by Jane Jamison
She was back behind the wheel when movement to her left caught her eye. She pivoted, expecting to find yet another resident staring at her. And she was right. But it was different this time. This time she couldn’t help but stare back.
Two very handsome, super sexy men watched her. They were tall, even taller than Dirk’s six feet. Although dressed in casual clothes of jeans, boots, and long-sleeved shirts, they projected an air of control and power. Their physiques couldn’t be hidden by their clothes. Their broad shoulders made her itch to run her palms along their wide shoulders and down the front of their shirts to feel what had to be six-pack abs. The cowboy hats they wore couldn’t shade the sparkle of their eyes as they leaned against an older red pickup. They were, as people said, easy in their own skins.
But that wasn’t the most unusual part. They stared at her like the rest of the town had, but their stares held another element to them.
It’s like I already know them and they know me.
The idea was ridiculous, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake that impression. She gripped the steering wheel tighter.
Oh, shit. They’re headed this way.
Her emotions collided. Part of her wanted to meet them, to throw her body at them and scream for them to take her. Another part of her, however, the part that had made her wary at the diner, went into overdrive and shouted for her to leave before they reached the car. She stalled, unable to act either way.
“Mom, are we going or not? Mom?”
She blinked and forced herself to look at her son. “What?”
“Let’s go.”
His words tore her out of the fog she’d gone into. She turned on the ignition, threw the car into reverse, then slammed the pedal to the floor. The car’s rear wheels spit up dirt and gravel behind them.
“Whoa! Way to lay down some tracks, Mom.”
Her gaze jerked to the rearview mirror. The two cowboys stood in the middle of the street, still watching her as her car sped down the road.
Her stomach clenched, and she couldn’t push away the thought that kept running through her head. Had she just made the biggest mistake of her life?
* * * *
“Who the hell was that?” Joe Colter felt like he could breathe again. When he’d seen the beautiful dark-haired woman get into the car with the boy, he would’ve sworn he’d gotten struck by lightning. The world had seemed to light up, and his entire being had focused on her.
“I don’t know, but I want to find out.” His brother, Casey, ran a hand through his long, dark-blond hair. “Nothing and nobody has ever hit me like that. It’s like when she looked at me, she somehow reached into my chest and yanked out my heart. In a good way, you know? It doesn’t make sense, but there it is.”
“Makes sense to me.”
They’d come into town to pick up supplies for their home on Full Moon Ranch. It was located several miles out of town, farther out than most of the ranches that surrounded Forever, but they liked it that way. It gave them a sense of serenity and peace that they relished. Yet even living the life they loved, wrangling horses and running cattle, they’d known a hole still existed. A hole that could only be filled once they found their mate.
They stood in the middle of the street staring after her although they could no longer see her car. Although fall was heading fast into Texas, the sun still beat down on them, warming their backs.
“Well, what for pity’s sake is wrong with you two? Or do I already know? Did you see her?”
Why was he still looking anyway? Did he expect her to turn around and come back? Although it was a foolish thought, the way the gorgeous woman had stared at him gave Joe hope that the fantasy would actually happen. He forced his gaze away from the road.
“Hey, Miss Clara. How are you doing?”
She dismissed his question with a sour look. “Cut the chatter, boy, and answer the question.”
“What question was that?”
Casey answered for Miss Clara. “She asked if we saw her.”
“Oh. Yeah, Miss Clara, we did.” Joe let out a breath only now feeling like he could breathe in a steady rhythm again. “We sure did.”
“So?” She arched a graying eyebrow at them.
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Miss Clara.” He did, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
“Oh, horse hockey.” Miss Clara jerked her thumb in the direction the woman had gone. “Tell me you saw her and felt nothing.”
He didn’t like lying, but lying to Miss Clara was even worse. She was a pillar in the small community, a woman to be reckoned with, and not even the biggest, baddest werewolf among them wanted to tangle with her.
“I saw her all right.” Casey answered before he could. He had a habit of doing that. “And I felt it, too.”
Then I didn’t imagine it.
Joe wanted to agree, but couldn’t. Not yet. He swallowed back the truth and hated himself for what he was about to do. “I don’t know, Miss Clara. We only saw her for a few seconds. It’s not like we got within ten feet of her, much less touched her.”
Werewolves could sense their mate when they saw her. If they’d gotten to touch her, they would’ve known for sure. Or at least, that’s what everyone said. He’d never felt that way before. It had to be her.
“Joe Colter, you’re lying through your teeth.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “But if that’s the story you want to tell yourself, then go ahead. Ain’t no skin off my nose.”
“Miss Clara…” Joe didn’t finish. No way could he compound one lie with another.
“Don’t you Miss Clara me.” She fixed her gaze on him. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if you two want to let your mate skedaddle out of here or not. All I’m wondering is if you even noticed the boy with her.”
“Now that you mentioned it, I did.” Joe got ready for whatever she’d say. Miss Clara liked to hold out information for the dramatic effect. “What’s the story there?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
Aw, hell. So she does want to play that game.
“Something tells me you do.” Joe sauntered over to the older woman and slung his arm around her bony shoulders. “Come on, sugar, you can tell us.”
