The Mane Attraction (31 page)

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Authors: Shelly Laurenston

BOOK: The Mane Attraction
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“I’ll be the first to admit I screwed up. I know I did. But I still think we make a hell of a pair.”
Sissy looked back at her and Dee, and even in the situation they found themselves, all three still had to laugh.
“You know,” Sissy said, still chuckling, “my momma always said you weren’t too bright. And I should have listened to her.”
“Your momma adores me.”
“Actually”—Sissy scrunched up her nose—“she doesn’t. In fact, she warned me that if you were anything like your daddy, you were cursed with the Warren small balls.”
“Forget it, Sissy. You’re not gonna make me angry.”
“Trust me, darlin’, I can make you angry. If I remember correctly, it didn’t take much more than, ‘No, I don’t want to,’ to have you taking a swing at me.”
“That was a long time ago. It’s over. And I’m a different man.”
Sissy glanced around the group. “You call this changing? You call trying to force me into a mating changing?” She smirked. “That is what you’re planning, right? A forced mating?”
“It worked for your parents.”
“Lord, you are dumb. My daddy didn’t force my momma to do anything. He never had to because she wanted him. Sadly, your father can’t say the same thing. But if I remember correctly, Momma left him crying and whimpering right outside of Smithville all those years ago before heading to Smithtown. You hoping to repeat that experience for yourself now?”
And Gil’s anger, always a brittle thing, snapped quickly, and he took an aggressive step forward—which Sissy probably knew he’d do. Taking one step back and putting up her arms, Sissy punched Gil in the face. She did it exactly the way they’d been taught when she and Ronnie had ended up in Ireland with nothing more than a hangover and five pounds between them. Louis McCanohan had taken them in when he found them about to shift and kill some full-human scum behind his favorite pub. The sixty-year-old wolf had taught them how to fight as human so they could always take care of themselves in any situation.
Hands covering his bleeding nose, Gil glared at her. “You broke my nose.”
Staying loose and on her toes, Sissy nodded. “Yeah, I did. So if we’re gonna do this, son, let’s do this.”
Gil came at her again, fangs bared, and Sissy stepped to his left and slammed her fist into his gut. When he doubled over, she brought up her knee. She’d aimed for his jaw, trying to break it, but he moved in time and she hit his already broken nose.
Again, he dashed toward her, and Sissy danced out of his way, only to turn and double tap him twice in his right kidney. He went down on one knee, the pain probably not as bad as the embarrassment of having a female kick his ass as human.
Apparently, he didn’t want to deal with it anymore either because Gil shifted and flipped around, charging Sissy. He launched himself at her, and Sissy brought up her hands, catching his front paws in them. They went down, and by the time they landed, Sissy had shifted to wolf. She scrambled away from him, her fangs bared and her body ready.
Ronnie didn’t wait any longer. She shifted and tried to slip out of her captors’ arms. But they shifted as well and tackled her to the ground, pinning her in place. She howled, hoping to call to Sissy’s kin, but the females sat on her neck, stopping her from doing much more than snarling. Two more males had joined in an attempt to control Dee, but she was causing them a lot of damage. But not enough yet to get away and help Sissy.
Sissy didn’t wait for Gil to come at her again. She went for him, her mouth open and aimed for his throat. But Gil’s sister and cousins tackled her like the others had tackled Ronnie and pinned her to the ground, holding her in place for Gil.
At that point, Ronnie fought harder, knowing what they were planning and horrified beyond anything she’d known. This was more barbaric than the Smiths had ever been. A Smith male had to be able to handle his female on his own. If he couldn’t, then he wasn’t worthy of her.
The only man who could handle Sissy Mae Smith was back at the football field, catching passes and impressing Sissy’s brothers. Mitch loved her, and eventually, Sissy would have to admit she loved him. Everybody in town knew it. The rumors were spreading, and everyone was wondering how Bubba Smith was going to take another one of his pups mating outside the Pack and the breed. Especially with a cat.
Gil must have heard the rumors and decided to make this desperate move. Or maybe one of Sissy’s brothers had put him up to it. Ronnie didn’t know. She just knew that she had to get to her friend. She had to get to her now.
Travis was real happy with how practice was going now that his sister had left. She distracted his star player, and to be damn honest, he couldn’t have it!
