“Approximately eight-point-six million.”
Cutler coughed violently. “So I don’t have to top up Ryan’s college fund, huh?” he asked dryly after he’d recovered.
Fina grinned.
“Ever think about investing in ecotourism?” Nath asked saucily, then picked up Fina’s hand and kissed her knuckles. She rolled her eyes and pushed his face away playfully.
“You warm enough?”
Standing outside in the hallway, Nath Powell listened to his future mate tuck Ryan into bed. He could hear his brother loading up the dishwasher at the other end of the house.
“I’m good,” Ryan muttered. “Leave the door open.”
“I will. Good night, Ryan.”
“‘Night, Fina. Hey, Fina?”
“Hmm?”
“We gonna live here now?”
“For a while. Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”
Nathaniel’s sharp wolf ears picked out the sounds of lips brushing against a forehead and a hand smoothing hair back.
“Let me know. I wanna say goodbye to the cows if we go.”
“You like them, don’t you?”
“Sure,” Ryan answered with creeping drowsiness.
When the sound of Ryan’s breathing evened out, Nath stepped away from the door and waited for Fina. She tiptoed out and started when she saw him standing there. He held out his hand and, after a moment, she took it warily.
Nath took a step toward her and laid his cheek against hers. His wolf was clawing at his self-control, wanting his share of Fina’s presence, his share of their mate—and the wolf repeated a single word over and over inside Nath’s head.
Mine.
Nath didn’t say anything and, after a time, some of the tension thrumming through Fina’s slender body eased. He breathed her in, tasted her health, age, strength, fertility… Nathaniel’s eyes opened suddenly.
Wait.
Nath’s wolf retreated back into his head, curled around itself and settled down with calm, almost smug satisfaction.
Nath lifted his head, offered Fina a smile and led her toward the family room where he could already hear the sounds of a baseball game coming through the flat screen TV.
Fina followed Nathaniel without protest. She settled herself on the big sectional and Nath dropped a pillow on the floor at her feet, sat on it and leaned his broad back into her shins. Pinned in place, she felt a moment of panic. Being touched by a male—a monstrously huge male, no less—brought back every repressed terror inside her.
Terrors Fina had tried so hard to repress. Breathing slowly and evenly calmed her. He had the remote in his hand and split the image on the screen so he could check the day’s scores. Nathaniel Powell was massive, powerful and hadn’t even reached his prime yet. Just then, Nath chuckled. At what Fina couldn’t guess but the laughter rumbling through his broad back and into her knees comforted her. She reminded herself that he was gentle, easygoing and had a smile that could charm the panties off a nun. His sense of fun ran soul deep and he somehow felt younger than her, if that was possible.
Before the rogues Fina had been sheltered, even coddled. The baby in the family, the daughter of an Alpha, she’d grown up privileged, indulged, perhaps even smugly entitled. She’d had a place in her well-ordered community—a place, a plan and a shining future with possibilities limited only by her intelligence and courage.
After the rogues she’d…diminished. Feeling older than she was and somehow fragile, she realized Fina Whitesage used to be more than she was now.
Her eyes tracked Cutler as he wiped the counter. Focus, power and confidence reflected in every sure, precise movement of his huge body. Even something as mundane as cleaning up after dinner didn’t mute his dominant presence. Nath was powerful but in a friendly, endearing way. Cutler could be just as funny—well, almost—but there was an innate maturity and reserve about him. This Alpha was responsible for so much and to so many. He wore it like he wore his other strengths and they rested on his calm, wide shoulders with deceptive ease.
Whenever the brothers looked at her, it was with veiled heat and it terrified her.
It comforted her too. For whatever bizarre reason, they’d taken her in, given her a home and a pack and hadn’t made a single sexual advance. Fina exhaled deliberately. They still frightened her but not as much as before and she wondered when she’d ever get over this shackling, groveling fear of prime males. Her fear made her want to run away but her instincts and common sense urged her to stay, for her sake and for the sake of the pup sleeping down the hall.
