Desiree A. Cox

Holt

A Wolf’s Hunger

Copyright © 2017 Desiree A. Cox

This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission by the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and incidents in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or not, is purely coincidental.

This book contains explicit sex, language, and sexual situations. It is written for the mature reading audience (18+), and isn’t suitable or intended for younger readers or readers who are uncomfortable reading about this content.

Published by Desiree A. Cox

Cover Art: Sassy Queens of Design

Book Cover by Design

Editor: Kim Huther

Wordsmith Proofreading

Dedication

In loving memory of Barry, a kind young soul taken from us far too soon.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Epilogue

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A Wolf’s Hunger

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Synopsis

Since that day in the woods, Omega of the Loca Nuna Pack, Barry “Holt” Scofield, made sure to move around more cautiously while Wolf. He and his guard, Dolph, managed to escape the trap set by the wildlife preservationists. Others weren’t so lucky.

Holt had no idea how many of the Pack had escaped, or how many had been captured, but the agonizing howls of his father and fellow Wolfpack hunters being dragged away to a New Jersey preserve haunted him every day.

Holt knew what he needed to do. He and Dolph needed a fool proof plan to free his Alpha father from his imprisonment along with the others that had been captured, and then he wanted to find the rest of his pack. But the Hunger struck, leaving him consumed with one thought only: feed it at all costs.

All thoughts of rescuing his Pack were pushed to the rear of his mind as the Hunger completely took over. When his Wolf forced him to face his new reality, Holt was left with no choice but to obey. His intent was redirected, and he suppressed the urge to free his father and his Pack.

He needed to find his soul mate.

A Wolf’s Hunger: It Can’t Be Stopped.

Book 11 in New York Times Bestselling Author, A K Michaels’ new Shifter series is full of passion, intrigue, and paranormal romance. All are standalones with a HEA and no cliffhangers. Jam-packed full of suspense, romance, thrills, and hot Shifters.

Chapter 1

Holt

My father had begun preparing me to take over the Pack when I was too young to think or care about that type of responsibility. I was his only child, and I knew I would be named Alpha if anything happened to him, but I didn’t understand what his sense of urgency was about. I was still in high school, and my father was young, strong, and full of life. The way I saw it, I wouldn’t be taking over anything for at least another forty years, and even that seemed like a stretch. Why was he forcing me to grow up so fast, I wondered.

My father’s Beta, Trey, or King as he preferred to be called, had no faith in me as a youngster. He told my father he thought I was too weak to lead a group of kids to pick up sticks. He said he doubted I’d ever be able to lead a Pack. I’d also been told he was talking to some of the others in the Pack one night where he said if he were alive when the day came he would challenge my position as Alpha. He said even my name was weak. Bar-ry, he’d mocked, and he placed a lot of emphasis on the last syllable. He’d told some others my father was delusional to think I’d be able to fill his shoes. He even said he thought a She-wolf would make a better Alpha than me. He used to make me so angry with his comments.

Why my father kept him around I’ll never know. In my opinion, Trey should have had his teeth knocked down his throat for talking about my father and me like that. My father laughed and told me to ignore him, but he really irked me and I knew there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Trey was my father’s Beta.

It was shortly after hearing all of the shitty comments that I decided a change had to be made. That’s when I asked everyone, including my parents, to refer to me from that day forward by my new name. It was then that I became Holt. No more ‘hairy Barry’ or ‘scaredy-cat Barry.’ I was taking a stand. A strong Alpha needed a strong name. One day I was going to prove to everyone that I was able to be a leader, and as Omega waiting to become Alpha, my name change was a start.

Between my father constantly badgering me to live up to my new image and become a man, and Trey continuing to question my manhood and strength, there were times that I felt like I was losing my mind. I understood my father’s motives even if I didn’t like them all the time. And as much as I despised Trey, I wanted to believe his challenges were an attempt at reverse psychology to help make me a strong Alpha one day.

On top of those two hounding me, my mother kept telling me about some crazy thing called a Hunger. She’d told me confusing and sometimes gross stories about it, about a soul mate, and kept saying this Hunger thing would make me feel like I was out of control. She said I’d feel anxious, and jittery, and like I needed to eat a lot of food. She said something about the soul mate satisfying me and being the key to stopping the Hunger. I didn’t fully pay attention to everything she would say and sometimes I had no idea what she was talking about. Was I supposed to eat a soul mate? Can a soul mate be bought at the store? But when she started talking about her and my father, and when they met, and about mating, I completely stopped listening. Gross, and way too much information about my parents!

After my mother and I would have these special little chats, I’d tell my best friend and guard, Paul. We’d laugh and then go raid the refrigerator in hopes of keeping the great Hunger at bay. We thought if we stayed full we’d never have to eat a soul mate, whatever that was.

It hadn’t taken long after I’d changed my name to Holt that Paul decided he wanted to change his name, too. His new name became Dolph, after one of his favorite wrestlers.

Everyone quickly adapted to calling us as we’d requested except my friend, Daci.

Daci was a really cute girl who loved to hunt and play in the parks with me. She was fun to be around. She also was best friends with the mean girl and bully-leader, Veronica. Their personalities were completely opposite. Veronica loved being mean for the sake of just being a bitch, but Daci was always nice to everyone, never allowing peer pressure to force her to be mean.

Veronica especially loved talking trash about me. I couldn’t quite figure out why. I had never done anything to her. But she was relentless with her teasing and name calling. She infuriated me beyond words, but I knew there was no way I could do anything or retaliate in any way. That’s all Trey, king dick, would need to take off on yet another rant about me.

Daci never talked about me, though. Instead, she always stood up for me. I never understood why she did, but I was grateful to have someone else seemingly on my side besides Dolph.

After we graduated high school we all went to college, and I didn’t see Daci for four long years. I thought about her a lot, and wondered how she was doing, but never could find the courage to call or visit. I felt a peculiar emptiness being away from her.

I saw her a couple of times after college graduation, but after not talking to her for so long, I still couldn’t bring myself to approach to her. Maybe one day, I remembered thinking.

A couple of years later the Pack was hunting in the National Park when we noticed some men creeping around and getting closer to us. Dolph and I, and a couple others, had been asked to serve as guardians to make sure no hunters or any human kids got too close to any of the Pack as they hunted.

The ravens that typically stayed nearby in the trees were cawing louder than usual, signaling something wasn’t right, and the sound of snapping twigs had me on high alert. I had no idea what the men I saw in the distance were up to, until I saw one of them with a stick looking thing behind his back. Because of the angle, I couldn’t get a good look at what he had.

Without realizing it, one of the men got really close to Trey and he immediately got Trey’s attention before I had a chance to howl a warning. Trey bared his teeth and growled; but the man didn’t leave, instead he eased closer until the stick thing was hooked on his neck. It was a restraint. All hell broke loose at that point.

More men stormed into the woods with restraint poles in their hands, and corralled several wolves and coyotes from the Pack, dragging them into huge cages on their trucks. We noticed they were pulling at strings, closing traps on our Pack mates.

“Run!” our Wolves howled to the others. We kept screaming and running so the men couldn’t corner us.

They’d have gotten more of the Pack if Dolph and I, and the rest of the guardians hadn’t howled a warning for everyone to run.

I frantically searched and howled until my throat was raw trying to find my father, but I had no luck. I checked in the brush, behind trees, in the small nooks left by other animals, and nothing. My Wolf ran after the trucks as they began to drive out of the park, and that was when I heard him howl. Those no-good men had captured my father and several of the others from the Pack.

Fuck! I curled in my claws and pounded my paw into a nearby tree, then yowled in pain. The blood gushed from my broken skin where the bark tore through.

“Come on!” I howled at Dolph and my mother. They were the only two I saw. We raced back to the house where we could be safe from any lurking men, and shift without anyone seeing us.

As soon as the front door closed I rushed to the back room and transformed to human, yanked on a pair of jeans that lay crumpled in a heap on the floor, then ran back to the kitchen. My mother and Dolph joined me within minutes.

“I saw the name on the side of the truck,” I said much louder than I’d expected.

“It doesn’t matter,” my mom said.

“It matters. I’m going to get my Dad and the others.” I huffed.

“Those men are too dangerous.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to get my Dad.” My voice cracked. “I’m going to free him and the others, period.”

“Son, you can’t go charging in there and wreak havoc,” Mother replied. “You won’t get anything solved with a hot head.”

“I know where they’re taking them. I know it won’t be as easy as just walking in, unlocking a gate, and freeing them all, but I have to do something.” I pounded my fist like a hammer on the countertop. “They have my Dad.” My tears couldn’t be contained any longer. I picked up the mug I’d drank from every morning and threw it across the room, shattering it into tiny bits when it hit the wall. I watched my mom and Dolph flinch at the sound of the crash.

“Clean that up now,” my mom said in her always calm voice. “And get yourself under control. Haven’t you learned anything from your father? When was the last time you saw him behave like you are right now?”

“I haven’t. But this is different, Mom.” I stood in front of her and held her by her shoulders. “They have my Dad, your mate, our Alpha! I have to save him.” I watched as tears welled in her eyes, then ran down her cheeks in a jagged stream.

Chapter 2

Holt

I needed to find a way to get everyone back where we all belonged. Those captured needed to be freed. Those who ran and got away needed to be found. Our strength was in our numbers, and having only three of us meant our Pack was weak. My Wolf paced non-stop. It was time for me to step up. Now was the time I needed to prove to my father, everyone else, and myself that I was capable of being the man my father always hoped I’d become.

To this day, I only knew of three from our Pack who escaped and were safe: Dolph, my guard and best friend, my mother, and me. We made sure we stayed together.

I remembered my father telling me he was able to hear his Pack’s voices in his head. I kept sending him messages that I needed to know how many had been locked away with him. I told him several times I was coming to save him. I had no idea if my messages went through because I never heard anything from him right away.

Later that evening he warned me in my dreams not to come. He said it was too dangerous for me to get that close to these men, because I’d risk being locked away with the rest of the Pack members.

I didn’t care about it being risky. All I needed was a plan. I wish I had paid more attention to my father’s teachings. I needed my father to be set free so he could help get everyone back home. And I needed him home because at that time, I felt like everything Trey said about me was true. I felt useless and weak. I was so lost without my father.

My Wolf howled in agony and woke me from a nightmare. I was panting like I’d run a marathon and was covered in sweat. My heart was thundering in my chest and the blood rushing in my veins nearly rendered me deaf. My head hurt like I’d been pummeled with a sledge hammer. I sat up in my bed and began crying like a baby. As much as I wanted to believe the nightmare wasn’t real, I could feel it deep down in my gut that it was. I felt sick.

It took me nearly an hour to regain my composure. I tiptoed down the hall to just outside of my parents’ room and could hear my mother sniffling and sobbing. She knew. Of course she knew; he was her soul mate. And that meant my nightmare was real.

“No! Oh, my Goddess, why?” she screamed out.

My head dropped and my shoulders rolled forward. I felt gutted. I rubbed my arms and gritted my teeth, but knew I had to go to her. I knocked on her door, then turned the handle and stood in the doorway. I couldn’t swallow.

“You felt it, too?” she choked out through her tears.

“I…I did,” I said. Looking at the distress on my mother’s face was so hard. Our lives would never be the same again.

She patted the bed, signaling for me to sit near her. My feet moved like they had cinder blocks anchored to them. When I sat, we hugged each other tight and wept while our Wolves wailed long, mournful cries. We held each other for what seemed like hours until the sun rose.

I heard Dolph moving around outside of mom’s door, and then we heard him talking to someone. I couldn’t make out the muffled voice, and that made the hairs on my arms prickle with the need to make sure my mom was protected.

“I have to go see what’s going on. Can I get you anything?” I asked my mom.

“No, dear,” she whispered. “I’m going to lie back down.” She sighed deeply. “I just want to die.”

My chest tightened and my heartbeat sped back up. My breaths became fierce and ragged to the point of nearly hyperventilating. I placed both hands on her face and stared into her wet eyes. “No, please, Mom. Don’t say that. You can’t mean that!” I thought I was going to throw up. I couldn’t lose her, too.

She didn’t respond. She reached up and placed her hands over mine, and her lips trembled and pulled down at the corners. She looked sadder than I’d ever seen anyone look before. I leaned in and kissed her forehead.

“Get some rest, Mom; I’ll be back soon,” my voice cracked and I forced a slight smile. She didn’t smile back.

I stood and made my way to the door, turning back to look at my mother. I could hear her weeping and saw her clutching the blanket. She was inconsolable, and I felt completely helpless to comfort her. Maybe Trey was right, I thought. Maybe I’d suck as an Alpha.

I wiped my tears away as I walked into the kitchen. The talking had ceased, but I was shocked when I walked in and saw Dolph and Trey sitting at the table. Both had their heads in their hands. I was stunned, and relieved, to see my father’s Beta sitting in our house.

“Trey?” I said. My voice was shaky. “How did you get away?”

“There was a lot of commotion earlier and my cage door was left unlocked. I tried to open the door for your father, but he told me to run. As I tried to see if any other doors were unlocked, he gave me orders to save myself, then come back to help free the others.”

He lifted his head and his red eyes met mine.

“And then I felt it. Here,” he sniffled, and held his hand over his heart, “and I had to come over, kid. I had to be here. I hope you don’t mind,” Trey said.

“No, I don’t mind you being here. I’m glad to see you. I’m so happy to see you’re alright, too.” My voice cracked as I forced the words past the lump in my throat.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I told Dolph.” He stood and walked to me, shaking his head, then wrapped his arms around me holding me tight. “I’m so sorry about your father, kid. How’s your mother?”

I inhaled a deep breath and fought the tears. My mother was devastated. I had no idea how she’d get herself back together. I had no idea how I’d get myself together.

“Mom’s not doing too well.”

I sat down at the table with Dolph and Trey. We sat in silence for several minutes.

“Are you guys’ hungry?” I asked. I didn’t have any desire to eat, but I knew my father was always one to offer people a meal.

They shook their heads. We sat in silence until I turned on the television.

It hadn’t taken long for the confirmation of the devastating news to be broadcast. I’d felt it when I woke. The story that was reported on TV was that he was euthanized, because the men who’d kidnapped him and the others suspected he was the one who attacked three of their humans and tore them to shreds years earlier. But I knew the truth. My father’s Wolf had been shot after being caged at the preserve. They murdered my father. My father’s Wolf would have never done such a thing.

I moved back and forth across the kitchen floor, stomping so hard I thought I’d put my foot through the hardwood floor. My nostrils flared and I cracked my knuckles. My chest heaved and my breaths were forced out of my lungs as growls. I slammed the cabinet drawers and doors. The anger was taking over my ability to think straight. I wanted to avenge my father’s unwarranted death and it was driving me crazy. I wanted those men to pay for what they’d done. Tears spilled down my face.

“Holt, calm down. Getting yourself all worked up like this isn’t doing anyone any good.” Trey said, tears in his eyes. That was the first time I’d ever noticed him let his guard down. “You can’t do anything that’s going to put you in harm’s way. Think of your mother.”

“I fucking am! I’m going to kill those bastards for her, and for my father!”

Chapter 3

Holt

“Before you do anything stupid, kid, this needs to go before the Wolf Council. One wrong move and you can lose the Alpha seat,” Trey said.

“You already told me I’d make a terrible Alpha, so what’s the use fighting for something I’m going to suck at? And stop calling me kid! My name is Holt and I’m a fucking man now.”

“Okay. Holt. You aren’t thinking straight right now. And just an FYI, your age may make you a man, but your mentality right now is that of a child. A spoiled, distraught, heart-broken child. Look, I get that you’re pissed and you want revenge. Hell, I want to help you destroy those fuckers who took your father from us, but we have to go about it the right way. Not the hard-headed, ‘I lost my fucking mind,’ way. Get it?” Trey sat shaking his head at me, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Yeah, yeah. I guess I get it.”

“Good. Now sit down and let’s talk this through. I guarantee the Council will see things our way, they just hate when Alpha’s and shifters circumvent the Wolf Law.”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m so damned mad! How could they do that to him? And us? What kind of men would just kill him? My father wouldn’t have hurt anyone unless he was provoked and defending the Pack. What did murdering him solve?” I had so many questions that I knew I’d never get answers for.

“There are just some evil and fucked up people in the world. Only they know why they chose to destroy your father and our family.”

“I just don’t get it. Why would they come into the park and do this? We’ve been there for decades and this has never happened before.”

“Someone probably called and reported us. Our Pack numbers have grown over the years. Not everyone is as careful where they let their pups play anymore. If we have Wolves venturing off in the wrong places, we run the risk of scaring the humans. All it takes is for one of them to see a wolf, freak out, and pick up the phone.”

“Before we talk anymore, I need to check on my mom and take her some food. She needs to eat something to keep her strength,” I said.

“Yeah, make sure to take care of her. I’m not going anywhere,” Trey replied.

I warmed a plate of leftovers and poured a glass of milk, then made my way down the hall. I tapped on the door twice, but when there was no answer I opened the door and walked in. My mom looked like she hadn’t moved an inch from when I’d left her.

“Mom,” I called. She didn’t reply. “Mom.” My second attempt to get her to stir sounded more desperate.

Just when I was ready to begin freaking out, she slowly turned her head toward me. Her eyes were puffy and red.

“No food,” she muttered. Her voice didn’t sound like hers.

“You need to eat something. At least drink some milk.”

“Just leave it on the desk.” She sat up and looked at me.

“Mom.” Her eyes followed me with each step I took closer to her.

“You look like your father. You always have. I think that’s why you had such a close bond with him.” Her eyes welled with tears.

“It’s going to be okay.” I sat on the edge of the bed, next to her.

“So you say. I’m not sure I believe that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what my life means anymore. He was my world.” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I know,” I said. She reached her hand out to mine and held tight, then brought it to her lips.

“You’re all I have left, Barry. I can’t lose you.”

“I feel the same about you. I can’t lose you. We have each other, and somehow we’ll get through this.” I pulled my mom close and wrapped my arms around her. She melted into me and sobbed.

“Who’s here besides Dolph?” she asked, her voice muffled as she spoke into my chest.

“Trey’s here. He managed to escape and he came as soon as he felt what happened.”

“That was nice of him to come here. I’m glad he’s safe and well.”

“We’re going to get the men who did this to Dad.” My voice was strong and powerful.

She pressed back away from me and stared into my eyes. “No! Absolutely not, Barry.”

“You can’t talk me out of this.”

“Barry, listen to me. You’re the rightful leader of the Pack. You have to lead with a level head. You can’t allow your emotions to rule you.”

“What Pack? Who’s the Pack, Mom? There are four of us. That’s not a pack,” I scoffed.

“You can get everyone back. You need to free the others, and once the Council appoints you, you’ll realize the powers of Alpha. Then you can find the others who aren’t here. Barry, I’m begging you. Please let this revenge idea go.”

“I can’t. I want them all to die,” I ground out between my clenched jaws.

“I do, too, but this isn’t the way. What am I supposed to do if something happens to you?” She sat up straight and reached her hand to my cheek, then stroked my face. “My beautiful son. As your mother, I’m telling you no. No, you cannot get revenge on them.”

“Sorry, Mom. This has to be done. What they did can’t go unpunished. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t make them pay with their lives. They. Will. Die!”

My mother tried to calm me and talk me out of my mission despite her own grief, but to no avail. Her sadness had been temporarily replaced by fear. She was afraid she’d lose me. She thought I might meet the same fate as her soul mate. But I wasn’t the one who was going to lose my life; they were. When I’d heard enough of her objecting, I told her it was not her decision to make and left the room. I felt like a complete dick for talking to her that way, but it was time for me to take a stand. To be a man.

When I returned to the kitchen, I found food for Dolph, Trey, and me. I was starving, and I knew formulating a good plan would require proper nourishment.

After eating all the leftovers I rummaged in the refrigerator, looking for more food. Everything else would need to be cooked, and I didn’t have time for that. Instead, Trey suggested we go out for a hunt. He said a good hunt would give us an outlet to run off some of the emotions, and we could take out our aggression on our prey.

We returned about an hour later, and I should have been full after eating an entire deer by myself, but my stomach felt empty, like my heart. The temporary distraction was much-needed, but my father was still gone. No amount of running, chasing, or killing dinner was going to bring him back. But there was something else unsettling. Something just felt like it was missing.

After showering and getting dressed I walked into the kitchen. My mother was sitting at the table with her robe wrapped tightly around her.

“Are you feeling any better?” I asked.

“No. But you could make me feel a little better if you tell me you’ll drop this idea of retaliation.”

“I can’t tell you that. If I did, I’d be lying.”

“I never realized I raised you to be so vindictive.”

“Vindictive? Seriously? They killed my father!” I screamed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you, but this war was started by them. My plan is to finish it.”

“Sweetheart, you don’t know what you’re doing. Leave it be.”

I was stunned. She had no faith in me. My stomach rumbled, breaking the silence that hung in the air.

Without any hesitation, she stood from her seat and pulled a package of meat out of the refrigerator and prepared to cook it. I watched her. I admired my mother, and normally I did as she asked. But this was one thing I couldn’t do. I couldn’t just let this go.

The meat smelled delicious and my mouth watered in anticipation. It was my favorite; venison chops. She made a slew of vegetables, but all I wanted was to sink my fangs into that meat. When everything was done, she plated some food for me and set it on the table.

“You’re not eating?” I asked.

“I’m not hungry,” she ground out her reply.

I pushed my plate to the middle of the table. “If you’re not eating, neither am I.” My stomach rumbled again.

“Your stomach says otherwise.”

“Then you need to eat something, anything. You can’t starve yourself.”

“You’re quite demanding. What’s gotten into you?”

“I don’t want to lose you, Mom. And starving is a terrible way to go. So please, for me, eat something.”

I watched her begrudgingly retrieve a plate and cut a small piece of meat for herself, then she took a few vegetables before setting her plate on the table. She pushed my plate back in front of me, then sat back down.

“Happy?”

“For now.”

We sat and ate in silence, with the exception of my stomach continuing to growl in hunger.

“You can’t get full?” Mom asked.

“I think my appetite is out of control because my emotions are all jacked up.” I said. It seemed like the more I ate, the hungrier I got. What the hell is wrong with me, I thought.

“Maybe it’s the Hunger,” Mom said. Her eyes shifted from her plate to meet mine. She had a smirk on her face.

“That’s crazy. The Hunger isn’t real. I think it’s a fairy tale you just made up,” I scoffed.

“It’s no fairy tale, Barry. It’s real. It’s very real.”

I was done listening to that nonsense story. But something was driving me to a feeding frenzy. The need to feed my non-stop voracious appetite was becoming unbearable. At this rate, I’d be out hunting throughout the night in an attempt to satisfy my rapacious cravings.

Chapter 4

Holt

My mother was kind enough to continue bringing me food after I scarfed down one heaping plate of pancakes and venison sausage. She made herself a plate with a small amount of food; then sat at the table with me. She watched me shovel food into my mouth like I hadn’t eaten in a week. She proceeded to say she thought it was time for me to find my soul mate. She insisted this Hunger mumbo-jumbo was to blame for my insatiable appetite and angst.

I hate to admit it, but I tuned her out. Talking about a mate was the last thing I wanted to hear. The loss of my father was to blame for my anguish, period. And in typical fashion, the same as when I was younger, I turned to food for some form of comfort. My mother should have known that because that had been my coping mechanism in the past. My excessive eating and extra weight when I was younger was one of the reasons I was tormented so much by that wretched Veronica. It had become a vicious cycle. Eat, gain weight, fight weight off. Repeat.

