She needed a man.
Jade Thorne stared out the window at the party going on in the crisp Montana darkness. A huge bonfire roared, flames reaching high into the night sky. Around it her wolf pack celebrated with their visitors.
Teenagers flirted, enforcers talked business and the elders sat together smiling as they watched the young pupsâsome in wolf formâtumble and play. Near the fire, a group strummed guitars. Jade watched a couple close to her age dance to the beat. Their bodies sliding against each other, hands moving over tanned skin.
Jadeâs gaze ran over the womanâs upturned face, saw the way her eyes drifted closed, a smile tugging at her lips. Jadeâs stomach tightened and switched to look at the man.
Like most shifter men, he was big, broad and radiated animal power. Well-worn denim hugged a firm ass and long legs. His big hands slid down the womanâs sides, molding her to him as he settled a strong thigh between her legs.
Heat rushed over Jadeâs skin. Air caught hard in her lungs, her gaze glued to the mating dance. One of the manâs hands tangled in the womanâs hair, pushing it aside. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to her neck. To that sensitive spot every wolf possessed. The womanâs head dropped back, her eyes turned to the starry sky, her lips open.
What did it feel like? Jade swallowed, the sound of her rapid heartbeat loud in her ears. How hot was the manâs hand? Was his touch rough and needy or heated and sensual?
The man pulled the woman farther into the protective circle of his arms, turned his head and pressed his cheek to the womanâs hair.
Jade touched a hand to the glass. By Luna, she wanted. A knot tangled in her belly, tight and hot. She wanted what all those people out there hadâlaughter, desire and love. She wanted a young, firm body sliding against her, into hers.
She wanted a man who loved her.
A cool shiver swept over her skin. Her hand dropped to her side. She would never have what her people shared. She wrapped her arms around her middle. In order for them to have it all, she denied what she most desired.
She straightened her shoulders. She was the alpha of this pack now. It was up to her to preserve their way of life. Her duty to keep them safe.
Her husband was dead and now the neighboring packsâstronger and wilder than her ownâwere sniffing the edges of her territory, lured by her packâs mineral-rich lands and lucrative mine. They were searching for any sign of weakness.
Her fingers curled and she stared hard at the flames. Sheâd do what needed to be done, what any alpha would doâput pack first.
She wasnât strong enough to fight their battles alone. Female alphas did exist, but they were surrounded by a strong team of enforcers. Jade didnât have that asset. All she had to protect her pack was herself.
Tomorrow sheâd pledge herself in marriage to yet another aging alpha.
All the surrounding packs were congregating on Thorne land for the Courting gathering. She would marry the dominant alpha in attendance and ensure her packâs survival.
Jade bit down on her lip, her eyes closing. Again she would go to a wolf too old to show his bride the pleasure of the marriage bed. Shifters aged well, lived forty to fifty years longer than humans, but they still grew old and tired.
Just onceâjust for one nightâshe wanted to feel firm skin against hers. Her eyes opened and she once again stared at the party beyond her windows. She wanted to know the pleasure of a manâs hands on her body, wanted a strong, muscled male between her legs and she wanted the raging passion of a wolf in his prime.
Her gaze alighted on a familiar face in the crowd. Her husbandâs second-in-commandânow her secondâChristian Tallant. In the months since sheâd been widowed, heâd helped her assure the pack sheâd look after them.
He stood a head taller than the shifters surrounding him, his legs longer, shoulders wider. Most shifter males wore their hair long, but Christianâs dark hair was shaved short. While the others laughed and gestured, he was still, his face impassive.
In the year since heâd joined the Thorne Pack, heâd served her husband and now her with dedication. They knew nothing about him or where heâd come from. She wasnât sure of the dark, hard look she sometimes saw in his golden eyes. Heâd arrived on their land bloody and woundedâ¦exiled from his pack.