Ryan was her responsibility. She had to be better than this to raise him, and had to set an example of a loving, strong, intelligent parental figure. The trouble was, she wasn’t that person anymore.
Again Fina’s eyes moved between Cutler and Nath. One commanding, one gentle. One old soul and one young. She would stay with them, for now. Perhaps the two of them could teach her the things that used to make up Fina Whitesage. Things she’d so taken for granted she’d forgotten what they were.
“Green Mountain Eco Tours. How may I help you?” Fina looked away from her laptop screen and focused on the caller instead of the new Whitesage Nursery website she’d commissioned. She and Ryan had been staying with the brothers for ten days now and she’d tried to stay busy.
Cutler leaned on the doorway. He’d figured out thinking distracted her from her pain. She laid her hand on the mouse of the office computer and brought up Nath’s calendar. “We do have openings in August for the Highland Trek package…oh you have? Let me check for you…”
He blew across the steaming mug of coffee in his hand and watched Fina with quiet admiration. She looked up at him, grinned and mouthed you’ll be late for work. Cutler just shrugged, returned her grin and kept watching.
“Nathaniel Powell is available for only two nights in August…”
Glancing out the window, Cutler watched Ryan playing in the backyard. He and Nath had fenced in the entire area around the house, creating a clearly defined space where Ryan was allowed to play without supervision. It bordered on the south paddock, which suited Ryan just fine. So far he’d been good about not ducking under the picket fence and going into the barn or outbuildings on his own. Ryan was climbing on a big cedar play set with swings and monkey bars. After work tonight, Cutler was going to finish assembling the slide and raised fort sections.
“If you were willing to go with another guide I could offer you that date but if you want Nathaniel to guide you… Yes he really is the best chef in the bunch. Uh-huh. We also have a guide who’s Shoshone. Chris brings his people’s knowledge to the trek and cooks with only local ingredients. But I have to warn you he’s got a wicked sense of humor so unless you’re prepared to do a few sit-ups to get your abs in shape before you head out, I can guarantee you’ll have a sore belly by the end of day two. Oh you do? I’ll have to send the Johnsons a note and thank them for their lovely recommendation. Yes. Nathaniel’s chicken tetrazzini is to die for and I’m speaking from personal experience here. It’s so good you’ll roll over on your back and beg to have your stomach rubbed.”
Cutler heard a woman laughing on the other end of the line. He rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee.
“The date will be held for you upon receipt of your five hundred dollar deposit.”
Cutler was impressed by how quickly Fina had picked up on the particulars of his brother’s business. Nobody had asked her to. The second day she’d been there, she’d figured out that Nath had a business line hooked up in the home office. If nobody there picked it up, it switched to his base camp. The official home of Green Mountain Eco Tours sat at the end of a dead-end road out of town. A number of trails their dad had introduced them to when they’d been kids, ones that snaked around the Great Divide Basin, branched out from there. Nath’s base camp was a pretty log building that he stored his company’s gear and food supplies at and ran his tours out of. During the summer Nath hired a high-school kid from their pack to run the office in his
absence…keeping the shelves stocked, checking on the solar panels, running the sleeping bags into town for cleaning, answering the phones, that sort of thing. But Fina was just really, really good with customers.
“There’s a full information pack. I can fax it or email it to you.” Fina flicked her long, auburn hair out of the way, tucked the receiver between her ear and shoulder and started typing. “That’s right…you can bring your own gear or Green Mountain Eco Tours can supply everything you need except for shoes and the clothes on your back. There’s a complete supply list in the pack and you check off what you’d like us to provide and we’ll have everything ready for you. There’s also a physical fitness self-check sheet. Oh that’s okay. The Highland Trek package will be perfect for you. It’s two days and one night under canvas. Just work yourself up to an hour of walking per day at a slightly faster than normal pace and you’ll be fine.” She glanced up at Cutler again. “Thank you for calling Green Mountain Eco Tours and have a terrific day.”
