“If I’d ever handled product samples, would that infect me?”
“No. Otherwise all the products we sell would turn people.”
“Good point.” Then she looked at him skeptically. “What is in the products that you sell?”
He smiled wryly. “You can’t guess? Werewolf blood. Incredibly diluted. The Platinum line is from wolves with the Dominus gene, like me. The Dominus gene makes us stronger, faster, we have enhanced senses, we’re fiercer fighters.” At that he frowned.
“What’s wrong with being fierce?”
“The problem is…I’m afraid I’ll be too much for you. All male wolves are pretty dominant, especially sexually, but with the Dominus gene…when we see what we want, we claim it. Pretty aggressively. Like I did in the forest before. It’s a werewolf thing. It’s part of our animal nature; we’re role playing. We chase the woman, and she’s expected to give us a hard time, make us work for it. But I know that not all humans are into that kind of thing.”
“I didn’t…hate it.” She blushed.
At that, he gave her an amused glance. “I know you didn’t. I can scent arousal. If a wolf with the Dominus gene went after a woman and she genuinely didn’t want him, he’d sense it and back off. Well, most of us would.” His expression darkened again. “We’re up against an Alpha who wouldn’t.”
Then he frowned. “Would you object to letting a female healer examine you from head to toe, so we can see if there’s an obvious spot where you may have been injured or bitten without realizing it? It’s James’ wife, Anita.”
She nodded. “That’s fine. I want to know as much as you do. If what you’re telling me is true, my entire life is about to change. Every full moon, I’ll turn into a werewolf.”
“Well, it’s a little more than that. The week before the full moon you’ll crave red meat, and you’ll be more aggressive and temperamental. On the night of the full moon, you’ll change, and you’d be a danger to any human who came near you. You won’t be in control of yourself. That’s why we have this enormous property, and why it’s so isolated. There are a few major wolf packs scattered across the country. They all own properties like this, and any werewolf who’s traveling near the full moon, or who belongs to a smaller pack, is allowed to come to the larger tracts of land when it’s time for the change.”
“So. The full moon isn’t for about ten days. Can I go home?”
The look on his face was all the answer she needed.
She took a deep breath. “You’re literally telling me that I’m a prisoner here. That makes me very angry. My father was an abusive jerk who tried to control my mother. He locked us up in a room for days.”
“This is different,” Cliff said. “There are a lot of things I have to teach you, for your own safety. And for the safety of my pack, we have to find out who turned you, and how. And…” He took her hand in his. “I want you to stay with me. I want you to be my mate. You’re the one, Taylor. I felt drawn to you the very first time I spoke to you, and I thought I could never have you, so I walled away my longing and desire for you. And now that I know I’ve been so blessed, so lucky, that you’re my True Mate, I don’t ever want to let you go.”
“I’m your…what?”
He looked a little sheepish. “When a wolf meets the woman who’s his destiny, he knows it right away. Some say it’s an old wives’ tale, but now that I’ve met you, I know they’re wrong. I think people who say that have just never met their True Mate.”
“I’m a thief,” she blurted out.
Was she telling him that because she wanted him to throw her out on her butt, or because she wanted him to know everything about her and go into this with his eyes wide open?
She didn’t really know for sure.
“You’re what?” He looked at her in puzzlement.
“I stole the samples. The Platinum pills seem to delay the symptoms of a certain type of blood disorder. I found it out on the dark web, when I was trying to research cures for my friend ‘Chantelle’s blood disorder. It’s not an actual cure, but it keeps the symptoms at bay, at least.”
She thought he’d be furious. Instead he just looked thoughtful. Calculating, even. “So you need the samples to keep your friend alive.”
She yanked her hand away from his, fury bubbling up inside her. “Are you bargaining with my friend’s life to force me to stay here and agree to be your…mate?”
Those beautiful amber eyes bored right into her. “I will never lie to you. Yes, that’s what I’m doing.”
