“Then why send me inside at all? That seems like it has a big chance for something bad to happen.”
Xander nodded, and crushed her body to his in a hug. “I’ll park a little distance away and follow you inside. I don’t want him to know I’m there unless he must. I don’t think he’ll trust you if I’m there.”
Stella relaxed in his embrace. She inhaled his scent, letting the smell of rain on warm dirt fill her lungs. “I’m scared,” she whispered.
A large hand smoothed her hair. His ferocity had turned to tenderness. “We’ll protect you. It’s what a pack does.”
Stella stood on the tips of her toes and brought her lips to Xander’s neck. He smelled stronger there. She wanted to rub her face against his skin and cover herself in his scent.
Her chest heaved with erratic breaths. Her nipples stiffened into attention-seeking peaks that she was sure he could feel through their clothes.
Stella swallowed several times and looked up. Xander was gazing down at her through thick eyelashes. His rapt attention drove her wild. Her exploring hands rubbed his growing length through his pants. She slowly licked the center curve of her upper lip.
Xander broke. He leaned in and seized her full lower lip between his teeth.
Stella made a small sound, but she didn’t jerk away. Her hands moved to his chest and fisted in his shirt to keep her balance. Xander gripped her round ass with both hands and pulled her closer.
She surrendered. Xander claimed her mouth roughly, but she wanted it. Stella moaned when their tongues first touched. She matched his urgency with a need of her own.
He growled with feral approval. Then, suddenly, ripped himself away from her. Xander shook his head, denying his wolf as much as her.
“Not until the pack is safe. Not until I can trust this is what you want.”
Chapter Four
Stella glanced in the rearview mirror and nodded. She didn’t know if Xander could see, but she could see him flash a thumbs up to her. She pulled into the parking lot for her building and watched his car drive past to wherever he would hide his car.
She approached the building slowly to give Xander time to catch up. She knew they needed to remain apart, but she wanted to at least know he was in the building. She didn’t know where Tiana had hidden away the others, so they weren’t any help on her nerves.
The building was still eerily quiet. Lights were turned off, and Stella could barely pick out any sounds of televisions being watched. The parking lot had been light on cars, and she wondered if the unwelcoming feeling of the building urged humans away.
Stella let her keys jangle. She didn’t want to spook Derek into anything stupid, and she didn’t want him thinking she was up to something. Both scenarios frightened her. She paused with the key in the lock. She could leave now, and say he was gone. She could…
“Not until the pack is safe.” Xander’s words echoed in her ears. Stella straightened her shoulders. She wouldn’t turn away.
The apartment felt empty when she entered. She moved her keys to poke sharp ends out from between her fingers in case she was attacked.
She passed by the bedroom and poked her head inside. No one, and not a thing disturbed.
The kitchen was similarly empty. So was the bathroom.
Stella set her keys on the kitchen counter and put her hands on her hips. Where could Derek have gone?
She scented the air, but couldn’t pick out where he was hiding. The whole unit smelled like wolf. Her lip curled at the invasion of her territory.
“Hello, Stella.”
She spun, and found Derek emerging from the bedroom. He blocked her access to the door. Two others followed him, though she didn’t know how they all hid in the room without her seeing them when she passed by.
Colin, she recognized immediately. He hadn’t lost any of the baby face looks from college. She wondered if he still was bothered when cashiers asked for age verification on his boozy purchases.
The third man took a moment to register before his face clicked. She had been in shock, injured, and feverish in their face-to-face dealings. He’d avoided seeing her after the initial night, and limited their conversations to phone calls. He was the first on the scene of her attack, and the broken link in Xander’s chain of information from the police. He was no law-abiding officer.
“You’ve really put us into a bind, Stella.” Derek advanced a step.
Stella took a step back. She eyed the other two, not wanting to let them flank her.
He couldn’t mean Xander and the others, could he? Stella’s heart skipped a beat.
“You should have accepted me more willingly. You’re forcing us to convince you.”
