“Rip this off me, I hope.” She brings both arms around my neck.

“And deal with Eliel,” I remind her. “Not only was he going to force you, but he attacked you.”

“During a challenge,” she reminds me. “It was fair game then.”

It’s my turn to raise a brow. “I hope you don’t expect me to let him off the hook?” My fingers return to her throat and squeeze. “I don’t think I can do that, mate.”

“Well, I think I’m gonna let him stew for a little while, and then I’m going to have a little heart-to-heart with him.”

I open my mouth to protest, to tell her that having a heart-to-heart won’t change who Eliel is. The only thing we can do is banish him to somewhere he can’t hurt others or brand him officially as a criminal. That brand will make him unwelcome in any pack in any haven.

Lola growls, pulling my attention back to her. “I believe you made me a promise about this dress, Alpha. It’s time to make good on that promise.”

My eyes drop to the see-through fabric. Dark nipples peak the front, and my mouth waters at my Luna’s obvious need. Big Daddy stalks along the bond from her mind to mine, muscles tight as he focuses on?—

Hot damn, Luna. Lookin’ good.

“Thank you, Big Daddy,” she croons into our bond. “You’re not lookin’ bad yourself, sir.”

He puffs his chest out as I roll my eyes and lean down to bury my nose just below her ear. I breathe in deeply, pulling her scent all the way into my lungs as I try to infuse her inside me. “Need you rough, Luna,” I growl into her ear, dragging my lips and fangs down to her shoulder. When I lick over the now-healed marks from my bite, she jerks in my arms, head falling back against the wall.

Big Daddy urges me on as I bite a hard path down the front of her throat and along her collarbone. By the time I get to her shoulder, ragged snarls rip from my throat, Big Daddy’s claws tipping my fingers. Continuing a trail with my teeth, I bring both hands to the gauze belt holding her dress together. Curling my fingers into the translucent fabric, I pull with both hands. The fabric rips and tears, Lola’s body jerking with the force as I yank again, and again, and again, tearing the front of the dress in half. I shove the straps down her shoulders and slant my mouth over hers.

Hauling her hands over her head, I press both wrists to the wall. With the other, I reach through layers of torn fabric and slide two fingers between Lola’s thighs. When they come away wet, I laugh and lift them to my mouth, sucking the taste of her off them.

Lola’s dark eyes flash with her wolf’s amber, her mouth dropped open, breathing fast. Her heartbeat is a rapid staccato against her chest as I suck and lick my fingers clean.

“You’re wet,” I growl, Big Daddy’s deepest tones threaded through mine.

“Do something about it,” she challenges, lifting her chin as she struggles to release herself from my grip.

Goddess, yes, Big Daddy groans. She wants to fight us. Absofuckinglutely, omega. Into our bond, he focuses on her and her wolf. Run, girls.

I drop her wrists long enough for her to slip out of my embrace, then I spin in a circle and hunch down to watch my prey. Her bedroom is big, but not that big. Lola darts with a shriek across the room, pausing on the other side of the bed with eyes wide and a big smile on her face.

“We need a bigger space for a chase.” I slide both hands through my hair as I anticipate tackling her on the bed.

Her devious thoughts filter down our bond as I tsk, shaking my head at her. “No shifting into something tiny, Luna. Stay in this form.”

She pouts, but I’m halfway across the room already, leaping across the space and landing with a crash in the middle of her bed. The frame creaks and cracks as Lola spins to run. Surging forward, I knock her to the carpet on her hands and knees, trapping one of her legs with mine so she can’t escape.

When she snarls over her shoulder at me, I reach down with both hands and unzip my dress pants. Pulling my thick cock out, I slap her ass crack with it.

“Fight, woman,” I command. “I love it when you get wild with me.”

In a move I somehow didn’t anticipate, she yanks her leg out of my hold and flips onto her back, kicking me square in the chest with both feet. The move shoots her backward, and she executes some kind of amazing ninja flip, landing upright like a godsdamned dancer.

Laughing, I rise and kick my pants off. When I rip my shirt over my head, she makes a move. I tense for an attack, but the sound of footsteps on stone echoes back.

She ran out of the damn room!

Snarling, I toss the shirt aside and glance to the patio that runs the length of her room. Her shadow flashes past a window.

I follow, pumping my arms as I slide onto the patio and scramble to catch her. She’s nearly to the end, and if she gets there, I have no doubt she’ll jump off it and do some crazy maneuver to get down into the street. And if she does that, she'll have the whole of Santa Alaya to hide in and tease me from.

My strides eat up the distance between us, and, just as she leaps for the railing, I grab her by the waist. I haul her back against me so hard, it knocks the breath from us both as I use my hips to shove her against the elegant stone railing outside of her bedroom.

My dick slips between her thighs, seeking her heat as she throws her head against my chest and looks up at me.