He had to respect the toughness required to storm onto someone else’s property and whip out a weapon. She wasn’t the sort of woman to back down from a hangnail, much less the challenges of ranch life.
His bear paced in the back of his head, watching her. No ounce of wariness existed in the beast. He was curious and impressed and wanted to keep her.
Ethan nearly stumbled. Neither his thoughts nor his bear’s were the thinking of a sane man or beast. Tansey was a danger.
In danger.
Fuck.
Her elbow jabbed him in the side and brought him crashing back into honey-scented and soft-skinned reality. Her round ass rubbed against his dick as she struggled. Double fuck. She was going to think the worst of him if she felt his growing erection.
“Now that you won’t accidentally kill me, I’m going to let you go. Then we’re going to talk this out like civilized folk. Got it?”
She tried to free herself again, but no amount of wiggling would get her out of his grip. One arm locked around her chest and the other, after he stuffed her pistol into the waist of his jeans, clamped down around her hips.
Smelling strongly of frustrated anger and delicious honey, Tansey nodded.
Reluctantly, he let her loose. She snarled as ferociously as any shifter and scrambled to get clear of his reach. His bear rumbled in amusement. She’d been caught before, and the beast couldn’t wait to give chase again.
Ethan shoved the creature to the far corner of his mind and walled him off for good measure. Tansey wasn’t theirs, wasn’t to be touched, and certainly wasn’t to be chased. If he wanted to get laid, there were far easier options than a woman spitting mad and prepared to claw out his eyes.
Her jaw set in a stubborn line and she crossed her arms over her chest. “So, talk.”
“Oh, no,” he chuckled. “You shot at me. You get to answer my questions now.”
Whiskey-colored eyes narrowed. “Ask away. I’m an open book,” she gritted out.
“For starters, who the fuck said they saw me with your brother?”
“Why, so you know who to make disappear next?”
Ethan had to wipe the smile off his face. Damn, she was mouthy. He had nearly a foot on her and an animal under his skin, but she didn’t back down.
She did just shoot at him, though. And on information given to her by his chief rival.
“Tansey,” he said sharply. He liked how her name tasted on his lips. “Tell me what happened. How did you get my name?”
“Viho stopped three days ago at a bar to the west. One of the girls that works there heard it from someone else at another bar that Rye came through here, and you were the last person seen with him.”
“Did you stop to think, ‘gee, maybe these men willing to send me on a murder mission might, themselves, be capable of killing?’ There’s a reason they’re not welcome in the enclave and it ain’t because they’re overzealous with the bar tabs.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. If they wanted you dead, why would they send me? Not like it was a challenge to disarm me.”
The last was a mutter under her breath and accompanied by a flick of her eyes. Annoyance, yes, and something else. A little bit of heat, maybe.
“You don’t know a thing about that pack, do you? Nothing is so simple with them. They like to play with their prey before making a move. Probably what they’re doing with you.” His bear shoved forward and readied for the attack. He wanted wolf blood, and not because of their incursions onto Black Claw territory. Viho’s pack was a threat to Tansey.
“Look,” she drew a shuddering breath. “This was the one and only lead I’ve had since Rye went missing. I need to know what happened to him. He’s never disappeared like this before, and his house was a mess. Something happened, and the only one willing to listen was Viho.”
A pang of pity tightened his chest. He understood her need to know where her brother ended up, and how. He’d jump through fire if the same thing happened to Colette.
Against his better judgment, he took a step closer. She flinched, so he held out his hand like he did when a horse shied away from him. “I don’t know what happened to him. I don’t know him. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll let you look through our books. We haven’t run any trail rides since the season ended last year, so maybe that’ll be proof he hasn’t shown up here.”
It was all he could offer.
It allowed him a few more minutes inhaling her sweet scent before they parted ways forever.
Heat flashed through him at the possibilities. He’d never had such a strong reaction to a female, human or otherwise. Love wasn’t in the cards for him. He didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve.
That flash fire left his objections in ash and wanted him to spill every thought to the woman.
Fuck that.
She was wrapped up with Viho, and he had a ranch to run. Even if he wanted a mate—which he didn’t—she wasn’t the one for him.
His bear rampaged through his mind.
The sharp crack of a second gunshot ripped the hat off his head.
Ethan threw himself at Tansey, cradling the back of her head with his hand as they went down. The hard ache in his palm saved her a bump on the head. He covered her body with his to protect her from any other shots.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
Silence blanketed the ranch.
Chapter 5
For the second time that day, Tansey found herself wrapped up in strong arms. Ethan’s hard chest pressed into her own softer frame and squeezed the air from her lungs.
“Get off me,” she wheezed, and shoved at him vainly.
“Are you hurt?” he demanded again.
He propped himself up on his elbows and stared down at her. Even without all his weight, Tansey found it hard to breathe. The position was far too close to the dirty images she’d had at first sight.
Blue. That was the color of his eyes hidden under his hat. The color brightened the longer she stayed quiet, churning into an eerily beautiful silver.
