by A. P. Jensen
“Your son is a dick. I guess that’s why you named him Richard.”
Incisors appeared so fast, Jillian didn’t have time to resister their appearance before Carol grasped her around the throat. Bernadette started yelling as Jillian gasped for breath. Claws appeared and Jillian raked them down the front of Carol’s perfect white tank. Silk fluttered to the ground. Carol shifted and Jillian was only a second behind her. In wolf form, the tile felt strange beneath Jillian’s paws. Carol took advantage of her uncertainty and charged, knocking Jillian through a set of double glass doors.
Jillian rolled on the grass and swiped at Carol, a snow white wolf with mean eyes. Jillian struck out with her claws and dodged Carol’s snapping fangs. As a human, Carol was tall and slim. Jillian was surprised how much bigger she was in wolf form. Carol was relentless and vicious. She bit Jillian’s flank before she circled and lunged, leaping on top of Jillian in a shocking burst of speed. Carol’s teeth sank into the same spot Richard had, right on the back of her neck. Carol didn’t want submission from Jillian, she wanted to inflict pain, just like her son. It made Jillian’s temper skyrocket and her wolf took over.
Jillian whipped her head around, felt the skin on the back of neck tear and knew she was severely hurt, but she didn’t care. She ignored the pain as she turned her head and bit Carol’s muzzle as hard as she could. The white wolf leapt away, sneezed and pawed her nose before she snorted blood and gave Jillian a bloody grin. Jillian growled and rushed Carol, using her paw to knock the wolf’s head to the side and sank her teeth into the side of Carol’s neck. The white wolf barked and snapped at her ear. Jillian increased the pressure until the white wolf whined and stilled. Jillian shoved Carol on her side and followed her down so her fangs remained imbedded in the fallen alpha female’s neck.
No less than forty shifters stood in a half circle around them. Wolf eyes of every color watched as Jillian stood over their alpha female. One of the onlookers shifted restlessly and Jillian shook Carol to keep the others from interfering. Carol jerked and tried to snap at Jillian’s face without success before she went limp again.
The crowd parted as Mac, Percy, Remy and Paul approached. Mac’s eyes glinted with rage as he pointed at Jillian.
“Let her go,” Mac commanded.
Chapter Ten
Jillian debated for a minute before she released Carol. The moment the white wolf was free, she lunged up and attacked again. Jillian snarled in warning, but Carol wouldn’t stop until she had Jillian in pieces. Everyone scattered as Jillian dodged the white wolf who was out for blood. As Carol rammed into a tree and shook herself, Jillian charged into Carol’s side and heard ribs crack. Carol howled and Jillian backed away on trembling legs. The Mercer Pack shifted into wolf form and crowded around Carol. Percy, Paul and Remy stared at Jillian without expression.
“Shift,” Mac commanded.
His voice was silky with menace. Jillian glanced at the solid wall of wolves around Carol and then Mac’s father and brothers who hadn’t moved and continued to stare at her. She hesitated for a moment before she obeyed Mac and shifted. She bit back a scream as she landed on her ass. It felt as if Carol took a chunk out of her butt! The Mercer Pack wolves growled, knowing she was vulnerable. If Mac hadn’t been there, she was sure they would’ve finished her off. Mac stalked over to her and none too gently hauled her into his arms and walked into the house. Jillian caught a glimpse of rich carpets and naked walls before Mac walked into a quiet room and slammed the door.
“Now you’ve done it,” Mac snarled.
Mac walked into a bathroom and ignored her yelp when she knocked her head on the trim. He set her on the floor as he turned on the taps in a beautiful tub. Jillian groaned and hissed as Mac placed her in the hot water, which touched raw bite marks. She turned on her side to look at the nasty bite on her ass.
“Bitch,” Jillian growled.
Mac carelessly tossed a bunch of salt over her before he walked out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Jillian glared at the closed door and clenched her teeth so she wouldn’t cry out as the salt seeped into her wounds. What was Mac mad at her for? If he saw the way Carol treated Bernadette, he would fight the alpha bitch too. The bathroom echoed back her curses as she prodded the ragged skin on the back of her neck.
