Terr5tory (2 page)

Chapter 2

“I only count ten.  Who’s missing?”  Delano eyed the circle that stood outside the main house in the large front yard that was surprisingly well manicured for the compound’s location in the deep woods.  Just as he’d suspected, his first test had begun.  “Didn’t I command
all
wolves present?” he snarled. 
This pack is a fucking joke!
  Annoyance bunched his jaw and he could barely contain his rage.  After traversing the territory unchecked, he’d eventually made his way to the compound where he’d walked unnoticed to the front door of the main house, and then into the heart of the home before ever being confronted by a single shifter.  It wasn’t until he’d moved into the home’s kitchen that he’d finally found a young boy who’d run off in terror only to return short minutes later with a handful of angry males.  Silly fucks!  Their anger was nothing compared to his.  Who let a stranger walk unchecked through their territory? 
Territory, hell!
  They’d let him waltz into the heart of their home and right up to an unprotected child.  The males quickly stood down when he’d announced his origins and reason for arrival, but when he’d ordered them outside, they’d followed like a herd of turtles with A.D.D.  Twice…
TWICE
he’d had to sneer and growl toward the house to get the pack of slowly shuffling wolves to move their asses and form a sloppy line in the front yard. 

He snarled his displeasure for the umpteenth time and jabbed his finger toward the largest male, who clearly thought he was some hotshot but denied being interim-Alpha.  “You!” He snapped his fingers.  “Forgot your name.”

The male opened his mouth to offer his name, but Delano cut him off.  “You said there are eleven wolves living here.  I count ten.”  His eyes narrowed.

Several pairs of eyes shot around the circle.  Most were indifferent; some actually appeared bored.  Someone whispered a name and then murmurs began.  Suddenly, all looks turned to ones of genuine concern.  Good!  They should know that he’d be challenging the wolf that defied his order.

One of the females stepped forward and actually appeared repentant. “Alpha, we…”

“Oh,
now
I’m Alpha?”  He’d introduced himself appropriately when the full pack had finally congregated, but no one had addressed him as such. The show of respect and scent of worry coming from the pack now had his curiosity piqued.  Why were these indifferent youngsters suddenly so acquiescent?  Who in the hell was this wolf that was missing that he’d garner such worry from
his
pack?  Were they afraid for the missing wolf?  Or were they actually concerned for Delano’s safety?  He snorted derisively.  He was Alpha by action, not appointment.  He had no problems fighting to earn his place among this pack.

He picked up the sound of leaves crunching seconds before the pack’s eyes jerked behind him. 
Perfect!
  He’d get to mete out some punishment and show this unruly crew just who was boss by making an example of the tardy wolf who, for some reason, seemed to evoke protective instincts in the pack.

He spun and lunged simultaneously just as several members of the pack shouted in unison, “NOOOOOO!”

His hand was clamped around the throat of the tardy shifter.  He spun quickly so the individual was facing the pack, the back of the laggard’s head pressed hard into his chest.

Delano let his Alpha command surge fully to the fore.  With his lips peeled back and incisors elongated, a vicious snarl rumbled from deep within his chest as he made a show of it for the pack.  It took him one inhalation to realize it wasn’t a male wolf challenging for dominance at all.  His hand was clutched in a death grip around the slender column of a slim, satiny throat.  He was holding a female.  To her credit, the shifter in his grasp didn’t struggle or attempt to fight back.

“Let her go!  It’s Eleanor,” someone protested.

That got Delano’s hackles up.  The word Eleanor was spoken, not as if it were a name, but as if it were a revered position in the pack.

The woman, Eleanor, who he couldn’t see because of the way he had her clamped to his front facing the pack, lifted a hand and closed it around his wrist.  For a moment, he thought she’d fight.  Instead, she simply rubbed his wrist with her thumb. To his shock, the gesture soothed his wolf, and his hold loosened until she was able to pull her neck free from his grip. 

Once free, her shoulders instantly slumped and her free hand went to her throat as she coughed quietly.

Face frozen in a snarl, Delano’s eyes shifted from the pack to the female as she slowly turned to face him.  He let his wolf’s eyes drift up until they locked on the softest brown eyes he’d ever seen.  They weren’t light brown; they weren’t even hazel.  No, they were like crystalized cinnamon with flecks of green, and when his eyes collided with the she-wolf’s, his gut twisted in an agonized punch of searing pain that had him sucking in a harsh breath and crashing to his knees.

