Matched To His Bears (The Dates of

Our Lives Book 15) MM Lorelei M. Hart

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MATCHED TO HIS BEARS
THE DATES OF OUR LIVES
BOOK FIFTEEN

LORELEI M. HART
COLBIE DUNBAR

SURRENDERED PRESS
 CONTE NTS

1. Anson
2. Hector
3. Travis
4. Anson
5. Hector
6. Travis
7. Anson
8. Hector
9. Travis
10. Anson
11. Hector
12. Travis
13. Anson
14. Hector
15. Travis
16. Anson
17. Hector
18. Travis
19. Anson
20. Hector
21. Travis
22. Anson
23. Travis
24. Hector
Keep In Touch
Surrendered Press

Matched to His Bears

Copyright © 2024 by Lorelei M. Hart & Colbie Dunbar
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written
permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
 1

ANSON

I checked my phone and groaned because I was late.

It was almost seven, and I was still on the bus. I used to have a car, but it stayed in the garage all week because the public
transport in my city was efficient, cheap, and produced less pollution than if all the passengers had driven to work. I’d sold the
car, and if I was at a work function, I booked a rideshare home.
This week there’d been extensive road works on my bus route, causing the delays, and I was late to watch my favorite serial,
Shifter World. For sure I’d be tossing cushions at the TV screen as I did every night, because Greg and Finn, my favorite
characters, weren’t sleeping together yet.
The writers had drawn out their will-they, won’t-they routine for years, and I’d written to the producers, demanding they give
us, their loyal followers, a happy ending.
How I wished the many twists and turns in Shifter World had happened to me. Not the being dumped, thrown in jail, and having
affairs left, right, and center antics. No, I wanted to be a spy, sussing out possible collaborators while falling in love and
having kids. And if shifters were real, I wanted one for a mate.
I’d auditioned for a bit part in Shifter World one summer when I was at college but didn’t get it. Probably a good thing or I’d
have spent time on set swooning after the actors and asking for autographs.
The bus trundled to my stop, and I leaped out, almost twisting my ankle. Racing the half-block to my house, I flung myself in the
front door—it was a good idea to install a thumbprint lock—and onto the sofa. I’d missed a minute, but that was a recap of last
week’s episodes.
Kicking off my shoes, I lay on the couch, engrossed in every scene, and during the ads, I grabbed snacks and water.
“Shocker,” I yelled to an empty room. “Greg and Finn danced around one another.” Predictably, I threw cushions at the TV and
texted my friend. We often did a Shifter World watchalong on the weekend where they replayed that week’s episodes.
Shawn and I messaged back and forth about the sets, how the actors gazed at one another, what nefarious plots some of them
were involved in, and predicted what would happen on the next episode.
But Shawn rocked my world. There are rumors in online forums that Shifter World might end this year.
My heart flip flopped as I imagined my nights without the soap opera.
Don’t believe everything you read, I told him. I sounded dismissive, but I grabbed a cushion and screamed into it.
When I was done and I had wiped away the tears, I got up and checked what was in the fridge. With no energy to cook, I made
myself a sandwich and grabbed an apple. While I ate, I thought about how a soap opera was such an important part of my life
and why I’d had a meltdown at the whisper of it finishing its years-long run.
I didn’t have to dig deep to come up with the why. The characters were my friends, my family, and in my dreams, I often
inserted myself into Shifter World scenarios. Longing for a family, a husband, kids and all that entailed, such as opening
presents on Christmas morning, the soap opera characters filled the hole in my life.
Shawn and I were often up late at night discussing plots, and while we were both in Shifter World forums, the rabid-fan spats
were too much for me. I was a lover not a fighter—in my head, anyway. There was not much love between the sheets in this
house.
It was so damned hard to meet anyone. I’d joined a library, hoping I’d meet an omega who, when he peered at me over his
glasses, would fall for me instantly, and we’d tear off one another’s clothes between the stacks. But the only people I met at my
local library were grumpy old men reading newspapers who shushed anyone who breathed too loudly.
There were dance classes where a guy broke my toe with his two left feet and a pottery class where my pot whizzed off the
wheel, slapping the teacher in the face. I’d joined an early-morning running group where the head of the group was so fierce
about my lack of technique, I burst into tears, telling him he was an ass, and he banned me from the group. Asshat.
There were some alphas who would have argued with him, challenged him, maybe punched his lights out, but that wasn’t me. I
was all about the quiet life.
Shawn had dragged me to a few clubs on weekends, but they were dark, the music was loud, the drinks expensive, and I
cowered in a corner, leaving as soon as I could because all those people drunkenly breathing on me was a turnoff and scary! I
was manhandled when I told one omega I didn’t want to dance and had had the bruises to prove it.
The phone beeped, sending my heart racing, thinking it was Shawn with more bad news. I ignored it and answered work
emails. But the damned phone wouldn’t stop dinging, and when it was eventually quiet, it rang. I buried it under a cushion and
continued to type.
I sighed because I couldn’t avoid the bad news forever. It was Shawn, but when I scrolled through his messages, he was
rabbiting on about a dating app. Oh no! We’d been down that rabbit hole before. I giggled at my bunny references, but my friend
reminded me of one, with his cute twitchy nose and adorable ears.
No dating apps, I texted.
The phone rang while I was still holding it. “Shawn.”
That was the only word I got out because a stream of words shot out through the phone, and I held it away from my ear. I caught
love, hate, and ta-da, which didn’t make much sense. He sounded as though he’d been running. Maybe he joined that group I
was a member of for five whole minutes and he’d raced home after they treated him badly.
“Slow down and start from the beginning.”
“There’s this dating app that’s been around for a while, and there’s a rumor one of the producers or something of Shifter World
is involved, maybe even owns it.” His squeeing was infectious, and I jumped up and down on the couch. But when I calmed
down, I figured it might not be healthy to mix a fantasy world with the real one.
But the more Shawn spoke, the more intrigued I became. It was a simple concept where you listed one love and one hate, hence
the name, Love & Hate.
“I’m signing up, and I’m going to post on the helpline, and maybe the Shifter World person will reply.”
Poor Shawn. I thought I was deeply immersed in the Shifter World fandom, but he was ten levels above me. Or was it below if
he was in deep? My tired brain couldn’t compute. Whoever owned the Shifter World production company wouldn’t be on an
app, even if they also owned it, helping people who’d clicked the wrong button or had input their incorrect birth date.
“I’ll send you a link.”
I agreed and hung up. It beeped again a second later, but I needed a cup of tea before I downloaded the new app and went
through the instructions. And it was getting late. Did I want to do it now or wait until tomorrow? If I did it this evening, I’d be
awake all night wondering if someone had responded to my love and hate. But if I put it off, I’d dream of how I met my one and
only and how he looked like Finn. Or maybe he was more of a Greg.
It’d been a long day, so I compromised by thinking about my one love and one hate. It was harder than I thought, but my first
love was Shifter World. That would weed out anyone who thought soap operas were only for retired folk and stay-at-home
parents and poked fun at them.
I was tempted to change it to Greg and Finn. I puzzled over whether I should change it, but that was pretty OTT, so I left it as it
was. The one hate was pretty easy: public transport that ran late.
My prep was done, and I filled in the app details that all apps, whether dating or otherwise, wanted, and added my love and
hate. But how could I avoid looking at it all night? If Shawn were here, he’d confiscate it.
In the end, I decided on the garden shed. It was locked and no one would break in there to steal a few boxes of crap, a rake,
and leaf blower. No way would I get up in the middle of the night and trudge into the garden with a flashlight.
Would I?
 2

H E C TO R

“I can do anything for one week. I can do anything for one week. I can do anything for one week,” I mumbled to myself over
and over, willing it to be true.
My beast did not agree.
When my boss asked me to do the training, he said I could do it online or in person. I agreed to the former. Why wouldn’t I? It
meant the possibility of a promotion, and the company was paying for it, not me. Everything was fine and dandy.
That was until the company offering the training decided that online “didn’t have the same impact” that in-person did and
canceled that side of their business. If my boss was a shifter, I could have been straight with him, told him that my bear hated
being where the trees were sparse and the scent of exhaust covered everything. But George was human, and I couldn’t see a
way out of this trip.
It sucked. But it was only one week. As true as that was, it already felt like a decade, and I’d only left my house the night
before. I probably should’ve shifted before I left. I took the train to avoid dealing with city traffic, and five minutes in my beast
was already bitching at me.
The speakers squawked, and the conductor let us know that we were only one stop away from my final destination, which
happened to be the end of the line. Did that have the guy sitting next to me take that as a sign to turn off his horror movie, the
one he’d had on full blast in his headphones? Of course not. If the boss ever decided to make me travel again, I was a thousand
percent demanding one of those private cars. That was for sure.
My beast heard that we were about to pull into the station, and instead of chilling with the end in sight, he pushed me harder. I
didn’t think he would really fur out on a train, but I wasn’t willing to risk it. I pushed him down.
“Sir, do you need a bag?” the conductor asked as they walked past for their final walk through.
“No. Why?”
“You looked… never mind.”
I looked like a shifter controlling their beast, but if they wanted to interpret that as having a crap stomach, that was probably for
the best.
We pulled in a few minutes later. I was so grateful. It took forever to de-board the train, but the fresh air coming through the
door sated my bear enough to calm his ass down. Being in the middle of the car wasn’t ideal. I had to wait for a ton of people
before I could even exit my seat. But it was a thousand times better than if I had to walk through cars first, like I suspected
would be the case on the way back based on my seat assignment. I’d cross that bridge when I got to it.
My carry-on in tow, I worked my way toward the baggage. My bear wanted me to leave without bothering, but wearing the
same outfit every day to the training would get stinky quickly. And besides, at most it was only going to add a few minutes. It
wasn’t like I was asking him to stay there until the middle of the night or anything.
The bags were already being unloaded when I arrived. It was every man for himself. People were so sure that they were going
to miss their bag coming around the first time that they would take someone out to be up front. It was ridiculous, given that the
bags were literally right there and would still be there if they had to walk two feet.
I watched as little old ladies hip-checked people to get their bags, others pushed their way through to get theirs, and one person
even yelled at someone for not getting a bag for them. I wasn’t sure how they thought the poor guy knew they wanted him to. All
manners were officially out the window, and that was why I waited for the crowd to clear out. One more shoulder bump or
shove to the side over a bag and I might just control my bear enough that he’d growl or my eyes would shift before I could stop
him. No one needed that.
Once I had my bag in hand, I went out the closest door. It wasn’t where I’d be able to grab a ride, but that was fine. Walking
into the fresh air was a thousand times better than being in the stale, smelly atmosphere inside. And it wasn’t that it stank of
body odor. There were just so many perfumes and types of fabrics, and the food… so much stale food people packed to eat
along the way. Outside was a thousand percent better.
I pulled out my phone and turned it on so I could call for a ride share. My boss had authorized me to rent a car, but driving in
the city would be dreadful, with me in the wrong lane and other drivers yelling at me. I’d much rather pay someone else to do
it. And by that I meant to have my boss pay.
It took a bit for my phone to reboot, and when it did, the thing exploded. Message after message after notification after
notification. Most of the messages were from the train reminding me to check in, the size they allowed for carry-on, when we
took off, the two minutes we were arriving early, and on and on and on.
I ignored all of it and pulled up the app I needed and put in for a ride. Being at the train station, I expected it to be quick.
Instead, when I finally reached the waiting area, I had to wait for another forty-five minutes.
Watching my phone to see where the car I called was located was as entertaining as it sounded, but at least it gave me
something to do. Lesson learned. Next time I needed to order ahead—if there was a next time.
Please don’t let there be a next time.
Finally my ride, a teal minivan, pulled up.
“Hector?” the woman driving the car called out her window.
“Yeah. Can I put this in the back?” I held up my suitcase and heard the telltale click of her unlocking the tailgate.
I pulled it open to put my bag in and instantly scented shifter. Not a bear, but a shifter. Maybe they could help me figure out a
decent place to shift. I shut it, and it went down a little too quickly.
“Sorry, I slammed the tailgate too hard.” I sat in my seat and then proceeded to do the same to the sliding door. “And that one
too.”
“No worries. If your bear is anything like my lion, being in a metal tube on a rail wasn’t their favorite thing. It’s probably him
acting out.”
I wasn’t sure if that was the case, but it was nice she put the shifter thing out there so I didn’t have to.
“Yeah. He was not impressed.”
She double-checked my destination and pulled out.
“It will be about half an hour in today’s traffic. I promise I’m not doing the ‘take the tourist the wrong way’ thing.”
“I’m here for work, and I hadn’t considered you would, especially knowing that my beast is being a butt.” If anything, she’d
want to avoid him ripping her minivan’s seats. “Speaking of my bear, is there someplace I can sneak off to shift around here?”
“Are you getting a car?” That didn’t sound promising.
“No. But I can if needed.”
“Then I can give the location of a safe place for shifters to let their fur out, but it’s nearly an hour.”
“An hour? Locals can’t shift unless they drive an hour away?” How were there any shifters even here? That had to be a
horrible existence for their poor beasts.
“There’s a private park slash club within the city limits, but it’s pricey and only for locals and their families.” She slammed on
her brakes, the car in front of her deciding to slow down for a reason I couldn’t figure out. “And squirrel and raccoon shifters
and the like can shift without being noticed.” She kept on talking as if we hadn’t nearly gotten into an accident.
I decided it was best to let her concentrate and took out my phone to deal with all the notifications I’d ignored earlier. Most
were from work, or more accurately, the training group I was to meet up with in the morning. And of course, there were some
advertisements. But what stole my interest was the Love & Hate app. It had switched over to my new location automatically
and wanted to connect me to some local shifters.
Maybe that was what I needed—a hook-up with a local. It couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do when the work
training came to a close each night.
 3

T R AV I S

This is the life. I cast my line into the river.

Sure is, my bear replied, though he was itching to shift and catch fish himself rather than waiting for me to do it the human way.
It’s soooo slow, he complained.
It was early morning and some of the woodland animals were still asleep, while others were heading to their burrows. Before
dawn was the best time for fishing, though many people favored dusk. Here in my corner of the world, on a piece of land I
owned, I lived out my life without alarm clocks and knocks at the door.
My bear harrumphed because the description made me seem like a backwoods man who never saw another person and went to
town once a year. Not true. There were other shifters in my area living in log cabins as I did, but I might go days without seeing
them. And I was only an hour from the city and went in every couple of weeks. I also had a phone and wifi because I worked
from home.
It was the best of both worlds: I got the privacy I craved and all the advantages of modern life without having to commute or
breathe polluted air.
After wandering back to my cabin, I was on the porch removing my boots when the phone rang. I never took it when fishing
because no one phoned that early in the morning, and despite being a shifter with superior hearing and sight, I was kinda
clumsy. My friends were puzzled over a bear shifter who tripped over his own feet.
It’s embarrassing. My bear rolled his eyes whenever I stumbled or fell head first into the river or a muddy puddle.
Striding inside, I grabbed the phone. Grandpa. My heart paused and so did my breathing until my bear massaged my heart, and I
took a deep breath.
“Hi, Grandpa.” I tried to keep my voice even, unlike the contents of my belly which were ricocheting around my insides.
“Travis, my favorite grandson. Been out fishing?”
Hearing my grandfather’s voice on the line, not a policeman and not a neighbor saying he’d been taken to the hospital, the day
brightened and I vowed to visit him this afternoon.
“You know me so well, Grandpa.”
“Found a mate yet?”
I cringed, wishing I could say yes, but he was aware there were no unmated alphas in my vicinity. “Nope. There are slim
pickings out here, as you well know.”
“That’s why you need to come live in the city.”
“I love my solitude, Grandpa.”
He sighed. “That’s not why I’m calling. I have big news.”
“Okay.” He was in his seventies, so big news could be bad, as in he was in the hospital or he’d sold his house, bought a van,
and was going to travel the country. “Spill.”
“The senior living community has a place for me.”
He’d put his name down years ago, because if you waited until you needed it, you’d be left with few choices. And while he
could stay in his own home a while longer, if you didn’t accept an offer, your name went to the bottom of the list or you were
kicked off it.
“Oh.” It was the end of an era, as I recalled sitting on a swing in his backyard, under a towering oak tree; his vegetable garden
where I’d helpfully pulled out weeds that turned out not to be weeds; and the meals we’d eaten on the back porch where he’d
tell me of his childhood. It would all end when he moved and sold the house.
“I need a favor because I can’t pack up the house alone.”
That was Grandpa’s first admission that he wasn’t as spritely as he once was.
“I’m on my way. See you in just over an hour.”
I showered, packed a bag, and drove into the city.
Traffic. Blah! My beast was not a fan of bumper-to-bumper cars. I warned him packing up a house wasn’t done overnight, not
unless you hired a team of movers. I had my laptop which was all I needed to work. That and my phone.
Grandpa greeted me with lunch on the back porch. Whereas once he would have had three courses because he loved food, and
his cooking prowess was legendary; but now it was sandwiches and muffins, which was more than enough, but the comparison
to previous years was obvious.
“My friend down the road is moving to the same senior living community, and he says the place has plenty of hot guys.”
I stifled a giggle and the urge to pretend to be shocked and shout, “Grandpa.” Age didn’t dull the desire for love and sex! I
hoped I’d be as perky as him when I was his age.
He wasn’t moving into a room with a bathroom, but a small one-bedroom apartment where he could lock the door each night.
He could cook his own food or join everyone in the dining hall, so he could be as independent or reliant as he wanted.
“We can make a start tomorrow, and the first thing we need to do is decide what you want to throw, donate, sell, or keep.”
Even after doing that, he’d probably have too much stuff, and we’d have to whittle it down, but that process would get rid of
years of accumulated stuff.
“Your room’s ready. Might be some dust in the corners, but that never hurt anyone.”
Unless you had allergies, which I didn’t.
“Maybe we can tackle the garden shed first.” I visited one of my grandfather’s friends in the community last year. Grandpa
would have a tiny garden, mainly consisting of pots, so he wouldn’t need most of what was in the shed.
The first few days were hard, as Grandpa paused every few minutes and reminisced about an object he’d bought with his mate
or he told a tale associated with a photo. He wanted to keep everything, and I wished we had one of those TV experts who
removed clutter in a day.
The days were long, and every morning I’d wake up to a new ache. Maybe I should’ve been moving into the senior community
with my grandfather.
The phone dinged, and I fumbled with it, my eyes still closed, hoping it wasn’t the office. Grandpa and I worked together in the
morning, and after lunch, I left him to putter around and go through his things. That resulted in him sitting in a room, emptying
boxes of newspaper clippings, and trawling through memories decades old.
Afternoons were for my work, and the plan was to help my grandfather again after dinner. But we were both pooped by early
evening, and I ordered food before we slumped in front of the TV and Grandpa fell asleep snoring until I told him to go to bed.
With one eye open, I squinted at the phone and read the message previews. What? Someone was babbling about my love and
hate. There were invitations to lunch, dinner, and a quick fuck in an office stairwell. I scrolled through them before using face
recognition to access the phone.
There was an app I didn’t recognize, and an icon with an L and H entwined with what appeared to be a wolf’s head as the
background, and a small S in the corner. I’d never downloaded that app. What the fuckity fuck?
Opening it, I discovered the name: Love & Hate. Ridiculous name for a dating app. Who the heck signed up for these things?
Me, apparently, and with no memory of doing it.
You didn’t. My bear didn’t care about phones and apps, but having another being inside me acted like a memory rewind button.
When I forgot something, he was able to remind me.
Who did? No, don’t answer that. Grandpa. Why didn’t you stop him?
How? By shifting and growling at him?
My grandfather wasn’t a shifter like me, but he had been mated to a bear shifter, and his daughter, my mother, was also a shifter.
While he’d lived all his adult life with a bear, scaring a elderly man in the middle of the night wasn’t recommended.
Apparently he’d taken my phone when I was asleep and returned it around dawn. I adored him, but he was a meddler. He’d
been mated in his early twenties, and I was close to thirty. Too late to find my one and only, according to him.
My finger hovered over the app, ready to delete it. I hesitated, wondering if it was worth taking a peek at the responses. I’d
probably fall down a hole of dick jokes, guys wanting to inspect my hole, and asking for my measurements—and not my height
and weight.
First I checked out what Grandpa had written about me. I love meeting new people and hate being alone. What? That
described someone else, a person I didn’t recognize. But it might be fun to play along. I might get a date.
Another message arrived.
Do you like whipped cream?
With what, I wondered before putting the phone down and going back to sleep. But Grandpa had the last laugh, because I
dreamed of an omega licking cream off my cock.
And I woke up hard!
 4

