Werewolves and Wranglers

by Kristen Banet

  “I will.”

  Tobias watched the two strange men walk out. Redstone always picked up the more unusual members of supernatural society. From Valen to Adalyn, Tobias thought they had found pretty much the rarest. But a Nephilim that wasn’t Fallen-born and a shifter who became a hellhound?

  Even William would be jealous of her deputies. She’s got a lot of fire power there.

  “Tobias, come talk to me!” Valen called out, a lonely note to his demand.

  With a small smile, he walked to his friend. Tobias could still remember the day Valen appeared in the West, unsure of how he got there, where to go, or what to do. It had been an interesting day. Since then, they talked about everything under the sun, building a great friendship.

  “Lonely?” he asked, sitting back down at the bar. Everyone was moving along now. It was that strange time between lunch and dinner. Everyone needed to get back to work before they were allowed to drink their day away.

  “Always.” Valen snorted. “I’m always here.”

  “You could hire someone to help out and take some time off. There’s nothing forcing you to stay in this building.” This wasn’t the first time he’d had to say it. He knew it wouldn’t be the last.

  “I got out a few weeks ago, actually. I’m the one who realized Addy was taken by the demons, and then I had to go get help. I left Redstone. You should be proud of me.” Valen smiled, but it was tainted by the lonely sadness the Russian covered up so well.

  “Oh, very good. You left the saloon once in over a year. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Nope. I’ve left at least…three times. Left Redstone once, but I’ve left the saloon a little more. It’s hard going outside those doors, though. In here, I’m the most powerful being probably for a couple hundred miles. Out there…I might as well be one of David’s shifters. I don’t like it.”

  “Remember the time before you had the saloon?” he asked softly.

  “Never will forget. If those who cursed me ever find out I made this place…there’ll be hell to pay.” Valen shook his head, looking away. He was aimlessly wiping the bar down.

  Tobias took a second to see if anyone was around. Luckily, it seemed everyone cleared out. “You really want to go for her?” He wanted to get to it. Valen had started this; now it was time to finish it.

  “She’s full of magic, hot as sin, and dear to me. Why wouldn’t I?” The Russian chuckled. “Ah, to have feelings for a girl.”

  “William held us all back. Me, you, Maxwell.” Tobias groaned. “And now she has those two.”

  “He didn’t hold us back. We held us back, for our own reasons. I won’t be with a girl who doesn’t know what I am, and I have never found a good way to tell her. It’s not an easy thing to know. You are just a fool, afraid to ruin whatever friendship is there by admitting how you feel. Maxwell, though…” Valen laughed harder. “He’s the one that was held back by William. He would never consider a married woman in that way. But an unmarried one? Oh, you can bet he’s beginning to unbury those feelings.”

  “So it’s a competition, then. Me, you, and Maxwell.” Tobias swallowed. I have no chance.

  Valen shrugged. “That’s a really confrontational way to look at it, my friend. We’re all friends. There’s no reason for hostility.”

  “I don’t mean hostile—”

  “And she’s not a prize to be won. You know better.” Valen pointed at him, and he wanted to shrink several inches. Valen was right. He was only back for a day and he was thinking like this? What was wrong with him? Valen sighed. “You know what? Why don’t you go upstairs to your room? Get a goodnight’s sleep, my friend, and clear your head. I can imagine coming back and finding not one but two men in her bed and life wasn’t what you were expecting. I should have warned you better.”

  “It’s not…” Tobias groaned. “You’re right. I’m in my thirties and hung up. Life’s short, you know?”

  “Better than most,” Valen murmured, waving him away.

  Tobias did as Valen recommended, walking up the back stairs and into the apartments, an ever-shifting set of rooms that presented themselves differently for each person who walked up. They had no numbers, and no identifying features, just two rows of doors in a red wood hall. There was no way of knowing how many rooms were even in the building. Tobias found his, though, able to feel his own magic through the door.

