Wicked Cravings

CHAPTER EIGHT

The incessant ringing of Dante’s cell phone pulled Jaime from dreamland. She nudged him, urging him to wake and answer the damn thing. Or maybe sling it at the wall, whatever, as long as the noise came to a stop. The response from him was a grunt. A grunt that sent vibrations through the nipple that his mouth had been latched onto for most of the night. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d also kept two fingers buried inside her. So yeah, she was horny to the point of crankiness.

She lightly slapped his shoulder. “Phone.” Another grunt. Followed by his mouth suckling on her nipple. “Phone,” she repeated a little breathlessly. She wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that he could play her body like it was an instrument. After so many years of wondering, finally she knew just how good he would feel inside her—too good. She gasped as his fingers swirled inside her.

“So wet,” he murmured before drawing the taut bud back into his mouth.

“Well, duh. I was hardly going to have a dry spell after having your fingers jammed inside me all night.”

Hearing the irritation in her voice, Dante smiled around her nipple. At that moment, the phone gave up and he felt her body relax a little. Clearly, Jaime wasn’t a morning person. “Want me to take care of that frustration before your training session, baby?” Jaime snickered. “You’d better.”

“I’m not sure I like your tone.”

“I’m not sure I care.”

He nipped the curve of her breast but then licked it soothingly. He was just about to mold himself around her and spread her legs when his phone started ringing again.

“Answer the freaking thing before I smash it. Hey!” she whined when he slapped her ass before going to retrieve his phone from the pocket of his pants.

Dante was too sexually frustrated to bother with a hello. “Dom, this better be good.”

“I just wanted to let you know that Nick called Trey with the same offer he made to you last night,” Dominic informed him, sounding pretty pissed about it. “Clearly, he wasn’t happy with your answer. I can’t understand why he’s so interested in keeping our females and mated pairs safe.” Dante had an idea about why, but it wasn’t something he intended to mention until he was sure.

“So what did Trey say?”

“Told him to mind his own business and stop questioning his decisions or the alliance is over.”

“I thought he might.”

Jaime growled, “Tell Dominic to go jump up his ass. It’s too early for phone calls!” Though she supposed she should probably get used to waking up earlier each morning if she was still going to make it for breakfast after training.

Dominic chuckled. “So she’s not a morning person?”

“Ignore her, she’s just horny.” He grunted when she flung her hairbrush at him.

“I take it her training session will be delayed by you having to take care of her condition.” Dante grinned. “I wouldn’t be much of a protector if I didn’t take care of all her needs, now, would I?”

“Oh the sacrifices we make.”

“You two are dicks,” snapped Jaime.

“I’ll show you a dick,” growled Dante as he ended the call and leaped on her. There was nothing gentle about their union; it was hard, fast, and wild, and he came so hard he’d been close to passing out—something that had been a reoccurrence throughout the night. It seemed that Jaime was an aphrodisiac to him.

He had expected to her to give him plenty of grief throughout the training session, but although she struggled and was nearing unconsciousness, she only rarely snapped at him. Apparently, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. Her wolf, on the other hand, reacted plenty of times. Her wolf tried several times to surface and attack him, clearly viewing him as a threat.

Although it pained Jaime, she managed to keep control of her wolf. He was so proud of her, and he ensured she knew it by fucking her with his tongue during their shower afterward.

Entering the kitchen fifteen minutes later, Jaime’s good, just-had-an-extremely-satisfying-orgasm mood dampened as she saw Greta at the long dining table. Jaime had thought that as they were a little late for breakfast, most people would be gone by now. She’d kind of hoped that Greta would be included in that number, because she had no doubt in her mind that the old woman would torment her about her wolf’s state.

“Good morning,” drawled Grace from the stove of the modern kitchen. The twinkle in her eye said she knew about Dante and Jaime, and she approved. Yet she lacked her usual enthusiasm, and Jaime knew it was because the woman was now wary of her.

“Thanks,” said Jaime, inhaling the coffee. She decided to ignore the fact that Lydia, Cam, and Rhett wouldn’t even look at her. Gabe, Hope, Shaya, and Dominic gave her genuine smiles and gestured for her to sit with them—like she would have sat anywhere else. It didn’t take a genius to work out why the others had been sure to sit at the opposite end of the table.

Jaime’s ass had barely touched her seat before Greta started speaking.

