Wolf or Love

She shook her head. “That’s just his wolf, Duda. Just his mating instincts. It’s not Gio.”

“He knew in advance that his wolf would be possessive, he knew his instincts would ride him hard – he’d been ready for all that. He hadn’t been

ready for how it would be if he himself felt those same things.”

“You’re wrong.” The denial was automatic. Automatic because she’d come to the conclusion a long time ago that she could only ever rely on

herself, that she would never have that total acceptance that came from a mate. She was defiant, sarcastic, snappy, contrary, stubborn and strong-willed. not an attractive combination for male wolves in her opinion. When she’d lost Zan she’d also lost that one chance of being cared for exactly as she was, latency and all. Besides this was Gio they were talking about for God’s sake! “There’s no danger of us imprinting.”

“I agree. There’s something a lot bigger than that going on here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s something you both need to figure out on your own, but I’m not convinced either of you are ready to accept it yet.”

Not liking that smug, all-knowing look on his face, she pushed passed him and jogged to her room. In under a minute she was stripped of her clothes and stood under the soothing hot spray of the shower. There was no denying that this day had been one of the strangest of her life. On the plus

side, at least it wasn’t possible that it could get any stranger. But she didn’t want to think on anything. Not her mom, not Zan, not Chris’ confession, not

Duda’s dumb theory. All she wanted was to just forget about it all, just for a little while. She would decide what to do about Chris tomorrow, she really would, but right now she just needed to relax. Finished in his office and ready to head to his room, Gio swung the office door open and frowned at the sight of Duda stood there with his hand ready to knock.

“Hey,” said his Beta, dropping his hand. “I’m just passing on a message from Jeremy. The meeting with Mr. Carrick Hart is scheduled for next Saturday morning at Euphoria Meals, 10 A. M.”

“Good.”

“You don’t sound all that excited.”

“I don’t?” asked Gio, hoping to sound aloof, as he stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him. In truth, the idea of making any kind

of agreement with Carrick Hart irritated both him and his wolf. Duda sighed, rubbing his nape. “I don’t like it either. Danica might say it doesn’t bother her, but it’s got to piss her off a little.”

“She’s always known I wanted the alliance, she’s never forgotten why she’s here,” said Gio a little defensively.

“Yeah. Would have been a lot easier using her like this if she was an evil heifer though.” As Gio shrugged passed him Duda added, “I wouldn’t expect her to be in a great mood when you see her.”

Gio swerved. “Why’s that?”

“Chris just dropped a bomb on her.”

He didn’t have to say anything more for Gio to understand. “I didn’t think he’d tell her. Little motherfucker.”

“Gio, come on, he’s just overheard her screaming from an orgasm you were giving her and he feels like you’re treating her like a toy you can pick

up when you feel like.”

“A toy? She’s my mate.” He would admit he’d been an ass to her, but never had he thought of her as a toy, never had he disrespected her in his

thoughts like that.

“I know that. Chris would never trespass on your territory and if you had mated with Danica for life then I doubt he would have said a word. Not that

I’m making excuses for him. I’m not. It was a totally uncool thing to do, especially on a day when she’s feeling so raw.”

“She hadn’t known, had she?”

Duda shook his head. “She seemed a little worried that it might cause trouble between you and him, but I made sure she knew that wouldn’t happen. I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep him as her bodyguard though.”

“She won’t need one. She has me.” Gio was surprised his voice sounded human considering that he was fighting his wolf from surfacing. His

wolf wanted to hunt down the male who not only coveted his mate but had made it damn clear that he wanted her.

Duda grinned. “I like that answer.”

Gio gave him a small nod and turned to leave, but then he spoke again.

“There’s something else. Telling you probably isn’t a good thing, but keeping it from you would be worse – you’re my Alpha, and my friend. And I’d hate to see you throw something away without first realising how important it is to you.”

“Duda, English.”Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“Well, Chris basically indicated that if she was agreeable, he’d leave the pack with her when this was over and mate with her.”

“What was that?” he growled. His wolf bucked and clawed at Gio, wanting to get out and rid the world of this male. Chris had to be having suicidal thoughts – that was all Gio could conclude from that. “I’m going to kill him.”

In a blink, Duda was directly in front of him, blocking his path. “No, no, no – Gio, man, just listen. I know Chris crossed a boundary by suggesting that to her while she’s still mated to you, but he wasn’t thinking right. He was jealous and hurt.”

None of that meant jack shit to Gio or his wolf. Shoving his Beta aside, he stalked down the hallway in pursuit of his prey.

“If you go kick Chris’ ass now, Danica will leave.”

His wolf snapped to attention at that and Gio halted in his tracks. No other words would have gotten through to him. His wolf didn’t understand all the details around this matter, but he did understand cause and effect. If Gio acted on his anger and hurt Chris, his mate would leave.

“She won’t stick around even one hour longer if she thinks she’s coming between the two of you. I know you can’t just switch off the anger but, man, you got to choose which is more important – venting that anger, or making sure Danica stays.”

He was right. Gio knew he was right. But he was also right about something else. Gio couldn’t just switch off the anger just like that.

“Duda…” The word was guttural.

“She’ll leave, Chris. You touch Chris, she’ll leave right now.”. And Chris might leave with her. “What did she say when he told her?”

“He didn’t give her a chance to say anything, just left the room. You can’t really blame him for feeling that way about her.”

“I don’t. But what he did crossed a line.”

“Yeah, and imagine how that’s made her feel. She thought Chris was her friend and she’s already had enough going on in her head today. Go to her,

make sure she’s okay. Chris’ suffering enough just by having to see you guys together.” When Gio continued to hesitate, Duda sighed. “Chris or Danica”.

Decide.”