Read Challenged for Free Online Page A

of her blankets, the cold floor woke her
    up quickly.
     
    Her long white cotton nightgown flowed around her as she left her bedroom,
    padding down the hallway while her den slept soundly in their bedrooms. Murmurs
    came from her parents’ room and she hurried past their closed door, wondering if she’d
    ever find the happiness those two had.
     
    Hurrying down the stairs, praying her sire was too occupied with her mother to
    hear her, she walked through the house as quietly as she could. Her senses were acute,
    aware of every creaking board, of every branch brushing against the house outside, of
    every breath her sleeping littermates took.
     
    The wall phone hung in the kitchen, its cord twisted, hanging halfway to the floor.
    She touched the cold plastic, aching for the days when she could call one of her
    girlfriends, unload on them, talk out her problems until they didn’t seem that big of a
    deal anymore. Or order a quick posse, round several of the bitches up in her pack for a
    quick run. Those had been the days when she and her friends would sneak out,
    enjoying the mountains and running neck and neck, barking and howling, daring
    anyone to find them.
     

 
    Of course they scattered and hid at the first sight of any pack members. Running
    without an escort was seriously frowned on, primarily for unmated bitches.
     
    And now all of your girlfriends are mated bitches, sleeping soundly, cuddled next to their
    mates.
     
    Ali let out a sigh, leaning against the hard wall next to the phone. She turned and
    stared at the back door. If her sire found out she left alone during the night, she’d need
    a damn good story as to why she’d been out. And she absolutely sucked at lying.
     
    Especially when she could smell her own lust still lingering on her. She’d never
    fucked a man before, and Stone had shown her a world she just didn’t want to let go of.
     
    Her thoughts lingered again on her dream—his hands had been all over her, rough
    and unrelenting, ripping her clothes from her body. There had been no words—there
    was no need for them.
     
    She pressed her palms against the wall, dwelling on how she’d run her fingers over
    his bulging muscles, feeling the rapid pulse of his heart throb through her. His breath
    scorched her skin as he licked and nipped at her neck.
     
    Ali touched herself, swearing her skin still tingled from his mouth. He’d scraped his
    teeth over her flesh, slightly sharp from the raw energy that pulsed through him, until
    he’d reached the top of her nightgown. Grabbing the thin material in his mouth, he’d
    yanked back, hard and fast, tearing the gown from her body.
     
    She sucked in a breath a bit too loud, and then looked quickly around the quiet
    kitchen, focusing her attention on the hallway. For a moment she held her breath,
    listening to the quiet of the den. It would be hard to explain why she stood against the
    wall of her kitchen, panting while she filled the room with the smells of her cravings for
    a Cariboo who’d given her the best night of her life, and now was gone.
     
    After three days, did he still think about her?
     
    Ali shook her head, rubbing her forehead. This was unbelievable. What kind of
    stupid pup was she? Stone probably fucked a different bitch every night, entertaining
     

 
    every single bitch in his pack with dreams that he would pick her to be his mate. He led
    them all on a leash, and now he’d added her to his flock of aching women.
     
    She focused again on the back door, sniffing out the scents of the trees, the dew on
    the grass, the fresh cold breeze that came down the mountains. Chewing on her lip until
    she tasted her own blood, her stomach churned at the thought that she didn’t even have
    the nerve to walk through that door. The wrath of her sire, even though she was a
    grown bitch, was more than she could handle.
     
    There was no way she could take on a worldly Cariboo like Stone McAllister.
     
    And why did she want to take him