The papers fell from her trembling hands. Kara stared at Aiden. “Everything he ever said, about us being the alphas, it was a lie.”
“Not a lie. Alastair was an alpha and so was Ryder’s dad.” Aiden opened the box and removed a typed manuscript. “Just a broke one. It’s all here in dad’s book. The Carringtons left their family because Ryder’s grandfather ruled the roost and kept threatening to take Ryder away and raise him the way he thought an alpha’s son should be raised. So they came here for a fresh start, bought the ranch and all the contents from mom and dad. It was an unusual arrangement, but not too odd for the time when Lupines banded together for protection. The ruling of the pack by an alpha pair, while a second alpha pair took care of everyday business. They left the ranch in trust to Ryder.”
Their inheritance had never been theirs after all. Everything belonged to Ryder. She felt cheated for herself, but panicked for her brother.
Kara’s heart thudded harder. “Then there is nothing here to sell. You own nothing.”
“Not a damned acre.” He looked at her solemnly. “I’m all right, though. I’ll survive.”
Her mate came into the room, holding a sweetener packet she’d seen in her father’s office. “Damn that stuff is strong. Just a taste and my mouth went numb.”
“What stuff?” she asked.
“I went to move the bowl of sweetener on Alastair’s desk and noticed something odd. The packets had been opened and resealed. No one ever bothered looking because he was the alpha and that was his desk.”
Stunned, she stared as her mate ripped open a small blue envelope and spilled out the white substance onto the cocktail table.
“Put a little on your tongue,” he told Aiden. “But not much.”
Her brother did so and blinked hard. “Shit. That’s not sweetener.”
“Illegal drugs. He was hiding it in the packets. Always wondered why Alastair kept all that sweetener on his desk. Used it right before he beat the shit out of me. I left everything in his office alone for you to go through. And now that you’re here, Aiden, I needed to find out what it was.”
Ryder licked his lips. “No wonder the old man went batshit. He was on some lab-created crap that made his system go haywire.”
Aiden swore. “A local Lupine physician gave him pills after my mom died, to help him get through the pain of losing her. He must have gotten addicted, and moved on to something else.”
The granite cocktail table cracked beneath her brother’s smashing fist. “Son of a bitch! Dad knew Lupines can’t handle drugs, especially the shit that gets Skins high. Why did he do it?”
“Maybe he was desperate. Losing control. Every day he struggled to function after losing Mom because he missed her terribly. He probably took the drugs to dull his grief. And then it got too late.” Kara struggled with grief. “That’s why he’d have those horrible mood swings. He’d be calm and peaceful and happy, and perfectly reasonable, and then turn into…”
“A monster.” Ryder tensed, every muscle clenching as if he tried holding back his rage. “It’s why he was so easy for me to take down. He was stoned.”
“No. There’s another reason, Ryder.” She gestured for him to join her on the sofa. Kara squeezed her mate’s hand. “Tell him, Aiden.”
Her brother took a deep breath and revealed what he'd found. Her mate’s eyes widened.
Grief tightened her throat as she remembered all Ryder had suffered at her father’s hands. “You are a true alpha, Ryder, not an omega like Dad said. It’s in your nature to rule. That’s why you always rebelled against my father and why he always punished you. He was desperate to remain in power. But no matter how much he put you down, you came back up fighting.”
She struggled to keep her voice even. “The ranch is yours. When the pack discovers the property legally belonged to your family all along, you’ll have no problem gaining their loyalty. You don’t need me for that.”
“Huh.” He kissed her cheek. “I need you, sweeting, more than ever. I told you, titles are no good in this pack anymore. Other than the only one I’ll allow. Yours. You’re queen of the pack. Ruler of my heart. My mate.”
Aiden grinned. “Spare me the sappiness.” Then his smile dropped. “Legally, the ranch belongs to you. The trust is in your name.”
Her mate’s expression tightened. “Won’t do me any good without an official death certificate. We never told authorities about Alastair’s death. That leaves everything in limbo.”
Aiden frowned. “At least you’ll have the gold to restore the ranch to full working order.”
Kara sighed. “There is no gold. I looked in the trunk Dad kept hidden. All that’s there are photos.”
“If it ever was here.” Aiden ran a hand through his dark hair. “Always thought Dad bragged about a myth. He said he had stored gold for us if we ever needed it, but we had to be damn desperate to sell it.”
Her heart sank to her stomach. “Aiden, you’re going to lose everything you’ve worked so hard to build. All the Lupines you took into your pack will be homeless.”
“Hey.” Aiden framed her face with his large hands. “Listen to me, sis. I love you. Don’t you dare worry about me. You love him, with all your heart, enough to stay here and make this place your home again?”
She nodded. “I love him and this is my home. Our home.”
Gently, he kissed her forehead. “Then that’s all I need to know. Ever since that night when we left here, you’ve been miserable. It’s about damn time you came home and were happy.”
“But what about you and your pack?”
He gave a crooked grin. “We’ll survive. And if I can’t come up with the money somehow, maybe I’ll hire myself out as an escort. I bet women would pay good money for me.”
