Laurie's Wolves

by Becca Jameson

  She nodded and then swallowed. “We could ski another day. Do you think we should be looking for our third mate instead?”

  Part of him wondered if she had a point. The other part knew it didn’t work that way. Fate would reveal their mate when She was ready. And he somehow knew instinctively the other man they would spend their lives with was not in the building. “He’ll surface when it’s time. Let’s go enjoy ourselves.” He grabbed his stuff from the couch and led her outside by one hand.

  She nodded toward a row of skis when they exited. “Mine are on the end.” They were so small, like a child’s skis. Then again, she was barely taller than a child and had no experience. Whoever fitted her that morning had chosen well.

  “Zach.” The voice coming from behind him made him smile.

  “My mom,” he mouthed to Laurie before he turned around. “Mom.” He still held Laurie’s hand. There was no sense hiding his mating. His mother would scent it immediately anyway. As would any other wolf shifter in the area.

  Her brow was furrowed as she approached, and it smoothed out when she reached them. “Oh… Oh.” Her hand covered her mouth for a second, and then she dropped it. Her eyes went wide. “Is this your ten o’clock lesson?”

  Laurie reached out with her free hand. “I am. Laurie. I’m Miles and Melinda’s sister.”

  Zach’s mother smiled broader as she took Laurie’s hand. “Of course you are. How wonderful. I’m Carlie Masters. I heard you were here visiting for the week.”

  Zach stiffened at her side and squeezed her hand. “I think she’ll be staying.”

  Laurie continued to address his mother. “I was actually already planning to stay. I want to get to know my sister and learn more about my heritage.”

  “Excellent.” His mother glanced at him. “It’s just the two of you?”

  He knew what she meant. “No.” There was no hiding the fall of his shoulders. At this point, he wished that were the case. Every second in her space made him crave her more. He would give anything to lure her away from the slopes and find a quiet place to get to know her better.

  Hell, who was he kidding? What he really wanted was to strip all of the bulky ski clothing off her and learn her body, find out what made her hum. His stiff cock throbbed at the thought.

  Carlie nodded. “I see.” She schooled her face, sobering at the mention of their missing third. “Well, I’m sure Fate has Her reasons.”

  “She always does,” Laurie responded.

  “Mom, were you looking for me for a reason?” Zach wanted to steer the conversation away from the maudlin topic of their strange stymied mating.

  “Ah yes.” She snapped her fingers. “I wanted to let you know that we tried to give that little girl’s parents from this morning their money back. They wouldn’t take it, and they wanted me to apologize for her behavior.”

  He shrugged. “No biggie. It happens.”

  His mother smiled. “Well, go ski. I’ll clear your schedule for the day. The weather looks awesome.” When she turned to meet Laurie’s gaze again, she added, “If you get your feet under you, have him take you up the east slope. The snow is perfect there today.” She hesitated a moment and then leaned in to give Laurie a brief hug. “Welcome to the family.”

  Zach thought his mother’s eyes watered as she turned abruptly away.

  “Your mom seems sweet.”

  “She’s the best. You’ll love her.” He reached for Laurie’s skis and dropped them to the ground in front of her. “Let’s get you started. You’re about twenty-five years behind me on the slopes,” he teased.

  Chapter Three

  Laurie held Zach’s hand as they slid off the ski lift for the third time. Carlie had been right. The east slope was perfect. At least as far as Laurie knew. She didn’t exactly have anything to compare it to. But the sky was clear and the sun was shining and the temperature was high enough by that time she could stuff her hat in her pocket and feel the sun on her face.

  Zach held her hand tighter as they slid to the right to get out of the way of the next skiers to exit the lift. “You made it.” He beamed.

  Yeah. She’d fallen on her ass the first time they exited the lift, causing the man working the lift to have to stop it until she could get out of the way. It was humiliating, but Zach didn’t seem to think so. He insisted it happened every few minutes, even to the experienced skiers.

