Free Christmas Moon by Loribelle Hunt

“I was fourteen, and I’m sure I was at least five-seven. So, not much shorter.”
    That might explain why Clint hadn’t claimed her. At fourteen, she wouldn’t have met maturity yet, wouldn’t awaken the bond between her and her mate. Cain was sure there was more to it, though. He was sure Clint knew before she walked in that she was his mate.
    Clint had to let go enough so she could face Jackson and speak, but the were still held her close, tucked up under his considerably taller shoulder.
    “Can you help with this? Know who we’re looking for?”
    She tried to shrug out from under Clint’s grasp, but he didn’t release her until she dug her elbow into his lower belly. Walking forward, she sank into one of the two empty chairs in front of the desk.
    “No. But I have theories.”
    “Go on.”
    “This guy always goes after one twin of a mated pair. I think that tells us something. Maybe he’s a twin and his brother died. Maybe he’s a twin and his mate died. Or maybe he’s not a twin and the woman he wanted went to twins.”
    No one responded, but he could see they were all thinking it over, cataloguing the twins they knew in their minds. The problem was that you couldn’t know the ins and outs of every pack. Unless you had access to Hunter resources.
    “I’m working on a database of every known living twin set. Well, where at least one is living. Actually, I’m to the verifying point now.”
    She grew animated, warming to her subject, and he could see the single weres in the room were charmed. Hell, he knew there was no other woman, never would be, for him but Delilah, but even he was charmed.
    The door swung open and Summer poked her head in, glaring at Jackson smiling so openly at another woman. Cain was damned glad Delilah wasn’t with her.
    “Lunch,” she said, sauntering into the room. “And you might as well come down ’cause y’all are all gonna spill all your secrets tonight anyway.”
    He and Abel exchanged a look. There were a lot of secrets that needed to be shared with Delilah tonight, and some of them were going to be damned hard to explain. Summer walked around the desk and sat in Jackson’s lap, turning her head to watch Ellen. Cain wondered what the hell she saw because, after a few seconds, she nodded and smiled, and it wasn’t fake. It was a welcome. It didn’t look like he was going to find out either. In seconds, Jackson had the room cleared, and Cain was in the kitchen before he realized the Alpha and his mate hadn’t joined the pack for lunch.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Delilah watched them come into the kitchen. Her men. Cain and Abel. Was she really thinking of them like that? She still didn’t quite believe it, couldn’t believe it. She felt as if she’d landed in the twilight zone. She hadn’t ended up with one, but two incredible men. And they were werewolves. She had to be dreaming. But two hot looks, one from each, and she knew at least some of it was true.
    She hadn’t got much from the women she’d ended up with—Summer, Chloe, Meg, Tara, and Mary. They’d been chatty and welcoming as Summer showed her around the house, but it was obvious there were things being intentionally left unsaid.
    Like why Jackson thought she wasn’t safe staying with the twins? Who was the man that had been attacked? What exactly were rogues anyway? Cain had mentioned them earlier, but she hadn’t asked, had been afraid to. Now, she hated that ignorance, realizing this was not only a very different world but a dangerous one, too.
    She didn’t know what to make of the women who’d all introduced themselves as being someone’s mate. She took it to be their version of marriage, but the way it was presented disturbed Delilah. Had they done that to help her identify the couples in the house or was there more to it? A cultural aspect she wasn’t getting? It was like they belonged to their men, and she wondered if that was a two-way street. She couldn’t