'Til Death

by Lorie O'Clare

  “It’s not a threat. Not at all.” His tone softened, making him almost sound sincere. “I mean it. Imagine the pack’s reaction if word is sniffed out that their leader is anything other than completely honorable.”

  “That would be bad.” Now that she understood where this conversation headed, she didn’t like it. “Of course, if you are honorable, then I can’t imagine anyone I know speaking ill of you.”

  “Cut the crap.”

  “No. You cut the crap.” She stamped her bare foot on the floor, and in spite of the childish action, she enjoyed the hell out of how it felt. “I can’t help the fact that I have the gift any more than you can control being a cruel asshole.”

  Suddenly she felt better than she had in days. She bent over the tub, turning on the hot water and let it run for a minute to warm up.

  “You’ve known that I have the gift as long as you’ve known me. If you despised that fact about me yet fucked me anyway, then I would have to agree with my mother and your littermate. You have no honor.”

  She hung up and wanted to leap for joy. The depression that ate at her for the past few days lifted and took one hell of a heavy load off her shoulders.

  There wasn’t a werewolf out there who impressed her more than Dimitri. But damn him for bringing her to such a low point. Adjusting the temperature of the water, she pushed back the shower curtain and decided a hot bath was in order. And for good measure, she would soak in some of her scented bath salts. Then she would do her hair and her face and put on the sexiest outfit she owned.

  Her mother always told her she was one of the most desirable single bitches in the pack. Why the hell should she hide around the pack waiting for one stubborn, pain-in-the-ass werewolf to notice her?

  If throwing herself at him, offering him every bit of her, making her scent so incredibly obvious and then letting him have her, didn’t work, nothing would.

  Dimitri’s issues were his problem. Let him figure them out. Rosa wouldn’t miss out on life while she waited for him to quit smelling his own self-loathing.

  She put the stopper in her tub and then poured a generous amount of lavender-scented bath salts into the tub. Stirring it around with her toes, she waited for the tub to fill a few inches and then climbed in.

  “Damn him.” She realized she still gripped her phone in her other hand and let go of it. It floated through the air to the bathroom counter. “Somehow you will like me for who I am, wolf man.”

  Everyone else in the pack seemed to like her fine. The water filled the tub and steam surrounded her. She inhaled the relaxing scent and sunk into the hot water. Her hair floated around her and she closed her eyes, wishing the wonderful warmth would soothe her brain as well as her body.

  “And if they do like me, then there must be something worth liking,” she reasoned, knowing already that it was true.

  She was a likeable bitch. In spite of her pity party over the past couple days, her self-esteem wouldn’t be ruined by one encounter and some incredibly hot sex.

  So maybe she did crave another opportunity to ride Dimitri, have him pound her insides until she exploded and came so hard she wouldn’t be able to breathe.

  “Crave, hell,” she mumbled and then sunk underneath the water. It would take a lot of willpower on her part not to beg for one more shot with that virile werewolf.

  Straightening in the tub, she parted her hair and blew water out of her mouth. Then reaching for her shampoo, she poured an ample amount onto her head and felt it creep down her hair as she secured the cap on the bottle and returned it to the side of the tub.

  Rosa lathered her hair, adjusting the water so that it was even hotter. The steamy water smelled wonderful mixed with her bath salts and the scent of her shampoo. There was nothing better than perfume to help lift her mood.

  She rinsed her hair, applied conditioner and then soaped up her body. If only there were another halfway-decent werewolf out there to get her mind off Dimitri. Her mother had told her that Rosa’s only problem was that she didn’t have a mate. And until she found him, her restlessness would never subside.

  It was in their nature—she’d heard the same explanation time and again. Werewolves were meant to mate, not to run alone.

  Six months ago her small den moved here, excited to join the first Malta werewolf pack in America. Rosa was twenty-seven years old. Most of her adult life was nomadic. That wasn’t how werewolves lived. They made dens, stuck with a pack. Now that she had her pack, it was only instinctive that she would want her own den.

