Wolf or Love

Lindy said more but Danica couldn’t make any sense of the words as her hearing suddenly went weird, like she was underwater or something. Seconds later it returned to normal, but then her vision went blurry again.

“Danica, Danica, you alright?”

She wasn’t sure who asked and she didn’t care as the sudden urge to vomit had her ready to dash for the nearest bathroom. But she didn’t make it.

She hadn’t even gotten halfway out of the room when she doubled over with pain and projectile vomited all over the kitchen floor. Then again. And again.

And again. Then she flopped onto her side, panting, moaning and sweating. Worse, she was way beyond woozy and close to passing out. She felt Gary pick her up.

“Go get Michey,” he told Lindy. “I’ll take her to lie down in her room.”

She retched again, but this time nothing came out. She doubted there was anything left in her stomach, especially since she’d hardly eaten anything that morning. The feeling she now had wasn’t all that different from when she had hit her head. It was a little like she was weightless, like a dream state was creeping up on her. Her vision alternated from being fuzzy around the edges to being totally blurred. Her head seemed so unbelievably heavy and she felt sort of detached from her body. This could not be good for the baby.

Fear shot through her as she wondered if this somehow meant she was losing the baby.

Shit, that sun was bright.

Wait, what? It occurred to her then that, hey, she was outside. And she should not be. “Where are we going?” she slurred. Her body jolted crazily

and she realized they were descending the steps of the mountain face.

“Sorry, Danica, but this is just the way it has to be.”

His voice was sharp, clipped, and cold. This was not the Gary she knew.

“It’s you. You’re the informant.”

He peered down at her, clearly surprised. “So you knew. Doesn’t matter now. All that matters is getting you to Kevin quickly.” “What did you do to me?” she moaned as a spasm wracked her

stomach.

“It’s just a drug to make you sleep. I slipped it in that weird juice. I’ve no idea how you can drink that stuff Michey makes.”

Another retch. Still no vomit.

“I’m not sure why it’s making you sick.” Not that he sounded concerned.

“Why, Gary? Why help Kevin?”

“I couldn’t care less about him. Gio, however…now that’s a different matter.” The degree of anger and loathing in his voice was unsettling.

“If you were unhappy here, you could’ve left.”

“No, I couldn’t have. Not without Max, and he’ll never leave. I know you don’t think much of my son, but he’s a good man. He is. A lot of people

look down on him because his mom was human and he’s not as strong an alpha as the others – a little like they did with Kevin. But he has good

principles, has honor, he’s a loyal wolf. That’s why he wanted to leave with Gio when he was banished.”

“You could have stayed behind.”

He shook his head. “No. And not just because of Max, no. I couldn’t have let her go alone.”

“Who? Lindy?”

He looked at her like she was insane. “Kerr.”

The name tickled her memory. “Gio’s mom?”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“You must’ve heard how I found my true mate but she was already in love with another man. Oh yes, Gio’s mom. By the time I met her, she and

George had imprinted on one another. I hadn’t told anyone because I knew George would have exiled me to keep me away from her. I hated seeing them together, hated it, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave her life. So I became good friends with her and let that be enough. I know she felt the pull between us. She never even came close to acting on it though. She was a loyal woman.

Then Gio was banished and, for once, she stood up to that bastard George and she left him. There was my chance. My chance to have her as I should have done. And I would’ve done… but Gio killed her.”

“She turned rogue,” she reminded him.

“If I’d have been there when she slipped into that state I could’ve pulled her back from it. I could’ve.” No he couldn’t have – a wolf gone rogue was beyond all help. “But he executed her. Snapped her neck like she was a twig. I wanted to kill him, but just like George and Kevin, I knew I couldn’t

take him.”

Her head swam again but she fought the pull of sleep. “Why stay?”

“So one day I could make sure he knew the pain that I went through. The pain of losing a mate.”

Oh fuck. It suddenly hit her just how dangerous her situation was. She’d thought that maybe Kevin wanted to use her as collateral – a kind of ‘give me what I want, Gio, and your mate goes free’ scenario. But this…well hell.

“It made the whole thing even better when I realized you were true mates. You should thank Kevin, really. If it wasn’t for him telling me to hold

off, I would have killed you at some point. The car and the raven…that was just for fun, just something to keep me going.”

What a weird, sick bastard. “That day on the stairs?”

“I’d made an arrangement with Kevin. His goons were waiting not far out of pack territory. The plan was for me to hand you over to them so they could give you a beating as a warning. And, well, that plan went to shit. As did the one for you to be attacked while you were in town with Lucy.

Unfortunately for you, your luck has run out, little one. It’s really nothing personal, Danica. I like you. You’re strong, you have a good heart, but this is

the way it has to be.”

“You think Kerr would want this? Gio’s her son. Kevin will kill him.” “Very true. Lindy was right – all Kevin wants is for everyone to see him overpower Gio. He knows he can’t do it. Gio’s too strong. But there’s one thing that will weaken him – the death of his mate. At the very moment your bond is severed he’ll lose all strength. It won’t last more than a minute, but it will be long enough for Kevin to have this chance and end this once and for all. So you see, Kevin gets what he wants, and I get what I want.”

Hoping he might have a conscience she could appeal to, she asked,

“You’re happy to hand over a pregnant female to be murdered?”

Nothing. Not an ounce of guilt or regret to be seen in his expression.

“It’s just the way it has to be,” he said for the third time.

“You could take me back,” she slurred, desperate now. “I promise you won’t be punished. Don’t punish this baby for something Gio did.” Not that

she blamed Gio at all, but if it made the psycho release her she’d say whatever he wanted to hear.

He chuckled but it was humorless. “Honey, Gio will tear me apart and you know it. Even if you could guarantee me that protection, my answer would be no. You have a mate, Danica. Let me ask you…if someone killed him, took him from you, could you ever forgive them? Ever forget it? I’ve

waited too long for this. He took my mate from me, and now I’m going to take his from him.”

He might have said more, she wasn’t sure, because at that moment she lost the strength to stay conscious any longer, and the blackness swamped her.

The grey wolf was just finishing a kill when the awareness struck him and penetrated the fog in his mind. Mate. She was close. She shouldn’t be

close. The same instinct that told him she was nearby was also able to guide him to where she was. Quickly he galloped through the trees, intent on reaching her. He skidded to a halt when he saw her. She smelled like him and sickness and drugs and anxiety. Mixed in with all that was the scent of the male that held her – ‘uncle’.