by Sam Crescent
Charlotte screamed behind his hand and tried to bite him. The man behind her laughed and pulled her through the back entranceway of the bar. Cade stood off to the side while a man who looked more deadly took his place. Murder shone out of his eyes. Charlotte gazed at him and stopped her struggles. No matter what she did, her efforts would be wasted against everyone in the room. All their eyes had changed color, some glowing amber while others glowed red or black.
Terrified now, she knew in her heart she stood in a room with a load of male shape-shifters.
She didn’t know how she knew, only that she did.
“Micah, I’m so pleased you could finally join us.” Brandon remained seated.
“Not like you gave me a choice. You were taking our women.”
He waved a hand. “They’re only human females. Their use is for one good fuck. You know that.”
Charlotte watched Micah tense, his body humming with energy like a special aura around him.
“You’ve invaded my property, my town, and insulted my women. Now tell me what the hell you want.” Micah walked forward, separating from his men.
Charlotte’s eyes widened when she saw his hands changing into claws. The act looked painful, but his facial expressions didn’t change.
“I was under the impression I had some kind of deal going on here.” Brandon went to her side. In the struggle, her ponytail had come loose, and he started to wrap strands of hair around his finger.
“What deal would that be?”
She couldn’t concentrate on the conversation occurring between these two men. Her fear over her safety consumed her.
“Kim Griffin.”
“What does a human slut have to do with my town and my pack?”
Charlotte knew Kim had fucked up somewhere, and now she’d be the one to pay the price. Her life, or lack of it, might not be important to these men, but to her, it meant everything. She was twenty years old with her whole life ahead of her.
“That little slut made a blood oath with me to unite our packs. It would seem some of your women are a little less loyal than you think.”
Blood oath? She had no idea what they were talking about, but it didn’t sound good.
What have you done, Kim?
“Get Kim, now.” All the people at the back of the room scurried around to do their master’s bidding. “I don’t know what that bitch has told you, but I can assure you it’s news to my ears.
Minutes went by as pack members searched while Brandon played with her hair.
“You’re a pretty one.”
Tears formed in her eyes, and she tried not to let them fall. She didn’t want to give this man the pleasure of seeing her break.
“You can cry all you want. We won’t harm you.”
“Stop taunting the poor girl,” Micah warned. “She’s scared enough as it is.”
“Yes. The little girl doesn’t know what is going on. It would seem not only do we have an innocent in our midst, but one of the townspeople who are also in the dark about you and your kind.” Brandon tugged on her hair, causing her to cry out in pain. “I guess it means she isn’t under your protection like all the townspeople.”
“Don’t try to use those fucked-up old laws on me, Brandon. They won’t stick for long.”
“A tempting morsel like this? Come on, Micah. Remember the good old days? Innocence like this would be bartered like fresh meat. Don’t you smell that? Her cunt hasn’t even had the pleasure of a cock inside her.”
Charlotte struggled when Brandon bent down and sniffed the delicate column of her neck. She whimpered as his tongue stroked the pulse rapidly beating, giving her the essence of life.
“No tainted blood. Even her heart runs pure. A truly kind female human. Wonder when we last met one of those.”
“Don’t do it.”
Micah moved forward, and for the first time, Charlotte noted the guns.
“Wait. I want to see how pure.” Brandon went to his knees before her, placing his face in her crotch like a dog.
Charlotte tried to pull away, but his soldier at her back kept her locked firmly in place. Never before had she been so mortified.
“Please,” she begged. “Please let me go.”
She heard him take a sniff and come away from her body. Her body felt violated from the touch.
“Pure innocent. Tell me you don’t smell it, Micah. You smell it, and you want to fill this virgin cunt with your spunk.”
Charlotte cried, the tears falling.
“Get away from her.”
“Ah, here is the woman of the hour.”
Kim was dragged to the center of the room by one of Micah’s men, followed closely by Wilson. They were both naked, and Charlotte tore her gaze away.
She didn’t want to see her sister with a man.
“What the hell is going on? Why did you interrupt us?” Kim complained.
Brandon turned his attention to her sister. “Now this one, Micah. As I’m sure you’re aware, this one stinks of corruption, sex, slut, and general waste of space.”
Relieved, Charlotte relaxed in the hold of the man. She was exhausted, even though she’d done little.
“Hey. That’s no way to talk to a lady,” Kim said.
Every single man in the room started to laugh, scoffing her sister.
“What the hell are you all laughing at?” Kim was getting angrier with every passing second. “Why do you have my sister?”
“You see, Micah, that little tart over there offered me something, and I’ve come to collect,” Brandon said.
The guy at Charlotte’s back was breathing down her neck. She pulled a face and looked on at her sister and the men squaring off against Brandon.
“There’s nothing here for you. What did the little human offer you?”
“Women. Lots of women. You see, it would seem most of the bitches running through this town end up in your pack. I want in on the action. My men are becoming a little rowdy.”
Growls erupted in the room, and Charlotte tensed as one of them came from right behind her.
