The Werewolf Cowboy (Moonbound Book 1)

S
omewhere
, TX

T
he scent
of a strange wolf lingered over Everyday Joe’s bar like invisible fog. Allan VonBrandt held up one hand and halted the two deputies who had come along as backup.

“I’ll handle this one alone, boys.” He pulled his cowboy hat down to the edge of his brow. His damn brother had promised him there wouldn’t be any trouble, but with four families of wolves in town for the weekend, he should have known.

He pushed through the narrow door. The dance floor was empty, and the bar was dead, except for a crowd of drunk cowboys tossing punches over near the mechanical bull.

The lights had been turned down for the night crowd and the neon signs were the only significant illumination. He nodded at the staff huddled around the bar.

“Y’all stay out of sight, now. I’ll handle this mess.” He crunched over broken glass and hooked one thumb around his holster.

Five big cowboys in flannel shirts and Wranglers traded punches under one of the flashing beer signs. Allan whistled, and the cowboys looked up, drunk questions on their lips.

“What the damn hell is goin’ on here?” Allan asked, but punches kept landing from some other dark corner. He turned in a quick circle, looking for the source of the noise.

Suddenly, a Wranglered body flew over the mechanical bull and crashed into one of the dimly lit cowboys, knocking him to the ground.

“Stop!” Allan moved around the bull, into the half-dark just as the legs of a chair whipped into the air and another Wrangler-clad ass went sailing out the other side of the mechanical bull.

Allan took a deep breath and growled, “I said stop.”

Out of the shadowed corner, the figure froze, but the chair continued to move. It sailed out of her hands, out of sight, and off to his left, he heard the unmistakable crack of something giant and glass shattering into a thousand pieces.

How had he known it was a woman? Scent?

She’s the wolf
.

Maybe he’d known since he first smelled her, but he had also seen curves and the briefest flash of hair, moving in a way only a woman’s could.

The inhale of her breath broke their silence. “Shit.” She dropped her hands.

All of the cowboys clamored at once. Various rounds of “I didn’t do it” and “It was her.”

Allan couldn’t take his eyes off the wolf. His heartbeat crept up, faster and faster, until he felt his breath coming quicker. “Everyone shut up.” He backed out of the circle, keeping his eye on the wolf. “Or you’re all going to jail.”

She matched his slow steps, coming toward him and into the light. Her dark hair swayed behind her, side to side, almost past her waist. Her white-blue frostbite eyes pinned him and her nostrils flared.

The strong spice of magick snaked through the air and caught him by the throat. He swallowed against his response, against the coursing blood and the heated breath, against the loss of control.

Allan broke the stare-down and snarled at the cowboys, “Someone tell me what the hell happened here. Right now.”

Cowboy One pointed at the wolf. “She started it.”

“She broke a bottle on me.” Cowboy Two swiped at the glass Allan had walked through, then flashed a bloody gash on the side of his hand.

“All he did was ask her to dance,” said Cowboy Three, nodding at the jukebox. “Skynrd was on. It’s our thing.”

On top of the jukebox, the discarded chair rested in a pile of glass shards. Something had been hanging up there, and the chair had obviously shattered it and brought it crashing down. Allan couldn’t remember what had been there—life didn’t take him to Joe’s very often. He’d have to ask the proprietor what had been damaged in the fray.

And at the center of that fray was this raven-haired beauty with the icy gaze, crossing her arms under her breasts and holding his eyes in a fearless dare.

“So it took seven of you to teach her a lesson?” Allan raised an eyebrow.

“We’re not with them.” Cowboy Four pointed to Five, Six, and Seven. “When I heard the bottle break, I stepped in and they jumped us.”

“It sort of escalated from there,” Five said.

Allan pursed his lips and glanced at the wolf. She still hadn’t spoken in her own defense, but the magick pull grew stronger by the second. From a far corner, in the booths, someone spoke up to validate Cowboy Four’s story.

Allan depressed the button on his walkie. “Backup, come on in.” Within a few short moments, his two deputies were crunching through the glass. He pointed to the first group. “You take those three, Brice. And Young, you’ve got these four.” He zeroed in on the wolf. “You. Come with me.”

