Page 35 of Doubly Tied

It is enough. They are listening now.His Omega pushed the thought at him, and Brody relented his hold on the Pack. Without the man to temper his dominance, he would be a fucking tyrant and he knew it.

Never that, mate. You are too good to be anything other than a real Alpha, a true leader, and a guiding hand to your people.Ani’s voice whispered into his brain. Pleasure at her words spiked through his blood and he lifted her hand, kissing her palm, before addressing the crowd.

“Now, our Keeper has traced this tradition back a hundred years. It is in our laws,” he said, gold eyes flashing to where Megan and Sam stood, cowering against the wall. When a Wolf challenged a human for the right to mate, they did not fight as Shifters do. They held a special rodeo, and since our mate is human, this is how the challenge shall be met. There will be three events total, ending in a mini cattle drive. The first is a barrel racing, second is calf roping, then the drive. We meet tomorrow at dawn.”

Varying nods of ascension crossed the room as the Pack moved to return to their day to day lives. Mayne called the Guard over and was giving them instructions on how to set up for the rodeo, and Ani was texting her sisters. Brody, however, noticed Sam and Megan deep in conversation.

That was not good. His eyes narrowed and he pushed back on the rage currently trying to blur his vision.

“One more thing,” he added, and the room went still. “Anyone who interferes with the events in any way will have me to deal with.”

***

Later that night…

“Ani?” Brody whispered, kissing his mate’s shoulder as she lay snuggled between him and Mayne.

His mind raced with all the possible outcomes of tomorrow’s events, and, for the first time, the Alpha felt real fear. He could not lose her. It was unthinkable.

“Hmm?” she turned around sleepily and kissed his chest, burrowing into him.

“I love you.”

“Love you too,” she said in a low, sleepy voice.

He and Mayne had taken her countless times during the day. He could feel Mayne’s worry and desperation, and it matched his own, but they were helpless in this. The Big River Pack would be destroyed if Sam Greeves took possession, and they were the only thing stopping him. But if anything happened to her...

No.

It did not bear thinking about.

“Hey, I’ll be okay. I’ve been online all afternoon. I might be a city girl, but I went to a horseback riding camp back in New Jersey when I was a kid,” she tried reassuring him, but damn, that statement did the very opposite.

“Ani, look, I have been thinking about it,” Brody said, nodding at Mayne who was now awake and listening intently. “We have been thinking about it all day. We will step down from our position as the ruling Triad of the Pack. We will leave the ranch and go anywhere you want, do anything else, but this. Then you won’t have to participate—”

Before he could finish his thought, Ani sat up. Her breasts bounced with the movement, and dog that he was, his gaze went right to the plump mounds he’d worshipped with his mouth, teeth, and even his cock only hours before. Just remembering made his dick hard, but now wasn’t the time.

“You are damn straight it’s not the time!” She huffed. “I cannot believe neither of you has any faith in me,” she said, and the tremble in her voice damn near broke his heart.

“Sweetheart, of course we believe in you,” Mayne inserted. “But Megan was born on this ranch. She is a Wolf Shifter and a cowgirl, through and through—”

“And I’m what? A fat nerd who doesn’t know one end of the horse from the other! Gee, thanks guys.” Ani huffed and crawled to the end of the bed, sliding off and stealing the sheet off their bodies, leaving both men nude and trying to apologize.

“You know, fuck you guys. When you told me about turning into furry animals, I believed you. No matter how crazy or ridiculous it seemed. I trusted you. How can you say you love me and not trust me when I say I can do this?”

“Ani, sweetheart, of course we trust in you. We are just so worried. Don’t go,” Mayne begged.

“Yeah right. You’d rather throw away your lives than believe in me,” she said on a sob that damn near broke both their hearts.

Her hurt was like a battering ram, hitting Brody and Mayne over and over again with her misery. And they deserved every shot. Had caused her pain by being jerks. Even if they were only trying to do what they thought was right.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Brody asked.

“I am going to sleep in another room because I have some serious ass to kick tomorrow. No,” she growled and held her hand out when they would’ve followed. “You two asshats are gonna sit here and think about how you should have supported me instead of making plans to run away!”

“But, Ani—”

“I do not want to hear it,” she growled, grabbing the pile of clothes and toiletries they’d gone shopping for earlier that day.

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