The Beast In Him (Pride, #2)

by Shelly Laurenston

She-wolves were real simple to understand if you followed three simple rules: Don’t irritate them, don’t stare them down unless you’ve got a death wish or you’re sure you can take them, and don’t irritate them.

He’d forgotten about her temper. The girl could get mad at a bag of donuts.

Cause I always love a challenge.” He’d caught her with that when she was halfway in the cab. With one foot in and the other still braced against the curb, she stared at him. “What challenge?”

“You’re challenging me to get you back into my life.” “No, I’m not.”

“Your exact words were ‘I challenge you, Bobby Ray Smith, to get me back into your life.’” “I never said that.” “That’s what I heard.” The beauty of wolf hearing. You heard only what you wanted to, made up what was never said...

“Is there something wrong with you? Mentally?” “Darlin’, you met my family. You’ve gotta b...

“No, because that’s what friends do for friends. We help each other out. And no matter what you think, we’re still friends.”

“What planet are you living on anyway?”

“I don’t know. But it’s nice. There are fire hydrants every...

She knew that would work. Johnny hated when she rambled. But most important, she’d defused a situation she wasn’t really in the mood to deal with. She briefly wondered if the skill was built into her DNA. Her mom could do the same thing.

Smitty leaned forward, resting his arms on his raised knees. “I’m fixin’ to get mad, Jessie.” “You’re fixin’ to get mad?” “Yeah.” “Why don’t you just get mad?” “I’m not there yet. But I will be if you don’t start talking to me.” Jessie pushed herself to her feet. “I have nothing to say.”

So out of it, he didn’t realize he had his fangs out and almost buried in the flesh of her shoulder—marking her as his until the end of time—until Jessie let out a desperate sob, her entire body unraveling under him.

“Okay,” she finally stated after they got their breath back. “So I really enjoyed that kiss. Just get over yourself.” Smitty chuckled and buried his face into the back of her neck. “That’s real big of ya, Jessie Ann.” “I do try and bring joy wherever I go, however I can.”

Yup—and that’s what terrified him. For the first time in his life, he’d actually found joy in a woman’s arms. Can’t say as he liked it much, and he had no intention of losing control like that again.

“What?” When her four friends all continued to stare, she snorted. “Forget it. I’m not telling you guys anything.” “Why not?” She liked how Phil had the nerve to sound so indignant that she wasn’t filling them in on all the details of her night with Smitty. “Because it’s none of your business.” “We told you about our first time,” Phil coaxed. “You didn’t tell me anything. I was there. In a sleeping bag across the room desperately trying to mind my own business. But you, sir, are a screamer.”

“And you guys?” “You know we’d love to come, Jess,” Phil said. “Really we would,” Danny added. “But we don’t want to take away from you ladies getting in some nice girl bonding.” “You just want to stay home and watch that documentary on the Roman Empire again, don’t you?” “You know how much we love Nero. We have to see the scene where he fiddles while Rome burns.” Jess chuckled. Honestly, the male dog obsession with the History Channel was simply not normal. “Go. Enjoy your carnage.”

“Didn’t want to go home,” he grumbled into the desk. “It all smells like her.” “That bad?” “That good.” “You going to tell me what happened or burrow your head into the desk like a badger?” “There’s nothing to tell. I blew it. I blew everything.”

“I don’t know, hoss. Maybe my daddy was right. Maybe I am an idiot.” “Your daddy is certifiably insane.” “In the South we call that eccentric.” “Well, in New York, we call the cops to get ’em away from the front of our building.” Mace relaxed against the door frame. “Is this about Jessica?” “I almost marked her today. In a gas station bathroom.” Elbows on the table, he buried his face in his hands. “The woman is rich, beautiful, goes to all these fancy charity parties no Smith would ever be invited to, and I nearly mount her like a bitch in heat right by the bathroom condom machine.”

Mace let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s bad enough we have the baby. Which I was accepting of because he’s mine.” “That’s real big of ya, hoss.” Mace thought so.

“But then she gets a puppy. So now we got the two stupid ones and the damn puppy. Who isn’t too bad,” he grudgingly admitted. Smitty finally chuckled. “Everybody loves a puppy, hoss.”

“Not necessarily. I’ve noticed the majority of human beings are assholes and don’t deserve to breathe, much less procreate.” She smiled,

“Wolf Packs are different from wild dogs.” “I know that. But they weren’t like the other wolves I’ve met.” She looked up at him with those big, light brown eyes. “They weren’t like you.” Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. “So what are you going to do now?” he asked, grabbing a Big Mac. “Avoid for as long as I can manage.” “You’ve gotta tell your parents.”

“Yeah, nothing says spa-equivalent relaxation like taking down a deer and ripping its throat open.”

Kristan nodded solemnly, seemingly missing his sarcasm. “Exactly.”

Her only problem…the She-wolf she had to deal with. Right now, all three of the wild dogs kept looking at her wondering if they could get out of the room before the She-wolf could catch them. And if she caught them…what would she do? When this all started out, Jess had only met with the surly Alpha Male of this Pack. He wasn’t friendly, but he seemed sane. Then he’d handed off the fine points of all this to his Alpha Female. Jess wished she could say the woman was mean to her. She wasn’t. In fact, Jess had the distinct feeling the She-wolf liked her. A lot. Jess wasn’t sure if that was a good place to be or a bad place.

“You know, I don’t like…well…anybody. Except a select few. But I think we’ll get along ’cause I am a dog person.”

Gemma dragged herself to her feet and went after the supermodel again. “You’re going to hell,” Ronnie said for the millionth time. “Don’t worry. I’ve picked up a lovely property overlooking the lake of fire. We’re set.”

“Scholarships are nice and good on résumés. But if you don’t get one to a favored school, we’ve already got your college fund set up so you’re covered there. So it’s a matter of where you want to go.” “I have a college fund?” “Of course. Every one of you little brats are going to college. Even if you don’t want to,” she finished on a snarl. “Do you understand me?” “Yes, ma’am.”

Johnny leaned to the side a bit, his shoulder pressing against Jess’s.

Why was there a drunken wolf in her apartment? How did

house full of dogs and no one scented a wolf wandering by? A drunk wolf?

“It don’t work for you?” “Uptown, Fifth Avenue, and Park Avenue belong to the Van Holtzs. The Bronx and Harlem are split up between the Vega Pride and the Armstrong bears. But Downtown belongs to the Smiths now.”

“And?” “And I don’t want you here. I don’t want you on my territory. I don’t want you near my territory. And I can assure you the Van Holtzs, the Vegas, and the Armstrongs ain’t gonna want you on theirs.” “They don’t know—” “They do now.” Walt took a step back in shock. “You son of a bitch.” “Now, now. Let’s not get nasty.” “We’re family.”

“Oh. Um…I guess ’cause I love him.” “Why?” Slamming her fork down, Miss Janie snarled, “Bubba Ray Smith!” “It’s a simple question. Don’t yell at me, woman.” In order to head off what could be an interesting fight, Jess answered quickly, “Because Bobby Ray made me smile—when I had nothing to smile about.”