To Kill a Wolf: BBW Werewolf Erotic Romance (North Wolves Novella Series Book 1) (2 page)

But
her hosts didn't seem to mind.
They
welcomed Leah warmly
and
a handful of Thunderfalls she-wolves complimented Leah on her dress.
They were friendly and jovial, and laughed and joked with one another
and with all their guests. Leah began to relax a little as a
well-mannered young
wolf personally ushered Leah to the banquet hall.

As
she chatted
timidly
with the
exuberant
young man, Leah had a
fleeting thought that Mason was wrong. This dinner was
n't
a calculated show of might
and
aggression
. It was
just a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Thunderfalls wolves.
It was their pack's
anniversary celebration, and they
simply
wanted to share the
happy occasion with the other packs.

Leah
took her seat
at
the banquet table, and felt the cold silver blade press against her
thigh. Silver had no effect on her, and Leah suspected that it was
because she was more human than werewolf. Her mother's human genes
were probably more dominant than her father's submissive werewol
f
genes. She was trained to fight, shoot
and
use a knife
like all
the other wolves in the pack, but
honestly,
she didn't enjoy the training at all. The sparring sessions were
brutal
and bloody
,
and
more often than
not, she had to drag herself out of the training room with some part
of her broken and bleeding.

It
wasn't just her body that was broken. Her heart had long been broken
into jagged fragments.
She'd
heard
her fellow
trainees
laughing as
she covered her face with her hands and curled into a tight ball to
prevent them from kicking and clawing at her face and soft
underbelly. Their taunts were cruel. They
ma
d
e
fun of her full, curvy figure, her wide hips and generous ass. They
dared her to turn wolf and attack them back. Leah tried. She really
did, but she just couldn't summon her wolf and shift.

Trembling,
Leah tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and glanced around.
She was seated beside a silver-haired gentleman with a goatee and a
giggling, tittering young woman who was gulping down her champagne
like water. The gentleman and the tipsy young lady beside her were
engaged in conversation with some other wolves across the table, and
Leah was pretty much left alone. Like always.

She exchanged smiles and
nods with her fellow guests, but she didn't try to initiate any
conversation. She didn't trust her voice. Taking a sip of her
champagne, she turned and glanced over her shoulder. Her darting
eyes instantly clashed with those of a tall, dark haired wolf
standing guard at one of the doors to the banquet hall.

She
started
,
but she couldn't look away. Those startling amber eyes held hers and
she saw them flash golden for an instant. Her lips parted as she
stared into his stern, handsome face, her eyes floating slowly past
his lips, his strong, angular jaw and down the length of him. His
jacket was unbuttoned,
and
he wore a slim black tie and white shirt.
There
was a small gold badge on his lapel, identifying him as a
Thunderfalls wolf.
His
shoulders were broad, and she could tell that his physique was
muscular and toned. He held himself absolutely still, his stance
guarded and alert.
His
hands were large and rough, the hands of a fighter, a warrior.
He was probably one of the
guards
on security duty. He was protecting
his
Alpha and his pack
,
watching
all
the guests.
Watching
her.

Leah
glanced down and saw that her champagne flute was shaking in her
hand. Quickly, she placed the glass on the table and looked away.

She
could still feel his eyes on her. Her entire body felt too hot, like
her blood was boiling in her veins. Her mind was spinning, and her
heart was pounding too hard and too loudly in her chest. It wasn't
just the way he looked. Yes, he was impossibly handsome. A fine
male specimen, the finest she had ever laid eyes on in her twenty-one
years.

It was the way he looked at
her. It made her womb clench and her nerves tingle.

Leah knew she was blushing,
and bowed her head lower. She'd never even had a boyfriend before,
and here she was, getting all giddy and breathless over a stranger
from a rival pack. The male wolves in Dark Moon were loud and lewd
when they talked about her. They made passes at her and copped a
feel now and then. But they didn't really want her. They just
wanted to have fun with her, make fun of her and make her feel even
worse about herself.

But the way this man looked
at her, it was like he wanted to...eat her. His eyes were predatory
and hungry, and—shockingly, Leah liked it. Or rather, her
treacherous body liked it, a lot. It responded to his gaze, his
presence by aching and panting shamelessly.

Leah
tried to get a handle on her runaway hormones. She was here to do a
job. A
horrible,
underhanded,
dirty job,
admittedly. She didn't want to assassinate anyone.
What
did the Thunderfalls wolves ever do to her? They welcomed her into
their Manor, were polite and attentive to her, and treated her with
courtesy and respect. They didn't snub her because she was a
half-breed. They didn't ignore her or kick her out. They
were...kind to her.

But
kindness was a
weakness, a fatal mistake. That's what the wolves in her pack said.
She'd heard Mason belabor this point in his speeches.

I
f
she didn't finish off what she came to do, she would be finished.
Weak wolves were
exterminated so the pack could grow stronger. She couldn't be the
weakest link. She wouldn't.

Gulping painfully, Leah
turned to look towards the head of the banquet table. A smiling man
with short, blond hair and friendly blue eyes was seated at the head
of the table. She had never seen the Alpha of Thunderfalls pack
before. She thought he looked pretty young for an Alpha. Was this
laughing young man Andrew Clark? He had to be, since he was hosting
the banquet. Right?

