PackRescue (10 page)

Nath tossed a pillow onto the floor in front of her and
leaned back into the sofa. She looped her arm around the top of his chest and
he held it there comfortably.

When she woke up the next morning, Fina stretched lightly.
Her belly still felt a little uncomfortable but no longer hurt. She exhaled
gratefully. Nath was sprawled across the chair in her room, his head thrown
back, his mouth hanging open. He was snoring quietly. She got up, tiptoed into
the washroom and was relieved to find she hadn’t bled through during the last
maybe four hours.

She slipped out of her room to check on Ryan. His bed was
empty. Frowning, she followed his scent trail, now hours old, into Cutler’s
room. The Alpha lifted his head groggily when she eased down onto her side
beside him.

“You okay?” Cutler mumbled, looking at her through bleary
eyes. He glanced behind him, making sure Ryan was still asleep.

“Peachy,” she whispered tartly and grinned. “I see you had a
visitor.”

“Yeah.” Cutler stretched and again looked at the tiny mound
sleeping on his other side. Ryan was breathing deeply and rhythmically. “I
think it upset him, being sent away yesterday. Buddy climbed in here almost the
minute after I went to bed. Is it gonna be like this with
our
pups?” he
asked tiredly. “Ah shit,” he breathed when Fina’s face collapsed with grief.
The question was ill-timed and inappropriate and his voice was full of regret. “I’m
sorry, honey. Come here,” he said, rolling toward her and not letting her push
him away when he wrapped his arms around her.

“I hate them so much,” Fina moaned in a harsh, subdued
whisper. She hid her face in her hands. “They hurt me so bad.” Her small body
shook with noiseless sobs. “What if they hurt me so bad I’ll never be able to
have children?” She cried into Cutler’s t-shirt and hated the neediness, the
frailty inside her.

“Don’t you think like that, Fina Whitesage,” Cutler ordered
in a stern whisper. His mouth snapped down into a tight, straight line. “You’re
strong. You survived,” he told her firmly. “They were rogues, inferior wolves
spawned from weak stock. Their seed didn’t deserve to live inside you…wasn’t
strong enough to survive. Even if you don’t believe me, remember that almost
all first pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion.” Again he cocked his head to
the side, listening to Ryan breathe, making sure he was still asleep.

“In humans maybe,” Fina countered and wiped away her tears
with harsh impatience.

“Weres too. Maybe not as many because our women are tougher.
The baby they forced on you wasn’t strong enough to live. That’s harsh and cold
and it wasn’t your fault or its. It’s just the way it is and I don’t want you
to shed another tear over that. You’re going to have lots and lots of strong,
healthy pups, Fina Whitesage. You’ll see. Fifty years from now we’ll be sitting
out front on rockers, sucking soft foods through a straw because there’s not a
tooth left in our heads.”

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 flopped 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, then 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 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 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 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. “It 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 they made her feel
safe and home and…right.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nath murmured against Fina’s skin. He laid 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 elbow, 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 off
the back of the cab 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 and
stood very still. 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.

“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 a long walk down the laneway might cool her down.

Cutler glanced at his watch, radioed his dispatcher and
advised he was available for duty but would be at home for a while 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 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 on to a buddy of his at the FBI who was
a whiz at that 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 in to 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 a
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, then 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.

“Leave the door open?” Ryan asked like he did every night. “‘Night,
Fina. ‘Night, Cutler.”

“Good night, Ryan,” they said almost at the same time and
left.

In the family room, Cutler stretched out on the big
sectional.

“Hey! Sofa hog,” Fina grouched then headed for the kitchen. “Want
something to drink?”

“No. I’m good,” Cutler answered absently. He picked up the
remote, looked at it then tossed it back onto the coffee table. He dug his
fingers into his eyes. “State Inspector’s coming by the station house next
week.” He rolled his neck and stretched his arms overhead until a couple of his
vertebrae popped.

