Bunny Tails Splitting Hares

by Camille Anthony

  He waved his hand, dismissing my protests. “First, it is not betrayal. Second, I am as devoted to her as you are to Mala and it is not unheard of for a human to join the pack.”

  “You’re talking fables.”

  “Not so. It is rare, true, but at least two cases have been historically documented.”

  I huffed, unable to see the attraction. “A human, though… you want to be tied to a human?”

  Vance sighed, fists uncurling as he visibly relaxed. “It doesn’t matter what I may have wanted before last night. Right now, my life is tied to hers. She’s my mate. It is my duty to protect her against all threats. Including you,” he finished, bowing his head to me. “I chose you to be my Alpha. I don’t get to take that back. But no one, not even an Alpha, can stand against the voice of the Goddess.”

  “And the Moon has spoken?”

  His head came up, eyes meeting mine. “She has.”

  I harrumphed. “What did She say about you coming in here stinking of your mate’s prey fear?”

  Vance refused to lower his head, though his face flushed. “That wasn’t Her speaking. That was my own stupidity. I… uh… was distraught. I’ll admit I didn’t think my actions through.”

  Giving in to the urge to tease, I gave him an evil grin. “Blue balls cut off circulation to the secondary brain, cuz?”

  Mala barked and nipped my ankles, miffed at my crass comment. She had no clue about appropriate male interaction. If I acknowledged her little insurrection, I’d have to punish it, so I ignored her in favor of dealing with Vance’s situation.

  There was a way to help my cousin navigate this dilemma. True, it was very extreme and would require much trust on his part, but I was pretty sure he’d go along with my plans since the alternative was his mate’s death. I’d remind him of that fact if necessary.

  My cousin straightened, face still, his expression betraying no emotion, but hope shone from his pale blue eyes. “Westyn, if you help me in this, I’ll forever be in your debt.”

  I shook my head, dropped my hand to bury my fingers in Mala’s warm ruff. “No, you won’t, because I’m going to demand something of you now to level the debt between us.”

  “There is no debt between us, Wes. I’ve never counted one. But whatever you require, I’ll gladly give.”

  “Your mate is outside the pack and has rejected your claim upon her body. As Alpha of this pack, it is my duty to judge the matter and pass sentence. I will spend fifteen minutes with your mate, examining her will in this, and her worthiness to become one of us.”

  Every line of Vance’s body stiffened. A growl rumbled in his chest. “Fifteen minutes alone with my mate? No!”

  “Remember your earlier vow,” I cautioned him, sure he’d like my next statements even less. “Fifteen minutes to test her resolve. At the end of that time, I’ll make my decision. If she fails my test, I won’t condemn you to carrying out her execution. I’ll do it myself.”

  The muscles bunching along his jaw, Vance ground out through clenched teeth, “She won’t fail.”

  I hoped so, for his sake.

  “If all goes well, I’ll send for you in sixteen minutes. But here’s the deal breaker, and it’s non-negotiable.” I beckoned him closer. “Here’s what I’ll expect of you by way of evening the balances between us…”

  Chapter Three

  I awoke freezing, covered from head to toe in pebbled bumps. Scrambling to my feet, shivering so hard my teeth rattled, I knew I needed to warm up. Wrapping my arms about me, trying to reach as much icy flesh as I could, I rubbed vigorously, chasing the chills away.

  Who knows how long I’d spent in the stall, being reborn? Judging by the gray undertone to my waxy skin, I’d come close to finding out the truth about life after death. Why hadn’t Vance been back to check on me in all that time?

  It took two tries before my stiff, nerveless fingers could wrestle the faucets on and get the shower going. The initial gush of cold water actually felt warm against my chilled flesh. Huddling under the warming spray, I revived enough to lather and rinse, the process a slow, torturous one until my blood got flowing and my muscles limbered up.

  Halfway through showering, my stomach spoke up, letting me know a considerable amount of time must have passed. I was starving. Once again, I wondered where Vance was, worried about what I’d do if he didn’t plan on coming back. Oh God, he wouldn’t leave me to fend for myself, would he?

