Gypsy Wolf (Strange Lake Falls Series Book 5) (5 page)

Chapter 9

Lucas was not happy with his pack, not at all. He thought the males were flirting too much with Diana and the females looked like they wanted to cut her up and serve her for lunch. It wasn’t like he had anything going with the females of his pack.

He slept with one, Britt, years ago, when the moon’s power was calling his wolf forward in a mating heat. He refused to give her his bite or his seed. The council had been pushing for him to mate and breed, but his wolf pulled back, refusing, insisting that they would find their mate.

Britt was disappointed; she had wanted to be the female alpha for their small pack. She acted like an alpha bitch most of the time anyway, and she had clearly been hoping for the official title. Britt was also the reason he never messed around with any of the other willing females. She had threatened to hurt them if he did. He should have kicked Britt out of his pack a long time ago.

“Why did you bring this lesser wolf here?” Britt demanded as she followed him into the kitchen. He had come in there to get away from her for a few minutes and to grab a beer.

“I have already explained this all to you, and keep it down. I don’t want you saying things like that about Diana.”

She growled at him. “You fucked her, didn’t you? Did you mate her?” She moved so fast he didn’t have time to move away. She ran her nose against his neck.

“Get away!” He pushed her away, careful not to throw her into the wall.

“I don’t scent a mating.”

“I haven’t mated her, damn it!”

“You can’t mate her. She’s not a full wolf, she’s a weak thing. The pack needs a full alpha female that can provide shifting pups. The council insists on it or they will cut us off. You have a duty.”

“I know that. I don’t need you to tell me my duty!” He ran a hand through his hair. He knew what the pack needed, what the council expected of him. Not long ago he had been thinking the same thing. Now, his wolf wanted only Diana and he was starting to succumb to the desire as well.

“Well, fuck her and get her out of your system. Then come back and pick one of us real werewolves to mate. We need to be breeding pups soon.”

*****

Diana turned away from the kitchen doorway quickly, before anyone saw her. She went outside through the front door. It hurt to know that Lucas still felt that way, especially after they spent such a wonderful night together.

She looked up at the stars, wishing that she had never met Lucas, that she had never involved him in her problems. Even as she thought that, the memories of their night together played in her mind. She had never felt so wanted and desirable. That had meant the world to her.

“That historian guy is right, you know,” a male voice said from the side of the barn.

She turned around, frightened that someone had snuck up on her. The male leaning against the barn in overalls and no shirt underneath was an imposing figure. He was one of Lucas’s enforcers that had been out working the farms. What was his name? Some kind of animal name?

“I’m Ox.” He stepped forward, walking toward her slowly.

“Ox, that’s right. How do you know about the historian?” She wrapped her arms around her waist. The male had to be close to seven feet tall and was built like a linebacker. His skin was dark, smooth and rich. He was sexy, but not her type.

“I was in the basement when I heard the alpha explaining things. The historian said something about how a second claiming could override the first claim. It’s true. Years ago, I served as enforcer for one of the councilmen and there was a claiming contested when a warrior came back from a battle everyone assumed he died in. The warrior claimed first claim but while he was missing, his brother had fallen in love with the intended and mated her.”

“So the council sided with the second claim?”

“Yes, it was a good mating and they actually had a pup on the way.”

“What happened to the warrior?” She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the male that lost his love.

“He requested leave to head a new battle against the vampires. I lost track of him.”

“So, a second claim, if deemed a good mating by the council, will hold.”

“Yes.”

“Great, so I will just call up my ex-boyfriends—which are non-existent—and see which one wants to go up against Kilian and the werewolf council.”

“No need, I offer myself.” Ox moved closer to her. He was very quiet on his feet and moved like a shadow in the dark.

She blinked at him, not quite sure she heard him right. “What?”

“I offer to claim you and go before the council to prove it is a good claim.”

“I—appreciate the offer. You do realize that I am a soothsayer, don’t you? Most consider me a lesser wolf.”

“I don’t. Those who do are idiots. I would be honored to have you as my mate.”

Wow, two offers to claim her, first from Lazarus and now Ox. They were both attractive and sexy, good males; they just weren’t the one she wanted.

“I appreciate the offer, but—”

“Don’t say no. I’ll come with you and Alpha Lucas to offer protection. If things turn bad, consider my offer as a last resort.” Ox didn’t wait for her to reply but headed into the farmhouse.

