by Marilu Mann
“So that’s the way of it, Gareth? Good. Protect them.” Micah reached out for Olivia’s hand. The simple joining twisted Gareth up more than normal. Even when the world was crazy they had each other.
He excused himself. He needed air. After he slipped out of the jeans he’d just pulled on he slung them over the railing. Then he let himself flow back into his preferred shape. The ghost-white wolf leaped off the porch to melt into the forest. If another pair of eyes watched, he never felt them.
Stepping back farther into the trees, Tom cradled his rifle. He knew better than to shoot at the shifter even if he did hate them all. All of them who thought they were better than him just because they could get furry and he couldn’t. He’d show them though. Take his wife and his daughter back. His family didn’t belong here. They belonged with him. It was time to get that across to that bitch he’d married. He turned back toward the road where he’d left his SUV.
He slipped the rifle onto the backseat. One thing he did miss was the old truck he used to have with its gun rack across the back window. It had made him feel equal to the furries who had rejected him. He’d shot one of his own birth Pack members on his way out. Yeah. That had been a good day. Bitch had deserved it for refusing him.
The radio played some god-awful country but it was the only station he could get out here besides the res station. Be damned if he would listen to that crap. He’d had enough Pack brainwashing when he was young. Didn’t need it now. He didn’t need any of the Pack now. They’d thrown him out.
Not this Pack. No, his own people had shoved him out when they found out he was Moon-Denied. Of course they’d blamed it on him. Said he couldn’t control his anger. He laughed. It was a mean, brittle sound that made the air seem warm in comparison. They’d all kicked up such a fucking fuss when he’d beaten the shit out of that human in town. Said it wasn’t right to flaunt his superior strength even if he couldn’t turn hairy and run with them. Bunch of pussies.
He spit out the window, thinking how he’d left, hadn’t he? Let them think they’d driven him off. Tom laughed because he’d just moved on to greener pastures. Well, snowy ones anyway. Always fucking hated snow, he thought as he watched the trees flashing by on his way into town.
He’d get Harmony and the kid then take them somewhere it never snowed. Maybe Mexico. He’d heard there was a colony of Denieds there. Not that he needed them either. He didn’t need anyone telling him what he could and couldn’t do. Fuckers all of them.
Tom didn’t bother wiping away the spittle that flew back from the wind when he spit this time. It dried on his face as he turned his mind inward to feed his rage. It was the only thing that kept him going. The only fuel he needed as he hunted his own dear wife down. He’d show her who was boss.
Harmony leaned into the passenger side to reseat one of the bags. She’d found some great sweaters along with warm slacks for her and Rain at the thrift store. Plus she’d scored a great retro hat that Rain would adore. Her daughter had the face to carry off hats where her mother’s rounder face didn’t. She grinned then slammed the door shut. As she did a large, dark SUV sped by. Her nose caught a scent that made her want to throw up.
“Tom.” The name tore at her throat as if something was trying to claw its way out. She put her hand to her mouth as she sagged against the frame of the car. Her hand trembled so violently she had to grab it with her other hand. Then she turned back to the street. She had to get to the driver’s side so she could…Rain! The feeling hit her so hard she doubled over. The SUV had been going toward the school.
She clutched at the door handle, pulling herself upright. As she tried to regain her equilibrium she caught the Alpha’s scent. Her entire body reacted. Her Alpha. Her Pack. The sight of him hurrying toward her sent relief shimmering through her body.
“Hey there, Harmony.” Micah’s velvety voice seemed to wrap her up in a warm robe. She breathed him in, wishing it were a pine scent but grateful nonetheless for his presence. “What is wrong? Who has hurt you?”
“No. No. No one. I just…” She gave a shaky laugh. “I just thought I saw someone I knew.”
Micah wrapped her up in his arms. She felt him shake his head over hers. “No, nishime, you promised not to lie to your Packmates.”
When she trembled again, he gave her a very slight shake that felt more comforting than frightening. “Harmony, you know I will not hurt you. I cannot. You are my Pack now. Did you think you saw him? Your ex?”
