When Ace lunged, Kane tried to swat him away like a gnat. But this was no mere bug he was up against. It was a fully shifted ware, and the supreme alpha of his pack. The first blood spray came from Kane’s shredded hands, as Ace’s sharp teeth ripped them away from his face, and the delicate juncture of the throat he was attempting to protect. Once the leader of Los Lobos was felled to the ground like a toppling Red Wood, the “struggle” was over.
Kane snarled fruitlessly while trapped in Ace’s powerful jaws. Glancing over to where he’d bade me wait, my mate growled at me to join him. When I arrived at his side, he nudged me toward the pinned body of the man who’d done so much damage to so many.
I didn’t need words or images to know what he was saying. Ace was giving me first rights to the quarry he and his brothers had so valiantly felled. Feeling honored, and ravenous for vengeance, I stood over evil personified and captured his defeated eyes in my victorious gaze. Feeling my lips pull back over my sharp, white teeth in a slavering snarl, I leaned down, and sank my teeth into the warm flesh with more gusto than any meal I’d ever had in my human life. And I ripped out Kane’s throat.
The hot blood poured from a major artery at a speed that left the vicious creature unconscious in seconds, and dead in only a handful more.
CHAPTER 36
Cat
I was pacing the downstairs entryway when my sensitive ears picked up on my mate’s voice. He’d been in church with his brothers, discussing everything that had just taken place with Kane. His determined footfalls, like his familiar face, couldn’t be confused for anyone else as he came into view.
As soon as I saw my mate, I lobbed a volley of questions at him. “Where’s Anna? Is she okay? Is she hurt?”
“We can talk about that upstairs,” Ace stated flatly, his eyes still wild-looking after the events of the night.
My arms folded stubbornly across my chest. “Just tell me where she is. We can talk later. I need to see my best friend.”
The space grew still and quiet then. “Get upstairs,” my mate sternly commanded once more. “We’ll talk about it in my room. I’ll be up shortly.”
“No!” I growled back, not in the mood to wait. “We’ll talk about it now! I’ve waited long enough for an update about Anna. I can’t wait any longer.”
In response, Ace slowly unbuckled his belt. “Get upstairs, Cat.”
Glancing down at the leather snaking through his belt loops, I swallowed hard. Not sure if it was from fear or longing, or maybe a bit of both, I tried to reason with the pumped-up ware.
“Ace, let’s talk about this,” I said, trying to calm my testosterone-flooded mate.
“No more talking,” Ace returned, folding the leather in half as his towering body corralled me toward the stairs. “The longer you make me wait to get to our bedroom, Cat, the more strokes of this,” he swatted the leather in his palm for emphasis, “you’re going to get.”
Putting my hands on my hips, I mulishly argued, “You can’t be serious! I was only trying to?—”
Before I could finish my protest, Ace was on me. I was up and over his shoulder in the blink of an eye. With each step he climbed, he smacked my rear hard. His palm stung, but it wasn’t going to be anything like what I knew was coming next.
Anticipatory chills coursed through me then. My pussy clamped with need and grew slick with desire. I might outwardly fight this mountain of a man, but I wanted him so badly at the moment I ached. I secretly needed to feel the sting of his hand and belt on my ass. It got me impossibly wet and made me long for his cock in ways I could never admit out loud. At least, not without a little inducement from my very dominant mate.
As soon as we got inside his bedroom, Ace ordered, “Take off everything except your panties, then spread your legs and bend over the bed. This discipline is far overdue.”
Blowing a stray blond hair that had escaped my ponytail out of my face, I frowned. “How did I earn this spanking, exactly?”
I knew I shouldn’t be this defiant, but damn I wanted to be. Ever since meeting the pack, I found myself growing more and more confident by the day. Plus, though I’d never admit it, I loved pushing my mate’s boundaries and testing his resolve. For lack of a better explanation, it made me horny as hell.
Ace’s grey eyes narrowed. “You know why, Cat.”
“I really don’t,” I mulishly returned.
“It’s because at the first sign of trouble, you doubted your pack. You decided to fight Kane, a fully grown alpha shifter, alone, and that can’t ever happen again. You need to trust not only your alpha, but that your pack will always be there for you,” he passionately reprimanded.
For a moment, I actually felt guilty over his little speech. Then I rallied and arched a brow at him. “Ialmostdecided to confront Kane on my own. In the end, I went to you and my pack for help,” I quickly corrected, eyeing the belt in his hands like a cobra that was poised and ready to strike. “That should count for something, right?”
“I took your eleventh hour change of mind into consideration when I was crafting your punishment,” my mate stated with a cold smile. “That’s why you’re getting my belt and not a flogger.”
My eyes widened incredulously. “Flogger? You wouldn’t!”
“Don’t test me,” Ace warned, taking a meaningful step forward. “Strip. Do it now, or I’ll be adding ten more strokes to your count every time you hesitate to obey me.”
Ten?! For the love of everything holy, that was crazy! Deciding I’d pushed my mate far enough, I begrudgingly pulled off everything I was wearing but my panties. Turning around, I bent over, facing the bed. Locking my knees, I rested my palms onto the soft mattress, presenting my ass high into the air for my mate.
