Enticed E-Book

Rose Renee

• Herausgeber: Bridger Media
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

TWO MARKS PACK RULE: DON’T MIX WITH RANCHERS
In Wyoming, we’re the law.
We keep the pack’s secret—and our wolves—safe from our neighbors, the ranchers.
Then we meet her.
The one we’ve been waiting for. Our mate.
Only… she’s a rancher—our pack’s nemesis. Worse, she’s the daughter of a wolf hunter.
When danger encroaches on her land, we’re sent to investigate.
We want to protect her. To prove to her we’re exactly what she needs.
But she may be part of an illegal operation. And now she knows we’re more than two rugged cowboys bent on making her ours, which means she could destroy not just us, but the entire pack.
Regardless of the truth, we must claim her. Our lives depend on it.
One way or another, we’ll have her. Or die trying.

Leseprobe

ENTICED

TWO MARKS - 4

VANESSA VALE

RENEE ROSE

Two Marks: Desired

Copyright © 2022 by Bridger Media and Wilrose Dream Ventures LLC

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from both authors, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover design: Bridger Media

Cover graphic: Hot Damn Stock; Deposit Photos: pellinni

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Epilogue

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1

HOLT

“I call bad cop,” I told Theo, my scent-match and pack mate, giving him a quick glance as I cut my patrol SUV through the valley on the two-lane road. It was great to have him visit, even if it was for work reasons.

“No way. I’m definitely bad cop. I’m the one from out of town,” he countered, drumming his fingers in the open window. The July day was warm and it wasn’t even lunchtime, a far cry from the late blizzard we’d had in May. Wyoming weather was fickle, no matter the time of year. “I’m the one who followed the fucking meth trail to our home town. Besides, you have to play nice because you’re an elected official.”

“True,” I admitted. It wasn’t common for a shifter to hold a human law enforcement position, but the alpha and I both agreed my role only benefited the pack. “But the ranchers don’t count. I can’t wait to see Jenkins’s face when he finds the DEA on his doorstep unannounced.”

“Fun life as a L.E.O, huh?” Theo asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his brow arch and his mouth turn up in a smile. Yeah, he didn’t give a shit about playing nice. In his navy vest with DEA emblazoned across the back, he also didn’t hide the fact that he worked for the agency that cracked down on meth production.

He was right, though. Being the sheriff of West Springs, the only law enforcement officer between here and Granger, meant I had to play savior, asshole, and even a bit of politician in dealing with the humans. I had to live in the same small town with these people, even uphold their laws when I was raised to live beneath others.

Regardless, I still maintained that the ranchers didn’t count. Not after what they did.

“Just because you went off to the big city for your career doesn’t mean you get to be the bigshot. You’ll be back here when we find our scent match, and then what will you do? You’ll have to be my deputy.” I tossed a grin his way.

He snorted. Both of us were thirty-four, and we’d moved on with jobs and life and tried not to think about the moon madness that would hit us if we didn’t find our she-wolf soon. Just because Theo lived halfway across the state in Cheyenne, that didn’t keep us from staying current or being best friends.

“Always the optimist,” he said because the chances of us finding our mate were getting slimmer and slimmer. We’d been to every pack game across the country, year after year, but had yet to find her.

I shrugged, not letting my disappointment show. I knew he felt the same way, had the Two Marks male desire to find her,and claim her jointly. We had to be patient. We had no choice.

At this point, I would settle for any threesome, fated mate or not. There was no rule against claiming a she-wolf who wasn’t our true matched mate, but we’d held out hope we might stumble upon her. “We won’t find anyone to share with you living so far away. It’s pretty hard to fuck a female together when you’re in a different area code.”

He didn’t say anything for a while as the SUV bumped down the dirt road. Then he picked up our earlier thread. “After what happened with the ranchers last summer, especially Hollaroy and Jenkins, I hope to fate this meth deal leads back to them. I’d like to see them finally get more than a slap on the wrist for what they did.”

“Me too. They only got fines for killing those wolves,” I grumbled. “The shittiest part of my job is not seeing justice done, and that look on Jenkins’s face when he knew he got away with it. That asshole Hollaroy, too.”

“Maybe getting in front of Jenkins will have him doing something stupid. We can only hope.”