  But where would that leave her mother?

  Already she knew the answer to that one. Eagerly waiting for grandcubs—she heard it as if her mother spoke aloud next to her.

  Rosa turned the faucet all the way over, draining what little hot water was left into her bath. Her thoughts drifted with no direction. Which would get her nowhere.

  By the time she was out of her bath, dressed and her hair combed out, her stomach growled with enough ferocity that there was no ignoring it. Her lack of appetite over the past couple days—ever since she heard Dimitri’s regretful thoughts—finally took its toll. Fresh kill sounded real damned good.

  “What are you doing?” Rosa asked her cousin Dante, after calling Juan and getting no answer. “I need to talk to you about something.”

  “I’m in Valle with my mate. Have you heard the latest? Our pack leader actually went into the WA office. With that foul stench he hauls around with him, we’ll be lucky to still have any territory by nightfall.”

  “Dimitri would kill for his pack,” Rosa snapped instantly. She hated Dante’s foul attitude toward Dimitri. And he accused Dimitri of a lousy smell. “But no, I hadn’t heard that he went there. I’m sure it was to make them see how they need to support us, not send us running.”

  “You defend the werewolf as if you were mated to him.” Dante chuckled and his mate, Moira, said something in the background.

  “Like that would ever happen.” She wouldn’t let Dante bring her down. Maybe she should just sniff out Juan. Dante taught her the gift and Juan knew nothing about it. As much as she wanted to learn how not to hear thoughts, just hanging out with one of them sounded good too. Dante’s grudges against Dimitri pissed her off at times though. Right now it would take nothing for her teeth to grow if Dante wandered around in her mind. “Never mind, Dante. I shouldn’t have called. Do you know where Juan and Erin are?”

  There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. If anyone could hear thoughts through phone lines, it would be Dante. Although Rosa knew that was impossible, she cleared her mind anyway and waited for him to respond.

  “Drive into Valle. Meet us at the Eat and Greet in thirty minutes. We’ll be waiting for you.” Dante hung up without saying goodbye.

  And if she blew him off and didn’t show up, he would sniff her out. Single bitches didn’t run around without their dens knowing their whereabouts. Now she had to go see him.

  Rosa finally reached Erin on her cell while driving into Valle, the closest town to their pack and a small community made up almost entirely of American werewolves. Erin and Juan agreed to meet at the Eat and Greet as well. Hopefully the small gathering would do her some good.

  Erin greeted her with a warm hug inside the rather crowded restaurant. “I’m so glad you decided to get out of your den,” the bitch whispered into her ear before letting her go. “Please tell me my littermate didn’t do anything terrible.”

  “No. Of course not.” Rosa reached for her chair and caught Moira and Dante watching her carefully. “Please tell me that isn’t what the pack grapevine is spreading.”

  If so, then Dimitri calling her this morning and complaining would have been justified.

  “What’s this?” Dante grabbed the edge of the table and everyone’s water sloshed and spilled. “I’ll kick that fucking werewolf’s ass from here to the next country.”

  Moira grabbed his arm, but didn’t have the strength to keep him in his chair.

  “What hap
pened?” Juan demanded.

  “You won’t touch him!” Rosa ignored the curious stares and sudden pungent smells of anger and concern that filled the air. American werewolves sat at tables surrounding them and the last thing she needed was for word to spread in their pack that something was wrong in hers. She hurried around the table to her cousin. “Dante, please. You don’t know everything.”

  “I will in a minute. Sit and start talking.”

  “Most of it is none of your damned business.” She took the seat next to him, determined that with Moira’s help she could keep her cousin from doing something stupid.

  “Nothing I do is stupid,” he growled, reluctantly sitting. His muscles bulged larger than they should in his human form.

  She needed to quickly appease him or there would be trouble.

  “What is going on?” Erin hissed, looking very nervous.

  Rosa stared at her friends around the table. All of them worried about her and she should be very grateful that she had such a network of care and love surrounding her. She didn’t like the atmosphere though. Dimitri would have a cow if he heard she shared anything personal about them and American werewolves overheard and formed their own conclusions. Pack grapevines could be brutal, no matter the pack.

