They pushed each other to standing, both wolves snapping at the other’s neck, trying to topple the other to expose their belly.
Alex felt his father’s teeth sink into the same wound on his shoulder. Then suddenly, the black wolf fell, throwing the grey off balance long enough for Robert to twist his jaws and sink his teeth into the knee his son was favoring.
The harsh yelp was involuntary, the first sound Alex had made. But as he twisted away from his father to stand on four paws, his mind focused.
The longer this went on, the more injuries both would sustain.
The longer this went on, the more dangerous it became.
He heard Willow’s low howl behind him as he and his father paced in circles. He stopped. Crouched down. His father’s bloody muzzle curled up, but his eyes were locked on his son’s.
Finish it.
Alex snarled and lunged forward, rocking the black wolf from his feet, barking in his face and snapping his teeth around Robert’s muzzle.
A lip tore beneath his jaws and Alex tasted blood.
They rolled in the sand, black and grey spinning under the half-moon as the McCann wolves howled around them.
His father bit again, going after the same wound he’d made in Alex’s shoulder, but this time, the grey wolf clamped his jaws around his opponent’s neck and threw him across the ravine.
Barking and snapping, he landed on the black wolf’s flank before the older wolf could scramble to his feet. Alex leapt on his father, rolling him to his back as his jaws sank into his neck.
Robert twisted under him, his claws tearing at Alex’s chest and belly, but he could not break free. Alex leaned forward, letting his jaws go slack only to grab more of his father’s neck in his mouth, whipping his head back and forth. Until he felt the skin tear and the vulnerable windpipe beneath his teeth.
The black wolf stopped pawing. Alex could hear the raspy wet breaths as his father tried to suck in air. A dangerous bubbling cough.
Finally, the black wolf went limp beneath the grey.
Alex bit down harder, and his father’s head fell to the ground.
It was finished.
Excited howls went up around him as wolves rushed to his side. He felt Jeremy’s steady presence on his wounded left and his sister on his right. Her teeth gave him an affectionate nip as he turned his back on the black wolf still bleeding in the sand.
His father was alive, but he’d need help to get out of the canyon. That was his uncle’s job now, as the older wolves nosed around Robert’s black body, some whimpering, some laying down beside him. But no one challenged Alex.
The raw energy poured through him as he trotted up the side of the ravine with the majority of the pack surrounding him. A wet wind whipped through his fur, bringing a dash of rain and the smell of creosote to his nose. Then the wind died down and he ran.
There were excited yips and more playful nips at his back and tail. More than one younger wolf rolled over as he passed, baring their bellies as he ran.
Despite the pain in his shoulder, he needed to hunt.
They followed him, circling around in familiar patterns, playing with each other as Alex lead them farther into the desert. He could hear the swift flutter of birds overhead. The occasional hoot or low growl as they passed other shifters in the night. The low slink of cats and the flutter of black wings. Creatures slithering away in the dark. A quiet rumble that told Alex the bears, as always, were watching quietly.
Cambio Springs had a new alpha, and by morning, everyone would know.
Alex rode the adrenaline as he scented a herd of mule deer in the distance, grazing on the lower slopes as the mountains grew colder. Jeremy went forward, scenting the herd a second behind Alex. A few quiet yips and barks, then the wolf pack bounded forward in formation, heading toward the rise of the hill and the prey beyond.
The storm clouds rolled over the moon and everything went dark. Alex couldn’t ignore the pained howls that still came from the ravine.
But his pack rushed around him, so he led them on the hunt.
Hours later, covered in his own blood, his father’s, and the blood of the deer they’d feasted on, he went to her. Jeremy and Willow followed him to the edge of her territory, hanging back until they saw the mountain lion rise from the rock where she’d curled. She leapt toward the grey wolf, snarling at the others until his hackles rose and he curled his lips up.
She stopped and nosed at his neck. Then his shoulder. Checking him for injuries. As the cat bent her head to lap at the wound on his shoulder, he opened his mouth and bit down at the skin near her neck.
The lion froze.
A low rumble from her throat as he held her in a soft, firm hold. She didn’t roll over, but she didn’t twist away.
He heard the other wolves retreat.
As soon as they were at a distance, Alex shifted. Ted was only a second behind him and his mouth was at her neck, kissing and licking the skin there, humbled by the gift of her submission in front of his wolves.
“Thank you.”
“Are you okay?” She tried to push him away, tried to get to the wound on his shoulder, but he tugged her mouth to his.
“I’m fine,” he growled against her lips.
“You’re covered in blood.”
“Need you. Now.”
“Is this all yours?”
“No. Now, Tea.”
They were both naked, and it did not escape him that they were in her front yard. The night was alive with the sound of animals around them.
He didn’t care.
Alex shoved her back, sweeping an arm under her back to make sure there was nothing that could hurt her. The pebbled walkway where they lay was far from luxurious and his knee still ached, but he didn’t care.
She held on to his neck, avoiding his shoulder, still trying to protest quietly.
“Querido, we need to get you inside.”
“No.”
