Author's Note: Have you found me on facebook yet? There's so much exciting news that I want to share with you, especially about why I've been MIA for a little while. My facebook name is Madison Quinn and my profile pic says On Her Terms. If you don't have facebook, please PM me and I'll send you another way to keep up to date with my exciting news!

Chpt. 8 CPOV:

"What the fuck is she doing here?"

Leila

"You should have known better than to hook up with her." Elliot shakes his head.

"Hey, we've all made mistakes." I point out because him and I both know that he's made far more than I did.

Leila and I hooked up after we both had a few too many drinks one night. From there it turned into an occasional hook up whenever we were both single. It seemed like the perfect situation at the time, because we both agreed that we weren't looking for anything serious. I don't know when, but apparently at some point in those couple of months since convinced herself that I was her mate and that we had a future together.

Even if I did believe in the notion of a mate, there's no way in hell I would believe that she was mine. First off, my wolf wanted nothing to do with her. He barely acknowledged her existence when she was around. He couldn't be more different than how he is with…

Fuck

"You okay? You just went a little pale… if you want me to get rid of her—"

"No, its fine. I'm gonna go sit with Ana and the girls, I don't need Leila bugging her about. Just yell if you need help with the grill."

"Will do."

"Oh, listen I need you to have the security guys look into someone for me."

"Did Ana finally tell you Tony's last name?"

"No, but she told me hers. I'm thinking if they were married, the team should be easily able to find out exactly who this Tony fucker is."

"I'll have them look into her tonight, from there we can track the fucker and make sure he stays as far away from her as possible."

"She's concerned about his friends—"

"Wait… her husband did that to her?" I had forgotten Elliot was standing there until that moment.

"Between the three of us, yes," I reluctantly confirm, kicking myself for not pulling Taylor aside privately.

"Does she have a restraining order against him? We can have one of the assistants file one and then I can get started with a divorce. With a restraining order on file, a judge won't take likely any fight he puts up."

"She doesn't want him to know where she is," I sigh. "I don't know enough yet, but the bastard cut her off from everyone so she only had him. He did that to her when she tried to leave him. If we even attempt to file a restraining order, he'll know where she is."

"We can protect her, hide her here—"

"It's too much of a risk," I shake my head. "With everything she's said, I don't doubt he'd stop at nothing to find her."

"Until we have more information about who Tony is, I think Christian might be right," Taylor agrees. "For now, she needs to lay low and heal. Let my team do some research and then we can talk with Ana about how she wants to proceed."

"Short of changing her identity, she'll need to think about a divorce," Elliot points out what I already knew.

"One step at a time," Taylor says. "Let's find out who we're dealing with. Text me any info you have and I'll send it off tonight."

"Thanks."

Just as Leila turns the corner into the backyard, I quickly head over to where Ana has been talking with Gail and Kate. It may not have been my intention to bring her tonight, but considering my wolf has had to have her in his sight at all times I don't think he would have stayed long if she wasn't here.

I knew the women would welcome her right away and without asking any questions even though I have no doubt that they have tons. Leila on the other hand, I don't trust… at all. I guarantee by morning the entire pack will know that a human has been staying with me on our land. Some of the pack might be leery at first, but it won't take long for them to realize that if the alpha has approved her staying here that they have no reason to be concerned. It won't stop Leila from gossiping though.

I take the seat next to Ana, immediately she takes my hand in hers. I gently squeeze it and smile at her, any concerns of Leila immediately instantly disappearing. My wolf growls in appreciation of her touching us, especially since this time she's the one initiating it.

"Gail was just telling me about her store," she says. "Do you think we'll be near it to stop by tomorrow when we're in town?"

"The town is not very big," I chuckle. "A couple of stop lights and a few stores is all that makes up town. Gail's store is in between my office and the place I was going to stop to pick you up a few things, so we could easily stop there."

"Oh good," she glances behind me, likely keeping an eye on the uninvited guest.