She twisted in his embrace to face him. He moved back a bit but didn’t let go of her. She found herself glad. When she caught Olivia’s scent she was just as glad when Olivia joined her husband to circle her. “We have you, Harmony. Tell us.”
It was Olivia’s soft statement that broke her. “I thought I smelled Tom. I can scent us, you know. Aunt Willow swears I’m not truly Denied because I’ve got such a good nose.”
Her voice trailed off. Her aunt’s own aroma had been wrong somehow. She’d known her Alpha and Olivia by scent alone. Then she tucked that away. Now wasn’t the time for olfactory exploration. As her breathing returned to normal she willed her pulse to move from the runaway-horse speed to a more sedate marathon-runner’s throbbing beat.
“I’m sorry. Thank you. I guess it just startled me. I mean it couldn’t have been him. I just made a mistake.”
“Harmony, are you sure?” Olivia squeezed her tight as Micah stepped back. “We are here for you. We will protect you. Ga—”
“Gather up what you need,” Micah cut his wife off smoothly. “We will follow you back to your place.”
“I have to go pick up Rain. Rain. “Her hands covered her mouth for a moment but she steeled herself into removing them. “I guess I was worried it was Tom and that he was going to hurt Rain.”
Olivia murmured soothing words as she stroked Harmony’s hair. “It’s okay, Sister. I know that fear. I’d kill before I let anyone hurt either of my children.”
Micah lightened their moods considerably when he gave a credible scoff asking, “Hey, what about me?”
Olivia shot him a look as she hugged Harmony. “You? I’d wait until you shifted then shoot you and use your pelt for a rug.”
At Micah’s short laugh she had to smile. She let them take her into the coffee shop for a hot cup along with a pastry. When she left them she felt as if it had all been a bad dream—nothing more. Rain waited for her at the school’s gate, texting on her phone. When she saw her mother she waved goodbye to the kids she’d been standing with. Harmony saw Keme, who gave a respectful nod. He moved off with the boy and girl, who also smiled at Rain.
“So tell me about school.” Rain filled the silence with tales of the teacher she already knew hated her but also gave detailed insight into the kids she’d been hanging with. She heard the telltale signs that her daughter was already making friends. Rain had always adapted well.
She toyed with the idea of telling Rain that she thought her father might be in the area but decided against it. That stress wasn’t something she needed to add to her daughter’s life right now. Let her get adjusted to the school. As they pulled into the driveway for the cabin, she cursed.
“Damn!” She blurted the word out when she remembered she’d wanted to call Gareth again about the furnace. It seemed to work when it wanted to and not really when they needed it most. Rain cocked her head at her mother. She looked so wolfish in that moment that Harmony had to laugh.
“Sorry. I just realized that I didn’t get everything done. I need to go back into town to call Gareth about the furnace.” She stopped the car. “Want to come with me?”
She prayed Rain would say yes, but in the way of teens she did exactly the opposite. Ensuring that Rain was safe in the cabin with something to eat, she headed back into town. The cell service was just as spotty as the furnace heat, so she’d head closer to town for a stronger signal.
She didn’t bother telling her daughter to be wary of strangers. She had raised a street-smart child who would react poorly if she wen
t the overprotective route. Plus she would know something was up. She wasn’t ready to have that conversation.
The trip into town was cut short when Gareth emerged from the woods ten minutes into her drive. She pulled over to flag him down. The sight of him made her belly clench. There was something about him that resonated in her. She didn’t know if it was his blond hair or the wide shoulders or the kindness on his face. She saw him and wanted him. God help her but she wanted him.
“Hey, Gareth. I was just going into town to call you. I think the furnace needs checking. It was freezing this morning even though I had it set on seventy last night.” She smiled at him.
He leaned into her window, setting her pulse racing. All she could think of was that kiss they’d shared at Micah’s. She resisted the impulse to press her mouth to his again but imagined what those lips would feel like. He smiled at her.
“Tell you what. Give me a lift back to my place. I’ll grab my toolbox and follow you home.”