The pack gasped in near unison, but he quickly ignored it when he heard the female inhale sharply before joining him on the ground.

“What did you
do
?”  A young female hurled at him accusatorily as she rushed to Eleanor’s side.

Panting through his own pain, Delano struggled to jerk his head up, only to find the female curled into a tight ball, arms crossed over her abdomen as she whimpered.

Stricken!  FUUUUUCK!
  He knew what was happening, knew what it meant. The reaction was rare in eastern wolves, and rumor had it those here that experienced being stricken didn’t understand what it meant.  He doubted any of them realized what had just happened, but he knew.  It meant that the female, Eleanor, was his.

Chapter 3

“Aaaaah!” The female howled, tossing her head back and clutching at her stomach.  Her reaction was startling.  Back home, males were stricken this way.  Females experienced a sapping of their energy when touched by their newly encountered mate, but this female’s reaction…  It mirrored his own and had his wolf’s protective instincts surging to the fore.

Instinctively, his eyes dipped to watch petal pink lips part to suck in a deep breath. 

“Eleanor!” Another female raced forward, scowling at Delano as she passed, but directing her words to Eleanor.  “Are you okay?”

Eleanor fought through the pain, but Delano recovered faster.  Taking a knee, he gnashed his teeth, knowing he looked dangerous because—with the exception of Eleanor—the entire pack froze and slowly backed away.

“What…what did you do to her?” The youngest boy quietly asked, but couldn’t disguise the tremor in his voice.

Brave kid.

“Nothing.” Delano snarled as he pushed through the pain and forced himself to his feet.  He staggered, and it pissed him off.  He was trying to seem invincible here and being stricken within the first two minutes by a female who didn’t understand, and a pack who were equally as confused, just made him seem like a freak, and a weak one at that.

Eleanor whimpered and continued to writhe.  If she was experiencing the pain he was, then he was sorry for it, because it felt like he’d just been fucking electrocuted.  Not a hundred percent certain how in the hell this worked, Delano made his way to her and dropped to a knee.  He reached for her, then paused.  For northwest shifters it was painful for the male to touch his mate until he’d decided to claim her, and the female would be drained by the contact.  Unsure what to do, Delano took a chance that, because her reaction to him was different than the northwest shifters, then perhaps everything else about them being stricken would be different too.  Reaching out, he touched her cheek gently, breathing a sigh of relief that  there was no pain for him.  Satisfied, he pulled her up into his arms.  His pain instantly lessened, and he knew hers did as well when she clutched his shirt and finally took a deep breath that shuddered as she released it.

“What?” She lifted her head to look up at him, but Delano refused to make eye contact.  He didn’t need to be dropped again.

“Better?” he asked instead through clenched teeth.  Eleanor nodded, then pushed at his chest.  She cleared her throat. “Fine.  Put…put me down.”

She didn’t ask, and he could have taken exception to that fact, but things were already getting off to a fucked-up start and he didn’t want to press the issue. 

Bending, he carefully placed Eleanor on her feet and steadied her before stepping away.

The rest of the pack came forward, all speaking at once, reaching for Eleanor to give her a quick hug or reassuring pat on the back.

“Are you okay?”

“What happened?”

Unsure what to do with himself, Delano stepped back as the crowd gathered around Eleanor.  She spoke to the pack but kept her eyes on him, and he finally lifted dark eyes to meet hers.  Surprisingly, and annoyingly, he felt guilt bite for having grabbed her in the first place.  Another surge of power tore through him but, prepared this time, he was able to withstand the zing. 

Quietly, he watched as she reassured everyone she was fine.  With her eyes no longer on him, he studied her, instantly deciding she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.  Her long, satiny hair was the softest brown he’d ever seen on a female, making her unblemished cream-colored skin look ethereal.  Her lips were so full that, if she weren’t a shifter, he’d have wondered if she’d had plastic surgery.  Shifter bodies rejected anything that wasn’t natural.  Slowly lifting his eyes, he studied hers.  Again, he was mesmerized by the color. 
Gold
, he decided.  Her eyes were like molten gold.  But, beauty or not, he wasn’t interested.  He couldn’t be, not now.  He’d be claiming the title of Alpha to a new pack in a new territory.  Mating with the first female he laid eyes on would just be damn foolish.  No, he’d establish himself first before he even considered taking a mate. And he had no doubt he could claim this pack.  The spartan lifestyle lived among his all-Alpha pack had honed his ability to deny himself just about every luxury known to man.   He eyed Eleanor.  Sexy as fuck?  Yes.  Would she break him?  Never!

