The Cub and His Alphas (Alpha and Omega Series Book 7) Read online

  Running back through the kitchen, Daniel sprinted upstairs, trying to move as quietly as possible. The upstairs part of his house was split into two huge bedrooms with a bathroom between them. Edging past his huge bed, Daniel flattened himself with his back against the wall, peering around the window frame. The sound of the bikes got louder, ripping apart the silence that usually surrounded Daniel’s home, yet when he looked out, he was relieved to see there were only two of them.

  Two bears chase me, two bikes come up my driveway, what are the odds this is a coincidence? Zero chance. Daniel weighed up his options. Hiding was his first thought, but his nearest neighbor was five miles towards town and wouldn’t hear a thing if his visitors decided to trash his house.

  It would be helpful if I had a gun, he thought as the bike engine noise suddenly stopped. But Daniel didn’t believe in hunting and never had a need to defend himself or his property. He was larger in his furry form than any of the predators that happened across his back door as a rule. I’d probably shoot my foot off with the damn thing, anyway.

  No. There was nothing for it. Daniel was going to have to go downstairs and face the intruders. If they weren’t related to the bear incident then they’d be human, and Daniel would shift to get rid of them if he had to. Who knows, maybe they were just two lost travelers looking for directions, although Daniel knew that was unlikely. His house couldn’t be seen from the road and his driveway could only be found if you knew what to look for.

  And if they be bears? Stepping away from the window, Daniel headed back to the stairs, zipping up his fleecy jacket. Maybe the thick layers would prevent him from being slashed too badly. Who am I kidding. Two big bears could make mincemeat out of me. Daniel had just got to the bottom of the stairs, when he heard a sharp knocking on his front door. It was just a few berries, damn it. I do hope these guys will be reasonable.

  His hand trembled as he reached for the door handle.

  /~/~/~/~/

  “Wow, this is amazing. Are you sure we’ve got the right place?” Ty asked as he turned off his bike and sat for a moment appreciating the scenery and serenity that scenery offered. The house was more of a log cabin, although Ty noted the second story extension and the new aluminum joinery that housed huge picture windows right around the house. All he could see for miles around was lush grasslands and pockets of bush. The house sat at the base of a tall gently sloping hill topped with huge slabs of rock. Ty could imagine how they’d look in winter, all covered in snow. A chimney perched on the roof suggested warm fires and somewhere to snuggle on a cold night.

  “Mrs. Cunningham said twelve miles from town, look for the big willow and turn left there. This is it.” Zeke gave a low whistle as he looked around. “I know the land is cheap around here, but this had to have cost some money. Do you think our cub comes from a rich family?”

  “Mrs. C said this Daniel barely has any visitors, and is always quiet and politely spoken when he goes to town. She never mentioned him being flashy with money.” Ty shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out in due course. Are you ready for this?” Ty definitely was. Even now, sitting outside the house, his bear was alert, urging him closer to the huge double front doors.

  “What if he has got something wrong with his sense of smell and doesn’t realize who we are to him? Or maybe he was raised with humans and doesn’t know about the concept of mates. What do we do then?” Zeke swung his leg over his bike and straightened the button down shirt Ty encouraged him to wear.

  “Then we talk to him.” Ty chuckled as he got off his bike. “I know it’s not your strongest skill, big guy, but you can do it.” Stepping closer to his mate, he whispered quietly, “I’ve waited eighty odd years for this day to come; I know for you it’s been over a hundred. We gave up our lives, our homes and everything else, to follow the path the fates set for us, just so we could find our third. In the ten years we’ve been together, I’ve never doubted that decision or my feelings for you. Whatever or whoever is behind that door, we’ll handle it, just like we always have – together.”

  “Are you going to get all mushy on me?” Zeke scowled, and Ty’s grin got wider. He could tell by his mate’s eyes Zeke was just as excited as he was.

  “It wouldn’t hurt for you to dust off a few mushy skills of your own. Not everyone is as blown away with your rustic charm as I am. Now come on.” Ty flicked his head towards the door. “The cub must have heard us coming. It’s time for us to introduce ourselves, and for goodness sake, break out that smile of yours.” He showed his teeth.

