Her Lone Wolves (6 page)

“What you got to be so tired about?” Everett asked.

Caleb shrugged. “Nothing. Just tired that's all. It’s winter. Might be I need to hibernate.”

Everett snorted. “We’re not bears.”

Caleb shrugged again. “And this morning I ain’t no wolf. Just a man who’s hungry and in need of some grub.”

“Well, when you’re done filling your belly,” Everett said, “I want you to bring in more firewood. I checked the bin this morning. There’s nowhere near as much in it as we’re going to need.” He gestured with his head towards the window. “Snow’s stopped but it’ll start up again. And it’s going to get colder.”

Caleb shot him a dark, sullen look. “Yes, sir boss. Whatever you say, boss.”

Everett heard the blatant insolence in Caleb's voice. He ignored it. This time. His thoughts were still on Jane. The squabble between him and Caleb last night may have started with the chess game, and it may have been evidence of the growing tension between the two of them. But Jane had been at the center of it. There was no way in hell there’d be peace in this house as long as a young, beautiful and desirable woman was in it.

And then, as if his thoughts had summoned her, Jane came into the dining room.

Avery quickly rose from his chair. Caleb and Everett both remained in theirs.

Everett snorted to himself. If Avery wanted to treat her like she was the darned Queen of England that was his business. She was just a woman to him. Albeit a very sexy, attractive one.

“Morning, Jane,” Avery said, smiling. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I did. Thank you for asking.” She turned to Everett and Caleb. “Good morning.”

Caleb only nodded but didn’t look at her. Everett didn’t know what to make of that. Since she still had yet to sit down and was now staring at him, he assumed she was waiting for him to acknowledge her greeting.

“Morning,” he said. He didn’t try to keep the crabbiness out of his voice. Her alluring presence was making him hornier than hell.

As if satisfied by that, she finally took a seat. Avery passed her the eggs and ham.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling warmly at him.

“There's coffee too if you want it,” he offered.

“I'll have some later. But that orange juice sure looks good.”

Everett couldn’t help watching her as she ate. She did so heartily but also daintily, which he wouldn’t have thought possible. Avery was falling all over himself offering her more food and coffee. As for Caleb, Everett caught him stealing covetous looks at her every now and then, which caused the hackles to rise on his neck.

She finished then set her fork down next to her plate. “The snow’s stopped.”

Everett nodded as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “For now. It’ll start again soon enough.”

“Before it does, is there time enough to take me into town?”

He lowered his coffee cup then wiped his mouth with his napkin. “You have any idea how much it’s snowed?”

She shook her head.

“Twenty inches or more. Like I told you the other day, the pass isn’t clear. And with the additional snow we’re going to get, it won’t be clear for a few days. Maybe even a week or more.”

Avery exchanged a worried glance with him. Everett knew what he was thinking. The moon would be full before then.

“Have you seen it?” Jane asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Do you know for sure it’s not clear?”

“I don’t need to see it,” Everett replied.

“I want to leave,” she said firmly. “I have a life and I want to get back to it.”

“It’s only a few days,” Avery said. “Once the storm’s let up, the county will start clearing out the roads.”

“But they won’t get up this way for some time,” Everett added.

Jane looked over at him. “Why’s that?”

“Cause we’re the only ones who live this far up the mountain. We’re not high priority, that’s why.”

“You’re telling me that pass is the only way in and out of here?”

“Pretty much,” Everett said.

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

Everett leaned across the table and fixed her with a dark glare. “And why would I lie? I want you gone from here as much as you want to be gone.”

Her eyes widened. “Am I that much of a bother?”

“I didn’t say that. You did.” He sat back in his chair. “Now you sound like you want to stay. Do you?”

“I most certainly do not.” She glanced at Avery. “No offense.”

He smiled. “None taken.”

It didn’t pass Everett’s notice that she hadn’t apologized to Caleb, who was now looking at her as if he wanted nothing more than to throttle her.

She looked back at Everett. “But I also don’t like being treated as if I were something disgusting.”

Everett stared at her then shook his head. He didn’t get her at all. One minute she was all fired up about getting away from him and the twins as if they were the ones who were disgusting. Now she was peeved that the tables were turned and he’d let her know he wanted her gone as much as she wanted to go.

But he did want her gone. Or at least he needed her gone. If she was still around when he and the twins went through the Change...

“I just want to go home,” she said.

“I get that,” Everett replied. “But you shouldn’t have come up into the mountains in the first place. At least not this time of year. What were you doing up here anyway?”

“I told you. Taking pictures.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a photographer.”

“But why here?”

She stared at him and he thought he saw something move behind her eyes. But he wasn’t sure what. He just got the feeling she was holding something back.

“I freelance,” she finally said. “I was taking pictures for a magazine.”

“What kind of a magazine?”

She frowned. “The kind that wants pictures of mountains.”

Everett eyed her from across the table. “You got no cause to get tetchy about it.”

“I’m not being tetchy. I just don’t see what it has to do with anything or why you’re questioning me about it. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“Can’t deny that.” He tilted his head. “But since you’re in my house, I figure I got a right to know something about you and what you’re about.”

Caleb suddenly pushed himself up from his chair. “Damn it, Everett. She doesn’t have to answer you if she doesn’t want to. She doesn’t belong to you.”

Everett slowly rose from his chair. “Is that so? Then who does she belong to? You?”

Jane glanced angrily between the two of them. “For your information, I don’t belong to anyone.”