“What should we do, boss?” Eli Brice’s voice caught Allan as he retreated to the stage, where the light was lower. The wolf followed, her steps slow and sultry. She was going to make this about the magick, he could tell. She was one of those Louisiana wolves. No boundaries, no propriety.

“Get their statements.” Allan turned his back on his deputies and tried to ignore the thrumming pulse of her scent, the closer she came to him. When they were a good ten feet from the humans, he rounded on her. “What in the hell are you doing out here on your own?”

She turned her tongue inside her mouth and a smile crept across her round, full lips. “Blowing off some steam.”

“Aaron promised me. He promised that no one would come into town.”

She shrugged, and her breasts bounced inside her sleeveless top. She wasn’t even wearing a fucking bra. These assholes had zeroed in on her because she looked like sex on a lollipop stick, ready to lick. Tight jeans accentuated the curve of her ass and the black corset-y thing appeared to be one whisper from slipping down over the rounded tops of her breasts.

No wonder they tried to fight with her. They were hoping she would flash them and were willing to take a punch for it.

Holy hell, Allan. Get a grip
.

He shook his head. “I should arrest you.”

She put her hands together in front of her, pushing her cleavage up over the edge of her top. “Cuff me, officer.”

“Don’t play games with me. I’m not my brother. I don’t give wolves special treatment.”

Her eyes dropped to his fisted hands. “And yet, you came in here by yourself and left your deputies outside. You isolated me, near the rear exit, I might add, and I can see in your eyes that you feel the magick. You want me as much as I want you.”

“I do not.” Allan cleared his throat. “What I
want
is for you to go the hell back out to the ranch and stay there.” He turned back to his deputies, who had their notebooks out and were scribbling statements while the cowboys shot angry looks in her direction.

“You want me. You want to fuck me.” The word slipped from her like a wet strand of hair sliding off a naked shoulder…and then he could see…
her
naked shoulder,
her
dark hair,
her
wet skin...

She was right. He needed sex, but not with her. He’d been waiting too long, celibate too long. This girl smelled like arousal and he was getting caught up in her seduction. If he didn’t do something, he was going to end up with a full-on erection in front of his deputies. The thought of sex was already starting to pump his blood.

“Take their statements and let them go,” Allan called to his deputies.

“What about the damage to the bar?” Eli’s pen froze in midair and his open-mouthed question was echoed in the faces of all the cowboys.

“I’ll take care of it.” He grabbed her by the arm. “She’s family. I’ll see that she gets out to the ranch. You two go back to the station and file a report.”

“Are we gonna arrest anybody?” Jeff yelled after him, but Allan had already hustled the she-wolf out the back door.

“No,” was all he said.

Once he had her out into the crisp November evening, he released her arm and pointed to the parking lot and his big, white Trailblazer that said
Sheriff
on the side in blocky, green letters. He still hadn’t gotten used to driving the thing—it had only been a week.

But instead of following his direction, she pushed on his chest, knocking him back against the brick façade of Joe’s bar. She pressed her body against his and slid her hands up his sides.

Allan dodged away from the kiss she tried to plant on him and she grabbed his shirt, wrestling him back against he building. Her smile was secret, sexy.

“Stop.” He grabbed her arms and walked her backwards toward his vehicle. “You are coming with me.”

With hooded eyes, she glanced down at the front of his pants. “You bet I am, cowboy.”

R
eyna eyed
the gorgeous cowboy on her left. She’d felt the magick the second he walked into the bar. He could try to deny it, but Fate never made a mistake. They were meant for each other.

His eyes stared straight ahead at the road, purposefully
not
looking at her, but his heart rate sped beneath his broad chest.
Damn.
She wanted to peel his shirt off and have her way with him right now. More than enough room lay between his body and the steering wheel for her to slip over onto his lap.

Just as soon as he pulled the SUV to a stop.

