The couches and chairs were taken by a group of men who all turned their heads to watch them carefully. Fear shot through Shannon as she glanced at the werewolves in skin, sure all of them were exactly that, and her nose itched. She wanted to hide behind Anton when he stopped at the bottom of the stairs but she forced the urge back and stayed at his side instead. She kept her chin up as a man suddenly walked from a hallway at the back of the room. One look at his familiar features assured her this had to be Anton’s father but he didn’t look as old as he should. He didn’t even look forty.

“Dad.” Rave spoke first. “I’m so sorry Mom has done this.”

The man didn’t look well. The black, shaggy hair that fell to his shoulders had an unkempt appearance, and dark circles made his gaze appear haunted. He focused on Shannon and while she didn’t sense any hostility, he sure didn’t seem happy to see her either.

“This is her?” he rasped gruffly.

Anton tensed. “Yes. This is Shannon Alvers. She’s only a quarter puma. She can’t shift, Dad. She’s no threat to anyone here.”

“I’m Elroy Harris.” He paused. “I lead the Harris Pack. First, I want to apologize for the way our pups attacked you and dragged you into our world. It shouldn’t have happened. I don’t condone attacking other shifters without reason and certainly not female ones. I’m sure you were raised hearing terrible stories about our kind but we aren’t brutal killers.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Harris.” She spoke softly around the lump that had formed in her throat. She’d never expected him to apologize to her.

His black eyebrow lifted. “I wouldn’t call it nice. We haven’t exactly been friendly toward you…except for one of us.” He turned his dark gaze on Anton. “It seems my son has taken great interest in you.”

“Dad…” Anton paused. “Are you okay? You look like hell.”

“My mate is currently locked inside a cell, which I’m told she trapped you in earlier, and the scent of the man she killed still lingers. She really told you she planned to kill me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. She also wants to be rid of Grady. You were both on her list.”

Elroy’s broad shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry too. Betrayal by the one closest to you is the hardest to take. She’s put me in a hell of a situation, hasn’t she? She attacked one of our children when she pulled that stunt with you and threatened the life of my oldest son.” He glanced at Shannon and then back at Anton. “Did your mother know you’d marked her? I can smell it from here. You must have bitten deep.”

“Yes.” Anton hesitated. “She knew and thought she’d keep me drugged during mating heat to keep me from going feral without Shannon.”

“I heard she called those pride males to take your woman.” His voice deepened, his features revealed his anger, and his hands clenched at his sides. “She invited them into my territory to take what you’d claimed. She risked your life and that of all of our sons by making you go after your woman. My mate plotted against our entire pack by her actions.”

“I’m sorry, Dad.” Von cautiously approached his father. “We love her too and this hurts us all. She’s your mate, though, which makes it much worse. We’ve grown accustomed to the hurtful things she’s capable of doing, yet she’s still our mother. I wish we could take your pain.”

“You can’t but I appreciate it. I love my sons.” He met each of their gazes. “I called our enforcers here to discuss what is to be done about this. We’re too emotionally involved to make sane, logical judgments when it comes to your mother.”

“What are we going to do?” Rave shoved his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. “We usually kill anyone who betrays the pack this severely but obviously that’s out.”

Elroy blinked away tears. “I could never kill my mate, despite what she planned to do to me. I wish I could forgive it, I want to, but she endangered all of you. I can’t allow her to remain in a position to do it again.”

Braden sniffed, his hand rose to wipe at tears on his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. “We could banish her back to her family’s pack. Grandpa would make certain she didn’t cause trouble. He’d also take care of her.”

Elroy glanced at the men seated around the room. One of them, a tall blond, nodded. “That’s fair. The pack wouldn’t object to that. No one could possibly expect you to kill your mate, Alpha.”

The tension on Elroy’s face lessened. “So be it then. I’ll call Douglas, inform him of what his daughter has done, and tell him we’re sending her to him. She’s officially stripped of being my mate, a member of this pack, and banished forever for her crimes.”

“Fuck,” Rave sighed. “What about you, Dad? You’re mated to her and it’s mating heat. You can’t let her go until after it passes. You’ll go insane.”

An older man in his sixties rose from a chair. “We discussed this before you arrived. I’m going to put Elroy into an induced coma until mating heat passes. Because they are mated he’ll go through serious depression and withdrawals from his mate anyway. I’m more concerned about his grief over losing his mate. It could kill him. They’ve been together for so long he might not survive the loss. I’ll have to monitor him and keep him drugged regardless so we have nothing to lose.”

Anton closed his eyes, his hold on Shannon loosened, and she peered up at him. She hurt for him and the amount of pain on his features saddened her. She squeezed his hand and he opened his eyes to meet her concerned gaze. He gave her a sad smile before he broke eye contact to look at his father.

“I’ll lead the pack in your absence. I don’t want you to worry about anything but making it through this tough time. You’re better off without a mate who would harm you or us. We all love her but she doesn’t know how to love us back.”

