Wolf or Love

The sight of her warm, reassuring smile triggered another of those strange pangs in his chest. Gio meshed his lips to hers, indulging in a long thorough tasting of her mouth. Then, content, he nuzzled her neck and breathed in deep. And froze.

“What’s wrong?”

“You smell different.”

“What? How?”

“Our scents. They’ve mixed.” A smug grin spread across his face. “It’s the mating bond. It’s advancing.” That meant that whatever it was they were doing, they were doing it right. It also meant that any shifter who picked up her scent would know she was a mated female before even seeing her mark or marks. Although she rolled her eyes at his self satisfaction he could feel that she, too, was glad about it and liked the knowledge that it would be instantly clear to everyone that he was taken. He also felt her concern that maybe this

was the most they would have, that the bond would never be complete because they might never feel they could be totally naked to each other. What caused him the most unease was that beneath all that was her fear that he might never come to feel for her what she felt for him, that she would forever be in a mating with someone who couldn’t love her. It made Gio want to kick his own ass. He wondered if she had been able to sense just how much he wished he could give her those words she wanted. It amazed him how there could be so much power in three little words. To him, they didn’t have any true meaning or hold the same power because they had never been part of his vocabulary. It wouldn’t have been any different than someone reciting an unfamiliar phrase and expecting him to not only repeat it but to also understand what it meant. His mom had been a good mother, but she hadn’t been what anyone might call tender or ‘loving’. His dad had been far from it. Even Lindy, the person who had played the most part in his upbringing, had never used those words though he believed she cared for him.

Gio knew though that even if he had heard it every day of his life there was still a possibility he couldn’t have repeated it to Danica. Considering the things he had done in his life and how fucked up his conscience was, it was possible that ‘love’ wasn’t something a person like him could feel, that it was reserved for good people like Danica. It made him wish that he was a better person. There was no denying that Danica deserved a better mate. Even with that in mind, though, he couldn’t give her up. Wouldn’t.

He hadn’t thought of his life as something that was dark or empty until she came here and suddenly lit it up and filled it. Even when he had been doing his level best to avoid her he had been simultaneously drinking in her presence in his life. It pained both him and his wolf that he couldn’t give her, his mate , what she needed. What he did know was that if it was possible for someone like him to experience an emotion so strong, then Gio would feel it for Danica. “So…who do we think the informant is?”

Everyone at the patio table looked at Duda, but no one answered him. No one wanted to actually face the fact that one of their own had betrayed them. Gio had secretly arranged for he, Danica, Duda, and his enforcers to meet at the lake this morning to discuss the issue in private. As sad as it was,

he felt that these were the only members of his pack he could truly trust. Well, them and Lindy. However, he didn’t trust Lindy to keep the issue of the informant to herself. She would most likely begin confronting and interrogating everyone, and he didn’t want the informant to know that they

were aware of his betrayal yet. Danica very much doubted that Kevin’s two thugs would own up to him that they’d told her about the informant, so if

Gio played dumb they might just get to the bottom of the matter before anything else happened.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s a stretch to conclude that it’s the same person who vandalized Danica’s car, killed the bird, and left her with that bump a few weeks back.” Chris shrugged.

“Then we need to look at people who aren’t particularly happy about her being here,” said Andrew around a mouth of chewing gum.

“Most of us weren’t happy at the beginning, including me,” admitted Ray before offering her an apologetic smile – a smile that quickly turned impish, warning her of what was to come.

“Of course I love you now. If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I’d have a galaxy in my hand.”

As usual, some groaned, some chuckled, and Gio hit him.

Danica shook her head. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Ray winked.

“Getting back to the shitty subject at hand…The obvious suspects would be Theresa and Cindy,” said Gio, massaging Danica’s nape. “Although IContent rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

think Cindy would have only been involved if Theresa was.”

Chris cocked his head. “What about Max? He’s sure pissed about her being here.”

“I don’t get why he’s so hateful about it though,” said Danica. “I mean, I know he doesn’t like me, but if he is responsible for all this then it seems a

bit of an overreaction to disliking me.”

“Max’s always been hateful. He has issues. Mommy issues.”

“Care to elaborate?”

