by Renee Rose
Uh huh. Sure. The only way Markle probably liked a cow was medium rare.
“Well, that’s very humane of him. When will that be? I’d love to watch that part.”
His grin broadened like he thought I was cute. “Well, sure. I’m bringin’ “em down tomorrow evening. You’re welcome to come down.”
“It wouldn’t be too much of a bother if I came back to watch? I’ll stay out of the way, I promise.”
Jack’s gaze darted toward Markle’s house, like he was suddenly unsure. I wasn’t surprised considering what an asshole Markle was. “Uh, yeah. I think that would be fine. I mean, it’s fine with me. I don’t think Mr. Markle would care.”
“Well, I’ll ask him when I come,” I said sweetly. “Thanks.”
I turned and headed back toward my place.
Perfect. If Markle followed routine, which most drug runners did once they found a method that worked, he’d load the drugs in after the cows, like I saw last time. If I could get down there and check out the crates before they were loaded, I’d have everything I needed to take Markle down.
And Jack just gave me an excuse for being there if I got caught.
I walked back to the house, trying to keep my gaze from lifting toward Wolf Ranch.
Trying to ignore the stab of pain in my chest that seemed like it would never go away. I ached for Rob. For the life he had here, the family. For his dick. And his heart.
Focus on the job, Willow.
It was the only thing I had left.
25
ROB
The shaking of my bed made me groan.
“Get up, asshole.”
“What the fuck?” I growled.
“You’ve had two days.”
Colton.
“I’ve never known you to drink yourself into a fucking stupor.”
Boyd.
I blinked, tried not to have sharp spikes drill into my skull as I did so. My bed was soft. Warm. I didn’t want to move. I was pretty sure I’d been in it for twenty-four hours straight.
“I’m keeping away the moon madness,” I muttered. “And thoughts about Natalie. I mean, Willow. Whatever the fuck her name is.”
One of them kicked the bed.
My stomach flip flopped.
“You smell like the floor at Cody’s after closing.” Again, Colton.
“Are you still wearing the same clothes as at the picnic?” Fucking Boyd.
Groaning, I sat up facing the window. It was dark out. Definitely not time for them to be getting me out of bed. My foot kicked a whiskey bottle across the floor.
“Fuck off.”
My mouth tasted like something died, and I wasn’t sure if my head was going to stay attached to my body. After I’d called Kara’s mate’s pack and requested the guy’s presence here on Wolf land, I’d led her back to her dad and Tom and Janet. They’d left soon after, and I was sure she’d told them the plan for her mating by now.
I’d still do the mating ceremony if they wanted, but it wasn’t required for a true match.
After they left, I found the whiskey and drowned myself in it. My wolf had pushed me to go after Willow, but I refused to do it. The only way to get my wolf to stop and for me to forget was to get stumbling drunk.
“We did. For two days. Take a shower and get yourself together,” Colton said. “You need to eat some food.”
Two days. I’d accomplished my goal. But why they were having me surface now, I had no idea.
“Why?” I ran a hand through my hair absently, then over my jaw.
“We’re not talking to you like this. Shower. Shave that fucking beard,” Boyd ordered. “We’ve got some steaks on the grill.”
“Don’t boss me around. I’m the fucking alpha around here.”
“Oh yeah?” Colton asked, whacking me on the back of my head, making me groan. “Then act like it.”
“We give you ten minutes then we’re coming in after you,” Boyd said. “The last thing I want to do is see your junk, so you better fucking move.”
Fifteen minutes later—I refused to bow down to my younger brother—I grabbed a glass from the kitchen cabinet and filled it with water. I drank it in one long gulp. Only then did I turn and face my brothers. And Clint.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Clint tossed a bottle of ibuprofen at me. I caught it with my free hand, then set my water down to get the lid open and take some. The shower had helped. I felt a little better with fresh clothes and the itchy start of a beard gone. My head still throbbed, and my stomach felt like it was made of battery acid. I couldn’t remember the last thing I ate.
