by Lauren Dane
“Nina…”
She put her fingers over his lips. “Why don’t you show me the rest of the house?”
He sighed and held his arm out and she took it. Once they were in the business office she shut the door and locked it. She moved to him and embraced him tightly, her lips going to his ear.
“We don’t have time for that,” he said teasingly as his hands went to her ass.
“Get over yourself. You have to leave me alone long enough to talk with people or this won’t work,” she said quietly into his ear.
He stiffened. “This is too dangerous. You saw how hostile Carter was earlier.”
“That wasn’t hostile, that was stupid. Anyway, we’re in a house full of people, no one is going to hurt me. But I can’t even start poking around if you won’t leave me alone for two minutes. Go find Cade and leave me to mingle.”
“Nina, you don’t know werewolf culture very well. You would unwittingly offend or start something and it could go off the rails before you know it. You have to watch yourself and what you say. And Cade is…busy.”
“Ahhh, gotcha. I thought I saw him making eyes at that chick with the cute jeans and pretty eyes.” Nina pulled back and looked into his face. She twined her arms about his neck. “Well, I’d tell you to do what you normally do at these things but I have a feeling that involved you getting busy and since I’d have to kill you if you even thought about fucking another woman, I’ll have to advise you to mingle or take a phone call instead. I’ll be good. I promise not to start a war or anything.”
He looked dubious but sighed because he knew she had her mind set on this stupid plan. “You have ten minutes, Nina, and I’m not leaving the room.”
She tiptoed up and kissed his lips quickly. “Okay.” Grinning, she bounded out of the room and he followed her out, glad she couldn’t see him roll his eyes.
But Melissa only wanted to talk about where Nina got her boots and Eric was too busy staring at her breasts to say anything interesting. Nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds later, Lex showed up at her side and put his arm around her waist.
Carter came around then, slobbering all over Lex. “So wow, congratulations, Lex! Who’d have thought huh? Rey’s sister? Under your nose all this time and everything.”
He turned to Nina and gave her a look that was supposed to be pitying, but was really so artificial that she wanted to gag. “Welcome to the Pack, Nina. How come we’ve never seen you before? Were you and Rey close?”
Nina hated this asshole with the heat of ten thousand suns. How smarmy can you be? He was clearly fishing and using her dead brother to do it. “Rey and I were close in our own way. He came to me when he had a problem. But once he got bit he was very involved with Pack life and I had a business to run.” She squeezed Lex’s hand tight. “But I’m so glad he came to me at the end with that laptop.”
Melissa’s eyes lit with interest as Carter leaned forward. “Laptop? Do you mean you have something of Rey’s? That could help find who killed him?” Carter said this, his voice filled with faux concern for Gabriel.
“We don’t know what’s on it but we hope so. He said some stuff, thought some answers were on the laptop. Oh, I suppose I shouldn’t say anything else.” Nina tried her best to sound clueless about the laptop.
Lex watched Eric’s indolent posture change as Nina spun the story. He saw Melissa’s interest and Carter’s barely restrained curiosity.
“Well, I know a little bit about computers if you want help,” Eric said, his eyes straying yet again to Nina’s breasts.
“Will you excuse me a moment?” Nina asked them.
Lex looked down at her with alarm. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head at him and laughed. “Yes, I’m fine. I just need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back. Stop being such a mother hen.” She reached out and touched his face briefly and sauntered out.
Lex watched her until she turned the corner and had to ruthlessly hold himself in place to keep from following her. His mate was trouble and she invited it wherever she went but if he followed her to the bathroom, she’d kick his ass.
Instead he took his frustration out on Eric. “Pup, I appreciate the offer of help with the computer but if I ever catch you looking at my mate’s breasts like that again, I’ll rip your head from your body and beat you with your spine. Are we clear?”
Eric’s blinked several times and he swallowed and dropped his gaze. “Yes, Enforcer.”
Melissa laughed. “She’s quite lovely, Lex. Strong. She’ll be good for the Pack. Will she change soon?”
