“Rogue wolves. Here?” Her appalled tone turned grim as the implications hit her. “In
our
territory?”
“I scented three of them, but there could be more. Just caught it. I think they’re inside the building. The hotel part,” Sara added, jerking her head toward the connecting hallway up the stairs at the back of the bar.
“What the hell? What are they thinking, coming into our territory like this? They know that’s a death sentence.”
Even as she spoke the thoughtless words, Lily recoiled from their sting. The snap of his neck cracking as she carried out the
death sentence
she’d so selfishly laid down upon him...
“Lily. Don’t do this to yourself.” Kieran’s urgent but controlled voice sliced through her still whirling head. She looked into his dark, hard eyes. “Focus, now. We have work to do.”
She nodded, mesmerized by his gaze trapping hers. He steadied her like roots anchored a sapling to the ground. How could he make her so calm, so soothed, after the fever his exciting touch had ignited in her body only moments earlier?
“Upstairs. To the hotel lobby,” Kieran said. His palm still rested on Lily’s back, the heat of it searing her despite the suddenly very different urgency of the moment. “We need to get a better scent on them.”
“They’ve probably split up.” Sara’s voice still retained control. The only sign of her unease was its pungent grip on her body, transmitting to Lily’s keen nose.
Funny that she’d never stopped to wonder why her senses in human form were far more acute than any true human’s. It was accepted Pack truth that all shifters, of any kind, shared defining characteristics between their human and animal selves. If they didn’t, they would eventually go completely feral in their animal forms without the logical human mind guiding them. It made sense that the reverse was also true.
Thankfully, wild animal instinct held forth when mating as a human. Lily’s toes curled in sweet expectation as she briefly contemplated that imminent future with Kieran. Then she shook herself back to the present. Find the rogues, determine the meaning of their intrusion into her Pack’s territory, and take them to the Pack council. Then.... Then, she could discover Kieran’s sweet, wild fire.
If she could wait that long.
“Okay. Lily, you stay here in the bar.” Sara was operating in full Pack Guardian mode. “They wouldn’t dare do anything with so many people around. Kieran and I will check it out.”
Sara started to turn away when Lily shot out her hand to grab Sara’s wrist. Sara stopped and gave Lily a confused, questioning tilt of her head.
“I’m not staying here.” Lily could hear the chill in her voice. Her wolf, hunting instincts aroused, clawing to the surface. “I’m coming with you.”
Sara stared at her Packmate. Lily didn’t blink, didn’t move. She felt Kieran’s legs tighten against hers even more. The lazy twitch of his thumb against her back had stilled, and it seemed he almost held his breath. But she wasn’t about to back down. Not when it was her Pack. Not even her insanely hot cowboy could stop her.
Her
cowboy? Lily flipped the thought away, pleasing as it was. Now was time to focus on the threat of the rogues.
Sara’s expression betrayed a tumult of warring emotions. Trepidation, relief, and something else flitted across her delicate features in a lightning flash. Then she shook her head and turned her arm in Lily’s grip to offer her hand.
“Okay. But if you get hurt because you’re out of shape, it’s on your head.”
***
Kieran moved his approval of Sara up a significant notch. She knew what was good for Lily: to stop wallowing in the past and get back to the work she was meant for.
Lily struggled to free herself from Kieran’s legs, although she didn’t try too hard. He deliberately pulled her back for a moment and nestled her right in the crook of his legs. His unmistakeable erection, snugged up right against her rear end, should tell her how ready he still was for her.
Oh, she felt it, all right. She turned her head so those sun-dappled green eyes met his. Fascinated, he watched them turn darker in color as her breath hitched. Her pulse thumped against her neck, and he had an almost overwhelming urge to lick it.
“Later.” His voice roughened with the intensity of the promise. “Right now, we have rogues to catch. And because of you, I’m at a heightened awareness.”
“Which is a good thing, I assume.” Sinuous, she shifted against him, eliciting a groan he couldn’t contain. “Hmm, yes it is.”
Sara rolled her eyes at them, although an indulgent smile lifted her lips.
