by Lori Drake
She was worth everything.
2
Joey circled her opponent, the mat firm but squishy beneath her bare feet. Her days had taken on a familiar pattern in the last ten weeks. She spent a couple of hours each morning training with Maria in hand-to-hand combat, then a couple of hours with Ben in wolf fighting.
At first, she hadn't understood why Ben was so insistent she train in human form as well. The challenge would be in wolf form, so she’d felt like every moment she spent training outside of wolf form was a waste of precious time. But now, she had to admit, it was helping her reflexes. Plus, Maria was accustomed to taking down much larger opponents and knew all sorts of dirty tricks.
In other words, she was teaching Joey how to fight like a girl.
Joey suspected their sessions were therapeutic for Maria as well. She often seemed more relaxed when they finished than when they had started. Today, however, Maria seemed distracted. Joey had taken her to the mat four times already, and they weren’t even halfway through their training session.
Maria lunged, slashing at Joey’s midsection with a dummy knife. Joey sidestepped and grabbed Maria’s arm, twisting it behind her back and bringing her up on the balls of her feet. Maria turned into her arm and drove her hip against Joey’s as she grabbed Joey’s other arm. The next thing Joey knew, she was flying through the air. She landed on her back with a grunt, the breath driven out of her lungs on impact.
“That’s more like it,” she said once she had her breath back. “Finally. What the hell’s eating you today?”
“Nothing.” Maria leaned over to offer her a hand up.
Joey gripped Maria’s wrist, but rather than pull herself up, she tugged Maria down. Startled, Maria tipped forward and Joey swept her legs out from her, grabbing her and twisting so Maria landed on her back.
Joey quickly scrambled up to straddle Maria’s chest, pinning her to the mat in a high mount. “Bullshit. Talk to me, or get your head in the game and quit wasting my time.”
Maria’s eyes narrowed, but she nodded tersely. Joey let her up, retreating to the edge of the mat for a sip of water and to give Maria a chance to collect herself.
“Have you picked a date for the challenge yet?” Maria said.
“Not officially.” Joey noted the change of subject. “But I’m going to talk to Ben about it today. I think I’m ready.”
“Soon, then?”
Joey retrieved her water bottle and turned, finding Maria standing in the center of the mat, hands on hips. “Yeah. Tomorrow, maybe. It’s the peak of the new moon, so Lucas’s wolf will be at its weakest.”
Maria snorted and shook her head. “So will yours.”
“Yeah, but it won’t be as pronounced for me. His wolf is an order of magnitude stronger than mine.”
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall?”
“That’s the theory. Technically, he’ll have twenty-four hours to answer. I’m hoping he’s cocky enough to be overconfident.” Joey took a sip of water, then set her bottle aside and approached the center of the mat once more. “Look, I’m not going to order you to tell me what’s up or anything. I just want you to know that I’m willing to listen if there’s something on your mind. Unofficially, not as Chris’s second. Just… as a friend.”
“Are we friends?”
“We could be. This whole scenario would be easier for both of us if we were.”
Maria tossed her long, dark braid over a shoulder and settled into a fighting stance. She didn’t answer until Joey joined her and they traded a few blows. “I’m tired of being cooped up and babysat.”
“I can identify with that. But it’s only been, what… two months since you joined us?”
“Eighty-two days. I’ve done everything asked of me, but I’m not allowed to leave the house unsupervised, not allowed a weapon for my own protection…” She swung.
Joey ducked the right cross. “To be fair, you spent the first week all but locked in your room, refusing to talk to anyone. And we were just as worried for your own safety as ours.”
Maria growled softly, a frustrated noise if Joey had ever heard one. “I want to see my brother.”
Joey could understand that too. Granted, none of her brothers had ever been locked up in mental institutions, but if they were… she’d want to see them too. Unfortunately, Maria’s brother—if he even was her brother—had written her off when he discovered she was a wolf. The two had been close until then. Inseparable, even. Maria wasn’t weathering their estrangement well.
