His to Claim

by Paris Brandon

  Gee leaned across the bar. “I. Said. That’s. Enough.”

  Sid’s smirk died, and he threw a couple of bills onto the bar before sauntering toward the pool table. He walked behind Bree’s chair and slid a palm across her back as he passed. J.D. edged off the barstool and curled his hands into fists before she shook off Sid’s caress. Even in profile, J.D. could see her glare.

  Something in his expression must have warned the bear because Gee glanced quickly between him and Bree.

  “Bree Redmond can take care of herself.” He nodded toward the table full of women. “You have enough problems without going there.”

  “I just came in for a beer and a burger.”

  Gee didn’t seem reassured, but he didn’t say anything else.

  J.D. had taken it in stride when Sid had warned him. Gee’s warning sat like a lump of lead in the pit of his stomach. He barely managed a civil expression when the old bear set a beer in front of him then left to settle an altercation at the pool table. Barrel-chested Sid, holding a pool cue, had squared off against a younger, slimmer opponent, but their voices quieted the moment the bear lumbered their way. Sid might be smarter than he looked.

  Gee diffused the situation with a few sharp, and most likely, intimidating words, but J.D. couldn’t get Sid’s accusation out of his head. His father had claimed he hadn’t realized he’d raised his fist, but J.D. had witnessed his rage.

  Memories can be dangerous things. He didn’t want to think about how dangerous, but the idea had been planted. Why would Bree bother being nice to a man who’d rough up her cousin’s mate? It didn’t make any sense, but between fighting with his father, and his immediate attraction to Bree, he hadn’t been able to think straight since he’d come home.

  He needed to get this situation sorted out fast before anyone got hurt. A couple of hours on his own, eating food not wrapped in convenience store packaging might help. Not to mention a good run and some hot sex. He groaned and took another swallow of cold beer, careful to keep his back turned and his traitorous gaze as far away from Bree as possible. His first instinct the moment Sid had touched her had been to go for the man’s throat.

  Shit. He would have been better off staying at home and fighting with his dad.

  ***

  Bree came awake with a bounce and an awkward slide into the side of the truck bed. When her hip collided with a wooden tool-box, she yelped.

  The vehicle veered sharply to the right, coming to a screeching halt. The window between the cab and camper shell banged open, and a flashlight beam blinded her for a moment.

  “J.D., it’s me,” she squealed.

  “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

  It sounded as if she’d succeeded.

  She sat up. “I’m trying to warn you. While you were eating, Gee interrupted Sid Riggs trying to recruit people to go out and show Ray why he should leave the Redmond women alone.”

  “You couldn’t leave a note? What do you think will happen if Sid finds you with me? Get up here.” Exasperation peppered his words.

  She moved to the rear of the truck, lifted the door of the camper shell, and scrambled out. He’d opened the passenger side, and she slid onto the cab’s slip-covered bench seat. J.D. gunned the engine and made for the rutted road. She grabbed the picnic hamper sitting between them before it fell on the floor. Maybe she had been a little impulsive.

  “Sid doesn’t have any claim on me.”

  “I saw the way he touched you.” The heat behind J.D.’s statement shook her, and it took a moment to realize why. His gaze slid away. “If he’s trying to stir up trouble, it won’t make any difference. You didn’t used to be this stupid. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  Bree could only guess, but J.D.’s ire seemed to be evenly divided between Sid’s unwelcome familiarity and her own impetuous behavior. “I’m not stupid. He won’t want any witnesses…especially me.” She finally had his attention, but he mumbled one more curse before he turned his glare on her.

  “Are you going to enlighten me before I crush this goddamn steering wheel?”

  “Sid’s a political animal, literally. He thinks he should be a Pack Protector, and he’s sniffing around me, hoping I’ll put in a good word with Gunnar, who has a direct line to Drew.”

  “And roughing up my father would get him noticed by Gunnar?”

