
What would it be like to live in a world where you were considered abnormal even to those who were above the norm?

Jenna O'Conner is not human, nor is she considered the norm for the supernatural Other community. It's important she hide her true nature from both humans and Others.

Right after moving to a new city, Jenna runs into trouble in the form of a deadly, mouthwatering man named Adam McPhee. He's an alpha werewolf determined to do two things: figure out exactly what Jenna is and have her all to himself.

As if that weren't enough for Jenna to deal with, a group of extremist Shifters who consider humans to be cattle and who think that factions of Others should stay within their own species—never to intermingle—come to town. Jenna has to find a way to shut them down, but in the process of trying to do that, she discovers things about herself that even she had never thought were possible.

Who said the wolf was what you had to worry about?

Welcome to the real world—the Other world.
Raves for the novels by

JESSIE LANE

Big Bad Bite

"If you like funny paranormal romance with crazy but endearing characters, Big Bad Bite will be for you."

\- Swept Away By Romance

"I enjoyed the crisp, fast paced writing style that flows smoothly through the story. Within the pages, humor, action, suspense, and romance all mix together for a laugh out loud story that keeps you hooked to the very end. It's not completely lighthearted though. Some intriguing subplots balance well against the humorous situations to reveal a serious side to the story... All in all, Big Bad Bite is steady and action packed with plenty of twists and turns that delighted me. I enjoyed the light and dark aspect that is brought into play-they blend well together... Jessie Lane is definitely an author to watch for those who love zany, adventures, romantic PNR."

\- Smexy Books

"Big Bad Bite was one of those books that was hard to put down. There was action, mystery and plenty of heat. There were also more than a couple of tense moments along with even a few tears. I love a book that keeps me on the edge of my seat and this one definitely did that. The world building was also great. Just the way I like it... familiar enough to make 'sense' yet unique enough to make it the authors' own."

\- Creative Deeds Reads

Walk On The Striped Side

"...this series is building to be a go to for PNR fans!"

\- Little Read Riding Hood

"Seriously y'all if you're looking for a fun and sexy paranormal romance you need to pick up Walk On The Striped Side, I'll never look at cat toys the same way... Fans of Shelly Laurenston and Jessica Sims will fall in love with Jessie Lane's Big Bad Bite series."

\- The Book Nympho

"Not only did Gage fulfill my alpha male, hot guy requirement, but this book had so many times when I was reading it that I was literally laughing out loud or giggling... This book is so good, the writing is flawless, it's seriously highly, highly recommended."

\- Book Boyfriend Reviews

"Fans of outrageous, snark filled, sexy paranormal will enjoy Jessie Lane's latest release-Walk on the Striped Side-book two in her Big Bad Bite series. A lightweight paranormal filled with lots of action, sarcasm, threats of bodily harm, and that's just in the first few pages. Heavily character driven, our hero and heroine go balls to the wall as they fight their way through love, loss, reconnection, and annoying siblings. Per usual, Lane offers the reader a crisp, fast paced writing style that flows smoothly through the story. Humor, action, and romance all mix together for a laugh out loud story that keeps you hooked to the very end."

\- Smexy Books

Lone Wolf Wanted

"Jessie Lane writes fun, sexy characters with a bit of sass."

\- Patricia A. Rasey, national bestselling author

Bears Do It Better

"This is my first book by Jessie Lane and most definitely will not be my last. I have not laughed this hard at a book in a while. The quirky humor was great."

\- Reading in Sarah's Corner

Sassy and a little Bad-Assy

"Absolutely hysterical! Really enjoyed the playfulness of the characters and their word play. While not completely comedic it had just the right amount of emotion to make both H/h feel real. I do love my HEA's. Thank you Ms. Lane for bringing a little laughter to my day."

\- Amazon Reviewer
Big Bad Bite

Big Bad Bite Series #1

By Jessie Lane

Copyright © 2013 by Jessie Lane

Published by Whiskey Girls Publishing

All rights reserved.

1st Edition Edited by Jackie McPherson

2nd Edition Edited by C&D Editing, Asli Fratarcangeli & Shannon Webb

Cover Design by Mina Carter

Photographer: Randy Sewell | RLS Images

Cover Model: John Young

For more information on Jessie Lane:

http://jessielanebooks.com/

Sign Up for Jessie's Newsletter

Follow on Facebook Page

Follow on Twitter

Follow on Instagram

Add Jessie to your circles on Google Plus

Follow on Pinterest

Follow on Goodreads

Or you can send Jessie Lane an email at:

jessie_lane@jessielanebooks1.com
Copyright © 2013 by Jessie Lane

SMASHWORDS EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Jessie Lane, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. If you no longer want this book, you may not give your copy to someone else.

The purchase of this e-book allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the rights to resell, distribute, print, or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload to a file sharing peer to peer program. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If you no longer want this book, you may not give your copy to someone else. Delete it from your computer. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Trademarks: This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders. The authors acknowledge the trademarked status in this work of fiction. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

This book contains mature content not suitable for readers under the age of 18. This book contains content with strong language, violence, and sexual situations. All parties portrayed in sexual situations are over the age of 18.
Other Titles from Jessie Lane

Ex Ops Series

Secret Maneuvers

Stripping Her Defenses

Mission Delivery

Sweet Agony

Sweet Recovery

Sweet Eternity

Bullets and Bluebonnets

Regulators MC Series

(co-written with Chelsea Camaron)

Ice

Hammer

Coal

Big Bad Bite Series

Big Bad Bite

Walk On The Striped Side

Big Bad Bite Returned

The Demon Who Loved Me

Star Series

(co-written with M.L. Pahl)

The Burning Star

The Frozen Star

Standalone Stories

Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind

(co-written with Abbie Zanders)

Purrfect Santa

(co-written with Chasity Bowlin)

The Alpha's Secret Family

Lone Wolf Wanted

Sassy and a little Bad-Assy

Bears Do It Better

Big Bad Bite

Big Bad Bite Series Book 1

Jessie Lane

Dedication

To my grumpy grizzly. Your love, support, donation to our kids DNA, and general Alpha overbearing you-will-get-this-shit-done attitude is the thing that keeps me getting up every day with a full heart, and going to bed knowing that I am absolutely blessed.

Thank you my love.
Acknowledgements

I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many who wish to see me, and this book, succeed. So here's a shout out to just a few of those individuals, to let you know how much I appreciate your love, help, and support.

To Alizon and Kristin at C&D Editing, you ladies are amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work. The fact that you didn't once try to strangle me during this process was appreciated too.

To my first editor, Jackie McPherson, you will always be The Queen of Awesome to me! I'm absolutely sure that one day you'll be one of the most famous editors on the planet. Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and extreme patience for my goofiness.

To the ever-cool Crystal at Reading Between the Wines, you rock sister! (No really you do!) Your beta reading and editing input was a lifesaver. I count myself very lucky to call you a friend.

To the reviewers I respect, such as Laura at Little Read Riding Hood and many others, who have spread the word in their blogs about the good vibes they have about my books, I adore you! Seriously, reviewers make the world go round.

Lastly, to my readers, thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting me! You are amazing. I wouldn't be here without you.
Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Epilogue

Note from the Author

About the Author

Connected Books

Other Paranormal Titles from Jessie Lane

You Might Also Like
Chapter One

Jenna

Sweaty gym socks. That's what the inside of the Wilmington Police Department's SWAT van smelled like, which, in a word, was... nasty. Tamping down on the overwhelming urge to reach over and grab the offending socks so she could shove them down the owner's mouth before giving him a stern warning to wash them, was downright hard. However, somehow Jenna O'Conner had managed to keep herself in check because overpowering a two hundred plus gym jock, when you were a woman of only five-feet four-inches, who looked as if you might weigh a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet, would be hard to explain. Sometimes it seriously sucked to be her.

Sitting on the steel bench seats that ran the length of the black van with its bulletproof, darkly tinted windows, she did her best to ignore the eyes staring at her. Being the new girl on a testosterone overloaded team was more than awkward; being sandwiched in between two guys on her left, another guy on her right, and four sitting across from her made it feel as if she was drowning in caveman stupidity. It was a pain in the ass, but she couldn't complain because it came with her dream job.

Jenna could deal with their basic Neanderthal urges of women being inferior, but she utterly hated being stared at. It was annoying, and not to mention, rude. It made her right hand twitchy to punch someone. Hadn't their moms taught them some manners? She could keep calm, though. They were just curious to know if the new girl on the force could hang with the big bad-asses they all thought they were. Little did they know that little woman could kick every single one of their mammoth muscled butts. That was part of her little secret, however.

Being a woman who was also a dedicated cop was sometimes hard. People tended to assume you were going to be the weak link in the chain. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. Too compassionate. None of that applied to Jenna, but these guys didn't know that—yet. Perhaps she couldn't show them she was capable of bench pressing a hell of a lot more than all of them combined, but she had no qualms about using some of her abilities to outrun them if the need arose. She sure as hell wasn't known back in her old department for compassion. Heck, if she hadn't been related to the Police Chief back home, Jenna would have been arrested, or fired for her behavior against a couple of drunk, abusive, backwoods bums.

There was none of that here, though. She had to keep her temper in check and keep her secrets safe. She was also not going to flush a Criminal Justice Bachelor's degree, six months at the Police Academy, five years of busting her ass, on-the-job experience and her life's dream down the toilet. She had to prove to her family she could live out from underneath their thumb, without fucking it all up.

All of that might not seem like much of an accomplishment to the other guys sitting in the van with her; yet, that was because they didn't know her circumstances. Not that she would share those facts with them anyways. When they eventually found out how young Jenna was, they would inevitably shoot her dubious looks of disbelief. More than likely, they would begin to doubt someone so young was really cut out for the job.

Her over-protective family had home-schooled her in their exuberant efforts to keep her hidden and safe. Sitting at home with nothing to do except study with her mom, she had managed to obtain her high school diploma at the tender age of fifteen. After graduating, since her mother obviously didn't trust Jenna to be out of her sight without doing something monumentally stupid to get herself ousted for what she was, Jenna enrolled in an online University where she finished a four year degree in three. At the age of eighteen, she had a high school diploma and a Bachelor's degree.

When Jenna then told her mom she wanted to be a cop like Uncle Rick, her mother had no problem shipping her off to the academy. Just because she would be away training to become a police officer didn't mean that she would be out of her family's sight for six whole months. No, her Uncle Rick had a friend at the academy who knew just enough to keep an eye on her, but not enough that he would be a danger to her.

Therefore, at twenty-three—almost twenty-four—Jenna was the youngest member of the SWAT team with a whole lot of job experience but almost no life experience.

Leaving the small town of River Bend for the bigger city of Wilmington, North Carolina had always been a goal of hers. It had only taken five years to prove to her Uncle Rick that she could handle what he considered to be "big city problems" without outing herself to the populace.

When his friend, who happened to be the Captain of one of the Wilmington precincts, told him that he was interviewing for a new SWAT team officer, Uncle Rick had thrown her name in.

A month after a stringent application process and many, many tests, there she was, sitting in the back of the van in black BDU's with a bullet proof vest on. She had a standard issue duty weapon strapped to her waist, an assault rifle in her hands and a solid fifty pounds of equipment strapped to her body—just like the nine other officers in the vehicle. Black hair that fell past the bottom of her shoulder blades when down was secured in a tight bun at the base of her neck and the lower part of her face was covered with a black mask which only left her eyes visible. A helmet strapped onto the top of her head completed her uniform—she was clearly ready for action.

Heat was pumping along with excitement at the thought of going out on a suspect retrieval mission on her first day on the new job. This was the kind of shit Jenna lived for. Most women wanted to bask in the luxuries of shopping, high heeled shoes, and days at the spa. That was definitely not her. Sure, she had sexy clothes and shoes in her closet; however, most of it had been bought for undercover work. Instead of the usual womanly highs, Jenna got off on the chase of a suspect. It was the best high of all. If she got to tackle the suspect to the ground and accidentally elbow them in the head, well, that was a bonus.

Silently running through the particulars of the suspect they were going after kept her occupied so she didn't get the urge to look any of the guys in the eyes. It wasn't that she was afraid of any of them. Jenna could kick their ever lovin' asses from here to China, but she didn't want to intimidate any of them either. Yet. Most men weren't used to having a woman stare them down. It unnerved them. Plus, it gave them a bum rap with the other guys. She stared off into space while mentally going over the facts.

The suspect was a white male in his early thirties, approximately five-feet eleven; so he was seven inches taller than her. He weighed approximately one hundred and ninety pounds; sixty pounds more than her, though that wasn't a problem. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and wanted for the murder of a woman whose husband was still listed as missing. Suspect was supposed to be apprehended alive to be interrogated for information regarding the missing husband.

"Hey, O'Conner, you nervous yet? Should we drop you off somewhere so you don't piss in your pretty little pink panties?"

Moron. Note to self: trip jackass into a wall.

Oops. Did my foot get in your way?

Turning her head to look the idiot straight in the eyes, she sneered, "I'm good, Dubinski, but maybe we should stop at the store and buy you some big boy diapers so when you scare yourself shitless, it'll be an easier mess to clean up." The men surrounding them snickered as Dubinski gave her a grudgingly respectful look.

With a smirk, Captain Nelson barked from the front passenger seat, "Keep it down, kids. Our ETA is three minutes, let's go over the basics one last time." As the Captain rattled off the same information on the suspect Jenna had been going over in her head, she took the opportunity to get a subtle whiff with her nose, testing the air. The inside of the van smelled like sweat, leather, gun oil, and anticipation. No one smelled scared, just a little anxious. Good. No one there was a threat of freaking out and freezing in a dangerous situation. Having a super sniffer of a nose sometimes came in handy. If one of these jerks started leaking sweat out of his pores as if he was trying to help keep up with the water supply at Niagara Falls, she'd have to worry about him accidentally shooting her in the back. That would make it hard to concentrate on the mission. Luckily, it wasn't the case.

The van rounded a corner quickly as Captain Nelson wrapped up the specifics. "O'Conner, you'll be right behind Kent; third through the door. The entrance is a kill box due to the enclosed space, so we have to break the door down quickly and catch the bastard before he does something stupid. After O'Conner, it's the usual line up. Everybody ready?"

The team nodded their heads in consent as the van jerked to a stop in front of the target's temporary residence. As one, they flew out of the van and raced towards the front door. A few seconds later, a group of bodies were piled up with Captain Nelson at the front, Kent behind him, and Jenna third in line with the rest of the team at her back. Less than ten seconds later, the Captain kicked down the door while screaming, "Police!"

Moving quickly through the entrance hall, she used her nose to smell the air again. There was a whiff of something out of the norm. Two distinctly different male scents filled her nose, and she was positive neither of them were human.

Moving quickly through the house, the SWAT team started clearing rooms as they spread out through the small ranch home. She followed where her nose happened to lead her, which was towards the back of the house. Three doors were ahead of them and she could hear sounds of a struggle coming from behind the closed door farthest down the hall. Pushing forward with Kent at her back, she kicked a foot out, knocking the door halfway off its hinges and barked, "POLICE! FREEZE!"

Before her stood a massive guy who had mussed auburn hair which stuck up in almost every direction and rippling back muscles. The blond hair, blue eyed suspect was positioned across the room from all three of them, facing Mr. Messy Head, with a gun pointed at his head. In the split second Mr. Messy Head was distracted, the suspect took the opportunity to tighten his finger on the trigger. He was seconds from sending a bullet into his rather large opponent who still remained between them.

Dropping the aim of her rifle from the suspect's head to his hand, Jenna squeezed off a round as his finger started to compress the trigger of his pistol. Mr. Messy Head jerked his body to the side, avoiding the bullet by a hairsbreadth, before an explosive spray of red misted the air where half of the man's left hand used to be. A cry of pain filled the room as the gun thudded to the carpet. The suspect stared at his remaining thumb and trigger finger connected to the remnants of jagged bones and uneven, ripped flesh that was bleeding profusely. At this point, the stranger shot into action, leaping to tackle the suspect to the floor. In less than a minute, he had their man belly down to the ground with his hands bound behind his back using flexi cuffs while she and Kent stood, blocking the door with their guns aimed at the pair.

Kent yelled, "Freeze! Hands in the air, now!"

Hands slowly lifted into the air as the red-head looked up at them. Bright amber eyes bore into Jenna's as she looked down the barrel of her gun at him. Caught slightly off guard by his startling, strong, handsome face she dragged in a subtle breath, but what she found there made her nervous. It was a smell she hadn't experienced in a very long time— a smell she had been taught most of her life to avoid at all costs. It was the clean, fresh scent of the outdoors that was unique to shifters alone with an underlying spice that could only be singular to Mr. Messy Head. It wasn't the latter of those scents that bothered her. It was the other smell that meant trouble. The guy on his knees, holding his hands calmly in the air in front of her, wasn't human. He spent his spare time in some kind of fur. Whether it was cat, bear, or wolf, she wasn't sure, however he was definitely Other. Whatever it was, though, wasn't beneficial for her to be around too long. She needed to get the guy away from her, pronto.

She was praying Mr. Messy Head hadn't caught any of her own scent. She'd been told by one of her uncles once that it was remarkably light and hard to define, but to an experienced shifter it could be figured out. Observing his sudden, subtle flaring of nostrils she guessed he was trying to do just that. Damn.

Booted feet pounded the hall behind them as a few of the other officers poured into the room to apprehend the two men in front of her. After Mr. Messy Head had been cuffed and pulled to his feet along with the suspect, she slipped out of the room and followed Captain Nelson to the back of the van. Jenna's keen senses were telling her that Kent was following directly behind.

Watching as two patrol cars pulled up on the street behind their van, the Captain ran his hand through his hair. "What happened, O'Conner?"

While she gave him a quick debriefing of the incident, he watched Jenna with amusement and a little bit of surprise on his face. After ending her spiel with the arrival of the rest of the team into the occupied room, Kent piped in behind her. "You're one hell of a shot, O'Conner. That was impressive... makes me grateful you're on my side."

Shooting him a smile over her shoulder, she took in the respectful gleam in his eyes. He meant what he said. It was a decent start to being accepted by her new squad.

The Captain clapped her on the shoulder. "Nice work, O'Conner. Your uncle said you were good, but damn, that was something else. Taking out his gun hand on the fly so he was immobile long enough not to shoot anyone was quick thinking. Nice job, indeed. Beer is on me tonight. The boys will want to go out and celebrate after our shift. You're coming, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Captain."

"Good. You guys might as well stay here for a minute. I'll go check on the suspect, figure out who the mystery guy is, and then we can load up and head out." He clapped her on the shoulder again before heading to the two patrol cars behind them.

Looking back, she saw the suspect was sitting in the back of the first patrol car while the red-head with his unusual amber eyes held something out for Captain Nelson to inspect. The rest of the team started clambering around in the back of the van so she couldn't hear what was being said to the Captain. As much as she was curious, though, Jenna was even more anxious to put some much needed distance between herself and the tasty looking stranger whose hair resembled a red porcupine.

Taking a second, she ran her eyes from his booted feet back to his piercing gaze. He was over six-feet tall and probably about two hundred and twenty pounds. His fitted gray t-shirt was pulled tight across his chest and well-worn denim hugged his thick thighs. He was pretty hulking, carrying more muscle in his arms and chest than most guys had in their entire body, followed by a trim waist. He cut a memorable picture; it was a shame she wasn't the type to do a little flirting because he looked like a prime piece of virile male.

As she continued staring, the Captain handed the guy's identification back to him while explaining something. They then shook hands and the Captain walked away from him, heading back towards the van. The stranger looked directly at Jenna and cocked an eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest. His stare was penetrating and demanding. It sent shivers down her spine and a rush of heat that spread though her entire body.

The instincts she'd come to rely on all her life were running amok, telling her that instead of body burning arousal, she should be feeling fear instead. She recognized the mannerisms of an Alpha exuding his dominance. It was a damn good thing her logic was kicking her body's reactions in the metaphorical head because she was barely restraining the need to close the distance between the two of them and cover his body with her own. Or worse, bare her neck to him in submission.

Jenna snorted. They would be serving popsicles in Hell before she bore her throat to anyone.

A memory of Jenna's only paternal family member, her Uncle Owen, flashed through her mind—them sitting on a fallen log, surrounded by the woods behind her mama's house, patiently explaining the hierarchy of shifters and the expectations of their pack mentality.

Ol' Alpha boy here wanted Jenna to drop her eyes and look away if she wouldn't bare her vulnerable neck to him—that way she acknowledged who and what he was while giving him the assurance she understood who was in charge. Instead, Jenna continued to stare back at him coolly. Silently telling him where he could take his dominance and shove it.

She had to admit, though, it took every fiber of her being to fight her natural instinct to look down and away from his piercing gaze.

He was just that damn dominant, which was kind of scary since she had never felt the urge to show submission to anyone before.

Kent's hand landed on her shoulder from behind. "Come on, O'Conner. Get your Annie Oakley wannabe ass in here so we can go. We've all got paperwork to go back and fill out now."

With no choice left, she broke eye contact and climbed in the van, closing the door behind herself to cut off any view of the stranger. If she had any good luck left, this would be the last she saw of him. If only crossing her fingers would help those chances, she would do it. Jenna didn't think the guy had figured out what she was, or wasn't, for that matter. Her family had tried their best to hide her and had taught her to avoid all other shifters. She silently prayed their attempts would not be in vain because this guy had gotten curious. Her mama had always told her that, if certain shifters ever found out who or what she was, she was as good as dead.

Here was to hoping she hadn't stumbled onto the beginning of her funeral.

Adam

Adam watched as the black police van pulled away from the curb and speed down the street with its mysterious occupant inside. He'd come here to track down his cousin's killer and drag him back to his turf for some pack style justice, but instead, he had ended up having his prey snatched right out of his hands. That did not make him a happy predator. In fact, it made him kind of snarly.

Sure, the asshole would be tried and convicted for the murder of his cousin's wife, however Adam had been looking forward to the creep facing claws instead of steel bars. The douche bag was going to get off easy in the joke that was the human justice system. It wasn't fair. Adam stifled the growl that churned in his throat.

That was okay, though, because he had just had something else dropped into his lap. The little cop with midnight black hair, bright, arctic-blue eyes that reminded him of an Alaskan husky, and luscious, little curves, had snagged his interest. From the moment she had kicked down the door, Adam had caught the almost hidden scent of something Other in her, and after the way she'd stared him down, he was all but itching to find out what she was. No one ever stared down an Alpha without ending up in a lot of bodily harm. Yet, she hadn't even smelled afraid of him while she'd been doing it.

Adam was betting a shit ton of money she knew exactly what he was. The fact she had openly stared down an Alpha had his blood heating in preparation for the chase. Right now, he couldn't decide if he wanted to catch her to punish her or to pin her underneath him. Either way, he would be catching her. Maybe he could do both. Light up her pretty little ass to a nice shade of red with a well-deserved spanking and then pin her down underneath him. He kind of liked that idea.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when Adam's phone rang from his pocket. Digging it out to look at the screen, he saw it was his Beta and best friend, Clay, the second in command of his pack. "What's up?"

"Did you get him?"

He breathed out a frustrated sigh. "Almost. I had him cornered in a room at the address you gave me, but before I could cuff and drag him off, the cops busted in. They hauled him away in a patrol car."

Clay's growl rumbled over the line. "At least there will be some punishment for Ellie's death. I would have preferred it to have been us ripping him apart instead of the tiny cage he'll have to live in from now on. Will you be heading home now? Perhaps I could arrange a hunt for us to burn off some of our frustration. How does that sound?"

Adam thought about heading home. As excellent as hunting sounded at the moment, all he could see were a pair of chilly blue eyes staring him down with a fierceness that couldn't be found in any of the members from his pack. "I've got a hunt of a different kind to do tonight. Tell me, Clay, do you know of any blue-eyed, black-haired females of the Other variety in Wilmington?"

Clay snorted in amusement. "It's that kind of hunt, is it? I gotcha. I don't know of any females fitting the description, though. Are you sure she's not human?"

"I've got no doubt she's something, but it's definitely not human. I don't know what she is. Definitely not a vampire because it's daylight out, but her scent smells off, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what she is. I want to say she might be some kind of shifter, but if she is, she's masking her scent somehow. I think I might follow her tonight and try to figure it out. Do we have anyone we know at the Wilmington Police Department?"

"A cop, huh? Kinky. Are you going to ask her to cuff you? That would be cool, but you might want to have her leave the night stick at home. I don't think you'd like what she could do with it. At least, not without a lot of lube."

"Damn it! Get your mind out of the constant gutter you wallow in. It's not in our best interest to have some unknown Other roaming around so close to our land—in our territory. Especially, one we can't identify." His voice growled with irritation at his Beta and his tendency to harass Adam about his sex life. Or, his lack of one lately, which was what was amusing to Clay.

Until recently, Adam had never had any qualms about indulging in the female flesh that made itself so readily available to him all the time. Wolves were sensual creatures with an over-active sex drive. It wasn't entirely uncommon to go to the Pack's lodge and find a free-for-all in the middle of the night. However, for the last six months or so, no one had appealed to him. It was as if he had been doused with a cold shower one day and had yet to warm back up.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your fur in a bunch. We have someone at the Wilmington Police Department. Would you like me to call him or give you the number?"

"You call him. Her last name is O'Conner. Call me with whatever you find out." Snapping his cell phone shut, Adam walked down the street and around the corner to where he had parked his black custom Harley V-Rod motorcycle. The August heat was unbearable, causing small rivulets of sweat to run down the back of his neck and soak his shirt. The roar of the engine drowned out the sounds of major traffic flow as he led his bike back to his house where he could take a cold shower. After that, he would do some research on his laptop to see if he could come up with anything on his own about the mysterious O'Conner.

The hunt was on.

Here I come, little rabbit.
Chapter Two

Jenna

"Hey, O'Conner! Done with those reports, yet?"

Glancing up from her computer, Jenna smiled at Captain Nelson. She saw a strong resemblance of character there to her Uncle Rick. "They're already on your desk, sir."

His lips twitched as if he wanted to smile. "Good. Hit the locker room and change into your civvies. It's time to clock out and get hammered. I'll meet you by your bike in thirty minutes so you can follow me to the bar since you're new here." With that, he turned and headed to his office.

After shutting down her computer and locking her desk drawers, she made her way down to the women's locker room. The next shift had already started duty; she was by herself as she showered the sticky sweat off her body. Feeling fresh and clean again, she toweled off before pulling clothes out of her duffel bag. Slipping into the most feminine thing she indulged in, she pulled on her lacy red thong and matching convertible bra; the straps hiding perfectly underneath the red, cotton, racer-back tank top. Then, she pulled on her favorite boot cut jeans before stomping her feet into black, leather motorcycle boots. Her hair was still dripping wet, but that wouldn't matter for long. Soon, she would get on her bike where the wind would blow the long, straight layers dry. Lastly, she swept mascara across her lashes. It was essentially the only make-up she ever pandered to.

Draping her duffel bag across her body, she headed out to her Hyabusa motorcycle to wait for the Captain. She lovingly ran her hands over the red detailing decorating the shiny black paint job. The bike had been a gift from her Uncle Owen, who'd seemed to disappear right after her college graduation party.

He had never actually visited her all that much while she had been growing up, but the man meant a hell of a lot to her because he was the only connection she had to her father's side of the family. A father that had been murdered when she was young and who she'd never gotten the chance to meet because he, apparently, lived a very dangerous life. Since he was very much dead, she was guessing the dangerous life bit had been true. Her mother and uncles had gone through hell and tidal-wave-sized-high-water to keep her safely hidden from the world of uglies that go bump in the night. The dangerous Other community that seemed to thrive just below the surface of the human world was one she would not be welcome to—or so she'd been told. Today had been an alarming wake-up call as to how comfortably oblivious she had become to the threat of being discovered by that world.

Her mother still wouldn't tell her the complete truth as to why she had to stay hidden. The only explanation she had ever been offered was, being of mixed races, most shifters would be extremely prejudiced against her. The majority of what she was had come from her father's pureblooded shifter side. Which was surprising because, although the shifter's genes were generally dominant, they'd mixed with something that had been long considered "unmixable" in the history of all things Other. Her mother was a pureblood as well, however she was not a shifter. Jenna had also inherited some abilities from her mother's supernatural side of the family, but nothing quite as significant as what was considered the norm of her mother's capabilities.

So, in essence, here she was. Not good enough for her mama's side of the family and considered an abomination by her father's side. She couldn't forget she had to pretend to be human, so they wouldn't catch on to what a freak she was, either. Sometimes life seemed to be built like a cement trampoline—there was no give and wherever she landed, it was going to hurt like hell.

One of the main things her mother and uncles had beaten into her brain was that her father had many enemies—all of whom would love to kill her if they ever found out about her existence. Because of that, she had been isolated from the world growing up until she could, without a doubt, control her abilities. Kept safely away from any and all supernaturals, they had lived out in the country on the outskirts of the small town named River Bend, which was barely a blip on the map of North Carolina.

If her mother ever discovered what had happened today, she'd flip her freakin' wig and never let her out of the house again. Her missing Uncle Owen's voice rang through her mind.

"To stay hidden is to stay safe, Jenna. To stay alive."

Today had been way too close of a call.

"O'Conner, you ready?"

Jenna's head snapped up at Captain Nelson's voice. "Yes, sir; let's roll." With a nod of his head, he strolled away and climbed into his SUV. As they rolled through the tree-lined streets of Wilmington, Jenna watched her surroundings with excitement. She had spent way too long trying to get out of the small town she'd been sequestered in. Now that she was finally out, she wasn't about to let some flea-brained mutt or kitty scare her out of it.

Taking a long whiff of the azalea aroma that was filling the air, Jenna pulled in and parked next to the Captain's SUV at a bar named Beat Street. A rookie could have figured out, with a name like that, this was a bar which catered towards the boys in blue. Sliding off her bike, she watched as Nelson unlocked and opened his rear door.

"Throw your bag back here, since I'm guessing your duty weapon is in there. That way you won't have to worry about it being unsecure."

"Thanks, Captain." She tossed her bag in and followed the man into the bar where the rest of her new team was already sitting around two round tables they had pulled together.

As they entered, the entire lot of them yelled and cheered her name while Kent bellowed with his sugary, southern, North Carolina drawl, "Annie Oakley's here, y'all!" Sauntering up to the table, she scratched her eyebrow with her middle finger in Kent's direction as he patted the empty seat next to him, laughing at the gesture.

After a round of boilermakers and additional beers were delivered to the table by the young, pretty waitress, Captain Nelson held up one of his hands for silence while lifting the boilermaker in his other hand. "To O'Conner! For a hell of a first day on the job and for making you slackers look like little girls with guns! Throw 'em back, boys!"

The shots were demolished and a few of the guys choked as the burning liquor went down their throats. Jenna reveled in the hot liquid sliding down and warming the muscles in her belly. Tonight was going to be loads of fun as she drank these guys under the table. Another perk of her biology was a super high metabolism. It took almost twice as much as these guys for her to get any semblance of drunk.

Kent waived to the waitress while he hollered the next round of boilermakers were on him and then winked at her. Jenna wasn't stupid. These guys thought they could get her drunk and girly. It was such a shame she would have to disappoint them because she was going to have much more fun embarrassing the hell out of them.

After the second round of shots, Jenna nursed her beer and decided now was an opportune time to try and get some info on the potential threat of the Alpha shifter.

"Hey, Captain, who was that guy at the scene today?"

"Red-haired boy? He was some bounty hunter hired by the victim's family to bring in our suspect. Seemed mighty disappointed we got him instead." He smiled, as her teammates cheered around them again.

Bounty hunter, huh? Well he could drag his nicely-shaped ass back to wherever the hell he'd come from.

Whistles broke out as several flashy women entered the place and sat down at the bar. In about three seconds flat the only three people left at the two tables were Nelson, Kent and Jenna. Looking back and forth between the guys she held her hands up in mock surrender. "Don't let little ol' me keep you two from flirting with the ladies. I can sit here all by myself while watching you guys make asses out of yourselves for entertainment."

The two men laughed at her. The Captain gave her a chin lift before he jogged over to one of the blondes at the bar. He might have been pushing his mid-forties and divorced with streaks of grey at his temples, but he was still an extremely attractive man. Those three women over there might be out numbered with the eight guys surrounding them, but she'd bet her favorite shotgun the Captain would be taking one of them home tonight.

Jenna swung around to look at Kent standing next to her. "What are you waiting for, Kent? They're not getting any younger over there. Not that they actually could get younger. They look barely legal now."

Kent's eyes watched her with amusement. "Maybe I want to stay here with you, Annie. That way you can tell me what other remarkable tricks you've got." Jenna's body flushed at the innuendo.

Looking at Kent now, she tried to figure out how the hell she could have missed the fact he was such a looker. He seemed to be in his mid to late twenties; he was a few years older than her. His dark-brown hair was crew cut and only enhanced the strong lines of his nose, cheeks, and jaw. His eyes were the darkest shade of cobalt blue she'd ever seen, but right then, they seemed almost molten with something like lust. He also looked just as enticing with his six-foot frame in civilian clothes as he did in his standard issue black BDU SWAT uniform. Most importantly, he smelled human. That meant he wasn't a threat.

Of course, it didn't matter how gorgeous the human looked, he wouldn't be getting into her panties. Hell, no one had gotten into her panties, yet.

Initially it had been because her family had shadowed her every move, and then, later, because she was afraid of doing something stupid in the heat of the moment. Like accidentally breaking a human while she tried to get her groove on. That would be a tad awkward. In reality, she could admire the pretty packaging, but she couldn't un-wrap it. Jenna was half tempted to call up the Guinness Book of Records and ask if she was the oldest living virgin.

"Let's start out with the basics, Kent. My name's not Annie, it's Jenna. Or, if you'd prefer, you can continue to call me O'Conner when we're off duty. What's your first name?"

Kent leaned closer to her as she sipped from her beer. "Can't tell you, Jenna. You'll have to keep calling me Kent."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both, but I have to admit that I like the way your lips smile when you say my last name. It makes me picture the other things your lips could do. I think I'm becoming kind of partial to it."

Jenna smiled around the opening of her beer and then took another sip. "Why, Kent, you disgusting hound dog, I do believe you're hitting on me." Now, with a small, pleasant buzz in her head, she clunked her beer down on the table. Rock music started to blare from the jukebox and they watched as some of the guys from their team were dragged on the dance floor by the scantily clad girls at the bar.

The obnoxious chimes of a cell phone went off and she observed out of the corner of her eye as Kent took his phone from his front pocket and looked at the caller ID. Looking up at her and then eyeing her empty bottle, Kent leaned over to whisper in her ear. His hot breath tickled the edges of her earlobe and the hair surrounding it. "Wait right here, I'll get you another drink." Flashing Jenna a smoldering smile that displayed his perfect white teeth, Kent headed towards the bar as he answered his phone.

Turning her attention back to the dance floor, she sat there waiting for her next beer while watching and laughing at the guys who could shoot a weapon with deadly accuracy, yet couldn't swing their hips in time to the music to save their lives. Adorable, but pathetic. Really pathetic.

As Jenna stood, subtly swinging her hips to the music, she caught a whiff of Kent's scent getting stronger as he walked up behind her and boldly pressed his chest into her back. He set down the beers on either side of Jenna's hands, resting them on the table in front of her before grabbing her hips with his hands so he could press her body back into him further.

Dropping her head back to rest on his shoulder, her body heated instantly to his touch and her muddled brain tried frantically to remember why this was a very bad idea; especially when she felt the hard length of him growing and pressing into the cheeks of her backside. An image of the red-haired Alpha quickly floated through her mind. With a sudden shot of cold clarity, Jenna stepped away from him and grabbed her beer bottle.

Shooting her eyes around the room, she assessed that none of their teammates saw the incident while also spying a pool table in the back room. Turning around to face a pouting Kent, she gestured her head towards the back. "Do you play pool?"

His mouth broke into another smoldering smile. "Hell, yeah. Let me show you how it's done, darlin'." Grabbing her free hand with his, he dragged her back to the pool tables.

By the time eleven o'clock rolled around, Kent and Jenna had played several games and were currently tied. Some of their teammates had drifted back to join them at the other empty tables while steadily placing a growing bet on who would beat who in their little tournament. Close to the end of what would be their tiebreaker game, Jenna only had two striped balls left on the table while Kent had five solid ones. As she chugged her tenth beer, or maybe it was her twelfth, Kent sat halfway on a barstool in front of her.

"How about a bet of our own, gorgeous?"

Cocking an eyebrow, she grinned. "Depends on the wager. What do you want to play for? Fifty? Hundred bucks to the winner?"

Kent smiled like a cat looking at a cornered mouse. "Actually, I wasn't thinking about money. I was thinking about a kiss."

Surprise flashed over her face. "A kiss? I think I'd rather the hundred bucks there, buddy boy."

"Agreed then. If you win, you get a hundred bucks. If I win, I get a kiss."

Holding her empty beer bottle for a minute, Jenna looked at the table, debating the odds. There was a damn fair chance she was going to whip his ass at pool anyways. Why not sucker him for the hundred bucks to teach him a lesson? Glancing back at Kent with a confident smile she told him, "Deal."

Walking to the side of the table, Jenna leaned over and lined her shot up for the corner pocket. This was going to be the easiest hundred dollars she had ever made. Too bad Kent's pride was going to take a hit in the process. Seconds later, a chorus of cheers erupted around them as she sunk the red striped ball into the pocket.

Walking to the opposite end of the table so she now faced Kent on the far side where he still sat on his stool, Jenna lined up a long shot to take the blue striped ball into the far pocket. Just as her pool stick hit the cue ball, though, Jenna felt an electric tingle race up her back. Following the direction of the sensation, her widened eyes lifted and looked at Kent's own startled eyes. She watched in her peripheral vision as the blue striped ball went wildly off the mark and missed the pocket. Kent's pupils were dilated so black they almost encompassed his entire cobalt blue iris.

Oh, shit.

Her mama had taught her that feeling a wave of electric sensation through the body and a person's pupils expanding like that could only mean one thing. Kent was a demon and he had used some kind of telekinetic power to sabotage her shot. Cheating little bastard.

Her heart nearly exploded out of her chest. How unlucky could one girl get? A shifter and a demon in one freaking day? This was some truly scary shit!

Hastily setting the pool stick down, she sprinted for the front of the bar, leaving a startled group of co-workers calling after her. What's worse, she had to pull her speed back so that she ran at what would be considered a fast, human speed, instead of the preternatural one she could easily let rip. She had to get the hell out of there as fast as possible.

Bursting through the front door of the bar, Jenna rounded the corner and started sprinting to her bike in the dimly lit parking lot. One moment, blessed retreat was seconds away and the next, Kent stood in front of her bike, blocking the way for Jenna to get to it. He had moved at a speed even her eyes couldn't track.

With both of his hands in the air, in an 'I-mean-you-no-harm' manner, she quickly slammed her heels into the dirt to skid to a stop a few feet in front of him. Kent looked as shocked as she felt. By his body language, there were no signs he actually meant her any harm, but that did little to reassure her.

"Jenna, it's okay. I'm not sure what you know or what you think you know, but I swear I'm an upstanding guy and you have nothing to fear from me, darlin'."

"Good. Then, get out of my way, Kent, and let me leave."

The electric tingle traveled up her spine again as she simultaneously felt an invisible nudge at the front part of her forehead. This jerk face was trying to poke around in her brain! "Stay out of my head, asshole!" She snarled. "You're not welcome there."

Jenna continued to watch Kent's startled face before she caught a semi-familiar scent on the wind along with the slight sounds of movement at her back. Turning her body slightly to the left, she back-flipped so she was now a few feet further away, facing Kent and her new unwelcome party crasher. Standing in a defensive crouch, Jenna's eyes raked over the red-headed, Alpha, bounty hunter from earlier today. The pompous little jerk had thought he could sneak up on her. Jenna's body started to tremble slightly with rage and she realized she was literally seconds from losing it out there in the middle of a public parking lot—seconds from blowing her secrets to hell in a hand basket. Wouldn't that please her mother to pieces?

The Alpha stood there coolly with an expressionless face, his arms crossed over his massive chest. Shaggy hair blew in the wind as his eyes once again tried to express assertiveness to her. Keeping Kent in her peripheral, she started to assess what her chances were of ripping out of there on her own two feet and not getting caught.

"Jesus, Jenna! Calm down already! You had to pop up on her like that, Adam?"

The Alpha's name was Adam? Well, Jenna's mind was already thinking of the million ways she could tell the unwelcomed, but undeniably hot Adam to go pound sand up Kent's ass and then his own. Who cared if it wasn't anatomically possible?

Adam's eyes never moved from her own, even as Kent yelled at both of them. He was still trying to prove he was the big, bad, dominant shifter whom she should drop to her knees, beg for mercy and offer her throat to in submission.

She hoped he wasn't holding his breath for that to happen. Instead, Jenna bared her teeth to him in a silent growl. Her mama hadn't raised her to bow to anyone and she'd be damned if she started with him.

Seemingly intrigued by her response, Adam finally spoke with a deep baritone voice that was gravelly, sounding just shy of him growling. "Yeah, Jenna; calm down. And while you're at it, why don't you tell us what you are exactly?" He stood there, silently gauging her reaction. "I know you're not a vampire because you were walking around in broad daylight earlier today. Your scent hints you're some kind of shifter, but that doesn't quite make sense, either, because you apparently felt Kent here trying to skim your thoughts. So would you like to enlighten us? I have to admit, I'm extremely curious." His molten amber eyes twinkled with a challenge, like this was some well-played game he was enjoying.

Jenna had to wonder if he would think it was a game if she slammed his head into the metal light post a few yards away, then kicked him in the nuts while he was down and out.

This was bad. Very, very bad. To be caught between two men who weren't human was a nightmare scenario. Especially, since they were two different species of Others. It would have actually been much better for Jenna if it had been two shifters or two demons, instead of this combination. The reason for that deduction was simple. If it had been two shifters, then all she would have had to be on guard for were physical attacks; such as a shifter's abnormal strength and speed, or them changing into their animals. If she had been caught between two demons, it would have had been the opposite. Instead of furry bodies or extraordinary strength, she would have had been on the lookout for what their mental abilities were capable of.

Demons weren't exactly what humans thought they were. When someone said "demon," frightened little humans thought about the twisted, maniacal things mentioned in Holy texts or the beings glamorized in Hollywood movies. Well, that was only a fraction of the truth.

The beings that escaped from Hell were literal monsters that scared the bejesus out of just about anything. However, they couldn't survive on the surface. The best they got was a twenty-four to seventy-two hour vacation of Biblically evil proportions before they started to disintegrate. You could say there was something in their genetic makeup that couldn't withstand the earth's surface, but no one knew what it was that caused them to deteriorate. Frankly, no one with a sane mind wanted to know because everyone who enjoyed living was better off if those things had to go back to Hell, for obvious reasons.

However, that wasn't to say they didn't get away with some scary shit while they were top-side. They were evil beings to the bottom of their shriveled up, black little hearts, so you could guess what they did while they were out. They went on killing sprees. They caused mass riots, sowed the seeds of mayhem, started outbreaks of disease, and chortled gleefully over senseless destruction. Then there were the ones who violated the humans. It wasn't a thing to worry about if you were a shifter or a vampire because, frankly, they could hold their own. They had enough claws, fangs, speed and strength to protect themselves. Puny little humans, though—especially women—not so much.

On rare occasions, those rapes resulted in pregnancies. If the fetus survived to birth, then the result was something altogether unexpected. The fetus would go through a significant evolutional change. What you had afterward was a child who looked perfectly human, but was something much more. They didn't gain any physical traits from their demonic daddies, just genetic ones. In fact, demonic DNA was like a virus. From the moment an embryo formed, the demon's DNA started to take over. Evolution had been smart enough to leave one thing unchanged, though. The body.

In essence, what you had was a demon in a perfectly formed human body. They walked like humans, talked like humans, ate like humans, and all their organs, as well as their bodily functions, were human. They even had souls like humans. They had a chance to be unlike their paternal contributors and live blameless lives filled with the good things.

Not all demons inherited the urges for causing death and despair that their paternal units lived for, yet those genetics passed on one supremely notable thing. Their mental capabilities were off the charts. Every demon was different with varying ranges of, or strength in, those abilities. However, all of their talents lay in their brain. Like telekinesis, which could range from the ability to make a spoon levitate a few inches to levitating a car a foot off the ground. Or, in a demon with high abilities, they could lift your house right off its foundation.

Jenna knew one of those demons.

That was just talking telekinesis. It wasn't talking telepathy, pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, levitation, teleportation or whatever the hell else they were able to do with their super brains, but back to her point—Kent was a demon. He might have given himself away on having telekinesis, but she didn't know the kind of strength his ability came to. He had moved the ball on the pool table, but could he lift one of the cars in the parking lot?

Being between an Alpha shifter and a demon of unknown strength was beyond bad, bad news.

This was a fuck-up of epic proportions on her part.

This was why her family had never, up until the time she'd moved to Wilmington, let her out of their sight.

Barely controlling the urge to claw his eyes out, she spit out through her clenched teeth, "None of your damn business! That's what I am! I'm not bothering anyone and I want to be left alone. So take my advice and do that. Leave. Me. ALONE!"

The tremors in her body increased. The ends of her fingertips ached with the pressure of the claws underneath her skin, threatening to release at any moment. Jenna's beast was hovering at the surface, begging to be free. It had begun raking its claws on the insides of her skin, demanding to get out and defend itself.

Anyone who thought she was dangerous as a human wouldn't know what hit them if they caught the animal raging on a bad day. If she wasn't careful, her canines would start to elongate and sharpen at any minute. Glancing back and forth between Kent and the douche bag named Adam, Jenna knew she would never get to her bike. Her only chance was to turn around, run as fast as she could until she was out of sight and let her beast loose to race to freedom. She only needed one teeny tiny distraction to get their attention off her for a few seconds while she made a break for it.

Looking back and forth between the two men, she cast her eyes around the parking lot, looking for her fix-it-all shot. The problem was, she didn't see much in the way that could help. She couldn't lift a car. That was way too much information for them to have on her. Plus, it was risking a passerby would see the event, do something stupid like stop and take pictures and then spread them across the internet. There was nothing close enough to drop on them. Hell, this parking lot was devoid of essentially everything except vehicles from the street to its entrance. There wasn't even any trash lying around!

Shifting her right foot back into her crouch, she heard the faint sounds of dirt grating and crunching beneath her boot soles. That was it! Locking her mind onto the dirt particles surrounding both the men, she shoved her own telekinetic psychic powers out from her hands slightly in order that a dense dust cloud puffed up around them from their feet to their faces.

Spinning on her heel, she then rushed off in the opposite direction to freedom. Letting speed jolt through her body, she flung herself as fast as she could get her legs to move down the street. Kent's shouts behind her, along with the Alpha's snarls traveling closer in her direction, forced Jenna to pump her legs faster. When she was safely in the dark between residential houses and out of sight, she shifted as she threw herself over a fence and into the neighboring backyard, letting her beast take over. Her arms and legs shortened while a subtle pain thrummed throughout her entire body as her jaw started to lengthen out into her muzzle. Landing on four paws instead of her human two, she shook off the tatters of clothing and pushed herself quickly through the residential yards as fast as her agile legs would take her.

The powerful light of the moon caressed the fur on her back as she raced for her life. Letting her instincts take over, Jenna moved through silent streets towards the new house she was renting across town with no sounds of pursuit coming from behind her. Avoiding traffic wasn't all that hard since it was late at night, but it did slow down some of her progress as she attempted to stick to the shadows while heading towards home at the edge of the city.

Jenna's beast was growling at the knowledge they had almost been caught. Angrier still that she planned to shift back as soon as they reached the house so she could throw some new clothes on and hop in her truck to head home to her mama's. Her beast wanted to run free to hunt; to taste fresh blood in her mouth as she devoured a meal of rabbit or squirrel.

Well, her furry, little ass could get over it. They had bigger problems to solve.

Luckily, Jenna was supposed to have the next forty-eight hours off anyways; a trip home to her mama would give her some much needed space to figure out what she needed to do next and the state-protected forest behind her house for a good hunt. As she crossed the space to the backyard of her place, she let her beast sit and indulge in the moon's light for a moment. She at least deserved this for saving their asses tonight. Hell, who was she kidding? Jenna needed the quiet comfort of nature, too. The wind blew gently across her fur, caressing her body and offering a small sense of calm. Raising her head to the sky, she let a heartbreaking howl rip through the night air.

In that moment, Jenna had to be the loneliest half-wolf shifter on the planet.
Chapter Three

Adam

Adam trotted back to the bar in his wolf form. First, he'd see if Kent was still in the parking lot then he would shift and grab the change of clothes from his bike. After that, he could contemplate the best way to reel in his new obsession. It was a damn good thing he had remembered to grab a fresh set of clothing to put in one of the saddlebags before he left his house. Somehow, his instincts had told him a shift would be needed and he didn't figure the authorities in Wilmington would appreciate a naked man driving his motorcycle around the city.

His heart was pounding from his discovery and the chase she had given him. He now had more reason than ever to track her down. Who would've thought he would find not only an unknown female shifter here in Wilmington close to his pack lands, but a female lone wolf? It's unheard of.

Females were so few among the packs they were perpetually sheltered and guarded to the point of crazed possessiveness. Packs almost never let them leave pack lands. The males in the pack simply couldn't afford to have an eligible female, particularly their mate, taken or hurt; to deprive them of the next generation they were supposed to produce. Who had let this female loose? Or perhaps, since she was such a feisty one, she had escaped her pack? Whatever it was, Adam intended to find out. Then perhaps she could be persuaded to join his pack. Lust hummed through his body as he thought of all the ways he'd like to persuade her.

His animal was always there, just beneath the surface, even more so than other shifters. There was a part of him that was always wolf, even in his human form. Adam was faster and stronger than any other predator out there. He had to be in order to protect himself and those he cared for.

His eyes would never shift to what humans might consider a normal color. Instead, they stayed their bright amber hue in both forms. That feature alone was practically unheard of. Shifters had normal shades of blues, greens and browns for eye colors in their human forms. However, in their shifted forms, they sported eye colors closer to their animal brethren in shades of brown, amber, gray, yellow and a small percentage with green. The chances of a shifter carrying the same eye color in both forms was slim to none. Adam figured his nickname should be Slim.

What most of the younger generations of shifters didn't know was this complex level of genetic deception in appearance was due to the evolutionary beginnings of the shifter race. The shifter race had not been born onto this planet as they lived today. Instead, as the humans had evolved from primates that walked upright into their current, highly intelligent state, you could say the shifter race had evolved right along with them. They'd started as some of the original predatory creatures on the planet. In fact, they had lived during the reign of the dinosaurs.

The shifters who survived the asteroid that wiped out most of the life from the planet, including the dinosaurs, went on to live their lives in the drastically changed world. The need for survival in dire circumstances somehow wired their DNA to adapt to what was needed to survive in the environment around them. Where other species of animals had died off—unable to live and find nourishment in the new, harsh climates—the shifters' ancestors had survived. With time, as their surroundings continued to change, their DNA had changed with them. Those changes had led to large, lethal, animal forms with considerably higher intelligence and immensely longer life spans than that of the other species around them.

Eventually, mammals had been born and become plentiful on the planet. The changes in the world had kept coming, though, and the evolutionary changes in the shifter species had also continued. Around the time primates had been formed, shifters had come in many shapes, sizes and forms. The ancestors of the wolves, predatory cats, and bears spread throughout the world, living in packs to promote the continuation of their species.

Compared to their unintelligent animal brethren, they were stronger and faster, and now lived hundreds of years longer than what could be considered their closest cousins, such as the saber-toothed tigers. Although shifters had a hard time producing offspring, the cubs they did give life to seemed to be much healthier, sturdier, and quicker and lived much longer than their parents before them.

As humans evolved from primates, traveling farther out into the world and procreating much faster than any other mammal species in existence, the now highly intelligent shifter race knew they would become a threat one day. Somehow, that extra-significant survival gene allowed them to push their bodies into the next stage of evolution; to become the ultimate chameleon in the rapidly changing predator game of life.

They obtained the ability to change their appearance from their respective animal form into that of the highly dangerous human form, who hunted them for food and supplies. With the ability to blend, shifters gained one last advantage in the game of survival, the ability to hide in plain sight by blending in with their enemy.

It was excruciatingly painful to force their bones to break apart and reform into their enemies' likeness, but after years of trying, they were finally successful. In human form, they had the same soft, vulnerable skin, devoid of hair to keep their bodies warm, however they also grew slightly taller and bulkier than the humans had. They might have seemed weaker since they didn't retain their claws or canines, but they could use their preternatural speed, intelligence, and their hands to use the humans' own weapons against a perceived enemy—to wage war and maneuver humans away from wherever shifter packs had claimed their territory.

His voice was just this side of a growl no matter how harmless he tried to pretend to be and his wolf was always there, never fully letting go. Others like him would have been put down for being too close to their animals in such a way. Those kinds of traits could be symptoms of feral shifters. However, Adam had always been enough of a controlled bad-ass to scare even the most dominant of Alphas. There were less than a handful who could take him. Those that could kill him, well, they seemed to like him better alive. Lucky him.

Rounding the corner, he came into view of the bar's parking lot and saw Kent standing next to Jenna's bike. Bobbing his head to indicate Kent should follow him, Adam made his way behind the bar where his bike and spare clothes were situated. He shifted quickly and was pulling jeans on as Kent walked towards him.

"Seein' as though you're alone, I'm takin' it that you didn't catch her?" Kent drawled.

"No. She's a fast little one, but I need to find and talk to her now more than ever. Do you think you can get her phone number?" Adam pulled a white t-shirt over his head.

Cocking his head to the side, Kent studied him for a moment before speaking, "Why do you need to talk to her? I gotta tell you, I'm not feeling too enthusiastic about running off the newest member to my SWAT team. If she doesn't bother to come back because we scared her, it could be the end of her career. Not to mention, I don't much like havin' made the poor girl so upset."

Donning his usual stance, Adam stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. The demon was starting to agitate him. His inner wolf snarled at the unconscious poke to his dominance. "It's pack business now, Kent. While I appreciate your help tonight, I think the rest of this no longer concerns you." He stood eerily still with his face expressionless, beating down the urge to flash his canines in annoyance.

Kent remained there a minute longer, staring at him incredulously. "Are you trying to tell me she's a wolf? Is that what you're trying to insinuate here? I'm finding the possibility a little hard to believe if she felt me trying to skim her thoughts. Look, I'm not going to let you run Jenna off like that. I think she's good people. Unless you tell me what the hell is going on, then you can forget about me helping you out anymore anyway. Like I said, I'm not going to let you scare Jenna off, so I'm in this—one way or another."

Adam heaved a heavy sigh. "Kent, I saw her with my own two eyes. She's a wolf. Whatever else is going on with her... I don't know. Whatever the reason, it honestly doesn't matter. She's a lone female wolf without a pack and that's not acceptable. Will you help me or not?"

Kent pushed an irritated hand through his hair. "Look, I'll be honest. I don't much like the idea of you trying to force a pack on Jenna. If she's a loner, it's for a damn good reason, I'm sure." As Adam started to interrupt, Kent held up a hand to stop him. "On the other hand, I'm also afraid Jenna might need help of some kind. I'll get her number, but I'm going to call her and try to smooth this over. I'll ask her to meet us somewhere to get her bike. I'll call you as soon as I can get ahold of her."