She closed her eyes and tried to fight back tears. Her life had turned upside down. She was running from a crazy lone wolf who had marked her when she was just a kid and being helped by her psycho father. She had two males who offered to mate her for honorable reasons, but not the one male she desired more than anything. All she wanted was to go back to her commune and hide from the world. But if she did that, she would only bring trouble to her commune.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been standing outside, leaning against the fence, but she felt Lucas coming up behind her.

“Aren’t you hungry? You didn’t come inside for dinner.”

“I’m fine.” She kept her back to him.

“Worried about facing the council tomorrow?”

“A little.” She shivered when he put his large hands on her shoulders.

“I’ll be there with you.”

“I appreciate it, but even you can’t take on the whole council alone.”

“My enforcer Ox has asked to come with us. I agreed. Come inside. I’ve you set up to sleep in Ria’s room. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

She bit her bottom lip looking away. Ox must not have told Lucas his alternative reason for going with them. If one of his enforcers was going with them, what was Lucas going to do about the safety of his pack?

“Lucas, how many enforcers do you have?”

“Two now. I had three enforcers: Ox, Darrell, and Vinny. Since I kicked Denny out of the pack, Darrell has moved up to second in command, leaving Ox and Vinny.”

“So if we take Ox with us, that will leave Darrell and Vinny in charge of the pack. Are you sure you can trust them after the way they followed Denny?”

He let go of her and moved away. “Are you questioning my ability to control my pack?”

Oh, he sounded mad. “It’s your pack, you’re the alpha. What do I know? I’m just some worthless lesser werewolf. My apologies.” She began walking toward the farmhouse.

“Diana, wait.”

“I’m going to get some sleep. See you in the morning.” She was proud of herself for not letting her voice crack. She walked smoothly up the stairs, opened the door, entered the house, and closed the door behind her. She was
not
running away. She took two more steps before she halted. “Where the hell is Ria’s bedroom?”

Chapter 10

The next morning

Lucas walked downstairs and found his pack sitting around the large dining table. His eyes sought out Diana. She was in the process of raising a fork of eggs to her mouth when she paused at his entrance. She looked away from him and put her fork down.

He hated the way things had ended last night. He had wanted to go after her, but then thought twice about it, realizing he was too upset. Hearing others say she was less and then hearing her say it about herself made him furious. Lucas had to go wolf for a few hours to get himself under control. He wanted to talk to her when he came back, but she was already asleep.

Instead, he had sought out Darrell and Vinny. Diana was right, he was leaving his pack vulnerable. They had made plans that he needed to tell the rest of his pack about now.

“I’m glad you’re all here. I made a call to Alpha Ric in Strange Lake Falls. He’s expecting you all to arrive in a few days.”

“What?” Britt stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

“It’s safer for you to be with a larger pack. I was thinking of joining our packs anyway. This will give us a chance to see how well our packs can blend together.”

“I won’t have us uprooted again!” Britt was fuming.

“Britt, stop talking.” Lucas glared at her. His eyes began to glow and his claws slid out.

Diana and the rest of the pack stood up and backed away from the table.

“Why are you sending us away?” Britt demanded

“I am meeting with the council and I don’t want you all to be left vulnerable in case something happens to me.”

“Just let the bitch go to the council, step out of the situation. You don’t need to get involved any further with this lesser—” Britt froze at the rumbling sound coming from her alpha.

Lucas breathed in and out, trying to keep his anger under control. He didn’t believe in hitting women, but Britt was pushing his limits. Damn, what a mess his pack had become in the short time he had been in Strange Lake Falls.

“Easy, Alpha.” Darrell slowly stepped in front of Britt just in case. That move actually made Lucas feel better. At least some of what he had tried to teach his pack about respect and protecting those who were weaker was paying off. He needed to make sure that they knew that his rules applied to everyone.

“If I hear one more person call Diana a lesser wolf I will rip out their throat!”

His wolf was ready to come out to protect their mate.
Holy shit! Mate?
Someone else stepped forward getting his attention.

“Lucas, it’s okay. I’m used to hearing things like that.” Diana walked closer to him and he scented her fear. He hated that he had made her scared. What must she think of him and his wayward pack? He needed to step away and get himself under control.

