“Has the P.I. tracked Ted down yet?” Jesse says quietly. I see Dora look up at that. She pats his knee under the table and gives him a soft smile of gratitude.

  “Nothing yet,” Nathan says. “Maybe he’s a bad P.I.”

  “Wolf shifters can be pretty good at hiding,” Jesse says. “I wouldn’t blame it on the P.I. just yet.”

  “So he’s not showing up at home or work yet,” Dora says. “That’s really weird. If nothing else, he’s a decent lawyer. It’s really out of character for him to just vanish like that. Maybe that spell really did a number on him.”

  “He’s still responsible for his actions even if it did,” Brett points out. “Even when magic does affect you, it can’t force you to do things you wouldn’t otherwise do. He made his choices.”

  Dora doesn’t look very appeased by that. She fidgets with the hem of her sweater and crosses and uncrosses her legs. I try not to look like I’m staring at her legs, but I’m definitely staring at her legs. She’s wearing this hot little skirt and her thighs are so creamy and curvy. I clear my throat and stare down at my coffee, and Jesse doesn’t miss it. I hear him snort, and when I look up at him, he’s smirking. I roll my eyes and no, it’s not like I’m jealous. But I am the only one who hasn’t gotten close to Dora at all yet. I don’t remember the last time I was this horny. I don’t think I ever have been. I glance up at Dora, and she’s staring back at me, and I wonder if she could possibly want me as much as I want her.

  “I think I’m going to check out your spell books that I saw in your library?” Dora says.

  “We have Christa working on that,” Brett says.

  “I know, but I just want to feel like I’m doing something,” Dora says. “Grant, do you want to help me?”

  Everyone looks at me, and I jerk a little in surprise, raising my eyebrows. Not that I’m going to turn down the chance to spend some time with Dora alone...I just wasn’t expecting to actually get the chance.

  “Sure,” I say quickly. “I’m down. I love researching spells. Makes me feel like I’m on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

  Dora laughs at that, and I haven’t heard her laugh in so long. It’s a pretty sound, a little throaty. She throws back her head as she laughs, and it makes me want to kiss that pretty, pale neck. When we’re finished eating, Dora and I head off to the library. It’s generous to call it a library. It’s really just another random room on the third floor of the house where we mostly store stuff. We have two guest rooms up on the third floor, the library, and a small room in the corner with a window seat and a very comfy chair that’s perfect for reading. The library is the biggest room, it’s got wall to wall shelving with all our books and some Blu-Rays and old DVDs. There’s a table, too, in front of the window, and we set up camp there with our coffee and dig out the big tomes of spells that we haven’t searched through yet. We limit our search for information on how we might reverse the love spell. I’m still assuming that if anyone can figure it out, it will be Christa. But we might as well try. I’d also like to check out some spells for defense and protection for Dora.

  Dora tries out a few defensive spells, and it’s cool to see her cast things. The spells we find are only recitations. All she has to do is pronounce the words correctly and turn her hands a certain way. It takes us a few tries, and her flubs make her laugh again, so much that it turns me on. She really does have a sexy laugh. We copy over the defensive spells to save, and she’s sitting back in her chair with her legs crossed again, looking through a book, when I hear her giggle.

  “What?” I ask, half afraid.

  “You’ve been staring at my legs for ten minutes,” Dora says. But she doesn’t seem displeased by it.

  “You’re wearing a mini-skirt and boots,” I say, throwing up my hands. “What do you want from me?”

  I roll up my sleeves. I’m wearing a button-up today, and a cardigan. It’s nicer than what I usually wear, which is a cardigan and a t-shirt. But I wanted to look nice for Dora. I feel like she’s looking at me too, and my cock twitches in my jeans.

  “Can I ask you something?” Dora says. She looks at me, and I see the rise of color in her cheeks. I’m pretty sure I audibly swallow, and my cock swells. Her mouth seems a little swollen. I wonder if it’s from being with Nathan the night before, and I shift in my chair, horribly turned on.

  “Yep,” I mutter, not even knowing where to look. She’s wearing this soft gray sweater with her little skirt. It dips down in front just enough to show a little cleavage. She’s driving me crazy, this woman.