Adam climbed on his bike and started the engine, giving Kent one final harsh look. "You do that, but don't think I don't smell her scent all over you, Demon. She's a wolf, leave her alone. She belongs to our kind. I'll expect a call tomorrow."

As Adam left Kent standing in the dust behind the bar and headed towards his home, Adam's inner wolf howled in pure lust-filled interest. This was becoming the kind of chase he could never resist.

After she had shifted, her scent had become stronger. Damn, had she smelled delicious! Like wild honeysuckle and sugar cookies. Never in his life had he wanted to roll around in someone's scent so much that it coated his skin, drowning out everything around him. His beast was happily growling at the thought of tracking little Jenna down, getting all of her dirty little secrets and then wooing her into submission. If he had anything to say about it, he would be taking her back to pack lands as a potential mate—for himself.

Jenna

Jenna climbed the back steps to her mama's house; naked, exhausted, covered in blood, and utterly happy.

She had woken up long before the sun had lit the sky to go for a run and caught some breakfast. Her inner wolf was restless so Jenna had taken her out for a quick hunt. The small deer she had taken down would hold her over for most of the day, but she'd probably have to go for a run tonight, too. The few hours spent in the woods that morning had helped to clear her mind, but now that she was back in her human form, she needed to decide what to do about yesterday's events.

As Jenna made her way to the bathroom, she noticed through one of the living room French doors that her mama was reading on the porch. Good. She had some time to take a shower and clean off. Locking the door, she turned the shower spray on hot and climbed in. The water sluiced down her body as she dipped her head beneath the spray. Shampooing and rinsing her hair, she thought about her options. She could run off some place and hide, tell her mama and Uncle Rick everything and they would help her disappear. The idea made her feel like a coward, though, and she didn't like that feeling much.

She started to soap up her body while her mind continued to think. Her next option would be to tell Uncle Rick and get her old job back here in River Bend. Leave Wilmington behind and hopefully the demon, as well as the Alpha wolf, would forget about her. Somehow she doubted they would. Were they determined enough to track her down to River Bend? That brought her around to her last option. Go back to Wilmington, confront the two and convince them to leave her alone. Perhaps it was time to stop running from what she was. Maybe Kent was telling her the truth when he said they meant her no harm.

Rinsing off the last of the soap, she climbed out of the shower and started to dry off. As she ran the brush through her hair, she heard a beep coming from the direction of her room. Opening the door, she walked over to her desk where her cell phone was sitting. One new voicemail. Dialing into her mailbox, her breath hitched when Kent's voice came over the line.

"Hi, Jenna, this is Kent. Look, I'm sorry Adam and I scared you last night. I promise you we're not out to hurt you or anything. It's not normal for an unknown shifter to pop up under our noses like that. We only want to talk to you. Adam says he knows you're a lone wolf, and he's worried about you. Please call me back. We'd like to meet you somewhere to talk. By the way, I got your duffel bag from the Captain last night. I need to return it to you as well as your bike. Call me."

Jenna bit her bottom lip in hesitation as she deleted the message. Kent had already managed to get her number, probably from the Wilmington Police Department's Human Resources Division. If he had already gotten her phone number from the WPD, then he probably had her mama's address as well. She was betting they would be more than eager to track her down if she didn't call him back.

She could tell her mama everything now, tuck her tail between her legs and live on the run forever, or she could go with option number three. Confront the two pains in her ass and talk them into leaving her alone. Warm amber eyes flashed through her mind, challenging her to back down and show submission—to run and hide like a scared pup. Pushing her chin out in defiance, she knew what she had to do. Option three it was.

After getting dressed in a pair of jeans and a tank top, she repacked her bag to get ready to leave; once her room was straight again, of course. It was seriously sad a grown woman could be afraid of her mama's temper tantrums. However, most mothers couldn't pick up a house and drop it on you without breaking a sweat. Not that Jenna's mama would ever hurt her, but one predator knew how to act when a bigger predator was in the room.

She dialed Kent's number. On the second ring, he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Kent, you two can meet me in the bar parking lot in an hour and a half. It's seven-thirty now so that means meet there at nine. Got it?"

"Thank you, Jenna. See you then." Kent hung up.

She might be crazy enough to agree to meet them, however she was going in armed. She found herself being grateful she hadn't had a chance to move all of her belongings to Wilmington yet.

Pulling out her shoulder harness from her closet, she slung it on and then pulled out two Sig Sauer .45 pistols from the shelf. These had also been graduation presents from her Uncle Owen. See, who said a girl couldn't be sentimental without candy and flowers?

Owen had made sure to give her plenty of boxes of normal ammunition along with additional, special ammunition used to take down shifters, such as silver bullets. Discharging the two ammunition clips from the guns, she threw them in the overnight bag and dug for the box on the shelf in the back of her closet. In it were two more clips already loaded with silver bullets. Silver was lethal to shifters, poisonous to their blood stream. It also burned the skin if they touched it. Somehow, with her mixed background, Jenna was immune to the lethal effects of it. Not only could she touch silver without burning, but it didn't affect her blood stream, either.

A little something Owen had learned after he'd cut her hand with a silver knife to test his burgeoning suspicions. After his discovery, he wanted her to be armed and prepared in case she ever had to protect herself or her mother against another shifter.

Slapping the clips into place, she loaded the weapons into her harness and shoved her badge into her jean's back pocket.

Grabbing the overnight bag, Jenna gave her mama a hug and a kiss goodbye, explaining work had called her in and she had to leave right away. Her mama's blue eyes, identical to her own, teared-up as she asked Jenna to stay safe before leading her to the backdoor of the house. Standing on the top step with her platinum blond curls blowing in the wind, her mama watched as Jenna climbed into her red Chevy pickup truck and drove away.

Somehow, she'd make it safe for the two of them again, and then Jenna's mama would never have to know someone had found her. Damn, why couldn't those two take a long walk off a short pier into piranha-infested waters and leave her the hell alone?

The drive back to Wilmington from River Bend felt abnormally long. Her heart was nearly pounding out of her chest with worry about whether they were going to let her live alone in peace or not. Adam knew she was a wolf. If she could do damage control and let him only think she was half-wolf and half-human, neither of the two men would need to know the rest of it.

Stopping at a light two blocks over from the bar, Jenna hastily pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Patting the familiar weight of her two guns to make sure they were right where she wanted them, she mentally psyched herself up for the coming confrontation. The light turned green and she turned into the parking lot minutes later to see Kent and Adam standing next to her bike with casual demeanors and their hands shoved in their pockets. It looked like it was show time.

Her inner wolf growled at the threat, begging Jenna to set her free to defend them.

Who wants their ass kicked first?

Parking her truck across the lot from them, she watched in the side mirror as she shut off the engine. While making sure they hadn't moved, she took a minute to put up some strong mental barriers to keep out any possible psychic attempts by Kent. Climbing out of the truck, she scanned the parking lot to see the bar was closed, the lot was empty and the three of them were alone. It suddenly felt like a bad attempt at a low-grade, western shoot-out movie scene to her. Where was the tumbleweed blowing across the space between them while they broodingly stared each other down? Keeping her face schooled, she took a few steps until she stopped two feet past the bed of her truck.

Kent gave her an easy smile while taking a few hesitant steps towards her and away from her bike. "Morning there, Annie Oakley. I see you brought your guns." Holding his hands up in a placating manner, he continued, "Promise you won't need them, though. We're only here to talk."

Looking at the two men, she was inclined to believe him. She didn't see any visible weapons on them and their easy, relaxed postures didn't indicate that they intended her any harm. She remained on alert just in case. "Well, you know what I am. What do you want now?" Her eyes traveled back and forth between the two.

Kent looked over at Adam's quiet features and sighed. "Jenna, I don't want anything from you. Hell, I came to say I was sorry for scaring you like that last night. You have nothing to fear from me. In fact, if you'd like it, I can request Captain Nelson make us partners so you don't have to worry about one of the other guys catching on to anything abnormal about you."

Tipping her head to the side, she studied Kent. He appeared to be showing signs of genuine remorse. The question was, could she trust him? Not to mention, did she actually want to? "Why would you do that, Kent?"

"We've all got our secrets, Jenna." Boy is he right about that, she thought to herself. "Whatever yours are, I respect them. I hate to see you scared of the world, though. Whatever you've got going on, girl... maybe you should stand up to it. Maybe I can help you."

Adam took the opportunity to cut Kent off. "You're a wolf, Jenna. Where's your pack?"

Her muscles tensed. It didn't look as if Kent was going to be her problem. If she had one, it was going to come from the Alpha werewolf in front of her. Crossing her arms over her chest and keeping steady eye contact with him, she answered, "I have no pack."

"I get you don't have a pack now, you're a lone wolf, or you wouldn't be here. You'd be safe on pack lands. What I mean is, what pack did you leave and why?" Adam's amber eyes blazed with curiosity.

"I've never had a pack."

Surprise flitted over both men's faces, but just then a scrape on the ground towards the street caught their attentions. They stood there quietly, the sound coming closer, until a hunched over, wrinkled, old man pushing a shopping cart filled with odds and ends started slowly crossing the entrance of the parking lot. The strong scent of unwashed body wafted over her nose. It didn't take a genius to figure out the guy was homeless.

Taking a quick glance at Kent and Adam to make sure they hadn't moved, Jenna walked over to the man, stopping him with a hand on his arm. Digging into her back pocket, she pulled out a twenty and pushed it into his hands, telling him to go get a decent meal on her. A tear slipped down his weathered cheek as he thanked her and started to push his cart away again.

Turning back to the two men, she found them watching her with rapt fascination. Adam took a slow step forward. "Perhaps this is not the best place for this kind of discussion, Jenna. Would you be willing to talk to me elsewhere? I promise you I have no intentions of harming you."

Alone with Adam? Now why did that knot her lower stomach muscles in all kinds of ways? His eyes twinkled with challenge, waiting to see if she'd be bold enough to agree to talk with him where it wasn't out in the open and safe. Her instincts told her she was safe with Kent, and while she didn't think Adam would try to hurt her, being in the vicinity of another wolf was stirring up what she was guessing were the instinctual hungers her inner wolf had managed to hold back all of these years. Her wolf was practically begging to come out and play with the dangerous Alpha now.

Not good.

Right?

The new feelings brought a painful awareness to how lonely her life truly was. Perhaps it was time to take a few gambles and pray for positive results.

"Kent, you said you got my duffel from the Captain?" He nodded his head. "Good. How about you hand it over and then the three of us can go somewhere and get some breakfast. I suppose havin' a little talk never killed anyone, but let's get something straight right now, boys, if I even think you guys are trying to screw me over somehow, I'll show you how accurate my aim actually is," she said, giving a pointed look towards their itty bits to make her threat clear.

Kent's laughter boomed across the lot. "Alright, darlin'. Point taken."

Adam snorted with amusement.

"Good. Now, Kent, go get my damn bag. I feel naked without my duty weapon. I'm going to get my bike into the back of my truck, and then you can lead us to some place to eat."

Adam's eyes crinkled with laughter. "How can you feel naked when you have two guns already?"

Shooting him a have-you-lost-your-flippin'-mind look, she retorted, "A girl can never have enough guns. Never."

Adam seemed to ignore that when he moved to follow her as she rolled her bike across the lot to the back of the truck. He pulled the tailgate down for her, and Jenna watched him with curious eyes as he hopped up onto the bed of her truck, spreading the all-weather blankets out across the bottom of it. Once he was done, he held out his hands, waiting. "Pass her up. I'll help you secure it."

After lifting the back of the bike up to Adam, he then gently laid it down on the blankets. Obviously, he had figured out she had them there so the bike wouldn't get scratched during transit. As they secured it down with cinch straps, Kent pulled up in his dark blue Dodge Charger and parked it behind her truck. Getting out, he handed over her bag and then watched as she tossed it in the passenger side of the truck before shutting the door. The roar of a motorcycle engine then vibrated through the lot as Adam pulled close to them and waited to move out.

As she hopped in behind the driver's wheel, her brain started questioning the sanity of this idea. Whether she liked it or not, part of her had realized that she had reached a point in life in which she was tired of hiding. Tired of being lonely. It didn't mean she was ready to bare her soul to these two, yet she was ready to get to know some of the supernatural community she had stayed separated from for so long. Perhaps, if she learnt enough, then she could finally get answers about her father that her mama would never give. Maybe even find her Uncle Owen, who had not contacted her in close to six years. Maybe, for once, she'd find someone who understood, too.

~~~

Walking behind Kent and Adam into a Waffle House that resembled every other one she'd ever seen, Jenna's stomach was doing flips. Actually, forget flips. Her stomach was trying to impersonate Gabi Douglas's floor routine at the London Olympics. As they approached a table in the back corner of the diner, she watched in silent horror as Kent sat on one side of the booth and Adam sat on the other. In other words, no matter where she sat, it was going to be next to one of them.

Great. Just fan-flippin'-tabulous. The wolf made her nervous because of all the strange feelings and urges he provoked in her, but Kent had started to cross a line last night that two co-workers should never cross—not to mention, two potential partners, which was what he was offering her so she wouldn't feel the need to quit the SWAT. She needed to establish some distance between the two of them again. Spotting a lone chair a few feet away, she snagged it, placing it at the end of the table.

Adam cocked an eyebrow that seemed to say, Look at that, she was hiding yellow feathers beneath her clothes. Who knew?

After the waitress walked away with their orders, Jenna turned back and looked the two men dead in their eyes. Kicking her feet up on the bench Adam was sitting on, she crossed her arms over her chest to set the scene for her defensive explanation. "Okay, boys. You can ask, but I won't guarantee I'll answer. If I say pass, that means you move on. Got it?"

Adam turned his body to lean back against the wall and face her. "How can you never have had a pack, Jenna? That's essentially unheard of."

Taking a deep breath, she thought of how to word her answer without giving away information she wasn't ready to give up. Perhaps it was best to start off by asking Adam a question first. "Tell me, Adam; is it true the wolf breed is prejudiced towards those who aren't pure wolf? Do they actually kill you if you're part human or whatever?"

Adam rubbed his hand across his jaw. "I won't lie; it used to be that dire. There are those who still feel a hybrid—that's what we call those who aren't pureblooded—shouldn't be allowed to live, but the majority of the consensus died years ago when our numbers started to dwindle. Then there's the small matter of a revolution between the wolf packs over that very reason. A lot of wolves died in those fights, and since then, a lot of the packs have new Alphas like myself. The younger generations of Alphas feel hybrids should be welcomed into the packs, but it's a lot of history and politics best discussed another time perhaps. Why do you ask?"

Mulling the information over, Jenna tried to make sense of it all. Her whole life, Jenna's mama had said she had to stay hidden because she was what Adam called a hybrid, however he said they had been accepting hybrids like her with open arms in the packs. Maybe her mama didn't know? Or could she have lied? Shaking her head, she knew that wasn't the case. Perhaps her mama wouldn't know about changes among the packs, but her Uncle Owen would have. There had to be more to it. Owen had always said her father had enemies that would kill her. Perhaps there was more to that threat?

"Jenna?"

"Hold on to your boxers and be patient, I was lost in thought. To answer your question, I have never had a pack because my mother was told to hide me. My father died when I was young, and I never got a chance to meet him. When my mama told him she was pregnant with me, he told her if his pack found out, they would kill me. He gave her the financial support she would need to leave the area to protect me, and kept his distance from the both of us to do the same. She's hidden me all of these years to keep me safe. That's why I have no pack. Why is whether I belong to a Pack or not important?"

The waitress arrived before Adam could answer, bringing their plates and coffees. After she left their table, Jenna looked up to see a smug looking Kent glancing at an almost nervous Adam. He turned back to face her while scrubbing a hand over his face again. After what seemed like some internal debate, he finally shrugged his shoulders.

"It's important because a wolf's mentality is healthier if they have a pack. We're not meant to live alone, Jenna. Those of us that do, eventually fall into a type of madness because of it. It's hard to explain, but haven't you ever felt as if something was missing while you ran or hunted? Felt like there was something off about being alone?"

Dropping her head a little, she thought his words over. She hated to admit it, but he was right. There was a sense of loneliness that plagued her whenever she was a wolf.

As if sensing her thoughts, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to be alone anymore, Jenna. You're welcome to join my pack."

"I'm not leaving Wilmington, sorry."

"Well, lucky for you, I'm Alpha of North Carolina. I'm not asking you to move. What I'm offering is pack protection and benefits. You can come out to our land when you want to hunt or run and be surrounded by our kind. You'd get to learn our culture some. Does that sound so terrible?"

"I don't know. I have to think about it."

Dropping his hand from her shoulder, he continued, "I understand, Jenna. I do. What if we take it slowly? You can meet some of the pack first." She started to object, but he held his hand up to stop her. "Just hear me out first. There's a club here in Wilmington." His smile turned down right devious. "A club that caters to our kind only; called Pier Six. I'll ask my best friend and my sister to meet us there. What do you say?"

Unsure, she looked from Adam to Kent and then back to Adam. "Give me a minute to think while we eat. Our food's getting cold anyway." As the three of them sat in silence, eating their meal, her brain categorized the pros and cons.

Going to a place like that would unquestionably be blowing the whole secret lifestyle out of the water. On the other hand, hadn't part of her already decided she was tired of that kind of life anyways? Never letting anyone near, keeping everyone at arm's length... Not that she was ready to let her guard down totally, but it would be gratifying if, for once, she was able to hang out with people and not have to worry about keeping every secret she had at bay.

Looking up to Kent, she asked, "Hey, did you mean it when you said you would talk to the Captain?"

"Yeah. If you'd like, I can talk to him when we go back on shift Monday. I'll ask him to partner us up for warrant services."

"I'd like that then. Thanks." Turning back to look at Adam, she made her next leap of faith. "I'll go tonight. No promises after that, though." Grabbing a napkin and the pen the waitress had left them, Jenna scribbled her number on it and slid it towards him. "That's my cell phone number. Call me later with the when's and where's of meeting up. Now, if you'll excuse me, boys, I've got a house to finish unpacking."

Throwing a twenty on the table, she got up and left before either had a chance to say anything. Hopefully she wasn't walking away from making what could be deemed the biggest mistake of her life.

Maybe it would be the leap of faith that led to her greatest reward, instead.
Chapter Four

Jenna

Later that evening, Jenna stood in the doorway between her living room and kitchen, staring at her living room. It was really coming along. Just a few boxes left and it'd be completely unpacked. Glancing at the clock on the microwave, she realized it was time to start getting ready to go to Pier Six. Adam had called earlier to set a rendezvous time with him at a gas station a few streets over from her house so she could follow him to the club.

After taking a quick shower and blow-drying her hair, she flipped through the clothes in her closet, trying to decide what to wear. She wasn't the kind of girl to analyze an outfit seven ways from Sunday, it was more likely she would snag whatever was clean and lying around her room, shake the wrinkles out of it, and call it a successful mission.

She grabbed a pair of tight, low rise jeans and a black halter top out of her closet and threw them on the bed. Next, she pulled out a pair of knee-high, black leather boots with three-inch heels. They'd pull over the jeans perfectly for a sexy look.

Wait.

Who was she trying to dress sexy for? Adam? The thought of perhaps making him drool a bit did seem like fun. Her inner wolf growled in agreement at the thought. Taunting him could be playing with fire, however she couldn't help thinking that he could end up being such a delicious burn. Adam didn't come across as a match being struck before quickly fizzing out. No, he would be more like a raging wildfire, consuming everything in his path. Her wolf was yipping at her eagerly with the thought of what Adam could consume of them.

For a shifter hybrid—who was still a virgin—Jenna was quickly figuring out if you waved a sexy shifter in front of her, well then, apparently, her wolf turned slutty rather quickly. She was seriously going to have to sit down and explain to her wolf that they couldn't go lift tail for anyone—especially, a potentially dangerous anyone—no matter how good he looked. Or smelled. Or made her want to throw him up against the closest wall and bite him—hard.

Digging through her underwear drawer, she found a delicate lace set was only a shade off from the husky, pale blue of her eyes. After getting dressed and putting on some mascara then lip gloss, she headed out the door. Checking her pockets to make sure she had her ID, badge, and some cash, she got onto her bike and drove towards the gas station. Minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot and spotted Adam already waiting. When she gave him a chin lift, he pulled out in front of her on his bike, leading the way to the club. He would glance backwards every few minutes to make sure she was still behind him. An obsessively observant predator.

Go figure.

Obviously, it was too much to ask for her to meet an Alpha shifter who was either of a different shifter species and ultimately not likely to be interested in her, or had senses that were barely heightened to above a human's so it would be easy for her to lose him if needed. Then there was the wishful thinking that he could have had the intelligence of a dish sponge, so in other words, he'd be easy to confuse or diffuse if she felt it necessary.

Nope. Her luck had apparently been of the shitty variety lately. Therefore, not only did Adam seem interested in her for whatever the hell the reason, but he was also intelligent and had top of the line shifter senses. From what she remembered of Owen's long ago lessons, top of the line shifter senses were way more advanced than the superhero spidey senses of Peter Parker. All-in-all, Jenna figured she was suffering from the worst case of the unreal-shittiest-in-the-entire-universe type of luck. Luck so pathetic that, if she was dumb enough to hit up a casino right about then, she wouldn't hit the jackpot. No, sir, she'd walk away owing the casino so much money off one play from a penny slot machine they would demand her first born child as down payment.

Hence the reason she couldn't seem to move her eyes off the very delectable backside encased in mouthwatering denim that fit just right, sitting astride that damn Harley motorcycle in front of her. The backside that belonged to the seemingly intelligent, super shifter, who was an overly interested, pain-in-her-ass Alpha Wolf that was built like a small tank with masses of rippling muscles. The one who looked ridiculously hot with hair that still resembled a pissed off red porcupine on top of his head.

See. Shitty luck.

Saturday night was a busy time in Wilmington, so it took a while to reach their destination. Catcalls and whistles from college-aged boys stuck with them through the traffic until they finally ended up at the older, abandoned district by the waterfront.

It was dark with two street lamps in the parking lot and the neon sign flashing from the front of the club. Even though the rest of the street looked like it hadn't seen any activity in at least twenty years, the parking lot was packed with vehicles. Bass pumping from inside the club could be heard as it ricocheted off the buildings around her. Of course, hearing music from somewhere inside a building when your hearing was six times better than the average human was a normal day for her.

Two figures stood in the parking lot where Adam had pulled his bike in. Pulling in next to him, Jenna parked and stood next to her bike as Adam greeted the two figures. The man was tall like Adam, probably about six-foot-two, packed with muscle easily seen through his thin, short sleeve cotton t-shirt and low slung jeans. Instead of Adam's pale skin, though, he had a healthy tan that complemented his sable brown hair. Sharp cheekbones and light green eyes topped off the impressive package. However, it was his sharp, assessing glare that got to her. It said, Beware. My teeth are bigger than yours and I bite harder.

It made her want to chop off his cracker jacks, hang them around his neck like a sadistic necklace and say back, Big boy, you're the prey.

There was no doubt the woman next to him was Adam's sister. She didn't have quite the same auburn hair as her brother—it was more of a flaming red with dark auburn highlights that fell below her shoulders. However, she did have the same creamy, pale skin—except on her, it looked fantastically flawless. It was as if someone had covered her body in the freshest, sweetest milk that could be found, to tempt those of the opposite sex to lean in and take a lick. Set in all of that creamy skin were two chocolate brown eyes. It seemed as though Adam's unusual wolf-amber eyes were not a dominant trait of the family gene pool. His sister was small-framed but stood several inches over Jenna. The height gained from the fuck-me shoes Jenna was wearing didn't count. Standing in front of the three of them, she felt like the midget who had walked into the big and tall convention on accident.

Great.

Both of them stared at Jenna as she stood there, holding her helmet. The sister's face looked open and friendly while the man beside her was making no effort to hide the fact that he was checking Jenna out from head to toe. That look alone reminded her of something Kent would do. In other words, he was probably a horny hound dog best kept at a distance by threatening him with a trip to the vet's office for a little snip, snip.

Adam growled at his friend. "Jenna, this is my sister Amy and my best friend, Clay. Clay is also the Beta, or second in command, of our pack." Waving his hand back towards her, he said, "Guys this is Jenna. She's going to hang out and get to know us a bit. She might have some questions about pack life, and you have my permission to answer whatever she asks."

Amy stepped forward, holding her hand out. Grasping it lightly, they shook. "Nice to meet you, Jenna. It would be fun to have a new girl around. Wanna go inside and get some drinks?"

"Sure."

Amy walked forward to lead the way inside the club and Jenna fell into step next to her. She stopped to flash her ID to the girl at the front counter, but was dragged away by Amy before she could complete the task. At the last second, before clearing the door, she grabbed Jenna's helmet and tossed it to the girl behind the counter, not even staying to watch as the poor employee had to twist like a rubber doll in order to catch it.

Dance music poured over Jenna, covering her senses with a fast hypnotic pulse. Moving through the club, she followed Amy as they skirted the crowds, finding an empty table in the back near the bar. As soon as the four of them stopped at the table, a waitress came over and asked for their drink orders. Before she could answer, though, Amy ordered beers for everyone.

Whatever. That would have been her drink of choice anyways. It bugged her a tad bit to have someone else ordering for her.

As the waitress walked away, the guys shook their heads with silent laughter and Amy put her hand on Jenna's arm. "I hope you don't mind me ordering for you, Jenna. I'm kind of used to doing whatever I want."

Something about her no nonsense attitude felt admirable to Jenna. She could respect that—maybe—as long as Amy didn't think she would be easy to push around because, frankly, that would never be the case.

"Yeah, I got you're a little assertive after the girl at the front. Tell me, do you bully your way into every club without paying?"

Amy grinned. "No need to bully. This is a pack-owned club."

"Oh." Jenna gave her an easy grin back. "That means the drinks are free, too, right? Wouldn't want to strain my poor public servant salary, you know."

Amy giggled and then looked up with a huge grin. "You got it. So look around. What do you think of your first shifter club?"

Turning to face the room, Jenna watched the scene. The place was immense, much bigger than she would have guessed from the outside. Soft colored lights flashed over the dance floor where a large crowd danced in a sea of gyrating bodies while the bar itself was packed with people enjoying their drinks.

Amy pointed up the stairs to the second level. "That's the V.I.P. lounge. We usually go up there. Alphas from other packs have a permanent invitation and are allowed to take a small group of guests with them. It's also used as a neutral place for Alphas to meet and discuss pack business." The waitress arrived then to deliver their drinks.

As Jenna took large swallows, she looked at the second floor, noticing the elevator next to it; she pointed it out to Amy. "There are more floors above?"

Amy got a saucy grin and leaned over to whisper in her ear so no one else could hear. "It goes to the two floors of private rooms that can be rented for a night." Pulling back from Amy, she gave her a wide-eyed surprised look, which made Amy laugh.

Clay leaned over the table towards her. "So, Jenna, Adam tells me you're a cop. Is that right?"

"Yeah."

"What do you do on the force?" Clay's eyes twinkled with interest.

"I'm on the SWAT team." At his surprised expression, Jenna added, "I just started, though. Before that, I was a patrol cop."

"Wow. Do you like it?"

"I love my job. It's all I've ever wanted to do. One of my uncles is a Police Chief and he is the father figure in my life."

Adam leaned over to brush his arm against hers. "Did you bring your handcuffs, Jenna? Cause then, when Clay acts stupid later, we can cuff him and throw him in the car." Clay punched Adam in the arm while Amy laughed.

"Sorry, Adam, I left my handcuffs at home."

Adam's amber eyes heated with interest and her stomach knotted up again. That man's eyes looked like molten lust at times. It was like nothing she had ever seen, which was probably a damn good thing, or she might have been in trouble with every man who had ever tried to pull it off on her. Forcing herself to look away, she glanced over at the dance floor, however Amy chose the moment to grab her arm and start dragging Jenna away from the table and through the pressed bodies. Her senses were flooded with the smells of excitement, anticipation, and sex. Hands grabbed at her waist a few times, trying to pull her body against hard chests or grinding hips, but Amy kept pulling her away. Finally, they reached the near center of the dance floor and Amy stopped, only to immediately start swaying with the bodies around them.

The unfamiliar closeness of too many people wasn't as overwhelming as Jenna had thought it would be. Instead, it felt comforting—natural—like being enclosed with so many other warm bodies was where she had always belonged. Part of Jenna realized this was what Adam had been talking about when he'd asked earlier today if anything felt as if it were missing.

In that moment—with her eyes closed, head thrown back, surrounded by the feeling of soft and hard bodies swaying against her own—she knew this was what had been wrong. Hands grabbed her hips from behind before spinning her around. Turning, she now faced a sexy man with similar height, bronzed skin and dark brown hair and eyes. He wrapped his arm around her lower back, pulling her closer until their hips met, moving them side to side with the music. As he turned them around while gyrating to the hard beat of the bass, she saw Amy sandwiched in between two guys with a contented smile on her face and her head tipped back to rest on the shoulder of one of the men.

Looking back to the delicious, bronzed specimen she was dancing with, Jenna caught him looking over her shoulder, as if upset, before he started to pull away. Then a different set of hands grabbed her around the waist from behind. With his body snuggled against her back, his scent settled around her like a comforting blanket, and she knew who it was immediately—Adam.

Her wolf wanted to be set free to roll around in that scent until they couldn't tell it from their own. Jenna's body heated instantly at the sensation of him pressed against her. Her skin felt as if it was on fire wherever he touched her. He pulled her hands up, wrapped them behind his neck so the front of her body was open, exposed to him. Still swaying to the tempo, Adam ran his hands down the inside of her arms to the sides of her ribs until they settled low on her hips. Seconds passed before he forcefully pulled her butt back firmly against his groin, which was swollen, and rubbed against the small of her back.

The feel of him made Jenna's wolf want to howl, growling at the pleasure of him holding their bodies so tightly against each other. Something deep in her soul clicked into place, and suddenly, she felt as if she had been waiting for Adam to hold her like this all along. That was a dangerous feeling; one she couldn't allow herself to explore. The wolf inside of her didn't want to let any part of Adam go and tried negotiating with the human half of her that wanted to run away from him as fast as their legs could carry them. If her human half won in the argument waging within her, then it couldn't be called cowardice, right?

It felt as if time stood still while Adam danced them through the never ending music. The heady beats of a rock song with a hard, sexy beat came on that seemed to ramp the lust up to impossible heights in the room. As the song sang about fucking like animals, they ground their bodies together, oblivious to everyone else around them. When small drops of sweat started to run down her neck and her mouth became ridiculously dry, she forced herself away from his enticing body, moving towards the direction of the bar.

Weaving through the crowds, Jenna saw Amy tucked in between two different men, dancing with her hands stroking the pecs of one wolf's chest as she kissed him, their teeth clashing and tongues sliding together seductively. The second wolf tightened his grip on her hips to grind his groin into her ass. Jenna might be a virgin, but she wasn't shy about the prospect of sex. The three bodies entwining in their passionate dance was enough to amp up her already throbbing core.

Pushing through the edges of the crowd, her eyes found Clay at their table, whispering into the ear of an exceptionally attractive blonde. It looked like the entire club was here to hook up tonight. Keeping her original destination of the bar in sight, Jenna's feet carried her even closer to her goal when a large hand grabbed her arm, swiftly moving her into a small, dark alcove, halfway to her destination.

Hands crushed her to a masculine chest and Adam's aroused scent overwhelmed the area. His left hand wrapped around her waist, landing low on the small of her back, while his right hand grabbed the back of her neck, angling their faces closer together. His lips were hovering hesitantly over her own as if he was giving Jenna a scant moment to make the decision to push him away. As much as her brain told her pushing him away was exactly what she should do, the rest of her body wasn't getting the message. No, her traitorous body was craving the same kind of explosive sex the song was still droning on about in the background. Adam's warm breath fanned her face as he leaned over until their lips were skimming each other.

He growled. "I've wanted to do this since the moment I saw you pointing the gun at me."

In a flash, his lips were crushing hers in a bruising kiss. Then he was running the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips until she gasped at the tingling sensation. He didn't waste the opportunity to thrust his tongue inside her mouth. The wet, silky length slid against her own in a way that felt so carnal it made her body heat instantly for him. As he kissed her thoroughly and sensually, it was unlike anything she could have ever dreamed of before. He then let go of her neck to slide his hand down the sensitive length of her body.

Rubbing the side of her breasts on his path down to grasp both cheeks of her ass fiercely, he turned them around so her back hit the wall behind them. He lifted her until the V of her thighs cradled the hard length of him and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him tighter against her now rolling hips. Their bodies were pressed so intimately together not even air separated them. Her nipples hardened against the feel of his chest subtly rubbing them, causing him to groan into her mouth.

Jenna felt her body hum with excitement, begging for more. With one hand clenched in his gorgeous, auburn hair and the other fisting his shirt, she rocked her core against him. She suddenly found herself wishing they were somewhere much more private and with a lot less clothes on. Every nerve ending in her body that had laid dormant through the years of self-denial, flared with sensation, urging her to finally give in and indulge in the ultimate forbidden act. Her wolf was practically rabid with the possibility of how it could be between her and the Alpha erotically pressed to the front of her. Demanding her physical attention—her submission. What would sex be like between them?

Hard. Rough. Sweaty bodies enmeshed in a dance and her claws raking down his back. Her teeth nipped his swollen lips at the thought of it. Her core ground harder into his erection and again he growled low in his chest. The sound shot Jenna's arousal through the roof with the thought that nothing had ever sounded as wonderful as the gritty rumble while she was practically glued to him. She wished desperately that he was growling against something much tenderer which resided in the southern direction of her body.

When he tightened his grip on her ass, the pressure of his fingers biting into her muscles became a pleasure-pain kind of sensation. He ground right back into her, letting her know how equally hungry he was while they kissed each other desperately. Just when she didn't think the moment could get any more decadent, her body started to vibrate. This had to be one of the best make out moments in the history of the world if her body was actually vibrating.

Wait. Vibrate?

From the vicinity of her pocket, the vibrating sensation came again. Oh, shit, the phone. Cutting Adam's kiss off abruptly, she pushed against his chest to put distance between them while her other hand dug into the jean's pocket for her cell phone. Not realizing what she was doing, Adam tried to resume the kiss.

Giving him another shove on the chest, she huffed, "Adam, wait, my phone."

He snagged the hair on the back of her head, forcing her to face him as she pulled the phone out and tilted the screen to look at the caller ID. Her legs were still wrapped around his waist like a boa constrictor, and he, in turn, still had her trapped between his body and the wall while his lust-filled gaze bore into hers.

The screen read, Captain Nelson.

Shit.

Dropping her legs quickly and shoving Adam away harshly, she ducked for the women's restroom door three feet away from where they'd been making out like a couple of teenagers. Rushing into the bathroom, she answered at the last possible second before her voicemail would click on.

"Hello?"

"O'Conner! It's Captain Nelson. There's a situation. You need to report to the station in the next thirty minutes and suit up." Click.

In the span of a few seconds, Jenna went from club hoppin' party girl to WPD SWAT officer on call. With new determination, she pushed out of the women's bathroom and strode quickly through the club. Oblivious to her surroundings, she started to calculate drive times and the location of her 'Go' bag which held her uniform and supplies. Reaching the entrance room to Pier Six, she stopped at the ticket counter to collect her helmet. The club's music blared for a minute as the inner door opened and closed behind her.

"Where are you going?"

Glancing over her shoulder at Adam, she catalogued his appearance. Pink, swollen lips from their kisses; wrinkled shirt; disheveled hair that seemed impossible given his natural state of messy-head-syndrome; a large, no make that an abundantly large bulge in his pants. The disturbing sense of "this is right" hit her again like a Mack truck plowing through road kill on the highway. It hit her hard enough to scare the shit out of her. She started feeling like the road kill her imaginary Mack truck had just obliterated. Adam roused emotions in her she had never experienced before. Her preoccupied brain took a second to think this was not something she was ready to deal with. Perhaps it was best to cut this off now before it became anything more than a few kisses that had practically rewritten history

The checkout girl handed her the helmet. "Sorry, Adam. I've got to go. I've got less than thirty minutes to report to the station. Tell Amy and Clay I said bye."

Turning quickly, she headed out of the front entrance and started jogging to the back of the parking lot where her bike was sitting, pulling her helmet on in the process. As she backed her bike out of the spot, the sense of being watched prickled the hairs on the back of her neck, and she looked up. Adam stood braced against the club's outer wall, bright amber eyes tracking her with his arms crossed over his chest in a classic pose of easy dominance. His eyes told her with a calculated gleam that he knew this was more than work calling her away. This was her using work to run away—from him.

Amy and Clay burst through the club's front entrance, watching her with questioning eyes as she maneuvered her bike around. Damn, she had to get out of this place fast. Gunning the motor, she tore out of the parking lot like a pack of wolves were nipping at her heels. When the reality was she was leaving them safely behind.
Chapter Five

Jenna

Forty minutes later, Jenna was dressed in black BDU's with freshly brushed teeth to hide the smell of alcohol that had long since metabolized out of her system. With the familiar weight of a gun on her hip and an assault rifle on her lap, she sat with the rest of her unit, quietly heading to where a hostage situation had ensued at a popular restaurant in town. The taste of adrenaline and anticipation was coursing through her blood while she sat next to Kent, waiting for the van to arrive at the scene. When the squeal of tires finally came, Captain Nelson signaled for them to wait while he obtained more details.

Moments later, they were gathered around a large fold-out table with blue prints of the restaurant laid out before them. The Chief of Police stood with Captain Nelson and four other officers she had yet to identify, talking about possible points of entry. Finally, they looked up at them and the Police Chief wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief before he spoke.

"Listen up! Here's the situation. SWAT Team Two was on assignment this evening to guard a group of Senators and their families at an informal dinner. An hour ago, eight men charged into the restaurant and somehow managed to take out the six members of Team Two stationed inside. We have confirmed there are two dead, but the condition of the other four officers is unknown. They've shut the blinds so the three remaining Team Two members who were stationed as snipers in some of the high rise buildings around us can't get a clear shot. In that time, our negotiator has made contact and they are issuing a ransom demand for ten million dollars or they say the Senators and their families will die." The sudden silence around the group magnified the severity of the situation as they all took steadying breaths.

The Police Chief studied everyone's reaction and then continued, "This is what we're going to do. There's a small outer access door leading to a crawlspace above the restaurant here on the side of the building. There's an inner access door that then leads from the crawlspace to directly above the kitchens here." He pointed to the blue prints on the table. "We'll send someone inside to breach the crawlspace and drop below into the kitchens. Once there, after they've secured the area, they need to let three other team members inside through the back door, here. The remaining six in this team will be stationed near the front doors and windows in case anyone tries to escape. Does everyone understand so far?"

A chorus of "yes sirs" sounded off.

Wiping the sweat from his brow again, the Police Chief looked at Captain Nelson. "Assign the positions, Captain."

"How big is the access door, sir?" Captain Nelson's eyebrows furrowed.

The Chief looked at him with a grim expression. "Pretty damn small."

Turning back to face his team, Captain Nelson looked at them thoughtfully; his eyes scanned the entirety of the unit as he analyzed their sizes. After a few seconds, his gaze settled on Jenna. "O'Conner, you're going through the access door. Kent, Dubinski and Walters, you're going to go with O'Conner and make sure she gets in through the door. Once she does, double back around the building to the kitchen exit and wait for her to open it for you. You'll be the four going in. Put comm links on before you go."

As a group, the four SWAT members walked to the next table and strapped the communication links to their ears as the Captain gave the remaining members of their team positions to cover between the windows and front entrance of the restaurant. Once they'd strapped helmets on, Jenna's group ran through the shadows to the back of the restaurant, circling around to the side where the outer access door to the crawlspace was located. Snug against the brick wall, she and Kent looked up to find the small, one and a half by two-foot, wood panel entrance approximately nine-feet up the building. She would need to quietly knock the panel in to get inside.

As the familiar, anticipatory drip of sweat traveled from her neck and down to her back, she told herself it was due to the muggy North Carolina night combined with the weight of her uniform and weapons. It was not because her nerves were suddenly tense with the knowledge that if somehow she failed tonight, it could cost the lives of the politicians, their families and the officers trapped inside as well as the members of her team. Blowing out a mighty breath of air to relieve the tension in her chest, Jenna clamped down on the overwhelming feelings of what-ifs.

Looking at the three men surrounding her, she grunted, "Going to need a boost up, boys."

Pulling the silencer that connected to the rifle out of one of her cargo pockets, she screwed it on to the end of the barrel as Kent and Dubinski joined their hands to give her a lift. With the silencer in place, she slung the rifle across her back by its strap and stepped onto their joined hands. They lifted her quickly and efficiently, and her hands connected with the thin wooden paneling gluing the access door closed. Jenna braced her hands on both sides of the panel and then pushed forcefully until a pop and rush of uncirculated air leaked out. Most humans would have probably had to punch at the panel repeatedly to loosen it. Luckily, her strength was enough to breach the panel in a way that she could pry it open without making noise.

She set the loose panel down inside the crawlspace as Kent and Dubinski lifted Jenna another foot up so her head and arms easily slid through the space, enabling her to pull the rest of her body through the small hole. While pushing up on to her glove-covered hands, she quickly scanned the area.

The space was only four-feet high; she was unable to stand, forcing her to crawl to the other side of the space to the trap door that led down to the kitchen. The air was thick with dust and itched at her sensitive nose, forcing her to scrunch it up to stifle the urge to sneeze. Ever so quietly, she made her way on hands and knees with the rifle still strapped to her back. The sounds of a man shouting below helped cover any minute noise she might have made in the process.

With the trap door now in front of her, she pulled the rifle around and squared it against her shoulder. Lying down on her belly, she grabbed the rustic wooden handle with her left hand and started to inch it open slowly until two inches were available for her to look through and scan some of the area below.

Through the crack, she saw a line of stainless steel stoves against one wall with nothing else in sight. Holding perfectly still, she counted to ten to pass some time in case anyone might have heard her, before easing the door open another few inches. Still no movement from below. Using the half a foot of space she had acquired, Jenna craned her neck in every direction, looking for signs of a possible threat. Taking a deep breath, she tested the air for scents. There didn't seem to be any in her immediate area and the small snippets of sound she could hear seemed to drift from farther beyond the confines of the kitchen.

Taking one last deep breath to steady her, Jenna pulled the trap door open while dropping flat against the floor of the attic crawlspace. Bracing her weight with hands on either side of the entrance, she then lowered her body to the floor below to finally drop in a crouch low to the ground. After a furtive glance around to make sure she hadn't been seen, her mind worked quickly to scan the kitchen, assessing for possible threats, but the kitchen was altogether abandoned. It seemed as if the assailants had moved everyone to the confines of the front room.

Turning her head to the right, she spotted the 'EXIT' sign over the back door and started to move towards it, but before she had reached it, an unmistakable smell caught her attention. Shifter. More than one person in this restaurant was a shifter and she bet her trigger finger it was the assailants holding the people hostage.

That would explain why they had been able to overpower Team Two—because they were faster and stronger than the average human. Even a highly trained law enforcement official didn't stand a chance against a shifter.

Why would shifters do something this blatant in the eye of the public, though? Did they not care they were risking exposure of the entire supernatural community to the humans? Surely the possibility of ransoming a few million dollars wouldn't be enough to commit anything this dangerous.

The situation had now transformed from bad to 'FUBAR' in a matter of seconds. She had to think quickly on how to salvage it without risking any casualties to the hostages or to her team outside. Running over the options quickly in her head, she came to the grim conclusion that only she and Kent had a chance of going up against the suspects in the other room. Dubinski and Walters would end up being more of a liability than an asset at this point. The best use for those two would be to try and get hostages out of their way. As Jenna moved stealthily towards the back door, the electronic panel box on the wall caught her eye and gave her an idea.

Focusing her thoughts towards Kent, she hesitantly reached out telepathically for him. "Kent? Can you hear me?"

A small moment of shock colored her thoughts before his response. "What's wrong?"

"I'm in the kitchen about to open the door for you guys, but we have a problem. I smell shifters. How much you want to bet they're our gunmen?"

"Fuck."

"Exactly. Dubinski and Walters will more than likely get in our way."

"What do you recommend, Jenna?"

"What if we turn out the lights? The panel box is in the kitchen. You and I can position ourselves, have one of them shut the lights off and then they can start grabbing hostages to maneuver out the kitchen door. What do you think?"

Worry flowed through the tentative mental link they shared. "Eight is a hell of a lot of shifters for two of us to take out on our own. Think we can draw any of them into the kitchen before we shut the lights off and then charge the main room?"

"Possibly. I'll let you guys in. We'll tuck ourselves behind the racks in here, knock a pan over and then see who comes. We can proceed with the lights out plan then. How's it sound?"

"Like the best we're going to get. When you open the door, I'll give the necessary hand signals to Dubinski and Walters."

Closing the mental connection, she took one last look around and then traveled the few steps to the back door. As she pushed the bar to open the door, a loud buzzing sounded, indicating movement from the door. Silently cursing and with faces full of alarm, Kent, Dubinski, and Walters shuffled into the kitchen to tuck themselves behind counters to conceal their presence. Just then, a startled voice from the front barked orders for someone to go check on the noise.

So much for only knocking a damn pot over.

Kent's hands flew in furious signals to the team as he dispatched orders while the sounds of rapid footsteps approached. The smell of fear, anxiety, and shifter pulled closer until Jenna could see the forms of two large men easing cautiously into the kitchen. With their guns drawn, they each turned from side to side as they put one slow step in front of the other, edging closer to Jenna's small, four-man team hidden in the rear. When the two were only a few feet from them, Kent gave the thumbs up signal and Jenna launched out from behind the counter with him as they used the butts of their rifles to knock the two men unconscious. Dubinski and Walters leaped forward and grabbed the arms of the now lifeless bodies to pull them out of the way while she and Kent stalked to the entrance that led from the kitchen into the main room beyond. Mere seconds later, a booming voice asked the status from the two men who had come to investigate. Dubinski then reached the panel and started flipping switches to shut off all of the lights.

Screams erupted out of the darkness that followed. Kent and Jenna used the cover to burst through the door as mass confusion set in. Puffs of air popped from her gun as she leveled her aim at one of the two suspects still standing near the front door. Kent made his own shot while diving for cover behind the bar. The terrified customers huddled on the floor beneath their tables while the remaining four suspects scattered throughout the room, taking cover. With the kitchen door propped open, Dubinski motioned for the hostages at nearby tables to crawl to them so they could be directed towards safety outside.

A guttural voice yelled from the other side of the room, "I'll kill them! You better fucking believe I'll kill them all!"

When she and Kent peered over the edge of the bar to take stock of where the remaining suspects were stationed, several shots rang over their heads, forcing them to duck back down to safety. Taking a deep breath, she analyzed the scents and tastes of others around her. Fear was paramount in the room. Anger was the next overwhelming scent. Past that, she could taste blood. Probably of the two officers they had been told were already dead. The saltiness of tears was faint. It was everything she would expect from the situation. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Dubinski and Walters stationed themselves, crouched on either side of the door, waiting for the next signal.

Kent's baritone flowed into her mind. "There are two to the left at the senator's table. Did you see where the other two went?"

"Only one in the right hand corner. The fourth is hiding somewhere. What do you think we should do?"

"We've got four on four now. I say you and I take the two at the senator's table and send Dubinski and Walters after the third in the corner. We can flush the fourth one out from there."

"Sounds like a plan. Wanna give the hand signals to Dubinski and Walters?"

"Done. Be ready to move in five. Four. Three. Two. ONE!"

In unison, they popped up from behind the bar as their other two teammates pounced to the right-hand corner, across the room. The noisy shots of the suspect's guns echoed throughout as bullets flew past Jenna and Kent. In one synchronized move, the two targets on either side of the senator's table dropped to the ground from the shots that they'd volleyed at the pair. Jenna's suspect went down with a shot to the head while Kent's suspect dropped to his knees with a shot to his shoulder. He must have jerked a few inches to the side as Kent had fired his shot.

Simultaneously, two shouts were suddenly heard. One from a middle-aged, platinum blond that the wounded suspect had grabbed, shielding his body with hers as he raised the gun and pointed it at Kent. The second shout had come from behind them as a body thumped to the floor. The hairs on the back of Jenna's neck rose.

As if time stood still, she watched Kent turn towards the shout behind them, looking for the trouble. His face recognized the owner of the sound being Dubinski. From her peripheral, she watched Kent as he raised his weapon, aiming it at someone in the same direction. What Kent had failed to see was what Jenna now faced. The stocky, dark-haired suspect with a shoulder wound as well as a human shield had leveled his pistol and aimed it at the back of Kent's head. There were only two parts of his body left exposed behind the poor screaming woman he held around the neck in front of him; his head, peering from behind the woman's right shoulder, and the hand holding the gun.

With no time to analyze which shot to make, she aimed her gun with a muffled curse. Her finger eased on the trigger and the flash and puff of air moved in front of her rifle. A searing sting stroked the outside of her right arm at the same time as multiple shots being fired echoed around her. Another flash of burn grazed her left ribs. The platinum blond dropped to the ground behind the table, screaming like a banshee as Jenna ran forward after her. Her mind raced in panic as she vaulted over bodies and tables towards her target, praying she had hit the suspect instead of an innocent civilian. With the rifle still squared into her shoulder, ready to aim and fire, she vaulted onto the senator's table as the lights flashed back on in the restaurant.

The lady in a beige sheath dress screamed and scrambled backwards from the man that had used her as a human shield because he was now lying face down with a gaping hole in his head. The breath Jenna hadn't realized she'd been holding eased out as the comm link in her ear screamed with voices.

"Walters, clear!"

"Kent, clear! Dubinski, down!"

The word 'down' snapped her back to reality. Circling in her spot on the table top, an array of faces flashed before her eyes. There were husbands holding their screaming wives; mothers covering their crying children with their own bodies; and Dubinski lying on his back, groaning while Kent kneeled over him as blood poured from his side and onto the floor. With all of the chaos surrounding them, the most notable thing clicked into her head at that time. All eight of the gunmen were now down. The threat had been neutralized.

Captain Nelson's strained voice came through the link. "O'Conner! Are you clear?"

Pressing the button on the link in her ear, she responded, "O'Conner is clear. Bring in the paramedics, the area is secure."

~~~

Her heart had finally stopped its jack-hammering, thirty minutes ago, and now Jenna sat on the ledge of the back of an ambulance. Thank God for dependable sports bras because the paramedic had insisted on taking her shirt off when he saw the blood on her side. With her left arm held up over her head, the paramedic cleaned a six-inch nasty red graze from the bullet that had sliced the skin over her ribs. She had a second graze from a gunshot on her upper right arm that was already cleansed and bandaged. Poor Dubinski was in worse shape, though. He'd taken a shot in the abdomen and was on the way to surgery to have it removed and repair any possible damage.

After the cavalry had rushed through the front doors, they found the two officers already suspected dead. The other four had been found unconscious, duct taped by their wrists and ankles and thrown into the woman's bathroom to be kept out of the way. One officer had been shot in the chest and was in critical condition while another had been shot in the leg. The remaining two officers only had an array of bruises from when they had been subdued. Thankfully, none of the hostages had been injured. Apparently, the sound of gun fire had been enough for them to have the common sense to hit the deck for cover when the shit had hit the fan.

As the paramedic started to bandage her ribs, Kent strolled up with a satisfied grin and his shirt hanging open to show his own bandage from a graze across his waist.

"Looking good there, Jenna." His eyes roamed over her body with complete interest. Apparently, a half-naked woman getting bandaged up from a round of violence was just the thing to get Kent's motors going.

Rolling her eyes, she stretched her neck from side to side to ease some of its tension. "Get a close look, Kent. It'll be the closest you'll ever get to seeing me naked." He groaned as if desperate, making the side of her mouth tip up. She had to admit he was fun to have around.

Kent's playful attitude slipped away as he rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands. "All joking aside, I wanted to thank you for saving my ass in there tonight. I might be on the operating table, best case scenario, if you hadn't taken that guy out."

"Right back atcha, Kent. You saved my bacon as much as I saved yours, so don't mention it. That's what partners are for."

Kent honestly had saved her butt. Evidently, as she was taking out the gunman aiming at Kent, he was taking out the gunman who had been shooting at her. Luckily, Kent was able to get him before he was able to take a better aimed shot than the two that had already grazed her. After tonight, she knew without a doubt she could trust her new partner with her life. He'd already saved it.

Part of her wondered if that meant maybe she could trust him with her secrets as well.

Probably not.

More flashes went off from the reporters crowded along the curb. She grimaced at the thought of her half naked picture ending up in a paper somewhere. That might be hard to explain to her mama.

Shaking off the thought of her mama's strong temper, her thoughts turned to more pleasant things to look forward to, like her head hitting the comfortable pillow on her warm bed. There was nothing in this world right then that could look better to her than her own damn bed.

Except maybe for Adam naked in her bed, ready for Jenna to lick him up one side and down the other.

She wasn't going to think about that, though.

Right.
Chapter Six

Jenna

Ring.

Ring. Ring.

Jenna moaned into her pillow. She was sure she wasn't actually being awakened by the damn phone. It was probably a dream. If she ignored it, it would all go away.

Ring. Ring. RING.

Or not.

Rolling over, her hand palmed the top of the nightstand until it found the obnoxious device interrupting her slumber. With eyes still closed, she answered it with a gruff, "What?"

A somewhat familiar, feminine voice answered. "Jenna? Is that you? Are you okay?"

With her head still foggy from sleep, she struggled to identify the caller. "That depends. Who's asking?"

Laughter chimed from the other end. Who the hell laughed like that when they should still be sleeping? "It's Amy. I stole your number from Adam's phone after I saw the newspaper this morning. Are you all right?"

Huh? Newspaper? At least her sleep addled brain remembered who Amy was. "What time is it? And what newspaper?"

A God's honest growl came through the phone. The girl actually growled at her! "It's nine o'clock in the morning, Jenna. The newspaper is the Wilmington Daily, which I happen to get delivered, and it has your picture on the front of it with a title that reads Heroic Cops Save Senators from Death. Now, will you tell me if you're all right or not? This damn picture shows you sitting on the back of an ambulance without your shirt on and your ribs bandaged! I swear if you don't tell me right now if you're okay, I'm going to come hunt your ass down so I can see for myself!"

Once Amy had snarled the words 'without your shirt', Jenna was up off the bed and headed towards the coffeepot. At the same time, she felt a chink give in the armor that normally surrounded her vulnerable heart. So this is what it feels like to have a real friend?

"Yes, Amy, I'm okay. I swear, but thanks for telling me about the picture. Now I know I'll have to call my mama before she sees it and freaks out." Her phone beeped, indicating she had another person calling. Glancing down at the caller ID made her want to kick herself in the ass. Mama. "Grrrrr... too late, Amy. That's my mama beeping in now. I better take it before she has a stroke."

"Wait! I wanted to ask if you want to come running with me today. After all of your excitement last night, you're bound to have a shit load of energy you need to burn off. Adam and Clay have pack business, so I thought you and I could go out alone. Just us girls in the woods."

"Just us girls, huh? That sounds nice. Where at?"

"We have some land in Bolton, we're not far from you. I can meet you at a gas station; lead you in, so you don't get lost."

"Pack lands? I don't know, Amy..." The phone beeped again. Her mama was still trying to reach her. Lord, if she didn't pick up soon, the woman would seriously stroke out. Or blow something up.

"Come on, Jenna. It's only a run. No commitments, I promise."

As her phone beeped again, she felt her uncertainty waver. "Okay. What time and what gas station?"

