Single Wolf Female

Chapter Eight

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” I bounced baby Eddie for a minute, then pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his forehead, inhaling the baby scent before I handed him back to Holly. “I don’t like leaving you behind.”

“Someone has to stay with the baby,” she said with a sweet smile, accepting him back into her arms. Eddie held his chubby hands out to Holly, eager for her again, and she held him close, grinning. “Dan promised to take me out on a run tomorrow night just to get the wolf out of my system.”

Well, that wasn’t surprising. In the short time that Dan had arrived into our pack, the young man had meshed with the teenagers as if he’d been here all his life. His eager-to-please personality was a perfect fit with my group, especially good-natured and shy Holly. The two of them had taken to each other as if they’d been sweethearts all their lives, and every time I turned a corner, I found them sitting or whispering together, or playing with the baby together. There was never anything untoward going on - I suspected Dan was extremely conscious of his place in the new pack - but it was clear they mutually adored each other. Two missing puzzle pieces, suddenly joined at the hip.

I was envious of their easy acceptance of each other. Why couldn’t I have been that way with Jackson? Instead, every time he looked at me, I blushed bright red. Every time he touched me, I jumped. I gave a nervous laugh every time he cast a flirty comment in my direction.

In short, I was obvious as hell and completely uncomfortable. I didn’t know if I should flirt back - heck, I didn’t know how to flirt back - and I didn’t know how he’d react if I did. So I just stared at him when he teased me.

Sexy, I know.

Which was why I was glad that tonight was the full moon and we were readying for our pack run. Some packs just let their members turn wolf whenever, or spent a ton of time in wolf form. My father had always cautioned me against it, though; it was too easy to give in to the beast and let it turn you wild. We were human above all things, and we needed to embrace our human side, and just let the wolf out to play occasionally. With civilization creeping into every corner of the world and no place safe for a wolf anymore, it made even more sense to hunt as a pack. Safety in numbers. We’d go out as a group, spend all night hunting and howling at the moon, vent a little steam, and return in the morning ready to go a few more weeks in our two-legged forms.

But I was reluctant to leave Holly and Dan behind. I knew, logically, that someone would have to stay with the baby. We couldn’t just leave him to fend for himself all night.

As I watched, Dan moved forward and held a finger out for Eddie to grab. The baby snagged it, fur sprouted in a show of aggression, and then he giggled, the fur dying away again. Dan grinned at me, clearly pleased.

I sighed. They’d be fine, but I still worried. Tonight was the full moon, and Roscoe was still out there, looking to score females for his pack. Holly was vulnerable. “All right. You have the keys to the panic room if anything happens?”

Holly nodded, glancing over at Dan. “We’ll probably go in there and watch movies anyhow. Just to be safe.”

I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “You do that. I like safe.”

She took the baby’s hand in hers and guided it into the baby version of a half-wave. “We’ll be fine. You go have fun.”

I left them reluctantly, heading out to the back porch. The air was hot and humid despite the fact that it was almost nine at night and the sun was finally going down. The heat wouldn’t matter once we were in wolf form - you’d be surprised at how little things like that matter when you’re in wolf form - but for now, the bodies of my waiting pack were gleaming with a fine sheen of sweat and I could smell it in the air, along with burgeoning excitement. Len, Spence, and Trina were waiting on the back porch, hanging out on one of the stair rails and horseplaying. Jackson stood nearby, leaning against one of the plantation-style pillars and watching them bicker with amusement.

All eyes turned to me the moment I arrived, and I felt an excited flutter in my stomach. Time to run. I stripped off my shirt, grinning. “Let’s go, then.”

I’d been nervous about changing full wolf in front of Jackson, but the moment the anticipation hit me, all worry disappeared. I tore off clothing, feeling the itch of transformation under my skin. When I was naked, I knelt on the porch on all fours, noticing the others were only a pace behind. My wolf came to the forefront then, and the shift tore through me, the painfully sweet jolts of muscle and tendon and bone locking and maneuvering into a new form. Shifting hurt - it always hurt - but you grew to anticipate the pain because of what came next: pure and utter freedom.