Everett ignored her. From where he stood he could smell her cunt. Even as men, his and the twins’ sense of smell was heightened. And if he could smell her, then so could Caleb. Even if she wasn’t aware of it or even wanted it, she was a woman ripe for fucking.

The muscles along Caleb’s shoulders bunched, his hands balling into fists. Everett knew he wanted nothing more than to challenge him. Especially since Jane was there to witness it. If Everett accepted Caleb's challenge, and Caleb won, then he'd be alpha and he’d have first dibs on Jane.

The blood pounded in Everett’s veins.
Over his dead body.
He took a menacing step towards Caleb.

Avery rose from his chair and stepped between them.

“Get out of my way, little brother,” Caleb snarled.

“No. This isn't the time or place for this.” He pointedly looked over at Jane, who was staring wide-eyed at them.

But Everett thought he saw something else in her eyes. Was it excitement? Her breath was coming fast, but that could just as well be the result of fear as of lust.

He forced himself to relax. What the hell was he thinking? Losing control like that?

He looked over at her. At her lush, full lips and equally lush body. She was the cause of it all. Her presence was spinning them around, making them lose control and forget who and what they were.

But how could they help losing control? She was a woman. And it had been awhile since they‘d had one.

Even now, Everett’s cock thickened as he imagined fucking her. And he wanted so much to fuck her. The wolf in him was howling for it. He wanted to fuck her until she screamed. Make her his. Only his. Though, with circumstances being the way they were, he knew he’d eventually have to share her with the other two.

But only after he’d fucked her first. And for as many times as pleased him.

Everett forced his mind away from such feverish thoughts. With the heat of Caleb's challenge scalding his lungs, and the lingering aroma of Jane's cunt boiling his blood, there was no telling what he might do. He might even Change, rip Caleb and Avery apart before they had a chance to and then take Jane as his own.

“She ain’t yours,” Caleb said, drawing Everett’s attention back to him. Caleb’s face with rigid with anger and lust. “And I’m not going to let you claim her.”

Jane shot up from the table. “What is it with you three? Are you all crazy? I told you. I'm not anyone's.”

Caleb laughed, but it was a hard, bitter sound. “You hear that, Everett? Is that it? Is that what’s happened to us? We gone crazy up here?”

“We’re not crazy. Nothing’s changed.” Everett looked sharply over at Jane. “It's her.”

“Oh, so now you're going to blame her for your failure as Clan leader. Is that it? Still too much of a coward to own up to it yourself.”

“Shut the fuck up.” He didn’t need anyone, least of all Caleb, reminding him of how he had failed.

“Or what?” Caleb belligerently thrust his chin out. “You gonna kill me?”

“I'll do whatever I have to.”

“No, Everett, you won’t.” Avery moved next to his twin. “You kill him and I'll kill you. I swear I will.”

Everett’s eyes narrowed. He'd had enough of this. “You can try. But I got no qualms about killing you too.”

“Stop it,” Jane shouted. “All of you just stop it.”

She fled the dining room. Everett heard her run up the stairs and then the guest bedroom door slamming.

“Nice going,” Caleb said sneeringly. “You’ve scared the shit out of her. She probably thinks we're all serial killers now.”

“Doesn't matter what she thinks,” Everett said. “As long as she doesn’t find out the truth.”

He left the dining room. Things were swiftly coming to a dangerous head. He had to get her out of here before it was too late.

Damn it all to hell, if only this storm would let up and the pass were clear and Jane Evans were on her way back to her life and out of his.

Chapter Seven

Jane angrily paced across the carpet in the guest bedroom, her hands balling into fists.
Damn Everett McKinnon!
It wasn’t her fault she'd wound up stuck in the mountains during a blizzard with three strange and, apparently, murderous men. She didn’t know for sure if they had committed murder, but they sure had no problems threatening to kill each other.

As for Everett treating her like a child by ordering her up to her room, he’d no right to do that. He certainly lorded it over Caleb and Avery. Acted as if he was their warden and they were his prisoners.

But she also couldn’t deny the undisputable animal magnetism he possessed. Not only because of his powerfully built body which, she had to admit, was impressive enough, but he also gave off a dangerous aura of authority and control. And the more she was around him and the other two who, in their own ways, were just as captivating, the hornier she was becoming. And the last thing she wanted or needed was to get involved with any of them.

She decided to remain in the guest bedroom. Just to be on the safe side. There was no computer or television in the room, but fortunately there were plenty of books. Mostly books on travel. She spent the day either reading or taking short catnaps.

Once, while she'd been reading a book of cowboy poetry that she found in amid the travelogues, she heard footsteps approaching from the hall. She immediately tensed, but she didn’t know if it was from fear or anticipation.

The footsteps stopped just outside the door. As she held her breath, whoever it was stood for a moment and then, as if he’d changed his mind, walked away. She had no idea if it had been Avery, Caleb or Everett.

She fell asleep again soon after. When she woke up, she saw by the clock on the dresser it was almost seven. There was hollowness in her stomach. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

She got up from the bed, left the room and went down to the lower level. Just as she was about to go towards the kitchen, she heard a voice behind her.

“There’s food in the fridge.” Avery stood in the walkway between the kitchen and the living room.

“I set some aside for you,” he said. “I wanted to come and get you for supper, but Everett said not to.” He went over to the refrigerator and took out a plate. “I’ll heat this up in the microwave for you. You’re probably starving.”

“I am. Thank you.” She sat down at the table.

“Did you sleep any?” Avery asked after he’d gotten the microwave going.