“I’m sorry. You know we’ve tried. He just doesn’t want to see you right now.”
Maria threw herself into her attacks with a fury that took Joey by surprise. She dodged and feinted, and the first strike she took to her midsection doubled her over and sent her to her knees.
Maria backed off immediately, her face draining of color. “Shit. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Joey said, clutching her stomach as she eyed Maria warily. “Gimme a sec.” She breathed through the pain and got to her feet. It wasn’t too bad. Nowhere near as bad as it would’ve been if her silver wound hadn’t fully healed. “That’s more like it. Do that again.”
“What?”
“Get angry. Come at me.”
Maria held up a hand. “No, no I can’t. If I hurt you, the Alpha will withdraw his protection.”
Joey bared her teeth and met the reformed hunter’s eyes in challenge. “I wasn’t ready. Now I am. Quit pussyfooting around and get it out of your system.”
Even with a clear invitation, Maria hesitated. It was understandable. By the rules set for Maria’s probation, if she intentionally harmed a wolf, her life would be forfeit. But Joey wanted—needed—to know if all the training she’d been doing was really paying off, and she hadn’t realized until that moment how much Maria had been holding back. Settling into a fighting stance, Joey lifted an arm and crooked her fingers.
Maria came at her again, launching a flurry of punches and kicks. Now that she was expecting it, Joey blocked and dodged easily, utilizing the instincts she’d been honing these last two months and change. She took the first opportunity she could to throw a punch of her own, but Maria ducked and drove her shoulder into Joey’s hip, wrapping her arms around Joey’s legs to take her down. Joey slid an arm around Maria’s neck on the way down, but Maria ducked her chin, denying her the opportunity to establish a choke.
They hit the mat, but Joey locked a foot under Maria’s knee and rolled them over before Maria could establish dominance. They rolled over and over, twisting out of one another’s hold like slippery eels and trading more than a few blows before Joey managed to pin Maria sufficiently enough for her to tap out.
Aching in more than a few tender spots, Joey rolled away and flopped on her back, staring at the ceiling while she caught her breath.
“I think you’re ready,” Maria said between wheezing breaths.
A sense of satisfaction filled Joey, spreading from her chest to the tips of her toes. “Me too.”
“I’m going to challenge Lucas tomorrow.”
Chris blinked and looked up from his perusal of the latest translated journal pages. Joey had been quiet all evening, and he suspected the challenge was on her mind, but the immediacy of it still took him by surprise. He closed the laptop and set it on the nightstand, then looked across the room to where Joey stood in front of the mirror, watching him in its reflection.
“Okay, you have my attention. Tomorrow?”
She nodded. “Ben thinks I’m ready. Maria too.”
“C’mere.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she turned and approached the bed. Settling on the edge, she curled her fingers over his and regarded him expectantly.
“I don’t know what the right thing is to say,” he admitted.
Her lips twitched in a faint smile. “Good luck, you’ve got this, I’ll love you no matter what?”
He tugged her hand, pulling her into his lap. “Good luck. You’ve got this. I’ll love you no
matter what.”
“There have been plenty of times I would’ve liked to put words in your mouth, but strangely, this isn’t one of them.” She sighed.
“I meant every one.” He tightened his arms around her and brushed her forehead with his lips. “I’m not going to pretend I’m not worried… but it’s not about your capabilities. I just don’t want to have to stand on the sidelines and watch someone try to hurt you.” Or actually hurt her, for that matter. Win or lose, she was unlikely to walk away without injury.
She scooted down a little to lean against his chest, reclining against the headboard with him. “You don’t have to. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“God, not being there sounds even worse.” He shook his head slowly. “No, I’ll be there. Someone has to make sure Lucas vacates the premises.”
“Ben will be there. Sam too, I imagine.”
“We’ll all be there, love. Both packs. Sam and I have discussed it.”
