by Kristina Lee
Seduced by Wolves
By
Kristina Lee
(C) Copyright by Kristina Lee, June 2012
(C) Cover Art by Eliza Black, June 2012
ISBN 978-1-60394-706-0
Published by New Concepts Publishing
Smashwords Edition
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.store.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Chapter One
Her heavenly scent—a mixture of earthy spices that brought to mind sin-filled nights under the full moon—allowed Zane to track the unknown female, wolf and man frowning in unison as they traveled deeper into a garbage strewn alley under the cover of night. “Shit,” he breathed to his partner as the unmistakable scent of blood rose up to mingle with her delicate one, propelling him faster through darkness.
Her terrified scream shattered all hope of reaching her before the rogue did. His wolf howled to be unleashed, to protect the mate he sought to find and claim. He’d be damned if he’d lose her now that he finally located the lass. Rounding a corner, he growled a last warning to his lost Packmate.
Rage exploded from within as the woman’s attacker sent her sailing into a wall, her head connecting with a brick. Zane attacked before her crumpled form could hit the cold, wet ground.
The rogue sliced out before Zane could shift into wolf form, claws sinking into his hardened chest and slamming him back into the alley wall. He ignored the bloody pock marks on his skin, having long since learned to isolate pain, connecting his fist with his enemy’s snout and driving the wolf off. Size wise, they were evenly matched despite him not shifting.
And strength? He hadn’t become Alpha of his Pack by lacking in either the muscle mass or his fighting skill—having never been bested yet. But he possessed no pity for a fellow Pack member that turned and preyed on humans.
“Come and meet death,” he snarled at the circling rogue.
The wolf growled, razor sharp teeth glinting beneath the sickly yellow beam of the single alley light. Whatever reason this woman strayed so deeply into the alley in the thick of night, painting herself in vulnerability, would be addressed. From this moment on she was his to protect.
The rogue hissed, sprinting forward and jumped for his neck just like Zane anticipated. Battle tested instinct had him twisting his body to the side, deflecting the bulk of the attack by using the concrete wall behind him. One paw clipped his face and he grabbed it, pinning his opponent. With preternatural speed he swung his other elbow back, easily crushing the wolf’s head into the concrete and ending his life.
The rogue fell to the ground, his body already beginning to resume human form in death. He turned his back on the creature, immediately relieved to find his partner tending to the petite woman across the alley.
“Is she okay?” Zane swiped at the bleeding wound on his cheek, no doubt rubbing more dirt into it in the process as he glanced at Cory and the unconscious girl, fear twisting his gut into a violent knot. He struggled to find enough air.
“Looks like she hit her head fairly hard but the blood is just a surface wound.”
Gut-clenching panic lingered just below the surface, second only to his rage at not preventing this woman harm. He fought to suppress the desire to shift fully into wolf and tear out the dead rogue’s throat. As Alpha of the ShadowRidge Pack, no one would question his decision.
“A scratch,” Cory added firmly when he couldn’t take his gaze from the pair of them.
Only when his lover stroked a roughened hand across her pale face, tenderly cradling her in his arms did the icy grip of doubt release him. Satisfied she was at least receiving sensory comfort from one of them, he bent to retrieve her purse, rifling through it until he located her wallet.
“Her I.D. identifies her as Selena James, twenty-six. Says she’s five foot four and one hundred twenty pounds.”
Cory grunted and he caught the scowl on his chiseled face, a lock of his too-long chestnut hair covering one hazel eye.
“Shit, she’s practically still a child. So small.”
Zane shrugged, studying the pair of them sitting on the wet, garbage filled ground. Cory now had her entire body scooped into his strong arms, petting her back softly not much different from the way always he soothed Zane in and out of bed. Of the two, Cory exuded more tenderness, effortlessly giving the touch their kind craved. But tonight, Zane desperately ached to be the giver.
Never had one woman’s beauty brought the powerful wolf to his knees but Selena damn near did it even now—unconscious. Blood rushed through his tense body, mingling with his adrenaline from the hunt. “Small but not too small.”
He smiled at Cory’s shock before the virile male’s face lit in a devastating grin. Turning, Zane nudged the dead rogue with the toe of his boot, not eager to take his eyes off the injured girl and his lover but knowing clean-up would be necessary. If Pack started leaving their dead in the alleys, law enforcement would start asking questions, demanding human-style justice.
“That’s the third damn rogue this week, Zane.”
He nodded and dug in his pocket for his cell phone. Pretty awful considering it was only Wednesday.
“Hopefully now that we found her, we can stop this unnecessary bloodshed.”
Flipping the slim metal device open, he punched in a text message to one of his fellow hunters giving location and quick details. By the time he returned the phone to his pocket, he could taste Cory’s growing unease, the foreign bitter flavor on his tongue unexpected from the seasoned warrior and intimate friend.
He raised an eyebrow toward them, silently waiting for an explanation. Cory never needed much prodding. It was part of the reason he treasured his relationship with the other hunter.
“You really think she’s the one?” Cory asked abruptly.
