Whisper Pride Pack (7 page)

Conan was driving home after running his mother’s ‘get out
of the house so I can meet my daughter-in-law’ errand, listening to Randale talk
about Cassie. Last night she had hit on his brother, walking into his room
naked and trying to get him to sleep with her. Cassie was shown none too
politely out of his room and warned never to try it again. Conan shook his head
at the depths the female was going to.

Of course, it might have been avoided if Randale hadn’t
chosen to stay at the pack house rather than taking a cabin for himself, Conan
knew why but he never let on. There was a small two-bed cabin that remained
empty for when he changed his mind.

When they arrived at the cabin and went inside Conan glanced
over at the sofa and saw was his mate sitting next to his mother with tears
streaming down her face. Shit! Rushing to her side, he was shocked to scent
happiness. He was even more amazed when his mate and his mother both burst out
in uncontrollable laughter. He glanced at Randale to see a stunned look on his
face too. Although that didn’t last long as he too began to chuckle.

“Man, you should really see your face right now,” his
brother said with glee.

Frowning, Conan glanced at his mate once more to make sure
she was okay and then stomped to the kitchen, throwing a well-aimed punch at
his brother’s arm.

He stood in the kitchen feeling a little silly. When he’d walked
into the cabin his first impression was that Josie was upset, only to find she
was simply laughing so hard she was crying. The laughter tapered off from the
other room and it grew silent, then he heard his mate’s soft footsteps coming
up behind him, and her arms engulfed his waist. He was pleased to see her
relaxed and happy. He knew she had been dreading meeting his mother. He quickly
picked her up, making her yelp, and swung her onto the counter, placing his
body firmly between her legs. The yellow flowered dress that she was wearing
moved up around her thighs, and he could feel her heated pussy through her
skimpy panties.

“Hey,” she said, lightly punching his shoulder.

“Hey you,” he replied and pulled her toward him, kissing her
sweet lips. “So you like my mother then?” he asked.

“Honey, I love your mother. I can see exactly where Randale
gets his funny side from. She told me all kinds of stuff about your childhood.
The time when you fell out of a tree thinking you could turn into a bird, the
time—”

He slammed his lips down on hers again, not wanting to hear
the foolish things he had done as a kid.

“Hey, no making my grandbabies on that counter,” his mother
snapped sharply at them as she walked into the kitchen.

He groaned at being caught out and at having company when he
wanted to be balls deep inside his mate. He was horny as hell. He hadn’t been
able to wake up with Josie because of a foolish errand his mother had sent him
and his brother on. His mate smelled fantastic, tantalizing and just yum.
Placing his nose in the crook of Josie’s neck, he breathed in deeply. He could
feel the heat from her cheeks on his.

“I love it when you get all embarrassed.” He lifted his head
and kissed her chin, moving all the way up to the burning skin.

“Conan,” she complained, wriggling against his cock, causing
him to groan again.

He couldn’t take another second without being inside her. Not
saying anything to his mother, he picked his mate up, threw her over his
shoulder, and practically ran to their bedroom, shutting and locking their door
behind him. He threw her on the bed and immediately covered her with his body.
Lifting her dress as he went, he kissed his way up from her stomach to her
neck, lapping over his mark.

“Conan, your mother.”

“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll just tell her we’re making her
grandbabies.” He watched her face as he said it, waiting to see some kind of
reaction. He was pleased when he saw a smile and not a frown. “You like that
idea, huh?”

“Well, we haven’t exactly been using anything, and to be
honest, although everything has happened so quickly, it feels right.”

His heart danced the mambo. Yes, it felt right, there was no
question about it.

A knock at the bedroom door made them both groan.

“Conan Channon Lyall, that was rather rude. Dinner will be
ready in an hour or so. Make them babies, then come and join me.”

He groaned and ducked his head down on his mate’s chest. Damn,
his mother could be so embarrassing. He was Alpha of a pack for fuck’s sake,
and yet his mother always made him feel like a boy. He had to lift his head up
when his head began to vibrate with his mate’s laughter.