“Fornicating all night, were you?” spat the old woman, to which Shaya rolled her eyes. For whatever reason, Greta never used the word sex.

Taking some toast from the selection on the table, Jaime gasped at Greta in mock outrage. “We were simply bouncing on the bed to test the endurance of the springs. Is your mind always in the gutter?” Dante snorted a laugh, but said nothing. She was thankful for that. She liked to fight her own battles.

“In my day, we didn’t share a room with a male unless we were mated.”

“Oh, here we go,” grumbled Shaya.

“There was none of this sleeping around,” continued Greta. “We saved ourselves for our true mate. Anyone who didn’t was branded a jezebel.” She huffed. “As if it’s not bad enough that you’re a jezebel, you’re unstable. A ticking bomb is what you are.”

Her wolf growled, but Jaime just cocked her head as she said, “I suppose I’d find you kind of interesting if I was a psychologist, huh.”

“There’s that bad attitude again.”

Jaime gave her a sympathetic look. “Aw, Greta, haven’t you figured out yet that I’m bad with or without the attitude?”

“That’s another problem: you’ve no respect.”

“It doesn’t feel like a problem.” Hunk suddenly jumped onto her lap and snuggled against her, making Jaime smile even in spite of the drivel she was listening to.

“You think you can behave however you want because my Dante’s protecting you, don’t you?

Humph. I’ve got news for you. He can’t protect you against Trey, and I know my grandson doesn’t want you here. The last thing he needs when Taryn’s nearing the end of her pregnancy is any danger or trouble, and that’s exactly what you are. Dante’s mad to keep you around.”

“Greta,” murmured Dante, cautioning her with his eyes to stop.

“It’s true,” she insisted. “She could turn on any one of us at any time. How can you let her fool you like this? She’s only fornicating with you to make you keep her around. And she’s constantly disrespectful to me—you’ve heard how she talks to me.” She sneered at Jaime. “You’re jealous of the relationship I have with Dante.”

Jaime cocked her head, looking at Greta curiously. “You know, I used to think you were snarling at me, but now I see that…it’s actually just your face.” Dante’s coffee sprayed out of his mouth and over the table. Jaime patted his back as he coughed and laughed at the same time.

“Dante, son, can’t you see the danger she brings to the pack? She’s unstable, for God’s sake!

Crazy!”

Jaime turned to Shaya. “Ever played that game, ‘hit Granny with the polo mallet’?”

“Forget it!” Greta jumped to her feet. “If you’re not willing to listen, Dante, there’s no point in me continuing. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Now that he’d recovered from his coughing fit, Dante drained the last of his coffee and ran a hand over Jaime’s hair. “You okay, baby?”

She smiled. “Fine.”

“I’ll drive you to work. Don’t argue, I hate the thought of you in that tin can.” Of course she argued. It was what she did best. Eventually, though, she caved and let him drive her—mostly because she liked being around him, even when he was subjecting her to that gruesome training that she was aching from. He kept his hand on her thigh throughout most of the journey and gave her a deep, drugging kiss when he finally arrived at the sanctuary.

“I’ll pick you up at the end of your shift.”

“You have enough things you need to be doing.”

“I’m still picking you up. Deal with it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, by the way, the Toyota SUV is parked outside Ivy’s house. I drove it there last night before we went clubbing, but I had to leave it there. No way would I drive when I had every intention of drinking.”

“I’ll have one of the guys pick it up later.”

She told him Ivy’s address and was just about to hop out of the vehicle when he suddenly gripped her neck and tugged her to him, bringing his mouth down hard on hers. It was a devastating kiss with an edge of possessiveness to it. The second he released her, she understood why. Shawn was watching from the door of the main building. “One night of fucking doesn’t give you a right to mark me as your territory,” she told him, growling.

He collared her throat with his hand again. “I told you at the club, you’re mine. I want more than one night, and I want more than just fucking. We’ll discuss it later. Go on.” Unsure whether to be happy or doubtful, Jaime got out of the SUV and headed to the main building to change into her work clothes. Shawn never said a word to her, and she hadn’t expected him to. Ivy and Riley, on the other hand, grilled her for information. Was he good in bed? How many times did he make her come? When did he bite her neck?

“He said he wants more than one night.”

