You call me

Friday

Thursday and most of Friday passed in a blur of hiking and fantastic meals, drinks and laughter in the dining room and on the big deck, and the most amazing sex any woman could ever imagine. During the days she’d had very little time with Brad and Cain, who were busy working, but they’d more than made up for their preoccupation with their jobs when they’d come to her last night.

She couldn’t wait to see what they had planned for tonight, though she certainly hadn’t been bored while they’d been busy. There’d been more beautiful wolves coming and going throughout the two days, almost as if they were checking out the women, and the Brad and Cain wolves had been her regular companions, which had Anne wondering just how much actual work the human Brad and Cain had to do.

As far as the other wolves, many of them newcomers, Anne wondered if any of them were the guys her sister and the others had met at Growl Wednesday night. Anne had hardly had a chance to talk to them since they’d gone, at least not when there weren’t men hanging around.

So far, she’d only gotten tidbits about the crazy fun they’d had at the bar.

She wasn’t comfortable talking about anything personal in front of potentially eavesdropping wolves, but Anne hadn’t shared her suspicions about werewolves. She was having too good a time, and she hated the thought of starting rumors if her suspicions were untrue. She was actually enjoying the fantasy, if that’s what it proved to be. A mystery she might never solve, once they all headed home.

Both Wednesday and Thursday nights with Brad and Cain had been amazing, so far beyond her expectations of what sex with two men could be she knew she’d never forget. She also accepted that what they’d had here would end when the three women left in the morning.

For all their insistence on calling what they did “making love,” neither Cain nor Brad had vowed undying love to her. They talked of a nebulous future, but nothing she felt she could really count on.

That was okay. Today was her last day, and she planned to leave tomorrow with no regrets. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d miss them—both men were too good to be true and she knew she’d never find anyone to take their place. Which, of course, made it imperative that she not fall in love with them. They weren’t hers to keep, and she really didn’t want to spend her life yearning for two men she couldn’t have.

Guarding her heart was still the only viable solution.

* * *

Anne left out the loose yoga pants and T-shirt she planned to wear for the long drive home, along with the one clean dress she’d saved for tonight, but she carefully folded the rest of her clothes and packed them in her suitcase. She wished she didn’t feel so much like crying. She’d known this night was coming, though at the beginning of the week she hadn’t had a clue how she’d feel when it was time to leave this amazing place.

At least she’d gotten a lot of pictures of the people she’d met and Christa had taken a couple of great shots of her with Cain and Brad. One was good enough to enlarge—that one was going in her bedroom. Christa had caught both Cain and Brad wearing ragged cutoffs and work boots, their chests bare, strong bodies tanned, arms resting on each other’s shoulders with Anne in the middle. She’d been wearing her favorite dress, and she looked almost petite beside the two big men, her arms around their waists, all of them smiling, Anne looking as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

No one would ever know that, at the precise moment Christa snapped the picture, Anne’d realized their vacation was coming to an end, and this picture might be all she had to remind her of her magical week at Feral Passions.

She turned on her phone and brought up the photo, just to stare at the image. She looked beautiful between her men. She looked like a woman in love.

Sighing, she flipped off the phone and took one last look around the room. She had everything packed except the few things she’d need for tomorrow. Dinner was in an hour. There’d be someone on the deck having a glass of wine or a drink. A last night with new friends.

Her last night with Brad and Cain.

She pasted a smile on her face, grabbed her sweater, slipped on a pair of sandals, and headed down the trail to the lodge.

Steph, Christa, Suni, and Darnell had beaten her there. They were already drinking their margaritas on the deck when she arrived. She glanced around and realized one was missing. “Where’s Fred?”

Suni rolled her eyes. “She’s packing. She said she can’t wait to get out of here, that she feels as if she lost a week of her life.”

“Really?” Anne caught Christa’s disgusted look and noticed that the others seemed to share the feeling. “I’ve had the best time of my life this past week. I’m so glad Christa and Steph talked me into coming.”

“We practically had to twist her arm off to get her here.” Steph laughed and pointed at the door. “One of your men is inside making his magical margaritas. Go ye and get one.”

