Page 32 of Claimed

The man throws his arm around Erica’s shoulder and kisses her cheek before asking, “You want me to ring them up?”

“Yes, please, honey.”

She smiles at him fondly, then turns back to Gage, and her smile drops as she pulls back from him a little. “What’s wrong?” she asks before glancing at my other guys. I take a second to look at them and see they all look… confused.

“I thought he’s your mate,” Gage says, gesturing to Philip.

“He is,” she confirms. “But so is Zack.” She gestures to the man who just kissed her cheek.

“And Jon,” Zach adds with a grin as he starts ringing up our order.

She has multiple mates, too?

“We’ve never heard of a woman having multiple mates before,” Gage tells them, clearly looking for information.

“Is that a witch thing?” Hunter adds. Oh, so she’s a witch, that’s what the supernatural smell is.

“Women with multiple mates are rare, that’s for sure,” she says, looking a little nervous as her eyes quickly dart to her husband.

“Are there more like you?” Hunter asks, pressing against my side.

“Just one other in town, that we know of anyway,” she says carefully as her eyes bounce between my guys. Then her eyes land on me, and the way I’m pressed against Hunter’s leg.

“You seem awfully interested in this topic,” she says carefully.

The guys are silent for a minute, and I have a feeling they’re talking through the bond again.

Bain kneels down behind me and draws me into his chest, his arms wrapping around my body as if to protect me from something, as Maddox finally speaks.

“Cherry,” he says, gesturing to me, “is fated to the five of us.”

Her eyebrows slowly rise as her mouth makes an “O” shape of surprise.

“How much do you know about someone having multiple mate bonds?” Philip asks carefully after a moment of silence.

“Nothing, and I’ve done a lot of research,” Gage answers.

He nods, like he expected this. “I suggest you check out the library,” he tells us as he stacks our boxes up. “Especially the section on supernatural origins.”

Gage's brows pinch together, clearly trying to figure out what might be there, but he just nods as Zack gives us the total. Gage pulls out his credit card and pays as the twins grab the boxes of treats. It’s clear they don’t want to tell us any more, so we head toward the door.

“Thanks for all your help,” Maddox says as he pulls the door open and the rest of us start filing out.

“Come back anytime!” Erica says with a small wave as we exit into the street.

As soon as the door is shut, Gage glances at the time on his phone. “We have an hour before we are to meet Peggy at the house. I want to check out the library.”

“How about Hunter goes with you, and the rest of us will take Cherry for a run? We will meet you at the property, you guys take the rental car, and we’ll go in our wolf form,” Maddox suggests.

Everyone agrees as we make our way back to the vehicle. Bain, Maddox, and Chase strip down and toss their clothes inside, along with the treats, and shift. It’s strange for them all to be shifted in the middle of town, but nobody gives us a second glance.

Maddox leads the way to the forest that seems to surround the entire town, and I try to remind myself of the magical barrier keeping us safe from humans.

One question that’s been repeatedly begging for an answer is what is Blaze? Human or supernatural? Will he be able to find me here? He followed me all the way to Westgrove. What’s stopping him from finding me here?

I can only hope that since I took a plane here, he won’t be able to follow my scent.

Chapter 12