Passion (BBW: Big, Beautiful Werewolf): Werewolves of Montana Mating Mini 3

by Bonnie Vanak

  “He didn’t torch her. Never set that fire.”

  Jake nearly dropped his cell phone. “What? If he didn’t, who did?”

  “I don’t know. Could have been an accident.”

  “And you believe him.”

  “Yes. But you ran off before he could explain.”

  The accusatory note in Aiden’s voice, and his alpha’s firm belief in Garth’s innocence filled Jake with cold rage. “I had good reason to leave. It was coming down to a war in the pack, Aiden. If I didn’t leave, many more could have been killed.”

  “And you underestimate my authority and my leadership. I’d have cracked skulls,” the alpha growled. “After Karlene’s death got all my males in a crazed frenzy, I knew you had to blow off steam. It would have come to nothing more than fistfights and then I’d have put a stop to it. Garth knew it. But you didn’t trust in my judgment.”

  His stomach tightened. “You take his side because he remained pack.”

  “I don’t take sides. I deal in justice for the pack, for every member. That includes you, Jake.”

  He wanted to stay angry, shout at the alpha for letting him walk away. “You never stopped me.”

  “It’s not my style. You had to leave, Jake. Not because of us, but because you were so damn torn up inside. Sometimes a male has to find himself, and the only way to do that is to be alone.”

  His grip on the cell phone tightened. “I miss you guys.”

  “You may no longer live here, but you’ll always be pack. Whenever you need me or any of us, including Garth, we’re there for you.”

  Jake leaned against the trailer and closed his eyes. “Thanks, Aiden.”

  “So when do you want us there?”

  Blinking at the question, he considered. “How did you know?”

  “I’m not stupid, Jake. You called because your female’s in trouble and her pack needs help. How many males do you need? All of us?”

  Emotion tightened his throat at Aiden’s loyalty. His alpha was willing to travel here and defend a strange pack just for Jake.

  “Enough to stave off a war. The Silverns have 50 males fighting. Molly’s pack has only 30. But I need your skills as an alpha more. A negotiator, Aiden. I’m hoping you can talk with the two alphas and make them see sense.”

  “I’ll bring 20 to even the odds. I’ll need Robert’s permission, alpha to alpha, because this is interfering in his private business.” Aiden grunted. “I’ll have to find an airplane. J.J. has a corporate jet, flies 25 people, should suffice.”

  “J.J., that’s Alexa’s mate, Molly’s good friend from college?”

  “Yeah. All the more reason he’d help fly us down there.”

  Jake’s heart swelled with love. After he’d left his pack, Aiden didn’t have reason to stand with him, but the alpha did, brother to brother. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, Jake.” Aiden paused and then said, “I’m bringing Garth as well.”

  Jake stiffened. “Is that necessary?”

  “It’s about time you both reconciled.”

  “Garth won’t fight for me.”

  “He’ll fight for me. And for you, because you’re blood. You swore an oath of loyalty, Jake. It goes both ways. We’re there for you when you need us. Always. Remember, Jake. Pack is family, and family doesn’t turn their back when they’re needed. Never. Give me Robert’s number.”

  “He’s inside. I’ll let you talk with him.” Jake paused. “Be diplomatic. He’s proud and may not accept help.”

  “I’m a born diplomat,” Aiden said dryly. “As long as they do it my way.”

  After handing Robert the phone, Jake remained in the living room while Molly’s uncle talked outside. Molly gave him a questioning look.

  He kissed her. “It’ll be okay, Molls. Aiden is coming here to help your uncle fight the Silverns. Aiden is the alpha leader of my pack.”

  “I thought you didn’t have a pack.”

  He gave a twisted smile. “According to Aiden, I do. Blood and loyalty run deep.”

  She nestled against him. “I’m so glad, Jake. He sounds like a wonderful leader.”

  Jake thought about the alpha’s promise.

  Soon, he would face the male he hated more than Luke Silvern. When Garth arrived, could he reconcile with him? Or would they fight to the death as Garth once promised?

  Chapter 11

  Around noon the following day, Aiden and his men arrived.

