"Sorry, pussy. Can't do it."

Now a few feet from her, Brendon shrugged. "That's too bad, sexy."

He made a wild grab for her and she expertly dodged him, avoiding his arms and audaciously slapping his ass as she passed.

"You little brat!"

She laughed and leaped up on his bed, charging across it. He didn't bother running for her, instead leaping right from the spot where he stood. She'd reached the door when he tackled her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

Brendon used his arms to protect her while he made sure he fell on his side.

She struggled even as she laughed hysterically.

"Shaw, you crazy bastard! Let me go!"

Jumping to his feet, Brendon grabbed hold of her ankle and dragged her back to the bed. "Oh, I'm not letting you go, sexy. Not for a while anyway." Not ever.

He grabbed her waist and lifted her, tossing her on the bed. She tried to sprint away, but he slapped one hand against her back, and the power of it kept her right where she was. He had to be careful, though. Too hard a slam from his hand or paw could snap her back like a twig.

Ronnie kicked and cursed and laughed, trying her best to get away from Brendon. He sat on the edge of the bed and dragged her over his lap.

"I have to say, Ronnie Lee, I love this ass." He reached between them and expertly got her shorts loose.

"Don't even think about it, Shaw," she squealed when he pulled the denim off her ass.

"Too late." He brought his hand down on one cheek.

"Ow! You bastard!"

"That was just mean, Ronnie Lee." He slapped her other cheek.

"Stop. Stop!" She reached back and tried to cover her butt.

"Now, now, Ronnie. You know how important it is to get your punishment."

"Don't," she begged, even while she giggled. "I'll do anything."

"You say that, but I don't think you mean it." He raised his hand and she wiggled desperately.

"I promise. Anything!"

Brendon pretended to think about it for a second. "Anything?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Stay with me today. We'll go out, have some fun, then come back here tonight."

Ronnie blinked in surprise. "Spend the day together? I don't know..."

He raised his hand again.

"Okay! Okay! I'll spend the day with you."

"And tonight."

"You said the day."

He brought his hand down on her ass and she howled. Literally. "All right! Tonight, too."

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise."

"Good."

Brendon didn't say anything for a minute, and finally she looked over her shoulder at him. "What?"

"You wet, sexy?"

Smirking, she looked away. "Maybe."

He shoved her back on the bed and pulled her shorts completely off.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't leave you like this. All wet and horny because of little ol' me."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh puhleeze!"

Brendon pushed his basketball shorts down and put her legs on his shoulders. He grabbed the last condom from the box on the nightstand, making a mental note to pick up more while they were out. "No need to beg, sexy. I'll take care of it."

"Are they all like you?"

"All what? Cats?"

"Yeah."

"They want to be, but they're not kings of the jungle. Only I am." She looked up at him with one raised eyebrow. He shrugged and added, "Duh," before he buried himself balls-deep inside her and "took care of it."

Ronnie pulled out a pair of black jeans, a black sweater that would show some cleavage, and her favorite pair of black cowboy boots. Shaw really seemed to like her in cowboy boots. Now if she could get him in a pair of cowboy boots, all would be right with her world.

Smiling, Ronnie made a small pile of her clothes and then stood by the bed trying to figure out what else she might be forgetting. She knew she probably forgot something. Especially with her mind wandering back to last night with Shaw. She could say in all honesty she'd never had such a good time before in bed, and she'd had many good times in bed. Yet something about being with Shaw felt so right.

Whatever. Until the last year or so, Ronnie had never been a big-time worrier, concerned with how events would play out a few months or years down the line. And she wouldn't start now with Shaw. She'd keep this relationship as simple as she kept all the others. They'd have a good time now and end it when it got boring. She gave what they currently had about a three-day shelf life. She figured by New Year's Eve they'd both be looking for something more in line with who they are. Shaw would want back into some Pride, and Ronnie would be on the lookout for the wolf of her dreams.

Until then, until they were both so bored they couldn't stand the sight of each other, she and Shaw would merely enjoy the moments-and have astounding sex.

Satisfied with her plan, Ronnie didn't even bother to turn around when her bedroom door opened. She knew Sissy and Marty walked up behind her.

"Hey, y'all."

When they didn't answer, she looked at Sissy, shocked by the anger she saw there. "What? What's wrong?"

"Do you think we don't know?"

