by Jessica Snow
Probably tear the flesh from my back with her claws, thought Liam with a wry little smile.
The woman herself was waiting for him in the family room, curled up on a divan, a glass of a chilled wine in her hand. She looked up at once as he walked in.
“Where were you tonight?” his mother, Victoria, asked immediately upon seeing him, arching her delicately shaped eyebrows in question. She was dressed in a strapless gray gown, her long golden hair falling to her waist in glossy waves. A werewolf in her prime, Victoria was a stunningly beautiful woman and the source of Liam’s good looks.
It did not appear that she had been doing anything other than watching the paint on the walls, as the flat screen TV was turned off and the controlled lighting was dimmed very low. Either that or she had been brooding on something as she waited for him...which was never a good sign.
Liam looked around the room. “Where’s father?”
Puckering her lips, Victoria took a dainty sip of her wine. “He went to bed after our full moon hunt. He has a meeting with some men in the morning.” She gave him a direct look, her blue eyes flashing with specks of gold, a sign of controlled anger. “Are you going to answer my question? Crystal called us. She complained that the hunt was not the same without you.”
Liam shoved his hands in his pockets. “I had a prior engagement,” he lied.
His mother’s brows arched higher. “A prior engagement? Since when does a prior engagement get you out of a hunt?”
Since Crystal started hunting and eating people for kicks. He drew a deep breath. “Look, Mom, I just was not in the mood to run with the pack. It just did not feel right.”
His mother grew still and stared at him for a long time. “Crystal said that you left because you needed to think.”
Liam groaned. “Mom—”
“She thinks that you do not love her. That your heart belongs to someone else.”
Liam froze. It was the cold truth. He really did not love Crystal. Their relationship had been a thing of convenience, after all. Her family was an old line of wolves that had powerful connections. It had only been natural for the Greysons to want to merge bloodlines.
“I really don’t want to talk about this right now, mom,” Liam said tersely. It would just be covering old ground.
His mother’s voice was filled with steel. “Well, I do.” Gently placing her glass of wine down on a stand next to her, she gracefully rose to her feet and walked towards her handsome son, her matronly hips swaying with each step. “You know very well what is riding on your courtship to Crystal. What do you think would happen if you rejected her after the great lengths I went through to set up this mating? Her father would not easily accept such an affront.”
I don’t give a shit what her father would think, Liam thought angrily. A wolf of renowned strength, Crystal’s father, Jason, was a vengeful man and probably where Crystal got her nasty temper. Liam did not have to think hard about what would happen if Liam spurned his daughter. But if he didn’t, he would be trapped with a man-eater forever. What was she teaching the pack? What would she teach their children? “Mother...she breaks the law. She hunts and eats humans. She pushes our packmates and me to do the same every time she takes the young ones out on her ‘special hunts’, like last night. Do you want someone like that raising your grandchildren? Do you want her raising them to be man-eaters?”
“We cannot break the engagement, my son.” Victoria stopped in front of her son, placing a manicured hand on his strong shoulder. “Such an insult could cause a war between packs. Do you want the bloodshed of your brethren on your hands?”
Slowly, Liam shook his head, peering into her gold-specked eyes. “No.”
“Then get yourself together. The deaths of a few humans are worth what we will gain from this union.” His mother’s eyes turned completely gold as she glared at him. “You are expected to conceive an heir for Jason’s line on the next full moon. In ritual, with witnesses. They are tired of your delays, and so are we.”
Liam’s jaw dropped with disbelief. “What?”
While he had known that his courtship with Crystal would eventually produce an heir, once he had discovered her nature he had hoped to put it off as long as possible.
His mother looked at him like he was a fool. “Jason’s mate has borne him only one son, a scrawny wolf by my estimation, and one daughter. He desires a male grandchild from a strong wolf such as yourself. In fact, we have all been expecting one for some time now, seeing as how you and Crystal have already been together for nearly a year.” She sighed. “Apparently, you’re not mating enough to conceive on your own, so we’re doing this the old-fashioned way when the moon’s power will make conception a sure thing.”
