Protect Me (Sawtooth Shifters, #3) (11 page)

“I don’t know about that.”

No fucking way. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was. “You’re not going to work with him, are you?” I gasped. “Your brothers would never talk to you again.”

Baron hesitated.
Crap.
“Major knows we can’t mate with humans successfully. Have kids that can shift. My mom told me some horror stories. Babies that weren’t wolf or human, or couldn’t be carried to term because they weren’t compatible with their mothers. The only way to ensure we have another generation of working class wolves is to have some of them mate with wolf women.”

“There’s still going to be another generation of wolves, they just won’t be part of your packs.” A chill crawled down my spine. I hated what he was suggesting. I wasn’t exactly the most motherly type, but I saw myself somewhere down the road with kids. Baron’s kids. I wasn’t ready to give up that dream yet, and from the look on his face, neither was Baron. “You’re seeing it as black and white. Maybe what you need to do is say screw Major and work with the wealthier wolves. Because if they keep doing what they’re doing, they’re going to be a hot inbred mess within about fifty years.”

Baron laughed. “Did I tell you I loved you? Because I mean it now more than ever. You’re part of our pack now, Kiera. And we’re better for it.” The waitress brought our pizza, but neither of us touched it. “But I can’t stop thinking about what my mom said. You’re still in, right?” He attempted a wobbly smile.

“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.” I smiled back, and his finally reached his eyes. “What does Shadow think of all of this?” Even if Baron wasn’t part of the pack, Shadow shaped and molded everyone’s future. It wasn’t going to change what we’d do, but his approval would make things easier.

“I told Shadow I was willing to fight for things I believed in. And that includes the future. My future. Yeah it sounds selfish, but no one is taking you away from me. I want you to experience what’s good about Sawtooth and the packs. It’s not all violence. But it is worth fighting for.”

“I can’t wait to get to know everyone. I might have a little bit of a girl crush on your mom.” I took a bite of the pizza and moaned. I’d never cheated on the Cheeseburger in Paradise before, but this was amazing.

“I knew you two would hit it off.”

Putting my pizza down, I hesitated before continuing. “I want kids, Baron. I’m used to a noisy house full of chaos and love.”

He nodded. “Me too.”  He reached out and took my hand, squeezing it. “I’m hoping there’s some way we can make it happen. Everything Mom told me about happened forty years ago. Maybe things could be different now. Medicine is so advanced. Maybe something could be done to help the mothers and the babies.”

Or not. It wasn’t like anyone was in a laboratory studying how to make a better human/wolf hybrid. Panic took hold of my heart. If I really thought about what Baron was saying, I’d lose it.

“So what’s happening with Major?” I asked, changing the subject before we both had a meltdown in the middle of the restaurant. We had a lot to talk about with this, but we weren’t going to solve anything tonight. So much shit was going on, and even though Baron had tried to step away from the pack politics, this was too important to overlook. Major didn’t take kindly to not getting what he wanted. There was a lot at stake for everyone.

“I told Shadow to let Major have his she-wolf. He’s been in love with her forever, but he’ll have to take her away from her husband by force.” Baron shook his head. “I know it will cause a war between the classes. But at this point, a fight of some point is inevitable. It’s either that or extinction.”

It was a no-win situation, and no matter what, someone was going to be left fighting for what they wanted. Too much was at stake to not be able to find a solution. “I’ll support you. But I have two conditions: you do what you believe in, and no one gets hurt.”

**

B
aron wouldn’t give me any details about this surprise. I knew it had something to do with the wolves, and I half expected him to bring me back to Baldy. I was dying for another crack at the Black Diamond trails. My brothers made me a tough bitch, and just because I got knocked down once didn’t mean I would walk away from something forever. Unless it was a firebomb. But I was finally getting the last word in on that. Slowly but surely, I was getting my life back. Baron wasn’t someone I leaned on like a crutch, he was a catalyst. He accepted the worst of me, and it made the little things easier to deal with.