It was Donny who explained. “His mom was human. She wasn’t Gary’s true mate. Apparently Gary found his true mate but she was already

shacked up with another guy. He got involved with this human female not telling her he was a shifter. When she realized what Gary was and that their

son was half shifter, she freaked and deserted them both. Max had only been a toddler at the time.”

Danica couldn’t help feeling a pang of sympathy for both Max and Gary. “There’s always the senile old crone,” she said with a smile.

“Lindy might call you every name under the blue moon, baby, but I know for sure she likes you in her own way,” Gio assured her.

She snorted. “If you say so. Maybe it’s not about someone liking or disliking me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if we’re assuming that the informant has been in contact with Kevin from the beginning, we have to assume that they told him our mating was all about a deal so that you had plenty of alliances. Kevin wouldn’t have liked that, so he would have wanted me out of the equation. A good way to do that would be by trying make me feel unwelcome, damaging my car, killing my raven.”

Donny nodded a few times. “If you think about it, it wasn’t until you both discovered that you were true mates that anyone tried to actually hurt you.”

“It would make sense for him to want you hurt, as is evident from last night,” said Hudson. “A shifter whose mate is hurting isn’t in the best frame of

mind, and it would make you, Gio, more easily provoked into breaking the agreement of a twelve week gap between anyone making good on the

challenge from Kevin.”

Gio wanted to punch something. The betrayal cut deeper than he would have thought possible. Apparently he wasn’t as guarded as he’d always thought himself to be, or maybe his mating with Danica had changed that. “Why would someone help Kevin? What could they possibly gain from

it? If they weren’t happy here and wanted to join his pack, they could have left. I wouldn’t have stopped them. What they’ve done is punishable by

death.”

“Then the question is,” began Andrew, “who would be prepared to take that risk?”

After a long silence, Gio sighed and got to his feet. “I need to go for a run. My wolf’s restless and pissed, and I can’t think straight when he’s fighting for supremacy so hard.”

Chris shrugged. “Then let’s all go for a run together.”

Gio held out his hand to Danica. “Come on, baby.”

Many days a week she and Gio would go play in the forest while he was in wolf form and then lay near the lake while she read the newspaper, all

the while running her fingers through his coarse fur. Occasionally some of the pack would join in on their play in their wolf forms and then collapse

beside her and Gio, enjoying the close contact with their Alpha pair. Danica wouldn’t have thought such a thing could be peaceful. She was drained, dirty, and currently had seven wolves all pressed against her. But always there was that sense of peace, belonging, and family. She could only assume that the wolves felt it too as they always seemed content to just laze there, all sprawled out with their eyes closed and their breathing even. So

when each and every one of them suddenly jerked upright and went on the. alert, Danica knew something had to be wrong. She thought of the male wolves who had attacked her the day before,

wondering if they would be dumb enough to try to creep around their territory to finish the job they had barely begun. There was no question that

they would be dumb enough, but the wolves didn’t dart off in various directions to hunt down any intruders as she would have thought. They remained there, crowding her, protecting her.

A howl in the distance received an immediate response from the wolves around her – it was a familiar howl. Max, she thought. The wolves all seemed to relax slightly, as if the possibility of ‘danger’ no longer worried them, but they didn’t seem happy, and Gio was emitting a low growl.

Before Danica could think on it any further, there was the sound of a car approaching. She went to stand, attempting to see who the car belonged to,

but Gio growled and licked her jaw and she got the distinct impression that he wanted her to remain where she was. Soon there were footsteps and the sound of Lindy speaking ever so sweetly. Voices responded just as pleasantly familiar voices that made everything make perfect sense.

A minute later, three male wolf shifters appeared with Lindy. Instantly Gio was on his feet, his attention solely on the male in front, but he didn’t

move from Danica’s side. Danica groaned and shot Lindy, who was smirking mischievously, an

accusatory look. “You knew he was in his wolf form. It didn’t bother you that he might have attacked my uncle?” Danica had forgotten all about their visit.

Lindy huffed. “After the things he said to my grandson, no. I hope Gio rips out his throat.” She snarled at James, Mike, and another male wolf – all of whom were staring at the old woman in amazement as she made the transformation from gracious, welcoming host to an agent of Evil. Oh she knew how to play the frail, saintly old woman.