“You shouldn’t make deals without a pack member present. Wilson, were you present at any of these negotiations?” Micah asked.
Charlotte didn’t understand everything that was going on. They were talking too fast and they were growling right behind her. Was her sister part of some sort of cult?
“No, sir,” Wilson replied, his head bowed down.
“The women of my pack don’t get passed around like dogs. They make their own choices. If some women want to go with you, then they’re allowed to go.” Micah turned to the room. “Any of the women present in my pack step forward if you wish to join Brandon and the Eagles.”
The tense silence spoke volumes.
“Not one of you lovely women want a chance to be with us?” Brandon called to the room.
Charlotte was sure she heard someone vomit.
“Leave the girl and get out,” Micah ordered.
Charlotte stared at the floor, trying to not draw any more attention to herself.
Why couldn’t she have told her sister to go without her?
“No. A deal’s a deal. Kim is part of the Rock Wood pack, and I want something in the bargain.” Brandon took hold of Charlotte’s chin in a firm grip, forcing her to face him.
This man was stronger than her, so she didn’t bother to struggle. The attempt would have caused her more pain than anything.
“I’ll take this one as compensation. I could use a newbie to train for my passions.”
Brandon pressed a hand to her breast. Charlotte whimpered, and her struggles returned in full force. She might not know what was going on, but her instinct to protect herself was kicking in tenfold.
This man posed a threat, and she had no way of getting away from it.
Chapter Two
Micah watched the young girl fight to be free. He turned and glared at Kim, the person who’d caused all of their problems. The call of the moon and the wolf grew stronger. Large canines
grew in his mouth, and his hands began to shape into large fiendish claws. A woman in his bar was in danger, and the animal within him responded.
“Let the girl go,” he ordered. With each word he spoke, his voice grew louder. The submissive wolves in the back were cowering to his dominance.
Brandon smiled but didn’t let the girl go. Instead, he cupped her between the thighs. The young girl screamed in fright, the sound painful to hear. He didn’t allow any woman to be hurt in his company. Stepping forward, he glared at his two trusted men, who moved closer as well. This wasn’t a fight for power but a fight to protect someone smaller and way more delicate than their kind.
“So the big bad wolf has come to play?”
“She’s in my town, in my bar under my protection. Put my property down.” He paid and served this town well. Made sure they always had work and business. In return, he asked for them to board up their homes for three nights of the month.
“But she doesn’t smell like pack. She smells innocent, and with no claim. By our very laws, it means she’s up for grabs. Our men did catch her, and it’s been so long since they’ve had a plaything.”
Micah knew about the laws. He’d helped to write a few of them.
“Unless you’re willing to use another method?”
Micah should have seen this coming. For years, Brandon and his pack of mutts had tried to take over his turf. He wasn’t having any of it.
“What do you want?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“You take the girl for yourself. Right now, in front of us. Mark her and make her yours.” Murmurs ran through the whole of the room.
The girl stared at him with a mixture of fear and hope radiating out of her eyes. She was young, and he scented she was close to womanhood. Her scent held the spark of innocence that wasn’t associated with a woman used to physical contact. Perhaps seventeen, eighteen. Fuck, he hoped she was older. What Brandon was asking would terrify any woman who wasn’t accustomed to pack laws. She wouldn’t know what was about to happen, and he was about to put one of the townspeople in danger.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Charlotte Griffin,” she whispered.
Micah stared at Kim. “I want to know what selfish reasoning you used in a bargain that has put your sister’s life in danger.”
Kim gazed at the floor. What happened tonight would not go unpunished. Micah knew he’d have to hold a meeting with the townspeople about Kim. For now, Charlotte and her innocence were at stake.
“Come here, Charlotte,” he called, making sure his voice was calm so he wouldn’t frighten her.
He watched as she pulled away from the man holding her and moved around Brandon. She licked her lips and then focussed on Micah as she walked the short distance to stand in front of him.
“Do you know what is going on?”
Charlotte shook her head.
“Do you know who I am? What I am?”
She shook her head again.
“I’m going to need you to trust me.”
Micah waited as she looked behind her at the Eagles and then turned back to him. “I will.”
He took her hand and brought her into contact with his body. Shit, Brandon had been right. She smelled of innocence on a fresh spring morn. Her scent dazzled him.
Cupping her chin, he tilted her head back until she stared into his eyes. He ran his thumb across her full bottom lip. He loosened his grip on her chin, a finger travelling down past her throat to her vulnerable neck. The delights within her small body tempted him. Micah was alarmed. No human female could tempt him. The demands of his body craved rough, hard fucking. The mate, or woman who would become his for the rest of his life, would have to learn to take all of him. His cock was long and thick like the rest of him. A human female would struggle. Even now, because of his sheer size, he refused to take human women for fear of breaking them. Clearing his head of his troubled thoughts, he put all of his attention into Charlotte.
