Disgraced Cowboys (Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 3) [Siren Publishing Ménage Amour] (19 page)

When she was finally free, Lily helped her to her feet. “Maybe you weren’t born with a natural thirst for blood sports. But I don’t believe you couldn’t have done something. Surely if you all hated him so much, you could have fought back.”

“No, we couldn’t.” Seth turned to Kade. “A lot of us were prayin’ for you to win the alpha challenge. We wanted someone to buy us our freedom. Those of us who were under his control were grateful when you succeeded. We would have gladly become loyal members of your pack out of that gratitude, but you rejected us before we got the chance.”

“You freed us only to stick us in a different kind of prison,” Marcus added. “We had no purpose and no home. We couldn’t go back to the cowboy life most of us were ripped from when Blaise turned us, because our huntin’ instinct doesn’t take well to ranch work. We never did figure out how you managed it.”

“And you even ride horses,” Seth said. “I was so damn jealous the times we watched you do that. What I wouldn’t have given to be back in that world and out of Blaise’s nightmare. I still would.”

“We couldn’t even turn to each other to find our way,” Marcus said, still eyeing Kade. “You commanded us not to.”

“Yet the two of you didn’t honor that command,” Kade said. “So much for gratitude.”

“We didn’t have a choice in the matter,” Marcus said. “Any more than you had a choice about who your mates would be. Seth and I had no idea what drew us to the bar that night, but the minute I saw Brandi, I knew she was the reason I’d been pulled there. What I wasn’t prepared for was layin’ eyes on Seth a few moments later and realizin’ he was destined for me, too.”

“I don’t understand it, either,” Seth said, meeting Marcus’s eyes. When he did, Brandi felt the jolt in her abdomen. “We’d been together in Blaise’s pack all that time without feelin’ this draw. But there’s no denyin’ it punched me in the gut and didn’t let go.”

Marcus nodded. “It was everythin’ I’d ever heard about the matin’ instinct. It was immediate, it was powerful.” He glanced at Brandi. “And it
is
love.”

Brandi began to quiver as his eyes searched hers. Her attention strayed lower automatically, and she noticed the brief yet obvious twitch in his cock.

Everyone else stared at one another, and for the first time it dawned on her that Lily was standing in the room with two gorgeous, naked strangers. Yet the woman seemed unconcerned about their nudity. Her gaze was focused strictly above the waist, primarily flicking back and forth between her own mates.

“Is that even possible?” Chaz said after several moments of silence. “Years after they first met.”

“It is,” Kade said, though it appeared to pain him to admit it. He scratched at the shaved strip along his scalp. “The males in a matin’ trio don’t always have their instinct activated until one of ’em has laid eyes on their female. And if Blaise really was exertin’ control, who knows what effect it may have had.”

Seth turned to Lily. “It was an ugly life your mate freed us from, though what he left us with has been far from easy. Maybe we don’t deserve happiness after standin’ by, helpless to intervene while Blaise tried to claim you. I won’t deny we all felt your pull, but it was Blaise’s obsession drawin’ that to us. Even then, most of us wanted nothin’ to do with takin’ you by force. You were meant for Chaz and Kade, the same way I’m meant for Brandi and Marcus. I never got a chance to say it, but I’m sorry, Lily.” His eyes searched the room. “I’m sorry to all of you.”

A cold chill washed over Brandi, and she glanced at Lily. Her eyes were wide, expressionless.

“I believe you,” she whispered.

“So do I,” Chaz added quietly.

Brandi thought of Lily, scared and alone in a group of ravenous werewolves, none of whom lifted a paw to stop this Blaise character. He’d tried to “claim” Lily. Had he actually raped her?

She hissed at the thought.

“
I
don’t buy it,” Brandi said, her pulse racing as she glanced at Chaz. “I can’t see how you would let them off so easy. They could have done something to help her.” She turned an accusing stare on Marcus and marched close to him. “Admit it. You could have fought back if you’d really wanted to. Maybe the animal in you liked what Blaise was doing to you. You could do whatever nasty thing you wanted and not have to take responsibility for it.”

