Down & Dirty (Bundle) (26 page)

His voice cut off as he turned his head
toward the front of the house, and a moment later she heard it,
too. Hoofbeats pounding toward them at a gallop.

Thomas was out of the bed in a moment. He
didn’t even limp as he strode to the window, then swore softly.
“Sarabeth. Alone. On one of Braswell’s horses.”

Lottie lunged for her robe. “Does she look
all right?”

“
Scared.” Thomas reached
for his pants and winced as he shoved his injured leg into them.
“But unhurt.”

By the time they got downstairs, Sarabeth
had stumbled up on the porch. Lottie wrapped her arms around her
and urged her through the door. “Are you all right, honey? What
happened?”

Sarabeth shook in her arms, stumbling until
Lottie got her into a chair. Dirt streaked her cheeks and her eyes
were too-wide, either from shock or fear. “I-I got away.”

Angry power flared inside her, but Lottie
shoved it down. “Got away from who, sweetie?”

“
Mr. Braswell.” She
trembled, and Thomas appeared at Lottie’s side and reached out a
cautious hand to rest on her shoulder. Sarabeth flinched a little,
but Thomas soothed her with a gentle noise and a soft wave of warm,
reassuring magic.

When she stopped shivering, Thomas knelt in
front of her. “Are you hurt?”

After a moment Sarabeth shook her head.
Lottie shot Thomas a look. “Can you fetch some brandy, honey?”

Thomas rose to his feet and brushed his
fingers across the back of Lottie’s shoulder as he passed her,
heading for the kitchen.

When he’d gone, Lottie smoothed Sarabeth’s
disheveled hair from her forehead. “Where is Mr. Braswell now,
sweetie? Jack checked his house…”

Sarabeth closed her eyes. “I hit him. With a
piece of firewood. But I don’t know where we were because I was so
upset and I couldn’t get control of the horse at first. We ran so
far… half an hour at least. But it could have been in circles.”

“
It’s fine.” Lottie pulled
her close. “There’s a trail, and Jack and the others will find
him.”

“
He was mad, Lottie.”
Sarabeth hid her face against Lottie’s shoulder, the trembling
returning. “He said we’d be married and start a new life, but
that’s insane. I told him I didn’t want to. That I didn’t need him
to
save
me.”

Lottie cursed herself again for
underestimating the man’s obsession. “No, you don’t. Braswell’s
just gone off the deep end, that’s all.”

Thomas returned with a generous glass of
brandy in one hand. “Do you think you two will be up to riding over
to the house with me? Ginny and Jack should be there already with
the rest of the ladies. The doctor was going to visit this morning,
too.”

“
We can hitch up my buggy.”
Lottie murmured her thanks and pressed the glass into Sarabeth’s
hand. “Will you ride out with Jack?”

“
Maybe.” He glanced at her,
then Sarabeth, making it clear he had more he didn’t want to say in
front of the obviously shaken young woman. “For now we’ve got to
get everyone together and looked after. Why don’t I finish getting
dressed and hitch up your buggy?”

“
It’ll give Sarabeth time
to finish her drink.” And Lottie would have more time to calm the
enraged instincts inside her.

Thomas nodded and brushed his fingers over
her hair. “Yell if you need me.”

She leaned into his touch for just a moment.
“You do the same.”

When he was gone, Sarabeth lowered the glass
to her lap and looked up at Lottie with eyes that slowly filled
with tears. “The fire. Is anyone… are all the other girls
okay?”

Lottie’s heart twisted. “Everyone’s just
fine. Probably even enjoying the vacation.”

“
And the
saloon?”

She tried not to let her grief show. “I’ve
already started making plans to rebuild it. With bigger bathrooms
this time, I think.”

A tiny smile curved Sarabeth’s lips. “Bigger
bathrooms would be wonderful.”

Lottie grinned. “I thought so.”

Sarabeth closed her eyes and leaned into
Lottie’s embrace again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“
Uh-uh, honey. There’s only
one person to blame for what’s happened, and that’s
Braswell.”

“
I should have told you,”
she repeated. “Or Jack. Jack’s going to be mad I didn’t lodge a
complaint.”

He might, if he wasn’t too busy just being
relieved she was okay. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Sarabeth.”

A soft whisper of bare feet on hardwood was
the only indication that Thomas had returned. He dropped a
comforting hand to the back of Sarabeth’s head and made a soothing
noise. “You’re safe. Let Lottie take care of you. I’ll deal with
Jack.”

The girl nodded, and Thomas met Lottie’s
gaze over Sarabeth’s head. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Be careful.
But the words were silly, and Lottie bit them
back. Instead, she offered Thomas a gentle smile and helped
Sarabeth to her feet. “Are you hungry? Come on, let’s get you
something to eat.”

Thomas caught Braswell’s scent the minute he
stepped outside, but he credited it to the nervous mare that shied
away from him when he reached for her bridle. He was too upset to
hide his power from the horse, but he did take a moment to try to
settle himself so she wouldn’t panic and tear his arm off trying to
get away.

That was when he realized
the scent wasn’t coming from the horse alone.
And Braswell was a good tracker in his day…

In the choice between his life and keeping
the horse nearby, there was no question. He released the bridle and
the mare bolted. Thomas closed his eyes and used the power inside
him to find the intruder on his property. To find the enemy.

It didn’t take long. He felt the man
circling the house, obvious intent on sneaking up behind Thomas.
Braswell had underestimated him, had taken his placid, easygoing
exterior at face value.

Most people did.

Thomas gathered his magic inside him and let
it out in one careful, directed burst, slamming Ira Braswell full
in the teeth in a sharp reminder that beta didn’t mean weak. He
heard a muffled grunt and a scuffle of feet, and when he turned he
found his opponent doubled over, obviously fighting the wolf’s need
to show deference in the face of such furious power.

