And as she screamed her release and trembled hard with pleasure beneath him, Jacks tightened his grip and bore down on her, burying his cock deep inside her. He exploded, his come filling her in long, hard spurts.

He was trembling like a fucking leaf. Carefully he pulled out of her and fell next to her in the grass. Regret had him burying his face in his hand. She was so small, filled with luscious curves meant for a man’s gentle touch, not the brutal pounding he’d just given her. Damned he’d never taken a woman like that. Had never even wanted to. Yet he hadn’t been able to stop himself. Hadn’t wanted to stop. Shit, he’d royally screwed up this time. It was her fault; she was like a drug.

He heard a soft moan, a ruffling of movement, then felt the soft press of her body against his. Wearily he moved his hand away from his face to see her cuddling up against him. She laid her arm across his chest and rested her cheek against his side as her leg curled over his.

She closed her eyes with a small smile on her face and Jacks felt something hard tug in his chest. Well at least she wasn’t mad. He curled his arm around her and held her close as he stared up at the canopy of trees.

Something was happening to him. She felt...good in his arms. For the second time that day, Jacks did something he’d never done, and fell asleep with a woman in his arms.

Ariss wore her golden blond hair free and flowing down her shoulders today. Though what she just said detracted Vera’s opinion of her and her beauty by a lot.

“What do you mean you own a part of Kategan land?”

Her smile was that of a cat about to drink a saucer of cream. “My master, Claude Phelans, recently found these documents locked away in a safe at the manor. Deeds, in fact, that clearly shows that one thousand, eighty four acres of your land is actually ours.”

Vera’s mouth refused to shut. “Impossible. That’s been Kategan land—our land—for over a hundred years now.”

“Well it seems that we know differently now.”

This couldn’t be happening. “No way. And your Master Claude just happened to find these deeds now? What was he cleaning out the attic? Never mind, I want to see the deeds.”

Ariss smiled and shook her head sympathetically. “Here they are.”

Vera read over them with a sickening feeling filling her stomach. The deed was much longer than it was wide. It was the color of parchment and felt rough beneath her fingertips.

She read the yellow document twice trying to look for any flaw. It all looked legit, but didn’t they have lawyers for this kind of thing? She barely kept her hand from shaking as she passed the deed to Dmetri who read it with a scowl then passed it to a big man sitting to the right of him.

His name was Brayden, and he was the lead judge in all matters, and the lead counsel to the Justicars; his was say was final in all judicial matters whether vampire or lykaen. The future of the Kategan pack was no in his hands--literally.

“We’ll have to verify this, of course,” Brayden said. He had the voice of a man who was used to leading armies into battle. “Our Justicars will be able to trace the legitimacy of the document. Let’s not make any rulings on this yet, not until we have sufficient proof back. From there we will discuss how much land the Kategan’s have right to.”

Vera heard herself reply but numbness fogged over her mind and body. She watched everything happen around her as if from outside her own body. The meeting adjourned and Jacks slipped up beside her like some white knight and rescued her back to the bedroom where the fog finally drifted away and she returned to her body.

“She’s going to take our land.”

Jacks crossed his arms in a way that meant he was all business. His eyes grew so serious that lines bracketed his eyes and mouth. He had to be only in his early thirties yet he held such character in his hard face. What had put that there? War, the military, or something else?

“How many acres do you own?”

“One thousand two hundred acres. If she steals our land will leave us with only one hundred and sixteen. It’ll ruin us.”

She buried her face in her hands and fought the wave of hot tears that wanted to escape. A million thoughts whirled in her mind. How was she going to tell her family? How was the pack going to deal with this? It was impossible, there simply wasn’t enough space.

“Is her deed real?” asked Jacks.

“I wouldn’t think so. I mean, the Kategan’s have been there since the 1800s. How can they just now come out and say this?”

Jacks contemplated that. “What happens if the deed proves true and you refuse to give up your land?”

“We go to war with the vampires.”

“Then you need to call Vane.”

She stood and started pacing. “Not yet. His mate is pregnant. They don’t need this now. Besides, he’ll freak out and with his attitude, he might just start the war. No, no. This situation needs to be finessed. God, why does this room have to be so small?”

She paced from one side to the other muttering curses under her breath. Burning liquid still hadn’t dissipated from her eyes and if she didn’t get out of here soon then she was going to explode. Why had she wanted to come here? She must be insane. Her next home was definitely going to have the word asylum in it.

Frustration driving her hard, she rounded on Jacks. “Okay, listen to me, human. I need to walk this off before I take someone’s head off and considering the proximity, it will probably be yours. No phone calls to the Kategan’s, no telling anyone about this until I have a plan, okay? If shit gets too dire then I’ll call, but until then no.”

His hand reached out to cup her cheek in a touch so achingly gentle; she fumbled over her next words. Much softer she said, “I need to walk, okay. By myself. Just give me thirty minutes and I’ll be right back, but I really can’t be around you right now.” Her voice broke and one tear escaped, then another. She looked down at her feet as she wiped away the stupid things. Could she be any lamer?

It was his stupid gentle touch. Why did he have to do that? She heard movement, and then she was wrapped in his arms. This was not the aggressive, hard touch she’d felt earlier in the woods, or the urgent hands she felt last night in bed. No, this time he simply held her. Even with her arms down at her sides in tight fists, it felt good. His warm chest heated her cold skin and in a spark of irony made her feel like things were going to be fine.

She pulled back and kept her face down, too afraid to his face. “I’ll be back soon,” she said and escaped from him.

She had no idea if he’d follow her or not, so she waited at the end of the hall for a minute. When he didn’t come, she sighed and kept going. She walked down the main staircase and headed to the library. It was always a place she’d found refuge in while she lived here. The halls of the mansion were as familiar to her as the much less luxurious ones in her own small house.

She sighed in relief to find the library empty. Not a bit had changed in it either. The lush red carpet flowed all the way to the wide wooden staircase, which spiraled once to the second floor balcony. The balcony was always her favorite, and she found herself moving towards it. Books lined the walls of the balcony in massive mahogany bookcases and above them sat tall glass windows that displayed the thunderstorm brewing outside.

Lightning cracked and struck through the sky as Vera took her old seat at the one windowsill in the corner. It was the only space without a bookshelf and the window sat low enough for her to see out of it. She used to pick up a book and come read here until Dmetri would come find her.

Her heart gave a leap but it didn’t hurt as much as before. Was this what it took to get over him? To come here and talk to him? She’d avoided the yearly treaty meetings since things had ended between them. Until Jacks, she hadn’t had sex except with her breeding cycle partner. A single, male friend of hers who was always willing to help her out during her cycle.