Read Online Trouble Comes in Threes by M.A. Church - Free Book Online

you’d feel sick, like you have a bad case of the flu. Eventually, you’d get to the point where you’d have this low-grade body ache all the time, but you’d be able to function. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but you’d survive.” Dolf’s voice dropped to a growl. “You’d always feel empty, though. Forget trying to have a relationship with anyone. It’d feel wrong. You wouldn’t even be able to get hard, because you wouldn’t feel desire.”
    Kirk’s mouth fell open. “Fuck.”
    “That’s what you won’t be doing, unless it’s with us. Once we find our mate, we’re done. No one will ever draw our attention.” Dolf reached across Kirk and grabbed Tal’s hand. “We’re faithful because of it.”
    “We tend to be possessive too. Our mates are everything to us.” Tal tightened his grip on Dolf’s hand.
    “Yes, we are.” Dolf stared at Tal. “So, while not finishing the mating process would be bad for you, for Tal…. Pain is the first sign. Horrible pain, like he was being broken into tiny pieces slowly. We really don’t know why there is such pain. Next, he’d stop sleeping and eating. After that, the hallucinations. Finally, he would spiral into madness and go feral. At that point, he’d shift and stay shifted. He’d look and behave like a rabid animal. Tal’s humanity would be gone. Then… the shifter is put down. Do you understand? Since I’m his mate, I’d have to be the one to do it. I’d try to kill anyone else who tried—we protect our mates above all else. I’d have to take the life of the man I love to end his suffering.”
    “Oh… my God. My God, Dolf. That’s… that’s ghastly.”
    Tal shrugged. “It’s a downside of the mating process.”
    Kirk whistled. “That’s some downside.”
    “With advantages come disadvantages. Call it yin and yang.” Dolf cleared his throat. “The point is, he’s my mate, Kirk. Please, I can’t stand the idea of that happening to him. Don’t make me have to…. Kirk, please, I know you didn’t ask for this but… help us. Help him. I… beg you, please.”
    “But you two are mated, right?”
    Dolf dipped his head in agreement. “Yes. We’ve been together for thirty years.”
    Kirk threw his hands out, motioning at the both of them. “Then… how did I end up in the mix?”
    “We….” Tal hesitated.
    “We think…. We believe you will balance Tal and me. Tal likes to top on occasion, but I… don’t like bottoming. At all. Before you ask, yes, he takes time and prepares me. It hurts, no matter how much time he takes. I just don’t care for it. Tal has needs I can’t meet, and he certainly can’t go elsewhere.”
    “So, what? I’m like a patch for your sexual problems? Fuck that.”
    Dolf shook his head. “Not hardly. And that right there is a perfect example of why you aren’t just a ‘patch,’ as you called it. Kirk, have you noticed how you stand up to me? You’re not afraid to say what you think.”
    Tal snorted but didn’t say anything.
    Kirk huffed. “Maybe I just don’t know better.”
    “That’s crap and you know it. I make you uncomfortable. I know I do. I can hear how your heartbeat increases, how your breath quickens around me. But you, you stand up to me. You might feel the need to submit, but it’s not in your nature. You fight—you don’t give in.”
    “Like I do,” said Tal.
    “Tal is an Omega. He’s sweet and kind. There isn’t a mean bone in his body. Tal smoothes out my rough edges. But at the same time, it’s nearly impossible for him to go against me. It’s not in his nature to tell me I’m wrong about something, or to argue with me, or tell me I’m being an ass. You won’t have that problem. I need you just as much as I need Tal.”
    “He’s right. We’re not like wolf packs in the animal world. Omegas are not the weakest, not the ones picked on by everyone. We’re just the most peaceful, at least in our society.”
    Kirk glanced at Tal. “So, what do I get in all