I stopped and so did they. There was a storm brewing behind Landon’s dark eyes. It pained me to see him this way. Submitting to the yearning I felt, I stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. “Tell me,” I whispered. “For better or for worse, I have been dragged into this and I believe I have the right to know. I will do my best to keep an open mind.”
Roman stood beside his companion. “She speaks the truth. She has every right to know.”
“We were once part of a pack, Roman and I. We lived in this area an
d kept to ourselves but one day while we were hunting, disaster struck. The werewolves that chased us are a part of the rival pack.”
“You mean…?”
“Yes,” he said with a solemn nod. “They murdered everyone. Women. Children. Newborn pups. They were merciless. We tried to come back and help our people but we didn’t arrive in time. They were already lost to us.”
“That’s terrible…” I whispered, unable to say anything else. “Your pack… they were like family to you, right?”
“More than that,” answered Roman. “Shifters have a special bond with the members of their pack. We can smell when they are in danger. We share happiness. We live and die for each other.”
“And you guys lost it all?”
“Yes.” Landon looked towards the distance like he could see something that I could never imagine. “Roman and I are the only ones left.”
“That is why we were at the nightclub tonight. We thought we could infiltrate and lay our hands on the leader.” Roman took me by the hips and hoisted me over a fallen log. He did so with such fluidity that it felt like I was flying through the air. A feeling of weightlessness washed over me. “Had we succeeded, we could have had a new pack under our wings but —”
“I ruined it by getting myself in trouble,” I said, once I had landed on the other side of the log.
“No.” Landon stopped with such suddenness that I collided right into him. I prepared myself to fall but he pinned me close to his body. He was radiating with heat that wrapped around my entire body like a thick blanket. “You didn’t ruin anything, for we are both glad that you are okay.”
“But I’m just some girl.”
Roman chuckled. “Just some girl?”
“Yeah,” I affirmed. “I work at a hotel desk. I can’t turn into a giant wolf as you guys can. I’m just normal. Honestly, I don’t even know why you bother wasting your time with me.”
Landon cupped my cheeks against his palms, in the gentlest of ways. His eyes softened as he pressed his forehead into mine. His thumb ran circles on my skin, over and over again, like he was trying to leave some invisible mark. Time crept by. I do not know how long we stood there but it didn’t bother me, for I would have stared into his eyes for the rest of my eternity.
“Do not say such things about yourself, for you are our mate,” he said, at last, breaking the silence that had settled between us.
“Mate?” I repeated.
“Yes.”
The magic of the moment was broken and I took a step backward where Roman stood to catch me. “Please, Jane, remember your promise to keep an open mind.”
“Shifters mate but once in a lifetime. As such, we are destined to comb the Earth looking for our one true mate — a soulmate if you would.” As Landon spoke, he was illuminated by the moonlight. Soft shadows played across his face, accentuating his features like he was some sort of gothic statue, which I could not look away from. “And you are our soulmate, Jane.”
“Wait… did you just say ‘our’ as in the both of you?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I know it might seem strange to you and your culture but shifters survive on the rule of three. Things in nature are more desirable when they come in threes.”
“I… How…” I shook my head. “How the hell does that work?”
“Use your imagination,” Roman said with a wink. “And you’ll probably be on the right track.”
“I don’t… I don’t really understand.”
“Simply put, shifters need three to tango,” Roman clarified. “Two is enough to dance but it never results in children. Three ensures that the trio can start a family.”
“So, if we wanted to start a family together then we would need to sleep together? All three of us?” While it was an odd thought, it wasn’t actually a bad one. Just thinking about enjoying both men at once had me all riled up. I had no doubt in my mind that they would take me through one hell of a rodeo and with both of them going at it, at the same time, it would be double the fun.
“Yes.” Landon’s voice pulled me from my fantasies. “And with our pack decimated and shifter numbers dwindling each and every year, it is becoming critical that shifters find their mates.”