Alpha Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel (12 page)

All she could envision was what it had looked like to see Connor about to take her breast in his mouth. It had been almost surreal watching him. As if it hadn’t really been her. She still couldn’t believe she’d managed to stop him. Her fingers had trembled as she’d buttoned up her top but he hadn’t seemed to notice. She tried to scoot a little farther away but his grip simply tightened even more. By his steady breathing she was pretty sure he actually was sleeping. Sighing, she stopped fighting him. She might be more than a little sexually frustrated, but for the first time in ages she felt safe.

Ironic, considering Connor was more or less the Big Bad Wolf. Still, it was a relief to hand over some of the responsibilities of the ranch. Especially the protection part. Though she hadn’t admitted it to her sisters, ever since the males of their pack had died, she’d lived in a state of fear. It hadn’t affected her on a day-to-day basis, but in the back of her mind she’d worried that a group of warrior shifters would come in and just take over. Connor’s wolves were different from any males she’d met before. Even different from her father’s pack. They had a lot of respect for females, as most shifters did, but they were obviously more hardened to life. It was subtle, but she’d seen it in the way they’d talked to and acted around her packmates.

She closed her eyes and forced all those thoughts from her head. For once she wanted a good night’s sleep. As blessed darkness started to take over a distant, foreign sound greeted her ears. Before she’d even sat up, Connor had jumped from the bed and was pulling on a sweater.

“Is that a vehicle?” she asked, her voice thick and tired. So much for a full night of sleep.

He nodded. “Sounds like it.”

The bright red numbers of the digital clock told her it was almost three in the morning. Anyone coming to see them this early would only be bringing bad news. She scrambled from the bed and quickly shoved her legs into her discarded jeans. By the time she’d tugged on her turtleneck, Connor had disappeared from the room.

She found him downstairs, waiting by the front door, talking on the phone. He acknowledged her with a nod but continued speaking. “All right. Radio the men and round them up. Whatever it is, we’ll need them here.”

“What’s going on?” she asked as he disconnected.

“I don’t know, but look for yourself.” He pulled back the curtain blocking the small window next to the front door.

Red and blue lights flashed in the distance but they were coming up the drive fast. The dirt drive stretched on for miles but it would only be a matter of minutes before they reached the gate. “What are we going to do?” Ana looked at Connor.

His jaw was set in a firm line and his beautiful green eyes had darkened to almost midnight black. It wasn’t a trick of the light either. He was pissed and likely fighting not to change.

She placed a hand on his forearm and almost immediately the natural color returned. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, but took a moment before he spoke. “I’m fine. I’d forgotten how often humans jump to conclusions without having any facts.”

“We don’t know why they’re here,” she murmured.

“It’s three in the morning and I count two squad cars. They probably have more backup waiting. This is
not
a friendly visit.”

“I know.” She sighed and automatically went to open the door, but he beat her to it.

He stepped out first, then turned and nodded for her to follow. She’d been opening her own doors for so long, she’d forgotten what it felt like to be protected. Male humans had a funny tradition of opening doors for women and allowing them to enter a building first. One never knew what was on the other side of a door. It didn’t make sense to let a female step into possible danger without assessing the situation first.

Connor placed his hand on the small of her back as they strode across the yard. She wanted to shrug it off but decided to let him keep it there. Even if she wouldn’t admit it, his presence reassured her. The cops visiting twice in one day was bad for their pack. By the time they’d reached the gate, everyone had filtered out of their houses or cabins and stood by expectantly. A few of the males on protection duty were coming in from the fields too.

Ana spotted four men in tan-and-brown uniforms and a redheaded female she vaguely remembered seeing in town before. It was dark, but the light from their homes, the nearby barn and the pale moon overhead gave them more than enough illumination.

Connor opened the gate and he, Ana and Liam greeted Sheriff McIntyre and two of the uniformed officers. The other officer hung back with the woman. Connor could sense the rage coming from the sheriff and fought his own.

Tempering his anger, he stepped forward in an attempt to block Ana. “How can I help you, Sheriff?”

“I need to see all of the newest members of your … pack.” He directed the demand behind Connor to Ana.

