A Curse of Fate (Shifter City Fated Mates #1)

Chapter 26

Chapter

Twenty-Six

L istening to Finley and Kellan beat the shit out of each other over me was one of the worst moments I’d experienced. I wanted to race in there and get between them, but knowing it would only make it worse, I hightailed it back to my room and slammed the door closed.

Not that it blocked out all the shouting, but it muffled them enough to stop me from having a full-blown panic attack.

Jittery energy and pain bounced inside me. My wolf scratched against my insides, and I was stripping before I thought it through. The shift was easy, like bending down to touch my toes, and then I was on four legs. I shook off the energy of the change, and like I’d done a million times before, I fell into what used to get me through the lonely years and hard moments. I started to run around my room. Round and round .

At least my room here was large enough that I wasn’t literally chasing my tail.

I’d heard humans say it was mentally damaging for their dogs to chase their tails, and I could confirm it sucked for wolves too. It stole sanity from our minds, bringing the chasm between beast and person that much closer. Very similar to what happened when rogues went without pack bonds and alpha control.

We regressed back to wild wolves, losing reason and rationality.

We lost our human side.

I stopped hearing shouts on my third loop of the room, but I wasn’t ready to shift back yet. I’d be ashamed of my backward spiral into bad habits, but I was too busy trying to survive the mental breakdown.

On my tenth loop of the room I started jumping over the bed, one full leap adding another dimension to the run. I’d learned the hard way to never to make a sound, and still bore the scars from that lesson.

With each circuit, my panicked stress eased until eventually my wolf had complete control. My human side blended into the background, calm and protected from emotions beyond my beast’s comprehension.

There was a simple joy in racing as fast as I could, losing myself to instinct, and letting the human go. I wouldn’t have made it through my childhood without this outlet.

On my twentieth loop, caramel and cinnamon notes wafted through my space, followed by mocha goodness. There was a knock on the door, but I was in no mood to entertain the alphas, so I ignored it and kept running.

I was like that fish from the movie that had to keep swimming. Just keep running. Just keep running.

I forgot everything but my task—to outrun my pain and confusion. It wasn’t until a set of boots stomped to a halt in my path that I noticed I was no longer alone. I spun to head in the opposite direction, only to find a pair of tanned, bare feet which most definitely belonged to Golden Boy.

Kellan crouched in front of me but had enough sense not to touch me. His expression remained super calm and his voice was a croon. “Pretty girl, you need to stop running now. Everything is okay. You’re not in any danger or trouble.” He held out his hand in what felt like a peace offering, and my wolf desired his touch, so she moved forward. His warm palm pressed firmly against the side of my snout, and then there was a second hand on the back of my skull, carrying the scent of mocha.

I let the two of them regulate my wolf with touch alone. The pressure, their scents, and the feeling of not being alone… it was exactly what my wolf searched for in her endless running.

Kellan remained on his knees before me, while Hunter stood sentinel over the top of us, and I’d never felt so safe and comforted in my life. My wolf released her hold, the shift washing over me before I registered it was happening, and then I was naked between them.

Whoops . I growled at my wolf while she preened at her cleverness. She didn’t always relinquish control to me easily, but when she did, you knew it was for nefarious reasons.

Neither of the alphas reacted, and I reminded myself that shifters get naked without a second thought. Kellan’s eyes remained on my face, and I couldn’t see Hunter, but in my half-crouch he would only view my back and the top of my ass.

“Well,” I choked out. “This isn’t awkward at all. We should totally do this more often.”

Kellan’s smile was fucking dazzling, the pretty asshole. “Shortcake, this is literally my walking wet dream come to life. Can we just stay like this forever?”

There was a snort from behind and I turned to catch the tendrils of Hunter’s smile before his features returned to indifference. “Are you okay, Emme?” he asked as he searched my face for answers.

From his current position, I assumed he could see the scar across my upper back, but he didn’t ask about it.

I was too wrung out and exhausted to lie. “I heard their fight.”

My voice broke on the last word, and Hunter muttered “Alpha idiots,” as he leaned down and scooped me into his arms.

I was too shocked to do more than release a gasping shriek, and by the time my brain caught up, he was already in the bathroom cranking the shower.

He held me with one arm under my ass as if I weighed nothing. When he was happy with the temperature, he stepped in under the spray, fully clothed in his perfectly pressed suit.

“Hunter,” I huffed. “What in the hell are you doing?”

His hard expression told me not to fuck with him. “Your skin is like ice, little omega. You need heat and the energy of your mates to calm your beast. I know your brain doesn’t want a pack, but trust me, your body is telling a different story. You need this right now.”

I snapped back in a raspy growl, “And what about when you’re not here? How do I deal on my own after you get me used to having support?”

Kellan answered from the open doorway of the bathroom. “Easy. You’ll never be alone again. I will follow you to the ends of this world and into the next, Emme. There’s no point to this life without you in it.”

