Reese Read online

  We waited for what seemed like an hour to me while I felt a nervous helplessness unknown to me before. The wolves came back up the stairs giving the all clear signal. Now we would move on to the next step. The only outside guards seemed to be on the porch playing cards. There were only two and they were drinking beer while they played and talked. We would need a distraction to get them off the porch. There was no way to take them out without alerting others since they could see clearly all the way to the woods in every direction. I signaled to Jam so he could get their attention. He shook the bush he was hiding behind. Not the most original move, but it worked. Both of the guards stepped off the porch. One walked a few feet away from the house covering his buddy who approached the bush nervously.

  We had to do this perfectly in order to stop them from warning the wolves in the house. Tremont had climbed the tree next to the bush and Jam had slipped back into the forest. Normally, scent would be a problem but we all used hunter’s no scent when on a mission like this. Only the most discerning schnoz could pick up on the underlying scent of wolf mixed with the slightly odd odor of the no scent. This guy didn’t have the nose for it. He slipped around the back of the bush as I slipped around the back of his partner. I put him to sleep quickly before we tied him up. Tremont took the other wolf out just as effortlessly. I had no intention to kill unless it became absolutely necessary.

  We climbed up on the porch. There was no need to send anyone to the back door since Delane had sealed it off permanently. It had probably been that way for quite some time. I looked around noting the two wolves in the living room watching TV. They looked relaxed and like they were enjoying the comfortable couch and big screen TV. I sent a wolf around to break in at the side of the house. It was only a few minutes later that I saw him sneaking quietly up behind the couch. If I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes I would never have believed it. He stood behind them unnoticed and slammed their heads together hard. Both of them sank into the cushions unconscious. That was worth seeing. Now we began searching for Megan in earnest. I sent two wolves upstairs and the rest either searched here or stood guard outside in case someone came by.

  Jam yelled from the back bedroom, he had found her. I hurried down the hall to the room she was in. She was on the bed seemingly asleep, but I was suspicious of how deeply she slept. I leaned into her taking a deep breathe of her wonderful scent. I snuggled into the spot between her neck and her shoulder where most mate marks were put. I licked the spot tasting for anything unusual. The tainted taste hit me souring my mouth. There was no doubt Delane had drugged her to keep her easy to manage. It made me angry or at least angrier. Not only did he kidnap her for whatever purpose he had but he drugged her until she was senseless.

  I picked her up carrying her myself for I wanted no one else to touch her. Mine! She was mine and the sooner the others realized it the better off they would be. We managed to get her back to our pack lands without running into any further opposition. All the guards had been knocked unconscious and none had been killed or even seriously injured. I had rescued her but now I needed to make sure that I wanted to pursue a relationship with this young human female. I wanted to protect her, but could I really protect her from myself? Some would call me arrogant, okay I was arrogant. I had no doubt that if I attempted to seduce her, she would be mine. I could tell she had little experience and she would surrender to my charm. My fear was that she might regret it later. She probably would regret it later since even though I had an urge to mate her, I had no intention of giving in to that urge. My plan was simply to partake of her obvious charms until my urges were satisfied.

  I knew I wasn’t the nicest guy there was. Women in my past had called me many things, few of them nice. I had to admit this was the first time I felt a hesitation to just seduce, enjoy and leave. I didn’t usually feel guilt. I usually had experienced females and I was always honest and up front. In this case I knew honesty would deprive me of my prize. For now she was asleep so I would wait to make my decision. We drove back to my office. I sat in the back seat holding her as Stan drove.

  We arrived at my office which was also my home. The office was an addition to the front of my four bedroom, four bath Victorian style home. I carried her in so I could place her in my bedroom instead of the one next to my own as I had originally intended. Mine and the one next to it, had its own bathroom. The other two bedrooms shared a bath with the other bathroom being downstairs where guests and those who worked out of my office could use it. My men also had use of the rest of my first floor so they had a kitchen and a living room available for breaks. It wasn’t an arrangement that would continue once I was mated since a little privacy was needed for a family. Why that thought occurred to me I couldn’t say since I had no intention of mating in the near future.

  I placed her in the bed deciding to leave her to sleep off the effects of the drugs she was given. I returned to my office to wait for what would come next. I was sure the alpha would contact me. I wasn’t sure if Delane or his father would. I dug into my paperwork with aggression, it would keep me busy and my mind engaged and off other things like the female in the bedroom. I wondered how long it would be before the drugs worked their way out of her system. I found I very much wanted to talk to her.

  Unable to resist the impulse any longer, I slipped up to my room and went inside. I examined the lovely female on my bed, a bed that hadn’t seen a female on it. I didn’t bring them into my domain, I got a hotel room or went to their house. I worried that if I let them inside my inner sanctum, they would inveigle themselves there and take root never to be removed. I was a little paranoid but with the attempts of females I’d dated to trap me, maybe it wasn’t paranoia after all. I’d had females try to slip me drugs, try to blackmail me and try to fake pregnancy tests. It was that desire she wolves had for the strongest male. Some would attempt anything to claim me, I wasn’t conceited. Years of females’ machinations had convinced me I was wanted by many but in the end only one would be claimed by me. They all wanted to be that one.

