The three Víga-Feilans looked down. Miki crouched low behind Einarr, a broken bottle shoved between his legs and up against his groin.
“What the fuck?” Einarr wasn’t used to women facing off against him. He was big and imposing and used that to his advantage. Clearly, however, Miki didn’t care.
“Let him go.”
“Get the fuck away from me…hey! Cut that shit out!” Conall would have laughed at his cousin’s obvious discomfort if the man hadn’t tightened his grip on his throat.
“Miki. Go,” Conall ordered.
“No way.” She looked around Einarr’s legs at Conall. “I’m having way too much fun.” She glanced up at Einarr. “You ever seen a horse castrated? I have.”
He could smell Einarr’s fear and panic. And he loved it. But he wanted Miki safe.
“Hey, Conall. What’s going on?” His Alphas. He loved how Sara always seemed so calm. So in control. Seconds before she started to really hurt someone.
“Just a little disagreement.”
“Really?” Sara crouched down next to Miki. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Playing let’s turn the stallion into a gelding. Of course, in his case I guess it’s really turning a dog into a bitch.” Conall heard Einarr grunt and knew Miki was having way too much fun with that broken bottle.
“You know, Mik. We can take it from here.”
“He’s not your Pack, right?”
“Nope.”
“Then as a Texan I have no choice but to help out in thanks for your kind hospitality. So until he gets his hands off Conall…his balls are mine.”
Sara stood up. “You heard her.” She leaned in. “And if I were you, I’d do it. She helped on a ranch for two years when she was twelve. The girl is not afraid to get bloody.”
Einarr’s hands released Conall.
“Good boy.” He could hear the condescension in Miki’s voice. “Now sit pretty!”
Sara slapped her hand over Miki’s mouth and shoved her back with the rest of the Pack. It amazed him Miki had lived this long.
Sara’s hand rested on his shoulder. Heard her cool, calm voice in his ear. “Who’s this?”
He tried to rein in the beast. If he let it loose now, he’d kill the bitch in front of him. Sara probably smelled that. She knew her Pack well.
“This is my cousin.” He released her. “Gudrun Víga-Feilan.” That was all he could manage at the moment. Not a problem, though. Sara pushed him back and the two females squared off while he and Einarr continued to glower at each other.
Sara took a protective stance in front of Conall. Kind of funny, since he towered over her. But he’d seen this woman in action. Gudrun, however, had not.
“Pretty scar,” his cousin sneered.
He would have launched himself at her again, but Zach grabbed his arm and held him back. He realized Zach didn’t want him involved. Not because it was two females fighting, but because the man loved watching Sara do damage. It made him hard.
“Wow. That was witty. I’ve never heard that one before.”
Gudrun’s eyes narrowed. Conall could smell his cousin’s annoyance that her insults weren’t bothering Sara. And they really weren’t. The girl had lived with worse for years. Hell, she’d lived with her grandmother for years. That alone made her tough.
So, seeing that Sara wasn’t an easy target, Gudrun looked back at him. “That little midget.” She glanced in Miki’s direction. “So weak. So vulnerable.”
Sara snorted. “She almost took your brother’s balls off and wore them as ear muffs. And ‘little midget’ is redundant. Midget implies little, dumb ass.”
“I told her that,” Miki announced from behind Jake.
Gudrun couldn’t stand being made fun of and that weakness seemed to make her irrational or just plain stupid. She punched Sara in the face.
A long stretch of silence followed as Sara stared at Gudrun, her hand rubbing her jaw. Yet leave it to Miki to solidify the moment. “She is going to kick your fat ass.”
That’s when Sara moved. She grabbed Gudrun and slammed her head first into the wall. Then she brought her back and down while bringing her knee up. He heard his cousin’s nose break. Smelled Gudrun’s blood. Then Sara wrapped her hand in the woman’s short blond hair and dragged her past them all.
“Time for you to go, sunshine. You and your Pack are no longer welcome.” Gudrun’s Pack followed closely behind and the Magnus Pack followed the Víga-Feilans. Miki was right next to him as Sara dragged his cousin down the stairs, making sure she hit a few walls and the banister with the woman’s head along the way. They went out the side door and spilled into the alley beside the club. That’s when Sara lifted the woman up and threw her out on the sidewalk.
She looked at Einarr. “Get this bitch off my territory. I see any of you back here again, I’ll kill you. Not them.” She motioned to the rest of the Víga-Feilans. “You. Now get the fuck out of my sight.” Einarr stared at her. He tried to stare her down, but Sara didn’t flinch. She didn’t look away. Conall was pretty sure she didn’t blink. They could all feel it. That moment when Sara would lose it and tear the man’s throat out. No one stared at Sara too long for just that reason. Well, no one but Zach.
Einarr backed away, still staring at Sara. At this point, it was his only way to save face with his Pack.
Carrying Gudrun, the Pack went to their vehicles parked across the street, and disappeared.
Conall closed his eyes. He couldn’t look at Sara or Miki. His family never failed to embarrass the living hell out of him.
He felt Sara’s cool hand on his cheek. “Hey, stretch. It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry, Sara.”