“You did a good thing with Kara and her mate,” Clint said. He sat at the kitchen table, hands folded on the scarred surface. A plate piled with steak sat in the middle of the table, but it only made my stomach turn.
Colton must’ve understood because he went to the bread box and pulled out a roll. “Eat this.”
It had to be one of Marina’s since it had a golden exterior and a fancy twist in it, but it was plain. Thank fuck.
I gnawed off a chunk and chewed, hoping it would stay down. Shifters shouldn’t get hung over. I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with me.
Oh yes, I did. I’d been drinking non-stop to keep from going after Willow and even a shifter’s metabolism and ability to heal couldn’t compete with constant guzzling of alcohol.
“He showed up yesterday. Kara’s mate,” Colton said. “Needless to say, they were mated by dark.”
I grunted in reply. So fucking easy. Literally. Kara had her mate’s mark on her neck, and here I was, nursing a wicked hangover with my brothers and Clint.
“You trying to get me to drink some more?” I asked them.
“No, fucker. You need to go get your mate.”
I eyed Boyd. “You mean the human I can’t have, or do you mean the undercover DEA agent posing as our neighbor?”
Clint shook his head. “Your mate. The one your wolf wants.”
“He doesn’t know what he wants,” I grumbled.
“Oh yeah?” Colton asked. “She’s been at Markle’s place a couple times now.”
I tossed my glass into the empty fireplace, shattering it into pieces. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
The men didn’t even blink by my action.
“Yeah, just as I thought,” Colton said. “She’s yours.”
“If she’s mine, why the fuck’s she with Markle? Did he take her wine this time?” I sounded like a petty, snarly wolf pup. I couldn’t help it. I felt like I should just shoot myself and the idea of Markle anywhere near Natalie made me want to rip the asshole’s throat out.
“Did she tell you who she suspected of drug running?”
I shook my head, realized that was a bad move, then grabbed a new glass from the cabinet for more water.
“I told her it wasn’t us.”
Boyd laughed. “For an alpha, you’re pretty fucking stupid.” I just stared at him. “Did it ever occur to you it might be Markle?”
I stopped, glass halfway to my mouth, and stared at him. “Markle?”
“Why the fuck do you think she went over there with wine that night?” Colton asked. “Why the DEA had her posing as Natalie Shefield, Markle’s next door neighbor.”
Markle. A drug runner. That actually made a lot of sense.
“We’ve been watching her,” Clint said evenly. “Since she left the other day from the picnic.”
My gaze narrowed and homed in on my oldest friend. “Why?”
He sighed. “Because she’s your mate, and if you’re not going to watch out for her, someone had to.”
“She’s fucking DEA, you asshole,” Boyd said. “Undercover. She’s here for a reason, and it’s not to ride your dick. I suppose that was a surprise twist for her, too.”
“I’m sure she can take care of herself,” Colton began. “But she’s not here to turn the house into a fucking bed and breakfast. She’s dealing with real bad shit. She needs backup, and I don’t see any from the DE
A.”
“She’s doing her job, brother,” Boyd said, his voice calmer than usual. “Do you really think she wanted to keep herself a secret? To lie? Do you take her for someone like that? You’ve got a job, too, you moron. Being alpha, you have to make sacrifices, too. You’re more alike than you think.”
I sighed, even though what he said made sense. “That still doesn’t make her my mate.”
“No, your wolf made her your mate.”
“She’s human!” I growled, the windows shaking. “The pack won’t allow it.”
Colton came over and stood right before me. “You’re alpha. Tell the pack to get in line, or they can walk. You’re going to die, brother, if you don’t mate her.”
“I’m not mating her to save my life.”
“Why the fuck not? We all do. That’s the point!” Boyd shouted.
“Do you want her?” Clint asked, quieter than either Boyd or Colton.