“More?” Ivy’s brows shot up. “You don’t believe him,” she surmised by Jaime’s expression.

“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think Dante would lie about something like that, but he never does relationships. I know there must be some kind of story behind it, but I’ve no idea what.”

“Why are you finding it so difficult to believe that he’ll make an exception for you?”

“Look at me, Ivy. I’m not saying I think I’m ugly, but I’m plain and I know it. If it wasn’t for the big breasts, I doubt I’d get much attention at all. Dante’s own words were that I’m not his type. Plus, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t until he thought I was with Shawn that he showed any interest in me at all. Maybe it’s one of those guy things.”

Ivy went to object, but then sighed. “I get what you mean. It would make sense that his ego got stepped on and so he wanted it stroked. But it would also make sense that he’d make an exception for you. Jaime, I’ve told you, like, a million times, you are not plain. I know you think of yourself as a bad catch because of your situation with your wolf, but that doesn’t mean that guys will think so.” Jaime snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I know better than to keep up the compliments. Your low self-esteem stops them getting through to you. But what I will say is that I saw the way Dante looked at you last night. He looked at you like he thought you belonged to him. I honestly thought he was going to tear the falcon apart limb by limb.”

“Yep,” agreed Riley. “He’s kind of scary. So what are you going to do?” Jaime blew out a breath. “Talk to him, I guess. He said we’d discuss it later.”

“Good idea,” said Ivy with a nod. “Right, we need to get to work. I just want to say one thing.

Last night was the first time I’ve ever actually been up close to Dante, the first time he and I have ever made eye contact. He wasn’t drawn to me, Jaime. The magick didn’t work on him. The only guys who can resist it are those who are totally hung up on another person. You might want to think on that.” With those words, Ivy turned and walked away.

Not knowing what to do with that information—her thoughts were jumbled enough—Jaime simply put it to the back of her mind and got to work. But apparently she and those jumbled thoughts didn’t quite have an understanding, because soon enough they were tormenting her again. In all fairness, though, how could she not be feeling confused right now? The guy she wanted with every ounce of her being had gone from being aloof to suddenly wanting some kind of relationship with her.

What made it even more confusing was that he was fully aware of just how broken she was—a broken female wouldn’t be attractive to a dominant male. None of it made any sense. Of course a relationship with Dante was what she wanted, but not if that relationship didn’t mean anywhere near as much to him as it did her. And it wouldn’t mean as much to him. It would eat at her to be with him, care about him, and want to mean something to him, when he only saw her as a convenient body.

When her shift was almost over, she took out some garbage bags as usual. It was as she threw them into the huge garbage container that several unfamiliar scents surrounded her. Spinning, she found seven male wolf shifters, smirking and chuckling. All were clearly related, and all closely resembled Glory.

“Hello there, honey,” said the one in the center who was the tallest and stockiest of the seven.

His eyes surveyed her body, and a creepy smile took over his face. Looking in his eyes, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that someone else was driving. “I can see why he might be tempted to ignore his mate for you.”

“How’s your sister doing?” she asked tonelessly. Her wolf paced restlessly, recognizing their posture as threatening and beginning to feel overly anxious. In truth, Jaime wasn’t feeling particularly calm either, but she wouldn’t let them see that.

“You hurt her pretty badly. As you can imagine, I can’t have that. And since you’re Dante’s girl, that means you’re a way to hurt him, too. By dealing with you, we’re killing two birds with one stone.”

Her wolf lunged at her confines, but Jaime breathed through the pain and ignored it. “So you’re going to gang up on and beat up a girl. Huh. Your bravery staggers me.” His nostrils flared. “You messed up her face.”

“I’d do it again. What your sister fails to realize is that the huge circle of fire in the sky is what the world revolves around, not her. She wants Dante and thinks that she’s therefore entitled to have him, even if he doesn’t want her. It’s kind of sad and pathetic, really.” He looked at her curiously. “There has to be something wrong with you. Here you are, confronted by seven male shifters who have every intention of beating you to a pulp, and yet…you’re giving us attitude and insulting our sister. In a way, I kind of respect that.” Seeing that he was about to signal to his brothers to move toward her, she sighed and held up a hand. “Look, guys, you might want to think twice before doing this. I’m not an easy target. And I’ve seen CSI. I know how to get rid of the bodies and everything.” The crazy asses actually laughed, which only served to anger her wolf, who was now howling her frustration as she continued to attack her cage, wanting out. For once, she wasn’t overreacting.

