Free Terr4tory by Susan Bliler Page B

coyotes! ”  The term was a great insult to wolves.
    Atkins’ tone turned deadly.  “Apparently not fast enough.  How is it you got here so fast?  Word of the Alpha male’s demise only just reached the South.  Yet, here you are.  Conjured up from God knows where.  Don’t pretend your designs aren’t the same as mine.”
    Willa’s heart sank.  She knew Barron had no designs on her land, but he couldn’t help her either, and she had no right to expect him to.  She was alone in this fight.  Taking a step back from Barron, she squeaked when his hand clamped onto her hip and jerked her body hard into the solid wall of his back. Instantly, her body warmed everywhere it touched his.
    “Aaaah.” Atkins’ tone was amused.  “Have you not told little Ms. Willa of your intentions?  Does she believe you’re here with innocent intentions?”
    “I’m not here for her territory!”
    The hand Barron had holding her hip moved to clutch one rounded cheek of Willa’s ass.  She was about to jerk free when Barron turned them and she realized he was simply trying to maneuver them round.  Apparently, Atkins was attempting to circle them.
    “Really?”  Atkins’ tone was airy.  “And pray tell, Barron.” It was an insult for one Alpha to address another without using their title.  “What are you here for?”
    Barron answered without hesitation.  “I’m here for the woman.  She is mine !”

Chapter 11
    The words were out before Barron could check them, and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to.  The sharp inhalation at his back, and the sneer on Atkins’ face, confirmed that his claim hadn’t been mistaken.  Not that it could.  Among shifters, a claim was never misconstrued.  He’d declared openly that Willa was his, and by doing so he’d thrown down the gauntlet.  For Willa, all other potential suitors would have to go through him.
    “I challenge,” Atkins responded immediately.
    “ REALLY ?” Willa couldn’t keep from shouting from behind Barron.  She jerked free of his grip and side-stepped him to glare at the challenging Alpha.  “You want me, yet you haven’t even laid eyes on me.  How do you know I’m not some repulsive shrew?”
    Barron’s arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back into his body, where he hunched, towering over her while wrapping her in the protective cocoon of his body.
    Atkins’ smile was slow as his eyes roved appreciatively from her head down to her sneakered feet, then slowly back up.  The action drew a menacing growl from Barron as his arm tightened around Willa’s waist.
    “I see you now,” Atkins drawled.  “And I do like what I see.”  He yanked off his shirt and handed it to his Beta, Cobalt, without looking at him.  “I had hoped to take you without the need for death, but as this boy has laid claim,” Atkins sighed as if bored, “I shall do what I must.”
    Willa’s heart skidded to a halt.  They weren’t seriously going to fight for her right now!  Were they?  She knew it was the shifter way, but never in all her life had she ever thought she’d be stuck in the nightmare.  She’d hoped to come up with a plan before things got this far.
    “No!” She tried to step forward as Cortez and Keryn stepped from the woods.  She had summoned Cortez through their pack ties as soon as Atkins and Cobalt arrived.  If things went badly, she didn’t want to be left alone to deal with the encroachers.
    Barron ignored her command, and her struggles, keeping her clamped tightly to him.
    “There will be no fighting,” she hissed quietly.  “No one’s getting hurt over me.”
    Atkins’ smile broadened and he held his hand out to the side.  Cobalt gave him his shirt and Atkins began slowly putting it back on. “Good.   Send the boy away and we’ll…,” he turned his eyes in the direction of the farmhouse, lifting his nose to scent the air.  When he looked back to her, his smile was wolfish, “ Consummate our bond.”
    Willa