by Lori King
It was crazy to think about. Surely she was crazy to even believe it. Her thoughts zipped around in her brain making her slightly dizzy. I’m a wolf, and these are my wolf mates?
“You guys did it without telling me first? Why? So that you would have some sort of sicko hold on me? Am I going to sprout fur now?” she asked sarcastically. She knew she was lashing out in fear at them, but she couldn’t help it. This decision was something she had no choice in now, and she felt violated somehow. The idea that her men would make a choice so important for her, hurt her to the bone. She pushed Damon away from her, and stood up to pace the room.
“No, you won’t just start sprouting fur. At the full moon, you will change, yes. For now you won’t be able to stop it, but one day in the future you will have that kind of control. I’m sorry. We should have taken the time to explain more, but damn it, I wanted you so badly.” Devin watched her patiently, as she put space between the three of them so that she could gather her thoughts. “We only have a few days until the full moon, and I would really like to present you to the pack as our mate.”
“The pack?” She looked over her shoulder at him in confusion.
“Our family is called a pack—a wolf pack. We have a den—a home—just outside of the city. I am the Alpha of the pack, which basically means I’m the leader. In the human world it would be the king. Damon, Liam, Owen, and Cash are some of my Betas or second-in-command. You will be an Alpha’s mate, which in the human world is like a queen,” Devin stated, and she spun around to stare at them.
“Queen? Me?” Her self-esteem issues clawed to the surface, and she felt her knees buckle. Damon was moving to catch her before she even knew she was falling. He sat in the chair with her in his arms, and stroked her hair from her face.
“Beautiful, don’t doubt that you will make a great queen. You are sexy and smart, and you already have the two most important pack members wrapped around your little finger.” He smiled, and his dark-green eyes sparkled with love.
Leave it to Damon to make her feel better about something that scared her so much. Caroline couldn’t stop turning the word queen over and over in her mind. She was just a regular person, a nurse at the local hospital, not a queen. There was nothing about her life that was even minutely royal. She couldn’t pull it off, and the twins would regret choosing her as their mate.
“Not a chance, darlin’.” Devin growled as he heard her thoughts. Her startled eyes looked straight into his, and she automatically held her arms out to him. She needed him to comfort her, too, so that she didn’t start to panic at all of this new information. And he was there. That fast he was on his knees in front of her with his head on her chest and his arms around her middle. Her heart swelled with emotion as Damon held her securely in his lap, and Devin embraced her, silently offering her the comfort and support that she needed.
Her world had just been flipped on its side, and she was struggling to get her feet back under her. She was in love with two men that she didn’t really even know, and she was considering giving them her future. How would she explain this to her friends, and coworkers. The more she forced herself to look at the situation, the more her heart led her down this path. She knew that she had to follow this through and see where it took her. She wanted them to know that they hadn’t scared her off, even if she was scared out of her mind.
“I love you, Devin, and you, too, Damon. Whatever happens, I love you guys. I don’t know if I can do this, so don’t start planning a wedding, but I’m not walking away. I need to know if this is real. I want to believe it is.” She whispered it, but she needed to say it out loud.
They held her for what seemed like hours, but it was probably only minutes. It was Damon who broke the contact first, using his fingers to lift her chin until their eyes met.
“Hot damn, Dev. We’ve got ourselves a mate.” His smile warmed her to her toes, and she couldn’t help but return it. Grinning back, she turned to see Devin’s reaction to his brother, and his beautiful face had burst into a radiant smile. She kept herself from restricting his statement, or playing the what-if game with herself. No matter what, she was just going to let this happen like it was intended, and enjoy every second she had with them.
“Come on. We are going out tonight, sugar. We need to talk with the boys more, and I definitely need to take you dancing.” Devin pulled her up into his arms, and spun her around into a dip. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen yet. Usually he was so serious, but this side of him was more like Damon, playful and happy. She couldn’t hold her laughter in as he righted her and pulled her close. She looked up at them to find them smiling and staring at her again.
“What?” she said, laughing.
