Jaime gave her a sympathetic look. “Aw, Greta, haven’t you figured out yet that I’m bad with or without the attitude?”
“That’s another problem: you’ve no respect.”
“It doesn’t feel like a problem.” Hunk suddenly jumped onto her lap and snuggled against her, making Jaime smile even in spite of the drivel she was listening to.
“You think you can behave however you want because my Dante’s protecting you, don’t you?
Humph. I’ve got news for you. He can’t protect you against Trey, and I know my grandson doesn’t want you here. The last thing he needs when Taryn’s nearing the end of her pregnancy is any danger or trouble, and that’s exactly what you are. Dante’s mad to keep you around.”
“Greta,” murmured Dante, cautioning her with his eyes to stop.
“It’s true,” she insisted. “She could turn on any one of us at any time. How can you let her fool you like this? She’s only fornicating with you to make you keep her around. And she’s constantly disrespectful to me—you’ve heard how she talks to me.” She sneered at Jaime. “You’re jealous of the relationship I have with Dante.”
Jaime cocked her head, looking at Greta curiously. “You know, I used to think you were snarling at me, but now I see that…it’s actually just your face.” Dante’s coffee sprayed out of his mouth and over the table. Jaime patted his back as he coughed and laughed at the same time.
“Dante, son, can’t you see the danger she brings to the pack? She’s unstable, for God’s sake!
Crazy!”
Jaime turned to Shaya. “Ever played that game, ‘hit Granny with the polo mallet’?”
“Forget it!” Greta jumped to her feet. “If you’re not willing to listen, Dante, there’s no point in me continuing. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Now that he’d recovered from his coughing fit, Dante drained the last of his coffee and ran a hand over Jaime’s hair. “You okay, baby?”
She smiled. “Fine.”
“I’ll drive you to work. Don’t argue, I hate the thought of you in that tin can.” Of course she argued. It was what she did best. Eventually, though, she caved and let him drive her—mostly because she liked being around him, even when he was subjecting her to that gruesome training that she was aching from. He kept his hand on her thigh throughout most of the journey and gave her a deep, drugging kiss when he finally arrived at the sanctuary.
“I’ll pick you up at the end of your shift.”
“You have enough things you need to be doing.”
“I’m still picking you up. Deal with it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, by the way, the Toyota SUV is parked outside Ivy’s house. I drove it there last night before we went clubbing, but I had to leave it there. No way would I drive when I had every intention of drinking.”
“I’ll have one of the guys pick it up later.”
She told him Ivy’s address and was just about to hop out of the vehicle when he suddenly gripped her neck and tugged her to him, bringing his mouth down hard on hers. It was a devastating kiss with an edge of possessiveness to it. The second he released her, she understood why. Shawn was watching from the door of the main building. “One night of fucking doesn’t give you a right to mark me as your territory,” she told him, growling.
He collared her throat with his hand again. “I told you at the club, you’re mine. I want more than one night, and I want more than just fucking. We’ll discuss it later. Go on.” Unsure whether to be happy or doubtful, Jaime got out of the SUV and headed to the main building to change into her work clothes. Shawn never said a word to her, and she hadn’t expected him to. Ivy and Riley, on the other hand, grilled her for information. Was he good in bed? How many times did he make her come? When did he bite her neck?
“He said he wants more than one night.”
“More?” Ivy’s brows shot up. “You don’t believe him,” she surmised by Jaime’s expression.
“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think Dante would lie about something like that, but he never does relationships. I know there must be some kind of story behind it, but I’ve no idea what.”
“Why are you finding it so difficult to believe that he’ll make an exception for you?”
“Look at me, Ivy. I’m not saying I think I’m ugly, but I’m plain and I know it. If it wasn’t for the big breasts, I doubt I’d get much attention at all. Dante’s own words were that I’m not his type. Plus, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t until he thought I was with Shawn that he showed any interest in me at all. Maybe it’s one of those guy things.”
Ivy went to object, but then sighed. “I get what you mean. It would make sense that his ego got stepped on and so he wanted it stroked. But it would also make sense that he’d make an exception for you. Jaime, I’ve told you, like, a million times, you are not plain. I know you think of yourself as a bad catch because of your situation with your wolf, but that doesn’t mean that guys will think so.” Jaime snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I know better than to keep up the compliments. Your low self-esteem stops them getting through to you. But what I will say is that I saw the way Dante looked at you last night. He looked at you like he thought you belonged to him. I honestly thought he was going to tear the falcon apart limb by limb.”
“Yep,” agreed Riley. “He’s kind of scary. So what are you going to do?” Jaime blew out a breath. “Talk to him, I guess. He said we’d discuss it later.”
“Good idea,” said Ivy with a nod. “Right, we need to get to work. I just want to say one thing.
Last night was the first time I’ve ever actually been up close to Dante, the first time he and I have ever made eye contact. He wasn’t drawn to me, Jaime. The magick didn’t work on him. The only guys who can resist it are those who are totally hung up on another person. You might want to think on that.” With those words, Ivy turned and walked away.
Not knowing what to do with that information—her thoughts were jumbled enough—Jaime simply put it to the back of her mind and got to work. But apparently she and those jumbled thoughts didn’t quite have an understanding, because soon enough they were tormenting her again. In all fairness, though, how could she not be feeling confused right now? The guy she wanted with every ounce of her being had gone from being aloof to suddenly wanting some kind of relationship with her.
What made it even more confusing was that he was fully aware of just how broken she was—a broken female wouldn’t be attractive to a dominant male. None of it made any sense. Of course a relationship with Dante was what she wanted, but not if that relationship didn’t mean anywhere near as much to him as it did her. And it wouldn’t mean as much to him. It would eat at her to be with him, care about him, and want to mean something to him, when he only saw her as a convenient body.
When her shift was almost over, she took out some garbage bags as usual. It was as she threw them into the huge garbage container that several unfamiliar scents surrounded her. Spinning, she found seven male wolf shifters, smirking and chuckling. All were clearly related, and all closely resembled Glory.
“Hello there, honey,” said the one in the center who was the tallest and stockiest of the seven.
His eyes surveyed her body, and a creepy smile took over his face. Looking in his eyes, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that someone else was driving. “I can see why he might be tempted to ignore his mate for you.”
“How’s your sister doing?” she asked tonelessly. Her wolf paced restlessly, recognizing their posture as threatening and beginning to feel overly anxious. In truth, Jaime wasn’t feeling particularly calm either, but she wouldn’t let them see that.
“You hurt her pretty badly. As you can imagine, I can’t have that. And since you’re Dante’s girl, that means you’re a way to hurt him, too. By dealing with you, we’re killing two birds with one stone.”