by Maia Dylan
Grey River 4
Rowena’s Triple Threat
Rowena Whitley had already survived her father’s betrayal and being held hostage by a killer. Could she face death a third time and survive again?
When she suspected that her own personal nightmare was coming for her, Rowena left Dallas and headed to Grey River looking to start over. She counted on the fact that there would be no threat to her there, and she would have the opportunity to bring her dreams to life.
What she hadn’t counted on was Wyatt, Luke, and Chase Greyson recognizing her as their fated mate the day she arrived. They were willing to take things slow until they found out she was in danger. Now they were determined to convince Rowena that they were her triple threat protectors, and to trust them to shield her from danger and to let them cherish her forever. All the while a maniac from her past is bearing down on them.
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 53,853 words
ROWENA’S TRIPLE THREAT
Grey River 4
Maia Dylan
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
ROWENA’S TRIPLE THREAT
Copyright © 2015 by Maia Dylan
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-461-7
First E-book Publication: June 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
For my Dad.
He survived two tours of duty, living with three daughters and two grandkids, and despite the fight he gave it, he couldn’t survive the cancer.
“Love you, too”
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
About the Author
ROWENA’S TRIPLE THREAT
Grey River 4
MAIA DYLAN
Copyright © 2015
Chapter 1
He was a natural-born killer. It wasn’t a label given to him by some psychologist or doctor assigned to him by the parole boards he had been in front of over the years. Hell no! He had been fooling the system since he was sent here twelve fucking years ago, but it didn’t make it less true. He was a predator and as far as he was concerned, the top of the damn food chain.
He had been born for greatness, of that he was certain. God would not have gifted him with his abilities if he hadn’t meant for him to make a mark in this world. It had taken him almost twenty-five years to come to that realization, and with it came the knowledge that he had taken the wrong woman for his mate. His true mate was strong, a match to him in every way. The woman who had fooled him into taking her as his wife hadn’t been his mate. She had manipulated him into believing that he was destined to be with her. Hell, the whore had even managed to get pregnant by some other bastard when she was supposedly married to him!
His kind could only get their true mates pregnant so he knew that the bitch had cheated on him, because there was no way in this world that the Fates would mate him to someone so damn weak. Someone who would scream and beg for mercy so damn easily. Yeah it was true, it turned him on when she begged, but that didn’t make him wrong. All it did was confirm the fact that she was not his true mate.
He had done what he had to do to make it right. He had rid the world of a faithless cheating bitch and what did he get for it? Pursued by a couple of the Shifter Council’s Enforcers who left him scarred for life, thrown into a jail cell with the promise of extermination if he escaped the prison walls, which he damn well could do in minutes, and left here to rot until the fucking system deemed him rehabilitated. What a fucking joke!
But he held in his hand the first step to getting his vengeance. He held in his hand the piece of paper which would get him out of this hellhole and back to doing what he had been born to do. Hunt. And he had a particular prey in mind. That bitch thought she was so superior to him, sitting there year after year spreading her fucking lies to the parole board, and no doubt her goddamn legs as well to ensure they ruled with her to keep him here.
But he knew better. He grinned as he thought about how sweet her cries and whimpers had been, and she had never admitted the truth about them to the police either. Well, as far as he was concerned, they had unfinished business, her day of reckoning was coming, and he was the instrument of death that would deliver her salvation. He looked down at the piece of paper in his hand and grinned when he read the two sweetest words in the goddamn world.
Parole granted.
* * * *
Christ, why the hell couldn’t there be one damn gas station between Dallas and Grey River that made a decent cup of coffee? Rowena Whitley swallowed the tar that the acne-plagued child behind the counter had sold her as coffee and walked across the forecourt to her truck. It was towing a U-Haul trailer that carried everything she owned. As
she approached, she could see that Angel had woken up and was looking anxiously out the window. As soon as they made eye contact and Rowena waved, Angel’s face filled with relief.