She’d found her Fated mate. Who would’ve guessed he’d be wrapped in an officer’s uniform and wearing a Stetson? Nothing mattered now, except bonding with him. Ever since she’d been old enough to know what a Fated mate was, she’d wanted to find hers. Hoped that Fate would bring her a love that would pull at her heart so hard she couldn’t breathe.

And Fate had done just that.

She bit back a laugh. She’d been annoyed when her father informed her they would be attending a private meeting on the VonBrandt ranch in Somewhere, Texas. That they’d be staying through the full moon, meaning she had to run with a bunch of backwater hooligans in unfamiliar territory.

Reyna Dubois very much preferred her home—the Louisiana bayou. Although, she had to admit, if she got to see Sheriff McHunk over there strip down it would be well worth the inconvenience, especially now that she knew he was meant for her.

A glance forward said she only had five minutes before they got back to the VonBrandt mansion. The big house’s rooftops loomed on the horizon.

“You should pull over here.” Reyna pointed to an upcoming cleared space off the side of the road.

“Why?”

She unlatched her seatbelt and rotated her body, sliding over his lap and situating herself perfectly between the steering wheel and his hard body. “Because I’m going to do this.”

One of his arms stretched beneath her leg, stubbornly refusing to let go of the steering wheel. It kept her cockeyed and unable to fully appreciate the growing erection she could see beneath the twill material of his uniform pants.

“Move your arm.” She nuzzled his neck, nipping along the tender flesh behind his ear. He tasted amazing. All male. And all hers. His racing pulse urged her mouth to continue its exploration.

“No.”

No?
Still no?
She was practically glued to him. He was definitely aroused. The magnetic pull between them was their magick telling them the match was good. They were mates…why would he deny the pull? What the hell was wrong with him? Did she smell bad?

Those cowboys at the bar hadn’t made her break into a sweat. What on earth would possess a wolf to refuse a Fated match as strong as theirs? It wasn’t like she was playing hard to get.

Maybe he was still pissy about the bar fight? She’d broken that fancy lamp over the jukebox among a few other things. He was lucky she hadn’t broken a couple of those dumbass cowboys for treating her like some common hussy. Just because she had great tits and an even finer ass, did not give them the right to touch without permission. There wasn’t a man in New Orleans that would’ve dared.

But then…she wasn’t in New Orleans. She was royalty there. She and her cousin Aria had free run of the quarter. Her father’s guilt over what’d happened to their families so many years ago hung like a shroud she could never escape, no matter how much she acted out. Her father never said a word.

Fine.

She could be patient. Give him time to cool off about her display in town. He was the Sheriff after all. Maybe he was waiting so he could tie her up somewhere?

A shiver ran through her body. That sounded like a fabulous idea. As long as it ended with his cock deep inside her and his delectable mouth speaking the words that would bond them together forever.

Reyna had always hoped Fate would match her with a wolf, unlike several of her cousins who had married wealthy, and turned their husbands. The pack always appreciated an influx of new money, but it wasn’t necessary. Like the VonBrandts, the Dubois family was filthy rich. They owned the docks of New Orleans. Every single boat that came and went from the great city paid for that right and had since before the Louisiana Purchase.

The SUV stopped in front of the mansion.

Reyna hadn’t moved from her lopsided seat on Allan’s lap, but he hadn’t shoved her off yet either. She’d seen the lust in his eyes back at the bar. It’d been hot and hungry. At least before he quashed it, using reasoning she couldn’t imagine.

“So you want an audience for our first fuck? I’m down with that, if it’s what you like.” She leaned in to press her lips to his and instead found herself face down in ground.

Fuck.

“We’re not doing this. You’re going back to your family and as soon as this meeting of the minds is over, you’re going back to wherever you came from.”

Spitting bits of grass and dirt out of her mouth, she stood and faced him. Grass and dust clung to her black corset and designer jeans. She brushed herself off and flashed him an angry glare. Didn’t he know these clothes were expensive?

The heels of her boots sank in the soft earth. She readjusted her weight to stand on her toes and stalked toward him. Reyna bit the edge of her bottom lip and smirked. Telling her
no
was exactly the incentive she needed to try just a little harder. He was meant to be hers. She couldn’t...no she wouldn’t accept his
no
as a valid answer. Her heart couldn’t bear to know that she’d found her perfect mate and he’d rejected her. Why had she lived then, if her mate didn’t want her, she had no reason to continue.

