by KD Jones
“Lazarus?” Lucas went to stand by his friend. There was such pain and longing on his face when he looked at Diana bending over to smell flowers.
“My mate loved roses. She was a master gardener.”
Lucas watched as Diana started heading back their way. “So if she is claimed a second time, the council would have to override the first claim?”
“The council would have to rule that the second claiming was a good claiming, a better claim than the first. If she were pregnant, that would be a no brainer for them. They would never end a claim if it succeeded in breeding.”
An image of Diana pregnant with his child filled his head. He couldn’t shake it and it didn’t bother him; in fact, he liked the idea.
The door opened and Diana poked her head in. “Do we have a plan yet?”
Lucas nodded at her. “We have a plan.”
Chapter 8
“No.” Diana crossed her arms over her chest as they drove out of Las Vegas.
“It’s the best way to protect you, Diana.”
“You don’t even want me.”
“After last night, you should know that’s not true.”
“That’s not what I meant! That was sex. You’re talking about claiming me as your mate, Lucas. That is completely different.”
“I don’t see a problem here.” He pulled over at a gas station and turned off the car.
She sighed. “You’re trying to be a white knight rushing in to save me. This isn’t your fight, Lucas.”
While he went into the store, Diana got her cell phone out and called her friend Roxanne. She told her everything that was going on.
“Come back here. Ric will back you up.”
“I’m not putting you or your pack in danger. Kilian and my father are crazy. I can’t predict what they will do.”
“Diana, you’re my family. I want you here with me.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes with the council.”
“When do you have to meet them?”
“In two days. We’re stopping to check in on Lucas’s pack first.”
“If you don’t call me, I will come get you,” Roxanne swore.
Diana laughed. “I expect no less, sister of my heart.”
She hung up feeling a little better. At least she had somewhere to go if things turn ugly with the council. What was she going to do about Lucas? He was so intent on doing what he thought was the right thing. She just had to show him that mating her would be a huge mistake for him.
*****
Lucas seemed to get more energized the closer he got to his pack. They were renting a farmhouse with a few acres they could use to run and hunt. They also made money helping the local farmers with their harvest.
Diana was surprised to find someone like Lucas was willing to act as a farmer’s hand. It must have shown her face.
“I come from a royal line, but the money is long gone. The last bit of it I spent to bring my pack here to the United States. Unfortunately, we have had to depend on the generosity of the council to get by.”
“The council is known for using their generosity to get what they want. I think Alpha Ric also suffered the same predicament not long ago.”
“I feel responsible for not taking better care of my pack and our finances. I am ashamed to say that I always assumed the money would be there. I trusted the wrong person to manage it and he took off with a large sum. It’s frustrating to be a royal in the werewolf community, but now I am a supervisor of my team of workers. The worst part is having to find odd jobs in between the end of harvesting and the planting of next season’s crops.”
“The commune suffered a few years like that, totally dependent on the council and other packs to give us handouts for food and clothes and money. That all changed when we received a soothsayer who was also a financial whiz. It was her pack’s biggest mistake, sending her away, but our biggest blessing. She helped us invest the little bit of money that the council sent us and soon we became financially independent.”
“Why wouldn’t you use your fortune-telling abilities to help you improve your livelihood?”
She laughed. “We can’t use our powers for our own personal benefit. It doesn’t work that way. I wish I could have used my abilities to predict where Kilian and my father were hiding all these years.”
“When you spoke to Kilian, did he say your father was with him?”
She shook her head. “No, and that scares me even more.”
He parked the car behind a pickup truck in front of the house and frowned. “They should be out at old Jamison’s farm right now.” He got out and closed the door behind him.
“Denny!” he shouted as he ran up the steps.
She felt awkward following him. He seemed to have forgotten about her. She heard voices as she entered through the open door. She stopped and looked at the scene in the living room. Three large men had clearly just jumped up off the couches and were now tucking their shirts into their pants.
“What are you doing here instead of working the farm?” Lucas asked.
“The rest are there, we’re just relaxing a bit, Alpha.”
“Denny, you are my second in command and I told you I expect everyone to pull their weight around here.”
“We are, but that farmer isn’t paying us enough. If we let the women do a few little side jobs, we could bring in more.”
What he said made Diana cringe. She knew what his side jobs were. Diana was outraged, but no more than Lucas.
“Have you made the females sleep with men for money?”
One of the other males stepped forward. “No, Alpha Lucas. Denny has talked about it for a few days, but everyone else is against it. The females have threatened to leave if they are forced to do it.”
“Out! I want you to pack your bags and leave, Denny. If you two want to follow him, get out too.” Lucas kicked a chair into the wall with a loud crash.
“You can’t make us leave our pack! Where will we go? What kind of Alpha are you to let your pack suffer in squalor like this?” Denny whined.
Diana stepped out of the way when Lucas grabbed Denny by the back of his shirt and dragged him to the front door. “Get out now!”
