Wrangler (Sheppard’s Shadow #3)

Chapter 2

Amber didn’t want to go shopping with the other women. She didn’t even want to hang out with them. They were too much for her nerves. But she was wearing her last pair of panties, and Wills was still wearing the clothing that he came here in. He’d been wearing them since the beginning of the month when she’d found them in the lost and found at work. She looked at Carrie when she said her name.

“We can do this online if you wish. The only issue that I can find for doing that is you don’t know your size. I mean, we can guess, I suppose, but wouldn’t you like to pick out something that made you feel pretty?” She snorted at her. “You don’t think you’re pretty? Or you don’t want to go with me? I find it hard to believe that someone at some point in your life pointed out to you that you’re a beautiful woman.”

“Usually when they’re trying to get into my pants.” She heard the low growl and turned to look at Wrangler as he stared at her. “Well? What was that for? You have something to say to me then use your words. Don’t be using your growls and grunts to get your problem out to me. I’ll smack you around if you do.”

“I don’t like the fact that men wouldn’t get to know you better by talking to you.” She asked him if that was what he was saying with the growling. “No. But I figured that you’d be less pissy with me if I said that instead.”

“Don’t lie to me, Wrangler. Please. Enough people have lied to me all my life, and I don’t know that I could take it from you.” When he stood up, Amber backed away from him. He told her that he’d never hurt her. “Yes, I’ve heard that before, I’m sorry to say. And I’m trying my best to get used to having you around. It’s a bit nerve-wracking at times. To have someone there all the time when I’ve had no one for a great deal longer.”

He didn’t say anything, but he did cock his head. She’s learned quite by accident that when he did that, he was speaking to someone. This morning, when she’d seen him do it, he was talking to his older brother. She didn’t know who it was just now. When he smiled at her, it made her smile back at him.

“The house is finished.” She asked him what he meant. “I explained about the faeries, didn’t I? How they want to please us all the time?” She nodded. “Well, they finished the house. I just heard from Beau. He said that he’s jealous of all the things that are going on with the property that I own out there. That we own, I mean.”

“I don’t own anything.” She asked him if she could go, and he put out his arm as if she was going to take him on a ride or something. Amber asked if Wills would like to go as well, and she was told that he was already there as he’d been hanging out with Beau and Jameson this morning, so he knew what was going on. “He’s acting like we have nothing to be fearful of. Like none of our life was all hit and miss for a long time. I worry about him.”

“He knows that he’s with my brothers and that they’d die before they allowed him to be hurt. Also, the faeries know too to be on the lookout for people wanting to take him or even to harm him.” He looked at her with the strangest smile. “I’d like for you to be that less worried and stressed but I also don’t want anything to happen to you. If you’re watching all the time, however, for the other shoe to drop, you’re going to be old before your time.”

She didn’t like his wording of that, telling her that she was going to be old before her time but he was right. Amber was stressed all the time and hadn’t even been able to sleep well the last two nights for fear of someone coming for them. When Wrangler suddenly stopped moving, she ran into him. Asking him what was happening, he turned to her and put his hands on her shoulder.

“I don’t know how it happened.” She nodded at his whispered voice. “The couple over there, the ones that are looking in our direction. Are they your parents?”

She didn’t want to look and told him that. With a short nod, he pulled her closer into his body and wrapped his hands around her waist. It was then that she knew he was turning her in a direction that no one could see her. Especially not the couple that he’d been talking about. Peaking over his shoulder, she nearly sobbed when she realized that it was indeed her parents.

“All right. We’re not going to move from here for now. I have two faeries that are going to go to them and see if they can figure out what they’re doing. Or how they got here, for that matter.” She told him that she was afraid. “You’re safe right here, Amber. I wasn’t lying to you. Even though I’d never do that, I can’t anyway. But I won’t lie to you and say that I have this. I’m winging it so that I know you’re not harmed.”

