Chapter Seven

                Abbey moaned as she regained consciousness and threw her arm over her eyes. Her mouth was dry, her stomach growling and her head a little sore.

As she lay there memories came flooding back—memories of the diner—and with them came the fear.

                Raw, primal, true fear. The fear that she had been feeling for so long she couldn’t remember a single day when it hadn’t eaten away at her.

                Joseph knew where she was. He was coming for her. She and her children were not safe the way she had hoped they would be.

                Her children…..Where were her children? Hell where was she?

                Abbey’s eyes flew open as she leapt from the soft bed she was laying in. She took in her surroundings and realized she had no idea where she was.

                The room was simple but clearly whoever owned it had more money than Abbey had seen in her lifetime. It was very clear that it was not a hotel. The carpet beneath her bare feet was cream colored, plush and softer than any she had ever felt before.

                Abbey was no expert on types of wood but the bed, wardrobe, large dresser and side tables were all of the same light colored wood and the walls were light blue. There was almost a beach feel to the room as the fabric over the canopy bed fluttered gently in the air blowing out of the heat vent.

                A mirror was on the far wall over a fireplace and pictures of horses and sunsets covered the walls.

                Where was she? And where were her children?

                Abbey walked to the window and pulled back the tan curtains to see that the snow was blowing heavy outside. There were barns and corrals and she was on the second story of a large log house. But how did she get to a log house in the middle of nowhere with no other homes in sight while a blizzard raged outside. It was evening and getting close to dark from what Abbey could tell.

                The only idea that came to her mind was this must be Marcus and Julian’s house. But why was she here and where were her children?

                Much of her worry over her children vanished however once she realized where she must be. While Marcus might be an ass she trusted both he and Julian not to harm her children. And for some reason they claimed to want to help her which meant that here, in the home of two very able werewolves, she might finally find the protection she so desperately needed from Joseph.

                But first she had to find her children, figure out why she felt so safe with these two men and also figure out why in the world they had assumed it would be okay to scare her nearly to death with that tracking device and then bring her to their home!

                She was ashamed of how she had acted at the diner and she felt her cheeks flush. Going back into town around those people who had seen her lose her mind would not be easy.

 Searching the room, Abbey found her shoes beside the door and she slipped into them before placing her hand on the doorknob.

                An anxiousness she couldn’t explain was swirling around in her gut and making her heart race. She needed to see Marcus and Julian. It didn’t make sense to her at all. She felt as if she would lose her very mind if she did not see them soon. She wanted to be close to them. Close to Marcus’s passionate gaze and strength and Julian’s tenderness and calming eyes.

                It was magic or hypnosis or brainwashing or something! Abbey didn’t form bonds with people. She didn’t need people. She had gotten used to only having her children and keeping her head down and staying out of sight and out of the way.

                Joseph had ensured that she had no friends, no family and no one to turn to—no one to need. This sudden want and need to be near those brothers scared the life out of her and yet she was unable to deny it.

                It made no sense and she hoped and prayed they would be able and willing to stop Joseph should he find her and her children because the man would be more than murderous upon discovering she’d formed such an attachment to not one but two men.

                An image of lying sprawled out in a bed with Julian on one side and Marcus on the other flashed through her Abbey’s mind. Marcus ran his calloused fingers along the sweat slicked, trembling skin of her thigh while Julian nibbled at the sensitive flesh below her ear.

                Abbey shook her head and cursed the jolt of lust that shot between her thighs. What was going on?! Abbey was not a sexual creature. She had only ever been with Joseph and that had been painful, degrading and shameful each and every time. The name-calling, the bruises, the abuse her body had taken from him as he’d satisfied his urges had always left her feeling dirty and sad.

                These men were magic plain and simple. They had done some form of voodoo hoodoo on her and her children and she intended to tell them to knock it off…. But she had to do so delicately because she was smart enough to know that she and her children needed protection. She could not run from Joseph forever. That was any kind of life she wanted for her children, or for herself.

                Knowing that she had to find her children and hopefully come to some kind of understanding with Marcus and Julian, Abbey took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door.

                She stepped out of the room and looked up and down the empty hallway. To the right there was only one other door and a wall but to the left the hallway stretched on and seemed open up so she went in that direction.

                She came to a balcony that looked down over a breathtaking living room. The log walls were flawless and richly grained. Brown leather couches and an armchair sat around a stone mantle and fireplace. A flat screen television was on the wall and Abbey wondered how much that giant piece of technology had to have cost.

                A wide window looked out over a show covered field and showed that the snow was still pouring down heavily.

