Arctic Spirit Read online

  Drew took her hand and squeezed. He then told her a joke about some funny people walking into bars. She chuckled at the right parts, though she found nothing funny. She’d heard those jokes from him before anyway.

  When their food finally arrived, they ate in silence, her glancing at them on occasion and them at her. The sadness was palpable among the three of them. When it was evident that she was done eating, despite having more than half of her food left on the plate, Drew asked for the check. They sat for a few minutes longer after Drew had paid the bill and finally talked a little.

  “What time does your flight arrive in Honolulu?” Chris asked.

  “Early afternoon,” she told him. Her dad would be arriving a few days later.

  They then reminisced a little about past summers, especially sneaking out at night to go sailing. During the day, they had often taken her whale-watching, and on occasion she had gone fishing with them and their dad.

  She already knew the guys planned to spend a lot of time fishing with Mr. Malcom this summer before leaving for Arizona. She knew what their majors would be, plans for after they graduated, places they wanted to visit. They knew her plans for the future as well, had talked about them at length. What they never talked about, not even on their last day together, what they never asked and what they never made plans for, was when they would talk to or see each other again. She hadn’t set out to break all ties with them after graduating, but she did think it might be for the best as the time grew nearer, and apparently, they did, too.

  She was glad she wouldn’t have to make a speech about why they should just say good-bye forever, and yet, she had to admit it stung that they were willing to let her go as well. Always on the same fucking page!

  Again, they drove home in silence in the same position they had on the way to the diner. When they arrived at her house, Drew got out of the car first and opened the passenger side for Charlotte. Chris got out and came over to her as well. They didn’t walk her to the door. Instead, they wordlessly held her close between them. It felt as if neither one of them had wanted to let go.

  When they released her, she could not bring herself to utter her good-bye. “See you later,” she said to them instead, her voice low and broken, completely unrecognizable to herself.

  She took one long last look at each of their faces. She had plenty of photographs of them, with them, but their faces would be completely ingrained in her mind. Chris and Drew seemed as if they, too, were committing her face to memory. Finally, she gave them a sad smile before she turned and walked away from them. She didn’t dare look behind her when she reached her front door and fumbled with her keys. She didn’t look out of her window to see them drive away—the sound of them driving away was enough to shatter what was left of her composure.

  Charlotte was thankful that her mother was home this time. Her mother held her tightly in her arms as she wept, mourning the loss of her best friends and the two greatest loves of her life.

  ****

  The plane touched down jarring Charlotte out of her painful memory. She felt wetness on her cheeks, swiped it away, and thanked her good fortune that her nose would have time to un-redden by the time she was done deplaning and dealing with baggage claim.

  Chapter Three

  Chris bounced on the balls of his feet inside the airport arrival area, holding up a sign that said “Charlotte Austen.” His younger-by-two-minutes brother had rolled his eyes at him when he made the sign. He knew Charlotte would appreciate his cheesiness though.

  “Tell me again why this is a good idea?” Drew asked.

  Regardless of Drew’s seemingly second thoughts, Chris knew that his brother wanted to see Charlotte just as badly as he did, despite how painful it would be to possibly say good-bye to her again. He hoped, however, that that would not be the case this time.

  “Because I’m tired of living without her,” Chris replied.

  Ten long years of not seeing his best friend’s face or hearing her contagious laugh had left an empty space inside of him that tortured him daily, his anguish often transparent to his brother and his parents. Drew covered up his pain with sarcastic comments or jokes, or simply avoided talking about her at all, but he could never really hide it either.

  “I’m fucking tired of it, too,” Drew snapped. “But this isn’t going to change what is.”

  They had gone over all of this already right after they had invited Charlotte to come visit two weeks ago, or rather, Chris invited her and Drew went along with it. Neither one of them could forget the heartbreak they had both felt the day they said good-bye to Charlotte. Chris had never experienced a pain like that before nor since, and he had actually cursed the spirits for creating such a thing as mates. He had heard the mating pull was so fierce and intense that it was almost impossible to walk away from. It was the “almost” part that always nagged at him, especially after he had witnessed it happen.

