chapter 7
Shyne hadn’t been this twitchy since she’d been in a convenience store hold-up when she was seventeen. This was a hundred times worse. Her heart was thudding painfully loud, and her throat was so tight she could hardly breathe. All she wanted to do was get in her car and lock the door and get home. Get. Home. And then she'd call Michael and ask him to come get her.
Loud, fast footsteps rushed towards her, and she screamed and spun, instinct taking over. With a quick right jab, she connected with the face of the person rushing towards her and heard a snap, and the man took a step back with a groan.
“Oh, f*ck!” Michael pressed his fingers to his nose.
“Michael, shit, I’m so sorry! I, I, you scared me.”
He blinked dazed eyes at her. “You punched me!”
“You scared me!” she growled at him and slugged his shoulder.
Dropping his hand to rub his shoulder, he growled back, “Would you hit like a girl? Shit!”
His nose was bleeding, and she felt terrible. “Sorry. Sorry, it’s just been a really bad couple of days. I think someone is stalking me.”
He frowned and tugged off his tight t-shirt and held it to his nose. “Why do you think someone is stalking you?”
Fixed on his lovely chest, she didn’t answer him. A gentle squeeze on her shoulder reminded her that there was a face attached to that chest. A damn handsome one. “Sorry, um, well someone broke into my car yesterday, jimmied the lock on the passenger side and scraped the paint up a bit in the process. The creepy thing is that they took one of my workout tops. And then last night, I heard talking outside my bedroom window, but the voices were really low. And then there were…like animal noises? Snorting and stuff, and it completely freaked me out so I went across the hall and spent the night on Trav’s couch. This morning there were claw marks in the dirt under my window. How scary is that?” She rubbed her arms as a shiver cascaded through her.
He suddenly looked angry. “I'm going to follow you home and take a look around.”
Relieved, she looked up at him. “And you’ll let me clean you up?”
“Sure, sweetheart. It’s the least you could do since you tried to break my perfectly straight nose.”
“Well,” she huffed, “now you know not to sneak up on a girl who knows how to throw a punch.” Looking around she asked, “Where’s your bike?”
“Up towards the road.”
“Hop in; I’ll drive you up there.”
Complying, he sat down heavily in the seat and pulled his shirt back over his head. Too bad. She stopped next to his bike and asked, “Why did you park so far out here and walk to the gym? You didn’t say why you were here.”
“It’s a long story, so I’ll tell you after I check out your place.”
Nodding, she watched him get out of the car and onto his bike. Once it rumbled to life, she took off towards her apartment. Fifteen minutes later, Michael was sitting on the edge of the tub while she carefully wiped the dried blood from his nose. “Well,” she wrung out the cloth and patted his skin dry with another towel, “you’re a little tall for me to have hit right on so you might not get a black eye from it, but it will be sore for a bit. Will you heal it pretty fast?”
He pulled the towel from her hand and tossed it on the counter and kissed her palm. “It’s already healing, sweetheart. I’ll be fine by morning, no worries. And I’m glad that you can take care of yourself, even if I wish I didn’t have firsthand knowledge of that.” He grinned wryly, and she chuckled. Something about Michael made the whole inside of her body go liquid. His pretty blue eyes, the tousled hair, and the way he always seemed to have a smile for her. He made her feel special, and she hadn’t felt special in a long, long time.
“I’m going to scent around your bedroom window outside. Go open it so I know which one it is.”
She nodded and went to the window, lifting it while he walked outside. In the moonlight, she could see how serious he was, his face the perfect picture of concentration. His steps slowed considerably as he neared her window, and a rumbling growl trickled from his mouth. She heard keys jangling, and a penlight attached to his keychain lit up the small area. He sighed, turned off the flashlight, and looked at her but said nothing, walking back the way he came until he opened the front door and came inside.
He shut and locked the front door and joined her in the bedroom.
“Well?”
“I think you know who was here last night, Shyne. But I think you’re afraid of what that means.”
