All they heard was a loud pop, and Steve Deacon lay dead. The fucker had taken his own brother’s life.
Chapter 1
Two years later
Kianna Deacon hadn’t been back to see her father in fifteen years. Not since the day her mother ran with her and divorced the son of a bitch. She didn’t even come home for her brother’s funeral two years ago. She had still been afraid. Afraid the old man would come after her like he did her mother.
Now he was gone, so it was time to come home. She didn’t know why she still considered it home since she hadn’t lived here since she was a teenager. There were only three reasons she came back: Teaghen, Duncan, and Alex Featherstone.
As a kid, she had followed them around like a little puppy yapping at their heels. They were always kind to her and never made her feel unwanted or afraid. She always ran to them when things got real bad at home, too. She wouldn’t dare go to her brothers, most of them were no better than her father. He’d raised all his boys to be bastards just like him. To them, women should be seen and not heard, and when they got out of line, a good fist to the face should put them back in their place. Steve had been the only one who had any humanity at all, and he had been lucky enough to escape when his father sent him off to law school. But his humanity had cost him his life.
Kianna shivered as she drove up to the front of the ranch house. Nothing seemed to have changed around the farm. The barns still needed repair, and the hands looked just as lazy as always. Well, that was about to change.
For some unknown reason, Bubba Deacon, patriarch of the Deacon clan, had left it all to her, maybe out of some sense of remorse for not being in her life and for being such a bastard to her when he was. Whatever the reason was, she didn’t give a shit. The ranch was hers free and clear. The only stipulation was that her older brother, Ray, who had been lucky and spent only a year in prison from that fateful night, is allowed to live in the smaller ranch house for the next two years or until he decided to move on. Kianna doubted very much that Ray would move out before he absolutely had to. He was already pissed at not getting the ranch, so sticking around and making her life a living hell for the next two years would be a joy for him.
“Well, hello there, pretty lady.” One of the skankiest looking cowboys she’d seen in a long time came sauntering up to her looking like he was the best thing since sliced bread. “What can I do to help such a beautiful, little woman with today? Do you need a hand with your…motor?”
His gap-toothed smile made her want to haul off and belt him for his arrogance. But she’d play along for a minute or two and see how far this ass was going to go before he hung himself good. Having a black belt in karate helped her to stand her ground better.
“Why, no, sir, I don’t need help. My motor is just fine. I’m actually looking for Ray Deacon. Is he around anywhere?” Kianna smiled the biggest smile she could and leaned back against her truck.
“Oh, I see. You’re one of Ray’s little whores.” Clearly thinking he had her pegged, this “cowboy” ran his dirty hand down her arm and grabbed her hand, pulling her against him.
“Ray shares all his whores with me, so why don’t you and I head into the house, and we’ll have some fun first.”
Kianna stepped back, the smile still plastered to her face. Her teeth were gritted so hard together her jaw was aching.
“What’s your name, cowboy? A girl can’t be too careful nowadays,” she said coyly.
“I’m Rusty. I’m the ranch foreman. That means I run just about everything around here, so let’s you and I get better acquainted, shall we?” He went to grab her around the waist, but before he got the chance, she pulled him forward and had his arm behind his back and him flat against the truck before he knew what hit him.
“Hey now, little lady, if you like it rough, I can give you that, too. Just let me go, and I’ll show you a real good time,” he said, looking back over his shoulder.
“You really are a stupid fuck, aren’t you, Rusty?” Ray Deacon came out of the house letting the screen door slam behind him.
Kianna hadn’t said a word yet.
“Who the fuck is this bitch, Ray? And tell her to let me go,” Rusty whined at her brother.
“This, my friend, is your new boss. Kianna Deacon…meet your foreman, Rusty Lemont.” Ray laughed.
“Ex-foreman you mean.” Kianna pushed back from Rusty and ducked quickly as he turned and swung at her.
“You fucking bitch. You can’t fire me. I’ve worked for your daddy for some ten years, and he promised me I could stay on,” Rusty yelled.
