Terr4tory (3 page)

Chapter 4

Back at the farmhouse, Willa paced in the kitchen, the dinner she’d been preparing earlier long since forgotten.  Becca and Sarya were now seated at the table watching her nervously.  Jase, bless his heart, was attempting to look unafraid, wearing a scowl she knew would make Arden proud.  It didn’t fool her.  She could easily scent the boy’s anxiety.

“Willa.” Becca spoke softly and pointed at her own throat.  “You’re bleeding.”

“I know.” She pursed her lips and crossed to yank the kitchen towel from where she’d left it on the counter, wiping at her neck.  It hurt, but she couldn’t care.  She had bigger things to worry about.

What in the hell was she supposed to do with Barron Kane? 
Why is he even here?
  He’d said Evander sent him, and she assumed it was to help, but how?  Her mind kept circling back to the same conclusion.  False Alpha.  Had Evander sent his brother to pretend to be Alpha so that challengers would turn away?  And if so, was Barron aware of it?  Would he pretend to be their Alpha?  Would it even work?  Could she dare to trust him?  And if it came to it, would he be willing to battle for them?

She’d had Arden, Cortez, and Keryn take him to the guest house.  Well, it wasn’t really a guest house, merely an old chicken coop they’d cleaned out and put a cot in on the off chance they’d one day have visitors. It was tiny, and the boards so worn that wind pushed through like a whistle through gapped teeth.  It wasn’t ideal.

Willa stopped pacing, knowing she had to make a decision and quickly.  Barron couldn’t stay, she knew that much.  He was a stranger, and an Alpha, which meant it was natural for him to want to seek the dominant position, which meant butting heads with her.  She couldn’t handle that.  Even more importantly, she didn’t know if she could trust him with her wolves.  She couldn’t,
wouldn’t,
take the chance.

Decided, she stalked from the kitchen.  To their credit Jase, Becca, and Sarya stayed put.

Tromping down the front porch steps, she cursed as the bottom stair buckled under her weight.  “Damn it!”  She caught herself at the last second and turned to eye the broken step, making her hundredth mental note to find time to fix the damn thing before someone broke their neck.

Turning, her cheeks flushed to find Barron standing outside the guesthouse.  Arms crossed over his broad chest he leaned nonchalantly against the small building, but there was nothing casual about his stance.  Every line of him screamed predator, and she knew he could be off that wall and tearing into her in a second if he wanted.  She’d need to get rid of him diplomatically.

Keryn and Cortez watched him from under the shade of the nearby trees.  Cortez hugged Keryn to him tightly, the gesture declaring boldly that she was his.  Arden paced halfway between where Keryn and Cortez were huddled and where Barron stood staring at her.  The young boy’s eyes never left Barron, and Willa felt pride surge to the fore.  He was going to make a phenomenal Alpha one day.  She hoped she lived to see it.

She lifted her head high as she approached Barron, ignoring the heat that suffused her cheeks when his eyes took a leisurely stroll down her body and then back up.  His lips cocked in a half smile and she couldn’t help but wonder if he liked what he saw.

Get a fucking grip!
She self-admonished.  Her eyes hardened and she flicked her hand toward her three pack-mates, indicating they should go into the house.

Cortez seemed all too happy to comply, pulling Keryn with him as he hurried away.  Arden ignored her gesture and continued to pace, scowling at Barron.

Barron shoved off the wall.  “The kid’s cute.”  He tipped his head toward Arden, then smiled when the boy growled.

“Arden!” She turned to glare at him.  “Inside.  Now!”

He was more difficult to control then the rest because his Alpha instincts were growing with his age, but also because he was extremely protective of Willa.

Arden growled again, but stopped pacing and took a step toward the house before he stopped.  “You sure?”

Willa couldn’t stop her smile as pride swelled within her.  One curt nod, and then Arden stalked sullenly toward the house.

“He’s protective of you,” Barron noted aloud.

“Yes,” she confirmed.  “And I of him.”  She motioned with her head toward the house.  “All of them, which is why I have to ask you to leave.”

Barron only smiled, as if he’d expected her words.

“I appreciate Evander sending you,” she forged on.  “But we’ll figure this out on our own.”

Shoving off the wall, Barron stepped toward her.  The predatory grace with which he moved was fluid yet lethal, and all male.  It had Willa itching to back down.  She didn’t.