As I got older, I’d worked out extremely hard during college for long hours to lose the weight and perfect my body once and for all. I wanted to look like someone who should be called Holt, not look like fat-boy Barry with a new name, like others had teased. Those days were behind me and, even though my appetite seemed quite abnormal right at that time, I was prepared to do whatever it took to make sure the weight gain didn’t happen ever again.

“Are you listening to me?” She asked.

My mom had pleaded over and over with me not to jeopardize my own safety by engaging in a war with the humans right away. She swore the men would be dealt with in due time. Patience wasn’t my strong suit. I wanted revenge and I wanted it right then, but I appeared to be honoring my mother’s wish because Trey was forcing me to be patient, too.

“I hear ya,” I said through my mouthful of food.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full. What kind of impression are you going to make on your mate? She’ll think her life partner is a caveman or something.”

I swallowed and laughed. “Can we not talk about this soul mate stuff?” My mom shook her head, then joined in with a light chuckle.

The mood seemed to have lifted for a brief moment, and there was no way I was going to let her in on the secret that Trey, Dolph, and I had an appointment with the Wolf Council to discuss what they deemed was appropriate later.

After Mom cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and hung up her apron she reached for her purse.

“I have to go out this morning. I have some errands to run. I shouldn’t be too long,” she said.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to go to the store. You’ve eaten nearly everything we had.”

“Promise me you won’t shift. It’s not safe.”

“Yes, dear. Always the worrier. The same person who wants to initiate a war with a Pack of four.” She chuckled. “Barry, do me a favor, please.”

“Sure, Mom.”

“Keep an eye on the house and our land. And spend your energy on finding the rest of the Pack and your soul mate. To be a strong Alpha, you’ll need to have her by your side.”

“Yeah, yeah. All this soul mate stuff is really too much right now.”

“Barry,” she said. “Sweetheart, I love you. Always remember that. Will you do that for me?”

“Of course, Mom. I love you, too.”

“I should be back soon.” With that, she gave me a tighter-than-normal hug, one last glance, then she turned on her heels and pulled the door closed behind her.

It was almost nine in the morning. I was expecting Trey and Dolph to come by so we could make our way to the Council to get everything situated. Then we could begin to strategize the best way to free the members of the Pack. We had to get this right. A lot was riding on us being successful. My father used to always tell me to give my best effort. This time I had to do better than that. There were quite a few others counting on me to step up.

“Hey,” Dolph said as he walked in the door without even knocking. “What’s for breakfast?”

“We don’t have any more food. Mom just left to go shopping. We can go find something. I’m starving, too.”

“I just saw her. Is she okay?”

“I guess. Why do you ask that?”

“I don’t know. She seemed preoccupied. When I said hi to her, she didn’t hear me. I had to walk over directly in front of her, and she nearly ran into me before she realized I was there. Without saying a word, she pulled me into a tight hug. It just seemed strange to me.”

“Mom has a lot on her mind. We’re going to have my father cremated, and that’s upsetting her, too. I’ll talk to her when she gets back.”

“Have you had any luck being able to hear any of the others yet?” Dolph asked.

“Nothing. I thought I’d automatically become Alpha and have the same powers my father had.”

“You didn’t pay attention to anything your father told you, did you?” Trey questioned. His entrance was stealthy, and he startled me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The Council needs to acknowledge you as Alpha. And even then, it will take some time to hone the ability to hear the others. It’s not like they wave a magic wand over your head. Good grief,” Trey said as he shook his head.

“Yeah, well,” I started. I had nothing to say. My father probably did tell me that.

“Well, let’s get prepped for this meeting with the Council. We can’t go in there half-cocked.” Trey tilted his head, and let his eyes roll while he looked in my direction. I knew that was a cheap shot directed at me.

We sat and talked for nearly an hour. My stomach continued to rumble throughout our discussion. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in weeks. I thought my stomach acid was going to begin eating a hole in my gut from the inside out if I didn’t get some food.

“We need to get some food in your stomach, then we need to get going. We can’t be late. They will frown on you as Alpha if you’re so much as one second late,” Trey said.

“How do you know so much about this?” I asked.

“I fucking paid attention. Now, come on.”

We left the house and locked up. My stomach wouldn’t calm down until I shifted and locked my jaws on a delicious deer. I devoured it, taking a break only when Dolph stepped too close. I lifted my head, my eyes focused, holding him in his place and then I growled a warning for him not to touch my meal. He had his rabbit.

We cleaned up and continued on our way until we reached our destination.

The meeting didn’t take as long as I thought it might. I honestly had no idea what I was walking into, but Trey stood by my side and helped me answer many of the initial questions about the Pack, the land, and what happened that day in the park.

When it came time to discuss in more detail the situation that landed many of our Pack in captivity, and my father being murdered, the Council members were very upset, and could see why I wanted to take action, but they asked Trey to oversee me. My jaw clenched and my fists balled up. I was furious. I felt like a child all over again.

Finally, the topic of Pack Alpha was discussed. Evidently the comments Trey had made in the past made their way to Council ears. Fucking great, I thought. When his comment that I couldn’t lead a Pack to pick up sticks was repeated, followed up immediately that a She-wolf would make a better Alpha, I was mortified. Trey cleared his throat and said he’d made those comments when I was younger, and that now he stood before them and vouched for me, as my father’s Beta.

Luckily for me they didn’t say no, but they didn’t say yes, either. I was put on a sixty-day trial-run as Alpha to see how I handled the responsibility. After that time lapsed I was to return, and they would have a final hearing. The bottom line - I was named ‘acting-Alpha.’

“Just fucking great,” I mumbled as we walked outside.

“Shut up, kid. The walls have ears, and it could be worse. At least they’re willing to give you a chance to prove yourself,” Trey said.

Lucky me, I thought.

Chapter 5

Holt

I lay on the couch, waiting for my mother to return. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t home yet.

I was starving despite the handful of rabbits and squirrels I’d hunted on the way home. Surely any perishable items mom bought were on the verge of spoiling.

I flipped on the television to watch the rest of the four o’clock news. The stories were status quo for North Jersey – murders, drug problems, sports, and weather. I was close to nodding off when the four-thirty news came on with a breaking story. I sat up straight when I saw the mangled truck. It was just like the truck from the park.

I turned the volume up and I heard that three men from the Wolf preserve had been killed in a freak one-vehicle accident. I’ll admit, I was elated. My Wolf was jumping around clicking his heels. The justice I’d hoped for had been delivered. My mother would be happy to know I didn’t have to get involved and that the men were dead. With three men gone from the preserve, I felt the odds had once again tipped in my favor to be able to free the Pack.

I jumped up and down, thinking the only thing that would have been better than their truck wrapping around that tree would have been to have their throats ripped out and watch their blood drain into the ground.

I knew after everything that had unfolded no more men would be scouring the woods, hunting wolves and coyotes into captivity so they could feed their profiteering greed-lust by using us as tourist attractions anytime soon. They probably didn’t have the manpower to hunt us right now.

I’d waited for mother to come home so I could share the news and for her to cook for us. When she didn’t show up I reluctantly decided to thaw something in the freezer, then cooked our dinner. While I sat in the house eating alone, wondering what could possibly be taking her so long, I heard on the six o’clock news that a witness saw a large animal run in front of the truck driven by the men from the preserve. The driver swerved, then ran off the road and wrapped the truck around the tree going full speed. The witness thought the animal may have been hit.

The men searched the wooded area, figuring an injured animal wouldn’t get too far. Then there she was. My mother’s Wolf was in the woods -- dead.

My tortured howl shook the walls of the house. I tossed my head back and looked up.

“Goddess, why do you hate me so much? Why take my mother? Why not just take me, too?” I screamed.

Tears flooded down my cheeks. I rubbed my hands across my face and swiped at the tears that didn’t stop falling.

I shoved my plate across the table, crashing it against the wall, the plate shattering into a million tiny pieces. I slammed my fists on the table top and howled my grief again. I was heart-broken.

I made my way into my parents’ room and laid across their bed, taking in my mother’s scent. Now I knew how she felt when she said she wanted to die. I wanted to die right now. I held her pillow tight and let the grief take me under.

When I woke, I was quickly yanked back into the reality that I had my father to cremate the next day, and I needed to go retrieve my mom’s Wolf before animal control was sent out.

Dolph and Trey burst through the front door, nearly simultaneously offering their sorrowful condolences. I couldn’t talk. My throat was so dry and swollen, I couldn’t get any words out.

I sat in my mom’s favorite chair and rocked back and forth, shaking my head. I had no idea how I could survive this much devastation. Both of my parents were gone. I fought to keep my tears at bay, tears I didn’t think I could possibly have. My eye sockets ached from all the crying.

Without warning, my Wolf howled. The sound tore through me and erupted from my mouth. Dolph and Trey both howled with me. My whole being felt ruined.

My only solace was that both services would be incredibly small. But I knew, eventually, once the Pack was all back on the land, I’d have to relive these horrible memories as they all offered their condolences.

“I need to be alone,” I whispered.

“We understand,” Trey replied.

“Can we do anything for you?” Dolph asked.

Through tears, I told them I had to go get my Mom’s Wolf and bring her home. I couldn’t leave her in the woods. The thought made my chest tighten. They assured me they would do that for me.

“We’ll stop by tomorrow morning to check on you.”

I nodded, and they left.

I retreated to my parents’ room and flopped across the bed. As I looked around the room at their belongings, I noticed an envelope on her dresser addressed to me. I quickly jumped up and ripped it open.

My Dearest Barry,

If you’re reading this note, I never made it back home. Either that or you’re a very nosey child and were snooping in my room.

I love you so much, son, and there’s absolutely no way I could have allowed you to risk getting yourself captured, or risk you losing your life to get revenge. You have far too much to live for. You are the next Pack Alpha. And although we aren’t all in one place right now, your father and I will always be with you. And I’m where I’m supposed to be; with my soul mate.

When you stop being stubborn, you’ll come to realize I did the only thing I could do. No one wanted to see these men dead more than me. I just didn’t say it out loud like you did. They killed my soul mate, my one and only true love. And they were a threat to you and the rest of the Pack when everyone returns to the area. It was not your place to do this, it was mine.

Your mission now is to become the best Alpha you can possibly be. I trust you will be able to get everyone back together very soon.

Your soul mate is out there, it’s up to you to find her and create a strong bond like your father and I had. Your soul mate will be at your side always, and you’ll become a better man with her. May you have many pups and live the wonderful life I always hoped you’d have.

Your father and I will always be in your heart, and you will always be in ours. Make us proud.

With all my love,

Mom

After crying and hunting for food most of the night, the following day I cleaned up before I carried out the awful task I knew I had to. With Trey and Dolph by my side, my father was cremated, and I buried my mother with my father’s ashes alongside her.

I had several conversations with Dolph and Trey throughout the day, trying to convince them that I was okay and that I wasn’t wavering on freeing the Pack. I don’t think they believed that I was okay. I wasn’t sure I believed it myself, but I knew I had to pick up the pieces. With the burials behind me, and my grief fresh in my heart, I knew I needed to somehow move on. I was determined to make my parents proud of me.

I knew the remaining Pack members would be easier to set free with fewer men guarding them, and I wanted Dolph and Trey to take care of that.

No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, my Hunger was out of control. No matter what or how much I ate, it didn’t satisfy me. Nothing seemed to satisfy me.

I didn’t have any choice but to acknowledge my mom was right: It was time. I needed to find my soul mate.

Chapter 6

Daci

I had been running for miles. My leg muscles were burning with fatigue and my throat was drier than the Sahara Desert.

I rarely went anywhere by myself in human form or as Coy-wolf. I felt exposed when I was out by myself, and I hated not having someone to talk to. Sometimes a silly conversation was enough to keep my ridiculous fears at bay. My sidekick, Veronica, was with me nearly all the time, but we’d gotten separated somehow when we ran out of the park, and now I was all alone.

I always felt like I should be looking over my shoulder after that day Barry yowled his warning for us to run. It was a day I’d never forget, no matter how much time passed.

I had been admiring him from afar. He was gorgeous. He didn’t look anything like I remembered when we were in school together. He used to have a chubby, non-athletic body and a goofy hairdo, but that day he was all man. His chest, back, and arms all looked like he’d been chiseled out of stone to represent any one of the magnificent Greek gods. My heart fluttered, and my lower extremities quivered at the image I’d committed to memory.

I had a weird bond with Barry since we were pups. He was so much fun to run and play with. We’d learned to hunt in the woods together, catching nothing but small animals. As the years went by, I never forgot him and didn’t understand what was between us that he always seemed to be on my mind. My grandmother told me about the Hunger wolves go through. She said it was an old legend passed down from generation to generation, but that it seemed to be true to this day.

I don’t know, maybe that was what I’d felt so many years ago. One thing I knew for sure after seeing him before we all scattered in the woods; he was my soul mate. As soon as my eyes found him standing guard, looking ravishing, yet a little awkward, I knew he was the one the Goddess had put on this earth for me. But now, we were miles apart. And we’d probably never see each other again, unless I could figure out how to get back home.

My Coy-wolf was tired of maneuvering between the branches and bushes. My fur had small twigs and sticker burrs embedded in it, and dried blood splotches across my otherwise-beautiful coat. I could feel areas of my skin that had been scratched and cut from crawling under barbed wire and other fences. I’d never felt so gross.

I was so hungry, too. I’d hoped to be able to hunt and keep my belly full, but all I was able to find were a couple of field mice. I was burning way too many calories to replenish on such a measly meal.

I saw one family barbequing in their backyard. I plotted how to steal the meat off the grill, but before I got halfway to the patio I was spotted by one of the kids, who screamed so loud I thought my ears were going to start bleeding.

I needed to change back to human, but I had no clothes. I needed clothes. The thought of walking the street naked would be hilarious if I knew I wouldn’t get arrested, accosted, or worse.

When I saw the homes that backed up to the woods, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would come upon some family’s laundry so I could change back to human. I stayed about twenty feet into the woods so I’d remain out of sight.

I needed water, too, and I needed someone to tell me where I was. I had no idea how far I’d run, or where I’d run to.

Each house I passed had nothing I could borrow. I’d seen tarps and tents, but no clothing. As nightfall approached, I was ready to give up. It was then that I saw an old-fashioned clothesline full of garments hanging out to dry. Just a few more minutes, I thought. Once the sun set, I was ready to safely sneak through the dark yard and help myself.

Chapter 7

Holt

My mom called it the Hunger. Dolph had researched it a couple of years ago and found symptoms, causes, and how it could be satiated. Before I left, he retrieved the information on his laptop and read to me from the sources he’d found, confirming everything my mother had told me. A mate was the answer. Not just any mate, but my soul mate. How the hell was I supposed to find a soul mate?

I had been running for miles. I had no idea if I was heading in the right direction, and if I was, where would this crazy journey take me?

“Goddess, please, I’m begging for you to show me a sign that I’m on the right path.”

I waited and waited, but nothing happened.

I had no idea who I was looking for, but I did remember my mother saying I’d know my soul mate on sight. That seemed strange to me. No dating, no nose rubbing, no anything. Just mating. She said I’d love her more than life, too. We’ll see about that, I thought.

Once I made it through the thickness of the forest and to a clear patch of land, I sat under a tree on the perimeter, in the shade, to catch my breath. My Hunger wasn’t going away no matter how much I ate. If I was being honest, it seemed like it was getting worse.

I closed my eyes for a few minutes and saw what looked like a blurry screen. It was pixilating with tiny black and white dots everywhere. Then, unexpectedly, a face appeared for a brief nanosecond. It startled me and my eyes snapped open. What was that?

Once my heart stopped racing, I closed my eyes again with the hope I’d be able to see the screen again. Within seconds I was quickly presented with the same image. I couldn’t see it clearly or long enough to know what or who it was. I kept my eyes closed and saw it again. I couldn’t make out who the picture was, but I thought it might have been a female.

Twice more, the image flashed on the screen. And then the screen disappeared. I never was able to make out who the picture was that kept flashing.

Fuck!

I dropped my head on my paws and closed my eyes. I knew I needed to continue my search, but decided a quick nap would help me refocus.

“Come on, Barry,” Daci hollered over her shoulder.

“I’m coming.” I was panting and gasping for my next breath. “You’re too fast.”

“You can catch me. Come on before this rabbit gets away!”

I was running as fast as I could but Daci was moving so much faster than me. She had always been one of the fastest kids.

“Daci, I need to stop.”

“No, Barry, don’t stop. Keep running. Catch me.”

My heart was racing. I lowered my head while resting my hands on my knees. My breaths were labored and the pain in my chest was excruciating. Several minutes passed before the pain subsided and I was able to breathe normally. But when I raised my head, Daci was nowhere in sight.

“Daci!” I screamed. My heart thundered as panic set in. “Daci!” I was told to make sure not to let her out of my sight. Geez, I was going to be in so much trouble. I had to find her. I ran from bush to bush, searched behind every tree and kept screaming her name. Tears welled in my eyes at the thought of something happening to her. She was just a girl.

I tried to convince myself that there was no way someone would hurt a thirteen-year-old, but I knew that was a lie. There were perverts who would steal pretty young girls. And Daci was gorgeous. Of course someone would take her.

“Daci!” I cried out.

After hearing no reply, I screamed again at the top of my lungs. “Daci!”

Seconds went by and then I heard the sweetest sound ever.

“Yes, Barry? Are you looking for me?”

I spun around so fast I felt dizzy. “Daci! What the hell? Where have you been? You had me crazy worried about you.”

“I climbed up that tree and was watching you. You really were worried, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was! You’re my friend. I didn’t want anything to happen to you. I was so scared.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet.” She walked over to me and wrapped her tan arms around me and pulled me close to her. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered and flapped uncontrollably at her touch. She didn’t touch me often, except when we’d play tag, but my reaction was always the same.

“Don’t ever do that again.” I stood eye-to-eye with her. Her eyes were hooded as she stared back.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Promise me.” Our eyes were fixed on each other and she continued to hold me in her arms. I wanted to hug her back, but I was too scared to.

“What?”

“Promise me you’ll never scare me like that again. Say it.”

“Okay. I promise I’ll never scare you like that again.” Her warm breath on my skin made my own breath hitch. She had the most beautiful lips, and eyes, and nose, and ears, and hair, and everything.

Without warning, Daci released me, then pushed me back a couple of feet before leaning in and touching my shoulder. “Tag, you’re it!” she squealed, and ran away.

The chase was on again.

I stirred from my slumber and realized I had an erection. Awkward!

Chapter 8

Daci

I was desperate, and starving. My Coy-wolf paced, begging to be freed to hunt, but I couldn’t risk getting caught.

My legs were exhausted and my feet were hot and sweaty inside the stolen pair of sneakers. I hated hot feet.

I approached a small mom and pop type of store and walked inside. It wasn’t a name brand grocer, but it was a convenience store that carried enough of the essentials to prevent the locals from having to drive any further. The biggest question I had was, where was I?

“Can I help you, miss?” the gentleman behind the counter asked.

When I looked up, I was taken aback. Judging by his higher-than-normal pitch for a grown man, I expected him to be much younger. I thought maybe he was a kid in his late teens, but his appearance said otherwise. He looked closer to thirtyish. He had a clean-shaven somewhat handsome face with dirt smudges on it, and shoulder length, unruly, wavy brown hair. And his eyes were as blue as the sky. I’d only seen eyes like those -- It couldn’t be. There was no way he was a Shifter.

“I... I...” My unexpected stuttering prevented me from being able to form a coherent sentence.

“Go ahead; tell me what you need, little lady.”

The glint in his eyes was somewhat terrifying. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what about him unsettled me, but I wondered if he could tell I was unnerved by him.

“I really need something to eat, but I don’t have any money.” My stomach growled.

“I can share my lunch with you, if you’d like. It gets rather lonely here in the store and I’d love the company of a beauty such as yourself.” His glare was intense, and his eyes darkened. “What do you say, doll face?”

His words caused my Coy-wolf to stir. She was uneasy, and I was quite alarmed by his off-putting reference. I’d never had anyone call me ‘doll face’ before, and hoped never to hear that again.

My stomach rumbled loudly. There was no denying my hunger. “Thank you.”

“My name’s Maximus, but my friends all call me Max. How about you, beautiful? Do you have a name?”

“I’m Daci.”

“Daci. I like that. Don’t run away, I’ll be right back. If anyone comes in, give me a holler. Okay?”

“Sure.”

My instincts were telling me to run, but my stomach refused to listen. I stood in front of the counter looking down the aisles at the bags of chips, candy bars, and peanuts. I looked up at the ceiling and saw the security cameras pointed at me.

“Here we are, darling. Come sit back here with me. I’ve got an extra stool.”

I walked behind the counter, past him, and climbed onto the stool that he directed me to. It was then I realized how much taller than me Maximus was. He was taller than Barry’s father was so he had to have been over six-feet-three-inches tall. He had a thin build, and his clothes were quite dusty and baggy.

“Where’s a precious little thing like you coming from? I know you aren’t from around here.” He peered at me from the corner of his eye.

“I’m from central New Jersey.”

“You’re a long way from home. We’re close to Millbrook. Isn’t your family worried? If you don’t have any money, how’d you get way out here?”

“It’s a long story. My family doesn’t know I’m here.” I could smell the chicken in his brown paper bag. My Coy-wolf wanted to rip the bag from his hand and feast, but I kept her in check. My stomach rumbled louder than the first time.

“That cute little belly is talking.” He reached his hand out and touched my stomach, causing my body to jerk. He didn’t react to me pulling back from him. Instead, he leaned in farther and kept his hand on me. “Don’t worry, little tummy; I’m going to take good care of you. And sweet little Daci, too.” He looked up and smiled at me. His mouth was crooked, and his bottom front teeth looked like he’d been chewing on rocks.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and my Coy-wolf was growling her warning at me. I needed to hurry up and get away from this guy.

He handed me half of his chicken sandwich. “Here you are. Half for you and half for me.” He winked at me.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m happy to help out – well, nevertheless, I’m happy to help you.” He took a bite of his sandwich, then I bit into my half.

My Coy-wolf wanted to devour it, but I overpowered that thought and took small lady-sized bites, like my grandmother taught me. When I finished, I stood from the stool.

“Thank you, again. That was delicious. I really need to keep moving,” I said.

He reached out, and his long fingers wrapped around my arm as I tried to maneuver past him.

“Where are you going? You don’t have any money and I didn’t see a car, so you probably don’t really have anywhere in particular to be. Am I right?”

“Well, I need to...”

He abruptly interrupted me. “Just stay and keep me company a little longer. How about some chips and a soda?”

My Coy-wolf was protesting, but I suppressed the objections because chips and soda sounded really good. I was still hungry.

“Sure, why not,” I said.

“Exactly. Why not?” He walked down the aisle and grabbed two bags, then went to the back of the store and retrieved two bottles of soda from the cooler before returning to his stool.

We sat and talked for a couple more hours. He asked question after question, and continued to call me everything sugary-sweet he could think of. Every time I suggested I should leave, he used another food item to stall my departure. I’d even gone to the restroom in hopes of finding a way out the back, but Maximus was watching me like a hawk. I’d had enough and was ready to leave.

The chime on the door rang and I thought I had the perfect excuse to leave, until the lady who entered told Maximus he was free to go. She was taking over for the rest of the evening.

We both walked outside, and I said my goodbye before turning to walk away when he called behind me.

“How about I give you a lift? I can take you to the bus and you can get a ride back home.”