“He’s dead, Rusty, and I made no promises to anyone, and from the looks of you and the state of this ranch, you haven’t been doing your job properly to begin with. So pack your shit and get off my land in the next hour. If I see you on my property again, I’ll fill your ass full of buckshot,” Kianna yelled right back at him.
“Are you going to stand for this, Ray? She’s gonna run this place into the ground,” Rusty griped, staring at her brother.
“There’s not a shit load I can do about it, Rusty. The old man left it all to her. I only got use of the smaller house for the next two years then I gotta get out, too.”
“Did your daddy go daft before he died, Ray? Why the fuck is he leaving everything to this stranger?” Rusty pointed his dirty finger at her.
“Nope, the old bastard wasn’t daft when he died,” Kianna said to him and nodded toward Ray.
“And he already tried that avenue in the courts. Bubba Deacon was found to be of sound mind when he wrote his will over two years ago. Maybe the old fucker had some sort of epiphany when he found out he was dying. I don’t know and, frankly, couldn’t really give a shit. The ranch is mine now, lock, stock, and barnyard, and anyone wanting to work for me is going to have to prove himself, and you, Rusty, just proved what a complete dickhead you are, so get the fuck off my land, now.” With that, she turned and headed up the old, creaky porch stairs and into the house.
* * * *
Ray watched his baby sister pass him and go into the house. Man, oh man, she grew up to be a real ballbuster. How the fuck am I going to get the ranch back? Leaning against the porch railing, he raised his eyebrows to Rusty.
“Well, you heard the lady, Rusty, go pack your stuff and get moving.”
“You have got to be kiddin’ me, Ray. Are you gonna let that little bit of a thing push you around? I thought your daddy raised you up right, boy,” Rusty taunted him.
“There’s nothing I can do…yet.” Ray smiled and walked down the stairs to where his foreman stood. Putting his arm around his shoulder, he turned them and started walking back toward the barns. When they were a fair distance from the house, Ray stopped and said quietly, “This isn’t permanent, Rusty. Just move your stuff into my apartment in town for now. You can stay there and help me get this bitch off our land.”
A smile broke across the older man’s face as he said, “Now there’s Bubba Deacon’s boy!”
With that said, Rusty turned and almost ran toward the bunkhouse. Ray walked back to the house and knew he would have to face Kianna once he got inside. Damn, why did his daddy get all guilt ridden after Steve’s death? His little brother was the one who had helped to gather a lot of the evidence against them in the first place. Sean wouldn’t be spending the remainder of his life in prison if Steve hadn’t turned on them. Now his little sister was there wanting to put a crimp in his plans, and that he wouldn’t let happen.
Ray and his daddy had built up a good smuggling business, and he wasn’t about to let Kianna ruin it for him. With Sean in prison and his daddy dead, the profits were now all his. His two other brothers hadn’t known anything about the smuggling operation and had moved on with their lives and had kept far away from the ranch after they got out prison.
Opening the screen door, Ray entered the kitchen expecting to find his sister waiting for him at the table ready to laud her ownership over him. He walked through the kitchen and didn’t see her anywher
e. He called her name.
“Out back, Ray. Come out and sit with me for a while,” she called to him.
Ray slowly walked out the open back door, not sure quite what to expect from his baby sister. The last time he saw her, before the reading of the will, she had been no more than fourteen or fifteen and a skinny, little bit of a thing, frightened of everything and everyone.
“Hey, little sis,” he said with a smile as he sat in one of the deck chairs beside her. “I know it’s not your fault that Daddy left you everything, and I am grateful that I can stay in the smaller house until I get my shit together.”
* * * *
Kianna could see Ray trying to hold down the bile that was forming in his throat from saying those words to her. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that this calm and collected Ray Deacon was going to stay around for any length of time. When she’d first found out that Bubba had died and left her everything, she wanted to throw it right back in their sorry-ass faces.
Her mom was the one to talk her out of it.