Tansey swallowed hard. It was the adrenaline talking. Nerves. They’d been shot at, for goodness sake. How had he kept it so together when she shot at his boots? “No. Nothing hit me.”
He nodded once. “In the house, then. Now!”
Ethan’s order fell on deaf ears, but she couldn’t ignore the firm grip on her elbows hauling her to her feet. He shoved her forward and rushed her toward the big house. There was no time to question him. She doubted he’d listen. He still hovered right on her heels, shielding her from any potential harm.
Almost as soon as they tumbled through the door, he cocked his head. “Backup is coming.”
She had no idea what that meant until she heard the thundering steps of boots hitting the ground. The men—shifters—seemed to materialize from every direction. Four, total, all on foot and looking ready for a fight, thundered up the steps or threw themselves over the porch railing and through the door.
“What the fuck happened?” one newcomer demanded.
Tansey was ushered further into the home. The hair on her arms raised as the air jumped with unseen electricity. The open space of a huge living room shrank with the size of the men crowding around her and Ethan.
Stupid. So stupid. They’d no doubt heard her gunshot and came running. How close had she come to death?
Rye was still out there. Somewhere. She needed to talk her way out of this mess and keep her blood inside her body where it belonged. Who else would look for her brother if she died?
“Who took a shot at you?” one with shoulder-length black hair asked.
The one with dark curls glared at her. “Two shots. Was it this one?”
Ethan held up a hand before any more questions could be fired off. “Jesse, Hunter, I want you to run the perimeter to the east. Lorne, Alex, check the herd, then start west.” His eyes passed over her, glowing silver. “I need to talk to this one.”
Her heart sank into her stomach. No one looked at her as the
y filed back outside.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Be careful,” he called out to them in a gruff voice.
Two flicked him off, and a brief smile flashed across his face.
Then he turned to her, and the smile vanished.
Tansey held up her hands and backed away from him slowly. He stalked after her, eyes never leaving her face. One step, then another. She bumped into the back of a couch. She steadied herself against it, then skipped around to put it between her and the predator chasing his prey.
“Stop running.”
The order whipped through her and froze her in her tracks. It was impossible to ignore the effect he had on her body. Danger radiated off him, and the thrill of it flooded instant desire through her all over again. Silver eyes trapped her in place.
Ethan’s gaze dipped down her body. The silver had brightened when he returned to her face. With a growl, he paced away.
The loss of his nearness was like a plant shriveling in darkness. Her heart ached and her stomach sank.
Which pissed her off. He was nobody to her. One giant hunk, but nobody. Maybe involved with her brother’s disappearance, definitely holding her captive, and oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...
Coming her way.
Ethan stopped with his toes an inch from her own. His thumb and forefinger pinched her chin and turned her face to him, his glowing silver eyes holding her still.
“You’re going to tell me everything, understand?”
Her skin prickled with the pure power he wielded, and she nodded. “What do you want to know?”
“Why are you here? How did you find your way to my ranch with the Valdana pack? What trouble have you brought to my clan?” Ethan let her loose and waved in the vague direction of the door.
There was more to it than simply attraction, she realized. Seeing him, however briefly, with his people triggered her worry for Rye and a deep jealousy. Those men came running at the first sound of danger. Ethan ordered them back into trouble, and wished them a safe return. She envied the loyalty displayed on both sides.
They’d probably have a grand time burying her body and getting drinks after.
Tansey took a step back. “I told you before. I’m just looking for my brother. Viho was the only one that would look for him.”
“That’s what I don’t understand. You show up, then get shot at.”
“Who says it was me they were aiming at? It was your hat that got hit,” she countered.
Ethan grunted and sank into the nearest couch. He waved for her to take a seat. “Maybe. But why wait until now, and with you there?” He shook his head and stared into the empty air.
Tansey slid a look toward the door. Could she make it while he was distracted? The others were gone. She just needed to get into her car and gun it. She inched her foot to the side.
Ethan immediately jerked his focus back to her. “Sit,” he growled. “You did shoot at me. You owe me some answers.”
The air pressed all around her like she’d been dragged deep under the ocean. Her heart worked to beat, and her lungs struggled to inhale. She wanted to obey. Needed to.
Tansey stumbled back a step and fell into the chair behind her. The heaviness immediately lifted.
She quirked an eyebrow at Ethan. “What did you do to me?”
He didn’t answer. “Why does your brother need tracking down? Couldn’t you have just given him a call?”
“You think that wasn’t the first thing I tried?” First thing, and a thousand times over since then. She thought she could dial his number in her sleep.
But that didn’t answer Ethan’s first question. When she dared glance at him, she found him staring back at her.
Blue had replaced the silver of his inner animal. She liked the color. It matched the sky outside.
She was already in the belly of the beast and she shot at him. Near him. She never intended to hit him, just jog his memory a little and make him see she meant business.
