Wolf or Love

Danica wasn’t oblivious to the looks she was getting from the people in the diner. As this was a place where powerful alphas tended to congregate

the kind who saw latency as a weakness, the door had never been open to her. It was kind of like a school situation where only the popular kids got to hang out in a particular crowd. That wasn’t why people kept looking at her though. It was because she was sitting next to a hulking great Alpha male who was known for being a violent bastard but was toying with her hair with the lightest touch as she ate her breakfast. The same hulking great Alpha Male who had a tendency to turn wild in his wolf form. Their expressions ranged from curious to awed, probably due to the

rumor that she had calmed him when he was feral or maybe just due to the fact that she was sitting with the local psychotic shifter. Of course they were. quick to look away if Gio shot them a scowl, but he seemed to like the idea that other males might want her. Weird bastard.

Smiling at the sight of his tiny mate practically attacking a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, tomatoes and baked beans, Gio massaged her nape. “Enjoying that, baby?” Apparently too engrossed to give him any attention, she simply nodded.. He hadn’t ordered anything for himself other than coffee as he wasn’t particularly hungry at the time, but the smell of meat so close was too much to resist. He took a slice of bacon from her plate and dipped it in her egg before taking a chunk from it. She froze then slowly swerved her head to face him, snarling. He knew why. He’d learned early that his mate was territorial over her food, but needling her was always fun. Surprising him, she abruptly leaned forward and snatched the bacon from his hand with her teeth, making

him think of a chameleon catching a fly with its tongue. His chuckle quickly died as the door of the diner opened and a familiar scent reached his nose. Danica looked up to see Carrick Hart walking toward them flanked by Matt and Ben. All three looked relatively nervous even though the meeting had been set up by Gio through Jeremy. As Gio was convinced that forming an alliance with her father would upset her, he had earlier that morning offered to cancel the meeting. However, she had encouraged him to go. It seemed dumb for him to have mated with her for this alliance only to then refuse to even meet with her father to discuss the issue. As she always did when Carrick

was around, her wolf flexed her claws and growled, although she recognised this wolf as her father, she didn’t like him.

As Carrick stopped before their table it was Gio’s cue to stand, but he didn’t, something that was a lack of respect and made it clear that he didn’t trust Carrick. The old Alpha had the option of leaving, refusing to sit with someone who would show disrespect, or he could sit down and attempt to earn that respect. Gio guessed that Carrick would want an alliance too much to just walk out. He was right.

The three wolves joined their table, sliding onto the bench opposite theirs, with Carrick in the middle. The old man folded his arms across his

broad chest. He was in good shape for his age, Gio thought. But both of them knew Gio could take him easy. Carrick’s gaze finally flicked to Danica who, apparently uninterested in waiting for her own father to acknowledge her, was focused on her half finished meal. “I’m sure you’ll remember Ben and Matt so I don’t need to introduce them. A few of my other enforcers are outside.”

Gio heard the ‘I’m not defenceless’ warning within that sentence. “If you look behind me, you should see my Beta and a few of my own enforcers.” He heard as Duda said ‘Hi there’. He imagined that Chris, Ray and Hudson would be giving Carrick looks that said they hoped he gave them a reason to pounce on him. Each one of them despised the old Alpha for his treatment of Danica.

Carrick exhaled heavily. “It’s fair to say we got off on the wrong foot.”

“Are you referring to how you tried to take my mate from me?” Gio’s wolf growled at the memory.

“I had every reason to believe that she wasn’t your true mate. Considering that she’s my daughter, taking her with me wouldn’t exactly have been kidnapping her.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Your daughter, huh? Biologically, maybe. In practice, not so much.”

Again Carrick’s gaze darted briefly to an otherwise occupied Danica. “I heard about what happened with Cody.”

“Yes, it was all very sad.”

“I also heard that you went wildl and that Danica managed to calm you down and bring you back from that.” Carrick’s gaze focused solely on her and. he seemed to be looking at her through new eyes. Almost done with her meal, she was eating what was left of her toast. Damn she ate fast and it always brought a smile from Gio. Not right now, though, because she was being ogled by her father’s enforcer who didn’t think Gio would notice.

