Rogue Wolf (5 page)

“What is a Lone Wolf but one who wishes to wander and has no desire to stay in the heart of the pack?”

“I’d argue that point.” She took a bite and closed her eyes. For a split second, the terseness erased and pleasure suffused her expression. Pure heat rode a bolt of lust straight to his groin. The open delight captivated him and his wolf’s claws sharpened against the inside of his skin. They wanted to be the reason for that expression on her face. “Anyway,” she continued as though she hadn’t offered him a glimpse into the utterly intimate moment. “Lone Wolves choose to not follow an Alpha. They choose their freedom over pack politics and sometimes they do it because it is safer to run alone than to be trapped with a mad Alpha.”

“Semantics.” He needed to cut into his own meat before he contemplated much further about how to make her run. If she would run for him, the chase would be glorious. His wolf batted at the idea, but the man shut it down. He was not there to seduce Margo, but to find Luciana. “You have no one to back you up if you should encounter danger. Today? You fetched me from the airport and travelled many miles alone. What if I were to harm you?”

“I’d gut you like a fish.” She sliced off another piece of steak. “You seem to be under the impression that I can’t protect myself.”

“From someone stronger? More capable? Older?” Then because her irritation amped with each word, he locked gazes with her. “More dominant?”

She laughed. The sound stymied his next words. The husky nature of her laugh—warm, deep and sensual—stroked his senses. His cock hardened to the point of pain, and his wolf went still. The sound captivated him on a purely visceral level.

“You can be as dominant as you like, big boy. You don’t scare me.” The challenge dropped in her voice. “You also don’t make me want to bend my knees and kiss your feet.”

“If you were on your knees,” he couldn’t resist teasing her open defiance. “It would not be my feet I wanted your lips upon.”

Her eyes narrowed, yet arousal swept through the richness of her scent. Headier than the steak, he enjoyed the added bouquet to his meal. She was nowhere near as immune to him as she acted. “Honey, I’d be careful about where you let me put my mouth.” Gold rimmed her eyes and he had her wolf’s attention as well as the woman’s. “I have teeth.” She snapped them as a reminder, the audible click an erotic tease.

After satisfying his need to sink his teeth into her with a bite of steak, he considered the woman across the table. “Do you promise?”

“Do I promise what?” The guarded look returned to her expression.

“I can imagine the feel of your teeth sinking into my skin,” he said. “Can you?”

Her nostrils flared and her pupils dilated. Yes, he had the scent of this hunt and his wolf stretched, ready to pounce. Blinking once, he released her gaze and directed his attention to the meal. Seducing Margo, no matter how deliciously tempting, was not his goal.

“My apologies,
signorina
.” He distanced himself.
Remember Luciana.
When his sister was safe, he would consider his pursuit. “I did not mean to insult you by assuming you belonged on your knees for my pleasure.” Even the image sent a fresh wave of need and heat twining through his blood. “Though it does make my point, females should not run alone. You are not safe from wolves who wish to take advantage.”

A knife slammed into the table a scant millimeter from his hand. The thunk of sound attracted attention, but when neither he nor Margo moved, the humans stopped staring.

Across the table, Margo smiled. “I’m far from helpless, Mr. Esposito.” She denied him the charm of saying his name. “Make no mistake, although you think you have an advantage, I know differently.”

The demonstration only increased the wild craving to test her teeth. His goal was to find his sister, track Luciana, kill the rogue—then, before he went home, he would taste Margo.

At least once.

Satisfied with his plan, he smiled. “As you wish,
signorina
.”

Chapter Three

Despite their stop for lunch, by the time they pulled into Willow Bend proper, Margo’s eyes itched with fatigue. Their first checkpoint had been with Owen Chase, Willow Bend Hunter, and at least a familiar face. Owen directed Margo to take Salvatore directly to Mason without stopping for any reason. Since they’d refueled while talking to Owen, she had no problems with the instructions.

Her phone buzzed a handful of times on the drive, but other than checking to see if the message was from someone with Willow Bend, she ignored them for now. She’d check with Hadley, Julian, and the others after she rid herself of her Alpha passenger. The quivers of desire he provoked irritated her as much as they left her wanting.

