Wild Need

by Jane Jamison

  The offer wasn’t what she’d hoped, but at least she was going with them. She stuck out her hand. “We’ve got a deal.”

  Tucker took her and pulled her against him. “The sun’s down, so it’s time to go. Wear your running shoes just in case.”

  Ten minutes later, she was sitting in the backseat with Tucker. Travis and Cort had demanded she stay in the back while they took the lead. Instead of getting back on the road leading into town, Travis drove the truck into the pasture and headed toward the other side of the ranch. The truck bucked and swayed over the rough terrain, jostling her around. She held onto the edge of her seat. Although she wanted to ask where they were going, she kept her mouth closed, knowing she’d already pushed him far enough.

  In the middle of the pasture, Travis stopped the truck and cut the lights. “Remember our deal. You stay in the truck no matter what you hear. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “We’re taking your word on this, Kate. It’s important. Do we believe her, guys?” Cort ignored her scowl.

  “I told you. I’ll stay put.”

  Tucker pecked her on the cheek. “Good. And don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

  The men, her men, piled out of the pickup. Their expressions were fixed, unreadable, which made her even more nervous. Even with the moonlight, the darkness seemed daunting. “Don’t you need a flashlight?”

  Cort grinned at her, obviously hoping to make up for questioning her promise. “Nope. We don’t have any trouble seeing in the dark. We’ll be back soon, baby.”

  She chewed the inside of her cheek and twisted her hair around her finger. “Okay. Just be careful.”

  They moved into the darkness. So far, they were heading in the direction she’d assumed they’d go. Earlier in the day, she’d heard Travis mention where a small group of their cattle was grazing. If they wanted to set a trap, leaving a few cows separated from the main herd was a good choice.

  She watched them and began counting off twenty seconds. She’d let them get far enough ahead before she started following them. Reaching into the glove box, she took the flashlight she’d suggested to them and got out of the truck as quietly as she could.

  “I’m going to find out what they’re up to.” A sliver of nervousness tightened her spine. “Or end up getting lost.” Drawing on her courage, she moved toward the place where she’d last seen them.

  Navigating through the darkness wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped it would be. Twice she’d almost fallen flat on her face when she’d tripped in a hole. But at least nothing had bitten her. With all the critters and snakes in Texas that lived underground, she counted herself lucky.

  She pushed on for several minutes and had started to think she’d lost her way when she heard a howl split the air. She froze and looked around her, her heart pounding in her ears. The wolf was close. She gripped the flashlight tighter, only now thinking of using it as a weapon. She hurried forward and almost fell over the pile of clothing lying on the ground.

  What the hell? She picked up the shirt Travis had worn and checked it for any tears. She let out a sigh of relief when she found that it wasn’t shredded as she’d feared. But why had the men taken off their clothes?

  Growls erupted in front of her, just through a bunch of shrubs that hid her view from what was up ahead. Another snarl had her ducking and praying that the animal that had made the noise wasn’t already jumping through the air to land on her back. She turned off the flashlight and pushed aside the bushes, her curiosity overtaking her fear.

  A dead cow lay in the middle of the fray. Bloody trails marked the wounds in its body, and lifeless eyes stared up into the sky. Around the dead cow, five of the fiercest animals she’d ever seen stalked back and forth in parallel lines like two sides of combatants preparing for battle.

  Three large wolves, their amber eyes glowing in the dark, hunkered down and growled at the two huge bears. One bear stood on its hind legs, its fangs pristine white against the darkness of its face. The other bear, smaller than the first, paced back and forth along the imaginary line between the two forces. It shook its head and jumped whenever one of the wolves took a step toward it.

  All at once, the largest of the wolves hurled its body at the standing bear. The bear roared its fury and raked out, slicing into the shoulder of the wolf. But that didn’t stop the wolf. He dug his jaws into the bear’s neck, and they both went down into a tumble of fur and limbs.

