Pack Mentality: Myra's Mate Read online

  Pack Mentality: Myra’s Mate

  Julia Talbot

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2006 Julia Talbot

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  ISBN (10) 1-59596-579-3

  ISBN (13) 978-1-59596-579-0

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  Changeling Press LLC

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  Martinsburg, WV 25402-1046

  www.ChangelingPress.com

  Editor: Connie Alberts

  Cover Artist: Sahara Kelly

  This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Chapter 1

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” Colin McGrath said, glancing back and forth between his buddies, Sasha and Liam. Okay, they might be pack, and he had known them since they were teenagers, but they had both clearly lost their minds. Sad.

  “Oh, come on, man,” Sasha said, really pouring on the alpha charm. “Myra’s a really nice girl. She needs a good man to settle with, is all.”

  “Yeah. She really, really does.” Liam was doing earnest and kinda desperate, instead of suave like Sasha. That Irish accent made even needy as fuck sound good.

  “Uh-huh. It’s not my fault that Jenny won’t move in with you until she finds someone for Myra.”

  Jenny was Sasha and Liam’s chick. Both of theirs. That in and of itself was odd, but even odder was Jenny’s refusal to kinda marry the two of them until they found her roommate, Myra, a new living situation.

  “You could at least go out with her,” Sasha said, crowding in on Colin’s left side.

  Liam pressed in on his right, squashing him between their two big bodies. Bastards. They were trying to intimidate him, and it was a good thing he’d never shown his belly or throat to either of them in his youth. Colin could hold his own with pretty much anyone in the pack but the current alpha, Kamen.

  “Look, I’m sure she’s a perfectly nice girl. She’s not one of us, though. Not pack.” Colin tilted his head, listening to them growl over that. “Look what happened to Steve when he went out with her.”

  “You don’t know the whole story on that,” Liam said, sounding pretty growly. “That was mostly Steve’s fault.”

  “Sure.” Sighing, Colin turned off the hiking path and headed down the steps cut into the rock next to Seven Falls, trekking back to the parking lot. Might as well, as his hike was pretty much ruined when the double-headed monster found him. “The answer is still no.”

  Sasha and Liam both looked so crestfallen that he laughed out loud, and managed to do it without malice.

  “Can’t you at least come to supper?” Liam asked. “You can meet her and see if any of the new pack guys you know might want to give her a try.”

  Tilting his head, Colin sniffed for that tiny flash of heat and sweat that would tell him Liam was lying, just trying to set him up. Nothing came across on the breeze, so Colin nodded. “As long as Sasha doesn’t cook, I’ll come,” he said.

  Sasha snorted, but Liam elbowed the man in the ribs. The whoosh of breath from Sasha took away the man’s ability to speak. Thank God.

  “We’ll make lamb,” Liam said. “We’ll see you at Jenny’s place around six?”

  Trotting down the last few steps, Colin clapped Liam on the back before turning and baring his teeth at Sasha. “I’ll be there,” he said. “I don’t trust either of you as far as I can throw you, but I’ll be there.”

  * * *

  Myra could see Jenny watching her out of the corner of her eye. Okay, so she couldn’t blame the woman. She was restless, braiding and unbraiding the same strand of long red hair over and over again. Like a zillion times.

  “What’s up, hon?” Jenny finally asked, catching her eye.

  “Hmm?” Myra glanced away, looking anywhere but at Jenny’s face. “Oh, your toenails need polishing.”

  “Stop evading,” Jenny said, wiggling her toes. “What’s bothering you?”

  Rising, she sort of danced over to the couch and sat, grabbing one of Jenny’s outstretched feet and peering at it. “You could move out, you know. I wouldn’t mind.”

  “Ah. You overheard Sasha, huh?” Jenny shook her head. “No way, no day. We promised neither one of us would go until both of us were settled.”

  Myra dug her thumbs into the bottom of Jenny’s foot. “That was kinda unreasonable, don’t you think?”

  “Your eyebrow is gyrating,” Jenny said.

