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 is coming with Jaime and me. I need some answers, and I seriously doubt I’m going to get any of them from her right now.”
Tao swallowed hard. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to take her to pack territory?”
“You’re suggesting I don’t?” His voice sounded dangerous even to him.
“Hey, look, I really, really like Jaime. She’s a great girl and she’s a good addition to the pack, and I don’t like the idea of her anywhere alone. But, well, she’s dangerous, Dante.”
“Maybe to females who challenge her, but not necessarily to anyone else.” He knew that Jaime didn’t go around picking fights. Glory had to have challenged her.
“You saw her, Dante. Her wolf lost it.”
“No, she didn’t.” He sighed. “I think something’s wrong with her wolf. She seems, I don’t know…damaged.”
“So you’re saying you think Jaime lost control of her? That still makes her dangerous. Trey’s not going to like that, especially since she’s been lying to us about being submissive.” He was right, Dante knew. The Beta in him agreed that the right decision for the pack would be for her to leave, but every cell of his body rebelled against it. His wolf, too, was angry at the idea of her leaving.
“Dante—”
“I gave you an order, Tao. Just concentrate on that and leave me to deal with this, all right?” It wasn’t actually a question. With a stiff nod, Tao left. Shifting Jaime’s weight slightly, Dante managed to stand upright. Then, curling her legs around his waist, he held her close as he exited the restrooms.
Instantly Shaya came forward, and Nick grabbed her arm, attempting to pull her back.
Scowling at him, Shaya shrugged Nick’s hand away. “Is she okay?” she asked Dante, looking both confused and concerned, as did Hope. Trick and Marcus appeared to be as wary as Tao. Gabe was looking guilty and awkward.
Dante simply gave Shaya a nod. “You, come with me,” he told Gabe, who then followed behind Dante as he made his way out of the bar and over to the SUV. It made more sense to lay Jaime across the backseat, but Dante found that he wanted her close. Not bothering to question the impulse, he placed her on the passenger seat and draped his jacket over her.
Impatient for answers, Dante only waited until he had reversed out of the parking space before he started to dig for an explanation. “Well,” he drawled, glancing in the rearview mirror at the male wolf, who was fidgeting nervously in the backseat. “It would seem that she isn’t submissive.”
“Nope,” Gabe confirmed.
“But Jaime keeps her wolf subdued?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? It’s clearly driving her wolf crazy and making her—” He broke off as realization dawned. “Her wolf was already this way. That’s why Jaime subdues her.” Gabe’s voice was sad as he spoke. “She doesn’t see that she has any other choice.”
“But I remember seeing her shift once when we were kids, and her wolf was fine. What happened to make her like this?”
“That’s Jaime’s story to tell.” Although Gabe’s tone wasn’t disrespectful, it was resolute.
Dante admired his loyalty to his sister.
“How long will she be out?”
Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her have to fight her wolf so hard before. It’s usually a few hours before she wakes up. It drains her.”
“Wait a minute, what do you mean you’ve never seen her have to fight her wolf that hard before? Are you saying it’s getting worse?”
“She doesn’t talk about it much. She doesn’t want me to worry. It used to be months at a time before her wolf had the strength to put up a fight like that.”
“When was the last time?”
“A few nights ago. When she has nightmares, it freaks out her wolf.” Dante’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. “Fuck.”
“She wasn’t going to put any of you in danger,” he assured Dante, clearly worried that his sister was in trouble with the pack. “She’d planned to leave as soon as it got too bad. She didn’t say it aloud, but I know her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she leaves tomorrow.” His voice broke with the last words.
“Why?” It came out a growl; both he and his wolf had no intention of letting that happen.
“After that incident, she’ll see herself as too much of a risk to the pack.”
“It looked to me like all she did was respond to a challenge.” Okay, so there was much more to it than that, but that was pretty much at the crux of it.
“Yeah, but you and I both know that won’t mean squat to Trey, given his overprotective state right now. It won’t mean squat to her conscience either.”
“If she leaves, if she’s without the connection of a pack and without territory, it’ll most likely make her wolf worse.”
“I know,” he croaked. “She’s done so much for me, you know. When our parents died, we went to live with our aunt and uncle, and they were great and all, but they already had five kids of their own to care for. A year later came a set of twins. You know what it’s like to live in a full house.