Carter Finds Two Mates [Pack Law 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Crag eased his softening cock from his anus, and Carter rolled onto his side. Crag lay down beside him and stared into his eyes. “I can feel you in here.” Carter placed a hand over his heart, and then a finger to his temple. “And here.”

  The man who now held his heart reached up and threaded their fingers together. “I want that, too.” Crag bared his neck to Carter in what he suspected was a rare form of submissiveness. “Mark me, mate.”

  Carter moved close to Crag, licked the skin where his neck and shoulder met, called to his wolf, and then sank his canines deep. Crag roared, and his cock jerked against his stomach, releasing his seed and marking Carter with his scent. Carter couldn’t believe he’d done the same thing. He’d been spent until he’d licked Crag’s neck, and within a second he was raring to go again. He suspected that sort of thing only happened between mates, because it had always taken him time to recover after climaxing.

  “I love you, Carter.”

  “I love you, too, Crag.”

  Chapter Three

  Crag was settling in fine in the Friess Pack. He had been mated for two weeks, and he couldn’t imagine his life without Carter by his side. The only thing that would make things more perfect was if they had a female mate, too. Not that he was complaining. He loved Carter more than his own life. His mate was a gentle soul, but Crag knew he would defend anyone in need without any hesitation. Besides their size and pack ranking, they had a lot in common and didn’t have to explain how lonely they’d been even with an abundance of family surrounding them. Carter already knew exactly how he felt.

  He was now working with Carter at the Aztec Club. He was a bouncer as well as a bar attendant. It was a good way to interact with his mate’s family away from the den. Crag had also been accepted into the pack as another Beta, and although Carter hadn’t intended on working his way up in the ranks, his mate’s status now matched his. He knew that if Carter was needed for protection, he would be there by his side.

  Crag really liked the Alphas of the Friess Pack. Jonah, Mikhail, and Brock Friess were very fair leaders, and they also listened to the opinions of the rest of the pack. He’d also learned that the Friess Alphas, especially Jonah, were able to control everyone with their voices if they needed to. As far as he knew, Joe and Bill Reynolds didn’t have that ability. He was sure if they did, they would have used it. There had been a couple situations back home where his previous Alphas had had to step in and calm down fraught situations, and it had taken their leaders to blood their members, nipping and drawing blood from the wayward pack member to regain control. His previous Alphas had had to assert their dominance over a couple of the cocky younger Omegas when they’d gotten too big for their boots and put them back in their place. Of course since that had happened, those pack members hadn’t taken another step out of line. Crag had also been told by Carter that all the men with human mates were able to control their women by the power of their voices, too, but only after they were mated. He had been pleased to learn that none of the wolves let that power go to their heads and only ever used their voices if their mates were in danger. This controlling was called Pack Law by all the pack members, and Crag was curious to see that power in play and wondered if he would have that ability, too, now that he was mated with Carter.

  Crag finished filling the drink order and passed them across the bar then took the money to the till. Just as he handed over the change, the door to the club opened.

  Everything around him diminished. The noise, the people, everything. All his concentration was on the woman who had just walked in the door. She was a tiny thing, at least compared to him. She stood at around five foot six, and she was slim but curvy. She was glancing around the room and had her profile to him, but from what he could see, she was absolutely stunning. The woman had shoulder-length, wavy brown hair, and her skin was a creamy white. When she turned toward the bar, a deep growl formed in his chest and rumbled out of his mouth. No one but a wolf would have heard that sound, and it was really hard for him to contain the roar that was building up in his chest, but he swallowed it down. His wolf was so close to the surface he was struggling to control his animal, too.

  One side of her face was battered, bruised, and swollen, and Crag wanted to jump over the bar, ask her who had hurt her, and then rip the fucker’s head off, but all he did was clench his fists until all his knuckles cracked.

  She took a step toward the bar, hesitated a moment, pushed her shoulders back, and then started walking again. She sat on an empty stool, and that’s when her scent drifted to his nostrils. The smell was so intoxicating. He inhaled deeply and took it into his lungs. She smelled like fresh air, sunshine, and honeysuckle, and he knew that she was mate to him and Carter.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off of her to look at his other mate, but he should have known that Carter would pick up her scent, too. Carter’s voice echoed in his mind on their private mate link. “Mate.”

  “Yes. Mate. She’s hurt, Carter.”

  “I see. We have to be careful with her, Crag. If that was done to her by a man, then she’s going to be skittish.”

  “I know. Why don’t you serve her? She’ll relate to your gentleness. I’m worried I’ll scare her away with my dominance.”

  “You’re not that bad.”

  “I can be.”

  “I know.” Carter glanced at Crag, smiled, and waggled his eyebrows.

  Crag loved how the playful side of Carter’s personality had come out since they’d been mated. He was such a kind, loving man.

  “Hi, honey. What can I get you?” Carter asked their human mate.

  “White wine, please.”

  “Is chardonnay okay?”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  Carter poured her drink and then placed the glass on the bar in front of her. “How much do I owe you?”

  “It’s on the house, honey.”

