took a handful of her hair. He used it to force her to her feet and up against the wall, shoving her with a hip in a gesture that was both sexual and violent. He leaned his face into hers. âJust you wait. Maybe heâll decide to let me punish you again. Iâd like that.â
She remembered the last time heâd been allowed to punish her and couldnât suppress her reaction. He enjoyed her panic and was pressed close enough that she could feel it.
âI donât think that sheâs the one who is going to be punished,â Charles said, his voice still soft. But something in Anna loosened. He wouldnât let Justin hurt her.
She couldnât have said why she knew thatâsheâd certainly found out that just because a wolf wouldnât hurt her didnât mean he wouldnât stop anyone else from hurting her.
âI didnât tell you to talk,â Justin snarled, his head snapping away from her so he could glare at the other man. âIâll deal with you when Iâm finished.â
The legs of Charlesâs chair made a rough sound on the floor as he stood. Anna could hear him dust off his hands lightly.
âI think you are finished here,â he said in a completely different voice. âLet her go.â
She felt the power of those words go through her bones and warm her stomach, which had been chill with fear. Justin liked to hurt her even more than he desired her unwilling body. Sheâd fought him until she realized that pleased him even more. Sheâd learned quickly that there was no way for her to win a struggle between them. He was stronger and faster, and the only time sheâd broken away from him, the rest of the pack had held her for him.
At Charlesâs words, though, Justin released her so quickly that she staggered, though that didnât slow her down as she ran as far away from him as she could get, which was the kitchen. She picked up the marble rolling pin that had been her grandmotherâs and held it warily.
Justin had his back to her, but Charles saw her weapon and, briefly, his eyes smiled at her before he turned his attention to Justin.
âWho the hell are you?â Justin spat, but Anna heard beyond the anger to fear.
âI could return the question,â said Charles. âI have a list of all the werewolves in the Chicago packs and your name is not on it. But that is only part of my business here. Go home and tell Leo that Charles Cornick is here to talk with him. I will meet him at his house at seven this evening. He may bring his first six and his mate, but the rest of his pack will stay away.â
To Annaâs shock, Justin snarled once, but, with no more protest than that, he left.
C HAPTER 2
T HE wolf who scared Anna so badly hadnât wanted to leave, but he wasnât dominant enough to do anything about it as long as Charles was watching. Which was why Charles waited a few seconds and then quietly followed him down the stairs.
The next flight down, he found Justin standing in front of a door prepared to knock on it. He was pretty sure it was Karaâs door. Somehow it didnât surprise him that Justin would look for another way to punish Anna for his forced retreat. Charles scuffed his boot on the stairs and watched the other wolf stiffen and drop his arm.
âKaraâs not home,â Charles told him. âAnd hurting her would not be advisable.â
Charles wondered if he should just kill him nowâ¦but he had a reputation that his father couldnât afford for him to lose. He only killed those who broke the Marrokâs rules, and he only did it after their guilt was established.
Anna had told his father that Justin was the wolf who changed Alan MacKenzie Frazier against his will, but since there were so many things wrong in this pack there might have been mitigating circumstances. Anna had been a werewolf for three years and no one had told her that she could not have
R. C. Farrington, Jason Farrington