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“Tanner’s fixing some coffee,” he said. “You’ll feel better once you’ve got some coffee in you.”
“I don’t think coffee’s going to fix this,” Shannon said.
“Nonsense, woman. Coffee fixes everything. Now come on.”
Before she had a chance to stand, the alpha scooped her up and started carrying her back toward camp like a groom carrying his bride. His arms were as strong as wooden beams, and she didn’t really need to put her arms around his neck, but she did so anyway. Her head rested against his hard shoulder.
“I can walk, you know.”
“I know.” But he didn’t put her down.
The other two males were waiting for them at camp. Tanner had his jeans on, and his hat, but nothing else, and he was working at getting the fire going again. There was a slight breeze blowing through the sunken area of the spring, and it was doing a good job of dispersing the smoke so it wouldn’t be too visible from afar.
Rufus sat beside him, watching attentively. He was still in his wolf form, and even though Shannon knew what he was now, she still couldn’t help tensing up a little at the sight of him. It was a pretty natural reaction to seeing a giant wolf, after all.
Rufus seemed to pick up on her tension, and as Logan was setting her down next to the kindling fire, the wolf shifted. His fur seemed to shrink back into his skin, and his limbs shortened and morphed into their human shape. The transformation left Shannon breathless. It was, without a doubt, the most amazing thing she had ever seen.
Her inner omega, however, was more interested in the end result.
Human Rufus was kneeling next to her, every bit as naked as when he’d first stepped out of the shadows the night before. Now, in the light of day, Shannon could see his muscles even more clearly, and his golden sign, as well as thatotherpart of his anatomy, the one that had beeninsideher. It wasn’t hard this morning, but it didn’t look like it would take much for it to get there.
Shannon darted her eyes away. She feared it wouldn’t take much for her own body to get there either.
“Hey, Rufus,” Tanner said groggily as he started to prepare the coffee. “No offense, but I think it might be a good idea for you to stick to your four-legged form… at least until we can get you some britches.”
“Ah… I think you’re right,” Rufus said, and shifted back into the wolf.
Well, this was certainly turning out to be an interesting morning, but Shannon needed to find out what was going to happen to her now that she’d been exposed as an omega—and more importantly, she needed to know what was going to happen to the ranch and the hucows. At this point, she was essentially at the mercy of the three alphas.
“Tanner, I—”
The cowboy lifted a hand to silence her.
“We’ll talk,” he said, “but first, coffee.”
While the fragrant brew was boiling, he rolled himself a cigarette and lit it with the end of a burning stick. Then he poured out three cups of coffee for the three humans sitting around the fire. He offered to pour one for Rufus too, but the wolf just whined and rumpled his snout in disgust.
“Suit yourself,” Tanner said. He knocked his entire steaming cup back in one gulp. As he was refilling it, he asked, “What did you lose back there in that canyon, Miss Duffy?”
She didn’t hesitate to answer. There was no point now.
“It was a suppressant elixir. I’ve been taking it ever since I was a girl to suppress my heat and hide my omega scent.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“I’d prefer not to tell you that.”
Tanner thought about it for a moment, shrugged. “Fair enough. Only reasonable you’d want to protect your source. Respectable too. Brewing omega suppressant elixir probably isn’t strictly legal. Then again, I’ve never been much of a stickler for the law. Seems like the law only lines up with what’s right about half the time. Maybe even less than that.”
He had another swallow of coffee and a drag of smoke.
“Well, I reckon the next logical question would be why you thought it would be a good idea to hide your being an omega, but the answer to that is about a clear as that spring over yonder—you were worried about your daddy’s ranch and all them hucow girls you’re protecting.”
Shannon nodded, her heart sinking.
“Your secret’s safe with us, Miss Duffy,” Tanner said. “We’re not going to out you.”
“You’re not?” Shannon gasped. A big smile spread across her face, and her eyes started filling up with tears. “You really mean it?”
