Page 5 of Just Right (The Beasts of Blackmoor #3)

I give my head a clearing shake. “Sorry,” I say again. “I probably gave you the way wrong idea, borrowing one of your beds, but I needed somewhere to sleep.” I pause for a moment. “I’m supposed to spend the next three weeks in the forest. I don’t want to impose?—”

“Impose away,” cuts in Colt. “Please.”

Rowan grunts, and the flirtatious look on the one twin’s face falls away.

The other twin? This might be a problem, but I swear I see hearts in his eyes.

Something about his sudden lovesick stare has me second-guessing my plan of asking if I could couchsurf until I can figure out my next move.

Most importantly, I have to look for some sign of Charlotte, and I’m just about to press my luck and see if the three bears have seen another human woman in these woods—because, to be honest, they don’t seem so surprised to have found me here—when Rowan frowns.

“Three weeks?” he echoes. “Blackmoor welcomed you for weeks ?”

He seems as surprised as I was when I read the contract. “That’s what it said. I have to spend three weeks in the forest to get what I want.”

Colt whistles low. “Someone likes you.”

Rowan’s expression hardens, and that’s saying something since it was basically stone already. “That’s not usual.”

And then there’s Finn, the undeniably gentler twin who inches closer to the edge of the bed, his voice soft yet certain as he tells the room, “The forest wants her.”

“Yeah,” cuts in Colt, “too fucking bad. She’s ours.”

What ?

As one, the twins look at Rowan. Figuring I’m supposed to do the same, I peer up at him while still hiding most of me beneath Finn’s quilt.

“You will stay in the cabin,” orders Rowan after a few tense seconds. “There is room for you here, and I’d rather keep you safe on our territory than let one of the other beasts of Blackmoor claim you.”

Claim me?

What does he mean… claim me?

Before I can ask… and I’m not even sure that I dare to… Rowan continues with a firm tone that sends shivers up and down my spine.

“While under our protection, you will stay here. Don’t go out into the forest alone. Don’t take anything else that isn’t yours. And don’t touch what doesn’t belong to you.”

Oh? Like the bed I’m lying in, and the quilt I’m currently worrying with my fingers?

My thoughts must be written on my face because Colt gives me a mischievous smirk. “I’ll share with you.”

Rowan growls this time, a sound that does something strange to me. So strange that I don’t pay close attention to it because… honestly? I’m not sure that I didn’t like it.

Finn is still watching me closely. Ignoring his brothers, he murmurs my name. “Goldie.” He savors it, as though he likes the taste on his tongue.

My invitation to stay is undoubtedly a command. I’m not leaving anytime soon, and though I have to continue my search for Charlotte, I do have three weeks. I have no idea why these three bears weren’t home last night for me to sneak on in, but that means they might leave again.

And when they do? So will I.

Can they tell what I’m thinking now? Feeling a little emboldened since it’s obvious they want me to stay—and, when it comes to the twins, it’s obvious why —I give them each one more curious look.

Rowan’s presence in the small room is absolute domination, plus impossible to ignore. He’s quiet again, but the way he’s watching me… he’s making his own conclusions, judging me, and I can’t tell if I’m coming out in the black or red.

Then there’s Colt. His grin is feral, but also a pure invitation on its own. He likes me flustered, but if I’m right… if he’s the one with the preference for all things soft… he might be taken aback when I make him flustered.

And Finn… his stare is quiet, yet intense, like he’s memorizing every single inch of my face. He doesn’t say anything else, but there’s something about him that’s so irresistible… like the tasty oatmeal and the cozy room… that I feel myself being drawn to him as much as the other two.

In the end, it’s Rowan that ends the silence with a barked command for his brothers to follow him to the kitchen for breakfast since their evening snack had been disturbed. He tells me to come down to eat when I’m ready, then waits for Finn and Colt to reluctantly head down the hall.

Rowan’s calculating stare is the last thing I see before he eases the door closed, leaving me alone in what has to be Finn’s room.

I’m alone again, but am I? The air thrums with something I can’t quite name. Anticipation? Maybe. I’m not afraid, though maybe I should be, and I think about what I should do now.

I don’t have any shoes. I ate last night, but the mention of breakfast has my stomach grumbling again. Rowan offered… okay, told me that I was staying here. If they’re distracted, I could possibly flee…

Wait. How fast can a bear run?

And if there are bear shifters making their home in the woods, what other monsters are out there?

A howl had me deciding to break into their cabin in the first place.

Do bears howl? Or did I somehow instinctively sense that, of two evils, barging in on a trio of bear shifter brothers was the lesser one?

I’m not sure. All I can tell is that, since walking into the dark woods, I snuck into their cabin, eyeballed their chairs, ate their food, and attempted to sleep in all of their beds.

I’m a mature woman. I’ve had my fair share of relationships, both long-term and so fleeting, they were barely one-night-stands. I know when a man is interested in me, and when I’m attracted to one.

Look at Goldie. Always the overachiever.

Because me?

I’m attracted to three .