  She looked up at Carter warily and must have seen or felt Crag watching her, too. When her gaze fell on him, her eyes widened as she took in his size, and then she quickly looked away again.

  “How much for the drink?”

  It looked like their mate was going to be stubborn. She met Carter’s stare dead-on and didn’t look away. Carter relaxed his tense pose and sighed, then told her the amount for the drink.

  “Why wouldn’t you accept me buying you a drink?” Carter asked, and Crag thought he was pushing too hard. Normally his mate was really easygoing, but it seemed this little woman had Carter by the balls already, just as she did him as well.

  “I don’t accept drinks from strangers.”

  “Fair enough, too, little one,” Crag said. “You can’t be too careful in this day and age. There are so many crazies living amongst us.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” she muttered.

  Crag knew that he and Carter weren’t supposed to have heard that, but with their wolf senses, they had received it loud and clear. He could tell by the look on Carter’s face that his mate was about to ask what had happened to her, but Crag gave a slight shake of his head.

  Carter held his hand out toward her. “My name is Carter Friess, and this is Crag Reynolds.”

  Their human female mate eyed Carter’s hand, and then she sighed as if in resignation and clasped his hand. If Crag hadn’t been watching so closely or hadn’t gotten to know Carter as well as he had, he might have missed the slight shudder rip through Carter’s body.

  “Pleased to meet you, Carter. My name is Tammy Adams.”

  “I like your name, darlin’. It suits you.” Crag held out his hand and was pleased to see that she didn’t hesitate this time. He kept his face stoic, or at least he hoped he did, but the sparks of electricity flowing through his body went straight to his old fella. His cock went from semi-hard to full-mast in point two seconds, and he was pleased to note that Tammy wasn’t unaffected either. She’d inhaled deeply when both he and Carter had held her hand.

  “Where are you from?” Tammy asked. “I’m sure I’ve heard that accen
t before, but I can’t quite place it.”

  “I’m an Aussie, darlin’. I come from the land down under.” Crag smiled and wondered if she knew that he was quoting the lines from a Men at Work song. The rest of the line ran through his mind. Where women glow and men plunder. He doubted it very much.

  “Ooh, I’ve always wanted to go there. Are you here on a working visa?”

  “Nope, I’ve applied for residency. My good friend Carter here was kind enough to give me a character witness, and as far as I know everything is just hunky dory.”

  “Well, that’s good.” Tammy brushed a strand of hair back from her face and winced when her hand connected with the bruise on her cheek. It looked like she’d had quite the shiner, too, but the swelling was going down and the bruises were beginning to change color.

  “What did you do?” Crag asked and then cursed under his breath. He hadn’t meant to ask that and hoped he didn’t make her wary of him and Carter all over again. Tammy had just started to relax.

  “Ran into a brick wall,” she replied then muttered under her breath, “with some help.”

  Crag glanced at Carter and saw that his muscles had tensed, but neither of them let Tammy know they’d heard the last part of her statement.

  “That must have hurt.”

  “You have no idea.” Tammy picked up her wine glass, and that’s when he noticed the bruising around her wrists.

  He called on his wolf, and the bruising came into better focus. Those were finger marks around her wrists. Crag wanted to howl with rage and was barely keeping it together. His wolf was too close to the surface now and was pushing at him to claim his other mate. If he didn’t get himself under control, he was going to start sprouting fur. His canines had already lengthened in his mouth, and drool was pooling there, too.

  “I need a moment.” Crag moved toward the hallway off the end of the bar and headed toward the office in back.

  “You okay, mate?” Carter asked.

  “Yeah. Did you see those fucking bruises on her wrists?”

  “Fuck! No, not until you just pointed them out to me. God, I wonder who hurt her. Shit, I think she’s hurt on some other part of her body, too, because she just winced as she shifted on her seat.”

  “How the hell are we going to be able to court her?” Crag asked.

  “I have no idea, man, but if you come up with something, you’d better tell me fast.”

  “Why? Does she look like she’s going to leave?”

  “No, but what if she’s just passing through?” Carter asked.

  “Shit. Maybe we should ply her with wine,” Crag suggested and then sighed. “No, sorry. I can’t believe I said that.”

  “We can’t force her to stay if she doesn’t want to.”

  “You think I don’t know that?”

  “Calm down, Crag. Get your wolf under control and then get back out here. Maybe between the two of us we can offer her a wild night. If she accepts, we make sure to blow her mind and then hope like hell she’s addicted enough to stay.”

  “Hey, you might be onto something there. I think your suggestion was just what my wolf needed to help calm it down. Wild sex will surely go a long way in taming the savage beast.”

  “There is nothing savage about you, Crag.”

  “You haven’t seen me in a full-blown rage yet.”

  “And I’m not likely to. You’ll only let that temper out if something happened to me or Tammy. You were still able to control your animal enough that she didn’t see anything.”

  “Well, thank Christ for that. The last thing I want to do is send our woman screaming into the night. And that’s another thing. How are we going to tell her that we’re werewolves?”

  “We don’t. At least not yet. If she agrees to the sex, we give it to her. She’s going to need time to get used to us before we tell her about our wolves.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  Carter snorted. “Of course I am.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head, cobber.”