Ugh. No. I can’t do this. Shaking his head, Liam said, “Mother, I don’t know if I can do it so soon—”
Without warning, his mother grabbed him by the throat and began squeezing, surprising him with her strength. “It is bad enough you break protocol like some rich brat who thinks he can do whatever he wants, but you will not defy me in this!” she hissed angrily. Her golden eyes appeared to glow against the dim light of the room. “On the next full moon, you will mate with his crazy, man-eating bitch of a daughter and fill her with your seed. You will give his line and ours an heir. After that, I don’t care if you never touch her again, but you will do this. Do I make myself clear?”
Liam stared into his enraged mother’s eyes. Though her grip was strong, he was still stronger than her. If he wished he could knock her across the room, but out of respect and fear of his dad, he held himself in check. “Yes,” he finally choked.
Nodding with satisfaction, she let him go. Air quickly filled his burning lungs. Liam refused to grab at his aching throat when she released him, though, unwilling to show weakness.
Confident that she had cowed her son, Victoria scooped up her wine, swished to the doorway and then turned around.
“Be happy that it was not your father waiting for you when you returned,” she growled. “It would not have been as...pleasant.” She let those unsettling words sink in before adding, “I have already spoken to him on your behalf, so you are in the clear for your indiscretion...for now. But do it again, and even I will not be able to save you from his claws.” She turned to leave, but stopped again to say, “There is someone waiting for you in your room.” Then with a whisper of her elegant gown, she was gone.
When he sure she was out of sight, Liam grabbed at his throat and began rubbing it, dreading the confrontation awaiting him. He already knew which “someone” she meant.
“Where were you?” Crystal demanded as soon as he stepped into his darkened bedroom, an accusing expression spread across her sharp-cheekboned face.
It appeared she had been pacing the floor of his bedroom in the dark since the end of the hunt--and from the mess, going through his belongings, probably looking for evidence of him cheating on her.
As his vision quickly adjusted to the darkness, Liam tore his eyes away from her pinched, scowling face, trying to hide his disgust. “Just in town.”
Clenching her fists, Crystal glared at him with disbelieving eyes. His night vision now active, Liam could see the heat signature of her body turning a dark red from anger. “Just in town, partying at a club?”
Shit.
She stepped forward, looking as if she wanted to rake her long nails across his face. “Some of my friends saw you there, partying with some human female. I had texts on my cell as soon as I got back from the hunt.”
Liam kept his face calm. “Your friends are lying to you then, Crystal.”
“Really?” she snarled. “But your cock does not lie!”
At Liam’s confused expression, Crystal sniffed at the air, her nostrils flaring wide. “Have you forgotten our powerful ability to smell, Liam? I smell the pungent scent of your cum through your jeans!” She got directly in his face, trembling with rage. “Who did you fuck?” she hissed. “Tell me now so I can rip out her throat!”
Liam cursed inwardly, his mind racing. If he did not find an answer in the next minute, he knew the infuriated Crystal would attack him. But then he remembered and rolled his eyes. There was only one person he had spilled his seed with yesterday, after all. “Stop being ridiculous. You did this to me. You are just smelling what happened between us before I left.”
Crystal paused, a frown coming over her face.
“Don’t you remember?” Liam asked quickly. “You sucked me off on the cliff overlooking the city when the night was still young.”
After a long moment, Crystal’s eyes brightened with remembrance. “Oh yeah. I suppose I forgot about that because I was so upset about you leaving the hunt.”
Briefly, relief swept through his body, but he knew Crystal was not going to forget the story her friends had told her. He needed something else to divert her attention.
Dropping his gaze to the floor, Liam brought up an interesting half-truth “I had a confrontation with a fanged one while I was in the city.”
Crystal’s mood, always unstable, turned on a dime at his words. Her eyes went wide with concern as she began searching his body for injury, her rage momentarily forgotten. “Are you all right?”
