PackOfHerOwn

Gwen
Campbell

Book three of Western Wolves

Helen thought a vacation visiting her BFF in Wyoming would
be fun. And those werewolf guys were über-delicious. Too bad car vs. elk never
turns out well for the humans in the car. Helen’s only chance at survival is a
bite that will save her life…and change her forever. Now she has to deal with
single males looking to get to know the pack’s newest female, a best friend who
loves her but has no idea how to help a were who wasn’t born that way, and a
humongous, brown-eyed, sweet-talking were who changed her—and loves her. Dealing
with these males could be harder than learning to walk on four legs.

A
Romantica®
paranormal/werewolf erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

“Thanks for picking me up from the airport, Wally. You saved
me a huge cab fare.”

“Are you nuts? Let the best friend of my pack’s Alpha Female
take a cab?”

Helen grinned at the humongous guy in the driver’s seat. The
Wyoming Deputy Sheriff coat he was wearing made him look extra big.

“Fina says you’re studying organic chemistry. Do you like
it?” Wally asked.

“I love it. I’d like to work in the food industry someday.”
Helen blushed. “Don’t get me started talking about school. I’m boring and nerdy
when I do.”

“I’m far from bored,” he insisted. “I love food.” He patted the
tight stomach beneath his uniform. “And, nerdy or not, you’re still pretty.
While you’re here, if it’s okay, I’ll call you. Maybe you’ll invite me over or
we could go out.”

“I’d like that.” She examined his profile. “So you’re really
a werewolf, huh?”

“Natural born.” He winked, then turned onto a side road
crowded by tall pines. “All that time you were growing up together, you never
suspected Fina was a were?”

“It never came up,” she answered dryly. “Not until…” Her
voice faded.

“Not until those rogues back in Tennessee kidnapped you last
spring to force Fina to come back.” His hands tightened on the wheel and his
knuckles cracked ominously.

Helen nodded. “Thank you for coming to rescue me.”

“Wasn’t just me. Hell, every male in the pack fought for a
spot to come help.”

Wally wasn’t handsome. The angles of his face were too
severe. Still, they were tempered by an easygoing kindness reflected in his
brown eyes. “We’ll be at Fina’s place in twenty minutes or so,” he said in a
brighter tone. “How do you like Wyoming so—”

The humor on Wally’s face disappeared so fast, Helen stared
at him. That’s when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the elk running onto
the road. She felt a sickening lurch of inertia before pain exploded inside her
head.

* * * * *

“Did you
have
to change her?” Fina packed a huge
presence into a tiny frame.

“There was no time and no choice,” Wally whispered. “If I’d
done nothing, she’d be—”

“Will you two stop yelling?” From her hospital bed, Helen
grumbled. Her brow furrowed when she blinked, squinted and focused on the IV in
her hand.

Fina hurried to her friend’s side. “You’re awake, thank God.
Do you remember the accident?”

“I remember an elk. Don’t you people have fences?” She
winced. “Why is everybody yelling? Including me?”

“Um, your hearing is going to be better than it used to be.”
Wally took her hand just as he had in the cab of his demolished pickup truck.
She remembered that. She also remembered the cop presence of mind he’d shown
when he’d crawled over to her in the overturned cab. How he’d tended to her,
called for help.

Wally continued, “You had an intracranial bleed. The doctors
have kept you in a medically induced coma for two days.” He gave her an
encouraging smile. “There’s a cut on your forehead but it’s pretty much healed now.
It’s kind of cute, actually,” he added as he touched her face.

“Okay.” Helen looked up at the ceiling. “How come I feel so
good? And did somebody call my mom?”

“Not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet?”

Wally answered, “You’ll need time to adjust.”

“Adjust to what?”

“Your injuries were bad, Helen. If I’d had any other choice,
I wouldn’t have done it.”

“Done what?” she asked with rising suspicion.

“You were dying,” Fina interrupted, sounding on the verge of
tears. “He saved you.”

With the tips of his fingers, Wally brushed the base of
Helen’s neck. “I bit you, here. I changed you.”

“No. That does
not
mean what I think it does.”

He nodded slowly. “You’re a were. Like us.”

* * * * *

The inside of Fina’s home was comfortable and bright. The
bright part caught Helen off guard, considering the place was made of logs, and
she stood for a moment in front of a massive window looking out over fields, a
barnyard and animal paddocks—one holding black cattle, the other sheep.

