Terr4tory (4 page)

Chapter 6

Willa woke to the sound of pounding.  Loud, obnoxious, insistent pounding.

“Mother fucker!”  She kicked out of her sheets.  She hated to be woken early, especially when she’d gotten little sleep the night before, and certainly not so unceremoniously.

Snagging her robe off the hook on the back of her door, she shoved her arms in and was just reaching for the doorknob when a hurried knock sounded. “What?” she barked as she jerked the door open, and then felt bad when Sarya jumped.

“Sorry, Willa.  Just wanted to bring you this.”  She held out a mug of cold chai tea latte and a chocolate muffin, both Willa’s favorites.  “And Cortez said to tell you they’re working on the front porch steps.  In case you were wondering what the noise was.”

Willa pursed her lips.  “Tell him to come in.  I don’t want the pack outside with Barron still on the farm.”

Sarya lowered her head.  “Umm, Barron is helping us.”

Us! 
Since when has the pack ever worked on a home improvement project together?  She felt her anger flash to the surface.  She didn’t want her pack interacting with Barron.  He was leaving!

“It’s okay,” Sarya offered, reading her Alphina’s anger.  “Barron’s a good guy.”

Willa blinked, Sarya’s assessment giving her pause.

Sarya was different from the other girls.  She’d been abused before coming to Garner’s pack, which made her leery of everyone.  It had taken her a long time to come out of her shell, and still she had difficulty interacting with strangers.  Her defense of Barron was surprising.

“Thanks for the breakfast,” Willa offered, looking down at her cup before forcing a smile.  “I’ll shower and be down shortly.”

“Take your time.  You could even sleep in if you wanted.”  Sarya smiled and turned to bounce back down the stairs.

Sleep in!
 
What in the hell is she talking about?
  She’d never had the chance to sleep in.  Always up to prepare breakfast and start the chores or head off to work, Willa hadn’t slept in in years.

With intentions of showering quickly and getting her ass downstairs to check on her pack and the suddenly dubbed “good guy”, she closed her door and headed for her ensuite bathroom.

Hers and Garner’s rooms were the only ones with their own bathrooms, and it was luxurious to not have to share.  Hot water was a different story.  The hot-water heater was too small for the number of bodies in the house, and she often waited until everyone else had showered so that she could afford them the precious hot water.  This morning though, she heard the house alive with activity, so hopefully they’d all showered early enough that there’d be hot water for her.

In her bathroom, she took a long drink of her tea and set it on the sink before stripping off her robe.  Embarrassment flared at the uncomfortable stickiness she felt between her legs.  Its source had images of her fantasies about Barron flooding back and heat pooling in her core again.  She needed a cold shower immediately.  Chuffing a laugh, she blew hair out of her eyes.  So much for her coveted hot water.

One small hand reached into the shower stall and twisted on the water, which came to life with a soft hiss.  Her shower took longer than normal, as she’d been unable to shake the visions she’d had of Barron from the night before.  Remembering her fantasies ignited a new fire in her that she’d had to both literally and figuratively douse with her showerhead. 
Thank God for the pulse setting!

After pleasuring herself, she cleaned the cream from her pussy and had one last rinse before stepping, refreshed, from the shower.  One towel wrapped around her head, and a second wrapped around her body and fisted above her breasts, she stepped out into her bedroom, slamming to a halt when she found Barron standing over her bed, his body only half-facing her.  His dark figure seemed to fill the small space and his scent was everywhere, mingling with hers and leaving her wolf rolling onto its back.

“What are you doing in here?” she hissed in indignation as she realized her white sheets were fisted in his dark hands, his head lowered.  Her mouth fell open in shock.  He was
smelling
her sheets?

She wanted to storm over to him and snatch her sheets from his hands, but was already struggling to keep the small towel high enough to cover her breasts and low enough to hide her lady parts.  Heat stained her cheeks as she watched Barron inhale, long and slow, his massive chest expanding with the action, his face pressed into the soft material.  His eyes gently fluttered closed as if savoring the aroma.  He was still a moment before his eyes snapped open to pin her in place.

What she remembered as hazel eyes were now dark with lust.  His lips slowly tilted up knowingly.  “What are
you
doing in here?”  His voice came out rough and deep.

He took a step closer and without thought, Willa stepped back.

In that instant,
everything
changed.  Too late, she realized what she’d just done and it was something she hadn’t before.  Instinctively, she recognized the Alpha authority in Barron, the sheer maleness of him, and when he’d advanced she’d stepped back as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  She, as Alpha, had just ceded to him.

In a feeble attempt to regain her rights she hurried forward and pushed him in the chest, hard.  He didn’t move, but caught her wrist and held it.  Electricity shot through her at his touch and she could’ve sworn he winced, feeling it too.

