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  “Enough!” Drake said before Sylvan could answer. A black haze of fury narrowed her vision until all she saw was Niki’s throat. Another female had put hands on her mate. She grabbed Niki’s wrist and yanked her away from Sylvan. Shoving Niki back across the space between the two benches, she loomed over her. “You forget yourself, Imperator.”

  Drake’s claws emerged along with her wrath and dug into Niki’s bare shoulder. Thin rivulets of blood ran over Niki’s collarbone and onto her naked breasts. Niki’s claws and canines shot out, and she snarled, the bones in her face sliding as she started to shift. The air grew pungent with the scent of sex and rage.

  Drake didn’t think, she didn’t wonder at her own actions. Instinct drove her, a primal need to establish order and protect her mate. She gripped Niki’s neck and threw her onto the floor of the moving vehicle. Crouching over Niki’s nude body on all fours, she scraped her canines over the bounding pulse in Niki’s throat. “Do not question the Alpha’s judgment. And don’t touch her. She’s mine.”

  Niki thrashed, struggling against Drake’s hold. Her eyes rolled, saliva gleaming on her bared canines. Drake bit Niki’s throat, and scarlet ribbons welled from the punctures. Straddling Niki’s thighs, she forced her pelvis into Niki’s, crushing Niki’s sex under hers. Niki arched and whined. Drake bit deeper. Shuddering, Niki turned her head away, submitting.

  Drake kept her canines buried in Niki’s neck and ground her pelvis into Niki’s until Niki’s breathing slowly eased and she lay docile. Drake growled low in her chest. The order in the Pack has changed. I am Sylvan’s mate. I am Prima now.

  She was second only to Sylvan in rank and dominance now, and she would prove she deserved that place if she had to fight every dominant Were in the Pack. She would never give up her right to stand by Sylvan’s side, not while she still breathed.

  When Niki was completely subdued, Drake eased her canines free and pushed up on her hands to allow Niki a breath. Slowly, Niki licked Drake’s neck.

  Drake whispered, “If the Alpha needs care, I will give it to her.”

  “Yes, Prima.” Niki whined and licked her again. Drake rumbled comfortingly. She’d had to discipline Niki, swiftly and clearly, for challenging Sylvan. Now she had, and the Pack bond had to be reestablished. She nuzzled Niki’s neck and traced the bite marks she had made with her tongue. “I trust you to guard her in my absence.”

  “With my life, Prima.” Niki’s back arched, and her clitoris lengthened and pulsed against Drake’s leg.

  Drake rolled off before Niki released in a show of sexual submission. Niki had already submitted in every other way, and any further surrender would humble her unnecessarily. Niki loved Sylvan, and Sylvan loved her. Drake was not threatened by their affection, and she needed Niki to protect Sylvan. She yanked on a pair of jeans, but her sex was too swollen to close them. Sylvan had pulled on jeans, too, but left them open. She leaned with her head back and her eyes closed, her posture approving all Drake had done.

  “Are you all right?” Drake covered the gouge in Sylvan’s side with her hand, hiding from the others the blood that seeped between her fingers. If they had been alone, she would have drawn Sylvan into her arms, but she could not do that in front of the others.

  “Just tired,” Sylvan murmured. “I’ll be all right.”

  “We’re almost to Pack land,” Drake said.

  Sylvan smiled, the stark planes of her face softening. “Home.”

  Drake kissed her, wanting to mark her as hers. First Sylvan’s fight had unleashed every protective and aggressive instinct she had, and now her tussle with Niki had excited her even further. Her clitoris was tense and swollen, her sex glands full and ready to burst. Sylvan sensed her need and arched on the seat, her nipples hardening, her silver pelt line thickening on her lower abdomen. Drake traced the soft strip of pelt between the hard columns of muscle with her fingertips. She didn’t care they were not alone. Weres frequently coupled within sight of others. Displays of sexual dominance and claiming were as normal as hunting together or the young sleeping in a tangled pile of Packmates.

  “Wait, Prima,” Sylvan whispered, her words strangled. “I am close to losing control.”

  “Good.” Drake licked the purplish mark on Sylvan’s chest, her mark, and Sylvan jerked. She needed to taste her. The need was so strong she whined softly and pressed a hand between Sylvan’s legs. She rubbed her cheek over the bite on Sylvan’s breast. “I want you.”