“That’s for Nina to decide and not right now. She just lost a brother and her house was burned down by one of our own. You can’t blame her for not trusting us completely,” Cade said this with a bit of an edge in his voice as he came to stand next to Lex.
“So are you speaking for her now? I thought Lex was her mate.” Carter wore a smirk as he spoke.
“I’m her Alpha and her anchor. That’s enough.”
“But he’s not speaking for her, in any case, Carter. He’s making a statement of fact.” Lex glared at the other man. “She lost her brother. She’s devastated and I’d never ask her to make such a big decision right now.”
“Like being claimed?” Eric asked.
“You know that’s just how it works, Eric,” Melissa said with annoyance. “A mate is a mate. You can’t change that. But becoming a new species, that’s a big deal. Lex is right to wait.”
“You think she’d want to change. It would make her stronger and faster, extend her lifespan. It would improve her in many ways,” Eric said.
“God, what kind of pond scum was Rey, then? I mean, I know humans are bad but if being changed makes them better, he must have been one step below trash before he got bit.”
“What did you just say?” Nina said, shoving her way through Cade and Lex and into Carter’s face.
Lex moved closer trying to protect her. The room had gone silent and everyone was watching the exchange. “Honey, let me handle this,” he murmured.
She turned and her eyes flashed at him with unshed tears. Her turmoil was clear in them, her guilt and rage. “Back off,” she hissed and turned back to Carter.
“I…uh…”
“Yeah, that seems to be all you’ve got when someone confronts your bullshit attitude.” She looked around the room. “You all feel the same way? That humans are scum? That my brother was trash?”
“Nina, honey,” Cade said, an edge creeping into his voice. Things could go bad with a moment’s notice with wolves and she was so damned fearless.
“Don’t you Nina honey me! He said it right in front of you and you didn’t say anything. My brother died for you people. He may not have been Mr. Upstanding Citizen, but he wasn’t trash. From what I can tell, he ran your errands and took care of things for you so your hands didn’t get dirty.”
“I didn’t say anything because you stormed in here before Lex or I could get a word out. You need to let me handle this,” Cade warned and reached out but she stepped away and his eyebrows went up.
Nina turned back to Carter. “So, big man, say it. Or are you too much a coward to say it to my face? Huh?”
“Nina!” Lex said, grabbing her arm, pulling her back from Carter.
“Control your mate,” Carter snarled and Nina broke free and was on Carter, knocking him to the ground. The heel of her hand was lodged against his windpipe, knees against his arms.
“Control this, you piece of shit!”
Lex pulled her off Carter, amazed at how fast and vicious she was for a human. He snarled at Carter, who was gasping for breath. Nina kicked and tried to break free.
“Put me down! Now, damn it!”
“Nina! Calm yourself. It’s over. You proved your point,” Cade said as she struggled in Lex’s arms.
“I call a challenge!” Carter said as he got up.
The room erupted in a chorus of argument then.
“You’ll stand down right now, Carter,”
Cade warned.
“She drew first blood. She disrespected my station. She’s not a wolf, she doesn’t have Lex’s status. I use my right to challenge.”
“If you do this, Carter, you’ll be sorry,” Lex growled.
“You bring this human into this house and she disrespects the Third and I’m supposed to be silent about it?”
“Carter, you started it. Come on, she’s a human! She has no chance to defeat you,” Melissa said urgently.
“Shut up or I’ll challenge you after I kill her,” Carter snarled.
Lex dropped Nina and lunged, grabbing Carter by the throat and backing him against a wall. “If I kill you first, it’ll save us all the trouble.”
“Lex! Stand down,” Cade called out and Nina turned to face him, confusion on her face.
“You think I’m going to let this piece of shit kill my mate?” Lex asked, his voice less human than it had been just a moment before. His eyes had taken on a sort of luminous quality.
Tracy had moved to Nina’s side and Megan, her sister-in-law who was one of Cade’s guards, was on the other. The rest of Cade’s guards were in the room, fanned out, waiting.
