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  Dylan had been Special Forces during his twenties and a mercenary for a time after that. Many of the men in his pack had come from that time in his life and were skilled at fighting and at extricating people from dangerous situations. In fact, it had been during a joint operation with British Special Forces that Dylan had made a very brief acquaintance with Micah Owen. He had been impressed by the man and had often wondered about what kind of mate he would take when he retired. The two men had spent the better part of the evening drinking way too much, smoking Cuban cigars, and enjoying one another’s company. They had recognized each other instantly as both alpha and shifter. He hoped that the man he had come to respect so quickly would have approved of him taking his former mate to be his own.

  * * *

  Roz leaned forward in the boat. “You were right, Sky. That one boat is headed for us and there’s another closing fast from the other side.”

  “That won’t be all of his forces. He’ll have people headed to close off any escape from the island itself and I’m sure he’s got people headed our way from Calon Gwyllt. My only hope is that we got the jump on him and may have reacted quickly enough to catch him a bit flat-footed. I’m quite sure that courier was told to let them know when their little missive had been delivered.”

  “Do you know this guy?”

  Skylar shook her head. “Know of him. Never met him. Apparently, he and Micah spent a drunken evening one time before a joint mission between British and American Special Forces.”

  They watched as the closer of the two boats hung back as if waiting for the other. “What’s he doing?” whispered Roz.

  “I’m not sure, but I’d love to get them close enough to each other to get them both.” The second boat was closing fast and still the first hung back. “Shit, he’s going to make me choose. Roz, keep your eye on the boat on the port side. If he looks like he’s going to take a run at us, holler. Otherwise, I’m going to see if I can’t take this one out of the game.”

  The big cabin cruiser stopped squarely in the middle of the channel between the two sand spits. Skylar thought him a fool; they could easily negotiate the Zodiac on either side. A powerful male voice came over a PA system: “Women of Bae Diogel. Stop and prepare to be boarded.”

  “Who the hell does he think he is, the British Navy?” asked Roz.

  “I don’t much care. If he doesn’t move his ass fast enough, he’ll be abandoning his own boat and hopefully his buddies in the other boat will go save them.”

  The disembodied voice repeated its command as the sailboat came closer and the Zodiac powered down. Skylar hoped that he would interpret her maneuvers as the women giving way to a superior force… they were. Only he wasn’t the superior force. When the sailboat was less than twenty-five yards away from the boat blocking their exit, Skylar hit the ignition switch, which caused the sailboat’s engines to engage full throttle and the small explosive to make the sailboat burst into flames and make a beeline for the cabin cruiser. All the men on board the cabin cruiser had time to do was jump to the relative safety of the water. They could easily swim to one of the sand spits.

  The roar of the Zodiac’s engines being brought up to full speed was drowned out by the collective cheer from the women aboard it.

  * * *

  Dylan had closed in on their position and was following their movements with his binoculars. He could only watch helplessly as one of the cabin cruisers was destroyed. He would have to admit at some point, he’d been rather proud of his future mate. She’d executed that maneuver as well as he’d ever seen it done. He was glad that the men who had ignored his orders about the dangers were the ones in the water.

  Dylan radioed Josh. “Did you see that, Dylan? She took the wanker out!”

  Dylan laughed. “Practicing up on your British slang, Josh?”

  “Hey, maybe it’ll make her feel more at home. But did you see that? Cool as a cucumber, your new mate.”

  “But far more deadly. Go get those idiots out of the water. Nick and I are closing in on you fast. We’ll get after the Zodiac. Once you’ve got those men on board, rendezvous with us. We’ll bring the women on board the cabin cruiser where they can be more comfortable.”

  Matthew, who was also on the speedboat with Dylan, smiled. “Do you actually plan to close your eyes around her?”

  “Not until she settles in to being my mate or I have her secured in some way. Apparently Micah carried a scar from a knife she used after he’d spanked her. I’ve been told she got to feel his strap for the first time after that.”

  “Good lord, Dylan! Are you sure she’s the one you’ve been waiting for?”

  Dylan nodded and chuckled. “I am. The current alpha at Calon Onest says she was always a handful. He said that Micah commanded her respect and obedience through the judicious use of his hand or strap applied to her backside and hard use of her on her back, belly, and/or knees.”

  Matthew grinned. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Dylan as cheerful as he seemed to be at the prospect of bedding and disciplining his new mate.

  Dylan continued, “He also said she was truly Micah’s mate and the pack felt her absence when she left. He said the years they were together, the pack thrived not only financially but emotionally and physically. They would welcome her back even now. Look at the way she’s protecting those women. Can you imagine having that kind of strength added to our pack?”

  “I’m worried that she’ll incite rebelliousness in the other females. In my Susannah especially.”

  “I can understand your concern. And I took that into consideration, but I can’t deny the call I feel from her. I feel it even now. Ioan seemed to feel once she’d settled in, we’d all be the better for her being with us. I will want to know if she causes trouble among any of the women and it may well be that your sweet Susannah will need to be reminded of who her mate is and to whom she owes her respect and obedience.”

