by Anne Marsh
“Do you think I’m fun?” I look my brother in the face. Always better to see the truth coming.
Jace grins. “You sold me to a motorcycle gang run by werewolves. What’s not fun about that?”
“I got you in as my undercover man. That’s not a game. It’s your job.”
Convincing Jace to infiltrate the gang was surprisingly easy. For all his laid-back, playful demeanor, my brother has the killer instincts of an alpha and a need to protect what’s his. Temporarily, at least, the Baton Rouge pack’s territory is his, and he’s fighting for it with a tenacity I didn’t anticipate. Granted, Jace has also captured plenty of damning evidence on the wire he wears when he goes in. The recordings will put away the Breed’s human members—and then I’ll take over and take care of the wolves. Jace will be able to come back home where he belongs.
“And I’m doing my job.” A darker note creeps into Jace’s voice, and I make a note of it. I need to pull him out and soon. “The Breed gets up to some unacceptable shit. Shutting them down will be my pleasure.”
“Things getting rough?”
We’re not a bunch of girls to talk about our feelings, but my brother has skirted important lines in order to gain acceptance from the Breed. I haven’t asked for details because Jace closes down when I push too hard.
Jace stares at the empty road as if all the answers to our gang problems are right around the bend. “They don’ treat their women right.”
Understatement. I read the police reports, and I saw plenty when Luc and I went into the dive bar where the Breed took Gianna after kidnapping her. Gianna argued us into letting her be the bait in a trap, and her rough treatment at the Breed’s hands—even if it was only for a few minutes—was the nail in those bastards’ coffins.
So while taking the Breed down is personal now for me, the heated note in Jace’s voice is both a surprise—and not. “You got a specific example in mind?”
Jace hesitates a moment before shrugging. “Pick any woman hangin’ with a biker, and I’ll show you a problem. I’m cool, and it will all be over soon.”
Is that the sound of tires? I wait a beat, listening more intently than I let on, but Jace is clearly done talking about the job.
“You let me know when you need backup,” I say when the silence has stretched on too long, and Jace nods, his head a million miles away. If he’s hooked up with a female from the gang, we have a problem.
A smile tugs at the corner of Jace’s mouth. It’s always been impossible to control him. So far, he’s chosen to give me his allegiance, but we both know that could change given a strong enough reason. “I’ve heard women like a man in uniform. You think that’s goin’ to weigh any with your Gianna?”
Gianna is a top-notch litigator. She possesses a more-than-healthy respect for law enforcement. And that’s my first problem right there. I’m the pack’s disciplinarian and the one wolf who definitely doesn’t get to have fun. But I’m tired of subduing my beast. Of putting others’ desires and needs first. I wasn’t kidding when I decided to take Gianna, to make her mine. Nice guys don’t finish last in the world of the pack. They don’t finish at all—and Luc Breaux is already miles ahead of me in this mating race.
“I wan’ my chance with her. I’ll take it however I can get.”
“But she’s Luc Breaux’s blue moon bride. You wan’ to take a mate away from the Alpha of another wolf pack. If it’s casual sex, that’s crazy enough. But if you’re thinkin’ you wan’ Gianna for keeps, you’re potentially startin’ a war when his pack decides to fetch her back.”
I’d bet Gianna doesn’t give two hoots for any medieval blue moon bride pronouncements. If Luc makes the mistake of trying to control her life, to lay down pack law, expecting her to toe the line… I’ll be able to see the fireworks from right here in Port Leon.
“Still,” Jace continues, shaking his head, “I think—”
The sound of vehicles crunching up the road cuts Jace off. My brother isn’t wrong when he observes that this week is all kinds of crazy. There’s every possibility that Luc will try to kill me on the spot. We are werewolves, after all. Predators. Stone-cold killers when the situation calls for it. And wolves are very, very possessive of their mates. That’s why Jace is hanging around the front of the house with me. If the afternoon takes a right-hand turn into the territory of really fucked, Jace will be ready to fight for me.
One mile. My wolf’s sensitive hearing gives me plenty of heads-up.
