From the Desk of Giles Borealis, Sr.
DATE: March 21
TO:
Cooper Borealis
Alex Borealis
James Borealis
My dearest grandsons,
Before the year is done, I’ll celebrate my eighty-fifth birthday. I know you’re all eager to find me the perfect present. I have to say up until now, you’re the best presents I could ever have gotten. You’ve grown up smart and strong, with real business savvy and enough cutthroat ambition to make me proud. Borealis Gems is thriving because of you.
You’re also the most pigheaded and obstinate jackasses I’ve ever had to deal with.
Telling me you want to focus on business and that finding a mate can wait sounds impressive, but we all know that’s a load of crock. It’s damn-well time you got your butts in gear. I want to hold my great-grandbabies before I die, a sentiment your grandmother fully endorses, as do your parents—even though they’re out of the country at the moment.
Stubborn fools that you are, for years on end you’ve resisted the mating fever when it’s hit. Enough of that nonsense.
There are nine months until my birthday. That’s how long you have to pick a mate, boys, or come New Year’s Eve, I’ll arrange to sell my shares of Borealis Gems to Midnight Inc., and none of us want that, do we now?
When mating fever hits this time around, you decide. You can make an old man happy, (and your grandmother—don’t forget Nana!) take full ownership of a multibillion-dollar corporation, and have the time of your life with a forever mate…or you can throw it all away. Your choice.
Don’t make it a stupid one.
Regards,
Your long-suffering grandfather,
Giles Borealis, Sr.
* * *
In the private office above the Diamond Tavern, three decadent leather recliners were comfortably arranged around an oversized table. Perched on the edge of his usual seat, James Borealis let the handwritten letter flutter from his hand to the surface of the wood slab. He replaced the unexpected message instantly with a glass, tipping back the whiskey and drinking deeply as if he could wash away the bitter taste the proclamation had left in his mouth.
“It’s bullshit.” Their middle brother all but roared the words, his golden-brown skin flushed with anger. Alex dragged a hand over his military-style crew cut, leaving the dark strands upright. He snatched up his glass and imitated James, shooting back the contents rapidly.
They glanced at each other before slamming their glassware down a fraction of a second apart then twisting to check their oldest sibling’s response.
Cooper had been the one to bring them together to open the elegantly written missive from Grandpa Giles. Cooper was the one they’d always looked to for advice. With their parents traveling out of the country, he was acting CEO for Borealis Gems, his law degree and dedication to excessive preparation helping advance the company in myriad ways in the short time he’d been in charge.
Now his expression was cool and collected—far more so than James could manage, and usually he was the calm and collected face of the family company. Publicity and promotions were his delight, and he’d been damn proud to be able to step in and take over what had been his mother’s domain for many years. Charming he could do. Eloquent—that was him. Usually.
Except right now.
The unreasonable demand rattled through his brain again, leaving him mentally staggering. A deadline to be mated? Who did that?
“Do you think he’s serious?” Alex demanded.
“He’s never had a problem with us being single before,” James said immediately. “And what the hell was that nonsense about ‘for years on end’ and ‘avoiding the mating fever’? Maybe it’s true for you two, but I’m only twenty-six. Mating fever’s only hit once before, and no way was I ready to settle down last year. Or this year, for that matter,” he complained. “I hid out for the week like any sane male.”
“The same way Cooper and I have for the past ‘years on end,’” Alex noted. “Gramps isn’t wrong about us not wanting fate to be in control of our destinies.”
Cooper raised the glass in his hand, swirling the liquid as he stared into the amber depths. His dark hair was shot with distinctive silvery-blond strands that reflected the late winter sunshine pouring into the room above the Diamond Tavern, the pub that James managed as a side business to the family mines. “Grandfather is getting older. Who knows what brought on the change? Truth is, he’s issued an ultimatum. Now we have to decide what we’re going to do about it.”
Cooper’s utter composure in the face of the unreasonable demand eased James’s panic enough he could speak calmly. “Grandpa wouldn’t sell the family business to our competitors.”
Big brother raised a brow.
Yeah, he was right. The cranky bastard would totally do it just to piss them all off. “It’s a good thing I like the old man, or I’d be tempted to rip his head off his shoulders,” James grumbled.
“We got the stubborn part of our nature from him,” Cooper said drolly.
