Between Two Wolves and a Hard Place Read Online Free PDF Page A

Dean?" Her voice is low and sultry. "You thinking about that girl from your past? What's her name? Kerry?"
    "You know what her name is," I say, turning to lock eyes with her. She smiles, completely unabashed. Her ability to lock eyes with me was what finally convinced me she might work as our mate.
    "Hmm," she said, squeezing the muscles of my leg. "Kiera. Your ghost from the past." She knows she's playing with fire, but she plays anyway.
    "Yeah."
    Leena smiles, but there's no humor in her expression. It's darkly seductive, calling to my wolf. "Take me outside, around back. Press me against the wall. Take your aggression out on me. Make me moan. You'll feel better. You'll feel so much better."
    And oh, how I want to. But I also know that will only make things worse in a way I don't quite understand. Each time I give in to my impulses, each time I unleash my anger, Leena's hold on me grows. It makes no sense. She's weaker than I am. I'm the alpha. Yet she understands me. Part of me. In a way I don't. And the more I dominate her, the less control I seem to have.
    "A glass for my lady," says Drake, setting a glass down before her. Leena flashes a smile at Drake and sits back, releasing my thigh. He taps me on the shoulder. "Hey, Dean. Come help me pick a song on the jukebox."
    "Pick it yourself," I say.
    His grip tightens on my shoulder to the point of being painful. I look up at him. His pale blue eyes bore into mine. Drake may be a nice guy, but his grip can crush rock. "Come pick a song with me, Dean." His voice is soft.
    I sigh and rise to my feet. Drake leads the way across the bar to the jukebox, and slides a quarter into the slot. I cross my arms and lean against the wall next to him. "What?"
    Drake punches the button, and the list of songs flips over. He doesn't look at me. "I don't know, Dean."
    I study his face. "Don't know what?"
    "About this. What we're doing. Leena."
    I look past Drake to where Leena sits, sipping her wine, checking her phone. "You're just stirred up by seeing Kiera."
    Drake looks sidelong at me. "Aren't you? And maybe, yeah, I am. Maybe seeing her gave me a dose of perspective."
    I open my mouth to protest, but he overrides me. "Listen. This relationship with Leena. It's twisting you, man. I feel like I'm losing you to her." He turns to face me. "When I walked back to the table just now, the expression on both your faces freaked me out. You looked like you were about to attack her, and she looked excited by the prospect."
    I curl my lip mockingly. "What? You want us to go court Kiera now that's she's rolled into town?"
    "No." Drake shakes his head. "Don't get me wrong. Leena is... Leena is gorgeous. Beautiful. Smart. She's better at politics than either of us. But I'm having second thoughts. She's changing who we are. Her influence on you. I'm concerned, man."
    I don't want to hear this. I remember a night years ago, when Kiera and I went swimming in a pool in the mountains where a waterfall cascaded down five yards into the emerald water. How young and beautiful she looked, how she shivered, her skin goosepimpled as I brought her close for our first kiss. How she tasted of the mineral water and ChapStick. How my heart thundered, fit to burst. Her shy smile when she pulled away. That moment of pure, unadulterated joy.
    I thrust that memory away deep. The fact that it's resurfaced makes me feel even angrier. "You're just complaining because Leena wants me more than she wants you." It's true. Leena isn't nearly as fascinated by Drake as she is by me. I think it's because he's too good-natured. He's a better person than I am. It's a fact I've come to accept this past year.
    "No," he says, voice hard. "It's because she's turning you into an asshole and a stranger."
    My wolf snarls deep within me. "Yeah?" I step in close. I've never fought with Drake. We've had our arguments, but always we've stood shoulder to shoulder. Tonight, though, I'm adrift. I'm lost in the dark waters of my soul. "If I'm such an