The Cowboy Who Strolled Into Town

by Riley Moreno

  What surprised him most was her response to him. He had expected her to fight, to scream, to try and bite him. But she did none of those things. Instead, she melted in Adrian’s arms, still wrapped around her but now in an embrace. He knew he should stop, he knew it wasn’t fair. But despite himself, he deepened the kiss, his entire body tensing painfully at the breathy moan that escaped her. He drank it in. He drank her in. Her sweetness, her innocence. It was that that finally had him pulling back.

  He groaned at the sight of her. Her pale cheeks flushed, her lips kiss swollen, and the way she was standing there, leaning back against Adrian’s body, so much bigger than her own. The sight of her being held by the other man sent a bolt of lightning shooting through him. They had shared women before, they always had. It was a bond they had between them.

  The woman slowly blinked open heavy eyelids, staring at him with the brightest blue eyes, like twin diamonds shining with a heat that drew him back to her. Suddenly, she shoved at him. Her strength was surprising, but still she barely moved him. He took a step back, and then another, trying to get a hold of his body. His emotions going haywire inside him.

  She pulled away from Adrian and he let her go easily. She turned to stare at the blond haired man, and then back at him, her gaze confused, terrified, but underneath that, a fire still burned. It was the fear in her blue eye that cut him, and he took a step forward.

  “Stop,” She held a hand out toward him. “Just, stop, okay?”

  “Okay.” Gabe sighed, pausing.

  She looked around, for the first time seeing the cabin before turning back to him. “Where am I? Who are you?”

  Chapter 4

  They sat around the fire, Adrian on the rug on the floor to her right and the other one, Gabriel, on her left. Jana stared from one to other, still shocked at what they had told her, but even more so by her intense reaction. To them both.

  So it was true. She had been right. They were the ‘ghosts of the mountain’ but they were so much more. They had told her a heartbreaking story of loss and betrayal. Gabe’s brother, Alexandre, had gotten into a fight with one of the more unsavory members of Gabe’s pack. Things had gone too far, and Alex had been killed. In a rage, Gabe had attacked his brother’s killer, but at the time, he had been a favorite of their pack leader, and Gabe and the other wolf that had attacked, Adrian, had been forced to leave, to go rogue.

  There was more to the story than that, she was sure, but she didn’t ask. She couldn’t. The sad story had brought of memories of her own father’s death, her own loss. She had told them the bare minimum of what had happened when they had asked why she had been out in the mountains.

  Her stomach growled loudly, interrupting the heavy silence that had fallen between them. Something strange had happened as she had listened to them speak, they had gone from prisoner and captors to simply…friends. Maybe that was a little too strong. More like comrades. Those who had experienced something terrible and tragic, and had survived. Or was trying to, anyways, Jana added to herself.

  The hunger noise sounded again, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything in almost two days, when most wolves had to eat twice as much as normal humans to provide enough energy for the shift.

  “I’m starving.” The words popped out without her meaning them to, but the other wolves just looked at her, then at each other. Finally, Adrian cleared his throat.

  “We don’t keep food in the cabin, just incase it attracts unwanted…” He paused as Gabe shot him a deadly look under a dark slash of brows.

  “Uh, right. Anyways. We just hunt. There’s plenty of food if you know where to look.”

  Gabe cocked an eyebrow at her. “What do you say, Jana. Are you up for a hunt?”

  The way he said it had her insides trembling. With more confidence than she felt, she tilted her head to one side, her long waves sliding across her shoulders, before she grinned back at him.

  “Always.”

  They ran in the moonlight, the warm, night air surrounding them like an embrace as Jana ran just a step behind Gabe and Adrian. The shift had been intense, she could still feel both men’s stares on her body as she had shed the large t-shirt she had been wearing, that she had discovered Adrian had clothed her in. It belonged to Gabriel. His scent had invaded her mind, her dreams, and her body, and a part of her had been sad to take it off.

