by Jane Jamison
Barrett had already gone through a myriad of emotions, but now he was simply dumbfounded. It took a minute or so before what his brother had said could sink in. “So Pamela Frost is their mate? Not ours?” At least, not his and Justin’s. But was she Troy’s?
“I’m not sure what it means,” admitted Justin. “Are you sure they got it strong enough?”
“Damn it. I know what I heard.” Troy threw back his beer, drinking more than half of it in one gulp. “They have the connection, all right. But I felt something, too. Maybe not as strong as they did, but still, it was there.”
Again, the three men sat together, letting the silence wash over them as they tried to understand.
“Have you ever heard of the connection doing something like this?” Barrett had almost been too afraid to ask, but he’d had no choice. They had to figure out what was happening.
“Not me.” Justin let out a low whistle. “Maybe we should ask around.”
“Yeah.” Troy jumped on the idea. “Maybe we should ask Miss Clara. If anyone has a clue, it’ll be the old lady.”
Barrett chuckled. Not that he was happy, but it helped to relieve the tension a little. “Don’t let her hear you call her old.”
“Shit, no. I like having my balls attached.”
“We’re getting off topic.” Justin was still the calmest one of them—at least outwardly.
“But if we start asking around, then our mate”—the Collinsburg men’s mate?—“might hear about it. Do we want to risk that, or would it be better to stay low for a while?”
Before Justin or Troy could answer, Barrett’s phone rang. Irritated at the interruption, he jerked it out of his pocket. “Barrett here.”
“It’s Dillon Collinsburg.”
Barrett hit the speaker phone button. “Yeah. Troy and Justin are here, too.”
Dillon didn’t ask why he’d put his call on speaker. Which meant, of course, that he wanted the other men to hear. “Will’s listening in, too. We wanted to talk to you three, men to men.”
Barrett frowned, warning his brother and cousin know to be prepared. “About what?” As if he didn’t know.
“About Pamela Frost.”
“What about her?”
“We’re staking our claim to her.”
“Is that so?” What should he say? If Troy wanted to stake his claim as well, then he should be the one to speak up. Instead, Troy was studying the floor, obviously not wanting to say anything.
“Yeah. That’s so. Look, we know Troy was there when we met her. At the time, we didn’t think anything of it.”
“So why are you calling about it now?” Dillon had a shit-ass way of taking his time getting to the point.
“Afterward, Will and I realized that Troy had acted funny. Kind of confused. Plus, he seemed all too interested in her. If you get what I mean.”
Oh, he got what Dillon meant all right. “Troy said he felt…something…for her.” He might as well get the problem out into the daylight. The more a person hid something, the harder it was to accept once that something was revealed.
Dillon’s silence said it all. He and his brother were worried that Troy had the connection with Pamela.
“She’s our mate. Not Troy’s. We aren’t going to share her with him.”
“If Troy has the connection with her, then you don’t have much to say about it.” He glanced at Troy, who had finally lifted his head to meet his gaze. His brother, however, looked more confused than angry at being denied his mate.
“She’s our mate,” repeated Dillon. “Tell your brother he needs to back the hell off.”
“I’ll do what I have to do,” answered Troy.
“Damn it, Wilder, she’s ours.”
“Maybe we should leave the decision up to her,” advised Justin. “She’s the one who will make the final decision. We could all go over to the rental home and talk to her. Tell her what’s up and make her choose.”
Dillon’s laugh was unexpected. “That won’t do you any good. We already tried it.”
“What’d you do?” asked Barrett. Still, it didn’t matter. Whether they had approached her first or not, it didn’t mean his brother wasn’t still connected to her.
“I paid her a visit.”
“And?” Barrett held back his anger, but just barely. “And?” he repeated, a growl added to his tone.
“Just stay the hell away from her. She’s our mate.”
“Dillon, we need to sit down and discuss this.”
Justin could try all he wanted to keep things smoothed over, but Barrett didn’t think it was going to help.
“Nah, man, there’s no discussing this. Like I said, we’re claiming her.”
“Dillon—”
“Aw, shit, man, go ahead,” interrupted Will. “Talk to her if you want. But we’re warning you. Her sister swings a mean bat.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Yet Barrett’s question went unanswered, as Dillon ended the call.
“She swings a mean bat?” Troy shrugged. “Was he joking?”
“Beats the hell out of me.” Barrett tossed his phone down on the coffee table. “I don’t give a fuck what they say. We need to visit her and find out for ourselves. We head over there tomorrow. Agreed?”
“Sure thing.” Troy swallowed the rest of his beer.
“Okay.” Yet Justin seemed less certain. “Just remember not to come on too strong. We don’t want to scare her off.”
Barrett nodded, his mind whirling with questions. But the one real question they needed answering was who shared the connection with Pamela Frost. “Then it’s a done deal. Tomorrow it is.”
But would tomorrow be the start of a future with their mate? Or the end of their dreams?
Chapter Five
If I stopped being Pamela’s assistant, I could put more of my time into growing my business.