  A young waitress showed up, offering ice water and menus to the new arrivals. Rosa smiled at her and waited to respond to Erin until the young bitch was hopefully out of earshot. All the thoughts hitting her from so many werewolves in the establishment made it really hard to think straight.

  “This isn’t the right place,” she suggested, lowering her voice and reaching for her water. The tablecloth had a damp circle underneath the moist glass and she placed the cup back on it after downing a good portion of the water. “Could we eat first? And then yes, I do want to talk to all of you.” She looked into her older cousin’s concerned and angry expression, then glanced across the table at Juan. “And I need your advice and help.”

  Juan smiled at her, always the caring littermate that she never had. “Real good idea, cousin. Let’s chow and then get out of here.”

  The waitress showed up at that moment, proof that they were being eavesdropped on, and took orders. Food showed up fairly quickly and Rosa fought not to devour everything on her plate greedily.

  She also took advantage and changed the subject, hoping new conversation would calm the aggression she still smelled strongly on Dante.

  “Tell me what you heard earlier,” she said with her mouth full of steak. “Why did Dimitri go to WA?”

  That son of a bitch hurt you. I’m going to kick his scrawny ass. Dante wasn’t going to drop the subject. He just moved it to his thoughts while he applied pressure to the edge of his knife and sliced his steak in half.

  He didn’t hurt me, and stay out of it, Dante. She scowled at him and hated the worried expression on Moira’s face as she glanced from Dante to her.

  “Nicolo told me earlier today that Dimitri took paperwork down there to apply for funding, get us officially incorporated so our pack can also be a town and to zone certain parts of the mountain for commercial business.” Juan glanced curiously at the three of them. He didn’t have the gift, but he had a life time of dealing with it with Dante.

  Erin said you locked yourself in your den for a couple days. Dimitri is an ass, Rosa. You deserve so much better than him. Moira’s thoughts were concerned.

  He’s not an ass. You just don’t understand him. She argued quickly in her mind without giving what she thought much consideration.

  Did she understand Dimitri?

  Obviously not.

  Moira raised an eyebrow, following Rosa’s line of thinking. Her all-knowing expression annoyed Rosa.

  “I hate it when all of you look at each other like there’s a conversation going on that I can’t hear.” Erin gestured with her fork, glaring at all of them as her spicy scent grew around the table, drowning out the aroma from the variety of meats on their plates.

  Rosa turned her attention to Erin and Juan. “I’m sorry, Erin. Do you know if WA approved Dimitri’s request? The pack would benefit so much from extra funding and a few stores.”

  “Apparently not.” Juan looked at her. “According to Nicolo, Dimitri almost took the place down.”

  “You don’t get anywhere with the government acting like a bully,” Moira said in a hushed tone with her black hair partially blocking her expression as she focused on her food.

  “Didn’t both of you used to work for WA?” Rosa remembered some gossip about Moira and Dante being with the government and using their gifts to help capture rogue werewolves. It sounded like a fascinating life to Rosa, but she never found time alone with either of them to ask about it.

  “Not exactly.” Moira waved her hand, dismissing the topic. “Dimitri’s bullyish attitude won’t go over well in that office though. I know that much. He will ruin our chance at advancing this pack.”

  “No he won’t,” Erin snapped, immediately defending her older littermate.

  “Dimitri isn’t a bully.” Rosa wondered at her own willingness to defend the werewolf after taking his head off on the phone just an hour ago. She told herself the reason was obvious. Moira was wrong. “Dimitri is willing to stand up against odds that would make many males turn tail and run. He might have to get tough, but that’s just because our pack has to be that way or we’ll never be strong in this country.”

  “You’re right.” Erin nodded solemnly.

  More like a lost cause, Dante mumbled in his thoughts, obviously not caring that she overheard his opinion of her.

