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Alicia frowned at the push-up bra. “It’s all right. I would never have worn red lingerie, though, if Jake hadn’t bought it for me. ” She pulled on the T-shirt and jeans.
“I have to ask you,” Lelandi said, growing serious. “Are you mated?”
Lelandi seemed so concerned that Alicia paused at zipping up the jeans. “I heard Jake talking about it to Darien. Does it mean my having had sex with a man?”
Lelandi’s eyes widened marginally. “Only if he was a werewolf. ”
“No. Not with a man, either, since I was turned. ” Except for her dreams with Jake, and she didn’t figure that counted.
“Good. And you’re not pregnant?”
“Oh. No. I’m so sorry about that. I’m afraid I got poor Jake into a lot of trouble over that. I didn’t know what else to say when I shape-shifted so all of a sudden at the art gallery. No one saw me, but I had to give a reason for not answering them when it was closing time and I wouldn’t leave the restroom stall. ”
“That must have been horrible for you, Alicia. You’re too newly turned to be out in public. I don’t want you to worry about it. But the pack is your family, and we take care of our own. ”
Alicia was so overcome that she gave a hug to Lelandi, who returned the gesture with heartfelt sincerity. Alicia had been so worried about how others would view her that she couldn’t believe how welcoming they were. But she had to know if any of them were connected to Massaro and his cohorts. “When are you due?” Alicia asked.
“A month. Triplets are on the way. ”
“Triplets? Oh, my. And…” Alicia’s eyes widened. “Jake is a triplet?”
Lelandi smiled. “Hmm-hm. ”
“Oh. ” The idea was finally sinking in that if she’d ever had a child with Jake, it could very well be three at once. The worrisome thought suddenly struck her—would they be werewolves, too?
“Where’s your family?” Lelandi asked, quickly changing the subject, and Alicia wondered if Lelandi could read the worry in her expression.
“I don’t have any. ” Alicia thought Lelandi gave a slight sigh of relief. “My dad ran off when I was two, and my mother and grandmother raised me. But they’re both dead now. ”
“I’m sorry to hear this,” Lelandi said with genuine feeling. “But in a way it makes it easier because keeping your lupus garou genetics secret from them could be a trial. ” She shifted on the chair and rubbed her lower back. “Darien said you are a bounty hunter. But until you’re sure you’ve got the shifting under control, you’ll have to put your job on hold. ”
Alicia relaxed a little. “I was rethinking whether I should stay in that job anyway after what had happened this last time. Although I often go after women so that we don’t have cases of some woman screaming that there was sexual misconduct. ”
“Something we can talk about later. ” Lelandi took a deep breath. “Where’s the man who turned you?”
Good. The opening Alicia needed. “Dead. And the man who turned him is dead also. Ferdinand Massaro was the name of the one who turned me. ” Lelandi showed no recognition of the name whatsoever. Alicia tried again. “I thought you might know him since he was one of you. ”
“Oh, my goodness, no,” Lelandi said thoughtfully. “Given our uniqueness, our secret is well guarded. Certainly we run into each other in communities beyond our own, but that’s the only way we learn others exist. ”
Alicia sighed with relief. At least Lelandi didn’t seem to know this man. “But Jake must have known him then. ”
A faint look of wariness appeared in Lelandi’s eyes, but she quickly changed her expression and gave Alicia a faked smile. “You’ll have to ask Jake. Although I have to tell you that when we locate other werewolves in other locations, or when they stray into our own territory, we share that knowledge with our pack. It’s instinctive. As co-pack leader with Darien, I would have been made aware of this discovery. In that light, I don’t believe Jake knew the man who bit you. ”
Alicia didn’t know what to think. On the one hand, she got the distinct impression Lelandi was defending Jake—that the coolness or hint of condemnation Alicia had tried to keep out of her voice when she mentioned Jake knowing Ferdinand had put Lelandi on the defensive. Alicia had to remember she was dealing with a family—one that seemed cohesive and all supporting. And she was the outsider, no matter how happy they seemed to be that she was now among them.
“Then if none of you knew Ferdinand Massaro, the knowledge he is dead is of no great importance to you,” Alicia said coolly, watching for a reaction.
“We would only be concerned if he had done something to gather the attention of humans, revealing what he truly was either in life or death. ” Lelandi rubbed her belly and frowned at Alicia. “Was he…” She hesitated.
“Was he what?” Alicia had the impression Lelandi was about to ask if the creep had been her lover. But how could Lelandi think that when she could see how much Jake wanted Alicia and how she felt about him?
