Page 14 of Memphis Heat

Chapter Four

Sweat trickled down the back of Regan’s neck.

She had the feeling whatever was about to happen wouldn’t be to her liking.

Much as she disliked not being self-reliant, she was very grateful for Butch’s protective posture.

He had his arm firmly around her, holding her to his side, and Regan could give a damn who saw it.

She was so nervous she was practically trembling.

As they passed by one big male wolf, Butch actually growled until the man looked away.

No doubt about it, her Butch was more than a little Alpha.

How this was going to work was anyone’s guess.

Regan didn’t see Butch as a werewolf taking orders from anyone.

It had been kind of touchy before, but nothing like it was now.

All these primitive tendencies had surfaced after he’d been changed.

Not that she minded. It was kind of hot.

They moved through the throng of people -- some shifted, some still in human form -- and Regan became more and more uneasy. Something big was about to happen, and it looked like she and Butch were going to be the center of attention.

She recognized the industrial facility on the outskirts of Memphis as soon as they arrived -- this was the place they’d escaped after they’d been changed.

From the inside, they’d thought they were in a real hospital.

But once they got the door open -- not that difficult for a pair of werewolves once they got truly pissed -- they’d realized it was the med ward of an industrial manufacturing plant.

Or what had once been one -- from the outside, much of the place looked abandoned.

Apparently the Memphis FOP had taken over the whole facility.

The warehouse area they entered now appeared to have been remodeled. The interior reminded Regan of an older nightclub -- dark and intimate. The place seemed clean enough, if a little shabby, but the air reeked of sex. Or maybe that was her.

The farther in they went, the longer they were in the presence of so many werewolves who might or might not be allies, the more edgy Butch seemed to become.

He snarled and growled at everyone, keeping Regan as close as possible.

Which was fine with her. The whole thing was bizarre, and all she wanted to do was get the fuck outta Dodge.

“Ah, Butch Carson and Regan O’Malley,” Snorrasan boomed.

The big man was almost as intimidating in his human form as he was in his wolf form.

Either way, Regan wanted no part of him.

She tried to stand her ground, but Butch only pulled her closer to him.

Hell, any closer and she’d have to actually crawl inside his skin.

She wanted to pull away and stand on her own, but even if Butch had loosened his hold, Regan wasn’t certain she was brave enough to take this on by herself.

Fortunately, that was what partners were for. “So good of you to join us.”

“As if there was a choice. Get to the point so we can move on with the investigation. Someone is out to kill police officers in Memphis, and apparently there are only a few of us standing in their way.” Butch sounded gruff. Not at all as if addressing a superior officer.

“We are all working on that particular problem, Carson,” Snorrasan replied with a hint of a growl.

“Are you?” Butch snapped. “It seems to me you’re the one benefiting from the attacks. Every time one of our veteran police officers is near death, you turn them, increasing the ranks of the werewolves. Has this become some kind of supernatural turf war?”

Snorrasan’s expression hardened, transforming him into the pack leader that quickly.

“I do what has to be done, whelp. The rogue pack would see us all dead. I refuse to lose good officers to these bastards. If that means they become werewolves, so be it. I don’t see you and your bitch complaining.

” He bared his teeth at Butch, who bared his own right back.

“If it hadn’t been for my men, you’d be dead. ”

“How do we know that if it hadn’t been for you we’d never have been attacked in the first place?”

Butch’s retort unleashed a melee of angry snarls and growls. All the wolves who hadn’t previously shifted did so, obviously readying themselves for battle. “Butch!” Regan hissed. “This isn’t a good idea…” But she put herself at his back, ready to fight to defend him if necessary.

“Why not?” He responded with more volume than Regan would have liked given they were surrounded by a pack of rabid wolves.

At least, that was how she saw it. Was he trying to get them both killed?

“Everyone here has the right to know if their lives were taken from them because of this man’s ambition or because of something more sinister.

Because if Snorrasan is increasing the size of his pack to further his own ambitions, I think more than one or two of us will have some objections. ”

“Your lives were given back to you by me, whelp!” Snorrasan snapped. “I only do what is required to keep Memphis safe. If that means I have to glean the dead, then that’s exactly what I do.”