  Matthew smiled. “Well, given Susannah’s normal response to a spanking, I suppose that’s not the worst thing that can happen.”

  Dylan reached for the radio as it squawked at him. “What’s your status, Josh?”

  “I’ve got the idiots on board. Spitting mad. The alpha who was with them is now nursing a broken nose in addition to being wet. The girls are headed your way.”

  “And how pray tell did the alpha get a broken nose?”

  “I broke it for him when he disrespected my alpha’s mate.”

  Dylan and Matthew laughed together before Dylan said, “I owe you a beer when we get back home.”

  Dylan hung up the phone and was gladdened when one of his spotters located the Zodiac hugging the shoreline but headed north and at top speed. Dylan set an intercept course.

  Chapter Four

  The speedboat started to close in on the Zodiac. Realizing they were being pursued, Skylar pressed her engines to get as much out of the boat as she could and tried to stay in water that she hoped was too shallow for him to follow. What she couldn’t know was that the speedboat had been modified for smuggling and needed very little water in which to maneuver.

  Dylan readied his men to clear the side and hit the ground running if he had to run the Zodiac and its crew aground.

  Dylan smiled. “Well done. Put us on the PA system and hold it so I can talk to my mate and her pack.” Matthew did as requested. “Enough, Skylar. You can’t get away. I’ve got more power and speed than you. Heave to and let’s conclude this peacefully.”

  Her only response was a one-fingered salute from every member of her pack on the Zodiac with her.

  He had to suppress a laugh and was glad Matthew had ensured he couldn’t be heard. He nodded to Matthew, who turned it back on. “Naughty, naughty. That’s a very disrespectful way to respond to a courteous request. Let’s try again. Heave to or we’ll run you aground. I’ve got men trained to engage the enemy with me and you won’t get far. Any woman who has to be chased down will get her bottom spanked hard enough that she’ll need to stand for
the ride back to Calon Gwyllt. But heave to and we’ll forget this bit of nonsense ever happened.”

  Dylan watched as Skylar, recognizable even at a distance by her wild mane of red hair, handed the rudder over to one of her pack and stood up, turned toward him, and leveled a flare gun. He only had a minute to power his engines and steer away before she fired. She barely missed him.

  Dylan got back on the PA. “You, Skylar, will answer to me for that bit of temper. When I get my hands on you, little girl, I’ll teach you to fire a weapon at me.” Dylan cut the PA system and gunned the engines again. This time he headed right for them. He was going to force them to go aground so his men could take them into custody. “When you hit the ground, go after them. Don’t engage Skylar. Cut her off and keep her contained if you can, but do not get within her strike zone. She’s known to carry a knife and knows how to use one. I’ll deal with my mate.”

  * * *

  “Shit,” Skylar said as she recognized his intent. The speedboat was also now close enough for her to see it had been modified for shallower water. “This is it. I’m going onto the beach at full speed. Leave your things, shift and run for your lives. I’ll try to hold them back if I can.”

  “We won’t leave you, Sky.”

  “You have to. Don’t you see? If even one of us gets away, she can live her life for the rest of us. Promise me. All of you.” They nodded as Skylar gunned the engines once again and headed straight for the beach.

  * * *

  “This is it, boys. They’re going to hit the beach hard. Skylar will probably try to protect their getaway. Sprint around her and get to the others. Then you can form a barrier to prevent her from fleeing until I can get my hands on her.”

  The Zodiac hit the beach at full speed, creating a furrow of one hundred yards before its engine gave out. The women jumped out, shifted into their wolf forms, and ran scattering along the beach. The speedboat came in right behind them but stopped just short of running aground.

  Dylan’s men hit the beach, shifting as they did so and each headed after the woman he had been assigned to capture. They gave Skylar a wide berth. Dylan anchored the boat and then hopped over the side. Skylar watched him approach. She held a nasty-looking knife in her hand.

  He stopped just outside her strike range. “You’re done, Skylar. Your women are now being held by me or shortly will be.”

  “Not all of us yet, Dylan Grainger.”

  “So you know who I am?”

  “Yes. You’re the alpha of Calon Gwyllt and my enemy.”

  Dylan sent an alpha wave of anger and frustration in her direction. Normally, as another alpha, it would not have much effect. However, because he was her mate, he watched as it hit her with considerable impact. Skylar staggered and barely managed to maintain her stance. She shook her head to try to clear the residual disorientation that often accompanied such a wave from one’s mate.

  “I’m not your enemy, Skylar. And you know it. I have to give you credit, you gave us a run for our money. You came awfully close to pulling off your escape.”

  “But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. How I wish I had one of the latter to send your way.”

  Dylan chuckled. “Here, now. That’s no way to talk to your future mate. I can already tell we will have several interesting rules in our relationship.”

  “I have no intention of having a relationship with you.”

  “You have no choice in the matter. I had thought perhaps I could court you and bring you around to the idea. But I think Ioan is right…”

  “How do you know Ioan?”

  “I spoke with him at great length recently. He’s a big fan of yours, by the way, as am I. He was glad to hear you were to be mated again but did warn me to beware that you had a nasty temper and the lethal skills to back it up.” He watched her watching him. He was making no move toward her. He still hoped he could get her to submit to being caught.

