Conquering Theana (6 page)

In
all actuality, it wouldn’t be long before her
mate...wait
,
what?
Did I just say mate? What in the hell?
Her wolf began to pant and
wag her tail. Her inner bitch was happy beyond belief.
Traitor
.

Theana
started walking through the small area of brush, and then she
heard the sounds of country music off in the distance.
Good. I can use a
stiff drink right about now
. Normally shifters tried to keep their distance
from humans, especially a room full of
drunk
men, but
Theana
was not the normal shifter. Sure, seedy bars weren’t
really her scene, but she needed to collect her thoughts with the help of a
strong libation.

Within
a few minutes she’d arrived in a small parking lot full of Harleys and Yamaha
motorcycles. A few pickup trucks and cars were scattered about, but the bikers
were ruling the roost. Sporting a black skin-tight dress atop of fishnets and
black spiked heels was sure to provide her with a very interesting night.
Not that it hadn’t been entertaining up until that point.

She
sauntered up the few steps, then slipped on her heels and smoothed down her
wild hair.
Theana
shuffled around in her purse and
unearthed a small perfume bottle. After dabbing a few droplets of the spring
scent behind her ears and skirting some gloss across her full lips, she entered
the bar.

Everything
seemed to stop on a dime as she made her way to the bar. She knew she was
grossly outnumbered, but they were no threat. And she really wasn’t in the mood
for any new bullshit. Most of the men were centered
around
two pool tables, but the attention was all on her and her black licorice.
Theana
could not care less. Stupid human men had nothing to
offer. Even omega wolves were marginally better in bed from her past
experiences. She found an empty barstool near a dark corner of the
establishment, and then she waved the barkeep over.

"Let
me get a Coke and rum, heavy on the rum. Make it top shelf shit, too," she
spat, not looking up at the man. Once he left, she fumbled in her purse for her
cell phone.

Her
voicemail indicator was flashing. Only one person had her contact information—her
father.
Can this night get any crazier?
Theana
scrolled through her contact list, ignoring the voicemail message. She dialed
her father as the bartender slid her drink to her on a napkin with a telephone
number written on it.
Men
.
Annoyed at the common offer,
Theana
grabbed her
drink, crossed her long legs, and swiveled the stool facing away from the
filthy paneled bar. While sipping down the brown liquid, she pressed send on
her phone.

"Why hello, my darling.
It’s so nice of you to reach out to your father
for once in your life.
Traveling the world.
Modeling.
It breaks my lonely heart, you see," Walter
whined into the receiver.

"Yes,
Father. I see that you called. Is something wrong? And why are you calling so
late?"
Theana
took in another sip of the
beverage, which burned her throat.

"Where
are you, my dear? Is that music I hear in the background?"

What is he up to?

"I’m
at a bar, Dad.
Just having a quick drink before I head out.
Again, did you need something?"
Theana
was
starting to lose her patience. She loved her father and had a controlled level
of loyalty to him that was more on the lines of respect for him as alpha, but
sifting through sugary sweet memories of her past as a pup was not on her
agenda for the night. Her night had already been a fold as she was concerned,
and she already had to take on the task of getting one of the rednecks eating
her alive with their eyes to drop her off at her car.

"Yes,
I called because it’s imperative for you to return home. There are some dangers
about, and I don’t want you to get involved in them.”

“What
dangers?” she asked as she heard the urgency in his voice. She couldn’t help
but become aware of her surroundings.

“There
was a brief meeting of the Council tonight, and we are calling for all the
Seurri wolves to return to their respective clans until further notice. Plus
your father misses his darling dearly. I am not getting any younger, and my
days are not promised. These new wolves are creeping up the ladder jockeying
for position these days. By the time you return from 'finding yourself' your
poor old dad will no longer be an alpha, but hopefully a theta at best, recounting
the days of old," he said with a chuckle.

She
grinned as she listened to the same speech that her father delivered every time
she called to check in. But the thought that the Council had met snapped her
out of the warm moment. Usually the Council met about frivolous issues like
money, politics, or major sporting events, but it had been some time since they
had an emergency. Not since she was younger wolf really.
Theana
could hear the worry in her father’s voice. He was beckoning to her. Seurri was
going into lockdown mode, and all the wolves had to stay within the city walls.
She could’ve ignored this warning, but her father, her alpha, had commanded her
to return. What to do? She had never defied an order of her alpha.

"
Theana
, did you hear me?"

“Yes,”
she stammered not realizing that she had spaced out in deep thought. "Look
Father, I understand your concern, but I can take care of myself. There are
dangers inside and out of Seurri, so what is the point in returning? And as far
as your rank, you need to stop joking about that old man.
Theta,
Father?
Really?
Now that is a joke if I ever
heard one," she taunted. "No one has the balls to take you on and
live to tell the tale."

He
laughed at his only begotten child. "Yes, I’m sure you have a point there.
But it has been ages since I’ve laid my eyes on my sweet
Theana
,
my little goddess. Your mother laughed at me when I decided to name our first
pup,
Theana
, my goddess. But I knew in my heart that
you were something to be worshiped. So why not the ultimate name for a female
pup?"

Something is wrong. There really is an emergency.

Her
father hadn’t pushed his alpha on her. He deflected instead. If he wanted, he
could command her home and she would comply, but he didn’t. He only asked then
took the request off the table. Only her father would do something like that
because he knew if he pushed her, she would run.

"Look,
I have to go. My drink is done, and I must be getting on the road. Okay?"

