Guardian Wolf by J.K. Harper Page A

gorgeous man once more and sucked in a sharp breath. He was staring directly at them. A raised eyebrow, a sardonic but bone-melting smile tugging his lips up...god. White heat zipped through her again and left her insides electric. Like the way she felt when she was on the prowl at night. The way she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in these past two dead years. The scent of people crowding the bar, alive and lush with their needs and hopes, washed over her. And whispering through came the promise of a lusciously self-indulgent mating frenzy—if she allowed it.
    Oh, yes, the undeniably feral tang of wolf. Lily’s nostrils flared as she caught a whiff of all the potential delights, and the cold seeped away in increments. The cowboy was Pack. She couldn’t possibly hurt him.
    “Lils, you owe it not only to yourself, but to our Pack. We need you functioning again.” Sara’s voice caught Lily’s attention again with its firm reason. “Look...your brothers made me do this tonight. Take you here. They said it’s time for you to meet someone. You’ve been ready. You just won’t admit it.”
    Even the cowboy’s seductive promise couldn’t keep indignation at bay.
    “They what?”
    Sara giggled before returning to her drink and settling back in her chair. She scanned the room as she had been doing since they arrived, checking out the available men for any possibilities of fun that evening. The local cowboys were hot, brazen, and sexy. Just Sara’s inexhaustible style. Sometimes, Lily wished she could be that casual about it all. She used to be. Before.
    “Knew that’d get you. Now, go get him . Before he changes his mind. You won’t hurt him, Lily. Look at him, for crying out loud.” Sara eyed Lily’s cowboy with critical appreciation again. To Lily’s own amusement, a flare of jealousy scampered through her. “He’s tough. He probably wrestles bulls in his spare time or something. And you want it. I can tell.” Sara gave Lily a pointed glance.
    Lily felt her cheeks heat. All wolf shifters could scent another’s arousal, regardless of gender or relationship, if those aroused didn’t bother to mask it—or were too fascinated by the object of their lust to focus on anything else.
    The worst of it was that they were right. Dammit. Lily needed to step back into her role as a Pack Guardian. She needed to regain her edge, her spark. Her driving hunger. And the only way to do that was by connecting with a male wolf in the most primal way imaginable. Through raw, hot-blooded, no-holds-barred sex. Wolves didn’t fear natural, carnal—some might even say “animalistic”— needs the way humans did. Instead, they craved and even relied on the energy of mating. To Pack, sex meant life. And the mating frenzy created the most vibrant, unrestrained life energy possible.
    Lily very deliberately shunned that need ever since the...event. Although she avoided her Pack duties, her father—the Alpha—let it slide. There were other Pack Guardians to pick up the slack, and they’d done so with remarkably little complaint. Lily’s indiscretion was of the type that hadn’t happened to this Pack in the history of the younger generations, and they’d been each and every one shocked, confused, and uncertain. Which meant they’d also treated Lily like a breakable piece of china ever since.
    She could coast a long time on her Packmate bonds by drawing off their own life energy, which they willingly shared. That’s what Pack bonds were for. But being fully involved in life and Pack Guardian duties, however, wasn’t happening. Not until she got in the saddle again.
    Her lips quirked up at her analogy. Bet the cowboy would love for her to get into his saddle. Mm...she did like the fact that her body was responsive tonight. It was a good sign.
    The last time she’d had sex—over two years ago—she’d lost control during it and bitten the man. A human. Which was expressly forbidden by ancient Pack law. He’d turned. And