The closer they drew to the small town, the more interested Salvatore grew. His attention on the collection of houses along the suburban streets, the children playing in the yards, and the wolves going about their daily lives grew more intense.

Their passage didn’t go unnoticed. More than one senior wolf shot a look in their direction. She could pretend it was her car, since they knew her. Enforcers inside of pack lands weren’t always a welcome sight. The presence of a foreign wolf amplified their unease. Even with the windows closed and the air conditioning turned on, she would have to have been human to miss the faint scents of distress leaking into the vehicle.

Following the curve toward the street where Mason Clayborne lived, she didn’t miss the accumulation of vehicles or the presence of several other Hunters. Many didn’t bother to be inconspicuous. Unlike the other houses they’d passed, all of the residences on Mason’s block were quiet. No one was outside, no one played. “When we park, stay in the car.”

“You are not going out there alone,” Salvatore said, his tone denying her any argument.

“Yes, I am.” She fought the urge to snarl, because the following few minutes were too important. “They will
not
attack me. If Mason’s not in his house, they may take offense to you and you’ve already demonstrated a remarkable ability for offending the fuck out of me.”

Surprise rippled through his scent, and his brows dragged downwards in a fierce frown. “I apologized.”

“Yeah, and I listened. I’m a peach that way.” She slid the car into a parking spot directly in front of Mason’s. “Stay. In. The. Car.” Layering her own power into each word, she killed the engine and added, “Please.”

Salvatore exhaled a breath then nodded once. “If they attack you…”

“They won’t.”

“
If
they do,” he continued, “I will not remain in this vehicle.”

“Yes you will because if they attack me, I’ll be killing some wolves which won’t start a war for me. It would start one for you.” Trusting he understood the stakes, she opened the car door and slid out. Surrounded on all sides, she caught the scents of at least a dozen wolves and not all of them familiar.

What was Mason’s play?

“Margo.” The frigid greeting came from a familiar male striding down the front path from Mason’s house. Tall, broad-shouldered with dark-blond hair, he resembled his brother Linc. Though time and circumstance left their mark on A.J. Buckley, Mason’s second-in-command moved with predatory purpose.

“Mr. Buckley,” she said, closing the car door and circling to put her vehicle at her back. It was the closest she came to conceding her unease in the situation. The wolf didn’t slow as he left the fenced area of the yard to invade her space.

“You have some nerve coming here.” While the lack of welcome didn’t surprise her, the level of hostility did.

“Yeah, it takes a whole lot of nerve to respond to a request to deliver something your Alpha wanted delivered.” Playing dumb might diffuse the situation some.

His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed as he came to a halt directly in front of her. No way could she miss the aggression seeming to radiate from his pores. “You hurt my mate.”

“No, I didn’t.” She kept her posture relaxed. The best way to deal with a furious male was not to let them know their tactics worked.

“You tried to suffocate her into compliance.” A.J.’s breath was fortunately minty considering she could feel the heat of it on her cheeks. “I saw the bruises.”

“A, if I’d wanted to hurt the woman—who was, at that point,
not
your mate—I wouldn’t have only left bruises. B, if she hadn’t struggled and started screaming, I wouldn’t have had to cover her face. C, if your brother hadn’t intervened to countermand your Alpha’s orders, none of that would have happened.” She’d been asked to assist in a recovery of a human alongside one of the pack’s Hunters several months before. Appreciating A.J.’s position, she kept her tone civil. “I did not want to hurt her, and I did my best to avoid hurting her. If my actions caused her harm, then I will apologize…to
her
. She was the innocent party in the situation. Now back the fuck off of me.”

Though his expression gentled during her offer of an apology, he went tense at the command. Locking gazes, she braced for the potential hit. She’d flat out challenged him and didn’t give a damn. Her presence was Mason’s fault—directly or indirectly—and she owed A.J. no explanations.

The car door opened behind her and Margo sighed.
Goddamn Alpha males
. A.J.’s gaze jerked from her to Salvatore and back. Not daring to look away, she kept her fingers crossed Salvatore didn’t escalate the situation from bad to worse.

