Pride to Pack

by Aimie Jennison

I’ve been sitting in the back corner of the bar for the longest three hours of my life, nursing the same beer and forcing myself not to get up and storm into the cinema complex across the road. I want to find Bel and tear her away from Emmanuel whether she’s having a good time or not.

  When the very woman I can’t stop thinking about finally walks in the door, my wolf relaxes. He’s been pacing for the last three hours so it’s a welcome relief.

  The other pack members who are also enjoying a drink in the bar glance around; trying to see what has calmed me down. At the beginning of the night they all kept coming over, trying to offer comfort and calm me. But when I almost bit a chunk out of Smithy’s throat, they all decided it was better to keep a safe distance.

  Those who know about Rosabel quickly get back to minding their own business. Those who don’t keep watching, searching for any clue as to what might be calming me. I don’t care what the pack think. I can’t take my eyes off Bel, whether I want to or not.

  The little black dress she’s wearing hugs her curves and shows off her sexy legs. I want those sexy legs. No - need those sexy legs - preferably wrapped around my waist.

  I can see other guys, especially my pack brothers, watching her too, which is understandable. She’s an unclaimed fellow wolf. My wolf doesn't like it. Bel is ours but he knows that if any of these guys even try to make a move, we can take them out. They have no chance. Bel isn’t leaving my sight for the rest of the night. I will be escorting her home, or following her if need be. My wolf won’t accept anything less.

  I manage to allow her to finish her first drink. I watch the tension drop off her with every mouthful she takes. Although she’s seated she starts torturing me and every other male in the bar by dancing in her seat. She has no idea how sensually she can move. I can tell by the slight tension still clinging to her shoulders that something must’ve upset her on her date.

  I try to leave her as long as possible, knowing she probably needs the time to herself, but I just can’t take the distance between us anymore. I have to touch her. My wolf needs to comfort her. It’s his job as alpha and mate.

  As I place my hand on her shoulder from behind, I can feel how distracted she is. Her wolf isn’t even greeting me by running her energy along my skin, which is unusual. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been trying to stay away from her. My wolf wants to claim her every time she does it, and until she knows what those feelings mean, he can’t.

  My hand barely touches her shoulder when she spins around and clocks me right on the nose with a mean right hook. I don’t even have time to stop her or step out of her reach before I feel my nose crack and the warm blood pour down my face.

  I feel the pack members throughout the room bristle, ready to come to my aid. I quickly and silently send out an order with a wave of energy to calm them down, reminding them that I am alpha and I can handle the she-wolf myself.

  “Oh. My. God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise it was you.” Bel quickly apologises as she reaches over the bar, most probably looking for a towel. She finally grabs one and pulls it over the bar.

  “That’s a good right hook you’ve got there. Was your date that bad?” I joke, reaching out and taking the towel from her as I straighten my nose. It clicks back in place and the bleeding pretty much stops. I start healing immediately and if it wasn’t for the fresh blood that I could still feel smeared on my face, no one would know she’d hit me.

  “No, Emmanuel was nice. It was something that happened when I dashed to the bathroom that has put me on edge. I’m sorry.”

  Misty takes the bloody towel off me and leans over the bar wiping my face with a wet towel. “There all gone. Have this on the house,” she says, passing me a drink that smells like straight whiskey.

  I take a large swig of my drink and I lean towards Bel, pulling her into a hug. “Don’t worry about it,” I say, trying to calm her. As I speak, I take a deep breath and immediately regret leaving her in Emmanuel’s care. I can smell Dominick on her and not just his scent. I can smell his saliva. Trust me; saliva has its own scent. If you don’t believe me next time you drool in your sleep, smell your pillow. I pull away quickly and spot the bite marks on her neck. Cradling her neck with my hands, I stroke the bite gently with my thumb.

  “What happened with Dominick?” I can’t help but demand an answer. The alpha in me needs to know. Her mate needs to protect her.

  She looks at me blankly for a second. I ready myself to hear her deny it. Surely she knows I can smell him. I see her brain catch up and she explains about him feeding on her in the alley. The whole time I stroke her neck, sending my energy into her wound forcing it to heal quicker. I don’t want that blood sucker’s mark on her.

  As it starts to fade I know for certain that she is my true mate. I wouldn’t be able to use my energy to heal her if she wasn’t. I can’t help the satisfied rumble that leaves my chest. She is mine, and as much as I want to explain this to her, I can’t.

  I need to get the problem of Dominick out the way first.

