“Other mate?”
Chela gulped, and Belle wondered exactly what her expression looked like to make the previously friendly woman look wary. “Yes. It happens sometimes, that a Wolf finds he has two mates.”
Not my mate.
“It’s very rare, though, and unfortunately was the cause of a lot of my parents’ fighting.”
“Where are they now?”
“My mom lives in Santa Fe. My father and Brenda live in Texas.”
“So they don’t live together?”
Chela shrugged. “My father flies up to see my mom once a month. Now that they don’t have to live together, they actually get along fairly well. My mom doesn’t have to take care of him anymore; Brenda does all of that.”
“Huh.”
Belle started when she felt Chela’s hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about it, Luna. Rick has only one mate.”
Belle felt her anger drain away at Chela’s touch, felt the brush of the other woman’s power as it soothed her Puma. She looked at the other woman in wonder as the knowledge of what was going on moved through her with swift assurance. “You’re the Omega.”
Chela’s hand drew back, her expression startled. “What?”
What? How the hell… What the…
It was like knowing Rick’s eyes were blue, or that drinking water would quench your thirst, or that Gina Maldonado was a bitch in both senses of the word.
Belle bit her lip, wondering how to fix what she’d just blurted out. She knew she was right, but how to make Chela see it? “Trust me, nobody these days takes me from pissed to pleased with just one touch.”
“Not even Rick?”
She shook her head slowly, watching the other woman’s face carefully. Belle wasn’t certain how to make Chela see what was so clear to her. “Do me a favor, will you?”
“Sure.”
Chela still looked wary. She’d have to fix that. “I want you to think, really think, about how the Pack feels right now.”
Chela’s head tilted to the side and she frowned. “How the Pack feels?”
“Are they angry? Are they upset? Who’s fighting right now? Who’s in need of a shoulder to cry on?”
Chela’s brow furrowed.
“C’mon, Chela, I know you know the answer. I can feel it in you.” Belle felt something strange moving within her as she concentrated on Chela. “Tell me.”
And that something whipped out of Belle and wrapped around Chela, cocooning her in Belle’s strength.
Chela’s eyes blanked. “Gina is supremely pissed, and heading to the restaurant. Her flunkies are spoiling for a fight. Rick is distracted. Not sure why. Ben is…” Chela looked startled before a muffled laugh erupted. “Um. Not going there.”
Huh. Go Ben. “How does the Pack as a whole feel?”
Chela’s eyes slowly focused back on her, a wide smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “Hopeful.”
Belle matched Chela’s smile. “We need to talk to Rick. And I have an idea of how to deal with Gina.”
“You do?”
“Uh-huh.” Belle outlined her plan to the new Pack Omega. The look of wonder on Chela’s face was a balm, but the unholy glee that eventually replaced it was even better.
Just as she stood to get settled into her scooter, Chela’s hand landed on her arm. “Luna?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Rick stepped into Lowell’s, prepared to meet Belle for lunch, and stopped cold.
Gina was hovering over his mate, snarling at her, right in the middle of Lowell’s dining area. Patrons, shifters all, watched with amusement as Belle stood there, her expression one of vapid confusion. The scooter was right behind her, what looked like paperwork shoved willy-nilly into the basket. Her cane rested against the seat as she stood under her own power and faced her rival.
“Who authorized these changes?”
Belle looked innocently baffled. “I did.”
Rick grinned at the sound of his mate’s voice. He stepped back and prepared to be entertained, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall.
Gina had no idea what was about to happen, and he had no intention of enlightening her. He’d been on the receiving end of this mood often enough that there was no way he could not recognize it.
“You had no right.” Gina was speaking through clenched teeth, never a good sign in a Wolf. It made him wonder how long his mate had been playing with the alpha bitch.
“Oh, but I did. Rick made me not only manager, but part-owner of Lowell’s.” She smiled sweetly.
Ah, my curious little cat. I thought she’d find those papers.