His protective instincts rushing forward, he tilted her head back and looked at her delicate neck, beautifully exposed for him to see. Her pulse was beating rapidly, her breaths coming in short, sharp pants. The world around him stopped. The scent of honey, vanilla, and the fresh sunshine during a morning run through thick forests invaded his senses. Micah pictured Charlotte naked running from him but with the intention of getting caught. He growled as the instinct to claim her surged within him. One moment she was standing with her head tilted back, and the next, her back pressed against his. The speed at which he moved would terrify most humans. He bit into his palm—the thick blood oozing out—and pressed it to her lips.
She fought him. The little wildcat struggled in his hold. The call of the moon hit him, the canines in his mouth growing for the mating call. In one smooth motion, he struck, his wolf teeth sinking into her human flesh. The fluid from his own vein fed her at the same time he took hers. Micah’s one free arm caught her to him. After a few seconds with his teeth inside her, her struggles ceased. Charlotte went pliant in his arms as she passed out.
Micah retracted his claws and looked down into the face of the young woman he’d just destroyed.
The alpha of the Rock Wood pack had mated a human female.
“Well, that was almost as enjoyable as watching you fuck,” Brandon said from his place in front.
Micah growled and picked up his mate. “I suggest you take your pack and get the fuck out of my town.”
Turning with her in his arms, he went to his office. Careful with the small bundle he held, he placed her down on the sofa.
Micah sensed Cade at his back. “Don’t say anything,” he warned.
“Say?” Cade yelled, slamming shut the door. “What else is there to say other than you’ve taken a human woman as your mate. Not only that, from the look of her, she was too young to know how to deal with our kind. Do you have any idea what this is going to do to her? The risks you’ve posed?”
“I told you not to say anything,” Micah said once again.
Cade snorted.
Micah pulled the hair away from her neck. The two points were bloody and swollen like an allergic reaction.
“Shit, boss. You bit her good.” His friend and second-in-command came and stood over him.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he whispered. He stared at her innocent face.
“You could have marked her any other way. By kissing her on the lips or by hugging her, you’d have offered your protection,” Cade argued.
“That’s all I was going to do. I couldn’t stop it. I had to have her.” Micah stood and went to the door as someone knocked.
Kim stood on the other side, and he couldn’t contain the angry growls he sent her way. She held up her hands in surrender, tears in her eyes.
“This is your fault,” he accused.
“I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You best get in touch with your parents and warn them I’m coming. Why doesn’t she know about me? About this town?” he demanded to know.
“Mom and Dad thought it best she wasn’t plagued by the wolves—”
“You mean they already had one daughter acting the slut for us so they didn’t want the second,” he interrupted her. Micah heard a moan from behind him. Cade stood over the woman who would one day become his queen.
“It hurts,” she mumbled without opening her eyes. Her hands moved to her neck where he’d bitten her.
“You’ll be okay, kitten. Settle down.” Micah spoke calmly and placed a hand on her shoulder. Charlotte eased back into sleep, his voice and touches already having the desired mating effect.
“She’s truly your mate then? That wasn’t just some show to Brandon?” Kim asked.
“I think you’d better get out of my office and find your parents. I’ve got to chat with them.”
Kim scurried off.
“What are you going to do about her, Micah?” Cade asked.
Forcing himself to turn from his mate, Micah focused on Ca
de. “You know what I must do.”
“But the town may see this as an act of—”
“The town will see that we punish those who put the lives of our people in danger.”
Chapter Three
Micah traveled with Cade and a few others of his best men. Charlotte lay in his arms with a slight fever but nothing to concern himself with. Only an hour had passed since the mating call, and already, he felt the effects on his body. The pull of his attention. Every second he had to resist gazing down at her. He wanted to reach out and touch her.
Closing his eyes, he glared at Kim Griffin. This was all her fault. Her greed had caused him to act without reason.
In truth, he couldn’t blame anyone but himself. The car came to a halt outside a small house. The light on the porch and the tiny vehicle in the driveway made him aware her parents were home.
A woman, slightly taller than Charlotte, stood in the doorway, an arm wrapped around her middle.
Cade took Kim by the elbow and forced her up the short drive. Micah went next, carrying Charlotte, and the other men brought up the rear.
“What happened?” a man in his forties asked.
“I’ll explain everything but please let me put my m—Charlotte down to rest.” Her father showed him to her room.
The instant he walked into her bedroom, Micah was at home. The honey scent of his mate filled every corner.
Books, drawings, and sketches filled the walls, and three small bookshelves filled the remaining wall space.
Resting her on her bed, he pulled her shoes off and settled her down before following the father downstairs.
Mrs. Griffin sat at the kitchen table sobbing while his men guarded the property. Kim sat next to her mother, sporting a red cheek.
“How is she? How is my baby?” the mother asked.
It grieved Micah that he didn’t know their names.
“She’s alive. Tomorrow she may ache and have flu-like symptoms, but after that, she’ll be well and taken care of.”
“Thank god,” the mother whispered.
“I regret to inform you I don’t know either of your names.”
“I’m Frank, and this is my wife, Doreen. I guess you know Kim.” The father made it more a statement of fact than a question.