In wolf form, I bounded off the porch and looked back at the others, wagging my tail and waiting. My ears pricked as I took in the sounds of their changes. Jackson was done - a shaggy yellow-brown wolf - but had waited on the others. Spence was next, his wolf small and dark, and Trina’s gangly she-wolf form. Then Len, who was tall and lean and equally so in wolf form. Now that my pack was ready, I gave a small whine to call their attention, and then darted for the trees.

I could hear the others behind me, paws hitting the ground. I flicked my ears and slowed my pace, waiting for Jackson to take the lead. He was the alpha, and even though I might dart off into the woods, Cash had always overtaken the lead from me.

But instead of passing me, Jackson simply nipped my flanks, indicating that I should keep running. He was content to let me lead. My pack, my woods, my lead. I turned and gave him a wolfy grin before lifting my head and howling to the moon.

The first few hours of wolfiness were usually the most feral. We’d run at top speed, howl at anything in the sky, chase anything moving, and generally act like wild dogs with our first taste of freedom in weeks. I was no better, of course, being just as obnoxiously frisky as the others. Eventually, though, the racing through the woods turned into games. We wrestled, chased each other, and then played a wolf version of hide and seek where you attempted to hide your scent trail from the others. Spence, Trina and Len knew the games well, but I imagine we surprised Jackson when we all dashed away in opposite directions at once - and he’d been more or less defaulted to ‘it.’

I bounded through the woods, lungs full of night air and the scent of the trees. I could smell skunk and armadillo, squirrel and snake, and some sort of musky dead thing in the distance that made me want to check it out, but curiosity took a second place to the thrill of the chase, and I bolted through the woods merrily.

As my paws landed on a ridge, something hot snaked around one foot and then the world tilted. The next thing I knew, pain was lancing up my hind leg and I was dangling, upside down, from a tree. I’d been caught in a snare of some kind.

I yelped, but no one was close by to hear me. I flailed helplessly, but the rope only continued to cut harder into my foot, and I could feel the bones straining. My wolf hind leg couldn’t support my body - I needed to transform, and fast. Furious, I called up my human side and began the painful transformation back.

A few minutes later, my human form was writhing upside down, the rope cutting into my ankle. I swung back and forth, my head a few feet from the ground. If I stretched, I couldn’t quite touch the ground - my fingers barely brushed the grass.

“Hello?” I called. “Anybody? I’m stuck!” I was going to be furious later, when I had time to relax and calm down and let it process that someone had been on my property and set a rope trap. But for now, I was focused on the pain in my leg and the need to get down.

I heard rustling in the distance, and that musky dead smell grew stronger. I tried to spin around, hearing something coming up behind me, but I only managed to make myself swing from the tree.

A moment later, the dead smell grew stronger, overwhelming…along with the smell of my hated enemy.

Roscoe.

A shiver of fear crept up my spine, immediately followed by anger. How dare he come on my land and set traps? He didn’t belong here. He’d be attacked by any other wolf clan for simply encroaching territory. But he kept straying onto ours because he thought we had no alpha and were vulnerable.

He was about to be in for a shock, then.

“I might have known,” I said fiercely. I twisted in the ropes again, flinging my arms wide to try and grasp on to something. “I thought I smelled something foul.”

“Thought I’d disguise my scent,” Roscoe drawled. “Can’t have you figuring out all my plans based on smell alone, now can I? Ain’t no fun in that.”

“You need to leave Savage territory,” I told him coldly. “I’m warning you.”

He slapped my naked ass. “Had no idea you had such a nice body, girl. It’s gonna be fun to mate you.”

I twisted, trying to show my neck. “Joke’s on you, jackass. You’re too late. I’m already mated.”

“Say what?”