Getting into the car Rowena handed her a bottle of water and patted her knee. “It’s okay, Angel. I promise I am in this with you all the way. We are going to get to somewhere safe and then start over. I know people where we are heading and they will help us get settled. You and your baby will be just fine.” Rowena gave her the most encouraging smile she had.
Even though they had planned this for the past two months and so far things had gone according to the meticulous plan Rowena had set out, Angel kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. She had seen it so many times before in the past, that wary look that stopped any smile from actually reaching her eyes. Ironically, Rowena was actually feeling a lot more optimistic. Even though she should be feeling a little anxious about packing up and leaving for a new town, she felt nothing but a sweet sense of relief.
There was nothing left for her in Dallas. Ever since she had started talking with Faith Abrams—now Jamieson—and her mates Ty and Trent, she had felt drawn to Grey River. This was her opportunity to get out from beneath the shadow that had loomed over her life for the past twelve years.
The phone call from the District Attorney’s office that shattered her world had come just over two months ago. Martin Baxter was going to be released and she didn’t want to be anywhere near Dallas when he was. Since he had been eligible for parole, she had gone every year to the penitentiary where he was held, sat in the same damn room as him, and pleaded with each board not to release the crazy fucker back into society.
Every year she had been lulled into believing she was beyond fearing him anymore, as his request was denied year after year. Hearing that they had actually granted him parole threw her right back into that room where she spent two days that she worked hard to forget. Angel and her situation had simply given her a convenient excuse to leave Dallas, without having to admit it was her need to run which drove her from her home.
Now here they were, about seventy-five miles out from Grey River, and thanks to the Internet, they had a house to look at this afternoon that Rowena was almost certain she would be buying later on that day. It was perfect for what she wanted to do. The downstairs area was the ideal set up for her shop, upstairs was a great layout for her and Angel, and she had run all her financial plans past an accountant and was comfortable with what she had planned. Now that she had taken the first step and left the bright lights of Dallas behind her, she couldn’t wait to get started! This was her time to step out from behind the shadow of the past and step into the light of a new future.
“Thank you so much, Rowena, for everything you’ve done. I know you gave up so very much to help me and I don’t know how I am ever going to thank you for doing that for me,” Angel spoke softly from the other side of the truck. The fact that she could never quite meet her eye made Rowena so angry she felt like turning around to find her bastard ex-employer and running him down with her truck. While it was towing the haulage trailer. Then just to make her point, reverse over the bastard a couple of times, future senator or not. “Or if I will ever be in a position to pay you back.”
Rowena sighed. “Angel, I told you. I do not want nor do I expect any kind of payment. You needed help. I needed to get out of Dallas and finally let go of the past. This was an opportunity to do both.” She reached over and placed her hand gently on the swollen tummy of the young woman beside her. “Besides, Junior there is going to take up so much of your time you won’t have a moment to think about anything other than diapers, bathing, feeding, and sleeping. Not necessarily in that order!”
Rowena’s heart ached for the young woman when Angel placed her hand beside Rowena’s where it sat against her protruding tummy. Then she turned toward her with a look of fierce determination that Rowena had never seen on her before. “I am going to do everything in my power to do what is best for my baby. I will allow no one to harm him or hurt him, not now, not ever. No one will ever make him feel like he is less than nothing, not while there is breath in my body. He will know he is loved.”
Rowena smiled at her and nodded. “And that is all you have to do from now on. We will get ourselves settled in Grey River and make a future there that he can be proud of. There will be no more talk of me giving anything up or having to pay me back. It is you, me, and the little peanut there against the world! And if we do need a little help from time to time, then we have friends in Grey River that will help us out.” Rowena had built some great friendships with a lot of people in Grey River. When they had been looking at a place relocate to, Grey River had been at the top of a very short list.
Faith was now someone she considered to be one of her closest friends. She felt that she had come to know both of Faith’s husbands, Ty and Trent, well over the past few months as well. When she had first discovered that Ty, Trent, and Faith were in a ménage relationship, she had been a little taken aback. Ty had let it slip on a phone conference and she knew that he thought her pause in conversation was perhaps a judgment of sorts. He was wrong. It was the green-eyed monster that had reared its ugly head that caused her to pause for a moment. Just the thought of having two men who loved, cherished, and protected her made her shiver, in a very nice way.