ANSON

“I got a match.”
Leaping up from the couch, I danced around the living room. Twirling and swirling, I ripped off my button-down and did a strip
tease, rubbing the shirt over my ass and swaying. Not that I’d ever danced, let alone stripped, for a lover.
Travis! Even his name was cute.
I wished Love & Hate allowed photo uploads, but I understood why they didn’t. No, they did, but people had to agree, and
Travis hadn’t. Maybe he wanted to connect with someone without letting looks interfere with his decision
Before I responded to Travis, I messaged Shawn, asking what to say, but he wasn’t answering his texts.
Must be on a date because he always responds.
While I pondered my reply, I went over what Travis had said about my love and hate. He also enjoyed Shifter World and
watched the reruns in the morning with his friends. That had me questioning what he did for work, but many people worked
from home these days and perhaps he did shift work.
Don’t make assumptions before you meet the guy, I told myself.
He was in complete agreement about public transport, saying he rarely used his car. I liked that he was also environmentally
conscious, and it was so cute when he said, Go green. Isn’t that what the young folks say?
There was a gap of some hours before his next response of Maybe you’d like to grab a coffee? I’m in town for a few weeks.
I squeed because he wanted to meet up. Coffee was good, rather than a movie or dinner. I pictured sitting with someone I didn’t
like and being captive in a movie theater.
But shoot, he wasn’t from here. What if he was the one and we made plans and then poof, he left? I’d go with him. There was
nothing tying me to the city other than a job and the home I owned. But there’d be more jobs and more homes.
I’d love to.
My heart galloped as I studied the phone, willing Travis to respond. Come on. A distraction was what I needed. A shower.
Perfect. If I watched the phone, nothing would happen, but as soon as I soaped myself up, Travis would message.
But even though I placed the phone on the vanity, I turned the water on and off, thinking I’d heard it dinging. Damn. That was
pointless because I had dregs of shampoo in my hair and I’d hardly washed myself.
Shifter World. I’d immerse myself in the program and forget about Travis for thirty minutes.
But whenever Greg and Finn were in a scene and interacted, I imagined them saying Anson and Travis. I traipsed into the
kitchen, and as I poked my head in the pantry looking for dinner inspiration, the phone beeped.
Hurling myself over the sofa—wow, I didn’t know I could do that—I grabbed it, my fingers trembling as I stabbed the Love &
Hate app.
Travis suggested a time and date. Tomorrow. So soon. I had to mentally prepare myself for a date ‘cause it’d been so long
since I’d been on one.
Okay, I typed, though if Travis could see and hear me bouncing up and down, he’d think I was gushing rather than tapping on
the phone’s teeny-tiny keyboard.
I was awake most of the night, planning what to wear and whether I should get to the coffee shop early and be there first or
arrive right on time and saunter over to my date. The café was close to my office, and there was no time to go home first. I took
a change of clothes, deodorant, and a toothbrush with me so I’d be as minty fresh as possible without having a shower.
Arriving at the coffee shop a minute before the appointed time, I wiped my hands on a tissue and threw it in the garbage before
opening the door. But as my eyes scanned the room for Travis—he said he’d be wearing a blue shirt—my knees gave out, and I
sagged against the door.
Wowza! Travis was hot, hot, hot! He lifted a hand and gave a half-hearted wave, as though he was disappointed at seeing me.
Oh gods, maybe I should have worn a different shirt.
We greeted one another awkwardly, him bending forward and me thinking he was going to kiss me.
After ordering our drinks, we made small talk. Turned out he only lived an hour away, so I mentally added a check mark in his
pro column, but he shredded a napkin while we chatted. Perhaps the guy was as nervous as I was. I suffered from sweaty
palms, and he tore bits of paper.
“How about Greg and Finn?” I giggled, eagerly awaiting his response. As we were both huge Shifter World fans, I figured that
would get the conversation flowing.
His blank expression didn’t inspire confidence. “Who?”
Either his nerves were clouding his thoughts or Travis wasn’t the guy I thought he was.
“The Shifter World characters?” Now I grabbed a napkin and tore it. The wait staff were going to be peeved when they bussed
the table. We’d have to take the shreds with us.
“Oh right, them. Yeah, they’re okay.” He glanced at his lap, and my excitement which had been deflating since I arrived,
popped as though someone had pricked it. “My grandfather loves that show.”
Grandfather? Hmmm. I picked up a sugar sachet and dumped the contents in my coffee, even though I didn’t take sugar. Taking a
big gulp, I grimaced at the overly sweet taste.
“I’m really sorry.” Travis gripped his mug with both hands.
Huh? Why was he apologizing? Either this match was a waste of time and we could leave and never have to see one another
again, or I could ask him. Gathering my courage, I asked, “Is there something wrong with me?”
“Gods, no,” he blurted out. “You’re per… great.”
I was per…? Damn, he had to finish that sentence. Great didn’t cut it. I was per something.
“I have a confession.” He worried his bottom lip.
No, go back to me being per… I sighed. “Okay. Go on.”
“You’re not the only alpha I spoke with on Love & Hate.”
My dreams crumpled, and Travis stamped on the remains. I bit my lip, willing the tears to stay back. He couldn’t see me cry.
“I wanted to be honest because you seem like a great guy, and I’d hate our first date to be based on a lie.” He opened his mouth
to continue but snapped it shut. Maybe there was something else he was hiding, his lack of Shifter World knowledge perhaps.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“You’re so nice. I would have yelled and stormed outta here.”
“Nah.” I tapped my feet on the floor. “That’s me prepping to stomp out.”
Travis laughed, and I joined in.
“I feel so guilty, but you both sounded perfect.”
And there it was. The per word was perfect. Shame another alpha was also per… per… perfect.
“Don’t. We hadn’t made any lifetime commitment.” I had done that in my head, but that didn’t count.
“True, but it felt a little icky keeping it hidden.”
“Go on your date. Maybe that guy is the one person on this earth for you.” Travis’s eyes swam with tears as I spoke. And I
meant what I said, or my head did. My heart was thumping and telling me to throw myself at my date.
Travis drained his coffee and took my hand. I almost jerked away as a bolt of something surged through my veins, and my cock
responded.
“Anson, I really like you, but I’m committed to this other date.”
“I won’t stand in the way of your happiness.” That was how we parted, with him heading one way and me ordering a rideshare.
I wiped away a tear and sniffed as the driver pulled onto the road. Travis was a keeper, but someone else might want to keep
him.
Back at home, I changed into PJs and grabbed a tub of ice cream from the freezer. Tonight called for a rewatch of my favorite
Shifter World episode.
A guy like Travis was how I imagined my future husband. Hot and sexy, yes, but that was the packaging. Inside, he was sweet,
kind, and honest.
I picked up the phone, thinking I’d look at Love & Hate. Travis wouldn’t be the only nice omega there. I consoled myself with
too much ice cream, the sugary concoction making my teeth ache, and I howled at Greg and Finn almost… almost getting
together.
If I was a meanie, I’d concentrate hard and my thoughts might make Travis miss the date or the other guy be an asshat. But I
couldn’t summon the energy. Fate would either bring Travis back or not.
The phone pinged, and my heart leaped, thinking Travis had decided not to see the other alpha! But it was Shawn raving about
his date and how they were meant for one another.
I sent him an eggplant emoji.
 5

H E C TO R

Travis, the guy I matched with, was all I could think about. We hadn’t really talked much, but my bear was already in agreement
that he was going to be good for us. Maybe he was a bear? I’d find out soon enough.
In a mate, I didn’t care what kind of shifter fate set out for me. Why would I? They obviously knew hella better than I did about
such things. But for a one-night or at the very most one-week hook-up? Being with another bear would be much simpler.
I wouldn’t have to hold back any of my bear-ish qualities like I might with another beast. As much as my bear was a gentle one,
if you were out with a mouse shifter or a rabbit shifter, they could easily be intimidated by the sheer size of my animal. And
honestly, I wouldn’t blame them. I’d probably feel similarly if the guy were a lion or a dragon.
For sure, two bears were ideal in this situation. No one needed complications when away from home and looking for a hook-
up. But also, who said I had to even shift with them? Maybe they were just looking for some steamy time in my hotel room.
That wasn’t how I usually rolled, but it wasn’t as if I could start a brand-new relationship while on a work trip so far from
home.
Travis hadn’t chatted much. Once I got to the hotel, I’d been all about grabbing a shower, ordering room service, and then
getting some sleep. And really, what was the point of all the get-to-know-you first date kind of stuff? I was looking for someone
to kill some time with and possibly grab a shift with. Maybe they knew of some place my driver didn’t or the best place to
order a nice salmon dinner. Or better yet, maybe they belonged to the private park I heard about and I could romp around with a
bunch of shifters.
My mind was going in too many directions. This being stuck surrounded by concrete and breathing in all the pollution was
getting to both me and my bear. Just because I was feeling overstimulated by my surroundings didn’t mean I needed to put all of
my hope for things to suck less into one dating app date. That was unfair pressure for the poor guy. For all I knew he’d meet
me, say thanks but no thanks, and then find a reason to leave. I needed to temper my expectations by a mile or seven.
I was meeting him for drinks at my hotel after my training. I didn’t see any reason to pretend that I was looking for a love
match, and if he looked at the location and thought it was a booty call, so be it. It sort of was.
My day had been so beyond long already. We started at seven am with a mandatory breakfast slash opening pep talk. Only, their
idea of breakfast was little round pastries that were at least a few days past their peak freshness at best, and the pep talk had
me dreading the day even more. If only that were the worst part of the day.
I listened to long powerpoint after long powerpoint about the new computing system my office was about to adopt. It was half
infomercial and half instructional. And while I knew this information was going to come in handy when it was finally
integrated, listening to them drone on and on and on and on was not fun. The only thing that kept me awake had been the bad
coffee and the person sitting next to me who was sure that I wanted to know about their cats—all five of them—and would
chatter away anytime the presentation lulled.
Lunch was a smidgeon better than breakfast, but not by much, and when we were finally dismissed for the day, I was ready to
eat a horse. I checked my phone, and I had an hour before I had to meet my date. It wasn’t a lot of time but better than it
could’ve been.
The bar did have some appetizers, but nothing meal worthy. Mainly, it was variations of fries. I had a few choices: Ask him to
dinner instead, elevating the entire get-to-know-you time to date level in one swift motion, or I go out and grab a sandwich now
and not have time to freshen up. Or I could suck it up and be hungry to give myself time to take a shower before I met my date. I
chose the final option.
I could always grab room service later if this flopped or maybe move the entire thing to a restaurant. There were options.
My packing hadn’t included “date” clothing. It was pretty much all business casual. I ended up putting on a pair of khakis and
my wear-on-the-way-home t-shirt and called it good enough.
The bar was pretty crowded when I arrived, and I opted to go in and find a table to avoid the awkward waiting for something
to open up in the crowded entryway. Was I glad that I did. As soon as I stepped inside, the scent of honeysuckles and orange
blossoms nearly bowled me over. They must’ve used the other entrance because there was no way I’d have missed that
heavenly scent while walking here.
Mate.
Ours.
Find.
My mate was here, in the bar. I didn’t waste time, following the scent easily to a corner table.
“Hi. Just one second, I need to do something.” I pulled out my phone to cancel my date. It was a dick move to tell him never
mind only ten minutes before we were supposed to meet, but I rationalized it, deciding that it would be more of a dick move to
meet him knowing my mate was here.
His phone started to buzz just as I slipped my phone in my back pocket, and he reached for it. I could hardly blame him, given I
met him and said one word before ditching him for my screen.
“Did you just cancel your date?” He looked up at me, and I nodded. “Thanks. I was about to do the same and you saved me the
trouble.”
He turned his phone around for me to see, and I finally pieced it together.
“You’re Travis?” The dating app gods were shining down upon me. That was for sure.
“And you’re Hector.” He patted the spot on the bench behind him, and I slid in.
Had we been in shifter space, we’d probably have leaned in and scented each other deeply. But we weren’t, and instead, I
shuffled closer, hoping for a tad more of his delicious scent.
“Really scent me. Pretend we’re going to kiss,” he whispered.
It wasn’t pretending I wanted to. I wanted to kiss each and every inch of his body. My cock was so unbearably hard, and I’d
barely met the guy. He was my true mate. I was sure of it.
I did as he said, hating that my lips weren’t on his, and when I did, my world shifted on its axis. There was another scent, one
blended with his.
“It’s not just you.” I set my head on his shoulder, not ready to move away from him just yet.
“No. It’s not. I just met him. His name is Anson, and he’s ours, and he’s… not like us.” Meaning human… maybe… I’d find out
soon enough.
Anson. Anson. My other mate’s name was Anson.
“Why are you here if you have a mate?” Was he the disloyal type? I’d never heard of true mates so much as looking at another.
But that didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
“I… I didn’t know.” He took me by the hand. “Can we go somewhere else so we can talk?”
“I have a room.” Which sounded very much like a call to banging. But that wasn’t it. As much as I’d love to get him naked. We
had a ton to talk about. There was a third. I didn’t have a mate, I had two, and how did we get to this point? I still had no idea.
“Take me.”
I shimmied out of the booth, not letting go of his hand. He let go long enough to fish a few bucks out of his pocket for the server.
There was only water on that table and that made his gesture even kinder. He wasn’t paying his bill, he was being generous to
the server who had given him their time. He had a kind heart. At least that was how I was choosing to interpret it.
I grabbed his hand the second the money was on the table, needing his warmth against my palm. “I’m this way.”
We wove through the bar and to the elevator. The door opened as we arrived, a couple stepping off.
“Perfect timing.” He pulled me into the elevator, not that I wasn’t going willingly. I was thrilled to see him as excited as I was.
“What floor?”
I told him, and he pressed it, the two of us silent the entire trip up. It wasn’t that there was an awkwardness to us being trapped
in the confined space that had me silent. His entire being was filling up my senses. I was surrounded by him, his scent… and
the scent of our third.
As much as I wanted to stay enveloped by his scent, I needed to be in my room more. There was much to say, non-human things
to say, and the sooner we got them out, the sooner we’d be able to start our life together.
At least that was where my mind was headed. We still needed to talk. Stupid city being surrounded by humans. Although, was it
really stupid if I found my mate, possibly mates, here?
I barely had the door shut when I started to let the questions fly.
“You’re my mate, right? I’m not wrong, am I?”
“You’re not wrong. I’m your mate, and we have a third. His name is Anson.” He sat on the edge of my bed. “I just met him, and
I thought he was… but until I scented you, I wasn’t sure. It was like everything made sense at that moment.”
I sort of understood what he was saying. Scenting our mate on him did change things.
“He’s amazing, but…” Travis hesitated.
“But?”
“But he’s human, and as far as I can tell, he knows nothing of our world.” He fell back, his body flat on the bed, his feet still
touching the floor. “And I came here… I don’t know. It felt wrong not to, but I can’t fully explain why.”
Which was fair enough. If he was as kind as he appeared, of course he wanted to not be a dick and stand someone up.
“But also, I didn’t know he was for sure my mate until I scented you. I was half thinking I was just really attracted to him. He’s
super hot.”
I joined him on the bed, both of us with our backs flat against the mattress and looking straight up.
“And now you know. Just like I know.” I held his hand between us.
“Yeah. It’s like you’d have been good, and he’d have been good, but both of you… we’re going to be great. Only there's one
problem…”
“Our mate doesn’t know our kind exists.” I gave his hand a squeeze.
“That.” He turned onto his side, facing me, our hands still joined. “Now what?”
That was a very good question, one I had no answer to.
 6

