over a month and a half. And I’ve been to Catdaddy’s a good number of those nights, too. How come I’ve never seen you before?” She threw back the shot. “I usually have an eye for men like you, and you have definitely not been on my radar.” “Men like me? What kind of man am I?” He leaned his elbow on the bar and forced her gaze to his face. “Oh, I dunno. You have this…like, this oozing quality.” He grimaced. “What?” she asked, pouting her lips a little. “I was hoping for something a little more flattering than ‘oozing quality.’” She frowned and puckered her lips more as if confused. “You’re not flattered?” His lips tilted up at the corners. She could tell he was enjoying her coy act. “Well then, Mister…um, what’s your name?” “Jeremiah.” “Marina.” She batted her lashes for added effect. “I heard you mention that onstage a few times.”

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She forgot her act for a moment, quirking up her mouth in genuine amusement. “You don’t have to pretend like you’ve never heard of me.” “Sorry, sweetie, but I’m telling the truth. I only listen to the classics. And Reba McEntire.” Something clicked in her mind, a small warning, but she ignored it. He was smiling at her, and it was beautiful. “But anything that came out after her Rumor Has It album,” he continued, “and I’m clueless.” “Well then, Jeremiah, let’s pretend I believe you for a second. You wanna give me some examples? I thought ‘oozing quality’ was quite descriptive, and I’m not sure I understand what you were looking for.” “I was thinking more along the lines of devilishly seductive.” He put a hand on her knee. “Or maybe sinfully attractive.” He slid his hand slowly up her leg, his thumb pressing into the flesh of her inner thigh. “You know, something like that.” “Ohhhh…” She drew the word out, making it breathy and guttural, and leaned in a fraction of an inch closer to him. She put her hand over his and then pressed his hand farther up her leg until his fingertips brushed at the lips of her pussy. “Maybe something like…animal magnetism,” she suggested. She’d been watching his lips as they neared hers. They didn’t seem like too much of anything at first, but when he smiled, they became wide and giving. His bottom lip was suddenly very generous, and there was something jaunty in their general tilt. But at her words, suddenly his smile was gone, and her eyes flew up to his. They were so black, and they looked right into hers. “Animal magnetism?” he asked, those black orbs blazing with a strange light she couldn’t understand. “Something like that,” she whispered. His eyes drew her in, and their lips were only a breath apart when something snagged her attention over his shoulder. “What the hell?” She straightened away

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from him and jumped off her stool. She’d spotted Michelle across the bar with her three fiancés, and after all the crap her sister had given her about frequenting bars, Marina had a thing or two she needed to say. She began stomping toward Michelle but at the last second turned back to Jeremiah and grabbed his chin. “I’ll be right back. Don’t you dare go anywhere.” His brows drew together as he snatched her wrist, yanking her hand off his face. “I’ll do what I damn well please, Marina Andrews.” And with that, he yanked her body toward his and crashed his lips onto hers. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs, and a wild, clawing need erupted within her body. His lips pushed hard against hers, and she pushed right back. Nobody had ever dared to speak to her that way, but damn was it sexy as hell. One of his hands skimmed down her back and executed a nice, healthy squeeze on a buttock while his other hand held tightly on to her braid. He had her body arched and her head yanked back at a severe angle, and his tongue dove into her mouth, stroking and plowing into her until breathing became secondary. God, he was so physical. He towered over her and commanded her body, and he possessed her, and she couldn’t get enough. Her pussy throbbed with an angry need for more. She wanted his cock. She wanted her cunt pulverized. She wanted to fuck him hard. She would have let him possess her right there on the floor of Catdaddy’s if he’d asked it, but instead, he suddenly released her and stumbled back a few steps. She shook her head, suddenly realizing how crazy she’d just been thinking. Her body was trembling uncontrollably, and her only consolation was that he looked just as shaken as she felt. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. She saw the animal desire blazoned in the black depths of his eyes. Those eyes widened, and he turned away from her. Then he darted through the crowd. He left her.

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Chapter Three James rolled the bottom of his beer bottle on the top of the scratched wooden table. After watching Marina Andrews perform onstage, he’d needed air. His dick was still as hard and as dense as a tree trunk. She’d been making eyes at him and his brothers throughout her whole performance, but Jeremiah was the most charming one out of the three of them, the most natural with women. He and Johnny had sent him along to bring her outside to them. She wouldn’t resist. He knew she wouldn’t. Not with the way she’d been shooting hot looks at them, but if Johnny didn’t stop pacing the deck like one of their nervous animals at the center, James was going to knock his lights out. “How can you just sit there, man? And what’s taking that asshole so long? He’s been in there almost five minutes. Usually it takes him two. What the hell is happening?” Johnny looked into the bar, but there were too many bodies blocking the way. Earlier, it seemed like as soon as Marina started playing, the crowd tripled in size and then just kept growing. “Calm down, man. He’ll get here when he—” Jeremiah exploded out of the bar onto the patio, cutting off James’s statement. “It’s her!” Jeremiah shouted as he worked his way toward them. He was panting, and James thought he looked a little bit crazy. “It’s got to be. It’s her! She…” Jeremiah touched his lips. “And then…” His eyes lit up, and he made an exploding noise. “And it was—” “Jeremiah,” James cut in. “What the hell are you talking about? Where is she?”

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Jeremiah shook his head, seeming to register James and Johnny’s presence for the first time, and then he noticed several other people on the patio giving him odd looks. He quickly lowered himself into a chair at their table and spoke in a low voice. “Okay, so I talked to her. It was the usual sort of thing, but then, I don’t know…something happened.” “And where is she now?” Johnny asked. “I left her in there. I wanted to come talk to you two first.” Johnny shoved Jeremiah. “You asshole. The talkin’ comes after the lovin’.” Jeremiah shoved Johnny back, making his chair tip back on two legs. “Shut up.” He turned and looked at James with an earnestness James had never seen from him. “I think she could be the one. I think she could be our mate.” “You can’t tell that from a kiss.” “You weren’t there. You didn’t…it was electrifying…I don’t know. That’s a dumb way of describing it, but it wasn’t normal. I’m telling you. She’s our mate.” “And I’m telling you, that’s not how this works. You know that. We choose our mates. We choose, Jeremiah. The Kinmans? They chose Elena. The Ashleys? They chose Michelle. Our parents. You know they chose each other.” Jeremiah breathed heavily. “Please don’t bring them into this.” James shrugged. “It’s the truth.” Shaking his head, Jeremiah said, “You are not listening to me.” James noticed his brother’s fingers gripping the table’s edge, the knuckles white. “This isn’t some random, abnormal physical reaction. There is something else going on. We need to get her out to the center. We need to tell her who we are, and we need to mate her. Simple as that.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Johnny said, waving his hands in front of Jeremiah’s face. “Did you say mate her? That’s kind of an overreaction, wouldn’t you say? I mean, you were barely with her for

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five minutes, bro. You’re acting like the virgin who got his first kiss from the senior Homecoming Queen. I think you need to take a moment and just like…breathe. Mate!” He shook his head and sputtered a few unintelligible words. “That shit’s for life!” Johnny took a long drink of his beer. He took the bottle away from his lips, but then put it right back and took another long, soothing gulp. “I mean”—he wiped his lips—“shit, man!” Jeremiah leaned far back in his chair, crossing his arms. “You two don’t understand. I’m telling you.” He looked at James, a strange challenge in his eyes. “She’s it.” “Okay, let’s say you’re right, just for a second,” James said, leaning forward. “I just Googled her on my phone. She’s a touring musician, Jeremiah, and it looks like she has a lot of stuff going on in her life. It’s not good.” He flicked through the page again. “Looks like alcoholism, disorderly conduct, problems with her label…there’s all sorts of things here. We can’t get ourselves tangled up in that.” “Maybe that’s why she’s here. Maybe she’s here to get better? Could be that she needs us.” “Even if that’s the case and even if she is the one we are supposed to mate, what makes you think she’d leave all that behind? She doesn’t belong here for the rest of her life. Anyone who saw her onstage tonight could tell you that.” Jeremiah frowned and looked away, staring off at the forest. After a long moment, he looked back and shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t.” He shrugged again, but that odd challenge still shone in his eyes. “But I feel like we can’t…” He turned away for another moment. “We should try, James. We have to at least try.” Johnny looked at James, beer poised in front of his lips, waiting for his answer. And Jeremiah turned back toward him, looking resolute and extremely sure of himself. “All right,” he said. “We’ll take her to the center tonight. We’ll see what happens. And if Johnny and I feel the same way as you in the morning, we’ll tell her everything. And then she can either agree

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or not.” He looked hard at Jeremiah. “It ultimately comes down to her. Got it?” “What the fuck?” Johnny said, slamming his beer bottle onto the table. “We shouldn’t even be taking her out there. You’ve just told us she’s practically a nutcase. We can’t be fooling around with a woman like that.” James glared at him but then returned his attention to Jeremiah. “Okay?” he asked again. “What the hell? Why don’t you two ever listen to me? I’m telling you, this is a stupid idea. This is going to end up bad, bad, bad. I can feel it.” Jeremiah’s mouth tilted up in a smile as he clinked his bottleneck against James’s, ignoring Johnny’s protests. “Okay.” **** “Michelle, what the hell are you doing here?” Marina shoved past a group of clustered bodies to stand right in front of her sister. Marina crossed her arms across her chest and blocked Michelle’s path. “You hate bars, and I distinctly remember you yelling at me for coming to this one in particular.” Marina rolled her eyes when her sister’s fiancés—that sounded so weird—moved to stand in front of Michelle as if to protect her. “As if,” Marina said, grabbing her sister by the elbow and tugging her away from them. Michelle needed to be protected from them, not her. Obviously they had some sort of strange, sexual mind control over her. That was the only logical explanation Marina could come up with, and really, it wasn’t even that logical. Elias held on to Michelle’s other arm. “Michelle, are you okay?” “What? Are we going to play goddamn tug-of-war over her? I’m her sister, and I need to talk to her, so let go.” “It’s fine, Elias. Give me five minutes.” Michelle leaned up for a kiss and then smiled at the other two.

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Marina pulled Michelle to the bar, pushing away thoughts of bearmen to focus on her sister’s temporary insanity. “Michelle, tell me truthfully, what do you see in them. I mean, how can you…with three…oh fuck it, why are you engaged to three men? And really, what sane man would want to share his wife with two other dudes? And how the hell do you plan on explaining what I saw at Savage Convenience? That wasn’t natural. It just wasn’t.” Marina took a deep breath. “Letty, I’m going to need another shot over here.” Michelle frowned. “How many is that for you tonight?” “That’s none of your business, Michelle. Just answer my questions.” Michelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re right, Marina.” Marina almost fell off her barstool at her sister’s statement. “It’s none of my business, and I’m sorry. Old habits.” She shot Marina a grin. Michelle had never been able to joke about the imperfections in their relationship, much less talk about them. Marina suddenly felt uneasy around her, realizing that she had no idea who the woman in front of her was. “To answer your questions,” Michelle said, “I love them. All three of them. It’s that simple. I didn’t expect this or plan for this to happen. No one would or even could, I think, plan on having not one husband but three husbands. And not only that, but for those husbands to also be bear-shifters? Well, it wasn’t exactly what I dreamed about when we played dress up together in Aunt Agnes’s attic.” “You say that so casually. ‘My husbands are bear-shifters.’ But that’s not even real, Michelle. That’s not a real sentence that a real person says.” Michelle shrugged. “It’s real for me.” She turned to the bar and ordered a club soda. Marina narrowed her eyes. “Club soda? Are you pregnant?” Michelle sighed. “No, but we are trying. This is just a precautionary measure in case I am.” Michelle smiled, and it was that

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“real” smile that she’d been flashing so nonchalantly at the engagement party. “Jesus, you’re not even married yet.” Michelle shrugged again. “Not technically.” “I’m not going to ask what that’s supposed to mean.” Letty placed a fresh shot in front of Marina, and she downed it without hesitation. She didn’t know if she wanted the alcohol to numb her confusion about this whole conversation or if she wanted it to nip the budding curiosity she felt growing with each question that Michelle answered. “You know,” Michelle said, sipping her club soda up through a straw, “I’m surprised you are acting so uptight about all this after I saw you right in the middle of the dance floor kissing Jeremiah Greenwood.” Marina blinked a couple times, trying to place her sister’s statement in her mind. “Why? What do you mean? What does he have to do with any of this?” “Oh, you don’t know?” A smile tugged at the corner of Michelle’s lips. “The Greenwoods are bear-shifters, too.” Everything went quiet. Marina felt her hands shaking again, and all she could see was Michelle’s stupid smile. “Yep. They’re bearshifters,” her sister went on, oblivious to Marina’s all-consuming, bodily shock. “Which means that they’ll all three share the same wife, too. So I hope things aren’t too serious between you two…you know, with as much as you despise me and my fiancés together. Because if Jeremiah wants you, his brothers will, too, and based on what you’ve said to me, you don’t want that sort of thing for yourself.” “I get it, Michelle!” She managed to strangle out the words, not wanting to hear any more. Fucking hell. Jeremiah was like Elias. He could…he could…damn, she couldn’t even think it to herself without stuttering over the idea. And she’d kissed him. And she’d been thinking that she wanted him to take her right then and there on the floor. Her cheeks

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flamed up, which never happened with her. She was the one who made grown men blush, not the other way around. Oh god, those three sexy men she’d been shooting wanton looks at were bear-shifter-thingies. “No, no, no,” she muttered in horror. Michelle continued to watch her, sipping pleasantly on her club soda. “Everything okay, sis?” “You knew! And you let me? Oh god, please no. You probably sent him over, didn’t you?” Michelle laughed throatily. “Oh no, you did that all your own. Marina, I’m your sister, and I’ve seen you onstage since you were eight years old. I saw exactly what you were doing to those three. I’ve seen it enough times, believe me.” “But you…you could have…” “I’m not taking the blame for this. Admit it, you like them. You’re wildly attracted to them, but you’re scared because if you give in, you know exactly what’s in store for you.” Marina opened her mouth to deny, to refute, to contradict every damn thing her sister said, but nothing came out. Her mind wouldn’t form the appropriate words. “Oh, just who I wanted to see tonight.” Michelle waved at someone over Marina’s shoulder, and when Marina turned to look, she saw three women approaching. When they reached Marina and Michelle at the bar, the four women erupted in overly joyous greetings interspersed with lots of hugs, cheek kisses, and intermittent “You’re so beautiful,” “I love your hair,” and “Oh my god, your shoes!” comments. Marina rolled her eyes and contemplated whether she needed another shot or not. She thought one more couldn’t hurt, and she waved at Letty. “Marina,” she heard her sister say over the annoying chatter, “I’d like you to meet some new friends. This is Elena Ward, soon-to-be Kinman. And here we have Chelsea Goebel, soon-to-be Cash. And then this is Marta Verner, who will soon be soon-to-be Pope.”

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Marta laughed. “That’s not official, so don’t go spreading that rumor around, Michelle.” As an aside to Marina she said, “But just so you know, it’s totally true.” “Marina, I’ve heard so much about you from Michelle.” That was one of the soon-to-be’s, Marina thought. The British one. “And after we realized that we all enjoy reading, we’ve decided to start a book club.” “Michelle didn’t think you’d be interested,” one of the other ladies said, the one with the bright red hair. Chelsea maybe? “But we wanted to invite you, just in case.” “I haven’t picked up a book in almost ten years—” “I told you she wouldn’t be interested,” Michelle cut in, standing up from her stool. “But,” Marina continued, “maybe it’s about time I started reading again.” She tossed the sentence at Michelle, feeling contrary and petulant because of her sister’s immediate dismissal. “You never know. I might like it.” “Yay!” Marta said, clapping her hands. “Our first meeting is next month. I’ll have Michelle e-mail you all the details.” “Sounds perfect.” Michelle smirked at her. “Does it?” Marina shrugged. “Well then, let’s hope this is the start of something new, sis. Who knows? Maybe there are other things out there you might like that you previously found revolting.” Marina narrowed her gaze. “That’s a huge ‘maybe.’ Practically insurmountable.” “Uh-oh, ladies. I think we’ve ventured past the topic of reading,” the British woman said. “We all saw that steamy kiss with Jeremiah Greenwood.” “I don’t even like bears, and I was sweating,” Marta said. “Wait, you know about bear-shifters, too?” Marina asked. “Well, I ought to.”

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Marina quirked a questioning brow. “Since I’m about to be engaged to a couple of mountain lionshifters, it’s kind of a fact of life around here.” From down the bar, Letty poured a shot and slid it down to her. “Excuse me,” she said to Marta, “did you just say ‘mountain-lion shifters’?” “Sure did, honey.” Marina eyed the shot but couldn’t drink it. Things were already getting crazy enough without adding more alcohol to the mix. “Is everyone in this town crazy?” she muttered under her breath. “Crazy in love,” Marta said, giggling and bumping her hip against Marina and then Michelle. She should be mad, she thought. She didn’t even know these women, but she actually found their teasing to be funny. It made her feel…well, it made her feel good. Aw, hell, I’m getting too fucking mushy. “Well, I’ve got to use the ladies’ room,” the British one said. Then she leaned toward Marina. “The toilet is practically my second home since I started lugging this little fella around.” She patted her stomach and headed toward the restrooms. The other two quickly made polite excuses and darted away. “I’ll see you around, Marina.” Michelle smoothed a lock of hair off Marina’s forehead and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. “I’m always here to talk if you need me.” Then she left, moving breezily through the crowd to her three fiancés. As soon as she was gone, Marina pushed all the warm, fuzzy thoughts away and returned to the now-troubling kiss she’d shared with Jeremiah. Why had her response been so strong? So physical and demanding? She’d wanted him to rip her clothes off. She’d wanted a hell of a lot more than that. She could at least admit that to herself in the privacy of her own mind. She never had that kind of response to a man. Hell, usually she got severely pissed off if a man tried to rip her

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clothes off. She didn’t want to pay for that crap, especially if the sex was mediocre. But she’d almost begged Jeremiah to do just that. Just thinking about that kiss had her pussy throbbing with need. God, how she wanted to feel him against her again. She wanted him inside her. Would she have the same reaction if his brothers kissed her? Oh hell no! She would not go there. She refused to let her mind go there. Absolutely refused. But damn it, why did Jeremiah Greenwood have to be such a good kisser? And why the fuck did he have to be a goddamn bear-shifter? **** Jeremiah led his two brothers through the crowd. He could smell her in the air. His lips still pulsed with the remembrance of that kiss. He’d kissed plenty of women in his day, but damn if that wasn’t the best kiss he’d ever been a part of. And that was just a kiss. Jeremiah couldn’t imagine what she’d be like in bed, between himself and his brothers. She’d be pure fire. She’d burn them up and then demand more. He saw her dark head at the bar. She had a shot of whiskey in front of her, but she didn’t drink it. She dipped her finger into the brown liquid and then ran it along the rim of the glass, staring absentmindedly through the bar to the lights and activities of the patio. He couldn’t help but think he was responsible for her lackadaisical state. She’d probably never experienced a kiss like that, either. “Marina Andrews,” he said when he reached her. He noticed her immediately stiffen but didn’t think much of it. His presence probably excited her. Hell, he couldn’t blame her. He was excited by her presence as well if his erect penis was any judge in the matter. “I’d

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like to introduce you to my brothers, James Greenwood and Johnny Green—” He didn’t get any further than that because Marina had sprung up off her barstool. Right when he thought she was going to fall into his arms again, she reared back and punched him in the jaw. “Ow!” she screamed, shaking her fist. “You asshole!” “You hit me! How am I the asshole?” He rolled his jaw experimentally, but to be honest, he’d barely felt her hit. “Why’d you hit me like that? Are you okay?” “Get the hell away from me!” She tried to shove him, but she ended up knocking herself back into the bar. “Will you stop trying to physically assault me for a second and explain what’s going on?” “This is our mate?” Johnny asked from behind, and Jeremiah didn’t miss the self-righteous sarcasm. Marina turned to him, eyes dangerously narrowed. “Did you say ‘mate’?” She turned her glare to Jeremiah. “I’m not your goddamn mate, do you hear me? I know what you are.” She slapped his chest, trying to shove him away. To make her feel better about herself, he took a step back. “Now, now, let’s all just calm down and—” “You’re one of those bear-shifter-thingies.” She shoved him again, and this time Jeremiah stumbled in earnest. “How the hell do you know about that?” James asked, whipping around Jeremiah’s stunned form to grab Marina by the elbow. “Who told you about us?” “Get your hands off me! Help! Help! He’s assaulting me!” Nobody came to her rescue because everyone knew that the Greenwoods would be the last men in town to hurt a woman, but her hollering made Jeremiah uneasy, nonetheless. “Settle down, Marina. No one’s hurting you. James, for god’s sake, let her go.” Marina twisted her arm away from James and resumed glaring at Jeremiah.

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“Marina, how do you know that about me and my brothers?” “Why should I tell you?” He stepped close, intending to disarm her with his proximity. What he hadn’t counted on, though, was her effect on him. His cock rose up as he brushed against her thighs, and he could smell a trace of rose petals, sweet and heady, on her skin and in her hair. He put his hands heavily on her shoulders and then ran his hands down her arms until her reached her wrists. He pushed his body fully against hers and pinned her hands on top of the bar’s surface. “You’ll tell me,” he said, making his breath tickle across her neck before he pressed a kiss there. “Because you want me to kiss you again.” “I do not.” With her breathlessness and the way she pressed her hips against him, her denial was practically a request for him to do just that. “Are you sure about that, Marina?” He moved his lips along her jaw. “Yes.” “Yes, what?” “Yes, I…oh hell, I don’t know. You can’t ask me questions and expect answers when you put your lips on me like that.” He let his lips hover beside hers, letting his breath dance over her face. She whimpered. “You want me to kiss you?” “Yes.” “You want more than that, don’t you?” he whispered darkly in her ear. She whimpered again, rolling her hips. “Yes, but…” “But what?” He moved so that he could look in her eyes. With a quick motion, she moved forward, smashing her lips against his. Once her lips were on his, he couldn’t maintain his train of thought. All plans of taunting and teasing her into admitting how she knew about them flew out of his mind. All he knew was the feel of her lips

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burning against his, hot and needy and delicious. He moved his hands to her ass and pulled her tight against his body. “Damn it, bro, you’re supposed to be pumping her for info, not kissing the crap out of her.” Johnny grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him away from Marina. His eyes snapped open, and Marina was grinning at him, a superior look of triumph blazing across her features. “That was a low-down trick, Marina Andrews.” “And what you were doing? What do you call that?” “Enough of this,” James said. “Are you going to tell us how you know what we are or not?” Marina crossed her arms. “What are you going to do if I don’t? It’s not like you can make me.” She glared at all three of them, her pink lips a perfect pout. “Okay,” Jeremiah said. He only gave Marina a moment to be confused by his answer because he bent down, grasped her around the thighs, and slung her bodily over his shoulder. When he straightened, he headed for the exit to Catdaddy’s. Marina screamed. She shouted and cursed him, flailing wildly in his arms, scratching and biting him, but Jeremiah bore it all with an equanimous smile as he carried her out the door. “Michelle!” she shouted at the Ashleys’ fiancée as they passed. “Michelle, help me! I’m your sister.” Well, that explained how she knew about them. Michelle smiled and winked at him as they passed. Jeremiah winked back and grinned. “Goddamn it, Michelle! Get your ass over here and help me.” Jeremiah swatted Marina on the ass. “Don’t talk to your sister like that.” “How dare you?” she roared. “I’ll do it again if you insist on disrespecting my friends.” He waltzed out of Catdaddy’s with the struggling Marina. When he reached the Jeep, he dumped her unceremoniously in the backseat.

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He sat down beside her and yanked her into his lap before she could scramble away from him. When James and Johnny climbed into the front seats, Marina began struggling anew. “Where the hell are you taking me? Let me go! Do you have any idea who I am? You’re kidnapping me! This is a felony or some shit! Let me go!” “You know, Marina, all that squirming is making my cock painfully hard.” She became instantly still. “You’d better be careful,” he whispered in her ear. “I might go wild and turn into a ferocious animal or something.” She tried to elbow him in the stomach. “That’s not funny,” she said although he thought he detected a hint of laughter in her voice. Jeremiah tightened his arms around her and pressed his lips to her neck, and he didn’t miss the answering shudder in her breath. Damn, they had a fun night ahead of them.

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Chapter Four “So what’s the plan, geniuses? Take me into the woods and have your way with me? And then what?” She spat the words out, trying to hold on to her anger, but chills had been rippling across her flesh the whole ride, and it wasn’t because of the cool night air. Jeremiah had his arms around her and was stroking his thumbs across the front of her button-up shirt, making her nipples rise up hard against the fabric, desperately seeking the caress of his fingertips. “We may live out in the woods, but we’re not brutes,” Jeremiah whispered. “Do you want me to stop touching you?” He put his hands on her hips as if to move her off his lap. “No.” The word was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. “I mean, I don’t want to get cold.” “Of course.” He wrapped his arms around her again. “How’s that?” “Fine. I guess,” she sniffed. “Considering I’ve been taken against my will and am now being held hostage, I suppose that’s fine.” She could feel his stiff cock pressing into her back, and it took all of her strength not to reach back and grasp it firmly in her hand, to feel his length and width and heft. Her pussy creamed at the thought. She wanted to squeeze her legs together but didn’t dare make her discomfort so obvious. “So tell me, what is the point of all this? Why whisk me away?” “Well now, you weren’t exactly being reasonable. We had a whole woo-and-charm routine planned out, but you kinda ruined that when you socked me in the jaw.” Jeremiah chuckled, making his erection jerk against her back.

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“Woo-and-charm routine? What exactly does that entail?” “So after I introduced you to my brothers—” “That’s James, right?” She pointed to the one driving, the one who looked older. She’d only caught quick glimpses of Jeremiah’s brothers up close, but she’d been able to pick up small things about them at least. James had an intensity in his expression. It was almost like a constant frown, but it didn’t make him seem dour. Just intense. “Yes,” Jeremiah answered. “And that’s Johnny?” She looked at the man sitting in the passenger seat. The wind from the open-topped Jeep was too loud for the two in front to hear her, so Marina didn’t feel shy about discussing them and ogling them. Johnny had reddish-brown curls atop his head and two dimples, one in each cheek. Despite the beard that covered the lower half of his face, she’d noticed at the bar that the dimples gave him an impish air. She hadn’t decided yet if she liked the beards each of them were sporting. “Why do you all have beards anyway?” she blurted out. “Is this some kind of bear-shifter, mountain-man fashion statement?” “We’ve been living in the woods for the past six weeks. That’s why you never saw us around town. When we got back, we headed straight for Catdaddy’s. And then we saw you.” He pressed a kiss against her neck. She forced herself to ignore the pleasurable shock it caused. “So go on. What’s the woo-and-charm routine?” “Basically it’s a three-pronged approach. James is the dark, mysterious brooder. Johnny is the sensitive, easygoing jokester.” Marina peeked at him over her shoulder. “And you? Where do you come in?” “I’m the totally sexy, irresistible charmer.” He lowered his mouth to hers, darting his tongue inside her lips to wiggle against her teeth. Then his lips captured her bottom one, sucking and teasing. She almost grabbed his shoulders so that she could get better leverage and deepen the kiss, but then she remembered herself.

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“Stop fucking doing that shit.” She jerked away from him, more to hide her reaction than anything else. He groaned, and his frustration excited her, made her want to play. “Your lips taste like whiskey.” He spoke in a harsh whisper. “You smell so good.” He put his mouth against her ear. “I want to taste all of you.” “Quit it!” She swatted at him, but he dodged. “I bet your pussy tastes like honey.” His hand slid up her leg. “And the wind on the edge of a storm. I see that it in your eyes.” Through the fabric, his fingers danced across the lips of her cunt. She bit back a moan. He rolled the heel of his palm against her clit. “Your smell intoxicates me. My mouth is watering for your flavor.” She knew she should resist, but hell, that kind of talking really turned her on. “What else?” she asked, rolling against his hand between her legs. “I want to push my tongue inside your cunt.” “Oh, shit.” Fire whipped through her veins at his blunt words. “I want to roll it all around the soft, fleshy walls you keep hidden away from the world, so sweet and tender with your flavor. I want you to let me in, let me in deep. I want you to beg my cock to enter you and stroke you to life and possess you.” “Oh god…” “I want to ride your cunt so fucking hard, Marina. I want to command every moan, every cry, every aching howl. I want to know your flesh. I want you to succumb—to me and to my brothers.” Her eyes flew up to the two men sitting in front. They were both watching. She caught James’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and the pleasure Jeremiah was stroking to life blazed up stronger. Johnny turned to look, and the flames jumped higher inside her body. “I want you to succumb to your own dark desires, Marina, and to the call of our flesh as we crash into each other. Again.” He squeezed her pussy. “And

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again.” He squeezed harder. “And again.” He squeezed and he held her tight. “Jeremiah.” She could barely breathe, much less form words. She pushed hard against the hand that held her pussy captive. He began unzipping her skimpy blue-jean shorts and then dipped his hand inside her stockings, moving his fingers under her lace thong. The fingers darted between her lips, scraping up and down the innermost folds of her pussy. “Your flesh is calling, all right. You feel how easy my fingers slide across your slick lips?” He dipped his fingers into her throbbing entrance. He swirled them around, barely pushing them inside, and then swiped once fast and deep inside her, making her body jerk at the sudden intrusion. But he took his fingers away. They were gone and left her wanting. He pulled them out of her shorts and held them in front of her, rubbing his thumb against them, rolling the moisture between the three fingertips. “I’ve found you.” He smelled his fingertips. “Hot, wet, secluded, and hidden. What secrets am I going to uncover when I explore you?” He nibbled on her neck. “What am I going to see and smell there?” His tongue licked up the back of her ear. “What am I going to taste?” He moved to rest his chin on the top of her shoulder and then plunged his fingers into his mouth. Making a deep, satisfied sound in the back of his throat, he sucked every last drop of her juices from his fingers. “Open your mouth,” he ordered. So engrossed with his command of her desire, she obeyed without hesitating. He pushed his fingers into her mouth. She could taste him, and she could taste a hint of herself. His fingers rolled against her tongue, and she sucked. When he pushed his other hand down her shorts and plunged two fingers deep into her cunt, she moaned around the fingers in her mouth. Both sets of fingers began moving inside her body. They stroked and jabbed and swirled as one. Marina held on to the wrist in front of her face and then used her free hand to massage her clit. Her hips rocked violently against the hand buried in her pussy. And all around her was Jeremiah.

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She leaned back against him. She dangled her legs off the side of him, and his arms held her pinned against his body. His fingers curled up inside her to scratch at that magic place. She felt a tingle start in her toes, and with each stroke of his fingers, the tingling sensation shot up through her legs, her thighs, her stomach, her heart. He stroked and stroked. She pulled his hand away from her face and turned to him, kissed him, and whimpered. “Just a little more,” she said, a low note of desperation in her voice. She scraped her teeth along Jeremiah’s lips, wanting to urge him on, needing to release the mounting tension in her body. His fingers pressed hard against her insides. She bit him. Desperate and stretching toward that ultimate pleasure, she rubbed her fingers on her clit with a vicious, unrelenting vigor. Then it happened. Her orgasm exploded into existence. With a wild cry, she arched up and away from him. Though one of his hands was still partially embedded in her body, his other wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against him. It took her a moment to catch her breath. She didn’t want to open her eyes, afraid everything she felt would disappear like smoke in a bar when the morning comes calling. “Now that was fucking sexy as fuck.” Johnny’s voice came from the front. Marina snapped her eyes open, not realizing they’d turned onto Treaty Lane. Aunt Agnes lived just off Treaty Lane. If they lived somewhere nearby, she could easily make an escape. Strangely, that thought made her sad. She scrambled out of Jeremiah’s arms, not necessarily embarrassed, but discomfited by how easily she’d capitulated to his demands on her body. And that James and Johnny had been watching. And that she didn’t mind. Buttoning up her shorts, she peeked at James, and his eyes darted up to hers in the rearview mirror. “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath. After all the crap she’d given Michelle, she’d been turned on by Johnny’s and James’s eyes

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on her as Jeremiah fingered her. She didn’t understand and didn’t want to think about it. But she couldn’t ignore the desire that was already building up inside her at the thought of more, at the thought of Jeremiah moving inside her as his brothers watched. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to dispel the idea, but she couldn’t. Her pussy was already pulsing again. “Honestly, how do you expect a man who’s lusting so strong after you to keep his eyes off that little display of sexiness?” Johnny asked, his speech flavored with a bit of a twang. “I’m about ready to spew all over this dash.” “You’re cleaning it up if you do,” James said in an even tone. “James, brother, that was a joke.” Johnny winked at Marina. Jeremiah took her hand in his and gave her a smile, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. “So y’all are really kidnapping me? This is really happening?” “Looks like it,” Johnny said. “Well then, can we at least go by my aunt’s house first? A lady requires things, you know. Plus, I promised my puppy I’d take extra good care of him. I need to check on him, make sure he’s all right. Y’all have space for one more critter, right?” “I don’t know. That sounds kind of fishy, don’t you think, Jeremiah? We can’t let our hostage have any- and everything she wants.” Marina narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to give us something in return for these privileges.” “Like what exactly?” “Oh, the possibilities are endless.” Johnny tapped his chin as if in serious consideration of the matter. She rolled her eyes. “What’s your asking price?” “How about one night with us gets you fifteen minutes. Two nights means thirty minutes. Three nights et cetera.”

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“Whoa now, that’s pretty steep,” Jeremiah jumped in. “How about let’s make that one night for every two minutes spent inside. That seems more reasonable.” “Oh yeah, I like that better.” Johnny nodded. “But you know, I wasn’t sure. I’m not used to all this bargaining stuff.” “It’s okay. You’ll learn soon enough, bro.” “Y’all are ridiculous,” she said. “Last I checked, bargaining was something that happened between two opposing parties, not two people in the same party.” “Hush, hush,” Johnny said. “We’re ready to start the bargaining process, and the official offer I’m putting on the table for you is that you have to spend one night with us for every thirty seconds you spend inside your aunt’s house.” “What the hell! You said two minutes. I won’t even get in the front door before half of that is up. No. Absolutely not. I’m not agreeing to that.” Jeremiah leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I’m not sure if you know how this works, but now it’s your turn to make us an offer, usually one that’s more in your favor.” He patted her on the head like she was a simple child. “Get off,” she said grumpily. “I don’t want to bargain. I don’t want to be kidnapped. I just want to go home and sleep in my own bed. Alone.” Both Jeremiah and Johnny threw back their heads in laughter, and when he’d caught his breath again, Jeremiah said, “You are such a fibber, Marina. You can’t wait to spend the night with us. Admit it. Your insides are all aquiver just thinking about it.” She crossed her arms and jutted out her chin. “I wouldn’t deign to answer that question.” Jeremiah laughed again. “You can’t even deny it.” They had reached her aunt’s house, and James put the Jeep in park. He turned to look back at her. “Marina, we’re not going to keep you hostage. If you want to stay here, stay here.”

