by Vivian Arend
She couldn’t keep her eyes on both Dan and Jack at the same time, and all at once, something slammed into the back of her legs and she fell, hard, to the ice. Swinging with her arm, she sliced hard with her knife and managed to hit meat this time. Only her arm went numb, and the blade flew from her fingers as her elbow was slammed to the ground by the weight of Jack’s huge forepaw.
Her cry of distress reached Keil. “Robyn, I’m coming. Hit him on the nose, kick him. Fight him.”
She tried not to freak out. Jack’s massive body lay on top of her, pinning her to the ground
He sniffed along her ear.
“I can’t move. He’s at my throat and he’s got my arms pinned. He must weigh five hundred pounds, and oh my word, that is gross.”
“I’m almost there. What did he do?”
“He licked my neck. Gack, he stinks.”
Robyn strained to pull her legs up to connect her feet with any part of Jack’s anatomy. He continued to nuzzle along her throat, his tongue lapping occasionally as she struggled under him.
He didn’t seem to be trying to hurt her, but the sheer weight of his body forced the air from her lungs. Between that and the smell of his breath, she was growing light-headed from a lack of oxygen.
Suddenly Keil was there, his massive body slamming into the side of Jack’s body, and the two flew over her and rolled toward the scraggy trees.
Teeth flashed. Jack was no longer holding back as he had with Robyn. The fury of the attack, the speed of the swinging claws, made her gasp in horror.
Fur literally flew.
But even after having fought the other wolves, Keil was clearly stronger. His massive paws scrambled on the icy surface as he soon forced Jack down and over onto his back.
An instant later Keil placed his teeth against Jack’s throat, setting his razor sharp claws on top of his opponent’s belly.
He froze in position.
Waiting.
Robyn crawled crablike away from their fight, mesmerized. She slowly became aware that while she had waited nearby, the other wolves still standing had surrounded her.
“Oh crap.”
“They won’t touch you. I’ve got their leader in a death grip. Physically he’s been defeated and acknowledged my superiority.”
The wolves circled her slowly, taking small lunges in her direction. Moving closer on each rotation.
“Are you sure they know that? Because they’re freaking me out here.”
Keil’s jaw moved, and she assumed he was talking to Jack. The black wolf threw back his head.
“Umm, Robyn? Slight problem. Remember TJ telling you about how being triggered made you smell kinda interesting right now?”
She sidestepped another wolf that had moved closer in an attempt to brush against her.
“Are you telling me these jerks have the hots for me?”
“Yup. We’ve got to convince them that you’re already taken. Including Jack, who just made a comment about how good you taste, by the way.”
The four wolves circling Robyn turned and began to slink toward Keil. Tails low, teeth bared, it was clear they planned on resuming the attack.
He pressed his paw more firmly into Jack’s belly, but there was no way he could defend himself without releasing his captive.
“Call them off me,” he ordered.
She ran up to one of the nearer wolves and kicked him in the flank. He simply rolled away and continued on his route toward Keil.
Desperately she tried to reach her mate’s side, ignoring the pounding in her heart as she scrambled into the midst of six large wolves.
The males avoided her, intent on their target.
“They’re not paying attention. I have no weapon left.”
“Just call them off. You’ve got a powerful voice, and we’re in the right here. It’s our only chance. Do it now!”
Throwing herself against his side, she cried out, “Stop. Leave him alone.”
All the wolves froze.
Heck, it was as if the entire world had frozen. A faint wind brushed her skin, but nothing else moved. The furry beasts gathered around them barely seemed to be breathing.
Robyn wasn’t sure what had just happened.
Then Keil adjusted position, slowly withdrawing his paw and backing away from Jack.
He darted away, returning rapidly with his clothes and her knife. He had an extremely pleased expression on his wolfie face. “You are damn beautiful. And that voice—mm, mm good.”
He shifted and dressed as he spoke, finishing off by grabbing her and continuing the kiss he’d started before the attack.
Was he out of his mind? “Hello! Strange wolves loitering at our backs waiting to kill us, remember?”
With a final gentle nip to her bottom lip, he reluctantly pulled away.
“You are so sexy when you use that Alpha voice. The puppies behind us? Take a look.”
Robyn turned slowly.
All the wolves were lying belly down in the snow. When they saw her glance their way, they dropped their muzzles to the ground and covered their eyes with their front paws.
Jack, bloody from Keil’s attack, crawled forward on his belly all the way to their feet. His dark eyes darted back and forth between them, then he slowly rolled to his back, exposing his throat.
Keil spoke aloud so the attackers could hear, sending the words to her as well. “Shall we kill them?”
She was a little shocked the idea didn’t instantly repulse her. This being a wolf thing had definitely brought out the bloodthirsty part of her soul.
Still, there were other things to consider. “Is the challenge still on for Sunday, or did your competition just disqualify himself?”
“Oh, Jack is very much out of any challenge for Alpha. In fact, by the way they responded to your voice, I’d say you’ve shown we have complete power over any rebellious troublemakers from now on.”
She dropped to her knees, pulling back sharply on Jack’s ear, her knife close to his throat.
