Feral (Wolf Ranch 3)

I went downstairs and out to the truck, setting my hat on top of my damp hair. “Get some fucking manners. You don’t whistle for me like a goddamn dog,” I said as I climbed in. He drove on to the bunkhouse, the windows down.

Boyd actually did have manners but also made a second career out of deliberately pushing me by showing disrespect. I was sure having a big brother who became both a pseudo-father and pack alpha when we were both still kids ourselves was scarring. He’d played the rebellious playboy role for years until he miraculously met his mate while on the rodeo circuit. As fate would have it, she was a doctor here at our hospital. So thanks to Audrey, he’d come home. Permanently.

As for Colton, he’d mated Audrey’s sister, Marina. Small fucking world. He’d just retired from the military, and they were working their way back across the country from his base now. Soon enough, the three Wolf boys would be settled on the ranch again, and a new generation would begin. Audrey was already expecting a pup. Except I wasn’t settled, not like they were. Not like it was expected of me, which was a threat to the pack. Which made me pissy about this meeting because there was always talk about the fact that I hadn’t mated. Again, my dick was everyone’s worry.

Boyd whistled again then gave me one of his signature easy grins. “Well, you came faster than the rest of the dogs.”

“Careful, it’ll be hard to drive with your eye all swelled up,” I warned. Physical retribution was the norm in wolf packs. It was pretty harmless since our bodies healed so quickly.

Despite my grumblings, I had to admit it was nice to have my brother back. I’d been running the pack on my own for long enough. Colton had enlisted right after high school and left for boot camp that same summer. Two years later, Boyd had headed to the rodeo circuit at eighteen. I’d been running the pack alone for a dozen years. It felt good to have my own blood beside me for a change.

The heir and the spare were back. Although, they’d mated humans. The pack was fine with it because they weren’t leading. Everyone looked to me for a true wolf match and future alpha.

I thought of the hot as hell neighbor and her greedy pussy. My wolf thought of fucking her hard and biting her deep. My dick hardened, and that was a problem in more ways than one.

Clint came out of the bunkhouse and climbed into the back of the huge pickup. Boyd headed up the back road toward the mountain. He lived that way in a cabin with Audrey, but we were going past that. The pack owned a lodge house up there built by my great-great-great grandfather Makelin Wolf, the founding pack alpha when Montana was still a territory. It was a place where the pack could meet, shift and run far from the prying eyes of humans.

“So Alpha, going to tell us about why you slammed our neighbor’s bedroom door in my face?” Clint asked.

He was sitting behind Boyd, so I glanced back at him. Glared. We hadn’t spoken of it earlier when we rode back from the Shefield house. He could’ve asked me about it then, but no. He had to fucking do it with Boyd around.

“Bedroom door?” Boyd repeated, steering around a turn.

Clint was my best friend. Boyd was my brother. They were the closest things to confidants I had. I couldn’t share all the details of being alpha. Some information was confidential. Like a priest but without the god. My pack members might be able to have secrets but not me. With the way Clint grinned, he had a pretty good idea of what it was. I hadn’t acted like that before. Ever.

“Rob,” Boyd said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“We went over to introduce ourselves to the new neighbor.”

He nodded, then took his hat off, stuck it on the console between us, and ran a hand through his fair hair. It caught the wind and blew around. He took after our mother while Colton and I were dark like our father had been.

“You’re a man grown, you don’t have to be ashamed you were hot for her,” Clint prodded. “It’s not like we think you’re a virgin.”

I glanced back at him. “I didn’t fuck her.”

“But you want to.”

“She seemed nice when I talked to her on the phone,” Boyd said. “Level headed. Not one to fall for Markle’s shit, thankfully.”

“She screamed. Isn’t that right, Rob?”

“She screamed?” Boyd repeated, glancing my way, then back on the narrow road.

“Tell him why. I mean, it’s not like I ever found out.”

I growled then, letting the full force of my wolf let him know I wasn’t happy with his pettiness.