Where There is Hope [Taos Wolven Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

“We aren’t interrupting their meal.” Braxton shook his head. “Take a deep breath, Joran. If I’m not mistaken, Robio and Dradon
were
the meal.”

Braxton and Joran spurred their horses to action, taking off like a shot toward the barn.

The closer they got, the more Hope could smell the odor that the other two must have from so far away. She wanted to believe that they told her the truth about what they were and their sense of smell went a long way toward convincing her, but she still wasn’t sure she believed them.

The two men dismounted and ran toward the barn door. Almost as though it was an afterthought, Joran turned. “Stay out here, Hope. I don’t know what we’ll find inside and I want you safe.”

Hope wanted to be safe, too. That was why she refused to let them leave her on the back of a horse she didn’t know in a part of the country she knew nothing about. What if there were coyotes or wolves hanging around waiting to eat her—and not in a good way?

Face burning, Hope slid down off the back of the horse. It was a good thing she’d kept a tight grip on the pommel or she would have fallen on her face in the dirt. Just as she’d expected, her legs almost gave out when she hit the ground. She stood there for a moment then managed to make her way through the barn door and screamed.

“Shit!” Joran turned around and saw Hope standing just inside the door, her face as white as the bow on the collar of her dress.

She stood staring at what was left of Robio’s body that lay just to the left of the door. Torn to shreds, the man would have been unrecognizable had they been human and relied on appearance alone to identify him. Robio’s and Dradon’s scents permeated the interior of the barn with the sour scent of bodies just beginning to turn ripe.

Joran watched as she turned her horrified gaze to him. “Oh, my God, Joran. What happened here?” She started to shake. Joran knew it was only a matter of time before she fainted or went into shock. Either way, he had precious little time to make his way to her before she hit the floor.

As soon as she started to sway on her feet, Joran ran to her side. He caught her just as her eyes closed and she fell into a dead faint.

He looked down at her pale complexion and her wine red lips and felt his cock harden. “You can’t have her now, damn it, you randy wolf.” He scooped her up in his arms and turned to Braxton, who merely stood staring at them. “I’ll take her outside and get her some fresh air. You continue to investigate. Try to find a scent.”

“There won’t be one. They used
parada
pepper to cover their scent.”

“Son of a bitch!” Joran turned around and led the way out of the barn. “We need to call the alpha and his men here. If I’m not mistaken, the alpha can still track them, even if they’ve hidden behind the odor of that shit. He’s done it before.”

Braxton followed him from the barn. Turning, he closed and latched the door. They didn’t need any more animals wandering in and adding their scent to the mix before the alpha got a shot at figuring out who it was.

“Here you go,” Joran said as he handed Hope to Braxton. “You’ll have to take her because I don’t want to risk harming her when I mount.” He smiled as he looked at their mate. “I’m proud of her, you know. It took her almost a full minute for her to faint. That’s saying something for someone who’s likely never seen a mutilated human body before.”

It was. Though Braxton felt the same pride Joran felt in their mate, he couldn’t help but think of Robio and Dradon. What happened to those poor bastards? Who did that to them, and more importantly, when and where would the murderers attack again?

“Invitation or not, we need to go see the alpha.” He hated arriving uninvited. The alpha never made them feel unwanted. Never that. Braxton always felt as though they were interrupting something very important. Perhaps they were just interrupting the undoubtedly hot sex between the three mates. Whatever it was, he was always uncomfortable showing up at the alpha’s, hat in hand as though he’d come begging.

He looked down into Hope’s slack face and knew that he must interrupt whatever goings-on there were at the alpha’s home tonight. Whatever it was they interrupted, even the pleasant undertaking of making of a cub, must take second place to protecting the females of Serenity Falls.

Braxton glanced down and shifted Hope in his arms. He loved the fact that he
could
bear her slight weight in his arms. Had she been awake, he had no doubt she would protest their close proximity.

“She is a sweet burden to bear, is she not?” Joran asked as he moved to pace beside him as they headed for their mounts.

“Yes.” Braxton smiled down at her and hoped she could come to terms with what they were and bond with them. “She is beautiful and we are damned lucky to have her.”

“She’s also awake,” Hope said as she opened her eyes, lifted her head and glared at them both. “Put me down.”

Braxton set her on the ground, keeping his hands on her shoulders until she regained her balance.

“I’m not some prize that you two can carry around showing off or expecting…” She paused, paced back and forth a bit, then stomped her foot. “Well, I don’t know what you expect, but just don’t!” She spun around to face the barn and the color drained from her face. “I–I—Oh, God! What happened in there?”

She brought her hand to her throat and gagged. Stumbling over to the paddock fence, Hope leaned against the post and retched. “I can’t stay here. I just—” She retched again. “I just can’t.”

Both Joran and he ran to her side. Joran brushed the stray strands of hair from her face while Braxton held her shoulders so she wouldn’t fall face-first into her vomit.

Who could have done such a thing? There hasn’t been violence here since we all moved to this place. Why now?

That’s a good question,
Joran said through their mind link.
It’s one I would love to know the answer to.

We must go to the alpha.
They needed to step up their security levels throughout the area before something like this happened again. The protection of their females must always come first.

You’re right.
Joran looked out over the rolling grass between the barn and the alpha’s ranch.
It’s a long ride from here to Lorcan’s. We’ll be vulnerable with Hope.
He grimaced.
Very vulnerable. I don’t want to risk her, but just leaving her at the ranch would put her at risk.

Joran was correct. Either way, their mate was at risk. It almost made him wish they’d never gone to her world and collected her. If they’d left her alone, she would be safe and they would have no worries other than catching a murderer.

