by L. L. Raand
Jace, who’d been stationed at the door of headquarters while the Prima was inside, saluted. “Yes, Imperator.”
The three warriors fell in behind her as Niki bounded across the Compound yard to confront the group of foreign Weres arrayed in front of the Rovers. The outsiders, in tailored black shirts, trousers, and boots, were wary, trying to hide their anxiety and failing. Their wide stances, folded arms, and subtly jutting canines betrayed their readiness to do battle. All, that is, except for the tall, slender, pale Were who stood slightly in front of the other four, her arms loose at her sides, the expression on her long, almost delicate face neutral, and her amber eyes taking in everything around her. The leader. The Alpha of that group, at least.
Niki landed a few feet in front of the leader, closer than she should have approached, but she didn’t care if a stranger in her own territory considered her actions a challenge.
“I am the imperator of the Timberwolf Pack,” she said crisply. “Alpha Mir has ordered you be provided secure accommodations.”
“I am Alpha Zora Constantine of the Snowcrest Pack,” the young dominant replied. She indicated a copper-skinned, black-haired female whose powerful shoulders strained the silk fabric of her tailored shirt. “Ash, the captain of my guard, and Ryan, Cybil, and Evan.”
The Alpha met Niki’s gaze as she spoke. Eye to eye, unblinking, unwavering. Calm, confident.
The challenge vibrated in the air and Constantine’s guards tensed. Beside Niki, Jace growled softly and edged forward, her right shoulder an inch behind Niki’s. Jace’s scent vibrated with lust and battle fever. Niki’s pelt shimmered beneath her skin and her wolf clamored for a tussle, but as Sylvan’s second, she needed to walk a fragile line. On the one hand, Sylvan would be unhappy if she and the visiting Alpha tussled, but on the other, Niki commanded Sylvan’s warriors, and she could not show submission to another wolf.
The visiting Alpha’s eyes swiftly morphed from amber to wolf-gold and a golden sheen rolled beneath the skin left bare by her open-collared shirt. After a long moment, Niki lowered her gaze from the Alpha’s eyes but did not dip her head. She could not challenge, but she would not submit. The Alpha rumbled softly, an acknowledgment of Niki withdrawing from the challenge, and a reminder that while she might be on foreign ground, she was indeed Alpha.
“The offer is accepted,” Constantine said.
Niki swiveled on her heel and strode toward the barracks. After a moment, Jace fell in on her left and the other two warriors on her right. Constantine and her guard drew even with them at an acceptable distance, refusing to follow but carefully not preceding them. So that’s how it was going to be. A constant demonstration from these newcomers that they would not be dominated. Niki smiled to herself.
If Constantine thought to challenge Sylvan in the same way, she would be sadly surprised. Sylvan would not expect another Alpha to submit, but she would not accept even a hint of challenge in her territory. She’d have the young Alpha’s throat before the visitor could pull pelt. Constantine appeared to be confident in her position, and Niki expected Constantine’s guard to come as close to challenging as they could as often as possible. She’d do the same in their place.
Any wolf who guarded an Alpha needed to be the most aggressive in the Pack. Here, in strange territory, surrounded by dominants and vastly outnumbered, Constantine’s guards would be driven by the nearly visible cloud of potent battle hormones and pheromones to fight…or tangle. Niki had learned supreme control fighting at Sylvan’s side for years, and even so, her need nearly drove her to give in to her wolf’s demand to fight. She couldn’t fight, but she could satisfy the agonizing gnawing in the pit of her stomach another way. Ever since Sylvan had returned, radiating power and sex to everyone within her range, Niki’s lust for her mate scoured her nerves like fingers of cut glass. Sophia was in the infirmary, dealing with the usual minor injuries of a busy Pack. Niki could be there in less than a minute, could take her in less time than that, could finally ease the maddening pressure in her sex. But not until her duty was done.
Niki picked up her pace and jumped onto the wide plank porch fronting the long narrow barracks. Jace landed beside her and grumbled softly, half whine and half growl. Her face dripped with sex-sheen, gleaming, stark, wild. She’d been immersed in Drake’s pheromones for hours, and now with Sylvan in the Compound, must be close to exploding. But she held, as the Prima said she would. Impressive.
