by Tara West
She surged ahead of Tor and Van, ignoring their warning growls. “Do I look like a goddamn prized cow to you?” she spat, then thumbed at Cesar. “You heard him. I’m a guest of the Coyotechasers. Now lower your fucking guns!”
She did her best to quell the shaking in her limbs as she took several more agitated steps toward her mates before stopping beside Cesar.
“Don’t go any farther, Annie,” he warned.
She forced a smile. “I won’t.”
Both alphas blinked at her. The gamma and beta shared wide-eyed looks before lowering their weapons.
“I’m sorry,” Magnus relented, standing down, though he still held a finger on the trigger. “I don’t know what came over us. We were only concerned about your safety.” His pouted, reminding her of a contrite child. She would’ve thought he was sexy with his square jaw, high cheekbones, and wide hazel eyes, but trespassing on someone else’s property and waving guns around was anything but.
She turned to Tor, frowning. “The Ancients are mistaken,” she said loud enough for her voice to carry. “I’m not mating with idiots.”
She ignored her mates’ collective gasps and grumbles.
Cesar cleared his throat. “More trouble.” A truck was kicking up a cloud of dust as it barreled down the dirt road toward the house. “The Wolfstalker elders.”
“Chieftain Wolfstalkers to you,” her mates simultaneously boomed, raising their guns once more.
Holy fuck! They weren’t just idiots, they were willful idiots. The worst kind of stupid. No way was she breeding with those backwards-ass tree-humpers.
Cesar spit in the dirt, laughing. “They ain’t our chieftains.”
Annie shook her head, feeling like she was at ground zero after a testosterone bomb explosion.
Tor left Annie to join Cesar.
Annie swore under her breath.
“I was hoping your first meeting with the Wolfstalkers would have been under better circumstances,” Cesar said to Tor.
After the truck screeched to a halt, three men stumbled out. They barely resembled their sons, having long, scraggly hair and distended beer guts. One of them had an eye patch and dragged his leg as he walked.
“What in devil’s name is going on?” the biggest man, who also had the biggest belly slurred like a drunk, waving a pistol in the air.
Magnus turned to him, unalarmed by his father’s appearance or erratic behavior. “We scented our mate, Father.”
The old man narrowed his eyes on Tor. “What are the Thunderfoots doing here?”
Cesar cleared his throat. “I asked them to come, Vidar, in hopes they could help us negotiate a truce.”
Vidar spat a wad of tobacco in the dirt. “This feud ain’t none of their damn business.”
“It’s our business now,” Tor said evenly, though Annie sensed the rage simmering beneath his cool façade. “I won’t let our niece mate into a tribe in turmoil.”
Vidar pointed at Cesar. “Tell the Coyotechasers to forfeit their false claim to the chiefdom, and there won’t be no turmoil.”
“You know we can’t do that.” Cesar aimed his gun at Vidar’s chest. “Now get the hell off our property.”
“Fine.” Vidar threw up his hands, ignoring the guns Cesar and his brothers were pointing at him. “Give the girl to my sons, and we’ll leave.”
Annie shrank back. “I’m not going with them.” No way in hell was she getting tangled up in some crazy pack’s drama.
Vidar’s eyes shifted and his nose lengthened as he gave her a look that would make a lesser wolf cringe. “Do you know who I am, girl?”
She refused to break eye contact. She’d battled werewolves, for fuck’s sake. She wasn’t about to let a crazy drunk intimidate her. “I don’t give a damn who you are.”
Vidar snarled at her, then turned to Tor. “Is she always this disrespectful?”
Tor let out a low chuckle. “You’re provoking her.”
“Who is she?” Vidar asked Tor, acting as if she wasn’t standing right in front of him.
“My name is Annie,” she blurted, balling her hands into fists in an attempt to control her rage.
Vidar refused to look at her. “She’s the half-human?” he asked, his leathery features scrunching up as if he’d sucked on a sour lemon.
She was tired of his games. “I am.” She gave him another challenging look.
