werewolves.”
“That must’ve been horrible.”
“It was. More than half our unit was killed.”
“Would you mind telling me the story?” she asked. “I’ll understand if you don’t want
to share something so personal.”
“We’re going to continue to share a lot more than stories if I have my way,” he said
with a smile. “So, sure.”
She blushed to the roots of her hair, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
Not one to embarrass easily, that remark, and the pure sexuality behind it, had caught
her off guard.
Then his tale unfolded, taking her back to the awful day when the Alpha Pack came
into existence—and life as they knew it was never the same.
• • •
Six years earlier . . .
Zan hated Afghanistan.
The days were sweltering, the nights cold as a brass witch’s tit. There were no such
things as good food, rest, or comfort for the body or mind. He couldn’t wait to leave
this hellhole. He was marking the days—twenty-eight more days and his six years of
service were done.
He was going home, to Atlanta. To his grandmother’s kitchen, where he’d let her smother
him in all the motherly love he’d been missing for the past few months. Hell, since
his mother had died of cancer years ago. Granny was always there for him. He couldn’t
wait to give her a big hug.
And hang up his dog tags for good.
“Jesus Christ, I’m rank,” Raven bitched, scratching at his crotch. “When I finally
get to change this underwear, it’ll probably walk off.”
Micah grinned. “With assistance from the crabs you caught from that hooker last month.”
“Shut up, needledick. She did
not
give me crabs.”
Zan snickered. The banter of his teammates was just about the only positive that got
him through the long days and nights in the arid terrain of this shitty country.
“Hold up,” Jax whispered, coming to a halt. Tensing, he studied the mountain forest
around them and frowned.
Zan listened. Somewhere hidden in the brush, a footstep crunched to their left. Another
to their right. More from behind. He saw Ryon and Micah exchange a fearful look. He
knew this area was supposed to be clear, and they couldn’t have reached their target’s
stronghold already. In that instant, he knew they were toast. Their enemy had them
surrounded.
Then the forest went silent. Never, ever a good thing. Because when the smaller creatures
went still, that meant they were hiding from something much bigger and hungrier than
themselves.
Thud, thud, thud.
The ground trembled and the leaves shook. Zan thought distantly that he’d seen and
heard this very thing in a movie long ago. When a deep-throated roar split the air,
Aric jumped, pointing the muzzle of his M-16 into the trees, hands rock steady, a
bead of sweat dripping off his nose.
“Fuck,” Micah whispered. “What the fuck is that?”
Zan stared in stupefied horror. The thing that broke through the foliage to their
left stood erect on two legs and was more than seven feet tall. Covered with a thick
mat of grayish brown fur, it had a long torso, two arms, muscular shoulders, and a
head sporting two upright ears and a long, snarling snout full of sharp teeth.
It looked like a creature that was half man, half wolf. He and his team stared, mouths
open, fingers frozen on their triggers.
The situation might have been salvaged, disaster averted. But their buddy Jones started
screaming, pumping bullets into the beast’s chest. After that, everything went to
shit.
The creature staggered backward and then rallied quickly, rushing Jones. With a swipe
of a paw the size of a dinner plate, the big bastard ripped out Jones’s throat, tossing
him aside like a twig. Then it pounced on Raven, biting into the vee of his neck and
shoulder as the man screamed.
They opened fire just as several more of the beasts emerged from the forest. It quickly
became apparent that while their bullets
“That must’ve been horrible.”
“It was. More than half our unit was killed.”
“Would you mind telling me the story?” she asked. “I’ll understand if you don’t want
to share something so personal.”
“We’re going to continue to share a lot more than stories if I have my way,” he said
with a smile. “So, sure.”
She blushed to the roots of her hair, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
Not one to embarrass easily, that remark, and the pure sexuality behind it, had caught
her off guard.
Then his tale unfolded, taking her back to the awful day when the Alpha Pack came
into existence—and life as they knew it was never the same.
• • •
Six years earlier . . .
Zan hated Afghanistan.
The days were sweltering, the nights cold as a brass witch’s tit. There were no such
things as good food, rest, or comfort for the body or mind. He couldn’t wait to leave
this hellhole. He was marking the days—twenty-eight more days and his six years of
service were done.
He was going home, to Atlanta. To his grandmother’s kitchen, where he’d let her smother
him in all the motherly love he’d been missing for the past few months. Hell, since
his mother had died of cancer years ago. Granny was always there for him. He couldn’t
wait to give her a big hug.
And hang up his dog tags for good.
“Jesus Christ, I’m rank,” Raven bitched, scratching at his crotch. “When I finally
get to change this underwear, it’ll probably walk off.”
Micah grinned. “With assistance from the crabs you caught from that hooker last month.”
“Shut up, needledick. She did
not
give me crabs.”
Zan snickered. The banter of his teammates was just about the only positive that got
him through the long days and nights in the arid terrain of this shitty country.
“Hold up,” Jax whispered, coming to a halt. Tensing, he studied the mountain forest
around them and frowned.
Zan listened. Somewhere hidden in the brush, a footstep crunched to their left. Another
to their right. More from behind. He saw Ryon and Micah exchange a fearful look. He
knew this area was supposed to be clear, and they couldn’t have reached their target’s
stronghold already. In that instant, he knew they were toast. Their enemy had them
surrounded.
Then the forest went silent. Never, ever a good thing. Because when the smaller creatures
went still, that meant they were hiding from something much bigger and hungrier than
themselves.
Thud, thud, thud.
The ground trembled and the leaves shook. Zan thought distantly that he’d seen and
heard this very thing in a movie long ago. When a deep-throated roar split the air,
Aric jumped, pointing the muzzle of his M-16 into the trees, hands rock steady, a
bead of sweat dripping off his nose.
“Fuck,” Micah whispered. “What the fuck is that?”
Zan stared in stupefied horror. The thing that broke through the foliage to their
left stood erect on two legs and was more than seven feet tall. Covered with a thick
mat of grayish brown fur, it had a long torso, two arms, muscular shoulders, and a
head sporting two upright ears and a long, snarling snout full of sharp teeth.
It looked like a creature that was half man, half wolf. He and his team stared, mouths
open, fingers frozen on their triggers.
The situation might have been salvaged, disaster averted. But their buddy Jones started
screaming, pumping bullets into the beast’s chest. After that, everything went to
shit.
The creature staggered backward and then rallied quickly, rushing Jones. With a swipe
of a paw the size of a dinner plate, the big bastard ripped out Jones’s throat, tossing
him aside like a twig. Then it pounced on Raven, biting into the vee of his neck and
shoulder as the man screamed.
They opened fire just as several more of the beasts emerged from the forest. It quickly
became apparent that while their bullets
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