Dangerous Read Free

regardless of what I say?”
    “I will.”
    “Then it is better you remain a member of my pack, where you are under my authority. Understand if you slip up, I will still be your Alpha and charged with administering justice, up to, and including execution—and your sister’s punishment as well.” Yeah, like he’d ever find them. He licked his lips and smiled, cluing Xan into what his sister’s punishment might be. He balled his hands at his sides, fighting the urge to strangle his Alpha. He didn’t have the skill or strength to beat him yet.
    “Leave Xio out of this.”
    “She’s your blood; she’s already part of it. If you mess up, she’ll pay, too, and I’m keeping her as insurance.”
    Not for long. “If I slip up, I’ll welcome your punishment with open arms. But if anyone goes near my sister, so much as looks at her cross-eyed, I will kill them.”
    “If you slip up, my Enforcer will be the least of your worries. I’ll come for you myself. And then your sister will pay for your crimes. You better make sure this is what you want.” He grinned, fangs glistening in the dim light, promising dismemberment more than any words he could utter. “Half-breed, don’t make me regret letting you or your twin live instead of ripping your throats out when you came out of the womb.”
     
    Xan jumped up from the bed and began to pace. He’d kept his promise to his Alpha. He’d not shifted under duress, yet his promise had cost him a piece of his soul, his ability to change when he desired. Ten years had passed, and his inner Wolf had become crazy, rattling the bars of its fleshy cage, demanding freedom. But try as hard as he like, he couldn’t bring the white alpine forward.
    Now, when he wanted to, he couldn’t so much as sprout a whisker on his chin. He needed the healing the shift would bring. Something told him he could find restoration in the Black Hills, and if he had to go through Magnum to get it, so be it.
    Xan ripped the blankets and pillows off the bed and threw them on the floor. He circled before sinking to the carpet and curling into a ball.
    Tomorrow would be a better day.
    Tomorrow he’d go home.
     

Chapter Two
     
    Sunlight streamed through a crack in the curtain and struck him like a slap to his face. Xan jerked awake, his heart pounding, his breathing coming in gasps. Long ago his body forgot the difference between rest and flight or fight. His primitive switch remained stuck in survival mode.
    He rolled to his back, pressed his palm to his chest, and inhaled for three counts, holding for three and exhaling for three. After several focused breaths, his heart slowed and the tightness in his stomach eased. When he opened his eyes, he stared at the ceiling. Not the sky, not the faces of his enemies watching him in the pit. This wasn’t Africa.
    This was home—or damn near close. He climbed to his feet, throwing the door to the room open and stared out at a blacktop parking lot. In the center, one hundred yards away, stood a sign, rising from a small six-by-six square patch of grass. He looked down and wiggled his toes. Even though he couldn’t shift, he still needed to connect with the earth, feel her hum with life under his feet, smell the rich tones of life and absorb all she had to give. Without thinking, he stepped out the door and started across the lot, walking in front of a car.
    He barely registered the screech of brakes, the horn blasting, and the shouts of the angry driver. His focus remained on the small patch of green, promising, if for a short time, peace.
    “What the fuck are you doing?”
    He stepped onto the grass and closed his eyes.
    “Hey, buddy, you okay?”
    Xan inhaled deeply.
    A hand dropped onto his shoulder. Xan’s eyes snapped open. He grabbed the person’s wrist, twisted, and dropped to one knee, throwing a man over his shoulder and onto the grass before him. He snarled, growling low in his throat, one hand securing his attacker’s arm as he moved to strike