Connor could feel his canines start to extend and had to control the dominant need to protect her. And to put this guy in his place. This was his land, his pack, and the beast inside him didn’t care that the sheriff was the law. It only cared that he was encroaching on his territory. “You don’t speak to her. You speak to me. I’m the Alpha of this pack now.” The man might not understand what
Alpha
meant, but he sure as hell understood Connor’s tone.

The sheriff averted his steely glare back to him. “Fine. I need to see all your men. Right now.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need a reason.”

“Yes. You do. Unless you have a warrant, shifters have rights too. Or have you forgotten that?” Connor’s heart rate sped up.

The man stepped forward menacingly. “You son of a—”

“Parker!” The redhead stepped away from the other officer and hurried toward the sheriff.

The family resemblance was unmistakable. Even though she was a bit shorter and definitely a lot softer, they both had the same bright blue eyes. She must be his sister. And she was sporting a nasty-looking black eye. Fresh too.

Connor frowned when he saw her, his protective nature kicking in, but before he could speak, Liam stepped past him. “Are you okay?” His voice was low.

Wide-eyed, the redhead nodded. Her fear was apparent, but at least she didn’t run away screaming from him.

“What happened?” Liam asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Why don’t you tell me?” the sheriff asked with venom.

Liam pivoted toward the man. “What the hell does that mean? You think
I
did this?”

“Someone broke into her house tonight. Luckily I’d fallen asleep on the couch and stopped him before he could hurt her worse than he did.”

Connor didn’t understand how his brother even knew the redhead, but he grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He didn’t want the cops thinking Liam was making any aggressive overtures. Past experience told him they’d use any excuse to hurt a shifter. “And you think someone in our pack hurt her? What possible reason could we have?”

Before the sheriff could answer, his sister placed a calming hand on her brother’s arm and looked at Liam. “After you left the store today your brother came in and made some nasty comments to me. The person who broke into my house tonight was wearing a mask, but he was the same height and he called me a shifter whore. I don’t know if it was the same person but …” She trailed off uncertainly.

“Wait. My
brother
talked to you today?” Liam turned to look at Connor, not accusingly but in shock.

Connor shook his head at Liam, then cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I think you’re mistaken. I was in town today but I only stopped at the bank. We’ve never met.”

Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked back and forth between them. “Not
you
. He had dirty-blond hair, dark eyes. Almost as tall as you both. Maybe another brother?”

“We don’t have another brother,” Liam said.

It had to have been Sean Taggart. Connor wasn’t going to say it aloud because he planned to take care of Taggart on his own, but Ana muttered the vile wolf’s name loud enough for everyone to hear.

The sheriff turned to his sister. “You told me he was his brother.”

Her blue eyes spit fire. “That’s what he
told
me. It’s not like I asked for ID or anything. I just wanted him out of my store. And I still don’t know if he was the one who attacked me tonight. He wore a freaking mask. I don’t know why you insisted on dragging me out here when I told you—”

“Go wait in the car,” he said.

She looked at Connor, then at Liam, and her gaze lingered longer than necessary on him before she did as her brother said.

Connor held up his hands. “I’m going to reach into my back pocket, so tell your boys to keep their weapons holstered.” He wasn’t sure if they were trigger-happy or not but he wasn’t taking a chance. Even if they didn’t have silver-coated bullets, regular bullets still burned like a bitch.

He fished out the business card he’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to use, but this man was going to be a pain in Connor’s ass. That much was obvious. “This is the number for my attorney. You need something from me or anyone else in my pack, call him first or get a fucking warrant before setting foot on this land. He represents every single one of us.” It was petty, but he felt smug as he shoved the card at the sheriff.

When the man saw his attorney’s name his eyes widened, but he didn’t comment. Just tucked it into his front pocket and turned on his heel and left. Connor would have much preferred to make peace with the humans living in Fontana, but he wouldn’t stand by while law enforcement harassed his pack. If he let it slide now, it would only get worse with time.

Once the vehicles turned around and headed back the way they’d come, he looked at his brother. “I take it you know the redhead?”

