Wicked Cravings

CHAPTER ON E

Dante shot a fierce scowl over his coffee mug at Dominic, Tao, Trick, and Marcus. “She’s not my mate,” he repeated for the tenth time. He knew the enforcers were playing with him, but he was too agitated to see the funny side of things. Was there a funny side to a female maintaining you were her mate to her seven brothers who wanted your balls on a plate for “abandoning” her?

“All I’m saying is that you guys looked cute together,” teased Trick as he leaned back in his seat opposite Dante at the long oak table. No sooner had he set aside his empty cereal bowl than Grace, undeniably the world’s best cook, collected it. She gave Trick a reprimanding look for his teasing, but Dante could see that she was hiding a smile.

“Yeah, you matched well,” agreed Marcus, wearing his usual clown-wide grin, which made most females melt while it irritated the shit out of Dante.

He looked at Marcus incredulously. “I matched well with an agent of Satan?”

“Someone has to have that agent of Satan.” Dominic shrugged innocently before taking a swig of his coffee.

Trick gave Dante a kind, understanding smile that couldn’t have been more false. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that in time she’ll forgive you for abandoning her.” The “abandoning” part aggravated Dante just as much as the false claim. He would never walk away from his mate, even though he wasn’t yet ready to find her. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the absence of that bond in his life. He did, and so did his wolf. But it wasn’t as simple as that. When his mate came along, she would rightfully want all of him, she would demand to be at the center of his life, and she would expect his loyalty to be with her, first and foremost. For a Beta, that could be a problem. At present, Dante’s loyalty rested with Trey and his life was dominated by his responsibilities to the pack.

A Beta was more than just an Alpha’s right-hand man, responsible for giving advice on political matters. He was also responsible for the protection and safety of the entire pack, he was the mind behind the plans and strategies, and he acted as a go-between for his Alpha when negotiating matters with other packs. He also trained and commanded the enforcers. Betas got their hands dirty doing the jobs that no one else wanted—particularly interrogating and executing enemies. Dante was well known for his skills as an interrogator.

Every day, he spent time patrolling pack territory with whichever enforcers were on duty, milling through paperwork or making important calls to lessen Trey’s workload, and being an ear for any member of the pack who had problems to address. He was just as responsible for the pack’s emotional well-being as he was for its physical safety. Also, he was in constant contact with the enforcers, so that he was always aware of any activity near the borders of pack territory. But having such heavy responsibilities was okay, because Dante liked his position and he was honored to be Beta.

His mate, however, wasn’t going to be content to share him. He’d seen it happen many times before. Sure, the females were often happy at first, because it meant that they held the position of Beta female in the pack. But once they realized the sacrifices that came with it, the ultimatum soon came:

“Your job or me.” It was the same one that his mother had given to his father. And when his father had chosen his job…well, life became pretty shitty. If Dante’s mate gave him that ultimatum, he could never make the same choice his father had made. He would have to give up his position as Beta. He wasn’t ready to do that yet.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with a complicated woman,” said Marcus, topping his plate with more food. It was amazing that he was in such good shape when all he ever seemed to do was eat.

Dante took a gulp of coffee. “Personally, I prefer females who, like me, are un complicated.” Rhett snorted. “Someone like that would bore the hell out of you, and you know it. Just as you know that you’re not so uncomplicated at all. You might be easygoing and laid-back, but underneath all that you’re deep, complex.”

“That’s Ryan you’re describing.” Dante gestured to the frowning wolf beside him—the only enforcer who wasn’t joining in on the whole “let’s irritate Dante today” thing. Ryan, a man of very few words, merely grunted before returning his attention to the food in front of him.

“Ryan’s certainly complex,” allowed Rhett. “So are Trey and all the enforcers—it’s part of why you all became friends in the first place. Like calls to like. But we’re not talking about any of the others—we’re talking about you. Since you took up the mantle of Beta when you were an adolescent, you’ve put yourself second to everything else—the pack, our Alpha, your responsibilities. You’re a workaholic of the worst kind. You need to find that work/play balance. You need to be as protective of yourself as you are of everyone else.”