There wasn’t any harm in giving him some information. Maybe it’d endear her to him and he’d let her go without any fuss. She could always leave out details if needed. She couldn’t forget she was dealing with a potential murderer.
She wasn’t even sure about that anymore. Someone had taken a shot at him, and he had thrown her down to protect her. He watched her with an intentness that stirred an awareness of him deep in her core.
God, she was going crazy. She wanted to throw her trust at anyone that might give her answers.
“Rye has always been a bit wild. Always in trouble. He was older than me, but he was always there. I remember the day he heard some older kids making fun of me for running off our dad. He got quiet, and told me to keep walking home. The next day, those kids were in the same spot as always, but they didn’t say a word to me. Probably afraid he’d blacken their other eyes.”
Those taunts were still loud and painful. The town was small, so of course the news of John Nichols leaving his wife and kids spread like wildfire. He was a no-good asshole and a cheat, she later learned, but he was still her dad. And he left in the middle of the night without a goodbye.
Just like Rye.
Tansey twisted her fingers on her lap and stared at the floor. Maybe it was her. Maybe she drove everyone away. Rye probably got sick of her and just ghosted. Wouldn’t be the first man in her life to drop her suddenly and without remorse. She guarded her heart like a dragon guarded its hoard because she was sick of letting others take whatever they wanted and leaving her dry.
“So you were close.”
Ethan’s words drew her out of her memories. She thought his eyes held a trace of pity.
She didn’t want his pity, and she certainly didn’t like the finality of his past tense were. She just wanted to find her brother.
“He’s my best friend. He’s always been my best friend. I know his habits, so I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t reach him and he didn’t call me. I went back home to check on him. The house was a mess, but there wasn’t any sign of him. Everyone I talked to said his animal probably jacked up the place looking for a way outside.”
Ethan sat up straighter. “He’s a shifter?”
“A wolf, yes. Happened about a month before he went missing. He’s been fascinated with you people since you were outed. I think he’s always felt a little… weak? Not up to par with everyone else? He wanted to be more than a part-time bartender in a one-bar town.”
She’d clawed her way out of there as soon as she finished high school. Something locked Rye to that place, and he wouldn’t leave despite all her convincing. It became a joke over the years, him with his backwoods living and her with big city ideas. Sometimes she thought he waited for their father to return home.
“A wolf,” Ethan repeated. His eyebrows drew together. “Do you know who bit him? Was it Viho’s pack?”
“No. He never said.” Tansey shook her head. “What do the Vagabonds have to do with his turning?”
“Wolves are… They are…” Ethan hesitated. “If this is a pack problem, if your brother was a Valdana, then maybe you’re being used to get at him.”
“But why send me out here and say you know what happened to him?”
“That’s some rotten shit spanning back to my father’s time. Let’s just say Viho wants my territory, and leave it at that.”
He grimaced, and his fingers dug into the arms of the chair. Viho definitely had the man on edge.
Upset enough to abduct or murder one of Viho’s pack? She wasn’t so sure anymore.
Tansey tried to unknot the tangled threads uniting them both. She and Ethan were both connected to Viho. Rye, too, maybe. Rye was her reason for having anything to do with Viho.
She didn’t like the idea of being jerked around for someone’s plot. She also didn’t like being kept in the dark with something that might concern her brother.
Tansey’s jaw set in a hard line. “Let’s not—”
Ethan cocked his head again, and cut her off with a raised hand.
Her eyes widened at the very naked man that stepped inside, and Tansey quickly looked elsewhere.
Ethan jumped to his feet. “Fucking hell, Hunter. Put some damn clothes on,” he growled, putting himself between them.
Hunter’s grin didn’t drop even as he found a pair of jeans by the door. “Jesse sent me back. We caught the scent of a Valdana wolf just past the huts. Fucker shifted and ran, but left his rifle behind.”
Chapter 6
Fuck.
Ethan’s bear raged in his mind. He wanted to let fur fly, starting with the unmated male waving his dick around for his mate to see. He needed to bleed, learn his place, cower.
Ethan froze. His bear shoved forward in that moment of weakness and nearly brought him to his knees. A low, inhuman growl vibrated in his throat. He stopped the sudden shift by a fingernail.
Hunter stilled, too. He tilted his head to the side and exposed his neck.
The submissive move should have quieted his bear. It only made the beast angrier. No creature so weak deserved a mate like Tansey.
Tansey didn’t notice the dangerous waters lapping at her ankles.
She slipped around him and planted her hands on her hips. Her glare took in both him and Hunter. “So, what? Viho sends me out here, then tries to kill you? What is the point of that?”
He didn’t want a mate. Tansey was already a distraction he didn’t need. She’d be a liability in any fight to come. Say he bonded the fragile human, and they had a few happy nights together. What happened when Viho killed her and that bond snapped back inside him?
Love and mates were as deadly an addiction as the one that took his father to the bottom of a bottle while his family and land fell apart around him.
Wrangled Fate: Book One: Black Claw Ranch Page 3