“I don’t give a shit about your rich kid circles. You don’t want me there? Fine. I won’t lose any sleep at night. But Ranger is mine.” We squeezed tighter, watching as her eyes bulged with panic. “This is the last time I will tell you to leave.”The stench of fear permeated the air as Edith slowly nodded.“Go.”We released her neck and she shifted into her wolf. The beast turned and snarled. We bared our fangs, snarling back.With her tail tucked between her legs, she bolted down the mountain.We stood and tested the weight on our human knee. It hurt, but we’d taken worse beatings in our life. “How long have you been standing there?”“Since you left our bed.” Ranger’s strong arms wrapped around us and his scent comforted like the smell of home. The cameras were still flying and filming as Ranger swept us off our feet.His face was full of concern. “How’s your knee?”“Healing.” We smiled. An inverted reflection of his frown. He worried too much for a male. It was all right though. We’d
Tension coiled low in my belly as I cried out, “That isn’t fair.”“No?” He laughed against my center, licking and sucking as his thumb pressed harder. It crossed a barrier and new sensations overwhelmed me. “What would make it fair?”“Is… Is…” I gasped, trying to use my voice when my sanity was trying to escape as he pressed in deeper with his thumb and continued to eat me out. “Is the rut making your decisions for you?”I cried out as he moved his thumb in small circles, rubbing against nerves I hadn’t known were there.“Yes and no,” he hummed against my clit. “But I’m still in control.”“Fuck your control,” I gasped as I teetered too close to the ledge. “Lose it with me. Please!”The orgasm that overtook me nearly made me black out. My thighs were shaking as he pulled his thumb out and pressed his usual kiss to my vagina.I reached for him, wanting him closer.Ranger growled as he looked up toward me with the glowing ring of his beast in his eyes. He needed a break. I knew it. His w
RangerI wasn’t quite sure when Aspen’s heat broke. There was no grand finale to the event. It would’ve happened sometime between an orgasm and the sleep that followed. Despite how intense this season had been, I’d never napped more in my life.My mate bore my mark proudly with her hair thrown up in a messy bun and her fangs extended as we marched down the mountain to the beat of helicopter blades whirring. Jones and Foster and Beau and the rest of my pack joined us, forming a barrier of security around their fired-up Luna.I’d felt the bond as Alpha to my sister break sometime in the days prior, but I still had a family connection with her. “We’re going to raise hell. You coming?”“Not this time.” My sister laughed, sounding lighthearted. “I’m so freaking done with this show.”It didn’t feel like a loss with her leaving. Not a goodbye like I always imagined it would. More so a ‘see you later.’ “Tell John he still owes me a talk.”“Will do.” My sister’s howls followed me as we continu
I sat in the chair across from the show host and tried not to imagine snapping his neck. “Is that what they’re calling me?”“Come on now,” Jay elbowed the air like we were old friends, “you must’ve known in coming to the show that all the viewers would fan girl over you. The youngest Alpha in recent history. Voted ‘shifter of the year’ in Shifter Times. You were season seven’s most eligible bachelor according to the polls this winter. The producers were chomping at the bits when you accepted the invitation.”“Is that so?” I relaxed back in my seat.Jay looked to the camera, touching the device in his ear and nodded before saying again, “You were season seven’s most eligible bachelor according to the polls this winter, but it looks like you’re not a bachelor anymore.”Guess he wasn’t supposed to add that part about the producers or hint at what they’d do to keep me on this show. It didn’t matter. We already had them by the balls. And I planned to make it hurt.“You’re right. I’m no lon
“Actually…” I grabbed his hand, dragging him inside the limousine so we could play behind the tinted windows. “I was wondering how much it would cost me to get someone else out of trouble.”*The desert wind was angry. Dust devils whipped through the distant fields and tumbleweeds blew across the asphalt of the parking lot. It was so much drier than I remembered. I hadn’t been back in almost a year. It didn’t feel like home anymore though. I’m not sure that it ever did. But now it was like a photograph or a feeling of déjà vu, some dream I could shake off the memory of and return to my real life.“We won’t be seeing you around anymore.” Trenton–or should I say Alpha Trenton Nuva–leaned against the side of my car as we waited in the parking lot of Holton Penitentiary for the fence gates to open.I want to hurry and get out of here.It was strange to be standing in this town, stranger still to be standing next to Trenton feeling nothing. We had no pack connection. I held no more frustra
Ranger“You wanted to be punished.” I tapped the riding crop against Aspen’s clit, loving her little moans. Her ankles and wrists were tied with black silk rope to the rings I’d built into the archway entering the basement loft. It was one of my favorite positions to put her, making my mate a beautiful, submissive X.“That’s subjective.” She panted, testing her weight against the ropes while she arched her back, trying to chase the riding crop as I pulled it away. “Is it really punishment if I think it’s a reward?”I rolled back my head to stare up at the mirrored ceiling. Always with the comebacks. Always keeping me on my toes.But I wouldn’t be an Alpha if I didn’t appreciate a good challenge.The cold metal pressed against her asshole and she stood ramrod straight as I opened the cap on a bottle of lube.“Breathe for me,” I whispered the command in her ear as I applied pressure from the metal anal plug with the diamond studded base end.Nothing but the prettiest for my brat.“Range