  Shutting off the water and grabbing a towel, I stepped out, wrapping the long length of terrycloth around my ample curves. I tucked the ends between my breasts and reached for another towel to dry my hair. I’d tried to keep it from getting wet, but the ends were bedraggled and falling out of its makeshift bun. I was running the towel over my head briskly, when I encountered a hard substance. Feeling around, my jaw dropped when I realized that damned brush had been stuck in my hair the entire time. I’d forgotten all about it. Laughter bubbled up, bordering on hysterical. I shook my head, chuckling, thinking about what a sight I must have made.

  “Hey, Vance,” I called, already growing used to sharing my amusing moments with him. My smile faded as I recalled he wasn’t in the next room waiting to jump my bones. I sagged, heart aching. It was hard, wrapping my mind around the possibility he had given up on me.

  My concerns hadn’t really been about my hair, but staring at that damned persistent brush, I determined I would take control where I could, and no longer stress over those things I couldn’t. I’d spent a lifetime growing my hair, but I wasn’t going to let it distract me from weightier matters. No more using it as an excuse to avoid dealing with the real problems in my life.

  Rummaging in the drawer under the sink, I pulled out a pair of scissors and started shearing the tangled locks from my head.

  Clip. Clip. Clip…

  Half an hour later, feeling lightheaded, I snipped off the last long hank of hair and started evening and shaping the remainder. Another fifteen minutes passed before I set the shears down and started finger-fluffing my handiwork. My do turned out nice, though it resembled something one might call the comb-less waif, more than it did the sleek pixie look I’d been going for. Overall I was pleased with the results.

  Gazing in the mirror, I couldn’t help preening a bit. A dark halo of short curls sprang up all over my skull, emphasizing my round cheeks and pointed chin. My lips looked very full with the curls framing my face. The style looked pretty good on me. I hoped Vance would like it.

  It was high time to stop hiding in the bathroom. I’d had my shower, brushed my teeth and cut my hair. Vance didn’t have any body lotion so there was nothing I could do about my skin turning ashy. I had no more excuses for lingering in here, so I pulled on my clothes. I walked through the quiet empty apartment on my way to the bedroom down the hall.

  I’d barely reached the room I shared with Vance when the sound of low growling and the padding of heavy paws on the tiled floor of the living room reached me. Trembling, I turned and placed my back to the door, resolved not to run away from this confrontation. Vance had saved my life and he deserved more than a coward’s response to his needs. I could control my feet, but my heart was another matter. It tried to pound its way out of my chest while my breath caught somewhere in the vicinity of my belly and clung there, digging claws of ice in my gut.

  Damn it, I wished he’d stop lurking around the corner and come face me. In the end, I found I could only be afraid for so long. Like the emotion of anger, fear is one I simply can’t sustain for very long. Infusing my voice with a commanding tone, I called out to him. “Vance, come on down the hall. I’m not going to run from you again. I shouldn’t have reacted so stupidly earlier and I’m sorry for it.”

  The wolf that skulked into the dimly lit hallway didn’t resemble my Vance at all… other than the wicked big teeth and that feral look in a pair of ice blue eyes. This wolf was golden and slightly smaller than the winter white wolf I knew my mate to be. When it drew closer, it also became apparent this one’s smell was
nothing like the fragrance of wild growing things and clean dirt that my Vance gave off. Did I say I couldn’t sustain fear? I lied.

  This wolf made me very afraid. It took slow, stealthy steps toward me, stopping between each as if measuring how much ground it could cover before I bolted. Head lowering, the animal wrinkled its snout in a snarl of aggression, its opened mouth revealing rows of sharp teeth and pointed fangs.

  I stood in frozen, abject terror, unable to move, my thoughts a whirl of static and white noise as I watched my death approach. I swallowed, eyes wide and unseeing, wishing I could undo my earlier actions. If I had to die, why couldn’t it be Vance who took my life? At least with him I wouldn’t feel this horror, this mind-numbing anguish swamping me. A whimper made its way out my dry, constricted throat. “I want Vance.”