  Jake and Molly spent the morning setting up tables and chairs in the yard. Then Robert arrived, and he and Molly left to pick up the lunch catered by Robert’s bar.

  Hearing the approach of vehicles, Jake tensed. He hadn’t seen his alpha or the pack in more than a year. He paced, wondering what kind of greeting they’d give him. A slap on the back? A playful punch?

  A hard sock to his jaw from Garth?

  A black van pulled into the driveway and Jake stared. The back windows were opened and a few wolves stuck their heads out, enjoying the breeze, like dogs savoring a joyride.

  “You’ve got to be joking,” he muttered, and then he laughed.

  Someone opened the side door and three wolves bounded out, racing toward him. The first, a muscled gray timber wolf with black paws, reached him and nearly knocked him down, licking his face.

  The second went behind him and poked his nose against Jake’s ass, sniffing, while the third grinned and butted his nose against Jake’s crotch.

  Guess he’d judged wrong about the type of greeting.

  “Dale,” he yelled at the wolf behind him. “Get your face out of my butt. People will say we’re in love.”

  The trio shifted back and conjured clothing. Dale. Jackson, and Kyle. Aiden climbed out of the van, his stride easy. A wide smile creased his black-bearded face.

  “Where else can you get a good old Montana Lupine greeting?” Aiden asked. As the others stepped back, the alpha embraced him. “Good to see you, Jake.” Aiden stepped back and gave him a once-over. “You look good. Happy.”

  “And you smell the same,” added Dale, the owner of the butt-sniffing nose.

  “Up yours,” Jake drawled.

  Kyle, the Mitchell pack’s best hunter, Dale, head of security, and Jackson, a rugged, carefree cowboy who was a damn good fighter. They all embraced Jake, thumping him hard on the back.

  “Look at you. Living the life in a park, in a trailer. And we thought you’d gone to Florida to get some rays on South Beach and stare at uber thin fashion models.” Jackson grinned, threw back his head and howled.

  “Watch it, there’s probably Skins around,” Aiden warned.

  Kyle gave a slow smile, the “Z” scar on his face showing pale against his tanned cheeks. “Fee, fi, fo, yum. I smell the blood of a human.”

  “Are we dining on tourists for lunch?” Jackson looked interested. “I hope they’re not New Yorkers. New Yorkers tend to be skinny. Not enough meat.”

  “Jackson, shut your trap. You know we never eat tourists for lunch. Only dinner,” Dale quipped.

  Damn, he missed these guys, missed this camaraderie. He’d been lonely without his pack. And now because of Molly, he knew they had his six.

  “There’s four more visitors arriving this afternoon. When they heard what was going down, they insisted on coming. They took a separate flight.” Aiden rubbed his bearded chin. “They’re not from our pack. Where’s Molly?”

  Curiosity about the visitors pricked Jake, but he shrugged it off. “She went with her uncle to pick up lunch for everyone. She and Robert should be here soon.”

  The other males milled around, studying the yard. His gaze landed on Garth. Jake stiffened and he began to pace.

  Garth approached, his expression tight. They circled each other like a pair of sumo wrestlers and Jake’s heart twisted. Once they’d done this to prey while hunting, working as a team to bring down ten-point stags. He doubted they’d ever recover the friendship they once shared.

  But it was time to set aside the past, and move forward. Fo
rcing his hands to relax, he made his body loose and pliant, but did not lower his gaze.

  “Garth.” Jake stopped, held out his hand in friendship. “Thanks for coming here.”

  Garth approached with his own palm stretched out. They started to shake hands and then Garth hugged him, patting his back. “Missed you, buddy.”

  Swallowing hard past the thick lump in his throat, Jake gave a brusque nod. “Me too.”

  “The past is the past. I’ve had a lot of time to think, and gain a new perspective about you.”

  “You mean you don’t think I’m the asshole you said I was?” Jake asked, wanting to break the ice.

  A ghost of a smile touched Garth’s face. “No, you can be a regular asshole.” His expression tightened. “We both were during a time when we needed to be level-headed. And then maybe Karlene wouldn’t have died.”

