by Cara Morgan
MAGGIE’S WOLVES
RED MOUNTAIN PACK: PART TWO
Cara Morgan
Copyright 2015 Cara Morgan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the author, except for the use of quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. All names, people, places and incidents are either used fictitiously or are products of the author’s imagination.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Excerpt: Part Three
About the Author
Copyright
Chapter One
Maggie pulled on an old flannel robe and followed Eli outside to meet the pack. The sun was struggling to break through the clouds. The air was cold enough to freeze her breath, and there was a solid foot of snow on the ground. She was shivering by the time she’d taken two steps from the door, but Eli seemed impervious to the weather. He wore a pair of old jeans and his fleece-lined boots, but that was it. She opened her mouth to tease him about catching a cold, but then decided to simply enjoy the sight of all that thick, bulging muscle. It warmed her up from the inside.
“You can wait inside where it’s warm,” he said as she joined him. “I just wanted to talk to them for a minute or two to warn them about what to expect.”
She raised her brows. “You’re warning them about me?”
He coiled an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. “You need a warning label, sweetheart. Shifter in heat. Proceed with caution.”
“Hey,” she teased back, elbowing him in the ribs.
He laughed and buried his cold nose against the side of her neck. Pressing a quick kiss there, he said, “They need to know you’re new to our world. Most alpha females would already understand the rules of the game and let their wolves take charge.”
Her smile slipped away. “I’m doing this wrong.”
“What?” He caught her chin and lifted her face. “That’s not what I meant at all. You’re not doing anything wrong. I just want this to go well for everyone involved. It’s best if there aren’t any misunderstandings upfront. You’re still worried about this?”
“I’m a little nervous.”
Terrified might be a better word. She already cared about Eli, and she knew how badly he wanted her to accept his pack as her own. He’d been completely honest in his expectations about that and, while her wolf was on board with the idea of claiming more mates, her human half was beginning to second guess everything. There was only one thing of which she was absolutely certain—scared or not, she wasn’t about to hide away while someone else decided her future. Not even Eli.
Resting her head against his shoulder, she took a deep breath to steady herself and was startled when she caught the scent of the approaching wolves. Masculine and wild, the scent made her mouth water.
“I can smell them,” she said. “My nose isn’t usually this sharp when I’m walking around on two legs.”
“It’s probably the heat. Your wolf wants to find other shifters.”
She looked out at the woods. She couldn’t see the wolves yet, but they weren’t far away. “There are only two.”
He nodded, tilting his head and tasting the air. “Case and Jack.”
They didn’t have long to wait. Within moments, the first wolf, large and covered with reddish brown fur, stepped from the tree line. He paused to study them through golden eyes. Maggie would have been able to read the wolf’s curiosity in the slight tilt of his head even if she hadn’t had the instincts of a shifter. A second wolf, smaller and gray, entered the clearing only a few seconds behind.
Eli stepped forward to greet them, positioning himself between her and the wolves. He probably meant to give her a minute or two to catch her breath, but she’d felt better with his arm wrapped around her. The wolves ignored Eli anyway, both of them moving to keep her within sight. They stared at her with obvious interest.
No. It was more than that. They were watching her with intent, as if she were prey. Feeling threatened, she reached for her wolf and, when the shift eluded her, made a small noise of distress.
“It’s okay, Maggie,” Eli said softly. “They’re not going to hurt you.”
It wasn’t that. “You said I would be able to shift.”
Frowning, he turned to look at her. “You still can’t?”
She shook her head. “It’s the same as it was last night before...” She glanced at the wolves, who continued to stalk closer, and then back at Eli. “Before. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
She didn’t want to believe that Eli had lied, but if taking a mate was supposed to allow her to shift again, it hadn’t worked. Why would he have lied? Not for sex. As desperate and sick with lust as she’d been last night, he hadn’t needed to make stuff up to get her into bed.
Eli lifted his hand, but she didn’t take it. “Maggie…”
“Why can’t I shift?”
The brown wolf stopped moving forward. The air seemed to shiver around him like heat over asphalt, and then he shifted, the change moving over him in a sweeping wave of retracting fur and popping bones. She winced at the sound even though she knew from experience that it wasn’t particularly painful. She’d always thought it would hurt like hell if it happened slowly, but it never took more than a second. It was strange watching it from the outside. She hadn’t seen anyone shift since she was a child.
When it was done, a man knelt in the place of the brown wolf. His hand sank wrist deep into the snow as he leaned forward to catch his breath. His skin rippled for a moment longer as the skin and muscle settled into place. He stood slowly. His eyes, still tinged with wolflight from his change, fixed on her with disconcerting intensity. His hair was the same reddish brown color as the wolf’s fur and longer than she liked. He pulled the look off. With a face like that, he could have worn his hair however he liked and still have looked good. His body was…God, he was a beautiful man, as perfectly proportioned as a statue in a museum. The thick white scar running from the bottom of his ribcage to hook around his hip was a jarring blemish.