One female against seven males was, undeniably, bad odds. She couldn’t call Ivy and Riley. With their ear protectors on, they’d never hear her. The only thing she could think to do was distract them until one of her coworkers came out.

Jaime looked at the empty space beside her. “I’m pretty sure they intend to hurt us badly, Mr.

Dungworth. We don’t like violence, do we, Mr. Dungworth? What course of action would you suggest?” She let her face take on a speculative look, as if she was considering an opinion.

“Interesting. Illegal and immoral, but interesting.” When she turned to the brothers, it was to see the seven glancing at each other with expressions that begged “What the fuck?” The middle brother looked to the others, gulping hard and seeming nervous. “Let’s get this over with.” None of them moved.

“Glory’s right, she’s crazy,” hissed the one on his left.

“She’s also one female. Now come on.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” interrupted Dante, growling, as he came out from behind the main building. “I really, really wouldn’t.” He’d noticed the huge truck as he neared the sanctuary, and some sixth sense had told him that it was Glory’s brothers. While a part of him had wanted to race over to the parking lot and confront them, the Beta in him had known it was important to be careful. If they’d heard him coming, they could have panicked and jumped on Jaime before he was even out of the SUV.

After making a quick call to the enforcers, he quietly approached to investigate. Thank God he’d gotten here in time.

“Okay, baby?” he asked Jaime without looking at her.

“Super.” Her wolf calmed a little at his voice and presence, but she was still very much on edge.

“Good.” He stepped forward until there was only a small space between him and the brothers.

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You’re all going to turn around and leave here. You’re going to ensure that your sister stops spreading sweet little lies about me being her mate, and you’re going to make sure she stays the hell away from Jaime.”

She shivered at his words. Sheer dominance and power had dripped from every syllable.

The brother in the middle snickered, clearly too stupid and crazy to be nervous. Seeing that he was clearly the most dominant and the leader, Dante had every intention of demobilizing him in the quickest way possible in order to unsettle the others.

The crazy idiot advanced a step toward Dante. “Or what?”

Dante smiled, but it wasn’t pleasant. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?” The idiot’s response was to aim his balled-up fist at Dante’s nose. Dante blocked the move with his arm and delivered a head-butt hard enough to make the idiot stumble and triple-blink. He righted himself quickly and unsheathed his claws before taking a swipe at Dante.

Dodging the claws, Dante struck at his neck, aiming for his pressure points and easily taking him out of the equation. As he’d expected, the second the others watched their brother fall unconscious, they suddenly seemed unsure and rattled. Unfortunately, it didn’t completely discourage them from doing what they’d come to do.

One of them lunged at Dante, only to receive a kick to the ribs that took the breath from him and put him on his ass. Not someone who fought fair when he or any of his pack were threatened, particularly when it was Jaime, Dante didn’t hesitate in delivering another kick—this time to the face, making blood spurt from his attacker’s nose.

Two came at him this time. Dodging the blow aimed at his temple, Dante gripped one of his assailants by the throat, lifted him easily, and sent him colliding into the other wolf who had been heading for him. Both of them crashed into one of the vehicles and bounced to the ground, groaning.

One managed to jump to his feet and again flew at Dante, subjecting him to a series of blows and kicks. After some ducking, weaving, and blocking, Dante ended the duel with a palm-heel strike to the face.

Catching Dante off guard, a fifth brother came at him from the side and would have managed to sink his teeth into his throat if Dante’s reflexes hadn’t been as perfect as they were. He ducked, causing the male to topple over him and fall flat on his face. Swiftly, the other wolf bounced to his feet, but before he could make any further threatening moves, Dante swung his arm in an unnaturally fast, fluid motion, and his fist connected heavily with the male’s temple. His head flew to the right, and his entire body went limp as he awkwardly dropped to the pavement with a heavy thump.

Knocked out cold.

Seeing no sign of the other two males, Dante’s heart leaped into his throat. Jaime. He twirled sharply and cursed at the sight he found. There was Jaime scowling down at two guys. One was trying to snap a dislocated shoulder back into place, but didn’t seem to be having much luck—most likely because he was dizzy as all shit. The other guy was curled on the ground, cupping his balls with what looked to be a broken wrist and glaring at her through blood that was dripping from an ugly gash above his eye.

