by Karen Lynch
I wanted to believe that so much. “I’ve heard of guys imprinting on someone they didn’t even like. What about them?”
Grandma tutted. “I’ve only known of two couples who’ve imprinted and didn’t get along. It can happen, but rarely. Trust your wolf. You’re too young to be worrying so much.”
“I’ll try,” I said even though I knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as that.
“Good.” She looked at something behind me. “Who is that girl with Peter?”
I looked over my shoulder at Pete, who had managed to escape Julie and who now stood over by the house talking to a tall, dark-haired girl who looked to be our age. They were smiling and appeared to know each other.
“That’s Earl and Mary Waters’ daughter, Shannon,” my mother said. “From out in Buxton. Shannon’s going to USM in the fall to study education.”
Grandma nodded approvingly. “Good family. She’d make a fine match for Peter.”
I didn’t comment. I thought Pete was nuts for putting himself out there and possibly imprinting. But if that was what he wanted, I hoped he found someone he would be happy with.
I stayed with my grandmother when my mother went to help with the food, and she wanted to hear all about what I’d been up to since the winter. When I showed her pictures of the Mustang, she tried to get me to let her take it for a spin.
I laughed softly. “No offense, Grandma, but I’ve seen you drive.”
Instead of being insulted, she smiled. “Then you’ll have to take me for a ride.”
“Let’s go.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Nice try, my boy. Why don’t you go talk to Peter and his friend? You don’t have to sit with me.”
“I like hanging with you.” I nudged her arm with mine. “And all the girls are too scared of the Alpha’s mother to come over here.”
Her eyebrow shot up before she let out a guffaw that drew the attention of half the people there. “You rascal. Go on with you before I call those girls over here and make you sit with them for the next hour.”
Laughing, I leaned over to kiss her cheek before I stood. “I’m glad you’re here, Grandma.”
Pete smiled when I joined him and his new friend. “You look like you’re in a better mood.”
“Grandma has that effect on me, but don’t expect it to last.”
He snickered and turned to Shannon. “Shannon, this is my cousin Roland. The one who abandoned me last Saturday night.”
She smiled and held out her hand to me. “It’s nice to finally meet you. My cousin has been talking nonstop about you since I arrived, and I was starting to wonder if you were real.”
“Your cousin?”
“Lexie Waters.”
A small groan slipped out. “You’re Lex’s cousin?”
“Yes, but please don’t hold that against me.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Don’t look now, but I think she’s about to come this way.”
The last thing I wanted was to have Lex groping me in front of half the pack. I turned to the house. “I could use a cold beer. How about you two?”
“Sounds good,” Shannon said, and I could hear the laughter in her voice.
We grabbed beers from the kitchen and hid out in the rec room for an hour. Shannon was nice and quick to smile, and I could see why Pete liked her. His expression whenever he looked at her told me he liked her very much. It was clear that she shared the sentiment. Even if they didn’t imprint, I had a feeling they’d be hooking up before the night was out.
It was dark when we went back upstairs, and we could hear the party going strong outside. It would go until ten, and then the adults would shift and take part in the pack run. When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to be old enough to go on the run. Now, I’d rather be anywhere else.
It was no secret that unmated wolves sometimes stole away from the main group to have sex, and more than one couple had imprinted that way. I fully expected Lex or one of the other females to try that with me, and I shuddered at the thought of being stuck with someone for life because of a moment of stupidity.
Instead of going out back where the main party was, we left by the front door. People had spilled out onto the front lawn, and I saw my cousin Lydia and her best friend Josie talking to a couple of men I didn’t know. Lydia was twenty and unmated, and from the set of her jaw, she wasn’t too happy about her current admirers.
One of the males shoved at the other. “I told you to stay away from her. Go find your own mate.”
Lydia glared at the aggressor. “I am not your mate, Gary. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
The blond male, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, ignored her outburst. “My wolf wants you. I know it’ll imprint on you at the run tonight.”
The red-haired man he’d shoved moved to stand between Gary and Lydia. “Stop this, Gary. You’re only upsetting her. She and I are dating, and my wolf has begun the imprint.”
I started toward them when I saw Gary’s fists clench in preparation of a fight. This happened every time there were too many unmated wolves in one place. Inevitably, two males would want the same female and tensions escalated until one of the males imprinted. Normally, the other would bow out then, but it looked like Gary wasn’t going to play by the rules. And my cousin would be caught in the crossfire.
“Everything okay here?” I asked Lydia, who looked more angry than distressed.
Gary sneered at me. “Stay out of this, pup.”
I ignored the insult. “You know how this works. If his wolf is already imprinting on my cousin, yours won’t.”
“He’s just saying he’s imprinting to get me to back off and let him have time with her,” Gary accused.
“I don’t care what you believe,” Lydia burst out angrily. “Seth’s my boyfriend, and he’s the one I want. There are lots of other girls here. Maybe one of them will be your mate.”
Gary gritted his teeth. “I don’t want them.”
Lydia huffed in frustration and anger. Her eyes met mine, and we shared a knowing look. As Brendan’s daughter and Maxwell’s niece, she was a very eligible mate, something I could commiserate with. This mating business was making everyone nuts.
