Chapter FIVE
“You must be lost,” said Jaime.
Glory came to stand beside her in front of the mirror where Jaime was drying her hands with paper towels. “I’ll get straight to the point.” She dug out her lip gloss from her small, studded pink handbag that matched her pink skirt—which, considering its length, was more like a belt.
“That would be nice.”
Glory touched up her lip gloss, returned it to her bag, and turned to fully face her. “I saw you with Dante the other day. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you were looking at him or the way he was looking at you. And don’t think I haven’t been watching the way he’s been staring at you tonight either.” She curled her lip. “Let me be very clear. Dante’s mine. He’s my mate.” Jaime’s wolf growled, enraged by not only the female’s confrontational behavior, but her claim on Dante. “Your mate? Really? Wow. See, I’d like to believe you…I say I’d like to.”
“He is mine. I knew it the second I saw him. The only reason I haven’t ripped out your throat is that you’re one of his wolves and it would hurt him. But I’m warning you, just like I warned every other tramp that looked his way… he is mine. I don’t doubt that he’s denying it to anyone who asks.
He might not be ready to accept the mating, but it doesn’t change the facts.”
“ Are they facts?”
The skin around Glory’s cheekbones tightened, but her expression quickly relaxed. “Why would I claim he’s mine if he isn’t?”
Jaime smiled and shrugged. “Well it’s your lie, sweetie, so go ahead and tell it however you like.”
“He’ll make it official when he’s ready. But just because I’m giving him time doesn’t mean I’m okay with him f*cking little submissive sluts like you. ” Again Jaime’s wolf growled. Pacing and clawing, she urged Jaime to lunge at the female in front of her, but Jaime maintained a deadpan expression. “Thanks. That really means a lot coming from a backstabbing, rumor-spreading, attention-seeking, black hole of need. But then, I suppose it’s a good thing that you’re spreading something besides your legs.” Glory snarled. “I’d be very careful if I were you, honey.”
“Is that right?”
“I’m no submissive. I could easily take you, and we both know it.” The threat delighted her wolf, who at this point wanted nothing more than to rip out this bitch’s throat. Her wolf, as always, believed the solution was “attack.” She charged at her confines, body-slammed them, clawed at them. It was becoming painful to keep her buried, but Jaime somehow managed it. Unfortunately, Glory seemed determined to test her endurance.
“Do you know what’s so sad about this? That you think he would be truly interested in you even if he and I weren’t mates. Face reality, honey. He doesn’t want you. If he did, he wouldn’t have let that jaguar anywhere near you. Come on, look at you…Your wolf’s so submissive, she doesn’t even deserve to live. Let me show you what I like to do to submissive wolves like you.” One of the bars on her wolf’s cage gave way, and Jaime’s wolf leaped for the surface.
Dante was staring at the door of the restrooms, impatient for Jaime to come back out, when he noticed Shaya dashing out and quickly squeezing through the crowds until she reached Gabe. Whatever she said to him had the guy’s eyes bulging, and then he was swiftly heading to the restrooms.
Without thought, Dante stalked through the crowds, intent on finding out what was wrong.
Reaching Shaya, he gripped her shoulder and twirled her around. “What is it? What’s happened?” Suddenly Nick was beside him, but Dante paid him no attention.
It all came out of her in a rush. “I was in the restroom in one of the cubicles when I heard them arguing and I figured they’d stop and one of them would walk out but then there was growling and I looked out and she had her hand wrapped around Glory’s throat and was pounding her head against the wall and I tried to pull Jaime away but she won’t listen and—”
“Jaime?” He still didn’t have a clue what was going on, but if it had something to do with Jaime, it had something to do with him.
Whatever he’d been expecting to see when he barged into the women’s restrooms, it hadn’t been Jaime sitting on and pinning down a bleeding female. Glory was lying on her stomach while Gabe looked on, appealing to Jaime for her to stop. Then Gabe had his arms around her and was tugging her backward, away from Glory.
“You have to fight it, Jaime. Please, fight it,” said Gabe.
