Read Online Leashed by a Wolf by Cherie Nicholls - Free Book Online Page A

prodded.
    “When the threat is gone I will relax.” Heath shrugged.
    “Are you bringing Laney?”
    “I don’t think so. She’s safer with her family.” Heath shook his head. No, he couldn’t have her around for too much longer. She was starting to mean more to him than he could afford. If anything happened to her whilst she was here he would never forgive himself.
    Clara smiled as she walked in front of him, blocking him from the rest of the pack before leaning forward and slapping him upside the back of the head.
    “Ow! What the hell was that for?”
    “For an Alpha you sure are stupid sometimes,” Clara huffed as she glared down at him.
    Heath rubbed the back of his head and glared back. What the hell was she playing at? At least she had the sense not to pull that crap where the rest of the pack could see.
    “What are you talking about?” Heath asked.
    “Do you really think some full human males will be able to protect Laney from Christophe and his pack if he wants to take her? The safest place for her is here with us, and you know it. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours and, to be honest, I don’t care. Call her, invite her. Wall can bring her when he comes home.”
    Heath watched as his little sister ran out of steam.
    “You finished?” he ventured.
    “Depends. Are you going to call Laney and invite her?”
    Heath’s shoulders slumped. Yes, he had been protecting Laney for the last week, but she didn’t know. He spent the nights outside her house, watching and waiting. He had barely spoken to her either—he was so determined to protect her from the dangers that being part of a pack came with, he had ignored her. When they had spoken he’d kept the conversations short and to the point. Heath could see the hurt in her eyes, but he had to harden his heart against it.
    “Are you going to invite her or do I have to bring her here?” Clara pulled him out of his reflection. Running a hand down his tired face, Heath nodded.
    “I will call her,” he assured Clara.
    “Good, because if you don’t I will personally go and pick her up,” Clara warned before walking away, leaving him to make the call.
    Taking a deep breath Heath pulled out his phone and dialled. He waited for the call to connect. Laney answered quickly.
    “St. Clair Garage, how can I help?”
    Her sweet voice sent a shiver of arousal down his spine. God, he had missed her.
    “Laney, it's Heath.” It seemed such a simple thing to say but what else was he to do?
    “So I can hear. What do you want?” she asked, her tone bored.
    His gut clenched but it was a good thing, he reminded himself. She needed to move on with her life, and so would he once this nightmare was over.
    “You’re coming to the pack barbecue today,” he told her matter-of-factly.
    “Am I now? Why don’t you just bite me?” The ice in her tone dripped down the phone.
    “Wall will bring you and take you home afterwards.” He gave a half-smile as he could see her now, grinding her teeth at his tone.
    “You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore, wolf-boy. Just leave me alone.” She hung up.
    Heath looked down at the phone and snarled. Fine, if she wanted to act like a child then he would treat her like one.
    He made another call.
    “Dude.” Wall’s usual greeting made him smile.
    “Wall, bring me Laney,” he instructed before he hung up, confident that his friend would do what he needed him to do.
    “Okay people, we have a barbecue to start!” he called from the porch. The pack turned to look at him. He could see the fatigue and tension on their faces and realised that he had been right. They really did need to have this downtime to release the tension Christophe was causing.
    “Come on, the meat isn’t going to hunt itself!” he said as he pulled off his clothes and shifted. It felt good to allow the wolf to take over—not to protect, but to simply hunt. Padding across the grass he watched his pack shift before heading off into the