by M. L. Briers
“Always possible within these little communities…Inbreeding.” Link offered with an edge of disdain as Macy’s eyes snapped back towards the Alpha when he moved a step closer, but his eyes weren’t looking at her, he was glaring at Link. “But no, he’s not unhinged.”Link added.
“Just uncivilised then?”Macy snapped at Rudd and he turned his eyes down to her and raised his brows.
“I was just taking in your scent…”Rudd offered, wanting to kick himself in the shin for not being able to deny himself that small pleasure. He needed to remember that she was a human…
“I’ll send you a bottle, now back off.”She spat out, scowling up at him. She can’t ever remember anyone walking up to her and sniffing her like a dog, it just wasn’t done in normal society, but then they weren’t in the city now and these were country folk, perhaps normal didn’t stretch this far out of the suburbs. Keep an open mind, she told herself, and then frowned at the thought of it.
“Perhaps we should take this inside?”Link offered trying to help the Alpha out and distract Macy from the defensive stance she had taken up against him.
“Perhaps I should stay in the car.”Macy folded her arms across her chest and regarded her mate with a scowl. Taking her scent indeed… she thought as she turned her eyes away from his… What next, marking his territory? The man acted more like a d…
“Wolf…”Macy spat out. Her eyes went wide and she swallowed hard as she lifted a hand.
CHAPTER TWO
“What?”Link almost choked on his tongue at her sudden outburst, until the sound of the low growl that came from edge of the woods, beyond where any of them were standing, greeted his ears.
Rudd’s hand was already around her outstretched wrist. He yanked her behind him as he turned towards the growl. His arms came down either side of his mate protectively, and he caged her in between his body and the side of the car.
“What the hell…?”Macy squealed from behind him, all she could see was the vastness of his back stretched out in front of her. Side to side and up and down, there was just a wall of man muscle, and a great tight backside that… Macy practically shook her head clear of that one. Since when did she start admiring butts?
“It’s just…”Rick lifted his hand and dismissed his pack sister, but he couldn’t dismiss the sudden glare from his Alpha or the definite snap of his brother’s neck as he spun to warn him of his words in front of his mate. Rick bit down on his words; it was going to take some getting used to, this whole human thing.
“A local wolf. She’s usually quite harmless, but let’s get inside…”Rudd blurted out.
Reaching behind him for Macy’s wrist, he locked his fingers around it and yanked her back around his body and against his hip.
Macy shot a panicked look towards Link, who was grinning wickedly as her eyes caught with his, and then the shutters came down and he nodded his encouragement towards Macy.
Had the world gone mad and someone forgot to tell her? Her best friend was grinning like an idiot as she was subjected to sniffing and being yanked around like a damn ragdoll. And there was a wolf… a wolf… a damned wolf and she was the only one batting an eyelid at that fact.
“I can walk, I’ve been doing it for years…”Macy gasped out as Rudd’s arm came about her waist and he practically lifted her against his hip and stalked with her towards the cabin.
“Time waits for no man…”Rudd bit out. Eager to get her away from the wolf before she started to ask questions, or worse, decided she wanted to pet it. He knew Carrie, she’d bite Macy’s hand off before she’d allow herself to be petted, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
“Or woman…”Link offered as he brought up the rear and Macy’s head turned on her neck, trying to find him with her eyes, but the quickness of everything that was happening just made her a little dizzy.
“But…?”Was all that Macy could manage to get out before she was practically hurled head first through the front door. “For the love of God, are you an idiot?”She snapped out. Her heels skidded on the wooden floor and she managed to stabilise herself, but not before her hair ended up covering her face like a veil. She used the back of her hand to toss her hair back from her face and over her shoulder, cursing him over and over again in her mind.
Once she found her calm place, she took one long breath in and brushed her hands down over the tight fitted skirt at her hips, and tried to calm the racing pulse within her.
She could do this and without killing anybody. They were men, so they were prone to stupidity. They weren’t from the big city, so they were playing with a different set of cards to what she liked to think of as normal people, and this was their turf, so she guessed she needed to adapt… But if he tossed her around again like a ragdoll, so help her God she would just…
“Most women prefer not to be manhandled.”Link bit down on the chuckle of amusement he knew that he would regret if he gave into the urge. Macy was pretty easy going, but she could hold a grudge.
“Define manhandled, and you have to exclude sexually in that statement.”Rick offered and Macy’s eyes snapped to Link as he cocked his head to the side and considered that opinion. He shrugged easily with a small nod of agreement and Macy’s mouth fell open as she stared in disbelief at him.
“I wasn’t manhandling her. I was escorting her…”Rudd growled out.
“Pitching her head first into the house can’t be classed as escorting…”Link offered and Macy twisted her head to the other side to regard them with disbelief.
“Is the insanity catching?”Macy spat out, bringing everyone’s attention back towards her as she stood there with her fists clenched at her sides and a look of horror on her face. Their turf or not, men or not, different set of playing cards or not, she was getting pretty damn pissed at all of them, including and especially Link…
“Oh, sweetheart…”Rudd blurted out, taking a step towards her.
