Joining Their Pack [Wolf Packs of Fate 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
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Wolf Packs of Fate 2
Joining Their Pack
Heather Dill stumbles onto the small town of Fate, Georgia, determined to put her past behind her. But her secret is one that may never stop haunting her.
Brogan, Sterling, and Garner Wilson are brothers, but only two of them are werewolves. They want to find that one special woman to join their pack. The brothers are patient, but they sense that Heather’s hiding a secret. Their only chance to convince her to be their woman is to find out what’s bothering her.
When Heather sees her friend’s men change into wolves, she takes off running. But the safety she thinks she’s found with the Wilson men isn’t real. She soon finds out that they have a secret of their own.
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 41,396 words
JOINING THEIR PACK
Wolf Packs of Fate 2
Jane Jamison
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
JOINING THEIR PACK
Copyright © 2016 by Jane Jamison
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-985-8
First E-book Publication: January 2016
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Joining Their Pack by Jane Jamison from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
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This is Jane Jamison’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Jane Jamison’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Reader,
The Wolf Packs of Fate is a special series for me. Once more, I’ve combined my love for werewolves and cowboys. In the first four books of the series, four women leave their troubled pasts behind and find new homes in the small North Georgia mountain town of Fate. They find new lives, new work, new loves, and, with each other, new friends.
One note: When you read the first four books of the series, you’ll notice scenes that may seem familiar from one book to another book. To show the personal interaction between the four women, scenes have been written to tell the event through that woman’s perspective in her book.
As always, thank you for reading my books.
Jane Jamison
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Author's Note
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
About the Author
JOINING THEIR PACK
Wolf Packs of Fate 2
JANE JAMISON
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
“So, Raven, have you seen them today?” asked Emeline Newsom.
Heather Dill jerked her head up. She’d zoned out, thinking about her latest painting. The piece was coming together, but for some strange reason she couldn’t put her finger on, it just wasn’t right. She’d thought joining her friends for lunch in the back room of The General Store where Raven worked would help her get the painting out of her head, but so far, it wasn’t working.
Think about it later.
She smiled at her friend, Emeline, and as she often did, realized how much she admired her work as a caregiver to an elderly woman. How many people would take such a selfless, low-paying position? As an artist, she could appreciate beauty wherever it was, even in the type of work a person did.
Emeline’s long, copper-colored hair shifted over her shoulders as she leveled her bright blue eyes at their friend Raven Reynolds. With short brown hair and brown eyes, Heather would’ve loved to have traded hair and eye color with Emeline. Her other friend, Betsy Cramer, was on the plump side but was still as confident as they came, a trait Heather wished she possessed.
Heather felt subdued today, although being around her three friends usually brought out her personality. The four of them had arrived in Fate around the same time. They’d met at The General Store and then at the local market and had ended up going to lunch together. Instantly clicking with each other, it was almost as though they’d been fated to be friends.
“Who are you talking about?” asked Raven.
Heather laughed, knowing Raven knew who Emeline meant. “Oh, come on. You know damn well who we’re talking about.”
Raven was doing her best to keep her feelings about the Hardwick brothers a secret, but none of them were buying it. Still, Heather wasn’t about to push Raven any harder to admit it. If she did, she might have to admit her own infatuation with the Wilson men.
She sighed then caught herself, cutting the sound short. Thankfully, the others didn’t notice. She’d already risked too much by asking around town about the handsome men. Even though she’d posed the questions casually, acting like one neighbor getting to know another neighbor, people had started looking at her with their own questions in their eyes. Still, she’d had to ask. How could any red-blooded girl not want to know more about them?
Brogan, Sterling, and Garner Wilson were flat-out gorgeous. There was
no other way to put it. Except maybe to call them sexy, hot, smokin’, bangin’, and all the other adjectives that described men who were tall, ridiculously handsome, and made her knees weak just thinking about them.