He wondered if there was a way to get the boy down here every year in time for the game but leave Sissy back wherever the hell she’d be at the time. He’d have to ponder that one. A couple of days apart wouldn’t kill them, could it?
He called break and jogged over to the ice chests. His mate waited for him, a sports drink in her hand. Patty Rose wasn’t the prettiest thing, but she was tough, a good breeder, and an even better fuck. He definitely could have done worse.
Besides, her ambitions rivaled his own. With a female like this by his side, he’d definitely take over for his daddy once he could get the old bastard to submit.
“Thanks,” he grunted. She grinned up at him, and he raised his brows. “What are you looking so smug for?”
She stepped closer. “I think I took care of our little problem.”
“You mean the shed? Thought we were gonna wait to fix that.”
“No.” She rolled her eyes. Travis knew she thought he was dumb as dirt most days, but that was okay. Sometimes, when he was bored, he treated her like a whore. It kind of made them even.
“Then what?”
Another step closer. “Gil Warren and Sissy.”
Travis shrugged, already getting bored with this conversation—and his mate. “What about them?”
“I let him have her.”
“Let him have her?” He didn’t understand what she meant.
She went on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, “He’s forcing a mating as we speak.”
Stepping back, Travis stared at his mate. “What?”
“You heard me.” She smiled and glanced over at Sammy and Mitch, making sure they weren’t listening. “We’ve been planning this for days.”
His hand was around her throat, and he lifted her off her feet before she could blink. “
You did what?
”
 
 
Sissy fought to get out from under the She-bitches who held her down, but they weren’t letting go, and Gil was heading right for her.
If Gil Warren thought he’d really make her his this way, he was dead wrong. A forced mating on a Smith female was just a quick way to end up with your throat cut while you were sleeping.
But for Sissy, this was about the humiliation. She’d always wear Gil’s mark no matter what happened. And because of it, she’d always be considered weak. Not worthy of being Alpha Female. Travis and his mate would know this, but Gil didn’t understand. He thought this forced mating was his fast ride to the top. But he was only dooming them to permanent Beta status. Maybe even Omega. And the thought of it made her sick.
No. No way! She’d never let that happen. Not while she still had blood in her veins.
With a snarl that shook the females holding her, Sissy twisted and snapped and dragged herself out from under the She-wolves. They tried to grab at her again, and she spun and snapped at them, ripping into someone’s snout and making them back away from her.
With a growl, she turned around and faced Gil. She bared her fangs and motioned for him to come to her.
He took a running step, and Sissy braced her body for the oncoming fight, but a large body jumped in front of her so she stepped back and to the side.
Gil stumbled back in shock as he faced something that he feared more than a Smith female—a Smith male.
Bobby Ray bared his fangs and lowered his body as he moved around Gil. The rest of the New York Smith Pack surrounded them, easily batting away the She-wolves still holding on to Ronnie. But the Reed boys went after the males holding on to Dee since they probably didn’t feel right tearing up the little girls holding down their sister.
Sissy didn’t know why Bobby Ray was back from his honeymoon so soon, and she’d kick whoever the hell told him to come home, but that would be later. At the moment, she was just damn glad to see him.
Gil tried to maneuver away from Bobby, but Sissy moved to his flank, blocking him from making a run into the small stand of woods behind the bar alley.
Now that they had him trapped, the siblings looked at each other over Gil’s suddenly trembling body.
They waited. One. Two. Three heartbeats—then they tore into him. Fur and blood and flesh flew across the back alley, and Gil howled in pain.
As always, Bobby Ray and Sissy moved as a synchronized pair. It was why they made such good Alphas. They didn’t stop hurting Gil until Bobby Ray had him on his back with his maw wrapped around Gil’s throat.
He bit down, and Gil’s body went limp, paws up, eyes downcast. Gil Warren would never recover from this. He’d never be Alpha in any Smith-run town. Knowing that, Sissy threw her head back and howled, her Pack joining her.
But she stopped short when that blur of gold shot past. Sissy stumbled back as Mitch snatched Gil up in his mouth and proceeded to shake him back and forth like a rag doll. He slammed Gil’s body against a wall and then tossed him to Brendon. It was then Brendon’s turn to shake Gil and bang him into the wall a few times.
