by Amanda LeMay
His eyes seemed to lock on my neck. His nostrils flared as he slowly licked his lips. Menacing vibes radiated off his skin as the smell of his frustration filled the air all around me. I smelled something else too, but I couldn’t put a name to it. All I knew was there was nothing about Gunner that frightened me and with everything I felt coming off him, no matter how wrong it was, I wanted to kiss him again. Put my lips on his and feel that silky soft goatee move across my chin as his tongue swept into my mouth.
“You need to stop that when I’m trying to talk serious to you.” Gunner growled.
I snapped my gaze back to his. “Stop...what?”
He lifted an eyebrow. His eyes moved down to my mouth then slowly traveled back up my face. “I can’t be thinking about kissing you silly all the damn time,” he said through gritted teeth.
Even though he seemed to be scolding me, he really didn’t seem to mind remembering the one kiss we’d shared. And neither did I.
“I’m sorry.” Not really.
He scowled, loosened his grip on my arms. “Sanctuary means you are protected as long as you stay within my territory.” He looked out the big living room windows. “But I can see your former pack has ideas of their own. So, I’m gonna have to keep you close. Real close.” His gaze came back to mine. “I granted you sanctuary. You are in my care. You will not set foot off this ranch unless I’m with you.”
He gave me a short nod asking if I understood. I did.
“Can I ask you something?”
Another short nod.
“If they came into your territory without permission, what would keep them from coming onto your ranch? There may be fencing all around for miles and a gate, but it’s wide open for anyone to come and go.”
“Death,” he replied, sudden and sure, with complete seriousness. His hand cupped my cheek. His thumb stroked softly along my jaw line. “They threatened you. In public. In broad daylight. In front of a human. They’ve broken the law. Wolf law. They come on my land, they’re dead.”
“But...what if they didn’t know? What if Rule is using them as a sacrifice to get to me? He’s hidden so much.”
“Ignorance of our laws isn’t going to keep them from dying if they come here uninvited.”
“Okay. I understand. I won’t leave. No matter what. I promise.”
His hand slipped down around the back of my neck. Heat flushed through me again.
Yes. Kiss me. Just once more.
“Damn it, Derry, that stung!” A male voice shouted as laughter filled the dining room.
“See, told ya.” Gunner smiled.
“She must wield a mighty weapon,” I murmured.
“I can tell you the worst paddling I ever got from my mom was with a wooden spoon. Those damn things hurt like hell.”
I gazed up at this silver-haired male and could see the mischievous little boy he must have been smiling back at me. Another round of laughter came from the dining room, along with a low, muttered curse.
“We’d better get in there before Derry starts whaling on my boys.” Gunner stepped back, wrapped my arm around his, and led us toward the dining room.
And because I had no weapons of my own to keep Gunner to myself, I went along with him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SEATED TO GUNNER’S left, I glanced down the long dining table to see Les, Sky, and Denny. I’d met them earlier that morning. The other males around the table rose quickly from their seats to grasp my hand in greeting and introduce themselves: Tan, Brindle, and Albert. Brenin sat to Gunner’s right, directly across from me, but didn’t acknowledge our arrival.
Serving dishes were passed to Gunner, who filled my plate before his own, always asking before adding anything to my steadily building mound of food. After seven days of running, no matter how much I ate, my hunger never seemed satisfied for long. My lifetime diet of bland fish and steamed vegetables couldn’t compare to how wonderful “real” food tasted.
In my mother’s house, the kitchen was off limits. For servants only. Not in Gunner’s house. In this house, Derry welcomed everyone into the kitchen. Seemed to expect everyone to hang out and help in any way they could. Though she cooked the meals and cleaned the house, she wasn’t treated as a servant. From what little time I’d spent around her, I sensed she was a good, strong female—like Jessy and Maygan.
I swallowed bite after bite as I glanced around the table, listening to the lively conversations. All the males talked, laughed, filled their plates again, and if one happened to empty a serving dish, he left the table, carried it through the bat-wing doors, refilled it, and returned. The conversations were sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, but never, ever stopped, which was another huge difference from what I’d been brought up around. Everyone sat so close to each other, their elbows rubbed together as they ate.
