by Terry Spear
Mae hadn’t been amused with that comparison, but as she’d reminded him, she wasn’t amused by the prospect of an arranged marriage or the notion of trading herself for some alliance either. For the sake of her pack and their collective safety, she’d do anything. But that didn’t mean this whole little charade didn’t offend every feminist bone in her body.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Mae.” Maverick cleared his throat again.
Ignoring Maverick, she smiled at Alexander. “Of course,” she said. “I’d be happy to dance with you.”
This would be the fourth time since the start of the reception. He still hadn’t offered the support of his pack to them, but apparently, dancing more than once an hour was necessary.
Maverick cast her a frustrated look from the corner of his eye as he signaled for one of the waitstaff to bring another glass of whiskey. Maverick might disapprove, but she could practically hear their father’s voice in her head, so similar to Maverick’s now that it was eerie.
It’s a small sacrifice, Mae.
She’d been raised a Grey, which meant sacrificing herself for the greater good of the pack was expected, even if she’d begun resenting the obligation years ago. Maverick knew that struggle as well as she did. She loved her packmates and would do anything for them, but that didn’t mean she always had to be pleased about what that required of her.
Mae set down her pen and accepted Alexander’s hand. He guided her out onto the dance floor just as a slow country ballad began to pump through the speakers. The lights strung over the tented outdoor dance floor lit up the summer night with a soft romantic feel as a warm breeze wrapped around them. Gently, the alpha wolf pulled Mae into his arms, slowly swaying her around the floor. She forced herself to smile up at him.
“You have a lovely smile,” Alexander said as she finished laughing at one of his jokes.
Mae tried not to let that smile fade. “Thank you,” she replied. The compliment was genuine and sweet, but it didn’t stir so much as an iota of her interest.
She fought back a heavy sigh. What was wrong with her? She wanted love, marriage, a family, and there was nothing wrong with Alexander—or any of the other alpha wolves the pack elders had suggested over the years. They just weren’t…
They just weren’t for her…
Because they’re not him, her inner self whispered.
The thought made her chest ache. She could think of only one person who’d ever captured her heart, and she hadn’t seen him in over twenty years.
“What’s on your mind, darlin’?” Alexander asked. He must have sensed her thoughts were elsewhere rather than on the dance floor with him where they should have been, had she not been pining for a dead man.
Now was as good a time as ever. Each passing minute gave the vampires more time to put the serum into wide use. She needed to get this show on the road—fast.
“Alexander, dancing with you all evening has been lovely, but why don’t we head back to my—”
The alpha wolf shook his head, the brim of his Stetson lowering slightly as he stopped Mae short. “Save your breath, darlin’. I’m not interested.”
Mae nearly tripped over one of his cowboy boots. Stupid high heels. “E-excuse me?” she sputtered. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.
Alexander chuckled. “I’ve known the game, darlin’.”
Mae’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “And yet you’ve gone along with it anyway?”
Alexander nodded. “I have.” He spun her outward before pulling her back and catching her in his arms again. The move was so smooth and belied a gentility that would have made a more receptive woman swoon.
“Because even though you’re attracted to me, you think I’m better than that?” she asked.
Man, did he have to go and be so sweet and make her feel like even more of a tool?
“You are better than that, but you’re wrong on one part.” Alexander let out another bemused chuckle. “No offense, darlin’, but I’m not attracted to you.”
It was all Mae could do not to stop dancing right then and there. “You’re not?”
He shook his head as he lowered his voice. A playful grin crossed his lips. “I’m more of a Brokeback Mountain kind of cowboy, if you catch my drift.”
Mae’s eyes widened. “Oh. I wouldn’t have thought…” She struggled to find the words.
“Not every gay man has a feminine side,” Alexander said. “It’s no secret, but I don’t make a habit of advertising my sex life to my fellow packmasters.”
“Of course.” Mae nodded. Maybe that explained the lack of attraction on her end. Perhaps she’d sensed she would have been barking up the wrong tree? Though if she was honest with herself, she knew deep down the problem wasn’t Alexander—it was her. She glanced up at the massive alpha wolf. “So why keep asking me to dance? Why bring your pack here?”
Alexander shrugged. “I like to dance, and you’re as good a partner as any. Not to mention, I have a profound respect for your brother. He’s one of the fiercest and fairest packmasters I’ve ever known, and I like to examine my options. This serum thing leaves me with some questions for my own pack and some questions for you.”
“Alexander, we’re desperate, and if you don’t get on board in time, your pack will be too. Last month when the vampires took me captive, their intent was clear. The serum they’ve created allows—”
“I know. My question isn’t about what the serum can do or cause.”
Mae raised a brow. “What exactly is your question then?”
“I’ve been listening to your story all night, and I’m still unclear about one part,” Alexander said.
Mae swayed along with him, allowing him to lead. “I’d be happy to clarify,” she said.
That she could do. Even if her backup plan had failed miserably.