  But another part of her craved the simplicity of becoming the wolf. Everything always seemed more black and white, easier to understand.

  She loped after them, easily keeping pace, and she realized they were going slower for her sake. Not about to have any of that, she leapt forward with a push of her strong back legs until she was running next to them, one on each side. Jana relished the rightness of the moment. Running free under the moonlight with the two wolves surrounding her.

  She looked over at Gabe, a jet black wolf with dark, shining copper eyes and she swore she saw him grin back at her before playfully nipping at her foreleg. She jumped back, but Adrian was there, ready to pounce when she got to close. If she had been wearing her human skin, they would have heard the peal of laughter that sounded in her mind, but somehow, they seemed to know.

  The loped down the shallow cliff towards a hidden stream, and Jana slowed, following their lead until she saw the sudden movement. She immediately changed her path, creeping towards it. It was another mouse, a little bigger than the last one, but before she could pounce, Gabe was there, stopping her. He came close, dwarfing her with his massive body, but the way he moved around her made her feel safe, protected. As if he thought she was made of porcelain.

  Teasingly, she drew him closer, waiting patiently until he was in just the right spot, and then she pounced. She hit her mark, sending him stumbling backwards, tossing his head in delight before crouching and leaping after her. They playfully nipped at each other, and each time he got close she felt a rush like nothing she’d ever experienced. Heady, like warm honey pouring through her.

  Within moments, Adrian joined them, three big fish grasped in his wet, grinning muzzle. They feasted there, under the light of the moon, and Jana thought that she could live like that forever. For the first time since it had happened, she was able to forget for a moment the pain of losing her father, and her pack. There in the darkness, with Gabriel and Adrian, she felt almost…happy.

  It didn’t take long for them to devour the meal, and the lure of the clean, sparkling stream gurgling happily beside them became too much for Jana. Without thinking, she dove into the depths, shifting as she came up, luxuriating in the warm water. It was shallower than she expected, barely coming up to her waist. She stood, for the first time noticing the silence that had fallen around her.

  Jana looked up just in time to see Gabe and Adrian, both shifting into their human form, wading into the water. She noticed their gazes, one light and one dark, locked on her body, and it sent a wave of tingling sensation crashing through her. It was a part of their species, their culture, to be comfortable in their own skin, and with nudity, but for the first time, Jana felt a prickle of something else. Not embarrassment, just awareness.

  The keen awareness that she was completely unclothed, and so were they. Her body flashed with heat so intense she was surprised the water around her didn’t start boiling.

  Gabe reached her first, but Adrian wasn’t far behind. There hands were tentative at first, questioning, but she couldn’t find the answers. She knew she should stop them, but there was something so right, so perfect about being caught between their big, hard bodies, that she couldn’t.

  “Jana,” Adrian said her name like a prayer, “…love, if you want us to stop, tell us now. I don’t think, I don’t know how much more I could take if…”

  She looked up at Adrian, her mouth opened to speak, although she wasn’t sure what she would have said because before she could, Gabe framed her face with both of his large hands, turning her head to face him, stepping so close he could wedge one large thigh between her own. Instinct took over and
she arched her back, pushing her hips harder into his and rubbing her center against his leg, desperate for more friction, for more of him.

  “Please, Jana.” Gabe whispered the words roughly against her ear as his hands slid down her sending a wave of electrical shocks from where ever he touched straight to her center until they grasped her hips, helping her to ride higher on his leg. Adrian’s hands were there too, and it was impossible to distinguish whose hands were doing what as her eyes slid close, her lids too heavy. She groaned at the exquisite sensation.

  “Say yes.” The word was hissed roughly against her neck just before a set of lips followed, kissing and biting at the most sensitive part, right at the curve. She paused for a moment, searching inward, and was shocked at the savage glee she sensed from her wolf half.

