Authors: Zena Wynn
“Only the strong survived. Those that were left focused on surviving, rebuilding their clans, families…packs.” Conor’s gaze scanned the room. “Instead of pulling together, it was every man…every species for himself. What resources remained were fought over, many times to the death. The weak got weaker and the strong…more vicious.”
His focus turned inward. “Out of the darkness stepped a leader, a being like myself, both shifter and vampire. He managed to unite what was left of the packs, convincing them that the path to survival lay in banding together. Laws were written and obeyed or death was swift. ‘Protect the young and elderly, our women treasured above all.’”
Rory stirred at the familiar tenets. He wasn’t the only one.
“The wolf-shifters began to grow and thrive. Others noticed. Some of the other groups allied themselves and strengthened as well. Others remained apart, isolating themselves. Some died out…or were never heard from again.”
It was as quiet as the grave in the room. Barely a breath could be heard.
“Among the vampires a leader arose, only she wasn’t as…benevolent. For her it was all about power. Like Mangus, Fiala was half-vamp/half wolf-shifter. Unlike Mangus, she ruled by might. Those who opposed her were captured and killed. She wasn’t satisfied simply having vampires under her thumb. She wanted to rule the world.”
“Sounds like she had a screw loose,” Shayla murmured.
“There was a war,” Conor continued.
He heard Alex declare softly, “The vamp-shifter wars.”
Conor nodded abruptly, acknowledging Alex’s comment. “Many fled…hid. My parents among them. Fiala was finally overthrown, but by that time vamps and shifters alike had grown to fear and hate half-breeds such as myself. We were hunted. Matings between the two species were forbidden. My father died protecting us. By then I was old enough to hide what I was, mask my scent. My mother found a pack that took us in, and I was raised as a wolf.”
“That answers one question,” Rory stated. “What about the other?”
“I’m somewhat of a genealogist. As a near immortal, I’ve had plenty of time to indulge my habit,” Conor said.
Shayla snorted. “The man’s a freakin’ psychic, is what he is.”
“That too.” Conor smiled and his eyes…their color changed and began to swirl and glow. Rory clutched his mate to him, a hand pressed protectively against her stomach where his cub rested. He tensed, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
“Cool trick with the eyes. What else can you do?” Shay asked, sounding impressed, to Rory’s disgust.
Conor threw back his head and laughed, a deep belly chuckle that released the tension in the room. When he stopped, his eyes were back to normal. Or what Rory assumed was normal. With this guy, it was hard to say.
Shay’s teasing and Conor’s response must have been a signal for the rest of the room. Questions began to fly, people calling out over one another to be heard. Shay leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, propping her chin on her hands as her head turned this way and that, trying to keep up with who was speaking. Rory’s gaze was immediately drawn to the long line of her spine, bared by the haltered gown she wore. Its V-shaped back stopped right above the swell of her ass, making him wonder what she wore underneath.
The thought of her naked beneath the silky material made him harder, tighter, and he suddenly realized it had been much too long since he’d buried himself within her satiny sheath. Losing all interest in the conversation swirling around them, he glided his hands up the sides of Shay’s body, feeling for underwear. Finding none, a small growl rumbled out of his chest and he prodded her with his raging, temporarily confined hard-on.
The perfume of Shay’s arousal filled the air in response, and a hard grin crossed his face. Firmly gripping her hips, he rubbed her against his bulging crotch and ran the point of his tongue up the middle of her back to just below her neck. Rory could feel her heat, smell her dampness.
Shay’s breath caught on a small moan, and she rocked on him in microcircles. He trailed his lips from her nape to her left shoulder, where one of his marks was prominently displayed. He tongued it, knowing it would spike her arousal. Rory slid his hand inside her dress and around to her stomach, and glided the flat of his palm up until his fingers rested just below her breasts.
“Rory.” She groaned his name. Straightening, she relaxed against his chest and tilted her head to the side, granting him unhindered access.
He murmured his approval and, as a reward, lifted his thumb to lightly stroke her beaded nipple.
Shay reached over her head and grabbed him by the hair, yanking his lips to hers. Their mouths fused together, the passion bounding back and forth between them, building higher and higher each round. Rory reached for Shay’s dress, intent on dragging it up her hips and burying himself in her from behind, when a sharp pain in his leg snapped him out of his lust-induced craze.
Rory swung around with a snarl.
Alex had his hands raised, a rueful expression on his face. “Sorry, but you’re putting on a show.”
“You
kicked
me!” Rory all but roared.
Alex shrugged. “Just following orders.” He pointed.
Rory’s gaze followed Alex’s finger to see his baby sister frowning at him. “Get a room already.” A quick glance showed him they had the attention of everyone.