Regan had to give it to Snorrasan. If he was on the wrong side of things, he certainly seemed to be doing it for the right reasons.

That didn’t mean she had to like it. “Butch still has a point.” She had to know the truth of it, no matter what it meant for her.

“I was prepared to die in the line of duty. Being turned into a completely new species is an entirely different matter. If it’s for the greater good, that’s one thing, but not if it’s merely to trade one pack of rabid wolves for another. ”

The pack noise died down. All of them seemed to be looking to Snorrasan for a response. Clearly, Butch had voiced something more than one of them had been worried about.

Instead of responding, Snorrasan just stood there. The silence was deafening and Regan tensed. If they were going to attack, it would be now.

It was the colonel who answered. “Listen, and listen good. I’m only going to say this once.

Like any unit, there’s a chain of command.

This pack has one Alpha. That’s me. Any decisions that are made, I either make myself, or trust to my Beta.

And for those of you who don’t know shit about pack law -- yet -- the Beta is my second in command.

He answers only to me -- my general. And that’s Snorrasan.

” He looked straight at Butch when he spoke, obviously a reprimand.

The warning didn’t seem to faze Butch at all.

The colonel’s stare moved across the crowd gathered there, daring anyone to challenge his word.

None were that foolish. “What Snorrasan and his team have done, they’ve done for all of us.

Because what we’re up against, it’s nothing like we’ve ever seen before in the nearly two-hundred-year history of this unit.

These fuckers who are not only trying to move in on us, but trying to take over the whole of Memphis, they’re not some rogue pack.

They’re organized, and they’re deadly. We’d have lost more than a dozen good cops by now if it weren’t for the work of my men.

As it is, we’ve not been able to save them all.

There’s four who’ll never walk these beats again, and two more who may not make it through the change.

We’re under attack. Today it’s cops. But if we lose the forward ground, you can bet they’ll be turning the lowlife of our city next.

Or even good people who simply can’t defend themselves. This is war.”

Some of the tension went out of Butch. “We won’t lose the city, boss. We’re with you.” Clearly, Butch trusted the colonel more than he trusted Snorrasan.

“Follow me, follow my man.”

“Yes, sir.” Butch lowered his gaze slightly, inclining his head toward Snorrasan. “Thank you for saving Regan.”

“Do you intend to claim her as your mate?”

Regan wasn’t sure what Snorrasan was asking, but the answer damn well better be yes . Hell with that. She had a better answer. “I claim him as mine .”

Their leaders exchanged glances, and both broke out laughing.

“The day of the obedient female has a place in history,” their Alpha commented.

“Just not our recent history. Our bitches are getting ballsy. They’re going to need it if there truly is a war on the horizon.

” He clapped Butch on the shoulder. “Let the claiming begin!”

Whatever the fuck that meant . Though Regan was pretty sure she knew, and a decidedly uncomfortable flush crept up her neck to suffuse her face.

A cheer went up from the older pack members.

A cheer that turned into a pack howl as all around them wolves began to shift.

Butch growled and pulled her to him, fusing his mouth to hers, and she knew.

Not that she was opposed to having sex in public.

Hell, it was a huge turn on to think about.

She wished she’d had a bit of warning. She might have even shaved her legs.

Not that it seemed to matter. There was a crap load of fur in the room.

Butch seemed to be reduced to animalistic instinct.

Even his eyes seemed feral. There was no doubt she was getting ready to be fucked, and fucked good.

There was some little bit of humanity in the back of her mind that screamed at her to preserve her modesty, but she quickly tamped it down.

This was a whole new world, a whole new situation with a new normal and new regulations.

If it meant she’d get to keep Butch as her mate forever, then she’d do whatever she had to do.

Even get it on in a room full of complete strangers.

Of course, some of them in the room weren’t complete strangers.

Some of these men she’d worked with side by side for the whole of her short career in the MPD.

That was more uncomfortable than anything else.