Gina drew in a deep breath, her fury obvious. “He had no right to give you what is mine!”
“I believe it is the Alpha’s right to gift his Luna with whatever he wishes.”
Rick’s eyes widened as Chela boldly stood beside his mate, her gaze never leaving Gina’s face.
One of Gina’s minions moved forward, but Gina held up a hand. “Well, someone’s getting brave.” The sneer on her face as she stared at Chela was met by a cold glare.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Belle’s gleeful sing-song words went right past Gina.
“Perhaps you need a lesson in who’s boss around here.” Gina stepped forward, her arm lifting, her hand clenched into a fist.
Belle’s hand shot out so fast Rick barely saw it move, grabbing Gina’s wrist and stopping Gina’s fist an inch from Chela’s face.
The most interesting thing was, Chela didn’t even flinch. She just kept that cold, steady gaze on Gina. That fixed, dead gaze was starting to give him the willies.
Gina howled in pain as Belle smiled vacuously. “I really wouldn’t try to hit Graciela any more, okay? That’s bad.” She shook her finger at Gina, who was desperately trying to get her wrist out of Belle’s curled hand. “Bad woof-woof.”
Half the patrons of the restaurant had their faces buried in their napkins, their shoulders shaking. The rest were openly laughing.
Rick scented blood and realized his kitty had unsheathed her claws right into Gina’s arm. Her pretty green eyes had turned bright gold. Her expression was still as vapid as she could make it. A cheery smile graced those full lips as she put her free hand in her pocket.
Gina managed to get her arm free of Belle’s grasp. “Bitch.”
“Oh, silly poodle. I’m not the bitch, you are, remember?” Belle shook her head sadly. “Didn’t your mommy teach you anything?”
Rick swiped at his mouth, desperate to wipe the grin from his face as Gina shook with anger. To be defeated by someone she considered inferior was bad enough, but to be defeated by someone who was acting like a complete imbecile was intolerable to someone like her.
“Why you little—” Gina lunged forward, losing what little self-control she had.
Only to be brought up short by the air horn Belle pulled out of her pocket and set off right next to her ear. The dominant female dropped, hands over her ears.
Belle let up on the button. “Not done yet.” Belle’s cheery voice floated through the sudden silence, causing more than one patron to choke out a laugh.
Mental note: take Belle’s new toy away. Rick’s ears were ringing from halfway across the room. He could only imagine what Gina and her coterie felt like. With another quickly hidden grin he realized Chela had covered her ears, muffling some of the sound.
“So, here are the new rules, okay?” Belle looked dementedly happy as she started ticking things off on her fingers. “No more trying to piddle on Rick’s carpet. If anyone’s going to mark territory there, it’s me.”
Gina snarled up at Belle but rapidly pulled back when Belle brandished the air horn.
“No more beating up on the other women or I will take you to the vet and have you tutored.”
“Neutered.” Gina corrected her with a frown.
Belle leaned down and patted Gina’s cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetie, someo
ne would learn something.”
Rick coughed as Belle straightened. He lost his fight with his grin as she winked saucily at him.
“And last, but not least, you will show deference to the Omega. Because if you don’t, you will regret it in a very bad, not good, terribly awful way.” She was really laying on the inane sincerity. Rick wondered what she was up to, and how much in damages he’d probably have to pay.
Gina bared her teeth at Belle. “Who’s the Omega?”
“Me.” Chela’s grin was not in any way friendly.
“You?” Gina’s laugh reminded Rick of a hyena, especially when her loyal minions joined her.
There was a gasp as Belle rapped Gina on the nose with…
Rick lost it. His Luna had just hit the dominant female with some rolled-up papers she must have grabbed from her scooter.
God I love that woman.
“Bad woof-woof.” Belle shook her finger, completely ignoring Gina’s shocked expression. The alpha covered her nose with her hands. “No Milk-Bone for you.” Belle gave Gina that horrendously serene, vacuous smile, and Rick tensed. “Now, remember. The Omega, that’s Graciela for those of you with two-second scrolling memories, outranks all of you. So,” she clapped her hands together, setting off the air horn for a brief, shrieking moment of pain, “I want you to treat her with respect.”
