by M. A. Church
“Are you okay?” Carter ignored his werewolves on his way to me.
“I’m fine.”
Carter frowned at me as he gently raised his hand and rubbed his knuckles down my cheek. Seemed like this was becoming a thing, and neither of us commented on the claws extending from the tips of his fingers. Contentment blossomed into desire.
This man, whom my goddess had gifted me, was fucking sexy. My cock hardened. I wanted to tackle him to the floor and rub all over him. He must’ve noticed because he lifted his eyebrow.
“I really am fine. Unsettled but fine.” After I rubbed my scent all over him, I was going to take him to task for not telling me about Delaney.
Carter nodded, his power fading to a more manageable level. He turned to the werewolves at his feet. “Get up, the both of you. Now.”
Delaney helped Meme to her feet. As far as I could tell, she didn’t look any worse for wear. The bubbling resentment I sensed from Delaney was still there. Idiot.
“As your Alpha, my door is always open to any and all. I am happy to discuss any problem a pack member has. I am always willing to help out, especially the elder members of our pack. It is my job and a responsibility I enjoy.”
Both Delaney and Meme stared at the kitchen floor.
“But….” Carter paused until both werewolves pulled their gazes away from the kitchen floor and looked up. Neither made eye contact. “But I brought my mate into your home, Meme. I trusted that you’d treat my mate with respect.”
“I—”
“You do not have permission to speak,” Carter snapped.
Oh man. I glanced between her and Delaney. At least the old lady had enough sense to shut her yap. Wasn’t so sure about Delaney.
“I apparently gave you too much credit. How ironic that Delaney should show up while Aidric is standing, by himself, I might note, in your kitchen. All alone.”
“I didn’t know he was here,” Delaney muttered. “I promised to help Gerald last night. I overslept and was running late. If I’d known he was in here, I would’ve never shown up.”
“I believe you, but that does not excuse the fact you growled and showed your claws to my mate. Before you deny it, I know you did. I heard you growl, and I felt your wolf all the way in the back of the house. That’s unacceptable.” Carter turned his attention to Meme. “And you? What did you hope to accomplish?”
Meme gritted her teeth and spoke slowly. “He needed to know he’s wrecking not only your life, but any chance of your line retaining Alphaship. You need a female as your mate, not a male, and certainly not a werecat.”
Gerald walked up the hall, entered the kitchen, and hesitantly approached Carter. “I swear, Alpha, I had no knowledge of this. I wasn’t purposely running the drill to hide their conversation.”
“No, I don’t think you were, and I don’t think you had a part in this. Also I don’t think Delaney knew anything about this either.”
Meme glanced at me, and her top lip lifted in disgust. “There are those of us who will never accept the werecat.”
“Aidric. His name is Aidric.” Carter crossed his arms over his chest. “I see. Are there many of you?”
“Enough,” Meme said.
“Meme,” Gerald warned with a helpless look first at his mate, then at Carter. “You—”
“Fine, then,” Carter said.
What? Meme grinned, and my stomach dropped.
“Then you, and anybody else who feels the same as you, can fucking… well… leave,” Carter snarled.
The silence in the kitchen was deafening. I didn’t move. I wasn’t sure I was even breathing. I never expected him to take that kind of stance with his pack. It hit me then how serious he was about this mating—how serious he was about me.
“You—you would choose him over your pack?” Meme asked, shock crossing her face, leaving it lax.
She looked about how I felt.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t? He’s my mate,” Carter stressed. “Every werewolf in this pack knows exactly what that means. Why some of you think I don’t know who my mate is, or that I would reject him, is beyond me. Our god paired us, and I’ll be damned if I walk away from him.” Carter’s voice rose, as did his power.
By the time Carter finished speaking, his power was whipping through the kitchen once again, although this time, it wasn’t quite as debilitating. Just like before, it curled around me in a playful and happy way.
“Let it be known I have spoken!” Carter proclaimed.
I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded formal enough to catch my attention. I was still trying to pick my jaw up off the ground when Carter suddenly started stripping. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head as his clothes hit the floor.
“Strip,” Carter growled.
