Free Leader of the Pack by Lynn Richards

and lifted her from her chair. Lifted her from her chair. Emily giggled. She outweighed Maria by a good forty pounds.
    “ What the hell is wrong?” Hearing the thud of a bottle against the table, Jared had known his mate had been threatened in some way. His brows drew together in a frown when Emily threw her arms around him and pressed open mouthed kisses across his chin and licked the underside of his jaw. His cock hardened in an instant. “What’s wrong with her?”
    “ Maybe she’s just happy to see you.”
    Jared’s eyes flew to the empty bottle on the table. “Damn it, Maria, you let her drink the whole fucking bottle!”
    She bowed her head in submission to her Alpha. “I didn’t mean for her to drink so much.” The woman looked stricken.
    The beers served in the bar were for werewolf consumption only. Because of the wolf’s incredible metabolism, the potency of the special brew had to be almost five times that of a normal beer. It took a lot to give a wolf a buzz.
    Jared sighed. He knew his friend would never intentionally harm his mate. No one in the pack would. But now he had to deal with the consequences. And what consequences they were. Emily tried to climb his body as she sucked and licked his throat. His dick almost exploded when she grabbed his ass.
    To add to his frustration, he knew she was starting her cycle. He could smell the dark, rich, blood gathering in her womb, ready to exit her body. Nothing brought the beast to the surface quicker than a mate menstruating. Even after centuries of evolution, a woman’s scent when she was in heat still called to the animal inside, reminding him it was time mate, time to perpetuate the species.
    He gave Maria one last glare and tossed Emily over his shoulder. Howls of laughter followed in his wake as the pack realized what had happened.
    “ You can, uh, sniff me if you want.” Emily’s words drifted over his shoulder as he carried her to his SUV.
    “ What did you say?” Maybe he’d heard wrong. God, he prayed he’d heard wrong.
    “ You can smell me. I know you have this, uh, thing, about smelling me and it’s okay if you want to.” When he didn’t speak, her voice became a mere whisper as if his silence had hurt her. “I just wanted you to know.”
    What could he say? Do? Whether she knew it or not, he had already sniffed her like a dog ready to mount a bitch. The half moons of her derriere were mere inches from his face. The beer had done more than made her drunk, it had aroused her. It took a tremendous amount of will power to keep from throwing her on the hood of his car and pulling off her jeans so he could bury his nose in her sweet, pink folds.
    Jared put her down when he reached the car. He braced her against the side of the vehicle and held her in place with a hand on her hip. A hand he was not surprised to see tipped with thick claws. His beast was freeing itself and Jared didn’t know if he could stop it. Or if he wanted to.
    He fumbled in his pocket for his keys. He needed to get her home. And fast. She moved the hand he had on her hip and placed it on her breast. He bit down hard on his lip and drew blood to keep from howling at the moon. The last thing he needed was for the pack to come running to see what had happened to their leader.
    “ Don’t do that,” he commanded between clenched teeth.
    “ What?” Her eyes were bright and blue. “This?” She moved his hand to the waist of her jeans and shoved it inside. His fingers brushed the hair covering her mons. He refused to allow himself to touch the treasure that lay just below. She encircled his wrist with both of her small hands and tried to force him deeper. She was surprisingly strong, however she couldn’t make him move, not unless he wanted to. And God help him wanted to. He flexed his finger and flicked the hardened end of his claw over her clit until it budded. She moaned for more. He knew he could make her come in an instant, but he wanted more than that. He wanted