  Another of the wolves jumped on top of them, digging his claws into the bear’s underbelly. The last wolf attacked the smaller bear, but the bear didn’t want to fight. Instead, it turned tail and lumbered into the darkness. The lone wolf lifted its head and snarled.

  Kate hunkered down behind the bushes and tried not to make a sound. If she ran, she was sure they’d catch her and tear her apart. With only a flashlight for defense, she had no choice but to pray they wouldn’t notice her.

  The bear roared its anger and rolled over, trying to catch one of the wolves under its weight. But the wolves were too quick and scurried out of the way only to rush back into the fight. The third wolf stood to the side, watching with his strange amber eyes.

  She doubted even a huge bear would be any match for two wolves, and she was right. Soon the bear stopped trying to kill the wolves. Instead, whenever it managed to get its feet on the ground, it would make a wild dash to get away. But again the wolves’ speed overwhelmed the bear’s size.

  Just as she thought the wolves would take the bear down for the last time, they backed off. The bear got onto its feet slowly, blood dripping from the many wounds covering its body. It snarled but bent low when the two wolves advanced on it, threatening to attack again. Shaking its head, the bear pivoted and moved into the darkness.

  Would they smell her? If they did, could she scare them away? Where were the men, anyway? Holding the flashlight like a hammer, she took shallow breaths and waited.

  The three wolves licked each other’s wounds then paced around the dead cow. Yet instead of feasting on its remains, they seemed subdued, almost sad as they touched the cow with their noses.

  Kate blinked then rubbed her eyes. Was the excitement and fear getting to her? She would’ve sworn one of the wolves had started changing, blurring into something different. Now all three of them were changing. Their images blurred, but she saw enough to know their legs had changed, their bones breaking with loud cracks, while fur receded and gave way to skin. Her breathing quickened as her eyes told her what her brain couldn’t accept.

  Suddenly, the three wolves were gone. Instead, Travis, Cort, and Tucker stood over the dead cow. Her men, the men she’d grown to love, were werewolves. She stared at them, unable to move.

  “We should’ve killed him,” growled Travis. “He would’ve died in his bear form and stayed that way.”

  “I agree, but we would’ve started a war.” Cort slid his hand over the cow then straightened to his full height. “This way we got our licks in and got the evidence we needed. Their elders will take care of his punishment.”

  “Can we count on that, Wayne?” Tucker turned toward the darkness just to the left of where the bear had gone. A large black bear lumbered forward, shook its head, and growled. He wasn’t the same bear they’d fought.

  Kate held her breath. Would the men turn into wolves again and attack the bear? Suddenly, the bear’s image grew blurry and cracking sounds echoed in the night again. Within a minute, a large man, resembling Litton, stepped closer. The light from the moon shone on only half of his face.

  “You can. As you suggested, I remained hidden and waited to see if your accusations against Litton were true. I’m sorry to say that I saw Litton and Martin take down the cow. They’ll have to answer to the council.”

  “Then you’ll get back to us with their answer?” Although Travis spoke as if what he’d said was a question, his tone held an element of challenge.

  Wayne acted as though he hadn’t heard the question. Instead, he held out his hand. A small object shone
against his dark skin. “I found this in Litton’s truck earlier today.”

  Travis took the object and held it up for the others to see. Kate clapped a hand over her mouth to smother a cry as Travis shoved Buster’s dog tag into his pocket.

  “I’m sorry for what he did to your dog.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet you are,” grumbled Cort.

  “Now what, Wayne?” questioned Travis. “Will the council give him the punishment he deserves, or will they slap him on the paw?”

  Wayne glared at Travis. “He’ll get punished in the way of our people. He’ll be banished from Texas and his name removed from our records. It will be as if he never existed.”

  Tucker held out his hand for Wayne to shake. “Good enough. So this matter is finished and our people are safe from war. Let’s hope things don’t get out of hand again.”

  Wayne stared at Tucker’s hand but didn’t take it. Instead, he pivoted on his heel and disappeared into the darkness.