She swallowed hard and blinked at the tears that threatened. “The…my bosses from the gym. They acted strange today, almost giddy. And then last night with the voices, I thought I heard Mason’s laugh. It’s such a unique sound, but I didn’t want to believe it. What are they doing to me, Michael?” The tears that threatened became full blown, and in two long strides, Michael pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly against him while she cried.
In a soothing voice he said softly, “They want to make you their clanmate, Shyne. They’re staking a claim to you and trying to get the competition out of the way.”
She choked on a sob and looked up at him incredulously. “I don’t understand. Mate? Like, what, like a wife? For who?”
“All of them.” He frowned.
She shivered again. “They really share their wife like that? It’s, well, it’s completely barbaric!”
“I’m glad you think so.” He let a small smile touch the corner of his mouth.
“And f*ck them anyway.” She pushed away from him and rubbed at her eyes. “Nobody picks who gets me forever but me, and I certainly don’t want three meat-heads that think it’s okay to share!”
She stopped in her rant and looked at him. “Do wolves share like that?”
“What? Hell no. When we find our mate it’s only that person for us forever. Wolf, human, or otherwise.”
“Otherwise? What else is out there?”
“Well, a lot, let’s just say. But around here, just wolf and hyena apparently, although my friend Linus’ wife is a supernatural mate, which is just a fancy way of saying that they were made for each other.”
Before she could stop herself, Shyne asked, "How do you know when you've found your mate?" She clapped her hand over her mouth with a groan. Very cool, Shyne.
He chuckled in a low sort of way that crept down her spine and made all the parts between tingle. “It's a combination of things." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and settled his warm hands on her shoulders. "Our human nature and our wolf nature have to be in agreement for it to be what we call a truemate, where both sides of us agree that she's the one for us. And if you're asking about me, personally, my wolf and I happen to really feel drawn to this one gorgeous girl.”
“Yeah?” Her heart sped up. His wolf liked her? How the hell cool was that?
He pulled her by the waistband of her workout pants until she was once again pressed against him. “Yeah, she’s got the prettiest brown eyes, and this gorgeous long black hair, and this skin,” he dropped his mouth to her neck and pressed open kisses down to her shoulder, “it tastes like candy, and it’s the prettiest color. Like coffee with a lot of cream. Just like I like it.” He twined his fingers with hers, his naturally tanned skin in contrast to her darker coloring. “I feel so drawn to you. I have ever since I saw you at that county fair. You’re the reason I joined the gym, because I wanted to get to know you and be near you. I honestly never believed you were in any real danger from them, or I would have done something about it.”
“Like what?” she asked breathlessly.
“Like put you over my shoulder and carried you caveman-style out of your apartment and back to my place. And if you’d protested, I would have tied you up for good measure so you didn’t escape.”
“I wouldn’t protest,” she said with a whisper.
“Good. Come home with me, Shyne. It will be completely above-board until we get the dogs straightened out.”
“Dogs?”
“The three hyenas at the gym. There’s something you should know, too. I know why they took your clothes from your car.”
She stood with her mouth open as he told her how they lured him away from his pack the night before with her sweat-soaked top, drugged and muzzled him, and dropped him off at a wildlife park near Louisville. If it wasn’t so scary, it would have been funny. But there wasn’t anything funny about kidnapping and drugging. She was thoroughly embarrassed that they’d used the top she left in the car to get to him. Yesterday she had back-to-back classes and noticed halfway through her first class that a seam split on the top. She grabbed her spare from her locker and tossed the ripped one in the car so she could take it home and repair it.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Michael.”
“It’s not your fault. So pack a bag, and let’s get to my place.”
He suggested she pack a few days of clothes and toiletries and let Trav know he could reach her on her cell. While she busied herself with packing, Michael made a dozen innuendos, barely veiling the heat in his voice. He was stretched out way too sexy on her bed while she pulled a backpack from the bottom of the closet and went to the dresser.
“If you keep taking your time,” he put his hands under his head so his biceps bunched on either side, “I’m going to think there’s a reason you want me to stay in your bed.”
