2: Leer - Pack Takeover (8 page)

And, I think there was part of him that felt like he had to prove--to Tee and the rest of the pack--that he was still alpha. And another part of him that was smug enough to think Tee would take me down when the time came. Only it never occurred to him that the time would come while she was sick with worry about his deal.

I understand, now, where she was at in her head. The man she loved was in a life and death struggle. She didn’t care about herself--it was all about him.

In fact, while I watched her and the men fought not too far away, I heard Chaos gasp in pain, and her eyes went wild--trying to see what was happening with him. The way she jerked tore her throat a little. I swear it was her own fault. I put a paw on her and gritted “Don’t!” between my clenched teeth.

With Chaos in split-brain mode, Leer managed to pin him. He was going in for the kill, I think, when Tee yelped again. I didn’t realize it, but I had applied a miniscule bit more of pressure myself. Guess ya don’t have a lot of play-room around the jugular.

Here’s the crazy thing. As hot as the tempers were in that cramped space, wolves basically just wanna gain control, find their place in the pack. Yeah, they want to work up, they definitely don’t want to lose their footing and slip in status, but they’re all family. So forgiveness is given freely. That is not to say they ever forget. Once you wrong somebody, you’re either out or watching your back, because the minute no one is looking, you’re dead.

Chaos was gonna die. He should’ve died instantly. Leer definitely should’ve killed him, because once you best the alpha, it’s better for him to die than come back for revenge. But Chaos appealed to Leer’s more human side. He said simply, “Let me live.”

Leer grumbled, “I don’t think so.”

“I‘ll take Tee and go.”

So I’d been wrong. He did think of it! I can only imagine what it took for him to say those words.

She yelped.

Leer’s gaze shifted. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw me on top of Tee. My eyes
were
flashing. I was fighting the urge to rip. By the second, it was getting harder.

I really was trying to figure out how to let go and not get killed. Sense was returning?

Leer said, “Finish her.”

I looked down at Tee. Tears were pooling in her eyes. I almost felt sympathy.

The sense of Chaos’s words--that they’d go away--started to sink in…seemed almost reasonable.

And then her glaring white fangs flashed. She was begging, “Please.” But I knew when I saw them--that they would be the death of me--if I let her up.

I didn’t want to die. Not when I’d finally found someone to be with. My gaze shifted to Leer.

“Do it,” he said.

I closed my eyes and pulled back with a jerk, stripping her main artery from her throat. Blood went everywhere. She clawed for only a second.

Blood spattered, I bared my teeth and growled at the circle around me. The silence only lasted a second. The scent of fresh blood put them all into bloodlust. I mean, there had been blood before, but there’s a different smell that permeates the air when something dies in a fight.

They rose up at one another. They tossed and rolled.

And danced.

Leer, I think, might have let Chaos up at that point. He said that he wanted to come to me. It all happened so fast. But Chaos rose up in fury, getting a second wind or something, and Leer was sorry for turning his back. I’m telling you, if there’s one lesson to learn, that’s probably it. Never turn your back on a wolf.

I think that’s when it all came home to me. I had killed a female. No one else was stepping up. Leer and Chaos were battling for alpha position. And I was the prize.

I didn’t want Chaos to win. When that thought came back to my brain, I turned my attentions to them. I tried to see which was which. They looked so much alike. It was hard to tell in the rolling, gnashing, quarrel.

But then I spotted the claw marks on Leer’s side. By their battle wounds, I could tell them apart.

I didn’t know the rules of wolf war. I didn’t know that I was supposed to sit back and let them work it out. All I knew was--I wanted Leer to win.

Obviously, I could have jumped in. That would have turned the tide of power. But that would have made Leer look like he needed a woman’s help. Not exactly a great start to being the leader of the pack.

It’s not like I took the time to think through the possibilities of what would be politically correct. And it wasn’t like I was thinking a whole lot that night at all. But, as I watched the scuffling, I thought
--why does this turn me on?

You have to know, there was not a clothed person or wolf in the room at this time. Most clothes get shredded, just like the Incredible Hulk, when they go into shifting. Or they strip when they know they’re going to. Chaos had on some shreds.

There’s a sense of
nudity isn’t noticed
. You don’t care. Modesty be damned. Instinct rules.

I rose up and started taking my pants off.

I guess that was a big tease to those who had their eye on me. I didn’t do it for entertainment purposes. I was feeling confined.

And something in me--knew--that taking my clothes off would set me free. I peeled them down, stepped from them. I never noticed that wolves had leaped onto Tee’s body and were feasting. That was behind me.

I examined my thighs.
Weightlifter woman
came to mind. Not too over done. Simply, woman in perfect, primal form. My crinos was ruled by my humanism. Call me
enhanced
. The muscles below my breasts were tighter wrapped, fuller. My waist had also tightened. Not that it had been large in the first place. But now my abdomen was flat-strapped by the muscle.