She couldn’t help herself. “I think I’d like that. Can I keep you if you do?”
Gareth very nearly stuttered. This gorgeous woman had just flirted with him and his first reaction wasn’t to flee the scene. Instead he tossed her a grin as he slid into the car. “I guess I’ll have to see what you have in the pantry. Your Aunt Willow says you’re a great cook.”
He watched the pulse beat in her throat then followed that down her arm to where her fingers stroked the wheel. She turned to look at him. He wanted her to tell him to kiss her…again. In the way of all Pack shifters he would wait for the female to show her interest before acting on it. He still felt bad about taking advantage of her need for comfort. What kind of a jerk turned that into a passionate embrace?
Not that he wanted to wait. No, he wanted much more. He wanted to take her in his arms to kiss her until neither of them could breathe. He wanted desperately to cup her breasts. His cock throbbed in a primal yes to his thoughts. He clamped down on the those and his libido. This was not the time for that.
Then he caught her scent. Her feminine musk rising up as he looked at her. The smell was his undoing. The heat of it mixed with her honeysuckle scent made him lose control. He did what he had told himself he couldn’t. He leaned over. When he realized she was leaning toward him he slid his hands to her shoulders to pull her into him. Her mouth opened under his.
A moan from her as his tongue touched the softness of hers nearly undid him. He palmed her breasts then slid both hands underneath the sweater. The silky feel of her skin against his rougher hands made him murmur her name. Pressing his lips to her neck, he pushed the fabric up and out of the way. His lips captured her nipple through the thin material of her bra, making her bow up into him. He laved first one nipple then the other, alternating with his thumb and forefinger. Gently twisting one while he sucked the other had her fists in his hair.
He slid his free hand down to her waistband but stopped when he felt her hand close over his. When she unbuttoned her own pants he smiled against her breast. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Then her hands moved to his jeans right over his stiff cock. It was at that point he stopped thinking.
When her hand stroked warm and firm on him he was sure his eyes rolled back in his head. Her thumb rubbed the head of his shaft through his jeans with firm strokes as if she knew exactly what he liked. He responded by using his thumb on her clit while his fingers stroked the soft velvet of her pussy. He felt her shudder with an orgasm that seemed to surprise her but delighted him.
As he cursed mentally at the space confinements, he tried to figure out how to lay her out so he could fill her with his cock. He needed to feel the wet heat of her squeezing his cock, milking his cum. The sound of an engine turned that all to frustration. They jerked apart and upright as if they were teenagers getting busted by the local police. As a car went past they struggled to get their clothes back in place with equally shaking hands.
“Well, that was…” Harmony looked at him with eyes that made him think of home fires. But there was something else there. Was that hesitation?
“Harmony, I’m sorry.” He laid a hand on her then pulled it back.
She reached for his hand to put it back on her leg. “I’m not. I’m just sorry that we didn’t finish what we started. But we aren’t teenagers and even if we were this certainly isn’t a secluded area.”
They both laughed as another car went by. He nodded. “Take me to my place. I’ll get my tools. Um…maybe you’d like to go to dinner later?”
He couldn’t have surprised himself more with the dinner invitation. He hadn’t asked a female out in…well, he couldn’t even think of how long it had been. She swallowed hard then nodded.
“I’d like that.”
Harmony started the engine. The five-minute trip to his place felt as though it took a lifetime. He laid a hand on his cock, pressing down hard. Unfortunately his one-eyed friend wasn’t playing along. The pulse of his own blood shuddered against his hand. He felt as if he were an adolescent unable to control himself. As he gave serious consideration to begging her to pull over again he had to point out his drive.
“It’s easy to miss. I like it that way.” The look she tossed him made him revisit cavemen and hair pulling. Or throwing her over his shoulder. Or just dragging them both out to the ground. The sight of a car with Oregon plates parked in front of his house did what nothing else had done.
His erection shriveled as his blood ran cold. He didn’t want Harmony anywhere near that car if it contained who he thought it might. He had to get her to safety. Now.
