Ride the Wicked Woodsman (A Night Falls Alpha Werebear Shapeshifter Romance) by Christa Wick Read Free Book Online Page B

white, and a vocalization nothing like what I'd heard from any of the big cats our pack had tangled with in Champaign but a roar nonetheless.
    "What is he?" I whispered in Braeden's ear.
    "That, miss," he chuckled. "Is 100% grizzly."
    Still sitting on his motorcycle, Joshua casually inserted himself into the discussion. "None of Axel's pups are old enough to assert any claim, but there are others in the club and the female did enter our territory."
    My grip on Braeden's jacket tightened. I wanted to ask him what the hell Joshua was talking about. Among the packs and prides of Champaign, all unions were approved by the leaders of the group. Only the most political of unions within shifter society were done without the couple's full consent.
    So what the hell was this claiming nonsense?
    "You, cougar?" Taron growled as he moved closer to the big cat on his bike, his facial hair bristling with the urge to shift again. "You think you want to square off against the she-wolf?"
    Square off?
    This was getting out of hand! I couldn't engage in any kind of combat with these men -- I couldn't shift!
    Joshua shook his head, his attention focused on straightening the edge of his riding vest. "Not my type."
    "I didn't think so," Taron growled, returning to the center of the horseshoe. On the edge of shifting, he seemed taller, the shoulders more massive and the angular face brimming with menace. He looked around at the men again, making eye contact with them one-by-one as he spoke.
    "You want to forget sanctuary?" he asked, his gaze locked for a moment on Mallory before moving to the next shifter. "Fine, fuck sanctuary. All you need to know is this..."
    He unleashed another of his skull crushing roars then pointed at me.
    "The she-wolf is mine! Any one of you mongrels want to take her on, you have to get past me first. Now get the hell off of my mountain before your pelts are hanging from my porch."
    Another roar unleashed and then every motorcycle but Braeden's was running again, the smarter members of the pack already navigating their bikes to the dirt road that would take them to the valley below.
    Only Mallory lingered, his bike revving with a challenge he didn't have the nerve to voice before he suddenly accelerated.
    Braeden turned to shield me from the flying gravel. A big hand landed on his shoulder, the fingers dancing with unreleased tension. Braeden slid to the side, sweat breaking out on his furrowed brow as his boss growled in warning.
    "Mine."
    His? Oh, hell fucking no! Everything that was wrong about this place and situation was rapidly multiplying. I belonged to no one -- not my pack, not Taron, not the men who had just left on their bikes. I hadn't had even the smallest taste of freedom since fleeing my pack and I wasn't about to go back inside some damn cage.
    I pushed around Braeden, my hands balling into fists over all that had taken place the last few days and screeched at Taron. "I didn't ask you to do that!"
    He stared at me, not a trace of comprehension in his gold-brown eyes.
    "Think about it!" I yelled. "Even after what we...uh...discussed last night..."
    I cast a quick glance at Braeden to find the shifter trying his hardest to pretend like he wasn't eavesdropping on us.
    "Look, even if that was fixed, what's the point in claiming me?"
    Nostrils flaring, Taron stepped forward until we were chest-to-chest and glared down at me as he answered.
    "Oh, I don't know -- maybe to keep your foolish ass safe?"
    Frustration bubbled up my throat in a weak growl. I hadn't been foolish fleeing my pack and I didn't have much choice taking the trail. Calling me foolish wasn't fair -- but the fire flickering in Taron's gaze told me he had no interest in playing fair, just in winning.
    So much for his "decency" argument to the other shifters.
    Clearing enough space between us, I lifted a finger up to his face. "You said you'd take me to the train station if I couldn't get my car back -- that's keeping me safe. This..."
    Pausing, I