by Kate Steele
Mutters and warning growls filtered through the crowd.
“Lillian, you go too far,” Delancy warned.
“Do I, Charles?” she sneered. “As soon as I’ve put this human in her place, perhaps I’ll put you in yours.”
Gasps of disbelief rippled through the crowd. Lillian had all but challenged Twin Pines alpha. Before he could respond, Lillian faced Bryn.
“I invoke right of challenge,” she declared.
“Invalid,” Logan stated coldly. “Bryn’s not joining Twin Pines but Iron Tower, of which you are not a member.”
“I’m a member of this, our brotherhood and sisterhood of werewolves. Are you saying now that members of Twin Pines pack are not entitled to full rights and privileges?” Lillian asked, deliberately backing him into a corner.
“I would be the last to imply such a thing, as I’m sure you’re well aware, Lillian.” In his anger, Logan’s eyes had bled to amber pools.
“Then my challenge stands,” she stated. “Come and face me little bitch, unless you’re afraid?” Her scorn was clearly apparent.
Bryn pushed forward. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m only surprised you have the guts to challenge me face-to-face. Last time you took the coward’s way. I’ve been hoping for an opportunity for some payback.”
Her words caused a stir, as everyone was well aware of the speculation that Lillian had administered the drug that had made Bryn ill.
“I’ll do more than make you sick this time,” she bragged, in her anger unwittingly confessing. “You’re going to bleed, bitch.”
Bryn, fueled with anger, started toward Lillian, “I’ll show you who’s the bitch, bitch.”
Several things happened simultaneously. Logan grabbed Bryn, restraining her. Delancy and Jace came between Lillian and Bryn, and a voice rang out.
“I accept the challenge on Bryn’s behalf.”
Murmurs of amazement filled the stunned silence of the clearing as Reece Cofield stepped into view. It was well-known that Reece and Lillian were lovers. Bryn was the first to recover. “I don’t need him to fight my battles,” she declared hotly. Her blood was up and boiling hot.
“Shut her up,” Jace instructed Logan.
“I can take that slut, just let me…mmmpffuc lo-aan!”
Logan wrapped a struggling Bryn securely in his arms and efficiently shut her up by the placement of one large hand over her mouth. “Unless you’d like a spanking here and now in front of all these people, you will be quiet,” he ordered sternly.
Bryn gave him a mutinous glare, but subsided and stilled in his arms.
Jace turned to Lillian. “We all know that this challenge is inappropriate, Lillian. As a werewolf, even in human form your strength is far greater than that of any normal human. And although I believe Bryn—” he turned to her, giving her a wink, “—would try really hard to kick your ass, it wouldn’t be a fair contest. Therefore, with Charles and Logan’s approval, I believe we should let Reece stand in for Bryn.”
Logan and Delancy both nodded in agreement.
Jace continued. “What will it be, Lillian? Do you withdraw your challenge or accept Reece as Bryn’s champion? Champion. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
Lillian felt her rage subsiding as hurt took its place. Reece wanted to stand in for Bryn! How could he betray her this way? After all the intimacies she’d shared with him.
Reece knew the pain she’d suffered at the loss of her mother. He knew the hurt her father’s cold indifference caused her. He’d accepted and helped calm the rages that sometimes tore through her like wind through wet paper. His calm and gentle demeanor was a balm Lillian had never experienced with any other man. And now this, just like her father, this treachery, this betrayal. She felt her heart turn to ice.
“I accept her champion,” Lillian stated coldly.
“Clear the area,” Jace ordered. Everyone moved back, leaving an open space in which Lillian and Reece faced off.
With no hesitation or shame they began to undress. Lillian’s heart pinched thinking of the times when the shedding of clothes had been a precursor to much more pleasant activities. Despite her resolve to keep him unaware of her hurt, she had to ask. “Why are you doing this?”