Panic unfurled deep in my gut, but as Hunter stroked his hand across my shoulders, it calmed me like magic. His touch was a firm massaging sensation, and as it brushed down my arm it finally clicked that he was washing me with my cloth. Cleaning my skin and soothing my panic at the same time.

There was nothing overtly sexual in his actions, and I’d never felt my wolf as calm as she was after the run and this attention from her scent match. It wasn’t just her either . Even when Hunter brushed over my deep scar, lingering on the ropey tissue, it felt soothing.

Kellan’s declaration about following me to the end of the world didn’t feel quite as shattering now. If anything, there was a new flicker of hope in the deepest, darkest recesses of my mind.

I’d understood my path in life before these alphas. I’d had a plan, boundaries, and yeah, a fucking empty existence.

But it was safe.

Safe and lonely.

Now they had me wondering if it was worth the risk to have these alphas, even if only for a short time until the need for power took them over. I could live many lifetimes in a few perfect moments of being cared for by them.

I was ripped from my contented daydream when the cloth brushed over a hard nipple. I swallowed my groan. Now all I could think about was how frustrated I’d been since yesterday, when Hunter brought me to the edge of an orgasm and sent me off unsatisfied. I’d barely slept last night, as I writhed with the need to touch myself.

His command had worked though, even when it shouldn’t have had any effect on me.

The bastard.

Hunter’s touch was more clinical today, as he washed me with thorough precision and never quite hit the spot . When he appeared satisfied with how clean and calm I was now, he opened the shower screen. Kellan was already waiting for me with a towel in his hands, which he wrapped around my body, before lifting me from the stall and depositing me on the bathmat so my feet never touched the cool tiles.

“What’s happening?” I mumbled, unsure if I’d just fallen into an alternate reality. “This is straight up princess treatment, but I’ve never needed help to wash and dry myself.”

Kellan started to dry me gently, with the same thorough attention to detail that Hunter had shown. “It’s not about you not being able to do this alone ,” he told me in his low rumble. “It’s the fact that you don’t have to do everything alone . You might not realize it, but we could feel your panicked run. We could hear your heart slamming in your chest, and your scent… that sweet chocolate was acrid with fear and sadness. What sort of mates would we be if we didn’t soothe and care for you in those moments?”

I was stunned into silence, staring at his too gorgeous face. “You’re pretty darn good at this,” I finally whispered, so out of my depths that I was drowning.

His smile was touched in melancholy. “I’ve had no practice, I promise. But with you it’s all instinct.”

Goddess, just kill me now and bury the corpse with a nice view.

How could anyone fight against this sort of heartfelt devotion?

The sound of wet clothes hitting the tiles distracted me as I turned to find Hunter shedding his suit and stepping from the shower. Butt freaking naked . I reminded myself to be as respectful as they’d been and keep my gaze on his face, but yeah, that was never gonna happen .

One day I’d be a stronger wolf, but until then I was all perv.

My gaze started on his face at least, and I enjoyed watching the damp ends of his dark curls springing to life. Droplets of water beaded across his long, inky lashes, and the stormy depths of his eyes looked darker than ever. Water continued to lovingly caress the hard, handsome planes of his face as I followed their dripping path down broad, muscled shoulders, a heavily defined chest, and one, two, three… I gave up counting abs at eight.

This was the first time I’d had a chance to see his ink in all its incredible glory, and while I couldn’t make out what was on his back, it clearly wrapped up and around both shoulders, spanning down into black geometrical designs on his arms.

The bulk of the design stopped around his forearms, and there was nothing on his hands except that one claiming tattoo. Which would have held my attention, but I was distracted by finally reaching the hard length jutting proudly between his thickly muscled thighs.

Holy fuck.

I blinked, wondering if I was seeing double… the length. Because I wasn’t sure that appendage was made to fit in a vagina.

At least not mine.

Nope.

Well, maybe.

Hunter was huge all over, and his dick did not let the team down. I might not have seen a ton of cocks in my life, but I had no doubt that Hunter’s was unusually perfect. Thick and straight, the head was nicely swollen, the length slightly darker than his skin, and the more I stared, the harder it got as pre-cum seeped—

Kellan’s laughter broke me from my dick trance, and I jerked my head up with my face now as red as the head of Hunter’s—

Stop it. Fucking hell, Emme .

The alphas scored points when neither of them mentioned the incident , even if they did both look smug when they left me alone to get dressed for the day. I had a shift this evening at the nightclub, but first I was having lunch with Cora. She’d called last night to invite me out, and with that in mind I dressed in my nicest jeans and a white shirt.

In the bathroom, I brushed my hair out and just applied a little mascara. After the shower incident, my cheeks remained plenty pink with no need for artificial blush.

Not that I had any. My current makeup collection consisted of five items, but I did have plans to grab a few extras after I got my first pay. Kellan had already told me he’d buy anything I wanted or needed, but it felt wrong to take his money or rely on them financially when I couldn’t fully commit to the pack.

Not to mention I’d always paid my own way and had no plans to stop today.

No matter how many times a naked Hunter ran tantalizingly through my mind.