[Pack 01.0] Defying Pack Law

by Eve Langlais

  Not me. I won’t be shared. Her decision, while fine and dandy, though, didn’t mean she’d get a say. She could beg, plead, and cry all she wanted. She already knew her father wouldn’t listen. They’d give her no choice.

  So she ran. With only the clothes on her back and the money she’d saved babysitting, she escaped the only life and family she’d known and exchanged it for a hard life.

  A lonely life. And one that twelve years later still made her question if it had been the right choice. As her mind went through its third cycle of the night that everything changed, she felt herself pulled from the dream. As she floated back to consciousness, she realized someone shook her gently while a persistent voice insisted she wake up. She slapped at the hand that tapped her cheek, her mind sluggish, and her eyelids held closed by a ton of bricks.

  “Stop,” she protested in a weak voice, forcing the words past a tongue that was thick and dry. She fuzzily wondered how she hadn’t died. She remembered pain, lots of it. She also recalled her deep despair and the wish to end it all. She definitely didn’t recall lying on a soft mattress like the one she found herself on now or the enticing smell of wolf that, for once, didn’t make her want to bolt. Fear kept her eyes closed. What if she had died and was now in some sort of werewolf heaven?

  “And here I thought you’d be eager to wake up and yell at me a little bit.”

  The familiar voice did what gentle cajoling couldn’t. Nathan? A vague recollection of him in her cell, morphing from beast to man, floated to the surface of her mind. Could it be? Her eyes popped open. She didn’t see Nathan, but the face bending over her seemed vaguely familiar. Handsome, with brown eyes that twinkled, the stranger smiled at her, and though she scented his Lycan nature, his calm demeanor didn’t raise her hackles. Actually, her inner wolf stirred with interest. How unusual.

  “Morning, Sleeping Beauty. Nice to see you’re back with us.” He offered her a bottle of water, and she grabbed it from him eagerly, slopping it wetly on herself as she drank, but she didn’t care.

  The cool liquid moistened her mouth and refreshed her, enough that she could ask, “Who are you? Where am I?” She withheld the third question. Was that truly Nathan I heard? And if it was, am I happy or not that he’s found me?

  “You probably don’t remember me, but we ran into each other a few times in our younger pack years. My name’s John.”

  The fuzzy wheels in her mind turned, and the answer popped up. “I know you. You’re Nathan’s best friend. You used to be a lot skinnier.” He’d remained cute, though. If Nathan hadn’t asked her out after years of her mooning after him, she might have gone for his bookish friend. She still might. She found him quite attractive, and something about him made her relax, a feeling she hadn’t enjoyed in what seemed like forever.

  John grinned at her, displaying a dimple she found much too hot. “And geekier. You can say it. It was true then and still is now. As for being skinny, when I finally stopped growing, my body caught up. I’m surprised you even remember me, given you and Nathan were always off hiding in corners, necking.”

  Dana blushed at the reminder of her youth. “Yeah, well, that won’t be happening again.” She ignored the snort in the background and the way her heart stuttered. She spotted the stethoscope around John’s neck. “Are you a doctor?”

  “Yup. Mind if I check you over and make sure you’re healing all right?”

  His soft drawl made her tummy flip pleasantly. Even stranger, she didn’t feel an urge to argue or refuse. I must still be hurt. “Okay.”

  His lips curved again, and she couldn’t help but smile back, a smile that widened when she heard the impatient sigh from behind John.

  She didn’t fidget while John shone a light in her eyes and checked her pulse—a pulse that raced for numerous reasons. The doctor appeared to be having the oddest effect on her and distracted her almost as much as the man she sensed at the periphery of her vision. A man she refused to crane to see because that would smack too much of eagerness, and she was most definitely not eager to see him.

  “I need to check your ribs. If you don’t mind, I’m going to press them lightly. Let me know if they hurt.”