“Careful, babe. Think about it,” Keil warned.
He was so sweet—trying to protect her. But in this case she had thought of the perfect plan for revenge.
The bastards had interrupted her honeymoon, after all. A little payback was in order.
“Oh, I know exactly what I want to do. I have only one thing to say to them.”
A low buzz of amusement drifted across to her. The mental equivalent of a chuckle? “Go ahead. I trust you.”
Robyn leaned closer to the ear she held tightly, and spoke clearly.
“Hey, asshole. Shift.”
Chapter Ten
“She really made them shift?”
TJ, Tad and a few other close friends of Keil’s sat together in one of the side rooms of the hall waiting for Robyn to appear. She was still getting ready for their entrance as the new Alphas for the pack and her first full moon.
“Oh, not only that, she made them stand around and introduce themselves. Butt-naked in the cold. Then they had to apologize to us both for ‘disturbing the serenity of our honeymoon’.”
He watched the ladies room door anxiously, adjusting the medallion around his neck again. If she didn’t show up soon, he’d go pull her out.
“I thought Jack was going to pop a vein when she suggested he might like to look into purchasing one of the penis enhancers they advertise online.”
Tad choked on his drink. “My sister?”
Keil exchanged knowing glances with TJ. “Oh, yeah. She’s amazing. Don’t piss her off any more than you usually do. Now that she’s full wolf, she’s a bit of a handful.”
Tad sat back and swallowed hard.
Keil grinned at him. “Wait until she starts ordering you around.”
“Are you getting me in trouble?”
He turned to face the door, eager for her to arrive. “Of course not. You can get yourself in trouble all by yourself once you get here. Are you planning on arriving any time this century?”
Scuffling noises on th
e other side of the door made him more hopeful than her words
“Look, oh tall and buff one, you only told me tonight there was going to be streaking involved in this shindig. I had to do a little more grooming than usual. Are you sure I have to get naked?”
The door opened and Robyn stepped through, dressed in the Alpha female’s traditional pale blue robe. Her hair swung loose over her shoulders, and her eyes seemed to glow with the reflected light of the moon. Silver and gold and magical.
Keil’s heart rose up and choked off his throat. The scent of her wolf increased as the moon drew nearer.
He’d been waiting for her all his life.
“Oh, yeah. You definitely have to get naked.”
He turned up the hood on her robe, the soft white fur around the edge showing off her skin to perfection.
She pointed to the furry edge with an amused expression. “The faux fur is hysterical, by the way, considering what we are.”
“When he was little, I had TJ convinced that was Great Grampa Stephen.”
A laugh burst from her, drawing smiles from the crowd waiting behind them.
Then their eyes met again, heat rising rapidly. Desire rolled over both of them as they stared at each other, the rest of the people in the room forgotten.
“Gag.” TJ pretended to slip his finger down his throat. He slid in front of Robyn and kissed her cheek. “While I’m glad you’re going to be my sister-in-law, and my Alpha, can you save the sex for when you get in front of the pack?”
Her face went completely white as she whipped around to glare at Keil. “Is there any teeny, insignificant detail you might have forgotten to inform me about?”
He shrugged and gave a look to let her know how much he wanted her. “It may have slipped my mind. I don’t think you’ll mind—we’ll be wolves. It’s time to go.”
Keil held out his arm to lead her into the moonlight of the clearing.
Robyn paused for a second, and he offered up a prayer she wouldn’t go ballistic on him.
Shaking her head, she laid a hand on his elbow and walked with a regal air through the door into the main hall with him.
“I need to do something special for you. A surprise, since you obviously like them. Oh, I know. I’m making you a big batch of brownies tomorrow. Just for you. With ‘special’ ingredients.”
She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear. “And you’re going to eat them all.”
Keil stopped them for a moment as they approached the center of the gathering. He stared into her eyes, watching as a twinkle of mischief overtook the anger.
She was amazing, this mate of his. Just what he needed in his life, and exactly what the pack needed as well.
He released her arm and faced her. Carefully crossing his hands over his heart he dipped his head. “I love you, Robyn. Shall we go become Alpha?”
“With you, anything.”
“Good. You get to share the brownies.”
The ceremony was going fine, if over-the-top, out-of-this-world-shifter rituals could be fine.
All the way up to where they’d done a little walk around the pack members, and recited a little ditty about being there for the wellbeing of the entire pack, she’d seen skepticism on a few faces.
She wasn’t upset with the stragglers who still wondered if she truly were strong enough to do the job Keil had so boldly proclaimed was hers.
Robyn had spent a lifetime watching others, and examining the faces around them as she walked arm in arm with Keil was a final chance for her to decide if she truly wanted to do this.
Well, the mate thing with Mr. Sexy was a given, but the whole Alpha job hadn’t been on her agenda a week ago.
Yet the longer she considered it, the more right this entire crazy situation felt. The hesitant few in the pack were far outnumbered by the accepting and the curious, and from all of them she sensed something that made her decision an easy one.
Connection. Belonging.
