Claimed by Her Panthers (16 page)

Damn,
the day had started out so well.

****

When
Angelica came home, it was to find both her mates waiting for her. Neither of
them were paying attention to the television, both sets of eyes trained on her
as if they were afraid that she would be gone if they blinked.

“Angelica?”

Her
name, hesitantly spoken, proved how unsure her men felt.
Well, join the club!

“Have
you had dinner?” she asked, ignoring the elephant in the room.

“Yeah,
sort of,” Owen said. “We got your text about having dinner with
Jenika
.”

She
nodded, not sure what else to say. This tension between them was new. Even in
the beginning things hadn’t felt like this.

Stephan
seemed to break first, launching from his seat on the lounge. “Can we just say
we are sorry for how we handled things earlier? We didn’t mean to hurt you. We were
just worried. We’re only newly mated, and we need you to just give us a little
time to not freak out.”

Angelica
stared dumbfounded at them. Were they serious? While she appreciated the
apology, the fact that they needed more time not to freak out was almost
laughable. She had needed more time, too, yet where was hers? Maybe
Jenika
had been right. The entire day her best friend had
insisted she needed some space from Stephan and Owen.
Jenika
had said she had noticed a change in her, had seen Angelica give in to the pair
where under normal circumstances she would have fought them.

She
knew
Jenika
wasn’t trying to come between her and her
panther mates, just concerned. When she had called
Jenika
on it, the other woman had begrudgingly said she was happy that Angelica had
someone, two
someones
, in her life to keep her safe
and loved.
Jenika
just didn’t want to see her
smothered at the same time. She hadn’t said to leave them, merely suggested
they get away, experience some space. Angelica hadn’t been sure about leaving
them, was worried about what that would do to Stephan and Owen. Now though … she
wasn’t sure
Jenika
didn’t have a point.

“I
think I have done well, you know?
Accepted a lot.”
She
paced as she continued to speak. “I mean, my job could quite literally be on
the line. Sure they haven’t said anything, no one has called me in to discuss
any complaints from parents on my personal life … but seriously, how long do
you think it will be? The parents will have something to say, and then what? I
may be out of a job. I need a break, just to breathe.”

“I
think you’ll find you won’t have a problem with your job, sweetheart,” Owen
said hesitantly.

Angelica’s
jaw dropped.
“Really?
You think those mothers aren’t
plotting?”

Stephan
shrugged.
Actually shrugged!
“I think
it won’t matter.”

“Why
wouldn’t it matter?” She eyed them, not liking the look they shared. If guilty
needed a physical representation, her two mates would have been poster boys for
it. When neither of them said anything, she grew more frustrated. “I asked
why?”

“Um,
well, you know that we have known you were our mate for a while,” Owen said
reluctantly. “And even before that, before we knew, we were extremely
protective of you…”

“And?”

Stephan
stepped in where his friend obviously couldn’t finish. “There may have been
some external assistance in getting you your position at the school.”

“External assistance?
What does that
even mean?” She held up a hand to stop them from answering when the answer
slammed into her like a sledgehammer. “You got me the job?”

She
hadn’t needed to actually ask. It was written on their faces.

“Did
you not think I was capable of getting one myself?” she asked calmly, though
she felt anything but.

“No,
of course not,” Owen insisted. “We just wanted to make sure you were safe and
close. When we found out you were our mate, we needed to make sure that you
were taken care of.”

“And
safe from persecution,” Stephan added. “If you were going to be with us, we
wanted to make sure that wouldn’t impact on your career.”

Angelica
was torn. Furious at the men for controlling her life so damn much, she also
felt the love they had for her, even before they understood who she was to
them. The need to wring their necks and to kiss them clashed. And her inability
to decide between both reactions prompted her even more to heed
Jenika’s
words. She needed space from these men. They could
quite easily take over her life, control every
aspect,
and she wouldn’t even know until it was too late.

More
than anything, Angelica needed them to see her as an equal. Not someone to
handle and look after. While she loved that they had been there for her as a
child, she resented that they still treated her like one now.
So willing and eager to make love to her, yet so much less in their
eyes.

Rubbing
her forehead, she sighed. “
Listen,
let’s just table
this for now. My head hurts, and I’m tired.”

“Would
you prefer we take the spare room and lounge tonight?” Stephan asked, sounding
so defeated.

“No.
Come to bed.” She beckoned them both to follow her.

Halfway
down the hall, Owen stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. “We are sorry, sweetheart.”

She
mustered up as much of a smile as she could manage. “I know.”

And
she did know. Now, Angelica needed to find out exactly what it was that she
felt.

****

The
next morning Owen had been reluctant to leave Angelica. Even though their fight
had been resolved and she had told them numerous times the evening before that
she was fine, he could still scent her anger and sadness at them. They had
expected a lot from her already and knew that pushing her for answers before
she was ready to give them was the wrong way to go about it. She wasn’t fine.
In fact, Angelica hated that word, so her using it was as much an answer to
them as a deflection from her. There had been something else there with her
sadness and anger as well, but he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it, and
that made him even more nervous.