  Sylvan turned her head toward Andrew at the wheel of the Rover. Adrenaline and endorphins were driving her wolf to ascend, and she was close to shifting. She battled down her wolf, but Drake’s call was so strong her sex glands tightened painfully, the way they did right before she released. She needed to be inside Drake, needed to empty into her. “Head to my quarters. Hurry.”

  Andrew slammed the Rover to a halt in front of Sylvan’s secluded log cabin, and Sylvan, one arm around Drake’s waist, shoved open the rear double doors. “Convene the war council. We’ll be there soon.”

  She dragged Drake from the Rover onto the wide front porch and down into the shadows. She ripped Drake’s jeans open and shredded the material loose. Drake tore open Sylvan’s jeans, and before she could throw them aside, Sylvan thrust between her legs. Sylvan notched her swollen clitoris into the wet channel of Drake’s sex.

  “I’m ready to come already,” Sylvan groaned.

  Drake’s claws dug into Sylvan’s shoulders, and her black eyes gleamed with shards of gold.

  “Come in me, come in me,” Drake gasped, her legs clamped around Sylvan’s hips, her mouth on Sylvan’s chest.

  “Bite.” Sylvan needed her mate’s bite to trigger total release. Neurotransmitters and sex kinins boiled in the glands buried deep at the base of her clitoris. She threw her head back, canines erupting. “I need to come in you now. Please.” Her vision fragmented, and the world shifted to sharp planes of gray. Her wolf was winning. “Drake! Bite me!”

  Sylvan’s anguish drove every thought from Drake’s mind except giving Sylvan what only she could give her. Snarling, she bit her mark on Sylvan’s chest, releasing the hormones that would make Sylvan empty. Sylvan swelled at Drake’s opening, and the pressure pushed Drake to release. Canines still buried in her lover’s flesh, she arched her neck, exposing the vulnerable vessels. Sylvan roared, her hips pumping, and bit into the curve of Drake’s neck.

  With Sylvan’s essence filling her, Drake orgasmed instantly. Her stomach convulsed, and she poured her release over Sylvan’s sex. She’d never come so hard for so long. The relentless contractions continued even after Sylvan collapsed against her. Shivering, trembling, she stroked Sylvan’s damp back and kissed her neck, her jaw, her mouth. “Sylvan? Love? Are you all right?”

  Sylvan panted, her chest heaving. Her hips twitched, and her clitoris, still swollen erect, rolled against Drake’s, sending Drake into another spiral of climaxes.

  “I love you,” Sylvan said.

  Drake’s heart seized. She could no longer imagine an existence without Sylvan. She couldn’t imagine taking a breath without her, and war was coming. Sylvan would be at the heart of the battle. Tears welled in her eyes, and she fought to contain them. She would not burden Sylvan with her fears. Sylvan was Alpha and would die before forsaking her destiny or her duty.

  “I love you.” Drake wrapped her arms around Sylvan. “I need you.”

  “I need you,” Sylvan whispered. An admission that no one but Drake would ever hear.

  Drake cradled Sylvan’s face against her neck. “You don’t believe the rogue you killed was the only one behind the attempt on your life, do you?”

  “No.” Sylvan eased onto her side and stroked Drake’s abdomen. “He had his own agenda, but he was following someone else’s orders. Someone with a larger plan. I suspect we’ll know what that is soon enough.”

  “You can’t fight again until all the silver is purged from your system. You need to shift.”

  “Soon. After we convene the war council.
Don’t worry, mate.”

  “Asking me not to breathe would be simpler,” Drake said.

  “If I could spare you what’s coming—”

  “No.” Drake feathered her fingers through Sylvan’s hair. “We fight together.”

  Sylvan nodded and relaxed in her embrace. Drake didn’t fear death. She only feared losing Sylvan, and she would never let that happen. Never.

  At three in the morning, traffic on the Northway was light, and Becca piloted her Camaro north from Albany at eighty miles an hour. If she got stopped by one of the ubiquitous state troopers, she’d play her investigative reporter card and tell them she was on the trail of a hot story. She wouldn’t be lying either. Of course, she had no idea what the story really was, but she was damn well going to find out.

