by Jane Jamison
“Please, wolf, go. I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered. And yet, as though defying her plea, the wolf took a few steps. As she watched, stunned, it padded toward her.
“Stop. Don’t come any closer.” She was in a stalemate with an animal. Suddenly, she couldn’t force her body to move. Putting her back to it would be a mistake, but that wasn’t the only reason she didn’t get back inside the house. Strangely, she felt a bond to the animal, as though she were gazing at someone she knew.
The wolf’s gaze darted past her and it growled. Moving soundlessly, it padded forward, closing the distance between them.
“No.” Her tone had changed into a pleading moan. “Go away.”
The wolf lowered its head, its eyes blazing now. Its tail swished back and forth, not in the playful way of a dog, but in a warning. Hunkering down, it crept toward her, white fangs showing as it drew its lips back in a snarl.
It was going to attack, but why? What had she done to provoke it? Was it because she was holding a gun? Was it because she was human? Or was it sick? It didn’t look like it had rabies, but she couldn’t be sure.
Still, she couldn’t shake the strange impression that she knew it, and that it wouldn’t hurt her no matter how it was acting.
She made a decision that might cost her dearly. Slowly, she lowered the rifle. The wolf’s ears twitched forward. Did it understand why’d she’d lowered the gun? Normally, she wouldn’t have thought an animal could understand such an idea, but the intelligence of this beast was obvious.
And yet, it still crept toward her, its fangs showing, its ears laid back again.
The touch on her shoulder startled her. Jerking up the rifle, she squeezed the trigger by accident, discharging the weapon. A flash and a puff of smoke came as the bullet went flying. The wolf yelped and leapt into the air. Spinning while still in the air, it landed on its feet, whipped around, and ran, disappearing into the trees.
Raven whirled around, ready to use the rifle again. If Robert hadn’t pushed the barrel toward the floor, she would’ve shot him.
Chapter Three
“Robert!” Before Raven could think straight, her ex-boyfriend wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a huge bear hug. She barely held on to the rifle, but was too stunned to do anything else.
“Hey, honey. Damn, but you look good.” Robert Scanton squeezed her even tighter.
She had to struggle before he finally released his hold on her. He scanned her, taking his time to slide his hungry gaze from her face to just below her waist with a long pause on her chest.
“You feel damn good, too.”
At last, her brain decided to function again. She pushed away, stumbling slightly as she did. “What the hell are you doing here? How’d you find me?”
“Now listen up, honey. I know what I did was wrong, but I didn’t have any choice.”
Anger she’d thought she’d forced into submission long ago boiled over. “You set me up. I went to jail because of you.”
“I didn’t want that to happen.”
“The hell you didn’t.” She took in his charismatic good looks. Even though she hadn’t seen or heard from him in seven years, not since she’d kissed him goodnight only to wake up and discover she’d been used as a fool, he still had the bad-boy looks she’d fallen for. But she’d been a young girl then. She no longer fell for a guy just because he was hot and horny.
“Raven, I’m sorry for what I did and how I treated you, but I’m here now.” He spread his arms wide as though bestowing a gift on her. “We can start up where we left off.”
“Fuck you.” She hefted the rifle higher and felt a certain amount of glee to see fear tighten his expression. “I should call the state police and turn your ass in.”
“It won’t do you any good. They never had any evidence against me. The case is closed.”
“We don’t know that for sure. Because they couldn’t find you, they locked me up and made me take the blame.”
Robert eased closer. He still had long blond hair and his green eyes still held the hint of sex. As a kickboxing instructor, he’d always had a toned, muscular body. “Come on, Raven. You know you want me. Remember how good we were in bed? We were fucking maniacs.”
She remembered, all right, and cringed every time she thought about being with him. Now that she’d grown up, now that she’d met men like the Hardwick brothers, she knew what real men were like. Looks were great and sexiness was wonderful in a man, but the real attraction lay with the man’s thoughts and actions. Robert had proven himself to be the worst kind of lowlife. From what she’d heard from others around town, she knew Drake, Dugan, and Harrin were the kind of men a woman could trust, the kind of men who would treat her like a lady in public and a whore in bed.
