"Come for me, beautiful," he growled. As he drove her down onto him, he thrust upward and bit the curve where her neck met her shoulder, his sharp teeth puncturing her skin.

"North!" She threw back her head and howled, shattering, breaking into a million pieces, pieces so fine and so sharp they'd never be put back together again.

"Ember!" He bellowed her name, his wolf song joining hers, his big form shuddering underneath her. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders, holding onto him, her loving compa.s.s in a world filled with pain and regret.

He trembled; her big strong wolf trembled, against her. She pressed her body to his, absorbing the small movements, reveling that she did this to him.

"I love you," she whispered into his salty skin. Tomorrow, I'll leave. Ember rested against North. I must.

Mate. The morning sun danced across Ember's reddish-brown hair, lighting the strands with flame. North gazed upon his sleeping female, heat spreading across his chest. Mine.

His gaze dropped to her bare shoulders, and he frowned. His fingers hadn't lied. Between her curls, pink scars licked up her spine, marring her tanned skin. He carefully lifted the black cotton sheet she'd pulled over her body and brushed her hair aside.

f.u.c.k. Her entire back was covered with scars. The pain she must have felt. North pressed his lips together, swallowing his howl of agony. Protect mate! His wolf raged to be free, clawing, snapping at his controls. He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes, fighting the shift. She needed the sensitive, rational man, not his instinct-driven, emotional wolf.

"It's okay." Her voice was quiet as though all of the life, her spark, had been beaten out of her. He'd allowed her to be beaten. She was his mate, his to protect, and he'd allowed her to be harmed. "You don't have to look. I'll go." Skin slid against fabric.

"No." He grabbed her wrist and met her gaze. Her eyes shone with a watery sheen and a single trail of moisture glistened on her cheek. I've hurt her more. His stomach twisted. "You're not going anywhere, mate."

"I'm not your mate." She turned her face away from him. "Not any longer. Let me go." She tugged on her arm.

"Never." North slid his body over hers, flattening her into the mattress, squashing her efforts to escape, to run from him. "I'm never letting you go. I did that once, beautiful. I'm not making the same mistake again."

"I'm no longer beautiful."

She bucked, trying to dislodge him, her a.s.s bouncing against his hard c.o.c.k. f.u.c.k. He wanted her, but they needed to talk first.

"You saw my back, and I'm in my human form. In my wolf form..."

In her wolf form, she'd be almost bald. There'd be scars where her gorgeous brown fur had been, fur she'd once prided herself on. Feeling her pain, he kissed her shoulder. "Your beauty isn't in your back." He pressed his lips between her shoulder blades. "Or in your face." He licked the tears off her cheek. "Or even in your eyes." He kissed her arched eyebrow. "You're beautiful, Ember. You are."

"Don't lie to me. I saw your look of disgust." She sniffled.

"When have I ever lied to you?" He sat upright, straddling her, and gazed down at her scarred skin. She suffered through this because she loved me. She's still suffering, my brave she-wolf. "And what you saw wasn't disgust. It was anger at your father and at myself."

He followed one long scar with his fingertips, the links of a silver chain permanently burned into her flesh. "I was a young, arrogant fool and I was careless with you, mate." He sucked the pink puckers into his mouth. "With your love." He rubbed his chin against her chin. "How can you ever forgive me?" Hopelessness welled up inside him. "Tell me what I can do, anything, everything, and I'll do it."

"Let me go." She pushed against the mattress, but he wouldn't allow her to rise.

Part of him, the sniveling, cowardly stray, wanted to release her, knowing he could never make up for the pain, but the man, the alpha wolf vowed to try, to protect her, to fill the rest of her life with joy.

"Except for that." He swiped a scar with the flat of his tongue, and she trembled. "If I let you go, all of this would be for nothing. You bore this pain for me, the pack stray." The thought was inconceivable yet the proof was on her skin.

"You were never a stray to me," she mumbled into the sheets. "I loved you."

Loved. He stilled, fear gripping his soul. "And do you still love me?" He held his breath.

