'Til Death

by Lorie O'Clare

  “Hope you don’t mind,” Bruno said, grinning and rubbing his thick hands in front of the vent. “This old body doesn’t take to the cold like I did when I was younger.”

  “Can you even feel the cold?” Dimitri noticed Bruno’s coat wasn’t zipped up or buttoned. It hung open over the older male’s thick chest.

  “I can feel your anger and frustration. And I approve of your line of thinking.” Bruno turned all business and stared out the front window at the small building with the incredible mountainous backdrop behind it. “Granted, it might take swallowing even more pride to go with the direction of your thoughts than to confront those stiff suits in there again.”

  Dimitri stared at Bruno for a moment. “The direction of my thoughts,” he repeated, and then understood Bruno’s meaning. “I’ll come up with the money to support my pack no matter what it takes.”

  “I did the same.” Bruno nodded seriously.

  “I can find werewolves who have connections.”

  Again Bruno nodded. “Werewolves who have worked with the government, or who know people who have connections.”

  “That’s right.” Dimitri eased the truck into gear and backed out of his stall. More than anything he wanted to peel out of the parking lot, leave this place with the smell of his tires burning over their perfectly cleaned lot. But giving them the satisfaction of knowing they frustrated him didn’t have any appeal.

  He pulled out on to the highway and then gunned it. And that’s when it hit him. He did know werewolves who had connections. There were members in his pack who had worked with the government, who had knowledge of how things worked behind those damned doors in WA.

  “That’s right,” Bruno said, repeating Dimitri’s words.

  Dimitri gave him a hard glance, doubting very much he simply parroted Dimitri. The old male listened to every word in Dimitri’s head. And he was the only werewolf who wouldn’t get yelled at for doing it. Bruno pursed his lips, nodding slowly and narrowing his dark eyebrows together.

  “A good pack leader checks in on his injured,” Bruno suggested.

  Dimitri knew he scowled when he returned his attention to the road. He slowed around an extreme curve and then kept his speed down as the road continued twisting.

  “It would be a hell of a lot easier to simply strangle that werewolf with his fucking tie until he approved my funding,” he growled.

  “There’s a thought.” Bruno laughed easily. “I know you’ll make the right decision.” He slapped his thigh. “I think Renee is probably done with her bath by now. Time for me to get back to her. I only allow her so much time with her attendants while she bathes.”

  Dimitri fought real damned hard to keep the visuals out of his head from that comment. “Attendants?” he couldn’t help asking.

  “Not what you think, werewolf. She’s got three males helping her bathe.”

  “You’re kidding.” Dimitri’s jaw dropped. Bruno didn’t strike him as the kind who would share, especially his mate.

  Bruno winked at him. “They’re all human.” He burst out in a deep laugh, again slapping his leg like it was the best joke in the world. “She teased me one day saying she would bathe for hours in a hot, bubbly bath with only males to assist her. Being the gallant mate that I am, I arranged for her wish to be granted. But my precious Renee never has developed a taste for humans. Their smell gets to her after a while. So I show up and she goes wild for me. Works every time.”

  Dimitri laughed. And it dawned on him that he needed a good chuckle. Shaking his head, he slowed for the turn up his mountain and then realized with a glance that Bruno had suddenly disappeared.

  “Have fun, you old werewolf,” he whispered.

  Chapter Nine

  “Mom said he would be just fine.” Rosa stood with her arms crossed and watched Moira fuss over her mate. “He just got the wind knocked out of him. There are a few bruised ribs and a broken wrist. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

  “They all have to prove they are the best,” Moira growled, punching a throw pillow a bit harder than necessary before pulling Dante forward by his collar and then stuffing it behind his head.

  Dante actually showed he had enough good sense not to comment. Even his thoughts were rather subdued. Rosa couldn’t believe Josie sent Dante flying so hard. She had a feeling a grudge had built between the two of them for just a bit too long.

  Moira was obviously perturbed that she had to sit and wait most of the afternoon before she could get her hands on her mate. Rosa searched for something reassuring to say, and to keep her thoughts from passing judgment on any of the events that led to Moira’s rather mangled mate.