“My brother should pay you,” Cutler grunted after she hung up.
“Yes, he should,” Fina agreed saucily. “Remind me to tell him.”
Cutler grunted again, this time in agreement, and drank the rest of his coffee. He watched Fina with feral heat when she stood, lifted her arms over her head and stretched her back. His cock twitched inside his regulation tan trousers and he adjusted his gunbelt. He wanted this woman even more than when he’d met her but his wolf, always the hormone-driven one, still wanted him to wait.
Cutler was just about ready to go out of his mind with need.
“Don’t forget there’s a pack run tomorrow night. Nath and I will take you. Dorothea Pike and her mate will be watching the kids this time so we’ll drop Ryan off there before we go.”
His high-handedness obviously irked Fina but he was Alpha. It was how he was made. He wasn’t being rude, he was just being…Cutler. “You’re even bossier than my father was,” Fina grouched.
“Hmm. Sounds like a remarkable man.” Cutler grinned and walked up to her. He set his mug down, fit his hands around her waist and pressed his freshly shaven cheek to hers. Her hands settled lightly on his arms as she accepted the nuzzling. She’d been touching him back for a couple of days now—Nath too, although that irritated the hell out of Cutler. And this was the first time she’d talked about anyone from her past without prompting. Cutler took it as a hopeful sign she was opening up, becoming more comfortable with him…and Nath. “Maybe you’ll tell me about him. Sometime,” he added with his friendly-guy smile and a light shrug of his shoulders.
“Um, speaking about that…” Fina pulled back from him and leaned on the edge of the desk. “I haven’t spoken with any of my old friends and I was wondering—”
“You want to know if it’s a good idea to get in touch with your human friends,” Cutler finished for her with a discernment that, judging by the way she blinked, caught her off guard. But then he was a cop. He leaned back against the desk beside her. She was wearing shorts and his uniform pants had to be rough against her bare leg. Fina didn’t seem mind. He could only hope she liked the warmth and muscular solidness of him pressed against her leg, hip and shoulder.
Cutler looked down at her out of the corner of his eye. “I’ve made some contacts with other wolves near your home pack lands,” he told her and waited for her reaction. When Fina simply raised her brow and looked up at him without censure, he continued. “The rogues are lying low. They’ve had little or no contact with nearby humans. I think it’s okay for you to contact some of your friends but do it safely.” She shot him one of what he thought of as her oh-yeah-big-tough-guy looks. He ignored it and felt his expression harden. “Who do you want to contact?”
“Helen, my best friend.”
“She’s your age?”
“Three months younger.”
“Hmmph. Is her mother smart? Level headed?”
“Definitely.” Fina nodded emphatically. “Right after I escaped, I wanted to run to her…”
Fina’s voice dropped away and Cutler felt her tremble. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drew her close and pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“But you didn’t because you’d endanger her,” he said with quiet surety and kissed her hair. “Set up a new email account. Make sure it can’t be traced to Wyoming. Use it to contact your friend’s mother. Let her know you’re safe but were advised to go into seclusion because of the violence. No need to tell her anything else,” he added firmly when Fina tensed. “Tell her you’d like to contact Helen but have to be sure she’ll keep her mouth shut about it. If your friend is
like any of the other twenty-year-old human females I’ve come across,” he snorted with disdain, “she’ll get so excited about hearing from you she’ll blab it to everybody before realizing she could be jeopardizing your safety.”
“My safety?” Fina blurted out. Her head popped up. “There’s no way those rogues would still be interested in me.”
“Why not?” Cutler asked coolly, holding her eyes with his and tucking his finger under her chin. “I’d never be willing to let you go.” He gave that a moment to sink in.
Fina averted her eyes. “By now they know the money’s gone.”
