JAYDEN Read online

  Kon grimaced. “We’re not going anywhere, Dad.”

  “You say that now, and then your brother nearly perishes under a fucking car because he didn’t check a jack.”

  “It was my fault,” Leila whispered softly. “I’m so sorry, sir.”

  “There’s no need to be sorry, missy. Ain’t your fault my boys didn’t do as I taught them… always check your work.”

  “But that’s just it. I set up the jack.”

  Mundo sniffed. “No offense, missy, but that’s all the more reason to check it. You look like a feather would push you over.”

  “I’m really quite strong, sir,” she retorted, scowling at Mundo in irritation.

  It was the first time Kon had seen her anything other than scared or bewildered, so he guessed it made complete sense that the source of her irritation would be his father.

  Mundo sure knew how to piss most folk off.

  Just ask Kon’s Aunty Cinda.

  Before Mundo could say anything more, and deciding the only way to shut his pa up was to tell him the truth, Kon stated, “She’s our mate. We were both a little addled by her scent.”

  Silence fell in the room and Jay curled up into a seated position. A flash of discomfort across his face told Kon more than Pip’s words had that though he was healed, something deep inside was still in the process of regenerating.

  “Addled ain’t the word,” Jay commented gruffly, shooting a rueful glance at him. “Your stories make sense now, Pop.”

  Mundo gawked at them both. “You can’t be serious. That little itty bitty thing? She can’t take both of you!”

  A squeak escaped the itty-bitty thing. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest. “And I still totally dispute the fact I’m your mate.”

  Pip’s brows rose. “Don’t you feel anything for them? Come on, dearie, don’t lie. I know how it feels. That jackass over there is my mate.”

  Major snorted but didn’t dispute his mate’s words.

  One good thing about him was he knew he was a prick and wasn’t ashamed of it. Hell, if anything he embraced it!

  Leila flushed. “Well, I mean, I’m grateful.”

  Jay snorted at that, but Kon retorted, “Would you hold the hand of a stranger if you thought they were hurting?”

  “Well, yes. I’d like to think I would.”

  “But how would you know they were hurting if you weren’t looking at them?”

  Leila frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “When Jay was being healed, you were focused on him but reached out to hold my hand. How did you know I’d need comforting?”

  “You’re his brother. Of course, you did.” But she looked uneasy again. Nervously, she moved her arms from her chest and began rubbing her palms against her jean-covered lap. “I-I think y’all should leave now if Jay’s healed.”

  Pip came to the rescue before either of them could say a word. “He really shouldn’t move for twenty four hours.” As she turned her back on Leila to gather her things together, she shot Kon a small wink. One that had him flaring his nostrils in amusement.

  “Jeez, twenty-four hours?” Jay asked. “It must be bad if I need bed rest.”

  Leila’s mouth popped open. “But surely we can find another room?”

  Kon shrugged. “No need. Two beds in here.”

  “But there are three of us, and then these three people here.”

  “We’re off,” Major discounted. “No need for us here.”

  “And I’ll sleep on the floor,” Kon pointed out. “You two can take the beds.”

  She blinked at them both, her cheeks tinging pink as she huffed out, “I-I guess.”

  Hardly words a man would die to hear but better than, “Get the fuck out of here.”

  Chapter 2

  Was this really happening? Seriously?

  A lot of weird things had been happening to her of late, but the weirdest of them all had to be two huge men claiming she was theirs.

  That just didn’t happen, did it?

  Especially not to Seventh Day Adventists girls… The reverse? Maybe. Although members of her church hadn’t practiced polygamy in almost 150 years, she’d sure known folk who had, and there’d never been more than one husband. Just several sister wives.

  But mates?

  Was that even possible?

  The Church didn’t like Shifters. She’d not been raised to be ‘against’ them, but neither had she been raised to like them. Of course, she technically didn’t like ‘anything’ since she’d left her parents behind and traveled down to Texas to try to find her own way without the guiding light of something she wasn’t altogether sure she wanted to be a part of her life.

  Dealing with her parents had taken up all of her first twenty years; for the following twenty, she chose freedom.

  But how was it possible that eight months into freedom she was being claimed by two men?

  Not just any men, but huge men. The size of… heck, she didn’t even know. She was old enough to remember when Dwayne Johnson had been President. Were Kon and Jay as big as him?

  She eyed them up and down.

  Were they bigger?

  Though it seemed impossible, she truly thought they were bigger. And they thought to squish her in between the two of them?

  Surely not.

  Deep down, something started to heat up at the thought of being stuck between them, which in turn made her start to squirm.

  Need.

  It wasn’t something she could outright say she’d felt before, but she sure felt it now.

  Biting her lip, she watched as Jay carefully got to his feet. As he stood, she noticed the pain on his face now he was healed and marveled at how he hadn’t been suffering when blood was gushing from him, but he was uncomfortable after the healing.

  Not only had the healing been like a miracle, but crazier still was his discomfort after the fact.

  It was more than perplexing, it made her feel like this was all a crazy dream.

