“Heh, I noticed.” He grinned.
“People tend to overlook her because of her size, and she has learned to capitalize on that mistake, as well. When she wants your attention, she’ll have it. The rest of the time, she’s like a fly on the wall. It makes her an invaluable part of my team.” She thought about her petite red-headed friend. Kathy had joined the pack a few years back. Her airtight control over her mental energies had made her something of a mystery to the other wolves, but she’d earned her place in Amazon over the last years.
“I can see how someone with her skills would be useful. Interesting. Someone like her would never have had that type of opportunity within my organization.” His choice of words made it sound like they were talking about business colleagues, which she supposed was true enough, and she smiled at how easily he made Pack life sound so normal.
“I suppose that is part of what makes us unique.” She shrugged. “Your ‘corporate culture’ is much more male-centric than ours, and different qualities rise to the top.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if that might be a weakness on our part.” He frowned. “Tell me about how you got to where you are. Obviously, there had to be some resistance. You said you’d been challenged?”
“Some, sure. But I’m tough and smart. I’m the big bad wolf in Snow White’s clothing.” She winked. It was all true—she had fought her way to the top, not just with her teeth and her claws, but with a savage analysis of the weakness of her detractors: small minds were rarely ready for big ideas. “In all seriousness, Monica runs a very tight ship. I was on the team for a long time; I proved myself worthy to be there. When we had an opening at the top, I applied for the job. I won it because I fought tooth and nail for it. Literally. And I’ve kept it by watching my back and never letting a challenger off easy.”
“And now, living out here with Sara, I’m more the law side of the law and order equation. I don’t live at the compound, so my lieutenants handle the security, and I oversee meting out justice where required.” She shrugged.
“You’re amazing,” he said finally. “You’re a very dangerous wolf, Bianca.”
She blushed, looking absurdly pleased by this acknowledgement. It was a deep compliment from another Guardian. “Thank you, Jack.”
“I’m not just saying that to get in your pants, either.” He grinned salaciously.
Bianca threw her head back and laughed. Laughter came easy to her when he flirted. It was such a delicious, heady feeling, flirtation. It was something with which she’d had little experience, and she found it a bit exhilarating. She knew more ways to take a man apart than to make love to him, but she found herself acting on instinct where Jack Murphy was concerned. She looked over to find him watching her with a smile on his lips. She glanced away and then back to find his eyes still on her.
“What?” she asked.
“You,” he said. “I like you, Bianca. Not just a mate thing, but I like you. I like your attitude and the way your mind works. I like your gorgeous body—I mean, who wouldn’t? I like the way you protect your pack, how you analyze each situation, how you train your wolves. I like you.” He shrugged. “It’s more than just ‘our genes would look good together.’ I’m glad.”
“I like you, too, Jack. I kind of expected you to be chauvinistic, but you’re not how I expected. I mean, you’re still all macho and dude-ly and everything, but you’re not just a bunch of knee-jerk reactions.”
“Well, to be really honest…” He looked down at the table and then met her eyes again. “I was pissed as all holy hell that your Alpha sent a bunch of girls to talk to me.” He at least had the decency to blush.
“I see. And then you found out that nearly the whole pack was a ‘bunch of girls,’ and how did you feel?”
“Flabbergasted.” He laughed after he admitted it. “It makes more sense now that I understand your origins. If you think about it, ghost-wolves are almost always the stronger of the mated pair. So all these wolves who are strong enough to survive the loss of a mate, banding together? Well, no shit, you’re a force to be reckoned with. It kinda makes the rest of us old-school packs look like superstitious cavemen, unable to know a good thing when we see it.”
“You’re not getting Ellen back, you know.” She grinned.
“I know. She belongs here. And it’s our loss.”
“At least you recognize that now.” She took his hand. “Jack, Amazon is different from other packs, but what we do is good for werewolves as a whole. It’s a big part of the destiny Sara is preparing me for.”
“Yeah?” He pondered that. “How many wolves are we talking about?”
