I open the door. It’s Brantley with my brother at his side, along with some other packmates. “We couldn’t help but smell the roasted chicken you made…” my brother starts and, one by one, the other huge, hulking men nod in agreement.
“Come on. I made enough for everyone.” I slaved over the stove all day long because I knew they would be over for dinner. They move past me into the house and, while some of them go into the dining room, others head to the kitchen to get something to drink.
I sit down at the table; the guys have left my spot, next to Damon, open for me. “What do you think about us hiring a cook for you guys?” Damon says.
I glare at him for suggesting something like that in front of the guys, as they start to fill their plates.
Brantley puts his fork down. “We didn’t mean to bother you, Alpha.”
I shake my head. “You guys are welcome in our home anytime.” I give Damon the stink eye. “Isn’t that right?”
He laughs at my anger and nods. “You guys are always welcome here.”
I eye him. “He is just a bit stingy—with me, that is.”
Damon just smiles. He is not ashamed one bit of his possessiveness. I love it myself. I fill my plate, and Damon doesn’t start eating until I do. He’s always thinking of me before anything else. I keep an eye on everyone in the room as they enjoy their food. As the days go on, I am noticing—little by little—that I am meant to be an alpha’s mate. Like the way I have a huge urge to take care of everyone in the pack.
Damon and I haven’t gone beyond messing around, but I think we will do the final deed soon. Our scents are already mixing; he smells like me and I smell like him. Once we finally have sex, the scent will never leave. It’s another way everyone can know that he belongs to me and I to him.
Our door is thrown open. “Coyotes are attacking the gates!” Jody yells into the house. Did they get in? I stand up, and most of the guys are already out the door.
Damon walks over to my side. “I would ask you to stay inside, but I don’t think that will happen.”
“You’re correct.”
Both of us turn toward the howls of the coyotes; then he laughs.
“Hyenas,” I whisper and Damon growls.
Hyenas are like the cousins of coyotes, but they are worse; they’re mean and just horrible. They are easier to fight, but they don’t fight fair—which is the only way they survive. But that is not the worst thing. They steal pups from other packs and sell them, on the black market, to the few humans who know and want to brag about having a shifter baby.
“I will run to Olive’s,” I tell Damon before shifting into my wolf form and running out the open door.
This violence is something that we have all become accustomed to. We don't want to talk about the hyenas, but we all hate them. We don’t see them very often, but I guess they got wind of the fact that we have pups. They will never know what hit them.
I run next door to Olive’s house and sit on her porch. Randall is circling the house.
That is when I see them.
Damon is running toward us, and Randall is heading straight for the herd of hyenas, ready to take them on by himself. My heart pounds hard in anticipation of what’s to come, and I jump off the porch itching to join the fray. I am going to stay close by in case someone tries to sneak into the house, which is happening right now. One of the hyenas is running away from Damon, heading straight for the front door.
Maverick bounds up the porch, takes a leap, and grabs the hyena by the neck, breaking it instantly.
The door is cracked open slightly, and Olive is standing there, completely frightened. I tell her to get back in her house.She closes the door, and I can hear footsteps and doors slamming as she runs to hide.
Something jumps onto the porch. A coyote is running toward me. I growl loudly. Damon jumps in front of me and grabs a hold of the coyote before he can react. Overprotective much?
I sit down on my haunches in front of Olive’s door. I doubt that I will get to fight today. I watch the battle, and I am thoroughly impressed at how good they are at fighting. Every single one of them. Once again I am in awe of Damon; he is just a powerful wolf. He takes down one right after another, and my brother is right beside him. Randall is running around the house, daring someone to get close to him. In his bear form, he is huge.
That’s when I hear it. The sound of glass breaking.
Someone got in.
I hurry into my human form, open the door to the house, and shut it behind me. Then I change back into my shifter form, and I raise my nose, breathing in deeply. I catch the scent of a hyena just before it comes around the corner. I charge and tackle it, pushing it onto its side. Another hyena attacks me, and they both try to bite me. I use my paws to press their faces into the hardwood floor.
I can hear the pups upstairs, screaming. Anger floods me. I am furious that they know someone broke into their house and is trying to get to them.
The two hyenas break loose. I snap my jaws around their back legs, shattering them. That weird laugh springs from one of the hyenas. I hate that sound so much. The hyena turnsaround, trying to bite my throat. I let its foot go as I grab it by the neck, clamping down hard. I can feel small bones breaking in my mouth.