Fight it? It was then that Dante noticed her eyes. They were wolf. There was no sign of Jaime there. If she had been in her wolf form, he’d have thought she might have gone feral. But this wasn’t feral. This wasn’t a loss of control. Not on the wolf’s part.
What he saw in her wolf’s eyes made him shudder. Rage. Pain. Fear. Torment. A primal need to defend. A primal need to protect. He saw a traumatized wolf reacting to danger in the only way it knew how.
“Please, Jaime, please, please fight it,” Gabe begged as she strained within his hold. “You can’t let your wolf win this.”
Dante still didn’t have a clue what exactly was going on with Jaime, but he did know one thing; a dominant wolf in that state wasn’t going to respond to a plea from a submissive wolf. He stalked over to her and collared her throat with his hand in a very dominant move. It gained her wolf’s attention. Jaime instantly froze and released a chilling growl.
He released a growl of his own, one that warned her not to challenge him insisting that she back down. Instead, she thrashed, apparently perceiving him as a threat and wanting only to eliminate him. At least her attention was no longer on Glory. That got him thinking…
“Tao!” He knew the Head Enforcer had followed him inside. “Get her out of here!” he ordered, gesturing to a moaning Glory. Her presence and scent would only make Jaime’s wolf worse.
As Tao passed by with Glory in tow, Jaime lunged at her with such strength that she managed to break out of both his and Gabe’s holds. Christ, she moved fast. Dante moved faster. He grabbed her just as she reached Glory and pulled her back against him. He kept his arm wrapped securely around her, pinning her arms to her sides. At the same time, he collared her throat again with his free hand. Like before, it transferred her focus to him, and she froze briefly before struggling wildly again.
“Stop,” he growled into her ear. She didn’t. He looked at the others who were all gathered near the door. “All of you out! She’ll feel cornered if there are too many in here!” Gabe lingered, looking anxious and edgy. “Out. I’ll take care of her, I promise,” he added reassuringly.
Once they were alone, Dante returned his attention to the writhing female in his arms. “Jaime, I know you’re fighting her, baby, or you’d be in wolf form by now. I need you to fight harder for me.
Concentrate on me, concentrate on my voice.” Very, very slightly, her struggles eased. “That’s it, Jaime, fight harder for me, come on.” Rocking her from side to side, he whispered things softly into her ear, hoping to calm her wolf’s mood even though he knew the animal wouldn’t understand the words.
Little by little, her struggles eased until, a minute later, she slumped against him. Sighing with relief, he turned her to face him, keeping her in his arms, and slid to the floor. Sitting there with her cradled against his chest, he continued to rock her slightly. “Jaime,” he breathed. He was surprised when her lids fluttered open. Smoky-blue eyes looked back at him.
“Now you know.” Then she passed out. Shit.
The creaking of the restroom door had him looking up. Tao was wearing an expression that was an equal mixture of concerned and wary. “Is she all right?”
“I don’t know.”
“What the hell is going on?” Tao’s voice was soft but demanding.
“I don’t know that either.”
“But you know she’s definitely not a submissive wolf, right? You must have sensed the dominant vibes—they were clogging the air.”
“Yes, I sensed them,” Dante said impatiently, irritated that he was again stuck with unanswered questions. “Look, I need you and the guys to make sure Shaya and Hope get home fine.
Gabe is coming with Jaime and me. I need some answers, and I seriously doubt I’m going to get any of them from her right now.”
Tao swallowed hard. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to take her to pack territory?”
“You’re suggesting I don’t?” His voice sounded dangerous even to him.
“Hey, look, I really, really like Jaime. She’s a great girl and she’s a good addition to the pack, and I don’t like the idea of her anywhere alone. But, well, she’s dangerous, Dante.”
“Maybe to females who challenge her, but not necessarily to anyone else.” He knew that Jaime didn’t go around picking fights. Glory had to have challenged her.
“You saw her, Dante. Her wolf lost it.”
“No, she didn’t.” He sighed. “I think something’s wrong with her wolf. She seems, I don’t know…damaged.”