Amy squealed in delight. "There's a Save-A-Lot gas station off of I-16 where it intersects with Old River Road. Meet me there at eleven. It gives you a little time to wake up. See you then!"

Hanging up with Amy, she dialed her mama's number. It was going to take her at least half an hour to reassure her mama she was perfectly fine. Damn, she wished the coffeepot would brew a little faster.

~~~

It ended up taking her forty-five minutes, coupled with two cups of strong coffee, to tell her mama—more times than she could count—she was perfectly fine. In that time, she had managed to give Jenna a rundown of what the newspaper article had said.

In short, it gave a brief description of the situation at the restaurant last night; how it had been overrun by madmen with guns, trying to ransom off the senators and their families.

Jenna's mama said the article was calling her, Kent, Walters, and Dubinski heroes. It was also speculating the four of us would receive awards from the city of Wilmington and the senators of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia for taking out the pack of criminals so that everyone got out alive. Everyone except for the two officers who had died in the line of duty, that was.

Her chest tightened at the thought of the families of those two officers who would never return home again. It was a very real risk they lived with every day they went on duty. The paper also stated their funeral services would be announced later. Arrangements were being made so the city of Wilmington could honor them properly.

Captain Nelson called after she got off the phone with her mama to inform her Dubinski and the other officers injured the night before were going to be all right. He also wanted to make sure Jenna wasn't planning to come in to file any reports today because they could wait for Monday. By the way, had he mentioned lately that she was a damn impressive shot? Oh, and Jenna should attempt to lie low today because every reporter in town was trying to get a hold of the 'four hero cops' from last night's rescue.

It looked like her little trip out of town was going to be exactly what she needed to make sure her picture didn't end up on the front of another newspaper the next day.

With a satisfied grin, she hung up with her Captain to haul butt into the shower and get ready to leave for Bolton. Life suddenly seemed to be looking up. She had an awesome new job, her Captain and partner were exceeding her expectations, and she finally appeared to have made a friend now that she wasn't hiding from the world. It was bright and sunny outside and a perfect day for a run on four legs. Nothing in the world seemed wrong at the moment.

She should have known it would never last.

~~~

It was ten fifty-five and she was sitting propped up on her bike reading the Wilmington Daily. After seeing it on the newsstand when she'd pulled up to park, she couldn't help buying it. The urge to take a peek at the article was too much to resist. Once she had given the paper a glance, it was no wonder why Amy and Jenna's mama had freaked out. There, in black and white, was a zoomed in picture of her sitting on the back of the ambulance in her sports bra, talking to Kent while the paramedic bandaged up the graze on her ribs.

Damn reporters! Couldn't they have pulled her uniformed service picture like they did for the other Officers pictured in the article? No. They had to splash her half naked picture across the city instead. How was a girl supposed to walk around without a permanent blush when she was afraid everyone looking at her was picturing her in a bra? Good grief.

A black, crew cab truck pulled up and parked next to Jenna while she was still skimming the article. The door opened with the motor still running and a familiar scent hit the air. Amy. Looking up, Jenna smiled at the wide grin lighting her face. Is she always this perky?

"Ready to go, girl?"

"You bet. Here, can I put my paper in your truck?"

"Go right ahead. You'll have to give me all the fun details of your little adventure later."

Throwing the paper onto Amy's passenger seat, she slammed the door shut and took off down the road towards Bolton on her bike with Amy leading the way. Twenty minutes of serious back roads later, they pulled up to a small shack that apparently served as a guard house. Amy stopped her truck and spoke briefly to the guard who looked at Jenna before waving them both through.

Jenna wasn't sure what to expect of her first time on pack lands. A Dracula style mansion? Caves with dens to hide in? What she found instead was kind of homey. It was like a little community that was very similar to your standard residential neighborhood except, instead of paved roads, they had dirt roads and left much of nature untouched around the houses.

The houses were of varying sizes, some single-story ranches and others two-stories—probably to accommodate different sized families. Amy kept driving through the winding dirt roads that led further back into the woods until she had put a slight distance between them and the houses before pulling into the driveway of a large, two-story cabin-style home. There was a smaller cabin tucked off to the side of the larger house that looked as if it might have two rooms to it with a black GMC Yukon parked in front.

Jumping out of her truck, Amy hopped over to her like a little bunny, her arms thrown wide. Excitement glittered in her brown eyes as if the whole world was her buffet and she was the hungry wolf come to gobble it up. It was a voraciousness for life Jenna could respect—envy even—since she was starting to come to terms with the fact that, despite her best efforts, she had been hiding from the world her entire life.

"This is home sweet home, Jenna. Isn't it beautiful? I love it here."

Jenna stood and turned in a circle, admiring the peace and quiet of nature surrounding Amy's home. It reminded her of the woods in the state-protected forest behind her mama's home. Her wolf was already begging to be released so they could run uninhibited through the new land. Turning back to Amy, she then rubbed her hands together in excitement.

"Come on, let's go running. It's been forever since I've been somewhere new."

Grabbing her by the hand, Amy dragged her behind the house to the edge of the woods. "We can strip here and go." Starting to lift the hem of her shirt up from her stomach, she saw Jenna's hesitation. "What's wrong?" Her bright red brows furrowed in confusion.

Glancing around to the back of the house, Jenna felt stupid for the overwhelming sense of shyness. "The guys won't see, will they?"

Giving an understanding grin, Amy took her shirt off and laid it on the ground. "Adam and Clay are in meetings in the house for pack business. They have been all morning. We've still got hours before they even come up for air. I know you're used to being alone, but I swear it's only us right now. No biggie. I also promise not to take any naked pictures of you for my photo album."

Throwing a swat at her shoulder, Amy dodged out of the way before Jenna could hit her back for the sarcastic comment. "Smartass. All right, I get it. I'm being stupid. Let's go."

As Amy finished pulling off her shorts and underwear, Jenna walked to the back side of the closest tree for a smidgen of privacy. Plus, she needed to hide the fact her shift would be a little different from Amy's. There was no need for any awkward questions to come up. Peeling off her jeans, tank top, and undies, she left her bandages for last, ripping the annoying medical tape off her skin.

Amy had already dropped to her hands and knees, beginning to shift. Much like the memories of her Uncle Owen's shifts, she knew Amy's bones and muscles would crack and strain in gruesome angles before settling into her wolf form. It would also take her more than twice the time it took Jenna to shift. Her body melted with fluidity into a sudden rush of muscle and bone rearrangement until she was on four paws, peeking through a small hole in the bush to watch as Amy finished her transformation.

Amy lifted her head over the brush to peer at Jenna. She was as stunning on four legs as she was on two. While in human form, she sported a cap of bright red hair; in her animal form, she showcased the markings of your typical grey wolf. The majority of her fur was covered in differing grey tones, but she had white markings under her eyes, cheeks, and muzzle. Her chest, underbelly, and legs were white as well. Amber eyes shimmered with mischievousness as she padded over to Jenna.

Looking her over, it was easy to see Amy was almost a head taller than she was in this form. With at least thirty more pounds of muscle than Jenna had, too. They were polar opposites in the looks department. Jenna knew from staring in the reflective waters of a river near her mama's house that her eyes were the same ice blue they were in her human form. Her coat translated to the same jet black hair her human form had as well. At nighttime, she could easily blend into the background as a mere shadow, she was so dark. They gave each other the curious sniffs all canines indulge in on their first meeting and then Amy did something that positively floored her. She nuzzled Jenna's face and neck with her head in a sign of affection.

For the first time ever, her wolf's soul felt accepted by another of her kind. As Jenna stood there, basking in the emotions that acceptance arose, she totally missed the paw Amy used to jokingly smack her muzzle with. They tore off into the trees seconds later for a game of wolf tag. The feel of the unfamiliar dirt beneath her paws was heavenly. Jenna chased Amy as they zigzagged around trees, over fallen logs and then eventually to a small stream where she barreled herself into the grey wolf, yelping as she bumped the wound from where the bullet had grazed her.

Amy nudged at her ribs where the six inch wound was before licking it tenderly. Jenna thought it was a gentle reminder for her to take care of herself. Walking into the small stream, she plopped to her belly and let the water flow around her to cool off her overheated fur. It was so peaceful here, basking in the glory of nature with all of its gifts.

As she sat there, a rustling from a few yards away caught her attention. Scenting the air had her mouth watering in anticipation. Deer. Amy also seized the scent of her interest, and they quickly got up to follow their noses to the prey. The two of them separated to circle around the unsuspecting animal as it stood grazing on the grass. As Jenna crouched to the ground, readying herself for the attack, a strong breeze blew by, giving their scents away to the doe.

The doe instantly leaped away and Amy gave chase. Following directly on her heels, they both trailed the doe for miles as it frantically zigzagged away from the two wolves pursuing it. In the prey's hysterical confusion, though, it made the mistake of turning sharply, almost directly into Jenna's path. Thrusting her body into an enormous leap, she landed heavily on the deer's back, throwing its body to the ground. Amy circled around and latched onto its throat, shaking savagely until its windpipe was crushed beneath her strong jaws and the doe's body lay unmoving on the ground. In quiet content, the two of them lay there, sharing their meal. They only left after they were sated and their bellies were full from the kill.

After a quick clean up by the stream, they dozed in the midday sun under the shade of the forest's tree line. As their two furry bodies lay overlapping each other, the wonderfully new sense of belonging continued for Jenna. Whether she chose this pack or not, she sincerely hoped she would get to keep Amy as a friend. Somehow, she had managed to wiggle her energetic, little self inside Jenna's impenetrable defenses, which seemed to make sense to both the human and the wolf.

~~~

Sometime later, Amy's cold nose nudged Jenna awake. Slightly groggy from her nap, she blindly shoved herself to four paws and went to follow the grey-colored wolf as she led the way back towards the cabin. The trees started to become familiar shortly before they trotted back to where they had left their clothes piled on the ground. The only problem was their clothes were no longer there. Amy shifted back to her human form while Jenna circled the area looking for her things.

In a frustrated huff, Amy yelled, "Clay! Damn you, bring us back our clothes! This is not funny!"

Booming laughter came from somewhere in the house as Amy started muttering curses. Pushing her hair out of her face in clear frustration, she turned to look back at Jenna's pitch black wolf form. "Come on, Jenna. You can shift back in the house once we get to my room. I'll find what Clay did with your clothes and bring them to you. He's a damn annoying prankster. You'd think after pulling off the same joke since we were teenagers he'd be over it already."

Amy stomped across the yard to the back of the house, giving small frustrated whines as Jenna padded along behind her aggravated companion up the stairs and through the back door. Once inside the open and airy home, they found their clothes dumped unceremoniously in the middle of the living room floor. She picked hers up with her mouth as Amy pointed to the small bathroom she could change in. Amy was already halfway dressed and told Jenna she would grab some fresh bandages by the time she had reached the door that was off the living room, near the front door.

Entering the small half bathroom that held only a sink and a toilet, Jenna nudged the door closed with her nose. Shifting back, she used the hand towel hanging next to the sink to quickly clean herself off so she was at least a little presentable to the rest of the world. Feeling fresher, she bent over to pull her clothes on only to stop short when she realized her shirt was missing. Shit. It must still be in the living room. Cracking the door, she called out Amy's name. After waiting a minute and getting no response, she stuck her head out the door and looked around.

There, still in the middle of the floor, was her charcoal grey tank top. She looked down at her half-dressed self in a black lace bra and jeans, then back to the tank top in the middle of the floor. Taking another quick peek around, she made the decision to scoot out quickly and grab the top. What were the chances of anyone seeing her anyhow?

She really should have recalculated those chances.

Halfway to her shirt, she heard steps thudding down the stairs. It sounded as if it might be several different people because it was almost as loud as an elephant stomping down towards her. Leaping over to the shirt, her fingers had grasped it enough to yank up and clutch in front of her when a growl cut through the room. Jerking her head up at the sound, she saw the last person she had ever expected to see.

Her uncle, Owen.

Holy shit. Uncle Owen is alive. And here!

Bristling and angry with the same windblown, shoulder-length black hair and grass green eyes she remembered, he stood on the third step from the bottom, staring at her. She remained frozen to the spot, slack-jawed, and then glanced from Owen to Adam with Clay directly behind him. They were followed by three other men she didn't know directly behind them, stacked up on the stairs like dominoes.

Before her mind was able to form the multitude of questions barreling through her brain of the whys or hows of him being here, Owen launched himself across the living room. Not stopping for a second as he scooped her up by the waist, clenching Jenna tightly to his side. In a burst of speed and strength, like she'd never before witnessed, the front door shattered into pieces of large splinters as he kicked it open and raced the two of them to the cabin across the yard.

The sounds of shouting and growling followed behind them as Owen slammed and locked the door to the cabin while unceremoniously dropping Jenna to the floor. Shaking like a leaf in a wind storm from the sheer shock, her head rose to look at the furious image of her beloved uncle whom she'd thought dead because of his absence for the past six years.

With a sound that was more animal than man, he snarled, "What the fuck are you doing here, Jenna? What about the words 'stay hidden' did you not understand?"

A loud thump against the door caught her attention. It sounded like a body being thrown. For the first time since laying eyes on her Uncle Owen, her brain started to function. The sounds of enraged snarls and fists beating flesh traveled through from the outside. "What are you doing here, Uncle Owen? And where the hell have you been all this time?"

The door to the cabin crashed open suddenly as a body flew past them and into the living room, landing on the other side of the couch. Adam's silhouette filled the doorway as Owen placed himself between her and the bloody Alpha. Rough hands grabbed her off the floor from behind and lifted her to her feet, but not before she caught the momentary look of shock that crossed Adam's face as he looked furiously back and forth between Jenna and her uncle. However, her police training kicked in before her assailant could even let her feet touch the ground. Dropping her shirt because who cared about modesty when you were about to whoop somebody's ass, she threw all of her force into an elbow that slammed into the guy's stomach. Not expecting the heavy blow, he 'humpfed' before dropping Jenna so that she landed on the balls of her feet, giving her the chance to spring away from him.

A bellowed 'enough' ripped through the cabin from Owen and all activity, inside and out, came to an immediate stop.

Frustrated, Jenna shoved sweaty hair out of her face. No longer caring how mad her uncle was, she threw her hands up in the air. "What the hell, Uncle Owen? I get you're mad! Fine! Maybe I'm mad now, too. You up and freakin' disappeared on me!" Throwing her hands out wide to wave at the room, she shouted, "But is all of this really necessary?"

Suddenly, Owen dropped into the chair behind him, looking weary, and rested his head in his hands in a clear sign of frustration. Long moments of silence filled the air before he rubbed his hands over his face, looking from her to Adam and back again then shaking his head in defeat. "Sit down, Jenna. Adam, please have Clay, Amy, and Max come in here. We all need to have a talk. Logan, hand Jenna her shirt and then go find a towel for your sister so she can stop the bleeding."

With those words, Jenna froze. Surely, she had not heard him say that? With stunned slowness, she turned to look at the person she had elbowed moments before. Her eyes met an amused smirk set on a face that was remarkably similar yet more masculine than her own. He possessed the same black hair, which was cut short, that framed a face featuring her high cheekbones and straight nose. The only difference between them—that she could see—were his eyes, which were the same brilliant grass green with small gold flakes as her uncle's. He bent over to scoop her tank top up and then reached to hand it to Jenna's unsteady, outreached hand.

Adam started to move towards her with determined strides when Logan stepped directly in front of her and started growling. Shocked into silence, she stood there, watching as Adam tensed with narrowed eyes and growled back in a deep timbre that seemed to travel directly through her body, clenching muscles in a certain area she didn't want to acknowledge at the moment.

In a tone full of amusement, Owen told Logan to stand down and let Adam pass. Stepping around her younger, masculine version, Adam ran his hands lightly over her body then her hair as if checking for any injuries before giving a gruff order to Amy to get the bandages. Then he pulled her into the steel trap that other people called arms. As he cradled her head to his chest, he ran a soothing hand over her hair and down her back. Jenna realized he was petting her, but she wasn't sure whether he was doing it to calm her or himself.

The logical part of her brain reminded her that she had decided to stay away from Adam. That she shouldn't let him hold her or comfort her in such an intimate manner. The overwhelmed and slightly scared half told the logical half where it could shove it. That there, in Adam's arms, was exactly where she needed to be and nothing had ever felt quite as right.

His chest vibrated as he half growled, "Why isn't she healing, Owen?"

Her uncle's reply was cautious, "Because Jenna doesn't actually have the ability. She heals only marginally faster than a human. Her strengths lie elsewhere."

Trying to get some semblance of normal back, she pulled herself out from Adam's arms, refusing to acknowledge the frown she somehow knew was adorning his face. Thankfully, Logan appeared with the towel, followed by Amy with the bandages and medical tape. Needing desperately to put some control back into her spiraling surroundings, she threw those thick titanium and concrete-enforced walls back up around her emotions. She dared anyone to try and tear those bad boys down again. In doing so, she became the distant but effective cop, rather than the uncertain and unnerved Jenna O'Conner.

"Amy, will you lead me to the bathroom so I can bandage this back up?"

Nodding her head silently, she took Jenna's hand and pulled her through a bedroom to a small private bathroom beyond. Shutting the bedroom door behind them, so they could have a semblance of privacy away from the testosterone laden room they'd exited.

"You okay, Jenna?" Amy's voice was heavy with worry.

Jenna's mind went into overtime. Her Uncle Owen was sitting in the living room with someone he claimed was her brother along with the Alpha of a wolf shifter pack who seemed strangely protective of her at the moment. Maybe protective wasn't the right word. Possessive, that seemed to fit the situation better. Hell, he might as well tattoo 'MINE' on her forehead. It was not a response or emotion from Adam that Jenna had signed on for.

Somewhere in this cluster-fuck of a moment, Jenna had allowed herself to become overwhelmed, slipping into a small state of shock. The reaction wouldn't do. It was time for her logical self to slip back into character and back into control. Jenna had questions and her Uncle Owen had damned well better be ready to give some answers.

Amy watched her intently as Jenna thanked her for the help before slipping her tank top back on. With smooth, controlled strides she flung the bedroom door open angrily and walked back into the living room. Once there, she took a formidable stance similar to Stonewall Jackson's waiting for the battle to begin—her feet placed shoulder width apart, arms crossed confidently over her chest, and a menacing, pissed-off-female look flashing all over her face—as she stared at her uncle.

"And where in God's green earth have you been all these years, Uncle Owen?"

Logan gave a gruff baritone chuckle from the chair he sat in across the room from his uncle. "Well, I guess you weren't joking when you told me she had Dad's temper. The next family reunion should turn out to be rather fun."

Jenna ignored the comment as she watched her uncle wearily swipe his hand down his face before looking back to her. "Sit down, Jenna. As much as I would love to coddle your stubborn ass, you've just dumped a load of problems on me that I don't have time to deal with." As Jenna's mouth opened to make an exasperated and furious retort, he held up a hand to silence her. "Shut it for a minute, Jenna! I mean it!" Owen's nostrils flared as his face tensed with anger. The tart smell of his aggravation filled the room. "Imagine my surprise when I pick up the newspaper this morning to find your picture plastered on the front page. It was a damn good thing I happened to be here to track down some rogue wolves. Somehow, since the last time I've seen you—where I implicitly remember explaining the need for you to hide for your own safety—you've lost all the God-given brains you had! What's done is done, but now we have to salvage this situation so sit your ass down before I make you sit it down!"

She stared at her uncle, trying to remember if she ever had seen him that mad before. With his fists clenching the arms of his chair so tightly it looked like it might break any second, combined with the fact that his face had turned a riveting shade of red, the answer seemed easy. She came to the conclusion that it was a resounding 'no.' Wanting answers more than she wanted a fight with him, Jenna stomped to the nearest chair, facing the entire group, and flopped down into it.

When she was settled, Owen glared at her for a good minute before finally speaking again. "I'll give you this, Jenna. At least you have solid instincts when defying a direct order given to keep you safe. Adam is one of a handful of people I would trust with the knowledge of your existence at this moment. At least, until I've finished tying up some loose ends."

"Direct order? I'm not in the military, Uncle Owen, and you sure as hell aren't one of my supervising officers on the force. Therefore, I don't remember you giving me a direct order!" she scoffed back at him.

In the space of a breath, her uncle's furious snarls were blowing hot air across her face as he hovered inches above her. Damn, she didn't know he could move that fast. "Yes, Jenna! An order! A simple order! Stay HIDDEN!"

The walls of the cabin practically shook as his roar echoed around the silent room. The atmosphere was beyond tense as he eased back slowly to sit in his chair while she stared at him coolly in return. The room was, in fact, so tense it felt like an explosive pressure had filled it. It was a pressure that continued to build, expanding rapidly. Hell, it reminded her of a balloon being blown up too quickly. She was now waiting for the house to mimic the balloon and explode.

Owen huffed in irritation again. "I realize you don't know the slightest thing about pack life, but you're going to have to learn quickly. Your absence from this side of your heritage has gone on long enough. It's time for things to change. Until I resolve a few more issues that concern your safety, you won't be able to come home to your pack. Adam's pack will serve as your temporary one until then. Understood?"

Silent moments ticked by as she sat there, staring at her uncle, conjuring up a resolve of steel. She silently promised herself that one day she would find the strength to beat the shit out of him. It would have to be at a time when she thought she had a shot in Hell of winning. Like when he was old, wrinkled, and decrepit. Her family was turning out to be downright ridiculous.

When Owen had finally gotten tired of waiting for her answer, he leaned his head on the back of the chair and huffed again in frustration. Hell, Jenna was starting to believe if he huffed and puffed any more, he would be required to threaten to blow someone's house down.

Adam cleared his throat, effectively catching their attention. "Pack Master, if I may, why is Jenna's life in such danger that you've gone through such lengths to hide her from our society? Her being a hybrid is controversial, but not enough to elicit such measures, is it?"

While Jenna was silently wondering what the hell a Pack Master was, her thoughts were cut short when everyone in the room turned to stare at her. Not exactly the kind of attention she was comfortable with.

Her Uncle's exasperated voice asked, "How much do they know, Jenna?"

"Not everything."

"Are Adam, Amy, and Clay the only ones that know of your existence? Or is there anyone else I need to know about?" Her Uncle's cold, calculated tone returned.

"My partner, Kent, knows, too; thanks to Adam being nosey. You should also probably know he's a demon."

A litany of curses sounded from Owen. "Is he a threat, Jenna?"

"Absolutely not! He saved my ass last night. If it weren't for Kent, I'd have a hell of a lot more than these grazes. You leave him alone. Besides, Adam seems to know him so he can't be all that awful, right?"

Owen looked to Adam, who nodded his agreement. "Kent's all right, Pack Master."

Rubbing his hands down his legs, Owen shifted forward in his chair so his elbows were braced on his knees. Then, while looking around to analyze all the occupants of the room, he reached some inner decision before finally speaking again, "What we discuss next does not leave the confines of this group. Anyone who violates that will be subject to punishment by me." Looking back to her with his face filled with worry, Owen kept going, "Jenna's one of a kind. She's not a wolf shifter-human hybrid. Her mother is a demon. Jenna is the first of any shifter kind that we know of to have successfully merged with demon genetics and live."

The room became eerily silent as Adam and Amy watched her, both with shell-shocked awe. Clay's mutter of 'holy shit' long moments later clued Owen in that he could continue. "That is why Jenna was hidden from everyone. Her father and I didn't want to take a chance with those who would murder her for what she is. I kept limited contact while I could, but after Jenna and Logan's father was killed during the pack wars and I took over as Pack Master, the risk was too high to continue to do so. That's why you haven't heard from me in so long, Jenna. It was necessary for your own safety."

A sense of sorrow settled into the pit of her stomach. Then the overwhelming surge of anger that had been festering only moments before was washed away by the onslaught of emotions Jenna now felt for a man she had never known. Her father was dead. She had known that for a long time, yet she was suddenly overrun with emotions about him.

Should she hurt for him? He had never seen her a day in her life, yet part of her felt mortally wounded by the knowledge she would never know him. Never know whether part of him had cared or wondered about her at all.

Logan stared back at her with affection in his eyes. Before she realized her mouth had opened, she heard herself say, "Did he look like us? Our dad?"

Logan smiled. "You look a lot like him. I've got pictures I can show you later, but I've always been told I'm a younger version of him. If it weren't for your freaky blue eyes, I'd say you look just like him, too."

Cocking an eyebrow, Jenna responded, "Freaky blue eyes?"

Logan's smile widened until it resembled the Cheshire Cat. "Yeah, freaky. They look like a serial killer's eyes. Got any bodies in your closet you need us to bury?"

"The closet is empty right now, but if you'd like me to fill it up we could start with yours."

Everyone in the room snickered, but Owen only sighed. "Seriously, children. You've known each other for less than ten minutes and you're already starting the bickering sibling crap?"

Logan shrugged. "Just wanted to make her feel like family, Uncle Owen. No reason to pretend to be anything except what we are." He rubbed his hands together in glee. "How soon can we take her home? I'd like to see how she pans out against a few people I have in mind."

Owen dropped his head to the back of his chair in apparent despair. "Logan, you cannot use your sister as your personal guard dog against your ex-girlfriends. Frankly, you deserve every clingy and obnoxious moment. It might teach you a lesson about where you dip your wick, so to speak."

Jenna covered her face with her hands. Really? She had a brother for less than half an hour and she already had the insane urge to smack him around. Peeking through her fingers, she looked over to Adam who smirked back at her and it was a smirk that said he'd pulled the same stunt with his own sister.

Jerk.

Sexy jerk, but he's still a jerk.
Chapter Seven

Jenna

The tension that had blanketed the room moments before slowly started to seep away. Shoulders un-bunched, bodies loosened, the signs of aggression that had choked the room were replaced with wariness and curiosity. Feet shuffled as everyone stopped preparing for a fight, and instead, started aligning themselves around their respective Alphas: Owen and Adam.

Jenna let her body relax back into the cushy chair she sat on. Owen reached behind his back and pulled a copy of the Wilmington Daily from the waistband of his pants. Unfolding it, he held it out in front of him, flashing the picture of Jenna sitting on the ledge of the ambulance talking to Kent.

"Want to explain this? I bet your mother hit the roof." He waved the paper around nonchalantly. "Or blew it off the house."

Jenna shrugged her shoulders. "What exactly do you want to know about it?"

His deadpanned expression was almost enough to make her laugh. "Why you allowed yourself to be injured would be an excellent start to the many questions I want answered."

Sitting forward to let her arms rest on her knees with hands clasped lightly in front of her, she looked at her sports bra in the picture. That was seriously going to bug her. Absentmindedly she murmured, "It wasn't like I stood still and pretended to be a turkey trussed up on Thanksgiving. They were fast. Shifters."

Owen's demeanor tensed back up. "Shifters? Do you know what kind?"

Tapping her nose, she answered, "Wolves. Several of them."

Owen and Logan stared at each other, having a silent conversation consisting only of small facial tics that utterly fascinated Jenna. She had a feeling they brought paranoid to a whole new level in her family. After several moments they simultaneously looked back to her.

"Can you get us to the morgue to see the bodies?"

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. Kent's smooth baritone mumbled something after he picked up.

"Kent, it's Jenna. Are you busy?" She heard what sounded like clothes rustling before a disgruntled female voice asked him where he was going.

"Be right back, baby. You keep that delicious little body right there. It's work. It'll only be a minute." A door closed after Jenna heard the words, 'promised me an exclusive'.

"Are you sleeping with a reporter?"

She could hear the smug smile in his voice as he responded, "She propositioned me, I swear."

"Did she offer to boink like bunnies before or after you promised her the exclusive, Kent?" Choked laughs sounded at her exasperated outburst. Kent's continued silence was answer enough. "Despicable. Just slutty. You're a man-whore of the highest order. I hope you catch the demonic version of the clap."

Crooning words filled her ear from the other end of the line. "Well, you could come over here and change my mind. Protect me from these reporters that are all but holding me down to a bed so they can bounce on the latest local hero's impressively large love pole."

Adam's responding growl didn't only vibrate through the room, it vibrated through her. It messed with body parts that had absolutely no business jumping up and down in glee over the possessive behavior he was exhibiting. Jenna ignored it as she calmly crossed her legs in feigned indifference.

"Are they serving popsicles in Hell, yet? Because the day that happens, is the day I jump into bed with your skanky ass. Besides, it's probably more likely the reporter is bouncing on a teeny, tiny pogo stick than that overly exaggerated love pole you claim to have. That's not why I called, though. Can you get my uncle and me into the morgue? I haven't been there yet, and I'm not an authorized occupant."

"You're pulling me away from double D's to go look at dead people? Are you crazy?"

Jenna sighed in annoyance. "Fine. Go pump your little Mike & Ike into the nosey reporter who is probably going to be the first human in the history of the Other community to give a demon a STD, and then take us to the morgue. Really, it should only take you like, what, five or ten minutes? It'll take me longer than that to meet you wherever we have to go anyways."

Wounded male pride sputtered from the other end of the phone. "Ten minutes! Mike & Ike? Screw you, O'Conner. You can find another way to get into the damn morgue."

Jenna glanced at her Uncle Owen. He seemed to know the question before she answered because he gave an almost imperceptible nod. "What if I told you it would be doing Alpha Owen Davies a favor?"

Kent blew out a stunned breath. "As in, Pack Master Davies?"

"As in the Pack Master Davies."

He whistled in appreciation. "Then I'd say meet me in two hours."

Hanging up with Kent, Jenna looked over to her Uncle. "We've got at least an hour to waste. How about you explain this Pack Master thing to me."

Owen cocked his head to the side, considering her, and then asked, "What is it you want to know about being Pack Master?"

"What is a Pack Master? What does you being the Pack Master mean and how did you become it? Is it because my father was the Pack Master and you're related to him?"

A smug smile crossed his face. "There is one Pack Master for almost every continent. A Pack Master is the top Alpha Wolf for that continent and runs the entire area as his territory. For example, Adam is the Alpha of North Carolina, his job is to promote peace, make sure all of the wolves in his area are taken care of and dispense discipline as well as justice if it's needed. Him being Alpha is a position he earned by being the strongest wolf in the state and having the willingness to fight and kill any other wolf that wishes to challenge him to prove it. Although strong Alpha genetics do run in a family, it does not guarantee you an Alpha position if you're related to one.

"I am not Pack Master because your father was and I'm his brother. Your father was the Pack Master because he was the biggest, baddest wolf in this country. When he was killed, I had to publicly stake my claim to the title with anyone else who wanted the position and then we were paired off in fights in front of anyone of our kind who wanted to watch, to the death. Like MacLeod in the Highlander, there could be only one. I inherited the Pack Master title because I'm the biggest, baddest motherfucker in the United States and I'm willing to mercilessly kill anyone who challenges me to prove it."

Jenna blinked back at her uncle in a small state of shock. "You're telling me you became Pack Master because of your willingness to be a killer?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm telling you I'm Pack Master because I have a number of qualities that allow me to lead our people. Intelligence, strength, and when needed, a head for politics. I also have to be willing to kill anyone stupid enough to challenge me for the position. It's out of necessity I assure you, not pleasure. Thankfully, the majority of my wolves are smart enough to know they wouldn't stand a chance against me."

"What are you, like the wolf shifter version of the Terminator? Unstoppable and un-killable?"

His smug grin expanded and turned into something resembling a deadly, shark-like smile. "No, you could say I'm more like the Borg. Everyone will assimilate and resistance is futile."

Jenna snorted. She should have known she would be related to lethal geeks. God forbid she actually be related to anybody with any normal tendencies. That might be asking any higher powers for more than they could handle.

~~~

The New Hanover County Medical Examiner's Office was set up several streets away from the Wilmington Police Department Headquarters. This was why, when Kent had given Jenna the address, he was confident she would be able to find it even though she was new to town. At the moment, she was damn grateful for the building being easy to find because, if the situation had been different and Kent would have given Jenna directions, she wasn't entirely sure she could have remembered them after Adam had grabbed the back of her neck and laid a blistering kiss on her lips before she was able to drive him away. She was still debating on whether she should kick him in the nads because he had done it right in front of her brother and uncle, or tackle him to the nearest bed and have her wicked way with him.

Her brain said to kick him in the nads.

Her body was telling her brain to shut the hell up, rather loudly. They would need those nads when she tackled him to the nearest bed and did her best impersonation of what women's Viagra looked like.

Stupid body.

She parked her truck in front of an old brick building that had an architectural design that looked as if it had been built around the early 1900's. One would expect with that kind of age, the building might have looked rundown, but the assumption would be decidedly wrong. One of the things Jenna had always liked on her numerous trips to Wilmington was the opportunity to look at the historic buildings that riddled the city. They were well maintained and helped convey stories of earlier times when horse drawn carriages shared street space with the first automobiles. In her opinion, it was neat that the buildings left standing were not only restored, they were beautiful to look at as well.

In her peripheral vision, Jenna watched as her uncle's GMC Yukon pulled up next to her and she rolled her eyes. Men and their toys. They always had to have the biggest one with the most buttons to push and the shiniest metal. It didn't matter if they were five with their Hot Wheels cars or fifty-five with their big boy trucks in the driveway, all men were the same. It was an extension of their egos or a compensation for what they lacked. In her uncle's case, she would have to guess it was the ego.

Speaking of compensation, one of Wilmington's finest was waiting on the top step, arms crossed over his broad chest and leaning against the faded brick wall. "Took you long enough, O'Connor."

Gruffness coated Kent's voice. He was still annoyed with her, so maybe offering him some of her Mike & Ike's wouldn't be a brilliant idea at the moment. Nonchalantly, she shoved the small box of candy into her back pocket. Unfortunately, the gesture didn't go unnoticed. Kent glared at her and she had to suppress the giggles that were trying to erupt from her throat. Logan seemed to be having the same problem.

Ah, men and their poor egos.

"Kent, I'd like you to meet my uncle, Owen Davies, and my brother, Logan." Chin lifts were exchanged between the men. "Lead the way, Kent. I know you want to get back to having the reporter bounce on your pogo stick."

The annoyance melted away from Kent's face before he pasted on a cocky grin. "Whatever, O'Connor. I know you're jealous because you would rather see my pogo stick than to have the lovely Lana bouncing on it."

He winked before turning away and walking towards the door. When Kent pulled it open, the stale smell of death wafted over them. Its lingering presence was unwelcome and made her nostrils flare in annoyance.

The tile floor seemed to keep the coldness hovering over it; the temperature dropping the farther they got from the main exit. She assumed they kept the big freezers in the back. After Kent and she had flashed their badges and signed in, they headed for the back towards the arctic-feeling death keepers. By the time they reached the double doors leading to the main examination room, her breath was visible and her nose was burning from the stench of dead shifters.

Male wolf shifters always smelled downright nasty after they'd died. She wasn't sure why, but these guys... Ugh! They smell like rotten eggs. Jenna was guessing it was the lovely aroma of their last meal wafting out. Kind of like when egg salad went sour.

Kent looked at her questionably, as if silently asking if she was okay with seeing day old dead bodies that she'd helped to make that way. Had she ever had to kill an armed suspect before? Unfortunately, yes. So that wouldn't haunt her. It came down to the idea of it being either them or her surviving the situation, and in that case, she would always choose herself. No, the only time dead bodies haunted her were when they were the innocent victims. Not that she had seen many of those in a small town, but she had regrettably seen a couple of them, and those were the ones that had given her nightmares. Not that she'd admit it to Kent. She rolled her eyes and pushed through the doors to the coldest damn room she'd ever been in.

"Shit, it's freezing in here," Logan whispered as he went crossed-eyed watching his own breath escape his mouth.

Idiot. She couldn't help but shake her head at him while barely refraining from face palming herself. Thank God she wasn't that stupid.

The doors swished closed behind them and the white tile was replaced with smooth concrete and eight drains in the shape of a square. Some were still wet and the sound of the water dripping down the pipes was the only thing they heard until Kent opened one of the twenty-three by four feet stainless steel hatches that lined the entire left wall. No color whatsoever graced this room; everything was grey or silver. It was the definition of drab and dreary. The constant impression of death was everywhere. Steel tables. Steel shelves. Steel bars on the windows. Steel surgical tools.

Screech.

Owen was already at Kent's side, unzipping the black, heavy duty, body bag of the first shifter and pushing its sides open. The dead man's vacant eyes were still open and his chest was marred by an 'X'. Silver staples made his skin look like the pucker of a crust of pie.

"Damn," Owen cursed under his breath.

Shaking his head, Kent proceeded to open the other freezer hatches and slid out the remaining seven John Does. Logan ripped the zipper back on the next one as Kent got to the last drawer while Jenna stood there, trying to determine what would make her uncle scowl at the dead shifters that way.

Shit, at least they were dead and not trying to rip their heads off.

Calmly walking over to him, she noticed all three were staring at tattoos visible on six of the eight dead bodies. They were placed on the arms, chests and even necks of the men. Each of the six tattoos were different in design, but they seemed to carry the same theme. They all had a black raven and the letter C. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill flash art.

Nodding her head to the bodies, she asked no one in particular, "What's up with the tats?"

No one answered, yet Owen walked over to the body closest to her—the one without a visible tattoo on the front of it—and wrapped his hand around the back of the corpse's neck before lifting him up into a sitting position. The tattoo mystery only seemed to deepen as they all got a close look at a gigantic raven tattooed across the upper back of the dead shifter's body. Its wings were spread in flight across his shoulders and in one claw dangled a skull while the other claw grasped the plume of a helmet that had the letter C decorating the side. Owen laid the body back down as Logan lifted the other seemingly un-tattooed shifter into a sitting position to expose a bare back.

No tattoo.

Logan looked over at the others to make sure they had all seen the empty skin before he laid the corpse back down. He then rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced back to Owen. "What are the chances he put the tattoo somewhere else on his body?"

All three men cringed. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the only other places left on the body to check were the back of the corpse's legs, backside and man bits. Three sets of male eyes stared at her.

Cocking a hip and crossing her arms over her chest, she challenged, "What are you looking at me for?"

Kent scoffed. "Well, I sure as hell don't want to look at his ass. Not to mention I already did you the favor of getting you in here, so I'm not checking. Besides, the three of you are shifters. Y'all are supposed to be comfortable with nudity, right? So check him yourselves."

Logan held his hands up in a pose of surrender. "Just cause we have to get naked often, doesn't mean we want to get near another guy's junk."

Rolling her eyes, she stepped towards the corpse and rolled the dead weight of the body onto its side so it was facing away from her. Scanning the length of the body, she spied the black ink on the back of one of the shifter's calves. Sure enough, a raven was depicted with a C. Dropping the body on its back, she turned to her Uncle. "What's with all the tattoos?"

Logan shook his head in frustration, planting hands on his trim hips. Dropping his head forward, he analyzed his booted feet, but not before Jenna noticed his even, white teeth were biting into his lower lip. A second passed before he snorted then muttered, "Worst case scenario, those tattoos mean we're fucked—an intercontinental clan war is the best case scenario."

"Don't be so dramatic yet, pup." Owen waved his hand in the direction of the dead bodies. "What those tattoos mean is all of these men belong to the Corvus Pack. The raven you see pictured is in honor of Marcus Valerius Corvus's raven emblem from his Vexillum, or what you might think of as a flag that he used as General for the Roman Army. In fact, Marcus was gifted with the agnomen, or nickname, of Corvus because legend says he battled a gigantic Gallic warrior in single combat and a raven settled on his helmet as the two combatants approached each other to fight. The raven then flew off his helmet, distracting the Gaul and allowing Marcus to deal a killing blow. Corvus literally means raven." Turning his head back to stare at one of the bodies, he pursed his lips in contemplation before he continued, "Anyways, the Corvus Pack is one of the oldest, strongest, and most ruthless packs among our kind. It also means that if these men were behind your little hostage situation last night, to downplay what Logan said, we have trouble. The kind of trouble that should not be discussed out in the open. Let's head to your place, Jenna, to finish this."

She followed her uncle and brother back outside with Kent following closely on her heels. When they reached their vehicles, Owen turned to face Kent. "You won't be needed, demon. Return to your little reporter if you like; let us handle it from here."

Kent snorted in disgust. "Right. 'Cause the consummate all-knowing Pack Master Davies doesn't need menial demons around to bother him. I'm sure you know who to contact around here about questionable movement within the Others community in Wilmington, or North Carolina, for that matter. You know, with you living around here and all. Hell, you can probably walk into any place you want and get that kind of information, right?"

Jenna's eyes practically popped out of her head at her partner's scathing, condescending tone. She glared, looking rather bug-eyed at Kent, who she was suddenly sure was a perfect candidate for the phrase 'the lights are on, but nobody's home.' Then, she glanced over to her uncle, who she was doubly sure was about to rip Kent's head from his body and play with it as if it was a basketball. Hell, the vein running across his forehead was pulsing so hard and fast it could practically be the beat for a salsa dance. If Kent wasn't careful, her Uncle Owen was going to do the Cha Cha on his broken body. It only seemed to get worse as the seconds ticked by. His eyes started morphing from their normal grass green color to the vivid, glowing amber that his wolf wore. She held her breath. Her body was tense and ready for the moment that was sure to come. The moment where her Uncle would let his predatory nature out of its cage, showing Kent exactly what happened when you pissed off the animal inside the man.

The violence didn't come, though.

Instead she watched, fascinated, as the vein that had been throbbing like a jackhammer across his forehead slowed down. His eye color phased back to green and Jenna sighed in relief. To the entire world he looked perfectly calm now, but Jenna knew he was still agitated when his left eye gave an involuntary twitch before speaking.

"Come along then, demon. Let's see if you can pull your weight. I suspect that rather large ego of yours is exceptionally heavy, though."

Kent quipped, "It's not my ego that is exceptionally large and heavy."

Everyone climbed into their respective vehicles to follow Jenna to her house. She should have been worried about Kent's lack of intelligence at smarting off to the most powerful wolf shifter in the United States, but she wasn't.

She should have been worried about whether her Uncle Owen would snap her partner's neck for getting into a pissing match with him in a public place, but she wasn't.

She should have been worried about whatever the reasons were for having members of a slightly psychotic wolf pack running amuck in the new city she called home, but she wasn't.

No, suddenly Jenna was panicked about two things.

One, did she have enough food in her house to feed two overgrown shifter males and a large, sneaky demon? Because she knew demon appetites bordered on a level of ridiculousness that could empty a small grocery store once a week and that was, in a word, scary. However, she also had no idea if shifters carried the same kind of appetite, and if they did, then she was—in another word—screwed. Somehow she didn't think her meager stash of pepperoni slices, cheese and crackers would go all that far.

Two, she really, really hoped she had managed to pick up her dirty clothing from around the house. She had a terrible habit of stripping offending clothing off the moment she walked through the door. It wasn't unusual to see her bra lying on the living room floor as she made her way to the shower after getting off a shift from work. She also was not the tidiest person on the planet. In fact, her mama had repeatedly called her a hopeless slob of epic proportions if not kept in check. The absolute horror of her little brother—who she hadn't even known existed until this morning—seeing her bras or panties was enough to terrify and humiliate her beyond words.