Ember nodded and he exhaled. "Too much to stay. You deserve better." She wiggled, her movements tormenting his already aroused body.

North ignored his desire, focusing on his woman. "There's no one better than you, my mate." He swirled heated circles into her muscles with his wet tongue, lowering, lowering, lowering until he stretched out on top of her, covering her like a blanket. "And every time I look at your back, I'll remember that you chose me. Me, Ember. You chose me above your pack, your safety, yourself." His voice cracked.

"Oh, f.u.c.k." He buried his face in her back, bathing her scars with tears he'd never admit to shedding. She lay under him, her small body shuddering with silent sobs, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He wasn't worthy of her, he wouldn't ever be worthy of her, but he'd dedicate his life trying to prove himself.

Chapter Four.

Three nights later, North split his attention between the Lair's long line of leather-clad patrons and Ember's even longer legs, her curvy calves fueling his fantasies, her bare skin tanned and delightfully lickable. Killer, that lucky dog, sniffed at her s.e.xy black stilettos as she talked to a gold-wearing dominatrix waiting in the line. The other security wolves hovered around them, staring blatantly at his oblivious mate.

"Don't you have work to do?" North snarled, barely suppressing his urge to sling Ember over his shoulder and take her far away from their l.u.s.t-filled eyes.

"Yeah." Bruiser grinned, his ice blue eyes vivid in his dark face. He folded his big arms and braced his feet apart, signaling that he didn't plan to go anywhere. "So your vow of abstinence has been broken?" He nodded toward Ember. "It must be. She has your stench all over her." He grinned.

Ember's head rose. She caught North's gaze, and her skin turned a delightful pink.

"She can hear you, you fool," North muttered. "She's wolf." Although he hadn't seen her in wolf form since their separation -- Ember refused to shift while he was present. Doesn't she trust me? He scowled, not liking that she hid that part of her from him.

"She's a hot wolf," one of the other wolves called out.

"She's my wolf," North growled. "Keep your comments and your paws to yourself."

The wolves laughed, not taking him serious.

They should. He was deadly serious.

North's mood lightened as Ember returned to his side, her hips rolling seductively, her skirt lethally short. He sniffed the night air, smelling hot, aroused female, and his c.o.c.k hardened. "Are you hungry, beautiful?"

He was. His gaze dropped to her chest, and he licked his lips, yearning for a taste of the tightened nipples poking against the soft silk of her black blouse.

The wolves sn.i.g.g.e.red, and Ember's color deepened to a dark crimson. "Killer needs a nature break." The dog yipped, looking up at him with big brown eyes.

North pulled Ember close, her curves smacking against his muscles. "And I need you." A quickie in a back alley would take the edge off his need.

Bruiser made a choking noise, and the wolves jostled each other, poking elbows in ribs. North leveled a hard look on them. "Someday you'll meet your mates," he warned.

"G.o.d. I hope not," Bruiser drawled. "I like my b.a.l.l.s where they are." The wolves chuckled.

"Fools." North rolled his eyes. Was I ever that arrogant? "Bruiser, you're in charge. Try not to f.u.c.k up." He took Ember's hand and led her into the labyrinth of dimly lit back streets and alleyways, away from the noise and the party crowd. Killer limped ahead of them, investigating every piece of paper or rock in their path. "Sorry about that."

"No need to be sorry." Ember smiled up at him, her expression carefree and confident, and North's heart flipped. That's my girl. "I'm glad you have a pack."

He laced his fingers between hers, linking them together. "You're my pack." She was the only pack that mattered. "You --"

"Not officially." A big shifter stepped out of the shadows, a long black leather coat swirling around his legs. Killer whimpered in fear and backed between North's boots.

"Officially you're still part of our pack, stray." A deep, stark-white scar carved through the ma.s.sive male's stubble-covered cheek from his eye to his chin.

s.h.i.t. He'd recognize that ugly face anywhere. Kobe, the enforcer, that mean son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h. North pushed Ember protectively behind him.

"Ember, you've been a bad outcast. You know the rules. Outcasts don't contact any member of the pack." Kobe clucked his tongue as he opened his jacket, the silver of a linked chain gleaming under the streetlights.

