by Amy Pennza
The morning after he claimed her, she stood before his desk, a bundle of confusion and what might have been shy hope. His shame was such that he’d been unable to look at her. Like a coward, he stood at the windows and stared down at the gorge.
“I’m sending you away,” he told her.
Her heart sped up, the beats so fast he’d worried she might faint. Too late, he realized how cruel he’d been to phrase it that way. She’d spent most of her life as an orphan, with no permanent home of her own.
“I don’t understand.” Her voice trembled.
“You’ve asked about college. I’ve decided it’s a good idea.”
The scent of her confusion—like acrid smoke—nearly buckled his knees. “Why…” She cleared her throat, as if the words she intended to say were stuck there. “Where will I live?”
“We’ll get you set up in an apartment. And I’ll open a bank account for you in Albany.”
“Have I… Have I done something wrong?”
He closed his eyes so he didn’t have to face his reflection in the window. “No, you haven’t.”
She hesitated. “But last night—”
“Was a mistake.” He turned his head and caught a glimpse of her face as it fell. “A mistake that will never happen again.”
She hugged her arms around her middle, and a fist squeezed his heart.
Her expression went flat. “All right. But I don’t want the bank account. I can work or—”
“This is how things will be.” His voice came out harsher than he intended, but he wanted her to leave before he begged her to stay. “I’ve made my decision.”
She left without saying goodbye.
Max stared at the sprawling forest. He controlled everything he could see, but he’d never been able to control himself around Lizette—not since he touched her that first time in the forest. He should have known tonight would be no different. His fate was sealed in that clearing five years ago. So was hers.
She just didn’t know it yet.
“I took no vow.” She raised that between them like a shield tonight. No matter. He was Alpha. Even a single link in the chain was enough to bind them together. He’d claimed her, all right. Her hot little body knew that well enough.
He’d have her vow, too. His cocked twitched. Hell, he’d hear her moan it in his ear while he buried his teeth in her neck and pounded her hot passage.
Assuming she didn’t gut him first.
She was a wolf, but she’d bristled and hissed like a cat when he called her his wife tonight. He used the human word for their bond because he thought it might make more sense to her—might make her realize the seriousness and permanence of their relationship.
Strike one.
He also tried to kick off their reunion by keeping some distance between them. Maybe with the formality of the Alpha’s authority in the room, she wouldn’t feel intimidated by him as a man.
Strike two, asshole.
His final mistake was putting his hands on her. The second he touched her skin, he lost his tenuous grip on his wolf. That was part of his and Lizette’s problem. With the lux catena incomplete, his wolf was restless…unsettled. Dangerous. They were tied, but only by the slenderest of threads.
And he had no clue how to fix it.
He’d sent her away from the Lodge five years ago because he owed it to her. But he’d forgotten where Lizette came from, and what she endured in her past.
He’d thought to give her a taste of freedom, but his plan exploded in his face. She thought he’d rejected her, and now had a razor wire fence around her heart.
Max pushed away from the window and crossed to his desk, studying the map his grandfather commissioned over two centuries ago. Max and his father before him had revised it over the years as conflicts shifted pack borders and the humans added more states. The New York territory was one of the oldest and strongest in the country, but enemies were always a threat.
And with the pack’s greatest treasure back in the Lodge, the threat had gone from abstract to very real.
He didn’t know if the trespassers who crossed his border were dangerous or just stupid, but their timing was a troubling coincidence. He wasn’t taking any chances with Lizette’s safety, even if it meant holding her against her will.
He stared at the map. She had spent five years running from him. Despite all the ugliness between them, he never lost hope that one day she might decide to stop running and accept their bond.
He knew better now. Not only did she not accept it—she believed she could break ties with him completely.
She was wrong, and he didn’t know how to tell her without crushing her all over again.
There was only one man in the world for her for the rest of her life. No matter how far she ran, she could never escape this fate.
Until she accepted it, she was vulnerable—even more so because she didn’t know it. They both were. His position as Alpha gave him the money and manpower to keep her safe, but only to a point. He could assign her guards. He could turn the Lodge into a fortress. He could set the fucking world on fire. But he couldn’t protect her from everything.
But external threats were only half the problem.
She was so thin he’d felt her hip bones through her jeans. He knew she worked too many hours at that college. He also knew she sometimes took the bus because her headaches made her too sick to drive. He had intended to tell her all these things tonight.
Instead, the moment their eyes met across the room, his cock pounded with need. He stared at her full lips, parted when she gasped in anger, all the while the scent of her desire curling around him like chains wrapped in flowers and honey.
His wolf stirred then, urging him to tear off her clothes and make her his, to cover her with his scent so every male who got within a foot of her knew she belonged to him. He wanted to shred her sweater and those jeans that hugged her ass, shove her to her hands and knees, and fuck her until the only word on her lips was his name.
But then she narrowed her eyes and called him on his bullshit. And his control snapped, sending all things he needed to tell her flying out the window.
