Jennifer Ashley - Lone Wolf

“No,” Andrea said. “Just me.”

She came to kneel beside Ellison, careful not to break the family huddle. Ellison couldn’t have let Deni go for anything right now, in any case. Andrea reached between them, laid her hand on Deni’s forearm, and let her healing magic trickle into Deni to soothe her better than any man-made tranquilizer ever could.

Ellison felt the small pulse of magic flowing into him through Deni. Though Glory was the leader of the rival Lupine pack in this Shiftertown—Broderick’s pack—and Andrea her niece, Ellison had nothing but gratitude for them.

Maria finished her shift without any more asshats harassing her, or drinks spilling, or glasses breaking.

Liam had cleaned up the mess by the time she emerged from his office, the floor pristinely clean. He said nothing to her about the incident, only winked at her as she walked back to the bar to fill her next order. The rest of the Shifters had gone back to drinking, laughing, and talking, the excitement over.

Maria’s shift that night finished before the bar closed. She let Ronan walk her partway home, but he had to get back to help Liam close, and she told him to go. Shiftertown lay before her, with its small bungalows and neat yards, quiet under the cool of the night. Summer would hit soon, with sticky weather that only Austin and its river and creeks could bring.

Ellison had gone before Maria emerged from the office, long gone, Spike told her. Jackson had called, and Ellison had raced home.

Spike, a man of few words, of course hadn’t been that effusive. What he’d said was: “Ellison went. Jackson called. While ago.”

Maria knew why. Poor Deni, and her poor sons. Jackson and Will were grown men in human terms but still considered cubs to Shifters.

She hoped everything was all right. She’d have to visit Deni tomorrow if all was well, maybe cook her something. Buñuelos. Deni liked those, and they were fairly easy to put together. Sean always kept flour, sugar, and honey around for making his pancakes, and never minded when Maria used the ingredients. Maria helped pay for groceries with her tips from the bar, in any case.

Her tips had been pretty good tonight. Maria’s pockets were full of coins and bills, more for her jar of savings.

A shadow rose beside her, and a Shifter fell into step with her. “I liked how you stood up to that human,” the Lupine called Broderick said. “Took guts.”

“Thank you.” Maria kept walking, though her calm had shattered again. Broderick liked to follow her home, to walk to close to her. Though he’d never done anything inappropriate in Shifter terms, he violated her personal space all the time, doing everything but rubbing against her.

“No one would do that to you if you had a mate,” Broderick said.

His constant argument. “I don’t want a mate,” Maria said quickly. She’d been mate-claimed by one of the Lupines in Miguel’s Shifter pack, and at first, she’d been stupidly enchanted with Luis, which was how she’d been stolen from home in the first place. She’d learned quickly about the things Miguel expected from females brought in by his feral males.

At first, Maria had blamed herself for falling for tall, handsome Luis, but she knew now that if she hadn’t have run away with Luis willingly, he’d have kidnapped her. Miguel and his Shifters had dominated Maria’s little town, and there had been nothing her family or any of the other townspeople could do.

“Yeah, you keep going on that you don’t want anything to do with Shifters,” Broderick said. “But you live here, honey. You can’t be wriggling your ass at us and then telling us we can’t have any. Not when male Shifters are dying to mate.”

Maria shivered, and not from the breeze. She was too alone out here, the first houses of Shiftertown half a block away. If she tried to run, Broderick would be on her before she took two steps.

“Maybe someday,” Maria said. But not if she could help it. She had her plan, and she would be free.

“Maybe now .” Broderick grabbed her arm and leaned close, breathing into her face. Maria cringed back from the scent of stale beer. “Maria Ortega, I mate-claim you under the light of the mother goddess.”

Maria tried to break free, but his hand was strong. “There’s no moon tonight, and you have to do it in front of witnesses.” She knew that much.

Broderick’s grip bore down. “Then let’s go find us some witnesses.”

“Here’s one,” came a male growl.

Ellison appeared out of nowhere, a mass in the dark, reaching for Broderick. Ellison’s face was bruised, as though he’d been fighting, his hair a mess. He clamped one hand around Broderick’s neck and yanked him away from Maria.

“You heard me,” Broderick managed to say, even with Ellison’s fingers digging into his throat. “I claim this female in front of a witness.”

Ellison snarled, his eyes tinged with red. “Then I Challenge.”

Ellison smelled Maria’s fear, a scent that spiraled his protectiveness—already high—skyward. He shook Broderick, hand still around the wolf’s throat.

Broderick wrenched himself free but kept to his feet, his Collar sparking as he came back at Ellison.

“Stop!” Maria shouted.

Broderick surprisingly obeyed, his eyes bloodshot with drink and anger. He was fairly high up in the other Shiftertown pack, the one Glory led, and he always behaved as though he had the weight of his pack behind him.

“You can’t touch her until the Challenge plays out,” Broderick said, rubbing his throat. “Off-limits.”

“Then I’ll play it out right now.”

“ I name the time and place, as the Challenged.”

Ellison waited. Broderick looked Ellison up and down, keeping his sneer but with assessment in his eyes. Ellison’s pack might be small, but that didn’t mean Ellison had lesser power.

Maria stepped between them. Ellison sensed her panic, a primal fear that had been seared into her by the ferals who’d captured her. She was afraid of Shifters in general, but she bravely stood her ground now and held her hand out in a stopping motion to Broderick. “I can refuse the mate-claim. I know the rules.”

“You’re fair game, darling,” Broderick said. “You need a mate to protect you.”

“What I need is for both of you to leave me the hell alone!”

Broderick took a step toward her, but Ellison was around Maria with Shifter speed, blocking his path. “She refused. That’s the end.”

Broderick glared at Ellison, fists closing. “I’m taking this to Liam. He decides.”

“He knows Shifter law.”

“I know. He knows pack law too. When Andrea came here, the pack wouldn’t accept her until she had a mate. We didn’t need her running around making every male fight over her. The same thing applies now.”

“Not with a human. She’s not part of any pack.”

“Then what’s she doing here? She either follows Shifter law, or she leaves.”

Maria already had left. Not being stupid, she was walking swiftly across the vacant lot, heading for the street that would lead to where she lived with Sean and Andrea, Dylan and Glory.

Ellison turned his back on Broderick and strode after her. He heard Broderick mutter something behind him, but Broderick didn’t follow. Likely he was going back to the bar to either drown his troubles or whine at Liam.

Ellison quickened his footsteps to reach Maria. Broderick wasn’t wrong about male Shifters wanting to fight each other over her. Females were few and far between. Unmated, unprotected females, fewer still. Most of the males were more polite than Broderick, but just barely.

Ellison, who’d watched her across his street every day as she’d lived, first with Liam and family, then with Sean and family, had left her alone. Having heard the story of her rescue from the feral pack by Dylan, Ellison knew Maria was still hurting.