by Alisa Woods
Mia kept her voice level. “You don’t need her. You have me, remember?”
Mace arched an eyebrow, but loosened his hold a little on Jeeter.
“I know lots of ways to please a wolf,” she said, wondering where she was getting the guts to even say that. “I’ve been with Lucas lots of times. I know just what you want. All you have to do is let my roommate go, and then my mind will be free to focus on you.” She glanced at the other wolves, who seemed to have perked to high attention. “All of you. If that’s what you want.” She tossed him what she hoped was a flirty look, propping her hands on her hips so he wouldn’t notice them shaking. Jesus, where was she coming up with this stuff? She only hoped he would bite.
Mace smiled broadly and tipped his head to Beck, still on the couch. “Come take the girl,” he said, obviously meaning Jeeter, not Mia. Her heart pounded as Beck brushed past her, giving her bottom a squeeze as he went, then he clamped a beefy hand around Jeeter’s arm. She whimpered but didn’t cry out like before.
“Well, you’ve sparked my curiosity, Mia Fiore,” Mace said approvingly. “But I’m afraid I promised Beck he could have your roommate once we were finished with her.”
Mia shot a look to Jeeter. Her eyes had gone wide. Beck started slowly dragging her toward the stairs. She tried to resist, but got nowhere. He twisted her around and ducked down to hoist her over his shoulder, barely slowing in his progress toward the stairs. And, presumably, the rooms above. Jeeter flailed her arms and legs, then let out a blood-curdling scream that drove an iron stake through Mia’s heart.
Oh hell no.
Mia reached down and swiftly tore off her t-shirt. Then she shifted as fast as she could, trying to catch all of them by surprise while not getting snarled in her clothes. She managed to leap out of her pants and shoes, her long, lean wolf legs slipping free, but her bra stretched tight across her chest. As she finished the shift, it snapped and flew off. By then she was nearly upon Beck, who still hadn’t seen her.
Jeeter’s screaming pitched up another octave as Mia flew at Beck in wolf form. It was enough warning that he turned halfway around by the time she arrived.
She dove for his throat, but he got an arm up to block, so she caught that instead. He roared and shifted. Jeeter tumbled to the floor. Mia held on during the shift, biting harder, then letting go only when she had a good chance of catching his throat. Her jaws snapped closed, but she’d only caught the side of his muzzle. He wrenched his head back and forth, trying to work free, growling like mad and kicking her with all four paws. She almost had him, but he out-weighed her by half, and he soon rolled and pinned her. Mia yelped as Beck’s fangs sank into her neck. It stung, and she choked, and then black spots spun in front of her eyes, but he wasn’t killing her, or even piercing her skin… just snarling and holding her. And drooling down her neck.
“Enough!” It was Mace’s voice.
Mia couldn’t move, not with the hold Beck had on her neck, but her wolf body had all four paws braced against him. If he loosened his grip at all, she was out of there. She could hear Jeeter whimpering nearby.
“Do not allow her to submit,” Mace said, calmer and closer now. “She’s mine.”
Beck eased back, still pinning her, but giving her room to twist her head and look at Mace.
He held her gaze as he shifted into wolf form.
Oh no.
Lucas drove like the hounds of hell were chasing him.
“Jesus!” Lev said as they took a turn in the Audi that nearly put them up on two wheels. The skyscrapers of downtown Seattle blurred by. When they came out of the turn alive, Lev added, “It’s going to be very difficult to rescue Mia from the afterlife.”
That cooled the burning rage in Lucas’s veins. Just a little.
“Get our father on the phone,” he growled, but he slowed the Audi so they were only about twenty miles over the speed limit as they wound toward SparkTech.
You have one day, Lucas.
The words had frozen him in place for a long moment, still in the grip of that image of Tila’s death—the one that had haunted him day and night in the year since her death—but then a fiery rage had billowed up from the depths of his wolfish soul. From that second on, his every thought, every word, every action would be focused on getting Mia back from the wolf who had stolen her from him.
Stolen. Taken… Claimed.
