by Kym Grosso
“Good, I want you to think, because Mirabel lost her ability to shift when she mated with my father. I’ll admit, I don’t know the details. Perhaps she denied her wolf and that is why. But nevertheless, there was a sacrifice. Her tiger died.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Gillian responded, frustrated with her predicament. She missed Dimitri, and despite her otherwise good judgment, she knew she’d end up in his arms again.
“This thing with Chaz…you’re in deep, lil’ sis. What exactly made you think you could travel to Cali, into another wolf’s territory, without notifying him?” He changed the subject.
“It was supposed to be a job. Technically, I’m wolf, I know that. But Jax, I’m a tiger. You haven’t seen me yet…but believe me, Chaz sure as hell did.”
“What did he do to you?” Jax asked softly, knowing that she’d been attacked.
“You don’t want to know,” she said, unconsciously rubbing her shoulder where he’d bitten her.
“We’re family, Gilly. We may have been alone before, but no longer. What did he do?” he continued.
“He wants to mate with me. He tried to mark me,” Gillian admitted. She glanced up to Nick, who left the room, and she swore she heard him growl. “It didn’t take, though. If you know how it works, then you know I’ve got to choose who I mate with. He knew I was tiger but he underestimated my abilities. I shifted, killed his wolves and escaped. But he tracked me down…that’s how he found Dimitri.”
“Ah yes, that part of this story is quite interesting. One minute he can’t shift, the next he overpowers an Alpha.”
“That night on the beach…I healed him.”
“Yes, I do recall Mirabel had that ability as well.”
“It’s not a big deal really. As I told Dimitri, not many shifters actually need help recovering from an injury. But he did…and it worked,” she recalled.
“And the desert? What did they do to you?” Jax pressed.
“Stripped me.” Gillian lowered her eyes. It wasn’t her fault, she knew. Yet she was embarrassed that she’d been caught, tortured. “He was going to beat me…make me submit.”
“Sister, I’m very sorry for your ordeal. Good and evil exists in all beings. I swear to you from now on, you’ll be protected. As always, I have a plan. But first things first….Nick,” Jax called into the open foyer.
The hairs on Gillian’s arms stood up, waiting on the beta. A painful grunt tore into the air, and she sprung to her feet to view the source. Two large men, shackled in the arms of guards, stumbled into the foyer. She recognized them as two of the wolves who’d attacked her in the desert. Her chest pounded, adrenaline flooding her veins. What are they doing here?
A caustic mixture of fear and hate seized her. The assailant who’d dragged her from her car was tall, with the musculature of a body builder. His eyes locked on hers as he exuded venomous hostility. She could tell he wanted nothing more than to kill her, but despite his huge size, Jax’s wolves easily held him in place. His partner, who was of smaller stature, was badly beaten; a red welt formed around his eye and blood dripped from his lower lip. Tears pricked at her eyes as she realized he was the same person who’d stripped off her clothes.
“You’re safe, Gilly. Breathe,” she heard Jax tell her. He placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Jax…what’s happening?” Gillian asked, looking at her abductors and back to her brother. “Where did they come from?”
“I picked them up a block from my place. They knew you’d come to me for protection. Probably hoped they could nab you again before you got here.”
“But how would they know I’d come to you? Oh my God, I knew I felt like I was being watched. I think they may have been at my apartment,” she rambled. Unable to control her anger, Gillian’s tiger roared to attack, smelling blood in the air. The desire for vengeance grew strong. Certain she could kill them, Gillian kicked off her shoes, readying to shift.
“No need, sister,” Jax cajoled, stroking her arm gently. “You’re under my protection now.”
“But Jax…they won’t stop. Let me kill them,” she protested.
“The need for revenge is sweet only in the moment. One must consider the big picture. These mongrels are but insignificant links in the pack chain of command. Nick,” Jax called to his beta, nodding for him to come take his place by his sister.
Gillian rooted her bare feet onto the cool tiles. She fisted her hands tightly, fingernails digging into her palms. Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.
Nick obeyed, flanking Gillian. He gave her an understanding smile and reached for her hand. He loosened her balled fist until she allowed him to put his fingers in hers.
