Alyssa’s Wolves(7)

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.

At twenty-four, he was just now out of school and job hunting. Somehow that made Wells feel that his time wasn’t valuable at the moment, and he’d been sent to track Alyssa and report back. Tyler shivered, a chill running down his back when he considered the ramifications of telling Wells Alyssa was not mated. Lord knew what that jackass would do.

Didn’t matter now. He’d never tell Wells a thing. His sudden moment of clarity between the trees was expanding by the second.

The women were easy to follow. There were four of them, all dolled up for an evening of entertainment. One was hugely pregnant. They were so carefree. Giggling. Joking. Without a care in the world.

With no haste, the women ambled toward the arena and headed to their seats—not without stopping at numerous booths outside to ogle over various knickknacks, cowboy hats, western wear, and jewelry.