Embracing the Wolf

“I find it insulting that you only think someone would challenge me to get to you,” I joked. “What if someone challenged you to win me?”

Twin rows of teeth glistened in the sun as a large smile spread across Adam’s face. “Those women who try to steal your spot are only after the position of power, not me. If men should want to challenge me for you …” Adam shrugged. “They can try, but it will only result in their deaths. No. One. Will. Ever. Take. You. From. Me.”

I nodded, speechless to his intensity. My wolf quivered like an excited puppy. She wasn’t the only one who thought a protective male was sexy. I knew that through whatever obstacles were thrown our way, Adam would knock down mountains to keep harm from coming to me. And I would do the same.

“Sir …”

Adam and I turned to see Joe standing a few feet away with a clipboard in his hands. I smiled at the thought of him being turned into a party coordinator. He was responsible for event planning and making sure the visiting wolves had shelter.

“I needed to go over this itinerary with you if you have a moment,” Joe said.

Adam turned toward me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m going to be busy helping the others get ready for the conference. I want you with someone at all times, understand?”

When I began to open my mouth in protest, Adam placed a finger over my lips to silence me. I was learning when Adam got something into his head it was nearly impossible to get it out.

“Promise me.”

I nodded and Adam removed his finger. He smiled and began to walk away.

“I still think you’re overreacting,” I called after him.

He looked over his shoulder and said, “When this is all over—and nothing happens—please feel free to say, ‘I told you so.’”

He cut across the yard and stopped where Joe was standing. I watched as he pointed off in the distance and then down at the clipboard. The conference was a much bigger deal than I originally thought. Everyone was busy doing something. Everyone except me. Adam hadn’t given me any orders since our bonding, and it felt bizarre. I was used to taking on every little task, and now I had more free time than I knew what to do with.

Chapter Four

“Hey, need some help?” Chelsea had taken on the role of mule for the pack. I felt partly responsible. Just weeks ago that was me.

“Nah, that’s okay,” Chelsea said as she snapped a towel to fold. Her wavy brown hair was twisted up into a bun. Tendrils escaped and grazed her long neck.

Ignoring her dismissal of my help, I grabbed a shirt and began folding. I smiled when she looked up at me. Things between us had been a bit awkward since she was bitten and turned. I couldn’t blame her for how she felt. When I learned I was going to turn into a hairy monster every full moon it did a number on my head, too.

“How’s changing going?”

“Listen, we don’t have to do the whole small talk thing.”

I stopped folding and stared at her dumbfounded, and a little hurt. “I know we haven’t talked about what happened that night, and I’m sorry for that— ”

“Sorry for what Eve and her twisted band of followers did to me? It’s not your place to apologize. What’s done is done.”

“Still,” I continued, “had it not been for me she never would have targeted you. For that, I apologize. I know life up here seems tough at first, but you’ll get used to it and find out this group of “monsters”—I bent my fingers in air quotes—“aren’t as bad as they pretend to be.”

“Yeah, they’re friendlier than a basket of puppies,” Chelsea retorted with a snort. “So nice in fact, that their warm welcome included turning me into a slave.”

My bottom lip curled in as I gnawed on it. It was easy to tell someone not to worry or to look on the bright side. Only, I knew from experience how difficult being integrated into a pack was, and how scary it could be. I wasn’t an innocent bystander trying to make her feel better; I was offering firsthand advice.

“Listen, I know you’re angry. The hormones of the wolf bring every little emotion to the surface. Things feel more intense now. You’re allowed to be frightened, and even a little pissed off, but I hope you know that if you need someone to talk to I’m here. It wasn’t long ago that I was standing right where you are.”

“Yeah, well we all can’t be Cinderella and have our alpha prince rescue us from our prison.”

That stung—a lot. My wolf bristled within me, angry and ready to knock her around a little. I snapped my jaw together so tightly the pressure of my teeth grinding into each other made my jaw ache.

“Your prince may be closer than you think,” I told her before leaving the living room. When I rounded the corner, I leaned against the wall and concentrated on calming my wolf down. She didn’t like when someone picked a fight with us. In her eyes there was only one way to settle it, and it wasn’t through talking.

“We’ve got company,” Elle said, coming in through the sliding glass doors. She carried a pair of tongs and a bottle of BBQ sauce in her hands. Asher had lent us five large grills that they used at his butcher shop. Currently, they were sitting out on our back deck with clouds of meat-scented smoke rising from them.

“Who?” I asked, walking over to the counter and plucking a potato skin from a tray. It was a shame Elle’s culinary skills were wasted on a bunch of werewolves. She could have easily opened a restaurant and made a killing.

