The next time I woke I heard Cash yelling. I did an inventory on myself again. The exhaustion that had plagued me was much better. I could probably get up without falling asleep on my feet. After that, I noticed that I wore a man’s shirt and boxers, neither of which was mine. I hadn’t noticed the wardrobe change last night, but seeing as I wasn’t wearing my jeans and flannel, someone had undressed me, and I didn’t think it was Cash.
Now he’s a douche who’s seen me naked, wonderful.
Next were the little tangles of emotions in the back of my mind. Cash was the most prominent, and beside his was James, but there were about twenty other knots there as well. Several were faint and I could gather a general direction of North. There was one particular knot I thought felt familiar, but I shrugged it off.
No use going crazy over it, ha!
The rest were even more faint and in the East. I turned my attention to Cash and James. I didn’t want to touch them because I wanted to hear what had Cash so upset before they realized I was awake.
I felt only extreme anger flowing from Cash and irritation from James.
What’s got Cash’s panties in a twist?
Without touching the bonds, I tried to probe them the best I could. Cash’s anger was the main thing I felt, with threads of fear lacing through, and all of it was centered on...
me?
“Okay, what did I do this time—?” I muttered to myself as I got out of Cash’s bed and tiptoed over to the door. The brothers were still speaking with raised voices, but I still couldn’t make out the words. I cracked the door open until I could.
“—Dammit James, she’s going to hate me! You’ve seen how independent she is, she’s going to wig out and never speak to me again. And that’s the best case scenario! You know how many guns that woman has?” I couldn’t see James’ face, but I could feel his amusement in my head.
“Yes, I have noticed she likes her weapons,” he said in a droll voice.
I stuck my tongue out at the door.
“I wasn’t going to let you die, Cash. Not when she was right there.”
Hmm…
I thought,
that is something I’d like explained.
“I’d have rather died then to have her hate me her whole life.” Cash said darkly. I felt something new in my head,
misery.
“She doesn’t even know what she is, how am I supposed to tell her?”
“Ooookay—what the heck does
that
mean?” I said as I walked through the door and into the living room where the two men were sitting, Cash in a wingback leather armchair and James lounging on the leather sofa.
Leather, leather leather…men are so predictable.
Cash stood up as soon as I walked into the room his face impassive, but thanks to the Vulcan mind meld he’d done on me I could feel that he was a ball of emotions.
“Shelby, I can explain—”
He pulled up short when he saw my face, or maybe he could feel what I felt. I wasn’t sure if this thing went both ways. He opened his mouth to say more, but I covered it with my fingers. I lifted up his shirt with the other hand, looking at his chest for the bullet wounds. The smooth skin was perfect and he didn’t even have any scars. He took my hand in his and kissed my palm.
“How?” I whispered in wonder. Cash sent a quick, beseeching glance at his brother.
James shrugged his shoulders. “You’re on your own, big bro.”
I looked at Cash expectantly, mentally pushing all of my determination at the knot in my mind. His eyes flitted back and forth over my face before sighing. He pulled me back to the leather chair and tugged me into his lap before placing a chaste kiss on my lips.
“Um, so don’t freak out—”
He winced and I could feel in my head that he was preparing himself.
“You’re a werewolf?” I figured I’d tell him what I knew and he could fill in the holes. “And you did some sort of mind thingy on me and I can feel you in my head?”
His mouth gaped open. Apparently I’d taken this a lot better than he expected.
He cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. We call ourselves lupines, but essentially we are what people consider werewolves. And what you feel is our bond. You finished the mating when you bit me.”
My eyes flashed. “
Mating?
What are you talking about? And what do you mean
finished?
”
He and James exchanged a martyred glance and it pissed me off. Cash yelped when I pinched his stomach, hard.
“Shells, when one of us,” he gestured at James and himself, “finds a woman like you, we become mated. It usually doesn’t happen so quickly, or without the mate’s knowledge...”
He trailed off as he glared at his brother. James smiled angelically and raised his hands in surrender.
“Okay, how do you become mated?” I said, using a businesslike tone.
Cash grimaced, and I knew I wasn’t going to like his answer. “And I gather it isn’t about sex, like I previously had thought.” I said sarcastically sending a glare at the oblivious James.
Cash took a deep breath. “Well, first the mate dreams of us, like you did a few nights ago. I was in my wolf form at the time, but I still felt it.” He paused, and I felt the fear tinge his feelings in my head.
Buckle up, Shelby. This is going to be bad…
“Well, the urge to mark you was overwhelming, so I did it while you were asleep.” I stiffened in his arms as I felt the beginnings of anger and outrage, but I snuffed them down so he wouldn’t sense them.
“And what exactly does marking me entail?” My voice was smooth and emotionless.
You already know what it means.
I looked in his eyes and begged him to tell me something different.
“I bit you.” He said quietly.
I leapt out of his lap and stalked across the living room as far away from him as I could get. My mind raced, and it took me a few moments of pacing before I answered. Cash grimly studied his hands and James tried to melt into the background. Since he was shirtless and gorgeous, his chances of succeeding were slim.
“That was real. I dreamed of you biting me and my neck was sore because
you did bite me!
