Climbing the Ladder (14 page)

Mesa smiled for him, shaking his head a little. “What does Grandma Minnie say? If it

were easy it wouldn’t be worth much.”

“She does.” He reached for Sammy, tugged her close. “I don’t regret it. You two are my

world.”

“Good.” Mesa grinned, got moving around to finish up breakfast, and she sat there

watching, looking dazed.

Kody kissed her quickly. “You’re made for this.”

“Maybe not for life without Starbucks…” She gave him a wan smile.

“We’ll get an espresso machine.” Mesa nodded decisively.

“We have to run together, hunt.”

She gave him a horrified look. “Hunt?”

“You have to learn how.” Mesa gave her a serious look before dishing up bacon.

“Kody…”

“Shh. Of everything, that will be easy. I promise.” That was the truth. “Instinct takes

over.”

Sammy rolled her eyes, poured three mugs of coffee. “I don’t have a lot of that women’s

intuition.”

Kody laughed. “You’re perfect. Strong, smart, and wild.” Sammy was a natural Alpha

female.

“Just follow us.” Mesa set out plates with a little ta-da gesture.

“I’m starving.” She brought the coffees; Kody dished up eggs.

“All this fresh air, huh?” Bumping hips with Sammy, Mesa moved past her to kiss

Kody’s neck.

“Maybe. It’s chilly up here. I think it’s all the sex.”

Kody was busy lifting his chin, offering Mesa more.

“That makes it chilly?” He got his kiss, Mesa murmuring against his lips.

“No… I meant the hungry…” She moaned softly. “We should eat.”

“Oh.” He and Mesa both chuckled. “That’s definitely the sex.”

He winked at Mesa. “You should kiss her, too.”

“Mmm.” Mesa gave his girl a kiss.

Oh, that was lovely.

Mesa had her head in one huge hand, cradling it, kissing Sammy like she was the only

woman on Earth. Of course, to him she was now. She was his mate. Their mate. When Mesa

lifted his head, Sammy was flushed, blinking slowly.

Mesa licked her lower lip. “Hungry.”

“Uh-huh.” Sammy blinked again.

Kody chuffed softly, pushed the eggs across the table. They all sat together, and Kody

felt at peace for the first time in days.

“Good, this is good.” Sammy ate eagerly, and Kody dug in too. Better. Better. It was

good. The hum behind his eyes eased off.

Mesa cleaned his plate, then relaxed back. “Would you like to see the house? Explore?”

He nodded, and Sammy chuckled. “It’s a huge place.”

“It is!” Mesa sounded so tickled to show off their home. “Come on.”

He grabbed Sammy’s hand and tugged, encouraging her to come along. Play. Look.

Sammy followed, slowly enough to take everything in.

There were six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen huge enough to feed the entire Clan

in emergency. It was clean, simple, but homey. That hadn’t always been, Kody remembered.

Mesa had put his hand on it, his mark. This was where the Alpha ruled, the rock of all of

them.

It made him proud, made him ache with how good his mate was.

Mesa turned and gave him a smile, one hand reaching out to him.

“Mate.” He went easily, happily.

“Mmm. I could hear you.”

“Could you?” Really?

“I could. Thank you, baby.” Mesa kissed him briefly.

He beamed, bounced a bit. Oh. Oh, the bond was working, was solidifying. Kody looked

at Sammy, admiring her. Loving her. Could she hear him, too?

She was looking at an old sideboard, hands on the wood, and she looked over, frowned.

“What did you say?”

“He wasn’t talking, honey. Not really. I just heard how proud he was.”

“Heard how…what?”

He sent his pleasure, his pride, his love. Her cheeks flushed dark, and he knew she heard

him. She might not want to admit they communicated that way, but he could tell she heard. It

was so cool.

She turned back to the sideboard, and Kody grinned at Mesa. “I like it. It’s a good home.”

“Thanks. What do you think, Sammy?”

“It’s lovely. So many rooms. What are they all for?”

Kody chuffed. “Babies.”

She looked surprised. “Mesa has kids?”

“Not yet.” Kody looked at her, admiring her. He could see her, swollen and heavy with

their babies.

She shook her head, turning to look at a little shelf with odds and ends on it. Mostly from

Mesa’s childhood. Poor love. She thought she couldn’t have children, but Kody knew better.

