Scar (9 page)

“Can’t. I claimed first rights to mating. They have Fre, and I don’t intend to leave without her. If Scar wants a fight, I will give it to him.” Wallis swallowed.

“Wait. You made a claim from pack rules? This could work out to our benefit. If Scar wants a fight, evoke the second clause that your Alpha must be present. I can have everybody there by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Fine. But I’m not leaving without her. I don’t care who I have to go through.” Wallis ended the call, grabbed the box of bandages from the bag, and went to the bathroom.

***

Rhys felt movement in the room, the slight stir of a breeze. He took a sniff, and careful not to wake Fre, gently moved her off his chest. Tilting his head, he listened to the faint sounds of the house. Grabbing his underwear, he slid them up his legs and silently moved through the room.

He glanced over his shoulder to check on Fre before slipping his hand around the knob and easing out the room. Boris leaned on the wall before him, his feet crossed at the ankles.

Rhys smiled. “I thought it was your mangy ass I smelled. When did you get in? You must have lost your mind while cavorting with the ambassador. You’re lucky I didn’t catch you in my room.” The big man shrugged. “I wanted to see the woman everybody is whispering about. I got here about an hour ago. And if you had caught me, Rhys, what would you have done? Hmm?”

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“I’d have kicked your ass.”

“You mean you would have tried.” Boris chuckled.

Rhys barked in laughter before lowering his tone. “You know we could take this outside and settle this argument once and for all.”

“I would but it seems you just found your mate. The right one this time and I’d hate to deliver you back to her battered and beaten. So tell me, little brother, what the hell is going on?”

“I wish I knew, Boris. Someone tried to take Keen, and if it hadn’t been for Fre, they would have gotten away with it.” Rhys raked his fingers through his hair.

“She smells good.”

Rhys leaned against the doorjamb. “Yeah she does, oranges with a hint of vanilla.”

“I only smell the oranges.” Boris nodded his head. “You always were a lucky ass. So what do you need me to do? Myka said Wallis was in Volkshire and went on about his pack rules. I leave town for a few months and everything goes to hell it seems.”

“There you go with your over inflated sense of ego. It must be a species thing.” Rhys shook his head. “Anyway, Dad and Myka have been trying to keep an eye on Keen but he is wily. He’s already gotten away from us once today.”

“What about the nanny…what’s her name?”

“Lori? Lately she’s the worst at keeping track of him. Honestly, I believe we have a traitor in our midst but I haven’t had a moment to really look for him. I’m hoping you can do it for me.” Boris nodded. “I’ll find the enemy within. You better return to your bed before your mate notices you missing. I’ll bed down Keen’s room tonight.”

Rhys snorted. “Keen would like that. Don’t tell Myka but I think you’re his favorite.”

“Of course I am.” Boris pushed off the wall and started down the hall.

“One day you’re going to meet the woman that will put you in your 57

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place, Boris, and your ego will be a thing of the past,” Rhys called after him.

Boris twirled a finger next to his head and tossed words over his shoulder. “No thanks. I’ve already witnessed the carnage the wrong woman can do to a person.” He disappeared around the bend.

Rhys stared down the hallway and briefly thought about his wife.

Regrets had never worked for him in the past. Now was not the time to worry about them. The door opened behind him and he straightened.

Turning, he found Fre wrapped in a sheet in the doorway.

“What are you doing up?” He slid an index finger beneath the material and tugged her close.

Fre lifted her chin. “I heard voices, and you weren’t next to me.” He dipped his head to brush his lips to hers. “I guess I didn’t wear you out enough.”

She sighed. “I guess not. Care to try again?” She reached out and snapped his boxer briefs.

“Woman, you’re asking for trouble.”

“If you say so.” Fre pulled away, leaving the sheet hanging from his finger.

She crooked her digits as she disappeared into the shadows of the room. He crossed the threshold, kicked the door closed with his foot, and let the cover fall from his hand to pool on the floor. Then he pulled off his boxers and dropped them. Catching her around the waist as she turned to run, he tackled her to the bed. Together they lay, bent over the mattress.

“A word of advice, mate.” He pinned her to the bed, her back to his front. “Never run from me because I will always chase you down.” He slid his tongue down her spine.

He eased a leg between hers and reared up, his hard cock finding the nook at the apex of her thighs. Placing a palm in the middle of her back to keep her in place, he looked down at her prone form. “Don’t move.” She turned her head to lay her cheek flat, a slight curve to her lips. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of seeing her smile. Rhys rubbed his shaft 58

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between her moist nether lips. Pleasure rolled down his spine and a shudder passed through him. She went on her toes and bumped back against him. He moved his hand up, grasping the back of her neck as he flexed his pelvis and drove his cock into her pussy.

“Oh.” Fre pushed her arms out from under her body and reached forward, tangling her hands in the bedcovers.

His hand moved from her neck to her hair and he twisted her locks around his fingers and made a fist. He pulled her hair as he thrust into her body. He could feel the change riding in tandem with his bliss. Fighting his desire to mate her, to take what was his, he tossed his head back to keep from looking at her. He held her by the shoulder with his other hand and felt his claws slipping through the pads of his fingertips. Sweat trickled down his temple as he tried to stop his shift. He tugged on her hair and her body bowed beneath him. Her sounds of satisfaction spurred him on. Change was imminent; his canines bit into his lips, and every breath he took was a labor. He swallowed repeatedly and tasted his blood as he clenched his jaw to keep from claiming her with his bite.