Surprised by his lover’s doubt, he took three easy steps and arrived at their side, kneeling on the cold ground and placing a warm hand over Cory’s. The other male’s tension eased.
“Her scent is like a poison to my senses. One I’d willingly die for a taste of.” Zane skimmed his hand away from Cory’s and through the silken strands of Selena’s hair that broke free from her binding. Her delicate scent had his blood boiling, his cock hardening and fear filling him all at once. Yes, she was the one. “Besides, Lance sensed some connection too otherwise he wouldn’t have let her live as long as he did.”
Having touched her once, Zane couldn’t seem to drag his hand away as he slowly outlined the slender bones of her face, learning every minute detail from the high cheek bones to the small, button nose and the inch long scar just below her ear. She was beautiful, but would she accept him for who he was?
Would he even give her the choice not to?
“But she’s human.” Cory whispered, doubt still thickening his voice.
“As we partly are too,” he stated.
The local humans lived in coexistence with their Pack for years now. They socialized, married, mated and bred. Zane leaned forward over the pair and brushed the errant strand of hair out of his eyes, startled he hadn’t anticipated this reaction from his partner. He wasn’t going to allow Cory second thoughts now. He wouldn’t lose his lover to placate the Pack.
Cory shrugged, his shoulders relaxing. “If you think this wee thing can heal our pack then I trust you.”
Still kneeling on the ground, he reached underneath her slender body and took her from Cory, cradling her to his chest and struggling over the thickness of emotion raging at seeing her so vulnerable like this. She was light and slim but he sensed a strength within her that
even now soothed his beast.
“Do you not like her, love?”
He ran his fingers down the exposed column of her neck, feeling the proud beat of her heart. Yes, she was strong. He itched to enjoy a thorough exploration of her creamy skin.
“She’s pleasant enough on the eyes,” his partner grunted.
Zane continued to caress her, granting himself the liberty of petting over her breast, stomach and thigh. She wore simple hospital scrubs that reeked of antiseptic and a bare jacket not sufficient enough for the chilly weather. Even unconscious his touch warmed her, a rosy heat flooding her pale cheeks.
Yes, she was easy on the eyes. A blonde bombshell custom made for him. He closed his eyes and inhaled the essence of her, easily picturing her tiny hands on his chest, her gentle human nails scratching his roughened skin as he brought her to orgasm over and over. It was the first time in ages his imaginations hadn’t included Cory, and the subtle change in temperature told him his lover had noticed.
“Will you welcome her into our bed?” he asked softly.
Opening his eyes, Zane watched the pained expression of his longtime lover shift into one unreadable. The handsome lines of his face Zane always admired contorted as he pushed to stand.
“She’s your mate.” He ground out caustically.
Zane stood also, wrapping his injured mate tightly in his arms, closing the distance between them. “No more or less than you are.”
He knew Cory hated the fact this new connection didn’t involve all three of them. For years it remained the two lovers, the Pack aware and accepting of their Alpha’s lifestyle. But as Alpha, the Pack’s needs came first and Selena was key to helping the survival of his Pack. It was a choice he didn’t want to make. One he hoped he wouldn’t have to.
“If I was your damn mate, we wouldn’t need this tiny lass to unite our Pack, would we?”
He stood still, letting Cory vent his growing frustration. His uncertainty was a liability, breaking his focus. He fully intended to soothe his lover’s doubts just as soon as they returned home and tended Selena’s wounds. He scraped his eyes over Cory’s chiseled frame, lingering on his favorite spots. Tonight he would love Cory in a way that eliminated his fear, sucking, biting, and pounding his way right back into the other dominant male’s heart.
Cory stepped closer, brushing against his side and laying a hand across Selena’s flushed cheek. “Aye, I’ll share our bed with her. Though I doubt very much the wee thing will take us both.”
His lips tilted into a devilish grin feeling every bit confident the petite vixen would have no troubles whatsoever. He took care of his own—always. Cory did likewise. Together, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Then let’s take her home.” The sooner Selena accepted her position in the Pack, the better off they would all be. As an Alpha’s mate, her presence would heal, comfort those in need. Something his Pack was in desperate need for as more youth began thirsting for blood. In return, Zane and Cory would make sure her every need was met. “It’s time we show our mate what loving two wolves is all about.”
Chapter Two
Selena curled up in bed, tugging the heavy comforter over her throbbing head to block out the morning light. Groaning, she snuggled deeper into the soft flannel sheets, savoring the comforting sensation of the worn material against her bare skin—a true luxury to sleeping naked.
Burying her nose into the feather pillow, she inhaled the exotic aroma of spicy aftershave and damp forest, the intriguing scents triggering her to remember pieces of last night’s erotic dream.
The voice had been pure sin—all rich, deep and velvety—reassuring her she was safe, that she would only know pleasure now in his bed. She hadn’t seen him in her dream, it was too dark, but she trusted his decadent voice. Had even thought at the time his thick words alone would be enough to bring her to orgasm.
Ridiculous, really. But then sometimes dreams were.
But there had been nothing preposterous about the hands stroking her body when he spoke in that soft bedroom voice. Firm and warm, they melted her where she lay. In fact, it was the last thing she remembered.
