Pack Challenge (14 page)

“Yeah, she’s all right,” Jazz snapped. “So back the fuck off.”
Uh-oh.

Zach was about to howl in frustration when he got the call. For hours he searched for her. He eventually found out she’d gone off with her

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friends, but he lost her scent once she left Marrec’s. Including the diner, he also tried her house, the other two restaurants in town and the local movie theater.

Then Conall called. “You better get over here.” It turned out “here” was the club he first saw her in. He had gone there earlier, but it was a quiet evening with just a few patrons hanging out so he quickly left.

But when he rode his bike up, Conall was standing outside with Kelly and Julie. Standing with them was a small group of patrons, wearing their requisite Goth black and leather. They all looked like they were waiting for something, but he was afraid to ask what.

He got off his bike and walked up to Conall. “Well? Where is she?”

“In there.” Conall motioned to the club. “But you better hurry up. The owner’s about to call the cops. I’ll hold him off as long as I can.” Heading toward the entrance, he heard Conall’s voice behind him.

“Be careful, Zach.”

Zach walked into the club and right into a bar fight. Several men already knocked out and bloody on the floor. But at least six other men still fighting. He looked for Sara, assuming she’d be in the middle of it since the girl could instigate a riot among nuns. She wasn’t.

In seconds, though, he picked up her scent. How he hadn’t caught it five miles back, he’d never know—it was that strong and probably every male in the place responded to it.

Zach quickly located her across the room, calmly sitting on the stool watching the men fight. It hit Zach like a thunderbolt. They weren’t fighting her. They were fighting
over
her. And even more annoying—she was letting them! She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

The men fighting were bikers. Gang members she’d probably known over the years who never paid much attention to her. Until now.

Okay. This is bad
.
But it could be worse
.

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Pack Challenge

Sara’s gaze lifted from the men fighting in front of her. She cast around and he realized she’d picked up his scent. She turned and looked right at him and Zach felt his heart stop. The woman had been beautiful before but now…

Sliding off the stool she’d been perched on, Sara walked toward him, expertly avoiding the tangle of bloody men.

As she came close to him, she licked her lips and Zach wasn’t sure how much more he could take before he lost the control he was barely holding on to.

Sara stood in front of him, a smile sliding across her full lips. She reached up and kissed him. Nothing fancy. Just her lips touching his.

Then she abruptly pulled away from him.

“Have fun,” she spat.

As she moved away, Zach was hit from every side by six bikers who hated his guts.

Okay. That was
really
bitchy
, Sara thought as she watched Zach hit the floor. Every man she’d touched or spoken to that evening had somehow ended up in this huge brawl in the middle of her favorite club.

And she knew kissing Zach would send the remainder of those idiots his way. Yet she felt he kind of deserved it.

Christ, what was wrong with her? When did she get so…bloodthirsty?

Not only that, but she never thought anyone would fight over
her
.

Especially, not-even-that-drunk biker guys who’d always ignored her before. Thankfully, Marrec’s sons and nephews didn’t even have a chance to get involved before the bikers went after each other. Instead they stood behind her and watched the fight while protecting her at the same time.

Then she saw Zach. No, that’s wrong. She didn’t see him, at first. She
sensed
him, and then she smelled him. And he smelled primal and oh, so wonderfully male. Her mouth actually watered.

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She debated whether to ignore him but, she thought, W
hy shouldn’t
the fucker fight for me, too?”
And that’s where the kiss came in. She knew she had him as soon as she licked her lips. Surprisingly, Marrec’s kin looked impressed when she walked back over to take her seat.

Now, however, she was starting to worry. Zach wasn’t coming up out of the throng of men. And she had no intention of going home with anyone else tonight.

She was about to start dragging men off him herself, until she heard an angry snarl and saw a biker named Ray fly by. Then another and another.

In less than three minutes, Zach wiped the floor with the biggest, toughest bikers she’d ever known. Men who had done seriously hard time.

When finished, he turned and faced her. He was breathing hard, his face battered and bloody, already swelling in some spots, his lip split and dripping blood. She had the overwhelming desire to lick that blood away.