  “Damn werebears.” Cort kicked at the ground. “They cause all the problems, but we’re the ones doing the cleanup. We have to get rid of the carcass, or we’ll have scavengers crawling all over the place.”

  Tucker knelt beside the cow. “We can’t carry it back to the pickup. I’ll get the truck and meet you on the way back. You two shift enough that you can drag it part of the way.”

  They’re headed back to the pickup. Move.

  Kate backed away, her gaze locked on the men. The crack under her foot sent fear tearing through her. She jerked her gaze down to gawk at the broken branch under her foot then lifted it toward the men again.

  Travis, Tucker, and Cort stared at her. The alarm on their faces sent adrenaline into her. Spinning around, she ran.

  “Kate!”

  “Stop!”

  “Don’t run from us!”

  But she ignored the men’s shouts and kept going. Reaching the pickup first, she hopped into the driver’s side, turned on the ignition, and headed the truck for the house.

  The drive home felt like it took most of the night although only a few minutes passed. Once there, she stopped and dashed out of the truck and into the house, vaguely thinking how crazy it was to leave their house unlocked. But then what did werewolves have to fear? Werebears?

  Panting, she rushed to the kitchen and poured a large glass of wine, downing it in one long gulp. The warmth coursed into her body, renewing her strength. Taking the bottle with her, she started for the stairs.

  The men stalked through the door, dirt on their clothes, blocking her way upstairs and to her room. She backed away, holding the bottle and glass high as though they’d make effective weapons against three large men.

  “Kate, let us explain.” Tucker, ever the reasonable one, stepped toward her and grabbed her by the wrist to tug her into the living room.

  Whether it was from the wine or from the sizzle running up her arm, she let him take her to the couch. “This is what you’ve been hiding from me, isn’t it? You’re”—she laughed, amazed that she’d even say the word out loud—“werewolves. Real, live, right-out-of-a-movie werewolves.”

  Tucker sat beside her as Cort took the other seat next to her and Travis eased onto the arm of the couch. Travis bent his head to make sure she was looking at him. “Are you all right? I mean, seeing three werewolves, not to mention three werebears, for the first time can be a shock.”

  “Werebears. Werewolves. Am I dreaming?” She poured another large glass and took a drink.

  “Kate, this doesn’t change anything. We’re still the men we were before tonight.” Cort studied her, lines marring his forehead.

  “Of course you are. You’re just werewolves on the inside. No biggie.” She laughed and took another drink. Yet they were the men she’d fallen for, the men she’d envisioned living with for the rest of her life. She looked at them as though seeing them for the first time. Travis’s blue eyes glowed with love. Tucker’s worried face told her how nervous he was that she’d leave, and Cort’s usually happy grin was gone, replaced by an urgency that showed in his body and his face.

  “Tucker and Travis are both right. We still love you and want you for our mate.”

  “At least now I understand the mate reference.” She glanced at each man. She did love them. She knew that as well as she knew her own name. When and how she’d fallen in love with them didn’t matter. But could she handle their alter identities? Most of the time they were human. Didn’t that count?

  “Kate, we want you with us.” Tucker’s soulful eyes locked onto her. “In any way you want. But we hope you’ll want to change and become a werewolf like us.”

  “Me?” She gaped at him. Could she do that? Did she want to? What would it be like to become something other than what she was? She couldn’t deny the idea was exciting. Not only would she be able to stay with her men, but she’d experience a new kind of life. She’d wanted to experience new things after college, had wanted to make her life everything it could be, but could becoming a werewolf be a part of that?

  She closed her eyes, felt the world spin, then opened them again. “I don’t know what being a werewolf means.”

  “It means you can change into a wolf whenever you want to. It means you’ll see the world through different eyes,” offered Tucker.

  “Amber eyes.” She reached out and laid her thumb against Tucker’s temple and checked his eyes. “No amber now.”

  “The amber grows in our eyes the closer we are to letting our inner wolves come to the surface.” Cort shrugged. “It’s the first sign that we might be shifting, changing.”