Dante really wanted to punch Rhett. The guy was genuine, loyal, and he would give any of his packmates the shirt off his back, but he would also analyze their every move, take them apart, and find out what made them tick. It was the way his geeky, analytical mind operated. Annoyingly, he couldn’t just allow people to have their problems. No, he wanted to “fix” everyone. It was why Taryn called him a “psychological mechanic.” But Dante didn’t need fixing; he was dedicated to his job, but he was not addicted to it. “Easy there, Dr. Freud. Are you also going to tell me I secretly wanted to have sex with my mom when I was growing up?”

Rhett started to say something else, but Grace shot him a sharp look. He sighed. “Fine, shut down. It’s only because you know I’m right.”

“Now can we back get to the original subject? Why would Glory falsely claim I’m her mate?

She has to know that it’s not going to make me mate with her.”

“Maybe her pride’s stung because she’d expected to be more than a one-night stand and she wants to cause trouble to get back at you,” suggested Tao, the Head Enforcer.

“But I told her before I even touched her that I didn’t want anything more than that.” Dante sighed. “Why would she expect more?”

“Some people won’t accept what they don’t want to hear or see.” Rhett’s expression was genuinely sympathetic.

“Yeah,” agreed Dominic. “She’ll probably be happy once her brothers are done with you.”

“See—agent of Satan.” It wouldn’t be the first time a gang of brothers had targeted Dante. At least this time they weren’t his own.

“They’re all big fuckers, you know.” Trick’s lips twitched into a smile. “I heard they’re a crazy bunch, too. And I don’t mean ‘eccentric’ crazy, I mean ‘ we, the jury, find…’ crazy. If I were you, well, I’d definitely be a little nervous.”

“Nervous of what?” asked Shaya as she entered the room and took a seat at the table. The redheaded female, who had been a close friend of Taryn’s since childhood, had recently joined.

Ordinarily, Trey didn’t like adding newcomers to their relatively small pack of sixteen. In fact, with the exception of Taryn, it consisted of only those who had left their old one, the Bjorn Pack, with Trey when he was banished. But he had accepted Shaya at Taryn’s request, and he had also allowed two members of the Bjorn Pack to switch with Selma and Kirk when they left Phoenix.

Trick smiled at Shaya. “We’re just congratulating Dante on finding his mate.” Almost as if he sensed that Dante was close to strangling Trick—not through a loss of control, just because it would be fun—Tao quickly explained, “A one-night stand of Dante’s apparently doesn’t like that she was simply a one-night stand and has decided to tell her brothers she’s his mate and sic them on him.”

Shaya winced. “Taryn’s not going to like it when she finds out. Good luck to Trey with keeping her out of it.”

Tao looked at Dante. “What are you going to do? If it was me, I’d want to go and confront her.”

“That’s probably what she’s hoping I’ll do. I’m not playing her games.” Dante drained the last of his coffee. “We’ll meet Nick Axton at Mo’s Diner to discuss it like he asked. As her Alpha, it’s his right to sort this mess before it goes any further. Refusing him that chance would mess up our alliance with his pack. No spoiled little princess is worth that.”

“At least he was good enough to call and let us know what Glory’s up to,” said Ryan.

“Do we mention this to our Alphas before the meeting?” Tao asked.

“No.” Naturally it wasn’t good to keep things from your Alphas, but part of Dante’s role as Beta was to protect them—even from themselves. As Shaya pointed out, Trey was going to have a hard time keeping Taryn, who was heavily pregnant, from getting involved. “It’ll be better to have the meeting before telling them. That way, Taryn can’t demand to go and Trey won’t have to sedate her.” Tao and the four enforcers nodded, satisfied with the plan.

“Has Jaime come down for breakfast yet?” Shaya was referring to one of the pack’s other two new additions. Dante and Jaime had been in the same pack until he was fourteen, when he left with Trey and several others, but he hadn’t seen her until recently.

