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Lucien pushes a large slice of tomato into his mouth. “When I grew up, my dad would always tell me to love without strings attached. He helped around the house, always went out on hunts, so he didn’t quite say those words, but rather showed it in his actions. In the way he aided others in need, how he worshipped the ground my mother walked on.”
“He sounds like a romantic,” I muse, unable to pause my thoughts drifting to the father who bailed out on Mama and me, who was too afraid to stay behind and look after us.
I can’t protect either of you,he’d shout.Meira is weak because of me. She’ll always be an outcast.He’s human and couldn’t live with himself, so it was easier to be gutless and run away than stay with us to make it work. I clench my teeth. Even after all these years, I struggle to forgive him, and part of me blames him for Mama’s death. If he’d stayed and helped, maybe we would have been staying somewhere else and the Shadow Monsters would never have killed her.
My eyes prick, and I hate how quickly he still affects me, but it’s not him I’ve cried for. It’s losing Mama. I lower my head, pretending to stare at the spread of food as I blink away the tears.Don’t live with the past, my mother said to me.Always look forward.
“That he was.” Lucien nods, breaking my concentration, and it takes me moments to remember what he is referring to.
I breathe heavily and push aside the thoughts of my past as I can’t do anything about what’s happened, but Icancontrol my steps forward. I found three men I will never abandon no matter what.
We eat with only the company of the crackling fire. It’s only when I look up at each of the men that I recognize the expressions they wear as their thoughts drift miles away. Lost in their past. After all, it’s all we all have left in this broken world that takes and takes from us. Luckily I have them in my life now, which wasn’t always the case. Those are memories no one can erase, so what we have left, we cherish.
Exhaustion must have taken its toll, because after finishing the cake and licking every sweet crumb off my fingers, everyone settles into their own routines. Bardhyl packs up the leftover food into the bag, while Lucien stands and wanders over to check the barrier over the cave entrance.
I collect the crackers in a small plastic bag and fold it closed before handing it to Bardhyl. Our hands graze, and I soften at how warm he feels.
“You all right?” he asks, but I can’t stop looking over at Lucien, about ten feet away, his back to us. It’s clear he needs time alone with his thoughts.
“Is he okay?” I whisper behind the snapping sounds of the blaze.
Bardhyl nods. “Losing his parents so long ago to a rival pack still affects him. Just give him a bit of time. He always bounces back.”
“I lost my dad when I was really young, and then my mama, so I know the feeling.” Leaning over the blanket, I use my hand to dust away the crumbs from our meal. “But I don’t want him to hurt over what we can’t change.” The words spill from my lips, and I feel hypocritical, seeing as how I can’t even get over the loss of my mama.
Zipping up the bag and pushing it aside, Bardhyl comes and sits next to me, his arms draped over his bent knees. “You care for him a lot, don’t you?”
I nudge him with my shoulder, but he doesn’t budge because he’s a rock. “If you haven’t noticed, I care about all three of you… a heck of a lot more than I ever thought I would. I mean, I accepted long ago that I wasn’t intended to find my fated mate. But look how that’s turned out.”
The look he cuts me, those sexy eyes narrowing, makes me smile and forget everything else. This is one of his magic tricks I notice, and one of the many reasons I’ve fallen so deep for him.
He takes my hand and kisses each fingertip. “Once in a lifetime, everyone should meet someone special, maybe even three of them at once. Someone who ignites their world, who changes everything.”
His words are the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard, earnest and passionate. Since meeting him, it took me a while to understand Bardhyl was so much more than a powerful Viking warrior with a berserker wolf. Beneath the layers is a man who suffers, who carries darkness from his past. But most of all, he is an Alpha who wants to be loved. I see it in the attention he gives me, the tenderness in how he holds me, the words he shares. Everything from when his hypnotic gaze meets mine to when he fucks me like a man driven mad by emotions he can’t control.
“Do you think Lucien still misses his first mate?” I whisper, almost regretting at once that I asked such an intimate question.
His hand slides across my back and curls around my waist, drawing me against him, chasing away any space between us.
“Soulmates exist,” Bardhyl assures me. “There is no such thing as an accidental meeting of souls. It was all meant to be.” He glances over to Lucien, who stands at the mouth of the cave, staring into the downpour outside through the gaps, the sound of rain hitting the mountain hypnotic. “Just like you’ve given your heart to the three of us, Lucien will always hold on to a piece for Cataline. It doesn’t mean he loves you any less.”
“I know,” I say, and part of me wonders if the ache I feel in my chest has more to do with feeling his sorrow of losing his first partner, rather than jealousy. “You know, I never used to believe in soulmates—well, until I met you three. Heck, after watching the undead kill my mother when I was fourteen, I stopped believing in anything but survival, including my own happiness.”
He leans in close and kisses the side of my head. “Which is why I will hug you tightly every chance I get so all your pieces can fit back together. Until you remember how incredible you are and find that happiness you lost so long ago.”
I tilt my head up and look him in the eyes. He has green eyes like the forest, and I fall deep into them, offering myself to this Ash Wolf. “You three are the part of me I always needed and never knew until you found me.”
“No matter what happens, I want you to know that to me, what we will face, whatever the outcome, it is worth it. Being with you is everything, loving you, claiming you. Everything is worth it.”
My heart flutters at his devotion, his words imprint on my mind so I never forget them. He shifts toward me, and I twist around too as his hand glides through my hair. I adore the way he looks at me, how when I’m in his arms I feel incredible, free, and safe. Add to that my body buzzing with an electrifying arousal. In any of their company, a single touch ignites my desires for them, entices me to their sides.
His eyes are deep and penetrating as he looks at me. His heartfelt musings have gone, a mischievous sexy expression now replacing it. We are stuck in the cave while the storm wreaks havoc outside, and all I can think about is how much I thought I’d lose my three wolves, how I want to crawl into their arms and remain there.
“I missed you,” I murmur.
A delicious smile crawls over Mr. Gorgeous Warrior’s lips, and my toes curl in response.
We come together, a slight pressure on the back of my head where he holds me just as he wants me, and he says, “Remember what happened last time we were in a cave together?”
My heart thunders behind my ribcage, and heat pools instantly between my legs because I will never forget. Clasping on to my confidence, I hold his gaze. “I learned my lesson already,” I tease. “I’m never doing deals with you again.”
He laughs, the sound like honey… sweet and addictive. And I don’t wait another second. I close in and press my lips to his.
Seconds is all it takes for his fingers to curl over the elastic of my leggings, and I push a hand against his chest. “Um… what are you doing?” I have no plans on playing easy after his games the last time we spent together in a cave.
“Oh, you thought we were joking earlier?” Lucien’s breath washes over my neck. I flinch at his sudden appearance and turn to face him as he gives me a sinfully sexy smile. He’s back to his flirtatious self.
He leans in, kissing my lips over my shoulder. Like the storm raging outside, our mouths clash, even our teeth clinging together. And he’s tugging down on my pants while Bardhyl wrenches up my top.
And I let myself fall into their arms and into this sexy fairy tale I’ve missed so much.