“There is that,” Cutler agreed with a sigh. “But I know I’d abandon everything I had to follow you if you left me.” He kissed her forehead, squeezed her shoulder gently then stood up. “We have to assume that Alpha would too.” He glanced at his watch. “Now I am going to be late for work.” Cutler inhaled her scent once more. “Damn I wish I could bottle the smell of your skin. That way I could take it with me everywhere.” He offered her a crooked grin and a wicked flash of his eyes, turned away and headed for the front door.
Fina was still leaning against the desk and stroking her forehead absently where Cutler’s warm, firm lips had touched it when her wolf’s ears heard Ryan’s voice.
“Please, Cutler, just once,” he wheedled from the front yard.
“It scares the cattle, buddy. You know that. How about you just turn on the lights. We’ll save the siren for some other time.”
“Cool,” Ryan blurted and she heard his canvas shoes crunch the gravel in the driveway, heard the door of Cutler’s big sheriff’s SUV open, heard Cutler grunt dramatically and figured he was hoisting the six-year-old into the driver’s seat.
“Whew! You’re packing on the muscle, big guy. Soon you’ll be too big for me to lift.”
Fina realized she’d started to cry and she hated it…absolutely hated it. She hated the constant flux of her emotions, her thoughts.
She’d stuck her nose into Nath’s business because it was yet another activity to escape into. When she was working it was easy to carry on like nothing bad had happened to her, easy to deny her family’s death, her pack’s death. Sometimes the tears just started to fall and she felt dark and numb inside. Fina had gotten good at burying her face in the blankets at night and crying soundlessly. The worst part about the tears was the anger that followed. She’d get mad at herself for being weak and being alive and then she’d get mad at her pack—her father and brother and Ryan’s dad—for not seeing this coming, not protecting them like they were supposed to, and she’d cry even harder.
Fina picked up Cutler’s coffee mug and carried it into the kitchen. She cleaned out the coffee maker, started up the dishwasher, grabbed the bucket of cleaning supplies from beneath the sink and headed for a corner of the front hallway like she did every day about this time, preparing to obsessively scrub the house from end to end until the phone rang or it was time to make Ryan’s lunch or drive him into town to pick up groceries or take him to a playdate or mow the lawn. Anything so she didn’t have to think.
Fina inhaled slowly. The first things she picked out were the gas and oil smells from at least fifty vehicles parked in the big, grassy field. Beyond that she caught the scent of a pack—Cutler’s pack—in the forest beyond the field. The pack scent was fresh and old at the same time. It was an area wolv
es had used for decades, maybe a century. The sun had already set and it was almost fully dark. The full moon would be rising over the foothills in about a half hour. Fina’s wolf eyes showed her a wide trail leading beneath the trees and after Nath helped her out of Cutler’s personal, oversized and beefy SUV, he held her hand and headed for the trail. Cutler caught up to them, walked on her other side and laid his arm around her shoulders. The scents coming out of the forest clearly identified this as the pack’s running grounds. Privately owned land, probably hundreds of acres of it where the pack gathered to run and socialize in their fur.
“How many are in your pack?” she blurted out, registering the number of cars and the fact that two more were just pulling in.
“One hundred ninety,” Cutler replied with smug pride.
“One-ninety-one,” Nath corrected him gently. “Don’t forget the Andersons’ new pup.”
“Oh. Yeah.” He grinned crookedly and gave Fina’s shoulder a squeeze. “That makes number six for them. I haven’t figured out if they’re wolves or rabbits.” He chuckled ribaldly and Fina poked him in the side with her elbow. He grunted obligingly and cradled his waist. “We’ve got thirty-two families and forty singles, most of them male.” He raised his hand in greeting as they passed two older couples walking together.
Fina felt the sadness creep in again. Her pack had been comprised of only eight families with no singles living on their own. Two of the families had been her older, mated sisters’ and even her older brother—whom everybody expected to take over as Alpha when her father got too old—had still lived at home. She saw that her pack had been small and wealthy, ripe for takeover.
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