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7

Bear

I could smell her apprehension instantly, and the protective side of me rose, even though I knew she wasn’t afraid of us.

My brothers and I stayed back, giving her a moment to get her bearings. She looked her fill of us, taking in every aspect of our bodies, starting with our clawed feet up to the tops of our heads.

I was the one to enter the cottage first, my movements slow so I didn’t frighten her further. Our female was strong as she stood her ground, but I could see the rapid pulse at the base of her neck beating quicker. The candles scattered throughout the cottage flickered with the wind rushing in through the opened doorway. Bruin was next to enter, then Ursid. Our youngest brother shut the door quietly behind us, sealing off the torrential weather.

The sweet scent of Goldie’s lingering arousal filled the air. It was faded, not new. But it was incredible. The greatest, sweetest thing I’d ever inhaled into my body.

The cottage started growing warmer with the door closed, the frigid storm cut off.I held a stack of furs I’d taken from the cave, and Bruin had four trout hanging from a line of twine, while Ursid had a bowl of oats to make porridge.

We shook off the snow and ice, droplets falling to the wooden floor before melting quickly. But even the weather couldn’t mask the pheromones pouring off us.

She was in the hallway, presumably had seen our rooms… the ones we had yet to sleep in.

They were ones we made so we each could spend private time with our mate.

“Where am I?” Her voice was soft, tentative.

I took in her scent, loving that I didn’t sense any genuine fear. She was strong, our human, ready to face us, even though we were triple her size and not of her species.

“You’re at your new home,” Bruin grunted, and I snapped my head in his direction, baring my teeth.

“Easy,” I growled, because he said it aggressively, possessively.

Bruin narrowed his eyes at me, his nostrils flaring as his own dominance rose.

We challenged each other frequently—all of us alpha—but I knew he’d back down. Bruin wouldn’t want to frighten Goldie.

He was the one to break eye contact as he looked back at our female. Ursid hadn’t taken his gaze off her the entire time. His chest was rising and falling, and the aroma of his mating need saturated the air.

Surely, she could scent the spice with undertones of sweetness laced in it? And when her little nostrils flared, the way her pupils dilated told me it was taking effect on her in the best of ways.

“This isn’t my home.” She rolled her shoulders back and tipped her chin up.

I watched with pleasure at seeing the defiance on her face and the strength and fire in her eyes. We said nothing, knowing the situation wouldn’t be solved overnight or for the duration of the storm.

Instead, we let her stand where she was as the three of us made our way into the meal-prep area.

We’d seen humans throughout our years, knew how they lived, observed their creature comforts. We were animals in every sense of the word… cooked on an open fire, bathed in the river, slept on furs on the ground.

We needed nothing but our female. But we knew Goldie would want things she was familiar with, comforts to help with the transition of her being with us.

So we’d built what the humans called a kitchen. There was a large basin where fresh water could be poured into it. We built a stove, they called it, with a piece of metal sheeting atop the open flames where we could cook raw meat for her.

Such modern things were certainly convenient for humans but not something we particularly cared for. But it was no sacrifice. We just wanted Goldie to be happy. We wanted her to know she was ours, and that there was nothing and no one who would take her from us.

Although we were on the other side of the cottage and she was still in the hallway, we could see Goldie clearly. Ursid went about making porridge, and Bruin was cleaning the fish. I set the furs over the back of a chair, planning to cover our beds with them to ensure Goldie was warm throughout the storm.

We argued about which room she’d stay in, at least at first, but we wouldn’t force her. She could pick her own; although, inside, I wanted her in mine. It was the biggest and the one that had the most room where I could devour her in the best of ways.

I knew all three of us wanted to go to her, but we stayed back and focused on preparing a meal for her. I gathered fresh water earlier and went about setting the table. This was something we were unfamiliar with—eating this way.

But we’d watched Goldie throughout the years, seen her do these actions. She'd eaten at the table like we crafted for her, and while she enjoyed her meal, she would read what we knew were called books.

Once the fish was prepared and the porridge was done, I gathered fresh berries and set them in the center of the table. And then we stood back and watched her. She wasn’t in the same spot; she had moved closer, her curiosity saturating the air.

“Come and eat,” Bruin said. His voice was gruff and growly, but I knew he meant nothing aggressive by it.

Still, I shot him a frustrated glance and silently told him to be gentler.

“I’m not hungry,” she whispered almost instantly, and right away, her stomach growled.

Ursid chuckled and pulled out one chair, his long claws gently scraping the wood.

“Come sit, our sweet, little female. Let us feed you.” He made sure his tone was softer, or as gentle as creatures like us could speak.