  “Yes…” it was so quiet as it slipped out from between her lips she thought they might not have heard, but their sensitive wolf hearing picked it up, and it was like a dam broke over her. Their hands were everywhere, driving her mad, teasing and touching, but never enough, never exactly where she needed it.

  She dared another glance at her other half, her animal half, but the same feeling that was sliding over her like a spell was there as well. But it was the though that her wolf kept repeating that sent chills racing over her. Mates. My mates. Impossible. Jana pushed it away to the back of her mind and it was soon lost under the waves of sensation ensnaring her.

  With Adrian at her back, and Gabe at her front, she felt completely surrounded by them, and she reveled in it. She arched her back again and was rewarded with a groan from Gabe that sounded pulled from him. Out of patience, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers spearing into his long dark locks and pulling him close, slanting her mouth savagely across his.

  He took command instantly, drawing her closer, holding her in just the right position to angle deep, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth as she moaned. Tasting her. Taking her.

  Suddenly, he stopped, pulling away, his head cocked and the heated look on his face fading to something else, something dark and serious. Jana opened her mouth to speak, but he hushed them both.

  There was a terrible look in his dark eyes as he turned to look over her shoulder at Adrian.

  “They found us.”

  Chapter 5

  This time, they all heard the sound, like crunching footsteps. Someone was trying to be quiet, but failing. It was obvious they didn’t know the way sound travelled out in the sparse mountainous region.

  “What was that?”

  Gabe put a warm finger over her mouth to quiet her and she nipped at it. He jerked it away with a muffled yelp, eyeing her darkly, but with a banked heat that had her heart tripping over itself all over again despite the situation. Jana put her lips right at his ear.

  “What was that, Gabe?” She repeated. He just shook his head, throwing a pleading look at Adrian, who just shrugged. Gabe turned back to her, a desolate look in his dark eyes.

  “It’s Jacob. The wolf who’s been hunting us.” His words were so soft and low she could barely hear them, even with her supernatural senses. “Our pack has been hunting us ever since…ever since we killed Talbot, the wolf that murdered my brother.” He shook his head and Jana reached out to him, sensing the pain and guilt that was his constant burden.

  “Hey, it’s oka–.”

  “You have to get out of here. If they see you with us, they’ll try and kill you too.”

  “Gabriel, no!” Jana hissed fiercely.

  “Please. Go back to the cabin,” He looked deeply into her bright blue eyes, Adrian nodding along with him. “If you’re here, you will distract us. We’ll be worried about you. And if you get hurt…” He stopped again, as if he couldn’t even handle the thought. He was right, she realized. If she stayed, she would only make it harder for them.

  “But, you don’t have to stay.” She pleaded, “come back with me. We can go. We can hide. I’m going to Sun Hill, and then the next city. Come with me.” But Gabe just shook his head.

  “This fight has been coming for a long time. Where ever we run, they’ll just track us down. I wouldn’t condemn anyone to that,” He paused, staring at her with a tenderness that broke her heart. “especially you. Now go!”

  And with that, Adrian gave her a quick squeeze, carrying her out of the water with him and giving her a light shove in the direction of their cabin.

  “Go!”

  Jana was surprised at how hard it was to leave them, like she was leaving a part of herself there next to that small stream. She turned, shifting into wolf form as she leapt toward the direction of the cabin, and safety. For her at least, but not Gabriel or Adrian. She stopped, wondering if she should go back when a shooting pain exploded on the side of her head. She howled in agony as her vision doubled, then tripled. She glanced around dazedly just in time to see Dalton grinning down at her evilly.

  Oh no! They had been wrong, it wasn’t Jacob, or whoever they had thought it was chasing after them. It had been someone hunting for her. And he had found her. She let out one last, piercing howl before sliding into unconsciousness.

  Gabe looked at Adrian in confusion as the footsteps travelled away from them, rather than closer. Adrian shrugged, looking just as confused, but his head whipped around at the howl of pain that echoed from the other side of the ridge. From the direction that Jana had just fled toward the cabin.