I inhaled deeply, and sighed as my Coy-wolf screamed hell no. But my feet felt like they were blistered, possibly bleeding, and I had no idea how far I’d have to go. It’s just a ride, I thought. My Coy-wolf growled her disapproval.

“I’m really imposing. Just tell me how far away the bus depot is, please. I don’t mind walking.”

“Twenty miles. And it’s going to be dark soon. I can have you there in twenty to thirty minutes.”

“Okay. If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble.”

“Not at all, sweet thing. Not at all.” His voice took on a dark, dangerous tone as he slowly uttered his words. “Jump on in.”

I crawled up into his old, muddy truck and shut the door. As I pulled the seatbelt across me and fastened it, he started the engine. He revved the motor, causing the truck to shake. Then, without warning, he punched the gas pedal, throwing my head back against the headrest. He let out a cackle of a laugh. It was at that moment my gut told me I’d made a huge mistake.

I watched the clock tick away each minute as Maximus hummed an unfamiliar tune. When he’d been driving for over thirty-five minutes, panic began to set in.

“How much farther to the bus?” I asked.

His head slowly turned until his eyes met mine. The blood surged though my veins and my heart was thundering in my chest. His expression looked ominous.

He cleared his throat. I swallowed hard.

“I’m going to stop by my house first. You don’t mind do you?”

“I just thought...”

He slammed his open hand on the leather seat, making a loud clapping noise.

“You don’t get to think, Daci. From now on, I do all of the thinking for us. Both of us. Got it?”

A lump formed in my throat. I felt sick to my stomach and lightheaded at the same time. This couldn’t be happening.

He reached his arm out in what seemed like slow motion, and wrapped his fingers tightly around my bicep.

“I’m waiting for your answer, darling,” he growled.

“Yeah, got it,” I whispered.

“Good.” He yanked me toward him then released my arm from his grasp, only to snake his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his warm body. Ewww!

The rest of the ride was a whirlwind of thoughts of how I could overpower him and escape. My Coy-wolf was more than capable of shredding a human. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

When we reached the house, correction, shack, I knew what I was going to do. I exited the truck and walked around the front to meet him. His hand grasped me firmly at the back of the neck.

“Welcome home, sweet thing.” His words were unbearable.

I jerked myself loose from his grip and began my transformation, my clothes tearing from my body. I was going to pounce on him and overtake him, then run as fast as possible.

It would have been a good plan had he not cast a spell on me, freezing me where I stood.

“Just as I suspected, darling. I thought you were one of them.”

I couldn’t speak or move. He had me in a catatonic state. He was a fucking Warlock.

“Come, my pet.” He lifted my Coy-wolf and carried me into his house, then very carefully put me in one of the largest cages I’d ever seen. Once he locked the door, he removed the spell.

I growled and howled before he silenced me again.

“Hush now, sweet thing. I can’t have you making all that noise in here. And I prefer not to keep a spell on you overnight. Why don’t you change back into your human form and we can talk.”

He freed me to move around the cage. I paced restlessly while my eyes bore into him. I was pissed, and wanted revenge. Who the fuck did he think he was to do this to me?

After pacing for what seemed like hours while he showered and cooked dinner, I gave up. I wasn’t going to be able to get out of this cage no matter what I did. And I was no match for a Warlock. I allowed myself to change back to my human and sat in the cage huddled in a corner, trying desperately to hide my nakedness.

I looked around to take in my new environment. With the exception of this ridiculous cage, his home was nicely decorated. It was nothing like I’d expected when I saw it from the outside.

When he walked into the room, my body shook when he came into full sight. He stood before me with his hands on his hips, staring hungrily. He looked starkly different.

My eyes roamed from his bare feet up. He had on a pair of black silk pajama pants that hung low on his hips, and a hip-length silk robe that was open. His well-defined, muscular V and amazing abs were on display.

“Do you like what you see, sweet thing?”

“Please, stop calling me that.” I wrapped my arms tighter around my knees that I’d been clutching to cover my breasts.

“No worries, my pet. You’ll learn to appreciate my affection. And your scent tells me everything I need to know, Daci. You smell like a sweet thing, and soon I’ll find out for sure.”

“Now that you’ve kidnapped me are you planning to rape me, too?”

“No, my dear. I’m no rapist. On the contrary you’ll be begging me for my affection soon enough. And at that time, I’ll gladly give it to you. You see, you’re my mate.”

“Cocky sonofabitch,” I whispered. “I’m not you’re mate, and I’ll never want you,” I hissed. My eyes never left him. I felt like he had me under a spell of some sort. His physical attraction was overwhelming.

“We’ll see. I have more than enough time for you to come around. Just imagine our offspring. What would they be? Coy-war-wolves? War-coy-wolves?” He laughed.

“How did you know I’m a Coy-wolf?”

“I can tell you’re a half-breed. And judging by your beauty, I could only surmise you were born of the best Coyote and Wolf genes in the Garden State.”

He walked out the room, then returned with a towel in his hand.

“Would you like a shower, my love? I’m not sure how long you’ve been roaming about, but you may feel better once you’re cleaned up.”

His outstretched hand pressed the towel through the thick metal bars of the crate for me. I tried my best to wrap it around myself before scooting closer to the door. He unlocked the crate and held me tight at the nape of my neck as he guided me into the bathroom.

His hand slowly slid down the length of my bare back. He stopped just before caressing my ass. “I have a robe for you hanging on the door. When you’re done, we’ll have a nice meal together and talk some more. I’d like to get to know my mate.” He leaned in and placed his warm lips against my cheek.

Chapter 9

Maximus

Her scent alerted me to her presence as she made her way back into the living room, then I heard the creaking floorboards. Daci was a beautiful vision. When she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in the fluffy light pink robe, the belt pulled snugly around her small waist, my cock began to stiffen. I’d have loved nothing more than to make her mine right then and there, but I wasn’t going to force her to do anything. I knew in time she’d see what I saw – that we were meant to be.

My eyes roamed her stunning figure. Her skin tone was an intriguing bronze perfection and her eyes were green and inviting. Her long jet-black hair hung straight, as if weighted down by the water. Small wisps curled ever so slightly near her forehead. My cock was reacting to her against my minds commands. I knew I needed to give her time.

“Feel better, my love?” I asked. I adjusted my cock when she turned her head away from me.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, sweet thing.”

Her head snapped in my direction, her dark eyes locked on mine, and her mouth opened. Before she could say a word, I quickly corrected myself.

“I apologize. I mean Daci.”

Her mouth closed and she sighed. Her eyes moved from mine and she stared at the floor. She looked sad. This was going to be more difficult than I’d imagined.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“No.” Her stomach growled, betraying her.

“Your tummy says differently. Don’t starve yourself. I have plenty of food. Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good. Have a seat and be a good pet. I’ll be right in the kitchen.” I stood from the sofa and walked over to within inches of her, inhaling a deep breath, taking her scent in. I placed my finger under her chin, lifting until our eyes met. “And, my love, before you get any wild notion that you can escape, all of the doors and windows are locked from the outside.”

She gazed up at me through her long lashes; tears began to well in her deep green orbs. Her nostrils flared, and her lips were perfectly plump and inviting. My cock was standing at full mast in anticipation of sinking deep into her sweet flesh. My own breaths became shallow as I fought the urge to claim her.

Daci

I hated that I liked that vile man’s soapy-clean scent. He wasn’t my mate. He’d never be my mate. My Coy-wolf was walking in circles. She wanted to be set free, but I wasn’t going to risk being thrown back into the cage. It was bad enough being trapped in the house, but the cage -- no fucking way.

I walked over to the sofa and sat down, pulling my feet up under my butt. The leather was soft like cotton candy.

“Feel free to turn on the television, my love.” My stomach roiled every time I heard him utter those two words, my love. I wasn’t his. I’d never be his. I wasn’t sure exactly how, but I was going to get out of here and away from him.

My stomach rumbled again. I rubbed my hand across it, and then reached for the remote control on the glass table. With the click of a button, the large-screen television came to life. I flipped through the channels until I found what I was looking for: Food Network.

I never replied to Maximus’s comment. I sank down into the soft, cool leather and laid my head on the armrest. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself for being so stupid. I knew better than to get in the truck with him, but I did it anyway. I should have known to run before it got to that point. I should have run before he got back with the bags of chips and soda. Stupid, stupid, stupid me.

“Buttercup.”

I could hear the voice, but wasn’t making the connection. My Coy-wolf growled.

“Wake up, my love.”

His words nauseated me as I woke from my nap. I had no idea how long I’d been sleeping, but I was upset this whole ordeal wasn’t just a bad dream.

“Come on. Dinner’s ready. I think I have something you’ll like.”

I continued to stay mute. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to reveal any additional information other than the things I’d told him already.

I stood and pulled my robe tight, refastening the belt before shuffling my feet and following him into the kitchen. He was standing behind a chair, his hands on the back, waiting for me.

“Come, my pet.”

I wanted to kick this guy in the nuts. I walked over and sat in the chair he was holding for me, then he helped me move closer to the table before he made his way to his chair and sat.

He prepared my plate, then helped himself to larger portions.

“Feel free to eat whatever you like. You can help yourself to seconds, too.”

I kept my eyes lowered to my plate. I didn’t want to look at or talk to him. I just wanted to eat and go back to sleep. But that wasn’t the plan, according to Maximus.

He reached over and wrapped his long, strong fingers around my chin and forced me to turn toward him and raise my eyes to meet his. “Don’t be disrespectful. I can make this really hard for you if that’s the game you want to play. I’m giving you freedom inside my home. Our home. If you’d rather be treated like the ungrateful mutt you’re acting like, I can oblige you. Do you understand?” He ground the words out through his clenched teeth.

Hearing his voice deepen and his tone become angered, he scared me. I’d been trying to convince myself that I hadn’t lost control, but his sharp words let me know I had no control at all.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” he barked.

“Yes, sir.” The tears began to well in my eyes at my dire situation.

He slammed his fist on the table and leaned over toward me. “Don’t ever fucking call me sir!” he screamed.

I startled at the harsh sound of his voice, dropped my fork, and began to sob from the terror. I didn’t know what he wanted. I was terrified that as his anger raged out of control he’d hurt me.

He walked over to me and pulled my head against his bare stomach, rubbing one hand down my hair while his other hand held me by my chin.

“Don’t cry, my pet. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hollered at you.” He kept smoothing my hair. I could feel the warmth rolling off his body. His fingers threaded and combed through the length of my hair several times before he held a handful tight in his grasp and leaned my head back to force me to look up at him.

“Will you forgive me?” he asked. His gaze was fixed on me.

I nodded my head.

“I need to hear you say it.”

“Yes, I’ll forgive you,” I whispered.

His heated eyes never moved from mine and his hands held me tight. His piercing blue eyes darkened while his jaw ticked, his stare pinning me in place. I kept my eyes on him. Then, without warning, he released my hair and took his hands off of me.

“Let’s eat. I’m starving.” He returned to his seat and began cutting his meat. “I hope you like it, sweet Daci. They’re venison chops.”

Deer was my favorite meat. I preferred to hunt it and eat it raw, but cooked was good, too. I cut off a bite and placed it in my mouth. As my lips closed around the fork, my eyes closed and I let out a low moan. My Coy-wolf was skipping around in delight. I slowly pulled the fork from my mouth and began to chew the delicious meat, then opened my eyes to find Maximus staring at me. Smiling at me.

After we finished every bite on our plates, I offered to clean the kitchen. It was the least I could do for such a fantastic meal. Plus, I wanted to ingratiate myself again. I didn’t want him to holler at me or do anything to hurt me in any way. If being nice was the price I’d have to pay to keep myself safe, I could do it.

“When you’re finished in there, my love, please, come join me,” Maximus said.

It took me a couple more minutes to finish washing everything, then I walked in and sat on the sofa on the opposite end from him.

“Please, my pet, come closer. I won’t bite you, unless you want me to.”

I edged closer until I was halfway between the arms of the sofa.

“Come on. You can do better than that. Come all the way here, right next to me.”

I did as I was commanded. I moved all the way next to him, so there were inches between us. That was close enough, in my opinion.

Maximus thought otherwise. His long arm reached around my shoulder and pulled me until our thighs were touching. He pulled my arm across his waist and held me tight to him. I let out a deep sigh before resigning to the position he held me in. I wasn’t hurt, my belly was full, and I wasn’t locked in a cage. I was in survival mode. Things could have been a whole lot worse than sitting with my arms around a decent-looking Warlock who smelled clean. It could have been a whole lot worse.

But he wasn’t my soul mate.

I’d pretend to concede to him until I could figure out a way to escape, or kill him.

Chapter 10

Daci

“Face it, the guy’s strange. He only had one or two friends, and he’s some kind of Comi-con nerd or something now.” Veronica stared at me. “What’s wrong with you, anyway? Why do you always stick up for him?”

My best friend, Veronica, was a snob. I’d known it since I met her in first grade, when my family moved into town. I loved hanging out with her most of the time. I immediately became one of the cool kids when she befriended me. Now that we were in college, she knew all the right people to get invited to the best parties, and how to have a great time. A great time as long as she was happy and controlling everything.

“He wasn’t that bad. He was quiet. That didn’t make him a weirdo,” I said.

“That’s your opinion. I can name about fifteen people who agree with me and I can’t think of one who agrees with you.” Veronica rolled her eyes. “Wait a minute! Are you in love with that freak?”

“No! Just drop it, Veronica. You’ll never see him for the kind-hearted person he is. I don’t want to hear you belittle him, because he doesn’t deserve it,” I said. I felt sad that so many people thought Barry was strange or weird.

“Anyway, you’re probably just pissed because he didn’t give you as much as a glance when he was around.” I smirked. Veronica loved male attention, and he never gave her one iota of his time. When he saw me, his eyes never strayed.

“Eww. You’re so gross. There’s no way in hell I’d want that,” she said.

“Okay. Keep telling yourself that.” I chuckled. I knew she was getting furious.

There was so much Veronica and her friends didn’t know about Barry. It wasn’t like I was interested in him in a romantic way, or wanted him to be my boyfriend. We loved to hunt and play together. I felt an unshakeable bond between us. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I just felt like I had to defend him because I knew he’d do the same for me, if circumstances ever called for it. And he’d stayed a good friend since I met him. He was someone I could always depend on.

He may have been a little different than the other boys, but I admired that about him

“Here comes your weirdo boyfriend now,” Veronica said.

I looked in the direction Veronica’s eyes were focused and saw him. I was shocked. Why would Barry be on our campus? He didn’t go to school here -- he was attending the community college.

He was walking toward us with purpose in his step. His stride was like he was stalking prey. His face was void of any expression. He was on a mission. I’d remembered seeing him look like that when we were hunting rabbits in the fields.

Barry was more handsome than I’d remembered. His body was more muscular, and his face had thinned and looked much more defined. My Coy-wolf howled and kept flipping her tail wildly in the air. She’d never been so restless before.

“Daci,” He called my name when he was within five feet of me.

“Yes, Barry?”

He kept walking, but he was marching in place. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get any closer to me.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you coming closer?” I asked.

“I’ve been looking for you. I’m so close, but I can’t quite reach you. I love you, Daci,” Barry said. His arms were outstretched toward me. I tried to reach him, but it felt like there was an invisible wall between us.

“Daci,” Barry said as he disappeared before my eyes. He appeared to have been mysteriously yanked away.

“Barry, please, don’t leave me. Come back. I love you, too.”

I jumped out of my sleep and sat up straight.

I looked around at my surroundings. I wasn’t on the couch, and I didn’t see Maximus. I was in a huge four-post canopy bed with a beautiful eyelet comforter wrapped around me. My eyes shifted over to the desk near the window, where I saw the pink robe I’d been wearing draped over the back of the chair. I let my hands roam my naked body.

I hope this freak didn’t rape me, I thought.

I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed the robe, wrapping it tightly around me, and then I tied the belt tight.

I walked into the hallway and made my way into the bathroom. After relieving my bladder and washing my face, I walked into the living room and saw Maximus’ tall form curled up on the couch. For a brief moment, I felt bad for him.

I looked down and rubbed my eyes. As I looked up, I screamed. Maximus was standing in front of me. I hadn’t heard him get off the sofa and move.

“It’s okay, my pet. I didn’t mean to startle you. Did you sleep well?” His fingers pushed the hairs back from my face, then down my long mane.

“Yes.” I drew out the ‘s’ for an extra second or two.

“I sense a but. What’s wrong? I want you to be completely comfortable in our home.”

“How did my robe get removed?”

“My love, I took it off your beautiful body. You certainly would have gotten way too warm with it on. Not to mention, it would have been extremely uncomfortable wrapping around your legs. I assure you, as tempting as you were, I didn’t do anything to violate you.”

“Thank you for thinking of my comfort, I think.”

“My love, my body aches to feel yours, but I want you to want me. I reiterate: I’m not a rapist.”

I pulled my robe tighter. “Do you have any clothes I can wear?” I asked.

“I’ll see what I can find for you. Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving. I feel like I haven’t eaten in weeks.”

Chapter 11

Holt

Between my hunting and eating, and trying to run to only Goddess knows where, I wasn’t getting too far, or at least I didn’t think I was.

I stopped to take in my surroundings. It was so quiet and peaceful, wherever I was. That was when I heard him. In my head. Dolph was talking. My eyes closed as I concentrated to hear and understand what he was saying. He was talking to Trey.

My Wolf made circles and my tail wagged with excitement. I quickly sat down and with all of my concentration I asked him, “Dolph, can you hear me? I could just hear you talking. I think we’re linked.”

It took a few minutes before he replied. “Loud and clear. Over.”

“Idiot. We aren’t on walkie-talkies.”

“Oh yeah, my bad. Well, you’ll be happy to know Trey and I have everyone who was locked up back home. Even your friend, Veronica, is here.”

“Ugh! Can you take her back?” I giggled at the thought of Dolph carrying her and tossing her back into the crate, then slamming the door shut and locking it on her.

“Not funny, Holt. But it’s good to see your Alpha powers are kicking in,” Trey said.

“Oh, you heard that?” I laughed.

“Yeah, smartass. Are you having any luck finding your soul mate?”

“No, not really. I had a vision that flashed four or five times, but I couldn’t tell who it was.”

“Trust me, when you get close enough, your Wolf will let you know exactly where she is. Keep going, and be safe.”

“I’ll keep you both posted. I need to get moving. I’ve been at this for far too long and I really need to find her so this Hunger can be satiated.”

“Ah, young love. I remember those days. And I remember when your dad found your mom.”

“Thanks, Trey, but I’ve heard enough of those stories to last a lifetime. I’ll keep you posted and let you both know if I need you to join me.”

I had been so focused on linking with my Pack mates that I didn’t notice the fawn that had settled in to graze just a few feet from me. Poor little creature was getting ready to become my snack. When I pounced, it didn’t stand a chance of escaping. My jaws locked tight around its thin small neck and the blood oozed down my parched throat. Tasty and tender, I thought.

I made quick work of my meal, then kept moving. I saw a sign thanking me for visiting Allamuchy Mountain State Park. I was twenty-two miles from home. I had no idea how far I needed to go, but I knew I had to pick up the pace. There was not going to be any sleeping for me.

“Trey, how do I know I’m going the right direction?” I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have gone east instead of west?

“What took you in the direction your heading? Did you use your instincts?”

“My Wolf sniffed the air and took me in this direction. I let him lead me.”

“Trust your Wolf, kid. His nose is keener than your human nose. If your Wolf says keep going, then you’re heading in the right direction.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you on this. Thanks.”

“No problem, kid. Let me know if you want some company. And not to add more to your role, but right now, you don’t have a Beta. You may want to give that some thought and get someone in place quickly in your absence.”

“I just thought Dolph would become my Beta when I became Alpha. What do I need to do?”

“Dolph’s a good kid, but he has no idea how to be a solid Beta for you yet. He was fine as a guard because your father had others guarding you as well. Let me take him under my wing. He can be a Beta-apprentice.”

“I never heard of a Beta-apprentice. Did you just make that up?”

I heard Trey laugh. I hadn’t heard him laugh in all the years I’d known him. “Yeah, kid. I made it up. But I can teach him everything he needs to know; then he’ll be more suited for his new position.”

I laughed. I didn’t even mind that Trey was back to calling me ‘kid.’ I inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

“Trey, would you be my Beta, like you were for my father? And Dolph can be your protégé.”

“Yeah, kid. I’d be happy to be your Beta. And for the record, I think you’re going to make a really strong Alpha soon. That is, if you ever find your way back from wherever the hell you’re heading.”

I continued on my journey, letting my Wolf take the lead. I kept Highway 80 in my sights and used it as a guide. If worse came to worse, I could always find my way back by retracing my path along the road until I reached home.

By daybreak, I’d made it to the entrance sign at Worthington State Forest. This was where I was going to rest. My legs ached and my feet felt like they were getting raw. I’d have given anything to change back to human form but I had no clothes to put on. I was forced to let my Wolf continue taking the lead.

I could scent fresh water and my Wolf led me to the river. The cool water was just what I needed.

After feasting on a large deer and getting a little more water, I retreated to a wooded area where I could sleep in peace. Once I’d found the perfect spot, hidden from sight, I lay down and closed my eyes.

“Hi, Barry,” Daci opened their door.

“Hi, Daci. Can you come out and play?”

“Let me check with my nana.” She shut the door and left me standing on their front porch.

I heard the door open and spun around to see Daci standing there, her mouth pulled down in the corners.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s Nana. She doesn’t feel well. We’re going to go the hospital. Can you come with us? Please?”

“I’ll ask my father and be right back.”

“Hurry back; the ambulance is on its way.”

I ran home and told my father what was going on. He told me to go with them and to keep him updated on Margaret’s status. They said they’d come up as soon as they could. By the time I got back to Daci’s house, the paramedics were loading her nana into the back of the ambulance. Daci was sitting on the porch, her face buried in her hands, as she sobbed uncontrollably. I made my way up the steps and sat next to her.

“Aren’t you going with your nana?” I asked.

She raised her head. Her eyes were red and swollen, and tears covered her face.

“Nana died,” she cried. She buried her face into my chest and wailed. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight to me.

My own tears welled in my eyes. Nana Margaret was a really good woman, and was always nice to everyone. If you needed a meal, she’d cook for you. If you needed somewhere to shower, she’d get you a towel. Anything she could do for you, she would do it. She was a special woman and seemed to love everyone. And everyone loved her.

Not even realizing it, my hand was stroking down Daci’s silky jet-black hair over and over. Her wailing had turned to quiet sobs and sniffles, then she sat up and looked at me.

“What am I going to do? I have no one now,” Daci said.

“That’s not true. You still have me. I’ll always be your friend.”

“Thank you, Barry.”

There was a brief moment of silence. “I still have to go to the hospital,” Daci whispered.

“I need to go tell my father what’s going on. Come with me and he can take us to the hospital.” I intertwined my fingers with hers. “I’ll be with you. And my father will be there if you need anything.”

“You’re so kind. You’re so lucky. You have your mom and dad. And your dad is Alpha.”

“Yeah, I’m just Omega. A nobody.”

“You’re somebody to me.” Daci leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I love you. As a friend of course.”

“Of course.” I love you, too, I thought.

I was startled out of my sleep when the screen thingy reappeared and flashed the image again. I noticed I had an erection, again. I was so happy no one was around to see me, or it.

I didn’t move from my spot; instead, I closed my eyes to see if the image would flash again and if I could see what or who it was.

I sat still for a few more minutes and then the image stayed. I couldn’t believe I had been so blind, but I knew exactly who my soul mate was now.

