Mating Rights (2 page)

Karma

The set’s finally over. I’m so about to get the hell out of here. The crowd is just strange. None of them got rowdy; they didn’t move. Each and every one either sat or stared at the stage as if I were their next meal. Sure I was using a little “something” extra to keep them from trying to do something stupid, like rush the stage, but they shouldn’t be
this
calm. Oh, they all looked like some badass motorcycle gang, all rough and ready to rumble, but they acted like they were at an opera or some shit. That alone is freaky enough, but I swear I heard growling coming from several places in the crowd. Growling. Like the animal kind. Low and reverberating, sending a warning chill down my spine. Fucking werewolves can’t even manage to try to maintain a semblance of humanity, yet they want me to believe they’re a motorcycle gang. Yeah, right.

Yeah, this gig is over. No way in hell I can stay and play another set like I don’t notice the weirdness. Sauntering off the stage is the hardest thing in the world to do. I want to run, but I just know that would be a big mistake. I’m all too aware of eyes boring into my back as I sway my hips as if I hadn’t a care in the world. All the inner alarms developed from years on the road are blaring at full blast in my brain. This will not end well, but I have to at least try to make an escape.

“I’ll pull the car around to the dressing room window,” Bear, our drummer and the biggest of my big brothers, murmurs low in my ear once we make it off stage, away from the crowd. “The rest of the guys will stick around for twenty minutes or so to give us a head start.”

See, now this is one of the many reasons I love this little band that is also my family. I didn’t have to say shit; the guys caught the smell of my anxiety and just worked together to get me out. This is far from the first time we’ve had to do something like this. I know I can always depend on them to have my back no matter what.

Nodding to Bear, I increase my pace, Chas and Ross moving up to flank me while B.B. and Chucky move to my rear. Bear melts away from us, pivoting to exit out of the back side door. Like I said, this is nothing new. We move like a well-oiled machine, each of us knowing our parts. Soon I should be climbing out of the window and jumping into the car Bear will have waiting. Chas, Ross, B.B. and Chucky will probably have to fight their way out, but they’re more than capable of taking on most guys in a fight. But for some reason my heart is pounding double time, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling with awareness. I feel like someone is watching, listening to anything we might say. That is patently ridiculous. There are no other doors or nooks down the narrow hallway. The only thing back here is an exit and the dressing room with its own tiny bathroom. Still, I feel the presence of another, and it is making me all kinds of nervous.

Relief floods my system as soon as I clasp my hand around the door handle. Not exactly home free, but close enough. All I have to do now is climb out the window and get as far away from this place as possible as quickly as possible.

“That was quite a show, Miss
Sama
. Our..
.association’s
president would like to invite you to his table for a drink.”

Holy crap! How the hell did this huge motherfucker manage to sneak back here without us seeing him? I hadn’t seen a living soul move the entire time I was on stage. Dude needs to get out of here quick, like before Bear pulls the car around. I can puzzle out how he got back here later. Maybe when I am a few dozen miles away.

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” There isn’t anything I won’t say to get this guy gone as soon as possible. The guys can probably take this one male, but he might call out and attract others.

Damn, but he is a big son of a bitch. Not in a steroid junkie kind of way, but rather all lean muscle that looks rock solid. And he has to be at least six and half feet tall, maybe more. I might’ve found him hot if it weren’t for the precarious predicament I’m in. Being the only female in the bar is just not kosher. Plus, if any of the guys in the audience is sporting a log in their pants anything like this dude’s, I really, really need to vacate the premises. It’s a very nice, long, thick erection in his pants though. And I’m really not all that hot. I mean, I look okay—passably pretty, I suppose. A little on the short side—too much so for my liking—but I do have generous amounts of T&A.

If bad boy pinup here is as hard up as his erection suggests, dude must have some issues. All someone like him has to do is head to the nearest town and stand still for about five minutes, and chicks will be all over him. Yet, here he stands looking like he wants to lick me from head to toe. Yes, it makes my lady parts tingle, but not so much that I forget I need to be anywhere but here. Doesn’t stop my pussy from moistening far too much. And damned if his nostrils don’t flare. Crap, this is so not good.

“Just like that?” Bad boy smiles as he purrs all low and sexy like. “You don’t want to ask which table? Don’t want to know anything more about him, his name perhaps, before I escort you to him?”

I have no illusions; I can’t afford them. I know bad boy here knows I have no intention of meeting his...president. That is cute how he came up with that. President, my ass.

