Abbey's Protectors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4] (Siren Publishing Menage & More) (30 page)

“You’re wrong, Abbey,” Shelly insisted. “You look relaxed and happy. You look like you’re finally home.”

“You and Shelly should come here,” Abbey said after a moment, thinking out loud as she realized that her friends would love Beckett’s Circle Three Ranch. They deserved to be somewhere safe and welcoming, too. “Maybe both of you will find your mates here.”

Synthia and Shelly exchanged glances quickly then returned their attention to Abbey. Abbey watched them as their faces took on a sadness that hurt her heart.

“I don’t think so, Abbey,” Synthia finally spoke for both of them. “We need to stay right here and keep an eye on your company.”

“It’s time for you to have the happiness you deserve,” Shelly told her gently. “Don’t you worry about us.”

“But, I would really like it if both of you were here with me,” Abbey protested. “We can run the company from here, and we could all live in this beautiful country and be happy.”

“We can talk about that next time, Abbey,” Synthia told her gently. “Now, get some rest. Call us in two days.”

“Okay,” Abbey conceded. “I’ll e-mail you the time.”

“Take care of yourself and your mates,” Shelly told her, smiling.

“I will. Love you both.”

“Love you, Abbey,” Synthia told her before the connection was severed.

Abbey looked at the blank computer screen for a moment. She felt such sadness that her friends weren’t with her. She thought about talking to Hunter and Clay to see if they could help her make a place for Shelly and Synthia on Beckett’s pack land.

Shutting down the laptop and closing the cover, she stood and stretched with her hands above her head. It had been a pretty productive morning. She had been in contact with the company lawyer, happy that the divorce was proceeding as planned and all company accounts were protected. She answered all e-mails from each of the sister companies and was glad that the people her father had hired knew their jobs and did them well. Finally, she was able to talk to Synthia and Shelly and knew that, although Peter was furious that he didn’t know where she was, he didn’t know that he had injured her, or that she had escaped to a world where she was better protected than she could have ever imagined. She was with her men. Her mates. What an amazing thing.

She heard the front doorbell and walked out of the study to open the front door. A young woman stood there smiling. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old. She was absolutely adorable. She had long, dark brown hair that fell to the middle of her back and large, brown eyes that held such seriousness Abbey immediately wanted to take her in her arms and hug her.

“Hi,” Abbey greeted her, pushing the door open wide to welcome her.

“Hi, Abbey,” the girl answered, smiling. “I’m Mia Young. My mother Laurie is mated to Jace and Jackson.”

“Well, hello, Mia Young,” Abbey teased her, smiling.

The seriousness of the young woman melted instantly and her face was transformed with the sweetest smile Abbey had ever seen. She just knew she was going to like this young woman.

“My mom asked me to check on you and see if you would like to come up to the lodge and spend some time with the family,” Mia told her, her smile never leaving her face. “We have a pretty big family, and we can be overwhelming at times, but there’s not one of us who would ever make you feel unwelcome.”

Abbey’s smile grew at the sincerity of this young girl. She reached out and tugged on a strand of her long hair as it hung over her shoulder. “I believe you,” she told her honestly. “I’ve never felt so welcome in my life. Hunter and Clay told me I would be safe here.”

Mia’s relief was visible as she stepped back and waited for Abbey to step out onto the front porch. “You are, Abbey,” she agreed. “Everyone here looks out for everyone else. My brother Dean and I have only been here a short time, but we already feel like we’re part of the family.”

“You’ve only been here a little while?” Abbey asked as she stepped forward and made her way down the front steps of the porch with Mia by her side.

“My mom met Jace and Jackson in June. They’ve been mated since then. Jace and Jackson are really good to her. They really love her a lot.” Mia turned to face Abbey, stopping and reaching for her hand. “My mom has had a pretty rough life. Since she’s come here and has mated with Jace and Jackson, she’s been the happiest I’ve ever seen her. That’s the way it is with mated triads. Do you know about that?”

Abbey smiled and nodded, squeezing Mia’s hand lightly. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m mated to Hunter and Clay now. I’m pretty happy about that, too. And they’re so good to me. I’ve never been happier either.”

Mia smiled and nodded. “I’m glad.” She released her gentle grip on Abbey’s hand and started walking toward the family lodge, glad when Abbey’s gait equaled hers.

“What about you, Mia?” Abbey asked her. “Do you have mates?”

Mia looked at her briefly, unable to keep the blush from her face. “Well,” she began hesitantly. “There are two guys who won’t leave me alone.”

“Are they harassing you?” Abbey asked, immediately on guard.

Mia laughed. “No, not exactly. Lucian and Cole are good guys, they really are, but I’m not ready for a commitment yet. I’m leaving for college soon. I want to get my nursing degree and be on my own for a while. I’m not ready to have any man control my life. I don’t really think I ever will be. I’ve seen what happened to my mom because of my father. He was
not
a good guy and he treated her like crap. He was brutal to me and Dean, too. I refuse to have any man like that rule me.”

Abbey was quiet for a while as she processed what Mia had told her. It was obvious that there was a world of hurt inside this young woman. She could completely relate to her.

“My husband is the same, Mia,” Abbey told her quietly. “He’s an unbelievably cruel person. But my dad was awesome. He was kind and loving, and he truly cared about me and my two friends when no one else did. Hunter and Clay are two of the best men I have ever met. Did you know that I was visited by a beautiful woman with silver hair that told me I was destined to be mated to them and they would be my perfect mates?”

“Martha told me,” Mia answered honestly. “She was pretty excited that Mother Fate had visited you in your dreams. What was She like?”

“Well, She was incredibly beautiful. But more than that, when She touched me I felt complete peace and warmth, and I was filled with such goodness and love it was amazing. I trusted Her completely. And look at me now—happily mated to two sexy beasts.”