It was a sequence he knew too well, and his wolf growled and snorted and stomped with impatience to get her back now. He and his wolf both knew what would happen if he didn’t. The sequence was ancient, but still the code by which most wolves operated. It didn’t help that Lucas knew in sickening detail the habits of this particular wolf, the voice on the phone. SparkTech was an internet development company, but they were really in the business of information. And knowing what their competition was capable of—their latest acquisitions, internal political machinations, and personal habits of all kinds—was the kind of information that was invaluable to their business. Although, strictly speaking, the voice could have been any of the Red pack wolves—Lucas had never spoken with any of them, even though he’d beaten the crap out of a couple—he knew exactly which one it had to be.
Mace.
Marcus Crittenden, alpha of the Red pack, had two sons: Mace was the youngest and most cruel. As well as the most ambitious. The two sons were constantly vying for who would be next in line to succeed their father. So far, the oldest was better placed. Which only meant Mace was even more desperate for any advantage in the hierarchy of the pack.
Given any chance at all, Mace would claim Mia.
Lucas knew Mace already had a mate. He also knew the Red pack collected female wolves like they were trophies, mating more than once, and growing a harem to establish their own pack and to show dominance in the larger organization of the Red Wolf company. Having more females also ensured they could welp the strongest possible next generation to carry on their line. It was another ancient practice that some packs still used, although most modern shifters had left it far behind as the brutal remnant of a less civilized time. It wasn’t even a wolf practice, but rather an ancient human one… wolves naturally mated for life, taking a new mate only when separated by death. That was the instinctual draw of the claiming… and why his wolf sang about Mia nearly from the first moment he saw her, even before his human self knew she was a shifter.
It was only human males who were backward enough to claim more than one mate.
Lucas swerved the car, taking another turn too fast, and slamming Lev into the side panel. His brother had the phone to his ear, talking to someone. Lucas hoped it was their father.
If they were going to rescue Mia, they needed to move as quickly as possible, and he would need all the resources of all the packs he could draw upon.
Before Mace could figure out what she was and take her for his own.
Lucas shoved open the frosted doors to SparkTech’s office space and hurried inside. Lev was just behind him. Their father was expecting them. Apparently Mace had texted him a picture of Mia, as well as one of another girl they identified as Mia’s roommate. His father said the girls both seemed unharmed, and the image of Mia showed her sitting on a white-leather couch. There were no identifying features in either of the pictures to locate where they had taken the girls, but Lucas was almost certain they were hidden away in the Red pack compound. Mace was angling for position within the pack—there was no way he was flying solo on this, and he had to have the approval of his alpha before even setting up to snatch Mia.
Lucas just needed to verify with his father that Mia was likely in the compound, then they could make an assault plan to storm in and pull her out. He expected to get his father’s approval before recruiting volunteers from his father’s pack as well as Llyr’s… what he didn’t expect was Colin, Llyr’s beta, stopping him in the common area next to the couches and glass tables that populated the area between the offices.
Colin strode right up to him and blocked Lucas’s path. “You
had one job,” Colin spat. His anger took Lucas aback, catching him off guard with the beta’s on-fire eyes and at-the-ready fists. “One. And you had to fuck that up.”
Lucas just shook his head and tried to skirt around the human blockade-of-one. He didn’t have time for Llyr’s beta, whatever his issue was.
Colin grabbed Lucas by the shirt and shoved him hard.
Lucas stumbled back. Why was Llyr’s beta choosing this of all moments to come after him? Then he remembered: Colin, Mia, in her office…Colin wanted her.
The thought made Lucas physically flinch. His wolf growled low and dangerous.
Colin stabbed a finger in his face. “All you had to do was keep her safe for twenty-four hours. That was all. But it just was beyond you, wasn’t it?”
Lucas slammed his hands into Colin’s shoulders and shoved him back. Llyr’s beta was big, so it only set him back a couple of steps. And Lucas wasn’t trying to start a fight, not really—he didn’t have time for that, either. The clock was ticking for Mia. They could fight over her later, after she was safe.