A groan clawed its way up from his chest and echoed around the empty study. The best hunters were patient. They stalked their prey, waiting for the perfect time to make a move. But he was out of time. If he didn’t find a way to cement their bond—and soon—he might never get the chance.
Because lives depended on it.
Lizette’s life depended on it.
6
Lizette walked without knowing exactly where she was going.
Scratch that. She sure as hell wasn’t going to Max’s suite. She stopped in the middle of a long hallway and turned in a slow circle, getting her bearings. To her right, a narrow staircase beckoned. It led to the second floor and her old bedroom.
What she really needed was a place to think. The longer she stood in the hallway, the greater the likelihood of someone spotting her, and right now she wasn’t in any shape to answer questions about school or her return to the Lodge.
And she definitely wasn’t ready to talk about Max.
She nodded and headed for the stairs. As she climbed, a sense of unreality descended over her. Everything in the Lodge looked the same, but she was different. As she approached her old room, a bolt of unease shot through her. What if it wasn’t her room anymore? The Lodge was huge, but there were hundreds of wolves in the pack. No one would have faulted Max for assigning it to someone else or turning it into a guest room.
She stopped outside the door, which still bore traces of the foam adhesive she used to tack a plastic “do not enter” sign on the main panel. Even as she rapped her knuckles on the wood, she knew the room was empty. She turned the knob, opened the door, and froze.
It was exactly as she left it. Her four-poster bed was made up with the dark purple comforter she bought after she spilled nail polish on her old one. Her bathrobe was missing, but its metal hook still hung over the top of the bathroom do
or. The television sat on the dresser beneath a poster of Jack and Rose embracing on the bow of the Titanic. And there was her old vanity table, scattered with lotion bottles and jars of perfume. She wandered over to it and picked up a bottle from the surface. A small ring of dust marked where someone had swiped a cloth around it. “Max, your cleaning crew’s been slacking,” she muttered.
She replaced the bottle and opened the vanity’s single long drawer. A slim photo album sat next to a notebook and a few loose pencils. Her breath hitched, and she pulled out the album and opened it. Even though she knew what to expect, she wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of memories that washed over her at the sight of the face staring up from the page.
For an entire summer the year she turned nineteen, she was certain Nathan Hallerton was her soul mate. With his ready smile and laid-back personality, Nathan was like an oasis in a storm of aggressive, competitive wolves. He’d listened to her, and unlike the other males her age, he hadn’t come with strings attached. They’d driven Dom crazy sneaking past patrols to make out under the stars.
Lizette had been prepared to do more.
Until Max put a stop to it.
With shaking hands, she closed the album and shoved it—and the memories— back in the drawer. Max made it very clear how he felt about that night—and about her. She shut the drawer with a little too much force. Glass bottles trembled and tinkled against each other. Another pulse of pain fired behind her eyes.
Dammit. The last thing she needed was a migraine.
She crossed to one of the room’s two windows and pulled back the drapes. The forest stretched before her like impressionist art, the trees’ canopy a blurry mix of red and gold fire. Her fingers curled against the heavy drapery fabric at the thought of sinking her claws into the black soil. She leaned forward and pressed her aching head against the cool glass. Chilled air from the outside seeped through the window, numbing the ache in her head. She closed her eyes as the piercing pain dulled to a low throb.
All those years ago in the limo, Max had told her they were the same, but it wasn’t entirely true. He was the Alpha, and in their world it meant he was the beating heart of the pack. Werewolves didn’t use the word king, but he wielded the same kind of power.
Absolute authority.
As a rule, kings took little notice of orphans—especially ones raised to believe they were human.
“He noticed you,” a small voice in her head reminded her. She tightened her grip on the curtains. After Max brought her to the Lodge, he dumped her into the care of tutors and trainers, and she rarely caught more than the occasional glimpse of the Alpha.
Aside from transforming into a four-legged beast every now and then, she grew up like any other teenage girl. She loved pop singers. She obsessed over reality television. She scribbled bad poetry in her diary. She sneaked out of the Lodge with her boyfriend.
She rolled her forehead against the window until the vanity table came into view, its drawer like a firm, flat mouth. Don’t think about that night. But she’d let the memories out, and now they swirled around her. Nathan’s face rose in her mind.
“I have a surprise for you,” she told him that night. She pulled him toward the tree line as dusk had descended over the gorge.
His warm brown eyes had lit up. “What is it?”
“I can’t give it to you here.”
“What…” He’d glanced back at the Lodge. “What are you doing?”
She’d tugged him deeper into the forest. “Quiet. Dom has patrols everywhere. Watch your feet. They’ll hear you.”
She heard his longing when he replied, “I know. I wish I could Turn.”
She rounded on him and put a finger to his lips. “I don’t care about that. Come on.”
Lizette led him to their secret place—a clearing deep on the edge of the forest. A full moon hung high overhead, its soft light limning the trees in silver. She faced him and pulled her shirt off over her head.
“Lizette.” Confusion flashed over his features. “You know I can’t Turn—”
“I’m not Turning.” She unhooked her bra and dropped it on the ground.
Understanding crept across his face. He stared at her chest, desire burning in his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I am, Nathan. I love you.”
