Fresh cold mountain air cleared Lev’s mind as he raced across the snow in wolf form. The smell of fresh fir trees and the silent sound of winter in his familiar pack territory calmed him. Rachel was safe. Most likely confused, concerned and curious. The contract probably scared the shit out of her. He wished he could have been with her. What was Rylee thinking? She knew he had claimed her as his. No use hiding nearly invisible bites along her sweet nape and lingering scent. Everyone knew. Everyone, except Rachel. How would he tell her? How would he tell Howard, the man who saved his life?
Lev trotted to the ridge, far from headquarters, and glared at the forest below. Had Rylee disapproved of making Rachel his? A valuable female with Stallo’s DNA mated to an alpha many pack leaders didn’t trust. The super strong mutant who might taint pack blood rather than improve it. The king and the council may have a different idea who should claim Rachel. His hackles rose. Let them try to take her from me.
Lev turned to the sound of paws sloshing through snow. Slade had kept up with him, but quit racing up the alpine mountains. Slade’s first priority was making sure nothing happened to his mate, Cricket. The attractive runt was the slowest member of the pack. Adorable and petite as she was, Cricket had earned status beta for her intelligence and kick ass attitude. With or without her overprotective alpha mate. Lev understood the passion Slade had for Cricket. The passion that made him give up his royal crown to mate a lower status she-wolf. A runt. The passion that now boiled in Lev’s core when he thought of Rachel.
Cricket out of breath ran to the top as Slade trotted beside her. He pawed her to the ground and licked her throat and belly. On her back, she wagged her tail, slapping it against the fresh snow. Pawing him and yipping like a puppy.
Lev shot them a wolfish grin. He spoke in wolf. “What do we call wolfish public display of affection?”
Slade stopped his romp and shook his white fur. “Love.”
Cricket stood, shook her coyote sized frame and nuzzled against him. “Lupine lust works, too.”
The hot couple sizzled in human form as well, but it was endearing to see their desire and deep adoring affection for one another in wolf form. He, a massive white wolf and she, such a dainty coyote-sized wolf. If Rachel chose him as a mate, assuming she would be allowed to do so, playing and hunting together as wolves would be something they could never share. “That I understand,” said Lev.
Cricket cocked her head. “I’m sure Rachel does, too.”
Slade narrowed his eyes at her, then turned to Lev. “Does she know you claimed her?”
“No. I don’t know if my bond even counts. She is human and Rylee says she has the right to choose.”
“Your claim counts, at least for you, buddy,” said Slade.
“We all know she is your pet, does she?” asked Cricket.
“No. She’ll be offended.”
“Or she will think it’s hot, like Mia did,” Cricket quipped.
“Not to mention how Dr. Becker will feel when he learns I claimed his daughter, after I told him I wouldn’t.”
“You are the alpha, listen to your nature. Don’t blow it like I almost did,” said Slade.
Cricket smirked at her mate. “I knew you’d come around.”
“Rachel may decide not to stay.” Humans who signed the non-disclosure contract didn’t necessarily have to live within a pack as long as they kept silent and checked in with the local warden. She had to agree to be his pet at least in the interim, while staying in pack territory.
“Bond or no bond, do you love her?” asked Cricket.
Love? “I don’t know her well enough. Or was it her blood?”
“Okay, did her scent turn you on?” asked Cricket.
Lev stared down at the snow glistening on the trees. His attraction had been more than biological. “The minute she opened the door. I saw her for the first time, there was a connection.” He snorted. “You would not have recognized her. Rachel stood at the door wearing baggy pajamas, pale, thin; she looked like a waif at death’s door.”
“Recovering from Ebola must have knocked every ounce of energy from her.”
Cricket survived a bio-engineered disease and if anyone could understand what Rachel had gone through it would be Cricket. “Yet, despite her sickly appearance, Rachel was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”
“Humans say love is blind, and in the case of us lycans, it’s so true,” said Cricket.
“I have to admit her blood aroused me like no other.”
Cricket sat by Lev’s side. “Personally, that sounds like love at first sight and secondarily, first scent.”
“She is sexually aroused by me, but I’m not sure I’m her type.”
“Look how opposite Dominic and Mia were. He, a fierce alpha enforcer and she, a human on the run from the mob.”