Alphas mated together. Betas didn’t mate, never had. Granny said it was because the Lady Moon

knew that there couldn’t be too many Betas in any Clan. Guardians, yes. Shamans, of course. But Betas, no.

He didn’t mind. It was in his genes to support his Alphas, to make them better.

He loved them. They loved him. Together they would help the Clan.

Mesa winked at her, full of love. Sammy looked up at Mesa, and that heavy head leaned

forward, lips landing on hers, even as he reached for Kody. The kiss went on and on, Mesa

tasting her like he couldn’t not, like she was as necessary as breathing. As soon as Kody touched them, a cry broke from Sammy, Mesa pulling Kody in to join them, one hard kiss following

another.

“We can’t answer all our problems with sex…” Sammy tugged his bottom lip with her

teeth.

Kody chuffed softly. “Making love.”

“Why not?” Mesa had the shivery good growl on. “It works.”

“Because… I…Stop touching; I can’t think.”

Kody chuckled softly, bit the curve of her neck, knowing it would drive Mesa crazy.

Mesa growled some more, nipping at him. That growl made him pant for it, and he bared his

teeth, shook Sammy a little bit.

Grunting, Mesa pushed in and nipped him again, this time on his lower lip.

Oh, fuck, yes. He gave a soft, happy yelp.

Sammy grunted, the sound somehow completely female, and pushed in to bite Kody, too.

Her teeth dug into his skin, the sting wild, making him yelp again. Mesa started pushing them, moving them toward the back sun porch, toward the big bed back there.

The pheromones were thick in the air, heavy. Wild. Kody wanted to howl.

He did a little bit when Mesa pushed him and Sammy down on the bed. Such a smart

Alpha, having more than one place to cuddle.

“How many beds do you have?”

“Hmm? Well, the house has, uh…” Mesa grinned, stopping to think.

Sammy’s eyebrows lifted. “You have to think about it?”

“We have guest rooms.”

“So do I. Well, one. A room.”

“Well, we have a few more people in during gatherings and stuff.” Mesa snorted. “We’re

busy.”

Kody nodded, grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and tugged. “Beds are good. I like beds.”

Mesa helped, pulling at clothes. “I do, too. Do you have something against beds,

Sammy?”

“What? No. No, I mean…we keep falling into them…”

Mesa gnawed on him a little, teeth on his shoulder, not even hard enough to sting.

The caress made him hum, though, moan a little.

Perfect.

It was perfect.

Sammy sighed, her lashes resting heavy on her cheeks. “Love you.”

“Love you, sweet lady. Stay.”

Stay with them.

“Mmm.” She patted him on the shoulder opposite Mesa’s mouth, but never said another

word.

He rubbed his cheek against Mesa, moaned. Happy. He was happy here.

Mesa rumbled happily. So was Mesa. So happy.

Now they just had to convince their girl.

Sammy woke from crazy dreams of running and growling, and found herself naked and

caught between Mesa and Kody.

She slipped out of bed, started exploring. Her suitcase—haphazardly packed, but there—

was in the front area, and there was a bathroom with a simple shower near a laundry room. There weren’t the basics in there, really—no toothbrushes, or hair gel—so she assumed it was a mud-room type thing.

Whatever.

There was a shower and there was hot water, and she smelled like what she’d imagine a

whorehouse would smell like. She washed her hair, luxuriating in the heat.

It was unnaturally cold up here.

She put on a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and the two warmest shirts she had, then she

braided her hair back and headed outside. She wasn’t sure what she was going to find, but maybe she’d be able to get her phone out of the truck. God knew she needed to call Becky and tell her best friend…

Something.

The truck yielded nothing useful. No keys, no phone. No radio like they had in the Bandit

movies. Damn.

She headed down, arms wrapped around her belly. God, there were a lot of dogs around

here. One came up to her, wagging, the wee fuzzy thing obviously a puppy. “Are you lost?”

The wee thing barked and bounced, tail up and head down. Her laughter bubbled out of

her, and she bent low, teasing one soft ear. The pup rolled and showed her a soft, soft belly, legs kicking.

“Oh, you’re so pretty.” She gave the puppy a long scratch, murmuring softly. “God,

you’re beautiful.”

“Her name’s Lisle.”

Sammy looked up into warm, friendly dark eyes framed by heavy, heavy chestnut hair.

The girl looked younger than her, but not by much. “Is she yours?”

