by Jane Jamison
“You know I can’t do that. The pack has to approve of her before you can stake your claim.”
Carl made a drinking motion to Krystal, who set a cold bottle of beer on the bar then abruptly turned away. She obviously didn’t like him any better than they did, especially since her mates were part of the Shadow Ridge Pack. The uneasy peace between the two packs was largely due to the restraint the werewolves of the Shadow Ridge Pack had shown when dealing with the Garrett Pack.
“The fuck we do.” Ethan faced Carl, his eyes blazing with amber, his jaw set. “We choose our mate, not the pack.”
Carl chuckled. “Oh, you can pick her, all right. But she’s still got to pass muster with me and Moses. If we don’t like her, then you don’t get her.”
“Look, you asshole—”
Dart grabbed Ethan’s shoulder in time to keep him from lunging at Carl. “Let it roll off your back, cuz.” Ethan’s answering growl rumbled under Dart’s hand.
Although Carl was an asshole, he was still bright enough to know when he was pushing his luck. “There’s no use getting into it now. From what I hear, she’s not giving you three the time of day. In fact, word has it that she was supposed to show up here tonight.” Carl made a show out of looking around. “I don’t see her, do you?”
Shit. He knows something.
If there was one thing a man could count on, it was Fate’s rumor mill. Unlike rumors spread in other small towns, most of the rumors in Fate turned out to be true. “What have you heard?” He hated asking, yet he had to know.
The enjoyment on Carl’s face was enough to make Dart’s stomach threaten rebellion. “From what I hear, she’s still at that werecat’s place. Looks like you three are getting stood up.”
Dart, as well as his cousins, was at a loss for words. The time had come and gone for her to show up. Carl was only confirming what his gut had already told him. “How about you take care of your business and keep your nose out of ours?”
“Aw, it stings, huh, Dart? But, shit, it can’t be the first time you’ve been stood up. Am I right?”
Dart clenched his jaw and fisted his hands. His inner wolf growled and scratched to break free, but he held it back—barely.
Carl lifted his bottle in salute. “You boys have a good night. We’ll talk more once you get closer to getting the bitch. If that ever happens.” He laughed and moved away, heading toward his cousin and fellow alpha, Moses.
“I hate to say it, but I think he’s right.” Brady downed yet another shot. He was well on his way to getting a nice buzz on. Which meant, of course, that he no longer expected Laney to show. “She’s not coming.”
“Naw, she’s not,” added a pissed-off Ethan. “Either she lied to us or something came up.”
“I don’t want to think she lied to us.” Dart reconsidered the idea. “We came on too strong and scared her off. That has to be the reason.”
“Or she doesn’t feel anything toward us,” suggested Ethan with a scowl.
“No, she felt something, all right. At least with me, she did.” Brady’s confidence never seemed to waver. This time wasn’t any different.
“She was attracted to us. I’m sure of it.” He’d felt the heat between them. Hell, he’d even gotten a whiff of the wetness between her legs. “She’s keeping her distance for some other reason.”
“Then we’ll have to figure out what that reason is,” added Brady.
“We will.” Dart was more of an optimist than his two cousins, but even he couldn’t help but feel dejected. His attention slid to Carl and Moses. Right now, it was better to focus on the pack than to wallow in the hurt of their future mate standing them up. “Damn it. Those two bring up my hackles. We’ve got to get out of this pack.”
“We’ve already talked about this.” With a snarl, Ethan put his back to Carl and Moses. “When the time’s right, we’ll make our move.”
“Either that or we’ll challenge Moses and Carl and take over.”
Brady had only spoken of a possible challenge once before. At the time, Dart hadn’t been sure he was serious. Challenging the leadership of a pack was a difficult and dangerous thing to do. “We don’t have the numbers to make a play.”
“Then we’ll get the numbers.”
“Who, Brady? Who else in our pack is ready to go up against them?”
Brady’s eyes glowed. “We could do it with the help of the Shadow Ridge Pack.”
The same surprise that Dart felt shone on Ethan’s face. “You’re going to bring outside werewolves, another pack, in? That’s never been done.”
“And that’s why it’ll work.” Brady leaned against the counter. “I was going to talk this over with you two soon enough, to come up with a plan, but now, with our mate showing up, we should postpone it.”
“And let her become part of the pack?” Dart hated the idea of Laney having to put up with some of the bitches in the Garrett Pack. Some of them were as bad as Moses and Carl.
“Only for a short time. We can’t ask her to help us when she’s not our mate yet. But once she is, then she’ll want out as much as we do.”
“I don’t know, Brady. We could be putting her in danger,” said Ethan.
“She’s already on their radar. Whether or not she says yes to us won’t matter.”
Dart reluctantly had to agree with Brady. “He’s right. She’s already involved just by our showing interest in her. The best way to protect her is to make her our mate as soon as we can.”
“Either that or forget about her and let her leave town,” added Brady.
“Shit. The only thing worse than never finding our mate is having to let her go.” They’d waited long enough for that special spark to happen. Now that they’d experienced it, it would never burn out. They’d live the rest of their lives miserable and alone. But at least, she’d be safe.