  She expected him to slip his hands under the sheet and cop a feel—she actually kind of looked forward to it so she could get indignant and erase these fuzzy feelings he engendered. But John acted a true gentleman and palpated her through the sheet, keeping his eyes trained to hers. Even through the thin fabric, though, her body temperature rose. Oh, Doctor, I think I have a fever. Dana wanted to giggle. The whole situation seemed surreal. Attracted to one werewolf while her body anxiously waited to see another. Had the beating she’d taken knocked her hatred of getting hooked up with a Lycan right out of her?

  “You’re healing well,” her brown-eyed doctor declared, taking his hands away—and was it her, or did he do so reluctantly?

  “How long was I out?” she asked as she inhaled and found only a slight hitch, whereas before breathing had resulted in burning agony.

  “We ended up keeping you under for about three days. You were injured pretty badly. Luckily, you only had fractures, so I didn’t need to break and reset anything. We also managed to stem the internal bleeding until your healing abilities kicked in with the aid of some proteins fed via IV.”

  Three days! Dana didn’t like knowing she’d lain so helpless for so long. And just where had they taken her? Anxiety hit her in a rush. “Awesome. Thanks for patching me up. Now if someone will just give me some clothes, I’ll get out of your way.” She threw that out there, knowing it would get a reaction. That and she really wanted some clothes, as she noticed she was pretty freaking naked under the damned sheets. If anyone copped a feel, or more, while I was out, there is going to be hell to pay. She blocked the mental images of gentle John touching her skin, seeing her naked form as he treated her.

  Did he like what he saw? Not that she cared.

  “Nice try, Dana.” The deep voice set her limbs trembling, and she couldn’t have said if it was fear or anticipation.

  The doctor moved to the side, and Nathan came into view. Despite her apprehension, she drank him in, stunned with the shock of seeing him again.

  He’d changed and yet hadn’t. The same bright blue eyes stared at her, and he sported the same thick, dark mane of hair. But the boy she’d known was gone, replaced by a man, and a big one at that.

  Apparently, he’d done some more growing after she left. He towered inches taller than she recalled and filled out his lanky frame, but not with fat. He bulged with muscle. He also looked hard, from the set of his jaw to the glint in his eye to the evident strength in his body. She suddenly feared this new man, this stranger she no longer knew but who had evidently sought her out. For what purpose?

  “What do you want with me?” she asked in a voice that sounded weak and soft. She also wanted to slap herself for asking such a stupid question. She knew what he wanted, to bed her and impregnate her. But surely he could have found another woman in the years she’d been gone? Lycan females were rare, but given his evident alpha stature and good looks, the available ones would have fallen over themselves to snare him. Surprisingly, she didn’t like this train of thought.

  “Well, my dear fiancée, you ran off before we could be wed in the eyes of our people. I intend to rectify that delay as soon as possible, willing or not.” He said it so matter-of-factly, so coldly, that it took her a moment to process it.

  Her mouth dropped open. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

  “Yup.”

  His answer took her aback. Had Nathan truly gone mad? She looked to John. “Tell me he’s joking.”

  “John doesn’t get a say,” Nathan growled. “So stop looking at him. I’m the one you promised to mate with. I’m the one who saved your ass. I’m the one you will look to, not him.”

  She looked away from John, who shrugged apologetically. She faced Nathan again and saw the tic in the side of his jaw. Is he jealous of John for some reason? “No.” />
  “No, what? Did you think you had a choice after the way you ran away from me?”

  She narrowed her gaze and found her temper at last. “You betrayed me.”

  “I was a boy following the laws of my alpha. The laws we all follow.”

  “You could have said no.” What she left unsaid was he could have chosen to run with her. He already knew that.

  “Ah yes, you and your precious policy of not sharing regardless of our kind’s laws and customs.”

  “Don’t worry. You made that point abundantly clear. You’ll be glad to know you win. Happy? I won’t be sharing you with anyone else.”

  She heard the doctor utter an exclamation of surprise. “Nathan, the pack won’t like that.”