He knew about the chain. Kobe had been present at her beating. North growled, clenching his fingers into fists, thirsting for vengeance. Ember's father hadn't acted alone.

Ember trembled against his back, the poignant scent of her fear aggravating his already hostile wolf. "He's dead." Her voice shook. "The alpha's dead."

"But his laws don't die with him." Kobe wrapped the silver chain around his gloved fingers. "I'll have to kill you now, slowly." He smiled menacingly, saliva dripping off his huge white canines.

"Over my dead body." North straightened his shoulders, shielding his little mate. No one touches my mate. This time, I will protect her.

"I was hoping you'd say that, stray." Kobe's eyes gleamed with blood thirst, a madness treatable only by pain and death.

"No." Ember pushed against North, smacking her palms on his back. He didn't move, determined to guard her. "This fight is between you and me, Kobe. Leave North out of it."

She'd sacrifice herself for me. Again. I'll prove myself worthy of her devotion. Kobe had been the cruelest of his boyhood tormenters. "This is my fight, mate." It had been a long time coming. "I'll protect you." North cracked his scarred knuckles. He'd learned to fight on the streets. This was his turf.

"Like you protected her fifty-three years ago?" Kobe laughed, the sound holding no humor. "You were no match for our alpha then, and you're no match for me now." He flicked his wrist, the chain snapping toward them.

North reached out and caught it with his arm, the length biting into his leather coat. As the tail wrapped around his bicep, he yanked and pulled the weapon out of Kobe's grasp. The chain slithered along the pavement. Killer yipped and chased it, pouncing on the links. Ember gasped and danced out of its reach, her heels skidding on the road.

"I hadn't known you'd harmed her." North stalked toward the shifter. His voice deepened. "If I had, nothing and no one would have stopped me from killing you." He partially shifted, his claws extending from his hands, his body increasing in size, shredding his clothes, and his jaws contorting. "As nothing stops me now."

"Except for me." Kobe's already ugly face sprouted ink-black hair, bare spots appearing where his scars had been. He crouched lower and lower. North mirrored his action, watching his flat black eyes. "Time to put you out of your misery, mutt." The enforcer sprang toward him.

North leaped up to meet him, and their bodies collided in midair, muscle slapping against muscle, claws swiping fur. Kobe bit down on North's shoulder, his canines piercing fur and skin, and North grimaced at the jagged pain.

He landed on his hands and feet, the pavement damp and dirty, Kobe clinging to his back, ripping at his flesh. North turned and smacked the wolf against the side of a brick building, dislodging him. Kobe rolled out of reach and they both retreated, breathing heavily. North stood between Kobe and Ember, the scent of blood, his and Kobe's, filling his nostrils.

"North, we're a pack." Ember shuffled behind him, her presence comfortingly close. "We'll fight him together."

"No. My fight, Ember." North eyed Kobe. The big wolf paced in front of him, looking for weakness. Kobe's right arm bled, blood dripping off his claws. They were equally injured, equally matched, except Kobe had no one, nothing to protect, no thought in his brutish mind except defeating his opponent.

North could even his odds... or try to. "Leave me," he barked at Ember. "Go back to the club, where my wolves can protect you."

"Your wolves, yes." She turned and ran away from them, from him, her feet light on the pavement, her little dog following her, barking.

My mate is safe. North circled Kobe, glaring at the other wolf. And I'll defeat her enemy. I'll show her I'm worthy. He released a haunting howl, proclaiming his dominance, and threw his body into the air, shifting fully as he moved, uncaging his wild wolf.

"I need you. North needs you," Ember yelled to Bruiser, frantic with worry. She was small and untrained, unable to a.s.sist her mate in his fight against the s.a.d.i.s.tic enforcer, but North had a pack now. They'd help him.

"Bring as many wolves as you can and follow me, prepared to fight." She beckoned, glancing over her shoulder, cringing at the sounds of claws gouging flesh and bodies. .h.i.tting brick. She smelled blood, her mate's blood, and it enraged her wolf.