  “We’re lucky to be surrounded by so many powerful and good werewolves.” It was the best she could come up with. After fetching whatever her mother needed for the past few hours, she wasn’t topnotch with quick comebacks.

  Moira voiced the obvious. “Dante and Josie have had it out for each other since they both settled here. You would think a few alphas with the gift could live alongside each other, but I’m starting to wonder.”

  “If it’s any consolation, Maura and Josie stopped by our den to check on Dante before you arrived.”

  “Maura probably made him,” Moira said, grunting in a very unladylike fashion and glaring at her mate.

  “Maura is a good bitch.”

  “Behind every good male is an even better bitch.” Dante spoke for the first time, looking humbly at his mate once she made him more comfortable on the couch with tons of pillows.

  It was the first time he spoke out loud. For the most part, Rosa fought to ignore his rambling, drug-induced thoughts. Her mother gave him way too many pain meds. Dante repeatedly praised Moira in his head, speaking to her in his drugged-up mind as he promised to make love to her for hours as soon as they were alone. Rosa knew Moira didn’t mind her being here. Dante wouldn’t be doing anything sexually for a while—at least not for the rest of the day.

  Werewolves healed fairly quickly, but with the medication in his system, Dante would more than likely sleep the rest of the day away. It amazed Rosa that her mother could get so many good drugs to treat the pack with, yet Dimitri had to pay hell a high price to get any help in building a town for their pack.

  She leaned against the wall, staring in the direction of Moira and Dante. When her thoughts lingered on Dimitri for a while, her heart swelled painfully. She wished she knew where he was right now. Certainly it wouldn’t take him all day at Werewolf Affairs. But did his visit go well? Would the pack finally be able to start building roads, or stores and maybe a school? There was plenty of land on the mountain for more dens to settle. And they would if Malta werewolves had a proper town to offer them.

  “Let’s get some supper started,” Moira suggested, smiling as she walked toward Rosa. “No reason for you to return to your den and stew about that werewolf of yours all evening.”

  “I’m sorry my thoughts are so depressing.” Rosa spent enough time with Moira and Dante since she moved here to feel somewhat accustomed to all of them hearing each other’s thoughts.

  “We’re all worried about the pack getting decent funding.” Moira patted her arm and then glanced over her shoulder when Dante whined in his thoughts that he was being ignored.

  I’ll be back in a few minutes with food for you. Just rest, wolf man. She stared at Dante when she spoke to him in her mind, but then winked at Rosa when she walked past her toward their kitchen.

  “So you don’t know how Dimitri’s visit went at WA?” Moira asked once they were out of the bedroom.

  “I haven’t talked to him.” She stared out the kitchen window, surprised to see that it was almost dark. “I’m not sure what he’s doing right now.”

  “He’ll be here,” Moira said quietly.

  Rosa snapped her head up and gave Moira a quick, sharp look.

  “No, no.” Moira laughed and held her hand up defensively at Rosa’s thoughts. “It’s not the gift telling me he’ll be here. It’s more
like a bitch’s intuition. Just from sniffing the werewolf out. He may play rough and tough and all that stuff just like the rest of them. But it matters to Dimitri where you are and what you’re doing. And…he’s male. He’s put his mark on you. I can smell it. He’ll sniff you out because he cares about what is his.”

  “What is his,” Rosa repeated, trying the thought on for size. Since she joined this pack, the sensation of finally being home created a need for something else deep inside her. Rosa knew once they were here that it was time to create her own den. She knew that the moment she first smelled Dimitri. “It’s taken forever to get him to think that way.”

  Moira’s laugh made her whole face light up. “Trapping a werewolf is just about the hardest thing to do.”

  “I don’t want him feeling trapped.”

  Moira waved her hand in the air. “You know what I mean.”

  Rosa nibbled her lower lip, staring at Moira as she busied herself preparing food for her mate. She didn’t pay attention to Moira’s actions though.

