Liam wondered how she would react if he hopped right on her. He sure wanted to, the way she looked in her loose fitting dress. It resembled the one she’d had on the previous night, but this one was a deep yellow color that made her dark eyes and hair even more vibrant.
She looked beautiful, and his mouth watering had nothing to do with the freshly baked blueberry pie she held in her hand. His gaze caught hers, and for a moment, the sweet she-Wolf looked unsure of herself. Instinct must have kicked in, or confidence, whatever it was, she looked beautiful when she straightened her shoulders and walked to meet him a few feet away from his front door.
“I wanted to say thank you for this morning,” she said and held out her offering.
“You bake this for me?”
“Yes. Um, it’s common courtesy,” she said, trying to downplay her actions, but Liam was having none of that.
“Let’s put it on the table,” he replied, grinning.
This was a good sign. An exceptionally good sign, he thought, purposely not taking the pie from her hands as he opened the door. He gestured the table, and rolling her eyes, the she-Wolf followed and set the glass dish down with a thud.
“Don’t worry about returning the dish. I can pick it up after you’ve gone,” she replied.
“Gone? Now where is it you think I’m going,” he said, closing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath.
She must have thought he was sniffing the pie, but the truth was, he was smelling her. She was sweeter and more succulent than her excellent baking. He picked up hints of lemon from her shampoo and liked the way it blended with the blueberry basil scent that was all her.
“I put vanilla and lemon zest in the blueberries,” she was saying, brows furrowed.
“I can’t wait to taste,” he growled, more Wolf than man.
“Look, Liam, I just came to say thank you for helping me out today. I know you spoke to Daddy, but I already told him you were mistaken—”
“There’s no mistake, pupcake. It’s you. It’s always been you,” he growled softly, drinking her in with his eyes.
Could a man die from need? If so, he was already dying, and all for a kiss. Somehow, he’d moved closer, backing her up against the door. Liam leaned down, sniffing along her neck. Her sweet fragrance was drugging, and fuck, he knew she was aroused, wet from his proximity. The feeling was powerful, heady, and intoxicating.
“Mabel Ann,” he whispered, grazing the skin on her throat with his lips.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered.
Her breathing was as erratic as his. But Liam couldn’t make himself step back. She was so warm, so soft, and enticing. Her eyes held his captive, and he was powerless to resist the call of her inner Wolf. Whether her human side knew it or not, her animal recognized him, and his own Wolf howled in victory.
The little Wolf was his.
“Mine,” he growled.
“I belong to no one,” she whispered back, but she was leaning up, closer, the scent coming off her in total opposition to her words.
What were words anyway? They were meaningless at a time like this. Liam was almost lost to his Wolf and instinct was pulling him hard, begging him to stay in her orbit.
He had no choice. Not really. But even if he did, he would always choose this. Her.
Liam growled with his beast as he pressed his lips to hers in an all-consuming kiss that made even his knees weak. Mabel Ann clutched at his shoulders, her lips opening for him as they dueled in a dance old as time. Struggling for control, Liam took hold of her waist, pulling her from the door and into his body.
If she needed to lean on something, it would be him, goddammit. Nothing else.
“Mine,” he growled into her mouth, their kiss going on and on.
The more he said the possessive word, the truer it became for him and his Wolf. Mabel Ann was something outside of his experience. She was not like the females he’d dated or took to bed before, and he was fucking glad of it. Those past encounters were meaningless in comparison.
She was the total opposite. She was his reason. The more he learned about her, the more he realized it was not enough. It would never be enough.
This wasn’t just sex and mating instinct. Part of it was they were Werewolves, after all. Highly sexual creatures whose ties with destiny when it came to mating had become clearer with the destruction of the curse.
But instinct, fate, and the fact she smelled better than pie, were just icing on the cake. Mabel Ann was full of surprises and complexities, and every second increased his awareness of the gift the universe had presented him. Fuck, he couldn’t wait to be there with her as she got older. To see her change and grow. She was a wonder, and fucking hell, he was gonna work his ass off to make her see the wonder in him. Even if he had to crawl.
