As Katrina threaded her way between the tables, the customers fell silent and looked away, pretending to be very interested in something invisible just outside the coffee shop’s picture window.
So, they’d all heard. Lovely.
Everybody in town had been happy enough to accept her stepfather’s very generous donations of a new town library, and the other charitable organizations he’d donated to over the past couple of years – the Senior Shifters Respite Center, the new high school stadium…so why were they so eager to turn on him now?
She walked up to the counter, feeling the gazes of a dozen shifters burning into her. “I’d like a Cinammon Latte,” she said to Paige, the coyote shifter who was behind the counter. “To go.” Suddenly she didn’t feel like hanging out in town any more. She’d drink her latte as she drove back home.
“Uh…I’m sorry, Katrina, I can’t,” Paige said, with an apologetic wince. “Maddox’s orders.”
“Excuse me? You won’t even sell me a cup of coffee?”
Paige shook her head.
This was unbelievable. She’d been shopping in this town since she was a child. How could Maddox have this much power? Weren’t the merchants worried about the loss of business that they’d suffer? He must have them running scared, to make this kind of sacrifice.
“You’re not even a member of his pack,” Katrina protested, feeling anger and frustration welling up inside.
“He offers us protection when we need it. And nobody wants to get on his bad side.” Paige looked beyond Katrina at the person behind her. “Next?” she called out, as if Katrina wasn’t there.
Katrina turned and walked out of the store, seething.
She hesitated, considering her next move. She heard voices behind her and jumped, but it was just a group of gopher shifters. As they walked past her, she saw her friend Stacey Dawson, from high school. There was a wolf shifter with them that she didn’t recognize.
“Hey, Stacey,” she called out.
There was no way that Stacey didn’t hear her, but everyone in the group ignored her and quickened their pace, almost breaking into a jog without even looking back. They rushed around the corner, tension radiating from their bodies.
Good. God. Was Maddox even turning her friends against her? The gophers lived on the property that bordered her pack’s land. She had gone to school with them, they’d gone to parties at each other’s houses, Stacey had come to her sweet sixteen…
She hadn’t seen much of any of the gophers over the past year. She’d called Stacey a few times and never gotten a call back. She had thought that maybe it had something to do with her stepfather doing a lot of construction in the area that bordered his land – maybe it had upset them somehow? Now she wondered if the real reason was that the Killingworth pack had threatened them.
She was so furious at Maddox Killingworth right now that she was ready to spit.
So, of course as she hurried back to her car, Maddox and several of his men stepped out from a behind a van that was now parked right next to it.
Maddox was tall, so tall she had to tip her head back to look at him. Like all Alphas, he spent a lot of time at the gym. His white t shirt perfectly molded to his muscular form. Tattoos adorned his right arm. She loved tattoos on a guy – any other guy than Maddox, of course. He had a strong jaw with a hint of scruff on it, and thick brown hair. He kept his hair close shaved on the sides. His dark brown eyes always held a glint of mischief in them.
Carver Lawrence, head of pack security, was with him, and several of Maddox’s cousins, and other pack mates.
Maddox walked up to her, blocking her path, and his gaze swept over her body, from head to toe. It was a slow, blatant appraisal that made her whole body heat up. He lingered on her breasts a moment before sweeping upward, forcing unwanted visions of him sucking on her nipples. Her heart hammered against her rib cage and her mouth went dry.
She swallowed hard, but met his gaze with a challenging scowl.
“Enjoying the view?” she growled.
“Of course,” Maddox smiled. “Always.”
“Well, Maddox, I’d love to just stand here and bask in your glorious presence, but I’ve actually exceeded my recommended daily allowance of scumbag. If you’ll excuse me.”
She tried to step around him, and he moved to block her.
“What’s the rush? We never talk. How’s your day going?” He grinned.
She skewered him with a furious glare.
“You know exactly how my day is going, since you’ve poisoned everyone in town against us.”
