She glanced over his shoulder, gauged her vision for any changes, but didn’t notice any. She looked back, staring into dark, intense werewolf eyes that seemed to have turned nearly black.

“Your eyes,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “My voice is going to get deeper too.”

She didn’t need to be told that as she shivered again at his rough, slightly altered tone. “Why?”

“You are terrified but it’s something else entirely for me.”

“What?”

He softly growled again. “I want to f**k you so bad it hurts.”

Mute, she gaped at him, never expecting him to say that to her. He closed his eyes and turned his head enough to expose his throat to her. She found her voice again.

“Are you offering foreplay? I remember what you said about sniffing your neck. I don’t think¯”

“If you brush your nose against my skin, I’ll tear your clothes off and take you where we stand. I’m trying to get a grip on my wolf and not looking at you helps.”

“Put me down.”

A louder snarl vibrated his chest against hers. “Don’t fight me. You do and you’re f**ked in every sense.”

She held very still, breathing softly, and watched his tight expression closely. His jaw clenched, flexing muscles along his jawline, and then his generous lips parted as he took deep breaths, which rubbed his chest against her br**sts. To her shock they responded, the ni**les hardened and a sound came out of her that she’d never heard before.

Anton’s head snapped in her direction as his eyes flew open to stare at her with an intense, smoldering look. “You purr.”

“I don’t,” she denied, despite the soft noise that she had emitted resembled exactly that.

“You¯”

The back door next to them suddenly exploded outward when a tall woman barged from the interior of the bar, cursing a blue streak, interrupting whatever Anton had been about to say. Shannon’s eyes widened in stunned dismay when she realized the red stains on the white shirt and tight jeans the woman sported had to be fresh blood. It also marred the woman’s hands.

“What happened, Glenda?” Anton snarled the words.

The woman spun, startled, and then bent, reaching for a hose attached to the side of the building. “Those stupid pups got in a fight while trying to play badasses for a few bitches. It’s days away but shit has already started for the pairing up.” Her dark gaze shifted to Shannon and her eyebrows shot up. “Wow. Is that the bitch from up north? I thought she wouldn’t arrive until tonight.” The water turned on.

“Um…” Anton hesitated.

The muscled, at least six-foot-tall woman laughed. “What are they crossbreeding with up there? She’s tiny. She part Chihuahua or something? It’s insulting that a pack sent that for you test out. They have to be desperate to hook up with a stronger breed. You’re going to break her before the fun starts.”

“Fuck,” Anton grumbled. “Anyone dead inside?”

Glenda washed down her arms and hands with the hose to remove the blood. “Nope. We broke it up before it got that far. Von is making them pay for the shit they busted up though. They took out five tables and dented a wall pretty bad but nothing a little drywall and paint won’t fix.”

Shannon gaped at the scary-looking woman. Thick muscles corded the woman’s arms as she turned off the hose and straightened. Tattoos adorned both curves of her broad shoulders and peeked out from where her low-cut top dipped between her br**sts. Shannon had no doubt that this was her first sighting of a female werewolf, and if they all looked like this one, they could be pretty darn vicious.

“Ban their asses. They know I don’t tolerate that shit inside my bar.”

“I already told them, Anton.” Dark eyes lit on Shannon again and the woman moved closer. “Want me to get rid of that runt for you?” A cold smile formed on her lips. “Send a message that we’re insulted at what they consider their best?”

Anton’s body tensed. “Back off now, Glenda.”

The woman froze and then made a strange face, her nose scrunching, and then a snarl tore from her parted lips. Pure rage transformed her features. “Puma. The fresh blood on me from the fight masked her scent at first.”

If looks could kill, Shannon had no doubt she’d have died in that instant. The woman lunged forward, ignoring Anton’s command. He cursed and released Shannon with one arm, his open palm hitting the advancing woman hard in the chest. The push sent her staggering back and she landed on her ass.

“I said, back off,” Anton roared.

A snarl came from the downed woman and she never took her hateful glare from Shannon. “Let me kill her. Please?”

Anton gripped Shannon with both hands again, his arms feeling similar to steel bands around her waist, and growled low and deep, from his chest. “She’s a guest here. You don’t touch her. No one does.”

Glenda turned her rage on Anton. “A what?”

“Guest. I’ve extended my protection to her.”

The woman’s mouth moved but no sound came out at first. Anger turned to amazement, then to confusion. “Why? She’s a stinking cat. She obviously came to play in our trash bins and you caught her. You have no stomach for hurting a female, even if it is one of those, do you? I’d be happy to take her ass out.”

“I said she’s under my protection and no one is going to harm her.”

Glenda gingerly climbed to her feet, used both hands to brush off the backside of her jeans, and gaped at Anton. “What the hell is up?”

He took a deep breath, his massive chest pressing tightly against Shannon’s smaller one, pinned between his body and the wall. “Notice how faint the scent of her is? She’s mostly human. Some of the pups decided to hunt her in the woods but I intercepted.”

