When a Pack Dies

by Gwen Campbell

  He bit back a groan when Fina’s loins settled onto his. He wrapped his hands around her slight hips and rocked her back and forth, knowing it would feel as good to her as it did to him. When she leaned forward he felt the weight of her breasts, the silken curls of her hair settle on his chest and he gasped when her sheath tipped his cock up and tightened its hold on him until he found it hard to breathe.

  Fina began to lift her hips in a slow, rocking rhythm and Cutler gasped in pleasure. He wondered what the coroner would list as his cause of death because if she kept this up, his sexy little mate would kill him for sure. He wrapped his big hands around her ass and helped her move against him despite the danger to his long-term health.

  Sitting up slowly, Fina experimented with Cutler’s body and let him pierce her from every angle she could manage. She rolled, bent, ground and rocked. She’d never felt so powerful, so sure of her ability to arouse, enthrall and the look on Cutler’s face told her he loved everything she did. The only time his pleasure dimmed was when she paused to catch her breath. He’d wrap his big hands around her ribs or hips, encourage her to continue then growl his approval when she did. Fina put her hands on his chest and used the leverage for balance when she slowly rotated her hips. His hair felt crisp and damp between her fingers. His thick pectorals rose and fell quickly and she heard the beating of his heart speed up.

  She looked down at Cutler’s body and forgot to breathe. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen if something so blatantly male could be called beautiful. He was powerful, sculpted virility. Desire clenched her insides at the sight of him, bathed her in heat and made her nipples ache. When he slid his hand between their bodies to rub her clit, Fina gasped, arched into his touch and let the pleasure roll through her.

  She’d made up her mind. She knew what she needed to do. The wanting to do it would come in time...she hoped. Fina didn’t have the luxury of second-guessing and she bounced up and down on Cutler’s shaft with single-minded determination. When he snarled, when his eyes squeezed shut and his hips lifted to hers jerkily...when his cock got very hard and very large inside her, Fina leaned forward, bared her teeth and bit his chest.

  Cutler howled. His hips surged up and he would have sent Fina crashing to the floor except he was holding onto her too tight to knock her off. His eyes snapped open and he stared with enthrallment and a measure of disbelief at the top of her head. He winced and howled again when her teeth broke his skin. He felt the warm sting of her saliva seeping into the wound and came. Punching his hips up hard and fast, Cutler flooded Fina’s body with his seed. His balls seemed over full and kept pumping stream after stream into her. Snarling and thrashing, pain and pleasure rocked him, possessed him, and left him mindless yet more complete than he’d ever been.

  Blinking, Cutler realized that the tearing in his chest had stopped. Fina humped him hard and fast. Her pussy convulsed around him. Claiming him as her mate had triggered her orgasm and he rubbed his fingers against her clit, dragging her release out for as long as he could. When the hard spasms in her body finally eased, Cutler slid his hand away from her, wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

  A single tear slid out from beneath his lashes when she lifted her head and began to gently lick the wound on his chest.

  * * *

  “Hey, Ryan,” the big cop called out enthusiastically and scooped the skinny six-year old up by the ankles. He spun Ryan around carefully, avoiding the desks and the other police officers in the station house. “The Sheriff said you’d be dropping by.”

  Ryan giggled helplessly. “Wally,” he squealed with more excitement than protest then giggled again. Officer Wally Pierce was only twenty-three, belying his humongous size, and played like he was still a kid instead of a responsible, respected law-enforcement officer.

  “Hey,” Wally scolded with a grin. “That’s Officer Pierce to you, short stuff.” He hoisted Ryan up high and the child’s small body sailed over Officer Suzanne Young’s coifed, blonde head. Laughing, she reached out and tickled Ryan’s ribs when his momentum slowed.

  Fina closed the station door behind her and smiled as she watched Cutler’s men stop everything they’d been doing to fuss over Ryan. Biting back a grin of satisfaction, she recognized the signs of acceptance, almost deference they exhibited toward their Alpha’s surrogate son. Ryan’s place and safety were assured.

