by Bianca D'Arc
Honestly though, she didn’t care to examine everything in detail right at that moment. What she really wanted was to try for that round two he’d mentioned. When he came close again, she grabbed him around the neck and brought his lips to hers. As non-verbal communication went, it seemed an effective way to get his attention.
Within moments, she was back in his arms and on the way to his bed.
He placed her on all fours this time and took her from behind in a display of passion that eclipsed all that had come before. She didn’t know where he got the stamina, but he brought out responses from her body she didn’t know she could give.
They fell asleep tangled together in the big bed a hour or two later, her body completely wrung out from the pleasure he’d shown her. If this was an example of what her life was going to be like with Shane, she definitely wanted in!
Chapter Ten
Shane woke in the hours before dawn to a strange scent invading his personal space. Across the room, he saw the window to the yard opening. The breeze was sending him the scent of a McCarthy. Actually, two of them.
Russ and Jon had come to call, as Shane had half expected they would. He spared a thought for the perimeter guards who were supposed to have been patrolling around the house. Had they been neutralized? Or had one or more of them been traitorous? Shane would find out—after he dealt with Russ and Jon.
Human hands raised the window, but it was wolves that bounded through the opening a moment later. Two of them.
There was nothing to do but go wolf on their asses himself. Shane changed from one moment to the next, meeting the threat with teeth bared, in the middle of his bedroom.
Not an ideal place to end this, but he had no choice.
Maria woke in a panic as Shane leapt from their bed. She felt the cold air drift across the room and realized the window was open. As soon as she looked over to it, a large wolf bounded in and made straight for Shane, who had shifted shape on the fly. When he left the bed, he’d been human. When his paws hit the floor, he was a giant timber wolf. Stunned by his sudden transformation, as well as the attack from out of nowhere, in the middle of the night, it took a few moments—precious moments—for Maria’s brain to start functioning.
They were under attack!
She had to do something. She wasn’t sure what she could do to help, but there had to be something.
Strange scents assaulted her nostrils. She realized somewhere in the back of her mind, that the lights weren’t on in the room, and yet she could see clearly in the darkness.
Another wolf bounded into the room from the window, while Shane and the first wolf fought, she recognized that one as the one she’d shot earlier in the day. His name was Jon McCarthy, she’d learned in the aftermath, and from the intent look in his glowing eyes, he had come to settle the score with her.
Oh, no. No, no, no! She would not stand for this bullshit. Not even remotely.
Maria knelt on the bed, holding the sheet around her nude body and felt the rage begin to overtake her. She was pissed. More pissed than she’d ever been in her life. Anger flowed through her veins, reshaping her being into a weapon. A clawed weapon with sharp fangs.
The pain was nearly unbearable as her body seemed to break and reform in a new order. Massive pain…followed by sudden cessation of pain. And new senses. She saw the world differently. Everything she experienced felt more acute, but she didn’t have time to examine the changes, or even consciously register the fact in her mind, that she was no longer human.
The wolf she knew was Jon McCarthy was stalking her, baring his teeth as he lunged for the bed. She met him in mid-air, snarling and reaching for his throat with her own sharp fangs. Maria let the wolf take control. She knew what to do and Maria trusted her instincts.
Shane was locked in heated battle with Russ when he realized Jon had gone for Maria. He cursed inwardly, but she was in mid-change and it looked like her wolf was going to be the recipient of a baptism by fire. If anyone could handle such a thing, Shane was confident his mate had the right stuff.
Nevertheless, he had to finish this fight with Russ, once and for all, so he could help her. Shane had wanted her first time in her fur to be a wondrous time of learning and play, not a battle to the death.
Shane took a hard hit to the ribs, but came back fighting. Russ was going down. Shane was through playing with him. This shit had to end. Now.
He growled and took an opening, dragging Russ to the floor. Shane clamped his teeth around Russ’s throat and bit down hard, earning a whimper from the bastard who had invaded Shane’s home, and the private sanctuary of his bedroom—on his mating night! For that alone, Russ had to die.
For targeting Maria, Jon was going down too. Although…as Shane’s gaze lifted he saw that Maria’s stunning auburn wolf was bigger, stronger, faster, and way more dominant than Jon. She already had him on the floor next to the bed and she was letting her instincts rule for the moment. Her wolf had gone for Jon’s throat, in a good imitation of what Shane had done to Russ.