“After a set I really need to chill out for a minute. You can tell your leader I’ll be along in a few minutes.” No way will I call him a president. And it doesn’t matter that this guy towers over me. It doesn’t matter there is a bar full of big, bad types just like this one. I stand as tall as I can, arching my brow like he is nothing more than an errand boy. Yeah, I’m bluffing at being every bit of a bad ass as he probably really is, and I’m damn good at it. After all, I’ve had years of practice.

“He is at the table that is directly in front of the stage,” Mr. Hard-on continues. “His name is
Rannulf
. And I am Rollo. We will anxiously await your arrival.”

Wait on, big boy. I am outta here.

Rannulf

And I thought I’d been hard watching the little witch sing. That is nothing compared to watching that luscious ass wiggling out of the window. It’s making my cock so hard it fucking hurts. Those bubble-butt celebrities splashed all over magazines and television only wish they could have an ass like that. What is coming my way is all natural, juicy and before the end of the night it is going to be mine. She is a perfect shifter mate. And as a witch she will be able to handle what it means to be my Alpha Bitch.

My kind calls themselves
weres
, but in truth we are shifters. I didn’t turn into a wolf from a bite; I was born this way. Every den, be they shifters like ours or true werewolves—mangy fuckers all—have their own traditions, their own way of life. Some allow wolves to mate as they will, which in my opinion leads to disharmony. Wolf packs are male dominated. I don’t know why, and I really don’t care. I do know my pack is new, still forming. I left my original pack in Norway because, unlike werewolves, shifters are immortal. I was born an Alpha; I had been chafing under my father’s rule since my maturity. I had two choices—leave or challenge the old man. I left. But the structure of the pack I was raised in was a good one. One I have every intention of following with my new pack.

Rollo,
Fillin
and
Seff
are also Alpha wolves, but they are second to me. They left Norway with me. My mate will be their mate. My children, their children. It’s a way to ensure the pack leadership is bound by the only bond more powerful than pack—family. But I choose that mate.

And as of right now, I have. And I claim first. I just hope I can hold off long enough to get her to a bed. That’s why I sent Rollo backstage instead of going myself. I knew once I get close I am going to need to fuck her. The males in her band probably wouldn’t take kindly to a wolf’s idea of courtship—namely me taking her against a wall. Especially that big-ass bear shifter that was bringing the car around to help her escape. It took three of my best fighters to control the bastard long enough for me to steal the vehicle. Chances are excellent they won’t keep the bear down for long. Does she even realize her entire band is made up of
supernaturals
? If she doesn’t know she’s a witch, she probably doesn’t. But if they have branded her, I would be able to scent it. Good thing none of them had; I’d hate to have to kill someone she is close to.

This is going to be fun. Especially since she doesn’t even look in my direction as she yanks open the door and jumps in the car.

“Go, go,
go
!” She’s so busy watching the window she just climbed out of she still doesn’t notice I’m not her teddy bear. The little witch was so sure of her so-called protector, she doesn’t notice the big bad wolf she is running from is literally sitting right next to her. “Some guy named Rollo was in the fucking dressing room. I managed to put him off for now, but he’ll probably be wondering why I haven’t come out. Claimed he was there to invite me to meet his association’s president. Like those fuckers were some kind of club or some shit.”

Not wanting to waste a second of her obvious distraction, I punch it out of the parking lot, which apparently she is used to, because she is still looking behind her, not noticing who the driver is. I don’t slow down as I race down the dark two-lane road. Having a Howl, a general letting lose and acting stupid, in the middle of the southern backcountry suddenly seems like a better idea than I first realized. I’m damned glad I decided to buy the place. I wait until the tiny club is a dot in the rear view before I decide to respond to her comment.

“You can refer to me as the Alpha if you wish. More precisely,
your
Alpha.” The shocked, soft gasp that leaves those pouty lips when she jerks her head toward me is cute. Generally I don’t appreciate cute, but in this case, it suits her. Wonder if she’ll gasp like that when I slide my cock inside her. “And Rollo was well aware you planned to climb out of the window. I must admit I’m hurt you didn’t want to meet me.”

“What did you do with Bear?”
Kamra
demands, all fiery and fierce. Yet, there is a sudden chill in the air that has nothing to do with the weather outside. A smart wolf would tread lightly. I’m not stupid, but treading lightly isn’t my thing.

“Nothing,” I lie with a perfectly straight face. “I just insisted on meeting you. Since you declined to come to my table, I had to get creative.” Now is probably not the best time to admit her drummer was jumped by three of my guys. And his name is Bear? His parents had zero imagination. Then again, he
is
a bear shifter—can’t expect too much from their kind.