Niki marched down the wide center hall of the two-story barracks, past the rooms on either side shared by soldiers and adolescent trainees, to a suite at the rear of the building. Three rooms, a large one in the center with two smaller on either side with connecting doors that allowed the Alpha’s guards access for security reasons if they needed.
“Will you require anything else?” Niki asked after opening the doors to the rooms.
“Not as of this moment,” Constantine said. “Are my wolves given leave to run? They’ve been traveling a long time.”
Niki nodded, again taking care not to dip her head lower than the Alpha’s, but not meeting her eyes. “There are trails that run inside the Compound perimeter—but they are likely to come upon our wolves if they go out without an escort. They may venture out, if they dare.”
Ash strode past her Alpha into Niki’s space. Her brown eyes were nearly black and ringed in silver-flecked gold. “We dare. And you should show some respect.”
Nick’s head jerked up and her canines punched down. “Remember where you are, Wolf.”
“At your Alpha’s invitation,” Ash said. “Are all the Timberwolves so poorly trained as you?”
“Stand down, Ash,” Constantine murmured. “The imperator is within her rights to demand we follow Pack protocol. You cannot traverse their territory without permission.” She smiled. “I would not allow it at Cresthome.”
Ash’s eyes narrowed and she swept her heated gaze over Niki and the others. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Jace,” Niki said softly, her gaze fixed on the impertinent captain of Constantine’s guard, “stand post outside and ensure our guests are not bothered.”
“As you command, Imperator.” Jace snapped a salute.
“We are perfectly capable of seeing to our Alpha’s security,” Ash snarled.
Niki ignored her. “Jace, Captain of our Prima’s guard, will be certain of that.” Insult delivered, Niki turned to Jace. “See to it.”
“As you command,” Jace said, canines gleaming as she regarded Ash. “Mags, Noa, you are dismissed. I’ll be here should you require me.”
The two sentries saluted. “Yes, Captain.”
With obvious reluctance, Ash stepped back into formation on Constantine’s left side.
“Alpha Constantine,” Niki said, “when I receive further orders from the Alpha, I’ll send word. Meals will be provided at the appropriate times.”
Zora Constantine inclined her head a degree. “Extend our appreciation to Alpha Mir.”
“It shall be done.” Niki turned and bounded down the hall, off the porch, and across the Compound to the adjoining building before Jace had time to follow her outside. Enough. Her duty was done, and her mate awaited.
Sophia was in the office she used when she wasn’t with an ill or injured wolf. She instantly rose from behind her desk when Niki strode in and slammed the door behind her.
“I wondered when you would come,” Sophia said softly, her silver hair matching the silver of her wolf’s eyes. “You’ve kept me waiting.”
“Only by the Alpha’s command,” Niki snarled, stripping off her shirt and tossing it onto a chair as she reached over the desk, gripped Sophia’s waist with both hands, and lifted her over the top. Sophia laughed as she slid down and settled against Niki, draping her arms around Niki’s neck, her breasts pressed hard to Niki’s chest. Sophia raked claws through the soft glimmer of red-brown pelt that lightly coated Niki’s torso. “You have been waiting too, haven’t you,” she whispered.
Niki growled in answer and pushed Sophia
back until Sophia’s hips rested against the edge of her desk. Sophia braced her arms on the desktop and Niki dropped to her knees, the only Were in the world for whom she would kneel other than Sylvan. Sophia’s scent, sunshine and saplings, cascaded around her like a fist to the gut and a hand to her heart. Everything that mattered. Her sex pulsed painfully and Niki growled.
Sophia gripped Niki’s hair until Niki raised her eyes.
“These pants are brand new. Don’t destroy them this time.”
Carefully, deliberately, Niki unbuttoned Sophia’s pants and lowered them. She could have shredded them, but her mate enjoyed tormenting her when she was this ready, and she enjoyed giving Sophia control.
“Very good.” Sophia’s white claws raked through Niki’s hair as Niki bared her, one slow inch at a time.
Niki’s vision wavered on the edge of wolf sight, her body on the edge of turning. She held back the flood of primal chemicals boiling through her but only because her mate demanded it.
“Open your pants,” Sophia commanded.
