Savage Urges

by Suzanne Wright

“Okay . . . What about that issue that The Killers raised? Are we human, or are we dancer? What do you think?”

  His shoulders shook. “That lyric makes no sense.”

  “I know, I don’t get it!” Hearing a vehicle pulling up in the small parking lot on their left, she glanced over. She knew that Chevy. “Here comes Ryan.” Zac froze. “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen to you. You’re in a public place, surrounded by people, and you have me.”

  Swallowing hard, Zac nodded. “Which one is he?” he asked as a total of five wolves exited the car. “And who are the others?”

  “See the broad guy with the snarl and the military haircut? That’s Ryan. I’m guessing the others are his pack mates.”

  “You’re not surprised that he hasn’t come alone, are you?”

  “Loners aren’t trusted, so I figured his Alphas wouldn’t want him to come without some backup.” They approached slowly, their postures nonthreatening—as if they were conscious of not spooking Zac. Everything female in her stood up and paid attention when Ryan’s smoky black eyes settled on her. It was pure instinct to irritate him. “Hey, White Fang. Who’ve you brought with you?” Her inner wolf was pleased to see him, but not so much his companions. She wasn’t always comfortable around strangers.

  A mountain of pure muscle cocked a brow at Ryan. “White Fang?”

  Ryan just grunted at him, which Makenna translated as “fuck you.”

  A small blonde smiled at Makenna; there was a hint of cautiousness in her eyes. “You must be Makenna.” Her gaze shifted to Zac, and her smile became more genuine. “And you must be Zac. It’s good to meet you both. I’m Taryn, Alpha female of the Phoenix Pack.” It wasn’t said with superiority, just as a statement of fact.

  Makenna had heard plenty about Taryn. Mostly that she was plain insane. Makenna could respect that.

  “This is my mate, Trey. And these are our Betas, Jaime and Dante.”

  The strongly built Alpha male inclined his head at Zac before narrowing his arctic-blue eyes suspiciously at Makenna. Jaime, a tall brunette with mischievous eyes, gave Zac a little wave and offered Makenna a guarded smile. Her mate nodded at the kid before studying Makenna intently. Ryan . . . well, he was staring at her again with a crease between his brows.

  He looked so indomitable and remote. Again, it should have been off-putting. But his supreme masculinity caused a carnal hunger to slowly begin trickling through her. That hunger intensified as his masculine scent swirled around her like a blanket; it seemed to somehow stand out from the others.

  Ryan turned his attention to Zac. His frown didn’t ease. “I’m Ryan.”

  Shifting closer to Makenna so their thighs touched, Zac regarded him as warily as he did the others. “You don’t look like my dad.”

  “You do.” Something in Ryan’s chest tightened as he watched the teenager’s gaze dance around them, as if assuring himself of all possible escape routes. “We won’t force you to come with us,” he promised the teen. Although, up until that point, he had thought about it. He wanted Zac somewhere safe.

  As Ryan slid his gaze to Makenna, he noticed the “just fucking try it” glint in her eyes. Yeah, she knew his instinct was to whisk the kid away. And she was prepared to fight for Zac. His wolf loved that fierceness; he wanted to bite her.

  She looked just as quirky yet stylish today in colorful bangles, a cropped denim jacket, bold neon-orange top, and low-rise jeans—flashing a diamond navel piercing that had a thin silver chain looped through it. His cock, which had been rock hard since her scent had wrapped around him, throbbed almost painfully. Maybe his wolf’s idea to bite her wasn’t so bad.

  “We just want to talk to you, get to know you,” Taryn assured Zac. “Is that okay?”

  Zac shrugged one shoulder. “I guess.”

  All five Phoenix wolves settled on the ground, and Makenna suspected they were hoping to seem less intimidating to him.

  Jaime gave Zac a friendly smile. “How old are you?”

  He slanted a look at Makenna before replying, “Fourteen.”

  Jaime’s brows arched. “Really? You look older than that.”

  “Why did you leave your pack?” Trey asked Zac.

  He stiffened and his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “I’m not going back there.”

