“Who will take over?”
Terrent nodded to a lumbering blond with a red face standing behind the Alpha. “His nephew, Roger.”
There was something in the tone. “You don’t like Roger?”
“He’s a hothead.” Terrent gestured to the third man on the porch, who couldn’t be more than twenty. “Nash Johnson.
He’s training as an enforcer. Good kid. Tough and thinks on his feet, but too young to lead. Now, anyway.” Grabbing her hand again, Terrent tugged her closer to the group. “Come on. We don’t want to miss this.”
His shadow was cast long by the sun, and she was re-minded once again of his size. Thank goodness he was a rather reasonable wolf. Well, as wolves went.
The Alpha cleared his throat and held out his hands.
“Now, ladies. A protest?”
The woman in front, a thirty-something with streaked blond hair, shook her sign. “With all respect, Gerald, the new laws are stupid. The girls should be allowed to go to nationals.”
A rip-roaring “Nationals!” shot from the crowd.
Roger jumped forward and yanked the sign away from the woman. He held it high, yet close enough to use. “The Alpha has spoken.”
Terrent stiffened and stepped closer to the lodge.
Gerald cleared his throat, his eyes searching. Relief filled them when he spotted Terrent. “Vilks. This must be Maggie Malone.”
Everyone turned to look at her, and she fought the urge to step back.
“Yes.” Terrent faced the crowd. “Did we come at a bad time?”
“No.” Gerald sighed. “Sorry about the state of the area— we’ve been busy.”
Empty planters and weeds disfigured the area. The landscaping plan was beautiful, but apparently nobody had the time to nurture flowers and plants. The earth appeared as if it had lost a battle.
Terrent nodded. “We’ve all had a tough decade. Things will improve.”
The woman who’d lost her sign reached for another one.
“We’d like the Bane’s Council to weigh in on this one. Hopefully you can talk some sense into our leadership.”
Roger stepped toward her, menace vibrating the muscles in his arms.
Maggie gasped.
One second Terrent stood by her side, the next he had his hand wrapped around Roger’s throat, the sign in his other hand.
Holy crap, he moved fast.
The growl rumbling from his chest shot chills down her spine. Muscles flexed in his arm, and Roger dropped the sign.
Terrent tossed him against the wooden building, where he dented the grooved wood. The building shuddered, and the glaring man dropped to the deck. Terrent hissed out a breath.
“We intimidate women, now?”
Gerald stuttered. “No. We don’t. Things are just in up-heaval as we transition leadership.” His hands shook as he clasped them.
Maggie took a deep breath. The guy didn’t want to let his psycho nephew lead. Couldn’t blame him.
Terrent slowly turned, fire in his eyes, his jaw rigid. “How can the Bane’s Council help, Bobbi?”
The woman glared at Roger before focusing on Terrent.
“The girls finaled in their regional cheerleading competition and have been invited to compete in Georgia next month.”
She gestured toward the girls. “My daughter, Shannon, and her friends have worked hard to accomplish this. Yet, they’ve been told no.”
Roger shoved off from the building, irritation in his eyes.
“Integrating into the human community was a mistake, one that will be rectified soon. We never should have allowed our females to attend a human school. “
“You don’t allow anything, jackass,” Bobbi hissed.
Roger dodged forward again only to somehow smack into Terrent’s fist. Air shimmered around the other wolf as he began to shift.
“Stop!” Gerald ordered.
Everyone froze.
So that was what an Alpha sounded like. Maggie twitched her nose. Yep, she felt like stopping. Interesting.
Terrent stretched his neck. “The Bane’s Council will escort and protect the kids on the trip.”
All eyes turned toward the Alpha, and several of the girls seemed to be holding their breath.
“Are you sure?” Gerald asked, his shoulders relaxing.
“Yes. I’ll contact Lock and Ace later today,” Terrent said.
A chorus of excited shrieks from the girls sent birds scattering for safety. Maggie tried to keep her hands off her ears.
Several of them rushed forward to hug Terrent, and she tried to keep her claws sheathed.
Then she tried to keep from laughing her ass off at the panicked look across his strong face. He awkwardly patted a couple of the girls on the back, sending them sprawling toward their mothers.
Bobbi raised her sign. “To town—ice cream for everybody.” Turning, she sent Gerald a look. “On the Alpha.”
The girls squealed. Two of them approached Maggie. The closest one shook her hand. “I’m Andrea, and this is my friend, Shannon.” Both girls had green eyes, long brown hair, and pretty smiles. They looked like wolves.
“Nice to meet you,” Maggie said.
“You, too.” Andrea grinned. “So, you’re Terrent’s mate?”
“Ah, no. Just friends.” Even as Maggie said the words, heat climbed into her face.
The girls giggled.
Maggie cleared her throat, trying to look like an adult.
She felt like a dork. “Enjoy the ice cream.”
“We will.” The girls ran for the parking lot, where everyone piled into a bunch of cars, which went speeding down the road.
Terrent gestured her toward him. She took her time across the uneven ground. Nobody ordered her around, including her current lover. Period.
Amusement lifted his upper lip as he took her hand.
“Alpha Gerald McDunphy, please meet Maggie Malone.”
Gerald clasped her hand in his big mitt. “It’s so nice to meet you, my dear.”
They all turned as a dirty black Cadillac screeched to a stop. A man in a doctor’s white smock jumped out, shoving his glasses back up on his nose. A haphazard pile of papers was clutched in his hands. He hustled forward and bowed his head to the Alpha.
“Dr. Philips,” Gerald said. “What’s going on?”
Philips sucked in air and pointed at Maggie. “Her test results are in. The Kurjans changed her.” Yanking out a mask, he pressed it to his mouth. “I know why the demons want her dead.”
Chapter Five
Maggie settled onto the hard seat, her gaze on the mountains outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Terrent sat next to her in the lodge’s conference room, displeasure vibrating from him with an intensity that sped up her heart. The Alpha, his nephew, and the enforcer sat across the table. The stupid doctor sat at the end, still wearing