“I’m the one person you never have to apologize about family to. Remember that.”
He smiled at her. How could Zach not have fallen in love with her? And, apparently, Zach felt that way, too. He slid his arms around his mate’s waist and nuzzled her neck. Then he grabbed her left thigh and just like that tough, fearless Sara freaked.
First she squealed. A real girly squeal. Then she backed away from her mate. “Don’t you dare, Zacharias Sheridan!”
“Come here, baby.”
She burst out laughing and ran back to the club, Zach following slowly behind her. He didn’t have to run. He knew he’d catch her and then he’d drag her back to their office. Probably so he could fuck her brains out.
The Pack looked at each other, then headed back to the club. They’d never understand their Alphas, but in the end they really didn’t have to.
Miki looked up at him. “What the hell was that?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Miki went quiet for a second, then shook her head. “Probably not.”
“Look, Mik. I’m sorry about my cousins. And thanks for threatening Einarr’s balls for me.”
Miki shrugged as if she hadn’t challenged a man who could have literally ripped her apart. “No problem.”
“You know you were protecting me.”
“See. There’s that Viking grin. And that really unnerves me.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. And what I did in the club doesn’t mean anything.” He moved toward her and she backed away. He was really starting to enjoy this little dance of theirs.
“It means everything to me.”
She took another step back, tripped over her own two feet and fell back. Conall caught her before she hit the ground. Both arms around her, holding her. And that’s when he smelled it.
He leaned in and sniffed her again. “Where the hell have you been?”
“No where.” She tried to pull away, but he gripped her tighter. “I smell something…and blood. Are you bleeding?”
“It’s that time of the month, is all.”
He stared down at her. “Miki. We know the difference between open wounds and menstrual blood. Don’t bullshit me.”
“Mind your own business, Viking. Now let me go.”
She pulled out of his arms and turned
to walk away. With a growl, he grabbed her jacket and snatched it off her back. When she spun around to yell at him, he saw the bleeding wounds on her forearm. Something had pawed her. Whatever owned that scent had touched her. Hurt her. And that something wasn’t his cousin.
He grabbed Miki around the waist, ignoring her “You asshole! Get your hands off me!” And carried her back into the club.
Chapter Seven
Conall held her close to his side. He could smell her blood. He could smell them. They’d touched her. They’d touched what he considered his.
He took her back to the Pack part of the club. As soon as they walked in, all the wolves stopped and looked at him and Miki. He didn’t stop, though. Instead, he continued to carry her back through the club to Sara and Zach’s office. He banged on the door.
“What?” That from Zach. At the moment, he probably had his dick so far inside Sara she could taste him in the back of her throat. But Conall didn’t care.
“It’s Conall.”
“Hold on.”
Normally he’d never interrupt the two of them, pretty much because he liked not having his throat torn out. But this was different. After three minutes, the door opened. A sweaty Zach glaring at them. He could smell Sara all over the man.
But Zach took one look at Conall’s face and Miki’s arm and stepped back, letting them in.
Sara was just zipping her jeans up when she saw Miki. “What’s going on, Mik?”
“This asshole won’t get his hands off me!”
He released her, letting her drop to the floor. She had to grab his arm to stop herself from falling on her ass. “Someone attacked her.”
Sara walked over to Miki and stared at her arm. “Gudrun?”
“No,” Conall answered before Miki had the chance. That earned him a glare.
Sara took Miki to the couch. “Sit down. Zach, in the drawer.”
“Yeah. I got it.”
Sara looked at her friend. “Okay, girl. What the fuck happened?”
“She got grabbed,” Conall answered for her.
Miki glared at him. “I can talk for myself. They didn’t rip my tongue out.”
“More’s the pity.” Zach muttered as he stood over her with a first-aid kit. She would have been angry but she realized that, in his own Zach way, he was teasing. She grudgingly appreciated his attempt to make her feel better and diffuse the obvious tension between her and Conall.
“I needed to use my phone and reception sucks on this block. So I went down the street a bit. It was when I was coming back I heard them calling to me from the alley.”
Zach frowned. “They called to you? They knew your name?”
She nodded.
“You went into the alley?” Conall barked.
Miki glared at him. “Yeah. I said, let’s go see what’s in the dark, scary alley all by myself. Because I’m stupid like that.”
Conall growled and turned away from her.
“So what did happen?” It was starting to concern Miki that Zach was the rational one in this conversation.
“This person grabbed my arm. So I handled it.”
Zach and Conall frowned as they looked at her, but Sara smiled.
“Is there blood on your Docs?”
“Nah. But I did my best to shove balls through roof of mouth.” If the she-male had balls.
Sara gave her a thumbs-up, then proceeded to clean off her wound.
“Was there only one?”
“I don’t think so. There were more in the alley.”
Conall growled again, but she didn’t have time to react because her best friend was sniffing her.
“What’s that smell?” Sara asked, taking a couple more sniffs off Miki. “Besides blood.”
Miki pulled away from her. “Dude, you’re freakin’ me out. I wish everybody would stop fuckin’ sniffin’ me!”
“Don’t know. But that’s what was in our territory,” Conall offered.