Niki unzipped her pants and pushed them down as far as she could. She had no time to stand and shed them. She needed release or she would spill untouched.
“No more,” Niki growled, and took Sophia fast and deep with her mouth.
“Niki!” Sophia’s hips jerked and she pushed into Niki’s mouth, tugging Niki’s hair, riding her with chaotic thrusts and broken cries.
Niki stroked deep, pressing the tip of her tongue against the sensitive glands on either side of Sophia’s opening, and Sophia’s claws scored her shoulders.
“I’ve hungered for you,” Sophia gasped, an urgent whine undercutting her words. “I need you to take me. Take me, I need to fill you.”
Niki stroked the inside of Sophia’s thigh and teased her with a blunt-tipped finger, working her clitoris until Sophia moaned and flooded her with her essence.
“Oh yes,” Sophia said, shuddering as the last of the contractions rippled through her sex.
Snarling, Niki surged upward, wrapped an arm around Sophia’s waist, and buried her canines in the mate bite on Sophia’s neck. The bite she had longed for and feared for so long. But they were one now, and Sophia was hers. She trembled, the ecstasy in her heart matched by the pounding agony in her sex. Sophia spent against her thigh as the hormones burned through her, and then Sophia’s hand was between Niki’s thighs, massaging her, stroking lower to tease inside her. Niki threw her head back, the mate bite on her breast throbbing.
“Do it,” Niki pleaded to the only Were she would ever beg. “Please. Please. I need…”
Niki trembled, whined, went blind with agony, and then Sophia bit, claiming her. Niki exploded, drenching Sophia’s hand with all that she was. She dropped to her knees again, this time from weakness, her thighs trembling too hard to hold her upright. She pressed her cheek to Sophia’s sex. “I love you.”
Sophia stroked her head, brushed the sheen-soaked strands from her face. “I love you too. My mate.”
“I can’t stay.”
“I know,” Sophia said. “I sensed the newcomers. Powerful dominants.”
Niki snarled, her canines lengthening. “They will not come near you.”
Sophia laughed. “Really? You think they interest me?”
“You are Omega. They will be drawn to you.” Niki tipped her head, met Sophia’s gaze, letting her wolf ascend. “And you are mine.”
Sophia’s fingers rippled over the mate bite on Niki’s chest, making her sex tingle and tense.
“You think I don’t know that?” Sophia chided. “You think that’s not what I’ve wanted all my life? To be your mate?”
Niki, grinned. “I like hearing it.”
“I like saying it.” Sophia kissed her.
When Niki rose, Sophia rubbed her cheek against Niki’s shoulder. “Why are they here?”
“I don’t know,” Niki murmured, “but the Alpha has called a war council.”
Sophia drew a sharp breath. “Again, so soon. Will there never be peace?”
“We’re wolves,” Niki said, and for her, no other explanation mattered. “Peace belongs to the strongest.”
“Then go, Imperator,” Sophia said, “and do your duty.”
Chapter Four
Ash paced the length of the barracks and back, a hundred strides down the bare, wood-paneled hall to the broad double doors, a hundred strides back to the Alpha’s chambers, though she could’ve covered the distance from a stationary position outside the Alpha’s door in two leaps if necessary. In pelt, in seconds less. The windows in their rooms, high, long rectangles, opened onto gravel and dirt paths that disappeared into the forest three hundred yards away. Any attempt by assailants to breach their quarters could be easily defended. If they needed to retreat, the stockade fence was just visible beyond the tree line, and on the other side, freedom.
They’d still be in Timberwolf Pack land but Snowcrest wolves were fleet and crafty when running free. In the face of an overwhelming assault, she could create enough diversion for the Alpha to escape. She was the Alpha’s last, best defense. Ryan, Cybil, and Evan were fearless, but not as seasoned as they needed to be given the new order in the Pack. The Alpha had withstood challenges to her assuming the mantle of leadership from half a dozen wolves, and some of those she’d defeated had refused to swear allegiance, leaving the Pack with their supporters. Snowcrest had never needed a large standing army and did not breed for warriors. Their dominants were as strong as any other dominant Weres, but their numbers were small and their battle training less formal. A weakness she intended to be sure this warrior Pack of Weres remained unaware of.