Marion had been really lucky in getting away from Bubba. When Kianna was born, she had hoped things would change, but they only became worse. Marion was Bubba’s fourth wife, and once Kianna had grown to the point that she started getting noticed by Bubba’s sick friends, she had tried to pack their stuff and move out. But leaving Bubba Deacon wasn’t an easy thing to do, and when he found her mom with all their clothes packed, ready to leave, he’d lost it and ended up almost beating her to death.
She, too, was gone now, and as much as she missed her mom she was glad she hadn’t been around through all the court battles with Ray over the will, but she had had a really great life with Daddies, Jeff and Sammy, for the last twelve years. Unusual though their relationship may have been, it was a true love, and anyone who knew them could see it every time they looked at each other.
Kianna knew exactly what her brother Ray was like. Jeff and Sammy had had him investigated thoroughly before they would allow her to come out to the ranch, and after some of the things they had dug up, they weren’t going to let her come alone. They drove with her as far as her aunt’s house and then called the Featherstones to let them know that Kianna was close and they needed to watch over her.
Kianna knew without even seeing them that they were around, watching out for her just like when she was younger. She could feel them the moment they came on her property. Why she was so certain they were there, she didn’t know.
“Well, Ray, the will says the smaller ranch house is yours for the next two years, so unless you want to move on ahead of time, it’s all yours. I am giving you fair warning though. I own this ranch. Bubba left it to me, for whatever reason, I don’t care, but I plan on making it work. There’ll be a lot of changes that I make, and you can either help me with them or get the fuck out of my way.” Kianna’s heart was beating a mile a minute, fearful of how her brother was going to react, but she knew that the only way she was going to get anything done around here was to be as hard-assed as she could. Showing weakness around Ray Deacon and his buddies was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Very dangerous.
“Whoa, there, Kianna. You own this place fair and square. I don’t understand Daddy’s reasons either, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I just want to live a quiet life and try to get back on my feet again. I’ll help you any way I can.” Leaning over, he took her small hand in his larger, sweaty one. “I know we’ll need to get to know each other again since we spent most of our lives apart. What with you living with that whore…”
Kianna snatched her hand back and stood looking down on Ray. “You watch your mouth, big brother, that woman was way too good for that piece of shit you call your ‘daddy.’ I ever hear you speak of her again and I promise I will make your life miserable.”
Ray stood up and was only about two inches taller than her, but his body was stocky and wide.
“Your mother wasn’t the saint you want to believe, little sister. She left here after Daddy found her spreading her legs for one of the ranch hands,” he spat.
Now Ray’s true colors were showing.
“Just for the record, Ray. My mom didn’t get a chance to leave Bubba. When she tried to leave him he dumped her beaten and broken body, and me along with her, at the emergency room entrance over in the next county. Then he left us there while he and his girlfriend drove off to who knows where, so before you stick your foot farther into your mouth, you might want to check some facts. Your daddy was a full blown son of a bitch who died a sad and, hopefully, extremely painful death. The only reason I’m here is because he owed me and my mom.” Kianna wasn’t going to back down for any reason. She knew how to protect herself, Jeff and Sammy made damn sure of that. After they found out their history from her mom, they made sure she had the best instructors in the country. Them...
“That son of a bitch you keep referring to in such a snotty tone was your daddy, too,” Ray yelled at her.
“He was only the sperm donor. The two men that raised me were my daddies and no other. Bubba Deacon forfeited the right to call himself my father the very first time he beat me because I didn’t do exactly as he said.” So angry that she wasn’t thinking straight, she made the mistake of turning her back on Ray and as she started to walk back into the house. She’d only taken a few small steps when he grabbed her from behind and held her arms behind her back and tripped her, bringing her to the ground. She felt the first punch to the side of her face more than she saw it. The next punch was headed for her stomach when she thought she heard growling, and then Ray was pulled off her, and he was yelling at the top of his lungs for whomever it was to put him down.
Uncovering her face, she looked up to see three very large and very naked men standing on her back porch holding Ray up by the scruff of the neck.