“Convince me of what? Derek, what’s going on here?” She choked down the fearful squeak that tried to speak. She wouldn’t let him scare her to silence.
“That you’re to be my mate, of course. You’re a werewolf, Stella. So am I, so is Colin, so is Officer McNulty here. He was given your case because Colin asked. We didn’t want outsiders to intrude, but we didn’t think we’d stumble upon that other pack.” Colin glowered at her. McNulty waved a sarcastic greeting.
“You did this to me.” She didn’t ask the question. She didn’t think she could act properly surprised at the moment. She stated the fact.
“It was a promotion for both of us. Colin got me a job working for his company. Greg and Travis from college are all there, too. There was only one problem. Well, two.”
Colin interrupted Derek. “You have to understand, Stells, my family’s business is very successful. Derek was wasting away at that joke of a company you lured him to after college. He asked if I had anything available, so of course I was going to help out a friend.”
“Which brings us to the two problems. One, I wasn’t a werewolf. That was easily solved.” Derek checked off an imaginary list.
Colin continued for him. “Two, he needed a mate. They’re old, conservative businessmen, my family. They won’t tolerate any alternative lifestyles. You don’t get far if you’re not a married wolf with pups.”
“And who better than my lovely, longterm girlfriend? Everyone used to say our future children would be gorgeous.”
Stella couldn’t help it. Laughter bubbled out of her. She bent over with it and held her stomach. Tears dotted the corners of her eyes. “Sorry,” she giggled again. “Sorry. This is just all too ridiculous. Have you listened to yourselves? This plan sounds like a bad teen drama.”
“I assure you, sugar, this is for real. What do you say? You’ll be my mate and have my children, won’t you? We’ll be well off. You can even hire a nanny if you don’t want to see them.”
The name grated on her nerves, like nails scraping down a chalkboard. She straightened. Her voice was hard as metal. “You do not have my cooperation. Find your career advancement with someone else.”
They shoved her into the bedroom. The door closed behind Colin and McNulty. Her body tensed as Derek approached her. She backed away from him.
“You’ll realize how silly this was once we’re mated properly.” Derek tried to soothe her.
Stella glanced to either side. She couldn’t barge her way through the bedroom door with the two men blocking it, even if she could get around Derek. She couldn’t wait to see if Xander would come save her. He could have been delayed for any number of reasons.
Her wolf growled and fought for control. Stella fought back. There was no sign of Xander, and she couldn’t fight off three werewolves at once. She needed a pack. Her pack was outside, waiting.
The window in the room was the only option. Her unit was on the second floor, and faced the parking lot. Her keys weren’t in her pocket, so she couldn’t make a break for the car. But she could lose them in the alley, get to the main street and flag down some help.
Stella turned and ran. She crashed through the window. Derek screamed obscenities at her through the broken glass.
She landed hard on her feet and heard a pop before one of her legs gave wa
y. She tumbled forward. Glass shards and rough pavement dug into her palms. She looked back to her window and saw it empty.
She pushed herself to move. Derek knew the building. He would lead them to her quickly, though after seeing her injured wouldn’t attempt to follow her through the window. She hobbled toward the dark alley.
Rough hands grabbed her once she reached the darkness. Glowing amber eyes met hers. She sniffed. The man was an Inferno Wolf and one of her pack mates. She stopped fighting his touch and allowed him to lead her further into the alley.
Tiana’s elongated face waited for her. She was holding her transformation in check. Stella wondered at that, until she realized werewolves came with their own set of weaponry. Sharp claws and terrible fangs could be would be easily accessible if handguns or knives were out of the equation.
Stella watched the wolves rush out. Some were in their human forms, others had shifted completely into wolves, and still others were somewhere in between. They all ran effortlessly toward the fight. Their hair, fur, tails, body, all of them streamed out of the darkness and into the moonlit parking lot.
Stella saw more join. Derek hadn’t appeared, though she watched for him specifically. Colin was there. Greg, too. She thought she saw the investigating officer, McNulty, go down under the weight of two large wolves.