T R AV I S

“So, Grandpa, I need to talk to you about something, but I don’t want… There’s parts of it I don’t want to discuss.”
I’d promised Hector that I’d figure out the next step, asking my gramps for advice, and now that I was here, it was a lot harder
than I thought it would be.
I loved my gramps, and he’d always fostered an open relationship with me. It wasn’t him that I was struggling with—it was
me. Was I bear enough to be the man they needed me to be, especially when one was a human who I’d all but abandoned on our
first date?
“That only makes the entire thing sound sketchy.” He put books on the shelf.
At the rate it was filling up, I was going to need to put together the new one before we gave up for the night. That might be for
the best. I needed something to distract me. That was for sure.
I’d been helping him move in. There was a ton to do, but going piecemeal like we’d been doing felt like the best option.
Moving sucked and wore me out. And Grandpa? He had a bunch of years on me. It had to be worse for him.
“Does that mean you’re out? I don’t want to scandalize you,” I teased, knowing full well he was only going to want to know
more, thanks to my willingness to let it go. That was how he rolled.
“That means it’s time for a break.” He winked. “You need to tell me everything.”
“I need to?” I teased. “Is that how it works?”
“Yep. I’m your elder, and you need to obey and all that.” He couldn’t even hold in his amusement at his comment. My gramps
had been a rebel in his day and never really let go of that tendency. I wondered if this new complex was aware of what they
were getting into letting my grandfather live here.
I understood why he held onto his rebellious side. I would be too given his life. My papa had also been one of my favorite
people and wasn’t just Grandpa’s husband. They were mates. Grandpa might’ve been human, but his mate had been a bear,
which was how I got my beast.
My papa hadn’t been a bear shifter living amongst the humans growing up. His family had been all about den life. It wasn’t
until he was a teen he even met a human. Which I supposed was fair given that most humans didn’t know we existed.
In recent years, more humans suspected shifters lived among them than in the past, thanks to books and movies. Most recently,
there was a popular television show that had both men and women writing the dirtiest fan fiction that always resulted in them
getting their shifterly mate. But none of that was the same as know-knowing. And that number of humans was pretty low and
almost exclusively people who were somehow related to a shifter.
And the argument could be made that I wasn’t strictly shifter. I did have human blood flowing through my veins, even if I could
get all furry like my papa used to. There were dens out there that would never acknowledge my existence, and that was fine.
After learning my papa’s story, I wouldn’t want to be part of that mess anyway.
I used to love playing with Papa’s animal as a kid. He would let me sit on his back as he navigated the forest, he’d take me
fishing—bear style. I’d actually been pretty good at it, for a cub growing up in the human world. I managed to catch my share of
fish over the years. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I discovered the carefree and happy life he enjoyed with my grandpa was
nothing like his formative years.
The den he grew up in had been controlling as fuck. When he finally told me about his past, he swore that wasn’t the norm, and
maybe it wasn’t. But the norm didn’t matter to me, the way my papa had been treated did. And his den had been shit to him,
which was one of the reasons I never went to see them, despite how curious I’d been.
My papa had a lot more grace than I did, saying they were following traditions as old as time and did the best they could. To
me, going along with problematic crap because that was the way it was always done sounded like the worst idea ever. And in
my papa’s defense, as soon as he met Grandpa, he made the very clear cut-decision not not to let them tarnish his future. I had
huge respect for his stance. It meant that family came first, that family being my gramps and my mother. Gods, I missed him.
Grandpa did too. I had a feeling that had a lot to do with his decision to move. He was lonely, and every inch of his old place
held memories of a happier time, one he spent with his true love—his always and forever.
Shifters had it amazing like that. Mating wasn’t like a wedding certificate where it had more to do with tax benefits and health
insurance than true, devoted, always-and-forever love. Fine, that wasn’t fair. Not everyone saw it as a contract. But my parents
had, and I for sure wasn’t going to choose that path, my father marrying someone he liked “well enough” and then sticking it out
for the “good of the family.”
I’d thought I was happy being single, that getting a date here or there was enough to ward off the loneliness. Then I met Anson
and I saw hope that there was something more out there for me. But fear, and the missing scent of my third, had me unsure.
If I was being honest, that was why I went on the other date. I was scared that I was seeing something in Anson that wasn’t
there. And now that I understood that wasn’t the case, I had a new fear; what if our third rejected us?
“Yeah, fine. I’ll obey and spill all, just because you’re old.” I rolled my eyes and went over to the loveseat. If I didn’t sit
down, he wouldn’t either, and the man had to be exhausted. I freaking was, and I had youth on my side. “And not at all because
I really need someone to talk to.”
Grandpa walked over. “So what’s up?” He sat down beside me.
“I used—no, some stranger signed me up for a dating app.” Grandpa avoided my gaze. “There was this guy, and… I thought I
finally understood what you meant about how you could scent your mate. But then… something was off, so I sort of went on a
date with someone else from the app that I had already planned on seeing.”
I took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to leave, but also, I wasn’t sure I was right. It was like he was meant to share the same
space as me. I’d have thought we might be like you and Papa, but if we were, how could I leave? How could he? But he was
human, so I half thought that was it. And now…”
I wasn’t sure a single word of that made a lick of sense, but it was the best I could do, and I was somehow freer having said it
all. At least Grandpa looked at me with loving compassion. Not that I expected anything less from him.
“It sounds like he’s your mate. Why don’t you get together with him again and this time let your beast guide you?”
“There’s more. The person I met after—he’s a bear shifter, and when I scented him and he scented me, it all made sense.
They’re both my mates.” When I said it like that, it didn’t sound like a problem. It sounded like a dream come true.
“Then you two need to go and get your human.”
If only it were that simple.
“I… we…”
“Did you text? Tell him you liked your date and want to see him again?” he asked, as if he knew of such things. He barely liked
to use his cell phone. He hated texting and getting texts. He was pretty with the times on most things, but he thought texts were a
way to avoid talking to people and by default, rude. At least he used to. Maybe that had changed.
“Of course I didn’t. If I had I wouldn’t be here freaking out like this.” I might’ve been here crying because it didn’t turn out
well, but at least then I’d have gone another step.
“Okay, Travis, hear me out.”
I nodded, afraid my words would fail me.
“All the feelings you have mentioned you had on your first date—your human mate does too. But he probably doesn’t
understand it, and it’s probably freaking him out. At least that was how it was with me and your papa.” He put his hand on my
shoulder. “Call him. Text him. Send a freaking pigeon. Something. The three of you will figure this out. Fate doesn’t make
mistakes.”
“How can it be that simple? Seriously, Grandpa. I love you, and I want what you and Papa had, but this isn’t the same. There
are three of us, and two of us don’t even live here.”
“And it might not be simple, but it is worth doing.”
Grandpa was right.
“I hate it when you tell me what I already know but am too scared to embrace just yet.” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I’ll
call him or message him on the app or something. We’ll figure this out. The three of us.”
I got up and crossed the room to grab my phone from the side table where I half remembered putting it. It wasn’t there. I
checked my pocket. Not there either.
“What?” Grandpa looked up at me as I attempted to retrace my movements in my mind.
“My phone isn’t in the two places I thought it might be. Maybe it’s in the truck.”
It was, and when I found it… crickets. And of course with silence came me second-guessing everything. Maybe he didn’t feel it
too. Or worse, maybe he saw me leaving as a rejection and he wasn’t going to be willing to give me a second chance.
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the fear-driven thoughts. This was ridiculous. Either I was going to call him and the
three of us would have a shot, or I was going to have to call Hector and tell him I was a failure of a mate.
 7

ANSON

I hadn’t heard from Travis and had half-heartedly been scrolling through Love & Hate, trying not to feel down that his other
date worked out.
Dragging myself around the office and at home, there was a huge weight on my chest, and I couldn’t get rid of it. One guy. That
was all it took to send me into the depths of despair. I had to shake off the funk and get back to living. Life was about
disappointments and successes, the ups and the downs, the troughs and the peaks. I had to accept the losses as well as the wins.
There hadn’t been many wins lately, and with Shawn being obsessed with his new man and not at the end of the phone, I’d shed
more than a few tears.
The phone ringing had me pause. I didn’t get many calls, more messages, and I avoided the phone for chatting. Preferred having
time to think and create a message, rather than being put on the spot when I often blurted out the first thing that popped into my
head.
I almost ignored it and let it ring out while I was making tea. But as I shuffled to the couch, it rang again. Maybe I’d won the
lottery, and if I didn’t pick up they’d give the squillions of dollars to someone else? That wasn’t how it worked, but there was
a sense of urgency in the ring tone, which was silly. I needed to get out more and start dating again.
I picked it up without glancing at the caller. “Hello.”
“Anson, it’s Travis. I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner.”
Of course I was excited at hearing his voice, but a tiny part of me wondered if I was second best. Did he get along great with
his other match but the guy wasn’t into him? And knowing I was waiting for him, he thought we may as well go out again.
“Okay.” There wasn’t a rulebook for being the runner-up.
“I’d love to go out to dinner.”
Most people ate a meal in the evening, apart from those that couldn’t afford it. Why was he telling me he wanted to eat?
Knowing he’d probably worded it wrongly and he wanted to eat a meal with me, I didn’t have the energy to correct it and make
the situation easier for him.
“Great.” I was making Travis do all the work, and that was fair. Yes, I’d told him to do what he had to do, but now he had to
explain himself.
Maybe he picked up on the lack of enthusiasm in my voice because he added, “I understand how this sounds, and I want to
make it up to you because I left you hanging.”
My irritation was waning because my dick reacted to the word “hanging.”
“Ever eaten inside a heated dome?”
Where did that come from? Was he flying me to the North Pole, and we’d dine while being warmed by reindeer skins?
“Can’t say I have.”
He explained there was a restaurant in the city that put up little domes on the sidewalk, so no matter the weather, diners could
eat in comfort. I was tempted to ask why they didn’t eat in the restaurant itself, but Travis’s excitement was infectious, and I
needed to try new things, so I agreed. Besides, I wanted to see him again. And if he’d chosen me over a nameless guy, that was
a win—for me.
Boo hoo, other guy, you lost!
We made arrangements and agreed we’d meet at the restaurant. Always a good idea in case it didn’t go well, but I crossed my
fingers we’d not be going home alone.
Travis was leaning back in his chair, his jacket slung over the back when I arrived. Gulp! If I could have pulled him under the
table and fucked him senseless, I would have.
I took a moment to admire the domes dotted on the sidewalk. It was unique and different enough that people wanted to try it. I
hoped the food lived up to the atmosphere, but I wasn’t here for the meal unless they served Travis on a plate. Yum!
He greeted me with a wide grin and a peck on the cheek. That was progress compared to our last meeting, but he owed me an
explanation. He couldn’t just pretend he hadn’t been on another date. But his chest was distracting me, and I longed to shove
my fingers under his shirt and fondle his nipples.
“How did you find this place?” I lived in the city and had never heard of it, but I wasn’t on the dining-out circuit. My evenings
were taken up with soap opera viewing.
He shrugged. “I downloaded a dining app.” He showed me his phone, and I pretended I’d download it, but unless Travis and I
were going to cut a swath through the city’s restaurants, I wouldn’t bother.
“I did catch up on Shifter World.”
His foot nudged mine, and my first reaction was to pull away but didn’t, and he rubbed his calf on my leg. Pleasurable
sensations rippled through me, and he reached out a hand and stroked my fingers as I clutched the menu.
We ordered, but I just pointed to the first entree because Travis and his magic fingers had removed my ability to think. There
was back-and-forth conversation as we sipped our drinks and the wait staff brought the food. Travis ordered pasta, and my
mouth gaped as he sucked each strand between his lips.
Someone should have put a finger under my chin and closed my mouth, because he was mesmerizing. Maybe he did it on
purpose. Damn, I should have ordered pasta too.
He still hadn’t brought up his other date, and I went back and forth about saying something. But what did I have to lose? Travis
was the answer. But I’d always wonder what happened if we got together.
“Did your other date not go well?” At that stage of the dinner, it was almost an afterthought because we’d shared long glances,
touches, skin-to-skin contact, and deep sighs.
Travis’s hand froze, the fork halfway to his mouth.
Damn! Not the reaction I was hoping for.
“Ummm.” The fork clattered onto the plate, and he gulped water, some droplets escaping his lips and dribbling over his chin.
“It wasn’t what I expected.”
“Huh?” He needed to come clean, but as I pulled my foot away from him, he glanced up, wearing a squirrely expression.
I followed his gaze to another guy standing at the door, a hand raised in greeting. What the fuck? Was I the pre-date and the
other guy the main course?
Travis waved the other person in, another alpha. He didn’t stride in but hesitated, glancing from Travis to me.
“This is not what you think!”
Oh fuck, that was what every cheater said, in real life and in Shifter World. I slammed my knife down and removed the napkin
from my lap, ready to storm out.
“This is Hector.”
The alpha held out a hand and a smile tugged at his lips. “Hi, Anson. It’s nice to meet you.”
He knew my name, so they’d discussed me, but his soft skin grazing mine conjured images of naked Hector fucking Travis
while I shoved my fingers in Hector’s hole. Grabbing my water, I brought it to my lips but lifted it higher and tipped it over my
head. It was the most outrageous thing I’d ever done, but my body was on fire, wanting Hector’s lips on mine while Travis
sucked my cock.
Travis giggle snorted, and Hector joined in as he dabbed my face with a clean napkin. I picked up a spoon and studied my
reflection, drenched with water streaming over my cheeks.
“I don’t know why I did that.” Hector’s hand was so close to my face that his scent washed over me. I poked out my tongue,
licked his skin, and groaned, and so did he.
“Not fair. What about me?” Travis slammed his fist on the table, making the cutlery jump.
I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. “Lick me.” The heat was rising inside me, and I feared it’d bubble out and singe my
companions.
“We need to get out of here.” Hector slid a hand under the table and stroked the bulge in my pants.
“Where to?” Travis ran his foot between my legs and my head fell back. I studied the dome and wondered if we could have sex
right here. “I’m staying with my grandfather.”
Him saying that tweaked a memory about Shifter World, but I was going to fuck two guys, one an alpha. Nothing on TV
compared to that!
“We can go back to my place,” I mumbled. “We’ll have to get a ride share because I don’t have a car.”
“Whose cock goes in whose hole first?” Hector crooned in my ear as he and Travis held me up and led me outside.
Cocks, holes, fingers, tongues…
 8

