Promised to the Pride: A Shifter Romance Page 6

  I was the first one in Jonas’s house, the front door being unlocked. The fireplace roared with orange flames, a blanket and a mug left abandoned before it. Jonas was on the couch, and Holly was on his lap.

  No, not just on his lap. That would’ve been one thing. The way she was curled against him, nestled against his chest like he was the air she needed to breathe to live was another thing. He had a hand beneath her shirt on her back, and his other hand held onto her neck, keeping her face near his as his cheek rubbed against hers.

  Jonas was slow to release the hand holding onto her neck, allowing her to turn her head and greet us. Her blue gaze was a bit hazy, as if she’d lost herself in him.

  Well, it was better than the alternatives I’d thought of, I suppose, even though I didn’t especially enjoy seeing them so close together. So close so soon. Had they been together intimately? I couldn’t help but wonder, even though it was none of my business. She was our mate, and we all had an equal hold on her.

  Holly didn’t look hurt, so I would have to take the tiny victory, even if she was nestled on Jonas’s lap and looking a bit too comfortable there.

  “Nik,” Jonas spoke my name, turning his jade stare to me and my brother. “Aster. Sit down.”

  Together, my brother and I found our own seats. I chose a recliner near the couch, while Aster chose the smaller loveseat on the other side of the room. Together, we were as spread out as we could be in his living room, the flames from the fire illuminating everything in orange.

  Jonas kept a firm grip on her, but I was thankful to see the haziness clouding her gaze fading with each moment. I could tell Holly was now painfully aware that she sat in the same room as all three of her mates…and I bet I knew what was on her mind, too. It was on my mind more and more.

  Mating. The claiming. Marking her as my own. How could it not be on my mind? Look at her. She was gorgeous. We’d gotten beyond lucky that she was our mate. She put every other living woman, shifter or human, to shame.

  “Our mate got into some trouble today,” Jonas spoke, causing both Aster and I to snap to attention. He glanced to Holly, who squirmed on his lap. “Care to tell them what you did, Mate?” He wasn’t even calling her by her name. I felt insulted for her.

  Holly’s gaze landed on the floor, and for a moment, no one in the room said a word.

  “No?” Jonas went on, frowning. It was his usual expression, and it made him seem more severe than he already was. “Alright, I’ll tell them. She ran away—”

  “I didn’t run,” Holly started, but she quieted the moment Jonas turned his stare on her, shooting daggers with his eyes. She wasn’t a leopard yet, but she knew when to shut up and let him take the lead.

  “You know,” Aster chimed in, leaning forward. “You’ve had her to yourself all morning. I think she should come sit by me now.” He extended an arm, testing both Holly and Jonas. I knew his game: he wanted Holly off of Jonas, mostly. My brother wasn’t the type for public displays of affection, so I knew he wouldn’t take a similar position with her, even if he wanted to.

  Jonas’s chest rumbled, but I watched as his arm sluggishly fell off her back, no longer pinning her body to his. We all stared at Holly, waiting for her to make the decision, but we all knew what she would do.

  Holly got up and moved to the loveseat.

  A huge, bright smile grew on Aster’s face. “You don’t have to sit on top of me,” he told her, and he couldn’t stop grinning even after she sat down beside him, looking meek. “Unlike some people,” he threw shade at Jonas, “I have manners.” His comment got Holly to smile and Jonas to glower. “And if Holly said she didn’t run away, I believe her.”

  That extra bit made Jonas fume.

  “I went for a walk,” Holly added, running her hands down her jeans and rubbing her knees. Were her palms sweaty? Was she nervous to have us all here? I wished I could peek inside her head and know her thoughts, her feelings.

  I wasn’t like Jonas. I could never force her to do anything she didn’t want to do.

  Or at least I hoped I couldn’t. Sometimes it was hard to tell what my inner leopard was capable of.

  “See?” Aster asked no one in particular. “I told you.” He grabbed her hand, fingers entwining with hers. He leaned closer to her, whispering, “I believe you, Holly, even if those other two don’t.”