I heard the knife a moment before the rope slackened, and then I was dumped unceremoniously to the ground. I barely managed to roll, my reflexes automatically shifting my body to protect my head. I scrambled to my feet, feeling dizzy from my stint upside down, and glared at Roscoe while wobbling.

I wasn’t about to run away. Not from him. This was a direct challenge and I’d be damned if I ran away from a challenge. I wouldn’t run from this bully. Not anymore.

He eyed my naked body up and down, anger making his jaw clench. Roscoe was a hard man. Everything about him was hard used, from the deep crinkles around his eyes to the hard set of his mouth, to the gray in his dirty hair. Even his eyes were cold and mean. He was strong, though, and wiry. And mentally? He was a scary motherfucker.

I met his gaze, unwilling to drop my eyes.

He grinned at me. “You got some nice tits, too.”

“Thanks,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “I’ll be sure and let my new alpha know you approve.” I tossed my hair back so he could see the mate mark on my throat.

His cold eyes narrowed. “Now, why’d you go and do that for? You know I’d have taken care of you.”

“I’m not interested in your care.”

Roscoe’s mouth curved in a hard, ugly smile. “You know that boy of yours isn’t strong enough to beat me if I’m interested in taking over.”

“Len’s not my alpha,” I told him simply. “I got someone stronger. Someone from out of the area who was looking for a pack. Which means you need to go.”

“Really,” he said, rocking back on his heels. His fingers dug into his belt loops, and then he wiped a hand on his dirty shirt, that awful, skunky smell wafting into the air again. “And you already mated him?”

“That’s right.”

“He a good fuck? Lick that pussy hard?”

Shocked by his crude words, I felt the color rising in my face. “That’s none of your business.”

Roscoe snorted, and he stalked toward me. Anyone else would have dropped their ground, retreated a few steps, but I was locked into place, my will not allowing me to give him a bit of ground. If I gave him an inch, I’d find myself his in all ways.

He reached for my throat and I slapped his hands away. The next thing I knew, he was shoving me backward and I was pinned against a tree, the bark biting into my back. His hand clenched my jaw, his bigger frame stronger than me.

I snarled at him, showing my teeth. “Don’t you fucking touch me!”

He ignored my protests, shoving my head backward and forcibly exposing my neck so he could look at my mate mark. Then, he tilted my head back down.

“He got a big cock, girl? Or should I check for myself if he’s used you hard?”

I struggled against his hand. “I do not have to answer any of this!”

“No, you don’t,” he said in a mean voice. “That blush on your cheeks tells me everything. You’re still a virgin, aren’t you?”

I stilled, frozen at his words. “I have a mate.”

“No, you have a guy that bit your neck, precious.” He pinched my chin, harder. “If I throw you down on the forest floor here and fuck you myself, I can just as easily cover that mate mark with one of my own. Then you and your pack are all mine. What do you think of that?”

“I think I’d like to see you fucking try,” I bit out, and slashed my nails at his face.

My nails connected with the soft flesh of his eye. I felt him jerk even as he howled with anger, and his hand pinned my neck to the tree, choking me. I scratched and clawed at his hand, desperately trying to get free as Roscoe reeled from my attack. A moment later, he recovered, squinting up at me from his good eye.

And then he clocked me straight in the face with his fist.

Pain exploded behind my cheekbone, and I grunted when he struck me. That only made me fight harder, though, because I knew that if I backed down now, it was going to be much, much worse for me in the end.

So I fought.

I kicked and struck, snarling my fury, even as Roscoe hit me back, trying to subdue me. The world became a ringing of blows around my face, and he tried to trap my arms even as I fought and flailed against him. I would not go down without a fight.

But the world was getting dark, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe, Roscoe’s big hand tightening on my throat. He was choking the life out of me, and I couldn’t seem to get any air into my lungs. Blackness swirled at the edges of my vision.

