Ruining the Rancher (Masterson County Book 3)

by Calle J. Brookes

  Which John Rutherford most likely wasn’t. But he had Pan.

  Levi refused to let his fear make him do something stupid. The Preston Ranch butted right up against his property, and they split the hill almost evenly between them.

  If they could get enough people to start searching, they’d eventually find her. Trap Rutherford in between them all.

  He just hoped it would be before Rutherford hurt her again.

  They kept going until they reached the top of the hill. Until he heard her cry out. Levi started running.

  Levi kept going. Nate and Perci had gone to the western edge of the woods, hoping that between them and the Preston Ranch they could box Rutherford in long enough to get Pan back. It was the only real plan they had.

  He made it to the front porch of the Preston Ranch seconds before his brother.

  Just as he heard a woman cry out from somewhere inside.

  He didn’t stop to think, Levi hopped over the steps.

  Levi grabbed the door knob and threw the door open.

  Just as Pan fell to the floor, John Rutherford on top of her.

  Levi didn’t stop to think, to even give a damn that the other man had a butcher knife in his hand. All that mattered was Pan.

  He dove at the other man and shoved Rutherford to the floor. He yelled at Viv to call the sheriff.

  And told Pan to run.

  60

  Pan wouldn’t leave him to fight a man with a knife alone. That was just not going to happen. She couldn’t leave Levi any more than she could have left anyone else that she loved.

  When she’d realized John meant to kill her and Vivian Preston, she’d been terrified. But seeing Levi wrestling with the man frightened her far more.

  She couldn’t lose him. Not like this. Not ever. She couldn’t lose someone she loved again. Especially him.

  Pan ignored the pain in her arm as she popped the stitches Nate had sewn himself. It didn’t matter.

  All that mattered was Levi. Pan forced herself to her feet and dove at Rutherford.

  They all went down.

  61

  Viv needed to run. Levi and John were tearing up the kitchen. Levi shoved the smaller man, and John slammed into the glass hutch, sending shards everywhere. Neither man stopped.

  Pan was reaching for John, a fierce look on her own face. Levi yelled at Pan to get out, to go outside where she’d be safe.

  Pan didn’t listen.

  And she was blocking Viv’s path to the door.

  Viv’s father yelled out from his room at the back of the house. He wouldn’t be able to get to them; not without help.

  He was her only regret.

  Viv grabbed her bag off the table and ran for the door.

  62

  Oh, no, she wasn’t. Pan didn’t stop to think, but there was a reason John Rutherford had dragged her here to Viv Preston’s place. And she was going to find out just exactly what it was.

  She stuck out her leg and sent the woman sprawling. Viv went down with a curse.

  Viv struct out. Her nails dug into Pan’s arm. Pan didn’t let go. She’d grown up with a ton of siblings—she knew how to fight. Anyone who’d lived with Perci Tyler knew how to hold her own in a cat fight.

  The other woman kicked out, but Pan avoided the three-inch heels. Who wore heels at seven at night on a ranch?

  “You bitch! You should have died!” Viv yelled, biting toward Pan’s arm. Pan barely avoided the woman’s teeth. Perci had liked to bite as a kid, too. And Pip would always join in with Perci, leaving Pan squabbling with two sisters at once. Until Phoebe would come to her rescue.

  “Why did you tell him to kill me?” Pan grabbed the older woman’s hair and yanked as hard as she could. Pan was strong from years of actual hard work, and it made a difference, even though the other woman was bigger, older, and not recovering from a car wreck or bullet wound.

  Viv Preston had been pampered her entire life. She didn’t stand a chance against a woman fighting for the man she loved.

  Pan pulled her to the floor.

  And sat on her.

  63

  Hunter hopped out of the truck as fast as he could when it came to a stop. He was never riding in a vehicle with Maggie Tyler again. The woman terrified him. Her smaller cousin didn’t even seem to notice that Hunter’s hand had gripped the door handle like a damned lifeline.

  No, Nikki had barely waited until he got out of the truck before she was hopping to the ground and rushing toward the house.

  “Nikki, wait!” Maggie yelled.

  Just as a tall man with dark red hair came running out of the barn. “Nikki!”

  “Hurry! John Rutherford dragged Pan into the woods behind Levi’s house!” Nikki didn’t even stop moving, just running toward the porch.

  Hunter wasn’t about to let her go into that house alone. They didn’t have a clue what they were going to find. He heard at least one man inside screaming.

  He was two steps ahead of her. He reached for her and yanked her into his arms. “No! You are not going in there!”

  “Keep the girls out here, Clark!” the tall cowboy yelled as he hopped up the stairs. In the bright porch light it was obvious he was a Tyler.

  Hunter looked down at the woman in his arms. “You stay out here. I’m going in there. Do not come inside, no matter what. Do you understand me?”

