by Jana Leigh
“That is MY PACK!! HOW DARE YOU MAKE PLANS WITHOUT CONSULTING ME! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THAT!” Jax yelled and began to kick out her feet, trying to get to Dante. Brin was struggling to hold her, she was strong, she knew it, but she didn’t want to hurt Brin, which is the only reason she allowed him to pull her back against his chest. She could feel his comfort. She took a deep breath and then looked up.
Jax knew her eyes were flashing blue again, damn, this man brought out the shrew in her. She hated it. This man brought out the worst in her, how was she ever going to prove to the world she was a good Alpha, when he was making all the decisions?
Dante stepped forward, looking like he was ready to go head to head with her. “Listen, princess, you're a fucking wolf. I had to do something or leave the damn Pack behind. My job is to get you to the compound in one fucking piece. Now, if you don’t like the way I'm working, then Alpha up and get busy.”
“You did not just call me princess.” She growled and lunged for him again.
“Damn it, will you two stop?” Brin yelled and they both turn to look at the human who was getting red in the face he was so pissed. “Jax, you should thank him for taking care of things while you were incapacitated. Dante, you should have checked with her when she shifted, not waited to talk to her. Damn, we're gonna need couple's therapy before we even get started.”
Jax took a deep breath and held out her hand. “Phone,” she gritted out and waited. She would not apologize to the overgrown ape.
“Knock yourself out,” Dante said flipping the phone. “Literally, if at all possible.”
Jax flipped him the bird with one hand and caught the phone with the other. She punched out the secure phone number she knew one of the Pack had taken, and turned around and waited.
Brin continued to get his bag packed muttering about children, and Dante slammed back into the other room. Whatever, she thought and continued what she was doing.
“Sabor, is that you?” she asked into the phone when a deep, familiar voice answered. At least he had made it. Sabor was her second in charge after her Beta, who she knew had been killed. Sabor was now the Beta by their Pack laws.
“Alpha, we were waiting to hear from you. The Vampire told us you were making arrangement for us,” her new Beta said. Damn it, the asshole had given her credit. Shit, now she had to apologize.
“Yeah, did they give you the details yet?” Jax asked and looked behind her. The doorway was empty, and she refused to go and look for him. Although a little, tiny chunk of her heart thawed. Dante had been trying to hide her weakness, and protected her.
“We have the first of the Pack leaving in a few minutes. We total seventy-three. Hopefully more will follow, I will wait here just in case some stragglers ran into problems getting here,” Sabor said.
“Good, I will meet you in Italy, and then we will regroup. Let everyone know they can contact me if there is trouble. I want everyone safe. In case, there are some Rogues tracking us. We need to stay vigilant. Have an Enforcer assigned to each group that leaves,” Jax said.
“Yes Alpha, the Vampires are loaning us a few of their Guards to make it across. We are moving in groups of five,” Sabor said, and they discussed what they would do when they arrived to Italy. The Pack funds were still in tact. That would not be a problem. Her father had been smart, invested in the United States market. “We wanted to have a ceremony for the dead.”
Jax closed her eyes; she was all cried out. The loss of her parents would be dealt with later. She couldn’t handle all of it. “We will have the ceremony in Italy. My father would understand.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Sabor agreed.
***
Contrary, exasperating woman, Dante thought and paced around the room. He had spent the last hour and a half on the phone arranging things for her, and she had the nerve to actually growl at him, then yell at him for helping. Yeah, this was going to work.
Dante could feel the sexual tension in the entire suite of rooms. They were going to be declared True Mates when they arrived in Italy. Orfeo and his mates would want to include them in the party they were planning. The Senate already had two chairs. The leaders, and Dante and his mates. They would share, and have a small Clan and Pack together. Orfeo would make sure that they had enough space. If he knew his Sire, by the time they got to Italy, there would be a title of land in his and his mate’s names, and building of their small Clan/Pack would have begun.
Things were moving too fast. He was not sure exactly how they were going to handle this if Jax and him battled with every decision. It was something they would have to address on the ride, coming to an agreement.
“I'm sorry,” he heard Jax say behind him and Dante turned to see her standing in the doorway by herself. He wondered where Brin was. It was crazy, he felt him also, not sexually, more of a kinship brother. They would balance each other with their mate. Each being something she needed.
Dante signed and nodded. “No problem,” he said and looked again as she entered the room slowly.
“Brin is coming, he's ready. I don’t have anything, so maybe we could stop somewhere and get me at least a pair of pants?” Jax asked.
Dante looked over the tall, thin figure of his mate. Her wolf was larger than anything he had ever seen, and yet her human side was rounded, sexy, and perfect. He loved the curves she had and the strength she projected. He wanted to smile, but he knew the female would not be happy with that reaction to her. So he stood stoic and waited.
“Please,” she sighed and held her head up high. She would not give him an inch, and neither would he to her.
“Before we catch the ferry across, we will stop at a store. You need something to hide the hair,” Dante said and pointed. “It will draw attention.”
