Leashed by a Wolf (11 page)

“No. I’m telling you they can’t dance,” a too familiar growling voice announced.

Chapter Seven

Laney’s heart stopped. She didn’t want to turn around. Maybe if she refused to turn he would get the hint and walk away.

“Who the hell are you?” she heard the redhead ask and waited for Heath’s reply. Laney didn’t know why, but she knew that the next words out of his mouth would be important, more important than even she understood.

Mary took her hand as she came to stand next to her, and Laney was grateful for her silent support. Laney’s breath became shallow as she waited to hear what he would say. She heard him take a step closer to the other man before he spoke.

“She belongs to me,” he told the man. Her grip on Mary’s hand tightened. Laney had no idea what she had expected him to say, but that?
Oh hell no.
The man had literally thrown her off his property and out of his life. She understood that was because of the danger she presented to his pack, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him back into her life every time he got the notion!

“I belong to no one,” Laney said as she slowly turned to face them all.

“See, she wants to dance.” The redhead smirked as he reached out to take her arm. Quicker than she could see, Heath grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it up behind his back.

“Touch her and I will remove your arm,” Heath warned in a low growl.

“Hey!” the man yelled in pain. “Okay, okay, I get it, she’s off-limits, now let go!” Laney watched in disbelief as Heath tugged one last time on the arm before he shoved the man away.

A burning anger started to build in Laney as she watched Heath turn to make sure the men walked away. When he faced her again, Laney reached back and let fly with a punch clean in the gut. She caught the shocked look on Wall’s face from his place over at the bar.

“Oomph!” Heath’s breath rushed out as he bent double.

Laney stepped closer and whispered in his ear. “In case you missed it last time, let me say it again. Cheese grater. Now we both know what that means; it means you have to leave me the hell alone.” Laney turned and stormed away as best as she could with her hurt ankle.

Laney made it back to the table and slammed into the chair. She took a gulp of her beer and glared over to the dance floor. Heath was glaring as he stalked over to her.

“You don’t get to make that decision, my beta,” he told her as he sat down. Laney put her bottle down so hard she was amazed it didn’t break.

“You don’t get to call me that.”

“Laney, you okay?” Mary asked as she came to stand next to them.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why don’t you call John to come get us? I have a sudden need to be elsewhere.” Laney gave her a half-smile. Mary nodded and walked off to find a quiet corner to call her husband.

“The only way you’re leaving is with me,” Heath told Laney as he moved her bottle out of the way so he could lean across the table.

“You sure as hell don’t get to tell me what to do,” Laney said as she climbed out of the chair, doing her best to limp-storm away.

She took a deep breath when she finally stepped out to the car park. What was wrong with him? He had made his feelings clear and she was only trying to respect that. How could she do so if he didn’t do the same?

“I told you the only way you’re leaving is with me,” Heath said from behind her. Laney whirled to face him

“Listen up and listen well, wolf-boy,” she began, punctuating her words with a finger poking him in the chest. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. I get that I put your pack in danger, I get that you don’t want me around, I get that you don’t want anything to do with me. Now you need to understand that I am doing my best to honour your wishes but you don’t get to tell me what to do.” Laney turned and walked away from him. Taking a deep breath she let the tension leave her body. She couldn’t let him see how much she was hurting inside; she needed him to just go.

“You finished, my beta?” Heath asked her softly.

As she took a deep breath she could smell nothing but Heath: his cologne, his scent, simply him. Laney wanted to curl into him and let him hold her close.

“No, I am not your beta,” she said instead. “You are not my Alpha.”

“Yes I am, Laney-girl.”

“Why are you making this so hard?” Laney shouted as she turned back to him. She hadn’t realised Heath had come so close and she had to take a step back.

“Hard?” Heath asked as he stepped toward her again. Laney moved back but Heath followed her until she was pressed against the side of the building. Heath placed a hand on either side of her head and leaned down until they were practically nose to nose.