“Michael!” she groaned, trying not to smile. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I had no idea wolves were so horny!”
He laughed. “Hey, what can I say? I’m lying in a bed that smells like my best wet dream and watching the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on rummage in her underwear drawer. And by the way, don’t pack those on my account.”
She blushed sharply. “I thought you said it was all above-board?”
“Yeah, sure, sure. Of course. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy teasing you. You are too cute when you blush.”
She hurried through packing, grabbing toiletries and zipping the bag with shaking fingers. He pulled it from her hand and slung it over his shoulder. They walked out together, and she knocked on Trav’s door and told him she was staying with Michael for a few days. He ran his eyes up and down Michael with a sultry grin, and she gave him a shove back into his apartment. “You can’t have him, Trav.”
“Fine, don’t share. I always knew you were selfish, Shyne.” He kissed her cheek with a loud smacking sound and finger waved to them as he shut the door.
“So he’s your best friend?” Michael asked, holding the door open for her.
“Yeah, we met when I aged out of the home and didn't have anyone else.”
He stopped at the bike and opened the case at the back to put her pack into it. “Home?”
She blushed, but not from sexy thoughts. “I spent a few years in a group foster home.”
His features softened, and the sincerity in his eyes was almost overwhelming. “I’m sorry, love. So you were young when your parents died?”
“Three.”
He opened his mouth to say something that she was sure was going to destroy her, and she put her finger on his lips. “This has been a hell of a couple of days. If you say anything remotely sweet I’m going to have a total meltdown, so can we put a pin in this conversation?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” He handed her a helmet, and she strapped it on, climbing onto the large bike behind him. “Hold on,” he cautioned, and she snugged her arms tighter around him as they left her apartment complex and headed south to his hometown of Allen.
It was kind of strange to leave her home and go to a literal wolf’s den, but something about the whole situation seemed right. She liked Michael. Hell, the truth was she loved him. And from what he'd said earlier about him and his wolf being in agreement, she was fairly certain that he also loved her. And it was too sweet to know that his wolf liked her.
He pulled into the Infinity Pines trailer park and drove down the main road and turned right. When he stopped in front of a white double wide, he turned off the engine and took off his helmet. She slid off the bike and handed him her helmet. He opened the door for her, holding her bag, and she stepped inside. What greeted her was a slightly messy man-cave sort of place. A leather sectional sofa sat in front of a TV and stereo system that dominated the room and told her where his priorities were when it came to entertainment. Beer-girl posters were tacked to a few walls, some framed pictures were leaning against the walls but not hung up, and a pool table sat where the kitchen table should be.
"It's a little messy, and not much, I know," he started, and she shook her head.
"It's your home, Michael. You don't have to apologize." It was perfect, actually. Exactly what she'd pictured in her mind.
He showed her to the bedroom and suggested she get ready for bed. He was going to call his brother and tell him what happened, even though he knew he was going to get ribbed over the situation.
"He'll really tease you?" she asked incredulously. Never having had a brother or sister, she had no idea how they really acted.
"Well, sure. But only because I'm okay. If I was hurt badly or something awful had happened, it would be different. Go on and take a shower and lay down. You look about ready to drop." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and gave her a gentle nudge towards the bedroom.
The bedroom had a king bed with a dark wood headboard. The side table had a black alarm clock and a small statue of a wolf. Framed posters of various bands she'd never heard of littered the walls, along with a corkboard that was full of concert stubs, notes, and pictures. She pushed on the bathroom door, but it wouldn't open all the way until she got a still-wet towel out from behind it. The bathroom was small and plain white, but messy as hell. Beard trimmings were scattered in the sink, blue globs of toothpaste dotted the surface, and a pile of clothes next to the toilet made her question how long it had been since he'd cleaned. Ignoring the mess, she put her bag on the counter and stripped, turning on the shower.