  “Cobber?”

  “Another word for mate, or buddy.”

  Crag hurried back to the bar and was pleased to note that Tammy’s eyes followed both him and Carter as they worked. In fact, over the next half hour she hardly ever took her eyes off of them.

  That had to be a good sign. Didn’t it? God, I fucking hope so.

  “Do you want another one of those, sweetheart?” Carter asked.

  “Yes. It’s really nice wine. Thank you, Carter.”

  “You’re welcome, honey.” Carter poured Tammy another glass and then handed it to her.

  “Where do you hail from, Tammy?” Crag asked.

  “Durango, Colorado.”

  “What brings you to Aztec?” Carter asked after he filled a drink order and put the money in the till.

  Tammy shifted on her seat, glanced away, and then looked to Crag before meeting Carter’s eyes again. “I just needed some time out. I got in my car to go for a drive and ended up here.”

  “She’s prevaricating,” Carter said.

  “Yeah, I can tell.”

  “Wasn’t that a long way to come?” Crag asked.

  Tammy laughed, and the sound of her humor was light and joyous and went straight to Crag’s heart.

  “No.”

  “Durango’s just over forty minutes away,” Carter explained.

  “Oh. Looks like I’ll have to touch up on my Geography.” Crag smiled. “You’re very pretty.”

  Tammy blushed and looked down at the gleaming wood surface of the bar, but she was smiling.

  “What do you do for a crust, Tammy?” Crag asked.

  “A what?”

  “For a living?”

  “Oh. I work in an office. What about you? Oh, that was a dumb question.” Tammy shrugged her shoulders.

  “Nah,” Crag said. “A lot of people take on more than one job in this day and age, but I am in security and the bar,” Crag replied.

  “Carter?”

  “Same.”

  “I can really see you guys in security. I mean, with those bulging muscles and all, I don’t see either of you having trouble controlling anyone if they got out of hand.”

  “You like our muscles?” Crag flexed his bicep and nearly smiled when Tammy sighed and shifted on her stool. He inhaled deeply and then had to bite back a groan of need when he smelled her scent. The fresh forest and honeysuckle was so delectable, but more so the scent of her arousal. She definitely liked what she saw.

  Now all he and Carter had to do was convince her to come back to the pack house with them.

  Chapter Four

  Carter was so excited he was barely keeping it together. Even though he’d loved Crag from the start, he’d felt like something was still missing, and she was sitting right in front of them. He hated that she was bruised and hurting, and he was having a hard time keeping his wolf at bay. Every now and then he had to push his animal back real hard so his wolf wouldn’t get the upper hand. He just hoped like hell she hadn’t noticed that his eyes were changing color when he struggled with his beast, although he’d made sure to look away when that happened.

  When she stared transfixed at Crag’s huge, flexing biceps and he smelled her arousal when she shifted on her stool, he nearly lost it. His first thought was to jump the counter, take her into his arms, and ravish her mouth. He’d even taken a step and placed his hand on the bar before he managed to control his first instinct. It had been a near thing, and he was glad he had been able to control his urge. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off before she got to know them.

  “Show me yours, Carter.”

  He nearly choked on his own saliva when that sexy voice grabbed hold of his aching cock. It was only when Crag nudged him out of his sexual trance that he remembered what they had been talking about.

  He gave her a grin and waggled his eyebrows before lifting both his arms in a body builder’s pose and flexing his muscles. She sighed and then licked her lips as he moved them for her v
isual display.

  “Can I have another glass of wine?” Tammy asked after finally dragging her eyes from his muscles.

  “Are you driving back home tonight, sweetheart?” Carter asked. “I don’t want you to drive if you’ve been drinking.”

  “I’ll just sleep right here.” Tammy smiled, albeit a little sadly.

  Carter really wanted to know who had hurt her so he could hunt the fucker down and beat the shit out of him, but he also wanted her to come home with him and Crag. He needed time to be able to woo his mate into his heart and bed.

  “You could always come and stay in our spare bedroom,” Carter suggested but didn’t look at her while he filled another order. The last thing he wanted was for her to see the desire in his eyes or the desperation he was feeling.

  “Careful, mate. Don’t push too hard, too fast. We don’t want her leaving.”

  “You think I don’t know that, Crag?” Carter met his gaze and then glanced at Tammy. She had a frown on her face, and her head was tilted to the side as if she was seriously contemplating his suggestion.

  “Fuck, she’s beautiful.” Carter sighed.

  “Yes, she is. I can’t wait to kiss her. My wolf is pushing to claim her.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “You know what?” Tammy asked.

  “No. What?” Carter countered.

  “I think that your suggestion is a really good one. I never intended to drink wine in the first place. I never drink alcohol and drive. I was in too much pain and thought that one glass would help, but it seemed I needed more than one. Thank you. I’m going to be really daring and accept your offer.” Tammy held up her empty glass. “And since I’m not driving anymore, I’ll have another.”

  Crag’s lips twitched, and Carter felt elation slam into him. She trusted them. Tammy wouldn’t have decided to take them up on the offer of their spare room if she didn’t trust them. Would she?