Macy nearly choked on her own tongue as she jumped backwards from his approach. “Sweetheart…!” She wasn’t the only one who noted her voice had gone up a few decibels, both of the Lycans winced.
“It’s a colloquial term, like we say babe…”Link offered just before he covered his mouth with his hand to hide the smirk that resided there.
Macy twisted her head to the other side and regarded Link with disbelief. He was her best friend didn’t that mean he was supposed to be on her side? Where was the loyalty? But then when males got together, boys will be boys, she bit down on that thought.
“Did I hurt you?”Rudd took another step and her glare stopped him in place.
“What is she Medusa?”Rick shot out the side of his mouth towards Link and the vampire chuckled silently to himself.
“Hurt me? No, but not for lack of trying…”She narrowed her eyes on him and silently fumed at the whole lot of them. She’d caught Link’s smirk and he would pay for that later.
“I can assure you…”Rudd went to take another step towards her, but she held her hand out between them.
“Don’t assure me, don’t come near me…”Macy bit out, turning her eyes back to Link and glaring at him for his treachery. “I would like to wash up…” She informed him. Being inside a toilet with the door firmly locked and these three idiots on the outside was more than appealing to her. She needed to regroup…
“I’ll show…”Rudd started to move, but she snapped her head around on her neck and held out her index finger towards him.
“Just point… it’s safer. I wouldn’t want to end up with my head down a toilet bowel.”She ground out between clenched teeth and she was sure there was a growl.
Macy twisted her head around on her neck and checked to make sure the damned wolf hadn’t gotten inside.
“What’s she doing?”Rick smirked towards Link.
“I think she lost her sense of humour, she might be looking for it.”Link offered, loud enough to bring her eyes back to his.
“Funny.”She bit out. “I heard a growl.”She explained and Rick snorted
a laugh as Link looked towards the Alpha.
“You wanna explain that one?”He offered and Rudd closed his eyes briefly and gave a small shake of his head on a groan.
“Toilet’s this way…”Rudd started to move but she held her finger up again to stop him and he held his hands up in front of him in instant surrender. “Second door on the left.”He motioned down the hallway and she instantly turned on her heels and stalked off, mumbling to herself the whole way.
“That went…”Link started, but the sound of the door slamming shut made him snort another chuckle. “Well.”He added lamely as the Alpha spun on his heels and glared at him.
“You’re not helping.”He growled out and watched as Link pointed towards his own chest in mock surprise.
“Me? I’m not a dating service. But you really need to stop with the growling and manhandling…”Link retorted much to the Alpha’s disdain.
“I was not manhandling…”He started, but Link just waved a hand in dismissal of his protestations.
“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Where’s this beta with the case of terminal stupidity that needs fixing?”Link crossed his arms over his chest and watched the Alpha slowly raise his brows.
“That’s right, you haven’t met Jack yet…”The gleam in Rudd’s eyes told Link all he needed to know. The guy probably had a love hate relationship with Vampires, as in- he loved to hate them.
“Jack? What happened to Jules?”
“Met his mate, but she didn’t want to leave her pack so he went north to be the Beta up there…”Link balked at the idea of the greasy haired, never bathed, Lycan finding a mate.
“Well if that wolf can find a mate, there’s hope for Rick yet.”Link gave a sly grin towards the Beta and watched as he lifted just one eyebrow and growled down at him.
“Yeah, I’m going to enjoy introducing you to Jack.”He growled out. Motioning with his head for the Vampire to follow him as he started towards the staircase, and leaving the Alpha practically standing guard and waiting for his mate to reappear.
Macy looked at her reflection in the mirror and groaned. Her hair looked as if she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards, and her face was flushed with a crimson glow that would have been more appropriate on an idiot out in the sun too long.
Just the thought of going back out into the house and facing any of them again was enough to keep her in a foul mood, and she knew exactly what she was going to do to Link when they got the hell out of there, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.
Two cavemen types and a best friend that had stood by and thought it was amusing for her to be tossed around all over the place… And what was with the damned wolf? Friendly my backside, she told her reflection as she scowled her annoyance.
“Men.”She bit out. Reaching inside the inner pocket of her jacket and taking out her lipstick. But the guy did have a nice backside… She found herself grinning as she brought her eyes back up to her own reflection and balked. The guy was a butthead with a great butt, go figure but it’s always the good looking one’s that act…
Macy caught herself again. Damn, but she had to stop thinking about that guy in terms of sex appeal. She knew there had been a drought, like a long hot summer, but she’d not really wanted to date. It was a personal choice, and she was happy with it. So why spoil a good decision with a bad choice, and that guy, for all of his physical attributes, was a bad choice.
Rick tossed open the bedroom door and motioned for Link to go in. The room was in darkness except for a small lamp that illuminated only a small area around it.
The scent of blood was thick in the air and Link had to steel himself for a long moment against the natural desire within him to feed. It didn’t matter how old he was, that urge never left him. And he held up a hand for a long moment while he fought the urge to allow his fangs to come down and tear into someone, probably Rick as he was the nearest.