Like a spectator at a tennis match, my gaze bounced between the four werewolves in the kitchen. Who the hell was he speaking to? It had sure better not be me, because there was no way I was getting naked in front of a bunch of strangers.
“Alpha, please,” Meme begged.
Delaney stripped as Gerald shuffled to the front door and opened it. Okay, Carter was speaking to Delaney, not Meme. Thank the goddess.
“No.” Carter shook his head. “Meme, you insulted my mate and tried to drive him away, but what you did was only verbal. Delaney actually threatened him. That is inexcusable. But don’t worry. I’ll deal with you after.”
Now what the hell did that mean? “After? After what, Carter? I—”
The surge of power spread throughout the room as Carter’s body shifted. He dropped to his hands and knees as the change roared through him. Thick, coarse hair covered his body as man gave way to beast.
His features shifted and moved to resemble a wolf, but seeing his mouth elongated into a muzzle that held sharp, deadly teeth was by far more disturbing. Bones snapped and popped, rearranging to support the frame of an animal. I’d never seen a werewolf shift, but it sounded just as hair-raising as ours.
Within seconds a massive, muscular black wolf stood in the kitchen. The top of Carter’s head reached my shoulders. Holy shit, but he was huge. He narrowed those bright-yellow eyes of his on the other wolf still shifting. As he waited, a shudder ran through from the tip of Carter’s snout to the end of his tail, and he shook out his coat.
Finally Delaney finished his shift. There were two shifted werewolves in the kitchen and not a whole lot of space. Delaney was a light gray with blacks and browns mixed in his coat. Carter growled, then plowed into Delaney. The two werewolves tangled as they rolled out the front door and into the yard.
Shit.
Chapter Ten
Carter
AS WE separated, Delaney put on quite a show by snarling and snapping. It wasn’t one of the most impressive displays I’d ever seen. From the corner of my eye, I saw Meme step outside, and behind her came Aidric… who was unprotected. That was unacceptable.
I threw back my head and howled, the chilling sound rising until it reached a crescendo. That should catch Temple and Shea’s attention. I lowered my head and stared at Delaney, watching and waiting.
Focused on my opponent, I watched Delaney’s eyes, looking for a sign that would betray what he planned…. Ah, there it was—a quick look at my front legs. Delaney lunged, aiming his immense jaw for my foreleg.
Reading his intent clearly, I also surged forward, head-butting Delaney, making him stagger back. He shook his head, whimpered, then snapped to attention as I circled him. Delaney swiped at me with his massive paws but only managed to land a few hits. Pitiful. There were pups better trained than this.
I blocked the majority of his attacks and got a few of my own in. Lucky for him I wasn’t trying to kill him. Delaney had several cuts that seeped blood. As we fought, our growls brought pack members running. I leaped at Delaney, teeth slashing. Delaney mostly managed to dodge me, but his right claws caught my muzzle, and deep scratches dripped blood. That shit stung.
Shea and Temple’s voices drifted over the rumbl
ings of the crowd. I relaxed. While I dealt with this, one beta would protect my mate while the other ensured nobody jumped into the middle of the brawl.
Delaney, in desperation, took chances that left him open and vulnerable. I didn’t want to maim him, just teach Delaney a lesson. Maybe hurt him a little. Okay, more than a little, but he’d live. My pack needed to understand I’d punish anyone who threatened my mate.
Moving quickly, I pushed Delaney onto his back and pinned him there with my larger body. Whipping his head back and forth, Delaney snarled in frustration, unable to dislodge me. Using his paws, Delaney attempted to push me off him, but on his back and unable to regain his footing, Delaney was trapped.
He whined sharply but still refused to submit. The more Delaney struggled, the more I nipped him, drawing blood. After several minutes of squirming, snapping, and snarling, I’d had enough.
Baring my teeth, I lunged and closed them around Delaney’s throat. Delaney froze under me, his cry high-pitched and fearful. I snarled, low and fierce, shaking my head in warning. Although I didn’t want to, I would rip his throat out if he forced my hand. A loud, frantic yip from the other wolf signaled he finally submitted.