“What we must do is address the source…the cause of your difficulties. The root of the problem, if you will.” Jax strode over to the tall, muscular wolf and pinned him with a cold stare. “This man, he attacked you? Was going to allow the Alpha to beat you?”
“Yes. He took me.” She nervously licked her lips, itching to shift. She’d never asked for permission to do so, but it was as if her tiger knew her brother was Alpha, acquiescing to his request to stay human. “He dragged me from the car…by my hands and hair. Held me down.”
“You attacked my sister?” Jax growled at the wolf.
“Fuck, yeah. She killed our wolves…she deserves to die. If my Alpha didn’t want to mate the bitch, I’d kill her now,” he challenged, glaring at him eye to eye.
“Now that is rude,” Jax said, glancing at the other prisoner, who lowered his eyes in submission. “You see, there’s an order in a pack. And guests, I’m afraid they’re not excused from rules.”
Gillian jumped as the large wolf ripped his arms away from his guards and lunged at Jax’s throat. Nick put his arm around her shoulders, keeping her from going toward her brother. She screamed, watching as Jax punched his entire fist into the chest of the wolf. As he retracted his bloodied arm, a beating heart pumped in his grip. A loud thump reverberated throughout the home as the dead man hit the marble.
Even though Gillian had killed as tiger, she’d never seen such a violent act. She closed her eyes, willing the vomit rising in her throat to retreat. Within seconds, she’d composed herself, nausea replaced with relief. She wasn’t normally an aggressive person, but she was glad that her attacker could no longer harm anyone.
Jax approached the smaller wolf, who’d urinated at the sight of his friend’s death. Opening his palm, Jax rolled his wrist and the crimson organ fell to the floor with a splat.
“Don’t worry, friend,” Jax assured him, tilting his head. As if he’d tacked a fly to an insect board, the Alpha observed his work. “You’ll live. And you’re going to go back to California with a message for your Alpha. Are you listening?”
“Yyyyyesssss,” he stuttered.
“My sister, Gillian Michel, is off limits. Tell your Alpha that not only does he not have my permission to pursue a mating,” Jax paused, well aware that the bomb he was about to drop would shock his sister. He wished he didn’t have to take such extreme measures, but considering what they’d done to her in the desert, the California Alpha wouldn’t be deterred easily. He blew out a breath and continued, “My sister is going to be mated. To the beta. I will be announcing it tomorrow night but now you can save me the trouble.”
“What?” Gillian gasped. Did he just say I’m going to mate his beta? She glanced at Nick who wore a huge grin as if he’d won a giant stuffed panda at the fair.
“Gillian is to be mated. She has chosen. So you see, she is no longer available. Do you understand?”
The wolf turned his head away, refusing to answer.
“You will tell your Alpha! Do you understand?” Jax yelled, shoving him up against the wall.
“Yes,” he cried.
“Get him outta here,” Jax ordered. “And clean up this mess. You two…my office, now.”
“What just happened?” she asked. Jax silenced her with a hand and pointed down the hallway.
Gillian shook her head, trying to wr
ap her mind around what her brother had said. Did he seriously think she would choose to get mated just to keep an Alpha from kidnapping her? He’s out of his damn wolf mind if he thinks that’s happening, she thought.
As Nick pulled her into Jax’s office, she wished she had stayed with Dimitri. She’d never really needed anyone besides her mom before, but her feelings toward her beta hadn’t faded like she’d expected. She knew it was irrational, but she had to see him again. When this was all over, she swore to herself that she was getting on the next plane to New Orleans.
“I apologize for killing that wolf,” Jax began, but Gillian interrupted him.
“I would have killed him myself, but still…the way you killed him.” She stopped herself from chastising him. He was an Alpha. He could do whatever he wanted, she knew. She held her palms up in the air, surrendering, and then raked her fingers through her hair, forgetting that she’d shortened her locks. “No judging. I will not judge you, okay. But Jax, I’m not mating with Nick.”
“Tomorrow, I’m going to announce that you’re to be mated to the beta. We’ll do it at one of the magazine events. The press will be there,” he replied, unfazed by her reaction. Snatching a decanter off his desk, he poured himself a shot of whiskey and downed it. Refilling his own, and two other glasses, he fell back into his leather chair and slid the tumblers toward her and Nick. “Sit.”