“No.”
Belle looked sad as she shook her head. “Oh, honey, you’re just not the quickest bunny in the forest, are you?” Someone snickered. “It’s not me you need to be afraid of.”
Gina stood, her sneer not nearly as pronounced as it had been. “No?”
“Nope. Well, okay, sometimes you need to be afraid of me. But not right now.”
“Then who do I have to be afraid of? Rick?”
“Nope.” That scary cheer was there again.
“Then who?”
Belle sighed, and looked at Chela. Chela never took her eyes off Gina.
Gina’s face went white as Chela let Gina and her friends have it with both barrels. Rick had no idea what Chela was doing to them, but it did not look pleasant. Gina was soon a sobbing wreck on the floor, curled into a ball of misery, and her friends weren’t any better.
“Now remember, poodles, the Omega outranks everyone but the Alpha, Luna, Beta and Marshall.” Belle tapped Gina on the head with the rolled-up papers. “That means you. So I would treat her with respect, or this could become a daily, perhaps an hourly, occurrence around here.”
The savagely gleeful anticipation on Chela’s face let him know that she would probably use any infraction of the Luna’s new rules, intended or not, to inflict pain on Gina and her minions.
“Now shoo. I have a lunch date.” Belle waited patiently while Gina and company beat a hasty retreat.
Rick caught one glimpse of the dominant female’s face as she left, and his blood ran cold. He pulled out his cell and called Ben.
“Ben here.”
“Keep an eye out for the females. Belle just put a verbal smack-down on Gina and the woman looks like she might be out for blood.”
“Will do. Enjoy your lunch.”
Rick hung up and made his way over to his Luna, shaking his head at her antics.
“I really don’t like her.”
He took her hand and led her to a seat. “Don’t worry. No one would ever be able to tell.”
Chapter Four
Belle stood there, shivering her ass off in the cold night air, and wondered what the hell was going on.
Rick, his arms crossed, stared at the gathered Pack intently. The Pack grunted, Rick nodded. Then there was silence as his gaze drifted over them.
Belle looked back and forth at the group of silent people, all of them eerily staring back at Rick. She could see the occasional person nodding, or in Gina’s case, sneering. Then Gina flinched and glared at Chela, who smiled smugly back.
What the fuck is going on?
She started tapping her foot, fidgeting the change in her pants pocket. She stared up, watching the stars twinkle through the break in the trees. She huffed out a bored breath.
“Belle?”
She turned to Rick, startled to see the Pack was gone.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Coming where?”
He looked shocked. “We’re heading back to the Lodge for drinks, to celebrate our mating.”
“Um. We are?”
“Yes.”
“When was this decided?” Belle could feel her temper beginning to spike, and it felt good. She’d never dared lose her temper in Halle for fear of losing her so-called friends.
And just look where that got me.
No, it definitely felt good to let go. Witness how Gina had gone out of her way to avoid her all day! There were definite perks to this lack of anger management.
“Just now.” He looked genuinely confused, and a little concerned.
“You didn’t say anything.”
“I spoke to the Pack.”
Her eyebrows rose into her hair. “When?”
He stared at her intently for a moment, a look of shock passing over his face. “You didn’t hear me, did you?”
“When?” She was moving beyond annoyed to seriously ticked.
Rick blew out a breath, running a hand through his hair. “C’mon. I’ll explain it on the way in.” He put a hand under her elbow and started walking. “I have a mental connection to every Pack member.”
“Yeah, so does every Alpha.”
“No. I mean, I can hear them, and they can hear me.”
“Of course they can.” She patted his arm soothingly.
“No, Belle. I mean, like telepathy.”
She stopped. “In their heads?”
“Yes.”
“Can you read my mind?”
“When I try to, or when you think something very loudly, yes.”