She stood up and took a few steps back, so angry that it took her a few moments to form words. “You are a conniving, manipulative son of a bitch.”
“I am all those things.” He nodded. “Those are necessary characteristics for the leader of a pack. And I want you very badly. You. Nobody else. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you mine.”
Under other circumstances, she would have been incredibly flattered, and touched, by such a romantic declaration. But he was using Chantelle as a pawn in a chess game with life-and-death consequences.
“I’m not a business deal! I’m not some factory equipment you’re buying!” she shouted, flushed with fury.
“I know that.” He stood up and walked towards her, stopping when she took a step back. “You’re Taylor. You’re mine. After the Alpha Trials, you’re going to be my mate.”
She wanted to know what the Alpha Trials were, but she was too angry to ask him any questions right now.
“Fine,” she bit out finally. “But my friend Chantelle gets all the product she needs.”
“Agreed.”
“And by the way, I texted her that I was coming out here to talk to you. I have to call her back, or she’ll worry.”
“You can call her, but I have to listen in on the phone call for now. It won’t always be like this. The last thing I want to do is make you feel like a prisoner; I want you to want to be here. To want to be with me. It’s just until we figure out how you turned in the first place, and get you settled in as a member of the pack.”
“All right. I’m going to call her and tell her that I came out here and you invited me to stay for the weekend, and that everything is fine. And one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“I said that I’d agree to be your mate. However, we’re not going to have sex.”
A look of shock crossed Cliff’s face.
“We aren’t?”
“No, we’re not.”
“But you want me. You want to have sex with me. Why deny yourself?”
“Because I’m furious with you. Because you kidnapped me and are holding me prisoner. Because you’re bargaining with my friend’s life to get what you want. Because one million other reasons that I don’t even feel like explaining to you right now. And if you don’t mind, I would like to return to my prison cell.”
He snorted. “You mean my bedroom?”
“Whatever you want to call it. And I get my own bed.”
* * * * *
Cliff flung himself into a chair and heaved out a frustrated breath. He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in lopsided clumps and spikes. What he’d said to her was true. She was his mate, and he’d do anything to persuade her of that. But he would have made sure her friend got the samples she needed anyway. He wasn’t a monster, or at least only in the sense that he sprouted fur and fangs on every full moon; he certainly wasn’t in the business of letting someone die over a few thousand lousy bucks.
The thing was, he couldn’t let Taylor know that. Not yet. He needed to have some leverage over her. He had to be a strong Alpha, now more than ever, and that meant he had a duty to protect the pack. He couldn’t take the chance of her exposing their secret to human society.
He wanted Taylor. He ached to touch her, to hold her. She’d so quickly become the sun around which his world revolved. But he couldn’t trust her with his people’s lives. Not yet. And that made his heart hurt.
Chapter Eight
“Don’t be n
ervous,” Cliff said as he guided Taylor into the formal dining room. Cliff had been gone all afternoon dealing with various company matters, and she’d sat in his room and sulked until he came to fetch her at dinner time.
Taylor looked at the table, which could easily have seated thirty. It was a glossy length of rich mahogany, laid with cut glass, snowy linen napkins, and far too much silverware. Who would have imagined werewolves would be sticklers for dinner table etiquette? Chandeliers dripping with crystal glittered and tinkled above the diners, sending tiny glints of white light dancing across the high ceiling.
There were a dozen people sitting at the table, and several servants hovering discreetly in the background. Taylor only recognized a few of them, and they all stared as she walked in. And they were all werewolves. They would turn into wolves in a couple of weeks. And they were all staring at her as if she were a sideshow curiosity at a circus.
“Why would I be nervous?” she asked.
Instinctively, she started to suck in her stomach.
“Don’t,” Cliff said as they walked to the head of the table. He put his arm around her waist and rested his hand lightly on her hip.
She forced herself not to moan with arousal. “Don’t what?”
He flashed her a winning smile. “Don’t suck in your stomach. I want to enjoy every glorious inch of you.”