He looked her over with a smirk before turning to Tor once more. “Does her human blood make her weak?”
She gaped at him and then at his useless sons, who’d somehow managed to fade into the background, giving the madman center stage.
“Hello.” She waved wildly. “I’m right here.”
Tor shook his head, snickering. “She’s a strong shifter and will make a fine mate for a chieftain’s sons.”
Vidar rubbed his chin with the barrel of his pistol, a demented look in his bulging eyes. “That is yet to be determined.”
“I beg your pardon,” she snapped, a wave of anger flushing her face. “I’m a daughter of the Ancients.”
Vidar shot Tor a pointed look. “Is this true?”
Wow. Could the guy be any more of a chauvinist asshole?
Tor nodded. “She is their daughter. Our ancient gamma mated with her mother.”
“Interesting.” Vidar flashed a grin. “Come, boys,” he said to his four slack-jawed sons. “Before this bitch’s scent turns you into fucking retards.”
Holy fuck. Annie clenched her fists until nails broke skin. She’d never wanted to punch anyone so badly in her life.
Vidar jerked Magnus back, making him drop his gun. Everyone ducked when the weapon hit the ground. She gasped, shocked when Magnus’s hand fell with the gun. What the hell?
His cheeks turned as red as an overripe apple as he picked up the gun and attached prosthetic with his other hand, balancing them on an arm which ended in a stump. Magnus was missing a hand? He turned away, eyes downcast, and threw the weapon and fake hand in the back of his truck. He climbed inside, followed by his brothers. They looked like naughty children who’d been caught pilfering the cookie jar. Balancing his stump on the steering wheel, Magnus backed out of the driveway, his cheeks still pink, and he tore off behind Vidar’s truck without a backward glance.
Gaping at the retreating trucks, her anger with her mates turned to pity. What had happened to his hand? Her pity quickly turned back into rage. The missing hand didn’t give Magnus and his brothers the right to act like Neanderthals, and why hadn’t they spoken up when their father disrespected her?
She turned to Tor. “Did that crazy drunk call me a bitch?”
“He did.”
“I’m sorry, Annie,” Cesar said. “That is his nature. Now you can see why peace between our tribes is impossible.”
His brothers stood beside him, mumbling agreement.
Annie had to work hard to unclench her teeth. “Are his sons like him?”
Cesar shared looks with his brothers. “As far as we can tell, no.” She sure as hell hoped he was telling the truth and not trying to placate her.
Squaring her shoulders, she watched the trucks turn onto the main road. “They’d better not be, or I’m ripping off their balls and shoving them down their throats.”
ANNIE STARED AT HER food and then glanced down the long table, made out of what appeared to be an old barn door. It accommodated the Coyotechasers, their children, and their guests. The spread was amazing. Platters of steaming barbeque, pickled vegetables, tamales, and cornbread, as well as jugs of homemade tequila Cesar promised would burn their eyebrows off were scattered across the table. After Roy, Tor, and Van spluttered and coughed on the fire brew, she refused a drink.
She was too upset to eat much. She felt bad, because the Coyotechasers had worked so hard on the meal. She pulled a thin layer of cornmeal off the tamale husk and chewed. Texan food was delicious. She could definitely get used to tamales and brisket. Then again, she was going to have to if she mated with the Wolfstalkers.
She set down the empty husk and pushed away her plate.
Ioana balanced her daughter on one knee and placed a hand on hers. “Are you okay?”
She frowned at the cornmeal crumbs by her plate. “My fathers chose fools for my mates.” Legend was that the Ancients were the ones who paired up wolf packs with their mates.
“I’m sure they have their reasons,” Ioana soothed.
She spoke around the lump of sorrow and fear wedged in her throat. “What if they grow up to be like him?” When Ioana looked away, she wasn’t reassured.
“Their head alpha, Hodr, was a fair and wise leader,” Cesar said and stabbed a piece of meat.
Well, that was promising. Maybe her mates would turn out to be more like him. “And you said he was killed by drug smugglers?”