  Makenna placed a reassuring hand on Zac’s arm as they locked gazes. “Hey, no one will make you. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”

  Ryan believed that. She was the image of serenity when she turned back to him and his pack mates, but that wild glint still lurked in her eyes. Her comment and fierce tone might have scared another juvenile, but Zac seemed reassured. He obviously felt safe with Makenna. “I have no intention of taking you anywhere against your will,” Ryan assured him. “And I would never force you to go back there.”

  Zac didn’t appear totally convinced, but he nodded once. Ryan took a moment to study him, taking in his appearance. The kid didn’t look like a loner. His clothes were decent, he was clean, and he didn’t appear undernourished. The people at the shelter had obviously been taking good care of him. “I brought you something.”

  Zac’s eyes widened at the object that Ryan pulled out of his pocket. “A cell phone?”

  “The number of every Phoenix wolf is stored in there. If you need anything, if something happens and you need help, you call one of us.”

  “But . . . you don’t know me.”

  “We’re going to fix that.”

  Slowly, Zac reached out and took the phone. “Um, thanks.”

  “I have to say,” said Jaime, “I didn’t know there was a shelter for loners. Where is it?”

  “Not far from here,” Makenna replied. “The end of Maverick Avenue, near the old church.”

  Trey’s brows lifted. “That’s a rough area.”

  Dante tilted his head as he looked at Makenna. “Where are you from?” He’d spoken casually, but his eyes were sharp. Assessing. Searching.

  She was dealing with an interrogator, Makenna knew. “I’ve lived in a lot of places.”

  “What do you do for a living?”

  “If you mean am I a hired killer, no.”

  A growl threatened to rumble up Ryan’s chest. He didn’t like Dante’s tone at all. It was the same soft yet predatory one he used when grilling intruders or enemies. Makenna didn’t appear to like it much either. But she didn’t shrink away. Again, her strength impressed his wolf. He knew it would gain her the respect of the others—even if it were begrudgingly earned.

  “One of our pack members is a very powerful hacker. But he didn’t find anything on a Makenna Wray,” continued Dante. “Not a damn thing. So . . . who are you really? And, more importantly, what did you do that was so bad you were cast out?”

  Makenna inwardly sighed. Packs always made the same assumptions about loners. It never occurred to them that sometimes a loner had been wronged in being banished. She’d bristle if she weren’t so used to it. “I’m not important here. Zac is.”

  “You’re acting as pretty much a guardian to Ryan’s cousin. We have a right to know who you are.”

  A right? Pfft. “You know, my daily horoscope did mention that I’d have a mountain to face today . . . I just hadn’t figured it would be an actual living being.”

  Taryn’s mouth curved while Jaime chuckled.

  “If you have questions about Zac, feel free to ask them,” said Makenna. “I’m not a subject up for discussion.” Her tone was firm but not harsh.

  With an incline of his head, Dante transferred his focus to Zac. For the next thirty minutes, the Phoenix wolves talked with him about everyday things. They were very patient and friendly toward him. Makenna noticed that although he didn’t relax, he was no longer in “flight” mode by the time they returned to her Mustang.

  She was just about to slide into the driver’s seat when Ryan came to her side. “I’ll be one minute,” she assured Zac, guessing Ryan wanted to speak with her privately. Zac, who was in the passenger seat playi
ng with his new cell phone, barely looked up.

  “What happened to him?” Ryan asked in a low voice after she closed the car door.

  She sighed. “I don’t know. He won’t talk about it. Look, I have to be straight with you. The York Pack has put out a search for Zac, which is why I created a false trail. But if they find out he’s with you—”

  “Let them fucking come,” growled Ryan. “No one will hurt him. I won’t allow it.”

  She nodded. “Good.” As Ryan’s eyes returned to Zac, she said, “I can understand that your instincts are hounding you to take him. I’m glad of that. But he’s not ready yet.”

  Knowing she was right didn’t make it any less frustrating. “I want to see him again tomorrow.”

  “Good. The consistency will help. We’ll meet you at the diner on Lumley Street at noon. He loves the food there.” Close to the shelter, the diner was smack bam in the middle of an area that mostly housed loners. Zac would feel safer on what, for him, was home turf.