Wally came up behind her, took her arm and settled her onto
a big, comfy leather sofa. “You just got out of the hospital. You should rest.”
His voice was a low, determined rumble. In it, her imagination heard the wolf
inside him. Actually, it was kind of sexy…and high-handed.

“Stop fussing,” she complained when he tried to put a
blanket over her legs. “I feel great, which is really weird considering my head
was nothing but watermelon mush three days ago.”

Judging from his expression, the analogy horrified him and
Helen toned down her annoyance. “I’m sorry. This whole accident-healed-werewolf
thing has got me unhinged.”

“Even more than before?” There was laughter and a deliberate
tease in Fina’s voice when she stepped into the room. She directed one of her
mates—Nath, the one with the tan and dimples—to take Helen’s now-battered
suitcase to the guest room.

Helen remembered Nath. He was one of the weres who’d come to
Tennessee to save her from those rogues. Shuddering, Helen remembered their
deranged smiles and the sounds they made when they…turned. Shaking her head,
she realized she was smiling when she thought about strangers coming to her
rescue.

Fina continued, “Seriously though, I’ve never known somebody
who’s been turned. Natural-born weres only.” Fina shrugged, sat down beside
Helen and held her hand like when they’d been little. “I have no frame of
reference for how hard this will be for you. Not being able to help you is
frustrating the hell out of me.”

Helen leaned her head on Fina’s shoulder. “I don’t know
either.” She cleared her throat, hoping her voice would sound less rough. Less…
weak
.
“It’s hard to step back. You know—
grasp
. But I think I’m certain about
one thing. I like being alive.”

Wally let out a sigh rife with unspoken emotion. Without
asking, he sat on her other side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. It
should have felt too intimate. It didn’t. Helen leaned into the unexpected
rightness of the contact and closeness.

“Who the hell am I to force someone else’s basic identity to
change?” He sighed again and looked down at her. “That’s what I’ve been asking
myself ever since the accident. But knowing you’re as happy to be alive as I am
to have you that way makes it a little better.”

“You’re so sweet.”

“Ah shit. Next you’ll be saying I’m a nice guy.”

“Not out loud. Promise.”

“Brat,” he teased back, and gave her shoulders a careful
squeeze.

Grinning, Fina released her hand and stood. “Lunch?” she
asked. “Yes, Wally, I know
you’re
starving. You’re always starving.”

He flashed her what was obviously a rehearsed, innocent
grin.

“Helen?”

“You know, I
am
hungry. Maybe something with beef in
it? No offense to the pretty cows outside.”

Fina laughed and began rummaging around in the refrigerator.
“Steak sandwiches? And I’ve got a hunch you want yours rare.”

Helen felt the corners of her mouth go down. “But I like
mine medium-well. At least, I always used to. How do you know? Is it a wolf
thing?”

“Rare meat is something we all crave. For the rest of us,
being able to assume the shape of our wolves comes with puberty. I’m thinking
your ability is going to come all at once.”

“Sweet Jesus save us. Put that pan down and step away from
the stove.” Nath came back into the room. He held out his hand. Sheepishly,
Fina handed over the cookware and turned to set the table.

“You’ve tasted her cooking?” Helen teased.

“Oh yeah.” With no further comment, except for a faint
shudder, Nath made quick work of setting out rolls, cheese, and began slicing
onions and dropping them into a sauté pan.

The doorbell rang and Fina went to answer it.

“So we hear you’re our newest pack mate.” Two big men,
ranchers from the looks of them, followed Fina into the room.

Helen blinked. They were smiling down at her with more
affection than she was comfortable with and one was holding a big bunch of
flowers. The other was carrying a box of what smelled like fresh-baked goods.

Her mouth watered just a little, and it wasn’t just because
of the smell. Both men were big, with shoulders that would put a linebacker to
shame. They were cute, brown-haired and shared the same blue eyes.

“You’re…” She paused, trying to remember their names. “Josh.
And Simon. You came out to Tennessee last spring when those…” Her voice trailed
off and she shuddered. Would the memory always make her react like that?

“Yes ma’am.” Josh tugged off his Stetson with one hand and
held out the flowers in the other. “Rogues. They’re an abomination. It was a
pure pleasure going out there and sending them back to their maker.” His smile
got broader, revealing white teeth that looked a little too sharp. Maybe that
was just her imagination.

“Our mother’s the finest baker in the county,” Simon said
and set the box on the coffee table. “She sends her regards and said she’d drop
by this evening, if you’re up to having visitors.”

