The Pack or the Panther

by Tara Lain

  He nodded toward Landon as the big men approached, all in dull-green clothing designed to blend into the foliage. “How’d it go?”

  Landon shook his head. “I smelled at least three different groups of wolves that had been there. Probably five or more males to a group. A couple humans, but I think they were just hunters who happened through that area. What about you?”

  “At least fifteen individuals, all armed. I think mostly hunting-style rifles and handguns. I figure they wanted plausible deniability if someone caught them. They could always say they were hunters. And the handguns can be hidden.”

  Landon frowned. “If Eliazer can spare that many males to infiltrate this little territory, he must be better manned than I thought.”

  Mike, a big wolf, stepped forward. “Why the hell does he want this land that bad? I mean, I understand him needing a little more space for his wolves, but this is more serious.”

  Landon nodded. “Most of his territory is urban. He’s a gangster. Drugs and weapons. He may want running space.”

  Mike’s big blue eyes widened. “But you don’t let us run this close to home. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Right. But it’s not close to their home.”

  Cole frowned. “Maybe that’s part of his plan. If he can cause our pack to be discovered by humans and killed as wolves, he can take over most of Connecticut. That would give him city and country territory. It would attract a lot of wolves. Grow his pack.”

  “Make the rat respectable.” Landon squared his shoulders. “But this is just conjecture. Let’s get on with the alliance. We’re known as an independent pack. Eliazer won’t expect us to ally with Marketo. And with our two packs and Cole’s special talents, he’ll have a tough time trying to bring us down.” He started walking toward his truck.

  “By the way, Dad.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can’t be sure, but I think some of the weapons I smelled were ones that were in that car the other night.”

  “I thought you said those were humans.”

  “They were. But the males I smelled in the forest weren’t human.”

  “Odd. Maybe Eliazer bought the guns from humans?” He shook his head, then walked over and put an arm around Cole’s shoulders. “Let’s get you to that party. You don’t want to be late.”

  Want to bet?

  Chapter Five

  Oh God. Center of attention again. Cole angled his way through the crowd gathered on the porch of the Way Station. He got big smiles and handshakes of welcome from both Harker and Marketo wolves. The groups seemed to be mingling, which was good. He could sure use a beer.

  He pushed the door open. Slammed by heat and sound, he backed out and took a deep breath. One more time. He opened the door again and stepped inside. A big Marketo wolf plowed into him.

  “Hey, watch—oh, sorry, Cole. Too noisy in here. I think the females are making the most racket.”

  Sure enough, female screams of “Take it off, baby” and “Kiss her again” pitched over the lower bass of the band.

  Cole peered over the other wolf’s head. “What the hell is going on?”

  “The she-wolves have a couple of the guys up on the stage and are egging them on to perform.”

  Cole nodded. The packs had rented the club for the night. The par-tay seemed to be in full swing without him.

  A hand grabbed his arm. Even in the big crowd, he could pick out the friendly smell. Lindsey. He turned. “Hi.”

  “Hi, darling.” Linds gave him a kiss on both cheeks, then held out his hands. “So where is the fabled fiancée?”

  “Be nice. Actually, I called her and suggested we should arrive together, but I’m told she wants to come on her own with some girlfriends or something. Isn’t she here?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Any chance of getting near the bar?”

  “For the Lancelot of werewolves who is saving the pack from annihilation? But of course.” He swept a bow toward the watering hole.

  “Galahad.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Lancelot fucked Guinevere and split up the kingdom, remember?”

  “Oh right. Still could happen.” He grabbed Cole’s elbow. “Come on, Galahad.”

  As predicted, the sea of wolves parted for the conquering hero, and he got a beer with little effort.

  He stepped away from the bar to let seven anxious drinkers get into his place. The wolves were howling. Even though their high metabolism burned up alcohol fast, the young canines seemed to be challenging their adrenals to keep up with them. “Rowdy crowd.”

  Lindsey sipped a martini. “I think they’re celebrating not having to fight Eliazer’s pack. That’s premature, if you ask me. And I think the females on both sides are pretty happy to have some new blood in the ranks.”