“Get off my porch.” She pointed the rifle at his chest. “Get off my porch and out of town. Stay the hell away from me. I never want to see your sorry ass again.”
“Bullshit. You know we had something special.” He took a step toward her before she motioned with the rifle, bringing him up short.
“I swear to God, Robert. I’ll fill you full of holes. Now back the hell up and leave before I slip and pull the trigger.” She couldn’t stand to look at him. Her life had been turned upside down because of him. If she was the kind of person to seek revenge, he’d already be lying in a pool of blood.
Robert opened his mouth to speak, then obviously thought better of it. Instead, he pivoted on his heel and marched down the porch steps. He didn’t get very far before he turned back. “I’m going to give you time to settle down. I know showing up out of the blue threw you, but once you think about us, you’ll realize you belong with me.”
“Fuck you, you asshole. You come within a hundred feet of me again and I swear I’ll kill you. It’ll be worth going back to jail. Now get going before I change my mind and drop you on the ground.”
“You’re going to be sorry you did this.” Robert’s face transformed, his anger turning his handsome face into an ugly mask. “You and me? We’re not over.”
She lifted the rifle to her shoulder and waited. If telling him to leave wasn’t enough, a few shots at his feet would do the job.
He glared, then turned around again and strode into the darkness. Once she couldn’t see his silhouette any longer, she backed up, careful not to trip. She made it to the door and inside before she lowered the rifle. Placing it against the wall, she secured the deadbolt and put her back to the door. Tears of fear and anger streamed down her face as she slid to the floor.
* * * *
Dugan bounded through the forest, pain searing into his right shoulder. Raven shooting him was the last thing he thought would happen. Then again, his attention had been centered on the man behind her. By the time the man made a move and the gun had accidentally gone off, he hadn’t had time to get out of the way.
He should’ve stayed away. His brothers and he had decided it was the best thing to do. After going into the store to see her again, they’d picked up on Raven’s nervousness and had decided it was best to give her more time. They’d get to see her every once in a while, but they wouldn’t come on too strong. It was like breaking a horse. Too fast or too hard, and the animal would never let a man on its back.
Drake and Harrin had more self-control. They could force themselves not to go after her. He, on the other hand, couldn’t stand to go a single day without seeing her, and now it had cost him.
Damn it.
The flesh wound wouldn’t kill him, but it didn’t mean the bullet that had slashed across his shoulder didn’t hurt like hell.
As a werewolf, he wasn’t immortal. He’d heal faster than any human would, but it would still take time. If the bullet had gone through his head, he’d be dead and shifting back into his human form right now. He half-believed that might have been better than facing his brothers if they found out. If they found out, they’d give him hell.
The force of someone slamming against him sent them both flying off the p
ath and into the scrub bushes lining the trail. He snarled as they rolled together and opened his mouth wide, ready to sink his fangs deep into the neck of his attacker. Scrambling onto his paws, he crouched, ready to leap for the asshole’s throat.
“Fuck, Dugan. What’d you think you were doing?” Drake straightened up. As a human, he was no match for Dugan while in his wolf’s body, but as an alpha, he was still in command.
Dugan padded back a few steps. He’d gotten caught.
“We agreed to stay away from her.” Harrin stepped out of the darkness. Although he was in his human body, his eyes glowed with bright amber.
Dugan shifted, the pain of doing so hurting more with the flesh wound in his shoulder. By the time he stood tall again on two legs, he was ready to face his brothers’ wrath. “Before you start, you have to admit it’s fucking hard to stay away.”
“And yet, we managed.” Drake crossed his arms and planted his feet apart, his usual your-alpha’s-telling-you-what-to-do stance.