“And see if he’ll send out a pitcher for the rest of us,” Darnell added. She held up an almost empty glass and pouted. “I’m exhausted from having fun all day.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Anne saluted and went into the dining room. Brad was behind the bar, talking to Trak, Evan, and Cain, who’d taken three of the barstools.

“Hey, Anne. I wondered when you were going to make it down here.”

Brad leaned over the bar; she stretched up on her toes and kissed him. “I took a nap. Your relaxing activities have worn me out.”

He laughed and held up a glass. “Margarita?”

“Yes, please, and Darnell wants a full pitcher. She said she’s tired of having fun, but I think she’s just trying to get back in shape for sitting on her butt at work.”

Still smiling, Brad turned away to make the drinks. Anne sat next to Trak. “I wanted to tell you what a terrific week this has been, Trak. You have a truly beautiful spot here, the meals have been amazing, and I’ve never had a better time in my life. I really hope Feral Passions is wildly successful for all of you.”

Trak smiled, something the big man didn’t appear to do all that often. “Thank you. I never did get a chance to ask you about your work. I’m wondering if your skills are something we could use here to boost our promotion, since we’re looking for such a specific clientele.”

Evan nodded. “What Trak is saying, I think, is how do we attract beautiful, young, single professional women like yourself, with a yearning for something different in their lives? Is there an algorithm for that?”

She laughed. She was really going to miss this, being treated like a beautiful professional woman. She didn’t even get that at her job. “I’m sure there is, Evan. I’ll work on it once I get back to the office Monday, but personally, all I think you guys need to do is post your pictures on the Web site and title the page ‘The Men of Feral Passions.’ The women will come in droves.”

They were all laughing when Brad stepped out from behind the bar with a pitcher of margaritas and handed a filled glass to Anne. “I’ll carry this out,” he said. “Trak, I’m taking a few minutes. Can you cover the bar?”

Trak merely smiled and waved as Cain got up and followed them outside. They moved the party to the big table and before long Lawz and Dr. Tuck had joined them, and then Ronan and Wils showed up. Trak and Evan eventually wandered outside, and a few new guys Anne hadn’t met arrived.

Christa and the others knew them from their night out at Growl, and it looked like they were all headed back there after dinner. Brad draped an arm around her shoulders and whispered in Anne’s ear. “Do you want to go to Growl? Cain and I can take you, if you’d like.”

She turned and smiled. “What would you and Cain rather do? It’s our last night and I know they’re planning a party, but I’ve never been much for hanging around bars.”

“Me, neither. Your place or ours after dinner?” He kissed her, right there in front of everyone. So she blushed, of course.

“Mine’s okay.” She glanced at Cain. “But I’ve never seen yours.”

“Wherever you are, sweet Cheraza, that’s where we’ll be.”

* * *

Dinner was a delightful celebration of good food and laughter. Again there was that amazing sense of belonging, of being part of something greater than herself, a part of the Feral Passions pack, as it were. She’d grown so comfortable with the wolves wandering in and out of the dining hall that she wondered if she should consider getting a dog when she got back to the city. She didn’t live too far from a nice little park where she could walk one.

It might keep her from being so lonely.

She hated the thought of going home to her apartment, of walking in each night to an empty space. It had never bothered her before.

She’d never known what it was like to have a man in her bed every night, either, much less two men. When they weren’t there, the wolves somehow managed to find their way in. She’d awakened to wolves almost every morning since she’d been here.

No hint of their true identity, and for all she knew that’s exactly what they were—wolves.

And she was exactly who she’d always been—Christa DuBois’s chunky big sister, the math whiz more comfortable with numbers and her computer than real people in the real world.

At least that’s what she’d be when she got home. Here she’d felt good about herself for the first time that she could remember. It truly had been a fantasy week. She glanced up as Cain and Brad walked across the dining room floor. They’d been in the kitchen serving dessert for some of the guests, but now they appeared to be headed straight for Anne.

“We have something for you.” Brad pulled out the chair next to her while Cain stood behind him with his hands on Brad’s shoulders.

“For me? What for?”

