Desert Blood (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 2) (2 page)

Heather leaned against the wall, suddenly drained. “Five minute break, kids.” They broke into gleeful cries and ran out to the playground, leaving Heather and Cody alone.

“My brother does have a soft spot, you know.” Cody grinned. “It comes out every second year or so.”

Definitely opposites, those two. She’d take this one in an instant and worship him like the sun.

His eyes were studying the blackboard, reading the words. “My dream home?” He grinned like Huck Finn, but all grown up. Very grown up.

She would bet anything he’d been like Timmy as a kid. Sweet, energetic, mischievous. And now, sweet, studly, and mischievous. She’d give anything to make like Becky and hide herself against that chest.

Heather cleared her throat. “Geometry. They have to find shapes in the house, and then draw their own dream homes.”

“And this one is yours?” He nodded to the board.

The U-shaped ranch she’d been kidding herself about for years? She shrugged the notion away. “Nah. Just an example.”

He chuckled. “Right.”

God, that smile could make her forget everything. Like the fact that she’d sworn off men. Like the fact that she had eleven rambunctious kids to supervise instead of standing there, letting goose bumps tickle her skin.

Like the fact that the last man she’d let this close nearly killed her.

But with those gold-brown eyes caressing hers, she just might forget.

“Cody!” Ty growled from outside, breaking whatever spell had wafted in with the wind.

“Gotta go,” Cody sighed. He stood looking at her for a long, mournful minute—a kid watching the ice cream truck pull away before he got a scoop. “Gotta go,” he repeated, eyes sliding shut. Seemed to Heather he’d aimed that whisper at himself.

And then he was gone, leaving the room emptier than it had ever felt before.

CHAPTER THREE

A hummingbird whizzed past, and Cody followed its cue, hurrying to catch up to his brother while trying not to let the visions dancing in his head trickle out. If Ty caught him thinking those thoughts…

But the visions persisted. Visions of a willowy woman with champagne-colored hair swirled in a bun. He dreamed of undoing that bun, finding out just how long and silky her hair was. Her eyes were as green as an Appalachian forest and just as haunted. She was tall, too. One little dip of his chin and they’d be kissing. He and the woman who stood up to his brother like an Amazon defending her turf. She only wavered when some memory jumped out and got the better of her. Cody wondered what it was, and what force had steered this human to his part of the continent.

Destiny
, came a faint murmur, a whisper on the wind. Faint as it was, the sound still managed to hammer Cody’s soul. His heart was pounding like he’d just run the length of the desert, searching for his mate.

Now why did that image come to him? That had been his brother, the closet romantic, holding out for years after a tiny hint of true love. Of Lana, his destined mate. Anyone who ever doubted destiny could look at those two and see proof.

Except Cody… Well, he wasn’t Ty. On the rare occasion that destiny came knocking at the ranch, it brushed straight past him. Others might claim to have heard a call, but Cody? Nothing. Nada. The silent treatment.

Well, there was a message in that, too. That the second son of the ruling alpha wasn’t destined for much. That, or he was captain of his own destiny and could damn well steer his own course. Cody didn’t know which option unsettled him more.

He only knew that this stranger had stirred him like no woman before. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. Before he’d even seen Heather, her presence had drawn him toward the schoolhouse he normally avoided. He found himself haunting the place, almost wishing he could take his old seat in the back and follow along. Hell, for her, he’d sit in the front. Raise his hand for every question and cry
Me! Me! Me!

For reasons he couldn’t understand, though, he’d been avoiding meeting her face-to-face—until now.

She was like no schoolteacher he’d ever met. Her legs belonged on a fashion runway—no, he decided, sportier than that. More like on a volleyball court. Her eyes were a green he’d never seen in the desert. And the toned arms stretching out from that sleeveless sundress, well, those belonged around him. He sniffed long and hard, savoring her scent like the last bloom of the century plant. Except this one came with a hint of strawberry. He did it again now: sniffed.

Mine!
his wolf growled.

That’s what scared him. His wolf had never claimed a woman before. Usually, the beast sampled anything on offer and quickly moved on, favoring quantity over quality when it came to the opposite sex. Over the last two weeks, though, his wolf had suddenly developed an opinion, and it was all about Heather.

