Desert Wolf (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch)
Read Desert Wolf (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch) Online
Authors: Anna Lowe
Tags: #Paranormal Romance
The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch
a short story
by Anna Lowe
Desert Wolf
copyright 2015 by Anna Lowe
www.annalowebooks.com
cover art by Fiona Jayde Media
www.FionaJaydeMedia.com
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidental.
He won his mate on his home turf. Now he has to prove himself on hers…
Lana Dixon may have won her destined mate’s heart, but that was in Arizona. Now, she’s bringing her desert wolf home to meet her family — the sworn enemies of his pack. How far will they push her mate to prove himself worthy? And is their relationship ready for the test?
A short story that takes place two years after the events of Desert Moon: Book 1 in the Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch series.
CHAPTER ONE
Waking up in someone else’s bed felt strange to Lana. Waking up on the East Coast felt strange too, even though she’d only been away two years. But two years could be a lifetime. Two years could change everything.
She lay under the heavy blanket, listening to the sounds of a New England forest waking up. A chickadee called—once, twice—outside the window. Funny how her ear had come to expect the hectic flutter of a hummingbird instead of the whistle of the forest dweller.
What used to be her norm—crisp mountain mornings, the quiet swish of pine needles over a cabin roof, and the hollow feeling of waking up alone—had all become distant memories. Coming back to the Berkshires was nice, but part of her was already impatient to head home. To Arizona, where she’d found a mate who gave her more than she had ever dared wish for. Love, as vast and truthful as the desert. A new life, a renewed sense of purpose. A future. Lana sighed and snuggled closer to her mate.
A pair of soft lips brushed over hers, and she mumbled in reply. As always, her body came alive at Ty’s touch. She extended her limbs in an irrepressible stretch then folded herself around him. Two years hadn’t dimmed the passion that reared up like a force of nature every time they touched.
“Mmmm. Mate,” was all she got out before Ty surged in with another kiss. A deep, possessive kiss that promised her the day was about to start in the very best way. His hands slid upward along her rib cage, making her body sing like a bird on the first day of spring.
“Hmmm. Mate,” he mumbled back, catching her lower lip between his.
The minute they walked out of this cabin, those lips of his would be set in a hard, thin line. But for now, they were soft and full and eager to explore. She worked her hands over the sculpted planes of his chest and wound a leg over his hip as desire pooled deep inside her. Ty could get her high with just the rumble of his voice.
“Good morning, my love,” she hummed right into his lips.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed, nosing his way down her neck.
Anticipation rippled through her. This had the makings of a very good morning, indeed. Then she remembered his injuries and ran a cautious hand over his ribs. “How’s the bruising?”
“Theirs is worse than mine,” Ty growled.
Lana laughed and even her mate had to crack a wry smile. When she and Ty had arrived in her hometown the previous day, her siblings had welcomed their new brother-in-law with a game of lacrosse—and it hadn’t been pretty.
She’d been right to worry about the reception Ty would get from her home pack. At least the wooded slopes of the Berkshires had done their best to greet him, radiating that sense of promise of New England in early spring. The pack, on the other hand, was less gracious in its welcome.
Her hometown was a hamlet tucked into a remote valley far from the ski fields, the summer festivals, and the quaint B&Bs of the mainstream. Lana’s father, Nate Dixon, was alpha to three hundred shifters who called the village of Miscoe home, even though the majority of them lived and worked in more densely populated parts of the state. They congregated on the village green on full moons and special occasions—like yesterday. Because everyone, it seemed, had flocked home to check out Lana and her new mate. The desert wolf, they called him in not-too-quiet whispers.
“You good?” Lana had mumbled out of the side of her mouth when they’d first arrived and faced the wary reception.
“Fine,” Ty had grumbled back, scratching his ear.
She’d pulled his hand down and laced her fingers through his, then reached up to soothe his ear with her lips. “It’ll be fine.”
He’d given her a callused look that said
Of course it’ll be fine
. But she saw through the facade. Ty had proven himself a thousand times over at home, but this was his first time venturing farther east than Texas. Out here, he’d have to prove himself all over again, and to in-laws, no less. He’d been fidgety ever since they left Arizona, scratching at his ear like he hadn’t done in a long time. She wondered if it hadn’t been a mistake, dragging him here. He would be out of his element, dealing with different customs, a different landscape. Even the shifters were different here: not only wolves but beaver, elk, and wolverines. There even used to be a clan of sasquatch shifters somewhere north of pack territory. New England was a whole different world.
The first handshake between Nate Dixon and Ty Hawthorne had all the warmth and sincerity of two tree trunks forced into a huddle by hurricane-force winds. You could have heard a pin drop the moment she introduced Ty to her parents in front of their house. Not so much because of the feud between Ty’s father and Lana’s—though it seemed everyone knew that story by now, or at least some version of it—but because the first meeting of two alphas was always tense. Especially when the younger man wore the scent of the older alpha’s daughter like a provocative cologne. It didn’t help to have dozens of curious packmates around either, all of them taking stock of Ty like he was some strange new breed of stud bull. A wary silence had fallen over the males, though the sound coming from the younger females was more of a dreamy sigh.
A stiff handshake, a few uncertain words, and the heavy silence in between. And that was just one of the trials Ty would have to endure. The second came right on the heels of the first.
“Let the game begin!” her brother Lachlan announced with a mischievous grin.
