“Yes, Alpha,” they said in unison.

“Keep an eye on my mate. She’ll try to escape, I guarantee it. You’re dismissed.” They nodded and left.

Lyonis sat back in his desk chair, his mind wandering. He’d never pictured he’d get his mate in the form of Willow Bellum. A succubus with the attitude of an angry hockey player. But he’d felt the heat inside her, had even seen the moments of hesitation that showed she might care about him, if only a little. She’d paused before she’d kneed him in the face after he took her body the first time.

Chuckling, he rubbed nose. She’d even hesitated before she pushed him into that crowd of women outside the club. Course then she’d saluted and trotted off leaving him to fight off five drunken Germans.

She was strong. He’d always thought he needed a submissive, someone to answer to him, but this was so much better. She would be strong enough to influence the women in the pack but also listen to him.

As he sat back in his chair, he realized he wanted something more though. In time she would grow to want his lovemaking. This he knew. Already she flamed for his touch. How to go about getting the fiery succubus to heel was an entirely different problem.

He didn’t know how was going to do it, but he knew he’d have a great time trying.

Jackie ignored the voice calling her and continued down the hall. She had work to do, rounds to run, supplies to check. A hand gripped her arm and spun her around.

“Dammit, I said to wait.” Thane was one of the few men in the pack actually taller than she was, and she hated it. He always seemed to use it to try and make her feel small.

“And obviously I didn’t want to. What do you want?” He frowned at her.

“What was your problem back there?”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “The better question would be what's your problem, Thane. I don’t have one. Though your obvious ignorance of the Alpha’s new mate was astounding.” Thane looked away, probably to control his temper. He always did have a wild one.

“I am not ignorant of the situation or of women. You’re the one who can’t obviously see that the female wants him—bad.”

God, she didn’t want to talk to him. Especially since the insult about her hair was still burned inside her.

“You know this has been some great gossip, Thane, but I have work to do. So if you don’t mind...” She took a step back but he growled and grabbed her arms. He didn’t pull her close, merely held her, but her breath caught at the unexpected touch.

“Dammit, Jackie. I’m...” He looked to the ceiling then the floor with hard eyes. Finally he looked back in her eyes.

She laughed at him. “You can’t even say it, can you? You know what, save it for someone who cares.”

His grip tightened on her and pulled her close. Jackie’s eyes shot wide as she felt the burning heat of his body press against her. She’d never been this close to him, not even in training. His brown gaze was unflinching as he stared at her.

“I think you do care, Jackie.” His gaze lowered for a mere second to her mouth. Jackie jerked, stunned, then shoved him hard. He went and she was almost disappointed.

Before she did something humiliating, she turned and ran.

Grumbling, Willow finished the second row of houses and seriously considered marching back to the Alpha and beg him to lock her back up just so she wouldn’t have to do this.

So much for making allies. Either the pack members were hesitant about her or they outright didn’t like her. She’d even been on her best behavior and didn’t cuss. Okay, maybe once but that’s only because a dog had been humping her leg.

She stopped in front of the next house then resolutely walked up to the front door and knocked. A few seconds later the door opened up and Willow nearly sighed in defeat. It was venom eyes.

“What do you want?” the blond woman asked. Well this woman might help her escape since she hated Willow’s existence.

“Hey, I’m Willow Bellum. I’ve been going around the pack introducing myself.”

“Is that so?” The woman’s contempt couldn’t be any more obvious unless she had a sign in her hand that said “I hate you.”

“Yup. It was at Lyonis’ request.” The woman smiled coldly.

“I bet. Well I’m Amy Thierry and let me just speak for the rest of the pack and say we don’t want you here.” Willow almost laughed.

“Yeah, I can see that. If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to be here either.”

“Oh, really? Well the exit's right over there. Why don’t you go?” Willow ground her teeth to keep from flipping the woman off. This being nice thing was hard.

“I’d love to but Lyonis has extra guards following me around to keep me from leaving.”

The woman scoffed in disbelief. “You actually want to get away from the Alpha of the shapeshifters? The man is a legend; any woman would be honored to have a man like him. I would fight for him if he was mine,” she said harshly.

Willow took a step back and threw up her hands. “I didn’t want him. He kidnapped me.”

“Quit being such a bitch, Amy.”

Willow turned to see a woman walking up behind them. She carried a child in her arms and a baby bag around her shoulder. Willow liked her already.

“Hi, I’m Rachel Huron. Just ignore Amy. Everyone knows she’s always wanted to land the Alpha even though she isn’t his mate.”

“Shut up, Rachel. Both of you get the hell away from my house.” She stormed inside and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Rachel shrugged. “Sorry about that. Alpha Lyonis has been the one man she’s always wanted.” Willow snorted and followed Rachel away from the house. “So the Alpha kidnapped you, huh?” she said with a smile.

Willow didn’t smile back; it wasn’t funny to her. “Yeah, he did. I’m not staying with him either.”

“Why not?” Amy looked genuinely puzzled.

“Because I don’t want him. He wants to subdue me into some sexual submissive that pleases him all the time.” Rachel tossed her head back and laughed.

“Don’t all men? Hey, it’s not my place to really say anything, but since you’re not a shapeshifter I’ll go ahead and say it.”

Willow wasn’t so sure she wanted to hear this.

“Shapeshifters get one mate; one chance. Sometimes it takes hundreds of years before the other one can be found. In many cases, they die before ever finding their mate. Sometimes it’s much easier. I found my Jack while visiting in California.” Her soft smile was infectious.

“Is he a shapeshifter, too?”

Rachel nodded. “Yes, I met him while visiting a cousin in a different pack. He asked me out right away and after that first kiss,” she sighed blissfully. “We knew right then.”

Willow felt a pang of bitterness in her chest. She used to want that, to know what it was like to feel something on that kind of level. And she did get to experience it, in a tainted, disgusting way.

“I didn’t know shapeshifters can mate with other breeds,” Willow said.

“It’s a bit unusual that’s for sure, but not uncommon.” Rachel paused. “So I don’t want to make you awkward or anything but you can’t leave him.”

“What do you mean?” The baby fussed a bit and Rachel moved her to the other shoulder. The baby quieted.

“To have your mate not accept you is...geez I don’t even know how to say it. It’s considered shameful. Not to mention that the one who’s left can never be with anyone else. After they find their mate, that’s it. They are locked together forever.”

Willow’s head throbbed with a migraine. “Are you saying that if I leave him, he’ll want only me and can never just find some Suzy Homemaker to make him happy?”

Rachel gave her a sad look. “It’s sad I know but it’s true. We spend our lives looking for our other half, if we lose them after finding them, it breaks us.”

Willow sighed, of course it does. This couldn’t be easy. Nope. She had to either stay here and be with the dominating Alpha or hurt him for the rest of his life. She wasn’t so sure she was mean enough to do something like that.