“You two are giving up too fast. I say we speed things up. We make her ours before the pack makes things worse. Once we do, we make our move to get out of the pack, even if we have to move away from Fate to do it.” Ethan downed the rest of his drink. “She’s not coming so let’s get out of here. If I see Carl’s fucking smirk one more time, I’m going to lose it and shift.”
Dart’s own wolf had gotten closer to the surface. Although it wouldn’t be the first time a shifter had changed in the middle of The Wolf’s Den, they’d catch hell for doing so. Not only from their pack but from everyone else in town. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
* * * *
The diner was called the Lick Your Plate Diner, and the owner’s name was Sugar Makeland. Laney grinned as she texted the info to one of her best friends in Atlanta, Sara Williamson.
You’re making that up, texted Sara in response.
Nope. Not. This is small town USA, remember?
That’s so cute, followed by a happy face emoji with a huge grin.
I know, right? Cozy, homey - all that
Laney’s thumbs flew over her phone.
Texting with Sara was one thing that would take her mind off the bag of pills still in the trunk of her car. She’d tried calling and texting Harlen several times but had gotten no response. Worried thoughts kept coming, even as she continued to text her friend.
Is he all right? Why hasn’t he called me?
Even an angry, demanding phone call would be welcomed now. If he didn’t respond soon, she’d have no choice but to return to Atlanta and track him down. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t calling her back to bait her into going home. Would she be walking into a trap when she returned? Or would she find out he’d been hurt?
Her gut told her that the gang wouldn’t kill her brother. Not until they got their drugs back. Besides, it wasn’t the first time her brother had run from the gang. He had a knack for hiding out. The last time he’d gone off he’d stayed hidden for over a month. She jumped away from texting Sara to send yet another text to her brother.
Where are you?
Surprisingly, she got an answer.
I’m coming to get my stuf
f.
Here? You’re coming to Fate?” She cringed. If he hadn’t already known where she was, he did now. How did you find out where I am? she texted.
This time the response took longer. Long enough, in fact, for her to figure out the answer on her own.
Sara had a crush on her brother. Knowing her love-struck friend, she realized that all Harlen would’ve had to do was to whisper nice things in Sara’s ear and her friend would spill the information without a second thought. But it was her fault. She never should’ve told Sara where she was.
You don’t need to come. She paused, trying to think of anything she could text to keep him away. I’ve already dumped the drugs in a lake.
bullshit
Damn it. He knew her well and knew she’d never pollute a lake with chemicals.
Plse stay away.
coming
She texted him back several more times, but he’d gone silent. “Shit.” What would she do now? She didn’t know how to get rid of the drugs, but she couldn’t give them back to her brother, either.
I’ll burn them, she thought.
Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? What little toxic fumes they’d put off wouldn’t harm anyone. She sent one last text, hoping her brother would read it.
burning them right now
But he didn’t text back. “Come on. Answer.”
“I’ll give you any answer you want, sugar. Just tell me what it is.”
She gasped and put her phone face down on the table as the Rann men piled into the booth. Brady and Dart scowled, as Ethan managed to sit on the bench next to her. “What are you three doing here?”
“Well, first, we eat here a lot,” answered Dart. “Secondly, we saw you inside. Now you answer a question. Why didn’t you show up last night?”
Somehow she’d known they’d find her today. Had, if she were truthful with herself, hoped they would. “I wasn’t feeling well so I stayed in.”
“Are you all right?” The worry in Brady’s dark eyes matched the worry in his cousins’ eyes.
“I’m fine. I guess I was a little worn out.” She shrugged, brushing off their concern, as well as the warm way it made her feel. The attraction was back in full force, and the combination of both kinds of warmth was tough to ignore. She put her hands in her lap, noticing how much they trembled.
These men were different. She wasn’t sure why or how, but she sensed they were. It wasn’t their cut jaws or their dark, flashing eyes. What made them different was something more than skin deep. They held a confidence that most men only pretended to possess. They weren’t cocky by any means, even if they sometimes acted as though they were. They were the kind of men women fantasized about. The kind of men who would take a woman to bed and make her feel every inch like a woman. The kind of men who would cook a meal for her then ravage her on top of the kitchen table. Her awareness of them wasn’t anything she could put her finger on. Instead, it came from deep inside her, a primal, instinctive recognition.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve called you or something, but I didn’t have any of your numbers.”
“Then let’s give them to you.” Dart grabbed her phone, snatching it away before she could snag it. He blinked then looked up at her. New worry mixed with curiosity. “What pills are you going to burn?”
Shit. “Please give me my phone. You have no right to read my messages.”
“Is that person talking about the bag of pills in your duffel bag?” asked Brady.
“What pills?” Ethan shifted toward her. “What’s he talking about?”
Dart hurriedly added their phone numbers to her phone, jerking it back every time she tried to get it. When he’d finished, he handed it back to her.
She held the phone to her chest trying to protect her privacy even as she yearned to tell them how frightened she was for her brother. “This is my private business.”
“She had a baggie of pills, different shapes and sizes, fall out of her duffel bag the day I bumped into her at Shawna’s.”