“What about my stuff?”
“Darrell and Vinny, go upstairs and throw Denny’s stuff down to him. If you step one foot back inside this house, I will take that as a direct challenge for Alpha status and fight you to the death!” He slammed the door behind him.
Diana stood as still as possible, feeling like this was the worst way possible for her to be introduced to Lucas’s pack. He finally looked at her again, and she couldn’t hide her reaction, stepping back against the wall at the look in his eyes.
He visibly tried to calm himself. “Diana, I am beyond furious with my pack, but I would never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you. Some of them are newer to my pack, additions I made once I moved to the United States.”
“It’s okay.”
He stepped closer to her. “You don’t seem to believe me.”
She took deep breaths. “It would be easier to accept if your claws and canines retracted.”
He looked down at his hands and seemed to be surprised that his claws were indeed out. “Sorry about that.” He forced them to retract and then looked up into her eyes.
“What now?” Diana relaxed a little.
“I need to call my pack in for a meeting.”
“Great.” That was just what she needed, to meet more of this crazy pack of his.
Chapter 9
Lucas was not happy with his pack, not at all. He thought the males were flirting too much with Diana and the females looked like they wanted to cut her up and serve her for lunch. It wasn’t like he had anything going with the females of his pack.
He slept with one, Britt, years ago, when the moon’s power was calling his wolf forward in a mating heat. He refused to give her his bite or his seed. The council had been pushing for him to mate and breed, but his wolf pulled back, refusing, insisting t
hat they would find their mate.
Britt was disappointed; she had wanted to be the female alpha for their small pack. She acted like an alpha bitch most of the time anyway, and she had clearly been hoping for the official title. Britt was also the reason he never messed around with any of the other willing females. She had threatened to hurt them if he did. He should have kicked Britt out of his pack a long time ago.
“Why did you bring this lesser wolf here?” Britt demanded as she followed him into the kitchen. He had come in there to get away from her for a few minutes and to grab a beer.
“I have already explained this all to you, and keep it down. I don’t want you saying things like that about Diana.”
She growled at him. “You fucked her, didn’t you? Did you mate her?” She moved so fast he didn’t have time to move away. She ran her nose against his neck.
“Get away!” He pushed her away, careful not to throw her into the wall.
“I don’t scent a mating.”
“I haven’t mated her, damn it!”
“You can’t mate her. She’s not a full wolf, she’s a weak thing. The pack needs a full alpha female that can provide shifting pups. The council insists on it or they will cut us off. You have a duty.”
“I know that. I don’t need you to tell me my duty!” He ran a hand through his hair. He knew what the pack needed, what the council expected of him. Not long ago he had been thinking the same thing. Now, his wolf wanted only Diana and he was starting to succumb to the desire as well.
“Well, fuck her and get her out of your system. Then come back and pick one of us real werewolves to mate. We need to be breeding pups soon.”
*****
Diana turned away from the kitchen doorway quickly, before anyone saw her. She went outside through the front door. It hurt to know that Lucas still felt that way, especially after they spent such a wonderful night together.
She looked up at the stars, wishing that she had never met Lucas, that she had never involved him in her problems. Even as she thought that, the memories of their night together played in her mind. She had never felt so wanted and desirable. That had meant the world to her.
“That historian guy is right, you know,” a male voice said from the side of the barn.
She turned around, frightened that someone had snuck up on her. The male leaning against the barn in overalls and no shirt underneath was an imposing figure. He was one of Lucas’s enforcers that had been out working the farms. What was his name? Some kind of animal name?
“I’m Ox.” He stepped forward, walking toward her slowly.
“Ox, that’s right. How do you know about the historian?” She wrapped her arms around her waist. The male had to be close to seven feet tall and was built like a linebacker. His skin was dark, smooth and rich. He was sexy, but not her type.
“I was in the basement when I heard the alpha explaining things. The historian said something about how a second claiming could override the first claim. It’s true. Years ago, I served as enforcer for one of the councilmen and there was a claiming contested when a warrior came back from a battle everyone assumed he died in. The warrior claimed first claim but while he was missing, his brother had fallen in love with the intended and mated her.”
“So the council sided with the second claim?”
“Yes, it was a good mating and they actually had a pup on the way.”
“What happened to the warrior?” She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the male that lost his love.
“He requested leave to head a new battle against the vampires. I lost track of him.”
“So, a second claim, if deemed a good mating by the council, will hold.”
“Yes.”
“Great, so I will just call up my ex-boyfriends—which are non-existent—and see which one wants to go up against Kilian and the werewolf council.”
“No need, I offer myself.” Ox moved closer to her. He was very quiet on his feet and moved like a shadow in the dark.
She blinked at him, not quite sure she heard him right. “What?”
“I offer to claim you and go before the council to prove it is a good claim.”
“I—appreciate the offer. You do realize that I am a soothsayer, don’t you? Most consider me a lesser wolf.”