As usual when Jaime was mentioned, Trick smirked devilishly at Dante, making the claw marks on his cheek darken. “Nope, not yet,” Trick answered, though his gaze hadn’t moved from Dante. “Who would’ve thought a slip of a girl could spook the normally unflappable you? It’s so much fun to watch.”

“She does not spook me.”

“Yes she does, she always has.”

Okay, that was true. When they were kids, Jaime had followed Dante around like a lost little kitten, trailed after him like he was the answer to all her problems. The guys had all thought it was hilarious that this short, plump little girl who was four years younger was crushing on him. She’d even played practical jokes on his girlfriends, and no amount of Trick’s teasing back then had made her stop. Apparently, she was immune to Trick’s nature. But Dante wasn’t, and because of Jaime he’d been subjected to daily doses of it.

Dante had expected that her crush would have died by now. Apparently not. She hadn’t flirted shamelessly with him or harassed him, but she had made her interest in him clear with bright smiles, subtle touches, and heated looks. Dante, however, had no intention of responding to her interest—something that he had made perfectly clear to Trick last night.

It wasn’t that Dante wasn’t attracted to her. Although she didn’t have the kind of face that made a guy halt in his tracks, within minutes of her company that guy would be wondering why he hadn’t noticed how stunning she was. And her mouth…Dante often found himself wanting to bite it. Her honeysuckle-and-caramel scent that his wolf had always found…intriguing…now had the distinctive tang of a mature female, and it incited his wolf.

Before Jaime, his wolf had never been attracted to submissive females. For that matter, neither had Dante. He liked feisty females whose strength matched his own, and he absolutely loved seeing them submit to him. Not that Dante had any wish to see women bound, kneeling, and calling him Milord—although that one time in Barcelona had been kind of fun. No, he liked women who would challenge him, because it made their eventual surrender that much more gratifying, and it meant that his dominance over them was real. They weren’t submitting because it was in their nature, they were submitting because he was in total control.

It wasn’t that either he or his wolf had no respect for submissive wolves; they were as important to a pack as dominant wolves, in that without them, there would be no balance. A pack of purely dominant shifters would never work. Being a submissive wolf didn’t mean they were passive, weak, soft-spoken, or quiet. Jaime sure as hell wasn’t any of those things—in fact, she was quite the opposite. A submissive wolf could actually be mentally stronger than a dominant wolf. However, they would never be physically stronger than one. As such, submissives never issued challenges on anyone of a higher rank. Most avoided confrontations at all cost and had an extremely difficult time saying no to anyone. Jaime had never suffered such problems because of her strength of character.

Despite such strength, he didn’t believe that she—or any other submissive wolf, for that matter— would be able to handle the full force of his personality.

But even if Jaime hadn’t been a submissive wolf, Dante wouldn’t have responded to those heated stares. He would never have even so much as a one-night stand with a female from his own pack. He didn’t want his true mate feeling uncomfortable when he finally found her and brought her home. Dante had seen how awkward it had been for Taryn to be around Selma, and he didn’t want to put his own mate through that. Taryn hadn’t been heartbroken when Selma decided to leave the pack.

Dante didn’t want a relationship anyway. Not just because his time was already in demand, but because past experience had shown him that a relationship between shifters was a dangerous thing. It could make things very difficult when one suddenly discovered a true mate. Dante had no intention of repeating that experience.

“You could learn a thing or two from Jaime,” said Trick. “She knows how to have fun.” Dante snickered. “She’s also incredibly stubborn and a little crazy.” Feisty he liked, but crazy? Not so much.

Shaya held up her index finger. “She prefers ‘spirited.’”

“She definitely knows how to have fun,” chuckled Dominic. He turned to Dante. “The other night, I found her and Shaya drinking like there was no tomorrow while laughing at a bad porn film.” Marcus nearly choked on his coffee.

Shaya sighed dreamily, smiling. “Ah, good times.”