  “Just help them!”

  Hunter nudged her toward her crazier cousin and ran up behind the cowboy.

  64

  Every joint in Pan’s body hurt, but Viv Preston wasn’t going anywhere. Instead, she just twisted and fought and yelled a variety of curses that almost shocked her. Except…Pan’s brother Phoenix knew a lot more curses than this woman.

  Nothing could shock Pan at that moment.

  Levi was securing John Rutherford with curtain cords of all things. She watched him, taking in each strong, sure movement he made. The other man hadn’t hurt Levi, thank God.

  Levi had just finished tying John up like a calf when her cousin Gil and Hunter Clark came rushing in.

  “Pan!” Gil pulled her off of Viv Preston and hugged her. Viv came up swinging.

  Hunter Clark grabbed her and held her arms down. “I’m not sure what’s going on here? Why were you sitting on this woman?”

  “Because she paid John Rutherford to kill me.”

  “Shit she did!” Gil said. “Viv’s a real piece of work, but I don’t believe that, Pandora.”

  “Oh, she did. Because she wanted Levi for herself.” Pan would never understand it. Levi wasn’t a damned possession for Viv Preston to just demand or own. “John said…she offered him half a million dollars to kill me. But he missed, and hit Nikki instead.”

  Viv chose that moment to spew more filth—directly at Pan. And John.

  Gil stared at her. “That true, Viv? You the reason my little sister was almost killed?”

  “He was supposed to hit her! I needed her out of the way.” Viv practically wailed it, just as Joel and Nate and Perci and Matt burst in.

  Pan finally stopped shaking. Their family was there. It was over.

  And now every bump and bruise John Rutherford had given her was starting to make itself known.

  Perci grabbed her first, wrapping shaking arms around her. “You ok? Did he hurt you?”

  “Yes. But I’m going to be fine.” Her arm was on fire—not the one that had stitches either, though that one didn’t feel all that great. She looked down at the blood soaking her clothes. Rowland Bowles was going to have a lot to say about the condition of her costume. Good thing the movie was almost finished.

  “He had a kitchen knife and I think I got in its way.”

  Maggie and Nikki came in and joined the crowd around the Prestons’ large kitchen.

  Mr. Preston was still yelling out from somewhere. Gil looked at Pan and touched her cheek gently. “I’m glad you’re safe, kiddo. If I had known Viv was causing all this trouble I would have had her Daddy stop her. I’m going to go take care of the bo
ss. Let him know what’s happened. This is the last thing he needs right now.”

  “Thanks, Gil. I’m sorry Nikki got dragged into this with Rutherford.”

  “Hey, one Tyler, all Tylers. You know that.” Her cousin hugged her quickly, then nudged her toward her sister.

  And Nate. He was already grabbing paper towels and supplies, helping himself to whatever he needed.

  But Pan didn’t care. All she cared about was the handsome cowboy staring at her.

  The one who had ruined all of her plans.

  The man she loved.

  Pan stepped around Perci and leapt. Straight into the arms he opened just in time.

  Levi caught her. Just like she had known he would.

  Epilogue

  It took them four hours to figure everything out with the sheriff’s office. John Rutherford was giving them everything they needed, and he’d even texted Viv Preston confirming the amount he’d receive for killing Pan.

  Levi would never forget the evil that had been in that woman’s soul. She had been willing to kill to possess him. And he didn’t understand the why.

  Pan’s cousin Gil had told him quietly that he’d overheard Mr. Preston pressuring the woman to find a husband capable of running the ranch after he was gone.

  Apparently she’d decided she wanted Levi to be that man. And nothing was going to stand in her way.

  Especially someone she viewed as beneath her.

  Viv had taken the smart route and gone quiet when Joel started to question her. She’d demanded an attorney. Joel hadn’t pushed.

  But Viv wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was John Rutherford.

  He was the last threat hanging over their heads. Levi was glad it was finished.

  He had plans to make.

  He’d finally got his woman, after all. And nothing was going to ruin that.

  Nate took care of the small knife slice in Pan’s arm while Levi held her on his lap. Perci was trying to take care of him. He’d need stitches in his own lip.

  She and Nate worked ridiculously well together, barely needing a word between them, as he sewed up Pan and Perci sewed up Levi. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to do sutures, he thought.

  But Nate didn’t stop her.

  She kissed him on the cheek, and whispered in his ear. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

  Of course he had.

  Pan Tyler was his entire world.

  Pan looked up at him when his arms tightened around her. He ignored his brother and her sister for a moment. “I love you Pandora Claire. Always. If any woman gets to have me, it’s always and forever going to be you.”

  She was quiet—hell, the entire kitchen went quiet—as she stared up at him. But she didn’t pull away.

