Page 65 of Mating Season
“Please,” Edith growled. Her eyes glowed red and her fangs extended. It seemed her beast wanted out.
With claws extended, we slashed the rope.
The female crashed to the ground.
We crouched down to eye level as she pushed herself up. “Answer the question. What are you doing here?”
Edith’s arms were shaking as she rocked back on her heels and she watched as we stood to circle around. We needed to keep her off balance until we knew her intentions, stay a moving target until we knew where she was going to attack.
“Lilith went home with our pack guards.” Edith wiped the spit from her mouth. “They say Cindy killed Chad and then the bitch mated Scott while Meghan’s wolf claimed Brett.”
“You’re rambling about this as if we care.” We continued to circle, aware of each new sensation. Edith’s growing edginess. The energy of the sun beginning to rise. The camera drones and their artificial lights dimming as they filmed us in our bare skin.
“You don’t have a mating mark.” Edith smirked as she stood.
We resisted the urge to hide, to shy away, to clamp our hand over our bare neck. There was nothing to hide. “Is that why you’re here?”
“If you’re not mated,” Edith licked her lips, glancing at the cameras, “then Ranger is still fair game.”
We anticipated the lunge before she struck. It hurt. Not her bony elbow slamming against our throat, but the truth of her words. It was our human sensibilities that remained cautious and kept us from going all in with our mate, but we were done with waiting.
Our wolf strength took over as we slammed our hands against Edith’s chest, sending her flying backwards and crashing into a tree. Bark cracked and shattered. Edith crumbled to the ground.
We stalked forward, tsking. “I expected a better character arc from you.”
“A what?” She gasped.
“Never mind.” We sighed as we came to a stop beside her. “It’s time for you to leave.”
She rolled to her back, kicking out with her heel. It connected with our knee. Bone crunched as white-hot pain flared through us.
“You’ll never be a real Luna,” Edith screamed as she jumped to her feet and charged. “I was bred to be on top. You’re just a mutt from a backwoods litter who–”
We grabbed her by the throat and slammed her to the ground. With our good knee, we droppedonto her breastbone. Our claws dug into her neck, drawing blood as she tried to suck in air.
“I don’t give a shit about your rich kid circles. You don’t want me there? Fine. I won’t lose any sleep at night. But Ranger is mine.” We squeezed tighter, watching as her eyes bulged with panic. “This is the last time I will tell you to leave.”
The stench of fear permeated the air as Edith slowly nodded.
“Go.”
We released her neck and she shifted into her wolf. The beast turned and snarled. We bared our fangs, snarling back.
With her tail tucked between her legs, she bolted down the mountain.
We stood and tested the weight on our human knee. It hurt, but we’d taken worse beatings in our life. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Since you left our bed.” Ranger’s strong arms wrapped around us and his scent comforted like the smell of home. The cameras were still flying and filming as Ranger swept us off our feet.
His face was full of concern. “How’s your knee?”
“Healing.” We smiled. An inverted reflection of his frown. He worried too much for a male. It was all right though. We’d take care of him.
“You know you were born to be a Luna.” Ranger’s chest rumbled as his beast growled within. “But I’m not sure I’ve been doing my job properly.”
“And why is that, Alpha?” We teased, feeling the heat wash over us again as Ranger carried us back to our nest.
“It’s mating season.” He nuzzled our neck. “My mate shouldn’t be able to walk or talk properly if I was doing it right.”