“You cannot interfere with a challenge! This is Pack territory. As Third, it’s his right to challenge anyone who threatens his position. You would be subjecting yourself to censure and shunning if you interfere in that.” Cade’s voice was clear and unwavering but Nina felt his pain. Lex moved his hands away from Carter’s throat but stayed close to him, effectively keeping his back to the wall.
Cade turned back to Nina. “But I’m sure that Carter understands how upsetting his comments were to Nina, who just lost her brother and to one of us. I’m sure that we can forget this whole stupid incident once everyone just calms down.”
“I want this bitch’s apology and I want her to show obeisance,” Carter called out.
A collective gasp of outrage rippled through the room.
“Someone mind telling me what the fuck is going on?” Nina said.
“When you knocked Carter down in front of the Pack you showed him disrespect. And you nicked him and drew blood. As Third, it’s his right to challenge anyone who is lower in rank than he is for such acts,” Tracy murmured.
“Lower in rank? Challenge?”
“As a human, you don’t have the same rank as your mate like you would if you were a werewolf. Essentially, you’re a guest in the Pack, not a member of it. At least not in the sense that Lex is a member.”
“Lovely. How equitable your society is. And this challenge is what? He wants to smack me around?”
Tracy paled. “No. Unless the challenger calls it off, a challenge is to the death.”
“Are you kidding me? This asshole insults me, insults my brother and wants me to apologize or he’ll use his genetically superior strength and speed to kill me?” She turned and looked back at Carter, body still hemmed in by Lex. “Very brave of him. I can see why he’s so high up in the Pack.”
Nina moved closer to Megan.
“I’ll challenge him first. By challenging my mate, he’s disrespected me,” Lex called out.
“That’s not how it works and you know it,” Cade said. “You can challenge him…after.”
Cade turned to Nina. “Honey, I know this is hard but if you apologize it’ll all be over.” His voice was hard but she could see the pleading in his eyes.
“Not just an apology, Cade. I want her obeisance, too,” Carter called out.
“He wants you to apologize the way he did earlier,” Megan said quietly.
“This asshat wants me on my knees kissing his shoes when he called my brother trash?”
“Nina, please,” Lex begged, coming toward her. “Please, just apologize.”
Pain knifed through her. “You two asked me to come here. You people, you changed my brother without his permission and then you killed him! This piece of shit insults my dead brother and all humans and I’m the one who has to apologize? What the fuck is wrong with this picture?”
“You can’t win, damn it!” he hissed and grabbed her hands. “He is bigger and stronger and faster and he doesn’t care about you. You can’t beat him. Trust me to take care of this later but for now, please, apologize.”
“Fuck you, Lex Warden. Fuck you and your stupid rules and this messed up assbackwards society where I’m a second-class citizen. Do you think I wanted any of this? I just wanted my damned shop and a bit of peace and you werewolves have stolen everything from me.” She stepped back from him and looked at Cade and then the rest of the room. “I’d rather die than live without honor.”
No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than Carter was on her, knocking her to the ground.
Her head hit the hardwood floor and she knew she was in big trouble. Still, she wasn’t giving in without taking him down as far as she could. Carter was soft, she felt it in his hands and saw it in his walk.
His fist cocked and she rolled to the side and kicked back, hitting the back of his thigh, knocking him off and down.
“You bitch!” he screamed and his voice became a low growl.
“NO! You can’t! She’s not a wolf,” Lex yelled. Four men were holding him back so he couldn’t interfere with the fight—one of them was Cade.
Nina looked back toward Carter just in time for a sharp-clawed paw to strike her across her jaw, causing her to see stars. The metallic tang of blood exploded in her mouth and she spat it out, knowing from experience that if she swallowed it, she’d only get sick.
She got in a solid right hook and a heel to his balls and was able to stand. Blood dripped into her eye and she prayed she’d cut her head when she fell earlier. If he’d sliced her open with his nails, the chances of her getting the virus from him were higher.