“Alpha, let him go, please.” Temple spoke softly, not far from me. “Delaney submitted, and I’m sure he learned his lesson. Let him go and check on your mate.”
After one final shake for emphasis, I released Delaney. Tongue hanging out, I trotted over to where Aidric stood next to Shea. My wolf, finally having the opportunity to meet Aidric, wanted to make a point the pack couldn’t ignore. I rubbed against Aidric, covering him in my scent, then sniffed him.
He smelled… different. Not bad, just not wolf. I sniffed harder. What was that scent? Not wolf, but…? I stuck my nose in his crotch and sniffed as hard as I could. A strangled yell came somewhere from above my head and then hands were pushing at my head.
“Good goddess, did you have to stick your nose there?”
Shea stood next to my mate, laughing, although I didn’t know why. Was Aidric afraid? I couldn’t have that. I dropped my ass on the ground and did my best imitation of a friendly wolf. I sniffed again. Okay, so not scared. I didn’t smell fear.
Aidric finally reached out and scratched me behind an ear. My eyes crossed. Oh. Oh that was so good. How did he know? My back leg started jumping. I needed to get closer. Aidric smelled so good, so… so… mine. I scooted nearer, and Aidric stumbled back. Why was he moving away?
I didn’t want him moving away; I wanted him closer. He really needed to be covered in my scent too. Too many wolves were around, and my pretty kitty was unclaimed. I’d covered the bottom half of him, but… I eyed Aidric, then hopped up on my back legs, setting my front paws to rest on Aidric’s shoulders.
“Holy fuck!” Aidric yelled, grabbing my front legs.
Ha! Standing up like this I was still taller than him. Funny! I decided to share the funny with him. Facing him, I went on to tell him just how funny I found that. I huffed, yelped, and yipped, then ran my tongue along the side of his face.
“Oh shit, please tell me someone’s getting this with their cell phone.” Shea laughed hysterically.
What? What was I doing that need to be recorded with the cell phone? I didn’t see what the big deal was, so I dropped back down onto four paws and head-butted Shea as hard as I could. When he ended up on his ass, I pranced around him, tail wagging madly, barking. Now that was funny. I stuck my muzzle right in his face and told him all about it.
“Damn, man, you need a TicTac. Your breath smells like… yeah. Ugh.” Shea pushed my muzzle out of his face.
We were odd creatures when in our human forms, and my breath was just fine. Speaking of creatures, I bounced back to my mate and started rubbing and sniffing him again. What was that scent? It reminded me of happy times, sunny days, freshly mowed lawns… and vanilla. I’d never played with a cat before. Could I get him to shift? I wanted him to shift! I wanted to see the pretty kitty.
“Jeez, are you always this giddy when you kick ass?” Aidric asked.
“I can safely say I’ve never seen him act like this,” Temple said, choking on his laughter. “It’s kind of cute in an insane Carter type of way. But he really needs to shift back.”
Screw that. I didn’t want to shift back, so I turned my head and curled my upper lip, displaying a massive fang at Temple. I wanted to play with the kitty… I just needed the kitty to shift, so I barked at Aidric. Aidric, hands on his hips, shook his head.
Damn.
Shea pulled on my ear. “Come on, Alpha, shift back and let’s get on with the regularly scheduled program. Plus Aidric probably wants to talk to you, and that’s hard to do in this form since he isn’t pack yet. You might also give a thought to Delaney and Meme while you’re at it.”
Oh. Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that. I looked over my shoulder to see Delaney had already switched back to his human form and dressed. I did need to speak to them, and then there was the fact I smelled a strange wolf on Delaney. Not that I had a problem with him dating out of the pack, but I didn’t recognize the scent. And it reeked of wrongness.
Nonchalantly I headed back toward Meme’s house, and Gerald opened the door to let me in. I padded back into the kitchen, shifted, and dressed. As soon as I was standing on two feet instead of four, it hit me how my wolf had acted. Holy fuckatory, what the hell was that?
Aidric probably thought I was a big buffoon. Then I remembered someone saying something about a cell phone and wanted to sink right through the floor. If Temple or Shea had recorded my antics, I was kicking their asses. Hard. I grabbed my coat off the back of the chair and headed toward the front door.