  “Nathan and Jesse both told me⁠—” She licks her lips and they’re red and slick. I heave a sigh, trying to concentrate on what she’s saying. “They told me you guys aren’t jealous of each other, like if something happened with⁠—I mean, I slept with Nathan last night.”

  “I know,” I say quickly. I get up, needing to move. I think I’ll combust if I don’t. I pace for a second and end up by the window to lean against the wall. I cross one ankle over the other, hoping she doesn’t notice my erection. “They’re right. We’re not jealous of each other. We don’t⁠—It’s not like that for us. It’s hard to explain.”

  Dora nods, and I see her swallow. She pushes a hand through her hair and gets to her feet to stand by me, but I can’t read her expression.

  “It’s not just⁠—” She looks pained as she tries to find her words. “It’s not just sex, Grant. It’s...I feel safe when I’m with you all. Because I feel like there’s this connection between us and it takes away the fear. Because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m afraid I’m going to end up in jail, or he’s gonna kill me and I just don’t know.” She’s tearing up now and sounding a little hysterical, wringing her hands, and I grab them in mine, stroking her knuckles.

  “Hey, hey,” I say softly. “We’re gonna protect you. I swear, we will. And I want you to feel safe.” I reach up to caress her cheek and she leans into my hand and turns her head to kiss my palm. “Want you to feel safe. And⁠—and good.” She’s so close to me, and I feel this buzz between us that practically demands I kiss her. So I duck my head, and my lips meet hers. It feels a little like floating, and I take her hips in my hands and pull her close as she opens her mouth, letting me in.

  The kiss is slow and deep at first. Abruptly, a sense of desire, flaming hot, seems to overtake us, and I bite her bottom lip, her whimper in response making me yet more aroused. Dora presses her hands to my chest, and my hands slip down to take handfuls of her ass and she gasps, pressing up against me, my erection pressing into her belly.

  “Grant, yes,” she says, her voice shaking.

  We’re breathless as I turn her around and shove her lightly against the wall. She throws her head back, encouraging me to lick a line down her throat as my hands slide up her thighs, up under her skirt. She moans and parts her legs, and I suck a hickey to her neck, my fingers grasping at the waistband of her panties, yanking them down until they fall around her ankles and she kicks them off. I palm her, raking my fingers through her pubic hair and teasing her a bit before, none too gently, pressing a finger inside her to find her clit.

  “Oh, Grant,” she says, and she clutches my shoulders, her mouth wide open. But she keeps her eyes on me, looking lost in the moment as I finger her, tongue kissing her throat and the dip of her cleavage. She reaches down to unbuckle my pants. In a second, my cock is out, throbbing with need as she strokes me and I finger her until we’re gasping and panting. “Grant, please…”

  I lick my lips and take my hand away. All at once, I wrap my arms around her thighs and heave her up, bracing her up against the wall. She wraps her legs around me and I shove her skirt up. We seem to stare into each other’s souls as I slide inside her. I groan into her mouth, and she kisses me hard as I thrust in and out of her, the pulse of our joined pleasure pushing us further as she arches off the wall. She cries out, and I memorize the sound, lost in the bliss I find inside her until I’m pushed over the edge. I feel myself coming inside her as she swallows my groans in another heated kiss. We slow down by degrees, and I smile against her neck, pulling out even as I press my finger back inside to finger her clit again. She shrieks and sort of spasms, seeming half out of her mind. She fucks herself on my finger, shaking with a few tears sliding down her face.

  “Oh God, okay,” she mumbles, laughing a little shrilly as she pushes my hand away. “I think I might die if I come again.” She’s hugging me now, one arm wrapped around my neck and we stand there, embracing each other, still heady from the high of our shared euphoria. She finally kisses me once more, sweetly, and smiles against my mouth. “You’re beautiful, Grant.”

  I chuckle, my hands wandering to get my fill of the feel of her body. “Back at you, baby.”

  We stand there for a few minutes, not quite willing to part, lazily feeling each other up and kissing. Finally, Dora breaks away. Her face is red, and she bites her lip, fanning herself.

