My pack brothers grip my shoulders to pull me off. “Or maybe she is,” Nickel cuts in, voice raised.
That verbal acknowledgement-the truth I haven’t even been willing to fully admit to myself-calms my wolf.
“Maybe she is,” Nickel repeats when he sees his words had an effect.
I slowly release Billy’s throat.
“But you can’t mate her.”
I whirl to stare down Nickel now.
“He’s right,” Vance says in a low voice.
“If you do, we lose to the Adalwulfs,” Billy reminds me of my primary purpose as alpha of this pack.
The blackness of the months following my father’s murder return. That driving pressure to keep our pack from falling, to restore us to power and wealth, and eventually, to execute vengeance for their crime floods in. The heavy metal plate that sat on my chest for years afterward returns.
“He’s right.” Eagle’s logical, legal tones join in. “They’ll exploit the weakness. Our pack members will defect.”
My entire body feels like I’ve been dipped in an ice bath. A clanging starts up in my ears. The same noise I heard after my father’s death.
Inside the mansion, Madison stands at the giant picture window and looks out at us.
Can she hear our raised voices?
“And once they’ve tipped the scales,” Sully says, his voice sounding like it’s coming through a storm. The storm inside my head. “–they’ll eliminate the entire Blackthroat line,” Billy finishes.
“My pups,” Eagle growls.
“My sisters,” I murmur, my focus gone dead. My body immobilized.
“Get rid of Madison,” Billy says. “Before she brings this entire pack down.”
A low, steady growl rumbles in my chest as I nod my head. “Fine.” I lift my gaze to Madison’s and hold it as I speak. “I’ll end it.”
—Volume 2—-
Madi
I trek through the woods, fresh snow crunching under my feet. The sun shines, refracting on the snow to make a billion tiny diamonds. I’m having a Dr. Zhivago moment, stunned by the beauty of the ice and nature-made snow sculptures all around me. I stop to investigate an icicle hanging from a tree, but a low growl makes me freeze.
I whirl to find I’m surrounded by a half-dozen giant wolves-snarling, angry, probably hungry wolves.
They advance on me slowly, their big paws sinking into the snow with each step. The largest one-the tan one with a black streak running from chin to chest leaps at me, and I scream-
I kick off the bedcovers.
A strong arm bands around me. “Hey,” a deep familiar voice reaches me, and the forest fades to a bedroom.
I jerk awake with a gasp.
“You okay?” Brick spoons me, his large body molded around mine.
“Oh my God.” I sit up, shoving my hair from my face. We’re in the guest room in the Berkshires. I can’t tell what time it is. “I dreamt wolves were chasing me in a snowstorm.”
Brick sits up, too, and I tug the sheet up to my armpits, suddenly aware I’m naked in a bed with my billionaire boss.
“Come here.” He hauls me into his lap, cradled sideways, my shoulders leaning back against one of his arms, my knees across his lap.
I’m shocked he wants to cuddle. Is this still a dream? I can’t seem to orient myself.
He tugs down the sheet and cups one of my breasts, like my body belongs to him. “I’m sorry about the wolves. And the blizzard. And for driving you out into it.”
I lift my brows. “Wow. Another apology? That’s two trophies I’m having made.”
He brushes a thumb across one of my nipples, and I relax into him at the sensual touch.
“Has anyone ever been attacked by wolves on your property before?”
“No. They don’t attack humans.”
“Oh, they were going to attack me.” The memory of the wolves surrounding me comes back, only now it’s muddled by the dream. Which one was real? I’m not usually so confused.
“Tell me what happened.” Brick is still toying with my nipple. There’s a familiarity between us like we’re long-time lovers.
“I was out in the blizzard. I thought I heard you calling me, so I tried to yell back, but my voice was giving out. I found a branch to bang against a tree to make noise.”
“That was good thinking.”
“Then suddenly, there were six wolves surrounding me, howling. One of them even came at me.”
Brick seems to stiffen. Finally he’s actually giving my experience some credence. “
Came at you, how?”
“It came right up to me and almost sat on my foot.”
He relaxes. “That doesn’t sound aggressive, Windows. Was it showing you fangs? Growling?”
“Well, no.”
“What did it look like?”
“It was huge. Tan with black markings. It had a streak of black that ran from chin to chest.” I draw a line down my throat to show him.
Brick relaxes some more. “A female?”
