Tempted by Renee Rose

7

LANDRY

“This is a big fucking problem,”I muttered, keeping my voice to a whisper. Wade could hear me loud and clear, but I had to ensure Caitlyn didn’t.

We’d finished with the two wolves, then moved on, taking Caitlyn to stand in a grove of trees near the cliffs which the she-wolves used as dens to birth their pups. Once again, we’d parked and walked in, but stayed far away so we didn’t disturb this group. I’d given Caitlyn binoculars which Wade kept stored in his glove box. She was sprawled over a boulder, her arms propped, and watching the animals.

“We’ve got to keep her from publishing,” he replied. “We just put trackers in two wolves. What the fuck is wrong with us?”

I glanced at him, then back at our mate, thinking of how she’d been sprawled over a different boulder earlier. My mouth watered, remembering her taste.

Fuck. This was a nightmare.

“I know. But my wolf is snarling at me to not only bite and claim her, but to make her happy. That’s why I did the two. Only two.”

I had no idea yet how we were going to keep her from doing the others, besides leading her through the woods everywhere but where the wolves were.

“Which means she publishes,” he finished.

I nodded. The sounds of the pups’ playful yips carried on the wind, even from a hundred yards away. She’d already tagged a few wolves before we’d met her and now two more. She was going to publish no matter what. It sounded as if she had a pushy boss and had to prove herself to disapproving parents. I thought of my own—all three valued my dreams and desires, didn’t push their own expectations onto Gib or myself. I had to wonder if this was why she was so driven.

Which meant she was going to publish her findings.

And that meant we had to keep her from doing it, just like Wade had said.

I turned away from Caitlyn, not able to look at her beauty as we spoke about how we had to fuck with her hard work.

“Can you believe we’re mated to a female whose sole goal is to spotlight wolves?” Wade asked.

I laughed, but it was far from funny. I took off my hat, ran my hand through my hair. “The pack’s going to lose their shit when they find out their acting alpha tranqed and tagged two of our own.”

When I’d made the rules with Caitlyn, I’d thought it would solve all our problems. Get her what she wanted from a few wolves, then somehow later figure out how to keep her from publishing her findings. But when I’d had to shoot, then subdue a wolf because of my fucking mate, I’d been pissed. It was in my nature to fight everything that I’d done. But it was also in my nature to satisfy my mate.

Even now, with her safely watching the wolf pups, I was at odds.

“I want to rip my hair out,” Wade admitted, clearly as unsettled as I.

My cell vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, read the display.

Fuck. It was Gib.

I didn’t even know how I had cell service out here. I showed the screen to Wade, who gave a small growl in response.

“Hey, bro,” I answered softly, guilt creeping up the back of my neck. Gib had left me in charge of the pack and I’d already fucked up the job. Let a wolf biologist onto the land. Tranqed two wolves for her. Led her directly to pups.

“John Randolph said there’s a strange car parked at the Black Pass lookout.” Gib wasted no time with pleasantries.

Fuck. He meant Caitlyn’s car. How he recognized her car as ‘strange’ when there were hikers from all over accessing that trailhead, I had no idea. Randolph was one of the shifters who also worked for the forest service. It was his job to monitor the federal land surrounding the Two Marks territory. It was a great arrangement, except for right now.

Maybe he’d taken the trail and followed her scent when it veered off. In all other times, I’d call him diligent in his job. In this instance, it was downright nosy.

“I am well aware.” I tried to keep the defensiveness out of my tone.

“Well, who does it belong to?” he asked.

Dammit. I’d had no intention of telling Gib any of this saga until he got back and I had it well resolved. Now he was asking me about it point-blank, and I couldn’t even explain with Caitlyn nearby. Hell, I couldn’t explain without Gib losing his shit. I didn’t doubt he’d drive back from Montana right away and put an end to all of this.

That made my wolf snap and snarl, because no one fucked with my mate.

“I can’t talk now,” I said, even though I knew it would piss him off.

“What? Where the fuck are you?”

As if I was going to tell him we were observing a wolf biologist studying pups in the wild. Oh, and yeah, she was our mate.

Not happening.

“Dealing with it. I’ll call you back.” I ended the call without waiting for a response. Even after we got things all worked out and our marks on Caitlyn’s neck, Gib would probably punch me in the nose when he got back, but I could take it.

“Everything okay?”

I spun on my heel, not even realizing Caitlyn had approached. So much for wolf-fucking hearing. I’d been so in my head, so involved in what Gib was going to do, I hadn’t even noticed.

“That was my brother,” I explained. Sticking as close to the truth as possible was probably my best option. “One of our neighbors reported your car at the trailhead near our property, and wanted to make sure there weren’t any trespassers.”

Caitlyn’s brows dipped.

“But we already found you.” I attempted a grin and a wink, but she continued frowning. My wolf didn’t like that.

“And you’re dealing with me?” She made air quotes with her fingers around the word dealing.

Shit, how much had she overheard? I glanced at Wade, who shrugged.

“Well, I thought we had dealt with you,” I waggled my brows, “but I’d be happy to have a second go-round if you’re into it.”

She still didn’t relax.

“This is my brother’s land. Well, it’s mine, too, but since he’s older, he feels… in charge.”

That sounded fucking awful, but it was the truth.

“I just didn’t feel like explaining that we’d invited a wolf biologist onto the property. I told you how touchy we are about people messing with the wildlife.”

She bit her lip and looked up at us through her lashes.

“Is there… is there something you guys are hiding up here?” Caitlyn’s voice shook a little as she asked the question.

Fuck! I shot a glance past her at Wade. Should we tell her? Right now?

His eyes were wide and he gave a quick, alarmed shake of his head.

Double-fuck.

“No, sugar.” I hated lying to her. With all my heart. My wolf snarled at me for keeping the truth from her. The sooner she knew about us, the sooner we’d claim her. The sooner my wolf would bite and mark her. But she’d hate us for the truth. Not because we were shifters, but because she’d learn that we were going to shut down her work.

She started chewing on her thumbnail. “Are you guys… religious? Like a cult or something?”

I snorted, never even considering that as something she’d even imagine. “Definitely not a cult. Nope. We’re just a close-knit community. You might call us backwoods, but there’s nothing sinister here. I promise, sugar.”

Wade pulled her hand from her mouth and held it, sending me a worried glance over the top of her chestnut head. “Have you ever seen wolf pups like this before?” Wade was the master of distraction.

It seemed to work. “Only in captivity at a wolf sanctuary back in undergrad. Never in the wild.” Her face lit up with pleasure, as if she was remembering back.

I had to say, Caitlyn’s reverence for the wolves softened some of my misgivings about her research. Still, we had to figure out a way to keep her from publishing her data if it showed a healthy wolf population, because while she was seemingly pro-wolves, her data could be used by others in harmful ways. Gib would rip my throat out. The pack would be pissed. I would do nothing to harm my fellow shifters—but at the expense of my mate?

Fuck, I was in big trouble here. Because while Gib and the pack would be upset, I had to assume Caitlyn would be devastated, and I couldn’t think of a way to avoid that. Yet. Hopefully we had enough time to come up with an idea before my brother returned and he handled it his way.