“I appreciate it. At least now Heidi is here to hang out with. We’re doing a search on the internet for baby names.” Her laughter was proof enough that at least she didn’t pace the floors howling for her mate.
Rosa wondered how she would handle sitting alone at night while her male ran with the other werewolves in the pack. In this case, Dimitri and Josie and sometimes Nicolo spent most of their nights prowling the mountain and venturing into Valle. Rosa knew this from making it her business since she moved here to know as much about Dimitri as possible.
Dimitri visited dens, spent time in the diner and bars in Valle and kept up on current events firsthand by sniffing out any trouble and acting on it the moment it happened. Hardly anyone in the pack complained of his actions. He dug his claws into his pack and took care of all matters immediately.
But what kind of mate would that make him? If she insisted he hung out with her then he would no longer be out and about, sniffing out trouble or keeping up on news. The pack might start to complain. And claws would be pointed at her.
Heidi and Maura had each other when their mates were gone. Rosa wasn’t sure she would fit into that picture. “Which leaves only one option,” she decided, clenching her teeth together with determination. “I would have to run with him.”
And what better way to prove she could run by his side and help the pack than to settle this matter of finding funds to help build a town for all of them?
Now all she had to do was convince Dante to help Dimitri.
Nightfall brought back the chill of winter. With spring just around the corner, the days were warming up. The darkness made her itch to let the change take over, enjoy the warmth of her coat and run with the icy chill air slapping at her face.
It would take just as long to warm up her car as it would to walk half the distance to Moira and Dante’s den. Maybe the hike across the side of the mountain would do her some good. And possibly give her time to figure out a good speech to sell them both on the idea of helping their pack.
That would be her angle. She decided that as she traipsed across their yard almost an hour later. The vigorous hike made her heart pound, and she yanked her hair out from underneath her coat, feeling the moist sweat against her flesh. Her cheeks burned from the cold, but blood pumped in her veins, giving her new life to take on her task.
The door opened before she reached it. “You actually came back.” Moira stood in a long white gown, her bare feet wiggling against the cold as she stepped to the side and allowed Rosa entrance.
“Yes. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Moira instantly searched her brain, trying to learn for herself what Rosa was about before she explained herself. Rosa looked down at her numb fingers and struggled with the buttons on her coat, focusing solely on the action. Remembering how Dimitri kept her out of his head by reciting the code of chivalry, she suddenly understood how annoying it could be to have someone enter your thoughts before you were ready to share.
“What did you want to talk about?” Dante appeared in the doorway, wearing sweatpants and no shirt. His arm was wrapped with white gauze and a sling around his neck kept it held at a ninety degree angle. Otherwise, he didn’t wear a shirt. In spite of his obviously mending injury, he still looked very deadly with muscles bulging everywhere even as he relaxed in the doorway.
Rosa swallowed the lump in her throat and returned her attention to Moira. Best to get the conversation out in the open before the two of them pulled bits and pieces of it out of her mind.
“Didn’t you used to work for Werewolf Affairs?” She jumped in with all paws.
“Not exactly. I worked for GWAR.”
“GWAR?” Rosa hadn’t heard of it.
“Global Werewolf Attack and Reconnaissance.” Moira cocked her head, her dark eyes shifting over Rosa’s face as she studied her. “Why do you ask?”
She’s not the one who can help you. Dante’s thoughts were as loud as if he spoke them.
Rosa glanced at him, sighing and frowning. “Our pack needs funding. The Werewolf Affairs office isn’t going to help. Or if they are, they are going to procrastinate so long that we’ll all suffer from lack of decent roads, shops for us to buy our supplies from or even a school for our cubs. Do you have any connections who might be able to help?” She asked the last question quickly, almost stumbling over her words.
Why the hell should I help Dimitri? His thoughts seemed to bellow off the walls.