Because she was quickly discovering that the possibility of a little brother, even if they appeared to be over the age of eighteen, seeing your undergarments equaled two words—total mortification.

~~~

The house had seemed so much bigger to her before she'd parked two shifters and a demon in the living room. Now, with the three large-bodied men huddled in the room, she felt damn near claustrophobic. Her uncle and brother were smashed next to each other on her small, dove grey loveseat while Kent occupied her only other sitting option in the room, a vibrant purple, suede, tufted armchair. The look of barely suppressed disgust on his face at having to sit in what he had announced was "a girly monstrosity no man should ever have to suffer, in the house of his newest partner, who he expected to have better taste, no less." At least, that's the reason he would give his therapist for the nightmares he was sure to endure.

Jenna thought the whole damn thing was hysterical. In the chair her mama had gifted her, sat a five-foot eleven-inch, two hundred pound, leanly muscled, smooth talking, lady killer with an easy confidence that had landed him firmly in the egotistical category, but at the moment, a lady killer that would probably rather abstain from sex for an entire month than sit in Jenna's girly chair. She could tell the only thing that equaled Kent's repulsion for her chair was his surprise she would even own it.

Sure, she liked being a cop and generally did mental happy dances whenever she was able to outperform her testosterone-laden coworkers who presumed she was going to be more of a hindrance than a help because of her carrying reproductive organs. She also liked to play with guns and could shoot almost any gun she could get her hands on at an expert level when most women would rather get a pedicure than pick up a handgun. However, all of that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy some of the feminine ideals of life. Such as pretty furniture that was also super comfortable. You would never catch her with anything pink in her house, but that purple chair with its lush, velvet fabric was her favorite piece of furniture to curl up in after a long day at work. The fact it made her partner uncomfortable to sit in, as if the level of girliness would rub off on him, was a bonus. He was acting like it was only a matter of time before someone would walk into the living room and demand his man card back.

Owen and Logan enjoyed Kent's obvious discomfort for a few minutes before her uncle sat forward and moved on to business. "Let's start with what happened last night. Your team was called in because it was a hostage situation?"

Jenna set the tray of drinks she had brought from her kitchen onto the coffee table and then pulled over an ottoman to sit on as Kent briefed them on the events from the previous night.

"What did they want in exchange for the hostages?"

Jenna answered this time, "Ten million dollars and safe passage out of the restaurant."

Her uncle's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "That's a lot of money and I can see where money would usually be a motivating factor, but in this situation, it simply doesn't make sense to me."

It was Kent and Jenna's turn to look confused. Who wouldn't want that much money? You could disappear to any number of places and never be seen or heard from again with that kind of payload. Not understanding where her uncle was going, she asked, "Why not?"

"The Corvus Pack is financially wealthy. Think about it. Marcus Valerius Corvus was a Roman General, elected Consul six times, the highest elected position in that time, and appointed Dictator twice. Even back then he was already wealthy. On top of that, he has been alive for thousands of years. He was born in 370 B.C., and with a few well-placed investments, compound interest and such, he's always been wealthy. From what I understand, he is generous enough to spread the wealth to anyone in his Pack. There should not be a shifter in his group who wants for anything. In fact, it would make membership to his Pack highly desirable among the wolf shifter community, but he's also known as a bit of an elitist. Very choosey about whom he lets in. So why would any member of his Pack do something this rash or brazen as to break laws and possibly out themselves to the human population for ten million dollars they would have to, hypothetically, split eight ways? It doesn't make sense to me."

She considered the argument. If the Corvus Pack was as wealthy as they were thought to be, then she could see her uncle's point. If they were active members of the Pack, ten million dollars split eight ways wasn't worth all of the cons that could be listed against it. First, there was the fact they would have broken Pack law. She didn't know all of them, but there was one that was utterly obvious in the Other community—don't let the humans know what you are.

That law alone was usually punishable by death. Pardons were awarded under extreme circumstances only. For instance, if you were defending yourself against an attack of some sort and a human happened to witness it, then you couldn't help but keep yourself alive, no matter who the spectators were. The humans would then either have their memories wiped through hypnosis, a medication of some sort, or on the rare occasion you knew a talented witch you could trust, magic. However, that was if the human was lucky enough to be in the presence of an Other who cared whether the human lived or died. For those with the unfortunate luck to be in the presence of a less than discerning Other, they might have their neck snapped, and then, depending on the species of Other, consumed so no evidence was left behind. She was guessing this happened a lot more than she would like to think.

The only other reason she could think of for a shifter to be pardoned from a death sentence for exposing themselves would be if their mate was human. Jenna was learning through Amy and Adam the once taboo mating was more common-place than it had been, out of necessity. There were only so many of the Other species to go around. Eventually, you needed new blood, so to speak, to avoid any cross-mating between familial lines. Sometimes fate gave you a human mate to do so.

With all of that said, Jenna couldn't grasp why any shifter would risk such a public display for ransom when it would certainly lead them to a death sentence.

Not unless they were walking dead men anyway.

"What if the eight men were cast out of the Pack for some reason? Or given a death sentence? Then they wouldn't blink at doing something so desperate to survive. Sure, ten million dollars isn't a lot of money split eight ways, but if they lived frugally and hid well, it would help them to get by until they could find a way to start making money on their own. If the Pack is used to living off Corvus's funds, then as outcasts they would be penniless and desperate for money to survive."

Logan picked up where his sister left off, "She has a point. Not many of the Packs have that kind of lifestyle. The majority of us have enough saved in Pack funds to take care of our own if emergencies happen and what not, but we don't live our lives off of Pack funds. We all have jobs and support ourselves. Therefore, if you're a shifter who has been cast out or given a death sentence, you have no money and are used to a pampered life where you didn't have to work for a living, then you might do something outrageous to fix that. It's a possibility."

Owen ran his hands through his shoulder length hair. "Well, let's hope that's the case. Rogue shifters would be a lot easier to swallow than the possibility of ulterior motives. It would make more sense than Corvus trying something in our territory. He may not be the Pack Master of Europe, but he has enough territory and influence over there and I can't see any reason for him wanting to cause trouble for us here in the States."

Kent scratched his chin. "Where is his territory? I've heard the name, but never had a reason to pay attention."

"Germany."

"You mean the entire country is his territory?"

Owen smirked. "Don't be too impressed. The country of Germany is only slightly smaller than the state of Montana."

Kent rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I can see your point, but don't you have two Alphas with packs in the state of Montana?"

"Yes, I do. I never said Corvus's territory isn't impressive. I was only implying it shouldn't be exaggerated because it has the title of 'country' and not 'state.' It's not as if he's Pack Master of Europe. He's a strong Alpha from what I've heard about him. His Pack is known to be a bit snobby, but it's also known to be merciless. In short, he's nobody to piss off if we can avoid it, yet he's also not somebody I'm worried about personally. I'll have to get in contact with Pack Master Moreau for more information and possibly permission for a visit."

"Would the name Moreau happen to be a coincidence?"

Owen shook his head. "No, it's very much on purpose. No coincidence about it. Before he became Pack Master, Leroy Moreau went by another name. His birth name was Francois Antoine. The problem he found with keeping that name, though, was that it was made well known when he killed The Beast of Gevaudan in 1765. This beast had been credited for two hundred and ten attacks, one hundred and thirteen deaths, and a number of injuries in the Margeride Mountains. The locals claimed it was a wolf and that most of the victims killed were also eaten by the beast. The second reason keeping his birth name was a problem was because when he wasn't recognized by humans for being the killer of the beast, then he was recognized by Others as being the son of the beast."

"The Beast of Gevaudan was Francois Antoine's wolf shifter father who had gone mad. Antoine killed him when it became obvious there was no way to bring his father back from the depths of insanity. He then became Alpha of his father's Pack and moved them—for safety reasons—to the other side of France so they wouldn't be recognized by anyone from the events around Gevaudan. When they settled, he changed his name to keep anonymity. As you know, Kent, and you will learn, Jenna, as Others we often have to change our names and move locations to keep our secrets. We can't live in the same area, never aging, and have the locals not pick up on it. Not unless you live in one of those rare, secluded Other cities, that is. When Antoine felt the need to change his identity around the beginning of the 1900's, after the release of the now extremely famous book by H.G. Wells, he chose Leroy Moreau. He told me it was because he was the King of Animals. Leroy means King, and well, you get the reason for Moreau. He's managed to hold onto that name since, and I don't think he has any plans to change it."

No one spoke again for a while. The silence was heavy with individual contemplation, and even though Jenna was young for being Other, she could guess why the story would weigh on everyone's minds. Being Other meant living a kind of longevity humans could never grasp. Your average human lived sixty to eighty years. Your average shifter, demon or born vampire aged as humans would up until their second puberty hit, which was about the human equivalent of between twenty-five and thirty. It was also considered an Other's sexual puberty. The start of when their bodies could produce children. When that phase hit, Others no longer aged. Instead, they became immortal.

There were remarkably few things that caused the death of an immortal. A violent death such as a beheading would kill any of them. On the other hand, piercing their heart was just as brutally effective. For those reasons, the majority of the Other species had heightened abilities to help keep them alive. They all had an ability to heal faster than humans and certain immunities kept them from catching any disease. Shifters had advanced senses for smells, but all Other species had extraordinary strength and speed, keener hearing and sharper eyesight to some degree over their fragile human counterparts.

The longer life span and advanced abilities would probably seem like a dream come true until some reached their breaking points. A stark fact of their preternatural lives was that it was unbelievably violent. From what Jenna understood, it was entirely commonplace to see many of your loved ones die in extreme circumstances. One could imagine what seeing things like that in addition to living hundreds or thousands of years could do to one's mind. Others who had lost their grip on reality and flipped their psychotic switch were unfortunately much more commonplace than any of them would like to think about. The fact that Pack Master Moreau would give himself such a grim reminder of not only the loss of his father, but the fact he had been the one to put him out of his misery, was both surprising and sad.

Jenna didn't do sad very well, and decided it was time for a change of topics.

Tapping her fingertip against the coffee table, she analyzed her Uncle's face. Warm green eyes so utterly different from her chilling ice blue ones, a straight regal nose and sharp, prominent cheekbones stood out over the two day old black stubble that graced his strong, square jaw. She bet that jaw was about to start grinding so hard by the time she was done with her demand, it would be a miracle if he still had teeth in his head.

"If you go to see Corvus, I'm going with you."

The muscles in his jaw flexed harshly while an atrocious noise subtly buzzed the air in a steady rhythm as the bottom half of his face moved from side to side, causing that grating sound to continue. With the strength that emanated from the simple action, it was a miracle the earnest scraping of tooth against tooth hadn't resulted in pulverizing his teeth into nothing but bloody, gummy stumps.

Had somebody mentioned dentures?

Logan and Kent sat deathly still while Jenna continued to look at her uncle, determination plain to see on her face. Finally, she watched as he sucked a lungful of air through his nose and then exhaled it slowly.

His eyes narrowed dangerously and Jenna had the distinct impression that, if she had been anyone other than his niece, she'd have found herself on her back and bloody. "You, little girl, are rather determined to blow to Hell all of your family's hard work at trying to keep you safe. Is there a particular reason behind this, or do you have a suicide wish you're trying to fulfill?"

"No suicide wish, Uncle. Two reasons. First, because these guys came to what I now consider my territory and caused massive problems that could have ended in a rather blatant demonstration of the existence of Others. I feel it's only right I be there to follow through on this situation.

"Secondly, it's time you started teaching me more about our world. You've hidden me for almost twenty-four years. Doing that may have saved my life from perceived threats, because I'm a hybrid, and I appreciate all of those hard efforts, but it's also been a hindrance to me. I am, for all intents and purposes, blind about Other species and how to survive among them. I think it's time for you and Mama to fix that. I figure it's best to start with you."

He pursed his lips as if considering her argument, tilting his head marginally to the side. Now that she'd had the opportunity to interact with other shifters, Jenna was quickly finding it vastly amusing how much of their animal natures could be seen in their human forms. The head tilt very much reminded her of how a canine would tilt its head to the side while studying something. Of course, now probably wouldn't be a good time to chuckle at how cute she thought the similarity was. He also wouldn't find it particularly amusing to know that, mentally, she was picturing him as an adorable little puppy, instead of the fierce beast he was in reality.

"You, my defiant, little niece, make a solid argument. One I happen to agree with now that you've decided to splash your picture around the newspapers. If I need to go see Corvus, then you shall come with me. For now, let's move on to other things. As your partner so eloquently pointed out earlier, I don't know where to search to gather information on unknown Others who might have come into Wilmington recently. Where do we go to find out that kind of information discreetly?"

The smile that spread across Kent's face was smug. "I know just the person to go see."
Chapter Eight

Jenna

Jenna watched her partner out of the corner of her eye as they raced down Highway 40, heading towards the town of Rocky Point in Kent's ridiculously flashy yellow BMW. The two-seater roadster had more gadgets than she could even name, or figure out what to do with. Not to mention earlier, when she had let him talk her into riding with him, the man had practically had an orgasm in childish man-glee at her wide-eyed surprise when he retracted the hardtop roof and stowed it in the trunk before ordering her to braid her hair if she wanted to avoid a rat's nest for when they reach their destination.

Since she was guessing Kent made the same puny public servant pay that she did, her imagination ran wild with suspicions on his ability to afford such a pricey car. Never one to be shy, she decided to ferret out what she could. The rush of wind whipping around them in the convertible made it impossible to say anything aloud, so she gently poked at him telepathically to let him know she wanted to talk.

"You rang, sugar lumpkins?"

She growled at the atrocious nickname. "If you value keeping all of your favorite body parts working, you won't ever call me that again."

The sides of his lips tipped up in amusement. "Whatever you say, my snarly sexpot."

She chose to ignore the quip. "Is this really your car?"

He caressed the steering wheel in the same manner Jenna imagined a lover would their partner's body—adoringly, as if it was the most cherished thing he possessed in life. She snorted at the idea that he'd probably popped a hard-on while said caressing had been done. She certainly didn't need that mental picture.

"Yeah. Isn't she a beaut? I bought her a couple of months ago."

"How does a police officer afford a car like this?"

"You ready to tell me all of your secrets, Annie Oakley?"

A pointed silence filled the car. It felt like there should be a neon sign flashing 'awkward' over her head.

"That's what I thought. When you're ready to spill your guts, darlin', then I'll tell you some of mine. Till then, feel free to bask in all the glory that is me and I'll pretend you didn't just try to insult me by questioning my integrity because I drive a car you think I shouldn't be able to afford."

Well, now she felt like shit. As much as her suspicious mind didn't want to admit it, she had acted like a judgmental bitch. It had accomplished nothing except inserting her foot so far in her mouth that her tonsils could taste the rubber from the sole of her shoe while simultaneously pissing off her partner.

The demon had every right to be miffed at her, too. She didn't know him. For all she knew, he could be hundreds or thousands of years old and financially secured through investments like the Corvus Pack. Additionally, that probably wasn't the best way to cement a relationship with her new partner; someone who she was going to have to trust implicitly to watch her back in potentially dangerous situations in the future. Dangerous situations that were, more than likely, on the immediate horizon.

She concentrated on the feeling of her braid flying around her neck as the car continued to zip down the highway to a destination Kent had refused to give her an address for, stating he knew what he was doing, and that she needed to trust him. Whomever they needed to talk to would be there. She'd done a genuinely superb job displaying her ability to trust so far, hadn't she?

"Ok, that wasn't the most tactful thing for me to ask about. Or how to go about it. I'll try harder to have a little more faith in you from now on."

She saw his eyebrow ratchet up his forehead. "Is that piddly little statement supposed to assuage my trounced upon feelings, darlin'? Make me feel all better?"

"What would make you feel better, Kent?"

He took his eyes off the road to look at her and smirked. "A blowjob?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do you take anything in life seriously?"

"Not if I can help it. Point in case would be, the only time I use the word seriously is to compliment a woman. Such as, you have a seriously nice ass, Jenna, and I would seriously like to see it naked and gyrating about two inches from my face. Other than those kinds of references, then the word serious, and all of its derivatives, have been struck from my vocabulary. It's a life principal for me."

"You're a hopeless pervert, Kent."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, pretty girl. I'm a hopeful pervert."

He decelerated long enough to make an abrupt turn off the highway onto a paved two-lane road before flooring the gas pedal again. It made her wolf nervous and agitated to be in a car that was flying down the road at close to 130 mph and not be the one in control of said vehicle. Kent was oblivious to the fact her body was starting to tremble from the efforts of holding back a shift. Thankfully, he was also in the dark that she had practically crushed whatever part of the chair frame her left hand was holding onto while her right hand tightened the grip she had on the door's handle until that, too, broke off.

He cockily continued, "My current hope is you don't choose that over-grown mutt, McPhee, when you could have something so much better—me."

Jenna was so concentrated on keeping her wolf in check that she could no longer tell where they were or how far they had driven as he slowed the car down enough to turn into the beginning of a driveway that looked to be a million miles long because of the tunnel vision she was currently suffering through. Her breathing was sawing in and out of her chest roughly by the time he finally stopped the car in front of a sprawling, moss green house.

Still unaware Jenna was close to shifting; Kent parked the car and shut off the powerful engine. "Let's go, my growly gumdrop. Our host is awaitin'."

The sound of his door opening and closing were the last things she heard before losing the fight with her wolf. Her animal instincts were already in overdrive as the bones in her body started to morph. By the time Kent reached her door to open it, her wolf was springing out of the car and directly for him.

She wasn't able to jump very far since the upper half of her sleek black body was trapped in her shredded t-shirt, but she was able to catch him unaware. Her teeth connected with the small amount of loose denim on his thighs, directly under his groin, and held on. With her head tilted back enough to make eye contact with him, her nose was pressed up into the man's favorite organ, just enough to let him know she had missed on purpose, and for added effect, she bared a bit of fang and growled at him.

Kent's body froze. One of his hands still had a tight grip on the car door while the other was in the air as if trying to show her he meant no harm.

"Does this mean my hopes are dashed and you want McPhee after all, my furry little firecracker?"

A masculine laugh rumbled behind them from the direction of the house. "Is it possible, Kent, that there's finally a woman on this planet you can't sweet-talk into doing what you want? I'll have to make sure and mark this day on the calendar. As a matter of fact, give me a second to get my camera phone up so I can take a picture of this or Alec will never believe it when I tell him."

All of Jenna's animal instincts screamed at her for leaving her back unprotected, so whether she felt Kent had learnt his lesson or not, she was going to have to let go so she was no longer in a vulnerable position. She clamped her canines a tad tighter, shook her head from side to side to jostle him and growled warningly. It was one last attempt to let Kent know she was not someone to fuck around with.

"All right! All right, my angry angel. No need to threaten the better parts of me. I'll be a good boy from now on. Promise."

She slowly unclamped her teeth and then turned to the side so one-half of her body was tucked next to the car and she could now see both Kent and the massive stranger who was leaning against the open doorway to the house. It wasn't that he was tall—because she was getting used to being around tall men such as Adam, her Uncle Owen and her brother, Logan, who all stood at a smidge over six-feet. Hell, even Kent was still tall to her and he stood a couple of inches under six feet. No, it was that this stranger probably topped out at close to six-foot four inches and was built like a flippin' tank. Even if his shirt had not been tight across his body, it would have been impossible to miss his defined chest, trim waist, broad shoulders and bulging biceps. She felt as if he should be required to wear a t-shirt that said 'Here Stands Goliath' in large, bold print letters for any of the half blind morons that hadn't initially seen him coming.

It wasn't that his body from the neck down sent out a dangerous vibe, either. He had a face that could be the example picture for the word 'serious' in the 'How to Spot An Alpha Male Manual,' right in between the entries for 'domineering' and 'violent.' She wouldn't be surprised, however, if the words 'sensual' and 'virile' would also apply.

He wasn't handsome in a pretty boy sense. His features were too harsh for that. No, he was rugged. Utilizing all of her wolf's senses with Goliath only standing thirty feet away from her position, she caught a peculiar scent wafting her way on the gentle air currents. It consisted of grass, a woodsy smell like tree bark and something else that made the muscles in her nose twitch in agitation. Before she could help it, she sneezed. Her head shook involuntarily to try to clear the stinging sensation that followed. She had the overwhelming urge to lie on the ground and cover her nose to help obscure some of the annoying smell, but she managed to keep herself from doing it.

When her eyes focused on the source of the unknown smell again, it was to find him grinning at her. She'd bet her favorite rifle most women would drop their panties at that smile. Hell, if they were inebriated, they would probably do more than drop their drawers. They undoubtedly dropped to all fours and presented tail to be mounted. However, Jenna saw more in that smile than a human women would ever see. She saw the hints of his animal nature shining through. The one-sided tip of his lips might indicate amusement, yet his eyes were wary. They held the look of a hunter, the kind of hunter that excelled in the art of patience and always caught its prey. She might not know what he was, yet, but there was no doubt in her mind that when it came to this man, she was undeniably the prey.

Buzz cut, jet-black hair; piercing, golden-yellow eyes with a ring of rich green around the pupils; wide cheekbones that framed a slightly crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken one too many times; and those sat over a strong square jaw that was only slightly softened by the full bottom lip that was entirely too kissable. Hell, she was having a hard time deciding if she was supposed to be scared shitless of him or drop into a melted puddle of lust at his feet. He didn't pack quite the punch to her libido that Adam did, but the man was nothing to sneeze at, either.

Well, scratch that, she had technically sneezed, hadn't she? That single fact amped her curiosity into suspicion. Jenna might not have encountered many shifters and she was yet to encounter any kind of feline or bear shifters, but she was betting it wasn't a bear that had made her senses agitated. More than likely, Goliath was some kind of feline. He didn't smell like any kind of feline she had met in her life, which summed up to a handful of ordinary domestic cats from neighbors in her small hometown who went totally spastic if she came within twenty feet of them. After poor, old Mrs. Boggmeyer's cat had flipped its shit and then promptly died of a heart attack when she simply walked by the owner's car as it was sitting in the grocery store parking lot, Jenna had gone out of her way to avoid all pet felines. It sucked giant, silver bullets she had accidentally killed someone's beloved pet just by being herself on an everyday errand. She tried to avoid the possibility of that ever happening again as much as she could. Otherwise, if it ever happened again and someone found out about it, they might label her SCK, 'Serial Cat Killer'.

The point of this whole inner mental tirade was that, apparently, giant shifter felines did not smell anything like your everyday house cat. The closest you could probably get to having the two species smell similar was if you talked some feline shifter into rolling around in mass quantities of catnip, and wouldn't that be funny as hell to see?

Goliath's full, sexy bottom lip parted from its top counterpart as he began to speak, "I'm guessing your cute little wolf pup there won't have any clothes to change into since she hasn't shifted back yet?"

Kent shook his head. "If you shifters were ruled by the moon phases like all of those ridiculous legends say, then I would ask if it was that time of the month. I have no idea why she went all big-bad-wolf on me."

"I'm sure it was your charming personality, Kent. After all, from what I understand, she wouldn't be the first woman to go homicidal on you after being in your company for a period of time."

"Very funny, you oversized Garfield. Can we come in now? The sooner we get Little Miss Howling over here properly covered, the sooner we can get on to the good stuff."

"Come on, demon. Bring your puppy into the living room while I get her something to cover up with." Goliath turned and headed back into the house. His easy demeanor brought home the point he didn't consider Jenna or Kent to be threats. If she wasn't so fascinated about the man, she might have had to admit that he scared her stupid.

She followed Kent through the front door and into an extremely open floor plan. The large room translated into what an ample-sized living room, dining room, and kitchen looked like with no walls to separate them. It was, in essence, one large rectangular room with four columns. Each column had been designed to look like the trunk of a tree, complete with tree bark. They not only connected to the vaulted ceiling above, that sported several skylights, but they also had thick branch-like looking beams that ran width-wise to the front and back walls of the room. The perfect straightness of the beams was the only thing that ruined the authenticity of the tree effect. The work was beautiful, but Jenna wondered why Goliath had gone through so much trouble to have such elaborate work done on his house. The attention to detail on the 'branches' and 'trees' was ridiculously accurate.

Red mahogany, hardwood flooring ran from one end of the house to the other and the walls were painted a rich fern green with a white trim. The overall effect gave off a feeling of being miles deep in a forest, instead of under the roof of a house. On the left was a set up for the so-called living room with furniture sturdy enough for a giant to sit on that was upholstered in a rich chocolate fabric. All of the pieces looked comfortable enough that whoever crashed on them might not want to get up for the next millennia or so.

The long, back wall of the house featured two sets of French doors, each on opposite ends of the expansive room. One set was off the living room area while the other was off the L shaped kitchen with three large windows in between them. With all of that glass, it gave an almost uninterrupted view of the land behind the house. Jenna didn't think she could live comfortably being so on display. The complete exposure of all that glass provided a rather stark reminder this Goliath-sized shifter feared practically nothing, and to be honest, that was enough to scare the shit out of her again. It was the law of the wild that for each predator there was always a bigger, badder predator behind it. Apparently, Goliath thought he was the end of line.

A variety of color drew her eyes to the front wall, turning her head to look in that direction she saw several shelves filled with items. All of them similarly painted with the most eye-catching pieces being a group of Russian nesting dolls. There were six of them, the largest looking like it was approximately a foot tall and, naturally, each doll was a little smaller than its predecessor until the last doll looked like it was maybe six or seven inches tall. The whole effect from the collection of items created an extremely vibrant wall.

Each piece was painted black with hints of red, orange, yellow and green. Looking at the dolls, her brain started working overtime trying to figure out what the hell was bugging her about them. Something was off. It took Jenna a few minutes to finally figure out what was missing on the dolls. They didn't have the pale, round human faces that were customary. Instead, they featured the faces of tigers.

It was one thing to guess you were in the presence of a larger predator. It was another thing entirely to know you were in the presence of a larger predator. One that, based on his size in human form, Jenna guessed was on the bigger spectrum of what feline shifters could weigh in at. Since she ran on the smaller side, her wolf was smaller than her human form. His tiger would be at least double his human form, if not triple. He could not only take her down easily, he could swat her away as if she was an annoying bug. She suddenly got why wolves tended to hunt in packs. She found herself wishing someone other than one of her family members were here to have her back.

She was wishing Adam was here.

Now wasn't that a scary realization to her inner, overly independent, I-am-woman-who-will-never-need-a-man-so-hear-me-roar, feminine bad-ass self?

The sudden addition of Goliath's smell had her turning her head back to face the living room, only to find the cause stood less than four feet from her. The shock of seeing him that close without hearing him moving, damn near made her shit herself. Of course, since she wasn't wearing pants, she should have been more worried about the mess that would have made on Goliath's floor. He probably wouldn't appreciate it.

The smug smile on his face let her know he was well aware he had unnerved her with his sneaky cat routine and was enjoying the hell out of ruffling her fur. He held out a bundle of clothing towards her mouth.

"Here you go, sweetheart. If you'll take the clothes, then head down the hall, the guest bathroom is the first door on the left."

Jenna grabbed the bundle gingerly with her teeth before turning left towards the hall past the living room. Following the light-footed giant's instructions, she found there was, indeed, a door ajar to a decent sized bathroom she could use. Walking into the bathroom, she used her head to shut the door before she placed the bundle of clothing on the floor and started the process of shifting back to her human form.

The moment she stood on two feet again, naked as a jaybird, she let loose a sneeze that could have blown another person's body over with its intensity. Who knew she'd be allergic to cats? It might not seem ridiculous if she'd been allergic to Mrs. Boggmeyer's fifteen pound, tuxedo tomcat, but to be allergic to a feline shifter, instead? Well, that seemed to defy the definition of bizarre. Of course, for all intents and purposes, Jenna's existence defied the definition of bizarre, so why should she be surprised?

After blowing her nose into some toilet paper, she unfolded the bundle of clothes only to stop short at the contents. Staring in a state of what she could only describe as horrified fascination at the black spandex, mini skirt paired with a golden orange tank top that had an exaggerated tiger striped pattern down the front of it. Guess that was all the overwhelming evidence she needed combined with the Russian nesting dolls in the living room to know for sure she was clearly dealing with a tiger shifter.

With jerky, angry movements, she dressed in the small bits of fabric that some other woman had called clothing. Thankfully, Jenna ran on the small side so the tank top was a tad loose and fell down to her curvy hips instead of the intended target of the waistline. Which was a supreme blessing considering the teeny, tiny skirt—even when pulled indecently low on her waist—barely seemed to cover her ass, which she had a considerable amount of. As a matter of fact, looking at herself in the mirror, she loathed actually calling it a mini skirt. It was comparable to shiny, black, plastic wrap, sealed to her skin two inches below her belly button and dropping inches past the v of her thighs while clinging to every curve in between.

She'd dealt with a lot of bullshit being a petite woman, working in the testosterone minefield known as law enforcement, but this outfit was worse than the ones her co-workers had picked out for her when she had gone undercover as a hooker! If this whole debacle had been a science experiment on comparing similarities of the males between humans and her kind, she would have had a clear answer. Apparently, it didn't matter if you were human or Other, all men were dogs. Hell, at this point, if aliens landed in front of the house, she'd bet it would only be because they still thought 'earth girls were easy' and that would only prove they were dogs, too.

The worst part about this entire scenario: there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. If a human man had pulled this stunt, she would have beaten him bloody. If Kent had done this to her, she would have used every last molecule of her telekinetic power to pick him up and throw his body into something hard, like a tree. If Adam had handed her this outfit, she would have shifted and bitten such an enormous chunk out of his ass he wouldn't be able to sit down for a week without wincing in reminder of how not to fuck with her. Had she been lucky enough to have one of those situations? No, of course not. No, with her enormously shitty luck she had to land one of the few people on the planet that she couldn't out-fight physically, mentally or even supernaturally. No, she had gotten that ridiculous outfit from one of the few beings she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, she couldn't fuck with for fear he'd get mad and turn her into his own kitty scratching post.

Awesome.

Shaking her head in disgust, Jenna stomped back into the living room where the two despicable men in question sipped bottled beers and chat quietly. Goliath heard her coming towards them and turned his head to watch her progress with the kind of rapt fascination she had seen your average domestic house cat watch the mouse it was toying with. Which summed it up in two words for her—highly unnerving.

Kent tipped his beer back for a healthy swig before looking from their host to her then promptly choked and sprayed beer all over himself. Mustering up all of the bravado she could manage, Jenna marched right up to Goliath, tipped her head back to keep contact with his eyes, and planted her pointer finger in his chest like she wasn't terrified that he could bat her around like an oversized cat toy.

"I'm sure you thought it was amusing to dress me up like some skanky streetwalker, buddy, but I'll have you know if you ever try to pull anything like this again with me, I'm going to break out my rifle and start hunting for a new rug to put on my mama's floors. You got me?"

Kent's head was bouncing back and forth so fast, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, she thought he was having some kind of epileptic seizure. Or maybe he was trying to do his best impression of a large mouthed bass on meth, she wasn't sure. What she was sure of, though, was the amused look in the tiger shifter's eyes vanished and she was probably seconds away from becoming that scratching post she had thought about earlier.

His brows snapped down and he lowered his face until they were nose to nose. Moving backwards was out of the question. It would be a sign of weakness and showing weakness to a guy like this was probably the same as throwing chum in shark-infested waters right before you jumped in for a swim.

A deep growl rumbled from his chest and she actually felt the vibrations of it resonate in hers. "Those skanky streetwalker clothes are my sister's."

Oops.

Jenna had heard of the phrase, 'Open mouth, insert foot,' but who knew you could say something so obnoxious it was the verbal equivalent of deep-throating the rubber sole of your shoes?

That pointer finger she was so bravely pressing into the hard wall of his chest started to slowly ease away. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough. One minute she was trying to figure out how to redeem herself in the tiger's eyes without looking like a total asshat, the next minute she found herself spun around and locked in the hard prison of his arms with his chest pressed against the length of her back. Her hands were manacled to her sides with her arms crossed one over the other and his giant, claw tipped hands held her wrists tightly against her own body. She felt his head lower and his teeth grazed her ear just before he spoke again.

"This is why I don't like to deal with wayward, little pups. They need too much training to knock all of the arrogance out of them. I promise you, though, my little mongrel, if you ever talk to me like that again, I'll give you the spanking you deserve, and I may not use a rolled up newspaper to do it. Now, do you get me?"

This was one of those times in life that no matter how bad being put in your place sucked—and it sucked like giant-sized donkey balls—you accepted it. It was one of those survival skills you needed to have if you were going to make it in a world of big bad beasts that didn't need to go bump in the night because they could chew you up and spit you out any time of the day. She had to submit to the tiger shifter's dominance for now, admit he could actually spank her—at least figuratively, if not literally—if he wanted to. That didn't mean she wouldn't work towards the day she could be the worst beast between the two of them, just to take the bigger bite out of his annoying hide.

"You can let me go now. I thought you were trying to get your cheap kicks while you could since this outfit has less material than the clothes I wore during my last undercover job posing as a prostitute. I promise not to insult your sister's fashion sense anymore if you keep your paws off me. We'll call it even from there, okay?"

He snorted in amusement. "I think I'll keep the newspaper idea in mind just in case." The moment he released his hold on her she sprung away from him to stand next to Kent.

She waved her hand in the air in frustration. "Can we get on with doing what we came here to do?" Propping her fists on her hips, she glared at the two men.

Kent was wiping the remaining beer specks off his chest that hadn't yet absorbed into the fabric of his shirt. He was also doing a super shitty job at hiding his amused grin at her expense. She chose to ignore it rather than give in to the urge to punch him. The quicker they got on with the information hunt, the faster she could get back to her uncle and to planning out their next step.

Finally finished with cleaning off his shirt, Kent looked up at their host. "Right, so Jenna, I'd like to introduce you to Gage Ivanov. As you've already figured out, Gage here is a shifter; tiger to be exact. Between him, his no good bruiser of a brother, Alec, and his annoyingly highly guarded sister, Lulu, they hear about the majority of what's going down in the Other community around here. If that weren't enough to help us out, well, let's say Gage has a particularly intriguing job that includes some highly resourceful coworkers."

Jenna cocked an eyebrow towards her partner at his last comment. "We work on the SWAT team," she shoved her thumb in the domineering tiger's direction "and you say he's the one with the interesting job? Would either of you care to elaborate on that?"

Kent looked to Gage, who had pursed his lips, although it wasn't so much in a serious, thoughtful context, more like an exaggerated, 'should-I-indulge-the-little-people' afterthought. The tiger looked to Jenna with mischief-dancing eyes and proceeded to say something so insane, it shocked her speechless.

"Would you be willing to become my personal love slave for the next fifty years or so? For me to tell you about my job, I'd have to make sure you were, literally, under my thumb and in my control in every way. That would probably be enough time for certain things to become unclassified enough to make it okay if you accidentally let my job description slip. I was thinking about retiring somewhere around that time frame, too. So, yeah, if you'll be my little love slave, move into my home where I'll put cuffs, chains, and a collar on you, never let you leave the house for the duration of your time served. You'd also have to sever all contact with anyone you know on the outside world. Then I'll tell you, but only after you sign a contract that says you agree to be my willing slave that I can use in any capacity that I desire since I would inevitably not only have to provide for you, I'd have to take care of and train your crazy, little ass, too."

Ignoring Jenna's jaw-dropped expression, Gage looked to Kent with an expression of curiosity. "How many rolled up newspapers do you think I'd need over the span of fifty years, Kent? After her tiny temper tantrum earlier, I'm guessing that number would be on the high side."

She sputtered in indignation, "Forget it, Mr. Kitty. You're never coming near my ass with a rolled up newspaper. I don't care what you do for a damn living. I am curious, though, if you have to handle any kind of weaponry while you do your job. 'Cause you are bug-fuck nuts! If you get to handle a gun or something like that, then I think whoever hired you should be put out of commission for allowing someone as crazy as you within a thousand feet of even a bendable paper clip!"

Kent slapped his hand over her mouth to shut her up. "Anyway, I came out here to see you, my resourceful good buddy, to ask about two things. One, have you or your siblings heard anything about any out of town shifters coming into Wilmington with the intent to cause trouble?"

When she couldn't pry Kent's hand off her mouth, she did the only other thing she could think of. She bit him. Her partner swore a blue streak that was incredibly colorful and Jenna looked at his bloody palm with a sense of pride. All of this was ignored by the contemplative tiger, however.

Gage crossed his arms over his chest while stroking his chin with one hand, in thought. "Well, I got back in town a week or so ago, so I haven't heard anything like that. Lulu stopped by the house yesterday and didn't mention anything, either. I haven't seen Alec yet, though. Tell me what's going on, and then I'll decide if it's worth tracking down my pain in the ass brother to ask him about it."

"You see the news about the hostage situation the SWAT team handled? The one with the three senators?"

Gage stopped stroking his chin to nod his head. "Yeah. You going to start preening like a peacock because you got your picture in the paper?" He jerked his head in Jenna's direction. "I wouldn't if I were you. I enjoyed her picture much more."

Jenna suddenly had the overwhelming urge to fill that reporter with bullet holes. She was never going to live down the damn picture of her in her sports bra!

"Up yours, Ivanov. We all can't have a rack like my partner here to lure innocent reporters into her web of camera hog-ism. Although, I have to tell ya', Jenna, if I did have a rack like yours, I'd probably play with them all the time."

Totally disgusted with the lack of male maturity between the two supposedly grown men in the room, she used her hand to swat Kent upside the back of his head. "Focus, you pervert."

"All right, all right already. Anyway, Ivanov, yeah, it's about what you saw in the papers. These were not your run of the mill idiot criminals. These were eight criminals of the Other variety. Wolf shifters to be more precise. We're trying to figure out why they would do something so brazen to draw attention to themselves. Even if we hadn't killed them during the rescue, and if they had managed to escape the hundreds of cops surrounding the restaurant, the minute their wanted pictures were released to the media, they would have been recognized and issued death sentences."

The playful, lazy demeanor had disappeared from Gage and he was now one hundred percent focused on what was being said. "Do you know what pack they were from or if they had a pack?"

She'd been quietly fascinated by the immediate change in the fur ball's attitude while he listened to Kent's rundown of events, but now Jenna jumped in before her partner could answer the question. Making sure she made eye contact with Gage so she could catch the full range of whatever reaction he might have, she answered, "The Corvus Pack."

His brows shot up to his hairline in obvious surprise; she had a feeling this was a man who was not surprised easily. After a moment, which Jenna spent watching what she could swear were literal wheels turning in the tiger's head, he murmured, "You're absolutely sure about that?"

Jenna nodded her head as Kent answered with a low, 'yes'. The quiet that descended on the house as she and Kent waited for his response was consuming. In fact, it was so quiet she could hear crickets start to chirp in the yard around the house—an extremely relaxing sound. So when a loud 'thwack' hit the glass set of French doors closest to them, she damn near jumped out of her skin. Looking over, she saw an orange tiger with one paw against the doorframe holding its body upright while its face was pressed against the glass so that its nose was smashed up, too.

Gage's growl of frustration made her jump again. "Come on, Babushka! You're getting nose prints all over the glass." Walking over, he turned the knob on the door and then swung it open for the tiger to slowly stroll in. Jenna could now smell it was a female and she watched the unknown woman's fur and muscle ripple through her body as she shifted while still walking towards them, never missing a step. That trick alone was enough for her to know this female tiger might have the outer appearance of youth, but she was old. As in, really, really old.

Even in her limited education on Others, Jenna had picked up the fact that it took hundreds of years to be able to shift with that kind of ease. Well, that was if you weren't her. It was one of the minor secrets she still managed to keep from everyone she wasn't related to. However, she couldn't shift effortlessly while walking, yet, and how much easier could the tigress have made it look when she so effortlessly transferred from one form to the other without so much as a hitch in her step?

By the time the tigress was a few feet away from Kent, standing as a naked human, Jenna thought Kent's tongue might loll out of his head like a panting dog. She had to admit, though, the tigress was utterly striking with her carrot top red hair; lustfully glittering, feline, golden-brown eyes; and pin-up, curvy body. The woman also seemed to be entirely oblivious to the fact Gage's eyes were starting to haze over in frustration.

With the type of voice Jenna could undoubtedly describe as a phone sex operator's purr, she said in halting, English laden with a thick Russian accent, "Hello there, boy, who is big. You are very hot with the smoke for one so young." Running a fingertip down Kent's cheek, then lightly over his lips she murmured, "Would you like a momma filled with sugar?"

When Gage hung his head in mortification, Kent looked as if he had a winning lottery ticket, and for once, Jenna covered her own mouth with her own hand to try and stop the laughter that was burning through her chest. She knew she shouldn't remove her hand, saying anything at all was risking the ire of the annoyed male across the room by the French doors, yet she couldn't resist the opportunity to poke at his obvious humiliation after he had needled her so badly earlier with his sister's clothes.

Well, Jenna was going to needle Gage back. Folding her hands in front of her, she cleared her throat to get the woman's attention, and once she had it, she said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, did you mean to say Kent is a 'big boy' who is 'smoking hot' and that you'd like to be his 'sugar momma'?"

The woman's face brightened like a flippin' Christmas tree when she smiled. "Yes, yes! Thank you, tiny, pretty wolf. My Lulu, she teach me your American lingo. Such a sweet granddaughter. She said I had to work on my eater of man game."

Kent started to inch closer to the insanely beautiful woman, who apparently was Gage's grandmother, although she didn't look a day over thirty. Kent had the look of an eager puppy ready for his treat, his hand already on the move to grab his prize, when all of a sudden there was a giant sized obstacle in between Kent and the naked man-eater-in-training of a grandmother.

Gage.

He bared his teeth at Kent before spitting out, "She's off limits to you, man-whore."

Before Kent could get a word in, the grandmother peeked around her grandson's massive shoulder. "He is a whore of men?" Looking suddenly forlorn, she added, "That is disappointment big." Turning her head to look at Jenna, she asked, "Why are all of the pretty ones always—wait, what is the word, Gage? When they are the lovers of men?"

Kent's face turned purple and he started sputtering. Or maybe he was having one of those epileptic seizures again... it was kind of hard for Jenna to tell the difference when her eyes were tearing up in mirth.

She didn't bother trying to hide the body-jarring laughs that racked her body. She was laughing so hard tears started slipping down her cheeks. Gage's grin was so wide his face looked as if it might split in half when he answered, "Gay, Babushka. Men who love men are gay. Now go get dressed so we can go see Alec."

Carrot top clapped her hands in delight. "We go to fights, my Gage? Good, good! I'll get dressed like bitch who is sexy and grab my purse. There will be betting at the fights and I can bet a wad of fat cash on my darling, little Alec!"

Jenna watched Carrot top race down the hallway before she looked back to Gage. "What fights?"

Gage's grin went from bright amusement at Jenna's still sputtering partner to a devious, sexy smolder aimed at her. "We're going to The Arena, sweetheart. Where every well-to-do Other goes to have a little fun and the unsavory of us go to indulge in our vices. Ready to take a walk on the wild side with me?"

Good gravy!

She wasn't as worried about the walk as she was about the unsavory part along with her being a cop and about to walk into a confirmed den of depravity. Here she was still dressed like a skanky streetwalker, too. She could see the headline the newspaper reporters would write on her next, after she'd been arrested coming out of that hellhole.

HERO COP TURNS HOOKER

Great. Just flippin' great.
Chapter Nine

Jenna

Walking through the low lit alley, Jenna watched as Gage stopped at a metal door and banged on it harshly. She had to physically stop herself from rolling her eyes when she saw a clichéd, small partition slide open at the top and a pair of eerie, yellow canine eyes peek through at their group. It was like she had jumped into the scene of a bad gangster movie. The only thing that could make it worse was if the guy asked for a password.

As if on cue, the body behind the door barked, "Password?"

After that one word, Jenna lost the battle and crossed her eyes. Just when she had thought it couldn't get any worse. Gage murmured something back and the door silently eased open far enough to allow them to enter in a single file line. Gage was the first through the door with his grandmother, Vera, following. Jenna was behind Vera with Kent walking so close behind her she had to stifle the urge to turn around and tell him she had already bought herself a new coat this year, so he could get the hell off her back. The second Kent stepped through the narrow opening of the door, it slammed shut behind him and her sensitive ears heard the numerous bars sliding into place inside the door as it locked. They stood in a small room with cement walls and floors that circulated stale air until the boorish guard stepped up to another door that was hooked up to an electronic keypad. Using his body to block their view, he quickly punched in a succession of buttons before several clicks were heard, and then the guard opened the door to wave them through.

She couldn't help being a little surprised at all of the security to get into a place Gage had simply referred to as 'The Arena.' Once again they moved as a group through the door; however, this time, it wasn't into a small space with stale air. Dozens of new scents immediately assaulted Jenna's nose and she wrinkled it against the repugnant onset. Smoke from cigarettes or cigars wafted over underlying tones of perfumes, colognes, sweat, alcohol and the muskiness of lust. The smells weren't surprising. What was shocking was the enormous club she would have never guessed to be here.

On the outside, it looked like a large brick, two-story strip mall. It was approximately six store fronts containing various businesses such as a Laundromat, a small mom & pop's steakhouse, a clothing store, a sushi restaurant, and a spa salon where, according to their sign, you apparently could get the 'total package' in a few short hours and feel like a brand new woman. Seeing as though she had never been much of a salon kind of girl, Jenna had no clue what the hell a 'total package' could be. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, either.

It seemed like an odd collection of businesses put together in a strip mall, but she'd shrugged it off as no big deal. Now that she caught the occasional whiff of steak or sushi, it dawned on her they probably owned the whole strip mall where they easily hid the dimensions of this extensive club behind and below it. They had put in businesses that could be used by their customers in or out of the club, too. It was a smart combo.

The door they entered through brought them out by a bar that curved along the wall it branched off of. Right off, she could tell it was a unique set up unlike anything else she had ever seen or heard of. It was like a Roman gladiator arena that had met a sci-fi, futuristic techno. The entire club had the general oval shape of the Roman Coliseum. The floors and walls connected to the level below were all made of stone that looked as if it had been transplanted from Ancient Rome itself. Looking up, she saw a couple of stone staircases with metal hand railings placed on either end of the oval that led up to a top floor. That floor seemed to be lined with numerous rooms all the way around, which could only be made out in the sexy red lighting shone from the outer rims of the ceiling by the black painted doors covered in metal cage bars and large mirrored windows that dotted the outside of the deep beige, faux-stone painted walls.

Looking ahead and down, Jenna saw there were two levels lower than the one she stood on, making the club a total of four levels. Unlike the top level, the bottom three levels had no rooms or walls. The only thing that kept patrons from falling from one level to another was a glass-like, half wall railing with a thick metal bar on top ran the entire circumference of the floor. The third level that she stood on consisted of a ridiculously long bar featuring bright, neon lights on the front face of the black wood and a stainless-steel encased bar ran along the length side of the oval building. The rest of the third floor was dotted with numerous gambling tables.

Men and women, carrying trays or working the gambling tables, moved through the crowds dressed in apparel that looked reminiscent to what slaves of the conceived time period probably had worn. With bare, shiny, oiled chests, the handsome male employees wore nothing except for teeny tiny loin cloths in a fabric that was practically see through because of its luminescent quality. Jenna had never seen fabric glow quite like those did. She felt her cheeks heat when she realized she could easily make out the outline of what she guessed were extremely well-endowed men as they moved through the club doing their jobs.

The female employees' uniforms were just as revealing. Their slave girl tunics barely covered their ample breasts and bottoms. They were also made of the same sheer-looking luminescent fabric as the men's loincloths. The fabric threw shadows of their nipples and their... Well, she didn't even want to think about what else was showing or not showing. Advertising your goods was one thing, but this wasn't advertising! No, this was the definition of a walking peep show, and she hoped like hell every single one of these employees got paid damn good money for flashing their X-rated goodies! No wonder pheromones of lust permeated the air. It was an easy bet to say a hell of a lot more went on in the club than booze, gambling and fighting.

Pulling her attention away from the nearly naked staff, she examined the rest of the area. On the second level of the club, there were tables and booths of all sizes, packed with customers watching—what was probably the most notable feature of the building—below them. On the first level, two men were currently beating each other to death. Or at least, that was how it looked. Jenna was going to pretend it was not actually to the death because she would hate for her guilty cop conscience to kick in now. That would be rather inconvenient timing on her part.

Both of the opponents were hulking, half-shifted men who appeared to be doing their damnedest to tear each other to pieces. The smaller of the two men looked to be a few inches short of six feet tall, had a lean boxer's build, brown haired buzz cut and his fingertips, teeth, and tips of his ears were shifted to their gray, wolf form.

The man opposite him in the arena could be the spitting image of Gage in facial features and body build except, where Gage had black hair, this one had a white-blond hue styled into a short, spiky mohawk. Kent had already explained to her on the way over they were coming to meet Gage's brother, Alec. After seeing the identical facial features on the two men, she didn't need anyone to point out who Alec was. Where Gage had golden-yellow eyes with an exotic ring of green around his pupil, this tiger had eyes such a pale, ice-blue color with a navy blue ring around the pupil that they were absolutely haunting. She bet her brother, Logan, would lift her title of serial killer eyes and re-award it to Gage's brother if he ever saw them.

Another distinction was the tattoos. Jenna had yet to see any on Gage, but his brother sported two full colorful sleeves that spilled out onto his pectorals as well. Nevertheless, that was not his most intriguing feature as far as she was concerned. No, that distinction went to the stripes running up his partially shifted hands and arms. Instead of the stark black Jenna had seen on Vera's animal form earlier and what she was guessing the majority of tiger shifters sported, Gage's brother, Alec, showcased stripes in a soft brown hue. She was fascinated to see the way his half-shifted arms blended with his human build, and how his tiger claws had sprouted from still very human finger tips. Thin, arctic white fur with chocolate-colored stripes ran over his forearms, but you could still see the tattoos beneath. It was strangely beautiful to her.

The two combatants circled each other warily around the dirt covered floor that was splattered with blood. Both fighters already had numerous blooming bruises from receiving blows in the fight. The wolf's face had deep claw marks running from his temple down to his neck with weeping, small streams of blood running down his chest. Alec had a set of claw marks running diagonally down his chest to the top of his stomach, which was also oozing its own small streams of blood that ran down his abdominals to stain the top of his jaggedly cut gray sweat shorts. However, Alec must have caught on to his opponent's goal of maiming him in a critical spot because, as the wolf lunged at Alec, trying to claw his midsection, the tiger moved out of range before contact.

It might have been kind of poor timing, and a little sick to admit, but seeing those claw marks on the men's bodies that were caused by the Other's animal-like nails from their half shifted states, made her an ugly shade of green. Even the sight of their canines peeking out of their still human mouths made her insanely jealous. Due to her hybrid genetics, she was unable to partially shift. There was no halfway for her. She was either a human or a wolf. It was a part of the con side of her pros and cons list she started after her Uncle Owen had disappeared on her. The sad fact was the con side was a hell of a lot longer than the pro side could probably ever be. She imagined there would be a shit load of convenience in being able to shift your nails or teeth into the animal's stronger traits when you were in a tight situation, needing a little bit of help and you couldn't shift to your animal's form to get you out of it.

The patrons' loud cheers and taunts brought her back to reality and drowned out the other noise around her. She watched in fascination as the wolf's attempts to punch, kick, or claw his opponent resembled jerky, robotic movements in comparison to the tiger's fluid counter kicks, punches, or blocks. With a wide smile on his face and radiating a cocky attitude, Jenna realized with sudden clarity the tiger was letting his opponent make occasional contact in a hit or kick to give the wolf a false bolster of confidence. She recognized this fight for what it was—a giant, brutal game of cat and mouse. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, tiger and wolf-like-mouse-toy, but it was a game to the tiger. She wondered if the wolf had any idea at all that he was royally screwed and about to have his ass handed to him.

Gage walked over to stand at the glass, half wall and let loose a shrill whistle. His brother looked up at him, saw Gage move his hand over his shoulder in a circular motion with his finger pointed towards the ceiling—in what Jenna guessed was a 'wrap-it-up' signal—and totally missed the fact the wolf was taking advantage of his distraction. Lunging forward, the wolf surprised him with a four punch combo; the first two hits to the stomach and the last two hits to his temple and cheekbone. Before the tiger had a chance to react, the punches were followed up by a stomp kick that sent Alec flying backwards to land several feet away on the sand floor. It all happened so fast there was no way a human's eyes could have tracked the movements. Hell, she had barely been able to see the punches and kick launched and landed against the tiger's body.

The crowd went berserk, the entire second level was on their feet, roaring. As the wolf stalked boldly forward, thinking he had the upper hand on the tiger, who was still lying on his back in the dirt. However, the wolf's cockiness cost him the chance to catch the telling signs the tiger was about to make his move. Jenna saw them, though. There was the tiger's subtle alteration of the position of his hands, moving them so they were no longer parallel with his body, but instead, transferred to one where his fingers were facing more outwards. She knew it was in preparation for the tiger to brace his body for an upcoming maneuver.

The tiger's legs were already drawn up after he'd landed, so his feet were still planted on the ground. Now, the left leg moved slowly downwards so that his leg was still cocked up slightly, yet his right foot was no longer planted on the ground and he let the leg lean a little to the side. Right before the wolf was within reach, she saw the tiger's abdominals tighten and then a flurry of movement exploded. Alec sat up in a graceful move, his left hand planted on the ground, dropping his left leg so it lay flat on its side against the floor and pivoting the right side of his body in a powerful kick that landed against the wolf's mid-thigh. It knocked him violently sideways as the sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the arena.

Alec leapt to his feet, calmly walking over to the wolf who was frantically dragging his body across the arena's floor, desperately trying to escape the approaching danger. The wolf didn't make it five feet before the tiger grabbed him by the foot of his healthy leg, jerked him backwards so he lay on the ground at the tiger's feet and flipped the wolf's body. The wolf threw desperate punches towards the hands and arms that were quickly descending towards his head, but they did no damage. Alec placed his large paws on either side of the wolf's head and twisted viscously. The sound of the wolf's neck breaking was the last thing anyone heard before the crowd went wild.

She guessed it was evident to everyone the cat had grown tired of playing with his toy. The wolf's seemingly lifeless body lay unmoving on the arena's dirt covered ground before two bouncers wearing black t-shirts and BDU pants picked him up by his arms and legs to move him out of sight where he could recover. The sight of the wolf's body being carried away should have been beyond horrifying to Jenna. If it had been a human instead of a species of Other, it would have undoubtedly given her nightmares for months. The only thing that kept her from those nightmares was the knowledge the wolf wasn't actually dead. Others could heal from a broken spine. It was only when you ripped their heads off or their hearts from their chests that you killed the otherwise un-killable.

The tiger sauntered out of the fighting area and started to attempt to make his way up to their group on the third level. He didn't make it off the patch of dirt covered ground before someone handed him a water bottle and towel to clean off his injuries and the wolf's blood from his body. He didn't make it to the second level before patrons were clapping him on the back, praising him for a good fight. He made it halfway across the second level when the first woman stepped up to rub her body all over his in invitation while a second woman shoved her panties into the hand holding his towel. He flashed a smile at the two women before gently disengaging himself from the situation to continue his trek to Jenna's group. Two more feet and women were practically sexually assaulting him by running their hands over him; first over his chest, then over his butt, before grabbing his package and rubbing him erotically. The man couldn't take ten steps before the women were practically raping him in public.

After disengaging himself from another woman, for what seemed like the thousandth time, he finally made it over to the tall table Jenna, Vera, and Gage were standing at waiting for him. He shot her an interested look before leaning over to kiss Vera on the cheek.

"Privyet Babushka. Did my little brother bring you out to have a good time?"

Gage slapped his brother on the back of the head after their grandmother was done hugging him. "Just because you're ten minutes older than me doesn't mean you're a big brother."

Alec slugged him playfully on the arm. "That's precisely what it means, little brother. Besides, it's not the only way I'm bigger than you. For one, I'm taller than you by two inches, and secondly, according to the last little morsel we played with together, I'm also bigger where it counts." The blond fighter shot her a lascivious look. "Is this our new morsel, brother?"

Gage smirked. "She doesn't seem to play well with others, we better leave that one alone. No, this is Kent's lovely new partner, Jenna. They've come to ask a few questions we might be able to answer. Jenna, this is my brother, Alec."

When Jenna held her hand out to Alec to shake, he took it, but ignored the concept of shaking hands. Instead, he brought the back of her hand up to his lips and kissed it. As he let go, Jenna brought her hand back to the table in front of her before leaning across the space, closer to the randy tiger.

"Charming. Really. But you can give up all your attempts to get into my undies now because it's not going to happen. I see you for what you are, a card carrying member of those determined to prove it's possible for men of the supernatural species to get STDs. I'm not sure who's President of the club yet, you or Kent. Not to mention I've discovered I'm basically allergic to you, and, frankly, I don't feel like taking an allergy pill so I can see this big dick you claim to carry. It's nice to meet you, though. Really."

Alec's mouth hung open in shock while Gage shook his head and Vera laughed her ass off at her grandson getting the verbal smack down. Gage finally patted his brother on the back and murmured, "I tried to tell you she doesn't play well with others. Besides, Kent mentioned something about Alpha McPhee. Better luck next time though, bro."

Alec finally closed his mouth and then shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Gage. "Oh well, you can't blame a guy for trying. She is hot." The white tiger looked around them. "You said Kent's here. Where is he?"

Jenna pointed her thumb over her shoulder at where Kent had one of the waitresses in a corner, wandering hands roaming freely on both sides. "He's over there providing a fabulous example of why he should be President of that club I mentioned."

The three tiger shifters peered over her shoulder to see Kent place his face in the waitress's triple D bosom, while the waitress's dainty hands entwined in his dark brown hair. Just before he proceeded to shake his head from side to side while making a loud buzzing sound, the waitress giggled loudly then used his hair to pull his face up and kiss him. The two started to go at it like a couple of sloppy, horny teenagers in the backseat of a borrowed car until Jenna could no longer look at the pair without rolling her eyes in disgust.

Giving up on her hopeless partner, she looked back to her three companions. The amused looks on Gage's and Alec's faces were expected. The confused look on Vera's face, however, was not.

Before she could ask the woman what was wrong, Vera turned to Gage and said, "I thought you said he was a whore of men. Why is he out of the making with her?"

Alec and Gage both dropped their heads into their hands, looking like twin statues of frustration. Jenna giggled herself silly. "I think you meant to say making out, Vera. Being a man-whore doesn't always mean you're a whore for men. Sometimes it means you're a man who would sleep with any kind of woman, no matter what she looks like as long as she opens her legs for you. Kent definitely falls into that category. I'd bet half a year's salary, if you got him drunk enough, he might accidentally be a man's whore for the night, though."

Gage dragged his hand down the front of his face as his eyes crossed in exasperation. "Okay, Babushka, no more talk of man-whores. Let's get on to the real reason we came. It's best if we grab a room and have this talk where others can't hear us, though. Who's going to drag Kent away from the woman?"

Jenna rubbed her hands together in maniacal glee. "I'd be happy to take care of that task, boys. You wait right here and I'll be back with my wayward partner."

Walking with renewed purpose, she made her way over to Kent who now had his back propped up against the wall with the waitress's mouth on his ear, presumably whispering things to him. One dainty hand still clutched his hair, but now the waitress's other hand was rubbing Kent's crotch like if she rubbed hard enough and fast enough, she could start her own Kent-sized campfire to warm herself with. His head was tilted backwards resting against the wall, listening to whatever sleazy things the woman was saying. His eyes were closed in ecstasy and his breathing was pumping roughly in and out of his chest in amped up pants of sexual frenzy. Even though Jenna had never had an orgasm induced by someone other than herself, she could see the signs Kent was seconds away from exploding. In his own freaking pants. The man truly was a slut of epic proportions.

Stomping right up to the oblivious couple, Jenna grabbed Kent's ear that was not occupied by the sexed-up employee and yanked brutally on it as his body was starting to tremble with what she guessed was the beginning of his release. Yeah, call her a bitch, but she was irritated at the fact they had come there to find information and her partner had once again been obsessed with getting his rocks off. After they left, she was going to find the first man-equipped chastity belt and throw his skanky butt in it.

Kent cried out in surprise and pain as she started to drag him away from his fun toy. Jenna looked back at the startled woman, who stood there not knowing what to do.

"Sorry about that, but he's got to work now. If he's a good boy and gets all of his chores done, I'll let him come back out to play."

Jenna dragged Kent all the way to the stairs by his ear where the family of Ivanov tigers were waiting for them and laughing hysterically. Kent pulled out of her grasp to stomp ahead, shooting her a murderous look before following Gage and Alec up the stairs to the fourth floor. Vera waited for her at the bottom of the steps.

"You are a kick of the ass woman. You'd make a good wife for a strong Russian man. You sure you do not want one of my grandsons as a mate?"

Holy shit! The old woman was obviously twelve shades of nuts and that made Jenna totally nervous of what schemes she might come up with in her unconditionally addled brain. How could she convince the crazy sex pot she wasn't the least bit interested in being mated to a tiger, possibly watching him cough up giant ass hairballs for the rest of eternity?

"That's sweet of you to say, Vera, but there aren't enough allergy pills on this planet that would allow me to live snot or itch free if I mated to one of those guys. Thanks for thinking of me, though."

She left the crazy matchmaking grandma, dressed in slutty clothes, at the bottom of the stairs and all but ran up the steps to follow the guys. Really, how much weirder could her life get?