H E C TO R

Getting a ride share hadn’t been the best option. Or maybe it had been the perfect option for everyone but the driver. I was sure
Anson would make the tip worth what the poor guy had to put up with.
We couldn’t keep our hands off each other, and I personally didn’t even try. The attraction I felt for one of them was unlike
anything I’d ever felt before, and that lust was multiplied by two. More than two. It was so thick and heavy, I barely
remembered that we weren’t alone and clothing had to stay on.
I kept waiting for the jealousy to come and none did. Having them be as into each other as I was into both of them was
everything. We all fit together in a way I never imagined possible.
The scents of my mates filled the car, enveloping me completely. I was busy making our bear squirm when the car stopped. I’d
have continued on if the car door didn’t open.
We rushed inside, my beast struggling with wanting to show off for our human and wanting to slide into his entrance, or his
mouth. I wasn’t too picky. As long as he called out in ecstasy, all was good.
Anson pulled us both by our belt hoops. “I need you now.”
Gods, the neediness in his voice was everything.
We ended up in his bedroom. The polite thing would’ve been to look around, compliment his style or furniture or something.
None of us were being polite. Instead, we were tearing at each other’s clothing, needing our bodies to be set free.
My bear was so close to the surface, not pushing to get out but rather wanting to be front and center. These were our mates, and
he was ready to claim them both. And we would.
When I thought about my future, it had always been fuzzy. Maybe one day I would find a mate and we’d fall in love and start a
little family. Now that I’d met Travis and Anson, the fuzziness was gone. It was going to be the three of us, together, one family.
I wanted to add kids to the mix, but they weren’t a deal breaker. These two men were my life moving forward.
I was the world’s luckiest bear, and I vowed to be the alpha my mates deserved.
A tongue made a path along my neck from behind, a hard cock pressed against my back. “You still have your clothes on,”
Anson tsked. “We need to fix that, don’t we, Travis?”
Travis stepped up close. “Why yes, I think we do.” He leaned in and kissed our mate over my shoulder. Never in my life had I
imagined anything sexier than the two of them kissing, with their hard cocks firmly against my body.
The clothing in question were my socks, and I managed to get them off in a flash.
“I hate to be the pragmatic one,” I said as their kiss broke. “But how does this work?”
It was going to be our first time together, and I wanted to be sure that it would give everyone what they needed.
“When three men like each other very much…” Travis teased.
“I’m up for anything,” Anson jumped in. “I think it should be up to Travis to tell us what he wants.”
My brain was still stuck on Anson being up for anything. Did that mean he wanted my dick in his ass or his in mine? Because I
could get behind both those plans with enthusiasm. But he was right. Travis should make the call as the omega. He might not be
comfortable with his alphas being intimate in that way.
“What I really want is for us to talk a lot less.” He stepped around and grabbed both our cocks, giving them each a jerk. “But if
we are talking wish lists, I would love to have you,” he jerked me again, “in my mouth, and you,” he jerked Anson again, “in
my ass fucking me while you watch me suck off Hector.”
“Damn.” Anson panted. “I vote for that plan.”
“Same, but first, I need a kiss from each of you.” I wasn’t jealous they’d had their time, I just wanted in too.
Anson wasted no time, his lips slamming into mine, his arms wrapping around me and sliding down, down, down to my
hardness. He grabbed my butt, holding me to him as his mouth explored mine. His scent surrounded me, but that wasn’t the one
that hit me hardest: Travis’s arousal’s scent was. He was liking this… a lot.
And when our kiss broke, giving us a chance to catch some air, Travis was on the bed, watching us like he was at a movie or
something. Travis was a little voyeur. I liked it. I liked it a lot.
“Are you guys finished already?” He stuck out his bottom lip in a faux pout. “Because… Who am I kidding, I could sit here and
watch all night.”
“Or?” Anson crawled onto the bed and kissed him hard and fast. “If you wanted, we could get back to the me fucking you as
you blow Hector plan.” He nibbled on his bottom lip. “Up to you.”
“That.” He reached for our mate. “Come here and join us, Hector. I’m so slick for you.”
Travis got up on his hands and knees, pointing to the spot in front of him. “I need your cock here, Hector. Now.” Bossy omega.
Score.
I stood at the edge of the bed, my cock at the perfect height. Anson climbed in behind him. I didn’t have the best view from
where I was. We were going to need mirrors or something next time.
“You look amused.” Anson met my eyes.
“I was thinking about mirrors, that’s all.” I shrugged, and before I could say any more, Travis’s tongue lapped at the pre-cum
forming on my cock.
“Less talkie.” Travis grabbed a pillow and put it under his chest, helping to hold him up and he wrapped his fingers around my
length. “You taste so good. I can’t wait to swallow you down.”
He swirled his tongue around my tip, his hand working my cock. My eyes started to flutter closed as I enjoyed the sensations,
but then he jerked forward and I remembered that his magical mouth was only one third of tonight’s equations. How quickly his
mouth had me forgetting everything but his warmth.
Anson held Travis’s hips, his body flush with Travis’s ass.
“You feel like home,” Anson praised.
There was no way he could know exactly what those simple words meant to us. They. Were. Everything.
Travis pulled off my cock with a pop and looked over his shoulder. “Are you going to move or should I?” Sassy omega.
Anson didn’t need any more encouragement. He slowly pulled out and slid back in. Travis moaned and then took me into his
mouth where he made yummy mmm sounds around my cock.
“I don’t know which view is better; seeing my cock sliding into his ass or seeing your dick being swallowed.” Anson started to
thrust a bit quicker.
Watching my one mate fuck my other mate as he sucked me off made it nearly impossible not to explode in his mouth. But I
couldn’t. Travis needed to come first. And the strain on Anson’s face told me he was struggling with the same thing.
My bear was close, close enough I wouldn’t have been surprised if my mates could see his eyes. He was waiting to claim and
be claimed.
You need to hold back, I warned him. The human leads.
Mate. Ours. Please.
Patience.
He did not like that. Not one bit. But he also fell back slightly, so I considered that a win.
Travis swallowed around my cock, and I wove my fingers through his hair. He felt and looked so good. In and out, sucking,
swallowing, licking, all while our mate pounded into him from behind.
Anson leaned forward, his chest on Travis’s back, his hand reaching underneath them. He was going to help our mate come,
and I was so ready to see him fall apart between us.
Travis’s body started to quiver, a moan of pleasure coming from his mouth, and a deep guttural growl from his beast forming in
his chest. He was about to come, and with that, I allowed myself to give in to the sensations and my orgasm to flood into me,
too. I came in his mouth, Anson crying out Travis’s name just as he lunged the rest of the way forward and sank his teeth into
Travis’s shoulder.
Anson might’ve been human, but he instinctively knew how to make Travis his. Travis pulled off of my cock, and before I
realized what was happening, he sank his teeth into my hip.
Travis marked me as his. We hadn’t completed our mating, there was more marking to do, but there was a peace that came with
these bites. Peace and an already stirring cock. But that would have to wait. My mates were knotted together.
It was snuggle time.
 9

T R AV I S

My eyes were shut tight, but my cock was alert and ready for more. More fucking, sucking, tugging, licking, or swallowing.
Or all of the above.
As an omega I’d never put my cock in an alpha, but after having Anson’s dick inside me, I was eager to fuck Hector’s hole. It
must have been oh so lonely and needed attention, crying out, “Poor me.”
I giggled, and my body jiggled. Even with my eyes closed, I scented Hector was squashed against my front, while Anson and
his big dick were curled around my back. My fingers crept over warm flesh, and Hector moaned. Bypassing his cock, I shoved
my hand between his legs, relishing the warmth and softness of his flesh.
There was a sharp intake of breath from him as I tapped around his hole, but I froze before starting to withdraw my hand. We
may have been mates, but I’d done that without his permission. Going forward, we had to agree on what was acceptable in and
outside the bedroom.
But Hector captured my hand between his thighs, whispering, “Don’t you dare. I want those fingers fucking me hard. But I need
some of your slick.”
My eyes snapped open. He was staring at me, his lips parted slightly, the tip of his tongue poking between them. His chest
heaved and his bear was at the forefront of his gaze, as if threatening me if I didn’t do as he asked.
Coating my fingers in my slippery slick, I shoved in one finger to the knuckle, and his beast vanished. It was just Hector, his
eyes glowing with lust. He moaned, and Anson rested his chin on my shoulder.
“Are you having sex without me?” His irritated tone suggested he was peeved.
“Sorry.” I clamped my free hand on his ass and pulled him closer, his thick, hard cock pressing into my butt that was slippery
with slick. “Didn’t want to wake you.” I squeaked rather than spoke because Hector had taken hold of my hand and shoved two
fingers in his ass, sliding them in and out of his hole.
“I’m wide awake now, and I don’t like being left out.” He flung back the covers, leaning over my hip and studying my fingers
inside Hector’s ass. “Ohhhhh. That is so, so hot. May I?” He held up two fingers in front of Hector’s face, and our alpha mate
nodded, his teeth clamping down on his bottom lip.
“Wait. I need more slick.” Anson grinned. “Now where would I find any?” He tapped his hips, an impish expression on his
face. “I know an omega who might have some to spare.”
He didn’t slide his hand over my thighs or my ass cheeks, rather his fingers slid into my hole, and it was my turn to gasp.
“Found some.” He wriggled his fingers inside me, and when he withdrew, my face crumpled. I wanted them back. “Don’t
worry, Travis. Your hole will get plenty of attention later.”
He pushed two fingers into Hector beside mine, and Hector gasped. He gripped all four and pumped them into his hole. I
moaned and Anson whimpered while Hector frantically finger fucked his ass.
I closed my eyes, relishing the heady scents of sex, slick, and sweat while the air crackled with desire and lust, peppered with
grunts and groans. Hector’s breathing sped up, becoming short, sharp, strangled gasps. And when cum spurted out of his cock,
it splattered over both me and Anson.
When Hector’s breathing calmed and his eyes flicked open, I told him, “I’m going to put my cock in your ass now.”
“And I’m going to shove my dick in your mouth.” Anson tapped Hector’s lips, smearing them with cum and slick.
“How did I get to be so lucky?” Hector spread his legs. “I’m all yours.”
I yanked Hector over the mattress so Anson could hover on top of him.
Our human mate straddled Hector, the tip of his dick bobbing over our alpha mate’s face. Anson glanced over his shoulder.
“Now you, Travis.”
I hesitated, not having done this before. I was a virgin, while my mates had fucked who knew how many omegas. But their
prowess and experience wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on. Not now.
Nestled between Hector’s legs, I prodded his wet hole, glistening with my slick. But not wanting to hurt him, I gathered more
slick from my ass and slathered it on my arousal.
“Hurry, Travis. I want to fuck his mouth at the same time you fuck his ass.”
“Yes, hurry, Travis,” Hector echoed. “My mouth and hole await.”
“Okay, now.” Taking a deep breath, I slid the head into his hole. Gods, he was so tight, I worried I was hurting Hector as my
cock stretched him. And that was only the tip.
Hector’s muffled groan and Anson’s bucking hips suggested our alpha mate also had a dick in his mouth.
Anson grunted and arched his back. “Blow jobs for the win.”
Hector mumbled something that sounded like, “Being fucked is so good.”
I puffed out my chest, ecstatic I was doing it right, and thrust into him. His body jerked over the mattress, and Anson groaned,
mumbling that he loved Hector’s teeth grazing his cock.
While I didn’t consciously match Anson’s rhythm as he gyrated his hips, me sliding my cock into Hector’s channel paired with
our human mate’s movements. I gazed at Anson’s body jerking and goosebumps erupting over his skin while I fucked Hector
and our alpha mate’s cock slapped against his body with each of my thrusts.
While shifters weren’t mind readers and Anson as a human certainly wasn’t, he reached behind him, fumbling for Hector’s
cock while he shoved his dick in Hector’s mouth.
“Hector’s cock needs attention,” Anson croaked. He sensed our alpha mate’s cock was lonely. Awww, maybe we were already
on the same wavelength.
“I’ve got this.” I clasped Hector’s length, and he angled his hips so my cock thrust deeper inside him, while curling my fingers
around the shaft. Sliding my palm from the base to the tip and back, Hector outstretched his arms, and I grabbed one hand and
Anson the other as we plunged, surged, and pumped.
Unintelligible sounds erupted from Hector as his nails dug into my palm, and I tugged his cock, the sweat on my hands mingling
with his pre-cum. Closing my eyes, I slowed my thrusts, taking deep breaths while my heart hammered in my chest and my body
tingled in anticipation. I felt every inch of Hector as my cock crept inside him and pulled out, and when he squeezed around
me, I yelped, willing myself not to come too soon.
Our Anson was fucking Hector’s mouth hard, reminding me of a bucking rodeo bronco, and Hector’s strangled moans
suggested he was in the throes of pleasure.
I swayed my hips, attempting to bury my cock deeper inside Hector while tugging his cock, the slipperiness on my palm making
my hand slither over his big beautiful pink shaft.
Tremors wracked Hector’s body, and his knees pressed on my sides, pinning me in place while Anson’s knees pressed on
Hector’s upper body. With our hands clasped, our bodies joined, we all seemed to relish the closeness, not just with two but
all three of us.
But my climax was approaching, and I welcomed it, hoping my mates would come with me.
Hector was the first. As his body jerked and cum streamed from his cock, Anson swiveled his hips, and with his dick in
Hector’s mouth, he yelled, “Yes.” He lifted our alpha mate’s hand to his lips and sank his teeth into the delicate skin.
A dull ache was building inside me, and I allowed my bear to extend just the tip of his claws and raked them gently over
Anson’s back, barely breaking the skin but enough to mark him as mine.
I pumped into Hector once, twice, and three times, until my body stiffened, cum pulsing into his channel.
Anson toppled off our alpha mate but was still clasping Hector’s hand. Our alpha mate nuzzled Anson’s flesh and grazed his
teeth over Anson’s damp flesh before breaking the skin and marking him.
With my cock still lodged in Hector, he yanked me forward, our lips touching, and I savored Anson’s cum on his lips. He bit
my shoulder, his bear shining through his gaze, and a trickle of blood slid over my chest. I glanced at Anson, but he was on his
back, eyes closed, so I grabbed a piece of clothing from beside the bed and dabbed at the blood.
We collapsed in a heap, limbs entangled, me in the middle.
“Gods, I hope we can do that again some time. I have no words to describe how good that was.” Hector put a hand behind his
head.
“I can’t do it again just yet.” Anson flung an arm over my midsection. “I’m exhausted but ravenous for food.”
“Who has the energy to get their phone and order in?” I asked.
 10

ANSON

Did that really happen?

Dreams swapped with reality and real life seeped into my fantasies.
I woke up numerous times, listened to one person breathing, followed by a second. If this was a dream, I didn’t want it to end.
Greg and Finn, eat your heart out!
Gods, if this scenario had been on Shifter World, I’d have facepalmed, saying it was unrealistic. I giggled, thinking a soap
opera about people who could shift into animals was okay, but falling for and sleeping with two guys, one an alpha, was
unreal.
It was cute how either Travis or Hector put a hand on me when I opened my eyes, as if they sensed I was awake and wanted to
reassure me. I wished I had that ability, but it was either nothing could wake me, not even an earthquake, or I tossed and turned,
not sleeping a wink. Tonight I was wakeful but feared rolling over would disturb my bedmates.
As morning drew closer, I worried about the new day and whether both would walk out of my life forever. Tears dripped onto
the sheets as I stifled my sobs. I’d met Travis twice and Hector one time, and yet they were mine.
I was setting myself up for disaster. That was the practical me talking, worried I’d crumple into a heap if this was a one-night
stand for one or both. My heart had blossomed since last night, reaching out and embracing the alpha and omega. I couldn’t stop
them leaving but hoped my love was entangled in their hearts just as they were embedded in mine.
Just before dawn, I tried to rouse myself and make a start on breakfast. I wanted to cook a buffet-style breakfast for my… what
did I call them? Lovers? They were more than that. Bedmates? Gods, no. But as I rummaged through my mind for a word, the L
word was at the forefront, no matter how much I pushed it away saying it was too soon.
Love? Was that it? Whatever it was enveloped me like a warm blanket, and my lids grew heavy and closed.
A familiar aroma woke me, and before I opened my eyes, I smiled. It was the smell of a good morning, a welcome to the new
day. I didn’t recall making coffee or setting the timer on my new coffee machine, but I was so glad I did. Stumbling into the
kitchen, hair askew, bleary-eyed and fumbling with the machine was a disaster in the making, so I was pleased the aroma
suggested I hadn’t messed up.
But as I threw off the covers, making a note that I was naked and with morning wood, Travis poked his head into the room.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. Lucky it’s Saturday.” He glanced at my stiff cock and licked his lips. “Or you would have had to
call in sick. Or rather that you’d been fucked senseless and weren’t done yet, so you needed a day or two.”
Hector came up behind him and put a hand on Travis’s shoulder. They were both dressed, hair slightly damp. Damn, did they
shower together without me? My body tingled, not in a good way but with a hint of jealousy.
“Hungry?” Hector also eyed my length. “For food, but maybe afterward, I can have some of that.” My dick jerked as if
agreeing. I was all in too.
“There’s food?” was all my befuddled brain could come up with. Who could think of eating when cocks were involved? But
my tummy grumbled and I leaped out of bed and put on briefs that someone had folded and left on the mattress. Did the men
who shared my bed last night do laundry too?
“Sit,” Hector insisted as he poured me coffee and juice.
Travis was at the stove wearing my apron, flipping pancakes, his butt wiggling and beckoning me to nibble it. Instead, I
grabbed a piece of dry toast and shoved the whole thing in my mouth.
Hector followed my gaze and slapped Travis’s rounded butt. “You’re distracting him.”
Travis laughed. “I can’t help it if I’m cute.” He wiggled his ass one more time before promising to be good.
I didn’t want good, I wanted hot and heavy, seductive and demanding, and dirty. Gulping too much coffee, I yelped as the hot
liquid burned my throat.
“Stop, Travis. Anson will hurt himself,” Hector lectured the omega.
The pair had stolen my idea of a buffet. Spread before me were bowls of diced fruit, scrambled and poached eggs, bacon and
sausages, pancakes and waffles, plus toast. It was a feast, and as I popped a strawberry between my lips, Hector’s mouth
gaped, and I wished his mouth was feasting on my dick or my ass while I sat gorging myself on breakfast.
“You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?” Hector fisted both hands.
“Doing what?” I asked innocently as I bit into watermelon and the sweet sweet juice dribbled over my chin, trickled over my
chest, and along my happy trail. Hector leaned over the table and studied the droplets as they disappeared inside my briefs.
“See something interesting?” I stuck my fork in the scrambled eggs and shoved the silky concoction between my lips, making
sure to lick around my mouth.
“I hate you,” Hector grumbled as he rested his brow on Travis’s shoulder.
The omega giggled at Hector’s supposed distress. “Anson’s hotter than hot.” He shrugged. “He can’t help it.” He did the thing
with his foot that he did last night at the restaurant, but I’d been fully dressed and he’d been wearing shoes. Now he was
barefoot and thrusting his foot between my legs.
“We’re supposed to be eating.” I’d choke if his foot reached my engorged cock.
“That’s what I’m thinking of.” Hector’s dreamy expression contrasted with his clenched fists.
“We have the whole day.” Travis picked up a strip of crunchy bacon and bit into it, the snap and crackle making me jump.
“Look at the mess you made.” Hector diverted his gaze to the omega’s chest and lap. He brushed the bacon crumbs off Travis’s
shirt and his hand slid to his lap.
Now I couldn’t see, and I crawled over the table, pushing the watermelon and strawberries aside. With my belly on the table
and my head hanging over the edge, I was staring at Travis’s crotch, his cock hidden behind denim. Hector was rubbing his
palm over Travis’s bulge.
“What are you doing?” I captured a bacon crumb from the omega’s chest and licked it off my finger.
“Silly question.” Hector bit into a pancake while he stroked Travis.
“You need syrup on that,” the omega panted.
Hector studied the pancake, slathered with butter, before checking out Travis’s crotch again. “You might be right.” He dumped
the rest of the pancake on the plate and picked up the syrup.
Gods he was going to pour it on Travis’s jeans. “Don’t make a mess.” I waggled my finger at Hector. “He’s dressed. You don’t
want to ruin his clothes.”
“Good thinking.” Hector put down the syrup and told the omega to stand.
“Not sure I can. My legs are wobbly, and it’s all your fault. Both of you.”
Hector helped him while I undid his button and zipper, eager to see his dick in daylight. The jeans puddled around his knees,
and Hector yanked his briefs down before Travis collapsed onto the chair.
His cock was so beautiful. Pink, thick, and waiting to be swallowed by someone’s mouth, preferably mine, or being plunged
into someone’s hole. Again, I hoped it would be mine.
“I know just what you need.” Hector poured the syrup on Travis’s length as I reached out and caught some with one finger. I
licked it, and both my companions groaned. But my attention was on the cock now coated in syrup. I wanted a taste of that, so I
pushed myself over the table, my head so close to Travis’s length that I stuck out my tongue and I licked it, the overly sweet
syrup flooding my mouth.
“Yum. More, please.” Using one hand, I lifted his dick and traced my lips over the tip. He shivered, and Hector trailed his
fingers over the omega’s shaft. Travis trembled and gripped the edge of the table, before resting his head on the wooden
surface.
“If you keep doing that, I’ll come.”
“That’s the general idea.” Hector motioned for me to move more dishes aside. “Get on the table so one of us can have your
length and the other your hole. We’re all about sharing.”
Oh my gods, I’d never seen or done anything like this. Even Shifter World viewers would be grabbing their dicks and jerking
off at a scene like this. It was definitely NSFW. Travis crawled onto the table and got on hands and knees, his beautiful cock
dangling between his legs, syrup twirling in strands from his body onto the tablecloth.
“Shall we do rock, paper, scissors to see who gets the cock and who fucks the hole?” Hector asked as Travis urged us to hurry.
 11

