Page 18 of Shared by the Werebears (Hidden Hollow #5)

RONAN

I shouldn’t have watched.

God help me, I shouldn’t have watched—but I did. I couldn’t fucking help myself.

I lay there pretending to sleep while Finn pressed his hard cock between Goldie’s thighs, while she spread herself open for him like some lush, eager offering. Her blanket had fallen open—it was easy enough to see.

But it wasn’t just that I watched—it was what I felt .

Every moan that slipped from her lips lit up something dark and primal in me.

And because of what she was—because of the bond she now seemed to have with both of us—I felt everything .

Her hunger…her need. Her pleasure, rippling through me like fire lapping at dry leaves.

And instead of putting a stop to it the second I woke, I just lay there in the growing heat of the tent, letting myself bask in it.

God, I even wanted more.

I nearly let it happen. Nearly let Finn push into her and fuck her right there in front of me while I watched like some kind of sick voyeur.

Worse, I wanted it. I wanted to see him sliding into her, wanted to feel her take him in—because every breath of her pleasure would feed me, too.

And the idea of sharing that moment, of sharing her , with another male…

It made something shift inside me. Something I don’t want to examine too closely.

Because that’s not how it’s supposed to be. Not for us. Not for Weres .

We don’t share mates.

We fight for them. Claim them. Protect them. Keep them.

We don’t lie beside another male and enjoy the way he makes our mate moan. We don’t encourage him, we don’t guide him, and we sure as fuck don’t fantasize about what it would be like to see her take on both of us at once.

But I did. And even now, hours later, my cock was twitching at the memory.

Goddamn me.

I kept marching forward, trying to walk away from the feelings. I could feel Finn behind me, resenting the fact that I’d stopped them.

Hell, I resented myself .

The worst part was that I knew Goldie wasn’t draining us. Not even a little. That had been my excuse, but it wasn’t the truth. I’d felt fine afterward. Strong—energized, even. She fed from us gently, carefully, as though she wanted us to be safe. As though she cared.

And Finn…fuck, he was already half in love with her—I could tell.

Maybe we could have gone further. Maybe I should have kept quiet and watched him fuck her…

felt their pleasure as my own. Hell, I could have joined in…

started sucking her nipples like I had last night…

maybe I could have rubbed her hot little clit while he fucked her.

We could have given her pleasure together… and felt it come back to us tenfold.

But I couldn’t let it happen. Not with both of us. Not when I knew what it would mean if we crossed that line. Sharing a mate is against Clan Law—no self-respecting Were would do it.

I just kept walking. Every step away felt like I was walking further from something I’d wanted my whole life, even if I hadn’t known it until this morning.

And it wasn’t just Goldie.

It was both of them—it was sharing her with Finn.

And that terrified me more than anything else.