Her Lone Wolves (10 page)

“You hungry?” Avery asked. “I made lots.” He tilted his head toward Everett and Caleb. “These two were ravenous. But that always happens after we shift.”

Avery’s casual mentioning of the transformation Everett and Caleb had undergone brought home that it had really happened. It hadn’t been a dream.

“I would have thought you would be full after eating whatever it is you eat when you’re...” Her voice died away as Everett’s frown deepened, while Caleb’s eyes crinkled with what she assumed was amusement.

“We didn’t hunt last night,” Everett said. “I was too busy looking for Caleb.”

“Are you alright?” she asked Caleb.

He nodded. “Sorry about last night. It must have been quite the surprise for you.”

Surprise was hardly the word she’d use. More like shocked out of her socks.

“It’s alright. If I had known...” She stopped. If she had known what Caleb and the others were, none of this would have happened.

“Everett told me about your real parents,” he said. “You really had no idea your father was a shifter?”

“I was a baby when he died.” She moved further into the room. On the counter were platters full of ham, sausage and steak; scrambled, fried and poached eggs, towering heaps of biscuits and mounds of golden pancakes. She fixed herself a plate, along with a glass of orange juice then sat next to Avery. She glanced around the table. They looked like men, albeit they were taller, muscular and far more handsome than normal men.

She sipped her orange juice. “I still find it all rather hard to believe.”

Everett stopped eating, leaned over and fixed her with a hard stare. “Even after what you witnessed?”

Her cheeks flamed as she recalled kneeling before him and sucking on his cock before he changed into a wolf. “It’s not about what I witnessed.” She glanced between Everett and Caleb, her face growing hotter. “That’s not what I’m having problems with.” She stabbed her fork into her eggs and quickly ate a mouthful. “I can’t deny the evidence of my own eyes.”

“Then what?” Everett asked. “What is it that you find so hard to believe?”

“That I have the same blood in me.”

Everett shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t know anything about half-breeds. Every shifter I’ve known was full-blooded.”

“You shouldn’t use that word,” Jane said.

“What word?”

“Half-breed. It’s considered offensive.”

Everett frowned. “By who?”

“By people. Everyone. I don’t know. It’s just not used anymore.”

“Then what am I supposed to call you.”

“Jane,” she snapped. “Just call me Jane.”

Caleb laughed then put a huge piece of ham in his mouth. He chewed lustily on it even as Everett glared at him.

“What’s it like?” she asked.

Everett turned back to her. “What’s what like?”

“Being the wolf.”

Everett went back to eating his breakfast. “It’s like nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Caleb said. “It’s like nothing all right. Like nothing in the whole world. It’s the best fucking high you can imagine. It’s even better than sex.” His eyes glittered lustfully. “Though not by much.”

“You feel like you’re one with everything,” Avery said. “You can see and smell and feel everything around you, and you know in your heart and your soul that you’re part of something larger and greater than yourself.”

Caleb snorted. “Leave it to Avery to turn it into some kind of hippie stoner experience.”

“You said it was like getting high,” Jane said. “What’s the difference?”

Caleb was about to answer but Everett interrupted him. “It’s more than that.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest, and he looked directly in Jane’s eyes. “It’s sacred. It’s been passed from one generation to another for thousands of years. Our line goes back—”

“To the Wolf-God,” she finished.

Everett nodded. “Did you have another dream about it?”

“Yes.”

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been dreaming about the Wolf-God?”

She nodded.

His eyes glittered. “Was it fucking you?”

“Caleb!” Avery said angrily. “You shouldn’t ask her that. It’s none of your business.”

“Yes,” she said, ignoring Avery. “It was fucking me. What does that mean? Why would I dream about it?”

Caleb shrugged. “Must be because of your shifter blood.” He arched a lewd brow at her. “Did you come?”

Avery was about to protest again, but Jane raised her hand. “It’s alright.” She had no problems or qualms dealing with Caleb. She looked directly into his green eyes. “Yes, I did come. More than once.”

Caleb grinned and now she saw in his eyes a promise. A promise she intended on holding him to.

“Do you dream about it too?” she asked.

All three nodded but said no more.

Everett poured himself another cup of coffee and looked out the window. “Looks as if the worst of the storm is over. We should be able to get you back to town.”

Before yesterday, Jane would have been glad to hear this. Now she wasn’t so sure. Having learned about who and what her real father had been, there was still so much more she wanted to know. She recalled what it had been like watching Everett turn into a wolf.

The enticing texture of his warm fur between her fingers. The power she had sensed inside him. The lack of fear she had experienced with him when he was the wolf.

Even if she could not shift into a wolf, it would explain so much as to why she had always felt apart from others. And why she had been drawn to this place. And why sex had been so unsatisfying no matter what man she was with.

She had thought there was something wrong with her; that she was flawed in some way or defective or even crazy. Her life had been empty, without real purpose, and she’d never felt like she belonged anywhere or with anyone.

But with these three men, despite her early fears and misgivings, it suddenly felt right, and she was whole and complete for the first time. This was where she belonged. Here, with her lone wolves.

She turned to Everett. “I want to stay.”

His eyes widened and Caleb, who was about to shove another piece of ham into his mouth, gawked, his fork hanging midair.

“Are you sure, Jane?” Avery asked, but she couldn’t help notice the shimmer of happiness shining in his hazel eyes. “Do you understand what that would mean?”

“It would mean...” she stopped, her cheeks growing hot while another part of her warmed and moistened. “I’d have to have sex with all three of you,” she finished, her body shivering with delicious anticipation at the thought.