  Without warning, the knob I was gripping turned under my hand and someone jerked the door open. Before I could brace myself, I was falling through the doorway. A yelp escaped me as my legs flew from under me. My arms flew up in the air, pinwheeling as I tried to regain my balance, to no avail. Thank God for extra padding, because my butt hit the floor with a resounding thump. I scrambled backwards from the door on my seat, my hands moving crablike behind me as I propelled my body away from the slavering wolf in the hall.

  “Stay!”

  Intent on escaping the threat before me, I’d forgotten about the one behind me. Unsure if that order was for me or the stalking wolf, I froze under the whiplash of that commanding voice. So did the wolf.

  * * *

  The human bitch went ice still when I ordered Xen to stay, prey scent pouring off her skin in waves so dense my stomach growled. Her frantic scrambling had backed me to the bed, but now I strode over to her, reached down and hauled her up off the floor. She quaked under my hand, her eyes wild and rolling unfocused in her head, so lost to reason I thought I’d have to slap her to make her regain some sense. I shook her, instead. “Woman, do you know who I am?”

  Her continuing blank stare concerned me. Surely Vance had not chosen a lack-wit? Could fear incapacitate to this extent? I didn’t make a habit of playing with my food, so I’d never interacted with prey to this extent.

  I ended up slapping her, but pulled my power enough I only reddened her cheek. “Answer me.”

  That seemed to snap her out of her fear fugue. With a gasp, she lifted one palm to her heated flesh, a frown pulling her brows together. Her eyes narrowed and I noticed a shift in her scent. She began radiating peppery nose-curling anger. “I don’t care who you are. Hit me again and my mate will gut you!”

  Where did this warrior woman come from? One moment I was dealing with long pork prey, the next a rabid wolverine. I began to see what had drawn Vance to her. He’d said the female had much heart. “Your mate will do no such thing. He has broken the law he swore to uphold and for that I hold his life between my teeth.”

  As Alpha, the power of life or death over all the pack was within my rights. While not technically the truth, I hadn’t lied. I said it so I could see her reaction. I wanted proof of her self-serving cowardice.

  The narrow look she aimed my way was a dead giveaway she didn’t believe me. “Vance told me he was the enforcer for his pack, second only to his Alpha, Westyn Forrester. He’s the only one who can…” Her words trickled down to nothingness, leaving her staring at me with mouth agape.

  As that particular dime dropped I watched her eyes -- if possible -- grow even larger, the whites surrounding the peat brown irises startling against their un-wolf-like darkness. “…overrule him, yes, I know. How remiss I’ve been not to introduce myself.” I bowed from the waist. “Westyn Forrester, Alpha of the Forrester Pack.”

  Her pulse jumped, breathing escalated, making her full breasts quiver as they rose and fell. The skimpy satin top she wore moved with her, shimmering like liquid gold.

  I lifted my nose and sniffed, verifying her scent had changed from the panicked fear that had wafted from her when she fell into the room. The emotion I tasted now was a blend of desperate resignation spiced with a pinch of chagrined determination. Even so, her next words threw me for a loop.

  “Please don’t punish Vance. If you’re angry with him because he let me live, that problem won’t exist once you kill me. Whatever laws were broken were my fault, not his.”

  Honestly, I’d expected her to plead for her life, not Vance’s. Her words went a long way toward easing my disgust and I began to hope there just might be a way to salvage this situation. I know I’d told Vance I’d let her live, but frankly, I’d spun him that story to give me enough time to get the deed done without him offering interference. At any rate, she’d earned further testing.

  Just as he’d declared, Vance’s chosen mate hid the heart of a wolf in her breast, but did that heart truly belong to Vance? I intended to find out. “You say you wish to save Vance’s life.”

  She nodded vigorously.

  “Even if saving his life makes yours forfeit?”

  She gulped, swallowing convulsively before nodding again, slower. “If that’s the only choice… then, yes.”

  “You have two paths to choose from. You can go…” I indicated the open door. “That way leads to certain death by Xen and thirty or so other unmated wolves. By our laws, you must have an hour’s head start before I loose the pack, but my wolves are excellent hunters. Do not doubt they will quickly capture you. They will take turns mounting you until they have appeased their hunger for your intimate flesh. Only then will they satisfy their other hunger.”