“I’m sorry. I meant to ask—did he force himself on you? Did he turn you against your will?” Lelandi’s questions were spoken in a manner that showed concern mixed with controlled anger.
Her reaction took Alicia by surprise. She hadn’t thought anyone would ask her the question, let alone be upset about it. Except maybe Jake. She suspected if he’d known Ferdinand had planned to do this to her, he would have killed him. Yet wouldn’t Jake have wanted to do the same thing to her? Turn her so they would live together as werewolves and have… werewolf kids?
“Alicia?”
Alicia looked up from her hands, not even realizing she’d been wringing them. Tears filled her eyes as she recalled what had happened to her that night. Thinking about Ferdinand stripping her of her clothes. Fearing that he intended to rape her, torture her, and kill her. Recalling the bite on her arm and the men who had come to murder him and who had searched for her while she’d hidden from them in abject terror. How she’d turned into the wolf and felt she’d become some alien being—all alone to face her uncertainties.
Lelandi took her hand and squeezed. “It’s all right. You can talk to me about it later when you feel more like it. I’m sure the men are waiting for us to return to them downstairs. There are tons of things we’ll need to discuss with you so you’ll understand what we’re all about. But I don’t want to overwhelm you. ”
Alicia sighed, having to get this off her chest. “Ferdinand declared I would be his, knocked me out, and when I came to, I’d already been bitten. Men were with him in another room. They murdered him, and I must have passed out from the earlier blows to the head. Anyway, when I came to, I found I was a wolf. I couldn’t shape-shift back for some time, but I left his place as soon as I was able. ”
“Where were you when they killed him?”
More than idle curiosity was backing Lelandi’s question, Alicia thought. Did she wonder if Alicia had watched the murder take place and then walked out of there on her own? That she was in on this whole mess? One of the bad guys?
“I was half-groggy from being knocked unconscious the two times,” Alicia said quietly. “Somehow, I managed to pull my clothes off the bed and slide underneath it. ”
“You were naked?” Lelandi’s brows were arched in surprise.
Alicia swallowed. “Yes. I… I assumed after what had happened, as far as I could piece together, I should say, that Ferdinand meant to bite me and…” She shrugged, figuring Lelandi could fill in the blanks. “I was terrified the men would find me. I still remember the odor of the cologne worn by the man who came to look in the bedroom. His method of searching for anyone in the condo reminded me of one of my…”
Alicia had done it again. She hadn’t meant to mention her ex-husbands. Her face feeling warm, she clenched her fingers together. “My ex-husband would look for something but if it wasn’t lying out in plain sight, he’d ask me to find it. He never thought to look under anything. In this
case…” She shuddered. “It was a good thing the murderer didn’t look beneath the bed. ”
Lelandi let out a breath as if she’d been holding it in. She’d probably never lived half as dangerously as Alicia, not with a caring pack to watch over her. And the notion anyone would have wanted Lelandi dead would be alien to her.
“This Ferdinand Massaro just grabbed you off the street?” Lelandi asked.
“He was my informant, although I’d never met him before in person. But yes, he grabbed me when I was about to issue the warrant for his brother’s arrest. ”
Lelandi’s eyes grew big. “I see. ”
“No, I don’t think you do. Ferdinand told me where to find his brother to make the arrest. Turning me was only part of his agenda. ”
“So what about the men who came after you at the motel in Crestview?”
“They were part of Mario Constantino’s family. One of them, the only one who got away unscathed, was Danny Massaro. The man who shot and killed my mother. He also was Ferdinand Massaro’s brother. ”
Lelandi’s lips parted, then she closed them and didn’t say anything.
Alicia got the distinct impression that Lelandi and her pack wouldn’t like having a troublemaker like Alicia in their midst. “I don’t want to bring any danger to your family,” Alicia reasoned. “Maybe Darien could help me return to my car in Crestview, and I’ll be on my way. ”
Lelandi didn’t say anything right away, and Alicia thought she was considering her request favorably. Then she said, “You’ll stay with us, dear Alicia. We won’t let any harm come to you. As I’ve said, because of our uniqueness, we must keep what we are a secret. Newly turned, you can’t possibly get along on your own without a pack to…” Lelandi hesitated. “We’ll guide you. But I don’t mean that in a controlling way. It’s just that living among us, you’ll learn how to cope with your abilities. Besides, Jake said the two of you are dream mated. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, he’s not about to let you get out of his sight again. ”