“I believe that’s exactly what I’ll do.” In one smooth move, he rose to his feet with his mate in his arms. “It’s time I took my family home.”
“My things!” Shay exclaimed.
“Already in the truck,” he announced as he strode out of the room.
“Shay, call me,” were the last words he heard as the door closed behind them.
Rory’s stride rapidly ate up the distance to the truck.
Chapter Five
Rory stood at the stove, re
miniscing about the night before as he cooked breakfast meat. What he thought would be a night of hard, pounding sex had fizzled into nothing, his mate having fallen asleep on the ride home. The man part of him demanded he wake her and finish what they’d started. The wolf overrode it, more concerned with the well-being of his mate and cub than his own physical needs.
Suddenly his nose twitched and his beast stirred. Above the savory aroma of sausage and bacon cooking, he smelled something even more tantalizing. His mate. His aroused mate. Breakfast would have to wait.
He turned off the stove and removed the frying pan from the burner. Turning in the direction where Shay’s scent was the strongest, his breath caught and his cock rose strong and proud.
She stood in the doorway in one of his dress shirts, unbuttoned down the middle. One hand played with the folds of her sex while the other toyed with a peaked, dusky brown nipple. His gaze reluctantly rose from that mouthwatering sight, and his eyes met the focused, golden-eyed stare she fixed on him. She didn’t say a word. None was necessary.
Rory prowled to her, stopping mere centimeters away so that his now throbbing erection brushed the back of her hand. He reached up and pushed the shirt off her shoulders. It fell to her elbows and hung there around her hips. She was completely bare underneath.
Leaning forward, he licked the mate mark on her right shoulder, then bit down hard, teeth sinking in, breaking the flesh. Blood flooded his mouth. One of Shay’s hands wrapped around his cock and squeezed. A growl rumbled from deep in her chest. An answering one sounded from his wolf. He felt the prick of tiny claws on his flesh, and the hint of violence in her touch excited him.
Rory released his hold on her shoulder and swirled his tongue over the wound, both to help it heal and because the taste of her blood turned him on. Prying her hand from his penis, he captured both of her wrists and held them over her head, pinning them alongside the wall. At the same time he covered her mouth with his. The kiss was raw, brutal.
Shay rose to her toes, arched her mound, and rubbed it against his cock. As her needy whimper filled the air, she tugged on her arms and, when he wouldn’t release them, snarled into his mouth. He nipped her lower lip, a warning, a reprimand. In turn she bared her teeth and lunged for his face, mouth wide open.
Rory jerked away, eyes narrowed. A rumble began in his chest before emerging as a full-throated growl. She was testing his beast, challenging his dominance over her. It was there in the way she matched him glare for glare. He growled again, and she growled back, teeth still bared, still fighting to reach him. Her eyes had gone pure wolf. She was strong but no match for him, and he could see that the knowledge infuriated her beast.
At that moment the kitchen door swung open and Caleb and MacDougal walked in. Caleb, smart wolf that he was, stopped in the doorway, sniffing the air before his apologetic gaze locked on them near the entrance to the dining room. MacDougal continued on into the house, headed toward the stove. “Smells like we’re in time for breakfast. Nice tits,” he commented, giving Shay’s body a thorough perusal.
“Maybe we should come back later,” Caleb said, retreating for the door, which still stood open, eyes glued to Shay’s half-naked body.
Shay’s stare traveled from Caleb to MacDougal, and her scent increased. A flood of moisture coated his cock where it rested between her legs along her slit. She dared to look at another male with desire in his presence? When he could smell the other males’ lust as they gazed at his mate?
His beast broke free. “Mine,” he roared.
He flipped her around, ripped the shirt off her back, and took her down to the floor onto her knees. Forcing her legs apart, he impaled her with one deep thrust. She bucked and fought beneath him, but he swiftly overpowered her. Teeth locked on to her shoulder, he rutted on her like a beast gone wild. There was no thought or reasoning left within him.
Intent on proving his claim without a doubt, he pounded into her until she relaxed, arched her back, and raised her ass while whimpering, accepting his dominance. Raising eyes gone totally wolf, he stared at his men, daring them to challenge his claim. Caleb raised his hands and withdrew slowly until he was out the door. MacDougal smirked, crossed his arms over his chest, planted his feet, and watched, eyes still full of lust for Shay.
MY MATE.
He roared again, flashing his fangs in challenge as Shay shuddered beneath him, her pussy clamping around him like a vise as she came with a muffled scream. Growling low in his throat, eyes locked with his third, Rory pulled out and stroked his cock with his fist, spewing cum all over Shay’s back and ass, scent marking her so there’d be no doubt to whom she belonged.