“Hard is turning around and realising that you’re not there, that some psycho has taken you from me.” Heath leaned in, burying his face in her neck; he took a deep breath. Laney didn’t move. Everything in her was screaming for her to reach out and pull him close, but her mind refused the action.

“Hard is finding him with his fangs buried deep in your flesh,” he said as he nuzzled her. “You know what’s hardest of all? Knowing that the only reason you were ever in danger was because of me.”

What? She didn’t understand. She had brought the danger to the pack house; she was the weak link and that was why she had been targeted. Christophe would never have tried to take one of the other females of the pack.

Before she could ask what he meant, a car swung into the lot shining its headlights on them.

“What the hell are you doing near my sister?” John yelled as he flew out of the driver’s seat.

Mary must have heard him arrive or been looking out for him because she was there in seconds.

“Johnny, wait, it’s okay,” Mary said as she caught hold of her husband’s arm.

Heath pulled away from Laney and turned to face her brother with hands raised out to his side. It was a small action but it was enough to take a little of the steam out of John.

“Get in the car,” John ordered both Mary and Laney.

“Take your wife home, John. I’ll be along soon,” Laney said as she stepped around Heath. They needed to finish this tonight. She didn’t want to spend any more time wondering what if. She needed to get on with her life.

John shook his head. “I’m not leaving you here with him.”

“I’m not asking you.”

John stared down at her as she came to a stop in front of him. Laney returned his gaze. She didn’t blink; she didn’t turn away; she just stared. “Leave.”

“I’m not happy about this, Laney,” John said, but he looked away first and she knew he would do exactly what she wanted.

“I’ll be fine,” Laney assured him. She turned to hug Mary. “Thank you for a fun night.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Mary whispered as she hugged Laney back.

“I promise. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Laney squeezed her tight once more before she moved back, letting them get into the car. As the taillights disappeared, she wondered how she was going to survive the rest of the night.

*

Heath leaned back against the wall and watched Laney. Any doubts he’d once had about her were pretty much gone now.

The look she had given her brother—making him cast his eyes down and away from her—was such an Alpha move. He’d actually used it on occasion.

“You realise my brothers want you dead,” she told him without turning around.

“You realise I am far from scared of the men in your family,” Heath returned, which was true, but he was now sensibly cautious of the St. Clair females, especially after the encounter with her mother.

“I don’t know why you’re here, but you have to understand that you are not my Alpha, and I won’t be your beta.”

Heath's softly huffed laugh had her whirling on him, anger pouring from her in waves.

The wolf in him howled out a greeting, one meant only for its mate, one that Heath felt deep down in his very soul.

“What’s so damn funny?” Laney demanded.

“You really want to know, Laney-girl?” Heath asked as he came away from the wall.

“Yes. I want to know what has put that smirk on your face,” she snipped.

Heath stopped a few paces away from her and smiled.

“You know what I find so funny? The fact that you don’t think you are my beta, that I am not your Alpha, and that you have any say in this at all.” He watched as Laney’s eyes went wide before they narrowed to mere slits.

“Did you hit your head?” Laney asked as she moved closer to him.

Heath's smile widened. He needed her to come to him. He couldn’t force this, no matter that his wolf was demanding he do just that.

“Nope.” He shook his head.

Laney came closer still.

“So are you just naturally this dumb?” she asked as she took another step.

“Must be,” he said as she took that final step that had her standing toe to toe with him.

“Would you have danced with him?” Heath changed the subject so quickly he could see the confusion on her face. It was in that moment when he had seen those two men walk up to her that he had known there was no way he could or would let her go. Laney St. Clair was his no matter what.

“Danced with whom?” Laney looked at him confused.

“The guy who asked you earlier. Would you have danced with him?” Heath asked as he reached out to brush a lock of hair off her forehead.

“Sure. It’s not like I’m involved with anyone else. Maybe I should have danced with him and seen where it headed,” Laney told him with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, my beta, you are more involved then you have ever been,” Heath said before taking hold of the back of her head as his mouth descended on hers.