“Is that unusual?” Fina asked as she poured ice and water
into a glass.

“Routine,” Cutler answered curtly. “They send somebody every
year.” His eyes tracked Fina as she walked back toward him. “There’s some
running around to do before they get there. Make sure the filing is caught up
and the evidence locker is tidy, that sort of thing. Thanks,” he added when he
reached up and took the glass from her hand. Cutler drank about half of it
before handing it back.

“You’re pushing your luck tonight, Sheriff,” Fina groused,
looking at her half-empty glass. She took a drink then set it down on a
coaster.

“Yeah? Wanna see what else I can push? Hmm?” Cutler taunted.
He grabbed Fina’s waist, dug his fingers into her ribs until she laughed then
pulled her down next to him.

Fina perched on the edge of the big sofa, her hip beside
Cutler’s, and laid her hand on the middle of his chest. The two of them looked
at it for a while—her small, pale hand riding the steady rise and fall of
Cutler’s massive chest. After a time Cutler reached up and combed his fingers
through Fina’s heavy, reddish-brown hair.

“You’re beautiful,” he said quietly. “I don’t tell you often
enough.”

Fina blushed and looked away. Cutler brought her gaze back
to his by laying his finger beneath her chin. He looked up at her thoughtfully.
He wanted to mate with her so much the wanting had become need. He’d waited
until she’d stopped bleeding and had given her another two weeks on top of
that.

“Cutler,” Fina said hesitantly, “Y-you said a while back you
wanted me for your mate. You and Nath did.”

He nodded, waiting for her to continue, and traced her jaw
with the tips of his fingers.

“As much as I…appreciate your saying it, I know it was only
to make me feel better. Like I could still be wanted…after…” Her brow furrowed
and she fidgeted as her voice trailed away. “It was sweet and I love you for
saying it but I won’t hold you to it.”

“Come here.”

“Pardon?” Fina’s breath caught at the low rumble of command
in Cutler’s voice. There was tenderness in it too and she felt her brow furrow
at the dichotomy.

“I
said
,” Cutler said firmly. He wrapped his hands
around her waist and pulled Fina’s small body on top of his. “Come. Here,” he
repeated, saying it gently this time and arranging her limbs until she was
stretched out on top of him. He kissed the tip of her nose and ran his big
hands up and down her back. “My wolf has chosen you as its mate, Fina
Whitesage.” Cutler spoke like he was explaining something to a child. “Our kind
believe there is one true lifemate for each of us and my wolf recognized you as
that the second I walked into the café and smelled you.” Fina’s eyes were wide
and startled and Cutler smiled at her tenderly. “Now it does not necessarily
follow that the human part of me will love my mate.” She felt her expression
dim and Cutler cupped her face in his hands. “But in this case I do, Fina. I
love you.”

“Don’t do this to me, Cutler.” Fina squirmed, trying to get
away, but his hands returned to her back and he held her easily.

“Do you think I’m lying?” he asked and his brows drew
together. The light from the kitchen caught his shimmering aqua eyes and
emphasized the dark, luxuriant fringe of his lashes. “Delusional? Heartless?
Cruel?”

“No of course not but—”

“But what, Fina?”

Fina laid her palms on Cutler’s thick shoulders. She should
feel foolish, perched on him like an infant, but she didn’t. Cutler was big and
powerful and his body supported hers effortlessly. She rose and fell with every
breath he took and she could feel his hard body against every inch of hers and
she liked it…liked it on a level that was unexplored and wonderful. Fina chose
to deliberately ignore those feelings.

“You’re an
Alpha
, Cutler,” she blurted, and now it
was Fina’s turn to sound like she was explaining something to a child. “You’ve taken
me in, sure, and I’m grateful, don’t ever think I’m not. But my pack is dead. I
have no status, no standing. I’m a
stray
for crying out loud,” she
barked into his face. “Alphas don’t mate with strays. That’s only one step
above rogue and the distinctions are thin. Your pack will never accept me as
top bitch.”

