“You did what?” I explode.

“We’ve found you a bride,” Ronnie says, unbothered by my outburst. “Move the piano two feet to the left.”

“I don’t need a damn bride.” I lift the piano and place it two feet over.

“You’re thirty-five and have an obligation to build the pack.” She bends down to rip open one of the twenty or so cardboard boxes that have appeared in the last twenty minutes.

“I fulfill that obligation every damned day.” I flip open a box near me. Inside is a bunch of books. That explains the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves I spent all last week constructing.

“Not with your seed. You need to bed a girl and breed some pups off of her.”

“Is this a bad time? I can come back later,” a voice at the doorway queries.

Ronnie and I turn to see Magnus at the door, his arms piled high with towels.

“No, bring them in,” my second orders.

“I can help with the bedding if you’re not up to it, old man,” Magnus offers with a broad grin.

Ronnie and I reach over and cuff the pup at the same time.

“Don’t talk to your alpha like that,” she admonishes.

“Sorry, Alpha. Sorry, Ronnie.” He ducks his head, but the smile is still there. For a wolf like Magnus, we’d have to put a lot more force into a blow for it to affect him.

He’s an insolent pup, but a damn good fighter. His sire, Frederic, has to be damn proud. A swirl of envy whips through me. Yeah, I’d like to have a mate at some point and have pups of my own, but who has the time? Ever since Oden’s Building Supply company has taken off, my free time has been severely curtailed.

Still, I’m going to pick out my own mate when the time’s right. “When I get an office manager in, I’ll look around,” I tell my second-in-command.

“Her plane lands in forty minutes.”

I bump the box next to me onto the floor. “Her what lands when?”

“Her plane lands in forty minutes,” the pup responds eagerly, as if he deserves a pet on the head.

I’d give him another blow, but I’m starting to worry about how many rocks he has up there in his thick skull. Knocking him around doesn’t seem to be a good idea.

“You still have time to shower. I recommend it, otherwise she might get on the first flight back.” Ronnie crushes the box she emptied and moves on to the next one.

“Dammit, Ronnie. How long have you been planning this?” I ask as I pick up the books I knocked over.

She looks up from a box of files she’s unpacking. “Since I heard the Pine Valley Alpha got married to that human girl. Cairns, the pack’s second, said it calmed the whole group down. They had been holding weekly fights to work out the aggression in a safe way, but ever since Garrett mated, everyone’s happier and they’re having fewer problems with their younger, aggressive wolves. I figured a mate would be the perfect way to help the lone wolves integrate with our pack.”

The entire wolf world had heard of Pine Valley’s success. In the past ten years or so, the female wolf population has been dwindling for a mysterious reason, leaving a surplus of needy mates. Our current situation was made worse when we welcomed four new wolves in from the Chesapeake Bay mess. It’s been tense here as the new wolves figure out where their place is in the pack.

Wolves are hierarchical, and specific order within the ranks binds us into a healthy unit. Without order, we’re a mindless bunch of animals fighting for dominance. That’s how packs split, like the Cheasapeake situation. That’s how packs die.

“Garrett’s girl is fae-touched. This one isn’t.” The fae have a certain smell to them, a metallic one that doesn’t sit right with me.

“Doesn’t matter if she’s fae or not. She’s a perfect match for us. Kristian ran her blood.”

I swear under my breath but start stripping. One of the California wolves discovered that certain humans with a particular strand of DNA mesh are able to bear pups. If she’s a match, then I need take the risk. I’ve got twenty lonely wolves under me. She could be a good mate for one of them. “You should have said something to me first.”

“You wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

“For good reason. Bringing humans into our pack hasn’t done anything good in the past. Ask Kristian.” At nineteen, my best friend had fallen for a woman who got scared when she learned of his shifting and told her menfolk. Predictably, they picked up their guns and tried to kill him.

“Kristian got over it and his scars only make him more attractive.” Ronnie’s so placid because she’s mated to the damn wolf. “You’ve wasted nearly five minutes.”

“Fuck.” I race to the shower and scrub myself in under two minutes. My hair’s a wet mess, but there’s no time to worry about that. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I’m not the one selling myself. I dress in a hurry and bound down the stairs. Kristian is waiting by the car.

“Traitor,” I mutter.

“Sorry. I don’t want to sleep on the couch tonight,” my friend replies. He climbs into the front seat. I take the back. I don’t like the pretentiousness of being driven, but it’s for the safety of the pack.