Rosa flinched. “You would be helping the pack.” She reminded herself that this was Dante. No matter how much of a bully he wished to be at the moment, he was still the pale cousin who helped her with the gift, who ran and hunted with her when they were still cubs.
“Dimitri didn’t send her here.” Moira offered the information then turned and looked at the kitchen. Apparently she didn’t want to leave Rosa alone to upset her mate. Several coffee cups floated through the air in the next minute, the hot brew inside them almost dripping over the edges as they drifted across the room.
One went to Dante, and Rosa reached for the cup that came at her. A drop of coffee splattered on the side of her hand, burning her skin. She held the cup with her other hand and brought her suddenly sensitive skin to her mouth.
“So if I call in a favor or two, make arrangements for money to suddenly be available, that will make me look good. Dimitri will appear inept to the pack.” He walked over to the couch and sat slowly, holding his full cup in front of him and then sipping after he reclined.
“Not if you make sure it doesn’t happen like that.” Rosa grabbed a chair that was part of their dining room set and lifted it, carrying it so that it faced Dante. She sat and stared at him, hearing his angry thoughts toward Dimitri. “Dante, he is trying. I wanted to go to the WA office with him earlier today, but he wouldn’t let me. Then when you showed up that sealed my fate. He is seriously trying to get the funding for our pack.”
“And he’s going to be pissed as hell when he learns you are trying to find money that you believe he can’t gather on his own.”
God. She hoped Dante was wrong about that one. “I doubt anyone would be able to get that office to help Malta werewolves.”
“They were friendly to me when I was there,” Moira offered.
Rosa captured a glimpse of a memory in Moira’s mind of a time not so long ago when she was still an agent working for the government. What an exciting life full of incredible adventures she must have led. Rosa had to keep it on the subject though. Someday she would ask Moira to share some of her stories.
“So you know the werewolves who work there?” Rosa asked.
“I met one bitch who helped me before Dante and I mated. But I’m not sure she still works there.”
Damn him. I can’t believe he has the balls to show up here. Dante growled and his thoughts confused Rosa until she heard footsteps outside the front door.
Instead of answering the door, Moira moved to sit next to Dante on the couch. The front door opened of its own accord. Rosa wasn’t sure if Moira or Dante opened it with their mind. Their gifts were stronger than hers. She stood instinctively though, her defenses kicking in until she saw who stood in the open doorway.
Dimitri’s dark gaze burrowed through her. “I thought I smelled you here,” he said in a harsh whisper.
“I just got here.”
You don’t have to explain your actions to him. Dante didn’t speak out loud and continued sitting, resting his uninjured arm casually around Moira. He focused on Dimitri though, and Rosa hated the aggression she smelled coming from him.
“Why are you here?” Dimitri stepped inside and then moved in further, glancing behind him when the door closed silently.
Don’t tell him. Let him say why it is that he’s here.
Rosa didn’t give Dante her attention and refused to acknowledge his order. Her gaze remained locked with Dimitri as he moved closer until he stood right in front of her.
“I wanted to help the pack find means to ge
t the money,” she began and her mouth went dry.
Moira and Dante both thought their instructions loudly.
That’s it. Get him good and pissed, Dante thought, the sneer in his mind chilling her blood.
Moira, on the other hand, argued with both of their minds. Back any werewolf in the corner and you would make him angry. Leave her alone, Dante.
“You wanted to help the pack,” Dimitri repeated, his eyes narrowing and the shape of his mouth changing slightly. His scent wrapped around her, growing richer, muskier and at the same time filling with his anger. “How are you helping by being here?”
If only Dimitri could see how hard she fought to stay out of his mind and at the same time ignore the thoughts plaguing her from Dante and Moira.
“I thought they might know werewolves,” she told him, hating how her voice cracked. Showing weakness, allowing her fear that she truly would piss him off to surface wouldn’t help matters any. Dimitri would see her strength and her lack of fear. “Both of them have connections. Moira has been in the Werewolf Affairs office before. I asked if they could help.”
