Page 56 of Mating Season

I don’t know how she orchestrated that so perfectly without knowing what was going on, but I wanted to sweep her off her feet and kiss her senseless.

Aspen stepped closer to my side and I buried her under my arm, covering as much of her body as I could.

But my mate wasn’t done yet. She laced her fingers through mine. “I think Tulia Pack is getting off easy after all they’ve done.”

“For now.” I gripped her hand tight.

Chad’s upper lip curled as he watched us together. “You’re the one picking the wrong side. Tulia is a heritage name. We have the bloodlines to survive hundreds of generations. Last chance before I walk away. Do you want to be a street trash whore or come be a royal queen?”

Aspen’s nails dug into my arm as I let out a feral, bloodthirsty growl. The air charged with a predator’s threat. Someone was going to die tonight.

“No,” Aspen whispered, pleading.

“Cindy, don’t!” Brett yelled.

Chad screamed like a banshee with his hands in the air as he fell to the ground on his ass.

A massive–and I mean massive–fiery red wolf came stalking forward through the field and stopped directly in front of a shrieking Chad.

“I didn’t mean it,” he cried out.

I took another step back, tugging Aspen along with me. I wasn’t stupid. There was no way I’d stick around to fight that.

The stench of fear and piss filled the air as Chad tried to climb to his feet. “You have to believe me, babe. She means nothing to–”

The sound of bone crunching filled the night as the wolf chomped down on Chad’s head. Her jaw worked with two more bites, then she shook him like a rag doll before tossing his decapitated body away with blood spraying in an arc across the woods.

As shifters, we could sometimes regrow body parts, but I didn’t think there was a way back from this.

My normally rock-solid stomach betrayed me as bile rose up the back of my throat. Aspen was deathly pale and swaying as I caught her in my arms and swooped her up bridal style.

“She… She… She…” Aspen sputtered.

“Dang it, Cindy. I told you to let it go.” Brett placed a hand on his cousin’s side.

The wolf gave a scorned female howl before bounding off toward the trees. Chad’s team chased after her. Brett gave me an apologetic look before he and his team followed suit.

Aspen buried her face into my shoulder. “Holy shit. She ate him.”

I nodded, too stunned to speak as a single camera drone remained filming us while the rest went on to chase the killer beast.

The light from the drone dimmed as I bared my fangs at it.

Aspen cringed. “Don’t let my papa see this.”

The camera drone bobbed up and down in the air, doing the strangest movement like it could understand and was pleased. Then it took off like a shooting star into the night sky, leaving us shrouded in darkness again with only the soft light of the moon to guide our way back to the nest.

“That does it.” Aspen closed her eyes as she curled deeper into my arms. “I’ve officially decided I’m not cut out for television.”

25

Aspen

I was grumpy before I even opened my eyes, already aware I didn’t get enough sleep. My stomach growled as a deep hunger gnawed at my insides.

And my boobs were heavy and sore.

Great.

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