Free When a Pack Dies by Gwen Campbell

searching the treetops for the moon.
    Mine. Wait. Soon.
    His wolf’s voice was stronger than usual, sensing the rise of the full moon and the freedom that was coming. Cutler swallowed hard. He didn’t know if he could wait. He didn’t know if he had that much self control and he saw his hands come up, reaching for Fina, needing to pull her to him.
    “Hey, boss!”
    Cutler grit his teeth when that familiar, obscenely cheerful voice broke through the haze of lust that he just knew was turning his eyes red.
    “ What ?” he snarled with unnecessary venom.
    “Tes-ty,” the owner of the voice purred, deliberately goading him. “You know if you ate more roughage, you wouldn’t be this irritable.”
    He growled and his upper lip fluttered, exposing his descending canines. “What do you want, Young?” Cutler’s voice was thick and gravelly—his wolf was very close to the surface now and the changes in his cells, the structure of his face and throat made talking difficult.
    “I want an introduction,” she stated self-righteously and flashed a smile at Fina. “Rude-o,” she shot back in his direction.
    Cutler exhaled impatiently. “Fina Whitesage, meet Officer Suzanne Young—my dispatcher.”
    Fina held out her hand politely. “Ah...you’re the voice I hear coming over the radio.” Instinctively, Fina hated the woman on sight. She’d never felt that way about another woman before. The strength of her reaction startled her. Despite that, she pressed on, remembering her manners. “I swear you’re the only one I can understand. All of the men I’ve heard sound like they’ve got a mouthful of chewing gum. I can’t make out a thing they say.”
    Suzanne threw back her head and laughed delightedly. Fina hated her even more. Suzanne was a sex goddess. Her laughter was silvery and musical, her teeth white and perfectly straight. She was maybe five or six years older than Fina and next to this vivacious, confident woman, Fina felt like a child. Suzanne was taller than her, with long shapely legs that rose up to womanly hips and a waist that defied physics. It was just too small to hold up the rest of her and the rest of her made Fina want to slouch, cover her own chest and skulk away into the darkness. Suzanne’s breasts were round, large and flawless. Fina bit back a growl of envy when they swayed with the woman’s laughter, displaying all to clearly that every perfect, naked inch of them was real. Her nipples were so perky and pink that Fina wanted to slap the woman across the mouth. But it was her face that really ticked Fina off. It was the most radiant, beautiful oval Fina had ever seen, capped with a long, silky, lustrous fall of pale blonde hair.
    Fina promised herself that next time she took Ryan shopping for a new toy, she’d snap every damned Barbie in the store in half.
    Despite all that, Fina froze her pathetic, warm smile in place.
    “That’s because I make an effort,” Suzanne laughed. “It’s called enunciation, boss.” She slapped her Alpha’s belly lightly with the backs of her long, slender fingers. “You should try it some time.” She turned back to Fina. “I like this woman already,” Suzanne smiled and it made her impossibly beautiful. “I feel like I know you already. He talks about you all the time.”
    Fina didn’t know what to make of that but with her conflicting and uncharitable feelings, she wasn’t about to explore it—not now.
    “You got what you came for,” Cutler snapped at Suzanne and the tall blonde paled visibly. She let out a quiet yelp then a whine...a nervous sound of distress then, tentatively and slowly, moved closer to her Alpha.
    Cutler swore at himself mentally and held himself still. He had no right to go off on Suzanne like that. It wasn’t her fault her timing sucked. That was the second time she’d interrupted him with his mate. She didn’t deserve to be reprimanded for what amounted to his lack of self control. He didn’t refuse her when she