“She’s the enemy. Of course they wanted to make her a chew toy.”

“I don’t allow aggression without provocation.” Anton’s features darkened with anger.

“She’s breathing and reeks of her puma blood. That’s enough provocation for me.” Glenda shot Shannon a dirty look before meeting Anton’s cool stare again. “I know you have a soft spot for women though, so hand her over to me. I won’t kill her but I’ll at least dump her out of our territory.”

“No.”

Disbelief flashed on the female werewolf’s face. “What are you going to do with her? Call her pride and have them meet up with you to return her?”

“No. She’s going to stay inside my apartment until I make certain she will be safe in our territory. I’m giving her permission to stay. She lives on the outer edge and I’m granting her permission to stay there after I deal with the current threats against her.”

A deep, vicious growl tore from Glenda before she spun away, marching toward the door. “I’m calling your father.”

“Shit,” Anton sighed, turning his head to stare at Shannon as the door slammed closed after the departing woman.

“You should just let me go stay with my mom.”

Shannon studied his beautiful eyes. Her breath caught. He looked sexy to her, handsome. She noticed his strong, masculine scent, which she inhaled with each drag of air into her lungs, and her hands gripped him a little tighter. Heat flashed through her body until she squirmed, her thighs gripping his h*ps a little more firmly.

Anton softly growled and Shannon’s br**sts hardened at the vibrations it caused. The heat turned scorching hot until she realized her breathing had turned into a borderline pant. They stared at each other for what seemed forever until he shifted his hips, snugly resting the front of his jeans against her panties. Hard, aroused male rubbed against the core of her pleasure. A soft moan passed her lips, shocking Shannon.

“Damn,” Anton rasped. “I’m too close to the heat and I think you are too.”

“You are really warm.”

His gaze lowered to her br**sts, smashed against his chest. “You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

“Your body temperature is hotter than normal and you have me pinned. Of course I’m hot. I’m going to start sweating if you don’t put me down.”

That hot, sexy gaze of his lifted. “Don’t you go into heat? I’m talking about sex.”

Stunned, Shannon swallowed hard. “No.”

“You don’t ache for sex sometimes more than other times?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Cats are different. You should go into sexual heat at least once a month if my intel is accurate.”

“I am not going to talk about this with you.” She blushed, embarrassed that he’d bring up something that personal. “But no, I don’t. I owned a female cat and that didn’t happen to me.”

“Werewolves have a time of year where we go into mating heat and it starts in a few days. It usually lasts anywhere from about ten to fifteen days. It all depends on the year.”

That stunned her. “I thought dogs were always horny.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back, not wanting to offend him.

A grin spread across Anton’s lips. “We are but this gets much worse. Nature’s little sick joke on us to make sure we don’t end up on the extinct list.”

Questions flooded her brain but she didn’t dare ask him. She bit her lip instead and lowered her gaze to stare at his tan neck. “I don’t go into heat.”

“I do and that’s why I’m going to drop you off inside my apartment now. You’ll be safe if I leave you alone. The faster I can handle this mess, the better. You can’t be here when mating heat starts.”

He sighed, withdrawing the tight press of his h*ps from her. She refused to ask but she knew he had to have read her curious expression when he spoke.

“The urge to have sex is excruciating if you attempt to deny it. You don’t want to be sleeping in my bed when it hits.” He arched his eyebrows. “Understand what I’m hinting at?”

Oh yeah. Sweat broke out all over her body, imagining him super horny and determined to have sex with her. The idea didn’t horrify her. The astonishment of that revelation cooled her down a little. He’s a scary werewolf, a full-on shifter, and in line to be a brutal alpha, she reminded herself. In other words, the last man I ever need to hook up with. It would be suicidal. “You should put me down.”

“I should but I’m not. I’m going to carry you into my apartment and then I’m going to go hunt down some of my pups. They are going to give me the names of their friends who broke into your apartment. Hopefully, by the end of the night, I’ll have nipped this thing in the bud.”

Anton ached to the point of pain from wanting to f**k the woman in his arms. He could take his pulse by the beat of it in his dick, throbbing painfully against his jeans. He pulled away from the wall, adjusted her weight, and fought a groan when her arms and legs tightened around his neck and hips. He knew what the term “like a second skin” meant now. Shannon would actually have to be a part of him if they were any closer.

He released her with one arm, jerked open the door, and stepped into the back area of the bar. The smell of his pack grew stronger along with beer, cigarette smoke, and food. It helped drown out Shannon’s arousing scent. He breathed deeply, walked quickly, and held her in a way that kept them from rubbing together too much. He took the back stairs two at a time up to his apartment. He paused, keyed in his alarm code, and the door popped open. He grinned, loving the new technology he’d installed recently.

He stepped through the open doorway and kicked it closed. He examined the small apartment with a quick glance, something he always did when he came home, and he sniffed the air.