                Laughter reached Abbey’s ears and she recognized it to be Audrey’s. Her daughter’s laughter was followed by Julian’s soothing voice and while Abbey couldn’t make out what he was saying, she felt his voice wash over her like a soothing balm.

                Without putting any thought into the fact that she was moving, Abbey’s feet carried her to the staircase and down to the floor below. They swept her down a wide hall covered in pictures of wilderness and wildlife.

                The laughter and voices grew louder and Abbey stepped into a surprisingly high-end kitchen and took in the sight of her son and daughter sitting together at a granite topped island with Marcus and Julian sitting on either side of them. Audrey and Tanner looked right at home and Abbey let her gaze stray to the copper pots hanging from the ceiling and the shimmering stainless steel appliances.

                “Mommy!” Tanner exclaimed as he leapt from the bar stool he was perched on and ran to her. Abbey scooped him up in her arms and held him tight, savoring the feel of his little arms around her neck.

                “Abbey,” Julian’s soothing voice addressed her, “Come sit down. Are you feeling better?”

                Abbey walked to the stools and kissed Audrey’s hair before choosing one with a bit of space between her and the brothers to sit down on. Tanner remained on her lap. “What are we doing here?” she questioned.

                “After what happened in town did you honestly think we’d just leave you there?” Marcus questioned, his blue eyes flashing with temper, though Abbey had suspicions it wasn’t her that he was angry with.

                “We need to talk, Julian,” Abbey addressed the brother that didn’t make her feel completely scatterbrained and overheated when she looked at him.

                He nodded, “Kids, remember the game room I showed you earlier?” Julian questioned and both kids nodded excitedly.

                “You should see it, mommy!” Audrey exclaimed, “There’s video games, air hockey, bowling! It’s amazing!”

                Abbey’s eyes widened. They had a bowling alley in their house? How in the world did they have so much money? “That’s… nice,” she offered.

                “You two go play and we’ll be down soon,” Marcus told the bouncing children. Tanner slid from Abbey’s lap and the two of them disappeared down the hall, laughing with every step they took.

                “A bowling alley?” Abbey whispered.

                Marcus shrugged, “I like to bowl.”

                “It’s only two lanes,” Julian added.

                “Oh..okay,” Abbey stared down at the granite counter in front of her and tried her very best to ignore the heat coming off the two men currently occupying the kitchen with her.

                She could hear Julian doing something with dishes behind her and she knew that Marcus’s ice blue eyes were locked on her from across the island.

                “I think we need to talk,” Abbey managed to begin with only the slightest tremble in her voice.

                “You need to eat,” Julian countered as he sat a plate of spaghetti in front of her. “The kids picked what dinner was going to be. I hope spaghetti works for you.”

                “Yeah…” Abbey stared at Julian in shock. Never in her life had a man cooked for her. Joseph probably would have allowed himself to starve to death before he would have cooked his own meal, let alone a meal for her.

                She began to eat slowly, still fully aware of the two sets of eyes watching her. Finally Julian’s voice broke the awkward silence, “Abbey, we had to bring you back here. You weren’t in any shape to be alone.”

                “I know…” Abbey felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment.

                “We’re going to keep you safe, Abbey,” Marcus’s deep voice sent little tremors of pleasure washing over Abbey’s skin. “No one is going to hurt you or the kids.”

                “Why?” Abbey couldn’t stop herself from asking as she sat down her fork. “Why do you all care so much?” She knew she wasn’t what society deemed was a ‘beautiful’ woman. She was short, plain and chubby and she had two children on top of that!

                She looked back and forth between the brother’s and saw them share a look. Julian gave Marcus a warning gaze while Marcus appeared irritated. It was as if they were speaking without speaking.

                “If this is some sort of magic trick or some kind of game for the two of you then I’ll just let you know that I don’t appreciate it. I’ve been through too much, my children have been through too much to….”

                “It’s not a goddamned magic trick, Abbey.”

                “Marcus…” Julian warned.

                “The woman wants to know, Julian, and we don’t have a choice but to tell her.” Abbey focused her attention on Marcus and she nearly swallowed her tongue when he stood, (looking sinful in a pair of worn jeans that hugged his long thick legs and a black t-shirt that emphasized the broad set of his shoulders), and walked around to her.

                Marcus crouched so he was on Abbey’s level and met, and held, her gaze. Abbey felt her thighs tremble when Marcus’s hand came to rest above her knee, searing her flesh through the fabric of her jeans.  “You are our mate, Abbey.”

A/N: The next chapter should prove to be interesting ;)