Nodding, I flicked my blinker on and turned onto Jenkins Ranch’s long drive. “I doubt it. He’s well-established. Look around.” I waved my hand in the air, taking in all the flat ranchland that spread across the valley. Most of it on this side of town was owned by Bob Jenkins, and dated back in his family to original homesteaders. “This isn’t going to go well. The ranchers hate the wolves encroaching on their land, taking their cattle, and he’s not going to be happy to see me again. Or you in that vest, all but accusing him of drug making.”

Theo nodded in agreement, but didn’t give a shit. “Yeah, I remember the whole fucking story. It’s not like this asshole knows you’re a shifter,” he countered.

I shook my head. “He doesn’t have reason to hate me personally for that mess, but I was involved as sheriff. So he does nonetheless.”

“I thought John Randolph with the Forest Service would have handled it.”

“Joint case,” I replied easily. The ranchers had been using tracking devices put on wolves for more than a university field study. They’d used them as guides to hunt and kill the animals far from private land. Killing endangered species was illegal, but the consequence was only a slap on the wrist, especially to a rich guy like Jenkins, whom we were about to confront. And killing a shifter wolf? Even more endangered, not that anyone knew about them.

“Meth is different,” he replied.

The house came into view. The sprawling rancher made of log and river rock was settled perfectly on a bluff. A porch wrapped around the entire home. Rocking chairs and hanging baskets of flowers made it welcoming, although I knew the greeting we’d get would be anything but.

I turned off the SUV’s engine, and felt my usual determination for catching a bad guy build. It was as simple as that, my job: seek justice, and put the bad guys away. Bob Jenkins was one, and I’d yet to make any charges stick that put him behind bars. Meth, though, and what Theo had dug up from his office, might just be what was needed. I wanted to rub my hands together in eagerness to see that done. “Let’s do this.”

Theo unclipped his seatbelt and looked to me. “If this guy’s as bad as I think, I’m looking forward to seeing him in cuffs. Not today, unfortunately, but letting him know we’re onto him, that while the meth is hitting as far away as Cheyenne, doesn’t mean there isn’t a trail. We want the fucker on edge when we leave. He’ll make a mistake then.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. Theo hadn’t met the older guy yet. In his mid-fifties, Jenkins had had decades to excel at being an asshole. I knew him from the wolf shooting incident, and other minor stir ups around town. He was smart. Rich. Powerful in the county, and one of two self-proclaimed leaders of a band of ranchers who met often at the diner in town. Hollaroy was the other, but Theo’s investigation had led us here, not to the other man’s ranch. Jenkins hadn’t made a mistake yet, so I wasn’t sure what would trip him up now. “He thinks he’s above the law,” I explained my thoughts to Theo in one sentence.

I opened my door and climbed out, squinting against the sun. The Two Marks pack lived up in the foothills, in the mountains that ringed the town. The valley was a different kind of beautiful, but I’d take the steep hills, thick trees, and cooler weather any day. I couldn’t think of anything that would get me to live down here.

Theo met me at the front of the SUV. He was taller by two inches, but I could take him, especially on a full moon run. We paced each other when we took a female together, working as an even pair to satisfy her, working off the run’s excess energy. The last time had been years ago, though. Maybe he’d stay for the next full moon. My dick got hard just thinking about having a little fun with him and a female again.

Maybe it was having him here that had thoughts about finding our mate coming up at the worst times. Like now.

I didn’t need to face Bob Jenkins with a hard dick in my uniform pants.

Theo didn’t wait, just went up the steps and rang the doorbell. He’d been waiting for this moment ever since leaving the state capitol. I followed, taking off my Stetson and standing off to the side of the doorway out of habit. I didn’t expect to be ambushed, but training was ingrained.

The door opened.

Several things hit me at once. Our lives were suddenly changed, and we were both totally fucked.

Not because of a gun or Bob Jenkins wanting us off his land.

No.

It was her.

Our mate.

The one. She was a fucking rancher. And human.

Her sweet scent took me down like a fucking Mack truck. That hard dick? Yeah, it wasn’t going down anytime soon.

I knew she was ours from one deep breath.

But looking at her… fuck.

Theo growled, and I stepped toward him and jabbed my elbow into his arm.

We stared at her. Took in her height—probably only two inches shorter than my six feet. Took in the long auburn braid that came over her shoulder. Her brown eyes that darted between the two of us. Her full lips. The swells of her breasts beneath a University of Wyoming t-shirt. The nipples that were hardening beneath the cotton as we watched. The way her jeans fitted snugly to her solid curves.