She growled.
He held out his hand commandingly. “Give me the air horn.”
Damn. She handed over the air horn with a frustrated sigh. “You never let me have any fun.”
His expression softened as she pouted up at him. “If I had known, I would have mentioned it earlier. We’ve only been mated for a day.”
They started walking again. “So from now on the Pack meetings will be held verbally. Problem solved.”
“Problem not solved.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t hold the Pack meetings verbally.”
“Why not? Some ritualistic bonding thingie that you’re not going to explain because I’m a cat and I’d never understand?”
“Ritualistic bonding thingie?”
The indulgent amusement in his voice grated on her rapidly fraying temper. “Rick.”
He snorted, a smile flirting around the corners of his mouth.
“Why can’t you hold Pack meetings verbally?”
“Tradition holds that all Pack functions held by the Alpha be done mentally.”
She let her mouth move into her sweetest smile, mentally crowing at the worried look that crossed his face. “But I can’t hear you when you do that.”
“I know.” He patted her hand. “I’ll make sure to fill you in after the meetings.”
She could feel her teeth trying to grind together and did her best to relax. From his wince, she didn’t think she’d succeeded. “How am I supposed to function as Luna if I can’t hear you?”
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
They were almost at the Lodge. Belle smiled again, delighted when she felt him shiver under her hand. “Yes. I’m certain we will.”
Belle felt insanely giddy as Rick carried her into their apartment after their mating party. The best part? Gina and company had chosen to skip the event.
She was still humming “Little Red Riding Hood” as Rick took her straight into the bedroom. Dave was completely insane once you got a few mojitos into him. He’d actually gotten up on a table and begun to sing that. He’d been leering at Ben the whole time. He
hadn’t stopped even when Ben turned his back on him and walked away.
“You, my Luna, are plastered.”
She giggled and aimed a kiss at Rick’s mouth. She hit his chin. “Oh, scratchy.” She reached up and stroked a hand over his cheek, feeling his beard. It felt good against her palm. She spared a thought to how it would feel on the flesh between her thighs.
Rick groaned. She wondered if he’d heard her thoughts. From the flush creeping up his face, she thought he might have.
She thought about it harder and felt herself getting wet.
“Bedtime, little kitty.”
Belle pouted as he put her on top of the comforter. “What if I’m not sleepy?” She shimmied a little bit, trying to entice him into the bed.
His eyes turned brown. “Belle…”
She sat up and slowly pulled off her sweater and dropped it to the floor. His gaze was glued to her fingers as she began slowly unbuttoning her blouse. She made sure to have her fingertips linger at her breasts as she pulled the shirt away from her chest. The shoulders slipped down and hung on her elbows. She looked up at him from under her lashes and licked her lips.
He growled, his fists clenching. “You need to rest.”
“I can rest. After.” She allowed the top to fall off her, her hands moving to the front clasp of her bra. “Did you know the chemicals released during orgasm can help control pain?”
His gaze left her breasts to collide with hers. A wicked smile was beginning to curl his lips. “So orgasms are good for you?”
She nodded, giving him her most innocent, come-hither look. She bit her lip and unclasped the bra, allowing her breasts to spill free. Her nipples were already beaded in the cool air. “And you don’t want me to feel any pain. Right, Rick?”
“What? Oh. No. No pain.”
His absent tone nearly made her laugh. She held the seductive pose with some difficulty. Her fingers slipped to the snap of her jeans. He whimpered as she drew the zipper down as slowly as she could.
She bit her lip to keep from grinning as he rushed to remove her boots. He stood and dropped them to the floor, staring as she shimmied out of her tight jeans.
He gulped as her bare pussy was revealed. She didn’t know if he’d forgotten she’d gone without panties that morning.
He nearly tripped over his own feet as he hastily ripped his own clothing off. She finally allowed the grin to break free as she leaned back against the pillow and began absently stroking her clit.
Steel Beauty: Halle Pumas, Book 4 Page 6
