Authors: Milly Taiden
The doors closed. Neither of the men pressed a button. She tried not
to gawk, but that was damn hard when the inside of the elevator was mirrors and all she saw was the two gorgeous men wherever she glanced.
She
peeked up the biker’s body, from his torn jeans, to the bulge in his pants. Crap. That was a big bulge. She slid her gaze up his chest, to the tattoos crawling around his neck, up to his lips. Lips that were currently curled in a sexy grin. When she reached his eyes, she almost melted to the floor. A bright golden color had taken over them.
“Hi, I’m Theron.”
I must be dreaming
. She gulped. “I’m Tally.”
Her attention
shifted to tall, blond and sexy. A soft growl sounded from him. She blinked her eyes behind her glasses. Wow. Then it hit her. They were shifters. Both of the men in the elevator with her were also super dangerous. She cleared her throat, her vision not once wavering from blue eyes.
“I’
m Connor.”
I’m definitely in trouble
. She inhaled sharply. “Hi.”
She hated that she squeaked the word out, but being that close to those two made her feel all kinds
of tiny. Even with her big hips and ass, she did not feel like a very curvy woman. Instead, she felt sort of...small, delicate and... What the fuck was wrong with her?
The elevator dinged on her floor. She
scurried out. Not once did she take a look back. Ribbons of fire crept over her cheeks. If those guys had any idea that she’d been fantasizing some very indecent stuff with both of them they would probably stop those sexy smiles. What was her life coming to? She hadn’t considered two men sexually at once in...ever! Now she was ready to jump into the arms of a biker and a businessman and beg them to do her every way possible. She opened the door to her apartment and locked herself in. Safety. Her hasty retreat probably made her look like a scared fool, but she really didn’t care. If she spent any more time with those two, she might let something inappropriate come out of her mouth. Nita was right. She definitely needed to get laid. Pronto.
Theron
grinned at Connor. They watched the petite and very curvy woman almost trip on her heels trying to get away to the other end of the floor his aunt Geraldine lived at. The scent of her arousal drifted down the hall with the woman. She was flustered but damn was she cute. With her pretty brown eyes, wide behind the black-framed glasses, her long hair in a mass of wild curls and those luscious, pouty lips calling attention, she was way beyond beautiful.
Then there w
ere the curves. In that prim black dress, she’d hidden what he could clearly tell was a gorgeous body. Wide at the hips and narrow at the waist, she was attention-grabbing. Her large breasts and round ass made his cock stand to attention. He licked his lips, savoring the lingering taste of her need.
“I want her,”
Connor growled softly.
Theron nodded
, feeling the same need for the tiny sexy woman. “Me too. We can wish.”
Theron
didn’t bother knocking. He listened to the steps of his aunt closing in on them. A few moments later and the door opened to his favorite person. Four feet eleven, and an absolute firecracker, Geraldine “Gerri” Wilder knew exactly how to make any man, no matter how old or tall, feel like a misbehaving kid.
“Get your ass down here and give me a kiss
.” Gerri slapped his arm. The move didn’t sting or hurt, but was her way of getting him to remember she was the adult as far as she was concerned. “You know I can’t reach your cheek unless I have the stepstool out.”
“Sorry,
Aunt Gerri.” He chuckled and bent down to kiss his aunt.
Gerri tossed the white chunk of long hair
she usually had falling at the side of her face back. The white strands contrasted with the rest of her black hair and gave the older woman an exotic flair.
Gerri harrumphed. “Get your asses inside or I’ll have to find that stepstool.”
Theron and Connor entered Gerri’s apartment and grinned. The scent of fresh baked bread, cake and cookies hit them. They loved when she baked, which was all the time.
“You know I love you, Gerri,” Theron began.
“Oh no you don’t.” She shoved them away from the kitchen toward the dining area. “You’ll have to eat dinner before I bring out the sweets. You know the rules.”
Gerri didn’t care that they were both in their thirties or ready to be the Alpha
triad for the Wildwoods Pack. Nope. She only cared that they behaved how she wanted. So they humored her. Besides, both of them loved her to bits.
“How’s the mate hunting going?” Gerri asked as they sat down to dinner. The table had been set with large platters of food for the three of them. Being shifters meant large appetites and Gerri accommodated
and indulged her nephew and his friend.
The mate hunting was going poorly. With Theron, the Alpha, and Connor, the Omega, being the leaders of the Wildwoods Pack, it made it difficult to find a mate that could be shared between them. Either Theron
couldn’t find a woman he wanted to help them lead due to her lack of personality, or Connor didn’t feel a woman’s emotions were in the right place to be their mate.
“It’s not going anywhere,” Connor replied.
Theron watched his best friend, the one person he shared everything with, including women, sigh in defeat. Their link as Alpha and Omega made them closer than twins, but it also made it difficult to find a woman right for them. Women in the Wildwoods Pack were petty, jealous, and not the kind either would choose to be the third puzzle piece of their Alpha triad. The woman they needed had to be...right. She needed to be open to, not just their relationship, but the link that would ensue between the three. She would be just as Alpha as Theron and just as emotionally empathic as Connor once their bond sealed.
“If you two boys would stop being so hardheaded,” Gerri grumbled, passing the mountain of mashed
potatoes to Connor. “Then it would be easier for this to happen.”
Connor shook his head, his blond hair mussed from running his fingers through it. “She has to be right. A woman on her own. With a personality to match. Someone who won’t let the fact
that we’re who we are intimidate her.”
Theron grinned. “And she better be
a stunner.”
Gerri glared and curled her lip. “Of course, how could we forget that important bit?”
“Hey.” Theron chuckled. “She has to agree with both our human and animal sides. That’s four degrees of approval.”
