A Wolf's Fate (A BBW Shapeshifter Romance): The Holiday Ball by Marie Mason Page A

Hayden’s arms.
    “Yeah, she is.”
    “She’s, umm, curvy, too.” Gunner felt rather than saw his brother shift his weight. No doubt, the younger wolf was remembering the scene they had interrupted in Hayden’s bedroom earlier tonight. His brother had been fucking his mate from behind. Her rounded hips had cushioned each thrust and her heavy breasts had swayed in time to the pounding her pussy was taking.
    “She’s damn near perfect.”
    Lucas turned to him, his brow raised. Gunner could tell the younger man already considered her perfect. “What would make her perfect?”
    “If she was my mate.”
    “I—”
    Gunner cupped his brother’s shoulder, hearing the concern in his voice. “Don’t worry little brother. I’m not about to fight the alpha for his mate. I just meant having a woman as curvy, as beautiful would be good.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yep, there’s nothing like having a curvy woman in your bed. I think you discovered that tonight, didn’t you?” He couldn’t resist the taunt and was rewarded by the red staining Lucas’ cheeks.
    “So, you want a mate, brother.”
    Shit. Gunner cursed himself for the Freudian slip. He didn’t want a mate. Didn’t need a mate.
    Lair.
    This time Gunner swung around, his fists clenched. “Tell me you heard that?” he demanded of his brother.
    “Heard what?”
    Maybe his senses were off. He hadn’t been around this many people in months. After he’d taken out the rogue, he’d retreated to the family’s hunting lodge high on Breakneck Mountain. He’d spent weeks there, trying to reconnect with his wolf. He’d made progress, but apparently not enough to rejoin society if he was hearing damn voices.
    “Nothing.” His eyes scanned those around him. For a moment, his gaze lingered on a rounded woman who looked to be in her late—fifties? For some reason it was difficult to determine her age. She reminded him of pictures in a fairytale book his mother had once read to him. He continued to scan the area, assuring himself all was well. When he turned his attention back to the woman, he could have sworn she winked at him. She did wave the tiny wand she held in his direction, releasing a shower of red sparkles.
    He motioned over a passing waiter carrying a crystal tray filled with shots of whiskeys. He took the tray from the man and placed it on the table. Champagne just wouldn’t cut it. Not tonight.
    “So, what do you think about Dad and his new mate?” Lucas watched as his older brother threw back a shot of whiskey. And then another. Hayden had told him Gunner was getting better, but right now, it didn’t look that way to him. Yeah, he’d laughed for the first time tonight in a very long time. But right now, he was jumpy as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.
    “The question is how are you doing?” There was deep concern in Gunner’s voice and it warmed Lucas’ heart. He loved his older brothers and would anything for them. He knew that feeling was returned tenfold.
    Gunner had always appeared unfeeling and cold at times. Lucas knew the opposite was true. To be a good enforcer—and Gunner was the best as far as Lucas was concerned—you had to be able to read every emotion a shifter had. Love, sadness, anger, killing rage. It was that last emotion that had almost taken his brother from him.
    “I’m great with it. I think Mom would have been, too.” The brothers had lost their mother over five years ago. The days after her death had been hard, but he’d never begrudge his father the chance at happiness again.
    Gunner nodded in agreement. “Hayden and I were wondering. You were always closer to Mom.”
    “You mean she babied me.” Lucas spoke with all the teenaged angst of a male wolf. And all the true affection a son could have for his mother.
    The brothers shared a smile and another shot of whiskey. That was the second—no his third smile of the evening, Gunner thought. From the moment he’d walked into the party, he’d felt a sense of