by Anna Lowe
“Look,” she said in a shaky voice. “I don’t even know what I want.” She tried a little smile. “Except maybe a shower.”
He could read the subtext in the way she hugged her arms to herself. I need time, space.
Their eyes met, and he felt the longing as clearly as the confusion raging inside her. Then her jaw clicked, and she hurried past. A second later, the screen door banged shut.
He sat down on the top step. Hard.
His wolf was pacing inside. Maybe she doesn’t know about destined mates. Maybe we should tell her. Maybe—
Maybe she doesn’t feel it, too, he snapped right back.
A minute later, he heard the shower running. He pressed his palms to the hollows of his eyes, and he told himself he should be grateful that she’d come back at all. And if his lower ribs were aching, well, he’d just call that regret.
She hid in the shower for a long time. The sound of trickling water reached out to him through the walls, and every strand of muscle in his body strained as his wolf contemplated bursting in and stopping her from erasing his scent.
If only he could sit her down and explain to her.
So explain! his wolf cried.
Right, how would that go? Stef, there’s a lot of good about the shifter life.
Yeah, that would go over well. She’d been dragged kicking and screaming into this world. A little like him.
It’s true, he’d try to explain. There’s a lot that’s good. Really good. But he’d never been that talented with words, and how could he explain? The feeling of being one with the natural world. The old-fashioned honesty of the Twin Moon Ranch folk. The sense of community.
She could relate to all of that, right? She’d probably thrive on it. There were a number of young women she could relate to, too, given the chance: Rae, Lana, Heather—especially Heather, who’d been turned too, albeit of her own free will.
Which was the crux of the problem. Stef hadn’t come seeking any of this. She certainly hadn’t come seeking a reunion or an unbridled night of sex. And even if he hadn’t pushed her too far by stepping over that line, he knew he was hardly a shining star of integration. He lived out on the fringes, as he’d always done.
Your own damn choice, his wolf grumbled. We belong in the pack. Really in the pack.
In truth, he wasn’t sure where he belonged. Not human, not wolf. Somewhere in between. Always somewhere in between. As an officer of the law, that went without saying. As a kid, it had been the same. He was an outsider and always had been. Becoming half wolf hadn’t changed a thing.
She can change things.
He shook his head. A man like him would always be alone. It was the way it was.
He picked himself off the step and forced himself to brew a cup of coffee. Decaf. God knows his system didn’t need any more stimulation, not on a morning like this. Then he walked around the back of the house to the woodpile, itching for something to bend, break, or shatter. But even when he had the ax in his hand and the first piece of wood balanced on a stump, ready to split, the words echoed in his mind.
Alone. Always alone.
He glared at the wood, weighed the ax in his hands before swinging his shoulders up, then hammered down with everything he had.
Bang!
The wood split almost to its base. A twist of the ax finished the rest, and the halves fell to the ground. Again and again, he raised the ax; again and again, he pounded it down. The next time he took stock, he was standing in a pile of wood chips with sweat pouring down his brow. Did he feel better?
He made a face then pulled another dozen logs over and started again. He would have been at it for another hour if it hadn’t been for the phone ringing, demanding he come inside.
It was Tina, calling him in to another meeting.
“Bring Stefanie,” she said, and her voice was grim.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kyle gripped the steering wheel harder with every passing minute of the drive. Stefanie sat beside him in the passenger seat with her arms firmly folded, scrutinizing the scenery.
If he could just manage to break past the lump in his throat, he’d tell her to give up looking for some truth out there. There was no such thing as destiny. No hope. Just patches of dirt, thorns, and scrub. Life was as bleak as the desert, and she might as well get used to it. He’d long since resigned himself to the realities of life.
Except these last days with her. Little bits of happiness had come filtering into his corner of the desert since she’d appeared. Tiny pleasures, like the sight of two coffee cups in the sink and not just one. Hearing the floorboards creak under someone else’s step as the house came to life with her presence, her scent. The scent that had wrapped around him last night and led him down the road to pleasure and peace.