  “Do you know what this means?” I ask, knowing that she most probably won’t have a clue. She wouldn’t have had any contact with vampires in Quilpie. Grigori Dorfman runs a tight town. There wouldn’t be any vampires stepping foot on his land.

  Her frown tells me I’m right before she even opens her mouth, “What? He tasted me. You said he would.”

  The satisfied feeling I had totally disappears. An angry growl leaves my lips and my energy flares. I’m not surprised one bit when Wesley approaches us.

  “Boss, is everything okay?” he asks, knowing from my energy that it’s not.

  “No, Wesley.” I don’t look at him as I answer, I can’t. I can’t take my eyes off the place where Dominick’s fang marks had marred Bel’s neck. “Pack meeting in an hour. Do you think you can organise that?”

  “Yeah, no problem, boss. What’s it about?”

  I turn a glare on him. “You’ll find out when you get there!” I practically scream in his face.

  Wesley leaves without saying another word. He knows full well that he should never question his alpha while I'm in this state.

  It takes a few minutes to calm down and address Bel. I can’t help but feel sad as I look into her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. “Dominick didn’t just taste you, he formed a tie.”

  When her eyes fill with tears, I realise she must be channelling my sadness.

  “What does that mean, a tie?”

  “If a vampire drinks from you without draining you or turning you, a tie is formed. Its effects are different with each vampire. It could be that he can read your thoughts, or sense where you are, or even control you to make you do anything he wishes. With Dominick being so old and King, he might be able to do a lot more. Can you see why I’m so upset now?” I can’t control the anger in my voice.

  “I can see why I should be upset, but why are you upset?” she snaps back.

  How do I explain this? Dammit I should have claimed her days ago. Then we wouldn’t be having this problem.

  “Because he forced you into this, and it complicates things.”

  “What things?” she asks warily.

  I wrack my brain to come up with some reasonable complication that won’t make me sound like a crazy, possessive stalker.

  “I’m supposed to be helping him find out who’s kidnapping his vamps, but the more pissed off I get with him, the less I want to do it.” As the lie comes out my mouth I know she’s able to pick it up, but I can’t do anything to cover it. I just hope my emotions tell her that I’m not completely lying.

  “How can someone kidnap a vampire?” she asks, calmly sitting back on her stool. “They’re too strong.” I can see she’s trying to calm me by taking my thoughts away from Dominick.

  I want to kiss her for not calling me out over my lie. I refrain and answer her question as best I can. “That’s why he’s asked for my help. He was convinced it was a vamp, but after interrogating every vamp in the state and coming up blank, he’
s moving onto the next thing. And the next thing strong enough is a were. He wants me to question the pack.”

  “Couldn’t they have lied to him?” she asks, toying with her empty glass.

  I sit down on the stool next to her, “No, you can’t lie to Dominick. He’s been here two thousand years. He knows a lie when he hears one. When you have extra senses you can pick up on lies when you know what to look for. Raised heartbeat, perspiration, changes in breathing just to name a few.”

  I catch Misty’s eye as she calls last orders and push both our glasses forward to indicate that we want refills.

  When she comes over with our drinks Bel jumps in and pays her while pushing one of the glasses towards me. “An apology drink.”

  I can’t help but laugh as I accept the drink and the apology.

  While we finish our drinks, Misty and Lucy close up. It’s not long before Misty comes over with her bag and the keys in her hand.

  “Ya ready to go?” she says to Bel.

  “Yep,” Bel answers, jumping off the stool.

  I don’t know whether to let her leave with Misty or bring her with me to the pack meeting. By the time I decide I need to bring her, they’re both in the car and saying bye.

  Before I can say anything Bel’s window opens. “You okay, Theo?”

  I decide to go with my initial thoughts when I ordered Wesley to organise a pack meeting. I need to fix this and that is what I am going to do. “No, it doesn’t feel right leaving you. Will you come with me, please?” I answer honestly.

  They both chuckle and Misty shouts through the car. “Are you trying to get in Bel’s knickers, Theo?”

  Her comment throws me for a loop and it takes a moment to register what made her think along those lines. Not wanting either of them to think I would ever try to get her home just to get in her underwear, I quickly clarify out my intentions. “No. I didn’t mean it like that that! Not at all.” I looked directly at Bel. “I need you at the pack meeting, as evidence.”

  Her face drops and her wolf throws a wave of anger at me. “Fine.”

  She gets out the car and slams the door. She drops her head into the open window. “Drive safe, Misty. I’ll see you at home in a little while.”

  Misty drives off without a word.

  A very pissed off Bel turns to me and grumbles, “Lead the way.”

  What the hell have I done?

  9. DECLARATIONS

  Rosabel