  She doubted that. But she appreciated the way he handled her clumsiness.

  The second time she exited the lift, she went flailing forward until she crashed into an embankment, her arms winding, her poles dropped on the ground en route.

  This third time was a charm. “See? You’re going to turn me into a skier yet.” Lucky for Zach, she found herself enjoying the sport. It was invigorating, and she thought she’d caught on fairly quickly. Zach insisted she was a natural, but she couldn’t exactly trust his praise.

  “Think you can make it to the bottom this time without the snowplow move?” He skied backward in front of her, wiggling his entire body back and forth in a choreographed dance that looked as natural as walking for him. She loved looking at him. His face lit up with happiness. His body was incredible. She had no doubt underneath all that ski clothing was a rock hard chest and abs she could run her hands over all day…and night.

  “Maybe…” She was finally getting the hang of sliding both feet to one side or the other in order to stop. She’d even managed to stay upright almost the entire run the second time down the hill.

  “I’ll take you on a longer run the next time if you make it all the way to the bottom without falling.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s a threat or a promise.” She adjusted her poles and started down the hill behind him.

  “I’ll even feed you lunch at the top. We have another lodge higher up the mountain. We’ll take the longer lift and stop for a while.”

  “Sounds good.” Her stomach growled as if the mention of eating had awakened it. It was almost one o’clock. She was amazed by how much she’d accomplished in three hours. “Are you sure you don’t have to be somewhere else today? I know when you agreed to give me a lesson, it was intended to be for an hour, not a full day. And I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit some newbie all afternoon.”

  Secretly, she hoped he stayed with her for the rest of the day, the night, and tomorrow too. But she also reasoned he had a job he was ignoring.

  “Laurie, you hardly qualify as some newbie I’m forced to babysit. Besides, you heard my mom. She has things covered.” He stopped, and she plowed into him dead center. He tipped her face back before she could catch her breath from the unexpected halt. “Do you honestly believe I could simply walk away and go teach someone else to ski this afternoon? Or rescue people from slopes they had no business attempting?”

  She shook her head. “No. I was just being polite.”

  He smiled. “Good. Because you aren’t getting rid of me that easily. Now, let’s make our way to the bottom and take the center lift to the lodge. I’m starving.” He kissed her lips briefly and released her.

  It was the second time he’d touched her mouth with his. And her entire body jumped to attention both times. How did he expect her to concentrate after that level of intimacy?

  They’d immediately fallen into sync with each other from the moment they met. To anyone observing, they undoubtedly looked like a couple who’d been together for months instead of hours. And it felt as if that were the truth.

  Comfortable. Easy.

  Arousing.

  She had tamped down her body’s reaction to him for three hours now. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold back from jumping him. Thank God the slopes were a bit crowded because if the world ceased to exist for even one moment around her, she would probably drop to the ground, feign some sort of injury, and force him to hover over her. Mouth to mouth would be the best ticket.

  More kissing wouldn’t hurt her feelings at all. The two brief times her lips met his had melted her in
sides.

  Now, shaking from lust and lack of fuel, she concentrated on the task at hand and skied down the slope in his wake as though she’d been doing so for a decade. Well, perhaps a few days, but to her it seemed she was on top of the world.

  »»•««

  It was one thirty before they reached the upper lodge, and Laurie lowered herself into a chair and sighed. “My entire body is going to ache tomorrow. I’m certain I used muscles I didn’t know I had.” She tugged off her gloves and goggles and set them on the table at her side. Her ponytail was a mess of tangled hair that fell across her face and down her shoulders. Her feet felt like they weighed two tons in the boots. She’d been walking with an odd gate in the ski boots that caused every step to create a double thump as first the heel and then the toe hit the ground hard.

  When Zach leaned down to unlatch the buckles on her boots, she felt like a vise grip had been released from her ankles. He chuckled as he righted himself in the chair next to her. “I’ll go get us something to eat. You can rest.”

  “Thank God. Because I’m not sure I could stand if there were a fire.”