  “Hey,” I bit out, not wanting to be lumped in with Jonas. I wasn’t like Jonas. I’d never be like Jonas. Not if I had a say in things.

  Jonas sounded gruff, “I didn’t only call you two here to tell you that our mate tried to run.” Out of the two of them, I was inclined to believe Holly over him. Holly didn’t seem like the type to run. Plus, I knew Jonas could let his anger get the best of him, and when it did, he was often blind to the truth. “There’s something else we need to discuss.”

  I watched Jonas lean forward, eager for whatever it was he was about to say. In truth, I already knew. Or at least I suspected. Our mate couldn’t truly be our mate until her inner leopard was released.

  “Who gets to awaken her?” Jonas asked the pregnant silence in the room. “And who gets to claim her first?”

  Though I stared at Jonas, I could see Holly shifting her weight, looking anxious. Aster moved her hand to his lap, and he stroked her knuckles lovingly. My little brother was already over the moon for her, and she wasn’t a full-blown shifter quite yet. How bad would he be once his inner leopard connected with hers?

  I said, “I assume we would all like to be the one to do it.” The looks I received from Aster and Jonas told me I was not wrong. “There has to be a way to decide who does it fairly.” Strength was out. Anything involving outright strength, Jonas would win by a mile. Intelligence, something that dealt with brain smarts, would probably be skewed a little towards me.

  I knew Jonas wouldn’t go for letting Holly pick. With the way he called her mate and not her name, I figured he hardly saw her as a person at all—a shame, because even though she was our mate, she was also a living, breathing being with her own mind and feelings about things like this. No, unfortunately for Holly, she couldn’t choose which one of us woke her inner leopard.

  Aster, still holding onto her hand, snapped the fingers on his other hand, pointing at me across the room. “I know,” he proudly proclaimed. “A race.” Everyone looked at him strangely at that, even Holly. Especially Holly.

  Holly was probably thinking something along the lines of: You’re going to decide who does it based on a race? What are we, five? And honestly I couldn’t blame her. A race just felt so…childish. Adults didn’t race for things; children did, and they often resorted to playing dirty.

  I knew why Aster wanted to race. He was the thinnest of the group, the nimblest. It was quite possible that he was the fastest among us, but you know what? I’d be okay with Aster being the one to do it. Me or Aster, as long as it wasn’t Jonas. Jonas would be too cruel to her, especially once she was shifted. He’d claim her, and make her hurt so much she couldn’t be with us for days afterward.

  No, it had to be me or my brother. Not Jonas. We had to do whatever it took to win this, that was, if we got him to agree.

  “A race?” Jonas echoed, his fingers curling into fists. I waited for him to bring up some kind of test that would involve strength, but to my surprise, he didn’t. He merely thought on it for a few moments before adding, “Fine. One lap around the lake.”

  “If you give us a week to prepare,” I said. “You know the lake better than we do. We reserve the right to practice.”

  A muscle in Jonas’s jaw clenched. “Do whatever the fuck you want, it won’t matter. Either way, I’m going to win.” His green eyes flicked toward Holly, who sat with her back rod straight, watching this scene unfold. “And when I win, I’m going to enjoy every inch of that body.” A threat to us, a promise to her.

  It wouldn’t come to pass if I had a say in it. Aster or I would win. We’d have to take some time off work next week, but it’d be worth it.

  “U
ntil then,” Aster spoke, adding in another condition, “none of us are to have her. We can spend time with her, but not force ourselves on her.” Amber gaze shifting between Jonas and me, he said, “Deal?”

  I nodded, saying without a second thought, “Deal.”

  Jonas was much more reserved in his response, much slower in agreeing, “Fine.” Anyone with eyes and ears would be able to tell he wasn’t thrilled with that addition, but if he wanted things to work out with us, he knew he had to stick to his word.

  For a week, at least, Holly was safe. She could acclimate to her new life. Once this week was over, then…then our wild sides would come out, and I could only pray that we didn’t frighten her. Jonas would, but me? Aster? I hoped we’d be different.

