Cook, Kris - Primal Desire [Texas Wolf Pack 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Kris Cook Page A

attacked us, missy,” Hawk spat.
    “I said to cool it.” Rance glared at the young shifter. He turned back to Megan and pointed at Luke. “He did attack us, but that is not the point. We were ready for a fight when we showed up.”
    “I could see that. Do you have some kind of grudge against him?”
    “You weren’t fooled by the skunks, Rance?” Luke looked at Megan, wondering what she would do once she learned that he’d tried to keep her whereabouts secret.
    “No. Not one bit.”
    “What are you talking about, Luke? Skunks?”
    “He killed some skunks to try to hide your scent from us.”
    She stepped right in front of him. Her face turned dark. “Why?”
    Luke didn’t answer, didn’t move. What the hell had come over him? Yes, she was his mate. There was no denying that fact. But he didn’t deserve her as a mate or anything else from her for that matter.
    “Answer me, please.” Her delicious aroma filled his nostrils, calling to deep, ancient urges. But he resisted.
    “Ask them.”
    She deserved better, so much better than him. How selfish had he been? What kind of life could he give her? A cold, isolated life, that’s what.
    “I’m asking you, Luke. Tell me.”
    “He didn’t want you to be discovered so soon, Megan.” Troy touched Megan’s shoulder, and Luke went blistering hot.
    “Don’t touch her,” he growled. “Mine.”

    * * * *

    Megan’s jaw dropped. “He’s my sister’s fiancé. Troy isn’t interested in me that way, Luke. Stop being a jealous prick, please. This is too much. I’d like to go to my Gran’s now.”
    She felt Troy remove his hand. “Be careful, Megan. He’s not in his right mind.”
    “He’s in mate lust,” the guy next to him stated.
    “What the hell is that?” she asked.
    “Shifter stuff, Megan.” Rance studied Luke and then spoke. “Probably true, but he’s got some control, or we’d all be sporting a lot more wounds than we are now, Sloan. So, everyone, just be calm.”
    Megan couldn’t wrap her head around what all this meant. “Mate lust? Is that why he called me ‘mine’earlier?”
    “I think so.” Troy looked hard at Luke. “We’re not here to take your mate. Understand?”
    Luke didn’t move a muscle but just kept glaring at him with a bloodlust that frightened her.
    Sloan shook his head. “If he shifts back into wolf shape, someone is going to get killed.”
    “I want everyone to chill.” Just as the last words left her lips, Megan felt an electrical surge shoot down her hands. Suddenly, a sheet of ice appeared under their feet. Had she done that? She had said everyone needed to chill. Had she invoked a spell that had created the ice under all their feet? I’m a witch. Oh, my God. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
    “It’s okay, Megan.” Troy looked at her with understanding eyes. “You are just learning how to use your powers.”
    “Let me make it go away.” She concentrated on the ice, imagining it melting away. In a matter of seconds, it was gone. “Better?”
    Troy nodded. “My feet are warmer, but Luke is still on the edge.”
    “Megan, say something to him,” Rance suggested.
    “What? I really don’t know what to say.” I only just met him.
    “Doesn’t matter. He has imprinted on you. We can talk until we are blue in the face and he still might not even be able to really hear us. You can get through to him.”
    “I’ll try.” She tried to think of something that might reach him but came up blank.
    Rance said in an even tone, “Better hurry, Megan.”
    Luke looked like a man who had lost all sense of reason and civility.
    “Luke, can you understand me?”
    He didn’t respond.
    “Did I do this to him somehow?” She thought about the sex she’d just experienced with him. Had that been the cause? Perhaps shifters needed something different for sex to keep them on a path free from homicide.
    Troy whispered, “No. This is uncommon in our tribe but not unheard of. Try again.”
    “Luke, please