“Now who has a red face?” She chuckled.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he muttered, sliding down her body and
pulling her panties off with his teeth. He ran his tongue through her nether
lips and was satisfied to hear her laughter stopping and a moan of pleasure
instead.

* * * *

Conan and Josie didn’t emerge from their room until Sunday
morning. His mother had left their meal outside their room on a tray when they
didn’t make it to the table. He walked into the kitchen with a satisfied smirk
on his face, but seeing his mother sitting at the table with Randale and a
rather worried Daisy startled him.

“What’s going on?” he asked gruffly.

“Paige is missing,” Daisy said in a small voice. “She wasn’t
at tea last night and her bed wasn’t slept in either.”

This worried Conan. Paige was the bookworm of the twin girls.
She was the close-to-home child, and she would never disappear without making
sure her father knew where she was, which was normally either the library or
work.

“Where’s your father?”

“He was rather agitated, so I sent him off to search the
area with a couple of enforcers,” Randale replied. “If she crossed our
boundaries, we’ll know.” He stood up and walked to one of the tall windows,
looking out.

“Go, brother. I know you want to get out there. Report back
with any info. I’ll stay here with the females.” Conan knew his brother’s
secret and now that he was mated didn’t know how he had stayed away from Paige
so long.

Without looking back, his brother left, stripped, and
shifted.

“Daisy, has Paige fought with anyone or had any kind of
problem?” Josie asked, sitting down next to the young woman. Conan smiled as he
watched his mate become the Alpha female he knew she was.

Daisy fiddled with her fingers tightly balled up in her lap.
“Cassie,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. “Yesterday morning Cassie
discovered Paige was Randale’s mate, and went she ballistic. She trashed her
room.”

“Fuck it!” Conan cursed. “I knew that bloody woman was going
to be trouble.”

Going to the front door he called out to Trey, who was one
of the pack’s top enforcers. He knew the man would be in wolf form, circling
his cabin. A huge black wolf with a white stripe on his head came darting out
of the woods and stood at the bottom of the porch stairs waiting for
instructions.

“Go tell Randale it could be Cassie. Send Kyle to
investigate her room for anything, and bring me her parents and brothers.”

The wolf nodded and ran back into the woods.

* * * *

So this was how it would be in a pack, Josie marveled. She
was still sitting at the kitchen table an hour later with Daisy and Rosemary
and a few of the other pack women, two of them human like she was. The mugs of
tea had kept coming but were left on the table, mostly cold now. Conan was good
to his word and had never left the cabin except to stand on the porch.

Most of the male pack members were out sniffing around the
borders. It turned out Cassie and her car were missing along with Paige. Her
family, except for her mother who was waiting outside on the porch, had joined
the pack looking for her. Suddenly all heads in the kitchen turned toward the front
door. Josie realized their shifter hearing had brought something to their
attention. She stood up and followed the group of women now walking in that
direction.

Outside, to Josie’s embarrassment, three very naked men were
standing, holding an extremely untidy and also naked Cassie. Surrounding them
was a group of wolves in various colors and sizes. Randale walked out of the
woods, also naked, carrying an unconscious female. Daisy’s knees buckled, and she
fell to the porch with her hands over her face. Josie could hear the heart-wrenching
sobs coming from the girl. Her mother stood frozen to the spot behind her.

A salt-and-pepper colored wolf to the right of Cassie
shifted into an elderly man with short gray hair, and he rushed toward Daisy. “It’s
okay, honey. She’s okay, just sleeping,” he said, reassuringly brushing the
girl’s hair. “We found her drugged in the back of Cassie’s car when she tried
to leave pack land.” When the girl’s sobs quietened, he walked to his wife and
engulfed her in his arm.

The elderly man and his wife, Daisy, and a young lad—Josie couldn’t
remember his name, but she knew he was Daisy’s mate—followed Randale and Paige
into the cabin, all of them followed by Rosemary. Josie went to stand beside
Conan and watched in amazement as the firmly held Cassie still tried to fight
the men holding her.

“Enough!” boomed Conan, making Josie jump a little. “Why?”
he asked Cassie who had now bowed her head to him.