“I can’t tell you that,” she said. Some things weren’t open to discussion. Not yet.
“Why the hell not?” His face grew stony. “I thought we trusted each other?”
“I’m still Guardian of Amazon Pack, and you are not a member of the pack. I protect my pack.”
“I see.”
His face shuttered. The easygoing camaraderie of the morning faded. She felt his withdrawal, and it stung. Her wolf paced, wanting to push her emotions to the surface, but she kept it under tight control.
“Jack, would you do any differently, if you were in my place?”
“No. I wouldn’t,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I like having a wall between us.”
“I don’t, either.” She frowned. “So let’s talk about something else.”
“Procreation,” he suggested.
“Okay, well, you see Jack, when a man and a woman love each other very much…” she began with a grin.
“Ha!” he barked. “Not quite what I was going for. How does Amazon Pack procreate if they are mostly female? I mean, are there a couple of guys acting as a stud service or what?”
“Stud service? We’re not animals.” She laughed. “Well, you know what I mean. The pack grows as new members join, usually ghosts. Sometimes those new members mate again—we’re always thrilled when that happens. Sometimes, they take human lovers—we don’t encourage that, but it happens. Sometimes, the ghost wolves are pregnant when they join us. Even though their wolves are gone, they still bear wolf children. Overall, our population is fluid, just like any other pack.”
“Huh. I can’t imagine.”
She could tell by the look on his face that he was trying. She felt a tug at her heart, knowing he was working to understand, rather than condemn what they did. He was truly fit to be the mate of an Usher. A pang filled her as she thought of what she’d be asking him to do. She’d know her whole life what would be expected of her, but she was going to ask him to love her while she tore his world apart, and he’d had nothing at all to prepare himself for it.
“Hey.” She held up her cell phone. “I need to call Monica. I’m too far from the compound to get a good read on her thoughts, and I want to introduce you to her today if possible. You should probably check in with your Alpha, too. I’m sure big brother wants to be kept informed.”
“I kind of busted my phone last night,” he admitted sheepishly. “I need to find a cell phone store and replace it.”
She snorted. “There’s a strip mall about ten miles from here. They have one of those cell phone sales places. I’ll take you after I talk to my Alpha.”
She listened to the phone ring and finally heard Monica’s voice on the other end. “Bianca. What’s going on? Kathy and Ellen have filled me in a little bit. They said you were leaving Sara?”
“Well, hello to you, too, Mon.” She smiled.
“Shoot, honey, you know me. I get to the point.”
“Well, yes, I’ll be moving back. And I want to bring Jack Murphy to meet you. I think we’ll all need to trust him moving forward, and I’ve extended the protection of parley to him.”
“You think he needs to meet me to talk about borders and such?” Monica’s voice sounded curious. “Why? You’re perfectly capable of handling this.”
Bianca sighed. Why indeed? “Because he’s my mate, Mon.”
“
He’s claimed you?” Monica growled her surprise.
“No, not yet. His Alpha forbade it, and we’re kinda, you know, getting to know each other first. And he’s right here, so let’s not make me go into details just now, okay? We can save the girl talk for later.” She looked up into Jack’s amused eyes.
“What’s going on at the compound? Anything I should know about?” Bianca turned her back to Mr. Distraction.
Jack was watching her talk to her Alpha, trying not to say anything but still get her point across. He leaned over and hooked a finger through one of her belt loops, pulling her closer. She shot him a dirty look over her shoulder, but that just made him grin. He leaned over and took the velvety lobe of her ear between his teeth, scissoring them slightly, just enough to make a shiver run down her spine.
Bianca was trying to focus on what Monica was saying while Jack did delicious things to her ear. She felt need building low in her belly, spiraling into her sex. She bit her lip to hold back the moan that was welling up. With one finger still hooked into the belt loop of her jeans, he wrapped the other hand around her waist, sliding it up slowly over her abdomen to cup one breast, driving her need higher and higher, the knuckles of her hand turning white where she gripped her phone. As he tugged softly at the ruched flesh of her nipple, the sensation sent arrows of heat straight to her core, making her writhe against him. He nipped softly at the curve of her shoulder, taking her skin in his teeth, making her growl with want.