"That the whole Pack doesn't know?" Marty added with more venom than Ronnie ever heard from the woman.

"If y'all are talking about Shaw-"

"You doin' more than one lion?"

"You know what, Smith? That ain't none of your business." She didn't know why Sissy should be so pissed. In the bar the other night she'd practically thrown Ronnie face-first into Shaw's lap.

"Everything that happens in this Pack is now my responsibility."

"You don't even know anything happened," Ronnie reminded her friend. "You haven't even been here."

"We have proof."

Huh? "Proof of what?"

"The disgusting things you two were doing," Sissy snapped.

Ronnie rubbed her eyes. "What the hell are you two talking-"

She stopped when Sissy Mae tossed down the first eight-by-ten picture on the bed. Staring blindly, it took Ronnie several seconds to understand what she was actually seeing.

"You're a whore, Ronnie Lee Reed," Sissy said while tossing down more photos. Lord...so many sexual positions. So many disgusting, inappropriate things for two beings to be doing to each other. "And now everybody in the Pack knows it."

"You," Ronnie said through gritted teeth, "showed this to everyone in the Pack?"

"Had to," Marty sighed. "Had to prove what a whore you are."

Ronnie picked up the picture of a male and female having oral sex. "You two spent time on this?"

"Sure." Marty shrugged. "Quick stop over at FAO Schwarz to pick up Ronnie"-Marty lifted up the stuffed wolf she had hidden behind her back-"and Shaw." Her other hand held the stuffed lion.

"Then we used Bobby Ray's digital camera so we could capture the true essence of what you two have been up to since yesterday."

Ronnie kept staring at the pictures. She couldn't help herself. "Where did you find the little latex thong? And the whip?"

"Wolf ingenuity, darlin'."

Idiots. Her Pack was filled with absolute idiots.

Marty picked up another picture. "I had heard you have some oral skills, my dear. I must say I'm impressed."

Sissy held up a different photo, Ronnie's stuffed representative in a position with the Stuffed-Shaw that no amount of money in the world would get the breathing Ronnie to try. "And she's not afraid to experiment. Are ya, my kinky little friend?"

Ronnie grabbed several other photos: Stuffed-Ronnie getting it from behind. Stuffed-Ronnie sitting on Stuffed-Shaw's face. Stuffed-Ronnie wearing a leather bustier and a little leather mask. They'd tied her paws to the makeshift cardboard four-poster bed and stuffed-lion Shaw was-oh good Lord in heaven.

"You showed these to the Pack?"

"Oh yeah. Over breakfast in that fancy restaurant they have downstairs. Couple of tigers were there too, came over and looked cause they heard us laughing. Then they laughed."

"And the jackals. Don't forget the jackals."

"Oh. Those jackals were so entertained."

The title Alpha Female of the Smith Pack completely forgotten, Ronnie slowly rounded on her childhood best friend. "Sissy Mae?"

"Yeah, darlin'?"

"Run."

Chapter Ten.

S he smelled good. She'd used his shampoo and soap, and he liked how those scents clung to her.

She'd also slipped into a worn pair of black jeans, a black V-neck sweater, and black cowboy boots that sounded sexy as hell "clopping" against his hardwood floors. Even her leather motorcycle jacket made her look like one of those biker wolves that roamed the West Coast and Texas.

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she saw his face.

"Nothing. You ready to go?"

He started to stand, but she pushed him back to the couch and crawled into his lap, her knees on either side of his thighs.

"Now come on, darlin'. Something's not right. What is it?"

Ronnie put her arms around his neck and looked at him, waiting for him to answer. It occurred to him she actually cared.

Brendon had kept most things to himself or between him and his sister. There were few he trusted with his personal information, but those hazel eyes patiently gazing at him made him feel remarkably safe.

"My brother took off again."

She winced and he knew he'd been right. She did care. "I'm sorry, darlin'." Her fingers tangled in his hair. "I know you're worried about him. And I think you're right. He's definitely hiding something. But you can't protect him if he doesn't want you to. Whatever it is, I think it's something he has to work out for himself."

"I know. But I feel like I should help him. I didn't know about him until he was fifteen and I wasn't there to protect him like I should have been."

"That's not your fault."

"I know. Doesn't make me feel better, though." He sighed. "It doesn't make me feel less responsible for him being such a..."