“Get out of my way,” Lucas growled. “I’m going after her.”
Colin stepped up to him again, blocking his path with fists clenched and teeth bared. “The hell you are. You have no claim on her, and you’re nothing but a screw up. No way am I letting you be part of this operation.”
A group of wolves was forming around them. His father’s pack. Llyr’s pack. The very men Lucas would need to help rescue Mia. There were murmurs.
Lucas kept his voice calm, in control. “It’s not up to you—”
Colin gave him a look of disgust. “It’s sure as hell not up to you. You’re not even in this pack.” He gestured behind him, arms wide. “Either of them.”
Lucas checked the crowd, his entire body coiling, his wolf ready to spring. Lucas’s father stood behind the others, watching, but not making any move to interfere. Even Lev was holding back.
Colin nodded, satisfaction spreading across his face. “Go home, Lucas. You’re done with this. When I’ve finished leading the operation to rescue Mia, we’ll let you know she’s safe.”
Lucas had no claim. He had no pack. By any measure, he had no rights in any of this. None of that mattered to him. “I’m going after her.” Lucas’s wolf growled his agreement.
Colin met his snarl with a cool stare. “No. You’re not.”
Lucas’s wolf wanted Colin’s throat. Bad. “You can’t just have her—”
“You can’t seem to keep her.” Colin’s dark eyes mocked him.
Lucas was boiling inside: time was slipping by, second after second grating against him while they stood here arguing. While Mia could be hurt… trapped… claimed by some bastard of a dark wolf.... his claws itched to come out and bring a swift end to Colin’s attempt to stop him and take Lucas’s rightful place in the rescue, as if Mia already belonged to him…
“She belongs with me.” Even as the harshly whispered words slipped out of Lucas’s mouth, he couldn’t quite believe he’d spoken them aloud. His wolf would have howled in triumph, but he was too busy stomping and posturing for Colin.
“She belongs with a true alpha.” Colin narrowed his eyes. “We both know that’s not you. She deserves better, and I’m going to make sure she gets it. You’ve had your chance, with Tila. There’s no way I’m going to let Mia end up in a pool of her own blood. She’s mine now.”
The volcano building inside Lucas suddenly burst with a power that made both him and his wolf roar. He swung a blind, raging fist at Colin. The larger man moved surprisingly fast, dodging Lucas’s blow and cutting up to plow a fist into Lucas’s gut. Lucas huffed from the blow, but that just let him get close and hook an arm around Colin’s neck. Lucas pounded his face with a fury that scored four nose-smashing punches before Colin shifted into his wolf and slipped from Lucas’s grasp. He was left holding Colin’s shirt, which he threw to the ground.
Colin stood on all fours a few paces back, teeth bared and snarling, blood dripping from his mouth. Lucas had drawn first blood, but Colin wasn’t backing down. The air was rich with its iron scent and the testosterone of a fresh fight. The rest of the pack had edged away, giving them room.
Silence held rein, all sound suspended like a drop of blood about to fall.
In the next heartbeat, Lucas shifted out of his clothes and leaped into the air. He landed a blow on the way down, knocking Colin’s muzzle aside, but it was the beta’s neck he wanted. Lucas’s jaws snapped closed, but they only caught a scruff of fur, gritty and slipping away. The two wolves tumbled together, knocking against a glass table and tipping it. Colin used his larger mass and momentum to keep them rolling. Lucas had to twist and wrench away. He barely escaped being pinned. He danced to the side, turned, and faced Colin again.
They stood on all fours, nose to nose, only a foot apart. With a snarl, Lucas dashed at him and retreated. Colin sidestepped and snapped back, just missing him on the rebound. They circled, edging sideways while looking for an opening. Colin lunged forward. Lucas slipped to the side, then clamped his jaws, catching Colin’s flank. He whipped around and grappled with Lucas. They both went down, rolling and bashing against furniture. The other wolves backed quickly out of the way. Lucas and Colin wrecked the common room, jaws snapping and catching and bloodying each other.