Alexander stared down at her, his dark-brown eyes searing into hers as if he were trying to see through her. “How exactly did you escape the vampires’ cells?”
Mae nearly choked on her own inhalation of breath. It was the one question she didn’t want the Canadian packmaster to ask, because if the truth was ever revealed to her brother, to Alexander, to anyone here at this reception, their chances of ever claiming more allies would be shot. The consequences for her pack would be deadly.
“That’s a good question,” she said.
While she struggled to formulate an explanation for Alexander—one that hid the dark truth—the alpha wolf twirled her around again. But as she faced away from him, she let go of his hand, stopping midspin, because at that moment, any hope she had of an explanation was lost.
Mae froze. Slowly, she blinked, standing there like a deer in the headlights. She couldn’t possibly be seeing straight.
It was him. The answer to Alexander’s question and one of her darkest secrets was standing right there on the other side of the dance floor. As if it were normal, as if he were normal.
Nothing about this moment—nothing about him—was normal.
Her heart began to pound.
The Rogue. The Dark Devil. The King of the Misfit Wolves. She’d heard the nicknames more than once. And yet he lingered there in the shadows, toasting her with a champagne flute as he cast her an amused smirk. Then he drew a long sip from the glass. Mae blinked, hoping, praying the wolf before her was only a memory, a figment of her imagination, caused by the stress of Alexander’s questioning and that would suddenly disappear.
But he didn’t.
She gaped. The Rogue was one of their most wanted enemies, a criminal wolf who was foe to all and friend to none. He was considered a leader among the packless rogues of their kind, a violent vigilante. His true identity was known to none, and even now, few had seen his face and lived to tell about it. Mae wasn’t certain how the leaders of the Seven Range Pact didn’t notice him.
And yet she’d struck a bargain with him when she’d been trapped in the vampires’ cells, still bleeding from where they’d drawn her blood for the serum. Her freedom and safe release from the cell in exchange for the tool he’d used to make their escape—along with her silence about him and his identity.
In her mind, she was back there again. Inside the vampires’ cell as he peered at her from the shadows of the next cell over. She could still hear the deep rumble of his voice as it wrapped around her.
Even from the corner of the dance floor, he commanded the room, towering over the Pact members in both height and hard-earned muscle. Only a handful of the Grey Wolf’s elite warriors compared, and yet he was watching her. His ice-blue eyes met hers, and a devious grin curled his lips. He was taunting her, daring her to out his identity.
But she couldn’t.
Not unless she wanted to negate the deal they’d made, and not unless she wanted to ruin the Grey Wolves’ chances with Alexander. If anyone knew she’d partnered with an infamous criminal to escape the vampires, they’d never believe a word she said about the serum. Any chance of them gaining more allies would fly out the window. It would be a death sentence for her pack.
Whatever the Rogue was here for, she needed him to leave.
Now.
The feeling of Alexander’s hand squeezing her shoulder in concern wrenched her back into the moment. “Maeve?”
Mae blinked several times, glancing to where Maverick sat at the head table, then over her shoulder to Alexander and then back to where the Rogue had stood. Already, he was gone, the racing thrum of her pulse the only trace he’d been there in the first place.
“Maeve, are you all right?” Alexander asked.
“Y-yes,” she stuttered as she tried to recover. “I’m not sure what came over me.”
* * *
The pink summer sunset had long since faded to nightfall by the time Mae returned to her cottage on the other side of the Grey Wolf compound. As she approached home, she cringed at the thought of the poor excuse she’d given Alexander. There was no way he’d bought her lie. Sure, she and Maverick had scheduled Alexander for a meeting with the Pact, which was a small step forward, but if they didn’t get him on board and fast, their prospects were limited.
But Mae was determined. She would find a way to save her pack. She had to.
Feeling more than a little defeated, she shuffled up to her door, scanning the other nearby pack cabins. Hers was one of many adjacent to the dining hall and the main compound building, which housed the elite warriors and the main pack offices. She grabbed her keys from her purse. As she did so, she glanced over her shoulder, as if she might find the Rogue lingering there in the darkness. But she didn’t. He’d disappeared without a trace.
She released a long sigh. From what she knew of his dangerous reputation, it was just like the arrogant bastard to trod right into a pack of alphas that would just as soon see him torn apart. He really was a rogue with a devil-may-care attitude to match his title. She gripped her keys tighter in her hand.
After unlocking her front door, she slipped inside. Immediately, the sound of tiny hooves clopping against tile sounded from the darkness. She flicked on the dim entryway light. Tucker, her teacup pig, stared up at her from the white tiled floor, his beady black eyes sparkling with pleasure at her arrival. He let out a pleased oink. Mae grinned.
Bending down, she scooped him into her arms, coddling him like a baby as she cooed at him. Still a piglet, Tucker was no bigger than a small dog, and according to the breeder, he’d been the runt of the teacup litter and would likely stay small.