After she cleaned up, she wrapped a towel around herself, dried her hair with her travel hair dryer so she didn't wake up with a case of unfixable bed-hair, and debated on what to wear to bed. Part of her wanted to wear absolutely nothing, but that was way more out-there than she liked being. And Michael wasn't the sort of guy that you f*cked on a whim. He might be goofy and sweet, but underneath that she had a gut feeling that he had been waiting for her as long as she had been waiting for him. She wanted him to know that he was worth the wait.
She opted for a tank and shorts set, and after brushing her teeth and taking one last glimpse of herself in the mirror, she slipped into his bed and waited. She heard him moving around and speaking quietly and assumed he was talking to his brother. She still couldn't believe that the boys had drugged and kidnapped him. She didn't know what to do about it, either.
Her phone beeped, and she got up and pulled it from the bag she'd left on a small desk by the window. It was a message from Mason.
Hope you're okay. You looked upset. Wanna talk?
"Which one's Mason?" Michael's sudden appearance made her heart stop.
"Shit!" she squeaked, and he put his hands up in defense with a laugh, and she also laughed, once her heart started beating again. "You're damn quiet."
He grinned, showing the dimple she wanted to tongue for hours. "Part of being a wolf. Can't sneak up on tasty bunnies if you're tearing through the woods like an elephant."
She smirked up at him. "Do elephants tear around the woods often?"
His smile made her knees weak. "Only in the spring."
He prompted, "So, Mason?"
"The youngest, with the long curly hair."
He plucked the phone from her hand and read the text. "What are you going to say?" He handed it back to her.
"I don't know." She looked up at him again, searching his face. "Are you going to get back at them? For the zoo thing?"
He folded his arms across his chest, and his arms bulged with the motion. She was unable to maintain eye contact with him, as her whole body heated and her heart began to beat faster. He tipped her chin up with one finger. "You want me to tell you the truth?"
"I want..." she managed to get out but was entirely unable to concentrate while he was touching her.
He seized her in his arms, the air whooshing out of her lungs, and she gasped a deep breath in surprise. His mouth landed on hers, and his tongue demanded entrance. She opened willingly, burying her fingers in his soft hair. "Tell me you're mine," he growled against her mouth, his voice deeper than normal, the sound of pure pleasure.
"Yes, Michael," she moaned as he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed. Her back met the sheets, and he followed her down, standing on the floor as he leaned over her, still holding her body tight to his.
His lush mouth nipped across her jaw and down her neck, and he sucked her flesh into his mouth and bit down on her pulse, hard enough to bruise and make her nerve endings go haywire. She arched up against him, grinding the apex of her thighs against the zipper of his jeans.
She ripped the shirt up his body and nicked his back with her nails as she went. He shuddered and released her flesh, licking across the bruise and nuzzling under her ear. Her hands suddenly were pressed against the bed, and she looked up at him, her eyes half closed with desire. "I like this game," she cooed, and he groaned.
"No game, love. We should stop before we go too far."
Her legs tightened around his waist, and she tugged him closer, her body riding against his and sending pleasurable jolts through her. He fisted both wrists with one hand and gently pushed her legs away from him. In a blink, he had pulled her up the bed and climbed up next to her. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "You really want to stop?"
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as if he were having an internal battle with himself, and when his eyes opened again she realized that they'd not been blue earlier, but amber. "That was, uh, a little jealous wolf thing there. I mean, I do very much want to make love to you, Shyne, but not tonight. Not borne out of some baser need for me to make you mine in truth. And you don't know anything about my kind, and that involves some pretty serious conversations."
"Just how long will these conversations take?" She turned on her side and rested her head on her bent arm.
He chuckled, but the sound was forced. Second thoughts? She could only hope. "Not a long time, but right now, baby, you're stressed out and freaked out, and there are other more important things to deal with at the moment." He leaned in closely and kissed her gently on the mouth. "Besides," he murmured in her ear, "when we make love for the first time, I want you wide awake so you remember every little thing that we do."
She was tired, but she still would have liked to at least see him naked. "Okay, Michael. If you're going to get all noble on me, then I guess I can deal with it." She blinked innocently at him and then leaned up and kissed his ear. "I am awfully horny, though."