  Only time would tell.

  Chapter Ten – Holly

  A race. I still couldn’t believe it. A race was going to decide who helped me fully turn, and also who got to mate with me first. Objectively, I guess it was as good of an idea as any other, because how else were those three males going to be on equal ground with each other? But still, a part of me felt miffed about it.

  I knew they wouldn’t ask what I wanted, because I knew they didn’t care.

  Nope. None of them cared.

  Nikolas and Aster might’ve pretended to be nice, but deep down they didn’t give a single crap about me or my feelings. They were in it for what was between my legs, for my special shifter womb. That’s it.

  I didn’t know why, but…it hurt. It hurt even though it was what I expected.

  After the meeting with my three mates, Nikolas and Aster took me shopping. They bought me some clothes, a big, puffy jacket that would actually shield me from the cold, along with boots that went up to my knees. Clothes I’d never needed before now. I missed the heat, laying out in the sun while reading. I missed my family and Lumi. I’d left my phone in my cabin, so I couldn’t text them at all during the day.

  The last stop before returning to my cabin was for food. Once we were properly stocked up, Nikolas drove us back to Jonas’s place, and then we lugged it all from the car to my cabin in the far back. I set down the plastic bags full of food in the small kitchen area, and turned to watch Aster and Nikolas near the door. Nikolas said he’d get the rest of the bags and left before Aster could put up an argument.

  As brothers, they seemed to get along pretty well. I was jealous that I couldn’t be that close to Lumi anymore. Speaking of which…

  I went to get my phone out of the bedroom, and Aster followed me, leaning on the doorframe as he watched me text my sister. “Do you want to know why I suggested a race?” He crossed his arms, giving me a dimpled smile, waiting for me to play his guessing game.

  I set my phone down, temporarily distracted by Aster’s dimples. They were adorable, and they made my stomach do some funny flips and twists. “Why?” I questioned, “Because you’re good at racing?”

  “I’m quick on my feet, yeah,” Aster said, shrugging as if it was no big deal. “That’s not the only thing I’m quick about.” His suave tone faltered at the end, and he creased his brown brows, muttering, “Wait. That didn’t sound nearly as cool as it did in my head.” When he realized what he said could be taken in more than one way, he quickly said, “I’m not quick about that—”

  No matter what he said now, he only served to make himself more flustered, and I watched, a smile growing on my face. A laugh bubbled up my throat. A real, genuine laugh, and I let it out, needing to have some normalcy after the morning I had.

  That encounter with Jonas by the lake, his hand around my neck…and then on the couch. If I was practically compliant now, how badly would I be grasping for his domination once I shifted?

  Once I lost myself in my own laughter, Aster watched me with an expression I couldn’t name. His smile grew soft and gentle, and the arms crossed over his chest fell to his side, as if he was in awe. “You’re even more beautiful when you smile,” he murmured, sounding awestruck, too.

  My laugh slowly trailed off, and I merely blinked at him. “Stop,” I whispered.

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop saying those things,” I said.

  Aster took a step toward me, moving deeper into my room. The light was off, but enough sunlight streamed in through the window to illuminate everything. The closer he came to me, the more I felt…strange. Almost like I wanted to lean into him and breathe him in.

  Okay, obviously I was attracted to him, which I guess was a good thing. Not being attracted to my mates would only make the rest of my life more difficult, and I didn’t need that.

  “Why?” Aster spoke, angling his head down at me. He was only six or so inches taller than me, but still I felt swallowed by the honeyed color in his eyes. So warm and welcoming. So unlike Jonas in every way. “It’s true. You are…so beautiful it hurts, Holly.”

  Even though I knew he didn’t mean it—because he couldn’t, because who the hell was so beautiful it hurt?—I wanted to believe it, believe him.

  “I don’t feel beautiful,” I whispered, and Aster responded by closing the distance between us.

  He lightly touched my cheek, much softer and more tender than Jonas had, and my skin tingled with electricity at the connection. “You are,” he whispered. “If I had my way, I’d say it so often you’d have no choice but to believe it.” Aster looked like he wanted to say more, but a sharp cough from the hall made him leap away from me.

