Wolf or Love

Danica was still panting and vibrating with aftershocks when Gio kissed his way up her body and lay down beside her, gathering her against

him. Although his eyes had darkened with lust he wasn’t making any moves on her. In fact, he seemed pretty content to just play with her hair. As much as she appreciated his selflessness, a part of her wanted him to be a little selfish right about now because she really wanted his cock inside her.

“Tell me about your mom.”

There went her arousal. When she hesitated answering he gave her a reprimanding look. He didn’t want to be frozen out again. “She was…this is going to sound mean. She was dizzy.”

“Dizzy?”

“Yeah,” she chuckled. “Wherever she went she’d leave something behind. The worst part was she wouldn’t even realize she’d left anything until someone asked her if it was hers. Common sense was something she lacked but it was one of the things that everyone loved about her because she could always make them laugh. Oddly enough, though, she was good with money. You’d have thought that her dopiness would have interfered with her money management skills, but no, she was great with numbers.”

“You two were close?”

She nodded. “I think one of the reasons she doted on me so much was that I was her only child. Her and my dad tried for more, but for whatever reason, she never got pregnant again. I knew she felt guilty about that, like she’d let my dad down.”

“Was your dad just as doting until he realized you were latent?”

“No. As a female, I was already a disappointment to him.”

Gio made a derogative snort. “That guy really is an asshole.” He gentled his voice as he asked, “How did she die?”

Again she hesitated and again he gave her that look. “My mom and Zan’s mom were close friends. Every Sunday they’d go to the market in town and take me and Zan with them. On this one day I couldn’t go because I was in the basement -”

“The basement?” There was something in the sound of her voice that had his hackles rising.

“It was my dad’s version of a punishment.”

“He used to confine you?” Hell that would be bad for any kid but for a shifter…

“It’s all part of that ‘him being an asshole’ thing. Gio held her tightly to him and kissed her hair. “It’s weird just how similar our situation is.”

Danica pulled back to meet his gaze. “What do you mean?”

“Both of us lost our mom and true mate. Both of us were lumbered with assholes for fathers. Both of us have to deal with bold inner wolves.”

“How did they die?” When he just stared at her she growled. “Wait, I’m supposed to lay it all out but you get to remain a closed book? I don’t think so, Wright. Get talking.”

Not wanting to, but knowing she was right, he sighed and nodded.

“There weren’t just the sixteen of us when I left the pack. My mom came. The separation from my dad…She wasn’t strong enough to deal with it and

she turned rogue. Then I killed her. She’d attacked Donny…” When he paused mid sentence and Danica saw the pain in his eyes she couldn’t help but stroke his chest and snuggled closer. He shot her one of those macho ‘I don’t need comfort’ looks. “I’m not sympathising with you, I’m just cold.”

“As for my true mate…Her name was Louve.” That was the first time he’d spoken her name for a very long time. “She was two months old when she died in her sleep.”

Danica’s heart clenched at the idea. “You said when we first met that you hadn’t acknowledged her?”

“I was thirteen, she was a baby…it felt weird and I acted like a dumb shit. Then when I heard she was dead…Let’s just say I didn’t take it too well

and I made a mess of my room. My dad put two and two together and teased me about it.”

“Teased you?” Rage and protectiveness surged through her, making her wish the bastard was alive so she could kick his ass.

“He thought the whole thing was funny because something had finally gotten an emotional reaction from me, he wanted me to cry. See, I’d never cried no matter what he did to me, and he hated that. I’d always stay stoic and take every punch, refusing to give him the reaction he wanted. Even as he

teased me about Louve I couldn’t cry, it’s just not in me to do that I guess.”

“You’re right, he was an asshole. So am I right in thinking that it was the teasing that made you lose it and beat him up so bad you almost killed him?”

He nodded. “I’d put up with his shit for years, but everyone has a limit, and that day he found mine and pushed it. I’m not sorry. Not even now that

He’s dead. If he was here right now I’d do it all over again, and I’d enjoy it.”

He wanted her to know who he was, what he was capable of. He wanted to know if she could handle it. She didn’t disappoint him. “And I’d be cheering you on.”

Sliding his hand to her nape, he brought her face to his and kissed her hungrily, lashing her tongue with his and nibbling on her lips. The urge to

plunge inside her and take her over was eating at him. Making it worse was that the scent of her arousal still flavoured the air. Shit he deserved a

goddamn award for his restraint. The sound of her stomach rumbling had Danica chuckling into Gio’s

mouth. “I need feeding.”

“I’ve already eaten,” he said with a wicked smirk. He tapped her bare ass lightly. “Come on, let’s get you some food.”

Five minutes later Danica was fully clothed again and accepting a piggyback ride from Gio who rushed her into the kitchen. The entire pack was there other than Richard who was on guard duty. All were smiling with the exception of Lindy, Max, Theresa, and Cindy. Danica could only assume they. had overheard her and Gio having some quality time together, or had guessed by the sight of his slashed t-shirt which he had purposely left on. There was someone else who wasn’t smiling, she suddenly realized. Chris’ expression was carefully blank. Before she had the chance to wonder. on that, Michey came and handed Danica – who was sat on the counter with Gio standing beside her – a plate on which a few slices of pineapples (her favorite) sat, and also a candy bar just because she was an angel. “It’s good to have you back.”

She took the plate gratefully. Michey always took care of her. Then she topped it off by handing her a mug of coffee. “I think I love you.”

“So the hussy’s back, is she?” sneered Lindy, glaring at Danica like she was a giant turd.

Danica only smiled. “Is there no way you could just pull your bottom lip over your head and swallow?”

Duda’s drink sprayed out of his mouth as he went into a fit of. coughing.

“I’d have shoved this piece of pineapple in your mouth if I didn’t like it so much.” Danica saw Ray biting his bottom lip and just knew he was doing his best to bite back a dirty chat up line. Perv.

“While you and Danica were, um, busy,” said Jeremy to Gio, “I checked our pack web for messages. Turns out there’s a lot of alphas interested in discussing an alliance with you, Gio. The new alpha of Cody’s pack included.” Danica laughed. “I had a feeling he might get in touch through the pack web. He seemed too terrified of Gio to come back here.”

“There was someone else too.” He looked at Danica then. “Your dad.

Only he wants to set up a meeting to discuss it in person. Any idea why?”

“There are different levels to an alliance. Most simply want the association with that pack, want to build the number of associations to look impressive.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“A little like people on social networks wanting to have a massive friends list?”

“Exactly. Others want an assurance that if they ever need to call on the pack in an emergency for back-up of some kind, they’ll get it. Then there are

some who are a lot like people who enjoy boasting about all the important or influential people they know – like to drop names into conversations and

claim that that person is a close acquaintance in order to look impressive to others.”

Gio folded his arms across his chest. “So, basically, your dad wants to be able to throw my name around to deter others from fucking with him, and maybe even call on me for protection?”

“Yep.”

“Cheeky bastard. A basic alliance, sure. But the right to use me on a protective level? Hell no.” After the way he’d treated Danica, the man was lucky to still be breathing.