Only her.

All the time.

Mine!

But what the hell did a wolf know?

Cody wasn’t meant to settle down. Cody wasn’t the one called by destiny. And he certainly didn’t deserve a woman like her. She was so spirited. So together. So…fresh. But just because he got a rush around Heather, just because he spent day and night wondering about her, didn’t mean he was in love. No, sir.

The wind taunted him all the way across the ranch.

Ty, the lucky bastard, had no such concerns. The man was happily mated and the father of an eighteen-month-old he adored. Ty didn’t have to worry about finding his destiny; it had already found him.

Right now, he was intent on the bat, flipping back the towel for a closer look. Cody leaned in, too. They both knew that there were bats and there were… Well, call them bad bats, even if the latter hadn’t been spotted in Arizona for decades. Cody studied the creature’s eyes, the quivering tongue. It looked so fragile in his brother’s big hand, yet somehow menacing, too.

“A scout?” Cody asked, keeping his voice low. Why, he wasn’t sure. They were far enough away from the schoolhouse now, and Heather had turned the music on, anyway.

She’d danced through his senses, one after another, ever since she first arrived. It started with music—the notes had drawn him in on the very first day. He’d overheard her explaining the rules to the kids: they had to keep their voices down during independent work time, quiet enough for everyone to be able to hear the music. Good trick, that. She played classical stuff that no one on the ranch listened to—Beethoven, maybe Mozart, what did he know? It was sweet and calming, though, just like the sight of her. Cody sometimes stopped by just to listen, to know she was close.

Then it was scent, followed by sight, and now, Jesus, his fingers itched to touch her, to feel the silk of her hair, the smooth of her skin.

Ty tipped his head left, then right, still examining the bat. “Hard to say.” They hadn’t had vampires around here for a long time. Not the kind that made trouble, at least. But old fears ran deep. Ty wrapped the bat in the towel, careful not to crush it. Yet. “Dad wanted to see us. We’ll show it to him.”

Crap. Cody’s day had started so well. He’d finally found an excuse to talk to Heather, finally got her to smile. Now everything was sure to go to hell.

Coming?
Ty’s voice invaded his mind. Siblings and packmates shared a close bond that enabled that form of communication. Some voices were weaker than others, but Ty’s always came booming in, loud and clear.

Coming, coming.
Cody let his feet shuffle along. Whatever their father wanted, it couldn’t be good.

“Hi, Cody!” came a perky voice. Beth waved from the library porch, wearing a hopeful grin that harbored an open invitation.

He gave a neutral wave, ducked his chin, and hurried on. No use raising anyone’s hopes.

“Hey, Cody,” came a low, sultry call. His head swiveled left. Audrey stood there, leaning way over in a scooped top that displayed the bountiful goods on offer.

“Hi,” he murmured, walking faster. He let a minute tick by before turning to Ty. “Do you miss that?”

“Not one bit.” Ty shook his head.

“Not ever?”

“Never.” Ty’s voice left no room for doubt. Cody could see it on him anyway. These days, his brother positively glowed with happiness. It was as if Ty had found a whole new source of energy and was radiating it. Inexplicably, Cody found himself wondering what it was about having a child and a mate that was so satisfying. Wondering if he would ever find out for himself.

“Don’t you get sick of it?” Ty asked.

Sick of the girls hitting on him all the time? Cody hesitated. Would his brother laugh if he said the truth? That he was tired of playing a role, tired of a different girl every week? Things had only gotten worse since Ty had mated with Lana, leaving Cody as most eligible bachelor on the ranch. For a time, he’d enjoyed himself. But now, it grated more than anything else.

Was he tired of loose, empty liaisons? Yes. Sick and tired.

“I love it,” he said.

Ty snorted.

“Cody!” Audrey swept closer. The woman was hell in high heels. She raced up, staged a theatrical wobble, and launched herself right into his arms, making sure to heave her hefty rack into his chest.

If only she hadn’t, because Cody bumped Ty, jarring him enough to shake the bat free. It circled once, twice, and flapped away. “Crap,” Cody muttered.

Ty launched his curses directly into Cody’s brain, along with everything he’d like to do to Audrey. Starting with throttling her with the lacy red bra advertising itself under her top.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Audrey purred, fondling Cody’s neck. “Was it important?”