  Jana! Without thought, Gabriel charged after hear, his heart twisting into knots at the thought of her injured. They were supposed to come after him! Him and Adrian! Not her, never her.

  They flew through the meager copse of tress faster than any eye could have followed, spurred by fear, panic, and something more, something deeper that neither quiet understood yet.

  Another cry sounded, much closer this time, and they chased after it with vicious intent. No one would hurt Jana, not and live to tell about it, anyways. They shared a grim look, their thoughts shining clearly in both dark eyes and light.

  The reached the crest of the ridge just in time to see the small, auburn colored wolf crash to the ground in an unconscious heap. A big man with rust colored hair quickly scooped her up, and a group of several other man began running after him as he sped in the other direction.

  Gabe and Adrian shared one last look, both knowing the odds of going up against a group of over ten shifters weren’t in their favor. But they had no choice but to follow. They had Jana.

  Before he shifted in wolf form, Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at the panting Adrian.

  “She’s ours, you know.” It was statement, rather than a question. Adrian just nodded.

  “I know.”

  Within seconds two wolfs were flying across the scattered landscape, night hanging deep black and silent around them.

  Chapter 6.

  Jana woke up slowly, her head pounding like a jackhammer and she opened her eyes only to slam them shut again. The morning light was like a spear, adding another layer of pain to the mass of bruises covering her body. Dalton had wasted no time getting her back to the pack. He and his thugs must have run full speed all night to get her back.

  She shifted slightly, barely stifling the moan that escaped as stiff muscles tried to work again, without much luck. With a sigh, she collapsed back down onto the thinly padded cot. Jana couldn’t remember much of the trip, but she did recall arriving just before dawn, being thrown into the trailer and locked in.

  The sound of a scrape at the door had her sitting up quickly, and immediately wishing she hadn’t when the entire room spun around. She placed her hands to her head, trying to ease the ache and looked up at the voice.

  “Here, drink this. It should help with that head of yours.” Jana went to reach out for the mug of cool liquid but stopped as they landed on familiar features. It was Gray. The wolf that had held her back the night her father had died. She pulled her hand away, shaking her head, squinting her eyes at the pain it caused.

  “No, I don’t want anything from you.”

 
; The big, older wolf made a sound of exasperation. “Look, Jana, I know you have a hard head, but even you might need something after a blow like that.” There was a look of pleading in his brown eyes as he offered her the cup again, and beneath that, guilt, strong and slick. Finally, she took it, gulping down the liquid, her throbbing head making the decision for her. She had to be able to think straight if she was going to get out of this mess alive.

  Gray started to back out of the small trailer, but stopped, turning back towards her. “I didn’t know he was going to beat you like that.” His raspy voice was unusually soft, and so, so sad, as if speaking through a memory long gone by. “I never would have…Ach, I don’t have anything against you, that’s all I wanted to say. Your father, now, that’s a different story, but that’s settled.”

  “He’s dead. Dalton murdered him, and you all stood by and cheered!” She threw the glass down, shattering it on the wood paneled floor.

  “Now, listen. Dalton didn’t murder him, it was challenge, fair and–.”

  “A challenge! Fair? Where were the elders, Gray?” The memory of that night rose in her thoughts, seared into her brain. “and what about the trap, that pit? How was that fair? If it had been a true challenge, that never would have been allowed. The elders would have slit Dalton’s throat then and there for his trickery, his deceit and cowardice, and you know it!”

  But she was talking to his back. He pushed open the door, and fled, the sound of her accusations still ringing coldly in the air.

  Some time later, the lock turned again, the door pushed open as Dalton walked in. Jana had been sitting on the cot, her legs curled up around her, but as he entered she rose, automatically putting herself in the most defensible position in the cramped trailer.

  “Good, you’re awake. Gray said you were. How’s your head?” He asked the question with so much spite and glee it was obvious that he didn’t care, and in fact, hoped that it still hurt like hell. Which it did.