Saving Margaret (8 page)

“What?”

“Apparently they convened over the Christmas holiday and voted,” Keith answered.

No wonder my parents already knew what was going on.

“That must have been fun,” he chuckled. The thought of all the mid-west bears in one place at the same time was unheard of. “I’m surprised no one died.”

Keith’s eyes widened. “I was informed there were two casualties over the course of the meeting.”

Scott huffed. “Must not have been direct family, or I would have at least been informed.”

William, Chase’s dad, turned in his chair. “Bears really don’t like politics, do they?”

“No, we don’t need them either. We live alone and leave everyone else alone. If someone bothers us, they don’t ever do it again.”

The room was silent.

“The fact that two bears died when this choice was made just goes to show how much opposition there was to supporting you.”

“Will you support us?” Nathan Taylor spoke again, rising from his chair across the room. “Or will you take her and leave now, tipping the Council to our plans?”

Scott stood and huffed a small breath. The accusation was plain to be seen, but he wasn’t about to let one wolf’s insecurities get him riled up. The other males stood as well and Scott knew they were waiting for his next move.

“I will do anything to protect my mate and her family, but I will not openly go to war against the Council…until I speak with my father about the agreement that was discussed.” He crossed his arms over his chest. They better take it, because that’s where he was leaving it.

“Fair enough,” Keith answered, and waved a dismissing hand at his brother. “It was not our intention to force your hand, but when you spoke with your father about taking Demakis’s daughters to hide, I realized you were not aware of the developments. We needed to be sure you would not move against us.”

“Again, I will repeat. Bears do not like politics. We stay out of them if at all possible.”

“You have royals and Council members just as other supernaturals do,” Connor O’Brian spoke softly. “Why do the bears consider themselves different?”

“We don’t care what anyone thinks,” Scott responded calmly. “And as for royal bloodlines. That’s a rumor the Council promotes to make everything sound balanced. There are no royal bears any more. We mate when we find our match, bloodlines be damned. The last Council member that tried to tell us we weren’t following the rules was never heard from again. Every ten years for the Council Gathering, the heads of families draw straws to see who
has
to show up.”

Muffled snorts of laughter erupted from a couple of Keith’s brothers, allowing Scott to relax his stance slightly. He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but he sure as hell wasn’t declaring war on the Council without at least chatting with his parents again.

Even then, this was uncharted territory. The Council had governed the supernatural communities for thousands of years. They would not take lightly to a mutiny.

“What’s your plan for the Council’s retaliation?”

“We will fight,” answered Keith. “The pack is in agreement over this. You were the only wild card inside the pack.”

“Does Margaret know?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

Scott sucked in a quick breath. That’s what she’d kept from him. He turned and slipped around the corner out of the living room.

“Margaret!” he roared. All he could think about was that she’d known. He’d been blindsided by her dad and she had known all along. “You better not be in a fucking bathroom, because I’ll just take the door out of the frame this time.”

“We are all outside, Scott,” Margaret’s mother, Rachel, called from the patio. “The girls went for a quick run.”

He stalked out the back door. Four wolves were sprawled out on the floor around Rachel and a couple of other ladies. He recognized Breena, but the other’s names escaped his mind.

“Uh oh,” Breena piped up and smirked at Scott. “Are the girls playing hard to get?”

A loud huff in her direction wiped the smile off her face. The sandy wolf with black markings barked, but didn’t move. He swung his gaze down to meet her brown eyes. She held her ground and didn’t cower.

Brave girl.

“Change.” His voice rumbled with authority. Magick rolled in waves from his body. The three other wolves beside her fled.

“What is going on, Scott?” Rachel Taylor stood up and stepped between him and his mate. His bear was not pleased and a menacing growl escaped his throat. The Beta’s wife’s eyes sparked yellow, but Scott ignored her and moved to the right until he had locked gazes with Margaret’s wolf again.

“Leave us,” he bellowed. He was a strong alpha and the women began to move aside. Even Rachel stepped away, leaving Margaret to face an angry mate.

“Stop,” Keith’s voice carried out across the patio. “You have no right. My daughter was following my express —”

“She withheld information vital to protecting her,” Scott snarled, turning to face the Taylor alpha. Keith snarled back. Scott didn’t care. No wolf had ever intimidated him and it wouldn’t start with Keith Taylor. “You ordered her to lie to her mate. I have every right. She is mine.” He swung back around to face Margaret. “Change!” His roar echoed under the porch awning and Margaret shifted instantly.

The mate bond between them flared with magick. Her connection to the pack was weakening. As it should be. She was his mate and they would not stay with her pack after the bond was completed.

***

Margaret stood slowly before her mate. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer. The power of Scott’s magick completely overwhelmed her ability to control the shifting. Her wolf submitted willingly, even though they were not fully mated.

She crossed her arms over her bare breasts and waited calmly for Scott to speak. He just stared, his eyes greedily devouring her nakedness. Nudity around family, especially after shifting wasn’t uncommon, but she suddenly felt very exposed. Her body heated and her sex swelled as her arousal grew. Even her nipples betrayed her and pebbled, enticing her mate to approach and admire.

