Take My Hand [Brac Pack 28] by Lynn Hagen Page B

been pulled away from his mate, Cecil.
The movie had actually been pretty damn good.
    But so was the hand job Cecil was giving him in the back row of the theater.
“What’s so important that you pulled me away from my mate?” Maverick was still trying to get used to Kota with shoulder-length hair. It didn’t look bad on the wolf, but Kota had always worn his honey-blond hair down his back in one long braid ever since Maverick had known the guy. Seeing it cut to the shoulders was just plain weird.
“I didn’t intentionally pull you away from your…fun, but I think you need to handle this yourself,” Kota said as he led Maverick around the side of the red brick building. If Maverick hadn’t known Kota for over three hundred years, he would have been suspicious.
As they neared the back of the movie theater, Maverick slowed. “What is this, Kota?” he asked as the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. Standing on the other side of a parked car were a group of men, all extremely large, and all looking as though they had seen better days. Maverick wasn’t afraid, but he was cautious. He had a family to look out for and a mate to protect. As he scrutinized the group, he noticed that one man was shorter than the rest, but he was being blocked by another, as if the larger man was protecting the smaller one.
“Just hear them out,” Kota said from beside him.“I would never place you in harm’s way, alpha. You know that I would lay down my life to protect yours.”
Maverick cut his eyes from Kota back over to the group of men. The largest of them all took a step forward, making Maverick’s canines instantly punch through his gums as a snarl crept from his throat.“That’s far enough.” The warning was clear as he stared at the largest of the group.
He was going to hand Kota his ass for this.
“We mean you no harm, Alpha Maverick,” the largest man said. Maverick instantly took in the Native American features. The man had long black hair, high cheekbones, and his skin was a dark tan. “We’ve come to find refuge under your protection.”
These men needed Maverick to protect them? Maverick was the largest timber wolf ever born, and he was a force to be reckoned with, but even he was wary about taking these strangers in.“What breed are you?” He could smell shifter, but the scent wasn’t something he dealt with on a regular basis, so he wasn’t familiar with it. As a matter of fact, the longer Maverick stood there scenting them, he was realizing that they were a mixed bunch.
“My name is Kenway. I’m a buffalo shifter,” the largest of the bunch answered.“We were living peacefully in a small township when we were attacked. The alpha of the local wolf pack deemed us dangerous and called a hunt on our heads.” The man looked back at the group and then turned back toward Maverick.“We’ve done nothing wrong, but the alpha fears us.”
Maverick could see why. He was six nine, and the man standing before him made Maverick feel short. A goddamn buffalo shifter? Now he had heard it all.“Why would he think you were a threat?” Besides the obvious.
Kenway shrugged.“Our size? He never really gave a plausible explanation. He said we had twenty-four hours to leave his territory. And when we refused, the fighting began. The alpha burned our homes to the ground, killing some of our pack. We have heard of you and how men with certain tastes live among you peacefully.”
Maverick could hear not only the mounting rage in the man’s voice, but the sorrow at losing those he cared about. He glanced at the other men behind Kenway, counting eight, nine if he included the buffalo shifter.“There is a farmhouse about two miles outside of town. If I agree to accept you and your men, you will need to give me not only your blood oath of loyalty, but everyone’s name and their breed.” Maverick took a step closer, allowing his claws to extend as he stared Kenway directly in his eyes.“But if you try anything while