“Why do they get to have you and Randale as fucking mates
when I can’t! I wanted you! I was supposed to be your mate! Then fucking Paige
tells me yesterday she thinks Randale is hers. What about me? What about
fucking me?” Cassie’s face turned red as she sneered and spat with fury ripping
through her.

Josie watched as if in slow motion Cassie suddenly shifted
into a muddy brown wolf and darted forward. She jumped up, reaching the top of
the porch stairs, lunging at Josie in one quick move. Conan’s huge white wolf
stopped Cassie from reaching Josie. He had shifted so fast that strips of
material that had been a white shirt and jeans still hung from tatters over
him. They rolled down the stairs, landing at the bottom with Conan’s wolf
subduing the female on her back and standing over her, placing his teeth around
her neck. When Cassie still didn’t give in, he swiped a paw along the stomach
of the female wolf as another warning.

Conan had told Josie an awful lot over the week, so she knew
he was trying to get the wolf to submit, showing her who was boss. If she
didn’t submit, he would rip her throat out, condemning her to death. Josie
watched in amazement with only a little fear. It had been a shock to see the
wolf lunge at her, but it was a little hot to see her man shift so quick to
protect her.

Josie walked to the top of the stairs but couldn’t get any
closer to her man or the still snarling wolf under him as two other wolves
stepped forward, stopping her momentum. She stopped only because she knew they
were protecting her. She placed a hand on each of their heads, letting them
know that she understood.

It didn’t take long for Cassie to shift back to her human
form. Conan shifted and stood towering over the now cowering woman.

“You have sentenced yourself today for your actions.
Jealousy? Come on, Cassie, I thought you were better than that. I feel sorry
for your family having to watch their only daughter do something so despicable.
Do you have anything to say?”

Josie watched with a heavy heart as her mate paced in front
of his pack. She could hear his anger and sadness. She wanted to rush over to
him and wrap her arms around him, but knowing now wasn’t the right time, she
held herself still and waited.

Cassie didn’t answer Conan’s question but did look
remorseful. She raised herself up so she was kneeling in front of the gathered
pack with her head lowered. A brown-haired male wolf entered the circle with
Cassie’s mother walking beside him and stood before Cassie. The woman leaned
over and kissed Cassie’s cheek, tears rolling down her face through red, puffy
eyes. Josie thought she could almost hear the woman’s heart breaking. The wolf
must have been Cassie’s father. He didn’t even shift or approach the girl, he
just turned his back on his daughter and walked out of the circle, nudging his
wife before him.

Conan nodded toward the couple of men who stood around
Cassie, then he followed her parents. Josie watched the pair as they quietly
spoke to her mate. After seemingly making a decision, he walked back into the
circle and stood again in front of Cassie. From the expression on his face,
Josie could tell his heart was heavy.

The two men behind Cassie pulled the woman up and made her
stand before her Alpha.

“For kidnapping Paige, a female pack member, and for the
attempt on my mate’s life right before my eyes, it would be nothing short of
death for you. But...” Conan paused, glancing around at the surrounding pack
before returning his gaze to Cassie. “This is only for the sake of your family,
Cassie. You will be banished to the east cave where you will live out your
days. You are forbidden to leave pack land. If you do, it’s an instant death
penalty.” He turned again to the pack. “No one is to see her from now on!” he
declared, then turned back to Cassie. “Now shift!” he barked.

Josie watched as Cassie shifted to her muddy brown wolf form
and turned her flank toward Conan. He swiped a long raking claw over the wolf’s
hide, leaving four undeniable deep claw marks on her hide. The pack turned their
backs on Cassie as she was led away by three wolf enforcers, her parents
following behind.

The pack had quickly dispersed after Conan announced that
the full moon ceremony for the mating of Daisy and Raff would still take place
next weekend. He also added that with the permission of the pair that he and
Josie would be sharing it. It evened out the emotions they were feeling. Banishing
or losing a pack member was a big thing. He couldn’t have killed Cassie, but he
wanted to. When he had seen her wolf lunge at his mate he wanted to sink his
teeth into her throat and rip it out.

