Ruthless (Wolf Ranch 6)

The rest of the pack members stood and began to talk and mingle. I didn’t sense any dissent from them over Rob’s ruling. The elders remembered the pack with Rob’s father as alpha. Some even remembered his father before him. Traditions had been upheld, but Rob was his own man, his own alpha and was forging the future for the pack in his own way. While some elders may resist or not like everything Rob did, only Nathan had been so outwardly hostile.

Hopefully a meeting like this would be the last.

“Are you gonna be cool?” Rob asked me as he came over, a warning in his tone.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m cool. I would’ve preferred to get a few swings in first, but I can live with his banishment.”

“I got a few swings in for you last night,” Levi said. He raised his eyebrows. “Quite a few.”

I grinned. “Good.”

“Everything okay with Natalie?” Clint asked, dropping a hand on my shoulder.

My smile grew wider. “My mate?” I couldn’t help but gloat by calling her that. It felt so good to have claimed her. To be able to legitimately call her that. “She’s great. In fact, I need to get back to her.”

The guys all chuckled. “I’ll bet you do,” Clint said.

“Yep, you get back to your mate,” Boyd said, thumping my back.

“Give her a big hug from me,” my mother said. “We’ll have you both over for lasagna later this week.”

“I will,” I promised and walked out to my truck.

Nothing—not even Nathan Brown—could keep me down today.

Not when Natalie was in my cabin waiting for me. Not when she’d be there again tomorrow, and the next day and the next day after that.

Epilogue

NATALIE

The insurance adjuster’s truck turned onto the main road, leaving Rand and I to stand in front of the rubble that was my house.

“So, know a good builder?” I asked, not looking at him.

“How will you pay, Red? I only take payment in sexual favors.”

I spun and faced him, poked him in the ribs, which made him grin.

“From all your clients?”

He pulled me into his arms, planted a kiss on my lips. “Only you. Guess we’ll have to get some plans drawn up. Time to build your dream house.”

“Don’t you mean our dream house?”

It had been five days since the fire-—not that I was counting—and I’d spent almost all that time with Rand. I wasn’t sure if it was because Rand didn’t want to let me out of his sight or if we were newly mated. Either way, I didn’t care. Either way, I agreed. I wanted Rand to be where I could see him at all times, waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares.

He’d soothe me with his touch, making love to me which always put me back to sleep. And when we were awake… it was almost impossible to keep our hands off each other.

But with the sobering sight of the house, all that history of Uncle Adam that had burned to rubble and ash, reality was right in front of us.

“Our house,” he replied. “Got something in mind?”

I pursed my lips. “Besides no creepy basement with spiders…”

He grinned. “Besides that.”

“I’m thinking log. One story. Big windows across the back to take in the view.”

He slung an arm around my shoulder and stared at the rubble, as if he could picture what would be put in its place.

“A three car garage,” he added.

“A deck off the back.”

“Five bedrooms.”

I turned in his arms to face him, tilted my chin back to meet his eyes. “Five? I thought you didn’t want a B&B.”

“I don’t. I was thinking more along the lines of kids.”

I did the math. “You want four kids?”

“That’s if they have their own rooms. But if they shared…”

I punched him in the stomach. “Rand Tucker, what you want is a football team.”

He laughed, and I loved that sound.

“How about we start with one.”

He went still at my words, his dark eyes meeting mine. “You ready?”

I shrugged, and my cell rang. I pulled it from my jeans pocket. “Hello?”

“Hey, Natalie, this is Kurt from the Barn Cats.”

“Hi, Kurt,” I replied and Rand nodded, knowing who it was.

“I heard about your house. I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Thanks. I’ll rebuild.”

“That’s good to hear. I was hoping you wouldn’t leave town after that.”

“Oh?”

“Not sure if you know, but I’ve been the music teacher at the high school for the past twenty-six years.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Well, I’ve been planning to retire, even bought an RV to go roaming the west. There just haven’t been any replacements, being that the school’s so small, and Cooper Valley isn’t exactly a metropolis. But now, I’ve got one.”

“That’s great! Congratulations on your retirement.”

“It depends on you, though.”

I frowned. “Me?”

“I think you should be my replacement. You have the qualifications. You know your way around an instrument, and the kids will love you. Know how to lead a marching band?”