  Damn. That was always a dead giveaway when she was agitated. Her right eyebrow took on a mind of its own.

  “Anyway,” Jenny went on, “why was it unreasonable?”

  “Well…” Myra dug out the ‘Autumn Bronze’ polish from the end table and moved to sit on the coffee table so she could paint Jenny’s nails. Tag team polishing was way easier than solo. “They bought that new place. Sold both of theirs. It’s just silly for you to be stuck here with me when you need to be moving on with your life.”

  Thin coats of polish adorned three of Jenny’s toenails already. Go her and her steady hands. It was great the way Sasha and Liam had gotten a place out in the middle of nowhere. Right near Jenny’s veterinary clinic. That way all three lovers could get fuzzy when the full moon came and not worry about who might see. All three. Sheesh, some girls had a surplus.

  “I won’t leave you in the lurch, My,” Jenny said, then let out a surprised curse when her cell phone went off, the Barking Jingle Bells ringtone making Myra shout with laughter. “Hello?”

  Myra could clearly hear Liam’s booming, lilting Irish voice on the other end. “‘Lo, darlin’,” he said.

  “Hey, Liam.” Jenny smiled and mouthed ‘Liam’ to her, and Myra rolled her eyes. Duh.

  “You want to come to supper?” Jenny went on while Liam rambled away on the other end of the phone. “You and Sasha and who? Colin?”

  She jerked, painting a line of polish right across the top of Jenny’s foot.

  “Jesus, that’s cold!” Jenny exclaimed, jumping.

  “Sorry,” Myra muttered. “But you tell that big brute of yours that if they’re trying to set me up on a blind date they can’t come over.”

  “Did you hear that, babe?”

  “Uh-huh. So he’s not a candidate, huh?”

  Oh, thank goodness. The kind of guys Sasha and Liam knew were just… too full of shit. She could handle a nice dinner, one with no pressure involved at all.

  Myra nodded when Jenny poked her, and Jenny grinned.

  “You may come, then,” Jenny said. “What time? No, I won’t let My make the main course. I promise there will be meat.”

  Carnivores. Myra sighed. That was what she got for living with pack.

  “Later, babe,” Jenny said. She shivered, her eyes going all dark. “I’ll be waiting.” With that, Jenny flipped the little phone shut.

  “Don’t you guys ever think about anything else?” Myra asked.

  “Huh?” Looking completely unrepentant, Jenny shook her head. “No, we don’t. Though they are coming for supper and bringing a friend. So you should be safe.
”

  “Oh, good.” Finishing up, Myra capped the nail polish and stood, listening happily to all the bells and chains that jangled when she moved. “I heard they don’t want me cooking, but I could do hummus or maybe spinach artichoke dip.”

  “Make both,” Jenny said, licking her lips. “I love your hummus, but Colin is as big as Sasha and Liam, so we’ll need a ton of food. I think Sasha will like this shade.”

  “Liam won’t. He likes you softer.”

  Jenny grimaced. “Yeah. More feminine.”

  Lots of food… “Oh!” she said, bouncing. “I could make baba ganoush. You know how I love my blender and my food processor.”

  Jenny got a sideways kind of look. “You remember Liam’s face when he tried it and you told him it was eggplant?”

  “God, yes.” Giggling, she jingled off toward the kitchen. “So you’ll make rack of lamb and maybe mousse for dessert?”

  “You bet. I know you like my chocolate hazelnut mousse.”

  “I do!” Whirling, Myra gave a little bellydance hip flourish that had Jenny wolf-whistling at her. It would be so much fun to do something together again. Jenny was trying, sure, but she spent most of her time with Liam and Sasha these days.

  Jenny must have been thinking the same thing, because she said, “We have plenty of time. Why don’t we go shopping, put in some real girl time before they come home. That will keep you from making weird smoothies and protein shakes.”

  Myra waited until Jenny was done rooting around for her flip flops before tripping over to give her a big, happy hug. “Thanks, Jen. I was starting to feel like a big old third wheel, you know?”