  “Shave my head, trim my beard, wear a shirt and now he wants me to smile,” Zeke muttered, but he did relax his face from its customary snarl.

  Bounding up the few steps to the porch, Ty strode across the planks and rapped smartly at the door. For the first time since that heady night when he met Zeke, his stomach was a flutter of excitement. The trace of jasmine and bear lingered around the door, causing his cock to firm up. His keen ears picked up the sound of footsteps and after a long moment, the door opened.

  Ty’s mouth dropped open.

  /~/~/~/~/

  Please don’t let there be drool in my whiskers. A log cabin in a remote area housing a bear shifter, Zeke imagined their third as someone with a black bushy beard, red flannelette shirts, maybe a bit of softness around his middle, carrying an ax over his shoulder. The vision framed by the door couldn’t be further from that image. Fucking hell, what on earth did we do to deserve such perfection?

  Their cub, and the scent coming from the young man definitely confirmed that aspect, was about a foot shorter than Zeke’s six foot six. His pale face was highlighted by two patches of pink on his high cheeks and framed by untidy shoulder length blond hair. But it was their third’s lips that captured Zeke’s attention. Full, wide and pink. Zeke swallowed a groan as he imagined what those lips could do with a spot of encouragement.

  “Can I help you?” Daniel stepped closer and Zeke was hit with the full force of his third’s scent. The delicious smell made him want to rip that ridiculously bulky jacket from his mate’s body and strip him bare, maybe slathering him with honey so he and Ty could have a feast. Ty. Why wasn’t Ty saying anything? He was the smooth talker in their partnership. A quick glance to his side showed Ty was as dumbstruck as he was.

  “Er, hello.” Zeke decided to take the initiative and stuck out his hand. “I’m Zeke McIntyre and this is my partner Ty Hollifield. We’ve come to apologize. We think we might have frightened you in the forest this afternoon.”

  “Daniel Borden.” Daniel’s hand slipped into his and electricity sparked its way up Zeke’s arm, causing all his body hair to stand up on end. He couldn’t let go. There wasn’t a force on earth that would make him let go of Daniel’s hand. Instead, Zeke pulled his mate close and buried his nose against the wee strip of skin poking above Daniel’s coat collar. A rumbling groan forced its way out of his chest and throat.

  “Zeke!”

  There was a hint of worry in Ty’s tone. Enough for Zeke to raise his head long enough to say, “Fuck, you’ve got to smell him. You’ve got to scent our Daniel.”

  “I can, I did, I do,” Ty said, and Zeke noticed he was standing behind their third. “But don’t you think he should be conscious before we do anything else?”

  Conscious? Zeke looked down. Daniel’s head was lolling to one side, his neck arched, his lips slack. The reason he was upright was because of Ty’s arms holding him up. “Oops. What do you think happened?”

  “From the way his heart started racing and the scent of his arousal increased, I’d like to think our mate came to the same conclusion we did. However, it’s a little hard to tell now. He could have just been overcome by a huge bald man who wanted to rub his beard on his neck.”

  “Well, shit.” Zeke patted the hand he was still holding. Then the side of his lip quirked up. “As his mates its only right and proper we should get young Daniel inside – make sure he’s warm and comfortable. It’s not as though we can leave him alone, defenseles
s at night, when he’s unconscious.”

  “And once we’re in, we can work on the charm aspect.” Ty winked. “Grab his feet, big guy. I could carry him myself, but I figure you don’t want to let go of him either.”

  You’ve got that right. Resting Daniel’s hand on his chest, Zeke bent and scooped his arm behind Daniel’s knees. The young man would be lucky if he weighed a buck twenty and most of that was probably jacket. Zeke was determined to shred that at the first possible opportunity. His mate would need leathers to ride on the back of the bikes, and when he wasn’t riding, Zeke and Ty would keep him warm. I must have been a very, very good boy in a past life, he thought as he and Ty carried Daniel inside.