MacDougal snorted and finally strode from the house. Watching him, Rory knew one day he’d have to do something about him. He wouldn’t continue to allow challenges to his leadership. His father would have already killed MacDougal by now. His thoughts were interrupted by Shay scrambling away from him. As soon as she gained her feet, she scampered off, running up the stairs. She never looked back.
Rory flinched at the sound of an upstairs door slamming.
What had he done? He looked at his hands with the claws still extended and thought back on all the times he’d seen his father do this very same thing to his mother. A man he’d sworn he’d never be like. With a cry of self-directed fury, Rory slammed his fists on the floor.
Slowly, cold resolve filled his being. It was his responsibility—no, his duty—to protect his mate, even from himself. Knowing what he had to do, he went to the kitchen wall phone and jabbed in a number. As he’d hoped, Kiesha answered the phone.
“Come get your bitch of a cousin. I no longer want her,” he snarled into the receiver and slammed the phone down before she could respond.
His beast let out a mournful howl that Rory refused to give voice to. He forced himself to walk out the door, shifted to wolf, and took off running into the woods surrounding the house, trying to exhaust himself enough to forget that he’d just sent away the best thing that ever happened to him.
* * * *
Shayla rested her flaming cheeks on the cold tile of the shower while hot water poured over her. She, who didn’t embarrass easily, was mortified. She’d had sex—in front of witnesses!—and she’d never been so turned on in her life.
She groaned and brought her hands up to cover her face.
For all her bold speaking and thinking, she knew she really wasn’t the sexual libertine she pretended to herself and everyone else to be. Despite how brazenly she acted, this was over the top, even for her. Her sexually free attitude was simply a facade to keep men away. Most guys were intimidated by a more sexually experienced woman, afraid they couldn’t measure up and not willing to take the risk. The ones who were attracted to the challenge Shay managed to scare off in other ways.
With the exception of Rory, the guys she’d previously allowed into her bed were major geeks and nerds like herself. Maybe they were a bit immature, but they didn’t think her weird or strange because they were weird themselves. They’d have never considered turning sex into a spectator sport. Well, they might have considered it but definitely wouldn’t have the balls to do it.
Shay didn’t know which embarrassed her most: the way she’d literally preened under the lustful gaze of those two guys seeing her naked, or her reaction to Rory spurting his seed all over her body. She shuddered, but not in revulsion. He’d scent marked her to show his possession of her—something she’d read about in her study of werewolves—and she’d reveled in it. Almost turned and begged him to do it again.
Shay shook her head. And to think at the wedding reception they’d said that stuff she’d found on the Internet was pure fiction.
Kiesha had explained that as a result of her mating with Alex, she was slowly becoming a shifter. Hell, Conor had explained the process to Shay long before Kiesha knew who Alex was, back when she’d thought Conor was an amusing older gentleman who told the most fascinating stories. While Shay knew to expect the change in her DNA, no one had warned her that her very personality might change. That’s the only explanation she could find for her odd behavior.
She’d been acting like a bitch in heat ever since Rory first laid his hands on her.
Even now she didn’t want to wash his scent off, choosing instead to rinse the semen off. She reluctantly left the shower, knowing she couldn’t hide in here forever. She would have to face the man at some point. Once again it was time to put her game face on. It wouldn’t do to let Rory know the effect he had on her. The braggart would never let her live it down.
Shay wrapped a towel around her body and exited the bathroom, expecting to find Rory waiting for her. Instead the bedroom was empty and her cell phone was ringing. She lifted it off the bedside table and glanced at the display. Shannon. “Hey! Are you calling to see if your brother and I managed to kill each other yet?”
“
What the hell is going on there
?” Kee blasted, almost piercing her eardrum. “Pack your bags. We’re on our way.”
“
Kee?
Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon? And why are you calling from Shannon’s phone?” Shay asked, confused.
“We’re not going anywhere until we find out what’s happening,” she heard Alex say.
Alex was on the phone too?
“I’ll be there as soon as
someone
tells me how the hell to get there. If you won’t go with me, Alex Wolfe, I’ll take some of the guys,” Kiesha snarled.
“Kiesha, before you go running off, let’s find out what the situation is,” Shannon stated calmly.
“Kiesha, I can’t allow you to do that. You’ll start a pack war if you do,” Alex reasoned.
Situation? Pack war? Huh?
“Fuck that! This is my cousin we’re talking about. If you and Shannon won’t tell me how to get to her, I’ll find someone who will. Someone has to know where that fucker lives,” Kee said.
“Hey, watch it! That ‘fucker’ is my brother,” Shannon protested.