  He walked through and didn’t bother eating the food already waiting. He stripped and fell into his bed without much of a thought. He was exhausted, and tomorrow, he was going to do potions with Adalyn. His last thoughts were of moonlight skin and dark curls like ocean waves at midnight.

  5

  Adalyn

  Adalyn cleaned for the rest of the day, something to keep her from stewing too much over the drama of her day. Tobias, the werewolves, Clarice and that nonsense. What a day it’s been. This must be karma for the black magic and demons business I got into last month.

  She finished the entire downstairs of her little home in record time, set up a stew for dinner, then went upstairs. She dusted the guest bedroom, but it was hardly used. Her roommates tended to stay in her bed, something she was more than okay with.

  I hope the day settled down for them. I was going to shoot somebody if I stayed out there for even a moment longer.

  Adalyn was learning that being sheriff wasn’t just protecting the town from outside threats, but also getting in the middle of the drama that the inhabitants seemed to create. She should have known, but had never really taken it seriously. This had been William’s job, and while she loved hearing stories, she didn’t get involved. She didn’t look too deeply.

  And everyone respected him. They look at me like I’ve grown a second head. Half the time, I have to scare the hell out of them to get their attention. Not hard to do, but annoying.

  She was nearly done with her second guest bedroom when her deputies got home. She heard their stomping below. For a moment, she remembered how the demons had invaded her home. She considered putting a ward around the room, just to be certain, but decided against it. Easton would just be offended and Remy would pout.

  “Adalyn?” her Nephilim called out. “Are you up there?”

  “In the second guest room! Cleaning it up a little! I’ll be down soon!”

  She was shaking her head, unable to resist a smile, as the footsteps climbed the stairs. He pushed into the room and walked to her with purpose. Before she could say hello, he grabbed her face and claimed her mouth. It left her knees weak.

  Pulling back, he had an arrogant smile. “A promise for later tonight, since we missed out on a midday romp,” he murmured. He kissed a trail from her lips to her jaw and down her neck, one of his arms wrapping around her waist. Without a single ounce of effort, he lifted her. She threw her legs around his trim waist and let him walk out of the room with her. “Now you’re going to get off your feet, like you should have earlier today.”

  “I don’t need or want to be taken care of, Easton Black.” She thought it was sexy, but she didn’t want them to dote on her too much. She didn’t want to be dependent on anyone or anything.

  “I know. You rarely let us. Since becoming the sheriff, and us moving in, you’ve proven you like to be in charge of everything. You bark orders, tell us where to be and what to do. You make decisions, and they’re final.” He purred. “It’s gorgeous and gets me hard, but tonight, with all that happened today, we’re going to be good men and do something nice for you.”

  Her heart thumped hard, speeding up with every word that came out of his mouth. It was racing by the time they were down the stairs. Easton was considerate, but this was something new. He was a gentleman, but large, seemingly romantic gestures weren’t something she ever expected from him. Remy was passionate, and she could see it from him, but not this man.

  He deposited her at the dining table. She could see Remy was already tending her stew. Easton heated up her oven and placed two fluffy loaves of bread in. When she raised an eyebrow, he grinne
d.

  “You don’t know this trick? Heat up a loaf a little and it’ll soften right up after its day at the bakery. Not too much or you’ll toast it. Just a little. A road trick. We would put them over the fire while making something to eat.”

  “No, I didn’t know that trick. Thank you.” She smiled, wondering how a man would ever know it. Most men didn’t really care about food on the road. She knew from experience. On the few trips she took with Maxwell, Tobias, and William to nearby towns, they just ate whatever they could shove in their faces.

  “You’re most welcome.”

  She could only watch now, as the two men worked around each other. Remy, as he placed her bowl in front of her, swooped down for a kiss, making her laugh. Easton brought the bread, cutting pieces for each of them. He gave her two fluffy center pieces, her favorite part.

  This is all very sweet of them. I always forget how nice it is to have someone dote.

