“Are they heading back?” Teaghen asked him.
“Yeah, and they did get some information from the three men. It seems they were quite talkative after Tony and the boys told them that we all lived on federally protected lands and that it would mean very long prison sentences if anyone was hurt or disappeared from the compound.” Teaghen watched as Alex, Kianna, and Duncan came around to stand with him.
“Let’s wait until Tony and the rest get back here, and then we’ll start making plans to end this bullshit. I won’t have that asshole Ray and his goons causing any more trouble around here. It ends now.” He could taste the bile rising up in his throat at the thought of Ray or one of his men getting their hands on their mate. He and his brothers needed to come up with a plan to make sure Ray was stopped once and for all.
Entering the front door, right away Teaghen knew that someone had been in there. Putting his hand up to stop all movement, he stepped carefully into the kitchen and noticed a white envelope on the table. While motioning for Derek and his men to check out the rest of the house, he grabbed the envelope from the table and opened it to find a letter from Ray inside.
Hello boys,
Now that you’ve fucked that whore of a sister of mine, why not send her over to me and my friends so that they can have a “stab” at her? She must be pretty wild to take on all three of you, and this way we can all get what we want.
I finally get to show the bitch who owns her, and you get rid of an unwanted problem. This was never your fight, so why not just end it now. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone concerned.
Kianna isn’t my full sister by blood, so I figure I’ll show her how to treat a man by giving her to my friends to play with for a while. If she survives then I’ll ship her out just like all the other whores.
See, Bubba liked to fuck as many women as he could. I was a mistake from one such tryst. My mother was one of the girls that he grabbed when he first started his outside business years ago. When he found out she was knocked up with his son, he kept her around until I was born and then sent her out of the country to his partners overseas.
Bubba didn’t want any of his boys being raised by his whores. He wanted to make sure that we were raised right.
I found all this out after I overheard him talking to Marion one night. She was upset that he treated me and my brothers so well and his daughter like shit. Well, what did the bitch expect? We were his sons! We were his heirs! Her little mutt daughter couldn’t hold a candle to any of us in his eyes. It made me so proud of my daddy when he smacked her across the mouth and told her to shut up. That’s when I knew just how much my daddy cared. He must have gone a little senile in the last year to leave everything to his whoring daughter.
But all that doesn’t matter now, what does is the fact that you and your brothers aren’t a part of this. Kianna needs to be taught her place again, so why not just let me deal with her and you and your brothers can find another whore to fuck.
Call me to let me know when I can pick her up.
Ray
The growl that emanated from deep within his chest was loud and angry. Throwing the letter onto the table, he wasn’t fast enough to keep Kianna from picking it up and reading it.
Fuck. He should have put it in his pocket.
* * * *
Kianna’s eyes widened as she read Ray’s letter. A smile spread across her face as she handed the letter back to Teaghen.
“I don’t want you to worry about anything, baby. Ray won’t be able to touch you,” Teaghen assured her.
Pulling a chair to sit on, Kianna couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
“The fucker’s insane! All this is because he wants to teach me my place and then give me to his friends? Well, that’s just too sick for words.” She laughed out loud. “He still sees me as the weak little girl that he beat on all those years ago.”
Looking up into the worried faces of her three mates, she wanted to make them understand.
“That’s our ace in the hole. Don’t you see?” she asked. “Ray thinks that I’m weak. That I would put up little, if any, fight. Even though he’s seen what I can do, he still thinks of me as his inferior, and that error in judgment is going to work in our favor. He’s fucking crazier than Bubba ever was if he thinks I’ll cower to him ever again.”
Before she could explain further, they all heard Tony and his men as they pulled up in front of the house.
“We can talk about this when everyone is settled,” she said, taking Teaghen’s hand.
“Besides, Alex promised me one of his special omelets, and I’m really hungry all of a sudden.”
Kianna knew now how they were going to stop Ray. She just had to find a way to talk her mates into allowing her to do it. They were so protective and loving that it was going to be difficult for them to see that this was probably the only way they could put a stop to Ray and his cronies’ activities without, hopefully, anyone getting seriously hurt. Ray was an asshole, a sick, twisted, asshole, and deserved to spend the rest of his life behind bars. He didn’t deserve to die, and she knew if left to her men the situation would end violently. They were men of honor and would give Ray a chance, but she knew that Ray wasn’t going to stop until he was either in prison or dead, and she didn’t want any of her men to have to live with the fact they’d killed her brother and maybe face a prison sentence themselves. No, she was going to have to find a way to talk them into going along with her plan.
* * * *
Duncan sat down, across the table from his mate and watched the different play of emotions flicker across her expressive face. She was thinking hard about something, and that meant they all could be in for a world of trouble. Kianna may be submissive to them in the bedroom, but she would stand beside them in a fight, and if she thought for a minute one of them was going to be hurt, she’d stand in front of them. Damn he loved this woman.
“What’s going through that brilliant brain of yours, kitten?” he asked as he reached over the table to take her hand in his.
“Let’s wait until Tony and everyone sits down, and then I’ll tell you” She smiled back at him, squeezing his hand.