“You have to do that more often, beautiful. Your laugh is the sexiest sound I have ever heard in my life.” Devin’s words drove the sexual tension in the room high as she felt her stomach ball up with desire. “Oh, and your horny scent might get you fucked again instead of getting you to the store for clothes, so you better tame your thoughts.”
Caroline smirked, and just to tease them a little, she deliberately pushed a few scandalously dirty thoughts their way.
Both men growled and then moaned as she sashayed off down the hallway to get her shoes.
She’s going to be the death of us, Devin thought.
Yeah, but if I have to die, that’s how I want to go. Damon couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. He and Devin were mated now, and hopefully soon they would be starting a family. He was relieved that Caroline had taken their secret so well, but a mental image of her confusion and hesitation flitted through his brain. He was apprehensive that the conversation wasn’t over yet. Shaking off his nerves, he followed his woman back down the hallway to get ready. He was determined to take her out and show her a good time.
Chapter 9
As they pulled into the gravel lot of a small country western bar, Caroline’s stomach dropped to her knees, and she wondered for the millionth time how she possibly thought she was going to go out into public like this. When they left the house Devin and Damon had taken her directly to the mall to pick up more clothes. Devin pointedly ignored her arguments that she could pick out and purchase things for herself, and they spent the better part of an hour making a pile of bags and boxes from several upscale stores to restock her wardrobe. They picked out the expected dresses that were figure hugging, and heels and strappy sandals, along with sexy lingerie, and even a pair of delicate silver moon earrings that Damon caught her admiring. Then they surprised her by stopping in a Western-wear shop where they purchased skintight blue jeans, a button-down plaid shirt, a pair of lady’s white cowboy boots, and a matching white cowboy hat. She had laughed at them and resisted saying she wasn’t country enough to wear boots and a hat, but they wouldn’t listen.
“You ride as well as any cowgirl I’ve ever seen, beautiful!” Damon had argued, and she had given in reluctantly.
So here she was climbing out of Devin’s huge pickup, looking like a rodeo queen, and feeling very out of place. The clothes were surprisingly comfortable, and well worth the arousing reaction that her appearance had on her men, but now she had to pull off the look in front of real cowboys? What was she thinking?
“Stop worrying, you look hot as hell,” Damon said next to her ear as he helped her out of the truck. He moved her mahogany curls aside to kiss her neck, and she let out a nervous giggle.
“If you say so. So who all are we supposed to meet here?” she asked, looping her arm through Damon’s and letting him pull her into the bar. Devin followed slightly behind them with a possessive hand on the small of her back. She loved knowing that she had him behind her, taking care of her.
It’s just the guys from the firehouse, sugar. Relax.
Devin’s words were a calming caress through her head, and she found herself smiling in spite of her nerves. They moved through the crowd quickly, and they led her up onto a raised platform opposite the bar that was surrounded by a short railing. There were two rou
nd tables there with plush-looking circular booths wrapping around them. This was obviously the VIP section of the bar, she thought to herself. Her eyes met those of Cash, Liam’s, and Owen’s, who tipped his beer bottle at her and looked distinctly more comfortable than he should have considering his clothing. He was still wearing dress clothes, but had lost the tie and jacket. He looked genuinely relaxed in this gritty environment, and she figured there must be more to him than she first assumed. Shaking off her curiosity at the enigma of Owen, she let her gaze sweep the rest of the occupants of the space.
There were two more men, and a couple of country-clothed bottle blondes snuggled cozily in the circle. The two women seemed to be quite happy seated in the middle of much testosterone, and based on their glassy eyes, also seemed to be quite intoxicated.
Perfect, she thought to herself. All I will have to chat with is sexy men that I’m not supposed to think are sexy because they are related to my boyfriends. She followed Damon in sliding into the booth, and leaned into him as he settled back on the seat. Devin reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he sat next to her, and she smiled up at him. That was better. At least she knew that they wanted to be with her, and not the two bleach-blonde skanks across from them.
Damn, beautiful, chill out. Those two aren’t my type. I promise you that you are so much hotter than they are, especially when you’re riding my cock and screaming my name.