Then, there was Dr. Chris Carson, whom she had met at a medical conference a few years ago. He was adorably sweet and off the scales hot. He had called her a couple of times over the past few months with questions regarding a number of his patients all exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions he thought she might help with He made an offhand comment that perhaps a medical professional of her ilk would be beneficial to the town. What she had in mind would allow her to do a little of that, but pursue something that she had always wanted as well. Win-win!
She glanced over at her passenger and saw her looking out the window. “Have you ever seen a forest like this?”
Angel shook her head and looked back, her dark eyes sparkling. “No, I have never seen anything so beautiful. I have only ever lived in Dallas and never really seen the country. This place is beyond beautiful.” Rowena had to agree—it was midmorning and the sun was rising high in the sky, not a cloud to be seen.
The forest trees covered the land as far as the eye could see and blanketed the surrounding mountains in green. The scene was idyllic and postcard like. Yeah, she was really going to enjoy living in Grey River. They were nearly there and would roll up on town around lunchtime, which was perfect. She knew that Lucy would be working at the Country Blue and with any luck Faith would be there, too. She had contacted a local estate agent who was going to meet her there that afternoon to show her the property she had found. All going well, by this evening they would be in their new place, starting their new lives, and tomorrow they would get started on their new business. Rowena couldn’t wait!
* * * *
Wyatt Greyson finished wiping away the last of the residue left behind from grouting the bright turquoise backsplash in the kitchen they had been working on. It wasn’t to his taste, but for Xanthe White it was perfect. Xanthe was a young throwback to the sixties. She never had the same colored highlights through her blond hair. Today it was bright pink and what should have looked ridiculous looked beautiful on Xanthe.
“Oh, Wyatt, it’s perfect! Don’t you think it looks perfect?” Xanthe spun around in her newly renovated kitchen with a smile so huge it was infectious and Wyatt found himself grinning right along with her. She was wearing a bright-blue peasant blouse that showed the full tattoo sleeve she had on one arm, jeans, and no shoes. He had a difficult time remembering when he had ever seen her wearing a pair of shoes.
Normally he or his brothers would have been hitting on this vibrant woman just out of principle. She was extremely hot, had an amazing personality, she was eccentric as hell, yeah, but that simply added to how beautiful she was as a person, and she had a body made for sin and a face made to show
it. But she had been very clear that was not ever going to happen the very first time they met.
His brother Chase was the youngest of the three, born fifteen minutes after Luke and almost forty minutes after Wyatt. Chase had been the first out of the truck when they pulled up outside her house to complete a quote. He had taken one look at her and, true to form, had started in with the flirting. She had narrowed her eyes and wagged her finger at him. Honest to God, wagged her finger like a first-grade schoolteacher right in his face.
“Now, you look here, Chase Greyson.” For a slight woman she had a voice that could ring with steel. “You just take any thought of me naked or in any stages of undress right out of your head!” Chase had blushed at this and Wyatt had to fight not to laugh. Very rarely was he called on his bullshit, but this tiny woman had his number within seconds of meeting him. “I am not the one for you and your brothers. Yes, I do know about the shifters in this town and how their matings are in ménage groupings or more. No, of course I don’t think there is anything wrong with it! I am destined with mates of my own, but you are not them, so it is best if we remain friends.” She had hugged him and then dragged him into the house to show him the kitchen. Chase looked back over his shoulder at him and Luke with a what-the-fuck look he knew well.
“Ha! She totally had your number!” Luke mocked down their shared link.
“Yeah she did, but that’s not what was freaking me hell out.” They caught up with them both in the kitchen, and even though Chase was absorbed in the visions this beautifully eccentric woman had for her kitchen he still spoke to them down their link. “I was actually thinking those damn questions she was answering out there. That woman was reading my mind!”