Pain ripped across Lucas’s shoulder. He knocked Colin’s jaws free with a side-butt of his head. The beta tumbled into a wall, momentarily stunning him and giving Lucas the split second of distraction he needed. He dove in and clamped his jaws hard on Colin’s throat. He held fast against the other wolf’s desperate pawing and kicking and wrenching attempts to get free. After a dozen long seconds of struggle, it was clear Colin couldn’t win his freedom without ripping out his own throat… but still he struggled. Lucas kept his jaws locked and growled, a sound from deep inside that he couldn’t have stopped even if he wanted to.
Colin’s rasping breaths wheezed out of his gaping mouth, but he didn’t stop resisting. Lucas’s urge to finish it, to clamp down until he had drained the life from Colin’s body, was tempting—overwhelming, in fact, with the taste of blood in his mouth and the adrenaline of the fight pumping through his body. But he didn’t want to kill his brother-wolf. There had been too much blood spilt in Lucas’s life already.
He just needed Colin to submit.
Slowly, slowly, Colin’s paws went slack, falling against the fur on his chest. Even slower, his tail curled up. Finally, after a long stretch of pant-filled seconds, his body went completely limp. Colin tipped his head back, exposing even more of his throat to Lucas.
Submission.
Lucas felt the bond like a jolt of energy surging through his body. It filled him from the inside out, in ways he hadn’t even known he was empty. He loosened his grip immediately, then carefully released Colin, so as not to damage him any more than he already had.
Colin stayed in the prone position while Lucas worked himself free from their tangled limbs. They both were dripping blood on their flanks and muzzles, but those wounds would quickly heal. In fact, they would fade much faster than the submission bond that now held Colin still, even without Lucas’s fangs clamped around his neck. Colin wouldn’t move until Lucas gave him permission to do so.
He stepped back, still panting. Rise, he thought.
Colin instantly rolled to his feet. His body shook, but Lucas guessed it was more from hurt pride than any of his injuries. Colin had never been in Lucas’s pack—he had always been Llyr’s beta—but the fresh hold of the submission bond had him waiting on Lucas’s command before he shifted back to human form. For the moment, at least, Lucas was his alpha.
Lucas nodded sharply to Colin, and they shifted together.
They both stood naked in the middle of the wrecked common area. Colin bowed his head slightly: an acknowledgment that the bond held, even in human form. The rest of the men were quiet, but Lucas could see it in their stance… he could smell their relief in the air… it was settled.
&
nbsp; No one else would fight him for her.
Mia was his.
Lev’s smile broke out first, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Lucas could still hear his words from before. Alphas don’t get what they deserve—they get what they earn.
“Now that that’s settled,” Lucas said, “let’s get my mate back.”
The roar that went up was pack-wide—no, two packs-wide—and Lucas’s heart soared with it. Several of his former pack members were grinning at each other, and even his father had a shadow of a smile on his face. Lucas’s clothes had been lost in the smashed furniture of the common room, so he didn’t bother—he just strode toward his father’s office where they would make their plans. Wolves on all sides crowded in with him, smiling and jostling and eager. He wouldn’t have to ask them now. It was unspoken: everyone would help.
Lucas didn’t deserve Mia, that much was clear. But he had just earned the right to claim her—if she would still have him. And if he could rescue her from the dark wolves who had stolen her away.
Hold on, Mia. I’m coming for you.
Beck’s substantial weight held Mia down, but what really made her panic was watching Mace shift right in front of her. He held her gaze all the way through, his cold, dark eyes turning a glittering blackness with his wolf form, shining like his dark red fur.
When Mia had shifted into her wolf form to save Jeeter, just a moment ago, she knew she was taking a risk. But she couldn’t let Beck just haul away her roommate for whatever predations he had in mind. Shifting was a foolish thing for Mia to do—she knew there had been no chance of escape—but now that they knew she was a wolf, they would be much more interested in her than in her roommate. The diversion had worked all too well. Mia shuddered to think of what that would mean next.