Seth’s mouth fell open, and she felt the tension pouring through him. Marcus stared at her in shock. “You must not know much about bein’ a victim,” he said. “Otherwise, I doubt you would accuse me of secretly wantin’ my will overpowered. That it was somehow my
fault
that I was attacked.” He gave choice words of each sentence an added jolt for impact that she felt right in her gut. “That I actually
liked
what he was doin’ to me.”

The ugly implication sank in, making her chest hurt.
It’s your fault
, a long-suppressed voice said in her mind.
You made me do this to you
.

A prickle stung the corners of her eyes, and she gasped as Marcus took hold of her arms. “Say something, damn it,” he said. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what to believe, Marcus.”

His nostrils flared with an anger she felt pulsing out of his very pores. He gripped her arms tighter and shook her slightly .”Do you have any idea what it’s like, bein’ overpowered and forced to comply with someone else’s twisted will? To scream inside your mind, beggin’ for someone to help you, only nobody listens?”

Kade and Chaz had both gone stiff. Lily was wide-eyed again. Seth’s expression had completely flat-lined.

Brandi’s heart pounded harder with each word until she finally exploded with anger. “Yes!”

Stinging tears rose and splashed onto her cheeks as she shouted it at him, and this time, instead of shoving him backward the way she’d done the night in the cave, she pummeled at his solid block of chest with her fists. “Yes, God damn it, I know
exactly
what it’s like to be overpowered. I know what it feels like to be shoved into a bathroom by a school counselor I thought I could trust. What it was like to be held against a wall while he forced his will on me, claiming it was
my
fault he couldn’t control himself because I was too sexy for my own good. His giant hand clamped tight over my mouth so nobody heard my muffled screams. Nobody saved me, okay? Just like you didn’t save me from getting lost when I was wet and freezing in the mountains. Or from the man who grabbed me onstage tonight and ripped off my top when I realized I couldn’t dance anymore because of what I felt for you. You didn’t care. You didn’t come. Why didn’t you come?”

She was sobbing now as she sank to the floor, holding herself as her shoulders shook. Seth was on the floor behind her, stroking her hair and murmuring into her ear.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “So very sorry, darlin’. I’m sorry we weren’t there in that bathroom at school. And I’m sorry we didn’t get to the club in time tonight. But we weren’t as far away as you think.”

Marcus was standing over her, staring down at her with an utterly shocked, bereft expression. He slowly dropped to his knees, and she saw tears shimmering in his eyes when they drew level with hers.

He lifted his shaking hand and gently caressed her cheek. The tender touch set off gooseflesh all along her arms.

“We cared—
and
we came,” Marcus said. “It’s my fault you thought otherwise. Seth wanted to stop you the minute we realized you’d run from the cave, but I told him you were right for leavin’. I thought you’d be safer from Kade if we stayed away. And I thought that once you had a chance to think, you’d come back to us. Maybe by then, we’d have come up with a way to talk to Kade, make him understand why we’d disobeyed him.”

“But even then, we couldn’t stay away completely,” Seth said. “We had to make sure you were safe. So we followed you from the cave.”

“You did?” Brandi asked, sniffling as she craned her neck around to see his agonized expression.

Chaz leaned over and handed her a handkerchief. When she looked up to thank him, she was surprised and more than a little embarrassed to see that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, gold or otherwise. Lily’s were red and damp, and her hand was over her mouth. Even Kade’s eyes glittered with moisture.

“I didn’t see you following me,” she said, eyeing Marcus. “And I looked.”

“We shifted and kept out of sight,” Marcus said. “Wolves can be very quiet when we want. Figured you’d be pissed as hell if you spotted us.”

“You started off in the right direction,” Seth added, “so we just trotted along to make sure you got to the car all right. When you veered off course, we knew we’d have to shift back human and admit we’d been trackin’ you. That’s when we heard the men comin’.”