  “Hey, Miss Whitesage.” Sgt Anderson tipped his head in her direction. He wasn’t as tall as Wally and was maybe twenty years older.

  “Hello, Sergeant,” she called out politely and stepped further into the station house. He unlatched the little gate beside the long, front desk and stood to one side, holding the barrier open for her to walk through. When she moved past him, he sniffed her. It was discreet, polite and might have gone unnoticed. Fina was paying attention. He was the first of Cutler’s pack members she’d come in contact with after last night’s mating. Before today, he’d always called her Fina. “Sheriff Cutler invited Ryan and me to lunch.”

  “At the café. Yes, ma’am,” the thickly muscled werewolf with the slight, middle-age spread nodded. When he released the gate, his hand moved to the side of his head, like he was touching the brim of a cap in deference to her. He grinned. “Sheriff Cutler told us to expect you.”

  She’d met Cutler’s day-shift desk-sergeant twice before. He was a nice man. His wife was an absolute joy. He’d never shown her this much overt respect before. Huh. So this was what it felt like to be top bitch.

  “Hey, Ryan,” Cutler boomed from his office. He stepped into the main area of the station, fastening his gun belt and grinning crookedly. “How’d you get way up there?”

  Ryan was now perched on Wally’s shoulders and gripping the young officer’s head as they spun around.

  “Hey, Cutler,” Ryan managed to gasp out between giggles.

  “You know if he pukes up his lunch later, I’m taking it out of your hide, Wally,” Cutler chastised the young officer gruffly. His crooked grin took the sting out of his words.

  “Oh. Um, sorry, Sheriff,” Wally grunted, set Ryan down on his feet and held him by the shoulders until the grinning six-year old stopped wobbling.

  When he’d regained his balance, Ryan ran to Cutler, launching himself at the big Alpha. Cutler bent down, picked Ryan up easily and balanced him on the hip without the gun holster. Cutler nodded at Fina but his eyes were intense, expectant as they looked her over. When he turned away, it was a slow, almost telegraphed movement as he deliberately left the new top bitch alone with members of her pack for the first time.

  “Catch any bad guys today, Cutler? Where’s your hat? I checked on the ewes before we left like you asked and yes I had Fina go with me into the fields,” Ryan added with an exaggerated sigh as the two of them disappeared into Cutler’s office.

  Work slowly resumed around Fina. Every officer in the building walked past her on one pretence or another—some more obvious than others—during the first minute or so following Cutler’s departure so they could sniff her. Every officer that is except Suzanne Young. The busty, blonde dispatcher sat in front of her computer, thumbing through a small stack of papers repeatedly, refusing to meet Fina’s eyes while every other gaze in the room followed Fina’s movements. After the men had sniffed Fina, assuring themselves that she wore their Alpha’s mating mark just like Cutler wore hers, they drifted back to work.

  Fina’s brows drew together in a harsh line as she approached Cutler’s dispatcher. Soon, Fina stood so close that Suzanne couldn’t ignore her presence any longer. Suzanne stood up suddenly, turned her impressive body toward Fina’s and stared down at the shorter woman. Bristling visibly, Suzanne clenched her fists repeatedly. Her blue, artfully made-up eyes flashed. Breathing hard, Suzanne’s sharp exhalations made one corner of her full, shiny, pink lips lift.

  Fina stood her ground. She didn’t blink. She was being threatened, challenged. How she reacted to this strong, ranking member of Cutler’s pack could set a pattern of acceptan
ce amongst the other females. The young ones especially. Fina would remain Cutler’s mate. Nothing could change that. But she’d never be top bitch and would be reduced to a cowering, submissive cur for the rest of her days.

  She hadn’t asked for power. She’d never coveted prestige. But Fina was the daughter of Alphas, surrogate mother to a defenseless cub and her wolf possessed the haughty, righteous strength of a top bitch.

  A twitch of her brow narrowed Fina’s eyes. Her lips pulled back just enough to reveal the sharp, white edge of her teeth. Deliberately, she leaned into Suzanne’s space.

  To her credit, Suzanne held her ground. She stood up to her full height, shoved her flawlessly pert breasts into Fina’s, then blinked when Fina shoved back.