  After they got off the Skype call with Charlotte, Chris had told Drew that he invited Charlotte because he just wanted to see her again, if only one more time. And perhaps they could find a way to keep her in their lives from a distance. Drew acquiesced, acknowledging that maybe knowing she was safe and happy could fill in a bit of his own void. What Chris never talked about with his brother was that he had a plan. He couldn’t chance Drew trying to talk him out of it. Drew, having always been the more reasonable of the two, even knowing how tempted he himself would be, would no doubt try to do the responsible thing. His brother was the more selfless one as well, he thought, because what Chris wanted was completely and utterly selfish, and he knew it.

  Chris saw on the monitor that Charlotte’s plane had just landed. There was just enough time to spill his guts to his brother about his true motivations and not enough time for him to be talked out of them.

  “Neither one of us has ever stopped loving her,” Chris began tentatively.

  Drew narrowed his eyes, looking at his brother suspiciously.

  “I’m not sure it’s possible to love anyone more,” he continued. “It’s been ten years since we let Charlotte go and we haven’t found our mate yet. Who is to say we ever will? I’m not willing to give up the girl I love for some faceless, nameless woman, whom we may never even meet or possibly not like if we do.”

  Drew looked angry, but Chris couldn’t bring it upon himself to care. “You fucking think that it hasn’t crossed my mind as well?” he asked through gritted teeth. “Charlotte is human, asshole. It may be natural for us to share one woman, but not for her.”

  Chris looked at his brother stubbornly. He had already thought about this, too. “She loves us both.” He had not only scented her desire around them in high school, but also had taken notice of the range of emotions constantly displayed on her face. He heard how her heart would sometimes beat irregularly whenever one or both of them had touched her. “We will tell her the truth about us. She has always been open-minded. She’ll accept—”

  “Maybe,” Drew interjected. “Say she does accept us—after she flips the fuck out when she learns,”—he lowered his voice—“we can shift into tigers and the world as she knows it doesn’t exist. Then, we commit our lives to her and one fucking day our mate shows up in town. Or, we take Charlotte on vacation and would you look at that, matey-mate is sunbathing a few towels over. What happens then, hmm?”

  Chris ignored the sarcasm that spilled out of his brother’s mouth, but he was impressed that Drew had managed his entire diatribe in one breath. “What law states that we have to succumb to the mating bond?” He held up his hand to stop his brother from interrupting him again. “Believe me, brother, I am aware of the strength of the mating bond, and I feel the ache of wanting it constantly, but I don’t think that that bond, despite its strength, no matter how fierce, would negate the love we feel for Charlotte. Do you?”

  Drew let out a breath then shook his head, defeated.

  “If it were in reverse,” Chris continued, “I’m not sure how I would feel if my destined mate was
in love with someone else. I’d want her happiness over my own needs.”

  Drew punched his brother in the arm. “You could have discussed all of this with me before, asshole.”

  “I could have,” he said, “but seeing as I’m such an asshole…” Chris sidestepped, managing to avoid a second punch from Drew this time.

  “I wouldn’t have changed my mind about Charlotte coming,” Drew said. “Even if you had discussed this with me before.”

  Chris arched his brows in surprise. Maybe when it came to their Charlotte, Drew wasn’t the rational one either. He gave his brother a wide smile, feeling like an anvil of a weight had been lifted. By the end of her trip, he’d make sure Charlotte belonged to him and his brother … permanently.