She wrapped her hands around his wrists, refusing to let him off the hook with a joke. “I love you Aiden. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
His smile faded. “Be happy. It’s all I ask. And when you and this arrogant SOB here have young, send me photos of my nieces and nephews.”
Ryder rested a possessive hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take good care of her.”
Aiden’s gaze turned hard. “You’d better. I made a vow two years ago to protect every female under my care and never let her go unless I was absolutely certain she was going to a male who’d protect her as fiercely as I did.”
He stuck out a palm and Ryder shook it.
“If only Alastair had stored treasure.” Ryder shrugged. “All that’s down there in the basement is old junk that’s been there for years. Antiques. Old signs, toys still in their boxes…”
Suddenly his eyes widened and a wide grin split his face. “Antiques. You guys remember the Skin who visited the ranch who offered $1,000 for that old Texaco sign Alastair had hanging by the feeding station? He hung it there as a joke for the cattle, and the old Skin really, really wanted it. He said if we had more old stuff like that it would be worth its weight…”
“In gold,” Aiden finished.
She and Aiden exchanged glances. “Antiques,” she said. “Grandmother’s china, Dad’s collection of old Colt guns. Oil paintings and those jade pieces Grandpa bought in China. All that stuff…”
“Gold,” Aiden finished for her. He rubbed his whiskered chin. “Damn. There’s probably at least $50,000 worth of antiques in that room.”
“It must be worth more. The jade alone was expensive. We have to get it all appraised.” Kara couldn’t believe it. “I also found a crate filled with silver coins.”
“Ingots,” Aiden murmured. “The old bastard collected them, and original Morgan dollars. He could have thousands.”
“Alastair gave me 100 silver ingots when my parents died.” Ryder’s eyes widened. “I sold them last month for cash to pay bills. Each one was worth around $40. I’d say you have at least six figures in coins alone.”
“More than enough to pay off the bank loan, Aiden.” Her voice cracked.
Hope lit Aiden’s eyes, and the
n he shook his head. “The lands, the buildings and all their contents belong to Ryder. Legally, everything on the property was left in trust to him.”
“Those antiques belong to your family, not mine,” Ryder said solemnly. “I’ll get the items appraised, find a dealer to sell all of it, and in return for doing all the work, I’ll take 10 percent of the profits. Deal?”
Aiden nodded.
They went outside on the porch. The sun shone bright on the fields as a Lupine on a tractor cut the overgrown grass. It promised to be a fine day.
A battered white pick-up truck rattled up the drive and parked before the lodge. David climbed out and mounted the porch steps. “Everything is complete here. My work is done. I shall take my leave now.”
Ryder hooked an arm around Kara’s waist. “Leaving now, when life promises to be much better?”
“I cannot stay. I came here for a purpose, to see this pack settled once more.”
Kara’s jaw dropped as David shapeshifted into a dark-eyed man. Clad in black leather pants, a black shirt and doeskin boots, he stood well over six feet tall. Wind lifted the man’s shoulder-length black hair, each strand tipped with silver, glinting like polished chrome.
Tristan, the Silver Wizard, a member of the Brehon, the four powerful wizard judges of OtherWorlders. Kara lowered her gaze, but Ryder did not, and neither did Aiden.
Her brother leaned against the railing, and folded his arms. “Tristan. Last time Ryder and I saw you years ago, you kicked our asses for shifting into our wolf forms when those Skins jumped us outside the bar.”
“I could have fried your asses for that indiscretion. But you were both drunk and I had mercy,” the wizard said evenly.
“So now what the hell are you doing here?” Aiden asked.
“I came here to help Ryder assume leadership. And now it’s time for me to step aside.”
“Terrific timing.” Ryder growled. “You couldn’t have gotten here sooner, say when Alastair was ruining the pack?”
“Things were meant to happen as they will unfold.”
“Stop sounding like a damn fortune cookie,” Ryder snapped. “Where were you when everything was going to shit?”
“At your side, as you will recall. Do not judge me, Lupine.”
The wizard’s voice was dangerously soft.
But Ryder ignored the warning. “Alastair turned psycho long before I was pushed into challenging him. He hurt Kara!”
“You have free will, Ryder. You did not choose to leave,” the wizard pointed out. “And neither did Kara. You did this because of your love for Kara, and your respect for her father. Is that not true? If not, correct me.”
Ryder fell silent at that.
He gave them a critical look. “Alastair committed many wrongdoings and now it is time to heal. It is up to you, and Aiden and Kara, to forgive the past and move ahead. To forgive Alastair for all he did.”
A knot formed in her stomach. Kara stepped forward and looked directly at the powerful wizard. “I can forgive him. I know now what it is like to love so completely, your heart shatters when your mate is missing.”
Her mouth wobbled and her voice dropped to a bare whisper. “I just wish, wherever he was, he’d be at peace. He never had any peace after she died.”
The wizard gave her a gentle smile. “He’s with your mother now, Kara, and they are at peace, in Tir Na-nog, the land where the departed live, home to the Brehon. He did what he did because he loved her so much he could not bear the pain of losing his mate. He’s suffered enough in his earthly life.”
