Instead, pure male need blazed from his eyes. Not that she could take it as a compliment—the scent of a mature female wolf’s arousal would have undoubtedly stirred his wolf and interested his body whether Dante wanted it to or not. Still, his reaction thrilled her wolf; the animal wasn’t interested in the facts surrounding the situation, she saw only a strong, dominant, aroused male who would take care of her own arousal quite nicely.
Yeah, well, her wolf would have to be disappointed, because Jaime herself was interested in the facts surrounding the situation. This was a male who had made it quite clear that he didn’t want her. This same male had not only been shoving his nose into her business, he had actually marked her when he had no goddamn right or reason. Possibly worse than all that, Jaime wanted him regardless.
“Answer my question.” His voice was taut with the feverish lust that was pounding through him.
“I don’t have to tell you a fucking thing.”
Of course the word fucking had Dante’s brain going back to its favorite subject—the idea of fucking Jaime. More fantasies began playing around in his head, making his balls ache. “Why are you being so secretive about this? Just answer the damn question!”
“Or what? You’ll tell Trey? Go ahead.” She waved a hand at the door. “Go on, go tell him.” He probably should. No, he definitely should. But Dante knew that Trey would decide to banish her purely for lying about her wolf’s dominant nature—there was no room for deception in a pack. While Dante understood that, he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of Jaime being banished. Not until he knew exactly why she had lied. Jaime wasn’t a vindictive, disloyal person. If she was trying to keep her wolf’s true status a secret, there had to be a very good reason. “I can’t help you unless you’re honest with me.” He growled when she arched an imperious brow at him.
“Did I ask for your help, Popeye?”
In two strides, he’d covered the space between them. “Stop being so fucking stubborn and tell me,” he ordered, all Beta now. The scent of her arousal swirled around him, blending with his own, making him close to drunk. The obstinate, challenging, hotheaded female was actually able to shrug off his order, and God help him, he found it sexy as fucking hell. All he could think about was stripping her naked and fucking her raw, fucking her into submission. His usually iron control was now papery thin, all because of this woman. “You don’t even know that you’re doing it, do you?” She double-blinked, confused—fully proving his point. She had absolutely no clue what she did to him, no clue just how hard he had to fight not to pounce on her and ravish her. If he didn’t leave this room right now, she soon would.
Reminding himself of all the reasons why he couldn’t have her, he stepped back. “Don’t think this is the end of this, Jaime. I told you yesterday that I won’t stop harassing you until I get answers.” He thought about apologizing for what had happened last night, but he wasn’t sorry—not even about marking her, oddly enough. So he turned on his heel and forced himself to leave before he dove on her again.
Deciding that she had definitely never met a male stranger than Dante, she stared after him as he waltzed out. His natural cocky swagger should have annoyed her, but damn if it didn’t have her stomach clenching in need again. Jerk.
Although Jaime was eager to know what had Shaya in such a state that she was chugging down a glass of vodka like it was ice water, she didn’t prod her for answers. She simply sat on the bar stool, waiting patiently for her to speak. Sensing that she and Shaya had needed a little alone time, Gabe had taken Hope onto the dance floor. He was good like that.
“I know I said I’d tell you, but I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” Shaya eventually said.
“I think you do. I think this is eating at you.”
Shaya offered a sad smile. “That’s almost the exact same thing that Marcus said.”
“Marcus is the one who has you upset?”
“No, no, definitely not. The shameless flirt guessed there was something upsetting me, and he wouldn’t stop hounding me until I told him.”
Jaime recalled seeing the two of them going on private strolls around pack territory together.
She had wondered if maybe they scratched each other’s itch occasionally, but apparently, it was something much more important.
“I’m glad I did tell him. Without having him to talk to, I’d have lost it. He’s the only one who knows. If I tell you, you have to keep it to yourself. I mean you keep it from Gabe, and Dante, and even Taryn and Trey. I know that’s not a fair thing to ask, so if you’re not comfortable with it, we won’t talk about it.”
Jaime wasn’t in a position to judge anybody for keeping secrets from their Alphas. Even if the idea had made her feel uncomfortable, she still wouldn’t be okay with leaving Shaya to deal with whatever this was alone. Sure, Shaya had Marcus, but sometimes a woman needed to talk to another woman. “You have my word that I won’t repeat a single thing you tell me.” Shaya slumped over the bar. “I know who my true mate is.”
That had Jaime raising her eyebrows. “Is he in the pack?”
“No. None of those guys would ever walk away from their true mate.”
“So he knows who you are? I mean, he knows you’re his mate?”
“He knows.” She took another swig of vodka. “I know it’s really unusual for someone to pick up on it within minutes of meeting someone, but I just knew. Maybe it’s because I was so eager to find him after seeing Taryn so happy with Trey that I was open enough to sense it. I saw a flash of recognition and then shock cross his face. I saw the way he watched me like a hawk. There’s no way I’ll believe he doesn’t know.”
“You didn’t try to talk to him?”
Her chuckle was humorless. “Oh I tried. You should have seen the way he looked at me. Or should I say, he looked through me. He’s made it obvious that he doesn’t want me.”
“He said that?” Jaime was ready to kill the guy already.
“That’s the thing, he said nothing. He doesn’t talk to me. Whenever he comes to our territory, he pretty much overlooks my presence. I don’t even stick around when he’s there anymore. I figure there’s no point if he’s only going to ignore me. It hurts, you know. It really fucking hurts.” Jaime could only imagine. “Why not tell Taryn?”
“She’d demand to know who he is, break his nose, and then force him to claim me. I want him to claim me because he wants to.”
“Maybe there’s a good reason why he hasn’t claimed you. Maybe you could try to talk to him again.”
“Give him a chance to dismiss me again like I’m a piece of shit on his shoe? No thanks. I’ve got a pretty good idea why he doesn’t want me. He looks down on me.” A surge of protectiveness shot through Jaime. “Why would he look down on you?”
“Because I’m submissive, and he’s so not.”
“Why should that be an issue? Just because you’re a submissive doesn’t mean your mate can’t be an alpha male.”
Another humorless chuckle. “He’s not just an alpha male. He’s an Alpha of a pack.” Shock made Jaime’s eyes widen. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. So you see the problem.”
Yes, she saw the problem. Alpha pairs of a pack were exactly that—a pair of Alphas. A submissive wolf could never hold the position of Alpha female and would be constantly challenged if she tried. Trey’s mother had been an exception, because no one had envied her position as Rick Coleman’s mate, but she had never had the respect and support of the pack as every Alpha female should. Jaime wanted to say something comforting, but unlike her brother, she was so bad at this. “Oh God, Shaya, if I knew what to say, I’d say it.”