Chapter 12

Daci

We finished eating and I cleaned the dishes while Maximus sat at the table, staring at me. His leering eyes disgusted me, but I bit my tongue because I was determined to stay in his good graces until I could find a way out of this hell hole.

“Do you work today?” I asked over my shoulder.

“Yeah. But don’t worry; I’ll be back later this evening. While I’m gone all the doors and windows will be locked.” He stood up and walked over to me, standing so close to me that I could feel the heat radiate from his body, and his manhood pressed against me. Gross! He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against him. “Soon, my love. Soon, we’ll seal our bond and I’ll make you mine. Are you ready for me to claim you?”

I’d rather stick my hand into this garbage disposal and turn it on, I thought.

“I’d like to get to know you better before that happens,” I said.

Maximus shoved me until my hip bones crashed into the counter top. I placed my hands down to steady myself before he wrapped his long fingers in my hair and pulled my head back.

“Ungrateful bitch. I’ve been nothing but nice to you, and very patient, and this is how you repay me? Maybe I should force you to give yourself to me.” Leaning over my shoulder, he craned his neck and licked my face, his tongue slimy. “What do you think of that?”

Tears brimmed in my eyes. “No. Please!” I cried. I swallowed hard. “I just need to get to know you a little better. Soon, I promise.”

He spun me around and pressed my back against the counter, his front pressing hard against me. His hands held my face tight and his mouth descended on mine. His tongue kept trying to gain entry, and as much as I wanted to vomit at his taste I opened for him. I couldn’t do anything else that would set him off. I needed time to figure out how I was going to get out of here. Alive.

The hideous kiss lasted much longer than I hoped, and his knee kept pressing until he’d finally wedged his leg between my thighs. He began grinding his genitals against my hip, then dry humping me. His moans got deeper and louder as his humping tempo increased, until he let out a long, low, growl.

“You’re such a good girl. You’re so sweet. I’m sorry I lost my temper. I didn’t mean to, but I wanted to feel you so badly.” He lowered his forehead to mine. “Certainly you understand my desire. Will you forgive me, my love?”

I felt sick to my stomach. His breath reeked, his scent was disgusting, and what he’d just done was so incredibly vulgar. Before I could answer, I turned and lost my breakfast in the sink.

He held my hair and rubbed my back. “Are you okay, my love?”

“I think I ate too much. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” He stood me up, reached for a paper towel and dampened it, then wiped around my mouth. “I need to go take a shower. Clean up the sink,” he said brusquely.

I was glad he was gone. Even if he wasn’t gone gone, he was away from me. I rinsed my vomit down the disposal and looked under the sink for some type of disinfectant cleaner. I poured a little bleach down the drain, then scrubbed the surface with some Ajax.

Making sure my robe was secured I walked down the hallway and back into the bedroom I’d been sleeping in, and closed the door.

I heard a light tapping. “Sweetheart, I have to leave now. I hope you feel better by the time I return. If you get hungry, by all means help yourself.” There was a brief pause. “And if you try to escape I’ll know, and I’ll be forced to punish you. Please, don’t do anything to anger me.” I heard his footsteps grow quieter as he walked away from the door. I let out a sigh. Then he pounded back, each step getting louder. “Daci, I just wanted to tell you I love you, my pet. I’ll see you later.”

When I heard the door lock, I was relieved that he was gone. I opened the door and went into the bathroom where I scrubbed my mouth and teeth, trying to rid myself of any hint of him. Then I showered and scrubbed my body fiercely. I felt so revolted that he’d used me as his humping post.

After securing my robe, I made my way back out to the living room and turned on the television. I couldn’t sit on the couch, knowing he slept there and his scent was embedded in the leather. Instead, I chose the hard wooden chair that sat near a floor-to-ceiling bookcase.

After flipping the channels, I settled on National Geographic where they were featuring the Gray Wolf. I listened to the program, but my eyes were drawn to the books on the shelf. He had a hodge-podge of genres. There were romance and wolf shifter paranormal books. No surprise there, I thought. He also had a few cook-books and a few self-help types. He needs to read these self-help books from front to back, I thought.

I slid one of the self-help books out and turned to the table of contents to see if there was anything in there that was of interest. Every chapter discussion probably could have applied to this maniac. I slid the book back into place exactly like it was.

The next book made my heart drop. It was a tell-all book on kidnapping. The woman had been kidnapped and tortured for years. A shiver tore through me. Her will to survive was amazing. She was able to manipulate the kidnapper into doing things he’d never have done. I inhaled deeply then sighed as I replaced that book, too.

I stood to see the books on the higher shelves and scanned a couple more before my eyes landed on a witchcraft book. Why on earth would a warlock need a witchcraft book? I pulled it out and sat down in the chair, then flipped the book open to the page that had the corner folded. My heart sank.

Casting spells was on the page in large, bold letters. My eyes shifted to the television as I watched the beautiful wolves running free across the wild terrain. Then I glanced back down at the page and began reading.

I’d been sitting in the chair for what felt like hours, and had read nearly one hundred pages. I flipped corners at the bottom of the pages so I didn’t disturb his markings at the top. My eyes were so heavy. I replaced the book on the shelf and turned the television off, then went to lie down.

“Hi, Mr. Scofield. Is Barry home?” I asked.

“Good morning, Daci. Let me call him for you.” The Pack Alpha turned and hollered up the stairs for his son. “Barry! Daci’s down here.”

“You can come in, dear. I’m sure he won’t be long.”

“Thank you.” I stepped into their large foyer and Mr. Scofield shut the door behind me.

“How are you doing? Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, everything’s fine.”

“If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know it has to be tough to be on your own, but we’d like to help you, if you need anything.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you.” I sniffled and fought to keep my tears back. It had been two months since my nana was buried and I missed her so much. Now, I was living in our house all by myself.

“Have you decided on a college yet?” Mr. Scofield asked.

“I have two I’m choosing between. Either Rutgers or Seton Hall. Both have offered full academic scholarships, and both are close enough that I can live at home. I’m not sure I want to stay on campus and leave the house completely empty though.”

“We’ll take care of the house. Don’t let that stop you.”

I heard the thudding footfalls on the stairs and looked up. Barry was on his way down.

“I’ll leave you kids alone. It was nice seeing you, Daci.”

“It was nice seeing you, too, Mr. Scofield.”

“Hi, Daci,” Barry said as he landed on the floor beside me. He was so much taller than me now. He was taller than his father, too.

“Hi. Want to go to the mall with me?”

“I hate the mall. Where’s Veronica?”

“She’s with her boyfriend. Come with me. Please? I promise we won’t be there all day. I just hate to go by myself.”

He sighed and lolled his head back. “I hate the mall, but I’ll go with you. Let me just tell my father. I’ll be right back.”

I stood in the foyer waiting for his return. It felt like he’d abandoned me. He’d never taken so long to tell his parents he was going to hang out with me before. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

“Daci,” a deeper, more confident, and vaguely familiar voice called me. I slowly turned but saw no one. My breath hitched at the thought that someone was watching me.

“Who called my name?” I asked. I was still standing in the foyer of Barry’s childhood home. Without warning, my Coy-wolf howled and I had no idea where I was anymore.

“Don’t be frightened. It’s me, Holt.”

I hadn’t heard his voice call my name since we were in high school. My nerves calmed and I suddenly felt different. I felt safe for the first time since this awful ordeal began.

“Wh…where are you?”

“Close. I’m coming for you. I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

“But you don’t know where I am.” My voice was shaky.

“My Wolf will find you. He’s led me so far, and I’m confident he has me headed in the right direction.”

“I’m scared,” I said. My eyes began to well with tears.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m being held captive in this man’s home, Barry. I’m afraid Maximus is going to hurt me, or ra --”

“Has he touched you?” Barry asked. His voice sounded harsh. A lump formed in my throat and I couldn’t answer. I thought back to when Maximus had forced me to kiss him, and fought to keep the tears at bay.

“His fate is sealed,” Barry said.

“I think he’s a Warlock,” I whispered. “He has a really bad temper that triggers at the smallest things.”

“That’s of no consequence to me. Warlock or human, he’ll pay either way. Do you know where you are?”

“No.”

“No worries; I’ll find you. Stay strong, my dearest love, and be safe. My only concern is you and making sure nothing happens to you.”

“This guy really scares me, Barry. He says he loves me, and that we’re meant to be together.” I swallowed hard. “He says I’m his soul mate.”

“That’s impossible, Daci. You’re mine.”

Chapter 13

Holt

When Daci told me she was being held captive, my blood began to boil. Hearing the fear in her voice and hearing her tell me how scared she was, enraged me even further. What gave this prick the right to kidnap her and hold her hostage?

My Wolf paced back and forth during the rest of the conversation.

I have to find her, I thought. If anything were to happen to Daci, I’d never forgive myself. She was my friend and my soul mate, and it was my job to protect her.

But what if I got to her too late? What if he did hurt her? What if he decided he was going to claim her, and forced her to bond with him? What if he raped the woman that was mine?

My breathing was ragged and my jaws clenched. I snarled and growled at the thoughts racing through my mind. I wanted to rip this piece of shit who called himself a man to shreds.

My Wolf sniffed the air, picking up Daci’s scent, and ran along the river bank at top speed in her direction.

My Hunger grew more intense the farther north I traveled. It finally had gotten to a point that I could no longer ignore it, and was forced to stop to hunt.

As I devoured my large buck, the guilt of not powering through my selfish need to eat instead of sacrificing to get to Daci overtook me, and the questions flooded my mind. My heart felt heavy in my chest. The onslaught of questions was overwhelming me.

What would I do if he forced himself on my woman? Was I strong enough to get past such an atrocity? Would it affect my feelings for her? Would the Goddess provide me another soul mate if I couldn’t bear the thought of any of that?

“Holt, snap out of it, kid. You have to trust you’ll find her and get to her in time. Get focused and get your ass back in gear,” Trey said.

“You can hear my thoughts?”

“I heard those.”

“I’m going crazy. I’m starving all the fucking time, my soul mate is holed up in some madman’s home, and I’m so far away from her I don’t know if I’ll get to her in time.”

“Whoa! Are you saying you’re giving up?”

I paused. Before I could answer, Trey spoke.

“Would your father give up? Do you think your father would want you to give up? No! So, take a word of advice: Quiet the negative voices in your head. If you don’t, your mate is in more danger than you could imagine because you won’t be able to save her. She needs you, kid. More than she ever has in her life.”

“I know, but--”

“You don’t have time for buts, ors, or maybes. Get your shit together right fucking now and go rescue her. Are you an Alpha or a pansy-ass?”

“I’m Alpha,” I growled.

“Then grow a pair and fucking act like it.”

Trey was right. I needed to get my act together and keep focused. When I was younger I had a tendency to overthink situations and eventually cower away, but I couldn’t do that to Daci. She was too important. She was my world.

I ripped one final bite from the buck, chewing as I trotted off, and left the remaining carcass behind for the ravens and vultures.

Daci

My heart was full of hope and love when I heard Barry call me his soul mate. The strong bond we’d had when we were growing up made complete sense. We were both too young to realize it at the time, but Goddess had meant for us to be together.

I had a million questions for Barry, but the one that lingered was how did he have the ability to link to me? He’d never been able to do that before. What changed? Omegas shouldn’t have that capability, according to my nana.

I noticed it was only two o’clock. I wasn’t sure how much time I had before Maximus came home, but I needed to help Barry find me. I needed to figure out the address or town or something that would help him get here faster.

After spending a little over a half hour carefully going though cabinets and drawers, I found the mail tucked away in a drawer. Before I could do anything, I heard the key jingling in the front door. I quickly shut the drawer and rushed in to the wooden chair and sat. My heart was thumping so hard, I was afraid Maximus would hear it.

“I’m home, my love,” he called.

I sat silently, taking deep breaths and releasing them slowly. I needed to slow the adrenaline. I was nearly caught snooping.

Once I felt like I’d gotten myself under control I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out when I saw him standing before me with a dozen red roses.

“I’ve been kind of a schmuck. I’m sorry.” His arm extended toward me with the roses held tightly in his grasp.

I knew I had to do what he expected. I stood and reached to take them from him, and he snaked his other arm around my waist, pulling me close to him.

“I missed you. Did you miss me?” His heated, smelly breath made my stomach turn.

I turned my head slightly to get a breath of fresher air. “I did miss you, Maximus.”

“Please, my love, call me Max.”

“I like Maximus better. I’d prefer to call you by your full name, if that’s okay with you.”

He leaned down and his mouth sought mine. I fought to hold my lips shut, but his tongue slithered in despite my best efforts to not allow him. Knowing how irate he could get, I forced myself to not fight him off. Within minutes, he had both arms on me, one hand splayed on my lower back, holding me tight to him so I could feel his bulge pressing against me, and the other holding a handful of my hair. His moans and grinding against me were frantic and repulsive. I felt sicker with each passing second.

“I can’t wait for our coupling, my love. I long to taste you, and feel you wrapped around me.”

I couldn’t swallow. The lump in my throat was preventing me from gulping down or throwing up, but either felt like they were possibly going to happen after his disgusting comment.

I forced the word I’d said before, “Soon.” I had to keep this guy away from me. He wasn’t my soul mate no matter what he said.

“I’m looking forward to that day.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead then released me from his hold. That was when I noticed the roses on the floor near our feet.

“Do you have a vase? I’d love to put these beautiful flowers in water and keep them alive.”

“Yes, my pet, I do. Gather them and come to the kitchen.”

I scooped up the roses and walked into the kitchen. He had already filled a vase with water for me.

“Are you home for the day?” I asked.

“No, I need to go back. I came home to check on you. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied.

“Good.” His eyes roamed over my body. I pulled the robe closed up high near my neck.

“I hate to bother you, but did you find any clothes I could wear?”

His eyes shifted from being on me to looking past me. He took a couple of steps toward me, closing the distance between us, then he wrapped his long skinny fingers around my arm. When I looked at him, his eyes were pinched and his nostrils flared.

“Have you been digging through my things?” he barked.

“N… No,” I stammered.

He spun me around and I saw what he’d been looking at. One of the envelopes I’d been holding was caught between the drawer face and cabinet. My heart dropped.

“You lying bitch! Why are you digging through my stuff?” he screamed.

“I’m sorry. I was just looking for a pen.” His fingers were digging into my bicep. He yanked me back and forth, my arm feeling like it was going to come out of its socket at my shoulder. Tears were streaming down my face at the pain.

“If I find out you’re lying to me, you’ll be locked in that fucking cage while I’m gone!” he screamed. “I’m half tempted to lock you up before I leave again.” He released my arm. He went to the drawer and pulled it open. After pushing the paper back in, he slammed it shut.

“No, please. I’m so sorry.” I was terrified that if he locked me up, I’d never get my hands on the address, and Barry would never find me. Then I’d be stuck in this hell forever.

In typical psychotic Maximus style, before he left he apologized for hollering at me. He then went into his mind-numbing delusional rant about us being made for each other, blah, blah, blah! I knew who my heart belonged to, and it wasn’t him. It never would be him.

I watched his truck drive out of the driveway and turn down the road to the right. That makes sense; we turned left when he brought me here, I thought. When he was out of sight, I went to the drawer and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Nooo!” I cried out loud. “This can’t be happening to me!”

I dropped my head and walked in to the wooden chair I’d sat in earlier. The drawer had opened so easily earlier. I didn’t see a lock on it. Maybe he put a spell on the drawer. Fucking bastard.

I shook my head and pressed the power button to turn on the television.

After sitting there watching one of the daily soap operas, I decided to read some more from his witchcraft book. I flipped the pages, this time curious to see what type of spells he’d marked the pages for.

The spell list was boring. How to cast spells to make someone fall in love with you -- clearly, he didn’t try that one yet. How to achieve immortality -- good luck with that. How to communicate with the dead -- that’s creepy and it’s been done before, so...

I kept flipping pages and then I found the spell he must have used on me. How to stop a person’s actions. I read that page and the spell over and over. It didn’t seem very difficult, but it just didn’t seem feasible.

When I finished with the book, I unfolded the pages I’d marked earlier and placed the book on the shelf. I was prepared to take a stab at casting a spell on him when the perfect opportunity presented itself. I just hoped Barry found me before I paid the ultimate price if it failed. If it worked, it would give me a chance to rip Maximus apart.

I walked into the kitchen and rifled through the refrigerator, looking for something to eat. When I landed on the leftover venison chops, I devoured them. I didn’t even heat them up. When they were gone, I continued my search for more food.

I stuffed myself on some meatballs that were kept in a small container, then turned off the television before going to the bedroom and lying down.

Chapter 14

Holt

“My mate, are you okay?” I asked. I hadn’t heard from Daci for hours, and my heart sank at the thought that something dreadful may have happened.

“Barry, my dearest. I’m fine. It’s been an exhausting day.”

“He hasn’t hurt you, has he?” The blood rushed through my veins. The thought of anything happening to my sweet Daci made me furious. I had to stifle my growl.

“Well, he was upset with me earlier. I’d searched through a drawer, looking for the address where he lives. When I placed the papers back in the drawer, it appears they didn’t get pushed in far enough. When he saw a paper peeking out the edge of the drawer, he grabbed me by my arm and shook me. And he hollered at me, then threatened to lock me in the cage.”

“A cage?”

“The day he brought me here, he locked my Coy-wolf in the large cage he has in his living room.”

“The more I hear about this guy, the more I hate him. I want to rip his vocal cords from his throat and sever his jugular so he can bleed to death.” My breathing had gotten harsh. “I just want to fucking …”

“It’s not worth it. I just want to get away from him so we can be together. Let the police take care of him.”

“We clearly don’t see eye to eye on this.” I’d let her call the police after I shredded this fucker’s filthy hide off his bones, if that made her feel better.

There was a lengthy pause.

“How are you able to communicate with me, my dearest?” Daci asked.

“It’s a long story. I promise I’ll tell you everything, but right now my priority is to find you.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be just fine. I’m not the same weird kid you used to know.”

“I never thought that you were weird.”

“Veronica did.”

“That was her, not me.”

I needed to keep moving. “I’ll be in touch when I’m there.”

“How will you find me? I didn’t give you the address.”

“Trust me, love, I know where you are.”

“Barry.” The butterflies stirred deep in my gut hearing my name roll off her tongue.

“Yes?”

“Never mind.”

“You can ask or say anything to me. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, it’s just... never mind. I’m being silly. I look forward to our next talk.”

“Soon, my mate. We’ll talk very soon.”

The confrontation that was imminent was welcomed. This Maximus asshole had to be dealt with. He needed to understand how unacceptable his behavior was. He kidnapped an unsuspecting, overly trusting woman, then held her against her will. And not just any woman. My woman. My soul mate.

What I wanted to do was kill him, but I knew Daci didn’t want me to take it that far. I couldn’t help but wonder how much pain I could inflict without having him keel over. I planned to find out, though. I’d honor the wishes of my soul mate, but I was going to push the punishment as close to the brink as I could. Then I’d give Daci the satisfaction of knowing he was left alive for the police to handle, as she requested.

The thought of leaving that fucker breathing pissed me off. It was at that moment I heard my mother’s words echo in my brain. You have to lead with a level head. You can’t allow your emotions to rule you.

Yeah, yeah, I thought.

I covered the next few miles faster than I’d expected. Daci’s sweet scent had become more powerful and I knew I was getting nearer to the house.

Trey had warned me when we met with the Council not to go in there half-cocked. We were prepared, and I needed to make sure I approached this situation the same way. Daci’s life was at stake and I damn sure couldn’t fuck this up and get her hurt, or killed.

“Trey, I need your help. I’m nearly to Daci, but I may be going up against a Warlock.” I contacted him through our link. It didn’t take very long for him to reply.

“A Warlock? Damn, kid. Are you sure?”

“Daci thinks so. Evidently he cast a spell on her shortly after he kidnapped her.”

I heard Trey growling. “I had no idea there were Warlocks nearby. I need to check with my good friend at Council on this. What’s this guy’s name? Do you know?”

“Daci called him Maximus. She never gave a last name. He might not have one. He’s like some famous people: Sting, Iman, Madonna. And then there’s Cher, Beyoncé, and Adele. Or maybe like…”

Trey cleared his throat to interrupt me. “I get the idea, kid. I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor. Give me a few minutes and I’ll check with my buddy to see if he has any information on a Maximus Warlock.”

“You mean Maximus Asshole,” I said. I laughed so hard I nearly toppled over.

“I guess if Alpha doesn’t work out for you, you can try the comedian route.” Trey chuckled.

While I waited for Trey to get back to me, I decided this was a perfect time to hunt. My stomach felt so empty I thought it was touching my backbone.

As I polished off the fawn that had become my meal, Trey linked to me.

“Holt, I’ve got some news.”

“Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“I talked to my long-time friend, Sherman Kelly. He’s a Witch used by Council. Sherman wasn’t able to dig up any intel on anyone named Maximus in our area.”

“Did he have anything on anyone name Maximus? Maybe the guy moved from somewhere?”

“He knew of one guy named Maximus in France. He’s still there, so there’s no way it can be the same person.”

“Did you tell him about the spell?”

“Yeah, I did. Sherman’s not sure exactly what he did, but he seriously doubts this guy is a Warlock or has true magical powers.”

I was dumbfounded. I sat in the grass and scratched behind my ears.

“What should I do?” I asked. If I’d have gotten it confirmed this guy was a Warlock, at least I’d know what I was up against. But now, I had no idea.

“How soon will you be ready to make your move?” Trey asked.

“I wanted to go get her tonight. I’m just not sure that’s the best idea. Maybe I should wait until tomorrow.”

“What are you waiting for? Tomorrow won’t change anything. He’s still going to be him, you’re still going to be you, and Daci is still going to be held captive. The only problem with waiting is this guy may come unglued and do something terrible to her. Could you live with that?”

My Wolf howled at the thought of anything happening to my soul mate. “No way!”

“Then don’t leave her there. With all due respect, kid, go get her right fucking now.”

Chapter 15

Daci

Maximus came home and put me under the same spell as before. He put me back in the cage, but this time he entered behind me. I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at him.

He held himself up with one arm and started out rubbing his free hand down my hair, professing his love for me. He kept calling me my pet. He’d kiss one cheek, then the other, all the while his fingers were combing through my tresses.

I couldn’t move. I wanted him to stop, but I couldn’t speak.

He stared at me for several seconds, then he lowered his mouth to mine and forced his tongue between my lips. He kept twisting his head from side to side and moaning. His moans made me sick. His wet, slobbery kiss made me sick, too.

My stomach lurched when his hand slid beneath the robe and cupped my breast, squeezing it over and over like it was a stress ball. He’d squeeze, then pinch my nipple, then squeeze again. Each time, the pressure was greater and more painful. In my mind, I was begging him to stop, but no words came out of my mouth.

His hand slid from my breast down over my stomach, where he momentarily stopped. His fingers made their way lower, lower, lower until he had my crotch firmly in the palm of his hand -- literally.

He whispered in my ear that he was going to make me his, then slid one of his long fingers inside me. I wanted to scream. I held my breath in hopes that I’d pass out and he’d leave me alone. I closed my eyes as he wiggled his finger inside me, dragging it out and pushing it back in. I couldn’t even close my legs in hopes of stopping him from violating me. I could feel the tears trickling down my face. I wanted it all to stop. I would’ve preferred for him to have killed me.

He leaned in and kissed my neck, then told me he loved me again. I could feel the bile rising in my throat. I tried to contact Barry to beg him to hurry, but he never replied to me. The tears were flowing in a steady stream.