  He chuckled and stood. “Anything you’re craving? Anything you don’t like?”

  “Nope. Surprise me.”

  Zach wandered away through the crowded cafeteria while she watched his ass. His ski pants were more fitted than hers, outlining his firm butt perfectly. She’d watched it enough this morning to have his muscles memorized. And she wasn’t the least bit apologetic about it either.

  The man was solid, sexy as hell, and gigantic. His dark hair, in need of a trim, hung in thick waves around his forehead. She loved the way he occasionally shook his head to one side to adjust the locks.

  His eyes were a deep brown she could get lost in, and she already had several times. Every time she met his gaze and held it, she lost a few of his words as she melted into him.

  As he disappeared from sight, she sighed again. It wasn’t as though this possibility hadn’t occurred to her. She’d considered the idea last night before she went to bed. After all, two of her siblings had mated with two of his. It wasn’t farfetched to think she might be destined to mate with either him or his younger brother, Logan.

  Not farfetched, but shocking.

  She glanced around for the millionth time. Who was their third? And did they need to wait for him to join them before they got too carried away?

  There wasn’t exactly a manual on the topic of threesomes among the wolf population. It was rare. And rarer was meeting only one of them and knowing there was a third out there somewhere.

  She couldn’t explain how she knew. It was more than just the knowledge that Zach was destined to mate with two others. She instinctively understood deep inside that they weren’t quite whole.

  She tried to pretend to herself she wasn’t looking around for another man and instead concentrated on the décor. The upper lodge was similar to the lower one in style—same log cabin feel. It was much smaller, and the dining area was more of a focal point than the fireplace. It was still surrounded with couches for skiers to rest on and enjoy their stay, but not as many people would be hanging around this lodge farther up the mountain without a purpose. Eat. Ski.

  “Whatcha thinkin’?” Zach asked as he slid back into the seat next to her. He set down a tray laden with far more food than they could possibly consume. Then again, Zach was a big guy who worked hard on the slopes every day. He could probably eat all of that food and then some.

  She reached for a fry and chomped into it before she answered. “Probably the same thing you are.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. It’s pretty hard to ignore. It should seem weird to me that you’re glancing around scoping out every man who passes. I should be jealous or something. But how can I be when I’m doing the same thing?” He chuckled and handed her a bottle of water. “I wasn’t sure what you liked to drink, but when you’ve been skiing all day, you need less caffeine and more water.”

  “Thanks.” She took it from him and twisted off the cap. “Aren’t you a little freaked out by all this? I feel like I’m constantly looking around trying to find him.”

  He opened a burger next and held it up with a questioning look. “My gut tells me he isn’t in this room. In fact, he isn’t on the slopes either.”

  “Really? How do you know?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t. Just my instinct.” He glanced past her and cringed.

  “What?”

  He gave a wry grin. “Just hoping it isn’t the guy heading our way. Don’t care for him.”

  Laurie twisted in her seat and watched as a man in an orange vest with the resort logo on it made his way to their table. She hoped it wasn’t him either. He had a cocky look on his face.

  And sure enough, fitting his expression, the first words out of his mouth weren’t particularly polite. “Slacking today, Masters?”

  Zach stiffened next to her, though she doubted the other man knew it. “Yep. Like every day.” He didn’t bother to give the man the satisfaction of arguing.

  Even though she’d known Zach for only a few hours, she already surmised he was a hard worker with abundant energy. She set her hand on his thigh under the table and squeezed.

  The blond man set his palm on their table and leaned too close to her. “New girlfriend?” he asked without taking his steely gaze off her.

  She shivered. Nope. She didn’t like this guy any more than Zach appeared to. Thank God he wasn’t their third. He also wasn’t lupine. Not that it mattered. Plenty of wolves mated with humans. Just not this one. He gave her the creeps.

  “What did you need, Brock?” Zach didn’t bother answering the man’s question.

