Weremones (13 page)

Barely noting the ‘Yes, Ma’ams’, she sorted through the overload of emotion. The horrible things she’d seen from the boys memories! She
knew
why no one touched Brandon and was glad the one who’d done
that
was dead.

Now, more than ever, she knew that she had no business with Adam or these kids.

She didn’t have the training to help someone through that kind of devastating abuse.

Power, psychic power and werewolf magic rolled through her. She felt the ferocity of a monsoon, feeling like her dreams of meeting Adam that first night in the park. Monsoons overwhelmed. They devastated. People drowned in all that raw power.

Diana gripped the thick hair under her fingers, wanting to be gone when the storm arrived. Diana was no coward. She’d survived marriage to Richard Ridley. She’d weather this storm.

“Brandon, change back if you can. The rest of you eat.” Her words were barely more than a murmur, lost in the power headed her way.

Diana waited, and in the meantime, she stroked the soft fur under her hand and tried to send reassurance out to the boys while they ate chicken, rolls, and salad with lots of Ranch dressing.

———

Adam steered much of the conversation around Tamara’s chosen profession as a dental hygienist. He let her chatter about office gossip, her friends, and the wolven boyfriend who had broken their pairing contract in favor of one that brought a multiplex mall into their town.

She pushed away her dessert plate and wiped delicately at her mouth. The cloth napkin twisted tight between her hands.

“Thank you, at least, for seeing me.” Her smile strained at the edges. “I know I’m not big business. But I’d really like a fresh start.”

Adam liked that Tamara was twenty-six and smart enough to have already lined up a couple of job interviews in the area. She didn’t have alpha potential, but he wasn’t looking for that.

The power flared in him, igniting his tenuous hold to his pack. He felt their individual presences and reached out instinctively to check on them.

Another presence, strong willed and dominant, met him partway. Not Tamara.

Her.
He didn’t understand how a human, even a psychic, could travel the fabric and paths of his pack. He reached out, curious.

Power flared brighter as he touched, met, and merged with a member of the pack.

With
Diana Ridley
. Shock jolted him into a temporary retreat..

No. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t marked her like Mack.
This
could not happen. Not with a human female.

He blinked and came back to reality. Only seconds had passed.

Tamara’s sad eyes said that she knew she’d botched the interview. She hadn’t, and he liked the girl, so Adam tried to smile past the rush in his veins. The wolf howled in his head, ready for the hunt. He didn’t realize that he’d bared his teeth instead. He threw down his napkin and stood.

“Welcome to Anderson Pack, Tamara. I’ll take care of the details for your move later. Call me if you need anything.”

Adam turned his back, missing the absolute confusion and dawning delight on his newest member.

Adam drove blindly, daring the police to stop him. Fury warred with the wolf’s howls of triumph. He was not an animal to react solely on instinct. He was not a man to ignore what instinct told him. He was
the
dominant male. How had the human female invaded his pack bond? Such a thing was impossible. She was human.

Adam’s mother was a formidable psychic and she’d never developed a link to Paul’s pack. Paul had chosen Mara, a good strong,
wolven
female, to be his mate. Mara was the glue that held the Tarrant pack together, while Paul was the discipline that kept the pack strong.

As Alpha Canis, Adam would be the one to pick the Matra Canis. He would choose his own mate, even if the female had to carry out the binding ritual.

It was far past time he put Diana Ridley in her place.

The wolf leapt under his skin, excited. He was going to
her.
Yes, it was time she knew her place.

He pulled into the driveway, noting the beat up red Ranger pickup with the lettering,
Born to be Wild,
stenciled across the back window. Not very original, but what could you expect from a teenager who sprouted fur and howled at the moon?

Bradley had left out the small detail about where the study group was meeting tonight.

Adam jumped out of his truck, slamming the door behind him loud enough for satisfaction, but not hard enough to damage the vehicle.

He strode through the green front yard to the front door. He felt like ripping the door off the hinges, making his demands known. He pressed the doorbell and took a breath to calm down, listening to the chimes announce his presence.

What were his demands?