She stiffened in his arms, then pushed herself up to eye him. “Oh, you have, have you?”
Chris slid his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her head. “Yeah, we have,” he said without shame. “Because you’re important to all of us, and we support you one hundred percent. Lucas needs to know that.”
She was quiet for a long moment, eyes searching his. Eventually, she nodded. “Well, if he doesn’t know that by now, he’s an idiot.”
“Only an idiot would’ve challenged you in the first place and expected anything else.” He sealed the statement with a kiss, which she leaned into. As their lips caressed, her intoxicating scent filled his nostrils. A familiar warmth began to spread within him, but he marshaled his will and forced himself to stop kissing her so they could finish their discussion. “There’s one thing to consider, though.”
“Hmm?” The distracted nature of the inquiry fed his ego.
“He’s added that new guy to his pack. Vince.”
“Okay… what does that have to do with anything?
“Well, for one… he could have the new guy fight for him. Unlikely, because, well, he’s Lucas. But Vince is a complete wild card. We’ve got no idea what his capabilities are. All I know is his wolf is barely in check.”
She leaned back, forehead wrinkling. “And even if he doesn’t, when I kick Lucas’s ass and send him back to Georgia, Vince becomes my problem.”
“Bingo.”
Her dark eyes lifted, pupils big and round in the relatively low light cast by the bedside lamp. He watched her think through the problem, practically reading her mind in the thoughtful cast of her eyes, the furrow of her brow, and the way she worried the inside of her lower lip. She was uncertain, he suspected, but not quite worried.
Her eyes refocused on his. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But I sincerely doubt he’ll have some newcomer fight as his second. There’s too much at stake, and it’s not like he’s a lightweight. He knows his way around a fight.”
Chris nodded, recalling how they’d found out—belatedly—that Lucas had cut his teeth in dog-fighting contests as a teenage lycanthrope.
“Let’s talk about something else,” she said with a weak smile.
He ran a hand up her thigh, fingertips teasing at the hem of her pajama shorts. “If it’s a distraction you want…”
Her husky laugh sent a shiver down his spine and a spike of heat straight to his groin. “I like where your head’s at…”
“Do you?” he asked, suddenly feeling playful. “Because I was thinking about the wedding.”
She groaned. “Liar.”
Grinning, he pushed off the headboard and rolled over, bringing her with him so she was trapped beneath him. “Well, now I am.” He brushed his lips against the soft skin of her neck, then scraped his teeth against her skin, reveling in her sharp intake of breath. “Have you given it any more thought?”
“Hmm?”
He dragged his lips lower, finding that sensitive spot at the nape of her neck. “The wedding,” he reminded her.
“I still think Vegas sounds nice,” she murmured, soft fingers caressing the back of his neck, brushing the short hairs there and leaving goosebumps in their wake. “Uncomplicated.”
Chris grunted. Neither of them were particularly eager to host a large complement of guests again anytime soon, and it was going to be difficult to pull off a more traditional wedding without the guest list swiftly getting out of hand. Once you started leaving people off, they got offended, and suddenly your happy day turned into a political nightmare.
Still, Chris couldn’t help but long for that traditional wedding. He wanted to see Reginald walk Joey down the aisle, to see the smiling faces of their friends and family looking on as she and Chris pledged themselves to each other forever. Considering everything that they’d gone through, years of unrequited love, nearly losing each other more times than he’d like to count, he probably should’ve been a little more willing to do whatever it was she wanted if it meant making her his wife. His mate. For life. But he’d never admit to wanting a big white wedding more than she did. They’d either revoke his man card or accuse him of batting for the other team.
“We’ve got time to figure it out. Well, depending on how long you want to wait,” he said, tracing her collarbone with the tip of his nose while he slid his hand up her shirt.
“Soon,” she said, arching beneath his touch. “I don’t want to wait much longer. It feels like we’ve been waiting forever.”
“It’s only been, what… two months?”
Joey chuckled. “Eighty-one days.”