“We almost chased ’em off when it was clear the slimy bastards were gettin’ too cozy,” Marcus said, scowling. “They were clearly feelin’ the effects of you havin’ been stimulated by your mates. But you managed to handle things on your own, so we let you.”

She swallowed hard and dabbed at her swollen eyes. “I had no idea you were there.”

“And we would have gotten to you faster tonight if we’d already marked you,” Seth said. “We would have known to try the club first.”

The heat of Seth’s supernatural body radiated to her from behind, as did Marcus’s from the front. She was essentially sandwiched between them, and she sensed more than their comforting warmth. She felt their genuine concern, their sincerity. Jesus, they really were telling the truth. She’d been wrong about everything.

Brandi swallowed hard. “You wouldn’t have needed to get to the club if I’d listened to my instincts. I knew I shouldn’t have gone back on that stage. It was all I could do to make myself walk out to that pole, believe me. I was just trying to make all this go away.” The last she said in a pleading tone while she gazed at Marcus. “I wanted things to go back to normal. I’m sorry.”

He crooked a finger under her chin and lifted it to his. “Things aren’t going to be normal for any of us anymore. They’re going to be better.”

A pang of longing filled her. “I’d like that.”

Kade cleared his throat. “There’s still the matter of you and Seth disobeyin’ my order. Get up, alpha. We have unfinished business.”

“Kade,” Lily began, but a sharp look from him cut her off. Chaz moved to her and pulled her away, over toward the wall.

Brandi sucked in a soft breath and grabbed for Marcus’s hand. “Don’t,” she whispered, but he gave her a resigned smile and kissed the back of her hand.

He stood up calmly, and as he rose, she saw that his cock was partially erect. Too many other panicked bits of information were flying back and forth in her brain to give much thought to it, though. Seth was on his feet, too, pulling her up with him. She let him set her on her feet, and she felt his arm surround her shoulders as he steered her away from the two alphas facing off in the middle of the room.

Tension compressed the air until Brandi could barely breathe. Silence ticked by on a grandfather clock behind her as everyone waited. Burning wood in the fireplace let out a resounding
pop
, and Brandi jerked at the gunshot sound.

Would there really be another alpha challenge? Kade had already won at least one, killing a werewolf who was apparently much older and full of dirty tricks, like mind control. What chance would Marcus have?

A wave of terror crashed over her as she pictured him lying dead, his throat ripped out because of circumstances that were out of his control—like the two mates fate had chosen for him.

Kade made a sudden move, and Brandi cried out, “No! Please.”

When Kade stepped closer, she saw the muscles in Marcus’s bare, rippling back tense.

“I never realized what all Blaise had really been up to,” Kade said. “I was focused on the rumors about his pack and how he treated my own. What I did for Lily that day had to be done to protect her, and I’d do it again. But I made the assumption that a few bad apples had spoiled the barrel, when I knew that wasn’t true of Chaz. The rest of you I lumped into the contempt I had for Blaise without findin’ out all the facts first, and I shouldn’t have.”

Marcus didn’t move or respond, and though she couldn’t see his face, she could feel his confusion.

Kade flicked a glance over Marcus’s shoulder, spotting Brandi and Seth, who still had a protective arm around her. “I remember seein’ my two mates huddled together, wearin’ your exact same expressions. They were afraid I’d be killed in a pack struggle they wanted no part of.” His jaw tensed and he looked back at Marcus. “And neither do I.” He thrust out his hand.

She saw the rippling muscles in Marcus’s back stiffen for a moment, and she held her breath. Then he reached out and shook Kade’s hand in a firm yank.

Relief poured over her until she thought her body would melt into a puddle. Seth must have felt her sway, because his grip on her tightened.

Kade moved toward Brandi. “I’m sorry for the way I frightened you. I had no right to grab you the way that I did. I told myself it was a necessary evil to root out the bad guys. Turns out I was the bad guy.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I hope you can accept my apology, at least in some small measure.”

She nodded, but words escaped her.