Tempted (Two Marks 1)

I flicked a gaze at Landry and Wade, and understood what he was saying. We had a lot to talk through, and John didn’t need to be around to hear it. Especially since the guys were naked, and them being naked led to—

I slipped the backpack from my shoulders and handed it to John. “I put the tag between his shoulder blades. It’s not deep. You should feel it.”

John nodded, gave Landry and Wade another glance, then took off.

“Randolph’s right. We need to talk, but while I don’t mind doing it naked, I want our woman naked too,” Landry said.

My cheeks heated at the thought of the three of us as we had been that first morning. But a mosquito tickled my neck, and I swatted it. Yeah, it might be fine, except I didn’t need bug bites on my ass. I had two wolf bites. That was enough.

“Follow us back to our truck?” Wade asked.

He wasn’t telling. He was giving me the option to tell them no, although I doubted they’d let me walk away. I didn’t want to. I wanted to be with them but, God, there was so much between us. I had to hope it was surmountable.

I nodded, and they shifted back. I stared and blinked, once, and then again, still surprised at what they could do. At what they were. This wasn’t a Twilight film, this was real life. Landry led the way back down the hill. Wade waited, watched, and I realized he was expecting me to follow. I did and he kept close behind, cutting between the pines. Sunlight dappled on their glossy fur. Me and my two wolves, with me in the center.

Right where I wanted to be.

24

WADE

I finished dressing, and walked over to Caitlyn by the back of the truck. No one came down this road—at least, not anyone outside of the Two Marks pack who wasn’t lost. I wasn’t worried about being caught out naked. It was more of a concern being in wolf form during daylight. But if Hollaroy had the tracking data, it was the remaining wolf Caitlyn had tagged that was in danger, not us.

We hadn’t tried to touch her yet. It was close to fucking impossible not to pull her into my arms and kiss the hell out of her. But my wolf and I would have to be content just having her close. Considering she hadn’t returned any of our texts or answered her phone, it was a blessing that she’d followed us back to the truck without protest.

Landry walked around and opened the tailgate of the truck, then sat on it. He hadn’t put his Stetson back on. His hair was uncombed and he hadn’t shaved this morning. He looked as rough as I felt.

“Caitlyn, I’m so sorry we didn’t have your back when Gib came by with that wolf,” he began. “It just… it took us by surprise. I felt responsible because I’m the guy who pulled the trigger on your tranq gun, and I was the one my brother left in charge while he was away. A wolf got killed on my watch. If that had been another shifter—”

“I know,” she cut in sharply. “How do you think I felt?” She wrapped her arms around her middle, and looked down at the ground, where she kicked a pebble with the toe of her hiking boot.

I couldn’t stop myself from reaching for her because she looked so fucking sad. And it had been all our fault. “Sugar, we’re so sorry. Can I hold you? Please?” I wrapped my arms around her from behind, not waiting for an answer. My wolf was instantly soothed at the feel of her, the way her scent filled my nose.

She stiffened at first, but then I realized it was because she was holding in a sob. Landry instantly hopped down and sandwiched her from the front. She pressed her face into his shoulder and let it go.

My wolf howled right along with her crying. No shifter liked to see his mate in tears. It ripped at our need to be the protector, but I had a feeling these tears were as much cathartic as anything else.

I stroked her sides and kissed along her neck as I murmured my apologies over and over. “I’m sorry, beautiful. We never meant to hurt you. That’s the last thing we’d ever want. We were just trying to balance our duty to the pack with our loyalty to you, and we made a mistake. We should have trusted you one hundred percent.”

Caitlyn gathered herself and lifted her head. Her face was red and splotchy, and a tear slid down her cheek. “Do you trust me now?”

Fuck, I hated hearing that waver in her voice.

“Yes,” Landry answered without hesitation, and at the same time, I answered, “Absolutely.”