Kianna and Her Three Alpha Wolves [Featherstone Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (11 page)

“You don’t have to fear us,” Duncan said with a big smile on his face, hoping to ease her fear. “We would never hurt you, little one. Teaghen saw you earlier and called us so that we could all make sure you were all right.”

“You’re the Featherstone brothers, aren’t you? Bubba and my brothers told me that you were mean and that, if you ever caught me on your land, you’d beat me black and blue. He said you’d do worse than they ever had.”

The minute the words were out of the little girl’s mouth, Alex wanted to shift and go find the Deacon boys and show them exactly what it felt like to have the shit kicked out of them.

“We would never hurt a woman or a child, and especially not you, little one,” he said instead. “We will protect you with our lives.”

“But Bubba says that I’m not worth anything ’cept what little work I can do around the ranch. Why would you want to protect me?” brave, little Kianna asked.

Teaghen knelt down beside her and lifted her into his arms. Turning, he headed back toward the cabin so they could bandage her knee and make sure that that was the only injury that she was suffering from.

“You are worth your weight in gold, little one,” he whispered to her. “And someday, when you are older and have grown, you will see just how special you are.”

* * * *

Teaghen was brought back to the present by the laughter of his older brother. He still had a hard time believing that their mate had come home to them and was upstairs asleep.

“Teaghen? You look a little lost, brother,” Duncan said.

“Just thinking about Kianna and remembering what her life was like when she lived with Bubba and his boys.”

“She is here with us now, and we will keep her safe,” Duncan said. “Ray won’t have another chance to get to her. Tomorrow, Alex and I are going to pay a visit to Ray and his buddies at the ranch and let them know that Kianna is now under our protection. If Ray wants a fight then we’ll give him one, but he knows he’ll lose against us.”

“I’m not so sure he’s going to back down so quickly, Teag.” Alex stood and grabbed the coffeepot and filled the cups that had been placed there earlier.

“If he’s pushing this hard, this soon, then he’s got to have some backers, and if that’s the case, we need to deal with them, too.”

“After we talk to Ray, I’ll head into town and talk to the sheriff and see if he’s heard anything about any strangers in the area in the last few years.” Duncan took a sip of his coffee and scowled at the cup. “You made this shit, didn’t you, Alex?”

Alex just laughed without answering.

Chapter 7

Kianna awoke to a feeling of warmth and well-being surrounding her. Opening her eyes, she saw that, sometime during the night, the three men had crawled into bed with her, and she smiled as she lay there and listened to their gentle snoring.

Teaghen and Alex lay on either side of her, and Duncan had somehow positioned himself across the end of the bed. Of the three of them, he was snoring the loudest. Maybe it was only because of the uncomfortable position that he looked to be in.

Slowly moving so as not to wake them, Kianna tried to climb over Teaghen, but when she lifted one of her legs over his body, the move aligned her pussy exactly with his hard cock. The moment she straddled him, he awoke.

“Ah, little one, what a wonderful way to wake me up.” Teaghen smiled up at her and gently ran his warm hands along her splayed legs. Kianna’s breathing sped up at the feel of his skin against hers.

Swallowing loudly as she looked down at him, she tried to continue her exit from the bed, but Teaghen held her tightly against him.

“Teaghen,” she whispered. “Let me go so that I can go to the washroom.”

Teaghen released her with a smile saying, “If I have to, baby, but you feel so damn good against me.”

Quickly, Kianna disappeared into the bathroom. She felt the best she had in years. Waking up with all three men in her bed felt so right. For so many years, she had distanced herself from people, never allowing anyone too close, yet always yearning for it. Now she knew why. She had been waiting to come home to Teaghen, Duncan, and Alex. Her heart was always aware of her feelings for them, and she knew that someday she would claim them. She just wasn’t sure if her heart could take it if they became disappointed with her and left.

Finishing up in the bathroom, she pulled herself together, took a deep breath, and opened the door, only to find the room now empty.

Damn, why do they keep doing this to her? They get her body all worked up and then just leave her. It was really starting to piss her off.

Quickly, she showered and dressed then headed downstairs, intent on finding the three men that were driving her insane and having it out with them. As she descended the stairs, however, she soon realized that she was alone in the house.

Entering the kitchen, she saw a note on the counter and read it.

Kianna,

Teaghen and Duncan are going to speak to Ray, and I’m out doing chores. If you need anything, just come out to the big barn and find me.

Alex

Well, those sons of bitches, how dare they go off and talk to Ray without her. This was her problem, not theirs, and she should be the one to deal with it. She wasn’t helpless.

Grabbing one of the light jackets hanging in the mudroom, she pulled on her runners and headed for the barn to find Alex.

The minute she opened the front door, she almost ran into her old ranch foreman, Rusty.

“What the hell are you doing here, Rusty?” she snarled at him.

“Now, Kianna, I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused when we first met. I just came to give you and the Featherstones a heads-up, that’s all. You may not like me, but I don’t want any harm to come to you, and your brother Ray is bound and determined to get that ranch back, any way possible.”

Looking into the older man’s eyes, she could see the sincerity there. He may be a Neanderthal when it came to woman but she didn’t think he was lying about wanting to help them. “Come on in, and have a seat, Rusty. I realize we got off to a really bad start, but dammit, you don’t treat woman like that,” she scolded him as if he was a child.

