Steal Her Heart (Kaid Ranch Shifters #1)(41)

“This should be one of the worst days of my life,” she whispered. “But right now, it doesn’t feel so bad.”

He touched her scars again. “I know you’re gonna think on things when you see these in the mirror, or when people ask you about them, or when people look at them.” He shook his head, and she could see it there—the awe in his expression. “But to me, you’ve never looked fiercer, or more beautiful. Trust me. You pull off scars well.”

Maris grinned up at him. “That’s how I know you have a crush on me. When you think I’m cute even when I look like a monster.”

“A monster? Nah.” He lowered his voice. “I’d fuck you right here and now, make you watch what you do to me in that mirror over there if the boys weren’t outside waiting on us.”

“Heard that,” Hunter called through the open door.

“You think I’m lyin’?” Bryson dragged her hand to the bulge of his swollen cock and gave her a wicked grin.

Okay, did werewolves blush? Because her cheeks definitely felt hot. He swatted her ass and tossed her a sexy look over his shoulder as he walked out. “Dress in something easy for me to get off,” he said right before he shut the door behind him.

Okie dokie then. Apparently, the whole “chicks dig scars” saying applied to horny werebears as well.

She looked at her face in the mirror again, turning it left and then right. Bright side: her skin looked great. And those cheekbones, okay! She clacked her teeth a few times. These were gonna be real helpful when she was eating her favorite meal of steak. And the scars didn’t even hurt. They didn’t feel like anything. “I’m a superhero,” she murmured.

Maybe she should make a costume. She was good at sewing. Maybe she could make matching costumes for all the boys, too. She bet she could get them to wear them for a pack picture at least. Maybe not Wes, but one never knew unless they tried.

She shimmied into a pair of leggings and a chunky sweater that hung off her shoulder. Why the boys had only bought bright colored lace bras, she had no guess, but she liked them. She shoved her feet into a new pair of fur-lined boots that she would definitely destroy quick, what with all the cow shit that was part of her job description, but it was cute the boys had spent time picking out clothes for her. And they mostly fit!

When she opened the door, the boys were all leaning on the bed of Bryson’s big-ass black Ford. They turned to look at her.

“Well, hello,” Bryson said, looking her up and down.

“Thank you, boys, for picking out these clothes. I love them.”

Wes made a clicking sound through his teeth. “Ain’t none of us spend time picking out your clothes. We took a bunch of measurements of your body while you were passed out and gave them to a lady in the store and made her pick everything out.” There was an odd note to Wes’s voice, though.

She narrowed her eyes at him as she passed on her way to the passenger’s side. “I can hear lies now.”

“I picked out the boots,” Hunter said excitedly. “And the bras. Wes picked out everything else.”

“Hunter!” Wes yelled, climbing in the back seat. “Shut. Up!”

Hunter flipped him off as he made his way into the back. too. Bryson turned up a song called “Cowboys from Hell” on the radio while Maris turned on the booty warmers and tried to ignore the growling sound she was making. “Do I really have to get a brand?” she asked.

“I can’t fuckin’ wait to brand you,” Wes muttered as Bryson pulled his truck onto the dirt road that led out of Kaid territory.

“What did I ever do to you?” she asked, twisting in her seat so he could see the disapproval on her face.

“For one, you tried to bite me, and two, you pissed on my boots. Just…squatted right on me when I was trying to help settle your wolf down when you were all unconscious and sickly.”

“Ha!” she cackled. “Ha hahaha. I’m awesome.”

Bryson was chuckling, too.

“It’s not funny, man. Those were my good boots.” Wes kicked the back of his seat.

Her man turned around and snarled a terrifying noise. “Do it again, and I’ll rip your heart out through your mouth hole, shithead.”

“Can we stop and get lunch somewhere?” Hunter asked, as if his brother and Bryson weren’t about to Change and fight in the cab of this truck. “I have a craving for burritos.”

Maris was grinning, looking from face to face. “This is the worst pack in the world. We should come up with a pack name.”

“The Village Idiots,” Wes mumbled under his breath.

Maris pointed to her ear. “I can hear that plain as day. I volunteer as Alpha. I read all about werewolves in books. A woman would definitely run a pack better.”

“No,” Wes deadpanned.

“Maybe?” Hunter said, chewing on his thumbnail.

The “Cowboys from Hell” song was hitting a good guitar riff, and she would’ve mimed a drum solo if they hadn’t come over the hill at right that second. She was supposed to be able to see her house from here, but there was nothing but rubble in the distance. The truck got real quiet as they drove closer and closer. With every foot of dirt road that passed under Bryson’s tires, her heart sank a little more.

He pulled to a stop in the yard, right in front of the first pasture where the herd was waiting. She got out slow, unable to take her eyes off the pile of charred rubble and ashes. The whole clearing stank of smoke so strong her sensitive nose hurt just to breathe. She covered it with her sleeve and walked to the edge of where her porch used to be. Now it was just…gone. It was unrecognizable. Nothing was salvageable.