When a Pack Dies (11 page)

Fina giggled foolishly.

“...but that front lawn? It’s gonna be filled with great grandchildren. A third generation of our offspring playing in the sunshine.”

“Mine too.”

They looked up to find Nath leaning against the doorjamb, his heavy arms crossed over his chest, one ankle over the other. He grinned, walked over to them and lay down beside her, squeezing his big body onto the wedge of space between Fina and the edge of the bed.

She looked back and forth between them, chewing on her lower lip. “
Two
mates?” Fina whispered nervously.

“Yes,” Cutler answered with the kind of unarguable finality only an Alpha was capable of, caught her chin between thumb and forefinger and fit his mouth to hers.

It was a tender kiss, a simple, sweet brush of his lips against hers. He stopped, his mouth hovering near the corner of hers, breathing her in and smiling then he kissed her cheek, her temple, her nose.

Fina inhaled sharply and felt like part of the world was finally right for the first time in four weeks. In her head, her wolf jumped forward nimbly on padded feet then leaned toward the alluring, enthralling scent of the man kissing her. Her wolf knew this male...remembered his strength, his power. It let out a quiet rumble of satisfaction.

Mine.

Fina was startled and, frankly, appalled by her wolf’s reaction. Fina Whitesage was nothing. She was an orphan without a pack or status. Cutler was Alpha. Her young wolf was obviously delusional to think that such a high-ranking male would accept her as his mate.
Despite
what he’d said. But Cutler was still kissing her. She inhaled him again and this time acknowledged the possession and contentment in him.

Lips moved over her neck and shoulder. A large, work-roughened hand glanced over her arm. Fina inhaled again and smelled Nath’s desire rise as he touched her. His scent was laced with the same possession and contentment as Cutler’s.

She exhaled shakily. “This is going to be weird.”

Nath chuckled quietly and kissed her shoulder again. Cutler levered himself up on his elbow and looked down at her. The sun had risen and his aqua eyes shimmered with an enthralled intensity, framed into heart-stopping beauty by those lush, dark lashes of his. “Unusual perhaps...but not unheard of,” he corrected her gently then brushed his mouth over hers again.

This time, Fina’s eyes fluttered shut and she kissed him back, chasing his lips with hers.

Cutler continued. “I’m a twenty-eight year old Alpha whose pack has been after him for years to take a mate. I’ve known strong, worthy women but I’ve accepted none of them because I’ve always dreamed of finding that one, perfect woman who would complete me.”

Fina blinked. “That was almost poetic, Cutler.”

“He stole it from me,” Nath grinned, brushed Fina’s hair aside and kissed the back of her neck.

Cutler growled at his brother but stopped when Ryan stirred behind him. “My wolf knew you were mine the second I met you, Fina Whitesage,” he told her quietly. “He’s never reacted that way to a woman and he wants no other.” He kissed her softly. “
I
want no other.” Then Cutler sighed. “My brother feels the same way. I resented the hell out of it but I can’t blame him,” he added with a resigned shake of his head. “My wolf could share you...or kill my brother. It chooses to share.”

Fina trembled with cold fear but stopped when she looked into Cutler’s eyes. They were so warm, so gentle and loving that she felt safe and home and...right.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nath murmured against Fina’s skin. He placed his hand on her shoulder and rolled her toward him. “Too much talking and not enough kissing,” he grinned and settled his mouth over Fina’s.

Nathaniel’s kiss tasted different than Cutler’s. Cutler was patient confidence. Nath was rawer. He was sexual energy yet it was tempered. Fina gasped when Nath traced her lips with the tip of his tongue. “Open for me, Fina. Let me taste you,” he breathed against her mouth then growled when she did. His tongue touched hers, stroked it carefully while Cutler ran his big hands down the side of her body and pressed kisses to the back of her ear.

The heat pouring off both their bodies was overwhelming and Fina squirmed. That only made their arousal ramp up and Nath leaned over her, pressing his chest lightly into her breast. He caressed her tongue once more with his then leaned back, breathing audibly. “Damn,” he groaned and shut his intense blue eyes. His hips rocked forward and he looked as surprised as Fina did. He levered them back, dragging his swollen cock away from her thigh.

