I could feel his rage even as I walked behind him. I shifted Annalise higher on my chest, tightening my hold. He wanted to take her from me. I could smell the possessiveness coming from his skin, betraying him.
I gripped Annalise tighter in my arms, inhaling her sweet floral scent. Lilacs and peaches.
I needed to say something so that our unit didn’t break under the stress of claiming her. We needed to get her home and safe before we spoke to her and tried to come up with a solution.
“She’ll be alright, guys. We just need to get her in a bed,” I said softly, fearing she would wake up and freak out on us. Not that I thought she would be able to fight anyone after the Transition—she was strong, but not that strong—I just didn’t want to stress her out.
“The pain...” Quint whispered before stopping himself and shaking his head. We both knew what he meant.
Watching Annalise complete the Transition was excruciating for us. Her pain seemed to filter through all three of us, allowing us to experience a muted version of what she was feeling, what her body was going through.
It was the worst kind of torture, and on top of that—it didn’t make any sense. We shouldn’t have been able to feel what was happening to her.
“So both of you felt the same thing?” Lanier asked, matching Quint’s volume. He reached over to run a soft finger down her cheek. I fought the urge to knock his hand away, not liking him touching her.
I wasn’t sure why he bothered to ask; he knew the answer. All three of us watched in agony as she shifted, our own beasts clawing against the magic that held them within us. They wanted to protect her, keep her from feeling the pain that dug deep into her bones, changing the very core of who she was.
“I did,” I stated, answering anyway. My eyes fell to Anna, clocking the slow rise and fall of her chest. “I felt it all.”
Quint grunted his agreement.
“What are we going to do about our...” I began hesitantly, unsure if I wanted to ask. On the one hand, I had Annalise in my arms after all these years, and I wasn’t about to share her with my brothers like a used toy, but on the other, I knew that a mating bond could not be faked or altered, it was what it was. This would be hell if we couldn’t figure out some sort of plan in case it really did turn out that all three of us mated the same female. My female. I cleared my throat. “What are we going to do about the bond?”
Quint stopped and spun around. “What bond?”
Under the weight of his glare, I fought the urge to growl. My beast was beginning to feel threatened, which wasn’t going to end well for anyone. I needed to get this under control before Annalise woke up. “You want her, I want her, and I’m sure Lanier wants her even though he clearly doesn’t want to admit it.”
“He wants her, not me,” Lanier spat, his sudden anger thick in the air between us.
Quint looked toward Lanier with hunger blazing in his eyes as the harsh emotions floated in the air around him. He fought it, looking toward the ground and blinking a few times before coming back to the conversation.
“How is this possible? All three of our beasts want to claim the same female. Since when is that a fucking thing?” Quint moved forward toward me and looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms. He touched her face, gently using the pad of his thumb to smooth out the crease between her closed eyes. She had a pronounced worry line there, evidence of her everyday stress.
“She’s different, something is different about her. Things about her life have been left out. I feel like I missed a key element to all of this because the visions hid the truth. This isn’t something that plays by the rules of our world, at least not the world as we know it,” I stated.
“Yes, I know,” Lanier snarled. “And that’s fucking grand, but none of that helps us. We know she’s different, we know she’s unique. We have been asked to protect her, and that right there is a reason to turn down this mission and run for the fucking hills.”
I looked at my brother, trying to figure out if he was angry or worried. It seemed to be both. We all knew that we were in over our heads, but none of us wanted to openly admit that she was our mate. It made the situation too real, too close to home, and I think all of us were afraid of Annalise choosing only one of us—or none of us.
I hated knowing that decision could be in her future. Lanier would eventually admit that there was a bond between all of us and once he did, there would be no ignoring it. Annalise would be looking at three bonds. Three mates.
If she did have to choose, it needed to be me she picked. I knew her—I was a part of her—even if I didn’t know everything.
I didn’t live with her in my head for all these years just to lose her to one of my brothers.
I locked eyes with Quint, an unspoken conversation happening between us. We both knew the truth. Lanier was our leader, the strongest of the three of us. He was our brother. And if like called to like, Annalise would choose him. Her power rivaled his for dominance, they matched, and anyone who knew him could see it.
“We’ll figure this out,” I said, earning a surprised look from both of my brothers. I couldn’t let them see my worry. My power might not be as strong as hers, but she needed me, and I wasn’t above proving that it was me she should pick, even if I had to fight like hell to make it happen.
I would have her. Annalise would be mine.
“Get her up the stairs and into my room,” I barked at Cabe. I’d been watching him carry her for way too fucking long. I was about thirty seconds from ripping him to shreds for no other reason than having his arms around her.
Since her change I was...unhinged. Angry. Terrified.
The pain she was in? I felt all of it. I knew my brothers did too, but I didn’t give a fuck about them, all I cared about was her in my bed so I could make sure she felt alright when she woke up. I wanted her to wake up surrounded by my scent, in my clothes, in my room.
“Why the fuck does she sleep in your bed?” Cabe replied, pulling Annalise closer to his chest, which forced her head to fall into the crook between his neck and shoulder. My beast roared, “Mine!” and snapped its jaws at the sight.
“Because I fucking said so.” I looked him in the eye, daring him to challenge me.
“Or she goes in my room? Anyone ever thought of that?” Quint chimed in a snarky tone laced with challenge. I rolled my eyes in his direction. He wanted her with him but had yet to directly admit it.
“She stays with me.” I let the finality sink into my voice. I wasn’t accepting challenges, and my decision wasn’t up for debate. She was in my room tonight.
End of discussion.
Cabe lifted her body tighter against his chest but walked toward the stairs, giving up the fight. I wouldn’t admit out loud that my hands were shaking, the fear and residual pain from her Transition still lingering in my system.
I followed my brother up the stairs, Quint walking behind me and mumbling shit under his breath about how unfair it was that she got to stay in my room and not his. I wanted to smack him.
We all entered my room, the only light coming from the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up one of the walls. Cabe walked Annalise toward the bed and hesitated, looking back at us. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the shaved sides against the palm of my hand. I was stalling, unsure what to say to them now that I had gotten what I wanted.