She scowled at him as he pulled her chair out for her. “Could you please stop being charming and go back to being a dick? I want to be mad at you.”
He pretended to consider it for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I think I’ll continue to be charming, which in a way means I’m being a dick, because I’m not doing what you asked. Is that good enough for you?”
“Now I’m just confused.”
She plopped down in her chair and glanced around the table. Cliff made the introductions. Austin was there, with his perma-scowl stamped across his face. Everyone else was dressed up, and he was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans and motorcycle boots.
Grant sat next to a stunning blonde, who wore a bright-red cocktail dress that plunged to her navel. He introduced her as Mandy.
There was a beautiful young girl who looked to be in her early teens, who was introduced as their cousin Serafina. She had two younger siblings, Dax and Roger, who were twins and looked to be around seven or eight. James and his wife – no, mate – Anita was there. So were Truman, a man named Richard, and a few other people whose names Taylor forgot because her mind was so blown by the whole werewolf thing that she was having a hard time concentrating on much of anything.
As one of the servants poured wine into a gilded glass, Dax leaped up, walked over to Taylor, and poked her in the arm.
“Why is your name Taylor? My uncle Jerrold said that you’re a total freak.” He squinted up at her through narrowed eyes. “You don’t look like a freak. What’s freaky about you?” He sounded disappointed.
Serafina gasped in horror, and Cliff looked as if he were about to smack Dax.
“Dax!” Serafina snarled at him.
“What?” Dax looked upset. “Uncle Jerrold said. What did I do wrong?”
“It’s all right,” Taylor said quickly. “Actually, I am a freak. Look, I can bend my fingers way back.” She demonstrated.
“Hmm. Double-jointed, eh?” Cliff murmured. “So, exactly how flexible are you?”
“Shut it.” Taylor tried to kick him under the table, but he moved his leg out of the way. “There are numerous reasons why you’ll never find out.”
“That is so cool!” Dax said admiringly. He tried to bend his fingers back but couldn’t do it. Then he looked up at her expectantly “What else can you do?”
“I can pull a quarter out of your ear.” Taylor was afraid that Dax would already know that old party trick, but apparently he didn’t.
“You can’t! Can you?” He sounded very hopeful.
She kneeled down next to him, reached behind his ear, and quickly produced the promised quarter.
Roger ran up to her. “Do me, do me! But it has to be a hundred dollar bill!”
“Roger!” Serafina looked utterly mortified and near tears. “I’m sorry, Uncle Cliff. Please don’t send them away to military school.”
“Why would I do that?” Cliff asked. “If the occasion calls for it, I’m more than capable of delivering a good old-fashioned butt whipping right here.”
Both Roger and Dax froze where they stood and glanced at him warily.
“But the occasion doesn’t call for it, right?” Roger said.
“Jury’s still out.” Cliff fixed him with a warning look.
“What’s an occasion?” Dax asked his brother, who shrugged and held up his hands.
“Something bad,” he said. “Or why else would it call for a butt-whipping?”
“You swear you won’t send them away?” Serafina persisted. “Uncle Jerrold said you were thinking of sending them away to military school because they’re so badly behaved.”
Cliff snorted. “Uncle Jerrold lied to you, because that conversation never happened. And I’d never discuss any of my plans with him anyway. You should know better.”
Serafina looked relieved. “That’s true,” she said. “I should have known.”
“That’ll happen over my dead body,” Austin growled, eyes alight with anger. Then he relaxed and winked at Serafina. “If it gets too much for you here, you can always come join my pack,” he assured her.
“Really?” she glanced hopefully at Cliff.
Cliff shot his brother a look of annoyance. “We’ll talk about Austin’s so-called ‘pack’ later. You’re safe here.”
“Are they, though? Even if they don’t toe the line like good little robots?” Austin met Cliff’s gaze challengingly, and tension crackled in the air.