There was a rustling noise, but his hand never left me. When I opened my eyes, I saw Maximus kneeling. He was preparing to violate me in the worst way. I’d been saving myself for my soul mate, and it wasn’t him. I was screaming in my head, No! And I was frantically calling for Barry, but he wouldn’t answer.

When I closed my eyes again, Maximus grabbed my face in his hand and squeezed harder than he had ever done. That was when he told me he’d killed a wolf on his way home. He said he saw it crossing the road and sped up in his truck, then ran it over. Then he rammed himself into me while he laughed that horrible cackle of his. I faded to black in my dream.

The dream I woke from was so vivid. So real. So terrifying.

The empty feeling left in my chest and stomach was haunting. I sat up in bed and hoped like hell it was just a dream. That was when I realized I’d been crying. I wiped at the remaining wetness on my face, then inhaled deeply before letting the breath slowly out through my slightly parted lips.

I wrapped my robe around me nice and snug, then went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. As I sipped, I shook my head at the horrible nightmare that woke me.

My heart was racing. I pulled the robe even tighter around myself while my stomach roiled. I rushed to the bathroom just in time to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

I slowly padded across the floor, taking a seat in the hard, wooden chair. I had no desire to watch television or read any of his books. I wanted nothing to do with being in his fucking house anymore. I wanted out. NOW!

I tossed the robe onto the floor and transformed into my Coy-wolf. I paced back and forth in the living room before I made my way to one of the windows, and began clawing at the window sill. I left a lot of marks, but the wood wasn’t ripping away. I used my teeth and left incisor marks, but it still wouldn’t rip free. What kind of material is this, I thought.

Furious, I walked over to the couch he’d been sleeping on and swiped my front paw with claws out across the seat, ripping it. Stuffing was visible and protruding though the gashes.

Fuck him and his couch, I thought. I swiped again, leaving another set of claw rips and more stuffing exposed.

“Precious one, what are you doing?” Barry said through his link.

“I need out of here. I’m going crazy. I hate this guy and I hate being locked in his house,” I said.

“I need you to stay calm,” he said.

“That’s easy for you to say!” I screamed. “You’re not the one locked in here. My Coy-wolf couldn’t even rip the trim off around the windows.”

“Don’t damage his things. If he gets there before me, who knows how he’ll react. I’d die if he seriously hurt you.”

“Then run faster, Barry, because I’ve already shredded his precious sofa.”

“I’m moving as fast as I can. Why don’t you ever call me Holt? That’s my name now.”

“You’ll always be Barry to me. My sweet Barry.”

I paced back to the sofa and gritted my teeth, growling my hatred for Maximus. I could feel the foam building up in the corners of my mouth as my anger grew stronger. I leapt up onto the piece of furniture with all four feet, claws out, and began shredding it with swipes and kicks. Stuffing material was flying in the air around me. I wished it was his filthy body under my paws.

When I finished with his prized sofa, I transformed back to my human and made my way into his kitchen.

I stomped over to the cupboards and opened the one with his plates and glasses. One by one, they were flung across the room, crashing hard against the wall, shattering into bits on the floor.

Chapter 16

Holt

“Holt, I presume.” The voice behind me was unfamiliar. How the hell did someone sneak up on me?

A low, warning growl rumbled up as I spun on my heels, immediately ready to attack. When I saw the tiny, thin, black-haired stranger, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He barely reached my ribs.

“Who the fuck are you?” I asked.

“Not the person you should be speaking to in that way, or with that tone. I’m Sherman,” the man said. His squeaky voice sounded like that of a child.

“Sherman who? I don’t know you.”

“I’m the Council Witch, Sherman Kelly. Your Beta and my good friend, Trey, told me you had a problem and some concerns. After contemplating the story he relayed, I thought it best if I came and assessed the situation myself before you get yourself killed.” His smug reply pissed me off.

“Did Trey ask you to come? He never told me you were on your way.”

“He didn’t ask me; I took it upon myself to come help you. A favor, if you will.” He stood and stared at me with his beady black eyes for a few seconds. “If you’d rather I leave and let you fend for yourself, I’ll be more than happy to oblige you. I thought you’d be more appreciative of my presence.”

“I’d have been more appreciative if I’d asked for you to be here and knew you were coming,” I said. The words came out much more harshly than I’d intended.

Sherman crossed his arms and stared at me for a few seconds. “Then I’ll wish you well and leave. I don’t have to be here. I’m sure Council and the Enforcer have more important things I could be doing.”

Before he was fully turned to walk away, I called out to him. “No. Don’t go. I didn’t mean to sound like an ingrate. I am happy you came, I just didn’t know you were coming. That’s what I was trying to say.” My back-pedaling seemed to have been satisfactory. He turned to face me once again.

“Tell me about your alleged Warlock,” he said tersely as he rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know much about him. Daci said she was put under a spell when he kidnapped her.”

“Has she mentioned being entranced since?”

“No. She hasn’t mentioned anything.”

He tilted his head then inhaled a deep breath, and rolled his eyes again before releasing a long sigh. “Do you think you can ask her about it?”

This fucking guy, I thought. I managed to keep my temper under control. I linked to Daci and asked her about the asshole Maximus and what spells he had cast on her. I also asked her about a possible entry point to the house, and she told me all the doors and windows were locked to make sure she didn’t get out.

“She said she was only spellbound twice, when he brought her to the house. Both times she was put in a catatonic state, but she was still awake. No other spells have been cast that she knows of. Oh, and she said he’s locked the windows and doors so she can’t get out.”

“That sounds like either a very amateurish Witch or Warlock, or a terribly pathetic imposter. I have to stick with my first assumption; this guy is not a Warlock. He doesn’t have any magical powers. If he did, he wouldn’t need to lock doors and windows. Instead, he could either leave her under a spell while he’s away or he’d be well-versed on how to prevent her from exiting without locking mechanisms.”

Before I could reply, Daci sent me another message saying she’d found a witchcraft book on his bookshelf. I relayed that information to the Council Witch.

Sherman waved his hands in the air. “I knew it. He’s a mortal who’s pretending to be something he’s not. I get no sense of magic, witchcraft, or any other supernatural source coming from his land, either. What I can opine, based on the feeling I’m getting, is this guy is missing a few screws, if you get what I’m saying.”

“I understand, but if he was able to place a spell on Daci would he be able to do the same to me?”

“Did you hear what I just said? He’s a fake. A crazy assed fake. His abilities are limited and I believe he had a stroke of beginner’s luck with his little witchcraft spell. My guess is he did it to intimidate her. To force her to think he’s more powerful than he is. I can show him true magical powers, if you’d like, or you can handle him yourself. He’s no match for you as Alpha.” He looked me up and down. “Hell, he’d probably not be a match for you if you weren’t a Shifter.”

“Is it safe to proceed?”

“I’d strongly recommended it, for your mate’s sake. You shouldn’t hesitate, either. Not because he’ll be able to have any further magical control over her, but because I think this guy may be very unstable and dangerous.”

Chapter 17

Holt

Sherman left. He told me his work was done. I watched him as he walked toward the wooded lot until he vanished. He literally disappeared. I’d never seen anything like that.

I hadn’t given much thought to how exactly this all would play out, but I was leaning toward the element of surprise. I planned to wait patiently until this clown came home, then I’d sneak into the house behind him.

Or maybe I would snap his neck and leave his lifeless body -- no, I couldn’t do that. Well, technically I could, but Daci would be very upset.

I continued tossing ideas around when I saw the headlights of a truck bouncing erratically toward me. He’d never see me, but I had my eyes trained on him.

I had circled around the dilapidated house, all the while my mate’s scent assaulted my nose. I was going in that house one way or another. If I had to barrel through the walls, I was going in to get her.

I walked past the truck after this guy got out and slammed the door shut. My beast was ready to go into attack mode. As he stepped closer to the front door, my Wolf crept up behind him. I could hear the key turning in the lock.

“Sweetheart,” he said as he pressed the door open. “I’m home.”

My muscles tensed and the blood pulsed through my veins. My claws were twitchy and ready to disassemble this fucker. I wanted to rip him to shreds and watch his blood drain from his pathetic body.

“What the fuck happened in here, Daci?” he screamed out. “You fucking bitch, get in here now!”

I was hoping whatever Daci did, she didn’t come near him. I slid a stick in the doorway near the bottom of the frame so he wasn’t able to shut the door behind him.

“Daci, you worthless fucking cunt! Get the fuck in here now!”

He turned halfway, then gave the door a tug again. “What the hell,” he said. It was then that I rushed through the door and pounced on him, pinning him to the floor with one paw in the center of his chest; my long, sharp claws were like razor-sharp daggers pressed hard against him. One quick move and he’d be impaled.

A loud guttural howl bellowed from me as I hovered over him. His cowardly face stared up at me. Every bit of color seemed to have drained from him, and he was blinking furiously to keep the tears that were welling in his wide eyes away. His mouth was open and his lips quivered. Then, without warning, he found his shrill, horrific voice and released a scream in my face. Motherfucker!

I lowered my head so my snout was sniffing at him. He stunk. I kept my paw on him while circling him, taking in his scent. My Wolf was begging me to let him up so he could hunt this low-life down.

Before I could make another move, I saw Daci walk toward the foyer. Beautiful Daci. My mate. Our eyes met and we held our contact with each other. My stomach fluttered and my heart hammered against my ribs. My Wolf linked to her and uttered the only thing that came to mind --“You’re mine.”

Her reply was quick. “Yours forever.”

“I…I’m sorry, Daci. S... Save yourself, my love. Run!”

He was staring in Daci’s direction. I lowered my face to within inches of his, and growled my disdain for this creep before lifting my paw from his chest. I circled him, then noticed the large wet spot on the floor where his sorry ass was still lying. His pants had darkened in the crotch. This fucking guy pissed himself. My Wolf scrunched his nose at him, then snorted out a breath in his face. He visibly shook, but never attempted to stand.

“Run, my love, please,” he whimpered.

Daci stared down at him with her arms crossed. She glanced up to meet my eyes, then looked back down at the weak bastard soaked in his own urine. “I’m not the one who’s in any danger. Only you are,” Daci said, “bitch.”

Daci

I knew Barry, my true love, was outside. I could feel him. My Coy-wolf became increasingly restless as his scent grew stronger. The desire to go to him was overwhelming. She was jumping around and begging me to set her free, but I knew now wasn’t the time. Not yet.

When I heard my captor jiggling his key in the lock, then come in the house, I was sitting on the hard, wooden chair. He called out his usual pleasantries to me, but I was waiting for him to unleash his wrath after he saw what I’d done all afternoon. I knew he was going to be beyond pissed off. If he wasn’t visibly angry because I’d shattered every dish and glass in his house, he’d definitely be enraged when he saw his prized leather sofa. The stuffing was strewn about the living room and some had floated out into the foyer, and the leather was sliced and diced into tiny shards. The only thing left intact was the frame.

Even after destroying his property, my rage continued to fester. I wanted him to pay for what he’d done to me. He’d kidnapped me, put a spell on me, violated me, and infiltrated my thoughts and nightmares. My hands and body trembled.

“What the fuck happened in here, Daci?” I heard my asshole captor scream. “You fucking bitch, get in here now!”

I didn’t move. I had to keep my Coy-wolf under control. She wanted at him and I knew she’d kill him. I fought to stay in control and in my seat.

“Daci, you worthless fucking cunt! Get the fuck in here now!”

The commotion near the entry was vicious-sounding. My Coy-wolf began doing flips and swishing her tail in the air immediately. We both knew Barry was here. We were safe.

The corners of my mouth turned up into a grin, and I licked across my bottom lip, then bit down gently. My legs felt too shaky to stand, much less walk. I leaned forward slightly. I had to go to him. He was my soul mate.

It felt like an eternity since I’d seen Barry’s Wolf. Up close, he was so much larger than I remembered, and he had a beautiful shiny coat that was mostly light gray, with some white and what looked like black bands perfectly blended in. His snout was mostly white, except the gray streak that ran down the length to the tip of his nose. His Wolf looked almost identical to mine.

Barry had his foot planted firmly on my captor’s chest, and his teeth were gritted as he snarled his anger. My captor couldn’t move. There was a faint ammonia smell wafting in the air.

Barry looked up and our eyes locked on each other. My stomach fluttered as his Wolf linked to me and said, “You’re Mine.”

Without any hesitation I replied, “Yours forever.”

Then the scumbag on the floor spoke. “I…I’m sorry, Daci. S... Save yourself, my love. Run!”

Watching his terror was my pleasure. He kept staring at me, but I didn’t reply. I didn’t even crack a smile. Barry growled, then sniffed him before he snorted in his face.

“Run, my love, please,” my captor whimpered.

I stared at the coward on the floor. The same tough guy who thought he was a Warlock. The same tough guy who thought it was funny to lock me in a cage and keep me holed up inside his house. The same raging lunatic who tried to convince me we were soul mates. My gaze shifted to meet my true love’s eyes, then back down to him. “I’m not the one who’s in any danger. Only you are, bitch.”

Barry’s Wolf howled then raked his long, sharp claws against my captor’s side. He let out a blood curdling scream, reaching for his wound. Blood began to soak the torn edges of his shirt.

Within seconds Barry shifted back to his human form and stood in front of me, in all his naked beautiful glory. If I wasn’t a Shifter myself, I’d have been much more shocked. My eyes roamed over his body, but I tried not to look there. He had transformed from the pudgy, cute little boy to this magnificent, broad-shouldered, chiseled man. My eyes drank him in from head to toe, every gorgeous inch. He was mine.

Chapter 18

Holt

“Please,” the low-life at my feet begged. “Please just let me go. I didn’t do anything to you, man.” He reached out and wrapped his arms around my ankle.

“Get your hands off him!” Daci’s voice was so harsh, and as the words left her mouth her foot forcibly connected with his ribs. He grunted in pain and wrapped his arms around his body.

Mine.

I bent at my waist and grabbed a handful of his hair, yanking him up and forcing him to look at me. “Why did you kidnap Daci? And don’t lie to me.”

“I…she,” he stammered. “She didn’t have any money or anywhere to go, so I brought her here. She’s my soul mate?”

“Wrong fucking answer!” I slammed his head down, and watched it bounce off the floor.

I walked in toward the living room and took in the full damage Daci had done. “I hope I never piss you off.” I laughed. I walked over to the bookshelf and saw the witchcraft book Daci told me about. “Daci,” I said. No answer.

When I turned around, looking back toward the foyer, my heart felt like it plummeted into my stomach and my jaws clenched while my hands balled into fists. I saw her bruised captor with an arm around her waist and a pocket-knife against her throat.

“Not so tough now, are you, Wolf boy? What are you going to do? If you make a move toward me, I’ll cut her fucking throat!”

I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat didn’t budge.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I want her. She’s mine, and you’re going to go back to where ever you came from and never come looking for us again.” He pulled her tighter to his body with the arm around her waist. “Ain’t that right, my love? You’re all mine. I’m going to claim you, then this big bad wolf boy won’t want anything to do with you. I’m half tempted to do it while he watches.” He kissed her on the cheek.

I could feel the hairs bristling on my back and neck. My Wolf and I wanted to kill this sonofabitch. Every muscle in my body had become tight with fear and anger. “She’s not your mate,” I hissed out. “And I don’t envision you walking out of here with her.” If I knew I could get to him before he did anything to hurt Daci, I’d have lunged at him. But this guy scared me. He was as crazy as Sherman warned me he was. Maybe even crazier.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I have her now, and I’m going to have her when I leave. I found her. We’re in love. Aren’t we, baby?” His tongue lapped up the side of her face.

Daci looked at me with tears in her eyes. She tried hard to stifle her sobs, but wasn’t having much luck. Seeing her pained face caused my chest to tighten. My breathing had become harsh.

“Answer me!” She jumped, and her eyes closed tight in response to his demanding tone and the command he screamed in her ear.

“Y…yes,” she squeaked. My chest felt hollow hearing her answer.

“Now, back up Wolfie. Don’t you dare take one step until you hear my truck leave.” He pulled the knife against her neck. She shrieked, and then I saw a few drops of blood trickle down her beautiful bronze column. Motherfucker! This piece of shit was going to die!

He backed up toward the door, tugging on Daci to walk backward with him. My Wolf was howling at the imminent loss of our mate. I’d never felt so alone or helpless. The stabbing pain in my heart was making me feel dizzy.

My Wolf was pacing furiously, begging me to charge after them, but I knew he’d cut her throat. He didn’t love her. He just wanted to have her. I listened, and heard the door click as he pulled it shut. I moved instantly and flung the door open, but didn’t see them, and his truck was still sitting just a few feet from the door.

“I knew you wouldn’t follow my directions,” he said. I spun around and saw him standing at the corner of the house; Daci laying on the ground in a heap at his feet, a small amount of blood in the dirt near her head. My Wolf howled.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” I screamed as I closed the distance between us. He never had a chance to answer me. I transformed by the time I was halfway to him and jumped in the air. I had been so enraged, I never saw him lift his arm with the knife in it, but when I landed I fell right on top of him, and the knife stabbed into my flesh.

I stood and saw the blood oozing into my fur. The knife was still lodged in my side. I yowled in pain, but quickly released my fury on him. If I was going down, so was he. There was no fucking way he was going to kill me and my mate.

We were only within feet of where Daci lay on the ground. I reared up on my hind legs, and my front paws swiped back and forth across his stomach and chest. Blood began to spurt out of the gashes my claws left in his hide and he dropped to the ground like a ragdoll.

Just as I was getting ready to bite this fool’s neck and end his life, I heard a soft barely-audible noise come from my beautiful mate. I spun and saw her struggling to sit up. She had a nice sized lump on her forehead and the blood was trailing down her temple.

“Daci,” I managed to get out through our link. She slowly moved her head from side to side. I stood from my position over her unconscious captor and made my way to her side. My Wolf nuzzled close to her neck where he made a one-inch-long surface cut. My Wolf licked at the blood and cut to help her heal. That wasn’t the injury that worried me. It was the lump on her head.

My Wolf licked at it, then I grimaced in pain. The knife was still stuck in me.

“Holt.” She wrapped her arms around my Wolf’s neck, and I could feel the heat from her body against mine. She stroked down my neck and back, then her fingers made their way down my side, to the protruding knife.

“No,” she cried. She pulled the knife from my body, then transformed within minutes. Her Coy-wolf was beautiful and looked so similar to my own Wolf, minus the blood. She licked at my wound, cleaning me, helping me to heal.

Daci transformed back to her human form and stood before me, naked. She was beautiful. She was perfect. She was mine.

“I’m going to call the police. They can come and get this worthless excuse for a human,” she said.

“Let me finish him. He doesn’t deserve to live,” I said through my link to my stunning mate.

“No, my dear Holt. He’s human. If he were Wolf, you could finish him. Humans need to be dealt with by other humans.”

I dropped my head onto my paws and closed my eyes. I wanted to kill him.

“Don’t pout, my dearest. You’ve done a lot of damage to him. But they can decide his fate in court.”

I watched Daci’s hips sashay from side to side as she walked into the house. Her hourglass figure and perfectly round ass were going to be my undoing. My primal instinct was driving me more insane than the Hunger. I wanted her so badly, but not here. Not now.

Chapter 19

Daci

The Policemen had a hard time processing everything I was telling them. I explained what happened, how this guy kidnapped me. But when they kept asking me over and over to tell them how Holt found me, well, they struggled with that story. Hell, I struggled telling it. I made up something other than telling them he was a Shifter and it was really his Wolf who found me. I told them I’d managed to make a phone call to Veronica before I left the store and let her know where I was and that Maximus was taking me to the bus station. They seemed a little skeptical, but shrugged their shoulders and let the topic go.

One of the plain clothes detectives came out of the house with a handful of papers, and walked over toward where we were standing.

“We’ve been looking for this guy for quite some time. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I know he was crazy.”

“It’s a lot worse than that. He told you his name was Maximus, but his real name is Delbert Payne. He’s gone by a few aliases over the past couple of years.” I stood and blinked my eyes. That meant nothing to me. “You’ve never heard the stories? He’s wanted for the murder of three young women across the Midwest. People who knew the women said he befriended them, then offered them a ride. Their bodies were found just days after they left with him.”

My hand covered my mouth. Bile rose in my throat and a shudder rippled through me at the realization that I most likely would have been his fourth victim. Holt stepped closer and draped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I was safe with him. I was safe because of him.

“Why don’t you kids go on home now? If we need you for anything, we have your contact information,” the uniformed officer said.

“Thank you, Officers,” we said at the same time. We looked at each other, but neither of us laughed. We just stared at each other, slowly smiling. Tears ran down my cheeks and Holt wiped them away before pulling me tight against him.

My nightmare was almost over. We needed to get out of the clothes Holt and I found in my captor’s dresser drawers. I reluctantly pulled myself away from his warmth and inhaled deeply. We needed to get back home with our Pack.

Holt reached out and placed his strong hands on my shoulders, then pulled me in tight to his chest again, wrapping his muscular arms around me. His scent was intoxicating and he felt so good against me. It felt so perfect being in his embrace.

“Let’s get out of here,” Holt whispered, then kissed my forehead.

My Coy-wolf kept jumping around with Holt’s Wolf, lifting her ass in the air toward him while her shoulders were low to the ground. She was ready for mating. Both of our wolves were. She was offering herself to him.

I shivered at the thought of having sex with my mate. I wanted to, and would do anything for the man I loved, but I’d never had sex before and too many unanswered questions swirled in my mind. I had no idea how long it would take us to get home, but I had time to think about how this might work. And plenty of time to convince myself that I’d be a good sexual mate for a man like Holt. I wanted nothing more than to be claimed as his forever.

Holt

I slid my hand down her perfectly slender arm, then let our fingers intertwine. Touching her, feeling her fingers laced with mine, holding her in my arms, felt so perfect.

My Wolf was ready to claim her. In my mind I was wrestling with the overwhelming need to make her mine and the fear that I’d be a failure as a lover. While most everyone else was quite experienced with relationships and mating, I’d never been so fortunate.

My shyness had kept me from ever mating before. I never could get the courage to talk to a girl long enough to get past much more than hello and goodbye. I never felt up a girl or even kissed a girl before. How was I supposed to satisfy her?

I’d kept all of this a secret; and I didn’t want to let Daci down when she finds out I’m a twenty-six year-old virgin. I always thought I was doing the right thing. I was saving myself for my soul mate.

“You’re quiet. What are you thinking about?” Daci asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Nothing really,” I lied.

“Thank you,” she said.

“What for?”

“For getting there in time to save me. Twice.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I love you. You’re my soul mate. I’d do anything for you.”

Daci stopped walking, and tugged my arm to get me to stop. I turned to her and saw her beautiful dark-chocolate-brown eyes staring at me.

“I love you, too, Alpha.” Her eyes were hooded. She was so beautiful. I couldn’t tell what she wanted until she reached out and placed her hands on my face, pulling me down to her until my mouth was on hers.

She closed her eyes and mine closed, too. Our tongues danced. Fireworks were exploding behind my eyelids as I continued to taste her sweetness. My arms instinctively snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to me while her arms wrapped tight around my neck. I never wanted this kiss to end. I never wanted our lips to disconnect.

My first amazing kiss was with my soul mate.

Chapter 20

Holt

We made it back to our home in New Jersey after several stops along the way. We could barely keep our hands off each other. My Wolf was very impatient. He wanted me to claim Daci as ours on several occasions, but she deserved to be treated like the princess she was to me. I wanted our first time to be special, not some animalistic romp in the woods.