H E C TO R

I’d been frolicking in a fantasy land where my mates and I lived in the same place and saw each other daily and would forever
and ever and ever. But reality was about to slam into me. My time here was done. Or at least it would be dark and early in the
morning when I had to head back home.
I hated it. But I didn’t really have a choice. I had a job to get back to and a bear to calm down. The city was getting to him.
Even basking in the bliss of being mated wasn’t enough to calm that side of him down. It was something we were going to have
to consider as a triad. My beast wasn’t city-friendly.
There were lots of things we had to consider. The three of us had been focused on spending all of the time we could together
before I left. It was great, and I wouldn’t trade a second of it away. But also… now we had to deal with it, because time was
marching on with or without our blessing.
Or at least we should talk about it. But doing so would mean an end to our current carefree time together. I just wanted to live
in happy land for a wee bit more.
Work was dragging on. I was currently experiencing the tail end of an entire afternoon of listening to people tell us how
wonderful the training was and how much we had learned from it. Of course, the people saying so were the ones who ran the
training program. They basically wanted to rev us up so that when we went back to our companies we were excited about the
week we just had.
And was I ever excited, but not at all because of a single thing I’d learned. I’d probably appreciate all of that later, but for now,
my focus was on two sexy men. Meeting my mates had been everything.
There was only one problem… I was going to be leaving them, and I didn’t want to.
I walked out of my final session and straight out the front door. I did not pass go, and I did not collect $200. Maybe I was being
rude, but I didn’t care.
Everyone else stuck around. They were chatting with the people they’d met or the ones that came with them. Many of them
were making dinner plans, and I heard one person mention karaoke on the way out. And good for them. They could have their
fun without me.
I was not going to be doing that. I had far more important things to do… men to do. If I only had one more day and night with
my mates for a while, I was going to take full advantage of it. Karaoke was not on the menu.
Anson and Travis were both waiting for me outside when I stepped into the fresh air. It was sweet and adorable that they came
to pick me up as a couple. I raced over to them, not pretending to have an ounce of chill.
“Gods, I missed you two.” I kissed each of them and pulled them in for a group hug. “You scent like home.” I held them close.
“Because we are.” Travis nibbled on my earlobe. “We are.
“Let’s get you home.” Anson’s hand walked down my arm, his fingers intertwining with mine. “You have far too many clothes
on.”
“I could say the same for you both.” I gave his hand a squeeze.
“Help me out.” Anson jingled his keychain. “On our way home.”
We ended up stopping to get pizza on the way to Anson’s home. A sweet romantic night out would have to wait for another
time. We wanted to be alone, just the three of us.
Anson plopped the box on the coffee table, and I grabbed us some drinks from the kitchen. When I walked back in with our
sodas, Travis had made us “plates” out of the top of the pizza box and had already served us each up a slice.
“I didn’t think we should waste our last night before you leave doing the dishes,” he explained, and just like that, the
atmosphere in the room changed. We could no longer all pretend it wasn’t happening.
“The pizza looks good.” Just because I knew we needed to be talking like adults, didn’t mean I was ready to.
“It does.” Travis agreed and then set his cardboard paper plate down. “This is ridiculous. We can't just pretend everything is
okay. Everything is very much not okay. Pretty sure okay left the county long before we picked you up.” He got up out of his
seat and squirmed his way into the middle of Anson and me. “That’s better.”
“It is,” Anson agreed. “Much.” He leaned in and kissed the top of Travis’s head.
I snuggled in closer. “I wish I didn’t have to go. But also, I don’t have an answer that isn’t me doing so. I have my job there and
the city noise is too much for me.” I fell back against the couch, allowing my eyes to flutter closed.
“Obviously, I will try to figure out something better. Because nothing about this doesn’t suck.”
“No, Hector,” Travis’s hand took mine, and the spot beside me sank in, Anson’s scent closer than seconds earlier. “You will
not try to figure this out. We will. It’s the three of us. Full stop.”
I opened my eyes, to see my mates watching my face, worry and love filling their eyes.
“We are a team, as cheesy as that sounds,” Anson said. “We will figure this out… but first…”
“But first?” I asked.
“But first we eat our pizza. Can’t have dessert on an empty stomach.” Anson raked my body with his eyes as he licked his lips.
“I know exactly what I’m having tonight.”
“Did you get enough to share?” Travis sassed. “Because I’m really hungry for the same thing.”
“Oh yeah, and what is that?” I asked, already feeling lighter.
We were far from figuring things out, but we were going to. I didn’t question that. How would it look and how long would it
take? I had no clue. But it didn’t matter. Not tonight.
“I was thinking about your cock in my ass, but I’m flexible. I could be persuaded to suck it down.” Travis cupped my cock.
“Yep. You’re down for either of those.”
“Down or up?” Anson asked.
“Both. Are you sure we need to eat pizza first?” My voice cracked. “Not really sure I’m hungry any more.”
“Oh, Hector, you are going to need your energy.” Travis grabbed his pizza. “We all will.”
We finished the pizza and our dessert. We even had room for a second helping of that. But all too soon, we were down to only a
couple of hours before I had to leave and decided it was time to sleep.
With my alpha on one side and my omega nestled into my other, the two of them fell sound asleep. I, on the other hand, wasn’t
willing to miss a second of our time together. I could sleep on the train.
I listened to the two of them sleep, their breaths going in and out in unison. How quickly the two of them had become my entire
life. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for them. If they had asked me to stay, I would have. Screw my job, my future references,
and all the money I would owe them for being here. This was more important.
But they didn’t ask that of me. They wanted what was best for me… for us. And right now, going home, even for the short term,
was it.
When I could no longer ignore the time, I climbed out of bed as carefully as I could and popped in the shower. I hated washing
their scent off me, but we had worked up a sweat. It was best for everyone that I did.
I walked out of the bathroom to find both of them sitting on the couch.
“You didn’t need to get up.” It probably would’ve been better if they hadn’t, because now I had to witness the tears forming in
their eyes.
“We did.” Anson stood up and crossed over to me, wrapping his arms around me. “I never thought I could feel this way about
someone, and here I am feeling it about two smexy men.” He tightened his hold on me. “We will work this out. I promise you.”
“I know we will.”
Travis joined the hug. “I waited this many years to find you. I can wait a tad longer to keep you with me.”
When all of our time had slipped away, and I had no choice but to walk away from them, not a word was to be said. We were
all silently sobbing.
Why is love this hard?
 12

T R AV I S

Anson stumbled into the kitchen as he usually did every morning since I’d been staying with him.
After moving Grandpa into the senior living community and packing up, throwing out, donating, and giving away, I was
pooped. There was dust in my ears, in the lines on my hands, and in every crevice.
I could have gone home—my pickup was piled high with furniture and mementos that my grandfather had given me. But for the
first time in forever, I didn’t want to be alone in my cabin, only seeing a neighbor occasionally, even when we just said hi.
Hector had gone home, and my bear ached for him. Having found our bear mate, marked one another, and for him to leave was
beyond heartbreaking. With one mate no longer at my side, I couldn’t bear to leave Anson, and I accepted his invitation to stay
at his place and recover from the physical and emotional torment of my grandfather’s life change.
As I worked from home and Anson had to go to an office—and use public transport—I got up before him and made breakfast,
plus a packed lunch. I’d bought him a fancy lunchbox and stuck bear stickers on it. It had occurred to me he might be a tad
embarrassed in front of his colleagues with his childlike lunch box, but he said no. He’d shown it around to his colleagues, and
they’d all wanted one. A lunch box, not a mate.
“Eat first or shower?”
He studied me, his eyes half-lidded. “Which one involves cock?”
I held up the pan with an egg and sausage. “Will that do? You don’t have time for sex, babe.” I smacked his butt and wished
he’d gotten up thirty minutes earlier. Even fifteen minutes. I could have blown him and finger fucked him in fifteen or less.
“Damn. My hole is aching.” He plonked himself on a stool at the kitchen island.
I kissed the top of his head. Here was my human alpha mate complaining he wanted to be fucked, when until he met Hector and
me, he had a virgin hole. As an alpha, he’d always done the thrusting, the fucking.
Anson bit into a piece of toast, the crumbs spraying over the island. “I miss Hector.” A look of horror crossed his face, and his
mouth fell open.
Ewww, my bear noted. Half-chewed toast. Make it stop.
His bottom lip trembled as reached and stroked my fingers. “S-Sorry.” He gulped. “I love you and didn’t⁠—”
I cut him off with a hug. “I understand. I feel the same way. It’s as though I’m missing a limb with Hector not here.”
He nodded and sat back. “Have you ever…?” He made a face and a spot of pink appeared on each cheek. “No, I can't think of
you with your previous partners. What’s mine is mine and Hector’s.” He growled, giving a great impression of a bear.
My beast was impressed and gave him the bear version of a thumbs-up.
Awww, he’s so cute getting all jealous. It was kinda hot, and I wanted him to fuck me so bad, but the minutes were ticking
away.
“Is it possible to put two cocks in one hole at the same time?” Goosebumps twirled and pirouetted over his skin.
No way was I admitting to anything in my past that would upset him. That door was closed, but I was an experienced bear
shifter. I’d been around the den as bear shifters said when referring to their sexual exploits.
“It’s possible.” That was no lie. If he asked about my history, I’d be honest. But that was what it was, history.
“Maybe we can do it.” His hand shot up. “I volunteer my hole first.”
Gods, he was adorable, and I was tempted to pull down his PJs and eat him out. I’d drive him to work or order a ride share.
“Sounds like a plan.”
We agreed to call Hector when Anson got home from the office, and after he left to catch his bus, I buried myself in work and
tried not to think of cocks and holes.
I miss you. That was Hector at lunch time when he got back to his cabin. The message was accompanied by pics of “his”
mountain, carpeted in forest and low clouds. I longed for wide-open space and fresh air and wondered how Anson and
Grandpa could live in the city with the crowds and pollution.
Miss you too. The pic I sent him was my laptop.
During Anson’s lunch hour, he texted a video of his lunch box, with him kissing the bear stickers. I loved how he didn’t give a
damn about his colleagues’ opinions. After finding his true loves, he’d thrown off the shackles of worrying about peer pressure
and what other people thought.
If he hadn’t been at the office, I would have sent him a NSFW image of my dick or hole, but I didn't want him to lose his job.
Instead, I stroked my cock, wishing one of my mates was sucking me off and the other was in my hole.
“You’re home early,” I said when Anson strode in the door at 3:30, hoping Hector hadn’t texted him a dick pic and gotten our
mate fired.
“I took the rest of the afternoon off and got a rideshare home. Damn the expense.” He peppered my mouth with kisses and
fondled my near permanent hard-on.
Another thing I loved about my human mate was his ability to pinch a penny, but he was generous with Hector and me,
showering us with goodies, both the food and cock kind.
Anson grabbed a soda from the fridge and dragged me to the sofa. “Let’s call Hector. Maybe he'll show us his length and we
can all jerk off.”
Damn, my mate had the ability to get me even harder. And it hurt. Not in a bad way, but I needed a release.
Hector answered and turned on his camera, but there was no cock, just a view of the mountains. He was working from home
this afternoon.
My bear longed to get out of the city, but with two mates in separate locations, we were pulled in two different directions.
Three, if we counted my patch of land.
“This is what you’re missing,” Hector said.
Waves of frustration rippled off Anson’s body. He was a city guy but also a very horny one. My guess was the stunning views
weren’t what he was hoping to see.
“What I'm missing is cocks in holes,” he said.
Hector’s face appeared on screen. “That’s my line. You’re together. Two dicks and two holes, and I’m here all by my
lonesome.”
Our human mate stood up, dropped his pants and underwear, clasped his cock, and wagged it at the phone.
Hector put his face right up to the screen and stuck out his tongue, and Anson moaned. Now I was the one missing out and
pulled my length out of my underwear.
“Come.” Hector gulped as he rested the phone on something and got naked from the waist down.
“Already?” I panted as I tugged at my engorged dick.
“No. But yes, if you want. Might get messy in the living room. Come here for the weekend.”
If we left now, we’d be there before dark. Much as I wanted to come, I needed to see our shifter mate more. We could come as
many times as we wanted over the weekend.
Anson wasn’t listening. He was pumping his cock, his fingers resting on the phone, tiny mewls escaping his lips. I wasn’t about
to interrupt him, so I told Hector, “We’re coming,” as my hand fell from my cock and I calculated how long before we could be
on the road.
“I am. I’m going to come,” Anson yelled, and I grabbed the throw over the back of the couch and caught his cum as it streamed
out.
“Gods, that was hot.” Hector was still stroking his dick, and I regretted stopping my jerk-off session.
Anson collapsed on the couch, and I tossed the throw in the laundry. There wasn’t time to wash it which was kinda gross.
“We’re going, Anson.”
“Going?” He studied me with a dazed expression. “But I just came.”
“To see Hector.”
“Will there be bugs? Snakes? Creepy crawlies?”
He was such a city alpha. “We'll bring bug spray, and no snakes will come near us.” I didn’t mention the creepy crawlies
because there was sure to be a spider or two.
“Okay.” He stood up and gazed around, almost as though he didn’t recognize his own home. “What do I need?”
“Other than your phone, not much. Toothbrush and two changes of clothes.”
He stumbled toward the bedroom, and I envied him his post-orgasm afterglow. But we’d all be enjoying a similar sensation
tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday.
“I won’t bother with underwear.” He grinned as he disappeared into the bedroom.
“None… none required.” Shit, Hector was still on the line and was close to coming. Him yelling our names was the last thing I
heard as the call ended.
“Hurry, Anson.”
 13

