38. Eva

Tanner's words made no sense to me. What did he mean by ‘mated'?

We'd had sex, I got that. My first time. Great sex. I was still in shock about how good it was. Aside from what little I'd read in the occasional romance novel purloined from work, or overheard at school, I had very little experience of what sex was all about.

Sleeping with Tanner had been a revelation. It was like a switch had unlocked inside me. Every time I looked at him, I felt a strange pulling sensation deep in my chest. My body craved his touch, and when he was near, I relaxed.

The fight between him and Cole had been excruciating. Panic had nearly overwhelmed me when they fought. Even though it was all over, I was still buzzing with adrenaline. While the rational side of me understood Silas's explanation that fighting was normal for them - and I'd seen them fight before, so it was hardly a massive surprise - knowing and seeing it were two different things.

The thought of Tanner being hurt made me feel sick. I could barely look at the nasty gashes on his torso. It was only the warm heat of his hand possessively gripping my thigh that kept the panic at bay.

My head hurt. "I don't understand." I reached around and touched the place where he'd bitten me. In all the confusion, I'd forgotten about it again.

When he bit me, it had hurt, but the high that followed had erased the pain from my mind, and by the time I awoke this morning, aside from some minor discomfort, I hadn't noticed it. Then we'd appeared for breakfast because Tanner insisted I needed to eat more, and shortly after, a fight broke out.

"When we find our mate, we seal the bond with sex and our wolves come to the fore and bite our mate. This leaves a permanent scar that shows other shifters the wolf is now claimed." Cole made it all sound perfectly logical, but it still wasn't making any sense to me.

"But I'm not a wolf."

"No, but you are my mate," Tanner growled.

My nose scrunched up in confusion. "I'm human, so how does that work?"

"That doesn't matter. You're still my mate." His hand squeezed my leg possessively. It felt like we were going around in circles and from the way Silas rolled his eyes at Tanner, it was obvious he had left a lot out.

"Eva, Tanner isn't explaining this very well," Cole said with a deep sigh. "Shifter-human mate bonds are rare, but not unheard of. Fated mate bonds are even rarer, but this is what's happened here. We all recognized you were our mate when Silas rescued you, but Silas and I agreed to take things slowly, so you could get used to the idea of us being shifters."

What did he mean by we all recognized you were our mate…?

I froze. Was he saying the attraction I felt to Silas and Cole was something more than me finding two hot guys, well, hot?

Tanner growled deep in his chest, and I shivered. The feral sound did something carnal to me. It was hard to explain, but he made me feel protected and safe, while also turning me on. From the way his nostrils flared, he realized this. His normally dark irises lightened.

"Tanner," Silas warned, "We need to talk before you disappear. Calm down!"

Tanner rumbled some more, but eventually settled. He still kept hold of me, though, like he was afraid I'd disappear at any moment. It was kinda cute. And also arousing.

"Now you're mated to Tanner, your body will change. Human life expectancy is far shorter than a shifter's lifespan, but the mate bond counteracts that. You'll live longer and be resistant to human diseases, like we are. Mates can also communicate with each other telepathically."

Wait, what?This was insane, like something out of a movie.

"Will I get stronger?" This sounded like a win-win situation for me.

"No, not really," Cole replied. "Although you may have better stamina in time. The downside is that you won't be able to be apart from your mate for long durations. Shifters get sick when separated from their fated mates. It doesn't happen immediately, but it will in time."

"Are we talking weeks or months?"

"Months. Short spells away from each other are fine, but you can't ever leave Tanner permanently, not unless you want to fade away."

I felt like I should address the elephant in the room. "Am I your mate too?"

Cole and Silas exchanged glances and then Silas spoke. "Yes. I didn't believe it at first, but I do now. The moment we kissed, I knew it was true. My wolf knew from the second we found you in your car, after you crashed."

He looked at me with naked longing in his beautiful golden brown eyes. Something shifted inside me and then settled, like I'd always known he was mine.

I looked at Cole and the same thing happened. It was like I'd come home after a lifetime in the wilderness, alone and unwanted.

"So we have to…um…have sex?"

Silas's eyes heated up, and he shifted uncomfortably. "Not right now. But when you're ready, it will happen."

"He's right, sweetheart, nothing will happen until you want it," Cole said softly before scowling at Tanner. "Unlike that asshole, we don't want to rush you."

"You're just jealous," Tanner taunted, pulling me closer.

"Quit it," I snapped, not wanting the idiot to provoke another fight. All three of them looked at me in surprise, like they hadn't expected me to talk back to Tanner. It surprised me too, but I wasn't about to back down now. "You should have told me all this last night," I said, angry now that some of the shock had faded.

He had the grace to look a bit ashamed for all of two seconds before his usual arrogant expression reappeared. "Would it have made any difference?"

I thought about it and realized no, probably not. What happened had been building for a while, ever since we first met. It was inevitable. Just like everything that had happened between me and the other two. I hated to blame ‘fate' because I wasn't sure I believed in ‘fate', but maybe there were higher forces at work here.

How else could Silas have found me in the middle of a vast forest, during a severe storm no less? The odds of that happening were ridiculous. Given who was probably looking for me, maybe Tanner, Cole, and Silas were meant to find me?

They were probably the only people who could keep me safe from Brent.

"Maybe," I lied. Tanner smirked at me knowingly and I flushed.

"Are we done here? My mate and I need some alone time." The way Tanner placed additional emphasis on the word ‘mate' told me he was trying to wind up the other two. He was such an asshole.

"Eva needs to eat," Cole reminded him, and he scowled.

"Yes, you must eat," Tanner agreed with a sigh that told me he was eager to rush through that stage. "Breakfast then bed."

I flushed bright red again, knowing full well he wasn't talking about sleep. The way the guys were so open about sex was disconcerting. I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to it.