Wanting the dog to understand that she posed no threat, she avoided eye contact, as that was something he would interpret as confrontational. Digging her hand into her pocket of her coveralls, she fished out a few of the dog treats she kept there. She threw some to the side of him and waited.
After sniffing the air, he eventually nibbled on one of the treats. Once he’d eaten each of those treats, she tossed a few more.
Turning to the side to communicate that she wasn’t challenging him, she slowly inched forward. After only a few feet, she stopped and tossed him some more treats. She waited patiently as he ate them, and then gently patted the ground before holding out her hand, encouraging him to come to her. At this point he had stopped growling, but his posture was still alert. After several minutes, he seemed to adjust to her presence and decide that she wasn’t a threat, because he began to approach her.
Jaime stayed totally still as he sniffed the back of her hand. Only when he seemed calm did she, still talking to him in a soothing voice, slowly take the leash from her other pocket. Without gripping his collar, she simply clipped the leash to it, all the while speaking quietly to him. Although she wanted to stroke him, she avoided it. There was no way of knowing whether he had what Ivy called “hot spots”—places he disliked being touched that could set him off.
Jaime’s entire body was a hot spot right now. If Dante touched her even once, she’d kill him.
As if he sensed that, he made no attempts to touch her or speak to her as they worked the rest of their shift. In fact, it wasn’t until they were almost on pack territory in the SUV that he reached across and placed his hand on her thigh. By that point, she had calmed down enough not to shake him off, especially since she could feel how mad he was at himself.
“You know I wasn’t talking about your wolf.”
“Really?” she drawled with skepticism heavy in her voice.
“I admit that my choice of words was bad and the whole thing came out wrong, but I do not think your wolf is beyond help.”
Although she sensed that he was speaking the truth, it didn’t improve Jaime’s mood much.
“This isn’t just about what you said. Yeah, what you said hurt. But it’s more than that. Since the very beginning, it’s been me who’s been giving all the support in this relationship. You lap it up, but whenever I need you to back up me on something, you don’t.”
“You wanted me to support you approaching a clearly dangerous dog?” She could see that he was genuinely missing the point. If he had been anyone else, she would have mistaken his response for pure ignorance. But it was like he once told her: he’d been on his own for so long that sometimes he could be self-centered without even realizing it. “I expected, no matter how much your instincts were telling you to protect me, for you to acknowledge and appreciate that I was doing my job.”
He didn’t respond until they were through the perimeter gate of pack territory. “You were putting yourself at risk, and that’s not acceptable to me.” In a mockingly sweet voice, she said, “I’m sorry. After all, your job isn’t at all dangerous, so I have no right to expect you to let me do mine without trying to hold me back and get in my way.”
“That’s different.”
“Why? Because it’s you?”
“Yes. No.” It was more yes than no, if he was honest with himself. Not that he was in any rush to tell Jaime that, though he suspected she already knew through their bond. Sometimes that link was a pain in his ass. “You have no sense of self-preservation, so is it really any wonder that I try to protect you?”
“But you didn’t try to protect me today. You tried to dominate me into doing what you wanted.
How is that fair? For a minute there, you were Beta, and I was just a packmate. Not Beta female, not your mate, just another pack member to whom you give orders.” His expression told her that now he got her point.
“That wasn’t what I was doing.” But it was. Maybe he hadn’t meant to undermine her and her ability to take care of herself, but he had. If she had gone all Beta female on his ass and tried to use that authority to boss him around or crush his opinions, it would have sincerely pissed him off. Unless it happened in the bedroom.
When he parked the car in the lot, Jaime turned to him. “Look, I know that this whole overprotectiveness thing is part of who you are and is so much worse now that we’re newly mated, but you can’t try to dominate me into doing what you want.”