He groaned lightly, and it shifted to a growl. She wondered how smart it was to tease a werewolf, but she knew in her heart that Michael wouldn't ever hurt her. "I need a cold shower." She laughed at his remark and thought that probably wasn't a bad idea.
"Tell me the truth, about my bosses," she said with a yawn as he lifted the covers from the bottom of the bed and covered her.
"They came into our territory and attacked me. I'm second in rank of the pack, I can't let that go without addressing it. I haven't decided what to do yet, but I'm meeting tomorrow with my brother and a few other high-ranked wolves to discuss the situation." He tipped her chin up again and waited until she met his eyes. "Besides that, they broke into your car and then tried to mark your home as their territory. I want them to steer clear of you except at work, and then only professionally."
It was pretty clear that he didn't want her to go back to work there, and right at that moment, she would have been content to quit and stay right there with him. But he wasn't exactly asking.
"I have classes tomorrow night."
"Can you cancel them?"
She chewed on her lower lip. People depended on her to be there. More than just her students, the boys expected her to live up to her commitments.
"I can't, Michael. I wouldn't feel right about it."
"Then I'll drive you and pick you up."
She could live with that. "Fine, you slave driver."
He smiled, but it disappeared quickly. "I just want you to be safe. The worst thing for me was seeing you afraid. I could taste your fear, and I never want you to be afraid like that again."
She nodded, and he kissed her again and got up, saying he was going to clean up and join her for bed. When the shower turned on, she found her phone where it had dropped on the floor and responded to Mason's text.
I'm okay. See you for work tomorrow.
The light was off in the room when Michael came out of the bathroom, and the light from the bathroom showed him to be wearing boxer briefs and nothing else. Nice. He flicked the light off and moved to the bed, pulling the covers back. He offered to sleep on the couch, but she patted the bed with a yawn and said she didn't mind if he didn't.
"You have to keep your hands to yourself, you know," he teased.
"Afraid I'll take your virtue?" She laughed as he pulled her against him and rested his arm across her back. She laid her cheek on his chest and snuggled against him, finding him warm and comfortable to lie against.
"Yes, I'm quite the innocent maiden." His chuckle rumbled in his chest, and she smiled and peeked up at him.
"There isn't anything innocent about you," she said, and he just grinned.
She fell asleep quickly, the soothing sound of his heartbeat was comforting, and he rubbed her back in gentle circles until every muscle in her body relaxed and everything went dark.
In the morning, she woke up with Michael's arms tightly around her. It was the most comforted she'd felt in, perhaps, forever. He was like a balm to her soul, slowly healing the old wounds caused by loss and grief. She could lie in his arms forever, she realized, and be perfectly content. Nothing mattered at that exact moment in time save for the steady beating of his heart under her ear.
Michael stirred under her, shifting and turning to hug her close to him with a yawn and sigh combined. "Morning, love," he murmured, pressing his mouth to the top of her head.
She couldn't resist snuggling closer and enjoying his warmth, "Morning."
"How about I go fix us breakfast while you get dressed, and then we'll talk for a bit?"
Tilting her face up so she could look at him, she said, "Sounds good to me." Although she didn't want to get out of his bed, she did want to talk. A very large part of her was hopeful that the talking might be about what it meant to be the girlfriend of a werewolf.
He eased from under her, and she rolled to her back and stretched. Although the evening had started out kind of crappy, it had ended so well, and she'd slept wonderfully in his arms. In the light of day, she watched as he walked purposely through the bedroom. His lean, muscular body moved with animal grace as he stopped to grab clothes from the dresser before heading to the bathroom. And that ass. Yummy. She had a thing for a great ass, and he sure had one. The events of last night played through her mind, and her body warmed considerably. He really was a sweet guy. Concerned, caring. She'd never had a guy stop from having sex so they could have a conversation. That was damn cool.
When he emerged several minutes later, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "You drink coffee, baby?" he asked.
"Sure."