Eleanor held up a hand and the pack quieted.

“Riss, introduce me to our new Alpha.”

The female who had scowled at Delano earlier lifted her chin defiantly as she faced him.  “Eleanor…” It was a sign of disrespect to him to be introduced second rather than first, and the little stunt didn’t go unnoticed. “This is Delano Bowden.  The new pack Alpha.”  The last sentence was spoken with clear disdain.

Eleanor turned to frown at Riss disapprovingly.  When she stepped forward, the pack parted and allowed her to walk up to Delano.  She extended her hand. “My apologies, Alpha Bowden.  I meant no disrespect with my tardiness.”

She looked straight into his eyes, and he could see the truth in her words even as he accepted her hand and, instead of shaking it, held on.

“I was aware of your imminent arrival and wanted to secure our perimeter.  We’ve had some difficulties of late with the neighboring packs coming into our territory.  I was merely making sure there’d be no breach in territorial protocol before your arrival.”  She lifted a slender hand to massage her throat. “My hope was for things to run smoothly.”  Flashing him a slight smile, she shrugged her shoulder. “Epic failure.  My apologies again, Alpha.  Welcome to Asheville pack territory.”

She was like a breath of fresh air. 
This
was how an Alpha was supposed to be treated.  With respect and reverence, and…  He was trying to decipher just how many colors were in the female shifter’s eyes when she smirked and looked down.  It was then he realized he still held her hand.  Quickly dropping it, he jerked himself from his reverie and stood taller, realizing he’d stooped to get closer to her as she spoke.

“Why were
you
sent to secure the perimeter?”  He eyed the circle of shifters angrily. “Who is pack Beta?”

The pack bowed their heads in near unison and retreated a step, leaving Eleanor standing her ground alone.

“We have no Beta,” Eleanor offered.

“What?” his tone was incredulous. 
Every
pack had a Beta!

Eleanor placed a delicate hand on her chest.  “I am pack
Ambassador
, but we have no…”

“
Ambassador?
” Delano practically spat the word.  “What in the hell is that?”  He was almost afraid to hear the answer.  Had the previous Alpha truly let his pack fall into such disarray that a female was actually acting as quasi-Beta?

“It means that, as the eldest member of the pack, the rest were urged to come to me for guidance when our Alpha was unavailable.  I also handle all interaction with outside packs, and am in charge of ensuring the pack’s safety and assigning duties.”

Letting his head fall back and his eyes close, Delano didn’t even bother to throttle the growl of displeasure that rumbled from his chest as his teeth audibly clenched.  It was worse than he’d thought.  Eleanor wasn’t simply acting as quasi pack Beta.  She was also handling Alpha responsibilities.  He needed to get things lined out fast because, for all intents and purposes,
she
was Alpha, but by completing assigned tasks herself, it meant she was running the show, but without any authority the pack seemed to recognize.  Basically, she was making all the decisions
and
doing all the work.

Slowly, he lowered his head and scowled at the group of expectant eyes watching him.  Lifting a hand, he brushed it along Eleanor’s arm, only to question the action seconds later.  Why had he touched her? 

“Pack, in formation,” he commanded, nodding his head for Eleanor to fall in with the pack.  She was the only one that moved.  The rest of the pack looked at one another in confusion.

“He means form a circle,” Eleanor whispered, and the pack moved jerkily to do her bidding.

Delano stifled a groan. 
Fuck!  They don’t even know pack protocol!

Once a haphazard circle was formed, he stepped into the center, lowered his chin and let his wolf surge to the fore just enough so his eyes transitioned to those of his wolf. His incisors elongated and his breathing increased.  “I claim position of pack Alpha!” he snarled, eyeing each of the male wolves as he ripped open the front of his shirt and jerked it off, exposing lean muscle that bunched and flexed as he hunched his shoulders and curled his hands into white-knuckled fists.  “Challengers?” he snarled, letting the pack know that any disputes over his claim would be settled now.