“So you’re saying you think Jaime lost control of her? That still makes her dangerous. Trey’s not going to like that, especially since she’s been lying to us about being submissive.” He was right, Dante knew. The Beta in him agreed that the right decision for the pack would be for her to leave, but every cell of his body rebelled against it. His wolf, too, was angry at the idea of her leaving.
“Dante—”
“I gave you an order, Tao. Just concentrate on that and leave me to deal with this, all right?” It wasn’t actually a question. With a stiff nod, Tao left. Shifting Jaime’s weight slightly, Dante managed to stand upright. Then, curling her legs around his waist, he held her close as he exited the restrooms.
Instantly Shaya came forward, and Nick grabbed her arm, attempting to pull her back.
Scowling at him, Shaya shrugged Nick’s hand away. “Is she okay?” she asked Dante, looking both confused and concerned, as did Hope. Trick and Marcus appeared to be as wary as Tao. Gabe was looking guilty and awkward.
Dante simply gave Shaya a nod. “You, come with me,” he told Gabe, who then followed behind Dante as he made his way out of the bar and over to the SUV. It made more sense to lay Jaime across the backseat, but Dante found that he wanted her close. Not bothering to question the impulse, he placed her on the passenger seat and draped his jacket over her.
Impatient for answers, Dante only waited until he had reversed out of the parking space before he started to dig for an explanation. “Well,” he drawled, glancing in the rearview mirror at the male wolf, who was fidgeting nervously in the backseat. “It would seem that she isn’t submissive.”
“Nope,” Gabe confirmed.
“But Jaime keeps her wolf subdued?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? It’s clearly driving her wolf crazy and making her—” He broke off as realization dawned. “Her wolf was already this way. That’s why Jaime subdues her.” Gabe’s voice was sad as he spoke. “She doesn’t see that she has any other choice.”
“But I remember seeing her shift once when we were kids, and her wolf was fine. What happened to make her like this?”
“That’s Jaime’s story to tell.” Although Gabe’s tone wasn’t disrespectful, it was resolute.
Dante admired his loyalty to his sister.
“How long will she be out?”
Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her have to fight her wolf so hard before. It’s usually a few hours before she wakes up. It drains her.”
“Wait a minute, what do you mean you’ve never seen her have to fight her wolf that hard before? Are you saying it’s getting worse?”
“She doesn’t talk about it much. She doesn’t want me to worry. It used to be months at a time before her wolf had the strength to put up a fight like that.”
“When was the last time?”
“A few nights ago. When she has nightmares, it freaks out her wolf.” Dante’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. “F*ck.”
“She wasn’t going to put any of you in danger,” he assured Dante, clearly worried that his sister was in trouble with the pack. “She’d planned to leave as soon as it got too bad. She didn’t say it aloud, but I know her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she leaves tomorrow.” His voice broke with the last words.
“Why?” It came out a growl; both he and his wolf had no intention of letting that happen.
“After that incident, she’ll see herself as too much of a risk to the pack.”
“It looked to me like all she did was respond to a challenge.” Okay, so there was much more to it than that, but that was pretty much at the crux of it.
“Yeah, but you and I both know that won’t mean squat to Trey, given his overprotective state right now. It won’t mean squat to her conscience either.”
“If she leaves, if she’s without the connection of a pack and without territory, it’ll most likely make her wolf worse.”
“I know,” he croaked. “She’s done so much for me, you know. When our parents died, we went to live with our aunt and uncle, and they were great and all, but they already had five kids of their own to care for. A year later came a set of twins. You know what it’s like to live in a full house.
We were only their niece and nephew, so we came last. Jaime took more care of me than they did—
as if she didn’t have enough to deal with. I hate it that I can’t do anything to help her with this.” So did Dante.
Once they were finally on pack territory, Dante retrieved her from the passenger seat and kept her cradled against his chest as he walked up the stairs of the cliff face. Going by the fact that Trey wasn’t blocking the main door wearing the mother of all scowls, it was clear that neither Tao, Trick, nor Marcus had called to warn him. Dante wouldn’t have blamed them if they had; he’d have understood. He’d have also kicked their asses.
