“Wolfe hasn’t fucked you, so it’s no business of his,” he bit out. “All I want is an answer.”

“Why? And it’s not like you’ve actually fucked me either, Jacob,” she reminded him as she wondered if the act they had shared so long ago had actually constituted sex.

“So I know if I need to kill him or not.”

Faith blinked, not entirely certain that she had heard him right. Not certain if the throb of violence and arousal in his voice was real or a figment of her imagination. Not that she imagined things often, but surely she couldn’t have heard him right.

“Kill him?” she asked for clarification. “For what exactly?”

She watched his hands tighten on the steering wheel, then glanced up to see the muscles at his jaw bunching in anger.

“For fucking you.” That was definitely a cold edge of violence in his voice, she decided.

Faith shook her head in amazement.

“You gonna break my vibrators too?” she asked him with false innocence.

Silence filled the vehicle. Arousal, hot and pulsing, wrapped around her. Hers and his. She could feel the heat radiating from him now.

“Do you have a vibrator?” His voice lowered, thickened. Faith narrowed her eyes, watching him carefully.

“Several,” she assured him mockingly. “Tucked away nice and safe at home. So let’s conclude our business so I can return to them, or I might be forced to fuck Hawke. You know how it is, Jacob, a woman needs her fix.”

His lips thinned. Faith turned away from him. She didn’t want to look at his lips, didn’t want to remember the feel of them. But the flesh between her thighs remembered. Clearly. It pulsed and throbbed and the slide of her moisture already had her panties damp. Damn, she wished she hadn’t lost her backpack the week before in that frigging hell hole Hawke had dragged her into the last time. Some stupid broad was likely enjoying her little BOB right now. Life just wasn’t fair.

“You didn’t answer me,” he reminded her.

“I resent the question.” Faith shrugged, fighting for nonchalance. “Rephrase it.”

His growl was dark and deep. A primitive, savage sound. He was Alpha, and the demand for an answer had just been voiced.

“No, I’m not fucking Hawke,” she bit out, resentful that he would make a command. “But it’s still none of your business, Jacob.”

He shot her a hooded look, his pale eyes glittering with naked lust. Faith felt her body responding with a surge of moisture that pulsed from her cunt, and a hard ache in her nipples. He had never looked at her like that before. Like he was hungry, starved for her, and didn’t care if she saw.

Then just as quickly the look was gone. His gaze became shuttered, considering.

“Everything okay with Wolfe and Hope then?” he finally asked her broodingly, turning his eyes back to the road.

“They fuck and they fight, then they fuck some more, from what I hear.” She shrugged her shoulders negligently. “I haven’t seen either of them since the day he killed Bainesmith. Thanks for sticking around to help clean up the mess, by the way.”

He slanted her another of those hot looks that went straight to her loins. The ache between her thighs was a warning, a prelude to the hot lusts that occasionally tortured her body. Rather than deal with the sickening displays of male lust she had encountered so far though, she used the cold comfort of her vibrators. She was going to buy stock in Duracell soon.

Silence filled the vehicle as he navigated the narrow alleys and rough roadways until he turned on a rough path that led into the jungle surrounding the town.

“Where are we going?” she finally asked him impatiently. “I need to get back home as soon as I give you the papers Wolfe sent. I do have a life, as I keep reminding our renowned leader.”

“We’re going to a house I’ve borrowed. I’ll read Wolfe’s papers then.” His voice was dark, deep and sexy. Surrounded by the jungle, the sultry heat and the wild sounds of the night, Faith felt an uncomfortable mix of lust and primitive needs. Needs she knew she no longer had the strength to fight.

Within minutes, they pulled into a small clearing, surrounded by a high stone fence. Flipping open the dash he pulled out a remote, flipped a switch and the heavy iron gates swung open.

“Nice little place,” she mocked him as he drove into the circle stone driveway and pulled up to a two-story hacienda complete with a wraparound balcony.

“Come on.” He opened the door, sliding smoothly from the seat and walking around the vehicle.

Faith followed suit, tucking her hands in the light leather jacket, feeling the press of heat on her skin soaking into her body. Her womb fluttered, her flesh felt sensitized, her breasts swelling beneath the light cotton of her shirt. The reaction was similar to the drugs they had pumped her full of at the Labs. The drugs that raged through her body and lost Jacob to her forever.

She entered the house, staring around at the wide foyer, the curving staircase and large open rooms. The interior was cooler than the air outside, but not much. She shed her jacket as they entered, holding it in front of her uncomfortably as she followed Jacob through the long hallway, then into a spacious, well-lit kitchen.

“Beer?” He pulled two from the modern refrigerator and set it on the counter for her.

Faith picked up the cold can, popped the lid and drank from it gratefully. The beer at the bar had been tepid and bitter. This went down smooth and cool, but did little to stem the heat she felt between her legs.

Holding the beer carefully with one hand, she reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out the sealed envelope Wolfe had given her months before. It was wrinkled, dusty, but still in fairly good shape. She tossed it on the table and looked at him expectantly as he watched her from the other side of the sink.

“In a hurry?” He arched a brow, his expression mocking.

“I do have a life to return to,” she reminded him blandly.

“Not to mention your vibrators,” he growled, clearly put out with the thought of her toys.

