Life on the Triple L Ranch was good. Better than good, it was paradise. My former pack treated its females poorly, as breeders and waitresses, servants to their males. Which was a lot of the reason I left. That and the fact that my stepmother was getting me out of her hair by marrying me off to someone I wanted no part of.I ran from my wedding with no idea where I was going or what I would do when I got there, but when I did, I found myself in the arms of the two alphas of the Triple L Ranch. Tal and Lukky were everything I could have dreamed of and were my fateds. But when I escaped in full bridal regalia, I did not know that I was running toward my fated mates. I was running away from the arranged marriage to someone I had no interest in spending an afternoon with, much less the rest of my life.But sometimes, Fate is kind, and I’d learned that not all males were arrogant bastards who wanted nothing but power and control and had no empathy whatsoever. My mates, who had been a happy
Dan was nowhere to be seen. But that was just as well. After the way we’d last parted, I didn’t want his negativity to ruin our send-off. Or upset anyone else either in my party or those who were so graciously bidding them farewell and telling them to have the best time ever.This trip had become less about a last single hurrah and more about thinking time for me.We shifted, helping one another with the harnesses to be sure we would be comfortable doing it along the route, and bounded away up the trail west. The ocean called, and the Triple L Ranch would be waiting when we returned. At the entrance to the pass, we stopped and looked back. Triple L lay stretched out below us, its pastures and woodlands stretching as far I could see. It was a beautiful place. My heart swelled with love for my home and pack mates, but right before I turned toward the west again, I caught site of one figure standing alone in the spot we’d said goodbye to everyone. I didn’t need anyone to tell me who he w
Sometimes I wondered why my mate even put up with me when I got this way. He deserved someone better, someone who understood his responsibilities and supported him unconditionally when—Beep! Beep!I flew to the window to see the Wrangler parked out in front. My mate was waving to me, and I grabbed two duffles and ran to toss them into the back of the car. “You took off the soft top,” I cheered. “Now I know we’re on vacation.”“If my wearing a Hawaiian shirt doesn’t do it, I guess the top off will?” He climbed out and came around to take the bags from me.“I didn’t even notice.” I’d been too excited that he was back. “But where did you get that thing?” It was a peach background with orange and blue birds of paradise all over it. “It looks vintage.” As in…worn a lot, well-loved.“Sam made me take it when I stopped by to make sure his leaky water heater had been taken care of before we go.” Sam was one of the oldest in the pack, and we all helped him out. So while I’d been getting grouc
We camped near an overlook, a jutting flat rock from which we could see the ocean below and in the distance. Just a sparkle, really, with the sun settling into it like a plump golden apricot. We cooked up some of the dehydrated meals over a small fire while planning our descent in the morning. “We’ll be at the beach before noon,” Lily said, her spoon scraping the last of the chili mac from her tin plate. Or maybe it wasn’t tin but some kind of metal camping plate anyway. “If we check into the motel right away, we can change and go for a swim.”“Or lunch.” Vivi wrinkled her nose, looking much like the animal she was named after. I’d wondered whether she’d done that as a baby right away, leading her mother to pick her name. “I would like something not raw and furry or barely rehydrated please. Maybe a shrimp salad or shrimp scampi or a shrimp cocktail.”“I’m sensing a theme here,” Lana said, rummaging through her pack. “I don’t have any shrimp, but I did bring this.” She held a bottle o
I looked outside to see he was right. I’d have thought we had at least an hour yet, but sometimes fog isn’t predictable. It had closed right in around the house, seeming to muffle everything from the beach, even the waves, but I’d swear I heard footsteps from the street side. “There’s someone out there.”“We’re a long way from anyone else here. The next house is at least a mile away. Maybe someone with car trouble?” He started for the door, but I cut him off.“I’ll answer it.”“You’re so overprotective, mate.” But he didn’t look upset. “What do you think is out there?”“Probably, as you said, a traveler with mechanical issues, but you never know. I’m not an overprotective mate, just the regular kind.” He didn’t protest further, and I’d known him long enough to be aware how much he truly liked it when I got all alpha. It would make our night a little better after I dealt with whoever was out there and sent them on their way.But when I opened the door, it was not a traveler with mechan
