To Catch A Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Wolf Valley Raiders Book 2) (2 page)

“Did you eat your sandwich before we came out?”

“Yes. Peanut butter.”

“It’s your favourite, I thought it would tempt you.” She didn’t let on she had hidden his meds in it. Getting Sol to take the drugs that helped keep his temper even was getting increasingly difficult. Damn, her whole life was getting increasingly difficult.

“Then I had cupcakes,” he said, his expression naughty; he was testing her. Sol was supposed to ask before he ate sugary treats, because they tended to make him hyperactive, especially since he could eat ten cupcakes in around two minutes and not puke.

“Exactly how many cupcakes?”

“One.”

“One cupcake?” she asked hopefully, but she could see by his face that it was a lot more.

“One box,” he said, smiling happily at the thought.

She groaned inwardly. “You ate one box of cupcakes?”

“Riley said I could have one,” Sol said defensively.

“I think Riley meant one cupcake, not one box.” She had better stay with him when they got to the field where the cattle were. If not, he would end up running all the way to top of the mountain on a sugar-fuelled adventure. She did not want to spend the night scouring the mountain, looking for him. Sol’s idea of hide and seek was to get as far away from Bliss as possible and get into as much trouble, or mud, as possible.

“In my tummy,” he said and giggled, rubbing his hand round and round.

“I bet they are, Sol. We’ve talked about this. You shouldn’t eat lots of cakes.”

“They were yummy.”

“I bet they were.” She smiled.

“Yummy in my tummy,” he laughed and she had to join in. Yep, just like a child.

The truck took a sharp turn, the trailer faithfully following behind. Then they came to a halt, the doors of the truck opening, and Riley and Cole got out.

“Right, let’s get on with this. Quicker we round up a couple of these cattle, the quicker Bliss can be back beside the fire with her slippers and knitting.”

“Funny. Very funny.” Bliss jumped down from the truck, breathing in the clear air. It was a beautiful night and her wolf just wanted to run. Run and run, and never look back. As much as she hated the life they were leading, she didn’t hate the open air. The city had been claustrophobic at best, her wolf constantly scratching to get free. Here she could be free. If only they were not tied up with this stupid oath to avenge their father.

But an alpha has to be obeyed, and their promise held them even after his death. But how much longer they were going to let this play out, she didn’t know. Sooner or later they had to make a move on Wolf Valley. The only problem was none of them exactly knew how they were supposed to become the new alpha, or which one of them the role would fall to.

Cole and Riley both maintained it would be one of them. With Riley being the eldest, he was sure he must be his father’s rightful heir, and yet Cole announced he would never let that happen without a fight. Which was usually where their argument ended. They had fought both as grown men, and grown wolves, neither a pretty sight when you were expected to clear up the mess.

Riley, as usual, had a plan. “Bliss. You circle round the back of the herd, drive them this way.”

“Now I’m a sheepdog?” she asked, not hiding her annoyance.

“You have a softer, more feminine touch,” Cole said, his voice serious.

Then her two older brothers laughed and Sol joined in, wanting to be one of the men, to fit in with the brothers he adored.

Outnumbered, she moved away from them, only turning to say to Cole, “Tell Sol you need him to keep watch. I do not want him out there with the cattle. It’s too dangerous.”

“She’s right, Sol. I need you to stay here.” Cole pointed to the edge of the trailer.

“I want to chase cows.” Sol’s voice held a petulant tone, and she knew it was going to take a lot of persuasion from her brothers to make him stay out of the way.

“But we need you to stand here. Hold the edge of the trailer and make sure the cattle don’t get past you. It’s a very important job, Sol. Do you understand?” Cole patted Sol on the shoulder, making sure he had his brother’s attention. “Very important.”

“OK,” Sol agreed, although he did not sound enthusiastic.

“Good man.” Cole slapped him on the arm, making Sol laugh even louder, and thump Cole back. “Hey, calm down, buddy.” Cole rubbed his shoulder.

“He ate too much sugar. I doubt whether he will be calm the whole night,” Bliss said, glaring at Cole. “You make sure he stays here, Cole.”