For one fantastic moment, it seemed like she was going to give in, to accept him. But not even the Fates could tell the stubborn female what to do.
Good for her, he thought.
Okay, so he was secretly pleased while damn near castrated by the fact she was pushing him away. Again. He must be sick in the head to like the challenge she was turning out to be, but fuck it, he only lived once.
“What am I gonna have to do to prove myself, Mabel Ann?” he asked, pressing his forehead to her cheek since she’d turned her head, breaking their kiss.
Both were breathing raggedly, and for another sweet moment she let herself rest against him. He relished the feel of her soft and strong body, knowing maybe better than she did, just what she was capable of and loving it. The Texas she-Wolf was smart and tougher than nails. She’d had to be from what he understood.
“I’m not some country mouse whose head is gonna turn because some sexy big city Wolf has the hots for her—”
“You think I’m sexy?” he asked, stuck on stupid, it seemed.
“Not the point,” she said, pushing against his chest.
Liam backed up because he wanted to, not because she made him. Hell, his little tidbit was strong, but he was a Wolf Guard for the biggest Pack on the continent. Strong was a necessity.
“I just want us to get to know each other. Give me one dance. Tonight? Deal?” he asked with baited-breath.
The wheels in her head were turning so hard and fast, he could have sworn smoke was about to come funneling out of her ears. Straightening her shoulders, Mabel Ann turned towards the door, opening it, and granting him a gorgeous view of her creamy shoulders and sumptuous backside.
“One dance,” she replied, then hurried out.
Liam whooped aloud. He was so damn happy, and yes, he noticed the falter in her steps when the noise reached her ears. His chest was till rumbling with the approval of his beast as he stepped onto the tiny porch and watched her head back to the main house.
Her head snapped to the left, and she picked up her pace. Her angry steps left him frowning till he heard a bunch of Zapata Wolves talking. The lazy fuckers had been lounging by the creek with an unobstructed view of Liam’s cabin. He recognized them vaguely.
“Get a load of this! That bitch is shacking up with some Yankee dog? And she always thought she was too good for the likes of us!”
“Yeah, well, my Missy told me Mabel Ann’s step mama’s been trying to arrange for a mating test through the Alpha fem. Bitch refused, going ice cold on her own step mama.”
“Who knew fat chicks could be so cold! Ha ha ha.”
“I wouldn’t sign up for a mate test with her anyway. Don’t want my balls frozen solid by that woman!’
“No shit.”
“Damn shame.”
“Nah man, I’d be all over that. I could do some damage to that their bitch. Grab her by the back of her neck, tear that pussy up. Have the little bitch mated and cooking me some fine meals, way a woman’s s’ppose to be!”
“Yeah, right. Ol’ Freddy’s only reason no one’s done that to her. But maybe he’s ripe to changing his mind since Bonny’s wanting the house to themselves.”
It didn’t take long between the snarling laughter, and viciously rude comments, for Liam to piece together they were speaking ill of one of their own, and a female to boot. It took a second longer for him to realize they were talking about Mabel Ann.
“Because I am a guest here, I will give you one chance to shut the fuck up right now,” Liam growled the warning.
He stepped right into their space, not giving any fucks at all about the fact it was five to one and he was a visitor there.
He did not pause to consider his actions, his Wolf had already taken over. Liam lunged for the biggest of the group. A mean redheaded bastard with a beard and a blunt nose that looked like it’d been broken a few times. What was one more?
“You sure you wanna throw down with us, son?”
He stood up, not bothering to wipe the blood flowing down his chin. Liam grinned, nodding his head.
“You’re stalling,” he said.
Then shit got real.
Fists were flying and Liam’s Wolf gave him the speed and strength he knew he could rely on. The two of them worked as one with a grace and fluidity, not to mention a trust that came with years of arduous work.
Five to one was shitty odds, but nothing he couldn’t handle. These Wolves were Texas big and not a little mean, but they had nothing on the expert training Liam had been receiving from his brother his whole damn life.