Liam nodded slowly. “I managed to fight him off, and get away without a scratch. But that one doesn’t care about the law. I’ll need to give his description to the others.” So that they could warn their human female friends, but he didn’t tell Crystal that part.
She ceased her inspection, her face twisting with confusion. “Why in the world would a vampire attack you? We have a treaty with them.”
Liam shook his head. “I don’t know. He might have been very hungry for blood and mistook me for a human. He could be an idiot. Or he could simply not care about the treaty.”
Crystal sniffed, thinking. “Hmmm.” Then she straightened, looking him in the eye. “Well, anyway, about my friends seeing you at that club—”
The door to Liam’s room flew open and his teenage cousin, Carly, stumbled into the room with a strangled gasp. “Guys! Oh, my God, I found you!”
Crystal turned to eye her in annoyance. “What is it now, Carly?”
After her parents had been killed in a battle between their clan and another five years ago, Carly had come to live at the mansion with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Standing at five-foot-two and weighing one-hundred and twenty pounds, she was a diminutive shifter, who had an appetite for mischief and was often a pain in Liam’s backside. But only a minor one.
She glanced quickly at Crystal before turning her panicked gaze on Liam. “Liam, come quickly!” she cried her short blonde bob in disarray from running like hell to get to Liam’s room. “There are two wolves going at it at the pack meeting spot...and they’re about to kill each other!”
“Crap,” he muttered and looked at Crystal apologetically. “I have to deal with this.”
“I know,” she replied. He turned and ran out with Carly on his heels, not looking to see if Crystal followed.
Liam burst into the clearing at a full run. Two snarling wolves circled each other surrounded by a group of rowdy shifters. Liam ran forward and raised his fist to silence the crowd. They yelled and jostled a little, but then their voices died and everyone turned to him.
“What is the meaning of this?” Liam demanded of the male wolves. One was silver and the other a light blonde color. Not in wolf form, Liam could not be sure who the two shifters were, but judging by their coats, he knew that they were younger than him. Being older, and the Alpha’s heir, gave him seniority to order them about.
But the two wolves chose to ignore his authority, growling and eyeing each other with hate. That’s when the silver one darted in, intent on biting the throat of his adversary.
He did not get the chance.
Moving with unnatural speed, Liam moved in between the two wolves and caught the silver wolf by the throat before it could sink its fangs into the blond.
“Shift now,” Liam growled into the wolf’s face through gritted teeth. “And explain yourself.”
The wolf snarled with defiance.
Roaring with fury, Liam slung the wolf across the clearing, where it let out a pained yelp as it collided against the turf with a thump, tumbling across dirt and leaves.
“Do not defy me in this!” yelled Liam, rage coursing through his veins. He could feel his teeth lengthen inside of his mouth and his nails growing as anger blurred his vision. “I am the son of Lance Greyson, leader of one of the most powerful packs of our kind, soon to be Alpha myself! Turn now and explain yourself or face retribution!”
Its pride wounded, the silver wolf rolled to its feet and shook its mane, scattering leaves and dirt about. It stared long and hard at Liam with its golden eyes before the familiar sound of popping bones filled the clearing.
Liam started with surprise as he instantly recognized the human form of the disobedient wolf.
A startled gasp rebounded off the trees as Crystal rushed into the clearing, Carly hot on her heels. “Zack!” she cried as she ran up to her teenage brother, who was kneeling naked before Liam. “What in the world are you doing out here? Father said you were at home sick in bed.”
“I lied,” Zack growled, still glaring at the blonde wolf. “I went to a party tonight.”
“You’re so lucky,” Carly whined, crossing her arms, “Liam never lets me go out and get drunk.”
Everyone ignored the girl.
“That doesn’t explain why you were at each other’s throats,” Liam pointed out angrily.
“Who cares why they were at each other throats,” breathed Carly. Her eyes were fixed on Zack’s nether regions. “I’m totally digging what I’m seeing.”