Gerald stood off to the side, head bowed. “I truly am sorry, Alpha. If you want us to leave—”
“No, I’m not kicking you off my land, but you better make Meme understand that if she crosses me again, there will be no second chances. She damn well is going to apologize for whatever she said to Aidric too.”
Gerald nodded. “I agree; she should.”
I walked outside and was relieved to see most of the crowd was gone. That was probably Shea or Temple’s doing. Good. Delaney was still here, and I intended to make him apologize to Aidric. My mate was standing off to the side, softly conversing with Shea. Shit. Was that a cell phone in Shea’s hand? Double shit. It was. I was going to kill Shea, then destroy that cell phone and its evidence.
My wolf had never, never acted like that. One whiff of Aidric and I lost my ever-loving mind. My wolf had been all wagging tails, lolling tongues, and happy bouncy wiggly pup… and wanted to play with the pretty kitty so bad the echo of that still whispered through my mind.
Straightening my shirt, I walked toward Aidric. I stopped in front of him and clasped his hand. “On behalf of the Dark Lake Pack, I apologize for the insult given to you by one of my members and the threat displayed by yet another.”
Aidric looked at our clasped hands and then raised his gaze to meet mine. “Apology accepted.”
“Good.” Still holding hands, I faced Meme. “Apologize.”
Meme bowed her head. “I apologize for the things I said and for making you feel uncomfortable in my home.”
I turned toward Delaney and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Aidric, I apologize for the threat displayed. It won’t happen again,” Delaney said, head also bowed.
“It damn well better not, because you will get no second chances. Not for either one of you.” Hopefully they got my point. “On the next full moon, Meme, you shall not run with the pack.”
Meme gasped. I knew perfectly well how being cut off from the pack run would make her feel. Alone, out of the woods, by herself, and able to hear the joy of the other wolves, it would be hard for her.
Being isolated from us would hurt. Being isolated and unable to share the delight of running with our kind under the moon’s bright light would hurt, which was what I wanted. It was the best punishment I could come up with, since beating the hell out of her was
n’t an option.
“But since I respect and revere our older ones, Delaney will accompany you as protection.” Delaney moaned softly. Yeah, he’d hate the punishment as much as Meme. “Gerald may join you and Delaney if he wishes, or he can run with the pack. That’s up to him, but the two of you are banished from the upcoming pack run.”
I’d leave the choice of the two up to Gerald.
“Alpha—”
“Not another word, Meme. Keep yourselves to the western part of our lands. Let it be known I have spoken,” I declared. “Until Aidric’s trip ends, I will not see you or Delaney. Understood?”
Meme bowed her head. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Oh, and Delaney?”
“Yes, Alpha?”
“I noticed the scent of a werewolf that’s not of our pack. Is there something you want to tell me?”
“It’s nothing. Just somebody I met at a bar one night.”
“I see.”
Delaney limped off slowly, every step showing pain.
Good. Satisfied that was taken care of, I pinned Shea in place with my gaze. “Delete it,” I demanded.
“You’re really no fun, you know that?” Shea rolled his eyes while he fiddled with his cell phone. I’d show him fun if that video got out. “Okay, fine. It’s gone.” Shea slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“It’s unattractive for a werewolf of your status to pout,” I mentioned as we walked back to the pack house.
“Uh-huh. I’m pouting when I do it, but when you’re doing it, it’s just being the Alpha,” Shea complained.
“Alphas don’t pout,” I insisted.
Aidric snorted, and Shea promptly pounced on the sound. “See!” Shea waved his hand at Aidric. “He agrees with me.”
“Whoa. Hold on, I never said that, and don’t drag me into this.”
“Because he doesn’t agree with you,” I said.
“I didn’t say that either,” Aidric added. “Don’t forget I’m beta to an Alpha too, and I can tell you Dolf has come pretty close to this thing you guys are calling ‘pouting’ on more than one occasion. Of course he has Kirk as a mate. If anybody could make an Alpha pout, it’d be him.”