” I stomped back over to him and smacked him upside the head. “What the hell!”
James barked out a laugh but that’s all he got out before I walked over and smacked the back of his head. “And you knew! You knew he bit me!”
“You have no idea the pull you had on me,” said Cash, his voice coming out harsh. “I knew you were mine the moment I caught a whiff of your scent. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t help myself. Plus, I felt like I had to, Shells! I was worried about you with that guy hanging around and if I marked you I’d always know...”
“You’d always know what?” I said menacingly. Cash stood and walked toward me, his eyes pleading.
“With the bond, I know if you’re happy, if you’re safe, and I can always find you.” He tried to take my hands but I pulled away. “I’m so sorry, Shelby.” I turned my back on the both of them and screamed.
“You freakin’ wolfy lo-jacked me!” I shrieked in outrage.
I could feel Cash’s anguish through the bond but it only fueled my anger. I blocked out Cash and became more aware of James.
He feels smug as hell.
I turned just enough so I could see him out of the edge of my vision. He was focused on his fingernails, and a small smile turned up the edges of his mouth.
James enjoyed this way too much and that did a lot to cool my rage. He wanted me to be furious with Cash, and maybe that’s why he’d done what he had. I wasn’t about to let that jerk have the satisfaction. Plus, I could still feel Cash’s love through the bond, and I knew he was dying with guilt that he shouldn’t have felt.
At least, not entirely.
“Okay, now I have zero privacy. Awesome,” I said more calmly than I felt. “So now that I’ve bitten you back, and I’m still wondering why I did that, what does this mean?”
Hope flickered in Cash’s eyes. “Lupines heal faster than humans, but when that son of a bitch shot me he used a high powered rifle. I gave you my good vest and the one I had on was only rated for pistols. It couldn’t handle those hollow-tipped rounds James pulled out of me.” He looked at me ruefully. “When he shot me five times, it was more than my body could repair on its own. But a mated wolf can draw energy from their mate to help them heal. That’s why you were knocked unconscious, I pulled a lot of energy from you and James.”
“So we’re only mated because James wanted to save your life?” I was positive he could hear the hurt in my voice, maybe even feel it in the bond we shared. He came up behind me and wrapped me in his strong arms. I couldn’t help myself from leaning back into him.
“Shelby, I love you. This is something that I’ve wanted since I met you. I’m so sorry it had to happen this way, but I’m not sorry it happened.” I could feel the truth of his words through our bond.
“What does it mean?” I whispered. His arms tightened around me like he was afraid I would take off.
He whispered softly into my hair. “Wolves mate for life.”
I froze.
My mind was already jetting a million miles an hour and it seemed like someone had just lit the afterburners. There suddenly wasn’t enough oxygen and my legs started to give out. Cash’s arms around me kept me from collapsing on the floor in a heap. He spun me around until I faced him, concern swimming in his expression. I looked up at him, tears brimming in my eyes.
“You want to be with me? Forever?”
My father had left me for the rodeo, my mother left for the bar and men, and my grandfather had left me when he died.
Not entirely his fault, but still…
Until this moment I hadn’t realized how much I wanted someone to be there, always. Bright golden beams of his love exploded in my mind and pushed everything else out of its way. His heart was in his eyes as he leaned down and kissed me softly, using his thumbs to gently wipe away the tear tracks on my cheeks.
“Oh, baby girl,” he sighed, his expression soft.
He deepened his kiss until there was nothing else but him and the glowing sun in my mind. When he finally did break away from me, I realized with embarrassment that we had been sucking face like teenagers in front of his brother. I blushed.
I looked at the Cash’s shirt while I probed James in my mind. He should have been a bright emerald green with envy but he was simply lying casually on the sofa staring at his hands.
My, my, my…
I looked questioningly at Cash, who shook his head.
“So,” I said wanting to break the awkward silence. “What’s so special about me?”
Cash smiled, his sapphire eyes twinkling. “Besides the obvious?” I elbowed him in the ribs, but not seriously. “I’m not really sure yet, but your scent just called to me, and it seems you’re just as appetizing to other lupines as well.” His voice was grim, and I knew he was speaking about his brother. He walked me to the chair and pulled me back into his lap again.
“So I get why I feel you in my head, because of the whole mating thing?” He nodded in agreement. “But why is it that I feel James and a few dozen other people, lupines I’m assuming, in there too?”
Cash sucked in a breath and I felt surprise flash through both of the brothers’ bonds. James sat up abruptly and looked at Cash.
Shock, fear…
I looked between them, their fear merged with my own and gripped an icy hand around my heart.
“Oh shit,” whispered Cash.
“What? What is it?” I yelped as I leapt off Cash’s lap once again.
He regarded his brother and it seemed like they were silently conferring with each other with their eyes. Cash’s had gone all stormy and dark. When they finally turned to regard me, my heart dropped and had a seizure on the floor.
“Usually if we do mate with someone, that person can only feel their mate’s bond. But those other people you’re feeling are lupine, and of a pack other than ours. We only have about ten people in ours and they’re all in Wyoming, so those others must be
your
pack.”