With
the school holidays starting, Owen hoped that whatever their issues were, they
would be able to resolve them. Splitting their rosters, he and Stephan had
agreed to dedicate more time to their mate. Owen knew they had handled the
morning’s events badly.

Things
hadn’t gone according plan however when both he and Stephan were called in to
deal with a
high profile client.
Though
he cursed at having to leave Angelica while she was still obviously upset with
them, their mate reassured them that everything would be fine.

He
should have known.

Returning
home late that evening, he and Stephan found the place empty. Panicking, Owen
raced to the phone, ready to dial Joel’s number when he noticed a pad on the
table beside it. Picking it up with unsteady fingers, Owen read the note,
before passing it to Stephan. He watched his friend visibly pale, and
sympathized.

Owen and Stephan,

I love you both,
you know I do. I have not left you for good. I just need some space.
Jenika
and I have gone on our holiday to the Gold Coast. I
will call you when we get settled in. It was all arranged quickly, and I need
it. I need you both to treat me as an equal, but your actions prove you don’t
see me that way.

This may be
irrational, this may be seen as immature, and the fact that I feel like I can’t
even tell anymore is even a little frightening. When I am around you both I forget
who I am, and I feel like I could just give in to anything you want. I’m afraid
I’ll lose who I am then.

Everything will
be fine, and like I said, I’ll call. Just give me time. I have accepted so much
so quickly.

I love you

Angelica

xxx

 
“Christ. What have we done?” Stephan
whispered.

“It
doesn’t matter right now. Did you see where she said they were going?” he spit
out.

Owen
was furious at Angelica for taking off, and at
Jenika
for talking her into it, and at himself for allowing his mate to think he
didn’t see her as an equal. In his bid to keep her safe and protected, he had
hurt her.

“Dammit,
we need to fix this.”

Stephan
nodded.
“Yeah, but we need help, and we need to call Joel.”

“Shit.”

Chapter Eight

“I’m
still not sure this was a good idea,” Angelica said for the one hundredth time
as they entered their hotel room.

“It’s
a great idea,”
Jenika
sighed. “We need to get away
from those idiots.
Seriously.
They think they can
forbid us from doing something.
Ah, hello, not the eighteenth
century, boys.”

Angelica
chuckled.

“Oh God.”
Jenika’s
sudden gasp had her turning around.

“What?”

“I
just had a thought.
Draken
is
from the eighteenth century. Hell, he’s older than that.
Oh my God.”

Angelica
threw her head back and laughed. “You’re just working this out?”

“Shut
it,”
Jenika
muttered. “I’m hungry, and it’s already
night. I’m getting room service.”

After
dinner was ordered, they settled into their room. Angelica struggled to keep
her eyes open as
Jenika
went on and on about what she
had planned for them. Just hearing it all exhausted her.

When
their meals finally arrived, Angelica was famished. She scarfed at least half
of her chicken parmesan before even taking a sip of her sparkling water.

“Hungry?”

“God,
I feel like I haven’t eaten in forever.”

“What
are you talking about? You ate a huge breakfast before we left and lunch at the
airport.”

Angelica
shrugged. She was hungry, so sue her.

“So,
what do you think?”

She
blinked up at
Jenika
. What had she said?

Jenika
groaned. “You
weren’t even listening, were you?”

“
Ummm
…”

“I
just want to make sure that you’ve made the right decision. You know … with
them.”

Angelica
frowned. “If you mean Stephan and Owen, then yes, I know I have. They may act
like pompous, overprotective
arses
, but they love me.
And I love them.”

Jenika
grimaced.
“As long as you are sure.”

“What
is this about? You were fine with me being with them until you found out their
secret.”

“Because
it’s a huge fucking secret,”
Jenika
snapped. “And now
I’m being … what? Claimed by some Vampire and I need to know if I’m going out
of my mind, if this is real. Is it okay?”

Angelica
sighed, finally working out what was going on with her friend. “You like him,
don’t you?”

“What’s
not to like? He’s good looking, intelligent … except for where women seem to be
concerned. He’s got a great laugh, a sense of humor when he isn’t acting like a
douche.”

“So?”

“So
there is that whole little thing about being a Vampire and drinking blood,”
Jenika
drawled in her best Dracula voice.

“Oh,
that.” Angelica covered her mouth with her hand, trying hard not to laugh.

“Yes,
oh that.”

“Just
give it time. It needs to sink in. Shock is totally normal,” Angelica reassured
her. “I had the advantage of knowing Stephan and Owen all of my life. And
really, I feel like that has made a world of dif—” Angelica cut herself off as
her stomach turned.

“
Ang
?
Are you okay?”

She
took a deep breath.
“Yeah.
I’m fine. I just felt a
lit—”

Angelica
scrambled off the bed and bolted for the bathroom, making it just in time to
empty her stomach.
Jenika’s
soothing hand rubbing up
and down her back helped her center. She moaned as her stomach continued to
roll. She didn’t think she had anything left, but it seemed determined to try.

“
Ang
, Are you okay?”

“Don’t
know,” she muttered. “Been feeling off all day. Little twinges coming and
going, but that was the first time I couldn’t control it.”

“All right.
How about we get you to bed.”