A peace that was shattered the minute the truck rattled over the last cattle grid and under the ranch gate. The leaves of the mighty cottonwoods that towered over the ranch grounds might have been dancing a happy jig, but even that couldn’t smother the sense of foreboding in the air. Tina hadn’t said what the meeting was about, but one glance at two unfamiliar pickups in the lot—pickups with Colorado plates—and Kyle knew.
“Stef—”
But before he could grab Stefanie and get her away from this place, far and fast, she was out of the car and climbing the steps to the council house with the raised chin of a noblewoman on her way to the guillotine.
“Wait—”
He nearly ran into her at the threshold, where she’d stopped in midstep. He could hear the catch in her breath, see her face drain of color as she looked inside.
It wasn’t the sight of Ty, eyes aflame with alpha power that did it, nor that of Tina, mouth set hard. Nor was it the rare sight of Cody bristling in anger. It was the two shadowy figures on the right.
The sloppy one with greedy, restless eyes could only be Ron. A tiny corner of tongue darted out from between cracked lips and let out a swipe at the sight of Stefanie. Even from a distance, he reeked of stale cigarettes. He stood slightly hunched, like a vulture waiting for the lion to take down his intended prey.
The lion being the North Ridge alpha, Greer, who towered above everyone but Ty. A hulk of a man, Greer barely hid his inner wolf. It was grinning in the points of his teeth, tangled in the hairy mats of his arms, huffing with each heavy breath. Kyle knew the brute by reputation: a merciless fighter, a hard-ruling alpha, a man used to getting what he wanted.
Greer’s eyes undressed Stefanie then slid over to Ron. Kyle didn’t need to hear his thoughts to catch the gist of the silent message passing between the two men.
She’s just as you said. Greer nodded in approval. I’ll have to try her myself.
Ron scowled but flicked his eyes down in submission. As you wish.
He had heard of such things—of alphas who took of their own pack’s mates as they desired. Some called it a Tribute, others, Alpha’s Choice. It was rare, it was barbarian, but it still happened, at least in some packs. Packs like North Ridge.
His wolf started snarling as the implications of it all sank in. Another bite would bind Stefanie to Ron—and by extension, to Greer. She’d stay with Ron and endure, a slave to their forced bond. Kyle had responded to enough domestic abuse calls to guess what Stefanie would become. She’d get that haunted, hollow look that all battered women got. That spark, that spunk that defined his brown-eyed girl would be extinguished.
Over my dead body, his wolf declared, coiling for attack.
He was about to leap when a flash that was all Stefanie whipped right up to Ron and let a fist fly. He heard the sharp whack before he registered what was happening. No sissy slap, that one, but a full-on uppercut that knocked Ron back on his heels. She was winding up for another punch when Kyle dragged her back.
Not now, my mate, his wolf tried telling her, but she didn’t seem to hear.
Greer pulled Ron away with a show of mock outrage, and Kyle couldn’t help but hiss in the alpha’s face. Greer went rock hard, his eyes b
oring into Kyle, demanding he submit. But Kyle was no beta, not in his pack, not in Greer’s, and there was more on the line than his own pride. He held the alpha’s gaze, meeting the challenge.
Over my dead body, his wolf snarled back at Greer.
That can be arranged. Greer scowled right back.
Try me, asshole.
It is wasn’t for Ty socking him with a look that ordered him to back down, he’d have attacked.
Stef remained coiled at his side, her eyes throwing daggers.
“Ron.” She all but spit the name out. “How’s your nose?”
Now that she mentioned it, Kyle could see the bend in the vulture’s beak. The one she must have put there when she fought him off.
“How’s your neck?” Ron sneered back.
“Come a little closer and I’ll show you.”
Yeah, asshole. One step closer.
Ron didn’t take the bait, of course. He was the type who eschewed boldness, a man who waited for others to drop their guard. A dangerous foe, in his own dirty way. Kyle was ready to shove the weasel toward the door when Ty let out a low growl that stopped everyone in their tracks. A moment later, Cody’s smooth voice was getting things under control again.
