Vivian Arend - Granite Lake Wolves 2 (14 page)

blindly behind him, Tad slipped his good hand into Keil’s vest where it had hung

since the start of the challenge. It had to be there. Keil always wore the damn

thing. He spun around and dropped to his knees cradling his broken arm as he

held the gun procured from the vest. He heard Doug sniffing, trying to track him.

It would be normal for the wolf to gain the advantage under these dark

conditions.

Except Tad was an Omega.

All the anger built up from feeling Missy’s fear of this man lifted Tad to the place

where he would do anything to save her. He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t strain

to use his vision, and he opened his mind to the ability that had hovered under

the surface for so much of his life. Tad reached out with his new awareness and

found the emotions of his enemy.

It was like wearing infrared goggles.

Doug came toward him on silent paws. Tad stroked his mind, calming. Cooling.

Doug paused in his pacing, his head swinging from side to side like he was

dislodging an annoying fly.

Tad’s heart rate increased. It was working. He pushed harder at his enemy,

attempting to make Doug fall asleep. The wolf staggered in a circle, whining and

snapping at the air. He clawed at the ground and snarled, obviously aware of

what Tad was doing, but unable to overpower the Omega skills Tad appropriated

from somewhere deep within.

Tad wanted the man out of Missy’s life forever, yet the thought of killing another

in cold blood just wasn’t his way. Maybe there was too much human in him, but

since Missy had mentioned the possibility of the wolf council or the human

courts, it seemed there might be a better solution.

Doug rolled on the ground, his legs scrambling in the air as Tad continued to

mentally overwhelm him. Suddenly Missy was there in Tad’s mind as well,

supporting him, aiding him. Doug was no match against their two strengths,

untrained and untried as they were.

The sensation of Missy’s presence grew stronger, and across the arena Tad saw a

shimmer of silvery fur in the moonlight. He couldn’t believe his eyes as she

bounded into the fight area.
“What are you doing? Get out of here!”

She slowed to a walk, her wolf form so beautiful he couldn’t take his gaze off

her.
“I’m the cause of the fight. If he will deny the challenge, you don’t have to kill

him.”

She knew. Somehow she knew that he didn’t want to kill, not if it could be

avoided. His astonishment at the depth of the connection between them as

mates rose again.

Tad turned to face Doug who lay twitching in the midst of the arena. “Do you

yield? I’ll let you live if you stand down the challenge for Missy.”

Tad eased his control on Doug, enough to let him move slightly. The Alpha rolled

to his belly and dropped his head to the ground.

“He yields!” The Whistler Beta had changed back to human and rushed out to the

arena with Keil hard on his heels.

“Will he accept the council’s examination of his leadership as well as give up the

challenge?” Tad demanded, keeping his eyes on Doug.

The Alpha’s gaze darted back and forth, and suddenly he gathered his legs under

him and leapt at Missy. His body shifted to the left as his claws swung and his

teeth reached to rip her throat open. Tad cried in disbelief, raised the gun and

fired twice in quick succession before everything went silent.

Missy watched happily as her new brother-in-law hung up the phone and turned

to give his wife a tender kiss. Now
that
was a neat sensation, to be able to think

about a brother-in-law without getting nauseous at the same time.

“Whistler pack leadership has finally been reorganized by the council. They’re

trying to avoid getting human authorities involved to deal with the illegal items

Missy had documented,” Keil said. He wrapped his arm around Robyn, pulling her

into his side. “You using a gun during a challenge has been forgiven in light of

Doug’s double-cross. Plus the fact you turned down the position of Alpha for

Whistler means there’s some archaic law in the code that gives you clemency.”

Missy tucked herself in tighter to Tad where they sat on the loveseat. She

exchanged contented smiles with Robyn.

“I wasn’t going to let the bastard kill me because I couldn’t shift yet,” Tad pointed

out. “I’m glad you were paying attention, Robyn, or I’d have been down there

without a backup weapon. I felt like a fool waving my arms around signing like an

idiot. And while the whole Omega thing is really cool, I need more practice before

relying on it to save anyone’s life.”

“So, are you two official now?” TJ asked.

“Official what?” Tad asked, brushing a kiss against Missy’s cheek. She breathed in

his scent happily, comfort and satisfaction pooling around her.

She felt little queasy, but that was to be expected.

TJ paced the room, his long legs constantly on the verge of tripping. “Omegas for

the Granite Lake pack. I know you’re mates because, duh, I can smell that one a

mile away. There’s also this other weird scent that I think means—”

“TJ, I need you to go and get my bag out of the car,” Missy ordered, flicking a

glance at Tad to see if he’d caught that slip.
How could TJ have known?

The young man sighed as he paced toward the door. “Fine. I’ll go. But I’ll have

you know it’s not my fault I have a superior sense of smell. I think it’s pretty

rotten you’re not letting me be around when you make the announce—”

“Go!” Missy rubbed her forehead. Okay, one of her new relatives still made her

head spin.

“You are going to accept the position, aren’t you, Tad?” Keil asked. “It’s for both

you and Missy. As well as being our Omegas, you can operate your pilot service

out of Haines Junction or we can increase the bookings for Maximum Exposure

and keep the family business roaring here in Alaska.”

Missy enjoyed the sensations washing over her as Tad twirled one of her curls in

his fingers, tugging her close to kiss her again.

“Well, I suppose it depends on where Missy wants to have the baby,” Tad said as

he squeezed his arm around her tighter.

She should have known she couldn’t keep it a secret for long. “You knew! I was

trying to hide the scent.” She twisted around to face him, delight filling her.

Tad laughed. “It seems becoming mates with you has fixed my sense of smell.

Plus, I’m an Omega. I know what’s happening, even this quickly, and I want to tell

you I’m pleased as punch.”

