As she expected, Brody gave her a once over and raised his eyebrow at her outfit. Sucking in a deep breath she smiled at Sage and completely ignored his Alpha. She even let Dane pull her into a somewhat inappropriate hug and didn’t immediately bat away his massive hand as it drifted lower.
Brody could suck it.
Chapter Six
The tightening in his gut was pissing him off. It was unwanted, it was distracting, and it was making Brody pay way too much attention to Sienna as she swayed her way through the dance club down below.
He, Sage, and Dane were posted in an upstairs bar while Sienna moved through the crowd below looking for a particular wolf shifter named Kyle, who might or might not know a thing or two about the Kodiaks. Kyle, it turns out, was nothing more than a shameless flirt who used Sienna’s search for answers as an excuse to make her dance with him.
And Sienna, for whatever reason, kept her eyes locked on Brody as her body swayed in time with Kyle’s as he pressed in behind her. The longer he watched, the crazier the whole thing was making Brody and his wolf.
His animal was stalking within him, urging Brody to let him free so he could rip out Kyle’s throat and toss it at Sienna’s feet. What the holy hell was all of this about?
As much as he hated to admit it, she was a sight to see. She’d been beautiful the first night she stood toe-to-toe with him in her underwear, but out there swaying to the music, she was magnificent. She was tall and strong, with plush curves everywhere a man wanted them. Her beautiful hair cascaded down her back in rolling auburn waves.
And that mouth. Dear gods above, that mouth made him want do wicked, wicked things to it.
Scrubbing a hand down his face, Brody cleared his head and turned to find Dane watching him with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Don’t. Say. Anything,” Brody ground out. Dane’s smile didn’t waver, but he held his hands up in mock surrender.
“Just sayin’, Boss,” Dane began, but a snarl from Brody cut him off. He snickered and turned his attention back to Sienna.
Sage returned from the bar with drinks for them. Needing to stop staring at Sienna long enough to clear his mind, he motioned for Sage and Dane to follow him to a table far enough away from the ledge that he could concentrate.
He sipped at his soda and made a face. He knew he shouldn’t be drinking at a time like this, he needed his wits about him, but a whiskey would sure hit the spot and help quell the jealous beast raging inside him.
“How do you think it’s going down there?” Sage asked innocently enough and Dane made a face.
“Seems to be going great if Sienna’s goal is to be dry humped by a moron,” Brody bit out bitterly before he could stop himself.
Sage, ever the peacekeeper and dutiful Beta, changed the conversation’s course as best he could.
“She really came through with intel for us,” he said. Brody couldn’t deny that. She’d gotten names, a few recent incidents to look into further, and a den name. Brody hated to admit it, but that’s more than he’d ever be able to come up with in 12 hours.
“Just wait ‘til we get her a target to track,” Sage said with more than a little pride in his voice. “Sienna’s a natural-born hunter.”
Drinks downed, Brody couldn’t ignore the compulsion from his wolf to go back to the ledge and check on Sienna. Reluctantly, and dragging his feet, he did.
He leaned his elbows on the smooth metal and noticed Sienna and the shifter weren’t in the spot they’d been in just minutes earlier. Scanning the dancefloor, in fact, revealed that they weren’t anywhere that Brody could see from where they stood. He frowned, searching the long glass bars that lined two sides of the dance floor and that were crowded with couples leaning their heads toward each other.
Still nothing.
“Where’d she go?” Brody asked Sage, who was searching the faces, too.
“No clue,” his Beta answered.
“You worried?” Dane asked Sage. Sage didn’t immediately respond, and Brody took that as a yes.
Without saying a word, Brody pushed off the railing and stalked downstairs.
He moved through the sea of shifters and humans as they parted for him, giving him a clear path. He gave off an intimidating vibe for shifter and human alike and it came in handy during situations like this—he was grateful his wolf was a crazy bastard when it came to crowd control.
Brody’s wolf grew more frantic the longer he searched.
Where the hell is she?