Following the lingering scents of two male tigers and one pissed off demon, she found them in one of the fourth floor rooms with the door still open in invitation. The room was larger than she would have guessed it to be from the outside and held the same odd mixture of ancient Roman designs with the sci-fi, futuristic techno club. Numerous sconces placed on the walls around the room illuminated their surroundings in engaging shades of red and amber, giving the room a sensual vibe. Columns that looked almost as old as their neoclassical inspiration dotted the room, jutting halfway out from the wall so you could appreciate the aesthetic effect without them taking up actual space or getting in the way. Instead of the columns running from floor to ceiling, the tops stopped two-thirds of the way up the wall and were adorned by Roman deity-looking statue heads.

Seating in the form of lounge furniture, such as chaises made of metal and clear plastic, were padded with throw pillows made of rich silk fabrics to bring an old world charm. All of the seating faced a circular stage in the center of the room that looked to be made of stone, but held piles of floor pillows. The odd combination confused her. Why in the world would you have a stage with mountains of floor pillows? As Jenna stepped further into the room and closer to the stage, the answer came to her in the form of a smell that caused her entire body to flush in awareness and mortification.

Sex.

The room reeked of it. Casting a new eye around, it hit her. It was the club's version of Star Trek meets Roman orgy. Her desire to sit on any chaise or the stage immediately vanished. It would take at least a year's worth of sanitizing wipes scrubbed over every surface of this geeky, Greek lover's throwback to dream-lair of lechery before she would even think about sitting down somewhere. Nonchalantly strolling over to one of the walls that held a one-sided mirrored window in her sight, she leaned against that instead, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kent sat on a chaise and glared daggers in her direction while Alec was sprawled across his own chaise, broadcasting vibes of confidence and lazy amusement. Gage sat on his chaise but had an air of readiness about him. To the casual observer, he might look relaxed, yet to Jenna, every line of his body radiated the knowledge he could spring in a second, if necessary. Vera finally sauntered in and shut the door, causing all sounds from the club to be silenced. Sound proofed rooms. She would have thought it nifty if it wasn't for the fact she wasn't stupid. They were sound proofed because it didn't matter if the people in the rooms were boinking like bunnies or engaging in dealings of the more nefarious nature, the club would remain oblivious to what went on in them.

Alec pillowed one of his arms behind his head and watched her with interest. "What's so important we've got to discuss it now instead of later, after Kent and I've had a little fun?"

Kent shot her a look of 'See? I'm not the only one you're cock blocking.' Rolling her eyes at the perpetually lascivious men, she chose to ignore her partner and answered the tiger instead.

"I'm told you know a great deal about those like us, in and around town. Have you been in contact with, or heard about a group of shifters that came in to town looking for trouble?"

Alec cocked an eyebrow. "I hear about a lot of things, sweetheart. It doesn't mean I'll spill about it. Some things are like poker, better to hold your cards close to your chest till you're ready to make a play. How about you tell me what you're looking for and I'll let you know if it involves anything I know about?"

Jenna glanced to Kent for his two cents on the matter, but he shrugged his shoulders in a 'why not' gesture.

Tigers were turning out to be more trouble than they were worth. Looking back to Alec, she huffed, "Did you see that bit in the news about the hostage situation at the restaurant?" When he nodded, she continued, "Well the group involved were shifters, all eight of them. The thing is, the tattoos on their bodies tie them to a pack out of town which has a track record for sticking to the laws and immense wealth. This kind of scenario should have never happened. We're trying to understand their motive. Did they go rogue? Were they kicked out of the pack? We need to know if they acted on their own or if this was pack sanctioned and if we should expect further problems. At the moment, we're trying to collect as much information as possible before we contact their pack leader to come claim the bodies."

Alec was no longer looking at her, he was examining his nails instead. His lackadaisical attitude quickly grated on her last nerve.

"Why would any information like that be important to a lowly hybrid on a SWAT team?"

Jenna snarled, "I'd like to know how you and your brother know I'm a hybrid without me telling you? I've never met either one of you a day in my life and I just moved to town; it can't be that you know me personally. Where'd you get that information?"

Both tiger brothers moved as if connected by invisible strings, touching their fingertips to their noses before dropping their hands again. Alec remained quiet while Gage spoke quietly, "We've met a couple of hybrid shifters in our travels. You have a unique scent compared to full blooded shifters in the fact your smell is often understated. For someone who knows what they're looking for, hybrids are easy to spot. Lucky for you, most don't know what they're looking for."

She watched the two warily. Owen had told her there were those who could pick up on her nature if they were experienced enough, but she'd thought it was more of a cautionary tale. Something to make her stay hidden or out of the Other community. How many others would be able to know what she was so easily? It sucked her apprehension was so thick that even the demon could pick up on it.

"I've known these men for a long time, Jenna. I can guarantee that you don't have to worry about them betraying your secret, but if it would make you feel better, I'll put it to you like this, tell them who your uncle is and I guaran-damn-tee you that your identity will be as safe as if you'd had the knowledge physically locked up at Fort Knox."

Understanding dawned. It wasn't something she could spread far and wide yet, but the fact her Uncle Owen was Pack Master of the United States made many people nervous to cross her in fear of gaining her uncle's ire.

"Well, that will give you the answer to your question then, tiger. This lowly SWAT officer is not the one curious for the information. It's my uncle who's sent me to find out what I can. Pack Master Owen Davies. Now do you have anything to share?"

When their facial expressions never even moved, she had to hand it to them. Apparently, both tigers were good at what Alec called 'keeping their cards close to their vest' because not a single facial muscle moved. However, she could smell their surprise. There was certainly no way around blocking that unless you wore a gallon worth of cheap, whore's perfume or went running around the room with one of those nasty smelling, aerosol air fresheners.

Alec started tapping a fingertip against his bottom lip. After a pregnant pause he pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing in calculation. "I do have something for him, but I'd like to talk with him about it myself." When Jenna opened her mouth to object, he threw his hand up in the air to stop her protestations. "Don't take it personally, sweetheart. It's not that I think you can't pass along a message, it's more like this is something I think he should hear from me instead."

Kent tsked, "It's more like you want to secure an IOU from the powerful Davies. Don't bullshit a bullshitter, Alec."

Alec shrugged. "If Davies doesn't deem the information worthy of a favor, then he won't grant one. I'd be stupid not to try and bag something like that for a rainy day, though."

There was no need to finagle with Alec. He was unquestionably right. If Owen didn't deem his information worthy of an IOU, then he wouldn't give him one. Pulling out her cell phone, she called her uncle, updated him on what she had, and therefore, what she didn't have. She then asked him how he would like to proceed. When he stated she and Kent should bring the two tigers out to Adam's house, Alec and Gage shot her decidedly smug feline grins. They were definitely cat-with-the-cream looks except in their human forms it came across as panty-melting instead.

When she hung up her phone, she couldn't help but ask, "Why do you two look so happy about heading out to pack lands filled with nothing except wolves?"

Once again they became the connected with strings, moving twin statues as they both held up their right hands with two fingers sticking up on each.

Gage said, "Two reasons."

Alec continued, "One, we've never been to the McPhee Pack lands, and, well, we're curious."

Gage took back over, "Two, she-wolves are some lusty bitches. We're hoping to snag some tail."

Completely disgusted with the two, she planted her hands on her hips and barked, "I'd tell you both you're despicable and I hope your dicks fall off, but I think I'll hold out for a more likely possibility."

The brothers simultaneously asked, "What?"

Jenna gave them a feral grin. "For curiosity to kill the cats."
Chapter Ten

Jenna

The ride in Kent's car to the McPhee Pack lands outside of Wilmington was downright chilly. Not chilly because of the temperature drop outside, it was a balmy seventy-five degrees outside on a beautiful August night. No, the arctic blast was coming from her partner's freeze out. He hadn't spoken a word to her since the club and she doubted he would even open his mouth to yell for help if she suddenly combusted in flames. Jenna briefly wondered if she should apologize for pulling him away from the attempt to contract Chlamydia, but decided if she started excusing his slutty behavior now, then he would try and use it as a free pass for all future attempts at it as well. He should get used to her being the walking, talking version of the common sense he apparently lacked.

Kent parked in the driveway in front of Adam's house with the tigers parking their black Chevrolet Suburban behind them. As they all exited their respective vehicles, the door to the house opened and Clay walked out with Amy, who looked downright excited about something. She thought it might be the hooker-esque outfit since Clay had an appreciative look on his face and an amused tilt to his mouth. Even Amy seemed to check out the tank top and mini skirt paired with her motorcycle boots in an envious manner. However, the level of enthusiasm Amy emitted appeared to be pointed in her direction, not her clothes, which made Jenna nervous. The gorgeous redhead was all but bouncing on the balls of her feet in glee; something was certainly up.

That realization made her sigh in resignation. Jenna didn't need anything else to be up. In fact, she very much needed everything around her to start going in the opposite direction of up and be more down. Relaxed. Less hectic. One's life could get turned upside down only so many times in one month before they flipped their internal, crazy switch and went totally gun-totin', put-her-in-a-straitjacket, homicidal bitch on the rampage.

As they crossed the yard towards the pair waiting at the front door, a breeze blew past Jenna and towards the house. Almost immediately, Amy's eyes widened, she paled a bit, and Clay's eyebrows snapped down in a semi-murderous look. By the time she was standing in front of them, Amy was nibbling on her bottom lip nervously and Jenna was darned confused by their reactions.

"Hey. Where's Uncle Owen?"

Clay motioned towards the house with his head, still scowling. "Follow me."

They went into the house and through the living room she had stood half naked in earlier that day, past the living room and up the stairs to the second floor she had yet to see. When they cleared the top stair, Jenna caught the scent of her uncle nearby. She could find him now on her own, if she chose to, yet she opted to stay behind Clay, instead.

Making their way through a hallway with cream colored walls and wooden trim to match the hard wood floors, she glanced at the family pictures hanging on the walls as they passed by them. There were numerous shots of a much younger Adam and Amy posing with two people she guessed to be their parents, and tons of other individuals who were all probably distant family or pack members. All the pictures were happy and quaint; they made this seem more like a home instead of some of the sterile houses she had been in while on the job. Looking at all of those images, the way everything seemed lovingly decorated, she knew this was more than a roof and walls to the owners. It was their haven.

At the second door to the end of the hallway, they stepped into a room with a long, rectangular conference table where her uncle sat at the head with her brother sitting to his right hand side. He motioned for Jenna to sit in the empty chair at his left. Jenna and Clay were the first two through the entrance to the room, and as she made her way to the seat indicated by her uncle, she watched his head snap back towards the door so severely it was a miracle he didn't give himself whiplash. Curious as to what caused him to react that way, she glanced back to the doorway as Vera sauntered through it.

In less than the blink of an eye, her uncle was on his feet, across the room and standing in front of Vera, bringing the back of her hand to his lips for a kiss. He moved so quickly he disturbed papers sitting on a desk a few feet away from the table he'd been sitting at, and now they were floating towards the floor as if they were settling back down after a mini tornado.

His voice was raspy after he had kissed her skin, lingering longer than necessary, then he murmured, "My sweet, it has been too long since you've graced me with your presence."

Vera blushed. From the looks of shock on her grandsons' faces, this was not something she did often, if ever. She purred back to Owen, "Have you missed me, moy strong wolf?"

Owen never let go of her hand. Instead, he used it to pull her closer to him so that they stood touching from toes to chests. His hand held hers over his heart, their noses and mouths practically brushing each other's. The scent of their lust permeated the room in such a cloying manner Logan snorted in disgust and actually walked over to one of the windows, opening it to let in fresh air.

"I have missed you for far too long, my striped temptation. Tell me, is your husband here with you in America?"

Her head dipped, a tear slid down her cheek and her breath hitched. Owen placed his finger underneath her chin, pulling her face up so they made eye contact once more. The act was so intimate Jenna had the urge to look away. She felt as if she was watching something much more private than a conversation between a woman and a man. The way they looked at each other, held each other, you knew Vera trusted Owen unequivocally; just as you knew he considered her something far more precious than any fine china or glass sculpture. He held her as if she was his salvation and he was a man tired of living without it.

"Tell me, my sweet, what has he done this time that makes you cry? If he's hurt you, I'll end him. This time, you won't stop me."

She shook her head faintly. "It's not that, moy Owen. Egor is dead. Here in America, I am to live."

"Finally free," he growled.

"Svoboda." She nodded her head in agreement.

A gagging sound filled the room. Jenna looked towards the sound to see Alec bent over at the waist, his body jerking with dry heaves. He looked up when he realized the room was too quiet to see everyone staring at him. Holding up a hand as if to assure everyone he was okay, he croaked, "Sorry. Give me a minute. I started to puke a little in my mouth when the old people started eye fucking each other. There are certain things a man should never see his grandmother do; this is one of them. If they're done, then I'll be okay in a minute. Although, I might feel better faster if Jenna would come pet me a little."

Jenna chucked the first thing her hand could find on the conference table at him. It happened to be a half-full cup of coffee, but she wasn't fast enough, so she missed hitting him by about a centimeter. What she did do, however, was make one hell of a mess all over the floor. One she stared grumpily at, like it was all the puddle of coffee's fault she hadn't been able to hit the big-headed bastard, instead of the fact he was older with more speed, strength, and agility than she would ever have. That alone made her want to try and hit him with another coffee cup. She might never make contact, yet the act of throwing shit at him, causing him to jump around the room like a scaredy cat, would surely brighten her day.

Moving her glare from the puddle of coffee to the arrogant feline across the room, she almost lost her temper again when she saw the man smiling at her. Just like a sneaky feline to play games when it was inappropriate to do so.

Owen's irritated growl silenced the snickering of every other person around her. "Let's get this started with already. Clay, go track down Adam. I want to touch base with him after I speak to Mr. Ivanov. Amy, please get something for Jenna to clean this mess up with. Then make sure no one else comes up to the second floor until I say otherwise."

Amy ran at wolf speed, zipping out of the room, and was back within seconds, a towel in hand for Jenna. She handed it over before zipping out of the room again, shutting the door on her way out. Jenna squatted down to mop up the puddle of coffee while Owen waved at everyone else to have a seat at the table. When she was done cleaning up the mess she had made, she sat down, too.

Her Uncle once again sat at the head of the table; except this time, when she looked at him, he was stroking his chin in interest and looking at Alec.

"Tell me, Mr. Ivanov, what do you know that it is so important you can only tell me in person?"

"You sent Kent and Jenna to find out if anyone had heard anything around Wilmington about rogue shifters, or ones who were out to cause trouble. The thing is, what I heard wasn't something that I heard in Wilmington. It's what I overheard in Germany I thought you should know about."

Jenna's interest was caught like a fish bite on the breakfast buffet of worm-ala-hook. Germany. That was where the Corvus Pack was based.

Alec continued, "You see, I fight in the Black Rings. It has me on a circuit, country hopping, not too long ago from Brazil to South Africa, then on to the European countries before hitting China and Australia. One of those stops was Germany where I fought outside of Frankfurt, near one of their pack properties. Right after I'd beaten this big ugly German wolf to smithereens, the place went nuts. The beer was flowing, and let me say, those Germans know how to have a helluva good time. The party was in full swing when I made my way to the bathroom and passed some interesting whispering going on in a corner." Alec tapped his ear. "Everyone always underestimates how good feline hearing is since it's supposedly not up to par with you mutts." Logan growled, but Alec ignored him. "Anyways, this whispering catches my attention because its two hot chicks and one of them sounds scared shitless. The blond, well, she was practically crying while arguing with her little brunette friend about how what they'd done was going to catch up with them and get them killed.

"Normally I wouldn't bother eavesdropping on the rest of it, 'cause frankly, if they're dumb broads who have done something to go and get themselves killed over, that's not my problem, but what the blond said next was what kept me nosey. She went on to mention they'd kept him down for too long. She wasn't sure if what they were doing could be slowly killing him or not, and she was terrified of what would happen to her if someone walked in there one day and found him dead. The brunette told her she was being ridiculous. There was no way what they were giving him could kill him, and even if it did, it would mean Lars took over the pack."

Owen's face became inscrutable. None of it made any sense to Jenna, but she knew from the blank expression on his face he was starting to add shit up. More than likely, what he was adding up spelled trouble.

Owen asked Alec, "Was that all that was said?"

Alec shook his head 'no.' "The last bit didn't make much sense to me until now. The brunette told the blond she needed to keep her shit together for a little while longer. She scolded blondie that the plans were already in place, the teams would be leaving soon to start their tasks, and they had to stay strong because soon the New Age would be coming."

He shrugged his shoulders at our baffled faces. "Whatever that means. I have to admit, though, it sounds a bit disturbing. Like I said, none of it made any sense to me before, so I kept my trap shut about it." He picked his hand up off the table and waved it in Jenna's direction. "Then, your sweet little niece here comes to ask questions, tells us about your eight dead wolves and where they came from, and let's just say, things started clicking into place for me. How about you, Pack Master Davies? Anything clicking into place for you?"

Owen's face was still a blank mask as he stared at no one in particular, deep in thought. His fingers, however, were drumming away at the tabletop, creating a steady beat in the otherwise silent room. Several minutes passed and Jenna was starting to wonder if she was going to have to snap her fingers in front of her uncle's face to bring him out of his self-imposed, catatonic state. If it hadn't been for the fingers still thrumming away, she would have thought he was pretending to be a mannequin or something.

Suddenly, his fingers stopped as he turned his head from looking at nothing to Alec, and quietly asked, "You obviously want some compensation for this information. What exactly are you hoping to collect?"

"Right now? Nothing specific. However, one day, I'm sure I'll want or need something, and if I come to you and ask for help with it, I want your reassurance you'll aid me."

"You can't ask for an open-ended favor. I need to make sure nothing hurts my family or my pack."

Alec shook his head. "I'll never ask you anything that would put your loved ones, or those who are your responsibility, in jeopardy. That's a promise. With that stipulation, do we have a deal?"

Owen tipped his head to the left and regarded him cautiously. As he regarded him in a deeply probing manner, Jenna wondered if he was trying to read Alec's intentions. Or maybe read the story of his soul, as if it was written there on the skin for those who knew how to read it correctly to see. It was an extremely unnerving phenomenon, and Jenna would bet it was one of the skills he used often to keep his status as Pack Master. Finally, Owen came to some internal conclusion and nodded his head in Alec's direction.

"We have a deal. Thank you for the information as well as keeping it to yourself from now on. I imagine I'll hear from you when you're ready to cash in the favor. Till then, I ask that, if you happen to come across anything else you might think of as useful to us, you let me know immediately."

Alec crossed his arms over his barrel chest. "You wouldn't happen to feel like sharing what your thoughts about all of this, would you? I normally wouldn't bother with anything that doesn't involve something important—like me—but from what I've heard between those two German wolves and what Jenna has told me today, I've got a crap feeling about all of this. I don't like shit sneaking up on me in my own backyard."

Jenna snorted. "I've seen your backyard, tiger. It's huge, but last time I checked, nothing happens there."

Alec shot her the stink eye before baring a little canine action. "I consider Wilmington, as a whole, my backyard because it's where I like to play. Ergo, shit happens in my backyard." He looked back to Owen with the tiger blazing in his eyes. "There's no reason for you to push us out of whatever this is if we're willing to help."

"And are you willing to help, young Ivanov? Even if it is a wolf matter?"

He shrugged nonchalantly back at the wolf. "If it'll help keep problems out and the humans stupid, sure. I bet if you ask Gage real nice, he might be willing to help you, too."

Gage leaned over and slapped Alec on the back of the head with a blow that would have killed a human. Alec looked at his brother with annoyance. "Don't hit me, asshole. We both know I can crush you. Besides, you know you want to be in on this. You're too nosey of a bastard to not want to know what's going on."

Gage growled. "That doesn't mean you get to volunteer me, moron. Unlike you, I have important shit to do."

Alec cocked a knowing eyebrow at his brother. "Are you currently involved with anything?"

"No."

"Have you recently been asked to start a new mission?"

"No."

"Then shut the fuck up Gage."

Vera said something in Russian to her grandsons at the exact moment Jenna's phone rang. Kent glanced down to his phone expecting a ring as well, in case it was work calling, but his stayed silent as Jenna checked the caller ID then smiled. She answered her phone.

"Hey, Mama."

Her mother cut her off. "Are you at work?"

"No, ma'am. I'm—"

Her mother cut her off again. "Are you in public?"

Jenna sighed. She knew where this line of questioning was headed and now was not a good time. "No, ma'am, but now's not—" Suddenly she had a dial tone. Shit.

From the resigned look on Owen's face, she guessed he knew what was coming, too. Before she could voice a word of warning to the three tigers, one demon, and one half-brother that didn't know what was about to happen, her mother physically popped into the room, landing out of sight of the three tigers on the desk behind them.

Her hands were fisted on her hips and she looked mad enough to spit nails. With her standing on top of the desk, full of angry attitude, she reminded Jenna of a pirate on board her ship facing down a foe across the water. Larger than life, intimidating as hell and ready to charge the enemy. Or in this case, ready to take Jenna to task for not coming home to assure her mother she was truly okay after getting grazed by a bullet and showing up in the newspaper.

She appeared so quickly, even though she was in Kent and Logan's line of sight, they hadn't had a chance to notice her before she started yelling.

"Jenna June O'Conner, if you think you can blatantly ignore me, you have another thing coming, young lady!"

From the moment the 'J' sound in Jenna came out of her mother's mouth, the unsuspecting victims of her appearance jumped. Gage reached for the inside of his pants' waistband at the hips where she glimpsed a flash of metal in the form of knives a second before they occupied both of his hands. Kent and Logan both jumped to their feet in defensive positions, as if they would have to defend themselves against an attack, while Alec let loose an eardrum shattering roar as he underwent a startled change. The bones in his body were already breaking and rearranging by the time he dropped to the floor. His clothes were halfway shredded on his body with tatters lying on the floor. The sounds of pounding footsteps thundered up the stairs to the second floor in such cacophony it sounded as though a damn army was approaching the room.

The room's door burst in and half a dozen wolves—including Amy, Clay and Adam—sprung into the room, ready for a fight. Great. Here were six more people present to witness her utter humiliation as her mama let her have it for not running home to her the first time she got one tiny gunshot graze away from home.

Looking up at the ceiling in hopes of finding some divine deliverance, she had to admit to herself that perhaps asking back at the club how much weirder her life could get was a bad, bad idea. It seemed she had tempted fate and now that cruel bitch was laughing at her in maniacal glee.

Returning her attention to her mother, who still stood confidently on top of the desk as if she didn't have a roomful of shifters and one twitchy demon ready to tear her apart, Jenna gave into the urge to face palm.

Really, there were times in life where you were totally allowed to face palm because nothing else seemed to do. Right then was one of those times.

Alec, in tiger form, and one of Adam's three wolves she wasn't acquainted with in human form, took menacing steps in her mama's direction. Jenna's body tensed at the perceived threat towards her mother, but she didn't move. Instead, she tried to warn them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The words were too late. Her mother threw both hands in the air, palms facing outwards in an 'I surrender' gesture; except she wasn't surrendering. No, she was adding to Jenna's as well as Alec's and the unknown wolf's humiliation. The leanly built, older wolf and the close to a thousand pound tiger were now levitating at least three feet off the ground. The wolf thrashed around as if he could put himself back on the ground where, according to his frightened face, he desperately wanted to be while Alec seemed to be doing the opposite and had locked every muscle in his body so as not to move at all. He didn't look irritated so much as pissed for being incapacitated.

Before anyone else made an idiotic move towards her mother, Jenna tried to diffuse the situation again. "If everyone would calm down for a second, then maybe I can get through introductions before someone gets hurt. Everybody, this is my mother. Mama, this is everybody. Now please put the wolf and tiger back safely on the ground."

She knew people were staring at her with the whole shock and awe factor going on, but she ignored it. She was busy having a staring contest with her diva of a mother, who had yet to land the two floating bodies in her control back on the ground. Jenna growled in exasperation.

"Mama, please. Put. Them. Down."

Her mother huffed. "Why should I? How do I know they won't try and come after me again?" The Irish lilt she was usually adept at hiding was out in full force with her anger. This group was in serious trouble now. Kelly O'Conner was all geared up to rip into every single person in the room and she had her mouth halfway open to start on it.

Owen cut her off before she could start, "Kelly, I assure you no one will attack you now that they know you're Jenna's mother. You can't blame them for their reactions to you teleporting in uninvited."

The curly haired blonde scowled. "Uninvited, am I? I've got news for you, Owen Davies, wherever my daughter is, I most assuredly am invited and where the feck have you been? Not that I expected much from the Davies after she was born and her Da died, but I thought surely you would at least stick around to see her."

Owen's expression turned black. His wolf eyes bled through and he snarled, "Put them down, you infuriating woman!"

She dropped the two men unceremoniously before disappearing off the desk and reappearing right behind Jenna. Gasps sounded around the room as Jenna turned to face her mother, who placed loving hands on her shoulders.

"Oh, my wee lass, what have you done? You've been in town less than a week and you're sitting in a room full of people you should have never allowed yourself around. Your Uncle Rick is going to hit the roof. Don't worry, though. We'll squirrel you away somewhere safe and this little nightmare will pass. If we leave now, we can have your house packed up and have you home before the morning."

In a flash, there was a fierce heat at her back and a muscled arm clamped across the front of her chest. Adam's body was literally vibrating with rage. "No. She's not leaving. Ever."

Her mother dropped her hands from Jenna's shoulders and her O'Conner blue eyes flashed in warning. "I've got news for you, young one, I'm her mother and I've kept her safe for almost twenty-four years. If I need to hide her in Siberia to keep her safe, I will."

Adam's arm tightened painfully across her chest, causing Jenna to wince. "You will not hide her from me. If you try, I will track her to the ends of this earth to find her, and you will regret the day you took her away from me. As far as I'm concerned, there shall never be a day that passes from here on out that I do not know where she is and that I can reach her easily. Do you understand me, little demon? Mother or not, I will do what I must to keep her."

"Don't provoke Kelly, Adam. Not if you like your house intact. Kelly, you're not taking Jenna anywhere. On that, Adam and I agree. Her time hidden away is over. She has more than you and Rick for family, and it's time she knows them. Her half-brother, Logan, is standing right next to her. Would you really take Jenna and keep her away from her own blood?"

Kelly O'Conner's pale skin flushed with fury. The walls and floor of Adam's house started to tremble and one of the unknown wolves whined, not liking the sensation. "You will not take my daughter from me, Davies. Blood or no blood, I will keep her safe from anyone that becomes a danger to her. How dare you waltz back in after being absent for years, dangling a new brother in front of her, knowing she can't resist that. Not to mention the fact she's only been out of my house for a week and she already has this inexperienced Alpha obsessed with her. An obsession you're apparently approving of! How could you let something like that continue?"

Jenna stilled in shock. Adam was obsessed with her? What did that mean? They weren't talking about it in a manner that conveyed a regular crush between a man and a woman, or the unhealthy longing a killer had for his victim. This was more in the sense it was a thing to be suffered or lived through, like a condition or disease. Like the symptoms of a harsh fever that helped you burn out the virus invading your body. Was Adam suffering in some way because of her? Had she inadvertently done something to him she hadn't known she could do?

Owen looked downright annoyed at having his judgment questioned. "Adam is an exemplary Alpha, especially since he has achieved such status at a young age. I overlook his obsession because I know it will ensure his need to make sure she is safe. What happens between the two of them from there is no one's business except their own. If she chooses Adam, then what more could I ask for than an honorable man who will be devoted to my only niece? You must learn to let go a little, Kelly. Jenna has to learn how to survive in this world on her own. What if something were to happen to you, or me, or even Rick? Losing my brother should have taught you that."

The tremors from the house stopped and Jenna's mother looked somewhat chastened. Jenna was so shocked that someone had put her lovable mama in her place, she reached up and pinched her own arm to make sure it wasn't a dream. When she felt the jarring pain, she couldn't help but smile in awe at her uncle. She wondered if Satan was handing out ice skates for his new frozen rinks in Hell.

Owen ran a flustered hand through his hair. "Let's all take a half hour break, calm our nerves a little, and then the necessary people meet back here." Looking to Adam he added, "That includes you and your Beta. Perhaps, after a little refreshment we can all get through the rest of this meeting without slaughtering each other." Walking over to Jenna's mama, he held out his elbow to escort her. "If you would spend the break with me, Kelly, I'd be happy to fill in the necessary gaps so there are no more hard feelings between us about my niece. While we're talking, perhaps Adam and Jenna will have a chance to straighten some things out."

Kelly looked at the elbow as if it offended her tremendously. From the way she glared at it, you would think it was covered in a flesh-eating slime. Her stubborn mama finally sighed in resignation and accepted Owen's elbow as if she was the freaking Queen of England. Of course, with the way Kent sent her a worshiping look, strangers might think she was royalty.

The second her mother was out of sight, Adam had his face buried in her neck, taking a deep breath. When he let loose a viscous snarl she knew she was in deep doo doo for something. 'Cause, you know, fate hadn't already jerked her around enough. No, she had to have something else go wrong before she had been tortured enough for one day.

The last of the footsteps trailed out of the room, but she sensed Amy nearby. She was probably hovering close to them out in the hallway. Adam's nose trailed the length of her neck up to her ear as the hand he didn't already have wrapped around her traveled down her ribs and settled on her hip. He nipped her ear sharply with his teeth, causing her breath to hitch at the warmth it caused to spread down her body, settling on the southern parts of her anatomy.

With lips that never left contact of her ear, he rumbled, "Why do you stink so badly, my sweet tart?"

Shocked all the way to her toes, she asked, "Sweet tart?"

He moaned in assurance. "Yes. Sweet because the first time I saw you, I thought, 'She looks like a sweet woman who could never stand up to my wolf.' Then, you started your little staring contest—refusing to submit and look away—determined to convey to me in every way you could from fifty feet away that you have enough moxie to stand up to me, my wolf, and my whole damn pack if you had to. You were telling me with those beautiful eyes of yours that you may look like a delicate, stunning creature that needs to be wrapped in cotton and protected at all costs on the outside, but on the inside, you're the kind of woman who would sooner cut off my balls than let me try to wrap you in protective cotton.

"You're like my own piece of living, breathing candy. I wonder if you'll taste as sweet and tangy as your confectionary nickname suggests. The problem is, I can't taste you and I can barely smell your sweet essence through that God awful, striped, fluff ball odor. It is an odor that should not be all over you. Let's remedy that now."

Before she could say a word or even blink an eye, Adam had her in his arms and was zooming her to some unknown location. About three seconds later, the blurring landscape stopped and she was standing in a shower she'd never seen before. She turned her head in the cranky wolf's direction to ask what the hell was going on, but ended up getting a mouth full of water for her effort since he turned the shower on to a freezing cold spray that pounded her with pressure and instantly soaked her to the bone.

He barked a cross, "Wash it off," before the shower curtain fluttered as he zoomed out of the bathroom.

Jenna stood there in the freezing water shocked, both mentally and physically, from the cold, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Thankfully, someone showed up so she could yell at them and ask why. Amy. She stood watching Jenna through the small, sliver of an opening between the inside of the bathtub and the other side of the shower curtain.

"What the fuck was that about?"

"Well, you came home smelling like a stray cat or two. He considers you his and he doesn't like you smelling like any man except him. Hence the reason you resemble a soggy piece of laundry right now. I can understand you being a little surprised by his reaction to the smell on you, but if you didn't know it by now, I'd hope like hell you've figured it out. Our males tend to be a bit possessive. You have no idea how amazed I've been by how patient Adam is being with you about all of this."

"Patient? Patient!" Jenna waved her arms in the space around her as she stood there shivering and sputtering, "You call this patient? I haven't even known him a week and you think he's being fucking patient?"

Amy looked at her as if she ought to have her head examined. "Well, yeah."

Adam

Things were not going as planned and that royally pissed Adam off. Normally he was flexible, willing to bend instead of break when he had to improvise to get what he wanted. In this instance, though, he found himself much closer to breaking because the stakes had never been higher for what he was trying to achieve, which were two exceedingly crucial things. The first was his sanity. Obviously, that was an extremely beneficial thing to maintain if you expected to keep breathing. This was not a dog-eat-dog world. Reality was much harsher than that. This was a world where, at the first sign of weakness, a pack of rabid wolves would hunt you down to tear you limb from bloody limb, leaving the scraps of your body for the scavengers to consume.

The reason he felt like he was on the brink of losing his sanity? Jenna. Who was the second thing he was trying to achieve. His entire life, Adam had fought to control his beast and to keep his life. It wasn't exactly a secret, being a shifter and living among them, if you were unable to keep your animal contained, you would be put down quickly and silently. The entire Other species, as a whole, had survived by keeping their anonymity.

Sure, there had been slip-ups in the history of the world. Random shifters, demons, or vampires who had let their supernatural presence be known among the humans. Why else would there be so many stories or legends about them? Many of the older incidents ended up with that particular Other achieving God-like status and becoming a deity among the race of humans. However, for every instance of supernatural slip-up in history, you had a thousand dead Others behind them to remind you why—if you wanted to keep breathing, you needed to learn to play by the rules.

The most fundamental rule of the shifter kind was keeping your shit together and not losing control. Adam was dangerously close to letting the chains slip and giving his wolf the freedom to go ape shit. Allowing that to happen would be a damn travesty when he had managed, since childhood, to beat everyone's expectations of failing because his wolf is so close to his human surface. Most of his life had been spent living under a microscope, constantly watched to make sure his wolf was kept locked down and using the developing power of his wolf's dominance to help make them Alpha, thereby keeping them alive. Adam McPhee could not allow himself to be a man who lost control of his wolf, which was what he was on the edge of doing at the moment.

The trigger to his spiraling downfall was currently freezing her ass off and sputtering in his shower. No, Jenna hadn't set out to purposely rile his wolf, but she had done so inadvertently by being so challenging, not submitting to his dominance, and in extension, the hierarchy of the pack.

From the second she had refused to look away from him, she'd caught the interest of his wolf. His beast finally understood why it had never been interested in keeping a constant bed partner or settling down with a mate. It was because none of the females he'd encountered had been strong enough for them.

Whereas the human side of him took one look at her and saw a petite, dangerously curvy, potential bedmate that made him harder than stone, his wolf finally saw the potential of a strong female to handle their domineering attitude without running away screaming in tears. That moment in time had become what Adam realized, right then, as the first break in his defense of keeping his wolf locked down. With every minute spent in her presence since then, his wolf had become more and more approving of the strong female wolf. Determined they alone were strong enough to bring her to heel without breaking the fierce spirit that glowed within her.

Adam had been intensely skeptical at his wolf's insistence of claiming and keeping Jenna, though. His human side had tried to rationalize with his animal side, sure, she was insanely beautiful and presented what could be one hell of a fun challenge, but he wasn't sure he was ready to claim any woman as his mate. After all, he was only sixty-years-old or so in human years. Most of the Other species didn't meet their mates this early on in their lives. They still had plenty of time to have fun before they settled down and started making pups. His wolf didn't want to hear the human logic, however. He didn't want to hear Adam's reluctance of taking a mate, or even his ideas of taking things slowly so the human half could be more sure of the animal half's proclamations.

The wolf's obsession had become stronger each day since they had met her, and it took considerable glee in pointing out what it considered to be all of the traits that made her the perfect mate for them. Not only was she strong in mind and body, she was also loyal to her family, which meant she'd be loyal to their pack. She's inexperienced but passionate, the wolf whispered to him. She needed someone to show her the joys of how and when the wolf liked to play.

Above all else, she was a unique treasure. He didn't need the wolf to show him there would never be anyone quite like Jenna, due to her hybrid genetics. The fact that she was one of a kind in their supernatural world was a gift. To the wolf, she was a priceless jewel he wanted to possess. He yearned to be the only one able to keep her all to themselves—always for them alone—protecting, loving and nurturing her till the end of their days.

With every point the wolf made, he forced a larger crack in the defenses Adam used to keep him under control. Jenna's mother had been correct when she'd stated it was an obsession. It was something a shifter never wanted to be accused of. The idea the animal half had become so infatuated with something that it threatened to break free and claim their possession was damn near the beginnings of a death sentence among their kind. Adam's wolf had become enamored with Jenna and was on the warpath to either convince their human half they had to have her, or the wolf would batter his fleshy cage walls until he emerged in control of them once and for all.

The wolf told him that he would make Jenna theirs at all costs. Adam couldn't help but wonder if it was going to end up costing them their lives. At the moment Kelly O'Conner had announced to the others that Adam was, indeed, becoming obsessed with her daughter, he had begun to throw aside his plans of wooing her slowly to keep her comfortable with what was happening between them. The eyes of his Pack, and worse yet, Pack Master Davies, would be inscrutably on him for the first sign of losing control. He was going to have to do his best impression of dating her at warp speed to show her that he and his wolf alone were the ones who could be her and her wolf's partners for the rest of their days. He didn't have much choice in the matter anymore other than to succeed in making her his mate as quickly as possible.

Every day his wolf wasn't able to touch her, hold her, to make her theirs, was a day closer to their doom—one day closer to Adam losing his sanity to the wolf's attempts to break him in order to gain what he considered his. He didn't have the option of failing because failing meant certain death by the claws and teeth of a pack of angry wolves.

Jenna

Jenna was cold and naked, muttering curses, as she followed Amy out of the bathroom she'd been dumped in and into a bedroom that was undoubtedly Adam's; it was saturated in his scent. The strong smell of the room alone almost made her knees buckle under a surge of arousal hit her like a bullet striking its target. It was quick as well as deadly and she wasn't sure she'd ever recover from it. It took all she had to stop herself from dropping onto the man's bed, rolling around in the luscious smell that was unique to him and practically creaming herself over it. Amy was kind enough to pretend she couldn't smell Jenna's arousal filling the room like a flippin' perfume grenade going off.

The gorgeous redhead walked over to her brother's closet and pulled out one of Adam's shirts to toss at her. As Jenna slipped the soft grey cotton t-shirt over her head, she saw Amy digging through a dresser for a moment until she pulled out a pair of navy blue sweat pants.

"Here, these are the only pair he has left that still has the draw string in them. You know how people always say their dryers steal their socks? Well, apparently, our dryer steals the strings out of Adam's sweatpants because they always go missing after he washes them a few times."

Jenna dragged the baggy pants up to her hips before pulling the string as tight as she could and tying it to keep them where they belonged—at her waist, not falling to her ankles like they want to do. She looked back at her friend to find Amy regarding her intently, if not a little worried. The last of her strength seemed to drain out of her and she plopped her butt down on the end of Adam's bed.

"Can you explain what's going on, Amy? You obviously know something I don't about the way Adam's acting, and to be really honest with you, I've had it up to here with surprises in my life as well as trying to figure them out." Jenna held her hand in a flat imaginary line over her head to demonstrate her words. The infuriating Alpha's sister nibbled on her bottom lip, seemingly unsure if she should say anything.

"I don't know... maybe you should talk to Adam about this..."

Like a rubber band that had been stretched too thin, Jenna's temper finally snapped. "Don't give me that shit, Amy. I know he's your brother, but I kind of thought you were my friend now, too. How much more shit should I have piled onto my life before everyone starts to think twice about adding one more problem to my growing list?"

Amy bared her teeth as her canines started to elongate. "You have no idea what Adam's going through right now! I might like you, Jenna—we may be friends—but he'll always be my brother; therefore, Adam comes first. I know it's not your fault, but you're driving him crazy! Now I spend my days worrying if he's going to lose control of his wolf and have to be put down. This situation he's in is something you've caused, whether you knew you were doing it or not."

Jenna was flabbergasted. "How the hell is it my fault if Adam can't control his wolf?"

Running frustrated hands through her hair, Amy looked up to the ceiling before snarling, "There are times I'd really like to castrate your uncle for your lack of knowledge of our kind. It's ridiculous and dangerous." Her hands fisted in the length of her hair as she started taking deep breaths to calm herself. Eventually, she slowed her breathing and then looked back to Jenna. "Did you hear your mom accuse Adam of being obsessed with you?"

Jenna shrugged. "Yeah, but it's no big deal. Mama was being her usual, dramatic, overprotective self. It's not like Adam is stalking me or anything."

The left side of Amy's mouth tipped up in an ironic half-grin. "No, he's not stalking you. Yet. The problem is you don't understand what is really being said because you're in the dark. The fact your family didn't teach you these things while growing up is seriously insane, girl. They've left you at a severe disadvantage, even if they had the best intentions about it."

Amy walked over and sat next to Jenna on the bed. "You see... the thing is... saying someone is obsessed in the human world you grew up in and saying they're obsessed in our world have a similar context, but they run on drastically opposite sides of the scale. I'm sure you've seen a case or two being a cop where a man is infatuated with a woman, whether she returns his interest or not. Well, in Adam's case, it's a bit direr. With shifters such as Adam, where his animal is much more powerful, dominant and—if not properly controlled—a danger to others, those animals can become attached to something or someone in a way the human side can't manage. This kind of thing is so rare many don't know how to deal with it. There's something about you that Adam's wolf has decided is perfect for him, whether Adam likes it or not."

Jenna was mortified. Her face must have showed it, too, because Amy watched her reaction with fierce curiosity. "You're telling me his wolf wants me and he's miserable because he doesn't?"

Realization dawned on Amy's face. "No, no! That's not what I'm saying. In Adam's case, he does want you. I know that for a fact. He's trying to capture your interest in ways you'd understand since you didn't grow up knowing how one of our males will proceed with a female he wants. He doesn't want to scare you off. Have I heard of obsession cases where the animal wanted something or someone that the human side didn't want? Yes. That shit doesn't end very pretty."

"What do you mean?"

Heaving a sigh, she continued, "If the human side of the shifter doesn't handle the obsession and nip it in the bud, then the animal basically fights them for control. If the animal wins, then you have a feral shifter running around doing whatever they want to get whatever they want, damn the consequences."

"Which would make it exceptionally scary in someone like Adam's case because his wolf is so close to the surface anyways?"

"Exactly."

"What's Adam going to do?"

It seemed like the weight of the world had settled on Amy's shoulders, and it caused her to look somber as hell. "I don't know. What I do know is he's honorable enough to not let his wolf force him to do anything he thinks would make you uncomfortable, scare you away or inadvertently hurt you. That scares the piss out of me because I'm afraid I'm going to lose the last member of my family, seeing as he'd rather die than hurt the ones he cares about. There's a good chance my brother will surrender to the wolf, rather than force you to be his mate, so that he can survive."
Chapter Eleven

Jenna

After her talk with Amy, the severity of Adam's situation weighed heavily on Jenna. The logical part of her brain told her there was no way in hell any of this was her fault. It was not like she had run up to him and said, 'Hi there, you're hot, I want your wolf to become crazy about me so he can slowly drive you insane until you eventually go ape shit, turn into a raging animal, and have to eventually be killed by those closest to you so you don't accidentally hurt someone or expose the Other species.'

On the contrary, she had done her best to get Kent and Adam to leave her the hell alone. Still, her emotions were in the wringer and she was waiting for someone to hang her out to dry on a clothesline to top off the emotional upheaval it was putting her through.

She had no idea what to do or say about Adam's wolf's obsession, or even what her human side thought about possibly giving in and becoming Adam's mate to help save his sanity, and therefore, his life. However, her wolf's side was growling in pleasure at the thought of attaching them to such a strong Alpha wolf. She felt her beast rumbling seductively at the idea of having such an impressive mate, and she was all but rubbing her fur on the inside of their human skin, trying to entice Jenna to give in to her lusty, animalistic desires. Her wolf kept sending graphic images to their brain as to what Adam, as a mate, could get them.

She had to admit, a naked Adam in her bed for the rest of her days was one hell of a hot, mental snapshot.

Jenna managed one small victory in the talk with Amy. She was able to get Amy to agree to keep their conversation between the two of them—for now. She didn't want Adam to know she was aware of what was going on for two very good reasons. The first reason was, if she could pretend to be in the dark about the problem, there was less pressure on her about making a decision on what she was going to do. The second reason was that she wanted the opportunity to see how Adam was going to try and coerce her into being his mate.

Would he try to bully and manhandle her into a relationship to save his own life as her human half feared? Or would he be as honorable as his sister claimed him to be and try to develop something between them so Jenna wanted to tie herself to this man and his beast, leading her and her beast to fall in love with him? She hadn't known him very long, but what she did know about Adam was more than enough to pique her interests and had perhaps made him a tad bit endearing to her.

He was protective of those he considered his. He did so in ways that were sure to drive her mad, but he did it because he wanted those he cared about to be safe from harm. He was obviously close to his sister and his best friend, Clay, who were good people in her eyes. In return, Amy and Clay were loyal to him on levels that were kind of awe-inspiring. She knew without a doubt they would follow Adam to the ends of the earth.

She had also taken notice the McPhee Pack seemed well taken care of. So she could deduce he took his responsibilities as Alpha seriously, instead of using it as a title to abuse as well as to get the things that only benefited him. He was funny and flirty towards her in a way that made her think a relationship with him would be loads of fun. That was something that appealed immensely to her since she hadn't had a chance to experience that kind of thing in her life, yet. Also, the wolf was beyond sexy and had inspired such longing in Jenna's body that there were times she thought she'd end up tackling him to the nearest horizontal surface to quench her hunger for him.

It was a lot to swallow and she had to tread carefully in the murky waters to make the best decision. It seemed like an impossible situation since she had to not only think about her own future happiness, but also the ramifications of what would happen if she turned Adam away. It wouldn't just be the sad point that Adam would more than likely not be able to subdue his wolf and keep his sanity; it was also the fact that, if he went feral and had to be put down, Amy, Clay, and their pack would suffer a tremendous blow in losing him.

There was more than herself to think about here. Only Adam could prove to her it would be worth it to become his mate. The quickening patter of her heart as he came into sight when she re-entered the conference room merely assured her there was a tremendously significant part of her that hoped he could prove worth it.

He was standing alone in the room, leaning his butt against the table with his legs crossed at the ankles as he watched her progression into the room. Those warm, amber eyes seemed to see everything. He gazed through her bodily shell into the heart of her and her wolf. The wolf liked the direct contact. The woman, however, was a little unnerved by the intensity in his eyes. Moving slowly, he held his hand out to her, palm side up, inviting her to take it. She couldn't help staring at that strong hand for a second, noting his neatly clipped nails and the strong lines of his fingers that connected to the palm. He was asking her to take a chance. She hesitantly slid her hand into his and immediately felt comforted from the warmth that radiated through his hand into hers.

He pulled her gently to stand in front of him, guiding her to straddle his crossed legs so she now held herself mere inches from total contact with his body. That warm, penetrating gaze of his never left her own eyes, and the closer her body got to his, the hotter the look he gave her became. By the time he settled her in front of him, his hands were burning her with intense heat through the clothes she wore at her hips and his strange brown eyes were molten with lust. Her breath caught at the sight.

What would it be like to have a man that looked at you like that for eternity? Would he always want to lay desperate eyes on her this badly? Or would his attraction wane one day? It was too early to tell, yet she was certain a part of her would give anything to know a man, maybe this man, could look at her like that for the foreseeable future.

His voice came out gravelly when he said, "I like the look of you in my clothes, my little sweet tart."

She wrinkled her nose in playfulness. "You didn't like the hooker outfit they gave me to replace my own torn clothes?"

His hands slowly trekked up her back, erotically rubbing every muscle on their journey until they reached the space between her shoulder blades before making a devastatingly similar journey south. It was the best petting session she'd ever had. The way he sensually rubbed along her spine was like hot liquid pouring down her frame until it pooled between her legs.

"On the contrary, those clothes you were wearing were so hot they burnt my retinas. It was ruined for me, though, when your scent came to me and you reeked of cat." His hands inched a little farther down so they gripped her at the top of her butt then he eliminated the scant few inches between them so they were touching from hips to chest. His erection was a hot wedge against her lower stomach. "It might sound lame, but I much prefer you dressed like this as a substitute to that minuscule skirt."

"Why?" she breathed. Her hands moved from their place at her sides to inch up his flat stomach and lay on the pecs of his chest. He groaned at the slow sensation of her caressing his body.

"Because the look of you freshly showered and wearing my clothes makes my imagination run wild. It makes me think of the next time you're dressed that way and exactly how I can get you there. It would involve getting you undressed again, then giving you many, many reasons to make you hot and sweaty enough to need another shower. It would then be followed by dressing you in more of my clean clothes. Now, can't you see why I would like that scenario so much more?"

She was rendered speechless. The air froze in her lungs as her mind played horrible tricks on her. Flashing little clips of what Adam could do to her while naked to get her sweaty. What delicious images they were, too. If he couldn't smell the little bit of arousal she felt before when he was petting her so seductively, then there was no way he could miss it now. There wasn't a doubt in her mind the lips of her sex had flooded with desire, and he undoubtedly smelled her reaction to his words.

As if needing evidence of his ability to smell her lust, his nostrils flared and he released a growl that was low and sexy, vibrating into her body since they were touching. When his grip on the cheeks of her derriere tightened, she closed her eyes as he lowered his head so their lips were finally touching. In contrast to the consuming, hard, fast kiss he had given her at his club days before, this one was infinitely gentle. He rubbed his lips against hers—the soft, sensitive skin tingling with each slow pass. He lingered for a moment before his tongue peeked out to skim the crease between her lips, urging her to open up for him.

When she did, his tongue slipped between her parted lips and the sensual invasion was almost too much for her to bear. Her fingers fisted in his shirt, and she made her own groans into his mouth. His tongue was swirling around hers in heavenly ways as he moved one of his hands up to grip her hair, angling her head slightly backwards so he could invade her mouth deeper. The hand still hanging onto her backside started moving her hips to rub her core against his thighs. As if that wasn't enough sensation to kill her, he started to suckle her tongue in his mouth. The combination of the two acts had her core tightening and sensations building until she felt as if she would burst into a million pieces. Just as it became too much to bear, he disengaged his mouth and eased her backwards a few inches.

Her vision seemed blurry and she was confused as to why he had stopped. He gave a harsh groan before dropping his forehead to her own. "Don't look at me like that. I had to stop before we got carried away. I can hear the others' footsteps; they'll be here any minute and I don't think our first time should be on a conference table with an audience."

She nodded her head like a bobble-head in agreement. It didn't seem like all of her brain cells had come back online yet. Hell, he'd probably short-circuited every last one she owned.

His hands cupped her face tenderly. "I know things have been hectic for you lately, Jenna, but would you spend some time with me later? Just you and me, getting to know one another?"

She tried not to look flabbergasted, but she was sure she'd failed. "You want to go on a date?"

He huffed a laugh at her bewilderment. "Not this second, no. Later? Definitely. We'll do whatever you want. Go to dinner. Go for a ride on our bikes. Anything at all."

Having those brain cells working right about now would be nice. She looked into his eager eyes. How could she tell this man no when he looked at her like she was the sunrise and he was tired of sitting in the dark?

Her cheeks flushed and she nibbled her bottom lip. Shyly averting her eyes from his, she whispered, "Dinner sounds nice."

He tucked a finger underneath her chin and smiled at her pink cheeks. "I like that I can bring that color to your face. It lets me know I get to you as much as you get to me." Pressing a soft, short kiss against her lips, he pulled away and said, "Thank you, sweetheart. Dinner it is. Till then, can you do me a favor?"

Curious, she asked, "What?"

"No more rubbing up against or hugging other men."

Shocked at his request and maybe a little pissed at his proprietary demand, her brows furrowed as her anger started to kick in. Who the hell did he think he was to ask that of her? To expect her to walk through life as his personal toy no one else was to come near? It ruffled every independent woman feather she possessed.

She opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of his caveman routine, but he cut off her protest by adding, "I ask. That's more than I would do with anyone else, Jenna. Others, I tell them what to do and expect it to be followed or they will face the consequences. You, I ask. Think about what I'm asking for, it's not a big thing. Imagine if you smelled some other woman's scent on me, how would you react?"

That comment stopped her impending rant dead in its tracks. How would she feel if she smelled some other woman on Adam? Dropping her head to look at the floor sightlessly while her imagination went into overdrive at some hypothetical situation, she was rather shocked when she heard the growls. They were coming from her, and apparently, Adam had figured out what the source of her growling was from because his body was trembling in poorly concealed laughter. Her hand smacked his chest.

"You might have a point. If there's no touching for me, though, then there's no touching for you. Agreed?"

His eyes became molten again. "Agreed."

She thought he might kiss her again by the way he was looking at her—as if he was a dying man and her mouth was the source of everlasting life—but a throat clearing brought her out of the spell.

Kent came into the room. "You know, it's a sad day when I can sneak up on the two of you."

Adam never looked away from her as he responded, "You didn't sneak up on us, demon. I knew you were there the whole time. You weren't significant enough for me to remove my attentions from the most intriguing thing in the room."

Her partner scoffed. "You're a cocky pain in the ass, you know that right?"

He pulled Jenna into his chest again, so he was cuddling her, then set his chin on top of her head as he looked back to Kent and answered, "I'm sorry if you're insulted by my honesty that you fail to register as a threat to me. Perhaps you should work less at seeing how many women you can bed and more on becoming a contender against those of us who actually warrant the wary attention of those considered dangerous in this game we call life."

Other bodies filed into the room as Adam finished his comment. The Ivanov tigers arched interested eyebrows over the exchange, her uncle and brother looked as if they genuinely could care less about what was being said, but her mother looked at Adam appraisingly.

"Alpha McPhee, I'll have you know I used to be acquainted with Kent's family rather well. If Kent wants to enter the ring as a serious contender for who could wipe the floor with all of your smug attitudes, I assure you, he could. He's chosen a more carefree lifestyle than the one his family would force upon him if given the chance."

Now that comment caused a lot of shocked reactions. The surprise didn't show on the faces of the room's occupants, yet you could feel the mood in the room shift into one of wary assessment. Backs became straighter, shoulders tensed. Jenna couldn't wrap her head around the idea her partner could be more than the always looking for a good time, playboy.

Kelly O'Conner looked at Kent when she added, "Although, I have no idea why you go by Kent. Really, Fr—"

Kent roared in protest, holding his hand up, palm out, and aiming it at Kelly as if that could physically stop her from speaking. "Nope! No, ma'am! You're not allowed to utter that name. I refuse to even hear it."

Jenna's left eye twitched. Seriously? The man hated his name that much he wouldn't even let other people hear it? That was kind of crazy. Looking over at her mama, she saw her shoulders shrug before her mama gave Jenna a slight nod and then disappeared from the room just as suddenly as she had appeared earlier. Jenna shook her head at her mother's erratic behavior and then took a seat next to her Uncle Owen at the table.

Owen looked bored and unimpressed with the spectacle. "Can we get this meeting going now? Perhaps the rest of you can waste your days away, but I assure you, I've got shit to do."

When everyone was situated in their respective seats, her uncle looked to the Ivanov brothers. He seemed to scan them like he was internally dissecting them molecule by molecule. Weighing their motives. Their morals. Their honor. Their usefulness. Then he looked to their grandmother. Vera simply nodded in return to some unspoken question.

"At least one of you seems eager to see this to the end. The other gives the impression he would follow his brother no matter his own opinions on the matter. To bring both of you would draw too much attention. To bring one of you could help provide us some cover for those who would question our presence. Alec, if you are sincerely interested in participating, then I'd like you to accompany us to Germany. If you come, we would use your presence in the fight scene to smooth what will assuredly be some pissy egos. See, the thing is, after recent events, I'm cautious as to whom we should trust. That makes me reluctant on whom to inform we're coming. That means I'd like to tell, essentially, no one. I'll call the European Pack Master to inform him of our accompaniment of the Ivanov fighter, but that is it. There's no telling how far up the chain of command this problem extends."

Gage stopped rapping his finger on the table by holding it up to stop the werewolf's speech as he cocked an impertinent eyebrow. "Oh, I'm going. If only to make sure my brother doesn't do anything stupid or that you don't accidentally get him killed. You don't have to worry about people being aware of my presence. If you know anything about my profession, then you know it's my job not to be seen, heard, or even become a fucking thought that crosses the mind. Not only will I be there, but because I don't like the sound of all this bullshit you've dragged us into, I'm hand picking some of my team members to join me. That way, when the lot of you gets yourself into a jam—and I guaran-damn-tee you'll find yourself up to your knees and elbows in hot shit—I'll be there to pull your sorry asses out of the way before you get yourselves a whole lot of dead."

Ignoring Owen's scowl, he continued, "You can glare daggers at me all day long, and it doesn't change a thing. I'm going. You're going to have to suck it up and like it. If you want to stay on my good side, you'll not only like it, you'll damn well thank me for it when I do inevitably save your sorry asses. So let's skip the part where you think you can order me not to come or try to talk me out of it, and move onto the next stage of your plan. When do you want to leave?"

Jenna had heard of the phrase 'If looks could kill' before, however the enraged expression her uncle sported said so much more. It said something like, 'This look will not only kill you, it will chop you up into tiny pieces, run you through the meat grinder, and then it will feed you to the pigs so your body is never, ever found.' Was it wrong to be grateful the look wasn't leveled at her?

Owen's eyes glowed as his wolf shone out of them and he snarled, "You felines are more trouble than you're worth. Don't you have a string to go bat around? Do you have to follow me around, annoying me?"

The tigers didn't even bat a lash at the put down. Instead of being insulted or getting angry, Alec looked over to his brother and said, "I don't think he'll be getting tail from Babushka after that comment, do you?"

Owen lost the fight for patience and started banging his forehead against the conference table, muttering under his breath about useless felines and the pains he endured to be near the ones that were his. The entire table shook every time he dropped his head back to its surface.

Simultaneously, Gage slapped his brother on the backside of his head. "Gross, Dipshit. You are never to use the reference of sex and our grandmother in the same sentence again. I'm going to have nightmares for a month." His eyes slid sideways to look at Vera and then he shuddered in disgust.

Adam rapped his knuckles on the table top. "Right. We get it. We're going to Germany, two cats are coming, whether we like it or not, and we're to keep the purpose of our visit to ourselves. Anything else we need to know, Pack Master Davies?"

Owen sat up in such a kingly manner not a soul dared to point out he now had a giant red spot on his forehead from his repeated self-torture session with the table. He looked at Jenna. "We leave tomorrow morning. That gives you enough time to go home, arrange for emergency leave with your job based on a family emergency and pack a bag. Enough for four days. You'll be spending the night here on McPhee Pack lands."

He looked to Kent. "You'll stay here and use your connections at the Police Department to monitor the city and make sure there isn't another connected event."

His gaze moved to the Ivanov brothers. "Alec, you will meet us here in the morning to ride with us to the Wilmington International Airport. Figure out where we need to go to use the fight ring for our information. If your brother is so determined to come, he can find his own damn ride."

Finally, he looked at Adam. "We'll stay at your cabin tonight. Do what you need to do to prepare for your absence. Discussion over."

Owen stood up and walked out of the room without another word to any of its occupants, or to even look back at them. Logan looked as if he was about to get up to follow him when Vera, who had been sitting closest to the door, stood and sauntered out of the room, presumably after her uncle.

Logan's smile was smug and knowing as he watched the tigress's hips sway seductively before she disappeared out of sight. Gage and Alec noticed the young man's view had been locked on their grandmother's ass and they became deadly still, watching the wolf with the look of a patient hunter about to take down their next meal.

Huffing a laugh, Logan taunted the tigers, "Guess you were wrong, looks like he'll be getting tail after all."

Jenna saw their muscles bunch, ready to spring at her brother. Before Alec and Gage launched, she placed herself bodily in front of Logan, throwing her hands out with her palms facing the two tigers, and shouted for them to stop. From one second to the next, there were a variety of objects suspended in the air between her and the two men determined to beat the snot out of her little brother.

A pair of scissors spun in slow circles with their pointy, sharp end aimed at Alec's chest, only a couple of inches from making actual contact. A large glass vase was trembling in fury less than a foot from Gage's head. Other menial objects—such as a stapler, porcelain coffee cup, about a dozen pens, an electric pencil sharpener, and a metal three hole page punch—dotted the air in front of the men, threatening to use their slight weights in an attempt to pummel them, even if on a non-life threatening level.

The men stared wide-eyed at the objects hovering in front of them. Moving their eyes upward, they saw the desktop printer was looming over Gage's head and the flat panel computer monitor hung over Alec's. Every object Jenna held in wait as a weapon against the brothers was either spinning in circles or vibrating with her telekinetic energy.

The tigers weren't exactly pissing themselves in fear, but at their wide-eyed wonder she felt she had made her point clearly enough. "Don't ever try to come at my brother, again. If you so much as twitch in his direction, I'm going to the closest object bigger than my fist and I'm going to see how far I can shove it up your ass without physically touching you. Comprendé?"

Alec's lip lifted in a sneer, but he nodded in agreement with Gage. Of course, the victory was short lived when Logan had to go and ruin it for her.

He barked a laugh. "They're pussies!" He laughed again in self-amusement. "Literally! Get it? Pussies?"

Jenna kept all of the desktop obstacles between her side of the table and the opposite side where the Ivanov's looked like they wanted to sharpen their claws on her brother's carcass to shut his annoying laughter up. However, that didn't stop her from mentally picking up the binder that lay a few feet behind Logan on top of a file cabinet and flinging it at the back of his head. It connected with a resounding smack that caused her brother to yelp.

"Don't antagonize the two men in the room who can shift into tigers four times your wolf's size and play tug of war with your idiotic hide."

Properly chastised, Logan sent a mock regretful, puppy dog look towards Jenna. "Of course, sister. You're right. I'll behave from now on." He skirted around the table, pretending for the entire world to see that he was a naughty little boy having been reprimanded by his older sibling and then cheerfully shouted, "Pussies!" before hastily exiting the room.

Jenna sighed, gently replacing the heavier or breakable items back in their original places before letting go of her power and watching the pens and stapler clatter to the table below them. She looked over to Gage who was gritting his teeth and staring at the empty doorway.

"Do you happen to have that rolled up newspaper you were talking about earlier?"

He growled, "No, but I think I have a shock collar in the SUV."