She wasn’t a petite thing. Hell, no. Our mate was thick and curvy and… fuck me, she was perfect.

“Hello,” she said, her voice deep and husky. It went right to my balls.

Theo tugged off his hat. “Ma’am. Who might you be?”

“Ali Jenkins.”

I pegged her as being early to mid-twenties. By location, name and age, it didn’t take two law enforcement officers to put the evidence together. She was Bob Jenkins’s daughter.

I couldn’t help taking a step closer, reaching out and lifting the end of her braid. I flicked my fingers over the strands, then lifted the tail to my nose.

A gasp escaped her lips at the forward gesture, but I couldn’t help myself. I considered my action to be reserved, considering Theo and I had been waiting for her our entire adult lives.

Theo moved to stand beside me, our arms bumping.

I watched as Ali swallowed, and it was my turn to groan because I was imagining her throat working as she tried to take my dick as deep as she could.

“Who’s at the door?” a voice called from the depths of the house.

The sound startled our mate and she jumped back, her braid being tugged before I released it.

“Police!” she called, taking in my uniform and Theo’s DEA jacket.

Heavy footfall preceded Bob Jenkins.

Not happy, I stepped back, trying to get my head back on task, but it was fucking impossible. I kept glancing at Ali, afraid she might disappear.

“What do you want?” he practically snarled when he came to the doorway. He moved his daughter behind him, but she didn’t go far. Jenkins gave me a quick glance, then ruled me out as worth recognizing on his front porch.

Maybe she, too, felt the attraction between us, the need to stay together.

“Sir, I’m Special Agent Decker with the DEA.”

He responded to Theo with a quick and annoyed, “Yes?”

“Sheriff Cooke was kind enough to bring me here so I could introduce myself,” Theo added.

“Why is a DEA agent making himself known to me in particular?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest in the blatant standoffish gesture.

Jenkins wore worn jeans, a white snap shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and sturdy leather boots. Typical uniform for a rancher. While his hair was more gray than dark brown, it had barely receded with age. He was tall and strong. Even though his property was large enough he must have many employees, he clearly didn’t run the place from behind a desk.

“The Cheyenne office has been dealing with a large influx of meth into the southern portion of the state. We’ve been able to question local dealers and track the supply this way. To Granger County.”

Theo specifically left out Wolf Springs, and even Jenkins’s large swath of land where meth could be made without detection, which was what Theo suspected.

Jenkins glanced down at his daughter. “Alison’s a little too old for me to advise her not to do drugs.”

I looked at Ali—Alison Jenkins—and didn’t look away. I listened to Jenkins continue to talk, but I was taking in the warm tan of her skin, the roundness of her cheeks. Her long fingers. The cinch of her belt around her waist. The swell of her full hips. I clenched my fingers with the need to grab hold of her and never let go.

“—sure to share your information with the other ranchers in the area,” Jenkins said, setting his hand on the open door. “We’ll keep watch for any unusual activity, and share it with the sheriff.”

At my mention, I blinked and looked in Jenkins’ dark eyes. The same ones his daughter shared. Yet while hers were filled with interest and—hopefully—newfound desire, I saw rage and guilt in his. He was involved. I knew it.

I was sure Theo knew it, too.

“If that’s all, we have a ranch to run.” Jenkins looked between us, stepped back, and closed the door in our faces. I got one last look at Ali before the sight of her was cut off—and her sweet scent.

“I don’t want you talking to those men.” With our shifter hearing, it was easy to pick up Jenkins’ angry words. And our mate’s response.

I stilled, listened.

“Why not?” she countered. “They’re doing their job.”

Theo glanced my way, and his fists clenched. We couldn’t leave the porch without hearing their argument. The words Jenkins was putting into our mate’s ears that might make her hate us.

“While Sheriff Cooke was doing his job, he defended animals, not the people who voted him into office.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I resisted. Barely.

“He wasn’t here about the wolf problem,” Ali replied. “What is this about meth?”

“How the hell should I know? He has it out for ranchers, obviously. Fines. Protecting the wolves—”

“You already said that. The meth? The other guy is from the DEA. They’ve got to have a reason to be here besides annoying you.”

That made Theo grin.

“Are you taking their side now?” Jenkins snarled.

I wanted to kick the door in and protect our mate, even from the angry tone of her father.