“I don’t know if he would be better to go with you. I think he needs to run all of that energy off,” Cole said.

“No. It’s too dangerous. He stays here. Tell him, Cole. Riley, you too,” Bliss insisted.

“Anything to stop you going on about it,” Riley said crossly. “Sol. You stay here, or there will be no more cakes or cookies when we get home.”

“Sol can have more?” Sol asked hopefully.

“No!” Bliss said firmly.

But Riley overruled her. “Yes, you can have one more cupcake if you stay here and don’t move.”

“Don’t move,” Sol repeated.

“Yes,” Riley said, and then turned to Bliss. “Sooner you get those cattle over here, the sooner we can go.” Then to Cole, he said, “You ready, bro?”

“Let’s do this.” Cole changed into his wolf and ran off into the night.

Bliss turned wolf, pleased she could shut her brothers out while she went across the field towards the cattle. At first, they ignored her, and then one of them caught her scent and turned to face her, head down. Running at it, she snarled. It had the desired effect, and the herd began to move away from her, towards the gate.

In her peripheral vision, she could see Cole and Riley making the herd aware of them, so they didn’t stampede off to her left or right. It was all going smoothly.

Then there was another wolf amongst them. For a moment her heart stopped—she thought they were under attack—but then she recognised Sol.

I guess he didn’t want another cupcake after all
, she thought crossly.

Sol ran all around the field, startling the cattle and making them turn back towards her.
Son-of-a-bitch
, she was seriously going to put him in his place when they got home. First she had to dodge the stampede heading her way.

Grabbing his jacket, Hugo ran out of the front door and across the field, his wolf itching to be free, to fight off anyone who dared trespass on his land. He had heard a disturbance down in his bottom meadow and there was no way anyone was going to steal the herd he had spent years building up.

His cattle were his most prized possessions; he had bred them into the strong, healthy herd they were today by sheer hard work and determination. He had lost count of the many hours he had spent in the barn on cold nights, watching over them as they gave birth to their calves. Then watching in wonder as those same calves, only hours old, took their first determined steps. There was no way he was going to let someone just take them from him.

As he made his way down to the scene, he was hit by an unusual feeling; his senses tingled and he felt light-headed. Great. If he had to fight, he needed to be in the best possible shape, not all wobbly at the knees and spaced out. Inside, his wolf had stopped moving too. What was wrong? These rustlers must have some secret weapon, a drug they sprayed into the air to stop his kind in their tracks. If he couldn’t pull himself together, this was not going to end well.

He really should have called in a favour and picked up the phone to call some of the other local ranchers who had been attacked by these raiders. Or he should have bought his gun. But no matter what these guys were up to, he didn’t relish the thought of actually shooting someone. Just because they looked like wolves, Hugo knew only too well, they were people underneath. Humans. And murder was not his thing.

Out through the gate, he was now able to see what was going on. Two wolves were in the lower meadow, trying to round up his herd, which had been startled. Two other wolves were off to his left. One looked as if he was tangled in the wire fence and the other was trying to help free him. Who did he go for?

The two after his cattle. If he could get the herd away from them, then they would leave, surely. It didn’t occur to Hugo they might attack him. He expected the wolves to run like the cowards they were. He started towards them, turning into his wolf as he ran. But as soon as his four paws touched the ground, his wolf had other ideas. He turned to head in the directions of the wolf who was stuck in the fence.

Only when he got close, with Hugo frantically trying to get control of him, did he realise why his wolf was drawn here. The scent didn’t just tickle his nose: it stirred things deep inside him,
very deep inside him
.

Here, in the middle of his field, trying to steal his cattle, was his mate. Of all the twisted fates he could think of. To find the very woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with here in his meadow was just too unbelievable.

And when the she-wolf turned and looked at him, he saw the recognition cross her face too, and knew she felt the same. He was right,
this was not going to end well
.

Her wolf turned and looked at the male coming towards her; it wasn’t one of her brothers. It was someone entirely different. As she looked at his thick wolf pelt, wanting to press her body against the tawny fur, her head swam. Bliss had to fight the sudden urge to leave her brother lying tangled in the wire and run to him. What the hell was wrong with her? Her loyalty lay to her brother. Not when it came to a choice between him and her mate.