“Were they touching themselves, too? Or better still, touching each other?” Marcus looked as though he was genuinely trying to picture it.

“No,” replied Dominic, “but they were playing ‘catch’ with an unused butt plug. The one you got Jaime for her birthday simply because you’re odd like that.” Marcus shrugged. “At least she’s using it somehow.”

Knowing Dominic as well as he did, Dante easily guessed, “You joined in, didn’t you?” A smile crept onto Dominic’s face. “Yeah, okay, I did. It was fun.” Trick cocked his head as if listening to a distant noise. “Ah, I think that’s her coming now.” It was. There was no mistaking the source of that husky laugh. That was another thing about her that got the attention of both man and wolf. She had a voice that could liquefy rock. Didn’t matter though, Dante told himself. Didn’t matter how much of an appealing package she was. Didn’t matter how much his wolf wanted her. Didn’t matter how bitable her mouth was or how tantalizing man and wolf found her scent. Dante was not interested in having any type of relationship, no matter how casual, with Jaime Farrow.

Inhaling deeply, he braced himself for that beaming smile she always sent his way—a smile that he would never admit made his cock twitch. Marcus shuffled over, ensuring that there was an empty seat beside Dante, just as he did every morning. Traitor.

Arm in arm with her brother, Gabe—the other new addition to the pack—she entered the kitchen…and his jaw almost hit the floor. His wolf was pacing predatorily, made alert the moment he heard her laugh. In an outfit that emphasized delicious curves that Dante would never have guessed were hiding under the baggy clothes she usually wore, Jaime strode inside and greeted Grace before heading to the table.

Then she did something that she had never done before, something that had his wolf growling in irritation. She gave Dante the same brief, polite smile she gave to everyone else…and walked right on past him and sat between Dominic and Shaya.

Motherfucker.

Jaime pretended not to notice the surprised expressions directed her way. The pack shouldn’t be so shocked that she was considering Dante a lost cause. Sure, Jaime had a major thing for Dante, but damn it, a female had her pride. He’d made it clear through his indifference that he had zero interest in her. Chasing after a guy who didn’t want her was not Jaime’s idea of fun, no matter how hot said guy was. She could try her hand at seduction and see if he caved…Snort. She’d have more luck trying to nail jelly to a stone wall. Seduction wasn’t her specialty.

Besides, she’d overheard him talking to Trick last night. He didn’t think of her that way, he’d said. She wasn’t his type, he’d said. He liked his women slim, he’d said. Superficial asshole. As if those comments weren’t embarrassing enough, she hadn’t been alone when she overheard him. No, Shaya had been there to witness her shame. Groan!

Well Jaime had not dressed in her skintight New York T-shirt and her slim-fitting blue jeans this morning to show him that she wasn’t so chubby anymore thankyouverymuch. She had not put on a little more mascara, eye shadow, and lip gloss than she usually did. And she had not even once wondered if Dante would notice. Nope, not at all.

Seriously, though, who could blame her for wanting Dante as much as she did?

With his wide shoulders, broad chest, and solid arms, he had a build that screamed

“powerful,” “lethal,” “dangerous.” She had grown up around well-built males, had seen plenty of muscular bodies, but Dante was in a league of his own. His compelling, assertive personality made him seem as though he took up even more room than he actually did. He would have seemed unapproachable if it wasn’t for his heart-stopping, crooked grin.

Given how gorgeous females tended to flock around him, Jaime wasn’t exactly surprised by his aloofness. He wasn’t in a position where he had to settle for plain Janes like herself. Then there were the differences in their personalities. He was a stickler for rules, whereas Jaime saw them as suggestions. He had a strict moral code, whereas she had her own sense of right and wrong that didn’t always cohere with his—like something counted as cheating only if she was caught, and that vengeance was therapeutic. Dante was very much a planner, wanting to be prepared for every scenario so that he could be in total control. Jaime? She preferred to make things up as she went along, and she liked to take risks.