"I'm sorry, Christian," Gail says quietly. "I didn't invite her—"

"I know you didn't, don't worry about it."

"She's heading over this way," Ana leans in and whispers to me. The scent of my shampoo and soap on her is driving my wolf crazy, especially when he thinks about how amazing it felt to have her on my lap, to have her lips against mine and to touch her…

"You want to leave at any time, just say the word," I remind her.

"I know."

"Hi everyone," Leila pulls up a chair, of course not far from me.

"Leila, this is Ana. Ana this is Leila," I introduce without taking my eyes off of Ana.

"Nice to meet you, Leila."

"Wow… what on earth happened to you?"

Seriously? The girl has no fucking concept of common decency.

"I was in a car accident," Ana, thankfully, quickly remembers the lie we had discussed earlier. "Christian was kind enough to let me recover at his house."

"Oh? So you've known each other awhile then?"

"Yes," I say firmly, offering no further explanation.

"Leila, how's work been going?" Kate steers the conversation away from Ana, making me appreciate her even more than I already do. She was a Godsend when it came to my brother, who I swore would never settle down. He was constantly out drinking, hooking up with random women and at one point was even at risk of getting suspended from the law firm because he kept missing court dates. Once he met Kate though, everything changed. He practically became a different person.

"You need anything?" I ask quietly.

"Another water would be great, and a restroom?"

"Let me grab your chair."

I bring the wheelchair over to where Ana is sitting and help her transfer to it, even though my wolf is growling at me for not just picking her and carrying her inside like he apparently thinks I should do. The ride is a little bumpy, but once we're inside the cabin it's a smooth ride until we reach the bathroom door.

"It's fine," Ana says realizing at the same time I do that the wheelchair won't fit through the doorway and even if it does, there isn't enough room in it if we want to close the door. There's no way in hell I'm going to sit here and leave the door open.

I quickly lift her from the chair, much to my wolf's satisfaction, and carry her into the bathroom. When I gently move her to a standing position, my arm goes around her waist to hold her steady. Or at least that's what I tell myself is the reason for it. Her hands come to my arms, the uninjured one gripping me tightly as she lifts her head until our eyes meet.

"Christian," she whispers breathlessly.

Refusing to take no for an answer, my wolf pushes me forward until my lips find hers. Fuck, it's only been a few hours since I kissed her, but it feels like ages. He growls when her tongue ever so cautiously traces the seam of my lips. Immediately I open, letting her take whatever it is that she wants. Her fingers weave through my hair, tugging me closer to her just as my hands glide down her sides. Without taking my lips off hers, I kick the door closed and lift her up, gently placing her on the counter.

I step closer to her when her legs part, loving how she feels against me. Unlike earlier, our touches are less cautious, almost as if any hesitation is now gone.

Claim her.

Fuck, the urge to be with a woman has never been this strong. I've never wanted someone as bad as I want Ana right now. I don't even give a shit that we're making out like a couple of teenagers in a bathroom. When my hands gently slide up her side, I cautiously move in just enough so they glide over her beautiful breasts. She arches into my touch and I do what I wanted to the moment I saw her in my bathtub. I tease her hardened nipples, loving how it makes her moan against my lips.

Take her. Claim her. She's ours.

How is it that I want a woman I've known for less than 48 hours this much? How is it she can destroy my senses so quickly? I've never gone after a married woman before, but I feel absolutely no guilt for kissing another man's wife right now. Not after what the bastard did to her—he doesn't deserve her.

A hand grabbing my ass and pulling me closer to her, pulls me from my thoughts. I groan when it places my hard dick right against her jean clad pussy. With one hand on her lower back, I hold her tightly as I gently rock against her leaving her no doubt just what she does to me. We're both breathless by the time our lips separate. It's taking everything in me to control my wolf, to not let him take what he so badly wants. And if I'm being honest, what I want as well.

"Wow," she whispers.