More surprising, there wasn’t a scratch on her. In fact, she looked cool as a cucumber. He could sense that her wolf, on the other hand, was royally pissed. Huh. She’d been paying more attention during training than he’d thought. Good girl.

“I’ll get you back for this, bitch,” the male cupping his balls managed to grit out.

She gave him a patronizing smile. “I know this must be painful for your ego. Try not to think of it as being defeated. Just think of it as being beat up by a girl.” Shuffling sounds had Dante’s head whipping around. Other than the two who were still out cold, the brothers behind him were back on their feet, apparently ready for more. Also, Jaime’s dizzy victim had now snapped his arm back into place and was dragging himself to his feet, just like the brother beside him. Not good.

They all looked ready to dive on Dante and Jaime as a unit, but then all seven suddenly stilled as the most riveting sound Dante had ever heard filled the air. It was no surprise to see Ivy behind Jaime with her arm outstretched, her palm facing outward.

When Jaime had explained that Ivy was a Siren and that her voice could lure those around her into a trance, he had been expecting it to be choir-like and angelic. It was anything but. There was no real way to describe it. It was smoky, husky, and velvety, but not low or quiet. No, it was powerful, and it was commanding the attention of each of the brothers, who were no longer intent on advancing on him and Jaime. Instead, they stood gaping at Ivy, totally under her spell. When she stopped, they remained where there were, motionless and mute.

“Dumb shitheads,” muttered Ivy. “Sorry I didn’t hear them sooner.” Before Dante or Jaime could say anything, a gold Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up. Tao and the enforcers dived out. “You took your time, didn’t you?”

“Luckily, Ivy stepped in.” Jaime watched as Tao, Trick, Dominic, Ryan, and Marcus all stared in amazement at Ivy. Tao’s jaw was at risk of hitting the floor. Ryan was gulping hard as his gaze wandered over her. Dominic was wearing the most flirtatious grin ever. Trick was practically drooling. Marcus’s eyes were shining with lust. And Dante…well, he spared Ivy a brief glance before returning his attention to the brothers. So Ivy was right, Dante was immune to her sexual lure.

He was so getting lucky later.

Suddenly Dominic’s expression turned impish, and she knew one of his cheesy lines was coming. He cocked his head at Ivy. “Screw me if I’m wrong, but haven’t we met before?”

“Knock it off, Dominic,” Jaime complained before giving Ivy an apologetic look. “You’ll have to excuse him. He has a habit of dishing out cheesy lines. It might be some kind of disorder—we’re looking into it.” To her surprise, Ivy seemed amused rather than irritated.

Dominic put his hand over his heart, feigning hurt. “That wasn’t cheesy. I can’t believe you’d say that.”

Finally snapping out his ogling, Trick took in the state of their attackers and his brows arched.

“How long will they stay like that?”

“Until I free them from the trance,” replied Ivy, glaring at the brothers with hate in her eyes.

“Or kill them, whichever.”

“Cool,” said Marcus, to which Ryan grunted his agreement. “You okay, gorgeous?” Marcus tentatively asked Jaime, keeping his distance, as if he expected her to snap any moment now.

Tao frowned at her. “Good thing Dante got here and dealt with them before you lost control and ate them.”

“Don’t, Tao,” growled Dante.

“If you must know,” said Ivy cockily, “Jaime dealt with Assholes Number Six and Number Seven over there, and yet here she is, calm and collected. So give her a fucking break or I might just break that jaw of yours that’s still hanging loose.”

Jaime wouldn’t have thought it possible for Dominic’s grin to turn any more flirtatious, but it did. He was looking at Ivy like he wanted to own her. Oh for the love of God.

Dante went to Jaime’s side and rubbed her back soothingly. “Sure you’re okay?” She nodded. “Fine.”

“Good. Get your stuff from your locker. I’ll have Tao drive you back to pack territory while the guys and I take care of those pricks. You really don’t want to see what comes next.” He was right, she didn’t. She knew the guys would make an example of them to ensure they got their message across so that it never happened to anyone in their pack again.

“Ryan can drive her,” said Tao with a scowl.

Dante held his gaze. “Believe me when I say that I’d rather you weren’t anywhere near her.