“Come on. I’ll take the back stairs, the ones by the alley. You two check the lobby.” With that, Sara turned and wound her way through the boisterous bar crowd, deftly avoiding the pleadings of more than a few men for a dance. She did, however, reward more than one of them with a sultry glance. Kieran recognized a woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to show it. It was also the sign of a healthy Pack, when the females were strong and sure.
He appreciated even more that Lily wanted him, only him, and showed it with her every lingering finger stroke and quickened pull of breath. She was as strong and sure as any member of her Pack. She just needed to remember that herself.
Lily gently tugged away, and he finally let her, rising at the same time so they were still body to body when she was on her feet. The top of her head came to just about his nose, which was the perfect angle for a kiss.
She must have thought the same thing, because she tipped her chin up so she could meet his lips with hers. She tasted like sweet spice: cinnamon sprinkled with nutmeg and a liberal dash of cayenne pepper to top it all off. Pressing herself into him, letting her curves mold against his hard edges, Lily took his exploring kiss and gave it back with an eagerness that again had his cock leap. Oh, yeah, she was soft, but taut muscles rolled under her silky skin. She’d kept herself in shape, despite what Sara had said.
“Come on,” Lily murmured after a long, lost moment. Her hands worked on his neck, teasing and curling and stroking. Tantalizing chills ran from Kieran’s head all the way down to his toes, then back again. “Let’s go kick some rogue ass.”
“Mm,” he answered. The intoxicating sweet musk of her personal scent played havoc with his brain. They had a job to do, but he still firmly held the image of turning her over and plunging into her, watching her match him stroke for stroke.
As if she could hear his thoughts, Lily’s sea-green eyes widened and her delicate nostrils flared. Her arousal swept off her in a wave ten times as strong as earlier. Kieran let a grin slide over his face.
Wordless, she nodded. Again, he saw her pulse ticking in her neck. Again, he wanted to lick it, to scratch his canines along it, to feel that life throb against his mouth. To know she trusted him at her most vulnerable point.
She turned to slip through the pheromones swirling with desperate intensity in the bar, heading for the low, sweeping staircase that led to the hotel’s lobby. Kieran saw more than one human male watch her with open assessment. He took in her pert rump, the flow of hair over her shoulders, the swing to her hips as she walked. Low rider jeans revealed smooth skin rising above her waist before disappearing beneath the tied ends of her long-sleeved shirt. He definitely approved of all that bare skin.
He felt cheated he was denied the full view of Lily’s naked body, though. His wolf snarled in soft agreement in his head as they entered the lobby. The rogues...they would be good prey. A good hunt, something to heighten the sensual roar igniting through him and his wolf both. Those rogues would pay for interrupting his time with the unbroken, sassy she-wolf whose touch he craved right now. And then some.
Sara lounged against the lobby’s reception counter, flirting with the human male behind it. The human’s expression revealed a bedazzled reaction to the woman who leaned over the counter and ran her fingers over his hand, dropping throaty words punctuated by brief snippets of laughter.
Lily stopped at the sight and Kieran almost bumped into her. He took advantage and pressed close against her rear, eliciting a welcoming growl from her. She wiggled her rump and almost caused a disturbance of the peace. Kieran restrained himself from assaulting her willing body right there in the lobby by focusing on the task at hand. The rogue wolves. Little trespassing bastards.
“What is she doing?” he asked in a low voice. Even he could hear the desire shot through his tones, and Lily could as well, judging by another wiggle. “God, woman. Watch that, now.” He took a deep breath to steady himself again. “Doesn’t much seem like the time to be lining up her fun for later.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” Wiggle, wiggle.
She was killing him. He took a step back, even though that almost killed him too.
Lily relented. “She’s sussing him out, asking questions, and checking his scent up close. Seeing if the rogues were talking to him and what he might have told them.”
Kieran was impressed. “I like your Pack’s techniques. They’re pretty effective.”
A tinkling laugh from the counter. Lily turned her head toward Kieran in a swirl of red hair to hide the giggle that escaped. Sara said a meaningful thank you full of lingering promise to the now clearly besotted human, and headed their way.
“And?” Lily drawled the word in the sort of tease that only female friends could achieve.
