Judah (The Strong Pack Book 3) Read online

  When she stopped moving, collapsing against the wall as if she had not an ounce of strength left, he removed his hand. He lifted her chin so she would watch him as he licked every drop of her honey from his hand. Jude moaned in enjoyment at the sweet flavor that burst forth on his tongue. In a hundred years, he would never get tired of it. It was beginning to become clear to him that Mal wasn’t just an itch to scratch or even an affair to be had, she was his. It was just like the fates to choose someone he pissed off just by breathing the same air to be his fated mate.

  He knew life wasn’t fair but it didn’t have to be so hard on him. Mal turned red, pivoted to the side, opened the door, and was gone in a split second. She hadn’t looked happy with him either. How could a monster orgasm upset anyone? Trying the doorknob it was no surprise she’d locked it. Pushing right now wouldn’t get him anywhere. Even he wasn’t so dense that he didn’t realize she needed time to cool off. Once she had that time, would it help or hurt?

  Going downstairs to the room he’d had since he was a pup, he passed some pack members. They stared at him probably because they could scent Mal on him. If anyone said anything to her, he would kill them. All he needed was gossip where others teased her. Of course, they’d be foolish to do so and most of the pack had seen her fight. He thought he could take her, but he didn’t want to have to try. Once he made it to his room he showered. Not because he wanted to lose her scent but because tomorrow a maid would clean his room and he didn’t want more potential gossip.

  It surprised him as he rinsed off that it actually hurt to lose her scent. He looked at his massive rock hard cock. Sleep would never come while it was in that condition. He lathered it up then he stroked hard, fast strokes over the end of his cock. This was for a purpose beyond just enjoyment. Harder he stroked, feeling a drop at the end that alerted him climax was close. He imagined it was Mal’s hands and she was naked in front of him. His cock erupted spewing more hot cum than he’d ever remembered having before. It shot out hitting the shower wall so hard some came back on him.

  Damn! That female certainly got him going. He’d had her in hand too. Chuckling at his own joke, Jude dried off ready to go to sleep. Jumping into bed, he pulled the blankets over him. It was hard not to wonder if Mal was sleeping peaceful since he’d taken such good care of her. Rolling around restlessly for a few minutes, he slept deep and dreamless until the morning.

  Jude moved around slowly wanting to stay in his warm bed but he knew he needed to get up. Visions of him and Mal in the hallway rolled through his mind making him nervous about seeing her. Yeah, not such a tough brave alpha now, was he? His fated mate almost had him on his knees and she wasn’t even here. Getting up, he got dressed so he could head out to the dining room. It was his habit to eat in the private one, although he made an effort to eat with the pack once in a while to stay in touch. That’s what he’d been doing last night. It had surprised him to find Mal there, she had an open invitation to the private dining room and most who had a choice, preferred it.

  As he headed toward the private dining room he wondered if she would be there. His dad was sitting in his usual spot with Sherona next to him on one side and Jericho on the other. T.J. sat next to his brother and the baby was in a high chair slightly behind his parents. Jude slipped in his seat grateful he wouldn’t have to deal with Mal yet, but he’d had that thought too soon. She walked into the room seeing him right away. Pausing for a second, her choices had been to sit next to Tyne, who was next to Sherona or next to him, she proceeded to the table sitting a chair away from him. It was clear she wasn’t feeling generous toward him after last night.

  He couldn’t say he was surprised. Normally he wasn’t a coward in his private life, but with so much going on with the pack, he thought dealing with Mal would tire him out, and not in a good way. Greeting her when the others did he hoped to avert any undue attention to them as a couple. So far it seemed to work. The servers brought his drinks then took his order before moving on the Mal. She was beautiful, yet distant she seemed determined not to look at him. Her behavior in itself might catch the interest of others.

  His food came at the same time as Mal’s. Their plates contained similar meals. Steak, rare of course, with eggs had always been his favorite since his first set of teeth had come in. He dug in with gusto wanting to eat his meal then escape. Tyne asked him some questions about Kirk causing him to delay eating. Although he answered, he didn’t see how it could possibly help them. Once Tyne was satisfied he began to dig in again.

  “Jude, do you have an opinion on how we might reinforce our perimeter further?”

  He stopped eating, put down his fork, and gave it some thought. “We’ve got Tyne’s devices which mess with their senses, those are great by the way.” He sent Tyne kudos. “The guards were doubled and that should be plenty for now. The only thing I can think of is booby traps but our own might fall into them. Did you ever find a witch for the spell?”

  “We found one but she’s not available until tomorrow.”

  “Does she know the situation?”

  “Yes, but hers is extreme too.”

  “Alright. I guess there’s not much we can do until she’s available. How about setting up a sniper?”

  “That might help.” Tyne agreed enthusiastically.

  “If Kirk gets too close he’ll be toast.” Jericho added.

  “Who can shoot that well?” Ari asked.

  “I can.” Tyne offered. Jude knew he’d be good.

  “I can, too.” Jude admitted.

  “Perhaps we should ask around to get more help?” Sherona suggested.

  “They’ve shown a propensity for attacking at night. That would be the most important time to have someone in position. Do you have night scopes?” Mal asked.