North's big friend didn't ask for clarification. He opened the club door, bellowed instructions inside, and ran toward her, shifting into an intimidating gray wolf.

Shift. She sprinted back to North, her human form too slow, too weak. I need to shift. I'll lose him forever, but if I don't shift, he'll die. He can't die. She released her wolf. Her arms extended, fur covered her skin, and a tail protruded from her a.s.s.

Protect mate. She raced down the alley, her canines bared, prepared to fight, to die if necessary so he would live, the wolf she loved more than life. As she turned the corner, she slid to a stop, her claws digging into the pavement.

North, in partially shifted form, had his arm around the thrashing Kobe's neck. He met her gaze, his eyes wild with the fever of battle, blood streaking his face, and he jerked. Bone snapped. The Enforcer kicked his feet and went still.

North's gaze lifted. Although his lips flattened for a mere second before curling upward into a fake smile, it was too late. She'd seen the horror in his eyes.

Oh, G.o.d. Ember backed away as the other wolves pushed forward, crowding around her, their bodies heaving with effort. He didn't need my help. I lost his love for nothing.

She turned and ran with her tail between her legs, unable to talk to him, to force a smile and pretend her world hadn't fallen apart. She couldn't listen to his lies, hear his insincere a.s.surances that she wasn't hideous. She was. Mere words wouldn't change that.

"Ember!" North called to her, his voice stimulatingly deep. "Stop!"

Alpha! Her wolf whimpered, yearning to comply, but the woman couldn't stop. She darted down the alleyway, away from the shame. Heavier steps pounded the pavement behind her. She smelled his musk and the tangy scent of his blood. He was the bigger, stronger wolf, and he was gaining on her.

North grunted and a heavy weight landed on her back, flattening her to the street. She skidded, her claws raking the hard surface. He closed his jaws around her neck, his grasp on her firm and threatening, his canines pressing against her fur. With one yank, he could break her neck.

She whimpered, bowing to his dominance, lowering her head in submission. He was alpha, and he was her mate. She couldn't escape him.

Shift, mate. His command filled her mind.

She obeyed, trembling, the pavement cold against her skin, her weaker human form naked and exposed. North growled his approval and shifted, his big body covering hers, his warmth soothing her.

"Never run from me again." He clasped her nape with one of his calloused hands, his blood loss slowing, his wounds quickly closing.

"Everyone saw, North." She struggled under his weight, wiggling with humiliation. Everyone saw how ugly she was, how marred, how imperfect.

"And what did everyone see?" He licked her shoulder, his touch soothing her anxious wolf. "A beautiful, powerful she-wolf willing to sacrifice her pride, her life, and everything else she has for her mate? Because that is what I saw."

Lies. They had to be lies. She blinked back tears. "My back --"

"Shows every wolf my b.i.t.c.h is bad-a.s.s." North nipped her skin, marking her, claiming her. "Kobe thought you'd die from those wounds, did you know that? He underestimated how tough, how strong you are." Pride laced his words, pride she wanted to believe in. "You're mine, Ember, and I'll fight to keep you."

"I'm tired of fighting," she confessed, a wave of bone-deep weariness rolling over her. "And I'm tired of running, but --"

North bit her hard, the pain sharp. "No buts." He licked the spot, soothing her with his flat, wet tongue. "If you run, I run."

He'd run, leaving all he had built behind. She couldn't do that to him. "You have a pack here, the pack you always wanted." He slid his hard c.o.c.k between her a.s.s cheeks, and she inhaled, her p.u.s.s.y moistening. He wanted her. He had seen her back, and he still wanted her.

"You're the pack I always wanted," he declared. Bare feet smacked against pavement, and North groaned in her ear, the sound vibrating her skin. "d.a.m.n it. The cavalry's coming."

"Your pack's coming," she corrected, bracing for the comments about her back. They must have noticed. They'll say something and that would upset North and -- "h.e.l.l, North, that's not how you treat a beautiful woman," Bruiser drawled. "You're squashing her, you brute."

Beautiful? Ember looked up at the smiling, naked shifter. He still thinks I'm beautiful?