But if I don’t get you out of my sight, I’m going to end up going for your damn throat. Take her home.

Oh, and Tao? Don’t try winding her up. She’s better at it, and she’ll have you in tears.” To Jaime’s surprise, Tao didn’t try it. He remained silent the entire time he drove. She could feel the tension and anger emanating from him and knew he was dying to give her a piece of his mind, but he restrained himself.

Back at pack territory, she took a long, soothing shower and dressed in some fresh clothes. At a leisurely pace, she dried her hair while listening to some music, hoping to ease her wolf’s mood. It worked well enough. An hour later, she made her way to the laundry room, wanting to ensure she had washed the offensive scent of Glory’s brothers from her coveralls. She knew she wasn’t supposed to go anywhere without Dante beside her, but they all should know by now that Jaime didn’t follow rules. Besides, she had no idea if he was back yet.

She stopped still as she passed the living area and caught a thread of the conversation.

“…know she’s your sister, Gabe, but you have to admit that we’re right.”

“Honey, I love you and your sister,” said Lydia softly, “but Cam’s right.”

“I know that leaving the pack might make things worse for her and she could end up dead,” said Rhett, “but if she turns rogue while she’s here, she’ll be killed, so she’ll end up dead anyway.”

“Rhett!” chastised Grace. “For shit’s sake, she’s one of our wolves.”

“Hey, I’m not saying we should banish her, but I do have a valid point.” Grace growled at her mate. “Dante’s going to watch her constantly, so surely that’s enough.” Greta’s witchy voice came next. “He’s only one person. He can’t watch her every minute of every day, and I very much doubt that he wants to.”

“Okay, well then, maybe some of the enforcers could help,” suggested Grace with a sigh.

“I will,” offered Ryan. Clearly, the guys were all home. Jaime was anxious to know if Dante was in the room, but she didn’t dare move and try to peek. She wanted to hear every word.

“She’s dangerous, Ryan!” Greta snickered. “She was only here to try to mate with one of you anyway. Be glad none of you fell for her charms enough to mate her or you’d die with her.”

“Dante thinks that if he gives her the same training he gave us and teaches her better control, it might help,” Trick informed them.

Greta huffed. “Yes it might. Shall I tell you what else might happen? She might attack Taryn.”

“Oh for God’s sake,” gritted out Shaya. “She needs help. Not all this.”

“It’s true, Shaya,” insisted Greta, “and if anything was to happen to Taryn or the baby, Trey would completely lose it and the entire pack would fall apart—and all because we kept Jaime here so that she could live a little longer than she otherwise would have. I don’t know what my Dante’s thinking by wanting to keep her here.”

“I tried talking to Trey about it, but he cut me off.” Tao sighed. “All I can think is that Taryn told him not to make Jaime leave. He won’t do anything that will upset Taryn right now.”

“What do you think about her being here, Marcus?” asked Cam.

A heavy sigh. “I wouldn’t like to see her out there alone.”

“But you have to admit it’s unsafe for us to have her here. Even her own brother can admit that much, can’t you, Gabe?” said Cam.

“I honestly can’t believe you’re all talking like this.” Gabe’s pain was obvious in his voice.

“Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing? You know Jaime will listen to me, and you think that if you can convince me it’s best for her to leave, I’ll ask her to. Well fuck all of you. Have none of you even wondered how her wolf came to be like this? Have any of you even wondered what she must have gone through? No. I agree that it’s important that the pack is safe, but Jaime is pack.”

“Damn straight,” said Dominic as Shaya said, “Exfuckingactly.” Greta ignored them. “It makes me wonder if Dante should still have the position of Beta.” There were several gasps. “I love him, he’s one of my boys, but he’s not thinking straight. He’s not putting his pack first. I have to question whether he needs a break from his duty.” There was a short silence then. “Maybe she’s right,” said Tao.

“Maybe,” agreed Cam.

Offended and enraged, Jaime couldn’t stay hidden any longer. It was one thing for them all to judge her, but not Dante. “How come I wasn’t invited to the party?” Tension and awkwardness filled the air the second she entered the room. “I mean, you’re discussing my life and when exactly it should end, so I would’ve thought I have the right to be here.”

Greta snarled, though she looked uncomfortable. “Any decent person who knew they were a danger to their own pack would leave.”

“Any decent person who knew someone in their pack needed support would give it,” countered Shaya.