We made it back to our land and saw the Pack had all made it back home, minus the unfortunate casualties. Several of them welcomed us back home.

It was difficult to stay focused. My Wolf was begging me to take Daci home and make her mine, but I felt like by just claiming her something would be missing. Wasn’t I supposed to at least take her out on a date or something? I didn’t know what was considered proper. All I knew was the attraction and connection I felt couldn’t have possibly been stronger.

I walked Daci to her house instead of taking her to my place. I couldn’t trust my Wolf not to let his primal needs take over.

“Um, do you, um, want to go out later?” I asked.

“I’d love that.” Her voice was such a sweet sound. My heart thundered in my chest.

“I’ll come by in about an hour. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect. I’ll be ready for you,” she said.

Without any thought to the Pack mates milling about, I moved her back flush against the siding and pressed my body into hers as my mouth descended. Her warm lips opened for me and our tongues collided, while my fingers made their way through her hair and back to her nape. I inhaled deeply, taking her scent in and memorizing every single molecule that was uniquely her.

She was mine.

Daci

Holt’s kisses were making my body feel things I’d never felt before. It felt like my skin was scorching hot. And my panties were soaked from my desire to become his. I wanted him to claim me. I needed him. I could feel his manhood growing as it pressed against me. My breaths continued to become shallower as each moment passed. My Coy-wolf kept trying to raise her ass to eagerly accept him, but I somehow managed to fight the urge to let him take me now. We both needed to get cleaned up. And we needed to talk.

When our lips parted, I felt sad. I hated him being even an inch away from me.

“Don’t take too long. I’ll miss you every second we’re apart,” I whispered.

Without any reply, his lips were on mine again, with one arm wrapped tight around my back and the other hand threaded through my hair, holding me tight.

We both gasped as he pulled away. “I’ll be back as quickly as possible,” he said.

“I can’t wait for you to come back to me. Now go.”

With one last quick peck on the lips he adjusted himself, then turned on his heels and walked away. I stood in the doorway, staring at him as he walked to his house.

“Well, look who finally made it back. Who was that?” I knew her voice. That was my best friend, Veronica.

“That person right there is my soul mate. That’s Holt.”

“No way! There’s no way that dork grew to look like that.”

I tilted my head and raised my eyebrows, then inhaled deeply.

“You’re serious? Hairy Barry?” Veronica asked.

“Veronica, shush. His name’s Holt. He’s our Alpha and my mate. Enough of your snide comments,” I said sternly.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m just shocked.” She squinted her eyes, and a wicked smirk appeared on her face. “I knew it, too. I knew you had a special connection with him. Who knew he was the one the Goddess selected for your mate. So I’ll ask you again, all these years later. Do you love him?”

“I do. I love him so much. I guess you were right. I always have, I just didn’t realize it when we were younger.”

“I’m so happy for you.” Veronica stepped up onto the porch near me. “Oh, wait. You’re the Alpha’s mate. Am I supposed to ask if I can approach or something? Like, aren’t you some type of royalty now?”

“I doubt I’m any kind of royalty. And I don’t think you have to ask to come near me. We’ve known each other forever. I don’t know, though. I’m new to this, too.”

“I have some news to share with you, too. I found my mate.” She flipped her long blonde hair back over her shoulder. “Want to guess who?”

“I can’t guess. Just tell me, I’m dying to know who the lucky guy is.”

“Dolph.”

“No way.”

“Yep. He and Trey were gathering all of us back together. One thing led to another and, well, let’s just say we were definitely made for each other, if you know what I mean.” She waggled her eyebrows, and we laughed.

“I need to get ready; Holt and I are going out tonight. You can come in and chat if you want.”

“I’d love to.”

We went inside and continued catching up. I talked loudly over the shower and told Veronica about Maximus and what he’d done to me. I told her about Holt finding me and about our trip back home. I shaved my legs, my pits, and down there while we talked.

The shower felt so good I almost hated getting out. When I stepped into my bedroom with the towel wrapped around me, I saw my red dress on my bed. I’d never worn it before because I thought it was too short.

“I can’t wear that,” I said.

“Then you probably don’t want to wear these either.” Veronica held up my red satin and lace thong. We’d gone shopping years ago, and each bought sexy underwear for our special occasion. The tags were still on mine. The thought of Holt seeing me in them sent a flash of heat to my core while butterflies soared in my belly. She waved them in the air.

“Give me those.” I snatched them from her then we both laughed. I quickly snapped off the tag and slid them on under my towel.

“The dress is too short,” I said.

“The dress is perfect and it’s going to look great on you. Put it on.”

I dropped the towel, slid the red ruched dress over my head and wiggled, working it down my body. I turned to look at myself in the mirror.

“Damn, you look smoking hot. And your ass looks amazing. Barry’s gonna,” Veronica stopped talking abruptly.

“He’s gonna what?” I asked.

I felt his presence before I heard the low growl. When I turned, I saw him standing in the doorway and the heat in his glare. His eyes were fixed on me.

“I’m going to go. I’ve helped enough. We’ll talk later.” When Veronica walked in front of Holt, she bowed and acknowledged him as Alpha before leaving.

Before I made it to the door, Holt closed the distance between us and held my face in his hands. He whispered, “Mine forever,” before his lips met mine.

Chapter 21

Daci

Holt looked amazing in his gray suit. I also knew first-hand he looked stunning in filthy, tattered clothes, too.

Our fingers were interlaced as he held my hand tight in his while driving to the restaurant. Every look, every touch, everything about him was sending mini-quakes of desire through me.

We entered the restaurant and were seated immediately. Instead of sitting across from each other, we sat side by side. The heat radiating off of him was making me and my Coy-wolf crazy. And his scent! She was jumping around and ready to give herself to Holt. I felt the same way, despite all the horror stories of the first time. I wish I’d had a little more time to talk to Veronica about that to ease some of my fears, I thought.

“Do you know what you’d like, Daci, my dear?”

I knew what my primal instincts wanted. I couldn’t have cared less about food.

“Please, order for me. I’ve never been here. I’m fine with whatever you choose.”

His arm snaked through mine and he pulled me toward him. His fingers pressed under my chin and tilted my face up toward his, then he lowered his mouth onto mine again. It was a soft, gentle kiss. It was perfect.

His hand glided across my jawbone to back behind my ear, and held a handful of my hair as his mouth took ownership of me. His touch sent tingles rippling through me from the tip of my head all the way to my toes.

Holt

“You look beautiful tonight. I love the dress. And your perfume is driving me wild.”

“I’m not wearing perfume.”

“Mmm,” I moaned. Her scent was making me feel like I’d burst at the seams, literally.

When the waiter returned, I ordered for us both. We devoured the food on our plates after it arrived, I paid the check, and we quickly left.

“Where to now, Alpha?” Daci asked.

“I’ll let you choose. Your place or mine.”

“Yours,” she whispered.

My heart began to race, nervousness had my stomach in knots, and my mouth felt extremely dry. The rest of the drive was in silence. My mind was racing with thoughts on how the night would be. Would I satisfy her? Would I be a disappointment? Would she be able to tell how inexperienced I was? I was reluctant to tell her I was a virgin. I was counting on my Wolf to get me through our first time.

I kept glancing in her direction, and saw her fiddling with her necklace one minute and holding onto her purse for dear life the next.

After we arrived, I parked then rushed to her door to help her out.

“You’re so quiet. Is everything okay?” Daci asked. She bit her lower lip and tugged her dress down farther. Her beautiful face had a slight smile on it, but I could see the worry in her eyes.

“Everything’s fine.”

I opened the door and held it for her to enter my home. That’s when it hit me. I needed to tell her about me being the acting-Alpha. I needed her to know it was a temporary position, until I proved I was worthy of being named Alpha of the Pack. I couldn’t start our life together by lying to her. And she needed to know now, before we mated.

“Can I get you anything? Would you like some water, or some wine?” Please say wine, I thought.

“Wine sounds really good. Thanks.”

“Red or white?” I asked.

“Surprise me.”

“Make yourself at home, Daci. I’ll be right back.”

I kicked off my shoes, then walked to the kitchen. Before retrieving a bottle from the cooler, I peeked back into the living room and watched Daci move about, looking at the family photos above the fireplace.

She was pure perfection. She was a natural beauty. And she was mine.

That dress, oh my God, that dress. My cock stiffened while I was thinking about lifting it off over her beautiful, curvy body, revealing her perfect breasts. And her long, shapely legs leading up to her perfectly round ass, geez! I couldn’t wait to touch her, to feel her, to make her mine.

I adjusted myself. I didn’t want to walk back in like a horny teenager, but that’s exactly how I felt.

I made my way to the wine cooler and found a bottle of German Spatburgunder. My parents had been wine connoisseurs, as my mother called it, and this brand was one of their favorites. I retrieved two wine glasses and poured them a little more full than my mother would have approved, but I think Daci and I both could use a little extra to calm our nervousness.

When I walked back into the living room, I saw my beautiful mate had the television on and was practically hugging the arm of the couch.

“Here you are, my beauty,” I said as I held out the glass for her to take.

“Thank you.”

“I’d like to propose a toast to us. May tonight be as wonderful and fulfilling as we both could possibly hope.”

“Hear, hear.”

We raised our glasses and clinked them together, then took a sip. I couldn’t help but stare as I watched her lips purse around the rim and take a second swallow.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“The wine is delicious. It’s fruity and sweet, not bitter or dry like some reds I’ve had. You have very good taste.”

“It was one of my parents’ favorites. I can’t take credit for picking it.” My eyes dropped to the carpet. I knew I needed to tell her the whole truth. She needed to be able to decide if I was worthy of her as an acting-Alpha or not. It wouldn’t be fair to claim her, then drop that bomb on her.

She stood from the couch and ran a hand over my scruffy stubble. “Are you okay? You seem pre-occupied.”

I reached up and took her hand in mine. “We need to talk, Daci. Before we go any further, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Okay, but you’re scaring me. Is this something that’s going to upset me?”

“I hope not, princess. Please sit with me and I’ll tell you everything.”

We sat on the couch. We each took another couple sips of our wine, then I set mine on the end table and held her hand in mine. I told her what happened to my father after he was captured. And what happened to my mother. We both shed tears at the loss of my parents and hugged each other tight.

“Daci, I’m not the official Pack Alpha yet. I’m the acting-Alpha.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I have sixty days to prove to the Council that I’m worthy of being named Alpha.”

“Holt, you saved me from Maximus. Twice. I’m your soul mate. You have two Betas and you can talk to us all through the link thing. How could you not be the Alpha?”

“I don’t know. I guess if someone says anything negative against me, it could influence Council. That’s how I ended up in this position.”

“What?”

“Trey. When he was my father’s Beta, he said some really messed-up stuff about me and they found out.”

“And they listened to what he said? He was just a Beta.”

“And I was just an Omega. A nothing. Of course they listened to him. He was closest to my father.”

“Surely you’ve proven you’re more than capable of being Alpha.”

“We’ll see what they say when I return.” I rubbed the back of my neck and inhaled deeply, then let out my breath.

“What’s wrong? Something’s been bothering you all night. Talk to me, Holt, please. Have I done something wrong?”

“You? Not at all. You’ve done everything right. You always have. I guess I, um…” I stopped.

“You what?”

“I guess I’m just, I don’t know.” I rubbed a hand across my face. “I’m a little concerned I won’t please you.”

“Why would you say that? I love you. You’re my mate. Of course you’ll please me.”

“But,” the words were on the tip of my tongue, but I was having a hard time getting them out. “Daci, I’m not… See, the thing is... Well.” Fuck!

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to say.”

“I’ve never, you know.” Her look told me she still didn’t know what I was trying to tell her. “I’m very inexperienced. With women.”

“How inexperienced?”

I turned my eyes to the floor. I couldn’t look her in the eyes when I admitted this. “Zero experience. I’ve never done this before.”

Chapter 22

Daci

My ears must have been deceiving me. Holt was a virgin? I could hardly believe it. Him? He was gorgeous, yet hadn’t been with any woman.

The smile on my face broadened. I was elated. My Coy-wolf was doing flips and I wanted to join her. He’d saved himself. For me? Maybe. But whatever his reason, I was so happy that I’d be his first and he’d be mine. I quietly giggled.

“Are you laughing?”

My eyes met his. “No, silly. I’m just giddy now. Do you have any idea how special I feel? How wonderful our first time will be? We’re each other’s first and the last.”

“I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“It’s going to be fine. We’ll figure this out together -- our likes, dislikes, turn-ons, turn-offs, everything. I love you so much, Holt.” I flung my arms around his neck and held him tight.

“I love you, Daci. I’m not even sure how this is all made official. I should have listened to my parents more closely,” Holt said.

“I think you’re supposed to say something to acknowledge me as your mate before you claim me.”

“I thought I already did.”

I giggled. “Something a little more formal. Like wedding vows, only not.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try. Don’t laugh at me.”

“Never.”

Holding my hand, Holt knelt before me and pledged his undying love. “I, Holt, as acting-Alpha of the Loco Nuna Pack, love you, Daci, more than life. I thank the Goddess that you’re the one sent for me. You’re my best friend, and I think I’ve always known you were my soul mate, even though as kids, I didn’t realize what a soul mate was and thought it was something I was supposed to eat.” I couldn’t help giggling. “Now that I know for sure what a soul mate is, and that you are my one true love, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. You’re all I have in this world and I’ll cherish you forever.”

Tears tricked down my face at his words. All we had was each other. I couldn’t imagine taking my next breath if anything were to happen to Holt. He reached his hand out and, using the pad of his thumb, wiped the tears away, then pulled me in and claimed my mouth. I was his.

“We go a long way back, Holt. I had some of the best times of my life running in the parks and hunting with you, playing games, and letting our Wolves run free. I always felt a special bond to you but I couldn’t explain it. I can’t imagine my life without you, or with anyone else. You’re everything to me. I’m honored to be your soul mate and look forward to many years, many children, and many happy memories with you.”

When Holt stood he helped me to my feet, then held me so my back was against his front. His warm soft lips peppered the column of my neck with light kisses. His hand at my waist pulled me against his bulge. The crotch of my thong was soaked. I wanted him so badly. I needed him to brand me like only he could.

His fingers made their way under one of the dress straps and shoved it off my shoulder. I tilted my head slightly to give him better access to my neck. He may not have much experience, but he was definitely finding every single hot spot on me. Most of them I had no idea even existed.

I turned into his embrace and slid my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. One hand slid down his muscled back and I held him tight. My Coy-wolf was whining, and taking over. No matter how hard I tried to fight her will, she was commanding my aggressive moves.

Holt’s hands played at the hem of my dress, then he tugged the fabric up gently until he had it bunched around my waist. His hands circled my waist, then rubbed over the exposed skin of my hips. He slowly let them glide back up to my waist, then moved them down my buttocks. With a cheek in each hand, he lifted me. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.

Holt walked back to a bedroom with a queen-sized bed. Once he got to the edge of the bed he gently set me down, raised my dress up over my head and tossed it onto the floor, then stalked up me until our lips were rejoined. I wanted him inside me. I needed him.

A soft moan rumbled up my throat just as Holt let his tongue glide across my skin.

“You taste heavenly. I could kiss and lick you forever, my love.”

I thought if I ever heard the ‘my love’ reference again I’d go ballistic, but those two words sounded magical coming from Holt’s mouth.

My eyes were closed and my stomach had a case of butterflies like I’d never felt before. I felt his hands tug at my thong, then he slid the satin fabric over my hips and down my legs. I was bare and exposed to him. This is really happening, I thought.
I parted my legs slightly so Holt could move closer to me, so I could feel him. I wiggled my hips in anticipation.

I inhaled a deep breath. The only thing standing between us making love for the first time was a few articles of clothes. Holt’s clothes.
It was as if he was reading my mind. He stood and I immediately missed his touch. He quickly unfastened then pushed his pants down. My hips wiggled again as our eyes stayed focused on each other. My eyes roamed his body, landing on his jutted erection. He looked huge, like he wouldn’t fit. But the Goddess paired us. There was no way she would do that, would she? I sat up, then moved farther away from where Holt was standing.

“Are you planning to go somewhere, sweetheart?” His voice had a sexy huskiness to it. Before I could think another thought, Holt had made his way to me. He kissed my breasts then kissed up my chest, up my neck, and eventually landed on my mouth. His scent was driving me wild. He held his weight off my chest, while his hips fit snugly between my thighs and his cock pressed against my heat. I could feel the warmth of his length against my rear.

I lifted my legs slightly so I could feel him rub against me more. I’d heard the first time would hurt, but I was ready for it. I craved the bond I knew was our destiny.

Our gazes were locked on each other. No one or nothing else in the entire universe mattered except us. Holt slowly moved his hips back and forth through my slickness.

With his eyes closed, he kept repeating his movements without any attempt to enter me.

“Please, Holt, make me yours,” I whispered.

A growl rumbled out of him. His eyes opened and met mine. I felt his fingers gently rub my opening. My hips rocked into his digits as he slowly pushed a finger inside me. My hips continued to move in an effort to take all of his long digit deep inside my walls.

I watched him sit back slightly to line himself up at my entrance. I inhaled a deep breath to prepare myself to endure the pain I’d been expecting. Time seemed to stand completely still.

“Are you ready for me?” he asked. I gave him a slight nod of my head. I couldn’t answer. I was still holding my breath.

The pressure at my opening had me thinking the Goddess had unfairly played a trick on us both. My hips attempted to retreat from his girth, with no luck. I swallowed hard.

“Mmm,” he moaned.

He sank into my flesh with a bit more force, and I felt a delightful burning sensation that didn’t really hurt, but was somewhat uncomfortable at first. I felt a fullness I’d never felt before. I whimpered and gasped as I expelled the air I’d been holding in. His movement stopped.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked.

“No.”

“Why did you make that noise?”

“I’m okay. I just need a minute.”

He held perfectly still while he was still inside me.

Holt

I knew I shouldn’t have forced myself inside her, I thought. If I found out I hurt her, I’d be devastated. I never wanted to inflict any pain, especially not to her. I loved her so much.

“If you want to stop, I’ll understand,” I said.

“No. Don’t stop. I’m yours, Holt. It’s just, well, the first time can be a bit painful from everything I’ve heard, and am feeling.”

“You don’t like it? We can quit.”

“I love it. There’s just a small amount of pain, but I’ll be okay. I promise.” She twisted her mouth then bit her lower lip while raising her eyebrows. She had the most beautiful face I’d ever seen, but that expression was amusing.

We both chuckled. Her laugh was enough to force my softening dick out of her. What do I do now, I thought.

“Oh no,” she said. Her slender fingers glided over my shoulders and up into my hair. With a gentle tug she pulled my weight down onto her.

“Kiss me, my Alpha,” she whispered.

Her lips parted slightly as my mouth found hers. Our tongues met and the fireworks were back, like from the very first kiss we shared. My cock stiffened, and I desperately wanted to feel her wrapped around me again.

I moved my hand down between her legs and rubbed my fingers across her wetness, then slid one inside her. She felt so good, and her smell was intoxicating. After pumping with one digit, I added a second. My cock was throbbing. I needed to be inside her, not just my fingers. Without backing up and lining up, I lifted my hips and using my hand I guided my crown back to her entrance.

Instead of pushing and forcing myself inside, I used my fingers to massage her while the head of my cock prodded and popped inside.

She moaned, and I felt her body tense beneath me.

“Try to relax, princess,” I said. My fingers caressed the side of her face.

Slowly, I felt her muscles relax. Her legs spread wider, inviting me deeper into her. Her warm walls sheathed my cock as I continued to sink completely inside her.

Chapter 23

Daci

Holt was upset with himself. I could see it on his face. He had been so worried about pleasing me, then that happened. But I wasn’t concerned. It was just our first time. I didn’t expect to have mind-blowing sex on the very first try. But, evidently, that’s what Holt had anticipated.

“Baby, don’t worry about it.” I wrapped my arm around his waist and held him tight to my front. The friction of his back across my breasts caused my lower region to spasm with need.

“I’m so sorry, Daci. I…” he started.

“Don’t, Holt. We have a lot of time to get this right. It was our first time.”

He rolled to face me. “I just thought it would be different than that. I thought it would be better. I wanted it to be better than that for you.”

“We could always try again, if you’re up to it.”

“Now?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“Does it hurt, there?”

“I can get past that. I want to feel you in me again.”

“Yeah,” he huffed. “What if it happens again?”

“If it does, we’ll try again. We’ll just keep doing it. We have the rest of our lives to keep practicing and getting better.” I chuckled.

“I like the way you think, Daci. I feel like I’m the luckiest man alive to have you for a mate.” He nuzzled his nose into my neck, then kissed and gently sucked on me. He rolled onto his back, pulling me with him until I was straddling his torso. I could feel him growing beneath me. My hips rocked, allowing me to feel his thick length between my slick lips. The tingles radiated through me. When I felt his cock head at my entrance, I pushed my hips against him. I needed to feel him inside me.

“You want me, princess?”

“I do. I really want to feel you again.”

He flipped me onto my back and hovered over me. He sniffed and inhaled deeply several times.

“I love your amazing scent.”

My temperature seemed to get warmer at his comment. I hadn’t realized I had a smell. But I guessed I must. He definitely had a scent to him and it made me insane.

Holt’s fingers glided through my slickness, then he gently slid one deep inside me, then dragged it back not completely leaving my core before he pushed it back inside me. My walls clenched around his digit as he did that over and over.

“Are you going to make me beg?” I asked.

“Hmm. As much as I like the idea of you begging me for my cock, I won’t make you do that. Not this time.”

We smiled at each other. His fingers made their way in and out a few more times before he reached under my legs and pulled me closer to him. His cock was as ready for me as I was ready for him.

“Ready for me?” he asked.

“I’ve been ready.”

He pressed the tip against my entrance and entered me with more ease than the first time. My walls stretched to accommodate his size.

“Mmm,” I moaned as he filled me with a slow, steady thrust of his hips. So far, so good, I thought.

“Ahh,” Holt groaned. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Damn, you feel so fucking good.” He held himself all the way inside my core for several seconds before he moved. He slowly dragged his dick out, leaving just the tip inside me, then thrust back inside my cavern.

“Damn,” I moaned. My fingers dug into his forearms. The fullness and pressure inside me felt so good. His pace picked up and he pumped inside me a little faster. He’d already lasted longer than the first time, and I was grateful for that. My hips rose to meet his as he drove forward, then rocked back down when he withdrew.

He grunted, and moaned as we found our rhythm together.

I was his.

Holt

I was so embarrassed after the first time making love to Daci, if what happened could even be called that. It was a pathetic attempt at making love. I’d masturbated on several occasions and knew how to keep myself from coming, I knew how to take myself to the brink of exploding and stop, let the feeling subside, then go again. I thought I’d taught myself how to last.

But when I felt Daci, so tight around my shaft, and so wet, it was over. I never expected pussy to feel that good. As hard as I’d tried to not come my dick refused to listen, and no sooner had I gotten myself all the way seated inside her heat then I lost control. I wasn’t even a two-minute man; it was more like twenty seconds. It was the best feeling and the worst feeling all at the same time.

This time things were much better as far as being able to control myself. I surpassed the two-minute mark, but I barely had any semblance of true restraint. Her pheromone scent of honey and a hint of vanilla was making me crazy.

Her fingers released the grip she had on my forearms and her hands glided up my arms until her fingers were in my hair. She tugged me down to her and our mouths met. I moaned into her mouth at her taste.

She kept wiggling her hips beneath me as I stroked in and out of her. I was fighting a losing battle. She was milking my cock, and it wanted to give her everything I had.

