Page 13 of Kidnapped By the Wolf

My head hits the wall behind it just as her perfect denim-clad ass crashes into my face. The towel bar jerks free from the drywall, and we go down.

Cassie’s fingernails scrape across my face as she struggles to get free.

As I shift my weight to subdue her, something primal awakens inside me, and I have the sudden urge to flip her over, pin her down, and sink my teeth into her flesh.

It’s such a crazy desire that I freeze for a moment, my wolf reeling with the urge to mark her.

Fuck.

As an alpha, dominance is innate. The impulse is heightened whenever there’s a threat to my pack or someone is stupid enough to challenge me directly. The need to dominate also spikes whenever I’m aroused, but I’veneverhad the urge to mark a female — to claim her as my own.

I’m still shaking myself out of the weird compulsion when Cassie’s foot flies out of nowhere and connects with the bridge of my nose. Pain radiates out from the center of my face, and my wolf surges forward.

Gone is the restraint of the tightly wound marine who would train for hours in the pouring rain and never show a flicker of emotion, even when I was called in as a private military contractor to do some truly awful shit. Gone is the discipline and control — the finely honed knife’s edge I’m forced to walk as alpha to protect my pack.

In an instant, my animal takes over, and Cassie’s intoxicating scent washes over me. Her lush, smoky fragrance mixes with the musk of feminine arousal, and my wolf snaps his leash.

Mine.

The word ricochets through my head again as a rush of desire hits me. The bitter taste of venom spills onto my tongue, and I feel a prickle of pain in my gums as my fangs descend.

My gaze drifts to the soft valley of golden skin where Cassie’s neck meets her shoulder. It would be so easy to brush back those ebony waves and sink my teeth into her flesh, forever impregnating her with my scent.

Cassie’s fist shoots out, but I catch her wrist and pin it to the floor. She bucks her hips, but I hold her down, watching the little human writhe. That sweet scent of arousal intensifies, which I find both baffling and sexy as hell.

Her dark eyes narrow in a piercing glare, and it’s all I can do not to claim her right here on the bathroom floor.

But then she bares her teeth in a truly impressive imitation of a shifter, and I’m reminded of who she is: daughter of Clint McGregor.

Cassie isn’t just any female. She’s the human offspring of my enemy. She’s also my greatest bargaining chip — my only shot at preventing an all-out war between the McGregors and my wolves.

Somehow, that last piece of logic is enough to break through my animal haze of lust and need. It’s enough to subdue my wolf.

For an alpha, the need to dominate is outweighed only by the urge to protect.

Protect the pack at all costs.

I release Cassie and rock back on my heels, giving her a chance to sit up. Her chest heaves as she catches her breath, and her skin is enticingly flushed.

The woman threw a punch at an alpha wolf, and she looks as though she could go another three rounds. My little human is something else.

I tamp down the thought before it can take hold.

Cassie isn’tmyanything. She can’t be. The stakes are much too high.

“So I’m guessing it’s not your . . . special time of the month?” I rumble, unable to control my slight grimace.

Cassie shoots me a glare and gives a huffy growl, scrambling to her feet and storming out of the bathroom.

A grin tugs at the corners of my mouth, and I follow her into the main area of the cabin. Giving me her back, she plops down at the table and begins wolfing down the sandwich I made for her earlier.

It’s a power move — one she can’t be unaware of if she grew up among shifters.

For a moment, I just stand there watching. I have no idea why my wolf reacted the way he did. Maybe I need to get laid.

Yet through all my deployments — all the months spent in Iraq and Afghanistan with only a bunch of sweaty men for company — I never let myself get wound so tight that I thought ofmatingthe first woman I saw.

Then again, Cassie isn’t just any female.

---