Jaime folded her arms across her chest. “Let me ask you something, Greta. If this was Dante, or Tao, or Dominic, or any of your other ‘boys,’ would you be saying the same thing?” Greta averted her gaze, unsurprisingly. “You know what this reminds me of? The day when Trey was banished.

Everyone stood around, shouting out their opinions about him—claiming he was unstable, a danger, and that he needed to be killed or ordered to leave. I’m getting an idea of how that must have felt for him, how deep that betrayal must have cut him. Well, thank God he had people who supported him enough that they even left with him. Funny how that same supportive bunch is now acting just like the people they once resented.”

“Jaime—”

“No, Trick, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t need to. I think you’ve all said enough.”

“Jaime, honey, wait,” pleaded Dominic.

“You know what pisses me off the most? That any of you could actually question Dante’s competence as Beta. You’ve betrayed him by even thinking that. Not one of you would do better at that position than him. Not one of you could take his place and fill it. And if you tried, I’d kill you.

Even if it meant coming back from the grave.”

Seeing that she was about to leave the room, Gabe stood and took a step toward her. She held up her hand. “I need some time alone, okay,” she said softly. He nodded, smiling.

More specifically, what she needed was to leave the place for good, but if she’d said that aloud, either he, Shaya, or Dominic would most likely have tried to stop her. This was something she had to do whether she liked it or not. It might make her wolf go over the edge, and she might turn rogue within a few days’ time, but she had only been delaying the inevitable. She couldn’t stay here in this place where she was not only unwelcome, but feared. Especially not when it meant Dante’s position as Beta might be in jeopardy. She knew how much he loved his job, and she wouldn’t be the reason he lost it.

“I’d like to think that’s the end of it,” Dante said to Trey as he paced slowly in his office. “But I doubt even the beating they were given will stop them from coming after me again. Or Jaime.” Trey leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table. “You say she got involved in the fight but didn’t lose control?”

“Like I tried to explain, her situation with her wolf isn’t like yours. It’s not that she lives close to the surface and so puts Jaime at risk of turning feral. Her wolf is just…traumatized. It means she’s constantly on the offensive, but it’s because she’s scared. Most of the time Jaime’s in control of her, but sometimes her wolf gets enough strength to lunge for the surface. Despite that she’s been doing that for the past four years, Jaime has kept enough control that she hasn’t shifted forms.”

“So that’s why you started training her. You think if she has better control, if she makes herself stronger, she’ll be able to suppress her wolf.” Trey sighed. “I’m sorry, Dante, but I don’t see how that will work. Oh it’ll work for a while, sure. Maybe even a few years. But soon her wolf will gather enough strength again, because what’s happening isn’t natural. Confining her wolf isn’t natural. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you can truly help her, because you can’t.” Dante shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do, and so do you. It would be the same as the body trying to work without a heart.

Your heart is too much a part of your body just like your wolf is too much a part of your soul. One can’t exist without the other.”

“Maybe her wolf will get used to being confined and stop fighting to surface.”

“You know that she won’t—she’s a dominant wolf. Dante, it doesn’t make you a failure that you can’t help her.”

“And if this was Taryn we were talking about? What would you do?” Trey’s expression was fierce. “Everything I could to keep the crazy woman alive, no matter what it was.”

Dante hadn’t expected any other answer. “Then don’t ask me to give up on Jaime. I won’t.”

“She matters to you even more than I thought,” Trey observed with a frown.

“Jaime’s mine.” The sound of his cell phone interrupted whatever Trey had been about to say.

“It’s Tao,” he told Trey before answering. “Hello.”

There was a hesitant pause and then Tao sighed heavily, almost as if in resignation. “It’s Jaime.”

Dante’s wolf went still. “What about her?”

Another pause. “She left.”

“She what?”

“About fifteen minutes ago,” he answered reluctantly. “She left in her Chevy carrying a bulging backpack.”

“Why are you only telling me now?” A growl trickled out of Dante as realization dawned on him. “You weren’t going to, were you? Christ, Tao!”

“You don’t need to yell at me! I feel bad enough, all right! Just go and get her and bring her back. She’s pack, and she shouldn’t be out there alone.”

“I’ll deal with you later,” Dante promised him before ending the call, only interested in finding Jaime and carting her back over his shoulder.