Acting on instinct, he took her straight to his room and settled her down on his bed. No one would dare walk into his room without permission, so he knew she’d be fine in there. Recalling that Gabe had said she’d be out for hours, he left her there and went to Trey’s office. He knew it would only be a matter of time before someone told their Alpha something, and Dante wanted it to come from him. He also wanted to make sure that Trey didn’t make any rash decisions—something he was prone to do at times when the matter concerned his mate.
Not bothering to knock—he was the only one of the pack other than Taryn who didn’t—Dante walked straight inside. His facial expression must have given away some of his anxiety, because Trey was instantly on his feet.
“Is it Taryn?”
“No, it’s about Jaime.”
“Jaime?”
Dante sighed heavily and explained Jaime’s situation in full detail. The look on Trey’s face didn’t bode well for her.
“You know she has to go, don’t you?”
“Trey, you can’t seriously be okay with her being out there on her own. You know what it’s like to be banished.”
“Yeah, I do, and I know that none of this is her fault, but my main concern is that Taryn and the baby are safe.”
Dante held up a placating hand. “I know it’s important that we keep Taryn protected right now, but does it really mean you have to toss Jaime out to deal with this on her own?”
“Yes, it does.”
Coming from anyone else, this reaction to Jaime’s situation would seem cold, but Trey wasn’t like most people. He functioned mostly on logic, on probability. He didn’t make emotional decisions, because he wasn’t an emotional person, except when it came to his mate, which was exactly why logic was telling him that keeping Jaime here wouldn’t be wise.
Dante sighed again. “If you want, I’ll leave pack territory with Jaime and stay with her until…
well, I don’t know exactly what will happen if she’s without a pack, though it’s reasonable to assume things will get much worse for her. I can’t leave her to deal with this on her own. What she needs is support and protection right now.”
Trey looked at him curiously. “She matters to you, doesn’t she?” Mattered to him? Dante wouldn’t say that she mattered to him. Yeah, okay, she mattered to him. “Even if she didn’t, I couldn’t just ignore the fact that she needs help. No one should have to deal with something like that alone.”
Trey was quiet for a few minutes, studying him intently. Anyone else might have squirmed, but Dante merely held his gaze while standing immobile—an act that told Trey he wasn’t going to budge on this.
Finally Trey spoke. “Look, I know it goes against your nature to turn your back on someone who needs protection, and I see that she matters to you…so she can stay…but she needs to be under watch twenty-four/seven. I don’t want her alone at any time, understand?”
“I understand.” Dante didn’t intend to let her out of his sight anyway.
“And if she turns rogue, Dante, she’s dead. I’ve seen what a rogue wolf can do, and I won’t have it happen to Taryn.”
“Neither will I.” But could he really kill Jaime? Even to protect his Alpha female? Dante wasn’t sure that he could, rogue or not. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he could let anyone else hurt her either, which meant that for the first time, his loyalty was divided. No, that wasn’t good.
Whoever invented alarm clocks was an a*shole. Jaime groaned and rolled away from the noise. At the same time as it registered that the noise was a cell phone—one she intended to ignore, as it wasn’t hers and therefore wasn’t her problem—she also realized that she wasn’t in her room. A delicious male scent filled her nostrils. Her eyes flickered open to see Dante sitting on a chair beside the ridiculously huge bed, looking right at her. Without moving his gaze from hers, he took his cell out of his pocket and answered it.
“Hello. Yes, she’s awake,” he said in response to Grace’s question. When she offered to bring a tray of food so that Jaime could have breakfast in bed, Dante’s wolf growled. It sounded like an offer of kindness, but he knew it was also the pack’s way of keeping Jaime apart from them. Stiffly, he said, “Thanks.”
Jaime glanced around the spacious room, noticing how different it was from her own. Not simply because of his very masculine oak furniture, but because it was obsessively neat and everything seemed to have its own place. It looked more like a showroom in a furniture store. By contrast, Jaime seemed to find order in chaos and tended to place something wherever there was space for it to go. She would bet that he would be horrified by some of her habits, like not putting CDs back into their cases and how she kicked her shoes off wherever she was stood at the time.
