“Because I’m in pajamas and by the end of the day every single pack member will have stopped by the house to check on me. They will all begin to gossip and spitball about why Margaret Taylor walks around in her pajamas all day long.”
“Really?” He cocked his head to the side. She giggled. It was such a wolfy thing to do. Maybe bears weren’t so different.
“You are all people,” her wolf whispered.
I know that. She smiled and slithered from Scott’s grasp.
He winked at her and then turned back to speak to her father.
She started up the stairs, but stopped at the feather-light touch of her mother’s hand on her shoulder. Confusion shrouded her mother’s face and tears threatened to spill from her crystal blue eyes.
“He’s going to take you from the pack, isn’t he? Bears don’t live in Vegas.”
The question was no more than a whisper, but her heart clenched hearing the pain in her mother’s voice.
“I’m not going anywhere right now, Mom.” The smell of burning pancakes caught her attention and she sniffed. “Don’t worry, we’ll talk about Scott later. Can you go check the food on the stove? I’m going to shower and then I’ll be right back.”
Her mom nodded and Margaret hurried up the stairs.
***
As her cute butt bounced up the stairs, he had to force himself to remain still. Every cell was screaming to follow her. She smelled divine. Her scent clung to his shirt where she had snuggled only moments before.
A cough from her father interrupted his very carnal thoughts. He turned. They were all staring at him. The Taylor alpha, his wife, and a dozen or so other pack members, all male. His only ally, Maggie Michaels, was also retreating up the stairs behind Margaret.
The awkward moment was broken by another knock at the door. Everyone turned, but no one moved.
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Margaret’s mother sighed, and pushed past Scott to the door. “Someone has to answer it.”
When the door opened, a group of seven stood crowded together on the porch—six of which were female. Three were blond and two were redheads and one was a brunette. Gods bless the man who could handle that many women at once.
“We heard someone is stalking Margaret,” the older blonde at the front of the group spoke first.
“Keith…Rachel,” the redheaded male acknowledged both the Taylor alpha and his mate. “Just tell us where to start. We want to help,” he continued in a solemn tone.
Scott stepped back when Keith came forward.
“Connor, Siobhan, thank you for coming so soon. The intruder is an outsider. We tracked his scent to the ally behind Margaret’s house, but he had a vehicle parked there and the trail ends. I know it’s asking a lot, but we were hoping…”
“I’ll do it, of course. Anything for the pack,” the older blonde spoke again. “You’ve protected us when no one else would.”
“Thank you, Siobhan,” Rachel stepped forward, pulling Siobhan into an embrace.
The entire group was eyeing him suspiciously, but it was one of the young women who finally addressed him.
“Why are you here?”
“Maeve, hush,” the woman called Siobhan hissed. “Don’t be disrespectful.”
The young woman, probably only eighteen or so, fidgeted and glanced back at him again.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t mind the bear,” one of Margaret’s younger male cousins shouted from the living room couch. “He’s just Margaret’s mate.”
“Allan!” Rachel shouted. “Nothing is set in stone.”
“Whatever you say, Aunt Rachel,” he chuckled. “I heard ‘perfect match.’ That phrase doesn’t usually mean negotiable.”
Scott glanced into the living room and winked at the young man. He moved from the foyer to sit in a chair by the front window.
“Who are they?”
Allan raised his eyebrows. “The estrogen-filled group on the porch? That’s the O’Brian family. They moved to Vegas about ten years ago when their pack broke apart.”
“So are they part of your pack?”
“Yep. The Taylor’s adopted them. It’s hard for single couple families to find protection, especially when one of them is a seer. Council tends to frown on any pack having such an advantage. Usually causes problems, but we’ve hidden her for years. So, I guess everything is going okay.”
So different from the bear lifestyle.
“Nothing wrong with different. Wolves are pack animals. They are stronger in groups,” his bear responded.
There’s so damn many of them.
He could hear his bear chuckling in the recesses of his mind.
The O’Brian clan shuffled into the living room and kitchen. Some grabbed some breakfast and some made themselves comfortable on the couches, the floor, one of the girls even plopped down in Allan’s lap. Though, a quick hiss from her mom made her scurry to the opposite side of the room. The two teenagers were obviously smitten with each other. Allan couldn’t keep his eyes off the willowy redhead.
He stood from his chair and moved further back into the corner of the room. He wished he could go up the stairs and find Margaret. She needed him and he was stuck down here in an overcrowded room of wolves. All of which were fidgeting nervously around him.
It’s not like I’m going to attack them. What is their problem?
“You’re fidgeting. It’s making them nervous.”
I don’t like being so crowded.
“You served in the military for how many years? Crammed into all kinds of places.”
His bear’s voice had taken on a sarcastic tone and he huffed out a frustrated breath. Every eye in the room turned to him. Silence hung heavy in the air. He realized the sound had come out very irritated and bear-ish in nature.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s a bear thing.”
Keith Taylor stepped to the center of the room. “We are still waiting on the rest of the pack before we start, but would—”
“There’re more of you than this?”
All eyes were on him again. Shit. He was not making a good impression.
