Hers (2 page)

“Thanks, Susie. I know, but I don’t want to bother
them, or lead them on. I need to learn to do things for myself. I might paint
my room a color just for me like purple, or pink, if that’s okay?”

Susie smiled and nodded. “Of course it’s okay.” She
pouted. “I would come over and help paint, but…” She patted her huge baby
belly.

“Me, too,” Sandy piped in. She had a decent size
belly on her also. She wasn’t too far behind Susie, a month or so, maybe less.

Sammy hadn’t really been a good friend these last
several months. Now she thought about it, she hadn’t really seen much of her
friends since she’d gotten out of the hospital. Sure she’d seen Susie when she
lived with her and her men, but she’d stayed in her room when they were around.
She had only ventured out when they were at work or out.

Sandy had called. They’d gone out for a coffee, and
Sammy had visited Sandy when she was in the hospital because of when Michael,
Greg’s work partner, tried to kill her mates. Sammy winced at that thought and
felt a tear roll down her cheek.
Oh God,
I almost got my best friend killed. If only I wasn’t such a gullible fool. Why
didn’t I leave Greg? How could I have not noticed he was taking over my life?
My friends wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I’d left him after one of the many
times he beat me. Why did I stay with him? Why did I let him destroy my life
and hurt my friends?

“I need air. Excuse me for a moment.”
 
Sammy didn’t want them to see her cry. She
was sick of being the victim, the cry-baby. Tonight was a happy event, and she
wasn’t about to bring it down. Over and over, she repeated what her psychiatrist
said to her.
It is not your fault. You
didn’t cause Michael to go on a killing spree. You did nothing wrong. He would
have fixated on someone else, and he would have still killed who he did. You
being with Greg didn’t cause these killings.

Stepping out on the veranda she took deep gulps of
air, fighting to calm herself down and not break down in front of everyone or
run away back to the safety of her house.
Shit!
She was pathetic. She used to be the strong, tough one in the group. Then her
mum had died, and she’d become a wreck. It was around then she’d met Greg. He’d
pulled her over for a breath test and seen she’d been crying. He’d talked to
her, and their relationship had started from there.

Greg had been controlling from the start. Sammy
should have seen his controlling ways, but at first he looked after her as she
got her mother’s house packed up and on the market. Sammy had inherited the
house and it was debt-free, but she just couldn’t live in the house without her
mother.

Sammy had only known Greg for a month before she
sold her mother’s place and moved in with him. It didn’t happen right away, but
slowly he would put her down because of her weight, or make a comment about how
he didn’t like how she acted around her friends. Greg would always organize
things for when she had a girls’ night or when she would be going to see her
friends. He would make her feel so guilty she would cancel and go to his event,
or just to keep him quiet and happy, stay at home with him.

Now that she thought about it, she really should
never have moved in with him. Sandy had even made a joke to her that he must be
hot in bed if she was moving in so fast. Sammy remembered not answering and
telling
herself
that sex didn’t matter, that Greg might
be a dud in bed, but he’d said he loved her and he wanted her. What did Sammy
really know anyway? Greg had been the first. She’d made the pact with Sandy and
Susie when they were teenagers to only lose their virginity to a man they loved
and would marry. Sammy felt guilty knowing she hadn’t kept her promise.

Sammy leaned on the rail and looked out at the pitch
black forest. Thanks to Sandy, Susie, and Jane, Sammy knew that sex, making
love, could be mind-blowing. Sammy wanted that. She knew Susie and Sandy didn’t
care she’d broken the promise. They just wanted her happy. Sammy wanted to have
sex and have an orgasm while a man was making love to her. She sighed.
Or men
.

She hated to admit it, but now she thought about it
she was really impressed with Slater and Brock. From what she’d learned about
shifters and mates from Gwen, whom she’d been spending a decent amount of time
with lately, she knew that shifters found it extremely hard to not be close to or
have contact with their mate. Supposedly, they went crazy without their mate’s
touch and love. Shifters were usually very bossy with their mates, especially
alpha males like Slater and Brock. The two of them never gave up, but when
she’d asked for time, they’d given it, and if she asked them to leave they
left. They’d never pushed her to do something she hadn’t wanted to. They hadn’t
even whined that she wouldn’t let them claim her.

Sure, they joked and vied for her attention, and no
matter how many times she said she wasn’t interested they came back to try
again.
 
They never got angry, and they
had been there when she had broken down outside the hospital when Sandy got
hurt because she’d learnt who the shifter killer was. Sammy felt it was her
fault.
 
Sammy remembered Brock was
furious, but he never let her see it. It was only when she snuck looks that she
saw the pure rage and anger at her situation. Brock was gentle with her and
told her pretty much the same as what her psychiatrist told her.

Sammy remembered Slater and Brock let her be for a
while after the shifter killer mess. Slater had come around only twice to check
on her, and Brock had checked on her once. They didn’t come together. It was
good. She had almost two months of time to get herself together until they
slowly started coming around again and calling her. She should give them a
chance. Sammy was extremely attracted to them. They made her laugh, and she
always felt good around them. Not to mention her body came alive without even
touching them. They always told her how beautiful she looked even when she knew
she looked like shit.

Arms came around her waist, and warmth settled
through her. Honey and chocolate wafted through her senses, and she felt safe.

Brock leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Quick,
let me hold you and talk to you. Please, protect me. My mother is on her way
with one of the Brown girls. I’ve told her I don’t need setting up, that I have
you, but she doesn’t believe me.”

Sammy felt a sting of jealousy course through her at
the fact Brock’s mother didn’t believe she was his mate and was trying to set
him up with someone else. Brock nipped her neck sending delicious shivers down
her back. He then soothed her with kisses.

“Don’t worry, angel. I’m all yours. No need to get
jealous.”