Conan had never had any reason to banish anyone before. Females
shifters were a rare thing and it was shame to lose one. Even with what Cassie
had done, banishment would still be a hard thing to deal with. But her hair
extensions and manicures were now a thing of the past. She would live her days
away from the pack. The cave would be her only comfort now, and it had no
amenities. She would have to hunt using her wolf, and use the streams and lake
for bathing and water. She would only have visits from her parents and brothers.
They, of course, could take her some luxuries that didn’t require electricity,
but from the disgust of her father, Conan knew it would only be her mother that
visited for a long time. It would take her brothers a while too.

The mark he had placed on her flank would scar in both human
and wolf. It would forever be a warning to any shifter who came across her that
she wasn’t to be approached. Conan honestly thought living without the company
of a pack would be worse than death itself, but it would have killed Cassie’s
mother to lose her daughter by the Alpha’s hand.

After making sure that Paige, her family, and his brother
were okay, he had pulled his own mate to their room and explained what she
didn’t understand about the afternoon. He then made slow but passionate love to
her for the rest of the night, making sure she knew that he would always be
there to protect and love her.

He lay there for ages watching Cassie over and over in his
head shift and lunge for his mate. It was quite a while before he slept even
though he knew she was safe and wrapped up in his arms.

The next week flew past. He hired Daisy as the new
receptionist, it would help when she and Raff moved in together after their
mating. She worked hard and fitted into the office well. With his mate working
alongside of him as well it made time more enjoyable.

Randale had also begun to finally accept that Paige was his
mate. It was their mother’s constant badgering at her son that brought them
together. But the pair had chosen to wait until the next full moon to have
their mating ceremony.

Conan was enjoying being mated. Josie could be as horny as
he was, like this morning he had been dreaming about her sucking his erection
only to wake up as he came and finding himself jetting his seed down his mate’s
throat. He repaid her in kind by taking her from behind over his desk later at
dinner time. Well, the woman had bent over, what was a man to do?

It was Friday and they were locking up for the weekend.
There were no overnighters, and with it being a full moon weekend and the
mating reception taking place, they were free to have some fun. A banging on
the emergency door had them both rushing toward it. They were shocked to see
two uniformed men covered in blood, both trying to tell them about an injured
police dog in the back of their van.

Taking quick action, the four of them carried in the wounded
Alsatian and placed it on the treatment table. The police had been raiding a
nearby crack house, taking the dog in to sniff out the drugs. Thinking a
certain area was empty, they sent the dog in, but it had startled a drugged-up
bloke hiding in a huge box. The bloke had jumped out and cracked the dog over
the head with a crowbar.

A few hours later the dog had been x-rayed, shaved, cleaned,
and stitched. The poor thing would wake up with a decent-sized headache but was
pretty damn lucky to get away without a skull fracture.

“Are you sure you don’t want to leave him here overnight so
we can watch him?” Conan asked one of the officers.

“No, thanks. My wife is a nurse at the hospital, so she’ll
know what to watch for. We’ll call if she suspects anything is wrong. You know
where to send the bill.” The officer shook Conan’s hand and walked out to his
van.

Conan turned to see Marty, the other copper, talking to
Josie. Sniffing the air as he walked toward them, he got wind of her fear and
walked quicker, his wolf growling in his head.

“Thank you, sir,” Josie replied, taking hold of the small
white card the officer gave her.

Marty nodded and shook their hands, then left the building.

Conan quickly gathered his mate up in his arms.

“He recognized me,” she whispered into his chest. “My mother
reported me as a missing person. Marty identified me from a circulated picture
she gave them. I have to go down to the station tomorrow and sign a statement
saying I’m okay.”

He looked down at her sweet but pale face. “I’m here, baby. We’ll
go together.”

“They aren’t allowed to tell her where I am, only that I’m
safe, but what if she finds me? What if
he
finds me?”

Smacking his lips together in a comical way, he replied,
“Mmm, breakfast,” and smiled down at her.

“Seriously, Conan,” she objected. “What if he does?”

“Sweetheart, I will be here. My wolf and I are both in
agreement that he won’t touch a hair on your sweet body.”

Safe!
His wolf growled.

“Come on, baby, let’s go home.”