  This little female human was the first one that had ever run from me, not to me. Was that part of the fascination I had where she was concerned? I knew it was more than that but this was a new feeling for me. Her scent called to me, it was like the sweetest dessert, the wildest thrill and the best rush I’d ever had all rolled up into a smell. She was beautiful, but I’d had dozens of females that were also lovely but they never struck this chord in me. I didn’t know anything else about her, but I wanted to. I wanted to know everything about her. What did she do, where did she work, what was her favorite color, what was her favorite song and did she think she could ever love a wolf like me? Oh, where had that thought come from?

  I didn’t need love. I was the overseer, born of the devil and witchy she-wolf if you believed the rumors. I was born on a winter’s night, just dropped directly on the frozen ground and that’s why I had a heart of ice. I’d heard the stories they told about me around the campfires when they thought no one was around. They sometimes forgot the part of the tales that said I was everywhere, hearing everything. They also might be shocked to know this little human was melting the ice around my heart. The funny thing was she was doing what many had attempted and failed, but she didn’t even want my warm regards.

  Her face was the very look of innocence as she slept peacefully on, not aware as yet that she was in the hands of a monster. She didn’t realize that she was about to be a bone of contention between her father, the alpha and me. Megan slept on not aware that she might be the reason hostility between two packs incinerated into a pack war the likes of which hadn’t been seen in my lifetime. So peaceful, she rested while all hell was about to break loose all around us.

  I fought the overwhelming desire to join her on that bed, to claim her body and her soul. Emotions unfamiliar to me rolled over me, possessiveness, need and waves of wanting. Where had these feelings come from? I was known for my lack of feeling but now I had an abundance of it. My self-control was strained
and my logical mind, which told me I didn’t want a weak human female, was being overrode by a deep seated need for this human female, imperfect or not. It had never been my way to deprive myself of something I wanted but for the first time in my life I found myself wondering what my selfishness might do to her. I wasn’t cruel, not without good reason but neither was I a saint.

  The thought of a wolf like me being sweetness and light was laughable. It was not in the nature of our kind to be self-sacrificing except for our own. Our blood kin or our mate, not some human waifling that looked as if a strong wind would blow her away. Could I even fuck such a delicate thing? Would I be able to restrain myself enough that my large cock wouldn’t tear her up? Why was I so drawn to her that I wanted to find out? I wanted to claim her in all the ways of a wolf and I wanted to keep her for myself. The first test would come soon. My males were loyal, but this was just too large a secret and could never be kept.

  The alpha would come, he would demand his child and what would I say? I would say, hell no the girl is mine! I would claim rights to her since I saved her and by the rules of our pack, he could do nothing for three weeks while I decided what to do with her. It would give me some breathing room. It was an old law, but it was still useable. When a male saved a female from the enemy, he had twenty days to mate her or let her go. The females thought this rule should be removed, modern times and all that, but the males resisted and it hadn’t been used in years. I would be using it now and the alpha would be powerless to interfere.

  She stirred moving slightly, her hand pushing at the covers. I silently urged her to wake and see me. Right now there was nothing on Earth I wanted more than to gaze into her eyes, except maybe to ravish her. Okay, ravishing won out but I would gaze into her eyes while ravishing her. She slipped back into a deeper sleep. I sighed heavily, then I made my way back downstairs where I would finish out the day and hope she would wake when I was done.

  I pulled up my emails answering them as fast as I could. I had a lot of work to do and my recent absence had caused a larger than normal pile up. I traveled on both personal and pack business, mostly related to the businesses I ran for myself or helped the pack with. I was always available by phone and if the emergency was serious enough, I never went further than a day’s travel away. I was essential to the pack because the alpha could give out favors, but only I took lives. It was a hard job and sometimes I found myself filled with doubt and horror at the actions I was forced to take but I was too strong to break under the pressure of what must be done.

  Since drugs and alcohol had little effect on wolves unless one gorged themselves on them, females were what I had always used to distract myself from my bad memories. I had seen other wolves drunk once or twice in my lifetime but the effort to get that way was too much for the foolish way it caused them to act. Had I ever behaved that way my enemies, of which I had many, would have begun circling me as if I was a wounded deer. No, female company and the closeness of my few friends and family of which I only had brothers, were all the solace I had.

  I heard a disturbance at the door as my wolves were having a verbal conflict with someone who sought access to me. The voice was deep and held power, he was here and it was no surprise to me. I got up and exited my office. It was better to face this wolf head on.

  “Alpha, how nice to see you. You make it here so rarely.” I said.

  “Overseer.” He said and his alpha power flowed from him in waves that had all my males bowing and scraping as they slowly backed away. Only I was unimpressed. “You have something of mine.”

  “What would that be?” I asked sounding bored.

  “My daughter!” He growled.

  “I saved her from Delane. That makes her mine.” I insisted.

