When Lust Rules by Virginia Cavanaugh Page B

eyes. He wasn’t happy. He whispered something
to Arik, but Arik cast him a dark look that had him holding on to the rest of
his words. The wolves advanced, including Luken. Another wolf fell in beside
him. A hand on her shoulder had her jumping with a small yelp. Her gaze met a
dark-black stare, but she relaxed when she realized it was the man who had been
speaking to Arik and Ivan.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. My name is Scott
and I need you to come with me.”
    She swallowed hard and nodded as she accepted his offered
hand.
    “Ashok and Jasmine, you’re with me.”
    The black wolf joined the lighter one that had been guarding
her and together they set off into the trees.

Chapter Seven
     
    Luken stepped under the hot spray of the shower. Water
cascaded down his body, turning pink as it circled the drain in the floor. He’d
killed a human tonight, and he hadn’t been the only one. His pack took down
five of Arik’s men before they confronted him in the clearing. Most of his pack
members had only sustained mild injuries they would recover quickly from. All
except Mitchell, who had taken a bullet to the shoulder. A few more inches and
it would have hit his lung. It would take him at least a few days to be back in
action again. Their kind healed fast, but some injuries took a little longer.
    With a growl Luken hammered his fist against the tile, but
not hard enough to crack it. This wasn’t his home, and even though he was
alpha, he wouldn’t disrespect someone else’s domain. While in Konrad’s pack he
hadn’t minded when his alpha came over looking for a brawl to release tension
because Konrad always replaced everything that was damaged, usually with
something better. But hell, he was fresh out with his own pack and didn’t have
the funds to waste on a lack of self-control. Next month would mark the last
payment to Konrad, and then he could finally start building a large nest egg
for his pack. Konrad had given him a small loan when he started out, but it had
been Luken’s top goal to pay him back. The alpha in him didn’t do well with owing
anyone.
    He quickly washed and got out. He’d stopped by Javin’s on
the way back into the den. Julie had been frightened enough for one night, she
didn’t need to see him walk into his house naked with blood covering his skin.
Javin had set out a pair of sweatpants on the counter. Luken quickly put them
on.
    On the other side of the bathroom door he could hear his top
advisors discussing the incident. No doubt they would want some answers, but
none of them would outright ask. They would never question their alpha, but a
good alpha didn’t hold things away from his pack.
    But what could he tell them? It wasn’t as if she was his
mate. The whole damn thing frustrated the hell out of him. At least one thing
seemed for certain. He would give her the option of being turned—of joining his
pack. And if the mate bond didn’t form between them then, he’d just have to
keep her in his bed until his wolf got with the program, because at some point
the man had chosen, and he wanted Julie.
    Teeth clenched, he gripped the brass doorknob and yanked.
That fucker, Ivan had shitty timing. Had the fucktard not chosen then to make
an appearance, Luken would still be buried balls deep inside Julie, relishing
every sigh and whimper she made as he rode her body hard.
    His cock sprang to life at the thought. Great, now he would
be addressing his wolves with a raging boner. This should be awesome. He tried
to think of every boner-deflating thought as he walked down the hall. At least
he was down to a semi when he walked into the kitchen.
    Six expectant faces looked his way. None of them said a
word. It was a heady feeling when that kind of loyalty came your way. Luken
looked at each of them in turn. Two females and four males. His inner circle.
All of them made him proud to call them pack.
    Javin and Scott leaned against the long counter while
Fausta, Elena, Tobias and