Chapter 5
Chapter Five
He rose, kissed one taut nipple then moved to the other, unable to resist the heady offering.
“Yes, in heat.” Rudra leaned into his touch. “No. I was…trying to say…” She paused to catch her breath. She scooted off the sink and shoved him back, as far back as the small space would allow, and glared. “Stop it!”
“Sorry.” He looked down at his cock that wouldn’t seem to quit.
“I can’t think when you touch me,” she admitted with a growl.
He found it enthralling. The power in this red wolf seethed, as if begging to be set free. He could feel it, and the werewolf dwelling inside him snarled, demanding to be set free as well. The mark on his arm burned. The blood of Lycos demanded satisfaction.
“Look, Fenris.” She fidgeted as if uncomfortable.
He realized that in the short but memorable time they’d been together, this was the first time she’d said his name.
“I’m the alpha here. I can’t do this.”
“Honey, we just did.” He felt a little bit sorry for her. Rudra, or Red, as he’d decided to call her, looked flushed, replete and slightly dazed.
“That’s not the point,” she snapped and stepped forward, trapping him between the wall and her rage.
He shouldn’t have been turned on by her anger, but he was.
“I’m alpha of the Red Clan.”
“Red Clan? But you guys are all the way—” How the hell had he travelled a hundred miles in two hours? That would put him near the human settlements. A glance at her showed her slight resemblance to Rurik, a human sorcerer.
Her father.
“Yeah, all the way out here in bumfuck because your alpha got greedy.” She poked him in the chest, her finger hard.
“Well, guess what, Goldie? You’re going to help us take back the land Michael Barton stole from us.
From the bears, the foxes and the other wolves.
We’re going home. And you’re going to lead the way. ”
Fenris didn’t know what to think. “You’re going to lead an attack on the Silver Clan?”
“Damn straight. I’m tired of living among humans. And not one crack about my father,” she fumed, her gaze as golden as the sun. Sorcerer eyes that held untold power and obvious danger.
Her father. What the hell had Fenris been thinking screwing a half-sorcerer who was in heat? Had he lost his mind completely? Even worse, the evil woman didn’t seem to like him. He didn’t want to think about why that bothered him more than the thought he might have gotten her pregnant.
“Oh, I wouldn’t think of insulting your father.
” What wasn’t to like about Fenris? He was golden, strong, bore the Mark of Lycos, and could shift into an impressive werewolf.
“He’s been the most considerate of your clan—well, with the exception of you.
” How could this stubborn woman not like him after the orgasms he’d given her?
Ungrateful, sexy wench. “I can’t thank you enough for taking the edge off.
” He sneered, wondering how the hell he’d entered a situation so bizarre.
She gripped him by the throat before he could blink. To his astonishment, she lifted him off the ground, rising with him so they both hovered off the floor.
“Don’t insult me on my own land. And don’t think I won’t take you apart if you endanger my clan, no matter how good that cock of yours felt.”
Mollified that she’d liked him inside her, and despite himself, impressed with her power, he nodded and gasped when she dropped him.
Rudra floated back to the floor as if nothing had happened.
“I lead this clan. It’s my job to look out for all of us.
My father is a part of Red Clan, as are the grizzly, the foxes, and a few other wolves.
All of us are outcasts thanks to your alpha.
We’re tired of living as second-class citizens.
The Wolf in the Forest belongs to every shifter.
How can you stand living with Barton, that son of a bitch? ”
Um, he’s my uncle probably wouldn’t go over too well right about now.
“Why would I want to leave? So I could live out here next to humanity?” But hadn’t he fantasized about leaving the clan for the last few years?
Hadn’t he been trying to convince Anson to find a new home where they’d better fit in?
Rudra regarded him with suspicion. “The Silver Clan decimated all the other clans centuries ago. How is it you live among your enemy? You’re Golden Clan. Not one of them.”
“What?” The woman made no sense.
She shook her head. “Don’t play with me. I don’t have the patience for this.”
“I’m not playing. The Silver Clan didn’t destroy the Golden Clan. The humans did a thousand years ago.” Leaving one lone golden wolf to repopulate his kind.
She snorted. “Right. And that’s why we’re out here living among humans. Because they’re so much less dangerous than Barton. He’s the one that ruined your line.”
Puzzled, Fenris sensed her righteous anger. She thought she was telling the truth. Before he could ask her more, he heard a noise outside.
Her eyes grew wide. “Hell, it’s my father.”
“I’ll—”
“You’ll do nothing. You’ll wait right here. Not a word about what happened between us. Do you understand?” She looked fierce.
He nodded, wondering when she’d realize he didn’t need to say anything. In addition to her shredded clothing in the living room, any shifter within reach would smell him on her.
But he respected her rule here. He didn’t agree with her crazy decision to start a clan war, but he appreciated her claim on this place the Red Clan had forged for themselves. It couldn’t be easy living so near humans.
He flinched at the thought, recalling Red was, in fact, part human. Why bother running from Silver Clan females if he planned on screwing mortal kind? Wasn’t one group as bad as the other? Yet he couldn’t deny he wanted her again, right now.
Crazy thoughts.
Perhaps he’d fallen and hit his head. None of this was real.
Or he dreamed, lying in the Great Forest, experiencing nightmares after barely escaping a forced mating.
Visions of the future had plagued him for years, though he’d never put much credence in them.
Still, his time with Red felt too real to dismiss as a fantasy.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She snarled and shoved him back again.
Startled to feel her shoulders under his palms, because he didn’t remember taking the steps to close the distance between them, he squeezed her.
“Take your hard-on somewhere else, buddy. My father is out there.”
“So?” He zeroed in on the mark he’d left on her neck and felt satisfaction.
Red covered the spot with her hands and swore. She snapped her fingers and suddenly wore what she’d been wearing earlier, except she’d thrown on a turtleneck instead of the T-shirt. She snapped again and he wore jeans, a black T-shirt and sneakers.
“Handy.” And scary. The wolf inside him didn’t like her magic. He had to force himself not to back away when she leaned closer.
“Don’t screw with my dad. He looks nice enough, and he seems kind of frail in comparison to wolves, but he’s very powerful.”
“I scented it on him when I woke earlier. Trust me, I’m not planning to screw with your father.” Wanting to take her down a peg, he added, “Now you, on the other hand…”
She glared at him, turned and left the bathroom.