“Get us some clothes, Kianna,” was all the biggest one said, and for some strange reason, she did exactly as she was told and headed off into the house in search of clothes for them.
Within just a few minutes, Kianna had located and pulled out three pairs of shorts and three T-shirts, hoping they would fit. Damn, she really didn’t want them to cover up, but she knew they would need to find an explanation for her as to why they were on her property naked. She wasn’t about to let them know she knew why. That she had known since she was ten years old just exactly what the Firestone brothers were, shape-shifters.
Stopping at the top of the stairs, she remembered the first time she’d seen Teaghen shift. It had looked so painful at first, but then once he was in wolf form, he was beautiful. She snuck out often after that to see if she could catch them, and occasionally, she got lucky until the night they almost caught her and would’ve if Bubba hadn’t found her first and dragged her home and then beat her black and blue.
“Are you going to bring those down to us, little one, or are we going to have to come up and take them from you?” Hearing the voice shook her out of her memories, and she looked down the stairs and gasped. Three of the most incredibly shaped males were standing at the bottom of the stairs, naked, in all their glory waiting for her to bring them clothes to cover up. Dammit!
“No…I’ll bring them down to you, Alex,” she said almost in a whisper and started toward them. “H–h–here,” she stammered and handed them the clothes. They quickly donned the shorts, but the T-shirts were way too small.
“You remembered us, baby girl?” Teaghen smiled and stepped toward her. “We haven’t seen each other in years, yet you remembered us, now why is that?” Duncan moved to take her hand and pulled her into his embrace.
“She remembers where home is, that’s why, Duncan. She knows where she belongs and has come back to us, finally.” Lifting her face up to his, she was surprised when Duncan lowered his lips to hers for a gentle kiss.
Teaghen was next to pull her into his arms. He lowered his head to the side of her neck and breathed in deeply. “Yes, you have come home to us, haven’t you, little one?”
Alex, not to be left out,
pushed up against her back and grabbed a handful of hair, pulling her head to the side so that he had good access to her neck. Lowering his lips, he kissed along her throat and jawline, murmuring, “Welcome home, angel, what took you so long?”
* * * *
Releasing her from their arms was probably the hardest thing Teaghen had ever done, but he knew that she wasn’t going anywhere now. He and his brothers would make sure that, no matter what, she stayed with them.
She was leur seul et unique véritable amour (their one and only true love), the other half of their hearts and souls. Having smelled her up close, he knew without a doubt that Kianna was theirs, and they would do whatever it took to make sure she was happy and protected. Teaghen could also smell the anger that radiated from her brother. Not just anger, rage. A rage that, if not dealt with soon, could do a great deal of damage to whomever it was aimed at. And right now, Ray had it all aimed at their mate.
* * * *
Kianna stumbled away from the three men and headed back outside. Damn, I need to get some air. These three are some potent men.
The first thing she noticed when she was back on the porch was that Ray was tied to the porch swing. His arms were tied above his head to the swings chains, and his feet were bound together.
“Well, big brother, it looks like you finally showed who you really are. Did you really think that I’d believe all that bullshit you spewed about living a quiet life? I may have to let you live on the ranch, but I don’t have to put up with any of your bullshit. This will be your one and only warning. If you ever try to lay a hand on me again, I will either send you to prison or send you to your grave.”
Ray seemed not to be too surprised at the venom that came from Kianna, but she knew that he was thinking she was like any of the other females he’d beaten. Fragile and easily intimidated. She could see by the smirk on her brother’s face that he thought she’d just gotten lucky this time and if the three Featherstones hadn’t been around and pulled him off her, he would have been able to teach her a lesson. Ray had no idea just how lucky he was that Teaghen, Alex, and Duncan had come along, or he’d be in more trouble than just being tied to the swing. He may have had her down for a minute, but it wouldn’t have lasted long.
Bailey, Debbie - Kianna and Her Three Alpha Wolves [Featherstone Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 2