“Lydia’s made her choice. You need to let it go, man,” Seth said to Gary in a conciliatory tone.
Gary’s response was a sucker punch to the other man’s face. I heard the cartilage in Seth’s nose crunch as he staggered backward under the force of the blow. Before he could recover, Gary lunged at him again, throwing another punch to his gut. Seth groaned, and Lydia tried to shove Gary away before he could do more damage.
I grabbed Gary from behind and dragged him back until he could no longer reach Seth or Lydia. He was a strong fighter, and he tried to break my hold, even head butting me in the chin once, but he was still no match for me. I might be a pup compared to him, but as everyone liked to point out, I had strong blood in my veins.
“Let me go,” Gary demanded when he realized he couldn’t free himself.
“I will if you promise to behave–”
I choked off the last word as someone tackled me from behind, a muscled arm wrapping tightly around my throat and cutting off my air. I released Gary to grip the arm of my attacker. Bending down, I pulled him over my shoulder and sent him crashing into the ground at my feet.
He rolled away and bounced to his feet to stand beside Gary. Somehow, it didn’t surprise me to see Trevor Gosse, the same man who’d bumped me in the meeting hall. That was when I recognized Gary as one of Trevor’s friends from the meeting.
I looked from one to the other. “Two against one. That doesn’t seem fair.”
Trevor barked a laugh. “If you want to hang with the big boys, pup, you need to learn that nothing is fair.”
I smiled as I studied them. They were both lean and muscled and had the look of seasoned fighters. But they were also hot-tempered and full of themselves.
“You good?” Pete called.
“Yeah.” I gave Trevor a cocky
smirk that was sure to piss him off. “I’ll try to take it easy on you.”
He snarled and swung at me. I blocked his punch and landed my own against his chin. He recovered fast and kicked me in the side as I was deflecting a blow from Gary. Pain lanced up my side, but there was no time to worry about it. Spinning, I ducked one fist as I kicked out and connected with the back of Gary’s knee.
Gary went down, howling in pain. With him out of the fight, I focused on Trevor, who looked less cocky without his buddy. He would not give up, though. I knew his type. His pride wouldn’t let him back down from a pup, especially since he was a Beta candidate.
Trevor feinted left, but his eyes gave him away, and I blocked the strike aimed for my throat. It was a dirty move, one that could have crushed my windpipe, and it made blood roar in my ears. We were taught that nothing was off-limits when fighting vampires, but pack members didn’t fight like that amongst themselves.
I struck the center of his chest hard with the heel of my hand, and he wheezed. Not waiting for him to recover, I grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back, forcing him to his knees.
“Yield,” I commanded, anger making my voice deep.
“Fuck you,” Trevor spat.
“Roland, behind you,” Pete shouted.
I pushed Trevor to the ground and held him with my foot as I faced the other man I’d seen laughing with Trevor and Gary in the meeting hall. He curled his lip and took a step toward me.
Enough of this shit.
I locked eyes with the man, and a low growl rumbled from my throat. He froze and tried to back away, but the only way to end a stare down was for one of us to submit.
A feral power filled my chest as my wolf reared up inside me, demanding the other wolf’s submission. My wolf had fought against Brendan, but that was nothing compared to the fierceness in him now. It was all I could do not to shift and let him take over.
The man gasped and broke eye contact with me, sinking to his knees. With him no longer a threat, I looked down at Trevor and Gary. Now what to do with these two?
“What is going on here?” boomed the commanding voice of the Alpha.
Everyone went still as his power surrounded us. Maxwell’s eyes were on me, and I had a feeling I was in for another one of his lectures, the kind that were usually followed by a brutal training session.
Lydia pointed at the two men at my feet. “They started it. Gary hit Seth, and when Roland stepped in, Gary, Trevor, and Rob ganged up on him.” She related everything as it had happened, and Maxwell’s expression grew darker.
Maxwell gave the three men a look that would have made them curl up with their tails between their legs if they’d been in wolf form. “You three, go back to wherever you’re staying. I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”
Trevor stood and helped Gary to his feet. They kept their eyes averted from Maxwell, but Trevor gave me a look that promised retribution as the pair of them limped past me, followed by Rob. I didn’t bother to tell Trevor I was the least of his concerns. I knew what Maxwell’s punishments were like, and once Maxwell was done with Trevor, the man would forget all about me.
Maxwell looked at Seth, who was holding his bloody nose. “Is your nose broken?”
“Yes, sir,” Seth said in a nasal voice.
“Lydia, take him to your place so he can heal,” Maxwell told her.
Lydia nodded, and Maxwell turned to me. “Are you hurt?”
I ran a hand over my aching side. “A bit bruised, but nothing a shift can’t fix.”
“Good.” He stared at me for a few seconds, and I waited for him to tell me he’d see me tomorrow, too. But he walked past me and entered the house without another word.
Pete and Shannon came over to me as soon as the door closed behind Maxwell. Pete’s grin told me what he thought of the whole incident.
“You kicked ass,” he said. “I don’t think those guys knew what hit them.”
I shrugged. “Guess all that training with Maxwell paid off.”