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Johnny had been grinning at her, but at James’s words, his smile dimmed until it morphed into a scowl. “You are such a buzzkill.” She crawled out of the Jeep and headed for the front door, so confused about what she wanted. After all the shit she’d been saying to Michelle, how could she contemplate going with them? But at the same time, Jeremiah had just made her orgasm…with his fingers! That had never happened to her, not even in her more eager but less experienced days. James’s voice broke through her tumultuous thoughts. “If you want to stay with us, Marina—” She paused, waiting for his next words, her pussy hot and suddenly pulsing between her legs. “We’ll give you five minutes.” Marina locked eyes with him. Shit, he was gorgeous. His hair was straighter than both his brothers’ and a little longer. He had even cheekbones and a straight nose, maybe a little too sharp, but it worked on his face. He had lips that pursed slightly yet somehow still looked generous and giving. His eyes, like his brothers’, were deepest black. They bore into her, and she stood locked in his gaze. “Marina, sweetheart,” Johnny called from behind his brother, “time’s a-wasting.” She blinked a couple times, knocked out of the trance that James’s eyes had placed upon her. “Oh, is it?” she asked, letting her sarcasm drip freely through her voice. “Doesn’t look like I’m too concerned, does it?” With deliberate slowness, she turned, sauntered up to the front door, and casually threw it open. She walked through and then kicked it closed behind her. When she was safely out of sight, though, she leaned heavily against the wall and let out a long sigh. Nothing made sense. Her mind and her nerves and her heart were all fighting with each other. Oh lord, she had to choose. She hated to admit that a part of her had been excited by the prospect of playing their hostage tonight, just

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letting herself go along with what happened and then blaming it all on them in the morning. Her thoughts continued to tangle around themselves as she walked to her room. Roy yapped when he saw her and jumped in her lap as she sat on the bed. “Hey, boy,” she said, scratching him behind the ears and smiling at how his whole butt moved when wagging his tail. “So what’s it going to be, huh? Am I staying here, fella? Or…” Roy perked his ears up and tilted his head to the side, making her giggle at his perplexed, expectant look. “Am I gonna let those bearded bear-shifter-thingies have me?” **** His fingers gripped the wheel. Marina’s time was almost up, and James felt the pressure of each passing second push down on him. “How long has it been?” Jeremiah asked quietly from the back. “She has twenty-five seconds,” Johnny answered in surly tones. “Damn it, James! Why did you give her a choice like that? She was playing along. She was gonna come home with us, and she was gonna…” Johnny fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat, leaning out the side of the Jeep to get a better look at the front door. “Now she’s gonna chicken out. I know it,” he muttered under his breath. “This coming from the ‘let’s not do this,’ ‘mating is for life’ guy,” James said, keeping his voice deadly cool. “Everyone calm down. She still has time to walk out the door.” Despite his equanimous words, James knew his brother. He could hear Jeremiah’s underlying anxiety. “She still has time.” “Fifteen seconds.” Johnny glared at James. Resigning himself to the fact that Marina had not chosen them, James put his foot on the brake and shifted the Jeep into reverse. He couldn’t ignore the frustration and disappointment washing through him. He’d watched her in the rearview mirror as Jeremiah fucked her

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with his fingers. She had such an expressive face. When Jeremiah did something she liked, the pleasure flitted across her doll-like features like a feather in a wild wind. Each little twitch of her features sent an answering jolt to his cock. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Johnny asked. “She still has time. Just hold your damn horses.” “Besides, we can give her a couple extra seconds, right?” Jeremiah asked. “There’s no law saying we can’t.” “I’m not going to sit around waiting like a love-struck puppy. If she wants us, she’ll come.” “Ten seconds!” Johnny called, his eyes darting between his watch and the door. “Nine.” James watched the door with his foot smashed hard on the brake. “Eight…seven…six…” “Are you really counting this shit down?” James ground out. “Five…” “She’s gonna come. She’s gonna come,” Jeremiah repeated softly in the back. “Four…three…two…” “Fuck,” James spat and let his foot off the break. “One.” Johnny said with finality. “She’s not—” “Wait!” Marina flew out of the front door. She held a dog in her arms and had a bag slung over her shoulder. “I’m coming!” She somehow managed to get the front door closed and then came running, the dog’s ears flapping with each running step. “Don’t leave me!” Johnny and Jeremiah hopped out of the Jeep before James could smash his foot back on the brake. A large welling of relief moved through his body, and he let out a long breath. “You cut it a little close there, sweetheart.” Johnny gave Marina a kiss, smashing the dog between them. The dog writhed and maneuvered until he could lick Johnny’s face. Johnny jumped back with a yelp of a surprise. “I’m a self-professed kinky

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bastard”Johnny took the dog—“but that’s just a little outside my comfort zone, fella.” He strode back to the Jeep with a huge smile on his face. “Let me take this from you.” Jeremiah slid the bag off Marina’s shoulder. He kissed her slow and sweet, and James noticed how she stood up on her toes to meet his brother’s lips. James wanted to feel that soft, pink pout on him—on his lips, on his skin, on his cock. After breaking away from Jeremiah, Marina turned to the Jeep. She made her way with slow and tentative steps, her eyes peering questioningly into his. “What took you so long?” James asked when she reached his door, annoyed at the gruff note in his voice. Marina shrugged. “I had to keep you three guessing, you know, had to make you really sweat it out.” “I think you’re full of shit.” She grinned. “I got my stuff packed up in less than a minute, and I was watching you through the window. I didn’t know if I could actually do it, and then you started rolling down the driveway, and I just started running.” “You’re lucky I was feeling generous since, technically, you didn’t make the five-minute cut.” Marina gasped. “Was that a joke, James Greenwood?” “Depends. Are you going to give me a kiss to make up for your tardiness?” She stepped up on the running board and put her soft lips on his mouth, undulating her mouth against his, her lips slow and gentle, meeting his like a shy stranger, testing and exploring but then growing bold. She opened to him, and he plunged in, pushing his tongue against hers. He tasted and savored. He fell deep into her sweet, welcoming flavor. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Johnny yelled, and James realized the Jeep was rolling backward. He slammed his foot on the brakes, and

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Marina squealed, wrapping her arms tight around his neck as the vehicle lurched. “I’m on here!” She hit him in the back of the head when she regained her footing. He grinned sheepishly at her. “Whoops.” “Come on back here,” Jeremiah said with an indulgent tone, patting the seat beside him. “I’ll keep you safe.” Marina rolled her eyes but hopped off the running board. When she had climbed into the back, James zipped out of the driveway and began flying toward the wildlife center. Marina was their hostage now, willing and eager, and she would never escape.

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Chapter Five “This is it?” Marina barely kept her mouth from falling open in shock. They’d pulled up in front of a shabby-looking wooden thing, which was supposedly some sort of stable structure. Marina had doubts about that. “Yep,” Jeremiah said, climbing out of the Jeep. “Home sweet home.” She looked around, appraising her situation. There was an old wooden sign in front with three yellow, buzzing lights shining down on it. The sign read, “Savage Valley Wildlife Preservation.” There were all sorts of oddities scattered across the ground in front of the building. There was an old claw-foot tub filled with soil and herb plants. There were odd-looking things poking out the top. At the start of the walkway there was a short, gnarled tree with glass bottles tipping the ends of its branches. There were large flat rocks lining the walk that had strange figures painted on them. Marina knew there was a local Shoshone tribe from what Michelle had been telling her, and she had met the shaman, Bohagande Young, during that unfortunate incident at Savage Convenience. She thought maybe the figures had something to do with them. She made her way down the dirt pathway leading up to the porch steps, trying not to panic. What the hell had she gotten herself into? “This is so typical,” she muttered under her breath. “My sister gets the friggin’ Biltmore estate, and I get a run-down shack in the woods.” Johnny’s hand smacked her ass, and Marina squealed, jumping away. “What the hell?”

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“Watch that sassy tongue of yours, sweetheart. Or you’ll be getting a lot more swats like that one.” “Oh, please. Like that little tap is gonna scare me.” She started to saunter past him, but he pulled her suddenly into his arms, whipping her around and pinning her hands behind her back. “What did you say?” With a laugh, she rammed her hips against his so that his hardened shaft was held tight between their bodies. “I said you’re gonna have to spank me harder than that if you expect me to listen to you.” “Such a feisty little hellion.” Johnny’s lips crushed hers, and he moved his cock against her legs. Lust licked at her blood, and she whimpered into the kiss. She wanted clothes off. She wanted body parts joined and pumping. She wanted fever. Every doubt, every skeptical thought she had about the wildlife center and its bear-like inhabitants flew from her head. Everything was carnal. “Did you two hear that?” Johnny asked his brothers, ripping away from the kiss with a harsh grunt, and Marina couldn’t help feeling smug at the ragged breathlessness of his words. “Marina said we have to spank her harder.” She giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and carried her up the porch steps. He set her feet back down, whipped her around, and then bent her over the porch railing. “Oh my, how assertive you are, Johnny.” “You’d better hold on to that railing, sweetheart. Now, who wants the first round on this luscious offering?” He gave one of her cheeks a firm grab in demonstration for his brothers. She purred and stuck her ass up at a higher angle for them. With her wide-footed stance, she could feel moisture begin to leak out of her pussy in anticipation. Johnny had barely touched her ass, and already her body craved more. “I’ll take first round,” James said, his voice deep, his footsteps heavy and ominous as he made his way up the porch. “A little reimbursement for making us wait so long at your aunt’s house.”

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“Heaven help me,” she whispered to herself, her toes curling at the thought of James’s hand slamming onto her waiting ass. “I’ve got to tell you, brother. These are some grade A cheeks. Real meaty and juicy, just waiting to be tenderized.” “Excellent. I’ll get ’em nice and red for us.” “Wait, wait,” Jeremiah cut in. “Something about this setup isn’t right.” “What do you mean?” “I mean something feels off.” “Yeah, I think I know what you’re saying,” Johnny agreed. “Like maybe something is missing…something…” Marina peered over her shoulder at them, all three standing side by side with James in the middle behind her, holding his chin as he surveyed her ass. She stamped her foot. “Oh come on. Quit lollygagging and get on with it!” “Now hold on just a second, Miss Impatient. We got to figure this out before we go on,” Johnny said. “Hmm…” James put his palm on her ass and rubbed it in slow, thoughtful circles, sending delightful shivers up her spine and down her legs. “What could it be?” He locked eyes with her and grinned. “Oh.” His hand stopped rubbing. “I think I know what it is,” he said in a low, foreboding growl. A tremor racked through her at the gleam in his dark eyes. The shadow from the porch light shone down on his face at an odd angle, giving him a look of demonic glee for a moment. “Marina.” “Yes, James?” “Take your pants off.” Her mouth fell open. “Are you fucking crazy? It’s freezing out here.” “Jeremiah, what’s the temperature right now?” “Fifty-two degrees.” “See, Marina, it’s not freezing. Now take off your pants. I won’t ask you again.”

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She straightened up and faced the three brothers, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you think that’s gonna intimidate me, you are sorely mistaken. I said I’m not taking my pants off, and that’s exactly what I mean. And you can wipe that scowl off your face. I’m not doing it.” “Marina,” James said, taking one step toward her. She stiffened, immediately on edge at the predatory gleam in his eye. “You’ll do as I say.” He took another step toward her. Why the fuck did his shoes have to fall against the wooden porch so heavily? It sounded damn ominous, yet each thump sent a jolt to her pussy. “Or you will regret the consequences.” She gripped the railing behind her. “You can’t make me.” “Oh, I most certainly can make you. I can make you do anything I want.” “No, you fucking can’t.” He took another step so that the tip of his nose was only a scant breath from hers. “Yes, I can.” She tensed up, waiting for him to make his attack, but continued to glare up at him. His face suddenly transformed into a smile, a charming and completely self-confident smile. It was only for a second, but it was enough to make her let down her guard for an instant. When she did, he attacked, capturing her wrists and holding them against the rail. She’d been so engrossed with James’s approach that she hadn’t noticed Jeremiah leaving the porch to stand behind her on the ground. His hands reached through the wooden posts and grabbed her thighs, holding them wide apart and pinioned against the wood. “Wh–What are you doing?” she asked, gasping. “Making you take your pants off.” “In case you failed to notice, my hands are kind of—” Her words were broken off as James covered her mouth with a deep kiss. He opened his mouth wide, and Marina did the same. Her body responding before her mind knew what was happening. Their tongues

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met and wrapped around each other, twirling and dancing and thrusting. Her hands yearned to reach for him, to hold and to touch, to connect with him, but he held her wrists tight. The hunger gnawing at Marina’s insides, the hunger that clawed for the three men around her grew stronger and more demanding. She tried to buck her hips, but Jeremiah held her still. She was completely their captive, and she needed to be free, needed to be wild. “Let me loose,” she begged against James’s mouth. “Please, I need to touch. I need to move. I can’t stand still.” James ignored her pleas. Instead, he moved his lips down her throat. He bent his mouth to her shirt and slowly unbuttoned the top button with his teeth. His mouth pressed against her hot skin beneath the fabric. He tasted and nibbled. Then he moved to the next button. He took his time, undoing each button and pressing kisses down her chest and stomach until her blouse was completely open. “James, please,” she muttered, yanking her arms, trying to free them. She squirmed against his hold on her, but she could not budge. “I can’t stand this.” She jerked forward, straining with everything she had, but he just grinned down at her. “If you promise to take your pants off, I’ll let you go free.” She stopped struggling and glared at him, not trusting his promise. It couldn’t be that easy. “If I take my pants off, you will let me loose?” “Yes.” “You’re just gonna let me walk away?” He nodded. “I won’t touch you.” She narrowed her eyes, looking for a small twitch or blink that would give him away. It was too good to be true, but his eyes met hers steady, and he didn’t grin or even move. He just held still and watched her, waiting for her answer. “All right,” she heard herself say. “All right, let me go.” Jeremiah’s hands slid from around her legs, and James let go of her wrists. She undid the button to her shorts and slipped them over

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her leggings. Then in a slow, measured fashion, she slid the leggings over first her hips, then her thighs, and finally pulled them off her ankles, dropping them on the porch. Her button-up shirt was wide open, and her bright-blue lace bra and panty set allowed the cool night air to kiss her skin like she had nothing on. Her nipples hardened into buds, and goose bumps rose on her bare ass cheeks. Jeremiah, still on the ground, put a hand to one cheek, touching her gently and with reverence. “Marina?” “Yes?” “Can you turn around? I’d like to see you from the front.” Rolling her eyes, she nevertheless obliged. “Come closer,” he said. “I’ve got to see this cunt up close.” “Jeremiah,” she gasped. “What?” he asked, looking up at her with a guileless expression. She drew in a strangled breath and stepped closer. As soon as she was within reach of him, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pulled her tight against the railing. “Jeremiah! What are you…” Her words trailed off as he put his mouth to her lace-covered pussy lips and began kissing her there. She moaned, rolling her hips toward him. “You got her steady, Jeremiah?” She barely heard the question, and its implications hit her mind only half a second before the first slap landed against her ass. She squealed and gripped the railing. She tried to whip around, but Jeremiah held her tight, his mouth working faster and harder against her cunt. His teeth dug into her flesh, but the lace kept the bite from being too sharp. “Do it again,” she begged, her thighs trembling. She heard a deep chuckle behind her just before a second spank hit the opposite cheek. “Damn, this is a fine ass. You sure you don’t want just one little swing, James?” James sighed. “Can’t. I promised I wouldn’t touch her.”

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“You can touch me, James.” Her fingers clawed at the wood railing. “James, I want you to touch me. Both of you, spank me at the same time.” Without hesitating, they did as she said, both of their palms taking a cheek as Jeremiah continued tormenting her pussy. He had pulled the lace aside with his teeth and was licking at her folds, sending hot shivers up and down her body with each swipe of his tongue. Then he moved the tip of his tongue to her clit and let go of one of her thighs. He thrust two fingers up into her pussy while continuing his attack on her tiny bud. His fingers pulsed into her body to the same rhythm as his tongue pulsing on her clit. Marina began rolling her hips to that rhythm, and James and Johnny caught on, measuring their slaps to match the pace and intensity of her hips. The lower half of her body was nothing but hot, wanton flames, and she didn’t know whether she was climbing up to their height or plummeting deeper into the bowels of a raging fire, but either way she was going to explode. Jeremiah slammed his fingers into her, his knuckles digging into the outer flesh of her lips as her inner muscles beckoned him further inside. Suddenly the spanking stopped and one of the brothers behind her grasped her ass cheeks and spread them wide. The cold night air danced over her back hole as the thin strap of her thong was moved to the side, and she trembled at the sensation. She knew they wanted to touch her there, penetrate her there, and overcome with Jeremiah’s wild licking and plunging, she wanted that, too. She wanted every nerve alight. “Touch me,” she whispered. “Put your fingers in my ass.” Jeremiah’s fingers paused for a moment. “Are you sure?” James asked. When she nodded, Jeremiah pulled his fingers out of her pussy to swipe and slicken her back hole. Someone pressed a warm kiss to the top of her shoulder and then two fingers pushed through her tight asshole. She rocked back, the strange sensation sending her pussy to

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new heights. “Yes,” she whimpered. “Keep going.” She swayed between the two sets of fingers, and finally everything expanded into white-hot pleasure. Her skin tingled with the most exquisite sense of being alive. She gripped the wood railing and arched her back, letting the pleasure steal away all thought. Her body rippled with ecstasy, and she let out a long-held breath. How could these men bring her to such mind-blowing heights in such a short period of time? Her orgasm still pounded through her nerves, and she was already thinking of how she would get them in bed. She wanted their cocks inside of her, not their fingers. She wanted to make them cry out her name. She needed that. She needed the pleasure of that power for herself. When Jeremiah released her, she fell back against whichever brother stood behind her. It was Johnny, and he scooped her up, liquid bones and all, and carried her inside. “Roy,” she whispered. “We can’t leave Roy in the car.” “I know, sweetheart. Jeremiah’s getting him. We’ll give him a nice warm bed tonight.” She snuggled against Johnny’s warm chest. “He’ll love that.” Only moments before, she hadn’t been tired, hadn’t felt sleepy in the slightest, but after two orgasms and three shots of whiskey, her body had taken all it could handle. The last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her was big, warm bodies cuddling up next to her in a huge, soft bed. **** Marina had been fidgeting next to him all night, and James stared at the ceiling, both his eyes and his cock pointing straight up. She muttered and rolled around, getting her legs tangled in the sheets, and then thrashing until she got her legs free from the stifling covers. A few minutes later she would start to shiver, and James would cover her back up. She’d repeat the process again and again. James thought

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it was probably close to three in the morning, and he must have covered her up at least eight times. After he got the covers tight around her this time, he crawled out of bed with a groan, knowing there was no hope for sleep. He trudged into the kitchen but jerked to a stop at the door. Jeremiah and Johnny were sitting at the table, speaking in low voices. “What are you two doing up?” he asked, a little miffed that they hadn’t told him about the brotherly powwow. “Couldn’t sleep,” Johnny answered. “Coffee?” James moved toward the cabinet when both brothers nodded. After he got the pot brewing, he sat down next to them at the hand-carved wooden table. Their three times great-grandfather had built the table, and it had a number of scratches and marks on it, each one with a story, but it had served as the centerpiece for the Greenwood kitchen for almost a century. James would never eat on another table. He’d often had visions of himself and his brothers sitting at this table with their wife and children. James sighed. Marina had been dubious when she’d laid eyes on the wildlife center, their home, but James couldn’t imagine living anywhere else even if he wasn’t bound to the land by magic. Sometimes it felt like he could talk to the walls. He could feel the wood creaking and cracking with each changing season. The floorboards greeted his footsteps, and the windows winked at him when no one else was looking. He hoped that one day Marina would see and feel these things, too. He knew that was an almost impossible hope. She had so much outside of Savage Valley. So many things bigger, so many things worth holding on to. It was hard for James to imagine Marina as that wife he’d envisioned so many times. Her career and her life were just too big to be contained in a small town like Savage Valley.

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Yet the hope was still there—that the woman he loved, possibly Marina one day, could find her home in this place and this land. “So?” Jeremiah looked at them, cutting into James’s reverie with his question. His eyes shone with bright expectancy. “Still think I’m crazy for wanting to bring her here?” James grabbed three coffee mugs from the cabinet, measuring his thoughts before speaking. “Shit, no,” Johnny said, jumping right in. “She was vibrating like the tracks under a freight train when I put my hand to her skin. And her orgasm hit her just as hard, too. Did y’all see how I had to carry her in? She couldn’t even stand up.” Johnny had a faraway look in his eye and a stupid grin on his face. Jeremiah hit him on the back of the head. “Yes, yes, we saw you. Now quit rubbing it in. You just happened to be standing behind her when she needed you. Now me, I’m the only one that got to taste her sweet, delectable cunt.” Johnny’s smug smile had leapt over to Jeremiah’s face, and James rolled his eyes, strode across the kitchen, and swatted Jeremiah on the back of the head. When Johnny laughed, James swatted him, too. “You two are acting like we’ve never shared a woman before. You know it doesn’t do anyone any good to harbor jealousies or engage in one-up games. It’s got to be all about her, or this won’t work.” His brothers both appeared nonplussed. “Besides,” James said, “it was me she bent to.” “Asshole,” Jeremiah said, shaking his head with a laugh. “Don’t let Marina hear that,” Johnny muttered. “She’ll be making demands before too long.” James chuckled. “I have a feeling Marina is going to be more than enough to keep our hands full.” “Do you think she’ll stay again tomorrow night?” Jeremiah asked, looking at James. Johnny answered instead. “Hell yeah, she’s gonna stay. We’ve got her interest piqued, and she won’t be able to stay away until we

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satisfy her. Until we satisfy her nice and long and hard. Until she is completely satisfied.” Johnny was sporting a mischievous grin. “Y’all know what I’m saying?” “You think? To the…you think we should take her to the…” Jeremiah’s eyes had lit up, and both he and Johnny were nodding at each other in agreement. “It might be a little too soon for that,” James said. He didn’t want to get his hopes up only to have them dashed again because they tried to do too much too soon. Despite Marina’s willingness the night before, a bare-handed spanking was a long way away from the sexual proclivities he and his brothers shared. The night before was just a morsel, a tasty sampling, a finger in the frosting, compared to what he could do for Marina. But he knew from past experience to never rush a woman into what she wasn’t sure she wanted. “I don’t know,” Jeremiah said. “You two couldn’t hear me last night in the back, but she was getting real hot and bothered just from me talking to her. She could be more willing than we realize.” James could see the wheels turning in his brother’s mind. “What are you thinking, Jeremiah?” “I’m thinking that tonight we stay in here and introduce Marina to the world of ménage. And if she takes that well…” “What?” Johnny asked, anxious. “If she takes that well what?” “Then the next night we take her to the yurt.” Both Johnny and James froze, and James felt a thrill but also ice shoot through his blood. “That’s a big jump. Are you sure?” James locked eyes with his brother. “We can’t have doubts. We can’t risk losing her.” Jeremiah nodded. “I’m sure, James.” He knew Jeremiah had been right about Marina so far. He’d known she would come with them after only five minutes. He’d known she was special, and he seemed so confident now. But still. They usually waited months before showing the yurt to anyone, and Jeremiah wanted to take Marina there two days after

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meeting her? The thought made James uneasy. The last thing he wanted was to scare her. He didn’t want her to take one look at the yurt and then split, calling them freaks and perverts without a backward glance. That had happened a couple of times. And as James recalled, it wasn’t much fun. “This woman was made for us,” Jeremiah said, his voice and his gaze steady. “She’ll be ready, James. Trust me.” James frowned but forced himself to take a deep breath and then nodded. “Okay.” “Okay?” Johnny asked. “Really? Okay?” “Yes.” He took another breath and felt better. “Yes. Tonight, ménage. Tomorrow, the yurt.”

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Chapter Six “What’s wrong with the sink?” Marina asked, sipping a cup of coffee and tossing an old pair of socks across the kitchen for Roy to fetch. Roy bounded after the socks, ears flopping wildly, and then pranced back to Marina, his tail sticking straight up behind him. When he dropped the socks in Marina’s lap, she leaned over and scratched him behind the ears. “That’s a good boy, Roy. You are such a good boy.” “Nothing, just insulating,” James answered. He was under the sink, messing with the pipes, still in his long john pajamas, and Marina had quite a delectable view of his bulge. She ogled freely as she sipped her coffee. “Aw, what a tender picture.” Johnny’s voice came from the bedroom door. Marina jumped, startled by the interruption. She cut her eyes away from the tasty sight under the sink to the equally tasty sight of Johnny’s form filling the doorway. “I would love to satisfy that kinky gleam in your eye, my honey sweet”—she rolled her eyes at his over-the-top, romantic nickname—“but I’m trying to find my socks. Have either of you seen them?” “Oh shit,” she whispered, glancing down at James. He grinned up at her with a knowing look. She knew exactly where those socks were, and she didn’t think Johnny would be too happy to discover their current location. When she peeked over at him, however, her attention went from the socks to a pair of jeans. Because that particular pair of tight, damp jeans was the only thing covering Johnny’s god-like body. The button was undone, the zipper half closed, and a dark patch of hair showed at the top.

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Marina’s mouth fell open, and she couldn’t look away. He had so much muscle. His chest and his shoulders and his stomach— everything was defined and contoured. She experienced the strongest urge to reach out and run her fingers across the planes and lines of his muscles. And then she would move her fingers to that dark patch of hair, and she would reach further, and she would feel his cock stirring at her touch. “Marina! Hello!” Johnny called, waving his hand at her. She blinked a couple times, and he shot her a wicked grin. “Try to rip your eyes away for one second, sweetheart. I know it’s hard.” “Apparently.” She shot a pointed look at his quickly growing bulge. She couldn’t say anything else, afraid her voice would tremble with her sudden, burning need. “Well?” he asked. “Have either of you seen the socks?” “So, um, Johnny, when were you planning on shaving all that fur off your face?” She hopped off the kitchen table’s bench and sauntered toward him, hoping to distract him. “What? You didn’t like it when Jeremiah was feasting on your pussy last night?” Her steps faltered. Marina wasn’t easily shocked when it came to bedroom talk, but damn, these boys kept springing it on her at the most unexpected moments. And to be honest, she had liked it when Jeremiah feasted on her pussy. His beard had tickled at the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs as his mouth worked on her pussy lips, but she wasn’t going to admit that now. She couldn’t possibly. “Come on, Marina. I was there. I saw you squirming. Admit it. You liked it, and more than a little if your moans were any way to judge.” “Stop it.” “Why? Am I getting you all flustered?” He smiled wide, his teeth showing through his reddish-brown beard, and then yanked her toward him, his mouth covering up hers in a teasing, dizzying kiss. His lips moved to her chin and then moved down her neck. He

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unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it apart and then darted his lips to one of her breasts. She squealed as his teeth gripped a nipple but also clutched him, holding him steady while letting her head fall back in enjoyment. He nibbled with purpose, sending wild thrills through her whole body with just his teeth. She could feel the hair on his chin scratching her sensitive flesh, and her toes curled. “Admit it, Marina,” he said, breaking away. “You like the beards.” “Don’t stop,” she said, pouting and trying to shove his head back down. “Not until you admit how much you like my beard.” “You’re so vain, Johnny Greenwood. You’re just fishing for a compliment.” “Admit it.” “No.” He put his thumbs to her nipples and exerted pressure but didn’t do anything else. “Admit it.” She whimpered, but she saw in his eyes that he wasn’t going to budge. “Fine. I love your beards on my skin. It’s fucking sexy as hell, okay?” “I knew it.” He pulled her close, lifting her off the floor so that the whole front of his body was against hers. “It’s a good thing I didn’t shave mine off this morning. Just gave it a trim. Pretty handsome, don’t you think?” She giggled as he pressed kisses all over her, making sure to tickle her face and her neck as he did. Grasping her hips, he lifted her off the floor, and she wrapped her legs around him. She could see James’s eyes following their movements, a predatory look burning in his gaze. “Anyways,” Johnny said with a deep breath, setting her down on the counter. He got a mug and began pouring himself a cup of coffee, nibbling on her breast through her shirt as he did. “Have either of you seen my socks? I put them on the edge of the bed before I got in the—” At that moment, Roy, who’d moved to the corner of the kitchen, let

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out a loud growl. Then the sound of ripping fabric filled the room. “Shower,” Johnny finished, looking at the dog. He put his coffee cup down, walked across the small kitchen, bent over, and wrestled the shredded socks from Roy’s mouth. He stared at them for a moment, and then his eyes slowly made their way to Marina’s face. “Oh look! Is that them?” She offered a shaky smile. Johnny nodded, slow and deliberate. “Yay,” Marina said, clapping once. Twice. And then her hands fell to her side. “You found them.” “That was my favorite pair!” Johnny threw the ruined socks across the kitchen with a war cry and bounded across the short distance toward her. She shrieked, jumped off the counter, and tried to run away, but James was right behind her. He caught her with a mischievous grin, and Marina screamed and squirmed. “Thanks, bro,” Johnny said. Taking one of her elbows each, the two of them dragged her to the bedroom, Roy yapping and nipping at the two brothers along the way. “Sorry, Roy,” Johnny said as he kicked the door closed. “Humans and bear-shifters only. No dogs allowed.” With that, he and James grabbed an arm and a leg each and tossed her on the bed. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she squealed, trying to scramble away. Johnny grabbed her ankles. “Oh, no you don’t. That was my lucky pair. You will never escape!” “They had stains and holes in them! Big holes. How was I supposed to know they were your lucky pair?” She let out a loud squeal when Johnny teasingly pinched the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. “Don’t, don’t!” She giggled and screamed while also trying to squirm away from his relentless, pinching fingers. Johnny swung one leg over her waist so that he was on his knees, straddling her on the bed. She could feel his hard cock pressing

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against the softness of her stomach. Need cracked through her body as her laughter morphed into excited panting. “Johnny,” she whispered, looking up into his black eyes, infusing his name with all the yearning she felt for him. The dimples in his cheeks diminished but didn’t altogether disappear as his wide smile dissolved into a look of pure lust. He leaned in close, pressing his lips to hers. She watched him as he kissed her, taking in the freckles on his lightly tanned skin. His eyelashes and his brows were darker than his reddish-brown hair. She put her hand in his curls, grabbing hold as he deepened the kiss and pressed his body harder into hers. He pulled up and Marina followed, not wanting to surrender the feel of his lips on hers. Grabbing her around the ribcage, he rolled them over so that she was on top. She grinned. “I like this.” From behind her, James put his hands on her shoulders and then tugged her shirt off. He pressed a kiss to the top of one bared shoulder and then the other. “Marina?” James asked, putting his lips to the back of her neck. “Yes?” “Have you ever been with two men at once?” “No,” she croaked out, embarrassed. “Well, how do you feel about it? Are you interested in that?” Marina bit her bottom lip. “I don’t—” Something stopped her. She thought about all the crap she had been giving her sister, about how she’d practically called her a pervert and how she’d accused her of being crazy for getting engaged to three different men. And now here she was atop one man with another at her back and a third on her mind. And deep down, she knew that if Jeremiah walked in at that moment, she’d be perfectly okay with him joining in, too. Well, at least now she understood how Michelle could be with three men. She felt damn sexy with two men surrounding her. She couldn’t imagine the bliss of three.

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Regret washed through her for an instant, and she wished she hadn’t been so derogatory toward Michelle. She wished she would have at least tried listening to her sister. Johnny’s hands ceased their motion, and James took his lips away from her neck. “Marina?” Johnny asked. “I…” She closed her eyes, willing the words to spill out, willing her mind to let them go free. “I am interested,” she whispered. “I want you…this. I want to at least try this.” As she admitted it, her pussy pulsed. Its craving moved deeper and further through her body. She knew this meant something different to them, but at the moment, she didn’t care. She just wanted to feel them. She wanted them inside her. Johnny growled underneath her, lifting his hips so that she fell forward, her hands landing on either side of his face. Their noses were almost touching, and her dark hair fell around them. “You are a beautiful woman, Marina. James and I both want you. We want to take you. Together.” Marina bit her bottom lip and then nodded. “Okay.” Damn, she was trembling like crazy. They still had clothing on, and her legs, her arms, her whole body felt weak. She knew they could feel her trembling, but she couldn’t stop it. Her need was too great. James’s fingers grazed across the skin of her back as he undid the clasp to her bra. Her breasts fell free, and Johnny reached up to hold them. “They’ve got a nice weight to them, sweetheart.” He leaned up and put his face between them. His beard scratched at her skin, and pleasure snapped through her body. Her legs tightened around him. “Help me with my pants,” he said, speaking into her flesh. Quickly they worked together, stripping each other of clothing as quickly as possible until all three of them were naked and in the bed. Marina sat on Johnny’s stomach, and James knelt next to them. “Y’all have condoms?” she asked. A tightness passed through Johnny’s eyes, but then he nodded. James grabbed them out of a drawer next to the bed. Marina put one on Johnny and saw James putting one on.

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“Okay,” she said after they had finished. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” She bit her bottom lip. “I’m a little nervous. I’ve never done anything like this.” “You don’t have to worry. We’re gonna give you everything you want.” She nodded. After a moment, though, she said, “But what if I mess up?” Johnny smiled, and it was warm and reassuring. He reached a hand up to her face. “You’re beautiful, and no matter what you do, you can’t mess this up. You being here right now is perfection.” She sucked in a deep breath as Johnny moved his hand down her body. He let his fingers linger on her breasts, massaging and flicking, and then he trailed his fingers further down her body. When he reached her pussy, he put his thumb heavily on her clit and began stroking in lazy circles. “We can take this nice and slow if you want.” Placing her hands on his shoulders, she lifted her hips up and positioned her entrance against the tip of his cock. As his tip tickled against her hot, sensitive flesh, a blast of aching desire washed through her body. She moved down, letting his cock sink up into her plush depths. She heard a whimper fall out of her lips, and James pressed a kiss on the back of her shoulder. “You okay, Marina?” “He’s so big,” she whispered, scratching at Johnny’s chest with her nails. “It’s hard to think.” She swallowed, willing herself to concentrate. “I just want to move.” “Hold on a little longer. I’m going to get behind you.” She nodded but couldn’t ignore the fear in her heart. Her stomach was coiled and tangled, and she was afraid of what was about to happen, yet she didn’t have the strength to say no. She wanted her ass filled. She hadn’t known that was what she wanted, but now that the moment was here, she knew that it hadn’t been fear or disgust ripping through her veins at the thought. It had been excitement. Her whole

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body throbbed to the beating of her heart. Her veins were full of blood, and each pulse rippled through her. “I’ve got to get you ready to take me.” Something cool trickled between her cheeks. “I’ve got to get you all slicked up back here,” James whispered. His lips brushed her neck. “I’m putting my fingers in.” Marina exhaled sharply as the promised digits slid into her ass. She clenched her cheeks. “Relax. Breathe. You’re okay.” She was panting, her mind overwhelmed by the cock in her pussy and the fingers in her ass. She shook her head. “I can’t…I can’t think.” James chuckled. “You don’t have to think. Just breathe, Marina.” His fingers moved inside her, circling around the inner edges of her ass. “Focus on your cunt. Squeeze around Johnny instead of me.” Determined to work through her fear, she nodded and tried to do what he suggested. “I’m going to start stroking. Try to pulse in time with my fingers.” He pulled his fingers out and then pushed them back in. “You’re beautiful,” Johnny whispered from beneath her, locking eyes. His thumb on her clit pressed harder, and her pussy reacted. She clenched around him and then gasped. A smile curled through her lips. “That was…oh my god, that was…” “Let’s do it again,” Johnny said. James stroked her ass, Johnny tickled her clit, and Marina clenched around him. Her eyes squeezed closed as pleasure sent its tight coil whipping through her body. “I have to move,” she said, desperate for the friction of Johnny’s cock inside her. “Not yet,” Johnny said, grasping her hips. “James, she’s ready.” “She’s still too tight back here.” “No, she’s ready.” Marina was breathing heavily. “Yes, James, I’m ready.” “Are you sure?”