Cutler took hold of her chin again and pulled her back to him. This time his tongue filled her mouth...slow and heavy and determined and Fina tasted the primal, spicy musk that was Cutler. He withdrew, dragging his tongue over hers, leading and encouraging her to follow. She clutched his shoulder and tipped her head to fit her mouth more firmly to his.

Cutler pulled back leisurely then looked down at her with self-satisfied pride. He pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead before leaning away.

“Hey, wake up, buddy,” he whispered to the small lump beneath the blankets perhaps a foot away from him. Cutler peeled the sheets away from Ryan’s face. “Time to do chores. Then I’ve got to get ready for work.”

Ryan grunted and ran his fists over his eyelids and the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes slowly. He sat up and looked at the three adults curiously, as if trying to puzzle out how the four of them had wound up in another comfortable tangle.

“Morning, Fina,” he greeted her first. “Your tummy still sore?”

“It’s better thanks.” She smiled at him, reached over Cutler’s broad chest and brushed Ryan’s hair back. “I’ll put your barn clothes out for you.”

“Nah. I can do it myself.” Ryan yawned and climbed out of bed. Wearing pajama bottoms with cowboys on them and a plain white t-shirt, he padded out of the room without another word.

*
   
*
   
*

Less than fifteen minutes later, Ryan was scooping feed out of a bucket and spilling it on the ground in the chicken enclosure. When the bucket was empty, he opened the gate, closed it behind him with careful deliberation then carried the bucket back to the barn.

“Finished, big guy?” Nath asked when Ryan appeared beside him. He took the bucket from the boy, hung it up on a peg then slung another two bales of hay into the trailer hitched up to the back of their ATV. He started it up, settled Ryan on his lap then took off smoothly for the paddock their Black Angus cattle were currently penned in. When they reached the gate, he hovered behind Ryan as the boy climbed the fence to reach the latch. Nath gave it a little nudge to help Ryan open it. Ryan jumped down, pulled the gate wide open and stood aside while Nath drove through. The boy closed up the gate, shoved the latch back in place as best he could then trotted over to the feed and water troughs where Nath was already unbaling hay.

“That ewe we were worried about looks better,” Cutler said as he let himself into the cattle paddock from the sheep pen. He brushed the dust off his rawhide gloves, grabbed two buckets of corn from the trailer and set one near the trough. He started to tip up the remaining one then waited until Ryan took hold of the other side of the bucket and the two of them poured the feed together.

“Yah, cow. Yah,” Ryan barked sharply when one of the heifers got too close. It slowed its approach.

Cutler and Nath shared a wry grin over his head, finished filling the troughs then checked the salt licks before piling back onto the ATV.

“What’s for breakfast, Nath?” Ryan asked. He hung onto his new, straw, cowboy hat when the trailer went over a bump.

“Don’t know, big guy. Fina’s cooking this morning.”

Ryan’s mouth thinned. “She’s doesn’t cook as good as you do.”

“As
well
as you do,” Cutler corrected him gently, then grinned. “Maybe not...but she’ll get better.”

Ryan seemed to mull this over for a minute. With Cutler’s hand on his arm, he climbed down out of the trailer to open the gate. “My mom was a good cook,” he said out of the blue as he pushed the gate closed after them. This time Cutler got out to help him secure the latch.

“She was?” he replied as casually as he could. It was the first time Ryan had talked about his life before he and Fina arrived.

“Yeah. I used to live with her and my dad...before the bad men came,” he added and there was a seriousness in his voice the brothers weren’t used to hearing. Again, they looked at each other over his head. Ryan fell silent and they let him.

Nath pulled the ATV back into the barn. Cutler stepped out of the back then held out his hands. Ryan liked to ride back to the house on his shoulders but instead of walking toward him, Ryan faced Cutler, stood very still and his large, brown eyes looked very serious and far older than his six years. “She’s dead,” he told Cutler then climbed onto his shoulders and hung onto his head for the ride back to the house.

Chapter Five

“Hell will freeze over first you son of a bitch.”

Cutler’s head came up at the raw anger in Fina’s voice. He set his morning cup of coffee down and hurried into the office. Fina sat at the desk, her laptop open in front of her. When she saw him, she slapped the screen.

“Did you
see
what that bastard had the gall to say?”

Of course he didn’t but Cutler decided it was prudent not to mention that. Fina shot to her feet and began pacing the room. Cutler took the chair she’d vacated and read the email on the screen. It was from a man identifying himself as Sim Brice and it had been sent to Whitesage Nursery’s general inbox.