Sitting back against the chair, Duncan waited for Tony to come into the house. Their mate was incredibly strong for someone who had been raised for the first fifteen years of her life living with a monster. And to Duncan, there was no other way to describe Bubba Deacon than a monster. He could feel his wolf prowling around inside him just itching to be let go for a run, but right now, his human form was needed to be near Kianna. Her protection was the only reason he hadn’t allowed his wolf free.
As he continued to sit quietly and watch the interaction between his brothers and their mate, Duncan could feel the smile spread across his face. Even with all the shit that Ray was throwing at them, they were still able to laugh a little. The bond they all shared would only grow with time, and he couldn’t wait to see his mate’s tummy rounded with their pups.
Dammit, he didn’t need to be thinking about things like that right now. Every time he thought or envisioned Kia pregnant, all the blood seemed to rush from his brain to his dick and settle there. Hell, who was he trying to kid anyway. It didn’t matter how he envisioned their gorgeous mate. His dick stayed hard around her.
The sound of footsteps on the porch brought everyone to a stop. Tony had arrived, and now it was time to sit down and figure out how the hell they were going to stop Ray and his friends before they got to Kianna.
Duncan was a realist and knew the longer they waited, the more likely that someone would slip up, and the error would give Ray the opportunity to hurt her. They were, after all, part human.
Tony and four other men entered the kitchen. Each one nodded his head toward the brothers and then grabbed a seat. Some sat on the chairs that were available, and a couple sat on the kitchen counter.
“So, tell us what you learned from our friends from the diner, Tony,” Duncan said, resting his forearms on his knees.
“Apparently, they don’
t make thugs like they used to.” He smiled and looked over at his men on the counter.
“When Duke started questioning them about Ray, they couldn’t stop talking. Ray’s been bragging to all of Bubba’s business partners how he’ll get you back in line again, Kianna.” Tony couldn’t seem to keep the smile off his face when he told her that.
“Ray’s been telling them what a little wimp you are and that, once the bosses here, now how did that one guy put it, Duke?” Tony asked sarcastically.
“Um, he said that…” Holding up his hands to Teaghen, Duncan, and Alex, he said, “Now these aren’t my words, boss, so don’t go all furry on me. He said that his sister was such a whore, she was sleeping with three men so she would be more than able to satisfy them before he shipped her off overseas.”
Duncan wasn’t surprised how hard he had to fight his wolf from getting free, and he wasn’t shocked when he noticed both his brothers having the same difficulty. What did come as a bolt from out of the blue and helped to calm all their wolves was the peal of laughter emanating from their mate as well as his men.
“What the hell is so fucking funny?” he yelled. “Ray and his cronies want to kidnap and hurt your alphas’ mate, and you all think he is just talking out his ass for shits and giggles? He wants to hurt Kia, do you understand this.” Duncan pulled Kianna onto his lap and nuzzled her neck. He needed to calm his wolf, and her scent was a sure way to do it.
As Kianna stroked along the side of his face, he could still feel her giggling.
“Kianna, I want you to take this seriously,” he whispered.
Quickly, the smile he saw on her face lowered, and a frown replaced it as she looked him straight in the eye and said, “I do take my brother very seriously, Duncan. Remember I’m the one he used as a punching bag as a kid.”
Just the thought of her having to go through that again made his stomach turn.
“I told you I knew how to deal with Ray, but it’s going to depend on how much the three of you trust me.” Kianna stood and held out her hand to Teaghen.
“The four of us need to go into the gardens, and you all need to listen, and I mean really listen, to my suggestions. I know my brother, and even though I haven’t been around him in fifteen years, he hasn’t changed a bit.”
Taking her hands, Teaghen and Duncan followed their mate into the back gardens with Alex walking slowly behind her, his eyes on her ass the whole way.
Chapter 13
Kianna walked with her men in silence until she came to one of her favorite areas of the garden.
She’d always loved the gardens growing up and had come out here many times when she was playing hide and seek with the three brothers. It was one place that she remembered feeling the safest as a little girl.
The bench that she finally stopped at faced a large pond with a small fountain in the center of it. The small animals that gathered there had always fascinated her when she was younger.
“I want you all to sit and hear me out. You’re not going to like what I have to say, but it’s the best way to stop Ray in his tracks.” She stood and turned to face the three men who now sat on the bench.
“Okay, Kia, we’re listening,” Teaghen said.
“Since I was a child, Ray has always been the meanest of my brothers. They were all mean, in varying degrees, but Ray was pure evil. There is something broken inside him and he isn’t going to stop until he gets what he wants or we put him in prison,” she said, nervously pacing back and forth in front of the men.
“We know he’s sick, baby, that’s why we don’t want you anywhere near him.” Alex stood and tried to pull her into his arms, but she pushed him back and told him to sit down.