“So, let me get this straight.” He started circling her.  “Your Alpha is dead.  You’re in charge.  You aren’t mated.  There are no
men
in your pack.”  He stopped behind her, and when he leaned in his breath whispered over the nape of her neck.  “And the wolves are at your door.”

Whether the shiver that coursed through her was the result of his nearness or his words, she didn’t know, but she didn’t dare step away from him.  It’d be a show of fear…
submission.

“There are men in this pack,” she declared gruffly, ignoring his snort and eye roll at her words.  “And the wolves aren’t at the door.  I have two weeks.”

“And what’s your plan?”

She turned to face him.  “To protect my pack and my territory.”

“How?” He demanded, stepping up to tower over her.  She had to tilt her head far back to keep her eyes on his.  “You’re not mated, and smelling the way you do…”  He let his words die to a low rumble.

***

Holy shit!
  Barron almost spoke the words aloud when Willa’s nostrils flared slightly and she gave the smallest turn of her head.  She was scenting herself.  She had no idea what he was talking about.

“You’re fertile,” he supplied, his voice pitched lower and huskier than he’d intended.  “
Ripe.
”  His hands actually itched to touch her, and that was odd.  He curled them into tight fists when Willa paled.

“It should be gone by the time challengers begin arriving.”

Barron smiled, but it was humorless. He shook his head hard as if saying ‘no’ while simultaneously trying to shake her alluring scent.  Mistakenly, she thought he was implying that she was ovulating.  He wasn’t.

When a she-wolf came of a certain age, her scent changed.  Turned sweeter.  It was a signal to the males that she was old enough for carnal delights.  The longer a female went without being ‘taken’, the stronger the scent grew.  Right now, Willa smelled like cotton-fucking-candy, and it had his dick hard as a spike.  Her soft, curvy body hadn’t been breached.  No one had penetrated her tight little pussy. 
Maybe her own fingers
he thought, and then quickly regretted it when a punch of lust shot through him at the image of her sliding dainty fingers through her slick wet folds.  He nearly doubled over.  “
That
scent,” his voice was practically a growl now.  “Is only disappearing one way, gorgeous, and it isn’t time.”

He watched her bristle and then flush beet-red.  Her blush was becoming, and so was her anger.  Whether the latter was the result of his words or the endearment, he didn’t know.  Hell, he didn’t care.

“Well, my
scent
is not your problem.  Just as
my
pack is not your problem.  I appreciate Evander’s concern, but we’ll handle this ourselves.”

She turned to go and he caught her arm.  The touch of skin on skin did something.  He dropped to a knee and clenched his gut, his teeth gnashing at the pain that ripped through him.  One fisted hand planted on the ground while the other wrapped around his knee, his knuckles going white with the pressure as he tensed through the pain that continued to hammer him.

“Hey!”

He saw her feet back up a little, and he wanted to lunge at her.

“A-are you okay?”

Sucking in a deep breath through his nose, he forced himself to his feet, biting back the groan that wanted to spill from him.  He was more than an Alpha, he was battle born, and he refused to tolerate any weakness, even in himself.

Standing, he leveled his ominously dark eyes on hers.  Concern was clear on her face as she eyed him up and down.  “What…what happened?”

“Long journey,” he offered, but knew it wasn’t true.  He didn’t know what in the hell was wrong with him, only that whatever struck him had done so when he’d touched her.

“Look.” Her features softened, and for the first time since he met her, she didn’t look defensive.  “You’re welcome to stay the night in the guesthouse.  I’ll have Arden bring you some dinner.  But in the morning . . .” She was back to looking defensive again, lifting her chin in that defiant little way she so favored.  “I’d like you to go.  We’ll solve our own problems.”

“No, you won’t.”
 
What in the hell was he doing?  She’d given him an out.  So, why in the hell wasn’t he taking it? 
I wasn’t made for this type of domesticity!

While the words felt true, he also knew he wasn’t meant for the type of wild near-solitude he’d lived the previous seven years.  No, his time in the wild was over.  He needed to find his place, and he needed to find a pack, but first he’d repay his debt to Evander and be free to seek out his own life.

“I’m not leaving!”  He rolled his shoulders and fisted his hands, letting the Alpha authority in his tone lash over Willa.  He wanted her to know he meant what he said, and while he was willing to cede a few concessions to the female, this wasn’t one of them.

