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Josh was lighter, his fur almost white. His blue eyes glowed in the faint light of the moon. He tipped his head back and howled as she watched. With a nod to one side, he indicated they should follow him.

They took off at a rapid pace. The breeze and the cool night air soothed Samantha’s body. She would gain energy from the shift and strength from spending some time in her animal form. Her body would heal some from her earlier mating also. She relaxed as they bound between the trees.

They went several miles before popping back out beside the car. She’d followed the men the entire time, paying little attention to their direction or location. It felt nice to enjoy the run and rely on them to lead her. In her profession, she was always in charge. Always having to guide her clients in some direction. She’d never been one to follow. A warmth spread through her at the thought of letting some of that control go, giving it over to her two mates. It was freeing.

As they drove back to the main town area, she sat behind the men, letting them have the front seat. She could sleep easily. Thank goodness it was only a matter of minutes before they returned to their hotel, or she would have. She needed to eat first or her body would be sluggish and she’d be famished by morning. There was no reason to worry about that, however. The men would need nourishment even more.

As she considered this, her stomach growled and Josh pulled into a fast food joint next to the hotel. “This work for you?” he asked over the seat.

“Yep.” She leaned forward and set her hand on his shoulder. The same sparks that flew the first time they touched, and every time in between, still startled her. “Order me a chicken sandwich.”

“That’s it?” Nathan asked.

She glanced down at herself. “I’m like a hundred and ten pounds. How much do you think I can eat?”

Both men shook their heads. The list Josh called into the tiny speaker was long. The woman would be shocked when they pulled forward to pay. She must have been thinking it was a van loaded with teenage boys.

The girl was too distracted by the next customer to notice, however, and within seconds they had armloads of food and were headed back to the hotel.

Ten minutes later, Samantha was scarfing her sandwich and sipping a large soda. They all three sat in a circle on the bed, the mountain of food and wrappers between them.

When she finished, she sat back and watched the men eat. Amazing how few bites they used to devour several burgers and fries. Her eyes grew heavy. The longest day of her life was pulling her under.

She leaned back against a stack of pillows and closed her eyes. She was vaguely aware of several hands freeing her from her blouse and skirt and slipping the covers over her body, but that was the end of her recollection.

At seven a.m. Josh sat in Evan’s car across the street from the apartment complex in which he sincerely hoped to find his sister this morning. He watched with Evan as Damon Parkfield, the bastard, left in his car. Dressed in the same khaki pants and standard polo shirt as yesterday, Josh suspected he must be working as a salesman for some local shop or something. Today’s shirt was a bright aqua color and it hung too large on the tall skinny man. As he bent to get into his car, Josh watched the way his hair hung to one side. It was too long. He was in need of a cut.

Moments later he pulled away from the curb and out of sight in the same direction as yesterday.

Evan had been there two days now. “I don’t think he’ll come home during the day. At least he hasn’t before.”

Josh hoped so. He didn’t want to have a confrontation. He just wanted his sister and she had showed no signs of exiting on her own, so he suspected she either wasn’t there or she was forbidden to step outside. Both ideas gave him the chills. But, he could only pray to set eyes on her today.

“Let’s give it a few minutes,” Evan added. “How was your evening?”

“Interesting.”

“Oh?” Evan glanced his direction, one eyebrow raised. “That’s not an answer I would expect from someone newly mated.”

Josh licked his lips. He’d slipped out this morning, not disturbing Samantha, but whispering to Nathan he’d text as soon as he knew something. “She wasn’t alone.”

“Pardon?” Now Evan gave Josh more of his attention. It wasn’t as though they were going to miss anything by staring at the front door of the apartment.

“It seems we have another mate.”

“Are you serious? She was with another woman?”

Josh chuckled deep and shook his head. “’Fraid not.”

“What?” Evan paused, and then his jaw fell open. “No. Say it isn’t so.”

Josh tipped his head to one side and raised his brows. “Oh, it’s so. Yesterday morning while I was here on surveillance with you, my sweet mate ran into a third, and yep, he’s definitely a man.”

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as the sky is blue. Guess you haven’t encountered many threesomes either, huh?”