ANSON

My head was nodding onto my chest in that annoying way when you’re sitting upright and dozing off.
“We’re here.” Travis’s voice came as if from a huge distance. But my head was so heavy, I didn’t want to rouse myself until a
hand on my shoulder shook me out of my daze. “You’ll want to see this.”
Hauling my head up and opening my eyes, I studied the landscape spread out in front of me. Wow! This was nothing like I
expected.
Travis had shown us pics of his cabin and even that wasn’t how I imagined, but I had no words to describe the location of
Hector’s cabin. I assumed everyone who lived far from the city hauled water from a creek or well and cooked over an open
fire.
Looking at Hector’s home and the surroundings, I was ashamed at how I’d swallowed the stereotype as fact. His house was
palatial, a bungalow fanning out in different directions from a central core. Behind the building was what appeared to be an
orchard, as the branches bowed low with fruit.
Flowers of different colors ranging from tall to short and graceful to dramatic reached for the sun, while huge trees created a
shadowy cover, with a hammock strung between two trunks. Solar panels adorned the roof, and a huge covered outdoor area
with potted plants and comfortable chairs seemed like the place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Hector waved from the garden where he was pulling weeds. He was wearing a huge straw hat that had seen better days, and
shorts, but he was bare-chested. I worried he'd get sunburned, and I’d give him my sunscreen if he didn’t have any. But as he
strode toward us, wearing a huge smile, the late-afternoon sun kissed the dips and curves on his chest and my dick reacted.
“Nice.” Everything was more than nice, but I was studying Hector and wondering how soon we could get naked.
“I agree.” Travis’s breathy voice alerted me to his arousal, though a quick peek at his crotch confirmed it.
I fell out of the car and raced toward Hector, throwing myself into his arms, the aroma of sweat and the musky scent of dirt
flooding my nostrils.
“Missed you.” My mouth was on his, but his tongue pushed between my lips while I wrapped my legs around his waist,
grinding my hard cock against his.
“Me too. You taste so good.”
“Don’t forget about me.” Travis had hung back, and I was overcome with guilt thinking he’d let the two alphas hug it out first
while awaiting his turn.
I fell back from Hector and pushed the other two together, content to have Hector’s scent on my clothes and skin. Wandering
around, I sniffed flowers, trailed my fingertips over ornamental grass, and admired the fish in the pond.
“This is amazing.” I turned to find Travis and Hector devouring one another’s mouth and Travis’s hand on Hector’s crotch.
Jealousy peeked into my consciousness before fading and was replaced with contentment that my guys were so in love with
each other and me.
“Let me show you around.” Hector waxed on about his love of the land and how he’d built this place, with help from
professional tradespeople.
The house was ringed by mountains, and he pointed out we could go hiking tomorrow. Travis glanced at me. I wanted to be
with them the whole weekend but tramping along a mountain path getting sweaty and eating soggy sandwiches wasn’t my idea
of fun.
“I’m up for it, but I’d prefer to stay here. Maybe next time?” If we were here for a few weeks, I’d be content to laze in the
hammock while Travis and Hector went hiking, but the weekend would fly by, and I didn’t want to spend one minute apart.
“I think we’re all up for something,” Hector noted as he studied our dicks outlined under our pants. “But I’ve got dinner in the
oven, and I just need help gathering ingredients for a salad.”
I discovered there was a skill to picking lettuce, spring onion, radish, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber. There were a few oops
moments because the only vegetables I’d come across were in a grocery store. Travis made up for my lack of gardening skills,
and we soon had a basket of fresh ingredients to accompany the scrumptious curry and rice Hector had made.
We ate outside, with solar lanterns being our only light, apart from the fireflies flitting about the garden.
“I could live here.” Travis leaned back and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Much as I love my cabin, it doesn’t compare to
what you’ve built. And my place isn’t big enough for three people.” The omega placed a hand on my thigh. “But you’re not a
fan of wide open spaces, Anson.”
I finished a mouthful of food before answering. “This is nothing like I imagined. I could live here, and it’s close enough to the
city that I could visit once a month.”
“I hear a but in your voice.” Hector scooped up curry with his spoon.
“Work. I traipse into the office each day.” I swiveled to face Travis. “And you have your grandfather and his house to deal
with.”
Travis explained he had visited his grandfather once a month when the elderly man lived alone, and now that he had a large
community of friends, that wouldn’t change.
“Forget about money for a moment and think about what you enjoy doing career-wise,” Hector said.
I snorted. “How can I not think about an income? I’m not independently wealthy.”
Hector reached across the table and took my hand. “Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I can take care of you financially if your boss won’t
let you work from home. That will give you breathing space to discover what sparks your creative juices and brings you joy.”
Wow! That was a lot of take in and such a generous offer.
“Can I sleep on it?”
They both laughed, saying we probably wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.
They were right, but they were both up before me in the morning, making breakfast. And unlike when they were in my house,
they were naked.
“Careful.” I rushed over and examined their cocks. “Be careful of oil spatters.”
“Don’t worry about us, sweetheart.” They each kissed a cheek. “We’re tough.” My guys shared a glance, but I shrugged it off,
thinking they were more athletic than me, not that having muscles would prevent burns.
“I’ve given the idea some thought regarding moving here.” I spread marmalade on my toast and took a bite. Oh, lime
marmalade. Yummy. “I have a mortgage, but my building has increased in value since I bought my house, so if I sold it, I’d have
a reasonable amount left over.” There’d be no need for Hector to fork out money for me.
My area was in such high demand that I’d be able to sell my place easily. I was pretty sure it’d be snapped up as soon as I put
it on the market.
“And work?” Travis licked honey from his fingers.
“Not sure if I want to pitch the idea to my boss about working from home or do something new. Maybe I’ll become a farmer.”
My guys snorted and each of them slapped a hand over their mouths to stifle their laughter.
I rolled my eyes. “It was a joke.” They burst out laughing. “Who knows, it might happen one day,” I harrumphed and folded my
arms. “ In a few years, I might be winning prizes at the county fair for the biggest… biggest…” I floundered, my lack of
vegetable knowledge hampering my snapback.
Travis tapped on his phone and mine dinged. The preview showed a purple vegetable we used when we wanted cock. I’d been
sending the same emoji to Hector all week. But I didn’t know its name.
“A big, long, thick purple one.” I lifted my chin, proud to have gotten that out. Thinking of big thick things turned my thoughts to
my guys’ dicks.
Hector grinned. “And what would that big, long, thick purple one be, Farmer Anson?”
I huffed. Damn them for making fun of me. I asked the internet to tell me. “Sweet potato?” I stated, though the pics didn’t look
the same as the emoji. I typed again and an image popped up of purple cabbage. Damn, that wasn’t it. There must be something
wrong with the wifi.
“I think this is what you’re looking for.” Travis showed me his phone. “Eggplant.”
“That.”
“Speaking of big, long, thick things, I wouldn’t mind seeing both of yours.” Hector stood, his arousal pointing at me.
I giggled, as I was the only one wearing clothes. “Like this?” I yanked out my dick.
“Just like that.” Hector licked around his lips.
“And this?” Travis got up, his fingers wrapped around his shaft.
“Oh yes.”
Who would get to put their cock where? I wondered as we raced toward Hector’s huge bed.
 14

H E C TO R

“I think it’s time,” and by “I think,” I meant my bear was demanding that it be.
Ever since Travis and Anson arrived at my property, all my bear wanted to do was spend time with them. He wanted to show
off his territory and our favorite places. It wouldn’t be as easy as that, of course. Our mate was human, and he had no idea that
we weren’t. As far as we knew, he had no idea that shifters existed, full stop.
“Time for dinner, is it? Already? ” Travis asked.
And then he met my eyes and recognition crossed his face. “Oh, your bear wants to come out and play.” He squeed. “I’ve been
wanting to play for so long.”
Anson was in the bedroom.
“We haven’t been together for so long,” I said.
“Too long without playing.” Travis shrugged. “Looks like we take care of that now.”
My beast loved the sound of that, and a rumble grew in my chest, one mimicked by Travis. His beast was ready.
“We will,” I said.
“Why does it sound like there is a but there?” he asked softly.
“Because there is.” I forced a chuckle. “What if the conversation goes poorly?” Travis and I had discussed different ways to
approach the conversation, but being prepared didn’t mean it would go flawlessly.
“Then we pivot. He feels our connection and embraces it fully. If anything this will probably answer questions.” Or at least that
was my hope.
“You sound like my grandfather.” Travis rubbed his chin.
“I go away for two minutes and already Hector is getting the best compliment you can give.”
My eyes snapped to where Anson stood. I hadn’t realized he came in, and for a split second I feared he’d heard too much.
“It really is,” I agreed.
Travis thought the world of his grandfather.
“So, Anson, we thought we could go for a walk in a bit, but we should probably talk first.” Travis sat on the chair and
indicated the sofa. If he was intending to put our mate at ease, this was not the vibe.
“Umm, okay. Did I do something wrong?”
Dawning crossed Travis’s face. “What? No. Of course not. Hector and I just need to tell you something.”
He wasn’t making it any better. Not that I was sure I could.
I placed my hand on the small of our mate’s back and led him to the couch where I sat down beside him. “What Travis is trying
to say is that the two of us, we care about you so much,” and instantly, I was doing just as shitastic a job as he was, our mate
stiffening up beside me. “What I mean is, the two of us were drawn to you from…”
Anson got up. “Stop. Just stop. If you two are trying to break up with me or telling me you want it to be you two or whatever
this is, just say it. Stupid me thought it was three of us against the world. I’ve never felt this way. I should’ve known it was too
good to be true that you did as well.” His voice was cracking. How had the two of us managed to get things so wrong?
“We didn’t mean it like—” Travis was cut off by a hand in a stop position.
“I don’t want to⁠—”
And before he could finish out the sentence, I shouted, “I’m a bear!”
All eyes were on me, and I waited for Anson to react, afraid I’d officially ruined everything. Instead, he wrapped his arms
around me and said, “Oh, Hector. I like you just the way you are. Your body more than turns me on.”
Travis started to belly laugh, probably more from stress than from the fact our mate got my announcement so very wrong.
“Anson, sit down.”
This time it was the three of us on the couch. “Thank you for wanting my body just the way it is.” Not that I thought I resembled
a bear in any way, but maybe I did. That was neither here nor there. “But that isn’t what I meant.”
He blinked widely.
“When I said I was a bear, I meant that Travis and I, we’re shifters. What you were feeling… what we all are feeling is our
mating bond.” The words were pouring out of me at the speed of lightning.
I expected him to run or to have things start to fall apart like they had only moments earlier. Instead, he fell back against the
couch. “Shifters? Like in Shifter World?”
“Yes. Exactly that.”
He was silent but I could almost see the thoughts churning in his head.
“I may be out of my gourd, but that made me feel so much better.” He raked a hand through his hair.
“Explain.” Travis’s voice quivered.
“This entire time I felt like everything was too good. Like it couldn’t be real. And that was why, when I came out here and you
were being all hush hush, I jumped to the worst. Relationships like ours don’t just happen like this in the real world.” He took
both of our hands. “But you are telling me we aren’t in the real world. Or at least the one I am familiar with.” He brought them
both to his cheeks. “I don’t understand it, and I should probably be freaking out a little, but it makes so much more sense than
anything I was thinking five minutes ago.”
“Do you have questions?” Travis asked.
“Tons. And probably more than that.”

We spent the next hour going over shifter 101. While the reveal hadn’t gone remotely close to how we planned, everything fell
into place, and he was excited to meet our bears. There would be plenty more questions and discussions later, but for now, we
were at a good place to stop.
“Do you think they care that I’m human?”
He had nothing to be insecure about. My bear claimed him as his. And while humans would make commitments they didn’t
believe in or that wouldn’t last through marriage, that wasn’t the way of shifters. Anson was our til death do us part, always
and forever, true love, and all that good stuff. Travis was too, but being a bear, he’d known that from the get go.
“No, they don’t care that you’re human. They love you just the way you are. They like that you’re human,” I said. “It makes you
you.”
I wasn’t sure how much I actually managed to assuage his hurt feelings from earlier, but whatever the case, he would discover
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 El coche paró junto a la casa. Era el carruaje de Calomarde, que
vivía frente por frente de Carnicero, en el palacio del duque de Alba.
—Su Excelencia ha entrado en su palacio —dijo el conde de Negri
atisbando por los vidrios verdosos y pequeñuelos de uno de los
balcones.
—Todo se andará —manifestó don Felicísimo—. La conversación
que tuvimos él y yo hace dos días, me hace creer que don Tadeo
tardará en ser apostólico lo que tarde Su Majestad en tener, ji, e
ataque de gota que corresponde al otoño próximo.
—Y si no —dijo Negri tornando a su asiento—, le barrerán. Después
veremos quién toma la escoba... ¡Cuidado con doña Cristina y qué
humos gasta! ¡Si creerá que está en Nápoles y que aquí somos
lazzaronis...! ¿Pues no se atrevió a pedir mi destitución del puesto que
tengo en la mayordomía del señor infante? Gracias a que los señores
me han sostenido contra viento y marea. Aquí, entre cuatro amigos —
añadió el conde bajando la voz—, puede revelarse un secreto. He
dado ayer un bromazo a nuestra soberana provisional, que va a da
mucho que reír en la corte. En imprenta que no necesito nombrar se
están imprimiendo unos versos de no sé qué poeta en elogio de su
majestad napolitana. Hacia la mitad de la composición se habla de la
angélica Isabel y de la inmortal Cristina. Pues yo...
El conde se detuvo, sofocado por la risa.
—¿Qué?
—Pues yo, como tengo relaciones en todas partes, me introduje en
la imprenta, y di ocho duros al corrector de pruebas para que quitara
bonitamente la t de la palabra inmortal.
—La inmoral Cristina, ji, ji...
—Espadas, espadas —gruñó Maroto—, y no bromas de esa
especie.
—Toda cooperación debe aceptarse —dijo Elías refunfuñando—
aunque sea la cooperación de una errata de imprenta.
Cuando esto decían, la luz de la lámpara, ya fuera porque doña
María del Sagrario, firme en sus principios económicos, no le ponía
todo el aceite necesario, ya porque don Felicísimo descompusiera, a
fuerza de darle arriba y abajo, el sencillo mecanismo que mueve la
mecha, empezó a decrecer, oscureciendo por grados la estancia.
—Voy a contar a ustedes, señores —dijo Elías—, la conversación
que ayer tuve con el señor Abarca, obispo de León, el hombre de
confianza de Su Majestad... Pero, don Felicísimo, esa luz...
—Empiece usted. Es que la mecha... —replicó Carnicero moviendo
la llave.
—Pues el señor Abarca me pidió informes de lo que se pensaba y
se decía en el cuarto del infante. Yo creí que con un hombre tan sabio
y leal como el señor Abarca no debía guardar misterios... Le dije pan
pan, vino vino... Pero esa luz...
—No es nada; siga usted; ya arderá.
—Le expuse la situación del país, anhelante de verse gobernado
por un príncipe real y verdaderamente absoluto, que no transija con
masones, que no admita principios revolucionarios, que cierre la
puerta a las novedades, que se apoye en el clero, que robustezca a
clero, que dé preeminencias al clero, que atienda al clero, que mime a
clero... Pero esa luz, señor don Felicísimo...
—Verdaderamente no sé qué tiene. Siga usted.
—Convino conmigo Su Ilustrísima en que por el camino que va e
rey marchamos francamente, y él el primero, por la senda de la
revolución... ¡Que nos quedamos a oscuras!...
La luz decrecía tanto que los cuatro personajes principiaron a deja
de verse con claridad. Las sombras crecían en torno suyo. Los
empingorotados respaldos de los sillones parecían extenderse por las
paredes en correcta formación, simulando un cabildo de fantasmas
congregados para deliberar sobre el destino que debía darse a las
ánimas. Las rojas llamas del cuadro se perdían en la oscuridad, y solo
se veían los cuerpos retorcidos.
—Díjome también Su Ilustrísima que ahora se va a emprender una
campaña de exterminio contra los liberales... ¡Por Dios, señor don
Felicísimo, luz, luz!
La lámpara se debilitaba y moría, derramando con esfuerzos su
última claridad por las paredes blancas y por el techo blanco también
Lanzaba a ratos la llama un destelllo triste, como si suspirase, y
después despedía un hilo de humo negro que se enroscaba fuera de
tubo. Luego se contraía en la grasienta mecha, y burbujeando con una
especie de lamento estertoroso, se tornaba en rojiza. Las cuatro caras
aparecían ora encendidas, ora macilentas, y la sombra jugaba en las
paredes y subía al techo, invadiendo a ratos todo el aposento
retirándose a ratos al suelo para esconderse entre los pies y debajo de
los muebles.
 —Esa campaña de exterminio que se va a emprender, fíjense
ustedes bien —prosiguió Orejón—, no favorece al rey, sino al infante
Todo lo que ahora sea reprimir es en ventaja de la gente apostólica
Así nos lo darán todo hecho, y lo odioso del castigo caerá sobre ellos
mientras que nosotros... ¡Luz, luz!
Don Felicísimo quiso llamar; pero en aquella casa no se conocían
las campanillas. Así es que empezó a gritar también:
—¡Luz, luz; que traigan una luz!
La lámpara se extinguió completamente y todos quedaron de un
color.
—¡Luz, luz! —volvió a gritar don Felicísimo.
Orejón, que estaba muy lleno de su asunto y no quería soltarlo de la
boca, a pesar de la oscuridad, prosiguió así:
—Que utilizando con energía la horca y los fusilamientos, limpien e
reino de esas perversas alimañas, es cosa que nos viene de molde.
—Aguarde usted, hombre... Estamos a oscuras...
—Ji..., se han dormido y no nos traen luz —dijo don Felicísimo—
Sagrario, Sagrario. Tablas... Nada, todos dormidos.
Así era en verdad.
—¿Tiene usted avíos de encender, señor conde? Aquí, en este
cajoncillo de la mesa, debe de haber, ji, ji, pajuela.
Pronto se oyó el chasquido del eslabón contra el pedernal. Las
súbitas chispas sacaban momentáneamente la estancia de la
oscuridad. Se veían como luz de relámpago las cuatro caras
apostólicas, la fúnebre fila de sillas de caoba y el cuadro de ánimas.
—La raza liberalesca y masónica estará ya exterminada cuando
llegue el momento de la sucesión de la corona —decía Orejón
entusiasmado—. ¡Admirable, señores!
Don Felicísimo tenía la pajuela en la mano para acercarla a la
mecha luego que esta prendiese, y al brotar de la chispa, su cara
plana, en que se pintaban la ansiedad y la atención, parecía figura de
pesadilla o alma en pena.
—Trabajan para nosotros, y ahorcando a los liberales se ahorcan a
sí mismos.
—Es evidente —murmuró don Rafael Maroto.
—¡Demonches de pedernal!
—¡Luz, luz! —volvió a decir don Felicísimo—. Pero Sagrario..
Nada, lo que digo, todos dormidos.
 Por fin prendió la mecha, y aplicada a ella la pajuela de azufre
ardió rechinando como un condenado cuyas carnes se fríen en las
ollas de Pedro Botero. A la luz sulfúrea de la pajuela reaparecieron las
cuatro caras, bañadas de un tinte lívido, y la estancia parecía más
grande, más fría, más blanca, más sepulcral...
—De modo —continuaba Elías, cuando don Felicísimo encendía e
candilón de cuatro mecheros— que en vez de apartarles de ese
camino, debemos instarles a que por él sigan.
—Sí, que limpien, que despojen...
—Pues ahora —dijo Negri— contaré yo la conversación que tuve
con Su Alteza la infanta doña Francisca.
—Y yo —añadió Carnicero— referiré lo que me dijo ayer fray Cirilo
de Alameda y Brea.
 XX

