Guardian Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page B

cocky bastard. “We’ll see who’s better trained, better nourished, and better motivated. When you mess with the Black Mesa Pack, you get more than you bargained for.”
    Even as she tossed off the threat, she wondered how the hell they could possibly run off five rogues without sustaining real injuries. Her words were half truth, half bluff. Kieran and Sara were in full fighting form, but Lily herself was merely in shape. She hadn’t been participating in full training for two years now, and it would show as soon as they started to scrap in earnest.
    Kieran gave her an imperceptible nudge, more of a tightening of his arm muscle against hers. He had an ace in the hole. What was it?
    “Sure,” said the rogue. Smug assurance again permeated every word, his entire stance. “Let’s go.”
    Before he could take a step, though, a familiar voice cut through the uneasy air from Lily’s right.
    “You might want to rethink that decision, rogue. The odds just got stacked...and now they’re well against you.”
    Lily’s heard Sara’s inhalation, laced with—interest? Then she smiled at the rogue, whose own smile had suddenly evaporated.
    “Darn. I was really looking forward to seeing what you’ve got. Guess it’ll have to wait for another time, rogue.” She inserted as much bravado into her voice as the rogue had, while never taking her eyes off him.
    Lily’s brothers, all three of them, stepped into view. They had somehow come up the stairs from the other adjoining bar and slipped down the connecting hallway. Why the hell hadn’t she scented them before now? She took a deep, unobtrusive breath through her sensitive nose and only now, when they were mere steps away, could it faintly detect them. They’d covered their tracks well with a simple product designed for hunters. Masking scent was an art form many wolves employed when necessary.
    Briefly wondering how her brothers had known about the intruders, Lily let a victorious grin suffuse her face. The rogue curled his lip. Frustration, annoyance, and something Lily couldn’t quite put her finger on altered his expression before it once again settled into the earlier disdain. He spared a glance for the male Bardous. Big, fit, and positively reeking of power, Lily’s siblings stood there, an additional flanking force. They didn’t need to take intimidating stances. Their mere presence was enough to scare most wolves, Pack or rogue, into instant submission.
    The rogue leader’s troops shifted nervously on their feet, although they didn’t break and run. But the rogue leader...his reaction was strange. He was outnumbered, and he knew it. Yet he wasn’t afraid. Before Lily could attempt to parse that reaction, he spoke in cool tones.
    “We’ll be back. You can’t deny us. Your alpha knows why. Maybe you should ask him.”
    With one last ice-chip look at Lily, the rogue leader pivoted on his motorcycle boot-clad feet with an oddly elegant fury and stalked out of the hotel. His followers crowded behind him in their haste. Whatever he had meant, they didn’t seem to buy into his same assurance.
    As soon as they’d exited, Lily spun toward her brothers. Kieran’s scent tickled at her again, supportive and already familiar.
    “What—? How—?”
    Rafe, the eldest of her younger brothers, laughed and stepped forward to throw an arm around her in a half-hug. She sensed he was checking her mental and emotional status as he did it, scenting her, making sure she was really okay on all levels. When he pulled back and cocked a pointed eyebrow at Kieran, Lily felt her face flush. But she met Rafe’s stare without standing down. Back off, little brother. I accept Kieran .
    Rafe’s lips quirked up in a grin of some surprise, though clearly he was pleased. “Well done, Lils. You looked like a full Pack Guardian with those rogues.” He shot the briefest glance at Sara. “Nice to see you, Sara.”
    There was no mistaking it. Lust was on Sara’s mind, and it was focused