A Pack of Two

by Jacky Russell

  “No. Major DuChard barely acknowledges me. It was Christopher LeCavalier who shared this information.”

  Istagio was inches from my face before I could blink. Damn, I wished I could move like the vampires. That would have been so helpful in the field.

  I met Istagio’s eyes. “Lucas Benelli is my mate.”

  Istagio traced a finger along my jaw and my body betrayed me by shivering. “Your mate?”

  “Yeah. My mate. Got a problem with it?”

  He smiled and showed his fangs. “Are you sure he is your mate? I find it difficult to believe anyone could claim you.” I really wished he would stop touching my cheek so softly.

  Cold lips crushed against mine. Istagio pulled me toward his chest and deepened the kiss. His tongue slid along my lips, his hands locked around my waist. Before Lucas, Stagi was the only supernatural I had ever considered stripping and taking to bed.

  Now there was nothing. No heat. No desire. Nothing.

  Istagio leaned his head away from mine and stared into my eyes. “You love him?”

  “Yeah, Stagi. I do.”

  Istagio released my waist. “Lucas is a good man, though I do not see the attraction you would have to the stench and dirt of a werewolf.”

  Arrogant vampire. “He is my mate, Stagi.”

  “You are giving up your career for him? He made you choose?”

  Jerk. “No, Lucas did not make me choose. There just aren’t a lot of options.”

  “Ah, Josef is preventing Lucas from leaving Italy?”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “He won’t release Lucas from his pack ties.”

  Istagio smiled broadly. “Another reason you should chose a vampire over a wretched werewolf. I would follow you to the ends of the world.”

  “What-ev-er, Stagi. Get over yourself.”

  The vampire inclined his head. “Have you met Gemma?”

  “Oh yeah. She’s thrilled about me, too.”

  There was no humor on Istagio’s face. “Did you get a strange sense about her?”

  I snorted. “You mean other than the waves of hate and rage directed in my direction?”

  “Actually I was referring to black magic.”

  The night in the clearing, when Lucas had been under attack by Stephano, I had felt residual black magic as the pack arrived. “Now that you mention it, I did feel something weird around her.”

  Istagio nodded ever so slightly. “You know Lucas’s brother disappeared under strange circumstances.”

  “You think the Malandanti took him?”

  “Perhaps.” Istagio knew more than he was letting on.

  “Spill it, Stagi. What do you know?”

  A sly smile spread across his face. “I know Lucas is an honorable man.”

  “And?”

  “He has been grossly mistreated and unfairly maligned for things he did not do.”

  “And?”

  “There are issues within the Italian Pack, issues of which Lucas may not be aware.”

  Why couldn’t vampires just answer a damn question like normal people? “Are you saying his mom is practicing black magic?”

  “No,” Istagio answered, his eyes hooded. “But she has changed much in the last year.”

  Chapter 34

  Lucas

  Breanna had been gone almost five hours. I’d played so many rounds of dryer hockey, my stick needed retaping. I’d tried her phone at least a dozen times. It went straight to voicemail.

  I sat on my front steps and dug the heels of my hands into my forehead. It was time to challenge my father. Breanna throwing away her career because of me wasn’t right. She deserved better than that.

  I considered packing a bag and disappearing. I’d leave a note and she could get on with her life, but I couldn’t do that to her.

  An Alpha’s son gone lone wolf probably wouldn’t last more than a few months at best. I’d end up dead somewhere. She’d give up everything to come find me. Simon’s talk reminded me how powerful Breanna’s feelings really were. She was the real deal. No faking and no pretending. Breanna loved with all her heart and no form of hell would stop her from coming after me. I couldn’t let her take that risk. At least if my father killed me, she would know I was dead and wouldn’t put herself in danger trying to find me.

  Werewolves like me weren’t supposed to live. I didn’t submit to the dominance of my Alpha. My wolf wanted to kill everyone, especially my father, and I didn’t feel any pack ties. When I was a kid, I would try so hard to send a message to my father, like I was tugging on the pack bonds, so he would come and make Stephano or Dampier stop hurting me.

  He never came.

  I took one last long look out at the dark tree line before heading back inside. I needed to leave Breanna a note.

  The pen was poised over a blank piece of paper when Breanna burst through my front door.

  “I want you and I will do whatever it takes to be with you.” She strode across the room and put her arms around me. I dropped the pen and held her.

  “I want to be with you, too.” My throat was desert dry.

  She wriggled in my arms and I loosened my grip. “What were you writing?”

  I opened and closed my mouth like a dying fish. She saw right through me. “You were going to fight your father, weren’t you? That was going to be a goodbye note?”

  Her words were more of an accusation than a question. I stayed away from words and just nodded.

  Breanna pushed me away. “No.”

  I didn’t understand her reaction. “No?”

  She grabbed the top of my pants and jerked me toward her. “You’re doing it for me, because you don’t want me to have to give up Bravo to be with you.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “It is if he kills you. And what if you win? You’ll have to live with knowing you killed your own father and who the hell will lead the Italian Pack? Under werewolf law, if you kill him you have to do it. You don’t want that and there’s probably some other dumbass werewolf law that says an Alpha can’t be mated to a witch.”