The wizard gave Ryder a solemn look. “You will find the official death certificate for Alastair on his desk. It is dated for today. With the death certificate you may fully assume ownership.”
“How did you get the death certificate? We buried him on the property and never informed the authorities. It’s why I kept forging his signature to pay bills and purchase food,” Ryder asked.
Tristan gave a mysterious smile. “You are not the only one who can forge signatures, Ryder Carrington. What is the use of having power as a wizard if I cannot help my people? It was the last action I had to take to set you on your way to leading the pack.”
The wizard waved a hand and vanished.
Aiden snorted. “Always the showmanship. Comes and goes when the fun gets started.”
Something inside her tight chest eased at last. “Come on. Both of you.”
Taking their hands, she led them inside, past the dining hall. They walked down the steep steps. Kara found the hidden key and unlocked the basement door. At her father’s office, she walked inside as they silently waited. Kara remembered all the love her father once showed her, and how cherished she once had felt, before her mother died.
“I forgive you, Dad. Be at peace,” she whispered, placing a palm on the table where he’d hurt her so much.
They went into the cell where Ryder had been imprisoned. Ryder placed a palm on the wall where he’d marked the days with his own blood. “I forgive you, Alastair. Be at peace.”
Then they walked upstairs. Aiden led them outside onto the porch. He turned, his expression deeply troubled.
“I can’t do this.”
“You must,” she said gently. “You must because you need healing. Dad is gone now, and you have to carry on.”
His silky black hair became tousled as Aiden shoved a hand through it. “There is no place where I suffered the most, like you two did. I never shared what the old man did to me. I know what he did to you.”
“Tell us, Aiden,” Ryder said.
His expression turned haunted. “He didn’t beat me as he did to you, Ryder. He didn’t burn me, like he did you, Kara. He hurt me with words. Every day, telling me I was incompetent and could never rule a pack of my own because I cared too much. He said I’d be even bigger fool if I fell in love because love is a bitch that will rip your heart apart. And an alpha must never let that happen. I made a vow to him that I’d always remain strong, and never let a woman capture my heart.”
Kara blinked and put a palm over her brother’s strong, beating heart. “Then he placed the deepest wounds of all on you, Aiden. That’s why you must forgive him.”
Aiden sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He placed a trembling hand over his chest. “I forgive you, Dad. Be at peace.”
Tears glistened when he opened his eyes. Aiden gruffly wiped them away. “Damn, enough of this. I’m going to the barn to supervise my men. They’re probably flirting with all your available females right now, Ryder. Don’t be surprised if a few steal away in my truck.”
“It’s the mating heat,” Ryder agreed, sliding an arm about her waist. “Turns level-headed males mindless with lust. All they think about is the mating frenzy.”
She watched her brother leap off the porch and head for the barn. In the yard, children played and shrieked as they chased a soccer ball. The sounds of hammers in the distance assured her that this pack would soon get back on its feet and with the assistance of the sold antiques and coins, Aiden’s new pack would thrive as well. Perhaps she’d visit in the future. But she would never return there.
For her heart belonged here with her pack. Her heart belonged to Ryder. And here, at home, she’d remain, ruling at his side.
The End
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Keep reading for a preview of The Mating Rite, Book Four in the Werewolves of Montana series.
The Matin
g Rite - Preview
At precisely 7 p.m. a woman walked into the hotel and hesitated at the top of the stairs. The tantalizing scent of lilac and vanilla teased his Lupine senses. Mesmerized by the vision of ethereal beauty, Darius stared. Dressed in a green floral dress, clutching a big black designer bag, she wore pink strappy heels that accented legs that, whoa, went on forever.
Gone were the coltish lines of youth, replaced with a mature female form. Masses of shining hair the color of corn silk spilled down her backside. She was voluptuous, with generous breasts, wide hips and a slight curve to her belly. She had grown up and filled out quite nicely. But the flushed cheeks, full rosebud mouth and big violet eyes remained the same.
It was Sam, his mate.
He’d wanted her for 10 years. No one but Sam could satisfy him. Every other woman paled in comparison. Darius felt as if he’d been handed his life back.
He set down the wineglass, unable to drag his gaze away. Ten years spent mourning her loss. Ten years spent with other women in his bed simply to forget her. Ten years spent dreaming of holding her close, only to awaken and find his arms empty.
The dreams had been woven from opaque memories he’d fought to keep alive. And now Sam stood on the steps in the flesh. He could taste her scent on his tongue, hear the increased pounding of her heart, see her expression alight with hopeful anticipation. She was real.
He forgot about the Skins crowding the bar.
He forgot he was meeting her on the pretext of a blind date.
He forgot everything, except the ancient Lupine call to mate and claim.
The slow heat building inside him became a consuming need, then a possessive frenzy triggering the instinct to rush up the stairs, tear off her clothing, toss her down on all fours and cover her. Mine, he snarled silently.
Deep inside, the man wrestled for control of the wolf. With every ounce of considerable strength, he roped his beast and held it at bay. Thoughts of Sam naked and soft beneath him burned through his brain. Darius gripped the table’s edge.
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance Page 96
