Megan’s Mates
Wolf Clan Shifters, #2
by Ann Gimpel
Release Date: April 18th 2016
Dream Shadow Press
Genre: Shifter Ménage Romance
One virgin + two wolf shifters = e-reader ecstasy.
The phone jangled
again. Loud and strident, it made Les’ sensitive lupine hearing ache. It took
him a moment to realize he needed his human form to make the noise go away. He’d
tried to ignore the damned thing, but whoever was calling wouldn’t give up.
Every time he ventured near the house, it was ringing. With an aggravated
growl, he commanded his body to shift.
As soon as he had
feet rather than paws, he strode through the door of his cabin deep in the
woods, jaw tight with annoyance. The remote location a few miles outside Rocky
Mountain House often lost phone service for long periods of time.
“Yes and too bad this
isn’t one of them,” he muttered, snatched up the receiver, and barked, “Yes,
I’m here.”
“It’s about damned
time. I’ve been trying to get hold of you for days.”
Les’ eyes widened.
“Jed?”
“Who the hell else?”
Les brayed laughter.
“Good point. It’s not as if very many people have this number. What’s up, boss?
I thought you were coming my way months ago. The boys and I wondered what
happened.”
“Now that I have your
attention, hang up.” Jed’s voice held a sharp edge that Les remembered all too
well. “We’ll do this a more private way.”
“You got it.” Les
dropped the black receiver back into place. He kicked the door shut to keep the
cold breeze out. It didn’t bother him as a wolf, but he was naked, and the air
had a chill edge to it. He trotted into the bedroom and had begun to dress when
Jed’s voice sounded in his mind.
“Where the hell have
you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for a week.”
Les sank onto the bed
and pulled a quilt over his still-bare legs as he considered where to start.
Jed was clan leader for wolf shifters. He needed all the information Les could
provide. “First off, we’re all still okay.”
“That’s a relief.
When I couldn’t raise you, I was afraid Hunters had killed everyone. Made me
half-crazy not to know anything. Anyway, we pulled into Calgary last night, so
I’m finally close enough to use telepathy.”
“Is your new mate
with you?”
“Affirmative. Bron,
Terin, and Alice are with me.” Jed blew out a breath. “You may have heard
through the grapevine, we’d originally decided to come north as part of our
wedding trip, but Hunters nabbed half a dozen of us in northern California. It
took a major offensive to free our people. Even so, we lost a couple.”
Les nodded, and then
realized Jed couldn’t see him. “Yes, I know. We’ve had problems of our own.
Hunters almost got your cousins, Ron and Chris. We killed them, and I’m still
waiting for the fallout on that one since we also killed the whole posse that
came afterward, hunting for their fallen companions. All five of them.”
“How many total? Was
there any choice?” Jed’s voice was stern as he peppered Les with questions.
“Seven. No, no
choice.” Anger tightened Les’ muscles. He’d like to kill every goddamned Hunter
in the universe, but he wasn’t about to tell Jed that. And there hadn’t been
any choice, not really. They’d been surrounded. The only thing that saved them
was taking a firm offensive position.
Jed broke into Les’
thoughts. “What’d you do with the bodies?”
“Don’t worry, boss.
No one will ever find them. We dragged them to the very bottom of a cave system
where there’s a vent to an upper cave and burned them.”
“How long ago?”
Les thought about it.
He’d spent much of the last month as a wolf, which skewed his time sense.
“Maybe a week.”
“You still haven’t
told me why you weren’t answering your phone.”
“We’ve all been in
our wolf forms. There’s a fire burning out of control between our pack and the
crest of the Rockies. A couple of the cabins farther west incinerated—”
“Humph,” Jed
interrupted, obviously not concerned about an out-of-control wildfire. “Any of
you find mates yet?”
“What do you think?
It’s not as if the odds are in our favor.”
“Maybe Alice can
change that. Women trust her. She’s actually scared up three mates since she
joined Bron, Terin, and me.” A hesitation. “How close did you say that fire
was?”
“My cabin’s not in
any immediate danger. It’s fall and I’m expecting it to rain soon.” Les
scratched at month-old beard growth on his chin. “It’s pretty primitive here,
boss. Nothing like your digs in Hollywood.”
A different voice
sounded in his head, rich, vibrant, and definitely female. “I’ve been listening
in. Shameless of me not to have said something earlier. Don’t worry about me.
My life was a whole lot simpler before I met up with Jed and my other two
mates. Besides, I’m looking forward to meeting the clan members here in
Alberta.”
Les’ mouth twitched
into half a smile. “You must be Alice. We’ve heard a lot about you. Are you
really six feet tall?”