  Rosa stuffed the last of her steak into her mouth, then wiped the grease that dripped down the side of her mouth. She held the paper napkin to her face while chewing, fighting not to let Dante hear what she thought of him. He wasn’t any better than Dimitri—equally bullying and aggressive.

  “And aren’t you the one who said it was Bruno’s will for Dimitri to lead us?” Juan asked. He had to be almost the perfect mate, jumping to defend Erin’s den even when his own den obviously disapproved of Dimitri.

  “Bruno wasn’t omnipotent. Anyone who thinks the gift makes them that way becomes a danger to his pack.” Dante gave all of them a shrewd look. He used his steak knife to point at Erin. “Your littermate despises the gift. His inability to get over that is brewing more and more anger inside him. If he takes his anger out on werewolves down at WA, he’ll ruin this pack’s chances of getting any funding.”

  “Don’t take that tone with my mate,” Juan growled.

  “I think something else has his hackles up this time,” Erin suggested and gave Rosa a knowing look.

  Everyone at the table sniffed in her direction. Rosa dropped her French fry and stared at her packmates.

  “Don’t any of you think for a minute that I’ve done a damned thing to screw with his head. I didn’t make him mad. Not at all.” None of them said a word but their thoughts were so loud they attacked her from all sides. “You’re wrong, all of you. I didn’t send him off howling.” She dug into her pocket, pulled out a five dollar bill and threw it down on the table then shoved her chair back, making it screech against the floor. “I’m the one who isn’t good enough for him, not the other way around.”

  She hurried out the door before she had a complete meltdown. And in an American werewolf restaurant, of all places. The cold air hit her in the face, instantly making her eyes water. At first she thought it her imagination that she breathed Dimitri’s scent deep into her lungs. But then she looked up and stared into his dark, concerned expression.

  Dimitri, Nicolo and the American pack leader Ollie Grayson all scowled as they looked at her.

  Her heart stopped and she stared into dark, intense eyes that shifted in color so quickly when he focused on her that she almost missed it.

  God damn. She’s fucking hot! His thoughts hit her harder than the cold breeze did. And they shocked her. More than shocked her. She gaped at him, momentarily confused and then elated.

  “What’s wro
ng?” Dimitri spoke first, reaching over her head and grabbing the door so it wouldn’t swing shut and hit her in the face. He sniffed the air. “Who has upset you?” he demanded.

  “No one.” She shook her head, hoping the slight movement would make the smell of her lie catch on a breeze and float away from the three males facing her.

  Her mouth was too dry to elaborate and she shivered. It wasn’t from the cold air though. Heat rushed over her, filling her with need so strong that she couldn’t move.

  She’s leaving. Think of something—anything. Don’t let her simply walk away from you. His thoughts swarmed around her, darting in and out of her brain and making it impossible to move. Dimitri didn’t have a thing to worry about. If he wanted her by his side, then she would figure out a way to stay there.

  Just one problem.

  Dimitri hated her being in his mind. It made him despise her. Yet she just heard what he thought as if he confessed it with words.

  He wanted her here with him.

  “Someone has upset you. I smell it on you. Give me their name.” His low growl made her heart swell painfully until it was a lump in her throat.

  She stared at him. His jaw set with determination. His lips pressed together, forming a thin line. He was a lot taller than she was, with shoulders broad enough that she couldn’t see past or around him. Dimitri filled her vision. His scent filled her lungs. His thoughts and emotions filled her brain. She was filled to the brim with Dimitri. And every inch of her responded to him, swelling, moisture building, need simmering. Her body prepared to take him again. She fought the urge to reach out and touch him.

  “Rosa.” Erin called out her name as she came up behind her and then stopped when she spotted her littermates. “Dimitri, Nicolo,” she said in form of greeting.

  And then Juan joined them as well. Rosa smelled him and picked up his worried thoughts without having to turn around and see him. She was surrounded by werewolves. Instinct told her to run, yet her emotions demanded that she stay right the hell where she was.

  “Rosa. Come talk to me for a minute.” Erin grabbed Rosa’s arm and ducked around the males.