Brand of the Pack

by Tera Shanley

  “A rogue?” Grey spat out. “What, you wanted to be boss? You couldn’t handle pack life so you are going to go make your own? You will put anyone stupid enough to be led by you in danger. You are not the one for Silver Wolf. She’s made her choice and it’s me.”

  The young man widened his eyes like a deer in headlights. One eye was a brilliant lupine blue and one was brown. At least his wolf had the good instincts to be terrified. Dark unwashed hair brushed his forehead, and though he was shorter than Grey, he was still tall. He was lean to the point of skinny.

  “Then I challenge you for her,” he said bravely while he pointed at Marissa.

  A growl ripped through Grey’s body. “She’s fourteen!”

  The boy swallowed audibly, and the stink of fear touched her nose. Grey backed off in a monumental show of control.

  The boy’s voice shook, but he pressed on. “She’ll get older, and it’s not fair that your pack has all females in it. I went to Summit last year. I know most packs don’t even have one female, and all you have are girls.”

  Marissa whined, pacing back and forth behind her.

  Morgan snapped. Stupid werewolves. She launched herself at the boy. She’d be damned if anyone was going to take Marissa away. He only had a moment to bring his arm up to shield his face before she latched on to it. Jerking and shaking his arm, she let the weight of her body add to her momentum. His scream was one part shock, two parts pain.

  “Get her off of me!”

  She stilled, holding onto his arm as he stood trapped against his ride. He tried to kick her but she buried her teeth even deeper into his flesh. When he brought his hand toward her face, she latched down again, only giving him relief if he was perfectly still. Her teeth touched bone.

  “I can’t get her off of you. She has a mind of her own,” Grey said, voice dripping with amusement. “You forget these females you want so badly in your pack are people, too, with their own opinions and actions. You have become used to talking about them like they don’t have a choice in the matter. Marissa is part of my pack, and to switch to another, it has to be the wolf’s choice, male or female. Silver Wolf was a special exception to the rule because of her lineage, but not anymore.”

  A long, steady growl came from Marissa’s throat behind Morgan. She was getting closer.

  “I’d say it doesn’t look like either one of them want to go with you.” Grey chuckled. “Can you imagine riding in your little jeep with one of them? You wouldn’t live to the end of my driveway.”

  The boy whimpered as his blood stained Morgan’s face.

  Grey sucked air through his front teeth. “That looks like it hurts, but if I know my mate, she’ll be going for your throat next. I’d suggest if you want her off, you go ahead and tell her you’re going to leave our territory and never come back.”

  “I’m leaving! Let me go, and I won’t come back. I don’t want either of you anymore.”

  Morgan latched down even harder until her teeth ground against the bone before she let go. A warning. She released him and backed up slowly, snarling through blood soaked teeth. The boy clutched his arm and scrambled in the jeep. As he peeled out, dirt blasted backward over them. Grey stood frozen with his ear toward the woods. He listened until the boy’s jeep hit the main road and sped off.

  With a deep sigh, he turned a troubled look to Morgan. Hooking his hands on his waist, he said, “The boy showing up here proves that me claiming you won’t stop all of the challengers.” His gaze drifted back to the road like he could see trouble coming. With a scowl, he ran his hands through his tousled hair in a gesture of pure agitation. “I’m going to go get cleaned up. I’ll see you inside.” He turned and walked into the cabin, leaving Morgan and Marissa privacy to make their Change.

  Morgan watched him disappear into the house with anxious fluttering in her stomach. She felt cold, despite the warm breeze lifting her fur. She’d thought the challenges were done after Grey claimed her, but clearly, she’d been wrong. Between the Dragon and the threat of uninformed challengers, she was still at risk. They all were.

  Morgan loped into the brush to Change, then waited for Marissa to finish her transition and handed her a pile of clothes. “You okay?”

  The girl nodded earnestly and took a deep, steadying breath. “That stuff isn’t quite so scary with you and Grey around.”

  She ruffled Marissa’s hair and banished the fear of future danger. “We wouldn’t ever let anyone take you.”