Unfortunately, neither her wolf nor her body saw these differences as important. Both reacted to him with an unhealthy amount of excitement that never failed to needle Jaime. Even when he was a kid—a small, scrawny, scowling, defensive little boy—he had fascinated her. He’d been regarded as “the runt” by all of his older brothers, which meant they had made his life miserable. Kind of ironic that he was now the biggest of all of his brothers, even bigger than Josh, who was an Alpha. Ha.

Even though they had been total bastards to him, he seemed to have this inner strength that meant no matter what they did or how much they did it, there were certain parts of him that they had never been able to touch or scar. Growing up, she’d watched in total admiration as Dante had worked to make himself physically strong and fit until he was someone who was confident, capable, and one hundred percent comfortable in his own skin.

All these years later, there was still something about him that enticed both her and her wolf.

Maybe it was his piercing brindle-brown eyes or his cocky grin or the way he radiated confidence.

Or maybe it was because he was amazingly and admirably always in total control of himself and of his wolf. She got the feeling that control was important to him on some level, though she couldn’t figure why. In actuality, it was just as important to her. Not that Dante was even slightly aware of that.

The only person who knew of her problems was her brother, and that was the way she liked it.

Enticing though he was, there would be no more pining over Dante. No more wondering if his short, walnut-brown hair was as soft as she imagined. No more wondering if those big hands of his were as talented as she suspected. And no more wondering if he was as big in the downstairs department as he was everywhere else. But how could she not wonder about that? Come on, she was only human. Well, kind of.

Since the crush wasn’t only physical, it wasn’t going to be possible to make her craving for him simply disappear by force of will. Unfortunately. As Shaya had pointed out, though, Jaime could ensure that she hid it from him. She could fake indifference and lead him to believe she was over the craving, salvaging some self-respect. She could paste a smile on her face and appear to be the happiest she had ever been.

That was exactly what Jaime intended to do. She couldn’t allow herself to be reduced to a blubbering idiot by some guy. That was all he was—just a guy. And guys, as all women knew, must not be granted power over women and be able to rob them of their self-respect. That would create a total imbalance in the universe and could not be allowed.

So, determined to keep up her act, Jaime took some toast from the table and continued to pay no attention to he-who-must-not-be-thought-about. She had much more important things to worry about anyway. Like the reason self-control was essential to her.

Given that, maybe it was a good thing that Dante wasn’t interested in her. Although he was so easygoing that he could have been mistaken for nonchalant, he was, in fact, constantly alert and observant, absorbing every detail like a sponge. If he even slightly suspected that she was hiding something, he would harass her until he had answers.

“Sleep well?” Gabe, who was sitting opposite her, shoveled some watermelon in his mouth.

It sounded like such an innocent, casual question, but it went deeper than the others could imagine. “Fine, thanks.” Her smile seemed to satisfy her brother, as he returned his attention to his breakfast.

Shaya nudged her. “Are you doing anything this afternoon?”

“Nope, why?”

“Grace, Lydia, and I are planning to go shopping. We’ve decided to throw Taryn a surprise baby shower on Friday, so we need to get some stuff. Wanna come?”

“Sure.” Jaime liked their Alpha female. She had a wit that almost anyone would love, and Jaime admired her strength. The female had actually overcome her latency so that her wolf was no longer trapped within her—which had been unheard of until now.

In fact, Jaime liked every member of the pack…except for Trey’s maladjusted grandmother, Greta, who was especially hostile to the unmated females. In her crazy little mind, if a female was unmated, she was intent on ensnaring one of “her boys”—those being Trey and the enforcers. And no female was good enough for Greta’s boys, hence why she was so hateful toward Taryn. With any luck, Jaime would be done with her breakfast before the old woman appeared.

As a ginger cat abruptly sprang onto her lap, Jaime smiled. He rubbed his head against her chest, hinting for a stroke. As usual, she happily obliged.

“I’ve never heard a cat purr that loud. Hey there, Hunk,” Shaya cooed, giving his head a gentle scratch.

