Desert Wolf (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch) Read Free Page A

right. The kids were shrieking with delight, one swinging from each of his arms as he strode along with exaggerated gestures.
    And damned if a little zing didn’t go through her there and then.
    The image stuck in her mind: a couple of cubs, using Ty as a jungle gym, completely at ease with his raw power. Trusting in the knowledge that he’d never, ever harm his wards.
    The zing became a pulse as she pictured those cubs as her own.
    “So…” Nala ventured, letting Ty and the kids bound out of earshot. “You’ve been together two years…”
    Lana knew what her sister was implying.
And still no kids?
    Pure-blooded shifters had a notoriously hard time conceiving, but destined mates usually didn’t, so the question was legitimate. She tossed out her standard answer without thinking. “I don’t want to be seen as just the alpha’s mate or the mother of his kids. I want my own place in the pack. That takes time.”
    Even as she said it, a retort sounded from deep inside. Her inner wolf was sharing her two cents again.
    We’ve earned our place in the pack. Time for the next step.
    Ty was all for it, Lana knew. He’d been pushing for kids from the day they’d exchanged mating bites. She was the one hitting the brakes.
    Nala gave an audible sigh. “I don’t know how you can resist. Look at him.”
    Ahead of her, Ty swung one of the kids in a big loop, holding tight to her niece’s tiny hand as she squealed, “Wheee!”
    “Now me! Me!” cried her nephew, tugging at Ty’s shirttail.
    Ty’s words, spoken from once upon a time, echoed in her mind.
Three cubs…if it’s okay with you.
He’d said that the first morning they woke up together knowing they’d never part. At the time, the idea of even one child had seemed a million miles away. But now… Heat spread through her chest and tugged at the corners of her heart. Three cubs would be great. Cubs that were half her, half Ty. Watching her nephew take his turn cavorting with Ty, she substituted dark-haired kids and a desert background…and promptly stumbled over her own feet.
    She tried shaking the unsteady feeling away. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t pictured that before. But back on Twin Moon Ranch, she’d fallen into a pleasant routine, balancing work with the precious time she and Ty had alone. She’d been telling herself she’d wait a little longer. A little longer…
    How long was long enough?
    Ty turned and socked her with a look so unguardedly happy, so sparkling, it took her breath away.
    Nala chuckled. “You can continue family tradition and combine the letters of your names for the kids.” She tried out a few. “Ty-la. Ta-na. Ty-ler.”
    Lana hadn’t given it much thought. Tyla? Hmm. Tana? That one had a nice ring. She found herself striding faster, reluctant to let her mate’s perfect ass disappear around the next corner without her.
    “One thing at a ti—”
    She was cut off by a child’s scream and a bone-jarring bellow, followed by a thunderous roar.

CHAPTER FOUR
    “Jesus,” Lana muttered, sprinting around the curve.
    Her niece was racing back, screaming, and then launched herself into Lana’s arms. With her free hand, Lana snatched for her nephew and whipped around, sheltering both children from the mayhem ahead. Ty—wolf Ty—had ripped right out of his clothes in what had to be a record-fast shift and was wrestling something huge and furry. It was humanoid and outlandishly tall—at least eight feet—with long, sharp teeth that flashed and snapped. Wolf and beast bashed to the ground in a blur of limbs and ear-piercing snarls. Lana watched in horror as Ty’s black-brown pelt twisted and leaped around the whitish-beige form of the beast.
    She’d only ever seen Ty that furious once—the night she’d almost fallen victim to a band of rogue coyotes. This fight looked every bit as lethal as that one had been. Lana pushed the children toward Nala and prepared to jump into her own shift to help Ty. Whatever the beast was he was