  In fact, the fingers of her free hand—Nate wasn’t finished stitching her arm yet—tightened on his shirt. “I love you, you goob. You’ve ruined every plan I’ve made. And I just don’t care anymore. All I care about is you.”

  Levi leaned down and kissed her, carefully avoiding his newly earned stitches. He didn’t care if Perci had to do it all over again.

  He wanted to kiss the woman he’d love forever.

  And he did.

  Excerpt from Calle’s PNR Series

  ONCE WOLF BITTEN

  Werewolves did not exist. It was as simple as that.

  Dr. Anna MacGregor ran faster than she ever had before. She had to escape the nightmare creatures pursuing her through the dense Colorado woods.

  Every werewolf had a destined mate somewhere…

  Werewolf Jason Taniss knew the rogue wolves wouldn’t stop until they caught the vulnerable human woman. He knew what the wolves would do to her if they got their paws on her, too. As an employee of his family’s corporation, this plain little human female was his responsibility to protect.

  Once he caught her scent, Jason understood. There wasn’t anything he would not do to protect the mate destined for him…

  The car smelled like woman, but it wasn't his daughter's scent that clung to the upholstery. This woman's scent was much more recent. And one he'd been introduced to just the day before. Jason Taniss held the woman's jacket to his face and inhaled. Lab chemicals and gardenias were dominant; it made sense, the woman worked with his daughter in the lab at Taniss Industries.

  He'd met her when he'd toured the new facility being built in Dardanos, CO. Annabelle something-or-other. He tried, but couldn't bring her features to mind. Just long, non-descript brown hair, thick glasses, and a bulky lab coat.

  He'd been introduced, she'd blinked up at him, then looked away. She’d dismissed him and he'd dismissed her just as quickly. He'd been there to check on his eldest daughter Josey and the Dardaptoan bloodsucker who claimed to be her mate. The Dardaptoans—inspiration for the vampire legends—owned and ran Dardanos, and since they'd recently converted both his daughters, he'd be overseeing the new Taniss Industries building.

  He pulled his cell free and dialed the blood-sucker. It took less than two minutes to have him shifting into wolf form and loping toward the woods after the scientist's scent. He just prayed he'd find her in time.

  Her trail grew stronger half a mile into the dense woods, now joined with the metallic tang of fear and adrenaline. And something else that drew him, but that he couldn't identify. His paws pounded over the rocks and weeds, his muzzle lifted to the wind. She was close—but now there were several other scents on the night air.

  His Kind, not hers.

  The Dardaptoan bloodsucker had told him of the rogue Lupoiux wolves roaming these woods. They were from the same pack that had attacked his daughter and niece two months ago.

  They would not hurt another female on his watch. Especially one that his family was ultimately responsible for in this place.

  A short feminine scream echoed through the night. Jason veered left, urgency and rage filling him. They would not touch her. Not while he lived.

  Dr. Annabelle Macgregor ran, faster than she had ever run in her life. Branches tore at the bare skin of her arms, ripped her hair free of the plastic clip that held it.

  They were so close she could almost feel their breath on her as she fled them. Whatever they were.

  She scrambled over a large log, and then screamed as one of the creatures caught the back of her blouse in its mouth.

  She fell to the forest floor. It pinned her down even though she fought. Teeth sank into her upper right arm and clamped down. Tore. Anna screamed once more.

  Jason leapt at the red Lupoiux wolf, knocking the smaller beast away from the woman.

  Her scent, stronger now, slammed into him. All at once he understood what had drawn the three rogue males this close to Dardaptoan territory. Understood what had made them chase her like prey.

  The little human was in heat. She was their prey and prized, now.

  Every instinct Jason possessed went into hyper drive when the first wolf turned on him.

  Anna kept pressure on her bleeding arm as she stared at the beasts. There were four of them. The darker wolf was larger than the other three and stood growling in front of her.

  The log behind her and the black wolf in front of her had her trapped. She looked around for something to defend herself with just as one of the smaller animals sprang at the black wolf. She crawled a few yards to the side, but was still trapped.

  Her hand landed on a large stick as wide as her wrist just as the dark wolf threw the smaller one into the remaining two. The three smaller wolves slunk off, disappearing into the shadows.

  The black wolf turned to her. Anna gripped the stick tighter. If the animal lunged at her, she'd get only one good chance to get away.

  He moved closer, then lifted his nose to the air. He stopped, stared at her as intently as she stared at him. And there was no doubt in her mind that this creature was male.

  He began to contort, growing taller. Anna raised the stick, holding it in front of her chest, her neck. He came closer. Anna swung the branch as hard as she could.

&n
bsp; A human hand grabbed it and yanked it from her grasp. Anna blinked, prepared to scream again. His hand covered her mouth and he pulled her close, cutting off her air as he shushed her. Anna closed her eyes, blocking out the sight of the animal teeth coming at her from a human face.