  Alpha paled slightly and his attitude changed completely. “Reese, you can’t mean to mate her, she’s human.” He said and it sounded almost like a plea. It was the most emotion and softness that Alpha had ever shown and I was sure it was all he could risk showing.

  “I’m aware of her human weakness, but she was raised in a pack town and she knows how to carry herself.”

  “If that was true, she wouldn’t have caught your attention or been caught by Delane.” Alpha said bitterly.

  “Since she’s so hard to manage, you should be glad I’m taking it over for you.” I said.

  “If you hurt her…” he trailed off, the incomplete threat stood between us.

  “I don’t intend to.” I said wanting to ease his upset.

  If I mated her, I might have a daughter someday. I didn’t want to feel empathy, but it seemed I was feeling it nonetheless. My thoughts were on that woman child as she lay on my bed still unaware of her fate. Would she take it stoically and try to lay there unmoving? Would she try to run even though escape was impossible? Or would she embrace it and me, giving me all she had and taking all I was into her?

  I wanted her so badly I could taste it. It wouldn’t be long before she woke and we would share a moment as old as time. I wasn’t sure if I should explain first or just seduce her and leave explanations until the morning.

  Alpha left. His shoulders hanging in defeat. By declaring my intentions to mate her, he would have to fight me to gain her freedom. Neither of us was sure who would win but he had a mate and other children to think of as well as the pack as a whole. Losing either of us would be hard on the pack and if we fought, there was a good chance at least one of us would die. Neither of us wanted that, but I wanted her enough to take that chance. I had suddenly become crazy as hell!

  It was time for me to check on her again. I was getting worried because she wasn’t waking. She was bringing out every bit of protectiveness I had in me. I needed to exert some control, I was losing it and I couldn’t believe it. All my life I had been all about control but now I was all about her. I made my way upstairs to my room where she still lay unmoving. It was time to wake her and damn the consequences. I moved to the bedside and stood looking down at her. She looked small, fragile and gorgeous.

  My wolf claimed her and my human wanted her. My logic couldn’t fight that tremendous combination. I leaned down and softly brushed her lips with mine and saw her move restlessly. I pulled back and her lips seemed to search for me unwilling to give up the warmth and the want. I traced a finger slowly down her cheek and felt her shiver. She was slowly coming to and I wanted to wake her as gently as possible since I didn’t know what she’d been through. I did know they hadn’t done anything sexual, but that was all I was sure of right now.

  She moaned softly and drew in a deep breath. She held completely still as if she feared drawing the attention of anyone who might be nearby.

  “I liberated you from Delane and that makes you mine now.” I said and my voice was a deep growl. It was my wolf speaking but my human side agreed.

  “You’re the overseer?” She asked her voice barely hearable even for my keen senses.

  “I am.” I replied.

  “My parents?”

  “They know you’re here. I spoke to your father.” It was hard for me to think of my hard and tough opponent as the father to this delicate female human. “I reassured him that I wouldn’t harm you.”

  “Did he believe you?”

  I smiled, she had spunk. “He seemed to, although he did mention the consequences just to be sure I was aware.”

  “What do you plan to do with me?”

  “I plan to have you Megan and pleasure you in every way a male can please his female.” I answered. I could see her swallow nervously but I could also sense her arousal. I might scare the hell out of her but she wanted me too. This pleased my wolf to no end and my human side was sure we would conquer her. I was tired of talking and ready to claim her before something interrupted, so I sat on the bed next to her and took her small hand in mine.

  “I-I’m not that kind of girl.” She insisted. Her eyes widened as she continued to look at me as I stepped closer. She was a little pale but I was sure I could put some color in her cheeks, all of them.


  “What kind of girl are you?” I asked arching my brow at her.

  She might not know it yet, but she was the spoils of the battle we had fought to free her. It was just a twist of fate that she was also my mate. I might want to fight against it, but I knew I wouldn’t win. Already her scent, feminine and wonderful, washed over me making my fingers itch, my mouth water and my skin break out in goose bumps. My eyes devoured the luscious beauty before me and I knew I would have her before I left this room.

  “A good girl.” She answered, her lips pursed and her demeanor prim and proper.

  “How long do you think you’ll be able to stay that way in my hands?” I asked as I held my large hands out in front of me.

  I had never met anyone with bigger hands than mine and she stared at them awestruck. Could it be she was imagining what these hands could do, would soon do to her? My eyes trailed over her soft skin and her lovely curves. I could imagine these hands stroking and feeling every inch of her body. I stepped right up against the mattress. I didn’t need to imagine what I was close enough to actually do. Maybe it was her reluctance that held me back. It might even have been her innocence for I was no despoiler of females.

  “Maybe you don’t realize I intend to mate you? There’s nothing to fear and you will be taken care of as if you were my queen.” I informed her.

  “I’ve no say in this?” She asked quietly.

  “You’re not wolf so perhaps you’re not aware that we are fated mates, soul mates if you prefer. This was chosen for us, we should match each other perfectly.” I explained as if to a small and difficult child. I didn’t mean to be condescending, it just came naturally.