Pack Mentality: Natural Selection

by Julia Talbot

  Pack Mentality: Natural Selection

  Julia Talbot

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2008 Julia Talbot

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  ISBN: 978-1-59596-958-3

  Formats Available:

  HTML, Adobe PDF,

  MobiPocket, Microsoft Reader

  Publisher:

  Changeling Press LLC

  PO Box 1046

  Martinsburg, WV 25402-1046

  www.ChangelingPress.com

  Editor: Chrissie Henderson

  Cover Artist: Karen Fox

  This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Pack Mentality: Natural Selection

  Julia Talbot

  Ryan is pretty happy working as a Park Ranger and living with his big bear of a lover, Loyal. The one thing he misses is a pack of his own. He’s a werewolf, and everyone knows wolves are social creatures, right? When a new pack moves in on his territory, Ryan hopes they’ll play nice.

  The new pack in town has been burned before, and Kamen and the others aren’t sure if they want anything to do with Ryan and his bear. They’re willing to live and let live, but when Loyal gets kidnapped, will the pack throw in with Ryan and help save him?

  Chapter One

  “There’s a new pack in Mesa.”

  Loyal stared over at Ryan, one shaggy eyebrow going up. “A pack of what?”

  “Cigarettes. Dork. A wolf pack.”

  Now Loyal’s eyebrows lowered, snapping together over his heavy nose. “That’s awful close to a town to be catch and release country.”

  Ryan shook his head, grinning. “No, Loyal. A pack like me.”

  “Werewolves. In Mesa?”

  Mesa, Colorado, sat about two thousand feet below where Ryan lived with his bear of a lover, up on Grand Mesa, the largest flat-top mountain in the world. They had snow, aspens, and all the trout Loyal could eat. Loyal could eat a lot of trout. Most big old bears could.

  “Yep,” Ryan said. “Well, at least mostly, it looks like.” Grabbing an apple, Ryan munched, juice dribbling down his chin. Loyal swiped at him with one big hand, bringing him close to lick the sweet, sticky stuff from his skin.

  “Mostly, huh? Well, we’ll just steer clear of them.”

  Loyal was kind of a loner, and it had taken Ryan months after he became a Park Ranger up in Grand Mesa to get to know the big guy. The other Rangers had told him about the hermit-y guy who had the little cabin at the base of a wash, but it was Ryan who had understood what he was up against.

  It was dangerous to poke the bear, but Ryan kinda liked it. “I was thinking I could take them cookies. Maybe that ham you have hanging in the…”

  Ryan jumped at the swat Loyal laid on him, laughing like a maniac. The light in Loyal’s bright green eyes made him smile long after he’d stopped chuckling.

  “You’re a weird little man,” Loyal said. “Do what you want, but be careful. Your kind aren’t so ready to welcome anyone in who’s different.”

  Yeah. He knew that first hand, had the scars on his back to prove it. That was before he met Loyal. Ryan would bet that a new pack would be even less accepting of a wolf who mated regularly with a were-bear. “I’ll stay out of range, okay? Though if I meet one at the post office, I won’t back off.”

  “My wolf back down? Never.” Ryan got a squeeze that pushed all the air out of his lungs, and a kiss that would have left him breathless if he’d had any.

  “Nope,” Ryan squeaked. “Never. Now, what were we doing before I opened my big mouth?”

  “Well, you were going to feed me, but I think we might be able to come up with something else,” Loyal rumbled, reaching down to feel up his ass.

  “Something else is coming up as we speak,” Ryan said, rubbing all up on Loyal’s hip.

  Loyal laughed, the sound tickling the skin just below Ryan’s ear. “I knew I could count on you, baby.”

  * * *

  “That’s the last of it, right?” Liam heaved a box of dog bones into the storage room of Jenny’s new veterinary clinic.

  Sasha nodded, rolling his shoulders. “Should be, yeah. That woman has too much shit.”

  “The things we do for love, huh?”