  “So, did anything else happen today?” she asked.

  “No, everything calmed down after you left for the day. David came to talk to us about what happened, and his daughter. He wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t use your position to protect anyone, particularly Clarice.”

  “Really?” That surprised her.

  “Well, he doesn’t want his daughter to shoot anyone. He thinks she should learn that lesson as quickly and as harshly as necessary, as he put it.” Easton chuckled. “He was fairly perturbed.”

  “He was downright angrier than a bull in spring,” Remy muttered, shaking his head. “He was still yelling about her when he left the room. And how he was going to toss Esteban around for the next decade.”

  “Oh, Esteban won’t be in the Pack for much longer.” Adalyn had figured that out pretty quickly. “Sage will get her head on straight and divorce him. She’ll work it out with Clarice, who is very young. We were all there once. Esteban is the loser here, as he should be. As long as they don’t pick a fight with the vampires, I don’t care how they resolve it in the end.”

  “David was of a similar mind,” Easton assured her. “Helps that he was talking to the Nephilim, who is going to back up whatever you say, and you said no fights with the vampires.”

  She laughed. “That is very helpful. Thank you. I know you’re private.”

  “If we’re going to live here, we need to start making more of an effort. That starts with everyone knowing what we are.”

  She wasn’t so sure. “Valen does just fine, and no one knows what he is.”

  “He stays in the saloon,” he retorted, raising an eyebrow. “Where would I stay that’s out of everyone’s way and safe for them? Your bed?”

  “I wouldn’t mind that,” Remy cut in, grinning.

  “Neither would I.” She gave him a saucy smile, prompting the shifter to growl in anticipation.

  They let the topic drop in favor of flirting while they ate. It was so easy to flirt with them, and it made her feel so alive. Young. She was only twenty-eight. She deserved to feel young, right?

  After dinner, Easton took all their dishes, refusing to let her help clean up. Remy quite literally scooped her up from the chair and took her up the stairs. “Would you like to do some reading before bed?” he asked.

  “I actually would. It’s a nice way to relax, and I need to figure out some spells that might help the werewolves. Maybe some territory lines. Nothing I’ve ever worked on.”

  He put her down at the top of the stairs. “Tell me which books you want.”

  Laughing, she did so he could run downstairs and get them for her. She went into her bedroom, shaking her head. She had no idea where any of this was coming from. It was just a hard day on the job, by far the hardest since they all took over, but she didn’t need this every time her day went sideways.

  It’s so sweet, though. Oh, I could get so used to this, being treated like I’m a queen. William was like this sometimes. He would like these two, if he met them. He loves asking about them as it is.

  The happy memories and the good mood her deputies put her in were all she could feel now. The annoyance and frustration were gone as she undressed and slid into her bed. Remy was back right after that, holding the small stack of books she requested. It was too early to sleep, but she loved doing her reading in bed. There was more than one night where she fell asleep with her face in one of the tomes. She was smart. She didn’t bring any originals out West, but rather, kept a good library of accurate replicas over dozens of topics.

  She looked at warding options first. Wards were generally only protections from supernatural creatures, but she knew some inventive babysitters that made some for small children. Most of the time, those wards had been faulty, and they got into a lot of trouble trying to make and use them.

  “Anything to stop…what? Their cattle? That would stop the Pack’s cattle too when they needed to move them out to sale. Humans? Possibly?” She considered that. “I would need to ask Lawrence if he ever has human businessmen come through. It would get in the way of their business.”

  “You don’t need to fix it tonight,” Remy said softly. “You could just relax and read something else.”

  “I’m sorry. I was thinking out loud, wasn’t I?” She closed the book, admitting defeat. For now. “Maybe I should have picked one of the romance novels. What do you think?”

  “You don’t need it,” he reminded her, smiling.

  Right at that moment, Easton opened the bedroom door and stood there. “I made you a bath.”

