Disgraced Cowboys (Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 3) [Siren Publishing Ménage Amour] (17 page)

“Clearly, they found a way around that,” the other man said.

“Two of ’em found it by disobeyin’ my order to stay away from each other. They’ve mate-bonded.”

The conversation dropped below audible level, but Brandi’s thoughts were whirring too loud and fast to have heard more. So, Marcus and Seth were as dangerous as she feared. They were considered bad seed even among other werewolves. They’d victimized a helpless woman, and the alpha trying to put a stop to it couldn’t even sense them anymore.

How the hell had she gotten herself into this mess?

“Damn it,” she said, rage flooding through her as she renewed the futile tugging against the ropes. “Damn them.”

She stopped struggling hastily when the woman entered the room, carrying a tall glass.

“I brought you some water,” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I thought you might be thirsty.”

“How terribly kind of you.” Brandi didn’t bother hiding the bite of sarcasm in her tone.

The woman sighed and wandered up to her, holding the glass to Brandi’s lips. “I don’t blame you for being mad. I’m pretty furious myself.”

Brandi glared at her, but she drank in surprisingly large gulps. She definitely felt parched.

“Thanks,” she said begrudgingly as the glass was taken away and set on a side table.

The woman sat on a leather couch opposite Brandi, and they eyed each other. She was quite attractive, Brandi had to admit. Soft brown hair fell in tousled waves around her shoulders, and her eyes resembled giant, blue marbles men would no doubt find themselves lost in. Tight jeans and a pink tank top displayed a curvy figure with generous breasts. She’d do well as a stripper.

“I’m Lily,” the woman said. “I’m really sorry you have to be here.”

“Likewise.” Brandi’s gaze skimmed over the creamy shoulders visible through Lily’s spaghetti straps until she spotted the scars she was looking for. “So, you’re a marked woman.”

“I suppose you could say that. I hear you’re not far from that yourself.”

“Then you heard dead wrong.”

That prompted a surprised glance. “I’m sorry that Kade no doubt scared the hell out of you with all this. But he’s not going to hurt you.”

Brandi pointedly twisted her wrists against the arms of her chair. “It’s a little late for that. Can you untie me?”

“I can’t.”

“Ah. So you’re into kinky shit, too.”

Lily frowned. “I don’t expect you to forgive Kade for what he did. It was wrong of him to grab you this way. But he’s doing it for the right reason.”

Brandi laughed. “Was busting into my motel room the other day to grab and confront me while I was naked the right thing, too?”

Lily’s eyes flared wide. So, Kade hadn’t told her all the details of his little wolf hunt.

“He’s just trying to protect me,” Lily finally said. “And the ranch.”

“Kidnapping strikes me as a funny way to do that, since I pose no threat to either.”

“Your wolves do.”

“They’re not
my
wolves.”

Lily smiled at her soberly. “I was in your shoes once. Not all that long ago, in fact.”

“Really. They tied you to a chair, too?”

“I was shocked when Chaz told me I was destined to be the mate of a werewolf. Werewolves, to be exact. I didn’t know what to think at first. I even ran away.”

That drew a sharp gaze from Brandi. “Maybe you should have kept going.”

Lily stared down at her hands, which were rubbing over her denim-clad thighs. “It was too late for that. I was confused and scared, true. But I couldn’t deny the truth. I wanted them, right down to my bones. I knew I was meant to be with them. Only them. And when I tried not to be, it didn’t go well. Not at all.”

This was sounding a little too familiar. “How so?”

Lily eyed her for a long moment. “I never understood why men were so drawn to me. Ever since puberty, I’d been pursued by men of all ages. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

Brandi just stared at her, but an odd resonance buzzed in the back of her mind.

“I’ll bet that deep down, that’s why you became a stripper. You found a way to turn all that ridiculous leering to your advantage. Interesting choice.”

“Pays the bills.”

“Quite well, from what I’ve heard of your unique popularity.”