"I
understand, my dear. Just consider visiting me, darling. We have some things to
catch up on.  You know, some pack business we need to discuss."

Now he decides to throw pack business into the mix to sweeten my
already confused pot
, she thought.

"I
hope this pack business doesn’t have anything to do with a certain alpha."
She threw back the remainder of her drink,
then
clanked her glass on the bar for a refill.

His
laughter was like a small thunderstorm.
What’s so funny?
He had gone
from almost frantic to giddy in the same breath. She had to be living in an
alternate universe. "Oh trust
me,
Camden is not a
factor anymore. The
Convel
clan is a fading memory at
this point."

Her
new glass of liquor was set behind her. Without turning her seat, she reached
behind herself and swiped the glass off the bar, and then she asked Walter,
"Then what does this 'pack' business have to do with me? If there’s
anything to be settled, then you can take care of it. No need for me." She
swigged down the drink to half then slipped a cube of ice onto her warm tongue
soothing her rising temperature.

"Oh
this business is nothing that has to do with me. But it is something that we
must discuss in person."

Theana
sighed then crunched into her ice.
What is he getting at?
"Okay, I’ll consider making a day trip, but no promises."

"That
is all I can hope for, my love. Be careful, my darling goddess. I love
you."
Theana
disconnected the line without
returning the words of affection. Her love and loyalty for her father were an
unspoken truth to her, but doting words were not her thing.

She
swiveled the stool back around to face the bar.
Theana
pulled out a ten dollar bill then set it beneath her glass. She spotted the
napkin with her eager admirer's digits inked into it. After she wiped her wet
lips with the numbered side, she crumpled the napkin, and deposited it in her
ice filled glass while the bartender watched.

Theana
hopped off the barstool and headed to the bathroom to splash some
water into her face. Her image in the mirror looked so tired—black circles
under her eyes, what used to be laugh lines that morphed into worry lines about
her face, and her glow was missing from her radiant, chocolate silken flesh.
There had to be a better way. Ways worth striving to achieve. She had been gone
from her clan and home for awhile, and she did miss her father dearly, but she
just was not ready to pay a visit, no matter the business.  However the
pressing business matter mixed with the threat of a Seurri lockdown did give
her cause to wonder. Was it time to go home and rest at least?

She
splashed water into her face, and then she opted to leave instead of dealing
with the trash contained in the bar.  Walking in the moonlight would do
her wolf some good, freeing her mind from the ills of the night she had
experienced.
Theana
sauntered past her thirsty
onlookers and the salty bartender, and then she exited. The night was clear.
Not a cloud in the sky. The bar was secluded away from any major roadway, so
the freshness of the woods was all she could smell. Many raved about the Gulf
Coast red clay dirt, but it had nothing on good old Texas dirt. She loved her
state especially when she was in wolf form. Tonight she would run and lie out
in the dirt for a few moments before she went to her car.

As
if nature was listening in on her thoughts, a slight breeze ruffled her hair
giving her a respite from the humidity of a Texas summer’s night. When she was
younger,
Theana
had loved the current weather
conditions.
Perfect swimming weather.
There was
nothing like looking at the moon’s reflection cast upon the lake of her town
like a white ball floating in a pool of dark molasses. The hairs began to stand
up on the back of her neck with excitement. She loved to swim when the moon was
full. Digging her claws into the soft soil that surrounded
Seurri’s
lake as she took flight was the best part. The chill of the water coating her
fur was an easy second place. After her swim, she would crawl out of the water
and flick the wetness from her ebony fur from her ears vibrating to her tail.
The waves of the water would dance because of her. Her night runs were her
world.
Her home.

A
burly man came out of the bar, snapping her back into reality. He almost
knocked her down the stairs but was able to grab her by her hips, steadying her
body from impending injury. She fought the growl that rose in her chest at his
touch.

"Pardon
me, ma'am. I didn’t know you were standing there. I do apologize," he
spoke in a Texas twang, lingering his hand at the curve of her hip.
Why is
he still touching me?
Her inner wolf was going ballistic.

Theana
broke free of his sweaty paws then stepped down the remainder of
the stairs. "It is cool," she tossed back at him before she flexed
her muscles to start her journey. Better to play nice with the humans.

"Hey,
I was about to head on out. Can I drop you somewhere?" he asked while looking
at her breasts emerging from her skin-like dress.

These damn Texans are always so damn obliging
, a voice said in her
mind.

"Actually,
I could use a ride. My car is parked at a hotel not too far around that bend
over there." She pointed in the direction of the road outside of the
tree-lined clearing.

"All
right, little lady, you can follow me to my bike." The man was not half
bad
looking,
black cowhide cowboy hat with matching
snakeskin gold tipped cowboy boots. His pressed dark blue denim Wrangler's were
fitting well on his thick thighs and taut ass. The solid white buttoned shirt
did not conceal the fact that his tall frame was flooded with muscle on top of
muscles. He had all the looks and charm of a man that any woman would kill for,
but she simply wasn’t interested. Not tonight. Not ever. She usually felt
annoyed by humans for the most part, but something else reeked in her core.
Disgust
.
It was
like biting into spoiled, putrid meat, but he had offered and she would take
the ride. She was so tired of living a life filled with constant attention.

He
kicked his leg over the seat of a buffed black and chrome Harley,
then
walked it backward for her benefit. He helped her mount
behind him, and
Theana
was hesitant to wrap her arms
around his waist. Her inner wolf was going bat-shit and foaming at the mouth.
This shouldn’t take long, she told herself, and it was too late to back out.