Jax frowned; it was not in her nature to hide anything. Especially not herself, she didn’t think it was necessary to hide. If they were found, they would fight. She would bet she could take any of the Rogues on and win, even the asshole that was in charge. But she had been unable to when they drugged her. It pissed her off, when she felt the pinprick in her neck. She had been pissed at herself and tried to shift. Whatever the fuck they gave her prevented her from turning into her wolf and protecting herself. If she had been able to, they would all be dead.
“Shit, the drugs!” Jax muttered and hit herself on the head.
“What?” Dante asked and stepped closer to her. She knew his need to protect would drive her nuts.
Brin walked in with his bag frowning. “I know I'm human and all, but were you just talking about drugs? Because I don’t think that would be wise. Besides it's illegal.”
Dante rolled his eyes. “Not for us.” Their communication skills needed work. “Gods man, did you seriously think we were talking about taking drugs?”
“What? I walked into the room, and Jax was made that comment. What the hell was I supposed to think?” Brin defended himself.
Jax busted out laughing and walked to Brin and hugged him. Why couldn’t she do that with him? He wanted to be the one she hugged. Wait, what the hell was he thinking, he was not a freaking purse holder. He was an Alpha male Vampire.
“No, I was remembering that the Rogues drugged me. I was so out of it, I think maybe that was why I shifted for so long. Whatever they gave me suppressed my wolf; she was pissed and when she had the opportunity to come out, she did and refused to go back because she was scared she would be suppressed again,” Jax said and laughed.
“Oh, well good. I was worried about the other,” Brin said with a blush but then laughed when Jax hugged him again.
“Thanks, I needed the laugh,” she said. Damn, Dante just stood there and watched their interaction. Why did he feel like an outsider?
“We need to move,” Dante said briskly and grabbed Brin’s bag and walked to the door. He pushed a button on his phone and then waited. The ‘all clear’ message came back, and he turned and nodded to the two standing right behind him. Brin was reaching for his bag, but for some reason, Dante felt
compelled to carry it, fucking purse holder, that was what he was going to be for the rest of his damn undead life.
***
Brin waited by the large SUV they would be driving. It was top of the line—he was going to have the best time driving this bad boy. He needed sunglasses to match the black exterior, he laughed to himself.
Jax was talking to her Beta, apparently. The man was huge, and he would have thought that as large as he was that he was an Alpha also. When they first came out, he was a little leery of the man. Brin knew he was a shifter, but he stood in front of Jax until he was given clearance.
Now standing and looking at Jax’s body language, he knew the larger man respected her. She stood just a hair shorter than him, but the man lowered his head to speak to her. It was a sign of respect.
Dante was talking to the six other men who would be traveling with them. Three in each of the other cars. They had a small caravan going on. The plan was to travel to Dover, England. They will have to spend the night in Dover; reservations were made at a nice hotel by the White Cliffs. Then in the morning, the ferry to Calais, and then drive to just outside of Paris, looking like tourists. They would stay the night there, where they would map out the rest of the trip. They didn’t want to make plans too far in advance in case someone was able to track them.
Jax left her Beta by putting a hand on his head and smiling. Brin noticed Dante frown as he looked at Jax touching the other man. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun. She turned, and for the first time since he met her yesterday, she was relaxed. He knew there was going to be issues, but hopefully they could talk and get to know one another on the ride.
Brin nodded and pulled himself into the driver seat. He looked at all the gadgets and smiled before rubbing his hands together. It had a built-in computer screen with GPS and even a small portable keyboard to engage the web while in the car. Who the hell made all this shit? There was no way this was a rental.
He was pushing the climate control buttons when he heard the arguing through the passenger door.
“I am riding in the front!” Jax yelled.
“NO, you are in the back, where the windows are tinted and no one can see in. You are the one we are protecting, remember? If you sit in the front, people will see you and notice you. Not like the hair isn’t a dead giveaway,” Dante said.
Jax laughed, and pointed at her hair. “Really? You thought this was my real color? Nope, dye job.”
Brin frowned, he hadn't caught her hair was dyed. In the last twenty-four hours, Brin had had many fantasies about her hair, and it flowing over his pillow. Or wrapping it around his hand while she sucked his cock, damn it, now he was going to have to drive with a hard on.
“I don’t care if your hair is fucking purple, you need to be in the back, so we can hide the fact you are in this car. We have two other cars that we will be using as decoys, and we need to make sure that you are not in sight,” Dante said.
“Bullshit, you just want to sit in front cause you can’t drive, and it's making you crazy.” Jax growled at him and reached for the door handle to the passenger side.
Dante picked her up like she weighed nothing, pulled open the back door as she was screaming and cussing at him and plopped her in the back seat. Without a word, Dante strapped her in with the seat belt, then shut the door, waving at the cars in back of them.
“Asshole,” Jax muttered before Dante got in the car.
Brin laughed and looked at her in the rearview mirror. She sat with her arms folded, glaring at Dante as he slid into his seat. Before he buckled in, Dante turned and looked at Jax and said, “Better get used to it, Princess. I may be an asshole, but one you are stuck with for life, so deal with it.”
“Who said I would accept you as a mate?” Jax snarled.
Dante laughed abruptly and belted himself in. “Like you have a fucking choice.”