Her ears rang from the next several strikes he made. Her left arm hung loosely at her side, broken. She could hear Lex screaming and howling. Others in the room were begging Carter to stop.
Carter punched her again until she finally went down. Just as quickly, he was on her and she felt his teeth pierce her neck. The shock of it gave her enough adrenaline to poke him hard in the eyes with her fingers and he backed off.
She broke free and he reached out and struck her and she flew back into Megan, who looked into her face, the helplessness and sorrow there was evident. Something caught Nina’s eye as she fell to her knees.
Without thinking, Nina reached out and grabbed Megan’s sidearm in her right hand and turned. With her good eye she sighted down her arm and pointed at Carter’s head. The room got eerily silent for a moment.
“Shoot him!” Lex screamed, breaking the quiet. Choruses of “shoot him” broke out from the entire room.
“Should I shoot you, Carter? Maybe you should apologize to me. But I’ll settle for you calling this fucked-up charade off. Now that I’m a wolf like you, I have status.”
“Not yet, you don’t,” the half-wolf Carter growled out and lunged at her. Nina squeezed the trigger over and over until the chamber was empty and Carter was a heap on the floor.
“Who’s sorry now?” she whispered and collapsed as chaos filled the room. The last thing she saw was Lex’s anguished face as he picked her up.
Chapter Six
Nina’s eyes fluttered open. It was her bedroom, only different. The room was alive with detail. So much that she felt a bit overwhelmed with it all. Her heart pounded as she raised her head to look around.
“Nina! Oh thank god. You’re awake.”
She looked up into Lex’s concerned face. “What the…? What happened?”
He put a covered cup with a straw in Nina’s hands. “Here, drink this. I’m going to run into the hall and call the doctor. I’ll be right back.” Before she could question him again he dashed out.
Putting the straw in her mouth, she gagged as the taste hit her and set the cup down on the bedside table.
Lex yelled, “She’s conscious!” As he came back into the room, Nina heard the echo of pounding feet running up the stairs.
/> He gave her an annoyed look when he came back in and sat next to her on the bed. “Why aren’t you drinking that?” he barked sharply at her, putting the cup back into her hands.
She snorted. “Why don’t you fuck off?”
“Ah, I see our girl is herself again,” Cade said as he entered the room. Nina felt a rush of relief come from him. Relief and affection.
A tall, dark-haired woman came in and closed the door behind herself.
“Okay, is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on or what?” Nina repeated, losing patience.
“Didn’t I just tell you to drink that?” Lex asked again.
“Didn’t I just tell you to fuck off? This stuff tastes like ass. I’m not drinking it.” She shoved the cup back at him but he refused to take it, his mouth set in a hard line.
“It’s nasty, but really high in protein. You’ll need it to help your body adjust.” The woman smiled. “I’m Dr. Molinari. Welcome to Cascadia, Nina.” She placed a satchel on the bed, pulled out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff from it and moved to Nina’s side, shooing Lex out of the way.
“Adjust? Doctor? If someone doesn’t start explaining, I’m gonna get huffy.”
“Yes, and god knows that would be a change,” Lex said dryly from a safe distance. At the same time, Nina could feel the cool metal of his terror, only just barely gone.
“What do you remember?” Dr. Molinari asked as she took Nina’s pulse.
“Uh, oh… I was jumped at the Pack house. I s-shot him. Jesus, I shot someone.” The unreality of the events in that living room rushed back through her. The horror.
Cade moved to her side and tipped her chin up. “You had no choice.”
“Did I kill him?” Nina whispered. Yes, she’d done it in self-defense, but she didn’t want to be a killer.
“No. But close. You emptied the clip but it was lead ammo and not silver. Carter was high in the Pack, he’s strong and has a great ability to heal.”
“Does that mean he’ll attack me again?”
“You won the challenge. Even though the challenge is to the death, he was so close that the governance council deemed it your victory.” Cade smiled.