Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack (Siren Publishing Classic) (43 page)

She narrowed her eyes and flattened her ears, snarling. She lowered her shoulders to the ground with her butt in the air in the “play” position, tempting her rival to come at her.
Come on, bitch. Come play with me. See if you can take me when I’m down.
Cameron took the bait and pounced, trying to hold Julianna down. Julianna shot sideways, snapping her jaws over Cameron’s muzzle and clamping down, hard.

Cameron yelped in surprise but still managed to tear her head away just as she dragged her hind claws down Julianna’s belly. Julianna released her opponent and lurched away with a squeal of pain, pretending more injury than she felt. She panted and limped painfully at the edge of the circle, letting her ears droop with feigned exhaustion.

A collective gasp of surprised dismay echoed around them, and Julianna scented Jeff’s distress like a breath of fetid air. She didn’t dare huff a laugh, but she rejoiced in her acting skills.

Julianna hobbled around the edges of the clearing, watching her rival carefully. Cameron believed her ruse and strutted, her teeth gleaming in the lights of the garden as blood slid from the large gash in her muzzle. She snarled triumphantly and shook her head, flinging the blood from her eyes. Julianna wheezed as if too tired to make another charge, but she gathered herself for Cameron’s next move.

Come on, you mongrel! Come at me and see how weak I am.

With a howl, Cameron shot across the clearing at her, and Julianna whimpered for effect, rolling to her shoulder to get her feet up into Cameron’s falling belly. She thrust her head forward and closed her teeth over Cameron’s throat, using the crazed female’s momentum to roll her over and slam her onto her back. Julianna pivoted around her jaws’ grip and dropped her weight onto Cameron’s struggling body, pinning it to the ground.

Julianna growled, squeezing her teeth together.
“Do you yield? Do you admit I’m Luna?”

Cameron froze when she heard Julianna’s voice in her head.

“Do you yield to me as your Luna?”

Cameron squealed with frustrated denial and struggled against her.

“Do you yield?”

“
Neverrrr!
”

“Very well.”

Jerking her head to the side as her jaws tightened, she tore Cameron’s throat out in a rush of hot blood. Her Sister howled at the defeat of her rival, and Julianna embraced her true self, the wolf meant to hunt and defend her pack from all intruders.

Stepping back from the carcass on the ground, Julianna turned her bloodied muzzle toward the current Alpha and awaited his judgment. She’d known Cameron wouldn’t let this go, and she refused to fend her off any longer. Cameron had challenged the Luna and lost, just as any male could challenge the Alpha for mastery of the pack.

Richard’s face appeared calm, but his eyes shone with suppressed excitement. The whole pack waited silently until he nodded in acknowledgement of her victory. The garden erupted with triumphant and mournful howls.

Julianna shifted back into her human form and wiped one hand across her bloody mouth. Jeff’s shirt hung undamaged, but stains formed as it touched her healing body, and her chest burned with the marks of Cameron’s attack. One butt cheek ached, but victory silenced the pain. She sought her Mate’s eyes and found him staring at her with a feral look of lustful joy. She lifted her chin in challenge, and his growl of dominance slithered across the space between them.

“How could you?” Julianna’s gaze snapped to Catherine Winthrop struggling against Kyle’s grip. “She was just a child!”

Julianna growled a warning. “Are you challenging me as Luna, Mrs. Winthrop?”

“She was a better candidate than you ever were. How could you kill her?”

Julianna’s Sister wanted to pounce on the older female, but Julianna held her back. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Winthrop, but Cameron was no longer in control. She let her lust for power and prestige overwhelm what she knew to be right. The pack agreed that the tests and the choosing ceremony would determine the next Luna. She rejected the Successor’s choice. If she disregarded the agreements within the pack, then what would’ve stopped her from ignoring the Alpha or the needs of the pack as a whole?”

“She would’ve made a better Luna, you murderous slut!” Mrs. Winthrop screeched.