“Your stupid rich people microwave killed the popcorn,” Clara shouted down the stairs.Aspen laughed as she kissed my cheek and hurried to check out the damage.My life was so domesticated now. Scented candles and bubble baths and sweet wine in the fridge. Yoga pants were the Goddess’s gift to earth and I shamelessly followed my mate’s ass up the stairs as she showed off her favorite pair.“I’ll make another bag,” Aspen said as she pushed open the door to the kitchen.The pink wine glugged as Clara poured three oversized glasses of it. “I don’t know how you work that contraption. Why can’t you get a regular microwave?”“Why don’t you just use a popcorn machine like a normal person? We aren’t in the 2000s anymore.” Jesse grabbed a glass of wine and bolted to the living room before Clara could swipe at him.“Remind me again what the cat is doing here.” I massaged my forehead.“I told you I invited him.” Aspen stood on her tiptoes to reach the popcorn on the top shelf of the pantry. The
Fallon“We stay until the day of the hunt and then move out.” My brother’s voice held the threat of an alpha bark. He’d always had it, even before he became Alpha, and even though he never intended to use it. The commanding tone echoed through the chilly night. But it was the pack’s howls of war and revenge around the fire that made shivers dance on my skin.They were all idiots.I took another pull off the whiskey bottle, letting the burn wash the sour taste from my mouth.This is good. It gives us more time.Time is the last thing I want to give you, I scolded my internal beast. She’d been distracted and worked up the last few days, ever since the Luna Trials ended. We’d gotten a stronger whiff of the faint trace that lingered in the stands after the nesting trial elimination round. That scent was delicious and masculine and called to a primal part of my being.And I wasn’t going near it with a ten-foot pole.Mating season was riding everyone hard. I shuddered to think of what catch
I reached up and turned the TV off manually, scratching the back of my head as the room quieted and eight pairs of eyes looked my way. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”“Wasn’t he on the show?” The coyote shifter looked at Aspen. “I swear I saw him there.”“You can be on the show and not have a clue what’s going on. Ask me how I know.” Aspen giggled, leaning back so her head rested against Ranger.He affectionately squeezed her shoulder as he pulled out his phone and scrolled. “It’s true. They finally got enough dirt to bring her in. Took them long enough. It’s been almost three months since our settlement against the network.”“Thank the Goddess.” Aspen sighed. “Wait, this doesn’t mean we have to go back to court, does it?”Ranger pocketed his phone. “No. They have her on a technicality and the feds are involved with the interstate gambling. Jesse’s testimony should be all they need. It’s bigger than us now.”We all glanced at the cheetah shifter. Jesse laid back on the leather
My beast thumped his tail as she smiled at me.“Are you ready to go?”I finished off my beer and tossed it into the trashcan, moving around Andrea as she tended the bar. Crossing the hardwood floors, I met the owner of the bar halfway, then scooped her up into my arms. “You missed my show.”I didn’t care if I sounded pathetic; Fallon was the one who insisted I put on a festive performance each Thursday night for the month of December. “We need more fun in this territory,” she’d said. “Make them want to stick around.”Fallon was a tough Luna, but she had a vision. It was something beautiful to watch it come alive. Because that’s what she’d done. Slowly but surely, she’d brought more life into this pack.A public playground sat by the new elementary school. She’d recruited some small businesses and created a boutique shopping center right outside the resort. Shifters were coming back and bringing their families with them. Especially now that Chase and Kimberly Williams were running the
“Well. I didn’t think…” Tim looked around the room as he stuttered. “She just…”“Come on, man.” Bryant laughed as he clapped the old man on the back. “Did you lose a nut or two back there?”“I need you to leave. Now.” John growled.Tim scrambled out the door.Bryant sighed as he followed him. “We’re going to have to burn this table.”“Out.” John’s Alpha strength washed over me, giving my wolf a heady rush as it mixed with my own power.I gave him a seductive smile, practically tasting his pheromones and desire pulsing in the air. “What seems to be the problem, Alpha?”“That was so fucking sexy.” He moved me over so I was standing in front of him, spreading my thighs apart with his knee. I was bare under the makeshift dress I’d made from his flannel shirt.Bare and already aching with need.His hand slid up between my legs and he groaned at what he found waiting there. “How did I get so lucky?”“Ask the Goddess,” I teased, gasping as he pushed me back so I lay flat on the table.He mad