  Though she’d never met a Shifter before, at least, not one she’d known outright was a Shifter, she’d never come across someone with Pip’s talent. Or gift, Leila guessed was more appropriate a term.

  In fact, it was more than a gift.

  It was like a miracle.

  Had Jesus been a Shifter?

  She gulped at the thought, and shuddered away from such thinking.

  Not everything has to be about the Church, Leila, she chided herself as she watched Jay, still limping a little, stagger over to his father and go in for a hug.

  The older version of Jay—well, she said older. He had to be older to be the twins’ father, he simply didn’t look like he’d seen enough years to have kids as old as the brothers.

  Scratching her head, then grimacing as she saw her nails were caked in blood which she’d undoubtedly transferred to her forehead, she put her hands to her side and watched as Mundo transferred his chiding to Kon.

  Bickering was onset between the three of them, which the one called Major hopped in on. With astonishment, she watched as it turned into laughter. All three of them cackling as they swore and said things that no good men would say.

  She bit her lip at the thought.

  ‘Good’ men were a notion she’d yet to comprehend in this new life of hers.

  All men seemed to want sex. That was a given. She’d made it to twenty-two years without losing her virginity, but no ‘good’ men seemed to want to take a relationship far without getting into her panties within the first few dates.

  She hadn’t expected that, she’d admit. It came as a shock to know that something so basic as a relationship came with such strings.

  Where was the romance nowadays? Where was the love and the gentle passion that would lead to happily ever afters?

  She jolted as Pip appeared from the bedroom. She had a towel in hand and was drying off her fingers. “Don’t worry about them,” she told her softly. “They all start off arguing and then the
y end up laughing. It’s in their nature. They’re a fiery lot.”

  Fiery seemed to be an understatement.

  “I’m sure they are.” She cut Pip a look. “You’re human too?”

  “Yep,” came the breezy answer. “Don’t worry. You’ll be real glad they call you their mate. Any woman who gets either of those two is damn lucky in my opinion.”

  “Apparently, I get a two for one special.”

  She wasn’t even joking, but Pip seemed to find her words amusing. “Aren’t you thrifty!”

  Leila blinked. “It would seem so.”

  “I’d advise lube. Lots and lots of lube,” Pip told her, sotto voce, making Leila blow up bright red like a beacon.

  She clapped her hands to her cheeks, hating the heat she knew was glowing from her face. Pip seemed to notice and grimaced, “Sorry, Leila. Don’t be offended at my talk. I was just trying to help.”

  “But w-why would you even say that?”

  The other woman’s nose wrinkled. “They’re big boys, Leila. You know… big?”

  Feeling her eyes round, scandalized, she demanded, “How do you know?”

  “I’ve never out and out looked,” Pip retorted, holding her hands up. “But I’ve healed the two of them more times than I can count. Some very, very bad wounds, too.”

  “But you just had to touch them to heal them. You didn’t have to look at anything.”

  “I can’t heal a wound if there’s ten inches of gravel stuck in it. It needs to be relatively clean otherwise I’m scared the dirt will get trapped in the wound. There is still so much I don’t know about this gift of mine.” She shot Leila a rueful glance. “I only got it when I mated Major. Even though I’ve had it over twenty years, I feel like I’ve only had it twenty days.”

  “I can imagine. It’s an immense gift to have.”

  Pip shrugged, but her words were wry. “Tell me about it.”

  “May I ask what you meant about only getting the gift when you mated Major?” she asked softly, seeing the men were talking about someone called Christie, and knowing this would be her only chance to talk to someone with ovaries before she’d have to spend the night with two ‘Rock’ lookalikes.

  “When you mate a Shifter, you get a gift. Well, you actually get several. I’m fifty,” Pip admitted, making Leila gawk at her.

  “No way! You look like you’re my age.”

  Pip winked. “Thanks, sugar. But that’s one of the joys. Jay and Kon are actually young, they only turned twenty-six last year, but our Prez, who’s the eldest, is close to three hundred years old now and he looks as young as the boys.” She shrugged. “It’s one of the definite perks. But, on top of that, you get something from the Goddesses. Basically, it’s to put things on a level setting.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Pip hunched her shoulders. “Like, they enable us to do things because they can shift and we can’t. It’s to even things up.”

  “How does healing people even up the score?”

  “I didn’t say it made sense, just that that’s what happens. Christie, the boys’ mom, she got a super nose. I swear, the woman shouldn’t be a dentist; she needs to make perfume. Her nose is so sensitive that each time she’s been pregnant, her morning sickness was ridiculous.”

  At least Leila knew who the men were talking about now—Jay and Kon’s mom. “So, she got a super nose and you got to heal. What other kinds of gifts are there?”

  “All kinds. The boys’ sister, Jessie, well, her mate is human. He is incredibly strong. Like ‘The Hulk’ strong. Except, his strength isn’t triggered by anger. It’s just something he can do.”

  “So, if I’m their mate, then I’ll get one of these gifts too?”

  Pip nodded. “Yup. Cool, huh?”

  “How do I know I can trust that I’m their mate? I mean, they might just be saying it, right?”

