LILY FLIPPED JUST IN TIME TO SEE ANTHONY BEING THROWN AGAINST
the rocks. His wolf body was battered, and Vucovich bled from several deep wounds too. But the grizzly had the upper hand, and it was closing in for the kill.
“No!”She grabbed a rock and rushed forward, hurling it at the grizzly. The mighty beast flipped and growled at her, ignoring anthony. So she threw another rock and another. Each successive blow drew a greater reaction from the grizzly, who winced, ducked, and roared.
One little part of her mind registered that she shouldn’t be able to make such an impact. That something other than pure panic might be fueling her. But then the grizzly came straight for her, and she froze, staring death in the face.Then Shelly — dear little Shelly, limping up like a canine Napoleon who didn’t know when to quit — sank his teeth into the grizzly’s back leg. The beast twisted around to anthony him away, leaving itsANTHONY WOKE SLOWLY, STILL NOT QUITE READY TO BELIEVE. A WEEKhad passed since that awful day on the rocks — the day he could have lost Lily. He could be forgiven for holding her close all night long and not wanting to let her go now that it was morning, right?“Mmm,” she sighed, snuggling near.Nola and Boris snuggled near too, and anthony sighed. But, hell. He could deal with a couple of hounds at the foot of the bed.“Heya, buddy,” he said, reaching down to pet Shelly, who didn’t even flinch. In fact, he seemed to like it.The little Jack Russell had spent the night on a pillow directly beside the couch — the plushest, biggest pillow to be found. It was huge, and the golden tassels at the corners made Shelly look like a goddamn maharajah. Ish had brought it over sometime after the fight, and Lily had spent the first forty-eight hours afterward fussing over both him and the hound.anthony watched up at t
LILY SMOOTHED HER HANDS OVER HER SHIRT AND CHECKED HERappearance for the third time. Her French braid watched fine, but her hands wouldn’t stop skittering nervously over her clothes. When she caught herself sniffing the air, she chuckled.“What?” anthony questioned, coming up beside her. The moment he touched her shoulder, her jumpy nerves eased.“Look at me, sniffing the air. Soon, I’ll be howling to the moon.”She hadn’t shifted yet, but she’d experienced a change the moment anthony had bitten her. That had been three days ago, and she was still tingling from the high. Of course, they had been shagging wildly at all times of day — and night — ever since.“Howling to the moon with me,” anthony said, looking pleased. The notion made her blood race. But then she wrinkled her nose andfrowned.“Yikes. We smell like sex.”“We smell like mates,&rdq
LILY WATCHED AROUND, STUNNED. ANTHONY WATCHED READY TO GROWL ATRose, but his face showed deep concern.“What do you mean?” Lily questioned, turning the heart-shaped locket over a few times to show how ordinary it was. As a sentimental keepsake, the locket was invaluable, but it wasn’t special in any other sense.Other than the sea breeze stirring the bougainvillea that grew along the porch, nothing moved, and no one said a word. It was Rose who finally jutted her chin toward the locket and spoke.“I suspect Moira may have wish Josua to procure it for her. May I ask what’s inside?”Lily undid the clasp to show how harmless its contents were. “It’s nothing, really. Just this.”She laughed as she said it, then froze. Why was everyone staring? “Whoa,” Harry muttered, taken aback. “Wow.” Hailey’s eyebrows flew up.“Ho-ly shit,” Jeremy said, drawing out
The ranch was crawling with Grey Wolves.The Rebel lingered on the outskirts of the forest, watching the activity in the distance as he leaned against the trunk of a mountain pine. He surveyed the vast ranchlands before him as he tipped his Stetson lower, adding an extra layer of shadow to his face. The old cowboy hat was only a precaution. He knew none of the pack wolves would recognize him. Aside from his scars, it was one of the key advantages to having the identity of a ghost, and a good thing too……since he didn’t trust anyone else to deliver the target.He shot a glance over his shoulder toward Bee. The brown mustang gave an angry flick of his tail, the hair smacking against the pine where he was tied. Bee wasn’t mighty pleased with this arrangement.That made two of them.“Behave,” Rebel warned the horse. “It won’t be long.”He strode onto the ranch, ignoring Bee’s frustrat
“Mae, Alexander is headed this way again.” Maverick’s voice held more than a hint of disapproval. He’d hated her “little backup plan” from the start. Her brother loved her, and as such, he’d always been fiercely protective of her, but packmaster or not, this was her choice to make, and she’d do whatever it took to save her pack.Lily finished scribbling on her napkin as she ignored her brother’s protests. The quick sketch had been a necessary release of tension. The image of arunning horse was more cartoonish than her normal work, but it’d been enough to ease her anxiety for now. It was better than ripping her hair out. She’d been trapped at the Seven Range Pact’s annual reception listening to Maverick negotiate for nearly two hours now, yet still none of the other packmasters had made a firm commitment, and with every passing second, the vampires drew closer to destroying everything she cared for
A thought made her chest ache. She could think of only one person who’d ever captured her heart, and she hadn’t seen him in over twenty years.“What’s on your mind, darlin’?” Alexander asked. He must have sensed her thoughts were elsewhere rather than on the dance floor with him where they should have been, had she not been pining for a dead man.Now was as good a time as ever. Each passing minute gave the vampires more time to put the serum into wide use. She needed to get this show on the road— fast.“Alexander, dancing with you all evening has been lovely, but why don’t we head back to my—”The alpha wolf shook his head, the brim of his Stetson lowering slightly as he stopped Mae short. “Save your breath, darlin’. I’m not interested.”Mae nearly tripped over one of his cowboy boots. Stupid high heels. “E-excuse me?” she sputter
The pink summer sunset had long since faded to nightfall by the time Mae returned to her cottage on the other side of the Grey Wolf compound. As she approached home, she cringed at the thought of the poor excuse she’d given Alexander. There was no way he’d bought her lie. Sure, she and Maverick had scheduled Alexander for a meeting with the Pact, which was a small step forward, but if they didn’t get him on board and fast, their prospects were limited.But Mae was determined. She would find a way to save her pack. She had to. Feeling more than a little defeated, she shuffled up to her door, scanning the other nearby pack cabins. Hers was one of many adjacent to the dining hall and the main compound building, which housed the elite warriors and the main pack offices. She grabbed her keys from her purse. As she did so, she glanced over her shoulder, as if she might find the Rebel lingering there in the darkness. Butshe didn’t. He’d disappea
The dim light of a table lamp cut through the shadows. Rebel leaned against the bedroom doorway, his Stetson hiding the scarred half of his face as he raked his gaze over her. As soon as Lily Grey had flicked the light on, she’d scrambled to her feet. She stood at her bedside, wearing little more than a thin, pink nightgown and clutching a large hardcover book from her nightstand like a weapon.He shook his head.Despite her pure Grey Wolf bloodline, by both wolf and human standards she was petite, which meant physically armed with knowledge or not, she wouldn’t hold her own in a fight against an alpha like him.But if looks could kill…She snarled at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”As if he hadn’t made a habit of sneaking into her room hundreds of times before. He shook his head. He’d known when they’d met in the vampires’ cells that she didn’t recognize him. Twenty years and a