“I have my reasons, Lillian.” Reece strove to keep his voice and expression neutral. He knew her. She kept it well hidden, but he knew he was causing her pain. His inner beast howled in anger, frustration and guilt. He kept a tight rein on himself. He knew this was their one real chance at happiness. If the only way to make Lillian see the truth was to cause her pain, than so be it. It would be well worth it, and he would soothe that pain and make her happy if he had to shove it down her throat!
“You can’t win, Reece,” she informed him coolly.
“Don’t worry about me, Lillian. When this is done we’ll both win,” he assured her.
She puzzled over his reply, as she did his body as it was revealed by his disrobing. How had she failed to notice the sleek expanse of firm muscle that covered his body? He looked larger somehow, more formidable. His stance bespoke a confidence that had hitherto been lacking. Lillian felt a slight shiver of apprehension, which she quickly suppressed.
At last, standing naked, they waited.
Jace stepped forward. “Begin.”
Their bodies blurred and changed in a movement so quick as to be invisible. The two wolves faced off and immediately engaged in battle.
Snarls and growls filled the air, teeth and claws fought to find purchase in the vulnerable flesh of the opponent. They charged and feinted, lunged and retreated, circling, circling, searching for the weakness that would end the contest.
The smaller she-wolf was quick and agile, she darted in and away, leaving scratches and slashes designed to slowly drain her enemy’s strength. She sought to come in from behind, to hamstring her prey.
The larger male was agile enough to keep her from doing any serious damage. He knew her tactics well and kept her in front of him. His strategy was to overpower with sheer strength and drive her into submission. Her throat was his objective, not to rip and tear, but to control.
Minutes passed as the contest wore on. Lillian began to realize that she was up against a formidable opponent. Reece was blocking her every move with ease, countering her again and again. This was not the easy contest she had thought it would be and she was nearing the end of her strength. Reece had changed. Somehow, someway, he had acquired the physical ability and determination to take her down. Rage and pain warred for supremacy inside. She struggled to keep her emotions in check, knowing they would only hinder, not help.
Lillian knew that she had already lost Reece—his betrayal was unforgivable. If she lost this battle she would also lose her place, her beta status in the pack. At that moment she spotted Bryn across the clearing. It was all that human’s fault. The pain and anger burst free, and with a tortured howl Lillian propelled herself across the clearing.
Bryn’s eyes widened with fear as the maddened she-wolf bore down on her. Logan stepped in front of her, prepared to protect her at any cost. The she-wolf launched herself at her target but never made contact.
Reece too, had been prepared. He caught Lillian broadside, knocking her to the ground, hearing her breath explode from her lungs. Giving her no time to recover, he stood over her heaving, supine body and took the skin of her throat in his teeth, uttering a warning growl.
The she-wolf lay stunned, chest heaving as she fought to recover her breath. The male was over her, his teeth holding her in this hated submissive posture. She struggled weakly and was quickly subdued by a greater pressure on her throat and another, sterner growl of warning. She’d never felt so shamed, so humiliated, so humbled, so…so horny! The hot, musky smell of him was filling her senses, making her tremble, making her want to rise and present herself to him for the mating. He’d proven himself a worthy adversary, a worthy mate.
She whimpered her submission, her need. Her throat was cautiously released, a rolling growl holding
her immobile. The male caught her gaze and she lowered her head in an unmistakable gesture.
Their forms shimmered and changed. Reece stood victorious over Lillian, waiting.
She looked up at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Why did you do this? For her?”
Reece bent down to her. “Not for Bryn, Lillian. For you. For us. I fought for us, baby. I love you.” He reached a hand down to her.
Lillian stared at his hand and then into the eyes of the only man she had ever trusted and loved, who loved her in return, without conditions, without reservations. She placed her hand in his. “Reece.” Her choked invocation of his name galvanized him into action. He pulled her up and over his shoulder in a smooth graceful move. Without a word he marched off into the woods to claim his mate.
The silence that had filled the clearing was broken by one strident voice. “Well, I’ll be damned,” Jace declared.
Laughter and the renewed buzz of conversation filled the air. This was an event that would be talked of for some time to come.