“So,” the co-alpha started. His tone was light, but the bulging sinews of his throat gave away the facade. “Let’s try this again.” He shot Stefanie a bolstering look, and for all the rage glowing in Kyle’s body, he felt lucky for the thousandth time to have ended up in Twin Moon pack. Together, Cody and Ty formed the perfect leadership team: tough and uncompromising on one hand, diplomatic and supportive on the other.
Greer spoke up, his voice as rough-hewn as a mountain mine. “We’re here to finish what we started.”
“The hell you will,” Kyle growled, stepping in front of Stefanie.
“What you started?” Stef shot back. “As if anyone gave you the right!”
“Don’t think the lady’s interested,” Cody said, his voice sanding away the tension in the room.
“She has no choice,” Greer snapped.
“Of course she has a choice,” Kyle all but shouted.
“Every woman has a choice,” Tina insisted.
“You know the law.” Greer addressed Ty with a look that said women should be seen and not heard. Ron was sneering in the background, fingers twitching as he took in his would-be prize.
“Law?” Stefanie asked, incredulous. “Don’t get me started on the law.”
Kyle put a hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. If only he’d had the time to explain that there were human laws and there were shifter laws.
“A wolf bitten is a wolf claimed,” Cody said.
Kyle glared. What was Cody doing, strengthening their enemy’s case?
Greer and Ron nodded smugly, but Cody put his hands up quickly. “But not a human and not half-bit.” He shot Ron a look that said, Such a pity you didn’t get it right. Then he turned up his palms. Boys, you got a problem. Not our problem; yours.
“She’s ours!” Greer snarled.
She’s mine! his wolf howled inside.
“I’m nobody’s!” Stefanie shouted, giving Greer the evil eye.
Defiant as her words were, Kyle sensed the sadness behind them. She had no one. Just like him.
Cody gave Ty a nod; the brothers were in agreement about something.
“She goes nowhere,” Ty said with finality that dared anyone to suggest otherwise. “We’ll consult with the elders of three packs—ours, yours, and a neutral pack’s. Then we’ll see. In the meantime, she stays put.”
She stays put, his wolf echoed.
Greer opened his mouth as if to protest then closed it upon seeing the flames in Ty’s eyes. “Two days,” he grumbled and stalked out of the room with Ron skulking at his heels. “I give you two days.”
We give you nothing, Kyle let his whole body say.
Stefanie held her haughty stance until the two men were out the door then let her shoulders fold. Kyle caught her arm just as she reached out for balance and ran a calming hand over her back. To hell with what the others thought. A rush went through him when she didn’t shrug him off but leaned in.
The moment his fingers made contact with her, his wolf reared up inside, bugling like an elk. Mine! Mate!
The world narrowed to only him and her and the electric tingling passing between them at the point of contact.
Mate. The feeling was so strong, he couldn’t deny it, but he couldn’t quite believe it, either. A mate, for him, the lone wolf?
Cody brushed past on his way to the door then froze and slowly rotated to face him. The co-alpha sniffed the air, his eyebrows pulled tight. When Cody leaned closer, his eyes darted between Kyle and Stefanie, then went wide.
Kyle felt his stomach sink. Oh, shit.
The thin hope that had just been reborn crashed and burned as Cody hauled him toward the door.
“Her scent is all over you, man,” the co-alpha whispered, throwing a glance back at Stefanie. “Jesus, what were you thinking?”
Kyle felt the heat rise in his face, cursing himself for not thinking of that before. He’d cleaned up before coming over, but he hadn’t exactly scrubbed. Not that that would have masked the fresh scent of sex; wolf noses were too keen. A good thing he hadn’t come any closer to Greer.
He forced his gaze level with Cody’s, even though his eyes burned from the contact. Saying it just happened really wouldn’t cut it, but neither was he letting anyone—not even the pack leadership—question him about Stef.
“Don’t,” he warned Cody.