~~~

Jenna parked her truck in the driveway behind her uncle's SUV and watched Adam and Amy walk across the yard towards her. Getting out, she snagged her duffle bag, hooked it over her shoulder, and shut her truck door as they closed the space between them.

"What's up, guys?"

Adam grabbed her bag's strap, slid it back off her shoulder and then handed the whole thing over to his sister. He then took her hand and started dragging her past the side of the house and towards his back yard.

"Where are we going, Adam?"

"Our date." Shocked by his response, she didn't say another word until he stopped next to a four-wheeler that was loaded down with a folded blanket and a picnic basket. "We're having our first date tonight?"

Those luscious lips of his smirked. "You sound surprised. I told you I wanted to spend time with you. If not tonight, then when will you schedule our date, my little sweet tart?"

Her cheeks flushed crimson. She felt the heat of the blush travel down her neck as she shrugged a shoulder. He leaned over slowly and brushed his lips against hers.

"Don't worry. I won't keep us out too late." He swung his leg over the four-wheeler's seat and settled. Looking over his shoulder at her, he smiled rakishly. "Climb on, let's go have some fun."

She sat down behind Adam and gripped her hands around his waist before he gunned the motor and shot off into the woods like a madman. Taking a trail through the trees, they rode for close to half an hour before he finally pulled up to a small, grassy opening that sat a couple of yards away from the same stream she and Amy had visited earlier in the day. Adam waited until she had dismounted from the four-wheeler before he draped the blanket over his left arm and used his left hand to grab the picnic basket. When his right hand grabbed her own, she couldn't help shivering at the heat he gave off. If he used those hands to touch her in other places, would she feel that heat everywhere?

When he let her hand go to arrange the plush blanket across the grass in front of them, she almost whimpered at the loss of his warmth. Who knew something so small could feel so comforting? With the blanket spread out, he set the picnic basket down to the side and dropped to the middle of the blanket. Sitting with his legs sprawled out in front of him, he grabbed her hand once again and pulled her down by his side. She watched as he pulled out containers of snack-sized cuts of ham, cheese and crackers; her stomach rumbled. The side of his mouth ticked up in a grin as he pulled out a few more containers filled with strawberries and cut pineapple. As he pulled out two giant-sized metal drink containers, she had to marvel at how the silence between them was in no way awkward. In fact, Jenna couldn't remember the last time she had felt this comfortable around another person. If her nerves weren't as jumpy as a downed power line, then she'd like to think she could curl up with him on their blanket and simply be. That alone would be like a fairytale come to life for her lonely soul.

Night started to fall around them with the sounds of the forest and its inhabitants settling in for the night. She admired the sounds of nature's symphony of crickets singing accompanied by the rustle of leaves in the gentle summer night's breeze. Of course, there was no movement from animals bigger than the crickets. They had long since scuttled away at the sight, smell or sound of humans with the scent of wolves.

As Adam handed her a paper plate piled high with a bit of everything, she was touched by his intimate gesture of making her food. "Thank you. You didn't have to make my plate, I could have done it."

His strange amber eyes shone with sincerity when he murmured, "I don't mind taking care of you, Jenna. It's a pleasure for me. I'll take care of much more than making a simple plate of food, if you let me."

Her cheeks flooded with heat. His suggestive tone made it clear even to her naïve self just what he would like to take care of for her. The more time she spent alone with him, the more she started to think she'd very much like him to take care of those things, too.

As he unscrewed the lid to her drinking bottle, he asked, "You have some telekinetic abilities. What you did today, is that the extent of it, or are you capable of doing more?"

Nibbling on meat paired with a cracker, she shrugged. "As far as telekinetic abilities among demons, Mama says I'm about average. I've yet to be able to lift something heavier than say, your conference table. My mother is always pushing me to try harder. She knows with my hybrid genetics nothing is guaranteed as far as how strong my inherited powers, from her side of the family, will be but she has a hard time believing I'm unable to do more."

"Why, is she able to lift more than you?"

A harsh laugh escaped Jenna. "Yeah, you could certainly say that. Mama could have chucked your conference table over a few football fields."

"That far? How much can she lift? Could she lift my bike?"

"That would be puny work for her."

"My SUV?"

"Yup. She could lift it and throw it at least a football field away."

"You're serious? She could lift an SUV that weighs thousands of pounds and throw it the length of a football field?"

"Absolutely."

"How much can she lift, then? Something has to be too heavy. Everyone has their limits. Could she lift the small cabin next to the house?"

Snorting, she let an amused grin spread across her face at his skeptical awe. "The cabin is nothing, wolf. She could lift your house and make it do one hell of an impression of Aunt Em's farmhouse caught in the tornado from the Wizard of Oz."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. My mama's side of the family has always produced extremely powerful abilities."

"That has to be very hard for you, if she pushes you in the hopes your own abilities will become something more like her own."

A wry twitch overcame her lips. "Can you imagine? The product of one high level demon and the former Pack Master of the United States having weak telekinetic powers, and perhaps, half of a shifter's natural born abilities. Pretty pathetic, huh?"

He took her empty plate out of her lap and placed it with his own inside the picnic basket. He then grasped her waist and dragged her closer to him so they were sitting side by side, flush from shoulder to hip. Then, with his hands moving up to caress the sides of her face, she watched as his wonderfully weird, amber eyes turned to molten gold as he brought their faces closer.

"You are the most perfect thing I've ever seen in my life, Jenna. From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I've been mesmerized." Moving his finger to trace lightly down the side of her velvety cheek, he continued, "Everything about you feels as if you're made perfectly for me. Your striking eyes are not only beautiful, they're sharp and easily display your intelligence. Your pale skin flawlessly complements this sexy black hair that tempts me to wrap my hands up in it, trapping you in my grasp so I can kiss those lush lips of yours. Your body feels like it's built so all of your amazingly soft curves fit against me in the sexiest ways. The fact you can use that incredible body of yours to kick practically anyone's ass... Jesus."

A groan escaped Adam as he rubbed his forehead against hers for a second before pulling back again to finish, "It's the most arousing thing I've ever seen. Everything about you is perfect to me, Jenna. In my eyes, no one could ever measure up to you. No wonder my wolf is obsessed with you."

Her breath hitched at what had to be the consummate example of everything she could have ever asked for a man to say to her. "Kiss me, Adam."

"I thought you'd never ask."

His lips crashed down on hers and they quickly spiraled into a kiss full of questing tongues, playful nips on lips and a mating of their mouths. Unfortunately, her body was at war with her mind. Every cell in her body felt like it was screaming at her to peel off his clothes so he could make love to her on this blanket in the middle of what had quickly become their own blissful, little world. However, her mind protested her body's desires. It frantically told her to slow down, to get to know Adam a little more before handing over her heart, right along with her body. Her kisses started to falter as she fought to sort out the conflicting feelings.

When Adam noticed the hesitation, he disengaged from her mouth to pull back and question her with his eyes. Jenna feared his anger or disappointment over her putting the proverbial brakes on what he must think would be the completion of the burning lust had ignited between them. Would he harp on her inexperience? Belittle her for being a tease? Storm off from her in rage because he couldn't have the release he probably felt had been promised to him by her earlier actions?

As she stared warily back at his questioning eyes, suddenly terrified he would end what had quickly become the best night of her life, she saw the questions disappear from his face. This was the moment. This was the second that he would either crush every girlish fantasy she had never dared to dream, or show her he was a man honorable enough to wait for what he wanted, regardless of how much it must hurt him to deny him and his beast's desires. Her breath caught in her chest as she waited.

It was undeniably a breath worth holding.

His eyes flashed understanding while his fingers stroked soothingly over her face. Those exquisite, kiss-swollen lips of his then smiled at her reassuringly. His voice was hoarse as he rumbled in low tones, "No pressure. I'll wait until you know, without a doubt, you can trust me to love you inside and out, and not hurt you. You're more than worth waiting for."

Leaning forward again, he gently rubbed his forehead across hers and then dragged his nose along her jaw while breathing deeply. He took in her scent, filling his lungs before pulling back to place a kiss on the tip of her nose. He leaned down to lay on his side, pulling her down with him so they lay facing each other.

Jenna was in awe of this man in front of her. Others might not think his sharp cheekbones, jaw, and strong nose that gave credence to the fact that he was indeed more animal than man, could be beautiful, but she disagreed. He was entrancing. His harsh, masculine features combined with the haunting wolf eyes and paired with his captivating blend of authority and caring, were quickly becoming the most breathtaking thing she could ever hope for. She had decided he was, in fact, more than she'd ever believed possible in a world she had feared would never know she truly existed. Better than any hero she had read in a book. Better than any idol worshiped lovingly in a song. Better than any figment her imagination could have ever created.

The reason why he was simply better than all of those things was fantastically obvious. He was real, lying in front of her, taking her in with a look as if he could gaze upon her face from now till this world was dust and he would never tire of his view. If she followed the direction her vulnerable heart was heading, she knew life wouldn't be easy. He could be a hard man. There would be times when Adam would give a verdict he expected to be followed blindly. Times when he would set aside his emotions for her to do what was best for those under his care, regardless of how she might feel about the situation. As well as times when she would probably rather kill him than kiss him.

Oh, but think of the other times, her mind whispered. The times when he will stand beside you in lieu of in front of you, blocking your way. He'll allow you to be the independent woman that thrives on fighting in battle, rather than a meek mate expected to allow others to fight the battle for her. Think of how he will love and respect you for your strengths rather than cut you down for any faults. Of how he will leave the Alpha behind when it is just the two of you, allowing you and you alone to see his vulnerabilities, his emotions, and finally, his love.

She knew, without a doubt now, it would be love that radiated from him. That he would surround her in an easy warmth of affection and understanding she had feared forever lost to the possibilities of this life. The unmovable beast would melt for her in the sanctity of their space to become the man who, even now, petted her with reverent strokes down her arm, her ribs, and traced little circles on the patches of exposed skin.

Did her eyes now reflect the same things she read in his own? Could he see there that she saw a future blooming before them where they would walk this world hand in hand, always growing in the easy, confident devotion of the other? She thought perhaps he could since his smile had become brighter.

Rolling onto his back, Adam pulled her into his side so her head lay on his chest. "Come here, sweetheart," he murmured while he started lazy strokes down her back as they lay in companionable silence, enjoying the nature around them.

Fireflies danced in the woods about them. Twinkling stars shone down on them. The entire world around her played the stage for the story of her life. A story she had always thought of as a struggling tragedy before then. Yes, she saw that storyline changing, becoming an epically awesome action-adventure tale with the heroine meeting an equally formidable hero to fall for.

To think, at one time I was sure Adam would end up being my death sentence. With that stray thought, she chuckled, pressing her face into his chest. It didn't take long before strong fingers threaded her hair, fisting it and turning her face towards his own.

"What's so amusing?"

"I was just thinking that you are the best mistake I've ever made."

Rather than having her explain her bizarre statement, he once again proved he was the perfect man for her because he did one thing—he smiled.
Chapter Twelve

Jenna

The trip to Wilmington International Airport the following morning was surprisingly annoying. Of course, that might have had something to do with Owen acting like an impatient dictator with Adam as his trusty General. It was a whole new insight into the domineering side of Alphas demanding the kind of unquestioning behavior they expected from those under their command. All of that had been thrust at her before Jenna had even had the chance to have her two cups of coffee that morning; it was a terrible time to subject her to that kind of display.

When her uncle had yelled at her through the bathroom door to hurry up while she was taking a shower, she'd ignored him. When Adam had come down the stairs from the second floor, carrying her duffel bag from the guest room she'd slept in and told her she better drink the cup of coffee PDQ—pretty damn quick—exactly fifteen minutes since she had been yelled at from her uncle, she had ignored him, too. When her brother had strolled into the kitchen not even five minutes later, she had been barely halfway into her beloved cup of life affirming elixir. So when he had stated she had to hurry the hell up because everyone was waiting on her, Jenna had decided right then was a great time to display how much she absolutely loathed being bothered in the morning.

She whipped her handgun from its holster where it sat secured on her waistband at the small of her back, pointed it to a spot on the floor exactly six inches from the tip of Logan's boots, and fired a warning shot. Instantly there were running footsteps thundering from all over the house, heading in their direction. In less than thirty seconds, every wolf in the immediate vicinity and one tiger with freaky blue eyes was standing behind Logan at the kitchen's entrance staring at Jenna as if she had lost her flippin' marbles.

Now Jenna was entirely sure she had everyone's attention, she pulled her coffee cup away from her mouth and calmly said, "The next person who tells me to hurry up before I finish my cup of coffee gets a bullet in the ass."

It took less than fifteen seconds before she was left alone in the kitchen with not one single being within hearing distance of her. A few minutes after she had finished savoring the other half of her coffee, she strolled out of the house and had to bite her lip at all of the wary eyes following her as they hid behind their SUV's, watching her as if she might do a psychotic impression of Annie Oakley at any given moment. Even her uncle was sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, playing the ever-impatient man waiting on a woman.

The only brave soul that had dared to stand in the open was Adam—who was leaning against the Pack Master's SUV, arms crossed over his chest, an amused grin on his face with his eyes shamelessly eating her up. He pulled open a door to the back seat for her. Closing the distance between the two of them, she couldn't help grinning at the man she was quickly finding was crazy enough to like her just the way she was. Stopping in front of him, Jenna shyly lifted up on her tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

She should have known a chaste kiss wouldn't be enough for him, however. His free arm wrapped around her back, crushing her body against his, and he took possession of her mouth like he was a marauding Viking with her as his spoils from war. The moment quickly built to something Jenna was sure she would later be adding to her 'Best Moments in Her Life' list, but the sound of her brother gagging kind of ruined it for her. So in tune with her every move now, Adam slid his hand down the length of her back to grab her hand that had been reaching for the gun holstered there, stopping her from pulling it out and shooting to maim her own flesh and blood. Apparently, he was going to make it extremely hard for her to get away with things if this relationship continued to develop between them. That was clearly something to write down on the 'con' side of the list she'd started to help her decide whether she should give this mate thing a chance. Adam pulled away to smile down at her flushed and pouty face before gently pushing her into the back seat. He then climbed in next to her as everyone else piled into the two vehicles heading for the airport.

That was only the beginning of a very long, horrendous, and mentally painful nine-hour plane ride where Jenna spent most of her time squashing the urge to break big no-no rules such as shooting someone in a plane at thirty thousand feet. The insanity on the plane started with her twenty-year-old brother asking for a package of peanuts thirty minutes into their flight then whining like a toddler for a half an hour when he found out there weren't any peanuts and he was stuck instead with something rock hard and questionable looking that was supposed to pass for cookies. He finally shut up when Jenna threatened to feed him her boot in place of said peanuts. That made him stop whining, but it also led to their first sibling argument, which didn't end until Owen had dealt with enough of their so called 'squabbling' and roared his displeasure. Of course, he had roared so loudly he'd scared the bejesus out of their mere human pilot, who had temporarily lost control of the plane and soiled his pants. Poor, poor pilot.

After having the plane in a free fall for a minute or so, everyone had come to their senses and remained quiet for the next hour or so while Jenna had sipped on the cup of coffee Adam had talked the still visibly trembling flight attendant into making for her. When they were three hours into their trip, Jenna learnt the valuable lesson that three male wolves and one behemoth-sized male tiger were incapable of sitting inside one small, private plane for an extended period of time without fidgeting. Naturally, it was all Adam's fault because he'd started the fidgeting by bouncing his leg so fast that, if someone had placed a foot pump underneath the offending leg, he could have inflated bazillions of air mattresses on the way to Germany. On the other hand, perhaps it could have added some jet propulsion to the plane's engines. Either way, it was quickly getting on her nerves because it had started a fidgeting epidemic.

From Adam's bouncing leg, it spread to her uncle, who started tapping his fingers on the small table next to his chair. Then it carried over to the rock-star-wannabe tiger, who started tapping his hands on the tops of his thighs to the beat of the music playing from his mp3 player. The combination of Adam's leg bouncing up and down, her uncle's fingers going tap-tap-tap on the table top, and the tiger's rhythmic drumming with his hands caused Jenna's left eye to twitch. She knew it was unreasonable to shoot the antagonizing appendages, yet it was starting to look like an exceptionally flippin' good idea. Looking back later, Jenna could see it had been Logan—who'd started humming the Mission Impossible theme song—that had finally caused her to lose her grip on reality, making her snap.

Jenna slapped her hand that was closest to Adam down so hard on the top of his leg he yelped while simultaneously using her telekinetic abilities to lift the couch's two throw pillows and slam them angrily into Logan and Alec's heads repeatedly. With her uncle's interest momentarily caught on the proceedings next to him in the seating area of the plane, his fingers stopped their tap dance on the table. After she smacked her brother's head for the fifth time and the tiger had shredded the pillow that was assaulting him, she had the four annoyed men's attention pointed at her.

She didn't even blink.

"Please, for the love of Pete and all that's holy, stop with the fidgeting!"

Logan whined. "But we're bored."

Jenna pointed to the flat panel television hanging on the wall. "Then watch a movie, you moron, but if you hum one more note of that stupid song, I swear I will throw you off this plane."

As the stewardess walked past the entrance of the seating area then moved into the plane's kitchen, Alec's eyes tracked the woman's pin up worthy body every second until it was out of sight. Moving like lightening, he shot out of his seat and stalked in the poor woman's direction. "Okay, kids, be good. I'm going to entertain myself."

Jenna shook her head in disgust. The poor woman would never know what had hit her. Just when she had thought the plane ride couldn't get any worse, a disturbing sound came from the television. Hanging her head so it was resting against Adam's chest, she whined the word 'why' to him when the first notes of the Mission Impossible theme song had started to play.

The red-haired bastard chuckled at her misery. "We're shifters, baby. Crowding us into small, enclosed spaces where we can't escape for hours on end has a tendency to make us a little wired. Okay, more like slightly crazy. I'm amazed it's not bothering you."

She groaned in dismay. "What you're basically telling me is I have to deal with you fidgeting like a pack of meth heads and put up with annoying theme songs from the action movies that Logan wants to watch while the tiger screws our poor stewardess silly in the kitchen?"

"Pretty much."

"I don't imagine any amount of threatening the lot of you with torture or cutting your balls off will get the four of you to stop this madness?"

"Only in your dreams, sweetheart."

Adam laughed when she started to pout. Pulling her body around so that she was lying propped against him, he wound his arm so it was clamped against her chest under her collarbone, trapping her to him. Only she wasn't in such a hurry to escape the trap. With his chin propped on the top of her head, they sat and watched the movie in contented silence. An hour later, Alec swaggered back into the seating area a tad sweaty and smelling like sex. The good news was, he no longer looked hyped up enough to tap out an entire concert on his lap while listening to his rock music. The bad news was, the entire kitchen now had to be disinfected from his sex cooties.

Ewwwwww.

After the movie finished, her brother popped in its sequel. Jenna was tempted to jump out of the plane hatch and save herself from another two hours of torture, but she decided she felt too good wrapped up in Adam's arms to actually move, so she closed her eyes and took a nap instead.

~~~

Her body was floating. The dark warmth of sleep still surrounded her, but she felt her body moving. Where it was going, though, she had no idea, so she cracked an eyelid to take in her surroundings. The first thing she saw was a t-shirt covered chest. Oh, and what a good-looking chest it was, too. All warm and muscled. But why exactly was she looking at it? She tipped her head back and met a pair of amused amber eyes. Well, she had already known it was Adam's chest because she was surrounded by his scent, but that still hadn't explained why she was apparently sitting in his lap and waking up in his secure arms to the extremely drool worthy view of his pectorals.

"Have a nice nap?"

She tried to clear her sleep-hoarsened voice before talking but failed. "Apparently so, if I was out of it enough that you moved me around like a sack of potatoes and I didn't even wake up to notice."

He chuckled. "Maybe you felt safe enough to sleep so deeply because I was holding you? Not that it was a chore or anything, sweetheart. I'd hold you anytime, anywhere that you'd let me."

His arms tightened around her, which caused her body to tingle in his embrace. Sometimes she wondered if the man had a live wire that was specifically designed to zap every nerve in her body in the most delicious ways. Of course, the downside to that was half the time he zapped those overly receptive nerves at extremely inopportune times. Like right then, when she could smell others in the space with them. Turning her head away from Adam, she glanced to the front seat of the vehicle they were apparently sitting in the back of with an unknown man driving it. Her brother, uncle and the randy tiger were nowhere in sight.

She looked back at Adam with curiosity. "Did you kill them on the plane and hide the bodies when we landed?"

He smiled in answer and then shook his head. "They're in a second cab. They all said they didn't want to ride with our disgusting display of affection."

Her lower tummy felt like it was melting into a warm puddle at the images that came to her when the word 'affection' was applied to Adam. She, however, didn't think they were disgusting. Yet, that devious little voice in the back of her mind whispered it felt like this was all moving too fast. It was goading her with doubts about how genuine any of this could be when she'd only known Adam for such a short time. How genuine were his displays of so-called affection? Or was this all part of some intricate act he was performing to reel her into a mating in order to save his own life? The disturbing realization of how much that would hurt her put an arctic freeze on all of those warm gooey emotions she had been feeling seconds before.

So, that's what a reality check feels like.

No longer liking the idea of sitting in Adam's lap, wrapped securely in his arms, she tried to push off him, only to be stopped by the same arms she'd been admiring a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, well, disgusting display of affection aside, this is probably killing my image; me, sitting here on your lap like some weak-willed woman who needs saving. Which, I'm not. I'll get off and sit on my own now. Thanks for being the big, bad protector while I was taking my nap."

Adam's eyebrows snapped down at her sudden change of mood and confusion was evident on his face. He refused to let her up and tightened his arms instead to hold her in place. "What's wrong, Jenna? Why are you upset?"

She gave a mock affronted snort to hide her roiling emotions. "I'm not upset, just ready to get off your lap and get a move on with what we have to do here. We're here for a reason, remember? Not a vacation."

Still looking deeply confused at her turn around in attitude, Adam remained silent as he let her slide out of his lap and onto the backseat next to him. She kind of wished he'd lashed out at her snarky comments, said something to try to put her in her place. That would have justified her bitchy attitude towards him somehow if he had been a dick in return to her. Instead, he sat there, ever the stoic Adam, probably trying to figure out what he had done wrong for her to start acting that way towards him. It only made her feel worse. If you combined those feelings with her insecurities as well as her doubts, and well, she might as well be a hormonal teenager all over again. Just lovely.

Turning her head to look out the window, she watched the city of Frankfurt pass them by. It must seriously payoff to be a rich, influential Pack Master. Not only had they flown in a decadent private jet, they had also entered another country without even going through customs. That, for her, was an outstanding thing since she was still armed with a handgun. Jenna wondered how much power her uncle actually held. Those thoughts drift away, though, as she started eyeing some of the buildings' landscapes. Most of the buildings looked like your average, everyday modern 20th and 21st century architecture; high rises, shopping malls and apartment buildings. Like hidden gems, though, every now and then she saw a house or shop that looked old world. Those little treasures varied in design from Gothic, to Romanesque, to cute, cottage-like buildings that were half-timbered looking. She wasn't an architecture expert, however she did like looking at different styles for enjoyment. In a way, they were pieces of art with their lines, arches, and embellishments. Pieces of history that helped you imagine what it had been like in those times.

The cab stopped in the circular driveway of a hotel and Jenna got out of the car. When a second cab pulled up behind theirs and she watched the men depart from their vehicle as well, it took exactly two seconds for her brother to become a pain in her ass again.

"Look at that, Sleeping Beauty woke up. Did Prince Charming give you a kiss?"

"It was Prince Phillip, dumbass. And no, I didn't get a kiss, but if you continue to annoy me, I'll give you a kick in the head and you'll be dreaming about your own kiss from Phillip."

"Who the hell is Phillip? What are you talking about, you crazy woman?"

"Prince Phillip was Sleeping Beauty's prince; Prince Charming was Snow White's prince. Get your fairy tales straight."

The four men stared at her as if she had morphed into a giant pink elephant doped up on speed, presumably broken out of its circus and currently walking down the street without a care in the world. They didn't know whether to take pictures and laugh at her, or run for safety.

"What?"

Alec answered her, "You do know it's disturbing that you know all that, right? We thought you were some go-hard, take no prisoners, don't-look-at-me-or-I'll-bust-a-cap-in-your-ass, warrior."

She balled her hands up by her hips and barked in annoyance, "Well, I wasn't raised on G.I. Joes, you know! Mama raised me on princesses and fairy tales, I happened to end up liking the swords better than the shoes in the stories, okay?"

Jenna was met with more confused stares. She threw her hands in the air in a show of womanly frustration then marched away from the four large idiots and into the hotel. They were going to have to take care of this little mission fast, or she was going to end up in some God-forsaken German prison for a quadruple homicide. That would sincerely suck since she didn't know a lick of German.

~~~

Jenna sat on the couch in the sitting area of the hotel room her uncle and brother would be staying in, across the hall from her own smaller suite, and watched as Owen walked out the door followed by a fidgety Alec and a decidedly confused-looking Adam. She couldn't help feeling a little shitty at the lingering glance Adam gave her before he closed the door and left her alone with her brother. The way she had given him the cold shoulder in the cab had the Alpha trying to figure out her rapid change of mood, but she hadn't exactly been forthcoming with answers about it.

How could she tell him all of her doubts without inadvertently piling more on? If she explained to Adam she was scared he was putting on some elaborate act to woo her into being his mate, one of two things would happen. Either his feelings would get so hurt she would think poorly of him, or he would add onto the production she feared he was playing to reassure her that he only had the purest of intentions about them. Jenna wasn't sure which outcome would hurt her more. Realizing it was all an act, or the look he would get on his face if she did, in fact, hurt his feelings.

Her brother walked out of the bathroom and into the sitting area, plopping down into a chair that was catty-cornered to the couch she sat on. Oblivious to his sister's foul mood, he turned on the television and scrolled through the premium cable channels until he found a music station that played American rock music. The pumping chords of a song called Mz Hyde filtered through the speakers before he set the remote back on the table. Leaning forward in his chair so his arms were resting on his thighs, he shot her a quizzical look.

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

Jenna sputtered, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You're giving Adam the cold shoulder. I seriously doubt he did anything to earn the frigid bitch act since he's been following you around like a lost little puppy. What's your problem? You on the rag or something?"

"You're an asshole!"

"No, I'm real, and right now you're a bitch, which isn't what I've learned to expect from you, so what gives?"

"Is this you trying to be all loving brother? 'Cause if it is, you suck at it."

"Get your panties out of a wad and tell me what's bugging you, sis. On the plane, you two were all cuddled up like some sickening display of Mr. and Mrs. Perfect. Then, the next time I see you, you're awake and treating Adam like he cleaned out your bank account and took off for Jamaica. So I'll ask again, what gives? Did he do something? Do I need to handle him?"

Jenna suddenly saw past her brother's insults to the underlying reason he was being so dickish. He undoubtedly was playing the brother card. He somehow thought Adam had done something to piss her off or hurt her and he was ready to defend his older sister as though she was some weak thing who couldn't beat the shit out of or put a bullet in whomever had crossed her. It was kind of sweet in an extremely annoying way.

"I don't know that he's done anything wrong, Logan."

"Then what the hell is your problem?"

She shrugged her shoulders and averted her face so Logan could no longer see it. "I don't know what to say. He didn't do anything I know of. I'm not used to this," she circled her hand in the air. "You know this... couple stuff. Relationship crap. I've never had one and everything seems to be moving so fast with Adam; but, on the other hand, I know it's not moving nearly as fast as he would like it to. I don't know how to trust any of it."

She abruptly stopped there, remembering the only person who knew she was aware of the severity of Adam's obsession was his sister, Amy. Jenna had to be careful not to give away she understood more than she had been letting on. In another two seconds, she might have blurted out all of her fears about Adam possibly faking his affection to save his own life. She didn't think Logan was observant enough to fill in the blank spaces she had left in her explanation to him, though. She cut her eyes in her brother's direction to see him regarding her with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. She could practically observe the wheels turning in his head as he processed what she'd said. Was he putting together what she hadn't said? He was only twenty, so he couldn't possibly be all that perceptive, could he?

"What's really your problem? Are you afraid to have a relationship with Adam? If that's the case, you're worrying for nothing. I've known Adam for years since I'm always with Uncle Owen. He's one of the most standup guys I've ever met and Uncle Owen is always bragging about him being one of his best Alphas, despite what he's had to overcome growing up. So that shouldn't be what's bothering you. Is it you're afraid this is moving too fast between the two of you? That I could understand if I were in your shoes. You haven't exactly been raised around a pack and you have no idea how male shifters can be. Which, on a good day, is obnoxiously determined to obtain whatever it is they want and crazy possessive of it once they have it. Most of the time, they don't care what they have to do to get it, simply as long as the outcome is in their favor."

He stopped talking when he saw her flinch at his last comment. "That's it, isn't it? You're afraid he'll do anything he needs to get you. Why would that bother you that he's so driven to have you?"

Jenna didn't answer. She had already given too much away, and she hadn't even had to open her mouth to do it. She sat there on the couch in silence, looking straight ahead at nothing in particular and listened to the music switch to a new band she had never heard of as the singer started growling through the speakers about putting his favorite girl on her back. That image didn't exactly help her state of mind.

Logan's voice cut through her distracted thoughts, "I guess, if I were you, living such a sheltered life as you have, I might not understand Adam's intentions. Maybe it wouldn't make sense to me how he is pursuing this relationship as if he's in a race and I'm the ultimate trophy. I might question his motives. Does he honestly want me for me? How can he when he barely knows me? Or does he only want me because of something he can gain from me, like say, Pack Master Davies's approval. Maybe a rise in status since he would be mated to the Pack Master's niece."

Damn. Jenna hadn't even thought of that. Suddenly her already heavy shoulders weighed down by her confusion and doubts felt so heavy she wondered if her back could break from the imaginary strain. Plus, it sucked her little brother was possibly a hell of a lot more perceptive than she'd thought.

"You'd be wrong." Logan's statement brought her attention back to him. "He wouldn't use you, Jenna. It's not in his character. He'd never hurt someone else to gain anything, especially something like status."

Without thinking, she blurted, "How do you know? How do you know he wouldn't use me, do what he had to do to save himself?"

The second the words were out and Logan's face flashed in surprise, she could kick herself. So much for keeping her knowledge under wraps.

"That's what you're worried about? Adam's obsession? I didn't think you understood the ramifications of it. You certainly haven't acted as if you've known about what he has been going through because, to be blunt, knowing you've comprehended this whole time what's at stake and are still acting this way towards him, well, it means you're a much shittier person than I could have ever dreamed of. It kind of makes you a heartless bitch."

Ouch. Talk about being put in her place.

Feeling as if she had to defend herself a little, she said, "I don't think I'm a heartless bitch, Logan. I think I'm a woman who is trying her best to understand this new world around her. Maybe I'm not doing the best job of it, but I would never intentionally hurt anyone, either." She looked down at her lap, idly tracing circles on the denim encasing her thighs. "I like Adam. More than I could have ever imagined was possible up until this point. That doesn't mean I know how to trust someone not to hurt me when all I've ever been taught is Others will hurt me if they ever knew what I am. It's hard to pull my mind out of the self-protective mode. On one hand, it would be stupid to blindly trust him. On the other hand, part of me wants so badly to know I can trust him like that. Can't you put yourself in my shoes long enough to see that? I don't want to hurt Adam, and I sure as shit don't want to cause him to go feral. I want what every woman wants—I want to be safe and I want someone to love me for me. Is that too much to ask?"

Logan got up out of his chair to close the distance between the two of them and sat on the couch next to her. Throwing his arm around her shoulders in a reassuring embrace, he nodded his head and said, "I get it. No one wants to be hurt. Everyone wants to feel safe and loved by others. However, I can promise you Adam is not trying to lure you into his diabolical grasp to save his own life. Anyone else, I would tell you to second guess and triple guess their motives. Adam, though," he stopped mid-sentence to shake his head, "I don't think he could harm an innocent fly. Now, if you crossed him somehow, hell yeah. He's a scary motherfucker who wouldn't blink an eye at retaliating on someone who'd wronged him, but the way he stares at you with those infatuated, puppy dog eyes... I'd say you're as far as it can get from being in danger from Adam. Maybe in danger of a good boning—"

Jenna punched her brother in the arm and he quickly threw an arm up to defend himself with while laughing at her outrage. She kept playfully pummeling him until he promised never to mention her and the word 'boning' in the same sentence again.

They settled down to listen to the riff of guitar music playing for a moment before she said, "Tell me about our dad. I never got to meet him."

The subtle scent of Logan's pain reached her as he plopped his head backwards to rest on the couch. "Dad was awesome. When he wasn't in his role as Pack Master, having to be all serious and in charge of everything, he was easy going and fun to be around. He taught me how to play pool and hunt wild game. What little free time he had, he always spent with me doing something. Camping, watching movies, trying to teach me how to fight." Logan barked a hoarse laugh. "He was one hell of a ladies' man. Women were always in and out of our house. You and me, we're both bastards, you know? He never mated. The man had no desire to be shackled to a woman."

Jenna smiled indulgently. "You came by your man-whoring ways honestly then."

Logan laughed. "Absolutely. Although, unlike Dad, if I meet the right one, I will settle down. Every now and then, I'd sneak up on him and he'd be so deep in thought he wouldn't even notice me standing there. He usually looked so sad when that happened. Like he had a million regrets. I never got the courage to ask him what he was thinking about, but after he died and Uncle Owen told me about you, I put it together. He was thinking about you. He must have missed you like crazy. It kind of makes sense to me now when I look back because he would say shit to me at the oddest times. It would be totally off the wall for the moment. We could be taking a hike on one of our camping trips or hitting the balls around the table when, all of a sudden, he would look at me and say, 'Never forget, son, family is everything. Never forget your family.' I'd look at him like he was off his fucking rocker whenever he did that, though now I realize he must have been thinking of you. Torturing himself for staying away from you when he obviously wanted to be wherever you were." His thoughts seemed to trail off as he said, "I wish you could have met him."

After a pregnant pause, she whispered, "Me, too."
Chapter Thirteen

Jenna

Sitting alone in her suite facing the windows, Jenna watched as twilight settled over the city of Frankfurt below. It was an awe-inspiring view to behold, and yet, she couldn't genuinely appreciate it because her mind kept running over everything that was Adam related. That confusing pros and cons list she had started in her head to help her sort this shit out was about as useful as a hemorrhoid on the ass of progress.

She thought about her doubts and fears with Adam, yet she felt guilty when her brother's words came back to her. He had pointed out her insecurities when it came to trusting others—her almost indestructible emotional walls that kept anyone who wasn't blood-related far away from her heart. More importantly, he had pointed out she couldn't walk through this life constantly pushing the people away that could enrich it for her. Those people, like Adam, who could make her extraordinarily long life enjoyable and worthwhile.

That brought her back to all of the things she had listed on Adam's pros side. He was sweet, funny, and even had extremely romantic moments. He took care of those he called his own, and he might have the overwhelming urge to protect her from all harm, to lock her away and keep her safe, but he curbed those urges for her. He hadn't tried to interfere with her job—one that could be considered dangerous—and he hadn't tried to prevent her from joining her uncle's hunt for the truth. Instead, he had stood beside her as if she was his equal and not an inferior wolf compared to his own; ready and willing to lend her a hand when she needed it. She had to admit Adam sounded like a fantasy man come to life. She merely had to determine if it was a fantasy, or if it was indeed reality.

She was hoping for the reality.

The fact she had been sitting there, staring at the Frankfurt skyline for the last two hours—after having left her brother's company—trying to sort it all in her head without getting anywhere, didn't help her grumpy disposition. Neither did the knowledge that she should apologize for the frigid bitch routine when she saw Adam again. As Logan had pointed out, just because she was confused and scared didn't give her the right to treat innocent bystanders like crap. Especially when the innocent bystander was going through a truckload of crap thanks to her.

Adam himself had said it was more than her looks and her scent that drew him to her. It was her refusal to submit to his dominance that had clenched the wolf's interest. The wolf had seen a female worthy to rule by its side. If only she felt as worthy as Adam's wolf seemed to think she was, she'd feel a bit better about all of this.

The loud thump of a knock on her door echoed through her room. As Jenna walked towards the door, Adam's scent teased her nose. Opening the door to see him leaning against the doorway's frame caused a smile to spread across her face. The smile faltered, however, when she realized he was watching her warily, as if waiting for her to lash out at him again. Well, she couldn't exactly blame him for that reaction, could she?

"Hey. How did it go? Did you guys find out anything?"

"Yeah. Alec is signed up for a fight tomorrow night. We'll start there. That's not why I stopped by, though. You feel up to our date or should we reschedule?"

Her heartbeat sped up in her chest. His uncertainty was like a shot in the gut. Excruciatingly painful. She had caused that, too. Thankfully, that was something she could fix. "Yeah. Going out sounds great. Do I need to change?"

