Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 by C.M. Simpson (top ebook reader txt) 📕

two feet, and not fall over, and somehow fumbled my way through the rest.

Memories of Rovan wandered through my head, and I pulled myself together. This was not Rovan, and I was not going to offer him my throat in submission.

“Good to hear,” Mack murmured.

“You might not have a choice,” Case said.

“Didn’t you have a mission to go on?” I snarled back.

“Working on it.’ Tens, cutting in before Case or Stepyan could reply.

“Work faster,” I snapped, and, whether it was the pain, or fatigue from swimming through a river of ant honey, I don’t know, but I said that last bit out loud.

The long-clawed hand that picked me up by the throat and pinned me to the wall at wolf eye height jolted me back out of my head, and I realized something really had come adrift in my chest.

It shifted, and I gasped.

The wolf captain curled his lip, and I focused on his fangs rather than look him in the eye.

Looking him in the eye when he was this pissed-off with me... Not a good idea.

“Pissing him off in the first place. Not a good idea.”

Thanks, Mack.

What was it with all the captains in my life?

“And what are you going to do about it?” I asked, this time keeping my mouth shut.

That last bit wasn’t hard, because I was gritting my teeth against the pain, and keeping my lips pressed tight together to avoid making a sound. At least I wasn’t in any danger of offering the big bastard my throat...not while his hand was wrapped around it, at least.

He lifted me off the wall and shook me, and I realized I’d closed my eyes. When I hit the wall, again, I yelped, all thoughts of staying silent gone from my head. Stars, I really hoped he didn’t do that, again.

“What are you doing here?” he repeated, and the growl at the edge of his words went bone deep.

Fuck.

“I came down here to retrieve a bracelet,” I said, and was shaken again. “Bastard!”

This time, the growl engulfed me, and I froze, eyes wide and staring. I’m not sure what would have happened next, if Mack’s voice coming through the speakers hadn’t caught his attention, and caused him to snap his head around, searching for the source.

“We were looking for the wreckage in which you’ve made your home.”

And since when did Mack know formaleze like that?

“You’d be surprised, girl.”

I would, but I was jealous of the way he could carry on a conversation via the implant, while still speaking through the comms.

“You’ll get over it,” he told me, as his voice rang through, again. “I am Hunt Master Mackenzie Star—and that is my Outlier.”

Well, fuck me. Just how much of the last wolf incident had Mack pulled out of my head? But this time it was Tens who answered.

“All of it.”

“When?”

“You spent a lot of time in the tank.”

This was true, but...

“We downloaded the files.”

Fuck! “That was private.”

“Sweetheart, nothing’s ever that private.”

Obviously, but Mack was still talking and I wanted to hear what he was saying.

“...relinquish our claim on the wreck, in return for our Runner.”

Was that another wolf term?

“Yup.” I ignored Tens, trying to keep focused on the conversation between the current captains in my life.

“Girl, I’d better be the only captain in your life.”

Tens snickered, and Mack went back to his conversation with the wolf. I felt my face heat briefly, and then go back to being cold. That was probably shock setting in...or maybe it was just the after-effects of being dripping wet in a cooler environment after the warmth of the tunnels. That would be preferable.

I dangled, feeling my own weight pulling on whatever had come adrift in my chest, and resisting the urge to go to sleep and let the big dogs handle things. The wolf’s next reply meant the conversation had my undivided attention.

“She was disrespectful.”

“She is always disrespectful.”

Thanks, Mack, but Mack hadn’t finished.

“That is a matter for me to handle.”

Uh huh. Well, too bad. I figured he’d had to wait until my ribs heal, first, but the wolf hadn’t finished.

“As a breeding female, she would make a prime trade, and we went to some trouble to save her life for just that purpose.”

I might have protested at that, but I was too tired, and too sore, and that grip on my throat was just a tad too tight. I focused on breathing—and tried to work out just how much damage I could do, if I landed a boot in the big guy’s gut.

“Not enough,” and Tens sounded mildly alarmed. “Please stay still.”

“Please,” Mack added, and I was momentarily stunned.

Please was not a word either of them had a lot of use for.

“I need you to stay alive.”

And that was unexpected. Why would the man want me to do a damn-fool thing like that?

“You’re my retrieval specialist.”

Yeah, well that made sense, but I was probably the biggest pain in his ass, too, and there were other retrieval specialists he could hire.

Whatever he thought of that, Mack didn’t reply; he was too busy negotiating.

“She would not survive in your halls. Her temperament would get her killed.”

Well, he was right about that, but his words had the wolf captain giving me another look, so I decided to make Mack’s point for him.

“Don’t!” came from several voices at once, but I shut them out, and lifted my chin, looking the captain in the eye, and giving him my most evil grin.

From his point of view, it would have looked like a snarl, and a direct challenge to his authority, and I knew just how well these things responded to that.

“I am going to kick your ass,” and this time, Mack’s voice growled out of the comms system.

It was almost completely drowned out by the wolf captain’s growl, and I was really glad his hand formed a second ring around my throat or I might have lost it right away. The first wolf let go, and I might have had a comeback for Mack, if I hadn’t been