“I met her today in town. I should go talk to her …” Liam’s voice had taken on a possessive tone Connor recognized well.

“Ana, will you go check on your sisters?” Connor asked without looking at her.

Wordlessly she headed toward one of the groups of women.

Connor waited until she was out of earshot. “You think getting tangled up with a human now is the best idea.” It wasn’t a question.

Liam didn’t respond, just glanced down the drive, even though they’d disappeared from sight. He growled softly in his throat.

“Stay away from her.”

Liam glared at him. “She’s my mate.”

A headache was starting at the base of Connor’s skull. “She’s human.”

“You say it like I have a choice.”

His brother’s words took a moment to sink in.
Mate?
“You’re sure?”

Liam nodded, his expression grim.

Shit, shit, shit.
“You’ve got to stay away from her. Especially now.”

“What if someone told you to stay away from Ana?”

“I’ve stayed away from her for the past fifty years!” If anyone knew about sacrifice it was him, and he wasn’t going to take shit from his brother.

Liam shrugged casually and that pissed him off even more. “That was
your
choice.”

“And you would have done differently in my shoes?” He took a step toward his brother, hot rage filling his veins. He loved Liam more than anything, but he’d still kick his ass.

“You did what you thought was best.” His answer was monotone and that only infuriated Connor more.

He hadn’t done what he’d
thought
was best. He’d done what
was
best. For Ana. Leaving hadn’t been about him or his needs. It had been for her. Something Liam couldn’t understand. He might know December was his mate on a primal level, but he didn’t
know
the woman. Didn’t care for her the way Connor did for Ana, and his brother’s attitude pissed him off. “You don’t know shit, little brother.”

Liam muttered a few choice words in Gaelic, then turned and jogged down the drive. Connor knew that once he was out of sight he’d lose his clothes and shift. He was going to track her, then watch over the redheaded woman until he was certain she was safe. Connor knew what Liam was doing, because he’d do the same thing in his position.

As Alpha, Connor could force him to stay, but that wasn’t a battle he wanted to get into. Not now. Not ever. Coming between a wolf and his mate was bad news. Especially since that wolf was his brother. It seemed impossible that Liam’s mate was a human, but Mother Nature could be a nasty bitch when she wanted.

*    *    *

Taggart looked up from his desk as Vince, his second-in-command entered. “They gone yet?”

“Yeah. Local assholes. I don’t know why you won’t let me do something about them.”

Taggart slammed his fist against the desk. “Because we don’t want any problems with them, idiot.” They needed to keep their noses clean. At least as far as the outside world was concerned. The local cops were harassing his pack and apparently the Cordonas too from the sound of it. As if he’d be messing with some humans right now. They had more important things to worry about.

Under Taggart’s intense scrutiny Vince looked at the floor. “I couldn’t get to Ana’s grazing field like you wanted. Connor has his guys patrolling the property pretty regularly. I was thinking, you could just offer to buy some of her property or something,” he muttered.

Taggart gritted his teeth. “You think Armstrong will let me buy any of that bitch’s land? He’d tell me no out of spite.”

“If someone else made the offer, it might work,” Vince said quietly.

Vince had a soft spot for one of the Cordona women. Taggart just didn’t know which one. It might explain his resistance lately to vandalism.

Maybe he should have just offered to purchase the land two months ago when Ana had been in mourning, instead of trying to unite their packs. But he’d wanted Ana in his bed. He still did. The bitches in his pack were nothing compared to her. Pretty yes, but they were all weak. He needed a strong and smart mate. Ana might have an acerbic tongue, but she had a good head for business. And he needed that right now. Especially if he wanted to get the second part of his operation off the ground.

Selling meth was lucrative at the moment, but in the long run marijuana would make him more profit and his clients would have longer life spans. Not to mention the law didn’t have much of a problem with pot. Meth, coke, heroin—that kind of shit
always
brought trouble sooner or later. The Feds could get involved and that would be a nightmare. Dealers—human or shifter—couldn’t be trusted. No, he had to be smart this time around. He’d nearly gotten busted in California years ago, so he’d relocated.