  “No way.” Pip hooted out a laugh. “Shifters don’t lie about mates. It’s probably the one thing they hold sacred in their life. A mate is… well, to them a mate is so incredibly precious, we’re like a friggin’ diamond. I can’t say, hand on heart, that they’d never lie to you, because they’re still males, whether or not they’re Shifters, and all men can be dicks from time to time, but… they wouldn’t mess around with this. Especially not in front of their father or us. Mars, the Clan leader, would slaughter them for making a mockery of the mate bond.”

  Pip’s serious tone sent shivers down Leila’s spine. It was good. Everything the other woman was saying meant she could have faith in what Kon and Jay were telling her, but it also meant it was true.

  She was theirs.

  But, she wasn’t. She was her own person. She’d been someone else’s all her life. This was supposed to be her time to shine.

  Leila frowned down at the floor. “What’s wrong?” Pip asked softly.

  She bit her lip. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? If anything, I’m one person who could understand. I’m a mate too, remember.”

  Leila contemplated the woman a second. It seemed impossible to believe that she was approaching her sixth decade on this planet and looked as young as Leila did. Was this magic? Or maybe it was, as she’d suspected earlier, a dream.

  Releasing a sigh, Leila whispered, “I was raised in the Seventh Day Adventists church.”

  Pip’s eyes widened, then she whistled softly. “Okay. I can see why this might be overwhelming for you.”

  “Yes. And, I mean, two men?” She blinked. “I-I don’t think I could.”

  It was Pip’s turn to bite her lip. “Okay, so because of your past, you might judge me for this. But you have to bear in mind, I’m from a different time to you. We were a lot more liberal at the beginning of century….”

  “I won’t judge you, Pip. How can I? I’ve no room to judge. I left the Church, which, effectively, puts me in exile. I’ve done wrong, too. A lot of wrong.”

  Pip patted her on the arm. “Well, the Clan is kind of fronted by the MC. You see their patches—the leather waistcoats they wear?” When Leila nodded, Pip continued, “They ride for The Nomads. It’s a great way to kind of hide in plain sight. But, back when the MC started up, none of the males were finding their mates, and they took, shall we say, stupid paths. They weren’t very moral… But, at that time, there were women who lived in the Clan who would service the men.”

  Leila frowned. “You mean, they’d launder their clothes and feed them?”

  “Well, that, yes, but also sleep with them.”

  The woman’s voice was a squeak, but the words had Leila’s eyes widening. “Sleep with them? You mean more than sleep, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Pip said gravely, but Leila could sense her amusement. “I do mean more than sleep. Well, I used to be one of those women before Major and I mated. And I did sleep with two men at the same time.” She licked her lips and her eyes took on a hazy cast, like she’d drifted off to another time. Another place. “You’re going to be a very lucky lady,” she ended, a teasing glint in her eye. “But I say it again, lube. You’ll need lots and lots of lube.”

  Leila wasn’t sure her cheeks could burn much hotter. If anything, it felt like they could combust with the sheer bewilderment she felt at the wisdom Pip was sharing with her.

  “T-Thank y-you,” she stuttered out.

  “I love my mate, Leila, but I wouldn’t change a thing about my past.” She winked at her. “I promise you, you’ll have fun.”

  Though she knew Pip was trying to make things better for her, she was actually making it worse.

  Uncertain of what to do or where to go, Leila started backing off toward the bathroom. “I just need to go and clean up,” she whispered, but her tone was still high pitched.

  The teasing in the other woman’s eyes had been replaced with sympathy. She hated that though. It wasn’t like she wanted to be pitied, for goodness’ sake.

  Backing off to the bathroom, she held up a hand in farewell to Pip and immediately locked herself
inside the small room. Pressing her back to the door, she released a small sigh.

  “How have things become so insane?” she asked herself, and realized that she’d been driven to talking to herself.

  What was that about?

  These past few months had just been one long round of craziness.

  She’d had news that her grandmother was ill, and that the insurance were refusing to pay her treatment.

  If she wasn’t treated, then that was it.

  Gone. She’d die.

  Though it had gone against every single stricture she’d ever been taught, she’d stolen from her employers.

  Though she knew she’d go to hell for what she’d done, she could do no less than give her grandmother the fighting chance she deserved.

  It didn’t matter that the company she worked for were good people. It was a large conglomerate but they still kept the feeling low vibe, like it was a mom and pop business rather than an industry all of its own.

  They’d given her a shot.

  She’d graduated magna cum laude at the young age of nineteen from Salt Lake State college, but the company had seen her age as a positive and not a negative.

  They’d employed her, given her a good position in the company, and how had she thanked them?

  She’d stolen from them.

  It didn’t matter that it was for her grandmother. She’d still stolen, and the guilt was eating her up.

  Leila knew that someday, she’d find a way to pay the money back, but her employers didn’t know that, did they?

  It wasn’t like they’d trust in an IOU. But she’d had no choice, and if presented with the same options again, she’d steal the money if it meant giving her grandmother even a fighting chance of hanging around for a few more months.