  A change in the noise behind him made him turn. Analiese walked toward him with three other females. They were all good-looking, as females went, but Analiese was the pick of the litter.

  Cole walked toward her and held out a hand. “Hi. Come meet my best friend.” She let him take her hand and moved over toward Lindsey. “Analiese Marketo, may I present Lindsey Vanessen.” Cole placed her hand in Linds’s and he bowed over it for a kiss. Too much!

  When he stood back up, she raised an eyebrow and looked him over, from his Italian shoes to his lavender silk neck scarf. “I would have guessed that you two would be best friends. I’m sure Cole admires you greatly, Lindsey.”

  Lindsey froze for only a heartbeat, but Cole saw it. The bitch sounded polite and charming to everyone around, but the nasty glitter in her eyes said she thought they were both flaming queens.

  Lindsey smiled. “Yes, well, it’s lovely to be someone Cole has chosen.”

  Her smile faded. She turned to Cole. “Get me a drink, please. Vodka martini on the rocks with a twist.”

  Lindsey put a hand onto Cole’s arm. “Oh, darling, allow me.”

  With a definite sway to his hips, Lindsey pushed through the crowd toward the bar.

  The PA system squeaked. “Okay folks, grab your drinks and get settled, because we’ve got some red-hot entertainment for both the men and the ladies tonight. Show starts in three minutes.”

  Should he call Analiese on her snarkiness? Linds had done a pretty good job on his own. Maybe just leave it alone. “Shall we get a seat?”

  She nodded but wouldn’t meet his eyes. Good. Maybe she felt embarrassed for being mean to Cole’s friend.

  “Hey, Cole. Over here.” Jim Joyner stood down in front of the many rows of seats set up at the foot of the small stage. “Here are seats for you.”

  Cole led Analiese down the aisle and took the two seats in the front row that Jim pointed to. “Thanks.”

  The band had switched to background music because they couldn’t compete with the clamor of the happy, drunk wolves. One Marketo wolf—Eddie something—leaned over with a heavy hand on Cole’s shoulder. He put his other hand on Analiese. She glared at it, but he didn’t catch the signal. “Wha shoo are doing is so cool, and I want you to know thatsh so cool and all us woofs appreesiates it.”

  Cole patted his hand. “Thanks, buddy.” Gently, he disengaged the guy’s hand from Analiese, and Eddie went staggering toward his seat a few rows back.

  Analiese brushed her shoulder.

  “You okay?”

  “Of course.”

  The music got louder and the crowd quieted a decibel or two.

  The announcer came on. “Annnnnnd now for the gentlemen in the house, we have our own sister of sin, the treasure of tease, the only girl guaranteed to tame the big bad wolf—Little Red.”

  Cole tensed. The announcer was human. What did he know?

  Out on the stage strutted a tall, redheaded female who was definitely a she-wolf. Good, she’d probably given the announcer his patter. He’d only read it. A howl went up from the males as she slithered around the stage, strategically dropping goodies from her basket piece by piece. Not bad-looking, with an opulent body to
please either a human or a wolf. A straight wolf, that is.

  Through the magic of Velcro, she managed to get her dress off while leaving on her cape and hood. The red fabric flapped around her body, showing glimpses of pasties on her big boobs and a tiny G-string under her garter belt and stockings.

  The announcer yelled over the howling and screaming. “There’s one really bad boy in the group, and Little Red has to punish him.” Hmm. They seem to have their fairy tales mixed.

  Red danced her way down the center steps to the stage and headed straight for Cole. No, they mixed up their fairies.

  The guys went crazy as Red straddled Cole’s lap and leaned forward, opened her cape, and shimmied her boobs in his face.

  “Ahhhhoooooooo.”

  “Whoop-whoop.”

  “Go get him, Little Red.”

  Okay, if he played along this would all go away. He threw his hands in the air as if pleading for mercy and surrender. Everyone laughed. Little Red gyrated on his lap. She leaned over and stage whispered, “Ooooh, what big, uh, teeth you have. All the better for me to eat you with.” She made a great show of chewing on his neck.