In my experience, sharing a meal at the dining table was only for special occasions, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, and conversation was never, ever allowed. Otherwise, meals were served in our sitting rooms on covered trays. We ate alone and I learned at a very young age to eat what was served without complaint, or go hungry. Here, at this table, was more food than I had seen in an entire week at my mother’s house.
Though I could probably count on both hands the times I’d eaten dinner at my mother’s table, I remembered exactly what it looked like—gray buffed metal legs in decorative swirling patterns seen clearly through the sparkling glass tabletop. I never dared touch it for fear of leaving a fingerprint as evidence I had been in the room, though as a child I had dreamed of dancing on it beneath the glittering crystal chandelier that hung above the center of the table.
My mother was not poor. We lived in a mansion. We employed servants. The portions of food were rather skimpy and, in comparison to the meal Derry served, extremely bland. Unlike Gunner’s home, which had surrounded me with a warm hominess from the moment I’d stepped inside, the atmosphere in my mother’s mansion was cold, impersonal, and almost sterile.
I sat back in my chair, relaxed, and smiled as I pushed my fork around my plate, stirring the rich brown gravy left behind by the roast beef. The multitude of deep, male voices rumbling around the table soothed my frayed nerves. I hadn’t been this content since...ever.
Everything is going to be okay.
I heard Derry moving around quietly in the kitchen. She didn’t join us and I assumed because of Seff’s standing in the pack, neither did he.
“Where are all the others?” I asked as I looked around.
“The others?” Gunner asked between bites.
“There were a lot more wolves playing outside than there are at the table.”
“They went on home.” Gunner pointed his fork down the table. “These males work here, bunk here during the week most of the time, then head on home for the weekends if there isn’t something going on that they should stick around for.”
I set my fork on my plate and clasped my hands together in my lap. “I didn’t see Jessy and Dain come back with you. Are they safe out there alone, with Rule’s pack looking for me?”
Every male at the table chuckled, except Brenin, of course, who hadn’t looked up from his plate since the moment I’d sat down across from him.
“Those San Francisco wolves come up against Dain, they’ll get their asses handed to ’em,” one of the males at the other end of the table remarked.
More chuckling all around as cutlery clinked against plates. Jessy had said her mate was able to take the form of a Breeder and though I wasn’t sure what that meant, I had noticed Dain was just as large in his wolf form as Gunner and Brenin. Size must be an enormous advantage.
As I looked at the table seating arrangement, a memory flashed in my mind.
“A female always sits to her male’s right.”
“Rule is not my male, Mother.”
“You belong to him. Sitting to his right shows him respect and if you are not in attendance, your seat will be left unoccupied to show respect for his female.”
“His female?”
His female. No. I was not.
The corners of my mouth drew down in a frown.
“Simone?”
I looked up to see Gunner’s face, full of concern.
I’m okay.
I sucked in a breath and smiled. No matter how or when my memories surfaced, I was safe and secure under Gunner’s protection. He served his Alpha position well, with his thoughtful understanding. Just observing him at play with his pack and how he cared for the young, there was no mistaking he enjoyed his family.
Then...why did his mate leave him?
“I’m curious, and please correct me if I’m mistaken, but I was taught that a female always sits at the right of the male.”
“Were you also taught that an Alpha’s Second always sat at his weaker hand?” Brenin grumbled before he took his next bite.
“An Alpha’s second...what?” Second mate?
Brenin’s head snapped up. He glared at me then at his father, irritation written all over his face. I must’ve looked so silly to him. The other males quickly exchanged glances, then continued eating.
I sighed. “I’m sorry, I...”
Beneath the table, Gunner’s leg brushed against mine, sending comforting warmth through my body as he spoke. “Explain it to her, Brenin.”