Finally, at the far end of a corner bar that was directly beneath where Brody had been standing upstairs, he saw them.
The wolf was too close to Sienna, who looked cool and confident, but the fear she was giving off was easy to pick up on. It was obvious that Kyle, the little sniveling son of a bitch, was enjoying the fact that Sienna was in over her head and worried as he pushed her boundaries.
Brody felt Sage and Dane arrive directly behind him on either side of him. Sage’s anger was instant and radiated like heat from his Beta. Dane’s reaction more curious—it was obvious he wanted to see how his Alpha and Beta handled a situation like this.
Brody didn’t move forward immediately, instead he listened in on the conversation that was going on.
“…so I think maybe we should go back out on the dance floor, don’t you?” Sienna was saying. She was still trying to be polite enough not to lose the conversation with her contact. She must have understood that if it got too out of hand, none of them would get the information they needed out of Kyle.
Brody, however, understood that the conversation was over. Kyle was going to force Sienna into an uncomfortable situation no matter what she tried to do at this point. And that made Brody’s blood boil.
“No, baby, I don’t think we should go back out there,” Kyle said and moved closer to Sienna, totally eating up the space between them. Sienna’s hands shot up between them and she moved to stand, but Kyle’s massive paw came down hard on her shoulder and forced her back in her seat.
“Kyle, knock it off,” Sienna snapped, her fear turning to anger in front of Brody’s eyes. He liked it. He liked that fire that was shooting from her eyes at the bastard with his hand on her.
“No more games, gorgeous,” Kyle licked his lips and leaned forward. “I’m gonna taste your mouth and later you’re gonna wrap those lips around my…”
Kyle never got a chance to finish the words. In a flash, the fury inside Brody broke free and he had his hand wrapped around the man’s throat in an instant.
Chapter Seven
The idiot wolf shifter Kyle had pushed his luck too far and caught Sienna off guard. She struggled with her response and just as she was going to rip his face off with her newly unsheathed claws, his body was airborne and crashing to the floor about 20 feet away.
Holy shitballs, Batman.
Crazy Grumpy Wolf was on him in an instant and Sienna saw he had his own claws unsheathed, ready to rip the man’s throat out. Lucky for Kyle, Sage and Dane had Brody mostly under control and pulled him back before he could see his violence through.
“Calm down, Brody,” Sage had taken his hands off his Alpha, most likely in hopes that the man, whose eyes flashed wolf, wouldn’t mistake him for the enemy.
Sienna glanced down at Kyle and noticed he was unmoving. He was hurt pretty badly and had massive claw marks on both sides of his neck. Brody seemed to calm down just enough to take stock of the situation.
“Get rid of him out of the fire exit,” he growled to Sage and Dane. “Meet us back at the hotel.”
Brody didn’t speak to Sienna. Instead, he grabbed her wrist gently in his massive hand and pulled her behind him as he pushed his way through the crowded dancefloor.
Did the guy feel like dancing all of a sudden?
He made it clear, however, that he wasn’t in the mood for dancing when he pushed through a door that led to a kitchen and ignored the startled cooks as he pulled Sienna past the prep stations and stoves to a small doorway in the back.
How had he known about this exit? She didn’t get a chance to ask. Before she could form the question on her lips, they were pushing through the door and she fell in step helplessly behind Brody as the door banged shut behind her.
His long stride made Sienna have to work to keep up, and not once in their race through the alleyways outside of the club did Brody let go of Sienna’s arm.
“What are you doing?” She finally called to him when she was pretty sure he’d gotten them lost in the maze of turns he’d taken them through. But he didn’t stop until he found the particular alleyway he was looking for. There, Sienna saw a jacked up, slicked out pickup truck that probably cost more than her home did.
It was only when he hauled her around the front and pressed her up against the grill did he let go of her hand and cage her in by placing both of his arms at her sides. He leaned his head forward, stopping mere inches from her and Sienna drew in a sharp breath when she met his eyes.