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She nodded, and James pulled his fingers out of her. She heard him moving and rustling behind her. More lube was applied liberally to her ass, and then she heard James putting some on himself. “This isn’t going to be easy, Marina, but we’ll get through it, and then you’ll see how much we have to give you.” “Come on,” she urged. The tip of James’s cock pushed between her cheeks. She felt it nudge her back hole, and then its pressing became more insistent. She whimpered as her ass refused to open to James’s cock. Her muscles were tight and unused to such stretching, but James didn’t relent. He kept pushing through. “Squeeze around me,” Johnny whispered. She did as he said, and at first it helped, but the burning grew brighter and stronger. She closed her eyes. “James,” she whispered. “James, please.” “Look at me, Marina.” Her eyes snapped open, focusing on Johnny. His hand came to her cheek. “Let him in. Let us both in.” James stroked her back, and Marina continued to clench and then release around Johnny. “That’s good,” Johnny said in a low, soothing voice. James’s tip popped through the ring of muscle, and her breath came out in a sharp gust. Then he kept going. His arm wrapped around her stomach as he pushed deeper inside her ass. “Almost there,” he whispered into her hair. He kissed the back of her head and inhaled deeply. “Almost there.” And then he was. She felt his balls nestled up against her ass. “Give me one moment,” she said, breathing heavily. “Whatever you need.” Holding on to Johnny’s shoulders, Marina rolled her hips forward. Johnny met her with a slow-burning upward thrust. Then she moved back, and James was there. He continued to hold her around the stomach as his cock pushed into her ass. Marina rolled between them, unable to decide whose flesh called more strongly to her.

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As she swayed toward Johnny, her body belonged only to him, but then she flew back into James, and she was his, only his. Her body flickered, moving toward one and then toward the other, unable to plant itself firmly with either. Johnny plunged up into her pussy, moving around, never penetrating her depths the same way each time. And James held her tight, never releasing her as his cock claimed her ass time and time again. Something sprang to life inside her. She didn’t know what it was, didn’t even know if it had a name, but Johnny and James—they were the masters of it. It moved between them, yet it also stayed deep inside her. It was special. It belonged only to her, and it grew brighter. As all three of their bodies began slamming harder into each other, Marina felt her climax drawing near. She was panting and whimpering and moaning, desperate for the release hovering just on the edge of her senses. “Come on,” she roared. “Fuck me harder!” Johnny slammed up into her. “Yes!” And James’s cock plowed into her ass. “Yes!” she screamed. Their dicks pummeled her body, and they drew forth crazed, wanton moans from her swollen lips. She’d been biting them back the whole time, trying to restrain herself, but she couldn’t do it anymore. She had to let everything go. “Yes!” She let that one word expand and morph into a pleasure-filled gasp. Her back arched violently as the hot tingles of orgasm spiraled uncontrollably through her body. She cried out as her pussy spasmed, pulsing and throbbing and pounding around Johnny’s dick. With a loud groan, Johnny arched his hips and held on as he came. A few strokes later, James pressed himself hard and deep into her ass. His arm around her stomach squeezed tight, and she could feel every muscle he had straining as he came. His forehead dug into the place between her shoulder blades, and she felt oddly comforted by the strain she could feel holding him in its grip.

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When he reached release, he held on to her and rolled them both off Johnny so that she fell on her side between them facing Johnny. She let out a few shuddering breaths, unsure of how she should behave after such an earth-shattering experience. Johnny rolled over to the opposite side of the bed, his back facing her, to take his condom off. “I need a shower,” she said, sitting up. Rolling back toward her, Johnny tossed a hand over her body. “No, stay and snuggle. James needs to clean up first.” “Umm… but I—” “James, go,” Johnny said, pulling her close. “I’ll be quick, and then we’ll get you cleaned up.” James pressed a kiss on the side of her neck and then slid out of the bed. A few moments later, Johnny began breathing heavily next to her, as if drifting toward sleep, but she was wide awake. Her mind was working overtime. What the fuck just happened? Her breathing grew short and panicked. She had not just fucked two men. She hadn’t. She couldn’t. It wasn’t possible. Oh, but she had, and she knew it. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t stay with them another minute. But she couldn’t run away. It hadn’t been horrible. In fact, it had been the best damn sex of her life. Besides, she didn’t have a car, and she didn’t have a leash. She didn’t feel like carrying Roy all the way back to her aunt’s. Not to mention the wild emotions she could feel swarming through her body. She didn’t know where to start, where to dive in, or where to begin sorting through them. What was she so afraid of? She forced herself to take deep, steadying breaths. She could think herself out of this mess. Johnny let out a loud snore, interrupting her train of thought.

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“Shut up,” she said, shoving him. He chuckled low and pulled her closer, nestling his face in her neck and on her breast. At first she rolled her eyes, annoyed that he held her even tighter now, but then something tilted inside. She realized that she liked the way his body hugged so tightly around hers. He’d nudged one of his legs between hers and wrapped himself around her. Taking a deep breath, she tentatively rubbed her cheek on the top of his head, inhaling deeply and taking his scent inside. Chills ran across her skin at how good it felt holding him this way. Her body fit with his. She began to tremble and bit her bottom lip in annoyance. Then she put a hand on the back of his head, tracing her thumb across the round arch of it. She ran her thumb behind his ear and cradled his skull. She pressed a kiss on the top of his head and then closed her eyes. After a moment, she gasped in surprise because she was trembling. She was trembling all over. This felt too right, too good. This was too beautiful. The bathroom door swung wide open, and James strode toward her with a rag and a small basin with steaming water. “Roll over. I’m gonna get you cleaned up,” James said in his deep, rumbling voice. She did as he said, closing her eyes as the warm washrag moved across her flesh. “Where’s Jeremiah?” she asked, looking out the bedroom window. The temperature had dropped dramatically overnight, and the sky was gray and low hanging. It made Marina feel claustrophobic. She much preferred the blue clearness of summer when it felt like her heart could fly anywhere it wanted and at any time. “At the Woodland Den. He leads a singles nature walk.” A derisive laugh flew out of her mouth. “Wait, wait. Jeremiah leads a singles nature walk? People actually sign up for that crap? Didn’t that fake, ‘I’m so perfect, you’re so perfect, let’s get married’ bullshit end in like, I don’t know, like the ’50s or something?”

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“What a jaded attitude for one so young, Ms. Andrews.” “No, not jaded. Realistic. I know how things work.” “Then please inform me, oh wise one. How do things work?” She glared at him. “Not if you’re going to make fun of me.” “I would never.” “Yes you would.” James peered innocently at her as he continued to stoke the warm rag over her body. Then the corners of his eyes crinkled. “All right, maybe just a little, but I apologize. And really, I’m interested. You don’t believe in marriage?” She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, enjoying James’s ministrations with the warm rag. Her chin rested on her arms and she thought about her answer. Most people were pretty sensitive when it came to love and marriage and the like, but she felt like she could talk to James, that he would listen and weigh her opinions. She didn’t know why she felt that way around him, and she didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about the implications of that trust, but it was there. So she let herself open up a little bit. She let herself talk freely. “This might seem strange at first, seeing as all I ever sing about is heartbreak and true love, but actually, it’s less of an ‘I don’t believe in marriage’ and more of an ‘I don’t believe in love’ thing.” The humor drained from James’s dark eyes. “You think it’s real, don’t you?” “As a matter of fact, yes I do. I very much do.” “Well, in my opinion and more importantly in my experience, love isn’t real. It’s something people make up so they don’t have to feel guilty about sex or about bad decisions or whatever.” James frowned at her, abandoning his handiwork for a moment, and Marina got the feeling he wasn’t buying it. “Humor me for a moment.” He placed the washrag on the bed stand and crawled up next to her on the bed, grabbing her hand in his and stroking tiny patterns

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across her skin. Johnny mumbled next to her, but apart from that, didn’t stir. After they were all settled, James nodded for her to go on. “If you take love out of everything,” she said, “what’s left between two people in a marriage? At the beginning there’s sex and companionship. Then say children come along. That brings obligation and duty. And after the children are gone, there’s familiarity and fear of change. But people aren’t happy with that. They want to make those things romantic and frilly and magical, so they get lumped into the word love. And think about all the marriages that don’t work. It’s because people become disenchanted. They see the truth, and they see no reason to go on living the fairy tale.” “Okay, not taking into account the simplicity of that argument and its complete generalization of marriage, that’s only one type of love. That’s romantic love between men and women. That’s only looking at one small aspect of the word. What about a mother and her child? Or a father for that matter? You don’t think that’s love?” “It’s a heightened form of protective instinct.” “If that’s what you want to call it,” he said in a low voice, peering at her with a strange intensity. “You never met my mom.” “Yeah, well, of course you’re going to be biased. She’s your mom. You call it love, and I call it a heightened protective instinct.” His frown grew deeper. “You never saw her when Johnny got picked on at school. Or when one of us got sick. It’s not easy to raise three bear-shifting sons. I can tell you that. Not for a mother or a father.” Something flickered through his dark eyes, but it didn’t last long enough for Marina to understand. “I think it takes more than a heightened protective instinct to stick around and see that through.” “But you see, your mom is just one example of motherhood. And she’s probably the exception, right? Not the rule.” James didn’t say anything. She didn’t like the way his black eyes were digging at her, so she giggled, trying to ease the tension. “Johnny got picked on at school? Who on earth would try to bully Johnny?”

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His gaze relaxed, but only a bit. “Jeremiah and I would bully the shit out of him.” His eyes crinkled as he smiled, seeming to replay some childhood memory through his mind. “Well, until he was about fourteen. That’s when he got his first good growth spurt and realized he could hit us back.” “I love a little sibling warfare in the morning,” she said, smirking up at him. After the moment had passed, James continued. “So what about your mom? Didn’t she ever storm up to the school when someone stole your lunch money on the playground?” Her amusement dissipated, and she blinked a couple times. “My mom was never home for anything like that. She liked her boyfriends too much to worry about whether I had lunch money or not.” James watched her, his black gaze intense. “And your dad?” Marina shrugged. “He could be anywhere. Maybe dead for all I know.” “I see.” Fighting back a growl, she rolled her eyes and tried to yank her hand out of his. “People always say that. Like, ‘Oh, look at Marina. She’s so sad because her parents weren’t around. And she’s so sad because she drinks too much. And she’ll never settle down. That girl is wild, but don’t blame her. Blame it on her parents. They’re the ones who left her.’ Oh my god, if I could just count how many times I’ve heard that.” She laughed wildly and then glared at him when he wouldn’t let go of her hand. “So no, James, you don’t see a damn thing. You see what’s convenient and easy, but you don’t know me. Not you, and not your brothers.” She looked out the window, breathing heavily. Suddenly, disappointment—heavy and overwhelming—settled on her, pushing on her chest and her shoulders. For a short moment, she’d hoped that somehow the Greenwoods were different, that somehow they would know her. She almost laughed at the thought.

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No one knew her. It seemed like she would never learn that, no matter how many times she found it to be true, because she kept waiting for someone to prove her wrong about it. James put a hand on the top of her head and pushed his fingers into her hair. They remained still for a long while, she looking out the window and he running his fingers through her tangles. “Okay, Marina, tell me then.” When she didn’t say anything, didn’t make a move, he applied a gentle pressure on her hand. “Why don’t you believe in love? I want to know.” She turned to face him and then shrugged, not knowing if she even could explain it to him. But hell, she might as well try. Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye. “It’s fake, James. It’s a fairy tale. We see it in movies, in books”—she laughed—“in singles nature walks. All of us have this hope. No, more than hope. It’s an expectation, like we deserve it. There’s something we’ve been told since we were young, maybe since birth, that says, ‘Somebody will care about you. No matter what, there is someone in this world who will care about you.’ But that’s just not true. It’s a myth. Eventually, if anyone does care for you, it stops. They move on. Their needs eventually become more important than what you have together. And it’s not a bad thing, or sad, it just is. It’s how we’re made.” Marina stopped, her breath hitching. Her dad, her mom, countless lovers, and even her sister—the one person in the world she thought she’d never lose—they’d all left her. A cold fear gripped her. James would leave her. She knew it like she knew her eyes were blue. The Greenwoods would be a part of her life for a while, but eventually, like everyone else, they would see that she wasn’t enough, that she was broken, that something about her wasn’t right. For some reason, the thought of them reaching this inevitable realization filled her with more sorrow than she’d ever felt. The sudden wrench of pain inside her was too much to hold inside, and she gasped.

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“So, you know, when people start to get all teary eyed when goddamn Brad Pitt gets the girl or when Megan Fox goes for the pimple-faced geek or when everyone decides to sing a fucking song because they’re happy or sad or whatever, I can’t help but to think how stupid it all is. All the time, I find myself wondering if people actually buy into all that crap, and then I laugh because yes, they fucking do. “And, hell…look at me. I’m the perfect example. Need money, Marina? Go write a song about getting wasted and falling in love. People eat that shit up. But it’s not worth anything. It’s nothing. It’s just shit.” She turned away from James and stared out the window for a long moment, biting her trembling lip. James had opened the door on his way to the bathroom earlier, and now Roy trotted inside, jumping up on the bed and settling in next to her. He put his head in her lap, and she patted his velvet fur. “Why did I even write that song?” she whispered, thinking about the one she’d played at Catdaddy’s. It was different from anything she’d ever written. It felt real. When she sang it, she felt as if her soul was pouring out of her body. But deep down, she knew it would never go further than Savage Valley. “No one wants to hear that. No one’s going to listen to that or pay for it. No one’s going to watch me if I’m not shaking my ass or jiggling my tits. I’m useless.” “Marina.” He pulled her chin, forcing her to look at his face. His dark eyes were steady. His gaze held her tight. “You’re not useless. You’re—” “What?” she asked, knowing there was nothing he could say to prove her wrong. He brushed dark hair off her cheekbones, looking deep into her eyes. “I’m going to change your mind, Marina Andrews.” He spoke softly and had the gentlest look on his face. Marina wanted to shove away from him, from his words, but she couldn’t. She could only hold perfectly still.

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“Love is real, Marina. It’s as real as the air I’m breathing right now, as real as the softness of your skin and the silkiness of your hair. It’s as real as life itself. I’m going to prove it to you, and I’m going to change your mind.” “Did you not hear a word I said?” she asked in a choked whisper. “I don’t believe in it.” “You’re wrong. You’re so wrong.” He kissed her forehead. He kissed her nose. He kissed her eyes, and he kissed her lips so softly. “You do believe in love. Only thing is, you could never love without giving all you’ve got. You know it could destroy you, so you’ve convinced yourself it’s not real. You’re trying to protect your heart.” He put his palm against her chest, and she could feel her heart beating against him. She shook her head and closed her eyes. She couldn’t listen to that kind of talk. She knew it would only end up tearing her up inside. Those kinds of words made her want to believe, but they’d been proven false time and time again. She couldn’t listen. “Love is real, Marina. It exists. It’s the strongest emotion two humans can share.” “You’re not even trying to hear me.” She hated that she was about to cry and tried to shove away from him. “Such a typical man. I’m a dumb woman, right. Nothing I say has any value whatsoever. Well, fuck that.” He was calm, not releasing her with his hands and keeping her captive with his gaze. “You’re putting words in my mouth. I never mentioned anything about being me a man or you being a woman.” “You didn’t have to,” she said, tripping on the words. “And why are you trying so hard to convince me? What’s in it for you?” “Everything,” he said, smiling and leaning even closer. “Everything’s in it for me.” She was breathing hard, trying to resist the spell of his nearing lips. “I could see Jeremiah and maybe Johnny behaving this way, but

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not you. James, please. Why can’t I have my beliefs and you have yours?” “You have to ask that question?” “Yes. What the hell are we doing here?” “I thought it was apparent.” “We’re just fooling around, right? Having a good time?” God, he was so close. “That’s not how I see things, and you know it.” “I met you last night. That’s too soon. This is too soon.” Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her body toward him and bestowed a fiery kiss on her lips. For a long, sweet moment, her mind went blank as she disappeared into the movement of their lips together. His kiss moved like a gentle tide, pushing and pulling on her in a dance as old as the earth itself. If only she could let herself fall into it. “You won’t convince me,” she said, breaking away almost on a sob. He pulled her close again, moving her on top of him, devouring her protests with his delicious, thought-obliterating lips. Marina clutched his shoulders, letting herself give in, just for one small moment. She gave into the temptation of everything he promised with that kiss. She tasted passion and desire, heat and possession. She tasted love, and she tasted forever. One little taste wouldn’t hurt her, she thought, so she let herself have it. She couldn’t resist it. She fed on his kiss and let herself dissolve into its promise. “I’ve got you,” he said, breaking away and breathing heavily. He pulled back to look at her, his eyes triumphant. “I’ve got you, Marina. I’m holding on to you. I can’t let you go.” She squirmed in his arms. “Stop it. You’re acting crazy. Even if I did believe in love, nothing would ever work out between us. You’re a fucking bear!” He chuckled. “What? What’s so funny? You’re a fucking bear! That’s the truth. It’s not funny at all. It’s sick!”

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“It’s not sick, and what you said, it’s only half true.” Marina let out a bark of laughter despite the panic she felt growing inside of her. “What? Now you’re going to try and convince me you’re not one of those bear-shifter thingies? Let go of me, damn it.” “No, no. The bear part is true. The other part, not quite yet.” He rolled his body against hers, his cock pressing hard against her thigh. “I’m not fucking yet.” She knew she should be revolted by his ribald words, but instead, desire flamed up so that she couldn’t think. All she could feel were James’s arms like a metal cage around her and his cock nudging against her. Everything was mixed up in her head. “James, let go of me right now. I need you to let go.” “No,” he whispered. “If our time is limited, as you seem to believe it is, I can’t waste it on pointless bickering. I want you, Marina. I want every part of you.” “I can never give you that.” He rolled over, trapping her beneath his heavy body and moving his lips down to her neck. “Yes, you can. You want to. You will.” “No, James.” Her protest sounded weak. She knew it, but she couldn’t find the resistance she needed. She turned her face fully toward him and let him claim her lips. His kiss was hot and fevered, hungry and aching for every morsel she could offer up to him to take. “James,” she whispered, desperate for everything yet fearing to surrender. “I want to make love to you.” She flinched. “No, James. You want to fuck me.” “Damn it, Marina.” He grasped her arms and shook her once. “This could be more than that, but you have to let it be more.” He kissed her hard, completely dominating her lips. She fought him. She pushed back hard against his mouth, and she could feel the pain of their passion. Then his lips softened on hers. They became gentle and coaxing, and she yielded. She let him pull her. He moved down her

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body, trailing kisses so that his face was at her stomach. He put his cheek against her, and she held him for a moment. But then everything came flooding back. Her doubts, her fears, the deep-down knowledge that if she let things go any further, she would be hurt. She wanted to give in. She recognized the urge. But she couldn’t. No matter how much she wanted to, she could never avoid the inevitable. The goodness and the pleasure and the rightness of being with the Greenwoods would fade. It would dim and slowly die. One day she would wake up, and they wouldn’t want her anymore. She knew she had to stop things before they progressed. Without letting herself think another moment, she sprang out of James’s arms and off the bed. She darted inside the bathroom and slammed the door closed, locking it behind her. She ran to the toilet, skidded to a halt, and dropped to her knees in front of it, dry heaves wracking through her body. Holy shit, she’d been so close. She wanted to believe in everything so bad, and she’d been so close. The thought filled her with dread because she now realized how dangerous the Greenwoods really were. Forget that they wanted to share her. Forget that they were frigging bear-shifter thingies. If she wasn’t careful, those three men would break her fucking heart.

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Chapter Seven “Hurry your ass up, bro.” Johnny’s voice had a strange edge to it, and Jeremiah was instantly alert. His brother had called while he headed home from the singles nature walk at the Woodland Den. He waved at Susan Pope all bundled up in a scarf and coat, riding her bike through the square. “What’s up? Is Marina still there?” he asked Johnny. “Yeah, she’s here all right.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “It means hurry your ass up.” “What’s going on?” There was a long silence on the other end, and then Johnny said, “Actually, could you pick me up some socks at the Ninth Time?” “Really? That’s all you’re gonna say?” “Man, you’ll find out when you get here.” “Fine, but I already stopped by and picked up socks for everyone. I think we’re gonna get snow tonight.” The Ninth Time was Savage Valley’s secondhand shop, and as soon as he’d woken up that morning, Jeremiah could feel something cold shivering through the air. He couldn’t wait to get home to Marina and snuggle and fondle and burrow down with her. For some reason, he thought she’d need some warm socks, so he’d picked some up. No doubt his two brothers hadn’t waited for him to get back before shacking up with her. He thought maybe Johnny’s sullenness was somehow related to that. “Hey, you know what?” Jeremiah said before Johnny hung up. “I think the Kinmans were right. I think the lions are trying to get the one-up on us in the mating thing.”

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“What makes you say that?” “When I saw Clayton today at the shop, he had a little of that mating musk smell on him.” Jeremiah crinkled his nose in mild disgust at the thought and then thanked the Shoshone spirits for making him a bear-shifter instead of a lion-shifter. He didn’t want to go around like a skunk, squirting any woman that got him excited with some damn mating musk. “It was probably left over from the bar last night. You know how we all get when we drink.” “Clayton Abbott? That grump wasn’t at Catdaddy’s. Besides, you know Anya, who works at the Woodland Den? She was all out of sorts with happiness when I mentioned Clayton’s name.” “Those bastards,” Johnny muttered. “No shit.” When Johnny didn’t say anything else, Jeremiah figured he needed a little prompting in the right direction. “So what happened with Marina this afternoon?” Johnny heaved a long sigh. “She’s sulking in the bathroom.” “Sulking?” “Yeah, our asshole older brother had to go and scare her with some shit about love, and now she won’t come out. She’s been in there almost three hours.” “Isn’t she hungry?” “We tried coaxing her out with food.” “Johnny, she’s not some wild animal you have to trick into eating from your hand. Why didn’t you just invite her to lunch?” “Oh, we didn’t think of that.” Jeremiah refrained from releasing the expletives that flew into his mind, but he had to really grit his teeth for a moment. He said, “Has she spoken to you at all?” “Only to tell us that she wouldn’t come out until we left. She said she couldn’t be around us without being tempted to stay, so in order for her to abandon her post, we had to leave the house and go far away for a while.”

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Jeremiah chuckled. “I’m guessing something happened before her retreat into the bathroom?” “Hell yeah, it did. Holy shit, bro, she was perfect. She was a natural between me and James. The way she moved between us… It was like a river or the ocean or like the fucking wind.” “That’s some real Walt Whitman shit, brother.” “Shut up. How slow are you driving anyway? You should be here by now.” “I’m about to pull off Treaty Lane.” “Goddamn it, hurry up!” With that, Johnny clicked off the line, and Jeremiah shook his head in disbelief. He was gone a few hours, and his brothers had already managed to scare Marina off. It wasn’t exactly the scenario he was hoping to deal with when he got home. The Jeep bumped along Treaty Lane, and a few minutes later, he pulled into the preservation center’s driveway. He pulled all the way around to the back. He wanted to check on the animals before delving into the mess inside. Right away he noticed that the outdoor animals had been moved inside. In the winter, their indoor habitats could get a little crowded. When he walked in, he was greeted by the sounds of chattering squirrels, barking raccoons, and yapping foxes. He heard the thud of one fawn pawing at its bed and the squawking and whistling of several birds. It was the most beautiful cacophony. As he refilled water bowls and freshened up a few of the cages, Jeremiah thought about the best way to approach Marina. Obviously, they weren’t going to leave their home so that she could escape without having to deal with them. Hell, he didn’t want her to leave in the first place. Plus, the weather was turning harsh. He didn’t think Marina should be going out in that. He wanted her cozy and in his arms. With her spitfire personality, he knew he couldn’t just barge in, break down the door, and insist that she quit hiding in the bathroom. She’d probably sock him in the jaw again. No, what she’d probably

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do was grab one of their cast-iron skillets and deck him upside the head with it. He looked out the window to see how the sky was looking. It was bleak, and hung over the land like a shabby gray blanket. Snow was surely coming. Something red caught his eye in the forest. It was Reba the fox. She trotted toward the shelter, and even though he knew he shouldn’t, he opened the door for her. “Reba, Reba, Reba, what am I going to do with you?” Jeremiah asked as she darted inside. Caleb Kinman, Savage Valley’s deputy, had found her almost two years before when she was a baby and immediately brought her to Jeremiah and his brothers. She’d had her first litter that summer and lost them only a day later. She’d shown up at the center, shivering and mewling. Jeremiah couldn’t turn her away, and against his better judgment, he’d let her stay at the center for a week. Now, even though she was technically a wild fox, she would show up every once in a while to say hi. It was always on her terms though. If she started to feel caged in, she would find a way out, even if it meant biting and scratching. That was her nature. He couldn’t begrudge her a warm bed to hunker down in while the snowstorm hit. Smiling, he watched her trot over to a pillow and blanket, paw at the blanket for a moment, and then curl up on it, tucking her nose into her bushy red tail. “That’s a good girl,” he said. “You know you’re always welcome.” A few minutes later, he walked into the main part of the center, moved through the connecting hallway into their house, and then headed to the bedroom, praying that some sort of inspiration would strike him on how to get Marina out of the bathroom. As soon as he walked into the room, he spotted his round-neck resonator leaning up against the wall. The guitar was an old family heirloom from the thirties. It was cut of a deep mahogany wood and had a burnished nickel-silver panel under the strings, which made it sound like a cross between a banjo

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and an acoustic guitar when he played it. It had that little bit of twang. There was a large scratch on the bottom near the neck. That was what made him dig the guitar out of the attic in the first place. He’d been scrounging around as a boy and pulled the resonator out of an old chest. The mark on the guitar matched the one on his face, and he’d known then that he was gonna learn how to play it and play it damn good, too. After picking up the resonator and settling onto the edge of the bed facing the bathroom door, he started plucking one of his favorite tunes, “Bear Creek Blues.” The song had a little jounce to it, and it got his fingers nice and warmed up. When he finished, he noticed Johnny and James standing in the doorway. James sent him a questioning look, and Jeremiah held up a finger and then made a shooing gesture to his brothers. Johnny flipped him off, but James tugged his younger brother out of the doorway, and Jeremiah had the room to himself. For a while at least. He knew if anything could get Marina out of the bathroom, it was music. He’d seen her onstage at Catdaddy’s, seen the way her whole being became attuned to her songs. She wouldn’t resist the lure of his guitar and his voice. So he didn’t say anything to her, didn’t try to reason with her through the door, just went straight into another song called “The Birds Were Singing of You.” He’d chosen that song in particular for its lyrics. It was a traditional folk song made famous by the Carter Family singers, and he sang nice and loud for her, letting his deep, cavernous voice fill the room. “I heard the birds a-singing out among the trees and views.” His fingers flew over the strings as he plucked and picked along. “And all the birds, my darling, were singing”—he let a slight waver roll through his voice—“were singing of you.” He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard some rustling sounds coming from the bathroom. He kept going, hoping she’d poke her head out before the end of the song. “I think of you in the daytime.”

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Was the doorknob turning? “I dream of you by night.” There was definitely a crack of light shooting out from the edge of the door now. “I wake and wish you was here, love.” Marina flung the door open and stood in the doorway, hands on her hips and lips in full pout mode. “And tears are blinding my sight.” “Please, for goodness’ sake, stop that god-awful howling, Jeremiah.” He grinned wide at her but kept playing the song, changing up the lyrics as he went along. “Marina, I’m so glad to see you. Your absence made me blue. Marina, you’ve got me thinking, got me thinking only of you.” He held the last note out with dramatic flair. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed a hand towel from the bathroom and threw it in his face. “Please. No more.” “What? You don’t like my serenade?” She rolled her eyes. “You sound like a sad hound dog.” He noticed that she carefully avoided mentioning what had happened earlier, and he got the feeling that if he tried to push the issue, she’d just retreat back into the bathroom. So he let it be and continued with his teasing. “Ma’am,” he said, gasping with mock dismay. “I am affronted by your cavalier dismissal of my affections.” “If that warbling was supposed to be a representation of your affections, count me out. I’ll have none of it.” “And you can do better?” “Much better.” “Prove it.” He held the guitar out to her, neck first, with a wide, challenging grin. Rolling her eyes, she crossed the room and snatched the guitar from his hands. “Watch it, Miss Sassy. Don’t you dare get a scratch on Abednego.” She snorted. “Abednego?” “Yeah.” “You named your guitar Abednego?” “No,” he said, trying to snatch the guitar back from her.

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“What kind of name is that?” “I didn’t choose the name.” Marina didn’t let go but pulled back on the guitar, not relinquishing her hold on Abednego. “It’s dorky!” “It is not dorky. It’s a traditional name. It’s from the Bible!” She snorted with laughter. “Abednego!” “The guitar chooses the name. You should know that.” She rolled her eyes, tugging, then said, “Give me the guitar.” He glared at her, tugging back. “Not until you apologize.” Suddenly her whole demeanor changed. Her pouty determination melted into a glowing smile, and she looked down at Abednego the way a mother looks down at a darling child. “My apologies, Abednego. You have a lovely name.” Then she leaned in closer and whispered to the guitar, “And I suppose, being played by someone named Jeremiah, you should consider yourself lucky.” “What is that supposed to mean?” She giggled as his indignation distracted him from their struggle, and he lost his grip on Abednego. “It means sit back and listen to a pro.” She cradled the resonator, turning an ear to it and plucking experimentally, tuning and listening to its tone. “Well, that’s interesting,” she said as Abednego answered her with his usual twang. She strummed a few notes and then went into one of her more popular songs. Jeremiah let her have two verses and a chorus before he stopped her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t be playing stuff like that on Abednego.” She paused, frowning. “What do you mean ‘stuff like that?’ I wrote this song.” “Play something like what you played at Catdaddy’s.” She lifted a brow. “Didn’t you hear what I said before I played it? I said that was the first time I’d ever written anything like that. I wasn’t lying. I probably won’t even send it to my label.”

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“Why not? That was your best song of the night. The crowd was eating it up.” “Come on. I was just messing around.” She shook her head and started heading back into the pop song she was playing. Jeremiah put his hands on the strings, muting the sound. “Marina.” She yanked the guitar away from him. “Don’t.” Her eyes flashed, and her voice was low. “I mean it, Jeremiah. Don’t push me.” “Look, I’m not trying to upset you. Truly, but—” “Drop it.” The anger he’d seen in her eyes from moments before faded and was replaced by a sort of pleading sadness. “Just drop it, okay.” He shrugged. “I can’t.” “Well, then here you go.” She tried to shove Abednego back into Jeremiah’s arms. “Take the guitar, damn it.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Nope.” “Jeremiah. Take the guitar.” “Or what?” “I’ll throw it across the fucking room.” Her voice was even and she met his eyes dead on. They glared at each other for a long moment. When she raised the guitar over her head, though, Jeremiah held out his hand for it. There was no way in hell he was chancing that. “Fine,” he said. “Sell yourself short.” “You and your brothers, you don’t know a goddamn thing.” She shook her head, and for a second he thought he saw moisture gathering in her eyes, but she shoved past him and headed for the door. Before she could move through it, Jeremiah had Abednego in a playing position. He took a deep breath and then plucked the opening strains of “Mama, Don’t Fly Away from Me.” She froze in the doorway but didn’t turn to face him. He couldn’t remember the verses, but some of the chorus had been stuck in his head ever since he’d heard the song. It had given

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him chills when she sang it to the crowd, and it gave him chills now as he sang her words back to her. “Mama, you taught me these lonesome chords.” His fingers danced over the flickering notes of a tremolo that she’d fit between each of the lines. “And, Mama, you gave me these broken words.” His guitar vibrated with her haunting melody. “So, Mama, I need you to stay with me. Mama, please don’t fly away from me.” He struggled through the bridge, fumbling on a couple of the chord patterns, but he did make it. As he neared the end of the song, as it moved to its quiet finish and his fingers fell gentler and gentler upon the strings, he heard her let out a slow breath. After the last note faded, she turned to him. “You know the song?” He nodded. “I told you. I think it’s damn good.” “I thought you were just saying that to get in my pants.” He shrugged. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” She shot him a wobbly grin, the corner of her plump lips quirking up. “Scoundrel.” “I wear it proud.” She tossed her hands on her hips and shot him her notoriously sassy glare. “All right. Say I do stay. Say we spend a crazy week together, me and you and your brothers? Say I write more songs like that? What then? My label isn’t exactly looking for musical integrity. All they want to know is, one—does it have catchy lyrics with a generous amount of oh-ohs and la la las? And two—does it have a hook for its melody? What you’re talking about, that kind of music, they’ll never go for it.” “How do you know? Have you tried sending stuff like that to them?” Moving a few steps closer, she said, “No, but I know how these major labels work. They are first and foremost a business, and they have to make sure their product is gonna sell.” She shrugged. “I’m a

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product, marked and branded. What I am now, that’s all I’ll ever be. That’s just how it is.” “Tell me. What’s so important about pleasing your label?” She shot him an annoyed look as she walked over to a chair and pulled it in front of him. “Don’t be simple. You know why.” “No, I know why your label thinks it’s important. But I want to hear it from you, Marina. I want to know what you think.” “This is my life, Jeremiah. And you can look down your nose at it or whatever, but I have fans. And they’re people. They are real people who genuinely love my music. They love what I do. They come to every show and sing every word. They give me their hard-earned money so that I can afford to keep on singing and playing my guitar for them. How can I suddenly decide, ‘You know what? None of this matters to me anymore. I’m better than this, and I’m better than you.’ I can’t do that.” She shrugged. “I can’t.” “Marina, those people don’t love you because you have a catchy melody or because you sing about frivolous things. Those songs came from who you are, and that’s what they love. As long as you’re singing about things you care about and writing songs that are important to you, people are gonna respond to that. They’re gonna love you. They won’t be able to help it.” She shook her head. “Now you’re really being simple.” Letting out a frustrated growl, he had to stop himself from grabbing her and shaking some sense into her. “Okay, what do you say to this? Why don’t we do exactly as you said?” “What’s that?” “You spend a week here. We see what kinds of songs we can get out of you, and then at the end of the week, if you still feel the same way, you go back to the old stuff.” She crossed her arms but appraised him out of the corner of her eye. “And at the end of the week if I say I want to go back to the old songs, you’ll let me go? Just like that?” He nodded. “I’ll let you go.”

