Free Terr5tory by Susan Bliler Page B

Mortification seared her with the knowledge that her underwear were practically see-through and her Alpha was getting a free show. 
    Lifting her hands from the bed, she crossed them over herself in an attempt to shield her practical nudity.  It was odd.  For shifters, nudity wasn’t supposed to be awkward, but it was in this moment.
    Was that a growl?   The sound jerked her from her reverie, but she swallowed hard and ignored it. Seconds later when Miston knocked, she closed her eyes briefly and silently thanked him for the intrusion. 
    “Alpha?  Is she ready?”
    “NO!” Delano snarled, then cleared his throat.  Too much of his wolf was coming through and his voice was practically unrecognizable. 
    To her horror, Eleanor’s wolf responded to the wolf in Delano’s voice and released more pheromones.  Eleanor clamped her legs tighter together, ignoring the pain the action brought.  The last thing she needed after shooting sex mist into the room and exposing her throat was to flash her Alpha with what were now wet panties.
    “Give us another minute,” Delano growled before crossing the room and pulling a sheet from the linen closet. 
    He returned and shoved Eleanor’s hands aside before straightening to fold the sheet.  She noticed that he folded the sheet more times than needed, and spent the entire time staring at her panties.  She cleared her throat and Delano bent to place the folded sheet across her lap.  He crossed to his window and opened it wide before circling the bed to open the window on the other side of the room before he growled, “Miston!”
    The door opened and Miston hurried to the bed.
    “What do you need?” Delano asked.
    “More towels,” Miston replied, already pulling up his small duffle that comprised his first aid kit.  As Delano went to the bathroom to retrieve towels, Miston tried to distract Eleanor while he worked on her.  “What happened out there, El?”
    Licking her lips she took in a deep breath and started. “I was out on a run and was ambushed.  Two flanked me and ran me to ground.  At first I wasn’t sure if it was an outright pack assault, so I didn’t want to lead them to the compound.  I thought I could lose ‘em.”
    Delano returned, placing the towels on the bed before crossing his arms and standing back to hear the rest of Eleanor’s story.  “How many were there?”
    “Three.”
    “Did you recognize them?”
    “No.” She winced as Miston began cleaning her wound.
    “I’ve never seen them before.  Their scents were unrecognizable.”  When silence loomed she continued.  “I broke through the clearing near Shuffle’s pond but there was another one waiting in human form.  He had a knife.”
    Delano uncrossed his arms.  Wolves didn’t use weapons… ever!   They didn’t need to use them on humans, and they’d certainly never use them on each other.
    “I tried to run past, but he lunged and stabbed the knife into my thigh.  I couldn’t stop myself from falling over the cliff side.”  She chuffed. “The fall saved my ass.   They were too cowardly to follow.”  Tears flooded her eyes as she looked up at Delano. “If I hadn’t fallen… If they’d have caught me.”  She shook her head, fighting the tremble that wracked her slight frame.  “They shifted and taunted me as I raced for the compound.  Warned me that none of our females would be safe.  Delano…they said they’ll be back.  They want females.”
    Unable to hear any more, Delano stormed from the room, forcing the telepathic ties that he’d been permitting to form slowly…until now.  He called to his pack through the ties.  “Somebody had better fucking have something!”

Chapter 12
    Delano, Bose, Warren, and Anders ran the pack perimeter incessantly.  No sign of the intruders remained, and after Miston tended Eleanor’s wounds, she sent him to go bring the men back to the compound.  It’d been hours, and if they hadn’t found anyone by now, they