She still didn’t move, although she eyed the food. Her stomach rumbled again.

“We’d never hurt you,” I finally said. I turned and moved toward the shelf that held a few of the books I’d taken from the village. The covers were soft, brown leather, the pages aged parchment in a yellowing shade.

“Do you not remember us? Remember who led you back home?” I watched the act of her little pink tongue moving along her full lower lip. “We’ve been watching you, Goldie. We’ve been protecting you, making sure you were safe.”

I could see the way her breathing changed, picking up a little. The truth of my words was not lost on her. She knew who we were. She felt that instant connection, had for as long as we’d been watching her.

But we were patient, painfully so. We waited... figuratively and literally.

All three of us took a step back, waiting for her to feel comfortable enough to come forward. Finally, she let out a deep breath and crept closer.

I wanted to growl in pleasure, let her hear me purring in contentment. But I held it in, knowing the noise might have that wall going back up in place.

She stopped several times, eyeing us and then the food. Her belly rumbled in response to the sweet smells and sight of the warm dinner.

Although I tried to keep my desire buried deep, there was no stopping my arousal at having Goldie near. I was fully erect, my cock throbbing, pre-cum a steady drip out the tip, landing on the wooden floor at my clawed-feet.

I didn’t have to see if my brothers were hard to know they were in the same pleasure-induced situation as I was.

And every time Goldie glanced down to where our erections sprang forth from the thick patch of dark fur at our groins, I felt my length throb and more semen spill out.

I rumbled low in warning and cast an irritated glare at my brothers, communicating without words to shield themselves to make her more comfortable.

They made their own annoyed sounds but slid their massive paws down to their groins, covering their hard cocks. I could smell our semen coating the air and hear it dripping onto the floor.

She licked those luscious lips again, then came forward, making sure she wasn’t looking at us. If I could have smiled, I would have in that instance.

Our little female was too cute.

She eyed the book right away, running her fingers across the leather-bound top, then over the stitching along the spine. “Where did you get this?” she whispered, and I wondered if she spoke to us or herself.

“I crept through the night, hiding in the shadows as I went into the village.” My voice was low, husky with my arousal. “I stole it, along with others, just for you.” She looked at me, her red lips parting. “We wanted to give you the things you enjoy, that bring you pleasure.” I pointed a claw at the basket on the table. “I gathered as many pink berries as I could, knowing you enjoy them.”

Bruin came closer. “I caught the fish you love, only keeping the best ones for your meals.”

Ursid was next, pushing the bowl of porridge forward, his paw dwarfing the ceramic container. “I know how much you enjoy a hot bowl of oats. I even added fresh honey, because you have a sweet tooth.”

She made a soft sound, glancing at all of us, then shook her head and closed her eyes. “I don’t understand any of what's going on.” She sat down as if her legs gave out, her voice nothing but a mere whisper.

How I wanted to touch her, to stroke her lush curves and thick golden waves that fell over her shoulders.

The weather still raged outside, the windows shaking. The fire was stoked and burning bright and hot, keeping the interior warm.

“We want you,” I stated matter-of-factly.

“We want you as ours,” Bruin interjected.

“As our female,” Ursid said. “Only ours, sweet, little Goldie.”

She made a soft sound of surprise, looking between us, her eyes wider and brighter than the sun at high noon.

“The mother of our cubs. The perfect mate.” I should have kept that to myself, but the words were a growl out of me before I could stop them.

“This is crazy,” she finally said. “You can’t just take someone, keep them here.” The wind knocked at the cottage, the doors rattling. The scent of atmosphere and snow and torrential rain corrected her words, stating that she wasn’t a prisoner by our hands. Nature had decreed she stay here with us.

To be ours.

“There's no rush,” Bruin said, gifting her with words that would ease her anxiety. “We’d never force you. Never make you do anything you don’t want.”

“We only want your happiness and pleasure.” I reached out and let one of my claws tangle around a soft ringlet of golden hair that fell over her shoulder. “Eat, little one.” I took a step closer.

She tipped her head back and looked into my face, her pupils dilating, her nipples hard under her peasant top. I wanted to rip the material away and feast on those tight buds, drag my tongue over the peaks until she came for me.

I wanted her wetness to soak my fur as I pushed my cock into her tight little body. I was big—we all were—but Goldie would take every inch we had to give her. It would hurt. She’d have to be soaking wet and primed for her little pussy to handle the type of animalistic fucking we would give her, but she was made for us.

And when she was sated from her many orgasms and covered in our cum, we’d mate with her all over again until we got her pregnant with our cubs.

“You’ll need all the strength you can get for what your three mates have planned.”