Leah's breath caught when
she saw that stern, handsome guard walk over to the head of the table
and bend to speak in low tones to his Alpha.

When the guard straightened
up, his eyes found Leah and she had to force herself to breathe. His
lips tightened, and she saw his nostrils flare. He could scent her.
He could scent her panic and inexplicable arousal. With nothing more
than one look, he could scramble her insides and reduce her to a
melting, quivering mess. She could feel the heat spiraling down her
body to pool between her thighs.

As she crossed her legs and
pressed them tightly together to stop the maddening ache, he narrowed
his amber eyes at her and his lips moved to form two words silently.

It's you.

With a final glare at her,
he turned and strode out of the great hall.

Leah let out a shaky breath.
That grim-faced guard seemed to have her in his sights. Did he know
what she was planning to do?

She had to act fast. That
guard had walked out of the hall, but he might be back soon.

Leah dug her nails painfully
into her palms. She shook her head, trying to block out Mason's
voice, but his words stabbed into her mind like jagged shards of
glass.

Mercy
is for the weak, and there are no weak wolves in Dark Moon
.

She
wished she wasn't here. She wished she didn't have to do this. But
even from an early age she knew that wishes didn't come true. They
never did.

Just as the appetizer was
served, Leah saw a movement at the head of the table. She put down
her fork quietly and tensed. The Alpha was standing up and shaking
hands with a few guests. Smiling and waving, he left the banquet
hall.

Hurriedly, Leah excused
herself and pushed back from the table. She had to follow him. If
she could catch him alone...

The
silver knife felt icy cold against her skin. Silver would burn a
werewolf, and once she plunged the silver blade into the heart of the
Thunderfalls Alpha, the young Alpha would not regenerate from his
wounds.
The mortal
blow would be excruciating, a
s
the silver would burn through his flesh before reaching his heart.

Steeling
herself
,
Leah
forced
the image from her mind.

Mercy
was for the weak,
she
repeated the mantra over and over again. Weak, weak, weak...

Despite shaking so hard she
could hardly walk, she managed to slip out of the rowdy banquet hall.
She saw the Alpha round the corner of a long hallway. He had his
hands in his pockets and was humming softly to himself. She
scrambled after him, and saw him head down a rather dimly lit
corridor.

Was he going to the
washroom?

Leah gulped. The washroom
would be the perfect place to carry out her gruesome business. She
could slip in after him and get him alone.

Leah pulled the knife slowly
out of her boot. She tiptoed after her target, but her steps slowed
and her hand shook. She was so close, but the closer she got, the
worse she felt. It felt all horribly wrong to her. This was a
mistake, and she was going to commit a terrible, unforgivable
mistake. A violent, senseless crime.

She didn't want to kill him.
She didn't want to kill anyone. It just wasn't right. None of this
was right.

Leah turned suddenly and
gasped. Looming over her was that handsome guard, his fierce amber
eyes locked on her.

His huge hand closed around
her throat and he pinned her to the wall. “Who are you? What
is your name?” he snarled in her ear.

“Leah,” she
choked out, struggling weakly. “Leah Miller.” Her knife
was raised and his eyes darted to the glinting blade.

“Your pack?”

“D-D-Dark Moon.”

“Give me the knife,
Leah,” he commanded in a low, menacing voice.

She shook her head, even as
his grip tightened around her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut,
and felt her body shaking violently against the wall. But she wasn't
shaking with fear. She was trembling with relief.

He was going to kill her,
and...she was glad. She was glad she didn't have to kill the
Thunderfalls Alpha, and she was relieved that she wasn't going to die
at the teeth and claws of her pack. Her pack would not allow her a
quick, painless death. She would be shamed and tortured, before she
was allowed to die.

“Do it,” she
whispered. “Please.”

Her eyes fluttered open in
shock when she felt his grip loosen. A flurry of footsteps and
voices were coming nearer, and before she could suck in a breath, she
felt his lips crush against hers.

His fingers pried the knife
from her as he kissed her fiercely, hungrily, pressing her back to
the wall. She could feel the hard length of his body pushing against
her, trapping her to the spot.

“Hey, Andrew! Are you
feeling up one of the guests?” a jovial voice called out.

“Easy now, Andrew,
pace yourself. You've got all night!” another voice hollered.

Leah
heard hoots and cheers, and
the
smell of beer and alcohol hung heavy in the air. His pack members
were
obviously having a
whale of a time at their anniversary celebration. The formal dinner
was just for decorum. Behind the scenes, the Thunderfalls wolves
like
d
to let their hair down and have fun.
And right now, they
were having fun at
Andrew's
expense, teasing him relentlessly and
leering at him.

“Bye, bye, Andrew!
You...are a very naughty boy!”

Smack.

“Ah-rooooooooo!”

The howls and laughter faded
down the corridor.

Leah
blinked up as Andrew released her slowly.
She
peeked over his shoulder and saw his pack members disappearing down
the corridor.
Even
after they'd gone, he continued shielding her with his body, keeping
her out of sight of the other wolves. His pack members would only
have seen him kissing a female, but they wouldn't know which female.
By kissing her, he had blocked her face and body from them.