  Fina held herself still as Suzanne looked away. The blonde seemed to shrink in size. She shuffled back a step, hunched her shoulders forward then tipped her head to one side, unconsciously—or consciously—exposing her throat to Fina.

  “Hello, Suzanne,” Fina said quietly, politely. “I like that shade of lipstick you’re wearing,” she added, deciding to take the moral high road. She could backhand Suzanne into the next county and nobody would raise an eyebrow. But this was her pack now—hers and Cutler’s for however long she needed to stay here. Packs were more stable if they were ruled with an even, compassionate hand.

  “Um. Thanks. It’s new. Miss Whitesage,” Suzanne added quietly and looked down at Fina’s feet. She sank back into her chair slowly, letting Fina tower over her.

  “You can call me Fina.”

  Suzanne’s obscenely perfect face turned up to Fina hopefully but she didn’t quite meet Fina’s eyes. “Um. Thanks,” Suzanne murmured as she looked back down. The transmitter on her desk squawked.

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?” Fina drawled quietly. It wasn’t in her nature to be rude or condescending but, for these first few days especially, she had to be tough with the other bitches. Ruthless almost as she asserted her dominance, cementing her position and strength in their minds. After that she could be as friendly as she wanted.

  Suzanne picked up a slender headset, positioned it over her shimmering hair, cleared her throat and dispatched a unit to the site of a reported fender-bender off the town’s main street. When she was finished, she switched off the microphone and looked back up at Fina. Her beautiful face was composed but she wore that slightly blank, timid look that lesser pack members showed higher-ranking members, especially when they were hovering over them in deliberately intimidating positions.

  Fina held her posture for the span of two more breaths. Her point made, she stepped back and offered Suzanne a thin smile.

  “I was pissed when he came in today,” Suzanne said with quiet frankness.

  Without asking, Fina understood that Suzanne was talking about Cutler.

  The busty blonde continued in a demure, soft tone. “He stepped through the door and I knew the second I smelled him, he’d...mated with you.” Suzanne’s mouth tightened like she’d tasted something nasty and she cleared her throat. “I mean who wouldn’t be pissed? Who wouldn’t want to make a play for him?” Suzanne added wistfully. “I tried, a few times.” She shrugged then glanced up at Fina. The station had become strangely quiet. “I don’t think he even noticed. All those times I tried though, there were these thoughts niggling in the back of my head. The possibility that his true mate would come along some day and I’d get turfed.” With a dreamy look in her eyes, she looked away. “Someday he might tell me he loved me because he thought that’s what I wanted to hear but that would only make him leaving for his true mate cruel. Despite that, I didn’t settle on a mate of my own. A girl can hope...could hope,” she added resignedly, straightened her back and looked up at Fina respectfully. “Besides,” Suzanne added and her voice was stronger, more confident. “If I can’t be top bitch, at least I can get in good with the top bitch.” Her smooth brow furrowed thoughtfully. “We haven’t had one since Sheriff Cutler’s mother died. Yeah, I was pissed,” she added almost as an afterthought as she moved the papers to the other side of her keyboard and began making entries. “But trust me, I’m the least of your worries. Let’s just say Sheriff Powell is...popular.”

  Nodding quietly, Fina turned away and headed for Cutler’s office, drawn by the sound of his smooth, baritone voice and Ryan’s high-pitched laughter.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Officer Wally Pierce’s puppy-like, adoring expression as he stared at Suzanne.

  “Shut up, Pierce,” Suzanne barked, even though the young officer hadn’t said a word. He flinched like he’d been shot, dipped his head and disappeared down the hall.

  * * *

  “...ass as flat as a pancake. You know he likes some meat to dig his hands into when he’s humping...”

  Fina turned a wooden smile up to Cutler and kept pushing pieces of spinach salad around her plate. The café was unnaturally busy today. Bodies were squashed into booths and extra chairs stuck out from the ends of tables. The whispers had been quiet at first, preceded by haughty, even angry looks. Whenever Fina looked, she saw unmated women glaring at her with perfectly made-up eyes. She stared back for as long as it took for them to break eye contact. Either that or they’d pretend to be distracted by something their friends said. Something that was harsh, insulting, and aimed at Fina.