  She wasn’t trapping Dimitri, was she?

  Granted, she’d chased after him after settling into this pack. But Rosa always chased after what she wanted. It was in her nature. Any decent bitch sniffed out the best there was when building her den. The longer she tracked him, the more she believed Dimitri was meant to be her mate.

  So he was thickheaded. He had a few issues. He did what he wanted without offering any explanation. Dimitri didn’t need anyone’s approval. Which made him a damned good pack leader. And an even harder male to pin down.

  But she didn’t rape him. Not once did Rosa ever rub her body against his, tell him to his face that she needed him to fuck her. That’s the way sluts behaved. Rosa almost caught herself growling when she pictured Tonya strutting around Dimitri with her tail in the air, practically begging him to mount her. The little bitch got what she deserved, and Rosa would go after her in a second if she caught her sniffing around Dimitri again.

  Realizing her thoughts were stinking up the room, she faked a cough, hoping a growl didn’t actually escape her mouth and gave silent thanks when her cell phone rang. Moira didn’t voice her comments over Rosa’s thoughts but instead watched Rosa dig out her phone.

  “Hello,” she said when she recognized Maura’s number.

  “Hi there.” Maura, Josie’s lunewulf mate, spoke quietly into her phone. “Where are you?”

  “Over at Moira and Dante’s den.”

  Maura sighed. “I would be growled at for sure if I said that Josie feels bad for attacking Dante. He should though. I told him they were both acting like cubs.”

  Rosa was able to smile. Maura was a good bitch. She acknowledged her male’s imperfections but stood by him nonetheless. Just as any female would do.

  “I just hate that they fought because of me.”

  Moira looked up from her task of cutting meat, her worried gaze shooting toward the direction where Dante was. Don’t upset him with your thoughts or conversation, Rosa. This was Moira’s den. Rosa nodded once, understanding the mental command that she behave and not annoy her cousin.

  “It wasn’t because of you. Josie doesn’t like Dante. He feels the werewolf resents Dimitri for being pack leader, even though Dante never entered the challenge to lead the pack.”

  “That’s reassuring.” Rosa tried not to let her thoughts linger on what Maura had just told her. Not that she would keep secrets from this den. After all, they were all the den she and her mother had—no matter they weren’t whelped from the same litter. But the challenge for the right to lead the pack happened right after Rosa moved here, and the hostility that finally exploded between Josie and Dante stemmed back to that time.

  Rosa remembered Dante not entering the challenge. Josie didn’t fight to be leader either. This wasn’t about leading the pack. Moira was right. This was about two alpha males who were blessed with a strong dose of the gift. It would take strong bitches to maintain alphas like that. Was she strong enough to walk by Dimitri’s side?

  “The reason I called though was because Josie just headed over to Dimitri’s den. Something happened today that pissed Dimitri off. And not the fight. Josie gets all quiet about things until he sorts them out in his head. It pisses me off sometimes, but if I push him, it just takes him longer to tell me what is on his mind. I thought maybe you could do some sniffing around for me. I just hate it when Josie takes off with Dimitri and I don’t know what they’re doing.”

  “I could probably do that.”

  “Oh Rosa, you’re such a good friend.”

  Rosa could feel her happiness even if she couldn’t smell it or hear Maura’s thoughts. When she hung up her phone, she fought to keep her thoughts calm so that Moira wouldn’t give her the third degree.

  Moira had a plate ready for her mate and held it in front of her while studying Rosa. You’re fighting awfully damned hard to keep your thoughts from me, the bitch accused.

  You told me not to upset your mate. Rosa offered her a small smile. “I’m going to take off for a bit, but I’ll check back in a few hours. Hopefully Dante will be up and moving around by then.”

  “You know you’re not supposed to run without an escort.” Although I’m not sure at the moment if you’re a single bitch or not. Moira smiled understandingly. “Just answer your cell phone if Dante calls you or he’ll be on a warpath all over again.” Moira put the plate down and then gave Rosa a quick hug. “I won’t order you to stay away from Dimitri, but just keep in mind that Dante fights for you because he wants you to have the best. If he doesn’t approve of Dimitri, there might be a good reason.”