“Are you finished?” Cutler demanded hotly. He exhaled hard
and his lip pulled back from his upper canines. “Jeez…you’re just about the
most stubborn, idiotic woman I’ve ever met.” Cutler exhaled again but this time
he did it slowly, reining in his anger. “I love you, Fina Whitesage,” he said
with stark finality. “Do you believe me?”

“Cutler, I—”

“Do you believe me?” he growled at her and his hands
eclipsed her shoulders.

“
Yes,
” Fina hissed in annoyance. “There—are you
happy? You don’t have to go all Alpha on me you know.”

One corner of Cutler’s sensuous mouth quirked up. “It’ll do.
For starters.” He ran his hands up and down Fina’s back again, like he liked
the way her warmth bled through her soft linen blouse. “I didn’t say it would
be easy on you. There are members of my pack who will see you as an interloper.
Women especially.”

“Oh and let me guess…the young unmated ones who’ve been
chasing your tail for years.”

“Well…yes,” Cutler admitted with a shrug. “I’m older than
you, Fina. I’ve been an Alpha for almost six years. I’ve dated,” he added
dryly.

Fina laughed and tucked her face in beside Cutler’s thick
neck, hiding the blush heating her cheeks. He hugged her to him and moved his
hands over her waist, the curve of her hips, her jean-clad thighs. Laying his
hand on the small of her back, he held her to him, making sure she felt the
unmistakable swelling of his cock. She stiffened then squirmed uncomfortably
but didn’t pull away. Instead she chewed on her lower lip.

Cutler took hold of her chin, tilted it up and kissed her
gently. He tasted warm, male and salty. His tongue swept her lip when she
stopped biting it. Like before, Cutler’s kiss was patient, sensual but most of
all confident. He was a man who knew what he wanted, held it in his arms and
entertained no refusal.

Knowing that, Fina was surprised when Cutler pulled back and
looked up at her with those infuriatingly seductive aqua eyes.

“If you tell me you don’t want this, you’re not ready for
this, I’ll stop,” Cutler explained quietly. His hands moved over her back,
warming her, and that warmth slid straight down to her nether regions. “I want
you. I want you for my mate and I
will
mate with you. Whether tonight or
sometime down the road. Give me a good reason, a reason that isn’t a lie or
fear,” Cutler added quickly, “and I’ll stop.” He shifted and Fina felt his
erection dig into then ease away from her thigh. “I won’t like it but I’ll
stop.” Those full, sensuous lips of his curled up in a naughty smile that made
Fina want to chain him to the sofa, shred his clothes and hump him like a mad
dog. She figured he had that effect on women.

He leaned back and waited like he had all the time in the
world.

Fina didn’t feel a need to fill the silence stretching
between them with blathering. Instead she thought her situation through. She
and Ryan were strays. They needed the security of a pack. Cutler had offered
his. Cutler and Nath had offered more. Love? Yes, she believed them but that
hollow spot beneath her breast was all that was left of
her
ability to
love. She was convinced of that now.

Like so many things, the rogues had ripped it out, trampled
it and left it barren and wasted.

Despite that one, hideable flaw, Fina realized her value.
The daughter of Alphas, she would birth strong, singular sons capable of
leading a pack. Strong, beautiful daughters who would attract the finest,
strongest males from other packs. In short, she was a hell of an addition to
any gene pool.

Even though he was an outsider male, this pack accepted Ryan
as one of theirs. He hadn’t been turned away and he wouldn’t be. By mating with
this Alpha—and trumping the deal by mating with his Beta as well—Fina ensured
her security and, through her, Ryan’s. Staying was calculating and prideful,
maybe even a cheat, but she and the pup needed to be somewhere and this
somewhere was a pretty damn terrific fit. Not to mention the Powell brothers
were hotter than hell and just being in the same room with one of them made her
panties smoke.