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Authors: Jessica Coulter Smith

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Cain, kneeling at her feet with a
collar around his neck, ready to worship her, was a heady thought. One she
shook right out of her head as she moved forward to pull him away from Mr.
Mustache. The two of them in a bed would never happen. It would be like oil and
water. Her being the pure clear water, him being the nasty slimy oil.

“Cain, let him go.” She pulled on
his arm, not budging him an inch. The muscles under her fingers felt like steel
bands and she wondered what he did to work out. Toss boulders the size of small
cars?

“I’m sorry,” Mr. Mustache
croaked. “Won’t touch her again.”

“I told you if you wanted to keep
your hand, you’d keep your paws to yourself,” Cain said. “I should rip your
arms off and beat you with them.”

The man gasped, his eyes
widening.

“Cain, he isn’t worth it. Just
let him go.”

Ignoring her, Cain slammed the
man into the wall again. When he released him, Cain landed a solid punch to the
guy’s stomach, knocking the wind right out of him. Allie thought that would be
it, but Cain grabbed a handful of the man’s hair, pulled his head back and
planted his fist into his face. She winced at the man’s busted nose and tried
once more to get control over Cain, but he brushed her off.

“You don’t treat women like
they’re toys, here for your amusement,” he growled at Mr. Mustache. “She’s
working her ass off to pay her bills, not so you can grope her.”

Allie’s eyebrows shot up. For a
man who didn’t believe women should work, he was doing admirably well defending
her job. A noise at the front of Lagoona’s drew her attention and she winced
when she saw two police officers heading their way. She pulled on Cain’s arm
again.

“Come on, Cain. Let him go.”

Cain landed another punch before
dropping Mr. Mustache to the ground. Allie was pried away from Cain by one of
the officers. It took both men to get Cain under control and in cuffs. She was
a little surprised the pack didn’t try to interfere. Allie tried to follow Cain
out the door, but one of the officers pushed her back.

“You need to wait here, Miss. An
officer will be in momentarily to take your statement.”

She didn’t want to wait; she
wanted to find out what was going to happen to Cain! No, he shouldn’t have hit
that man; he really shouldn’t have, but he’d done it to protect her. No one had
ever done anything like that before. If there was anything she could do to help
him now, she would. She felt bad that he was being hauled off in cuffs.

She scented Hunter a moment
before his hand landed on her shoulder.

“Never mess with a shifter’s
mate,” he said.

“I’m not his mate.”

Hunter smiled. “Are you sure? He
did claim you, after all. Something tells me he wouldn’t have reacted
so…enthusiastically if that guy had manhandled anyone else.”

“Cain and I don’t make much
sense. He was just helping me out is
all.

“If you say so.” Hunter smiled
again, looking as if he knew something she didn’t. She hated that smile.

An officer came in and spoke with
her and the man now holding an icepack to his nose. It took longer than she
would have liked, but it couldn’t be helped. And wouldn’t you know it, thanks
to Cain, she’d lost her job. While there was a twinge of relief, at the thought
of not being groped anymore, there was also the bitter taste of defeat in her
mouth. How was she going to pay rent now?

 

Chapter Two

Cain sat on the bench in the
holding cell, waiting to hear what his fate would be. It had been several hours
already, and he was sure all of the judges would be asleep by now. He was
probably stuck until morning, if not later. This wasn’t the first time he’d
been arrested, just the first time in Ashton Grove. He wasn’t a hardened
criminal, but he’d had a crazy childhood, and his teen years… He shook his
head. He knew those
juvie
records were sealed but, if
anyone found out about his past, no way would he get away without doing some
time. And more than likely, when he got out, he’d be asked to leave the pack.

Still. He wouldn’t take back what
he’d done. That man should have kept his hands to himself. Cain couldn’t really
say why it bothered him so much. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen a customer
get handsy with one of the girls at Lagoona’s, but it was the first time he’d
felt his tiger rise to the surface, ready to rip out the offender’s throat. He
had no doubt that Allie could take care of herself but, for some reason, he’d
wanted to take care of her. Ridiculous! He was surprised she hadn’t torn into
him for overstepping his bounds. If ever there was an independent, headstrong
woman, it would be Allie. Maybe it was the rarity of her kind that made him
act. Female wolves weren’t very common. For some reason, most female children
born to a mated pair either took after the mother’s species, or they didn’t
shift at all.

Someone came and unlocked his
cell, sliding the door open. The officer motioned for him to step out, and he
did, cautiously. He didn’t know these officers, but the fact he was being
released seemed a little odd. Unless, of course, they were merely going to
process him and put him in a cell with the general population. That would make
more sense. He had no doubt that the man he’d accosted had pressed charges.