She gazed up at him and it was there again, in a brief flash.  Hope.  She hid it just as quickly as it came, but not quick enough.  Right now, she needed him.  The kids in her pack needed him, and he needed them.  He shrugged internally. 
What’s the worst that could happen?  A few Alphas come and I get to kick some ass.  It’ll be fun.
  His wolf gave a bored yawn at the prospect of battle.

For the past seven years, Barron had lived in the wilds of British Columbia with Delano Bowden, Gray Kincaid, and Wren Prime.  Alphas all, and each battle born, but unwilling to claim their positions.  Instead, they’d formed a previously-unheard-of pack of all Alphas and lived in wolf from.  They’d hunted and battled, not only each other, but the most vicious beasts in the forest.  None of them had ever given in or backed down, and the years had honed them into the fiercest of fighting machines.  He’d battled the best, and the prospect of anyone challenging him now was actually laughable.

In front of him, Willa fidgeted.  He could tell she was debating, but he wouldn’t let her have the last word.  Turning, he strode to the door of the guesthouse.  “Have the boy bring dinner when it’s ready.”  Then the door slammed behind him as he disappeared into the pitiful excuse for quarters.  He’d stayed in worse.

Chapter 5

That night, Willa barely slept.  It was hot, and the air was heavy with the weight of mid-summer.  At dinner time, she’d watched from the porch as Arden carried a plate out to Barron.  The boy knocked once on the guesthouse door then opened it to slide the plate in on the floor before he turned to walk back to the house.  Willa could tell by the rigid lines of his body that he wanted to hurry, but his heart refused to let him.  She smiled, wishing she knew how to teach him to be an Alpha.

After dinner, she secured the house.  Silly, she knew.  If Barron wanted in, one kick to either of the rickety doors would do the trick.  Still, she knew it made the younger ones feel more secure to see her making a show of latching all the windows and bolting both the front and back doors.  Once the house was secure she sent them to their rooms.  Arden hadn’t wanted to go, but she’d finally made him by having him promise to keep Jase protected.  Arden’s chest had puffed out and he’d nodded once before leading Jase down to the basement.

Willa stayed awake, too afraid to fall asleep with a strange Alpha resting feet from her door.  She busied herself cleaning, glad her earlier weakness had faded.  First, she’d scrubbed the kitchen, periodic peeks out the window assuring her the night was still, the guest house dark and silent, with no sign of Barron.

After the kitchen, she moved on to polishing the banister on the stairs.  Their house was kept clean, and as old as it was, it was built with detailed craftsmanship that wasn’t present in newer homes.  Still, it was old, and there was a lot that needed work or to be all-out replaced.  Even after she’d scrubbed the old oven for forty-five minutes, it still refused to shine.  Willa thought of replacing it often, but knew they couldn’t afford it.  She, Keryn, and Cortez were the only three who had worked.  When Garner fell ill, she’d pulled Keryn and Cortez from their employment to watch over the ailing Alpha and the young pack, leaving her as the sole bread winner.  It wasn’t easy, especially with the nearest town thirty miles away.  It was a small town, and she was lucky to get her position waiting tables at the lone diner.  It wasn’t much, but it was something.

Near dawn, she finally made her way up to her room.  Peeling back the curtain, she opened her window a fraction and peered down at the guesthouse.  Still dark.  She was watching it silently, wondering about the large, brooding alpha within, when a glint of light caught her attention.  Eyes.  Eyes staring up at her from the cover of the darkened woods.  She recognized the eyes.  A wolf’s eyes.  Golden and glowing, they stared at her and she back at him…at Barron.

Suddenly, she realized it was hot. 
She
was hot, and it had nothing to do with the temperature.

Snapping the curtain closed, she quickly stripped down and climbed into bed clad only in her bra and panties.  Lying between the crisp sheets, she struggled to push the thoughts of Barron from her mind.  For some strange reason the memory of Barron leaning naked over her seemed unwilling to leave her brain.  It was silly.  She’d seen plenty of men naked.  Shifters weren’t shy about nudity.  Hell, most still hadn’t even learned to regenerate clothing with their shifts. But there was something about Barron and his body.  She kept seeing his thick chest and tapered waist, the ridge of muscle at his hips that held the heavy weight of his cock.  It’d reminded her of a ripe fruit, heavy with juice and prime for the taking.  Involuntarily her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she wondered if he’d be sweet.

