Third Rank Penn Lake Wolves Book Three

Third Rank

Penn Lake Wolves Book Three

By Clare Atling

This book is
a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places,
events or locales is purely coincidental.  The characters are productions
of the author’s imagination.

Third
Rank

Copyright ©
by Clare Atling

All rights
reserved.  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used
in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author
except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

Dedications

To my
wonderful mum who just gives me support and love unconditionally.  

Xxxx

Chapter One

Maggie had never seen such a
beautiful sight. Even in the books she had read as a child, nothing could prepare
her for the first glance of her new friend Sarah walking towards her soul mate,
Seth. It was her wedding day, finally. After having been postponed due to her
best friend Callie being taken by her old captive, Marcus, she deserved the day
to be perfect. Maggie’s eyes shone with tears knowing she had less than six
weeks in which to befriend one of the Penn Lake wolves and hand them over to
Marcus. If only she could come up with a plan to leave here without any of them
getting hurt.

Brandon didn’t take his eyes off
Maggie the whole time Sarah walked down the aisle. He made her nervous, but she
knew he wouldn’t hurt her – none of these people would, unless they found out
she had been sent to spy on them with the intention of luring one away. Seth
and Sarah were out of the picture as, judging by the way they were looking at
each other, they would be honeymooning the whole six week she was due to be here.
Such love and admiration. Why couldn’t
she
have someone to have and to hold?
Her very own day with her prince charming?
Because they don’t exist
, she
told herself.

For Maggie, life had consisted of
the one room she had been allowed to live in whilst her mother saw to the needs
of the arrogant pig of a man, Marcus. Her mother had brought her painting
supplies and books to read and taught her well in the ways of the outside
world. She was never allowed to leave the room for fear Marcus or one of his
pack would see her. Although she was fully human, she was made aware of human
shifters from a young age and learnt everything her mother had told her.

The day Colt, Marcus’s son, had set
her free on the side of the road, she knew she wouldn’t make a run for it as
she was terrified of a world she had never lived in and her mission gave her
life a purpose. What she hadn’t counted on was the loving and affectionate way
this pack cared for each other. The alpha, Seth, and his mate Sarah were
getting married amongst the beautiful tree-lined shore of their island with
their friends and family looking on as they declared their love for each other.

Maggie swept away another tear
that ran down her face and was grateful others were also shedding tears, as
they would simply think she was crying at the wonderful scene before her. She
was a horrible person to have to involve herself in their lives and report back
to Marcus – or, even worse, the mole he had planted here on the island. They
had not made themselves known to her yet, but she tried to keep her wits about
her. When she looked up again, Brandon was still staring at her; this time,
however, he had a smile on his face, so she smiled back hoping he, too, would
mistake the tears for those of joy.

‘You okay?’ he mouthed to her,
but all she could do was nod her head as she looked away from his deep, brown
eyes.

He was the one who’d been the
most patient with her whilst she had adjusted to life on the island. She had been
living with his sister, Hope, as Callie was living with Logan full-time now. Almost
every night Brandon turned up with some excuse to see her. At first, she
thought it was because he didn’t trust her; but, after the first few days, she
started to warm to him and enjoyed their evening ritual.

Some nights it was just a film
and food, while other nights they walked along the banks of the lake and he told
her all about the stars. She relished the freedom after spending most of her
life locked away, with only the window in the small bedroom through which to
view the stars.

Her heart sank when she thought
of what Brandon would think of her once he found out she wasn’t who she
appeared to be. She had told him that she and her family had been camping and
were set on by wolves. She was the only one to survive and had made it across
the water and through their woods to find help. A few of the Penn Lake pack went
to search the area she had mentioned, but she knew they would come back empty-handed.
She also told them she had nothing to go back for, which wasn’t a lie. Marcus
had killed her mother before he had given her this task. Although she would
miss her mother, she couldn’t pretend that she’d loved her. She would never
forgive her for the years she kept her trapped, never once trying to escape and
be free and living a life with people like the Penn Lake pack.

