Page 141 of Smoke and Lure

“No, please don’t.”Morlie placed a staying hand on Rudie’s wrist.She didn’t want the Alpha’s assistant to contact him.It would just cause Chanin to leave an important meeting.Besides, he wouldn’t make it back in time to stop it anyway.

“Minsi has not approached me yet.”Morlie wouldn’t put it past Minsi since Chanin being on the opposite side of the Drahk territory at the council meeting was the furthest he’d been away from her.It gave Minsi plenty of time to plan an attack.

It was one of the reasons Morlie had decided to do this now.

Rudie, still holding her radio, looked from Morlie to Faolan, then back to Morlie.“Then why?”

Morlie pulled her hand away and lifted her chin, meeting Rudie’s gaze.“It’s time.”

She didn’t say more.If she was going to fight to stand as the Alpha Female in the Omega Pack, then she had to start now by believing her word was law and not feeling the need to explain herself or having to sway others to comply with her decisions.

Rudie’s eyes flared, a flash of amber.

Heat infused Morlie’s eyes as her beast responded and raised its head, ready to come forth.

The smaller female’s gaze settled back to a soft brown as the amber of Rudie’s wolf faded.Proof the runt wolf accepted Morlie’s authority.More because Rudie was family, and it was easier for Rudie’s wolf to feel the claiming bond between Morlie and Chanin and bow to it.

“Alright.What do you need from me, Morlie?”

“Radio Lovel and Amira while I get ready.But only let them know we are headed to them and I need them to come with me to do something.”

Rudie walked to the living room to reach out to the other she-wolves.

“Faolan, I appreciate your time.Thanks for your advice.”Morlie glanced at the Warrior.

Just as silent as always, Faolan offered her a sharp nod before he turned and left the house, closing the door behind him firmly.

Snick.

Morlie went to the room to change into a sports bra and leggings, something she could still move in.The combat boots she slipped her feet into would help her stay grounded and provide more power if she kicked.

Ten minutes later, Morlie and Rudie strolled down the house’s front stairs.

“Congratulations, by the way.”Morlie bumped her friend's shoulder as they headed over to the Beta house, with Conri following behind them.“Wolcott is a perfect mate for you.”

Claimed mate, by the intense scent of the rabbit breeder all over the shorter female.Rudie smelled like lemon-mint sugary cookies, a saturated combination of Wolcott’s lemon-mint and the saccharine sweetness that was Rudie’s own.

“Um...thanks.”Rudie bowed her head, but not before Morlie saw the deepening of color and the broad smile on the other female’s face.“It’s strange.”

“What is?”

“Having someone so intimately inside my heart, feeling him through every part of my body all the time.Most of my life, since Chanin found me and marked me.”Rudie held up her wrist with Chanin’s wolf’s mark.“I’ve heard his voice in my head.But now, with Wolcott, it's different.It makes me feel whole and at peace and...”

Rudie’s voice drifted away as she lifted one hand to the space between her shoulder and neck and the other hand ran along the bend of her thigh—standard wolf-marked places.

“Horny.I believe that is the word,” Morlie teased.She knew firsthand how the claimed mark made her nipples and clit pulse and the walls of her sex clench as if begging for Chanin’s hard shaft...practically with every breath.

“Exactly.”Laughter rang out from Rudie.

Morlie joined in as she took the steps up the porch to get Lovel and Amira.With the coming event, she allowed herself to be present in the moment with her friend.

“What’s so funny?”Lovel pulled the door open after Morlie’s knock.

“What are you all talking about?”Amira, with her protruding belly, stepped into the open doorway beside Lovel.

“Rudie being claimed and fucked and the all-consuming horniness of it,” Morlie shared.

“Know it never goes away.”Lovel glanced at Amira as she linked her hand with her shifter mate.

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