  “No shit.” It seemed like they’d been moving forever. Kamen had chosen a new spot for them after the bullshit in Colorado Springs, one they all loved. Fresh air, mountains, acres of BLM and National Forest to run on. He and Sasha couldn’t have asked for more for them, or for their mate, Jenny. Except maybe for her to stop working so hard.

  “You boys get all my stuff out of the truck?” Jenny asked, coming in, her smock already on. She liked to dress for work, Liam knew. Put her in the right frame of mind.

  “The rest of it, yeah,” Sasha said, putting one beefy arm around Jenny’s waist. Liam had always thought he was built like a brick shit house, but Sasha made him feel like a pup.

  One way or the other, it worked for the three of them.

  Jenny shoved her hair into a ponytail. “You guys rock. Now I can get to work.”

  “Do you really think Mesa is big enough to have a vet practice?” Liam moved in close, drawn by the mingled scent of Jenny and Sasha. His mates.

  “Whether I do or not, I intend to keep it going. I imagine I’ll get more boarding and big farm animals up here than anything. Maybe more emergency stuff. You know me; I need to work.”

  Yeah, their girl was always busy. He and Sasha were working hard to adjust to the simpler life, too. They’d both had regular jobs back in the Springs, and this whole man-of-leisure thing was weird. They’d find something to do, but for now, Kamen was supporting them all.

  That was a very alpha thing to do, but it felt odd.

  Shaking off his thoughts, Liam slid one of his hands around Jenny’s waist, meeting Sasha’s big paw on the other side. “We could do a little work with you. Really get the place going with the right feeling,” he said against the side of Jenny’s neck.

  “Horny man?” Jenny laughed up at him, her pretty, blue eyes shining.

  Sasha chuckled. “That’s a good start. The animals will need strength, right? Nothing like virile manliness to pump them up.”

  They all cracked up at that, the word virile just making Liam snort. They’d had their problems, working out who went where and who belonged to who, but these days they had a handle on it.

  Jenny patted both their cheeks. “I’ll wait until we get home, guys. I need to get to work, really.” She gave them an arch look. “You could amuse yourselves.”

  Sasha’s whiskey eyes met his, the look in them pure big bad wolf. “We so could. If you don’t mind.”

  Liam felt little fireworks go off in his belly. He might have fought Sasha on all this to begin with, but he sure wasn’t fighting it now.

  Jenny snorted. “I need to work. You go play.”

  Nodding, Sasha kissed Jenny hard before pinching Liam’s ass. “Run, Liam.”

  “Huh?” For a moment, he stared stupidly at his mate. Then the light dawned, and Liam laughed, taking a kiss from Jenny himself before taking off at a dead run. If he’d had his tail, it would have been wagging a hundred miles an hour.

  Sasha might have been faster and
stronger, but Liam had a head start. He was almost a mile from Jenny’s clinic, way out in the woods, when Sasha caught him, slamming into him from behind, pushing him to the ground.

  “Oooph!” Liam struggled, crawling forward a few more feet, knowing it would make Sasha crazy, and send him into orbit. Sasha loved it when Liam fought him.

  “Gonna tear you up, babe,” Sasha growled, rubbing against Liam’s ass. “Remember the last time we did it this way, out in the open?”

  Bloody right he remembered it. When he and Sasha had both been dating Jenny, unbeknownst to Liam, Sasha had taken him out in the woods and reminded him of what good friends they’d been once. Liam had been hooked ever since. Laughing, he pushed back, feeling Sasha, even through their jeans.

  “At least there’s no snow this time,” Liam said, digging in with his hands to get better leverage.

  “No. I have to admit, I liked the snow. Gave it an edge, you know?”

  “You just liked that I fought you, acushla. Now, are you going to fuck me, or are we going to reminisce?”

  “Oh, I’m going to fuck you so good.” Sasha pulled him up on his knees and tore at his belt and jeans.

  “Don’t rip anything, lover. I need these to get home.”

  “Then help me.”

  The growled order got Liam moving again, had him reaching for his zipper. He could barely balance to get to it with Sasha pushing at him, but he did it, and then those big hands were pulling his jeans down over his ass and sliding up to squeeze his cheeks.