“You were supposed to be keeping her safe, not making things worse,” Cody hissed, pulling him outside.
I am keeping her safe, his wolf grumbled. I will always keep her safe.
Kyle yanked his arm back but followed Cody, if only to spare Stefanie extra attention. That, and he’d prefer fewer witnesses to his own shame. He’d never, ever compromised his pack before. Unclaimed females were fair game, but Stefanie had been marked by a member of the North Ridge pack. Strictly speaking, she was off-limits. Way, way off-limits.
Now his pack wasn’t just out on a limb, it was dangling over a sheer cliff. Because in the shifter world, touching a female claimed by another pack was akin to a declaration of war—and North Ridge had a reputation for fighting first and asking questions later.
“Jesus, do you know what you’ve done?” Cody blurted once they were outside.
“Nothing that wasn’t right.”
Kyle almost did a double take when he realized it wasn’t the wolf speaking, but his heart. There’d been so much in his life that wasn’t right, yet Stef stood out from the rest like a sunflower among dandelions. He didn’t understand why or how, but being with her was right.
He took a deep breath and looked Cody straight in the eye. He’d done the pack wrong, and he would face what he must. But there was another side to the equation, and he had to set the record straight.
“Tell me you’d let an innocent woman get claimed by North Ridge. Tell me you’re willing to stand by and do nothing.”
“No, I don’t want to see her get claimed by North Ridge. But we have to consider our pack first, and she’s not one of ours.”
“She could be.”
If Cody was taken aback, Kyle was downright shocked at his own words. Had he really just said that?
Cody’s expression went from anger to wonder. “You mean it.”
He gulped but kept his eyes steady. “Yes, I meant it.”
Cody leaned in. “You love her.”
Kyle didn’t move his lips, but he didn’t have to. His whole body screamed Yes.
Cody studied him from head to toe for any trace of a lie. Then—Kyle couldn’t believe it—Cody cracked into a smile: a secret smile that seemed to arise from some private memory.
“Well, then, I guess you’d better do what you have to do.”
Tina and Stefanie came out of the council room, and Cody leaned in toward Kyle with a harsh whisper. “Just watch yo
u don’t fuck things up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Stefanie tried tuning everything out, from the rattle of the tires to the pounding of her heart, but it wasn’t working. Looking outside the window as Kyle drove down the back road did no good; the Arizona landscape was so big, it threatened to swallow her up. Those few minutes of barely controlled rage in the council house had cost her dearly. Now she was hunched and trembling, a complete mess. And even though Kyle’s hand was tight over hers, promising that every minute was a mile farther from the enemy, she couldn’t escape the truth.
Ron had come for her.
She thought that was as bad as it could get, except it was worse. There was Greer. The way the man’s eyes traveled up and down her body told her all too well what he had in mind.
It was bad enough to be on the run from a lunatic. But it was worse: the lunatic wasn’t a man, but a werewolf. And now there were two werewolves after her—and Greer was a far greater threat than Ron. How had she ever gotten herself into this mess? She used to have a normal life. A job. A home.
The pickup rattled along in quiet challenge. What exactly was normal? She didn’t know any more. And as for having a life, well…she’d been doing a lot of wishing even before all this happened to her. Wishing for a little more balance. Wishing she weren’t quite so alone.
We’re not alone. We have the pack, her wolf said.
Right, she snorted back. North Ridge pack can’t wait for me to join.
The wolf let out an inner growl so sharp, so angry, she flinched.
This pack. Twin Moon. We belong here.
Stefanie wanted to slap the inner voice away and insist she didn’t belong anywhere, but denial wouldn’t help. She had to understand. She took a deep breath, hoping Kyle was ready for the tough questions. Hoping she was ready to face the answers.
“So what happens now?”
He lifted an eyebrow the way a dog lifts an ear, and the effect had a certain charm. “We wait.”
“Wait for what? For someone else to decide what’s best for me? Wait to be handed over to North Ridge?” She choked on the words.