Elements Unbound (5 page)

His legs were stiff when he walked through the trees toward her. Renee wanted him as much as he wanted her. Possibly the ways of packs made it a bit tougher to date, get to know a bitch before mating with her for life. Even if his head remained curious, the pain in his heart wouldn’t throb this strong for a bitch who wanted nothing to do with him.

“Soon I will head into town.” He needed to make a presence in the pack. Word was out.

Werewolves would sniff for trouble—it was the way of their kind. He’d be there to help build strength, make sure they knew they’d have a strong new leader.

Renee nodded, not turning around. She still kept the wall around her mind, shielding her thoughts from him. But her scent wrapped around him, adding to the throbbing in his cock. He inhaled deeply, her rich sexuality, the creamy scent of her skin, the mixture of soap and shampoo and lotions that mixed to create her own special smell. But there was something else—fear, no—anger.

He grasped her shoulder and turned her around. That’s when he realized she shook with rage. She slapped his arm off her shoulder.

“You come to me, seduce me, offer me what I’ve always fantasized about, and then announce you are going to challenge our pack leader.” She barely whispered, her body shaking more with fury with every word. “It’s a fight to the death, Bruno. How dare you!”

He’d offered her what she’d always fantasized about? The wall of worry that had grown hard and rough inside him shattered quickly, almost making him dizzy. He grabbed her hand that had just slapped him, holding it between them. He squeezed when she tried to pull free.

“There are always dangers in life,” he told her, pinning her gaze. She’d hear him, and stand by his side. It had to be like this, or their mating would never hold. “I will not die in this challenge. We’ll be triumphant and the werewolves of Malta will grow strong and gain respect with me as their leader.”

“So now you see the future too?” She quit trying to pull her hand free. “Bruno, I understand that you wish to lead the pack. You’ve made that clear. I guess it’s sinking in now. You’ve offered me what I’ve always dreamed about—having you. The thought of that dream being yanked away if you don’t survive the challenge…”

Her anger faded to fear. Fear for him. He’d given himself to her. And as he’d thought, she’d wanted him. Now she worried she’d lose him. She breathed heavily, her lips parting, full and dark like her file://C:\Documents and Settings\Chrissy\My Documents\My Ebooks\ElementsUnbound\El...

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caramel skin. Long lashes fluttered over her black eyes, and he sensed the change growing inside her as she fought to keep strong emotions from taking over.

Her pain. Her newly accepted love for him shattered the wall of resistance she’d put up around her.

It tumbled to pieces, exposing so many emotions to him that he almost teetered from their power. She wanted him. She’d howl for him. She’d lay her kill before him. And now she feared losing him.

“I see you and me making this pack strong enough that new respect will be given to Malta. You need to see that too, Renee.” He yanked on her arm so that she stumbled forward, her free hand bracing her against his chest. Her feelings let off powerful scents, aromas she was too upset to conceal from him.

He lifted her chin, letting his fingers glide down her slender neck. “My queen bitch will be strong, a leader to her pack. Have no fear that I’ll lose. That won’t happen. I will not die tonight. You and I will mate, we’ll run together, we will hunt together, and be strong together. Tell me that’s what you see too.”

She slowly licked her lips, her gaze hooded. She wouldn’t look at him. He held her tightly, making it impossible for her to move. They wouldn’t leave this spot until she knew in her heart that they returned to their pack mated, and ready to take on all the challenges they would create.

“I came here to figure out how to handle my sire. With that in my head, you dare to throw a bone at me that might be larger than I can chew.”

“I have a feeling you could handle any bone I give you.” He had no doubts.

She sucked in a breath, her anger fading but her fear still lingering in the air. “I don’t want you to die,” she whispered.

“Then the feelings I’ve suspected you held for me are real.”

