Alyssa's Wolves (Wolf Masters, Book 4)(7)

Tyler slumped against the tree next to him. God, he couldn’t do this. Fuck Fredrick Wells. The leader of his pack would just have to go screw himself.

The women climbed into a shiny new black F150 and headed down the gravel driveway toward the main road.

Tyler nearly forgot his mission—to track Alyssa and verify she was indeed mated to Michael Masters. Why his pack leader had a sudden renewed interest in Alyssa was a mystery, but now that Tyler stood here, staring at the back of the truck loaded with the women, a chill went down his spine. Did Wells still intend to force her to mate with Dwight?

Scrambling toward the rental car he’d hidden off the road, Tyler tripped over several roots, berating himself for growing lax. Hell, he was hungry and thirsty and tired. The bottles of water he’d brought and the various snacks had long since disappeared. Adrenaline led him to the car and caused him to start the engine moments after the black truck passed his location.

His mind was made up. Why the hell are you still following her? He just wanted to see for himself, get a closer look. Perhaps he could live vicariously through her for just a few minutes if he could just get near enough.

It hadn’t occurred to him he might lie. In actuality, he’d assumed it would be easy to prove she was claimed, and he could return home mission accomplished. At this point he could see he wasn’t going to prove anything. He hadn’t seen anyone who appeared to be her mate. He suspected these women were the mates of Michael’s brothers. A lot of men had come and gone from the house in the last two days, but there was no way for Tyler to know if any of them were actually mated to Alyssa.

He’d done his research, more than Fredrick had given him and more even than was required for this task. So many shifters and their spouses lived at this dairy farm he could barely keep up with all of them. Tyler would never be able to recognize a soul from the Masters family. There were too many. Michael had three older brothers and an older sister. And to make matters even more confusing, all three brothers shared their mates with another man.

Granted, they didn’t all seem to live in this precise ranch house, but that was a hell of a lot of men for one family.

Alyssa, however, had been easy to spot. She stood out even among the other mates with her long, light-colored hair and even lighter skin tone. Where was her mate?

Tyler kept a short distance between him and the F150. Thank goodness he’d rented a non-descript, small, white, two-door sedan. Hopefully no one would notice him or care to pay attention.

The women drove about ten miles before turning onto another highway and then almost immediately exiting to the right.

Easy. And their destination made him grin from ear to ear. A small county rodeo. Perfect. He could follow them at a short distance in the crowd, spy on Alyssa, maybe even eavesdrop on a conversation between the women. And then he could get out of town as fast as possible, return to Oklahoma, lie to Wells about what he’d seen, and go on with his life.

No way in hell was he going to jeopardize Alyssa’s happiness by reporting back to his pack that she wasn’t mated. Now that he’d seen her, he didn’t give a fuck whether she was mated or not. She looked fantastic, and these people had done that to her.

The women parked and headed toward a ticket booth. Tyler angled his car into a spot not far from theirs and followed at a distance. He didn’t want to give himself away. He found himself drawn to the blonde beauty. How had he never noticed how gorgeous she was before? He’d grown up seeing her frequently at pack meetings.

Because she’d been barely more than a child when she left. And noticing her would have done him not one iota of good. She’d been promised to Dwight Wells since birth.

She wasn’t a child now, however. She was most definitely a grown woman. When she tipped her head back to laugh at something one of the other women said, Tyler gasped. She was not just a woman. She was sexy as hell. Her hair flipped behind her, and he found himself wishing he could run his fingers through the silky mass.

Tyler handed two fives to the ticket agent, his hand shaking at the thought of Alyssa mating a man three times her age who already had three wives. How in the hell had Tyler ever thought that way of life was okay?

He entered through the turnstile, staying far enough behind Alyssa to not arouse suspicion. It was crowded enough inside the park that remaining anonymous was not a hardship.

Tyler was one of the lucky ones. Being a man afforded him more privileges within the pack. He’d gone not only to college but also graduate school. No woman was promised to him yet. Little wonder since there weren’t enough to go around with several men having more than one female mate. Since he’d not felt connected to any girl or woman within the pack in his life, he didn’t give a hoot he’d not been arranged to mate with one. Relieved was a better word.