“I see.” Dimitri lifted his hand and combed it through the side of her hair until it snagged in the thickness. “Have you been in my mind, little bitch?” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head, which made him hold on tighter.
Dante growled and Dimitri stiffened, shifting his gaze over her shoulder. What Dante implied in his mind irritated her, like he possessed the right to say whether Dimitri approved of having his mind probed or not. The urge to let her claws grow, snap at him and demand he show respect rose in her like raw energy. But she wouldn’t tear her attention from Dimitri. In spite of her efforts to leave his thoughts alone, she knew he was glad to see her.
“So it’s purely coincidence that you came here to see if these two could help the pack.” His black, straight hair curved around the hard features of his face. A small muscle twitched along his jawbone while he pressed his lips together and stared at her.
“Purely coincidence?” In spite of her efforts, his thoughts were so strong.
He yelled at her with his mind. You knew I was coming here to ask Dante for help. Admit it. Did you think I wasn’t capable of approaching him? Is that what this is all about?
She shook her head—slowly, since he held her hair. But then she straightened, biting her lower lip and refusing to let go of his gaze.
“I can’t ignore your thoughts when you’re screaming them at me,” she let him know. She would be damned if he got pissed off for her hearing what was on his mind when he yelled louder with his head than he did with his mouth. “And no, I had no idea you were coming over here. My mother suggested that Dante and Moira might have contacts that could help the pack.”
She placed her hand on his chest and his heart pounded steadily against her palm. Dante rose to his feet when she touched him and Moira jumped up, pushing herself between her mate and Dimitri.
Dimitri pulled her against him, shifting his body so that she wasn’t between him and the other two. Rosa twisted, needing to see everyone, but she was overjoyed by the scent of domination that emanated from Dimitri’s body.
“What did you tell Rosa when she asked for your help?” Dimitri focused on Dante.
“I told her offering my assistance would show you weren’t capable of running this pack.” Dante had an intolerable knack of keeping his scent to himself when he chose to do so. There was no way of telling by looking or sniffing what emotions ran through his body.
Dimitri stiffened at his words, his arms turning hard as steel as he held on to Rosa.
“That’s not true.” She could barely move in Dimitri’s arms, but she looked up at him the best that she could. He continued glaring at Dante and she knew the only thing that kept him from leaping was the knowledge that Dante was already injured. “A good pack leader seeks out whatever avenues exist to protect his pack in spite of his own personal feelings.”
“She’s right.” Dimitri’s expression didn’t change. “You will contact any resources that you might have and help in finding money to get this pack off the ground.”
Dante growled and Moira pressed her hands on his shoulders. He ignored her, not moving to touch her or push her away. “You dare to enter my den and tell me what I will do,” he sneered.
“You’re a member of this pack. You will help and offer your talents in any way that I see fit.”
“I’ll only tell you once, Spalto—don’t ever tell me what to do.”
Rosa fought Dimitri, desperately needing him to let her go. When he released her, he took a step back, combing his hair with his fingers and glaring at her. Although his anger wasn’t directed at her, she saw the frustration and irritation that he swallowed while trying to figure out how to deal with the bullheaded Dante.
“Just ask him,” she whispered, knowing Moira and Dante could hear her.
But they battled with their own emotions, and each other. She prayed that would give her one moment of time with Dimitri when their thoughts wouldn’t all be intertwined. She dared brush her fingers against his hard-set jaw.
His attention snapped to her. “What? And allow him to knock me down again?” he hissed.
“You didn’t ask him before—you demanded his help. Just ask him,” she pleaded.
And if Dante told him no twice, she would kick his stubborn ass.
Dimitri glared at her with eyes darker than onyx. His muscles pressed against his jacket and blue jeans. Hard packed steel swelled over every inch of him and made her insides swarm with feverish desire. But she ached just as badly to see him accomplish what he came here to do. Knowing how proud Dimitri was, she knew it took one hell of a lot of mental stamina for him to walk up to this den and enter with a request.
