MATED TO FATHER, FATED TO SONS

ROWAN

It was indeed the only way. He knew it. I did too but the idea of sharing her with me was still what he was struggling with.

If I were to be honest. I was too but I was not in over my head like he was to let my need to keep her prevent me from keeping her safe.

Ryker parked abruptly in the entrance, the car jerking to a stop, and did not say anything at all. His hand went to the door handle and he was about to open his door but I reached over quickly and held his arm back with a firm grip.

"You are selfish enough to plan an accident to keep her here but you would not go this length to keep her safe?" I challenged, staring at his profile.

He shoved my arm away angrily with considerable force but he did not leave the car like I expected. Instead he leaned back heavily in his seat, tilting his head back against the headrest, and was completely quiet for almost a full minute while I waited.

Finally he spoke.

"One condition," he said, his voice low and serious in a way that meant he would not budge. "This will only be a one time thing. I am not willing to share her long term."

I scoffed, the sound harsh in the enclosed space. "Really? Share? She is not even yours to claim. She is our father’s intended mate."

"Then I will battle Alpha Corvin for her," Ryker stated with absolute certainty. "You already have Lila waiting for you. Stick to her."

I wanted to counter back immediately but I knew Ryker was fundamentally right. I already had Lila who had been patient and devoted. Why was I fighting so hard for Amaris when I had no right to her?

"Fine," I conceded reluctantly. "But it is actually a two time thing. The transformation will start tomorrow when we mate her and in the next full moon it will complete the entire process."

Ryker turned to look at me directly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Amaris may not agree if she knows it is twice. We have to tell her it is only once."

"We should lie to her?" I asked, discomfort crawling up my spine like insects.

"There you go again with your irritating moral compass," Ryker said with clear frustration. "If you want to go full villain mode you cannot draw arbitrary lines on lying."

"Whatever," I muttered, looking away. "We tell her once. But I have my own condition."

"What?" Ryker demanded impatiently.

"None of us can have her individually until the transformation is completely finished," I stated firmly.

Ryker laughed harshly, the sound lacking any humor. "Oh that is complete bullshit."

"Her wolf needs a balance of both mates during the transformation process," I explained, using what I had learned from the ancient texts. "It will tilt more toward the one that has her the most and it might not work properly or fully transform during the last mating if the balance is off."

Ryker was quiet, clearly processing this information and weighing his options.

"Fine. Whatever," he finally said dismissively. "I would be busy trying to hunt down and kill Victor anyway."

"Then it is settled," I confirmed, feeling the weight of what we had just agreed to. "We will both have her tomorrow night."

****

As weird and absolutely fucked up as that sounded, here we were now standing in her room several minutes later, the lamplight casting shadows across the walls, trying to explain and make her buy into the idea of letting both of us fuck her at the same time tomorrow during the full moon.

I stood near the foot of her bed while Ryker leaned against the wall by the door, arms crossed over his chest.

Amaris sat propped up against her pillows, still looking pale and bruised, her expression a mixture of disbelief and exhaustion. "Let me get this completely straight. So for me to be able to protect myself I need to be able to shift to my wolf form, and that can only happen if I let..."

She trailed off and swallowed hard, her throat moving visibly before continuing. "You two have me at the same time?"

Ryker looked at me and then nodded at her. "Yes."

"And by the next full moon you should be able to shift properly on your own," I added, trying to sound reassuring.

"Oh, it is not instantaneous?" Amaris asked, her eyes widening slightly.

I shook my head, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. "We just want you to be able to defend yourself because Victor is as ruthless and dangerous as he appears to be."

Amaris looked at both of us, still trying to sit up straighter despite her obvious pain, wincing as she moved. "I am not even healed enough to even be with one person, not to mention two at the same time."

"Your wolf is healing you rapidly," Ryker stated, pushing off from the wall. "And by tomorrow night wolves are at their strongest due to the full moon. You will be healed enough."

Amaris looked at both of us with clear skepticism written across her face. "This is so completely fucked up and I am just supposed to go along with it?"

Both Ryker and I looked at each other briefly and then back at her and chorused together in perfect unison, "Yes."

She was silent for a long moment, clearly thinking it through, her fingers picking at the blanket covering her lap.

"And no one will know about it?" she finally asked quietly.

"Just the same way no one has known about us being fated," Ryker assured her. "This would be completely secret."

"We can prepare somewhere else," I offered, taking a step closer to the bed. "It does not have to be in this room where people might notice."

"That would be safer," Amaris agreed quietly, still looking uncertain.

Ryker and I chorused again in that same synchronized way we had since childhood, "So what do you say Amaris?"

She sighed deeply, the sound filling the quiet room, and then exhaled slowly through her nose.

"Yes."