Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

CONNOR

T he worry in Grant's voice has me instantly alert. He’s not one to overreact, so it tells me something is very wrong. I rush out the front door of our house and immediately shift. The clothes I’m wearing shred and fall from my body.

My stomach bubbles with nausea caused by Grant’s emotions. It’s as if they’re my own. Our connection doesn’t only come from us being in the same herd, but from our twin empathy.

I pick up my pace, racing toward him. My cloven hooves trudge through the snow, shaking the ground beneath with their force. Sensing him close by, I slow down and look for him. His large figure dominates the field he’s standing in. Having shifted back to his human form, he’s hard to miss at six feet and three inches tall, with no clothes to cover his large body. Being bison shifters, our physiques are soft and round, with an undertone of muscles.

Noticing someone in his arms, I shift and walk toward him. “What happened?”

“She passed out,” Grant says. “She was threatened by wolves, but once they noticed me, they took off.”

He stops in front of me. A flowery scent fills my nose, hitting me somewhere deep within. I suck in a sharp breath.

She’s my mate.

I reach out to take her, but Grant pulls back. My bison growls in my head, not liking his possessiveness of our mate.

“I’ve got her,” he says. “We need to take her somewhere safe. It’s getting worse out here and she’ll freeze to death.”

I nod, trying to pacify my bison counterpart.

It’s fine. She’s our mate, but Grant won’t hurt her.

He settles down quite easily, to my surprise. I expected I’d have to argue with him more, but he relaxes and drifts to the back of my mind lazily.

I frown. Finding my mate with another man shouldn’t sit well with my bison. Especially when touching.

But it doesn’t bother us all that much to have Grant hold her. Why is that?

“Connor.” Grant furrows his eyebrows. “What’s wrong with you?”

I shake my head and concentrate on the situation rather than my internal questions. I’ll get answers soon enough, I hope.

“Nothing. Why don’t we take her home? It’s not too far from here. We can ask her where she’s staying when she wakes up.”

He studies me, not speaking for a moment. A knot forms in my stomach. I chuckle, knowing Grant is suspicious of my behavior. The feeling dissolves and relief fills me. Grant may not show his emotions much, but he can’t hide them from me.

Finally, he replies, “Lead the way.”

Turning back the way I came, we head home. In our human form, it takes longer than I’d like for us to get there. Grant moves even slower due to the unconscious woman in his arms. The snow fall gets heavier, clouding our path, but our strong senses ensure we don’t lose our way.

As soon as we’re in our front yard, I offer to take her. “Give her to me.”

Again, Grant pulls back. “Why?”

I tilt my head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

She’s my mate .

I don’t understand his need to hold her. Maybe being alone so long has him wanting to keep her. My chest tightens at the thought. I don’t want him to be upset. Finding my mate is great, but I do feel guilty that Grant will remain alone.

Sighing, Grant passes the woman over.

“Sorry,” he grumbles.

“It’s fine. We’ll talk inside. Get dressed.” Holding her close, I walk inside.

Grant heads to his room for clothes as I lay her on the couch in the living room. Putting a blanket over her shivering body, I frown. She’s so fragile. Grant and I have an internal temperature that runs higher than a human’s, making it easy for us to withstand the cold, but my mate doesn’t have that luxury.

I start a fire in the fireplace, hoping it will help. My older brother, Charlie, comes into the room. His steps falter.

“What did you do?” he demands.

“Grant found her in the woods. She passed out,” I tell him. “This was the closest place.”

“Did she see either of you shift?”

“Grant didn’t say, but she was already unconscious when I got there.”

He sighs. “I’ll talk to him. Go get dressed. Kimberly should be here when she wakes up. Being surrounded by big-ass men won’t help. Doesn’t matter how jolly we try to be.”

I chuckle at his grumbling and straighten and turn in time to see Grant come in as Charlie leaves. He’s wearing jeans. He tosses me a pair, and I slip them on as well.

Charlie points at Grant before leaving to find Kimberly. “We need to talk.”

Grant waves him off. As I watch him watch our sleeping guest, worry claws at my insides.

“You like her, don’t you?” I ask.

He furrows his eyebrows and looks at me. “Of course I like her. She’s my mate.”

My eyes widen. “Your mate?”

My words are echoed by Charlie as he re-enters the room with Kimberly.

Grant nods. “I was surprised too. I was beginning to think I’d never find her.”

My release of a deep breath is cut off by a chuckle. “Now it’s making sense.”

“What do you mean?” Kimberly asks, confused.

“I was wondering why I didn’t feel very threatened by Grant touching her, but now I know it’s because she’s our mate.”

“Our mate?” Grant’s lips slowly curve into a smile as the information processes in his mind. “I was wondering the same thing. I was reluctant to let her go earlier, but it wasn’t because of possessiveness or jealousy. I just wanted to hold her longer.”

“Looks like you two really are going to share everything forever,” Charlie says.

Grant and I chuckle at his teasing. The contentment we feel at our fate radiates through our bond, filling us both. Charlie wraps an arm around Kimberly’s shoulders. Pulling her close, he kisses her head in affection.

For the first time, watching them isn’t so painful. I’ve finally found my mate; I’m no longer longing for my life to begin.

“I’m delighted for you both.” Kimberly bites her lip. “But I’m not sure how she’s going to feel about this. She's human. Not only will she have to deal with the knowledge of shifters, but she’ll have to get used to the idea of belonging to two men instead of one.”

I frown. She’s right, of course. Most humans don’t know about shifters or that there’s something out there more than themselves. Accepting that someone is half-bison and that you're destined to be with them forever is a hard pill to swallow. Especially for a human.

Grant frowns. “Unfortunately, she won’t have the option of easing into it. We’ve already touched her.”

A mate’s first physical contact activates a heat within the female. There’s no way to stop it. The scent of her arousal will drive our bisons into a lusty haze that won’t clear until we claim her.

“You’ll just have to go with the flow and hope for the best.” Charlie says. “You’re destined to be together. Things will work out as they should.”

“Just be patient with her,” Kimberly offers.

Charlie snorts. “Well, as much as possible.”

She slaps at his big belly, but smiles.

I inhale deeply and look down at the sleeping beauty on our couch. I really hope this works out. I’ve waited so long for a mate; losing her now will be my undoing.