Lacrosse was her home pack’s sport of choice; they’d all grown up on a rough-and-tumble version of the game that suited the wolf side of their personalities. It quickly became obvious that her four brothers thought they could put the desert wolf in his place. Lana took up her position at right midfield, anxious about how the game might go. Men and sticks were a dangerous combination, and ultraterritorial alpha males could be downright lethal when they got riled up.
And they were most definitely riled up.
The first quarter hadn’t gone well for Ty, even with Lana running interference. He’d taken a stick to the ribs, an elbow to the jaw, and a knee to his kidneys. By the time their team was down zero to two, he was smoldering like a volcano and holding his stick like he wished it were a rifle loaded with silver bullets.
By the second quarter, though, Ty had gotten the hang of things. His stickwork was a little sloppy, but he had an inborn talent for vicious body checks. Lana’s brother Lachlan had gone flying over the end line, and Neal had limped off the field at halftime, all but waving a white banner.
“Get back here, sissy!” Len and Lachlan called after him.
“No way, man. My mate likes me in one piece,” Neal replied.
Lana shot a sidelong glance at Ty. His lips were still pulled into a snarl, but she could read the chuckle in his mind.
I think I like this game.
Told you you would
. She smiled.
Just remember they’re my brothers and packmates. Try not to maim anyone.
I’ll try
, he grumbled without conviction.
“Ty!” she said that part out loud.
They’re shifters. He shrugged. They’ll heal.
The game ended with Ty and Lana’s team on top, three to two, and everyone more or less in one piece. Rough as it was, the game turned out to be a good tension-breaker. Dinner at her aunt’s house went well after that, with the women keeping neutral conversation flowing while the men refrained—mostly—from staring daggers at each other. Lana’s mother Laura, though, had stared at Ty the whole time with a mixture of fear and wonder. He was the spitting image of his father—Laura’s ex-lover. She’d left him for true love and a better life on the East Coast. Knowing Ty’s father, Lana understood why her mother was so tense. Her father was too, with his stiff posture and blazing eyes. Getting her parents to accept Ty would be harder than she imagined. But what could she do?
CHAPTER TWO
It was unfair, really, because Ty was nothing like his overbearing father. He was a good mate: giving, loving, true. Tender, even, when the two of them were alone. Which wasn’t often enough on the ranch, where pack business always seemed to knock at the least opportune time. Not that Lana resented Ty’s job or her own growing role in leading the pack. But she sure had been looking forward to this trip—a chance to take a break from being an alpha pair and be just another happily mated couple.
Which is exactly what they were, this beautiful spring morning. Just Ty and her and the warm cocoon of the sheets, with duty and responsibility far, far away. Lana fingered the spot on his side where the worst bruise had been, but Ty didn’t so much as wince. He was right, of course. A good thing shifters had enhanced healing abilities.
Ty must have been thinking along the same lines. “Your brothers play hard.” His eyes sparkled. “You, too.”
“You know how it is. Give an alpha an inch, and he’ll take a mile.” She smiled, remembering all her unfounded fears about mating with as strong a character as Ty. For all the brute power in him, he treated her as an equal, a partner. Not only someone to cherish and protect, but a trusted confidant and advisor.
Right now, though, the look in his eyes said
lover, mate
. She pulled the blanket higher over their shoulders and ran another exploratory stroke over Ty’s torso. Those layers of muscle were always tight, but right now, all she felt was the right kind of hardness in his body.
“Like you would have been different if your sister brought home a new mate,” she said, chuckling even as the heat pooled between her legs.
“No, I would have taken him for a nice little trail ride.” Ty ran a light hand over her flank, making her purr. “Let him ride one of our best horses, like Diablo or Faust.”
Lana laughed out loud at the mention of the ranch’s fiercest broncs. No one had ever lasted more than five seconds on either of them.
Ty laughed, too, and she captured the sound in her memory like the call of a rare bird.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, growing serious again. This trip had been a long time in the making. “You did really well, dealing with everyone.” She cupped Ty’s face and rubbed her thumbs over the stubble on his chin. It felt so good, she had to lean in for a nuzzle.
Ty’s lips played along her neck. His hands skimmed over her breasts until she was arching eagerly into his callused palms. It never took much for her mate’s touch to set her on fire. She slid her leg up his thigh, pushing her hips toward his.
Lana did her best to turn her moan into a not-quite-as-brazen sigh but failed miserably, making her mate chuckle. The unmistakable pressure of an erection pressed against her belly, so she let her hand drift south. When she nudged his cock, it twitched in hearty agreement, sending a zing right through her veins.
“No bruising here?” she teased.
Ty gave a husky laugh. “Not where it counts, sweetheart.” Then he rolled, pinning her under his weight. His body radiated the heat of raw desire. He kneaded the soft flesh of her breasts while she closed her fingers over his pulsing shaft. Then it was Ty’s turn to hide a moan while she let out a triumphant giggle.
“That was a purr,” Ty insisted, even as he shifted his hips to give her better access.
“I thought wolves didn’t purr.”
“This one does.”
The sound hummed through his chest and into her body, triggering a flooding sensation inside. One brush, one word from him, and she’d be pleading for release. Lana fingered the velvety tip of his cock, finding the cleft, then circling the crown. For all the madness in the world, focusing on her mate—his body, his love—always made things all right.