“She’s fine. She wasn’t home when they tried to find her.”

“You said rogues?”

“Two of them were inside her apartment with our pups. It seems they are hanging with a few of them.”

“Unacceptable!” Elroy shot another glare at the pack members assembled inside his living room. “Rogues are lawless. What are pups doing hanging out with them? See the trouble this causes? They defied a direct order from their future alpha.” He glanced back at Anton. “Give me her address and I’ll post one of the elder mated wolves at her place until we deal with this situation to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We also need to determine if she’s at risk from these rogues. They may have told others. I will assume she’s hiding in the outskirts of our territory since I’d know of her presence otherwise.”

“It’s been taken care of,” Anton hedged. “She’s safe.”

“Who did you assign? He’ll need to be old enough not to be affected by mating heat.”

Damn. Anton groaned silently. “I didn’t. She’s staying with me.”

Dark brown eyes widened and Elroy’s lips parted. “What?”

Anton squared his shoulders. “You heard me. She’s staying with me. She’s under my protection, inside my home.” While he was admitting things that would send his father into a rage, he may as well confess the rest. “I marked her. She’ll be staying with me through mating heat.”

Elroy lunged. Anton tensed but his father didn’t attack. Instead he grabbed his son and shoved his nose against his throat, inhaled deeply, and then snarled as he leapt back, releasing him. Pure rage transformed his father’s features as his shifter genes took over. Fangs elongated and the shape of his eyes narrowed enough to show his wolf. The brown of his irises turned completely black.

“I smell her on you. Even that damn cologne can’t camouflage it. You really marked a puma? What the hell is wrong with you? That’s just…” he obviously grappled for words.

“Sick,” a pack member hissed.

“Demented,” another added.

“She must be a hot piece of pu**y,” someone snorted.

A few laughs sounded. Elroy snarled and shot a warning glower around the room before he glared at Anton.

“Why would you do that? Explain to me how you could do such a thing?”

Anger boiled inside Anton when he took a threatening step toward the male who’d insulted Shannon with the pu**y remark. He flashed sharp fangs at the man and allowed his claws to slide out. He knew his face changed enough that fear etched on the other man’s features.

“Anton!” Elroy snarled.

It halted him from going after the male to softly growl at his father. “You don’t have to like it or agree to it. I don’t need your permission to find a female to spend my mating heat with. Rave has agreed to take over the schedule you set in place with the females from other packs. If anyone goes after Shannon, threatens her, or insults her in front of me again,” he shot the offender another murderous look, “there will be hell to pay. She is under my protection and I’ll kill anyone who poses a danger to her.” He met his father’s stunned gaze. “Anyone.”

Elroy tensed. “I’m your alpha and your father. Are you threatening me?”

“She’s under my protection.” Anton didn’t bother to try to mute the anger in his tone. “She’s mine. That’s all I’m saying. Anyone who attempts to harm her will deal with me.” He took the time to meet every gaze in the room. “I’ll kill for her.”

“It looks like you were remiss in teaching your sons not to f**k the enemy,” one of the pack members muttered.

Elroy moved before anyone could react. He took the male who’d spoken down to the floor, tore into his arms with his claws, and the man howled in pain. Elroy snarled, inches from his terrified face.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” the bleeding male whined. “I’m sorry, Alpha Elroy. It was just the shock.” The male twisted his head to reveal his throat, the only sign of submission he could offer while pinned flat on his back. “My humble apologies.”

Elroy released him and stood, wiping the blood from his claws on his jeans. He kept away from Anton. “Go. We’ll discuss this later. I’m sure your mother will have some things to say as well.”

Anton flinched. His mother made his father seem as though he were a lovable little puppy. He fled the house he’d been reared in to go meet the pups at the woods. If they didn’t show, he’d tear them up. The urge to harm something hummed through his veins. Mating heat was growing strong inside him, turning him more aggressive, and he’d even threatened his father. They both realized it.

An image of Shannon flashed through his mind as he started his motorcycle. She’d gotten under his skin, into his blood, and had become an obsession with him. He wasn’t sure it was just because he’d marked her. There was just something about her that called to every part of him.

Would I really kill someone I love if it came down to protecting her? The question formed in his thoughts and so did the answer. In a heartbeat. He groaned, pulling away from the curb. I think I’m falling in love, damn it.

Chapter Ten

The blond werewolf, Yon, avoided her gaze when he walked into Anton’s home with a tray of food for lunch. “Where do you want it?”

Shannon walked closer to him. “I’ll take it.”

He nearly stumbled backward to avoid her. “No! Stay back.”

She froze and then retreated. “Are you okay?”

“I won’t be if my scent gets on you.” He glanced at her then. “Anton threatened to skin me alive if I got close to you and he meant it. I’ve never seen him so nuts about a woman but I can’t remember him ever marking one before either. Just tell me where you want this and I’m out of here.”