She saw Carrie and Sunny coming toward them as they stood there. Nash was coming up behind her parents, and Weston was going to them from the other side. When both men stopped, she’d only just realized that the little people, the very ones that she’d met this morning, were flittering above her parents and watching them.

“Wills? Is he safe?” He told her that he was in their new home, looking around and being as safe as he could be. “Good. We’ll have to tell him that they’re around so he will know, too…how did they get here? They don’t have any money? Nothing to travel in? How the hell did they find us so quickly?”

“I don’t know, but I plan to find out. Just don’t move from my arms.” She nodded and held onto his shirt front. “I have you, Amber. You’ll not be harmed by them today or any other day if I can help it. But you have to believe that I’m going to keep you safe. Both of you.”

She knew the moment that they were out of sight. Wrangler’s arms relaxed, and the little people, the faeries, came back to them. Before she could find out the information that she desperately needed, she was swept up in Wrangler’s arms again and put into an awaiting limo.

“We’re headed to the house.” She nodded, worrying about Wills then. “Your brother is fine, but he wants to see that you are as well. Once I get you to the house, I’m going to come back here with my brothers and we’re going to get you some information. For now, please stay in the house where you can’t be hurt. No one with ill will can enter the house at all. You are the safest there.”

“What about you?” He grinned. It was charming, his look, but she wasn’t in the mood right now. Telling him that, she was happy to say that she’d embarrassed him a little. Enough, she hoped that he’d take her seriously from now on. “Just don’t take any stupid chances with them. They’re evil and will kill you if you get in their way. I know this.”

“We’ll talk about that when I get back. Just…the faeries are going to try and distract you. Allow them that. They stress too much, too. Let them take you through the house, and it’ll be fit to live in when I get back.” She asked him what he wanted in the home. “For you to be happy there.”

The limo slid to a smooth stop. When the door opened, she looked up at Beau and Jameson while they waited for her to come out. She asked them if they were going to keep Wrangler safe, and they both nodded, telling her that they would do whatever it took to keep them all safe. She hoped so. Not that she was used to them all yet, but she wanted to have that privilege to get to know them all.

The house, a wimpy term for the place that she was standing in front of, was huge. It not only looked like something that she’d been dreaming of all her life but there were flowers and bushes with so much color around the place that she wanted to forgo going inside and just walk around the heavenly-scented flowers for a while. It was her brother who dragged her into the massive front door and into the front hall.

“They’re here.” She told him that she’d seen them and that she was just as afraid as he was about it. “I’m not afraid of them anymore, sis. I’m afraid for them. Beau told me that the only way that they’d get through them and to us is if they were to kill them. And they can’t be killed. Sunny made sure that we all can’t die.”

She didn’t know what to think about that. There was just too much going on and way too much at stake for them to just give up on being afraid of them all the time. But once they started going through the house, she decided that she didn’t want to think about them that much.

The front entrance was just like she’d read in books. There was a lovely table in the middle of the room with a vase of the same flowers that were surrounding the house. Leaning over to smell them, she was shocked at how fresh they smelled. Not only that, but the faerie that was in charge of the arrangements, he told her would make sure that she had fresh flowers every day from now on.

There was a long staircase in front of them. At the top of it, there looked to be a cute little sitting area. While she hadn’t ever thought of being able to just sit around reading a book in a long time, she could see herself sitting there with the latest novel in her hands, watching the animals playing in the backyard. It was almost too realistic to resist. But Wills was dragging her around again.

The dining room was larger than anything that she’d ever seen before. The long table with about a dozen chairs down each side seemed to be taking its brightness directly from the sun. The chairs, one at each end with arms, looked like it was fit for a king and queen to hold court over the table and she could almost see the entire family down both sides having a wonderful meal. She was brought more into the room with the sight of the backyard.

There was a large garden just off the room that had stones as its flooring. She’d seen that once when she’d been looking at a magazine. It had a bubbling fountain there as well as flowers all around it. She squealed when she was able to put her hands into the water and found the goldfish swimming lazily in the clear water while she watched. Everything about this part of the yard screamed for one to relax and she thought that if she were to ever come out here stressed, she’d be calmed in no time.

