Mitch stopped just behind Fletcher. He stared for a moment at the woman backlit by the window. He could tell she was curvy. He could tell she had serious muscles under the curves. And he could tell she had grey eyes, because they were practically glowing as she looked at him and Fletcher, but he could not, for the life of him, figure out what the hell his wolf thought he was doing. The beast howled like the full moon was about to fall in on them, and his fucking heart felt that way, too. When he realized that Fletcher wasn’t able to move, he reached back and shut the door. He didn’t give a shit if this was the Alpha’s suite. Right now, he didn’t want an audience for the arousal that rocketed through him.

“Nine years is a hell of a long time,” Fletcher said.

Mitch didn’t know how he got his voice to work. He inhaled, and the scent of her—floral and musk combined—drove all rational thought out of his head. He growled under his breath as his cock shoved hard against the placket of his jeans.

Fletcher twitched, and Mitch clamped his mouth shut. He didn’t trust himself to speak right now.

“Nine years ago, I was sixteen,” the woman said, and Mitch abruptly realized who she was. Avery Tate. Paige’s best friend, his brain told him. His wolf didn’t care. The beast wanted out. The beast wanted her.

Fletcher reached out his arm, pushing against Mitch’s chest as if to ground him. Mitch exhaled, sensing Fletcher’s Alpha power slide into him like a warm, familiar hand. A bit of his normal calm returned, thank fuck. “Avery,” he said, voice so low he barely recognized himself.

Avery turned her brilliant light eyes on him, and he almost stepped back when he saw the power floating in her gaze. She’s a Queen, he thought, shocked, and then, She’s our Queen. He reached up and gripped Fletcher’s wrist, pressing his fingertips into his best friend’s bones.

Fletcher didn’t even flinch. He glanced at Mitch, and the knowledge in his expression told him that they were on the same page.

“Mitch,” Avery replied. Her gaze shifted back to Fletcher. “And Fletcher.” She licked her lips, and Mitch felt the rumble of Fletcher’s growl on his skin. “Welcome home. It’s been a very long time.”

Fletcher dropped his arm and strode forward. Avery stepped back, but there was nowhere for her to go. Her back was at the window. Mitch followed his Alpha and stopped just as Fletcher sank his hands into Avery’s long, red hair. She gasped, eyes flashing silver, and Mitch felt her desire like a punch in the gut. She was just as aroused as they were.

“You’re all grown up,” Fletcher said to Avery. He jerked his head, short and sharp, and Mitch knew Fletcher wanted him to move in on Avery’s other side. He did as Fletcher asked, not needing words, and put his hand on Avery’s shoulder. Her skin was so hot it burned his palm, but his wolf liked it. The creature snarled, and Mitch sucked in a hard breath, fighting to keep himself from just grabbing her and throwing her down on the floor where they could fuck her easier.

Dear God, help me, he thought, half shocked by his thoughts, but also grateful. He hadn’t been able to have sex in over a year, and this woman obviously had something that both he and Fletcher needed. He didn’t mind sharing. Hell, he wanted to share with Fletcher. He needed it. He could already feel the tenuous thread that tied them together strengthening. This woman is a catalyst, he realized, but he had no idea how or why her, instead of any of the other women he and Fletcher had tried to hook up with.

Avery blinked, but astonishingly, didn’t try to get away from Fletcher’s grip. “Yes. I’m twenty-five now.”

“Thank God,” Fletcher said, and then he dipped his head and kissed her.

****

Avery froze, stunned when Fletcher just leaned down and kissed her, as if it were perfectly normal to kiss a woman you’d just met again after nearly a decade apart. She hadn’t minded the hands in her hair, or Mitch’s hand on her shoulder, because the touch soothed her wolf in some unfathomable fashion, and she wasn’t about to complain when the prickles in her skin calmed down. However, the kiss was another thing altogether. She lifted her hands, about to push him away, and then his tongue slipped into her mouth and all rational thought fled her skull.

Oh my God, he tastes like the wind, she thought absurdly, and then Mitch pressed up against her side, and she turned her head, gasping. Before she could take a breath, he kissed her, too. He tasted like a storm, all roiling clouds and lightning, and she realized that the two men tasted the same. She wrenched her head back and stared at them in shock. “Oh my God. What’s happening?” She had never felt this way with Brian. Or anyone, for that matter.

“I have no fucking idea,” Fletcher said, staring with those golden eyes as if he could see into her soul.

Avery reached up and tugged her hair away from his fists, then moved so that Mitch’s hand fell away. Her wolf immediately howled again, and she flinched, feeling behind her for the window. She knew there was a small balcony of some sort just below this suite, and she knew she could survive the jump down. But I’m not sure I can survive another second with the two of them, she thought, panicking. How could Paige have been so right about her wanting Fletcher? And Mitch? How could her wolf suddenly go crazy, pushing her to want things she shouldn’t? She wasn’t anyone important. She couldn’t even shift. She wouldn’t bring anything helpful to the pack. Heirs usually married the daughters of Alphas, or Betas, and quite often, the pairings were politically motivated. She was nobody. I have to go, she thought, as fear speared through her arousal.

“Avery—” Mitch said, reaching out.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, and then she let herself twist backwards and down, rolling onto her feet as she landed. She risked a quick glance up—Fletcher and Mitch stared down at her—and then she pushed off and ran away.