  “It’s really easy to take you seriously when your face is covered in a challenger’s blood.”

  Morgan swiped a hand across her cheek, and sure enough, a crimson smear covered her palm. It should probably bother her, but she couldn’t conjure any regret. She needed to learn to defend herself, and this was her first stand. Over her cold, lifeless body would anyone take her from home. Everything in her sang that this was far from over, that she and Grey’s fight for normalcy had only begun, but he was worth it. She owed it to her pack to start depending on her own protective instincts.

  Marissa grabbed her discarded pile of dew-soaked clothes from the lawn and headed straight for her room to get cleaned up. When Morgan climbed the stairs, the shower was on. She closed the door quietly behind her and turned to find a large box on the bed. She looked from the bathroom to the box and rushed to the bed, then tore at the wrapping. Inside was nestled a beautiful dress. Form-fitting with a lace overlay, the garment was the color of deep, red wine. The fabric was soft to the touch. She pulled it in front and admired it in the mirror. He had picked it out especially for her.

  His voice startled her. “I want to take you out somewhere special tonight. I thought we could get dressed up.”

  Grey held a towel around his waist. He had said the statement with question in his voice, so she tossed the dress on the bed and nodded as she stalked him. She jumped into his arms and squeezed him tightly as their bond hummed steadily between them. “I’d love that.”

  Morgan dared her first look at the new brand on her arm the second Grey set her down in front of the bathroom mirror. It still hurt so badly, it had to be infected. When she cleaned off the fogged mirror with her forearm, however, her arm held a pleasant surprise. The cuts had closed back over, thanks to her accelerated werewolf healing, and the scabs suggested the brand would look clean and identical to the picture she and Grey had found. She turned and looked at it from all angles. Her light purple eyes rimmed with moisture.

  She was part of a pack.

  Since her sister, Marianna, had died, Morgan hadn’t felt a part of anything. She had thrown her walls up in an attempt to shield her heart from enduring the pain of a loss that wide again. And then Grey came along. Her quiet, patient, strong mate who had the ability to carry a thousand pounds on his shoulders and quiet Lana’s soft cries in a breath. He had saved her a hundred times and didn’t know about any of them. He would be a great alpha with a strong pack under him someday, and he had chosen her to begin it. Wolf gave off a power that was a burden to others, but for her, he only offered affection, protection, and unconditional love. She smiled and ran her fingertips across the healing scar of the brand that announced she was part of something so much greater and more important than herself.

  No matter what dangers found them, they would face them together.

  “I can feel how proud you are.” His dancing eyes found hers in the mirror, and the corners of his mouth turned up in her favorite smile.

  “I belong to you now,” she said.

  He shook his head slightly. “Now we belong to each other.”

  Meet the Author

  Tera Shanley writes in sub-genres that stretch from Paranormal Romance, to Historic Western Romance, to Apocalyptic (zombie) Romance. The common theme? She loves love. A self-proclaimed bookworm, she was raised in small town Texas and could often be found decorating a table at the local library. She currently lives in Dallas with her husband and two young children and when she isn’t busy running around aft
er her family, she’s writing a new story or devouring a good book. Any spare time is dedicated to chocolate licking, rifle slinging, zombie slaying, friend hugging, and the great outdoors. For more information about Tera and her work, visit www.terashanley.com.

  Turn the page for a special excerpt of Tera Shanley’s

  Silver Wolf Clan

  Loving him will be legendary...if she can survive it.

  What happens when monsters turn out to be real? One summer night while camping in the woods, Morgan Carter finds out in a big way. A tall mysterious stranger, Greyson Crawford, risks his life to try and save her sister from the vicious wolf attacking their camp. When he’s bitten and disappears into the night, Morgan can only assume the worst.

  Greyson shows up a year later, and he’s a different animal altogether. His eye color shifts constantly and the rumble in his throat sounds more animal than human. She hasn’t any idea where he’s been all this time, but a good guess as to what he’s become.