He winked and headed out of the bedroom. She got up, rummaged in her bag and pulled out some clothes, and went into the bathroom to clean up. While she brushed her teeth, she touched the dark bruise on the side of her throat where he'd given her one hell of a hickey. It had felt incredible at the time. She liked the mark. She hoped it would last for a while.
After dressing in shorts and a fitted purple tank, she went out into the kitchen. Michael was just divvying up scrambled eggs onto two plates on the coffee table, where coffee mugs sat waiting. He gestured for her to sit down on the couch, and she did, sinking down into the soft, cool leather.
He joined her a few moments later with a pot of coffee on a towel, a small plate stacked with buttered toast, and another with sausage links. Her stomach rumbled at the sight. She fixed her coffee with sugar and milk and took a sip before digging into the eggs.
He dropped his fork and said, "I feel like a total dick."
"Excuse me?" she said in surprise, her fork poised just inches from her mouth.
"I don't even have a kitchen table. I'm a complete a*shole. You're probably totally miserable here."
"I'm not."
"Bullshit. I'm a dick, and you're just being polite." He looked very unhappy, and she put her fork down and turned to face him.
"Michael, I promise, I'm not miserable at all. You're a single guy. This," she waved her hand around absently, "is what a single guy's house looks like. It's pretty clean, too, except for the bathroom."
He looked sheepish. "One of the pack females has a cleaning company. She's due today."
She smiled and then began to laugh, trying to hide her amusement at his discomfort while he narrowed his eyes at her. Before she could apologize, he knocked her backwards gently, trapping her hands above her head and growling softly.
She laughed again and tried to wiggle free but couldn't. "You can't just tackle me because you don't like what I'm doing or saying."
"Yes, I can." He nuzzled her cheek with his own and took a slow breath in, causing her skin to goosebump and her body to shiver. The scruff of his unshaven jaw scraped against her skin as he moved down her neck, stopping at the crux of her shoulder. His tongue stroked there, and it was as if every nerve ending in her body reacted to him by lighting up. Pushing up against his hands, she struggled to free herself and then groaned when she felt him smile against her skin.
As he lifted his head slowly, the smile touching the corner of his mouth, along with his heated gaze, told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her. She raised a brow, "Do you really want to get into a contest to see which of us can last the longest through sexual torture?"
He shook his head with a laugh and released her hands, pulling her gently up and into his arms. With a light kiss, he chuckled, "Maybe later, love. Right now, we have breakfast and a long discussion ahead of us."
They turned back to their plates, and he asked her what she knew about werewolves and their mates. She had to admit that she knew relatively nothing about them, her only interaction being Trav's boyfriend who had turned out to be a player and a jerk. And, of course, she also knew the things that the boys in the gym had told her, but she was pretty certain she couldn't trust anything they said when she now knew what their motives had been.
Finished with their meal, they turned to face each other on the couch, and he took her hand in his. "I'd like to say that being a werewolf and choosing a mate is a simple thing, and it is in some ways, but it can also be very complicated. For a wolf, there are only two things that are important — his mate and the pack. There are wolves that will say the pack comes above all else, and sometimes that's the case. Karly was kidnapped by her psycho ex, and when Linus called for help, everyone in the pack dropped what they were doing for him. The pack is like our extended family, and Jason and Cadence are the leaders. I'm second in rank of the males, and that means that I'm not only accountable to Jason as one of his wolves, but I'm also responsible for the welfare of the lesser wolves in the pack. It carries a lot of responsibility with it, and that's what makes being with a werewolf complicated.
"You're not a wolf, so you couldn't join us for our full moon hunts or pack meetings, but that doesn't mean you'd be excluded entirely. You could be with me during the day and then wait for me to come back after the hunt, if you'd like." He reached to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. "Cades doesn't shift, but she does join us for a while as female alpha, and Karly doesn't hunt either, so you wouldn't be alone." He paused for a few moments. "Shyne, I'm in love with you. I'm absolutely crazy about you, and I want you to be my mate and my wife."