Blinking, Chris lifted his head. “You’ve been counting the days?”
She smiled, combing her fingers through his hair. “No, I just know you proposed the day after we turned Jack over to Detective Harding, and Maria reminded me today exactly how long ago that was. She’s really unhappy that he won’t see her. Among other things.”
“Other things? She’s seemed to be doing better, coming out of her shell…” Chris thought back on his recent interactions with the former hunter, wondering what he’d missed.
“She has, but we’ve still got her on a pretty short leash. Maybe we should consider loosening it up a bit.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“Not specifically. But… something that shows we trust her a little without exposing us to undue risk. Let her go on a beer run or something, by herself.”
Chris considered her words, then nodded and kissed her softly. “I’ll sleep on it and see what I come up with. Have I mentioned how sexy you are when you’re looking out for my people?”
“Our people. I’m your second, remember?”
“Mmm. First, second, and everything in between. So, about the wedding…”
This time it was Joey that rolled Chris over, rising over him with her hair like a fiery curtain around her. He shivered, turned on by her strength as much as her beauty. She reached for the hem of her sleep shirt and pulled it over her head, casting it aside with a smirk. “Here I am, half-naked, and you want to talk about the wedding?”
Chris growled low and reached for her, pulling her back down to feel her bare chest against his. “Well, now I don’t want to talk about the wedding.”
Their lips met in a scorching kiss, and the discussion was officially tabled for the night. Again.
3
Joey stood on the doorstep of what used to be her family’s mountain lodge the next morning, flanked by Chris on one side and Sam on the other, with the balance of their packs at her back. The fact that Lucas had buzzed them in at the gate only to make them ring the bell and wait on the doorstep galled her.
The sun hadn’t been up for a full hour yet, so it hadn’t had a chance to chase away the night’s chill. Joey fought the urge to shift her weight and pull her coat closer around her while she waited for the lord of the manor to deign to answer.
When the door did open, it wasn’t even Lucas who answered. A tall, lanky man opened the door, wearing nothing but boxers, a few days’
beard growth, and a sneer. Joey immediately understood Chris’s concerns. It had to be Vince. His wolf all but oozed from his pores, half feral and leaking dominance.
Vince scratched his nuts as he peered at them. “Whatever you’re selling, we don’t need any.” His voice was as gruff as his appearance.
“Charming. You must be Vince,” Joey said.
He grunted in reply and began closing the door. Sam slapped a hand against it, preventing it from shutting. “We’re here to see your Alpha. May we come in?”
Vince bared his teeth and pushed harder on the door, but it didn’t budge.
“Please?” Joey added, struggling to keep the annoyance from her voice.
“Who is it?” Lucas said from inside the house.
Vince stepped back, and the door swung open once more, revealing a fortunately more dressed Lucas.
“Avon calling,” Joey said, smirking.
“Well, if it isn’t the Grantins. Come on in. Mi casa used to be su casa, after all.”
Joey swallowed a growl and remained where she was. “It’s fine. This won’t take long. Lucas Grant, I challenge you.”
“Is that so? Oh dear. That presents quite the conundrum.” He glanced between the alphas on his doorstep, then beyond them to their assembled packs, stroking his chin. His eyes danced with delight. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
Joey’s wolf, already on edge in response to Vince’s wolf, snarled. Joey fisted one hand, her nails digging half-moons into her palm. “Why not?”
“Vince challenged me yesterday,” Lucas said, his accompanying smile a little too smug. He knew as well as they did that, by wolf law, no Alpha could be challenged more than once in a seven-day period.
Joey glanced between the two men, frowning. Neither of them looked injured, but lycanthropes did heal superficial damage quickly. A hand touched her back. She hoped it was Chris.
“Has the challenge been answered?” Sam asked.
“None of your goddamn business,” Vince growled.
Lucas held up a hand. “My apologies. He’s a little grouchy about getting his ass kicked. Yes, it’s been taken care of.”