Cesar nodded, his expression grim as he and his brothers set down their silverware. “We had a tradition among the Texan Amaroki. When young wolves first shift, they run the canyon with their parents.”
She shared curious looks with her brother. “You had the tradition? So you don’t do it anymore?”
“No. It’s too dangerous. When Magnus first shifted, his alpha and gamma fathers and mother took him to the canyon. They stumbled upon drug smugglers. They were shot. Magnus and his gamma father Sami were injured. Hodr and their mates were killed.”
Well, shit. The food soured in her stomach.
“Is that how Magnus lost his hand and why Sami has a limp and eye patch?” she asked.
“Yes.” The lines framing his eyes deepened. “Sami’s injuries go deeper. He hasn’t been able to shift since that day.”
Alejandro, the Coyotechasers’ second alpha, shot his brother a scowl. “He turned into an incompetent drunk.”
Cesar let out a groan. “All the remaining Wolfstalker elders did.”
“What’s worse is Vidar blames Magnus for their deaths,” Ioana added.
The look of pity in Ioana’s eyes filled Annie with a mixture of shame and sorrow. Alphas weren’t supposed to be pitied, especially not those destined to become chieftains.
“What did Magnus do?” she asked and held her breath, afraid to know the answer.
Cesar shrugged. “Not enough apparently, and Vidar has never forgiven him.”
“But wasn’t he just a kid?”
“He’d only just learned to shift.” Cesar’s expression hardened. “But Vidar still blames him for not doing enough to protect his mother.”
“He lost his goddamn hand!” She pounded the table, apologizing when Ioana and her young daughter flinched.
“I know,” Alejandro said. “What’s worse is that Vidar also blames all humans for his mate’s death.”
“All humans?” Moisture evaporated from her throat.
Roy laughed nervously and tossed back another shot of homemade tequila. “He’s not too fond of us.”
“He tried to cut ties to the American government,” Cesar added.
“How?” Annie asked.
Cesar poured a splash of tequila into his shot glass and gazed at the amber liquid. “He ordered the betas serving in the Army to abandon their posts.”
“Seriously?” She looked at Roy for confirmation and was dismayed when he nodded. “That’s desertion.”
“I know,” Cesar said. “Most of them refused to heed his orders.”
She eyed Cesar intently. “Then what happened?”
He made a spluttering noise. “He tried to banish the betas who refused to follow his orders.”
“There was no way we were standing by while our brother was banished.” Alejandro nodded to his beta brother, who remained stoically silent. “We ordered an emergency meeting. About two-thirds of our tribe sided with us and elected us as the new chieftains.”
Tor grimaced. “I take it Vidar didn’t handle that well.”
“Every day there is some new drama,” Cesar grumbled. “Packs are no longer allowed to split up. The Wolfstalkers have cornered smaller packs and beat them to bloody pulps. They’ve driven away the last two government liaisons. We went without a liaison for six months while we waited for Agent Miller.”
Roy laughed, his gaze nervously flitting about the table. “Now we know why they sped up my training.”
“You’ve handled your assignment better than men twice your age,” Cesar said. “We appreciate you sticking with us this long, even after Vidar tried to kill you.”
Annie laid a hand on Roy’s arm. “What did he do?”
“That dent in my truck.” He hung his head. “That was him.”
Her hand flew to her throat. “He ran into your truck?”
“Yeah, with his fist.” Roy wiped a bead of sweat off his brow with a trembling hand. “He was in protector form.”
“Obviously,” Annie muttered. Alpha wolf shifters could transform into more than just wolves. They could also shift into giant Sasquatch beasts standing ten feet tall, with wide, barrel chests and the power to rip out full-grown trees by their roots. “Then what happened?”
All color drained from Roy’s face. “He jerked me out the window. I swear he was about to rip me in two, but Raine convinced him to let me go.”
She touched the scar on his forehead. “Was that how you got that?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “He’d shattered the window before he pulled me through it.”
Holy freaking Ancients! Annie did not want to bond with that family. It didn’t matter if his sons weren’t like him. She didn’t want to have to deal with a crazy father-in-law on a daily basis. “I can’t mate with them.”