Caroline blushed at Damon, but couldn’t help the gleeful feeling that settled over her as she realized she really was worrying about nothing. Her men wanted her, and no one else. Her confidence high, she leaned over to Liam who was closest to Damon.
“Hey guys, good to see you again! Looks like you’re having fun.” She smiled pointedly toward the bimbo on his arm, and he laughed gleefully.
“Good to see you, darlin’, and we are always having fun! Did you lovebirds work out your issues today?” He grinned at Devin who shot him a black look. “Guess you don’t want to talk about your feelings huh?”
“Fuck off, Gray,” Devin said, and he ordered beers for the table. “Caroline, you know these three shits, but the two new ones are Rafe and Ryley Whetstone.”
She smiled back at the two new faces taking them in and comparing them to her men. They had to be related as well, but she wasn’t quite sure how they connected with Devin and Damon. Unlike the other five guys, these two looked like Norse Vikings. They both had yellow-gold hair and light-blue eyes. She guessed that Rafe was the oldest of the two because he had a few laugh lines around his mouth, and he kept his hair cut shorter. Ryley’s hair was down to his shoulders and looked soft as silk. Their bodies were burly and even more muscular than her men, with thick necks and biceps that were probably bigger than her waist. She knew they were firemen because they both wore T-shirts emblazoned with the firehouse logo on them, but because of their laughing, light-blue eyes she wondered if they were wolves.
“The answer is yes, they are wolves, too, sugar,” Devin answered, and she saw the two men in question smile wider, clearly knowing where her female mind had gone. “They are pack members, but not directly family. Although, I like to think of them as my brothers.”
Rafe laughed out loud at this statement, “Hell yeah we’re brothers, after everything we’ve suffered through with you, Devin!”
That got a loud laugh from everyone, and even Devin smiled.
“They are actually my foster brothers, though I don’t admit that very often. I would hate to be lumped in with these soft pups.” Liam’s eyes sparkled with laughter as he teased the two blonde hunks. Ryley reached over the table to smack him in the back of the head which brought on another round of laughter. She decided she liked this rough and rowdy group of men, and she hoped she would like the rest of her new family as much.
“Okay, boys, clear the ladies out, we need to get our business over with so that I can relax.” Devin indicated the two women seated with them, and his tone shut down any real argument from the men.
The two women however, looked disappointed and whined a bit as the guys moved to let them out of the booth. Eventually they wandered off to find someone else’s arm to cling to. Caroline sat there nervously unsure of whether or not she was supposed to stay or go away, too, but Devin’s arm remained tight around her shoulder, and Damon’s hand on her upper thigh kept her seated.
“Tommie said that Barton is headed this way as we speak. He may already be here. Apparently Tommie’s friend lost their trail just outside of the Des Moines city limits.” Owen was looking at Devin, but speaking to the group. Caroline’s brow furrowed as she tried to remember if someone had told her who Tommie was. And who was Barton?
“Damn. If he challenges me, I’ll have to kill him. I can’t leave him wounded to challenge me again later. This is not what I need right now.” Devin ran a hand through his black hair in obvious frustration.
“What is he thinking? Why would he think that anyone in our pack would follow him as their leader? Most of his own pack doesn’t even respect him as their Alpha!” Damon was clearly agitated at the conversation, too.
It was Cash who leaned in closer and said, “Devin, we have the guys all on high alert, and if someone catches even a glimpse of his hide around here, we will know it. We can’t wait for him to attack us. We need to be on the offense.”
Caroline caught the glint of hunger for battle in his eyes, and looking around the table she could see the barely controlled rage and anxiety in each man. They were itching for a fight with this Barton guy, and Caroline just couldn’t understand why.
“No, that’s exactly what we are going to do. We are going to hold back and wait for his move. We all know that the other members of the Gray Pack will never accept Barton as their leader, but he is arrogant. He has hated me since we were kids and I showed him up in Memphis. His father gave him such a whooping that day that I even felt bad for him. If he wants a fight, he will have it, but I won’t be accused of starting this war.” Devin was restraining his own anger and trying to force a sense of calm on the group, but Caroline could feel it in his muscles. Whoever this Barton guy was, clearly he was a threat to him, and in turn to her.
