Sonora inhaled deeply as Grayson wrapped one clawed hand around her throat, pushing her head up and back. It brought her eyes back to his, and it was all she could do not to turn to putty in his grip. Now was<em>not</em>the time to be lusting after the Alpha Wolf she'd just managed to royally piss off, but her libido didn't seem to be listening. In spite of that, she managed to hold herself still, although every muscle in her body was tense with the struggle. Swallowing hard, she resisted the impulse to run her fingers along the tightly corded muscles that rippled over his arm, although she could not stop the rapid-fire beating of her heart. She was practically panting for him!<br/><br/>Her lips had parted slightly just a moment before Ryan opened the door to her cabin and joined them on the porch, and once Grayson's full attention was no longer on her, she was able to collect herself a little. She slid a glance over to Ryan as she followed their exchange, feeling only a little sorry for the boy when she heard his punishment.<br/><br/>Then, much to her relief, Grayson slowly released her and stepped away. Sonora gulped a breath of air that was not<em>quite</em>so heavily laden with the Alpha's scent, the rush of cold night air making her cross her arms in front of her to suppress a shiver as Grayson spoke. The lack of body heat was forgotten as soon as what he said filtered through her tense, lust-filled mind, and she was forced to bite down on her tongue to keep the words she wanted to say from flying out of her mouth.<em>She</em>was pushing it? This wasn't her fault! What would he rather she have done? Throw the poor boy out into the cold to let him fend for himself? Not bloody likely. She suddenly became aware of an ache in her jaw and the slight, coppery tang of her own blood in her mouth. She'd bitten right through her tongue! Resisting the very strong urge to spit out the blood-laden saliva, she swallowed it instead and gave him a quick, curt nod. Although she was quite certain some if not all her emotion had bled out into her eyes, she answered, "We do. I'll try and remember not to worry the next time a cub wanders by with no guardian in sight and an asshole with a gun on the loose."<br/><br/><em>Shit. ShitshitshitSHIT!</em>What was the<em>matter</em>with her?! She didn't normally have such a difficult time holding her tongue. Okay, that was a lie, but she could usually contain it when she really needed to, and right now was one of those times. Sonora saw this going one of two ways right now: either she was going to get kicked out of the pack's territory, or get her throat ripped out. Neither option would be easy to explain to her boss.