A soft smile touched his mouth, and he crossed the clearing and took her in his arms.
Gentle. The thought drifted to the top of her brain and floated there. Nathan was so gentle.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered.
“You won’t.” Her animal side had seen to that. The same instincts that drove her to hunt and run compelled her to find and secure a mate. Lust rode her hard, and she’d amassed a collection of toys that helped ease the ache. Abruptly, she realized Nathan might not experience the same intense drive. Latents weren’t ruled by their wolves. Tenderness swamped her, and she cupped his jaw. “You won’t, Nathan.”
He shed his clothes, then lowered her to the ground, his mouth on hers. She stroked her palms down his back to his ass and urged his hips against hers.
He pulled back, his forehead creased in a frown. “Lizette. I want to, I do. I just want to make sure—”
“I told you. I’m sure.” Annoyance buzzed in her brain. Why doesn’t he just get on with it?
Whatever he might have said next was cut off by the most bone-chilling sound she’d ever heard. A low, menacing growl flooded the clearing, running up and down the register like the track of a horror film.
Nathan rolled off her, and they both sprang to their feet. One by one, pairs of narrowed blue eyes appeared in the darkness. Lizette stepped in front of Nathan as a massive black wolf prowled into the clearing and bared his teeth. Behind him at least four Hunters watched from the shadows.
Nathan scrambled around Lizette and rushed toward Max, his hands outstretched. “Alpha—”
Mistake! Lizette’s heart leaped into her throat. “Nathan, don’t!”
Max swiped a huge paw across Nathan’s chest, flinging him away like a gnat. Nathan’s body flew across the clearing and slammed into a tree. He slumped to the ground, head lolling.
Lizette screamed and rushed toward him, but a strong hand gripped her arm and jerked her to a stop. Max pulled her around to face him. “Don’t move.”
“How d-did you change… You Turned…” Her teeth chattered. She leaned sideways against his hold, struggling to see Nathan.
“I said… Don’t. Move.” He grated each word out like it hurt him to speak.
She swiped her tongue over her incisors, waiting for her wolf to recognize the threat posed by the angry male staring her down.
Nothing. Her wolf was silent.
She dared a look at his face and caught her breath. His eyes blazed wolf blue. The same penetrating stare that had fascinated her in the limo focused on her now—only this time there was something else behind it. His glowing gaze moved down her face…her neck…her chest. Heat bloomed across her cheeks as she remembered she was naked.
And Max was naked, too. His broad shoulders blocked out everything else, the thick ropes of muscle touched by moonlight. Beneath a flat stomach rippling with hard abs, his shaft hung heavy against a muscular thigh, the crown dotted with semen.
Her breath snagged in her chest. He wasn’t angry…he was aroused. Powerfully so.
Max’s low growl vibrated the ground. Tremors shot up her legs to her sex. Her nipples tightened.
Lizette’s breaths were hot against the window. She squeezed her eyes shut. The scar on her nape burned.
Her memories of that night were like a dream—as if she’d watched events unfold from the edge of the clearing. It was as if she and Max had been caught up in a spell. Still gripping her arms, he finally looked over her head at Nathan’s unconscious body as two Hunters in human form crossed the clearing, gathered Nathan in their arms, and carried him away. The rest of the Hunters fell into step behind them, and the group d
isappeared into the trees.
Help. Heal. Whispered thoughts had built in her mind. Her chest had ached with the urge to do…something. She’d twisted against Max’s hold. “Let me go to him—”
“Not yet.”
The command overrode the instinct pushing her to follow the Hunters. Max’s voice—just two little words—seized her attention and forced it to his face. Her heart pounded.
Possession.
He looked at her like she belonged to him. No, that wasn’t right. He looked like she belonged to him and someone had tried to take her away. His attention dropped to her sex.
Her nipples tightened to hard points. The flesh between her legs throbbed. All thought of right and wrong, of Alpha and subordinate, fled. She took a shuddering breath. “I…” She gasped as a wave of need rolled through her belly, rocking her hips forward.
He slid his hands from her arms to her neck, then threaded his fingers through her hair, his big hands on either side of her head. “What do you want?” His fangs flashed white in the darkness as he spoke. His voice wasn’t soft or gentle—it grated in her ears, a powerful demand that punched into her brain and rattled every nerve ending.
“Please…” Her legs trembled. The ache between her legs swelled to a throb that pounded in sync with her heart.
A growl rumbled in his throat. The deep sound vibrated the hot folds between her legs. Without breaking eye contact, he tipped her head back. “Answer me.”
“I…ache.” As she said it, more heat built in her sex. The flesh there felt puffy and hot. Her breaths were harsh gasps.
The forest blurred around her. Before she realized what was happening, her shoulders touched a tree trunk. The bark scraped her back, and the scent of pine surrounded her. She blinked, dizzy from the whirlwind of movement.
Max braced a hand on the trunk above her head. With his free hand, he passed a warm palm down her belly and cupped her sex. “Ah…you ache, petite? Here?” He slipped a finger between her folds and circled her clit.