Within moments, it was all over. The two McCarthy criminals were dead and Shane and Maria were victorious.
“Come here, love,” he said directly to her mind.
“Not sure I can,” she said, her thoughts coming through loud and clear and she clumsily got to her feet.
Wanting to laugh in utter joy, Shane went to her, rubbing his nose over her sleek coat, glorying in her wild scent and the size of her—a good match for his own exceptionally large wolf body. They’d truly been made for each other.
“You’re gorgeous,” Shane told her just before the door to his room burst open.
Bob was there, along with a few of the enforcers. It was time to take care of business. Shane and Maria would have time to take care of each other shortly. For now, he had to see to the pack.
Shane shifted back to his human form, finding his jeans and putting them on as he talked to Bob. “What happened to the perimeter guard?”
“Tied to a tree by about a half dozen McCarthys. We ran them off but only just realized Russ and Jon had gotten through to you.” Bob gestured toward the two lifeless shells on the floor. “Sorry you had to deal with this, Alpha. They shouldn’t have gotten through.”
Shane sighed. “We’ll deal with that later. For now, they should finally impress upon those rogues that I’m not fooling around. I want you to run them out of the territory. I’d join you, but I have to see to my mate first.”
Maria growled and walked surprisingly well to his side. She was getting the hang of having four feet a lot faster than he would have thought.
“I want to run!” she thought at him. “Can we go run them off together?”
He sensed her wolf, very close to the surface—the playful, dominant beast, merging with Maria’s own strong personality. She was a delightful surprise, in every possible way.
“Well, now.” He crouched down, running his hand over the soft auburn fur on her head. “If you want to run, we’ll run.” He drew her in for a quick kiss between her eyes and then stood and faced his people. “My lady and I will run with you. It’s time the McCarthys saw just who will be leading Clay Ridge for the next fifty years, and realize they are no longer welcome here.”
“I’ll have some of our people see to the cleanup here,” Bob said as Shane made to move past him, into the hall, Maria close on his heels.
“Thanks,” Shane told Bob, meaning so much more.
Bob had been holding things together in the pack for a long time. Hell, he was probably the only reason there still was a pack to lead. Ivan had been in bad shape when he finally left this world and Shane hadn’t been in Clay Ridge long enough to really establish himself. It was Bob who had welcomed Shane and tried to smooth the way for him to take over from Ivan.
It was only now—with Maria at his side—that Shane felt he could really be the Alpha Clay Ridge deserved. With the support of key players like Bob and his mate, loyal enforcers, and especially Maria and her powerful personality, Shane fel
t like he couldn’t fail.
Shane shifted back to his animal form and led the group of enforcers through the woods with his mate at his side. They ran wild and free, howling to the moon and nipping at the heels of the McCarthys who dared to remain inside the Clay Ridge boundaries.
They got the message. They’d all be gone by morning, or they’d meet the same fate as their two champions, whose bodies had been delivered back to their clan by Bob and his cleanup crew. The McCarthys had been well and truly defeated, and since they wouldn’t comply, they’d been thrown out of the pack.
Shane wasn’t mean. If individuals wanted to petition for readmission, he would consider them on a case by case basis, but the ringleaders would never be allowed to plot against him from within his own pack again. They were banished. Lone wolves unless or until they could find another pack to take them in.
Maria was a marvel. Keeping up with his massive wolf, she bounded over the terrain at his side, as if she’d been born a wolf and had been this way all her life. Perhaps she’d always been meant to be his. He truly believed it, and all who saw her in her stunning wolf form, were impressed. Shane could tell by the way the others looked at her, and deferred to her. She was a true Alpha female, in all her glory.
Blooded and tested in both human and wolf form, she would help him stabilize the pack and rebuild it into the powerhouse it had once been. Things were looking up. It might be a long road ahead of them, but with his mate—the love of his life—at his side, Shane truly felt he could accomplish anything.
# # #
Thank you for reading A Touch of Sass by Bianca D’Arc.
Want more sexy weres and adventure? Check out the Grizzly Cove series by Bianca D’Arc. Visit her Author Page on Amazon for details, or check her website at BiancaDArc.com.