When he was led up to the front
and saw Connor waiting, hands in his pockets, he frowned. Why was the alpha
here? He’d almost prefer jail time to being in trouble with the alpha. Not that
it mattered much. Either way, he had a feeling he was about to get booted. He’d
broken the rule about drawing attention to the pack. The fact he felt no
remorse for his actions, didn’t bode well for his future in Ashton Grove.

The officer slipped behind the
counter and pulled out Cain’s personal belongings, making him sign a slip
before handing them over. He stuffed his wallet into his back pocket and put
his watch back on before walking over to the alpha. Connor didn’t look angry,
but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. He’d screwed up and he knew it.
Maybe he should just apologize and get it over with? Not that apologizing would
save him an ass chewing.

“You ready to head home?” Connor
asked. “Or did you make more friends tonight?”

“I’m ready to go home.”

Connor nodded. “In case you’re
wondering, Allie is all right. She’s without employment though. That little
stunt you pulled cost
her a
decent job.”

Cain snorted. “There wasn’t anything
decent about that job. Asshole was groping her like she was some two dollar
hooker. He’d been warned once to keep his hands to himself. It’s his own fault
he got his ass handed to him.”

They slid into Connor’s truck and
the alpha started the engine.

“And Allie? She has no way to pay
her bills now. Do you know how hard it was for her to get that job? No one else
around town would hire her. It wasn’t like it was the first place she went to.
She was so damn dejected, telling me how she’d have to go over to the strip
joint tomorrow to apply for a job.”

“Like hell!”

“I don’t like it any more than
you do, but there’s nothing we can do about it, Cain. I can’t order her not to
seek employment.” Connor sighed. “If you were truly mated to her, it would be
different. And yes, I heard all about you claiming her. But I know Allie, and
you saying it’s so
doesn’t
mean it is. Unless I hear
it from her lips, I won’t believe it.”

“I only claimed her so that
asswipe would leave her alone. I wasn’t really thinking about the pack being
present when I did it. Sawyer didn’t think much of it, but I’m thinking the
other guys did.”

Connor chuckled. “Allie wasn’t
too pleased that you’d taken her off the market without her consideration. I
believe she mentioned something about gaining a tiger skin rug if she couldn’t
get a date this weekend.”

For some reason, the thought of
Allie going on a date bothered him. Not that he would admit it to anyone. He’d
noticed the little wolf on more than one occasion. He’d have to be dead not to
realize how sexy she was. Curved in all the right places, she was still a tiny
thing, compared to him. He could probably lift her with one hand.

“Can’t you offer Allie a job at
the construction site? Surely Aislinn needs help with filing or something.”
Cain
really
didn’t like the idea of
her being naked in front of a bunch of men.

“Do you honestly think she’d
accept a job from me? Especially one that put her in direct contact with you on
a regular basis?” Connor snorted.
“Not hardly
. She’d
probably laugh her ass off.”

Cain grumbled under his breath.

“What?”

“I said she’s too independent for
her own good. What she needs is a man to take care of her.”

Connor looked at him, both
eyebrows raised. “Please tell me you didn’t express that opinion to her.”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“And you’re still in one piece?
You have no clue what that woman has been through to get where she is today.
She didn’t do it by relying on other people to help her out. Don’t expect her
to roll over and let you take care of her. It isn’t in her nature.”

“What if…” He slammed his mouth
shut. No, he wasn’t going there.

“What if what?”

He shook his head.

“No, you started to say something
and I want to hear it.”

“What if you forced her to mate
with someone? It would ensure that she’s protected.”

“Allie would take off for another
pack before she’d let me put her in a corner like that.”

“Well, we can’t just sit here and
let her take her clothes off for a living!”

Connor assessed him. “Why does it
bother you so much?”

“I don’t think any woman should
do that for a living.”

“Yeah, I get that, but it seems
to bother you more than it should that Allie is going to be doing it. I think
there’s more to the story. Do you like her?”

Cain snorted. “What is this,
grade school? Check yes or no?”

“Cut the shit. I’m being serious.
Do you have a thing for Allie Jenson?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “I
just know she gets under my skin. I didn’t like her working at Lagoona’s and I
sure as shit don’t like the idea of her stripping. She should be at home, where
she can be taken care of. She deserves to have someone wait on her, not the other
way around.”

“Holy fuck!” Connor laughed.
“You’re in love with her.”

“What?! Don’t be ridiculous.”
Cain scowled.

“Well, this is rich. I knew you
hadn’t dated much since she joined the pack, but I never put two and two
together. Or if I did, I was coming up with three instead of four. Does she
know?”