She was jolted from her thoughts
when she heard whistling and clapping and realised the ceremony had come to the
end. Sarah and Seth were still kissing when the guests began to make their way
to the party at the local bar down by the marina. When she looked across to
Brandon, she saw he was walking directly to her. His eyes never left hers.
God,
he is handsome,
she thought, hoping she wouldn’t sigh out loud and swoon
like in her books.

He was taller than her by a foot
and had muscles built from the hard labour of their building business. His eyes
sparkled a deep brown behind his glasses, which he usually only wore to work. Today,
he had left them on and looked so hot walking towards her in his black suit. She
hoped her tongue would unstick from the roof of her dry mouth when he arrived
so she could speak. Her nerves were on high alert tonight as she knew she
should have let Marcus know about the wedding, but she just couldn’t bring
herself to tell him. These people had accepted her into their lives with open
arms and how would she repay them? By ripping their family and pack apart and
handing them over to Marcus.

‘Hey, Maggie. Whilst my brother
tries to swallow his mate, would you like to get a drink with me?’ She had
never seen Brandon nervous before, but the slight blush on his cheek was cute
and, although his closeness always made her cautious, she didn’t want to be
afraid of him.

‘Okay. I’m pretty sure we won’t
be seeing them at the marina for a while.’ Brandon laughed, which made her
laugh as well. He held out his hand for her to take as they followed the others
to the bar.

Brandon couldn’t believe how sexy
Maggie looked. She was wearing one of Sarah’s dresses, which clung to her
perfect curves like it was made for her, and she had pulled her hair into some
sexy up-do with wisps coming down. She looked so graceful and beautiful that he
couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found her for a mate. His wolf wanted
her every time he saw her, but he knew she was nervous around him; any sudden
movement and she would cower. He put it down to the fact that wolves had
attacked and killed her family, but he was going to show her that not all
wolves were something from a horror film. He would take his time and woo her
slowly, make her come to him if need be.

Her hand in his sent shock waves
up his arm and across his chest. How he was going to dance with her without
embarrassing himself he didn’t know. Once inside, they sat at a table right by
the dance floor big enough for his whole family to join them. Callie
practically threw herself next to Maggie, whilst Brandon sat the other side.

‘Logan's gone to get some drinks.’
Callie and Maggie seemed to hit it off. Maybe it was because Callie had lost
her parents, too, but Maggie had seemed more comfortable around her than the
other females in the pack. ‘If I wasn’t mated to Logan I could watch that hot
ass dance all night.’ Callie nudge Maggie’s arm and indicated to her friend Alex,
who was dancing with another female wolf.

‘Don’t let Logan hear you say
that…’ began Brandon. However, just before he could describe what Logan would
do, his older brother walked up and placed a tray of drinks down on the table.

‘Hear Logan say what?’ he asked,
looking suspiciously at Callie.

‘Callie here was just telling us
what a hot ass Alex has.’ Brandon winked at Callie as her face grew red with
embarrassment and anger.

‘I was merely pointing him out
for Maggie,’ Callie shot back at Brandon, knowing it would piss him off.

‘Well, you shouldn’t be looking
at Alex’s ass, either way,’ replied Brandon. ‘Logan, can’t you control her
better?’ Brandon
was
pissed off, but made sure he smiled while making
his last comment as he knew Logan would tear him to strips if he insulted his
mate for real.

‘Yeah, right. It’s Callie who
controls me,’ said Logan, placing a kiss on her lips before swinging her up
into his arms. ‘Dance with me, beautiful?’

Brandon wished he had the courage
to sweep Maggie up like that, as if they had been doing it for years. Logan and
Callie hadn’t started off on the best terms but, looking at how in love his
brother was, he couldn’t imagine anyone more perfect for him than Callie.

‘For a big man, he moves so
gracefully,’ commented Maggie. Brandon growled, knowing she was watching his
brother. Humans didn’t have the same mating urges wolves had and, sometimes, he
wondered if Maggie would ever fall for him. ‘Did you just growl at me?’