  The whispers were now loud enough that Cutler couldn’t pretend he didn’t hear. He touched her hand, wrapped his thick fingers around hers in sympathy then released her and sat back. This was her fight. For him to interfere would be to diminish her. Fina had to claim her own rank within his pack. He couldn’t carve one out for her and expect the others to respect it.

  “Hello, Cutler.” Two beautiful women in their mid-twenties walked past their table. Not even bothering to acknowledge Fina’s presence, they brushed their bodies against his.

  Fina growled, angry and loud enough to make her point. The women moved on. Still, it was an unsubtle challenge to her position as his mate. Finally giving up all pretence of eating, Fina leaned over Ryan, wiped his mouth with a napkin and sent him over to the ball-pit to play. She squared her shoulders and stood.

  “I’m going to the ladies room,” she told Cutler quietly, knowing the wolf ears filling the café could hear.

  “You’re, um, sure?” Cutler glanced around nervously. Everywhere he looked, he saw women he’d had sex with at one time or another—in wolf and human form. Damn. He hadn’t realized there had been that many and two more from the next county over had just walked in the door.

  Fina bared her teeth in a parody of a smile. “Time to get this show on the road. May the toughest bitch win,” she purred in a tone too quiet for anyone but him to hear.

  Something flashed in Cutler’s eyes at her words. Pride perhaps, with a touch of resignation. Mostly he just looked confident and Fina lifted her chin and headed for the washrooms.

  From the other side of the café, a harried-looking Dorothea Pike watched Fina. The older woman gulped then gave Fina a nod and a reassuring smile before turning back to her customers. Fina wasn’t surprised to hear chair after chair scrape the floor in her wake, then the gathering sounds of footsteps—high heels, flats, boots and trainers—follow her down the hallway leading to the washrooms.

  She took care of business quickly, looked at her hard, determined eyes in the mirror as she washed her hands then threw open the door to the hallway.

  “Hello girls,” Fina snarled at no one in particular. “Got a bone to pick?” Her eyes raked over the women lining both sides of the hall. The door drifted shut behind her.

  “Yeah,” one woman, taller than most of the others, pushed away from the wall and planted her high-heeled feet directly in Fina’s path. “Whelp,” she snarled dismissively. In her late twenties, she was probably five-nine or ten but her heels put her at over six feet of long, lean muscle. She had short, black hair and blue eyes. They sparkled with malice under the fluorescent lights. Hands planted on hips, she stared down at Fina. “You’re
not welcome, stray. Oh sure your little sob story about your pack being taken over softened up Cutler, but that doesn’t make the dogs who spawned you any less weak and pathetic.”

  Fina snarled and stood so close to the woman that their breath fluttered each other’s hair.

  “Yeah, yeah...keep it in your pants, bitch,” the woman taunted dismissively. Several of the women around them chuckled. She poked Fina in the chest with a short, polished fingernail. “You’re a baby. A cub. Cutler and his pack need a real woman.” She smiled and it was full of venom. “Not some skinny, underdeveloped weakling.” Blue eyes raked Fina’s body dismissively. “I know he likes to put his hands on a woman with some meat on her bones. Likes to feel something round and soft against that nice, hard body of his when he lays a woman down.”

  The corner of Fina’s mouth twitched then curved up slowly into a knowing smile. She felt the corners of her eyes crinkle.

  “Funny...he liked it best when I laid him down. Just this morning in fact.” Her smile widened and the woman’s haughty expression faltered. “Oh. I’m sorry. I guess you never had the balls to throw him down on his back, mount him and make him howl.” Her eyes left the woman’s. It was a calculated risk. Sure the taller and obviously stronger woman could flatten Fina with a single punch but looking away when they were standing so close told her and every woman standing around them that Fina wasn’t intimidated. Fina scanned the other faces. About half of them looked away immediately. After the second pass, only four were still looking at her. One by one they looked away, except for the black-haired woman standing directly in front of Fina.