Page 6 of Claiming Claire

They led me to the laundry room, then down to the basement, which was designed as a hang out lounge. Then back up the stairs to the ground level, past the half bathroom and up another set of stairs. The stairs creaked under our conjoined weight, and I prayed that the structure of this old farmhouse could withstand us all.

They all stopped at the top of the stairs and waited for me. When I stepped into the hallway, Vix pulled me forward. “Ready for the rest of the tour? Tomorrow when it’s light out, I’ll show you the barn, but for now . . . this is it.” He spread his arms wide gesturing toward the hallway. “After you.”

I took a few slow steps down the hall, the presence of the men behind me nearly suffocating me. As I approached the first door, Gabriel pushed it open while Laden announced that it was the guest bathroom. The next two doors were guest bedrooms. The door after that, an office where Jace was hunched over a stack of papers reading. He spared us a wave then we continued on to the door at the end of the hall.

Gabriel pushed open the door. “This is our room.”

I felt my heart stutter. “Ours?”

I felt Laden’s body crowd close to mine from behind as he leaned close to my ear. “Ours. Where did you expect to sleep, Mate?”

I licked my dry lips, “Y-you all sleep here?”

“Ours,” he emphasized, his breath tickling my ear, causing a sudden chill to run through my body. “One great, big puppy pile, sweetheart.”

Silence fell over the room while they waited for me to process that and when it hit, I stepped back slamming right into Laden. His hand dropped to my waist to steady me, and I pulled away, still too shocked to speak.

When I had signed up for Pack Match, I expected a mate. A Mate. But I got four. Four huge, handsome, vastly different mates. But still, three more than anticipated. I had the whole drive over here to think about how this relationship was going to work. I assumed Jace would mark me first since he was pack alpha. Then after that I would travel from room to room, collecting marks and losing my dignity. However, I never once thought that we would all share a room together. I assumed the men all had their own.

I looked toward the bed, the larger than usual furniture, painstakingly carved out of pine. “You all have the same room, then?”

“Is that a problem, Claire?” Laden’s voice held a bit of amusement.

“No, no problem. I’m sorry. Today has been a bit overwhelming.” I pushed a stray strand of hair away from my face. “So, umm, do you all fight over closet space or something?”

I was mostly joking, but I was also curious how the dynamic worked if these four men shared one living space, but were never together. Laden’s fingers wrapped around my own, and he pulled, guiding me to a massive sliding barn door against the wall. He pulled the barn door back and stepped inside. “Well, this here is our closet. As you can see, there is space enough for everyone. We saved the best spot for you.”

He pointed to a large area in the corner of the closet that was next to a window and had both shelves and a hanging bar. Next to the shelving was a built-in vanity with a large mirror hanging from the wall. I was shocked, really. When I was home in my father’s den, I never had such a beautiful space for myself. “I can use that?”

“Well, yeah. We wouldn’t use it. Well, maybe Vix, but the rest of us have no use.” I heard Vix grumble a curse under his breath but otherwise kept quiet. Laden turned, pointing to each section and telling me who they belonged to. Each section of the closet seemed to fit its owner’s personality. Jace’s closet was organized and neat. Vix’s section held only the bare minimum without having an excess overflow. Gabriel’s closet was full, but everything was hung up. But Laden’s, well his closet area was a disaster: clothes littered the floor, hangers hung awkwardly, shoes weren’t matched.

The boys stepped out of the closet, and I followed after them. Gabriel went to the other side of the room and pulled open the other barn door. “This is the bathroom.”

When the large bodies moved out of the way, I was taken aback by the large luxurious bathroom. In the corner, a stone shower was set up with a big waterfall showerhead. On the opposite wall of the shower, a large oversized tub was built into the stone. Along the edge of the walls were multiple sinks and across from the sinks were two doors which I assumed lead to toilets.

“Is it alright?” Vix asked, a hint of nerves in his voice.

Was he kidding? It was magnificent, way more than just being alright. “It’s amazing.”

He visibly relaxed as Gabriel stepped forward, his arm out with towels. “We, ah, thought you might want to shower.” When I took the towels, he suddenly reached behind him and started scratching at the back of his neck nervously. “We wanted to let you know that we don’t have to complete the mating tonight, but umm, we have three days to complete it, or the mating is voided.”

I felt crushed by the elephant in the room, my breath weighed down by the subject we hadn’t all addressed, but we knew was there. Mating. All five of us, together. My muscles suddenly quivered as I watched the men in front of me, my wolf rubbing against me like she was begging for attention. Three days? What’s the difference between three days and now? None, really. Not in this situation. If anything, in three days, my father could have found me and dragged me away before it was completed. I couldn’t have that happen.

I took in a deep breath and let it out shakily. “I-I’d like to do it tonight if that’s okay.”

The men all took a step back as if they hadn’t expected my request. I watched as Gabriel licked his lower lip before biting it. Finally, he spoke, “I’ll let Jace know. Are you hungry? Vix is amazing in the kitchen.”

As if on cue, my stomach cramped with nerves. There was no way I could eat, not tonight anyway. “Not so much. They fed us before the auction.”

He nodded. “Well, I guess we will leave you to shower then. I’ll bring your bag upstairs and leave it on the bed.”

This time it was me who was biting my lip, trying to keep it from trembling as I nodded my agreement then watched them walk away. With shaky hands, I removed my clothes and piled them on the shelf next to the shower. I stepped under the giant shower head and turned it on, hoping that at least for now, it would wash away all my fears.

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