Something had to be holding him back.

His crotch bulged with his erection, and his pupils were wide. Denying the attraction buzzing between them wouldn’t work for long.

“Why are you smiling? I told you no. Now turn around and head to the house so I don’t have to—”

“What, Sheriff McHunk? Use your cuffs on me? You know I already offered you that option and you turned it down.” Reyna licked her lips and took another step forward. Perhaps he just wasn’t used to being pursued. Men
did
usually like to be the ones hunting. “Why are you resisting? Can’t you feel the pull? Don’t you want to taste me? Isn’t your mouth watering to lick every inch of my skin?”

His nostrils flared. He marched forward and a shiver of excitement skittered over the surface of her skin.
Yes.
Come and get me.

She palmed his chest once in reach, but instead of returning the caress, the stubborn ass wolf grabbed her wrist and yanked her toward the SUV. He pressed her face against the glass of the driver’s window and snatched her other wrist, pushing them both against the small of her back.

Cold steel embraced her wrists.

He leaned over her shoulder, pressing her a little harder against the vehicle. His arousal grazed her ass and she wriggled.

“See, I knew you wanted to use those cuffs.”

“I don’t want to see you in town again. Is. That. Clear?”

She smiled. “Sure, big boy. Clear as your dick rubbing against my ass.”

“Fuck!” He pulled her away from the SUV and pushed her toward the mansion, never once letting go of the vice-grip he’d taken on her upper arm.

“That’s exactly what I’d like to do. You’re the one denying our pleasure.”

“Aaron.” His voice carried across the quiet yard as they continued toward the front entrance of the palatial VonBrandt residence. For a small town country hideaway, she had to admit the family had good taste when it came to architecture.

The place was massive, and built almost completely with stone—a castle in the country, unlike the Dubois family home, with its stately French quarter grandness and historical charm settled deep in the heart of the old city.

The massive front door ahead of them opened and several people came spilling out. One of them looked very much like Sheriff McHunk—definitely the VonBrandt alpha.

“You promised no wolves in town making trouble.” Her soon-to-be-mate’s voice boomed from his chest.

Her father exited the house and caught her gaze. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head as he joined the VonBrandt alpha headed toward her.

Both men approached.

A lamb headed to slaughter would feel less discomfort than she did staring down two annoyed alphas.

“They started it, officer,” she said, over-enunciating the word officer. She let it roll off her tongue. His grip on her arm tightened and she smirked, relishing the power she held over him, whether he was willing to admit it or not.

“She broke some glass shit thing at Joe’s and possibly the bones of a few cowboys.”

“Reyna, how did you get into town, my keys are in my pocket. I shouldn’t be surprised.” Her father patted his front pants pocket and frowned. The keys weren’t there.

Not a surprise to Reyna since they were snugly tucked in her back one.

“Aaron I apologize for the trouble she caused in town. Usually my daughter, and
best
pack enforcer, is much better behaved. Please let me pay for all of the damages.”

“They put their hands on me without an invitation. I was merely teaching them to mind their manners.”

“Sure you were,” the sheriff growled then turned to his brother. “There are too many wolves here, Aaron. On top of the family visitors for the run, you have people from three other families. This wasn’t a good idea. This is a small town. People notice things.”

“Allan, I promise. Everything will be fine. Please give Joe our apologies. Francis will give him more than enough to pay for the damages and extra for the inconvenience.”

Her father nodded at the VonBrandt alpha.

“Allan.” Reyna whispered Sheriff McHunk’s name. “I like that name—big, strong, and unyielding. Just like you. This is going to be—”

He whirled her around. His hands gripped her shoulders with steely determination. Anger and desire competed for dominance in his gorgeous brown eyes. “This is nothing. Do you hear me? I don’t want you.” Allan hissed the last sentence out under his breath.

Reyna chuckled, not believing a word he said.
Challenge accepted, cowboy.