Rowena's Triple Threat

by Maia Dylan

  “Faith was telling us that she thought Rowena might be in trouble.” Brendan’s voice was low. Luke felt every muscle in his body pull taut.

  “What sort of trouble?” Luke heard his wolf in his voice. He was fighting every instinct he had, which all screamed that he needed to get to his mate.

  “She doesn’t know, just a vibe she gets from her, and we all know that Faith is scary good with the whole personal vibes and reading people thing.” AJ was talking about the fact that Faith was like an uber psychic and she had this ability to read emotions from people she knew or felt connected to. If she said she was getting a vibe from Rowena, then odds were it was justified and would mean something.

  “OK, well, we gotta have a plan to get her to trust us enough to tell us what is going on and then we come up with a solution to whatever the trouble is,” Chase said and Luke sat back, shocked that his younger brother was the one talking about putting a plan into place. Chase’s usual idea of a plan is simply to charm his way into their good graces.

  “Well shit, Chase, next you’ll want to actually start wearing a watch and sticking to the damn work plans we put together for builds.” Wyatt grinned and Chase flipped him the bird. “But yeah, you’re right. Rowena is our mate, and we need to have a plan and we need to tell her that our intention is to, um well, you know, date her.” Luke grinned at his brother’s stumbling.

  “Aww, come on man.” Cody threw his hands in the air. “It’s fucking tradition now!” Brendan, AJ, and Sam all nodded and the fuckers all wore shit-eating grins.

  “Well if it’s tradition.” Wyatt sneered at them and then looked furtively around to make sure no one else heard. “Then our intention is to court her.” Wyatt shuddered as the rest of them laughed. “God, that actually felt all kinds of wrong to say, but I can see what you mean. It carries the meaning we need for what we want to do.” He scowled at the rest of them and reached for his beer. “As for the rest of you bastards, if Ty finds out I used that word, you all bleed.” Then he slammed the remaining half of his beer.

  Cassadee appeared with a sly grin carrying a tray, as if she were about to clear the table. “Did I hear someone mention something about courting someone?” Luke grinned at her as she winked at Wyatt. Cassadee was a mountain lion shifter and mated to AJ and Sam. She was another woman who had come to Grey River looking for sanctuary and found her future. He looked over at her mates and shook his head at the goofy looks they gave her. Not that long ago they had traveled a pretty intense road to get to their happily ever after and Luke and his brothers had stood by them through the most challenging part, when Cassadee had faced down her fucked-up brother and her crazy-ass father.

  “No, you did not, Cassadee Shaw, you heard nothing,” Wyatt grumped and Luke saw his cheeks redden.

  “Awww, I think it’s cute! My heart melted when these two used that word on me.” Luke felt like he was intruding when Cassadee looked at AJ and Sam with such love and devotion shining in her eyes it made his own damn chest ache. “It definitely worked in their favor and had me giving them another chance.” She dropped herself into Sam’s lap and popped her legs up on AJ, both wolves smiling in satisfaction having their mate in their arms. Smug pricks.

  “Right, come on, you two.” Luke stood up from the table and threw some cash down for the lunches, ignoring the protests coming from the AJ and Sam, who owned the bar. “Let’s head home. We have a shit ton of work to do to get our place ready for our mate. And now that we’ve actually found her—”

  “And she’s here in Grey River.” Chase continued his sentence and thought. “Then we need to get the house finished for her. Because—”

  “She will want the place finished, before she moves in with us.” Wyatt finished for all three of them, something they had been doing since they were children. “And she will be moving in with us, sooner rather than later. Hell, if we find out that this trouble Faith has a feeling she’s in turns out to be something dangerous, then we might just be moving in with her until she’s convinced!” Waving good-bye, they left the restaurant, all three of them lost in their own thoughts.

  Luke had a feeling that all three of them were going to have to work their magic with their mate. Chase was going to have to befriend her and worm his flirting cheeky ass into her inner circle. The little shit was good at that. Wyatt was going to unleash his inner alpha on their mate and Luke knew there were going to be flare-ups, sparks, and a whole lot of heat that would come between those two. And Luke, well he would be his usual steady, loyal, and understanding self.