Gil got tossed back to Mitch, and Mitch held him by his back and stared at Sissy. She was tempted—Lord, was she tempted—to let Mitch finish Gil. But that wouldn’t be today. She shook her head, and Mitch nodded.
He tossed his head, mane flipping up, and Gil flew across the alley, slamming into the wall and landing on the ground.
They all heard it, too. That sound of a spine snapping in half.
Of course, Mitch could have done worse. And in time—years, really—Gil’s back would probably heal, and he’d walk again. But for now ...
Well. It wasn’t Sissy’s problem.
Mitch walked up to Sissy, those gold eyes watching her. He wanted to know she was all right. Sissy nodded, and Mitch brushed his forehead against hers, rubbed his mane against her neck and snout. He’d marked her, at least temporarily, and walked off, Brendon right behind him, the rest of the team following, including Travis.
Bobby Ray stared at his sister, and Sissy, not really in the mood for this particular conversation, turned and trotted back to her parent’s house and her aunts’ banana cream pie—which she’d hidden from Mitch only that morning—Ronnie, Dee, and the New York Smith She-wolves right behind her.
Chapter 26
“
W
ell, I always knew that boy had no sense.” Francine placed a slice of pie down in front of Sissy. “But I never knew he was that stupid.”
Sissy nodded in agreement and dug into the pie, more intent on feeding than discussing Gil Warren. Dee had headed back to her parents and told her mother everything. That led to a call to her sisters, and they’d rushed right over. By the time Sissy realized Mitch had tracked down the hidden pie and devoured it, the other aunts had shown up. With more pies in hand.
“He figured Sissy would eventually accept it.” Ronnie pulled her legs up, resting her bare feet on the seat, her arms around her calves. “He had the nerve to bring up her daddy and Miss Janie.”
Francine opened another cardboard box and pulled out one of her chocolate cream pies. “That was Bubba’s fault. He let that rumor grow ’cause he and his damn brothers are so competitive. The way they describe it, they were Vikings descending on Smithville to take the Lewis females by force.”
Sissy and Ronnie laughed at that until Francine placed that chocolate pie in front of an empty chair and put a fork next to it. They glanced at each other, then around. When they’d first gotten home, they’d spent most of their time cleaning blood and dirt off their faces and arms while the other She-wolves were cluttering up chairs and couches or laying on the living room floor. To be honest, they hadn’t bothered to check the house to see who else was there. Besides Mitch and Brendon, who would warrant a whole pie to themselves ... ?
“Is that for me?” Jessie Ann raced down the stairs like an overeager puppy and threw herself into the chair, the pie in front of her. She looked at Francine with undisguised adoration. “I have so missed your chocolate cream pie, Miss Francine.”
“Then you dig right in there, darlin’. Can’t have that baby starvin’ to death now, can we?”
Sissy sipped from her glass of milk before saying to Jessie, “I’m real sorry about your honeymoon, Jessie.”
“Don’t be,” she said good-naturedly, the fork poised in front of her mouth. “I love your brother, but I was starting to crawl the walls. Besides”—she gestured to the feast in front of her—“pie.”
Without another word, she took her first bite of pie. Jessie’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell back in her chair.
For the first time in hours, Sissy smiled. The girl did have something about her. Goofy in that mixed breed way. And not surprisingly, she wore the ID bracelet Sissy had given Bobby Ray at the wedding. She knew for a fact that Jessie Ann had a diamond bracelet that had probably cost Bobby Ray a small fortune. But it was that silver-plated ID bracelet purchased years ago by a teen Bobby Ray that meant the most to her. And that made Jessie Ann cooler than most people Sissy knew—although she’d never admit that out loud.
After several more bites and rapturous responses, Jessie asked, “Have you guys thought about opening a shop in Manhattan?”
Francine shook her head. “Not really. Think we’d sell well there?”
“I’m relatively certain the wild dogs will keep you in business until the end of time.”
“That’s real sweet of you, darlin’—”
“Really, Miss Francine, I’m not just being sweet. Our Pack is always looking for new investments, and you and your sisters could start a pie chain. Kind of like the Van Holtz steak house, only not as snobby.” The Van Holtz Pack was the wealthiest Pack in the States and Europe, and that was due to their family-owned and -run steak houses.
