Page 5 of Finding Her Panthers

Reaching out to the one in front of me, I run my hands up his chest, reveling in the hard muscles, feeling his heart beating powerfully. This one is Alpha. I feel the dominance in his stance, in how he holds himself. Winding my arms around his neck, I rub my face in the path of my hands, ending with my face in his neck. His arms band around me tightly, his hands splayed over my back. Breathing in his spicy scent, I don't stop the urge to lick his neck for a taste. I let out a responding purr to him.

"Mate, I have been looking for you," I say softly. At my words, he pulls me back, cups my throat firmly, tips my jaw up, and looks deeply into my eyes. Time seems to stop. All I know is his warm breath on my lips.

"I have been waiting for you. It's about time you got here, mate," he growls. His grip tightens as his blue eyes swirl with dangerous emotion.

As my snort of disbelief makes it out, he eliminates the space between us and kisses me. His lips are soft, but his face is scruffy, creating the most exciting sensation, giving me no choice but to open up to him. His tongue invades my mouth, leaving no crevice unexplored, biting and sucking so much I have no doubt my lips will be swollen from his attention. I break away, gasping for breath as I hear the whines and growls behind me.

I turn to my left to the man whining softly, watching me longingly. I repeat my exploration of his body, except he is much broader, with muscles upon muscles, but it is easier to reach his neck. He stops whining, emitting a soft purr now, pulling me close and just hugging me. He smells like the beach at sunset, bright and warm. This mate will be the one to cuddle with, watch movies with, and have childlike fun with. I don't know how I know, but I feel it deep down. I run my hands through his shaggy brown hair, enjoying his sigh of contentment. I let him have the extra time he seems to need before pulling back to give his lips a soft brief kiss.

"Mate, I'm glad I found you,” I say and give him a soft smile.

I feel the vibrations coming off the growling man behind me. I turn to him, taking in his clenched fists, the tick in his jaw pounding in time with my heart. I have to approach this one

differently. I slowly move closer, keeping eye contact. I touch the side of his face softly, letting my hand linger. He is not an Alpha, but he could be. He is fierce in his own right.

I step closer as his growling quiets, and taking a chance, I drop my head to his chest in submission. I startle as he pulls me up by the waist, urging me to put my legs around him. He then buries his face into my neck and purrs. I have a feeling this mate will be the most protective of all.

Animals are already very protective of their mates and pack, but this may be another level. I can see our future, where I have to fight to go anywhere by myself. At this moment, I'm looking forward to it. This man smells of the deep woods, trees, grass, and pain. He has hidden depths that I am excited to explore. The conflict in his body is obvious, his hands fisting my hair tightly, clenching in indecision on whether to hold me tighter or thrust me away.

"Mate," I state as I try to pull back, but he doesn't loosen his hold.

"Blue, let's move this to my office," Alpha says softly. Blue abruptly drops me to my feet, causing me to stumble back. After giving me an apologetic look, he quickly turns as he moves down the hall.

Shaking myself, I turn to my other mates. They both lace their fingers through mine and follow.

I can't believe I forgot about Penny watching this all unfold, so it sets me at ease to see her walking in front of me with the other man. She gives me big eyes and a thumbs up over her shoulder, making me chuckle.

We enter through another door on the right, walking into a massive office. The large black desk is in the center of the room in front of a wall of screens. There is a cozy sitting area in front of the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the club. My mates lead me to the long brown leather couch where Blue is already sitting, silently watching me. The Alpha sits next to him, pulling me down to sit on his lap while my other mate sits to my left. Two chairs are directly across from us, and I watch Penny and the other man slide into them. I am grateful to be surrounded by them, but it's getting awkward when I don't know their names.

'What is your name? I mean, I'm glad to be with all of you finally, but I'm sitting on your lap and don't know your name," I say as I turn sideways to look at him.

"Of course," he agrees with a little grin. "My name is Jax. I am the Alpha of our pack and co-owner of this club." He gestures to my other mate in front of me. "This is James, my brother, the second in command of the pack and the other co-owner of the club." he pointed over my shoulder. "This, as you heard, is Blue, also my brother, the third owner, and my other second in command." I look over my shoulder at Blue, giving him a small smile, which thankfully he returns. "Why are you in pain?” Jax asks, causing Blue's smile to turn and James to suck in a sharp breath.

They had been too distracted before to notice, but now that we are all close and over the initial meeting, I had to explain. "First, my name is Harmony, but my friends call me Harm. This is my best friend, my sister really, Penny." I toss her a quick smile. "She has helped me so much the past year. She helped me search for you. Just about a year ago, I caught a faint scent of my mate." I look at Blue. "I caught your scent, and it triggered the bond for me and, of course, what comes after the heat." I shift uneasily on Jax's lap because I know they can smell that, too. "Because I couldn't find you, any of you—believe me, I looked—the pain of an unfulfilled bond started. It's just gotten worse as time went on."

"You have been living in agony for a year?" Blue looks pissed by the idea of this.

"Yes, it wasn't bad at first. But it has been getting worse every day. Now that I am here with you, it has eased a bit." James runs his hand up my leg, gently grabs behind my knee, bringing it to rest across his, and continues to rub my thigh softly.

"Stephan, I need you to go call our doctor, tell him the situation, and get him here as soon as you can." Jax orders. He waits until Stephan leaves before asking, "Does Penny know everything?"

"Yes, we met when we were thirteen. She was there for me during a shift," I confirm.

"Do you realize how rare it is for a female panther to be left un-mated? That they are unable to find any that have not been mated or killed?" he asks roughly.

I'm having a hard time concentrating, the feel of him underneath me, causing warmth to spread through my body. Shit, just the sound of his voice is causing shivers to rack my body. Not to mention James hasn't stopped stroking my leg. I blame it on not eating for days.

"It took me a long time to accept what I am and to be alright with it and even longer to find any information on shifters at all. I have been hiding most of my life, and when I found out how rare I am, I have been even more careful with concealing it as much as I can," I explain. I try to hold his knowing gaze as I squeeze my thighs together. It's going to be really difficult to hide anything from Jax.

Before he can respond, Penny decides to throw me under the bus. "It could be that she has spent the week on the couch, uncomfortable and starving. The only time she's left the apartment is when I drag her out to search for a scent she smelled a year ago. Tonight, I had to force her to get up and shower to try again. It sucks seeing her wither away because of this bond. Now that she has found you, she needs a steak and some carbs and maybe some good sex!" Penny exclaims. We all whip around to stare at her, me with embarrassment and, judging from the curse words behind me, anger from my men.

What the hell. “Don’t forget the cookies.”

I look over at James as he speaks on the phone. "Karla, we need food. A lot of it. Steaks, potatoes, and some bread. Rare and loaded. Right, sounds good. Oh, and some cookies.” He grins at me as he hangs up. "In the works, sweetheart. One thing down," he says as he wiggles his eyebrows up and down.

"Really, asshole! Real classy." Blue looks as if he wants to hit him.

"What? You can't say you weren't thinking about it. Our mate is hungry, and we feed her if our mate is—" He doesn’t get to finish as Jax cuts him off.

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