My Wolf was telling me it was time to claim her. It was time to make her mine. My lips kissed down her cheek, down to her neck. My primal urges forced my fangs to descend, piercing her delicate skin as my mouth wrapped around her and took in the blood that flowed from her. She screamed my name just as I licked over the wounds to help them heal.

No sooner had I lapped across her puncture wounds than she pulled my neck to her mouth and sank her fangs into me. I howled in pleasure as I lost all control of my manhood and filled her with my release, then collapsed on top of her.

Within seconds I rolled to my back beside the love of my life. I was getting better, but I was still falling way short. I know women have orgasms, but I was almost certain she hadn’t had one. And that fact made me feel like a selfish pig. I had to figure out how to fully satisfy her.

“That was so nice,” she cooed.

“You’re too kind. We both know I fell short again. I didn’t make sure you were pleased before I lost control.”

She rolled onto her side to face me, her head propped up in her hand. “We have plenty more time for that. We just have to keep practicing.”

Chapter 24

Holt

Daci and I spent a couple more days practicing making love, as she liked to call it. I felt like I’d graduated from being a novice when I figured out how to make her come. I had no idea what to expect the first time I crawled between her beautiful long legs and let my tongue explore her delicate flower.

We had come out of the shower and changed the sheets. I threw on a pair of shorts and she pulled on one of my t-shirts. She looked amazing.

We both were starving. When our meal was finished, it took every ounce of strength I had not to lay her on the kitchen table and claim her there. Instead, we made it as far as the living room couch before we began clutching at each other.

I yanked the shirt up over her head and my hands roamed her body. I couldn’t get enough of her. I have no idea what made me say it or do it, but I told her to have a seat on the couch. Once she was comfortable, I knelt on the floor before her then pressed her legs open and let my nose lead me to her beautiful pussy.

At first I inhaled her scent and was mesmerized by how captivating she smelled. My mouth began to water. I wanted to taste her. I had to taste her.

I lowered my head a little closer and extended my tongue enough to lap at her. I found her clit and ran my tongue over it slowly at first, then I moved faster. It was then I noticed the reaction I was getting from her. She’d whispered to me how good it felt. I’d found the magic spot.

I rubbed my hands up and down her legs, then moved one of my hands so I could slide a finger inside her while I continued to lick her. Back and forth, small circles, back and forth. The whole time my index finger was pumping in and out of her. It didn’t take long for her low mewls to turn to louder moans, and for her fingers to become threaded in my hair, holding me tight to her.

I growled against her heat as I continued my assault of her swollen bud. I used two fingers on her, continuing to let them make love to her. Within seconds she wiggled her hips, her knees closed tight against my ears, and she cried out my name. I didn’t quit. I kept going until she begged me to stop a few minutes later.

I’d practiced that new technique a couple more times, and was pleased at her having an orgasm each time.

On the fourth morning of being together, of bonding with my soul mate, we were interrupted by the doorbell followed by a pounding on the door that indicated it could only be my apprentice Beta. He was the only person who did both without giving anyone a chance to answer the door.

“It’s Dolph. I have to answer the door, but I’ll tell him to get lost.” We both laughed.

“Don’t do that. Invite him in and see what he wants. It sounds urgent.”

“Trust me, it’s not urgent. That’s just the way he is.”

“Please, Holt, just let him in. If we turn him away, he’ll send Veronica over here. I know you don’t want that, do you?”

“Ugh, no.” I pulled on my shorts and a t-shirt, then handed Daci a clean t-shirt to wear. Before I walked out of the bedroom, I turned and looked at her one more time, standing there gorgeous and naked with her clothes in her hands.

“I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll be out.”

“Okay, princess. You know where the towels are. If you need anything, just holler.”

Her smile warmed me to my core. She was mine.

As I turned to go answer the door, the pounding began, again.

“All right, all right! I’m coming,” I hollered.

When I flung the door open, I saw Trey. I was shocked because I would have put money on Dolph being at the door.

“Hey, Trey,” I said.

“Well, hello there, Holt. Mind if I come in?”

“Oh, sure. Come on in.” I stepped to the side and let Trey in. Dolph rushed up to the door and darted in right behind Trey.

“I knew that was you. No one else I know knocks so impatiently.” The little clown smiled at me as he walked past me.

“Ready to come up for some air?” Trey asked, then he winked at me.

“I, we were perfectly fine here alone.” My words came out in a harsher tone than I expected.

“I understand. But, son, I think it’s getting time to introduce your mate to the rest of the Pack,” Trey said. “They should get to meet their new Alphas officially.”

“Why? I’m only an acting-Alpha.”

“Yeah, about that. I’ve been doing some thinking, and then I reached out to a few of my friends at Council. They’d like you to come see them tomorrow. They’re ready to make the determination on your status already. They said they don’t need the full sixty days.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Dolph chimed in before I had a chance to verbalize the same sentiment.

“It may not be bad news. I think you both should keep an open mind,” Trey said.

“I don’t know. When juries come back really quickly in criminal cases, the majority of the time it’s not good,” I said.

I looked up and saw my beautiful mate standing in the doorway, with her red dress and her shoes on. Her hair was pulled to the side.

“Daci,” I said. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. “Are you leaving?”

“You guys need to talk, and I need to go home.”

“But, why? You can stay here. Anything we talk about, you can be here for.”

“Holt, darling, I need to go home. I need to change my clothes and tend to myself.” Her eyes were full of unshed tears.

“What’s wrong? Is it me? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you.” She reached up and pulled my ear close to her mouth and whispered, “I’m a little swollen down there. I need to go home and soak in my tub.”

“I’ll come with you. I need to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m going to be fine. You stay here and get everything worked out to meet with Council tomorrow, like Trey said. Everything is going to be fine, for both of us. Come by when the guys leave.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into her until our mouths met. Our tongues danced together until we heard Trey clearing his throat. We both laughed. We hugged each other tight, then she pulled away to leave.

“Trey, Dolph. How are you both?” Daci asked.

“We’re doing great, Alpha. And you?” Trey replied.

She intertwined her fingers with mine, lifted my hand to her mouth, and pressed her lips to my palm. “I’m doing great, thank you for asking. I’ll let you guys get back to your discussion. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.”

“Definitely,” Dolph said.

I stood in the door and watched my beauty make her way down the sidewalk and down the street. My chest felt hollowed by her absence and each step away from me made the feeling of emptiness worsen. Being away from her for even a minute was too long. I felt like I’d been abandoned. And we needed to resolve having two houses, A.S.A. Fucking P.

“Earth to Holt,” Trey called.

I turned and looked at them both staring at me. I shook my head and lowered my eyes to the floor.

“She’s your mate, Holt. She’s not leaving you,” Dolph quipped.

I growled before I looked up at Dolph for his comment. She was leaving, that was the point. I never wanted her to leave me, even if it was just going back to her house. He had no idea how I felt. But I wasn’t going to say a word to him. If I reacted at all, I’d be more inclined to punch him in the mouth. That would certainly not bode well for me since I had to go before the Council tomorrow. Instead I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly and ignored him.

“What do I need to do to be prepared to meet with the Council?”

Chapter 25

Holt

Within minutes of Trey and Dolph leaving, I showered and changed my clothes, then made my way to Daci’s house. I hated that she had a house of her own. I wanted to demolish it with my bare hands so she’d be forced to live with me. No more being able to run off. We’d be together all the time like my parents were.

Once I stepped inside, much to my disappointment but respecting my princess, Daci and I came to a quick agreement to not have sex, either, to give her a day to recuperate. Instead, what we were supposed to do was sit on the couch and enjoy movie night. Her chick flicks were not my thing any more than my Marvel Comic movies were hers, but I took one, actually two, for the team. Two fucking chick flicks.

As the second movie was near ending, Daci crawled up onto my lap and rested her head on my shoulder while my arms held her tight around the waist. I could feel my cock stiffen at her closeness, but I tried to ignore it since we’d agreed to no sex.

By the time the credits were rolling, she’d straddled my lap and was facing me. She had her heat resting perfectly on my uncomfortable bulge. My shaft was begging to be freed. I wanted inside her so badly. But I knew there was no way. That wouldn’t be fair to ask her to break the agreement.

She rocked her hips back and forth over me, and I felt like I was going to bust the zipper out of my jeans. I just wanted to feel her around my tip. Please, just the tip, I thought. But I was upholding my end of the bargain.

Then my sexy vixen kissed me with so much need. She reached depths of my mouth that hadn’t felt her tongue before. Her tongue lapped at my neck and her fangs teased my skin, raising goose-bumps all over my body.

I held my hands tight at her waist as she continued to gyrate her hips on me. If she kept this up, I was going to blow in my pants. She had me where she wanted me and she knew it. I was putty in her hands.

“Princess, please, I’m begging you. If you want to keep the agreement, you have to stop,” I said.

She looked at me with hooded eyes and was panting. The most beautiful, sexy woman in the world to me was sitting on my lap, panting with desire.

“I’m begging you, Alpha. Please. Please make love to me. I need you so badly right now.”

“But I thought you wanted a break tonight.”

“All I want is you. I need you, baby.”

“Do you want my tongue or my cock?” I asked.

“Can I have both? I want both. I want to come, and I want to feel you deep inside me. Please, Holt.” She rocked her hips back and forth on me again as she moaned. “Please, make love to me.”

I stood and lifted her into my arms and followed her finger that was pointing me in the direction of her bedroom.

Once we crossed the threshold, I set her on her feet before me so I could admire her. My eyes swept over her from head to toe, then back up again.

“I want you so bad,” Holt whispered.

“I want you, too,” she said.

My mouth covered hers as my hands gently massaged her beautiful breasts. My thumbs grazed over her hardened nipples. My cock felt like it was going to break through the zipper on my pants.

I backed up my sexy mate until she touched the bed, then she sat down. Her hands glided up my thighs until she reached my belt and began unfastening it. I was paralyzed at her forwardness. She unbuttoned my jeans, then began to unzip them, but my hands covered hers.

“I’ll do it,” I said.

“No. Let me.”

She brushed my hands away then proceeded to slowly drag the zipper down. Her hands gripped my pants and underwear at the waist. She eased them down past my hips and my cock sprung free. Her beautiful full lips curved up into a smile. She shoved my pants down until they bunched at my feet, then I stepped out of them.

Her fingers circled my cock and I inhaled a deep breath. She slowly let her hand slide up and down my shaft. She peered up at me through her long lashes.

“That feels so good, Daci,” I said.

Her smile widened, then she leaned in and licked the pre-come from my crown before taking me into her warm mouth. My heart pounded and a shiver ran up my spine at the sensational feeling. She’d never taken me in her mouth before this time.

She held my shaft tight in one hand, then moved her mouth back and forth on my cock, using her tongue to lick on my thickness. I loved the contrast in our skin-tone. My dick stiffened. I had to force myself to think of anything else but what she was doing to me.

“Ahh, damn. Your mouth feels so good.” I reached for her, and stroked down her silky black mane. She looked at me briefly before closing her eyes again.

My hips began to move with Daci and I was afraid I’d lose control in her mouth. I couldn’t do that to her. I pulled back away from her and heard the pop as my cock exited her lips.

“That was wonderful, but you have to stop. I’m pretty sure you’d have made me lose control,” I said.

“I’d have let you,” she said with a husky voice. “Maybe another time.”

“Maybe.” I leaned down and my mouth crushed on hers. I pulled her up so she was standing with me, never letting our mouths separate. It was my turn to make my mate scream my name in pleasure.

My fingers slid beneath the elastic band on her shorts and panties, then eased into her slickness. She was so wet. She parted her legs so I had more access to her. My fingers continued their journey into her sweet abyss.

My mouth stayed on hers and I swallowed her moans. Her hips moved back and forth on my fingers. She was so ready for me.

I pulled down her shorts and panties.

“Have a seat, beautiful,” I said with a low growl.

Once she sat on the bed, I lifted her tank top over her head, then knelt down between her legs.

My hands held her knees and pressed her legs to open even wider for me, then I leaned in and inhaled her scent. My eyes closed and rolled back in my head. My Goddess, what this woman does to me!

My tongue lapped down her slick lips, dipped into her pussy, then traveled back up through her sweetness. When I touched her hardened clit, her body trembled beneath me and I heard her soft mewls. I sucked her clit into my mouth, then let my tongue do the rest with quick circular motions, then soft licks back and forth. I continued as her moans became louder and she held a handful of my hair in each hand, pulling me tighter to her.

I moved my tongue quickly from her clit to her hole, stroking her as deep as I could reach, then moved back to her clit.

“Damn, Holt! Shit. That feels so good.” Her grip on my hair was tightening. I knew she was close.

My tongue went back to working on her clit while I slid two fingers deep inside her, dragging them in and out.

She released my hair with one hand and grasped a handful of the comforter. After a few more strokes with my fingers and a little more pressure with my tongue, my soul mate was screaming my name so loud everyone probably heard her. Her pussy spasmed around my fingers as she gasped.

“I need you, Holt,” she said. “Now.”

She scooted herself back on the bed and I crawled up to meet her. My hands set on the bed next to her hips with my arms straight, holding her legs open for me to sink into her. She pressed back on me, forcing me to flex my arms to hold my position, and hold her in place. My cock slowly sank deeper into her core until I was fully seated. Her muscles seemingly relaxed at that point.

My hips pumped up and down as I pleasured my mate, while her fingernails dug into my forearms.

I lowered my head so my mouth met hers. Our tongues danced and twined together.

Daci held my arms tight while gyrating her hips beneath me.

“You feel so good, baby,” I groaned.

Daci wrapped her arms around my neck. My hands moved up so they were cradling her head. She pulled me closer. Her hips rocked back and forth matching my strokes. She was driving me crazy.

Ohh, damn,” she cried out. I felt her walls clench tight on my cock as she found her release. I was right behind her, releasing my seed deep inside her.

“I love you so much, Daci.”

“I love you, too.”

When we woke in the morning, we made love again. I rushed home to the heavenly bliss of warm water pounding me during my shower and then got dressed for my meeting with Council. I heard a knock on the door. I crossed the room and flung it open. Trey was standing there.

“Are you ready, kid?” he asked.

“As ready as I’m going to be. Where’s Dolph?” I stuck my head out the door and looked in both directions, expecting him to jump out at me.

“He’s with Veronica. She’s not feeling well. She’s been sick for the past couple of days.”

“I’ll have to stop by later and make sure she’s okay,” I said. I was surprised Dolph hadn’t said anything to me about it. Maybe it was something personal going on that he didn’t want to disclose.

“I’m sure Dolph and Veronica would appreciate you stopping by.”

“Do I need anything for this meeting?”

“Just yourself. The sooner we get there, the better. We definitely don’t want to be late.”

We arrived at the Council building faster than expected. I was so nervous I felt like I was going to throw up. My stomach roiled at the thought of them not deciding to make me Alpha. If not me, who would they choose? Or would they bring in someone completely new to the Pack to be Alpha? My Wolf was pacing non-stop.

I inhaled deeply then rumbled out my breath. I closed my eyes and felt dizzy. Why would they choose me? Trey’s assessment of me when I was younger was a huge influencing factor in being named the acting-Alpha. What had I done to change anyone’s opinion of me? I’m not fit to lead a group to pick up sticks, I thought. If I’m not Alpha, what am I? Who am I? And why would Daci stay with me?

“Barry Scofield.” It had been so long since I heard anyone call me by my full name. I turned my head and saw a small man standing at the door with a book damn near as large as he was in his arms.

“Yeah,” I said. Trey nudged me with his elbow. “I mean, yes, sir.”

“Follow me. It’s time.”

Fuck my life.

We followed the little man to a different room than the one we were in the last time. Instead of a full panel of Council members, there was only one person who sat before me. I remembered his face. He was the person who declared me the acting-Alpha. This really wasn’t looking good. They didn’t even think my review was worthy of having the full board here. Take the day off, guys, it’s just that pathetic loser, Barry Scofield. It should be easy enough to let him know he sucks, just like Trey said.

I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans as we got closer to the table.

“Have a seat, gentlemen,” the man on the other side of the table said. “I’m sure you remember me. If you don’t remember my name, it’s Chadwick.”

I nodded my head as I pulled out the chair. I liked that we were asked to sit down. At least this way when he dropped the bad news on me, and I fainted, I wouldn’t get a concussion hitting the ground. I kept running my hands back and forth on my thighs. As much as I tried to remove the dampness, it just kept coming back.

“Good morning,” Trey and I said.

“Trey, as a special favor to you, my dear friend, and at your request, we’re bringing this review decision to closure sooner than later. We agree with you; this should be quite easy to decide at this point, and there’s no need to drag it out. Plus, this earlier decision helps everyone get on with their lives,” Chadwick said.

I was certain I was not going to like the outcome. I swallowed hard. Trey had already spoken on my behalf and that went over like a ton of bricks. Is that why Dolph wasn’t here? Was Trey trying to sabotage me? He had wanted to be my Beta. Did he want to fuck me out of the position I was supposed to be in?

“Barry, let me start by saying once again, on behalf of all of Council, how sorry we were to hear about your parents. We all knew them both well, and thought very highly of them. They were exceptional pillars in our community.”

“Thank you.”

“We all knew you as a pup. Your parents were extremely proud of you. Your father felt you had it in you to be a great leader one day. Unfortunately, that day came far too soon.”

Fuck, just shoot me now, I thought. Unfortunately my day came way too soon. They think I’m an incompetent dickwad, like Trey said I was.

I turned my head away from Chadwick and shook it slightly. “I understand,” I said, but I didn’t mean it. I didn’t understand. How could they just dismiss me like that? They never gave me a fair shake. They knew they weren’t going to name me Alpha, but they strung me along with that acting garbage. My eyes were burning with tears that were threatening to come to the surface.

I placed my hands on the arms of the chair and began to stand. There was no need for me to stay and listen to any more of this guy’s patronizing bullshit. And Trey could go fuck himself.

“Where are you going, Barry?” Chadwick asked.

“To figure out,” my voiced cracked, “what I’m doing with my life. If I’m not Alpha, I probably need to move away from the Pack.”

“Please, sit back down. We aren’t finished.”

I glared at Trey through squinted eyes, shooting daggers at him. He motioned with his head for me to sit back down. I wish there was a way to signal with my head for him to fuck off.

I reluctantly lowered myself back into my seat.

“Thank you. I didn’t get a chance to give you the Council’s decision. I want to make sure we all are perfectly clear for the future of the Pack because, honestly, their best interest is what we are most concerned with.” He stopped talking and looked directly at me, then looked over at Trey with a smile on his face. What the hell was going on between the two of them?

When Chadwick’s eyes turned back and met mine, he resumed talking. “We feel, based on everything I’ve heard from Trey about your actions since the day in the woods when your father and Pack mates were captured, that you, Barry, would be the best person to be Alpha of the Pack. Trey told me all about you rescuing Daci, your soul mate, how you delegated freeing the Pack to him and Paul, and how you were very passionate about the Pack’s safety. That’s solid leadership, and your father was right. I’m proud to lift the acting-Alpha title and name you Alpha of the Loco Nuna Pack.”

I was stunned to silence. I didn’t know what to say.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I’m sure you’ll do great in your new role,” Chadwick said.

“Congratulations, kid. I knew with a little goading and prodding, you’d find what your dad knew was in you all along. Make him proud. Make us all proud,” Trey said. His eyes were teary.

“Thanks, Trey.” I felt like a heel. How could I have thought Trey would turn on me?

“There’s one more thing, Barry. One more very important thing that will directly impact your reign. You will only have one Beta from this day forward. Trey is relinquishing his services as Beta. He’ll still be available for Paul, as his schedule allows, but he can no longer serve as your Beta.”

I looked at Trey. “Why not? What am I going to do? You’re such a strong Beta, and you said it yourself; Dolph isn’t ready for that position yet. What if there’s a problem that neither of us know what to do?” I was having a mini freak-out.

“Calm down, kid. You are more resourceful than you think. And so is my little apprentice. Between the two of you I think you’ll be fine, but you can always call me.”

“What are you going to do now?” I asked Trey.

“Kid, I finally found my soul mate. I’m going to hang up my Beta boots, settle down, and enjoy being in love.”

“Who is she? Do I know her?”

“My soul mate isn’t a she. The love of my life is Chadwick. When we came to Council the first time about your Alpha status that’s when I knew he was the one.” Trey looked at Chadwick and smiled. I could see the glimmer in their eyes. They were head over heels in love with each other. I was shocked, but happy for them.

“Congratulations to you both; that’s so awesome that you found each other. Where will you live? What are you going to do? Chadwick, will you stay with Council?”

“Son, my life is so hectic here at Council I think Trey would leave me if I stayed on. We talked about it. I’m going to step down. We’ll be looking for a nice house and a Pack where we’ll be accepted and can live out the rest of our loving days in peace.” Chadwick looked at Trey and held his hand. “No offense, sweetie, but your house is just too small and way too cluttered. There’s no way I could live there.”

“I may just know the perfect Pack, and may be able to help you with finding a larger house, too,” I said. “You’re both welcome to stay with us in the Loco Nuna Pack. Trey, you know everyone already. They all love you, and I’m sure they’d love Chadwick, too.”

“But we need to find a house. I don’t recall anything being available.”

“I’ll talk to Daci tonight. We both have homes, but we only need one of them. Whichever we choose to live in, you’re more than welcome to live in the other, if you find it suitable. You can look at it and see if it would be acceptable. And I’d love it if you both were close by, you know, just in case.” We all laughed.

“Thank you, Barry,” Chadwick said.

“Okay, now that I know you’re stepping down, there’s only one caveat to joining the Pack, Chadwick. You can’t call me Barry. Please, call me Holt.”

Chapter 26

Holt

That afternoon, after Trey and I arrived back at the Pack, we decided this was the perfect night to announce the official news, and introduce Daci as my Alpha mate. Chadwick came back to the Pack to join in the celebration. I thought it was great that they might seriously be considering staying with us.

Daci and I went to check up on our friends Dolph and Veronica since she wasn’t feeling well.

I was disappointed in Dolph when he told me Jenny, our Healer, hadn’t been called. I immediately reached out to her and alerted her to Veronica’s nausea and dizziness. I was no doctor, but those didn’t sound like symptoms I’d want to suffer through if I didn’t have to.

“That sounds pretty serious, Dolph. You don’t have any symptoms like that do you?” my beautiful soul mate asked.

“No. I feel perfectly fine. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be contagious.”

Jenny arrived within minutes of my call with her eyebrows furrowed as Dolph explained what was going on.

“Why didn’t you call me?” she asked.

“We thought it would just go away. If Holt hadn’t called, we may not have picked up the phone,” Dolph said.

“”That’s silly. You shouldn’t have let your mate suffer like that. If nothing else, I can stop her upset stomach.”

Dolph hung his head. I was furious that he’d not thought to make the call himself, but I hated seeing him beat himself up over it, too.

I clapped my hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine, my friend. Veronica will be taken care of. She’s in the best hands possible now, medically speaking.”

“Which way to your mate?” Jenny asked.

Dolph pointed his finger to their bedroom, then he and I went to the living room to talk about the meeting with Council, the celebration that night, and about Trey and Chadwick while Daci followed Jenny.

It didn’t take very long before my lovely beauty and Jenny strode back into the living room with grins on their faces like they were stifling the world’s biggest secret.

“Your mate is going to be fine. In a couple of hours, some of her nausea should subside,” Jenny said. She had a huge smile on her face.

“What’s wrong with her? Is she going to be okay?” Dolph queried.