Casey almost cracked a smile, but Joe was glad he managed to restrain himself. Miss Clara acted like she was the toughest bird in the world, but down deep, he knew she was as soft-hearted as they came. She preened when he called her sugar, then shrugged his arm off.
“Don’t go trying sweet-talk with me, boy.” Yet she let the hint of a smile form. “Her name’s Bonnie Remington. Thing is, she might be your mate, but that’s for you to determine. Whoever she is, she’s already mated once. That boy of hers is part werewolf.”
Casey groaned and Joe knew what he was thinking. They didn’t mind that their mate had lain with another man in the past. After all, it was rare to find a virgin mate. But for a werewolf to have lain with her? That was different thing altogether. A werewolf could fool around, have sex with others, but to impregnate a human female that wasn’t his intended mate? That was frowned on big time. Of course, that wasn’t any reflection on the woman, especially if she hadn’t known what the man was.
Was she still with the werewolf? Were they married either legally or as mates? Even if she was their intended mate, they couldn’t and wouldn’t break up a union. Especially not a union that had brought a boy into the world.
“A teenage son. That complicates things.” He’d never even thought about having a mate that came in a package deal with a child. But a child that was part werewolf? That was even harder to contemplate.
“A teenage son with an attitude from what I gathered while they were in the market. I saw it in his eyes. That boy’s angry and ready to bust out of his skin. And not in a good way.”
Great. Just great.
Miss Clara’s smile showed her canine teeth. “I don’t know if there’s a male in her life now. Seems to me that she’s on her own and I
didn’t smell any man scent on her. She wasn’t wearing a ring, either.”
Not much got past Miss Clara. She was old—no one was sure just how old—but her senses were as sharp as her fangs.
“That doesn’t mean anything. Lots of women don’t wear wedding rings. And that doesn’t mean she can’t already have taken a mate.”
“True enough, Joe. I guess you’ll have to figure that out on your own.” She laughed and shuffled back toward the market. “You boys have got a hard road ahead of you.”
Casey and he ambled back toward the pickup, each lost in their own thoughts. Joe leaned on the hood. “Are you up for this, bro?”
“I guess we’ll have to be.” Casey dug the toe of his boot into the dirt.
“It figures. I spent two years scouring the country trying to find our mate, and she shows up back in our hometown with a teenage kid in hand.” Joe had come back after that long and fruitless search, ready to adjust to a life without a mate. Now she’d shown up on her own.
“I guess Fate has a sense of humor.”
“It sure as hell does.” Joe pushed away from the truck and headed toward the market. “Let’s get our groceries and get back to the ranch. We’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”
* * * *
“Damn it, Harry, will you shut up and listen to reason?” Bonnie closed her eyes, trying to calm her frayed nerves. She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but after fighting for hours, she was just plain fed up. Harry was on a tangent, arguing with her about everything from getting his phone back to the amount of cheese she’d put on their pizza. Then, once the pizza was ready, he’d claimed he wasn’t hungry.
“No. I want to go back to Dallas.” He collapsed on the couch and crossed his arms. Defiance oozed off him. “This place sucks.”
“Give it a little time. You know why we came here.”
He tossed one of the pillows in her direction. At least he hadn’t had the nerve or the disrespect to throw it directly at her. “That’s part of what’s so fucked up. There were werewolves in that diner. I—” He cut off his sentence and dropped his gaze.
“You what, Harry?” She edged closer but kept her hands to herself. As much as she wanted to hug him, she knew he wouldn’t welcome it. “Come on. Help me out. You what?”
He glared at her, meaning to hurt her with his anger, but it was the pain in his eyes that stabbed her to the core.
“I could smell them.”
She’d known Harry’s senses had grown more sensitive, but she hadn’t known that he could smell another werewolf.
“I know. I picked up on that, too.”
“Then why didn’t we do what we came here to do?” He snorted, reminding her of the way Dirk snorted his derision.
“Harry, I can’t just walk up to some strange man and ask him if he’ll help you. I mean, a man who’s a werewolf.”
“Why not? Isn’t that what you’re going to have to do?” He hauled his body off the couch then whirled to confront her. “This whole thing is stupid. Dirk was helping me. If you hadn’t pushed him away, I could’ve learned more from him. Now I’m stuck out here with no phone and no friends.”
She hated to see him clench his hands. That was the first sign that his inner werewolf was clawing to get out. So far she’d managed to stay away from him when he changed, but where would she go if he shifted tonight? If nothing else, Dirk had served as a buffer between them.
The worst part of it was that Harry was right. She had no other choice but to ask a stranger for help. But that didn’t mean she had to choose that stranger before she’d checked him out.
“Harry, calm down and eat your dinner. Tomorrow is a new day.”
“No!”
She cringed as amber flecks flared into his eyes. “Harry, please, take it easy.”
“You ruined my life, damn it.” He snatched his jacket off the end of the couch, then threw it away. “I hate you!”
“Honey, wait.”
He was out the door, slamming it hard enough to bang against the outside of the RV, before she could say anything more. She hurried, hoping to follow him, but he’d already faded into the night.
Milly’s words came back to haunt her. “Be careful about going out after dark. I wouldn’t want any wild animals to get you.”