“Nephilim!” Someone cried.
Three figures in long, dark coats waded into the fight. Hoods covered their faces, and gloves covered their hands. Bodies parted around them like the Red Sea parting for Moses. They stopped in the center of the commotion.
“Werewolves, STOP!” The middle man said.
The last of the fighting subsided. The sides shuffled apart. Xander’s Inferno Wolves stood to one side, while Derek’s pack stood to another. Half-and fully-shifted werewolves turned themselves back into humans in various states of undress. Stella was shocked that they nearly matched the number of Inferno Wolves.
“Have you all lost your minds?” The middle one said. “This is a city. There could be any number of witnesses gazing down on you from these windows.”
More dark and hooded figured emerged impossibly from the shadows. They surrounded the wolves on all sides.
Xander waded forward with Derek in front of him. Derek’s hands were pinned tightly behind his back. Xander shoved him to his knees in front of the speaker.
“This one forced the shift on another,” he announce for everyone to hear. Even some from Derek and Colin’s pack muttered uncomfortably.
Tiana led Colin forward by the ear she had pinched between her fingers. She looked wild. Red hair streamed all around her face and she grinned toothily. She was less gentle than Xander, and kicked the back of Colin’s knee to make him kneel. “We think this is the pack leader.”
The dynamics puzzled Stella. The way Xander and Tiana deferred to the speaker was like speaking to an officer of the law. She put her trust in them.
“Colin started it all,” Stella called out. She hobbled forward, her ankle screaming at every step, and stood between Xander and Tiana. Colin and Derek craned their necks to stare death in her direction. “They tried to force me to go with them tonight. It sounded like a secret society, Skulls and Bones thing, gone wrong.”
The leader of the Nephilim nodded. “We have been watching them for some time. This one has made a mess of things.” He pointed to Colin.
The left of the trio spoke. Stella expected another man’s voice, and was startled when a light and feminine voice filled the silence. “The Nephilim apologize for what you have endured.”
The right of the trio stepped forward and tapped what appeared to be a metal wand against the wrists of Colin and Derek. Ropes of fire snaked around their hands. “Don’t try to escape,” he rasped, “Firebands will burn hot enough to wound, but they won’t break.”
The middle nodded to Xander. “Be careful, wolf. We are watching.”
The other Nephilim circled the werewolves of Colin’s pack and herded them toward the dark alley. All of the Inferno Wolves were cleared out, so they had no problem marching forward. Bulky shapes disappeared as soon as they hit the shadows.
The trio waited until all the werewolves and Nephilim were gone. Then they, too, entered the shadows to disappear.
Stella stared after them. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “What are they?”
Xander edged closer. “Nephilim. Children of gods and man. They serve as the police force of the otherworld. Most creatures handle their own conflicts. They step in when humans are in danger, mostly.”
Her head swam. “There’re more than werewolves?”
Tiana laughed harshly. She was still riding the buzz of the battle. “You have a lot to learn, pup.”
Stella turned one aching step to stand in front of Tiana. Her eyes flashed. “Is that how you speak to your alpha’s mate?”
Tiana tried to keep eye contact. Stella felt the others shifting from foot to foot. Tiana lowered her gaze and took a step back. Dominance had been declared.
Something changed in the way Xander carried himself, Stella saw out of the corner of her eye. He was tense, but seemed ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.
The others milled around. Tiana was the first to reach for Stella’s hand. She kept her eyes lowered. After a swift touch of her cheek to Stella’s palm, she shuffled away.
Everyone in the pack did the same. Stella lost her own uncomfortable stiffness as the actions became normalized in her mind. They were accepting her rank in the pack. They needed the scent of their alpha’s mate to solidify her placement.
Tiana locked eyes with Xander from across the group. At his nod, she sounded a sharp whistle. The last of the pack finished absorbing her scent.
