Sherry's Wolf by Maddy Barone Read Free Book Online Page A

would she demand more? At Christmas, how much more time would she ask for? How long would he have to wait to claim his mate? He wanted to hit something so badly he spun around to stalk from the pantry before he lost his temper in front of her. Another minute of hearing his mate refuse him would see dishes smashed and food stores destroyed.
    But he wasn’t giving up, only retreating to consider his options.
     
    * * *
     
    Three hours later he was at Taye’s den. Some of his cousins were in the yard in wolf form, wrestling and chasing each other through the melting snow. Others were human and fully dressed, working with young Rose, who held a knife like she knew how to use it. Jelly, his fourteen-year-old cousin who had traveled with him last month, shifted to human with the awkwardness that young wolves often displayed until they asserted full control over their wolves.
    “Where’s Taye?” Stag asked.
    Jelly shrugged wide bare shoulders starting to fill in with muscle. “The Chief’s inside. That skinny blond lady has come to visit the Lupa.” Jelly made a face. “Her husband should feed her more.”
    ‘That skinny blond lady’ must be the younger Mrs. Madison. Stag had met her on a few occasions when she visited the Plane Women’s House and agreed that Eddie Madison should feed her up. She was as skinny as Sherry. He raised a hand in thanks and went into the den.
    He found Taye in the rec room by the window, sitting in one of the chairs that were grouped around a small table, frowning down at a book in his hand. The Alpha scented him before he came close, and got up with a smile.
    “Hey, Taye.”
    Taye gave him a one armed hug. “What brings you here?”
    Stag settled into one of the hard wooden chairs beneath the window. Taye joined him, still holding his book. “My mate,” Stag answered gloomily. “She wants me to wait until summer to kiss her again.”
    Taye’s brows rose. “You kissed her?”
    “Last night.” Heat poured through his body when he remembered the feel of her tongue playing with his. “I went too far and now she’s running scared.”
    Taye ran a thumb over the spine of his battered paperback. “Did she like your kiss?” he asked carefully.
    “Yeah.”
    Stag was sure of that. She held onto his wrist in a grip so strong she’d used it to lift her mouth closer to him. And she hadn’t stopped him sooner even though she said she should have. Most telling of all had been her scent. It had been heavy with desire. Yeah, she liked kissing him. It was only the memory of a dead husband who had hurt her that made her stop.
    “She liked it. I think she liked it too much. She told me to go back to the Clan until Christmas. She’s scared, Taye. She said I scared her.”
    Taye was kind enough to not remark on the shame that flooded Stag. The scent of it was sharp in the air. He held up his book. “Same thing happened to Dante when he was courting Lady Amber.”
    “Who?”
    Taye waved the book. “Dante the pirate fell in love with the Governor’s daughter but he couldn’t have her, see, because she was a lady and he was scum. So he kidnapped her and took her on his ship and set sail. He teased her with kisses every day until she fell so deeply in love that she agreed to marry him. And they lived happily ever after.”
    Stag eyed the faded cover of the book. The title scrolled over the top of the page in fancy letters: The Black Dragon’s Woman . A kneeling woman, whose strange dress was falling off her shoulders, clung to the leg of a bare-chested man. The woman had her head tilted back, staring up at the man in doe-eyed adoration. The man had one fist clenched on the rail of a ship, staring out to sea like he didn’t even notice he had a woman kneeling in front of him. They were apparently caught in a strong wind, since their hair and clothes streamed behind them.
    “No offense, Taye, but that picture is disgusting. I don’t ever want to see Sherry kneeling in front of me.”
    Taye’s