Jace bumps shoulders with me. “Looks like you’re in luck after all.”
Based on Jace’s clothes, he has plans for a ride after he finishes backseat driving my meet and greet. The torn jeans and the leather jacket with its patches announce badass biker dude, and only myself and a select handful of others are aware that Jace’s biker status is a borrowed cover rather than a genuine lifestyle choice. Jace might hate the Breed every bit as much as I do, but on the surface, he fits in well with those werewolves. Odds are high that Gianna will take one look at her welcoming committee and get right back in the truck. Hell, I’m no prize either in my jeans, T-shirt and work boots. Yeah. I’m no fancy man.
I’m the Alpha and the county sheriff. I enforce the rules and make sure others keep to the straight and narrow. When I’m not in uniform, I like a cold beer and a fishing line, a little fantasy football and the woodworking job I’m doing on our plantation house. Maybe I should have made more of an effort. Gone shopping for new clothes or new sheets. Got her something to mark the occasion.
“She’s crazy if she don’ pick you,” Jace says quietly. “You know I mean that. We all give you shit, but you’re the glue that holds our pack together, and we’ve all got your back on this. If she makes you happy, if she’s the one for you, then we’ll do whatever it takes to bring her home. Pissin’ off the Breauxs isn’t a deal breaker.”
I appreciate the vote of support, but wolf pack politics are complex and his offer to shoulder an interpack war isn’t one I can accept. Our pack has a polite but uneasy arrangement with the other local wolf packs. Outright hostility isn’t in anyone’s best interest, not when we all need to stay under human radar. Plus the Breauxs have trouble snapping hard at their heels. When they came over from France some two hundred years ago, vampire skin hunters tailed them. The skin hunters like to catch werewolves and skin them—hence the name. From what I’ve learned, wearing those skins let the hunters walk around in daylight.
My pack is more low-key. Long ago, a French shifter hooked up with a local shifter lass. Two bred three and so on. We like to keep it simple. People meet and they make a family—there’s none of this predestined mate crap.
So staying under the radar has worked out well for my pack, and I won’t draw attention to us now. I certainly don’t want every skin hunter in the area checking out the Jones pack because we’re fighting with the Breauxs. It sucks, but sometimes discretion is the safest path.
Inviting Gianna out to my pack’s home isn’t safe at all. Where she goes, Luc will undoubtedly follow, and his trespassing on my pack’s land will lead to fights. Ostensibly, I’m Gianna’s personal one-wolf witness-protection program, but of course I’m hoping she has hot, kinky sex with me. That I can use the time to get closer to her, to win her over to my side and away from Luc. And barring that, I want these seven nights to figure out how I make a threesome work.
I lean forward, searching the road because, oui, I’m impatient and not bothering to hide it. Another two, three hundred yards and I’ll have her. Jesus. I have it bad. “I won’ endanger the family.”
That’s the truth right there. If things go my way, Gianna will become part of that family and my mate, but the pack comes first.
Jace flashes me a grin. “Maman would kill you.”
That’s not a literal statement, because there’s no one sweeter than our mother, but disappointing her? I’d rather take a full set of claws to the gut. And since I know what that feels like, that’s saying something. She’ll be thrilled I’ve brought a girl hom
e because she’s been after all of us to do so for years. In fact, she’s likely already planning our wedding and picking out grandbaby names. I certainly don’t look forward to explaining to her that I don’t have a relationship. I have a one-week shot at earning Gianna’s heart. Maman won’t approve. Plus in her heart she’s every bit wolf as the rest of us now. She just might tell me to take what and who I want.
And I want Gianna.
A truck pulls up, spitting gravel on the toes of my boots. Another six inches and my feet would be underneath the tires. Nice driving, but the attitude sucks. Luc stares at me through the windshield, lips peeled back from his teeth. Canines. Oui. Luc Breaux is pissed as hell about this week. Despite our tentative détente in Gianna’s bed a month ago, Luc would rather be ripping out my throat. In this, I’m in full agreement with him, not least since he never asked for permission to drive out here on Jones land. He’s trespassing and we both know it.
