“So? When are you going to tell me if you intend to kill my father? Or do you plan on doing something else with him? I mean, you claim that he’s stolen your pack. Aren’t there two sets of rules for this?” Rose sat on the deck of the packhouse now and watch the man who was now her mate. Gods, what a mess this was. “There are two ways to deal with this. As it stands, I can’t take this to the Ruling Council. The evidence we have doesn’t point to your father directly enough. He could walk away from it by saying he was stewarding the pack and guarding the town for me until my return. Then he’d never be punished for the deaths that have occurred. Jules’ father probably would be thrown under the bus in that case to take the blame for killing them. Your father has the excuse that he knew nothing about it, and I was just a pup. Too young to understand what a tragic accident it was for my father’s death. Your mother? Well, he’s already said he doesn’t know what happened to the

Rose watched Ty with his pack as he instructed them on what his wishes were. He’d been very careful with how he wanted them to conduct themselves in town. They were to expect trouble and to be followed. His people were to avoid bringing any tails home with them. By using the back roads and backtracking on their trails. They knew the ways to fool the lazy country bumpkins. She’d need to talk to Ty about the way he spoke of the pack he wished to take control of. If they were lazy country bumpkins, then why would he want to take control of the pack? Later, he explained he didn’t see the pack as lazy or bumpkins. He saw her father and his men. That, she admitted, made more sense, as her father and his men didn’t do much of anything for the pack. She felt horrible right now because the pack didn’t have anyone to take her place and help them fix their problems. Rose was the one that dealt with the day-to-day issues. She kept the lights on and the food coming in.

“Ty, we need to do something. Russell’s harassing people in town. He’s sure they’re hiding out the location from him.” Ben came back with a couple of the guys from a grocery run to the next town over, along with other chores. This is what he found out when he stopped by the post office to pick up the mail. “The postmaster was being harassed when I got there by a couple of Russell’s men. They think she’s hiding from him.” Rose stood in the hallway outside of the kitchen, listening in. Her heart was in her throat. Her father was still looking for her. When would he stop? He never cared before this, so why now? Did he have a buyer for her? She wouldn’t become a slave to anyone. The urge to run and run far away was a struggle for her now. “Which is probably why there’s not a huge hunt for us. You’d think he’d have found our scent by now. Did you talk to Rose’s healer friend?” Ty changed the subject as they unpacked the groceries. Rose listened quietly, hating everything

Heather watched her father leave the office after his daily lecture on what she must do to close the office for the day properly. She couldn’t believe she was contemplating going somewhere with a gorgeous, strange man. But Heather was sure she’d talked with Rose, and she wanted desperately to know what was going on. Then she felt the call. There were people that needed care, and her father had turned them away. That she found hard to believe, but she’d seen Rose’s father in the office threatening her father if he did something. She didn’t know what he wasn’t supposed to do or what would happen if he did. But when it came from Rose’s father, it was never good for anyone. So here she was packing her kit, wishing she knew what type of injuries they had. Or did they have an infection? Well, better safe than sorry. Time was drawing near to when Heather promised to meet Jay out in the alley behind the clinic. Her hands were shaking with fear and excitemen

Jay found Mike setting up the table in their apartments. As he approached, Mike stood up and met Jay with a lingering kiss. When he stepped back, he savoured the taste of their kiss left in his mouth. “Gods, she tastes like her scent. You dipped into the well of temptation, didn’t you?” Jay grinned at Mike. “As soon as she got into the car, her instincts kicked in from my scent, I guess. The few minutes’ time to drive her here had her in quite a state. Mike, she melts in your hands. Shatters at a mere touch, and she stays hot. I swear I watched her shatter and the next minute she was all set for round two. If the guys didn’t need her healing, I’d have brought her here right away. She’s everything and more than we dreamed of.” As he explained his experience to Mike, his hands tried to show. Mike smiled and embraced his partner. “Gods to feel whole and to have you with me. All I could do today was remember those breasts trying to free themselves from her top at the ba