DanI ran my hands gently over the female’s limbs, uncovering them one at a time and gently checking for breaks or other serious injury before replacing them under the blanket and moving to the next. While I was not a healer, a pack alpha had to have a little bit of all kinds of knowledge to do their job. Part of that was recognizing certain types of illness or injury and knowing the basic treatment for them. Before I’d taken on the role, this was one thing I’d never learned a thing about, but I’d made it my business over the past year to learn as much as possible about every facet of the pack and how to keep it running well.So far, I’d seen a lot of bruises, some nasty road-rash-type scrapes, and at least one of her wrists was likely sprained. But most of that would heal when she shifted. If she shifted. Because I was getting the feeling she might not remember how to do that. Or that it was even a thing.My mate opened his mouth to respond to her, but I held up my hand. “You asked a
MiaHow did I know that? I could even remember the taste of jam made from alpine strawberries picked under the summer sun’s warmth. That was an awful lot of information for someone who didn’t know her own name or where she came from. Wait. Alpine strawberries.“Alpine means mountains, doesn’t it?” I asked the man, Liam—must be nice to know your own name.“Yes, why?” He bent and tested the water with his fingers. “Perfect.” He picked up a wooden box and opened it. “These are the salts that the alpha was talking about. They are good for aches and pains. The healer makes them.”Alpha? Healer? They weren’t terms I expected to be hearing, but just because I could say what kind jam I liked didn’t mean I remembered all the words I knew. I decided not to ask. For the moment. “Oh, I just was thinking of alpine strawberries made into jam and thought maybe I came from the mountains somewhere.”“Could be.” He stood up. “I don’t want to leave you alone while you bathe. Because you were dizzy, were
Mia We sat around the table talking as if we’d known one another forever, but I wasn’t relaxed, not really. My wolf was prowling around inside me as if we were on the trail of the most intriguing prey, and I was watching every spoonful of soup our guest lifted to her lips. The broth and noodles disappeared into her mouth, interspersed with bites of biscuits with butter and strawberry jam.I’d always gotten satisfaction out of feeding Liam. He did more of the cooking in our home because my duties kept me busy, but I had some recipes that he loved and I made them whenever I could find the time. “Is the soup good?” Not that it was homemade or anything, just one of those envelopes you added to boiling water, but it was better than the canned stuff.“Yes, and so are the biscuits. Thank you for making me dinner. I didn’t realize you hadn’t eaten yet. It’s awfully late, isn’t it?”“We did.”Liam reached for the butter knife. “But we didn’t want you to eat alone. Also, it smelled good.”“Well
Mom is still pissed off?” I asked him, and he sighed before nodding.“I think you really pushed her too far this time, Mia. Mom has banned me from seeing you and says she doesn’t want me to become corrupt like you.” His words stung, but I knew it wasn’t his intention.“Maybe go stay with Mia’s father and Dan till things calm down,” he said.“No, the river won’t be so bad. She will forgive me eventually. That’s what mothers do,” I said, though my mother wasn’t like normal mothers. “Besides, Dan has Melana there all the time. I can’t stand her.”“What are you going to do about blood? You can have some of mine, but I know it won’t taste too good.”I shook my head. “It’s fine. I will just catch something,” I told him though that didn’t sound all that appealing.He nodded before digging through his bag again. “Here,” he said, handing me some money. I shook my head, trying to pass it back to him.“No, keep it. I will be fine. I don’t want your pocket money, Liam. I just wanted to see you.”
“Liam, calm down! You think we asked for this to happen?” I heard Mia’s Dad yell at her as Liam and I rushed out, peering over the balcony to the floor below. Mia’s Dad ducked as she threw something at him, and it hit the wall behind him, leaving a dent.“Love, enough,” I heard Liam, my stepfather, tell her.“What? Are you fucking okay with this? It is fucking wrong!” she screamed, and curiosity got the better of Liam and me. I crept down the steps. Liam, also curious, followed me. One of the steps creaked under his weight, and he smiled, his teeth clenched and his eyes squinting. My mother looked up at me, her face twisting in anger at the sight of me.“And you! You wait till I get my hands on you!” she growled, about to storm up the steps.Thanks, Liam. Now we don’t know what they were arguing over, I thought to myself when I saw my mother’s thong flying toward me. I ducked before snorting that she just threw her shoe at me. I watched Liam dart off, escaping her fury.“Get here now!