“Notice
you
didn’t ask first,” Wally cut in.

“Aren’t
you
supposed to be at work? Or don’t my tax
dollars pay your cop’s salary?”

Wally stood up so quickly Helen’s eyes missed it. He turned
to the new arrivals and growled, literally.

“Down, boys,” Fina’s voice was low and she spoke
deliberately. Nath stepped up behind her, arms crossed over his chest, and
glared at the three other males. The wooden spoon in his hand lessened his
looming-threat presence a bit, but not much.

“Since Wally changed her, Cutler gave Wally the day off to
help Helen work through the transition.” Cutler was Fina’s other mate and the
local sheriff. He was also this pack’s Alpha—the highest-ranking position, if
Helen remembered correctly. “Play nice or I’ll send you all home.”

The three males glared at each other then, as if by mutual
agreement, backed down. They turned back to Helen and their smiles kicked it up
a few notches.

“You know how to ride?” This was from Simon, who looked to
be the younger brother. “We’ve got some riding stock out at our place. We could
ride over to our parents’ ranch sometime when you’re up for it. Mom’ll put on a
great spread. She’s dying to meet you.”

Smooth as a cat, Josh slipped around Wally, took Helen’s
hand and kissed it. “May I escort you to the table, pretty lady?”

“Huh.” Fina headed back to the kitchen. “Never knew
Dorothea’s sons were that smooth.”

“Why do you think Cutler and I kept you away from them?”
Nath leaned over Fina, kissed her ear then returned to the stove.

When lunch was served, Helen ate three steak sandwiches—two
more than her usual—and couldn’t pack in enough salad and baked beans.

“How come I can eat so much all of a sudden? I was lying in
bed for three days. Shouldn’t I
not
want to eat anything but Jell-O?”
Deliberately, she pushed her plate away, then realized she was staring at it longingly.

“If you were still human, sure,” Wally answered in that
calm, deep voice Helen was beginning to adore. “Your cells are storing energy.
Your body’s instinct now is to keep the reserve it’ll need to facilitate a
change.”

“A change?”

She nodded gratefully when Wally held up the bowl of tomato,
cucumber and Feta salad. He began refilling her plate, as well as topping up
her milk glass. “Human to wolf and back. As a human, and I know you’ve
experienced some of these changes already, your senses are more acute. That’s
the wolf lending its strength to the human.” She ate the rest of the salad with
embarrassing speed, impressed by Wally’s calm, confident manner. She figured he
was probably a really good cop. “Gonna get off my soapbox now but if I could make
any suggestion, it would be to just give yourself a couple of days to get used
to your new abilities. Take it in a little at a time and take the time to
adjust.”

“We’re self-employed so we’d be more than happy to help.”
Josh smiled broadly as he picked up two empty plates. “For starters,” he said
as he paused beside her, “this is nuzzling. It’s a social thing.” Lightly, he
grazed her cheek with his. “It says hi, welcome, and comforts us at the same
time.”

Helen sat up very straight. After the nuzzle, she’d heard
him inhale and felt his breath stir her hair. “You’re smelling me,” she blurted
out. “Why is he smelling me?” She resisted the urge to lift her arm and give
her pit a sniff.

Shaking his head, Wally stood, picked up a serving platter
and, as he walked by, cuffed Josh on the back of the head. “Weres with half a
brain will explain before they shock the hell out of you.” He glared at Josh
then put the platter in the sink. “Humans seek first sensory input through
their eyes. Weres? It’s our noses. When you meet another human, you expect them
to look at your eyes. When you meet another were, you’ll focus on their scent.”
Slowly, telegraphing the move, he held his forearm beneath her nose. “Go ahead.
It doesn’t offend us. We’d expect you to do it.”

Tentatively, Helen took hold of Wally’s wrist and inhaled.

“My scent will tell you my age, health, if I’m mated or
not.”

Wally’s scent was a complex layering and she couldn’t
identify most of the subtleties. It was also delicious. Without thinking about
it, Helen firmed her grip on him and inhaled again.

He looked down at her, cleared his throat and grinned like a
happy, naughty kid. “Fina’s scent will be different, other than the obvious.
She’s mated so you’ll smell her mates too. That mating mark is cell-deep and
permanent…not something casual contact would leave on her skin.” Gently, Wally
maneuvered her clear of the brothers and stood her next to Fina. Fina stood,
hugged her friend, then held herself still without letting go.