“Are you trying to scare her off?” Harrin paced back and forth, his inner wolf showing in his stomping pace.
“I wasn’t planning on letting her see me, damn it.” He tunneled his fingers through his hair. “I fucked up, okay?”
“Yeah, you sure did. Hell, you didn’t even try to stay hidden. You let her see you.” Drake’s tone had dropped even lower.
“Not as a human. She saw a wolf, that’s all.” He hated being scolded, especially by his older brothers. One of these days, he’d make the move to become an alpha. Until then, because he was still an omega, he’d bow to the other alphas in the pack, but not to his brothers.
“Yeah, right. She saw you as a very large wolf. With amber eyes, no less.”
Usually he could count on Harrin being more reasonable and forgiving than Drake. “Like I said, I fucked up. It’s not like you two have never fucked up.”
And then it hit him. They’d seen him, which meant they’d been hanging around her place, too. “Back off, you guys. You can’t give me hell for watching her.”
“The hell we can’t.” Yet the anger had weakened in Harrin’s tone. Had he had the same thought?
“No you can’t. Not when you were there, too.” Dugan’s confidence grew. “You guys couldn’t stay away from her, either. I’m right, aren’t I?”
It didn’t happen often, but he could see Drake’s righteousness waver in the blink of his eyes and the relaxation of his body. “Yeah. You two were there doing the same thing I was. You were watching her. Admit it.”
“Fine. You’re right.” Harrin shrugged at a glaring Drake.
“But we didn’t shift and show her our wolf.” Drake pointed his finger close to Dugan’s face. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“So it would’ve been better if she’d seen you guys instead? And then what? What would you have said? That you were just passing by and decided to watch her? Kind of like stalking her?” He laughed, realizing he had the upper hand now.
Drake’s hard gaze remained steady. “She didn’t see us.” His attention slipped to the blood on Dugan’s right shoulder. “And she sure as hell didn’t shoot us.”
He’d almost forgotten about the wound. Nothing like arguing with his brothers to take his mind off the pain. “It’s nothing. Just a flesh wound.”
“Who was that guy on the porch?” asked Harrin.
He was changing the subject, but he was right. The stranger was the problem. “I don’t know. I saw him come up behind her and that’s why I moved toward her. Who knows why he was there or what he was going to do? In fact, we should head back and check on her.”
“He didn’t look like he was out to do her any harm.” Yet Drake’s worry furrowed his brow. “Still, we should make sure she’s all right.” He narrowed his eyes. “From a distance and without shifting.”
“Whatever.”
Dugan started striding toward Raven’s house, but Drake slapped a hand down on his right shoulder. He gritted back a howl of pain. No doubt Drake had done it on purpose.
“Great. Now you’re going to let her see you butt-naked? Not a chance, little brother. You stay here. We’ll take care of this.”
He wanted to object, but Drake was right. He’d left his clothes back at the ranch and had run over to her house. Showing up without clothing wouldn’t help. “Fine. I’ll head back to the ranch, but make it quick.”
Both Drake and Harrin snarled, showing their alpha status again as though he gave a damn. Although Drake was the primary alpha, Harrin, as a secondary alpha, was still a higher ranking than Dugan just because he’d been born before him.
Sometimes the whole idea of birth ranking for alphas and omegas sucked. As one of the pack’s members, he could challenge an alpha and move up in the pack’s rankings, but he wouldn’t do that to one of his brothers. Besides, other than at times like this, he didn’t want all the responsibility that came along with leadership. Let Drake worry about the pack.
Drake and Harrin strode down the path. As soon as they got closer to the house, they’d weave their way into the forest and use it for cover.
Dugan lifted his upper lip in an imitation of his wolf’s snarl. Shifting, he dropped onto all fours, thought briefly about trailing behind his brothers, then decided not to push his luck. With a low growl, he raced into the forest.