Jenara no pudo dormir en el camastro abominable que le destinara

doña María del Sagrario, el cual estaba en un cuarto más grande que
bonito, todo blanco, todo frío, todo triste, con alto ventanillo por donde
venían mayidos y algazara de gatos. Al amanecer pudo aletargarse un
poco, y en su desvariado sueño creía ver a don Felicísimo hecho un
demonio, ora volando montado en su pluma, ora descuartizando gente
con la misma pluma, en cuchillo convertida. La casa se le
representaba como un lisiado que suelta sus muletas para arrojarse a
suelo, y allí eran el crujir de tabiques, el desplome de paredes, la
pulverización de techos y las nubes de polvo, en medio del cual, como
ave rapante, revoloteaba don Felicísimo llorando con lúgubre graznido
mientras los demás habitantes de la casa se asfixiaban sepultados
entre cascote y astillas.
Al despertar sin haber hallado reposo, sus ojos enrojecidos
reconocieron la estancia, que más tenía de prisión que de albergue, y
acometida de viva aflicción lloró mucho. Después las reflexiones, los
planes habilísimos que había concebido, y más que nada la valentía
natural de su espíritu, la fueron serenando. Vistiose y acicalose como
pudo, echando muy de menos los primores de su tocador, y pudo
presentarse a Micaelita y a doña Sagrario con semblante risueño.
En sus planes entraba el de amoldar su conducta y sus opiniones a
las opiniones y conducta de los dueños de la casa, y así, cuando visitó
al señor don Felicísimo en su despacho y hablaron los dos, era tan
apostólica que el mismo infante la habría juzgado digna de una cartera
en su ministerio futuro. Según ella, la perseguían por apostólica, y su
apostoliquismo (fue su palabra) era de tal naturaleza, que la llevaría
valientemente a la lucha y al martirio. Carnicero, que en su marrullería
no carecía de inocencia (virtud hasta cierto punto apostólica), creyó
cuanto la dama le dijo, y establecida entre ambos la confianza, e
anciano le contaba diariamente mil cosas de gran sustancia y meollo
referentes a la causa. Sirvan de ejemplo las siguientes confidencias.
«¡Bomba, señora! Direle a usted lo más importante que he sabido
anoche. Una monjita de las Agustinas Recoletas de la Encarnación
soñó no hace mucho que el infante se ceñía la corona asistido de no
sé cuantas legiones de ángeles. Escribió su sueño en una esquelita
que remitió a Su Alteza, el cual la besó y tuvo con esto un grandísimo
gozo. Me lo ha contado Orejón».
«¡Bomba, señora! La trapisonda de Andalucía ha terminado. Los
marinos que se sublevaron en San Fernando están ya fusilados, y e
bribón de Manzanares, que desembarcó con unos cuantos tunantes
ha perecido también. ¡Si no hay sahumerio como la pólvora para
limpiar un reino! Que desembarquen más si quieren. El gobierno se ha
preparado, arma al brazo. Ahora, vengan pillos».
«¡Gran bomba, señora! Mañana ahorcan a Miyar, el librero de la
calle del Príncipe, por escribir cartas democráticas. Pronto le harán
compañía Olózaga, Bringas y Ángel Iznardi». Generalmente estas
noticias eran dadas al anochecer o durante la cena, en presencia de
Tablas. Después se rezaba el rosario, con asistencia de todos los de la
casa, y de Jenara, que desempeñaba su parte con extraordinario
recogimiento y edificación.
Ya se habrá comprendido que la muy pícara se valió de los ahogos
pecuniarios del bueno de Perico Tablas para sobornarle y ponerle de
su parte. El demandadero de la cárcel de Villa, que no era ciertamente
un Catón, se rindió a la voluntad dispendiosa de Jenara, sirviéndole
como se sirve a una dama que reúne en sí afabilidad, hermosura y
dinero.
Dos días habían pasado desde la prisión de Olózaga, cuando se vio
a Tablas y a Pepe Olózaga, hermano menor de Salustiano, bebiendo
medios chicos de vino en la taberna de la calle Mayor, esquina a la de
Milaneses. Jenara no solo supo explotar en provecho propio los
buenos servicios de Tablas, sino que los utilizó en pro de Salustiano
por quien mucho se interesaba.
Este insigne joven, que había de alcanzar fama tan grande como
orador y hábil político, fue primero encerrado en lo que llamaban E
Infierno, lugar tenebroso, pero más horrendo aún por sus habitantes
que por sus tinieblas, pues estaba ocupado por bandidos y rateros, la
peor y más desvergonzada canalla del mundo. No creyéndole seguro
en El Infierno, el alcaide le trasladó a un calabozo, y de allí a una de
las altas buhardillas de la torre. Antes de que mediara Tablas, pudo
Pepe Olózaga ponerse en comunicación con su hermano, valiéndose
de una fiambrera de doble fondo y del palo del molinillo de la
chocolatera.
El ingenio, la serenidad, la travesura de Salustiano eran tales, que
en pocos días se hizo querer y admirar de los presos que le rodeaban
y que allí entraron por raterías y otros desafueros. Los demás presos
no se comunicaban con él. Pepe Olózaga, después de ganar a Tablas
a quien hizo creer que su hermano estaba encarcelado por cosas de
mujeres, intentó ganar también a uno de los carceleros; pero no pudo
conseguirlo. Más afortunado fue Salustiano, que, seduciendo dentro
de la prisión a sus guardianes con aquella sutilísima labia y trastienda
que Dios le dio, pudo comunicarse con Bringas. Ambos sabían que s
no se fugaban serían irremisiblemente ahorcados. Discurrieron los
medios de alargar los procedimientos para ver si ganando tiempo
adelantaba el negocio de su salvación, y al cabo convinieron en que
Bringas se fingiría mudo y Olózaga loco.
Tan bien desempeñó este su papel, que por poco le cuesta la vida
Principió por fingirse borracho; propinose una pulmonía acostándose
desnudo sobre los ladrillos, y los carceleros le hallaron por la mañana
tieso y helado como un cadáver. Tras esto venía tan bien la farsa de su
locura, que siete médicos realistas le declararon sin juicio. Así ganó un
mes.
Miyar, que no era travieso, ni abogado, ni hombre resuelto, pereció
en la horca el 11 de abril.
Mejor le fue a Olózaga con su locura que a Bringas con su mutismo
porque impacientes los jueces con aquel tenaz silencio, que les
impedía despachar pronto, imaginaron darle un ingenioso tormento, e
cual consistía en clavarle en las uñas astillas o estacas de caña. Nada
consiguieron con esto; pero Bringas perdió la salud y no salió de la
cárcel sino para morirse. Es un mártir oscuro, del cual se ha hablado
poco, y que merece tanta veneración como lástima.
Pepe Olózaga y los amigos de Salustiano trabajaban sin reposo
Las comunicaciones con el preso eran frecuentes, y no solo recibió
este ganzúas y dinero, que son dos clases de llaves falsas, sino
también el correspondiente puñal y un poquillo de veneno para e
momento desesperado. Antes el suicidio que la horca.
Jenara, que salía de noche furtivamente de la casa de don
Felicísimo, iba donde se le antojaba sin que nadie la molestase, y as
pudo ayudar a la familia de Olózaga. Hízose muy amiga de la muje
del escribano señor Raya, y también de la mujer del alcaide. A la
sangre fría del preso primeramente, a la constancia y diplomacia de su
hermano Pepe, al oro de la familia, y, por último, a la compasión y
buen ingenio de algunas mujeres, debiose la atrevidísima y dramática
evasión que referiremos más adelante en breves palabras, aunque
referida está del modo más elocuente por quien debía y sabía hacerlo
mucho mejor que nadie.
Jenara, preciso es declararlo, no tenía puestos los ojos en la cárce
de Villa por el solo interés de Salustiano y su apreciabilísima familia
Allí, en la siniestra torre que modernamente han pintado de rojo, para
darle cierto aire risueño, estaba un preso menos joven que Olózaga
de gentil presencia y muchísima farándula, el cual pasaba por preso
político entre los rateros, y por un ladronzuelo entre los políticos. Era
según Tablas, hombre de grandes fingimientos y transmutaciones, a
parecer instruido y cortés. Figuraba en los registros con dos o tres
nombres, sin que se hubiera podido averiguar cuál era el suyo
verdadero. Tablas reveló a la señora que no era ella sola quien se
interesaba por aquel hombre, sino que otras muchas de la corte le
agasajaban y atendían.
Las señas que el demandadero indicaba de la persona del preso
convencían a Jenara de que era quien ella creía, y más aún las
respuestas que a sus preguntas daba. No obstante, la dama no pudo
lograr ver su letra, por más que a entablar correspondencia le instó po
conducto del demandadero. El preso pidió algunas onzas y se las
mandaron con mil amores. Se trabajó con jueces y escribanos para
que le soltaran, estudiose la causa, y ¿cuál sería la sorpresa, e
despecho y la vergüenza de Jenara, al descubrir que el preso
misterioso no era otro que el celebérrimo Candelas, el hombre de las
múltiples personalidades y de los infinitos nombres y disfraces, figura
eminente del reinado de Fernando VII, y que compartió con José María
los laureles de la caballería ladronera, siendo el héroe legendario de
las ciudades como aquel lo fue de los campos?
 Corrida y enojada, la señora descargó su cólera contra Pipaón, a
quien puso cual no digan dueñas, y no le faltaba motivo para ello
porque el astuto cortesano de 1815 la había engañado, aunque no a
sabiendas, diciéndole que el que buscaba estuvo primero en casa de
Olózaga y después preso en la Villa con los demás conjurados
noticias ambas enteramente contrarias a la verdad.
A todas estas, Jenara no tenía valor para abandonar la hospitalidad
que le había ofrecido don Felicísimo, y continuaba embaucándole con
su entusiasmo apostólico, sabedora de que la mayor tontería que
podía hacerse en tan benditos tiempos, era enemistarse con la gente
de aquel odioso partido.
Al anochecer de cierto día de mayo, Jenara vio salir al padre Alel
del cuarto de don Felicísimo, y poco después de la casa. Como no
tenía noticias de Sola ni del estado de su peligrosa y larga
enfermedad, luego que el fraile se marchó fue derecha a la madriguera
de don Felicísimo para saber de la protegida del señor Cordero.
—¡Grande, estupenda bomba, señora! —dijo el anciano, a quien
acompañaba, rosario en mano, el atlético Tablas.
—¿Se sabe algo de esa joven?...
—Ya pasó a mejor o peor vida, que eso Dios lo sabrá —repuso
Carnicero volviendo hacia Jenara su cara plana, que iluminada de
soslayo parecía una luna en cuarto menguante.
—¡Ha muerto! —exclamó la dama con aflicción grande.
—Ya le han dado su merecido. Conozco que es algo atroz; pero no
están los tiempos para blanduras. Hazme la barba y hacerte he e
copete.
—Yo pregunto por la pupila de nuestro amigo Cordero —insistió
Jenara.
—Acabáramos: yo me refiero a esa señora que han ahorcado en
Granada. ¿Cómo la llamaban, Tablillas?
—Mariana Pineda.
Eso es. Bordadme banderitas para los liberales desembarcadores
El cabello se pone de punta al ver las iniquidades que se cometen
¡Bordar una bandera, servir de estafeta a los liberales!, y ¡sabe Dios
las demás picardías que los señores jueces habrán querido deja
ocultas por miramientos al sexo femenino...!
—¡Y esa señora ha sido ahorcada! —exclamó Jenara, lívida a
causa de la indigación y el susto.
 —¿Que si ha sido...? Y lo sería otra vez si resucitara. O hay justicia
o no hay justicia. Como el gobierno afloje un poco, la revolución lo
arrastra todo, monarquía, religión, clases, propiedad... Esta doña
Mariana Pineda debe ser nieta de un don Cosme Pineda que vino aqu
por los años de 98 a gestionar conmigo cierto negocio de las
capellanías de Guadix... Buena persona, sí, buena. Era poseedor de
una de las mejores ganaderías de Andalucía, la única que podía
competir con la de los Religiosos Dominicos de Jerez de la Frontera
donde se crían los mejores toros del mundo.
—Y esa doña Mariana —dijo Jenara— era, según he oído, joven
hermosa, discreta... ¡Bendito sea Dios que entre tantas maravillas de
hermosura, ha criado, Él sabrá por qué, tantos monstruos terribles, los
leones, las serpientes, los osos y los señores de las Comisiones
Militares...!
—¿Chafalditas tenemos...? —dijo don Felicísimo echando de su
boca un como triquitraque de hipos, sonrisillas y exclamaciones que no
llegaban a ser juramentos—. Mire usted que se puede decir: «al que a
mí me trasquiló, las tijeras, ji, ji, le quedaron en la mano».
La dama le miró, reconcentrada en el corazón la ira; mas no tanto
que faltase en sus ojos un destello de aquel odio intenso que tantos
estragos hacía cuando pasaba de la voluntad a los hechos. En aque
momento Jenara hubiera dado algunos días de su vida por pode
llegarse a don Felicísimo y retorcerle el pescuezo, como retuerce e
ladrón la fruta para arrancarla de la rama; pero excusado es decir que
no solo no puso por obra este atrevido pensamiento homicida, sino
que se guardó muy bien de manifestarlo.
—Yo no soy tampoco de piedra —añadió Carnicero echando un
suspiro—; yo me duelo de que se ahorque a una mujer; pero ella se lo
ha guisado y ella se lo ha comido, porque ¿es o no cierto que bordó la
bandera? Demostrado está que sí. Pues la ley es ley, y el decreto de
octubre ha proclamado el tente-tieso. Conque adóbenme esos
liberales. Dicen que fueron tigres los señores jueces de Granada
Calumnia, enredo. Yo sé de buena tinta..., vea usted: aquí tengo la
carta del señor Santaella, racionero medio y tiple de la Catedral de
Granada..., hombre veraz y muy apersonado, que por no gustar de
clima de Andalucía, quiere una plaza de tiple en la Real Capilla de
Madrid... Pues me dice, vea usted, me dice que cuando la delincuente
subió al patíbulo, los voluntarios realistas que formaban el cuadro se
echaron a llorar... Un padrenuestro, Tablas; recémosle un
padrenuestro a esa pobre señora.
Igual congoja que los voluntarios realistas sintió Jenara al oír el rezo
de Carnicero y Tablas; pero dominándose con su voluntad poderosa
varió de conversación diciendo:
—¿Se sabe de la pupila de Cordero?
—Esa... —replicó don Felicísimo con desdén— está fuera de
peligro. Hierba ruin no muere.
 XXI