Mia stopped at the back deck of the family lodge and turned to face Abbey as she stepped up onto the bottom step. She burst out laughing, wiping at her eyes and holding her stomach as the joy escaped her.

“Oh, Abbey, you just made my day,” Mia told her, still laughing.

Abbey smiled widely. It was so nice to see the worry leave Mia’s face. She was glad she could give her that happiness.

The sliding glass door that led from the deck to the inside of the family lodge slid open and two massive men walked out to stand on the deck and look down at the two of them. They were tall men, muscular in build, and strikingly handsome. Abbey guessed them to be in their mid to late twenties. Both men smiled down at her with open friendliness, but when they turned their attention toward Mia, their expressions changed to something Abbey could only describe as gentle longing. These men had to be Mia’s men Lucian and Cole.

“Abbey, the tall blond with the brown eyes is Lucian,” Mia introduced them. “And the equally tall man with the black hair and blue eyes is Cole.” She looked at both men and sighed dramatically. “They’re my shadows, I’m afraid.”

The men waited for Abbey to stand beside them on the deck before offering their hands to shake in greeting. Abbey could feel the power in them as they took her hand in theirs, but she could also sense their gentleness. Whatever it was that made the men of this pack so tall, muscular, and powerful must also have a hand in making them gentle, protective, and respectful. Each moment she spent here made her more comfortable and made her feel safer.

“Welcome to the pack, Abbey,” Lucian offered, leaning forward to kiss her cheek lightly.

“Welcome, Abbey,” Cole greeted her, also kissing her cheek.

“Thank you,” Abbey said softly, accepting their kindness, pulling away quickly and stepping back. Even though she didn’t feel any threat from these men, she didn’t like the feeling of having any other man touch her. She wanted Hunter and Clay.

Sweetheart, are you all right?
Hunter’s voice rolled through her, sending with it a sense of love and gentleness.

Honey, is something wrong?
Clay’s voice joined his, wrapping around her heart and holding her close.

Everything is fine. I’m just missing both of you. I can’t wait for you to come home so I can hold you.

The growls that filled her head made her smile. The immediate picture of the three of them sitting on the couch with her men’s heads on her lap while she stroked their hair came to mind and she could feel the sense of peace and contentment that filled both Hunter and Clay.

Love you, Mate,
Hunter whispered.

So damn much, baby,
Clay added.

You’re just going to have to show me when you get home,
Abbey teased, smiling when their growls increased and the erotic picture of the two men loving her in their triad bed filled her mind.

“I think I’m going to really like it here,” Abbey said out loud to Lucian and Cole.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great here,” Mia agreed. “Even if you have to be surrounded by bodyguards all the time.”

She pushed between Lucian and Cole to go inside, but she found herself stopped as the two men closed ranks on her and held her tightly between their bodies. Mia froze, unable to keep up the façade of indifference. When the two men had her between them, all she could think about was how good it felt to have their strength support her.

“Darlin’, we’ve missed you,” Lucian told her softly, leaning down to breathe in her scent and nuzzle against her ear.

“I was only away from the lodge for twenty minutes,” Mia told him, frustrated by the fact that they had missed her, but even more than that, that she had missed them in return.

“That’s twenty minutes too long, baby,” Cole told her, leaning against her opposite shoulder and biting down on it lightly as he took in the scent of their mate. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep their promise to Jace to wait until Mia finished college before they claimed her.

Mia closed her eyes briefly as she breathed in Lucian’s and Cole’s scents. She didn’t want to like them. She didn’t want to desire them. But the Fates had decreed that they were hers. She knew it, but she was fighting it. She couldn’t surrender herself to any man, regardless of how good they smelled or how kind they were. She was going to stay strong and live her life the way she wanted to.

“Come on, Abbey,” she said suddenly, extricating herself from Lucian’s and Cole’s arms and reaching out to take Abbey’s hand in hers.

She led her into the house, through the kitchen, and into the living room where her mom, her Aunt Nikki, Martha, Susannah, Susannah’s friend Meeka, and Meeka’s son were visiting. They all looked up when she and Abbey entered.

Abbey smiled at all of them but immediately went to Susannah, her concern for the woman superseding her need for social propriety. She took Susannah’s hands in hers and squeezed them gently.

“Are you all right, Susannah?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes, why?” Suzie asked, surprised.

“When I saw you in the kitchen yesterday, I was worried for your safety.”

“I know it must have looked scary, Abbey,” Suzie told her softly, smiling shyly. “I realize how it must have appeared to you to see Drew and Carter fighting to get to me, but I wasn’t in any danger. You’ll soon see how possessive the men of the shifter world are. Your mates will be just as possessive. It’s the nature of our men to fight for their mate. I really was okay. I just needed to stay away from my mates until I could surprise them with the announcement that they were going to be fathers.”

Abbey’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really? Why couldn’t they come near you?”

“If they got close enough they would be able to scent my pregnancy. I wanted them to open the gifts I got them to tell them I was pregnant.”

“What did you get them?”

“I gave each of them baby T-shirts that said
I love my Daddy
and
I love my Poppa
.”

“That’s so sweet,” Abbey whispered, squeezing Suzie’s hands once again.

“Yeah, they were pretty thrilled with the gifts. They’re very happy about my pregnancy,” Suzie told her quietly. “I am, too.”

Abbey couldn’t stop the smile that filled her face. How wonderful for Suzie to have her mates love that she was pregnant. She thought about Hunter and Clay and how they would feel if she told them that she was pregnant. She had a feeling that they would be pretty happy about it. If she were to be honest with herself, she would be pretty thrilled by it as well. She hid that desire safely behind a closed door in her heart. It was something she still had to think about. She had to keep it to herself until she thought it through.