Free Rachel's Totem by Marie Harte

used to pressure Charlotte a lot when she first moved here. My parents held them off, then we did when we took over.” Burke looked uncomfortable but he maintained eye contact. “Rachel, we did want, and still do, the land back that Charlotte owned. It was in our family for years before one of our idiot relatives lost it in a bet. But we’d never do anything to force you to sell. We kind of liked Charlotte near us. And we take pride in the fact that we were her protectors.”
    “Just like we’re now your protectors,” Grady added quietly.
    She felt their stares and glanced at Burke helplessly. He wasn’t the bad guy she’d first thought. He was a bona fide myth walking on two legs, or was that four, who wanted to protect her. Good Lord. What should she do about that?
    “I want to help.” And she did. She hadn’t seen much, but she trusted what she’d seen, and she listened to her instincts. They hadn’t failed her yet, and had she heeded them in the first place, she never would have married Jesse… Funny, but thoughts of him after what she’d seen didn’t matter much anymore.
    “And we want to help you. What can we do, Rachel?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. My aunt didn’t tell me anything useful about the totem.”
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    “What did she say, exactly?” Burke asked.
    Rachel flushed, distinctly remembering her aunt’s thoughts about what to do with Burke. “She told me to forget about my loser ex-husband, to find my inner beast, and …”
    “And?” Burke’s gaze intensified.
    “And to take my responsibility for the totem seriously.” As if she was going to tell him her aunt wanted them to marry after hot, wild sex. Embarrassing.
    “Right.” Did Burke sound disappointed?
    “What did she tell you?”
    “To protect you and to help you in any way that I can.”
    “So how do we do that?”
    Grady held up a hand. “I think we should start with Rachel’s beast. You need to get in touch with yourself first. Charlotte was always preaching that to me.”
    “Yeah. So.” Dean paused. “You want us to mark you now or later? Maybe some lunch first for strength?”
    “Dean.” Burke rolled his eyes. “Give her some room to breathe, okay? Rachel, it’s a lot to digest. How about we go for a walk and I’ll show you around? You can see Charlotte’s, I mean, your house from on top of the hill near the eastern cabins.”
    Rachel nodded and stood. “Some air would be nice.” Looking at Grady and Dean, she clearly read their disappointment. But honestly, she didn’t know what to think about what she’d been told. Marking? Mating? Ac-taw that were real? And why couldn’t she stop thinking about what Burke would look like when he shifted? About how hard his muscles would be under her palm before his skin turned to fur?
    Burke couldn’t help a quiet sigh of regret that Rachel hadn’t taken Dean up on his offer to mark her. Though her scent was tamped, his arousal kept building the longer he was around her. She just kept getting prettier every time he looked at her.
    She’d taken their news well, so far that he could tell. The only glitch on this morning was the knowledge she’d been married. He’d bet the ranch her ex was the business 55
    partner she’d spoken of with bitterness. Some asshole who didn’t appreciate a woman like Rachel didn’t deserve her.
    They walked outside along the spring, the deep grasses, wild flowers and honeybees a symphony of nature that couldn’t compare to Rachel’s feminine beauty.
    “So you were married huh?” Dumb, Burke. Real dumb.
    She frowned but nodded. “Three years. He cheated on me, I left, and he tried to bilk me out of our joint business assets and every dollar I’d broken my back to earn.”
    “What a dick.”
    She blinked at him and smiled, a genuine grin that made his heart pound with desire.
    “Truer words were never spoken.” They walked in silence a few moments before she said, “How about you? Ever married? Been heavily involved? It