“I don’t know. Are you familiar with these wolves?”
“Oh, I know them. That pack has been in these woods longer than any human.”
“And no one’s ever been eaten?”
“Never.” He sounds amused. Like me being afraid of wolves is a cute quirk of mine and not a legit danger. “It sounds to me like the wolf was trying to comfort you. Have you ever had a dog come and sit against your leg? It’s a sign of solidarity.”
I wrinkle my brow and give him a quick glance. “I don’t think so.” Now I’m not so sure. Was the wolf really going to attack me? Maybe I was confused.
Brick pinches my nipple and flips me onto my back. I’m instantly wet. Totally ready. “You don’t have to be afraid of the big, bad wolf.” He straddles my waist and pins my wrists to the bed as he nips the soft side of my breast.
I gasp and arch into him. “Just the Big, Bad Boss?”
“Definitely him.” He swirls his tongue around my nipple.
I grip his head, running my fingers through his hair. “Am I still in trouble?”
“So much.” His voice is gravelly with lust. “I’m going to fuck you into submission, Windows.”
I arch. “Won’t happen,” I choke, but my hips roll beneath him, seeking firm contact.
“The submission or the fucking?”
I spread my legs, and our hips line up. “Submission.”
* * *
I wake up on the edge of an orgasm. This time there’s no confusion. I’m not in bed with Brick Blackthroat in the Berkshires because I left there Thanksgiving night.
I’m horny, alone, and in my childhood bedroom at my mom’s place.
Apparently the dream within a dream was my subconscious working overtime to process what happened over Thanksgiving.
I’m sure part of the problem was the way I left.
After Thanksgiving dinner, I was expecting-or maybe just hoping for-another round with the Big Bad Boss. Instead, he disappeared outside with his buddies, and then Billy showed up to tell me that the weather had cleared, and John had readied the helicopter.
That was it. No closure. No goodbye. I just get hustled out to the helipad by the guy who seems to despise me, and then I’m back in the city in time for pumpkin pie with my mom and brother.
Apparently, as soon as the storm cleared, it was time for “the help” to leave.
I haven’t heard a word from Brick-or maybe I should go back to thinking of him as Blackthroat-since.
I really need to talk to Aubrey. We’ve texted, but I need a full convo with the bestie. I pick up my phone and call.
“Oh my God, girl, tell me everything!” That’s how she answers. Because my short texts-
I didn’t quit and
Slept with the boss
-were not nearly enough information. She and her mom are in New Jersey with her aunt and uncle for the holiday.
“Ugh. I don’t know where to start.”
Aubrey instantly sobers. “Wait, I thought things were good. What happened?”
Tears sting the back of my eyes. “They were good.” The memory of Brick spooning me to warm my body, apologizing, and the mad, crazy sex flood my brain with remembered pleasure. But then there was getting sent home without so much as a goodbye. “So I texted you about me getting lost in the storm and the sexy times.”
“Right.”
“And then I stayed for Thanksgiving dinner, which was weird and awkward, but not because of me-at least I don’t think. Because Brick and his mom don’t get along, and his sister invited her. Supposedly he was a dick to me partly because he didn’t want me to see his fucked up family.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. But then right after Thanksgiving dinner, he and all his dude-bros go outside and talk, and then he disappears. The next thing I know, Billy White comes in and says the weather cleared enough to get me home for Thanksgiving, but I had to leave right then.”
“Okay.”
“I asked where Brick was, but he said he’d gone for a run, which was obviously a lie because who goes for a run in the dark with a full stomach when it’s freezing out?”
“Oh, shit.”
“I know.”
“So what did you do?”
“So I left! I mean, I obviously didn’t belong there. Clearly they didn’t want me there, or they wouldn’t be rushing me off.”
“Or maybe they just thought you wanted to spend Thanksgiving with your own family and were trying to get you there considering you’d already sacrificed most of your holiday for work.”
Huh. Aubrey, the voice of reason.
“Yeah, maybe.” I know I can be touchy about the class-difference thing. Did I make it all up?
No, I don’t think so. But now I’m not sure.
“So how was the sex?” Aubrey puts a suggestive purr in her voice, steering me back to the good part.
“Ah-mazing. Insane. Incredible.”
“So you got something out of it. That’s good.”
“I did…but I don’t think I should do it again.”
“Why not?”
“It feels too dangerous. I don’t want to catch feelings because I already know how these things end.”
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