  “Nothing. I just wanted to come over and say ‘hi.’” He kept his gaze on Laurie. “I’m Brock. You are…?”

  Laurie stared at his eyes for a moment, the ones ogling her chest. Finally, she managed to pull together enough civility to respond. “Like you said, I’m the new girlfriend.” She didn’t flinch as she spoke. Hopefully, Zach wouldn’t care about her response.

  Apparently not. He chuckled and covered her hand with his on his thigh.

  Brock laughed. “Fine. I gotta run. I’ll see you later. Maybe you’ll help out on the slopes this afternoon, Masters?”

  “Nope. But I bet you’ll find Logan out there if you need someone else to harass.” Zach released her hand and tugged the tray of food closer. He didn’t lift his gaze back to meet Brock’s as he opened more containers and revealed onion rings, chili, another burger, and nachos. Way too much food.

  Brock turned and left them finally.

  “I see what you mean. Nice guy,” she said sarcastically.

  “Oh yeah. He’s a bundle of fun times.” Zach stuffed a fry in his mouth and grabbed the catsup from the table. “Unfortunately, he’s also an amazing instructor and incredibly calm under tense situations when someone is injured on the slopes. It’s tough to hire enough guys with those skills. Otherwise, I’d fire his cocky ass in a minute.”

  “Bummer.”

  “Yeah. This isn’t Colorado. We’re in Montana. Good ski instructors living in the area or willing to come out here each season are rare.”

  Laurie picked up her cheeseburger and took a huge bite, moaning around the taste.

  Zach laughed.

  “What?” she asked around her full mouth, covering her lips with her hand.

  “You must be starving, because I know the burger isn’t that good.”

  He was right. She was indeed famished. And she had a feeling she would need fuel for whatever crazy ski slope he intended to take her on next.

  Chapter Four

  “You sure about this?” Laurie asked as she pulled her gloves on and stared down the mountain at the hill Zach was intent on taking. They were significantly higher up the mountain this time, and on the west side.

  “You’ll be fine. You’re practically a pro by now.”

  Laurie wasn’t nearly as confident as he was. And she lifted her gaze toward the sky for
the third time in as many minutes.

  The day had been clear until then, not a single cloud. The forecast had shown blue skies all day. But Laurie sensed unsettled weather coming in. “I think it’s going to snow.”

  Zach scrunched up his face. “Really? It’s not supposed to.” He gazed at the sky.

  “Can’t explain it. But my instinct tells me it’s going to storm.”

  “Do you usually predict weather?” He lowered his face to hers, concern etched on his forehead. At least he wasn’t making light of her quirkiness.

  “I’ve always been a bit in touch with Nature, but I will admit it has increased since I arrived here.” Kind of made her uneasy too. It had only been four days. Could she really tap into skills from her Native American half that quickly?

  “I’m not going to doubt you. I’ve heard what Melinda can do. That woman is amazing.”

  “Well, don’t get carried away. I’m not Melinda. And I have no idea what dormant abilities I might have, but sensing a change in the weather isn’t really an anomaly for me.”

  “Hang on a sec. Don’t move.” Zach turned around and maneuvered his way back to the stand at the top of the lift. He spoke to one of the employees who looked up at the sky and shook his head.

  While she watched, Zach pulled out his cell phone and tapped a few things on the screen and then held it up for the man to see. The guy’s eyes went wide. He turned back around, stepped into the stand, and picked up a walkie talkie.

  Zach made his way back toward Laurie.

  “What was that all about?” She could easily guess, but she wanted to hear what he had to say.

  “You’re right. A storm developed just east of here, and it’s moving fast. Looks like it might pack a punch.”

  She cringed. It was one thing to sense when it would snow or rain, but it was an entirely different thing to have it be so accurate and unexpected.

  “Let’s get going.” He lifted his head again as the snow started to fall. “Geez, woman.”

  She shook her head. “You think I’m causing the weather?”

  He chuckled. “Of course not. I’m just impressed with your precognition.”