* * * *
Raven spotted Heather, Emeline, and Betsy at the tall table near the dance floor of Fate’s local bar called the Wolf’s Den. She waved and hurried over, feeling conspicuous in her silk blouse, short skirt, and four-inch heels. The majority of the people dancing and drinking had on jeans, T-shirts, and cowboy boots. A few of them wore fancier shirts with rhinestones, but for the most part, they dressed just like they did when strolling down Main Street.
Music filled the air from the western band playing on a raised platform on the other side of a wooden dance floor. She’d never been a country music fan before, but the lively tune gave her an adrenaline boost.
She slid onto the bar stool and slipped her purse on top of the table. “I thought we agreed to dress up. I feel overdressed, not to mention silly for carrying around a purse.” None of the other women had purses. Instead, they carried their phones and money in their back pockets like the men did.
“Sorry. I guess you didn’t get the memo,” grinned Heather. “Seriously. I messed up. I should’ve called you and let you know we changed our minds.”
“So what’s new? Anything exciting?” Emeline sipped on her bottle of beer. “If you want something besides beer, you’ll have to go to the bar.”
Raven took the bottle Betsy slid her way. “This is fine. As for the other? Not much happens at the store.”
She didn’t want to tell them or anyone about Robert showing up at the rental home. If anything, she wished she could forget she’d seen him. Thankfully, in the three days that had passed, she hadn’t seen any sign of him. Maybe he’d taken her threat to heart and had left town.
“Are you all right?”
Raven jerked her mind back to the here-and-now to find Heather giving her a questioning look. She had to pull herself together if she didn’t want them catching on to how rattled she still was. “Sure. So, are there any good-looking guys here?” As if she couldn’t see for herself. Fate had more than its fair share of handsome men. What was it about this town that drew sexy men to it?
She looked around the bar and noted how commanding, how in charge the men were. The women were strong, too, but she couldn’t help but feel protected and safe whenever any man was around. Did they mean to act like that? It was almost as though they’d formed some kind of club with a silent agreement to take care of their town, their people, and especially their women. She didn’t doubt that she could ask any man for help and he’d come running. It was fanciful thinking, but she liked the idea.
“One, this is supposed to be a girl’s night out, remember?” Emeline’s gaze slid to the dance floor. “Two, from what I hear, you’ve already got three hot men chasing you.”
“No, I don’t.”
Heather’s giggle attracted the attention of the men at the next table, but her friend didn’t notice. “Here we go again. Stop blowing smoke, Raven. Everyone knows the Hardwick men have the hots for you.”
Raven wanted to blame the heat suddenly racing up her neck on the warmth of the bar, but she knew better. It only took a mention of Drake, Dugan, and Harrin to get her blood pumping and make her wet between the legs. Still, she couldn’t admit it straight out. What if Heather was wrong?
Whoever said the best defense was a good offence was right. “What about you? I hear you’ve got a thing for the Wilson brothers.”
Heather suddenly found her beer very interesting. “I don’t know about that, but who could blame me? They’re as hot as they come.”
“They’re not as hot as Tyler and Derek Mitchell, and their friend Evan Grange.” Emeline’s eyes grew wide when she realized what she’d said. “I’m just saying, is all.”
Raven relaxed, happy that she’d managed to divert the conversation away from herself. “And how about you, Betsy? Have you hooked up with Billy Johnson yet?”
“Don’t forget about Scott Branton and Foster Rittenhouse,” chirped Emeline. “Whatever Billy’s into, Scott and Foster are into. Or should I say ‘whoever’ they’re into?” She made a circle with one hand and poked a finger through it. Her gesture said it all.
Betsy sputtered into her drink. “Hey. Who brought me into this discussion?”
“We did.” Raven was starting to loosen up and enjoy herself. “Are you denying it?”
“Okay, fine. I’ll admit it. I wouldn’t mind having Scott and the other two giving me a little attention. Or at least doing something more than helping me get the store ready.”
“Really?” added Heather. “They came and helped? That’s so nice.”