At thirty-five, Garner Wilson was the oldest of the three brothers. According to the ladies at Stacy’s Hair Boutique & Gift Shop—the best place in town to hear gossip—the brothers had grown up in North Carolina. After moving to New York City for reasons unknown, but highly whispered about, Garner and the middle-born brother, Brogan, had purchased a large spread outside Fate and had taken up ranching. Sterling, the youngest brother at thirty-one, joined them on the ranch a year later. For a while, people had wondered if the trio had bad blood between them, but as far as Heather could tell, the brothers got along just fine.
Ah, Garner.
Like his brothers, he was tall, standing a couple of inches over six feet. His almost white-blond hair teased his earlobes and had that ruffled just-finished-licking-you-between-your-legs look that made her wet between those same legs. He was strongly built, not too muscled like a bodybuilder but with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. His washboard stomach stretched the limits of any T-shirt he wore, but she could still see his hard physique even when he wore the heavier denim shirts. He had long legs that seemed to stretch from Georgia to Texas, and his stride was almost a swagger. He was confident, yet not cocky. Although all his delicious physical traits were amazing, it was his fascinating silver-blue eyes that haunted her at night. The color alone was enough to make her yearn for one look from him. Whenever they settled on her, she saw the intensity there, and she was lost.
Brogan was an inch taller than Garner. His eyes were a light blue and his hair a golden blond. He had the rugged toughness of Garner along with a movie hero square jaw. He always seemed to have the same amount of dark stubble running along his face. He was as tanned as most of the men in Fate, giving his skin a deep rich color. Like Garner, he tended to be serious a lot of the time, but every once in a while, a huge smile would burst forth as though he held back his humor until he couldn’t control it any longer.
Then there was Sterling. Often teased with the nickname of “Sterling Silver” because he was “almost as good as gold,” he handled the ragging with an easy-going “whatever” kind of attitude. He tended to dress in black with his worn black jeans showing wear and tear that came out as silver streaks, reinforcing the nickname. The laugh lines around his face made her ache to touch a fingertip to them.
Together or apart, they were the epitome of sexy men. Men who any woman, young or old, rich or poor, would give anything to stand near.
They were so far out of her league they couldn’t even see her. Besides, men like the Wilsons could get any woman they wanted. Why would one, much less all three of them, want her?
She sighed again, once more grateful that the others hadn’t seen her do it.
It was better to keep her fantasies to herself. Even if the Wilson men thought she was attractive, once they found out about the awful deed she’d done, they wouldn’t want anything to do with her. The South was as conservative as it got, and although she’d heard that they hadn’t grown up in the small Georgia town, she’d bet they were just as conservative as the rest of the townspeople.
At least that was how the townspeople acted. But it was strange how the town of Fate had more than its fair share of ménage relationships. She’d never had more than one man at any time, and as it had turned out, one was more than enough.
She’d keep both her secret and her liberal ideas safely hidden away.
“She wants us to coax it out of her. Like she’s pretending she doesn’t think about them night and day.” Betsy took a sip of her drink. “Spit it out, girl. You know damn well if Drake and his brothers walked in here right this minute, you’d jump to your feet and ask them what they wanted. Hell, if they ordered you to hop on top of the table and spread ’em, you’d shove us out of here so fast we’d think a tornado had barreled through the store.”
Heather glanced at Raven and saw that Betsy had it right. If she mentioned the Wilson men, the girls would give her a hard time, too.
Better keep quiet.
“Can we talk about something else? Anything else?” Raven did her best to divert the conversation away from her. “Does anyone know anything about Pearl Witten?”
“What about Pearl?” asked Heather.
Raven seemed confused by her question then brightened as she realized what Heather was doing. Besides, Heather truly wanted to know. If anyone had any news about Pearl, she wanted to hear it.
She and Pearl Witten had become fast friends in a short time. Although they really didn’t have much in common, she’d sensed a kindred soul in Pearl. While Heather was unattached, Pearl was in a relationship with two great guys.
Pearl had changed, yet she couldn’t figure out how exactly. She’d become stronger, more confident, and had started staying up later. Heather had even seen Pearl and her men Bill and Liam Franklin out in the middle of nowhere one night as she’d driven back to the duplex where she rented the upstairs apartment.
