by Dani April
Kyle showed Arielle around the rest of the house. She seemed impressed. In spite of her nerves she was able to ask him a few questions and become genuinely interested. He thought this was a good first step. By the time the tour was over, she was a few degrees more relaxed than she had been when she entered the house.
“Tomorrow I’ll take you out onto the range and show you around. We have almost nine hundred acres out there, so there’s a lot to see. Maybe we can take a tour of the valley, too.”
“That would be great. I can see this is an exciting place to live.”
“It’s going to be more exciting now that you’re here.”
He left her off with Jason in the parlor. Jason had his injured leg propped up on the couch and nursed a lemonade that Luke had poured him. The alpha could take care of Arielle for a while that afternoon and wasn’t good for much else on the ranch since his leg still hurt him. Kyle still had the ranch to run, so he excused himself to his office for a few hours.
The last several days had been spent in preparation for Arielle’s arrival. Kyle had left the business of the ranch mostly unattended in his office. It was a headache, but he had to get back to it and find a way to get his mind wrapped around matters. It wasn’t easy. As soon as he sat down at his desk, his thoughts kept straying back to Arielle. The way her hair fell just past her shoulders and always seemed to be a little out of place. Her smile and the way her eyes lit up. Her constant bout with nerves and fear, and the way she apologized for the way she felt all the time.
Kyle daydreamed as he sat behind his desk. What would it be like to take this woman to bed? What would it be like to totally possess her body?
He rubbed his hands over his face and forced himself to forget Arielle for five minutes. He looked back to the website on his monitor on top of his desk. It was a price chart of the August cattle futures contract. The market was oversold. He had detected price patterns that told him the market was due for a big bounce in the next few weeks. Also, his knowledge of the cattle business gave him an inside advantage. He had attended a ranchers convention in Chicago in the spring, and every rancher he had spoken with indicated they were about to draw down herd size this summer. Those reports would hit the market this week. When they were coupled with the oversold condition of the market that meant there was money to be made in cattle futures. All they had to do was buy contracts, and they could make enough profit to buy the land for sale to the south of their ranch. It would be a major achievement. Each generation of their family had added acres to their land. Kyle wanted to do the same.
The problem was Jason. He wouldn’t let him invest the family money in the cattle market. He thought the electronic futures were too risky. Jason was conservative by nature. A couple of years ago when the Stockton ranch that bordered their land to the south first came on the market, Kyle had negotiated a deal to buy the land. Jason had vetoed the idea, and the deal had fallen through. Now the price had gone up and they could no longer afford to buy the land in cash. They would have to take out a large loan from the bank, and no one wanted to do that. But Kyle knew if he placed the right trades in the cattle market over the next couple of weeks, he could still raise the money and they could still buy the new land.
Jason had held firm to his principles and still refused to let Kyle invest the money. Kyle sighed and turned off his PC. He resolved to have a long talk with Jason now that he was home.
Kyle made dinner for them that night. He was the chef in the family, although the brothers mostly made their own food when they were alone. Now that Arielle was here, Kyle had told them he wanted to take over in the kitchen. Neither of his brothers had objected.
After dinner Kyle got Luke to go out to the kitchen and clean things up and put the dishes away. This gave him a chance to find Jason and have a talk with him.
Jason was in the parlor. He and Arielle were alone. Arielle paced the large room in front of the fireplace, and Jason held his broken leg propped up on the end table next to the couch. Kyle thought he had interrupted an uncomfortable moment between them as soon as he barged in. The brothers entered any room they wanted in the house without need for formality, but with a woman in the house now, things would have to change.
“Jason, we need to talk, brother,” Kyle said, and gave a polite nod to Arielle.
Arielle gave him a frown. “Excuse me. I’m going to bed,” she said and left the room.
“You’ve got lousy timing,” Jason told him. Kyle knew the mood Jason was in. He was angry.
“What happened?” Kyle asked him.
“We had a fight. It’s nothing. She’ll get over it.”
Kyle looked at the angry, pained look on Jason’s face and looked down the hall in the direction Arielle had gone. He sighed. He had too many worries.
“The news on the herd drawdowns is being released this week,” Kyle started.
“We’ve been over this before. I don’t want to talk about it again.”
Kyle approached his brother. “I can make us some money this week if you’d just trust me.”
“We don’t need it. We make enough money without your crazy schemes.”
“We need it if we’re going to buy the Stockton land.”
“We don’t need to buy the Stockton land.” Jason picked himself up off the couch. His face contorted in pain. Kyle noticed sweat on his brow. Jason limped over to the bar with his cane and poured himself a Scotch.
“We need to buy the Stockton land if we’re ever going to increase our profits.”
Jason took a draw out of his glass. Then he turned his anger on Kyle. “How in the hell many times do I have to go over this with you, Kyle. We don’t need your ideas. Just work hard and do the job you’re told to do. Your job isn’t to think on this ranch, so stop it.”