  Grey is determined not to let the darkness of his new existence affect Morgan and the little girl in her care. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Morgan but knows he should stay away and let her live a normal life. That’s easier said than done, though. A new danger pulls him from the shadows to keep her safe, and he’s no wolf in sheep’s clothing.

  Can she accept what lurks just below his surface? More importantly, can she survive him?

  On sale now!

  Chapter 1

  Grey jolted awake. The air stirred with something just beyond his senses that made the blood in his veins run cold. Something unnatural. He kicked out of the sleeping bag, which had tangled around his legs, and sat up. The fire had gone out long before and the slow burning embers offered little light. The full moon was more helpful but his eyes still needed to adjust. Silence surrounded him in the forest, except for the sound of his breathing and the beating of his heart. Erratic and fast. Like wings of the birds that had been scared into stillness. What woke him?

  A scream echoed through the woods.

  He jumped up and flew into action. The fancy knife his grandfather had given him gleamed from his overturned boot near the fire pit. He pulled it and turned in a slow circle. Where had the sound come from? The terror filled scream of a woman was something he never expected to hear out here. Not when he thought he’d camped far enough away from everyone. His eyes adjusted. Another scream, more horror filled than the last. The hairs rose on his arms. He needed action. There. That way, through the woods.

  He ran, ignoring his unprotected, bare feet on the uneven, obstacle riddled ground. Branches whipped at his face, tree roots reached for his feet.

  He was close. The woman sobbed in between screams and there was something more. A child? He skidded into a clearing, hands hitting the ground as he tried to stop. He gripped the knife even tighter. The weapon wasn’t nearly big enough. The furred animal had to be a bear. Nothing else made sense, but what was a bear doing deep in the woods of Texas?

  A woman swung a flaming torch at the animal as it stood protectively over something on the leaf covered ground just outside the firelight. A little girl, maybe two years old, huddled near a small tent, whimpering.

  “Let her go!” the woman screamed. A warrior.

  The animal turned its head and the flames lit its face. A wolf. Dark, wet lips pulled away from gleaming, red drenched teeth, the monstrous creature loosed a bone chilling snarl. Its glowing eyes trained on the woman. She stood her ground, dark hair whipping around her shoulders in the wind. She couldn’t be over five feet tall, and slight. No chance against the predator.

  “Hey,” he yelled. “Back up slowly.”

  She hesitated but didn’t turn away from the snarling animal. Her voice shook like the licking of the torch’s flames. “I can’t. It has my sister.”

  He cursed softy. Trying to save someone else was as good a way to die as any, he supposed. The knife gleamed in the firelight as he lunged for the animal. How could it be so huge? He caught it down the ribs and the wolf turned so fast, its form blurred. Then it sank its fangs into his forearm. Burning pain seared through him as the wolf held on and shook his arm so hard it rattled in its socket. Over and over, Grey stabbed at him with the knife until the blade was slick with the beast’s blood. Smoke billowed from the creature’s slashed skin, and the smell of burning flesh assaulted him. Furiously, he kept at it as the wolf shook him and clamped down harder with long, penetrating teeth.

  As suddenly as the beast had lunged, it let go with a roar and ran off into the night.

  Numbness caressed his muscles, and he stumbled to the ground. The woman ran to the heap near him. Her sister hadn’t made it. Terror was written all over the woman’s face as she chanted “Marianna, Marianna, Marianna,” as if it would bring her back to life.

  His arms and legs were on fire, burning from his very veins, blistering every nerve ending on the way out. Why was the pain tearing through his chest? He tried to hail the woman but nothing came out except a quiet groan. Was he dying? He arched his neck toward her sister. Her body was so mangled it was all but unrecognizable as human. The girl’s eyes were open, fixed, staring back at him. She was dead. Would he die, too? What was that thing? That monster?

  Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe he still slept, back in his campsite a quarter of a mile away. He’d been sleeping there only a few minutes ago. Maybe he was just having a vivid night terror and he’d wake at any moment to the relief that this wasn’t real. The girl slid over to him, but he was already panting in pain. Fire in his blood burned him up.

  Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in his ears. Like helicopter blades, the sound drowned out everything. Her lips were full, and when his vision blurred, he tried to focus on her face. She was beautiful. Tiny. Delicate like a hummingbird. Even through spilling tears, the moss green color of her eyes was clear and compelling.

  Her voice overcame the screeching in his ears. “What’s your name?”

  “Greyson,” he rasped. “Greyson Crawford.” Someone should know who he was. Notify Dad what had happened there in the woods of Enchanted Rock. “What’s yours?” It was getting so hard to breathe. He had to know. He’d leave the world on her name.

  “Morgan. My name’s Morgan.”

  His body seized and the edge of his vision shattered inward, collapsing to a pinpoint. An unimposing, all-consuming star. She smelled so good. Everything blurred into unimportance except the soft rose color of her lips. He couldn’t hear what she said, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

  Everything went black.

  * * * *

  Bright rays of sunlight filtered through the tree branches overhead and stretched across Grey’s closed eyelids. He had flashes of running through the woods trying to escape…something. Every muscle ached and his head throbbed so badly, when he tried to sit up he immediately retched. The forest had become a deafening retreat and his ears rang with waves of sound and pain. His vision blurred and refocused, only to blur again. A desperate thirst scorched his throat. Where were the backpack and canteen? Instincts, loud and immediate screamed he wasn’t okay. Something in the woods was off. Electricity crackled in the air, and his skin buzzed with the unnaturalness of it.

  He wasn’t alone.

  Trying not to jar his body too much, he looked around cautiously. Nothing but trees and falling leaves surrounded him. How long had he been unconscious? A few hours? A few days? He didn’t know.

  Morgan. Her lips, trembling with fear as she whispered her name. Her eyes, the color of moss that clung to river rocks, with dark lashes dampened by unshed tears. The smell of summer and something more had clung to her skin, a confusing scent both alluring and unnamable. The shock on her small, pale face as she’d asked questions he couldn’t understand with a desperation that made him want to hold her. The vision of her face made the pain more bearable. The single tear that had finally, finally fled to her cheek just before his gaze had drifted
to her sister. Oh God, she’d been so still, lifeless and staring into the night with vacant eyes while the child’s whimper haunted him. That snarling, rampaging beast so large it couldn’t be real, shouldn’t exist, staring hungrily at the tripping pulse in Morgan’s throat. Memories pounded against him, crashing waves of misery until his body clenched with wracking pain. The agony burned through his blood, and he screamed, which turned into a groan, then morphed into an unrecognizable growl.

  The monster was near. What could he possibly do? Weak, barely able to move, he was easy prey for the beast. Grey waited for it to come; the death he expected. The wolf panted and growled, so near, and he frantically searched the woods around him. Shrubs, trees, roots, leaves. No monster. The wolf sounded close, so why couldn’t he see it? The late summer air told him a million things but spared him no hint at the direction of danger. Why was he sniffing the air? He smelled the woodsy essence of animal. The musk of fur was pungent on the soft breeze. A fresh wave of panic had him seething with blinding pain, as if his very bones were being ground to dust. His muscles snapped and stretched, and he groaned against the loss of himself.

  This was it. This was when he would die.

  * * * *

  The pain had ebbed. Memory of it was still fresh and raw, but at least Grey could move. He tried to stand but everything tilted at an odd angle. It was impossible to sit upright and nothing in his body seemed to work properly. The effort from trying to sit up had him panting.

  Panting? The smell of animal filled the air around him but he detected no movement. He didn’t feel danger.

  Everything had a sound. Every leaf falling, every branch swaying with the wind. Every bird, squirrel, and rabbit resonated a distinct note he identified right away. Paws furred black as night rested on the ground below him. He jumped up, unaware of how to use this body, stumbled backward and hit the side of a large rock. A whine escaped his throat. He sat and looked at himself as far as his new neck could stretch. Black tail, legs, paws and body. No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. Panic washed over him in wave after relentless wave as the change to his form began again.