Yeah he knew she was a very sensual creature and sometimes it gave him a kick to know that others wanted what was his, but not when those

males were obviously daydreaming about that fantasy mouth of hers. “If you keep staring at my mate I’ll rip your fucking throat out.” Ben doubleblinked then quickly lowered his eyes. That didn’t placate Gio or his wolf. As if Danica sensed that, she rubbed her jaw against his shoulder and briefly patted his thigh. He calmed slightly at the bodily contact and, needing more, he resumed massaging her nape.

Carrick frowned, watching them closely.

“It was wise that you didn’t come along with Cody. I’ll tear anyone apart who tries to take her from me, I don’t give a shit who they are or how many alliances they have.” The look on Carrick’s face said he believed him.

So he should. Gio decided not to think on the fact that it was more than his wolf’s possessiveness and his mating instincts that drove him to make that very truthful statement.

Sighing happily now that she had demolished her meal, Danica leaned back in her seat and rubbed her bloated stomach. “I’m stuffed.”

“Not too stuffed for coffee, right?” said Gio.

“Never too stuffed for coffee.” She reached out and gripped her cup, only then meeting her dad’s eyes. “Well hello Daddy Dearest.”

“Nice of you to finally acknowledge me.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware you’d give a shit.”

Puffing up his chest a little, Carrick said, “Alright, let’s talk alliances.”

Gio held up a hand. “Firstly, let me be clear on a few things. I might agree to an alliance with you, but I’ll never like you. You judged Danica’s worth on whether she could shift, something that has to do with her genetics. Instead of protecting her as you should have, you threw her literally to the wolves and she spent her life fighting off assholes. You were even prepared to force her into a mating, at which point I would have lost her. So,

yeah, we can talk alliances, but I wouldn’t bother continuing this discussion if you’re hoping for my permission to use me as protection.”

Carrick narrowed his eyes. “I won’t have your support in the event of a challenge being made against my pack by another alpha?”

“I didn’t say that. But, see, Danica’s told me all about how you like to name-drop.” When Carrick’s gaze moved to her she gave him the sweetest

smile. “If there are incidences when you need to call on your alliances for back-up, well that’s one thing. What I won’t have is you throwing my name

at people whenever you feel threatened. Understand?”

“If you’re going to restrict the alliance to such a degree, I’m not sure there’s any point to this conversation.”

Recognising that Carrick was calling his bluff, Gio smirked. “Don’t play games with me, Hart. You want this alliance more than I do. If you don’t like my terms, feel free to go.”

“You have very few alliances. You would benefit more than from this than I would.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t benefit more from this than you, I just said I didn’t want it as much as you do. As my history shows, collecting alliances has never been a particular interest of mine.”

“Until now.”

“Until Danica. Things change when you mate.”

“Yes, they do,” he allowed. “I have a condition of my own. I want to be able to call on Danica whenever I need a healer.”

Uh-oh, thought Danica as she felt Gio’s body tense.

Both incredulous and irate, Gio leaned forward. Whatever the males saw on his face made them lean back. “You honestly think I’ll agree to you

using her the way you have been all these years?” Carrick had spoken about her like she was an object or tool that he would like to pick up when he felt like – of course, that was how he had always seen her and treated her. A growl built in the back of Gio’s throat and sent vibrations down his chest.

Carrick swallowed hard in a nervous movement. “She’s a powerful healer.”

“She’s also a person. My mate. No one uses Danica like that. Not anymore.”

The appearance of a tall brunette halted the conversation. Gio heard Danica groaned and guessed this wasn’t a friend of hers. He couldn’t help noticing that everything about the female appeared to be false.

“Alpha,” she said respectfully to Carrick with a nod by way of greeting.

Ben cleared his throat. “We’re a little busy here”

She waved her hand. “That’s fine, I was just coming to say hi.” Then her eyes landed on Danica and she smirked evilly. “I’m guessing you must be lost to be in this place.”

Danica smiled though it wasn’t pleasant. “Hating me won’t make you pretty.”