Did I want her? Images of her flooded my brain. Fucking herself with the dildo. Pointing a gun at my chest—both times. Her bright smile. The tears that ran down her face when she confessed her lie.
“Yes,” I admitted. “Fuck, yes.”
“Then get her. Who gives a shit about Nathan and the others? We’re better off with him out of the pack. If your wolf says you have a human mate, then that’s the way it is.”
“What about pups? They won’t be able to shift.” I glanced at Boyd because Audrey was going to have a half-human, half-shifter pup in a few months. Who probably couldn’t shift.
“What about an asteroid hitting the planet? You can’t plan for everything, just like you never expected to find your mate next door.”
Were they right? Was I being a dumbass? My wolf thought so. Now that I was sober, or on the way to getting there, it was pushing me to go after Natalie. Willow. To make her mine. To grovel until she forgave me. Until she let me bite her and make her mine.
Human or not.
“I’m going,” I said. The moment I decided, my wolf perked up. Energy returned to my body, and the hangover instantly faded.
I stepped out the front door, only to find three cars pulling in our drive. “Aw, fuck.”
Boyd, Colton and Clint followed me out to see what had made me curse and added a few of their own.
It was Nathan Brown and his Madison Range kin, along with a half dozen of my pack’s elders.
I stood on the porch and waited. I was still their fucking alpha, even if they did want to commit mutiny. Colton, Boyd and Clint flanked me.
Art Grayback, one of the pack elders who cozied up with Nathan, stalked toward me, looking angry. “You mated the she-wolf intended for you to another male.”
I nodded. “She made her choice,” I said calmly. “And she didn’t choose me.”
Art crossed his arms over his chest. “Who did you choose then?”
I looked back at him evenly. Yeah, I had a fuck-ton of problems, but I was still alpha. I couldn’t show weakness of any kind. “I haven’t mated yet.”
“Rumor has it you’re interested in that new neighbor of yours. A human.” He sneered, as if human was a bad word.
If it were the new moon, I might’ve been able to keep my cool. But we were approaching full, which meant my temper—especially when it came to my mate—ran hot. I stalked down the steps and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “That’s right. My wolf has chosen a human for a mate. Do you have something to say about it?”
Art paled and tried to push free. “Now listen here—”
“No. I’m done listening. I’ve listened. I’ve considered. I’ve made my choice. The human is mine. If you want to defect to the Madison Range pack and be with the others, be my guest. My brothers and I will be staying here in Cooper Valley. With or without the rest of you.” I released him, giving him a shove backward. “Make your choice.” I gave every male there my fiercest stare. “Right now. And know, all of you—if you walk away today, you’re not coming back.”
Nathan gave a mirthless laugh. “You just killed our pack, Rob Wolf. Now there won’t be anyone to carry your line to the next generation. No alpha to lead. Whether the pack members leave now or in twenty years makes no difference. The pack dies with you.” He spit on the ground. “What a fucking waste.”
One by one, the wolves got back in their cars and drove away.
I didn’t fucking care.
Fate sent me a human. That was who I was claiming.
If she’d have me.
I started jogging down the path toward her house. I need to fix things between us. And it couldn’t wait another fucking minute.
26
WILLOW
I watched Markle’s place from the master bedroom window all evening. His fancy pickup truck had been gone all afternoon. My guess was he’d gone to pick up the drugs from wherever Murrieta dropped them. I didn’t take Markle for the kind of guy to go pick up drugs. It was beneath a billionaire to get his hands dirty. But he was the minion now. Murrieta’s mule. Literally. Unfortunately, we didn’t know about that angle of the operation, but if we got Markle in cuffs and in an interrogation room, we’d be able to get the details. Especially if we had him with the drugs. To Murrieta, Markle was a little fish. As for Markle, he only cared about himself, and if he could finagle any kind of deal with the DEA, I figured he’d squeal like a pig.
I kicked myself for not seeing him leave, so I could tail him, but so long as I got him with the drugs now, we were in business.
