Page 41 of Mating Season
Turf?
If the shoe fits.
Ranger tucked me under his arm possessively, making my wolf preen and my head spin as I breathed in his intoxicating masculine scent. Sweat glistened on his skin from the heat of the fire. It took more effort than I’d like to admit to refrain from licking his chest and claiming him as mine to prove a point.
Damn hormones.
“We were wondering where you’d been hiding,” Cindy said, all southern-tea-sweet. But I didn’t miss how she leaned forward, keeping her hand on Chad’s arm in a show of ownership.
“I was actively avoiding you,” the words slipped out before I thought them through.
Cindy was not the wolf I wanted to piss off.
Her eyes narrowed and I forced myself to smile. “Too much estrogen for me here.”
She nodded, glancing at Meghan. “I see.”
Did we just have a moment?
Whatever it takes to stay on her good side.
“Aspen, sweetheart.” Chad leaned forward. “We aren’t the wolves you want to avoid.”
I refused to give him another look, especially with Cindy clinging to his arm. He could read whatever he wanted from my silence–and hopefully he’d take it as an insult. I may not have gotten along with Cindy that well, but a wolf of her size could do so much better than him.
“We leave at midnight.” Ranger tightened his grip on my side. “I suggest you decide in the next hour if you’ll be with me or not.”
“You can’t call it this early.” Brett shook his head. “We’ll need time to scout the area and find the best routes to run.”
I wasn’t sure how long Ranger had been standing there arguing, but I could sense his exhaustion as if it were my own. And as much as it freaked me out we were really doing this–in an hour nonetheless–I’d said I would help and I wasn’t backing out now.
“He didn’t stutter.” I laced my fingers through Ranger’s fingers. “We’re running at midnight.”
“And you think we’re supposed to follow you?” Meghan blurted out. The outrage on her face made me laugh.
“You can do whatever the hell you want.” I tugged on Ranger’s hand. “But I’m the only female he’ll be running with this season.”
“We’ll see about that,” Edith whispered under her breath as she turned to face the drone hovering nearby. “It doesn’t matter who leads the season anyway.” She winked at the camera. “The official run is an outdated tradition meant to help guide lower-ranking wolves, but most of us are dominant in our own right here.”
Ouch.It hurt worse because I agreed about the stupidity of the run, but Edith made it obvious who was the lower-ranking wolf in this circle by the sympathetic smile she gave me.
Let her be jealous.
I kept my chin raised high and turned to leave, only stopping because Ranger was animmoveable log when he wanted to be and he was still holding my hand.
“If you won’t respect my Luna then you aren’t welcome to run with us.” There was an Alpha bark to his tone I’d never heard before and I realized he wasn’t bluffing when he said he didn’t use it.
Hearing it now made even my wolf want to turn belly up, so I didn’t blame the women when they all bent their head to the side and nodded.
Ranger pulled me down the beach, not letting go of my hand. I wasn’t short, but I had to hurry to keep up with his long legs. My head was spinning from the encounter by the fire. He’d stood up for me.
AnAlphastood up forme.
Well, he’s our mate. So…
He didn’t stop his brooding march until he’d dragged me into an alcove away from the pond on the other side of the forest where the shifters still gathered waiting for him to return.
It was probably as alone as we could get. The evergreen branches were too thick above for the drones to get through and he continued past the trail cams set to film the open space.