  She exited the Northway and drove slowly down a one-lane road into the Adirondack forest, searching for signs of the boundaries of the 700,000-acre wolf Were territory. Flipping on her high beams, she peered right and left as the road progressively narrowed, changing from pavement to gravel and, finally, to dirt. A deer bolted from the forest into her path, standing with spindly legs spread, its liquid eyes more curious than frightened. She slowed even further. If she killed a deer tonight, she would totally lose it. She’d spent too much time on her knees in Sylvan’s and Lara’s blood to tolerate one more ounce of pain and suffering. Just when she was about to give up, headlights blasted into her rearview mirror and nearly blinded her. She slammed on her brakes, her breath rushing from her chest. Okay. She was alone in the middle of God knew where, and she hadn’t the slightest idea how to shoot a gun. If she’d had a gun. She did have pepper spray, and she scrambled in her bag for it.

  A rap on the window sent an icy hand squeezing around her heart. Her fingers closed around the canister, and she palmed it as she turned and squinted into blackness. A light shone into her face and she blinked furiously.

  “Please identify yourself,” a female voice demanded in the brusque tone used by every cop Becca had ever met when they wanted to be intimidating.

  “You first,” she yelled through the closed window.

  “You’re encroaching on Pack land.”

  “Says who?” Becca called. “I didn’t see any signs.”

  “You drove past one a mile and a half ago.”

  “You ought to make them bigger, then, because I was looking for it. Who are you?”

  The light flickered out of Becca’s eyes and briefly illuminated the face of a gorgeous redhead with green, green eyes. Becca recognized the sculpted cheekbones and carved jaw of every single Were, male or female, she’d ever seen. Did they all have to be so beautiful? The light was back in her eyes.

  “I am Lieutenant Dasha Baran. May I see your ID, please.”

  “You first.”

  Becca thought she heard laughter, although the low resonant rumble could’ve been a growl. Goose bumps broke out on her skin, but her fingers relaxed a degree on the pepper spray in her hand. Something slapped against her window, and she flicked on the overhead lights. A laminated ID. The same gorgeous face. Rank and name underneath. Dasha Baran, Lieutenant. Taking a deep breath, Becca slammed her press ID against the glass next to Baran’s with her photo facing out.

  “Becca Land,” she said. “I want to see the wolf Alpha.”

  Baran laughed. “The Alpha does not see visitors on demand, particularly in the middle of the night. Her office number is listed in the telephone directory. Call for an appointment.”

  Becca rolled her window down. “Wait. What about Detective Jody Gates. Is she here?”

  The Were’s lip curled at one corner. Becca’s goose bumps grew goose bumps.

  “I’m sorry I can’t help you. Please turn around and exit Pack land.”

  “I know what happened to your Alpha last night. If you don’t want a story in the newspaper about someone shooting her, then I suggest you take me to see her.”

  Baran snarled and thrust her face into the window, and the gorgeous Were wasn’t gorgeous anymore. She was fucking terrifying. Becca choked back a scream and instantly flushed at her reaction. God damn it. She’d seen Weres shift before. Just not right in her face. The gleaming canines and shimmering gold eyes and the warning growl chilled her to the bone, but she had a job to do too. One that mattered a hell of a lot. And she’d had plenty of practice standing up for herself. Straightening sharply, she glared at the Were and snapped, “Don’t threaten me. I’m on your side. Now back off.”

  The Were lieutenant made a visible effort to stop her shift, if that’s what she was doing. The muscles in her face tightened, her elongated jaw tensed, and as her throat rippled, her snarls quieted. She actually ducked her head. What the fuck was that all about?

  “My apologies, Ms. Land,” the lieutenant said, her gaze sliding just to the left of Becca’s ear. “If you’ll wait here, I’ll call the Compound.”

  “Thank you.” Still shaking inside, Becca slipped the pepper spray canister back into her bag and quickly checked to be sure she had her essential tools. Digital recorder. Digital camera. Cell phone. Good old pad and pencil. Pepper spray. Backup pepper spray. Breath mints, wet wipes, and a protein bar. She closed her purse and gripped it in her lap. She was ready.