“This is Case,” Eli said. “Alpha of the Red Mountain pack. Case, this is Maggie Lewis…my mate.”
Case’s gaze flicked briefly to Eli’s, but his expression didn’t change. Maggie couldn’t tell what he thought about the news. Eli had said the men of his pack would roll over at her feet and beg for her touch. Maggie couldn’t imagine Case begging anyone for anything. He seemed far too contained for that.
Stepping forward, Case extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maggie.”
She shook his hand, and a shiver ran over her skin at the contact. His hand wasn’t as roughly calloused as Eli’s, but his grip was warm and very strong. When she moved to release him, his fingers flexed once and then reluctantly, as if he had to force his hand open, he let her go.
“You won’t be able to shift until your heat is over,” Case said. “You still feel your wolf?”
She felt her wolf just fine. At the moment, her wolf was very interested in the nude man standing in front of her. Her hand tingled with the memory of his touch, and she was painfully aware of his growing erection. She stared at his face, refusing to look down. “I feel her.”
He nodded. “Then everything is as it should be. You’re still in heat. All of your wolf’s energy and attention will be diverted to that until it passes.” He looked at Eli,
a faint smile curving his mouth. “No wonder you didn’t come home. We worried you got caught in the storm.”
“It wasn’t the storm.” Eli turned to her, and her heart squeezed at the hurt expression on his face. “I thought you would be able to shift today, Maggie. I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” Eli said. “You thought I’d lied to you.”
She shifted her feet uncomfortably. “I got a little worried, that’s all. I still trust you.”
A shadow of uncertainty crossed his face, but he nodded and reached for her hand. When she took it, he tugged her closer and kissed the top of her head. “You should go back inside and get warmed up. I need to shift and catch some food before we start down the mountain. Dress warmly.”
No, she wanted to say, I’m not mad, I promise. I’m sorry. But Case was watching them both, and the words died on her tongue. “You’re leaving me alone?”
Eli swept his thumb over her cheekbone in a light caress. “Not alone. Case won’t let anything happen to you, and I want you to talk to him.”
He wanted her to do more than talk to Case. He wanted her to claim Case as her mate too. Eli was giving her to his friend. Her human half didn’t like that idea at all, but the wolf was completely fine with it.
Eli seemed to sense that. “Trust your wolf, Maggie.”
Before she could protest, Eli bent his head and took her mouth in a deep, possessive kiss. Then, when the heat surged in her blood and her head was spinning, he released her abruptly and walked away. She stared at his retreating back for a moment, feeling bereft. The smaller gray wolf—Jack—followed at his heels. When she turned back around, Case stood only a few feet away, his eyes glowing faintly with wolflight.
“Let’s talk.” He walked toward the cabin and opened the door.
Chapter Two
Maggie stalled for a few minutes by excusing herself to use the outhouse. She was angry that Eli had walked away. She was angry with herself for jumping to the conclusion that he’d lied to her. But…they’d only met last night. Wasn’t it normal for her to be a little bit uncertain of him? Judging by Eli and Case’s reaction, it wasn’t normal between wolves. They acted like she’d committed some kind of grave offense. Eli had been wounded by her mistrust, and she didn’t know how to mend that. Her first day with a new mate, and she was already screwing it up.
It wasn’t even that she doubted Eli so much as she doubted herself and her ability to hold on to him once the mating urge passed. She doubted her own judgment. Eli had told her she needed to learn to trust the instincts of her wolf. Maybe for Eli that was easy, but she’d been raised to distrust the instincts of her wolf. It was hard to change that all around in just one night. Maybe she should go track him down and try to explain…
She shook her head. She couldn’t very well go track Eli through the forest wearing nothing but a flannel robe and a pair of boots. Returning to the cabin, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it, frowning at the naked man standing in the middle of her house. Not that the alpha of the Red Mountain pack was a hardship to look at. Slender and lithe, Case had the body of an athlete in his prime. The dim light inside the cabin dulled the reddish tint to his hair and turned his eyes from amber to a deep hazel green.
They sized each other up for a moment, and then he said, “Eli has a kind heart. You hurt him out there.”
“I didn’t mean to.” She bit her lip in uncertainty, and then pushed away from the door. “He told me I’d be able to shift once I took a mate and when I still couldn’t shift this morning, I panicked.”
His eyes narrowed. “You had to know—”
“I don’t.” She shook her head. “I don’t know anything. I didn’t even know what was happening to me when Eli knocked on my door last night. He had to explain it all.”
Case’s eyes widened slightly. “You didn’t know you were in heat?”
She shook her head, feeling miserable and stupid.
“I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. What did he tell you?”
She hesitated, unsure whether to share that information. What had happened between her and Eli last night was private, special. She didn’t want to share it with anyone just yet.