“Bee. Did you just growl at me?” Monica’s voice came across the line in a shocked snarl.
“I’m—ah—I’m sorry, Mon. It wasn’t you. I’m a little distracted. I’m so freaking sorry.” She felt a blush of embarrassment creeping up her face. She had never disrespected her Alpha like that before. She felt Jack’s breath tickling behind her ear, and his tongue flicked out to tease her.
“Well, get it together, Bianca. I need your head in the game. When should we expect you?” Monica’s voice sounded annoyed.
“Give us a couple of hours. He needs to run an errand, and then there’s the drive out there. We’ll be there shortly, though.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting this guy, Bee. He’s a fit mate for an Usher?”
“Yeah. I think he is.” She smiled. “We’ll see you soon.”
After saying her goodbyes, she turned on Jack and growled.
“You are such a royal pain in the ass, Jack Murphy! I’m trying to get you an in with my Alpha, and you make me fucking growl while I’m on the phone with her?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t help myself. You looked good enough to eat,” he whispered, all the play gone out of his voice.
She was struck again by how handsome he was. A perfectly-chiseled jaw, all masculine and hard…He was breathtaking. His finger was still looped through one of her belt loops. He stroked the other hand down her back to her hips, drawing her close, pressing his hips to hers in a rhythm that left no doubts as to what he was thinking. As he pressed his lips to her throat in a tender kiss, her eyes drifted shut, and she wanted more than anything at that moment to let the connection take over, let biology bind them together.
“Ahem.”
They jumped apart at the sound of a third person in the room. Sara. Bianca blushed furiously, smacking Jack’s hands away.
“I’m sorry, Sara. We got a little carried away.” Jack grinned, tugging Bianca back to his side and wrapping an arm around her waist.
As annoyed as she was at the way he’d staked his claim so aggressively, she knew that in all practicality, she was his now. Claiming her with a bite was a technicality. And just like that, he clearly wasn’t about to let her play coy whenever Sara walked into the room.
“Oh, well, I hate to interrupt, but I need to send the housekeeper in here to clean up. Do you think maybe you might want to take your liaison upstairs to your room?” Sara grinned back at them.
“No!” Bianca said swiftly, shooting her friend a loaded look. It stung a little that Sara didn’t seem more upset to find her in Jack’s arms. She blushed again as she realized Sara would know through their connection what she was feeling.
“Lovely, you and Jack are going to be mated. Jealousy on my part would be futile. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you and treasure the time we had together.” Sara approached and ran a hand over Bianca’s hair, a soothing gesture. “My needy little lovely,” she teased.
Jack growled under his breath.
“Sara. Please,” he said, his voice gravelly. “My wolf is pushing hard right now.”
“I’m sorry, Jack. Hands off, I promise.” Sara laughed.
“Jack?” Bianca prodded him. “We need to go. Monica is expecting us.”
“Let’s go.” He took one more heated glance at his mate before striding out of the room, tugging his shirt down to hide his erection.
She smiled, glad to see him as affected as she by the moment they’d shared.
“Sara…” Bianca started, trailing off as she realized she had no idea how to express what she was feeling.
“Go, lovely. This is important. He needs to meet Monica. He needs to understand what you’re asking of him when you ask that he join the pack. He needs to know what he’s gaining in exchange for what he gives up. This is part of your life’s work. Go. I’ll see you there.”
“I think you were right.” Bianca kissed Sara’s cheek. “I think you always are.”
Sara’s dimple flashed as she grinned at her friend.
Chapter Six
THEY PULLED OUT of the parking lot of the cell phone store with Bianca driving, the top down on her dark blue 1970s Mercedes SL that Jack could tell had seen far better days. In spite of its ragged appearance, the classic car suited her.
