He remained motionless on the tree branch, watching Karen intently, praying that their second meeting would be peaceful, but that prayer was doused with ice water when he saw the shadow round the corner of the building she was standing in front of. He growled and felt his fangs pop from his gums as he launched from the tree. With one smooth jump, he landed silently and crouched across the street and on the sidewalk between Karen and the other lycan. He was glad his back was to her because he didn’t want to see the horror that would undoubtedly be reflected in her eyes. After all, he knew no human who could jump a hundred fifty feet in the blink of an eye.
The younger lycan stopped and, emitting low growls and sniffing the air, stared at him. “I wouldn’t try it if I were you, pup.” Lycans could smell all potential human mates in general, but only the destined lycan mate could smell the unique pheromone given off by the one fated to him. Unfortunately, this led many idiot pups to believe that any woman carrying the main scent was theirs for the taking when, in fact, it was there so his kind could protect potential mates. He didn’t understand why the young werewolves acted in such a matter. Any dishonorable act against a human mate by a lycan who was not the destined partner was punishable by death.
“Why shouldn’t I try it? I can smell her, and she’s calling my name.”
He curled and uncurled his claws, savoring the possible kill. “Yeah, and since you can smell her, you can also tell she is not meant for you. She’s mine and I’m much older than you, pup. If I were you, I’d tuck my tail and run before I decide to not let you run at all, ever again.” He knew the pup finally realized that he was partly changed and that he would lose this fight one way or the other by the way the younger lycan glanced at his claws. Fear, however momentary, however cleverly hidden, clouded startled eyes, and Anthony hadn’t missed it.
The pup raised his hands in surrender and backed away slowly, but Anthony didn’t like the way the bastard leered at him while retreating, brows drawn down in assessment as if devising a plan of vengeance. He didn’t take his eyes off him until he disappeared and his scent was but a mere memory fading in the gentle breeze. He straightened and, taking a deep breath, willed his human form to take back over completely, his fangs and claws to recede, before he turned to face Karen.
Chapter Three
Karen couldn’t move. First, she’d been terrified for no reason that she could explain. Then, one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen had walked around the corner of the building and stopped dead in front of her, staring. Even though he looked to be in his mid-twenties, he seemed far older. His hair had been the color of honey and straw and his eyes, icy hazel. He was big, and he’d scared her—again, for no explainable reason other than he was huge and it was the middle of the night and she was alone. Before she had time to decide on a plan of action, from out of nowhere, another man had been crouching in front of her. His back remained to her, even after the blond man left.
The fear she’d been feeling slowly dissipated as soon as the other man leaped between her and the blond man, even though rational thought demanded an explanation on how he’d gotten in that position. She’d never seen another human being jump as far or as silently as this man had. He reminded her of a wild animal, and was even bigger than Hazel Eyes. His back was broad and tapered to a neat waist and long legs. He was tall. From what she could see, he had midnight black hair and a rock-hard ass to die for. Wait a minute. She knew exactly who this man was. Waiting for him to turn around she held her breath, and when he did, all the air left her lungs in a whoosh.
She felt dizzy for a brief moment and was very happy the wall was still behind her for support because she had just come face-to-face with her dream man once again. The lights in the club had been so dim earlier that she had not been able to see the full beauty of his features. Now, they were highlighted by the light of the full moon popping through the clouds. His green eyes nearly glowed and were perfectly framed by dark brows and thick-as-sin lashes. His nose was straight, his lips full, and his jaw perfectly squared with just the right amount of softness. The softness was just enough to give the pretense that this man was easy and laid-back, approachable. She knew better. If he was like her dreams, he was anything but soft. He was always careful with her and had never hurt her, but in every dream, he’d been a pure, dominant, predatory man.
After her stunned brain began functioning normal once again, her fight or flight instincts kicked back in. She still wasn’t afraid of him, but something deep inside her screamed at her to run—that if she didn’t, this man would change her life forever. Some part of her knew he could expose all her deep dark secrets, possess her, and break her heart. Another part of her begged to stay.
“Don’t run.”
Her blue eyes snapped to his face and he groaned. “Wh-who are you?” She inched further away from him. If she could just get another foot away, she’d be at the side street she had passed earlier. She might be able to lose him down it. She was a fast runner, but she would need every advantage to outrun this man.
“I’m Anthony Wolfson, and you are Karen Samson. Now that we have that out of the way, maybe we can go somewhere and talk a little.”
“How did you know my name?” She thought for a moment. “I didn’t tell you in the club.” She was getting more alarmed and inched her way closer to the alley. He hadn’t moved since he’d turned to face her, and within seconds, her hand reached the corner of the building.
“I’m not going to hurt you Karen, I promise. If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already. I just want to talk to you, okay?” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Please, Karen, don’t run. I don’t want to scare you, but if you run, I will chase you.” His green eyes snapped open, and she pulled a harsh breath into her lungs. “And, Karen, I’ll catch you.”
She could see his muscles tense through his dark blue T-shirt and knew it was time to make her escape. She kicked her stilettos off and bolted around the corner, running as fast as she could, pumping her arms for extra speed. The growl she heard behind her an instant after she fled fueled her adrenaline into giving her even more speed. He was chasing her. She swore that she could feel his hot breath on her neck and her heart nearly beat out of her chest. Her breath came in ragged pants, and before she made it more than halfway down the alley, she was tackled from behind, picked up and pushed face first against the brick wall.
She gasped for air, and Anthony’s hard body pressed against her, around her. He wasn’t hurting her, but he held her firmly, allowing no movement. She could feel his arousal against her back and moaned. Her body’s wants began to override her fear, and she pushed back into him. She didn’t know why, he was a stranger, but she wanted him. His sandalwood and musky male scent invaded her, excited her, and her fear melted completely away.
He held her hands above her head palm down against the building. His fingers circled each of her delicate wrists. She pressed back into his hard body, and he sucked in a breath and held it for a moment before putting his mouth close to her ear. “I told you not to run.”
“Yeah, but I had to. You were scaring me.” That wasn’t entirely true, but she had no intention of letting him know that he was turning her on. In truth, he was doing much more than turning her on. He was setting her on fire, and she knew she was going to let him do whatever he wanted.