Page 48 of Smoke and Moon

In a whiff, Chanin knew in the hour plus his ex-lover had been gone, she’d had sex and showered.She was clean, but a male scent rose beneath the notes of her soap.Faolan.One of the Fang Warriors.Chanin assumed the male had gotten Minsi off before the team had orders for this mission, which was not a case of dereliction of duty.If so, Chanin would deal with the warrior wolf before Boris got to him.Jealousy didn’t play a factor; he was glad Minsi had taken the time to get herself off.Because the last thing Chanin needed was her still trying to hump his leg and begging to be fucked.

He considered for a moment if the situation was different and if it had been Morlie who came to him saturated in another male’s scent, his response would not be the same.Hell, no.He would shift and tear that man to pieces and fuck Morlie on the guy’s dead body making sure she understood whom she belonged to.

Mate.His wolf snapped.

Yes, that was the difference between his ex-lover and Morlie.

For a moment he pondered the possibility of her getting with a dragon-shifter.The miniscule amount of serum he’d dripped into her wasn’t enough to stop her from laying with a different kind of shifter.Letting one of those fire-breathing bastards between her silken thighs.He ground his back teeth hard to keep in the growl barreling fast up from his core, a hot air balloon being filled with too much heat too fast.

“We’re about to head out, but we were looking over the map trying to determine how Farkas and his crew managed to get from here,” Chanin set his finger on the mountain range and slid it over to the Fae area.“To here and grab two women.”

Minsi gasped as she stopped at his right side.“Females?You would never joke about something like that, but tell me this is an exception?”

“No.”He lowered his hand.“He’s becoming more reckless.”

“Yes.I know you.You won’t let this stand.When are you moving on Farkas?”

“We are headed out to get another I want in this fight.Boris’s specialized team can keep them contained until we get there.”Chanin left out of his office.“We need to try and get to them before Farkas or any of his band of misfits attempt to breed them.”

“The Fae should be able to hold them off with their elemental magic for a while,” Minsi offered.

“It depends if Farkas comes at them alone or he sets the females in the middle of his fucking men and lets them go wild.”

“I’m going with you, Alpha.I’ll rip Farkas’s fucking throat out myself.”Minsi growled.

The female flanking his other side as they left his house had her ways and was too damn possessive when it came to him, but she was vicious in her act when it came to protecting young and other females from abuse.

“Get in line,” Bleddyn called out from Chanin’s left.

“Rudie, contact Dolf and have him get the word out that I want everyone on standby until I return,” Chanin instructed his assistant, who double-timed her short steps to keep up with them.“Make sure everyone understands Farkas could be a threat.If he is stupid enough to go into other territories, this may be an elaborate setup to draw me away and attempt to attack here or try to rob the Pack again.”

“Yes, sir.I’m on it.”She shuffled her feet briefly before she started in another direction.

“Rudie!”Chanin halted, then pivoted toward her small retreating form.

His assistant stopped on a dime at his call.She turned back to him.“Yes?”

“Stay at my parent’s house until I return,” he commanded.

Her eyes widened a little, and her mouth began to part, seeming as if she would argue about not being a child.However, she was smart enough to understand a clear command from her Alpha.She nodded and waited for him to turn away before he heard her steps again.

Bravery was Rudie’s superpower; however, since she didn’t shift, she wouldn’t be a match for any of Farkas’s crew if they did come this way.Chanin would not see her hurt in any way.

His long strides ate up the distance to the Silver on Tap Tavern.Chanin saw the humor in the name since he was a teen wolf and tried to sneak in for a shot of apple corn liquor.Raul and Wolcott’s father had found twenty cases of glasses with sterling silver bases and decided to make them the primary serving vessel for drinks.As if drinking the crisp, sweet rot gut wasn’t risk enough on a Lupine’s life.

It took a lot, but everyone in the tavern knew when a wolf had reached his limit because he’d forget about the bottom of the glass and would let out a howl as soon as his skin made contact.The shifter would be escorted out and sent on their way.

Chanin walked into the Tavern now.It was early, and only Raul and a few of his workers were cleaning and stocking the bar for the night rush.

“Morning, Alpha.A little early for a shot, ain’t it?”Raul joked as he nodded to Bleddyn and Minsi.

“A bit.”Chanin didn’t miss the ginger-headed Lupine who skirted his eyes over behind him for a brief moment.As Alpha, Chanin prided himself on paying attention to things that happened in his Pack and particularly the people in it.He wasn’t a fool, and he’d been aware for months how the tavern owner’s nose flared when Rudie was around.

Raul was a good guy, and Chanin wouldn’t be adverse to Rudie and the kind, burly wolf as mates, except Rudie wasn’t ready.Not because of her age being an issue but she still had some growing to do and some demons to wrestle with before she’d be a decent partner for another.

Chanin stood close enough to the reclaimed wood bar to rest his elbows on it as he eyed his friend.“We’ve got trouble up north.I was hoping you were bored of wiping down tables and cleaning glasses and wanted to see if you were itchin’ to get your paws dirty.”

“Well, hell yeah, Alpha.Just say when.”Raul tossed down the towel from his shoulder, then laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles on both hands simultaneously as he rotated his wrists outward.

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