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That was all Loren was sure of before a hand clamped down over her wrist, wrenching her toward the stairs. In that split second, a massive shape rushed to block her from view, swallowing the space of the doorway.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Officer McGoven’s voice was guttural, ripping from his chest like the roar of an engine. Or a growl.
With him blocking the door, Loren couldn’t see how the visitor reacted to the hostility, but when they spoke, their voice didn’t hold any hint of fear.
“Is that any way to greet an emissary?” His tone was equally low and slightly mocking, but overall business-like. Stern. “I come here on behalf of Lukka. Forher. As you requested.”
20
“No!” McGoven surged, forcing the newcomer onto the porch. “Youaren’t taking her anywhere. Get the fuck off my land, or I swear to God, I’ll send you to your Alpha in pieces.”
Loren trembled. Obviously, this man was not Lukka—but he and McGoven weren’t strangers. A subtle tension radiated between them. Hate? Something far deeper than mere aggression. She felt it in her bones, and that inner voice growled.Enemy!
“If Lukka wants her, thenhecan come for her,” Officer McGoven continued. Strangely, there was no real anger in his voice. His point was perfectly clear.
The other man’s reply came muffled. “He’s a busy man. It might take him a whole month to find the time to travel all the way out here just to see one little pup—”
“That’s hisduty,” Officer McGoven snarled. “He should have been here the second I called—”
“His duty is to protect hisown,” the stranger replied, just as harshly. “She isn’t one of his—at least not yet. He doesn’t owe a damn thing to her or toyou.”
The words seemed to land like a well-placed jab. McGoven flinched back—enough for Loren to finally view the figure standing before him in a puddle of cool moonlight.
He was tall, with bright red hair cropped tightly to his scalp and brown eyes that reminded her of a hawk’s. They glowed the same way, visible even through the dark. Predatory.
“But, of course,” he continued emotionlessly, “Lukka would never allow a stray to wander loose without pack ties. That’s where I come in.”
“Oh, really?” McGoven didn’t even try to hide his skepticism. “And let me guess; you’re here to welcome her with open fucking arms into your loving family?”
“Something like that.” The stranger’s eyes glowed with a mischievous light. “If Lukka can’t come for her, then I’ll just have to takehertohim.”
“Hell no.” McGoven took a step, wordlessly forcing the stranger further from the doorway. “If Lukka wants her, he has to come and get her his damn self—”
“But that could take months,” the other man countered. “How easy do you think this will be by then? How attached to you will she be in a few weeks? A whole month? Do you really want to play around with that kind of bond?”
A bond? The term confused Loren, but McGoven’s shoulders slumped, and he looked back. His tormented expression said it all—no.Whatever this “bond” was, he didn’t seem to want it at all.
“Why can’t he come for her?” he demanded, turning back to the newcomer. “An asshole like you can’t fill in for him for a few damn hours?”
The man’s mouth curled into an icy smile. “Lukka doesn’t work via substitutes. He is the Alpha; his word is the law. Do you think people can just ‘go without’ the law for a couple of hours?”
“Fuck,” McGoven growled. He sounded torn, as if he were being wrenched in two completely different directions. “But whyyou? Why couldn’t anyone else—”
“Who else could Lukka trust with somethingso importantas transporting a stray female? Sonia Carlisle? She has other duties which don’t concern acting as a liaison between her Alpha and a rogue. No. From now on, you deal only with me. I am his Beta, after all.”
Beta. Loren didn’t recognize the word, but the man’s tone implied that it was something important. Too important for Officer McGoven to argue against.
But he didn’t have to accept it, either. “Fuck.” His gruff tone revealed more frustration than if he’d smashed his fist into the wall. Or the newcomer’s face. “I’m guessing they won’t let me take her myself? I’d prefer that to this.”
“You’re in exile. You stray within even a mile of pack territory, and you know the consequences.”
Loren didn’t like the way this conversation was headed. All of it—as everything had these past few days—seemed to center around taking her away. This strange man wanted to, but Officer McGoven…
“Fuck,” he repeated.
All at once, the entryway seemed smaller as he backed inside, body hovering between the doorway and her position on the steps.
“There isn’t any other way?”