  Cole glanced at Analiese, who sat in stony silence with her arms crossed and head pointedly turned away. He looked up at Red and made eye motions like get up or my girlfriend will kill me.

  She caught on and finally hopped off him and moved on to another candidate. She ended her act by whipping off the cape and tossing cookies in the shape of cocks into the audience. Clearly, she must have developed those for humans. The wolves would have done better with beef jerky.

  He leaned toward Analiese. “Sorry. That must have been somebody’s idea of bachelor party fare. Shall we—”

  The announcer rumbled, “And nooooow, something for the ladies.”

  Cole glanced at Analiese, but she looked as confused as he was.

  The lights got very low and a mist crept across the stage. Some instrument like a flute started to play. Where the hell did that come from?

  Something moved in the mist. Undulated, prowled.

  The announcer’s voice got soft. “Straight from New York City….”

  The flute got louder as a dark but shining arm broke through the mist and gyrated like something between a bird and a snake. It vanished. A bare leg, also sparkling, appeared, the foot pointed and revolving; then another leg flashed up and seemed to capture the first and pull it down. A few laughs sounded through the room, but otherwise the rowdy wolves were silent. Amazing.

  The announcer did his big pitch. “…Annnnthony.”

  Analiese shifted in her seat. “I don’t like this.”

  “Why?”

  “Because—”

  Oh God. The creature arched up into the light, his black hair falling down a bare back and his perfect profile outlined against the black backdrop.

  She hissed between her teeth. “Because my damned brother is an exotic dancer and apparently couldn’t wait to embarrass me in front of my friends. I’m going to the restroom.”

  “Oh. Yeah, sure.” Cole couldn’t stand up for her. Too busy trying to breathe.

  Paris leaped up into the light, his sinuous body coated in black, glittering body paint like stars at midnight.

  Crash. The flute drowned in a cacophony of hard rock music as Paris flew into the air and grabbed a pole that had barely been visible against the black backdrop.

  On one arm and foot, he spun around the pole. Wolves gasped and murmured. Wow. Just wow.

  And the body. Sweet God. Lean. Every muscle like its own private work of art, but not made of marble. More like silk, swirling and flowing around the pole. He circled to the ground, lifted himself into a handstand, and bent backward. Oh man. A nice, hard mound of cock outlined against the soft light. A woman behind Cole gasped, and a couple giggled.

  What the hell was he wearing under that paint? Maybe some kind of black G-string and nothing else. Cole wiped his hands on his pants.

  Paris flipped in front circles across the stage, grabbed the pole again, and twined his way to the top, upside down.

  And then he did it.

  Both legs separated in a wide split, showing off that package like the crown jewels. He slid down the pole a few feet, stretching out his legs in a V. Holy crap. Paris wasn’t trying to embarrass Analiese. He wanted to teach her fiancée a lesson about what it took to turn him on. And shit, baby, this was it. If he didn’t get out of there, he’d come in his pants. But no way he could leave. His erection was taking over the planet. Everyone would see it.

  His cock throbbed and his balls felt too heavy, ready to blow. This was so bad. He slipped a hand into his lap and tried to apply pressure to his cockhead through his slacks. Strangle the damned thing. Cut it off when all it wanted was to jump on that stage and push itself into that cat’s ass. Any werewolf in the room with half a nose could probably smell his lust. Except maybe his scent got lost in the smell of throbbing pussy from all the females drooling over the cat. And the disgusting thing was, he felt jealous of them looking at Paris! He was so screwed.

  Paris twined to the floor, legs apart, then flipped and landed in a split. He pressed his chest to the ground so his perfect and perfectly bare ass faced the audience. And then, with just the strength of his ass muscles, he pulled that butt up like a target. God, Cole could practically see his hole. Or at least he dreamed he could. It had to stop. Let it stop.

  Crash. The music crescendoed. Paris upended into a handstand, came to his feet, bowed low, and ran off the stage.