  “That’s twice now you’ve dictated the time and the place that I get to see him.”

  “Because I know Zac. I know what places make him feel comfortable. I know this must be hard for you in some ways, but his feelings come first to me.” Compelled to poke at him, she arched a brow. “Got a problem with that, White Fang?”

  “Drop the White Fang.”

  “Drop the snarl.”

  “Do you have to be so annoying?”

  “There’s something freeing about it.” She flashed him a farewell smile before hopping into the Mustang.

  Ryan wondered how it was possible that a smile could irritate him and made his cock twitch at the same time. His little loner was—

  Inwardly, Ryan scowled at his mental dialogue. She wasn’t his loner. But, he mused, he’d found her first. Besides, it was a debate that was only happening in his head, so it made no difference.

  It wasn’t until the Mustang was out of sight that Ryan crossed the lot to the Chevy. The moment he slid into the passenger seat, Dante switched on the engine.

  Jaime was the first to speak. “Well, it would seem that it wasn’t a trap after all.”

  Ryan grunted his agreement. There was no denying that Zac was Damian’s son. They looked too much alike.

  “He’s such a nice kid. Sweet. Polite.”

  “And scared,” added Trey.

  “I know,” said Jaime. “It was heartbreaking.”

  “Did you notice he was especially distrustful of Ryan, Trey, and Dante?” Taryn asked Jaime. “Something tells me that whatever happened to Zac happened at the hands of a male.”

  A growl built in Ryan’s chest. Whoever hurt him, Ryan would kill him.

  Taryn’s voice was sensitive as she asked, “You okay?”

  No, he wasn’t fucking okay. He hated that a member of his own family was staying with an outsider, especially at a damn shelter. He believed firmly that people should protect their own and take responsibility for their family. Which pretty much made him the exact opposite of his mother. He took pride in that.

  “I know it had to be hard to walk away from him,” said Taryn, “but yanking the kid out of the shelter would just distress him. I have a feeling he’s been through enough already. The last thing you want is to make it harder for him, right?”

  Ryan grunted, unable to argue with Taryn’s reasoning.

  “Makenna will keep him safe,” said Jaime. “She’s got a wild vibe about her. The kind you’d see from a lioness guarding her cubs.”

  “I like her,” announced Taryn. “And I like that she’s not intimidated at all by Ryan’s terminator snarl.”

  “Terminator snarl?” chuckled Dante.

  “When we first met, I thought you seemed kind of robotic,” Taryn told Ryan with a smile. “But I soon realized that you were so tense all the time because you were always on guard. You’ve settled a lot since the pack grew in strength. But you’re still stoic . . . like a Shaolin Monk Master that’s the epitome of cool because he knows he can snap your neck before you blink.”

  “And it seems to reel females in,” said Jaime. “Even though you intimidate them.”

  Taryn shrugged. “Lots of females like the strong, silent, dangerous type.”

  Ryan decided not to contribute to what was, in his mind, a pointless conversation.

  “When are we next seeing Zac?” Trey asked.

  “Tomorrow,” replied Ryan. “The sooner he’s comfortable around us, the sooner he’ll agree to join our pack.” Where he’d be surrounded by people who would keep him safe.

  “He’ll fit into our pack nicely,” Trey commented. “But I don’t think it will be easy to win his trust. And there’s something else that might complicate things.”

  “What?” Dante asked.

  “Zac seems pretty attached to Makenna.”

  “If she saved him, it might just be a minor case of hero worship,” suggested Jaime.

  “Maybe,” conceded Trey. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hearing a beeping sound, Makenna took her gaze briefly off the road to glance at Zac. He was reading a message on his new cell phone. “If that’s Ryan asking where we are, tell him we’re literally two blocks away.” They were running a little late.

  “It’s some guy called Marcus. He says he’s another Phoenix enforcer.”

  “Really?”

  “The Phoenix wolves have all been texting me to say hi and tell me a little about them.”

  “Yeah? That means the pack as a whole will definitely welcome you. That’s a good thing.” And a relief, because it didn’t always work that way. “Are they nice?”

  “Dominic’s pretty fleek”—“fleek” meaning “cool” to Zac—“he keeps sending me jokes.”