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After eyeing him for a long moment, she held out her hand to him and said, “Shake on it and we have a deal.” Propping Abednego up against the wall next to the bed, Jeremiah grasped her hand, gave it a firm shake, and then yanked her to him on the bed, making her giggle. “What do you think you’re doing, Jeremiah Greenwood?” He held her body tight on top of him, entwined his legs with hers, and pressed a kiss to her full lips. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you since you sashayed out of that bathroom. You finally got close enough for me to snatch you up, and I wasn’t gonna let that opportunity sneak past.” He kissed her again, and she wiggled against him, making small noises in the back of her throat as his tongue slipped through her lips and delved into the warm depths of her mouth. He splayed his hands across her back, holding her, and then slid them slowly down. He slid them until he had a palmful of plump cheek filling each hand. “I do love this ass,” he murmured against her lips. “You and James both.” She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and teasingly pulled on it, watching him with an impish gleam in her eyes as she did. “Damn, that’s sexy,” he said when she released him. “Jeremiah?” she asked as she pressed tiny feather kisses across his cheekbones and then on his forehead and then on his neck. “Yeah?” “How did you get this scar?” She sat up, straddling him and tracing a finger over the line on his face. “It happened a long time ago. I was only about five. I don’t really remember much about it.” He tried to make it sound casual. He didn’t want to talk about the bear side of him. He knew it made her uneasy, and, more than that, his cock was straining toward her. He wanted to move inside her, wanted to feel her all around him. He didn’t want to scare her away, at least not at that particular moment. She frowned, and he almost cursed aloud, knowing she’d somehow caught the false note in his nonchalant tone. “But surely

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you’ve heard how it happened. Your parents must have said something? Or James? He would have been old enough to remember, right?” With a sigh of resignation, he rolled her off him. “What? What is it? What’s wrong?” “James!” he called. “Johnny! Get in here.” As he heard his brothers clomping through the rest of the house, he tucked a piece of hair behind Marina’s ear. “We might as well get this conversation out of the way.” “What conversation?” “Now who’s being simple?” She bit her bottom lip, and a small crinkle appeared between her brows. “Did you get that scar because you’re a bear?” “In a way, yes.” “What do you mean by that?” “It means yes, I got it because I’m a bear. And it means yes, I got it from a bear.” “A wild bear? Or like, another bear-shifter?” “Bear-shifter.” “Who was it? Do I know him?” “No, you don’t know him.” She slapped him in the chest. “Quit being coy. Who the hell was it?” Johnny and James appeared in the doorway, and he sent them a “look at the mess I got myself into” quirk of the brow. Then he looked at Marina and answered her. “My dad.”

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Chapter Eight “Your dad did this to you?” Marina reached out and ran her finger along the scar, feeling its smooth, elastic texture compared to the healthy skin next to it. “Was it an accident? What happened?” “Can’t this wait?” He lifted up, kissed her, and then rolled her off and over so that he had her pinned beneath his hips. “I was hoping to get a little more than a kiss before you got to poking and prodding about the bear stuff.” As if to illustrate, he poked and prodded against her with his pelvis. “Nope,” she said, glaring up at him. “I want to know now. I may as well know what kind of weirdos I’m dealing with.” “Hey, I take offense,” Johnny said. The bed dipped when he and James climbed on and snuggled up next to her. “Well, this is cozy I guess.” She rolled her eyes as Jeremiah moved so that he was closer to her hips but still right up next to her. Johnny squeezed her thigh and kissed her. “Okay, yes. Thank you for—” James’s lips cut her off as he also pressed a hot kiss to her lips. Before she could utter another word, James broke away, and Jeremiah took his place, his mouth hot and skilled as he dipped his tongue in for a few swirls. “All right. Everyone get their kiss?” she asked after Jeremiah released her. “Are we all good here?” “Yep,” Jeremiah said. “Good.” “Wait. Nope. One more.” He kissed her and grabbed her breast for a squeeze or two as well.

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“Knock it off!” She pulled back and glared at him but couldn’t keep her lips pouted for long. All three of them looked at her with hungry black eyes and with grins peeping from beneath their beards. “Y’all are too much.” “Thank you,” Johnny said, kissing her cheek. “That’s enough.” She shoved Johnny’s laughing face away. “I want to know how Jeremiah got that scar, and I want to know now. Who’s gonna tell me?” “Okay, okay, Miss Impatient.” She scuffed his cheek, and Jeremiah smiled at her. It was a strange smile, though, oddly tilted and hollow. “So what happened?” “Like I said, it happened when I was very young. I don’t really remember it except for flashes of images and sounds, but James and some of the other bear-shifters have since filled me in. “The members of our family have always been excellent trackers. Even before the curse, the Greenwoods were the family with the fiercest pioneering spirit. Our family found the valley first, tracking game and discovering this little haven of life and beauty. And then after the curse, when our family became bear-shifters, ever since then, we have always taken pride in our communion with nature. Our fathers and mother loved mountain climbing in particular, and they were free solo climbers.” “Which means no ropes, no protection system,” James filled in at Marina’s momentary confusion. “They would go on weekend-long expeditions up the mountain,” Jeremiah continued, “and on one of these, everything that could have possibly gone wrong did. They’d already been up on the mountain longer than they’d intended, so they were tired and running low on rations. They came to a difficult section of the descent, and it began to storm, lightning and thunder and torrential rain.” Jeremiah paused, staring off into the room for a moment, and Marina put her hand on his. “The rain caused a lot of mud to form really quickly. Some rocks and boulders above them came loose. One of my fathers, Papa

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William, looked up and noticed the falling debris. He grabbed my mother and shouted a warning at our father, but Papa Dan lost his footing and was hit by a boulder. He was gone.” Marina jerked at the finality and then held on tighter to his hand. “When Papa William grabbed Mom, she stumbled and fell. She was dangling off the side of the mountain, held only by my father, but the rain made their hands slippery. They couldn’t hold on to each other, and”—he closed his eyes—“she fell.” The room was quiet for a long moment. After Jeremiah had regained his composure, he went on. “Understandably, Papa William was crazy with grief for a while. Johnny was barely one, and James and I were sad, but we were boys. We just wanted to create mischief. It was something like that. A couple weeks after the accident, I had gotten into Papa William’s toolshed and broken something, I think. He came out there to see what had happened, and he got so mad. I was scared when he yelled and threw things, but that was nothing to how I felt when he crumpled down to the ground and started sobbing. “I didn’t know what to do. I almost crept out of the shed, but I didn’t think Mom would want me to do that, so I tiptoed over to give him a hug. When I touched him, he just exploded. There wasn’t any time for either of us to react. His bear paw caught me in the face.” Jeremiah reached up and touched his cheek. “He never really got over it. He lost too much. It was like he just gave up, and a few years later, he passed.” “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Then she did something she had never done before for anyone. She reached up and stroked his hair. She gave him comfort. She gave him solace. She was gentle. The four of them sat on the bed for a long while, snuggled into each other and breathing slowly together. She let Jeremiah’s story sink through her skull, feeling a great empathy for what he and his brothers had been through. Eventually, she started humming a low melody. Jeremiah picked it up and began to hum a countermelody.

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James and Johnny added little bits of harmony in here and there, and Marina felt such peace settle over her. “Tell me about the first bear-shifters in your family,” she whispered when their humming had dwindled away. “Do you know much about them?” “Oh yes,” James answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The first thing you should know is that the bear-shifters and the lionshifters have always gone for the ménage way of living. Like Jeremiah said, we had two dads instead of one and three grandfathers instead of two. In fact, the very first bear-shifters in the Greenwood family were three brothers, like us. Abednego—” “Abednego!” Her eyes flew to Jeremiah. “It’s an old biblical name,” James answered, but Marina’s eyes were still locked with Jeremiah’s. The corner of his mouth quirked up, and he shot her a wink. He’d given his guitar a family name, like she had done with Ethel Rose. Something about that comforted her, and she gave him a nod and a little “my bad for making fun of you” smile in answer to his wink. “The other two were Bartholomew and Christopher,” James continued. “Our family, along with four other families, came to this valley during the fur-trapping days. Now, I don’t know how much your sister told you about us.” “Not much.” “Then you’ll not know that our family has been a part of this valley since the 1830s. Now if you ever meet anyone who tries to tell you different, that person is most likely a mountain lion, and you can ignore him.” “That’s generally a good rule to follow,” Johnny said, patting her leg. “Just always ignore the mountain lions. You can pick ’em out of a crowd real easy by their freaky blue eyes and pungent odor.” “Anyway,” James said, shooting a quelling look to his younger brother, “the point is, the lions like to claim that they were the founders of this town, but they didn’t get here until the 1860s.”

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“If y’all were already here, why is there a question?” “Unfortunately,” James said, “we got the curse put on us before they arrived. We spent a little time out in the forest.” “About thirty years.” “And by the time we returned to our human selves, the lions had already moved in and gotten their little claws into everything.” “Yeah,” Johnny said, “so then things got tense for a while until Cameahwait—he was the Shoshone shaman who put the curse on both groups in the first place—got enough of our bickering and came up with a treaty. He marked boundaries for each of the shifters and told us exactly how mating and propagating the shifter lines would work.” “So what you’re telling me is that Treaty Lane isn’t some random street name?” “Well, things are a little more relaxed between us now,” James said. “Jeremiah can do the nature walks at the Woodland Den, and all the shifters go to Catdaddy’s, both of which are technically in lion territory.” “And when you say ‘mating and propagating the shifter line,’ what do you mean by that exactly? I would think that sort of stuff is pretty self-explanatory.” “On the one hand, you’re right,” James said. “The basic act of mating is the same, but there are certain rules and restrictions that go with being a bear-shifter.” “Such as?” “Wait. James, tell her about the brothers first. And the first mate.” “I was getting to that, Johnny. Cool your jets.” “The first mate?” James moved his black eyes to her face, the bright red light of the setting sun gleaming across their surface. “Her name was Deheya’.” “Deheya’,” Marina repeated in a whisper. “Her full name in English was Chases Fawns. She was the most skilled huntress in the Shoshone tribe. Her aim with a bow was

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deadly. She could hit a bison running at full speed from twenty feet away while atop a galloping horse.” “At first though, before she became known as a great huntress, she wasn’t even allowed to ride with the hunters or consort with them about hunting matters,” Jeremiah said. “The male Shoshone didn’t believe a female should be a participant in the hunt. She was supposed to learn how to cure the skins, not collect them. She argued with Chief Wakini and his council, every day and every night, as soon as the sun came up until it settled again, until she ran out of air in her lungs and words in her mouth, but they wouldn’t listen. “One evening before one of these big hunts, Chief Wakini summoned Deheya’. He told her, ‘Enough with this foolishness. When we return from the hunt, you will choose a husband.’ Deheya’ tried to reason with him, but Chief Wakini had made up his mind, and he sent her away. “But Deheya’ could not give up on her dream that easily, so that night, after all the hunters and warriors had left, she snuck away. She knew that if she was going change Chief Wakini’s mind about her, she would have to do something truly impressive, something none of the other male hunters her age had ever done.” “Like what?” Marina asked, leaning forward with wide eyes. “Deheya’ didn’t know at first,” James said. “She thought maybe if she brought back three deer for the tribe, that would earn her some respect. Winter was on its way, and the tribe needed meat. Besides, Kikah was the most respected hunter, and he had only brought back two at once. Then she thought about tracking an elk. Only a couple of the hunters had managed to fell an elk. “But then she came across the trail of an animal that she knew would bring her the highest honor and prestige as a hunter. Only one other person in the entire tribe had brought down one of these.” “What was it?”

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“It was what gave Chief Wakini his name,” Jeremiah said. “The chief was the only hunter in the tribe to single-handedly track down and kill a black bear with nothing but his bow and his knife.” “Oh no, did she kill one of your little Care Bear ancestors? I don’t like horror stories.” Johnny chuckled but shook his head. “She came upon the bear’s trail before the sun had risen, so she tracked it through the night and finally came upon it just after dawn. It was angry, tearing through the forest and slamming its great paws into the ground. It was one of the largest black bears she had ever seen. “Of course, what she didn’t know was that this was no ordinary bear.” “It was one of you?” Johnny nodded. “It was the youngest brother, Christopher. There’d been a scuffle with the rest of the bears, and he was out blowing off some steam. In his agitated state, he wasn’t being as diligent as he should have been, wasn’t paying attention for signs of a nearby human.” “What did Deheya’ do?” “She followed the bear for a while, making sure to stay downwind, not allowing him to know of her presence. Finally, the great bear slowed its angry roving and stood on the trail, sniffing at a beehive high up in a tree. “Deheya’ silently pulled an arrow out of her quiver and notched it on her spruce wood bow. She knew that the only way to kill the bear was to anger it and get it to open its mouth in a roar so that she could shoot an arrow into the back of its throat, into its head. At such a close range, if she missed or if she tried to shoot it in the chest, the bear could reach her and attack her before she had enough time to shoot it again. “The bear moseyed within ten feet of her, so with a wild huntress cry she leapt in front of him. Her arrow was notched. Her feet were planted, and her heartbeat was steady, but the bear only peered at her.

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He didn’t roar or even run away in fear. In fact, he sniffed at her in curiosity. Knowing that this was her only chance and seeing that the bear would not roar at her, she pulled her bow taut. This was it, she thought. She would either return to the tribe wearing a great black bear-cloak of greatness, or she would die. She aimed for his heart and let her arrow fly.” The bedroom was quiet. Marina gripped the sheets, and her eyes were glued to Johnny’s face, waiting to hear what became of the bear and the huntress. Johnny smacked his lips together. “You know what? My throat is feeling a little dry. I need some water, I think.” “What?” Marina shot up. “You can’t stop now. Did she kill the bear? Did she kill the bear-shifter thingy?” “Yeah”—Johnny cleared his throat—“I’m parched.” “Come on!” “Don’t worry, bro. I got your water coming right up,” Jeremiah said, rolling off the bed. “Don’t finish the story without me, though.” Marina grabbed his shirt. “Oh no you don’t! I want to hear what happens next. You’re not going anywhere. Y’all are doing this on purpose!” Jeremiah grabbed her wrist and pried her fingers off his shirt. “Be right back. You want anything?” With a growl of frustration, she flopped back onto the pillow. “No,” she snapped. He winked at her and then left the bedroom. “So,” James said, “you think you might be getting into this bearshifter stuff? Just a little? Maybe?” Marina crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed that she’d shown that much interest when they were being such teases about it. “It’s just some dumb old wives’ tale.” Johnny’s mouth fell open. “Marina Andrews, this is our family history. I am appalled at this blatant disrespect for our beliefs and customs.”

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“Come off it, Johnny.” “I don’t like you pretending you’re not the least bit interested.” James gripped her calf and then slid his hand slowly up her leg, his fingertips leaving a tingling trail in their wake. “I’m not,” she said, glaring at Johnny and trying to ignore James’s fingers, which were inching dangerously close to her pussy. “Cut that out, James.” She jiggled her leg, trying to shake him off. “Not until you admit that one little part of you wants this to be true,” Johnny said as James’s hand crept up. “I will not.” “Marina,” he said, his voice low and warning. “Take it from a younger brother who knows how relentless James can be when he decides to torture you. You don’t want to push him.” She glared at both the brothers. “It doesn’t have to be that big a part of you,” Johnny said. “Just say that one teeny, tiny part of you wants this to be true.” James’s fingers waited a scant centimeter away from her cunt. He locked gazes with her, and Marina clenched her mouth tightly closed in defiance. “What’s it gonna be? Will you admit it?” “Never.” At her words, James’s hand clamped down on her pussy, eliciting a yelp from her even though she’d made up her mind to remain absolutely quiet, no matter what he did to her. “Hold her down, Johnny.” “You got it,” he said, grabbing her arms and pinning them above her head. She glared at him but kept her mouth firmly closed. “I think ribs first,” James said as he slipped two of his fingers beneath her panties and straight into her cunt without preamble. Johnny obeyed, using his fingertips to tickle her ribs. She bit her bottom lip, her mind confused by the dueling, tortuous sensations. She didn’t know whether she wanted to moan from the fingers in her pussy or squeal at the fingers tickling her ribs.

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James curled his fingers up and up and up, sliding them along the inside of her pussy, tugging at her pleasure and coaxing it to the surface. Yet Johnny sent spikes of spasm-inducing tickles up and down her ribs and across her stomach and then dancing up through her neck. She refused to give them one peep, but her eyes were crossing with the explosive sensations whipping through her nerves. Johnny leaned over her so that his face was alarmingly close to hers. “Now admit that a part of you wants to believe in our story.” She shook her head. James’s fingers began to work her cunt harder. “Are you sure, Marina?” She nodded. James jabbed in and out faster. His fingers were frenzied in their movement. Marina had to hold her breath. If she let it out, everything would explode. “Come on, Marina. You know you want to give in.” She shook her head violently back and forth, glaring up at Johnny. Something clamped down on her clit. Even though she managed not to make a noise, her body jolted in reaction, and her eyes flew down to her crotch. James was nibbling on her. She closed her eyes, knowing she couldn’t take the exquisite sensations much longer without some kind of release. Johnny whispered in her ear. “Give in. Just a little.” She didn’t know why she resisted. She liked the story. She especially liked Deheya’ and her fierce spirit in the face of naysayers, but for some reason, she didn’t want to give in. Didn’t want to let them have this victory. It somehow seemed bigger than the story itself. It felt as if she gave in, she’d be offering up something vulnerable in herself, something that couldn’t easily be taken back once relinquished. A third set of hands grabbed her breasts and pinched her nipples. The sensation was too much, and she cried out, clenching her eyes and arching her hips up toward James’s hand. “Yes!” she cried. A

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gentle wave of pleasure began to swirl in time to the fingers flicking inside her. She squeezed her pussy around the fingers, helping herself move closer to the looming orgasm. “Yes what?” Johnny asked, kissing her ear and her jaw and her neck. She whimpered. She couldn’t put it into words. There were so many hands, so many warring feelings. “I can’t,” she said. The hands stopped, and Marina opened her eyes, momentarily confused. “No more. Not until you admit what we want you to admit.” She tried to thrust up against James, but Jeremiah’s hands darted down her body and grabbed her hips, holding her still. “You know you want to,” Johnny taunted. After a long moment of glaring at him and his brothers, Marina closed her eyes and exhaled. She relaxed. It was pointless to resist. She already knew she’d given them a part of herself. In that still moment after Jeremiah told her about his father, a connection had been forged between the four of them, and to deny it now was childish. “You’re right,” she whispered. “What?” She exhaled again. “I said you’re right, damn it.” She peeked up at the three brothers. All three of them had their mouths open in disbelief. Rolling her eyes, she squeezed her legs around James’s hand, still buried deep in her cunt. “Okay. I did what you wanted. Now get on with it.” James narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Not unless you really mean it, Marina.” She bit her bottom lip. “I do mean it.” She closed her eyes, unable to think with three pairs of black eyes watching her with such a burning intensity. “Part of me says I’m a fool for believing in fairy tales and magic.” “And the other part?” Jeremiah prompted, running his thumbs gently over her hardened nipples.

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“The other part”—she had to swallow—“the other part says of course it’s real. Of course there’s a fairy tale for me. There’s magic I can see and feel.” She ran her fingers down Jeremiah’s cheek, tracing the faint scar. “That I can taste and smell.” She turned her face to Johnny and inhaled then smiled as his scent filled her lungs. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” James asked. She met his eyes but bit her bottom lip, unable to answer him. “Were you scared?” he asked, and she nodded. “Did you think we wouldn’t have found out?” He plunged his fingers inside her, forcing a tiny gasp out of her lips. “Oh, James,” she muttered, relaxing into the sway and pull of his fingers again. Jeremiah lifted her shirt and attended to her breasts while Johnny kept her mouth occupied with his talented lips and tongue. Soon they had her gasping for breath as an orgasm swept through her. It was a gentle thing, causing the underside of her skin to tingle and filling her mind with a quiet, buzzing happiness. “Now,” James said, propping his chin on her stomach. “Would you like to hear the rest of the story?” She smiled slow and easy and then nodded. “Good,” Johnny said, bouncing into a more comfortable position. “We were just getting to the good stuff.” Marina giggled, snuggling further down the bed, getting comfortable between all three of them again, her body warm and tingly and relaxed. “So,” she said, “did Deheya’ shoot the bear-shifter thingy through the heart like she wanted?” “Well, as I said, she let her arrow fly, but at the last second, the great black bear in front of her transformed into a man. A very handsome, muscular, attractive, naked man, I might add.” Marina giggled at his waggling eyebrows. “But did she get him with her arrow?” Jeremiah shook his head. “No, the arrow grazed his shoulder, and he jumped back, but other than that, he was unharmed.” Marina smiled at the happy outcome. “And then what happened?”

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“As far as Deheya’ and Christopher go, the way our magic works is that if in bear form, once an unmated bear gets a whiff of an unclaimed woman—that’s someone like you,” Jeremiah said, poking her in the stomach, “who’s not married or mated to any other shifter, we become bonded to her. Brothers have to mate with the same woman. In other words, once Christopher was bonded to Deheya’, his brothers were bonded to her as well, although in a different way because they had yet to smell her. “And once we bear-shifters are bonded, the only thing we can think about, the only thing we care about, our only goal is to mate the woman we have just smelled.” “You mean?” Marina made a crude in-and-out gesture with her fingers. “Exactly,” Johnny said. “We want to fuck her.” “You are so crude,” James chided. “What? That’s what happens. It’s the facts of life, bro.” “And what about Deheya’? Did she have any choice in the matter?” “Yes and no,” Jeremiah answered. “Because as soon as a bear smells a woman and shifts back into human form, she can smell him, too, sort of, and it’s almost like she gets wrapped up in his frenzy.” “So what you’re saying is I need to stay far, far away from you three in bear form?” They chuckled, and Jeremiah smoothed her hair away from her face. “Not unless you want to be mated to us.” “Yeah, mated forever,” Johnny said, and Marina thought she detected a little bit of a fearful waver in his voice. But then again, that was maybe just her own projection because she did not like the sound of that word. At all. “Definitely not something I’m looking for. In fact, I should probably tell y’all, I’m leaving Savage Valley in January. I…um, well, my label has forced me into a sort of sabbatical. They want me to take care of some…issues. So, you know, don’t get too attached to

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my presence.” She flicked her hair over one shoulder and met each of their glances. “I have a whole life outside of Savage Valley. Unlike some people around here.” Her momentary bout of defiance faded as her thoughts drifted to her sister, and she frowned. “What is it?” Jeremiah asked, touching her cheek. “Michelle said something kind of strange to me the other day. She said she could never leave here. Is that right? I mean, assuming that she’s mated or whatever with her fiancés.” “Oh yeah, she’s mated with them all right,” Johnny said with a chuckle and then grunted when James elbowed him in the stomach. “What?” “Have a little consideration, would you? This is obviously a lot for Marina to take in.” James returned his attention to Marina. “But yes, that’s right. We are bound to this land, Marina, in the deepest and strongest way imaginable. It’s in our blood and in our hearts. Once we are mated, it becomes part of our mate’s blood and heart as well.” Chills swept over her body at the thought of being mated to the bear-shifters, never leaving this place again, never going anywhere new or meeting anyone new or doing anything new, for that matter. Just stuck. Forever. The thought made her nervous and sick. She couldn’t imagine never going on tour again, never singing and playing her guitar for thousands of rapt fans, never recording another album in Nashville. “Poor Deheya’.” “Quite the contrary. From all accounts, it appears she was very happy with her three husbands.” “But what about her tribe? Everyone she left behind to be with those husbands? I mean, she wanted to be a great hunter, but then all of a sudden she finds herself mated and stuck with three dudes forever?” James shrugged. “Christopher didn’t force himself upon her. She agreed. She could have said no. The woman can always say no.”

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“I would definitely say no. There’s no way. I couldn’t leave my life behind.” Marina brushed her bangs off her forehead, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of being stuck in one place for the rest of her life. “I don’t know how Michelle could do this to herself. I don’t understand. Do you think maybe they tricked her? Or maybe forced her to mate with them?” Jeremiah tipped her chin up. “I don’t know all the details, but I do know that it was Michelle who chose. They didn’t force anything on her.” “You’re probably right.” And hell, Marina thought, maybe part of it was a sort of defiance toward her. Michelle had done the one thing to ensure that she would not go on tour with Marina, not ever again. If Marina wanted to see her sister, she’d have to come back to Savage Valley. If only there was such a thing as happily ever after. Maybe then she could understand Michelle’s actions and could even be glad for her sister. Maybe then Marina could believe in what she was feeling for the Greenwoods. “Hey look,” Johnny said a few moments later, distracting Marina from her troubling thoughts. She followed his gaze to the window. The sun had already disappeared behind the mountains, leaving the sky a murky purple-gray, but still, even in the half light, she could make out the white flakes swirling past the window. “It’s snowing?” she asked in wonder. They climbed out of the bed and padded to the window to watch the falling snow in quiet awe. Marina stood on tiptoe, mesmerized by the fantastic white mess. The men stood behind her, cozy and close, their bodies warm and protective. Jeremiah put his chin on the top of her head while Johnny and James each put a hand around her back. For a moment, it felt like she was surrounded by a perfect bubble of magic. And for a moment, she felt like it would never burst.

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Chapter Nine “Damn, it’s really coming down out there,” Johnny said from the window, and Jeremiah glanced up from Marina’s dancing fingers. They’d been trying out some alternate tunings with a few of Marina’s lyrics. He’d taught her an intricate picking pattern, and she’d come up with a quirky vocal melody that they’d been messing around with. As if the electricity had been listening to Johnny, the lights flickered off and then on and then off again. They waited for a moment, but the room stayed dark. “I’ll get candles from the storage closet,” Johnny said, and Jeremiah could hear him clomping across the wooden floor. “You checked the animals when you got here?” James asked. “Yep. Reba’s here, too.” “Wait, is that the fox?” Marina asked. “Yeah. You know about Reba?” Marina smiled to herself. Of all the odds, she thought with a shake of her head. “Michelle told me y’all rescued her.” When Johnny came back a few minutes later and lit a few of the candles, James turned the radio on. “Noah and Bryce will probably have something to say about this.” “You think they’ll be broadcasting?” “They’ll figure something out.” James fiddled with the knob and wiggled the antenna back and forth. Jeremiah heard a few clips and phrases break through the fuzz but nothing that sounded like Noah and Bryce’s station. After minutes of searching, Jeremiah said, “Just leave it alone. I doubt those two would go out just for an hour or two of pirate radio.”

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“Pirate radio?” Marina’s hushed plucking came to an abrupt halt. “Y’all have a pirated radio station here?” “Of course,” Jeremiah said. “Y’all are so weird.” “Hello, ladies and gentlemen—” a voice boomed through the dimly lit room. “Here we are,” James said, placing the radio on the wooden dresser next to the bed. “Or should we say lions, ladies, and bears—” “Oh my!” Marina giggled and then whispered, “They know?” Jeremiah nodded. “Are they…?” He nodded again but put a finger to his lips in a quieting gesture. “We hope you’re having a lovely blackout. I’m…not Noah Strong—” “And I’m…not Bryce Sullivan—” “And you’re listening to Savage Valley’s very own pirate radio.” “All illegal. All the time.” “Oh, and if Mayor Cash and Sheriff Kinman are listening, well, we hope they’re having a good time during their blackout.” “And considering the recent arrival of their, uh, new friends, we’re sure they’re going to have a very, very good time.” “Bryce? What are you suggesting?” “Nothing, Noah, nothing at all. Well, maybe just that the blackout’s a little more fun if you’re with someone.” “Aw, well, Bryce, I didn’t know you felt that way. I’m honored, but I don’t—” “That’s not what I meant, Strong.” “Well, while Bryce and I discuss this little revelation of his feelings, how about you folks enjoy a little bit of Wanda Jack—” “Oh no, you don’t. It’s my turn to pick the song.” “What do you mean?”

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Marina giggled as the two hosts scuffled for control over the next song. “Are they always like this?” she asked. “Or is the snow making them extra frisky?” Bryce’s voice erupted into the room as he rushed to get his words out. “Now folks, here’s Eagle-Eye Cherry with the nineties hit, ‘Save Tonight.’” “Hey, it’s my—” Noah Strong’s voice was cut off as the EagleEye Cherry song began to play. “Bryce and Noah are the youngest shifters from each side, the lions and the bears, and they don’t have anything better to do with their time, apparently.” “God, I am not a fan of this song. I hope Bryce is the lion-shifter thingy. I would hate for you to be associated with such poor musical tastes.” Jeremiah threw back his head and laughed. “I can’t wait to tell him your professional opinion. Well,” he said, extending his hand to her, “may as well make the best of it. Will you do me the honor?” She grinned, put Abednego on the bed, and slapped her hand into his. He whipped her up and into his arms and then began twirling her around in an altogether ridiculous manner. Johnny and James started belting the awful lyrics. As Jeremiah twirled Marina around the room, they joined in with the obnoxious belting, both trying to sing louder than the other, and then dissolving into laughter as the song ended a few minutes later, leaving them breathless and clinging to each other. “Well, folks, I’ve got a busted lip now,” Noah said with a lisp. “And y’all know the rules. Bryce, do you want to give our listeners a little refresher on the house rules?” There was a long, sullen silence. “Bryce?” “I maintain that you hit yourself in the face.” “What’s the rule, Sullivan?” Bryce let out a long-suffering sigh. “If it comes to physical violence, the perpetrator—” “That’s the one who strikes first. You, in this case, Bryce.”

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“Forfeits ten songs to the victim of the attack.” “That’s me.” “Yeah, yeah, just choose your songs already.” “Now, there’s no need for you to be acting all sore about it. I’m the one that got decked.” “Yeah, and you better hurry up and choose your damn songs before I deck you again.” “All right, all right. Let me just see what I’ve got here.” There were sounds of some rummaging. “Folks, I’m feeling a little nostalgic with all this snow, remembering winters past and long-lost loves that just didn’t work out.” Bryce made a gagging noise that was soon drowned out by the sound of a plucky guitar and fiddle as Noah began his first song. “I’m going to have to start us off with some good ol’ Hank Williams.” The music tripped through the room for a moment, and then the cowboy singer’s forlorn voice sang the first few lines of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Jeremiah tightened his arms around Marina. “My mama used to play this record all the time. She’d sit next to it and stare out the window. And when the song ended, she’d pick up the needle and start it over again.” Marina tucked her face into his shoulder and dug her fingers into his back as they began to move to the music. “Just hold me tight,” she whispered. Jeremiah kissed the top of her head. “I got you.” After the first verse when the steel guitar kicked in, James came up behind her and wrapped his fingers in her hair. Then they all three swayed and moved across the floor. Johnny watched them, and Jeremiah could see the lust blazed across his brother’s features as his eyes followed Marina. The wailing fiddles cut in, and Marina tilted her head back. Her eyes were burning deep into his. Leaning down, Jeremiah put his lips on the crest of her cheek. They took a step toward the bed. He put his cheek against hers and closed his eyes, feeling her warmth against his face. The backs of her legs hit the bed, and he moved his lips to her mouth.

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As the last sad note faded out, there was only the flickering candlelight, the snow falling outside, and the sound of Marina’s soft breathing. He pulled the bottom of her shirt up and over her head. When he kissed her again, Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home” came on. Jeremiah lowered her to the bed and then pulled her panties off. Her body looked ethereal in the shaking orange light of the candles, and he so wanted to possess her. She ran her fingertips across her skin, circling her breasts, trailing down her stomach, and dipping between her legs. Her eyelids fluttered as she pressed inside of herself. She rocked her hips up, and he could see her wrist flexing and unflexing. He could see the muscles in her arms working to build up the pressure. Slowly, he undressed, taking his time, watching the blush spread across her flesh as she pleasured herself. James and Johnny lay down on either side of her, each taking a breast between their teeth. Marina sucked in a breath, and he noticed how she plunged her own fingers deeper inside her pussy in reaction to his brothers’ laving. Jeremiah crawled onto the bed. He locked eyes with Marina. He could feel his cock, hardened, full of blood, ready and straining toward her as he made his way closer. He rolled his hips. He was slow. He took his time. He wanted the exquisite torture of her pussy lips sliding up and up until she had him fully sheathed in her liquid warmth. “Marina,” he whispered as he placed the tip of his cock against the swollen entrance of her cunt. She put her nose to his and nudged him with affection. “I want this,” she said and clenched her eyes tightly closed. “I want you. So much.” He kissed her and then sank inside her. They both inhaled and pressed their faces to each other. Jeremiah pushed himself deep. He felt her shudder around him as his cock pushed into the far reaches of her pussy. Then he dragged out of her. It was torture. He pushed back

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in. It was redemption. She shook as he slid all the way. She whimpered. She held fast. And when he pulled away, she exhaled. They were one pulsing mass. He could feel the way she smelled in his body, like a clinging, cloying jasmine vine that wrapped around him. It would choke him if he tried to escape, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t stop. He breathed her in. He fell deeper into her. Her scent washed through him—through his human, through his bear, through every crevice of his mind—and he could feel his cock responding. He shoved himself into her again and again. And each time she welcomed him. Her body vibrated against him. Her arms and legs were wrapped around him, and he could feel her pussy pulsing, grasping for that white exploding welcome. He groaned and thrust in as far as he could. Marina began shaking. “Again,” she whispered. “Do that again.” He grasped her chin and her face and then pulled himself out to the tip. He thrust back into her, deep and hard, all the way. “Oh,” she whimpered, her brow crinkling. Her arms and legs tightened until he could feel every tremor that washed through her body. He kept pushing his cock, in and out and so deep. She cried out and arched against him. His cock was painfully full for a moment, and then he erupted. He felt his seed burst forth. It was flowing from his body into hers, and he pumped into her a few more times, coaxing out every drop. “Jeremiah,” she whispered, her voice shaking. She said his name over and over, holding him and kissing his face and his mouth. He smiled into her lips. It wasn’t until he rolled off that he realized Johnny and James had left them alone. “Wait right here,” he said. She nodded and curled up under the covers. He could feel her eyes following him as he dampened a washcloth with warm water. With tenderness, he washed her off, pressing soft kisses against her flesh every now and then.

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“James! Johnny!” he called out. A few seconds later, he and his brothers were all snuggled next to Marina, and they drifted to sleep. The snowstorm raged white and frigid outside, but Jeremiah closed his eyes to warmth, to the feel of a beautiful woman in his arms, and to Patsy Cline crooning softly “Sweet Dreams (Of You).” **** “Shit,” James muttered as Marina’s knee came dangerously close to slamming into his nut sac. He instinctively covered himself and then let out a breath of relief when he ascertained that no damage had been done. She’d been tossing and turning for hours now. A few seconds later, Johnny grunted, and James knew she’d nailed him with an elbow as she rolled around. Johnny threw the covers off his body and stalked out of the bedroom. “Why do you think she’s so restless?” Jeremiah whispered. Not surprised that both his brothers were having difficulties sleeping, James shrugged and then pulled her hair off her face, smoothing it out and stroking his fingers along her scalp. She was on her side for the moment, but her features seemed to relax a little as he petted her. “I don’t think she’s a very happy girl,” he answered. “She says she doesn’t want to stay here, but I’m not sure that’s true.” All through the afternoon James had caught glimpses of a deep sorrow moving across Marina’s face. And then when she’d been dancing with Jeremiah, she’d clung as if she’d collapse without him holding her up. Now, in sleep, when she was at her most vulnerable, her thrashing and flailing out were just further proof that something inside Marina was unsettled. “We can’t let her go back out there, on the road, I mean. I don’t think it’s good for her. She’s so delicate.” Jeremiah grabbed her hand and held on to it against his chest. “She’d be safe and happy here with us.”