“Shut up Carly,” snapped Liam.
Suddenly conscious of the gathered crowd, Zack covered his privates, a rosy blush blossoming across his cheeks. Liam’s anger softened slightly with a surge of humor. Zack really was such a kid sometimes. And not a bad one. But this time he had managed to really piss Liam off.
“Well?” demanded Liam.
Zack nodded at the blonde wolf. “I’ll let him tell you.”
Liam turned his wrathful gaze on the creature who was watching them. “Explain yourself.”
Bones popped as the wolf slowly transformed into a well-built teenager that Liam was vaguely familiar with. Erick was a wolf from one of the lesser bloodlines and could be quite the troublemaker.
“What’s the deal with you two?” Liam demanded. “Why were you about to kill each other?”
Cupping both hands over his privates, his six-pack abs heaving, Erick tossed a nervous glance at the very interested Carly before growling, “Because that pussy Zack does not know how to mind his own business.”
With a roar, Zack stepped forward to come for Erick, but his sister was quick to hold him back. “I had every right to intervene! He was trying to rape a human girl!”
Liam’s blood went cold. “Is this true?”
Erick refused to look him in the eye. “I was just having fun.”
“Fun? You little shit--” Liam leaped across the space separating the two, grabbing the teen by the throat and picking him up off the ground. Several pack members stumbled away, fearful at the fury displayed in Liam’s golden eyes.
“Fun?” roared Liam up into the frightened teen’s face, his fangs bared. “Rape is your idea of fun?”
Crystal’s voice cracked with anger. “Liam, stop!”
“She deserved it,” Erick choked, trying vainly to pry Liam’s fingers from around his neck. “She was dressed like a total slut.” His eyes flicked over toward Crystal, and he sneered. “Besides, humans are prey. Crystal’s right about that. So, who cares if I play with my food?”
Rage overcame Liam. Balling his fist, he began mercilessly pounding the boy in the face. He ignored the cheers of the pack members and Crystal’s high-pitched shouts of anger as he blackened the upstart cub’s eyes. “I lead this pack in my father’s absence, you damn degenerate! Not Crystal! Me! The law says not
to prey on humans! Not to hunt them, not to eat them, and certainly not to fucking rape them! I uphold the law! And you are going to follow it if I have to beat it into you!”
“Liam, stop this at once or I will tell both our parents!” Crystal shrieked.
But Liam was beyond caring or hearing. He slammed Erick into the ground and continued pummeling him, smashing his fist against his nose with a satisfying crunch. “How’s this for fun, huh? Do you like this? Do you like being preyed on? Do you like it when someone has their fun with you while you can’t do anything?”
Erick’s eyes were glazed as he looked up into Liam’s rage-filled face, his lip busted, his nose gushing blood. “Fu...fu...fuck you....”
“How dare you?” Crystal screamed, darting in at him from the side. He turned to fend off her weak blows. “It was just a human—just a human! They barely qualify as people! Would you kill one of our own people for the sake of one of them?”
“No,” he replied, still refusing to let go of Erick’s collar. “But I’m sure willing to beat some sense into hi--”
Crystal let out an outraged screech and shifted with a crack of bones. Suddenly her gray wolf-form darted for his throat. He shielded himself with a forearm; her teeth sank into it painfully.
“Crystal, let go of me. Crystal, you’re acting fucking rabid again.” He tried to pry her off, but she sank her teeth in deeper, growling. “Stop defending this damn degenerate! It doesn’t matter how much he—or you—likes preying on humans, it’s still against the law!”
That made her brace her legs against the ground and start worrying at his forearm as if trying to tear the flesh from his bones. Yelling in pain and outrage, he swung his arm reflexively, trying to dislodge her.
Unfortunately, it worked too well. Her teeth tore free of his arm and she went flying, finally running into the broad trunk of an oak headfirst. There was a sickening crack, and she collapsed to the ground, changing back to human form as she fell unconscious.