I’d be a work in progress forever. But who the hell wasn’t?

And we’d have babies. Even if they were fur babies from Forever Home. There was too much love between us not to share.

“Oh my God,” I gasped when I recognized where we were. I’d only been here once before, at night. I stared at Baron, wide eyed. “This is Ryker’s farm.”

“It was.” Baron didn’t elaborate before getting out of the truck and opening my door. I was too shocked to move. He held his hand out to me. “Now it’s the Channing Reserve. Come on, let me show you around.”

It was the ultimate revenge. Spitting in the face, or in this case ripping the face of an enemy clear off their skull, and living well. Just living, in some cases was a victory. But this was a statement. “Whose idea was this?”

“Shadow’s.” Baron held a binder under his arm, and he pulled it out to show me what was inside. Sketches of the land, an overview with boxes and a legend. The detailed plans for each building followed, complete with an explanation of what each building would be used for. “He wants to have our office here. There will be a few houses, and some cabins as well. We’re going to keep the barn, because he and Trina want to expand Forever Home to include bigger animals that aren’t pets, but still need a new home.”

“This is amazing.” I kept flipping through, and my heart stopped when I got to the last page.

A rendering of a beautiful log cabin, titled
Kiera and Baron’s house
.

“What do you think?” Baron smiled shyly. “The spot we’re standing on, I think that’s where the bedroom would be.”

I was absolutely speechless. Pulling Baron into a kiss, we both dropped to our knees. It wouldn’t be the last time we did it in this spot. All the words kept floating through my head, but I couldn’t figure out how to tell him everything. So I kept kissing him.

“I take it you like it.” Baron laughed, kissing my forehead.

“I love it.” The book laid beside us, open to our page. Our future. “When I was a little girl, I wrote a story about a princess who found her prince. Of course, the princess was me, but I’d never found my prince.” I took a deep breath. “Until now.”

“How’d I do?” Baron’s lip curled against my cheek. “Copyright infringement? You know the remake always sucks.”

I pushed his shoulder, following him down to the earth. We were getting soaked from the snow, but I didn’t care. “You fucking nailed it.”

Finally, my story had its happily ever after.

I
hope you loved Kiera and Baron!  We still have a lot of wolves in Sawtooth Forest that need mates. Next up is Major. Since we’ve been hanging out with the Channing brothers, Major’s got a bad reputation so far. Keep reading for a sneak peek at his side of the story. CONQUER ME will be available November 11, but it’s available for preorder and you can snag your copy now.

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M
ajor

Alphas didn’t follow the rules. Alphas broke the rules.

Try telling my brothers that.

“You’re fucking crazy, dude,” Shea scoffed. Like he should talk. He still wore the souvenirs of his latest fight with same pride a more civilized man would wear a tux; black eye, torn skin, and the satisfaction of walking away under his own power. Wounds healed a lot faster than pride. “If you go through with this, they’ll kill you.”

“Yeah,” Xavier added. Technically my second in command, he never spoke out of turn. It was my favorite thing about him. “They won’t bother dragging out the torture next time. Your last meal will be your own ball sack.”

“Ryker’s dead,” I reminded them with a growl. If these two weren’t my brothers, I’d never indulge them in this line of reasoning. I didn’t need to explain myself to anyone. “Now’s the time for real change. You don’t like the way things are? You make them the way you want them. It’s that simple.”

“Ryker’s dead because Shadow killed him.” Shea didn’t bother to hide his chuckle. He already sported a shiner, so I didn’t punch him. I needed him to have one good eye. “No one in the forest cares what the circumstances were. He’s dead, and all they hear is you whining that you didn’t get to him first.”

“He’s building his new house on Ryker’s land,” X added. “If you go through with this suicide mission, it’ll look like a pissing contest. You’ve said it yourself a million times—you need to do your own thing.”