Kyle rarely let his temper get out of hand, but Jason’s stubborn ways could bring out his bad side. “Goddamn it, Jason!” he exploded at his brother. “An opportunity like this might not ever come up again. This week is the last chance we have to invest the money with the brokerage in Chicago. I can’t let this opportunity go by. I think you have to…”
Jason reached out and grabbed Kyle by the shirt collar. He let out a low growl, and his eyes glowed red as the wolf side of his heritage emerged. This was his alpha side. Kyle watched as Jason balled his fist. He prepared himself for a blow, but it never came. Jason winced in pain from his leg and let Kyle go. Then he backed away from him.
“You’ll do what I tell you. Now get the hell out of here. I’m in no mood for your bullshit tonight.”
Kyle thought about a protest. He had the words half-formed, but then he stopped himself. Jason was in pain and not himself. He let the issue drop and backed away.
Kyle left the parlor and left Jason alone. After he was gone he went out the back door of the house. The night was clear, and the half moon was bright. Kyle took off his clothes and stored them at the side of the north wing. Naked, he walked out across their land. In less than a minute he had shifted into the form of a long and lanky brown wolf.
As the wolf, Kyle spent the rest of the night in the foothills of the nearby mountains. He ran free all night and cleared his head. He wondered, now that their parents had died, if the three of them could even be considered a family anymore.
They had a beautiful woman with them now. All signs pointed to the fact that she should become their mate. But he wondered if she would want to when she learned what kind of family they had become.
Was Arielle the one who could help them?
Chapter Nine
Arielle woke up in a strange bed in a very large room that was not her own. She slept alone. Jason was not at her side. She had slept well and was still groggy with sleep as she stretched out her arms over her head and looked above her at the pattern on the high ceiling.
She got out from under the covers and slipped her feet into her sandals at the side of the bed. The first thing she did was to go to one of the two huge windows that dominated her room and look outside. S
he was used to a view of the Teton Range to the west of her house. But she was in the mountains now, and wherever she looked in every direction, tall peaks and summits commanded her sight. It took her breath away and was a nice way to start off the day.
She was happy today. Things had gone well on her first day in Shifter Valley, better than she had expected. Kyle had been so nice to her yesterday. He had made her feel at home, like she was a part of the family, which she most definitely was not. But she felt comfortable with him now. She had a chance to get to know him a little better.
She stifled a laugh when she thought about how handsome he was, and how he had run around the big mansion to try and please her. He was certainly a lot more laid-back than Jason. Luke, on the other hand, was still a mystery. He had kept his distance from her, and she still didn’t know where she stood with him.
Last night she and Jason had another fight. She hoped maybe he would try and visit her in the night. If he had it certainly would have been welcome. But then she decided it was probably best, since there were two other men in the house, that she maintain some semblance of proper manners. Of course if things worked out the way the men wanted, she would share a bed with all of them.
She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and gave a little huff. Men were impossible sometimes.
Jason had started to run a fever last night. Actually she thought he might have had one for the last several days, but it was only last night that she first confirmed it. He was flushed, and his leg was stiff, less mobile than he had been last week. She thought he might have developed an infection. She had operated on the hind leg of a wolf, not a man. Who knows what damage she might have done inside? She had insisted that she drive him to a doctor today and asked if there was one in a town closer than Wolf Creek. She fussed over him because she cared about him. She cared about him more deeply than she even wanted to allow herself to think about. But the alpha male in him didn’t care for that kind of attention from her, and the two of them had raised their voices to each other. Jason seemed to be in a bad mood all the way around, and she left him and went to bed.
She regretted that she had stormed past Kyle on her way out. He would think she was mad at him. Four people under the same roof together, even that of a mansion, would be damn tricky.
Arielle gathered the items she needed for her shower, walked down the hallway outside her room to the bathroom Kyle had showed her, made sure no one was around, and then went inside and locked the door. She took a quick shower and didn’t even take time to comb her unruly hair in the mirror afterward. In her room she changed into another pair of designer jeans and a blue tank top. She pulled her still-wet hair behind her neck in a ponytail, though her hair was barely long enough for this style. She had brought boots with her for use on the ranch and put them on before she left her bedroom.
She still hadn’t unpacked the rest of her clothes. They were piled neatly inside the suitcases that Luke had taken up to her room for her. Yesterday when she first arrived she was so nervous she didn’t even know if she would stay and so hadn’t felt like unpacking. She felt better today, downright good in fact, and knew she would stick it out here and see what developed from this strange relationship. Later when she got back to her room, she would unpack. She had brought enough with her to last for the two-week duration of her stay.
All prepared for her day, she left her room and ran down the winding staircase to the first floor. That old staircase was fun. She loved it. The sound of the fall of her boots resounded to the chandelier that overlooked the grand entryway. Arielle felt adrenaline pump through her. She was excited to begin her first day in Shifter Valley with the men. She looked forward to the possibilities.