She did look up at him then. Slowly, her hand moved up his shoulder. Her touch was like fire, erupting inside him. And the way she stared at him, hungry yet worried, stirred the more primal side of him to life. He let go of her wrist and moved his hands over her hair, holding her head so that she wouldn’t look away. He could drown in that sultry look of hers. God. He swore his little bitch was ready to fuck again. If only there were time to fuck her right now. He’d seal their fate so that all doubts disappeared.

She nibbled her lower lip, focusing on his chest. “Mating is for life. Just because a fantasy exists doesn’t mean it will grow into love that will last a lifetime.”

“Yet you were ready to attack with tooth and claw at the thought of me endangering my life.”

She didn’t answer right away. He brushed his lips over her forehead, simply wanting to taste her.

Filling his lungs with her scent would give him the strength he needed to win this challenge. He’d known he needed to mate with her before he attacked for position of pack leader. Now he saw why. In spite of her claiming to be unsure, she was the strongest bitch he’d ever known. Willing to take on her own sire, unafraid when Bruno had taken her on alone on the cliff, Renee possessed power that matched his. No other werewolf would do for either of them. And with that knowledge in his head, he’d be triumphant, knowing that together they could have anything they wanted.

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She lifted her face, offering her mouth, which he greedily accepted. Nipping at her lip, he then ran his tongue over the spot he’d just bitten. She gasped, relaxing against him, submitting to him.

“Go do what you must do,” she whispered into his mouth.

He ran his hands down her back and gripped her ass. Shoving his hard cock against her soft belly, he growled. His body screamed that what he must do right now was fuck her again. But he needed to walk among his pack right now, assure them that their new leader was strong and not hiding.

“You will be by my side.” His voice was gravelly and his teeth pricked his gums when he tried speaking.

“Yes,” she said.

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Renee followed Bruno into Freddie’s
locanda
. She almost drooled staring at his broad shoulders, the casual way he sauntered into the locally owned werewolf establishment. Muscles rippled in his back under his shirt. His thick black hair fell past his collar. Buns of steel would distract any bitch who saw him, and with a quick glance around the
locanda
, more than one of them turned when he strolled past tables, as if he owned the place. Silent and in control, moving like a predator claiming his pack, he commanded the attention of every werewolf there.

She met the gazes of nearby females, fighting a rumble in her throat to claim her territory, let them know he wasn’t available. She glanced at the clock hanging behind the bar—less than an hour until midnight and the time when her life would change forever. Little bolts of electricity shot off inside her.

Her palms got too wet and she rubbed them down her dress as she stared after Bruno. They would do this. Together they would make her pack stronger and more powerful. The nerves didn’t go away, but a chill of excitement tightened her muscles.

“Renee, get over here.” One of her packmates she’d grown up with, Maria, hollered from her bar stool at the counter.

Maria’s mother, a widowed bitch who looked about the same age as Maria, turned and let her gaze travel down Bruno. He turned, just as a couple of werewolves walked toward him, ignored them, and grabbed Renee’s neck.

“Remember who you belong to,” he whispered in her face, and then pulled her to him for a hot, quick, possessive kiss.

It almost threw her off balance. Curiosity and lust clogged the air as every pack member, she swore—every last one of them—turned and paid heed to the aggressive, dominating act. He released her while his dark brooding gaze undressed her in front of everyone. She blushed as her nipples hardened, her pussy swelling with need so quickly a soul would have to be on the edge of death not to smell it.

Growling at him, it was impossible to regain composure. He’d made his point to the pack. Now she would have to answer all the bitches’ questions. The cocky son of a bitch. Part of her wanted to clobber him, while her other half craved grabbing him, returning the kiss, and eliminating any doubt anyone had whom he belonged to.

He tapped her nose with his finger and then turned before she could let loose a few choice words as to what she thought of his openly public domination before a mating had even been announced. Hell.

Her sire would catch word of this before the challenge even took place.

“We heard your sire agreed to a mating with old Giovanni.” Maria watched Bruno walk through the file://C:\Documents and Settings\Chrissy\My Documents\My Ebooks\ElementsUnbound\El...

