“The Dark Wolf MC is a multi-state biker gang of wolf shifters,” Mak muttered. “Before my brother became the detachment commander for Bear Mountain, he spent years with the RCMP trying to keep them from running their shit across the border.”
He gritted his jaw."But we’rebearshifters. You were bitten by a short-sighted bear shifter, and now you’re in estrus.”
“Estrus is the female bear version of a mating heat,”Ash quickly explained before I could ask.
I blinked, trying to keep up.“So, you guys are claiming to be… bear shifters? Like in romance novels?”
“Hey, they’re putting us in romance novels now?”Cody perked up, grinning.“Which ones? Give me some titles.”
“You think this is funny?”Mak growled down at him, his scowl somehow setting in even deeper.“Like we’re just book clubbing while she’s in fucking estrus?”
Cody sobered immediately.“Mak’s right. I’m the one who bond bit you. And if you let me—letus—we’ll make it right.”
“Make it right?”I repeated, my voice rising along with my skepticism.“How exactly does your supposed kind make biting a girl and throwing her into bear shifter heatright?”
Cody and Ash exchanged a look, one that didn’t fill me with confidence.
“Well,”Cody started, his voice careful,“we’re a maul—that’s three males who’ve agreed to share and mate one female. Ideally, you would let all of us mate you, complete your estrus, and then, if you’ll have us, we’ll keep you here with us and, you know... love and protect you as we raise our cubs together.”
Love and protect you. Cubs.
The strange new presence inside me stirred.
Mates,it whispered, sounding entirely too excited about the idea of raising cubs with three men I’d just met.
“So male bears don’t just bounce, like in nature documentaries?”I asked, half-joking but mostly desperate for clarity.
Cody’s face lit up, his expression hopeful.“So you believe us about being bear shifters? About estrus and all of it?”
I froze. I hadn’t realized I did until he asked that question. But something deep inside me—something that felt oddly tied to the strange tingling in my shoulder—told me it was true. If I wanted to, I could become the mate of these three insanely hot bears.
Again, the new thing inside of me reared.
But wait—no. That was insane.
"I can't. I won't..."I shook my head, trying to clear whatever had been doing a happy dance inside of me.“I just got out of abad relationship—a really bad relationship. And Iwantkids—of course, I want kids—but my bank account is in the double digits right now, which is why I was on my way to Vancouver to start a new job. I couldn't possibly...”
I trailed off, and Cody drew me back into his arms."It's alright,"he crooned, holding me tight in his apparent for-real bear hug."Don't worry. You're safe here with us."
His reassurance washed over me like a balm for all my real life problems, but my shoulder tingled as Ash and Mak exchanged a long, grave look on either side of us.
“See? I told you this wouldn't work!" Mak suddenly growled. "She’s not ready. She’s going to mess you up, Little Bear, and that's going to destroy our maul.”
“Just let me talk to her! Make her understand.”Cody drew back from our hug to throw Mak a pleading look over his other shoulder before turning back to me, his expression softening.“Listen, we’ve got plenty of money between the three of us. Whatever debt you have, we’ll pay it off. If you like to work, we’ll figure out a job for you here. Whatever you want, whatever you need—we’ve got you.”
We've got you.
The presence inside me reared, sending another bolt of heat through my body at his words. It sounded so… alluring. Tempting. My belly stirred, and my pussy began to clench over Cody's bulge again. Wanting... Needing...
But then my brain caught up with my racing emotions.
“Wait,”I said, my voice sharp.“What happens if I don’t want to live with three men I just met a few minutes ago?”
“Threebears,”the mean one corrected, his tone dripping with disdain. His glare shifted to Cody.“Her not being able to keep that straight is more proof we've got to get her out of here. Your bear fucked us.”
“What is your problem?”I snapped, anger surging inside me, right alongside the strange, rising lust."This is a lot, okay? And I didn't ask for any of this."
“You have options,”Ash said before Mak could answer. His voice was calm, but tension rippled through the set of his shoulders.“If you don’t want to complete your cycle with us, I can drive you to Vancouver, where you could...”