“So you won’t forget us. So you’ll come back as soon as you can get away from work.” Brad tipped his head back and looked at Cain, who sighed and then turned away.

Finally, he grabbed another chair and sat next to Brad. “We can’t leave right now because of the work schedule, but we don’t want you to think that this past week hasn’t meant more to us than either of us can explain. You mean more to us, Cheraza. We don’t want to lose you, but it’s going to be at least a week before we can get away. We want to come and see you, spend some time with you in your world. If you’ll let us.”

It took her a moment to catch her voice. It seemed to have deserted her entirely. “I … I’d like that. A lot. You’ve got my phone number and my address. Let me know, okay?”

Brad handed her a small package wrapped in plain blue paper. She had no idea what it was, but she opened it carefully and pulled out an absolutely exquisite silk scarf. It was all shades of green and brown, and when she opened it out and laid it across the table the pattern became clear.

It was a beautiful hand-painted rendition of the Brad wolf and the Cain wolf racing along a woodland path. “It’s amazing. I know these two! Who painted this?”

“Dr. Tuck. The big guy’s quite an artist.” Cain shrugged and glanced at Brad.

“We’re glad you like it,” was all he said.

“These are the two wolves that sleep with me when you’re not there.” Her eyes filled with tears and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. Maybe Brad and Cain really did mean what they said. Maybe they truly wanted forever. “I will treasure this. Thank you.”

She wrapped the scarf back in the paper to protect it and set it by the door with her sweater. A few minutes later, Christa and Steph, Wils, and Ronan joined them at their table, but she didn’t show them the scarf. It held too much meaning for her, and she wasn’t ready to share it with anyone. Suni and Darnell came over with Evan and Dr. Tuck, but Anne felt sort of detached from the last night of partying and the celebrating everyone was into.

She wasn’t ready to celebrate anything.

She’d obviously done a pretty crappy job of protecting her heart. It would be so much easier if she could believe Cain and Brad when they told her she mattered, but she’d learned the hard way that words were easy, though when Brad suggested they go upstairs to his and Cain’s suite, Anne was surprised by the change in venue but more than ready. Cain had already gone on ahead and it was a simple thing to step into the kitchen and go up the stairs to their private rooms. She doubted anyone would even miss her.

“I had no idea that staircase was even there. I’ve never been up here before.”

Brad walked her down the hallway with his arm around her waist. “I know. Cain and I just realized that this morning, that we’ve always gone to your cabin and you didn’t even know how to find our rooms. He reminded me tonight, when you said you’d not seen our place.”

“It’s not a problem, but you’re right. I guess I’ve had other things on my mind all week.”

“You’re not the only one.” They paused in front of a door at the end of the hall, and he kissed her. “This is it. Cain told me you probably thought we were hiding something up here.”

Brad opened the door and stepped aside so she could enter.

“You came.” Cain stepped into the main room, grinned at Brad, and then hugged her close. He stepped back and shrugged. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to.”

“Why?”

“We’ve thrown a lot at you the past couple of nights.”

“And I’ve loved every minute. Have you heard any complaining?”

He took her hand, dragged her into the kitchen. “No. I think that’s what makes me nervous.”

Brad hung back a bit. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him standing there, watching her, smiling.

Turning, she put her hands on her hips and said, “What are laughing at, Bradley?”

“I was just seeing how you fit in here. I’ve imagined you in our home, but the visual is pretty amazing.”

She sauntered across the floor and wrapped her arms around him, stood on her toes, and kissed him. In less than a heartbeat Cain was embracing her from behind and Brad was stripping out of his clothes. For a last night with these guys it was shaping up to be a pretty fantastic time.

CHAPTER 20

She lay awake long after both Brad and Cain had fallen asleep. Her body ached in the most delicious way. Tonight had been absolutely amazing, a truly bittersweet night knowing it was the end of this fairy-tale vacation. Both men had promised they would do their best to come and see her, that somehow they’d find a way not to lose what they’d been building.

She thought about staying the night, but she’d already talked it over with Steph and Christa and they wanted to get an early start. They all had to go back to work on Monday morning, and they’d need all day Sunday just to catch up on laundry and getting back to the grind.

