West Kiera - Rand's Craving [The Great Wolves of Passion Alaska 5] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Read online

  The Great Wolves of Passion, Alaska 5

  Rand's Craving

  Eve hasn’t spent much time with Rand outside of the bedroom. And definitely not alone. But, with the violence against the wolf population growing, they investigate the issues together. With each day out, they grow closer, but she knows Rand is holding something back.

  Rand has wanted Eve since the first moment he scented her. He has held back some of his true sexual nature because he worries she might freak out. Spending more time with her is making it hard to ignore his baser needs. And he has to keep his head screwed on straight. He has to protect her not only from himself, but from the violent villain who now seems focused on destroying her.

  Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 19,270 words

  RAND’S CRAVING

  The Great Wolves of Passion, Alaska 5

  Kiera West

  LOVEXTREME FOREVER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever

  RAND’S CRAVING

  Copyright © 2011 by Kiera West

  E-book ISBN: 1-61926-007-7

  First E-book Publication: November 2011

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Rand’s Craving by Kiera West from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

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  DEDICATION

  To my husband and girls for their support through all the craziness of my writing career.

  RAND’S CRAVING

  The Great Wolves of Passion, Alaska 5

  KIERA WEST

  Copyright © 2011

  Chapter One

  “I need some action,” Eve announced to the room at large.

  None of the cousins said a word as she glanced around. She stood at the top of the stairs that led into the living room, her hands on her hips, and waited. Noah kept tapping on his laptop while Ethan, Max, and Rand—who were scattered around the room on the couch and easy chair—all gave her looks of pity.

  Something itched under her skin. It was as if she knew she had some task to complete. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was. The feeling that she had forgotten something was driving her batty. She hated the feeling. Her emotions were out of control, and that was something she could not handle. A strange mixture of sexual need and rage boiled inside of her. It took all her strength to keep it contained. Her entire life she had been a placid kind of woman, but right now, she felt ready to scream. And, all because the men she was involved with didn’t acknowledge her declaration.

  “I mean it,” she growled. Lord, she was growling like she was some kind of beast. She didn’t growl. MacMillians didn’t even raise their voices. Her parents and her colleagues would be appalled. Heck, she was horrified she was contemplating picking up a book sitting on the table and beaning one of the cousins in the head. It was their fault. They had brought her to this point.

  Shane walked in behind her. “I heard you all the way in my room, babe. You know I’m always ready and willing for any kind of action you want to dole out.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him. She could feel his growing erection against her bottom, and her body responded as it always did. Heat flared low in her tummy, and a need so great took hold. But she wasn’t allowing him to distract her. Again.

  In the last month since Shane’s mother had been killed, the Dillons had gotten worse. They had forbidden her more than an hour or two out of the house a week, and she was going stir-crazy. Every day she felt rage and impotence building inside of her. Her safety was important. She wasn’t stupid. She understood that Marianna had not done this on her own, knew there was no doubt that the woman had help. It didn’t mean they could keep her a prisoner—at least in her opinion.

  She wiggled away from Shane and marched down the stairs. He followed on her heels, but she refused to be swayed. Something was going to change or she would stab someone in the forehead with a fork.

  “No, not that kind of action. I have to keep myself busy, and I’m bored. I need to work. I need to do something.”

  Even she heard the whining in her voice, but Eve couldn’t help it. She needed them to understand she felt as if she were dying each day she was trapped in the house.

  All of the cousins except Noah shared a look. He was watching her with a thoughtful expression. The others were going to fight her on it. She just knew it. Damn if that didn’t piss her off. She was not a person who could sit around and do nothing.

  “I bet there is something in the lab we can work on,” Ethan offered as he stood. She held out her hand to hold him off. She could tell from the smile on his face he had more in mind than just lab work. While her body was once again responding to the idea, she didn’t want that. She needed to escape.

  “No. Either it is the same stuff we just went over or you’re just trying to get me away so you can get my clothes off me. No. I need to do something else, or I might just start killing people.” br />
  Max snorted, and she shot him a look that had his smile fading. She settled her hands on her hips.