Dan came out fully dressed a few minutes later after showering.“Come on. You need to face her sooner or later. Better with us with you,” Dan said, gripping my elbow and pulling me toward the door.Ididnotwantto go home. My mother would still spank me even though I was nearly eighteen. That woman was crazy and damn, did she have a good hand. I could still remember the last ass-kicking she gave me, never thinking I would walk the same again. She branded my ass real good that day.Only this time, I really messed up. I burned the entire science lab down. I still believe it wasn’t completely my fault. Yes, I burned the classroom down, but I only intended to destroy the table, not blow the entire place up. Not my fault someone left the gas on, the teacher was supposed to turn it off before locking it up.Dan opened the back door of the car, pushing me toward it.“How about you both go, and I wait here?” I suggested. Mia’s father looked over at me from the other side of the car.“Get in the
“Doesn’t look like it!” he snapped at us. I dropped my arm on Mia’s father shoulder, jerking him toward me before slapping his chest.“We are good. Right, bro?”He slapped mine harder. “Never better,” he said.“Good! I need one of you to help me get the lights up there,” Mia said, pointing to the railing along the awning.Mia’s father walked over to her, grabbing her and placing her on his shoulders. I growled at him, and Liam looked at me, giving me a look ofwhat-the-fuck-is-going-on. I shook my head, walked over, and passed the lights up to Mia as she clipped them onto the awning.“What’s wrong with you two morons?” she asked.MiaAs I was getting out of the car, I knew my mother was going to kill me. After nearly five years and only coming home on holiday breaks, I had finally pushed too many buttons, and they kicked me out of school.My father had sent Jacob to get me from Avalon City. A lot of us mutations had trouble fitting in with pack wolves. So Avery and Aamon, who was alrig
Mia’s dad These bloody meetings were boring, but Liam insisted we sit through the Alpha meet every year. We still had a year before we took over Black Moon Pack, so I thought it rather pointless when we didn’t actually get a say in anything yet.They weren’t so bad, though. My entire family was here, seeing as we all came from Alpha bloodlines. My aunty Mia was here with her husband Mike, from the Crescent Pack. My older sister Nikki and her two mates, Tate and Drake, from the Forest Pack were also here. And of course, my other older sister Jessica and her mate Chase, from the Red River Pack were here sitting next to my mother. Black Creek Packs Alpha, Dan, and his Luna were also here with two other packs, whom I couldn’t remember for the life of me. Kind of pointless when my family ran the majority of the packs. Not like the other three packs could argue; no one wanted to piss off hybrid wolf packs. And they sure as hell didn’t want to piss off my brother Liam, the Alpha King, a tit
“No. No, I’m not. But I told you. I’m a wolf. A wolf shifter. And the PDA is an agency that sets up shifters on dates. So while nobody told me what your guys turn into, it stands to reason it’s something. And since polar bears in the wild in California are kinda not a thing, those bears are your guys.”Her friend had lost her mind. “Nikki, have you hit your head on something?”“Honey, if I was there, I’d shift and show you.”“But the full moon was yesterday.”She snorted. “Fairy tales. We shift whenever we want to. Look, I feel fairly confident of this, but have you looked around where you saw the bears.”“Yeah.”“Any blood? Body parts? Brains spattered across the snow.”Jenni winced. “Eww. No.” She refilled her cup and sat again, warming her hands on the ceramic.“Then describe to me exactly what you saw.”And Mia did just that. By the time her phone went dead, she was convinced her friend at least believed she was a wolf. She’d never said anything like that before. In the modeling w
Mia Mia barely understood what Dan was whispering to her so urgently. Something about a rescue. had to go. She should stay here, keep the fire burning and not go outside until they returned. It was still storming, and they hated to leave her alone.He’d said something about working on the mountain, must be search and rescue. They had rushed out so quickly she hadn’t had a chance to ask for details, but when someone was in danger, chatting wasn’t a first priority.Stretching, she stood and found one of their shirts. She had her luggage around here somewhere, but the white tee fit her like a nightshirt and smelled amazing, like deep-green forest meets sexy male. Their voices faded, and the door slammed behind them as she arrived in the great room. How long would they be gone? These things took days in the movies. She hoped whoever was in trouble could hang on until they got there.She moved toward the kitchen, planning on the world’s hugest cup of coffee, but something outside the wind
MiaPlaying for these two men could have so many meanings, but Mia was pretty sure she’d like all of them. At least if the night before was any indication. For the first time since before she stated modeling, she didn’t even care if she had coffee before starting her day. They lay on either side of her and mirrored one another, starting with nuzzling her ears, nibbling the lobes, grazing her neck with their teeth then doing the same to her shoulders. She shivered, already soaked between her legs and with her nipples on full alert.She hadn’t lied. They had ruined her for anyone else. And while Liam’s invitation to “stay forever” was just pillow talk, she could pretend. Pretend they wanted her for all of their lives, to make love to and ride snowmobiles to gorgeous settings for her photography. Maybe they’d be willing to pose. Usually she preferred nature scenes, but adding these two could only improve on the backdrops. Mother Nature was responsible for them, too, after all. But even
Her smooth countenance told him nothing, but finally a little grin quirked one side of her mouth and her cheeks flushed. “Kiss him again?”He let out his breath in a whoosh, bubbles of joy spinning through his veins. So relieved, he didn’t move, but Liam reached across their mate and cupped the back of his head in his big palm. “Partner, the lady made a request.”This kiss was nothing short or fast, and by the time they drew apart and glanced down, Mia’s eyes sparkled with crystal tears. “That was so beautiful. I could tell you were super close, last night and, let’s face it, comfortable naked together, but since you didn’t umm interact with each other, I didn’t know if you were just good friends in the habit of sharing women or…” She swallowed hard and the tears spilled over, pouring down her cheeks. “Why do you even need me? I-I…you love each other so much. I’m just in the way.”They both stared then Liam as usual voiced what they both thought. “Mia, of course we love each other. We