“Pull over. Now.”
Kamra
is actually growling at me. Me. Damn, that is hot. Even knowing she is in a dangerous situation, she is standing up to me as if she can take me. Well, she will be taking me, just not in the way she may be envisioning right now.

“As soon as we get to where we’re going, sweetheart.” I cast her a wicked sideways grin. I can’t help myself. I am genuinely pleased. My Alpha bitch shouldn’t be a pushover.

I expect her to come back with threats, maybe tears, certainly some yelling, or a minor case of theatrics. But
Kamra
does none of these things. Unable to resist a glance sideways, I take in the mulish look of a woman thoroughly pissed, lips pressed together, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her eyes stare straight ahead, glaring at the road. I swear I can damn near hear the gears in her head working overtime. No doubt she is sitting there plotting, trying to figure out how she is going to get away from me the first chance she gets. I really, really hope she runs. A good chase is the ultimate foreplay for a wolf. Nothing gets the juices flowing like having to work for it. And this little witch is certainly going to make me work for it.

“Are you a virgin?” If I don’t change the subject quickly I am likely to come in my pants. My dick has gone from simply throbbing to leaking copious amounts of
precum
, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.

I don’t seriously think she is a virgin, of course. Virgins over twenty-one are a rarity, and a nuisance. No matter how much she wants to get away from me, the piquant aroma of her arousal is flooding the small confines of the car. It surrounds me, teasing me, making my mouth water with gnawing hunger. I want to breed her in the worst way. I’ve never felt that before. Lust, certainly. I, like most of my kind, have extensive appetites when it comes to the fairer sex. But I’ve never wanted to breed a female—ever. It’s a mating call that thus far in my hundred and fifty years, I’ve avoided. I needed to mark this female, sink my canines into the tender flesh at the base of her neck and cover her, ensuring my scent saturates her very bones. I need this witch to submit totally, utterly to me.

“Depends,”
Kamra
snaps back at me. “If you want me to be a virgin, then I’m the Whore of Babylon. If you don’t, consider me the Virgin Mary.”

Spunky. Yeah, I am loving this.

“Careful, little witch. Patronizing a true wolf is never wise.” I know I’m wasting my breath, but I don’t care. Bantering with her is just too fun.

“Careful big, bad wolf,” she responds without missing a beat. “Witches have a nasty habit of turning wolves into puppies.”

My foot slams on the brakes before my mind catches up with my actions. But—she knows she’s a witch?

“You knew you were casting an enchantment spell with all your come-fuck-me songs up there on stage? Are you fucking certifiable or just plain stupid?” The minute the words come flying out of my mouth, I know I’ve made a mistake. But I’m pissed. Royally pissed, and completely beyond reason. “If I had less control over my pack, your ass would’ve been spread eagle on a pool table in a heartbeat.”

Generally, it takes a lot to make me lose my shit, but this tiny slip of a woman is testing my control. There’s literally a red mist in my vision, I’m so livid. Does she have any idea what she is playing with? I don’t know whether to spank her or mount her.

“Werewolves are easily suggestible.” The woman has the temerity to speak to me as if I am a halfwit. “No offense, but werewolves are the easiest of all the
supernaturals
to
bespell
. They weren’t going to rush me or anything. Get a little riled up maybe, but they wouldn’t have touched me. I swear your kind has the simplest—”

“Are you really telling me you have no understanding of the difference between a werewolf and
a were
shifter?” By the moon, this woman is driving me
batshit
. We aren’t going to make it to the cabin I’d decided was our destination. This witch is far too dangerous to herself; I need to mark her. Everything within me demands it.

“Shifter?” Finally, there is weariness in her voice. “Shifters don’t generally mix with the general supernatural population.”

Now I’m getting through to her. She’s right. Shifters tended to stay exclusively with their own clan excluding all others by nature. However, that doesn’t excuse her recklessness.

“Does that include the bear that is your drummer? Or the fox that’s your guitarist?” If she knows about
supernaturals
, she knows her little band is nothing but
Others
.

“Well, that doesn’t count.” She actually scoffs at me. “We’re family.”

I really don’t mean the low warning growl that comes out; it is instinct. One she takes as a real warning, because she throws open the door and books it. And yeah, I take a minute to watch her ass bounce off into the woods.
Niiiiiice
. I’m actually grinning from ear to ear as I exit the car at a much more leisurely pace. The question of whether to spank or fuck her is certainly cleared up. I’m going to do both. Then I’m going to fuck her again.

Hot damn, I love a good chase as foreplay.