There were other rooms on this floor. The one that she was the most delighted with was the kitchen. It was huge, and while she was standing in the large open area, the stainless steel table that stood in the middle of the room changed into a large butcherblock that had workstations all around it. She went to the sink, pulling a small piece of the herb drying in the window toward her so that she could smell its heady aroma.

“You wish to cook, my lady?” She nodded before she could stop herself. To have such a place to feed your family was something that she had only dreamed about. “There will be staff that starts tomorrow for you and the master of the house. He does cook but he doesn’t like to do it. You seem to vibrate with the need to create.”

“I want to make dinner for us all.” They asked her what she would need to get started and she had to calm herself twice before she was able to speak. “I don’t even know where to begin. It’s been so long since I’ve had someplace that I could cook that I don’t want to mess things up.”

“His lordship would love to see you as such. Your brilliance with your happiness would make him proud to be sure. You tell us what it is you’d like to create and we’ll be sure to have it for you. Also, you should be aware that the refrigerator—mostly for the young master will have whatever you want in it. You need only to think about it, and it’ll be there for you to use.”

The first thing that she wanted to make was an apple pie. She didn’t know where that thought had come from, but the idea blossomed in her mind, and it was all she could think about. By the time she had finished the first of four pies, two apple and two cherry, she was onto making bread in the large bread maker as well as pork chops simmering on the stove for dinner. There were even new red potatoes in the mix that she had already tried twice, having one at the end of a fork for herself.

“Whatcha doing, sis?” She handed a spatula to her brother that was covered in the mixture she was making for stuffing. When his eyes lit up, telling her without words that he loved it, she told him that she was making them all dinner. “I don’t know how many of all you’re cooking for, but those four chops aren’t going to be nearly enough. They’re jaguars, you remember?”

“Then I’ll just have to double things up.” They had so much fun trying to decide what to have for dinner with the chops. Wills asked for Brussel sprouts to go with his part of cooking, and the faeries were able to bring her nearly a half bushel of the beautiful little heads. As Wills was cleaning them up and putting them on a tray, she found more of the pork and began browning them up so she’d have enough for gravy when she was finished.

At six, nearly four hours after she’d entered the room, everything was ready to be eaten. She’d spoken to Carrie and Sunny about coming for dinner and the two of them had arrived not long after she asked them. The men, all six of them, showed up in pairs, and it was Wrangler who came into the house by the back door. He was grinning like a loon, and all she could think about was that she should have asked first.

“No, you shouldn’t have.” She looked at him, asking him if he had read her mind. “No. But you’re projecting your fear of overstepping very loudly. I love this. Coming home for dinner, and my family—including you and Wills here with me to enjoy our first night in the place. I couldn’t be happier. And if dinner tastes half as good as it smells, I’m going to be one fat cat before too much longer.”

Everyone grabbed something to take to the table when she was ready to dish things up. Even the faeries were pouring drinks for them all, and Amber, knowing that they didn’t care for much more than greens and sweets, put them out plates of salad trimmings as well as sugar cubes that she found in the pantry.

By the time they were seated, the table was groaning with the weight of the food and everyone was excited to be having a meal all together. She was, as well.

~*~

Wrangler couldn’t believe how much he loved having dinner in his own home. He’d had food in his apartment a great deal, especially since his mother was dead. But to know that his mate had made this meal and had invited all his family made it all the more special for him. They were going to tour the house as soon as his brothers left, and he was just as excited about that, knowing that the two of them would see it all for the first time together.

Even going through the house was exciting to him. It was, he remembered, the first time in his life that a house meant more to him than anything before. And that with the help of Amber and Wills, they’d make the house into a home in no time. He wasn’t even in a hurry to bond with her. He just found that he wanted her to be happy in all things.