Tor cleared his throat. “I’ll take you back to Alaska tomorrow.”
“We can’t do that.” A growing migraine pounded the back of Annie’s skull. “Vidar tried to kill Roy.”
Roy stiffened. “I can handle myself, Annie.”
“He can crush you. He can pop off your head like you used to do to my dolls.”
All color drained from his face. “What do you propose we do?”
Her gaze swept the table. “If the Ancients chose me for a reason, maybe it was to bring peace to the tribe.”
Cesar shared knowing looks with his family. “There’s no negotiating with Vidar.”
She already knew that. She didn’t want to negotiate with that chauvinistic donkey-dong-sized douche-nozzle. “No.” She clenched her hands to quell the tremors that made her heart race like a speeding train. “But maybe I can negotiate with his sons.”
Again the Coyotechasers shared knowing looks.
“What?” she asked Cesar.
“They’re afraid of him,” Cesar answered grimly.
“B-but,” she cried frantically, “Raine stood up to him when he tried to kill Roy.”
The table broke into a cacophony of noise.
“That one time,” Cesar finally said. “But there have been countless other times he’s gone off the rails, and his sons have done nothing.”
Well fuck. Her future mates were dumbasses and pussies?
She pushed back from the table, the food in her gut giving her instant indigestion. “Well, they’d better grow a set, because I’m not mating with them until they do.”
Chapter Two
ANNIE TOSSED AND TURNED in bed, trying to fall asleep, but she had too much on her mind. Were the Ancients angry with her? They had to be, to punish her with such awful mates. She swiped away hot tears, wiping them on her pillow and cursing herself for crying. She’d survived the foster care system, rape attempts, and even ravenous werewolves. She could survive being mated to four idiots. Couldn’t she?
She didn’t remember how or when she fell asleep, but surely she was dreaming. She found herself at the bottom of the most beautiful canyon, carved into a V with a waterfall splashing into a shimmery pond at the narrowest point. She sat on a rock ledge overlooking the water opposite the waterfall, smiling at her distorted reflection in the ripples. She gasped when a man’s face showed up beside hers but didn’t jump to her feet and defend herself. She recognized his alluring scent and his handless sh
adow. Slowly she turned to Magnus, saddened though not surprised by his frown.
He held up the arm with the missing hand, and his thought projected into her head. I’m a useless protector.
She stood and gently settled a hand on what used to be his wrist, now just a lump of angry, scarred skin covering misshapen bone. She searched his eyes, where flecks of gold, brown, and green swirled together like rare jewels. “You are enough of a man for me.” She squeezed, her heart clenching when he pulled away, tucking his arm behind him.
I’ll never be able to protect you like I should. He caressed her cheek with his knuckles. Love you like I should.
“You don’t need two hands to love me.” She grabbed his solitary hand and kissed the palm, her eyes fluttering as she looked up at him. “You just need one heart.”
She thought it odd how familiar she was being with him when they’d never touched before. How she knew him so well in this dream but didn’t know him in real life. Perhaps her soul knew his. Maybe that’s why she’d recognized his scent.
“I want to love you, Annie.” He spoke aloud, searching her face with a look akin to desperation, his irises swirling a blinding gold and back again. “You don’t know how badly.”
She pressed her hand to his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart beneath her palm. “Then love me,” she said with an urgent whisper. “Don’t overthink it, Magnus. Just love me.”
With a low growl, he dragged his fingers through her hair, skimming the back of her neck before tracing down her spine and cupping her ass.
She shivered at his touch, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck, sighing when his arms circled her waist. Her mouth sought his, pressing into his full lips with a groan, pleased when he opened his lips to her. She teased him with the tip of her tongue, clutching his collar like a lifeline while tasting his succulent essence. Great Ancients, he tasted even better than he smelled.
He deepened the kiss, then gently laid her across the rock. She cried out when his hand explored her chest, squeezing one breast before pinching the nipple into a hardened peak, then repeating the action on the other breast.