Elle shrugged. “A group of five: three women and two men. Joe is getting them settled in Adam’s old house.”

I shoved the rest of the potato into my mouth and thought while I chewed. Adam had asked me to stay in his house, but I couldn’t make a home with him in the house he shared with Eve. I know that sounds immature, but we wolves are territorial. No part of me wanted any reminder of that crazy woman. I sure as hell wasn’t going to sleep under the same roof she had with Adam. As sick as Eve was, I was sure she cared about Adam in her own twisted way. She may not have loved him like she did his brother, but she cared, nonetheless. Adam hadn’t complained. Instead, he moved into my bedroom in the main house.

“Earth to Anna.”

I snapped back to reality. Elle was holding a large tray of meat while juggling utensils under her arms.

“Can you get the door, your majesty?” She smiled because she knew I hated that royalty, werewolf politics crap. I could tolerate everyone else treating me differently—expect Elle. If she started watching her words around me, I was liable to scream.

“Only if you address me correctly,” I said, walking over to the door and placing my hand around the handle. I waited.

“My beautiful alpha, could you please assist me in opening the door?”

I flipped the lock and crossed my arms.

“All right, all right,” Elle squealed as she moved her arm to catch the pair of falling tongs. “Open the damn door or our dinner is going to be served on the floor.”

I laughed, unlocked the door, and slid it open. “That’s better.”

As she stepped through the door, she said, “Thank you, my alpha,” followed by a giggle. I rolled my eyes and joined her and the others out on the deck. The food was still cooking, but multiple people sat at the two patio tables chatting and enjoying longnecks. The sun was falling behind the mountains, painting the sky in sherbet orange and pink. A nice breeze whistled through the tall pine and birch trees, bringing with it the scent of summer. I inhaled deep, relishing the wilderness that stirred the beast within me. These woods and mountains were her playground, an endless smorgasbord of moose, elk, and deer.

I felt Adam before I saw him. My head instinctively turned to the right just as he came around the back of the house. The wind played with his blond hair, fluttering it against his muscular neck. My tongue snaked out and caressed my upper lip as I stared at his masterpiece. Just then, his head popped up, and his eyes connected with mine. A devilish grin bent one side of his mouth up, and he winked, sending my ever-present desire for him into overdrive. I often wondered if I would ever lose this feeling—grow tired of him like I did the others. And every time I thought about it, I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t. There was no end to the want I had for him.

When his gaze fell from mine, I realized he wasn’t alone. Two women, a blonde and a brunette stood next to him. Before becoming a werewolf I had never been a jealous woman. Then again, I had never found a man worth being jealous over. Now, when a woman was around Adam, all I could focus on were the calculations of their responses to him—the way they placed their hand on his forearm or threw their head back and laughed as though he was the first person to ever tell a joke. My eye twitched as the brunette stepped closer. It wasn’t a huge difference, but the movement had placed her close enough that her breasts brushed against his arm. The blonde bent over in front of him and leaned over the rose bushes growing along the deck. I was all for stopping and smelling the roses, but I never knew it could be used as seductive maneuver. My eyes slid up to see if Adam was appreciating the view, only to find his eyes on me. My cheeks heated, and I whirled around to break our eye contact. The movement was awkward and ungraceful, sending me bumping into Asher’s shoulder as he stepped through the door.

“Whoa,” he said, placing his hands on my shoulders to steady me. “Hittin’ the bottle early, huh?”

I know he was teasing, but it sounded like a good idea. Since becoming a werewolf, I could process alcohol a lot better than I could when I was human. A bottle wouldn’t get me drunk, but it would ease my anxiousness.

“Sorry,” I said, slipping around his large frame and into the house. I headed for the bathroom in a mad dash. Luckily, the only person in the house was Chelsea, and she wouldn’t care enough to ask me what I was doing.

I shut and locked the door, going to the large mirror over the double sinks. I frowned at my reflection. My blonde hair hung limp against my shoulders, and my skin, though tan, could use a coat of makeup—or two. I looked … plain. My capris and tank top weren’t sexy in the least, especially with a grass stain streaked across my belly. I hadn’t inspected my clothes after changing back to my regular self. I was in a hurry to dress and meet Adam’s parents. I snorted to myself in remembrance of their opinion of me. Maybe if I would have changed into something more appropriate, their impression of me would have been higher. Even as I thought it, I knew it was wrong. It wasn’t my wardrobe that swayed their minds; it was the blood running through my veins.