“There are a lot of rooms in this house, don’t you think?” He told her that the faeries always seemed to go overboard when they made something. “I have noticed that you have to be very specific when you tell them what you want. I ended up with six bushels of apples when I told them to bring me enough for pies. Just so you know, we have a storage room now for those. I think they called it a root cellar.”

“Yes, I heard Pancake telling the others that they didn’t need to pick any more apples or you’d run them out of the house. I don’t know if he believed that or not but he did warn them to be careful about filling your requests.” They both laughed, and he smiled when they entered yet another finished bedroom. “Where is Wills going to have his rooms. I overheard him telling Nash that he wanted a room to sleep in and nothing more. I suppose he’ll have to get used to having a bit more room than just a room.”

“He took two rooms on the second floor that he loved. The sun will shine in on him, and while I would find that annoying to have so much brightness shining in first thing, he said that he would forever like the sun while it shone on his face. The second room, if you don’t mind, is going to be used for his homework room.” Wrangler told her that he would have loved to have had a separate room for his homework when growing up. “Carrie and Sunny told me about your mom and grandfather. How they pitted the six of you against one another. My parents just have never cared about Wills and me in only for us to be bringing them in more money. Are you going to tell me anything about them?”

“I didn’t want to share them with you for the simple reason that they’re not good people, and they’d be intruding in on our time.” He leaned against the wall in the last room they were looking at on this floor. The house had three stories, and she was as in love with it as she was with anything. “They were able to steal someone’s tickets that were coming back from the island. I’m still trying to figure out how they managed to come to the one place you were, but I’ll get it from them. Right now, they’re living in one of the hotels in the next town over. I’ve spoken to the police and told them about the stolen credit card but until they do something that alerts them to them, they can’t do too much without telling them how they were able to figure it out.”

“I’ve been thinking about them off and on today. Mostly, when they find us, they only want to take what we have. Money for the most part, but if we have food stashed away for us, they’ll destroy it rather than eating any of it. That’s the way they’ve been my entire childhood. Once, when Wills was little, they told everyone that it was his birthday, his first and people brought gifts. Once they handed them over to them, they were told to go away, and they ended up selling all the gifts. Of course, Wills could have benefited from some of it, but they didn’t care. Cash or someone else’s card gets them a bit of fun, then they’ll be broke again once they are run off or the money is gone.” He asked her what they would do to them now. “I’ve not told Wills this, but they want me to turn him over to them so that they can sell him off. They told me that I’m much too stubborn and old for them to sell off, but they would if they couldn’t get Wills. I have it in my head that they aren’t planning to sell him off for sex, but I just don’t know anymore with them.”

“They’re looking for the two of you. Mostly you now.” She asked him if he knew why. “For what you think. They’re hoping that you’re still a virgin so that they can let some person snap, their words not mine, snap your cherry and knock some sense into you. They’re…Well, they want to have Wills back because they know of a man who will pay good money for him sexually. Also, he wants to kill Wills when he’s finished.”

She sat down on the bed, and he wandered to the window. Looking out beyond the room, he could see some of the creatures that were from the other realms. While he didn’t care who was on his land, he was worried about the Damons to find them there and make their lives a living hell. His too, if they were to decide that he could get more of the same creatures for them.

“Wills is aware of what they want of him. I think he figured it out a long time ago. He’s a smart kid and gives you the illusion that he’s not worried about them. But I’ve heard him talking to Nash, my older brother, about what might happen to him if they were to catch him unawares. He also worries about you, and he will, he told Nash, give himself up if it keeps you safe. For all that you’ve done for him.” She looked at him, shocked, and he let her know, too, that Nash spoke on her behalf. “He told him not to do that, that they’d more than likely kill him, and then you’d be sick with grief.”

“I would, too.” She asked him again what was going to happen now that they were here. “Nothing for now. They’ve not caused any trouble with the law, so they can’t arrest them. As soon as the card hits that it’s stolen, then they’ll be arrested. Until then, we play the waiting game until they fuck up. And they will. Especially when it gets around that you and Wills are living in this house. They can’t get in, just so you know. They can’t even reach into the house to pull either of you out. It’s the magic that is surrounding all of the homes.”