  All three of them would be working to get her to trust them and treat her so good she’d be completely taken by surprise one day when she woke up and found herself firmly ensconced in their home and their lives. And if they found out this danger had a face and a name, then all three of them would work to eliminate that danger. One limb at a time.

  Chapter 3

  Two days later and Rowena sat in the bay window of the kitchen at the rear of her newly acquired house overlooking the small back yard. The house was small but absolutely perfect for her and Angel. Upstairs there were two large bedrooms each with their own bathrooms and a small office that Angel would be able to utilize as a nursery. There was also a small living room with a large window that they could see the tree-covered mountain range that surrounded the township. Rowena imagined sitting in that window watching the snow fall in a couple of months.

  The downstairs was mostly open plan in the front, with an outdated kitchen in the back. Rowena’s plan for her future and a dream she’d had since she was a child was to own and operate a bookstore with a small café that served coffee and small baked items. She wanted the bookstore to have huge comfy chairs to sit in, and she could imagine having intimate sessions with people she could help with her psychology background sitting in those chairs and drinking fabulous coffee. The space was perfect—the open plan and the huge windows made it bright and airy and lent itself exactly to the atmosphere she wanted to create.

  She signed on the dotted line as soon as Jason would let her. He was a lovely guy and kept urging her to call the Greyson brothers to come and give the house the once-over, but she had refused. There might have been a little bit of her that didn’t want to give the men the satisfaction, but there was a larger part of her that wasn’t too sure she could handle a double dose of the triple threat Greysons in one day. She knew she wanted this house and she had the money to buy it and transform it into what she wanted without it totally breaking her, so she had gone for it and she hadn’t felt one drop of regret.

  Angel had cried as soon as Jason had handed over the keys and left. “Rowena, this place is beautiful! Thank you so much for this. My baby and I owe you so much.”

  Rowena had ended up sobbing right along with her for a few minutes and then she had them both dancing around the space and making plans. Angel was going to run the small café. She had baking skills second to none, which Rowena had firsthand experience of from when she would bring her whatever she had baked fresh that day for the household she worked in. When they had started to plan out what they would do once they got to Grey River, Rowena had known she had her café manager and baker all rolled into one!

  They had made a lot of plans for their space over the weekend and now that it was Monday, it was time to get a contractor in here and to start the hard work of making their dreams a reality. A jaunty knock on the door at the front of the shop, followed by a jovial voice calling “Hello, neighbor!” brought her out of her thoughts.

  She walked through the shop area, marveling again at the amount of space there was and how light it was. Walking to the door, she saw a beautiful young blonde woman sporting a purple stripe through one side of her hair. She was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words Lotions and Potions on it and jeans. She must have been all of twenty-two years old. Smiling at how the woman bounced on her toes as Rowena neared the door, they smiled at each other through the glass.

  “Hi! My name’s Xanthe. I own the store next
door.” Rowena found herself being hugged enthusiastically by a woman who smelled like honeysuckle. Her skin practically glowed and Rowena was tempted to reach out a hand and stroke her skin, guessing it must be softer than a baby’s bottom, but thought it might be seen as crossing the line. “No way, please feel free!” Xanthe thrust her arm out, grabbed Rowena’s hand, and rubbed it against her skin. Damn that was soft! She would have to go and investigate this woman’s store, find out whatever she was using, and use it her damn self. “I’ll find the perfect lotion for you. You’ll love it.” If it had the same effect on her as it did on Xanthe, then she just might bathe in the damn stuff.

  That’s when Rowena realized she hadn’t actually said one word to the woman but they had basically just had a conversation. “I’m, um— Well…to be honest, I’m a little freaked out right now but my name is Rowena Whitley.” Rowena frowned a little at the woman and stood back when she suddenly started to laugh almost musically and her face went from stunningly beautiful to drop-dead gorgeous, kill-me-now in the span of a split second.