Dante actually had a shoe rack.
She was going to ask why he’d brought her here instead of taking her to her own room, but the answer quickly came to her. “You don’t trust me to be around the pack.”
“Actually, I brought you in here because I don’t trust you not to run.” That wasn’t entirely true
—he’d wanted her with him.
“And you’re hoping for some answers.”
“Not yet. First you need to eat.” She looked like the living dead, but he didn’t say that aloud, figuring it wouldn’t wash down well. They sat, studying each other in silence, until Grace knocked on the door. Without a word, Dante took the tray and gave her a simple nod of thanks. Going by the guilt that was plastered across her face, he guessed that she was feeling bad about the plan to keep Jaime slightly segregated, but that guilt didn’t placate Dante or his wolf.
The silence continued as they ate. As usual, Jaime had only two slices of toast and a mug of coffee, unlike Dante, who demolished a plate filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, biscuits with gravy, and then a pile of pancakes with syrup. Well, he was a growing boy. Only then did he lean back in his seat. “Talk.”
Considering that he already knew most of her secret, there didn’t seem any harm in fully explaining it, particularly since she’d be banished either way. Jaime inhaled deeply. “My parents’
attack…I saw it. Gabe and I were supposed to be staying with our aunt and uncle for the night, but I’d forgotten to take Gabe’s blanket—he wouldn’t sleep without it. I went back to get it, and I heard voices before I even entered the cabin. I thought it was my parents arguing. They were happy together, but they were also very strong personalities, and it meant they argued a lot.
“But when I got inside, I smelled male wolves. I recognized one of the scents, knew it was my mom’s brother. I couldn’t hear every word, but I understood that the guys with him were people he owed money. They had brought him there to get the money. He was a compulsive gambler, always had been, and my mom had often helped him even against her better judgment. I should have gone to get help, I know, but it was like I was frozen stiff. And, well, I don’t seem to have a flight response anyway.”
Dante wondered why he hadn’t heard about this, but then he supposed that since he hadn’t been in contact with anyone from the Bjorn Pack since a few months ago, maybe it wasn’t all that surprising.
“Suddenly all hell broke loose in the kitchen. Everyone had shifted, and they were fighting. I don’t know if I made a noise or one of them scented me, but one of the males suddenly turned and leaped at me. I instantly shifted, gave my wolf the freedom she wanted to protect me. Instinctively, my wolf fought, but I’m pretty sure that if someone hadn’t overheard the noises and come to help, I wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.
“I don’t remember an awful lot of what happened after that, because for the next few weeks my wolf wouldn’t calm down and let me resurface. She was frightened and confused and angry. She didn’t like it when others were close, saw everyone as a threat. She thought she still needed to protect me. It was three whole weeks before she let anyone near and eased back.” Dante could picture it so clearly in his mind. He remembered what her wolf looked like: jet black with a tuft of gray on the end of her tail, almost as if it had been dipped in paint. He envisioned her beautiful wolf pacing back and forth in a confined space, missing the touch of pack members but at the same time fearing it. Fearing every little noise, every unexpected movement, every person or wolf who came within close proximity of her.
“So I ran solo whenever I shifted, thinking that she’d heal eventually, that she’d find peace and go back to her old self. But she never did. Then one day when I shifted, I mistakenly came across another shifter. My wolf almost killed him, almost took over completely. I didn’t feel like I had any other choice but to contain her. And I was so scared that if I shifted again, I’d never come back.” Dante couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to fear your own wolf, to be unable to coexist peacefully with it. A shifter and his or her wolf should act as a unit, as one…not as two completely separate beings who warred with each other. He had no idea how Jaime was sane. He so admired and respected her for that. “How long has it been since you last shifted?” The gentleness in his voice made her eyes fill up. “Four years,” she whispered shakily.
“Oh, baby, come here.” Dante gathered her and placed her on his lap. He held her while she cried silently, hating that he couldn’t help. His wolf, too, hated the feeling of helplessness.
“Don’t worry,” she said as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand a minute later. “I’ll get my stuff together and I’ll be gone within the hour.” She tried to stand, but he tightened his hold.