Let’s not forget that I was a bitch coming into heat, and that’s what had drawn these--creatures--into my neighborhood in the first place. I stretched my arms to the ceiling and let out a howl. My first. I let it rise up from my crotch, I think, through my throat and out. Top of my lungs.

Probably the only thing that really saved Leer was the fact that he’d had it already. The other male dogs dropped to their bellies, lolled their tongues, smiling. They were excited to watch the show.

Chaos couldn’t ignore the smell, though. Again, his concentration was split.

Leer finished him then. He managed to claw across Chaos’s belly, laying his innards open. The moment Chaos recoiled, his intestines dropped. The others jumped on him--because he was obviously now dinner.

Leer stood, yeah, on his hind legs. He was shaking from head to toe. He was still ready to kill.

But we only had eyes for each other. We had fed the pack. A feast.

We had tasted blood lust. And there was only one more thing we had to do.

Chapter Eight

I should have had some modesty. I should have cared that there was a crowd in the room with us. I should have run for my life, probably. But my life was forever changed. Lost.

And so was I. This new me had urges that seemed insatiable. Freaking weird from a human standpoint. In the middle of all that, I wanted sex. I wanted that glorious specimen of wereman to take me, to claim me in front of an audience.

And his nostrils couldn’t deny the increased flow of juices I was putting out. I tossed my hair, putting my hands on my hips. Then I grinned.

His gaze was on my breasts. And earlier, I thought he didn’t like breasts or something. Now I know, when you’re in crinos, you don’t necessarily think about keeping control. In fact, you’re more apt to throw caution to the wind.

A guttural sound, feral and primitive, came rumbling up from his solar plexus. He didn’t move toward me though. He licked his lips.

My grin turned to a smirk. I ran my hands up my sides and cupped my breasts, tipping the nipples, squeezing them between my thumbs and forefingers. I wanted to close my eyes and revel in the feeling of freedom that standing naked in the center of a crowded room can bring.

Leer growled, “You are mine.”

I laughed boldly.

In an instant, he was less than an inch from my body, towering over me. He asked, “You doubt that?”

I taunted, “Do you?”

He put his hands on me then. And there was no shyness, no tentativeness. He squeezed my ass and yanked me to him.

How I could have missed looking down at his cock, I have no idea. His eyes enthrall me, I guess. Mesmerize me. Never look a wolf in the eye. That’s another rule. Not unless you want more than you bargained for.

My hands slid up his arms, testing the firmness of the muscles, the way he was squeezing my backside. You know, it wasn’t until then that I realized his face was even more wolfish. The frontal features were more prominent, but then, so were mine. When he kissed me, lunged in for a full tongue assault, I was game. I parried with mine. I let my claws dig a little on his shoulders. Not enough to draw blood. Just enough to let him know I wasn’t helpless any more. I was an equal. Or so I thought.

Some kisses go on and on. That one was a forever tasting. I wonder if he was savoring the taste of Tee’s blood in my mouth. I know he was savoring the kiss, not wanting to break it.

But the thing is--you get all hyped up, and turned on, the adrenaline and God knows what else flows--you gotta consummate the relationship. You have to fuck. I was literally dripping down the inside of my legs. There was a wet fluid on my tummy from where his cock rubbed me.

Eventually, he pulled back, grinned and spun me. Cupping me from behind, fondling my breasts like he’d done in the bedroom earlier, he rubbed against me. Nuzzling my ear, he said, “This might hurt.”

I sighed. Briefly, I thought,
it couldn’t hurt any more than shifting did.

Fera was watching us. Others too, but I saw her. She had dropped to her belly and was waiting, as if for a lesson. Downright studious.

I closed my eyes. I wanted to be alone with Leer. One of his hands rode over my belly to grab hold of me in front. I felt his thumb rub through my hair, his fingers, very carefully, checked the wetness.

He growled, then pushed me forward. I kind of landed on my hands and knees. Instinct? A second later, he was climbing inside of me, on me, over me. It’s hard to explain. Doggie style.

I yelped, I’m sure, but I backed toward him. He put his hands to my hips and pumped. I remember lifting my head toward the ceiling, waiting for the moment to howl. Like I said before, my skin was more sensitive. Every nerve ending inside of me was fresh, waiting for titillation.

And, by God, he reached those inner endings. Leer’s cock was longer than his tongue. It hit my orgasmic center with unerring repetition. I came and came and came, again and again.

That’s when I felt it. The swelling explosion inside of me. Shudders so intense, so earth shattering. Both of us.

Euphoria, too.
Fucking
euphoria. The height of all sensation. Eruption of all pheromonal fluids, blending, being reabsorbed through our skin--from the inside.

Now
that
was a moment I wanted to go on forever. It was sheer heaven.