  Nathan rounded on him. “I don’t give a fuck what the pack likes. I lost her once because I let the pack tell me what to do. I won’t do it again. I’m alpha, and they’ll do as I damned well say. And don’t think I don’t smell your interest in her. She’s mine. I am invoking pack law on this one. She’s unmated without a guardian to speak for her. Let it be known I claim her as mine.”

  Dana’s temper simmered at his cave-wolf decree, and in exact reverse, her heart stuttered at his admission of regret. But change of mind or not, she wasn’t about to reward him. He’d hurt her too badly, and now, she’d do the same right back. “Pack law is pack law. Isn’t that what you once told me? Well, guess what. I’m also going to invoke your precious fucking pack law. I demand the right to a true pack mating.” Dana invoked a clause rarely used, but one all girls were taught about by their mothers at a young age. In the case a Lycan female found herself of age to marry without a guardian, while a male could claim her, the female could request up to three more mates of her choice, a buffer of sorts in case the male who claimed her wasn’t her first choice.

  “What?” Both men whirled to face her, the doctor in surprise, Nathan in fury.

  “You heard me, Nathan. Since you’re going to force me to accept you as a mate, whether I want to or not, then I demand the right to choose three more mates. After all, it’s for the good of the pack.”

  She embellished her saucy retort with a twisted smile. “And I’m starting with the good doctor over there, who, if my nose doesn’t deceive me, is unmated.”

  “You can’t do this,” Nathan growled. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve looked for you? Waited to tell you I was sorry?”

  “Gee, I guess you forgot the ‘sorry’ part when you ordered me around like some kind of slave to your wishes. Once again, it’s all about you and what you want. What about what I want?” she yelled, clutching the sheet to her bosom before it fell and she gave them an eyeful.

  “What’s going on?” Another werewolf poked his head in, a rather good-looking one, and Dana pointed her finger at him.

  “Him. I want him too.”

  “Dana!” Nathan bellowed, but she shot him the middle finger and a glare.

  When another body jostled for position in the doorway, a tousled blond with a grin from ear to ear, she pointed again. “And that one for my fourth.” She shot Nathan a triumphant grin.

  “I won’t share you,” Nathan said through clenched teeth.

  “Oh, sorry, was I ignoring what you want? Gee, what do you know? Payback’s a bitch. Now if you men wouldn’t mind, I need my rest if I’m expected to fuck you bunch of animals after you all claim me like some fucking prize.”

  She turned on her side and buried her face in the pillow, the tears hot as they spilled onto the fabric.

  She could hear one of the men whispering, “What the hell just happened? Did I just get engaged?”

  But the sound of their voices was quickly muffled as they closed the door—and locked it.

  Alone, she gave in to tears. In truth, she understood Nathan had never had a chance against his father so many years ago.

  But now that I’ve slapped him in the face with his betrayal, how the hell do I get out of it? She didn’t actually want all the men—okay, that wasn’t quite true. John actually really appealed to her, and seeing Nathan again only reinforced the fact that she’d never gotten over him. But still, revenge was one thing, mating with a bunch of strangers another. I guess I’d better start planning my escape. Somehow that idea held even less appeal. Had she changed so much in her years away that being bound to a bunch of guys was more appealing than a life of freedom—always on the run and never having roots?

  Fuck me, what am I going to do?

  Chapter Six

  John followed Nathan’s stiff body and knew they were in for trouble. They’d all expected her to balk at Nathan’s plan, but nobody could have predicted she’d do an about-face and use pack law to choose more mates. Rarely used, it was an obscure clause that Lycan females of age with no guardian could invoke to surround herself with protection. The chosen males could actually say no, but, and this was where the fight would begin, John had no interest in saying no. John wanted Dana with an intensity he’d never expected or experienced. And while Jeffrey, one of her impromptu choices, might back out, given he was quite smitten with a human girl in town, John could already tell Kody didn’t mind the idea at all of being mated with the feisty Dana.

  Nathan was going to freak.