With Tucker cradled against her, Mae made quick work of feeding him a bottle of milk replacer before snuggling him into his fluffy, pink dog bed in her living room. Once the piglet was rocked to sleep, she showered before she changed into her nightgown and settled into the comfort of her bedsheets. The day had left her worn out, but her mind refused to calm.
Had she really seen the Rogue, or had it all been in her head?
That question still plagued her. She wasn’t sure how he would have gotten onto the ranch without detection, especially considering the heightened security for the reception.
She shook her head. It must have been her imagination, a memory triggered by the stress of Alexander’s questions. The Rogue couldn’t possibly have shown up at Wolf Pack Run only to disappear again.
Though it had felt so real…
She sighed, sinking deeper into her mattress. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d thought of him since their encounter in the vampire coven.
Heat rose in her cheeks. She’d dreamed of him almost every night since—and not in the way she should have. The memory of the night when her life had been threatened by bloodsuckers was a dark one, but when she dreamed of that night, of him, her dream often took a completely different course from reality. Instead of dreaming of the danger she’d faced, she’d woken more than once to the thought of his uncharacteristic heroism as he whisked her from the vampires’ cells, only to find her own hand exploring between her legs.
It was sick. She knew it. She shouldn’t be attracted to a dangerous criminal like him. Despite that, he stirred something primitive inside her. She knew what sort of dark circles he traveled in, yet she couldn’t seem to help it. A wolf like the Rogue was everything forbidden to her: a non–Grey Wolf, a vigilante.
Not to mention one of her brother’s enemies, and the antithesis of every criterion she should consider for a mate.
Somehow, that only made him more appealing.
By her birthright, she was destined for a Grey Wolf alpha warrior. She shuddered at the thought. The Grey Wolf warriors were all fine men, handsome cowboys, but they were practically her brothers.
Mae tossed and turned in her bed as she tried to put the Rogue from her mind, but still his face taunted her. Eventually, her hand trailed beneath her nightgown. Maybe if she eased this ache, the desire would go away. Maybe then, sleep would claim her. Slowly, her fingers probed the folds between her legs, locating her own clit. She knew her body, what she liked.
Gently, she massaged and probed as she remembered how it had felt when the warmth of his breath had brushed against her ear, the deep timbre of his voice thrumming through her.
You won’t regret this, he’d whispered.
She imagined his lips trailing downward.
What would it be like to be with a criminal like him? Something told her every touch, every caress would be more powerful, more sinful…just more. Soon, she was moaning in climax, the walls of her core tightening in a delicious wave that sent a rush of moisture straight to her center. She cried out, arching her back against the pillows.
As the last throes of her orgasm shook her, she relaxed into her sheets, sated, though it was little more than a fantasy. At that thought, a pang of sorrow thrummed through her. That was all her dreams would ever be—fantasy. Not just him, but all her heart’s desires. She wanted more than she could have. She always had. She loved her pack, but the duties that bound her to them had never been her choice. She may have been a Grey by birth, but if she were braver, she’d live her own life. She’d make her own choices.
If she were free…
Mae lay there, the weight of the things she’d never have pressing down on her, constraining her chest so much that she struggled to breathe.
If only…
At least she could dream. Her dreams and desires were hers alone. She released a long sigh, switching on the light of her bedside table as she reached for a book to read. Until the sound of a familiar voice came from the darkness.
“Evenin’, Princess.”
Chapter 2
The dim light of a table lamp cut through the shadows. Rog
ue leaned against the bedroom doorway, his Stetson hiding the scarred half of his face as he raked his gaze over her. As soon as Maeve Grey had flicked the light on, she’d scrambled to her feet. She stood at her bedside, wearing little more than a thin, pink nightgown and clutching a large hardcover book from her nightstand like a weapon.
He shook his head.
Despite her pure Grey Wolf bloodline, by both wolf and human standards she was petite, which meant physically armed with knowledge or not, she wouldn’t hold her own in a fight against an alpha like him.
But if looks could kill…
She snarled at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
As if he hadn’t made a habit of sneaking into her room hundreds of times before. He shook his head. He’d known when they’d met in the vampires’ cells that she didn’t recognize him. Twenty years and a half-deformed face changed a man, but still, that didn’t make her lack of recognition sting any less.
He crossed his arms, leaning harder against the doorframe as he took in the sight of her.
She gaped at him as if she’d seen a ghost. She had, though she was none the wiser.
“You’re in my bedroom,” she snapped.
He shrugged a single shoulder. “I gave you fair warning.”
She blinked. “I didn’t expect you to show up in my bedroom.”
“And where else do you suggest I find you alone? I couldn’t have announced my plans in the middle of that fancy soiree of yours. It would have scandalized the Pact, and then where would that have left you?”
Her lips tightened into an enraged pucker, and she glared at him.
He grinned. Even when they were kids, he’d always had an appreciation for her hot temper. Some things didn’t change.
He shoved off the doorframe, straightening to his full height. “You were never taught to check the shadows of your apartment? Seems like something that beast you call your brother wouldn’t overlook.”