Stupid
shifter senses
. Her feelings weren’t even private. Brock dodged
her elbow and pulled her tighter against his chest as the woman she’d met
briefly at the bridal shop the other day came over to them with a tall,
stunning,
brunette
.

“Brock, darling, come and meet
the lovely Stella.”
Brock’s mother Adele totally ignored Sammy.

“I told you, Mother. I already have a mate.”

Sammy watched as Adele raised her eyebrow in the
most regal way. “I do not see this mate you have been talking about, and if
you’d mated her she should be here. She hasn’t come and introduced herself, and
you don’t smell mated. So frankly I think you’re just being stubborn and making
excuses to get out of things. I think your mate is make-believe.”

Sammy told
herself
to stay
quiet, to stay invisible and not say anything, but she was sick of shrinking
into the background. Before Greg, she would never have put up with someone
treating her like this woman was now. She wasn’t make-believe. She was Brock’s
mate whether she claimed him or not.

Taking a deep breath she told herself that Adele
couldn’t do anything to her with Brock so close, and behind them there was a
room full of shifters and humans. “Hi, Mrs. Bear. I’m Samantha. We met at the
bridal shop the other day. I’m one of Sandy’s bridesmaids.”

The penetrating stare Adele had been giving Brock
moved down to her. “I remember you hiding in the corner. Is my son bothering
you? Has he put you up to pretending you're his mate so he can get out of
events and things I’ve organized? You can say no, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t
bother you again.”

Sammy stared dumbfounded at the woman. This was the
woman Susie loved? Sandy had told her to watch herself with her. That this
woman was amazing the way she worked. On the one hand Adele had given her an
out, but on the other, Sammy knew she’d just been snubbed. Adele didn’t think
she was Brock’s mate.

Sammy felt Slater come up beside her, and he reached
for her hand.

“Adele. I see you’ve met our pretty little mate.”
Slater held the hand she wasn’t holding out to Adele. “Stella, it’s nice to see
you again.”

Sammy put her hand down and watched as Adele turned
red, and her back went rigid as she plastered a fake smile on her face.
“Slater, it’s nice of you to lend my son your mate to play this game. And I’m
glad you’ve met Stella before. You can tell Brock what a wonderful woman she
is.”

“No. Brock is mine. Slater and Brock
are
both mine.” Sammy didn’t know what came over her. All she
knew was Slater and Brock
were
hers. She wasn’t
letting anyone have them, bar her.

“I beg your pardon. You have to be wrong, young
lady. If you were their mate you would be claimed by now. My son and Slater
have known you for months.”

Adele took a step towards her, and Sammy almost
jumped out of her skin as she heard two deep growls, one behind her and one
next to her.

“Stay where you are, Mother. I will not even let you
touch my mate. And if you do I won’t be as lenient as Jake and Zack.”
 
Sammy could hear the deadly steel in Brock's
voice.

Adele’s head shot up from staring daggers at her to
look stunned at her son. “I have only ever wanted the best for my children. I
don’t think this tiny, fat human is the right choice. One human daughter-in-law
I can handle. Two, I’m stretching, but three is too much to pollute our good
genes. I think you need to think real hard on your future.” And with that Adele
turned and strolled away.

Wow.
What a bitch
. Maybe being with Slater and Brock was a bad idea.
God, who would want that for a
mother-in-law
?

“Angel, I’m so sorry about her. If it helps, I was
mostly raised by nannies.”

Sammy didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Brock
that he wasn’t brought up by his mother or not. She turned in his arms and let
go of Slater’s hand. “Thank God for that. I hate to think what you would have
turned out like otherwise.”

Brock smirked, leaned down, and brushed his lips
over hers. “Thanks for telling Mother what you are to me, to us.”

Sammy backed out of his arms as what she’d just done
sank in. Both Brock and Slater stood still. Their bodies looked relaxed, but
she’d learned that looks could be deceiving. They both wore tiny grins, but
their eyes couldn’t hide their piercing gaze of possession, triumph at her
finally wanting them and admitting to their family what they were to her. It
was the happiness that shone from their faces that convinced her to give them a
chance.

“Fine.
I’ll
date you two.” Their grins became two huge smiles. “There will be rules though.
No breaking in or letting yourself in to my house. I learnt from Sandy and
Susie that you Bear men think you can let yourself in and help yourself.
Second, no pressure about how the relationship is moving along, no asking me to
move in or moving me in a week or so into this, no hounding me for sex, no
telling me what to do.” Sammy gave both men her best stern stare, so they knew
she meant business.

****
  

Brock’s and Slater’s patience was finally paying
off. Sammy had told his mother that she was his mate and said she’d give dating
them a go, even if there
were
a lot
of rules.

 
Brock knew he
had to take it slow with what had happened to Sammy, but his bear wasn’t happy.
His bear wanted their mate; he needed their mate. Since meeting Sammy and not
being with her, Brock’s work was slowly suffering, and his performance was
getting worse. His partner,
Kegon
, was pulling a lot
of the weight and covering for him at work, which was dangerous with his job as
a police detective.

He and Slater would date Sammy, but if she would allow
it he was going to make sure he saw her every day. Even if he had to sit
through chick flicks and boring TV shows.

Brock was working tomorrow night, Saturdays were
always busy. The criminals and crazies liked the weekends the best. He knew
this week he would be putting in overtime, so he could have next Saturday off
for his little brother’s wedding, but if he could see Sammy every day, even for
a hour or so and make his bear happy, he knew his work performance would pick
up and he’d have no problem with the extra hours and he wouldn’t be a strain on
Kegon
.
  

“Lunch.
Have
lunch with Slater and me tomorrow.” Brock hoped she would agree. It would be
perfect. It would be right before he went to work, and he and his bear would
get a small fix of their mate.