“Like hell you will.”
“You want me to leave right this second?”
“Do you really think I’d let you go?”
Totally baffled, she shook her head slightly. “You heard what I just told you, right? You saw what happened last night?”
“What I saw was someone fighting—and fighting hard— to stop her wolf from surfacing. Even though your wolf was in that state, you managed to retain some control over her, or you’d have fully shifted.”
“‘Some’ being the key word.”
“I’m not letting you go.”
“I’m not yours to keep. Look, Dante, I understand that this is part of who you are, but you can’t protect me from this. Sooner or later—though I’m pretty sure it’ll be sooner—my wolf will be strong enough to take over. If she turns rogue, there’s only one choice. Trey will know that, and he’ll agree that I need to get my ass out of here.” A hint of smugness glinted in his eyes. “What?”
“I’ve already spoken to Trey. I explained your situation. He’s not thrilled about it, but he’s agreed to let you stay.”
“Then he’s more unstable than I thought. I have to leave here. Even if Trey’s okay with it, the others won’t be.”
“And what about your brother, huh? You’re going to leave him just like that?” The very idea of it made her chest ache, but she didn’t see any other avenue. “Gabe will understand. He knew this would happen at some point. He’s settled here, just like I wanted, like I hoped. He’ll be fine.”
“Physically, he will be,” allowed Dante, rubbing her back in a circular motion. “But emotionally? I’d say he’s going to be a wreck. You’re both very close, and you’re all he has left.”
“He’ll be fine.”
“So you’re just going to give up?”
Her eyes flared. “Excuse me?”
Good, she was angry. Anger was a good source of fuel, and she sure needed that right now.
“You’re giving up. Never had you down as a quitter, Jaime.” She tried to wrestle out of his hold, but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Giving up? If I was a quitter, I’d have bowed down to my wolf years ago. How dare you judge me! You have no idea what it’s like to live like this.”
“I can understand if you’re tired of fighting, if you’re tempted to stop fighting what you think is inevitable—”
“Think is inevitable? It is inevitable.”
He pursed his lips. “Maybe not.”
“What does that mean?”
“What I said. I want you to come with me somewhere.” Placing her on her feet, he gestured to a plastic bag beside his bed. “I had Shaya get some clothes together for you. Go in the bathroom and get dressed. Or you can dress right here if you prefer. I’m totally fine with that.” His devilish, cocky grin did something interesting to her insides. She snatched the bag from the floor and went into in the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she came out feeling refreshed and dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans—both of which were skintight. How typical of Shaya, who was not only very fashion conscious but extremely fond of clothes that highlighted every curve.
As usual, Dante’s cock throbbed at the sight of her. He shackled her wrist with his hand.
“Come with me.”
Sighing, she allowed him to lead her through the network of tunnels, down the stairs of the cliff face, and over to the river where the patio table and chairs were set up. “What are we doing out here?” she asked the second he released her.
Dante slowly began to circle her. “Your biggest problem now is that your wolf is getting stronger, right?”
“Right,” she confirmed, confused as to where he was going with this.
“Then it stands to reason that in order to keep fighting her, you need to get stronger. You need to perfect your self-control. I don’t doubt that it’s good, but it could be better. And I can help you with that.”
“How?”
Having done two complete circles around her, he halted in front of her. “I’m going to train you.
I’m going to give you the same training I gave the enforcers. It’s hard as all hell, Jaime. There’ll be times when you’ll want nothing more than to use the skills I teach you to slit my throat. But it will help you, just like it helps me.”
That comment had her frowning. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, baby.”
The endearment and the intensity in his eyes made a tingle run down her spine. “Why is control so important to you? I know it’s nothing to do with your wolf. He’s not damaged like mine or a little too close to the surface like Trey’s.”
“No, he’s not,” allowed Dante. “It has nothing to do with my wolf.”
“Then why?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you if you do well with training. Are you up to it, Jaime?” It was more of a dare than a question. “Like I said, it won’t be easy. But it will make you stronger. It all depends on whether you want to keep on fighting, or whether you’re a quitter.”