  All around him the wolves were panting. Not just the females. The level of pheromones in the room would have propagated the rain forest. Sex on a stick.

  Cole couldn’t move. His hard-on pressed like a flagpole between his legs, and he’d never walk again. He could hear males whispering propositions to the females. The woods around this club were going to be busy tonight. If he could just get to the men’s room and jerk off—but no suit coat could cover King Kong down there.

  Lindsey slipped into the seat beside him. “Well, that was pretty colossal.” He cocked his head. “You okay?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Uh-uh. This is Lindsey you’re talking to. I can spy that Olympic-record erection.” He laughed.

  Cole glanced around. “Shh.”

  “Where’s Her Nibs?”

  Oh hell. Where was Analiese? “Embarrassed by her brother. She said she was going to the restroom.”

  “So that’s the brother.” Linds glanced over his shoulder. “She must have fallen in.”

  “I should check on her.”

  Lindsey pointed to Cole’s crotch. “Just send him, why don’t you?”

  What the hell. He laughed.

  “I’ve never seen you react to any male like you do to that feline. I will admit, he is one adorable piece of ass if you like them waaay pretty.”

  Cole shrugged. “I guess I kind of do.”

  “Convenient, his being in the same family.”

  Cole’s back stiffened. “No, I can’t do that. Hell, I can barely stand the idea of cheating with some nondescript human to get my rocks off. I can’t”—he lowered his voice—“fuck her brother.”

  Lindsey held up a hand. “I know. I’m kidding.” His smile faded. “But it is a shame to finally find someone you really get off on, only to have to walk away from him for this stupid sham of a wedding.”

  God, it felt like his insides were pushing out through his chest. “I know.” He shook his head. “But it’s probably just as well. That cat is trouble.”

  “So, you look up to walking.”

  Cole nodded. Thinking about the wedding was a sure way to get rid of a hard-on.

  “Want to check on your lady love?”

  “Be nice.”

  “Always.”

  Chapter Six

  Cole got up. His cock felt like somebody had strangled it with a steel wire. He shook his legs, trying to get some circulation back. He must have been frozen the whole time Paris was dancing. Better not think abou
t that.

  He slid out of the now empty row of chairs and walked toward the front door of the club to where the restrooms were. Not so many wolves around. Paris-inspired backseat fucking had taken them all away, no doubt. A picture of that guy in the parking lot thrusting out his hip and asking Cole to lead made him stop dead. Shit. He had to survive seeing Paris again at the wedding, and then the cat would go away and maybe he’d never see him again. And that made him want to cry or scream. He put one foot in front of the other.

  The scene in the entry was weird. A group of Marketo wolves gathered in a huddle, whispering. A couple of female Marketos stood on the outskirts of the huddle with their arms crossed and petulant expressions on their faces. But he smelled fear. Come on, guys, no fair. All one big happy family.

  He stepped up to the group. “Hey. What’s going on? Anything I can help with?” As the alphanta of Harker, and the groom-to-be, he had much seniority, and this pack of Marketos knew it. But they reeked of panic.

  Cole smiled. “Come on, we’re almost pack. You can tell me.”

  The most senior of them shook his head. “No disrespect, Alphanta, but I need to talk with our alpha.”

  One of the other wolves stepped up to his senior. “But that will take some time, and it could be too late. Tell him now.”

  Cole frowned. A couple of guys shifted their feet and turned their heads submissively. They knew alpha when they saw it. “What should you tell me?”

  A sassy little bitch werewolf stepped up. “Oh my God, you guys, just tell him she’s gone, for God’s sake.”

  What the hell? “You mean Analiese? Where did she go?”

  The senior wolf finally showed some backbone and looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry to report, Alphanta, that the Alphanta Marketo seems to have, uh, run away.”

  A crowd was gathering. Cole stared around at a lot of confused faces. “What do you mean ‘run away’? Where the hell did she go?”

  The female shouldered past the big male. “She ran off to be with her lover. She said don’t look for her and no way is she coming back, so just figure out this whole alliance thing without her.”