“You really think so?” And Francine actually sounded intrigued rather than just humoring.
“Absolutely. Of course, your flagship store will have to be near our Pack house.”
Momentarily forgetting this wasn’t one of her She-wolves, Sissy automatically teased, “Good thing my brother likes women with meat on their bones ’cause your ass is gonna be gettin’ wide.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back.
But without missing a beat, Jessie shot back, “Cool. Now I can start wearing your jeans. I thought that was only going to be possible during the late stages of the pregnancy.”
The milk Ronnie had just taken a big gulp of sprayed across the table, and Sissy almost choked on the piece of pie she’d just swallowed. As Francine clucked her tongue and cleaned up the mess, Sissy and Ronnie howled in laughter, and Jessie grinned around her pie.
 
 
It was decided while the males sat out on the porch and drank beer that Gil Warren and his tiny Pack would be pushed out of town as soon as Gil could wheel himself out. It was obvious that the reasons behind the decision varied between brothers. Smitty and Sammy Ray felt Gil had crossed a line with their baby sister, and there would be no coming back from that. He didn’t belong on Smith territory, end of story. For Travis Ray, Jackie Ray, and ... uh ... the other Ray—Mitch could never remember the man’s name—the reasoning was much more wolflike. Gil Warren had proven he was weak and a bloodline they didn’t want polluting their town’s gene pool. The fact that their sister had almost been forced into a mating she didn’t want didn’t seem to faze them at all, and Mitch easily realized why Sissy stuck with Smitty. He’d ended his honeymoon early and had traveled from New York to Tennessee to check on her. When he’d realized she was in trouble, he’d gone to her aid the same way Mitch would have if it had been either of his sisters.
Travis had gone to Sissy’s aid because he didn’t want Mitch too upset to play tomorrow’s game.
“We’ll deal with all this after the game tomorrow.” Travis looked at Smitty. “You playing tomorrow?”
“Since you actually came to help our baby sister for once, yeah, I’ll play.”
“Good.” Travis didn’t say anything else—like “Congrats on your marriage” or “Sorry I missed your wedding, bruh”—and walked back into the house, his Pack of wolves following.
“Sorry about your honeymoon, Smitty.”
Smitty waved off Mitch’s apology. “Don’t sweat it, son. Sissy did the right thing. She brought both of you some place safe.”
“Yeah.” Mitch smiled, thinking about Sissy. “I wasn’t too happy about it at first, but I’m glad she brought me here.”
“I bet you are.” Then Smitty hit him. Hard.
Mitch stumbled back, trying to keep himself from blacking out.
“
My sister? My baby sister?”
Brendon stepped between Mitch and Smitty. “Whoa!”
“It’s not what you think,” Mitch said, shaking his head and trying to keep the blackness at bay.
“Is that right? Then what is it?”
Mitch didn’t answer right away, and Smitty snarled. “I trusted you,
boy
. And I come here and find out you’re just using—”
“I love her.” Mitch said it quietly, but it might have been screamed the way everything went quiet. Even the night animals stopped whatever they were doing.
Smitty folded his arms across his chest, his sudden rage disappearing as quickly as it had come. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I love your sister.”
Smitty watched Mitch for several seconds, then he pulled his fist back again. Bren tried to block him, but Mitch just sort of waited for the hit.
“You’re just gonna let me hit you, aren’t you?”
Mitch shrugged. “She cares about you, so I’d rather not start a caged deathmatch with you, if that’s possible.” He raised his hands. “You know how mighty my fists of fury are.”
Smitty sized him up again, and Mitch could see him trying not to laugh. “You better keep her happy, feline, or I’m gonna let Sabina use her knives to cut your balls off.” The males winced. Mostly because they all knew it wouldn’t take much to talk Sabina into using her knives on anyone. Of Jessie’s wild dog Pack, she was the most ... rabid.
“I won’t be here after the trial.” And suddenly, he again had the attention of the entire New York Pack.
“Come again?”
He cleared his throat, and Bren stared at him like he’d lost his mind. But he didn’t want Smitty thinking he’d lied to him. “I go into Witness Protection after the trial. I won’t be back for Sissy. I won’t be back here.” And it was killing him.