Time to get your cute rump back home, my pretty little Fina. I’ve been patient but unless you get back here—along with the pack money you stole—being rogue and alone will be the least of your worries. Those businesses, this website and your ass are the rightful property of my pack. I don’t know what you’ve been playing at but if you get back here within the next few days, I’ll consider forgiving you. Your Alpha, Sim Brice.

Cutler felt his brow go up and his mouth thin. He could hear Ryan playing outside, carrying on a one-sided conversation with the cattle. He smelled Fina’s rage as clearly as he saw her strident walk and the color in her cheeks.

“Is this him?” he asked coolly.

“I’m assuming,” Fina spit out. “He never bothered to introduce himself.” She swore under her breath and stormed out of the office. He let her go. Taking herself on a long walk down the laneway might cool her down.

Cutler glanced at his watch, radioed his dispatcher and advised that he was available for duty, but would be at home for awhile unless he was needed. Then he sent himself a copy of this Sim Brice’s email before scrolling through the Whitesage Nursery website. He’d never seen it before and it was impressive. Their specialty was rare, antique, heirloom plants. The bulk of their business seemed to be the sale of seeds online. Cutler’s brows went up. He hadn’t realized there were over a thousand varieties of apples alone. The site’s homepage was a short, gracious letter to their customers, advising that there had been deaths in the family and as a result, Whitesage Nursery was closed temporarily. The letter directed customers to competitor sites in the meantime. Cutler heard Fina’s voice in every word of every sentence. He heard her determination and her hopefulness.

He checked the website for geographical indicators, the name of a webpage designer, anything that could lead this Sim Brice to her or Wyoming...and found nothing. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cutler wrote down the company’s web address and forwarded it onto a buddy of his at the FBI who was a whiz at this sort of thing. He’d make sure nothing could lead the rogues to Fina. When he was finished, Cutler poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, checked the reports his officers had logged into the Sheriff’s Office intranet overnight and waited for Fina to walk off her anger.

*
   
*
   
*

“When’s Nath coming home?” Ryan whined as he crawled into bed a few days later.

“Day after tomorrow, buddy,” Cutler told him as he picked the library book off Ryan’s night table. “Would you like to start the next chapter or do you want to wait for Fina?”

Ryan took the book from his Alpha, opened it then scowled. “She burned the macaroni.”

“Yeah I know,” Cutler agreed quietly. He sat down beside Ryan, stretched out his long jean-clad legs, and propped his back against Ryan’s headboard. “She’s trying,” Cutler added with a resigned shrug.

“I wish she’d try harder.”

“That’s enough of that,” Cutler interrupted Ryan firmly. “Can
you
cook macaroni?” Ryan looked away and shook his head. “Then from now on, when Fina goes to the trouble of making you something to eat, you say thank you and I don’t care how bad it tastes. Understood?” he added, gentling his voice.

Ryan looked like he wanted to argue but, finally, he nodded. “Okay,” he sighed plaintively, shoved his pillow behind him and sat up beside Cutler.

“Thank you,” Cutler acknowledged. “How about tomorrow I bring home fried chicken from the diner?” he added and held his hand out, palm up. Ryan grinned, slapped Cutler’s hand with his then started reading out loud.

Fina walked in maybe fifteen minutes later, flexing her fingers gingerly. She’d spent part of the evening compiling an email contact list to promote Green Mountain Eco Tours to past customers and anybody who’d ever inquired about taking a tour. She leaned her backside on Ryan’s windowsill, listening to him read the last page of the chapter. Ryan’s reading skills continued to improve steadily. Fina couldn’t be happier—or more relieved.

“Good story, buddy,” Cutler said as he stood up. He fluffed Ryan’s pillow while the six-year old scooted under the covers. “Are there any more books in that series?” he asked, looking up at Fina.

“One more,” she answered, walked over to Ryan and brushed his hair back with her fingertips. “Did you remember to brush your teeth?”

Ryan took a deep breath and blew it out in her direction. “Cutler asked already,” he answered impatiently.

Fina inhaled and plastered an artificially bright smile on her face. “Ah...minty fresh. All right then.” She switched off Ryan’s lamp and she and Cutler headed for the door.