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James brought her hair to his nose. He couldn’t get enough of her intoxicating aroma. “How do we convince her? She’s so stubborn.” He smiled, remembering her clenched jaw as he’d tortured her into admitting he and his brothers were right. “The minute we brought up that part of the mating, she got nervous.” “Yeah, she was pretty damn resistant to the idea. You know what, if I had my way, I’d tie her naked to a tree and shift in front of her. I’d catch a whiff of her scent, and the Shoshone curse would work its magic. Then we’d see how resistant she is.” “Do it.” James chuckled at the idea. “Before she has a chance to leave.” Part of him was joking, knowing he could never do that to a woman, no matter how much he wanted her to be his mate. He knew his brother wasn’t serious, but he had to admit to the simplicity of such a plan. Marina was so darn stubborn, he feared she would vanish before they had enough time to convince her to stay. If only they could tie her to a tree, even if they didn’t shift in front of her, at least she’d have to listen to them for a while. One could wish, he thought with a sigh. “I’ll go check on Johnny, see what he thinks of the plan.” James chuckled again but then shook his head. “More like, make sure he’s keeping his scrawny ass out of trouble.” “There’s a blizzard outside. What could he possibly get into?” The two of them were silent for a split second, and then they both choked down snorts of laughter. “Forget I said that,” Jeremiah whispered. He snuggled up closer to Marina. “Okay, go on then. I’ll keep her warm while you two do the whole ‘let’s spill our guts and get emotional at midnight’ thing.” “Asshole,” James whispered and then moved silently across the floor and into the kitchen. The first thing he saw when he walked through the doorway was a pile of clothes and a small pool of water near the door. “Shit, Johnny,” he whispered, looking out the window. That crazy son of a bitch had gone out in this weather. James shook his head and grabbed the coffee pot to fill. Even in bear form, this kind of snow

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was relentless. After a while the cold would get under his fur and seep into his skin and bones. James knew he would appreciate a warm cup of joe when he got back. After James got the coffeemaker started, he headed back to the bedroom. Crawling under the covers, he snuggled in behind Marina and drifted off again, thinking he could at least catch a couple more hours of sleep before the sun rose. He looked forward to waking up to a soft, sleep-warmed Marina and making drowsy, morning-paced love to her. It was going to be so perfect. Just so perfect. Before drifting off, he didn’t notice that Marina had become perfectly still. **** Jeremiah jerked awake. Something wasn’t right. The sun hadn’t fully risen. The light inside the room was gray and murky. He cracked an eyelid open. A dark shape loomed above him. “Jesus Christ, Marina!” He jumped, his body reacting before his mind could fully grasp the sight of her hovering next to him. Once his mind had settled itself, he scooted up to a sitting position. “Why are you standing there like that? Why are you awake? What time is it?” He noticed that she had on a pair of wool socks—the ones he’d bought at the Ninth Time—his boots, and his heavy winter coat. Nothing else. The skin of her stomach and the curve of one breast peeked through where the jacket parted. She had an angry, stubborn look in her eyes, but he couldn’t deny the fact that her outfit was damn sexy. “What’s wrong? Come back to bed. It’s freezing. I can start the firewood stove and get it warmed up in here. Just give me a minute.” She didn’t budge, only started breathing heavily. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was probably missing something. “Is everything

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okay?” He reached out to touch her arm, but as soon as his hand reached her, she twisted wildly, knocking him away. “Marina, sweetheart, what’s the matter?” He pulled the covers off, alarmed at her reaction. He reached out, intending to pull her close, but she stepped back. A bit of light fell across her features. There was a ferocious wildness stirring in her eyes. Something was very wrong. She started shaking, but it didn’t look like shivers of cold. “Talk to me,” he said, keeping his voice low and coaxing. “You have to tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” “Help me?” she whispered, spitting the words out at him with a sneer. “The last thing you want to do is help me.” “Sweetie, just tell me what’s wrong. Please. I don’t know what’s going on.” He reached for her again. “Don’t touch me!” she screeched, and James stirred behind him on the bed. “I don’t belong to you or your brothers. You won’t trap me here. You won’t trick me. I’m going back on tour. I am leaving here. You won’t stop me.” “Marina, what are you talking about?” Jeremiah asked, losing his gentle tone of voice from the utter surprise her words caused. “No one’s trying to trick you. We’ve been more honest with you than we’ve been with any woman. Ever. Please, Marina, come back to bed, and we’ll talk about this.” “You didn’t use a condom.” Jeremiah’s eyes opened wide in shock. Fuck. He had forgotten to use a condom. “You want to trick me,” she said. “I know you want me to stay with you, to be glued to you, like my sister and her fucking bear mates or whatever the fuck y’all are.” “No, Marina. That was an accident. I swear. I was caught up in everything. I didn’t think about it. I swear. Shit. I would never do that on purpose.” “What’s going on?” James asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

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“I heard you. I heard everything you said, you bastards.” She gasped, fighting back a sob. “I trusted you. Oh god, I fucking trusted you.” She covered her face with her hands and cried. Jeremiah was frozen. “Marina, I think you may have misunderstood. I was joking. It was a stupid, idiotic, inappropriate joke. I would never tie you to a tree, Marina.” She took her hands away from her face. “Just because you were joking doesn’t mean it isn’t true, Jeremiah. Y’all want me to stay here. You don’t care that doing so would mean leaving my whole life behind, leaving everything I’ve made of my career and of myself. I will never do that. I will never fucking do that.” “No one has asked you to.” “Good. Because I won’t.” “And it was a joke! You think I’d want to be mated to a woman who felt trapped here? Hell no! That would make for a miserable life. Shit.” Marina narrowed her eyes at him. “I didn’t know you were awake, and I shouldn’t have even said it in the first place. I’m sorry, Marina,” he said. “I promise it was just a joke.” Marina looked at him for a long moment, but then her face crumpled, and she ran. She ran straight out the bedroom door. “Where’s she going?” James asked. The screen door at the front of the house slammed closed. “Jeremiah, get your ass out of bed,” James shouted, leaping from beneath the covers and scrambling to pull on a jacket and boots. “It’s okay, she won’t get far in the snow. I think she’ll be fine. She probably just needs to cool off for a minute. Regain her composure.” James continued his frantic dressing. “No, it’s Johnny.” “Johnny?” “Johnny!” James threw a jacket at Jeremiah. “He’s—he went— Johnny’s—”

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“Where is Johnny?” Jeremiah looked around the room with surprise, not having noticed that Johnny wasn’t back. “He’s out in the goddamn snow,” James said, “in bear form.” Jeremiah felt a chill drip through his spine that had nothing to do with the weather, and he stood up and glanced out the window. The jacket in his hand fell to the floor. “Oh shit,” he said. “What?” James asked, running to the window. Marina had her head down and was marching out into the snow with a shovel. He could see her gesticulating to herself and shaking her head. Although the snow had stopped falling, the wind whipped through her long raven locks. Twenty feet away from her a bear emerged from the woods. It was Johnny. Jeremiah knew it. He knew by the deep-brown color and an odd patch of black fur across the bear’s chest, and he felt a heaviness settle in his stomach. After how Marina had just reacted and after what he’d said to her, this was not going to end well. Johnny would catch Marina’s scent. He was too close not to. He would form the mating bond. And then Marina would mate him or she wouldn’t. But no matter what happened, nothing would be okay. “Marina!” Jeremiah shouted as he and James started beating on the window, trying to get her to look up, trying to get her to run inside. She couldn’t hear them over the wind. She didn’t look up. James ran out of the room toward the front of the house, and Jeremiah kept yelling for Marina, pounding his fist against the glass in desperation. Instead of catching Marina’s attention, though, it was Johnny who lifted his head. He peered at the window for a moment. Then his head snapped toward Marina. “Damn,” Jeremiah whispered, his hand falling away from the glass. The bear’s nostrils twitched for a moment, and then it sucked in a deep breath.

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Chapter Ten The screen door flew open, slamming loud enough to make her jump, and Marina paused in her angry shoveling to look up. James stood in the doorway, panting. He mouthed her name, but she couldn’t hear him over the wind. He had the strangest look on his face, and she squinted. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at her. He was looking past her. She turned to see what it was and screamed. A huge black bear was running right at her. “What the fuck? What the fuck?” She stumbled backward. The bear’s eyes had her in their grip, and she tripped, fear taking over every sense she possessed. Instead of leaping at her, though, the bear slowed. As it did, Marina noticed its muscles quivering. There was a shimmer of fur, and then Johnny stood in front of her. His muscles were covered in sweat, the snow’s whiteness gleaming brilliantly off his skin. The sun had risen now, and it shone down on him. He didn’t stop his momentum. He stalked right for her, a wild, burning look lighting up his eyes. He crashed into her, pulling her into his arms and lifting her body up at the same time. He kept walking, kissing and carrying her. In a small part of her mind she knew what was happening. She knew she shouldn’t want this, that being with Johnny now meant something bad, something she shouldn’t want, but her body had taken over. She couldn’t feel the cold or the snow. Johnny was a source of brilliant, blazing heat, and her body wanted nothing more than to drink him in. It wanted only the fire.

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His lips pushed hard against hers. He didn’t question, didn’t wait for her acquiescence. He took and he demanded. And she wanted it. Something was awakening in her body. His relentless force called to something inside her that she’d never known existed. She could feel its power curling through her muscles and lighting up her insides with a bright, harsh fire. “Johnny,” she whispered, unable to breathe. As he carried her up the steps of the porch, she put her face against his neck and breathed in deep. His scent left her gasping. His heat burned through her mind and her body. Her cunt was throbbing more powerfully than she’d ever felt it, and she growled. She needed to fuck him. She needed to feel his strength and his power moving through her body. He set her abruptly on her feet and ripped her jacket off, throwing it down on the porch. “I’m going to take you. I’m going to possess you. Do you understand? Do you understand what this means?” She smiled at him. “Answer me, damn it,” he said, his voice harsh. He grabbed her arms and shook her. She heard something—someone maybe from far away—calling her name. But she blocked that out. All she could think about was Johnny. She needed him. She’d never needed anyone. Not really. Nothing compared to this need, to what she felt now. It was a strange power lurking in her blood, the power waiting for Johnny to claim it and help it break free, that was true need. It was magic. “I understand, Johnny. Take me.” Their lips collided, and as they fell onto the rough wood of the porch, she whispered, “I’m yours.” Then he was above her, and his cock was inside her, and they were moving. He was pounding into her. She was digging her nails into the flesh and muscle of his back. Her pussy was pulling at him, demanding his cock’s return each time he pulled out and shuddering

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each time he pushed in. A frightening power snarled and lashed out inside her. Somewhere in her mind, she knew that the wood porch was cold. She knew that the air biting at her exposed flesh should hurt. But she couldn’t hold on to those thoughts. All she could feel was Johnny. He was everything now. He grasped her chin. His eyes fiercely held hers. “I’m going to own you, Marina.” She clung to everything he was. “I know you want this. I know it. You can’t fight it. You’re our mate. Marina, you’re ours!” She was panting. She grunted with each hard thrust of his cock. “Yes,” she whispered. Deep down she believed his words. She wanted them. They were right. “Yes,” she said again. They kept moving. He dug at her. He dug deep. She pulled him in. She could feel hard lashes of pleasure snapping through her body, whipping and stinging, drawing up her orgasm. Her hip bones slammed up against Johnny, and her ass dug into the rough wood of the porch. The harshness of his motion made her strive harder, made her want the orgasm more. “Come on,” she pleaded. They both grunted as he thrust into her with violent force. “Yes,” she said. “I need it hard, Johnny.” Their bodies were battling. She bit him. She cried out. She needed more. She took it from him. He growled as her body started to shake uncontrollably. There was a fierce light of victory burning in his black orbs. “Oh my god,” she choked out, and then she was gasping. The orgasm hit her with brunt physical force. It rocked through her whole body, slamming into every nerve, every vein, every inch of flesh. Her body flew. Johnny continued to pump inside her, but a few strokes later he exploded. As he whispered her name, she breathed him in.

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Her arms fell. Her head hit the porch. This was euphoria. His scent carried her away. She flew through the sky. She was free. He held her up. His scent was heaven. It wrapped around her, so gentle and loving after their harsh joining. She could let her own breath out. She could disintegrate. She could fall. She opened her eyes. Johnny was there. He was everywhere. He was inside her. She was his. **** “Marina!” James bellowed. “Open the door!” “Go away,” she sobbed. “Open the door now, Marina!” Her crying was killing him. He just wanted to get to her and hold her. He needed to make her feel better. Johnny was on the bed, running his hands through his hair, and Jeremiah was pacing next to the window. She was in the bathroom. Again. They were going on half an hour now. “Marina, we understand you’re upset, but you being in the bathroom isn’t helping anything.” She didn’t respond, only continued to cry. “Goddamn it, Marina, open this door!” “No!” “I’m going to count to three. If this door isn’t opened by then, I’m gonna break it down, and then I’m going to spank your ass.” “Leave me alone!” she screamed. “Why did you get that close to the house?” Jeremiah asked Johnny. “One…” James counted out for Marina to hear. “I didn’t think anyone was going to be awake when I got back, much less traipsing around in the fucking snow wearing nothing more

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than a pair of boots and a jacket. What the hell? Why was she out there?” “Two…” “We had an argument. Right before she ran out she said she would never mate us.” “Shit,” Johnny whispered. “Marina, this is your last warning.” James waited for her to reply. When she didn’t give him one, he took a step back. “Damn it, Marina,” he whispered. “Three.” Before he could get a kick in, though, the doorknob turned. Marina stood there, her eyes and nose splotchy and dripping. Then, with a loud sob, she ran across the bedroom and tore the door open. “Roy,” she shouted. A few moments later, the dog came bounding up. “Stay with me, Roy. If anyone tries to touch me, you bite him in the ass.” She rubbed his ears and then shot them each a glare. After walking to their dresser, she rummaged around until she found a couple old items that looked smaller than the rest. She began tugging them onto her slender frame. “What are you doing?” Jeremiah asked. “Don’t talk to me.” “You’re going to have to talk to us eventually,” Johnny said. “It’s not like you can go that far.” For having just accidentally mated himself to someone, Johnny was taking everything rather well. James was kind of proud of him, truth be told. After she was dressed, she went to the kitchen, calling for Roy to follow her. She picked up their phone and punched a number in. “What do you think you’re doing?” James asked, letting out an annoyed sigh. A few moments passed, and then she said, “Bohagande Young.” She spoke in clear, distinct syllables. Then she said, “Just put me straight through, please.” A few seconds passed while Marina waited for the call to connect. “Hi, is this Bo?”

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James crossed his arms over his chest, wondering what the hell she was up to. They’d already explained what would happen once they smelled her in bear form and then consummated the bond. Even if he was the shaman, Bo wasn’t going to tell her any differently. “Bo, this is Marina Andrews. We met a couple weeks ago at Savage Convenience. Yes, good, thank you for asking. Bo, I was wondering if I could have your address.” James strode across the kitchen to take the phone from her, knowing whatever she was planning couldn’t be good, but as soon as he got within three feet of her, she whipped around and covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “Don’t take another fucking step, James Greenwood.” “Or what?” he asked, amused at her threat. Her attention returned to the phone call. “Yes, please, right now. I’d like to come visit you.” James lunged for the phone, but Marina twisted. Her elbow caught him in the neck. Cursing, he wrapped an arm around her and then used his free hand to grab the phone and yank it out of her grip. She flailed and fought against him, and Roy was barking, not sure if he should join the melee or attack. James nodded at Jeremiah and Johnny to come grab her. Then he put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Bo, it’s James.” “Everything all right? Sounds like a bit of a scuffle over there.” “Well…” “What’s up?” “Johnny kinda accidentally mated Marina Andrews.” He figured it was better to just spit it out. “Accidentally mated?” “Yep. “Hmm.” “You don’t sound surprised.” “Well, there’s a first time for everything, I guess.”

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“I guess.” James glanced over at his brothers. Marina was still putting up a damn good fight. “Now,” Bo said, “I don’t imagine she’s too happy about this. I mean, assuming it was accidental for her as well.” Marina’s hand flailed out from the mass of bodies and backhanded Johnny. “Damn it, Marina,” his brother muttered, grabbing her hand. “It was accidental for her, yes.” “All right,” Bo said, letting out a long breath. “Why don’t you and Jeremiah come on over and we’ll talk about this. Leave Johnny there with the girl, and I’ll talk to her after I’ve spoken with you two.” “There’s nothing you can do, right?” James was surprised at the question and at the nervous way he’d asked it. Of course, he would never intentionally mate Marina against her will, but now that it had happened, he couldn’t deny that a small part of him was relieved. She’d be with them forever now. He suddenly realized that he was angered at the idea of anything messing that up. Eventually, she’d fall in love with them. She had to. She was Johnny’s mate. “Why don’t you two just head on over,” Bo said. “Sure, sure. See you in a few.” James shook his head, dispelling his thoughts. He needed to focus on Marina. He needed to make sure she was going to be okay through this. It was a huge shock for her. He and his brothers would have to tread carefully. But no matter how much he tried to squash it down, the happiness he felt from Marina’s mating with Johnny persisted. **** Marina took another step toward the bedroom door, and the board beneath her foot let out a loud, indignant creak. She paused and whipped her head around to see if Johnny was going to run through

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the door yelling accusations. No sound came from the animal preserve where Johnny had gone to check up on the animals. James and Jeremiah had left for Bo’s two days ago. She’d talked to them on the phone once, but they’d been so vague about everything, telling her to just enjoy her time alone with Johnny. She and Johnny hadn’t said much to each other, mostly because she refused to talk to him. He’d tried to start a conversation, but she ignored him. He’d thrown a tantrum of course, dropped a few expletives, but then just went about his own business. The first day she’d gone outside to get some fresh air, and he came running out to her. He’d picked her up and carried her back inside while she’d thrashed and screamed at him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she’d yelled, trying to get a good hit in, but his body was rock hard, and he had her arms pinned up against her body anyway. “Put me down!” she screeched right in his ear. He didn’t budge. When they got back inside, she was shaking. “You have absolutely no right to keep me locked up in here. I just needed some goddamn air.” She ranted and yelled at him for a while until finally he turned to her, glaring, and said, “James and Jeremiah could come back any minute, and they could very well be in bear form. I didn’t think you’d want to be out there when they did.” “Oh,” she said, her anger fizzling out. He turned away and stomped out to where they kept the animals. When he came back an hour or so later, she had some dinner cooking in the oven as a sort of peace offering. “That was nice, Johnny, what you did.” He’d mumbled some gruff response and then asked what was in the oven. They’d had a sort of shaky peace since then, but she demanded he sleep on the couch. She knew he felt bad about what had happened, but she just couldn’t face going to bed with him.

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She was scared of what would happen. When they’d come together on the porch, he’d awoken some sort of animal inside her, and she knew if she let herself give into him, that animal would grow stronger and stronger until it completely took over. Then she’d never get away. And that brought her back to her problem now. She didn’t know when Jeremiah and James would get back, but she wanted to be well away from here when they did. Away from the preservation center. Away from bear-shifters and Shoshone curses. Away from Savage Valley. After Johnny left the main part of the house, she remembered seeing a laptop on the kitchen table, so she snuck out of the bedroom and opened it up. She did a quick search of a few of the major airlines and clicked on one heading to LA from Denver early the next morning. She clicked on the “Purchase Ticket Now” button and held her breath, half expecting the computer to blow up in her face or something. But instead, it went to the next page, and she filled in her credit card information. When she clicked the “Confirm Transaction” button, she gripped the edge of the table, holding her breath and staring hard at the computer, daring it not to work. “Transaction Approved!” popped up on the screen, and her breath came out in a quick rush. “Take that, you fucking Shoshone curse,” she whispered and wrote down the confirmation number. As if she actually believed she was stuck here forever. What a ludicrous idea. All she had to do was buy a ticket, get on a fucking plane, and voilà, she’d be out of here for good. Besides, she’d only “mated” herself or whatever to Johnny. If—and it was a very big if— all that magic rigmarole was true, then it probably wouldn’t even work if she wasn’t attached to all three of them.

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And she was going to get the hell out of here before the other two did their bear thing and got her to mate them, too. She could not let that happen. She had a life, goddamn it. She wouldn’t be stuck in Savage Valley forever. She wouldn’t. Marina let out a small puff of breath. Of course, that wasn’t even touching on the fact that if she did stay, eventually, one day, the Greenwoods would tire of her. She would lose her appeal, and she’d be back to square one. Even if life on the road was grueling, even if she did sometimes regret that she would never have a family of her own, and even if she did envy her sister’s newfound happiness with her fiancés, Marina knew buying into that kind of life was dangerous. On the road and on the stage, she knew where she stood and knew who she was. Maybe it wasn’t perfect, but it was safe, and Marina had always looked out for herself first. She’d had to. After donning several layers of warm clothing, she called for Roy. She sat on the floor and held him, rubbing his belly and kissing his face. “I know I said I wouldn’t leave you, Roy, but I can’t take you out in the snow right now. I can’t take care of you at all, really.” He licked her ear, and she clenched her teeth. She would not cry. “I’m going to leave you here, boy, but it’s only because I know the Greenwoods will take good care of you. They’re good men, pretty boy.” Marina gasped as the truth of the words struck her. She’d said them almost in passing, but hearing them aloud, she knew how much truth they held. The Greenwoods would take care of her puppy. And if she stayed, they would take care of her, too. Even when they didn’t love her anymore. Even when she turned on them and became the ugly person she knew she was. They would stay with her because that was the kind of men they were. Marina didn’t deserve that. And men like that deserved so much more than Marina could give in return. “You’ll be happy with them,” she whispered into Roy’s fur. “At least one of us should, so you have

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to stay.” Thinking about leaving the Greenwoods had her so confused. She felt something sharp in her chest when she tried to breathe, so she kissed Roy on the top of his head and buried her face in his fur for a moment, pushing all the confusion and the hurt away. Then she gently shoved him out of her lap and stood, looking out the window. The ground was still mostly white, but patches of earth were peeking through. Nobody had driven on the tiny dirt road leading to the center since the snowstorm, but most of the snow had melted away from the road anyway. “Bye, Roy,” she said, picking up her bag of belongings that she’d brought and then slipping out the door before he could dart through. As she walked off the porch, he scratched and whimpered, but she ignored him. She kept walking, not worrying about Johnny being able to see her because he was in the back part of the preserve. When she stepped off the porch, the late afternoon light washed across her face. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the trek, and then headed for her aunt’s house. She was taking the Escalade. She was leaving. She didn’t know if her label would take her back before she’d completed her time away. She didn’t even know if they wanted her. But even if they didn’t, she would find her way back to the stage. If nothing else, she was a survivor. And she would never look back.

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Chapter Eleven Marina glanced in her rearview mirror for what had to be the hundredth time since pulling out of her aunt’s driveway thirty minutes ago. She’d been there for almost two hours, packing as much as she could into the Escalade, but she was too nervous. Leaving a good portion of her belongings behind, she’d told Aunt Agnes she’d pay to have them shipped to her but that she had to get out of there as soon as possible. “Honey,” her aunt had said, “what’s going on? Is everything okay? You look a little flustered.” “Aunt Agnes, I can’t even begin to explain what’s going on.” She’d paused in her packing, ran over to her aunt, and squeezed her tight. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t tell you anything, but I have to get out of here. I have to get away.” She’d felt the panic begin to rise again, so she turned away and threw stuff into suitcases. Ethel Rose was in her case in the front seat, and for some reason the guitar was making her more nervous than calm. Every time she glanced over at the scuffed case, something in her gut clenched. She chanced another peek, and the result was so violent that she gagged. She should be completely excited about returning to LA, not plagued with doubts and misgivings. With a frustrated grunt, she let go of the wheel with one hand, twisted over, and snatched up the case. It was heavy when lifting with one arm in such an awkward position. She tried to toss it into the back, but it got stuck. She looked away from the road to see what was impeding it. She tugged and lifted until it was above the seat, and she shoved it in the back.

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When she returned her attention to the road, a red fox sat serenely in the middle of her lane. She slammed on the brakes and swerved into the opposite lane. The vehicle teetered and fishtailed for one harrowing moment, but then the wheels straightened, and she was on her way again. Cursing and thanking her lucky stars that no one had been approaching, she looked in her rearview to make sure she hadn’t hit the fox. It remained sitting in the middle of the road, tail curled around its legs as it watched her drive away. Chills swept through her. She was reminded of Reba, the fox she’d seen at Michelle’s engagement party. It couldn’t be the same one. No way. Jeremiah said she was at the center. If she was out, then that meant… Her phone rang, making her jump. Johnny’s name was displayed on the screen. “Crap, crap, crap,” she muttered to herself. If he was calling her, that meant he knew what she’d done, probably his brothers as well. They’d be coming after her. All she had to do was make it out. Then they couldn’t touch her. They’d be stuck, and she’d be free. Over the next few minutes, her phone didn’t stop ringing. All three of the Greenwoods called her. She refused to answer. She would give them absolutely no chance to persuade her. A minute or two passed with no new calls, so when her phone rang again and Michelle’s number popped up, she got a weird feeling. She sighed and grabbed her phone. At least she could tell her sister where she was headed, and then maybe when Michelle next saw the Greenwoods, she could tell them that she had gone. “Michelle, I don’t want you to freak out, but—” “Where the goddamn hell are you?” An angry male voice boomed out of her phone. “James?” “Damn right it’s James. You tell me where you are right this instant, Marina Andrews.”

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“I can’t believe you called me from my sister’s phone. You’re being ridiculous.” “I’m being ridiculous?” he shouted. “I’m being ridiculous. You have no idea what you’re doing. Get your ass back to this house.” “No!” “Right this minute, Marina!” She half considered hanging up. She didn’t feel like dealing with his bullshit anger. It wasn’t like she’d ever see him again. She was already gone. But whatever, might as well get this over with. She also didn’t want any sappy e-mails begging for her to come back or whatever. “Look, James. I know that y’all thought I was gonna be your mate or whatever, but I’m not. Okay? You have to get that through your thick skulls. I’m. Not. Your. Mate. I’m Marina Andrews. I have a career in country music. And you know what? I’m a pretty big deal. I’ve toured Japan and Australia. I’m famous. That’s reality. We don’t live in a world where some bogus Shoshone curse or whatever is gonna change that fact. I’m sorry if it’s hard for you to accept, but I’m gone. I’ve already left Savage Valley. I’m almost to the airport, in fact, so don’t even bother trying to come after me. You won’t make it.” Well, that last part was a bit of a stretch, but it might help to keep them from trying to follow her, so she shrugged off the little painful tug she felt. On top of that, it was difficult to maintain the cavalier tone in her voice, but she thought it would be easier on them, in the long run, if they believed she never really cared about them. Better to just break things completely off than to let them see how much her heart twisted with each word. For a long moment there was nothing from James’s end of the line. Then he chuckled. “You’re lying, Marina.” “No I’m not,” she said. “I mean it. I’ve toured Japan. Twice actually.”

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“I’m not talking about Japan.” His voice was low and dangerous. “You aren’t almost to the airport. In fact, you haven’t even made it twenty miles from the center of Savage Valley. I know this because less than three days ago, that was as far as I could get. Listen to me, Marina. You need to turn around and come back. It’s dangerous for you to be out there. Nighttime is coming. You’ll be stranded, and if I or my brothers have to come after you, you’re gonna get the hardest spanking of your life. Do you understand me?” Marina rolled her eyes. “I’m not a child. No man is going to spank me for disobeying his orders.” The Escalade made a beeping noise. “What the?” she whispered. “Marina, what’s going on? Where are you?” His voice lost its hard edge, and he sounded genuinely worried. “I have to go, James. Tell your brothers…” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence, so she said, “I have to go. Bye.” Then she ended the call. A beep came from the dashboard again, and the “Check Engine” light flashed. “What the hell?” A few moments later the beeping grew more frantic, and she felt the Escalade shudder around her. Then the engine turned off. It just stopped. She pulled onto the shoulder and coasted. A minute or so later, the SUV rolled to a complete stop. “Fuck.” She looked at the blinking dash and all the stuff piled up in the car. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She looked at her phone. She couldn’t call her sister to come pick her up. James would most likely answer the phone again. And if they’d gotten to Michelle, they could probably get to Aunt Agnes. There was nobody to help her. She was on her own. “Damn it,” she muttered, opening the car door. The late afternoon sun shone down on the snow-covered ditches, and a chilly wind

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scratched across the skin of her face. No other vehicles were on the road, so she hopped out and shoved at her bangs, thinking. She looked back in the direction she had come from and blinked. “Nope,” she said and then closed the door to the Escalade, locking it behind her. She couldn’t go back. She wouldn’t give up. She had to get out of Savage Valley. There was no such thing as a Shoshone curse. She wasn’t mated to a bear-shifter. She would leave this crazy place. These were facts. And as she began walking away, they echoed in her head. Each time she took a step, each time she moved her feet further down the road, she repeated these facts. She couldn’t go back. She wouldn’t give up. Her feet trudged and stomped down the road. She had to get out of Savage Valley. **** “Goddamn her stubborn ass!” James shouted, throwing the phone onto the bed. They were at the Ashleys’, but he and Johnny closed themselves in one of their studies to discuss Marina while Jeremiah made a few calls to see if anyone had seen her. James ran his hand through his hair and grabbed a handful of strands, tugging at his scalp, trying to relieve some of the fast-growing tension in his skull. “Let me guess. She didn’t believe you,” Johnny muttered. James would have berated him for letting his guard down, but to be honest, he never suspected Marina would pull a stunt of this magnitude. She didn’t understand the danger. So many things could go wrong. She was nearing the Edge, and once she hit it, the protection of Savage Valley was weaker. Wild animals, poachers, and whatever other things that went bump in the night were out there. He couldn’t imagine her spending some of the night by herself. They had to go get her.

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“Okay, here’s what we’ll do,” he said when Jeremiah came back into the room. “I just spoke with Caleb Kinman,” Jeremiah said, his face white and drawn. “Good, we can use his help. His and the Sheriff’s. We should probably see if any of the other bear-shifters would be willing to help. No telling what Marina will do once she realizes she can’t leave.” “No,” Jeremiah said, swallowing and choking on the word. “He just got a call from a couple tourists heading into town from Denver.” “Can’t this wait? We need to go after Marina. We can’t leave her out there.” “They said they saw a bear. They said it looked big enough to be a grizzly.” “What?” James froze. He knew there hadn’t been any grizzlies in Colorado since the ’70s, but still, wild bears so rarely wandered this close to Savage Valley. “Fuck, and they definitely saw a bear?” “Caleb says they slowed down to look but didn’t stop for pictures because it was so big.” James started pacing again. “Could it be one of us?” “I don’t think so. Both of the Kinmans are at the Sheriff’s Department. I know the Carsons will still be at the bank. The Strongs, no. Noah doesn’t really do much since Bo stripped his brother’s shifting abilities. That only leaves the Ashleys and…” Jeremiah motioned toward the door, indicating the three bear-shifters and Michelle on the other side, all four waiting in silence to hear the Greenwoods’ decision. “Shit!” James cursed. “You think it could be wild?” Jeremiah nodded. “Okay,” he pressed his fingers to his temples and stood still for a moment. “Johnny,” he barked out. “Yeah?” “You and Jeremiah split up. Head through the forest. Look for tracks, a scent, any sign of this bear. We haven’t had a wild bear in

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years. It should stick out like a sore thumb. Take the Ashleys as well. That’s our number-one priority. I’m going to take the Jeep and head out of Savage Valley toward Denver. We at least know she went that way. Hopefully she has stayed on the road, and I can pick her up and bring her ass in. If not, I’ll shift and we’ll meet up and look for her together in bear form.” Jeremiah met his eyes. “And if we come across her while shifted?” James frowned. It was what had started this whole mess, and Marina would be devastated if another one of them accidentally mated her. But hell, they couldn’t leave her out there when a fucking bear was nearby. “We’ll deal with those consequences if they arise. Right now we need to focus on bringing Marina back to safety.” His brothers didn’t hesitate. They strode toward the front door and began removing their clothes. As soon as they were outside, they burst out of their human skin. Their bear paws fell already running upon the snow. James snatched the keys hanging next to the front door and sprinted for the Jeep. On his way down the road, he’d call the rest of the shifters on the emergency number. Each of the bears had a phone that they kept nearby for emergency situations. “Damn it, Marina,” he whispered when he revved up the Jeep. If he found her, he was going to spank her ass until it was as red as a goddamn fire hydrant. He didn’t let himself think of what would happen if he didn’t find her. Or worse, if he found her too late. **** Marina fought off another shiver. She was only wearing a sweater, a jacket, and a scarf, not even a pair of warm gloves. Not for the first time since abandoning the Escalade, she cursed her inconsiderate haste in leaving behind all those warm clothes. The first twenty minutes or so had been cake. She’d been so riled up that she didn’t

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even notice the swiftly dropping temperatures. Now though, the cold had begun to reach her flesh. It crawled along her skin and sunk through, swimming with sharp claws through her blood. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to ignore it. Someone would come along soon. She couldn’t go back. She wouldn’t give up. She had to get out of Savage Valley. Her feet faltered as she heard a familiar sound behind her. “Thank god,” she whispered as a pair of headlights beamed across the road from behind her. Turning around, she jumped up and down and screamed, begging the vehicle to stop. Under normal circumstances, she would never, ever consider hitchhiking. But tonight, she had too much at stake. A vintage RV approached, and its hulking silver-gray shape in the twilight was such a welcome sight that Marina found herself laughing in relief as it slowed down. When it came to a full stop in front of her, the woman in the passenger seat slid the window open with a loud crack. Her lightbrown hair was frizzy and pulled back in a bun. She eyed Marina for a long moment. “Hi,” Marina said, not sure of the proper hitchhiking protocol. “Umm…can I hitch a ride?” The man driving leaned over and eyed her. Suddenly the air around her felt colder. One of his eyes squinted, and he rolled his tongue around the front of his teeth. “You that country singer?” he asked in a scratchy voice. “Yes, sir,” she answered with a bright smile, hoping to make them feel a little more comfortable. Or maybe it was to make herself more comfortable. “Marina Andrews. It’s nice to meet you.” She held out her hand to the woman, but the woman only stared. Then she said, “What do we get if we give you a ride?” “Umm…” In all the movies she’d ever seen where the freespirited young woman went hitchhiking, everyone was super cool and

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nice, and there were couches and soft cushions on the inside. And everyone was always singing. “I can put your names in the acknowledgments of my next album?” she offered. “That’s it?” the man asked, and the woman kept her beady eyes trained on Marina’s face. “I can give you some money once we get into Denver. As much as you want. I just have to get out of here. Please,” she begged. “I can’t stay here.” The man whispered something, and then the woman slid the window closed with another loud crack. Marina bounced from foot to foot for warmth as the two discussed something inside the RV. Something told her to just turn around and start walking back toward the Escalade, but she couldn’t give up. She’d come this far. She had to get out of Savage Valley. The woman whipped her head back around and fixed a hard stare on Marina. Marina stopped bouncing as the woman got out of her seat and headed for the back. “Thank you,” Marina said, jogging to the door, waiting for the woman to open it up for her. A cold wind swept past, and she fought back a violent shiver. The wind kept coming, though. It tore through the fabric of her clothing and whipped across her skin. It reached for her bones and held her in its frozen grip. The door to the RV flew open, and before Marina could move, something cold and smelling of overripe tomatoes splashed against her face and then dripped through her hair, down her shoulders, and onto her chest and back. Marina gasped, tasting spaghetti sauce on her tongue. When she wiped the sauce off her face, she could only stare up at the angry face of the woman who held an empty pot in her hands. “You’ve got the devil in you,” the woman said, her voice angry and shaking. “You and your devil music pollute the minds of decent young girls. You make them think that salvation can be found in sex and alcohol and money. You are a sinner. You are going to hell. Do

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you hear me, Marina Andrews? You are going to hell!” The woman slammed the door, and the RV accelerated, moving away from her with finality. Marina gasped, unable to catch her breath as exhaust fumes washed across her face. She felt a sob bubbling in her throat. “No, no, no, no,” she said, watching the RV move further and further away. “Come back,” she whispered. She was in shock. Her muscles were stiff and ineffectual. Nothing like this had ever happened to her. She’d received her fair share of hate mail, but not once had she been faced with naked aggression like this. It shook her. She didn’t know those people. She’d never done a thing to those two travelers except ask them for help. Her whole body was shaking, but she couldn’t stop. If she stopped, she would fall down, and she would freeze. Her mind was in shock mode. All she could do was keep walking. So she put one foot in front of the other, and she marched. A part of her knew she should give up, should turn around and head back into town. But the woman’s words clamored through her mind. “You’ve got the devil in you.” All the self-doubt she’d been struggling with came boiling to the surface. She did have demons. They were too powerful. They would always be there to destroy anything she tried to build between herself and the Greenwoods. All she could do was keep walking away. The spaghetti sauce was cold, and it smelled. The odor was so strong. The sauce had to be at least a week old if not more. “Goddamn it!” she shouted, trying to wipe off as much of the goopy red stuff as she could, trying not to lose the last vestige of her sanity, but it was a useless endeavor. It was in her hair and embedded in the fabric of her jacket and scarf. Her fingers trembled as she ran them through her clumping strands. Turn around. Marina nearly jumped at the voice in her head. “Shut up,” she whispered to herself. A few minutes went by. The sun

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was no longer visible, only a few straggling rays scraped against the sky from behind the mountains. Give up. Turn around. “Stop it, Marina,” she shouted, forcing her feet to keep moving. She absolutely could not give up. If she did, if she gave in, that meant that the fucking Shoshone curse had won. It meant that she was bonded to Johnny and that she would never escape Savage Valley. Everything she knew about herself, about her life, it would all be over. She would be trapped, but more importantly, the Greenwoods would be trapped. With her and with all her destructive tendencies. She didn’t want to see them grow to hate her. She couldn’t live through that. You know you want to. “No, I fucking don’t,” she said, growling and marching. “I can’t go back. I won’t give up. I am getting out of Savage Valley. Do you hear me, you goddamn Shoshone bullshit curse? I am getting out of Savage Valley.” She had stopped and was screaming at the forest around her. “You can’t win. I’m getting away from you. You can’t keep me here!” She gasped, clenching her eyes tight and sucking in a deep breath, forcing the panic back down her throat. She couldn’t surrender to the despair. If she did, everything was lost. She had to stay focused. After a few long moments of deep breathing, she thought she had her thoughts back under control. This would be the absolute worst time to lose her mind. Brushing a hand over her forehead to sweep her tomato-infused bangs out of her face, she opened her eyes. A crunching noise came from the forest up ahead, and she took a few steps toward it, wondering if it was some sort of forest critter but hoping it was, by some miracle, a person. She hoped it wasn’t anything aggressive. She’d already dealt with her fair share of crap for the day. In fact, in her humble opinion, she thought she was just about set for life in the “crap I shouldn’t have to deal with” category.

