Enticed (Two Marks 3)

“My little sister is crazy about horses,” I told her, thinking of Ariel. “She’s eleven. She has posters covering her walls of Black Beauty and whatever other fictional horses she’s fallen in love with.” I walked to the sliding glass door that led to the deck where Holt’s barbecue was heating up.

Ali drifted out behind me while Holt uncorked a bottle of wine. It felt so right—like we were already a family. As if this could be just another day, her here with us as we made dinner.

“You have an eleven-year-old sister?”

“I have four younger sisters,” I admitted. “Quite an age difference, right? She’s the baby, and has everyone hooked around her little finger.”

Ali couldn’t help but smile. “She loves horse books? Is she a big reader?”

I looked over my shoulder at her as I raised the lid on the grill. “Totally. Nose in a book all the time.”

I was the oldest, and had been more interested in playing outside, roaming the woods, and getting muddy than reading anything. I’d already graduated from college when Ariel was born so I’d been raised in a completely different time. Not that much changed here in Wolf Springs.

I adjusted the dials on the grill to lower the flame then forked the steaks onto the grate. The meat sizzled, and I closed the lid and gave Ali my full attention.

“Does she ride? Do your parents have horses?” she asked.

“No.” I chuckled and pointed in the opposite direction of her ranch in the valley. “They live up here in the forest land. They’re not horse people. Ariel would love to meet you, a real cowgirl.” I hoped I wasn’t pushing too hard this time with that suggestion.

“I’ll take her riding,” Ali offered without hesitation. “I’d love to.”

My chest warmed. “Would you, really? That is a very kind offer. I’d love to take you up on it. Surprise her.” Meeting family, getting connected that way, would be an important part of building trust with our mate. Ariel might be a shifter cub, but she was also a girl. A tween, as my other sisters called her.

“Do you have a sister?” I asked. I could have done a whole background check on her, but I hadn’t. I wanted to get to know our mate the normal way, not like a DEA investigator.

She shook her head. “One brother, but we don’t talk all that much. Older. He lives in Spokane.”

Holt came out with three glasses of chilled chardonnay. The asshole had spent a solid twenty-five minutes at the liquor store quizzing Marjorie, the owner, about the different wines, trying to find the best one for our mate.

Ali took the glass and split a look between the two of us. “So, is this a thing for you two? You’ve done this before?”

So much for making small talk. Her questions were reassuring, though, pointing to the fact that she’d thought about it, about being with both of us. Was thinking about it now.

“Have sex?” Holt asked, which made her roll her eyes. “We’re not virgins, and I assume you’re not one either.”

It was a tricky question, because what woman wanted to know about a guy’s sexual history?

Her cheeks blushed prettily as she gave a slight head shake. I wasn’t too keen to know whom she’d been intimate with before, but I wasn’t naive.

“You might not believe this, but we’ve been waiting for you.” I stepped closer, tipped her chin up to ensure she saw the truth in my words. “Any woman who has come before is in the past. We’re here with you now. And hopefully longer.”

Holt shot me a glance. We’d talked at length about not coming on too strong and not trying to rush things with her. As if that was possible.

Male wolves who found their fated mate couldn’t very well sit back and wait. We’d go mad. Now that we’d scented Ali, our wolves were going nuts trying to get us to claim her with our teeth. We could reassure her, but we weren’t going to go slow either.

“Longer?” she asked. “We just met.”

I dropped my hand, went to the grill to flip the steaks.

“Yeah, but there’s something here, sweetheart. We feel it and I know you do, too.”

Holt’s words were exactly fucking right.

“You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Ali sipped her wine and cocked a hip, surveying both of us with interest but also assessment. Taking her time to think about what we said. “Are you two a couple?”

“Nope,” I said. “Childhood friends. We just found out early on that it’s fun to share.” Not a lie.

“Here’s to exploring it all with you.” Holt lifted his wine glass and eyed her as if she were the meat we were about to eat, and not the steaks that were almost done.

I picked up my glass and waited for Ali to put hers forward. We tapped her glass lightly.