He grabbed one of her hands and laced their fingers together. "No. You're perfect just the way you are."

~~~

Adam walked into the quaint restaurant first before allowing her to enter. Jenna shifted her attention to the back of the man who continued to confound her with his unusual behavior and decidedly rude etiquette. This was the second time Adam had done that to her. The first time was when they had first arrived at the hotel. After they had checked in at the front desk, he'd refused to let her drop off her duffle bag in her hotel suite until he had first gone in to inspect it. When she'd shot her brother a disgruntled look about it, Logan had given her a 'don't question it look,' yet he'd explained later, unlike their human brethren, shifters' manners worked a tad differently.

You didn't open a door for your woman or allow her to enter a room unless you had first checked it yourself for possible dangers. What was the point of holding the door open for your mate to enter a residence if someone was going to attack her the moment she stepped through it? Apparently, shifters thought the human male population was downright stupid for not protecting their mates and weaker family members by allowing basic precautionary measures to disappear all in the name of 'manners.'

As he reached back to grab her hand and pull her inside to stand beside him, she noticed the restaurant was empty and about the size of a shoebox. Okay, so maybe it was a bit bigger than that, though not by much. It only housed five two-seater tables; which were each covered by red table cloths, a couple candles and a small floral arrangement. The front wall and an adjoining wall were stone-faced while the other two walls were half white and half-timber. The back wall supported a couple shelves, holding various beer steins in all different shapes, sizes and colors. Jenna's inspection of the room was interrupted when a round woman in her mid-forties, wearing a bar maid's costume, came out to greet them with the cheeriest freaking smile she'd ever seen.

"Guten tag!"

Adam answered her in English, "Hi. I was told you speak English here?"

Although Jenna wouldn't have thought it possible, the woman's smile became bigger. In her thick, German accent she said, "Ja! Vee speaks English here. You come for dinner? You vant some of our famous schnitzel?"

"Yes, we'd like some of your famous schnitzel."

They sat at an intimate table in the quiet restaurant with their two candles casting a low glow about them and stared at each other; waiting for the first move to be made, the first word to be said. Without uttering a word, Adam gradually slid his hand, palm side down across the table top, closing the distance between the two of them. When he stopped it less than a foot in front of her, he turned it palm side up.

She stared at the hand that was so much larger than hers. The lines that ran through its center provided some kind of story. The strength in it promised her protection. The roughened fingers curled up in invitation to her. That hand said, 'Accept me. Give me a chance. Trust me'.

She looked from that hand he held out to her in question and back to his warm amber eyes. Those eyes said something, too. Those eyes pled with her. Not quite in desperation but something that came damn close to it. Those eyes of his said, 'Take my hand. Be mine and let me be yours.'

She should be afraid of that hand and what it represented. Afraid all of those fears and doubts that had riddled her mind until it felt like a crappy piece of Swiss cheese were right and this man would hurt her in a way that no other ever could. In that moment, however, with so much hanging on that strong hand lying in front of her, she chose to ignore all of those doubts. Jenna chose to place her trust, her heart and her hope in that hand when she willingly gave him her own.

Adam leaned over the table a little as he brought her knuckles up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to them. Her breath caught at the tender gleam in his eyes and the whisper of his lips against her skin. How a man, who could be seen as hard and unbreakable to everyone else, would let himself be so unguarded with her was overwhelming. Never taking his eyes off her, he dragged his lips over the side of her thumb across the fleshy bit of her palm down to where her pulse was beating wildly in her wrist. He gave her a love bite right over the throbbing point before soothing the sensual sting with the lazy lap of his tongue followed by another luscious kiss.

Her body exploded with want—need—arousal burned through her insides like an out of control fire that could only be quenched by him. With her free hand, she pushed the candle to the side and out of her way so she could lean across the table to touch him. Tangling her hand in the hair at the nape of his neck, she brought his face towards her own and kissed him clumsily in her eagerness.

She would have pulled back, embarrassed at the sloppy attempt, except he groaned hungrily against her mouth and took over, feeding her mouth passionately with his own. He kissed her deeply, as if he was using his whole being to show her with one act how much he not only wanted, but needed her. They might have been separated by the small table, but she felt him in every nerve of her body. From where they connected at their mouths to the tips of their toes and everywhere in between, she felt him like he was already inside her. It was such a beautiful feeling, she started to think it would be worth whatever potential heartache he might bring to feel like that with him for as long as possible.

He pulled away when their barmaid posing waitress came back with their beers. He didn't let go of her completely, though. Instead, he laced their fingers of one hand together and watched as she sipped the strong brew. When he took an obvious deep breath in, she knew he was savoring her scent, which made her blush. He couldn't erase the intense look glowing from his eyes, yet he started talking about casual things to make her feel less embarrassed with the fact the entire room smelled like her desire for him.

He asked probing questions. What had her life been like growing up? Had she liked growing up in River Bend? What had her family been like?

Relaxing conversation flowed, and when their dinner arrived, they continued to talk. It felt good to be able to be so open with someone like that. She'd never had the chance to do that before.

She occasionally asked him similar questions. What had his family been like? What had it been like growing up in a pack of wolves? His stories were sincere and frequently funny. Like the time he and Clay had been caught skinny dipping with a couple of girls in a nearby pack member's pool, and his dad had made the two boys walk home naked while he'd followed them in the car as punishment. The pool had been heated to keep them warm in the crisp fall night air, therefore the walk home had been humiliating in more ways than one.

Every now and then, he would scoop up a tasty tidbit of food from his plate and feed it to her. After he'd continued to do that a few times, she started to return the favor, and before she'd known it, they were feeding each other as much as they were feeding themselves. When their plates were clean, he paid the bill and swept her out of the restaurant so they could walk down the street and back to the hotel.

When they finally reached the door to her room with their hands still laced together, she waited patiently as he checked the room over quickly before holding the door open for her to enter. His tall frame leaned against the doorway, preparing to leave her alone for the night, when she realized with startling clarity she didn't want to be alone.

It wasn't the fear of being alone for the night that made her decision, it was the fear of being alone in life. Did she have a mother that loved her? Absolutely. Did she have a small extended family in her two uncles and her newly-found younger half-brother? Yes. That didn't mean, when she came home at the end of a long day running craptastic criminals down, she didn't wish for someone to be there to give her a hug and kiss that wasn't platonic. Someone she could sit up with late at night and speak in low voices about her plans for the future. Someone she could actually make those plans with.

Before, she hadn't had a hope in sight for those dreams to ever be realized, so she had never lamented on her situation. It had hurt too much to dwell on. Right then? Well, right at that moment she had someone standing in front of her that made her feel alive in ways she'd never dreamed of. He fed the starving need for more. With every second she spent with him, he found more ways to burrow himself deeper inside those dark places she had never thought would see the light of day, nevertheless flourish under a tender hand.

What the hell was she thinking keeping him at arm's length? What the fuck was her problem? It couldn't have become clearer to her if Einstein had stood in front of her and drawn idiot proof diagrams for explanations. There was her chance to have it all. She could finally be the woman who had the career, the family, and the hot guy waiting for her at home. Was it love? No. Not yet, at least. Could it become love? Yeah, she thought it could because Adam was the walking definition of the adage, 'seeing is believing.' Every moment he was with her, she watched him prove the packaging met the goods on the inside. There was no false advertising with that man.

Jenna's eyes focused back on the man in question, who was still propped like a sexy statue against her door frame, only now he had his head tipped to the side, studying her in curiosity.

"You have fascinating facial expressions when you're thinking. I hope you don't interrogate suspects. You'd be horrible at it."

She barked a surprised laugh. "No. No, interrogating for me. I like to chase them down and cuff them."

A devilish twinkle entered his eyes. "You like to use the handcuffs a lot, do you?"

Adam

Smiling saucily, she sauntered to stand right in front of him. "Oh, yeah. I love my handcuffs. I like it even more when I'm able to get a little rough with them when they try to resist arrest."

Raising his hand, he ran a fingertip over her bottom lip. "And what if they don't get rough with you? What if they are painstakingly gentle with you, instead?"

She shivered at his touch. There were those nerves lighting up like an electric live wire again. Even her girly parts were zinging at what his touch and words were suggesting. "I don't know. I've never had anyone try to be gentle with me."

He removed his fingertip from caressing her bottom lip to lightly run the back of his hand over her jaw and down her neck before running it across her collarbone. "How about I show you what gentle feels like, Jenna?"

He stepped into the room, snagged her hand and pulled her out of the way so he could shut and lock the door. Then he dragged her over to the open space in front of the television and left her standing there while he found a music channel that played rock ballads. Pulling her into his body, he placed her hands around his neck while his hands held her hips. They started swaying to the music with their bodies touching from chests to legs.

He raised one hand to guide her head to lay on his shoulder while they danced to the sultry tunes. Her nose was tucked against his neck and the scent of him, of his want, was warming her, stoking the fire that only he seemed capable of igniting within her. His hands ran up and down her back, languidly massaging the muscles as they moved together from side to side with the beat. A moan of appreciation slipped free from the magic his hands were working. It was deliciously wicked and she felt her muscles relaxing one by one until she could barely hold herself up anymore. That was okay because Adam held her so tightly against him she knew he wouldn't let her fall.

He dropped his face into the curve of her neck. "I want to kiss you, sweetheart."

"So kiss me."

"I'm afraid, if I don't walk out of this room right now, I won't be able to stop myself from pushing this further than you're ready to go." The vibration of his words against her skin caused another shiver to travel through her body.

"Maybe I'm ready for more."

He pulled her head up so he could look her in the eyes. The wolf looked back at Jenna through his still human face. The need she saw there took her breath away.

"I don't want to rush you. You need to be sure. This is not some one night stand for me, Jenna. If I get the chance to lay my hands on you, this is the start of something bigger. If you let me touch you, bring you to pleasure in any way, I'm going to start tying you to me in so many ways that one day you're going to wake up and know, without a doubt in your head, you are mine. Mine in every way. I'll master your body to win over your heart, if I have to. Are you sure you're ready for those ties, sweetheart?"

She framed his face with her hands, holding him steady so he could see there were no doubts lurking in her face. "I'm ready for you, Adam. I've been waiting for someone like you for what feels like forever. Kiss me."

He leisurely sipped at her lips, testing her resolve until she broke, unable to hold back the need to taste more of him than the fleeting little teases he was giving her. Tangling her hands in that uncontrollable hair of his she loved so much, Jenna devoured his mouth savagely, demanding more with a questing tongue. She then nipped at both of his lips so he felt her frantic need. Her fervor was returned by his own when he started stroking her mouth into ecstasy. He mimicked with his tongue something similar to what she imagined he would be doing with the hot, hard wedge of flesh that pressed into her stomach. Hopefully.

Sliding her hands underneath his shirt, her fingers explored his silky skin. She traced the bulging stomach muscles around to his back where she ran her hands up in between his shoulder blades and then dug her nails in and started to drag them downwards. He groaned hungrily into her mouth before grabbing the hem of her shirt and dragging it upward unhurriedly. He then disengaged their mouths so he could pull the offending fabric over her head, yet he froze like a statue when he looked down to see her standing there in her bra.

When he kept staring at her ample breasts covered by the purple and black lace bra, she wondered if something was wrong. "Adam?"

His head shot up and she gasped. There was no doubt his beast was there with them because his eyes had transformed into a molten amber gold that glowed slightly in the dim lighting of the room. Her own wolf responded to the sight, brushing up against her on the inside of their skin.

"Don't be afraid of me, Jenna."

"I'm not afraid. You're the most devastatingly beautiful thing I've ever seen. You're so beautiful right now it might haunt me for the rest of my life."

He closed the short distance between them again to cup her face. "You're the beautiful one, sweetheart. I've never seen anything as bewitching as you. On a side note, I'm definitely going to buy you that bra in every color they make it in."

She didn't get a chance to laugh because his mouth was on hers again, stealing her breath and returning it with his own. It felt like he was kissing her sanity away and breathing his essence into her. It was a heady experience.

Backing her up gradually, as their mouths ate at each other, he didn't stop guiding her until the backs of her legs hit the edge of the bed. He unclasped her bra and leisurely slid it down her arms until it fell to the floor. Then, dropping to his knees before her, Adam kissed the delicate skin above the button of her jeans before he popped the button open. He released the zipper one small millimeter at a time while licking, nibbling and kissing his way over the front of her satin panties until he was above her mound where he buried his nose against the damp fabric and inhaled deeply, memorizing her enticing scent before placing a kiss there, too.

He was driving her crazy. She was seconds away from tackling him to the floor to move things along when he pulled her jeans down the length of her legs, pooling them at her ankles. Looking back up at her, he hesitantly placed his fingertips at the edge of the purple satin.

"You're sure?"

Jenna nodded her head.

Inch by agonizing inch, he eased the scrap of fabric down. When they joined her jeans, he maneuvered her to sit on the bed so he could pull the confining clothes off her ankles, tossing them somewhere behind his body. He picked up one of her feet, placing a kiss on the inside of her ankle. He then worked his way up her slowly, alternating between lingering licks, sharp little love bites and provocative kisses on her soft flesh until he was hovering his mouth inches from where she ached so badly. She squirmed in desperation. The need for him there was now painful.

"Please. Please, Adam, touch me."

"Just a little longer, sweetheart."

He positioned her so that her feet were braced against the end of the bed with her legs cocked and splayed wide open so his broad shoulders could fit between them. When he moved back down to the ankle of her untouched leg, she heard a husky voice begging him for his touch, but she didn't realize it was her own until he worked his way back up that leg and was once again hovering inches from where the lips of her sex were throbbing with need. Her mind fogged over in a haze of rapture as if she had been drugged. There was nothing more she wanted in that moment than to be touched by the man who was teasing her beyond all comprehension and to touch him in return.

She begged again, "Please, I can't take it anymore."

He blew a warm breath on her bare flesh. "You can take it, Jenna. You'll do it for me."

Placing her legs over his shoulders, he grabbed her hips and braced them down onto the mattress. "You smell so good, baby. Hold on a little longer so I can taste you."

Then, his tongue was on her. Her taste exploded across his palate and he couldn't hold back the growl that vibrated against her tender folds. There had never been anything this delectable that had called to him. His mouth covered her sex entirely and he reveled in the moan of desperation she let free. Using his thumbs, Adam spread her lips so he could bury his tongue in the slick wet heat of her before pulling back to trace circles around her clit.

Jenna began to rock her body against his mouth, silently begging him for something she didn't know how to ask for. Her trimmed curls tickled his nose as he licked over the sensitive flesh, lapping at the folds as she writhed on the sheets uncontrollably. Her body trembled under his hands as he held her down by her hips. Then, he seriously set out to torture her. Nibbling on her swollen flesh, soothing the little love bites with tingling licks, before finally sealing his mouth around her clit to suckle it. Her hips kept trying to churn against his mouth as she babbled incoherently, imploring him in a breathy voice to do something, anything, to make the ache stop. Thrusting his tongue back inside her drenched entrance set her off in an explosive climax. Her body convulsed with her head thrown back against the pillow as she cried out in a hoarse voice, and he felt her tight depths flutter rhythmically against his tongue as he lapped at her sweet release.

Adam pulled his shirt off, revealing broad shoulders complimented by the strong planes of his chest covered in a light smattering of hair. The six-pack he showcased tightened when he leaned over to ravage her mouth. He desperately needed the feel of her silky tongue against his own to calm his wolf before he asked the question that could bring all of this to a screeching stop. He broke off their kiss, but she grabbed at him almost desperately, trying to drag his mouth back to her own.

"What do you want, sweetheart?"

When Jenna's face screwed up in confusion, he slid his hand down between the valley of her breasts over her smooth stomach until finally reaching the apex of her thighs where he slowly pushed one finger into the saturated folds. Her back arched and she moaned hungrily. "Do you want more, or do you want to stop? Tell me what you want, baby."

Without hesitation, she answered, "More."

Adam bent down to take one of her delicate pink nipples into his mouth as he moved his finger in and out of her tight sheath. She felt too small and he almost despaired about trying to fit his substantial length into her without hurting her too badly. He tongued the tight tip and then suckled it before moving to her other breast.

He added a second finger, carefully spreading her open in preparation for his body. As he lapped at her other rosy nipple, Adam added a third finger after a few pumps from his hand. Jenna whimpered at the stretch, yet she wasn't in pain. If he detected even an iota of pain, he would stop. There was nothing more important in the world at that moment than showing Jenna he only wanted to give her pleasure. He would go back to his room with the worst recorded case of blue balls in the history of all male species before he ever hurt his little wolf.

She started pleading, "Please, Adam, please. No more. I want you inside me. Please don't make me beg."

He pulled his fingers free of her body and quickly shucked off his jeans and underwear. He was bare to her gaze; lean hips meeting long powerful thighs. That wasn't what caught Jenna's attention, though. No, Adam was all too amused by the fact she couldn't keep her eyes off the evidence of his arousal.

"Scoot back on the bed, baby."

He ran his hand up and down his engorged flesh while watching the abundant orbs of her breasts jiggle when she moved back to lay fully on the bed. The moment her body settled, he covered hers completely, unable to wait another second to feel the velvet of her skin rubbing against his own.

Looking down at her passion-glazed eyes and charmingly flushed cheeks, he knew, without a doubt, his wolf had been right all along. Jenna was their mate—the one meant for them and them alone. After taking the time to get to know her and to see how strong Jenna was, Adam could see why his wolf had become obsessed. The man in him was now enraptured by her strength and beauty as well. His canines lengthened at the thought of burying them in her vulnerable neck, marking her as theirs for eternity.

Her eyes widened at the sight of his fangs peeking over his bottom lip. Her breathing sped up and she panted, "You're not going to bite me, are you, Adam?"

His wolf howled in denial. She doesn't want them?

His human half tried to rationalize with the raging beast. She doesn't know what that means, yet. When we explain it later, she'll understand and crave the Mark as much as we want to give it to her. We only have to hold back this one time so we don't scare her.

The wolf wasn't happy, but it understood the need to protect their uneducated mate from unnecessary pain. They would explain it tomorrow. Tonight, they would give her so much pleasure that the binding ties would start to sink into her soul.

He pressed another kiss on her lips as he positioned himself between her thighs. "No, love. No bite tonight."

Adam kept up the intoxicating kisses as he reached down to grab his shaft, rubbing the head of his cock up and down the wet warmth of her femininity. She gasped as he eased the head in, working his girth in millimeter by millimeter. As he sank two inches in, he felt her walls begin to stretch. He had never felt anything so tight that it could grip his aching shaft like a vise. She whimpered underneath him and he ran trembling hands over her to soothe her distress.

"A little more, sweetheart. You can take me."

Jenna looked down to where they were joined and there was a hell of a lot more than 'a little more' to take. She groaned, "Oh, God."

The two of them were so wrapped up in each other and in the moment they failed to notice the many items levitating inches in the air throughout the room; the table and chairs, Jenna's duffle bag and clothes, small items such as the television remote, the couch's throw pillows, and the room's landline telephone. They all hung at least three inches off their surfaces. Even the couch was off the floor by an inch, however Adam and Jenna didn't see anything except the person they were with.

Adam moved slowly in and out until he worked a couple more inches of himself inside of her, but had to stop in shock at the barrier that he met there. His surprised voice was low and husky when he croaked, "You're a virgin?"

Her thighs shifted to cling around his hips, the heels of her feet dug into his buttocks as she tried to urge him to continue. She reached one hand up to dig her nails into his shoulder and laid her other hand on the side of his face, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I need this. I need you, Adam. Don't stop. Make love to me. Please, please don't stop."

She dug her heels into the cheeks of his ass again to encourage forward movement, but Adam didn't need any more convincing. The elation he felt at knowing he was her first, her last and her only, bloomed inside his chest, filling it with love along with respect until he thought he might burst. He pushed forward gently until he felt her barrier give and he surged inside. Fully seated in her, a painful gasp filled the air. Her body shivered in need and her chest started to rise and fall rapidly in excited pants. There was no regret on her lovely face—only an aroused excitement as he gingerly started to slide in and out of her snug depths.

Adam was far from a virgin. After all, he was sixty-years-old. He had been sexually active since he had turned seventeen and his dad had slipped him a box of condoms on the sly. However, as he looked down into his Jenna's eyes, he knew—without a doubt—once again, his wolf had been right. She was their mate and he saw his long, promiscuous past disappearing.

Everything with Jenna felt a hundred times more than anything else he had ever felt. Every slow slide of skin on skin felt as if it was reaching past his physical shell and slipping somewhere inside of him. Every whisper of a kiss made him further addicted to whatever drugging essence she was made of. Wherever her hot hands clenched his body, he felt as if brands would be left behind in their wake. His entire world had shifted the second he'd slid inside of her, and he wouldn't change it or the consequences that might come from it for the world.

Jenna started to move with him, undulating under his body to match his thrusts. Accepting him inside her repeatedly until all hints of pain were gone and her moans of pleasure had intensified. The tight muscles encasing him started to flutter again and he began to grind down on her clit as he plunged deep inside her. Her movements sped up in a frantic pattern, so he wrapped his arms around her back and placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her immobile to his control over her body. He drove his cock into her a little faster, a little harder, reveling at the slide of his hot flesh in hers. The way they fit perfectly together.

Suddenly, it was like a litany running through his head.

Mine, mine, mine, mine.

The wolf had taken over, shoving his human-half away. Their combined smell surrounded him. Her aroused, wet sex was an intoxicating mix with his hard lust. His desperate need for all things Jenna intensified; for her soft pink mouth, satin skin, the feel of her fingers clutching him frantically as if she was afraid he would pull away. That would never happen, though. All he could do was continue giving, continue thrusting into her.

Her ragged moans encouraged him to give her more, so he angled his hips, letting his cock sink deeper inside of her. The tip of him rubbed against that magical spot inside that would drive her to the pinnacle of pleasure, and she started to buck up against him wildly in response. Her moans turned to agonized gasps, pleas, and then she was screaming against his throat as she clamped down on him, climaxing with him still buried inside of her. The combination of her reactions sent his wolf over the edge.

His hips turned into a jackhammer, pounding away at her as everything heightened. Tension. Urgency. The pleasure built inside of him as if it was a dam on the verge of bursting open. His canines elongated again in his mouth and he barely curbed the instinct to bury them in the tender tissues above the juncture where her shoulder and neck met.

Soon.

Soon Adam would be able to place his mark on Jenna's naked, ivory skin for the world to see that she was his mate. His heart. His soul. Always and only—his.

Jenna's fingertips slid from his shoulders and down to his chest where she dug her nails in, gouging them into his pecs as her back bowed violently and she cried out in ecstasy as a second, stronger orgasm hit her. The hotel room's levitating items dropped back to their original destinations as if nothing extraordinary had ever happened to them. The two lovers would never know what had occurred to the inanimate objects while they had been immersed in one another. Adam felt a tingle at the base of his spine, signaling the rapturous end to come. His thrusts became manic as he rode the shattering release while his seed spilled out of him to fill her. Infusing her with his scent, at least, since he couldn't give her his mark yet.

Jenna's body continued to shudder with the last waves of explosive sensation and Adam collapsed on top of her, caging her in his arms before rolling them to their sides so she could breathe. He growled in content as he ran his hand down her sweat-soaked skin until she finally lay next to his own glistening body, sleeping peacefully. He looked down at the woman who would become his mate and only one thought came to mind, So this is what I need to live happily till the end of days—I simply need her.
Chapter Fourteen

Jenna

It was too warm. Am I in flippin' Jamaica? her groggy mind questioned.

Something moved against her back and Jenna's eyes shot open at the unfamiliar sensation. Her muscles tensed to move, but before she got anywhere, two bulky arms shifted to trap her against the body that lay cuddled up to her backside.

A growly voice murmured, "Morning, sweetheart."

Her panic receded. If she'd taken two seconds to think about it, she would have realized her wolf hadn't even blinked an eye at the knowledge someone was in bed with them because she trusted the man who was holding her. Additionally, she was all but panting to get frisky with his wolf. If her wolf had perceived a threat of some kind, she would have woken Jenna up rather violently to protect them from harm.

When Adam's callused fingers started to trace little circles on the skin of her stomach, she realized she hadn't responded to his greeting. Wiggling backwards a little to burrow herself into his heat, she mumbled a 'good morning.' Jenna normally wouldn't even dream of talking to someone before her first cup of coffee, yet the maddening little circles he was drawing on her body had her ready to do more than talk. She timidly grabbed one of his hands and led it to the juncture of her thighs where that needy ache was rapidly building.

Bending to bury his face in her neck, he groaned against her skin, causing her to shiver at the small vibrations. His fingers started to gently pet her, amping up her arousal. Taking her from a groggy, pre-caffeinated haze to seconds from cresting the tsunami-sized wave of pleasure. Using nothing except those magical fingers she was starting to think should be dipped in gold and preserved for all time as the best fingers on the planet. She felt the light bite of his teeth on her neck and her back bowed backwards into him as she fell over into the drug-like ecstasy of her release.

Seconds... minutes... or maybe even hours later, when she had come to again, Jenna was still wrapped in those strong arms, which would have been outstanding if her brother wasn't leaning over the bed with his face hovering less than a foot away from her head.

"Motherfu—"

She tried to jump out of Adam's arms so she could hit Logan, but Adam tightened his arms to prevent her escape.

"Ignore him."

Grabbing the top of the sheet to make sure she didn't flash anything that would traumatize both her and Logan, she pondered the possibility she had drained her lover of all his sense when he'd poured himself into her last night. Her body stilled at the alarming realization. Adam hadn't used a condom last night and he sure as shit hadn't pulled out. Good gravy... what were the chances you could be knocked up your first time?

Seeing movement in front of her, brought her back to the first problem.

"Ignore him? Are you kidding me? We're naked in the bed. He's what I'm currently dubbing my-creepy-beyond-all-reason little brother and he's in the room with us, examining us like we're bugs on display. The reason I should ignore him is what?"

Adam murmured back half asleep, "If you ignore him, then he'll go away."

"If I kill him, then he can't bug me anymore."

"He's not worth moving."

"He is still in the room, you know?" the disgruntled Logan snapped.

Jenna pointed her finger at her brother. "You don't get to comment in this discussion. If you hadn't come up in here as if you owned the place, then this conversation wouldn't be happening."

Logan crossed his arms over his chest and pasted on a teasing smile. "I wanted to see your Mark. I figured, after all the noise I heard last night, you were a married woman."

Married? Mark? He'd actually heard her last night?!

Jenna's hands covered her face in mortification. If God was merciful, he'd make this bed open up into a dark hole she could disappear into. She spread two of her fingers, peeking through her hand, hoping to see the all-encompassing hole.

Nope. No hole in sight. Just a smirking brother. Damn. She did note, though, that Adam's body had become unbearably tight with tension behind her. Jenna couldn't help wondering what his problem was. He hadn't seemed to care Logan was in the room a moment ago, however he suddenly had begun acting as if he was worried... or mad as hell. She couldn't quite tell without seeing his face.

Logan interrupted her internal debate, "Why don't you have a Mark, big sister? I don't have to kick his ass do I?"

Looking at Logan like he'd smoked one too many crack pipes, she asked, "Mark? You hittin' some good shit, Willis?"

Her brother never got a chance to respond. Adam growled deep in his chest and then ordered him out of the room in a tone of voice an idiot would know to obey.

Throwing his hands in the air in a pose of surrender, Logan slowly inched himself sideways towards the door. Not exposing your back to an irritated Alpha wolf was pretty flippin' smart on his part.

"You've got it, bro, but you might want to hurry and get the hell out of bed. We'll be leaving for the club in a few hours and Uncle Owen's bitching about your little love fest holding up progress."

The door lock clicked shut with Logan's departure and Jenna turned her head to look questioningly at the tense expression Adam wore. It was a question that went unanswered as he got out of the bed, baring that god-like body to her. The second his feet were planted on the floor, he scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom. She looked around, slightly confused as to why she was being carried like an invalid.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking care of you."

"I can do that myself, you know."

He let her feet drop to the tiled floor but kept his hands on her hips until he knew she was upright and steady. Then he bent over the Jacuzzi tub that looked as if it could fit a small party in it and turned the knobs so the bathtub started to fill with steaming hot water.

Without looking at her, he answered, "I do know, however I'm choosing to take care of you because it is what I wish to do this afternoon."

That made her pause. Apparently, she had the dominant wolf instead of the romantic man. She watched as he reached over to grab a glass bottle of bath salts and then sprinkled them liberally into the water. After setting the bottle back down, he looked at her.

"Do you need to use the facilities before we get in?"

Holy man on a mountain. Had he asked her if she had to pee? What was he going to do, stand there and watch? She literally felt the color draining from her face at the horrifying thought Adam would even think about her peeing. Seriously, there were some things she never—ever—wanted him to contemplate when he thought of her. Going to the bathroom was one of them. She shook her head 'no' somewhat violently, which caused the wolf to chuff an amused laugh at her expense.

Damn arrogant men!

Then, before she could blink, he scooped her into his arms again as he carefully stepped into the tub while cradling her. He eased them both down so she was seated in the bathtub in front of him between his spread thighs. Pulling her backwards to lean on his chest, he wrapped his arms so they were above and below her breasts which were submerged in the water.

He rubbed his jaw against the side of her head then rumbled, "My little wolf needs a bit of pampering, and I'm glad to give it to her since she gave herself to me last night."

Jenna's breath caught in her chest. The man knew how to melt away her every fear, concern,. and inhibition. She couldn't say she was sorry to see them go when what she had been given in return were comments like that. Or moments like this.

He nuzzled her neck affectionately. "Relax, sweetheart. We're going to have a nice soak together where I can help wash your back and perhaps a few other places. While we do that, there are a few things we need to talk about since your brother barged in here and brought them up."

She tried not to tense her body, though she wasn't sure what Logan had said that had put Adam on edge. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he grabbed the clean washcloth hanging from a bar and soaped it up. Picking up one of her hands, he started to swipe the cloth over her in small increments. He might be doing it to get her clean, but every little brush of the soft cloth on her skin left tingles in its wake. He made his way from her fingers and hand up over her arm in slow sweeps until he had reached her shoulder before switching to the other limb. By the time he picked up that hand, her body was humming and it seemed a distant memory he had given her pleasure that morning. Isn't it time for us to make out a little more?

Wait, why had that sounded so teenager-ish in her head? God, she sucked at the dating thing.

"Jenna."

She jumped at Adam's low voice in her ear. "Huh?"

"Do I have your attention now, sweetheart?"

He'd been talking to her? Whoops. "Oh, yeah. Did you say something?"

He chuckled. "Not yet, but that's because you were zoned out on me."

It was that damn washcloth. She was already all tingly from him washing the first arm. The moment he had started massaging in between her fingers on the second hand, well, she had started thinking about jumping his bones.

Stupid washcloth.

"Well... did you want to say something, then?"

That damn washcloth was on the move again. How in the hell was she supposed to concentrate when he kept inching that thing along her skin, kneading her muscles as he went? She didn't know whether to moan in bliss or hit him for distracting her from the conversation he had supposedly wanted to have.

"Did you understand what Logan meant when he mentioned the Mark?"

Her brain felt kind of drugged again. That washcloth needed a fucking warning label. "Mark? What Mark?"

"I'll take that as a 'no' then." The cause of her blissful fog moved from below her elbow to above it. "Have you ever seen any other shifters besides your uncle growing up? Any female shifters?"

And there went that cloth in slow circles up her bicep. "Huh? Female shifters? Oh, no. Uncle Owen is the only other shifter I've ever seen till the day I ran into you. Why?"

He dragged the cloth from her upper arm to over her shoulder, running it up to her neck and back. "The reason I ask is because we need to talk about the Mark."

"The Mark?"

"Yes, the Mark." Back and forth; little circle, big circle. Back up her neck to underneath her earlobe and back down to the edge of her shoulder. "You see, when two shifters mate, the male gives his female a Mark. It's kind of like the shifter's version of a wedding ring."

"Well, that's ridiculous."

The washcloth stopped moving. Why had the washcloth stopped moving?

Adam's voice grated, "Ridiculous?"

Still caught on the edges of her washcloth-induced haze, she replied, "Yeah. It's ridiculous. And sexist! Why should only the male get to give a Mark? Why can't the female do it, too? I think there needs to be some equal opportunity working here. If it were me, I'd give a Mark to him, too. That shows we're in it together instead of branding me like I'm some kind of property. Wait. What is the Mark? It's not actually a branding or anything, is it?"

That lovely washcloth started to move again. "You'd want to give me a Mark, too?"

Without thinking, she answered, "Well, yeah. Why should I have to walk around with your Mark like I'm your property? A marriage should be on equal ground. If I have a Mark, you're damn well going to have one, too!"

His free hand wrapped under her breasts to crush her backwards into him as he ran his mouth over her neck. "Okay, you can give me a Mark too, love."

Well that was like a bucket of cold water dumped over her head. Had she just proposed marriage to the wet, naked, aroused man sitting in the bathtub behind her?

"Wait, wait. Hold the damn phone. What's happening here?"

"We're talking about Marks. I told you what they are, whom they're normally given to, and then you said you wanted to give me a Mark, too. I don't know there's another male shifter in the history of our kind that's worn his woman's Mark, but I'd be happy to wear yours, sweetheart. When do you want to exchange Marks?"

She tried to wiggle forward, yet his iron band of an arm kept her in place. Not to mention, he was using his tongue on her neck now. Running it up and down, circling her ear with it.

Who knew the ear thing could make my toes curl?

Her mind blanked a little and she groaned at his attentions. Jenna struggled to get her brain to work. What have we been talking about again? Damn the man! He's trying to drive me insane. Wait! Now I remember.

"You forgot to tell me what this Mark is exactly."

Moving his tongue from her ear back down to her neck, he nipped it sharply. That nip must have had a direct line to her girly bits below because they clenched right up in reaction.

"The Mark is when your mate sinks their teeth into your flesh right about here..." He nipped the skin of her neck above the juncture of her shoulder. "That way, the whole world can see you've been claimed."

Holy shit. He wanted to sink his fucking fangs into her neck?!

Jenna surged forward out of his grasp and turned to face him. "Are you trying to kill me, you crazy wolf?"

He reached out and snagged her hips with his hands, dragging her back to him so she now straddled his lap and his very blatant, straining arousal that was even now prodding her entrance. She should have pulled away. It was obvious he was trying to distract her with sex, but he felt good slipping slowly inside of her.

Dammit!

A moan of approval betrayed her previous outrage. When he was fully seated inside her, his hands grasped the sides of her face gently and he stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones.

"I will never endanger you. Never harm you. Never neglect you in any way. You will never want for anything that is necessary to keeping you happy and alive. I will treasure you every day I draw a breath and thank God every night for the gift of you in my life. No one can ever care for you the way I do. I was made for you and you were made for me. I know that with the certainty there is a sun, moon, and stars that can never guide me through this life the way following you through it will lead me to an eternity of happiness. You've quickly become my everything."

Her eyes watered. What more needed to be said? She had heard of people bearing their soul, but she had never witnessed it—until now. What an astounding thing it was to have it revealed to her, too.

"I know this is sudden, Jenna. The idea of us."

She opened her mouth to tell him she was okay with them as a couple but uncertain if she was ready for something as significant as a marriage yet. She didn't get to utter a sound, though, because his lips captured hers, stealing her breath. The kiss was seeking something. Reassurance? An answer? She wasn't sure. What she was certain of was this man kept sinking deeper and deeper inside of her. Not simply physically. In that aspect, they were joined as closely as two people could get, with him slowly moving in and out of her. No, he was also sinking in emotionally, perhaps even spiritually. She feared he was quickly becoming her everything as well.

Using her hands to hold his face in place, she pulled back from him. She let him see through her eyes—the proverbial windows to the soul—that he was, in fact, affecting her as much as he had claimed she was affecting him.

"I like the idea of us, Adam. More and more every second we're together. Can you give me a little longer till we exchange Marks? I'm not saying no. I'm saying yes, just not right now."

"As long as I have you in my arms, little wolf, I can wait till you're ready. Mark or no Mark. As long as you're already mine."

She lightly kissed his lips. "Yours."
Chapter Fifteen

Jenna

The two lovers didn't emerge from Jenna's room for another two hours, much to Owen Davies's dismay. It was safe to say her uncle was fairly growly by the time she and Adam made it to his room.

"It must be nice to sleep the day away. This isn't a vacation, if you recall!" he barked at the pair after they'd entered his suite.

Jenna didn't miss how his eyes shifted to her neck, either. He was looking for Adam's Mark. With the realization there was none to be found, the look he shot Adam could make lesser men run for cover. Adam was no lesser man, though. He boldly kept his eyes on his Pack Master while twining his fingers through hers. She cringed inwardly. She hadn't quite thought about the way other people might perceive the fact that her neck was blemish free. She'd only thought of her own uneasiness in doing something as drastic and permanent, as the equivalent of marriage in their world. Poor Adam couldn't seem to catch a break where she was concerned. However, it was time to move on from that awkward stalemate and onto the matters at hand.

Ignoring her annoyed uncle, she looked over to the sitting area to see Alec perched in the chair closest to the couch and Logan pacing back and forth in front of the television like a caged animal. Anxiousness was rolling off him like a crack addict waiting for their next fix except she was guessing his drug of choice wasn't something he could smoke, snort, or shoot up.

No, his drug of choice was adrenaline and violence, and if it wasn't violence he was looking for, then it was probably the other natural drug of the male species. Sex. Thinking of her brother and the word sex in the same sentence gave her hives; she struck the thought from her mind for all time and pretended Logan was looking for an excuse to use his knuckles and bust some heads. That sounded like every other stupid, human male she had known over the years, and was much easier to tolerate in her thoughts.

She led Adam over to the couch so they could sit down for their little pow-wow. "We're heading over to some demon's club for the fight? Alec, have you fought at this club before?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah, it's a regular stop in the Black Ring, so I've fought there many times. The high rise is made up of ten floors. The club consists of the three floors under the tenth while the entire top floor is one of the owner's residences; that would be Drake Ward. The fight ring is located on the eighth floor because the seventh is the regular section of the club, and the ninth floor is the VIP section."

Jenna rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "Okay, what time does the fight start?"

"Midnight."

Jenna stopped in disgust and snarled over at her uncle, "Then what the hell is your problem, old man? If the fight doesn't start till midnight and it's only four in the afternoon now, why are you bitching at us for sleeping in?"

"Because it's called reconnaissance, you little pain in my ass." He pointed his finger at her. "Watch who you call an old man, or I'll show you just how young I think you are and put you in timeout in the corner."

And they said women were touchy about their age. Jenna knew men were actually the ones with their undies in a wad about it all. Hence the reason they were the ones who had midlife crises and bought ridiculously expensive sports cars in a vain attempt to keep a youthful aura about them. She snorted at the idea of her Uncle Owen trying to keep her in a corner like some disobedient child.

Right.

Dismissing the absurd threat, she kept talking, "Okay, what are we looking for during this little information gathering mission?"

Her uncle settled into an authoritative stance that commanded respect and attention. His feet were spread shoulder-width apart, legs braced, arms crossed over his chest as if he didn't have a worry in the world and shoulders thrown back proudly. He was Pack Master Davies right then, not her Uncle Owen. She recognized the difference and respected him for it.

"Anything anyone might let slip out about the Corvus Pack. We're in the dark with only whispers of fanatical type beliefs of the Others species ruling over humans and possible criminal activities such as what happened in Wilmington. We need to see if we can dig up anything else. Especially anything in regards to what Alec overheard last time he was in Germany about the Corvus Packs' Beta. At this point, anything at all can help us."

Jenna nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Agreed. When do you want to leave?"

Pack Master Davies looked at his watch and then pursed his lips in consideration. "Let's leave in two hours. That gives us a little time to eat an early dinner and then attire ourselves appropriately for the club."

Jenna started at his comment about their clothing expectations. "What do you mean, clothing appropriate for the club?"

Adam pet her back. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll get you an outfit to wear."

She turned to look at Adam in abject horror. "That's what worries me."

~~~

Two hours later, she stormed out of her hotel suite with an amused Adam in her wake. Her mind had been firmly made up—men were disgusting pigs. No matter what the situation was, they were always trying to take advantage of it somehow. After seeing the outfit Adam had ordered for her, she had pitched a fit of epic proportions only to have the smug bastard point out they had to leave in twenty minutes, so they didn't have time to procure her another outfit.

She hated him.

Stomping down the hallway past a shocked Alec, an amused Logan and a delightfully ignorant Owen, she marched into the elevator car and refused to acknowledge their existence. Adam slid behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and snuggled her backside into his rock hard erection.

Okay, she didn't hate him, but she refused to talk to him for at least the next three hours. Surely there wouldn't be a reason why she would have to speak to him. Having to endure this outfit was worth at least three hours of silence.

After asking Jenna if she was as proficient with knives as she was with guns where Jenna had answered, 'Hell, yes,' Adam had disappeared for an hour while she'd watched extremely confusing German soap operas and eaten an early dinner. He then had come back empty-handed and informed her he was going to take a shower. When he had come out fifteen minutes later in nothing except a towel wrapped around his waist, she'd wondered how much trouble she would get into for being late so she could seduce her lover into having her first quickie. Adam, however, had smacked her on the ass and told her it was time for her to jump in the shower and start to get ready.

When she'd come out twenty minutes later—and yes, a woman was capable of getting ready in twenty minutes if they weren't into all of that extra makeup crap—she had seen Adam sitting dressed on the bed with a bag in his hands. At first, she could have cared less about the bag he held. The human woman in Jenna was drooling over her lover dressed in black denim jeans that cupped him lovingly in the best places with his black, kick ass, motorcycle boots and black button up dress shirt, which had the sleeves rolled back to his elbows. His hair was finally dry and sticking straight up in all of its red glory in a hundred different directions the way she'd come to love it. He was the sexiest thing she'd ever seen, and her wolf had been all but jerking her control away to get out and take a bite of their mate.

Wait a minute. Had she just admitted in her head that Adam was her mate?

Before she had gotten the chance to ponder the implications of that slip up, Adam had shaken the bag at her. Motioning for her to hurry up and take it.

Now she was standing in an elevator wearing a leather, purple mini-skirt designed with pleats and buckles, a matching leather, purple vest was low cut with buckles up the side and had corset-style ties down the back. She felt like a Barney-colored-Catholic-schoolgirl-porn-star wannabe from a crummy horror flick. Her girls were barely staying in the damn thing and all she had to say about was if anything popped out at an inopportune moment, it was not her fault.

Adam also had given her knee-high, black leather boots that were the only thing she appreciated about his shopping trip. Sure, they had four inch heels and she'd more than likely break her neck while trying to walk in the damn things, yet they had come with sheaths on the inside of the boot that hid two knives per shoe. They were fabulous and functional. Plus, instead of feeling like a midget next to Adam because her head barely reached the top of his shoulder, now she was up to his chin. That meant she had a little extra height in case she decided to give in to the urge to punch him in the mouth.

The only thing she truly loved about the outfit was the knife-like hair stick he had given her. With her hair pulled up in a French twist that was secured by the hair stick, she had a fifth weapon the population in general would overlook and her hair looked flippin' fabulous. Of course, if Adam continued to play with the wisps of hair lying against her neck she was going to ruin that phenomenal hairdo and take her hair stick out to stab him. If this was going to work between the two of them, he was going to have to learn when not to provoke her, or he was going to end up shot sometime in the near future. Not to mention, if Logan snickered one more time over her obvious snit fit, she was going to stab his annoying little ass, too.

The cab ride to the club was fairly quick. The mid-forties cab driver—sporting greasy hair, beady eyes, and a deviant grin—gave her multiple looks in his rearview mirror as Adam growled in low tones back at him in warning. She rolled her eyes in dismay over his possessive, idiotic behavior because—hello—he was the reason she was getting this kind of attention. Somehow, the outfit the tiger had given her earlier in the week didn't seem so awful now; at least it had covered more.

Her mental tirade was cut off when the cab started to turn down a narrow alley on the side of their destination. The moment they crossed the entrance to that alley, a weird sensation hit her. It felt as if her entire body was suddenly crawling with spiders and she didn't know whether she should start trying to claw her skin off to get rid of the feeling or tuck her tail between her legs and haul ass the other way. She felt Adam do a whole body shiver beside her and knew he had felt it, too.

"What the fuck is that?"

The pervy cab driver was casting an evil grin now. It kind of made her want to stab him for getting his rocks off at her discomfort.

Adam put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. "Magical barrier. My guess would be, whoever owns this club, doesn't want the building's extracurricular activities to be seen. What you felt is a deterrent spell for anyone not meant to know about the club. I bet it probably has an invisibility cloak to it as well. Whatever does make it past the entrance of this alley won't be seen once it crosses that barrier. Clever." He stopped talking to look out the vehicle's windows, inspecting their surroundings for danger.

Jenna was too busy with the shock and awe factor at her first introduction to magic to say anything. Her mama had told her about magic and where it came from, but she had never been in a position to experience it. She couldn't help wondering what the witch who'd cast the spell looked like.

Her education on Others was limited, but she knew witches were the product of fallen angels and humans. With their paternity, one might assume they would be inherently good. That assumption would be a mistake. Just like the earth-born demons, the witch was born with a human soul that had the opportunity to choose—good or evil.

For two species that had paternal fathers on the opposite ends of the spectrum, earth-born demons and witches had a lot in common besides the chance to pick their path in life. Demons were gifted with some kind of telepathic abilities, such as Jenna's own telekinesis, while witches were gifted with magic. Both were traits that would give someone pause before messing with a demon or witch. Jenna couldn't help but wonder if the similarities continued from there.

After all, their outer packaging was supposed to reflect the being's inner character, right? Therefore, while demons looked like your worst nightmare, angels looked like the most beautiful thing your eyes would ever behold. So the children should reflect that, wouldn't you think? However, one would be wrong. Demons and witches took on none of their paternal physical traits. Their looks were solely based on that of their mother. A witch could end up ethereally beautiful or like the hags of Halloween stories. Thus the reason for Jenna's pondering of what the one who'd cast the barrier spell looked like.

They pulled up around the back of the ten story high-rise, exited the cab, and watched as a cab carrying the rest of their group pulled up behind them. Looking from the curbside back to the building, Jenna noted it looked innocuous enough. Who knew what truths the inside would reveal? Would it be a geek lover's sex club like The Arena? Or a mass of writhing bodies on the dance floor like the night she had gone to Adam's Pier Six club?

Alec turned his head, scanning their surroundings as if he was looking for something before leading the way into the building. They entered through a heavy, metal door into a small, homely sitting area with two different hallways branching off it. The walls were white, the carpet looked like the kind you would see in your doctor's office, and there was a fake potted plant in one of the corners. It was all terribly... boring. In fact, it was so exceptionally dull she had a hard time reconciling the fact there had been this huge ordeal of a barrier spell to hide the comings and goings in relation to this building and its secrets. She had kind of hoped their destination would prove to be a bit more exciting.

Jenna looked to Alec. "You told us what's on the top four floors, what's Drake Ward use the rest of this building for?"

"An accounting firm Mr. Ward owns. The business is actually a nauseatingly successful international one. He has several offices all over the world. If only his puny mortal employees who worked for him here knew what their employer did after hours on the top floors, huh? They'd probably shit themselves while stampeding all over each other to run as far away as possible."

Jenna cocked an eyebrow at his vague description of the owner and his club. The place couldn't be that heinous, could it? Alec led them to an elevator with a keypad. After punching a series of buttons, the doors slid open and they entered a nine-foot by nine-foot freight elevator. It wasn't exactly the kind of elevator car you expected to see in an accounting firm. The tiger shrugged his shoulders at her inquiring look.

"Let's simply say Mr. Ward likes to be prepared for all eventualities."

Jenna scoffed. "Like what? Transporting the dead bodies?"

"Sure. Or the Other responsible for the bodies."

She didn't know how to respond to that comment so she shut up. The car moved slowly upward and Jenna watched the numbers illuminate as they reached and then passed each floor. While waiting, she internally prepped herself for their mission—reconnaissance.

Determine the potential threat the Corvus Pack was becoming to out themselves to humanity. Figure out their possible motives for their involvement in criminal behavior when they should be amply provided for through their long-term investments. What possible reason could they have had for condoning Pack members to act such as the hostage situation in Wilmington? It had been a hopeless situation for the kidnappers to get out of the restaurant alive. Well, hopeless given the fact there had been a demon and shifter/demon hybrid on the SWAT team that had gone in to neutralize the threat and the extraction of the hostages. Perhaps the odds she and Kent would be on the team that responded to the call were astronomical, but the chance any of those wolves would slip up and do something decidedly inhuman were more likely than not. Why let them go into a situation where they would undoubtedly out themselves as something other than human?

When the number seven finally lit up above the elevator's doors and the car floated to a stop, Jenna pushed all thoughts away. It was time to focus; being distracted could cost you your life when you were in a hostile environment. After hearing the elevator was purposely sized for the transportation of dead bodies, she was going to assume this was a hostile environment.

The elevator doors slid open and they were immediately blasted with loud rock music that damn near caused her sensitive ear drums to vibrate in her head. A black, shiny, tiled floor reminded her of obsidian rock and reflected spots of black lighting that were sporadically placed throughout the open floor before them. The walls looked to be a few shades lighter than the floors and there were ornate, gold filigree mirrors in clusters everywhere. More low lighting was provided by black metal and crystal chandeliers displaying faux candles. There were numerous chains in varying sizes running the length of the ceiling. Those were definitely something she didn't want to ponder the implications of possible uses for. There were even a few chains dangling from the ceiling with manacles attached to the ends of them. Nope, she wasn't going to think about why those would be hanging there.

Where they had entered the club, there was a large lounge area filled with chaises upholstered in red velvet, purple leather couches and silver snakeskin upholstered chairs. All of the furniture displayed a Victorian or French influence. It was undeniably old world elegance meets modern rock and roll. What were the chances this demon was older than Moses and those chaises and chairs were originals refurbished from their time period? Probably more likely than she wanted to consider. Off on the left, far wall sat a short bar which was made out of distressed wood painted black and adorned with two skulls on either end of the bar top without bar stools in front of it. Apparently, the women walking around in various costumes were the waitresses and they brought your drink to whatever seat you had taken in the lounge.

On the right side of the room, approximately halfway in, was a small gathering circled around an olive-skinned man dressed in black dress slacks and a blood red shirt, wielding a whip on a naked fair-skinned woman with short, dark, auburn hair cuffed to the St. Andrews cross in front of him. There were thin, red welt lines that crossed her back and upper thighs. Rivulets of blood were dripping from the wounds, and there was a small group of vampires in all shapes, sizes and colors waiting patiently for the man to stop whipping his woman so they could clean her up with their tongues. The only thing that kept Jenna from going over there to beat the guy's ass was the fact the redhead was clearly enjoying her beating. Jenna might need a little bit of therapy after that sight.

At the back of the seventh floor was a slightly elevated stage that served as a cage where a live band was playing. Shiny, silver, metal prison bars, interrupted only by a small metal cage door off to one end, were either keeping the band in or the dangerous club patrons out. They were jamming out to a song Jenna thought sounded familiar from the radio and the group was rocking out as if they were at a major concert event instead of this small club with its unusual patrons. The music was a constant head-banging beat that had a devoted little group of dancers swaying in front of the stage on the small dance floor.

The whole place reeked of sex, booze, and blood. There was no reason to be concerned about the blood smell, though. The reason for that smell was obvious since Jenna could see a light-haired male vampire leaning back on one of the chaises with a scantily clad woman resting against his chest as he drank from her neck while using his hand to play with her bare breasts. She couldn't help wondering after seeing this if all clubs that catered to Others were half brothel? Had the species ever heard of having a coffee shop? Or a jazz club?

As she stared, one of the waitresses bent down to whisper something in a dark-haired male's ear. With her breasts practically spilling out of her black leather bikini top and her ass cheeks hanging out of her plaid, Catholic school-girl skirt, Jenna figured she would have any answer she wanted. Apparently not; she strolled away looking rather miffed.

Looking over at Alec, she found him eye-fucking a woman dressed in a white see-through bikini with angel wings attached to her back and swinging on one of those stripper swings that hung from the ceiling. Rolling her eyes to the ceiling she started to debate the statistical odds they would manage to get in and out of this club, accomplishing their mission, without the randy tiger sticking his dick in something. The odds didn't look like they would be in her favor.

Jenna popped him across the back of his head with her hand and he turned around to snarl at her. Ignoring his temper tantrum, she whispered, "Get your head out of your pants and let's get going, tiger. I've got better things to do than to watch you chasing skirt."

Alec brought his hand up towards her face with his fingers curled and his claws peeked out of the fingertips in warning. The naughty kitty actually thought she would be scared of that. Awe, how cute.

"Touch me with so much as one of those claws, you freaky, albino Tony the Tiger, and I will make sure I knock you out, file those suckers down to a flat non-lethal edge, paint them red, and then write 'Mr. Fluffy needs love, too' all over your face in permanent marker. Don't mess with the big dogs when they can chew your ass up and spit you out."

She stomped away from one speechless cat and three snickering wolves to the gothic looking bar to order a drink. She didn't care how many half-dressed waitresses were there to serve her, she'd rather get her own damn drink instead of one of those skeevy hookers with their vampiric version of the clap getting near her.

Resting her arms on the top of the bar, she leaned over and asked the dark-skinned bartender for a beer. He flashed her a delicious smile sporting two fangs and then reached over into the cooler to get her bottle, placing it in front of her. A pleasured shout suddenly sounded from across the club's expanse and she looked over her shoulder to see the redheaded woman on the St. Andrew's cross throw her head back in ecstasy as her body tried to bow in orgasm.

Right. Jenna was going to say a firm 'no' to any beatings Adam wanted to try in the name of kinky, experimental sex. If he tried to beat her like that, there was a good chance she'd cut his nuts off to see if he'd regenerate a new pair. She was still kind of fuzzy on whether immortals in the Other species could regenerate missing body parts or not. It was on her to do list for future questions to ask. Dismissing the sight of a swarm of vampires running their tongues over the woman's bleeding skin, she turned back to see the bartender eyeing her as if she were a snack.

He leaned across the bar to put his lips by her ear and said, "Did that spectacle interest you, pet? Are you excited by the sight?"

She barked a laugh. "Not in a million years, vampire."

He shrugged his shoulders in feigned disappointment and moved down the short distance of the bar to take an order from one of the waitresses who'd walked up. The next thing she knew, there was heat at her back and Adam's scent had surrounded her.

"Don't let another man near you, again."

Her jaw dropped at his growled order. If the wolf thought he was going to start ordering her around now that she'd given it up, well, he had another thing coming. She turned her body around to face him.

"Or what, Adam? What will you do if I allow another man to whisper in my ear, again?"

His move was lightning fast. One second he was in perfect view in front of her, the next his teeth were clamped lightly on the tip of her ear, growling softly in warning.

He released her ear only to rumble, "You. Are. Mine. You promised that to me this morning. Don't test my resolve in that area, sweetheart. On a good day, I'd rip another male's head off for daring to come near you. I'm not having good days right now, though. I'm having razor sharp edge days since I'm being magnanimous enough to give you the time you've asked for before we mate. You risk the vampire suffering through having his arms ripped off and shoved in anatomically incorrect places if you allow him or any other male to come near you in such a fashion again. Please, don't test me, love. I don't know if I can hold the beast back from doing something you think is grotesque and unforgivable, and I'd rather not have you look at me like I'm some sort of monster."

Jenna drew a deep breath in to steady herself. She'd now had a glaring reminder Adam wasn't in the mind frame to be snarly and snippy with, and she was the one to blame. Sure, he acted like a high-handed asshole by throwing around the chest beating Neanderthal act of, 'Mine!' before verbally dragging her back to his cave, but she had to remind herself he wasn't human; she couldn't hold him to expectations of human behavior. Hadn't the icicle forming, cold shower he had thrown her into a few days ago at least taught her that much?

Placing her hands on his waist, she noted the small touch caused his body to relax a little before she slid her hands up to circle around his neck.

"Okay, no males. I'm sorry, Adam. Please bear with me, I'm still learning."

He nuzzled his face into her neck, giving her a smattering of kisses there. She seriously ought to be a tad more pissed at his overbearing, dominant tendencies, but when he was her sweet, gentle Adam like this, how could she possibly work up the strength to get mad at him? The bad came with the good, right?

As she tightened her arms around him to bring his mouth to hers for a kiss, a disturbance alongside the dance floor caught her attention. Two women were arguing heatedly. Both women were around five-foot-seven with slim builds as well as pretty faces, but one was a brunette and the other a blonde. The people around them started to take notice of the exchange, which caused the brunette to sneer and flip them the bird. The blond seemed upset, as if she was scared or might cry, and the brunette must have been tired of her whining because she grabbed the blond roughly by the arm and started dragging her to the lone hallway on the floor where, Jenna assumed, the bathrooms were located. She kept watching in curiosity as the brunette shoved a door in, seemed to spot something inside that angered her and left the blond in the hallway to go into the bathroom. Seconds later, a small, pixyish woman came flying bodily out of the doorway where the brunette had entered and a hand reached out to tug the blonde in.

Jenna would call that slightly incriminating behavior. Now what could she do about it? Before she could decide on a course of action, she looked over to see Alec motioning them to come and sit with the rest of their group. When his eyes shifted to the side to keep the hallway in sight, she had a feeling he wasn't calling them over to have a casual chat about the weather.

Grabbing Adam's hand, she led him over to the small cluster of chairs they were sitting in and managed not to complain when Adam pulled her down to sit on his lap instead of in her own seat. This being in a relationship thing was seriously going to take some getting used to for her. Alec's chair was situated next to theirs, so he leaned over to speak to them in a lowered voice, keeping anyone else from overhearing their conversation.

"That's the two women I overheard talking about the Corvus Pack the last time I was in the country. They're the ones we need to keep an eye on."

Adam murmured, "Should one of us go to the restroom to keep tabs on them?"

Just then, Logan got up from his chair and swaggered across the room to the hallway holding the bathrooms.

Alec answered as Jenna watched her brother walk away from them. "Davies is sending the kid into the men's room since the bathrooms appear to be side-by-side. He's hoping the walls will be thin enough to catch some of their conversation."

Jenna turned her head to look at Alec. "But won't they be speaking German?"

He nodded. "Your brother is learning a number of languages. He has to in order to take Owen's place one day."

Huh?

That possibility hadn't crossed her mind, yet. She had been so wrapped up in everything else going on in her mind she had yet to consider her brother's place in their family's Pack. Logan might be only twenty-years-old, but if he was strong enough to fight dominance challenges, then he would be able to become Alpha of the Davies Pack, and Pack Master of the United States. Hopefully, that situation wouldn't occur for hundreds of years, though. She miraculously had her uncle pop back into her life; Jenna wasn't prepared for him to disappear out of it again.

A few tense minutes slid by as the group of four waited for Logan to reappear from the men's restroom. Alec and Owen carried on a conversation about Alec's upcoming fight and Jenna stayed cuddled on Adam's lap as he ran a loving hand up and down her back. The scantily clad waitresses moved around, serving their customers while people in the lounge carried on conversations with each other. Of course, there were those who weren't talking, but were instead doing everything short of having actual intercourse on the furniture.

The light-haired vampire had his walking, talking snack on her knees on the floor between his legs. His hands were clenched tightly in her hair and he was using them to set the pace for the blow job that his female seemed all too happy to be giving him. Jenna was flabbergasted. She couldn't imagine having public sex like that. She would let Adam talk her into it over her dead body. Was the human that uninhibited? As she watched the woman pleasure the vampire, whose head was thrown back against the chaise, she noticed the woman's eyes seemed a bit glassy. Was she drunk? Drugged?

Adam took note of her interests and brought his lips to her ear. "Voyeur much?"

Unable to tear her attention away from the female's lips sliding up and down the vampire's considerable length, she said, "I'm sure it looks that way, but actually, no. It's like when you see a train wreck about to happen—you know it's going to be horrible, but you can't tear your eyes away from watching it. Is she on something to make her not care she's giving him head in the middle of a club?"

Adam looked over at the couple for a minute before turning his attention back to her. "Don't you see the bite marks on her neck? She might be on something, but her reaction is more than likely from his feeding."

Turning her head to look at Adam, her brows snapped down in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He sat back a few inches from her in surprise. "I guess we have more to cover in your education. How much do you know about vampires?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip, slightly embarrassed. "Not much."

He shook his head in disapproval. "Vampire bites have a toxin they release when feeding. The effect is said to be determined by the vampire's intentions. If he wants it to be pleasurable, erotic even, then it is. If he wants it to hurt worse than a thousand knives plunging into your body, well then, it can do that, too. It's one of the things that sets them apart from their demon brethren. The toxin they hold in their fangs, their ability to use it for purpose, and their ability to create other vampires. Although, from what I understand, that is extremely hard to accomplish and could potentially kill the vampire trying to sire the new one. They still have telepathic abilities and what not, but they also have other abilities."

It was frustrating how dangerously little she knew about the Others species. She only knew bare-boned facts, it seemed. "And they're that way because they're born from a Hell-bound demon raping a witch, right?"

Adam nodded in agreement. "Exactly. That's why there are so few of them in numbers compared to us. Most witches are able to defend themselves from Hell-bound demon attacks, so it doesn't happen that often. Not to mention, since it is dangerous to try and sire a vampire by turning a human, well, they rarely do that, either. The only plus they've got is they can produce children like any Others species, but their fertility rates are so low it's often considered a miracle when it does happen."

The vampire's pleasured shout caught their attention and stopped the conversation as Jenna couldn't help but watch the male vampire hold the female's head tightly against his groin while he gave her final, short, erratic thrusts and emptied himself into her mouth. She was so caught up in the sight that she missed her brother's return to the group. When she was smacked on the back of her head, it startled her so badly she almost used her powers to try and throw the culprit's body away from her. She stopped when she saw it was Logan.

He smiled a teasing grin. "Perv."

Rolling her eyes, she watched Logan lean over and say something low to their uncle before something in the hall caught her eye again. The brunette came out of the bathroom dragging the terrified-looking blonde with red-rimmed and bloodshot eyes. It was clear by the appearance of their 'club attire' the blonde woman was in some sort of distress. She undoubtedly hadn't cared about her clothes or the state of her hair, for that matter. The poor thing looked as if she could use a trip to the spa with an extended day pass. She was pretty much in the blah spectrum of her color wheel. Her tan blouse was rumpled across her chest area as if someone had grabbed her and had been trying to shake some sense into her frightened mind. Her jeans had seen better days; at least ripped was in style again. Ballet flats adorned her pale feet and her dull blonde hair was now in a messy bun. The brunette was dressed to kill in a form fitting, white leather skirt and a turquoise, off-the-shoulder, silk shirt. Her stilettos were midnight black and gave her those five extra inches every short woman wanted. Clearly, she was the stronger of the two, not only in taste of clothes but in mind. Whatever was bothering the blonde had no effect on the brunette.

They headed for the elevator, and before they reached Jenna's group of chairs, Owen and Logan got up and headed towards the elevator in front of the two women. When Jenna moved to follow them, Adam's arms clamped around her waist and Alec shook his head in an almost imperceptible 'no' as he started fiddling with a watch Jenna hadn't noticed him ever wearing before.

Her two relatives stood there with the two women, waiting for the elevator, and when the doors slid open, Logan gave a gentlemanly wave for the two women to precede them into the car.

Jenna couldn't help it, a line from an old poem immediately popped into her mind. "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the Spider to the Fly.
Chapter Sixteen

Jenna

By the time Jenna, Adam and Alec headed up to the eighth floor, she was ready to pull her hair out in boredom. Perhaps it was due to a tad bit of anxiety, too. They had spent the last two hours idly moving from one spot to another on the seventh floor, hoping to hear anything about the Corvus' Pack. They had shit luck in that matter since not a peep had been spoken. The entire time, she had known her uncle and brother were on the floor above them, following their only lead so far.

Now, as they headed up to join the others so Alec could fight, her body was humming with adrenaline. She bounced on her toes, readying for action. She clenched and unclenched her hands at her sides. Her head rolled from shoulder to shoulder, trying to loosen up a little. Something needed to happen. Hell, anything besides sitting around and watching vampires, demons and shifters practically having sex with each other while in open view of those less engaged around them. She had been in the midst of an orgy.

Okay, so maybe her body was humming with something slightly more than adrenaline. Perhaps she was a bit of a voyeur because the sad truth was—after she had watched numerous couples touching, kissing, licking, biting, and in some cases, going at it like the half animals they might be—she had become incredibly horny. There was a solid chance, if she didn't find someone to knock the hell out of, she was going to tackle Adam to the closest surface and ride him like a cowgirl on crack.

Since the odds her brother and/or her uncle might be in view of said future tackle, she was seriously hoping she would find somebody to beat bloody to alleviate a fraction of the energy that was radiating through every cell in her body. Her wolf felt like she was pacing inside her skin and she was putting off enough pheromones the scent of her lust overpowered the elevator car after the doors had slid shut. Alec was standing as close to the doors as he physically could without actually touching them in an attempt to get away from the effect her scent was causing him and Adam had slid over to stand directly in front of where she leaned nine-feet away from Alec against the back of the elevator.

Alec's hoarse voice rumbled, "Man, you've got to do something about that. If you let her stay like that up here on the fight floor, there's going to be a fucking riot."

Jenna's head snapped up at Alec's implied need for a solution right as the car slid to a stop. Alec stepped out the second he could squeeze through the still-opening doors while Adam grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along behind him. Every male they passed turned to look at them once they caught Jenna's scent and half the women made a point to send inviting looks their way as well. A few of the men even started to approach, their menacing body mannerisms screaming aggression and lust.

When Jenna wasn't moving along as fast as Adam wanted her to, he whipped around, picked her up, threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and zipped through the crowd using his preternatural speed. One second it felt as if they were moving at a hundred miles per hour and the next they were stopped. It wasn't in an isolated area, though. Bodies still surrounded them, so she didn't understand what Adam was doing. Then she heard the growl and it wasn't Adam's.

Placing her hands on his back, she pushed her body up so she could turn her head and peek over his shoulder. The sight that met her eyes was enough to make her mouth go dry in worry and accelerate her heartbeat. The man facing them stood about seven-feet tall with wild brown hair down to his shoulders, eyes so dark they looked black and he had a scar in the shape of four claw marks that ran down the side of his face and neck. His scent said shifter, but it was like none she'd ever smelt before, which was grim news. There was only one kind of shifter she had yet to come across. Bear. His build was burly, perfectly showcased by the skin-tight tank top he wore. That was about all she could see of the man since she had to twist like a pretzel to look over Adam's shoulder, however she had seen enough to know they had a serious problem. The bear growled again while looking at Jenna's ass, licking his canines and lips as if she was a piece of high end steak. Shit.

Adam snarled, "Move your ass, Yogi."

"I'm right where I want to be, little puppy. Give me the female and I'll go away."

"The woman is my mate and I'll hand her over just as soon as you can pry her from my cold, dead hands."

The bear's smile turned wicked. "She doesn't wear your Mark, so I'd say that can be arranged."

Jenna's breathe froze in her chest. The bear lunged towards Adam and she tensed her body in preparation of a dismount off Adam's shoulder. The dismount never came. His left arm stayed clamped over the backs of her thighs, pinning her to his body, while his right arm shot out to snag the much larger bear by his throat. Adam had stopped his forward advancement towards them and was lifting him clear off his feet. The bear dangled in the air as Adam squeezed so hard on his windpipe the bear's face turned a decidedly unattractive shade of purple.

After shaking him like a ragdoll for a second, Adam then threw 'Yogi' damn near twenty-feet into the crowd. The flying bear's arms waved around like windmills, searching for something to grab onto to stop his momentum, but he didn't find it until he collided with several bystanders, causing the bunch to crash into the wall before landing in a heap on the floor.

The club went silent. Everyone was looking back and forth between the now unconscious bear shifter and Adam. Without bothering to resume his preternatural speed, he sauntered past the prone bear, as if the man was nothing but a nuisance, to the hallway leading to the eighth floor restrooms. The hallway was dark with only two or three low lights to illuminate it, but that made it easy for her to spot the red neon 'EXIT' sign at the end, which she was guessing led to the stairs that ran the length of the building.

Suddenly, Adam turned and shoved the men's door open, causing her to lose her grip on his back as she fell back down to lay against his back. An Asian-looking demon she could see in her upside down view from Adam's side was in the process of taking a piss, but he took one look at Adam, stopped his flow, fixed his zipper and rushed out of the bathroom like his life depended on it.

In Adam's mood, it was the right assumption to make because his life probably had depended on that quick departure.

The millisecond the demon had cleared the door, Adam slammed it shut, locked it and had Jenna pinned against it with his hips wedged between her thighs. His lips slammed down on hers and she was lost. He wasn't merely kissing her, he was drawing the breath from her body with his intensity. There would be no gentle touches this time. No slow build up. No careful handling. No second questions on whether he was going too far, too fast for his poor, inexperienced woman to handle. His hunger was only magnified by her own, and since Jenna was damn near desperate to get a hold of his cock so she could guide it inside of her making him slam it home, you could say Adam was frantic to give her what she wanted. It was needless to say that they were barely keeping the other from shredding their clothes beyond repair.

Jenna sneaked a hand down and managed to get the two top buttons undone on his jeans before he grabbed both of her hands and held them immobile in one of his above her head. That fire of urgency inside of her was throbbing now. Building. Causing the world around her to go hazy in a fog of desire until all she knew was that she needed Adam moving inside of her like she needed air. Her desperate gasp against his lips surely had to be proof of her distress.

When she tightened the grip of her thighs against his waist for more stability, his other hand grabbed the back of her neck, angling her head so he could plunge his tongue deeper into her mouth. He thrust his jean covered cock against her mound, causing her to groan in eagerness against his lips. Then he started to drag that hand from the back of her neck down until it settled over her breast, cupping his fingers around the fleshy mound as his thumb drew circles across the hard nub of her nipple before pinching it sharply. She jerked back at the sensation and banged harshly against the door behind her, yet she couldn't feel a single bit of pain.

The next thing she knew, that devious hand of his was on the move again. It skimmed over her rib cage, her hipbone, and upper thigh until it was pushing up what little bit of fabric her skirt had, shoving it clear up to her stomach. Then the panel of stretchy fabric that belonged to her thong was shoved to the side as his rough fingers dipped inside her. He swirled his fingers in her juices before pumping them like a piston inside of her, quickly readying her for his possession.

She groaned in frustration. It was not enough. She needed more. It felt like hours before he pulled those fingers out of her when it was probably more like seconds. At one moment she was empty, the next he had freed the hands he'd been holding hostage above her head so he could drape both of her thighs over his arms and then he was filling her to the hilt as she cried out in relief. Finally!

Jenna had no idea when he had finished unbuttoning his jeans or even how he'd managed it, but she also didn't care. The only thing that mattered was he was plunging inside of her, his hands gripping her bruisingly, and the tips of his claws had burst from his fingertips were pricking her skin without hurting her. That small fact pierced the fog around her consciousness, slipping through to highlight its importance. Even when he was too far gone to care about anything else in the world, he wouldn't hurt her. He pounded into her—hips slapping against hips, shared breaths sawing in and out of each other's mouths as they savagely kissed, licked and nipped the other's swollen lips and plundered with their tongues.

She realized there was a loud banging sound rapidly echoing in the room along with her breathy moans, but it took her a few fevered moments to realize it was the door she was being driven into with every plunge of his long, thick, glistening cock inside of her. The door started to sound so battered she distantly wondered if he would drive them both right through it, however the thought was a fleeting one since he dropped one of her legs, allowing her toes to touch the floor as he slid his thumb over her clit.

It was like a fuse being struck inside her womb. Her back bowed and her eyes slid shut as lights started to dance behind her lids and her mouth hung open in a silent scream at the wave of pleasure quickly building. She felt teeth scrape her shoulder, which caused her muscles to clamp down on his invading length in the slight fear that he would Mark her in a seedy club bathroom. So she found the strength to open her eyes, making eye contact with Adam before fisting one hand in the hair at the back of his head and pulling his mouth to her own. A sliver of guilt wound through her at the knowledge she had once again thwarted his attempts to solidify his claim of being her mate, but what girl wanted to essentially get married in a dirty bathroom?

That thumb of his kept going despite the frenzied pace they sustained and suddenly the wave that had been building crashed. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably and her lungs burned from lack of oxygen, so she pulled her lips away from his kiss but kept them in contact, loathing to lose that connection with him as she screamed in ecstasy unlike any orgasm Adam had given her so far.

The ferocity of what she felt at the moment—as his final slamming thrusts of climax bathed her in his hot seed and his warm breaths stuttered against her lips—was animalistic, raw, overpowering and utterly soul shattering. It caused her to regret not letting him sink his teeth in her flesh because, somehow, it seemed as if she had stolen something momentous from them by doing so. Yet it was too late to fix it now.

Next time, she promised herself. Next time they made love, she would ask Adam to give her the Mark, perhaps even later tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how the rest of their visit at the club went. Soon her Alpha would get his desired mate and Jenna would get the fulfillment of her dreams of a perfect life.

Adam's affectionate petting brought her around from her musings and she opened her heavy eyelids to see the amused Alpha watching her.

"Nice head trip, love?"

Unable to move her lips yet due to the blissfully happy endorphins running through her system, she nodded. This caused the smug man to chuckle before nuzzling the side of her face. "We have to go back out there, you know? Your family will be waiting on us and your uncle is probably preparing a lecture for us about how this isn't a joy trip we're on and we need to get our priorities in order. Personally, I think he needs to get laid more often."

That caused a rough laugh to bubble through Jenna's numb lips. "Yeah, I guess we should get back out there."

He placed a string of sweet kisses on her neck, the side of her jaw and then a lingering one over her lips before disengaging from her and setting her gently down on her feet, making sure to hold her up by her arms until she was steady on her own. When she walked over to the sink to clean up and straighten her skirt back out, he buttoned up his pants while watching her intently. She was starting to think it was a hobby of his, watching her. No matter where Jenna was, she could turn to Adam and he would be watching her.

Her thoughts started ricocheting around her brain. Do I distract him? Or is he that hyperaware of our surroundings that he's able to study me on a constant basis while still knowing if danger lurks nearby? Surely the man will grow tired of staring at me all the time one day. Won't he?