Sara gently held Miki’s wounded arm. “Were they Pride, Mik?”
“I don’t know.”
“They weren’t Pride.” Zach leaned against the desk Miki was almost positive he’d just been fucking Sara on. Horny dogs. “That scent is definitely not Pride.”
“So then we have another player in the game. Just great.”
Miki frowned as Conall suddenly started pacing. He looked like a dog trapped in one of those kennels. She expected him to start barking and running in circles or start chewing at his leg.
“Well, luckily this isn’t that bad or that deep.” Sara smiled. “It could have been a lot worse.”
“I know.”
“Any chance I could talk you into delaying going to Seattle?”
Miki knew this was coming, and why she originally had no intention of telling Sara anything. “No. There isn’t.”
Sara covered the wound with Neosporin and a bandage. “Then can I strongly suggest—”
“I’m coming with you.”
Miki and Sara looked up, startled. Even Zach stood a little straighter and stared at Conall.
Miki shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, Conall. But no. That’s okay. Thanks anyway.”
Conall looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “I’m not asking you.”
She heard Sara sigh as Miki felt the blood rushing to her brain. She tried for calm. “I don’t care if you’re asking me or not. I’m politely turning you down.”
“I’m going. It isn’t up for discussion.”
She glared at Conall while Sara finished up the bandage on her arm. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me clearly.”
“No. I heard you. And I’m ignoring you. I’m going. So get the fuck over it.”
Sara cleared her throat. “I need you to move your fingers.”
“What? Why?”
“I need to make sure the bandage isn’t too tight.”
Miki lifted her hand up and gave Conall the finger.
“Well, that works.” Sara leaned back on the couch.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Conall. And I especially don’t need you.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me. Not until we know what’s going on.”
“Back off.”
“No.”
Miki stood and walked to Conall. She stared up at him. “You so don’t want to play this game with me, Viking. You just don’t have the brains for it.”
Well that hurt. Of course, he wasn’t being rational. He was egging her on. But goddammit. Seeing her in pain. Knowing they touched her. That they could have killed her. As it was, he could barely hold the wolf in. The wolf that wanted to start tearing through the streets looking for the assholes who did this to her. The wolf that wanted to drag her back to his den and keep her safe forever.
But none of that would happen. Whatever attacked her was long gone and Miki wasn’t letting him drag her anywhere now. He still couldn’t believe she let him get away with it this long.
Conall leaned down, his face inches from Miki’s. “Bring it on, sweets. I’m more than ready for you.”
They stared at each other for at least a full minute. Then, with a snarl, Miki stalked off. She opened the door, but Conall’s voice stopped her.
“Maybe I wasn’t clear. You’re not going anywhere without me. And that starts now.”
Miki glared at him. Then she slapped her leg. “Well come on, boy! Come on. Time for your walk.” She stormed out the door. “And don’t forget your leash!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zach wince. But Conall didn’t flinch.
Sara stared at him from the couch. “You know, you could have just asked her if you could come along.”
Of course, he hadn’t actually thought of that as an option.
Sara shook her head. “Asshole.”
Miki stared at the pathetic excuse of a dog watching her from the foot of her temporary bed. “All right. If you must.”
The beast clamored on top of her bed and settled in at her feet. She’d never had a dog before. She’d alw
ays left that up to Sara. Yet, especially in the mood she was in, she found him quite comforting. Considering what Sara had to live with when her grandmother was still alive, she wasn’t surprised her friend always made sure to have a dog. And she understood why her heart went out to the abused, the deformed, and the freakish of the breed.
She turned the light off and settled in. Her anger had tired her out and she would probably get a few hours sleep. Good. She didn’t sleep often, but she was glad when she did. A welcome respite from her brain.
She felt the dog jump down from the bed. “Hey, Roscoe. Where ya goin’?” She thought he’d spend the night. Keep her company. “Oh, whatever.” She settled back down and was just drifting off to sleep when she felt Roscoe return. He jumped up on the bed and settled down right behind her. His snout against her ear, his furry forearm across her waist.
“Watch the wet snout, beast.” Then she was asleep. Oddly comforted by Sara’s freak dog.
Conall nudged Miki’s door open with his muzzle and walked out into the hallway. He had a couple of hours before they had to leave for the airport and Miki’s alarm would go off soon.
Zach was heading back to his and Sara’s bedroom with two bottles of water when he stopped to intently watch Conall in that way only predators had.
“Have you no shame?” he finally asked.
Conall shifted and quietly closed Miki’s door. He shrugged and smiled. “Not when it comes to her. No.”
“You better be careful. That woman’s deranged. And mean.”
“Zach,” Sara called from their bedroom, “get your tight ass back in here!”
Conall crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Yes, O great leader. And yours is so stable.”
Zach snorted. “At least I’m getting laid.”
With that, Zach disappeared back into his bedroom.
“Asshole.”
He glanced back at Miki’s door. It felt nice sleeping beside her. Even as wolf. She talked in her sleep. She kept spouting equations and formulas. She’d just bark them out of nowhere. Kind of entertaining, in its own twisted way.
Conall smiled. She’d get over this little anger thing eventually. See that he was trying to do what was best for her.