  The world was filled with maybes. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders, and saw the others watching them with speculative looks.

  Jake lifted his chin and looked the other male directly in the eye. “Aiden says you didn’t set the fire. And his word is good enough for me.”

  A collective sigh rippled through the males. Jake gestured to the tables and chairs he’d set out in the yard. As the Lupines sat, Aiden on his left, Jake remained standing.

  “Thanks for coming.” Chest tight, he looked at the men who had sworn a blood oath, just as he had, to be loyal. “I didn’t expect this much after I left all of you.”

  Garth spoke up, “You left, but we’re always with you, like family. Even Karlene, she couldn’t split us apart forever.”

  Blinking, Jake nodded gruffly.

  Stephen, a single male, sighed. “She sure was beautiful. Ain’t seen another female like her, ever. We all lost our heads over her.”

  “Maybe we wouldn’t have gone hog wild over Karlene if we had mates,” another male noted. “We need to settle down.”

  Jackson looked up. “Say Aiden, when the hell are you getting mates for these guys? Maybe if they had a female in their bed every night like I have, they wouldn’t let their dicks do their thinking for them.”

  “You’re one to talk,” Kyle jested. “When your Lexie’s around, you lose IQ points.”

  Garth shook his head. “Having other females around might not have made a difference. With Karlene there, all I could think about was sex. She consumed all my thoughts,” he mused.

  His too. Jake wondered. His feelings for Karlene weren’t natural. Now he understood the difference between what he’d felt for Karlene and the intense bonding he’d shared with Molly. “And look what happened. We nearly came to blows, after swearing a bond to pack and each other.”

  Garth stared into the distance. “Thought about that as well. After she died, things settled down at the ranch. I thought it was because you had left and all the tension eased, and then realized, it was because she wasn’t around baiting the guys anymore.”

  The news relieved him, but also proved troubling. William Silvern, along with the single males in his pack and the ones in Robert’s pack, acted the exact same way as the Mitchell pack males had.

  Why would Silvern get aggressive and angry now, when he’d been level-headed before? Not even giving Robert a chance to make amends or even discuss the situation? Was he that desperate to gain Molly for his son?

  “I think something’s stirred up the Silvern and Keynes males. They’re as aggressive as we were when Karlene came to live with us.” Briefly he explained what happened with the raccoon, how Molly had been trapped and bitten by fire ants, and was at the center of the promised pack war.

  “I suspect it’s stemming from the blackness infecting the park. But it’s vanished for now. All seems healthy.”

  Aiden rubbed his nape. “It could be airborne. Like mold spores.”

  As they talked, a feeling of homesickness washed over him. Aiden listened as Jake told him about his work in the park as a wildlife officer. Once or twice, a guy got up to fetch more beer, handing them out and giving Jake the brew he liked most.

  They’d remembered his preferences.

  When talk turned to running with the moon on Mitchell Mountain and flushing out game, he wished he’d been there to race over the pine-strewn forest, nose out the scents of prey. Jake drained his beer.

  Pack bonds hadn’t been broken. They’d remained strong, and he felt his chest swell as he listened to Jackson brag about his mate and how she’d won a recent barrel-racing contest.

  He had called upon his brothers to help Molly, but seeing these guys, he realized he needed them more than ever.

  He’d walked alone for too long. Molly was right. A Lupine needed pack.

  Another white van pulled into his driveway. Jake glanced up and saw Molly jump out. With her long hair tumbling down to her waist, her sparkling eyes and her air of feminine grace, she was breathtaking. A few males whistled. The hair on his nape stood on end and he growled.

  Aiden put a calming hand on his shoulder. “Easy, Jake. They’re just being guys.”

  “Yeah, and she’s mine.” He went to her.

  Every emotion boiled inside him, and the predatory male instinct to claim. Jake swept aside her long hair and put his mouth on her pulse, nuzzling her neck.

  She shuddered and moaned. “Jake…the others.”

  Precisely. Let them watch, see whom she belonged to. He gave a quick nip, then soothed the sting with a slow stroke of his tongue, the typical gesture of a Lupine male intending to claim a female.

