Page 33 of Not Your Ordinary Shifter

Sighing, Grant passes the woman over.

“Sorry,” he grumbles.

“It’s fine. We’ll talk inside. Get dressed.” Holding her close, I walk inside.

Grant heads to his room for clothes as I lay her on the couch in the living room. Putting a blanket over her shivering body, I frown. She’s so fragile. Grant and I have an internal temperature that runs higher than a human’s, making it easy for us to withstand the cold, but my mate doesn’t have that luxury.

I start a fire in the fireplace, hoping it will help. My older brother, Charlie, comes into the room. His steps falter.

“What did you do?” he demands.

“Grant found her in the woods. She passed out,” I tell him. “This was the closest place.”

“Did she see either of you shift?”

“Grant didn’t say, but she was already unconscious when I got there.”

He sighs. “I’ll talk to him. Go get dressed. Kimberly should be here when she wakes up. Being surrounded by big-ass men won’t help. Doesn’t matter how jolly we try to be.”

I chuckle at his grumbling and straighten and turn in time to see Grant come in as Charlie leaves. He’s wearing jeans. He tosses me a pair, and I slip them on as well.

Charlie points at Grant before leaving to find Kimberly. “We need to talk.”

Grant waves him off. As I watch him watch our sleeping guest, worry claws at my insides.

“You like her, don’t you?” I ask.

He furrows his eyebrows and looks at me. “Of course I like her. She’s my mate.”

My eyes widen. “Your mate?”

My words are echoed by Charlie as he re-enters the room with Kimberly.

Grant nods. “I was surprised too. I was beginning to think I’d never find her.”

My release of a deep breath is cut off by a chuckle. “Now it’s making sense.”

“What do you mean?” Kimberly asks, confused.

“I was wondering why I didn’t feel very threatened by Grant touching her, but now I know it’s because she’sourmate.”

“Our mate?” Grant’s lips slowly curve into a smile as the information processes in his mind. “I was wondering the same thing. I was reluctant to let her go earlier, but it wasn’t because of possessiveness or jealousy. I just wanted to hold her longer.”

“Looks like you two really are going to share everything forever,” Charlie says.

Grant and I chuckle at his teasing. The contentment we feel at our fate radiates through our bond, filling us both. Charlie wraps an arm around Kimberly’s shoulders. Pulling her close, he kisses her head in affection.

For the first time, watching them isn’t so painful. I’ve finally found my mate; I’m no longer longing for my life to begin.

“I’m delighted for you both.” Kimberly bites her lip. “But I’m not sure how she’s going to feel about this. She's human. Not only will she have to deal with the knowledge of shifters,but she’ll have to get used to the idea of belonging to two men instead of one.”

I frown. She’s right, of course. Most humans don’t know about shifters or that there’s something out there more than themselves. Accepting that someone is half-bison and that you're destined to be with them forever is a hard pill to swallow. Especially for a human.

Grant frowns. “Unfortunately, she won’t have the option of easing into it. We’ve already touched her.”

A mate’s first physical contact activates a heat within the female. There’s no way to stop it. The scent of her arousal will drive our bisons into a lusty haze that won’t clear until we claim her.

“You’ll just have to go with the flow and hope for the best.” Charlie says. “You’re destined to be together. Things will work out as they should.”

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