Growls of anger and protest echoed around them, and Julianna sensed her cadre converging on Kyle and the struggling female.

“It seems to me you need to choose your loyalties, Mrs. Winthrop.” Richard stepped into the circle, his expression hard. “Jeff is the Successor, and your daughter challenged the chosen Luna. She lost. Now you must choose if you’re going to follow the future Alpha and Luna or leave the territory of the Callowwood Pack. It’s your choice.”

“You can’t be serious!” Catherine’s face twisted in fury. “You can’t all take her side. She killed my daughter! She killed my little girl. How can you defend her?”

“She’s the Luna,” Woody said.

“She won the challenge,” Tawny added.

“She was stronger,” the Grayhound sisters said together.

“She’s my Mate and your Luna.” Jeff dropped a hand on Julianna’s shoulder.

“I’m Luna, Mrs. Winthrop, and I earned my place honorably.” Julianna pulled her head up and straightened her shoulders. “Jeff Lightfoot and I are Mated before the Lady Moon and the pack. He chose
me
in the choosing ceremony. Your daughter
defied
the pack’s rules and protocols, challenged me to combat,
and lost
. I asked her if she was willing to yield.” Julianna looked down at the body on the ground. “She said no.”

Catherine let loose a furious shriek and launched herself at Julianna, but Kyle held her back, and she jerked futilely against her own arms.

“You’re nothing but a conniving, thieving, murdering whore!” Catherine howled as she struggled. “We all know you mated with Jeff Lightfoot that night he stayed at your house and skewed the choosing ceremony. My daughter would’ve been Luna if not for your slutty ways. Is that what you learned when you left our town? How to whore yourself to get what you wanted?”

More growls erupted, and Jeff stalked toward the screaming woman with so much menace Julianna feared he’d rip her throat out. She started to move to stop him when Richard’s voice rang out and silenced everyone.

“Get your mate under control, Mr. Winthrop, or you’ll be banished and branded rogues. Be certain what’s most important to you. You know the consequences, and you know the other packs will hear of this.”

Mr. Winthrop blanched white and grabbed his wife, holding her tight against him.

“No, no, Michael! You have to let me go. We have to stop her. She killed our daughter.”

“That’s enough, Catherine!” Michael Winthrop barked, and Catherine whimpered, dropping her head a little at his ferocity. “Come on, it’s been a long day. Let’s go home.”

“But Michael, she killed her—”

“It’ll be okay, darlin’. Let’s go home now.”

Mr. Winthrop spun his wife and dragged her away toward the house, protesting each step. Anger, frustration, and grief wafted after them, poisoning the air along with the reek of death. Julianna didn’t dare relax until they’d disappeared through the doors. Then she let her breath out slowly and looked at Jeff. His whole body radiated tension, and waves of anger rippled around him.

As her adrenaline ebbed, she looked down on Cameron’s body with sorrow. The death of a promising young alpha female had fallen on her shoulders.
What a waste
. She grimaced.
I’ve made enemies of the Winthrops tonight.
An auspicious beginning–Not!

Very auspicious. You vanquished a deranged intruder and proved your strength.

“The Luna of the Callowwood Pack is victorious in the Challenge.” Richard waved at Julianna. “Does anyone else wish to issue a Challenge?”

Dear Goddess, please let it be no!
I don’t want to fight anyone else tonight.
Julianna tensed again, inhaling deeply.

Silence reigned in the garden, and only the wind rustling the pine trees dared to break its spell. Julianna held her breath.
Please, please, nobody Challenge me tonight!

“Very well, let’s bury the body and go home.” Richard gestured toward Cameron’s corpse. “Enough excitement for one night.”

“Alpha, with your permission.” Julianna raised her hand.

Richard’s cadre paused and looked at Richard, waiting for him to acknowledge her before touching the dead wolf.

“Yes, Luna?”