“I’m sorry, okay.” He reached out and cupped her nape, rubbing it soothingly. “I believe we both agreed that I was going to fuck up a lot.” Pulling her to him, he gently meshed his lips with hers, relieved when she didn’t tense. “But I can’t apologize for wanting to protect you. I’ll always want to do that, and I’ll always try to, even when you don’t need me to.” Sighing, she relaxed into him. “I know. But I’ll still get pissy with you every time.”
“That’s okay. You’re hot when you’re mad.”
Growling, she shoved him away, ignoring his laugh, and hopped out of the SUV. He was at her side before she could progress more than three steps. Then, still laughing, he was kissing her, curling his arms around her. When she playfully struggled, he caged her wrists with his hands and backed her into the SUV, pinning her hands above her head. His cocky smirk made her growl.
“Now this looks familiar.”
“Yes, I remember that night when you used my lust to punish me.” He brushed his lips against hers. “No, baby, that wasn’t about punishing you. That was me losing control. I’d wanted you since the second you came here, wanted this mouth and this delectable body. The idea of you with another guy was torture, and I snapped.” Deciding to put him out of his misery, she said, “I wasn’t actually dating Shawn, you know.” He stilled. “What?”
“Well, I had years ago, and he wanted us to start things up again, but we didn’t actually do it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because it was more fun to watch you hyperventilate.”
Smiling, he nipped her bottom lip. “I should spank you for that, but I’m too glad to know you hadn’t let him touch you again to care.” The again part had his mood souring a little. He saw by her expression that she’d sensed it.
“What is it?”
He let his forehead rest against hers. “I wish I’d known who you were to me sooner. That way no one else would ever have had you. Because of the way my brothers always treated me, I erected some pretty tough emotional barriers when I was a kid. Not so much to protect myself, but as a way of fighting back. Building those walls meant that the assholes could do whatever they liked, but they’d never break me, never hit me where it truly hurt. The hell of it is that if I hadn’t been so emotionally guarded, I might have been more open to you back then, might have recognized you for who you are to me.” He’d felt protective of her, intrigued by her, but he hadn’t ever considered that she might be his mate. “I’d have had you with me all this time. I’d have been the first and only person to ever touch or be inside you. Maybe I could have even protected you that night from those wolves.”
“Hey,” she said softly, “I didn’t realize either.”
“How could you have? My guardedness would have blocked you from sensing it. You might be a little walled off now, but you never were as a kid.”
“Did I give you permission to beat yourself up? Look, you’re not the only one who wishes we’d known back then. Just as you’d have been my first and only, I’d have been yours, which means you would never have half mated with Bitch Face and I wouldn’t be having homicidal urges. But…
you would also never have become part of the Phoenix Pack. No matter how much you objected to Trey’s banishment, you never would have left with him if it meant leaving me behind. Can you honestly imagine never having been a member of this pack? Never being Beta?” He lowered his head, sighing. “Some things happen for a reason, Dante.”
“You’re more important to me than a position. I hate that I’ve been without you all
these years.” Never would he be without Jaime again. Never.
“I’m here now.”
“And you’re staying. Even though I’m going to mess up repeatedly, and even though I still keep tripping over your damn shoes, you’re staying.”
“Hmm, I’m not so sure. Maybe you could convince me by finishing what you started right here a few months ago.”
His playful smile matched hers. “Now that sounds—”
“Dante!” called a voice that had both him and Jaime cringing.
He didn’t move his gaze from Jaime when he replied. “If there’s something you want, go to Trey or Tao.” The idiotic woman didn’t. Still, Dante didn’t move from his position against Jaime, refusing to let this female take his attention from his own mate.
“Sorry to interrupt.” She didn’t sound sorry. “I just wanted to ask if you—”
“Look,” began Jaime, wanting to be rid of Laurie and wanting to rub reality in her face,
“unless you get off on watching, you might want to scamper. As you can probably tell, we’re both hot and horny, and Dante’s about to Google my Yahoo and Twitter my cli—”
“I’ll, um, I’ll catch you later, Dante.” She was gone in seconds.
Shaking with laughter, Dante kissed Jaime softly. “Google your Yahoo, huh?”