I placed her scent as soon as I’d shifted and entered the lodge through the back door. The widowed Luna of Williams Pack. It was only a matter of time before she showed up. I pulled on one of John’s flannel shirts from the hooks in the mudroom and cinched it at the waist with one of his belts, grabbing my spare thigh-high black boots from the mat in the hall.Reminder to self:Leave more clothes easily accessible here.Especially if we’d be hosting representatives from the neighboring packs at random times.“Fallon.” John smiled at me as he came out of the bathroom. His eyes traveled hungrily up my thighs as I zipped my boots.“Later.” I put my hand in his. “Do we know what Janice Williams wants?”“Probably something about the debt from the show and my bargain with Chase.” A menacing aura pulsed around John that made my beast purr in delight. We hadn’t seen him in his dominant stance yet. He’d been mostly cinnamon roll around me and the pack. But this version of him was definitely get
“Are you going to let your Alpha in on these plans?” I asked as I tossed the towel into the laundry basket.“There will be signs,” she said mysteriously.And like a love-sick pup, my beast wagged his tail, ready to do whatever she asked.“Come on.” Fallon grabbed my hand and dragged me off the bed.“Where are we going?” I hobbled after her, realizing I’d probably be doing this for the rest of my life. Which didn’t sound all that bad.Fallon pulled open the front door as the cool spring breeze entered the warmth of the cottage, blowing a gust of her intoxicating scent around me. The morning sun shone down on her raven-black hair, giving her an ethereal glow. Her fangs descended through her smile.“My wolf needs her apology now.”11FallonBits of green sprouted through patches of muddy snow that crunched under my wolf’s paws as she raced through the quiet forest. The morning sun peeked down past the branches overhead. My beast’s lungs burned deliciously with the exertion. She was fast–
With my hands full of plastic bags, I jumped out of the truck onto the dirt road to the lakeside resort. I had a feeling she’d like it here. Her own little safe haven, especially when it was off-season and the pack stayed inland where the hunting was better and the air was less cold. Come summer, they’d all be out fishing and swimming and soaking up the sun. Fallon could have full range of the lodge then.I tapped into our mental connection, not wanting to disturb her if she was sleeping. Her emotions washed over me. The anger. The loneliness. It squeezed at my heart.My beast whined as I sat down on the front porch, putting the bags beside me.“What’s your favorite type of candy?” I rested my arms on my knees and waited. Back at the show, I’d gone through so many questions and she never answered. But maybe, just maybe…“Dark chocolate with salted caramel.”My beast howled his triumph as I looked into the plastic bag. Hopefully milk chocolate with caramel filling was a close second. O
“But you won’t because, despite your tough exterior, you aren’t a complete asshole.”“I…” I didn’t know what to say to that.“Listen, I know you and Ranger had a shit life. And we’re wolves. We’re used to fighting for what we get. But it’s different when it comes to you and your mate–especially one who is the Alpha. He’s going to protect you. It’s in his nature. You don’t have to fight every battle alone anymore.”“But–”“No buts. It’s biology, girl. Your wolf could only be tamed by the male strong enough to be an equal, but being equal doesn’t mean you do the same type of work all the time. He’s supposed to protect you in his way. You’re supposed to protect him in yours. He’ll take care of you when you’re sick and when you can’t do something. Just like you’ll do the same when he falls short. You don’t have to prove your worth anymore. If you did, then he wouldn’t be your perfect mate.”“What if fate got it wrong and he’s not perfect?” I swallowed down the lump of emotion in my throat
I shook my head. “How did you do it?”“Do what?”“One second everyone was talking shit. The next, they were eating out of the palm of your hand.”“Not everyone,” she huffed.“More than half the pack.” I started to unbutton my shirt, loving the hungry look in her eyes. “It was magic. Princess magic.”“I’m serious.” She licked her bottom lip as I dropped my shirt to the ground. “Don’t call me that.”“If you want me to stop, I’m going to need your passcode.”Her fingers traced the neckline of her shirt. “Passcode? I prefer the light system for safe words. Green to keep going. Yellow means slow down. Red is–”“Damn it, woman.” I groaned as I held my cock through my jeans with one hand and waved her phone with the other. “Your passcode.”Her eyes narrowed. “Give that to me.”“Are you hiding something?” I teased.She better not be.“It’s none of your business if I am.” A dismissive tilt of her chin had my beast growling.“I think everything about you is my business.” I caught her by the ank
“But the dams sure think so.” Aiden nodded.“It’s not your fault though.” Alice patted my hand. “You can’t help being a pampered city girl.”Did she just call us…I guess she did.I burst into laughter, laughing even harder at the horrified expressions on their faces. This was great. More than great.The O’Neil Pack thought I’d left my comfortable position in McCaw, with my own house where I made all my own rules and had more money than I knew what to do with, for a life like this?They were all high as a kite.8JohnIt took a massive amount of liquor for shifters to get and stay drunk, but that didn’t stop the O’Neil Clan from testing the limits. Pitchers of beer and jugs of homemade apple pie moonshine were passed around the picnic tables out front of the lodge. The far tables were laden with potluck casseroles and Shirley’s kitchen creations.Young pups came running through the maze of adults, causing chaos as I searched the crowd, looking for Fallon. My mate. It still had a ribbo