Lone Wolf Read Free Page A

the impact not as strong. Ellison saw pain in her eyes as she landed on him.
    This time she clung on with her claws, her jaws snapping at his neck. Ellison changed under her grip, his favorite black cowboy shirt ripping as his massive wolf shoulders burst through it.
    His own Collar sparked as he caught Deni’s muzzle with his mouth, now a wolf’s mouth, turning aside her deadly bite.
    Ellison tasted her blood, the blood of his pack, and his feral rage ignited. No wolf attacked the alpha and lived.
    The human part inside him knew that this was his sister, lashing out, scared. The wolf in him said it was one of the pack, hurt yes, but she needed to be subdued.
    Both entities wove together and knew what to do. Ellison released Deni’s muzzle and went for her throat, locking his teeth around loose fur. Deni howled, her Collar sparking wildly as she shook her head to try to tear free.
    Ellison held on tighter, carefully not letting his teeth break her skin. He put his large paw on her head and used his weight to bear her to the floor. He landed on top of her, his wolf big enough to cover her and keep her down.
    He heard the distinctive footsteps of Andrea and then Glory, Dylan’s mate, following his nephews—Andrea sure-footed and graceful, like her wolf; Glory with the click-click of impossibly high heels.
    Deni howled, still fighting, but Ellison’s hold was strong. Deni growled and snarled, terrified, not understanding.
    “I can tranq her,” Glory said.
    Ellison didn’t want Deni tranqed. She’d been given drugs and sedatives, poked and prodded. She didn’t need another round of tranquilizers that would leave her groggy and afraid.
    But they might not have a choice. Deni was still fighting, weakening, but fighting. She still didn’t know who Ellison was—she was lost and scared, afraid to yield to the wolf who pinned her. In the wild, Ellison would have had every right to kill her for the safety of the pack. Deni’s wolf, by the look in her eyes, somehow sensed this.
    “Mom,” Jackson said, voice thick with tears. “Mom, try. Please.”
    Deni snarled again, trying to dislodge Ellison. Her Collar gave her a barrage of shocks, which shocked Ellison at the same time, hot bites of pain.
    Ellison growled, a long, low sound.
Stop.
I’m your brother. Those are your cubs. Come
on,
Den.
    Deni snarled again, then she blinked once, twice, and her eyes cleared. She drew a breath through her wolf muzzle, and her Collar went silent.
    Ellison snatched his teeth away from her throat as Deni shifted to human, lifting himself away from her before he could hurt her. Tears filled Deni’s eyes. “Jackson?”
    “Mom.”
    Jackson fell on his knees beside Deni as Ellison shifted back to his human form. Ellison’s arms went around his sister, and she relaxed into his strong embrace.
    Ellison kissed her hair, holding her, rocking her. Deni reached for Jackson, who came into the embrace with them, her son openly crying. Will knelt on Deni’s other side, sliding his arms around his mother’s waist.
    Ellison didn’t get up, knowing that Deni needed his comfort, his forgiveness, his understanding. Her cubs gave her love, and Ellison gave her strength.
    “So,” Glory said. Ellison heard the butt of the tranquilizer rifle click softly on the floor. “We won’t be needing the tranq, then.”
    “No,” Andrea said. “Just me.”
    She came to kneel beside Ellison, careful not to break the family huddle. Ellison couldn’t have let Deni go for anything right now, in any case. Andrea reached between them, laid her hand on Deni’s forearm, and let her healing magic trickle into Deni to soothe her better than any man-made tranquilizer ever could.
    Ellison felt the small pulse of magic flowing into him through Deni. Though Glory was the leader of the rival Lupine pack in this Shiftertown—Broderick’s pack—and Andrea her niece, Ellison had nothing but gratitude for them.
    ***
    Maria finished her shift without any more asshats