Chapter 1: The Beginning

Rebekah knelt in front of the altar. She was the thirty-first generation of her family to serve the goddess Diana. At times she found it hard to believe that there had been that many generations of Archer women to serve the elusive goddess. In return for their service, the goddess had gifted each woman with an inner beast: an animal that would protect her during her service to the goddess... To make sure she was safe. And it was one that would demand it's due very soon. She knew that her mating period would come and there would be no denying it.

Tucking her ginger hair behind her ears, she finished her adulation before standing up. She winced as her knee protested. It had been giving her grief since the early cold snap that had swept over Iowa, turning all the leaves to their glorious fall colors.

As she left her meditation chamber, she smiled absently at man that was sitting on her loveseat. His ebony hair shone softly in the light. As usual he had it pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his strong neck. He looked like a struggling musician but reality sang altogether a different tune for the private investigator that he and his twin brother were, along with being her best friends.

"I didn't hear you come in, Jason. Where is Dustin at?" She limped farther into the living room and paused by the loveseat.

"He'll be up shortly. He's parking the car."

"Okay. Just make yourself at home and I'll be out shortly." She tightened the sash that held her robe closed, never once guessing that Jason would have loved to see what was under it. Jason swallowed roughly as he watched her enter her room and close the door behind her. He gripped the arm of the loveseat and fought not to follow her.

That's how his brother, Dustin found him a few minutes later.

"Hey, is everything allright?" Dustin asked as he sat down across from Jason.

"Yeah. I guess."

"Where is she?"

"Changing in her room."

"Oh man! She was wearing the white robe again. Damn it, I always miss out." Dustin eyed his brother, willing him to spill the beans.

"I'd love to go in and help her." Jason said quietly as he watched the bedroom door.

"Bro, you've got it bad." Dustin razzed as he leaned forward to grab Jason's cold soda off the coffee table.

"No worse than you do." Jason replied as he snatched his drink away from his brother.

"Yeah." Dustin agreed as he watched Rebekah come out of her bedroom wearing a simple t-shirt that cupped her impressive breasts and a pair of jean shorts that clung to her sexy ass and showed off her toned legs. It was all he could do to control the urge to toss her down on the closest surface and ravish her.

"Hey, Dustin. Must have found a parking space." She passed both of the men and headed to her kitchen. Standing in front of the sink, she stared out the window as she ran water into her old coffee pot. As it filled up, she listened to the soft drone of Jason and Dustin talking in the living room.

The dream that had awakened her in the wee hours of the morning wouldn't leave her alone. She hated when Diana gave her such cryptic messages. How was she to figure out who her mates were? AND still stop a mass possession by the end of the month? Damn!

Rebekah joined the men in the living room with her steamy cup of coffee.

"How's the knee?" Dustin asked as he pulled her leg onto his lap after she sat down on the couch next to him.

"Sore." She sighed as he gently rubbed it.

"I wish you would find another hobby, Reba." Dustin said as he gently rubbed her knee.

"I've already gone over this with you, Dustin. My service to Diana is not a hobby. It is how I was raised. It's been my family's duty for generations to serve her."

"Come on, bro. You know better than to try to talk her out of her "duty"."

"Damn it. One of these days you are not just going to get hurt! You're going to die!" Dustin growled.

"Probably sooner than later." Reba agreed as she sipped her coffee. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Jason asked concerned —indeed alarmed for the first time.

"I've been summoned by Diana."

"What did she want?" Dustin asked softly. Rebekah winced. Of the twins he was the loud one. When he spoke softly, she knew that she had to tread softly.

"I've been given the task of stopping a mass possession of souls by a group of demons."

"Well... hell!" Jason muttered as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Did she give you any ideas on how you were to stop this or did she in typical Diana fashion just tell you to do it and let you figure it out?"

"What do you think?" she groaned as Dustin hit a particularly sore spot. When she had blew her knee out six months ago chasing down a vampire, her best friends had not been to happy about it. They still were a bit protective of her. She knew that there was going to be an explosion when she informed them of the other part of her dream.

Turning she pulled her leg away from Dustin before standing up and walking towards the open patio doors. She was subconsciously making sure that she had an exit before she let the bomb drop. She had a feeling she might need it. Even though going outside dressed like she was, was enough to make her twinge.