  “Anymore of that and I’m gonna need to go again,” she says.

  Oof.

  “Tell me why that’s bad,” I whisper in her ear.

  Dora

  There’s so much going on that it’s hard to hold onto one feeling at a time, much less one thought. I have this sense of dread that Ted is going to come get me at any time and even my bear men aren’t going to be able to stop him. They can only do so much.

  Yet, at the same time, I’m giddy about what’s happening between us all. It’s taken me a while to wrap my mind around the idea that I could have them all if I wanted them, and that seems to be on the table. That evening, I end up watching TV with Jesse and end up straddling him, the two of us making out and rutting like wild animals, his hands massaging my breasts. I’ve never been the insatiable type, not that I don’t enjoy sex. But these four men are bringing something out of me I’ve never known before. The only reason we didn’t have sex is because we heard Brett walking in and we reflexively jumped apart, though we probably didn’t need to. But it didn’t stop me imagining what would have come next.

  Around one in the morning, I’m puttering around in the bathroom, putting on moisturizer and avoiding my bed. I’d like to be sharing it with one of the guys tonight, but I was too shy to ask and nobody offered their services. I’m unofficially staying up and walking around, hoping one of them will find me and we’ll either end up sleeping together or just...sleeping together. Either way, I’d be happy.

  I’m rubbing some lip balm on my lips, feeling a little chilly in my sleep shorts and cami. I’ll miss the tiny little nighty I was wearing last night, but the hot sex was definitely worth it. Nathan’s even insisting on replacing it. I think he’s a little embarrassed by the extent of his...aggression, even if I’m not.

  When I hear a tap on the bathroom window, I think it’s a tree branch, blown by the wind. The bathroom window is big, and a blue curtain hangs in front of it. It faces out onto a tree, low to the ground. I don’t think anything of it until I hear the tapping again. I part the curtain to look but the glass is pebbled and makes everything blurry. I’m thinking it’s a confused bird or something, and I open the window to look when a snarling wolf jumps right through the window, knocking me back against the wall.

  I’m too shocked to react. This is the nightmare. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I open my mouth to scream and almost instantly, the wolf shifts and it’s Ted, looking absolutely murderous. I don’t even get a sound out before he’s got a hand clapped over my mouth, and he’s grabbing me. He’s much stronger than he looks. But then if he’s a shifter, I guess he’s got some enhanced strength.

  “You say a word,” he whispers in my ear, “and you’re fucking dead and all your teddy bears with you. Hear me, Dora? Nod if you understand.”

  I nod once, already trembling.

  “Good,” he whispers. “Good, that’s good. It’s gonna be fine, Dora. Okay? All your problems are about to go away, I promise you. You just gotta come with me first. You give me even a little bit of trouble and I got a huge pack of wolves surrounding the place that will tear your four boyfriends apart. Okay?”

  I nod again.

  I’m frozen with terror as he keeps me locked in his arms, even as he drags me out the window. He directs me to climb down with him, and I tremble, too afraid for the well-being of the guys to step out of line. I know they’d want me to scream for them to save me, but all this is my fault in the first place. It was even my fault for opening the window. I can’t keep dragging them into the nightmare that has become my life when it really has nothing to do with them. Yet even now, I feel that bond between the five of us, and I start to cry as I jump from the bottom branch to the ground Ted clamps his arm around me again and starts walking me away from the house.

  I focus on putting one foot in front of the other even as I’m paralyzed with fear. I tell myself this will end. Ted clearly wants something from me. I’m scared to know what it is, but all I can do is pray that he won’t hurt me and that this will end. I remember the defensive spells I learned with Grant, and I try one, reciting under my breath. But Ted hears me, clamping a hand over my mouth again.

  “I told you not to try anything,” he says, growling in my ear.

  He’s walking me down the street and up ahead, I see a big furry lump that I soon realize is the body of a dead bear. The fear that it’s one of my guys makes me scream into Ted’s hand, and he squeezes me tighter, painfully, as he pushes me to walk on down the dark street.