"You drive me crazy, baby," I lean down and kiss her again.

"Yeah."

"If we don't get back out there soon, they might send a search party for us."

"Oh! Shit, I completely forgot where we were," her face turns an adorable shade of red.

"You're not the only one."

As I step back, I don't miss Ana's gaze drop to the very obvious tent in my pants. When our eyes meet, she blushes again realizing she was caught. I gently lift her from the counter, holding her until she's steady on her foot and closer to the toilet.

"I'll wait outside the door, just let me know when you're finished and I'll help you back to the chair," I say before closing the door.

I'm tempted to go to the kitchen and grab Ana the water bottle she wanted, but I don't want to go too far if she were to need me. My wolf on the other hand is pacing, desperate to get out and take control of the situation. He's apparently not happy that things didn't go further in the bathroom.

Fuck... neither am I.

I don't understand the insane attraction I have to Ana. It's so much more than a physical attraction though. I want to protect, I want to keep her safe, I want to know what makes her tick, I want to know everything there is to know about her. What scares me the most is when I told her not to leave earlier, I fucking meant it.

"Christian?"

I slowly open the door just enough to peer inside to make sure she's fully dressed before opening it further. Thankfully she's only drying her hands on the towel, because I don't know what I would have done if she asked me for help getting dressed.

Well, I know what I might have done.

"You ready?" I ask as I set her back into the chair.

"Yup."

We stop by the kitchen to grab a couple of bottles of water before heading back out to the patio. Instantly I stop in my tracks when I see that Leila is sitting in my seat, clearly positioning herself between me and Ana. There's no way in hell I'm letting her get away with that!

Instead, I carry Ana over to where she was sitting but instead of setting her down, I sit down with her on my lap. She laughs but doesn't object. Part of knows it would probably be better for her if I let her sit here and I saw in the chair on the other side of Leila. This way she could put her leg up and rest, but right now I'm feeling selfish. And maybe a little protective—okay a lot protective.

"Dinner has another 15 minutes or so," Taylor announces from over at the grill where him and Elliot are still talking.

Leila, Gail and Kate are talking about some book they all recently read. I don't know if Ana has read the book or is just choosing not to participate in the conversation, but it doesn't matter because right now I'm enjoying her against me. Ana rests against my chest, her fingers toying with the fabric of my shirt, whether intentional or not my wolf is fucking over the moon that she is still touching us.

"So you think we can stop by Gail's store tomorrow?" Ana leans in and whispers to me. Her breath on my ear goes straight to my dick, definitely not something I need right now.

"It won't be a problem," I assure her. "Once you see how small town really is, you'll understand."

"I wanted to make sure it wasn't out of the way or anything."

"Nothing in town is out of the way," my fingers trail up her arm. "I wasn't lying when I said it was a couple stop lights and some shops. Most of our clients come from outside of town, but we're the closest attorneys for by a couple of hours so they don't mind."

"You're an attorney?" she pulls back and smiles.

"Yeah, in my dad's firm with Elliot. I guess I didn't mention that?"

"No," she laughs.

"Why is that funny?"

"It's just kind of ironic," she shakes her head. "I went to school to be a paralegal, that's what I was doing when I… before I moved."

"Really?"

"I had a job at a decent sized law firm before I… left. I wasn't making a ton of money, but I enjoyed what I did. Working on cases, gathering research… just knowing that it was helping a lawyer…"

"Dinner is ready!" Taylor calls.

"Hey," I lift her chin up and hate like hell the sadness I see in her eyes. I have no doubt she's thinking about what she left behind. "You focus on getting better and I'll talk to my dad about hiring you—"

"I couldn't ask you to do that!"

"You're not asking, I'm offering."

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Why are you doing all of this? You don't have to…"

"Yeah I do," I lean in and kiss her because right now I have no other explanation to give her.

I know she doesn't understand and I don't blame her because I don't fucking understand either.