  Something about Zac’s tone made her ask, “Dirty jokes?”

  “I’m not going to answer that. I’m pleading the seventh.”

  “You mean the fifth.”

  “Whatever. I’m pleading.”

  She laughed. “Fine. But if you—” She broke off at the chiming of her own cell phone. Seeing that the caller was Madisyn, Makenna swiped her finger across the screen and answered, “Hello.”

  “Shithead’s back.” Madisyn then hung up.

  Makenna swore. “Send Ryan a text, tell him we’re going to be even later than what we already are.”

  “Why?”

  “Remy turned up at the shelter.” At the next junction, she did a U-turn and slammed her foot on the accelerator. In under a minute, she was pulling up outside the shelter. And there was Shithead, standing at the front door with two of his wolves—most likely trying to coax Dawn into letting them in. Dawn knew better than that. She’d also be busy holding Madisyn back; the feline had a wicked temper that made her easy to provoke. Engaging in a confrontation with a powerful Alpha wolf could lead to many complications, however.

  “Zac, wait here. Do not get out of the car until he’s gone.” Hiding her anger under a façade of calm, Makenna exited the car and strolled toward the Alpha wolf. “Mr. Deacon,” she drawled. It wasn’t a greeting; it was a warning. But he still smiled, running an appreciative gaze over her.

  “Ah, Makenna.” The affection and intimacy in his tone pissed her off. He was good-looking and possessed the kind of charisma that probably had most females dropping at his feet. But his beady azure eyes were always cold, and there was never even a hint of sexual awareness there. His flirtations were empty. “You look stunning, as always. And please, call me Remy.”

  Nah. “Can I help you with something?” Her expression held no welcome, and his smile faltered. His pack mates flanked him. The male gave her a sleazy smile while the female sneered, as always. What-the-fuck-ever.

  Remy hummed as his gaze again roamed over her, making her inner wolf bare her teeth despite not sensing any true interest from him. “Curves exactly where a man wants them. Why is it your mouth always has me thinking sinful thoughts?”

  Was she supposed to be melting in hi
s arms right now?

  “I’m loving that little dress, by the way.”

  She just stared at him, her expression blank.

  “I’m disappointed in you, little wolf, I thought you’d want to play. Okay, I’ll get to the point. I wondered if Dawn had given any more thought to my offer.”

  “She’s told you before, Mr. Deacon, she’s not interested in joining your pack. That answer ain’t gonna change.” The extent of his dominance was in his eyes, pressuring her to lower her gaze. She didn’t. She met his boldly. He wasn’t the only one who was dominant.

  “You’re strong.” Grinning, he cocked his head, lips pursed. “I think you would make a valuable addition to my pack.”

  A loud, derisive snort popped out of the punk-looking female at his side. Selene was his Head Enforcer and always displayed very possessive behavior toward him. She also liked to refer to Makenna as “Super Bitch,” which Makenna considered a compliment.

  “It’s a win-win situation for everyone, Makenna. If Dawn agrees to join my pack, I’ll get more territory, the shelter will have any funding it needs, and all the volunteers will be under my protection.”

  “It would be impossible for the shelter to work if it were ruled by a pack. You know that any shifters needing help or sanctuary wouldn’t go to a strange pack for it.”

  “All Dawn has to do is name her price.”

  She blinked. “Her price?” Ballsy fucker, wasn’t he? “She can’t be bought, Mr. Deacon.”

  He laughed at that. “Of course she can. Everyone has a price. Everyone has weaknesses—including you, Makenna. Weaknesses that can be exploited.”

  It was a threat. It was also a pointless one. “Well, since my weaknesses are merely dark chocolate and thrift stores, I’m not sure how that will help you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard that many of Dawn’s neighbors don’t like living among a shelter for lone shifters. Think of our council . . . it wants peace above all else.”

  “Look, I don’t have much patience for the whole ‘beating around the bush’ thing. Are you going somewhere with this?”

  “I’m just pointing out that if the neighbors become more vocal about their issues, it’s very likely that trouble will occur. The shifter council won’t like that. They would shut this place down to preserve the peace.”