“You’ll definitely make Beta after this.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to become a Beta with everything else I had going on.
Shannon gave me a sympathetic look. “Um, Roland, don’t look now but…”
“Roland, we just heard what happened!” Lex ran over to hug me.
I winced when she pressed against my bruised ribs, and she pulled away.
“Oh, you poor thing. Let’s go inside, and I’ll take care of that for you.”
I had little doubt how she wanted to take care of me. I gave Pete a helpless look and found him trying not to laugh.
“I’m okay, Lex,” I said. “Thanks.”
“Did you really take on four guys at once?” asked a blonde girl whose name I couldn’t remember.
“No, only two.” I wondered how the story could have already changed in the five minutes since it had happened.
“Three if you count the one you stared down,” said my traitorous cousin with a barely concealed smirk.
“Three? That’s amazing,” the blonde gushed.
I sighed inwardly. I’d come here tonight hoping to keep a low profile, and all I’d managed to do was draw more attention to me. I used to love parties and girls, but the last few weeks had left a bad taste in my mouth. I longed for a quieter place, somewhere I could be myself without all the complications.
“Roland?”
Lex’s voice dragged me from my thoughts, and I found her and the others giving me questioning looks.
“Sorry. What were you saying?”
“It’s almost time for the pack run, and we thought it would be nice to get started early,” she said. “You’ll heal faster.”
It was normal for younger or unmated wolves to start the run ahead of the rest of the pack, and I could see some people already walking to the woods. But the last thing I wanted was to let my wolf out around all these females before I had to. Unfortunately, I could think of no excuse to wait.
“Yeah, sure.”
The group of us, including Pete and Shannon, walked to the edge of the trees where everyone began to remove their clothes. For the first time in my life, I felt uncomfortable getting naked around other wolves, even though it was as natural as breathing to us. It might have had something to do with the heated gazes I felt on me as I stripped.
I really hope Mom and Grandma are right about you knowing my heart, I told my wolf as I let the change take me.
We decided to head to the lake. I stayed at the back of the group, and I soon found out that was a bad idea. If I thought being surrounded by eager females in human form was bad, it was nothing compared to their boldness as wolves. They took every opportunity to rub against me or nip at me playfully or, in Lex’s case, suggest we go off alone and have some real fun.
By the time the lake came into view, my mood was as dark as the sky, and I was having trouble not snapping at the girls. It wasn’t their fault I wasn’t into this like they were, but it was hard not to be annoyed when one of them was constantly touching me.
I finally got a reprieve when Lex suggested we all go for a swim. The girls shifted and dove in while Pete and I stayed in wolf form, watching them.
This is insane, I grumbled. Did I really go for girls like this in school?
Pete shook his head. None of the human girls were as bad as this. Female wolves are not afraid to go after what they want.
If I could have laughed, I would have. That’s an understatement. Lex tried to get me to go have sex with her on the way here.
Lex is a bit much, but they’re not all like that. Some of them are pretty nice.
I followed his eyes to where Shannon floated on the water, talking to another girl. You like Shannon, don’t you?
Yeah. We met at the party last Saturday. She saved me from an ambush after you deserted me.
I sat on my haunches. I think she likes you, too. Maybe she’s the one.
He let out a low sigh. With my luck, I’ll imprint on
someone like Allison. She’s nice and all, but way too giggly for me.
Watching his wolf stare at Shannon, I had little doubt who he’d choose.
It would be my luck to imprint on one of the others. The thought sent a shiver through me. Even my wolf seemed repulsed by the idea, which was a little comforting. Like me, he didn’t want to be here.
The sound of running feet drew our attention to the woods behind us as Maxwell loped out of the trees in wolf form, followed by Brendan and dozens of pack members. I’d never been so glad to see Maxwell because his presence meant the girls’ playtime was over for tonight. The pack run was about unity and being led by our Alpha. We’d run hard over pack land and return home tired but content.
I spotted my mother and grandmother and went to join them. I hadn’t been kidding when I told Grandma the girls were afraid of her because she was the Alpha’s mother. I wanted to run and enjoy myself without the hassle.
You hiding again? she asked when I drew near.
Yes.
She snorted softly. At least you’re honest about it. Okay, my boy. Let’s run.
Chapter 8
Emma
“What on earth is this?”
I slowed on my walk home from work on Wednesday afternoon when I saw a large white truck parked in front of my building. I wasn’t expecting a delivery, so they had to be there by mistake.
A young man in a blue polo shirt was carrying a handheld device and came around the corner of the building as if he’d just been to my door. He spotted me walking toward him and stopped to wait for me.
“Are you Emma Grey?”
“Yes.”
“Great. I have a delivery for you.” He held out the handheld and a stylus. “If you’ll sign here, I’ll get it off the truck for you.”
I didn’t take the device. “There must be some mistake. I haven’t ordered anything.”
He frowned and looked at the screen on his handheld. “Says here the order was placed by a Nikolas Danshov.”
“Oh! Then I guess it is for me.” I took the stylus and signed where he told me to. I’d forgotten all about the gift Nikolas had ordered for me. “What is it?” I asked eagerly.