Across the room Keil snorted. “You’re proud you’ve got super sperm. What did

you do, knock her up the first day?”

Missy bit her lip and scrunched up her face to stop her enthusiastic nod. She

caught Robyn’s eye and winked. Robyn’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“Of course, I think it would be great for the cousins to be raised close together,

so living here in Haines might be the best,” Tad continued, staring at the ceiling as

he rubbed at his chin.

A loud
thunk
rose from the corner of the room as Keil fell off the arm of the

couch, his mouth gaping open. Robyn grinned at him, laid one arm on top of the

other and rocked them back and forth.

“Shit,” Keil exclaimed. “Really? A baby? But I never smelt, I never…oh hell yeah.”

Tad’s hand slipped over Missy’s waist as he leaned closer to kiss her neck. Here

was everything that she’d ever hoped for, longed for. A dream so long in the

making had come true. She didn’t have to run away anymore, didn’t have to try to

escape anything more dangerous than TJ.

She was home.

About the Author

Vivian was playing hooky the day they taught about the importance of getting a

“real” job; she was hiding out at the local library rereading everything for the fifth

time. Since then she’s become a Jack-of-all-trades with a job-experience list only

slightly smaller than the average phone book.

She’s hiked, biked, canoed, kayaked and camped throughout Canada, Europe and

the States, including Hawaii and Alaska. All these adventures have now become

settings for her overactive muse to wander through.

Vivian lives in Western Canada with her longtime sweetie, two wonderful kids

and a dog that looks like a stuffed toy.

To learn more please visitwww.vivianarend.comor you can send an email to

Vivian [email protected] .

Look for these titles by Vivian Arend

Now Available:

Wolf Signs

Tidal Wave

She’s ready to fight at his side. He’s fighting for the strength to let her go.

Sanctuary Lost

© 2009 Moira Rogers

Red Rock Pass, Book 2

If there’s one thing that Brynn Adler hates, it’s feeling helpless and vulnerable in

unfamiliar territory. Three weeks ago, life tossed her into just such a world. A

world of werewolves she never knew existed—until she found out her sister was

one of them.

The pack seems determined to hurry her back to the normal world of humans.

But after everything she’s witnessed, she’s not sure she wants to go—especially if

it means leaving not only her sister behind, but the one man who makes her

forget her life is falling apart.

Now all she has to do is convince him to agree to a plan to force the pack to let

her stay.

Joe Mitchell has been battling his protective instincts since he rescued Brynn

from her kidnapper. Getting involved with her is a bad idea for a lot of reasons.

She’s on shaky emotional ground, and a supernatural war is no place for a human

woman. He’s not about to let her make a hasty decision, one that will only bring

her pain and regret.

Now all he has to do is let her go.

Warning: This book contains violence, a war between werewolf packs, hot, primal

sex and sexual power games with a badass ex-Special Forces alpha who will do

anything to keep his lover safe.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Sanctuary Lost:

His control wavered. He dragged her head back and growled against her jaw line.

“You have to watch the biting, sweetheart. Do it too much, and it’s as good as a

brand. You’ll be stuck with me.”

“Stuck with you?” Her voice sounded breathless and unsteady. “I’m not—I don’t

think I understand…”

“Everyone will think I belong to you.” He meant the words as a warning, but they

came out sounding like a harsh plea.

The silence between them felt heavy and tense, even though Brynn’s fingers

never stopped their slow, maddening caress. Finally she pulled back just enough

to meet his eyes. “Do you want to?”

Joe swallowed, then let go of her and backed away a step. He’d convinced

himself that, if Cindy would be Brynn’s Guide, he could handle everything else she

asked of him. “What happened to friendly sex? No big deal?”

Something flashed across her face—pain or vulnerability or maybe even rejection

—but she was good at controlling her expression. It was gone a heartbeat later,

replaced with a fixed smile that looked strained around the edges. “I’m sorry. I

got a little carried away.”

He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “Damn it, Brynn. Will you stop trying to

be so damn sophisticated and worldly for five minutes and tell me what it is you

want?”

That
got an honest reaction out of her. Brynn scrambled to her knees and

clutched her bra against her chest as she glared at him. “That is some

condescending bullshit right there. But if you’d like me to blunt it up for you, sure.

I want to have dirty fucking sex with you with an intensity that sort of freaks me

out, because guns and muscles and hero shit has never turned me on before, but

suddenly now I can’t think of anything but you.”

He steeled himself, tamping down the surge of emotion that rose at her words.

“That isn’t what I meant. You just can’t seem to decide whether you want to take

me for a tumble, or warn every other woman in town away from me.” He caught

her arm as she jerked away. “So which is it?”

“I
don’t know
.” The words were low and desperate, and he knew she was lying.

She knew, too; he saw it in her face before she looked away and squeezed her

eyes shut. When she spoke, it was in a whisper so soft he almost couldn’t hear

her. “I don’t want to share you. I want you to myself.”

He hauled her toward him, catching her when she might have tumbled off the

bed. His mouth landed on hers, firm and demanding, opening her lips so his

tongue could slip inside. Her hair spilled around them like long threads of silk, and

he pulled the cotton bra away so he could smooth his hand over her skin.

She moaned, the sound mostly muffled by his mouth, and for several long

minutes she seemed content with nothing more than kissing him. As aggressive as

she’d been about initiating sex, she seemed more subdued now. Not submissive,

exactly, and certainly not passive, but willing—even eager—to let him take the

lead.

Joe climbed on the bed, pressing her back into the pillows, and trailed his lips

down the soft curve of her neck. “I’ll be careful. I swear it, Brynn.”

Her sigh was one of pleasure, and she tangled her fingers in his hair and tilted her

head back a little more. “I trust you, and I’m not going to break.”