  Rosa nodded and left the den quickly. She didn’t want Moira hearing her thoughts at that moment. Dante might simply be jealous of Dimitri. And there would be no changing that. Rosa knew what she saw and what she smelled. There wasn’t a better werewolf out there than Dimitri. And right now, she was going to find out what he was doing.

  Her phone rang again, and this time it was her mother. “Tell me you’re heading home and that I didn’t fix all this meat so that it would go bad.”

  Maria Anthony was a professional at applying a good guilt trip. “Why did you fix so much food? You knew I was here with Dante and Moira.”

  “And Moira can take care of her own mate. Come home to your mother. Soon you’ll have your own den and I’ll be all alone. Spend time with your mother while you are still single.”

  Rosa growled, this time not caring if her mother heard it through the phone. “Okay. We wouldn’t want your meat to go to waste.”

  “That’s my good Rosa.”

  Going home proved to actually be a bit more productive than Rosa thought it would be. Halfway through their meal, she leaned back, staring at her mother who grinned at her, looking very pleased with herself.

  “You don’t give an old bitch enough credit. Don’t you think I want to see my daughter happy? And being the mother of our queen bitch would be a rank I could live with.” Maria puffed out her small chest, beaming, and then returned to the topic of their conversation. “Now. As I was saying. After I tended to Dante, I went down to the bottom of the mountain to see what good trade was going on at the trucks. It will be such a good thing when we actually have buildings for stores. These old bones get chilled so easily standing outside in this cold mountain air.”

  “We’ll have them soon. Now tell me more about what you heard.”

  “Of course, my dear. As I was saying, apparently Dimitri was shot down again at the Werewolf Affairs office. Word is out that he is considering other means to get the money to build our roads and stores.”

  “What other means? Dimitri isn’t a dishonest werewolf.”

  Maria shook her head quickly, then stuffed her mouth with meat and chewed while waving her fork at Rosa. “And don’t you think I wasn’t the first one to argue on his behalf, my dear.” Her teeth grew slightly so she could chew the meat and her canines remained longer when she continued speaking. “But you know Dante might have some connections that
would help Dimitri. And Dante is your first cousin. Blood runs thick in our den and we help each other even if it means swallowing our pride.”

  “What are you saying? That I should ask Dante to help Dimitri?” Rosa’s heart started thudding in her chest. She couldn’t catch her breath as excitement mixed with nervous fear. “You know I would do anything to help Dimitri. But what if he doesn’t want that kind of help? You know he doesn’t like Dante.”

  Maria shook her head and leaned back, patting her full belly and staring at her daughter with large, watery brown eyes. “And you will always honor and respect every member of your den until the day you die. But don’t think your mother doesn’t know where your heart lies. I can smell that werewolf on you and I know a mating is moments away for you two. Dimitri is an honorable werewolf. He will have you. There is nothing wrong with talking to Dante, smoothing the path so to speak.”

  “I’m not sure a path can be cleared for those two.” Rosa’s stomach twisted and she couldn’t eat another bite. “It would be easier to clear a path for new roads.”

  “Silly little bitch. The paths are cleared. We need the tar and pavement. The bricks and mortar. Can your gift create such physical items out of air? I don’t think so. But you can argue with a stubborn werewolf and know his thoughts before speaking your mind.”

  “If it were only that easy.” Rosa knew better than to explain the limitations of the gift to her mother. When Maria Anthony wanted to believe the gift would move a mountain, she would damned well believe it. And they thought males were stubborn.

  Later, when Maria thought Rosa was heading out to pave the way for Dimitri, she sent Rosa out of their den with her blessing. Rosa pulled out her cell the minute she reached the street.

  “Maura? Has Josie returned?”

  “No. Did you find him?”

  Rosa quickly explained being sidetracked by her mother. “But I’m out the door now. I promised to check in on Dante again, but then I’ll sniff around and see if I can find him for you.”