Naturally Jace glares right back. Fuck with one Jones and you screw with us all. Ordinarily, I’m on board with that sentiment, but today it’s a complication I don’t need.
Jace doesn’t take his eyes off the truck and its hostile occupant when he says, “I’m just bein’ honest here, but you got your work cut out for you. I can kill that guy, make your life easier some.”
If anyone fights the other Alpha, it will be me.
“Stand down,” I snarl, not taking my eyes off the truck. “He’s leavin’. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Luc throws the truck into park and swings down, boots slamming into the gravel. The other male is a good-looking bastard if you go for the dark-eyed, dark-haired Cajun type. He wears his hair ruthlessly short, and long hours out on the bayou have sun bronzed his skin. Everything about him screams wild. Powerful predator. If I were a female wolf, I’d look at him and recognize the male who could protect me and mine.
A low, warning growl vibrates in Jace’s throat. My brother rises up on the balls of his feet, clearly itching to go after the other Alpha. He needs to nip that aggression in the bud. “We kill the Breaux Alpha on Maman’s front porch and she will have words with us,” I warn him, not caring that Luc hears every word. It’s the one warning shot I’ll give him. This is my territory and my pack. If things go my way, I’m making his woman mine, too.
Jace dips his head, acknowledging the unspoken warning and demand to stand down. Fur ripples over the back of his hands as he fights for control, but I’m the Alpha here. “Point taken. Are you sure about this?”
“One hundred percent.”
Gianna gets under my skin, and I’m taking this chance to learn more about her. Luc slams the truck door closed and nods a terse greeting in my direction before leaning back against the truck and folding his arms over his chest. Unless he has Gianna stashed in the bed of his truck, that truck of Luc’s is empty as fuck. For a painful, unwelcome moment, my heart drops somewhere down near my stomach. Maybe she really isn’t coming.
“Get the hell out of here,” I growl, moving forward.
Luc flashes his canines. “Gianna’s on her way here, and I’m talkin’ to her.”
Interesting that she didn’t give him a chance to talk before she headed for my place. I file that piece of information away for later.
“You need to get back in that truck of yours and leave.” The or else hangs in the steamy bayou air between us, and Luc growls. I bare my teeth in response, my wolf snapping at me to let loose, to change. In a dominance fight, Luc and I would be evenly matched, and there’s no predicting who would win.
“I thought we were supposed to be gettin’ along.” Luc gives me a grin that is more snarl than smile, and Jace bristles.
“You need to try harder—from a distance.” I’m in his face now, my body all but touching his.
“I’ll leave when she gets here.” Luc’s eyes never leave my face. Luc won’t roll over for me, won’t back down any more than I would… except that once.
Erotic images from our one night together immediately pop into my head like a series of bawdy, beautiful postcards. If you wan’ him, take him. The words Luc spoke that night still ring in my ears. Luc had no right to give me to Gianna. He wasn’t and never will be my Alpha, but I gave him a pass on those words for that one night. Because Gianna did exactly what he said. She took me, took us both, and her erotic curiosity about slayed me. I’d carried her inside Luc’s bayou cabin, laid her down on the bed, and loved her good while Luc did the same. I’d fucked her from the front, working her sweet pussy, while Luc claimed the virgin territory of her ass. He may have been her first, but I intended to be her last and best.
Remembering that night—because I intend to relive every moment daily until I die—my dick does its best impression of an iron bar. Of course, just because she’s coming to my place now doesn’t mean we’re having sex. I’d never force her. We all knew that. Oui, my Gianna would be meeting me with a shotgun if that was the case. A second vehicle crunches over the gravel, lighter and quicker than Luc’s truck.
She’s here.
CRUZ
Gianna drives a bright blue sports car that’s both fun and low-slung. She throws the car around the last curve fast, as if the gravel road is a motorway and she’s battling for the pole position. She’d win too, because Gianna doesn’t play to lose, which is just one more thing I love about her. Jace whistles appreciatively, and I can’t blame him. Sweet baby Jesus, but she’s hot. With the top down and her hair in a ponytail and scarf, she sends all my Marilyn Monroe fantasies roaring back to life. She comes to a neat stop, tires spitting gravel, and thumbs up her dark shades to eye her welcoming committee.
