The wolf didn’t like that the Alpha male’s voice was now loud and angry. She growled warningly. He growled back.
“Hurry, Dante.” He put the object away.
The wolf knew the scent coming from the Alpha male—panic. When he moved toward her, she growled again. This male who had challenged her was dangerous. Would attempt to dominate her, would hurt her and take her away from safety. From the pup, from “Kye.”
“Dominic, we can’t wait for him. On the count of three, I’ll dive at the wolf. You dive at the crib and protect Kye.”
The Alpha female’s voice lost its softness. “What am I, chopped liver?”
“I don’t want you near her. She’s unstable. You didn’t see what my mother did to Marcus.”
“Jaime isn’t rogue.”
“She almost is. There’s not much difference between the two, trust me.” He turned to the male.
“On the count of three, Dominic. One…two…thr—”
“No!”
The wolf flinched at the noise, surprised. Her mate was there now. He was in front of her. The Alpha couldn’t reach her. Her mate had protected her. Again.
Dante had never been so damn scared in his entire fucking life. Who could have blamed Trey for attacking the wolf before she had the chance to attack his son? But Dante just couldn’t allow any harm to come to Jaime. He couldn’t. Everything inside him rebelled against it, balked at it.
“Dante, move,” gritted out Trey.
“I can’t,” he said in an agonizing whisper.
“Hey, look.” Taryn sounded surprised, intrigued, and amused all at once.
Dante turned to look at his mate, who had now hopped down from the chair. She gave Trey a disgruntled look and settled beside Hunk at the base of the crib.
“I can’t believe I never thought of it before.”
He turned back to Taryn. “What?”
“My grandmother was the same.”
“Taryn, what the hell are you talking about?” demanded Trey.
She rolled her eyes at his tone. “Our son’s a healer.”
“A healer?”
“My grandmother was a healer, but she could only heal psychological wounds. She was the only reason my father survived my mother’s death. She didn’t help me with it because the other person has to want her help, and I didn’t want help from anyone. I was too deep in grief.” Dante frowned, still a little confused. “So…Kye’s an empathic healer?”
“No, that’s different. He won’t be able to help with emotions. Only mental scars. I thought Hunk followed him around because he was being protective, but Hunk was an abused cat, right?
Clearly he’s still got a little mental trauma, and so he’s drawn to Kye. It’ll make him automatically protective of Kye, too. That was how it was for my grandmother, anyway.” For the first time in a month, optimism flowed through Dante. “You’re saying he can heal Jaime’s wolf?”
“Um…no.”
“No?”
“He’s just a baby, Dante. But clearly, Jaime’s wolf finds his presence soothing, calming. You need to take advantage of her lucidity and try to gain her trust now while she’s receptive to you.” Trey shook his head. “No chance will I let her anywhere near my son while she’s in that state.
I’m sorry, Dante, I really am, but just as you need to protect Jaime, I need to protect Kye.”
“That’s the thing, though, Flintstone—she’s not in a state anymore. If there’s one thing I can guarantee she won’t do, it’s hurt Kye. Like Hunk, she’ll be protective of him.” Trey ground his teeth, scowling at Taryn. “We can’t—”
“Zip it, Trey. If that was me needing help, you’d be singing a different tune. Do you really think I’d do anything that would put our son in danger?”
Seeming to accept her point, albeit begrudgingly, he turned back to Dante. “We’re not moving from the room, and if she tries to hurt Kye, you won’t save her from me. Understand?” Dante gave him a curt nod, though he had no intention of letting Trey harm her. He looked at the wolf and then back at Taryn. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Sit with her. Talk to her. Touch her.”
“She never wants me near her.”
“Probably because she didn’t feel safe before. You can’t expect her to feel safe when she’s in a cage—it totally negates the chance of it. I’m not judging you for it—you didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t in a state that meant you could free her. Now she is.” Still unsure and off-center, Dante scrubbed a hand down his face and inhaled deeply. Taryn was right, though: the wolf did find Kye’s presence calming. Well, that was a start.
Slowly he crouched down, expecting the black wolf to growl and warn him away from her.
She didn’t, to his utter shock. She just watched him with alert eyes, keeping her chin resting on her forelegs. Hunk, on the other hand, hissed loudly at him. Dante was so close to hating that cat.
Feeling reassured, he sat cross-legged in front of her. The wolf continued to watch him, but she didn’t move or make a sound. It was strange not being growled at after four weeks of it. “Hey.” No more words came to him, most likely because there were other people in the room. He felt awkward and stupid. But they weren’t important, he told himself. All that was important right now was his mate.
He concentrated solely on her, blocking out everything else around him. “So you got out, huh.
I’m looking forward to hearing the story behind that. I know why you still haven’t retreated. I know you still feel like you have to protect yourself and Jaime. But you don’t. Not anymore. All the danger…it’s gone. It’s all over now. And I’m right here. I’ll keep both of you safe. Jaime knows that.
She trusts me, and now you need to, too. Because I miss her. Really, really miss her. Miss waking up with her and holding her and having her ignore every word I say. You have to trust that I’ll protect you both. You have to let her come back. I love the stubborn, willful, hotheaded bitch.” Dante might have felt embarrassed about the tears trailing down his cheeks if it hadn’t been for the fact that he wasn’t the only one sniffling. He was surprised when her wolf whined, even though he could sense a hint of sadness from her. He could also sense something else quite strongly. Jaime, he could sense Jaime. She was a contrary mixture of hopeful, sad, and content. The feeling was so fucking amazing that more tears filled his eyes.
What surprised him even more was that the black wolf lifted her head from her paws and placed it on his lap, peering up at him with eyes that were slightly guarded but no longer fearful and angry. In a cautious movement, he moved his hand to the spot between her ears and scratched lightly.
She didn’t growl or flinch or snap at him. Instead, she relaxed a little at his touch, half closing her eyes. For him, it was the equivalent of a miracle.
Dante stayed like that with her for hours, not daring to move for fear that the moment would be broken. When it came time to feed Kye and the baby had to be moved, Dante had expected the wolf to change back into her fearful, defensive state. Instead, she watched Taryn carefully as she scooped Kye from the crib and took him to the bed to feed him. The wolf remained at the foot of the crib with Dante, apparently content enough to simply be around Kye.
Thankfully, Taryn and Trey agreed that Dante could sleep in their room later that night. Not that he would have moved from that spot no matter what anybody said, but it was easier that they were okay with it. Being cautious, Trey insisted that Kye sleep in the huge bed between him and Taryn, but the wolf was happy to stay near the crib and Dante. So, leaning back against the chair near the crib, Dante fell asleep with his mate’s head still resting on his lap.
A huge impact to his chest and head woke him with a start later. But, strangely, there was no pain whatsoever. A millisecond later, he understood why, and he also realized that there was a naked woman on his lap wrapped around him. Instantly his arms were locked around her so damn tight he wouldn’t be surprised if he broke a few ribs. He’d promised himself that the second he had Jaime back in his arms, he’d tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn’t say a word because he found himself sobbing into the crook of her neck just as she was sobbing into his.