“Oh, he was so helpful,” Sara whispered. She flung a look over her shoulder at her new friend. The poor guy actually waved, which Sara returned with such earnestness now Kieran had to choke back a laugh. “These rough biker types came in, asking about rooms, girls, partying. Their scents were all over him. It’s them for sure. He said they asked if they could check out the hotel, walk around, maybe see a room in case they wanted to stay.”
Sara paused and flicked her eyes at Lily. “They specifically asked about redheads.”
Lily’s indrawn breath and sudden lifting of her shoulders were the only sign of the words’ impact.
Kieran muttered a colorful swear word that had both women raise their eyebrows.
“Damn them to hell and back.” His voice was so grim Sara actually took a step back, bristling in agitation. “They know who you are, Lily. They know you’re the only redheaded female in the Black Mesa Pack. The only red wolf.”
Every wolf within a three hundred-mile radius knew that. Lily was unique in many ways. Apparently these rogues were smart enough to recognize Lily’s potential...but stupid enough to try to get close to her. She was his. He would run them the hell away from Black Mesa’s territory before they opened their mouths.
Lily growled low in her throat. Her gaze had shifted from Kieran to something behind him. Sara stiffened beside her. The hunting urge emanated off her in waves, rousing Kieran’s own response.
“Well, look here.” The rough voice carried from the front doors of the lobby, which had whooshed open seconds before. “That clerk was right. There
is
a sweet little redhead in this neck of the woods. It’s our lucky day, boys.”
Keeping his calm, Kieran turned with an almost insolent slowness.
Rowdy biker types indeed. These rogues also seemed well-fed and well-organized. The lack of basic needs met by Pack living—companionship, social structure, protection, mating, food, money, meaning to life—eluded the average rogue. Rogues either shunned or were shunned by Packs, for a wide variety of reasons. Usually, rogues simply lacked the personality required by the Pack hierarchy. Life inside a Pack demanded utter loyalty, fealty to the Pack alphas, and unwavering adherence to Pack law. Most rogues just turned their noses up at what they perceived to be the rigidity of rules, and they left. Some came back, humbled and tail-tucked, once they discovered the sheer difficulty of life as a rogue. Even so, most were still cast back out. The streak of rebellion and individuality ran too deep in most true rogues to ever adapt well to Pack life.
For sheer survival, most rogues created mini-Packs of their own, ones that were not formally recognized by the regional Pack Councils. They simply banded together and existed in a slipshod gathering of loose rules, poor morals, and generally dissolute lifestyle. Kieran knew he looked down at rogues. Their outright dismissal of the Pack life that defined his very being disturbed him. They suffered hardscrabble lives, most of them, and died far before the centuries of life most wolf shifters enjoyed. It seemed an unfathomable concept when all they had to do was swear loyalty to a Pack, any Pack, and enjoy a hell of a better life.
But these rogues...something about them prickled the fine hairs on Kieran’s body, spurred his own hunter lust along with wary realization. They seemed alert. Healthy. Strong.
The speaker, who seemed to be channeling a Sturgis bike rally persona, was their pseudo-alpha. His very stance screamed stature, dominance, leadership. What the hell was such a wolf doing as a rogue?
Before Kieran could wonder more, he noticed the wolf’s brazenly possessive, appreciative gaze...on Lily. Bright blue eyes, ice chip cold, took in her every inch with bold arrogance. Kieran’s wolf reared up in fury, pushing to be loosed. No other wolf looked at
his
mate that way.
His mate? Kieran didn’t pause to analyze the thought now. Focus.
The rogue wolf spoke with an unconcerned tumble of words that belied a cold calculation. “Seems like you don’t want to share your women. Too bad about that. We need a few.”
Sara sucked in a gasp at the sheer audacity of the challenge, then snarled. Kieran sensed Lily holding her Packmate back from lunging.
“Feisty,” the rogue leader murmured, slicing his eyes toward Sara. “Now, you could be fun. Darlin’.” He drawled the word in a mocking tone that elicited laughter from his crew, ranged behind him in menacing, if slightly desperate, rogue fashion.
Kieran’s wolf bared its teeth in his mind. Kieran did too, letting his lip curl up over his human canines. A snarling shifter in human form was an oddly menacing sight because of the animal self lurking just beneath the surface. He leaned forward a bit, trusting himself to dominate these rogues—and stopped.