“Bury her with full honors, please.” She crouched beside the body, the stained edges of Jeff’s shirt brushing her hips. “She fought for what she believed in, no matter how wrong it was, and she was an admired member of the pack. She may have lost the Challenge, but she should be honored for her attempt.”

“You wish to honor your rival, Luna?” Surprise and something else flashed in his eyes.

Julianna shrugged uncomfortably. “She made a bad decision. She shouldn’t be reviled for that. How many of us
always
make great decisions? She already paid for it. She’s dead.”

Richard looked at her a long time before he nodded slowly.

“Very well. Bury her with honor.”

The packmembers shook themselves as if coming awake, their expressions shell-shocked. Julianna looked at Jeff and saw approval in his eyes. He nodded to her and offered her his half-smile before turning to his cadre and speaking with them for a few moments.

Julianna rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around her body. Emotion and adrenaline still pumped through her with each heartbeat, but she couldn’t decide what she felt. Fear? Anger? Grief? Lust? Excitement? Exhaustion? Part of her just wanted to curl up on her bed and hide her head under her pillow, away from the pack, the politics, and the overwhelming grief of the Winthrops.

She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. She was Luna now. No more hiding in the crowd.
Welcome to the world of the first lady. Always in the public eye. Always the one they’ll all look to for etiquette and proper behavior, even in a bloody fight to the death. Good grief!

Her mind had prepared to drag her through the mud of misery when Jeff wrapped his arms around her from behind and laid a soft kiss at the nape of her neck. All the conflicting emotions drained away, and Julianna let herself fall into the warm strength of his body behind her.

“That was beautifully done, my Luna,” he whispered into her ear. She shivered.

“You think so?”

“Yes. It’ll go a long way to mollifying some of the Winthrops’ supporters in the pack. They’ll see you’re fair and honest and didn’t add insult to injury. Word will get back to the Winthrops of your request, and they’ll have even less to be pissed off about.”

“Losing their only daughter isn’t something they’re just going to forget, Jeff.” She suddenly felt a cold draft sweep over her buttocks and pressed her body against his, seeking warmth. “I may have won the Challenge, but I’ve made enemies of them forever. They won’t forgive me for that.”

“They don’t have to forgive you. But they
do
have to acknowledge you as the winner. You beat their daughter fairly and even had her body buried with honors. They can’t argue with that.”

Julianna just snorted. “Tell that to her mother.”

Jeff grimaced. “Yeah, well, let’s get you inside and wrapped up in something warm.”

He tugged her toward the house, walking a little behind her so her ass didn’t show below his ruined shirt.

She chuckled darkly and looked back at him. “Can I wrap myself up in you instead?”

His teeth flashed in the lights of the garden. “That was the idea.” He stopped and pulled her to face him. “I love you, Julianna Morris Lightfoot.”

“Do you?”

“More than words can say.” He fumbled to a stop. “Somehow, the words can’t convey everything I’m feeling.”

She grinned. “Maybe you’d better show me, then.”

Jeff laughed as he pushed Julianna up the stairs toward their room. Maybe it would be okay. She had Jeff as her Alpha, and she’d won the Challenge. She had a cadre full of loyal friends and Sebrina’s mentoring. The Winthrops would never be friends, but she no longer stood alone in the Callowwood Pack. She’d truly come home.

When they got to the room, Jeff growled playfully. “Now, you’re mine, Luna.”

Her chin came up, and gave him her best smart-ass grin. “Bite me!”

Pouncing on her, he did a lot more than that.

THE END

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Siobhan Muir lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband, two daughters, and a vegetarian cat she swears is a shape-shifter, though he's never shifted when she can see him. When not writing, she can be found looking down a microscope at fossil fox teeth, pursuing her other love, paleontology. An avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, her husband gave her a paranormal romance for Christmas one year, and she was hooked for good. Who knew they combined sci-fi with romance? She’s been writing stories and entertaining friends and family with her writing since she was a kid. She completed her first fan fiction novel at the age of 13. No, it will never see the light of day and everyone should be grateful for that.