  They followed Nathan’s stiff back down the stairs to the main floor. Nathan whirled once they hit the cavernous living room with its floor-to-ceiling windows.

  “Unfucking real. She’s doing this just to punish me. You will, of course, all refuse her.” Nathan glared at them all around, and while Jeffrey raised his hands in surrender, John met his stare head-on, as did Kody. “Are you defying me?” Nathan growled.

  “Hey, don’t look at me. I refuse, and I’m outta here,” said Jeffrey with a wave as he booked it for the door.

  Kody crossed his arms and leaned against the wooden support for the balcony that ringed the living room on the second floor. “I don’t see what the big deal is. All the other females in the pack have multiple mates. What makes Dana different?”

  “She’s mine.”

  “I don’t think we’re contesting your right to be first,” John interjected, although if Dana expressed a desire otherwise—say she wanted him first—John would fight to respect her wishes. His wolf would not let him do any less. It would seem friendship stretched only so far when the woman he and his wolf wanted as mate became an issue. But John hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Nathan would eventually come to his senses, and by that, he meant obeying pack law whether Nathan’s jealousy could handle it or not.

  “I’m going to be her one and only. It’s what she wants,” Nathan said, crossing his arms over his chest with an obstinate look.

  “Not according to what she said,” Kody sassed back. John realized that the younger man must have been listening and made sure he got in on the fiasco.

  “She was mad.” Nathan looked pained, and while John felt for him, he still wouldn’t back down.

  John shrugged. “Mad or not, until she takes it back, I, for one, am not going to refuse. She’s not only strong and beautiful, according to my wolf, she’s the one. I’d be stupid to turn her down because you can’t handle your jealousy.”

  Nathan’s brows arched high in surprise. “I handled my fucking jealousy so well last time that she ran the hell away. It took me twelve goddamn years to find her. I am not, I repeat not, going to do anything that’s going to make her run again.”

  “Yeah, ’cause your whole ‘me Tarzan, you Jane’ routine where you thumped your chest upstairs like some caveman really impressed her,” Kody piped in sarcastically. “Did it ever occur to you that you scare her? It’s been a long time, man, and you gotta admit you’re a lot bigger than you used to be. Maybe she wants us as some kind of shield.”

  “I would never hurt her.” Nathan’s voice came out almost in a whisper, and his shoulders slumped.

  “In her mind, you already have,” John said, quietly hitting him with the truth.

  With a bellow of rage, Nathan snapped and charged at John. No
t as big, John nevertheless met his charge head-on. Where rage drove Nathan, John relied on cool logic.

  They exchanged slugs, Nathan venting his frustration and John prodding him to make sure he got a good workout. He took his bruises like a man and gave several of his own as he let his best friend work out his jealousy and grief over finding out the woman he’d moped about for years hadn’t harbored the same feelings.

  They might have gone at it for a while had Kody not announced, “Thought you guys might want to know she’s trying to escape.”

  The startling announcement made John’s attention waver, and Nathan clocked him with a hard right hook. John staggered, and Nathan pushed past him for the stairs. John, without thinking, stuck his foot out and tripped him. Nathan fell with a crash, and John scrambled to get over him, only to have Nathan yank him down.

  They tussled on the floor for a second before John, in a moment of clarity, said, “Um, Kody’s gone after her—by himself.”

  Nathan went still. “He’s going to steal a kiss, isn’t he?”

  John nodded, and that quickly they went from fighting to in cahoots. They tore up the stairs, two at a time, to the room they’d locked her in. And found it still locked. Nathan fumbled the key out, but John didn’t wait. He tore down the hall to his bedroom and right through to his window. He threw up the sash and peered out just in time to see her hit the ground in a tuck and roll that brought her right to Kody’s feet.

  She’s certainly determined to keep us on our toes, he thought with a grin that turned into outright laughter as Kody leaned in for a peck, only to get his smooch returned with a crushing left hook.

  Hot damn, I wonder if she’ll be as energetic in bed. He couldn’t wait to find out.