“Oh yeah.”
“I’d like to try out the whole ‘Twitter your clit’ first. I remember wanting to taste you last time right here, like this.” He dropped to his knees, tugged down her jeans and panties, and proceeded to make her come four times before finally thrusting inside her and taking what was his, growling her name when she marked him again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dante wouldn’t have guessed that Laurie had developed suicidal tendencies since they parted, but apparently she had. Why else would the odd female have repeatedly leaned across the table toward him at breakfast, trying to engage him in conversation? She had been careful not to touch him, but only barely. Anyone could tell that Jaime was close to snapping her in half, yet she persisted. He could have spent some time alone with her to try to figure out her game, but he knew that would be hard for Jaime, and he didn’t want to be around the confusing woman anyway.
When he and Jaime had returned from the animal sanctuary after he’d worked another shift with her, Laurie resumed her odd behavior throughout lunch and was doing it again now as they sat in the living area where most of the pack was congregated. Even though he wasn’t giving Laurie any encouragement, he could feel that the whole situation was hurting Jaime. When she hurt, he hurt.
His protective instincts were going crazy, and it had become automatic to pretty much curl himself around Jaime whenever Laurie was near, just like he was now on an armchair. One thing he wouldn’t allow the female to do was make his mate doubt his commitment to her. So whenever Laurie reached out to him, he drew back and avoided her touch. Whenever she spoke to him, he responded politely and then turned his attention to Jaime. At no point would he add to the hurt that his mate was already going through.
Burying his nose in the crook of her neck, he took that caramel-and-honeysuckle scent into his system. His dick twitched instantly. He licked at his claiming mark before whispering into her ear,
“You’re too tense.” When he sucked the lobe into his mouth, a tremor ran through her and she squirmed in her seat, making him smile. He loved that he had such an immediate effect on her.
Quietly, she explained, “I’m just worried for Shaya.”
So was he. Taryn’s uncle Don, his mate, and Nick—as he was their Alpha—were due any minute now to visit Kye. “Originally I decided that if he ever ignored my warning and tried coming here again, I’d tell Trey everything. But it’s hard to not feel a twinge of sympathy for him.” Jaime nodded. “Maybe we should give the guy one last shot to do the right thing.”
“If he doesn’t, well, we’ll make sure he understands that this is his last visit.”
“Sounds fair.” Jaime sighed. “I still don’t like the idea of Shaya being in pain.” He pressed a calming kiss to her temple. Not that he thought it would truly work. Jaime was very protective of those she considered hers, and now that she was Beta female, they were all her wolves to look out for. As such, not much could soothe her right now.
“Hey, Dante, do you remember that time when you and I went ice-skating and I got a concussion after falling?”
He sighed inwardly. Laurie liked to talk about “old times” a lot, something that agitated the hell out of Jaime, who was now stiff in his arms. Ignoring Laurie, he curled himself even tighter around his mate. “You’re doing so much better than I would be if the situation was the other way around,” he said quietly.
“No, I’m not. I just know perfectly well that the best way to annoy an attention seeker is to not give them a reaction.” That wasn’t to say that Jaime didn’t often visualize cutting off the bitch’s air supply until she resembled a Smurf. And it would be so easy to do it now that Bitch Face had moved to the end of the sofa, putting herself within arm’s reach.
Laurie continued, “Do you remember how you picked me up and took me to—”
“It won’t work,” Greta told Laurie with a huff, gaining the attention of most in the room.
Laurie smiled nervously. “I’m sorry?”
“You want to cause a little rift between my Dante and Jaime. It won’t work. They’re solid.”
“I’d never hurt Dante like that.”
Dante almost laughed as snorts erupted from both Greta and Jaime, who gave each other looks that said, “Is this female for real?” Apparently, they were prepared to band together against a common foe.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you did to him all those years ago,” Greta snarled. “You and Blane deserve each other, in my opinion. You could never have made a good Beta female. That requires loyalty, you see. That’s something you don’t know anything about. Not like Jaime. No. Our Beta female could wipe the floor with you any day.”