  “You think I can’t do it? Believe me, I can.”

  “No one discounts you want to, but there is a good chance if you come after us, you’ll end up in bed. Of course, that is a good result, too, so maybe we need to have us a little fight,” Rand offered.

  She opened her mouth to tell him what he could do with his offer when Noah interrupted.

  “Eve is right. She needs to get out. The weather is breaking a bit now that spring is coming.”

  She smiled at Noah, who didn’t notice as he was still typing on the laptop. E-mails and IMs were constantly going on with the council these days. He spent the majority of his days on the phone or on the computer. She wanted him to get away from work, but knowing how important it was, she didn’t say anything. Eve had never been a clinging type of woman, and she understood duties. But, at the moment, she wouldn’t let it bother her. She was going to get a little freedom. She glanced out the window and saw snow. Lots of it, but she said nothing. Spring in Alaska had a different meaning than spring in the lower forty-eight. Even if she was only out for fifteen minutes, she would relish every second.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Shane said as he shook his head, his frown becoming fierce. “You know that crazy bitch had a partner. Until we find out who it is, we have to be careful.”

  Noah stopped typing and looked up at his cousin. Eve could see the compassion on the Alpha’s face. They all knew it had been very hard to face down his mother a month ago, but Shane seemed to be healing. Still, those wounds were old and deep. Every now and then, she detected a note of melancholy in his tone.

  “If she takes a couple of you, I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

  Rand huffed out a breath, which was odd. He normally had no problem going along with what Noah said. Most of them did, but lately everyone had been on edge waiting for the next incident to come. Each day that went by without one ratcheted up the pressure. She glanced at Rand and found him studying her then looking at Noah. “Still not a good idea.”

  Eve saw Noah’s frown and knew a fight was about to break out. She could feel it in the air. Tension vibrated, and she wanted to scream. It added to her irritation that seemed to be growing by the second.

  “What if we never catch this man, or thing, or whatever?” she asked.

  Rand looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “What if we never find him? Am I supposed to spend the rest of my time here trapped in the house? I can’t do that.”

  “You can if we say so.”

  His rigid stance took her back a few steps. Rand was usually very gentle, easygoing. The last few weeks, though, he had gotten snarly with her more than once. All of them were in nasty moods from time to time, but Rand seemed to be getting worse. As the outdoorsman of the group, it might be that he was as irritated she. It wasn’t uncommon for him to spend all day outside working.

  “Eve’s right,” Ethan said, stepping up beside her and facing Rand as he stood by her side. “She cannot spend the rest of her life here, trapped in the house.”

  “Well, just the time I have left.”

  “Whatever,” Ethan said. Again, there were secrets. She knew they were all holding on to some kind of secret.

  “I went out with Shane a month ago with no problem. There is actually a bit of sun, so I can do some field checking.”

  “Ethan can do it.”

  “No, he can’t. He’s been doing it, but I need to do some of it. Plus, I need to check on things in my cabin, double-check to make sure there are no problems there. I might be literally living here, but I do have things to take care of.”

  He wanted to argue. She could see it there, but there was one thing she learned. Men would try to roll right over her without a problem. They saw their opinions as more important in general and discounted hers. She might have several PhDs at the end of her name, but that didn’t seem to matter.

  “I need to get out. Noah said it was okay. I’m getting my stuff, and I’m going. You want to be there with me, get your butt in gear and get ready.”

  She turned on her heel, raised her chin, and marched out of the room. These Dillons would just have to learn she wouldn’t put up with their tendency to take over.

  * * * *

  Utter silence filled the living room after Eve left them. Rand looked around, still irritated with the little tiff. None of them could ever really fight with Eve because they couldn’t deal with her pain. Empathy toward their mate would make it too much for all of them. But, he didn’t think he was being too much out of line by insisting that they keep the extra precautions in place.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Shane said with a smile. Rand studied his brother and realized that the burden of his memories were lifted. He sometimes looked sad, but Shane no longer had that dark shadow he had seen from time to time. He was truly happy for the first time in years.