  The woman’s hands flew up, one pressing against her breast, the other covering her mouth, behind which I could hear her muttering darkly, “What is it with the males in North Carolina? Group dating is so sixties.” She raised her voice, probably thinking her sarcastic words unheard. “I’ve never been into the group thing. So, what’s my other choice?”

  I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m sorry you feel that way about the ‘group thing’ as you say, because your other choice is to remain here under my authority, living as a member of this pack. You’ll be expected to abide by the laws that rule all the wolves of this pack and I warn you, few concessions will be made for your being human. If you break our law, or attempt to renege on this bargain, I will also become certain death for you.”

  The human, Wee-da, stood with hands curled into fists. Her mouth was drawn tight, those full lips pressed together over her blunt white teeth. “I need to be clear. Go and die, or stay and possibly die. Those are my two choices?”

  I nodded. “Choose wisely.”

  She pursed her lips, shifted her weight to her left foot and slung her hips to one side. “Why am I thinking there’s a catch? What more does staying entail? What laws affecting my staying do you have that I don’t know about?”

  By damn, the human was cleverer than she looked! And now that she wasn’t radiating fear, I began to see the enticement she must have offered Vance. Brains and a full ass would win over most other combinations every time.

  Clapping my hands, I applauded her intelligence. “You have enough sense to look beneath the surface. Given time, you just might become a viable member of this pack. Simply put, the law requires your complete submission to pack hierarchy. If you stay you must offer total and public submission not only to me, but to my deputies.”

  * * *

  Relief flooded me, loosening the starch holding my knees knit together. Submission wasn’t so bad. God, the euphoria turned my legs to noodles, but I stayed erect by sheer force of will. The way the Alpha had been speaking at first, I thought for sure one of us -- Vance or I -- was going to die. Hell, if all this wolfman wanted was some bowing and scraping, I was down with that.

  Giddy from the unexpected reprieve, I couldn’t help my flippant answer. “So, whose boots do I lick and whose ass do I have to kiss?”

  Westyn’s face hardened. His lips tightened and I figured from the gleam in his eyes that I’d irked him. “Does it matter?”

  I didn’t have to think about tha
t. “No, it doesn’t. When and where?”

  “You will perform your surrender now, in the main hall. Xen will go and gather the pack while you prepare yourself.”

  Prepare myself? The longer this went on, the less funny it seemed. “What do you mean prepare myself?”

  “Surrender does not encompass questioning.”

  I don’t know. Maybe it’s a quirk of my personality, but the longer he refrained from killing me the less afraid I became. “But I haven’t surrendered yet.”

  His brows went up, as if he couldn’t believe I’d sass him. He must not have spoken to Vance. “Little girl, be very careful. I have not fucked you, therefore I am not predisposed to show you mercy. Vance seems to have allowed you much leeway. I, however, will not tolerate your insubordination.”

  Okaaay, there was a time for jocularity and this wasn’t it. I wiped the grin off my face and tucked my lips in. “Sorry, sir. What do you want me to do?”

  “I want you to behave as would an unmated female of the pack during our Fertility Festival.”

  “But, I’m mated to Vance.”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re not. Because of your reaction to Vance’s attempt to seal your union, I denied his request to mate you.”

  Damn it, I thought, biting my lip in consternation, I knew that would come back to haunt me. “That wasn’t rejection so much as… uh… shock at the unexpected.”

  The Alpha surprised me by agreeing. “To your credit, Vance said as much. Due to your responses here, I am inclined to reconsider my answer. If you can comport yourself with honor, I will withdraw my objection. If you prove to be a cowardly, sniveling human, you will be allowed to live, but you will be delegated to pack whore, available to all. As such, you would be unworthy of mating with my second-in-command.”

  Oh God, I’d brought this on myself. At least it seemed like I was going to be allowed to rectify my mistake. Mentally, I squared my shoulders. “I’ll do whatever has to be done, and not because I don’t want to die or be pack whore, but because I love Vance.”