The smile is a good sign, and I’m already moving forward when she opens the door, swings her legs out… and my brain short-circuits. Gianna is wearing some kind of floaty sundress thing with teeny-tiny straps that crisscross her shoulders and draw my attention straight to the bare skin beneath. The fabric bunches when she stands up, because her strappy sandals make her long, tanned legs go on for miles. Jace clears his throat roughly and mumbles something that sounds a whole lot like lucky bastard.
Yeah. I agree with him on that point.
When Luc moves to greet her, however, I cut him off. This is my territory, my week, and my mate. The other Alpha can take a number and stand in line. I’m the one standing by Gianna’s side today and touching her. Doing whatever she needs done.
Gianna pauses. Looks between us as if, yeah, she wants to double-check what she’s seeing before she lets her temper rip. I could have warned her that wolves didn’t share well.
“The two of you are going to make this difficult, aren’t you?” she asks.
“Oui.” There’s no point in not being honest with her. She gets that little crinkle between her eyes as she processes my one-word answer. I pull her into my arms, ready to kiss away the worry.
Luc advances—the wolf moves like a fucking ninja—and growls something I can’t catch. He presses up against Gianna’s other side, the three of us skin to skin and none of us budging. When he exhales roughly, I feel that on my skin, know Gianna does too. I’m not happy about our proximity. My wolf insists that Gianna is mine, and I’m pretty damned certain that Luc feels the same way, except he’s swapped his name for mine in that scenario. We’re both possessive bastards. Fuck, we’re both wolves, and wolves don’t share well.
But Gianna… she shares, and it’s a beautiful thing. She kind of melts into both of us at the same time, and even though I can scent her confusion, read it in the flicker of her eyes as she looks first at me and then back at Luc, her body has a message of its own.
Excitement.
She wants this, wants both of us pressed up against her, pushing hard. She’s all sensual acceptance. Delight. Shit. I can’t, won’t, ruin this for her. Instead of backing up, I wrap my hands around her hips and, oui, that pretty dress feels as good as it looks, the fabric silky smooth beneath my fingers.
Reaching up, she brushes a kiss over Luc’s cheek. He growls, his gaze never
leaving mine. “You need to go,” she says to him.
“One week,” Luc snaps. “That’s how long this particular arrangement gets.”
“Luc.” She speaks my rival’s name with way too much feeling, but I’m pretty sure she just doesn’t know what else to say. Or do. She clearly feels as awkward as I do, and that’s not what I want for her, not when she’s giving me this gift of time.
Shit. What if I’ve misread this? What if what she wants is simply to spend a week in protective custody as friends or some other fucking label? Not that I don’t want to be friends with her. I do. It’s just that I want more.
I want everything.
All of Gianna, from her sweet body to her heart.
I especially want her heart.
Luc’s fingers tighten on her hips. Not hurting her, because the three of us know he wouldn’t do that, not ever and not on purpose, but because he’s feeling the same need I do to make her his. To stake his claim on her.
“Give me a chance,” he says to Gianna, his voice low and rough. Once again, he’s talking to her as if I’m not present. As if I don’t count for anything in this relationship.
“You had one,” I snap. And if I’m lucky, you blew it.
Gianna twists her head, trying to look at both of us. Behind us, Jace growls and paces, clearly itching to go for Luc.
“Another chance,” Luc says to Gianna. “If you need protectin’, I’m your man.”
She glares at us as if we’re pack puppies. She doesn’t lack for courage.
“If I want to keep my job with the DA, I need to play ball with them. They want me in protective custody, so here I am.”
And here I am.
Luc makes a frustrated sound. “You’re my mate.”
She narrows her eyes. “Last time I read the Louisiana state marriage code, a blue moon was not a legal substitute for a justice of peace and two people exchanging wedding vows.”