Maddox let out a snort of contempt. “Did I do that, or did your stepfather do that? Has it occurred to you that the reason that everybody is so eager to enforce the ban is because they can’t stand your pack now that your stepfather’s in charge?”
“No. It’s because they’re terrified of you.” She spit the words out.
He shook his head. “They asked us for help, and we obliged. They don’t want your pack in town any more. He’s trying to order the town’s councilmen around, demanding that they change building laws just to suit him, threatening to kill the property appraiser for refusing to re-draw the pack’s property lines. Your stepfather’s nephews are the town bullies, starting fights, causing property damage, stealing and threatening to hurt anyone who reports them.”
“I’m not even going to dignify those accusations with a response.” Would Kory and Randy really do that? Sure, they had hair trigger tempers, but…
She turned to walk away. He wasn’t going to let her get in her car? Fine, she’d call her pack and get someone to come pick her up.
Carver stepped in front of her.
She felt Maddox’s hand close on her shoulder, squeezing hard. It sent an electric jolt through her body. She’d never actually touched him before. For just the briefest moment, she had the temptation to reach up and cover his hand with her own, to lean back into him…
She must be having a stroke or something.
She tried to shrug his hand off and when he wouldn’t let go, she spun around to face him. “Get your paws off of me!”
He shook his head. “Sorry. We issued an edict, you disobeyed and disrespected my pack. I can’t let that slide.”
Her skin itched, and fur briefly rippled over her face. Her claws shot out. She forced them to retract, struggling to stay in human form. And damn it, he’d just made her ruin her manicure, which she was adding to her list of reasons to hate him.
“So what do you plan on doing about it? Giving me a beatdown?” She glared at him. If he tried, she’d shift and draw blood. Of course he’d totally kick her ass, but she didn’t care.
Maddox looked highly amused at that. “Me, hit a lady? Or you, for that matter?”
Katrina tried to slap him and he caught her wrist in a steely grip. “Only if she asks very nicely, and only under certain special circumstances. I’ve got a better idea.” In one swift motion he grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder, and one of his pack-mates slapped a copper collar on her neck. Now she couldn’t shift.
Carver had opened the van’s back door, and Maddox dumped her in there and slammed the door shut with a clanging sound.
“You son of a bitch!” she shrieked. “You mongrel! Your parents have fleas! You have a fake pedigree! I will kill you, I swear to God!”
The van started up and drove off. She was actually being kidnapped. She, Katrina Hager, was being kidnapped.
Damn it to hell and back again. She was supposed to be helping one of her aunts with a catering job tomorrow – to say nothing of how her mother was going to react. She’d be furious about the embarrassment to the pack and blame it on Katrina.
She clawed at the door; there was no lock on the inside. They drove for about twenty minutes. She tried without success to pull the collar off her neck. She screamed, she kicked the back door, she kicked the walls. Then she got tired of it and her feet started to hurt, so she sat down and imagined all the ways her pack was going to get revenge on Maddox and his crew.
Oh, Maddox was going to get the Death Challenge to end all Death Challenges.
Chapter Two
Maddox swung open the door to the room where they’d put Katrina, and a heavy hardcover book went flying at his head. He caught it, walked in, and shut the door behind him. He didn’t bother to lock it; he knew she couldn’t get past him.
He glanced down at the book. “So, you recommend James Rollins?” he said. “I haven’t read him yet, but I’ll give him a try when I have some free time.” He set the book down on a small wooden table and sat down.
Katrina was sitting on the bed, her shining hair rumpled, brown eyes blazing with rage.
He still felt that sharp stab of longing deep inside, the one that he’d felt since the first time he’d seen her back in high school. It was like a strong magnetic pull.
Katrina was the main reason he’d screwed around so much in high school and then college, always trying to sate a hunger that could never be satisfied. She was the reason he’d stayed single, hadn’t bothered to claim a mate yet despite everyone’s urging. It wouldn’t be fair to whoever he mated with. Until he banished this ridiculous fixation, the only thing that made sense was to stay single and keep his relationships brief and no strings attached.