She could still get the job. He was at least considering it. Thank the gods. Kate was adaptable. She was the queen of changing plans on short notice, but short of taking her truck and disappearing into the sunset, she didn’t know what she would do without the job on the Trewitt ranch. Going back to El Paso just wasn’t an option. Not with Christian waiting for her. She needed something real enough and far enough from home that her grandfather wouldn’t risk ruffling fur.

And she needed a new alpha. One who would let her choose her own fate.

Ryan needed to choose his own fate, too. Not have it dictated to him. This single alpha crap just wasn’t going to work for her. His pack might need to update its rule book.

Sure, some wolves got more than one chance with a Fated mate, and some pulls were stronger than others, but it wasn’t like it happened every week. Not even every year. What she’d said to Ryan was true; plenty of wolves never found one. She shuddered at the thought of wasting the opportunity Fate had dropped in her lap, especially since this pull was strong. Plus, she liked Ryan—well, at least the parts of him that didn’t have a stick shoved up them. And damn, he was sexy. All big and brawny and broody. Just how she preferred her men. Sure, he hadn’t admitted that he felt the mate pull yet, but there was time. Unfortunately, she had a feeling he might take a bit more of a nudge to come over to her side.

Okay, maybe a lot of nudges. Resistance is futile, buddy.

A flash of red caught her eye and she watched a tall, dark-haired man walk from the barn up to the back porch. His button-up shirt was bright scarlet, and he had glasses on—which would be strange for a wolf, but maybe he was someone’s human mate. “You know who that is?” she asked Ryan, nodding toward the guy as he climbed the porch steps.

“Don’t you know all the VonBrandts?” She could practically feel the eye roll in his tone.

Damn, give a girl a break why don’t you?

“No, unless he was at a rodeo, I wouldn’t know him,” she said, keeping her voice upbeat, as if his abrasive comments and attitude merely bounced off her. “Was that Aaron? The alpha here?” That was a stupid question. She shook her head, remembering the glasses.

“No, it wasn’t the alpha, it was—” A big white Dodge came around the bend of the drive, just about clipping them. They’d barely made it a few feet down the road. A blonde female sat in the driver’s seat. Ryan waved and pointed to the line of cars parked around the VonBrandt house. The woman waved back and parked quickly.

“Friend of yours?” Kate asked.

“Dee is pack. It’s her job you were interviewing for.”

“So she’s getting—”

“Fired? No. She found her mate recently and will be moving away—”

“I was just going to say replaced.” Kate shrugged and watched Dee get out of her pickup and head in their direction. The guilty look on the approaching woman’s face said she hadn’t expected to see Ryan so soon.

Another truck came down the road a few seconds later. This one Kate recognized—her cousin, Will Quade. What the hell is he doing here so early?

His engine roared through dual exhaust pipes. The bright red paint job was recent, as was the chrome roll bar and lift so that anyone not six feet tall would need a step ladder to get inside. Who was he showing off for?

Will parked his red monstrosity next to the white Dodge and Kate smiled at him when he climbed down from the cab. It was like watching a spider monkey decide which way he wanted to get out of a tree. Finally, both his boots were on the ground. Black boots. Quade boots like they all wore. But the rest of him was wearing blue jeans and a green T-shirt with a happy face on it. And holy shit, he had bond tattoos on his wrists. Her cousin had found a mate.

Ryan had stepped off to the side with Dee, and Kate skittered toward her cousin. “What the hell, Will? Who are you mated to?”

“I can’t talk about this right now, Kitty-Kat.”

“Why are you here early? Is your mate here, too? The others aren’t right behind you, are they?” Kate cast a worried glance at the empty drive.

“Kate, stop. I’ll tell you everything later, and no, the pack isn’t here yet. Should be another couple of hours. I figured Helena would be texting you at every stop.” Will patted her arm and then slinked away. He hurried toward the same door that mister-mystery-red-shirt-VonBrandt had disappeared through a few minutes ago.

Kate straightened and sighed. At least Will hadn’t asked her why she was there early. No one but her grandparents knew about Christian Kyle. Thankfully. She didn’t want to give Will the same runaround she’d given Ryan. Lots of secrets roaming this ranch. At least hers was safe for now.

“Let’s go,” Ryan’s voice bellowed from where he stood with a half-worried, half-annoyed Dee.

“Go where?” Kate said back.

“I thought you wanted this job.”

“I do. Yes. Coming,” She sprang into motion, quickly closing the gap between her and the two Trewitt wolves, shocked at the news. Her boots crunched on the gravel drive.

“Dee, this is Kate Quade. She’s interviewing for your job.”

“Hi,” Kate said. “Nice to meet you.”

The woman’s face relaxed a little and she flashed a small smile at Kate. “I’m surprised we haven’t met before. But I guess the El Paso wolves don’t get out much, huh?”

They shook hands and Kate shrugged. Understatement of the century. “Pretty much never. Unless it’s a rodeo.”