  “Not in a good way. Your father keeps to himself and, as far as I know, has never crossed paths with Sid. But if he thought he could use knocking your dad around to gain points with Gunnar or Drew, I don’t think he’d hesitate. The fool doesn’t seem to understand protectors need more than brute strength and a domineering will. They don’t get to use their position to bully wolves they don’t particularly like.”

  “Everything you’ve told me would fit on half a sheet of notebook paper.” He growled. She’d been around enough dominant males to recognize his need to protect, but the need burned inside her, too.

  “I’m pretty sure Drew called you home to make sure your father isn’t a threat, but there’s more. It isn’t common knowledge, but Luna is pregnant, and if I know Gunnar, he isn’t taking any chances. Drew didn’t tell you, did he?”

  He shook his head, and, even in the dim light glowing from the dashboard, she could see his throat work furiously. “So, I’m basically my father’s last chance here?”

  The truck bounced through a rut, and she clutched the basket.

  “How much trouble are you in for telling me about Luna?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t take any blood oaths or anything. My mother told me Luna is pregnant, but they aren’t saying anything, right away. You get called home to make sure your dad isn’t a threat. Two plus two still equals four, and I thought you had the right to know how serious the situation is, but writing it all down seemed like a bad idea.”

  “You might decide otherwise if someone tells Gunnar they saw you climb into my truck.”

  “I can handle Gunnar.” Maybe.

  “It won’t be only Gunnar, and we both know it.” He chuffed. “Your family won’t want you anywhere near me.”

  “Nobody saw me.” She slid her fingertips over the picnic hamper then lifted one side of the lid. A small cellophane-wrapped packet of gingersnaps rested inside the metal bowl. “The last time I brought your father soup, he returned my basket with a packet of these. Did you tell him I couldn’t resist them?”

  J.D. grimaced and cleared his throat. “He caught me trying to bake a batch for your birthday, the last summer before everything went to hell. I didn’t know I should have greased the pan first.”

  She grinned at the memory. “They were a little crispy.”

  “Not to mention, broken,” he mumbled, before turning into her yard.

  She sat for a few moments with the engine running, and enjoyed the simple pleasure of listening to him breathe, sensing his heartbeat, steady and strong. He turned his head, and she recognized the rigid jaw and determined stare.

  “We aren’t thirteen anymore, Bree. You need to go inside, and I need to go check on my father.”

  He couldn’t have been plainer.

  “Tell Ray I said thanks for the cookies. And J.D.? I’m glad we aren’t thirteen anymore.”

  His muttered answer ended on a growl.

  “Maybe you should come inside and calm down a bit before you check on Ray.”

  “I need to get this thing with my father straightened out, and you need to stay the hell away.” He gripped the steering wheel and stared out the windshield. “I can’t think straight when you’re around, and he doesn’t have anyone but me.”

  She couldn’t think straight either, but understanding their dilemma didn’t make watching him go any easier. She nodded, grabbed the hamper, and managed to get out of the truck without begging him to stay. She could blame her visceral awareness of J.D. on the pull of the moon, but it would be a lie.

  She’d recognized him the moment he’d stormed out of his truck. She’d refus
ed to be claimed before his return and hadn’t admitted why, even to herself. If he’d been anyone but Ray Decker’s son, she would have sat at the bar, knocked back a beer, and invited him on a run tonight.

  Of course, he might be moon-dependent, in which case she could have waited. They wouldn’t have needed to run to get naked. The fantasy of sex with J.D. put a smile on her face for a second until stark reality intruded. He’d been correct when he’d assumed her family would disapprove. Considering Ray a threat, they’d go after J.D., tooth and claw.

  She set the hamper on a kitchen chair and fished out the package of gingersnaps. Where had Ray gotten the dollar to pay for them? What had he done without to be able to afford them? And why had she never wondered before?

  The gesture seemed contradictory to what she’d been led to believe about the man.