Mona sprayed the counter then wiped off the residue still remaining from cooking their dinner. Nothing had changed much in her routine with this so-called vacation. She still did the cleaning, the laundry, and handled all of her sister’s business dealings. God forbid her sister do anything more than stream videos and text her friends.
But if I stop being her assistant, would some of my clients jump ship? Is it Pamela that makes my other clients want to work with me? Will they switch to Pamela’s new assistant?
She couldn’t kid herself. Being Pamela Frost’s personal assistant brought clients her way. That fact irritated her, yet she was realistic enough to know that was the way things often worked in the entertainment industry. Still, she’d love if it she could do her own business without any help from her famous sister.
A howl drifted to her, sounding plaintive yet strong. She paused, her hand stilled in mid-swipe.
Was it the same wolf that had challenged her on the porch?
“What an idiot.” She didn’t know what had come over her. What she’d done had been dangerous and utterly foolish. Why had she taken on the wolf? Because of melting ice cream? Of course not. The real truth was that she’d taken a good look at her frightened little sister and had gone straight into protective mode. No one and nothing would ever hurt Pamela. Not even if she had to die to keep her kid sister safe.
Another howl came, closer, less plaintive.
She gazed out the window over the sink, her gaze searching the backyard and the woods beyond for any sign of the wolf. What if it came back? Would she try and run it off again?
No freakin’ way. I’ll do stupid once, but I won’t do stupid twice.
A third howl washed over her, both exciting and chilling her. The animal had moved closer. Or was there more than one wolf?
She scanned the area behind the house, but the shadows of the setting sun made it difficult to know where the shadows began and a possible danger began. Part of her hoped the animal would stay away. Part of her, a strange part that reminded her of the sensation she’d experienced outside the market, urged the wolf to come even closer. But how close? Close enough to se
e it for sure. Yet she wanted it even closer. Close enough, in fact, to see the fur standing up and see its eyes. Would they be amber, too?
What would it be like to be a wolf? What would it feel like to run, carefree, to be with a pack or to be on her own? The questions were ridiculous, of course. They were only silly imaginings that had begun soon after she’d been attacked by the wolf at the photo shoot.
She trembled and crossed her arms, warming herself against a sudden chill. The therapist she’d seen for a short time had explained her sudden fascination with wolves. She’d gone through a traumatic event that had left her with not only scars on her body but in her mind. It was only natural she’d think of wolves more now.
Yet, although she had agreed with the therapist—mainly because disagreeing didn’t get her anything but another lecture on how the mind processed a horrific attack—she couldn’t help but think the therapist was wrong. Flat-dead wrong. No, her interest in wolves was born of something more. Something she didn’t understand but knew in her heart of hearts was real. With each passing day, she grew more fascinated with wolves and began to read about them, finding each bit of information more frustrating than the last.
She listened, hoping to hear yet another howl. After a few moments with breath held, she gave up. Had the animal moved on? Disappointment flooded her, but she shook it off.
“Talk about poking a problem. The last thing I need is another damn wolf.”
“What’d you say?” Pamela floated in, cell phone in her hand as it was most of the time. The only things that seemed to get her sister to put the phone down were either work or posing for her adoring fans.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.” Mona began wiping the counter down again, but her gaze kept jumping to the scene outside the window. “Did you hear the wolf howling?”
At last, Pamela’s head jerked up, her fingers quieted. “What?” Fear darkened her bright face. Her gaze went to the window but for an entirely different reason than Mona’s. “Is it back? Shit. Why can’t we get away from those damn creatures?”
Creatures. The word didn’t sit well with Mona.
“I guess they are creatures, but they’re also very beautiful. Magnificent. Almost regal.”
Pamela gaped at her. “Are you serious? You sound like you actually like those things. How can you when you have all those ugly—” She sucked in a hard breath.
Mona hurried to ease her sister’s mind. “It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about my scars. It’s not like I forget that they’re there.”
“Especially when I keep bringing them up. I’m sorry. I never mean to hurt you.”
But that was the thing with her sister. She wasn’t mean or evil. She never meant to hurt anyone. She was simply spoiled and didn’t have the filter most people had developed. But since Mona had raised her, she had to take part of the blame.
Pamela shrugged and shot Mona one of her patented placating smiles. “I just open my mouth and say what I think. It’s both a blessing and a curse.”
I think it’s more a curse than a blessing.
“Again, it’s okay.” She glanced out the window one last time, determined not to look again. “And no, I don’t think it’s near the house. Besides, I haven’t heard a howl for several minutes.”
Pamela breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Now, can we talk about more pleasant things? Like the Paris show coming up next month.”
“Sure.” She waved her sister toward the table. “Just let me get my tablet—”
The howl, one that sounded far closer than the previous ones, was a surprise but also a welcome reprieve from having to talk about business. Another surprise came when Pamela spun around and ran for the front door.
* * * *
Justin crept closer to the rental house then paused. Although his wolf’s mind didn’t think in the same way his human mind did, he still felt the reluctance of earlier. Why were they going to check on their possible mate as wolves? Why not simply knock on the front door and introduce themselves? They wouldn’t have to tell her what they were or why they’d come to visit. They could use the excuse of being neighbors being neighborly and stopping by to say hello. But no. His cousins had decided to check her out as wolves. If there really was a connection between them—or at least between her and Troy—then they’d know for certain in their wolf bodies. Or, at least, that was their hope.