  Goddamn.

  Sasha’s hands felt hot, rough, the calluses catching on Liam’s skin, on the short hairs covering his balls. Sasha cupped them, rolled them, making Liam gasp and rock, trying to get more of the sensation. Hard teeth closed on his neck, making the hairs there stand up, too.

  “More, acushla. More.”

  “Yeah, babe. More.” The heat in Sasha’s voice was unmistakable after all this time, the need right there at the surface. Liam knew he wasn’t gonna get much more in the way of foreplay.

  The sound of Sasha’s zipper going down was all the warning he got before Sasha’s hard, wet-tipped cock pushed at his hole, sliding right in an inch or two.

  “Fucking love that I don’t have to coddle you, babe,” Sasha growled, before he started to move, thrusting in and out.

  Yeah. Yeah, that was one of the good things about the whole werewolf gig. No tender loving care required. Just hot fucking. Teasing him, Liam pulled away a little, scrabbling at the leaves and dirt, and Sasha smacked Liam’s ass, letting him know there was no running away.

  They rocked, Liam slipping and sliding with each smack of Sasha’s hips against his own. He threw his head back and let out a howl, the feeling so good, so right. Sometimes, much as they both loved Jenny, they needed something more primal. Something rougher.

  Especially now Jen was pregnant.

  Sasha bit him again and again, his cock spreading him impossibly, and Liam reached down and stroked himself, fisting his cock hard, his arm swinging.

  “That’s it, babe. Show me how much you want it,” Sasha said, moving ever faster, ever harder.

  Bloody hell, it was good. Just what he needed.

  When he came it was like an explosion of tiny lights behind his eyes, and Liam growled, his whole body shaking with it. His ass clamped down, the muscles working Sasha’s prick, and that was all it took.

  Sasha shot deep inside him, filling him with wet heat, and Liam grunted, his cock giving one last jerk. Fucking A. He might just live.

  “This whole having to be gentle with Jenny is going to kill us, babe,” Sasha said, breath damp and hot on the back of his neck.

  “Yeah, but we managed to find a way to entertain ourselves, yeah?”

  Nodding, Liam wiggled around and curled about Sasha’s body, touching noses, the gesture the same whether they were human or wolf. “We did. In the best possible way.”

  Chapter Two

  “Loyal! Dude. They’re gay!”

  Glancing up from his strawberry jam, Loyal frowned at Ryan. He had no clue what the hell his bouncy little wolf was talking about. That bright smile was cute though, so he grinned back. “Who?”

  “The new wolves. I saw them.” Shoving his blond hair off his forehead, Ryan wandered over, pulling at his apron strings.

  Loyal knew a big guy like him looked ridiculous in an apron that said “Bears Do it in the Woods” but he hated to get strawberry goo all over him. He went back to stirring, letting Ryan hug up on him, leaning on his back. “Saw them doing what?”

  “Well, I was doing rounds and checking out the new building, you know, the one we saw going up last week?”

  “Uh-huh.” Oh, someone was ready to play. Loyal could feel Ryan, hard against his thigh.

  “So, I saw two of them, the big one with dark hair and the redhead? They were, uh, gettin’ frisky.”

  “Ah. You played voyeur, huh?” Man, sometimes he thought living out in the middle of nowhere was bad for Ryan. The man got bored and started looking for trouble.

  “No! I mean, not much.” Nuzzling up against his shoulder blade, Ryan laughed. “Once I figured out they weren’t just playing I left. It was kind of hot, though.”

  “You’re a freak of nature.” His jam was almost ready to go into the jars. Then the jars would have to boil for like, forty-five minutes. That ought to give them time to get frisky, if that was what Ryan wanted. “I thought we agreed that you would leave them alone,” he added, breaking free to check the water in the big roasting pan and drop the jar rack in.

  “We agreed to keep our distance, yeah, but if they’re gay, then they must be a pretty open pack.”