  No one had ever investigated what had happened to Ray Decker, and he’d never been forthcoming. They’d all assumed Gunnar had been right when he’d claimed Ray had run instead of standing with his father the night he’d been killed.

  What if they’d all been wrong?

  Chapter Four

  “You tell me what Luna Sinclair has to do with why I’ve been called home, or we’re packing and leaving Los Lobos tonight.”

  His father turned from the sink where J.D. had assumed he’d been staring out the window. He held a soapy dishrag in his left hand and raised the wet stump of the other to slide a dish towel off the counter to wipe off the suds.

  “I didn’t save you so Drew could send Ryker after us.”

  “Why send the Enforcer after us?”

  Ray’s sigh echoed through the small cabin. “Because he wouldn’t let one of his pack loose on the world if he thought they were dangerous. Like it or not, I’m Drew’s responsibility, and he’s smart enough to use you to get what he wants.”

  “I wouldn’t say he’s been too successful because you haven’t told me jack-shit.”

  His father’s lips twitched. “One of these days you need to tell me where you picked up all the colorful language.”

  “Maybe after you tell me why Sid Riggs thinks you’re a coward, and might need to be reminded to stay away from Luna and Bree.” He sat at the scarred kitchen table, and waited for his now unsmiling father to walk around the counter and pull out a chair.

  J.D. reached over to slide the oil lamp from the center of the table, but his father slipped the wire hanger into the crook of his right arm and made his effort unnecessary. He sat and placed his elbows on the table. The flickering light played over the web of scars where his right hand should be, and, for the first time, he didn’t make any attempt to hide the damage.

  “I’d never hurt Bree, but after the incident with Luna, I didn’t trust myself. I’ve been angry a long time. All I could think about when I saw Luna Sinclair was the smile on her father’s face when he cut off my hand and threw it to a pack of starving dogs. I don’t remember shoving her, but I know I must have. Otherwise, Gunnar Redmond wouldn’t have warned me what would happen if I ever touched her again.”

  “Have you seen her since?”

  “Any apology I could make wouldn’t be enough, and I’d only remind her of a father she’d like to forget. Leaving her alone is kinder. It’s the least I can do.”

  J.D. leaned forward. “Are you afraid of Gunnar?”

  His father grimaced, and sadness tinged his soft answer. “I’m more afraid of seeing myself reflected in Luna’s eyes. I terrified her. Now do you understand why I don’t want Bree around?”

  J.D. shook his head. “If I stay, Bree will be around.”

  “What do you mean, if you stay?”

  “You tell me why you sent me away, why this,” he said, motioning to his father’s stump, “happened, or I’m leaving, and if Drew wants to send Ryker after me, I’ll deal with him when the time comes.”

  “Drew isn’t Magnum. He wouldn’t send the Enforcer, but he probably wouldn’t welcome you back with open arms after defying him. You’d leave Bree?”

  “I wouldn’t have much choice. How could I ask her to leave her family and the pack behind to follow me? I live hand to mouth, job to job. She deserves better.”

  One of the few things his father had ever teased him about had been his attachment to Bree. The old man had probably known about his feelings for her before even he had realized how deep their connection ran.

  His father growled, and managed to appear angry and helpless at the same time, his frustration clear in the voice he pushed from deep inside. “Gunnar was furious when I shoved Luna, but I’ve always been his preferred target. For years, he’s believed I ran when it came time to support his father’s bid against Magnum.”

  “You attempted a coup?”

  “Attempt is the operative word. If Magnum had been an honorable alpha, Ragnar would have challenged him outright, but he sicced his thugs on anyone he viewed as a threat before they could confront him.”

  “What happened?”

  “We were betrayed. I never knew how Magnum found out, but I’ve always assumed one of his men, who ran or died after Drew took over, discovered our plan. Gunnar’s father sent Finn Somers with a warning for everyone to run, and I was the last to be alerted. I sent you and Finn away. By the time I found Ragnar, he’d already been murdered. I didn’t have time to challenge anyone before Magnum’s men grabbed me. He ordered Ed Sinclair to cut off my hand and feed it to a pack of starving dogs.” His jaw tightened, and his gaze dulled as though he watched past events happen again.

