“I see.” She lifted her brows and set her lips in a tight frown.
“I don’t think you do,” he said, wagging his finger at the window. “Come. I’ll show you.”
“What are you doing?” She followed him outside.
“I want you to understand who I am,” he said, kicking off his boots. He pulled his long-sleeve shirt over his head and stepped away from his breeches.
“Jock, what are you…” A sudden gasp forced her to stop midsentence. “Oh. My. God.”
Good, he had earned her praise, he thought, as he transitioned into his wolf form without looking back. There was nothing more rewarding than a woman’s approval except a mate’s obvious appreciation.
Jock circled the small yard enclosed by a split-rail fence then stopped in front of her. He stalked her then, keeping his head low as he backed her against the log cabin. Fully prepared to shift into his human form if she tried to run from him, he had now shown himself and there was no escaping him. He refused to let her hide from him.
“Who are you?”
He howled aloud and instantly regretted his vocal release. Assuming Carla was already under Frank’s protection, or at least his watch, the outburst may have notified, even called out, the enemy.
“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered.
He stretched his neck forward, willing her to touch him, longing to feel her caress him, even if she only ran her fingers across his animal form. Any physical connection was better than none at all, particularly now when he’d shown her his other self.
Carla reached for him with her right hand. Her outstretched limb shook violently as she raked her fingernails through the matted hair. Digging her fingers into his fur, she stroked his animal coat and rubbed his neck and head.
A guttural growl resounded and Jock shifted to his human form, as naked as the day he was born. Flattening his palm against her stomach, he lowered his lips to hers and took the kiss he should’ve taken so very long ago. At the very least, the day before Frank Smith moved in and changed the way their future would soon unfold.
Chapter Four
Frank phased the minute he heard the guttural longing laced through another Alpha’s vocal release resounding off the hills. He sprang forward, practically bouncing from one flat rock to the other as he crossed a shallow part of the Laramie River.
A signal had been sent and it was one he could not ignore. At his back, his pack clamored for his attention, barking out their disgust as the traditions of the past were threatened by what the future now held in store.
Frank paced himself for a moment, long enough to consider the laws in place to discourage a double imprint. Their ancestors—pack masters and tribe chiefs—failed to convey the challenges of the unthinkable.
They hadn’t disclosed the possibility because none of those who’d gone before them knew how to overcome the possible obstacle. A shifter couldn’t deny his mate. She possessed a certain enslaving scent, an alluring touch, an addictive laughter and voice.
The elders who’d gone before them on either side of the Laramie River didn’t broach the subject of a shared mate because they’d been fortunate up until then. The Alpha males and females were loyal to no one else but each other and the packs they presided over.
Frank understood his pack’s angst. No other Alpha had imprinted upon a woman after acknowledging her as another pack master’s life partner.
If Frank still imprinted upon his chosen woman, the consequences could produce a grave end. A dark outcome loomed as a new love shared by three would certainly face its challenges. While an Alpha female would be respected, a shared mate would be frowned upon by both packs. Division was imminent. A separation was unavoidable.
Considering the unthinkable, Frank paused. Could he survive without his fated mate? Could he make the ultimate sacrifice and walk away from his only chance at true love?
An inner war began. Frank envisioned what he might find, the way his woman might betray him without even realizing the ultimate test of loyalty was upon her.
As he pushed aside the need to blame her, he realized the trials didn’t lie within his mate. The ultimate decision resided inside the males foreordained to imprint upon the same woman.
Running once more, he heard a mix of voices inside his head. His pack called out to him. They pleaded with him, some suggesting he wait for a flank, still others reminding him of the powerful enemy he would soon meet.
There were risks. He faced many probable dangers.
The telepathic messages drove him rather than stalled him. Some of the wiser wolves reminded him of fated unions. Several younger pack members condemned him, chastising him for foregoing the opportunity to imprint on his mate while he still had a chance. According to them, Frank had left his mate for another Alpha to claim.
He’d known all these things when Jock Corrigan had befriended Carla several years prior, but he’d honored wolf laws. He’d respected his pack’s traditions, determined to be the kind of man, wolf, and shifter his father hadn’t been. As pack master, he had hoped other wolf shifters would admire him as much as willingly follow his example through the ultimate trials of time.
Instead of showing his strength as a leader, he’d proven himself weak. He’d placed his pack in a vulnerable situation.
With Jock in position to claim Frank’s mate, a woman Jock also believed belonged to him as well, he risked everything his forefathers had secured before him. If Jock imprinted before Frank reached Carla, two packs would inevitably join as one. Two pack masters would lead in lieu of a lone Alpha.