When she got down to the front room, Jason was seated on the chair in front of her. He looked worse today than he had yesterday. It didn’t look like he had slept much. He was the strongest man she had ever known. To see him sick and weak lowered Arielle’s spirits at once.
“You win,” he told her with a pained expression.
She sat down on the arm of the chair next to him and felt his forehead with her palm. “What are you talking about?” she asked him.
“I’m talking about going in to see Dr. Dugan in Wolf Creek this morning.”
He still had a high fever. She sighed and kissed his forehead. “You made the right decision. I’ll pull the Suburban around and drive you into town.”
He shook his head. “You’re staying here. Luke’s going to drive me.”
“I’d like to go with you.”
“I need you to stay here,” he told her. “I called Dr. Dugan last night and told him what happened to me. I told him about getting hit by the car.”
“So he really knows about you?”
“Yes. He’s been the family doctor for years. He knows all about us. He thinks that now that I’ve shifted back to a man, I’ll need another operation to repair the damage to my bone.”
She wanted to hit him for his stubbornness. Instead she kissed him again. “I told you so. I had the wolf fixed up good. The wolf was getting better. But I don’t know enough about the anatomy of human bones. I’m only a vet. I should have taken you in to the doctor last week when you first shifted. This is my fault.”
“Of course it isn’t, Arielle,” he said. He put an arm around her and tried to calm her. “I knew I would probably need this operation, but I had to put it off. We had to have our week together.”
“It’s not worth you becoming a cripple over.”
“I’m not going to become a cripple, but even if I did, the week we spent together was worth it.”
She leaned her cheek against his hot forehead. “You’re burning up. You probably have an infection, too.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Are you sure you won’t let me go with you? The doctor might want to know what I did with the wolf’s leg. I could consult with him, vet to MD.” She laughed and held him tighter.
“He has X-rays for that. Anyway I want you to stay here. It’ll make me feel better knowing that I’ve got you here on our land.”
“You know I always do what you say, even though sometimes I think you’re crazy.”
“Good. If I have to have an operation I might be in the hospital for as long as a week. I want you to keep an eye on things around here while I’m gone.”
She laughed. “Darling, I don’t know anything about this place. I couldn’t keep an eye on anything. I just got here.”
“I know, but if you see something that I wouldn’t like, don’t let it happen. Okay?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m the one who has to trust you this time.”
“Neither of us seem to do very good with trust.”
“Yeah, it’s something we both have to work on.”
She bent over him and gave him a kiss on the lips.
Luke came into the room and handed Jason his cane. He gave Arielle a stiff and way-too-formal nod of acknowledgement.
“Good morning, Luke,” she greeted him.
“You ready to go?” Luke asked Jason.
Jason gave Arielle a pat on her butt. That was his favorite place to touch her. “I’m ready now,” he told Luke.
Both Luke and Arielle went to him, one on each side, and tried to help him up from his chair. He shrugged them both off angrily. He was not a man who liked to be helped.
“Leave me alone,” he told them. “I can make it myself. What time is the doctor’s appointment, Luke?”
“Nine thirty.”
“We have to go, then.”
The three of them walked out to the veranda in front. Jason grimaced in pain as he slowly took the steps down. Arielle stayed at his side, but did not try to offer any more help. Luke ran ahead and opened the door of his truck. Kyle joined them out front. It looked to Arielle like he’d had a rough night. His hair was disheveled, and he hadn’t shaved.
“How are you this morning, Arielle?” Kyle asked her.
“Just fi
ne,” she told him. She was so concerned about Jason she hardly knew Kyle was there. She let Jason put his arm around her, and she helped him to get up to the passenger’s seat of the truck. He finally relented and let her give him this much assistance. Luke was already behind the wheel and had the engine started.
“I’ll give you a call as soon as I know anything,” Jason told her.
“I guess you won’t change your mind and let me come with you?”
Jason smiled down at her. “You know I never change my mind, baby. Stay here and mind the store for me when I’m gone.” He cast a look over at Kyle. Arielle could sense a moment of tension between the two brothers. “Make sure everyone behaves themselves around here while I’m gone,” he said to Arielle.
“I will. Don’t worry,” she told him to make him feel better.
She closed the door and backed up with Kyle. Luke got the truck in drive and it coasted down the circle drive to the gravel utility road that gave them access to the outside world from their ranch.
Arielle watched the truck as it kicked up gravel and dust and headed into the mountains. Soon it was around the first bend of a great hill that climbed up the eastern face of their land and it was lost from sight.
Arielle turned her attention to Kyle. The tall man loomed over her directly at her side. She had been so concerned with Jason, and now that he was gone, this was the first chance she had to realize that she was alone with Kyle. It was just the two of them left on the ranch together. Kyle gave her a half smile. Suddenly Arielle didn’t know what to say to him. She realized how very little she knew about this tall shape-shifter-cowboy.
“I hope Jason will be all right,” she said after a moment of strained silence. She felt like a fool because she didn’t know what to say to him.