It’s partly my fault. I’ve buried my head in my work lately and neglected our friendship. Maybe Pearl feels like I’m the one who’s changed.
She made a mental note to check on Pearl later that day.
Not for the first time, Heather wondered what had brought the rest of the women to Fate. None of them had really talked about their reasons much, other than to give vague answers. The place was small with less than a thousand people living in town and in the surrounding area. Like her, they’d ended up there mostly by accident, especially since Fate wasn’t located on any map. So far, they’d talked about everything under the sun except one. She, like the others, hadn’t told them her reasons for coming or for staying. She hadn’t pressed them for details, and they’d done the same as though by mutual consent. Yet her gut told her all she needed to know. They were seeking a new life and a fresh start just like her.
“I heard Pearl’s expecting.” Emeline shrugged. “But at this point, it’s only a rumor. So she hasn’t said anything to you?”
Expecting? And Pearl hadn’t told her?
She felt hurt. Almost as though Pearl had betrayed their friendship.
Why wouldn’t her friend tell her? If Pearl was pregnant, she’d be the first to congratulate her, even if it brought back bad memories. Heather felt the eyes of the other women on her and shook her head, trying to keep her feelings from showing. “Not yet anyway. Maybe she’s keeping mum until she gets past the first trimester.”
But even then, she would’ve told me, right? Or maybe not.
“Don’t look now, but one of your lovers just walked in.”
Heather’s gaze slid past the curtain separating the main part of the store from the back room and the storage room. Babs Lithgow, the owner of the store, had her office at the far end of the building.
Drake Hardwick had entered the store. Heather’s gaze jumped to Raven. If she’d had any doubt before—and she hadn’t—that Raven was hung up on the handsome rancher, the yearning look on her friend’s face would’ve put that doubt to rest.
She’s in love. I wonder if she realizes it.
Envy, pure and simple, hit her. She thrust it away, happy for her friend.
She’d been in love before. Or, at least, she thought she had. Then she’d found out how very wrong she’d been. By then, of course, it was too late. Another life had become involved.
You can’t change the past or what you did. Don’t think about it.
“Raven, you have a customer,” urged Heather.
Putting on a calm expression that didn’t fool anyone, Raven stood and pushed through the curtain.
Heather watched as Raven slid behind the counter of the store and tried to act as though Drake Hardwick was just another customer. Silently, she urged her friend to give in to the emotions and let him know how she felt.
What if she could find love with the Wilson brothers? Did she dare risk
her heart again?
A memory of that fateful day, the day when she’d thought she’d gotten everything her young heart had yearned for, came slamming back to her. That day had turned out to be the worst day of her life. She could still picture her mother’s stern face. Her father, unable to forgive her, hadn’t shown up.
“It’s for the best, Heather.”
She could feel the heartache that had ripped her apart that day begin to wind through her again.
“I’m not sure I can go through with it, Mom.”
“You don’t have any other choice. You gave up that right when you let that boy take you in the back of his car.” Her mother’s eyebrow shot up, her usual expression whenever she laid down judgment of Heather. “My daughter. A slut. You’ve shamed your entire family. You know that, don’t you?”
Heather had wanted to scream, to deny the names her mother called her, but she couldn’t. Her mother was right. She’d broken her parents’ trust. Worst, she’d found out that Bryan Nathans hadn’t cared about her even after he’d promised to stick by her. Instead, she’d let her mother continue to rant on, telling her how disappointed, how sickened she was to claim her as her daughter.
Heather had made the decision at that very moment to leave Houston, Texas, and never return to her family’s home. Although it had taken another seven years to go through with her decision, she’d finally packed up what few belongings she’d owned and thrown them into her old Ford pickup then gotten on the highway and headed east. She was about to run out of money and courage when she’d thrown her future to fate and had taken an unnamed side road. After winding around several back roads, she’d ended up driving down the middle of Fate.