  I wasn’t expecting that argument. She had a valid point about werewolf law and witches as mates. “Besides,” she said as she unzipped my pants, “you haven’t talked this over with me. I thought we made a pact to always discuss the things that would impact us both.”

  My jaw moved but there were no sounds. She was unbuttoning my pants with one hand and fondling my balls in the other. I clenched my hands into fists and forced my lungs to take air.

  “I choose you, Lucas Benelli. I want you in every possible way, including some that are probably illegal in fifteen states.”

  My eyes crossed when she pushed my pants down and dropped to her knees.

  “My choice and I choose you.”

  She took me in her mouth and I’m pretty sure I whimpered.

  Chapter 35

  Breanna

  I awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. There were voices in the next room. I sat up and caught sight of my hair in the mirror. Ug, that wasn’t a pretty picture.

  With the sheet around me, I padded to the door. Eavesdropping was rude. Oh well.

  The rich, lyrical voice of my wolf was the first I heard. “There is a lot of support for his idea.”

  The responding voice was deep and vaguely familiar. “Vampire and werewolf?”

  The sound of eggs scraped out of the frying pan. “More werewolves of course but there were some vampires.”

  A soft, feminine voice surprised me. “How did Breanna do?”

  “She was awesome even when the Council was rude to her. She kept her head up and didn’t back down to anyone.” There was a pause as liquid poured into glasses. “I was so proud of her.”

  The feminine voice responded. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “I’ll go check on her in a few minutes. She was out late last night after the Gathering.”

  The male laughed. “Uh huh, I’m sure that’s why she’s sleeping in this morning.”

 
My face got hot as the group laughed and joked about Lucas’s eggs and a few other things I didn’t want to discuss. A strange vibration made its way through the door. It was definitely magic. White magic.

  I skipped to the bathroom as footsteps came toward the bedroom. Lucas didn’t need to know I was eavesdropping and I really needed to pee.

  The door opened and clicked closed. “Hey, babe, you’re awake?”

  I tried to make my voice sound sleepy. “Just got up.”

  I finished my duty and entered the bedroom to find my wolf waiting for me. Dressed in a black pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and barefoot, he looked good enough to eat. Hell, who needed breakfast when I had this?

  He wrapped me in his arms and kissed the top of my head. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  “Right back at you, my studly wolf.”

  He laughed softly. “Tristyn and Alexandria are here. They stopped by to see how things went at the Gathering.”

  I yawned. “Do they normally show up so early?”

  Lucas tucked my hair behind my ear. “It’s almost noon.”

  “Oh.” Guess I was more tired than I’d realized, but then again we hadn’t actually made it to the sleep part of being in bed until the sun was coming up. “I’ll be out in a couple minutes, okay?”

  He kissed me on the cheek and returned to the kitchen. I pulled on a pair of jeans and one of Lucas’s t-shirts before taking a deep breath. Alexandria was the most powerful white witch on the planet and she worked for the Divine Council. From what Lucas had said, the leader of the Divine Council had prophesized Alexandria’s existence along with Tristyn’s.

  Lucas was scrambling another pan of eggs and his guests sat around the kitchen table. I met Tristyn’s crystal blue eyes immediately. He stood and smiled at me.

  “Good morning, Breanna,” he said politely. “This is my mate, Alexandria.”

  I walked toward the table and offered my hand. “It is an honor to meet you, Alexandria.”

  The petite brunette smiled and took my hand. “The honor is mine, Breanna. I have never encountered an earth witch.”

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  Everyone laughed and I took a seat at the end of the table. Lucas winked at me before piling the steaming eggs onto my plate. I smiled at him and he grinned.

  “Wow, it’s really true,” Alexandria said.

  “What?” Lucas asked.

  “You two are crazy about each other.”

  I met Lucas’s gaze across the kitchen. Yes, I was crazy about him. He was gorgeous, sweet, sexy as hell, and he let me be me. I never had to pretend around Lucas and for that alone I was head over heels in love with him.

  The conversation soon turned to the events at the Gathering. I finished my eggs and listened as Tristyn explained some of the finer points of Divine Council policy. Alexandria was very unhappy about the Italian Pack’s proposal for open witch-hunts. I reached out and took Lucas’s hand as he bowed his head.

  “I should have voiced opposition to the proposal,” he mumbled.

  “No, you shouldn’t. Your father would have stroked out there in the Gathering and, well, ug, that wouldn’t be good.”

  He squeezed my hand. “I let you down last night.”

  “No, you did not,” I said, vehemently slamming my milk glass. There was no way I was going to let him feel guilty about what had happened. It was not his fault. “If you had done anything other than stand beside your father, you would have created a scene and that’s the last thing either one of us needed. It was bad enough when that bitch’s hands were on you. Anything more than that and there would have been blood.”

  I noticed then all eyes were on me. Slamming my milk glass probably hadn’t been a good idea but, damn it, the situation wasn’t his fault any more than it was mine. It was what it was and right now, it seriously sucked for both of us.

  “What bitch?” Alexandria asked with her brows raised.

  “Tessa,” Tristyn and Lucas answered in unison.