“Nope. Never. I think of one of my distant cousins mated with two people, but not anyone I’ve met.”

“Yeah, well, us either. We were a bit weirded out, but it’s a sure thing. Believe me.”

“Huh. How does… No, never mind. You keep the details to yourself. There are some things I don’t need to know.”

Josh laughed. “One day. But right now, let’s concentrate on my sister and pray she’s in there.”

“Ready?” Evan reached for the handle.

“I guess.” Josh stepped out at the same time and followed Evan to the door. His palms sweated and he rubbed them on his jeans.
Please God
…

Evan knocked. Silence. Several seconds went by. He knocked again. Nothing.

Fear was a tangible element crawling up Josh’s back. He stepped to the window next to the door. The curtains were sheer, but drawn.

Again Evan knocked, harder this time.

The flutter of material caught Josh’s eye. Someone
was
in there. He flattened his hands on the glass. “Ashley?” He tried not to yell, but Lord knew how badly he wanted the movement to be her.

The door opened a few inches and there she stood, his sister. She was skittish and only peeked out from the small space, not releasing her grip on the door. “Josh?”

“It’s me, Ash. Can we come in?”

She shook her head. “Not a good time. What are you doing here?”

Why wasn’t it a good time? It took all his control not to slam the door out of her grip and step around her to see the inside.

“I came to find you, Ash. You stopped answering our calls. We haven’t heard from you in over a year. I’m so glad I found you,” he continued in a rush of air.

“No. It can’t have been that long.” She shook her head again. “I spoke to you a few months ago.”

“No, you didn’t.” Josh tried to keep his voice controlled, soft. He didn’t want to scare her. She was no more than a waif and seemed younger than she had four years ago. Her hair was thin and unhealthy, the blonde locks dull and limp. Her eyes were deep dark holes in her head, not the vibrant green of her childhood. Her face was gaunt.

She looked like she came from a concentration camp and hadn’t been rescued yet.

“I’m really busy right now. Can you call me later?”

“No. Now, Ashley.” Josh pressed on the door, trying not to frighten her, but unwilling to give up this effort. The more he looked at her, the more he knew without a doubt he was removing her from this apartment this morning, even if he had to force her. She was neglected and abused.

In defeat, she released her grip on the door and let it open. “Okay, but you can only stay a minute. I have a lot to do this morning.”

“Like what?” He couldn’t resist the snarky question. The place was immaculate. Even the floor had no footprints in the carpet. The apartment was small and old and un-renovated, but it looked like a display home for dilapidated structures. The complex could actually sell units if they used this one as a model.

Ashley stepped to one side. “Who are you?” She seemed to notice Evan for the first time. She tipped her chin a little and breathed deeply.

Josh knew she was scenting the man. Her eyes widened when she realized he was a shifter.

“This is Evan. He’s the private investigator I hired to find you.”

“Find me?” She lifted her gaze to meet his. “I didn’t know I was missing?”

“Oh, come on, Ashley. You move around every few months and you haven’t called home in thirteen months. How would you describe that?”

Evan set his hand on Josh’s arm. “I’ll wait out here.”

Josh took a deep breath. It wouldn’t help if he started yelling at her. She was so beaten down, she probably didn’t realize how bad things had gotten.

Ashley’s hand shook as she reached for the door. “You should go. If Damon finds you here…”

“What? What if Damon finds me here?”

“He doesn’t like guests is all. He’s kind of private.”

“So private you aren’t allowed visits from your family or phone calls?”

“I’m allowed phone calls.” Her voice lowered until he almost couldn’t hear her. She tucked her head. “I just haven’t earned any recently.”

Earned? Holy fuck
. Things were worse than he’d imagined. How had his sweet, innocent, fun-loving sister fallen into this life?

Evan spoke from behind Josh. “Ashley, I know it’s hard for you to see right now, but you’re in an abusive relationship. I’m sure Damon has told you all sorts of things to keep you under his thumb. He’s probably threatened to hurt or kill your family if you don’t do his bidding.” Evan paused. “I can see by your expression he has. I’ve seen this sort of thing dozens of times, Ashley. I can assure you Damon is not going to hurt anyone. We just want you to come with us so you’ll be safe. I promise you won’t be in danger.”

