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Rosie had gotten an even bigger piece, including several thousand head of hucow. Because she was already so busy running her theater and saloon, she had worked out a deal where Shannon would oversee the welfare of her hucows for a percentage of the milk profits. The extra income was nice, but Shannon was even more happy knowing that several thousand more hucow women would be rescued from abuse.
The country wasn’t a perfect place, but she was doing her part to improve it.
Their work done, the sheriff and lawyer said their goodbyes and headed down the steps of the porch, but Rosie lingered.
“You gentlemen go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.” She turned to Shannon, and once the men were out of earshot said, “Darling, I owe you an apology. I’m sorry about setting you up with that Blaylocke fellow. I had no idea what kind of scoundrel that man really was.”
“It’s okay,” Shannon said. “There was no way you could have known. Besides, it was my own fault for not accepting Tanner’s offer in the first place. I guess it all worked out in the end, though. Who knows, maybe it was fate.”
“Maybe it was,” Rosie said, smiling. She gave Shannon a tight hug and whispered, “Your Daddy would be awful proud of you.”
“Thank you,” Shannon whispered back.
Rosie bid them farewell and rode off down the trail back to town. Shannon and her mates watched her for a few minutes, before Tanner finally pinched out his cigarette and broke the silence.
“Come on inside,” he said, guiding Shannon to the door. “It’s time for us to lay down some ground rules.”
There was something in the alpha’s growly voice that made Shannon think she was going to enjoy said rules. Actually, she had a pretty good idea what Tanner was going to say, considering they had discussed it several times on the journey back from the mountain, but she was happy to hear it all again.
Once inside, Tanner led Shannon across the cool, dim interior. Logan and Rufus followed right behind them. They stopped in front of the big window at the back of the house.
“I want you to look out that window,” Tanner said.
Shannon happily obliged him. Through the window, she could see the fenced-in pasture of Duffy Ranch. A small creek wound its way across the property, and on the banks of that creek grew several good-sized cottonwoods under which hundreds of hucow women had gathered to enjoy the shade and to gossip while they munched on their prickly pears and Osage oranges. That sight filled Shannon’s heart with joy, because she knew those women’s comfort and safety had been secured for a long time to come, and she knew she was carrying on her father’s legacy.
“I just want you to know,” Tanner said. “That piece of paper we signed means nothing to me. Nothing. As far as me and the fellas here are concerned,you’restill the owner of Duffy Ranch.”
Logan nodded. “Someday this country will get its shit together and stop treating omegas like dirt, but until then we’ll have to pretend to follow their laws and sign their little pieces of paper.”
“That’s right,” Rufus agreed. “Here on Duffy Ranch, you’re still the boss, Shannon. You make the decisions, and we’ll support you and protect you all the way, through thick and thin.”
Shannon smiled, and her eyes glazed with tears. An omega couldn’t ask for better mates.
“Thank you,” she said.
She kissed Rufus on the lips, then Logan, but when she went to give Tanner a kiss, the alpha held her back.
“Now just hold on a minute,” he said. “We’re not quite finished, ma’am. There’s still one little exception we’ve got to discuss.”
Shannon smudged the tears from her eyes. “Exception?”
“That’s right,” Tanner growled, and he pointed to the door of the bedchamber. “Out here, you’re the boss, but In that room, we three alphas make the rules, and we get to share you as hard and as deep and as long as we see fit. Do I make myself clear, little omega?”
Shannon felt her nipples waking up beneath her shirt, and that old familiar hunger was throbbing deep within her core.
“So let me just get this straight,” she said. “Out here, I’m in charge. In there, you’re in charge.”
The three males nodded.
“In that case, Idemandyou take me to bed right this instant.”
Tanner grinned. “You’re the boss.”
He kissed her hard and deep, then tossed her over his shoulder and carried her into the bedroom. The other two males followed, purring softly. They shut the door and latched it behind them, ensuring there would be no interruptions. A minute later, the sounds of a spanking could be heard, accompanied by the soft moans of one very happy omega.
EPILOGUE 2
For a while, Shannon thought her journey to Crusoe’s mountain would be the hardest thing she ever did in her life.