  I tossed my napkin on the table. “She ever lays a hand on you again and I’ll knock the blond out of her hair.”

  “Oh my,” Alexandria said under her breath.

  Lucas broke into a big grin. “Wow, I might go hug her just so I could see you do that.”

  I gave him my best glare. “Not a good idea, Wolf. I do not play well with others.”

  Lucas raised his hands in mock surrender and smiled at Alexandria. “My mate is vicious.”

  We all laughed and the fellows headed off to the basement for a round of dryer hockey, leaving Alex and me to talk.

  “I’ve only read about earth witches,” she said. “Lucas says your magic is grounded in nature?”

  “Yeah I can’t do the cool stuff like some of you white witches, but I’m pretty good with fire and I can summon animals if I need help. I’ve been working on controlling the weather. I can call up a good gust of wind and am fairly accurate with lightning. My rainclouds and hailstorms need work.”

  Her bright smile was contagious. As was true of every white witch I’d ever met, Alexandria was beautiful. “My fire magic isn’t very good. I almost burned down our house one night trying to light the fireplace while I was cooking dinner.”

  “I wish I could do all that protection stuff you guys can do,” I lamented. “I have a few shielding spells but that’s about it.” Protection spells would be so helpful for the guys when we were under attack. Oh, damn. I guess I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

  She scrunched her face. “Maybe we could help each other. I’m good at protection spells and you’re good with fire. I don’t know if our magic is interchangeable but it’s worth a try.”

  Cool. I’d never practiced magic with anybody before. This was gonna be fun.

  By the time the guys came back, we had been quite successful. I learned a simple protection spell that would enable me to control who could come through a door. Alex was getting better at summoning fireballs, though she had made the table cloth a little toasty a couple of times.

  “We’ll have to do this again,” she chirped. “I haven’t had anyone to practice with in a very long time. Hey, Lucas said you could do some really cool stuff with silver. Would you show me that next time?”

  “Sure, and maybe you can teach me how to ward something big, like a building.”

  We fist-bumped. “Deal.”

  Chapter 36

  Lucas

  “I think Rudolph is a witch,” Breanna said as she leaned over me to retrieve her cup of hot chocolate. “This whole flying reindeer thing is some sort of supernatural and I vote witch.”

  “But what about the red nose?”

  She took a sip from her recently acquired Minnie Mouse mug. “A curse. Probably pissed off a sorcerer or something.”

  She set the cup back on the table beside my Mickey Mouse mug as I enjoyed the feel of her body against mine. “And they completely got the elves wrong. Those look more like trolls.”

  We watched a few more minutes of the movie in companionable silence. She was snuggled against me on the couch, the light of the Christmas tree dancing across her face.

  Best. Christmas. Ever.

  As the credits rolled on screen, I retrieved a small gold box I’d hidden in the drawer of the coffee table.

  “Merry Christmas, baby.”

  She stared at the box. “It’s not Christmas yet. We aren’t supposed to open presents until tomorrow.”

  There were plenty of brightly wrapped packages under our scrawny tree for Christmas morning.

  “I know, but I really want you to open this one tonight. Please?”

  She took the box delicately and then tore into the paper like a kid. When she flipped open the lid, she took a sharp breath.

  I’d gone through this moment in my head for over a week. She was supposed to open the box, squeal how great the wolf head silhouette necklace was, and then wrap her arms around me.

  Instead she just sat there, staring at the open box. When she finally looked up at m
e, there were tears in her eyes.

  I felt like a moron. She didn’t like it.

  “I can take it back. We can find something else you like.” I reached for the box.

  She snatched it away. “You will not take it back.”

  The diamond eyes of the wolf glinted in the dim light. I commissioned the piece especially for her as soon as she decided to stay through the holidays. The werewolf jeweler even said the necklace resembled my wolf form. His assistant raved about how beautiful it was.

  Apparently not, because Breanna didn’t like it.

  “It’s okay, Bre. Really. I can take it back.”

  The tears streamed down her face. “You had this made for me?”

  I nodded slightly, the lump in my throat growing painfully large.

  “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

  With trembling hands, she lifted the necklace from its black silk bed. She held it up, the light from the Christmas tree creating a myriad of colors.

  “Will you help me put it on?”

  Our fingers brushed as I took the necklace. She lifted her hair and bundled it on top of her head. I fastened the chain around her neck.

  “Thank you,” she said softly, fingering the wolf head. “I will never take it off.”

  The phone rang as I cradled her face. At that moment, nobody else mattered but her.

  “Do you really like it?” I wasn’t convinced.

  The tears glistened in her eyes. “It is the most incredible gift anyone has ever given me. I can’t believe you went to all the trouble to have it custom made.” She blushed. “It’s really too pretty for me.”

  The phone rang again. With a snarl, I checked the number. My father.

  Ignoring the ringing, I took Breanna’s hands in mine. It was time to tell her, to admit out loud how much I loved her.

  The phone shrilled again. Text messages. Voice mails. Could the man not take a hint?

  “Maybe you should answer that.”

  I didn’t want to talk to my father. He’d ruin this beautiful moment.

  “It’s my father,” I mumbled.