Between Two Wolves (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Menage Werewolf Romance) by Catherine Vale Page B

It goes
back a long, long way in my family, further than even Colt’s claim to his
lands. The deed’s structured in a way that whoever occupies the cabin, as long
as they can prove they’re part of the family, owns the land. Someone was smart,
a long time ago.” He gave me a crooked smile. “Smarter than the average wolf, I
guess. Colt wasn’t so lucky though. Or Weatherly.”
    “My family’s land ended up being taken
over by the state. Eminent domain. Turned Black Wolf into a park. I still think
of it as my land, even though it’s full of hikers and backpackers. Ruffles my
fur to see them, present company excluded.” He squeezed my hand and smiled at
me, and I squeezed back.
    “Thanks for that. So he’s been after you
just because…”
    “Because he could, because he’d gone round
the bend? Because he was jealous, wanted something he thought was better than
what he had? Who knows? Weatherly was just plain crazy, either from isolation
or because he drove himself there, on his own. The man was full of hate.” Colt
shifted on the bed so he was sitting beside me. I moved a little, sharing the
pillows. Jericho took the cue and sat on the other side. Sandwiched between
them, I felt safe and warm and less out of my body than I had. But something
was still off.
    “So Weatherly tried to kill me, right?
With a knife?”
    “Yeah,” Colt said. “We got there too
late…”
    “And saying we’re sorry is never going to
make that better.” Jericho squeezed me, hard enough to almost pull me over. “We
messed up, big time. But we’ll never do that again.”
    “You didn’t get there too late. You got
there in time, or I wouldn’t be here, right?” I touched my neck again. “You
saved me.”
    From the silence between them, I knew
there was more to the story. Colt was the first to say anything.
    “About that…you’re right…we saved you. It
wasn’t exactly what we’d planned, but it was the only way to save your life.”
    Something inside of me clicked, words
that Weatherly had said coming back to me.
    “He said he was going to bite me…bite me,
mark me, make me his.” It sounded like a demented chant. “What did he mean?”
    “Red…” Colt coughed, started again. “Red,
to make someone who isn’t a shifter into one, we bite them. Bite them while
we’re shifted. It…does more than just make you one of us. It also can save
someone. Like you.”
    “Save me? From Weatherly?”
    “No. Save you from dying. Weatherly cut
your throat. You were bleeding to death when we got there. The only way to save
you was to change you.”
    I twisted around, ignoring protests from
both of them. I faced Colt. “You bit me? In that shack?”
    I’d never had anyone look at me like Colt
did. There was a hopelessness to that look, but there was something beneath
that, a stubbornness that said he’d do it again, given the chance. And a lift
to his chin that dared me to challenge what he’d done.
    “You saved my life.” Not a question about
it. No challenge to his actions. His face relaxed, his smile returning. “I’m
one of you now. A shifter?”
    “Yeah. I did. You are.”
    I looked at Jericho. “I’m part of his
clan, right? Not yours. Does that change anything between us?”
    Jericho shook his head, and chuckled. I
could see the look of surprise and relief on his face that of all possible
questions, that was my main one. “It doesn’t have to. I really don’t mind. I
just want to be with you…I don’t care about anything else.” He looked a little
confused. “You seem awfully calm for someone who’s just been told she’s been
bitten by, mated to, and turned into a shifter. Most people, from what I’ve
heard, tend to be a little more…agitated, maybe…with that much information.”
    I sat for a minute, looking out the
window. I could see trees and what I thought was probably the top of Black
Wolf. It was nice, this room, this view. I could do worse.
    “Red? You okay?”
    I looked back at Colt and