‘Sorry, Maggie. Just that my wolf
is uncomfortable with you watching my brother.’ Maggie lowered her head and
Brandon felt like a first-class prick. ‘Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it, just
that I like you.
Really
like you, and I hope you kind of like me too.’
Shit, he sounded like an idiot who had never spoken to a woman before.

Just then, his father and mother
sat down across from them.

‘Just ignore him, Maggie. All my
boys seem to revert back to cavemen whenever they see a pretty lady.’ His dad
wrapped his mum up in a hug and kissed her lips. ‘Today was a perfect day. The
first of my sons married to a perfect alpha female. Wonder who will be next?’ He
winked in Brandon’s direction.

‘Hush you now, Christopher,’ said
Mary, his wife. ‘Let the boy be. Do you want us to move, Brandon?’ He loved
both his parents so much, but at this particular moment he would love nothing
more than for them to go and find their own table.

‘No, that’s fine,’ he replied. ‘I
was thinking of asking Maggie to dance, anyway. How about it?’ He stood up and
held his hand out for her once more to join him on the dance floor.
Please
don’t say no in front of my parents,
he thought to himself. He would be
mortified if she turned him down now.

‘I’d love to.’ Her smile warmed
him straight through to his heart. God, he loved this woman and wished he could
take her home and show her how much.
Slowly
, he thought, reminding
himself she had just lost her family in a wolf attack.

He led her on to the floor, away
from Alex and Logan, so he could have her to himself for a while. He placed his
hand on her hip and let his other hand thread through her fingers. She
automatically placed her hand on his shoulder and, as much as he wanted to haul
her closer to his body, he could feel the tension running from her. As pack
omega, he could feel the emotions of others; however, because she wasn’t pack,
he had to guess what she was feeling. This time, though, her body was rigid and
her eyes were like big brown saucers looking up at him.

‘Maggie, you okay?’ He didn’t
want anything to worry her. He would protect her from everything, in including
the wolves who took her family.

‘Umm,’ began Maggie. ‘It’s just
that I’ve... well... I’ve never danced with anyone before.’ She lowered her
head as she so often did when she thought he would be anger with her. He placed
his finger under her chin to make her look at him.

‘Maggie. I’ve got you. I won’t
let you tumble, okay? I like the fact that you’ve never danced with anyone
before. It’ll be the first of many things we can do together.’ Shit, had he
said that out load? Now he sounded like he was going to drag her home and fuck
her over the nearest surface. Oh boy, why did he have to think that? He now had
a hard-on on the dance floor with Maggie in his arms. Looking down at her, he
saw the blush across her face and neck. ‘Maggie, I didn’t mean anything like
that…’

‘It’s okay, Brandon,’ she said. ‘I
know what you meant and it’s fine. Show me how to dance – although I can’t
promise I won’t tread on your toes every now and then.’ Her smile lit him up
inside. He would make her smile every day for the rest of their lives. He loved
having her in his arms so much.

Brandon taught her a few moves as
they danced to a few songs. When Sarah and Seth finally made it onto the dance floor
for their first dance as Mr and Mrs Penn, they stood and watched. Brandon still
held Maggie in his arms and rested his head on top of hers. Whether she knew
she was doing it or not, she stroked her hand up and down his arm, her fingers
lightly brushing the hair, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Her scent of
lavender and roses was so natural to him now that he could follow it anywhere.

They watched the newlyweds dance
around the floor as they happily smiled at each other. Although they were not
going away on an official honeymoon, due to all the trouble they’d had these
last few weeks with Marcus and his pack, they were going to remain on the island
undisturbed for a while. Brandon felt sorry for anyone who would interrupt Seth
on their honeymoon with pack business. Logan and their father would step in for
him for now until he had sated himself with Sarah.

‘Someday, I want what they have,’
he heard Maggie’s soft confession. He took his chance and kissed the top of her
head.

‘Me too, Maggie.’ Brandon thought,
for the first time since Maggie had entered his life, that they could have what
his brother and new sister-in-law had. ‘Come on, one more dance, then we’ll get
something to drink.’ He whirled her onto the dance floor with the other couples,
who were joining the married couple in a slow song.