“Ahem!” Taylor said loudly, and she pulled a quarter from behind Dax’s ear. “Let’s see if I can get you a little more money.” She stuck the quarter behind his ear again. She pulled out two dimes and a nickel. “Nope,” she said, shaking her head solemnly.
Dax and Roger shrieked with laughter.
“I’m glad I didn’t bite you,” Roger said.
“Why would you bite her?” Cliff’s tone went dangerously low.
“Cliff, he’s a child,” Taylor whispered. “Settle down there, cowboy.”
“Uncle Jerrold said her blood is made of chocolate. He said I had to bite her really hard in the neck to get to it.”
“Well, gee, I’m glad you didn’t bite me too,” Taylor said lightly, as Cliff’s face went dark with anger.
Roger made a dismissive hand gesture. “I knew he was lying. Your blood doesn’t even smell like chocolate. I’ve got a really good sense of smell. That’s my superpower.” And he and his brother returned to their seats next to Serafina, who whapped them both on the head. “We’ll talk about your bad manners later,” she threatened them.
Taylor took a sip of her wine, and as she glanced around the table, she realized that Grant was staring at her with open admiration. Oddly enough, Mandy didn’t look the least bit put out by his behavior.
“Taylor, I’ve never seen you looking so beautiful,” Grant said. “If you get bored with Cliff – and trust me, you will – you know where to find me.”
Cliff growled and stiffened in his seat. Taylor put her hand on his knee.
“Why, Grant,” she said with a fake simper. “You are too kind. And I’ve never seen you so...” She dropped the simper and gave him an icy look. “Blatantly obvious.”
He arched an eyebrow inquiringly.
“You’ve been in the office before, and you didn’t flirt with me. But suddenly I’m hotter than a bushel of Jalapeno peppers? The only reason you’d be so interested in me, especially with your beautiful date right by your side, is to needle Cliff. Let me guess. Middle brother, always had to fight for attention?”
Cliff threw his head back and laughed. Austin cracked a rare smile.
Grant turned his irritation on Austin. “So where are you worki
ng again? Male model for Homeless R Us?”
Austin smirked at him. “Do you plan on staying with this date all through dinner, or will you be,” he glanced at Serafina and moderated his language, ““dating someone else on the dinner table by dessert?”
“Hey!” Cliff snapped at him. “Language. Cubs.”
“I knew what you meant,” Serafina said loftily to Austin. “I’m not twelve.”
Just then, they heard loud voices at the doorway. A group of people marched in, and Taylor felt the atmosphere suddenly grow chilly even though the temperature hadn’t changed.
There were seven very old people, four male and three female. They were divided into two groups, Taylor noticed. No, three. Two groups of three clustered together, and an older man standing apart from them. Following them in was a man who looked to be in his fifties, accompanied by a pretty woman with blonde hair pulled back into a chignon, wearing a black lace jacket over a black silk dress. The woman looked at the ground and avoided everyone’s gaze. The man’s face was heavily scarred, but he would still have been handsome if he didn’t have a sneer curling his lip and contempt radiating from every pore in his body.
Cliff introduced them to Taylor. He started with the older people, whom he referred to as the pack’s Elders. The three of them who stood closest to the scarred man were Minnie, Phineas and Oswald. The three of them who looked friendly to Cliff were Herbert, Maurice and Juliette. And the man standing off by himself was Oswald.
The scarred man was Jerrold, and the blonde was his wife Leota; Cliff had told Taylor that Jerrold was competing with him in hopes of becoming pack Alpha, and that had something to do with the Alpha Trials, but he hadn’t had much of a chance to discuss it with her.
Serafina glared at Jerrold. “You lied to me, and you tried to get my brothers into trouble. You’re a liar, not a leader,” she snapped.
Jerrold met her gaze. “You are a juvenile who needs someone to take you in hand and discipline you appropriately. I’ll see to it when I’m Alpha.”
The Billion-were Needs A Mate (The Alpha Billion-weres Book 1) Page 6