He had them winded, bleeding, and the one whose arm he was about to break, begging for mercy in under five minutes.
“Fine, we give, we give!”
Liam’s Wolf was still riding high on the fury in his mate’s defense. He would not hear her scorned or dishonored by these lowly assholes. The sounds of people approaching vaguely registered.
“Let him go, son,” Freddy Williams ordered.
The Zapata Pack Beta was not nearly as strong as Liam, and his Wolf knew it. Good thing his human half could reason with the beast. He was not vying for position within this Pack, and this was his mate’s father. Not a threat.
Slowly, he dropped the still whimpering asshole and took a few steps back. Freddy looked at the bloody and broken members of his Pack and snarled.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“We were just having a bit of talk, that’s all,” the redhead said, still whining.
“McAllister?” the Pack Alpha asked, strolling towards them, his clingy wife on his arm.
“Apologies, Alpha.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing, sir. Excuse me.”
Liam was still incensed as he walked back to his cabin. He wanted a shower and a shave, then he’d be right as rain. He didn’t realize Freddy had followed him.
“Wanna tell me what the hell that was about?”
“What?” he asked, turning around sharply.
“Son, no sense lying. I saw Mabel Ann’s face when she went to help with the food.”
“Look, I told you how it is between us. I intend to win your daughter’s affection, but that wasn’t what this was about. Those assholes made comments as she walked by that were way out of line.”
“I see. And you thought you would defend her honor or something?”
“Freddy, where I come from, our women are respected and cherished. We don’t talk shit about them, especially not within earshot,” Liam growled.
“I see. And you wanna tell me how you moved like that? Never used to see anything like that till a full moon. Even then, the beast would take over a man that riled.”
“Oh,” Liam said, ears perking up.
“Every member of the Wolf Guard spends hours training. That peace between Wolf and human is only earned with trust, and that’s built with blood, sweat, and some tears, Freddy. No Shortcuts.”
Teaching the others about how to commune with the new, closer relationship they all had to their Wolves was part of the High Alpha’s job. But Liam saw nothing wrong with spreading the information, as he knew it.
“I can only speak from my experience, but with the curse gone, Werewolves are feeling stronger than ever. With that influx of magic, things can get jumbled. They’re going off like that cause their Wolves are near and they don’t know how to expel that kind of energy. Your Pack needs help, Freddy. They need discipline and training.”
“I agree, but it’s not me who needs to be convinced,” Freddy said.
They both knew the truth behind those words. Only the Alpha could make the kind of changes needed in the Zapata Pack. Liam nodded and looked out the window at the mutts, still cowering on the ground in bloody heaps.
His Wolf pushed against his skin. Before he knew it, Liam’s hands were curled into fists so tight the torn flesh on his knuckles, achieved from hitting bone and teeth, burned from the tension.
“Ease up a bit, son. Those boys might have forgotten their manners, but I’m sure they won’t make that mistake again,” the older Wolf replied with a sly grin.
“You know, you are not at all how you appear to be, Liam.”
“I’m not?”
“Not at all. Came down here looking like some magazine model or something.”
“What?”
“Come on now, can’t tell me you don’t know you’re pretty,” the older Wolf said with a bark of laughter.
Liam felt himself blush. He never heard it put quite like that, but yeah, he knew he was nice looking. So the fuck what?
“Look, I heard you helped Mabel Ann today down at the library, that true?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Software issue, no big deal.”
“Oh son, you have no idea, do you? Well, that’s as it should be, I suppose,” he said, and left.
A hint of laughter was still ringing out from Freddy’s lips as he sauntered off to the Pack House. Liam watched him for a second, more confused than ever. Oh well. He showered and dressed, his Wolf snarling with the need to check on Mabel Ann.
He knew she didn’t need him to protect her, especially not from those sorry assholes earlier. But he couldn’t help it. He would never allow anyone to speak ill of her, especially not in the crude manner those mutts had been.
Fucking bastards were lucky he was there representing his Pack. Had they been on Macconwood lands, he wouldn’t have stopped with a few broken noses.
Grrrrrr.