He leaned down and bit into the side of her breast as she gasped his name. Her legs spread immediately and he slid his hips between them. He brought his mouth down in a harsh kiss as he rocked against her.
“Are you ready?”
“Alex, we—”
He groaned and licked her neck. He was hard beyond anything he’d ever felt before. His skin burned as the scent of her arousal filled the air. He bit down on her neck, promising himself he’d go slower the second time. And the third.
“I need you,” he growled in her ear. “Now.”
He stroked his length between her thighs and felt it. Scented it. She was ready.
“Yes,” she whispered a second before he drove in.
The lightening shock of their joining crashed through him. He rode her hard. Didn’t feel the rain start to come down. Didn’t feel the rocks at his arms or knees. Barely felt the bites she gave his neck or the licks at his shoulder. He felt her. The searing heat enveloped him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her legs around his hips. And she gripped the back of his hair as she gave herself over to it, shouting into the night when he thrust harder.
The wolf in him howled, then he threw his head back and came in a rush a moment before the storm broke and the water poured down.
It was only in the shower hours later that Alex began to feel it. Pain. Anger. Exhaustion. And a weight of responsibility he’d tried to anticipate his whole life.
It was nothing to the reality.
His father was home by now, hopefully breathing easier. His mother would have called Doctor Anderson when he got home. Doc Anderson was ancient, but he was part of the tribes, and he knew how to treat shifters.
He heard Ted on the phone when he stepped out of the shower.
“Uh-huh…”
The rain was still pouring down outside, and he’d heard the storm turn to hail once or twice, so he knew work at the job site would need to be cancelled for the day.
Small blessings.
“Yeah… he’s fine, Jeremy, but I heard the shower turn off, so I ne
ed to go. Thanks for calling.”
Another pause. “I’ll give him the message… Yeah. Tell Anderson to call me if there are any problems. I’m sure the old man won’t want me there, but the doc will ignore him if he’s in any danger.”
Alex rubbed a towel over his head and checked his shoulder in the mirror. Damn, his dad had some strong teeth. His shoulder looked like hamburger. No wonder Ted had been alarmed. The edges of the wound were already beginning to heal, and the wound was clean. He didn’t think there would be a scar, but you could never tell.
He scented something that smelled like chili cooking on the stove. Protein rich food to help the healing along. He wasn’t going to tell Ted he’d had a belly full of raw venison, because her chili smelled way better.
His mouth turned up at the corner. Ted. Taking care of him. He was a lucky bastard.
He walked out and pulled on a pair of sweats, leaving his shirt off so his shoulder could have air. The lights were low in the living room. Ted had started a fire and left a few lights on in the kitchen. She was wearing an old flannel robe and standing at the stove. He came up and put his arms around her waist.
“Thank you, baby.”
“I had it in the freezer. It should be hot soon.”
“I love you.”
She didn’t say it back, but put her hand up to his jaw and pressed his cheek to hers. His stubble rasped along her smooth cheek, but she didn’t pull away.
“Your dad will be okay.”
“Good.”
“Jeremy went over to check on him.”
“Part of his job now.”
“Your second?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded. “Your female?”
“Willow.”
“Good choice.”
Because there were so few mated pairs in the pack, the female alpha was usually a close relative of the male. A sister or cousin was the most common. Willow was Alex’s obvious choice, and he knew he could trust her to take care of the female half of the pack, even if she’d have to curb her more anti-social tendencies to do it.
Ted’s voice was soft when she asked, “So it’s done?”
“There were no challenges.”
“You must have torn up your dad pretty bad.”
He paused and lay his head on her shoulder, his arms got tighter around her.
“Yeah, I did.”
She whispered, “I’m sorry you had to do that, querido.”
“Me, too.”
She took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call before, Tea.”
“I know why you didn’t.”
“Still sorry.”
She stirred the chili a little more. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”
“I’m glad you weren’t.”
Ted let out a soft, sniffly laugh. “Is it a wolf thing?”
“It’s a wolf thing.”
Then she put her hand to his cheek again and whispered, “I love my wolf.”
“I love my lion.”
His arms stayed around her, and they both fell silent as the rain pounded in the background.
There was nothing else to say.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ted tapped her fingernail by her cup of cold coffee. Silence blanketed the breakfast table, and not even the warm reassurance of Alex’s thigh pressing into hers under the table could calm her nerves.
Breakfast could not have gone worse.
This was for a couple reasons.
One, Alex and his father were giving each other death glares.
Two, Alex’s father and Ted’s mother were giving each other death glares to end all other death glares.
Alex, thankfully, was immune to death glares.
Ted and her mother might have come to a tentative peace about her relationship with Alex, but Lena didn’t like surprises. She’d consider this breakfast an ambush, but Ted had agreed with Alex that it was better to get the inevitable conversation out of the way.
“Well, this has been a ball of laughs,” Alex said, “but since absolutely no one is eating, let’s get down to the reason I asked you both over here.”
“Without telling us,” his father muttered.
“Has your health not recovered enough to sit down with a fellow clan leader, Robert?” Lena’s voice was smoothly biting. “You’re certainly welcome to get back to us when you’re feeling up to it.”