After a long, tense silence, Dimitri looked over her head. She didn’t turn around, didn’t need to see Dante and Moira behind her. All of her attention was on Dimitri, willing him to have the strength to humble himself in front of Dante.
“I would appreciate your help in finding other means to finance paving our roads and getting some businesses started.”
She jumped when Dante growled behind her. Dimitri pulled her to him, again her protector, when Dante turned, howled and hit the wall with his free hand.
Chapter Ten
Dimitri was more than aware of Rosa’s soft body pressed against his as he stared over her head at Dante. The werewolf’s eyes went completely silver and he pounded the wall with his good fist.
“You’re a pompous ass,” Dante hissed. “And your humility has a foul stench to it.”
“I’m not here to make friends.” Dimitri felt an incredible calm rush over him as his mind cleared.
Moira hugged herself and glared at the floor, more than likely so she wouldn’t clobber her fool mate. Dante met his gaze, fire raging inside him as either the gift, or the change, or possibly both fought to take over.
“You have enough werewolves in the pack to pave the roads.”
“True.” Dimitri had gone over this at the last pack meeting, and Dante was there. Possibly the werewolf needed it recapped for him. Dimitri didn’t need to justify what actions brought him here, but if Dante couldn’t get a grip on things, he had no problem helping to set his mind straight. “Muscle isn’t the issue here. It takes money to get the supplies to provide decent roads. We need sewers and pipes laid to help with runoff. There isn’t enough equipment to clear the roads in the winter. And it will take more money to repave them come summer. We have dens who want to set up shop, open their stores, not to mention we need to build a school for our cubs. Again it all takes cold, hard cash, which doesn’t grow on trees.”
“Don’t insult me.” Dante fisted his hands, and even the muscles in his wrapped arm that hung in its sling bulged.
“Just giving you the education you’re sniffing for.”
Dante growled.
“Stop it.” Rosa twisted in his arms, brushing her ha
nds over his chest and looking up at him and then at her cousin. “You two are talking—keep doing it.”
“She’s right,” Moira added quickly. “This isn’t about building a bond between you two. God knows you’re both too stubborn for that.” She glared at her mate and then Dimitri. “This is about the pack. No one is arguing that you both care about our future.”
“I’ll give it some thought,” Dante said.
“You have the connections?” Dimitri wouldn’t waste his breath here a moment longer if the werewolf didn’t have resources.
“I might.”
Dimitri nodded. He would give Dante time to see what he could sniff out. Putting his hands on Rosa’s shoulders, he guided her toward the door.
“She isn’t going with you.” Dante reached for Rosa.
“I’m not here to discuss Rosa.” Dimitri swept her off her feet, yanking her away from Dante and pushing her to the other side of him. He glared at the werewolf.
“Don’t push your luck, werewolf,” Dante hissed. “I just agreed to help you. Would you throw that all away over a bitch?”
Dimitri ached to punch the brute square in his nose for being such a pompous ass. “You didn’t just agree to help me. You agreed to help your pack. You made it quite clear you think little of me, which I’ve never doubted for a moment, not while we’ve been on this mountain, not for years. See if you can help this pack better than you did our last one.”
No matter how hard those who rallied around Dante tried howling that he had nothing to do with their pack burning on Malta, Dimitri still had his reservations. And to hell with the werewolf if he read Dimitri’s mind right now and heard his doubts. He pushed Rosa to the door, then reached around her and yanked it open.
The cold night air wrapped around them, but it didn’t cool off the fire burning inside him.
Dante turned his attention to Rosa. “I expect you to call me within minutes to tell me that you’re at your den.”
She didn’t speak, but Dimitri knew she said something to him in her thoughts. Dante stiffened and for a moment it looked like smoke would blow from his ears. Moira grabbed his good arm, shifting her attention from Rosa to Dante. She never looked at him.
'Til Death Page 12