One of the hardest things he’d ever done, he wrestled with himself not to let go of his human form. Below him her cries became wails as he pounded into her with a ferocity that took her toes off the floor with each lunge. His balls tapped the inside of her thighs and faint sounds of slapping skin added to the noises echoing through the room. She’d pulled the coverlet to her face and the material muffled her wails. His muscles tightened. Plunging into her again, he touched her womb and felt his own release. The orgasm triggered his mating reflex, barbs in his dick opened, and his shaft knotted within her, releasing stream after stream of his seed.

His heart beat a quick, heavy
thud
within his chest. He hadn’t meant to mate her at that moment, but his body had other ideas. He’d taken her for his own without a bite.

She rose up on her elbows. “What the hell is that?” She wiggled, but he would not be dislodged.

“Remember when I told you we would talk in the morning about 59

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wolves and animals and what that had to do with us?” He untangled his hand from her hair and covered her back with is body.

“Yeah.”

“Let me tell you a little story.” Rhys wiped a hand down his face.

Elation raced through him. He’d finally found a true mate; then his happiness wilted a little in anticipation of her reaction.

His Fre was about to lose her temper. He studied her profile, strands of her hair resting on her cheek. He sighed and prepared himself for the myriad of emotions that she would go through and started his story.

***

Fre felt a tapping on her arm. She cracked one lid and was blinded by the sunlight that illuminated the room. A form moved in her line of vision, blocking out the light. She opened her other eye. Keen waited in front of her peering down at her.

“Good morning,” she grumbled.

“Hi. Daddy told me not to disturb you.” Keen spoke quietly.

“Oh. Well then we’ll keep your visit our secret.” Fre secured the cover around her and sat up in the bed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?’

“Huh?” Rhys son looked up at her in confusion.

“Why the visit?”

The little boy stared at her and pursed his lips. “Everybody is in my room, and I couldn’t watch TV.”

“Bummer. Is there a television in here?”

He nodded and pointed to the sitting area. “It’s over there in the furniture.”

“Have at it. Don’t mind me…Ummm, Keen?”

He’d started toward the smaller sitting area and turned his head to look at her. “Yes?”

“Do you know where your dad put my clothes, my purse?” The boy backtracked to a desk on the other side of the room and 60

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opened a side drawer. He pulled out her hobo bag and held it up. “Is this what you’re talking about?”

She beamed at Keen. “It is.”

He brought it to her as he crossed the room to get to the sitting area and no doubt the cartoons that he was anxiously trying to watch. She dug through her purse and the sounds of one cartoon network or another flooded the room. Fre glanced at the area to make sure the boy wasn’t listening as she collected her phone and hastily dialed a number.

“Nix.” Her best friend answered on the third ring.

“What the hell took you so long to answer?” Fre whispered.

“I couldn’t find my phone. Where the hell are you?” Nix asked. “And why are you whispering?”

“I’m in trouble.”

“Shit.” Her bestie sighed. “Do I need a weapon, bail money, or both?”

“Not sure but I need you. I think…I believe I got married last night.” Fre admitted she sounded desperate to her own ears.

“Shit and shamrocks, Fre! I’m there, girl. Where are you?”

“Some little town called Volkshire, off the interstate to the cabin.”

“I’m on my way to the cabin. I’ll be there by tonight,” Nix vowed.

“I’m staying at the town inn. The quicker the better.” Fre ended the all.

She stuffed the phone back into her bag as the bedroom door was pushed open. A strawberry-blonde woman poked her head in the crack.

Fre watched as the person scanned the room. Her eyes lit up when they landed on Keen and a scowl turned down her lips when she glanced at Fre. She pushed the door farther open and stepped into the room.

“Excuse me. I’m just here to collect Keen.” Fre shrugged. “He’s fine, leave him. He’s watching cartoons.”

“He’s my charge. Thank you. I’ll just be getting him out of your way.” Fre looked over at Keen and saw a mix of terror and dislike in the boy’s eyes. “I said he is fine. Leave him.” Holding the bed spread to her, she got up from the bed.

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“It’s not your decision. I’m in charge of the boy. I’m his nanny, Lori.” She crossed to the middle of the room and called out to Keen. He ignored her.

“Listen, Lori, I’m sure his father is fine with you leaving him with me.” Fre stuck her hand in her purse.

This conversation was going downhill fast, and if what Rhys told her was true, she needed the equalizer she carried with her. Palming the .22

caliber revolver she kept in her bag, she held her hand behind her and stepped in Lori’s line of sight.

“Who the hell are you to make guesses about our Alpha? You’re nothing but a mere human woman,” Lori sneered.

“See, you had to go there…Keen stays with me and I’ll take it up with Rhys.” Fre heard movement behind her. She felt Keen grab a hold of her leg through the material. He growled, easing forward, and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Lori reached out to snatch at him, shrieking. “He’s my charge, dammit!”

Fre held his shoulder tight and pushed him behind her. “Step the fuck off.”

“You can’t keep him from me!” Lori yelled and started to shift, raising a clawed hand.

Fre studied the woman and narrowed her eyes. She held up her hand with the gun and tightened her grip around the handle. “You might be fast but are you faster than a bullet?”

Lori stopped and cocked her head. A man appeared in the doorway, took in the scene, and burst out laughing. “Hell in a handbasket.”

“Fre, could you put the gun down please?” The deep rumble of the stranger’s voice didn’t move her.

“I don’t know you. We aren’t friends so the use of my name doesn’t move me. I want Rhys, and I want him now.” She didn’t take her gaze off the woman in midshift.

The big man turned his attention to the child. “Keen, do me a favor go 62

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get your dad please.”

Keen released his hold on Fre and took off running.

“I will kill you,” Lori murmured

“Bring it, bitch.” Fre slid the safety off with her thumb and cocked the gun.