Licking her lips from the lingering foreign scents, it took another three breaths for her mind to suppress her libido—fear paralyzing her beneath the sheets. There shouldn’t be aftershave on my pillow, she wanted to scream as her heart scrambled in her chest. And I don’t own flannel sheets, she sobbed silently as she started hyperventilating, too shocked to open her eyes.
The horror of the prior night replayed in fast-forward in her mind. The desire to help the injured, her poisonous fear once attacked. Running her hand over her quivering stomach, she said a silent prayer of thanks she was still alive.
Naked, but alive.
So where was she?
Forcing herself to believe she couldn’t possibly still be with the attacker—after all there was that peculiar dream—she carefully fisted the sheets, bunching the fabric in her trembling hands until she could peek through.
“Good morning, Selena.”
Eyes wide, she stared at the handsome stranger almost disappointed he didn’t own the commanding voice from her dream. He towered above her next to the bed, a mouthwatering combination of long, lean muscle and tanned skin. Her heart tripped as she scanned down what seemed endless miles of bare chest.
He chuckled softly right about when her perverted gaze reached the dusting of hair just beneath his navel and she blushed, her eyes locking back on his hazel, amused ones.
“Please tell me I’m still dreaming,” she breathed.
He bent beside her in one fluid movement, reaching out to run his fingers through her tangled hair. She bit back a deep sigh. “Having a pleasurable dream, were you?” he asked as his lips curved into an unmistakably hungry grin.
“Well, there was this voice.” She bit her lip, shocked by her admission not to mention complete lack of fear.
The hand in her hair slid down the side of her face, tracing the outline of her lips until she parted them for him. He brushed the soft pad of his forefinger against her tongue and she nearly drooled.
“I could make you forget all about that voice, Selena.”
It was an erotic promise she had no doubt he could easily fulfill. Only greedy—starving—sex fiend she was, she wanted him and the voice.
Sign number one you’ve lost your marbles—flirt with dangerous strangers.
He dipped his head, teasing the sensitive skin of her throat with his firm lips, his teeth playfully nipping at her quickened pulse. She shivered from the intimate touch but caught his hand just before it pushed the covers low enough to expose her tightened nipples.
“What’s your name?” she asked, breathless, wondering if a name would make the situation seem more like reality. Recharge her common sense.
Twining his fingers with hers, he tugged her hand high and pinned it by her head. Still, he sampled her flush skin, the heat of his tongue leaving her in a state of mindless pleasure.
Sign number two—allow said strangers to touch you without reproach.
“Cory.” His breath was a hot pulse over her mouth. Her lips trembled as she resisted the urge to lift her head the centimeter separating them and taste him back.
“Do you always try seducing strangers who find themselves unable to remember how they wound up naked in your bed, Cory?”
He laughed again, the masculine chuckle skittering down her spine until it collided with the already pooling puddle of growing desire. Voice or not, she wanted him, and feared they both knew it.
“Not usually,” he whispered deeply, easily slipping his free hand beneath the soft sheet and caressing over the tight peak of one aching breast. “But then this isn’t my bed.”
Shocked by both his statement and the very deliberate brush of his fingertips over her moist sex, she swallowed too hard and coughed. Her cheeks burned. “It isn’t?” she choked out.
A warning sign that you’re marbles are never coming back—relish the wicked touches of d
angerous strangers.
He shook his head gently, strands of his tawny hair brushing over her neck. For a moment, his hand paused on her thigh as if deciding whether to cop another feel. Please do! Her body shouted.
“Well, not all the time.”
Confused, turned on and not nearly as afraid as she should be, she propped herself up on her elbows, gripping the sheet to her chest in one last ditch at propriety. “Then exactly whose bed am I in?” she whispered as Cory’s eyes darkened, his large hand squeezing over her hip.
“Mine.”
Selena turned, the truth slapping harshly against her, tightening her throat. The voice from her dream, the realization that it probably wasn’t a dream, and the intense physical desire to jump up and run into the stranger’s arms like he was a treasured lover she feared she’d never see again. Cory’s fingers closed tighter on her, snapping her back to the present.
“I didn’t think you’d wake so soon after the night you had.”
She wondered vaguely whether he referred to the attack or the bits and pieces she remembered of being on the receiving end of his heavenly touch. Dear Lord, what had she done?
I’d let that voice seduce my marbles away any day, she thought with the detached amusement of one without marbles.
“Selena?”
She heard the unmasked concern in his thick voice but found it impossible to focus on. Like Cory, he wore no shirt, his glorious, chiseled body a feast she ached to run her hands—and mouth—over. Her heart raced as something shifted inside her, an indescribable sense of rightness. The knowledge that no harm would come to her here. Just like he had promised.
Selena shook her head. What in the world was wrong with her? Was she really lusting for both of these dark strangers?
“How are you feeling, Selena?”
Hearing him say her name—like he whispered it seductively in her ear and not from across the room—left her trembling. Cory stroked his fingers over her thigh, teasing her by nearing her throbbing sex as if reminding her not to forget him.