“Kee, be reasonable,” Alex cautioned.
“That’s easy for you to say. She’s not your kin,” Kiesha shouted.
“No, but Rory’s mine and I know he wouldn’t hurt Shayla,” Shannon argued. “Especially not when she’s carrying his cub.”
“Guys, what—” Shay said.
“Oh, but he has no problems doing it when she’s not?” Kee sarcastically questioned.
“Ladies, we still don’t know—” Alex began.
“I can’t believe you said that,” Shannon said on a growl.
“I should have followed my first instinct and castrated the bastard when I found out Shay was pregnant,” Kiesha snarled.
Okay, this was rapidly getting out of hand. Shay put her fingers between her lips and let out a shrill whistle into the phone. Her action gained immediate silence. Before anyone could say something else, she asked in a calm voice, “Would someone care to tell me what this is all about?”
When both Kiesha and Shannon began to make a heated response, she cut them off. “Alex, you tell me since you seem to be the only reasonable one at the moment.”
“Rory called Kiesha and told her to come and get you,” was his reply.
“No, he didn’t. First he called her a bitch, and
then
he told me to come get her. That he didn’t want her,’” Kiesha snarled.
“He said
what
?” Shay asked, her voice faint with shock.
“You heard me. He doesn’t want you there. I told these two…two…”
She heard Alex growl a warning.
“I told
them
what he said. However, neither one of them will tell me how to get to you, and they refuse to come and get you themselves,” Kiesha finished angrily.
Someone took a deep breath; then Shannon said, “Shayla, why would Rory tell Kiesha such a lie? I know he wants you. The man mourned the whole time you were gone. I’ve never seen him as content as when he’s with you. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” Shay said as bewilderment gave way to anger.
“Who cares why he said it? The fact is he did, and I don’t want her there,” Kiesha said.
“Kiesha, I keep telling you, we can’t interfere with the bonding process,” Alex reminded.
“When it comes to the Raven pack, I’ll stay out of it, but when it’s my cousin, there’s no way in hell I’m sitting back and letting her get hurt,” Kiesha stated firmly.
“Kee, I got this,” Shayla inserted in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
“But—”
“No, Kee. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll handle it,” Shay said.
“But Shay—”
Alex cut her off. “Kiesha, she said she’d handle it.”
“Fine!” Kiesha slammed down her receiver, and Shayla flinched and jerked the phone away from her abused eardrum. Hell, she’d really have to do some fence mending with her cousin later.
“Let us know if you need anything, Shayla. Despite what I said, if your safety depended on it, I’d start as many wars as necessary,” Alex said before he too disconnected.
“None of this makes sense. My brother loves you,” Shannon stated when it was just the two of them.
Shay sank onto the side of the bed. “He does?”
She knew he was possessive of her, or rather the baby, but love?
“Yes, told me so himself. I’ve never seen him like he was while you were gone. He was grieving. Rory…and his beast,” Shannon said with great certainty. “Did anything happen?”
“He…we…I…” She broke off, her face hot like it was on fire. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to continue. “He might have lost control, a bit.”
“Oh. Shay, are you sure you’re all right? Because the only reason I can think of that would cause a male shifter to send his mate away is fear—for her safety.”
“Shannon, you know Rory wouldn’t hurt me.”
“I know he wouldn’t, but does he?” Shannon paused to let that sink in before continuing, “Call me if you need me.”
Shannon’s question gave Shayla something to consider while dressing before going downstairs to find her mate, who had some serious explaining to do. She wasn’t sure at what point she’d switched from merely tolerating this relationship for the sake of their baby to actively wanting it, but she wasn’t letting go, especially not if he loved her. She’d seen—first with Alex, then with Hugh—how shifter males were with the women they loved. She’d never thought to experience it for herself, with any man, but if what Conor and now Shannon said was true…
She thought about how tender and caring he’d been with her since her return. He was still as possessive and sex-crazed as ever, but there was a new element in his touch. She’d thought it was because she was pregnant, but maybe it wasn’t. Shannon knew him best. If she said Rory loved her, it must be true.
So what’s this all about?
The man knew exactly what he’d been doing. He’d called Kee and got her all riled up, knowing with her protective nature, she was the one most likely to take exception to his words and come to the rescue. Then he’d run like the coward he was. She couldn’t find him anywhere in the house, and she’d looked everywhere—with the exception of the double-bolted door she assumed led to the basement and its mysterious contents.
Shay wasn’t going chasing all over the countryside after him. One, it was a good way to get lost, and two, the man had to come home sometime. Right now she had more important matters to attend to, like her empty, growling stomach.