Even the wolves who were worried about the newcomer in their midst had accepted her as one of them—and as the ceremony continued, the layers of what that meant grew stronger and stronger.
Finally Keil led her to the front of the room, and they turned in unison toward the gathered crowd. Faces before her were tinged with a sense of other-ness that she now identified as their shifter part. Human and animal, and wholly unique.
Wholly hers. Theirs.
She tightened her grip on his fingers as she examined the pack closer. An eerie sense of knowledge drifted over her. That woman—she was worried about a job interview she had the following day. That man—he’d had to ground his teenage son, and now he was trying to think of ways to rebuild their relationship to be stronger, more supportive…
Every face told a story. Not their intimate secrets, although Robyn sensed she could dig deeper if she wanted to ferret them out. But the current joys and concerns of all their hearts were there to be witnessed, and she instinctively knew exactly how to help them get through to the next step.
Whoa. This gig was real.
The sky overhead cleared, a break in the clouds letting moonlight stream down. It landed in a near perfect circle not ten feet from where they stood. The light slowly moved toward them, like a spotlight highlighting the dais where wolfie royalty appeared in state before the commoners…
She snorted at the mental image. Um…no. She certainly didn’t plan on being Queen Top Dog. Wolf. Whatever.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Keil teased, voice stroking her mind.
She glanced at him, suddenly struck with more thoughts.
His—
Shared amusement. Caring. Times spent talking late into the night, working to make her happy. Building a family and building a life. Sex…
Whoops, that final thought packed a lot of power behind it, and she blushed. “What comes next?
He waggled his brows. “You do.”
Oh, no. That whole “sex in front of the pack” thing wasn’t happening. Not on her watch.
Robyn opened her mouth to tell him that when the moonlight hit them and the world shifted ten feet to the left.
The light intensified. Shadows faded as her vision sharped. Scents grew thicker, stronger. Images danced into her head as she dragged air in through her nose.
What was that one? That delicious, distracting aroma?
She sniffed harder. Her skin twitched as she identified the animal, and instantly began plotting how soon she could track it down and—
“Robyn.” Keil’s prod was full of amusement. “We’re kind of busy at the moment. Maybe you could leave off chasing bunnies for a few hours.”
Oops.
She jerked her attention back to where they were, which was in a place that sparkled with light and texture. She lifted her arms in front of her to discover her skin shimmered with moonlight. Tingles slipped up and down her spine, and every breath felt intoxicating. “Is this supposed to happen?”
Keil stepped beside her, his eyes wide with admiration. “You’re perfect.”
She gazed back into his face where his love for her was written clear as day, and a sudden burst of surety struck.
Who knew if it was kosher, but she was doing it anyway.
Robyn lifted her arms. She signed, and spoke the words to him out loud, and inside his head. A triple-decker layer of honesty, sharing a promise she knew she could keep.
“You’re mine. I’m yours. Today and forever. Together we will be the best Alphas Granite Lake has ever seen. Not because we’re physically strong—”
“—but we totally are,” he silently interrupted with a wink.
She laughed then continued. “Because we’ll work together, and every action will be built on the strongest thing there is.”
“Love.”
The entire pack shouted the answer, and she and Keil fist bumped before turning to accept the pack’s approval.
The cheering and arm shaking hadn’t even died down when he caught her fingers
in his and kissed her knuckles.
The tingles under her skin accelerated from intense to electrifying.
The next second magic took her. Whether it was biological or something out of this world, Robyn didn’t know and didn’t care. All she knew was as she stared into the eyes of the man she loved, reality flipped itself inside out. Her robe fell unminded to the ground as pleasure coursed through her veins and she…
…landed on four feet with Keil’s perfect wolf standing opposite her.
Oh. My. Word.
Robyn shook herself, instinctively bracing her paws, breathing deep as she threw back her head and let loose the joy waiting to explode out of her.
She howled for all of two seconds before falling over in shock.
“You okay?” Keil asked, brushing his body past hers.
Was she okay? “I heard me. I heard my howl.”
His hip bumped her. “Your wolf didn’t have a fever, I guess. You might regret that at some point—wolves are damn noisy in their fur.”
Nothing about being a wolf was up for regrets. She eyed her mate, and the gathering in front of them, some of whom had already shifted and were waiting anxiously. Her body felt powerful and wild, and the urge to run was impossible to ignore.
“Hey, Keil,” she whispered.
He stood in front of her, lowering his upper body slightly so he could stare into her eyes.
Robyn tightened her muscles, prepping herself for the right moment. “You’re it.”
She exploded toward the exit, heading at a full sprint toward the trees where the wilderness scents and fresh, clean air beckoned.
Keil caught up with her moments later, and they ran.
Together.
Epilogue
As he waited for Keil and Robyn and the others to return, Tad wrestled with mixed emotions.
He was so glad for his sister—it was clear she was finally exactly where she was supposed to be, and with the perfect man. Mates being what they were, there was no question of that.
And not that she’d ever really needed a protector, knowing Keil would always be there for her made it easier for Tad to step back out of worrying like he had for the past twenty plus years…