They were well trained. Stella admired that. Tiana was a good leader, but someone to be watched. She didn’t forget the casual threat to herself and Xander the other woman made earlier that day.
Those that fully shifted hastily donned the clothes they had discarded. The pack shot smiles toward Xander and her before they disappeared from the parking lot.
Xander let out a breath. “You’re sure?”
Stella wrapped her arms around him. She leaned on him for more support than she strictly needed. The ache of her foot was already starting to fade. Werewolf healing did have its advantages.
It wasn’t Xander’s fault that she hesitated in becoming his mate in the eyes of the pack. The year had held so much change. Derek leaving her after their years together was more than enough change for one person. He betrayed her and forced her into an entirely new life. Xander saved her, she didn’t doubt that.
She considered it almost like a marriage. After so many years, she still wasn’t ready to be Derek’s bride. She certainly held no ideas of that after he revealed himself to be utterly scummy. Xander, though. He was everything she wanted. He was powerful, as a pack alpha should be. He was also gentle when needed. He didn’t rule over the others with an iron fist. She wasn’t sure they even knew how gently he guided them sometimes.
Turning into a werewolf had been the most frightening event of her life. She was ready to take the plunge into the next one. “Yes,” she breathed. “Yes.”
Chapter Five
Back in her apartment, Stella knew she had made the correct choice. She felt stifled in the small space, like a caged animal.
She saw it through Xander’s eyes. Derek was too strong a presence. His scent radiated from the bedroom closet where she put all the items he left behind. She would need to take all of it to a donation center. She imagined she could smell every surface Derek touched and every step he took in the place. It made her feel unclean.
A wicked smile played across her lips. She knew a way to banish Derek from the apartment, at least temporarily. Her teeth caught her lower lip at the explicit thoughts racing through her head, all of them starring Xander Dante, her alpha and mate.
“Come here,” she beckoned. She turned and headed toward the kitchen. She shucked off her shirt as she walked. Her b
ra dropped behind her a moment later. Her hair move over her shoulder as she glanced behind to make sure Xander followed and was rewarded with the sight of him eyeing her swaying hips. She toed off her shoes one step at a time. With her back turned to an empty countertop, she eased her jeans and underwear down her legs. She hopped onto the counter a second later.
Xander followed behind her like a devotee. The lust in his eyes turned the green into dark pools. He dropped to his knees in front of her. Starting at her knee, he slowly kissed up the inside of her thigh. A swollen ache grew inside her by the time he reached her open center.
One swift lick was all she received before he moved back to her other knee. He repeated his kisses from before with more urgency. His teeth caught her delicate skin and bit gently on her upper thigh. His tongue played in the crease of her thigh, and sent a jolt through her body.
Xander pulled her close to the edge of the counter and flung her legs over his shoulders. His eyes closed almost in rapture as he nuzzled the soft skin of her thighs.
One finger eased into her slick heat and hooked against her most sensitive spot. A delighted growl brushed through his lips at the wetness he encountered. He was casual with his motion, but the continued touch drove her crazy. She fisted a hand in his hair and urged him where she wanted him.
He opened his eyes and locked with hers. He turned his kisses to her center, still with a finger deep inside her. He rolled his tongue gently over her nub before taking her in his mouth. He suckled and probed with his tongue, while another finger joined the other inside.
Stella clutched at the edge of the counter with one hand, and held her breast with the other. She thumbed her nipple and brought herself ever closer to the edge. She didn’t think she could stand any more teasing. She needed him.
Just as her inner muscles were quivering and she thought she’d unravel, Xander stood. A groan escaped Stella’s frustrated lips. With a chuckle, Xander pulled off his shirt and unzipped his pants. Stella reached for him and let his cock pump into her hand.
It wasn’t enough for either of them. Xander moved between her thighs and Stella wrapped her ankles around his waist to pull him closer. He filled her with one thrust, and she quivered at the noise he made.
Inferno Wolves: The Complete Tale: Werewolf Paranormal Romance Page 7