  Molly gently pulled away. Her rejection stung. Hadn’t they talked last night? He thought he was doing the right thing for both of them by not claiming her.

  Apparently not.

  “Our reinforcements arrived. Thank you, Jake, for doing this for Uncle Robert,” she told him.

  He watched Robert get out of the van. “I did this for you, Molls.”

  Jake made introductions, but when he introduced Aiden and the pack as “friends,” Molly gave him a questioning look. Then they helped unpack the catered lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, iced tea and dessert. They set it up buffet style on a side table. Aiden and Robert sat alone, quietly talking, while Jake sat with Molly. Kyle, Dale and Jackson joined them at the table.

  Kyle dug into a pile of potato salad and studied Molly. “So you’re Jake’s woman. About time he found someone good enough for him.”

  Fumbling with her fork, Molly said in a quiet voice. “I’m not his. Yet.”

  The three males looked up and stared at her.

  Kyle cleared his throat. “But you’re…”

  Molly’s gaze went distant. “You could call us friends for now.”

  “But we thought…” Dale glanced at Jake.

  “The way he greeted you… You’re just friends?” Jackson asked.

  Her smile seemed strained. “Jake has many friends, it seems. But no one he’s truly committed to. Excuse me. I’ll get more iced tea. We seem to be running out.”

  Ouch. Jake winced, knowing he deserved that. Watching her head for the trailer, he felt deep regret. He hadn’t made a formal declaration to mate Molly, and she hadn’t brought up the subject again. But that little move he’d made upon her arrival had told the others his intentions.

  Kyle gave him an even look. “There’s an old saying made by an ancient, wise Lupine, Jake.”

  Without looking up from his food, Dale added, “Yeah. Shit or get off the pot.”

  “You’re so eloquent.” He rubbed a hand over his face, watching the trailer door, waiting for Molly to emerge. Not going to have this conversation when she was present.

  “Make her yours, or let her find another male. Simple as that.” Jackson drank his iced tea. “If you love her, claim her, mark her and bring her home. Like we did. We all have mates.”

  “Wasn’t easy.” Kyle’s face darkened, and Jake knew the male recalled Arianna, his mate, and how she had been terrified of sex.

  “But if you love her, you’ll make it work.” Dale wiped his mout
h with a paper napkin.

  All three gave him a level look.

  Jake threw up his hands. “It’s not simple…”

  Kyle shook his head. “It is if you love her. You find a way to make it work, Jake. Forget the details.”

  Anger filled him. They didn’t know the complications, how Molly was entrenched with a pack and a family she loved. “I have nothing to offer her!”

  He ticked off the items on his fingers. “No real home. No pack.”

  Silence fell at the table for a minute. Then Jackson spoke in a quiet voice. “You have what matters most, Jake. You love her. That’s all she really needs. And you’re wrong about not having a pack. You have a home with us. You chose to leave it. We didn’t drive you off.”

  Emotionally drained, he studied these strong men. They were right.

  He’d fooled himself into thinking he left to keep the peace, when he really longed to be alone to escape their scrutiny and silent condemnation after Karlene died. They hadn’t condemned him and found him guilty. He’d condemned himself.

  It wasn’t easy letting go of the guilt that had driven him for so many months. In a way, it had become a companion, something familiar at the end of a long day. But that path had grown rocky and tiring. He wanted more out of life.

  His gaze swept over the three males. “I’m sorry for abandoning you guys.”

  Nods followed. “Just know you can come home now. We’d like you back,” Dale told him.

  “I miss you on hunts,” Kyle added.

  “I miss picking on you every time you tried to round up cattle. You really suck at it,” Jackson said.

  Grinning, Jake wadded up a napkin and tossed it at Jackson. The front door slammed and Molly came out, a pitcher of iced tea in her hand. She set it on the table and looked uncertain.

  Jake stood and pulled her onto his lap. “Molls, I was wrong. All these guys aren’t friends. They’re my pack, my family, my people. They’re important to me. But as much as they are, they don’t matter to me as much as you do.”

  He just hoped that the war would end before it truly began. Because now he’d finally found his future and he wanted Molly in it.

  If he lived long enough.