  That startled her. “A bath? Really?” She was going from a good mood to downright confused now. “Easton, that’s really not needed. I can make my own—”

  “You can, but I wanted to for you tonight so you didn’t have to.” He said it so patiently, but there was a resolve that told her not to make a big deal about it.

  Her mind, however, was making a very big deal about it.

  “Take a book to read. You can spell them to not get wet, right?” Remy picked up a smaller one from the bed and held it out to her.

  She took it silently, nodding. She stood up, said thank you, and walked out and back downstairs to her bathroom with the large tub. She touched the water, impressed that he had heated it up already. Well, mostly. With a whispered spell and a little power, she heated it up just a little more, right where she liked it.

  “How lovely of them,” she said to herself.

  She soaked and read her book, letting the tension fade away. When the water began to cool just a little, showing her spell was wearing off, she washed her hair and body, stepping out of the tub when she was done. Drying her body off then wrapping the towel around herself, she walked out and up the stairs, her hair still wet and dripping everywhere. Her comb was upstairs, along with everything else she needed.

  Her bedroom door was still open and on the bed, the two gorgeous men who were spoiling her. Both were reading now—her spell books, of all things.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, tilting her head as she drew closer.

  “Research for you,” Remy answered, grinning up at her, showing off his canines.

  “Do you know what any of it means?” She smiled back. She didn’t think they were stupid, but there were a lot of advanced magical terms, things to watch out for and why. Witch and warlock things, really.

  “I do,” Easton murmured, looking up. “How was the bath?”

  “Wonderful. Thank you.” She dropped the towel as she neared her vanity, sitting down and grabbing her comb. In a blink, Easton was behind her, taking the comb from her hand and leaning over her.

  “Let me,” he crooned.

  Shivers ran down her spine as she realized what tonight had been. “Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Black?”

  “Always,” he whispered, delicious hot air going over her wet ear. “Tonight just gave me the excuse to do it right.”

  “And you got Remy involved.”

  “Of course.” The wicked smile the Nephilim had now was one that she knew she would take into her dreams. It was dange
rous and sexy. “Now you just relax.”

  That was very hard, as she was already wet from the way he gazed at her naked body in the mirror. Remy had a clear view from the bed, his angle letting him see her and vice versa. The shifter went so far as to clear the bed of the books and strip, lying on his back as if he was waiting for her to climb on top of him.

  And I most assuredly will. Who says no to a dark, handsome man like Remington Coldwell?

  Easton combed out her waves, drying it off with a hand towel as he went. He brushed his knuckles against her shoulders, his hands strangely warm compared to her body. The room felt too chilly all of a sudden, and her nipples, on full display in the mirror, were hard.

  Without a word, he put the comb down and, in one swift movement, picked her back up, making her squeak in shock. The sound made her seem like a mouse caught in a trap, and she felt like one. He put her on the bed so that she was on her knees and kissed her shoulder. “Who do you want first?”

  “What did you have in mind?” she asked back. With all the trouble they were going through, she figured they had some idea or plan.

  “I was thinking you could ride Remy. You do love to have control.” He said it tauntingly. She loved having control over her life, yet she found herself with two men who loved it rough and their way in bed. Luckily, their way also included making sure she had an orgasm or two.

  “But?”

  “But I want you between us at the same time,” he murmured. “And then you would have very little control.”

  She swallowed. Oh, that was an idea. “I’ll get back to you on that,” she promised. Easton only chuckled as she crawled across the bed. She hoped the dirty Nephilim enjoyed the view as she leaned over Remy, kissing his chest and down his abdomen.

  “Oh, Ada—” A groan stopped whatever Remy was trying to say as she took the head of his cock into her mouth. These men were a feast, and she enjoyed every bit of them. A hand curled into her hair and his hips thrust up, making her take another inch of his cock. She put her hands on his waist, holding them down. She was in control here. She pushed back against the hand on her head and raised an eyebrow.