Page 11 of Delivered to My Beasts (Mail-Order Matings #22)

Crew

Everything changed after we ran together.

I was sure Imogen suggested a run because of no more reason than we were shifters and that was what we did to blow off steam, but there was more.

Our bears and her wolf had bonded during that run, as fated mates usually did.

My bear had wanted to bite her while we were in animal form.

Not to mention, I’d seen her kissing Jax in his workshop.

Her scent of desire filled the shop, and I’d barely been able to breathe, it was so overpowering. If it was up to my bear, we would’ve mated her right there, together, in the shed.

Animal.

Having her here and knowing there was someone after her made everything different.

I stayed up most of the night working so that my day would be free to set up some new cameras.

I’d bought them when we moved in, but the other guys thought I was going overboard.

Instead of returning the extras, I decided to keep them in the basement in case another one went out or needed replacing.

Good thing I thought ahead.

That fucker Mateo wouldn’t get past my cameras without being detected.

But I needed to make sure all the areas were covered. Imogen should feel safe here, and I’d do anything to make sure she did.

My mate might’ve come here for protection, but she would stay because we were her mates. I knew it before but after last night, there was no question.

“Crew?” I heard her call out from a distance. Despite our protections, she spent time in front of our window, scanning the forest a good deal. Watching for any movement. This morning, she’d gasped as a tree moved near the house but it was only a squirrel leaping from limb to limb.

“I’m here,” I called back. I noticed Duke got up this morning, again, and made sure our mate had a proper breakfast. It earned him a kiss on the cheek.

“What are you up to?” she asked, making her way over the roots and nearly tripping. I caught her last second. “Thanks!”

“No problem. I was setting up some extra cameras. Just in case.”

“I hate to put you through all this trouble.”

“Want to help?” I asked.

“Sure.” For the rest of the morning, we put cameras up around the perimeter of the land and more by the house.

“Tell me about your fiancé,” I said with a chuckle. We both knew that was over for more reasons than one.

“Stop that. He’s not my fiancé anymore.”

“I know. Did he…did he hurt you?” I didn’t want to think about anyone hurting my mate but if he had, it would make it that much easier to end him if he dared come around her again.

“Not physically. He made threats and sleazy promises. He was going to cheat on me, and I even heard he wanted to share me with his betas. He doesn’t believe in fated mates.”

“And do you?” I asked. She paused, and I regretted the question.

I didn’t want to put any pressure on her.

She was stressed enough. The emotion carried in her scent and through every move she made.

Her fear was palpable like another being or person always in the room with us, shadowing her every move.

“I didn’t before.”

I nodded. That was enough for now. Once we finished putting up the cameras and syncing them all to the system I already had on the computer in the house, I turned to her. “How about some lunch?” I asked.

“Lunch sounds great. What about Jax and Duke?”

“Duke is out running. He’ll come in once he’s done, but there’s no telling how long he’ll be out and Jax is in his shop. He rarely comes in for lunch. He keeps some snacks and drinks out there in his fridge. When Jax is focused, there’s no dragging him away from his projects.”

“Hmm, not even for me?”

I laughed out loud. “Well, yes for you. But me? I’d be ignored or shooed away. How about some sandwiches?”

“Sounds great.”

We worked side by side making roast-beef-and-Swiss-cheese sandwiches, and I was taking all the mental notes.

Minimal mayo. Lots of mustard. More vegetables than meat and double cheese.

And when she was done, she crossed her hands, one over the other and smashed the whole thing down almost completely flat. “There.”

“That was something else,” I said, shaking my head.

She sobered and a frown took over. “Mateo used to corner me where there was no one else around. The way his eyes roamed my body, it was like he was physically assaulting me. It made me feel gross, and I would always have to shower after an encounter with him even though he hadn’t touched me.

His females, which was practically every female in the pack, would say awful things to me.

Call me names. Taunt me. I thought he would stop catting around when we mated, but I learned that was not his plan. ”

Her talking about Mateo came out of nowhere, but I was glad she trusted me enough to tell me what he had done. It only fueled the fire for my bear but her trust meant everything.

“Did they ever do anything to you?” We sat at the island, since it was just the two of us. I grabbed some bags of chips and pretzels and made us each a glass of iced tea.

“They teased me. I was never invited to girl things. I spent a lot of time alone. I figured it was because my father was the alpha and maybe they thought I was stuck up but turned out, it was because Mateo told them all to stay away from me.”

I huffed. My bear roared inside me. “Isolation. It’s abuse.

Either they make sure you don’t want to be around anyone else, or they make sure to bad-mouth you so much that no one wants to be around you.

Or they simply tell everyone to stay away.

I can’t imagine what he would do once you two were mated. ”

“I don’t want to think about it.”

“Me either. And you don’t have to. Ever again.”

She nodded. “Thank you. Thanks to all of you.”

“You don’t have to thank us. We would do anything for you, you know that, I hope.”

She sighed. “I do. I’m trying. I’ve never known any males like you three. You’re not like any of the wolves or bears I know.”

“How many bears do you know?” I pushed a playful growl into my voice.

“Only three!” She put her palms up in surrender. “Only three!”

“Hmm, okay. Let’s eat and then I have to get some work done. I thought…you mentioned maybe going to school in the future. Would you like to come to the office and get on a laptop and start exploring what you’d like to do?”

“I would, but I don’t have any money to pay for school. I have to figure that out first.”

She absolutely did not. “Let’s discuss that later. No harm in getting an idea of what you’d like to study.”

“Better than standing by the window and being scared,” she admitted.

“Anything is better than that.”

Duke popped his head in to say that he was running to town and would be back later.

He asked Imogen if she wanted to go and she gave him a swift no.

She and I looked through several online programs spanning from accounting to medical billing and even editing.

Her options were wide open and we would pay for any schooling she chose to do.

She was our mate, after all. We would encourage and support her in any endeavor.