“We must all go to the alpha’s. We must also stop by the general store and pick up Fleur and Amelie. They’ll need protection as well.”

“Did they ever get that buggy they talked about?”

“No.” Braxton shook his head. “They got a buckboard instead. They thought it better to have the wagon to make deliveries if needed.”

“Who do they expect to load and unload the wagon?” Joran scoffed. “Those two look like they would have a difficult time picking up a kitten.”

“They hired Big Joe from the home back east.” Braxton grinned. “He’s been good for them. They needn’t fear for their safety with him there.” He shook his head. “Well, they needn’t fear human men.” He waved his arm toward the barn. “You know as well as I do that this…this was the work of an elitist.”

They turned toward town. “What’s an elitist?” Hope asked with a frown.

Spearing his fingers through his hair, Braxton answered the one question he’d hoped to avoid for a little while at least. “An elitist is an ex-Taos warrior who is not in favor of our searching other worlds and using other species to continue our race. They are the ones who think it’s tantamount to bestiality. They would rather see our species extinct than see our blood mixed with that of humans.”

“I don’t understand.” Hope tilted her head. “They would rather you all died than try to keep your species going by having half-human children?”

“I would say yes to that, but it wouldn’t be true.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Biting her bottom lip, she frowned up at him.

Braxton helped her up onto his horse before he answered. He wanted her in his arms before he dropped the bomb. When she’d situated herself and covered her legs to the best of her ability, he climbed up behind her.

“Well? I’m waiting.”

Fighting a grin at that vision that, had she still been on her feet, she would have tapped her toes with irritation, Braxton cleared his throat. “Well…any child born to any female mates after we bond with her, are born wolven—even those that are conceived prior to the mating.” He waited for the information to sink in, certain that it would upset her.

“Does that news upset you?”

“Not really.” Hope shrugged. “It might upset a woman who can have children, but I can’t.” She looked at Joran then turned to look back at Braxton. “So, you see, you have not chosen a prize, fellas. I can’t help you perpetuate your race. I’m barren. I have always been barren. That’s one of the reasons my husband left me for another woman.”

Pain shafted through Hope’s chest at the confession. She knew she couldn’t have any kind of relationship with these two, but did telling them she was barren have to hurt so stinking bad?

Braxton leaned forward, wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her close. It didn’t matter that her back was to him. All that mattered was that she had physical contact with another human being—at least he was human at the moment.

Not once since she’d found out it was her shortcomings that caused her childless state, had anyone held her and told her things would be okay. Not until today.

This man, this—if he was to be believed—three-hundred year-old werewolf, or whatever he was, pressed his lips to her ear and told her everything would be okay.

“Don’t worry yourself, Hope. It doesn’t matter if we have no children or a dozen. We didn’t go in search of you to be a breeder for our people. We want you, need you, because you are the one woman that the fates have decreed will make us complete.”

“That’s what you say now.” Reaching up, Hope swiped the tears from her eyes. “It won’t take long for you to want children of your own, and then you’ll leave, just like Bob left.”

Joran moved Satan to pace next to them, reached out and cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his angry gaze. “Do
not
insist on painting me with another’s brush, Hope. You are our mate. I have no idea what that word means to human men, but to us it means forever. We mate for life. No other woman will ever do for us once we bond with you.” He shook his head, his hands tightening on the reins until his knuckles turned white. “Hell, Hope, it’s too late for me already. I haven’t even bonded with you and I know no other woman will ever do.”

“And I feel the same way,” Braxton added.

“No. You can’t do this. You can’t throw your lives away on a woman who is too old to have children even if she ever could have in the past.” She held her face in her hands and she sobbed. “Don’t you see? Even if I was able to have children, I can’t now. I’m almost fifty and I have high blood pressure. I couldn’t have a child now if I wanted to.”

Hope tried to tell herself that she didn’t want to have a child at this late date, but she didn’t need their keen sense of smell to know she would be lying to herself as much as she lied to them.

“One day you’ll resent the fact that I can’t have children and you’ll hate me. Believe me,” she sobbed, “I know.” She did know. It had only taken one fertile Myrtle to bring out that emotion in Bob. She had almost had a nervous breakdown when Bob left her. She couldn’t allow herself to fall for either of these two. She didn’t know if she could survive them doing the same.

Hope gasped when Braxton tied the reins into a loose knot, dropped them against Diablo’s neck, and lifted her and turned her to face him. She couldn’t conceive of anyone having that kind of strength. Yet, here she sat, facing this man after he picked her up like a child and forced her to face him.

“I won’t have you berating yourself, Hope.” He looked at Joran. “Neither of us will listen to you abuse yourself. No one abuses the woman we are growing to care about.”

Reaching out, he placed his fingers under her chin, lifted her head, and stared deep into her eyes. “Do you hear me? No one is allowed to abuse you this way. Not even yourself.”

He pulled her into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head. “Unless you make an informed decision and reject us, you belong to us now.” He kissed her temple as she continued to sob on his shoulder. All the hurt, all the heartache that she’d suffered over the last year poured out of her as he held her in his arms. The gentle sway of the horse ambling along beneath them lulled her to relax like some sort of spell.

The sobs faded to little hiccups. She moved her head, wanting to wipe her face somewhere other than his shoulder. Braxton cupped the back of her head.

“Shh…baby. Everything’s going to be all right. You’ll see.”

With a sigh, Hope settled against him, content to let him hold her, even if it was for just a little while. It was nice to have a shoulder to lean on, no matter how short a time she would have it.