“Get out,” she growled through clenched teeth.

Instead of doing as she commanded, he lifted his head, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled again.  Just as before, his eyes closed, and Willa thought her heart was going to pound out of her chest at the nearness of him.  To her mortification she felt her still sensitized clit throb in demand as her pussy seeped its heated honey between her thighs.  She was ready for him,
wet
for him.

As if reading her mind, Barron’s grim-set lips parted on a pant, his head slowly lowering.

Willa felt her body arching into his and she was barely able to stop herself mere inches from rubbing against him invitingly.  Jerking back, she stumbled and righted herself in time to avoid Barron’s hands as he reached out to steady her.

“Get. OUT!” she demanded.  Not waiting for his response, she turned and stalked to the bathroom with a tossed, “And the next time you feel the need to enter my room without permission or invitation,
don’t
!”

She closed the bathroom door behind her with a resounding slam and fell against it.  One small fist went to her mouth as she huddled in her towel.  What had she done?  She’d shown submission to Barron, a newcomer!  A virtual stranger! 
What must he think
?  That she wasn’t worthy of her title, that’s what he’d think.

Fury surged to the fore, followed closely by shame as she pushed off the door and dropped her towel.  Her eyes snagged on her image in the full-length mirror behind the door and she was horrified to find her breasts had grown heavy, her nipples peaked and flushed bright with arousal.  Worse, her eyes slid down the smooth glide of sheen coating her inner thighs. 
What’s happening to me? 
Her mind flashed back to his words. ‘You’re fertile.’  She blushed.  ‘Ripe’, he’d called her.  Angry color flooded her cheeks. 
What am I?  Fucking fruit?
  The words brought an image of Barron pressing his lips to her sex to lap at her juice and her channel seized painfully, nearly dropping her to her knees. 
Shit!

She turned from her image in disgust and blasted on the shower.  She didn’t want this scent on her, and she sure as hell didn’t want him or anyone else catching wind of her insane sexual interest in Barron Kane.

She seethed in the shower, staying in long after the water had turned ice cold.  Tears threatened, but she refused them.  This was her pack, her territory,
her
wolves.  She was Alpha here, she just needed to show it!

Chapter 7

Descending the stairs, Willa was surprised to find the house a hive of activity.  The front door was propped open, allowing the warm lick of the bright summer sun to warm a triangle pattern on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.  It felt good against her bare feet.

Nails and boards were scattered out on the front porch, and she could hear Sarya and Becca laughing.  Actually
laughing! 
None of them had laughed since Garner’s death, and the two youngest girls had taken his passing the hardest.

Dressed in a snug T-shirt and a worn pair of jeans with several rips on each thigh, Willa padded toward the door intent on discovering the source of the girls’ delight.  She stopped short when Arden and Jase came rushing from the kitchen.

“Let me!”  Jase practically shouted.

“I got it!”  Arden countered and they tried to sail past, Arden holding a glass of water as Jase tried to take it from him.

“Boys?”

They stopped and both turned, oblivious to the fact she’d been watching.  “What are you doing?”

“Getting Barron some water,” Arden beamed.  Actually fucking beamed!

“I wanted to carry it,” Jase pouted.

They both jumped when Keryn poked her golden head through the door and barked, “Where’s Barron’s water?  He’s thirsty!”  Her eyes snagged on Willa.  “Oh!  Morning, Phina!”

Then all three disappeared out the door.

What.  In.  The.  Fuck!

Annoyed, Willa stepped out onto the porch and stopped in stunned silence.

Barron was at the far end of the porch with hammer in hand, shirt off, muscles glistening, jeans hanging low on his hips.  Willa’s mouth started watering.  Actually fucking watering!

Her gaze jerked to the sound of Sarya’s laughter.  Sarya and Becca were on the other end of the porch, paint brushes in hand, working diligently and chatting like crazy.  Beside them, Cortez was hunched over the steps, doing…she had no idea.  It looked like he was sanding the steps, but she honestly didn’t know.  Behind him, Keryn was watching him work with all the starry-eyed affection of an easily impressed adolescent.

“Here,” Arden barked, and Jase shouted again, “Let me!”

Willa turned to watch as the boys argued over who got to hand Barron what appeared to be fists full of nails.

Actually. Fucking. Argued!

Willa shook her head. 
Am I in an alternate universe?
  She cleared her throat and all eyes snapped to her.  Unsure who to address, she stared at Barron accusatorily. “
What
do you think you’re doing?”

He turned to face her fully and rolled his shoulders slowly, drawing her eyes down his impressive frame.

Christ! 
The mere sight of him had her pussy clenching and a weird fluttering happening in her womb.  The bastard actually had the nerve to smile knowingly, as if he sensed it.  God, what she’d give to affect him in a similar fashion.