  Seconds later, Chris’s smile was wiped clean. He felt a sudden tingling sensation that radiated from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. He shut his mouth quickly to prevent the loud roar that was building within him from escaping. He also had to clench his fists tightly to stop his claws from coming out. Then he closed his eyes and inhaled the euphoric scent that permeated the air around him. The owner of the delicious fragrance—a mouth-watering feminine musk, berries, and a lightly scented perfume—was still some distance away. He could smell traces of Charlotte as well—the memory of her still lingering after all these years—along with a slew of other people in range, but all of those scents were greatly overpowered by the euphoric one.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw Drew staring back at him with wide eyes. “Was there ever fucking worse possible timing?”

  Chris gave a mirthless laugh right before he began to search for the owner of the scent … his mate’s scent. “Fuck!” He gave a low growl in the back of his throat. “The spirit fates are just fucking with us now.” He was angry. Maybe he deserved for this to happen to him now for being so selfish, but Charlotte did not. He wondered if he’d be strong enough to really turn his back on his fated mate. The smell was making him a little dizzy. He wanted to roll around in it, he wanted to find the woman and rub against her, to kiss her, fuck her, mark her.

  “We’ll get Charlotte and hightail it the hell out of here,” he said, his voice sounding completely unstable. He felt irrational now with his mind longing for Charlotte and his body for his faceless mate.

  “Our mate can probably smell us, too, Chris.” Drew sounded as if he was barely keeping it together himself, his eyes wildly scanning the area, though Chris wasn’t sure if it was for Charlotte, their mate, or perhaps both. “What if she comes looking for us? At the very least, we would owe our mate an explanation if she is someone we could really walk away from in the end.”

  He was right, of course, on all counts. “How the fuck can you still be so rational?”

  “I am anything but, brother.” Drew ran both his hands through his chin-length locks, a nervous gesture Chris was very familiar with. “I feel insane right now, and it’s taking every fiber of my control to keep from splitting in two.”

  That’s exactly what Chris wanted to do himself. He was on the verge of a shift, but he could also purge himself a little from his beast if he let the spirit out, allowing the man to think a bit more clearly. But he didn’t think the humans would be able to rationalize seeing a roaming tiger spirit in the airport. No matter, the scent was getting closer. There was no running from it now.

  Moments later, the owner of the scent became visible. He locked gazes with the beauty, who froze upon seeing him and now stood stock still. He saw her mouth form a nervous, shaky smile just as her eyes watered. His heart wanted to leap out of his chest toward her and he became hers—mind, body, soul, and spirit. He heard Drew’s sharp intake of breath beside him and knew that his brother was feeling the same.

  She began to walk slowly toward them, glancing from one to the other, and when she was only a few feet away, she sprinted toward them. Drew and Chris caught her in a tight hug between them.

  “Charlotte,” Chris breathed into her berry-scented, chestnut hair.

  “I missed you both, so much,” she said, sniffling into Drew’s chest.

  Chris knew he’d see the appearance of an adorable red nose shortly. “You have no idea how much we missed you, Charlotte.”

  He kissed that red nose when she looked up at him and she gave him a watery-eyed smile. She and Chris then both looked over at Drew, who suddenly, instead of his usual smirk, gave a full toothy grin. He’d never seen his brother look so happy.

  Drew took her hand and said, “Let’s go home.”

  Chris caught the meaning. It was Charlotte’s home now as well, or at least it would be if they could convince her to stay. Chris really hoped they could because there was no way he could live without her again, especially not now after this new turn of events.

  Charlotte reached for his hand as well. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the sign he held at his side.

  He’d forgotten about the thing and never even held it up for her. She laughed when he showed it to her.

  “You’re such a cheeseball.” She said it like an endearment and then took the sign from him, tucking it under her arm.

  Chris grabbed the handle of her suitcase with one hand and took Charlotte’s free hand with his other. Together, the three of them strode out of the airport toward the beginning of their future.

  Chapter Four

  Something had shifted between them. Charlotte could feel it. She figured the guys would definitely be happy to see her, but what had just transpired at the airport went far beyond that. She suddenly had hope that at the end of her trip, she wouldn’t lose them again. Though in what capacity she’d get to keep them, she had no idea yet.