“No, of course not. I didn’t call them here. I only answered the door.”

“Then don’t answer it if they show up again. He’s obviously terrible at his job if he’s on our porch, wasting our time. We have cattle to herd.”

We couldn’t miss the retreating footsteps, then nothing. We trudged back to the SUV and didn’t speak until I was driving back down the lane.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” I asked.

“Claim her.”

Theo’s words were exactly right, except…

“How?” I asked, frustrated. “She’s going to defend her father. That’s what family does.”

That was how the pack worked too. I’d believe family or pack members before outside sources. But we weren’t just that; we were her mates.

I yanked off my hat, set it on the center console, and ran my fingers through my hair.

“You said others in the pack mated humans,” Theo said, his tone considering.

I thought of the claimings that had happened last year. Two human females were new mates in the pack. Rachel and Caitlyn. Happy and well-integrated.

“Human? You’re worried about her being human? You heard what he just filled her head with. We have to get her out of there.” I was aroused and frustrated. “My dick is hard and we’re driving away from our mate. How can you be so calm?”

He turned to me and showed me his eyes, silver and all but glowing. “I’m not calm at all. I’m dying inside with every mile you put between us.”

Good, I wasn’t alone in this. In this misery at finding our mate and being forced to leave her behind.

“We’re in deep shit here,” I snapped. “She’s a rancher, and the daughter of the guy who killed wolves for sport, and who’s most likely making and spreading meth across Wyoming.”

Theo was quiet, his fists clenched in his lap. “Yeah, this is a fucking problem. But I’m not letting anything get in the way of us claiming her.”

I smiled. He agreed with me. “We only have to take down her father, sway our alpha to the concept of us claiming the pack enemy’s daughter, and get her in bed between us, and our teeth in her sweet skin.”

Yeah, no problem at all.

2

ALI

"So Doug and Cara broke up. Did you hear?" Melissa, my high school bestie, was catching me up on all the town gossip. We were at the Bullhorn Bar with Trina, another old friend.

Being here, I had that fish out of water feeling. I'd only been back at West Springs for a few weeks after years away at college. Everything was the same. Everything except for me, it seemed.

I'd always planned to return home. I got my degree in agriculture so I could take over the family ranch, which I considered a privilege. But that didn’t change how strange it was to be back permanently after being away for so long. I hadn’t even returned for the last few summers because I’d been working on ranches in Australia and Chile. I figured I’d better see the world before my free time ran out and small town life was it for me, and the ranch my full time responsibility.

I set my glass down on the damp coaster. We were at a four-top near the bar, but the place was crowded. Still, I loved to catch up with my friends and get the scoop on people from my past. "No! What happened with them? I thought they’d get married and make the cutest babies."

"He cheated with Nora Gentry," Trina provided with a frown. "Nora seems to think he's her golden boy now, but I'm thinking if a guy cheats on someone else with you, he will cheat on you, too. Am I right?"

"Totally. Cheaters always cheat," I agreed. I thought about Doug, the heartthrob who had been homecoming and prom king back in high school. “Why are the good looking ones always dicks?” I shook my head, my hair sliding over my shoulder. I’d left it out of my usual braid. “I swear, I've had enough golden boys to last me a lifetime.”

I’d learned the hard way in Australia not to fall for the hot guy on the ranch. Especially ones with sexy accents.

Speaking of hot guys, two broad-shouldered men across the bar snagged my attention. They must have come in after I had, because with their build and good looks, they’d have been hard to miss.

Even harder, since their faces were already etched in my mind.

It was them. They were here!

The guys who’d come to our door this morning. What were their names? I replayed the delicious growl of their voices as they’d introduced themselves. Agent Decker and Sheriff Cooke. How could I forget? Hell, I doubted I’d forget anything about them, especially how pissed my father was with them.

My skin prickled, and my heart started to gallop. My palms became sweaty with nerves I hadn’t felt since sixth grade around the new kid who’d started mid-year. He’d had a cute smile but only cared about football and his pet gecko. Total dud.

These guys? Far from duds where my ovaries were concerned.

“Who are those two hotties over there, do you know?” I hid my stare under the brim of my cowgirl hat.

Trina’s face brightened at my question, and she didn’t bother to be subtle. She twisted fully around to gawk.