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locanda
, mingling with other werewolves.

Testosterone escalated quickly around the werewolves as they laughed and punched each other.

That, mixed with the thick smell of beer, almost made her stomach turn. She was still lightheaded from his aggressive kiss.

“And I can smell Bruno’s mark on you,” Maria’s mother, Anna, leaned forward and hissed, her breath smelling of whiskey.

“Mama,” Maria scolded, but she grinned when she met Renee’s gaze. “So tell us everything.”

Renee never claimed to have a best friend. But she and Maria grew up together. Whelped almost at the same time, the two of them, along with other bitches their age, were grouped together on pack runs, and had huddled and played at the meetings. It was hard not to smile at her friend’s enthusiastic grin.

“Bruno asked me to be his mate,” she confided, it suddenly feeling a lot more real as she shared it with the two bitches.

Not to mention both of them would spread the word faster than they’d talk about the challenge, as soon as they walked out of the
locanda
.

“I’d take him faster than I’d go for Giovanni.” Maria made a show of leaning around Renee and hummed her approval as she stared at Bruno. “Hell, yes. Buns of steel.”

“And what does your sire have to say about all of this?” Anna took the role of the concerned mother, her gaze dropping down Renee as if with a glance she could see everything Bruno had done to her.

Heat traveled through Renee. Her body tingled anxiously, the thought of being with him soon, possibly after the challenge, when adrenaline would be high and sex would be rough, made every inch of her pulse like an overworked nerve ending. Both women’s faces beamed. It wouldn’t be hard for either one of them to smell her sexual anticipation.

“I haven’t told him yet. Bruno says he’ll announce it once he’s pack leader.”

“And you’ll be queen bitch.” Maria clapped her hands together, laughing out loud. “There is less than an hour until the challenge. God. This is too fucking exciting.”

Obviously neither of the bitches doubted Bruno’s ability to take down their current pack leader.

A hush fell over the
locanda
when the door opened. Anger and hostility flooded the air and Renee turned to see their pack leader walk into the place. He was a large werewolf. With a big pot belly and silver hair combed straight back over his wide forehead, she’d always thought he looked like a black bear in human form. His shiny black skin glistened with sweat.

She smelled his outrage, but moved beyond the obvious emotions and read his fear. What he hid from the pack, she saw clearly. Glancing from him to Bruno, she thought Bruno had to sense what she did. Alberto had no confidence in winning. Her heart constricted when she realized he’d come to terms with his death. But he held his head high, a proud werewolf who’d led their pack for years.

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He ignored the bitches, moving across the length of the
locanda
in several long strides. No one spoke when he walked right up to Bruno and grabbed him by the shoulder. He stood taller than Bruno by an inch or two, but where their pack leader was large from weight, Bruno was packed with steel muscle, in his prime, and more agile.

Both of them looked very deadly as they stared at each other, aggression dripping thicker than syrup through the air. Renee held her breath, aching to put a leash on their leader, do anything to ensure Bruno would win the fight. She watched the fire in his eyes, the way he glared at their leader, and knew the strength of desire that pulsed through him to take the title of pack leader.

Bruno was aggressive, dominating, and his silent presence demanded the attention of everyone around him. No matter that he didn’t shout to the pack promises of how life would be better—talk was cheap. Bruno would run with actions. He would move quickly, pouncing on opportunity with tooth and claw. Nothing and no one would stand in his way to make sure the werewolves of Malta were respected and honored by every werewolf on the planet.

And she’d run by his side. She’d put her kill at his feet. They would mate, and together they would keep honor and strength alive and strong in their pack. With their gifts, they would aid the pack the way no other pack leader could. She stared at the two werewolves. Her surroundings faded. The emotions of the werewolves around her receding. She saw their success. Staring at Bruno, her heart knew they’d be happy, be successful. She didn’t know how she knew, but Bruno was right. The werewolves of Malta would go down in history because of them.