“You know, Logan,” Jace theorized, staring in the direction of Reece and Lillian’s departing forms, “that boy exhibited some moves that were awfully familiar looking.” He turned, pinning Logan with a thoughtful stare. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Not a thing,” Logan answered easily, his face a study in innocence.
Delancy looked from Jace to Logan and shrugged. “Looks like Twin Pines has a new beta. It sure will be nice having Lillian off my back.” He wandered away with a satisfied smirk.
Jace snorted in disgust, a sneer twisting his lips. “Dumbass doesn’t even realize his troubles have just begun. Five’ll get you ten, next year, Reece is Twin Pines alpha,” he offered.
Logan upped the stakes. “Six month, tops. Make it twenty and you got yourself a bet.”
Jace considered for a moment then stuck out his hand. “Done.”
“Done,” Logan repeated as they shook on it.
Jace took a still pouting Bryn’s hand in his. “By the way, in all the excitement I almost forgot. Welcome to the pack.”
“Thanks.” Bryn made a sulky moue. “I still say I could have taken her.”
Logan gave her a healthy swat on the ass, then soothingly rubbed her abused flesh. “Bloodthirsty vixen, settle down. Show a little respect for your alpha.”
“Which one?” she groused.
“Both,” Logan and Jace answered simultaneously, and laughed at her grimace of annoyance.
The atmosphere noticeably lightened as the packs dispersed into smaller groups to discuss the fight. It seemed Logan and Jace were not the only ones predicting the rise of a new alpha for Twin Pines pack. Many a speculative glance was sent toward the unsuspecting Delancy.
Bryn found John Maigrey and his mate, Becca, stopping to talk with them as Logan and Jace wandered away, intent on a discussion involving boundary etiquette. After the confrontation with Lillian, she was content to relax in the company of the older couple, at first unaware of the sexual undercurrents sparked by the fight.
Her tranquility was short-lived.
With her back to the majority of the group, she paused mid-sentence as a wave of unease passed over her. Bryn turned around to discover that Logan was surrounded by at least a dozen women. All of them were touching him in some manner, the sensual slide of a hand down his back, chest or arms, the deliberate brush of a curved body against his.
As though taking a blow to the solar plexus, Bryn felt an immediate shock of pain. Logan was doing nothing to discourage them! Not only that, he seemed to be enjoying their attention.
One by one, the women began to shed their clothes. Logan turned his gaze to Bryn, his eyes beginning to shine with that familiar molten-gold color that told of his arousal. His expression conveyed a question. And a challenge.
Bryn began to see red as the pain dissipated, anger taking its place. “What the hell is going on?” she growled.
Jace, who had silently made his way to her side, spoke softly in her ear, “They choose to ignore your claim. They’re presenting themselves for Logan’s pleasure. Although he wears your scent, unlike you, he’s unmarked.”
“Unmarked?”
Jace gently touched the tiny marks that had been left behind when Logan bit her during their lovemaking. “These marks,” he explained.
Fire flared in her eyes as she glared at the scene unfolding before her eyes. “Marks or no, he’s mine,” she hissed, and began stalking toward the group that circled Logan.
Unbeknownst to her, Jace wore a smile of satisfaction as he watched her prepare to claim her mate.
Held in the thrall of an instinct so primal and basic that it couldn’t be stopped, couldn’t be questioned, Bryn was ready to fight for what was hers.
Her steely gaze locked with Logan’s as she moved toward him. Sparks flared in his golden eyes, kindled by the sensual deliberation of her approach. Bryn ignored the women surrounding him, passing through their midst as though they were invisible.
One boldly stepped directly into her path.
Without a word, Bryn stared at the interloper, her gaze hard, determined and unwavering. The would-be poacher at first returned her regard, but finally, intimidated by Bryn’s unswerving resolve, she lowered her eyes and stepped away.
Bryn continued forward until she faced Logan. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re mine,” she declared.
“As you’re mine,” Logan agreed.