“Yeah, don’t mention my BOBs. I already miss them.”

“Bobs?” he asked, frowning, his brows lowering warningly.

“Battery Operated Boyfriends.” She smiled tightly. “BOBs.”

He grunted. Moving away from the sink, he stalked to the kitchen table as he cast her a brooding look. He pulled out a chair and waved towards it before moving to the other end to take a seat himself. Faith took the offered chair then took another long drink from the beer. The liquid was cool, but more than that, its potency seemed to ease the tight knot of nerves in her chest.

Jacob had always made her nervous. Since she was young, she had looked up to him, idolized him, and then coveted his touch. She had gotten more than she had bargained for in that.

As he tore the envelope open and began reading the letter, Faith finished her beer then laid her head on the table. She was tired. The last two months had left her with little time to sleep as she searched for Jacob. Not that she had slept much before that. And damned if that fight hadn’t worn her out. Her body ached all over. Unfortunately all the aches weren’t due from the fight.

* * * * *

Jacob looked over at Faith as he read the last page of the letter. He sighed tiredly. He had wondered why Wolfe hadn’t just used the damned cell phone to contact him. Now he knew why. Faith. Delicate and as fragile looking as ever.

She had filled out in the past years, her breasts and hips were fuller, her legs more defined and sexy as hell. But she wasn’t the girl he had known six years before. The girl he had known would have balked at six goons attempting to rape her. She would not have waded into a fight so eagerly. She was a negotiator, and a damned good one, not a killer.

As Pack Liaison, Faith had coordinated the known Packs, working between the Pack leaders and aiding in bringing peace among them rather than open warfare in some cases, as many of the Packs were eager for bloodshed rather than peace. She was also a courier between Council informants and Wolfe. But Faith wasn’t a fighter. Until now.

He wiped his hands over his face with an irritated motion. Damn life, it tried to kick his ass every chance it got, and this time it could be the final blow. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He glanced back at the papers, reading over them once again.

Information I’ve gathered indicates Faith is in heat, a prelude to the violent sexual frenzy that begins genetic altering in the ovaries. You marked her and as, apparently, she can bear no other touch, it’s up to you to breed her. I’m sick of paying the bills on her damned vibrators. Take care of it.

I know from the time I’ve spent with Hope now, that the mark you left on Faith is the same as the one I left on Hope. She’s your mate, bound to you and to your body. We aren’t certain how it works yet, or what the mating frenzy means in terms of our Breed, but it’s a serious enough condition to be a cause for alarm. Expect a measure of anger, fury. Her mood swings will become wild, and I have no doubt she’s as angry over your desertion as Hope was and still is, over mine.

The mark meant much more than we thought it did, six years before. The affects of it are immediate, and remnants of it never entirely leave the system. I’m still gathering information, but in Faith’s case, the symptoms appear stronger than they were in Hope’s. Faith is becoming impulsive, temperamental and antagonist. This worries me daily, as it seems to grow worse daily.

Caffeine and alcohol appear to make these effects worse, and over stimulate the body. Faith’s intake of both is exceedingly high recently. They will make the arousal sharper, the degree of it higher. Trust me, Jacob, you want to limit this as much as possible unless your stamina is equal to that of a rabbit.

It was my intention to steer clear of your relationship with Faith, as you know. I’m more than aware that you feel the mating that occurred in the labs was too close to rape. I’ve never agreed, but the time to address it never seemed to present itself. I am now forced, as Pack Leader, to address it anyway. Aiden and I are in agreement on this. It is time to make your peace with that night, and with Faith, before she comes to serious harm. I expect a report from you soon.

The letter was much longer, the explanations more in-depth than he was comfortable with, but Jacob clearly understood why his Pack Leader had sent Faith on a fool’s mission. Or was it a mission to find a fool? He shook his head in mockery. Could he have been wrong? Was she stronger than she appeared? Able to withstand not just his lifestyle, but also his lusts?

Not the way she looked right now, sleeping like a baby, her head pillowed on her jacket. Part of Wolfe’s letter was filled with his worry for her. Her nocturnal habits and lack of sleep. The edge of weariness that lay on her like a cloak, dulling her black eyes, giving her creamy skin a pale appearance. But she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. His dick reminded him forcefully just how much a woman she was.

For years he had awakened in a nightly sweat, his cock spurting as he dreamed of being surrounded by the wet heat of her ass, her muscles clenching on him, holding him tight inside her as she took every inch of his cock and backed into him for more. What had always confused Jacob was that it wasn’t his cum he was spurting. The fluid was slick, the amount not overly large, but enough to worry him. Unfortunately, there was no explanation for that one in the letter.

He breathed wearily, his eyes falling on the empty beer can as he grimaced. No more alcohol for Faith. The side effects sounded pleasant, though he doubted her system needed the added burden. His cock had twitched in anticipation as he read that part of the letter, but he instantly rejected using such means to control her lusts. The first time he had touched her, taken her, had been due to the potency of the drugs pumping through her system. Next time he took her, he wanted no outside influences, no side affects, and no drugs.

He rose from the table and went to her. Hunching down beside her, he stared into her delicate face. Her lips were parted, damp and tempting. Her auburn lashes lay thick and long on her cheeks. Her high cheekbones and slanted eyes gave her a mysterious, seductive appearance.