  “Damn, she sounds more and more like Mom every day,” Ethan said, admiration in his voice. “I don’t know how I feel about that. I really don’t want to ever think of Mom in the bedroom.”

  Noah laughed and closed his laptop. “Of course she had the good—and bad—qualities of an Alpha mate. The problem we have is keeping a lid on her.”

  Still irritated, Rand turned on Noah as he rose from the chair. “So, letting Eve run around is a good idea?”

  “She has her limits. She needs to get out, not just because of what she has to get done. I understand that aspect of her. From the time she was little, Eve has been goal oriented. I won’t go into how I feel about her parents because I think we are all on the same page with that one.”

  Rand nodded and tried to ignore the churning of his gut. Eve had been raised as a virtual test subject for her parents. Just thinking about a little Eve, bright-red hair and blue eyes, being ignored by the two people who she cherished, made him want to beat them to a pulp.

  “But we have another issue that some of you still refuse to recognize.”

  “What?” Rand asked, his irritation growing.

  “She’s changing,” Ethan said. “Her body is starting to acclimate to the change it believes is coming. She knows it needs activity. The call of the wild, excuse my cliché, is overwhelming her better senses. If we don’t let her get out, she might just go crazy.”

  “So, it’s our job to keep her safe but allow her to get out,” Noah said. “She has to learn to listen to her body if she is going to have an easy change.”

  “Has any human ever had an easy change to wolf?” Rand asked.

  “She’s predestined to be our mate,” Noah said, his frown deepening. “From what Ethan has said, it will be easier than most. Her body is genetically made up for the change. And, since she is the mate for us, and only once every few generations do we have a pack like us who takes one mate, she might have an easier time of it.”

  “Her body is stronger, the need to change even more so. But she needs this. She doesn’t understand it any more than we do, Rand,” Ethan said. “It’s instinct. Sex will only take the edge off so much, but she does need to get outside. She needs to be with nature. Consider how you would feel cooped up for days at a time.”

  He knew what they were saying, but he still didn’t like it. Something in his gut told him that this wasn’t going to be good. There was still a threat out there, and until they knew who it was, she was in danger.

  “I’ve got to make some phone calls, and don’t you have first shift tonight, Ethan?”

  “And I have a shift at the Emergency Center,” Max said, the EMT of the group. His brother had been spending a lot of extra time training the various shifters of the area on basic lifesaving techniques. The need was growing as the attacks on their kind and their natural wolf cousins continued to get attacked.

  They all shuffled out, leaving Shane and Rand alone.

  “Are you really bothered by the fact that she would be outside?” Shane asked.
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  “We don’t know who this bastard is. I just have a really bad feeling things are about to crack open.”

  Shane nodded. “If I know Marianna, she had someone working for her, probably male. She always had a way with men until they saw how bat-shit crazy she was. At least the sane ones did. But, Noah’s right. Eve needs to get out. She needs some air and some communing with nature.” Shane clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll just make sure she’s as safe as she is here.”

  Rand nodded and sighed. “I know there isn’t much I can do about it, and I know it is all part of our genetic makeup to protect her, but this feels different. It feels to me, and don’t ask me why, that whoever is doing this is hell-bent on hurting her.”

  Shane cocked his head and studied him for a second. “Have you always had this feeling during the attacks?”

  Rand nodded. “Now you know why I don’t want her out.”

  “Understood. But, as I said, we have no choice. Let’s just get her out and back into the house as soon as possible.”

  “I’m ready,” Eve announced as she walked down the stairs. The scent of her hit him first. It was always like that with her. Clean, fresh, with a bit of spice, her scent was something that called to him on regular basis. Now, though, seeing her glowing face and the excitement for the trip, he felt his cock twitch. Damn it, his need for her was getting out of control. He would just have to keep it in check. He looked outside thinking that shouldn’t be a problem in thirty-degree weather.