Gareth gave her a quick, hard kiss before getting out of her car. “Harmony. I want to finish what we started. I mean that. I’m going to be over as soon as I deal with this.”
He jerked a thumb at the uninvited visitor in the other car but didn’t give any other hint of what he meant. The shimmer of hurt in her eyes clawed into his belly, leaving him feeling as though he’d just suffered a gut wound. She just nodded then laid one arm out as she looked over her shoulder to back out. He cursed as he approached the dull-green sedan.
“The fuck. The fuck!” He snarled as he glared into the driver’s side. “What the fuck are you doing here, Rion?”
His own face stared back at him. Only this image lacked the jagged rake of scars down one cheek and a patch over the sightless right eye. This face had both eyes to look back at him. And that face looked shocked, pained, maybe even guilty. It was too late for that. Too late for anything where his brother was concerned.
“Gareth, Brother, we need to talk.” Rion put a hand on the door handle but Gareth grabbed him by the throat.
“Stupid to leave your window down. You’re not my brother anymore.” He barely held his temper in check but wondered if he might just erupt into wolf. The anger sizzled in him. Eight years of rage bubbled up. “I’m not interested in why you’re here. Just get off my land and out of my life.”
His brother didn’t rub at his throat when released but Gareth knew from the red marks, he felt it. Rion coughed once then spoke. “I’m here as a messenger. You’re needed at home. Our mother…” his voice broke. Gareth willed himself not to show any emotion.
“Our mother is sick. She’s asking for you. You need to come home, Gareth. Uncle Jan is Alpha in our birth Pack now. He wants you to come home too.”
Fuck that. Fuck that noise. He didn’t even dignify the message with a verbal response. Gareth shot out his middle finger in a sign even the dumbest wolf would get then strode into his house. He’d cut himself off from his family since the Challenge fight with Rion. Their mother had given Rion shelter after the fight, ignoring the fact that Gareth was the more seriously injured of the two. She’d as much as told him not to come home.
The memory of her words coming from the sick bastard who’d served as Alpha made him growl. Grabbing his toolbox, he slammed it into his brother’s ride one time. Hoped it was a rental too even though he knew it likely wasn’t. His brother’s curse soothed him a bit.
&nbs
p; “Get off my land, motherfucker. I’ll see you in hell before I’ll go anywhere with you.”
Not listening to anything else that came out of his twin’s mouth, though Rion continued to call out to him, Gareth shoved into his truck. He angled it toward the sedan intentionally. He saw the twist of Rion’s snarl, which burned him more than any slur might have. He floored it. But his brother had already started his car. Gravel shot back up to ping off the porch as Rion hotfooted it off his land.
Gareth’s hands shook as he drove. He resisted chasing his twin down. The message had been all he’d been here for.
“Message delivered, now leave me alone.” Gareth spat the words out as if Rion were there to hear them.
Replaying it in his head, he realized his brother had said Jan not Lee. Lee had been Alpha when he and Rion had left their birth pack, the Wallowa Mountain Pack in Oregon, two stupid young wolves out for adventure. They’d traveled all over the West Coast and through the South, crossing down into Mexico before eventually settling in New Orleans.
It had been in the New Orleans Pack where he had lost his eye. Lost his eye to his own brother thanks to the machinations of a shifter bitch and a crazy Alpha. Interesting to learn that Rion had gone back to their birth pack. He pushed that aside. He didn’t give a fuck why his brother had left the New Orleans Pack permanently. Or when.
It took a long while for him to calm down enough to make the turn to the Fox cabin where Harmony was. He forced himself to take long, slow breaths. Breathing wasn’t what he needed. He needed a long run. Or, he admitted to himself, a long run and sex. Yeah, who was he kidding? Sex would take care of it.
“Mother. Fucker.” He slammed the door of his truck harder than necessary then stood perfectly still, breathing hard. He had to get this anger under control before he went anywhere near Harmony or Rain. No way was he going to bring up any bad memories for either of them. No fucking way. It was bad enough that he’d think of his sister every time he talked to them now, but there wasn’t any need for them to have to deal with his feelings toward his brother too.