  “Would that be third or fourth with us?”

  “Hmmm.” Myra pushed her mass of hair back off her face, shrugging. “Something, anyway. Come on. I’ll drive.”

  Jenny hooted. “I don’t think so, My. I love you dearly, but I don’t love you that much.”

  Chapter 2

  Jenny and Myra’s place smelled heavenly. Colin loved lamb. His people were as Scottish as Liam was Irish, so it was probably ancestral memory or whatever, but there it was. Add to that the scents of garlic, olive oil and onions that wafted out of the kitchen, and they had one drooly wolf on their hands. His nose twitched madly, and when he glanced at Liam and Sasha, he could see they were drooling too.

  “Jenny must be a hell of a cook,” Colin said. “That smells amazing.”

  “She is,” Sasha agreed, clapping him on the back. “Yeah, Liam?”

  “Sure,” Liam said. “As long as it’s not the eggplant shit.”

  Bells chimed softly, and Colin looked up to see a red-headed apparition appear from the kitchen. Short, slender, and radiating energy, the woman had to be Myra. Wow. Steve, who had dated her, had never mentioned she was so pretty. Hell, neither had Sasha and Liam.

  She grinned, her late summer green eyes twinkling while she whapped Liam’s arm. “Just because you don’t like organic baba ganoush, you cretin, does not mean I can’t cook. This must be your friend, Colin. Hi there. I’m Myra.”

  She held out one slender, freckled hand, making Colin feel huge and ungainly when he grasped it in one of his big paws. He was starting to feel very guilty for listening to the gossip about her. Myra was lovely.

  “Pleased to meet you,” he finally managed to say. “Something smells good.”

  “Lamb with rosemary potatoes and grilled asparagus,” Myra said, taking her hand back. “Have these two ruffians offered you a drink? I was just about to bring out the appetizers.”

  “They haven’t, but to their credit we all just got here.” Listen to him, defending Sasha and Liam. What next? He’d better watch it or he’d be feeding the jackrabbits out of the kindness of his heart.

  “Well, would you like a beer? Sasha? Liam? Whiskey or beer? Do you like Fat Tire, Colin?”

  She kinda… bustled. Colin watched the sway of her wildly-patterned peasant skirt, feeling utterly bemused. He snapped back to the moment only when Sasha elbowed him in the ribs, making him grunt.

  “A beer is fine,” he said. “Whatever you have.”

  “Cool.” She grinned at him before disappearing into the kitchen. Three trips later, he had a beer, Sasha and Liam had whiskeys and waters, and there were three appetizers laid out in little bowls with doilies beneath them. Even after she set out the bagel chips and pita bread, Myra didn’t seem inclined to light anywhere. At least not until Liam finally stopped her by grabbing a handful of bright, red curls.

  Colin surprised himself by letting out a little growl when Liam touched her.

  Liam didn’t seem to notice, he just kept tugging away. “Come and sit, My,” Liam said. “While I check on Jen.”

  “Oh, that’s a good idea,” Sasha said, rising.

  Myra rolled her eyes. “If you both go in there we’ll never eat.”

  Sasha hooted and punched Liam’s shoulder and they both tumbled out of the room, looking eager as hell. He and Myra were alone.

  She gave him a wry smile that brought up a dimple in her left cheek. “So, did they tell you they weren’t trying to set us up? Because I think we’ve been had.”

  There was a certain forced feeling to it all. “I think so, too,” he said. Of course, the idea held a lot more appeal now than it had earlier in the day. Colin liked the look of Myra just fine, and her husky laugh had him rising to the occasion.

  Steve and his cautionary tales could just be damned.

  “Have I gone all spotty?” she asked, surprising him out of his thoughts.

  “Huh?

  “You’re staring at me like I have two heads. Which, despite popular rumor, is not something I’ve had.” All of the laughter disappeared, and she stared at him, a shrewd expression in her green eyes.