  Could she withstand the change she’d seen them make? “How would I become a werewolf? If I decide to do that.”

  “First, we want to take you to bed. All of us. Then after we make love, we’ll bite you. You’ll change soon after we’ve bitten you.” Tucker tucked his chin, taking his eyes from her. “I won’t lie. It’ll hurt a lot. So will the transformation when you change into your werewolf form. But we’ll teach you how to handle the pain.”

  She grimaced. She wasn’t great at withstanding pain, yet wasn’t pain almost always involved whenever a change was needed? Was she willing to go through some hurt if it meant gaining a lifetime of love?

  Cort bent before her and took her hand. “The main thing is that you have to decide if you want to stay. Decide first if you love us. Then decide if you want to be a wolf. But just so you know, the women in Forever who are with their mates have all decided to turn.”

  “So that’s why the women have more than one man.” She’d sensed there was more to it than a polygamous lifestyle. She remembered how happy, how alive the women seemed. Didn’t she want to be that happy, to feel that alive, too?

  Travis nodded, answering her question that wasn’t a question. “It’s the way it’s always been in Forever. It’s why the town’s called Forever. We find out mates wherever they are and pledge to love them forever.”

  She came to her feet, pushing away their attempts to hold her. “I don’t know. I need time to think.” She turned back to them. “I do love you, but I need time.”

  Travis started to speak, but Tucker shook his head. “Let’s give her the time she needs, guys. We’ll go for a run tonight. Do you think you can give us your answer by tomorrow, Kate?”

  She couldn’t help but think how handsome they were. How good they were. How well they’d treated her. If she’d written down everything she could want in a man, each of them had those qualifications and more. “I think so. I’ll try.”

  Tucker stood and jerked his head toward the door. “Then we’ll ask you again tomorrow morning. But don’t leave until we’ve gotten your answer.”

  She nodded and watched them start to disrobe. The memory of Travis’s shirt on the ground came back to her. “Your shirt—All your clothes—You disrobed before changing and fighting the bears, didn’t you? I mean, the werebears.” She shook her head, trying to get used to the terms.

  Their bodies showed no signs of their fight with the we
rebears. “But how are you not injured?”

  “We got a little banged up, but we heal really fast.” Cort dropped his jeans to the floor. “It’s one of the perks of being a shifter.”

  She took a drink, letting her gaze flow over their hard, delectable bodies. Tucker started to lead them outside. “No. Change here.”

  They did as she asked, their bodies blurring before her as their limbs broke and re-formed. Faces grew longer with muzzles as fur spread over their smooth skin. Tails and hands changed into paws. She watched, too fascinated to be afraid. Her men were werewolves, and she loved them. But was that enough?

  Padding to the front door, the three werewolves waited for her to let them out. She followed them as far as the front porch before they jumped to the ground and loped toward the field.

  “Oh, my God. What am I going to do?”

  She turned back to the living room and sat down on the couch. Taking another drink, she fell back against the cushions.

  Did she love them? Yes, without a doubt. They were amazing as werewolves as well as men. She knew she trusted them with her life. If they’d wanted to hurt her, they could’ve already done so. These were good men, men any woman would be proud to call her own.

  But did she want a life as a werewolf? She imagined herself, running on all four paws into the night. She’d see things in a different way and it wasn’t as though becoming a werewolf meant giving up her human life. If she decided to join them, to be part of her pack, she’d gain not only her men, but a group of people who were loyal to each other.

  She took another sip of her drink, tried to wipe her mind free, and failed. Do I love them enough to become one of them? Without logic or fear or any other thought blocking the way, her heart gave her the answer.

  * * * *

  The sun was rising over the horizon as the three wolves padded toward the front porch. Tucker changed first and opened the door for the other two. As men, they walked into the living room and stood over the sleeping Kate. She lay on the couch, a comforter wrapped around her. A small black-and-white head poked out of the covers next to her. Lady and the rest of the pups slept in a makeshift bed of pillows and throw rugs on the floor next to the couch.