Everything I do is for the safety of my pack. They raised me after my parents were killed and kept me safe when I was defenseless. I’ll do anything for my wolves just as they’d do anything for me. Their hearts were in the right place when they picked out this bride, which is why I’m not angrier.

The story of Adrian Garrett and his bride spread like brush fire over a dry plain, kindling the hidden desires of male wolves everywhere. Humans? That are happy with a beast? It’s like every holiday rolled up into one soft, warm package.

“What’s this woman like?” I ask, curious against my better judgment.

“I don’t know. Pretty, I guess. Ronnie has been close-mouthed. Just told me today. She was afraid I’d tattle on her.” His amused gaze meets mine.

Damn right he would have reported this to his alpha. “Who do you think is a good match for her?” I ask.

“You’re going to have a hard time convincing the pack that she belongs to anyone but you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because they’ve been courting her on your behalf for a little over a month now. They’re invested.”

“Who’s they?” Although I bet I could name the crew. “Besides Ronnie and Aunt Steph.”

“Those two spearheaded the operation. Oyvind and Peter didn’t have an installation job. They went and moved her. Should be arriving sometime tonight. Signe also vouched for you.”

“Signe? She should be in school.”

“She is. She just took the company plane to Emmetsville and gave a testimonial about how great you were.”

“This is fucking ridiculous.” I pick up the phone.

“What’re you doing?”

“Booking this stranger on the next flight home. If she’s not for my pack, then she doesn’t belong here.”

* * *

She belongs here. My dick swells. Thunder roars in my ears. I want to throw her down on the marble tile and fuck her in front of everyone. The need to show them that she’s mine pulses in my blood. My mouth waters. I want to lick her from head to foot. Eat her up, inch by delicious inch, from the top of her honey-brown hair to the soles of her black tennis shoes.

I move forward, my big maw of a hand reaching for her. She’s a tiny thing. I could swallow her in one gulp. I lick my lips. She gasps. The thready, breathy sound goes straight to my cock. At this rate, I’m not going to be able to walk.

I gesture for her to come closer. “Come ‘ere,” I say, my tongue thick in my mouth.

Her blue eyes grow wide. “I, ah, well,” she stutters.

She takes too long. I reach out, snatch her to me, and bury my face in her throat. She smells like apples and pine cones—like the perfect fall drink. I growl in pleasure and run my nose along the column of her delicate neck.

“Wait. What are you doing?” She wriggles in my grip.

Ah, she’s trying to get closer. My nose finds the right spot at the side of her neck. The wolf inside me howls with delight. We found our mate. I sweep a hand under her ass and spread those lithe legs around me. I can’t wait until we’re naked. I have a feeling she could ride me no matter how wild I was. I press my thick cock against the jean-clad pussy and curse the layers of fabric between us.

“Rule. Hey, you.” She nips at my ear.

Fuck. The zipper on my jeans threatens to burst.

“I’m gonna mark you and make you mine,” I tell her. She feels like paradise. I owe Ronnie big. I’ll have to buy her that industrial cooktop she’s been bugging me about, which also means renovating the lodge’s kitchen, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay for the treasure she’s brought.

“Mark me? Make me what?” A small hand pushes at the one I have plastered to her ass. “You need to let me go. We have an agreement, remember?”

An agreement? There’s a violent tug on the back of my head and then my arms are completely empty. I turn to the threat with bared teeth.

It’s another wolf, except he’s disguised as my friend Kristian. He has my mate behind his back. I advance toward him. I’m going to rip his limbs off. I’m going to break open his chest and pull his still-beating heart from the cavity and—he arches his neck, a sign of submission.

My wolf pauses and so do I. The mixed signals are confusing. On the one hand, he’s standing between me and my mate. On the other, he’s showing the most vulnerable part of himself to me.

“We’re at the airport arrivals lounge,” Kristian says quietly. “Tell your wolf to stand down so that the good people of Buffalo don’t gather up a posse and try to kill us all in our beds tonight.”

The wolf growls inside, but it’s not Kristian who rouses me from the beast’s hold. It’s the girl. Her eyes are as wide as saucers, two big, beautiful pools of fear. My head dips in remorse. This isn’t the way to win the heart of any woman, let alone a human one.

I’d almost lost it here. I need to provide an explanation and probably an apology. Sure, the girl agreed to marry me, but she didn’t agree to having her wedding night happen in the airport lounge with her neighbors watching.

I open my mouth to tell her that I was caught off guard by her scent. No, that’s too strange for the humans here. How about I was welcoming my new bride to her new home in the tradition of my people? No. That’s not right either. I’ll say—

“I’m Edon. Let’s go,” is what comes out. I grab her hand, her case, and start walking.