  J.D. steeled himself as his father drew a deep breath and the horror continued.

  “They’d loosened the rope holding their wooden cage closed, and I can still remember the sound of the dogs throwing themselves against the bars, trying to get at me because they smelled blood. Magnum and his men left me and went after Bill Jensen and the Stokes brothers, Will and Devon.”

  Furious tears clogged his throat and filled his eyes. He’d imagined all sorts of things since Drew had revealed his father had been maimed, but nothing like this. The truth broke his heart. When he could finally speak, his voice came out a hoarse whisper. “Bastards.” He swiped a hand over his eyes. “I don’t remember much about the Stokes brothers, but Bill?”

  His father shook his head. “All dead. None of us could shift without a full moon. I had to stick my arm into the fire they’d built, or I would have bled to death. I was lucky the rope held long enough for me to use my teeth and other hand to secure the cage before dragging myself home.”

  How the hell had he lived through any of it? Rage twisted his gut, and he had to force his anger into a manageable place or he’d never get through this. He could guess the answer, but he had to ask. “Did anyone help you?”

  “I was a reminder of Magnum’s absolute power. Anyone helping me would have risked the same treatment. I wouldn’t have accepted help if it had been offered.”

  “And now?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know if I remember how.”

  “It’s not hard. You’re just out of practice.”

  He didn’t know which of them moved first, but they were standing, and the kitchen seemed a whole lot smaller. He threw his arms around his dad. He hadn’t cried since the first week he and Finn had run from Los Lobos. He cried now while his father’s tears wetted his shirt, and he couldn’t seem to stop apologizing or hugging him back. When his father finally broke away, a tremulous smile creased his weathered face.

  “I’ve been so wrapped up in my own misery, I feel like I’ve been sleepwalking. I haven’t wondered about anything else. I don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve been doing. What happened to Finn?”

  J.D. sat back. “Finn and I were in Colorado, working on a construction crew when Drew found me.”

  “Why didn’t he come home with you?”

  “We didn’t have any proof Drew wasn’t as crazy as Magnum and my being ordered home wasn’t some kind of a trap. He offered to come with me,
but I figured it was my turn to make sure he was safe.”

  “Drew’s a decent alpha. Finn won’t find trouble here if he chooses to come home.”

  He didn’t bother warning his father trouble usually found Finn, not the other way around. One problem at a time.

  “I’ll let him know, as soon as I can assure Drew you aren’t a problem.”

  “You might convince Drew, but Gunnar will be another matter. Especially, if you have your sights set on Bree.”

  “Gunnar will abide by whatever Drew decides, and, according to Bree, Pack Protectors don’t get to use their position to bully anyone they don’t particularly like.”

  “He wouldn’t be coming after you as a Pack Protector, but he could make your life harder if he decides he doesn’t trust you with Bree.”

  “Let him try. Bree’s mine, and always has been.”

  “You see what you want to see because claiming her is all you can think about. I understand what it’s like to want a mate until nothing else matters. It’s like a fever in your blood with only one cure, but you need to be careful. Gunnar has spent a long time holding me responsible for his father’s death. It might take a while for him to come to terms with this, once he finds out the truth.”

  “If I can forgive you for allowing me to think you’ve been dead all these years, Gunnar needs to realize you’ve both suffered enough, and you don’t have any intention of hurting his mate to settle an old score.”

  “We’ve all suffered enough. I’m sorry I let you believe I’d died. There were times I’ve wished I had, but this isn’t one of them. I’m glad you’re home, son. I’d like a chance to make it up to you.”

  “You don’t have anything to be sorry for or make up to me. If anything, I’m as guilty as everyone else when it came to thinking the worst about you. I think it’s time we both started thinking about a fresh start.”