Brenin sat back, huffed as if he were irritated, which was plain to see. Then he looked me in the eye. “A ‘Second’ is an Alpha’s second-in-command. Seconds have authority to make decisions if the Alpha is out of action for some reason or,” he nodded his chin toward his father, his mouth set in a straight, hard line, “his judgment is questionable.”
Gunner wiped his mouth with his napkin, seemingly unfazed by his son’s little jab. “Now, if we were talking Breeders, a Second is the male who makes all the arrangements for breeding and sometimes, confirms the pregnancy.”
“Oh,” I said quietly as I watched Gunner pick up his fork with his left hand and begin eating again. Left-handed. That answered why Brenin sat to his right, his weak side, but that still didn’t answer the question as to why I was sitting in what I considered Gunner’s mate’s place.
Gunner reached for a serving bowl of carrots and offered me a spoonful.
I looked down and found my plate already empty. I shook my head. “No, thank you.” I must have been hungrier than I thought and even though the conversation had become slightly tense, somehow I’d devoured every bite of food Gunner had loaded on my plate. “I think I’d better stop.”
He smiled again, refilled his plate with something from every dish, and continued to eat while the other males rose and carried their dishes into the kitchen. Derry came out through the bat-wing doors with a coffee pot and filled Gunner’s cup first. Mine was next. Then she traveled down the table, starting with Brenin, who offered up a low “thanks”.
Gunner spoke quietly, “Derry.” He lifted his chin. “Please tell my nephew to come on in.” Derry nodded back before slipping out of the dining room.
Nephew? I’d forgotten he’d mentioned Seff before as we’d talked about the guitars in the living room.
“Are all the members of your pack related?”
Gunner’s eyes locked on mine and the look he gave me seemed almost sad. “No, Simone.” He took a long sip of coffee. “Just Brenin and Seff.” He set his cup down. “Do you have a lot of siblings that stayed with your pack?”
“No, I don’t have any siblings. Each female in our pack has only one offspring, if they’re lucky, and we stay with our mother our entire life.” I didn’t. I ran. I looked down and watched as my fingers twisted together in my lap. “Once a year, when the time is right, Rule chooses a pair who will have the honor of producing the next offspring.”
Gunner leaned toward me; his hand slipped between mine and stopped my fidgeting.
“And you were the chosen one this time?”
“Yes.” I looked up and caught the sad look in his eyes. “Lucky me.”
He leaned in closer, his face only an inch from mine. “No, lucky me,” he whispered. He smiled. His fingers gave mine a little squeeze, then he let go and sat back in his chair.
Gazing into Gunner’s green eyes, I was the lucky one, really. If not for Rule choosing me, I would still be stuck living a life that was really no life at all. I would never have started this adventure, made friends, with the exception of Brenin, of course. I would have never found the courage to explore another way of living and I would’ve never met someone I felt such a strange and wonderful connection to.
Seff walked out from between the bat-wing doors. I glanced behind to see his head down, his face solemn, like a small boy waiting for a well-deserved scolding. His shoulders slumped forward. His hands remained shoved into the pockets of his jeans.
“Sit,” Gunner ordered quietly.
Seff’s head came up slowly. He smiled. His light brown eyes flashed to mine and he did something so incredibly stupid. He winked. At me. Winked! What was he thinking? I blinked and stared at my empty plate, trying not to grin.
No wonder he had been exiled. He had no common sense whatsoever.
Gunner shoved back his chair and stood. I gasped. My hands automatically clenched as my stomach jumped.
“Gunner, please...” I started. “Seff...” I looked up, fully expecting to see anger in Gunner’s face and found myself surprised and somewhat confused when I didn’t. His lips curved in an easy smile that reached all the way up to his sparkling eyes. His hand wrapped around mine and gently squeezed. That strange, warm rush flowed through my veins and seemed to calm me faster than any drug ever might. “Seff ran them off,” I whispered. “Saved me and Jessy from having to defend ourselves.”
“I know, but I want to hear it from him.” His free hand grasped my empty plate and lifted it away. “And I’m sure there’s a lot more to his story, or he wouldn’t have risked coming back here.”