Gerri’s dark brow lifted slowly. “Because you are such a discerning Alpha.” Then she turned to Connor. “I know you need to emotionally connect. But him?” She motioned a finger at Theron. “He’s a whore.”
No. He wasn’t. Theron loved women. All shapes and sizes. Although he preferred the short, curvy kind with more than a little to hold on to. He really liked the glasses and long curly hair of Gerri’s neighbor. She reminded him of a sexy librarian or schoolteacher. There were also her lips. Christ those pouty lips had given him instant visuals of her mouth on his cock.
“Anyway, we give up,” Connor said. “We want you to help us.”
Gerri perked up in her seat. She glanced back and forth between them before speaking. “You’re both in agreement with this?”
Not if Theron had his way. But if she could get them someone as sexy as her neighbor, they were all for it.
“Yes, we are,” Theron agreed half-heartedly.
Gerri’s gaze focused on him. “You will do whatever I say to get you the mate that’s right for you?”
He hated having to revert to a dating service, even if it was a paranormal one.
“Yes. I know all about the success of your
dating service Aunt Gerri. I don’t like having to go through this to get the person that should come to us naturally.”
Gerri shrugged, cut her steak and
then grinned. “Sometimes you need an extra set of hands.” She giggled. “Well, in your case a third set.”
His aunt was too much. Connor grinned. Then they were all chuckling.
“Do you need like a list of things from us?” Theron asked. He already knew who he would suggest to her. Even if she wasn’t good mate material he’d love to get his hands on his aunt’s neighbor. Her scent had driven his wolf to wake and want to play.
Gerri frowned. “Do I look like an amateur?”
Connor’s blue eyes widened. “No, but...”
“You will take what I suggest and you won’t question me. I know who you two need.”
And that’s why Gerri was the one handling the Paranormal Dating Agency and they handled the pack.
“If you’re sure you don’t need anything from us, then we’re open to whoever you have in mind
,” Theron stated for them.
They’d discussed it. Sharing a woman wasn’t uncomfortable for them. Due to their connection, it was easier to bond with a third. Though they were not blood related, the animal spirit link between them was so strong, it was almost like they were one entity. Theron
was the Alpha that fought and kept people in line. Connor was the emotional rope that united the pack. He took the brunt of the pain, frustrations and turned it all into soothing peace. Together they made the Alpha pair. Once they had their mate they’d be the Alpha triad.
With
the meal over, they moved to the living room. That’s when Gerri finally let them have cake. Theron didn’t even attempt to hide his love for his aunt’s baked goods. Gerri was amazing when she baked.
“We should take you to live with us,
Aunt Gerri,” Theron mumbled between cake bites.
“I don’t think so. I have a business to run.” She grinned and sat back
on her comfy sofa with a smile. “But you are both welcome to visit me whenever you want.”
“So...” Connor glanced at him. His worried look told Theron he needed reassurance regarding the mate business. They both knew women in the pack would make life difficult for whatever female they chose if she wasn’t part of the Wildwoods Pack.
“Connor, darling.” Gerri leaned forward and patted his knee. “Stop stressing so much. The right woman will come for you.” She turned to Theron. “I do need to make sure you both will do what I say. It won’t be as simple as you might expect. It’s not like I’ll find your mate in the blink of an eye.”
Theron’s animal went on alert. He worried that putting their faith on a dating service would be another failure in their search for a mate.
“We understand.”
“Alright.” Gerri nodded sharply. “Be ready for a possible date soon. It might be a little out of the ordinary, but I think it will work out for you boys.”
Theron glanced down at the delicious cake, no longer hungry. Figured that anything to do with a mate would be a new challenge. They hadn’t realized how much of a challenge it would be.
When Theron’s parents and their third passed in a forest fire, he hadn’t fully understood the difficulty of being part of the Alpha
triad. He only knew that his parents expected it of him and he would do whatever was necessary to keep the reins on his pack. Even if it meant going outside the pack to find their third.
* * *
Tally had already changed into her pajamas when Mrs. Wilder sent her a text to come for some cake. The scent of the woman’s baking had filled Tally’s apartment and made her crave sweets like she was looking for a high.
She didn’t
have to knock, Gerri opened the door before she even got to it. “Hi, Mrs. Wilder.”
Gerri rolled her eyes and motioned her into her apartment. “I’ve told you that Mrs. Wilder makes me feel old. And I am
not
that old.”
Tally grinned at the older woman’s pout. She sat down
on one of Gerri’s pretty beige sofas. The cake was already served and sitting on the coffee table, along with some tea.
“Thank you so much, Gerri.” Tally didn’t
worry about eating sweets late at night. She was too stressed to think about her body. Besides, she was comfortable in her skin, for the most part. Unless really sexy men stared at her the way the two in the elevator had. Like she was a feast and they were starving. That definitely made her wonder if she was missing something when it came to her body. Some kind of image she wasn’t aware of. Men didn’t usually go out of their way to smile at her like the two had that day.
“You’re very welcome.” Gerri sat across from her and picked up the notepad next to the cake
at her side. “So, I’ve been thinking about your message.”
Tally knew she should have worded it better, but she couldn’t. The truth was
, she needed help. “The ‘I need your help before I look like a loser in front of my family’ one?”
G
erri’s lips twitched and curved into a full blown smile. “You won’t look like a loser.” She waved a blue pen in Tally’s direction. “You have me now. I would never allow it.”
Tally thought of her ex and her family members. They were all so close. She’d always felt
like the outsider in her own family because of Paul. Nita was the only one who knew her side and believed her. Everyone else had been taken in with Paul’s slick game. He knew how to work people into believing whatever he wanted. For a while, she’d been one of the people fully invested in him. Then one day, the blinders came off.