The kiss wasn’t soft or gentle. It was a kiss to brand, to mark her body and soul as his, as she had marked his soul as hers.

He felt her hands on his chest start to climb until she was able to wrap her arms around his neck. Heath dropped a hand to her waist pulling her closer until she was pressed the full length of his body.

He fought his wolf down; the animal was fighting to claim her as its own, but Heath didn’t want that, not yet, not until she asked.

He let her go when she finally pulled away, feeling a little smug at her panting breath.

“You’re not playing fair,” she told him when she could breathe normally again.

“You want to talk about playing fair, my beta?” he asked as he caught her arm to pull her back to him. “Was it fair that you turned up here looking for me? Did you play fair when you dressed up for me that night?” He spoke softly as he tipped her chin up so she would look at him.

Laney hadn’t played fair; she hadn’t been playing fair since that night and Heath would be damned if it would carry on. He was the Alpha around here and she was going to learn that, one way or another.

“That was different.” Laney shrugged. Heath looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

“And how’s that?” he asked as he drew her closer, pressing her against his body. He was rewarded as a small shudder moved down her and her breath accelerated.

“I didn’t do it for kicks; I did it because I liked you and wanted to know you better away from my family and your pack.”

Heath heard the hurt in her voice.

“And you think I’m doing this for kicks?” He frowned down at her. “Because I’m what? Bored and thought ‘hey, let’s go play with Laney’? Is that what you think?”

“Last time I saw you, you threw me off your property because I had put your people in danger. Now here you are acting like you care. What am I meant to think?”

Heath shook his head. He was such an idiot; of course she would think that. What else could she think? Shaking his head again he looked down at her.

“I was so angry the last time I saw you, not because you had done anything wrong or brought any danger to my pack, but because
I
had put
you
in danger. Christophe left a threat the morning that Wall came to get me when I rushed you out,” he said, explaining something that was long overdue.

“I know. Wall told me. He said threats had been made.” Laney shrugged.

“You got Wall to tell you that?” Heath was impressed. Wall was loyal to a fault. He would never give away information, not unless—Heath’s wolf howled—not unless he was speaking to his Alpha or the mate of his Alpha. No matter what the others said, Wall was no dumb jock. That was becoming more and more obvious.

“Did Wall tell you the threat wasn’t against the pack?” he asked as he slowly walked her backwards.

Laney shook her head as she frowned up at him.

“Did he tell you why I wanted you away from us?” He continued to move until she was pressed against the side of his truck.

“No, he said there had been a threat, that’s all. I figured you wanted me gone so you could protect those you cared about without having me in the way,” Laney explained with a one-shoulder shrug that spoke less of nonchalance and more of sorrow.

Placing a hand either on side of her head, Heath leaned down until they were nose to nose.

“Christophe left us a message. The threat wasn’t against my pack, it was against you. He was planning on hurting you.” Heath watched as the information sunk in. Laney’s eyes went wide before they narrowed and if Heath’s heart could have beaten any faster he was sure it would have exploded clean out of his chest. He could see Laney wasn’t scared by the information. Oh no, his beta was pissed.

“So you threw me off your land so I would take the danger away?” she snapped. Heath was wise enough not to smile although he wanted to badly.

“No, I threw you off so you wouldn’t be in any danger, not so you would take the danger away. Being there, with me, had put you in the position of prey, and I refused to let you be that. You are my beta and I will protect you 'til my dying breath,” he said honestly.

Heath watched the play of emotions over Laney’s face. He could see she still needed convincing but she was starting to thaw, and that was all he wanted right now.

He knew that he had been a blind idiot. He was man enough to admit it but he would be damned if he’d make the same mistake again and let her go. Laney St. Clair was his mate and he would fight for her, even he if he had to fight Laney herself.

“You’re an idiot.” Laney voiced his thoughts.