“That’s our in, though. He sees me as his weak willed, weak minded little sister still. He’s so caught up in what I was, he can’t see what I’ve become, and that is his weakness. He was raised to see women as things, as nothing more than property to do what he pleases with. Because my mom got away from Bubba and I was raised by Jeff and Sammy, I was able to grow into a strong and independent woman. My two dads gave me the skills to protect myself. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. Ray can’t hurt me anymore. Physically, I could kill him with one hit. Emotionally, the only way he can hurt me is to take you away from me.” She had to turn away from them so they wouldn’t see the tears forming, but before she could wipe them away, they all stood around her, enclosing her in their love and protection.
“Kitten, please don’t cry. We aren’t going anywhere. Don’t you know how much we love you?” Alex said softly in her ear.
“I know how much you love me,” she sniffed. “It’s probably just as much as I love you, and that’s our strength, Alex!” Pushing away from them so that she would be able to keep her thoughts straight, Kianna continued to pace.
“Ray thinks I’m your fuck-toy and that’s it. He doesn’t comprehend love, in any form. He’s never had it shown to him, so how the hell would he know what it was? I’ve known love. Love of my mom, my dads, and now the love of three wonderful men. That’s how we’ll trap him. Since he thinks I’m nothing but a good lay for the three of you, let’s let him believe that.”
Two of the three men tried to voice their opinions at once. “No way, Kia,” came from Duncan.
“I don’t fucking think so,” came from Alex, but Teaghen just went and sat back on the bench in silence.
“Will you tell her what a crazy idea this is, Teag?” Duncan practically yelled at the top of his lungs.
“I can’t do that, Duncan, because I think she’s right,” he said calmly.
“Have you lost your fucking mind, brother? This is our mate. We protect what is ours, always,” Duncan yelled at him.
“We can’t protect her if we’re dead now can we. And we can’t protect her if she’s dead. Let her finish telling us her idea, and then we can go from there. Our mate isn’t stupid, you know that. She wouldn’t be our mate if she was.” He smiled at Kianna.
“Thank you, baby,” she said and leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips.
“Have you both gone insane?” Alex asked.
“No, Alex, this may be our only way to stop Ray without anyone getting seriously hurt.” Kianna turned and walked to Alex. Putting her arms around his waist, she rested her head against his chest and said, “I want you to sit down and let me finish.”
Alex gave her a quick kiss and a pained look and sat down again.
Duncan still stood, arms crossed angrily over his chest, staring at her with utter astonishment.
“Duncan, please just listen for a few more minutes,” she begged.
She heard him sigh as he, too, sat down on the bench again.
“Okay, Ray needs to think that you three are finished with me and that you are leaving me unprotected on the ranch.” Before any of them could say anything, she put her hand up to stop them. “He doesn’t know you’re shape-shifters, so as long as we can get you or some of the security team into the ranch house without Ray seeing them, everything will work out. Ray will make his move fairly quickly because he won’t want to take the chance of the three of you changing your minds, but we need to make your break with me in front of Ray and his cronies so they are sure that you’re through with me. The best place for that to happen is at the diner. Ray frequents there often with his business associates I hear, so if we go there and you all publicly break up with me, then he’ll come for me.”
She waited for all three of them to jump up and start telling her that it was a crazy idea and that there was no way they were going to let her put herself in danger, but nothing happened. They just sat there and stared at her as if she’d grown another head.
“Go on, Kia, finish with your idea,” Duncan said, smiling at her.
“I figured the pack has to have some pretty good security to be able to keep your secret for so long, so we’re going to have to use some of them as well. We’ll need to set up video/audio surveillance in the ranch house so that we can have a record of everythi
ng. We just have to make everyone aware of the positions of the cameras so none of you are caught shifting on tape. Tony, Duke, and the guys will help me while you take Ray and his cronies down. Just remember that we want them alive so that he can spend the rest of his life in prison.”
* * * *
Teaghen leaned back against the bench and smiled at his mate. The fates had chosen well for them. She was not only beautiful and passionate, but strong and extremely intelligent, too. Her plan was a good one. They would need to work out a few details with the security team, but the best way to get to Ray was to use her as bait. And whether his brothers liked it or not, they would have to agree that her plan had merit.
“So brothers, what do you think of our mate’s idea?” he asked.
Duncan was the first to speak. “I think it’s dangerous and risky, and I don’t like the fact that our mate is put in so much danger.”
“Duncan, I can take care of myself, and with Tony and Duke close by, I’ll be well protected,” she said as she walked to him and sat on his lap, wrapping her arm behind his neck.
“You’ll still be in danger, kitten,” Alex said as he lifted her legs to lie across his lap.
“Yes, I will be in some danger, but I’ll never be safe, and neither will any of you if we don’t put him away.”
Teaghen got up and came around to stand in front of them. Taking her hand, he pulled her up off of his brother’s lap and into his arms.
“We’ll go along with your plan as long as you allow us to be in charge of your protection. We are your mates, and without you, we are soulless. You are our hearts, and to lose you would kill us.” He brought his mouth down hard on hers before she had a chance to respond.
The clearing of someone’s voice broke their kiss, and he turned to see Tony and Duke standing there.
“Oh, this had better be good boys, or I see long patrols in your future.” Alex smiled as he walked past them, patting them on the shoulder.
Bailey, Debbie - Kianna and Her Three Alpha Wolves [Featherstone Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 15