"Okay, Reba, spill it. That's not all she told you. If it was simply a summoning for you to battle evil, you wouldn't be this uptight. What aren't you telling us?" Jason asked as both he and Dustin followed her.

"The only way that I'm going to succeed is to find my mates."

"Mates!"

"What the hell!" Both Jason and Dustin tried to protest at the same time.

"I know. I know. Tell me about it. I don't have a damn clue as to where to start looking for them. I need to concentrate on this demon thing. I don't have time to be looking for one man, let alone two," she groused as she turned to face them. She stiffened when she saw the look on their handsome faces.

"Now, listen, you two hotheads. Don't even think of trying to stop me..." she shrieked as they each grabbed one arm and lifted her off her feet. Turning in unison they headed to her mediation chamber. Setting her down in front of the altar, they released her.

"Call her back and tell her you won't do it." Jason ordered. Dustin nodded in agreement.

"I will do no such thing! This is my job, you two Neanderthals! If you want to help me, help me find the two mates that Diana was blabbing about!' She cursed softly as she tried to stand up. She nearly screamed when she felt their hands forcing her back down to her knees. Even in their roughness, both men were careful not to put any pressure on her bad knee.

"Call her!" Dustin said, echoing his brother's order.

"No!" She gritted her teeth and stayed on her knees but stubbornly refused to perform the ritual that would call the goddess to her.

"We are willing to wait you out, Reba. This summoning that you are undertaking is foolish. Do you honestly think that either, Jason or I would willing let you mate with two strange men? Your goddess will just have to find another disciple to fill in this time." Dustin leaned down and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Stop it!" she hissed as he leaned in to whisper into her ear. "Aside from that, if there is going to be any mating done here, princess, it will be with us. The two men that you have known since your birth. No other will care for you as much as Jason and I. No one is closer to you than we both are."

"Damn it, Dustin. Let me go!"

"Never." He growled as he straightened. His brother looked at him with a question in his eyes.

Did you just claim her? he asked through their telepathic link.

No. But I came close. Damn it, Jason! Why weren't we warned this was coming? Why the hell didn't Diana come to us first? We're her mates. We have been destined for this since birth.

I don't know, brother. I just don't know. And unless Reba decides to call her and we can ask her face to face, we'll be here all night. Because you know that bitch goddess won't ever answer our summonings.

"This is entirely up to you, Rebekah. I am willing to wait as long as need be. The longer you lock wills with us the less amount of time you are going to have to stop the possession." Jason squeezed her shoulder gently.

"So it's not the summoning itself that you object to. It's the mates business." Rebekah said as it became clearer to her. Jason winked at his brother. He had always been the voice of reasoning of the two. He could talk Reba into doing things that Dustin couldn't convince her to do even with threats.

"Yes. I don't like the idea of strange men or even one man taking advantage of you. Call Diana. We'll all talk to her. Maybe we will be able to sort this out and find a solution. If you need back up, Dustin and I are more than willing."

"You are?" she asked as she looked from brother to brother.

"Yes. Call her!" Dustin ordered as his eyes darkened with frustration.

"All right. If she's pissed I'm going to blame you two. You know she hates having her orders questioned. I'll need my robe and the incense."

"Fine, stay here." Jason said as he dragged his brother out of the room. "We'll be right back with your robe and the incense."

"Damn it. Why did you tell her that we would help her?" Dustin asked as he opened each cupboard in the kitchen looking for Rebekah's stash of incense.

"She's going to go off and fight even if we don't help her. Who would you rather have at her back, Dustin? The two of us? Or some bozos that realize she's desperate?" he asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Us. But damn it, Jason, do you realize how hard it is going to be to resist the temptation while we're protecting her ass?"

"Maybe not. If Diana has claimed that she is to be mated, then we will make sure she is. We'll tie her so tightly to us, that she'll never be able to get away. And the temptation will be a moot point." He reached up and took the incense out of the cabinet behind him before handing it to Dustin.

"A moot point. I don't think that this hunger inside of me is going to be satisfied that easily, Jase. I've been hungry for tooo long."

"I know. Just as hungry as I have been. We'll control it. We have the best reason in the world..."

"Yes, you do." A soft other worldly voice whispered behind them.