The redheaded O’Brian male busted out laughing. “This isn’t even half of them, ye poor bear.”
The rest of the wolves relaxed at the sound of the laughter and the tension in the room melted away as giggles consumed several of the younger teenage wolves.
“When one of our own is threatened, our whole pack steps up. We don’t appreciate a threat on the pack. Especially, a threat on one of our females.”
The woman, who’d been named as Siobhan, stepped toward him and touched his arm. He stood motionless as her fingertips trailed from his shoulder down his upper arm. An unfamiliar tingling sensation ran across his skin where she touched.
The room fell into a hypnotic silence.
“The magick between you and Margaret is very strong,” she spoke softly and then turned to face Keith. “I will do the seeing, but it would be quite an advantage to join these two quickly so the mate bond will seal their connection. Margaret would be much safer mated to him than distracted by the pull of the magick.”
I like her.
Siobhan walked to the middle of the room and sat, legs crossed, on the large coffee table. She closed her eyes and began a low, undecipherable chant. He’d never seen a seer in action and had only heard rumors that they even existed.
Another knock on the door sent Rachel scurrying out of the room, but Siobhan never stopped her chanting for a moment. More wolves filed quietly into the living room. Some stayed in the foyer and others made their way to the kitchen. The house was overly full. It would have been a fire marshal’s nightmare.
The chanting stopped and Siobhan opened her eyes and climbed off the table.
“Well?” Keith asked, trepidation evident in the shake of his voice.
“The trail led to the Mirage. Once he entered the hotel, I lost his aura. There are just too many supernaturals. The colors are muddy. Perhaps if I went to the casino I
could locate him, but I’m too far away. There are other men at the hotel who seek out Margaret for selfish reasons.” Siobhan shook her head and turned to Scott. “You must stay close to her.”
Scott nodded. “I plan to.”
“The others that seek her are also bears.”
The hackles on the back of his neck prickled as anger surged through his system. Margaret had mentioned meeting mean bears before him. The thought of them harassing her at work threatened to bring his temper to the boiling point.
He focused on Margaret’s father and huffed again.
Keith met his gaze and nodded. “I’m not pleased that you are Margaret’s match, but I agree with Siobhan. Stay close to my daughter.” He turned and faced the pack. “Spread out across the city and watch for anything suspicious. For now, we play it close to the vest. I would rather not alert the Council of our movements, so be discreet.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Margaret sunk into her comfy recliner on the opposite side of the room from Scott. She was having major difficulties stopping her hormone-filled body from attaching to him like a suction cup. A little space was just what she needed to keep some dignity intact. She hoped. The cold shower this morning had been a complete waste. Maggie had been waiting for her in her room after the shower and peppered her with question after question about the connection she felt with Scott. Thinking about the bond growing between them had only made her mind more distracted and her body more interested in him than before the cold shower.
“Don’t you have to work? Or something?”
Scott shook his head. “Chase and I both finished our term with the army at Christmas. When he met Sam and decided to not to reenlist, I also chose to take some time away from the army as well.”
“When did you meet Chase?” Maybe a few more questions would give her time to tamp down some of her overloaded nerves.
“During the invasion of Normandy. I was his commanding officer.”
Margaret’s breath hitched in surprise. He’d been alone a long time. Though she reminded herself she shouldn’t have been. Chase had already mentioned he and Scott had known each other for a long time. But, a long time was relative when it came to supernatural beings.
“You’d mentioned you were from the Teton Mountains. Do you have family there?”
“My family moved to Salt Lake City when there were still saloons and dirt roads. We’ve spread out since then, but most of us are scattered through the Tetons. We like our space. My home is just north of a little town called Logan.”
“You don’t like being with family?” Her chest tightened. How would she ever survive, alone and isolated from the pack? Even if she did come visit, life would be lonely. Wait, did she just visualize herself living in the Teton Mountains?
“I knew you’d eventually see it.”
Oh, shut up!
“Everything will be fine, Margaret, just you wait and see.”
She sighed.
“That’s not it, bears just naturally have large individual territories. We don’t congregate in packs. I only live forty minutes from my parent’s home. It’s not as bad as you are imagining. Logan is only a two hour drive from my place.”
“Two hours,” Margaret squeaked.
“His mother is so sweet,” Maggie added, walking into the living room holding a bowl of pretzels. Margaret reached out and Maggie obliged, moving to sit on the floor next to the recliner so that she could snag a few of the salty treats. “Scott, Chris, and I went with them to their family reunion and salmon hunt a few years ago. You will love her.”
Margaret narrowed her gaze and grabbed a couple more pretzels from her friends bowl. “You don’t hunt salmon in the Teton Mountains.”
“Nope, we meet every ten years in a national park in Oregon. We can all shift and enjoy the river together. It was hilarious watching the three of them try to catch a seventy-pound salmon, though.” Scott chuckled and slouched into the couch.
Margaret smiled. She had to admit, that did sound fun.
In between laughs she heard a car door slam out front and peered over her shoulder through the window. A large white SUV was parked in front of her home and the three younger Demakis girls were running for her doorway.