Ash had argued against coming to the Compound, reasoning neutral ground would be safer. The Alpha believed refusing to enter Mir’s Pack land would show weakness. And she was Alpha. From the moment she’d met the Timberwolves in DC, Ash had been unaccountably uneasy. She had no basis to distrust them, and chalked her wolf’s agitation up to being surrounded by the most dominant Weres she’d even met, aside from Alpha Constantine. The deeper they’d traveled into foreign territory, the more her wolf stormed and raged. She’d weathered the onslaught of tooth and claw so many times, she wasn’t sure she had any intact intestines left.
And Mir’s imperator, so brutally dominant and so obviously challenging Alpha Constantine, had only added to her unrest. Add on the arrogant captain—Jace—the imperator had left in charge, and Ash was stoked to tussle. Her wolf wanted blood, and she’d be happy to bleed in turn if it meant dousing the fires that seared her from the inside out.
Each time Ash neared the exit to the porch, her agitation grew. Something called to her on the other side of the door, some irresistible force that had dug claws into her underbelly and was slowly threatening to bring her to her knees, or drive her mad. As she caught the spicy scent of black currant and crushed pine, her abdominals tightened, heat flared down the inside of her thighs, and her clitoris twitched. Alpha Mir’s call had struck her hard, not as deep as her Alpha’s when the Alpha was in need, but enough to bring her wolf surging close to the skin. She’d contained the need, her battle hormones overcoming the urge to meet need with need and claim flesh, but now, something else, something as potent as the Alpha’s call, filled her blood with the demand for release. She growled, her canines extruding, the tips of her fingers tingling as her claws punched out. She hadn’t tangled since they’d left Cresthome. No time, no one she was willing to submit to. One or two of her fellow guards would have been willing to roll for her, but she declined. She’d spent her energy protecting the Alpha and guarding the tenuous status of their Pack from outsiders.
Alpha Constantine had not traveled beyond the confines of their territory since she had assumed Pack leadership, and with no heirs and none qualified to follow her, the survival of the Pack depended on her well-being.
Ash shuddered, felt pelt sweep beneath her skin, and growled. Slamming both hands against the closed doors, she fought down the pounding in her loins. Her spine bowed and her
vision turned to sharp shades of black, grays, and stark whites. Her jaw grew heavy, her chest stretched the fabric of her shirt. The sweet call of her wolf rising filled her with excitement.
“Ash!” Zora’s tone snapped down the hallway like a whip. “Leash your wolf.”
Ash’s claws gouged into the wood, leaving splinters jutting out along the long grooves, and she whined. Rivulets of shimmering moisture trailed down her neck and left her silk shirt plastered to her back. Not since adolescence, when the mere presence of another wolf radiating readiness to tangle would send her into sexual frenzy, had she felt so close to losing control.
“I…I’m trying.”
“Obey your Alpha, Wolf,” Zora commanded, the ice-cold tone cutting through the fever in Ash’s brain.
Ash gasped, spun around, and her vision slid out of wolf range, returning color to the world. Her Alpha stood in the doorway at the end of the hall, hands on her narrow hips, fire burning in her eyes. Ash’s stomach clenched and she went to her knees, head lowered. “My apologies, Alpha.”
“Come, Captain.” Zora spun on her heel and disappeared into her suite. The air vibrated with her fury.
Ash staggered to her feet, struggling to find her balance. Her Alpha’s command tore at her core like barbs pulled through her flesh, and still she fought to pull away from the door to the outside, to resist whatever power called for her to leap outside, to rend and tear and howl. By sheer force of will, she pushed down the length of a hallway she should have been able to cover in a blink. In the time it took to reach the Alpha’s room, her wolf had calmed enough for her to square her shoulders and steady her voice.
“I am deeply embarrassed, Alpha,” she said, coming to attention, her hands behind her back. “I can’t explain why I had such trouble controlling my wolf.”
“Can’t you?” Zora narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “How old are you, Captain? I don’t think I’ve ever asked.”
Ash stiffened. Did the Alpha think her too unseasoned for her position? “I’m twenty-five, Alpha. I was a lieutenant in your father’s—the previous Alpha’s guard.”