  “Steve never said what you did,” he blurted out. “Just that it was too weird for him. That and something about smoothies.”

  So suave. Jesus, he was an idiot.

  Luckily, she found it more amusing than offensive, if the way her laugh rang out sweet and true could be trusted. “Man, a guy asks you to do something for him and when you do he calls you the weird one.”

  Before he could open his fool mouth to ask her what she’d done, Colin stuffed a carrot stick with hummus on it in there. His eyes watered. Whoa! Garlic. Good thing he was a werewolf and not a vampire or something. The hummus tasted great, though, even with the overload.

  “Well,” he said, “if your smoothies are as good as this hummus, then I’m all for them.” His lips burned like fire. He loved it.

  “Oh, you’d hate them, I bet,” she said, crunching into a celery stick. Her teeth were white and even… And how silly was it to look at her as a potential mate?

  “I’m sure you could make something I’d like.”

  She laughed. “You’re an evil one, aren’t you?”

  He found himself reaching out to push a hand into that mass of hair. The texture was just like he thought it would be, soft and springy.

  Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open, and that was when Jenny and the guys came back in from the kitchen, saving him from being told where to get off he’d bet. Colin moved quickly, settling his hands back in his lap, which looked all prim, and helped him cover up the evidence of his erection.

  “Good appetizers?” Jenny asked, bending to kiss his cheek. Lord. He blushed a little. He liked Jenny a lot, often wishing he’d gotten to her first.

  “Great. How’s the lamb coming?”

  “It just needs to rest,” Jenny answered.

  “Because it’s worked so hard,” Sasha added, dodging a swat from Liam.

  Myra laughed when Jenny whapped Sasha hard, drawing Colin’s attention back to her. Really, her laugh just captivated him.

  All through dinner he alternated between enjoying Myra’s company and wanting to kill Sasha, Liam, or even Jenny for touching and hugging on Myra.

  By the time they got to the chocolate mousse, he and Myra sat close together on the couch, laughing and teasing. It wasn’t until Jen
ny got up to clear the plates that he noticed Sasha and Liam had gone quiet, watching he and Myra like hawks. Or like a pack of hungry wolves.

  When he realized his upper lip had curled up in a silent snarl, Colin decided it was time to act.

  “How do you feel about after dinner coffee, Myra?” he asked. “Somewhere not here?”

  Somewhere like my place, he thought, where we could have wild monkey sex. Or even just rub off like teenagers. He missed Myra’s answer, but the sound made him look up again, only to find Liam and Sasha staring at him hotly, nostrils flaring. Oh, Lord, what kind of pheromone was he putting off?

  “What was that?” he asked her.

  “I said, make it a chai latte and I’m yours.”

  His body surged, and he met Myra’s eyes, her grin telling him she knew exactly what he was thinking. There was no mistaking the deep, feminine curiosity in her eyes.

  “Then let’s go.”

  On his feet in a flash, Colin offered his arm to Myra, leading her right out the front door without so much as a goodbye to the others. Their laughter followed him, but Colin ignored it, completely intent on having Myra to himself.

  Chapter 3

  Myra pretty much floated along next to Colin, her hand resting gently on his arm. They’d had coffee, a chai latte for her, a double shot Americano for him. Now they wandered about downtown Colorado Springs, the sweet, summer night just too good to pass up.

  They ended up at Acacia Park. Both of them unwilling to return to the apartment she shared with Jenny. Heck, Liam and Sasha had probably attacked Jen the minute the door closed behind Myra and Colin with the way Colin was tossing out the hormones.

  It got to her, and her sense of smell wasn’t nearly as good as theirs.

  They sat together on a bench under the trees, darkness shrouding them, hiding them from the street and traffic.

  “So you like belly dancing and your blender. That doesn’t tell me much about you,” Colin was saying, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

  “No? It tells me just as much as you saying you work in construction, and have five brothers and sisters.” She grinned. He was also tall and well-muscled, had gorgeous dark blond hair and blue eyes. He was absolutely charming and a little goofy. Myra approved.