We’ll never fucking know, will we?
Ty stomped off.

“Gotta go!” Cody said, peeling himself free. But he’d escaped the frying pan only to jump into the fire because the council house, where his father held court, was coming up next.

Getting there meant hurrying past two more packmates, both with issues to raise—real issues this time. Bryant had a question about the irrigation schedule, while Zack was reporting on fence damage. That was the thing: everyone came to Cody first. His father and Ty were both short on temper and patience. They kept the ranch running, but it was Cody and his sister Tina who kept it running smoothly. They were the approachable ones, the ones who convinced others with a smile and not a frown.

Cody exchanged a few quick words with each of the men then hurried into the council house.

“Ty,” his father greeted his older son with his usual note of pride. The son he’d practically named after himself: Tyrone the father, Tyrell, the son. “Cody,” he added in afterthought.

Cody tucked his lips together and kept still, except for a nod to his sister Tina, sitting to his father’s right. She did her best to balance the old grouch out with a soft touch, as impossible as the task was. Ty and Tina were the spitting image of their father, dark and intense. Cody, he was different, in every way.

“Kyle called.” As usual, his father launched right into business. The aspects of it that he still covered, that is. He’d gradually been handing duties over to his offspring, mainly playing the role of elder statesman—meaning he could meddle whenever he damn well pleased.

Cody and Ty exchanged glances. Kyle rarely had good news. A pack member who lived on the periphery of the ranch, Kyle was also a state trooper. Their inside man.

“He was on about a series of murders in New Mexico,” Tyrone continued with a dismissive flap of his hand.

Tina chimed in, outrage underpinning her voice. “Highway murders. Innocent women.”

Tyrone gave an exaggerated sigh. “We should follow up. Kyle seems to think the killers might cross over to Arizona. We don’t want trouble here.”

If there was one thing shifters feared, it was discovery. Murder investigations brought outsiders, questions. In a word, trouble. Just because humans were the weaker species didn’t mean they should be underestimated. Once upon a time, humans had hunted shifters to the brink of extinction. These days, Cody’s kind had been relegated to the realm of myths, giving today’s packs a measure of peace—as long as they remained incognito.

“I’ll go,” Cody said, eager for his chance.

Ty nodded. “Cody will take care of it.”

He stood extra tall as his father’s eyes raked his frame. He’d love an assignment like this. But would his father entrust it to him?

That was the thing. Cody had gone years engineering a persona for himself. Cody the reckless. Cody the playboy. He was no fool; even at a young age, he’d seen the crushing expectations heaped on his older brother. He wanted none of that, so he’d been sure to goof up frequently enough to keep expectations suitably low. And for a long time, the strategy worked.

The problem was, he was getting a little tired of acting his own role. But he was so good at it now, he was typecast. Didn’t matter that he was ready to handle responsibility. Didn’t matter that he’d earned number three rank in the pack on his own merits. His father saw only the little boy. This was a chance, maybe
the
chance, to prove himself.

His father eyed him skeptically.

“I can do it,” Cody insisted.

Their father looked to Ty instead. Lucky for Cody, his brother’s hands shot up. “I’ve got enough to do here. Lana’s got a stack of work, too, and Tana’s got a cold.”

Cody hid a smile at Ty’s unabashed words. So what if their father was scowling again? Ty was committed to playing an active role in his child’s upbringing and being a good mate—unlike their father in his time. Ty might be the spitting image of their father, but he was a totally different man. A good man.

Cody’s eyes drifted to his own feet. What would his own legacy be?

An image of Heather formed, so real and close it nearly knocked him off his feet. Those green eyes, smiling right into his, showing him just how good the future could be. Telling him how much more he could be. He didn’t have to be the overlooked son of a powerful alpha. He could be—

And then it hit him. Whatever he might become, it would have to be without her. Because the son of the alpha could never, ever take a human mate. He was supposed to continue the shifter bloodline by claiming one of their own. Everyone knew it. Some other wolfpacks tolerated human mates, but Twin Moon was an old-fashioned kind of place, and humans were strictly forbidden—and doubly forbidden to the alpha’s son.