“We’re fixing the porch,” Jase supplied excitedly.

She wanted to snap at him that she was talking to Barron, but instead smiled at him patiently.  “I see that.”  She turned her eyes back to Barron, completely ignoring the fact that she’d asked Cortez to look at the steps for the past several months to no avail.

“And we replaced the missing siding on the back of the house,” Keryn piped in.

“And Barron and me worked on the car this morning.”

Sarya’s admission, and the clear adoration in her eyes when she beamed up at the smirking Alpha, was astonishing.

Mouth hanging open, Willa clicked her teeth together before inhaling deeply through her nose.  “That’s…great.”  She supplied, but knew it didn’t come out sincerely when Sarya’s smile faltered and the rest of them stopped working to look at her. 
Shit!
  “Hey, can you all go inside? I’d like to speak to Barron. 
Alone.
”

The worried glances the pack exchanged were deflating.  One man whisks in and fixes a few rickety things, and her pack was rolling over? 
Oh, hell no!
  “Today!” She bit out with force and everyone got moving.

Everyone except Sarya, who stopped in front of Willa and asked quietly, “You aren’t going to make him go.  Are you, Phina?”

YES! 
Willa pursed her lips unsure how to answer when Sarya’s eyes pooled with tears.

“He has nowhere to go, and he’s good at teaching us stuff, and you need him.”

The plea had Willa crossing her arms over her chest.  She didn’t explain her dictates, but for some reason she felt compelled to now.  “I’m glad you like him, baby.”  Her tone was soft, placating.  “But if he stays, he’ll get hurt.  We don’t want that.  Not right now.”

“Why don’t you let me worry about that?”  His strong voice sounded from behind her and had her head snapping and her spine going rod straight.

Had he just
undermined
her in front of her own pack?

“Let us talk.” He spoke softly to Sarya, and when she nodded and smiled at him before hurrying inside, Willa wanted to scream.

Alone, she whirled on him.  “What in the
hell
are you doing?”

He looped his thumbs in the front of his jeans.  “Fixing the porch.”

“You know damn good and well what I mean,” she bit out, trying to ignore how his thumbs had tugged down the front of his jeans exposing a tan line that she desperately wanted to explore.

His serious tone and suddenly erased smile drew her eyes back to his.  “I’m not leaving, Alpha Hutchinson.  I’ve slept on it, and I’ve made up my mind.”

She chuffed in disbelief, her brows shooting up at his audacity.  “Well, it’s
my
pack and
my
territory and I believe it’s up to
me
who comes and who goes.”

In mid-blink he moved, so swiftly that she didn’t even see it until he was on her.  One hand clamped at her lower back held her crushed to him, the other smoothing down her cheek.  His voice was suddenly deep and gravely.  “It’s up to you who
comes
?”

Willa blushed at the words. 
Her
words.  “I…”

“Shhhh.”  He drew a finger down the curve of her lips, dipping slowly into her cupid’s bow then sliding it down to her bottom lip before pulling his hand back.  His eyes seemed captivated by the action.  “Listen.” He cleared his throat.  “You need protection.  The
kids
need protection.  I need a place to stay for a while.  It’s a perfect fit.  You let me crash, we’ll come up with a plan together.  I could pretend to be your mate, or simply a member of your pack.  It makes sense, Willa.  And unfortunately, it’s the best option you’ve got.”  His eyes lowered to her throat.  “Besides, you already bear my mark.”

His fingers caressed the sensitive skin of her neck, just above her collarbone, and her body instantly responded.  A flush crept up her skin and she knew her wolf emitted pheromones.  “Don’t,” she leaned back away from his touch.

“Don’t what?”  He challenged, his eyes twinkling mischievously, telling her he knew exactly what he was doing to her.  “Just making sure I didn’t injure you.”

“I’m fine.” She swallowed hard, wanting desperately to back up a step.  Looking at Barron she saw knowledge click, and one side of his mouth curled up as he pulled her closer, his body pressing hard into hers.

Fucker! 
He knew she couldn’t back down and he was using it to his full advantage as he looked at her expectantly.  She shook her head, trying to break his spell.  When her mouth opened, he cut her off again.

“Think on it, Willa.  Don’t answer now.  Take the day and just think before you decide.  You need to weigh the needs of your pack against your own discomfort.”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” she snapped.

Barron smiled.  “No.”  His eyes darkened and his head dipped lower.  “You’re the most comfortable fucking thing in the world.”

Her heart slammed to a halt when he leaned lower still, his lips a breath from hers.   Then he whispered.  “Consider my proposition.”  Suddenly, she was released and he was calling to the pack.  “I could use some help out here!”

The kids rushed from the house in eager delight and Willa was left reeling.  Panties soaked, chest heaving, pussy needing, and anger simmering.