Ashley shook her head again. “No. I…I can’t. I’m fine, really.” She smiled, but the expression didn’t reach her dull sad eyes. She raised her chin in attempt to prove she was just peachy. “Damon…he…we’re fine. He just likes things…tidy, is all. I’m doing better.” She glanced around.

Not a thing was out of place. Better? This shell of a woman used to be his sister. She didn’t do tidy. She was an artist. Messy was her middle name. He fought the tears welling up in his eyes. No matter what he’d said or thought, the reality was he couldn’t take her against her will without causing a disturbance. What if he couldn’t convince her to come with him voluntarily? This scenario had never played out in his mind.

A shadow filled the doorframe and Ashley yelped. Josh jumped to swivel around, expecting to see Damon standing there. What he saw instead, made his heart soar.

Samantha. And Nathan was behind her. Evan stepped out of the way. Samantha smiled, a sweet precious image he remembered seeing in Ashley’s eyes before…

“Hi, Ashley.” She didn’t look at Josh yet. “I’m Samantha, Josh’s mate.”

He was glad she didn’t expand on that right then. Ashley was fragile. No way could she have understood the workings of this threesome.

“This is Nathan.” Samantha nodded behind herself, giving no indication who Nathan was to her or to Josh. “What a nice place you have.” She entered the apartment fully, stepping past Josh and Ashley into the living room. “Did you do all this decorating yourself?”

Josh almost laughed, except the situation was far from funny. Decorating? What was Samantha’s angle?

“Most of it came with the apartment, but some.” Ashley perked up a little and shuffled in Samantha’s direction. “Do you really like it?”

“I do. The colors are perfect.” She nodded at the walls and an abstract painting above the couch. “Did you paint that?”

Josh’s mouth hung open. Samantha was accomplishing more in moments than he could have ever hoped for on his own. Luckily, he recognized the style of the painting. His sister did indeed paint that sort of thing. At least, she had, before she’d vanished at twenty years old.

“I did. It’s been a while though.” Ashley’s voice was stronger now. “I miss painting,” she added.

“I’d love to see more of your work.”

Ashley turned her face to the floor. “I don’t have much here. I used to have a lot of art at my parents’ home, if they kept it.”

“Oh, goodness. If it’s half as good as this painting, I’m sure they did.” Samantha stepped closer to Ashley. “I’d love for you to show it to me sometime.”

Ashley smiled, the first twinkle of her old self sparkling in her sea-green eyes.

And then her face fell. “You really have to go. If Damon finds you here…”

Samantha took Ashley gently by the arm and turned her toward the hallway. “Is there anything here you don’t want to leave behind?” She didn’t ask his sister to come with them. She implied there was no other option. “We need to get going so we can put as many hours as possible between us before Damon comes home. Don’t you think?”

Oh, Samantha was good. Josh’s chest swelled.
Make this all her idea
.

Ashley turned a shade of gray as she stood her ground. Samantha released her arm and headed down the hall. His sister would have to follow. What choice did she have? She couldn’t very well let the stranger roam through the house and possibly mess anything up.

“Where do you keep your suitcases?” Samantha asked over her shoulder.

Ashley moved then, fast. She entered the first door on the left, leaving Josh standing in the front room.

“Holy shit.” Josh ran a hand through his hair.

“She’s amazing,” Nathan commented from outside the apartment. He didn’t say who, but Josh knew he had to be referring to Samantha. The woman was a goddess.

“I left you guys sleeping.” Josh tried to concentrate on Nathan, but he couldn’t take his gaze off the door to the room where his sister and his mate had entered. Nerves made his stomach clench.

“We woke up.” Nathan said nothing else, as if to imply
what else would we do?

“I’m Evan.” The other man stepped forward and shook Nathan’s hand. “Congrats on the strange mating.” He didn’t apologize as he chuckled.

Josh imagined they should expect a lot of that reaction when they returned to the real world. What were others supposed to say? Hell, neither humans nor wolves were going to understand this. Josh didn’t fully grasp it yet himself.