It was eleven o’clock when I heard the crunch of tires over gravel and saw his truck pull in. Tucking my gun in a holster at my back, I pulled a lightweight jacket on over the top to hide it.
I called Vaughn. “He’s back, I’m going down to get it all on film.”
“Only photos,” he ordered. “Do not try to make an arrest on your own. You might be in Bumfuck, Montana, but bad shit still happens. You call for backup before you do anything, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
He hung up.
I rechecked my weapon out of habit and re-holstered it behind my back.
It was showtime.
Outside, the moon shone high in the sky, lighting my path. It made it harder to blend in. I hadn’t dressed in black or put smudges on my face this time since I had the excuse that I’d been invited to watch the cattle load-up, but I still would have preferred not to be seen. If I could somehow get to the feed bags and open them to verify they contained drugs, then I’d have everything I needed. I could take pictures with my phone and instantly send them back to Vaughn. That would ensure a search warrant.
I stopped when I got close and used the night vision camera to see what was going on. Jack was loading cattle into the small pen beside the chute like he’d said he would. The cows would walk up and onto the hauler, perhaps with a little coaxing for the first one. The rest would follow. The truck hadn’t arrived yet, but if they were being herded together, it was coming soon. Markle had backed his pickup up to the barn which meant that was where I needed to be.
I stayed low and crept closer, skirting around the outside of the barn and hiding behind it. I waited until I heard the slam of a door and the pickup start. Then Markle pulled away, stopping to tell Jack to go home and he’d get the cattle loaded when the trailer showed up.
To me, it meant he was going to add the drugs. No way would he load cattle all on his own otherwise.
I touched the gun at my back for reassurance before I slid in the shadows along the side of the barn. Jack started a beat up twenty-year-old pickup and pulled out, his tail lights receding down the drive. Meanwhile, Markle was parking his vehicle in front of his house, hopefully going inside to wait. I darted around the corner and slipped into the open door of the barn.
It definitely wasn’t an animal barn. Or at least it wasn’t currently being used for them. There was no tang of manure. No hay. Along the front wall was a stack of crates. Nothing huge but could definitely fit in the back of a pickup. I tried to open one, but it was nailed shut.
&nbs
p; Dammit.
I pulled out my hunting knife to use to pry the lid off. It took some work, but I finally got it loose. I quietly propped the lid against the crate and peered inside. It looked like a plastic bag full of cattle feed. I sliced it open with my knife and fished around inside.
Bingo! I pulled out a package of snowy white powder. Cocaine.
I couldn’t help the grin. After months of investigation, one awful date and a goodnight kiss, I had Markle. All I needed now was to get some pics off to Vaughn for that backup and—
A gun cocked right beside my ear. “Put it down and turn around, real slow.”
Fuck!
Markle.
How had I not heard him? My senses were usually so sharp.
I moved slowly, lowering the cocaine to the crate then lifting my hands in the air and turning around.
“Most women give me a BJ for a dinner date. When you didn’t put out, or at least drop to your knees, I had to wonder. Who the fuck are you?” he demanded. His usual swagger was replaced with fierce determination. Darkness. Evil.
I pursed my lips. Did I bluff or throw my badge in his face? Neither seemed like a great option at the moment, not with his pistol pointed right at me.
“Murrieta sent me. To watch over you. Make sure you didn’t skim any from him.”
His eyes narrowed. I could tell he wasn’t sure because it was probably something the kingpin might have done, but the fact that he didn’t look confused told me I was right about his connection with the cartel.
“You’re lying.” He shifted from foot to foot, his eyes darting around the barn and out the door, like he was looking for my back up.
My non-existent back up.
Shit! If only I’d had time to call for help. No one knew I was here. Vaughn was probably tucked in his bed sleeping.
“Nice try, but that bastard Murrieta doesn’t send women to do a man’s job. No fucking way. He keeps his women tied up and on their knees. So, who are you? FBI? DEA?”
