She pushed her way through the thick, scratchy underbrush, headed back towards the town square. As she strolled down the street, she felt a sizzling in the air, and her inner wolf quivered with anticipation.
The handsome guy she’d shot down earlier walked up and thrust his hand out in greeting. She felt that same zing of attraction, and made a mental note that she should stay as far away from this guy as possible; he was way too tempting. That grin, the musky, masculine smell, the gleam in his eyes…
He was accompanied by two other male shifters, who hung back behind him and watched. One of them looked so much like him that they had to be related, and he was stifling an amused grin.
“Oh goody, I was wondering where you went,” she said to him with exasperation.
“Well, this is your lucky day, because here I am,” he said, her sarcasm completely sailing over his very handsome head. “So you may not have picked up on this before, but I’m the Alpha Prime. Now, around here, the Alpha Prime gets what he wants, but if they do things differently where you’re from, I can move a little slower. How about we start off with dinner?”
She reluctantly shook his hand. She’d probably made enough enemies for one day. She might as well at least try to be civil.
“Hello again. Sure are lots of Alphas around here,” she said.
His eyes narrowed. “Only one that counts,” he said. He sniffed at the air. “Oh, I scent that Creel stopped by for a visit. He has the eastern half of the territory.” He raised an eyebrow. “Did he give you a hard time? Or hit on you?”
“Neither one,” she lied. No sense stirring up even more trouble.
“Good.” The sexy grin returned. “I didn’t catch your name. Or what time we’ll be having dinner.”
“My name is Jamie Roberts, and thanks but no thanks,” she said, and his eyes widened in shock. One of his companions actually gasped.
“What?” she said to the hot guy’s friend. “This can’t be the first time anyone’s turned him down. He really doesn’t have much game.”
She could feel waves of anger radiating off Mr. Tall Dark and Sexy, and his brows drew together in a glower. “You’re Jamie Roberts? Is this some kind of joke?” he demanded.
“Is my name a joke? No. I like to think I have a better sense of humor than that,” she said, getting annoyed now.
He looked her up and down. “You’re female.”
All right, so he was gorgeous but stupid. “My goodness, I can see why you’re Alpha Prime. Your powers of observation are simply amazing.” Oops. She’d meant to stop smarting off. She really had.
“They sent a female.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Uh, yes, you may not have noticed this, but there was a whole bus full of females who just arrived. A couple of dozen.”
“No, I mean the Montenegro pack actually sent a female to death-challenge me. Did you not hear me when I said I was the Alpha Prime? Miles Williams. I killed your cousin Shaun last week when he stole tools from our job site.”
Dakota felt her heart stutter in her chest.
Death challenge? What the hell? What had Tina gotten her into?
And apparently word had spread among all the other shifters – which would explain why they’d been staring at her with pity and amazement. And it explained why everyone kept giving her food. They really did think it would be her last meal. Maybe they were right.
She took a deep breath and tried to think. What would her father do in this situation? Whatever he would do, she’d do the opposite. Her father would bully and attack. So she’d stay calm and use reason. Well, she’d fake being calm; right now her heart was beating so fast she thought it might burst through her ribcage.
“Well then. What proof do you have that he was stealing?” she asked.
“Proof?” He stared at her in astonishment.
“Yes, proof. If you were going to kill a man for stealing, you’d want to have proof of it. Otherwise you’d be a cold-blooded murderer. And I don’t think you are, or you’d have killed me already.”
Miles’s lip curled in a sardonic smile.
“Proof? Me and my Omega, Baldwin here, caught him in the act. So unless you’re calling me a liar…”
“No, you have no reason to lie.”
He shrugged. “So. Death challenge is off, then, unless your pack defends thieves.” Obviously, no pack would openly defend a thief. Challenging another pack for territory, women, or property was acceptable – whether it was two Alphas going up against each other or all-out pack war. Sneaking in and stealing in the middle of the night was viewed as cowardly and weak.