“I don’t. Those who do are idiots. I would be honored to have you as my mate.”
Wow, two offers to claim her, first from Lazarus and now Ox. They were both attractive and sexy, good males; they just weren’t the one she wanted.
“I appreciate the offer, but—”
“Don’t say no. I’ll come with you and Alpha Lucas to offer protection. If things turn bad, consider my offer as a last resort.” Ox didn’t wait for her to reply but headed into the farmhouse.
She closed her eyes and tried to fight back tears. Her life had turned upside down. She was running from a crazy lone wolf who had marked her when she was just a kid and being helped by her psycho father. She had two males who offered to mate her for honorable reasons, but not the one male she desired more than anything. All she wanted was to go back to her commune and hide from the world. But if she did that, she would only bring trouble to her commune.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been standing outside, leaning against the fence, but she felt Lucas coming up behind her.
“Aren’t you hungry? You didn’t come inside for dinner.”
“I’m fine.” She kept her back to him.
“Worried about facing the council tomorrow?”
“A little.” She shivered when he put his large hands on her shoulders.
“I’ll be there with you.”
“I appreciate it, but even you can’t take on the whole council alone.”
“My enforcer Ox has asked to come with us. I agreed. Come inside. I’ve you set up to sleep in Ria’s room. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
She bit her bottom lip looking away. Ox must not have told Lucas his alternative reason for going with them. If one of his enforcers was going with them, what was Lucas going to do about the safety of his pack?
“Lucas, how many enforcers do you have?”
“Two now. I had three enforcers: Ox, Darrell, and Vinny. Since I kicked Denny out of the pack, Darrell has moved up to second in command, leaving Ox and Vinny.”
“So if we take Ox with us, that will leave Darrell and Vinny in charge of the pack. Are you sure you can trust them after the way they followed Denny?”
He let go of her and moved away. “Are you questioning my ability to control my pack?”
Oh, he sounded mad. “It’s your pack, you’re the alpha. What do I know? I’m just some worthless lesser werewolf. My apologies.” She began walking toward the farmhouse.
“Diana, wait.”
“I’m going to get some sleep. See you in the morning.” She was proud of herself for not letting her voice crack. She walked smoothly up the stairs, opened the door, entered the house, and closed the door behind her. She was not running away. She took two more steps before she halted. “Where the hell is Ria’s bedroom?”
Chapter 10
The next morning
Lucas walked downstairs and found his pack sitting around the large dining table. His eyes sought out Diana. She was in the process of raising a fork of eggs to her mouth when she paused at his entrance. She looked away from him and put her fork down.
He hated the way things had ended last night. He had wanted to go after her, but then thought twice about it, realizing he was too upset. Hearing others say she was less and then hearing her say it about herself made him furious. Lucas had to go wolf for a few hours to get himself under control. He wanted to talk to her when he came back, but she was already asleep.
Instead, he had sought out Darrell and Vinny. Diana was right, he was leaving his pack vulnerable. They had made plans that he needed to tell the rest of his pack about now.
“I’m glad you’re all here. I made a call to Alpha Ric in Strange Lake Falls. He’s expecting you all
to arrive in a few days.”
“What?” Britt stood up and placed her hands on her hips.
“It’s safer for you to be with a larger pack. I was thinking of joining our packs anyway. This will give us a chance to see how well our packs can blend together.”
“I won’t have us uprooted again!” Britt was fuming.
“Britt, stop talking.” Lucas glared at her. His eyes began to glow and his claws slid out.
Diana and the rest of the pack stood up and backed away from the table.
“Why are you sending us away?” Britt demanded
“I am meeting with the council and I don’t want you all to be left vulnerable in case something happens to me.”
“Just let the bitch go to the council, step out of the situation. You don’t need to get involved any further with this lesser—” Britt froze at the rumbling sound coming from her alpha.
Lucas breathed in and out, trying to keep his anger under control. He didn’t believe in hitting women, but Britt was pushing his limits. Damn, what a mess his pack had become in the short time he had been in Strange Lake Falls.
“Easy, Alpha.” Darrell slowly stepped in front of Britt just in case. That move actually made Lucas feel better. At least some of what he had tried to teach his pack about respect and protecting those who were weaker was paying off. He needed to make sure that they knew that his rules applied to everyone.
“If I hear one more person call Diana a lesser wolf I will rip out their throat!”
His wolf was ready to come out to protect their mate. Holy shit! Mate? Someone else stepped forward getting his attention.
“Lucas, it’s okay. I’m used to hearing things like that.” Diana walked closer to him and he scented her fear. He hated that he had made her scared. What must she think of him and his wayward pack? He needed to step away and get himself under control.
“Darrell, get everyone loaded up and out of here.” He turned to Ox. “I’ll be waiting in the car.” He turned and walked away. He didn’t believe that his wolf would allow him to attack a female, but that female was challenging his authority and insulting his mate. What a cluster fuck.