Brandi blinked. “I don’t do it on purpose.”

“Oh, I understand that perfectly. There’s something about women destined to be were-mates that makes us rather irresistible to men. But unlike you, I found no use for that attention. I had zero desire for it until Chaz and Kade came along. The pull to Chaz was so overwhelming that I gave myself to him the very first night.” Her face pinked a bit. “Sounds slutty, I know. My virginity didn’t last an hour after Chaz saved me from the wolf pack who’d burst into my cabin.”

Brandi remembered the way she’d writhed on Marcus’s lap the night they met, so aroused by his very presence that she’d made herself come. Lily’s little talk was making more sense than Brandi would have liked.

“But I gave myself to Chaz without being properly claimed by the alpha,” Lily went on. “The unfortunate side effect of having him awaken my sexuality without marking me was that male attention got
way
out of hand.” She paused to give Brandi a furtive glance. “One man even forced himself on me.”

That got Brandi’s mouth working. “Did he actually, you know, make you have sex?”

Brown waves shook a vigorous no. “It was a very close call. But Chaz and Kade came bursting in at the last minute. They sensed my distress and rescued me.”

Brandi felt an ugly stirring in her stomach as she looked away, staring at the fireplace. “Lucky you.”

Silence fell, but Brandi felt Lily’s eyes on her as she watched the flames jump and dance.

“Something happened to you, didn’t it?” Lily asked at last.

“Yeah. A crazy werewolf kidnapped me and tied me to a damn chair.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant.” Brandi shot her a hard stare. “What do you want me to say? I got raped at seventeen by a pervert who claimed he couldn’t ‘resist’ me. Bye-bye, virginity.”

“Jesus.” Lily’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and her tone softened. “I’m so sorry, Brandi.”

“Ancient history. And yeah, after a while, I realized I could get at least one good thing from men’s lecherous behavior—money. Dancing was about keeping that behavior under my control. On my terms.” Until tonight, anyway. “But I don’t see what my sad personal history has to do with holding me here against my will.”

“It doesn’t. Not directly.” Lily picked up the water glass and offered it again, but Brandi shook her head. “I just wanted you to know you’re not alone in some things you’ve dealt with for a long time. And I wanted to warn you about something else.”

Brandi arched a brow. “Not to walk around Shay Falls at night? Got the message.”

“Not that. Now that you’ve been intimate with your mates, there’s no turning back.”

Her gaze narrowed. “And what makes you think we’ve been intimate?”

Lily’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “As a woman and fellow were-mate, I can tell by looking at you that you’ve experienced the power of their touch. They’ve awakened in you a sensuality only they can unleash.”

Now it was Brandi’s turn to feel the heat of pink cheeks.

“Chaz and Kade knew it by your scent. You have to let your mates finish the claim for your own safety, Brandi. Men will act crazed around you now if you don’t.”

Brandi thought of the men’s bizarre aggression when she’d gone onstage. “Is that why there was a near-riot at the club tonight?”

She was speaking more to herself, but Lily’s eyes widened. “You didn’t actually try to go back to stripping?”

Brandi shrugged.

“You poor thing. I couldn’t even walk through a sheriff’s station without causing all sorts of problems—and I had Kade with me.”

“Sounds like my life. Except the part about having someone.”

Lily stopped and cocked her head at Brandi. “I didn’t believe you were a were’s intended when I first heard about you. I didn’t see how you could stand to earn a living by seducing other men. Just the thought of being that way with anyone else turns my stomach now.”

Brandi’s mouth actually fell open. “I, uh, had to take a day off because I vomited on the way to work,” she confessed. “Tonight I actually fainted onstage.”

Lily nodded vigorously. “Yes! See? You definitely have it bad. And as for the riots, well, the sooner you let your mates mark you, the better.”

Brandi laughed. “Are you nuts? You can’t seriously believe I’d let those monsters touch me again. I heard you guys talking in the kitchen.”

Lily frowned. “About Kade’s orders?”