Looking at his handsome face, she had the intense feeling he was about to take her right there on the dance floor. Fuck her brains out in front of everybody. Not that she’d complain.

Zach didn’t know whether to fuck her or soak her head in the toilet.

Both seemed like reasonable reactions to what she pulled.

He looked at Marrec’s Pack standing behind Sara, and he knew they would no longer step in to protect her crazy ass. At least, not protect her from him. He’d won her fair and square. He could drag Sara off by the hair and they wouldn’t get in his way. Of course, he risked her ripping his throat out in the process and Marrec’s Pack wouldn’t stop that either.

He also knew his own Pack stood behind him now, watching them both. He could smell them.

“Well, well. What a mess, huh, Zach?”

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Pack Challenge

He gritted his teeth at Casey’s smug voice. Maybe he would fuck Sara and put Casey’s head in the toilet.

Casey leaned against the bar and stared at Sara.

“How ya doin’, honey? You doin’ okay?”

Sara didn’t answer her. Instead she stared. At first Casey was smiling, but when Sara didn’t turn away, Casey lost that smile. Zach knew Casey wanted Sara to look away. Needed her to.

Without turning from her, Casey spoke to Zach. “You better put a leash on your girl there, Zach. I’d hate to have to break her in so soon.” He’d kill Casey first before he let the bitch touch Sara. “Breaking her in” being the euphemism they all used for grabbing a Beta around the throat and bringing them down until they showed their belly and learned their place. But apparently Sara wasn’t about to be anybody’s bitch. He caught the woman in mid-flight as she dove over the bar; her hands outstretched and reaching for Casey’s throat.

Sara didn’t like the way Casey was looking at her. Like she was challenging her or something. And she was standing a little too close to Zach in Sara’s opinion. In fact, the bitch was just pissing Sara off. She wanted to hurt Casey. She wanted to see the bitch bleed.

So what’s stopping you?
Her last thought before she went for her.

But Zach stopped her, his big hands grabbing her around the waist.

“Sonofabitch!”

Casey didn’t move, but she was clearly rattled. Her eyes wide as she watched Sara. And apparently Sara was enough of a threat that Yates stepped between them.

Zach luckily had a good grip on her, because Sara was losing it.

That’s when he knew—she’d gone feral.

“You fucking whore!
Break me in
?
Fuck you
!”

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Zach pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her body. She was shaking, but it wasn’t from fear. “Easy,” he whispered in her ear. “Easy.” His voice seemed to soothe her. He thought he might be able to get Sara out of there without any more problems. But not wanting to show weakness to her females, Casey continued to stare at her.

Sara pulled away from Zach and went for Casey again. He caught her on the bar and dragged her back, tossing the woman over his shoulder and heading to the exit. Sara was still screaming and banging her fists against his back demanding to be let go so she could “…
finish the little
bitch
!”

He motioned to Conall who tossed the truck keys to him. He caught them in mid-air, went outside to the truck, threw Sara in, got in after her, and tore out of the parking lot.

Sara wasn’t exactly sure when she turned feral, but she was curious to see where this would lead. She’d never actually “lost it” before. Miki lost it all the time. She popped off continually, like a little firecracker.

Angelina seemed the most rational of the three, but everyone in town knew she had a temper that had caused some men to actually move out of Texas. No, it was a well-known fact Sara was the rational one. The one people came to for sage-like advice. The one people knew they could rely on since Miki might forget and Angie simply wouldn’t care. She was Golden Retriever Sara.

Until tonight. Tonight she was Drunk-Sara without the liquor. And she finally had to admit, Drunk-Sara was fucking scary.

When the pickup truck pulled up to her house, Sara was immediately disappointed. She wanted to hit another club. Maybe go to Austin and scare some city-folk. She sure as hell didn’t want to slip into her comfy clothes and watch TV for the rest of the night.

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Now, if Zach wanted to keep her busy for a few hours…well that was completely different. But by the look on his face when he stopped the truck, his staying might be a remote possibility.