—Sí, ya está fuera de peligro, gracias al Señor y a su Santísima y

única Madre la Virgen del Sagrario. Decir lo que he padecido durante
esta larga y complicada dolencia de la apreciable Hormiga, durante
estos cuarenta y tantos días de vicisitudes, mejorías, inesperados
recargos y amenazas de muerte, fuera imposible. El corazón se me
partía dentro del pecho al ver cómo caía y se deslizaba hasta el borde
del sepulcro aquella criatura ejemplar, dotada por el cielo de tantas
riquezas de espíritu, y que parece puesta adrede en el mundo para
que sirva de espejo a los que necesitamos mirarnos en un alma
grande para poder engrandecer un poquito la nuestra. Y más me
angustiaba el ver cómo se moría sin quejarse, aceptando los dolores
como si fueran deberes: que su costumbre es llevar sobre sí las
pesadumbres de la vida, como llevamos todos nuestra ropa.
»Ya está fuera de peligro, y gracias a Dios sigue bien. Me parece
mentira que es así, y a cada instante tiemblo, figurándome que su cara
no recobra tan prontamente como yo quisiera los colores de la salud
Si la oigo toser, tiemblo; si la veo triste, tiemblo también. Pero don
Pedro Castelló, que es el primer Esculapio de España, me asegura
que ya no debo temer nada. Es fabuloso lo que he gastado en
médicos y botica; pero hubiera dado hasta el último maravedí de m
fortuna por obtener una probabilidad sola de vida. Mi conciencia está
tranquila. Ni sueño ni descanso ha habido para mí en este período
terrible. He olvidado mi tienda, mis negocios, mi persona, y al fin, con
la ayuda de Dios, he dado un bofetón a la pícara y fea muerte. ¡Viva la
Virgen del Sagrario, viva don Pedro Castelló y también Rousseau, que
dice aquello tan sabio y profundo: no conviene que el hombre esté
solo!
 Así hablaba don Benigno Cordero en la tienda con un amigo suyo
muy estimado, el marqués de Falfán. Y era verdad lo que decía de sus
congojas y del gran peligro en que había puesto a Sola una traidora
pleuresía aguda. La naturaleza, con ayuda de la ciencia y de cuidados
exquisitos, triunfó al cabo; pero después recayó la enferma, hallándose
en peligro igual, si no superior, al primero. Cuanto humanamente
puede hacerse para disputar una víctima a la muerte, lo hizo don
Benigno, ya rodeándose de los facultativos más reputados, ya
procurando que las medicinas fueran escogidas, aunque costaran
doble, y principalmente asistiendo a la enferma con un cuidado
minucioso, y con puntualidad tan refinada, que casi rayaba en
extravagancia. Digamos en honor suyo que había hecho lo mismo po
su difunta esposa.
Aunque parezca extraño, doña Crucita manifestó en aquella
ocasión lastimosa una bondad de sentimientos y una ternura franca y
solícita de que antes no tenían noticia más que los irracionales. Sin
dejar de gruñir por motivos pueriles, atendía a la enferma con el más
vivo interés, velaba y hacía las medicinas caseras con paciencia y
esmero. Bueno es decir, para que lo sepa la posteridad, que doña
Crucita tenía en su gabinete el mejor herbolario de todo Madrid.
Cuando don Pedro Castelló dijo que la enferma no tenía remedio
don Benigno manifestó grandeza de ánimo y resignación. No hizo
aspavientos ni habló a lo sentimental. Solamente decía: «Dios lo
quiere así; ¿qué hemos de hacer? Cúmplase la voluntad de Dios». La
Paloma ladrante, que tenía en su natural genio el quejarse de todo, no
supo mantenerse en aquellos límites de cristiana prudencia, y dijo
algunas picardías inocentes de los santos tutelares de la casa; pero a
solas, cuando nadie podía verla, se secaba las lágrimas que corrían de
sus ojos. La posteridad se enterará con asombro de las palizas que la
buena señora daba a sus perros para que no hicieran bulla ni salieran
del gabinete en que estaban encerrados.
Los Corderillos mayores compartían la pena de su padre y tía, y los
minúsculos, sin darse cuenta de lo que sentían, estaban taciturnos y
con poco humor para pilladas. Deportados con las cotorras en e
gabinete de su tía, jugaban en silencio, desbaratando una obra de
encaje que Crucita tenía empezada, para rehacerla después ellos a su
modo. Cuando Sola estuvo fuera de peligro y sin fiebre, lo primero que
pidió fue ver a los chicos. Radiante de alegría les llevó don Benigno a
cuarto de la enferma diciendo: «aquí está la Guardia Real Granadera»
y al mismo tiempo se le aguaron un poco los ojos. Sola les besó uno
tras otro, y puso sobre su cama a Juan Jacobo, diciendo:
—¡Cómo ha crecido este!... Y ¡qué gordo está! Bendito sea Dios
que me ha dejado vivir para que os siga viendo y queriendo a todos.
Cordero se había vuelto de espaldas y hacía como que jugaba con
el gato. Después se quitó las gafas para limpiarlas. Lo que realmente
hacía era defender su emoción de las miradas de Sola y los chicos
Aun en aquel primer día de su convalecencia, pudo Sola hacer a la
Guardia Real Granadera un obsequio inusitado. Desde el día anterio
había guardado cuatro piedras de azúcar de pilón, y dio una a cada
muchacho, destinando la mayor a Juanito Jacobo, precisamente po
ser el más chico y a la vez el más goloso.
—Un ángel —les dijo— que ha venido todas las noches a pregunta
por mí y a ver si se me ofrecía algo, me dio anoche estos terrones
para todos, encargándome que no se los diera si no se habían portado
bien. Yo no sé qué tal se han portado...
—Muy mal, muy mal —dijo doña Crucita—. No merecían sino
azúcar de acebuche y miel de fresno.
—Lo pasado, pasado —añadió Sola—. Ahora se portarán bien.
No había concluido de decirlo, cuando ya se oían los fuertes
chasquidos de los dientes de Juanito Jacobo partiendo el azúcar. Los
cuatro besaron a la que había hecho con ellos veces de madre, y se
retiraron muy contentos. Don Benigno no podía contener cierta
expansión de gozosa generosidad que, naciendo en su corazón, lo
llenaba todo entero. Fue tras los muchachos, y dio cuatro cuartos a
cada uno para que compraran chufas, triquitraques, pasteles o lo que
quisieran. Después le pareció poco, y a los dos mayores les dio una
peseta por barba, advirtiéndoles que aquel dinero era para correrla en
celebración del restablecimiento de Sola, y, por tanto, no debía se
metido en la hucha. Cada uno tenía su hucha con sendos capitales.
Crucita se fue a sus quehaceres, y don Benigno se quedó solo con
la Hormiga. En los días de gravedad, cuando le acometía fuertemente
la calentura, Sola deliraba. Los individuos conservan en sus desvaríos
febriles casi todas las cualidades que les adornan hallándose en
estado de perfecta salud, y así Sola enferma era diligente, bondadosa
y afable. Agitándose en su lecho con horrible desvarío, mandaba a los
chicos a la escuela, le pasaba lección a Rafaelito, reñía a Juanito
Jacobo por romper los figurines del Correo de las Damas, bromeaba
con Crucita por cuestión de pájaras lluecas o de perros con moquillo
daba órdenes a la criada sobre la comida, se afligía porque no estaban
planchadas las camisas de don Benigno, le pedía a este cigarros para
el padre Alelí, preguntaba a los dos qué plato era el más de su gusto
para la próxima cena, y hablaba con todos de los Cigarrales y de cierta
expedición que tenían proyectada; era una reproducción o un lúgubre
espejismo de su actividad y de sus pensamientos todos en la vida
ordinaria. Acontecía que después de un largo período de exaltación
febril, Sola se quedaba muda y sosegada otro largo rato, sin decir más
que algunas palabras a media voz. Don Benigno, que atendía a estos
monólogos con tanto dolor como interés, pudo entender algunas
palabras; entre ellas, don Jaime Servet.[2]
[2] Véase Un voluntario realista.

Aquel famoso día de los terrones de azúcar, don Benigno, luego

que con ella se quedó solo, le preguntó quién era el tal don Jaime
Servet que en sueños nombraba, y ella quiso explicárselo punto po
punto; pero apenas había empezado, cuando entraron Primitivo y
Segundo trayendo un grande, magnífico y oloroso ramo de rosas, que
ofrecieron a Sola con cierto énfasis de galantería caballeresca. Los
dos chiquillos tuvieron la excelente idea de emplear las dos pesetas
que les dio su padre en comprar flores para obsequiar con ellas a su
segunda madre en el fausto día de su restablecimiento; y en verdad
que era de alabar la delicadeza exquisita con que procedían
demostrando que en la edad de las travesuras no escasea cierta
inspiración precoz de acciones generosas y de la más alta cortesía
Decir cuánto agradeció Sola la fineza, fuera imposible; y si el fuerte
olor de las flores no la marease un poco, habría puesto el ramo sobre
la almohada. Les dio besos, y luego pasó el ramo a Cordero para que
aspirase la rica fragancia.
Don Benigno no cabía en sí de satisfacción. Se puso nervioso, se le
resbalaron las gafas nariz abajo, y esta parecía hacerse más picuda
tomando no sé qué expresión de órgano inteligente. Sonrisa de
vanagloria retozaba en sus labios, y aquel aroma parecíale que llevaba
a su alma un regalado confortamiento, paz deleitosa, esperanza, una
vida nueva. Los muchachos, al ver el éxito de su hazaña, reventaban
de orgullo.
 Don Benigno se los llevó prontamente a su cuarto y les dijo:
—Tomad..., un duro para cada uno. Sois caballeros finos y
agradecidos. Muy bien; muy bien, señoritos: este rasgo me ha
gustado. En vez de comprar golosinas que os ensucian el estómago..
comprasteis el ramo..., pues... Idos a paseo: no vayáis esta tarde a
colegio. Yo lo mando... Adiós... Un duro a cada uno.
Cuando volvió al lado de Sola, Crucita había llevado, para que la
enferma los viera, los pajarillos en cría, pelados y trémulos dentro de
nido, mientras la pájara saltaba inquieta de un palo a otro, y el pájaro
ponía muy mal gesto por aquel desconsiderado transporte de la jaula
Sola admiró todo lo que allí había que admirar, la sabiduría y la
paciencia de aquellos menudos animalillos, que así pregonaban con
su manera de criar la sabiduría maravillosa y el poder del Criador, e
cual, en todas partes donde algo respira, ha puesto un bosquejo de la
familia humana.
—Lléveselos usted —dijo Sola—, que se asustan y se enojan, y
creo que lo van a pagar los pequeñuelos, quedándose hoy sin
almorzar.
Después cargó Crucita, no sin trabajo, con algunos tiestos de
minutisa y pensamientos para que Sola viera cómo con el calor de la
estación se cubrían de pintadas florecillas, las unas formando
ramilletes o grupos, como un canastillo de piedras preciosas, otras
sueltas con diferentes tamaños y matices; pero todas guapas y
alegres. También trajo un lirio que parecía un obispo, vestido de largas
faldamentas moradas; un moco de pavo, que más bien parecía gallo
de cresta roja, y otras muchas hierbas que llevaban la alegría a la
alcoba, pocos días antes tan silenciosa y fúnebre. ¡Con cuánto gusto
recibía Sola aquellas visitas! Era la vida, que tales mensajes le
enviaba para cumplimentarla; era la amada casa, que saludaba con lo
hermoso y agradable que en sí tenía. Para que nada faltase, vino
también la cotorra, a quien Sola encontró más crecida; vino el loro, que
le pareció haber sufrido algún desperfecto en su casaca verde, y, po
último, entraron también los perros en tropel, y se lanzaron a la cama
aullando y lamiendo. En tanto, don Benigno, después de permanece
un rato como en éxtasis, bajó los ojos y apoyó la barba en su mano
trémula. O rezaba o recitaba algún famoso texto de Rousseau: en esto
no parecen acordes las crónicas, y por eso se apuntan las dos
versiones para que el lector elija la que más le cuadre.
 Pasó un rato. Todo estaba en silencio. El héroe de Boteros
saboreaba en el pensamiento la dicha presente, que no era sino
anticipado anuncio de su futura dicha.
—Pues como decía a usted... —indicó Sola.
—Eso es, apreciable Hormiga. Siga usted su cuento y dígame quién
es ese don Jaime Servet.
Sola satisfizo cumplidamente la curiosidad de su amigo.
 XXII

Habiendo ordenado los médicos que la enferma fuera a convalece

en el campo, empezó don Benigno a preparar el viaje a los Cigarrales
de Toledo, donde poseía extensas tierras y una casa de labranza
Extraordinario gusto tenía el héroe en estos preparativos, por ser muy
aficionado a la dulce vida del campo, al cultivo de frutales, a la caza, y
a la crianza de aves y brutos domésticos. Por su desgracia, no podía
abandonar su comercio en aquella estación, y érale forzoso seguir en
la tienda por lo menos hasta que pasase el Corpus, fiesta de gran
despacho de encajes para Iglesia y modistería. Pero resignándose a
su esclavitud en la corte, se deleitaba pensando en el dichoso verano
que iba a pasar. Amaba la naturaleza por afición innata y po
asimilación de lo que había leído en su autor favorito y maestro. Así
nada le parecía tan de perlas como aquella frase: el campo enseña a
amar a la humanidad y a servirla.
Su plan era llevar a Sola a últimos de mayo acompañada de Crucita
y los niños menores. Inmediatamente regresaría él solo a Madrid, y
cuando acabase junio, volvería con los otros dos chicos a los
Cigarrales, donde estarían todos hasta fin de septiembre.
¡Los Cigarrales! ¡Cuánta poesía, cuántas amenidades, qué de
inocentes gustos y de puros amores despertaba esta palabra sola en
el alma del buen Cordero! ¡Qué meriendas de albaricoques, qué gratos
paseos por entre almendros y olivos, qué mañanitas frescas para sali
con el perro y la escopeta a levantar algún conejo entre las olorosas
matas de tomillo, romero y mejorana! ¡Qué limpieza y frescura la de
las aguas, qué color tan hermoso el de las cerezas, y qué dulzura y
maravilla en los panales fabricados por el pasmoso arte de las abejas
en el tronco hueco de añosos alcornoques, o entre peñas y jaras! En
los cercanos montes el gruñido del jabalí hace temblar de ansiedad e
corazón del audaz montero, y abajo, junto a la margen del río aurífero
del río profeta que ha visto levantarse y caer tan diferentes imperios, la
peña seca y el remanso profundo solicitan al pescador de caña, flor y
espejo de la paciencia. Pensando en estos cuadros poéticos, y
gozando ya con la fantasía estos legítimos placeres, don Benigno se
sonreía solo, se frotaba las manos y decía para sí:
—Barástolis, ¡qué bueno es Dios!
¡Y luego...! Esta reticencia le regocijaba más que aquellas risueñas
perspectivas bucólicas. Había decidido no hablar a Sola de cierto
asunto hasta que ambos estuvieran en los Cigarrales y ella
completamente restablecida.
Cordero fue una mañana a la Cava Baja en busca de arrieros y
trajinantes para arreglar con ellos su viaje. Entró en la posada de la
Villa, y en la que antiguamente se llamaba del Dragón. En esta
encontró a un mayoral que ha tiempo conocía, y después de concerta
ambos las condiciones del viaje, siguieron en caloroso diálogo sobre e
mismo asunto, porque se había despertado en don Benigno cierto
entusiasmo pueril por la dichosa expedición. Allí preguntó varias veces
Cordero la distancia que hay desde Madrid a Toledo; hizo comentarios
sobre tal cuesta, sobre cuál mal paso, y, finalmente, disertó largo rato
sobre si llovería o no al día siguiente, que era el señalado para la
salida. Cordero opinaba resueltamente que no llovería. Ya se
marchaba, cuando al pasar por el corredor alto, donde había varias
puertecillas numeradas, vio a un hombre que tocaba en una de estas
El hombre preguntó en voz alta:
—¿Don Jaime Servet, vive aquí?
Detúvose Cordero y oyó una voz que de dentro gritaba:
—No ha llegado todavía.
El héroe no dio a lo que había oído más importancia de la que
merece una simple coincidencia de nombres.
¡Qué afán puso el buen señor en preparar su viaje, en disponer lo
referente a vestidos, provisiones y todo lo demás que se había de
llevar! Creeríase que iban a dar la vuelta al mundo, según la prolijidad
con que Cordero se proveía de todo, y las infinitas precauciones que
tomaba, las advertencias que hacía, el itinerario escrupuloso que
trazaba, la elección de vituallas, y el acopio de drogas por si ocurrían
descalabraduras o molimiento de huesos. Todo le parecía poco para
que a Sola no faltara ninguna comodidad, ni se privase de nada que
pudiera convenir a su espíritu y su salud. Y deseando anticipar las
delicias del viaje, aquella noche le habló de la distancia, le describió
los pueblos que habían de recorrer, pintole paisajes de ríos y
montañas, diciendo estas o parecidas cosas:
—Cuando pasemos de Torrejón de la Calzada a Casarrubuelos
fíjese en aquellas lomas de viñas que están en fila y hacen unos bailes
tan graciosos cuando pasa el coche corriendo... Después, en tierra de
la Sagra, verá usted unos panoramas que encantan... Luego que se
pasa de Olías se quedará pasmada cuando vea allá lejos la torre de la
Catedral, que parece saluda al viajero... sin quitarse el sombrero, se
entiende, el cual es un capacete que está emparentando con el cielo y
que trata de tú a los rayos...
En fin, llegó la mañana y se marcharon despedidos por Alelí, que se
quedó muy triste. Cuando el coche, dejando atrás el puente de Toledo
entró en la extensa, libre y alegre campiña inundada de luz, don
Benigno sintió que la alegría se rebosaba del vaso de su espíritu
chorreando fuera como las caídas de una fuente de Aranjuez, y aque
chorrear de la alegría era en él risas, frases, exclamaciones
chascarrillos, y, por último, la elocuente frase:
—Barástolis, ¡qué bueno es Dios!
Aquel mismo día corrió por Madrid la noticia de haberse escapado
de la cárcel de Villa el preso que ya estaba destinado a la horca
Jenara se alegró tanto cuando Pipaón se lo dijo, que al instante salió a
la calle para felicitar a don Celestino. Hacía ya dos semanas que había
empezado a perder el miedo, y salía de noche a pie acompañada de
Micaelita, vestidas ambas en traje tan humilde que difícilmente podían
ser conocidas.
Después de dar la enhorabuena a don Celestino y a su hija, regresó
a casa de Carnicero y se entretuvo escribiendo algunas cartas. Pipaón
la visitó en su cuarto, donde hablaron un poco de la política. Jenara
fue luego a ver cenar a don Felicísimo, operación que le hacía gracia
por las singularidades y extravagancia de aquel santo hombre en tan
solemne instante, y le halló sumamente ocupado con un alón que po
ninguna parte quería dejarse comer, según estaba de cartilaginoso y
duro.
—¡Bomba, señora...! —dijo Carnicero picoteando el hueso por aqu
y por allá, de modo que unas veces se lo ponía por bigote y otras lo
tascaba como un freno—. En Portugal el señor don Miguel está