She pointed to the bar that divided the living room from the kitchen. He moved quickly, put it down, and fled. The door slammed behind him. Her eyebrows lifted. At least she didn’t feel afraid. That had to be an improvement since she had been a little worried about being alone with the guy.

The smell of food drew her closer. The bar downstairs had an excellent cook. She sat and started to eat the burger and fries they’d sent her. She sniffed at the dark drink, recognized raspberry-flavored iced tea, and took a sip. She’d nearly finished all of her meal when something bumped against the door. Her spine stiffened, her attention fixed on it, and her heart started to race.

It suddenly opened, flung wide, and Anton stumbled inside. Seeing his torn shirt, blood on his cheek, and more smeared on his arms alarmed her. She shot to her feet so fast the stool crashed to the floor. She noticed more blood as her stunned gaze traveled down his body.

Dark red stains smeared his jeans on the legs, thighs, and down one ankle. His hair was a mess. He met her gaze with wolf-shaped eyes. “It’s fine. Don’t be worried. I need to shower.”

“What happened?”

“I met two of the rogues who broke in to your apartment.” Broad shoulders shrugged. “They didn’t want to listen to me. They aren’t a threat anymore.”

Shannon gaped at him and the blood staining him. “You…” She couldn’t say the words.

“Fought to the death? Yes,” he answered softly. “I told you I’d kill to protect you. I’ll be back.” He limped toward the bathroom.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’ll be fine. I heal fast.”

He didn’t spare her another look but instead entered the other room, closed the door firmly behind him, and in less than a minute the shower came on. The food inside her stomach churned. Anton had killed someone for her. The fact that he’d said rogues—plural—made her feel even sicker. He might have had to kill more than one werewolf. She yearned to go after him to make sure he wasn’t really hurt but the closed bathroom door assured her she wouldn’t be welcome. Indecision left her standing there with a feeling of helplessness.

The front door suddenly flung open again but this time it was a woman who stormed inside. She drew to a jerking halt when she spotted Shannon. They stared at each other. The woman appeared to be in her late thirties, had long dark hair to her waist and brown eyes. Her lips parted, fangs flashed, and a snarl came from her mouth.

“You!”

Fear gripped Shannon. “Who are you?”

“I’m Eve.” The woman’s face started to transform enough for there to be no doubt of her werewolf heritage. “I’m going to kill you.” The woman lunged.

Instinct took over and panic struck Shannon. She bolted for safety—that being Anton. She hit the bathroom door with enough force to break the flimsy door handle securing it to the wall and she grabbed the shower door without thought, flung it open, and jumped.

Anton twisted his body her way and barely caught her, his shock apparent. The vicious growl from Eve made him spin again to trap Shannon’s body against the wall and one of his hands shot out to strike the advancing woman in the chest. He shoved her and sent her flying out the bathroom doorway.

Shannon wrapped tighter around Anton, her body soaked from the water pouring down on them as well as from his slick, wet body. She buried her nose against his throat and shook from terror. She couldn’t think beyond her need to cling to him, her instincts overriding rational thought. One of his strong arms wrapped tighter around her waist.

“What the hell is going on?” Anton yelled. “Shit! I just knocked my mother on her ass.” He awkwardly bent, turned off the water, and stepped over the rim of the shower to glare down at the woman sprawled on the floor. “Mom? What are you doing here?”

Shannon turned her face just enough to watch the tall woman ungraciously get up from the floor. She staggered when she stood and then slowly turned to glare at her son.

“I came to kill that.”

Anton reacted instantly. He snarled, his fangs growing, and sharp points slid against Shannon’s side where he gripped her. She looked down at the sharp claws on his hands. He tried to gently pry Shannon off him but she wrapped around him more securely.

“Shit. You’ve terrified her.” The anger in his tone made him growl the words. “You had no authority to come into my home after someone under my protection.” His other hand lifted and he rubbed his palm down Shannon’s back in an attempt to soothe her fear. “I don’t care if you’re my mother.”

His mother wanted her dead. Shannon digested that, her mind starting to work beyond the panic. Her heart rate slowed and she eased her hold on him but her body wasn’t willing to release him entirely yet. She began to hate the way she lost control around werewolves. It was embarrassing. She clung to a wet, na**d guy in front of his mother as if she were a terrified child and Anton was a big teddy bear. A sexy, wet one. But I bet I look pathetic.

“That’s what you’ve chosen to share your heat with?” Eve curled her lip in disgust. “Look how weak she is.”

“Actually, she’s pretty strong. Her thighs aren’t clamped around your waist so take my word for it.” His anger eased. “She’s mostly human but when she’s threatened or scared, her puma instincts hit. You obviously terrified her. Not cool, Mom.”

“You humiliated me in front of our entire pack and you’re chastising me?” Eve’s eyes darkened to black. “They are all talking about my son and his cat.”

Anton turned, grabbed a towel, and then sighed. “It’s okay, kitten. Want to let me go? Stand behind me but I feel weird talking to my mom na**d for this long. It’s one thing to remove my clothes to shift but we don’t just hang out talking to each other while naked.”