Gillian was too tired to argue and did as he asked. Reaching for the liquor, she gladly took a healthy swig as if she were a pirate.
“No,” she coughed, the amber liquid burning her esophagus. While she was unable to speak, Jax was quick to contradict her.
“Yes. Even the announcement probably won’t keep this asshole from coming for you. I’m thinking that the best we can hope for is that he’ll come to New York, and I’ll kill him here. Worst case, he kidnaps you back. This is serious shit, Gilly. He wants your gift.”
“But I can’t mate…”
“Of course, I know you can’t mate with Nick. We’re just going to lead him to think you’re with him,” Jax explained.
“If we’re lucky, he might give up,” Nick offered.
“You think so?” Gillian asked.
“I don’t know Chaz very well, so it’s hard to say. It won’t hurt that I killed his wolf. He’ll know he’s in danger if he comes here or sends anyone to get you,” Jax speculated. “But for now, this is the best plan I’ve got to keep you safe. I know you’re not going to like this but you’ll need to stay here with me. I’ll keep the pack members out of the house.”
“But my work…”
“Congratulations. You’re officially employed at ZANE. Staff photographer. I was getting ready to offer you a job before you stopped calling anyway. When you go on shoots, I’ll send protection. If you don’t want wolves, I’ll get other security.”
“Jax, I can never repay you for your help,” she whispered, staring into the bottom of her glass.
“Repay me? Why would you ever even think that? You’re my sister. We’re family, G.”
“G?” she laughed.
“Hey, I owe you a few silly nicknames. Lost time and all that.” Jax shoved himself up from his seat, and approached Gillian. He took the glass from her hands and pulled her up into an embrace. “When and if you decide you want to mate for real, I’ll be there for you. But until then, I’ll keep you safe, okay? You’re family…the only family I have.”
“Family,” she agreed, grateful for her big brother.
Gillian hugged Jax, still apprehensive about their plan. With her budding feelings for Dimitri, she wasn’t sure she could pull off a lie. Her beta would never understand that she was just pretending. She was sure that she’d have to at least touch Nick tomorrow night and there was a good possibility he’d kiss her. Her tiger paced, distressed by the idea of another man’s hands on her skin. Gillian yearned for Dimitri, the only wolf she desired. The craving burning in her chest reminded her that she was growing precariously close to breaking every rule she’d ever known.
Chapter Seven
Dimitri lay nude on the cold slab of concrete, staring up at the stars. Two dozen chanting witches circled him, and he pondered why the sight of the naked women hadn’t even caused so much as a twitch of his dick. He should be focusing on healing his wolf, he knew, but it bothered him that he wasn’t feeling the slightest bit aroused during the skyclad ceremony. He was a red-blooded wolf, after all. Suspecting the tigress was the cause of his erectile dysfunction, he planned on calling her as soon as Ilsbeth set him loose.
With Gillian’s scent ingrained in his mind, he couldn’t shake off the attraction he felt for her. He’d been so pissed off that she had slipped out of the hotel room and hopped a plane to New York City, that he’d called Logan on their flight home. Caring less whether she wanted to be around wolves or not, Dimitri knew that Jax Chandler would see to her safety. Dimitri had asked his Alpha to call in the favor for him directly, so there’d be no misinterpretation of the request. He’d come clean with Logan, telling him every detail of the trip, including their romantic tryst the night before. Like brothers, they kept no secrets.
After he’d hung up, he’d nodded to Jake, pretending as if he’d washed his hands of Gillian and the west coast danger they’d faced. Lying to himself wasn’t his usual style. Dimitri was honest and straightforward in all aspects of his life. But at no time had a woman gotten under his skin the way Gillian had. Still, it made no sense to him, as he really didn’t know her.
True, they’d saved each other’s lives. He knew well enough that tough battles had a tendency to forge deep friendships within pack. But this was something more, something causing his wolf to howl in distress, knowing she was on her own without him. At no time had his wolf cared one way or another who he’d bedded. The scary part was that he hadn’t even made love to her yet. Oh, but he planned to one day, hard and all night long. Maybe that was his problem, he mused. If he could just have sex with her, then he’d get it out of his system, move on and come back and ask for another ‘healing ceremony’ from the witches.
