Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“Gabe, you’ve seen how overprotective Trey is of Taryn. He will not want an unstable wolf in his pack, especially since his mom turned rogue and he had to kill her. No, the best thing for me to do is keep my wolf buried.” That meant that people couldn’t sense her wolf’s dominant vibes, but they simply thought she was submissive. “I’ll be fine. I can keep a handle on her.” Gabe gave her a gentle smile. “If you think I don’t know that you’re planning to run off once you think I’m properly settled here, you’re dumb, sis.”
Jaime would have denied it, but Gabe was right, she could never get a lie past him. Although she would continue fighting her wolf every step of the way, she had every intention of leaving the pack if her wolf was close to gaining the upper hand. She wouldn’t risk turning rogue and hurting her packmates, not ever.
Ignoring Gabe’s further attempts to talk her into staying at pack territory, she went to work as usual. Caring for the dogs was therapeutic, in a sense. Not only because she could relate to them in a way that she couldn’t to any of her own kind, but because caring for them was such an important job that it allowed her to forget her problems for a while. It allowed her to forget just how worried she was.
She hadn’t corrected Gabe’s assumption that it had been a month since the last time her wolf fought for supremacy. In truth, it had been just eighteen days. In the beginning, she had been able to go without such an incident for up to nine months at a time. But her wolf had gotten stronger and stronger
—most likely fueled by her anger at being confined. Now it had become a battle of wills between them. A battle that Jaime had to win.
When it came to the end of her shift, Jaime sat with Ben for a while as she always did. As usual, it was a few minutes before he relaxed enough around her to lie on her lap. It took even more minutes before he finally fell asleep. Even asleep he was restless, and she wondered if he had nightmares just as she did, wondered if they were flashbacks to a time that had changed him on such a fundamental level that he was no longer the animal he once was.
“What’re you doing?” asked a confused voice.
Oh, Dante had to come along when she stank of dog muck, didn’t he?
Jaime slowly raised her head, finding him standing there, looking as gorgeous as ever. Just like always, her wolf immediately stirred at his presence and his amazing scent. The ear protectors should have made him look at least a little stupid, but no. He arched an eyebrow, waiting for her answer.
“Ben always shakes like crazy when he’s nervous and anxious. I’m just trying to settle him a bit.”
Dante felt his brow arch even higher. “You’re sitting in a cage…because he’s nervous?”
“You’re watching me sitting in a cage…because, what?” For that matter, why was he even there at all? He’d never visited her at work before. He’d always purposely avoided her in general.
The sound of someone approaching snatched both their attention.
“Oh h-hi,” stammered Riley, staring at Dante with lust-filled eyes. Did she want Jaime to bitch slap her, was that it? Not that Jaime blamed her. Because of his size, females tended to have a conflicting reaction to him, feeling both intimidated and captivated. Who wouldn’t be intimidated by someone who looked as though nothing in the world could faze or scare him? Dante simply gave Riley a nod.
Carefully Jaime returned Ben to his little spot on the floor. When she turned back, it was to see that Dante was holding out his hand to her. She slipped her hand into his, and he helped her stand upright. “Thanks,” she uttered, wondering if he felt the surge of heat that she did when their hands touched. Going by his frown, probably not.
“I just wanted to ask if you were able to give Neo his shot?” asked Riley, referring to the Neapolitan mastiff that had recently arrived at the sanctuary. Blushing an unattractive beet-red color, she repeatedly glanced nervously at Dante.
“Yeah, he was fine.” Jaime locked Ben’s cage before placing the keys on the hook. “Pissed, but fine.”
“Great. That’s all, so I’ll, um, see you tomorrow, I guess.” With that, she scuttled away. No doubt her inner lioness was nervous around Dante, too.
“So, is there a problem or something?” Jaime asked him as they walked toward the exit, her body very much aware of him.
“I came to take you to lunch.” And interrogate the hell out of you, he wisely didn’t add.
Although he’d be lying if he said that he wouldn’t enjoy spending time with her.