Loribelle Hunt - Once Bitten

He'd hate to give that up, but for Liza and Caleb, he'd do damned near anything.

He hesitated before knocking, straightened his spine, and plunged in. He had no idea how his fathers would take the news and saw only a second of question on his oldest brother's face when he answered the door.

Zach followed Matthew down the hall to the large study where everyone was hanging out.

There were two large desks in the room. They were placed in an L shape against the back wall where alpha and beta could both easily see anyone who entered. Both were there now, leaning back, relaxed, and drinking a beer. His mother was in the room too, her back against a pillow on the deep window seat. When he crossed the room, leaned down, and kissed her cheek, she looked up and smiled, her sharp knowing eyes searching his face. He shook his head, not responding to her unasked questions, but she wouldn't be put off.

She turned her stare back to the knitting on her lap, and Zach let a moment of sadness wash over him. He'd miss his mother most. No one who looked in on the scene would imagine she was anything other than gentle and lovely. They'd be wrong. She'd run herd over five boys, had a spine of steel, and eyes in the back of her head. She looked up and met his gaze again.

“What's her name?” No way. Had to be mother ESP. How could she know about the woman who'd become his world in only a few hours' time?

“Liza.”

“Human?” Uh-oh. Dangerous ground. The question should have been innocent since there was no one named Liza in their pack, but he got the impression his mother knew a lot more than she was letting on.

“Yes,” he answered. It wasn't a lie. She was human, just had a lot more thrown in.

“I suppose this has something to do with the woman you and Caleb almost came to blows over at the bar,” Michael, the beta and one of his fathers, said with amusement.

Busted. He gave up. If they knew that much, they probably knew it all. “That's the one.” He took a deep breath. “Caleb is returning to Redhawke. I'm going with him. Tonight.”

“As his beta?” Donald, the alpha, asked.

“Yes.”

“So your woman is their witch.”

His back stiffened as his senses went on guard. He didn't feel any danger in the room. Hell, they were family, but hatred against witches ran deep throughout the lupine world.

“Our woman. She is. Is that a problem?”

Michael chuckled. “Might keep you on your toes.”

“About time someone did,” his mother teased.

“Grant and Henry trust her,” Donald said. “From what I hear, she's earned that trust. You won't hear any objections from me.”

Leaving only his brothers, the oldest of which, the next alpha and second oldest, the next beta, were in the room.

Matthew shrugged when Zach turned to look at him. “Your woman, man.” But his second-oldest brother was grinning like an idiot. “It'll be good for you. She's not one of those helpless wolves you seem to like so much.” He sobered in an instant. “And, brother, it would be bad if you forgot that. Better to learn that right from the start. She doesn't need protection.”

And he would know. David's mate was one of the highest-ranking soldiers in the pack.

Zach's ears still hurt from some of the fights David and his mate had had in the beginning of their relationship over whether she needed him to fight for her.

Chapter Eight

Liza let Caleb herd her to the car. She could have stopped him, could have gone her own way, but what was the point? He'd decided that he was going home, and this way, she got to keep an eye on him. It didn't hurt that the eyeful was so…nice. Man. Time to get her mind on something else.

She turned sideways in her seat. “So.” She didn't continue until he glanced over and met her gaze. “You and Zach. What exactly is going on there?” His hands convulsed on the wheel. “You have a problem with Zach?” Not if I get to watch . Instead of voicing the opinion—some werewolves weren't as open-minded as she was, and she could understand where his attitude was coming from—she shrugged.

“I have a right to know. You both marked me.” She muttered, “I have no idea why.”

“Zach is my best friend. He's also my lover. For three years now.”

“I didn't have any idea,” she said softly. “All my reports just mentioned brief flings with women.”

“You were getting reports on me?” He sounded more interested than pissed.

She shrugged. “You're the alpha's heir. Plus, I get reports on everyone who leaves the pack.” She paused. “So you and Zach? That's not a friends-with-benefits thing, is it? You love him.”

He grunted and she figured it was all the answer she would get.

“That's why there was never any steady woman. Why bring me into the mix then? You were obviously happy before without bringing someone in you don't particularly even like.” He didn't respond, and sighing, she leaned back in her seat and pretended to sleep. Her stomach was a tight knot of emotions. Anger. Desire. Confusion. The last few hours had brought about such big changes. Caleb coming home. Caleb and Zach claiming her. She should be freaking out about all of it, but it felt right. All except the animosity she still felt from Caleb.

Over the past.

She was so distracted she didn't react when he picked up her hand, lifted it to his face, and licked her palm. Then he chuckled. “I know you're awake.” Well, hell. In that case, she might as well get some answers. “Why the change of heart?

What's different now? You're still gonna be alpha and I'm still just as likely to have human babies.”

Anger rose and with it a pang of disappointment. Of sorrow. He'd really been willing to throw them away, and whatever children they might have had, over an ability to shift. What was different now? Pack politics? She yanked her hand back.

“Fuck, Liza. I never cared about that.”

“Excuse me?” What an asshole. She remembered that conversation too well. If they weren't going eighty miles per hour down the expressway, she might have strangled him. She still might.

“I was furious. And hurt,” he added softly. “I was lashing back.” She tried to retrieve her hand, but he wouldn't let go. She took a deep breath, struggling to keep her voice low and controlled, but man was she pissed. “Furious at me?” she countered.

“You practically attacked me when you opened the door!”

“How did that conversation with my dad go anyway? Liza, I really want you to mate with my son. Go seduce him?”

His rage vibrated in the SUV, but hers matched it. He really believed this nonsense? That she'd slept with him because she was ordered to? She was so stunned that she couldn't do more than huff and try to free herself again. A lost cause.

“If you think so little of me, why now?”

“Because you're mine,” he snarled. “You always were; you just didn't see it because of your damned devotion to the pack.”

She couldn't help it. She laughed until it hurt, until just glaring at her response wasn't enough and he pulled off onto the shoulder. He leaned over, caging her between the seat and door.

“What's so damned funny?”

“You.” Her laughter was gone with his sudden move. “Your dad told me once you were an idiot for leaving me. I thought you were just being honest about what you wanted.” She took a deep breath that made her breasts rub against his chest. “You wasted five very long years because of that misconception.”

He glared. “Explain.”

“Why bother? You already know everything, remember?”

“Start talking before I turn you over my knee, baby.” She would have destroyed any other man that dared make that threat. But not Caleb. Never Caleb. His voice dropped to one promising sensual fulfillment, a kind of play she wouldn't accept from anyone but him or Zach.