“Do you mean it?” A.J. asked suddenly, his nostrils flared. “You’d apologize to her?”

“Yes,” she said, feeling no weight or demand at all in the request. “She didn’t do anything wrong. She was protecting herself. I didn’t try to hurt her. The goal was to deliver her to Willow Bend in one piece. If I failed and caused her injury, she deserves an apology.”

Their wolves might as well have been nose-to-nose. Everything in his posture vibrated protectiveness. Her wolf had nothing to hide. They protected those weaker, and A.J.’s mate Vivian definitely counted in those numbers. Whatever he searched for, he found, because the forbidding look in his eyes relaxed and he withdrew a step. The testosterone stinking the air alleviated with his action.

“All right then. To be honest, she doesn’t think you owe her an apology. I do.” He scratched his jaw, then shrugged. “I appreciate that you didn’t
try
to hurt her.”

It was as close to an apology as either of them were going to get, so she accepted it. “Congratulations on your mating, by the way.”

“Thank you.” Shoulder tension easing, he switched his attention to the Alpha behind her. Salvatore’s heat licked along her back, and he hadn’t moved. Whatever power he’d been stuffing down inside of him seemed to be escaping now.

Not a good sign.

“Salvatore Esposito,” A.J. said, his tone cool and far less threatening than a few moments earlier. “Alpha of the Seven Hills. Welcome to Willow Bend.”

“It does not feel welcoming.”
Oh, terrific.
Salvatore’s tone had gone positively glacial.

“It is as welcoming as it needs to be,” Mason Clayborne announced as he strode down the path from his house. His flinty gaze fixed on her. Not bothering with the games, she avoided eye contact. Her history with the Willow Bend Alpha was a spotty one at best and he’d long since proven his dominance over her. Still, she didn’t have to kiss his ass or wave a red flag to the wolf inside. Salvatore’s presence provided enough fodder to the potential fire.

On the sidewalk, the two Alphas faced each other and the air around them rose in temperature. The crackling of two wild powers colliding electrified the atmosphere. As if they’d choreographed the move, she and A.J. gave each other space in order to witness the event. Profound silence blanketed the area. Even Margo found herself holding her breath.

Alphas simply didn’t host personal meetings often and, if they did, neutral territory was always preferred. Yet Mason stood a dozen feet from his front door, where his mate and child resided—though if she knew Mason and his protectiveness where Alexis was concerned, neither his mate nor his child were anywhere near the meeting.

The contrast between the two men couldn’t have been more defined. Though both dark haired and tall, Mason had a rugged appearance. Dressed in work boots, jeans and a t-shirt, he would be comfortably at home on a construction site. Work he was familiar with since he spent years doing it during his tenure as a Lone Wolf. Salvatore, on the other hand, looked remarkably unrumpled in his expensive suit. He definitely stuck out in the comfortable suburban atmosphere. Of the two, Salvatore was definitely the more striking and handsome.

“Salvatore Esposito, I offer you a welcome to Willow Bend, a genuine one. You honor my pack with your presence and your request.” Rather than offer his hand, however, Mason folded his arms. “Before we take another step on this rather unique venture, where is your pack?”

Though her part in the exercise was complete, Margo lingered. She knew the answer to Mason’s question, having demanded the same information at the airport. Would Salvatore give him the same run around?

“They are across the U.S. border in Canada. Your Margo has sent another Enforcer to keep an eye on them.”
Smooth, very smooth
. “Out of deference to your territory, I ordered them to remain there unless personally summoned by myself.”

“She’s not my Margo—”

“I’m not his—” She spoke in the same breath as Mason, earning her the ire of not one Alpha, but two, as both men turned their laser focus on her. The power was like a punch in the chest and, whether she had any urge to submit or not in her bones, she and her wolf gave ground. “And I am not part of this conversation.” Holding her hands up, palms forward, she retreated another step.

Salvatore didn’t smile, but Mason did. Her verbal and physical withdrawal pleased him. Deserving his lack of friendliness didn’t make the sting any less potent. Sliding her hands into her pockets, she kept her mouth shut. What was past was prologue, or so Julian always said, but Mason had been a newly freed Lone Wolf and she’d done her job. Everything else was moot.