Alice snorted, making
Les wish he’d kept his mouth shut. After all, Alice was mated to his clan
leader. “How about if we leave the details open, and you can see for yourself
when we get there? Jed says it’s a four or five hour drive, and we should
arrive sometime tomorrow. Is there anything we need to bring from the big
city?”
Les gazed around his
one-bedroom cabin as if he expected a grocery list to materialize. He cleared
his throat before remembering he didn’t need his actual voice. “Um, we’ve been
pretty much living off the land this past month, so anything you bring would be
welcome.”
“I get the picture.”
Jed broke in with a laugh. “We’ll fill up the trunk and the rest of the back
seat.”
Les couldn’t help
himself. “Who gets to sit next to Alice?”
Female chuckling made
his heart lighter than it had been in a long time.
“Oh, they fuss and
snarl a bit, but they sort of take turns. It’s nice actually, to have three
doting mates.”
“I’m sure it is.” Les
brushed a wave of sadness aside. He’d love to have a woman to fuss over,
alongside Karl, his pack mate. They’d hunted for years for a female to grace
their lives without success after their first mate died in childbirth in the
1600s. A few promising candidates crossed their path when they’d lived in
Edmonton, but Hunters had driven them out of the city fifty years before.
“We’ll be there by
tomorrow afternoon.” Jed’s voice was gruff, and Les figured his clan leader
could read his mind.
“I’ll alert the
troops, boss. Everyone will be really glad to see all of you. And to meet your
mate.”
Les waited, but a
certain emptiness told him Jed had signed off. He shoved the quilt aside,
finished dressing, and called Karl through their telepathic link. It didn’t
take long before paws scrabbled against the door, and Les remembered he’d shut
it. By the time he crossed the small space and pulled the door open, Karl had
found his human form and stood shivering, arms wrapped around his tall, spare
frame. Black hair hung to his waist in tangles.
“Thanks. Damned cold
out here.” The wolf shifter bounded into the room, giving the door a shove as
he passed through it. “What’s up?”
“Jed’s here.” Les
spread his arms wide and rolled his eyes. “Along with his lieutenants and their
new mate. We’ve got to clean this place up.”
“Why? It’s always
been good enough for us.”
Les slugged him in
the arm. “You weren’t listening. Jed’s mate will be here.”
“Oh, I get it.” Karl
chortled, his dark eyes gleaming with glee. “Maybe if we didn’t do anything,
she’d take pity on us and—”
“Right. Find some
clothes, and we’ll get to work. I don’t think Jed, Terin, or Bron will want
their new mate waiting on the likes of us.”
Karl sprinted for his
sleeping alcove toward the rear of the log cabin’s main room. Drawers banged
open. “Fire’s getting closer,” he called over one shoulder. “Maybe it would be
better for all of us to get together in Red Deer.”
Les considered it.
“Nope. Too soon since we axed those Hunters. That’s where they were from—there
and Edmonton. I don’t want any friendly sheriff asking questions if they
discover we live out here. Are you sure the fire’s closer? Maybe the wind just
shifted direction.”
“It’s definitely
closer. The smoke’s thicker, and I can actually hear it burning from the rise a
couple miles west of here. At least my wolf can.” Karl slid his legs into
trousers and pulled a sweater over his head before shoving his feet into an
ancient pair of sheepskin slippers. He turned to Les. “Where do you think we
should start? Come to think of it, when do you want to alert the rest of the
clan, or should I do that?”
“We can take care of
that later tonight. How about if you work on the dishes? I’ll sweep and get the
kettle going for laundry.”
Karl strode to the
sink and pumped the handle for water. “Eww.” He wrinkled his nose. “How long
have these plates been here?”
“Does it matter?” Les
lugged a large, cast iron kettle in through the back door and hefted it onto a
wood-burning stove. He opened the firebox door, levered a pocket knife out of
his pants, and started shaving tinder. “Let’s warm some water. That should
help.” As he worked, Les dialed in his lupine senses and scented fresh air
coming through the back door. It was indeed tinged with smoke. What bad timing
for a major fire. If it drove them into one of the nearby towns, they’d risk
discovery because Hunters could scent them.
“Les?”
He looked up from his
half-built fire. “Um-hum.”
“Maybe it’s time to
move on.”
“No!” Les banged a
fist down on his thigh. “I’m sick of running. If the fire gets this far, we’ll
come back when it’s over and rebuild.”
“But we’ll never find
a mate out here.”
“Just do the damned
dishes. We’ve got enough problems without adding to them.”…
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