I watched his lips move with each word, mesmerized by how firm they looked and remembered how perfectly soft they were when he had kissed me. As I inhaled deeply, his scent overpowered the smell of roast beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, and even the steaming-hot coffee. He squeezed my hand again, but I didn’t let go. I wanted to pull him down to me, touch my lips to his for just a second. My bottom lip trembled as I sighed.
“Everything’s gonna be okay,” he said as his brows pinched together. “I’m going to make everything okay. You know that, right?”
Does he think I’m trembling because I’m afraid?
“Yes. I do.”
Brenin lifted his head and scowled as his eyes locked on the spot where my hand met Gunner’s. Suddenly self-conscious, I slowly pulled my hand away and hid it in my lap.
Gunner stacked a few other empty dishes on top of the plates he’d balanced in one hand as the other males filed back in from the kitchen and took their seats again. Then he looked across the table at Seff.
“You don’t smile. You don’t wink. You don’t say boo.”
“Yes, sir.” Seff sat back in his chair and looked properly scolded. Gunner nodded, then shoved his way through the bat-wing doors behind me.
A couple of the males around the table chuckled and shook their heads. One of them mumbled, “Balls, man, balls.”
“You winked at...?” Sky nodded in my direction.
Seff lifted his chin in answer.
“Shit for brains,” Brenin said as he poured cream into his coffee.
Seff propped his elbows on the table. “Yeah, ya know, ’cuz you ain’t never done nothin’ to get your ass whipped.”
Brenin’s gaze settled on me. “Well, at least my ass whippins were well deserved, and not over flirtin’ with a couple of silly females.”
Brenin didn’t like me. I didn’t know why, but I did know there was only one way to find out.
“You really don’t like me, do you?” The words came out of my mouth before I could yank them back.
He placed his coffee cup on the table and leaned back in his chair. His eyes never left mine. His
broad shoulders and strong facial features were so much like his father’s—except his eyes—dark, stormy gray instead of the intense green.
“I don’t like the fact that you have no fucking idea the trouble you brought here.” He snarled viciously.
I couldn’t back down. I knew that much. I couldn’t appear to be the weakest wolf at the table. If I allowed the Alpha’s son to walk all over me, I would lose any little bit of respect I might have with the rest of the males witnessing this exchange.
“I may have lived a sheltered life, but I’m not weak. And I may not know all the rules, all the laws, but that’s only because they haven’t been explained to me yet. So go ahead, Brenin, lay them all out on the table for me. I promise to do my best not to step one toe over the lines you’ve already drawn.”
A hush fell over the room. Every male at the table stared down its length at Brenin. I sat quietly waiting, not letting my eyes move from his, but not holding a stare-down, either. I wasn’t here to threaten, only to be safe and if possible, learn about my world.
“That’s gonna have to wait.” Gunner’s voice rumbled from just behind my chair.
He’d been so quiet, I hadn’t heard him return. He sat down and offered me a shallow serving bowl full of dark golden brown cookies sparkling with huge sugar crystals. I took one, though my knotted stomach and tight throat fought a good battle to keep me from taking even the smallest of bites. I tried not to stare as Gunner grabbed a stack of several. No one spoke as the bowl passed from one male to another and by the time it came back my way, the bowl was empty except for loose sugar crystals.
“Seff, you got something you wanna tell me?”
“Uh...yes sir.” Seff set his cookie down and looked straight at Gunner when he spoke. “I came across their trail just north of Kerrville, tracking a female scent I didn’t recognize here in our territory. They were sneakin’ around Kern and Maygan’s place while the wedding party was going on, but didn’t get too close. I tracked them and stuck close to see what they were up to. Last night they ran themselves out, trying to hunt down a white-tail and settled on a rabbit one of them managed to snag. After they fought over the thing, they shifted back to human and whaled on each other for a bit, and I’m just sayin’, those males have no fightin’ skills. Anyway, afterward, they all ganged up on one and then...well...damn.” Seff seemed to blush as he smiled and ran his hand through his hair. “I just hid out until they finished.”