  “That’s right, Dora,” Ted says in my ear. “Forgot to mention, I killed one of them already⁠—”

  I moan into his hand, fighting him off now, hysterical. I feel like my heart is tearing in two. I try to fight him, biting his hand, and clawing at him. But he gets a hand around my throat, choking me until I finally give in, afraid he may actually kill me. When he lets me go, I collapse to my knees on the ground, sobbing despite his warnings. I don’t care anymore. One of my loves is dead. It’s so clear to me now in the shock of grief: whether or not I was way too much trouble for them, we were all meant for each other.

  Now one of them is dead.

  Ted yanks me to my feet and backhands me across the face until he finally grips me again, forcing me to look him in the eye. “You pull yourself together, Dora. I need you for tonight and then you’re free. Make this hard on me, and I’ll kill the rest of them too. Got it?”

  I bite down on my tongue, hard enough to redirect my brain away from hysteria, and nod mutely. I wipe my eyes and let Ted hold my arm, and he drags me into the woods away from my beloved bears, away from the place that’s felt more like home than any place I’ve ever known.

  Brett

  I don’t have significant dreams often and when I do remember my dreams, they’re usually boring. But tonight is different. For the past day or so, I’ve just been appreciating Dora from a bit of a distance. I guess I’ve always been the quiet one and I’m comfortable holding that position. So when Dora laughs at Jesse and Grant’s joke or practically melts under Nathan’s gaze, I’m honestly happy enough just to watch her. Besides, we did kiss. The memory of it is still fresh in my mind. If nothing ever happened between us again, I would still have that kiss. Only I truly believe that Dora is our shared fated mate. I believe she’s meant to be ours just as we’re meant to be hers. I’m more than happy to shower Dora with affection and undying loyalty for the rest of my days along with Nathan, Jesse, and Grant. For now, I don’t mind being quiet and watching.

  But tonight, I have a terrible dream. It’s nothing specific, yet it’s visceral. Dora is in some kind of agony in a dark place, and I can’t get to her. The four of us are running through the woods to save her, but her screams seem to come from everywhere and the longer we run, the farther away she gets. We’re full of terror, our hearts shatter knowing our love is being hurt somewhere, and we can’t find her.

  I wake with a start, jerking in my bed and suddenly alert. It’s the middle of the night. But I don’t think I’ve been asleep long.

  Something is wrong.

  I spring out of bed and grab my glasses, stumbling out of my room in only a pair of briefs. I hope against hope that I’m wrong. This is all just some combination of a bad dream and the empathetic connection I feel toward Dora going haywire. Bears can be unpredictable that way. Sometimes we overreact based on our sense of others’ emotions. Even as I dash down the hall to Dora’s room, that’s what I tell myself. This Dora connection is still so new. It’s like a new muscle that needs to be exercised. I hardly know how it works.

  At Dora’s door, I pause. I take a deep breath and count to ten.

  This will be fine, I tell myself. She’s right behind that door, peacefully asleep in her bed.

  I open the door, my heart pounding, and find an empty bed. Now my heart starts beating so fast, it’s actually painful. I race to her bathroom and that’s when it feels as if my heart starts to crack. There’s been a struggle here. The shower curtain is askew like somebody grabbed it. Her toothbrush and its holder are on the floor. But worst of all, the window is wide open. When I look out of it, I see nothing.

  Oddly, now that I know something has happened, I feel slightly calmer. Because this is something that needs to be dealt with. This is no time to panic. I close my eyes and sniff the air. I would’ve sniffed for her before if I’d thought of it. Her scent has become as familiar as that of any of my sleuth mates.

  She’s not here, not in the house anyway. I don’t smell her nearby. I can make out the scent she’s left behind if I concentrate. It’s faint, but it’s there. I can smell her floral body lotion, her moisturizer, and toothpaste. But then I get the pungent scent of fear on the end, like the sharp note of a perfume that takes a second to make out.

  She’s gone, and she’s afraid. Just in case I doubted my own natural senses of empathy and whatever mystical instinct clued me in to her disappearance, I know for sure that she didn’t go on a walk in the middle of the night.

 

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