Quietly Anne gathered up her clothes and took them into the front room, where she dressed. She thought about leaving a note, but she’d see the guys in the morning. For now, she really had to get a good night’s sleep before the long drive tomorrow.

Slipping out the door, she gently closed it behind her and went down the stairs. She started for the back door that would let her out through the kitchen when she stopped in her tracks.

“Damn.” The beautiful scarf the guys had given her was somewhere out in the dining room with her sweater. A small light over the bar allowed her to see without turning on the bigger lights, but she heard voices on the front deck. It sounded like Fred and Suni.

It was easy to recognize Fred. She was always complaining about something.

With any luck, the women wouldn’t see her and she could still leave by the back. She’d miss Suni, but not Fred. The woman had been downright rude to her on more than one occasion and seemed to excel at giving her dirty looks. Even Christa had noticed.

Walking quietly, Anne found her sweater and the scarf right where she’d left them. Slipping the sweater on, she grabbed the scarf, but as she turned to leave she heard her name. She hated eavesdropping—no one ever heard anything good—but human nature won out over good sense.

Anne stood in the shadows, listening.

“What a wasted week. Surrounded by good-looking men and I end up with Trak and his brother, and they’re both sanctimonious jerks.”

“No, they’re not.” Suni laughed, but Anne thought she sounded uncomfortable. “They seem like really nice men. You took them back to your cabin often enough.”

“Well, nothing happened, even when I let them know I was interested.”

“You’re kidding!” Suni laughed again, but Fred didn’t sound all that pleased.

“Yeah, and like I said, the two best-looking guys here fawning all over Anne. I don’t get it. She’s fat and she’s ugly and she’s got the men. What a waste—such beautiful guys with lousy taste in women.”

“She’s not ugly. She’s a little large—”

“Suni, she’s built like a fucking blimp.”

“Anyone next to you is going to look like a blimp, Fred. You’re skinny. Besides, I heard a couple of the guys talking about them. They said Brad and Cain are really nice guys who like to make even plain women feel special the week they’re here. That’s all it is—the guys are just giving Anne good memories of her vacation. They probably figured, as pretty as you are, they didn’t need to do anything to make you feel better about yourself, but why else would they spend all their time with her?”

Why else? Anne clutched her scarf close to her chest—a scarf that was a gift from Brad and Cain—and thought about leaving it here. Except it was beautiful and, until this moment, her memories had been beautiful, too. Now she’d keep it as a reminder that she really had to be more discerning about men. She thought of confronting Suni and Fred, but what good would that do?

They were merely stating the truth.

Then Anne thought of going back upstairs and telling Cain and Brad what she thought of them, but she honestly didn’t have the energy, especially if they’d only been trying to make her feel good about herself. If not for Suni and Fred, they would have succeeded.

The women’s conversation moved on to something else and Anne crept silently out of the lodge, tears flowing as she took the beautiful path back to her cabin. The twinkling fairy lights swayed softly, only this time she felt as if they mocked her.

She called both Steph and Christa and left messages to let them know she wanted to leave really early, that if they wanted a ride home they needed to meet her at the car by five and she’d buy them breakfast in Weaverville.

Then she hung up and crawled between the sheets. If she was nothing but a job to Brad and Cain, then they probably deserved a raise, because they’d done a damned good job and she’d enjoyed every minute.

Until now. Now she just wanted to curl up and fade away.

Saturday

“Why do I feel as if we’re sneaking out under cover of darkness?” Christa frowned at Anne.

“Because we are,” Steph grumbled from the backseat. “I was looking forward to a really nice breakfast and a last chance to see Ronan.”

“I thought you were with Wils?” Anne kept her eyes on the dark road, and wished she’d just kept her mouth shut. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone. Not even Steph and Christa.

“She was,” Christa said. “She still is. And she’s with Wils, too. And so am I. With Wils and Ronan.”

“She’s with me, too.”

Steph’s soft voice from the backseat had Anne doing something she’d thought she’d never do again—smiling.