He put the SIM card in the new phone and dialed his brother.
“Murphy,” Patrick’s voice came on the line.
“Paddy, it’s me. How is everything there?” Jack said, looking over at Bianca in the driver’s seat. With large dark glasses protecting her sensitive eyes and a scarf around her hair, she looked like a silver-screen icon. He tucked a flying curl back behind her ear, meeting her glance with a smile.
“Fine. Ted is handling your duties well, Fionn hasn’t knocked anyone up this month, and business is good. How are things there? How much longer do you think you’ll need to be there?”
“I’m on my way to meet the Alpha. Bianca and I have pretty much nailed down territory lines should we officially recognize them and endorse their petition for status among the other packs. They tend to stick to a pretty isolated part of the Berkshires, so we’re not likely to run into issues.” He watched as Bianca took her lower lip into her mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully. He vowed mentally to do the exact same thing just as soon as he got a chance.
“Good. Call me when you get back to your hotel.” Patrick huffed. “And Jack, keep your dick in your pants.”
“Fuck you, Paddy,” Jack snarled, hanging up on his brother’s laughter. Patrick should know better than to poke at him like that, but ever since they were kids, Patrick had enjoyed stirring his brothers’ ire, knowing he was untouchable, groomed for Alpha status from childhood.
“What was that about?” Bianca asked, glancing his way.
He was scowling furiously, though he tried to get it under control.
“You’re pretty hot when you scowl, you know.”
“He felt the need to reinforce his order not to claim you,” Jack snarled. “In other words, he’s being a dick just because he can.”
“Ah, brother stuff, then.” She nodded sagely.
“Yeah, brother stuff.” He quirked a smile her way. “It makes me wish Ted were Alpha sometimes. He’s every bit as smart and tough as Paddy, but the dickhead gene passed him over.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“Oh no, I got the dickhead gene full force.”
He grinned, and his smile did something wild to her insides.
“No, I meant, why don’t you wish you were Alpha?” she asked, and
he could tell that she was genuinely curious. She knew he was definitely capable. He was smart and well-reasoned, and if he was Guardian, he was obviously tough. All important qualities in an Alpha.
“I’ve never wanted it.” He shrugged. “I protect my pack. I like what I do. I’m good at it. I was in the Navy, you know. In the forties, I served in the Pacific.”
Her eyes widened. The pacific theater of World War II was horrific even in the history books.
“Well, I learned how to fight, and I learned how to lead men. That’s the part I enjoy, the military side. The political part of being an Alpha isn’t interesting to me, I see how insufferable it’s made Paddy.”
“You’re not a dickhead, you know.”
“Oh, I can be. I can be insufferably arrogant, just like Paddy.”
“But you’ve shown remarkable resilience and adaptability since you’ve arrived here. I’ve thrown ideas at you that would have sent ninety percent of the alpha males I’ve ever met into a tailspin, and you just roll with it. That’s not really dickheadish.”
“Stop, you’re making me blush,” he teased.
He enjoyed her companionship, riding in a car with her, talking shit about his brother. He realized that the more time he spent with her, the more convinced he was that their mating would be an act of love, not simply fate. Love. The word was like a sucker-punch in the gut. His brother Fionn used the word so casually, seducing females with his sweet talk. He’d never thought he’d use it himself—he figured mating would be mostly a sex-thing, biology. He studied Bianca’s profile and felt a rush of tenderness and desire.
“Wow, if you keep looking at me like that, I’ll need to change my pants,” she said with a sweet little smile that sent his blood roaring before he’d even parsed the innuendo of her words.
“Bianca, when I said earlier that I like you, you know I meant it, right?” He grimaced at the thought of putting moves on her.
“Yeah. I like you, too, Jack.” She patted his hand with hers gently and then returned it to the steering wheel.
He groaned. Even that casual contact had turned him on to the point of pain. His poor cock was straining at his jeans like a caged animal.
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