  Jude wondered why she hadn’t mentioned she was a hell of a shot. He knew a couple old timers who were good shots too but he knew there wouldn’t be very many. Wolves liked to hunt with fangs and claws, not other weapons. He wouldn’t rat her out if she didn’t want to shoot someone. Mal was an asset anywhere they put her.

  One problem about preparing for the next attack was they no longer had any guesses on when it might happen since the attack Mal had warned of had occurred. “No, I don’t think we have any night scopes.” He replied since no one else did. Now he turned his attention back to emptying his plate while he listened to the conversation buzzing around him.

  “We should see if we can find any night scopes around here.” Jericho suggested.

  “Good luck. That’s just not something regular retailers carry.” Ari answered.

  “Maybe a trip to a larger town?” T.J offered.

  “I’d check online first so you don’t waste your time.” Tyne pointed out.

  All good suggestions. Jude wondered if they would have any luck but he had plenty of his own tasks to complete. The second his plate was empty he made his excuses and left like his tail was on fire. Heading to his office, he began the lengthy process of selecting his staff and trainers for his security company. All morning. he and a young assistant work to select resumes that fit the requirements with pack getting first shot. Right now the young lady was setting up interviews for as soon as possible. She’d done a good job and as far as he was concerned she would have a place in the office if she wanted one.

  Now that the resumes had been sorted and his helper had the list of the first choices he could move on to something else until it was time for the interviews. For no particular reason he clicked on their site, the one Mal had made for them. The female had amazing skills giving them an incredible response. They had five hundred people wanting to take their course, some from as far away as Australia. Jude had to hand it to her; she was incredible in everything she did. When he’d thought her inferior because of her human blood, he’d been a fool.

  It was his hope she wouldn’t hold that against him the rest of his life. A blood curdling scream rang out from below his window. Fear shot through him making his wolf try to take control. C
aging the beast as he was taught to at an early age he responded by running out the side door which was closest to where the scream had originated. It turned out to be an attack showing the enemy had learned nothing. Instead of using caution when entering the perimeter, they had just barged in with no regard for the fence or the devices they knew were there. One of the rogues had gotten more than anyone expected. The device had gone off in his face severely burning him.

  Due to the chemicals in the device, it wasn’t a burn his wolf nature could heal for him. Jude felt sympathy even for such a low down cowardly rogue as he watched the creature roll around on the ground whimpering in pain. He couldn’t watch long because rogues were coming at him from all sides. He had gotten outside ahead of the others which meant he was on his own. Rushing forward he loosed his inner beast shifting in the blink of an eye. Even with all his skills he couldn’t take on an army so he hoped help arrived.

  It was almost like thinking it had made it so. Mal came out shooting into the crowd of rogues until her gun was empty then taking them on one by one. A bite on his neck drew his attention back to his foes. Their blood was nasty but they seemed to like his. Jude was getting tired of his people being threatened by a seemingly endless supply of rogues. As he fought he tried to think of a solution because they needed to get ahead of Kirk. All along he’d known he was violent, unnecessarily so at times. He’d suspected he was crazy but some of the best leaders were. It was only recently that he’d become his enemy, making Jude, Kirk’s worst nightmare or he would be as soon as he figured out what he should do.

  Mal growled. It was loud but deep, more like a male alpha than what he expected from a female. It made him see the error of his ways. Forcing her to submit would be making her go against her own very alpha nature. Even if she would, he should never try to make her. He’d given up a chance to sink into his mate last night in a misguided attempt to dominate. That really pissed him off, making him fight twice as mean as he had before.

  More and more pack members joined the fight causing the tide to turn. Jude wondered what the target had been this time or if Kirk was simply bored. Morphing back to his human form, he looked around for Mal. She was leaning against the house covered with blood. Running to her, he began to check her out like a concerned mate.

  “Stop it.” She whispered. “I’m fine but I won’t be if you keep fussing.”

  Stepping back he growled at her but it was a reaction from his wolf who didn’t like being put off. “Sorry.” He said.

  “It’s alright. I have to go clean up. I’ll be back in fifteen.”

  He chuckled. No female could shower and change in fifteen minutes. Even a male would be hard pressed to get it done if they were soaked in blood like she was. Fourteen minutes later, he was shaking his head as he realized he would just never stop underestimating her. Instead of standing around waiting to see if she could get back in time, he should have gone to clean up himself. The blood on him was starting to stink.

  “Didn’t you take the time to clean up?” She asked, her nose wrinkling.

  “I was making sure everything was being handled out here.”

  Mal looked at him in disbelief. “Sure you were.”

  Why could the infuriating female always see right through him? It wasn’t fair since he had no insight into her. Every time he drew a conclusion, it was wrong. Tyne and his dad had some prisoners they were walking past them. “Need some help?” He asked them.

  “Not right now. Why don’t you just go clean up and rest?” Tyne suggested.

  Okay, so it was unanimous that he needed to clean up, but his blood was pumping powerfully and rest was unlikely. Rushing to his room he cleaned up so he could go to lunch to find out what the target had been and what if any losses either side had. Showering in ten minutes he dressed in five before he hurried out to the private dining room. No one else was there yet so he sipped the drink he was brought and ordered his meal.