  She had to tell herself that because she had no idea what to expect if and when she breached the Were Compound. Reporters never got through the gates. Hell, reporters rarely had an opportunity to interview Councilor Mir in her offices in Albany. They sure as hell did not demand an audience with her in the heart of Pack territory. She figured her chances of getting inside were zero to minus a hundred, but she was going to sit here in her car until someone talked to her.

  “If you’ll come with me.”

  Becca jumped. Damn it! She needed to stop reacting like she was afraid of the Weres. But they walked so damn softly, although nothing like the way Jody glided invisibly from one place to the other, too quickly for the eye to follow. The Weres prowled, swift and lethal, like the animals some people felt they were. They weren’t animals. They weren’t humans who sometimes became animals either. They were what they were. They were Weres, with a fascinating combination of humanoid and animal traits. She wasn’t yet sure how to characterize the Vampires, and she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about that. About who and what Jody was. About who and what Jody needed.

  “Why should I get out?” Becca asked.

  “I’ll drive you to the Compound.”

  “Thank you,” Becca said in her coolest, calmest voice. She gripped the door handle and pulled it up with determination. As she stepped out, she said, “I could drive and follow you—”

  “In my vehicle, please,” Lieutenant Baran said, and from her tone, the conversation was over.

  The Were quickly disappeared into the darkness, obviously thinking Becca could see as clearly in the dense forest as she could. The narrow dirt road was heavily overgrown, or more likely had been left that way to conceal it, and the little bits of moonlight filtering through the trees gave her barely enough illumination to stay on the cleared track. A dark shape loomed ahead and she hesitated. A Humvee, or something like it. Bigger. Like armored-tank big. Jesus. What were they expecting? A war? Becca’s throat went dry.

  Lieutenant Baran suddenly loomed in front of her, switched on a flashlight, and aimed it across the front of the vehicle. Becca trailed her fingertips along the hood for balance as she squeezed between the matte black vehicle and the underbrush. When she reached the passenger door, she hoisted herself into the high seat. No roof. Just a roll bar. Baran was already behind the wheel, and Becca had barely gotten the door closed when the vehicle shot forward. She gripped the handhold next to her shoulder and strained to see where they were headed. She couldn’t see a damn thing. North. East. West? Not a clue. Hell, they could take her anywhere out here, leave her, and she wouldn’t have the slightest chance of finding her way out.

  “You’re in no danger,” Baran said in her low, throaty voice.

  “What do you mean?”
/>   “I can smell your fear.”

  Wonderful. Becca twisted on the seat to face the Were behind the wheel. “I’m not afraid of you. I just dislike not knowing where I’m going.”

  “You don’t like not being in control.”

  “Oh, and you do?”

  “I’m a Were.”

  As if that answered everything. Becca’s eyes had adjusted enough for her to see the smile that flickered at the corner of the lieutenant’s mouth. She was back to being gorgeous again. Not only gorgeous, but downright incredibly sexy. Becca caught her breath. Maybe Weres had the same ability to attract prey with a sexual thrall that the Vampires did. Oh my God. Was she going to start throwing herself at the Weres the way she wanted to with Jody?

  “Are you married?” Becca said. “Mated, I mean?”

  Slowly, Dasha Baran turned her head and met Becca’s eyes for the first time since she’d left her to call the Compound. Little flecks of gold flickered behind the dense curtain of her lashes. “Are you inviting me to tangle?”

  Becca played that word through her mind. It wasn’t difficult to decipher it. “No, I was making conversation.”

  A rumble that might’ve been laughter churned upward from Dasha’s chest. “Weres might think of that as something other than a casual remark.”

  “I see. Well then, you can just pretend I didn’t—”

  “I am not mated. Even so, as I said, you are safe.”

  “Actually, what I am is really embarrassed. I’m quite sorry for—”

  “Do you mind when a human male finds you attractive or invites you to…have a personal interaction?”

  Becca’s face felt warm despite the cool breeze streaming through the open top of the vehicle. “Ah, no. Depending on the circumstances, I might be flattered. Well, not if it was a man. But if it was a woman? Yes, probably. But I wasn’t—”

  “I’m teasing.”

  Of course she was. Weres, like all Praetern species, had lived side by side with humans for thousands of years. They’d remained invisible by learning to fit in, by hiding their essential natures. What had she expected? That in their natural habitat the Weres would be less civilized, unable to control their basic urges? “I’m incredibly sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.”