Her mate. No, it couldn’t be.

This had to be the worst timing in the world. Who would want to find their mate here in the middle of a muddy field, when you are trying to steal from him? If things couldn’t get any worse, Bliss was wrong.

Sol growled, low and deep, thrashing about and tangling himself up even more as the other wolf came nearer, crouched low to the ground, ready to attack. Looking back towards Sol, she knew the only way to get him out of there was to turn back to her human form and use her hands. That would leave her vulnerable to this other wolf. Your mate.

She could use the mating bond to her advantage because he wouldn’t hurt her, that she was sure of. Bliss would free Sol and let him get out of harm’s way; then she could change back into her wolf and run. Her mate wouldn’t stop her. Bliss was confident she could outrun fate...

A brief disturbance in the air and she was kneeling on the ground, fingers twisting the wire to loosen it from Sol’s neck.

“Will you keep still, Sol?” In front of her, on the ground, Sol writhed, pulling away, but only managing to get himself wrapped even tighter in the wire. When she bent forward to loosen it again, she was rewarded with a scratch across her forearm, tearing her clothes and making her bleed. “Great.”

Gritting her teeth, she made one last effort to free him, ever conscious of the big tawny wolf who was getting closer. With each step, she could feel herself being drawn to him. Fighting it with all her strength, she placed her hand on Sol’s shoulder, pressing her weight down onto him to keep him still. Then with her other hand, she unwrapped the wire from around him. In true Sol style, he jumped up and, without a backwards glance, ran off. To Bliss, loyalty only ever worked one way.

Glancing at the wound on her arm, she winced at how deep it was, but she had to run now, while she still could. Getting to her feet, she prepared to change into her wolf and hightail it out of there, before things got more complicated. But her wolf had other ideas—unusually disobedient, she wouldn’t come forward to join with her. Bliss was stuck on two legs. Bliss had no choice; she would have to run from the wolf behind her, on two legs not four.

Heading to the truck, knowing they needed to abandon the cattle get out of there, she was relieved to see Cole and Riley lifting the ramp of the trailer and securing it. As she watched, they raced around to the front of the truck and got in. As soon as she was in the back they could escape. As far as she could tell, Sol had gone; no doubt run into the trees; she would look for him later once they were safely away.

All she had to do was shake this guy off and get in the back of the truck. Only the back of the truck was disappearing into the distance.

“Shit,” she shouted. “What the hell are you doing?” But the truck and her brothers were gone. Disappearing into the distance at such a speed, she would never catch them, even if she turned wolf.

Bliss never faltered. She kept her head down, running, not daring to look behind her, but knowing the wolf would be hot on her tail and she needed a new plan. However, the wolf was no longer behind her; instead, the man had appeared, shifting so quickly Bliss had missed it. Only when his hand closed around her jacket, and pulled her back did it register she was about to be tackled to the ground by her mate.

Inside, her wolf leaped up and down with excitement, revelling in the first contact between her and the mate she was supposed to bond with for the rest of her life. Only Bliss wasn't leaping for joy, instead she was falling down to the ground, hands out to break her fall, landing in a puddle of wet mud.

“Get off me,” she screamed. However, he didn’t budge, and used the weight of his body to keep her down despite her arms flailing around wildly.

“Promise you won’t run if I do?” he asked.

In answer, she tried to use her body weight to shove him off, twisting and turning underneath him. But he was too strong and held her firmly in place. “Damn it. You bastard, get off me!” She then commenced a tirade of verbal abuse, words she had picked up from her two elder brothers.

“You know, honey, I might have to wash your mouth out for using language like that.” His tone was much too good-humoured, and it made her want to be free of him even more.

“I am not your honey. So let me up.” She hated the way the wet mud was seeping through her clothes, chilling her skin. But not as much as she hated the way he made her body wake up to his presence. The heat of his touch spread across her skin and ran deep to her core, flames of desire licking her stomach.