“I’ve spent the better part of my life around men like Bubba Deacon, and the only way to survive in their world is to become like them. I wasn’t raised to be so awful toward women, and I ain’t excusing my behavior, but it becomes second nature after so many years.” Rusty’s face reddened at his admission.

“Bad behavior can be changed, Rusty. Maybe it’s time you changed some of yours,” she said quietly.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m here. Ray has gone way too far this time. He’s put a price on your head, and any hand that can get you out of the way gets it. And I don’t think he means to just scare you off either.”

Placing a cup of coffee in front of Rusty, Kianna sat across the table from him and listened as he continued.

“After you fired me, and rightfully so”—he blushed again—“Ray put me up in his little apartment in town and told me to stay there and just wait it out until he got control of the ranch again.” Taking a drink, he set the mug back on the table and gave her a solemn look.

“I can’t say that what I’m about to tell you is something that I haven’t helped to create, but it’s got to stop when it gets to a point where you’re willing to hurt family to get what you want.”

They both turned at the sound of the kitchen door opening.

“What the hell is this sack of shit doing in the house, Kia,” Alex hollered and grabbed Rusty and pulled him up by the front of his shirt.

Kianna was out of her seat tugging on his arm, saying, “Let him go right now, Alex. He came to help us, so just sit your alpha ass down and listen to him before you blow a gasket.”

“He could’ve been sent by Ray to hurt you. Do you realize that? What if I hadn’t come in here?” Alex still hadn’t released him, but he did seem to be calming a little.

“Alex, I don’t want to hurt anyone, and I don’t want Ray to either. As I’ve been telling the little lady here, he’s put a price on her head and isn’t going to stop until he gets what he wants.” Rusty put his hands on Alex’s and pulled them off. “There’s a lot more to this than any of you realize, Alex. Ray, he’s changed so much since his last stint in prison. He’s even meaner than his daddy was. He has partners, too, real nasty bastards, and they don’t want to stop doing business because Ray can’t get his shit in order. If he can’t get the ranch back on track, and soon, they’re gonna want their investment back, and Ray doesn’t have that kind of money.”

* * * *

“What sorta business have you guys been doing with them, Rusty? I know that for years the Deacons have been poaching animal skins and parts and selling them on the black market, but that doesn’t seem to be big enough to need partners for,” Alex said.

“Shit, Alex, the poaching those boys did was nothing but pure fun for them. Bubba raised them to see animals as money in the bank. No, Bubba got in with some drug smugglers a few years back. They’ve been using the ranch’s back field as a landing strip for their small planes. Business was so good, they were flying in shipments almost daily just before Bubba died, and they want to continue, but they can’t take the chance with Kianna around. They fronted Ray some money a few months back, but the little bastard has spent most of it, so unless he can continue on with the shipments, he’s got no way to repay them. And they aren’t the kind to make a payment plan. I also heard Ray talking to some local contractor about starting to build a real landing strip, one that’s bigger so they could use larger planes to bring more in.”

Both Alex and Kianna were stunned. None of them had any idea what Bubba had been doing for the past few years.

Grabbing his cell, he called Teaghen and told him to come home immediately.

“Is Kia all right, Alex? We haven’t found Ray yet. According to some of the hands, he took off into town this morning like the devil was after him.”

“Kia’s fine, but Rusty is here and has just given us some new information on why Ray is so eager to get rid of his sister. As soon as you get home, we’ll tell you everything, but make sure no one knows that Rusty’s here. He’s putting himself in a lot of danger by coming here, and I want him protected.” Alex hung up and turned back to Rusty and his mate.

“You’re staying here with us, Rusty. You won’t be safe around Ray anymore, and even though you’ve been a small part in this whole operation, I don’t think you really knew the extent of what was going on. You will have to deal with the sheriff when everything is over with, but I don’t think you’ll see any jail time.” Alex knew that he and his brothers would hire him a good lawyer because, even though they all started out on the wrong foot, Rusty was standing up and taking responsibility now and helping them to stop Ray before someone got hurt.

“I appreciate y’all taking me in. I’ll need to go back to the apartment to get my stuff, and then I’ll just bed down in the bunkhouse until it all blows over, and I can head on down south and visit my family.

“You don’t have to stay in the bunkhouse, Rusty. We have plenty of rooms in the house,” Alex said.

“Oh, I don’t mind, Alex. I’d actually prefer it, if you don’t mind, and I’ll help out around here any way I can while I’m here.” Having unloaded everything, Rusty seemed to be in lighter spirits.

* * * *

Teaghen and Duncan came through the door about a half hour later. After telling them exactly what Rusty had told them, both Teaghen and Duncan stood to shake the man’s hand.

“Thank you for coming forward, Rusty. We would have been fighting blind if you hadn’t,” Teaghen said.

“Bubba had to have a reason for leaving the ranch to his daughter and not Ray, and I think it was to stop the smuggling. He knew that Kianna would never go along with it. He just underestimated his son’s greed is all. Just before he passed, he had mentioned that he’d like to see the ranch back up and running to its full potential again. But when I told Ray about it after his daddy was gone, he just laughed and said he wouldn’t be needing the ranch for long anyway and that even his partners were going to be in for a big surprise soon. I never figured out what he meant by that.”