  “Sorry, Rowena, you’ll get used to me, I promise. I am harmless and wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She shrugged. “I just have a couple of abilities that most people don’t, that’s all.” Even though it was a flippant response, Rowena heard a thread of something in her voice that told her Xanthe feared her reaction. She guessed it might be a little too much for some to fathom a woman who was able to either read a person’s mind or be so perceptive to their moods or facial expressions as to appear that she did.

  “Not a problem.” Rowena grinned at her. “As long as you don’t share too many of my more embarrassing thoughts, then we will get on fine.” Xanthe grinned back and they turned as footsteps came into the room.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had company.” Angel’s soft, hesitant voice was quiet and she flicked her hair forward to hide her face. Xanthe looked at her for a few moments, and Rowena saw her eyes darken, and it looked like something swirled within her eyes, making them seem as if they were fluid, then in moments it was gone and Xanthe smiled, walking toward Angel, arms out.

  “Hi, Angel, my name’s Xanthe.” She kept her voice a little quieter than it had been with her, and Rowena smiled at just how perceptive this young woman actually was. “Rowena,” Xanthe said as she pulled Angel in for a hug. “I’m not that young. In fact I’m over thirty and loving life, so stop with the young woman thing, huh?” Rowena’s jaw dropped both at being caught out in that thought and the fact that this woman was over thirty. So she could actually read a person’s thoughts. Yeah, that was going to take some getting used to!

  “I’ll help you to build barriers that will stop you from projecting so loudly.” Xanthe threw her a grin over her shoulder. “It will also come in handy with a few other people as well, I’m sure.” Rowena narrowed her gaze at Xanthe. “Now, Angel, let’s have a look at you. My goodness, you are stunning under all that hair, huh?” Xanthe swept Angel’s hair back behind her ears and didn’t even flinch at the scar that ran down the right side of her face and under her jaw.

  Angel would usually flinch at this point and flick her hair back into place, but she just stood there, with a small smile and staring into Xanthe’s smiling face. Rowena felt her heart ache for the young woman who had been extremely lucky just to have escaped Dallas alive. She had some very powerful people out to get her, for doing nothing more than trying to make a living. “Your baby boy is growing well and safely inside you, and he hears all those songs you sing to him. He loves the sound of your voice.” Angel’s jaw dropped and she turned shocked eyes in Rowena’s direction. Rowena felt her jaw drop again and wondered if that would be a permanent condition around this woman who was a force of nature. “He also takes after his momma in every way.”

  “Now!” Xanthe clapped and rubbed her hands together in glee as she looked around the shop. “This place is going to look beautiful when you finish up with the plans you have in mind.” She wandered around the room, as if already seeing everything in place, and Rowena wouldn’t have been surprised if that were actually the case! “It’s going to take some serious work to get everything in order though. When do you start with the build?” Xanthe turned and looked at her.

  “As soon as possible, I just have to find a construction company I’m happy with and then we should be all good to go!” Rowena felt the card in the back pocket of her jeans start to heat up. Stupid business card of the three hot men, burning a stupid hole in her stupid pocket, and now she was blushing. Damn it!

  “Rowena.” Xanthe crossed her arms. “Call them. You know they’ll want to do this for you, and to be honest you want them to do the work for you.” Xanthe’s eyes narrowed and her smile turned slightly evil. “Besides, they work in real tight T-shirts that show off those beautiful muscles that make a girl wanna go to church and thank God for their perfection.” Rowena felt the green dragon of jealousy rear up within her, and she knew heat had risen in her cheeks and she was glaring at the woman. “And I heard that Marsha Dalton wants her kitchen redone by the Greysons for that very reason. She’s a tall blond stick figure of a woman. Boobs bigger than Texas and looking to land herself a couple of husbands.”