“I know,” she said. “I figured that out about midweek. In fact, I’ve wondered for years if the two of you were ever going to figure it out.”

Christa turned in her seat and her focus on Anne was laser sharp. “We might not have, if not for Wils and Ronan. It took two men who were essentially strangers to pick up on something we still can’t quite believe. How could you?”

“Observation, I guess. I’ve watched the way you two look at each other and wondered if maybe one of you was interested, but the other one wasn’t. When I saw the four of you leave together the other night I wanted to cheer. It also probably explains why neither one of you has had a long-term boyfriend—you didn’t really want one.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Steph was leaning forward now. “Christa and I’ve talked about it. We’re both as attracted to men as we are to each other, but we have a lifetime of love to back up that attraction. Wils and Ronan are the first two we’ve met who feel the same way about their relationship. They love each other, but they love women, too.”

“Except they were smart enough to figure it out.” Christa sighed. “They said they want to see us again, but they can’t get away for at least a week.” She sounded hopeful. As hopeful as Anne had been until last night.

Her sister turned around and faced forward, staring into the dusky dawn as their car reached the end of the gravel road. The sun was just peeking over the mountaintop when the automatic gate opened and Anne drove out onto the two-lane highway. In the rearview mirror she watched Steph staring out the back window. Probably thinking about Ronan and Wils.

The same way Anne was dreaming of Brad and Cain.

* * *

“She’s gone.” Cain raced into the bedroom and stared at Brad, who sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get his bearings. He’d been sound asleep until he heard Cain shouting at him. “Her sister and Steph are gone. Their car. I checked their cabins and they’re entirely cleaned out. Hell, Anne even stripped the bed. What the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know. Last night was amazing. I was sure she finally understood how we feel, but obviously—”

“Obviously, we fucked up. I don’t get it, Brad. What happened? Crap.” Cain sat next to Brad with his head bowed. “I love her. I never thought I’d fall in love with anyone but you, but I love both of you.”

“We have to get her back. That’s all there is to it.” Brad wrapped his arm around Cain and held him close.

“But how?”

“I don’t know. We better find Wils and Ronan. I think they’re in love with Christa and Steph.”

“Shouldn’t we follow them? We can be in San Francisco in less than five hours. We—”

“No, Cain. We added that one-week rule for a reason—to give women a chance to think about their feelings after they’ve left Feral Passions. Anne must have really good reasons for sneaking away like she did. She has to—she’s as honest and straightforward as they come, and she wouldn’t have left for no reason at all.”

“Fuck, Brad. I honestly thought Anne was falling in love with us, but with her history with that jerk in high school, she’s probably terrified of believing we mean what we say. Okay, we give her a week and then we go to her. But we need to find Wils and Ronan, too, and let them know.”

“Wils and Ronan have just found you.” Ronan shoved the door open with Wils right behind him. “You mean you’re not the reason the girls left?”

“No,” Brad said. “And obviously you two aren’t, either.”

“We’re not.” Wils stepped in ahead of Ronan. “But I bet I know who is.”

* * *

Suni, Darnell, and Fred were already in the dining room, looking for coffee when Brad finally got dressed and made it downstairs. “Sorry, ladies. Had some problems this morning. I’ll have coffee for you in a few minutes.”

Brad went straight to the kitchen and filled the coffeemaker. Cain watched him for a moment and then went out into the main room with Wils and Ronan and sat at the table with the three women. “Something happened last night,” he said, watching their faces. “Do any of you have any idea at all what could have upset Anne badly enough that they’d leave in the middle of the night?”

“What? They’re gone? I just thought they were sleeping late.” Darnell’s quick glance around the room made it clear that she was clueless, but the look of utter disgust that passed from Suni to Fred had Cain’s senses on high alert.

“What happened, Suni? Tell me? This is important.”

She lowered her chin and wouldn’t look him in the eye. Not a good sign.

“Fred and I were out on the deck last night. The dining hall was shut down, but we were finishing off a bottle of wine, talking about the week.”

“About the way you and Brad have been playing that hippo Anne.”

The breath left Cain’s lungs in a long whoosh. Cain squeezed his hands into fists to keep from strangling the bitch. “You said that in front of Anne?”