“That's Sheriff Cooke,” she said, like he wasn’t the most incredible specimen of manhood she’d ever seen. “I don't know who the other one is. And they are hotties.”

I finally looked up, sneaking a glance.

“He's DEA,” I murmured, not taking my eyes off the two of them. I couldn’t decide which one I thought was hotter. They weren’t in their uniforms any longer. Plain clothes or uniform—either way, they looked good. Good enough to eat. And at my front door earlier, they’d definitely been looking at me like they were hungry.

Regardless of my attraction, Sheriff Cooke was the asshole my dad had told me about. The one who’d harassed him last year over the wolf issue. The one my dad had yelled at me to steer clear of.

I got that wolves were protected, but I also knew how much it sucked to have a wolf picking off the herd. I’d seen that happen a few times. I totally understood why it made ranchers go berserk, especially on a ranch the size of ours, since the livestock couldn’t be watched or protected all the time.

“So you already know?” Melissa asked with a sly smile. “Hell, they're both gorgeous, so let's go over there and talk to them. The sheriff’s single, at least. I wouldn't mind a little law enforcement action.” She waggled her blonde eyebrows to match her grin.

“Too bad I’m taken,” Trina said, waving her left hand to make her engagement ring sparkle in the bar lighting.

For some reason, the idea of Melissa and me going over there and maybe pairing off with one of these guys each put my teeth on edge. As if I wanted both of them, and didn’t want to share with Melissa—or anyone, and that made absolutely no sense. Interested in two guys? Two guys who seemed to be friends? Maybe I only wanted first pick so I could make up my mind. Of course, I didn’t want both for myself. That would be absurd.

Still…

I shook my head. “No, they may be hot—” total understatement of the century, “—but they were out on my ranch today, insinuating we were part of some meth problem. My father hates their guts, pretty much. Which means they’re jerks, for sure.”

Jerks I couldn’t take my eyes off. Jerks who protected endangered wolves. Who showed up on angry people’s doorsteps mentioning drugs.

“Meth?” Trina asked, staring at me as if I’d changed languages all of a sudden.

“Meth,” I confirmed.

Melissa frowned. “Yeah. Isn’t that part of the appeal, though? Showing up about some dangerous and nefarious issue?”

Trina laughed. “Nefarious?”

“Whatever,” Melissa countered, clearly not concerned about meth in their hometown. “Those two are alpha males through and through. I think the testosterone is pumping off of them in waves.” She tapped her finger to her chin. “Maybe they have handcuffs in the car…”

“You don’t have to like them to fuck one of them, Al,” Trina reminded me.

“And I’ll take the other!” Melissa added, way too chirpily.

God, I was normally more than willing to share anything with friends—clothes, knowledge, contacts.

Just not men, I guessed.

I hopped from the stool. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go give them a piece of my mind, not sleep with either of them.”

Fortunately, Melissa took the hint and didn’t get up. “Sure you don’t need help?”

“I’m sure.” I finished my Jack and ginger, and stomped my way to the back where the two men were sitting. The DEA guy saw me coming and said something to his partner. Both men stood when I got there, like gentlemen. Like this was a date, and not me giving them a piece of my mind.

“Officers,” I said coolly. I was tall for a woman, but they still had a few inches on me.

The sheriff pulled out a chair between them in clear invitation. I looked at it. I’d had no plan to sit down between them, but his assumption that I would made it a tiny bit appealing.

“Ali,” Agent Decker rumbled, remembering my name. Once again, his expression was hungry.

It made my nipples stand up inside my bra, and heat travel from my center all the way down the insides of my legs.

“Sheriff.” I nodded the brim of my cowgirl hat at him without a smile.

“You can call me Holt. This is Theo. Please, have a seat. Can I get you a drink?” he asked, his voice deep and smooth.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t need a drink and I don’t need a seat,” I said, trying to remember the tirade I’d rehearsed on my way over. “I’m just wondering why in the hell you two were knocking on my door today. Maybe you don’t know this—” I looked pointedly at Theo, the out-of-town DEA agent, “—but my family has had that ranch for over a hundred years. We’re the oldest ranching family in the state. We’re running a million dollar business out there.”

“We are both aware,” Theo said. Both men remained standing. Calm. Focused. On me.

Far from showing any defensive posturing like I’d expected, they were angled toward me, standing a bit too close, like we were friends. Good friends.

“I’m from West Springs originally, as well,” Theo added.