They were an iridescent blue and glowed bright, letting Sienna know that Brody’s wolf was close to the surface. He looked positively feral and she felt the heat radiating from him. She felt her breathing grow shallow as she waited out his next move. Sienna knew she should shove hard against his chest and tear him a new one for the way he man-handled her.
But she was captivated by Brody’s intensity and she and her wolf waited him out.
“I don’t have time for this,” he ground out, his voice more gravely and raspy than usual.
“I’m sorry— “she started, but he spoke over her.
“I don’t want to feel anything for you,” he said. “I don’t have time. Whatever you’re doing to me, Sienna, you need to stop this.”
Stop what? Sienna couldn’t deny the heat that pooled in her belly whenever Brody’s dark gaze roamed over her or the way that her wolf reacted to his scent—but she wasn’t doing anything on purpose.
Was she?
Before she could answer, one of Brody’s big hands gripped her by the back of her head and pulled her face forward so he could slam his mouth over hers. Instantly, she let out an embarrassing moan which only seemed to spur him on. His mouth slanted over hers and his tongue broke through her lips and waged war with her own. His other hand gripped her jaw as he held her in place and ravaged her lips and mouth.
She was breathless when he finally pulled away and stalked to the passenger side of the truck, opening the door and looking impatient while he waited for Sienna to get the hint and climb in. Sienna swayed on her feet and put her hand on the hood of his truck to steady herself.
What the actual fuck had just happened?
***
An hour later, the four shifters sat in Brody’s massive suite. There was a pair of decent-sized couches and a couple plush wingback chairs. Sienna sat on one side of a couch and bristled when Brody grabbed himself a wingback and dragged it next to her. If Sage had noticed the very obvious action, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“So, what did we get from Kyle?” Dane asked finally when Brody and Sienna remained quiet. Her head was still swimming from the amazing kiss she’d gotten in the alley. She had no idea what was wrong with Brody at this point. He hadn’t said a word on the entire drive over.
Brody was acting like he was angry at her because he’d kissed her, but instead of ignoring her when they’d gotten back to the hotel, he’d stayed within arm’s reach of her the entire time.
Her own wolf and body weren’t helping, either. Both her human and animal side were in lusty hormone overdrive after that kiss. It’d been…amazing.
“Sienna?”
Sage’s voice cut through her daze and she looked up at her brother.
“What?”
“I asked you if you got anything worthwhile from Kyle,” her brother shot her a bewildered look.
“Ummm…yeah,” Sienna said, trying desperately to clear her head. “Yeah. There’s definitely a presence of Kodiak den moving in around Vegas. And Kyle mentioned that they’re on the outs with the bear council. They were going to get punished for illegal activities but they broke from the group before they could. They’re definitely rogue.”
“Anything else?” Brody’s deep voice beside her sent an unwanted current down her spine.
“Trafficking, definitely,” she nodded. “He said they’re dealing in serious stuff including sex trafficking. That they’re a real menace to the other shifter groups who like to deal around in the illegal things recreationally. Kyle said they’re going to bring a lot of scrutiny on the other packs if they keep this up.”
Beside her, Brody had a face that could stop a charging rhino.
“Stop saying his name,” he practically growled.
“Who?” Sienna blinked. What was he talking about.
“Kyle,” Brody spit the name out of his mouth like it was bitter and repulsive. “Stop saying his name every time you speak.”
Sienna shot her brother a questioning look, but Sage only shrugged, clearly as confused as she was.
“Anyway, Ky--, Sienna stopped as the growl returned and restarted. “The idiot wolf said that people are scared and information’s going to get harder and harder to come by. They’ve really spooked the shifter scene around here and people are trying to give these bears a really wide berth in hopes that they’ll just make some illegal, quick cash and move on.”
“But why would they?” Dane asked. “Once you’ve got a stranglehold on a place, what’s to make you move on? They’re obviously not too worried about being taken down.”
As dawn neared and the dark light outside the huge windows began to turn from black to slate to lighter blue, Sienna yawned.