  Once his meal came, he began to think no one would be joining him, but Jericho and T.J. came in sitting by him. “A daytime attack wasn’t what I expected.” He said before taking a bite of his fish.

  “Nor I, but I’m wondering if it had a purpose.” Jericho considered.

  “Such as?”

  “To weaken our resources. If we cover everything around the clock, nothing will be covered adequately.”

  “The night is still the most important time for extra coverage, regardless of what he does. Do you know if we had losses or what theirs were?”

  “We have two wolves in bad shape but Tyne feels that if they can make it until the witch comes they will pull through. Apparently she has some healing magic.”

  “Is that something common?” Jude asked.

  “Among white wolves it is.” T.J answered speaking for the first time. “Mal is trying to give them some strength. It appears to be helping.”

  “Just exactly how is she doing that?” Jude asked with a growl. Jericho growled back. “I wasn’t growling at your mate. I was just worried about Mal. The female has no common sense or survival instinct. She would give her last bit of strength away, keeping nothing for herself.”

  “Welcome to the wonderful world of white wolves.” Jericho said.

  Jude snorted. He had already given enough away. He finished his food, then hurried to the hospital section of the pack. If she was overdoing it, he would drag her away kicking and screaming if need be. When he finally found the room she was in, Mal was in a recliner between the two wolves holding a hand in each of hers. Her eyes were closed as if she was asleep so maybe she was. At this point, he was unsure of what to do.

  “Just going to stand there?” Mal asked her eyes still closed.

  “What would you have me do?”

  “Pull a chair closer to me and touch me, skin to skin so I can pull out some of your energy. You have more than the average wolf.”

  “That’s because I’m an alpha.”

  “Not all alphas have your level of energy. It can come in handy now if you want to save these two.”

  He pulled a chair as close as he could, but where to touch her? Her hands were in use at the moment. Sliding his hand up her shirt, he laid his hand flat on her stomach. She opened her eyes finally, but they glowed brightly. Was this a sign she was recharging? Unfortunately, he didn’t know much about white wolves, except the propaganda Kirk spouted which clearly wasn’t true. Could an inferior being heal others, fight like the best warrior, and design a website better than anyone? Of course not, Kirk was full of shit. It was obvious to him now that Kirk simply wanted to use the white wolves to create his own personal dynasty. Their skills would get him anything he wanted if he found a way to force them to do as he asked.

  Jude could see now that the children would be more than just slaves. They would be a way to control their mothers. The wolf was a sick bastard caring for only himself. He would use his own children as pawns. Pups were meant to be loved, nurtured, and sacrificed for. Never should a parent use or abuse them. A special place in hell was reserved for males like Kirk and his ilk.

  “What ya thinking about?” Mal asked in a sleepy voice. It made him wonder how much this took out of her.

  “You. How can a female be so lovely, talented, and powerful? I’m amazed by you. I was just looking at the website you designed, amazed by the number of signups and how fabulous it looked.”

  “I never thought you’d turn out to be a charmer, Jude.”

  “That’s something I’ve never been. Just telling some truth here.”

  “Hmm, you’ve had a change of heart, haven’t you?”

  For a moment he panicked at what she’d said. His heart had changed entirely too much. It seemed attached to the little vixen. No longer was it just her body that lured him, it was the whole package. Was he completely screwed? Yup, he sure was. Here he sat, happy just to be touching her. There was energy between them that thrummed through him. It made him want to touch her more intimately, but he dared not. All he needed was to piss her off again when
she seemed to be getting over the first time.

  “You could say that.” He decided to play things cool since he’d already admitted to getting bad information on white wolves but apparently she hadn’t believed his opinion had changed then. She didn’t answer for a while so he thought maybe she had fallen asleep.

  “I can feel so much energy flowing from you. We’re not draining you, are we?”

  “We?” He was confused. Did she mean her and her wolf?

  “I’m more of a conduit as long as we touch. Once you leave, they go back to pulling energy from me.”

  “How the hell is that even possible?”

  “It’s not much different than charging a battery. I’m the plug while you’re the energy source, for now, anyway.”

  “You do this often?”

  “Hardly ever. It’s needed right now so I do what I can. Delroy, he’s so young. He shouldn’t have fought to begin with. What is he fifteen? Jobe is older but still in the prime of life.”

  “The prime can be a long time for a wolf. I don’t want to lose either of them. Do you really believe we can save them?”

  “Look at them. The improvement is already obvious. I’m almost certain they will okay, even without the witch. They were just injured beyond their ability to heal. The extra help we’ve given them should be enough. I wish I knew what was so special about you.”

  “You think I’m hot, that’s what.”

  “Okay, we’ll go with that. It’s easier than trying to reason things out.”

  “Are you overdoing it? You never give in to anything so easily.”

  “You haven’t known me long enough to be sure of anything.”

  That was true. He’d only known her a few weeks but she’d changed his life. Because of her, he’d questioned everything and discovered most of what he had believed was false. In a way, she’d reunited him with his family. He’d turned from them, but now he had come back. It was amazing what one female and a few weeks could do in your life.