He counted them off in his head.

Number one, he was in charge.

Number two, as a member of this pack she would learn …. The door opened, breaking Adam’s concentration.

Diana Ridley stood in the doorway, clad in a soft bare armed shirtdress. The dress should have been modest. His eyes skimmed over her full breasts and hips, noting how material clung to her curves. Her bare toes were tipped in feminine pink polish. Arousal added to is irritation. She held a large glass of—he sniffed—berry wine.

He reached out and took the glass, dumping the contents in the flowers beside the door. “Alcohol impairs your judgment.”

She raised her eyebrows, her expression overly patient, as if he were the one lacking judgment. He pushed past her into the house, shoving the glass back into her hands. A shiver ran down his spine at her touch. His skin tingled with electric power that surged in her presence.

“Do please come in.”

Diana shut the door and followed the bristling man into the kitchen. She should have been surprised that he knew exactly where to go, but wasn’t. Forget the werewolf thing. He was a man. He was probably sniffing out food.

Now that he was here, her nervousness dissipated. She didn’t feel calm. She felt secure. She felt powerful. And best of all, she knew what he felt. Literally. Entwined into his little group, she felt all of their emotions.

She imagined the sensations would eventually grow maddening if they didn’t go away. But for now, she had an advantage, a key insight to how he felt.

He stopped suddenly in the kitchen. Diana moved around him. He reached out, grabbing her arm. Power pulsed between them. Hot molten lava that swamped her limbs.

“Hi, Mr. Weis!” Karen’s bright voice cut through the sensation. Adam dropped Diana’s arm. He muttered something low in return. Perhaps he’d finally registered the burn between them. She felt every scorching wave of fury that rolled off of him.

The boys looked on with guilty, stricken faces.

Diana took the long way to her seat. She made brief contact with each boy, touching a shoulder, ruffling Rick’s hair, asserting her place in her home.

“I’m so glad you could make it for dinner. Would you like tea, milk, or juice?”

She watched him, waiting for the right response—that of a civilized being in her home.

Adam watched Diana touch Brandon through a red haze, proclaiming the boy under her protection. He wanted to shake the woman until her teeth rattled.

What? Did she think to protect them from the monster?

How dare she take a stand for his boys against him! He reached out with his power, intending to do some rattling from a psychic standpoint. If she wanted to play in his pool,
then by damn she’d get wet.

His power met a wall of cool, calm confidence. A grim smile bloomed inside him.

An Alpha, bred by wolven and psychic, he could play power games with the big boys.

Psychics might have finesse that his kind lacked, but he was all punch. He pushed at her wall and found that it gave. He pushed harder, shoved his way past her flimsy defense.

Diana felt his arrogant attack. He was strong. Letting instinct take over, she accepted the intrusion and swamped him with her own power. She soaked his essence with her own. In her mind, she heard a wolf howl in triumph. Whatever she’d done was in the wolf’s favor.

Startled, Diana tried to pull back. The wolf would have none of it, claiming her as his own. Diana struggled to free herself from his psychic grip. He hung on, wild, elemental,
powerful
.

Too late, Diana recognized the wolf was true essence of Adam Weis not the psychic power he wielded. His essence held tight to hers. Too easily, the wolf pinned her.

Feral, gleaming eyes held her still while his power soaked into her, a psychic mating, finishing what she had unwittingly began, marking her as his.

Unbelievable pleasure shuddered through her mind, then her body. The world tilted on its axis.

Mortification swamped her and the realization that only seconds had passed instead of the hours it seemed her tête-à-tête with Adam had taken. She flushed in embarrassment, sucked in an unsteady breath while she straightened, barely hearing the room clear out. The boys murmured their appreciation as they scattered for the door.

“We’ve got school tomorrow. I guess me and the guys will head on out.” Bradley turned to Diana, full of deference. “Thank you for dinner. It was good.”

Vaguely, she heard Karen say her goodnights. Outside, she heard the stubborn r-rr of an engine before it finally turned over.

Karen poked her head back into the kitchen.