Alarm closed her throat, making her words come out as a strangled plea. “Harry! Harry, come back.”
She rushed to grab the keys to the RV, closed the door behind her, and locked it. If she didn’t hurry, she’d never find him. And if he shifted? She didn’t want to think about what might happen then.
Bonnie dashed over the pasture, running more from the fear of what might happen to Harry than by her sight. The moon was a sliver in the sky, but she’d learned long ago that werewolves changing only during the full moon was one of the many myths surrounding them. Dirk had shifted whenever he’d wanted to and he’d taught Harry to do the same thing.
She ran on, sometimes stumbling in her haste to catch him.
“Harry, where are you?” She paused and panted, trying to ignore the stitch in her side. How long had she searched for him? She wasn’t sure, but however long it was, was long enough. He must’ve shifted to get that far ahead of her.
“Harry, please, answer me.” But he couldn’t and wouldn’t answer as a wolf. From the times she’d seen him in his wolf form, she knew he could recognize her, but she wasn’t sure that his anger wouldn’t make him strike out at her.
She listened, hoping to hear any sign that he was near. “Aw, Harry, please don’t do this.” Her words came out a whisper. Her throat was already sore from calling for him.
She dragged in a deep breath and looked around her. If nothing else, she had to make sure she didn’t get lost. That wouldn’t help either one of them. She trudged on, struggling as her feet tripped over small stones and dips in the ground.
When she heard the growl, she almost wept with joy.
She broke through a group of bushes. The leafless branches pulled at her clothes and hair. “Harry, come back to the RV and let’s talk.”
Then, all of sudden, she was through the bushes. She half fell, half ran into a small clearing and landed on her knees. “Oh, no.”
Chapter Three
Casey loved running at night more than anything else. That is, until he’d laid his eyes on Bonnie Remington. He had a feeling that he’d love her more than the moon and the stars put together.
What he hadn’t counted on was running into her son. Or at least he was almost sure it was her son. He’d burst through the brushes, his head down and his ears back, and had run straight into the smaller wolf. Growling, he’d flung his body away from the snarling youngster, going into a roll until he could get his feet back under him.
The young wolf had skidded to a stop, sliding his butt along the ground. He’d gotten back on all fours fast enough, but not before he’d yelped in pain.
Scraping his ass on the dirt and stones had to have hurt.
Casey wasn’t much of a fighter. He could hold his own and more when he had to, but he’d rather talk his way out of a situation. He paused, ready to fight when it seemed the young wolf wanted to flex his muscles.
He’d just started to shift back to human form to tell the kid it wasn’t worth a fight when Bonnie had burst through the brush. He could feel the surprise, and even more so, he could smell the fear radiating off her beautiful body.
Casey didn’t think she could be much older than his own twenty-five years. He frowned, the emotion feeling strange on his wolf face, and knew he had to be wrong. The boy looked to be around fifteen, so if she’d had the boy around the same young age, that would still make her around thirty or so. She looked damn fine for a thirty-something year old. Hell, she looked damn fine for whatever age she was.
Her long dark hair was a mess after running through the bushes, but the tangle of her hair made him wonder what she’d look like in the morning after a night of wild sex. He’d liked to do his best to make her hair look that way. She wasn
’t wearing a jacket against the chill in the air, but he was glad. Otherwise he couldn’t have seen the way her full breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing.
I’d like to make her breathe that heavy.
For the first time that night, he wished for a full moon. Even with his sensitive wolf sight, he couldn’t make out the color of her eyes. Everything was tinged with the amber color of his own eyes.
The young wolf in front of him paced to the side, getting out from between his mother and Casey. Why wasn’t the kid trying to protect his mother? Wasn’t he worried that Casey might attack her?
Casey tilted his head then narrowed his eyes at her son. He made it a point to keep his tail high and his ears forward. If the kid knew anything about other wolves, he’d interpret his body language correctly and know he didn’t want to fight.
“Harry, be careful.” She edged toward her son.
Harry growled, making her stop. Didn’t the kid recognize his own mother? Casey doubted that was the case, but with young werewolves, especially half-breeds, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Her gaze flicked to her son then back to Casey. “Are you a werewolf? Or a real wolf?”
A real wolf? Like werewolves aren’t real wolves?
He smiled, knowing the expression would curve his wolf mouth. Did she really expect him to answer? Maybe he should lick her face? Other than that, he couldn’t tell her anything until he shifted back to human. Instead, he sat down on his haunches and wagged his tail.
She reached out for Harry. “Change back, honey, and let’s get out of here.”
Casey wished he could laugh. If so, he would’ve rolled on the floor. Did she expect a teenage boy to let his mother see him naked? He glanced at Harry, knowing the kid wouldn’t do as she’d asked.
Harry dropped his head low and growled.
So much for obeying Mom’s wishes.
The kid was stuck. Either he’d have to run off or he’d have to change in front of his mother. Casey growled, sending Harry a message.
Run.
To his credit, Harry’s ears pitched forward. He got Casey’s meaning. Growling more as a bluff of power than with any real intent, Harry whirled around in a circle once, then took off.