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The crunching grew louder, and she paused. A couple low grunts came from the trees, and then out stepped a bear. Marina jerked. It was so damn big. She could see its breath blowing out of its nostrils in hot clouds of steam. “Johnny,” she whispered, hoping and praying. “Is that you?” The bear sniffed the air and then turned its head toward her. “Johnny?” she said a little louder, taking a few steps backward. The bear let out what sounded like an annoyed huff. “Jeremiah? James? If it’s either of you, please stop. Shift back or whatever.” The bear’s lips curled up, and it let out a decidedly aggressive snarl. “Please,” she whispered. “I can’t handle anything else. Just please shift back.” The bear stood up on its hind legs and let out a roar, swiping its huge paws at her. “Are you a real bear?” Marina looked at the creature with new eyes, new terror racing through her veins, colder than anything she’d felt that night. The bear’s lips curled and twitched as it released another long, angry roar. She screamed as the noise reached inside her ears and clenched steel fingers around her heart. Then everything—all the fear, all the sorrow, all the anger that she’d ever felt toward herself and her life— rushed to the surface. “Fuck you!” Marina shouted. She could endure no more. She was finished. Her eyes darted across the ground. If she was going to die, she might as well put up some small fight. There were a few sizable rocks nearby. She picked some up and then began chunking them at the bear, screaming at it. “How perfectly fucking ironic, right?” she screamed, throwing a rock. “I run away from bears only to be eaten by one.” She threw her head back and laughed and then hurled another rock at it. “Well, come on then, you coward.” Tears clouded her vision. “Just do me a favor, okay? Make it quick.” The bear huffed and grunted at her tantrum. “Come on!” she screamed. She

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didn’t even know where the bear was anymore, her tears were so thick. Maybe that would be better. Maybe it would make everything easier. “Get on with it,” she sobbed. “Just fucking eat me.” With a wild sob, full of desperation and everything her life would not be, she threw her last rock. Then her hands fell to her side. She gave up.

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Chapter Twelve “Damn it, Marina. Damn it! Damn it!” James had found the Escalade abandoned about a mile back. He could smell Marina’s scent all over it, then her scent threaded away like a long line of waving silk. It drifted along the side of the road, leading further in the direction he’d already been heading. He’d left his car behind and began running along the road, following her scent. Soon after, he’d come across the strangest thing. Marina’s scent changed. Suddenly her smell was drowned in tomato. He could still catch hints of her, but the smell of tomatoes was overpowering. He was surprised every critter on earth hadn’t come to investigate where that delectable smell was coming from. He’d thought about shifting into bear form. His senses were sharper. He was faster. Stronger. He could find her in half the time. But he resisted. He didn’t want to risk alienating her even further by accidentally mating her. Goddamn it, if she’d have just stayed put, they could have talked. They could have figured something out. A new scent caught his nose. It flew up into his brain and then stabbed his heart with fear. He suddenly knew why no other critters had come. The bear was nearby. The road curved in front of him, and he began removing his jacket and his sweater. Then he undid his belt buckle while continuing to sprint down the road. Marina screamed, and then he could hear her sobbing. The bear released an angry roar. James’s muscles began to shake and quiver. His bear was ripping to the surface. There was no time to resist, no moment of second thought. He exploded outward with a mighty bear roar. His great

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bear-paws beat onto the earth-ground. Nothing—no bear, no man— would ever touch his stormy-eyed-Marina. He flew past her. His bear-jaws flew open. He launched his body toward his fearsome opponent. He snarled and he snapped. He would tear soft, yielding flesh between his sharp bear-teeth. He knocked the great wild bear backward. They rolled across the frozen earth-ground. Then something slammed into James. It flooded his nose. It was sweet and powerful. It ripped him away from his great bear-self. In the heat of his initial attack, he’d been able to ignore it, but now her scent could be denied no longer. “Marina,” he whispered as his bear receded and he became a man again. He rolled away from the wild bear. “James!” Marina screamed. “Don’t come near me!” He roared the words. He didn’t know if it was fear or lust that caused the words to barrel out of his chest. His heart beat with a wild frustration. He needed release, but already, the bear had regained its footing and was heading back toward him. He crouched in the snow, naked and breathing hard. It was difficult to call his bear up again after having it so forcefully stripped out of him. “Come on,” he shouted. He concentrated, pulling up every shard of wildness in his blood. His bear was sleeping. His bear and the Shoshone magic that coursed through his blood knew his human side needed to root itself in Marina, but he couldn’t. The wild bear shook its head, regaining its equilibrium. If James wanted to shift back into bear form, he had to go deeper into his wildness than ever before. He had to lie with the beast, had to become the beast. He had to welcome its ferocity. The wild bear ran at him, shaking and roaring. James could feel the fire of his bear’s blood begin to trickle through his veins. He stood up and faced the oncoming bear. He roared. He let wildness consume him. It flooded everything he was. Everything human slipped away. He was bear.

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The wild bear lunged for him as his body transformed. Hot firepain ripped across his shoulder. The bear’s claws sank into his hardmuscled back. He roared, but he would not be conquered. He growled. He stretched his fierce bear-snout out and snapped. He wanted the taste of flesh. He needed the hot-gushing blood of this animal. He would kill it. He would destroy it. He rose up on his powerful hind legs. He leapt at the wild, loathsome creature. The creature who wanted what was his. His bear-claws sank into hot flesh. He roared in heady triumph. He would taste death tonight. The fire-energy of desire clashed through his mighty bear-blood. He wanted victory. He wanted to kill for it. His roar rang through the frozen-still air. He was on top of his wild foe. He ripped. He gnashed. His enemy rolled with a wilddesperate snap. James opened his bear-jaws wide. But his vicious rival twisted. He escaped his death-bite. A claw swiped up. It caught James on his bear-jowl. A roar exploded out of his great bear-heart. Hot blood dripped through his bear-fur. He stalked his mighty opponent. He could not let him win. He did not wait. He did not hesitate. He lunged forward again. His aim was true. He could feel it deep in his bear-bones. His powerful bear-teeth sank into the wild bear’s throat. Sharp claws dug into his back. They scratch-clawed at his soft underbelly. He did not let go. He did not relinquish. He slashed his head back and forth with violent power. The wild bear’s blood gurgled into his mouth. He tasted its hot power deep in his belly. He did not release the throat from his mighty bear-mouth. The bear struggled. It fought against him. He was a mighty, ferocious opponent. But James would win. James would destroy. The wild bear moaned. James felt it twitch. And then its life was gone. The bear was no more. James ripped his bear-mouth away. His great bear-body trembled. He was weak. He felt it in his bearblood and in his bear-muscles. But he did not think of rest. He did not think of the warm comfort found in a leaf-bed close by.

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One thought filled his vast bear-mind. One image burned against his vision. It was her. Her woman-scent flooded his mind again. The fire-energy snapped through him. It roiled through his bear-blood. It was primal. It was barbarian. It was animal. His human form throttled itself at the surface, and his bear receded. When he stood as a man before her, he could feel the grime of battle on his face. He could feel the cold ground and the snow beneath his bare feet. He did not think about these things. She had her back to a tree. He could see where the tears had streaked a trail down her face. She had tomato sauce on her, but he didn’t care. He needed to be in her. He needed to possess her. He had to join their bodies. He would disintegrate if he did not. He would cease to exist. He strode toward her. “James,” she whispered. “Please, I can’t…” He collided into her. He shoved her hard against the tree with his body, and her gasp filled him with pleasure, with a heady power. She would not resist him. She would not turn him away. He gripped her chin in his hand. “I will take you now.” Tears filled her eyes, but she nodded and smiled. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, you will.” He gripped the sleeves of her jacket and ripped it off her body. He tore her pants down her legs. His fingers shredded the flimsy lace of her panties in seconds. Then he lifted her hips, shoved her back against the tree, and pushed his cock into her pussy. In one hard thrust, he’d entered to the hilt. She clung to him, which was good. He intended to fuck her hard and fuck her long. She breathed his name once, and then he was moving. He held her chin. She would not look away from him. She was his, goddamn it. Nothing would take her away. He slammed his cock deep into her

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body. Her legs wrapped tight around him with each furious thrust. But he could not stop this. She was his. He pumped into her. He pumped hard and fast. He couldn’t get far enough. He needed to posses everything. She made him feral. Berserk. She was the only woman who could conquer this lust. He put his lips to her neck. He kissed. He bit. Her fingers wrapped in his hair, and she pulled, ripping him away. He fought back. He kissed her lips. It was harsh and demanding. She answered with her own hungry demands. Her teeth caught his lip and yanked. A growl rolled through his body, and he continued to drive his cock into her pussy. Oh god, her pussy was hot and wet and tight. It clung to his cock with a desperation that mirrored his own. He held her eyes in his. Then her body began to shake. Between harsh grunts, she whispered, “Make me come.” He slammed into her. He could feel the impact of his hammering echo through the flesh of her body, but each thrust brought a wicked smile to her face. He slammed and he slammed, and she held on to his face and shut her eyes. Then she screamed. Her pussy was pulsing around his cock, and a few hard strokes later, he burst inside her. Her scream faded into a low moan as every bit of tautness leaked out of her body. She melted around him. As his cum spurted out of his cock, he felt the life slipping out of his own muscles. They melted together. Their warm bodies dripped and slowly dropped. They went down. They fell as one onto the waiting blanket of colorless snow. A few moments later, Marina shuddered and then sighed. “What have I done?” ****

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Marina climbed out of the Jeep and looked up to find Bohagande Young standing on the top steps of his wooden porch. His long silver hair hung over one shoulder. Apart from that, he looked completely normal. Not at all the way she’d imagined a Shoshone shaman would appear. Even though she’d met him before, she’d half expected ceremonial feathers and animal bones. Maybe some wailing or warbling. Instead, he smiled at her. “Marina Andrews.” His smile was warm, like she’d picture a grandfather smiling at her if she’d ever met one of hers. “It’s a pleasure to see you again,” he said. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners and the way he held his hands out to her in welcome nearly had tears forming in her eyes. She offered him the best smile she could muster. She felt the three Greenwoods behind her, crunching across the snow to gather inside Bo’s small brown house. After she’d come to, after the mating stupor that she’d experienced with James had lifted, tears began pouring out of her eyes. It wasn’t at all like her. Usually she screamed and wailed against whatever was upsetting her, but she didn’t have any of that left. When she realized that she was mated to James, it felt like her power had been turned off. Nothing snapped through her, no emotion, no spark. As soon as her tears started, James tried to pull her close. She hadn’t resisted, but she hadn’t reciprocated either. One thought blared through her mind. It rang through her like the long, unending wail of a siren. The curse was real. She was truly bound. If her car breaking down didn’t prove it, if getting tomato sauce dumped on her by strangers didn’t prove it, if almost getting eaten by a bear didn’t prove it, the fact that James had come to her rescue and then mated her pretty much sealed the deal. As she tried to escape, her tie to this place just ended up getting stronger. And she hadn’t tried to resist him. She’d welcomed him. She’d wanted to be possessed by him. But now?

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Everything was dead. Everything was gone. Her music, performing, traveling the world—that was gone. It was over. She would never be Marina Andrews again. Before leaving the Greenwoods that afternoon, there had been a small hope, a small tickling of her soul that said she could never truly be stuck anywhere. Nothing, no force—natural, magic, or otherwise—could ever keep her where she didn’t want to be. She would never be a prisoner of circumstance. She’d made that promise to herself the day she realized her parents didn’t love her. Her father had left his family behind. Her mother spent every night away. She’d abandoned them as much as her good-for-nothing husband had. But Marina never let that define her. She wouldn’t be held back by disappointment. She wouldn’t let who she was or where she came from define who she could be. Before leaving the Greenwoods that afternoon, there was a part of her, a part that she thought could never be broken. This part of herself held on to the belief that if she could just leave Savage Valley, she would find the old Marina Andrews again, broken and lost as she was. She thought by leaving, she would prove the Greenwoods wrong. She would show them who she was. By leaving, she would declare, “I am me. I am Marina. I must live the life I understand.” She thought she’d been running toward escape. But, in fact, she’d been shoveling a six-foot hole for it. And now here she was with nothing. Everything had been ripped away from her. She no longer knew who she was. She was alone. She had no name. She was nobody. James, Jeremiah, and Johnny—she was nothing but a broken doll to them now. She could never give them what they wanted. She would always be a disappointment. They couldn’t understand that at the moment, but that was only because she was shiny and new. That would wear off soon enough, though, and she would be forced to watch as their fascination faded into annoyance and finally into resentment, into hate.

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And thinking about that desolate future brought on despondence. So the Greenwoods brought her to Bo. “Would you like some tea, Marina?” Bo’s weathered voice asked from the tiny kitchen. They’d all stomped their feet at the entrance and then filed into the living room. The three brothers sat on the couch, packed in tight, their shoulders scrunched up into uncomfortable-looking positions. Marina sat in a rocking chair in the corner of the room next to the lifeless TV. She tried not to meet their eyes. When she did, she could see the anguish, plain and harsh, on their faces. With James and Johnny, it seemed more sympathetic. They knew she didn’t want to be mated to them. She saw that they understood her sadness. Despite the inevitability of the situation, they didn’t want to be the cause of her pain. She could see that now. But it was Jeremiah’s eyes that tore into her the sharpest. He was the only one not mated to her. She knew it killed him. He’d kissed her first. Out of all three brothers, she’d reacted to him first. She couldn’t help it. Her eyes met his, and he clenched his jaw. His scar seemed more livid and pink while the rest of his face was pale. His black eyes held hers. They bottled a wild rage and cradled a deep hurt. They held so many questions. Questions she could never answer. Desires she could never fulfill. She would never be his. Despite everything that had happened, this realization filled her with a great, heavy sadness. She turned her mind away from that. After all the past couple of days, she couldn’t think about Jeremiah, too, about everything that was and that would not be with him. “Marina?” Bo asked from the kitchen. “Oh, sorry. Sure. That sounds nice.” “What do you take? Lemon? Cream? Honey?” “Just lemon.”

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A few minutes later, Bo came to the living room with her tea. “So from what I understand, you are mated not only to Johnny now, but to James as well?” She stared at her tea. “And it is your wish not to be mated to either of them, nor any of the Greenwoods for that matter. Is this correct?” Marina sucked in a deep breath. The way he asked it made it seem like not being mated to them was a possibility. She knew it wasn’t. A fresh wave a misery washed through her as she nodded to his question. “Drink the tea,” Bo whispered. “It will make you feel better.” Without looking up, she obediently sipped. “James, tell me how this second ‘accidental’ mating occurred, please.” Marina continued to drink the tea as James launched into the evening’s events. She’d already explained what had happened to her before James came to her rescue, and he filled Bo in on these details as well. By the time he finished the retelling, the tea in her cup was almost gone, and strangely enough, she did feel a little better. At least she felt strong enough to look the Greenwoods in the eye again. “Now before we go on, I need to ask you a few questions,” Bo said, facing Marina. “Okay,” she answered although her voice sounded hoarse and strained. Straightening up in her seat, she set her now-empty cup aside. “First, I need you to tell me—with conviction and without a single doubt in your heart—that your mating with first Johnny and then James Greenwood was accidental. That before this occurred, you had no thoughts or designs that would lead to your mating with them.” She met Bo’s steady gaze. His question had been worded strangely. She cared deeply for the Greenwoods. She was brave enough to admit that. And hell, the sex had been soul shattering. On top of all that, they were good and beautiful men. They’d cared for

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her. They were sweet. They talked to her and listened to her. They’d wanted to know her from the moment they met her. She blinked. That didn’t mean she wanted to be mated with them, though. It just meant that she found them severely sexy and had a sort of weakness when it came to receiving lavish attention from goodlooking men. That was exactly what that meant, nothing more. She had never once wanted to tie herself to this place. She’d said from the get-go that she was leaving, that she could never be persuaded to stay with them. “Yes,” she answered, pushing past the small doubts that still flittered and brushed against her mind. “I can say that I never intended to mate any of the Greenwoods.” She didn’t look at them, didn’t want to watch their faces as she said it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Johnny’s grip tighten on the edge of the couch, but she wouldn’t carry her gaze to his face. She didn’t know if she could stomach what she found there. “Okay, good. Second,” Bo continued, “you are aware that your sister is mated to the Ashleys and that she can no longer leave Savage Valley until a new generation of Ashley bears takes her husbands’ place in the bear clan?” “Yes,” Marina said, although she didn’t understand why her sister being mated to bears had anything to do with her situation. In fact, she figured Bo would like that idea, like bear clan solidarity or something. “You understand that this means she will be in Savage Valley until she dies possibly, in the event that she and her husbands produce no male progeny. And that even if they do, it will be close to twenty years before one of her children shifts for the first time.” Michelle eyed Bo. What exactly was he getting at? “Yes,” she answered hesitantly.

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“Now my next statement is for you three.” The men on the couch shifted and sat up a little straighter, probably taken unawares by Bo’s sudden attention, Marina thought. “Under normal circumstances, including accidental matings, the treaty usually bends in favor of the bear clan. But from what you’ve told me of that last few days’ events and what I know of Marina and her life outside of Savage Valley, I would say that these are extenuating circumstances. “You three aren’t going to like what I have to say to Marina, but what you need to keep in mind is that the mating is supposed to be her choice. You are supposed to be absolutely certain that there is no doubt in her mind. Usually the mating process itself eradicates any remaining doubts a woman may have, but her acceptance of you is key in the bear-mating process. Now, Marina’s actions—her running away, her continuing to run away even after several highly discouraging events, and her statements now—show me that there might be a chance for her.” “What the hell are you talking about, Bo?” James asked. “Just spit it out,” Johnny muttered. “Please,” he added at Bo’s dark look. Jeremiah didn’t say anything. His eyes were locked on Marina’s. She thought she knew what Bo was getting at. But she couldn’t let herself hope. She couldn’t. She couldn’t. “Also, since she has yet to mate with Jeremiah this also improves her chances.” “Chances for what, goddamn it?” James slammed his palm onto the worn plush armrest of the couch. “Marina,” Bo said softly. She jumped and ripped her gaze from Jeremiah. Everything trembled. She knew what she wanted Bo to say, and when he did say it, she almost couldn’t believe it. “I can sever the bond.” Her breath came out. She closed her eyes.

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For a brief moment, she saw the world outside of Savage Valley. She was in it. She was living. She wasn’t here. And then all hell broke loose. “No the goddamn hell you can’t!” James roared. Marina’s eyes flew open in time to see him explode off the couch. He was across the living room and snatching her up before she could blink again. “No one is going to sever any fucking bond! Marina is our mate, goddamn it!” “You wouldn’t leave? Right, Marina? You couldn’t do that to us?” Johnny asked. James had moved in front of her, like he would bodily protect her from whatever Bo could throw at them. He was still roaring at the shaman, and Johnny had gripped his arm. Marina felt as if she’d been thrown into a hurricane, but instead of terror, she felt a rising calm. She was used to the feeling of surrounding turmoil and rage. She’d been circled by it her whole life. But then she looked at Jeremiah. His head was in his hands. He suddenly looked so breakable. James and Johnny’s voices drowned out all sound, but she could see the way his shoulders shook. No. There was absolutely no way. Jeremiah didn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry over her. She wasn’t worth his tears. She couldn’t understand. What was he doing? She wanted to go to him, wanted to ask what was wrong. He rose from the couch, and without looking up at her, escaped from the room. His brothers fell quiet as they realized he’d left. “You can’t do this, Bo. Marina,” James said, sucking in a deep breath, “please don’t do this.” “Unfortunately, this is not a matter to be decided by you or by me.” Bo moved so that he could see Marina again, and she stepped out from behind James. Johnny glared at her, but she also saw a deep fear behind his anger. James held on to her arm. She put her hand

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over his and gently tugged at his fingers. His fingers tightened, though. Deciding to ignore his grasp, she looked at Bo. “How would this work?” Before Bo could open his mouth to answer, James spewed again. “Goddamn it, Marina. Give us a chance. Johnny has been mated to you less than seventy-two hours.” “You said that you would be here until the New Year,” Johnny said. “At least give us that much.” “If you two can’t keep your traps shut, I’m sending you outside with the wolves.” Bo shot them each a harsh glance then returned his gaze to Marina. “There is a way to sever the bond. It would take me close to two weeks to get the compound ready, and there are stipulations.” “Aren’t there always?” she asked with a nervous laugh. Her hands shook so hard she had to clasp them together just to think. He offered one brisk nod. “This severing compound will not only end the bond between you and the Greenwoods. It will cleave everything out of you. Everything, Marina. Do you understand what that means?” She frowned. “Not really.” “It means every link to this place, its creatures, its people, its life. The blood and the heart of Savage Valley. This will all be taken. We are a part of you, Marina, and though you may not wish it, you are a part of us now. You are bound to this land and to everything connected to the land, so if you wish to leave one, you must leave all. Your sister. Johnny. James. Jeremiah. You can never come back here. It could be years before you see any of them again.” It was what she wanted. It was what she’d wanted from the moment Michelle dragged her into Savage Valley in the first place. What made things any different now? If she needed to talk to Michelle or see her, there was always Skype or Google Chat or some new technology she could use.

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Everything she was used to was outside of Savage Valley. At least there she was safe from all the turmoil and uncertainty she’d come across here. There was absolutely no reason for her to hesitate. No reason for her to consider staying. Absolutely no reason at all. Her eyes drifted to Johnny’s face. His eyes were hungry, but she tried not to read too much into that. They were always hungry for her, weren’t they? But she thought that maybe he wanted more than her body, more than that wild animal reaction that happened between them. He wants everything. She forced her mind to jump away from that thought. She could never give him that, could never give any man such a thing. She didn’t believe in that kind of surrender, as she’d told James and as she’d told herself hundreds and hundreds of time. Those thoughts didn’t seem as impenetrable as before, though. They felt fragile, like they would crack at the slightest nudge. She blinked, forcing her gaze away from Johnny’s beautiful face and returning it to Bo’s. “Are there any other side effects I should know about?” “Not exactly. But I do have one stipulation before we agree on anything.” “And that is?” “It will take me almost two weeks to get this concoction together. This isn’t the kind of thing I keep on hand. In fact, I’m not sure it’s ever been used by any of my ancestors.” “Okay, well, that’s not exactly comforting, but we’ve come this far. What’s the stipulation?” “While I’m preparing it, you must spend that time with your mates and with Jeremiah. I want you to be absolutely sure before you decide to go ahead with this.” “But, Bo, that totally defeats—” Bo’s voice cut across hers, harsh and unyielding. “I will not budge on this.” James and Johnny had been like two quiet mice since Bo had

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admonished them, but they both nodded their approval at Bo’s newest decree. “Now, knowing all this,” Bo said, “do you wish me to go through with this? Do you wish for me to make the severing compound?” She looked at James and at Johnny. She thought of Jeremiah, hurting and alone in the cold. She remembered all the fights she and her sister had gotten into over the years. She thought of how comfortable she felt standing on the stage with her guitar. Years of anguish and pain and solitude, of hurting and of wanting, of searching, always searching, for what she needed to make her happy washed over her. She’d been adrift for so long she didn’t know where to turn or what she should cling to. But among all of this confusion, there was one thing that remained clear. One path she could always follow with confidence, if not with certainty. Finally, she looked at Bo. She knew what she had to do. Even if she was making the biggest mistake of her life, music would always be a part of her. Music was the only thing constant. Nothing that happened in this life would ever change that. “Make the compound.”

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Chapter Thirteen They’d settled into a tenuous rhythm. Every morning since that night at Bo’s, Jeremiah had awoken to the feel of Marina’s soft, warm body next to his. First, he’d feel her breath wash gently across his naked chest. He’d open his eyes and see a rosiness in her cheeks. He had to resist running a finger along her slightly parted lips. Sometimes her hand would even be curled in his. But all of that—her surrender, her trust, the way she relaxed so fully into his arms when she slept—was a lie. She didn’t want them. She’d said so dozens of times since demanding Bo make his fucking bullshit concoction. At first she’d insisted on sleeping on the couch, claiming that while she had agreed to spend her time with them, she had most certainly not agreed to anything else. They’d all four gone to bed grumpy. About halfway through the night, however, Jeremiah was roused from his slumber. Marina had snuck into his bed and snuggled up next to him. “I can’t sleep,” she whispered. “I can’t even shut my eyes. Can I stay with you? Just for now?” It made sense that she’d chosen him. He was the non-mate. He was the safest choice. He should have said no. He should have pushed her away and accepted that she would never be his, but in the darkness, in the quiet honesty of midnight hours, he’d pulled her in tight to his body and curled his legs around her. He could no more keep her out of his arms than he could keep the seasons from following each other. She belonged to them. She was their mate. It was the nature of things. But she was being so goddamned stubborn about it.

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And now she was getting worked up about her upcoming concert at the new Woodland Den amphitheater. After the fire back in September, Cora Copely, owner and proprietor of the small resort, had decided to build the town amphitheater. After that night at Bo’s and as soon as Marina found out about the theater, she’d headed straight over and requested to play at its grand opening. The concert was scheduled to occur exactly one week and six days after Bo agreed to make the severing compound, exactly one day before it was supposed to be finished. When she’d first told him and his brothers about her idea to play a concert there, Jeremiah was furious. It was like she wasn’t even trying to give them a chance. He forced himself to draw in three deep, steady breaths. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to pursue her music. She was one of the most talented musicians he’d ever met. What he didn’t want was Marina destroying herself while trying to manage her fame and her career. He’d understood, almost from the moment he’d met her, that she wasn’t healthy. She needed them. She needed their love. He chastised himself. Instead of wallowing in the despair of unrequited love, he should be trying to forget her, trying to dig her out of his heart. As the week progressed, however, and as she threw herself more and more into her music, he realized he would never stop caring about her. He wanted to take care of her so much, but she just wouldn’t let him. She didn’t want to give him or his brothers a chance. She was afraid to, afraid she would give in, afraid of leaving her old life behind, but hell if he was going to let her go without a fight. He’d crawled out of bed that morning as he usually did. He’d taken care of the animals. He’d showered. He’d headed into town and left Marina behind with his brothers. But when he pulled into the Woodland Den on his way to do his singles nature walk, he suddenly realized that he couldn’t stomach the

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idea of watching hopeful, young lovers all gaga and lovey-dovey over each other. The wonders of the wild be damned! If Marina was determined to leave him and his brothers behind, he was just as determined to spend every waking second with her until she did. And she would not deny him. His body craved her. He knew hers craved his, craved his brothers’. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. He would grab her, he would hold on, and he would do his damnedest to never let go. He whipped the Jeep around and zoomed back toward the preservation center. When he arrived, he stalked through the kitchen, ignoring his brothers’ stunned expressions, and then exploded into the bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, playing something silly on the guitar to Roy, wearing nothing but an overlarge sweater. His dramatic entrance made her jump, and she looked up at him as he strode across the room. “Jeremiah, what? Aren’t you supposed—” He ripped the guitar out of her hands, yanked her off the bed, and put his burning lips to hers. He forced his tongue between her lips. He dove in. He didn’t let her resist. She wouldn’t. Not today. “No, Jeremiah.” “Don’t lie!” He broke the kiss and glared down into her teeming blue eyes. He saw the storm there. She used everything to hold it back. “Tell me you don’t want me, Marina.” She closed her eyes. “I can’t do this.” Her voice was strangled, but he didn’t care. He would show her no mercy. Why should he? She showed none to him or his brothers. Her distance was cruel, and she knew it. “Open your eyes and tell me you feel nothing.” “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.” “Tell me!” “What difference does it make?” Her porcelain features looked near to breaking. “We can’t have this.”

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“Look me in the eye.” When she didn’t immediately comply, he shook her. “Look at me, damn it.” She did. “Say you don’t want me.” Her lips pressed together. Her eyes pleaded. “Tell me I mean nothing to you.” She shook her head. “You can’t say it.” He moved his lips closer. “You can’t lie to me.” “Please, Jeremiah.” “Yes, I mean to make you beg, Marina.” Her eyes grew wide. He smiled, but the smile felt harsh and unbending on his lips. “This is one day you won’t have your way. I am going to have you. You won’t turn me away.” She bit her bottom lip. It was trembling. He shook her. “Do you understand me?” Lust and rage filled his veins. He crashed his lips onto hers. He pushed her. His scorpion lips struck and stung. He wanted a reaction. He knew there was a fire in her. Her heart was pure, wild fury. She thought it was dead. It wasn’t. He knew her heart. He would pull it out of her. He demanded nothing less. Her hands came to his chest, but instead of pulling him closer, she struggled against his embrace. She whimpered and fought for release. “Damn it, Marina.” He broke away. “What?” he shouted. “What? Tell me what!” They were both panting, glaring at each other. “You know what, Jeremiah. I said I didn’t want this. I need a clear head. It’s hard. I know it’s hard, but you have to believe me.” Her hand came up to his cheek and held his face. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want to be anybody’s mate. I told you from the very beginning. I told you I would walk away. Why won’t you believe me?” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand from his face. “Because I know you better than you know yourself. I’m what you want.” He pressed a harsh kiss to the palm of her hand, and she flinched as the coarse hairs of his beard scraped across the tender skin of her palm. “James,” he said. “Johnny. They are what you want.” She pulled on

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her hand, but he didn’t let go. “The longer you deny that, the more it’s going to kill you.” “It’s only four days until Bo has the compound finished. After that, none of this will matter. I’ll be gone. You’ll never see me again.” She said it to hurt him. He knew she was only trying to tear herself away. “Why make this any harder than it has to be?” “Marina,” James said. He and Johnny had approached. They all three surrounded her. Johnny brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth. James ran gentle, persuasive fingers down the back of her neck. Jeremiah felt a surge in his cock when she shivered in response. Marina sucked in a deep breath. Her hand came up to hold Johnny’s cheek. “This isn’t fair,” she whispered. “I should hate you for what you’ve done to me, for making me your mate, for making me care about you.” She looked at Jeremiah as James moved all of her hair over one shoulder and then placed light kisses, slow and soft, over each knot of her neck and spine. “Do you?” Jeremiah asked. She shook her head. “You want to give in,” Jeremiah said. She nodded. “I shouldn’t want to. Somewhere in my mind I know I shouldn’t.” Her fingers crawled up his chest. She stepped into his arms. “But when I’m with you three, something is happening.” Her eyes drifted to dimness for a moment. She put her fingertips on his face and trailed them down. “When I touch you, I forget.” Her lips touched his, and he was lost. He pulled her tight and then whisked his hands up under the bottom of her sweater. He could feel a growing dampness on her panties. His cock strained against his jeans. Her wetness, the way she trembled, a tiny whimper in the back of her throat—these things called to him. Moving his tongue into her mouth, he rolled its tip along the tops of her teeth, against the roof of her mouth, and then deep to the back. He dominated every crevice.