Elroy turned away, his chin dropped to his chest, and his shoulders shook. Rave wrapped an arm around him and led him down the hallway, out of sight. The older man quickly followed behind the departing pair.

Anton turned his head to glance at his brothers. “He’s strong and will survive. Doc will take excellent care of him.” His voice grew harsh. “I’m in charge now. If anyone wants to challenge me, speak up, and we’ll take this outside.”

Fear jolted Shannon when she realized what he’d said. The knowledge that he might have to fight another werewolf left her feeling stark terror. No one inside the room spoke to protest his announcement.

“Good.” Anton sighed. “It’s official. I’m the temporary alpha.” He hesitated. “Temporary. That’s the key word here. Dad will get past this and I’ll concede the title back to him. We need to show a strong front for the pack. It’s imperative they know everything will remain the same and it hasn’t weakened us in any way.”

The blond cleared his throat. “What about her, Anton? No disrespect but it’s going to cause waves with some that you’ve marked the enemy.” The guy bit his lip. “I heard you say she can’t shift and is mainly human, but as an enforcer, it’s my job to point out all possible problems.”

Von stepped forward. “If it becomes a point of contention with our pack or outside challengers who believe there’s the possibility of taking the alpha position here, I’ll step up. We’ve already discussed that scenario if it came down to Dad having to step down, which has now happened. It’s fine, Kane. One of us will lead the Harris Pack. I highly doubt anyone would want to challenge all my brothers and that’s what they would be up against.” He met Anton’s stare. “I phoned Grady while you and Shannon were changing clothes. He is willing to fight to help us hold the pack. We’re totally united.”

“I never doubted that.” Anton addressed the blond. “Kane, I want you and your men to spread word that everything is taken care of and they have no reason for alarm. Perhaps it would be better if you just told them we’re sharing the alpha position while our father recovers. Make sure everyone knows the entire Harris family…” He paused to glance back at Brand. “Are you united with us?”

Brand grinned. “You know I love a good fight. I’ve always got your backs.”

Anton chuckled. “I knew that but I didn’t want to speak for you.” He faced Kane again. “You heard him. If they feel stupid enough to think it’s a good time to challenge for lead position in the pack, it will be the last thing they ever do.”

Kane grinned. “You have the support of your enforcers.” He shot a glance at the other men. “I can speak for them since they know I’ll kill them otherwise.”

A few of the men chuckled.

Anton grew serious. “I hate to do this during mating heat but for the time being we double up in teams. We have no idea how this news will affect outsiders and there’s plenty of them in town. No one goes anywhere without someone to defend their back.”

“Shit,” Rave groaned, walking back into the room. “Only on patrol, right?”

“No.” Anton shook his head. “They may use the heat to feel it’s a perfect time to attack. Pair up at all times.”

“No,” Braden groaned. “Anything but that.”

Rave suddenly laughed. “What’s wrong, Braden? Are you afraid to have a witness around to see how little you know about females? I’ll pair up with you. I’ll be more than happy to give you advice if you’re doing something wrong.”

Shannon tugged on Anton’s hand. He looked down at her. “Does that mean what I think it does? I…” Her cheeks flamed with heat and her voice lowered. “I’m not ha**ng s*x with someone else inside a room with us. I can’t.”

He pulled her against his side and laughed. “Not in the same room but they’ll be close enough that we can look out for each other if someone shows up to attack.”

“You both can stay at my house,” Von offered. “I’ve got enough bedrooms and I’ve got a hell of a security system. I paired up with Debbie for mating heat and you know she won’t cause any problems over Shannon’s bloodlines.”

Kane chuckled. “Debbie, huh? That’s brave.”

Von shrugged. “I have no interest in mating her and we all know she’s already set on mating with someone else. I like her. She’s fun and easy to get along with.”

“You know Parker won’t be happy about it.”

“Then he shouldn’t have run away. He’s spending his heat with someone else since he’s not here with her. Debbie is my friend, and if he won’t take care of her, I will. She’s too vulnerable at this moment to trust any other male not to take advantage of the heat to mate her. She’s safe with me.”

Kane’s humor vanished. “That’s true. She’s too sweet and attractive. I know a dozen males who’d try to seduce her into a mating and I’d hate to see them die when Parker finally grabs a clue. He’d kill any man who claimed her.”

Shannon glanced up at Anton for clarification. He sighed. “You’ll like Debbie. She’s a half-breed. Some werewolves are old school and believe mating half-breeds taints the pack. Parker’s family convinced him that mating her would ruin their precious heritage and the moron left to avoid his feelings for her.”

Rave cleared his throat. “I hate to break this up but I’m starting to suffer from the heat. I feel aggressive as hell and I have a woman waiting at my place. Let’s partner up and assign schedules. In another half-hour, if I’m not f**king someone, there’s going to be a fight.”