“This is my thing!” I slammed my hand against the wall, barely stopping myself from kicking down a row of bikes.  We’d finally been able to get the motorcycle shop up and running after six months of being in chains and a month of total human fuckery. “Get out of here. Do something fucking useful with yourselves. There’s a bunch of half-built bikes out back that can’t put themselves together. While you work, think about how you’re going to help me, or go ask Shadow if he’s hiring.”

X picked up a wrench and glowered at me.

“I’m out of here.” Shea put his arms up like he was under arrest. That was a drill he was familiar with. He didn’t work with us in the shop. My youngest brother didn’t have the patience required for the precision work the bikes demanded. Instead he’d worked on the ranches that surrounded Granger Falls. “I need to find a job before you drag our name through the fucking mud.”

What. The. Fuck.

Ryker had been gunning for me my whole life. When I was younger, I reveled in it. I was a giant middle finger fucking up his grand plan. The wealthy wolves didn’t have any contact with the working class wolves anymore, unless one of them gave birth to a baby girl. Then they’d line up with their fancy leather wallets open to claim her for their son; someone who would grow into a man without knowing what it was like to fight for anything. Including his mate.

No working class wolf ever had the balls to question this system. They were all too desperate for the payday to realize the ramifications of what they were doing. But even as a kid, I knew it was bullshit. Not because I was in love with a woman I could never have, but because I realized it meant I was going to die alone.

Ryker claimed Cass for his son, expecting the good little girl to later be a good little wife. There was a reason Cass and I were soulmates.  She didn’t take anyone’s shit.  But in the end, she still married Walter.

I was the one who got us captured. Ryker might’ve been older than dirt, but no one got that rich by being stupid. He was pissed that his son’s wife would never look at him the way she looked at me. Cass regretted her decision every day, but like my brothers, she couldn’t see that change started with her. Then Cass had a daughter of her own, promised away before she could talk. The woman I knew who used to stand up for herself might have been subdued, but she had to want something more for Emma.

Ryker didn’t give a fuck that I planned to sell his livestock out from under him. He captured us to keep me away from his daughter-in-law. My brothers and the goddamn Channings were collateral damage. Now with Ryker dead and Shadow taking control of his goons, anything could happen.

I couldn’t let Shadow get too much control.  He was fool; thinking with his dick now that he was in love with the girl who saved us from Ryker’s dog fighting ring, using it as an excuse to taint our bloodlines by mating with humans. They’d give birth to monsters, if they survived. A simple
thank you
would’ve sufficed. He needed to leave that girl alone.

Shadow wasn’t a leader. Channings had kept peace for generations, making sure everyone in the forest was happy. Now wasn’t the time for that shit. We couldn’t placate these rich assholes anymore. There were no working class wolves under the age of ten anywhere in the forest. Soon, there’d be no one to fight their battles and like the Channings, they’d be relying on humans to survive.

It pissed me off.

X had done as he was told, wrenching a bolt into place on a new motorcycle. His work was meticulous, and someone would be damn lucky to get this bike, if they could afford it.

“Hey,” he said as I approached him, sinking to my knees and getting back to work. Six months in Hell and we had a backlog of orders.

“Hey.” It was as good as an apology in our family.  “You know this isn’t just about me and Cass.”

“Yeah.” He sealed his work with a blowtorch, then lifted his goggles. “And it’s not about Shadow, either.”

“Fuck him.” His name made my blood run hot. “I need you, man. We can’t count on Shea, you know that. I want to go to your mating ceremony, and not watch you hook up with some dipshit human who has no sense of our traditions. Who will never understand what it feels like to have an animal inside her. I want to watch your sons grow up to be stronger and fiercer than you. That’s why I’m doing this.”

“I know that.” X smiled absentmindedly while he worked, daydreaming of pups playing on the lawn. I knew it because I’d had the same vision a million times. “The rich rely on us for everything. We need their respect. It’s time for them to say thank you.”

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