When she had finished up, he opened the bathroom door for her and escorted her out of the men's room with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. They moved back down the hallway and out into the shouting crowd that was avidly watching the fight now in process. Alec was shirtless, dressed only in his jeans and black, leather, combat-style boots, and he was circling the ring that was only enclosed by a painted white line on the floor as well as the bodies of the patrons watching the fight. He was currently dodging swipes from the claws of his opponent who was, surprisingly, the light-haired vampire Jenna had been watching during his feeding, and later, his intimate acts with his female on the floor below.

Now that the man was under the bright lights, she could see he was a bit smaller than Alec, somewhere around five-foot ten inches, with a lean, lightly muscled body that couldn't compare to the tiger's but was still impressive. He was by no means a gym jock since he was on the smaller side, yet what vampire went to the gym anyways? The vampire was also shirtless, showing off pale skin that was not due to him being a vampire; it had more to do with his heritage, which looked like possibly European. He had a strong patrician nose with a bump in the middle, as if it had been broken several times before his immortal healing abilities had activated to prevent it. He also had a strong jaw with a pointy chin and mesmerizing grass-green eyes unlike any others she had ever seen.

Adam's hand on her shoulder tightened, so she looked at him to see what had caused the reaction. She found him looking across the room, his gaze on the two women her brother had trailed hours earlier. The blonde looked pale and scared shitless. Her eyes were still bloodshot from crying, her body seemed frail, and stress continued to radiate off her. The brunette had her caged in a circle of bodies as she spoke with two beefy men, her hands doing half the talking, flailing about like fish out of water and occasionally pointing to the frightened blonde. The two men wore almost identical outfits showcasing their 'high-class' titles; suits minus those smothering jackets. The taller of the two, only by a mere inch, was showing his love for the color black. Charcoal buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up and ready to do business. Black slacks adorned with a shiny, woven, leather belt, and yep, you guessed it, shiny ass shoes. His twin was dressed the same, though in smoke gray, and of course, rocking his shiny, over-priced, metro man dress shoes as well.

Jenna subtly scanned the room for her brother and uncle and spotted them separately. They were each a few yards away, yet they were in opposite directions of the group of, presumably, Corvus wolves. Logan was halfheartedly cheering Alec on in his fight while he kept his body turned in the Corvus wolves' direction to maintain one eye on the situation. Her uncle, however, stood propped up against a wall, silently watching the room before him, which happened to have a straight line of sight to their targets.

She looked back at Adam to see he had turned his attention back to the fight and Jenna joined his gaze in time to see Alec throw an uppercut to the vampire's chin. The punch sent his ass flying through the air until he landed, half-dazed on his back with his jaw at a grotesque angle. As Alec stomped forward, the vampire shook his head as if to clear it, and looked up in time to see Alec practically on top of him. Then he used his preternatural speed to issue a kick to his opponent's midsection that promptly sent Alec sprawling on his ass.

The vampire jumped to his feet, quickly popping his jaw back in place, and closed the short distance to try to stomp-kick Alec while he was down. Alec must have known something like that would happen because he rolled out of the way just in time to miss the connection. He then executed a sweeping kick that connected with the vampire's ankles, bringing his body crashing back down to the floor. Without hesitation, Alec brought his leg up then stomped it down into his opponent's face in three quick strikes until there was blood streaming down the vampire's nose before he was able to roll away again.

This was not the same playful tiger that had toyed with his opponent in Wilmington. This fight was calculated and exceedingly brutal. Either Alec wasn't playing around because he wanted the fight to be done with quickly so he could get back to their mission or this time his opponent was a considerable threat he was trying to shut down rapidly. It was maybe even a combination of the two possibilities. Either way, Jenna was sure it was going to be one of the most blood-thirsty things she had ever seen.

She watched the two men go at each other like rabid animals. Kicks, punches, and claws were used at every opening in hopes to weaken their opponent, all working towards that moment where they could take advantage of fatigue or an injury to put the other down and end the fight.

Alec's fighting style was a mix of martial arts that was well complimented by his feline agility and brute strength. The vampire's fighting style was a bit of classic boxing since he had that full upright stance with legs shoulder-width apart and one foot halfway behind its counterpart. His left fist was held vertically about six inches in front of his face at eye level. His right fist was beside his chin and he had his elbows tucked against his ribcage to protect his body. Lastly, she could see where he had tucked his chin down a little to try to avoid those sneaky punches to the jaw. Looking at his entire stance, it wasn't what she would have expected from a guy who learned to fight in the last one hundred years or so. No, if she was to guess, she'd say the vampire had learned to box hundreds of years ago, back when the sport had probably been considered more civilized than it was these days. Of course, with the stomp kick the vampire had tried to deliver a few minutes ago, she knew boxing wasn't his only skill. The man liked to mix it up between that and what she called dirty street fighting.

Alec was now half shifted on certain areas of his body. His tiger claws had sprouted from his fingertips, his chocolate-colored stripes were running up his arms, and his canines had visibly dropped over his bottom lip. He lunged in towards the vampire, trying to tear him apart with his claws, and the vampire responded by using his preternatural speed, which apparently was a bit faster than Alec's own speed, and delivered a jab to the tiger's face. In a matter of minutes, Alec's anger was getting the best of him, which was obviously seen by his glowing eyes. His beast was in danger of breaking free and the vampire had gotten in at least a dozen jabs to the tiger's face.

Jenna slid her eyes away from the fight to peer at the Corvus wolves again. The two burly German wolves now had the small blonde between them as they dragged her kicking and screaming towards the elevator with the smug-looking brunette sauntering closely behind in those stilettos. It looked like shit was going downhill quickly.

Her eyes didn't have far to travel to see both her uncle and Logan were on the warpath to intercept the foursome before they made their escape. They shoved bodies out of their way, causing mass fistfights to break out in their wake. They were unable to reach the group before the elevator—known for 'carrying out dead bodies'—doors closed, though.

The eighth floor was turning into pandemonium. The level of violence had spilled over from the ring into its crowd of spectators, starting with the handful of patrons, who had confused Owen and Logan's pushing as deliberate shoves from someone else around them, and spreading into several small brawls throughout the floor. Jenna didn't have time to worry about the fist fights. She placed two fingers on either side of her mouth and blew a shrill whistle to get Logan and her Uncle Owen's attention. Once she had it, she pointed to the bathroom hallway and they started pushing their way through the bodies again, accidentally sending a few of those individuals flying several feet since they were moving with their preternatural shifter speed.

With one last glance in Alec's direction, she saw he was still engaged in the fight with the ruthless vampire, so she turned with the decision to leave him there and pursue the blonde who was now in obvious need of a rescue. Rushing to the hallway, zipping down its length and then throwing the door open, she didn't need to turn around to know Adam was practically walking on the backs of her heels he was so close, and she smelled her Uncle Owen as well as Logan rushing in their direction.

Luckily, Jenna had spotted the 'EXIT' sign earlier, even in her lust-induced fog. The question now was, could they make it down eight flights of stairs, if they ran down the steps using their shifter speed, before the elevator reached the bottom floor and they lost the woman forever? The way those two wolves, whom she was still assuming were part of the Corvus Pack, moved towards the exit a moment ago didn't look too fortuitous for the blonde having a long and healthy life after she left the club. Hopefully, they would be able to reach her in time to make sure she was still breathing after tonight.

As she leapt down the twelve concrete steps, deciding to skip the idea of actually running down them, she dropped to the seventh floor landing, pivoted on her heel, and launched herself down the next flight of stairs. Taking her lead, the four of them jumped down the flights of stairs—one after the other, landing after landing—until they had reached the bottom floor, hoping beyond hope they were in time to reach the one link they had found to their underlying problem. Once Jenna pushed through the stairway's entrance door, she recognized the back of the building. Running as fast as she could for the back entrance, she knew that if a human happened to see them pass they wouldn't actually see them. Instead, they would feel an odd breeze that blows by from seemingly nowhere and wonder what the hell was going on. Luckily, she didn't pass any poor, unsuspecting humans on the way to her destination, though.

The back metal door came into sight and she heard Adam growl at her to wait. She knew her mate wanted to go through the door first to make sure there were no immediate dangers, however her job on the SWAT team was filled with nothing except danger. This was going to be one of those areas where Adam would have to learn how to deal.

She reached the doorknob, barely sliding herself to a stop in time before she would have—more than likely—taken the door out altogether, turned the knob, and burst out of the building, already on alert for threats. Whimpering cries sounded from the alley their cab had driven down. She sprinted in that direction, turned the corner and came to a stop when she spotted the girl on her knees, pleading for her life.

Fifty-feet away, one of the men held the woman down using one hand on her shoulder and the other tangled in her hair, tipping her head back so her neck was exposed and vulnerable. The other male stood in front of her with his hand wrapped around that fragile throat, his claws puncturing through the skin, causing little rivers of blood to drain down and pool in the fabric of her shirt. The blonde's tiny hands were wrapped around his wrists, futilely trying to pull his hands away to end the pain. The skanky brunette was on the far side of the scene, leaning against the hood of a silver BMW and watching dispassionately as the blonde's eyes overflowed with tears as she obviously begged to be let go. Jenna's wolf was enraged at the grotesque display of three dominant wolves preying on a clearly weak, submissive wolf. Of course, now all of the Corvus' wolves had focused on her since they'd scented her and the others the moment they had stepped into the alley.

The brunette pointed her finger at them and shouted, "Verpissdichvon hier!"

Jenna's hands snapped up in the air as she started to internally gather her telekinetic powers about the time Adam, Owen and Logan stepped around her towards the threat. In the blink of an eye, the male in front of the blond backhanded her so hard she flew several feet to the side to land unconscious in front of the brunette's feet. The two Corvus males then launched themselves at Uncle Owen and Logan as Adam headed for the pitiful-looking body of the submissive wolf. The nasty brunette tried to launch herself at Adam when he got too close to the woman's prey, but Jenna used her powers to pick her body up and throw her to the other side of the car and past the truck where she heard the harsh thump of the body landing on the hard pavement. Adam closed the distance between himself and the inert woman, scooping her up gently in his arms before heading back in Jenna's direction so they could leave this place before more trouble joined their impromptu little party.

Looking to her left, Jenna saw her little brother had his opponent on his knees already as he delivered violent punches to the man's face, causing a sick crunch and squishing sound that kind of turned her stomach. Turning away from the scene, she looked right to see her uncle stomp-kicking the other Corvus wolf repeatedly in his spine until there was an alarming 'snap' heard. When the wolf lay there, semi-conscious but unable to move because Owen had snapped his spine in half, her uncle reached over, took both sides of the man's head in his hands, and gave a sharp twist until another awful snap could be heard. Then, Jenna heard a third snap back on her left and she knew Logan had snapped the neck of his opponent as well.

She'd been a trained Police Officer for a number of years and had seen some sick shit while on the job, but she didn't know if she'd ever get used to the sound of a neck being broken. It took everything she had in that moment not to upchuck the small dinner she had eaten hours ago. Her only consolation was that she knew the wolves weren't actually dead, simply incapacitated until their regeneration process would kick in and heal the breaks.

Adam had barely made it to her side when they all heard the sound of a gun chambering a round. Shoving the slack form of the woman into her arms, Adam turned to face the potential threat in time to see that evil, little skank hide her body behind the driver's side door of her BMW as she pointed a Heckler & Koch MP5K submachine directly at Jenna and the blond, then pulled the trigger. Adam roared in rage as the staccato of gunfire sounded. He flung his body in front of hers, shoving his hands out to push her in the chest, causing her own body to fall backwards as she held onto her precious cargo.

The 'pop, pop, pop' carried on for agonizing seconds as she landed on her back, rolled to the side to lay the woman down and then rolled back to face the danger in front of her. Adam was down on the ground covered in blood, his flesh sizzling where several bullets had embedded in his chest and around his heart.

Silver.

The bitch was shooting silver bullets at them! The sight of Adam lying motionless brought her wolf to the front as their sanity snapped with the sight of their mate silent on the ground. Blood pounded in her ears as she looked up at the woman who had caused her precious Adam so much damage, and she was laughing.

His flesh was burning because of her and she was laughing.

Whatever the brunette saw in Jenna's face caused her to stop her malevolent chortle and pause in uncertainty. Fear flashed in her eyes as Jenna climbed to her feet while the world around her disappeared in a haze of red. Glancing back down at the man she had denied less than an hour before something so treasured as his Mark, she saw the veins in his body start to turn black from the poison the silver bullets were causing. The poison was centered and strongest around his barely beating heart. Looking back up to the-one-she-would-kill, who was hiding back behind her car door, she watched her raise the submachine gun again, aiming it for Jenna's chest.

This time, however, she wouldn't get the chance to pull the trigger. Jenna jerked her hand out and a tidal wave of power swept from her body. A look of horror spread across the brunette's face because she was now held motionless from the neck down. Jenna manipulated the woman's arm to drop, pointed the gun at the woman's own left knee cap and pulled the woman's finger that still rested on the trigger. The short staccato of gunshots sounded again as the bullets ripped through her knee, but she didn't collapse with her screams to the ground since Jenna continued to hold her body upright.

Jenna moved the gun over to her right knee as the woman wailed in agony. Her screams became frantic the second before she felt Jenna manipulate her finger to pull the trigger again, causing another short burst of gunshots now in her right knee. When the alley stopped ringing from the burst of gun fire, the only thing that could be heard was the brunette pleading hoarsely in German. It was too bad Jenna didn't care enough to ask what she was saying.

Other voices were talking to Jenna as her uncle bent over Adam's still form to check his pulse, yet the roar of anger in her ears drowned the voices out. Letting the Corvus female drop to her ruined knees, she kept the woman frozen as she used the majority of that surge of power to lift the shiny BMW that bitch had been proud to hide behind. The tires cleared a foot of air before the female realized what was happening and started screaming bloody murder.

Of course, it wasn't bloody murder yet, but it would be.

Jenna smacked the brunette forcefully in the face with her own car door to shut her up. Then, while the woman was stunned stupid, she catapulted the car up in the air, shut the door all the way so she had room to maneuver it around in the alley without hitting a wall, and shifted that silver monster of a vehicle until it was hanging in the air over the stupid woman's head. Clarity returned to the Corvus female's eyes right in time for her to look above her and open her mouth to scream again, but whatever sound she would have made was cut off when the car landed on top of her.

Jenna wished the thump-thump-thump of her heartbeat in her head would have stopped so she could have heard the sound of death from the brunette when the car had snapped all of the bones in her body and when the sharp edge of dangling metal from the front bumper had sliced through her neck to sever her head from her body, but she'd missed out on it. At least she had gotten to see the end of the female who had possibly taken her mate from her.

Blackness closed around the edges of her vision as the blood pounding in her ears got louder. She thought the sound should have started to dissipate by now, yet the numbness in her body and her declining vision trumped out the worry of her loss of hearing. Then she realized there was something hard digging into her shoulder and hip.

She'd fallen down?

When had that happened?

A shadow fell over her hazy, darkened sight, but before she could make out what it was, everything went black...
Chapter Seventeen

Jenna

Eleven hours later in an Other-friendly hospital outside of Wilmington, North Carolina...

Beep.

Beep. Beep.

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.

Somebody stop the fucking beeping! Jenna peeled her eyelids open as far as she could, which apparently wasn't very far. Hell, she didn't think she had actually cracked them open a millimeter, but that was okay because now she realized there were voices in the room. Angry voices that were arguing in hushed whispers.

"If you'd close your trap for a damn second, woman, I can explain what the hell happened! You need to calm down. You're agitating Adam, in case you can't hear the heart monitor speeding up, you infernal pain in the ass."

That is Uncle Owen, now who is the infernal pain in the ass woman?

"You've done enough, Owen Davies! I let my daughter into your keeping for a couple of bloody days and she came home tiptoeing on Death's doorstep. If she manages to pull through this, I'm going tae find the darkest, scariest fecking hole on this planet, and I'm going tae hide her there from your mangy ass, so you never get your paws on her again!"

And that angry Irish tirade was Mama.

"You try and take her from Adam," her uncle replied with a confident tone. "He'll not only find her, but then he'll hide her so you never find her. I suggest you don't try to separate the two. She may not have a Mark on her neck, yet, but I assure you, the two of them are as good as mated. The proof of that claim lies there in the hospital bed, struggling to live. She landed herself in this condition because she flipped her shit when Adam was severely injured in Germany."

A feminine huff, then, "You don't understand, Owen. She didn't merely use her powers, she tapped into her life source of energy and drained that, too." A sniffle. "It's why I can't answer your questions as ta if she's going tae make it. She damn near snuffed out her own spark of life. Between that and her hybrid genetics, I don't know if she's going tae bounce back or not. We're going tae have tae wait and see." A strangled sob. "What the feck did she do tae drain her body like that?"

"Your daughter crushed the woman who shot Adam with her own car by levitating it above her head and then dropping it on her."

Strained silence.

Owen's worried rumble sounded far away. "We barely kept them both alive on the emergency flight back to the States, Kelly. If that nosy-ass tiger hadn't been around with his fancy medically-equipped plane and his highly-trained extraction team on standby, then we might not have gotten them home alive at all."

Jenna's eyelids felt loaded with sandbags. She tried to fight it so she could tell her mama she would be okay, but her lips wouldn't move and the black was closing in again.

Beep.

As Jenna slipped under, her last conscious thought was that beeping was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. It was the sound of Adam's heart beating.

Adam

Two days later...

Adam's wolf was frantic; rabidly trying to get his attention so he could do something about the harrowing noise that was pulling him out of his sleep.

Is it my alarm? I don't remember setting it. No, whatever it is, it's much more dire than my alarm clock because my wolf is seconds away from breaking those inner cage walls he's always stayed in to keep us sane in order to get out for that noise.

Adam took a deep breath and winced at the pain in his chest. Jesus, did I try to set myself on fire from the inside out? Every muscle he had felt charred somehow. The discomfort quickly dissipated, though, when he paid closer attention to the noises in the room. There was yelling; shouted instructions and something about a defibrillator? Over it all was the God awful alarm that wouldn't shut up.

He opened his eyes and turned his head towards the noise. There were at least six people crowded around a hospital bed on the other side of the room from his.

I'm in a hospital?

Those bodies occasionally shifted this way and that as they worked on the patient, but Adam thought it was a lost cause because he realized the alarm was the heart monitor. That alarm clearly said the heart had stopped. He wondered who the poor soul had been that had died.

Bodies shifted again. A gap opened up enough for him to see a small, pale feminine hand. The small gap of view closed as bodies shifted again. Panic lanced through his body. He jerked to a sitting position and craned his neck to wait for the opportunity to see the woman's face. It couldn't be. Fate couldn't be that cruel to him to take the one thing for which he wanted to live for the most.

The doctor ordered the nurse at the head of the bed to go get something Adam couldn't pronounce from the supply closet in the room. As the nurse moved away, that gap of vision finally came. His lungs seized in his chest. The air evaporated from the room. There was a roar echoing in his head. When the first set of hands landed on his body to push him down, trying to restrain him, he realized that roar wasn't in his head.

That was his roar filling the room.

Because that was her on the bed.

That was his sweet tart lying in the bed across the room from him.

That was his Jenna the heart monitor was saying had no heartbeat.

Crash.

There went those inner cage bars that held his beast.

Jenna

There were voices arguing again.

God, I cannot wait until I am back in my own bed where people are not allowed to argue. Or interrupt my sleep. How the hell is anybody supposed to get any rest if everyone around them is arguing for Christ's sake? And aren't hospitals supposed to be peaceful? All Zen-like so you can get your healing mojo out of it?

An angry male voice snarled, "We have to try and wake her up! Don't you get it? He's fucking GONE! As in G.O.N.E. Missing for three days! If we don't try to wake her up now that she's more stable, even if we do find him, it won't matter. He'll still think she's dead. Seeing her alive is the only thing that's going to get through to him right now."

Shit. That sounded like there were serious problems around. She wondered who had died and who had gone apeshit. Cracking open an eyelid, she spied Adam's Beta, Clay, standing nose to nose with Logan. What the hell is going on around here? They were so wrapped up in trying to give each other death glares they hadn't even noticed she had come to. She opened her mouth and tried to say something, but her throat was so dry all that came out was a strangled croak. At least the frog-like sound had gotten their attention. Two pairs of angry eyes swung her way, yet only her brother's softened when he saw she was awake.

Taking quick steps, he came to the side of her bed and put a soft hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you. No, don't try to get up. You need to stay down and get more rest."

Jenna patted his hand affectionately before pushing it away so she could sit up in the bed. Logan huffed in frustration, seeing that she had absolutely no inclination to do as he had asked, and then pushed the button on the hospital bed's remote to shift the head of it to a sitting position so she could rest against it.

Just as she was turning her head in Clay's direction to ask him to explain what was going on, she found him on the other side of her bed, hands balled into fists, jaw clenched so tight it looked as if it would snap in half. There was a struggle of some sort going on there, only she didn't understand what it was. Is he angry at me? He certainly looked mad enough to wring her neck. Then Clay did something that truly shocked the shit out of her.

He dropped to his knees, averted his eyes to the side and bared his throat in submission to her.

Jenna forced words through a dry throat and mouth that didn't want to work, "What are you doing?" She sounded worse than a frog being strangled, but at least she had gotten it out.

Without changing his posture, Clay answered, "I'm trusting you to be the kind of Alpha's mate the McPhee Pack needs."

Her confusion compounded. If she were in the kind of groggy state of mind one experienced after waking up, she'd blame it on that. However, that wasn't the case here. In fact, besides her extremely sore throat, she was starting to feel better every second. She did a quick internal check of herself, noticing that it felt like her abilities—the power she had drawn from—were doubling by the minute and she was on the fast track to at least that aspect of her body being back to normal. Her physical body felt like a different story. Besides her throat, her muscles felt cramped, stiff, and sore, which made no sense to her at all. It wasn't as if she'd been out running the Boston Marathon.

Why does my body feel like it has been put through the proverbial wringer?

Pulling herself out of her musing, she turned her head to ask Logan how long she'd been out, but she stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. He was trying to stab Clay in the face using nothing other than the powers of his mind, and since he didn't have any actual powers of the mind, that level of concentration as well as open hostility was kind of vexing to her. She looked back to Clay to see him in the same prostrate position, utterly unmoving by even a muscle, which seemed wrong to her on so many levels it wasn't funny. A wolf as dominant as Clay—a man who would only bow down to his Alpha, who was Adam, or Pack Master Davies—didn't belong on his knees in front of her. It was similar to forcing the lion to bow in submission to the lamb. Unseemly.

Why does it seem as though the wolf is waiting on pins and needles for something? Hell, he's barely breathing as he waits in anticipation for something. Why should he be waiting for anything if it's to come from me? He should be out dogging Adam if he needs something.

Which led her to her next thought; where is the man he should be kneeling in front of? Jenna was anxious to see Adam. There were vague flashes of memory she knew were from the hospital room where she'd heard his heart monitor beeping, so she knew he was alive, but he wasn't there with her. Why? He needed to be there. She had things she wanted to say. Apologies to give him for putting him through hell by asking him to wait to claim her as his mate. Promises to make by telling him she knew, without a doubt, that she wanted his Mark more than she wanted her next breath. Where is my mate?

She lifted her nose slightly up to scent the air, but what little remained of Adam's unique scent was so old she knew he hadn't been in this room for quite a while. Didn't he stay with me after he woke up? Why would he leave me and not come back to visit?

She turned back to Clay and growled, "Where is Adam?"

He sighed in relief. It was the only movement his body made as he still held himself in rigid formality on his knees. Apparently, that was what he'd been waiting for. "He disappeared three days ago."

"What?"

Before Clay could continue, Logan laid a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Stay calm. We'll find him, Jenna."

She was frantic. "Why has he disappeared, Logan?" Her mind was reeling. She felt like a boxer who had taken one too many hits in the ring. Looking back and forth between her brother and Clay, she asked, "You said he disappeared three days ago? Why? Didn't he want to stay here with me?"

Clay cut off Logan's attempt to answer, "Three days ago, your body gave out and you flat-lined. Adam woke up while the doctors and nurses were trying to revive you. When he realized it was you in the bed, he snapped. The staff tried to restrain him, but we're sure he's slipped into a feral rage. He half-shifted right there on the bed and threw the doctor and two nurses, who were trying to hold him down, against the walls." Clay pointed to the body-sized dents in two different walls. "And then he tore out of here, howling like a banshee. We tracked him to different sections of the forest along the edge of the Pack's land, but we've been unable to corner him or pinpoint his location at any given time. The only reason we know he's still alive is because we can hear his agonized howls every so often."

Jenna was moving before Clay had finished his speech. Logan tried to keep her on the bed, loudly vocalizing his protests that she wasn't strong enough to leave; however, Jenna shoved his hands away, snarling at him. When she started lifting random items around the room where he could see them to make a point, her brother flung his hands up in a pose of surrender and stepped back from the bed. Clay held out a hand to help her down off the bed, but she refused to take it, trying to make a point to them both that she was indeed strong enough to go looking for her missing mate. When her feet touched the floor she wobbled a bit because of her unsteady legs, yet once she didn't feel as if she was going to topple over face first, she demanded clothes.

Walking out against doctor's orders and family protests was one thing, walking out with her ass hanging out the back of a hospital gown was another. Wilmington had already seen her on the front of a newspaper in a sports bra; she'd like to at least keep what her tush looked like to herself. Well, Adam can see it once I finds him, but that's where I draw the line, dammit. Generic gray sweatpants, a men's black t-shirt, and a pair of cheap flip-flops were handed to her. Pointing a finger towards the door, she cocked an eyebrow at both of the men, sending a silent directive—get the fuck out.

Once the door had clicked shut, she pulled the clothes on as quickly as she could manage and then slipped her feet into the flip-flops. There was no time to lose with a pissed-off wolf that had half-shifted and was running around in the woods like a mad man with no telling if his human half had checked out altogether or not. If she was going to find him and bring him back to the land where the sane people dwelled, she had to haul ass because, if she didn't, then there was a good chance a hunting party would be gathering soon to track down and kill the only man she had ever loved.

~~~

This shit is ridiculous. She couldn't believe she was standing there, arguing, when she had to go. On the edge of the woods behind Adam's house in the McPhee Pack territory stood a wall of people trying to stop her from heading out into the woods.

Her uncle, her mama, her brother and her Uncle Rick were all looking at her as if she had marbles rolling around loose in her head for brains as they flat out refused to let her leave. Behind her stood Amy, Clay, and six other unknown faces from Adam's Pack; all to back her up so she could go search for their missing Alpha before some truly tragic shit happened. Like someone going out there and taking his head off because they thought there was no hope in hell of saving him.

That would happen over her dead body.

There they stood, wasting precious time. Her fuse was about to burn down and then BOOM! She was going to blow up and go postal all over their asses. They were damn lucky she didn't have one of her guns on her because, if she had, she'd be making them do some old-fashioned, fancy, cowboy footwork as she let off multiple shots near their feet to get their pain-in-the-butts moving out of her way. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have any firearms with them.

It was very inconvenient.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she huffed, "Look. I get you're trying to look out for my welfare and you're worried about me since I just got out of the hospital, but you need to move out of my way. I need to find him. Not next week. Not even tomorrow. Today. I need to find Adam, now. The longer we wait—the further he slips into a feral rage—the more likely it is that we lose him for good. I can't risk that. I won't risk him. Don't ask me to."

Jenna's mama was spitting mad. "Jenna June, you've lost your fecking mind if you think we're going tae let you flounce around in the woods after you almost died three days ago."

Jenna rolled her eyes to the sky and started praying for divine deliverance, but unfortunately, there were no grand displays of angry lightening to help her out. Go figure. Maybe if she prayed for her mama to magically acquire a 'mute' button that might work out better. As her Uncle Rick joined in the let's-lecture-Jenna-and-pretend-she's-not-a-grown-ass-woman party, she dropped her eyes back to the human wall in front of her and started scanning her mama from head to toe for that new magical button that should have appeared.

Her extremely intuitive mother caught on to the fact that Jenna wasn't even bothering to pay attention to her lecture and narrowed her eyes as she snapped out, "Are you listening tae a thing we say, you daft girl?"

Damn! The mute button idea hadn't worked, either!

She looked over her mama's shoulder to the woods and imagined Adam out there. Sure he wasn't some scared, lost, little boy waiting for Mommy or Daddy to come save him, but he was confused and hurting. She remembered the gaping hole of nothingness that had spread over her consciousness when she had seen him lying on the pavement covered in blood, flesh sizzling from their impact with the silver bullets, the visible proof his body was already rapidly being poisoned by silver that could stop his heart and wither it to the size of a grape. She'd instantly known, if she lost him, there would be nothing but a bleak and empty future to look towards. Hence the reason her sanity had temporarily snapped like an over stretched rubber band and she had crushed the bitch that had hurt him with her own car.

Jenna wasn't even suffering from a wolf's obsession, so what she felt and had gone through in that moment was only a small iota of what Adam must have felt when he'd seen her flat-line in the hospital bed. With his wolf so much more prominent than other Shifters had to endure, who knew if his humanity was intact? All she knew was, if there was even the smallest chance she could go out there, she had to find him and convince him to come back to her. She had to try. What life would be worth living if I can't have the one who can fulfill all of my dreams?

No life was worth living without dreams.

She realized that now. Adam had dragged Jenna from a bleak existence of hiding and loneliness into his arms. He had offered her an extended family in himself and his Pack. He had offered her companionship so she wouldn't have to feel alone anymore. He'd offered her a future of hope. She was going to fight for that future even if it killed her.

That, apparently, was the thing her immediate family was scared of. They were afraid she would go out in those woods, find an Adam who was unreachable and dangerous and he would kill her in his disoriented rage. Now she only had to make them see that it was a possibility she was willing to risk.

Inhaling a deep breath, she held it in her chest for several prolonged seconds to help center herself and then slowly blew it back out. With a sense of renewed patience, she walked over to Uncle Rick, the Police Chief, first. Raising herself on her tippy toes, she grasped his shoulders to keep herself steady, leaned up to his considerable height and kissed his cheek.

When she was done, she sat back on her heels and looked him straight in the eye. "During all of my on and off the job training, you taught me to never give up on a mission if it's for a good cause." Her uncle gave her a short nod in agreement. "He's the best cause I'll ever fight for."

Uncle Rick rocked back on his heels a little in surprise. Studying her face for a few minutes with his sharp, critical assessment, he must have seen whatever it was he needed to see to believe her because he used his strong hand to grab the back of her head and brought her closer so he could drop a light kiss on her forehead. "Okay, honey, but you be careful, you understand?"

She nodded and then moved past her mama to her brother. Standing in front of him, she looked him square in the eye and said the one thing she hoped would make him understand how she felt; referring back to their conversation in the hotel their first night in Germany. "He's the right one, Logan."

Logan was nodding his head by the time she said the fourth word in her sentence. Her brother already knew Adam was her mate. Knew that she had to do whatever she could to save him. Instead of words, he gave her a bear hug that damn near cracked her ribs and then set her away from him in front of their Uncle Owen. The imposing Pack Master watched her with a blank expression.

"You understand the risks of going after him?"

"I do."

"And you understand, if you do this, you have to go alone? If anyone tries to follow and help you, it could make the situation worse. He could perceive any others as a threat against you and go on a killing rampage."

Without hesitation or a bat of an eyelash, she answered, "I understand."

Uncrossing his arms, Owen placed one of his giant paws of a hand on the side of her face. "Your father would be so proud of you if he could be here today to see the incredible woman you've become, Jenna. Since he isn't, know that I'm more than proud to call you my niece."

She held back the tears that watered her eyes, threatening to escape. Ignoring the burn it caused in her tear ducts and along her nose, she accepted one of the best compliments she'd received in her life, being the strong warrior her uncle needed her to be right now. After giving him a quick peck on his cheek, she moved to stand in front of her mama who was unabashedly crying.

Her mother could care less if there was a crowd to see her wail over her daughter like a bad actress in a Lifetime movie. Of course, before Jenna could get a word out, the woman grabbed her into a hug and held on as if her very life depended on it. Her mother guessed, since she was worried about her only daughter doing something that could get her killed, perhaps Jenna's life did depend on if her mother relinquished her hold or not. Jenna couldn't let that stop her, though, because it would be an empty life without Adam, even if she was safe and alive.

Her mama's soft sobs filled her ears, so Jenna placed her lips close to her mother's own ear and whispered, "I love him."

Her mother's arms tightened around her, grasping her as if she would never let go. Jenna started to worry she was about to have to fight her own mother to go save the man she needed like air, but as she'd started to strategize possible escapes, her mother's arms loosened then pushed her an arm's length away.

She had that scolding, parental face on. The one she had used over the years, telling her to clean her room or no she couldn't have a flamethrower for Christmas. Except this time she said, "You better come back in one piece, Jenna June O'Conner, and when you do, you better bring your mate home with you! I'll be expecting tae see you and my new son for breakfast. Do I make myself clear, young lady?"

Jenna couldn't help but smile. "Yes ma'am."

Her mama nodded, gave her one last stern look and then another bone crushing hug preceded a giant shove towards the forest's tree line. Jenna took one last quick look at the group assembled behind her. Her family, the small group of Adam's most trusted Pack members and his sister who looked at her with teary eyes and all the hope in the world. Giving them a half smile, she turned and started trekking into the woods so she could find a private place to strip down and shift. Traveling in her wolf's form would be faster and easier on her body. Time was of the essence and she was in a hurry to find her potentially insane mate.

~~~

Jenna and her wolf had been on the hunt for hours. She wasn't even sure if they were still on the Pack's actual lands, but that didn't matter when her instincts told her to keep going. It was dark now. The sun had set an hour ago, and right about then, Jenna was thankful as shit her Shifter senses had given her such excellent night vision because stumbling around in the dark sucked whether it was on two legs or four paws. Her wolf was acting like her own personal trainer in the back of her head, encouraging her to go a little farther, telling her they were getting closer and closer to finding their mate. She was starting to doubt the wolf's instincts, yet that had been before the scent trail she'd picked up close to half an hour ago or so.

With her nose occasionally to the ground like some God forsaken hound dog, she kept tracking the scent because it was the lifeline she had been searching for. The longer she followed it, the more excited she started to become until she found herself running through the forest, jumping over downed logs and swerving in and out of trees, chasing a trail as fast as she could. Jenna was so wrapped up in excitement she was caught entirely unaware by the humongous body that tackled her from the side, causing her to yelp loudly.

She was instantly pinned on her back with her front two paws pressed against Adam's half-shifted chest above her. He was in that rare state purebred wolf shifters could hold between human and beast, where things like facial features and claws were visible along with hair covering their bodies. However, the human's physique had been left behind. It had produced something that left spectators feeling one half awed and one half scared shitless. At that exact second, she wasn't sure which half she was feeling.

He was growling at her, canines exposed in all their glory as he lowered his muzzle closer to her own. His glowing amber eyes were bloodshot and crazed-looking. Combine that with the saliva that was dripping from his fangs onto her, and well, she was leaning towards the scared shitless half. She whined in the hopes it would convince him she meant no harm, instead that spurred his beast to snap his jaws viscously an inch from her nose since she was a weaker wolf.

Worry started to set in. She had thought he would recognize her scent by that point. Instead, he was acting as if she was a stranger who'd invaded his territory. That was not exactly how she had envisioned their reunion to happen. He was supposed to shift back to human, embrace her with open arms while waxing poetry of his love for her. Torture, maiming, and possible death had not been involved in her happily ever after fantasy.

One of his lethally claw-tipped hands grabbed the scruff of her neck harshly before he shook her a few times. A pained whine slipped out. Her distressed wolf was lamenting the fact they seriously should have made more time for those Shifter lessons they sorely needed. Both woman and wolf were confused as to what he was trying to convey to her. She couldn't exactly speak in this form, either. That meant one thing: she was going to have to shift to her human form and hope he didn't slice her apart the second he was able to.

Letting her muscles relax as much as possible given her current circumstances, she let the change start to lengthen and morph her body. Her black fur receded into her body while her long, dog-like muzzle shortened back into her human's facial features. When she opened her eyes it was to see what she guessed was the closest thing to a stunned look on the half-shifted wolf's face. His hand was now holding the back of her neck, but he didn't seem inclined to move it. Instead, he straddled her waist with his massive thighs and moved his other hand so he could run the backs of his misshapen fingers over the cheekbones of her face. His molten eyes were leisurely going over her features as if he was trying to memorize them one by one, afraid they would disappear right in front of his eyes.

Now was the time. She had to do something, say something, to make him realize she was real, she was alive. Licking her dry lips in nervousness, she watched his eyes follow the slow path her tongue made as if it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. She parted her lips slightly then whispered his name. His eyes shot up to hers and then his exceptionally beautiful beast went berserk.

The hand that was holding the back of her neck squeezed so tightly she worried he would accidentally snap her bones. His other hand that had been caressing her face gently a moment before, grabbed her shoulder, sinking his claws deeper into her flesh as he threw his head back to the sky and roared. Anger, madness or desperation—she wasn't quite sure which emotion he was feeling, but whatever it was, it seemed to predict her doom.

One second he was emitting that awful sound and the next he had slid the hand on the back of her neck to fist tightly in her hair, wrenching her head to the side at an excruciating angle. Then his teeth were biting into the base of her neck and she knew the love of her life was going to kill her. The breath stopped in her throat. Pain radiated along the nerve-endings in her body, but she refused to despair about it, to lament on the 'what if's' or 'might have been's.' There was only one thing she wanted to do prior to her death.

His teeth slid out of the muscles in her neck so he could bite her again lower, harder, on that vulnerable spot where the neck and shoulder met. He shook his head from side to side in his fervor. Using all of the strength she could muster, she raised her left hand, crossed it over her body so she could lay it on his cheek to get his attention and looked sideways so she could meet the dangerously beautiful amber eyes that now watched her intently. Without a hint of fear and with all of the emotion of her heart laid bare to see, she said the words she should have given to him in Germany.

"I love you, Adam McPhee."

The wolf's eyes glowed brighter at her declaration, and she watched in fascination as something unreadable crossed over his face. He pulled his teeth free of her ravaged skin and shifted his legs down her body until he was lying cradled between her thighs, his eyes never leaving hers. He seemed to be trying to convey something in that stare.

Am I breaking through to him? Please, God, let this work.

Using the thumb of the hand she still had caressing his face, she swept it over his cheekbone in slow strokes; small, soothing movements to hopefully tame her riled mate. He still watched her as if he was afraid she would disappear.

Is he torturing himself with the thought that I'm not real? Has he convinced himself I'm an apparition of some sort?

She had to convince him she was indeed real and here in the moment with him.

"Do you understand me, mate? I love you and I'm very much alive. Come back to me, my sweet Adam. I need you to come back to me."

Tears spilled over his lashes onto his cheeks. With a groan, he dropped his head down to his bite marks on her neck and shoulder, lapping at the skin in tender strokes. A different energy started to fill the air around them. The anger had slipped away, and in its place was need. His need to reassure himself she was alive aligned with her desire to give the man she wanted above all others the proof of her feelings with a completed mating, whatever that entailed.

Jenna could feel his cock lengthening where it was trapped between their two bodies. The feel of the hard, heated velvet against her combined with the slick slide of his tongue sweeping her skin with his ministrations for her, sent her arousal soaring. She rocked against his hips.

"Please, Adam, please come back to me. I need you so much. Shift back so I can show you how much I need you inside of me."

She felt his groan against her skin as much as she heard it. It sounded as if he was struggling and she ached with wanting to help him, but she didn't know what to do.

Keeping his nose in contact with her skin, he moved slowly down her body, rubbing his face in the valley of her breasts, and then paused to lick her nipples. Moving slowly south again, he lightly traced her ribs with the tips of his claws, causing shivers to wrack her and goose bumps to spread all over. He moved to lay on the ground between her spread thighs, hovering with his head over her mound while blowing puffs of warmth over her folds. He opened his mouth, looking like he was struggling with his words. All that came out was a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a growl.

Jenna didn't get a chance to ask what it meant because, suddenly, his tongue was stroking between her folds. The roughness of his beast's tongue was entirely different from the one Adam had used on her in their hotel room several days ago. She cried out at the startling feeling as his tongue slid up and down then swirled inside of her until her back was arching off the ground and her pleas filled the air. She begged him to shift and take her, to fill her so she felt nothing except him.

Her fingers dug into the earth beneath her when his licks stopped. She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes until she had to pry them open, and when she did, she almost sobbed with joy. Adam was holding himself above her on his hands and knees, caging her in. His head was thrown back as he completed the change back into his human form. His muscles were still convulsing and settling when he grabbed her by the hips and flipped her over to her stomach beneath him. He pulled her up so she was now resting on her hands and knees while his entire body covered her own. The ache of wanting him was so strong she wiggled her butt back against the hot wedge of his cock that rested against her.

In a flash, she found her upper body pinned to the forest's floor with one hand holding her down by a shoulder as his other hand palmed the cheek of her ass. The tip of him prodded her entrance and she was panting in anticipation.

"Say it." The voice was slightly garbled as if the beast was still lingering close to the surface.

What? She couldn't think straight. What had I said? "Please, Adam, fill me. Take me. Make me yours, mate."

"Say it," he snarled.

She tried to push back and engulf him, but he held her body immobile. Crying out in frustration, she asked, "What do you want me to say?"

"You said it minutes ago with my teeth buried in your neck. Say. It. Again."

Her mind was hazy with the overwhelming need to feel him moving inside of her. It was hard to think. When she replayed the scene in her head, all she could remember saying was... Oh.

That was what he wanted to hear again. A smile spread across her face as she spoke almost in a whisper, "I love you, Adam."

As he plunged inside of her, she screamed in pleasure. Holding himself still, he bent down to wrap his arms above as well as below her breasts and pulled her back up with him until they were both on their knees with her back to his chest, still connected by his pulsing length buried in her. His hips bucked against her ass as he used the hand below her breasts to cup them, pinching the nipples without faltering in his steady movements behind her.

His lips skimmed her ear. "Say it again, Jenna."

"I love you."

"Yes! Mine! Always mine!" The arm across her breastbone tightened as he hammered his cock into her. His hips slapped against her cheeks with the force of his frenzied possession. The hand cupping her breasts slid down until it was pressing on her lower stomach, causing her to feel his length shuttling inside of her like never before.

"Adam!"

It was building. Synapses were firing throughout her body until she felt like she was going to explode from the inside out from the pleasure he was giving her. His fingers found her clit, yet they only gave her feather light strokes.

"Again, Jenna!"

"I love you, MATE!" Her scream echoed through the forest.

His strokes became firmer, his thrusts bone jarring, all of it taking her to the peak where she hovered on the edge of a release that promised to be so magnificent it was painful. Teeth nipped at the bite marks on her neck and her head snapped back to rest against his shoulder as she was shoved into a blinding, fiery, cataclysmic release.

"Ah, God," he groaned. His thrusts deepening further than she thought was possible. "Thank you, love. Thank you," Adam groaned in blissful agony as he exploded inside her. His body trembled in time with hers, giving Jenna the sense they were two bodies and souls connected as one.

It took them a few moments before either of them had the strength to move. Eventually, Adam placed her gently on her side, refusing to disconnect from her in any way as he kept her cuddled in his arms against his chest. Moving only to pepper her neck and shoulder where he had bitten her with kisses.

"Does it hurt, sweetheart?"

"Mmmmmm."

Jenna felt his body shaking from silent laughter. "Was that an answer, love?"

"Mmm hmm."

More light kisses then, "I thought I had lost you, love. I woke up in that hospital and they were all crowded around your bed because your heart had stopped. When I realized what was happening and that it was you on the bed, it felt like my own heart had stopped right along with yours." His voice was low and agonized. "I don't want to live without you, sweetheart."

Using her hands to pet the strong arms that held her tightly, she said, "I'm here, Adam. I'm alive and we have each other. I am yours and you are mine, mate."

His arms tightened around her again. "Always yours, Jenna."
Epilogue

Jenna

Sitting in the back room of one of Adam's bars because, apparently, her mate owned quite a few businesses, she looked at the assembled group at the table and worried. It had been three months since the incident in Germany and they still didn't know much more than they had to start with. Minna, the blond submissive wolf they'd saved from the sadistic Corvus wolves that were about to kill her, told them what she could, however it was only half of what they needed to know.

Gage sifted through all of the incoming intel from the mercenary-type group he was contracted through and found mostly rumors with little evidence of anything. Alec had kept an active role fighting in the Black Rings in the hopes of over hearing more information, but had yet to get anything substantial for them to use, either. Owen and Logan had traveled the country on the usual rounds a Pack Master made through his territories, yet he couldn't outright ask about the problems with the Corvus Pack because it might draw the wrong attention. Surprisingly, Vera Ivanov—the crazy, Russian grandmother—had stayed close to Jenna's uncle. They were an unusual couple, but if it made her uncle happy, then she was happy for him. Gage and Alec weren't on the same page as her, though. They often bore their teeth at the Pack Master since they thought their sexpot of a grandmother could do better than him.

Jenna had managed to talk her mama into staying out of it all with the promise that if they needed her house throwing, super, telekinetic abilities they'd give her a ring. Kent had refused to budge, though. Her partner had pointed out that he had a vested interest in the situation since he'd been there for the hostage situation, too. Additionally, he'd reminded her that she had no idea how strong his powers were. He could be an asset to a mission, if needed. She kind of hated when that pain in the ass, man-whore was right.

Some of the answers they'd obtained from little Minna and the intel that had been scraped together from other sources, had caused more questions than answers. Were the Corvus Pack members behind the hostage situation that happened in Wilmington? Yes. They were also behind a number of other high-profile crimes those past few months from around the world—crimes that reporters occasionally gave commentary on the impossible odds of survival or strange feats of strength and speed from the criminals. The problem was Minna didn't know why they were doing it. She had confirmed that usually money was demanded, and besides the incident there in Wilmington, some amount of money had been collected at every crime. The thing was, she could also confirm the Corvus Pack was in no way, shape or form hurting for money. They were flush with cash and investments. So that begged the question, why were they even asking for money?

The big bomb Minna had dropped on them, however, was the Corvus Alpha, Marcus Corvus, was in no way connected to or even aware of these events. The reason for that being he was being held hostage by his own Beta, Lars, who had managed to keep the Alpha in a medicated coma so he could unofficially take over the Pack. That was what she'd been arguing with the brunette about. Minna was a nurse, and when Lars had found out, he'd forced her to tend to the unconscious man so he stayed out. The poor woman had literally made herself sick over being forced to hurt her Alpha in such a way, but she'd had no way to fight the other dominant members of her Pack.

Since bringing her to North Carolina, they'd had to fight her every step of the way so she would start taking better care of herself by eating regular meals so she didn't waste away. She'd agreed to that only because they had promised to go in and rescue Corvus from his prison. Three months later, she was getting angry and impatient in their fact-finding missions, demanding they go in and rescue Corvus or she would go back to Germany herself to do it. The idea of little Minna trying to rescue anyone was a joke, but Jenna respected her tenacity in trying to protect the man. Minna was terrified about what would happen to Corvus since she was no longer taking care of him because Lars was such an evil asshole he wouldn't care if the man suffered in his medicated prison.

When they had asked Minna why she thought Lars was evil, she'd practically tripped over herself to explain the sick Beta's twisted mind. Lars was fanatically prejudiced against humans. There were constant lectures about how humans were cattle and that Shifters, as superior beings, should be treating the humans as the slaves and food they were meant to be. Apparently, Lars got his jollies off by organizing "hunts" where kidnapped humans were let loose on some of their land and then run down as if they were nothing better than deer. Of course, deer weren't usually tortured and raped before they were murdered, so it was safe to say the deer had it a bit better than those poor victims. It made Jenna's stomach roll thinking about it.

Minna had also informed them he had managed to brain wash the majority of the pack into believing his hate, like some kind of ridiculous cult. Those left in the Pack who didn't believe tried to protest Lars's teachings and were executed. The rest were like herself, too frightened to say anything. Lars was also recruiting other like-minded wolves into the Pack to help support his master plan. Minna was too low in Pack society to know what the master plan was.

It wasn't a huge leap for their little group to figure out Lars was power hungry. If he was willing to do something so cruel to Marcus Corvus as to hold a dominant wolf in a state of weakness and exploit it to his benefit, then the man was desperate for power. The question was, why hadn't Lars simply killed Corvus? There had to be a reason to keep him alive.

There they sat around a table, strategizing the best way to go in and save Marcus Corvus with the little bit of information Minna had given them on the Corvus stronghold. It looked like an impossible mission, however they hadn't been left with much choice. They needed the man for information so they could shut down whatever it was that Lars was up to. Too bad they couldn't seem to agree on the way the rescue should be carried out.

Owen wanted to find a way to infiltrate the Corvus Pack's stronghold so they could learn the inner workings before pulling the Alpha out. Gage wanted to go in under the cover of night, sneak in the place, grab the Alpha, and get the fuck out of there—a clean in and out, as he liked to call it. They'd been arguing about it for two hours without a budge on either side.

Rolling her eyes at the stubborn men, Jenna felt the hand resting on her mid-thigh slowly start to slide up. The side of her mouth twitched as she tried to repress her smile. Her mate was insatiable and a trouble maker. She looked out the corner of her eyes, finding him watching her again, but it wasn't her face he studied so intensely. It was the Mark he had given her the night she had gone into the woods to bring him home. Those savage bites he'd inflicted on her when she had stupidly thought he was about to kill her had actually been her half-mad mate giving her his Mark.

Though, she'd learned once they had joined their loved ones for breakfast the next morning, they were some of the most savage mate Marks her uncle had ever seen. Adam had stood there with a guilty flush to his cheeks as his Pack Master had dressed him down for damn near killing his niece since she couldn't heal as their kind normally did. Jenna had promptly shut her uncle up by telling him she wore Adam's Mark with pride and she'd take it a thousand times over to save her mate from a fate of feral rage.

Everyone had shut up after that.

She'd meant what she had said, too. She wore her scars with pride. As far as she was concerned, the whole world could see her love for her mate right there on her skin. It didn't hurt that she had quickly discovered anytime Adam saw his Mark, he became incredibly aroused and would pin her to the closest flat surface if he could get away with it. Since she enjoyed that benefit, she wore tank tops or wide neck shirts as often as possible. As Adam's hand was now less than an inch from her mound underneath their table, she knew what the beautiful man was thinking about as he stared at her neck with his eyes glowing, and she couldn't wait till their meeting took a break.

When Gage suddenly stood up and stared at the closed door to their room, Jenna thought he'd lost his temper and her wishful thinking of a break had won out. However, looking at the man's stern concentration combined with confusion, and how seconds later those morphed into anger as he threw the door open so hard it left a hole in the wall it had hit, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out something was up. Quickly following the agitated tiger out into the bar's open area, she watched in fascination as he stormed up to four gorgeous women sitting at the bar.

It was easy to tell all four women were related because of their similar facial features. Of the four, one was older; she was more than likely their mother or aunt. Given the confident posture, calculating and intelligent gleam in her eye, and general 'fuck off' attitude, Jenna had her pegged as military or a cop.

The other three women she was pretty sure were sisters because, if you took away the fact they all had slightly different coloring in hair or eye color, their faces were identical. If the redhead with the thick black streak in her hair, sporting emo attire, wasn't so much obviously younger than the caramelized blond with the playgirl body and the wardrobe to match, then she would have even thrown the guess out there they were triplets.

Those three women were not the target of the pissy tiger, though. No, that distinction went to the sister sitting in the middle who had thick, dark, brunette hair, bright blue-green eyes and bee sting lips. Her outfit was understated compared to her sisters since all she wore was a simple, ribbed tank top and jeans, but they suited her lean, muscled frame. She carried a lot of the same attitude the older woman did, and Jenna was guessing she was also either a cop or in the military. The woman was particularly striking in Jenna's opinion since she reminded her a lot of, well, herself; taller, less curvy and with possibly a giant stinking chip on her shoulder.

Gage stalked behind the bar until he stood directly across from the middle sister and snarled, "What the fuck are you doing here, Sergeant Demos?"

The woman set her bottled beer on the bar and smiled in a way that reminded Jenna of the first time she had seen Alec fighting at The Arena—like a cat playing with his mouse.

"I take it you haven't heard, Master Sergeant Ivanov. I'm out. As for the reason as to why I'm here in this bar, though, well that's easy, I was looking for you."

Alec sauntered up to the end of the bar so he could study the three sisters better. While his brother was engaged in a pissing contest with the middle sister, Alec was busy trying to eye-fuck the pin up sister. Jenna rolled her eyes at the flagrant example of his man-whore membership and then turned her attention back to Gage.

"Why would you be looking for me, you little harpy?"

Yikes. Someone wasn't on Gage's good list. She wondered if this Demos chick had been threatened with rolled up newspapers by the cranky cat, too.

The brunette's grin widened as if she had a secret. It didn't look good for her favorite commando for hire.

"I'm here to ask you about your sister, Ivanov. Seen Lulu lately?"

Gage leaned across the bar to get in the brunette's face. "Why are you looking for Lulu?"

Reaching into her back pocket, Demos pulled out a business card and pushed it across the top of the bar so that it was in front of Gage. "I got drafted into the family business recently, so I'm here doing my job."

Gage shot the woman a disgruntled look and then dropped his gaze to the card. Wiping his face to display the best blank look Jenna had ever seen, he brought his attention back to the woman and said, "That's not possible. You can't work for AI. That would mean you're—"

The snarky brunette cut him off, practically in glee. She had obviously known Gage well enough to see past his uncaring display to be aware he was seriously unnerved about whatever she had shown him. "That's right, Ivanov. Amazon International would mean I come from a line of Amazons, wouldn't it?" she asked in a sickly patronizing voice as if she was talking to an exceptionally small child.

Jenna had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the poor tiger. She would have danced a jig in unadulterated glee about the pushy tiger being put into his place if it hadn't been for the Demos woman's next statement.

"And I'm here with my sisters to investigate your sister, Lulu, for the charge of murder."
Note from the Author

Thank you for reading Big Bad Bite! You're the absolute best for giving little ol' me a chance. For every Indie Author you read, somewhere out there a fairy gets its wings! Okay, maybe not, but it still seems pretty magical.

For those of you thinking, "WAIT! She didn't resolve all of the issues!" You're absolutely right – I didn't. Some issues will carry throughout the series, while other issues will be resolved immediately in the next book, Walk On The Striped Side. So, keep the faith, and if you're interested in continuing, pick up the next book to see where the series is headed from here.

I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, please consider leaving a review at your favorite online retailers or review websites. These are great ways to help spread the word about books to readers who have yet to discover them.

Happy reading,

Jessie Lane
About the Author

Jessie Lane is a best-selling author of Paranormal and Contemporary Romance, as well as, Upper YA Paranormal Romance/Fantasy. She lives in Kentucky with her two little Rock Chicks in-the-making and her over protective alpha husband that she's pretty sure is a latent grizzly bear shifter. She has a passionate love for reading and writing naughty romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention, or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to them.

For more information on Jessie Lane:

<http://jessielanebooks.com/>

Sign Up for Jessie's Newsletter

Follow on Facebook Page

Follow on Twitter

Add Jessie to your circles on Google Plus

Follow on Pinterest

Follow on Goodreads

Or you can send Jessie Lane an email at:

jessie_lane@jessielanebooks1.com
Connected Books

Other Paranormal Titles from Jessie Lane 
You May Also Like

