“Oh, hell, no!” Ivy yelled, as they approached her desk. “What are you two doing back here?”

“Ivy.” Brick called her name in the commanding tone he used on his Enlisted and other subordinate wolves. “Everything is okay. We... I... am not here to hurt you.”

She drew the strings on her hoodie, closing the sides around her face, and mumbled, “If you think I’m fucking you, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Why did she have to say that? Brick thought, as visions of her naked, writhing beneath him while he ate her pussy, teasing her with flicks of the tip of his tongue on her puffed-up bud, filtered through his mind. He imagined his hands holding her thighs, pressing them down onto the mattress, as he dipped his head, his eyes meeting hers. His mouth watered, and he swallowed. Get it together!

“I wasn’t myself last night.”

“That’s what Duke told me.”

“You were right to protect yourself, but my wolf wasn’t gonna harm you.”

“I had no idea what to think when a wild animal was rampaging towards me, other than self-preservation.” She looked him over, sniffed, and switched her gaze back to the computer screen. “But I’m glad you didn’t die.”

I was trying to protect you.

Duke rocked on his heels and smacked Brick’s back.

“How about we get down to business?”

Ivy swiveled both her seat and her attention to Duke, as Brick stifled his wolf’s growl.

Stop it! He’s my best friend and beta! he said to his inner beast.

Mine.

“Isn’t that right, Brick?”

“Uh-huh,” he replied, having no clue what Duke had been talking about. Rising to his full height, he continued giving Ivy his winningest smile. “I’m the alpha of the Cross Plains pack.”

“And?” She looked down at her cell phone, which had started playing music. “I need to take this booty call.”

“This what?” Brick almost shouted.

Duke grabbed him by his arm—the one that had shot out to grab her cell from her. He yanked him back between aisles of pottery.

“Calm down!” Duke whispered. “If you can’t pull it together, you’re gonna have to leave and let me take over. And I know you don’t want that.”

“How much are you asking, again?” Ivy’s voice filtered over to where they stood. “And how soon can you ship it?”

“She’s talking about buying something, not hooking up with a guy.”

“Hmmm. A little pricey, don’t you think? There’re quite a few of those on the market. It’ll probably sit on my shelves a while. I was thinking half of that. How about eight? Sound fair?” She paused. “Email me the invoice, and I’ll pay it. Nice doing business with you. Bye.”

“Get your head in the game! You’re the big, bad alpha!”

“Yeah.”

“Say it with me. ‘I’m the big, bad alpha.’”

Brick repeated it, nodding, trying desperately to regain control over himself. They reiterated the phrase a few times, keeping their voices low.

“What are y’all doing?” Ivy called out to them. “I can make you a deal on some of those southwestern Indian artifacts if you’re interested.”

“There’s your lead-in.” Duke slapped Brick on the back. “Go.”

Squaring his shoulders, Brick turned, running directly into Ivy as she rounded the corner. She teetered at the impact with his solid frame, and he grasped her by her arms, so she wouldn’t fall. Ivy’s wide eyes met his and held. They stared at each other, neither looking away. Something deep inside Brick locked into place, and a tremble went through her at the same time.

“I didn’t know you were there,” he murmured, leaning towards her to sniff her hair.

Her scent drove a craving of need to pull her tighter into his sheltering arms.

“You can let me go now.” Her voice shook, as she looked away, licking her lips. Seeing her tongue glide over them, his hands dropped away, while his cock hardened. “What are you looking for?”

Using all of his mental strength, Brick pushed his urges down and focused on the mission.

“Are you familiar with The Mankind Defense?”

He took the step towards her that he’d taken backwards when he let her go.

“Of course.”

“Then, you’re familiar with Braxton’s book.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We were told you have it.”

“What? Me?”

“Yeah. It’s covered front and back with the pelt of the first alpha they murdered in cold blood. It has a black leather spine. Have you seen it around here?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve never seen it, only heard about it. I don’t deal in artifacts of that nature, hideous things like that.” She shuddered, and then her face took on a professional air. “But to be honest, there’re a ton of boxes in the back that I haven’t gone through. They were left by the previous owner as part of the sale when I bought this place. So, if it’s here, that’s where it’d be. I can’t stand the thought of those poison-penned pages filled with hate being under this roof.”

“Do you mind if we take a look?”

“Knock yourself out. The warehouse is through those double doors. The oldest stuff is either at the back or down below.”

“We’ll pay whatever amount you want.”

“I don’t want to be associated with the damn thing, much less accept money for it.”

“Thank you.”

“What are you going to do once you find it?”

“Burn it.”

“Good. Send it to Hell, where it belongs.” She yawned. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m going to take a nap in my office. Will you let me know if anyone else comes in? Most of my business is online sales, so I don’t have many customers in the shop. But if you hear the doorbell chime, just knock on my door, and I’ll get up.”

“Okay.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, he watched the motion of her hips, as she wandered off in the direction in which she’d indicated the store room was, while she ran her fingers through her hair. His gaze remained, until she disappeared behind a side door, which he assumed must have been her office.

“Her eyes look like honey,” he whispered to himself, his mind going to the sweetness he knew his tongue would find between her thighs.

Mine! his wolf roared, clambering to be set free.

Duke said, “Huh?”

“And biscuits!” Brick exclaimed, trying to recover from what he’d said and get himself under control. “I’m hungry again. I’ll go downstairs and start looking through the boxes, while you get us some lunch.”

“I’m telling you, what you’re experiencing is the legendary Hunger, and she is your mate.”

“Nah. She’s not my type,” Brick said, avoiding eye contact with his beta.

“Any woman is your type.”

“Not her.”

“Whatever, man,” Duke muttered under his breath. “I’ll be back.”