To distract herself from the pain, she looked around. The bathroom was spacious with a raised dais where the bathtub was. Jillian grudgingly admitted she liked the minimalist design that was simple yet elegant. She soaked for a while and examined Carol’s handy work. Damn, that bitch was fast! It was obvious Carol taught Richard how to fight. Richard took things a step further, by recruiting his second in command so they could gang up against an opponent, two to one.
She soaked for a while before she got out of the tub. She walked like a zombie, body stiff so she wouldn’t open her wounds. The only thing that made the pain worth it was the knowledge that Carol was in worse shape. Jillian pulled on a robe and opened the door to the bedroom. Mac paced the carpet, but when she stopped in the doorway, he let out an angry growl and came towards her. He picked her up, placed her face down on the bed and stripped off her robe. He touched the bite on the back of her neck and in reflex, she kicked him in the stomach. He hissed and she went motionless as he leaned over her. His tongue slid over the torn skin on the back of her neck and goose bumps erupted over her body. Mac took his time healing her cuts. She relaxed when the sharp pain disappeared. His mouth moved to her ass, which was already black and blue. She squirmed as he licked over her cheek and didn’t even notice when it healed. She shook with desire and waited for Mac to go down on her. She wasn’t prepared for the hard smack on her rump.
She lurched up and whirled to face Mac. She wasn’t prepared for his fury. He fisted a hand in her hair and jerked her head back to expose her throat. She fought against his show of dominance, but when he snarled, she stopped breathing.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” he whispered.
“She was being a bitch to your mom,” Jillian protested.
“My mom isn’t dominant. Its Carol’s right to treat others in her pack the way she wants.”
Jillian knocked his hand so hard, it came away with a fistful of black strands.
“How can you watch her do that to your mom?” Jillian shouted.
“I don’t. That’s why I’m never here.”
“She deserved it,” Jillian said through clenched teeth. “I’m not going to apologize for it.”
“My mom knows her place in the pack. Did Carol do anything physical to my mom?”
She felt a spear of uncertainty. “No.”
“My mom knows how to handle Carol and play the game. You can’t fight every wolf you don’t get along with! That’s now how this works.” Mac threw up his hands. “God, why does it have to be you?”
“What?’
“I leave you alone for two hours and the next thing I know, you’re challenging the alpha female of the largest pack in North America!”
“I wasn’t challenging her, I just beat the crap out of her.”
Mac got in her face. “That’s the same thing! Wolves challenge each other for positions in a pack or to take over positions in a pack. For example, if I wanted my dad’s pack, I would challenge him. If I won the fight, he would be forced to leave and I would be Alpha of the Mercer Pack.”
Jillian licked dry lips. “I don’t want anything. I just wanted to show her-”
“Show her you can beat her?”
She squirmed. “Well, I didn’t know if I could, but she was such an ass and she was defending Dick-”
Mac’s hand slashed through the air again. “I already told my dad you don’t know our ways, but you don’t know how much shit you just put yourself in!”
“Why?”
He went nose to nose with her. “By right, you can take Carol’s position as alpha!”
Her mouth dropped open. “But I don’t want-”
“I don’t know why it has to be you!” Mac raged
and paced the room. “Every time I turn around, you’re disappearing, going feral or you have another crazy story! I don’t know how to keep up with you. I should just let you walk away and get back to my life.”
That hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes. To hide her face, she slipped back into the robe, furtively wiping tears on the sleeve. Mac didn’t notice. He continued to rage and slash the air like a ninja fighting invisible enemies.
“I want my life to be simple and quiet and then I find you! You’re a neurotic, defensive, suspicious lunatic! I can’t do this!” Mac walked to the door and turned around to point a finger at her. “I’m locking the door. If you break the door down, you’ll be sorry.”
With that threat hanging in the air, he left and slammed the door behind him. Jillian flopped down on the bed. God, before she knew about Wolf World, she had such a boring, orderly life. She was content with work being her main focus and not having any companionship besides her mother. She was determined to save enough money to start her own interior business and would have reached her goal in three point two years. Before her mom died, she’d been like Mac- solitary and cold and now this wild, savage wolf inside of her kept surfacing. No matter where she went now, she couldn’t stop herself from fighting wolves. She had to fight, right?