  Chapter Three

  Daniel stirred, immediately aware he was lying on his couch, still dressed although his jacket was missing. I don’t remember lighting a fire, he thought as he heard the crackle of wood, and picked up the faint scent of smoke. And then the events of the evening came flooding back to him and he slapped a hand over his mouth to hold back his gasp. There were two men, his freaking mates and they actually knocked on his fucking door – something all romance novels claimed never happened, but it did. It happened to him.

  But where were the two hunks now? Daniel was stunned he’d been so blessed in the mate department. So, blessed he’d actually swooned when the one called Zeke sniffed at him. He couldn’t help himself – the overwhelming scent, the fact there was two of them… not a good way to make a solid first impression.

  Daniel’s father mentioned, when they had “that talk” when he was twelve, that it was possible, if he found a fated mate, that he’d end up with two of them. Apparently, it was important among bears to mention that to a significant other, if the person was single when they met. A distant relative of his father’s had found one mate, and then been accused of cheating when he bumped into the second one in the grocery store. It wasn’t until the first mate scented the second that all was forgiven. So, having two mates wasn’t a shock. The fact they ticked every single one of his fantasy boxes was. Daniel couldn’t even dream up men as sexy as the ones he’d met.

  The one who introduced himself as Zeke – walking biker bad boy fantasy – fascinated Daniel because he shaved his head. Most shifters liked to keep their hair long. And he had hair on his arms – almost unheard of for a shifter. Daniel wondered if he had hair anywhere else. And Ty; oh, my gods, Ty was just as tall and slightly more streamlined, but he looked like he’d walked off the page of a magazine. Daniel’s whole body trembled with the idea of getting to know them both.

  Keeping his eyes closed, Daniel used his other senses to see where the men had gone. Their scent was fresh, so they hadn’t left. Not that Daniel expected them to. He’d been hunted down, and Daniel sent a small prayer of thanks to whoever told them where he lived. It wasn’t as though his house was on the main road. Ah, they were in the kitchen. Daniel’s lips twitched as he listened to the two men banter. He guessed they’d been together for a while.

  “How many boxes of tea does one person need?” That gravelly voice had to be Zeke. “He’s got at least eight different types, plus three brands of coffee, and chocolate.”

  “We need to find the one he uses the most.” Ty’s sultry tones made Daniel’s toes curl. “It’s important we show him we can take care of all his needs from the start.”

  “It would help if he didn’t have such a huge collection of beverages.” Zeke grumbled. “Look at this. Jasmine, blackberry, Earl Gray, lemon, lemon and honey, lemon and ginger, chamomile. None of that sounds comforting to me.”

  “They probably all are in their own way, big guy. Coffee would be stimulating, but after a shock, Daniel won’t need that. What about hot chocolate?”

  “Do you know how to work his machine? I sure as hell don’t.” Zeke sounded peeved as though Daniel’s state of the art coffee machine insulted him.

  “I could make it the old fashioned way. Heat the milk on the stove.” Daniel heard the sound of cupboard doors opening. “See if you can find marshmallows.”

  More opening and closing cupboard doors and the sound of a pan going on the hot plate. Then there was a hushed whisper from Zeke. “Do you think he has a favorite mug?”

  “We don’t want to come off as stalkers,” Ty admonished. “Just get three mugs from the mug tree. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  “Oh my god, he’s got peanut snicker bars.” Daniel stifled a groan. Zeke had found his stash. “Do you know how yummy these are? He has a whole box full of them.” Daniel could hear the rustle of paper and some heavy duty chomping going on.

  “Zeke!” Ty hissed. “Don’t stuff half a dozen of them in your mouth at once. We’re trying to make a good impression.”

  “So am I.” Zeke’s words were muffled. “I’m showing my mouth is big enough to suck you both off at the same time. He’ll appreciate that.”

  The mental imagery was too much for Daniel. He shoved his hand down his pants to pull the material away from his growing dick. Ty’s answering laugh didn’t help. Every time he opened his mouth, Daniel wanted to melt. How the hell am I going to get anything done with two of them around all the time? But would they be around? That was a sobering thought. Daniel’s bear let him know his mates were considerably older than him. They probably already had a home, and businesses or something somewhere else. Hell, they could have ex-wives and a dozen kids for all Daniel knew. And it would just be his luck those kids would probably be older than him.