“So we have to stay here all the time?” He laughed a little at the disappointment in her voice. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but you laugh at the most inappropriate things.”

“I was just thinking that if you were to have to stay here forever, I really would be a fat cat. I’ve noticed that you stress cook.” She told him that she’d never thought of it that way as she’d never had a place where she could cook before. “Well, I want to tell you that you can do whatever you want when you need to cook. I’ll enjoy it more than anything else. Also, I know you like to cook, but we’ll need to get some staff in here too. Just because there is too much house for the two of us to maintain.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to cook every night. A staff would be wonderful too to make sure that the house…will they be faeries?” He told her that it would more than likely be. “Good. I love that they’re here. They’re very comforting to have around. I love them.”

The two of them talked about the house and the faeries while they wandered around the house. There were a lot of things going on with the home, changing things around as they entered the rooms just for them. When they got to the master suite, he was surprised that the room was as beautiful as the rest of the house. The only thing that he might well have changed was the fact that there were no blinds on the windows, something that he had missed when he’d been living with his brothers and mother.

He thought of his mother then. She had hired someone to kill off all potential mates to them so that they’d never have children. The thought of her being a grandma had made her crazy with the need to murder innocent women. If not for Nash finding his mate and keeping her safe, he did wonder if there would have been mates for them all by now. Every day with Amber, he considered himself the luckiest man on earth that his mother had failed with at least him and his two older brothers. He could only hope that from now on, they’d all find their other halves and make sure that they had as many children as they could have. He hoped that wherever she was, she was screaming her head off for the things that they were doing that were productive and fun for a change.

“Did you hear me?” Wrangler told her that he was thinking about his mother and how she’d be so pissed off about them finding their mates. “Yes, as I said, I heard of her. She’s worse than my own parents, I think.”

“I have to agree with that. What do you want to happen with your parents? Do you want them dead? Do you want them in prison? I’m up for whatever you want. I’d go to prison for you if it came to that.” She said that she just wanted them out of their lives. “I can’t agree with you more. But I do have a plan. What if we were to confront them. Show them…Hang on. I have something for you.”

He got down on both his knees and held out the ring that he’d picked out for her. He told her about the things that their father had left for them, and one of the things that he’d gotten was his great-grandma’s jewelry.

“I had it cleaned yesterday and put a rush on it.” She looked at the ring and him several times before she got down on her knees as well. “Are you proposing to me too?”

“No. But I think that in the future I’d like for us to be even in all things. This too. I’m not sure that I love you. I don’t know what love is, to be honest, but I have come to like you a great deal. I also respect you for what you’ve done for my brother and myself.” She looked thoughtful, and he waited. “I’m sure that you understand this when I say that my brother comes first over anything that you and I decide. I want him to grow up with a good family and family values. I believe that you have that and more. But more than anything, in this world, I want him to grow up with the kind of values that he needs to be successful in this world. Am I making sense?”

“You are. Very much so.” She nodded and put out her hand. “Amber Damon, would you consent to being my wife? Would you grow…well, we won’t grow old, but we will get older. Will you get older with me?”

“Yes. I believe that I will. I think, and this is just me. I think that you and I will have a good life together once we get my family out of the way so that we can live in peace.” Wrangler asked her what sort of wedding did she want. “Nothing. I mean, yes, a wedding, but we can go to the courthouse for all I care. Also, I just thought of this. With us being married, I can adopt my brother. I’m not sure how that will work, but I don’t want him to ever go back to living with our parents. They’ll kill him.”

“You’re right on that score. I believe with all my heart that is just what they’ll do.” Wrangler put the ring on her finger and was surprised that it fit her nicely. After kissing her gently on her cheek, she looked at him with the most amazing look. “What?”

“I think that I just fell in love with you, Wrangler.”