Captured by irresistible impulse, Bryn threw herself into Logan’s arms and wrapped her legs around him. A feral growl left her throat as she felt his erection press into the apex of her jean-clad thighs. She ground herself against him, gasping with pleasure as his hands grasped and kneaded the firm mounds of her rounded bottom.
Oblivious to the watchers that gathered around them, Bryn captured Logan’s lips, her tongue ravishing the warm, welcoming cavity of his mouth. She swallowed the rumbling groan that he uttered, feeling the vibration in her heavy, swollen breasts, where they pressed firmly against his chest. Without shame, she pressed her body into his, wanting nothing more at that moment than to be joined with him, to back up her claim with a mating.
She released his mouth, her lips moving over the hard ridge of his jaw and down the sensitive skin of his neck to his shoulder. She pushed his shirt aside and laved his warm, golden skin with her tongue, pulling another moan from Logan. A wicked, satisfied smile ghosted across her lips a split second before she set her teeth to his shoulder and bit.
Logan threw his head back, the sound issuing from his throat a near howl. Bryn felt their bodies descend as Logan’s knees buckled with the pleasurable pain of her bite. She kept her grip and found herself on his lap, her legs still wrapped tightly around his body. Mindlessly, she bucked against the thick bulge of his cock.
With a savage growl, Logan rolled and brought her beneath him, thrusting himself against her with a hard steady rhythm. His hands found the open collar of her shirt and yanked, sending the buttons flying, revealing the delicate lace of her bra. Pushing one cup down, his mouth fastened on her engorged, sensitized nipple. Bryn cried out, her back arching as he suckled her.
Inflamed by their mutual need, climax exploded between them. Logan’s guttural groan joined Bryn’s wail as their bodies writhed in completion.
Bryn lay in a sated heap, Logan’s body draped over hers, as small aftershocks pulsed through her. Eyes closed, she could feel the hard rhythm of their hearts ease, just as their breathing slowed to normal. She’d momentarily forgotten just where they were until a voice pierced the pleasurable fog that filled her brain.
“I’d say you’re now officially mated.”
Bryn gasped and froze. “Oh. My. God,” she whispered. “Look what you made me do!”
Logan snorted with amusement. “I made you do this? You practically raped me, Bryn.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have, if you hadn’t been ogling those other women.”
“I didn’t initiate that, and I
wasn’t ogling.”
“You were practically drooling!”
“I was not!”
“You were so!”
Jace squatted down next to them. “Children, let’s not squabble,” he told them reasonably, before looking up at the gathered pack members. “No mistake about it, they’re definitely mated.” He winked at the two of them and rose to saunter away amidst the laughter of the dispersing pack.
Bryn and Logan looked at each other and grinned.
“Come on.” Logan stood and offered his hand to Bryn.
She adjusted her bra and pulled her shirt together, all the while studying him. Putting her hand in his, she let him help her up.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
He put his arm around Bryn’s shoulders and led her back in the direction of the car. Bryn began to giggle.
“What’s so funny?”
“That’s a nice wet spot you’ve got on the front of your jeans.”
“Don’t push it, girlie,” he warned.
Bryn just smiled and kept walking.
* * * * *
Later, in the early morning hours, Logan awoke with a raging hard-on and the fertile scent of Bryn bewitching his soul. Mate—mate in heat. The scent was so pure and alluring, so rich, ripe and mesmerizing, he was compelled, without conscious thought, into action.
He rolled her pliant body to her stomach and pulled her to her knees, stuffing pillows under her. Spreading her thighs and holding her firmly, his mouth and tongue found her pussy. Her spellbinding scent filled his nostrils, adamantly demanding his attention. A few laps at her slit as he pierced her with his tongue, along with small sucklings of her clit had copious cream flowing. Before she was fully awake he had her aroused and mounted.
Bryn came awake, a moan flowing from her throat as Logan slid fully inside her suddenly pulsing sheath, burying himself to the hilt. He lay over her, unmoving except for the short jabbing thrusts of his hips against her lush bottom that sent the plump head of his cock knocking at her womb.