“That would’ve been nice to know, Brady.” Dart shot his cousin a hard look then turned it on her. “Are you okay, sugar? Are you sick?”
“Yes and no. And again, it’s none of your business.”
“You’re not telling us everything.” Brady leaned in closer. “You’re not sick. Plus, the pills were in a baggie and not prescription bottles. Darlin’, are you in trouble? Do you have a…problem?”
“What? Me? No. Of course not.” Yet was it such a farfetched idea? Especially when her brother was an addict?
“Then why do you have a baggie full of pills?” asked Brady. “Shit. Was that the only baggie of pills, or are there more?”
She eased away, sure that if he touched her, she’d give in and tell him everything. “Look, I didn’t ask you three to sit down.”
“No, you didn’t.” Brady crossed his arms, flexing the tendons in them and catching her eye. “I think you’re the type of woman who likes to handle problems in her own way, and that’s great. But every once in a while we all need help. I think this is one of those times for you.”
Ethan rested his hand on her leg. She jolted, but the jolt wasn’t entirely bad. Need sped through her, firing both her emotions and her nerve endings. Tears sprang to her eyes at Brady’s words, but it was Ethan’s touch that propelled her to speak.
“You can’t help me,” she whispered.
“We can sure as hell try.” Ethan took her hand and squeezed. “But you have to give us the chance first.”
To do so was harder than she would’ve thought possible, yet she managed to pull her hand out of his hold. “I have to leave.” She pushed against Ethan, loving to touch him, hating to touch him. “Move.”
Ethan paused, looking to his cousins first. Finally, he relented and got out of the booth. “You can’t run from your troubles forever, sugar.”
Throwing her purse strap over her shoulder, she kept her gaze down and scooted off the bench. “Please. Back off and leave me alone.” She’d managed to take only a couple of steps before Dart stopped her with his brawny body.
“Is that what you really want, sugar? For us to leave you alone?”
“Yes.” No. She ached to tell them everything, to have them help her and her brother. But she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t, either,” added Ethan.
“They’re right, honey. You want us as much as we want you. More, you need us in more ways than one.” Brady blocked her way, too.
“Don’t do this again.” She had no doubt that all eyes were on them.
“Then say you’ll let us help you,” urged Dart. “Come on, sugar. I promise you it won’t hurt to ask.”
She tried to shove past them as she had the day before, but they formed a human blockade, unmoving even when she flattened her hands on Ethan’s chest.
Oh my.
His chest was made of bone and flesh, but she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d told her it was made from steel. Slowly, she let her fingers glide down his shirt and over his ridged abdomen.
No man has the right to feel this damn good. Still, I’m so very glad he does.
“Move.” She spoke softly with no conviction.
“Darlin’?” Brady’s finger under her chin brought her gaze to his. “You can trust us. Just ask anyone.”
Sugar Makeland, the owner, chimed in as she stood next to a group of onlookers. “You sure can. The Rann men are some of the best around.”
“Thanks, Sugar.” His gaze dove into hers, searing its way to her heart. “Let us help you, darlin’. You’d be amazed at what we can do.”
“That’s for damn sure,” added another man at a different booth.
She was turned-on. She was thrilled. She was embarrassed. She was confused. It was a wonder one woman could experience so many different emotions all at once. “Please. Let me leave.”
Her words, spoken just loud enough for the men to hear, were more effective than
any push or shove could’ve ever been. The men separated, leaving a space between them for her to get past.
She hurried toward the door. Keeping her gaze straight ahead, she did her best not to look at the other customers.
“Laney?”
Keep going.
Yet she turned back. She had to. To deny them was more than she had in her.
The men stood in a line, their faces determined, their will to bring her back reflected in the intensity of their amber-flecked eyes.
Why do their eyes look different than before? “Yes?”
“You have our numbers. Call us.”
She nodded at Ethan, certain she’d never call them. Resisting the urge to run into their arms, she pushed through the door and out into the bright noon sunlight. Stopping for a moment, she let her eyes adjust to the light then let out a sigh. As much as she’d wanted to stay with the men, as much as she’d yearned to tell them about Harlen and the drugs, she’d managed not to.
What else could she have done? She didn’t know the Rann men. To involve them in her brother’s problem wouldn’t have been fair. They were great men who were ready to help her, and she was grateful. Grateful enough to keep them out of it.
Suddenly, she sensed someone watching her. People strolled up and down the sidewalks, most not paying any attention to her. Except, that is, for a couple of men on the opposite side of the street.
Who are they?
They didn’t look away when she stared straight at them. Instead, their smiles grew and turned into leering grins. It was as though they were mentally undressing her, able to see every inch of her body. She instinctively crossed her arms to cover her breasts and let her purse fall in front of her crotch. If she hadn’t already resolved to keep the Rann men out of her problems, she might’ve gone back inside the diner and asked them to escort her home.
Should she say something to the strange men? Should she tell them to stop staring at her? Yet if she did either of those things, it might serve to antagonize or encourage them. Instead, she gave them the hardest look she could then pivoted around and strode down the street, daring to keep up a steady pace without running.
A howl sent chills down her spine. A wolf whistle followed the howl. Hating that she was letting them get to her, she began walking faster.