She leapt from her chair. “Maggie, call my mom,” she said, hurrying to the door and swinging it open before they had a chance to knock.
“Hallie…what’s wrong?” She asked and moved aside, urging them to enter the house. All three girls were in tears. Their faces were red, blotchy, and mascara ran in dark streaks down their cheeks.
“We need to talk to your dad. Can you get him?”
“Of course, Maggie’s on the phone with my mom right now.” She glanced at Maggie and her friend nodded and pointed out the window. Sure enough, her father was crossing the street. He hurried up the steps, through her open front door, and closed it softly behind him. He guided the girls into the living room, assuring them he would take care of them.
She followed behind her dad, surprised to find Scott’s hand resting lightly on the small of her back, urging her to the loveseat across the room. Her body trembled at the slight touch and tremors raced through her nervous system, awakening the libido she kept trying to quash.
Down girl! We have a crisis to attend to.
Her wolf had other ideas and sitting next to Scott on the loveseat was at the top of the list. She sat down beside him and took a deep breath of his scent, allowing it to completely fill her lungs. He was so damned sexy and appealing. If it weren’t for he audience right in front of her, she’d be straddling him right now, rubbing her aching breasts against his hard chest like the end of the world was upon them and tonight was their last night on earth.
“The crisis is that our mate is sitting next to us and you haven’t even kissed him yet.”
Margaret rubbed her temples and mentally slapped her wolf. This battle wasn’t going well.
“Are you alright?” he whispered into her ear.
Oh, gods. His sexy rasp made her quiver with excitement. The heat from his breath warmed her neck and she struggled to stay focused on the conversation between her father and the Demakis sisters. She needed another cold shower.
“I’m fine,” she breathed.
“Mr. Taylor, our father said to come straight to you. Two men showed up at the house and said they were from the Council. He sent us out the back exit before he let them inside,” Nicole spoke slowly, still obviously in shock.
“Did he say anything else?” her dad questioned softly. His calm demeanor was helping the girls to settle themselves.
“Just that we were not to come back to the house unless you approved it,” Hallie added. “He said you would know what to do.” Hallie’s twin, Tess, sat silently on the couch, tears pouring from her big blue eyes. She wasn’t handling this well at all.
“I’ll be right back with some tea,” Margaret said and practically leapt from the loveseat. The girls needed tea and she needed a little more space between Scott and herself.
A quick glance back at him over her shoulder rewarded her with a knowing wink. The damn man knew exactly what he was doing to her.
A few minutes later she carried the hot chamomile tea into the living room and set the tray on the coffee table. The Demakis sisters thanked her and each took a cup to sip. Maggie and Scott both declined as did her father, but she took one and sat down in the only empty seat—right next to Scott.
At least with the hot mug of tea in her hands he seemed to stay on his side of the couch. Maybe he was afraid she’d spill it on his sensitive parts. No! Why was her mind drifting to his sensitive parts? This is bad. No wonder Sam described the bond as being all-consuming.
He doesn’t know what I’m thinking, does he?
“No, but he knows you are aroused,” her wolf answered. “If you aren’t careful, the whole room will know.”
Waxing my legs. Doing laundry. Cleaning the toilet.
“What, you think you can just think it away like a guy?” Her wolf laughe
d.
It might work. Leave me alone.
She sipped her tea and sighed.
“Scott,” her Dad started, “Do you think your parents would be willing to take in these girls for a while. We need to hide them from the Council and I can’t think of a better place.”
Margaret swallowed. Had she just heard right? Did her dad just ask to send three royal wolves to stay with grizzly bears in the mountains of Utah? Bears that were probably going to be her in-laws…Holy shit!
“I will call right away, but I don’t think they would mind, sir,” Scott answered quickly, his voice on an even keel, as though his parents babysat wolves on a regular basis. It’s not like the Demakis sisters were low maintenance, either. If he was trying to kiss up to her father, it was working.
“Thank you. I appreciate you supporting our pack. I know you aren’t officially part of the family yet.”
Her eyes widened and she coughed, choking on her swallow of tea. What the hell? I’m sitting right here! I haven’t even gone on a date with this guy yet and my dad has me married to him already.
“It’s not like you are going to argue the subject.”
No…but, I’d like to think I have some say in the matter.
Her wolf laughed again.
“Honey, we’ve wanted to jump his bones since he walked in the door this morning. Just let go and enjoy the bonding process. Stop trying to overanalyze it. You are driving me batty.”
She fought a grin and rolled her eyes.
“What about our dad?” Nicole interrupted.
Margaret felt so sorry for Nicole and her sisters. She couldn’t imagine the Council coming and hauling off her father.
“What are they going to do to him? And what about mom? Who’s going to take care of her?”
“Girls,” her father started, “I’m going to get your father back. We have pack members following them right now. I promise you I will take care of him and help him keep your mom out of the Council’s hands. Just don’t talk to anyone.” He paused. “Do you understand?”
They nodded.
Saving Margaret (Vegas Mates Series) (#2) Page 4