Wild (Wolf Ranch 2)

She frowned. “He didn’t say he wanted you to stay?” She was watching me closely.

“Definitely not. We didn’t even hook up last night.” Despite the fact that I’d chalked this up as a fling from the beginning, that fact hurt more than I expected. “He hasn’t touched me since yesterday. I don’t know, I guess the fling is over. He’s made it quite clear where he stands now.”

She frowned. “Um, Marina, he carried you upstairs to his room. We could all hear.” She blushed hotly, even though it was me who’d had sex, not her. “I don’t think he’s lost interest.”

“He has. That… yesterday, well, it was punishment for what I did at the motel room. He was mad at me. The fact that I knew who he was and didn’t tell.”

“Didn’t sound like punishment to me.” Her mouth tipped, and her eyes were alight with amusement.

“He got even, in a good way. A very good way. But that was it. Nothing’s happened since. At least, not sexually.”

Her eyebrows winged up at that. “What? Seriously? That can’t be possible.”

“It’s possible. Trust me.”

She bit her lip and was lost in thought. “There’s no way he could be like this. Not with tonight and all.”

“What, the wedding?” I shrugged.

She didn’t say anything for more than a minute. “Give him time.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m leaving. He’s leaving. The United States army doesn’t have late slips, I’m sure.”

“There’s more there, I’m sure of it.” She put her glasses back on.

“Well, I can’t expect him to want a relationship after knowing each other for two days. That’s crazy.” Even if we did seem to fit in every way possible. And our chemistry was off the charts.

“We’ll see.” That was all she said, and I wondered what she was leaving out.

16

COLTON

* * *

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Boyd said, running his hand through his hair and pacing.

We were in the stable, and I’d just finished brushing down Lucy. She whinnied at his loud voice. It was cool inside, but the tempers were hot. Mine included. I was glad Marina was with Audrey and would miss this convo. It wasn’t going to be pretty, and I wasn’t going to be able to explain the shifter-related issues and why Markle was a pain in our ass. After Marina had driven off, I’d texted Boyd and Rob that there was trouble with Markle. They’d met me here to figure out what we were going to do next.

“Nope. They were grazing all the way up by the waterfall,” I told him, explaining what Marina and I had seen on our ride. I hadn’t met Markle nor had to deal with his shitty ways, so I wasn’t as hot under the collar as Boyd. Still, it had messed with my time with Marina and that made me hate the guy.

Rob leaned against the wall, crossed his ankles. “If they’re grazing that far, it means they’ve been on the other property for a few days.”

I agreed. They weren’t fast moving animals, and there was plenty of grazeland between the opened fence and the waterfall.

“I’m going to go over and give him another black eye.” Boyd turned to stalk out of the stable.

“Now hold on,” Rob called. “You’re getting married in—” He looked at his watch. “—three hours. I can handle Jett Markle but not a pissed off bride because her mate decided to go off half-cocked before the ceremony.”

He sighed, and I watched his shoulders slump, then he turned on his heel and faced us.

“Fine. You two go.” Boyd came over, took the lead for Lucy from me. “I’ll get her settled and fed.”

I looked to Rob, who nodded. I set the curry comb back on the shelf, then led Cinnamon outside to wait for him to get his horse ready.

It took us less time than it took me and Marina earlier. We rode harder to get to the furthest spot from the opened fence. While I liked my brother, Rob was a silent fucker and wasn’t remotely as cute as Marina. He wasn’t in the mood to chat, and I wasn’t going to rile him. Not that he was easily riled.

We herded the cattle back through the opening with whistling and weaving the horses from side to side to get the animals in the right direction. Fortunately, there were only about twenty or so. It took another fifteen minutes to put the fence back in place, then another stretch to ride down to Markle’s house.

I hadn’t been on this land since I was a kid. I remembered the family that used to live here back then. There were a couple kids who were older than us, in high school when we’d been playing in the woods for fun. They’d moved away when the kids had grown, then Rob said someone else had owned it for a few years before selling it to Markle. The house had once been white, but now it was a deep rust color. The roof was now black metal. The windows had all been replaced with sleek glass and black trim. He’d even bumped out the back for a sunroom, one whole wall was windows that faced the mountain. It had been an expensive remodel, and it looked like a fancy ski lodge. I had no idea what his heating bill was in the winter, but Markle had to have deep pockets just to pay it.