“Darrell, get everyone loaded up and out of here.” He turned to Ox. “I’ll be waiting in the car.” He turned and walked away. He didn’t believe that his wolf would allow him to attack a female, but that female was challenging his authority and insulting his mate. What a cluster fuck.

*****

Diana grabbed her bag and headed toward the door of the house. Ox stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“You didn’t tell me that you and Lucas were that close.”

She frowned. “We’re not.”

“He would have taken on the entire pack to protect you and now he’s going up against the council. I think that’s pretty serious.”

“Look, I don’t know what happened in there except to say that I just met Britt and want to strangle her myself. Lucas has made it clear to me that he isn’t interested in a half-werewolf.”

“Honey, you are kidding yourself if you believe that. I’m still coming to offer protection for my alpha. If he doesn’t claim you and it comes down to it, I will claim you. But know that I will have to leave my pack after that, because he won’t be able to handle us being together. I just wanted you to know what to expect.” Ox opened the door and exited the house.

She took a deep breath and followed him out. Diana felt confused about what had just happened. There were times she wished she could use her powers to tell her future, so she would know what choices to make.

Lucas was sitting in the driver’s seat and Ox decided to ride shotgun. They were glaring at one another. Well, this should be a fun trip.

Chapter 11

“Where is she?” Kilian growled at as he lifted the werewolf up by the neck. He had run into the wolf in town that scented of Diana. The wolf swore that the female would be at the farmhouse, but they had arrived to find it completely deserted, clearly a recent evacuation.

“The Alpha told me before he arrived that they would be heading for the council meeting, but he kicked me out before I could hear anything else. He had her with him when he arrived yesterday. I don’t know where the others are. That’s all I know. ”

Kilian let his claws extend and penetrate the wolf’s neck. Blood trailed down and he scented urine. Kilian snorted in disgust. “You call yourself a werewolf?” He threw the male down on the floor of the kitchen.

“Should we take him with us?” Chet Wako asked.

Kilian hated the man, but this fool would give him his mate. “No, let him struggle to survive without a pack.” He was disappointed. He wanted to catch Diana before she made it to the council. Didn’t matter, he had this in the bag. No way the council would turn down his claim. They needed more werewolves and he had a witch on the payroll that swore she could ensure that Diana would give him male pups that would shift. The werewolf nation needed this, and more than that, Kilian needed to claim his mate.

It was true that he had made Chet Wako beholden to him and that Chet bartered his own daughter. What Chet didn’t know was that Kilian had been watching Diana since she was born. Actually, he had been infatuated with her mother, Rosanna Rhapsody. She was a powerful woman and he wanted her. Chet came into the picture while Kilian was gone, in battle with the vampires. He was furious when he returned a year later to find Rosanna mated with Chet, and then she had died giving birth to her daughter.

At first he watched the girl out of curiosity and bit of resentment, blaming her for her mother’s death. He was probably the only one that noticed how neglectful Chet was. He knew she would look like her mother one day. This was his second chance; he just needed to wait until she was mature enough. He befriended Chet only to slowly work his loyalty to his own advantage.

But then that damn Jaspers alpha refused to give up Diana and kicked Chet out of the pack. He had to bide his time until they could come back and reclaim what was his.

He had almost had her. Her young teen body was beginning to fill out and his wolf wanted her. Kilian would dream often of claiming her young body over and over, only to wake and find himself in bed with some human whore.

Diana should have been his by now. When the pack council sent her off to a commune, one with a magical spell preventing him from locating it, it nearly drove him insane not being able to even find her scent. He was tempted to kill Chet just for spite, but he thought he might have need of the male one day. He owned Chet and he would take advantage of the debt.

He spent years acquiring the funds, the connections, and the magic needed to uncover her. He would have found the commune eventually, but by luck, she left its safety to travel to Strange Lake Falls. He followed her there, observing only. His first look of her as a grown woman had him hard and aching.

She looked exactly like Rosanna, maybe even more beautiful. He didn’t like her around so many males. He would take her away and make sure that he was the only male she saw. He had plans to keep her in his basement for the first year, just to break her in. After he got a few pups off of her, she would be too tired to run from him.

He walked back to his pickup truck. “Come on, Chet, let’s go get our girl.”