“I think you guys have at least a couple leads to work with,” she said as she stood and righted herself. “I need to get some sleep. I’ve got to work another tournament this weekend and it starts tonight. You’ll be okay without me?”
That got a snort from her brother Sage. Brody didn’t say anything and Sienna was oddly offended.
“Well, okay then, boys,” she said as she made her way to the door. “Try not to get yourselves arrested. Or killed.”
Sage stood and called to her as she left.
“Do you need Brody to give you a ride home?”
Sienna stilled at the door and looked over her shoulder at the Alpha.
“No thanks,” she said as she closed the door. “I’ve had about as much of Brooding Brody as one girl can handle today.”
She didn’t miss the sound of laughter as she walked down the hallway, or the snarl that followed.
Chapter Eight
Dear Gods and Goddesses above, Brody was bored as hell.
He and Sage had been sitting outside the third empty warehouse in two days without so much as a trace of the Kodiaks or their missing pack member, Liesel.
“This is torture,” he said as he exhaled a long sigh and ran his hand through his disheveled hair.
Beside him, Sage nodded in agreement.
“At least Dane’s post is entertaining.”
Entertaining, to say the least. A panther pride had a couple of strip clubs off the strip and Dane had bravely volunteered to scope them out for any sign of the rogue bears. Brody let out a snort of laughter. True, this whole watching abandoned buildings for hours on end was boring, but the truth was very apparent to both him and his wolf. They both missed having her around.
It’d taken all of Brody’s willpower not to pepper Sage with endless questions about Sienna. What was her story? How many boyfriends did she have? What was her favorite movie?
She was invading Brody’s every waking thought and that was annoying him to no end. He wasn’t one for getting wrapped up in women—unless there were sheets involved and even then, he was gone before sunrise.
“This is a waste of time.”
Brody fired up the engine as he said it and Sage only nodded.
“I can go give Dane a little help if you need me to,” Sage could hardly contain the laugh he was holding back as he said it.
Brody just
rolled his eyes as he turned his truck around and headed back to his hotel.
***
In a ballroom packed full of women in every shape, size, color, and flavor, Brody’s eyes were glued to one lanky brunette who had no idea he even existed at this moment.
It hadn’t been hard to find Sienna’s chair in the crush of tournament tables and players. His wolf picked up her uniquely feminine scent of pears and vanilla the second he walked through the doors. It’d been a beacon for him, leading him straight to her.
She had no clue he was there and it gave Brody the chance to watch this fascinating creature in her natural habitat.
Put plainly, Sienna was amazing. She was a quiet storm, observing and reacting to not only the game at her table, but the masses of bodies moving around her. He was careful to stay far enough away that she wouldn’t notice him, but where he could keep an eye squarely on her.
Sienna wore a simple black t-shirt with a distractingly low V-neck and tight, distressed jeans with strategically placed rips over her thighs. Her long hair hung straight and her pouty mouth glistened with just enough gloss to make Brody notice how the overhead lights danced off the sheen of it. He could hardly notice anything else for the space of a few breaths.
She was shrewd. She was unforgiving. She was merciless the way she played and sized up her opponents. She made grown men cry at the table as she slaughtered their hopes of tournament glory. All the while, Brody noticed that Sienna kept watch of someone three tables away from her.
Sage had mentioned what she did as a living and he assumed there was a suspected cheater she was trying to catch for the casino. Regardless, it didn’t slow her down as she made piles of destruction of the opponents at her own table. From what Brody understood, Sienna played into later rounds so she and the suspected cheater would end up at the same table together where she could use her preternatural senses to gain confirmation that the player was using less-than-fair means to gain advantages.
For the time, he sat in the convention hall on the outskirts of the action, Brody was a man transfixed. The curve of her beautiful lips. The shine from the smile she cast the dealer. They captivated him and the wolf beneath the surface howled in desire. It wanted her—and not just for the meantime. Brody was starting to understand that his wolf, the crazy, out-of-control demon creature that he could hardly contain, had decided that Sienna was his and that it was time for Brody to do something about it or it would.
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