“No, she doesn’t know, and I’d
like to keep it that way. She’s wrong for me. I want a docile woman. She’s so
damn headstrong I think she’s part bull.”

“Uh-huh. You just think you want
someone docile but, let me tell you, you’d be bored to death inside a week. Now
that I think about it, I can see you and Allie together. You’d make a cute
couple.”

“Whatever.”

Connor pulled into a parking
space at the wolf dorms and let Cain out. “Just remember, if you chase her, she’s
going to run. You have to make her want to come to you.”

Cain wasn’t sure how he was
supposed to make Allie come to him, and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to.
Yeah, the alpha had a point, he was half in love with her, had been since she’d
stepped out of her SUV that first day at the construction site, looking for
Connor. He’d seen those long, lean legs and he’d wondered what they would feel
like wrapped around his waist. She’d had on some sexy barely-there shorts and a
tank that left little to the imagination. He’d fought back the urge to grab her
and hide her away before the other guys got a good look at her.

Then he’d heard her talking to
Connor and had listened to that smart mouth of hers and realized she wasn’t
what he was looking for at all. Not that it had stopped him from fantasizing
about her every night as he wrapped his hand around his cock. He’d tried to
date a few times since she had
shownup
, but the
datesall
fizzled out after dinner and he dropped them back
by their place. They weren’t who he wanted and his cock just wasn’t interested.
It wanted a feisty wolf babe.

He might not know much about her
story, but he wanted to. There were rumblings in the pack that she was a
drifter, looking for a place to settle down. He hoped she’d found her home in
Ashton Grove, but what if she hadn’t? He’d kick his own ass every day for the
rest of his life if he let her slip through his fingers and she moved away
before he told her how he felt. Connor was right though, if he chased her,
she’d run.

What could he do to make her come
to him? For starters, he was going to call the strip joint and threaten to flay
them alive if they hired her. He’d just have to take a chance on her running
from Ashton Grove if she didn’t get hired there, but the thought of all those
men seeing her naked was enough to make his blood boil. She was his, even if
she didn’t know it, and no one was going to see her naked but him. Maybe when
he’d claimed her today, he’d meant it on some level.

He did have that going for him.
Connor might not have believed him, but the rest of the pack assumed they were
together now. Which meant, no dates for Allie. He grinned. Already a plan was
forming in his mind. She’d go to the strip joint when they opened most likely,
which meant she’d be home, dejected, around the time he got off work. If he
rushed home and showered, he should have enough time to pick up a pizza and a
case of beer to take to her place. Might not be the fanciest dinner ever, but
he’d heard she had a fascination with pizza. Even better, she loved everything
on it, just like him.

The fact that he was even
considering a long-term relationship should have scared the shit out of him.
He’d always been a bed hopper, never sticking with one woman more than a few
nights. Other than his dependable job, he supposed he didn’t really have a lot
recommending him as a mate. He didn’t have a house of his own, just a place in
the wolf dorms, which didn’t allow females. He’d have to contact Matt and
Cassie if he was serious about pursuing Allie. A man intent on having mate
should have his own place.

Cain might not have wanted a mate
anytime soon, but he had been preparing for one, ever since he was sixteen and
old enough to work. No less than one hundred dollars of every paycheck had gone
into a savings account, starting with his first check. When he was able, he put
in more. He had over forty thousand dollars put aside. He could easily afford a
house payment if he put at least a forth of that down on something small. He
wouldn’t be purchasing a large Victorian like Gabriel had, but he could get
something comfortable. He just hoped comfortable was good enough for Allie. He
really didn’t know much about her.

As far as he knew, she hadn’t
really bonded with anyone in the pack. He didn’t see her hanging out with a
particular set of females, and the males she’d dated were nothing alike. If she
had a type, he had no clue what it was. Maybe she liked overbearing kitties. If
she gave him a chance, he’d treat her right. He’d been brought up to respect
women, which he knew he took to the extreme sometimes. Like last night, when
he’d made the comment about his mate not working. He’d always assumed a woman
would prefer to stay home rather than work. Who wanted to bust their ass eight
to five if they didn’t have to? He considered it part of his duties as a mate
to provide for his woman, and any kids they might have. Good lord, was he
seriously considering becoming a daddy?

What the hell was he thinking? He
hadn’t even claimed his mate yet! Assuming he could hang onto the woman.
Something told him grabbing hold of Allie and holding tight would be like
lassoing the wind. Impossible. If she valued her independence so much, he’d
have to come up with a pretty damn convincing reason for her to mate with him.
Obviously, she didn’t want to be taken care of, so that wasn’t it. There had to
be something she wanted, something she desired that he could give her. He just
had to figure out what the hell it was.

BOOK: MoonlightDrifter
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