  “How was your flight?” Drew asked when the three of them were seated in the car.

  “We hit a little turbulence along the way, but other than that it was fine. Long.”

  They made small talk on the drive to the ferry, mostly catching up on how their families were doing. She was practically ready to jump out of the car when Chris turned off the ignition as soon as they were parked on the ferry. She was dying to go out on deck and watch as Taika came into view.

  “Quit lollygagging around, you two,” she chided. Apparently, the guys were in no hurry to get out of the car.

  Chris turned to Drew. “Did she just say lollygagging?”

  Charlotte put her hands on her hips and gave Chris and Drew a pointed look. They made a mock-scared face and finally complied with getting themselves out of the car. She grabbed one of each of their hands and then practically dragged them up the stairs and out into the chilled air of the deck. She couldn’t believe it, but she actually had missed the cold. Add to that, she had to admit to herself, she had some ulterior motives for wanting to be outside, besides checking out the view. She suspected there would be very little convincing needed on her part for them to keep her warm, and her best friends definitely did not disappoint. They stuck her in the middle and huddled close, leaning on the rail as the ferry pulled away.

  “Just like old times,” Drew said. She could feel his eyes watching her.

  He was right. It did feel just like old times, yet it also felt like no time had passed at all. With the initial awkwardness out of the way, it was easy to settle back into their old camaraderie. If only there wasn’t still a giant pink elephant in the room containing those pesky feelings, she thought. And by feelings, she meant everlasting, heart-ensnaring love for two men … a kind of love that she knew in the very depths of her soul she would never feel for anyone else.

  Charlotte couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, “Why did you two let me go so easily?” She didn’t look at either one of them when she asked her question, but she knew that the sharp intake of breath belonged to Chris and the long slow exhale was Drew’s.

  “It’s complicated.” It was Drew who answered. “We have quite a bit to talk about.”

  “Complicated is an understatement,” she replied, looking straight ahead, afraid to look at either of them as she continued. “To be hon
est, I’m not sure why I even asked. I guess I already know the answer, but I—”

  Chris turned her to face him. “You don’t, Char. You don’t know the real reason, but we’re going to tell you.”

  “Everything,” Drew added. She turned to face him. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He then cupped her cheek. “We’ll explain everything. I promise.”

  She nodded, confused as to what other reason there could have possibly been for them parting ways with her. She had suspected that they did not want to make her choose between them, thinking, like her, that it would only cause more pain for the three of them. She turned back to face the water. Doubt started to creep in that perhaps they weren’t both in love with her after all. From all the subtle hints to the not-so-subtle longing looks from them, she could have sworn they still were. Or perhaps only one of them was. Could she still be happy with only one brother if the other didn’t want her that way? The truth was she didn’t think so. She’d be happy, yes, but only with half her heart.

  “Quit overthinking things, Charlotte.” Chris’s voice was firm, instantly bringing an end to her horrid speculations. “I can practically see the wheels spinning in your head, and by the faces you are making, it can’t be anything good.”

  “He’s right,” Drew added. He and Chris moved in closer to her. “This separation,” his voice cracked on the last word, “has been hard on us, too. Hopefully, once we explain, you’ll understand.”

  Chris squeezed her hand. “Hopefully, we won’t lose you again.”

  She glanced from one brother to the other and saw sincerity and longing on each of their faces. “You won’t lose me again,” she promised. When she turned back to face the water, she could have sworn she felt them sniff her hair. She was very glad she had washed it that morning.

  ****

  When they finally arrived at their two-story cabin, Charlotte’s jaw dropped. The house looked picturesque with stone columns and a stone chimney, and large front windows on both the first and second floor. The second floor had a set of double doors that led out to a fairly large veranda, and part of the arched roof extended to shield a portion of it. A double garage was attached to the right of the house with the doors framed by more stone.