“Wait. Wait. I didn’t introduce myself. I’m—”

“Cassandra Madson,” I fill in for her. There are too many people here. The wolf urges me to get her to our territory where it’s safe. “Get the car,” I order Kristian.

He hesitates. “Ahh, Alpha, you’re scaring her. “

The wolf disagrees. He’s protecting her, not scaring her. The frightening shit is all the people in this airport. All these eyes are looking at our mate. We don’t like that. Not one bit. I bare my teeth at Kristian. “Get. The. Car.”

“Don’t get the car,” my mate protests. “I’m not leaving the airport until we talk about this. We had an agreement.”

“Now.”

Kristian takes off, jogging lightly until he clears the first lane of traffic and then he breaks into a run. My wolf pants in approval.

“I’m not getting into any car until we talk about what happened in there, mister.”

“Edon,” I tell her.

“Fine. Edon. We had an agreement. No—” She breaks off and peers to the right and left. There are more people around than I’d like. They should’ve flown her in on the company plane except Britt took it to Florida to install an order in a couple Miami beach homes. “No sex. Remember?”

My jaw drops. I haven’t read the agreement, but who the hell thought that we should be mated but not have sex? The thing is that she’s turned on. I can smell her arousal. I can see the flush in her cheeks, the wild thumping of her pulse against her neck. She wants sex as badly as I do.

“You do intend to uphold the agreement, don’t you? Because if not, I’m on the next flight out.”

She’s denying her need for reasons I don’t understand. Perhaps it’s all the people around. I simply need to bring her home. We’ll be having our ceremony, greet the pack, and consummate the mate bond for at least seven days. I glance down at her face. Scratch that. Make it eight.

“Are you with me, Rule?” She waves a hand in front of my face.

Right. The agreement. I summon the last shreds of my self-control and nod firmly. “I’ve never broken my word.”

And I won’t start with my mate. But surely Ronnie wouldn’t have negotiated a no-sex agreement with my mate. The whole purpose was to “plant my seed” and that shit. The contract probably states that we don’t have sex in the morning. Some women prefer that. At least that’s what Kristian let slip about Ronnie once.

Since I’ve never bedded a woman before, I wouldn’t know. If she needs that kind of space, I’ll give it to her. I’m willing to give my mate anything and everything she needs.

Panic sets in. What if she doesn’t like the Rule property? Since we started making money in the last couple of years, we’ve been pouring it back into the business—buying more machinery so that we can increase our production and upgrading our computer systems to help manage inventory and sales. Much of the territory isn’t developed, either. It’s heavily wooded and the few trails that exist are for the four-legged kind, not delicate humans.

I scrub a hand over my jaw. I’ll need to start shaving more. Maybe three times a day. I don’t want my stubble to scrape any of that perfect skin of hers. I should probably start putting lotion on my hands. They’re callused and rough from a couple of decades’ worth of manual labor. She looks sweet and tender.

Me? I have zero soft sides. I’m hard all over. Shit. She’s backing away again.

I scowl harder. “You busting the contract?”

She crosses her arms and juts her chin out. “Maybe I am. What’re you going to do? Sue me?”

“If I have to.” I cross my arms, too. “You signed the agreement. I paid for your belongings to be shipped here and bought you a ticket.”

“I’ll pay you back then.”

I take a look at her battered carry-on, her frayed jeans, and make a calculated bet. “That’ll be ten grand.”

“What?” she cries. “Ten grand? No way.”

“You flew first class and that’s six thousand by itself. The movers were another four.” I’m fudging on the last figure since it was an OBS truck and pack members that did the moving. “I can take a check or a credit card.”

“Wait. No. God, I’m so confused,” she cries. “This is supposed to be somewhere safe.”

Safe? Of course, it’s safe. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Ever.

Kristian pulls up to the curb. I arch an eyebrow in Cassie’s direction and pretend like she has a choice between me and the airport.

The sweet woman eyes the terminal and then the car. With a sigh, she throws open the back door. “If you break even a single term on that contract, I’m out of here and you’re buying me a first class ticket to wherever I want to go.”

Interesting that she doesn’t want to return to Emmetsville. And that this is supposed to be a safe place. Ronnie and I are going to need to have a long talk when I get back.

I dive into the back seat with Cassie and then pull the door shut. “Go,” I order. I can’t take the chance that she might change her mind. I engage the door locks.

Kristian takes one look at me and guns the engine. My mate cowers against the door.

“It’s going to be okay,” I reassure her.

I don’t think she believes me.