She thought back to the way Carol treated Bernadette and despite Mac’s fury, couldn’t find it in herself to be sorry for what she’d done. She would maul Carol again, that sassy bitch. Just because Carol was alpha didn’t mean she should treat other women in her pack like crap. Jillian rubbed her face in pillows that smelled of mint and with her hands fisted, drifted into sleep.
She felt savaged by loneliness and grief. The composed woman she’d been was gone. In her place was a rabid beast that craved death. Day after day, she snapped out of a feral state and saw Mac before her, wounded and bloody. His eyes glowed with the effort it took not to kill her. His wolf demanded she submit and she couldn’t. She challenged his wolf daily and his control and patience stunned her. She loathed herself for the marks she inflicted on his body. When her wolf took over, she didn’t remember a thing until she shifted back into a human. Mac spent hours hemming her in so she didn’t go off his land and he bore the brunt of her fury. Why did he do it?
She climbed the stairs to Mac’s room and he opened the door before she knocked. He had on a pair of black boxers and nothing else. She saw him nude or partially dressed most of the time. She knew modesty was something she had to get over because nudity was a part of shifting. Jillian admired his body. Who wouldn’t? She used to think of him as the enemy, but no longer. She thought wolves were cons and heartless savages, but Mac changed all that. He rarely spoke to her and didn’t coddle her, but he was always nearby and that’s all she needed. Most men would have left her in her apartment bathed in blood. Instead, Mac brought her here and coaxed her out of her feral state time after time and used his body as a punching bag.
“What is it?” he asked.
She opened and closed her mouth. She came here without thinking. She hadn’t rehearsed what she would say when she faced him. Mac was the most intimidating man she’d ever met and it wasn’t because he tried to act macho- confidence and utter calm surrounded him. It was something she desperately groped for, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t achieve that state. She felt as if she were drowning and she didn’t know how to say that out loud.
Mac cocked his head to the side and slowly reached out for her. When his hand closed gently around her arm, she didn’t react. His grip firmed and he led her over to his bed. He lay down and pulled her beside him. They lay on their sides facing each other. Still moving slowly, giving her a lot of time to pull away, he wrapped his arms around her. When she didn’t stiffen up, he pulled her close until her head tucked beneath his chin and they were plastered against each other.
She’d never been held like this before. In the past, she wouldn’t allow it. As soon as she climaxed, she regained her composure and showed the guy to the door. One guy called her a cold fish, but she didn’t let it bother her. Being called cold was better than being called a monster. None of the men she’d been with knew what was trapped inside of her. The only person she allowed to touch her was her mother. Jillian took a deep breath to control her wolf and was immediately distracted by Mac’s scent.
“Wolves need touch,” Mac said in a low voice.
“They do?” she said, lips brushing his throat as she spoke.
“Yes.”
“You live alone,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but I go to my father’s pack when I need company or I have… visitors.”
They were silent for several minutes before she asked, “You think I’ll ever be in control of my wolf?”
“I don’t know.”
She shut her eyes and splayed her hands on his warm skin. She didn’t feel suffocated. On the contrary, she felt protected. She never predicted she would trust any man enough to hold her. Mac was different. Wolf or not, he hadn’t abandoned her and she wouldn’t forget that. She owed Mac her life.
“You’re getting better,” Mac murmured.
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
“You’re cleaning and rearranging the house rather than running through the forest as a wolf. That’s progress.”
“True.”
“I’ve never seen my house so clean.”
Jillian tried to smile, but her lips wouldn’t do it. She didn’t understand Mac. He cuddled someone who tried to kill him a couple of hours ago. She was a monster, yet Mac’s body was completely relaxed.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Jillian mumbled.
“Why?”
“I could kill you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Jillian shook her head, stunned by his confidence. “You take too many chances.”
“What alternative do I have? You want me to let you go?”