“Mine? Goddess, no. I’m not mated yet.”

“Oh.”

“I’m Juniper.” A brown, lean hand was offered over to her.

“Samantha.” She shook hands, smiling a little. There was something so familiar about

this girl, something about her eyes, maybe.

“I’m so glad to meet you.” Juniper scooped the puppy up with one arm, hooked Sammy

with the other one, and started moving them. “Are you hungry? Grandma Minnie’s cooking

tonight.”

“I—” Tonight? They must have slept for a while. Her stomach rumbled, and Sammy tried

to remember when she’d eaten last. “I am.”

“I bet. It’s been an odd few days for you, I imagine.” Juniper dropped the puppy off on

one little porch. “Greta, I found your girl.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” Greta waved from beyond a screened window, looking wild-haired

and flannel-y.

“How many… how many people live in town?”

Juniper shrugged. “Not many. There’s fifty, maybe sixty of us. It depends on the babies.”

“Oh.” That was…she couldn’t even contemplate a town that small.

“Where did you live?”

“Los Angeles.”

“Oh, wow. That’s big.”

Sammy smiled a little, shoving an errant strand of hair back. “It is. This is quiet.”

“Sometimes, yes.” The houses seemed to be in little clusters—five or six at a time, with

two or three bigger places scattered around. “The elders live there, in that house.”

It was one of the bigger homes, well-maintained on the outside, one story.

“Elders?” Was that a nice way to say nursing home?

Juniper nodded. “Grandma Minnie. Moses. Bruce. Rachel and Olivia, although Hank’s

been gone for almost a week, and they’re fading. Rachel’s just waiting for Liv to stop breathing, you know?”

Oh, God. How awful. “They were his sisters?”

Juniper gave her a curious look. “No. No, Liv was Rachel and Hank’s Beta.”

Sammy blinked. She still wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but she knew she didn’t

want to think about old folks in a retirement village doing the nasty. “Oh.”

“You know, like Kody is.”

“She was a psychic?”

They climbed the stairs, Juniper entering without knocking. “No. He’s a Beta. Every

Alpha pair needs a Beta. It’s how we’re made. Granny? We’re here.”

“Junie! Hi, honey.” This wizened old lady with fluffy hair came out. “You brought me a

present!”

“I did. This is Samantha.” The women stepped close together, cheeks rubbing once.

“Samantha, this is Minnie.”

She held on hand out. “Samantha Luna, Kody’s wife. I’m visiting from Los Angeles.”

“Nice to meet you, honey.” The old lady said honey a lot like Mesa did, with a sort of

casual possessiveness. Weird.

“It’s lovely here.” Cold. Remote. A little scary. But still lovely.

“Are you all settled in the big house?” Juniper seemed to bounce a bit. “Canyon and I

moved him, put all the furniture up.”

“Canyon?”

“Our brother.” Juniper winked. “He’s way grumpier than Mesa.”

“Oh. Oh, you’re Mesa’s sister? How neat.” How weird.

“Yeah. He can be a butthead, but he’s a good leader.”

“He’s like…a police officer, right?”

The old lady chuckled. “He keeps the peace, yes.”

“I work at a bank. Worked. Whatever.” She didn’t know what to say, so she went with

the normal, trivial stuff. Except she didn’t have that job anymore.

“Doing what?” Juniper went to the stove, lifting lids off pots.

“Loan management for corporations. Mortgages.” It sounded boring, and it was, but the

money had been good at a time when people were losing their jobs.

“Really?” The old lady’s eyes sharpened some. “That’s a neat skill.”

“It’s a good job. I’ll have to get back soon.” She couldn’t go back to the bank, though.

Hell, she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to go back to any city job. How had Kody managed it so well?

“There is plenty for you to do here. Canyon has a computer, even. Would you reach the

salt for me, honey?”

Juniper pointed at a cabinet, and Sammy headed to open the door. The spices were

organized, marked with big labels. She found the salt and handed it over. “What are you

cooking?”

“Lamb stew.”

“Mmm. Granny stew.” Juniper winked at her. “You’ll love it.”

“It smells delicious. Did…did you teach Kody to cook?”

“Me and some of the others, yes. Kody is a dear boy. I’m fond.” Granny patted her

shoulder with one gnarled hand, and something in the touch made her shoulders drop down from

being up around her ears.