Lyra's Pack: A Werewolf MC Romance

Chapter 4 Max

Max was not pleased with Audrey, not at all. Being shoved out when he was the one who brought the girl in. He grunted as he took another shot of whiskey. He’d needed something to calm him down after the last hour of emotions. Anger still coursed through him at the thought of the dog in the forest. He should have finished him right then and there, he thought. Or maybe he could go back. His wolf’s nose could scent the dog easily enough, leading him to the asshole.

“Who is the new girl?” He heard from behind and turned to find Sherry with another shot held out to him. What did she want now?

“A new friend of mine, Sherry. Nothing for you to worry about,” he answered, waving off the drink still held out to him.

“I am worried though, Max. You don’t make new friends often. How well do you know her?” Sherry took a seat on the bar stool next to him, leaning in so her chest was nearly resting on his arm. Once upon a time, that chest would have done something for him. Now he just moved back.

“Well enough for you not to worry, Sherry. Leave her alone. She doesn’t need you sniffing around.” He waved down Dave for another shot, still pointedly ignoring the one sitting in front of him. “She has dealt with enough for tonight.”

Sherry ran her finger down the side of his neck. “Does that mean that you’ll be leaving her alone tonight too?”

Max sighed and shifted until her hand fell. The poor girl had barely arrived and already Sherry was starting her s**t. “What I do or don’t do is none of your business, Sherry. Maybe you forgot but I am the Alpha of this Pack and I don’t answer to you and never have.”

He got up to leave, turning away from the woman that most of the men in this bar would never walk away from if they thought they had a chance. Unlike them, though, Max wasn’t interested. He knew who Sherry was, had a taste of her in every way, and nothing about her appealed to him anymore. He wished her and Eli the best. He knew that bothered her more than anything. Sherry couldn’t stand being ignored, and worse acknowledged and unwanted.

“Oh, I remember,” she purred at him, not taking the hint. “I could never forget that you are the Alpha, Max. No one could. You know, if she’s had such a rough time of it, I would be more than happy to visit her. Maybe show her around if you intend for her to stay.”

Max knew she was just digging for information and an excuse to terrorize the girl. Sherry had her flaws, but she could always tell when another woman was a threat to her place in the hierarchy. And this woman could knock her right out of top spot as far as beauty goes. No doubt by the end of the day tomorrow every male who saw her would want her.

The thought alone was enough to piss Max off. He was ready to stake him claim, though he couldn’t say why. He didn’t know her. Didn’t even know her name. All he knew was that she had a divine face and smelled like Heaven itself. Still, something in her called to him down to his very bones and he never wanted to let whatever that was go.

He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t interested in mating with her as well. Much as it pained him to see her hurt, she was undeniably hot. Graceful limbs, perfectly sized breasts, thighs he would desperately love to be between…

“What’s that smell?” Sherry asked, still behind him. She knew exactly what that smell was. They’d been together enough that she knew what his arousal scent smelled like. Somehow remembering their time together put him off more than anything else. Before tonight, he’d had no complaints about that part of their relationship, even if the rest had gone to absolute s**t. The s*x had been good. But now, just the idea of being with the girl got him hotter than actually being with Sherry. “Is that for me?”

She was being coy. “You know how jealous Eli gets.” She was purring again. Did she think reminding him of Eli would make him jealous? Not likely. Maybe right after they had broken up, he would have been embarrassed. For an Alpha to lose a girl to a Beta was a humiliation, but it didn’t take long for him to wise up to her game and the embarrassment faded into nothing.

“Once again, Sherry, nothing at all to do with you.” Max picked up his pace. “Just thinking about the girl.” He would have to find out her name. He couldn’t keep calling her the girl and he knew whatever it was, it would feel perfect on his lips. Just like she would.

“Fine, Max,” Sherry said testily. “Just remember that you don’t actually know her. She doesn’t belong here.”

“The hell she doesn’t,” he said just loud enough for her to hear, but with authority. He wasn’t going to let her forget that he was in charge, especially not where the girl was concerned.

It wasn’t a far walk from the bar back to Audrey’s trailer and though he was even more frustrated than he was when he left, and he hadn’t stayed away until summoned as Audrey had requested, he couldn’t wait another moment to see her again. To know that she was whole and healed.

He knocked on the door, resisting the urge to just walk in. Alpha he may be, but he still respected his elders.

“I expected as much,” Audrey said as she opened the door for him. “Just couldn’t stay away could you?”

“No,” he answered, both gruffly and honestly. “How is she?”

“Come take a look for yourself.” She guided him back to the extra bedroom that she had turned into the Pack’s personal clinic. “Bruised and bandaged, but otherwise, fine.”

The girl looked up at him as soon as he walked in and it occurred to him then that she may have wanted some privacy, but it was too late for that now. Besides, if the feeling he had was mutual, she wouldn’t mind him being there at all. If it were Max sitting on the edge of that exam table, he would want her right there with him. He would have found it a comfort.

“You’re Max?” she asked tentatively. Her shy voice was music to him. “The one that brought me in? Thank you.”

“No need for thanks. You were in need of help and on our land.” As soon as he said it, rejected it. Making it sound like she was an obligation and not a pleasure. “I was happy to help. Anything I can get you?” He was not good at this. He’d never had to be good at talking to women. He never had to be.

“I’m good. I can get out of your way,” she said, looking down. Someone who didn’t want to be a bother. Didn’t want someone to have to take care of them. Before he could reply, he heard her stomach growl.

“Let’s get you some food first, then we’ll see about you leaving.”

Over his dead body would she leave him now that she was here.