She bit her lip. She knew she should leave, but she was terrified of her new reality. What if she came out of her feral state and saw that she’d murdered an innocent? She couldn’t afford to leave. “I don’t know what I want.”
“You’ll learn to control your wolf. You just need time.”
She let the feel of him seep into her and felt the bulge pressing against her lower abdomen. If nudity wasn’t a big deal for wolves, sex shouldn’t be either, right? She squeezed her eyes tight. She wanted to feel like a person again. She wanted to feel alive, not this hollow shell who couldn’t focus and drowned in nightmares. She may not know everything about Mac, but she knew one thing- he wanted her.
She scooted back a bit and Mac loosened his arms. She tilted her head up so she could see his face. Her heart pounded as she examined a face she now associated with being safe. Lust curled in her belly. She wanted Mac more than she wanted anyone in her life and she didn’t care what he was. He saw the worst in her, yet he took the time to comfort her.
Jillian leaned forward and kissed him. He stiffened as she placed a gentle hand on his chest. He didn’t return her kiss, but he didn’t move away either. She curled her fingernails lightly into his skin and moved her body against him, still kissing him gently. She scratched the stubble on his chin and urged him to open his mouth. When he obeyed at her silent command, she touched her tongue to his. Her body went up in flames and she cupped his face between her hands, but he did nothing to participate. Something was very wrong. Jillian pulled away to look at his face and froze.
His eyes were glowing moonlight in the shadows. He met her eyes for several seconds before he rolled away. He got to his feet on the other side of the bed. She curled her hands against her chest, bereft and uneasy. Mac clasped his hands behind his back and looked at her like a stern father.
“Jillian, I want to help you.”
She sat up slowly. “I know that.”
“I just want to help you.”
The blow hit her in the chest, but she didn’t crumple. She blushed and was grateful for the darkness. Mortification flooded her
and she told her body to get off the bed, but she couldn’t move.
“You’re damaged,” Mac said in a clinical voice, “and you’re not thinking clearly.”
“I’m damaged,” Jillian repeated.
“I haven’t had visitors, so if I gave you the wrong impression, I apologize.”
“You didn’t give the wrong impression, your dick did,” Jillian said coldly and scooted to the edge of the bed. “And by visitors, you mean women?”
Mac nodded. “I haven’t had- I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
She faced him across the bed. “I get it. You don’t want me.”
“I want to help. That’s it. I don’t want you to get attached.”
She’d never been so politely dismissed. He was aroused, but only because he hadn’t had a woman in a while- because she was here. “Well, that’s settled then.”
Jillian walked down the staircase. She knew he watched her from the landing, so she made sure to keep her steps even and head high. When she reached her bedroom, she closed the door gently, leaned back against it and sank to the floor with her hands over her face. Loneliness engulfed her. She made sure she didn’t make a sound as silent tears fell.
Mac knocked on the door an hour later. She hesitated before she opened it. He held a mug in his hands.
“Here, I made you something to make you sleep better,” he said.
She wanted to toss the contents of the cup in his face, but she forced herself to take it. She knew he was listening on the other side of the door so she took a sip of the hot tea. She grimaced and gulped from a cup of water loudly for Mac’s benefit. She heard his feet pad down the hall and got back into bed. She fell into fitful sleep and woke several hours later when she heard loud breathing and unfamiliar scents tinged the air. She opened her eyes and saw two men standing beside her bed. Jillian screamed as one straddled her and clapped his hand over her mouth.
Jillian sat up in bed, head bowed and hands fisted in her hair. Mac lied to her. She trembled with humiliation and rage. That bastard! He told her they were in a relationship, yet when she threw herself at him, he rejected her. Why tell such a whopping lie when he found her in New York? Why come after her in the first place? Was it because he felt responsible for her? He thought she wouldn’t remember what he said the night before Richard attacked? She slept with him, trusted him and now… Why had he lied and said they were together? Was he so busy with her that he decided to screw her this time since it was too dangerous to have “visitors?” Now she knew why Richard and Jerry said what they had when they cornered her in the kitchen. They heard Mac reject her. Maybe they thought Mac wouldn’t mind if they took her off his hands? Nothing made sense.
