Blane flopped onto the large sectional couch in the big room of their two-story farmhouse. The house was similar to many others in the area, but the brothers had made it their own when they’d taken it over after their mother’s passing several years earlier. As often happened in the werewolf community of Forever, their mother’s mates had split apart and moved away. Staying in the house without her had proved too painful for her mates. Although they still remained in contact with them, they realized their fathers had taken mates in other towns and were making new lives. Lives separate from Forever and the pack.
“I’m not proud about it, man.” Blane slumped and crossed his hands behind his head to stare at the ceiling. “Although I don’t regret it, either. What man could resist her? And as her mates, we have even less resistance.”
“Well, it’s not like you didn’t plan on sleeping with her before you went there.” Reese gazed through the pass-through from the kitchen to the big room. Taking two beers from the refrigerator, he joined his brother, handing one beer off to him before settling into the recliner part of the sectional.
“I’d intended to smooth things over with her for your earlier blunder first. Then, once she’d forgiven us for spying on her, I wanted to woo her and give her the romance she deserved.”
“Did you seriously just say woo?” Reese laughed, knowing it would bug Blane. The brothers loved throwing barbs at each other, not to mention a good fight once in a while. Not only were they brothers, they were the best of friends, too.
“Whatever.” Blane sat up and gripped his bottle as though it were a life preserver. “I knew I’d have to tell her why we were watching her, but I didn’t expect her to come right out with the ‘Holms cousins are werewolves’ thing. Hell, she even told me that Deacon Slater is a vampire.”
“And you handled it by taking her to bed?” The flash of jealousy that swept through Reese was a new experience for him. He’d never been jealous of anyone, not even his brother. But the thought of Blane in bed with Charlie churned his gut. He wouldn’t want his brother not to have her, but if he’d had his way, the three of them would’ve had a good time.
“Yeah, I blew it. But I knew she wasn’t ready to hear the old ‘by the way, my brother and I are werewolves and you’re our mate’ speech. So, after a few drinks, I kind of let our connection take us for a ride. What was I supposed to do? Let her throw me out?”
“Well, what’s done is done.” Reese downed his beer and headed to the kitchen for another.
“You, dear brother, have a knack for understatement.” Blane shook his head when Reese offered him another bottle. “The question now is where do we go from here?”
“Beats the hell out of me. You’re the twin with the solutions.” Reese knew he was just as smart as Blane, but Blane had a knack—at least most of the time—for getting them what they wanted.
“A lot of good you are.” Blane pushed himself off the sofa and got himself the second beer he’d turned down earlier. He’d just uncapped the bottle when his phone rang. “This is Blane.”
Blane straightened up, signaling that the call was important. Sensing the call wasn’t about the bar or the ranch, Reese stalked over to his brother and shifted just enough to bring out his werewolf hearing so he could hear both sides of the conversation.
“Charlie, slow down. I don’t think it’s a good idea. How about we get together and talk about—”
“No. I’m going to their ranch with or without you. You told Reese, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, he knows.”
Reese tilted his head in question and mouthed the words, “How did she get your number?”
Blane waved his question off, keeping his concentration on the phone call. “Why not give Shannon a call and ask to come see her?”
“She might say no. Or be told to say no. Besides, these guys aren’t going to show their true natures if they know I’m there.”
“But they already know you’re in town. If they’re what you say they are, they’re going to stay on their toes until they know you’re gone for good.”
The vexation sifting through the phone’s speaker was almost tangible. Their mate was a lot of wonderful things, but she didn’t have much in the way of patience.
“Look, Blane, you can either meet me or not. You can bring Reese if you want. Alone or together, either way is fine with me, but I’m starting to care less if you come along. As they say around these parts, ‘Daylight’s a-burning,’ and I’ve got a job to do.”