“You ok man?”Rick could sense the change in the vampire, so could his wolf and neither one liked it, but he’d known Link a while and the vampire had never attacked a wolf or human for no good reason. He just hoped this wasn’t going to be the exception to the rule.
“I am now.”Link felt his control slip back into place, like a veil he drew over his inner beast. He might not share himself with a wolf, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t another thing lurking within him…
Link took a step into the room and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. “Well, this is depressing…”He mused with a sourness to his voice that told Rick he was back to his normal self.
“Jack, Link, Link, Jack…”Rick looked more than pleased with himself as he motioned for the Vampire to take care of business.
“Get that blood sucking corpse out of here…”The feminine growl greeted his ears and made him raise his brows with surprise. Then scent of her blood had completely thrown him off kilter. He wanted that taste on his tongue, wanted to feed for her, even now, he was in control but still so damn tempted by it…
“Jack is…”He left it open for interpretation as he waved a hand towards the bed. “A She-Wolf.”Rick couldn’t contain the chuckle or the smirk. He knew the vampire hadn’t seen that one coming. There weren’t many packs with a She-Wolf for a beta. “Oh and in case you didn’t notice, she’s not too fond of vampires.”
“I caught that, but thanks for the recap.”Link sighed. He wasn’t too fond of She-Wolf’s, especially when they were hurt and therefore bad tempered. “Make my day and tell me it’s that time of the month and we’ll have the perfect scenario, when everything comes together into a perfect apex. What’s that called?”He looked at Rick who considered it for a long moment.
“The Bermuda triangle?”Rick offered and Link groaned to himself.
“That would be almost tempting right now.”Link wanted out of there. Sure, he would help the big bad She-Wolf heal, but something was making him twitchy and he didn’t like to be twitchy without knowing the damn reason.
“I told you to get him out.”Jack hissed out. Trying to sit up in bed hadn’t done her any favours, and the pain that tore through her abdomen made the room spin ,as she dropped her head back against the pillow and groaned in agony.
“Jack, just take the damn blood or I’ll knock you the hell out myself and feed it to you.”Rick growled back at her. He knew she hated Vamps, but that was her problem to own. He wouldn’t see her die out of stupidity, and if she didn’t take his blood, she’d certainly die, probably by morning.
Link was at her side in an instant. He thought about strolling up and saying something sarcastic, but in the end he just did what he knew the Beta would never do. He punched her hard enough to knock her out, but soft enough not to knock her head off her shoulders.
The deep warning growl that came from Rick punctuated the silence of the room and Link ignored it, choosing to roll back his sleeve and let his fangs descend.
“Well you weren’t going to do it.”Link accused the Beta, and watched as Rick twisted his head on his neck and gave him a look of disbelief. “She’ll be alive and hate vampires a little more. I’m sure she’ll get over it.”Link ground out, before lifting his hand to his mouth and tearing into the flesh of his palm, fisting the blood that seeped against the white flesh.
“Don’t count on it.”Rick growl out, taking long strides to get to the other side of the bed as he reached out and angled her head back against the pillow, opening her mouth for the vampire to feed her his blood.
“She’d better…”Link sighed and then rolled his eyes in his head. “She’s my damn mate.”He groaned.
Macy pulled open the toilet door and snuck out into the hallway. Coast clear, she started to move slowly towards the front door.
“Going somewhere?”The deep sound of Rudd’s voice boomed out into the silence of the long corridor and made Macy spin and jump at the same time. Her heart hit her ribs and her breath caught in her throat as she found the offender propping up the door frame with his shoulder. His thick muscled arms were folded over his even more muscled c
hest and his dark eyes were shining with amusement.
“Are you trying to be as bloody obnoxious as possible?”She snapped back. Tossing her arms up in the air in frustration, she glared up at him.
“Yes…”He offered simply and she glared even harder.
“Well congratulation then. You’ve succeeded.”She bit out with as much venom as she could muster.
“Do I get a prize?” He grinned down at her. Dropping his arms from his chest and taking just one small step towards her.
Macy stared up at him. If eyes could speak his told an epic tale of lust and desire. The way he looked at her was enough to make the hairs on her body stand to attention and a jolt of something she hadn’t felt in a very long time hit her right in the womb…
Sex on legs… The thought didn’t just float into her mind it crashed in like a hammer through a damned window. Sex on very muscled legs… She amended when he gave her a wolfish grin. It was almost as if he could read her mind, and she balked at the thought.
Perhaps it wasn’t her mind he was reading. Perhaps she was so needy from her self imposed celibacy that her body was just waving the white flag of surrender? Maybe she was broadcasting her needs like a bloody loud speaker… Oh God, the shame.
“Sure, I don’t kick you in the nuts, this time…”She bit out. Trying hard to think of an escape route away from this guy but coming up surely lacking in options. Where the hell was Link?
“You were thinking about my nuts?”He grinned and she balked. Her jaw snapped open and her eyes widened in horror as she stared up at him. Christ, but these guys weren’t backwards in coming forwards, she’d give them that, or maybe it was just this one…
“No, but from the overinflated size of your muscles I suspect that the steroids have shrivelled them to the size of peas.”She sneered back, finally recovering enough to give him the put down he deserved.