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He grasped the backs of her thighs just under her ass cheeks and pulled her legs apart. His fingertips prodded against the back edges of her pussy. She growled, her response growing in strength at his touch. It was what he wanted. He would bring her carnality to the surface. He would possess it, possess everything. He stepped back and began taking his clothes off, holding Marina’s face with his eyes. She watched him, her tongue darted out to moisten her lips as his cock sprang free. Her eyes slid back up his body and met his. When their gazes locked, their bodies flew together. They stumbled toward the bed, and he fell back onto it with her on top of him, landing crossways on the mattress. “James, remove her panties.” James pulled the skimpy bit of fabric over her ass and then down her thighs while Johnny moved around the bed, and then Jeremiah tugged on her sweater. Lifting her arms over her head, Marina obliged, letting him remove all barriers between their hot, needy flesh. Johnny took the sweater and threw it across the room. “You’re going to take all three of us at the same time, sweetheart,” Johnny said as he and James removed their own garments. She swallowed and then nodded. “I want that.” She put her hands to her breasts, and closed her eyes in relief, as if they ached, as if her need to be touched was so great she had to do it just to think. “Everything’s outstretched,” she whispered. “Every nerve is reaching.” She sat atop Jeremiah, and warm, thick moisture from her pussy leaked down onto his skin. His rigid cock nudged up against her ass. He could wait no longer. Placing his hands on her hips, he lifted. “Grasp my cock, Marina. Guide me in.” She put one hand on his chest, and the other snaked down between their bodies. Her fingers wrapped around his length. She stroked up and down and up and down, and then she held him. Grasping and

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tugging her hips down, he sighed as the warmth of her cunt’s lips kissed his tip. She sank onto him, and her inner muscles clenched and unclenched. They sucked him deeper and deeper, until finally she sat atop him. Reaching up, he put his hands over her breasts. Her pebbled nipples scraped against the palm of his hands as he gently massaged her. Using his thumbs, he tweaked and teased, drawing tiny moans from her plump and parted lips. “Lean over. I want to taste these tits.” She obeyed, and he sucked in a nipple. He grasped it between his teeth and then used his tongue to toy with its hardened peak. James approached from behind, squirting some lube into the palm of his hand. Marina gasped when he firmly grasped her hips and then pressed his fingers between her cheeks, vigorously applying the lube. Her pussy shivered around Jeremiah’s cock the moment James thrust his lube-covered fingers into her asshole. “You okay?” Jeremiah asked. She bit her bottom lip, nodded, and then maneuvered her hips, anxious for them to begin their motion. For a few tense moments, James worked his fingers inside her ass, stretching and preparing her for his cock. Then he pulled them out, wiping them on a nearby towel. After smearing some lube over his cock, James grasped her hips and then lined himself up to her rear. Before beginning to press inside her, he ran his fingers from her neck down her spine. Marina sighed. That was their signal. James pulled on her hips, causing her to rise off Jeremiah’s dick. Then she slid back down. He wanted to thrust harder, to pound up into her, but he knew he had to keep their rhythm steady. He was her master, her maestro, conducting her pleasure, moving them all toward bliss-induced oblivion. They worked her. Jeremiah loved watching the sweat on her forehead. He watched it soak into her hair. He watched beads of it roll down her chest between her lovely, dangling breasts as she rocked

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between them. He pushed his palms up on her breasts and watched as Johnny slid his fingers into her hair. He wrapped her dark, silky strands around his wrist and brought her lips to his stiffened shaft. “It’s time to put those luscious lips to good use, sweetheart.” Johnny pressed his cock toward her, and she opened willingly. Jeremiah felt his lust ramping up to even greater heights at the fervid sight above him. Her body bounced between Jeremiah and James, each of their thrusts echoing through her and ricocheting into the next. She made tiny, sucking, sloshing noises around Johnny’s dick, and with each jolt of their bodies, Jeremiah felt ready to explode. He knew he couldn’t take much more, so he thrust harder. With each pounding of his cock, of James’s cock, of Johnny’s cock, they rooted themselves deeper inside her, inside her body and her soul. He could feel her growing restless. She threw herself into the motion, into the cadence. Her moans grew longer and more feverish. She grasped Johnny’s hips, and Jeremiah could see her nails digging sharply into his brother’s flesh. Johnny was the first to go. Marina held on as he thrust a couple more times deep into her throat. Jeremiah focused his gaze on her delicate throat muscles, swallowing with a vigorous greed as Johnny’s seed shot down her throat. When he’d finished, he stepped away, collapsing onto a chair in the corner of the room. “Oh god!” Marina cried, her body beginning to shake. She clutched at Jeremiah’s shoulders, her fast-approaching orgasm driving him and James into a frenzy around her. Jeremiah thrust up into her with everything had. James grunted behind her and then released a gravelly groan. Marina arched in response, squeezing her eyes tight, as her own orgasm blossomed with James’s. He could see a flush spreading through her skin. Her nipples were a deep rose surrounded by delicate pink flesh. Her thighs shook. Her stomach muscles quivered. She’d lost all control.

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After James pulled out of her ass, Jeremiah leaned up and rolled over, holding on to her. Then he continued pounding into her. She would be his. He would own her. He had to have her. She was everything to him. He couldn’t let go. “Jeremiah,” she begged, tears falling from the corners of her eyes. “Please, oh god yes, Jeremiah.” “That’s right, Marina. Give me everything.” She called out to him, her fingernails digging into his back. He had one hand under her thigh. Her knee pressed up and into the mattress as he stroked inside her. “I can’t,” she panted. “I’m scared.” “Stay with me.” Each thrust of his cock crashed into her, pounded deep and hard. And every stroke she met. Every stroke she welcomed. She wanted to surrender. He knew it. He kept driving at her. He would make her understand. He would make her see. She wanted to belong to him. “Jeremiah,” she whispered, opening her dark-blue eyes. Then a fresh orgasm swept through her, rocked her deep, lifted her violently from the bed. She bucked hard up against him, and his cock reached its end. His cum poured out of him into her body, into her hot, gulping cunt. He buried his face in the pillow next to her and shouted his release. Every emotion had been ripped away. He was left with a vast white emptiness. He knew Marina was the only one who could bring him back. Her shaky breaths rattled against him. She still clung to him. He was so entangled. No matter what happened, he would never be free from her. Collapsing next to her on the bed, he only wanted to hold her for a moment. He pulled her close and burrowed his face in her neck. She touched the scar on his cheek, ran her fingers through his hair and his beard, and kissed his forehead.

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“Please don’t leave,” he whispered into her hair. She sighed, squeezing him tighter but not saying anything. “Please stay with me.” **** “Hey, where you going?” Johnny called out from behind Marina. Roy tugged on his leash in the opposite direction, but she paused long enough to turn around. “Just taking Roy for a walk.” “Well, hang on a sec.” He ran inside the center. A moment later, he popped back out with a jacket on. “I’ll join you,” he said, grinning and jogging up next to her. They ambled along the trail leading to Brown Trout Lake in companionable silence. Marina giggled at Roy, who kept jumping into the banked snow along the path. He barked happily and chomped down on the snow every once in a while. Johnny slipped his hand into hers, and she couldn’t help but to smile. After that mind-blowing afternoon two days ago, she could no longer keep herself at a physical distance from the Greenwoods. The bond, the Shoshone curse, whatever the hell it was wouldn’t let her, especially around James and Johnny. With Jeremiah it was different. Half the time she wanted to throw herself on him and dissolve into his skin. Yet with him, it was easier to restrain her urges. She could tell it hurt him when she hesitated to touch him. And every time he reached for her, it was an arduous, wearisome struggle. She was so tired of fighting herself. Should she stay? Or should she take the compound and destroy the connection? If she didn’t take the compound, could she really abandon her old life? Could she turn her back on everything she knew? Could she really give up everything and stay here? Johnny leaned over and kissed her cheeks. “Let it go, sweetheart.” “Huh?”

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“Whatever thought is making you frown, let it go.” “Oh sorry. I didn’t realize.” Johnny chuckled. “Well, we all know tomorrow night is the concert, and the morning after that, you’ll have to tell Bo to throw his compound out the window.” “Johnny, I can’t—” “Let me finish.” “Okay, but you know I’m not going to…you know I can’t promise you anything.” He sighed. “Yeah, I know. But how about while we’re out here with Roy and with all this fresh air and snow, why don’t we both forget about everything for an hour or so. I sort of just want to enjoy holding your hand and walking with you and maybe stealing a kiss or two.” Her heart lurched at his words, and inwardly she cursed herself. Lately that was all her heart had been doing. It was nothing but heart lurching left and right. Every time Johnny or James or Jeremiah showed her a tender moment, she was reminded of everything she’d be leaving behind if she decided to take the compound. And then, of course, her heart had to go on a lurching rampage. “Okay,” she managed to squeak out through all the uncontrollable lurching. “Good, ’cause I think now is the perfect time to steal me one of those kisses.” He pulled her into his arms and planted his warm mouth over hers. He bent her backward and had his way with her lips. Roy yipped and pranced around them, anxious to continue their walk. Marina broke away, giggling. “Mmm! You’re tasting extra delicious this morning,” Johnny said, smacking his lips. “I put maple syrup in my oatmeal.” He gave her rear a nice, firm squeeze and then took her hand again. Humming a little tune as they walked along, he would occasionally point out spots where he and his brothers had gotten into

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mischief when they were younger or where he’d seen interesting wildlife on past walks. As they ventured further into the countryside, Marina let Roy off his leash, and occasionally Johnny cut off a small branch here and there. He cut a few sprigs of mistletoe and bit of prickly greenery. When he had a nice-sized bundle, he pulled a bit of twine out of his pocket and tied all of it together. She thought he’d been making it for her, but he simply carried the tiny bundle, chatting happily but never handing it over. They’d been walking about fifteen minutes when Johnny grabbed her hand and tugged her off the path. “Come on,” he said, shooting her a sexy grin. “There’s something I want to show you.” “Roy!” Marina called out. “Let’s go, boy. This way.” The dog perked up for a moment and then darted toward them, running away from the edge of the lake where he had been investigating a bit of shrubbery poking through the whiteness. They worked their way through the snow, stomping and forging a path amongst the trees. Johnny tugged her along, and Roy bounded beside them. A few minutes later, Marina was panting, and Johnny stopped. “This is it,” he said. When she looked up, she noticed they’d made it to the top of a hill. Johnny had brought her to a small chapel. It was constructed with stones of petrified wood and had a modest steeple on the front of the roof. It was tucked into the trees. There was no sign in front of it, and some of the windows had been shattered. “It’s abandoned?” she asked. Johnny nodded. “It was used in the pioneer days, but when Savage Valley began to grow, a bigger church was built closer to town. This one was left to the wilderness.” Marina walked up to one of the broken windows and peered inside. There were only about eight rows of pews, and a stark wooden pulpit at the front. She could tell a thick layer of dust and dirt lay over the insides, but it gave the interior an air of untouched, sacred beauty. When she turned around to look back in the direction they had come from, she sucked in a sharp breath. Positioned on the crest of a

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hill, the chapel overlooked all of Brown Trout Lake, and Marina could see the waters stretched out before them, sparkling and pristine in the early morning light. “Oh my.” She gasped in wonderment. “This is…” He took her hand and squeezed. After his eyes swept across the vista, he turned those black orbs on her. “You like it, sweetheart?” He was anxious. He wanted her to like this place. She could hear it in his voice. “Johnny, this is so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Really?” She cupped his cheek and then stood on her toes to kiss him. The air was still and calm around them, and as she smelled Johnny, as his lips moved gently over hers, she felt herself crumbling into him. God, how she wanted to give him everything, how easy it would be. She could call up Bo and tell him to forget everything. She could run all the way back down to the preservation center and tell Jeremiah she wanted him. She could tell him she was his. She could be a part of this place. Johnny pulled his mouth away and looked down at her, sweeping her bangs away from her eyes. She had to blink a couple times. Her thoughts had become so jumbled in the warmth of his kiss. She wouldn’t stay. All the old reasons bubbled up, and even though she’d been over them again and again and again, they were still just as true. As much as she loved Johnny for bringing her to this special place, it didn’t make her belong here any more than before. He was wasting its specialness on her, and she felt guilty. “I thought we promised to forget about all that,” Johnny whispered. She frowned up at him, wondering how he’d known her thoughts had strayed. “Your face shows everything, Marina. You have an adorable little pout, but when you think about anything serious, it disappears.

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Usually, that happens right after you kiss me or one of my brothers. Or after we fuck you senseless.” She tried to shove out of his arms. “Come on, be serious.” After yanking her close, he whispered in her ear. “I’m dead serious. I know you are tormented with thoughts of leaving and even more with thoughts of staying. When I touch you, when we are so close to each other, you don’t know what to do with yourself. I know.” He kissed her neck. “I know, Marina.” “Then let me go.” She’d nearly choked on the words. He chuckled and then stepped away. “You are so stubborn.” He pinched her nose, and she swatted at him. “Come on,” he said, “there’s one more thing I want to show you.” She should have demanded he answer her and then marched straight down that hill, but she couldn’t. In fact, she should quit fooling around with them all together. Sighing and cursing her weak will, she followed him around to the back of the chapel, to a small area enclosed by an iron fence. She was damned and cursed no matter what she did. “What’s this?” she asked as Johnny opened a small, squeaky gate and motioned her inside. “I thought that before you go”—he walked a few steps away from the gate and knelt down, brushing snow from a spot on the ground— “you should at least see this place.” He’d uncovered a headstone and now placed the tiny bundle of branches he’d gathered on top of it. He stood up and met Marina’s eyes and shrugged. “I wanted you to meet my parents.” As she gingerly made her way toward him, her heart began lurching like crazy again. She looked down at the stone he’d uncovered and read the engraving. Here lies Janet McClendon Greenwood, a wife beloved, a mother cherished.

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“Is Janet your mother?” Johnny nodded. “Are all the Greenwoods buried here?” He nodded again. “This is my whole family. Right here on this small plot of land. It’s funny. My father brought me here when I was about eight.” He bent over and wiped the snow from two more stones. “It had been several years since the accident. We would go months without talking about it, without even mentioning Mama or Papa Dan. Then one morning, out of the blue, Papa William got all three of us out of bed. He didn’t say much. Mama and Papa Dan were the chatterbugs, he always told us. But that morning he got three sleepy boys out of bed, helped us bundle up in scarves and gloves, and then took us out for a walk. It had snowed the night before. Everything was fresh and untouched. It looked a lot like it does now. A blanket of white everywhere. I think that’s maybe what made him want to take us up here. It was almost like the snow had made everything new again, and maybe he needed to make sure we would remember.” Johnny straightened up and took her hand, looking down at the three stones as he spoke. “We walked up here and said a small prayer over Mama and Papa Dan, and then we walked back around to the front of the chapel and just stared at the lake. Looking back now, even as young as we were, we must have known something. Like, even though we couldn’t understand why, we knew this wasn’t just an ordinary walk. There was something different. “And then all of a sudden Papa William picked me up and hugged me. When he set me back on the ground, he knelt down and looked at us, at me and my brothers. And he said, ‘Boys, I want you to promise me something. Can you do that?’ We all three nodded obediently. He said, ‘I want you to bring me back here when I’m old. This is where I want to be. I want to lay with the ones I love, here in the snow. Do you understand me, boys? Can you promise me this?’ “I was only eight years old, but I could tell, you know? I knew he was scared, knew he thought we might forget.” Johnny chuckled. “So

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then I did what any self-respecting eight-year-old does. I spit in the palm of my hand, held it out to him, and said, ‘I promise, Papa.’” “You didn’t!” Johnny nodded. “I sure did, and you know what? Papa William spit in his palm, and we shook on it right then and there.” Marina laughed softly at the image of an eight-year-old Johnny making a spit-promise with his father, but then her smile faded. She looked at Johnny and then gazed down at the three stones. “You brought him back.” Johnny nodded. He was lost in thought. His eyes had a dazed quality, so she stood silently, letting him have his quiet moment and wondering why he had decided to share this story and this place with her. This wasn’t a memory to be shared lightly. Even though she was technically his mate, he didn’t have to bring her here, didn’t have to clutch at her insides with heartbreaking family histories. He turned toward her and held her face, his eyes searching hers. She looked away, unable to face his scrutiny. “Marina,” he whispered, “I want you to know that no matter what you think, or what you believe, you have a place here. With us and with this land.” Those words—those beautiful, tempting words—caused her to suck in a deep breath. She had to steel herself against the alluring call of everything those words promised her. She had to keep telling herself that she didn’t need to belong anywhere or to anyone. She belonged to the air, to the wind, to everything moving. It was what she had always known about herself. It was what she had always known about everything. “Johnny,” she said, letting his hand go. “I need to ask you for something, and I want you to really consider what I’m asking. It won’t be easy, but I think…” His fingertips brushed tendrils away from her face. “What is it? You know, you must know by now, that I would do anything to make you happy. My brothers, too.”

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“This is my second to last night in Savage Valley.” His features tensed. “It is, Johnny. I don’t know how else to say it.” “Go on,” he said through gritted teeth. When she hesitated, unsure if he was actually going to listen to her request, he said, “Go ahead and ask me what you’re gonna ask me.” “I want to spend my last night at Aunt Agnes’s, maybe see Michelle. There are some things I need to say to her, things I want her to know before I go.” Marina bit her bottom lip, swallowing down the hot ball that had lodged itself in the back of her throat. Johnny stared at her a long while, and she gave herself over to those black depths. She surrendered every emotion to his probing gaze, and for the first time, she trusted him to understand her, to see that she truly needed this. Finally he sighed. “Let’s head back.” “Johnny?” she asked, holding his chin. Suddenly his face changed. He pulled her close and pressed a fierce kiss upon her lips. Running his fingers through her hair, he said, “You’re gonna get your way in this. But just know, I’m wishing you’ll stay. Know that I’m hoping.” He kissed her again, but it was softer. It tugged at her like a melody. It pulled her toward him like a long-forgotten strain. “I’m always hoping for that,” he whispered. Marina didn’t want to think about it, but her mind refused to give her peace. In two days, she would take the compound, and in two days, she would leave everything behind. That would be the end of it. It had seemed so easy to tell herself that the misery would end, that she would finally be able to leave Savage Valley and all of its insanity behind. But holding Johnny’s hand while walking back to the center, she knew that nothing about leaving the Greenwoods would be simple. After all, Savage Valley was just some tiny, tucked-away town, hidden in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado—albeit, a tiny, tuckedaway town with bear-shifters. But somehow, she belonged to this strange little place.

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The thought surprised her. Her mind should have run screaming in the opposite direction. It should have chased the thought off with a heavy-duty battering ram. Instead, she tucked the thought in some small, warm place in her brain and held it there. She allowed the thought to stay and kept it safe. In two days’ time, after she took the compound and left, after she had severed her mating bond with Johnny and James, and after she had left Savage Valley forever, she wanted to hold on to the warmth of that thought for as long as possible. For reasons unknown, she liked the idea of belonging here.

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Chapter Fourteen “Damn right I’m making this harder.” James’s voice had an edge, and Marina knew he would do nothing to tame it. “If you think I’m just gonna let you drink some of Bo’s bullshit potion and then prance off away from here forever, you’re even more pigheaded than I thought.” “James, I have to be onstage in five minutes. This isn’t—” His lips crashed against hers and stole the rest of her sentence. She felt his kiss in her gut. It stole all the oxygen from her lungs. It set her blood on fire. Her body was his, and he knew it. His tongue moved in and rolled against the roof of her mouth. He jabbed at her and left no room for maneuvering. He possessed every thought. She whimpered at the feel of his hard cock nudging up against her stomach. Reaching a hand down, she curled her fingers up under his bulge and held him. The weight of him in her hand sent arousal roiling through her veins. He reached down and trapped her hand against his cock. Then as abruptly as he’d started the kiss, he broke it off, looking down at her with a blazing triumph. “Now try to tell me you don’t love me.” “I don’t believe in—” “Goddamn it, yes you do. I know you do. You believe in it. Because you love us. You love us, Marina.” She shook her head. “You can’t say it and make it so.” His lips broke over hers again. He wanted everything from her. He wouldn’t stop until he had it. “You do love us, whether you can admit it or not.” He reached up and wiped a renegade tear that had fallen down her cheek. “You’re in love with me and with Johnny and with

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Jeremiah. We could make you the happiest woman in the world if you’d let us.” Marina turned her face away from him. Lights shone down, bright and hot. She could hear the growing buzz of the crowd as more and more people filed into the amphitheatre. She and the Greenwoods were standing in one of the wings behind huge speakers. Jeremiah and Johnny stood behind their brother, and all three pairs of dark eyes bore into her. Marina felt hot emotion rising up. She felt rage and helplessness and anger that they treated her life and her career in such a cavalier manner. They acted as if giving everything up would be easy, as if it was a no-brainer. And a part of her was hurt that they weren’t smiling and cheering her on like everyone else there tonight. She closed her eyes and tamped down her annoyance. “You say you love me, all three of you. You say I’m foolish to deny the existence of love, but I’m not. Every word you’re saying proves how right I am.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” She shook her head. “Just forget it. I’m about to go on.” James turned her back toward him. “Like hell I’m gonna forget it.” Twisting violently, she yanked herself out of his grip and took a step away. “You ask me to give up everything of myself,” she said, raising her voice over the noise of the crowd. “Yet you sacrifice nothing. You don’t see that it’s more than fame, it’s more than a career or some hobby that you’d be asking me to abandon.” James glared at her but didn’t attempt to interrupt. “Look, I know my life before coming to Savage Valley wasn’t perfect. I know that I still have issues I need to figure out, but this— the lights, the crowd, the music—this is all I know. It’s what I’m good at, and above all else, I know that it’s never gonna let me down. It’s always gonna be here. Music is the only thing I’m good at.” “That’s not—”

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She cut off Jeremiah’s words with a wave of her hand. “If you don’t see that, all three of you, then there’s really nothing I can say that will make you understand.” The brothers didn’t say anything, didn’t offer any explanation. “Look, tomorrow morning I’ll take the compound, and I’ll be gone forever. And…” She cursed the hot warmth she felt spilling over her cheeks. “And you’ll get over it. You’ll all three get over me. Maybe not right away, maybe not even for a while, but eventually, you’ll see that you never really loved me. This is all just heightened emotions and dramatic timelines because of some ancient Shoshone hoopla. It will go away, though, and one day you’ll be free of me.” The stage manager came by. “Thirty seconds, Ms. Andrews.” She forced a smile to her lips and nodded at the young man. Then she turned her eyes back to the Greenwoods. “You’ll bring some new girl here and tell her about the magic in your blood, tell her about Deheya’ and about your parents. You’ll tell her she’s the most special woman in the world. And one day you’ll take her to a snow-covered hill and ask her to bring you there when you’re old. One day you’ll all be buried there. Okay?” She jerked her hands across her wet cheeks. “Okay, damn it?” “Umm…Ms. Andrews?” the stage manager asked, peeking around the Greenwoods. She sniffed, and Johnny handed her an old handkerchief from his pocket. Wiping her nose, she nodded at the stage manager. “Okay then, ten seconds,” he whispered, holding out her guitar. Jeremiah took it before Marina could step into the strap. “You don’t have to do this,” he said. “Marina, this doesn’t make you who you are.” She grimaced. “Give me my guitar, Jeremiah.” “Come on, Marina. Please.” Frowning, she held out her hand. “The guitar.” He held her gaze, and a moment later, instead of handing her the guitar, he put the strap over her head. As Ethel Rose’s familiar weight

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settled over her shoulders, Jeremiah turned on his heel and stalked away. She wanted to call after him, to plead with him to understand, but he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to understand. None of them did. She ran her fingers over a few chords. Although she rarely played this guitar in a performance setting, Marina figured tonight was special. She figured Ethel Rose deserved a show like this. “I guess this means we’ll see you tomorrow morning?” Johnny asked, his eyes tight. Marina nodded. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You look beautiful.” As he walked away, following Jeremiah off the stage, James didn’t budge. The stage manager motioned for the show to begin. As the announcer’s voice boomed through the PA system, Marina held James’s eyes, hoping he would offer her some small sign of encouragement, some small sign of understanding. When none were forthcoming, she sighed and turned away from him. She turned toward the open stage, forcing herself to push James’s sullen silence to the back of her mind. It was time to perform. Everything else would disappear. “Ladies and gentlemen of Savage Valley, most esteemed citizens and special guests of this town!” Marina peeked around to see who was announcing her entrance. “I welcome you here to the inaugural performance on this beautiful stage, the newest addition to the Woodland Den. And tonight, to mark such a momentous occasion, Savage Valley has a very special guest performer.” She spotted Thomas Ashley in the opposite wing, speaking into a microphone. He winked at her. Marina did a double take when she noticed Michelle standing next to him. Her sister waved. A surge of warmth jumped through her heart. Marina was, surprisingly, very happy to see Michelle. She waved back, feeling a little bit better about the next few moments, knowing Michelle would be right next to her. “Please welcome to the stage, platinum-selling artist and two-time Grammy nominee Marina Andrews!”

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That was her cue, and taking a deep breath, she followed it. She stepped into the light. **** James lay in bed the next morning with his eyes wide open. He refused to blink and refused to roll away from the window. Sunlight pierced his pupils. It dug deep into his brain and rooted out thoughts of every other thing. He liked the clean, brutal pain of it. There was wild logic to its burning scratching against his eyes. Its brightness blinded and maimed. It had too much raw energy. It burned anything and everything that got too close. The sun’s light didn’t care who or what needed it, didn’t care that its energy gave warmth and purpose to this earth. It only needed to burn. And burn and burn and burn. He shut his eyes with a grunt. White-blue blazed beneath his closed lids from where the sun had seared his retinas. This was the day he would lose the woman he loved. Frankly, he didn’t want to face it. He wanted to roll back over, go to sleep, and not wake up until everything was over. He didn’t know what it would feel like to have the mating bond severed, but he didn’t imagine it would be a pleasant experience. Plus, the pain of testing the bear clan Edge was still fresh in his memory from a few weeks before. He thought losing Marina would feel similar to that, but probably worse. A thousand times worse. She thought it would go away and that they would forget her one day, but he knew that wasn’t true. No matter what she did or where she went, she would always be a part of him. No Shoshone potion could change the way he felt about her. Because it wasn’t magic that made him love Marina Andrews. It was her. Plain and simple. It was the way her nose crinkled when she laughed, and it was how she pouted when she accidentally hit a false chord on the guitar

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while fooling around with new songs in their bedroom. It was her voice, her laugh, her moans. It was her long, dark hair and the way it spilled over her perfect breasts when she rode him. It was how she didn’t know how fragile she was. She didn’t see how much the world had taken from her. She just went on barreling through everything, even when it bruised and cut, even when it broke her in two. God, he’d been such an asshole. Marina had looked at him with her big blue eyes and her baby doll pout. She’d needed him to show her some small sign. He should have kissed the daylights out of her and then sent her out onto that stage. As soon as she’d begun to play, he knew that’s what he should have done. She’d needed him to believe in her, just for one night. She’d wanted him to admit that she belonged there, to acknowledge what she’d be giving up for them. But he hadn’t. And by the time he realized that’s what he should have done, she’d left for her aunt’s house. He’d thought about storming over there and demanding she listen to him but doubted that would get him anywhere. His stormy-eyed-Marina would have none of that. He heard one of his brothers rustling around in the kitchen and thought he should probably roll out of bed soon. It was his day to clean the animal pens, and he wanted to finish that as soon as possible in case Bo called. He’d told Bo to call him before Marina to let them know when the concoction was finished. Almost as if it had been listening in on his thoughts, his phone rang. “Hello?” he grumbled. “James, it’s Bo.” And suddenly, he was awake. “Just calling to let you know that the compound is ready. I’m calling Marina in ten minutes.”

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“Okay.” His voice was hoarse. He felt like choking. “Okay, thanks, Bo.” “See you soon, James.” He hung up and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Then he rolled out from under the covers. He had hoped Marina would come by that morning, or maybe call at least. He’d hoped there was some small part of her that wanted to stay. But everything was quiet. There was no Marina. There were only ten minutes.

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Chapter Fifteen “Nashville Through and Through” blared from Marina’s phone on the nightstand. Roy exploded off the covers onto all fours with a bark. Realizing there was no danger afoot, his eyes drooped, and he toppled back over onto the bed by her feet, snoring slightly. Flailing her hand across the surface of the stand without looking over, she thought it was about time to change that ringtone. She didn’t like waking up to the sound of her own voice wailing out about how awesome it was to prance about in shorts and cowboy boots while downing copious amounts of whiskey in a honky-tonk. In fact, if she remembered correctly, she was, in fact, a little tipsy while recording the vocals for that track. Then she jolted out of the covers. In her sleep-muddled state, she’d thought the song was the alarm on her phone going off, but “Nashville Through and Through” only sounded when someone from the label was calling. She rubbed her eyes, cleared her throat, and then hit the “Accept” button on her phone’s screen. The caller ID said it was Jeffrey, her A&R guy. She hoped he didn’t have anything dramatic to tell her from the higher-ups. She’d received quite a few of those calls right before she and Michelle cancelled the last leg of her tour a couple months ago. “Hello, Jeffrey,” she said when the call had connected. “Marina, darling Marina, it’s lovely to hear your voice.” She rolled her eyes at his perfunctory bombast. “Charming as ever, I see.” “Now, now, I have something truly delicious to share with you.” “Oh yes?”

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“You’ve been up to something in Savage Valley, my little sorceress, haven’t you?” “What exactly are you referring to? I’ve been up to quite a few things. Always am. You know that.” She tried to keep her tone casual and unconcerned, but conversations with Jeffrey tended to leave her feeling like a baby seal who had narrowly escaped from hundreds of great-white teeth. “This thing to which I am referring, cupcake, is YouTube.” “YouTube?” “Yes! YouTube! That hotbed of contraband footage and indefectible nonsense. You see, I awoke up this morning and went straight to my computer, as I always do when bestirring.” He chuckled to himself. “I enjoy watching all the illegal concert uploads of chickees like you for whom I am responsible. And this morning, what do you think my wondering eyes should fall upon?” “Umm…” “Why! A delightful video of my dear, precious Marina Andrews, of course!” “Aren’t there like dozens of those or something?” “You underestimate yourself, my darling. There are hundreds, but never mind that. What is so impressive about my discovery is that my sneaky little Marina was singing a new song in this video. Notes and melodies of which had never met mine ears floated so beautifully out of the speaker. And can you believe it?” He laughed, and it kind of sounded the way glass does when falling to the ground after a rock has slammed through it. “She sang it last night,” he exclaimed. Marina held her tongue, unsure of what he expected from her. She knew there was some section of her long, ass-tangled contract that said she wasn’t supposed to perform without the label’s express permission. But maybe that was only if she’d been paid? She couldn’t remember. Michelle was usually the one to handle that kind of stuff. She felt naked and exposed, and while Jeffrey didn’t sound

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particularly upset, she could never be sure. She hoped she wasn’t in some kind of legal trouble for her performance. “Umm…” she said again, hoping to prompt a response. “Is that all you have to say for yourself? ‘Umm?’ Dearest Marina, the song was incredible. Mr. Gefrin was impressed. I can say that much.” “Mr. Gefrin saw the video? He heard the new song?” She clenched a bit of her quilt between white fingers. Mr. Gefrin was the head of her label. She’d spoken with him less than a dozen times. To him, Marina was a butterfly. A beautiful, pearlescent, winged thing to be marveled and flaunted. But, in fact, what he loved more than showing her off was the sharp metal pin he had lodged in her back. “He did,” Jeffrey said. “And what did he say?” “Looking past the illicit nature of your performance last night”— she cringed—“we can’t wait to get you back in the studio. You’ve been in exile long enough, don’t you think?” “I thought I couldn’t go back until…um, until I was better.” “Oh, that was merely a precautionary measure, my gosling. But enough of all that rigmarole. Tell me the name of the new song! And is there some sort of guitar-playing fairy godmother in Savage Hillock or wherever it is you are? I’ve never heard you play anything like that.” “Not exactly,” she said as a vision of Jeremiah appearing and disappearing in a pink poof of magic fairy dust flitted across her mind. She bit back a giggle. “It was just somebody I met here who helped me. But thank you. It’s called ‘Mama, Don’t Fly Away from Me.’” “Oh, that sounds delightfully tragic. You’ll have to tell me all about it sometime. Now, this pedagogue of guitar isn’t going to cause any problems? Nobody will be expecting a piece of the pie or what have you?”

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“No. It’s nothing like that. He’s a…” Another vision of Jeremiah filled her vision. Although, this time there was no fairy dust involved. She saw him above her, sweating and rocking his body into hers. Her clit began to tingle, and a sharp pang of longing rushed through her gut. She gritted her teeth against the image. “He’s a friend,” she offered lamely. “That’s so great. Now, Mr. Gefrin wants to get you in the studio in a few weeks, probably right around Thanksgiving. Please tell me you have more gems like the one I saw on YouTube this morning.” “Yes, I’ve written a couple more, but isn’t that a little too soon? Don’t I need rehearsal time with the band? What about a prerecording session?” “Mr. Gefrin says that’s the only time available at the studio until next year, and we don’t want to wait that long, do we? We’ll have a band there for you.” “You’ll have Charlie and Big Dan? They’ve agreed to leave their families over the holidays?” Jeffrey laughed. “No, no, no. You’re going to have an all-new band, sweet Marina. Mr. Gefrin says you need a hot, new outfit to go with this hot, new sound. ” “Oh, ’cause I was kinda thinking this new stuff had a more stripped-down, acoustic feel to it. And it would be nice if maybe for this next tour, it could be just me and the boys. Maybe Big Dan could even play an upright bass instead of the electric? And everything would have a down-home, more natural feel to it, you know? I feel like that’s what this new stuff needs. Maybe we could even play some of the older songs acoustically, sort of change everything up.” “That’s a great idea, dumpling. I’m just not sure it could work on a large scale, though. Plus, like I said, you’re going to have an all-new band.” “But that’s just for recording. Charlie and Big Dan will still be on tour with me.”

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Jeffrey laughed. “We’ll talk about that when you get back to Nashville. I think we should focus on getting this new album out and getting your tour scheduled. I mean, you are Marina Andrews, lest we forget. Strawberry, people are absolutely rabid waiting for new material. And after your mysterious disappearance, you little minx, everyone’s wondering what you’ve been up to. You’re all over CMT and country music blogs and Twitter and Facebook. Everyone is worried about you. Your next tour is gonna be the biggest, baddest, most fantastic production yet.” Marina swallowed, trying to alleviate the sudden dryness in her throat. A couple months ago, that statement would have sent her heart soaring. She probably would have gone to the bar, drank a questionable number of shots, and then prowled through the crowd on the hunt for a bad decision. This morning, though, with everything else she had to face that day, Jeffrey’s prophecies of triumphant return sort of filled her with a dull, hopeless fatigue. Thankfully her phone beeped, informing her of an incoming call. “Hey, Jeffrey, can I call you back later? I’ve got someone on the other line.” “Bye for now then, darling starfish. See you soon in Nashville.” She switched the call over without letting herself think about just how soon she’d be seeing him. “Hello?” “Marina, it’s Bo.” “Oh, good morning.” “Everything okay?” “Yes!” she said brightly, forcing a smile to her lips. “I didn’t expect you to call this early.” She patted her lap, and Roy bounded over, snuggling up against her body. She held him close. “Is it ready?” she whispered. “It is. When can I expect you?” “All my belongings are packed, and apart from a few last-minute errands, I’m ready to go.” She hugged Roy and put her cheek on his

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head as she thought about having to say good-bye to her aunt, to Michelle, and—goddamn it—to the Greenwoods. She sat up, determined to keep the men out of mind until the last possible second. As for Michelle and Aunt Agnes, she had decided not to deal with that. She’d just take the compound and go. After hugging her sister and seeing how happy she was with her fiancés at the show last night, Marina had chickened out. There was no way on earth she could face Michelle and tell her what she was about to do. Michelle would cling to her. She would demand that she stay. She would pester and prod until she had warped Marina into thinking she should remain bonded to this place. Marina couldn’t take that chance. She’d made her decision. No one would have the opportunity to change it. So she’d waited until Aunt Agnes had fallen asleep, and then she’d spent the rest of the night packing. All of her belongings were in the Escalade, unbeknownst to Aunt Agnes. She’d written a letter, explaining everything, advising her aunt to ask Michelle about the parts she didn’t understand, and now placed the thick envelope on her pillow. “Bo,” she said. “I’ll be there in half an hour.” **** Johnny stopped in his tracks, turned, and faced his brother. “Damn it, Jeremiah, watch where you’re walking.” His brother had caught his heel for about the fifth time. “You watch where you’re walking.” Jeremiah skulked past him and rammed him with his shoulder. Johnny swung his fist out but missed hitting his brother. “Quit feeling sorry for yourself. You’re not the only one who’s pissed off today. We all have enough shit going on without you adding to the pile.” Jeremiah grumbled an inaudible response.