But before Smitty could say anything, Travis burst back out onto the porch. “
What the hell are you talking about?
”
“I thought you guys knew this.”
“What about my sister?” Smitty growled.
“What about next year’s game?” Travis snarled.
Smitty looked at his brother. “Game? You’re talking about your goddamn game when this is about Sissy’s future?”
“Let’s be realistic, Bobby Ray. It ain’t like Sissy won’t jump on the next steed that comes along. This boy’s just a waystation.”
“Hey!” the Shaw brothers said in unison.
“No offense, hoss, but you can’t really think my sister has serious feelings for you, or any man.”
“You got something to say to me, Travis?”
They’d been so wrapped up in their own bullshit, none of them had realized the New York Smith Pack She-wolves stood in front of the house. The men looked down at them from the porch. Jessie Ann, the cute little one in the middle, waved her hand at Smitty. She looked lost in the mass of all those much taller and bigger angry She-wolves.
“Well?” Sissy demanded, walking up the stairs with Ronnie right behind her. “Say whatever you’re gonna say, Travis. To my face.”
Travis glanced at Mitch and shook his head. “No. That’s okay. Maybe another time.”
“Don’t worry. Mitch will play. And he’ll play well. I’ll make sure of it. So just say it.”
“You don’t want me to do this here, Sissy Mae.”
“No,” Sammy cut in. “I don’t want you doing this here.”
“It’s all right, Sammy. Really. I’d like to hear what he has to say. Go on, Travis. Say it.”
“Fine. We all know that you couldn’t care less about this boy other than the fuck he can give you at the moment. When he’s gone, there’ll be another and another and another. Just like always. Ain’t nothin’ changed. Although I was praying you’d keep this one for a few years since he does play some mean ball. But you’re the same whore—”
It was the word whore that seemed to tip him over the edge, his fist slamming into Travis’s face, knocking the bigger man to the ground. And as they stood around, stunned, Sammy grabbed his older brother by the T-shirt, lifted him up, and slammed his fist into Travis’s face again ... and again ... and a few more times for good measure.
Finally, Bobby Ray and Sissy had to grab him and pull him back. Sissy had her arm around his shoulders, and she kept telling him, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
But good-natured Sammy apparently had his own boundaries, and Travis had just crossed them.
“I warned you what I’d do if you called her that again!
I warned you!”
Travis sat up, his back against the porch railing. Blood covered a good portion of his face from his shattered nose down.
“You act like she hasn’t been called that before,” Travis snapped, trying to maintain some of his dignity.
Sammy went for him again, but Bobby Ray held him back, although Mitch had a feeling he wanted to beat the hell out of Travis himself.
Travis gave a small, taunting smile. “And Lord knows, she’ll be called that again.”
It was something in her eyes that Mitch caught. That split second of getting fully fed up. He reached for her, but she grabbed hold of the football helmet that one of the players had dumped by the front door. She brought it up over her head, and then as she went down on one knee, Sissy brought it back down.
The helmet connected with Travis’s knee, and they all jumped and winced at the same time as they heard that bone shatter. Then that wolf howled in pure agony.
Panting, anger coming off her in waves, Sissy stood back up. “I promised Mitch would play for you tomorrow. Never said nothing about
you
getting to play. Good thing Bobby Ray is here to help out.” She tossed the helmet to Donnie, who grabbed it but smartly kept his distance.
Sissy brushed her hand across Mitch’s arm before she walked off, her She-wolves following behind her.
Brendon stared down at the crying, screaming wolf at his feet. “We better get him to the hospital. They’re gonna have to set that.” He looked at Smitty. “But we better get your wife out of the tree first.”
“Out of the ...” Smitty looked at the big tree closest to the railing. “
Jessica Ann!
”
“Don’t yell at me,” she snapped. “It was instinctual!” She leaned down a bit so they could see just her head, the rest of her still buried in that tree. “Angry-Sissy means I run for the hills, but I wasn’t in the mood to run. Did the next best thing.”
Mitch smiled. “I’m impressed a dog can climb trees.”
That, of course, earned him a glare from Smitty. “Is this you helping me? I don’t think this is you helping me.”

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