“Mamá.”
Lena turned hard eyes to her daughter as Ted felt the already chilly atmosphere in the room turn colder.
“Yes?”
“Lena,” Alex said, “cut the crap and don’t speak to my father like that again.”
Ted’s pulse spiked in instinctive anger as her mother’s eyes flashed, but the hand he put on her thigh squeezed, just once, and she took a deep breath. They’d talked about this before. Planned how it would go. And now, after thirty minutes of silence, Alex was digging in.
Lena said, “You don’t have the right to—”
“I do. And you know it.” Alex held her eyes. “Has leadership in the cat clan shifted without my awareness?”
Ted was the one who replied, “No.”
“Then I’m Alex McCann, the wolf alpha, speaking to a senior member of the cat clan,” he said quietly. “You’re not an elder, and you’ve just insulted a member of my pack who is a guest in your daughter’s home. So yes, Lena, I do have that right unless you’re looking for a challenge.”
Ted saw the waves of fury pouring off her mother, but she knew Lena was stuck. She couldn’t challenge Alex without a massive inter-clan incident and no one wanted that. So she turned her attention to Ted.
“Teodora, you cannot be serious.”
“Mom—”
“This? For you?” Lena curled her lip. “This disrespectful, macho wolf you could run circles around?”
Alex said nothing, letting Ted respond. “Yes, Mom. We’ve talked about this. You know my feelings. They have not changed in the last twenty-four hours.”
“You could do so much better than him.”
Ted heard Robert McCann growl, but she spoke over it. “Your idea of better is vastly different from mine. I’ve made my choice. Am I no longer welcome in my mother’s house?”
“You should be the one stepping into leadership, not your cousin—”
“I don’t want leadership. I have never wanted leadership. I’m a doctor. I need to be trustworthy to everyone in this town. And for that, I need to not be a leader in our clan. We’ve had this discussion over twenty times that I can count and we’ve never agreed. So tell me now, am I no longer welcome in your home?”
Lena’s eyes were ice cold, but she said, “Of course you’re welcome.”
“Wonderful. Don’t insult guests in mine. Alex, could you pass me the cream?”
He released his hand from her thigh and reached across the table to hand her the pitcher.
“We’re almost out,” he said. “Want me to get more?”
“That would be great, thanks.”
He rose and walked to the fridge to get the jug of milk while Ted tried to pretend her hands weren’t shaking. At the last minute, he turned and winked at her behind their parents’ backs.
“United front, baby. No matter what they throw at us.”
She started drinking her cold coffee, looking for all the world like breakfast between a pissed-off cat and a pissed-off, injured wolf was something that happened regularly at her table.
Thinking about it, she figured it probably would be happening regularly, so she might as well get used to it.
Alex came back to the table and reached for the carafe, warming up her coffee before he handed her the small pitcher of milk.
“Lena? Dad? A warm up?”
Robert’s voice was wary, but Ted could see the admiration in his eyes as he looked at his son.
“Yes,” he said. “Thanks, Alex.”
“None for me.” Lena’s voice was acid, but she’d backed off, Ted could feel it.
“Now,” Alex started again, “we’re here because…” He looked at her and smiled. “Well, we’re here.”
Ted couldn’t help but smile back. He was just too damn charming when he put his mind to it.
He let her eyes go and continued, “Ted and I are making plans to have a life together. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. The reason we asked you both here is for two reasons. One, we don’t want awkward Christmases.” Lena curled her lip, but Alex ignored her. “And two, while you two both think this is going to cause problems, Ted and I think this might be a way to solve some.”
Lena arched an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
Ted said, “Despite the recent change in the wolf clan, you two both represent your packs. Robert, you’re on the Elder Council. Mom, you will be. The wolves and the cats are have always been the two most powerful clans in Cambio Springs. This should be an alliance, not a source of contention.”
“Like we would bow to the wolves on anything,” Lena said.
“Woman, have we ever asked you to bow?” Robert snarled. “We have no interest in your grudges and political bullshit. That’s not how our kind work. So you do your thing and we do ours. You think I’m any more pleased about them being together than you are?”
“On that, we are in total agreement.”
Ted heard the low growl from Alex, but the old man kept speaking.
“If you think that, you’d be wrong. I may not be pleased my son chose your daughter, Lena, but I’m damn pleased he knows his own mind to stand up for her when he was pushed. And I’m pleased as hell your daughter doesn’t put up with your crap, either. I may not like her for my boy, but I can respect that.”
“Enough, Dad.”
“I don’t like it,” Robert said. “Or her. But you fought for her. Bled for the right to have her. And you earned that respect.”
Ted found herself warming to Alex’s dad. She was fine with him not liking her. She could even respect it, because he clearly had his reasons, even though she didn’t agree. After a while, he’d warm up. Or, he could just stay being an ornery bastard. If Alex could put up with it, she could, too.
Her mother, on the other hand, was being pissy because she didn’t like being bested. She’d return to ignoring Alex and Ted when she got over it.