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They’d decided to walk over to Bo’s from the center, knowing they’d most likely want to shift after Marina drank the compound. Running in bear form was the best way to work off steam. And Marina taking the compound was sure as hell gonna cause steam. Damn. The fact was, he’d tried to stop thinking of Marina in “if” terms. She’d made her decision, and she’d made it loud and clear. She wasn’t going to change her mind. She belonged on the stage. She wanted that more than she wanted love. It was the bald truth of the matter. But Johnny guessed some part of himself hadn’t given up, had refused to let go of hope. His heart could be a dumbass like that. Plus, walking through the woods on his way to the Greenwoods’ Last Stand, as it were, didn’t seem like the best time to try and deny the fact that his mate was leaving him. She was actually choosing to leave him. They’d crossed Savage Creek and Savage Road and were traipsing through one last thicket before they reached the Shoshone lands. Jeremiah had been muttering and stepping on Johnny’s heels the whole way, though, and Johnny felt like his bear could explode out of him at the slightest provocation. He hoped Marina wasn’t around when it happened. Without warning, Jeremiah stopped in front of him, causing Johnny to run smack into him. “What the hell, man?” Jeremiah turned around and shoved him hard. “This is all your fault, you prick.” Johnny swatted his brother’s hands away as he stumbled backward. “You think that if there was anything I could have done to keep her here, I wouldn’t have done it?” “Why the hell did you stay in bear form?” Jeremiah came at him. “You knew she was in there. You knew there was a chance she’d come outside. You should have stayed far away from her.” Jeremiah went in to tackle him, but Johnny dodged. They grappled with each other as Jeremiah slung questions at him. “If you hadn’t mated her,

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she wouldn’t feel the need to leave. If you’d have kept your dick in your pants for one goddamn second, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Usually at this point, James would jump between them and break them apart, but Johnny saw his older brother out of the corner of his eye. He looked at them, shook his head, and kept on walking. While his attention was diverted, Jeremiah cuffed him on the chin. “Get off me,” Johnny roared, shoving at Jeremiah and causing him to fall back a bit. He rubbed his chin and glared at his brother, who was panting and glaring at him as well. “Why do you care? You’re not even mated to her.” He had less than a second to react before Jeremiah barreled into him full force. Johnny flew back and fell onto the ground, his breath knocked out of his lungs for a moment. As soon as he sucked in a fresh burst of oxygen, though, he was fighting. He and Jeremiah swung at each other, and Johnny didn’t concern himself with holding back. Jeremiah sure as hell didn’t either. He caught a punch to his ribs while delivering a few solid blows to Jeremiah’s stomach. “You bastard!” Jeremiah kept shouting at him as they struggled against one another. Johnny felt his muscles vibrating, and he bit back the impulse to shift. He could never lose control of his bear, especially not while grappling with his brother, but he certainly wanted to. Jeremiah roared when Johnny got in a good elbow to the back. He felt Jeremiah’s body begin the telltale shake. He was pinned under his brother, though, and couldn’t wriggle away. Jeremiah’s black eyes were full of wild fury and the struggle not to shift. He had his arm across Johnny’s throat, pressing harder as his control slipped further away. “Damn it, Jeremiah, get ahold of yourself,” James yelled, coming up from behind and grabbing Jeremiah’s shirt. He ripped him off Johnny and slung him away. Johnny choked as his throat was freed, and James offered his hand, helping him up from the ground.

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He turned to Jeremiah to give him shit for what had almost happened, but Jeremiah was sprawled out on his back and looking up at the trees. “What the hell are you doing?” Johnny asked. Jeremiah didn’t answer. “Come on,” James said, thrusting his hand in Jeremiah’s face. “If we don’t hurry, Marina’s gonna beat us there and take the compound before we have a chance to see her. I don’t know how fast that shit is gonna work, so we need to get going.” Jeremiah swatted at James’s hand. “Man, quit. We’re not leaving you.” “Go on, damn it. Just leave me here and go on.” “Get your ass up,” Johnny said, brushing leaves and dirt off his own ass. “If you think we’re leaving you here, you’re one dumb son of a bitch.” Jeremiah shook his head. “I can’t face her. There’s no telling what I’d do.” “What? You mean like cry like the little baby you’re being right now?” Jeremiah flipped him off. “You know that’s just your ego talking. And, come on, we’re your brothers. We wouldn’t laugh if you had to set loose a few tears. Men gotta cry, too, sometimes. Ain’t no shame in that, brother.” “Why don’t you take your ‘brother’ and shove it up your ass? I said leave me alone.” “James, this is a rare display. We need to really look our fill. This is Jeremiah Greenwood circa ’95.” “I know exactly what you’re talking about. When Jill Sherman wouldn’t let him take her to the Honey Harvest Hoedown?” “That’s exactly what this reminds me of.” Jeremiah glared over at them. “How can you bastards joke about this? She’s supposed to be your mate, and you don’t even care.”

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Johnny felt his grin melt and dissolve and then droop into a frown. “That’s not true, and you know it.” “Then why don’t you two frolic along and leave me to my moroseness, as you so call it. I’m sorry I can’t joke about this. I’m sorry I don’t want one last good-bye. She’s not even my mate. At least you two got to have her for a little bit. She’s not mine. I don’t have a place there. So just go the fuck on.” He turned his face away from them. “I need to be alone.” Johnny’s initial response was to nudge his brother none too gently with the toe of his boot and call him a pussy and generally goad him into an angry, manly response. But, well, looking at his brother all pathetic and sad on the ground, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Look,” Johnny said, “this isn’t going to be easy. Not for me, not for James, and not for you.” He looked at his older brother and then back at Jeremiah. “And I don’t know about you two jerks, but as much as I’m not looking forward to this encounter, I sure as hell don’t want to do it without the both of you standing right there with me.” “Besides,” James said, “even if Marina isn’t your mate, you belong there.” “No I don’t.” Jeremiah clenched his eyes closed. “Yes, you do. You belong there because you’re our brother and you belong with us.” Jeremiah sucked in a deep breath and after a moment or two opened his eyes again. Johnny offered his hand at the same time James did. Jeremiah took their hands, and they heaved him up together. After he had brushed himself off, Johnny asked, “Now that we’ve made it through your emo fest, can we be on our merry way?” “Yeah, I guess so.” They began walking toward Bo’s house again. “Hey, Johnny?” Jeremiah asked a few moments later. “Yeah?” “What’s an emo fest?”

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Chapter Sixteen Marina blew on the steaming cup of tea Bo had given her. She took a sip and closed her eyes, wondering how he managed to make such a perfect cup. It tasted like rose blossoms and lavender and honey but with just a hint of spice. Maybe nutmeg? Male voices stretched across the yard and fell into her ears, causing her eyes to snap open. Three beautiful men walked toward the porch, shoving and joking with each other. “I don’t have middle child syndrome,” Jeremiah said, shoving Johnny. “Okay, okay, maybe you don’t, but then how do you explain your propensity for long, brooding walks by the lakeshore?” “Have you noticed he likes them even more when it’s foggy?” James asked. “Ass-hats. The both of you.” Jeremiah shoved away from his brothers, his graceful, muscled form striding out in front of them. Finally, he looked up at the porch and noticed her watching. He froze, looking deep into her eyes. She saw everything there. Every hurt, every anger, every fury, every despair, yet he was still there looking at her. Still there hoping for her to change her mind. She looked down at her tea and blew, needing a moment to compose her thoughts. Jeremiah’s gaze had sent them tumbling around in her brain. It wasn’t until he stomped up the porch that she realized he was coming after her. She only had time to gasp before he ripped the cup out of her hands and threw it across the yard. “Hey!”

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“You weren’t even gonna wait for us to get here? You weren’t gonna say good-bye? You are cold, Marina. A cold and heartless woman!” “Jeremiah, it wasn’t—” “We love you, goddamn it.” He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, yanking her off Bo’s bench. “Why don’t you feel it? Why don’t you want it?” “Jeremiah Greenwood!” Bo spoke harshly from the doorway, his raspy voice cutting through the air. “Get your hands off her.” Jeremiah stopped shaking her but didn’t let her go. “You’re acting a damn fool, boy.” James and Johnny had reached the porch. “What is it? What’s going on?” Jeremiah released her and turned away, throwing his hands up. “We’re too late. She already drank the compound.” His voice was tight and gruff. “What?” Johnny asked, blinking and then turning to look at Marina. “What do you mean?” “I mean she drank the fucking compound. She’s outta here. No more Marina. The end. Good-bye.” Marina rolled her eyes. “If you would have asked me, Jeremiah Greenwood, instead of storming up here like the ursine creature that you are, you would have known I was drinking tea.” He looked out to her forlorn mug, overturned and nestled into the grass, and then looked back at her. “That was tea?” She ran her hand through her hair and nodded, surprised that her hands were shaking so bad. “And it was very delicious tea at that.” “Whoops.” She saw a bit of rosiness appear through his beard. Offering him a small smile, she shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s…” She looked at all three of them. Their faces were drawn, and she could see they were hanging on to every word. How was she ever going to do this with them here? “It’s understandable,” she whispered.

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“On that note,” Bo said in a far-too-cheery voice, “shall we get started? No point in loitering about on my porch.” “Bo,” James said, not looking away from Marina, “may we have a few minutes alone with our mate?” Marina felt her heart twist at the term, but Bo nodded. “Mind you, I’ll be watching from that window.” He pointed to one a little ways down the porch. “If she shows even the smallest sign of distress, I’m coming out and we’re going ahead. Got it?” James offered a terse nod, and then Bo went inside, the screen door slamming behind him. After he had closed the front door, James took her hand and led her to the steps. “Stand here, please,” he said, indicating the bottom step. After she had done so, the three men stood in the yard in front of her—James on the left, Jeremiah in the middle, and Johnny on the right. “We’ve each thought long and hard about what we wanted to say to you this morning,” James said. “At first, I said we should make a flow chart and present you with all kinds of graphs and statistics about why it would be better for you to stay with us.” “Then I thought we should just kidnap you again,” Jeremiah said, and she was surprised to see him grinning. “But we all know how wonderfully that has turned out.” “And I thought it would be a good idea to kidnap Bo,” Johnny said. “I figured if we could find this compound he’s brewing and throw it in the lake, that would put an end to all this nonsense. But then we realized that wouldn’t work ’cause we all know Bo would just use his Shoshone hoodoo to kick our asses.” Marina laughed but then covered her mouth, afraid she would offend them. Jeremiah stepped forward and pulled her hand away. “Don’t be afraid of your own laughter.” His hands, so rough and powerful before, were tender and caring. He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. “Marina, don’t ever be afraid of that. We saw how upset you were when you mated with first Johnny and then James. We would never intentionally hurt you, but we’d gotten a taste of what it

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could be like to spend our lives with you. And honestly, the thought of losing you is always gonna make my gut twist with pain. You’re not something we can easily let go of. But we saw you last night. Onstage, Marina, you are the most magnificent creature I and my brothers have ever seen. It’s obvious you belong there, and we sorta realized that we can’t force you away from something that is such a part of you, a part of what makes you so beautiful.” He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss on her lips and then kissed her eyes, kissed away the moisture there. “So really there was only one thing to say to you, only one thing that means anything.” She quickly wiped at her eyes. “What’s that?” “You don’t know?” he asked, a gleam in his dark eyes. She shook her head. He leaned in, pressing his cheek to hers so that his lips brushed against her ear. “I love you, Marina.” When he stepped back, Johnny pressed closed to her other ear. “I love you.” Then he kissed her sweet and slow. She relished his flavor, his movement, his breath, and then he was gone. James approached but stopped in front of her, blocking her view of the other two. He held her face in his hands and mouthed those same three words. Then he kissed her. Where Johnny’s kiss was slow and warm and welcoming, his was desperate and demanding. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and rolled his around it. He held her face tight between his palms and pulled raw, tumultuous emotion out of her. She breathed in deep, and the wanting washed through her body. Everything she’d been trying to hold back was released, and she felt herself flailing helplessly in his wild, stormy kiss. She broke away, gasping, and fled. She ripped open the screen door and then tumbled into Bo’s house. “Bo!” she cried out. “Bo, I need the compound! Give me the compound.” “Marina, are you okay?” “Yes,” she said, her voice breaking. “I just…I need it right now. I can’t wait any longer.”

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“Marina, hold on. I think you should—” “Give me the compound!” she screamed, jutting her hand out to him, palm up. Bo stared at her for a long moment and then nodded. He retreated into his kitchen for a moment and then returned. Marina had left her hand out, and in it he placed a small glass vial. It was a lot smaller than she thought it would be. The liquid inside was clear. It sparkled as the morning light danced across it from the window. “This is it?” Bo nodded. “How long will I have before…” “About an hour.” She heard a commotion out on the porch. “Fuck this! I’m not waiting out here!” Then the front door was ripped open. Jeremiah burst through, followed closely by his brothers. They all three began shouting, begging her to wait a day or two or to give them one more chance or to just hold on one goddamn minute. “Quiet!” Bo roared over their clamoring voices. “You three sound like a pack of rabid coyotes.” They all three looked at Bo with mouths open in mid yell. Slowly, their mouths closed and they nodded. “Sorry, Bo,” James muttered. “Now I told you from the beginning that this was gonna be Marina’s choice. I gave you two weeks with her. If she hasn’t changed her mind by now, then it is her prerogative to take the compound. She knows exactly what she’ll be leaving behind if she drinks it, and she knows exactly what she stands to gain by staying.” Marina thought that statement sounded a little loaded, but she let it go when Bo nodded at her. “Go ahead, Marina.” She looked at the three of them but shook her head. “I can’t do this in front of you three.” She shoved through them and ran out the door. She flew down the steps and ran across the clearing in front of Bo’s house. She didn’t stop until she’d gone well into the woods, far

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enough to be unseen from Bo’s front porch. Then she plopped onto the ground. She pulled the cork out of the vial and took a delicate whiff of the liquid. Its sharp, acrid smell burned her nostrils, and she jerked away from it. Sniffing with more caution, she could detect a small hint of sweetness amongst its pungent odor, but it wasn’t enough to make her want to toss it back. She imagined, with a smell like that, it was gonna take a considerable amount of willpower to get it down her throat. She put the vial to her lips. A vision of James’s face sprang into her mind. She realized it was a memory. It was some small captured moment burned into the flesh of her mind. He’d turned toward her, and the sun had caught him at just the right angle. It shone across his face and into his eyes and all through his hair. He was golden and brilliant and perfect. Then he’d caught her looking at him, and his mouth broke into a wide grin. She remembered feeling something sharp rip through her at that moment. She’d reached out and touched him then, needing to confirm that he was real, that he was flesh and blood and man. Her fingers met his cheek, and his warmth melded into hers. The memory was so strong, she almost felt as if she could touch him now if she would just reach out. Taking the vial away from her mouth, her mind began to flood her with other memories, other moments and pictures of James and Johnny and Jeremiah, each one caught and held like tiny feathers in her head unbeknownst to Marina’s conscious self. If she drank the compound, those tiny moments in her mind would be all she had left of them. If she didn’t drink the compound, she would never go on tour again, never record another album on a major label, never feel the warm embrace of stadium lights while performing onstage. Her mind threw something else at her. She remembered her conversation with Jeffrey that morning. She knew exactly what she

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would be going back to. She would be going back to everything that had driven her to Savage Valley in the first place. She tried to bring the vial to her lips again, but her hand wouldn’t do it. Tears began falling down her face. She couldn’t leave them. She couldn’t. Scrambling to her feet, she began running. She ran back through the forest toward Bo’s small wooden house. When she broke into the clearing, she began shouting. “James!” she shouted, sobbing and waving at the house. “Jeremiah! Johnny!” Jeremiah came out of the house first. She could see the confusion on his face. “I couldn’t do it!” she cried, still running toward him. “I couldn’t drink it!” He flew down the porch. His smile was glorious, and when she was near enough, she leapt into his arms. Their bodies slammed into each other, but she didn’t care. She only wanted to be held in those strong arms of his. She wrapped her legs around him and sobbed into his shoulder, clenching her eyes and gasping as her body shook against his. He whispered her name over and over again, pressing soft, warm kisses into her hair and neck. When James and Johnny reached them, she pulled back slightly to look into Jeremiah’s eyes. He didn’t put her down but used one hand to wipe at her tears. “You’re staying?” he asked, amazement and love in his voice. “You’re not leaving us?” She shook her head, and another sob broke free from her throat. “Why? What changed your mind?” She shook her head. “I just couldn’t.” She kissed him, desperate and hungry and elated. “I couldn’t leave you.” She laughed at the insanity of her decision. She laughed at its perfection. Looking at

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James and Johnny, she said it again. “I couldn’t leave you.” She sniffed and then giggled. “I guess I love you.” “I’ll take it!” Johnny said, making them all laugh. Jeremiah set her back on the ground. “And you’re sure, Marina?” James asked, his voice regaining some of its seriousness. After putting her hand to his cheek and meeting his eyes for a long moment, she held up the vial. All three of them took an involuntary step away, as if its very presence repelled them. She took the cork off. “I’m sure,” she said and then dumped its contents into the grass. Johnny picked her up and spun her in a circle, kissing her while he did. Giggling and squealing for him to put her down, Marina felt an overwhelming happiness begin to spread through her body. She felt so wholesome and complete. She couldn’t remember the last time everything had felt so right inside of her. James tugged her around to face him. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. Every promise that she’d been told, every dream she’d had as a girl, dreams of love and fairy tales and magic, it all came true in his kiss. All of her despair and anger and hopelessness dissolved. It floated up above her and got tossed into the wind. It was carried away from Savage Valley forever. She felt that in her soul, and when she opened her eyes to look at the three men who loved her and who she loved in return, she found her home. “What’s going on here?” Bo asked, approaching with a wide grin. “That doesn’t look like a ‘we’re about to be parted forever’ smooch. And, trust me, I know my smooches.” “That’s because we’re not about to be parted forever, Bo,” Marina said, matching his grin with a wide one of her own. “I’ve decided to stay. I’m gonna stay mated to these two hooligans and get around to this third one sooner or later.” Jeremiah shot her a burning gaze. “I mean very, very soon.” She winked at Jeremiah. “Okay, well, then if you’re not gonna use the compound, I’ll take it back. Never know when that will come in handy.”

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All four of them shared a guilty look and then awkwardly cleared their throats or looked at the ground. “Well, Bo—” Marina started. “Well, Bo, what?” he said, his eyes narrowing in on her. “The thing is, as a sort of proof of my devotion, I kind of…well, I…it was all for love, Bo!” “Marina Andrews, what did you do?” “I dumped it.” “You what?” “I dumped it.” Bo closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. And he kept sucking. He inhaled and inhaled. Marina actually got a little worried that he was gonna pass out. “Umm…Bo?” He put up a hand and kept sucking in air. She exchanged a glance with James, but he only shrugged. Finally, Bo let out his breath in a tiny puff. “Okay, given that you are probably in a heightened emotional state at the moment, I can forgive you. This once, Marina. Do you understand?” She nodded. “I’m really sorry.” “Good.” He looked like he was about to let it go, but then he turned back to her. “Damn, girl. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to ever dump a Shoshone shaman’s magical compound? That is just ludicrous. I mean, whatever gave you the idea that it was a good idea to dump it all over the place? That stuff was valuable!” Marina leaned over and pecked Bo on the cheek. He stopped mid tirade and looked at her with surprise. “I’m sorry. Let me cook you dinner soon to make up for it, okay?” “More like a week’s worth of dinners,” he grumbled. Marina smiled big at him. “Deal.” Jeremiah slipped his hand into hers and bent over to kiss her. He was still smiling gloriously. He hadn’t stopped since she’d come running out of the forest.

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“Oh, go on, you lovebirds,” Bo said, shooing them. “I’ve got football to watch anyway.” After they said good-bye to Bo and he headed back toward his porch, the four of them walked into the forest. As soon as there was a screen of trees to block them from sight, Johnny and James began to strip. They handed their clothes to Jeremiah, who tucked them under one arm. “Well, you two certainly aren’t wasting any time.” Johnny chuckled and James said, “We’re shifting. Our bears want to walk beside you.” “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. That’s…that sounds pretty sexy, actually. Like my own personal bear escorts. Eek!” She squealed when they both exploded into bears beside her. She jolted against Jeremiah, and he pulled her closer to his body, kissing the top of her head and then continuing on. “Can I touch?” “Of course,” Jeremiah answered, but Johnny had already stopped and moved a little in front of her. He peered up at her with one black eye. They were both so huge. Bigger than any black bear she’d ever seen at the zoo or on the Internet. With trembling fingers, she reached out and touched Johnny’s snout. His nose wiggled, as if her touch tickled him, and she snatched her hand back. “It’s okay,” Jeremiah insisted. “We would never hurt you. You could even ride one of them if you wanted.” She dug her hand more deeply into Johnny’s fur, running her fingers down his neck. James moved in front of her, and she touched him, too, scratching him behind an ear. He groaned and closed his eyes. She giggled. “Oh, you like that don’t you? You hedonist bear.” He nudged against her playfully. After a few more moments of petting, they began walking toward the center again. Marina sighed. Morning sunlight flickered through the pine needles above. The air was sharp and clean, and three warm bodies walked beside her and loved her. Everything was so beautiful.

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“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jeremiah whispered beside her. “What do you mean?” she asked. He ran a fingertip lightly over her lips. “I’ve never seen you smile like this. Your whole being is alive with it.” He sucked in a deep breath. “It makes me so happy to see it on your face.” With wonder and amazement, Marina halted and put her own fingers on her lip, needing to touch, needing to feel proof of its existence. She’d always known there was something deep and incomprehensively powerful in a “real” smile, just from the few she’d witnessed. But she hadn’t even begun to imagine what a “real” smile would feel like. In fact, she didn’t remember ever believing that she would experience a “real” smile. But Jeremiah had brought one to her face. And Johnny. And James. It was all encompassing. The love and happiness she felt had no ending and no beginning. It was perfect. It was whole. **** They’d been moving at a leisurely pace. The center wasn’t too great a distance from the Shoshone land, and Jeremiah knew they were getting close. Suddenly Marina stopped in her tracks, so Jeremiah stopped, too, wondering what she was up to. He still couldn’t believe that she was his, that the warm, smiling, loving woman next to him was his and that she wanted to stay with him and his brothers. “Jeremiah,” she said, turning to him, “what about you?” “What do you mean?” “Oh, come on.” She jiggled his hand in hers and then looked at his brothers in bear form. “You know what I mean.”

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He smiled down at her. “Patience. Just a little further.” He kissed her forehead, and they began moving again. He noticed that she kept her hand on Johnny’s back as they walked. Her fingers were buried in his black fur, and the sight filled Jeremiah with a deep, satisfying comfort. A couple minutes later, they reached their destination. James and Johnny loped ahead and stopped just in front of some wooden steps. “What the hell is that?” Marina asked. Smiling, Jeremiah eyed the wooden half-dome structure. It had a cream-colored canvas stretched over pinewood latticework and a set of wooden steps leading up to its door. “That’s the yurt.” “The yurt? What the hell is a yurt?” “It’s that thing.” “But what is it for?” “Oh? You mean, you can’t guess?” Jeremiah dropped his brothers’ clothes on the ground and then unzipped his red-and-blackcheckered coat. Marina’s eyes widened. He shrugged out of the coat, letting it fall to the ground, and then tore off all three layers of sweater and undershirts at once. He undid his belt. He unbuttoned his fly. He pulled down his zipper. Marina’s mouth fell open, and she took a step back. “Right now?” she whispered. Jeremiah nodded, shooting her a lascivious grin. His pants fell to the ground. Her eyes fell to his cock. It was standing up for her. His bear rumbled through his blood. It had been held back too long. It was ready for a wild mating with Marina. He couldn’t fucking wait. Marina stumbled backward. Maybe some of his determined ferocity was coming through, but he didn’t care to hold it back if it was. Her feet hit the bottom step, and she grabbed the rail. “Jeremiah,” she whispered.

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“Honey, you’d better start taking those clothes off if you want them to remain intact. Once I shift and breathe you in, nothing is gonna stop me from shredding anything that gets between my cock and your pussy.” “Oh my,” she said, a smile beginning to curl her lips. Then her fingers worked on her jacket, unzipping and shedding layer after layer until she stood before him in nothing but her bra and panties. He could see she was shivering, but she stood with her chest out so that her nipples poked aggressively against the flimsy rose-colored lace of her undergarment. Moisture had begun to darken the delicate fabric that covered her cunt, and his bear could endure no more. The animal side of himself ripped through his body. It raced through blood and muscle and sinew and then tore out of him. With a bellowing roar his paws landed on the earth-ground. His stormy-eyedMarina jumped at the awesome display of his bear-power, which was as it should be. She was his. Her blood belonged to him. Each footstep pounded the earth-ground. Each footstep carried him closer to his stormy-eyed-Marina. A winter-wind whipped through dark ribbons of her hair. Then the winter-wind twisted toward him. It curled up his bear-nose. It danced through his veins. It washed his stormy-eyed-Marina through his mighty, terrible, ferocious bearbody. She was finally his. As his human hurled to the surface, he flung his body at her. She cried out, holding him as they fell backward, slamming into the wooden door. He’d already discussed everything with his brothers. Upon the slim chance that Marina decided to stay with them, they had agreed to stay in bear form until he and Marina had completed the mating between all three brothers. In other words, it was just him and Marina, and she was pounding through his head. His whole body pulsed with her vibration, her breathing, her rhythm. He reached for the doorknob, and they stumbled inside. Jeremiah couldn’t stand the thought of not touching,

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not kissing her. Not even to open the door or close it behind him. He slammed his foot into it to close it. He couldn’t even make it to the bed. The inside of the yurt had lavish, decadent furnishings and decor, but for now, he couldn’t spare the time to let her appreciate it. Now he just needed to be inside her. “Jeremiah, I feel you.” She sucked in frantic breaths and clawed at her stomach. “I feel you here. I need you here.” She cupped herself. Grasping her hand, he pulled it away from between her legs and bit at the soft flesh on her wrist. Then he ripped her panties off, enjoying the sound of tearing lace. Somehow they made it to the ground and he was on top of her, poised at her entrance. He was going to dominate her pussy. “Don’t you dare wait.” She pulled and her knees up to the sides of her chest, spreading herself wide for him and urging him onward. He thrust forward, his cock sliding so perfectly into her hot pussy. Her moist cunt welcomed him, lured him in to her depths. He pulled himself to the tip, and her eyelids fluttered. Then he dove back in, rocking himself in as far as he could go. She grunted as his huge cock jutted up into her. Her cunt was so tight. It squeezed him mercilessly. “Come on,” she urged. “You have to go faster, Jeremiah. I’m going insane,” she whimpered, wriggling her body around his dick. He rocked back his powerful hips and then let loose, slamming into her body with all the wild abandon he felt coursing through his blood. She moaned in time with each demanding thrust of his cock. He looked into the swirling abyss of her eyes, and he could see a wildness that matched his own in those dark blue orbs. He was the master of it. He would harness it and command it. He would possess all. He pounded and pounded. Each plunge of his cock brought her fever closer to the surface. He could see that it wanted to break free, that he couldn’t stop until it did. She panted and shook her head. She snarled as he embedded his cock in her pussy over and over. They

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crashed against each other, each one struggling to reach that allencompassing pleasure. Her moans grew higher in pitch. He knew she was close. As she rose, so did he. It felt as if every thought, every emotion, every signal that had ever passed through his nerves struggled and swam through his body. Everything was moving to his cock, and the moment it all met up, he would shatter. He focused on the feel of her hot, wet cunt pumping around his dick. She squeezed herself around him and pulled him deeper, desperate for a release. Then she exploded. Everything surrounded him. He existed only in her tightness. His seed erupted. It jetted out of him, and he held himself still and deep inside her, inside his stormy-eyed-Marina. Their bodies shook against one another, and he felt as if he could barely hold the cells of his body together. When rational thoughts began to return, he slowly rolled himself off to lie beside her. He couldn’t muster much energy, but he discovered enough to grope around for a moment or two until he caught her fingers in his. “Thank god!” Johnny said, bursting through the door. “Took y’all long enough.” Both his brothers were naked as they paraded into the yurt. “Couldn’t even make it to the bed,” James admonished. Kneeling down, he scooped up a liquid-boned Marina from the floor. “My hero.” She giggled. James and Johnny cleaned her up while Jeremiah did the same for himself. They’d even thought to stock some warm bedclothes for her, and after she’d pulled a long flannel nightgown over her head, they all four climbed into the bed. “I just want to lie with y’all for a few minutes.” She sucked in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. “I can’t believe it.” “What?” Jeremiah asked. He couldn’t believe a lot of things at the moment, but he wondered which one she was referring to.

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She snuggled up close to him and kissed his cheek. “We’re all four a family now.” He smiled and pulled her tighter. “That we are, Marina.” That we are.

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Epilogue “Okay, this blinky light means it’s recording, right?” Marina fiddled with the camera, trying to adjust its lens to make sure it would be pointing at the exact angle. She didn’t want to get started and then have to keep adjusting things. It could really ruin the flow. “Yeah, that’s right,” James said from behind her. “We’d better make this quick, though. What time does Agnes’s Thanksgiving dinner start?” “I’m not sure. Michelle texted me with all the details if you want to check my phone.” She heard one of her men ruffling through her purse, and Johnny said, “We have about an hour.” “That should be plenty of time, don’t you think?” she asked Jeremiah. He nodded. “But we’d better go ahead and get started. Are you ready?” She sucked in a deep breath. “I think so.” “How are you feeling? Are you nervous?” “Kind of. This is such a huge step for me. And for us.” He leaned over to her and kissed her. It was warm and reassuring. It gave her courage. “You’ll be perfect.” He gave her an affectionate peck and then turned to face the camera with her. They were seated next to each other on the bench at the kitchen table. Johnny and James came to stand behind the camera. “Whenever you’re ready,” Johnny said. Marina clutched Jeremiah’s hand in hers.

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Then she faced the lens, took a deep breath, and began to speak. “Hi, y’all. Marina Andrews here. I just wanted to send out a quick video to all my fans to let you know I’ve been reading all of your wonderful, warm e-mails, tweets, and Facebook comments. I want y’all to know I’m still here, I’m very happy, and most importantly of all I’m very loved. “Now, I realize that I owe many of you a huge—huge, huge, huge—apology. I so regret that I had to leave my last tour and miss out on seeing all of your beautiful faces there. I’ve come up with a plan that I hope will make up some of that to you, but again, I just want to say how sorry I am that I had to do that to you guys. “Now, first of all, my biggest news that I just can’t wait to share with you is that I’ve gone and caught myself a man!” She held up her left hand and thrust it toward the camera so that her future viewers would be able to see the engagement ring that the Greenwoods had given her. Of course, she’d never say it was actually from three men instead of one, but that didn’t mean she could refrain from showing it off to the world. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Jeremiah Greenwood.” She leaned over and kissed him on his scruffy cheek as he waved at the camera and said hi. “He’s an amazing musician, and you’ll get to hear him for yourselves on my upcoming EP to be released in the spring. He’s gonna play guitar and sing, and maybe even throw in a little banjo on a song or two. I’m really excited about working with him and bossing him around and, essentially, making him answer to my musical beck and call.” “Let’s not get too crazy with the beck-and-call stuff,” Jeremiah said in his low, scratchy voice that she loved so much. She squirmed on the bench, trying to ease her sudden arousal. Looking at James and Johnny, she noticed them smirking at her discomfort, and she thought they might have to wrap this up soon. “Anyways,” she said, returning her attention to the camera, “if you click on the ‘Upcoming Appearances’ tab on my website, you’ll

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see that I’ll be playing only one more show for the rest of the year. And that’s gonna be here in Savage Valley. Anyone who had a ticket to one of the cancelled shows will get in for free. If you can’t make it, we’ll send you a copy of a live CD and DVD combo that we’ll be recording at the show. All you have to do is type in your ticket number from the cancelled show and choose which one you want to receive—either a ticket to the upcoming show here in Savage Valley or the CD/DVD combo. “Okay, that’s all the news I have for you lovelies right now, but stay tuned because I’ll be posting a few more of these video update thingies over the next few weeks. All right, love you guys!” She blew a kiss to the camera and waved. Looking over at Jeremiah, she saw that he was only grinning stupidly at the camera. She snatched up his hand and waggled it. “Come on, Jeremiah, wave good-bye.” A few moments later, Johnny pushed a button to stop the recording. “Well, that went pretty well, don’t you think?” she asked her three fiancés. James nodded, and Johnny said, “Yeah, I don’t even think we need to do it again.” “Our mate is perfect,” Jeremiah said, tipping her chin up and placing a hot kiss on her mouth. He let his lips linger and then deepened the kiss, pulling her chest against his. She’d only been mated to them for about two weeks, but instead of becoming accustomed to the fire that erupted between them every time she touched one of them, it seemed like the desire she felt for them grew stronger every day. She broke away panting. “How long until we have to go to the dinner?” she asked, not looking away from Jeremiah. “We still have about forty-five minutes,” Johnny answered. Rising from the bench, she swept the few contents on the table— the salt and pepper shakers, a napkin holder, and a book—onto the floor.

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“What on earth are you doing?” “Johnny, turn that camera back on.” She crawled onto the table, moving on all fours in a slow, seductive manner until she reached the far side of it away from her three sexy men. Then she rolled over so that she was sitting on its surface. She stretched her legs along its length and leaned back on her hands. “Oh, boys?” “Yeah?” they said together, all three sets of black eyes wide and focused on her hand. She let it slide from her breasts down to her pants. “Can one of you come help me?” She slipped it inside and cupped her pussy. “I need a little assistance getting these pants off.” Three very large, male bodies came barreling toward her, and the last thing she saw before every thought was wiped away by her sexy, demanding men was a red blinking light and the lens of a camera.

THE END HTTP://WWW.BOOKSTRAND.COM/EDITH-DUBOIS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Although she grew up in small-town Texas, Edith has lived and traveled in both France and the UK. She currently resides in Central Texas but wouldn’t mind a gallivant or two across the Australian Outback, the Highlands of Scotland, or any other foreign land that happens to interest her. She’s been writing since she was eight or nine, but she never thought about writing as a career until she handed in her first short story to her high school English teacher. She had so much fun writing it and spending time with her characters and actually finishing it that she started another, and she hasn’t stopped since. Edith enjoys writing in all sorts of genres and forms, including song writing and script writing, but no matter what, love is always at the center of her stories. Edith’s idea of passing a perfect hour would be to cuddle up next to the window with one of her favorite books, a big ol’ mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon in her hand, and Patsy Cline softly crooning from her record player in the background. You can e-mail Edith at [email protected] or find her on Twitter at twitter.com/EdithDWrites.

Also by Edith DuBois Ménage Everlasting: The Male Order, Texas Collection: A Bride for Two Babes Ménage Everlasting: The Male Order, Texas Collection: A Bride for Two Renegades Ménage Everlasting: Rugged Savage Valley, Colorado 1: Rugged Glimpse Ménage Everlasting: Rugged Savage Valley, Colorado 2: Rugged Return

Available at BOOKSTRAND.COM

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