Grant took a deep breath. “I figured on a lie. Gotta admire ya for the truth there, Frank. You coulda promised me a poke and I might’ve let you go.”
About that time a rifle was cocked in the distance. “Hello, Grant.”
Jock jolted forward, squinting his eyes and making out Carla’s small form.
A hearty laugh fell from Grant’s lips. He dropped his flask and pulled something free of his pocket. Jock was betting on a book of matches.
“I started to make a mention about you,” Grant said.
“If my hearing isn’t failing me, you already did. I’m the pussy you want to poke.”
Grant sneered. “What the hell ya wanna talk like a man for, woman? Ain’t it enough that two of ’em are treatin’ you like a soiled dove? You ain’t gotta go and act like one, too.”
“We were friends, Grant,” she said, glancing over her shoulder when three wolves entered the cave behind her.
“We were,” Grant agreed. “But friends sometimes make the most damnin’ enemies.” He shot Jock a scornful glare. “Ask him. He’ll tell ya.”
“I’ll agree, if that’s what you want,” Jock said.
“We coulda shut ’em out, Jock. We coulda owned this territory. Jest me and you. We didn’t need her. We didn’t need no likes of Frank Smith. Jest me and you. That was the way it was supposed to be.”
“Things change, Grant. People can’t help who they love or even explain why their heart was drawn to one woman over another. You ought to know that. You yourself have had feelings for Carla and now look at you. The way you talk about her is a disgrace. She was your friend.”
“Was is a little word with a big meanin’.” His expression changed then as his hands came together.
“He’s going to burn us alive!” Frank screamed.
Snarls resounded as Frank’s pack lunged forward and gunfire filled the den. Carla pumped one bullet into Grant’s chest and then reloaded, cocked again, and fired another shot.
“I didn’t see that comin’,” Grant said, collapsing inches from where he’d trapped Jock and Frank.
“Damn it!” Jock screamed, fighting to break free.
Frank’s wolves gnawed at the rope. Roars and gnashing of teeth collided with Grant’s short gasps for air.
Carla stood at the midway point, the gun stilled and aimed, leveled in front of her body. Once they were free, Jock rushed Grant, falling to his knees and lifting his head so he could speak the words he seemed desperate to say. Frank hung back, calling off his pack as the scent of blood became maddening for the hunter and predator living inside each of them.
“Why, Grant?” Jock asked, watching his friend struggle for another breath.
“It ain’t normal,” Grant spat.
“She’s my mate.” There really wasn’t anything else he could say.
“She ain’t really yours, Jock.”
He rose to his feet, ready to defend the woman he loved. “My love for her is real, Grant. The only thing abnormal was your inability to accept my mate. Maybe in the next life, you won’t pass so many judgments. They usually backfire on the one tossing them out, not the one on the receiving end of them.”
And with that, the wolves attacked. They didn’t end Grant’s life, but rather extended it as they dragged him into the clearing outside the cave and left him to die all alone.
Epilogue
Jock’s and Frank’s packs met in front of Carla’s cabin. After they were introduced to their Alpha female, they were immediately extended the same opportunity Grant had been given.
“Stand with us, or stand against us,” Carla told them.
Jock watched their body language in an attempt to judge their level of acceptance. He had expected some opposition. He’d braced for it.
Frank, on the other hand, was a true optimist. He’d assured Jock that the pack would be stronger as they came together as one unit and fought for a territory they all believed to be their own.
In the distance, a wolf howled. His voice was broken and tormented. His yowl seemed to continue for an unlimited time, never wavering, never changing in pitch or tone.
“What the hell is that?” Frank asked, studying Jock curiously.
“I couldn’t say for certain,” Jock replied, searching the hills.
Heck, in his wolf form, looked up at Frank and barked, signifying he wanted to go and check out the disturbance.
“Not now,” Frank said, turning his back to Heck, who immediately whimpered in disappointment.
Carla continued, “Two imprints are rare. We know this is hard to digest, difficult to imagine, but because of fate, two pack masters will lead one great wolf pack and because of their greatness and your willingness to trust them in leadership, you will each reap the rewards.”
As Carla finished her speech, the wolves bowed their heads. With their noses to the ground, they remained in a submissive position until she moved behind Frank and Jock, allowing her mates to come forward and leave the pack with parting words of their own.
“We want you to honor and respect our mate. We will require that you protect her with your lives,” Frank said.
The annoying howl in the distance moved closer. Heck’s head popped up and he began his annoying sniff, tilting his nose high in the air.
“What is it, Heck?”
Jock narrowed his gaze on Heck as he transmitted messages to Frank. Frowning then, Frank turned to Jock and said, “Is it possible?”
The wailing was louder then. The noise came closer and the wolves stirred. They all sensed the danger.
“Jock?” Carla looked to him for answers.
“If Grant survived those gunshots to the chest and gut, he deserves to live. He had a strong will to live.”
“And that makes him all the more dangerous to us,” Frank said.
“Let’s hope not,” Jock said, turning his face to the wind as he listened for any faint familiarity that would lead him to believe his old friend had survived. “Let’s trust he’s learned his lesson. If he has, maybe he’ll accept the fact that we may love differently than those who’ve gone before us, but that doesn’t mean we love less.”
“That’s for sure,” Carla said, smiling. “In our case, we were given the opportunity to love more.”
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
International bestseller Natalie Acres is a Tennessee author writing exclusively for Siren Publishing. Prone to pen Western ménage romance, Natalie Acres enjoys sports, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. To join Natalie’s mailing list, email her at [email protected].
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Imprints [Dominant Wolves, Submissive Mates 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8