Shelly Laurenston: Go Fetch

“You all right, sugar?” Didn’t help that sexy voice was Southern. Miki would place him around the Carolinas or Alabama. Georgia maybe. Wherever he hailed from, guys with Southern accents did things to her and her two friends that any other accent simply couldn’t touch.

Angelina stared. “Uh…”

Miki’s eyes widened. Never, ever , in the twenty years she’d known her, had Angelina been at a loss for words over a man. Any man.

Miki slung the bag over her shoulder. “Sorry about that. We need to get to my plane.”

“No problem. Y’all can slam in to me any time.”

He may have said “y’all” but he clearly meant only Angelina. Who still hadn’t quite found her voice yet. They called Miki’s plane again. She had to go or she’d miss her flight and never hear the end of it from Sara.

She couldn’t leave Angelina, though. Not with this one. Definitely not with all three.

“Hey, Ang. We need to go.” She grabbed her friend’s arm and tugged. When that didn’t seem to work, she yanked.

Angelina snapped out of her stupor. “Uh…oh, yeah. Yeah. We better get moving.” She glanced at Southern Charm. “Sorry.”

“Not at all.” Then he and his tailor-made suit walked off. Miki knew it was tailormade because they simply didn’t make suits in that size for off-the-rack. His two brothers, with a leer at Miki, followed.

“You all right?”

“Yeah.” Angelina shook her head. “Yeah. I’m fine, dude.”

“I couldn’t leave you with him, ya know.”

“You think every tall guy is either Pride or Pack.”

“I don’t know what he is. But Sara and her Pack have pissed off some major players.”

“And yet you’re trotting off to Seattle by yourself.”

“First off, I don’t trot. Second, I can take care of myself. Always have. Always will. I don’t need babysitters. Besides I’m not the one in danger of becoming the love slave of some shapeshifter.”

Angelina finally snapped back completely. “You’re kidding, right? With Lassie on your tail?”

“Shut up.”

Conall checked his watch. Again. Soon his personal wet fantasy would be here. He wondered if it would be inappropriate to tackle her in the hallway as soon as she arrived and drag her up to his bedroom. Probably. Damn human etiquette.

He heard the glass doors leading to the back of the house slide open, and then he heard Zach. “Either you control that mutt or I’ll have him go play fetch on the freeway. Your choice, woman.” He slammed the door shut.

Zach walked over to Conall and, with a heavy sigh, sat down on the bench beside him.

Conall wasn’t buying it for a second. “Don’t even try and pretend like she annoys you.”

“She’s making my life a living hell.”

“She’s the best thing to ever happen to this Pack. And God knows, she’s the best thing to ever happen to you .”

“Yeah, I know.” Sara Morrighan had only been Zach’s mate and the Pack’s Alpha Female for six months, but it had been the best six months the Pack had known for years. She wasn’t normal. Even by wolf standards. But her odd view of everything was infectious. The females worshipped her and feared her in equal amounts while the males knew not to push her patience. Still, they appreciated that she took the jagged edges off Zach. He was still a ball buster, but a much friendlier one. She’d even gotten the respect of the older wolves who didn’t live in the main house, which was usually damn near impossible.

Conall checked his watch and Zach chuckled.

“How long before she gets here?”

“Two hours. Six minutes. And thirty-four seconds.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re not all wound up about it.”

Oh, I’m wound all right. Tight. He never stopped thinking about her. Wanting her. He was dying to know exactly what kinds of things got her off. Sucking her nipples? Licking her clit? Or something more simple? His hands in her hair? His tongue in her ear?

Zach had thrown every available female from the club scene at him. He wanted Conall to lose interest in what he termed “Sara’s big-mouthed friend,” but none of the women held his interest. Conall only wanted Miki. And he couldn’t wait until he had her tight little butt naked and on his lap.

“She’ll come around,” he stated with as much conviction as possible.

“She’s human, Conall. You should go for a nice wolf girl.”

Conall looked over at his best friend and the Alpha Male of the Magnus Pack. Bite marks and bruises riddled the man’s body. And Conall knew from when they shifted after hunting that claw marks covered the man’s back. It was true, Sara rocked Zach’s world. But she also chewed the shit out of him while doing it. Conall would rather have sex that didn’t involve bloodletting. At least not as much. “I’m not looking for marriage here, Zach. I just want to fuck her until one of us dies.”

“Well…that’s a goal. But if you ask me she’s rude. Loud. Short.”

“She’s direct. Confident. Petite.”

“Man, do you have it bad.”

Conall didn’t bother denying it because they both knew it was true.

“By the way.” He decided to change the subject since talking about Miki only made him hard. “We had some visitors on our property last night.”

He could feel Zach tense next to him. His only objective was to protect his mate. Zach would destroy anyone who threatened her.

“Who?”

“Not sure. But it’s the same scent as the one from the rave.”

“Great. Just what I fucking need.”

“They weren’t here long. Jake’s stupid but he was on them pretty fast.”

“On who pretty fast?”

Conall and Zach looked up to see Sara standing in front of them, a stack of mail in her hand. She’d really gotten stealthy lately, learning how to stay downwind.

“Nothing,” Zach grunted.

Sara sighed and squeezed in between the two of them on the bench. “You’re lying to me. I really hate that.” She laid her head on Zach’s shoulder. “You might as well tell me now, mate. I’ll just get it out of you later.”

“I’m never sure if those are threats or promises.”

With a low growl, she bit Zach’s shoulder. Zach winced as she drew blood. “It’s both.” She retracted her canines.

Conall knew if he didn’t say anything he’d have to witness the Alpha pair’s idea of foreplay—wrestling. All they were missing were the ring and the announcer.

“Something in our territory last night. Not sure what, though.”

“Bunnies?” she asked hopefully, and Conall heard Zach growl.

He laughed. Sara always made him laugh. She was a wacky girl.

“Probably not. Not too many bunny shifters.”

“So you say. Well, whatever was in our territory should be dead. Are they dead, Conall?”

Zach and Conall looked at Sara, then at each other. The woman was dangerous. She didn’t tolerate outsiders on the Pack’s property. She didn’t tolerate threats to her Pack. She didn’t tolerate anything she deemed a danger to who and what she loved. She wasn’t a hunter like Conall or Kelly or any of the other Pack members. Sara Morrighan was a stone-cold killer. She knew it and she liked it.

“No, but Jake scared them off.”

“I want Angie and Miki safe when they’re here.”

“They will be,” Zach assured her.

“And you better stay close to Miki for me, Conall. You know, for safety.”

Zach groaned. “Very subtle, mate.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m only thinking about my friend’s safety.” If you didn’t know her, you would have thought she was being completely sincere.

Sara handed a stack of mail to Zach. “Here.” Then she handed a small, card-sized envelope to Conall.