A blur erupted from the corner of my eye, and the next thing I knew, I dropped to the ground, my throat released. Mad snarls filled the air, and I coughed, looking up to see that familiar yellow-brown wolf attacking Roscoe. Until I saw him against Roscoe’s human form, I hadn’t realized how big Jackson was as a wolf. He was enormous, though, all bristling fur and white fang, and he’d taken almost no time to subdue Roscoe. Even now, the other man was holding an arm braced over his face and neck to protect it, while Jackson snarled and slashed at it, going for his throat.

“Back off, Jackson,” I told him in a raspy voice, rising from the ground. There was blood in the corner of my mouth and I wiped it, hating the taste. “Don’t kill him.”

“Listen to your bitch,” Roscoe called from over Jackson’s snarls. “Don’t kill me. It’s just pack disputes.”

Jackson backed off, returning to my side, still growling and feral, his hackles raised. He began to transform even as Roscoe picked himself up off the ground and began to run away, heading deep into the woods. I touched my face, assessing my wounds. My eye was swelling and my nose hurt like a bitch, but my teeth weren’t loose and it didn’t feel like anything was broken. It’d heal.

Most importantly, I was disturbed by what Roscoe had said.

You’re still a virgin. It wouldn’t take much for me to throw you on the ground and put my mate mark over his.

I still wasn’t protected. Not really. We’d taken steps, but I had to accept Jackson in all ways before my pack would be truly safe. Shit.

Jackson stood at my side, in human form. His hand went to my shoulder protectively, and I looked at him.

His normally easygoing, handsome face was hard with anger, a snarl still curving his mouth. He looked furious, his eyes black. Blood tinged his mouth, and I watched his nostrils flare repeatedly as he attempted to get his anger under control.

We watched Roscoe lope away. “You’ll be sorry,” he muttered, staring back at us and then disappearing into the bushes.

Jackson could have gone after him, but Roscoe had lost a challenge. When you lost a challenge, you let the opponent limp away to lick their wounds. You didn’t attack him again.

And I was here, wounded. The alpha male would never leave the alpha female injured and unprotected.

Jackson’s hand flexed on my shoulder, and then he turned to me, his beautiful mouth hard. His gaze moved over my face, and his fingers gently brushed my chin. “You okay?”

I nodded. “He caught me in a rope trap.”

He examined my wounds, his fingers brushing over them as if he needed to assess them for himself. I could tell he was still pissed. Fury was locked in every muscle of his body. No sign of easygoing alpha here. This Jackson was cold and furious.

“You got here just in time,” I told him softly. “Another moment and I probably would have lost consciousness.” My hand went to my bruised throat. “And Roscoe’s not the type to ease up just because the girl’s unconscious.”

That only made Jackson more angry, and he stared back at the woods where Roscoe had left. I could tell it was killing him not to go after him, but that wasn’t the wolf way. He finally turned back to me. “You sure you’re okay?”

What, did he expect tears? “No, I want to punch something. It’ll be you if you keep asking me if I’m okay.”

A hint of a smile tugged at his mouth and he pulled me close, and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Ah, the female alpha.”

I didn’t know if that was admiration or irritation. But I allowed him to hug me close and kiss my forehead, and I let him keep his arm around me as we walked through the woods.

The pack caught up with us as we walked back, and I heard Trina’s worried whining at the sight of my bruises.

“I’m fine,” I told them. “Just had a run in with Roscoe. Jackson chased him off.”

Spence came up and licked my hand, seeking reassurance, while Trina whined and moved closer to Jackson. Even Len loped a bit closer.

“We’re all fine,” I told them again, my voice reassuring. “It’s handled. Jackson took care of it. Roscoe was mad that he was thwarted and he caught me unawares. It won’t happen again. No need to be upset.”

Easy for me to say. I was serene on the outside, but there was a hard pit of anger in my stomach. It wasn’t just anger at Roscoe, either. It was anger at myself, and at Jackson.

If sleeping with Jackson would keep my pack safe, then I needed to do it, and he needed to push me toward it, damn it. No more of this easygoing shit.