Delano slowly turned to eye every male wolf in succession until each had lowered his eyes in a submissive gesture of recognition.  The hotshot stood his ground for a fraction of a second, but the instant Delano stepped toward him, the shifter’s eyes dropped.  Even the females wouldn’t meet his gaze.  Well,
most
females.  When he turned to Eleanor, she held his gaze a moment and, instead of his wolf seeing it as a challenge, his damn wolf actually softened his battle ready stance. 
What.  The.  Fuck?!

Slowly, Eleanor dipped her head to hide her expression, but he’d caught it.  It was a mixture of feminine interest and…confusion.  Almost as if she’d been admiring him, but couldn’t figure out why.  Annoyed with his wolf, he forced the beast to recede when it tried to coerce him into approaching Eleanor.   His wolf was curious about her, and if he was being honest, he was as well.  How had such a female come to be leader?  And why wasn’t she mated?  She was too beautiful and alluring to be alone and unprotected.  Again, he eyed the pack males.  Why hadn’t any of them claimed her?

He tore his attention from the males to scan the pack females.  There were four of them, aside from Eleanor, and all of them were unmated.  It was odd.  There were six males in the pack, and the fact that none of them had successfully courted a female spoke volumes.  Worse, how had all six of the males permitted Eleanor to take position as Alpha? His new pack was a mess!

Sighing in frustration, he plowed a hand through his hair at the chaos he’d stepped into.  Delano had his work cut out for him, and wasn’t going to waste any time.

“Females back to the house.” He eyed the males.  “The rest of you stay here and pair off.  You’ll battle for Beta position.”

No one moved.

“Am I speaking fucking French?” Delano growled.

Everyone looked to Eleanor, and Delano gritted his teeth in impatience.

“Alpha Bowden,” she spoke softly as she stepped forward, “may we speak in private?”

“NO!” he boomed, spinning on her.  He felt a pinch of regret when she backed up a step.  “
Females
to the house.” He let his full Alpha authority seep into his tone and lash through the air, spurring everyone to follow his command. “NOW!”

Eleanor lifted an arm towards the females, and they quickly ducked their heads and scurried toward the house.  Eleanor didn’t follow.

“You too,” Delano growled, eyeing her up and down.

“Alpha Bowden, about the men.  They…”              “Are fucking cowards!” He turned on the men with a sneer.  “You’d allow a female be your Beta?  Become you Alpha?” he challenged.  “She’s out patrolling
your
pack territory while you’re,
what
?”

When no one answered, he stepped up to the hotshot, sneering down as he pressed his nose into the other male’s forehead.  “What in the fuck were you all doing that was so important that you’d let a female guard your territory?”

The male had dropped his eyes the instant Delano stepped toward him.  His response was barely audible.  “We were…” he cleared his throat, “um…watching the game.”

Delano unleashed a furious growl, causing the hotshot to jerk his head up just as Delano pulled back and punched him square in the face.  The hotshot hit the ground and cupped his hands to his profusely bleeding nose, but when Delano advanced, the hotshot hissed, “Shit!”

Eleanor flung herself over the sprawled male, holding up a hand as she implored, “Stop!  Just, stop!”

Enraged that once again the males would allow her to risk her well-being for theirs, Delano reached down and grabbed Eleanor’s upraised hand before jerking her to her feet and pulling her hard into his body.  She was a tiny thing.  Her head barely crested his shoulders and he was surprised at how perfectly her soft, feminine form tucked against his lithe frame. 

Lifting a hand, he collared her throat.  The move wasn’t aggressive, but possessive, and for the first time since he’d strolled into their encampment, the males in the group tensed.  In his periphery, he caught them eyeing each other as if silently discussing whether to attack. 

Okay, there is a spark of life in these worthless pricks!
 

The scent of anger blossomed in the air, and it wasn’t coming from Eleanor.

Delano’s eyes jerked down to his hand, and he realized that his treatment of Eleanor was the source.  He lifted his eyes to the men.  They didn’t want him touching her.  Was it the manhandling, or were they worried he’d lay claim to her?  He knew what he needed to do, but it didn’t make him feel any better.  It would be worth it in the long run though, if his plan worked.