Christ!
She blushed.  Had she just been fantasizing about sucking Barron Kane’s cock?  What in the hell had gotten into her?
  Him.
  He’d gotten into her, or at least she wished he would.

The thought was jarring.  Barron was the first man she’d thought about sexually, and it had her body feeling all prickly and…achy.  Her skin was sensitive everywhere the sheet touched her, and the tight fabric of her bra against her nipples and satin of her panties against her suddenly throbbing clit was torture.

Reaching under the covers, she removed her bra and panties then sagged back into the bed.  It didn’t help.  She needed…
something.
  She should have been worn out from cleaning and being up all night, but her body was humming with anticipation, her wolf refusing to rest.  Kicking out of her blankets, she lay naked on the bed, her breathing heavy in the darkness.  The image of Barron Kane refused to leave her.  Had she ever met a more virile male? 
No!
  He was nothing like Garner, but admittedly he was what she expected an Alpha to be.  Brooding good looks shrouded in an ever-present cloak of danger and violence.  His mere presence commanded respect and his looks…  She licked her lips.  The man was fucking hot!

Fuck it!
  Alone in her room, with no one to judge, Willa closed her eyes and imagined Barron lying over her.  His bronzed, taut flesh, warm as it held her down.  Biting her lip, she trailed her fingers up her thigh, chill bumps rising in their wake.  Curling her fingers in the light hair on her mound, she bent her knees, planting her feet on the bed as she let her legs fall open, her mind seeing Barron as he’d been earlier.  Naked on the hillside, his heavy cock hanging low.  Her finger sluiced through her wet folds as she imagined it was his tongue.  The feel, coupled with the vision, sent a punch of lust shooting through her. 
Christ!
  She’d pleasured herself before, but she’d never been as primed as this.

Two dainty fingers dipped into her and her back arched, her breathing suddenly suspended as she thought of Barron’s thick cock plowing into her.  She slammed her hand home and thrust her fingers deep, but it wasn’t enough.  Now-wet fingers pulled free and slicked up to her clit where she began to rub while her free hand lifted to cup her breast and pull at her nipple.  This was going to be fast.

Biting her lip to keep her mewls of pleasure from escaping, she moved her hand lower again to slide her fingers back inside while her thumb worked her clit in slow sensual circles.  “Barron.” She couldn’t help but whisper his name.  She needed to know how it felt on her tongue as she indulged in sexual pleasure.  Part of her brain screamed, ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’
while the other half shut that bitch down and imagined Barron’s brooding face inches from hers as he fucked into her rough and hard.  Her channel seized and she gasped quietly, her legs locking around her hand as her thumb slowed but continued to work to draw out her orgasm.

Finally sated, Willa fell into an exhausted slumber with a contented smile on her lips.

Outside, Barron’s wolf was standing rigid as a board, eyes riveted on the window where the curtains billowed and the most unbelievable fucking scent wafted down to him. 
Wet, hot, pussy!
  Dick hard, he scowled at the curtains as they continued to taunt him with a satiny wave as if beckoning him up.  His tongue lolled out, and he swore he could taste untried pussy on the air.  Keeping his place out in the dark was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, and when his ears picked up the faintest whisper of his name on the breeze, a rolling growl rumbled loose.  He literally had to lock his frame in place to keep his wolf from racing up to the room.

Fuck!  WHY? 
He wanted to run into the forest to get away from the torturous scent, but he couldn’t run with an erection.  Forced to stand and eye the window, a million visions raced through his mind.  His dark, hard body sliding between pale thighs, his cock forging into Willa’s virgin pussy.  He knew she was a virgin; the scent didn’t lie.  He doubted others would be able to scent it, but he could.  Worse, he wanted to be the one to relieve her of her innocence.  Wanted hell, he
needed
to.  He needed to be inside her like he needed his next breath. Every muscle in his body clenched with the knowledge that it was a need that would go unsatisfied.  He wasn’t here to get attached.  He was here to repay a debt to his brother and then get the hell on.

His wolf snarled its dissent, but Barron ignored it, just as he ignored the ache in his balls and the pain in his cock when he turned and raced away from the farmhouse.  He had to get away from her scent before he kicked in her door and did something they’d all regret.