Page 42

VIOLET

I placed the fresh cookies on the kitchen counter next to the stove. I’d never been great at cooking other than one dessert I could make from scratch without burning: chocolate chip cookies.

The edge of the pan caught the side of my wrist, and I yanked back with a hiss. This last week ever since our romp in the forest, I’d tried to leave the house which ended up in many failed attempts, yet plenty of sex.

Then it hit me yesterday while I’d watched them from the edge of the woods as they searched for me. They were scared.

They genuinely feared losing me.

I’d mulled my decision over and over until I felt sick from it, but I couldn’t deny the certainty that the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing by matching me to them.

“Violet,” Graham bellowed, and the thud of footsteps echoed down the hall.

“Not fucking again!” Simon snarled. More thundering steps.

“I’m over here!” I tugged off the mitts and tossed them aside. I didn’t need to rush because a beat later, Simon careened into the kitchen, naked as the day he was born. He swept me into his arms, squeezing me so tight my fingers spasmed.

“Jeeze,” I huffed. “You’re acting like I run away often.” Graham entered and stopped at the threshold. His shoulders jerked up and down harshly.

“You do,” Graham snarled, his expression thunderous. Simon set me down.

“I was joking,” I mumbled. Graham moved in front of me and gripped my jaw.

“Do you need another lesson?”

My sex reacted and clenched. That meant he was going to fuck me until I was exhausted, just as they’d done last night.

“Wait,” I struggled to say with my lips puckered. Easily slipping out of his grip, I backed up. “I made you cookies.”

They both jerked back so quickly it was funny. Graham’s half swollen cock stiffened so much it pointed to the ceiling. I couldn’t take my gaze away from the droplets forming at the tip.

“Cookies? You made cookies . . . for us?” Simon scowled. His arms flexed with the clenching of his hands. The forest scene on his arms rippled with his movement. Simon gripped the base of his cock, and he groaned.

“You both really like cookies.”

My mates approached, forcing me back a step.

“Woah, horn dogs. I have something to say first.” My attention continued to drop to their cocks. “But maybe put some pants on because that’s distracting.” Graham’s curved cock throbbed under my gaze.

I bit the inside of my cheek, so I didn’t drop to my knees like I wanted. I’d expected with all the sex I’d been partaking in that my desire would have abated, but it seemed to have worsened.

I shooed them out, having to forcefully shove at Simon’s chest until they were both gone. My nerves were killing me. Collecting all of the warm cookies onto a platter, I placed them in the middle of the dining table and took a seat at one of the longer ends. I practiced what I would say to them again.

Finally, they returned, and I used my foot to scoot the chair across from me back. They sat where I asked. Graham leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table, while Simon crossed his arms, studying me.

With their undivided attention, my words stuck in my throat. I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

Yet, they stayed silent. I groaned and rubbed my palms over my face.

“You guys mean it.” I managed to speak and that was what came out?

Simon raised an eyebrow. I gave it another try. “You want only me.”

“That’s obvious,” Simon said, confused.

“Always,” Graham grunted.

My face warmed.

“Are you okay, Sweetheart?” Graham asked, one of his eyebrows inching up.

“Yes, I can get it out.” I nodded like a mad woman and took a deep breath. “It’s important I tell you that giving this a shot is my choice. If I didn’t want to be with you, I would have found a way to leave.”

They stiffened in synchronization.

“Even if I offed myself?” Simon asked, leaning back and crossing his arms.

I narrowed my eyes on him, trying not to get distracted by his tattoos.

“You wouldn’t. You’d rather spend your life hunting me.” His jawline bunched. The truth of their feelings finally settled in my chest.

It wasn’t that I doubted he wouldn’t do it, it was that I was one hundred percent sure he would rather chase me to the ends of the earth to drag me back to his side instead of killing himself and leaving me out there alone.

They tensed so much, a stiff wind could crumble them.

“So what?” Simon gritted out. “You still want to leave?”

I threw my hands up with exasperation.

“That’s the entire point of this today! I wanted to tell you that after thinking and thinking and stressing about what the future meant, now I’ve come to the decision that I wanted to give this a real try.”

“I thought we’d already reached that conclusion,” Graham added dryly.

“Do you swear on the Moon Goddess you both want this?” I waved a hand to encapsulate the three of us.

“What?” Graham scowled. “I would give anything up if it meant I kept you.” Butterflies took flight in my stomach.

“I have given everything up.” Simon pierced me with his gaze. “I lived for revenge, Violet.” He smirked. “Now I share a mate with the same male that destroyed my family.”

I lowered my eyes. It was true. “I’m sorry you’ve lost so much.”

“I wouldn’t change anything.” He shook his head. “It brought me to you.”

My lower lip trembled, but I sucked in a forceful breath. Changing the subject was a necessity at this point.

“Another topic. I want to do something with my time without one of you guys blowing up.”

“No,” Graham said, lips thinned. “You’re not going to work.”

I gritted my teeth.

“I can’t just sit here forever. I want to do stuff.” They only stared at me. “Please. I can’t stay trapped. At my old pack, I had to stay inside most of the time?—”

I cut myself off with a click of my teeth.

Both of them stiffened. Fear gripped onto my gut.

“What does that mean, Violet?” Graham rumbled.

“Who was your last Alpha?” Simon asked and effectively sliced me across the chest.

“No,” I said it so rushed it was obvious. My throat clogged up thinking about Alpha Elton. The way he made me feel hunted in the worst way. Every unasked-for graze of his hand on my person. I shivered.

“Violet,” Graham growled.

“I prefer to forget it.” I crossed my arms, shoving my chin in the air. They exchanged a look.

“What did the bastard do to you?” Simon snapped.

Simon was so still it was a little scary. They’d both already established they were brutal creatures. If they knew Elton made me an outcast, a pariah, and touch-averse all because he wanted in my pants, they would go after him. He was a petty male driven to stupidity because of rejection and the entire pack didn’t deserve to be casualties because of him.

Most importantly, losing one of my mates could never happen; they needed to remain safe, which meant keeping my lips sealed. After all, Elton was gone from my life.

“Sweetheart?” I blinked up at Graham, coming back to earth. I forced a smile.

“Anyway, do you want a cookie?” I awkwardly waved my hand to the plate. He carefully collected the plate and stood. He set it on the kitchen counter.

“There’s another sweet that I crave,” he said, a growl in his tone. My body reacted to his possessive tone. He rounded the table.

“What are you doing?” The front of his sweats were tented. I sank my teeth into my lip. He grabbed my hips and set me on the edge of the table.

His gaze didn’t move from mine as he tugged my leggings and undies off. He tossed them at Simon, but I didn’t see where he put them because Graham had my hips again, a wicked grin across his lips.

His body overwhelmed my space until he laid me back and spread my thighs wide. The line of his jaw rippled. Hands clamped around my wrists and tugged me until I was flat on the table.

“What is it with you and tables?” I muttered shakily.

Simon’s lips grazed the shell of my ear, and he chuckled at my shiver.

Graham lowered his mouth to my sex. “My mate is already dripping with slick,” he said gutturally.

He tongued my clit. With my next gasp, his shoulders shuddered, and he grew taller, fur bursting from his body. His tongue slipped deeper inside me and I whimpered. My channel clamped down on his long tongue, wrenching my release forward.

My scream echoed off the kitchen walls. My sex continued gripping, needy for more. Graham pulled back with a satisfied grin and he licked his long, beastly chops. He lowered again, feasting on me. I writhed, unable to move with Simon’s grip keeping me flat. I cried out, writhing upwards to meet his mouth. Sensation ate up every thought I could have.

My males. Mine.