Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
But the dumb bitch didn’t back down.
Instead, the black wolf snapped her teeth tauntingly. Growling, his female barreled into her hard enough to send her crashing into the ground and rolling onto her side. Smartly, although rather inconveniently, the black wolf righted herself fast. She then bounded at his female, and they again leaped at each other.
The two growled, clawed, and slashed at each other’s bodies as they each attempted to take the other down. Twice the black wolf managed to wrap her paws around his female’s neck in an effort to wrestle her to the ground, but twice she failed—the dark-gray wolf was simply too strong for her to dominate.
But the bitch still didn’t back down.
Even though she was beginning to tire—her sides were heaving, she was panting hard, and her knees kept buckling—the black wolf refused to submit.
Suddenly, Eli came rushing out of the trees and skidded to a halt. “Fuck!” As Derren and the enforcers came up behind him, they all cursed at the sight of the females battling.
Bracken shrugged. “It was only a matter of time. She’s been baiting Roni since she first got here.”
“Eliza!” shouted Jesse. “Eliza, stop!” The black wolf paid him no attention. “Eliza, stop before she kills you!”
“Not working,” Zander unnecessarily pointed out.
“I’ll have to shift,” said Derren. “I can pull rank, make them stop.”
“No need.” Marcus had quickly come to realize something—fierce though his female was fighting right now, she wasn’t using her full strength. “Roni, stop playing with her!”
“Playing with her?” echoed Jesse.
“He’s right.” Eli folded his arms. “She’s just teaching Eliza a lesson.”
“Roni, playtime’s over!” When she still didn’t stop, Marcus called out, “End it, or rip her throat out! One or the other!”
The dark-gray female rushed at her opponent, wrapped her forepaws around her challenger’s neck, and wrestled her to the ground. Straddling the black wolf, his female pinned her flat on her back by pressing her paws down onto her shoulders. At the same time, she clamped her jaws warningly around her throat. The black wolf froze, knowing it would take just one abrupt yank for the other female to rip her throat out.
“Submit, Eliza,” ordered Jesse. Instead, she growled.
The dark-gray wolf shook her by the throat—a demand for her submission, a warning of what would happen if she didn’t.
“For God’s sake, Eliza, submit!”
Seconds later, the black wolf went lax. The other female gave her throat one last warning shake before releasing her. With her eyes still fixed on her challenger, the dark-gray wolf slowly backed off.
It was as the black wolf dragged herself from the ground, chest heaving, that Nick appeared. “What happened?”
“The short version is that Eliza’s wolf stupidly tested Roni’s wolf,” replied Marcus. “As you can see, that didn’t work out so well for her.”
With a haughty sniff at the black wolf, the dark-gray wolf turned to leave.
“Roni, wait,” said Nick. Her head ever so slowly swiveled to face him, and human eyes drilled into Nick, glittering in anger. He raised his hands at her growl. “I get it. You’re still pissed.” The other males received the same growl, making them back away.
The female turned her head again, this time to find Marcus. Her eyes briefly flashed human, and he saw the invitation there. Kind of smug that she was allowing him close while snubbing the other males, he followed her as she walked through the woods, heading for her lodge.
Once inside, Marcus went in search of the bathroom and found it at the rear of the small building. Sadly, there was no chance they could both fit into that shower stall, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help clean her off. As her scent swirled around him, he turned to find Roni back in her human form. She was covered in scratches, bruises, patches of dirt, and streaks of blood. A big clump of blood was in her hair beside her ear—it made him recall Eliza delivering a harsh bite to it. “Hey, gorgeous. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit.”
That was Roni—frank as they came. He turned on the shower and then helped her step inside the stall. She hissed through her teeth as the hot water rained over her wounds. His entire body hardened at the sight of hers, but his concern for her outweighed his desire to take her. Squirting some shampoo into his hand, he gently massaged it into her hair.
Roni cast him an odd look. She was pretty sure no one had washed her hair for her since she was five years old—her mother had encouraged independence at a young age. “What are you doing?”
“I would have thought it was obvious,” he replied with a smile. “I’m taking care of you.”
“Why?”
It was asked with all the innocence of a child, widening Marcus’s smile. “Because you’re mine. I don’t like seeing you hurt.” It made him want to punch someone.