“You can go ask her. I think it’s best she reveal her condition to you,” the Healer replied.

“My Alpha, come on. We have a celebration to prepare for,” Daci said. “And Dolph and Veronica need to talk.”

I thanked Jenny for coming over, as did Dolph, then Daci and I left with Jenny right behind us.

We made it to my house in record speed and no sooner did I get the door shut, I ravaged my beauty. We never made it past the entry way. She was irresistible.

Shortly after we showered and cleaned up, Daci left for her house to get ready. I hated every nanosecond she wasn’t by my side.

I called Daci on the phone while I was getting ready for the night’s festivities. “Daci, my love, we have an issue that needs to be discussed.” I pulled on my shirt.

“What’s that, Alpha?” I loved the sound of her voice. So melodic and sweet.

“Princess, my house is very lonely right now. Is yours?”

“Yes, baby, it is. I wish you were here with me.”

“Those are my sentiments exactly. Let’s figure out which home we’re keeping and make sure we don’t spend another night away from each other for any amount of time.”

“Which house do you prefer to live in? I know my home is larger than yours, but you have all of the fond memories of your parents in yours.”

“My memories of my parents will be with me no matter where I live. But my future is with you. I’d prefer to live in your house. Then, when our family expands, we’ll have plenty of room to grow without feeling crowded. Plus, you have that beautiful lake in your back yard.”

“What are you going to do with your house? It doesn’t make sense to keep it, does it?” she asked.

“Trey and his mate, Chadwick are in the market for a larger home. If you agree, we could let them live there. Then we know it’s not just sitting idle,” I said. A pang of hurt rushed through me at the thought of leaving my family home. But I had to. It was the right thing to do. I loved Daci, and this house wasn’t large enough for a growing family -- whenever that time came.

“I think that’s a great idea. An even better idea is getting off the phone so we can get ready and to the venue on time.”

“You’re pretty mouthy with the Pack Alpha, darling.”

“Perhaps your Wolf can teach my Coy-wolf to respect the Alpha later this evening during a run through the park,” she said.

“I love you, and really do love the way you think, princess. I’ll see you shortly.”

“I love you, Holt,” she said. We disconnected and I finished getting dressed.

Daci

I loved my mate, and the thought of living together was exciting. I had been wondering about what we would do, and I was thrilled we had a resolution.

It didn’t take long before I heard my doorbell ring. I made my way to the door and looked through the peephole and saw Holt. I opened the door and drank him in from head to toe. He was so handsome in his suit. He didn’t have on a tie, and the top button of his shirt was undone.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said.

“Hi, Alpha.”

He stepped inside and pulled me into an embrace that turned into one of the most sensual kisses we’d shared. “I love the dress. Is it new?”

“It is. I’ve had it for years but never had anywhere to wear it. You look amazing,” I said.

“Thank you. Are you ready?”

“I am.”

“Let’s go, princess. We don’t want to keep the crowd waiting.”

He held out his arm and I held onto him like my life depended on it. To me, it did. We left my house, our house, and walked the short distance to the hall where the festivities were scheduled.

As we approached the door, I stopped. I inhaled deeply, then released the breath I took in.

Holt draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close to him. “This will be a piece of cake, my love. Relax.”

“I’m trying.”

He lowered his head and touched his nose to mine. “We’re together and we will be until the end of our lives. That’s what matters most. These titles are secondary. Let’s have a great time at the party for the Pack. Don’t overthink it.”

“Holt,” I murmured. His lips descended on mine. His hand was getting close to moving under the fabric of my dress covering my breasts when the door of the hall opened.

“Ah, you both are here. We were just getting ready to send out a search party,” Dolph said.

“Very funny. I told you we’d be here,” Holt said.

“Relax, I was just kidding. I’ll tell you when to enter. We’ll announce you guys in a few minutes.”

Dolph disappeared back inside. That gave Holt and me a few more minutes alone before the party.

“Alpha,” I said. “I love the way that sounds.”

“I love hearing you say it. You know what Alpha means, right?”

“No, baby, tell me, please.”

“It means I’m a bad ass male who’s superior and confident. I’m the wanted man.”

“I sure want you. So if I’m referred to as Alpha does that mean I’m a bad ass, too?” I asked.

“You damn straight it does. You are a bad ass. You’re my beautiful, smart, bad ass.”

Dolph reappeared at the door and let us know to come inside. Within minutes we heard our signal to enter the main area.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and join me in welcoming your new Alpha, Holt Scofield, and his Alpha mate, Daci Coleman.”

We entered the room together, my hand holding onto Holt’s bent arm. There was a lot of clapping, whistling, and I heard a lot of oohs and ahhs as we walked the carpeted path leading up to the stage. This was so much more than I’d expected. I would have been happy with a huge cookout where everyone was able to be casually dressed and the atmosphere more relaxed. This was a lot of pomp for nothing, in my opinion.

We stayed at the party nearly the entire night. It was nice to meet Chadwick, Trey’s mate. They made a great couple. They were excited to know we’d decided to live in my house and offered them Holt’s home. They eagerly accepted. Trey said he was hoping that was the house we chose to relinquish.

Veronica even felt well enough to come out. She insisted she would have come no matter what.

When the evening ended, Holt and I decided to return to my house. Our house. We’d begin moving his things in tomorrow. Several other Pack mates offered to help us so we could make the transition for everyone faster. But tonight, we were christening the home as ours.

Chapter 27

Holt

Everything was falling into place perfectly. It had been several months since I moved into the house with Daci. Our house. Our love nest. And there were a lot of changes happening throughout the Pack and with us.

Veronica was finally over her morning sickness. It was funny that it was called that. She was sick all day and night. Dolph was super excited to be welcoming their first child any day. We kept bugging them to find out if it was a boy or girl, but they said they wanted to be surprised, and they just wanted a healthy baby. Veronica had the nursery nearly complete and decorated it nearly all in mint green. It made sense when she said they wouldn’t have to repaint for the next child.

Dolph was talking with Trey nearly every day about anything he could think of. They had formed a strong bond in their time together as Betas.

Trey and Chadwick were finally getting settled into my old house, their new home. It took Chadwick a little longer than either had anticipated to get all of his belongings moved in. Each time he’d mention he had something he wanted moved, a couple of the men from the Pack went with him to help. The Pack was happy Chadwick was joining us, and they already loved Trey.

It felt weird not living in my childhood home, and knowing someone else was, but it was the best thing for all of us.

Chadwick told me when he gave his notice to Council they were upset and tried everything they could think of to keep him. As much as he really hated leaving, he knew he had to. His love for Trey was worth more than the position. And here with the Pack, they both could live comfortably and stress-free.

Chadwick set up a program for the youngsters to help teach them more about Council and some of the things they were responsible for. Council has a fairly high turnover because it was so demanding, but Chadwick thought if the kids knew and understood the responsibilities, they could decide if maybe that was something they’d like to pursue when they got older.

Trey was also using some of his spare time to pass on his knowledge to the youngsters. Plus, after the day in the park when so many Pack mates were captured, he thought it best to help everyone understand more about safety while in public places as Wolf. Most of the pups he was teaching hadn’t reached the age to shift yet, so his hope was they’d shift with awareness when the time came.

Ah, and my life was changing, too. My beautiful mate was beginning to show. We were expecting our first pup. We, unlike our best friends, Dolph and Veronica, didn’t like surprises. We were so excited when we found out we were having a boy. A son. The thought of being a father brought tears to my eyes. I could have never imagined being so happy. If anyone had asked me when I was younger if I thought any of this was possible, I would have said no without any hesitation. Not only was my soul mate the most breathtaking woman alive, but now she was carrying my son.

I shook my head, and fought the tears that always threatened to fall when I thought of how blessed I was. Thank you, Goddess. Trey tells me all the time my parents would be proud of me. Proud of the man I’ve become. Knowing how he used to feel about me when I was younger, that meant a lot.

Daci

“Holt, darling,” I said. I was standing on the porch, watching my handsome husband daydream again. He had a lot on his mind these days. He won’t talk about all of it with me because he said he doesn’t want me to worry or get upset while I’m pregnant. Instead, he chooses to spoil me rotten when we’re together.

“Yes, my love. Is something wrong?” he asked. Always the worrier, always the most concerned about everyone except himself. That’s why everyone loves and admires him. He’s following in his father’s footsteps perfectly.

“Nothing’s wrong, sweetheart. Dinner’s ready.”

He stood from one of the rocking chairs we had built for our porch, and turned to face me.

“You look absolutely stunning, princess.”

“I look fat.”

“This little guy in here,” he patted my stomach, “he isn’t making you fat. He makes you beam brighter than the sun. To me, you are, and will always be, the most beautiful woman in the world. I love you.” His mouth captured mine before I had a chance to reply. I’m pretty sure that was a strategic move on his part.

I melted against him and his arms held me tight. Each kiss, each touch, sent shivers through me like it was the first time, only better.

Our kiss was interrupted by Holt’s name being hollered. We both looked over the horizon and saw Dolph running in our direction. Without a second thought, Holt shifted and ran toward him. After talking for a few minutes, Dolph ran back in the direction he’d come from and Holt trotted back to our house.

“It’s Veronica,” he gasped.

My heart sank. “Is she okay?”

“She’s in labor. The Healer is on her way, but Dolph said she’s been trying to call you. She wants you there with her.”

“My phone’s in my purse. Let’s go. Dinner can wait until we return.”

We both raced to our friends’ house, and as we neared we could hear Veronica screaming bloody murder. I was scared. What the hell have I gotten myself into if she’s in so much pain and it’s causing her to scream like that, I thought.

We entered the house, and Dolph told me to please go into the bedroom with her. He followed me and stood in the doorway.

“Veronica, I’m here,” I said.

“It’s about fucking time! I’ve called you a million times.” She gritted her teeth and grasped a handful of the bedsheet.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m here now. What can I do?”

“Kill me! Please, I don’t care how, just fucking put me out of my misery.”

Jenny, the Healer, looked at me with sad eyes. “It’s been nonstop since I got here an hour ago. I’ve given her a shot to help ease the pain, but it hasn’t helped.”

“Maybe it just needs a little more time,” I offered.

“Let’s hope,” Jenny said.

“Let’s just all shut the fuck up about it. It’s not going away until Dolph’s demon child is out of me.” Veronica grunted in agony.

“Has her water broken?” I asked Jenny.

“No, she’s not dilating either. I hate to say it, but I may have to take the baby by Cesarean section if something doesn’t change soon.”

“Do it now! Cut me open and get this damn kid out of me!” Veronica was out of her mind. I tried not to chuckle out loud, but wasn’t able to stifle it.

“Laugh now, Daci, laugh now. Your day’s coming. This shit isn’t fun or funny. And I think it’s a really shitty move for you to laugh at me, my so-called friend.”

“Veronica, I didn’t mean it that way. I am your friend and I love you.”

“You love me? Really? Then why haven’t you taken pity on me and driven a stake through my fucking heart yet? Huh?”

I was fighting the smile that refused to leave my face. I had pulled my lips into my mouth and held them tight with my teeth. No more laughing, I tried to convince myself.

Veronica redirected her gaze to Dolph. “You! You’ll never touch me again. Ever!”

Dolph was frozen in place. I heard Holt’s retreating footsteps and his laughter coming from the living room.

Veronica screamed again, so loud I felt like I’d go deaf. The Healer reached under the top sheet to check her again.

“You’re making some progress. You’re dilating now. You’re at six, only four more to go.”

“Can I push yet?” Veronica asked.

“No, dear, it’s too soon. You have to wait until you reach ten centimeters.”

“I really feel like I need to push, now!”

The Healer checked her once again. Her jaw hung open when her eyes met mine.

“Hello? Jenny, I’m the one having the fucking baby, not Daci. Can. I. Push?”

“Yeah, you’re at ten.”

Veronica bore down with so much force, her water burst all over the front of Jenny.

“Holy shit!” Dolph said.

Jenny ignored the shower of fluid and continued like nothing happened. “Push, dear. One more good push and your baby will be out.”

Veronica inhaled a deep breath, then pushed with all her might. Within seconds we all heard the cry. Their baby was here.

Dolph rushed over to see. He raised his eyebrows and inhaled deeply as he wobbled on his feet. His face turned green and his eyes rolled back in his head before he hit the floor.

“I do all the work and this fool passes out,” Veronica said.

We all laughed.

Jenny cleaned up the baby and handed her to Veronica. A beautiful baby girl. I was the proud aunt to this precious little baby.

We all offered our congratulations, and Holt tried to get Dolph up. The Healer reached into her bag and pulled something out and waved it under Dolph’s nose. That roused him immediately.

He looked at Jenny.

“Congratulations, Dolph. You’re the father of a perfect daughter.”

Dolph shook his head, still trying to get his wits about him, then stood and made his way to Veronica. He gazed down at his mate and their daughter, before kissing Veronica on the forehead.

“I love you, Muffin, and I hope you didn’t mean anything you said during your labor.”

“I love you, too, Pooh Bear.”

Holt and I looked at each other and smiled. It would be our turn soon enough to welcome our own precious baby into the world.

Chapter 28

Daci

Three years ago, we welcomed our son, Sam. He’s been the perfect little angel. He’s smart as a whip, too. He knows his alphabet and is beginning to read, but what he loves more than anything is being with his father. He’s a daddy’s boy without a doubt. He tells me every night he wants to grow up to be Alpha, just like his dad.

I’d like to say we’re the only two who spoil him, but his uncles, Trey and Chadwick, are even worse than Holt and me in the spoiling department. There’s nothing this little boy could possibly ever want with them around.

Things were changing in the Pack. In the last year, unfortunately, we had a house become available close to us. In our Pack, houses are only empty when bad things happen.

One of Chadwick’s older students had decided to pursue joining Council and was accepted, but after nearly six months alone in the house, his mother died. She’d been out gardening; the Healer said she had a heart attack.

After cleaning the house up and the son finished moving all of his things to a new home, Dolph and Veronica and their daughter moved in and became our neighbors. It was perfect for Sam and Chassidy, Dolph and Veronica’s little girl. It’s worked out great for us adults, too.

Veronica is expecting again, any day. Dolph is a nervous wreck and we’re all hoping the labor isn’t as rough as the first time. Either way, I’ll be there for my best friend through it all.

I felt my stomach tighten and my breath hitched. This had been happening most of the morning, but this time it seemed to be more intense.

“Mommy,” Sam said.

“Yes, baby,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Is baby waking up?”

“Yes. Can you do Mommy a favor, please?”

“Yep,” he said.

“Can you please go get your father?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Sam rushed outside through the front door, screaming for Holt. Within seconds, Holt was at my side.

“Princess, is it time?”

“Yes, baby, it is. Call the Healer, please.” I smiled at him through gritted teeth as another pain shot through my stomach.

“Sam, hold Mommy’s hand while I make a phone call. Okay?”

“Daddy?” Sam asked.

“Give me one minute, Sam, okay? Just hold onto Mommy.”

“Okay.” Sam held my hand in his tiny one and rocked back and forth. A tear rolled down my cheek as I looked at my gorgeous little boy. “It’s okay, Mommy. Don’t cry, I’ll protect you.”

Holt looked down at me and had a look of concern on his face. I had no idea what he saw. I mouthed, I love you. That was the last thing I remember before everything went black.

Holt

I sat by Daci’s side for two days straight, watching her sleep. Watching her take in every breath. Wondering if and when she’d come back to me. She had to come back to me, to us. We all needed her. The tears I thought I no longer had welled in my eyes. I wasn’t moving from this chair until I knew she was going to be okay.

The Healer had just left and said she didn’t understand what happened. She said there was no medical reason for Daci to have blacked out or to remain in a comatose state. But, thankfully, the Healer was able to deliver our baby girl without any issues and she was perfectly healthy.

Miracle. That’s her name. She’s a miracle and the Healer said it was a miracle she was born without any issues. Now I was praying for another miracle. I needed to get my soul mate back.

“Daci, I love you, baby. Please, wake up.” My tears streamed down my face.

I sat in silence for at least another fifteen minutes before I heard the tiny footsteps of my baby boy approaching me.

“Daddy!” He lunged at me and wrapped his arms around my neck. “I miss you, Daddy.”

“I miss you, too, Sam.” I ran my fingers through his curly dark hair. “Have you and Chassidy been having fun?”

“Yeah, but she pinches me. Hard.”

I laughed. I desperately needed something to make me laugh or smile. Thank Goddess for Sam.

“How’s Miracle doing? Are you taking good care of your sister?” I asked.

“Baby’s doing good, Daddy. I take good care of her.”

I wrapped my arms around my son and hugged him tight.

“Is Mommy still sleeping?”

“Yes, Sam. She’s still sleeping.”

“Mommy’s tired, right, Daddy?”

“Yep.”

I buried my head in Sam’s neck and hugged him tight again. He pulled away from me and took off running into the living room and turned on the television.

“Any word from the Healer?” Veronica asked.

“Nothing. She said Daci should wake up, but doesn’t understand why she isn’t. How’s Miracle?”

“She’s sleeping in the living room. Want me to bring her to you?”

“Yeah, I miss my baby.”

“Don’t worry about any of the Pack business, my friend. Trey and I are taking care of everything for you. Just stay with Daci, that’s where you’re needed right now,” Dolph said.

“Thanks. You’re a great friend.”

“Here’s your beautiful little girl. She’s getting so big.”

Veronica transferred Miracle into my arms. I held her tight. She looked just like her mother. Was this it? Would I only have our children to remind me of Daci and what we had? I shook my head. I needed my mate back. Then I had an idea.

“Sam, come here, please,” I said.

Sam ran back into the room. “Yes, Daddy?”

“I think I know what Mommy needs. I think Mommy needs a kiss from her big boy.”

“Okay.” He stood on his tiptoes and tried to bend over far enough to touch her. “But I can’t reach her.”

I lifted him up onto the bed, then lay Miracle next to Daci on the other side.

“On the count of three, we’ll all kiss Mommy, okay?”

Sam giggled. “Okay.”

“One, two,” We both leaned in, and I turned Miracle so she was facing Daci’s cheek. “Three.” We all kissed Daci. It was a stretch, but I was desperate. Maybe if she knew we were all surrounding her and loved her, she’d be able to will herself back to us.

But it didn’t work.

“Holt.” Veronica placed her hand on my shoulder. The tears streamed down my face. I was a broken man. I lifted Sam off the bed, and picked Miracle up, then took my place in the chair again.

“She’s going to be fine, Holt. Give her time. She’s not going to leave you.” Veronica rubbed my shoulder again. “She loves you, Holt, you know that. And she loves her kids. She’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

The lump in my throat kept me from replying. I wanted so badly to believe Veronica. They gathered the kids and took them back to their house, and left me sitting in that fucking chair.

I was awakened from my sleep when I heard a cough. I jumped up and rushed to our bed. Daci coughed again.

“Daci,” I said through tears.

“Holt,” she muttered.

My eyes closed tight. I wanted to pinch myself. Was this real or a dream?

“Holt,” she said.

I reached for her hand and held it in mine. “I’m here, princess.”

“What’s happening?”

“It’s a long story. I need to call the Healer.” I tugged my phone from my pocket and hit speed dial to get Jenny on the line. After letting her know Daci was waking, she said she’d be right here.

It seemed like just seconds from when I hung up that Jenny was at my door.

“Come in, it’s open,” I hollered. I didn’t want to be away from Daci for one second.

I watched her move her head, then shrug her shoulders slightly, then she stretched her fingers before curling them into a ball.

“I got here as fast as I could,” Jenny said.

“Your timing is fine. I know I called and woke you, but I appreciate you coming.”

“Anything for you, Alpha, you know that.”

“Can someone tell me what’s going on? Why do I feel like I’ve been in this bed for days?”

“Princess, you have been. You blacked out shortly after you sent Sam to get me, and you’re just waking up now. Three days later.”

“The baby,” she said. “Oh my gosh, the baby! What happened to her? Is she okay? Please tell me she’s okay!” Daci’s hand reached out for me and I quickly grasped her small hand in mine.

“You knew we were having a daughter?”

“I could sense it, the pregnancy was different than the first. Holt, please, just tell me, is she okay?”

“Calm down. Miracle is fine. Jenny delivered her and she’s perfectly healthy.”

“Oh, thank Goddess.” Daci sat quietly for a couple of seconds. “Miracle?”

“Yeah, I named her that. We had no idea what happened to you but Jenny said it was a miracle that she was fine. You can change her name if you want.”

“No. I love the name. And I love you. How’s Sam?”

“Sam’s fine; he’s next door. He’s been here to visit you every day, and I know he’s looking forward to seeing you with your eyes open.”

“I won’t be long, but I need to do a quick check to make sure Daci is doing well. You can stay if you like, or you can get something to eat,” Jenny said.

“There’s no way I’m leaving,” I said.

Jenny checked Daci’s vitals and then checked her stomach.

“Everything’s fine. You should be able to get up and about, but take it very slow. If you get lightheaded, stop and wait for it to subside. And whatever you do, if anything changes, call me immediately.” Jenny packed her things back into her bag. She stood to leave, but stopped and looked up at me.

“Take care of yourself, too, Alpha. Sometimes we forget that we need care, too, when a crisis happens. Take some time off and get some rest; this has been a rough few days.”

“Thank you, Jenny.” I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a big hug.

Epilogue

Holt

To this day we had no idea what caused the episode Daci experienced, but we all were happy it was behind us.

We’ve had nearly everyone from the Pack come by to offer their wishes and to make sure their Alpha, Daci, was feeling better.

It has been over six months since Miracle was born, and there hasn’t been a sign of anything being amiss with my beloved mate. We’re all feeling much better since Jenny did another check of Daci and said she was perfectly healthy.

Veronica gave birth to another little girl, Ariel. Things were getting back to normal in their household, too. As normal as things can be with a toddler and a newborn.

“Daddy, come on,” Sam said.

“I’m coming.”

I turned and looked at my son with his baseball glove on his hand and mine under his arm. He was getting ready for T-ball. We had enough small kids to start our own team to compete with other kids from surrounding communities.

“Daci, Sam and I are going outside,” I said.

She walked out of Miracle’s bedroom with our daughter in her arms. She had the prettiest natural curls in her sandy-brown hair. She was going to keep me on my toes for sure.

“Da, da,” she cooed.

I walked over and took her from Daci. Her tiny arms wrapped around my neck and she kissed me with her wet lips. She was teething and drooling like crazy.

“How Daddy’s little girl?”

She made her baby noises at me. I’m sure to her she was talking, but they were words I couldn’t understand.

“Back to Mommy, Sweet Pea.” She stretched out her arms toward Daci.

“Daddy!” Sam screamed.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” I smiled.

“You better get going. Someone,” she nodded her head in Sam’s direction, “is quite impatient.”

I leaned in and kissed my beautiful mate. “I love you, princess.”

“I love you too, my Alpha.”

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A Wolf’s Hunger

Book 1: Rafe by A.K. Michaels

Book 2: Kade by A.K. Michaels

Book 3: Marrok by Julia Mills

Book 4: Ax by Monica La Porta

Book 5: Zohar by A. K. Michaels

Book 6: Saint by Bella Roccaforte

Book 7: Her Highlander’s Desire by A.K. Michaels

Book 8: Mako by Bella Roccaforte

Book 9: Sheba (part of Magic Unleashed boxset) by A.K. Michaels

Book 10: Kendall by Monica La Porta

Book 12: Shade (part of Creatures boxset) by A.K. Michaels pre-order available now! Release Date: Aug 15

Book 13: Finn by Julia Mills– Coming In August

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