  We both turned to Nikolas, who stood in the hall, wearing a tsk-tsk expression. “I finished carrying up all the bags, not like you two care,” he muttered, feigning hurt. “And you do know that we aren’t allowed to be with you until after that race—even if you’re not shifted, Jonas would be able to smell us on you once he got close enough.”

  I immediately turned red at his words. What did he…did he think the moment between Aster and I was going to result in sex? I wasn’t—he wasn’t—we weren’t…I was having trouble coming up with stable, sane thoughts right now, mostly because I was flabbergasted.

  Aster was able to handle it though, for he spun on his heels and left the room, slapping Nikolas’s back. “Not everything is about sex, you know. You can bond without mating. It’s called making friends, why don’t you try it sometime?”

  Nikolas let out a laugh, watching his brother walk away before bringing his sapphire eyes to me. With his blonde hair so light it was practically white, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if his markings while he was shifted were lighter in color, too. I’d seen Jonas, but not Aster and Nikolas’s yet.

  Yet. The time would come soon enough when I would be acquainted with both their animals and the things hanging between their legs.

  Dicks. I might as well think it. Dicks, cocks, penises. Man-bits. Whatever other euphemisms that were appropriate. In a week I’d know what they all looked like without their clothes on, and I was both stressed and overzealous about it. On one hand, I wanted to get it over with. On the other…sometimes I wanted to rewind time and be a child again.

  Alas, the latter just wasn’t possible, and I had to be here for Lumi, so here I was. I might as well learn to look forward to it.

  I let out an awkward chuckle. “Aster was only telling me that I look beautiful when I smile.” I shrugged, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. And it wasn’t.

  Nikolas studied me, his gaze dropping to my mouth, where it lingered for longer than it should. “He’s right.”

  The brothers were going for a double-whammy here, and I felt myself sigh inwardly.

  “Since we have off the rest of the day,” Nikolas went on, shoving his hands in his pockets. Unlike Jonas, his face was free of stubble, and I had the strange urge to run my fingers along the plane of that smooth jaw. “Are you okay with us staying here with you?”

  Staying here in the cabin? All day? Boring. Once I mustered up the courage, I’d have to beg them to call the local cable company and get me a TV.

  No, now that I had a full wardrobe—clothes that would actually protect me from the
outside elements—I had a better idea than spending the entire day inside this small, cramped space. I took a step closer to him, giving him a tiny smile as I asked, “Don’t you have a race to win?”

  The look he gave me was curious. “Are you saying you want me to go practice?”

  I shrugged, trying to play coy. No way in hell I’d flat out tell him I’d rather do anything than stay in this cabin all day. What would we do here? Stare at each other? They were sworn off me for the next week, at least, so what else would we do? I supposed we could get to know each other, but I was too curious as to what their leopards looked like.

  I needed to see them.

  “As long as you keep any stray wildlife away,” I added.

  “You know you’re ours to protect,” Nikolas told me, causing my heart to do a weird pitter-patter thing. We meandered to the kitchen, and after Aster put away the last of the food, he told him where we were going.

  I’d seen my mom shift a few times, but it was always a fast thing, and always nestled away in our home. Here we could be free, wild, one with nature, as we should be.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Aster beamed, clapping his hands. “You should bring a timer. Do we have a timer?”

  “I have one on my phone,” I said, to which both men looked at me. I found it odd how comfortable I was with them, even if I was just their mate. I might not have their hearts, but so far they were proving to be better than Jonas.

  Jonas…we should go to the lake without him.

  But as we exited the cabin, me wearing my new jacket and boots with my phone safely zipped up in one of the fluffy pockets, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would only make more trouble for myself if we went without him. Maybe inviting him would help him loosen up, make him less…well, less of an animal.

  I threw a look at both Aster and Nikolas. “Hold on,” I said, starting to march to Jonas’s cabin, my shiny black boots crunching in the snow.