“Hey, maybe you guys should escape next time. Go to a decent restaurant or something while we hot dog it.”

Diana eyed her daughter’s over bright eyes while tapping into her excited emotions. Maybe Karen’s psychic abilities had picked up more than Diana had thought.

Super. Now, everyone knew she was a psychic slut.

“Good night, Karen.” Diana couldn’t believe her daughter was trying to set her up. She so did not need this.

“Maybe we will.” Adam let his eyes roam over Diana before flashing Karen a warm smile. “Dinner sounds like a great idea.”

“Now wait just a minute …,” Diana began.

“Super.” Karen steamrolled right over her mother’s objection. “Because she never gets out. Or dates.”

“I do too date!” Diana gasped, indignant. Her mouth and her brain took a vacation from one another. “I have one tomorrow night.”

Adam’s flare of emotion was as hot—hotter than his gaze. She reinforced her wall, trying to keep him firmly on the other side. So there, both of you, Diana thought. The attitude was childish, but there it was.

“Night all!” Karen called, waving breezily before disappearing to her room.

“You do not have a date.” Adam’s voice was hard. His silvery blue gaze piercing.

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh, yes. It is my business.” Adam leaned over the table. His hot fury erupted once more, battering down her defenses. “It is time we talked.”

Talk? Ha! They needed space—the next state kind of space.

Diana jumped up, intending to get some of that space, when Adam’s hand shot out. He latched on to her wrist, forestalling her escape.

Upstairs, the loud blast of music heralded Karen’s bath time preparations.

“Come here.” Adam started around the table.

Diana pulled away easily, because he allowed her. She backed up, out of reach as he stalked her. The hunter and his prey.

Diana wasn’t afraid. She supposed she should be. Werewolves were supposed to be crazy monsters. She did feel threatened, though in a very feminine way. He was so very big. Her flight ended as she bumped into the refrigerator. His arms came up. He laid his palms on the door, caging her in. She had to crane her neck to look up into his face.

Diana’s mouth went dry. Her heart pumped out an erratic beat. Her limbs felt heavy. Breathing was an effort. But not with fear, with desire as she’d never felt it before.

She had to get away.

“Look ... I ... I was probably out of line.” She gulped a breath as his blond head descended. His gaze held her mesmerized. “I didn’t understand what ….”

Adam’s mouth settling over hers, stopped her words.

He growled low in his throat, reveling in his possession. Palming one full breast, he kneaded through the soft material of her dress. The hard bud of her nipple made his mouth water in anticipation. Her moan elicited another growl and a tiny nip at her lip before he laved the sting away.

She thought to escape him, but he would not allow that. This female was his.

Kissing her was the only thing left to do. He pressed close, crowding her into the cool metal behind her, letting her feel what she did to his body.

His cock throbbed in time to their heartbeats. He literally ached for her. He needed to finish what they’d started. He’d bound her to his pack. The psychic joining only lacked physical completion to make her complete the mate’s bond. She belonged to him.

The wolf in him, the beast, roared with demand. Take her. Take your mate.

A date? She wanted to taunt him with another male? No male in his right mind would dare show an interest in the alpha’s female.

Adam plunged his tongue deep inside her mouth, tasting the unique flavor that was Diana. He memorized her, demanded that she respond, that she only remember him.

Mentally, he reached out, merging their essences even as he ground his body against hers.

Diana’s whole body was swept up into a storm. Her mind, her being, was not her own. She felt both her own desire and Adam’s feeding hers to greater frenzy. When his other hand closed over her breast, Diana shuddered.

She had to touch bare skin, needed to feel the overheated warmth of his skin next to hers. Struggling with the buttons on his shirt, she finally ripped it free of his jeans.

Diana tunneled her hands under the material. She reveled in the sheer tactile delight of ridges and valleys of his work hard body. Sliding her hands around and up the trunk of his body, she dragged her nails back down the ridge of Adam’s back.

Groaning, he arched his back against the second draw of her nails. He straightened, wild, animal eyes fixed on her. He pulled her hands out from under his shirt and sucked in a breath.

“I want to see you.”