Alex paused, adjusting position briefly as he reached into a back pocket to pull out his ever-present set of handcuffs and toss them on the table. Then he stretched his legs out, leaning back on the fine leather upholstery like a king on his throne, his arms spread wide on the high armrests. Even reclined he looked every inch the predator he was. Head of security for the family, Alex was lethal and deadly. Not just brawn, though. His mind was smart as a whip and misjudged at a person’s peril. “What’s the game plan, then? Because I will not let our company end up in the Lazuli family’s clutches.”
Intense, much? His middle brother’s proclamation was over the top, but James had worries of his own. Twenty-six was way too young to settle down.
Mating fever struck all polar bear shifters in their prime once a year. In happily mated couples, it became a glorious sexual romp for a week.
For unmated males, the wild impulse still drove them to enthusiastic sexual exploits. It was nature’s way of encouraging permanent bonds to form—because while people fell in love throughout the year, mates only happened during the fever.
Bonus—or not—the fever didn’t just affect the male, but had an impact on the females around them, boosting their natural response. Mating fever wouldn’t make a woman say yes when she wanted to say no, but it would escalate an existing attraction tenfold. Like bonus pleasure to make the situation more fun for everyone.
A week of down and dirty? Not usually a problem. But no male who wanted to stay single willingly hung around the ladies when the fever hit. It was too risky.
If there was a good match—by whatever standards the woo-woo of polar bear fated-mate-dom decreed—that week of sex was the beginning of the end. Like a shotgun marriage, they’d be stuck with each other forever.
Nope. The only impact James could see mating having on his life was a huge imposition on his time.
He didn’t want a mate. Didn’t need someone slowing him down and keeping track of him. Not to mention the likelihood of breeding. Double shudder. If there was some way to get out of it and still meet Grandpa Giles’s demand, he was all for it.
Although, if I have to be stuck with just one woman…
He shoved the thought away, the way he had a million times before over the years. He refused to think of Kaylee in that way, no matter how much his inner bear insisted on turning pervy thoughts on high.
“It’s simple, really,” Alex announced. “We make James do it.”
Getting indignant helped him avoid the truth still buzzing in his brain. “Get the hell out. I don’t want to settle down yet, and I’m the youngest. If anyone, it should be Cooper biting the bullet and carrying on the Borealis line.”
Alex grinned harder. That option left him off the hook. “He’s got a point—”
“I say we see what happens and let nature decide,” Cooper interrupted. He drank deeply, finishing his whiskey and replacing the glass on the table with a soft clink. “We have no way of knowing when mating fever will hit next, or who. I suggest we all agree this time we simply let it run its course. One thing Grandfather didn’t take into consideration: the mating fever isn’t a guarantee. It’s supposed to increase the chances of partners matching up, but if we’re not with our forever loves, nothing will happen beyond a week of fun.”
James stared at Cooper as the truth settled in hard. “You’re…right.”
His big brother snorted. “Don’t sound so shocked.”
Alex leaned forward, elbows on his knees as his eyes sparked. Considering. “So. This means the instant we feel the fever coming on, we need to get alone with someone attractive but most definitely not our mate.”
“Now you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be,” Cooper pointed out.
Alex lifted his shoulders. “Just planning ahead, brother.”
Cooper went on. “We’ll see if any of us ends up with a mate by New Year’s. Grandfather can’t be displeased if we’re trying to follow the rules. His ultimatum only says we’re not supposed to fight the fever.”
It was so like Cooper to focus on the legal loopholes.
He continued, “Who knows? Maybe one of us will end up mated, and the other two will decide settling down isn’t the worst thing ever, and they’ll vow to actively search over the coming year for their one and only.”
It all sounded so reasonable…
Except James knew his oldest brother. “That last bit was bullshit, wasn’t it?”
“Damn near one hundred percent,” Cooper responded, a twinkle in his eye flashing as he winked. “I had an idea something like this was in the works, so I’ve given it a lot of thought. Grandfather Giles has got us where he wants us. He’s no dummy. I can’t see any way to keep the business in the family other than to follow his instructions.”
Alex sighed as he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. “So we let fate decide.”
“Fate and the mating fever, yes.”
It sucked, but Cooper was right. James slid to the front of his chair and held his hand above the table, the way they always had when making pacts as young cubs.
“No resisting the fever”—he repeated—“and we let fate decide.”
Alex placed his hand palm down over James’s. “We let fate decide.”
Cooper eased forward, his bulk making the leather squeak in protest as he placed his hand over both of theirs and nodded once. “May she have mercy on us.”
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