Jaime exchanged a stunned look with Taryn, who was on the reclining end of the sofa, chuckling silently. “Thanks, Greta.”
“No problem, sweetheart.”
“She’ll be vile to me again when Bitch Face is gone,” Jaime whispered to Dante.
“Yep,” he agreed with a smile before reading the text message he’d just received from Ryan, who was guarding the gate. “They’re here.”
Wanting to give Shaya a warning so that she could be as prepared as possible, Jaime looked over to where she was seated next to Taryn and gave her a subtle nod. She responded with a tiny, but grateful, smile.
A few minutes later, Don entered the living area with Tia, Nick, and Nick’s Beta behind him.
Their eyes ran over everyone in the room as they smiled, and everyone exchanged polite greetings—
other than Nick and Shaya.
“Where’s my nephew?” Don gave Taryn a gentle kiss on her cheek and peered down at the sleeping baby in Shaya’s arms. His smile was filled with pride. “Look at the little guy. He’s so tiny.
Can I have a hold?”
“Sure.” Shaya carefully handed him to Taryn’s uncle.
“Meet Kye River Coleman,” Taryn told Don.
“His name suits him. I like it.”
“Give him here,” said Tia excitedly. Disgruntled, Don handed the baby to his mate. “Aw, he’s so gorgeous.”
“Don’t you be getting broody,” Don told Tia. “The girls are hard enough to deal with.” Nick shook Trey’s hand and gave Taryn a smile. “Congratulations.” Peeking at Kye, his brows arched. “Wow, he’s just Trey with Taryn’s hair.”
Tia nodded in agreement. “Want a hold?”
“Um—” But Tia was already placing Kye in his arms. A little awkwardly, Nick cradled the baby and a little smile surfaced.
He peered over at Shaya, and what passed between them was a longing so deep and so primal that it made Jaime hitch in a breath, bringing back a lot of memories. It had been pain and pleasure.
> She had no idea how they’d both ignored it for so long. Jaime wondered if this moment might do to him what it had done to her and Dante: strip him of his defenses and doubts and give him a moment of pure clarity.
Apparently it did, because quickly Nick looked away and handed Kye over to Grace, who was waiting impatiently for her turn. “Um, I have some things I need to get done. Don, I’ll send an enforcer to pick you and Tia up in a couple of hours.” In other words, he needed to get out of there and away from Shaya fast.
Looking confused, Don said, “Okay.” Then the Alpha and his Beta were gone.
Tears immediately pooled in Shaya’s eyes, and it was a blow to Jaime’s gut. Using the distraction that Kye created, Shaya stealthily left the room.
“I need to go see she’s okay,” Jaime told Dante, who nodded and allowed her to stand.
When she found Shaya sitting on the edge of her bed sobbing her heart out, Jaime sat beside her and curled an arm around her. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not entirely surprised that he left again without speaking a single word to me,” said Shaya through her tears. “I know why he can’t claim me. Nick’s in high demand with the females—I’d be challenged by a different one every five minutes if I tried to hold a position as Alpha female. I guess I just hoped that if fate had matched me up with an Alpha, then there was a reason for it, a way to still be bonded to him.”
“There still could be.”
“Yes, if he gave up his position as Alpha. I know that’s selfish for me to want that.” Jaime tightened her arm around her. “Hey, you have a right to be selfish when it concerns your mate.”
She sighed. “I guess I just thought that I’d be more important. It’s clear that I’m not.” Jaime was about to speak again when Taryn suddenly walked in. “Shaya? Shaya, what is it?” When her best friend didn’t respond, she crouched in front of her. “Shaya, talk.” Taking in a preparatory breath, she admitted, “I found my mate.” First Taryn looked relieved, thinking this should be good news. Then, expectedly, confusion crossed her face when she realized that it clearly wasn’t good for Shaya. “I don’t understand.”