Sighing, she waited to see his next move.

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Zach turned off the motor and pulled the keys out of the ignition.

Clearly the woman wanted him dead. She’d thrown him under the proverbial bus, and she knew it, too.

Now what to do? Simple. Dump her ass and go. If he fucked her tonight, he was going to keep her. He knew that as surely as he knew she was crazy. And he didn’t want a mate. He especially didn’t want
her
as a mate. His whole life spent trying to keep her pretty ass out of trouble. He had much bigger plans than that.

Pushing open the truck door, he stepped out. Reaching back in, he dragged her across the seat, ignoring her plaintive, “Hey!” He pulled her to him and tossed Sara over his shoulder again, walking up the porch steps to her house. The temptation to drop her on her head almost overwhelmed him, but instead he carefully lowered her to the ground. “Keys,” he ordered. She took them out of her pants pocket and handed them over. He unlocked her front door and pushed her inside, following behind her.

While she stood in the middle of her living room, he double-checked the house to make sure they were the only ones there. He wasn’t worried anyone might really be there; he would have smelled any Pride members before he even walked in. But doing that kept him from thinking about how good she smelled or how hot she looked in those khaki pants that were a little too big for her. They kept slipping off her waist and she kept hiking them back up.

“Everything looks safe.”

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“Why wouldn’t it be?”

No, probably not a good time to tell her there was a whole Pride that wanted to see her dead. The mood she was in right now, she’d go looking for them.

“Never hurts to check.” He headed toward the door, making sure not to touch her as he left.

“You want a drink or something before you go? I think I have tequila around here somewhere.” Kicking off her sneakers, she disappeared into her kitchen.

Zach slammed the door and quickly followed. “
No
!” Sara turned around startled.

“And you don’t want any either.” The last thing the woman needed was tequila.

“I don’t?”

“No. No drinking. And don’t go anywhere tonight. Just stay here. Be quiet. Watch TV or something.”

“I see.” Sara, using only her legs, hopped up on to the counter.

Zach was amazed how fast she was changing. Every second she seemed to be getting stronger. It wasn’t supposed to work like this. It wasn’t supposed to happen this fast. But Sara kept surprising him.

She sighed. “You don’t want me to drink. You don’t want me to go out. You just want me to sit here quietly. Like a good little girl.” Zach swallowed. “Right.”

“Interesting.” Sara leaned back, her palms resting on the countertop behind her. Her back slightly arched, her breasts pushing against her white T-shirt. She kicked her legs out, the heels of her feet banging against the wood cupboard. “You know, my friends think you did something to me.”

“I
did
do something to you.”

She actually blushed at that. "Something other than that. Something bad.”

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“What do you think?”

“Me? Oh, I think I’m dying.”

Absolutely psychotic.
“You’re not dying.” Zach couldn’t help but laugh. “Why would you even think that?”

“My mother died when I was a baby. My father died in an actual
animal attack
when I was eight. My grandmother was a very unpleasant woman. And I’ve been limping around this town for the last twenty years.

Do you really think I believe in good fortune?” She did have a point. “But how do you feel? Do you feel like you’re dying?”

She was quiet for several moments, and when she spoke her voice was low. “No. I feel strong. Powerful. I feel amazing.”

“You are amazing.” Okay. Where did that come from? How did those words just leave his mouth? And she seemed as surprised as he felt.

“Why, thank you tall, dark stranger.”

“You forgot handsome.”

“No I didn’t.”

Staring into those beautiful brown eyes, Zach realized he could see his future in those eyes. Everything he’d ever wanted to be or wanted to have were in those eyes.

I gotta get outta here
. “I better go.”

“That’s not fair.”

Uh-oh
. “What’s not fair?”

“I’m bored. I’m anxious. And you say I can’t leave and I can’t drink.” She smiled at him. “So I’m thinking you better come up with a way to keep me occupied or who knows what kind of shit I’ll get in to.” Zach had no response for that, although his dick certainly did. But he ignored it. “I better go.”
That was feeble,
he thought desperately.