“About you. Their pack obviously did something bad to you. I can’t be involved with men like that. I’ve been on the other side of that equation.”

“Seth and Marcus aren’t the ones who kidnapped me, exactly. But they were there that day. Kade described them to me.”

Brandi snorted. “So, they stood by and let their buddies hold you against your will and do who knows what to you. That makes them just as guilty.”

Lily shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, scowling in silence. Brandi could see her projecting the current situation—and her own role in it—onto Brandi’s words.

“If they’d have been honorable men,” Brandi went on, “they’d have helped you escape. They obviously didn’t, or Kade wouldn’t be acting this way.”

“No one in Blaise’s pack helped. Kade and Chaz rode in to the rescue again. Kade killed Blaise and took over his pack. That’s why they answer to him now. Sort of.”

“Only my two found a way to cut Kade out of the loop, and now he’s afraid they’ll come around here again to terrorize the ranch—and you.”

Lily nodded soberly. “Something like that.”

Now Brandi shut her eyes. “And I let those bastards touch me,” she whispered, quivering in rage.

“It wasn’t anything you could control. The mating instinct is overpowering.”

Brandi heaved a sigh of conviction and opened her eyes. “Kade’s under the impression that they’ll come sniffing around here to save me.”

“Yes.”

“Then we’re all screwed. My wolves aren’t like yours, Lily. They won’t ride to my rescue—they’ll run from it. They’ve been running from Kade ever since the bar brawl. Longer, probably.”

Lily shook her head. “That’s not how it works. If a mate’s involved, they’ll come.”

“Not when you date the bad guys, apparently.” Brandi struggled against her ropes again. “They won’t come for me. They didn’t earlier tonight, when I was in trouble at work. Men were actually jumping onstage to get at me. One tore off part of my costume. Not a heroic wolf rescuer in sight.”

She saw sympathy welling in Lily’s eyes.

“Let me out of here,” Brandi said. “Even if they did show up by some miracle, I don’t want to see them. I can’t be with men like that. I have to leave town.”

Lily’s expression wavered, but she didn’t respond.

“Please,” Brandi said. “If the situation were reversed, would
you
want to be with men who did what they did? When Blaise had you taken, wouldn’t you have wanted one of his pack mates to take your side and help?”

Lily’s jaw tightened, and she glanced around. Getting to her feet, she crossed the room and grabbed a knife that had been mounted on the wall. The blade glittered as she pulled it from the sheath, and she hurried to drop to her knees at Brandi’s side.

“Thank you,” Brandi whispered in relief when Lily started sawing through the ropes.

“Mind explainin’ to me just what the hell it is you’re doin’?”

Both women’s heads whipped around to see the two men standing just inside the living room archway, hands on hips. Kade wore a red plaid shirt and jeans, very stereotypical cowboy. The man who was speaking wore a tight white T-shirt that molded around wicked muscle. He had his eyes fastened on Lily, and Brandi could see fire burning in his gaze. He was angry with his mate, yes. But Brandi saw the connection between them, felt it as a palpable thing. It was familiar and yet foreign. Stronger than what she’d felt for Marcus and Seth. Because Lily was already marked.

Something Brandi couldn’t let happen to her.

Lily stopped sawing and stood up. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m letting her go.”

Kade marched forward, almost shoving the man Lily had referred to earlier as Chaz out of the way. “You can’t do that.”

“I shouldn’t have to.” The woman glared at him. “What are you thinking, Kade? Why are we having a conversation about holding a woman hostage? Do you really think this makes you any better than Blaise was?”

His dark eyes flashed. “I’m nothin’ like Blaise.”

“Oh? Breaking into a woman’s home and then kidnapping her later—all to suit your purposes? Sounds a lot like Blaise to me.”

“Why were you doin’ this behind our backs?” Chaz said. “You should have come to us.”

“She did it because I explained why this plan of Kade’s isn’t going to work,” Brandi said.