Gavin crooked his finger and she went to him, needing the comfort of his touch as uncertainty rose its ugly head. Cody didn’t seem put out or angry so Drake must have been the one unhappy enough with what Gavin said to storm out. Reaching for her hand, Gavin yanked her against him, his gaze turning stormy as he looked from Cody down at her.
“Like I told you last night, you can trust my brothers the same as me. One night over a year ago, we were celebrating Cody’s return to the ranch with too much alcohol and I let it slip I had found my mate. As soon as you arrived and they knew you were the one, you became family in their eyes, someone worth protecting.”
Despite her misgivings, a warm glow spread through Aislyn. After being alone for so long, their acceptance and welcome gave her a heady feeling. “I heard the door slam,” she said, wondering why Drake left in a foul mood.
Cody squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t let his growl bother you. He lives under the mistaken belief his anger issues will get the better of him some day and he’ll lash out in uncontrollable physical retaliation. Today it was because we didn’t agree with his idea on how to go about clearing your name.”
“Drake thinks in military terms first, attack and then, if anyone is still left breathing, interrogate,” Gavin drawled.
Drake had evidently heard Gavin’s comment as he came back in and strode into the room glaring at his brother. His striking eyes were a blue/green slit under his Stetson as he zeroed in on Aislyn and she wondered what painful memories were responsible for the swirling emotions he couldn’t hide. The three of them were the perfect epitome of rugged, sexy cowboys with their swarthy, sun-bronzed faces, tight, dusty jeans that couldn’t disguise their muscled thighs as they took long ground-eating strides, scuffed boots and eye-shielding hats. But this morning she knew where that untamed wildness about them stemmed from and could easily picture them glorying in their freedom to run through the forests in their alternate forms. Why picturing them as wolves didn’t send her running screaming from the room in fright and denial she didn’t understand until she noticed the unconditional support reflected on their faces.
Gavin’s brothers, and every one of their ranch hands, had welcomed her unannounced presence without censure or questions. That was more support than her boss, Darren, whom she had given her loyalty to for years and who claimed to care about her had offered and spoke volumes about what type of men they were.
“Give me the evidence your boss gave you. If there’s a way to trace those accounts to the son-of-a-bitch who set you up, I’ll find it,” Drake said.
His confidence erased the final dregs of her doubts about involving them. Finding a trail that led to Heath would at least cast suspicion on his claims. “Sure. Excuse me and I’ll get it.” Conscious of all three men’s gazes following her out of the room, she dashed to her bedroom, changed into jeans and her favorite tee sporting a flamingo saying ‘Seriously, what the flock?’ then retrieved the printouts Darren had left with her from her bag.
Aislyn handed over the damning papers to Drake, his scarred cheek tightening as he glanced at the top page. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“Anything can be made to look bad on paper, just like anything can be made to look good. I’ll let you know what I turn up.”
He left without another word and she turned to something that would take her mind off worrying about what he would find. “Why don’t you tell me more about what I agreed to take on last night while I feed Lily.”
Gavin must have read something of her desperate need for a distraction on her face because he nodded and said to Cody, “We’ll get together later, when Drake has something for us to move on.”
“I’ll get started on chores then.” Cody sent Aislyn a reassuring smile and followed Drake out as Gavin turned to her with a guarded look.
“You want to know more about my ancestry?”
“Of course. Did you think I wouldn’t? That was quite a bombshell you dropped on me last night, and you only answered the few questions I got in before switching to my issue.” She would rather hear about his family history than fret over what Drake’s search would or wouldn’t discover.
“You see to Lily then we’ll go for a ride.”
They ate a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast and then Gavin drove them to the stable, leaving her at Lily’s stall to saddle the horses. Aislyn watched out the window for him as the foal guzzled down her bottle, not yet ready to believe there was a chance she would get to watch her grow into a beautiful mare. “Keep that up and you’ll be ready for big girl food before long,” she crooned, stroking her soft coat. The small mare was filling out, her haunches nicely rounded, her shoulders strong enough to keep her upright for longer periods. “We’ll go outside when I get back,” she told her when she spotted Gavin leading his horse to the rail. When he didn’t bring out another mount for her, her pulse quickened.
“About done?” he asked, coming up to the open window.
“Yes. I’ll be right out.”
I’m warped, that’s the only explanation, she mused when she skipped outside with more anticipation of rocking against that ripped body than for information about his wolf family. He was already astride the enormous stallion, the horse’s size giving her the jitters as she reached them. She’d never been this close to Gavin’s steed. He snorted, shaking his head, his muscles bunching as he shuffled those long legs.
Before she could step back, Gavin reached down with both arms and lifted her in front of him. The ease with which