Ryan gave her a sideways glance, but rather than comment, he just pointed them both toward Dee’s white truck. “We need to get out to the cabins. Bracken is there. Dee thinks there might be a solution to our problem.”

“Great,” Kate said, her chest releasing some tension. Maybe he really was going to give her a second chance. Maybe she’d find a way out of her pack after all.

They all piled into the truck, Kate taking the back seat. Dee refused to let Ryan drive, which made Kate like her even more. Too bad she was leaving the Trewitt ranch.

“So…I was supposed to be the only Quade out here early, but that guy back there in the tricked-out red truck is my cousin Will. But don’t worry. He won’t tell my grandfather I was here, and he doesn’t know I’m interviewing for a job.”

No one spoke. And Dee’s shoulders visibly tensed under the tight denim jacket she was wearing.

Quiet had never been something Kate was comfortable with. She glanced out the window and fidgeted with her hands in her lap. “Funny thing, when I saw him just now, he had bond marks. I didn’t even know he’d met someone.”

Ryan turned toward Dee and a rumbling growl rolled from his throat. His eyes flashed gold. “I’d better have just heard that wrong, Deirdre Lynn.”

The pretty blonde didn’t speak. Her shoulders bunched up even more, almost reaching her ears.

“Are you telling me that you expressly went against Bracken’s wishes? You were supposed to talk to Adam first. You owed him that.”

“You don’t understand, Ryan.” Dee’s voice lowered, like she was aware someone was listening and didn’t want their conversation to be overheard. But it was no use. There wasn’t anywhere to go. Kate was right there in the cab with them, hearing everything. “We didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I don’t care if you tripped and fell and said the spell on accident. Your alpha told you not to do it yet.”

Kate watched from the back seat, flipping her attention back and forth between the two Trewitt wolves. Ryan was seething. There was practically a vein popping out of every surface. How sick is it that I find him so hot right now? Ugh.

Dee slammed the steering wheel with her hand. “Look, it’s done now. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Wait,” Kate squeaked, finally catching on. “You’re Will’s new mate?”

The blonde caught her gaze in the rearview mirror and nodded.

Holy crap.

Dee parked the truck in front of a cabin…well, they’d called it a cabin, but what lay in front of them was more like a mansion built from logs. It had to be close to five thousand square feet. Maybe bigger. Two stories. Beautifully tucked away in the tall pines.

Someone walked down from the porch of the cabin toward the truck—an older, broad-shouldered man whose dark hair and dark eyes made him imposing, even from a distance. He wore a green-checked button-up shirt and tight, dark jeans capped off in brown boots. The picture of a rancher. This must be Bracken. He raised his hand and motioned them to approach. All three of them got out of the truck.

“What’s going on? I can feel how pissed you are.” He nodded his head at her. “And who is your young friend?”

She ignored the palpable tension between Ryan and Dee and walked toward the imposing man who reminded her a lot of Ryan—only with a little salt and pepper at the temples and a few more lines around the mouth. This is what Ryan would look like in twenty years. She shrugged off the shiver of arousal inspired by the thought and gave the man a big smile.

“Hi, I’m Kate Quade. I was supposed to interview with you for the ranch manager position.”

“So you’re K. Quade?”

Kate nodded, heat crawling up her neck and blossoming into her cheeks. She felt embarrassed that she’d lied to the man. The ad hadn’t specified for male applicants, but they might not have agreed to meet with her had they known she was female. Her grandfather certainly wouldn’t have. And she needed this job.

He grunted. “I should have known.”

“That’s the least of our problems. Have you seen Dee’s wrists?” asked the young, would-be alpha, coming up behind Kate. The proximity made Kate’s skin pebble.

He wasn’t even talking to her and she just…wow. Her whole body was on fire.

“Dee,” Bracken said, ticking his tongue behind his teeth in disappointment. “I asked you not to do that until after the summit.”

“I’m sorry,” Dee said, her voice soft. “It just—”

“No. You were expressly told to speak with Adam VonBrandt first. We’ve been waiting to approach Adam about Black Guardian again for a month, and you just ensured we don’t have a shot in hell.”

Ryan rubbed the stubble on his chin and growled again. “You know we need a good stud to raise our revenue. Now Adam probably won’t talk to any of us. At. All,” he added to Bracken’s verbal beating. “You were the one with a long-standing relationship with him.”

Ouch.

Kate was impressed by how Dee held her ground. She didn’t buckle under the weight of their anger. Of course, it wasn’t quite the same level of anger Kate had seen from her grandfather. Phillip Quade tended to lose his cool often and get violent in addition to all the screaming.

These two were obviously disappointed and upset...maybe a little angry. But neither man had moved to lay a hand on Dee, and they weren’t really screaming at her either. Both of them were completely in control. It solidified her decision that the Trewitt pack was definitely where she wanted to end up.

She was going to get the job and her mate.