  She could hear the sounds of struggles from the women who had been with her. She could tell they had shifted back to their human forms. Skylar knew better than to take her eyes off Dylan. “How many, Roz?” she called.

  “All of us, Sky. They have us all.” Roz sounded as defeated as she’d ever heard her.

  Roz was being held by one of the other alphas who had come looking for a mate. He had specifically let Dylan know that Roz’s sister was already a member of his pack. He’d told him that they had been turned without their consent by the previous alpha. He had asked Dylan to consider allowing him to take Roz, thinking being reunited with her sister might make it easier for her.

  The news that they had failed completely hit Skylar as though it were a physical blow. Dylan closed some of the distance between them until she raised the knife in a very threatening position. He held his hand up to stop the men who weren’t currently holding onto one of the women from getting closer.

  “It’ll be all right, Sky. I won’t let that little maneuver with the flare gun or you threatening me with a knife go without punishment. And I hate to tell you, but I think that punishment needs to be now for your pack’s sake, for my men’s sake, and frankly for your sake. The sooner you recognize and accept my authority over you, the easier this will be on everyone. But I’ll make you a deal.”

  “You have nothing to offer me that I want.”

  “I think I do. I had planned to have your pack disciplined before we head for home. My thought was if the lot of you were nursing sore bottoms, you’d be a lot easier to deal with on a small boat. But, if you put down the knife and submit to my authority, you’ll be the only one spanked. I’ll give the others a pass as having acted on your orders. But mark my words, I intend to make your first spanking from me memorable.”

  “That’s not much of a deal.”

  “Oh, but it is. Either way, I intend to go sit down on that log, put you over my knee, bare your pretty little backside, and paddle it until it’s bright red and swollen. Get nasty while I’m doing it, and you’ll get your first taste of my belt. Take my deal and you’re the only one who gets spanked. Refuse my deal, I’ll disarm you, spank you until you’re crying, and take my belt to your backside and leave welts behind. And your pack members will each get a good taste of the discipline they obviously need before we head for home. So what is it to be, mate? Just you or your women too?”

  She searched his face for the veracity and severity of his words. She realized he was willing to spare her girls but only if she submitted. “I have your word they won’t be disciplined for our bid for freedom?”

  “You do.”

  She took the knife and threw it, landing it precisely between his spread feet.

  “All right, the rest of you get the women on the boat. My mate and I are going to have a little lesson in what happens when a naughty girl runs away and doesn’t heave to when she’s asked.” The women all started to struggle. He looked pointedly at Skylar.

  “Enough. We’ve lost. This bastard means to beat me regardless of what happens to you, but he promised to spare you if I gave him what he wants. There’s no reason for all of us to get beaten…”

  “Spanked, Skylar, not beaten. Never beaten.”

  “Funny how those of you who do the beating like to try to make out like there’s a difference between the two.”

  Dylan chuckled. “You have a lot to learn about actually submitting, mate. But I’ll help you with that. Come here to me.”

  “No.”

  “Skylar, you need to learn to mind me. That lesson starts now. You come here to me and take my hand or your second there will get spanked as well.”

  “You promised…”

  “I promised if you submitted; so far all you’ve done is thrown a knife at me.”

  “She should have put it in your heart,” called Roz.

  Dylan laughed. “Careful, Oliver. I think your beta has some alpha tendencies you may want to get a handle on from the get go.”

  “That’s all right, Dylan. I’ve been waiting for a spirited mate. And giv
en the waves she’s giving off, I’ve found her… with your permission.”

  Dylan smiled and nodded.

  Skylar narrowed her eyes and looked at Dylan. “Why your permission?”

  “I told the Council that as I was taking you for a mate, I would be the one to place the members of your pack. I’m hopeful you will be willing to give me the benefit of your knowledge of each of them and provide insight into where they might be happiest.”

  “We would have been happiest if you and your bloody Council had left us the hell alone.”

  “No. Wolves, male and female, are always happier when mated properly.”

  Skylar snorted. “Another popular male myth. We were perfectly happy living our lives without a bunch of alpha males interfering.”

  “But you’ll be happier once you’ve settled in to being my mate.”

  “I will never settle in to being your mate. My mate was murdered. I hunted down the bastards who did it and avenged him. Do you know how I did that?”

  “Do you want to tell me?”

  “I ripped their throats out… and not in wolf form. I just ripped them out with my bare hands. So, tread carefully with me.”

  Dylan smiled. The more she threatened, the more she called to him to be her mate and tame her. “I’ll consider myself well warned. Now do you want to take my hand and save Roz from a well-earned spanking or not?” He held out his hand again.

  Knowing the only choice she had was whether or not to spare Roz, she walked forward and reluctantly took his hand. She wanted to cry, but would not give him the satisfaction.

  “That’s my good mate,” he crooned. Leading her over to the log, he could tell each step was torture for her. But she would do what she must to spare her girls. Dylan made himself comfortable on the log and spread his legs, drawing her between them. “I understand from Ioan that you’ve more than a passing knowledge of what’s about to happen,” he said, smiling.