32. Shay

THIRTY-TWO

Shay

A fter locating a courier, the world's fastest shower, a plane ride, and Dirge inhaling about a dozen sandwiches later—he'd really missed human food while he was living as a wolf for three years—we landed on Ushagat Island.

It was lovely and serene, the wind whipping off the Alaskan Gulf bringing the taste of salt to my lips and the smell of grass to my nose as we stepped off the plane onto the undeveloped grassy knoll. The whitecaps on the sea couldn't distract from the three imposing figures waiting for us.

They were the largest males I'd ever seen, broad through the shoulders and thickly muscled. Even their necks were as big around as one of my thighs. They each wore their hair buzzed on the sides with a bit of length on top and had deep, terra-cotta-toned skin.

The one in the middle stepped forward, extending a hand to Kane first with a wide smile. No one would have been remiss to call it slightly predatory, but it seemed like the man just couldn't help it.

"Welcome to Ushagat Island. I am Finn, and these are my sleuth mates, Hudson and Dax." He gestured as he spoke, and the correct male nodded and stepped forward as they were named. Once the first round of handshakes was finished with Kane, they moved down the line.

Our travels and meetings with various leaders were starting to take on a familiar pattern, and I found myself bored but simultaneously acutely aware of Dirge's presence at my shoulder as we waited to greet the three emissaries.

Heat radiated off him, even in this cool weather. He wore a shirt of Gael's, plain black and stretched tight over the lean muscles of his chest. Reed had offered, but Dirge had shrugged off his more formal button-ups in favor of enforcer gear.

I could still see the shape of those muscles, both from my dream and from waking up in his arms a few hours ago. But somehow, it didn't feel real yet. I'd just started to accept what life would be like going forward with a shifted mate, and it was like whiplash now that everything had turned on its head in a moment.

It was good, though. Overwhelming too. I let the side of my hand brush his, the barest touch, just to feel that energy flow between us. He smiled and cut a quick glance my way as he felt the slight touch.

But it was the return trace of his fingertips over the inside of my wrist that sent my heart hammering, my pulse racing in sheer, burning want . Which was utterly ridiculous. Wrists weren't sexy, and we'd had sex twice already. Dream sex, at least. So why did I feel like we were back to the beginning, like hormone-fueled teenagers in the early days of lust and exploration?

Mate bonds were wild. I suddenly had all-new empathy for what Brielle had gone through, not to mention all the stress of pack dynamics on top of these insane emotions. I cast her a quick glance, but she was smiling kindly and shaking the massive bear shifter's hand as if this was what she did all day, every day .

Finn—no, Hudson—stepped up to shake my hand then, and I welcomed the distraction from my own untethered thoughts.

"Hello," I murmured, extending my hand with a polite smile. I ignored the small growl from Dirge as Hudson returned the gesture with a nod.

"Lovely to meet you…?" He trailed off as our hands touched, but it was me who startled as a near-electric shock passed between us, and his eyes started to glow ominously.

Bears and wolves had some similarities, of course, but the sight of amber ursine eyes peering down into my soul made me want to hide behind Dirge like a big fat chicken. He was other , and my wolf's hackles were up at his unwelcome attention.

Dirge must have felt the same because, with supernatural speed, he flew between us, knocking Hudson's hand from mine.

In my shock, I hadn't even realized he was still holding it until the contact was severed, and it felt like the tight band around my chest released.

"You," Hudson spoke, his tone guttural and deep with the influence of his bear as he looked eerily past Dirge to me. "You're unbonded."

"Umm," I stammered, confused and concerned that he could even tell. Was he going to make an issue of it like Iaoin had? That hadn't ended well.

I mean, nobody died, but that was a pretty low bar.

"She has mate marks," Dirge said with a warning growl, eyes locked on Hudson.

"Everything okay, brother?" Finn stepped up to Hudson's side as I shrank back.

Hudson shook his head as if confused while his eyes faded back to human with painstaking slowness.

"I'm sorry, that was strange…" His brows were drawn down as if he didn't know what had just passed between us.

What the hell was happening? I had lived my adult life in blissful invisibility from pretty much all males that I didn't come on to first. I only lost my virginity because I was lonely at a full-moon ceremony and approached one of the less dominant, lonely pack members first. We'd dated for a bit after that, but there was no spark when the sun was shining, and we'd broken it off within a few months.

Now three very dominant shifter males had locked onto me within a matter of weeks, and I was freaking out.

As if he could sense it, Dirge turned his back on the other shifters—a bold move, which my wolf rumbled her approval of—and put his hands on my upper arms.

"It's going to be fine, muzic? mea." His tone was soothing, and I found myself swaying toward him. My hands landed on his chest, and the world seemed to stop shifting under me. I was okay; he was okay. Hudson had turned to confer with his pack mates, and I pointedly ignored the hand gestures toward me.

After a moment of calming down with Dirge, I nodded, and he slipped an arm around my shoulders. We turned to face the group together. Leigh shot me a supportive thumbs-up, which I returned. We were just going to pretend my hands weren't shaking and my wolf wasn't pushing me to shift.

The three bears broke up their discussion, turning toward us with apologetic smiles and raised hands.

"I apologize, Shay. My bear is usually under much better control than that. The rest of us will refrain from touching you, if that doesn't offend?" Hudson said with a genial smile.

"No, that's fine, thanks." I let out a relieved sigh. Touching people was dangerous at the moment. Though talking was a bit easier with Dirge at my side.

"We appreciate your understanding," Reed said with a Hollywood-worthy smile. He slipped into pack politician mode with ease, smiling widely and taking over the conversation.

I was going to have to send the man a fruit basket for that. He clapped Hudson on the shoulder as they led us away from the plane toward a path cut through a rocky outcropping that loomed high overhead. When Hudson threw back his head and loosed a roar-like laugh, I finally breathed normally.

Dirge was a staunch, comforting presence at my side as we followed the narrow, pebble-strewn path.