And Case... He wasn’t what she’d expected. Eli had put her at ease right from the beginning. There was a warmth and an easiness to him that’d made her feel like they’d known each other forever. With Case, she felt like little red riding hood facing down the big bad wolf. Grandmother, what big teeth you have.
When she didn’t answer, Case said, “I’ve known Eli for twenty years. He wouldn’t have lied to you.”
“Maybe not on purpose.”
“I imagine he told you what I told him when he started asking about looking for a mate. That your wolf would go dormant if you didn’t claim a mate when you went into heat. That most female shifters choose to go human, and have been choosing to do so for decades now, abandoning their wolves in order to live normal human lives. Did he tell you that you can claim more than one mate?”
She felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “He said there were five of you.”
His brows rose slightly but, other than that mild expression of surprise, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His body seemed relaxed, his eyes steady and watchful, but his scent changed. It became richer and deeper, a dark tempting mix that made her want to step closer. It was more interest than raw lust, but it brought her drowsy wolf to full attention.
“Do you plan to claim us all?”
“I thought…” She glanced at the door, wishing Eli would come back to help her with this. “I thought you were a package deal.”
“Eli might not have fully understood the repercussions himself. Or,” a glimmer of a smile touched his lips, “knowing Eli, he might have assumed it would all work out the way he wanted and ploughed ahead.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Not necessarily.” Case studied her quietly for a moment and then said, “When you claimed Eli as your mate, you effectively removed him from my pack.”
“I wasn’t trying to steal him away.”
“I know,” Case said, his voice softening. “It’s the way it is. You and Eli are now a pack of two, unless you decide to claim another male.”
“And if they’re not willing?”
“I don’t suspect that will be a problem. Eli likely couldn’t imagine the possibility.”
She could. She’d been rejected her whole life, or at least since her parents had died. Her aunt had wanted her to hide the wolf, pretend that it didn’t exist. Maggie had had to sneak out to the woods to run alone with all the shame of a drunk sneaking to the bar. And men… Well, she knew she didn’t have the body of a fashion model. If she’d met Eli or Case out in the real world, she never would have even made eye contact with them.
Case might think her doubts were amusing, but they were very real to her. “You don’t seem particularly willing.”
His eyes glittered. “Is that what you think?”
“You’re angry with me for hurting Eli.”
“I thought you hurt him out of carelessness, not out of ignorance. I’m not angry, and even if I was, what has that to do with anything? I love Eli. I want you. They’re two separate things.”
Her wolf wholeheartedly agreed, but her human half kept stumbling over that part. She couldn’t help feeling a little jealous of Case’s love for Eli.
“Maybe they shouldn’t be.”
“Do you think Eli loves you?” Case smiled. “Maybe. Like I said, he has a soft heart.”
“You guard it for him.”
“Sometimes.” He held out his hand. “Come here.”
Again, she felt a slight resistance—pride or fear, she didn’t know what it was. But the instinct to answer his softly worded command was stronger. She stepped toward him. The wolflight in his eyes flared brighter, and he took her hand. His fingers were strong and warm as they enfolded hers and drew her closer.<
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She looked up at him. “I don’t want to break up your pack.”
Case’s thumbs stroked the insides of her wrists. “You are an alpha female, a breeding wolf. You can do as you please.”
“But you’re the alpha of this pack. Surely that gives you some right to say how things should be.”
“Are you saying you want me to decide who you mate with?” He shook his head. “I won’t do that.”
“If I did mate with you…” She trailed off when Case’s attention fixed briefly on her mouth. It was hard to concentrate when he was standing so close. He smelled delicious and looked even better. He’d kept hold of her hands, and the slow, light stroke of his thumbs over the pulse points on her wrists was driving her to distraction. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to continue. “If I mated with you, how would that work? You wouldn’t be in charge anymore?”
“I would continue to be the alpha male if we become mates. I would do as I’ve always done and manage any physical conflicts within the pack. You choose who stays in the pack, bear our young and bind us together more tightly than we are now.” He hesitated, his eyes darkening. “Between the two of us, we would have to establish who is more dominant.”
“What does that mean?”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile, and he gave a slight shake of his head. “You know what it means, or at least your wolf does. You seem disconnected from her. Is that self-preservation? You truly weren’t raised in a pack?”
“My parents died when I was very young. I was raised by a distant relative who knew I was a shifter but had never shifted herself.”
He studied her expression, giving her the uncanny impression that he was reading her mind. “She didn’t want you.”
She flinched, but didn’t look away. She had the feeling that Case was testing her and that if she didn’t stand up to him now, she never would. “She wanted me. She didn’t want the wolf.”
“I see.”
She thought that he might see exactly how it had been for her. Feeling exposed and vulnerable, she changed the subject before he could keep prodding at the sore spot. “So what happens now?”