He stepped closer and leaned down, putting his mouth next to her ear.

“I’m not pleased with you.”

The fullness of his pants led her mind in a completely different direction and the corners of her mouth curled up into a smirk. “I think you are.”

He huffed.

“You know what I mean.”

“I was following orders.” Even if he wasn’t used to pack rules and hierarchy, he’d been in the army. He had to understand there was an order to things. She couldn’t just go against her alpha and the pack beta. It was against everything she’d been taught and against every basic instinct in her body. Her father, her alpha, was there to protect her. She followed his direct orders.

Surely he didn’t expect her loyalties to be to him only. They weren’t even completely bonded yet. Though the pull to his bear was very strong. She’d been sorely disappointed when Allan and Kyle had spent the night at her house yesterday.

Gods, she been so horny. It had been painful to walk away and leave him in her living room. Her body ached to hold him and to feel him within her. The throbbing need had plagued her most of the night and had started again in the morning. Working at the casino today, taking care of her clients, had taken her mind off of him at least temporarily.

But now, standing naked before him. The ache burned within her again and she moaned just a little.

His breath hitched on her ear. He’d heard her.

“No more secrets, Margaret.”

She shook her head back and forth just the slightest.
No more secrets.
Her breathing grew heavy. His piney scent filled her nostrils. Thoughts of leaping into his arms and tearing his clothes from his body flitted through her mind.

“I promise.”

The fact that over a dozen family and pack members stood around watching this little exchange was the furthest thing from her mind until she heard her aunt cough.

“Chase’s room is empty. Y’all look like you need some privacy.”

“Breena Marie Taylor!” Margaret’s mother snapped.

Margaret gave her aunt a wink and snatched a towel from the back of a patio chair. Scott backed up a step and swung his gaze toward her aunt.

“You. Are. Terrible,” he said slowly.

“I know.” Breena grinned. “Keeps everyone on their toes.”

Margaret shook her head. Scott had no idea. She wrapped the towel around her bare torso, thankful it covered most of her ass. Giving her father a nod, she hurried through the patio door and back upstairs. Maggie and the two O’Brian wolves followed her up the stairs and back into Maggie’s bedroom. They shifted the second the door closed.

“I thought a run would be nice,” Maggie whined, but the smirk on her face told Margaret she was just being a pain.

The two O’Brian girls giggled and pulled on the dresses they had shed only a few minutes before.

“It was until Margaret’s bear got all possessive-y,” Maeve O’Brian tossed out.

“Just hush,” Margaret answered.

“Margaret, your wolf was eating it up. You wanted to rub all up over him on the patio,” Maggie chimed in. “Those alpha waves had you nearly begging him to touch you, right there in front of everyone.”

Margaret could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Her friend was not far off the mark. The power it had taken to force her to change was huge. Only a very strong alpha would even try it. She’d never seen her father even attempt, even if he was angry. It had also been a huge turn-on for her and her wolf.

“Hell yes, it was.”

Hush!

“Just agreeing with you,”
her wolf cackled.

“I got goose bumps just watching you two,” Maeve spoke out again. “If only Kyle could make me feel that way now. Gods, I hope he is a mate match when I come of age.”

Twenty-year-old Maeve was terribly in love with Margaret’s cousin, Kyle, but rarely spoke to him. He probably didn’t even know she was sweet on him.

“You could talk to him once in a while, you know,” Margaret offered, pulling on a pair of Maggie’s yoga pants and a t-shirt. No way was she getting back into her work clothes. She snagged a small bag from the corner of the room, carefully folded her nice dress clothes, and slipped them inside.  “Enjoy being young while you can, Maeve. Twenty-five will come faster than you think.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Whatever,” her sister Bethany scoffed. “At least you are twenty. Allan and I have to wait seven years before I come of age to see if we are good matches. And he will turn twenty-five when you do. So I might lose him to someone else before I even have a chance.”

“Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,” Margaret assured them and swiped a pair of Maggie’s flip-flops from the closet. She closed the closet door and padded quietly to the bedroom door. Maggie and the O’Brian girls followed behind her.

His piney scent filled reached her the moment she stepped into the hallway. Her breath caught a little at the top of the stairs. He stood leaning against the wall, all seven feet of heavenly muscled man. His arms were crossed over his chest, stretching his baby blue dress shirt tight across his chest. He’d rolled up the sleeves partially, revealing his corded forearms. A winding tribal tattoo peeked from beneath the rolled cuff on the left.

I need him.

She smiled. Her wolf was prancing with glee and agreement.

A few quick steps brought her face-to-face and she leaned forward, offering her lips. He smiled back and met her halfway. She was standing on the third-to-last stair, making her right at eye-level with her sexy grizzly bear.

His lips pressed softly against hers and ran his tongue across the seam of hers slowly. She opened to him and reveled in his taste. His tongue danced with hers and she moaned into the kiss. He sucked gently on her bottom lip before pulling away. Her sex ached. She wanted nothing more than to take him home and strip him naked.

It’s only fair. He’s already seen me.