Wolf or Love

Theresa dived on that. “He’s a very attentive bodyguard, isn’t he? You have to admit, they look real cute together. Right, Cindy?”

“Oh yeah, real cute.”

“Shut it,” snapped Gio, surprising most people in the room.

“She didn’t tell you she was going out?” asked Donny.

“No, she didn’t,” Gio managed to grit out, pissed off that she had ventured out without a word and jealous that she had asked Chris to go with her rather than him. He switched his attention back to Duda. “Why didn’t you stop her from going?”

“Why would I have stopped my Alpha female from leaving pack territory? And how exactly would you have expected me to stop Danica from doing that or anything else?”

“When did she leave?”

“Calm down, Gio, what’s the problem?” But Duda knew exactly what the problem was, he always saw too much. As the sound of laughing coming from outside the caves met their ears, Donny nodded. “That’s probably them now.”

Gio stalked toward the main door, clenching his fists. Almost yanking the damn thing off, he opened it to find Danica and Chris practically stumbling up the stairs as they laughed so hard at something they were keeled over. The sight of them looking so happy and comfortable with each other sent another surge of jealousy rushing through him. Eventually they looked up and saw him. He could guess that his. expression was thunderous because Chris immediately lowered his eyes. Danica, on the other hand, presented him with a smile.

“Well hello,” said Danica brightly as she went right on past the ass she had mated with and strode into Lilas.

“What the hell did you think you were doing leaving pack territory without telling me!” he bellowed as he followed behind her. Slowly she

turned and appraised him from head to toe. Not with fear or even. apprehension, but like someone would scrutinise a bug.

“Did you forget to take your pills again?”

“I’ve been in my office believing you’re safe, and you’ve been in town hanging out with Chris!”

“Yes and we had a lovely time, thanks.”

“If you’d have said you wanted to go somewhere I’d have taken you!

Why sneak off?” When instead of answering him she just stared blankly, he persisted, “Danica?”

“Oh sorry, I was just busy picturing a gag in your mouth.”

“This is serious! The new Alpha of Cody’s pack hasn’t been here to finalise an alliance which means there’s still a possibility of retaliation over

his death. Then there’s the fact that although your dad might not come here and challenge me, you can bet your little ass he’ll take you given half the

chance.”

“Did the UFOs tell you that when you removed your foil hat?”

“I’m not being paranoid!”

Danica snickered. “What you’re being is an overprotective asshole who didn’t like it that his mate didn’t say ‘pretty, pretty please, Master’ before leaving pack territory.” Fed up with him, she retreated to the living area and, sighing, plonked herself onto the reclining corner of the sectional sofa. “I am so stuffed.”

“You won’t want a coffee then?” said Michey with a smile.

“I’m not that stuffed.

One by one, people began to pile in. Other than Gio who stood near the door, arms folded, snarling.

“Been out all afternoon with another male,” drawled Lindy. “Didn’t I tell you she was a hussy, Gio?”

“Hey there, Mistress of the Dark Arts, how are you?”

“If I’d known you guys were going for pizza I’d have asked to go along,” said Richard.

Danica smiled. “Not to tease you or anything, but it was absolutely gorgeous. Deep Pan base, extra cheese, pepperoni -”

“Now that’s not fair.”

“You know,” began Ray, wearing that impish smile that meant he was about to deliver another of his cheesy lines, “I’m a lot like Domino’s Pizza, if you don’t come in thirty minutes, the next one’s free.” Everyone groaned, trying to hold back smiles.

“Here you go,” said Michey as she handed Danica a mug of coffee.

“Oh you’re a gem.” She sighed dreamily as Donny leaned over the back of the sofa and began massaging her shoulders.

“I take it this is what everyone means about it being uncomfortable when newly made mates are separated for a while?” prodded Andrew.

Danica sighed inwardly when she saw that Gio hadn’t moved from the doorway or dropped his scowl. He looked unbelievably pissed, but he also

looked a little lonely. As much as he had annoyed the hell out of her, Danica had the urge to soothe him. Extending her hand, she said, “Come on,

Wright.” He looked at her hand, looked at her face and then stormed off. With a sigh, she dropped her hand and shrugged. But she wasn’t as aloof about it as she appeared to be. Would it really have been that horrible to sit with her for a while, to spend a teeny weeny amount of time with her and his pack?

Apparently yes it would have. And apparently she hadn’t played the aloof female as well as she thought. “How many times in your head have you killed him?” asked Michey when they were alone in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Danica sighed. “Honestly? Too many to count. I’ve even dug the grave and hid the body.”

“You know, I can’t understand why he’s acting so shitty. I know he was never overly attentive or anything, but it was obvious he liked having you around and then all of a sudden he turned indifferent. At first I thought you guys had just had a fight or something.”

“No. It was after I calmed his wolf. In fact, no, he was okay right up until I had that nap after healing him. When I woke up he was all weird and he’s been that way ever since.”

“Do you think maybe he just doesn’t want to look weak in front of the others by being all affectionate and shit? You know guys can be weird like that, and he’s the Alpha, so there’s that pressure there to look as though he has no weaknesses.”

“But if it was that, he’d be okay when other people aren’t around.”

“You guys aren’t fucking?”

Danica shook her head. “Not since the morning before Cody’s visit and subsequent demise. If it was just sex he was being weird about, I’d have thought he might be getting it elsewhere. Theresa isn’t exactly shy about her eagerness to have him. But he barely speaks to me, even when we’re alone, so there’s a bigger issue at play here. I just don’t know what it is.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t want you,” Michey insisted. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s not just with lust either. That’s what makes this shit all

the more confusing.”

“If he wanted me he wouldn’t hold back. It’s not in Gio’s nature to hold back when he wants something.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll find out what’s going on in that weird head of his eventually.”

“I’ll have killed and buried him for real by then.” She frowned as the sudden sounds of cursing and raised voices drifted into the room. Both females immediately stopped what they were doing and headed through the tunnels to find out what the fuss was all about. Arriving at the main junction,

Danica saw many of the pack had gathered and were looking as defensive as they were confused while Donny and Andrew appeared to be interrogating them. Seeing her there, everyone fell silent and a chill ran down her spine.

“What is it?”

Donny went to speak but then swallowed hard and looked at Andrew as if hoping he would answer.

“What’s going on?”

“Follow us,” said Donny as he and Andrew made their way out the main door and down the flights of stairs. On reaching the bottom, they led her into

the concealed parking lot where she stopped dead. She couldn’t see what the problem was, but she knew what Gio, Duda, Chris, Hudson and Ray were gathered around. She shrugged her way through them and gasped. The doors and windows of her car were covered in red spray paint. Worse, the red paint very clearly said ‘Go Home Hart Slut’.

“Who. Did. This?” Her voice was dead, toneless.

“We don’t know,” replied Gio, his own voice thick with anger. His mate’s car. Someone had dared to do this to his mate’s property. His wolf wanted to surface so that he could hunt them down. “Almost every pack member’s scent is in this lot because everyone uses it. If we had gotten to it when the paint was still wet then maybe the culprit’s scent would be heavier in the air than the rest but…”

An arm curled supportively around her and she turned her head to see Chris looking down at her wearing a sympathetic expression. “It’s okay,” Chris assured her. “We will find out who did it somehow. In the meantime, someone will clean it.”