“Hell, no. She was upstairs, with you and Brad.”

Suni shook her head. “No, Fred. I noticed her sweater by the door when we went out on the deck. I think she’d come downstairs to get it. I thought I saw a reflection in the glass, but now I think what I really saw was movement behind the window. I didn’t think of Anne until just now, but her sweater is gone this morning. She had to have heard us.

“Cain, I’m so sorry.” She shot an angry look at the other woman. “Fred was talking trash about Anne, getting herself all worked up, and I was trying to calm her down. I had no idea Anne was listening, but I repeated something I’d overheard, that you and Brad were really nice guys who liked to give some of the plainer girls a memorable vacation.”

“Fuck. She heard you and believed the worst.” Cain flattened his palms on the table and stood, towering over Fred. “For what it’s worth, Brad and I love Anne and we want her here with us. Forever. We do not ‘play’ women. We enjoy women and we have tried to ensure that every woman here has a good time, but Anne is different. She’s beautiful, she’s smart, and she’s a good woman. She’s certainly a lot more woman than you’ll ever be.”

He was so pissed he was shaking, and he knew he had to get out of there before he blew it. “Obviously, you don’t know how to have a good time unless you’re hurting someone else.”

“Cain? What the hell’s going on?” Trak stepped into the dining room and got right up in Cain’s face. Cain had no intention of challenging his alpha, but the man needed to know.

“Talk to your girlfriend, Trak. She’ll tell you what a sweetheart she is.” He spun away from Trak and headed into the kitchen to tell Brad what he’d learned.

* * *

Anne managed to drive and not cry almost all the way to Redding, when Christa banished her to the backseat and took over driving. By the time they got to Willows and pulled over for Steph and Christa to trade places so Steph could drive, Anne was curled up in the backseat, beyond sobbing. She hadn’t said a word to her sister or Steph, and they’d left her alone.

She was beyond talking about anything at that point.

She kept wondering if she should have gone straight to Brad and Cain, if leaving without confronting them had been the coward’s way out. The women had almost reached San Francisco before she finally admitted to herself that yes, she’d been a coward.

She’d never wanted anything or anyone as much as she wanted Brad and Cain. It had been easier to run than to find out the truth, that they really didn’t care for her the way they said they did. That they’d just been doing their job and they’d picked Anne because she was fat and a loser and they were truly nice guys.

But what if that wasn’t it at all? What if they’d meant everything they said? What if they really wanted her, but they were as afraid to talk of love as she was?

And there was another option, one she hadn’t even considered. What if that bitch Fred had lied? Except Suni had been the one to bring up the guys just paying attention to Anne out of kindness and she wasn’t a bitch.

But Suni was a peacemaker, always trying to make Fred seem nicer than she was. Could she have made that up? What a stinking mess! Anne curled into an even tighter ball of misery.

She didn’t know. Damn it all … she just didn’t know.

* * *

“Are you going to be okay here by yourself, hon? I’m worried about leaving you alone.”

Christa had helped Anne get her suitcases into her apartment and now her little sister sat on the side of her bed. Anne had walked in and crawled into bed. She pulled the big comforter up over her and waited for Cissy to leave. Steph waited downstairs in Anne’s car.

“Just go.” Anne couldn’t talk to anyone right now. “I’ll be okay. I’m just really tired.”

“Okay. I’ll bring your car back in the morning. I checked your kitchen and you’ve got plenty in the freezer to eat until then. If you need me, if you want to talk, even if it’s the middle of the night, you call me, okay?”

“Thank you, Cis. I really don’t deserve you.”

Cissy leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I know. I’m wonderful, and don’t you forget it.”

Anne squeezed her sister’s hand. “Never. Now go. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.” She sniffed. “I think that, right now, I need to wallow in my misery a bit and figure out what to do next.”

Cissy and Steph left, and Anne pulled the small package with that beautiful scarf out of her bag and laid it across the chair in her bedroom. Staring at the painted silk, at the picture of the two familiar, beloved wolves, she curled up on her bed and sobbed.