A smile crossed his face as he heard the words of Marvin Gaye run through his mind. Sexual healing? He was pretty sure Ilsbeth, the sexy head witch, would be happy to give it to him. Sure they’d had somewhat of a disagreement when he’d refused to see her exclusively, but she’d still agreed to try to heal him. When they’d had their falling out, he’d given her a tuft of his wolf hair, hoping to mend their friendship. In return, she’d given him the cold shoulder a few weeks ago. Today, however, when he’d shown up on her doorstep, begging for help, she’d welcomed him with open arms.
As he glanced to his right, she gave him a small smile, wearing nothing but her birthday suit. He sucked a breath as she approached, wishing that for one second he could put Gillian out of his mind. Naked women everywhere but not a drop to drink. What was the saying? Not women, it’s water, he laughed to himself. Regardless, he should have been hard as a rock by now. Several witches approached him and began to brush anointing oil over his skin. Ilsbeth, at his head, reached forward, her taut nipples grazing his face as she leaned to smear the earthy-scented mixture from his temples to his abdomen, clear down to the crease of his groin, where his torso met his legs.
Her fleshy nubs rubbed across his open lips. Panic seized him as the realization hit that he hadn’t even needed to resist the temptation to suck the pink tips he’d once coveted. His limp cock hung heavy on his leg, despite the fingers that massaged tincture into his inner thighs. Holy hell. No fucking way. Like lightning striking down a tree, he knew instantly his promiscuous bachelor days had been decimated.
Something was terribly wrong. Dimitri screwed his eyes tight, attempting to concentrate on finding a solution to the quagmire. Could Gillian be my mate? How could this happen? Tiger wolf hybrids don’t mate wolves, do they? Goddess almighty, this was exactly why Gillian didn’t want to be around wolves. She’d been afraid something like this could happen to her. He wasn’t sure why she wanted to avoid being
mated but he sure as hell knew why he did. Dimitri had never tired of his endless nights with blondes, redheads and brunettes. His lovely rainbow of ladies had all just come to a screeching halt, the epiphany hitting him as a bevy of beauties pranced around him in their glory. Some might call it poetic justice while others might call it fucking bad luck.
Maybe he was wrong about Gillian being his mate. Maybe he was just experiencing some sort of performance anxiety. Stage fright. He wished he could laugh this one off, but his stress wasn’t eased at all by the sound of Ilsbeth’s voice calling him.
“Dimitri,” Ilsbeth said softly, running her fingers through his hair.
“What?” he asked, blinking his eyes open.
“You okay?”
Dimitri wiped his hand across his mouth and noticed everyone was gone. Only Ilsbeth remained. The empty garden courtyard smelled of the fragrant sweet bay magnolias and wisteria. The white and purple petals reflected the moonlight like a mirror. Crickets serenaded them as silence fell. Warm spring nights often led to romance on the bayou, and Dimitri hoped that whatever conclusions he had about having a mate weren’t true.
“Where is everyone?” he asked.
“We’re done. They’re going home. How do you feel? Can you stand up?” Ilsbeth stroked his cheek. “Let me help you.”
Was she seriously talking to him like he was an injured animal? Didn’t she realize he was the kind of wolf who others feared, one who could be Alpha any damn day of the week if he wished? Bristling with angst from his revelation, he knew he was redirecting his anger at her, when the real problem was his mate. Mate? He shook his head and shoved up off the table.
“I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“We need to talk, Dimitri.” Ilsbeth gracefully glided around the altar. She reached for his knees. When he didn’t flinch, she pushed his legs open further, sliding her body between his thighs.
“Hey there, cher,” Dimitri laughed.
He wasn’t sure if he was uncomfortable or not that she’d pressed her belly against his softened cock. As her arms laced around his neck, he settled his hands on her hips. The look in her eyes was recognizable as the lust they’d once shared and he found himself unable to hold her gaze. He wrapped a finger around a lock of her platinum blonde hair and tugged, lifting his eyes with a small smile.