Turning both of the men, stared in disbelief at seeing Diana behind them. Jason dropped quickly to his knees, dragging his shocked brother down to his.

"Mistress Diana."

"That's not needed. Rise." They quickly complied and rose to their full heights. The goddess smiled at them. Even at her own five foot ten height, these two men towered over her. She couldn't ask for two better men to care for her favorite disciple.

"Uh, oh. She's smiling, Jase. That's never a good sign."

"Of course, I'm smiling. The time has come for you two to fulfill your duties to me. It's time for the mating to take place."

"What if she's not ready?" Jason asked.

"She'll be more than ready by the time that you claim her. She will be entering her mating time. Each and every disciple of mine goes through it. Her inner beast will demand it. So even if she weren't needed to stop this possession, she would become irresistible to you. Both of you. You two are mirror images of each other. Two pieces of the same half. You're other half is Rebekah."

"Christ. You mean to tell us that she is going to lose control of her body and we are to take advantage of that!" Dustin groaned.

"Indeed." Diana's face showed no emotion. "Her mating time will start two nights before All Hallows Eve. Be prepared." "That will not leave us much time to prepare." Dustin said.

"Do you realize how truly angry she is going to be?" Jason asked as he rubbed his temples.

"You will sooth her. You will satisfy her inner beast. She will not be angry with either of you." Diana assured them before she vanished.

"Son of bitch!" Dustin growled.

Rebekah sighed as she waited for Jason and Dustin to return. Her body was still tingling from Dustin's earlier words to her. She was a normal woman and she had her fantasies about having her best friends make love to her. But they were just that, fantasies. They were both wonderful men and each of them deserved to have a woman that was devoted to them individually. Not one that was a devoted to a goddess. Even if she weren't devoted to Diana, she could never decide between Dustin or Jason. They were a matched set to her. She couldn't have one without the other. That was the main reason why she had made both of them her best friends.

She frowned when they returned without her robe and incense.

"I thought you wanted me to contact Diana?"

"Not any longer. Let's go and find out about these demon possessions." Dustin said as he helped her to her feet.

"What about..."

"Don't push, princess." Jason said as he followed her and Dustin out of the mediation room.

While Dustin was inside the store and pumping his informant for information, Rebekah and Jason sat in Jason's Ford Explorer.

"Okay. Level with me. What happened while you two were getting my robe and incense?"

"Your goddess decided to visit Dustin and me in the kitchen. We cleared up our objections." Jason said quietly - not daring to touch on topic of their mating.

"So you are going to help me find my mates?" She asked as she watched Dustin walk back to the car.

"When the time is right," he croaked as Dustin got back into the car.

"So what's up?" Rebekah asked as he started the car.

"We are going downtown. My source says that in Chez Village there is a medium that has been making bargain with demons. I have a feeling that is where we are going find the mastermind behind this mass possession."

Rebekah sighed as she let herself back into her apartment. She was dead tired. Every lead that they had found had turned up over the last two weeks had been a dead end. She turned to shut the door and was surprised to see Jason behind her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Dustin and I are spending the night." he said as he walked further into the room.

"What!"

"It's time for your mating." Dustin said hoarsely from the doorway.

"Really? Last time I checked we hadn't bothered to look for them. I might add that both of you have been putting me off for the last two weeks. Do you have any idea where they might be?" she asked them sarcastically, her temper frayed from the constant failure of finding out who was behind the possessions. She also knew that for some reason she was headed towards the time of her mating. The inner beast that she had been gifted with was stirring, giving her another reason to be short tempered.

"Yes." Jason clenched his fists as desire tightened his already hard body.

"Where!" She walked towards him, her eyes filled with anger.

"Right in front of you." Dustin answered as he locked the door and turned to face her.

"What are you talking about?" Rebekah narrowed her eyes as both men walked towards her.

"You've been hounding us about your mates for the last two weeks, Rebekah. And the goddess in her kindness decided to give you us." Dustin explained as he let the desire show in his eyes for the first time.

"What! You have got to be kidding me. You and Jason are my best friends-not my mates." She backed away from them.

"Think about what she said, Reba. She told you that they were close. And who's closer to you than us?" Justin asked as he gently cupped her chin.