  “Hi there, having fun?” Ty’s teasing tone had Daniel’s eyes flying open. Ty and Zeke were both standing by the edge of the couch. Following Ty’s gaze, Daniel glanced down, and his cheeks flamed as he hastily pulled his hand out of his pants.

  “Er… things were getting a bit constricted.” Daniel didn’t know where to look.

  “I know exactly what you mean, cutie.” Zeke blatantly adjusted his bulge with one hand, holding out a mug of hot chocolate with the other. “Can we sit down?”

  “Of course.” Taking the mug Ty offered him, Daniel stared at the swirl of chocolate peppered with three large marshmallows. It smelled amazing. “Thank you.”

  Of course, the bears would have to sit on either side of him, reminding Daniel of how puny he was in comparison to them. “It was kinda Zeke’s fault you fainted anyway,” Ty said, winking at the man mentioned. “He can come on a bit strong, but he has a heart of gold underneath all those muscles.”

  “You’re both… er…” Daniel tried to think how he would describe them in a story, “well-blessed in the muscle department. Unlike me,” he added.

  “You’re a beautifully sexy cub.” Zeke took a large slurp of his drink and sighed. “What did you need to know about us before we get to the fun part of the evening?”

  “Zeke,” Ty’s shocked tone made Daniel chuckle. “We want to get to know our mate. He’s young. Show some patience. I’m sorry, Daniel. You’ll get used to Zeke’s blunt manner.”

  “It’s fine.” Daniel was suddenly shy and took a quick sip of his drink. The marshmallows were melting and one stuck to his top lip and he quickly licked it off, conscious of Zeke’s heated gaze burning his cheeks. “So, you, you chased me in the forest because I was your mate? Not because I was eating your blueberries?”

  “They weren’t ours.” Zeke finished off his drink in two large swallows and put the mug on Daniel’s coffee table. “They were a good find though, cub. If I hadn’t been so hell bent on chasing your ass, I’d have stopped for a feed myself. The only thing smelling sweeter than those berries was you.”

  “Oh. Thank you.” Daniel risked a quick look at Ty who was beaming at his mate. “Are you guys locals? I’ve got to admit, I don’t know many people in town.”

  To Daniel’s disappointment, Ty shook his head. “No. We’ve been traveling all over the country the past ten years. There’s nothing like being on the open road, the wind in your hair, moving from place to place, always meeting new people and sharing new experiences.”

  “That sounds… nice
.” Daniel’s insides shriveled up and he wanted to curl in on himself. Sitting between two of the sexiest men he’d ever seen was playing havoc with his libido, but somehow, he didn’t think his mates were going to stick around and that made Daniel feel sick. “Did you think you might come back and visit sometimes? I mean, not that you have to or anything, but….” Shit. I should’ve known this was too good to be true.

  “Hey. What’s all this about us visiting?” Zeke growled. “Are you saying you don’t want us to live with you when we’re mated?”

  “No, I mean yes, I mean...” Daniel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was raised to believe mates stayed together, couldn’t bear to be apart. But if you’re always on the road, traveling around….”

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry, Daniel, I should have explained in more detail.” Ty put his mug on the table and grabbed Daniel’s hand in his. “We’ve been traveling for the past ten years searching for you. We always knew we’d be a triad. When one didn’t show up the first year we got together, we decided to come and look for you. Yes, it’s been fun, all the traveling and the new experiences, but our goal was to find you, and now we have.”

  That brightened Daniel’s perspective. “If you’d found me ten years ago, you’d have been disappointed,” Daniel managed a small grin. “I was only thirteen.” Then he thought about his parents’ death and spending that time in care and his mood dropped. If his mates had been around, even if they couldn’t claim him, it would have been better than living in a foster home, and he could have had more fun on his eighteenth birthday, than spending his day haggling with the family lawyer.