When He's Ruthless (The Olympus Pride 4)

She always felt achy and edgy and over-sensitized—sensations that worsened when they were apart. No amount of orgasms dimmed the need, because it wasn’t a mere craving for sexual satisfaction. No, it was a craving to be claimed.

Her pulse jumped as he began prowling toward her cabin. He had a smolderingly sexy walk. Moved with a menacing grace and a relaxed, purposeful stride.

He always looked like he belonged. Even smack bam in the middle of other shifter territory, he was all ease and self-assurance. A predator who didn’t even consider, let alone fear, it would be challenged because it felt that no one nearby was its equal.

Luke ascended her porch and crossed straight to her. His scent settled over her, soothing her ragged nerves even as it fired her arousal. Her nerve-endings felt so raw that the simple feel of his palm settling over her nape was enough to make her shiver just a little.

Luke didn’t merely meet her eyes, he dived into them, looking deeper than anyone else ever had. “You all right?” he asked.

“I will be when I find out who put a dead body on my porch,” she replied, splaying a hand on his chest. She could sense his cat pushing against Luke’s skin, making his presence known. Her own animal rose to meet the feline, wanting his attention.

“How long was the body there?”

“I don’t know exactly.” Lowering her arm, Blair backed up and moved aside to let him pass. He stalked into the cabin … and quite simply filled the space just like that. The others tensed. Of course they did. The alpha vibes he exuded were usually subtle. Right now? Not so much.

She wasn’t entirely sure why, but a whole lot of anger lived within her mate. In keeping it on a tight leash, he also kept much of himself contained. But whenever anything prodded his temper, the leash eased up, and then the full force of his personality poured right out. The sheer power of him was honestly a little overwhelming.

It would be so easy to let someone like that take over. Take you over. Especially when they brimmed with a raw alpha energy that was hardwired into them. So it was really a good thing that Blair had had plenty of practice at bearing the weight of it.

“The body wasn’t there when I came home at six pm,” Blair told him. “I had dinner, took a shower, pulled on some fresh clothes. I decided to go sit on the front porch for a while. But when I opened the front door …”

“We searched our territory,” Mitch cut in. “We found no tracks. Whoever did this managed to leave no trace of themselves behind. It was like they were never here.”

“I checked the body,” Blair told Luke. “There are no signs of assault. No defensive wounds. No bruising around her wrists or ankles to suggest she was bound at any point. Seems like she was shot in the head before she had the chance to fight and then subsequently had her tongue removed.”

“Is it one of your pack mates?” Luke asked her.

Blair bit her lip. She hadn’t fully briefed him on the details over the phone, not wanting him to be too pissed as he drove. “Her name is Macy Corbitt.” She paused as recognition flashed in his eyes. “She came here a few weeks back.”

He went unnaturally still. “Came here to your territory?”

Blair nodded. “She wanted to speak to me.”

“Speak to you? About what?”

Blair slid her gaze to Noelle. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

Her mother’s eyes briefly widened.

He slowly turned to face Noelle, his gaze hard. “What did you do?”

Noelle gave a little sniff. “Nothing any mother wouldn’t have done. Macy approached me at the mall one day. She said that she’d been your lover for half a year now. She thought it only right that Blair learn about it, so I brought her here.”

A low growl reverberated inside Luke’s chest. “You’re kidding me,” he clipped.

Embry stood a little straighter. “I think we should—”

“You know I would never betray Blair,” Luke said to Noelle. “You might wish I was that much of a bastard, but you know I’m not. You didn’t believe Macy—it’s written all over your face.”

Noelle licked her lips. “I didn’t believe her, no. But it didn’t seem right to keep it from Blair. She had the right to hear the fox out and decide the truth for herself.”

“You mean you hoped she’d believe that bullshit because you want Blair to renounce me.” Luke’s jaw went rock hard. “It didn’t bother you that she’d have been wrecked if she had believed it. No. As long as you’re getting your way, nothing else matters, does it?”

Noelle bristled. “I hope you’re not insinuating that I care nothing for Blair’s feelings. My children are my world.”