  Loyal sighed. That was the difference between bears and wolves. Ryan craved the pack, craved the constant attention and shit. Loyal just needed Ryan. “Well, I’m not going to invite them for tea, baby. I’m sorry, but until I know how territorial they’re gonna be…”

  He’d been burned before, living with other guys like him and Ry. No way was he gonna take too many chances.

  “Well, that’s okay. You know how I feel.” Ryan dipped a finger into the hot jam, yelping when it burned, but licking it off anyway. “I just… There’s just something about them that calls to me.”

  “I bet. Been a while since you saw one of yours. Just be --”

  “Careful. I know. Good jam. Want some help?”

  “Yeah. If you help me get it into the jars and sealed, I’ll have this little bit of time to do nothing.”

  Man, that got Ryan moving like nothing going, his wolf singing some country song, slopping jam everywhere but into the funnel. Yet another reason to wear an apron.

  They got all the jars in the pot, though, and before he could even blink, Ryan was on him, climbing him like a mountain, yanking his apron off.

  “Hold on, baby. Away from the heat.” He’d burned his ass once, making love in the kitchen. Loyal had no desire for a repeat.

  Hands under that tight little ass, Loyal headed for the main room of their cabin, dumping Ryan on the couch, coming down on top of him to take a kiss. Lord, he loved the way Ryan opened up for him, hot and wet and sweet. His tongue slipped right in, tasting heat and wild and man.

  So damned good.

  They rocked together, Loyal keeping one leg on the floor because he didn’t want to crush Ryan. They needed a bigger couch, damn it.

  Didn’t seem to matter to Ryan. Those strong legs wrapped around Loyal’s hips, giving Ryan some leverage to hump up and get some friction. They didn’t even take their clothes off, just rubbed together, and Loyal’s zipper started to press painfully against his swollen cock. “Baby, I need some more room,” he said, pulling back to look into Ryan’s golden-brown eyes.

  “Floor, then.” Hands planted on his shoulders, Ryan tried to push him off, and Loyal laughed.

  “No, baby. I mean I need to get the damned jeans off.”

  “Oh!” Laughing with him, Ryan wiggled and squirmed until one of them could get their pants undone, the oth
er one pushing them down.

  Hell, yes. That was so much better. So. Much. Better. Grunting, Loyal humped, his cock pushing against Ryan’s, loving the feel of smooth, hot skin and rough hair. His Ryan was a fuzzy little wolf, for sure. Not as fuzzy as he was, but hey.

  Bears had hair.

  Ryan scratched at his back a little, sharp teeth sinking into his shoulder, reminding him that he was supposed to be busy moving, not thinking. Yeah. Moving was good. Every touch of their hips and cocks and skin drove him higher and higher.

  “You with me, baby?” Loyal asked, rocking even harder, ready to blow any second.

  “With you. Love…” Nodding, Ryan panted, holding on hard, just giving it up for him.

  He came in a rush, his cock jerking, his ass hard as a rock. His come spread on Ryan’s hip, and the smell of Ryan and the feel of more hot come joined his, Ryan gasping and cussing, squeezing him until he could hardly breathe.

  “Oh, that was just the thing, huh?” He kissed Ryan’s neck, tasting salt and just a little bit of strawberry jam.

  “Uh-huh. Perfect. I so needed that.”

  Drawing back, Loyal stared seriously at Ryan, making long eye contact. “I’m glad, but you have to stop getting so close to that pack, baby. It could all go very bad.”

  Sighing, Ryan nuzzled in, giving him tiny, biting kisses. “I can’t help it, honey. They just call to me.”

  “Well, just make sure the call of the wild doesn’t end up with you getting your ass kicked.”

  “You like my ass,” Ryan said, chuckling against his skin.

  “I do,” Loyal agreed. “Right where it is.”

  Chapter Three

  “What was it Myra wanted for that thing again, Col? I can’t read the writing.” Steve hated going to the grocery store when Myra was on a tear about making healthy shit for Jenny and her growing belly. There was always shit like flaxseed and mango-guava juice on the list, and that was hard to get in Delta or Grand Junction, which were their two choices of larger towns.