“Who knows about Caroline?” Cash asked quietly. Caroline wasn’t even sure she heard the question clearly over the music, but Damon’s response cleared up her confusion.
“Only you guys know about our mate right now, but if Barton finds out, he will do everything in his power to use her against Devin. He will assume that she is his Achilles heel. We all know what happens to a wolf when their mate is taken from them. If he gets to her, the battle is over.” There was an ominous silence as he paused and physically shook himself as if trying to clear the thoughts from his head before continuing. “We were planning to take her to the den this week over the full moon for her first change though, so everyone else will find out then. I’m gonna need to call the chief because Dev and I need to be with her until Barton is found. We’ll have to find coverage for our shifts at the station.” Damon looked at Devin who silently nodded his agreement.
“Hold on a second. You guys are talking about me like I’m not here? Who is this Barton guy, and why would he give a rat’s ass about me? I’ve never done anything to him. And why would you need to take time off of work to stay with me? I’m a big girl. In fact I’ve lived alone for the last decade and done just fine. I even know how to shoot a gun, and trust me I would shoot to kill.” Caroline couldn’t keep the irritation out of her voice. These men were acting like sexist apes. They weren’t going to sit here and make decisions for her.
“Shit, why can’t I find a good woman that can shoot?” Rafe grumbled.
“You’ll be lucky if you can ever find any woman who will tolerate your cranky ass, bro, much less a good one.” Ryley and the others laughed at his joke, but it was clear that they were all deadly serious about this situation.
“Caroline, Barton is an Alpha. His pack—the Diego Pack—is denned in Chicago. He is a power-hungry wolf who has decided he wants
my pack to be his as well. I believe you when you say you think you can take care of yourself, but this isn’t the average guy. You can’t shoot him and do any real damage. He is a werewolf, and he has nothing to lose. He can, and will take advantage of my bond with you. I have no doubt. I want you protected, and that means having someone with you at all times.” Devin’s tone was bossy and controlling. Completely Alpha, was Caroline’s first thought. She decided it would be better not to argue with him while they were out in public, but they would talk more about this at home.
“So we’re all just going to go about our lives like there isn’t a crazy wolf after us?” she asked incredulously. The other men wouldn’t meet her eyes as she looked around the table. They were obviously going to follow Devin on this one.
“Yep, and I plan on dancing with my mate while my brother gets us some sustenance. Let’s go!” Damon’s smile was contagious as he pushed on her side. Devin moved out of the booth to let them up, and Damon took her cowboy hat off, dropping it in his bother’s waiting hands. Then he pulled her toward the dance floor. Her irritation melted away as he spun her around into a quick dip before dropping a soft kiss on her lips. Then, grabbing her hand, he led her toward the dance floor.
She heard a long, low whistle behind her, and grinned back at Liam over her shoulder just to get under Devin’s skin. All six males behind her had their eyes glued to her denim-covered ass as she walked away, and she couldn’t resist the extra sway in her step just to twist the knife.
Behave, sugar, or I will spank your ass when we get home. Devin’s voice in her head was husky with desire, so she shot back at him.
Promises, promises.
Damon swung her around into a slow dance as the loud music softened, and he pulled her close to him. Their foreheads met as he stared into her eyes. She could see the controlled heat in them as their bodies pressed together, and her now-hard nipples rubbed against his chest. She moaned softly when he pulled her arms up around his neck and slid his hands down into her back pockets to hold her ass. Everyone around them disappeared as they seemed to move together as one unit. They rocked together in perfect harmony for the length of the song, and into the second slow song. The cotton of her shirt seemed to rasp erotically against her breasts, and her fingers found a path of their own through the hair at the nape of his neck. He pressed his erection hard against her and pulled her pelvis to meet him. They went from dancing to swaying with their own grinding motions. His heated masculine scent seared her brain and brought her blood to a rapid boil.
