Free Waiting for Wolves: BBW MMF Werewolf Shapeshifter Menage Romance (Shifter Grove Brides Book 5) by Anya Nowlan

wasn’t afraid of Achilles, but he wasn’t about to get himself killed like a dumbass. Cooper figured Achilles was banking on him attacking the scrawny wolf in a fit of rage and then they’d have a tidy excuse to kill him and then Claire. Perhaps some of his lieutenants were apprehensive of just exacting vengeance when there was nothing to drive it. Perhaps Achilles’s hold on the pack wasn’t as strong as he thought it was. Whatever it was, Cooper didn’t want to play right into his paws.
    It seemed that his guess was spot-on. This time, Cooper heard distinct rustling in the underbrush to his left and both he and Achilles glanced that way. A menacing growl parted from Achilles’ lips and his eyes flashed gold. But even the wolf in his eyes looked diluted and strained, like something had been gnawing at him from the inside and the shell was worn so thin that you could almost see through it.
    “I’ll be nice this time, mutt. I’ll let you have your little fun with my traitorous brother and your little Georgia peach. But I will be back and if I see Argo on my lands again, even just once, I won’t promise that you’ll have your bae back in one piece, you hear? Have a nice evening.”
    Achilles gave Cooper a mocking bow and stepped back from the porch. He shifted quickly and easily, much faster than Cooper could do it, and sped into the night in the direction where Cooper had heard the faint noises. The smell of wolves was thick in the air.
    Cooper pulsed with rage. It pumped through his veins thicker and faster than adrenaline ever had. He hated the fact that Achilles knew so much about Claire already. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Shifter Grove was a small place, and Cooper had taken her to the store once or twice and all three of them had had dinner a few times at the Sunrise Diner as well. People talked and meant nothing bad by it. It was all fun and games until someone bad caught wind of it.
    He was in the middle of trying to get his breathing under control and to relax his body before going back in the house when soft footsteps caught his attention. It was Argo, walking across the mowed lawn toward the porch. He had a kind of animal grace about him that Cooper had never seen so strong. Being in Idaho, near his roots, with Claire and Cooper with him was making him into a beast to take seriously. He wasn’t just the man Cooper loved anymore, but he was becoming a true Alpha.
    The swagger was unreal, but Cooper knew there was plenty to back it up with.
    “Achilles was just here,” Cooper said, forcing the angry tremor out of his voice.
    “I heard the whole thing,” Argo said calmly, taking two steps at a time.
    He came to a stop in front of Cooper, and Cooper didn’t know whether he wanted to punch him or kiss him.
    “This is becoming real,” Cooper warned.
    “I know,” Argo agreed, inclining his head a bit. “Question is, are you ready for it?”
    “I think the real question is, why haven’t you two talked to me yet?”
    Cooper spun around and stared at the door. Claire was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at both him and Argo. She was wrapped in a cottony robe that hugged her curves softly and with fury blazing in her eyes, she looked like a treat for a weary soul. Cooper had to stop himself from licking his lips.
    If a woman looked as sexy as Claire did to him when she was angry then Cooper knew he and Argo had found a keeper.
    “I’m listening.”
     

CHAPTER TEN
    Claire
     
    She muzzled her objections as Argo urged both Cooper and her to get inside. Claire took a seat on the couch, right where Argo and Cooper had fucked her for the first time a few days ago, and Cooper sunk down right next to her. He put a hand on her thigh like he usually did and Claire didn’t bat his hand away, though she felt peeved and confused and her irritation was currently directed at both of the men in her life.
    She’d watched the exchange between Cooper and the guy named Achilles from