Stunned, she felt her eyes go wide, and she stared at him in shock for long enough that he frowned and started fidgeting. Snapping out of her reverie, she threw herself into his arms and mashed her mouth to his. He pulled her tight as he opened his mouth to her questing tongue, pressing their bodies together. Heart bursting with joy, she pulled away from him only long enough to whisper that she loved him, too, before diving back onto his mouth.
His hand slid through her hair, and he fisted it gently and pulled her away. It took a moment for her eyes to focus as she panted for breath and tried to rein in her out-of-control libido. What was it about him that made her feel all squishy inside?
Surprising her, he nuzzled under her chin with a low growl that made her body tingle further and then released her and pulled her into his lap to hold her close. She felt like he was trying to calm her down, maybe calm both of them down. Relaxing into him, she hugged her arms around him and sighed.
He kissed the top of her head. "You test my control, Shyne, and that's not a bad thing under normal circumstances. But we're heading out in about an hour, and that's not nearly enough time for us to continue what we were doing."
Peering up at him, she quirked her brow. "You do plan to make love to me eventually, right?"
"Yes, woman," he growled, but the twinkle in his eyes was pure amusement.
When prompted, he told her that he had a meeting with a few top ranked in the pack to discuss the situation, and he wanted her to come along so he knew where she was, which was okay with her. She didn't want to just sit around his place and be bored.
They spent the rest of the hour before they had to leave discussing werewolves and packs. Since she had no experience with them, he started out telling her about the inner workings of the pack and their hierarchy, the differences between the male alpha and the female alpha and their rule, and what happened to bad little wolves that got out of line.
Before his brother had taken over the pack, their father had been the alpha. He stepped down after getting injured, and so did all of the older wolves who were in positions of power. "What happened wasn't entirely normal, but for this pack, a Gerrick is always in power, and he chooses those that he trusts to stand by him and lead with him. When Jason took over, many of the older wolves that were loyal to our father stepped down from their rank. Some left to find other packs, but most still participate in the full moon hunts and live in town, they just don’t hold ranked positions."
When he told her that a wolf and a human together produced human babies, she frowned and went quiet, not listening as he continued to talk. Fingers snapped in front of her face, and she startled from her thoughts.
"Where were you?" he asked, looking concerned. "I didn't say something stupid and hurt your feelings, did I? I do have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth."
"I hadn't noticed," she laughed, but waved her hand at him. "No, it's not that, it's just...wouldn't you rather have a she-wolf so you can keep your family line going? Have someone you can share all that wolfy stuff with?"
A snarl tore from his throat, and her breath seized in her chest. "I want you, Shyne. If I wanted a she-wolf, I would have settled years ago, but I wanted to wait and find my truemate, the one woman that is right for me and my wolf. I found her in you. Our children will be honorary members of the pack, and it won't matter to me that they never shift or that you don't." He cupped her face and stared into her eyes with his blue ones. "There isn't anyone that's ever made me feel the way that you do. Out of control possessive, head over heels in love, and crazy out of my mind with lust."
Her whole body warmed, and he closed his eyes and inhaled and it ended on a growl. "Woman," he cautioned, opening his eyes only enough to glare at her through the slits.
She knocked his hands away and pounced on him, sending him backwards to the couch. Sitting astride his waist, she leaned over and gripped his shoulder with one hand while fisting his hair with the other and stretching his neck until it was bared for her. With a slow lick, she marked the same spot where he'd bruised her. She pressed her mouth to the place where his pulse hammered, and he trembled and gripped her arms.
"If you bite me, we're not going to be leaving this house for at least a day, and we really do need to go."
She sat up, releasing him. "A whole day?"
He nodded and swallowed hard, and she saw his eyes had flashed amber again. He sat up slowly until they were face-to-face. "If we didn't have to leave, I wouldn't stop you."
"Just so you know I take the 'whole day' thing very seriously."
He smiled and extracted himself from underneath her. As he stood up in front of her and offered his hand, he said, "I'll be sure to keep that promise."