Brin looked at Dante and said seriously, “I do, and I'm choosing to give this a try.”
Dante sighed and looked at Brin and nodded. “I know.”
Brin started the large SUV and pulled out into the traffic. They traveled in silence for miles, only having the click of the keyboard as Dante worked and soft music playing in the background. Brin was beginning to wonder when someone was going to break the silence in the car when Jax said, “Hey, does this computer back here work too? And what are all these buttons?”
“The computer works as long as you have the password, and don’t touch the buttons,” Dante said and kept typing.
“Well, what are you doing? Can I have the password? I could talk to my Pack then. I want to make sure they are all on board with the plan,” Jax said and picked up the small keyboard that was back there.
“No messaging. Someone can track that if they want to,” Dante said absently.
“Then what the fuck are you doing?” Jax said.
“Working,” Dante replied tersely.
“So, what is your real hair color?” Brin asked trying to stop them from the beginning of a fight.
“Blonde,” Jax said and glared at Dante. “Not that anyone gives a shit, but I do know how to stay under the radar. I was trained by my father to avoid capture if I had too.”
“Why would a father train his daughter to avoid capture?” Brin asked.
“You didn’t know my father, from the time I was born, he had everything planned out when they discovered I was an Alpha female. Sure there are some Alpha females who are born also, but I was told my Aura was that of a Pack leader. Since I was an only child, I was the next in line,” Jax said.
“Yeah, the only female Pack leader,” Brin said with a proud tone in his voice. He didn’t know her that well, but they had begun to form a bond. One Brin could not explain or define, but he felt. Hopefully, it meant that they were developing the mating bond. Quin and Jaden had explained it to him when they were younger.
“That’s right,” Jax said. “You know, sometimes I hated that I was in training so much. I mean day in and day out, work, study, train, fight, all to be the next Alpha of the Pack. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change a thing, my parent’s were awesome, supportive, you know.”
Brin nodded and wanted to keep her talking. He felt Dante paying attention too, although he was still typing on the computer. Brin bet if he actually looked at what the man was working on it would be gibberish right about now. His attention was solely on Jax.
“Why was it so important that you take over? Didn’t your father have brothers?” Brin asked, knowing that her uncle could have taken the Pack if she had one.
“Nope, no brothers or sisters, nothing. It was only the three of us. My father’s family had been huge in the past. His father was one of seven children. Most of them have moved to the States or created their own Pack. My father’s bloodline was too strong to be anything other than the Alpha of a Pack. But they are too far away, and I didn’t want to draw any attention to them by going there. I need to get my Pack to safety. It's what my father would have wanted me to do,” Jax said and looked out the window.
Brin looked at Dante, who had paused even typing because he could feel the sorrow coming from the back seat. Brin wanted to pull the car over and hug her, give her comfort, but it was impossible. And he wasn’t sure that it would help. Jax suffered a great loss. He knew when his parents we killed, it took months for him to come out of his depression. It was different, since he was a child and had no one to take care of him. Thank goodness that Quin’s parents took him in. Even though she seemed to be holding up, Brin thought that at some point she was going to let loose.
“When I ran from the assholes who kept me, I knew that my natural hair would be like a fucking beacon. It's white blonde like my wolf coat. My mother used to say it was a good thing we didn’t live close to a mountain; I would have gotten lost in the snow. She would have been pissed that I colored it. I was going to cut it too…” she said.
“NO,” Both men shouted and interrupted.
“Uh, okay, so I won’t do that,” Jax said sta
rtled by the yelling.
“What we mean is, that your hair is gorgeous the way it is. I would hate for you to cut it and then hate it. My friend who lives next door to me did that and was pissed afterward,” Brin said, and he heard Jax growl in the back seat. There she went again with the growling. What the hell was up with that? “What?”
“Nothing, I'm tired,” Jax said, closed her eyes and laid her head back as if the conversation was over. Brin looked at Dante, who shrugged and then went back to work. Okay, the conversation was over.
***
Shit, why did she have to keep growling when Brin mentioned the neighbor? It had come out of the blue like before, and she was jealous. But how did she tell him that? Jax kept her eyes closed and thought. She needed to get herself under control. No matter what she had told the men before, she knew the shifting thing had not been the drugs totally.
Sure, maybe part of it was because her wolf had been seriously pissed off about being suppressed. When she said pissed she meant scratching and biting her inside pissed. It was very uncomfortable. When the men had hit her to make her answer questions, and her wolf could not come out and protect her, it had been worse.
Jax thought they knew what they were doing when they gave her that drug. They didn’t want her wolf coming out, but they also were shifter wolves, all except the fucking leader. They had to know what her beast was doing to her. It was just another form of torture they had thought would break her.
The funny thing was if they had seen her shift, things would have been a lot different. Although she had not known she was only one of two White Wolves known to the magical community, she did know that she had some powers others didn’t. Like her ability to feel things from the other members of the Pack. Her father and mother had never told anyone that. They wanted to wait until she was the Alpha before revealing that to her loyal members. Best they accept her for who she was then for what she could do. That was her father’s motto.