Good.
Thomas let his cold rage fill his voice as he spoke. “Hello,
Ira.”

The man finally stood, a smile baring his
teeth. “Crawford.”

Thomas’s leg ached, a reminder that he
wasn’t in any shape to be getting into fights. The wolf inside him
disagreed. Lottie was inside, and a woman who Lottie needed to
protect, and the man standing in front of him was the enemy.

He straightened and refused to show
weakness. “You’re in a mess of trouble. I think you know that,
don’t you?”

Braswell’s hand twitched, almost like he
wanted to reach for the pistol at his side. “All I want is what’s
mine.”

The growl escaped Thomas before he could
stop it. “Nothing here is yours.”

The man’s trembling worsened, but he didn’t
back down. “Sarabeth is my mate, and I want her back.”

“
This is the Lonely River
Pack,” Thomas replied, keeping his voice hard. “No woman is mated
in our territory unless she chooses to be.”

“
You don’t understand. I’ll
give her anything she wants. I already
have
.”

Unrequited obsession. It happened, but not
often. With the competition for women so fierce, most wolves chose
a mate and ended any question of who she belonged to. The humans in
town seemed mildly appalled by the freedom the werewolf women had
when it came to making their own choices in life, but Jack didn’t
care.

Neither did Thomas. If the humans chose to
rebuild their population by trapping their women in cages, that was
their choice. The wolves had no such need.

And Ira Braswell wouldn’t be allowed to
break the pack’s rules. “She wants a choice. She made a choice. And
not only did you ignore it, you put lives in danger. You’re not
going to have her, Ira. Not ever.”

This time, Braswell put a hand to his gun.
“You’re not the alpha, Crawford.”

Thomas watched that hand, knowing he’d have
to be fast enough to get out of the way of a bullet. “I speak on
his behalf. And Sarabeth is under my protection now.”

“
No.” Braswell spat out the
word. “My mate,
my
protection. I’m taking her back, Crawford, and don’t try to
stop me. Just look after your own mate.”

“
That’s what I’m doing.
You’ve got one chance, Braswell. Drop the gun and face Jack, or I’m
going to rip it out of your hand and drag what’s left of you to
face him.”

Braswell drew the gun with an angry roar,
and a shot rang out. He screamed and dropped the gun to clutch his
wounded shoulder, then hit his knees on the grass.

Lottie stood at the edge of the porch, a
rifle still braced against her shoulder. “Don’t make me shoot you
again, Ira.”

But all he did was roar again and reach for
the fallen pistol with his off hand. Thomas got there first. One
sharp kick had his injured leg screaming in protest, but he landed
his foot square in Braswell’s chest and knocked the man back
over.

Thomas swooped down to pick up the discarded
pistol and aimed it at his enemy’s head. “I wasn’t going to let him
shoot me, Lottie.”

“
Could have fooled me,
honey.” The words were casual, but they held an edge of anger, or
maybe fear. “Looked like you were going to let him get awful
close.”

Braswell groaned softly.
Thomas rolled him over with one foot and glanced at Lottie. “I
should take him to Jack. It’s what he’d want me to do.” But it
wasn’t what
he
wanted to do. Not when the man bleeding in the dirt at his
feet had taken so much away from the woman he cared
about.

She made a soft noise of protest, as if she
could sense his thoughts. “Thomas…”

“
I know.” He closed his
eyes and told the wolf to be silent, that Lottie was safe and his
job ended there. The pack depended on Thomas and his ability to be
the civilized one. The unthreatening one.
Not so civilized when it’s
your
woman in danger.

He dragged in a deep breath and looked at
Lottie again. “Rope. We need rope.”

“
Chains,” she murmured,
raising the rifle again. “In the stable, by the door.”

Leaving Braswell alive was one thing.
Leaving him alive and out in the courtyard with Lottie… “Could you
get them?”

She snorted and muttered something about
sexist attitudes, but she unshouldered the rifle and headed for the
stable. When she returned, she held several lengths of heavy chain
and two padlocks. “This should do it.”

He leveled a look on her that acknowledged
her annoyance but didn’t give ground. “Go take care of your
responsibilities, darling. Let me take care of mine.”

Chapter Six

She wasn’t a delicate flower, and Thomas
Crawford was going to find that out.

Lottie kicked off her shoes and fell back on
the bed, closing her eyes against the fading sunlight slanting
through the curtains. They’d spent the day taking care of business,
together and separately, and only the possibility that Thomas might
consider her weak kept Lottie from feeling the satisfaction of hard
work done.

She heard him downstairs, coming in from
stabling the horses. His footsteps sounded tired on the stairs, but
soon enough he was standing in the doorway, watching her
quietly.

She sat up and stared at him. “I may be your
responsibility, Thomas, but you’re mine too.”

“
I know.” He didn’t move
from the door. “Never said I wasn’t.”

“
I don’t need protection.”
Her hands clenched on the quilt. “I need a partner.”

Thomas frowned. “Is this because I didn’t
want to leave you alone with Braswell?”

“
You felt okay with
me
leaving
you
alone with
him.”

He hesitated. Opened his mouth, then closed
it again. After a moment he nodded. “Fair enough. I was being an
overprotective ass.”

His admission surprised her, and she blinked
at him. “That’s it? Just… like that?”

Thomas grinned and shoved away from the
door, stalking toward her with a grace only slightly impeded by his
minute limp. “You disappointed? I suppose it’s not too late to go
find a man like Jack. Or hell, Oliver. I heard he just about locked
Hazel in a closet to keep her out of the fighting, and I doubt he’s
planning on apologizing.”