  Her oh-hell-the-fuck-no face must have shown because both women giggled. “Oh both of you can just… ththhhhrrrpppp!” She ended that with an adult-sounding raspberry and pulled the card out of her back pocket. Pointedly ignoring the knowing looks of the two women in the room, she moved back to the kitchen where she had left her cell phone.

  She told herself she was doing this because they had assured her they could do the work. She told herself she was doing this because she wanted someone she could work with to do the conversion. She picked up her phone and stared at it for a while before letting out a sigh. Then she told herself she wasn’t fooling anyone, let alone herself, because she was doing this so she could watch them work in the tight T-shirts and that busty bitch Marsha couldn’t. Dialing, she tried to ignore the fact that her heart pounded with excitement and she felt herself trembling a little at the thought of seeing them again, immensely glad that it wasn’t a video phone call when her grin turned girly as a man’s voice said, “Hello,” on the phone.

  * * * *

  The three of them had worked steadily all weekend on their house, and they had managed not to park outside Rowena’s new place to make sure she was safe. Chase figured the couple of flybys they had done on their way into town to the hardware store were justified as they were heading into town for a reason. Granted they had to drive past the store for three blocks to actually do a drive-by but that was beside the point.

  It was amazing what motivation finding their mate could be for the three of them. They had installed all the new cabinetry and appliances that had been sitting in their barn for the past four weeks, and Wyatt had even completed the bespoke backsplash they had designed and crafted to go in behind the granite kitchen counter top, the stove, and farmhouse-style sink. Everything was coming together and the more Chase thought about Rowena, the harder he worked to make the place perfect.

  Luke was moving the bespoke bedroom furniture they had designed in the master bedroom. Chase had been taking photos of the furniture as they had been completed and put them up on their web page and people were ordering them faster than they could make them. They were going to have to bring a couple more carpenters into the business just to meet their sales demands. Wyatt’s phone started ringing on the kitchen bench and Chase felt a thrill of anticipation shoot through him.

  It had been all he could do not to sleep in his truck outside the property on Grange Street in the hope of just seeing her again. Picking up the phone, Chase saw that it was a number not stored in the phone. Damn, it could be Rowena! He had to take a deep breath to get his excitement under control, and rolled his eyes at himself in exasperation when his “Hello” came out as more of a growl.

  “Um hi, is that you, Wyatt?” Damn. Chase let his eyes close at the sound of her voice, which even over the phone had his dic
k hardening.

  “Nah, baby, it’s me.” There was a slight pause and Chase wondered if she would be able to tell which of the brothers she was talking to.

  “Chase, I thought we talked about stopping with the endearments.” Her voice took on the “teacher telling off a student” tone that had him grinning like an idiot, which was how Luke and Wyatt found him when they came sliding into the room, obviously sensing his pleasure at talking with her.

  “My memory of that conversation is a little different. You told me not to, and I believe I just grinned. My plan is to just keep using it until you get used to it.” He heard her soft laugh on the other end of the phone. He put the phone on speaker so that Luke and Wyatt could hear her and all three of them crowded around the phone.

  “I’ve got you on speakerphone now, baby, so don’t say anything bad about Luke again. He might find it insulting.” Chase ducked the punch Luke swung at him as he heard Rowena splutter.

  “What! I didn’t… I would never! Grrr.” All three of them grinned at her growling. “Chase Greyson, you behave. I am calling for a serious and legitimate reason.”

  Wyatt frowned, and Chase knew his brother would jump to the conclusion that it would have something to do with the danger that Brendan alluded to yesterday. “What’s happened? Are you OK? Where are you?”

  “Oh, Wyatt, I’m fine!” Wyatt straightened in surprise that she was able to differentiate between the three of them even over the phone. “I got a surprise when Chase answered your phone before. Nothing’s wrong. I just have some building work I would like done at my new property and wondered if you would have time to come by and give me a quote.” Chase knew that their schedule was pretty tight, they had quite a lot going on, and with the furniture commissions going through the roof, they would have ordinarily told a prospective client that it would be four to six weeks before they could get there. But for Rowena?