Avery glanced at Everett, who nodded for him to go on as if he didn’t trust himself to speak.

“Everett is Clan leader,” Avery said. “He’ll always have you first. Then Caleb. Then me. You sure you’ll be alright with that?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Then, surprising even herself, her eyes glancing about the table at the three, she went on. “But why couldn’t I have sex with all of you at the same time? Is that not permitted?”

All of the men’s eyes widened as if she’d just sprouted another head.

“What?” Jane asked. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Caleb said. “But, shit, not even Naomi would let us do that.”

“She wouldn’t?”

“That’s because Naomi like to play us against each other,” Avery said. “She thought it was funny to do so.”

“What about that life you’re always saying you need to get back to?” Everett asked.

Jane nervously ran her fingers up and down the tines on her fork. “It really wasn’t much of a life,” she admitted, feeling relief she could finally do so. “I have no family and no close friends.”

She couldn’t tell what Everett was thinking since he played the stoic, hard-bitten leader so well, but she thought she saw something like sympathy in his dark blue eyes.

“What about a boyfriend?” Caleb asked.

She shook her head. None of the men she’d been with had ever been able to give her what she needed. Now she knew why.

“We’ll be running as wolves for the next three days,” Everett said. “That’ll give you some time to think about it. If you change your mind, I’ll take you into town myself.”

Jane shook her head. “I won’t change my mind.”

Everett eyed her doubtfully but said nothing. She was grateful for that. She’d meant what she said, but she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of uncertainty and she didn’t need Everett feeding her doubts with more questions.

* * * * *

Jane lifted the huge steaming mug to her lips. The heady scent of the freshly brewed coffee was not only a comfort, but also a reminder of normalcy in a world that was now anything but normal.

For the last three days, she’d been alone in the huge house while Everett, Avery, and Caleb were out running as wolves.

She left the kitchen and went into the living room, staring out at the snow-covered landscape. The sky was swiftly falling towards dusk. All day it had been clear, and the sun had shone so brightly, if she had gone outside she would have had to put on a pair of shades.

But she hadn't gone outside. She hadn't tried to find her way back to town or to her car. She’d been here, waiting. Waiting for Everett and the twins to come back.

She put the mug down and crossed her arms over her chest. She wore one of Everett’s thick sweaters. Before he shifted, he showed her where the first-aid kit was located, a room in the basement where enough food was stored to feed a small army, and if she had need of it, a rifle and ammunition.

When she’d told him she’d never fired a gun in her life, he showed her how. And then he had left her and gone into the barn, where Avery and Caleb were waiting, and she had watched from the house, surprised that it didn’t really surprise her anymore, as three large wolves, one black, one brown and one gray loped out of the barn and into the darkness.

Tonight, according to Everett, they would revert to being men again.

She couldn’t wait.

She picked up her cup of coffee and took another sip. She hadn’t changed her mind about leaving, but she also knew she didn’t have a clue as to what she was getting herself into.

Chapter Eleven

As Everett finished buttoning up his shirt, he glanced over at Caleb. He grimaced as he pulled his shirt over the deep scratch on his chest. Avery made as if to help him, but Caleb shrugged him off. The three were in the barn. Usually they just went into the house to change back into human form, but it had been Avery's idea to do so in the barn. He still seemed to think Jane needed some time to get used to their changing from human to wolf and vice versa.

Everett snorted. He wouldn't be surprised if she’d found some way to get to town on her own while he and the twins had been out running as wolves. He still didn’t believe her when she said she wanted to stay. She may have shifter blood in her, but she wasn’t full-blooded, which meant she couldn’t possibly understand what she was getting herself into.

Everett headed toward the house, Avery and Caleb following behind. He stepped inside. There was no sign of Jane. He went down the hall and into the living room. She was curled up in a chair asleep, a book she'd been reading opened on her lap. He went over to her. Her mouth was partly opened, and her breathing, he noted, was quick and hard. He saw from the hurried movement under her eyelids that she was dreaming. He wondered if it was about the Wolf-God.

Avery and Caleb moved next to him and stared down at Jane. Everett was about to wake her when she suddenly arched her back and cried out. But it wasn't a cry of pain. It was the cry of a woman climaxing. He glanced at the twins. Avery's eyes widened while Caleb was looking at Jane as if she were some juicy piece of steak.

A corner of Everett’s mouth twitched.
Yeah, she’d been dreaming about it.

He gently touched her shoulder. “Jane. Wake up.”

She shuddered beneath his hand. Then she released a long, drawn-out sigh. He thought he was going to have to shake her again, but she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. The pupils were so large her eyes looked black. She started, as if she were coming out of a trance. Then she pushed herself up, the book falling from her lap onto the floor.

She rubbed her eyes. “You're back.”

“Obviously,” he remarked.

She pushed her hands through her hair and stood up. She was wearing one of his sweaters and, although it nearly swallowed her up, it did nothing to diminish the lushness of her voluptuous curves.

“I fell asleep,” she said, her glance taking the three of them in.

“I'm surprised you're still here,” Everett said. “I would have thought you'd try and make for town.”

She frowned. “I told you I wasn’t going to change my mind. Did you...um…have a nice time?”

He shrugged. Then he glanced at Caleb. “He didn’t.”

Caleb glared at him.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “What happened?”

“Caleb got hurt,” Avery said.

Jane’s eyes widened. “Hurt? How?”

“She doesn’t need to know—” Caleb began angrily.