All their speculations were simply conjectured since they’d never experienced the connection before. But, at the time, their logic had made sense. Now that they were approaching the house on all fours, he was beginning to think the plan was ill conceived. What if they were wrong? What if they felt the connection less as wolves than they would as humans? How did they know she’d come out? Because they’d howled to her, hoping that would stir the connection within her?
Barrett bumped against Justin, urging him to keep going. He snarled silently, his amber gaze flicking to Justin then to the house.
Justin moaned, agreeing and disagreeing at the same time. He hurried ahead, staying in front of both of the brothers. If he let Barrett or Troy approach her first, who knew what might happen? They had the barest of control over their sexual needs as humans. He was sure they’d have even less control as wolves. They’d scare the hell out of her if they shifted from wolf to naked humans and then pounced on her.
Where is she? Is she home? What was he supposed to do if she didn’t come outside? Huff and puff then blow her door down?
Yet the closer he came to the house, the stronger the strange sensation hit him. The feeling was like being swept away in a flood of fiery liquid. His stomach tightened along with his cock. His wolf’s mind pushed him to pick up the pace, to find his mate and make her his.
Theirs.
He glanced at Troy. At least now they knew Troy wasn’t the only one connecting with her. That was a relief, especially when he noticed the wild gleam in Barrett’s eyes. Their mate was inside the house all right. But was she their mate as well as the Collinsburg brothers’ mate? And yet, after hours of discussion, he and his cousins had agreed. Sharing her was better than losing her. Even if they had to share her with Will and Dillon. Even if they had to convince the Collinsburg brothers to do it.
The three of them padded softly toward the house. So far, they hadn’t noticed anything happening from within. But the sensation that had to be the connection grew even stronger. He wanted to howl with pleasure. Wanted to break down the door and claim her if she didn’t come outside.
Better yet, if he could’ve shifted without ending up butt naked, he would have. The connection would be strong in his human form, too. Of that, he had no doubt.
They stopped, forming a line, and simply stared at the house. His cousins were probably willing her to step outside just as much as he was.
Then, suddenly, the door opened and she was there. Her gaze scanned the yard until it fell on them. Her eyes widened.
Shit. We’re scaring her.
Granted, they’d wanted to feel the connection with her as wolves, but they hadn’t considered that she’d see them and perhaps be frightened. It was different for every werewolf’s mate. Some of them felt the connection so strongly that it overcame their fear. With others, the strangeness of the connection could increase their fear and send them running.
But the connection was there. Maybe it wasn’t as powerful as he would’ve liked, but it was there.
Our mate.
He smiled a wolfish smile. She was as beautiful as Troy had claimed. Her black hair framed her pale face. Her startling blue eyes were amazing, bluer than the sky above. Her body was perfection, albeit a little on the skinny side for his tastes. Once more, he wished he could shift and talk to her.
“Mona!”
He startled, forgetting that she wasn’t staying in the house by herself.
“Mona! There are three of them now! Hurry!”
Barrett crouched down, his ears back, but didn’t snarl. Troy wagged his tail, hoping to put her at ease.
Suddenly, the connection hit Justin harder than before, pummeling through him like a sledgehammer. He sucked in a breath and dared to take a step forward toward his mate. The control he believed his cousins to lack was now gone from him. With every step he took, the craving to have her grew stronger. Why hadn’t it been like that a few moments before?
He didn’t get the answer to his question. Instead, just as he put his front paw on the bottom step of the porch, the door behind her opened even wider. Another woman pushed in front of their mate.
Barrett’s growl was a warning that didn’t come soon enough.
The woman lifted a shotgun and pointed it at him. Her eyes shone with an emotion he couldn’t decipher. “Get the fuck out of here.”
Justin heard his cousin growl then spin around and race away. But he couldn’t move. For a moment, just one moment, he looked into the woman’s eyes and was spellbound. The pull to have her, to take her was stronger than anything he’d ever experienced. Strangely, she paused as though understanding his surprise then tilted her head against the rifle, ready to aim.
He whirled around only seconds before the boom of the gun split the air. Pain seared into his left rump, causing him to stumble. He managed to get back onto his feet then take one look back to see the woman lifting the gun to shoot again. He ran, his heart pounding, as the darkness of the woods enveloped him.
* * * *
“What the fuck happened?” Barrett, back in his human form, helped Justin into the house and onto the couch. The shotgun wound was already healing thanks to his cousin’s werewolf metabolism, but judging from Justin’s tortured face, it still hurt like hell.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t supposed to go like that,” added Troy who flopped down on the couch. He jostled Justin who let out a low growl.
“Really? Ya think?” Still, Troy wasn’t sure what they’d expected. Had they imagined their mate coming out on the porch and petting them? What had they been thinking?
“Shut the fuck up,” ordered Justin. “We screwed up, plain and simple.”