Luna
A sense of deep contentment rolls through me as I sit with my arms wrapped around Callan, zipping over the wet, cracked roads and streets of civilized Jacksonville. The sensation changes to ecstasy as we head up the long sand and dirt driveway to their-our-house.
He said it was my home, too.
Callan keeps one arm pressed to mine, driving with only one hand as if he’s afraid of losing me again. Once parked, I climb off the Queen’s seat and wait for Callan to climb off. When he does, he throws his arm around me and guides me to the house. I’m so happy I think I’ll float off into the mosquito filled air like a piece of thistledown.
Inside the house, Warrick and Ethan stand from their seats at the kitchen table when we walk in.
“Luna,” Ethan says, a big smile cracking over his face and showing off that adorable gap where he’s missing a tooth. “You came home.”
He holds out his arms, and my feet come untethered from the floor, and I leap into his arms. He kisses me hard on the mouth and then sets me on my feet. I turn to Warrick, flutters building in my belly. I’m too nervous
to throw myself in his arms, especially when they’re not held out to welcome me.
“Warrick,” I say quietly. We stare at each other a long minute, his dark, gold-flecked eyes taking me in. For once, he doesn’t frown, and his gaze is inviting rather than dominating.
“I got something to say to you-to all of you.” My heart is positively trembling now. I glance at Callan and Ethan before returning my gaze to Warrick. I take a deep breath and go on. “I never wanted to come between you. I respect your bonds with one another. I’m sorry to have brought so much conflict into this fine home. Please don’t fight over me because I can’t bear that burden on my shoulders. Don’t make me choose between you from one day to the next. I like all of you, and I don’t want to pick one over the other and stir up jealousy. If you let me stay with your pack, I won’t cause any more trouble, I promise.” I crouch before Warrick and place my palms on his boots, showing him that I’ll defer to his dominance just as his brothers do. He is my Alpha.
Warrick growls. “Get your ass up, girl. Don’t display your submission to me. That’s not what I want right now and not what any of us want. We don’t want a little bitch to bow at our feet. You’re equal to any of us, Luna-and then some.”
His warm hands hook beneath my arms, and he urges me to rise. I do, my head spinning. Even though Warrick’s the Alpha here and the only one to openly use a dominance display to put us in line, if I stare into the eyes of his brothers too long, I know they’re more dominant, too. I don’t know how I could be any of their equal, let alone more.
I lift my gaze as Warrick sweeps his hand toward the chair opposite him. “Sit,” he says to me. “Boys, sit.”
After we’ve all assumed our places around the tiny square table, we all direct our attention to Warrick.
He drums his fingers on the wood surface. Then, he retrieves his pouch of tobacco and rolling papers from his pocket, spreads out a piece of paper, and sprinkles tobacco leaves on top.
As he rolls his cigarette-something he explained to me when I asked-none of us speak. Warrick lights it and takes a long drag, releasing the plume of blueish smoke over his head. “Get me an ashtray, will you, Callan?”
Callan rises, heads to the cupboard, and retrieves a small, chipped bowl. He sets it before Warrick, pours coffee into the three cups on the table, and then adds one in front of me before resuming his seat. My heart swells with the warm feeling of home. I get the same coffee, the same kind of random mug, the same as any of them.
Warrick taps the ash from the end of his smoke before balancing the cigarette on the ashtray’s rim. “It’s true you brought conflict between my brothers.”
He directs his dark gaze at me before picking up his cigarette and taking another pull on the smoke. As he exhales, he goes on. “We’ve always lived together, just the three of us, since we’ve been old enough to call ourselves men. And I’m man enough to admit we were pretty damn lousy at dealing with the addition of a woman.”
I take a tiny sip of my coffee, peeking at him over the rim.
“When you left the other night, my brothers were pissed,” Warrick goes on. “I admit I was a little relieved. I don’t like the chaos. It’s my home, and I want to be able to kick back and relax. But as they pointed out, just because I’m the Alpha, that doesn’t mean it’s only my home. It’s their home, too. And sometime in the last month, it became yours, too. So I told Callan if he could track your ass down, you could come on home and stay.”
I sit at the edge of my seat, waiting for him to speak again. When he nods at me and takes another drag on his cigarette, I smile. “Thank you. I appreciate the chance to prove myself. No more chaos. I promise.”
His eyes meet the eyes of each of his brothers before coming back to me. “And we agreed that none of us will touch you again of our own
choosing. If anyone breaks this rule, they’ll be out on their ass. It’s up to Luna and Luna alone if she wants to go to one of you. Understood?”
Callan and Ethan nod solemnly. Ethan raises both hands and mutters, “Hands off.”
Warrick turns back to me, his gaze penetrating mine. “If you want one of my brothers, it has to be your decision and your move, Luna. There won’t be argument or conflict about it. No sneaking around behind each other’s backs. The decision will be final, and we’ll all respect it.”
I nod, too. “I understand.”
Warrick stands, picks up his smoke between his fingers, gives us a final nod, and takes his coffee to the front porch.
I sit in silence with the others, overwhelmed by the impossible choice in front of me. Both men are wonderful, but they’re not the same. I want what they both offer.
Callan is kind and patient, takes me into the woods and gathers plants and set traps with me, stops and looks when I point out dragonflies circling the water. He taught me to cook and always gives me a reassuring smile and says it’s delicious even when it tastes all wrong. He makes a deep, aching warmth grow in my belly when he takes my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze for no reason.
Ethan laughs while he teaches me, letting me know it’s okay to mess up, that it’s okay to laugh when I make a mistake. He winks at me when his brothers aren’t looking, like we’re in on a little secret. One rough touch of his calloused hand on my elbow or hip makes me know everything is okay. And he gave me that bliss in the bathtub like nothing I’ve ever felt except from Axel, and that time was followed by pain. With Ethan, there’s no pain.
How can I ever make a decision when I want both of these men equally?