“What possessed you to call that ugly freaking thing Hunk?” Dominic grimaced. “I mean, he’s pudgy and shaggy and full of scars.”

“Hey!” Jaime dug her elbow into Dominic’s ribs. “He’s my chunky Hunk. Aren’t you, baby?

Ivy, one of the girls I work with at the dog sanctuary, found him about three years ago when he was practically on death’s door. Even though he was a cat, she brought him to the sanctuary to heal.

Fortunately, he healed quickly and could be rehomed. He decided, however, that he was coming home with me. Maybe it was because I took care of him while he was in that place, I don’t know.” Dominic’s smile was as flirtatious as always. “I’d have gone home with you, too. Would you have kept me?”

She rolled her eyes and turned back to Shaya while feeding Hunk slices of meat and tuna. “So where and when do you want to meet up?”

“I was thinking two p.m. at the mall. That good for you?”

“Great. I’ve never been to a baby shower before.”

“Me neither,” said Shaya, sounding excited, “but Lydia’s great with decorations, so she’ll know what to buy. Grace wants to stock up on cakes and other goodies. I’m in charge of picking the gifts and organizing the games, but I’ll need help, so that’s where you come in.” She leaned in closer and said quietly, “I totally approve of the new look, by the way. You should always flaunt what you have.”

“I’m not flaunting. I’m just making the point that because I don’t dress slutty and leave nothing to the imagination doesn’t mean I have a beer belly or something.”

“You should have seen his face when you walked in. I was half expecting him to drool.”

“It’s just the breasts. My girls get everyone’s attention.”

“What’s with all the whispering?” Dominic asked Jaime.

“Can’t tell you or I’d have to kill you.”

He gave her a mock scowl, then peered down and frowned. “Are those space pants you’re wearing?”

“Huh?”

“Because your ass is out of this world.”

Shaya and Gabe groaned, but Jaime laughed. She liked the blond pervert who constantly dished out cheesy lines and was too good looking for his own good. Considering he could bag a woman with just his smile, she had no idea why he even bothered with his lines. It was almost as if he wanted to repel them. She might have thought that he was gay if she hadn’t heard from many females how talented he was in the bedroom.

“Want to see what I’ve got?” he asked.

“That depends, does it itch and is it contagious?”

He scowled again. “I’ll have you know that I’m not the slut you think I am.” Ignoring her snort, he tugged up his T-shirt, revealing an amazing set of abs and a gorgeous tattoo of a red Chinese dragon with its mouth open wide, just above his heart. The rest of the dragon’s body disappeared under the sleeve, and she guessed it was curled around the upper part of his bicep.

“That looks amazing.”

“It’s not done yet. I have to go for another sitting soon.”

“I love it. And it was a great excuse to get a look at that chest and those pecs.” His caramel-tanned skin was totally lickable.

“You don’t need an excuse, baby. Any time you want to see any part of this body, you only have to ask. Hey, did you hear about Dante’s little predicament?” Once Dominic had finished regaling her with his tale, Jaime gasped. “That bitch.” For a split second she forgot herself and was about to offer to personally deal with the dominant female.

A submissive wolf wouldn’t do that, a voice in her head reminded her.

Shaya nodded. “Yeah, well, payback’s a bitch, too. She’ll get what’s coming to her— hopefully not as a result of our pregnant Alpha going crazy on her, though.” Having finished her toast, Jaime gently placed Hunk on the floor and rose from her seat. “I have to get to work. I’ll see you all later.” She was already late, which unfortunately seemed to be a personality trait of hers.

As she passed Dante, she couldn’t help but notice he was scowling at her. What the hell was his problem? It seemed that no matter what she said or did, he intended to be an ass. Men. She had long ago concluded that it was impossible to find guys who were considerate and sensitive as well as hot. Well, impossible to find some that didn’t already have boyfriends of their own anyway.

Not willing to allow Dante to take up any more of her thoughts, she shrugged off the matter.

Reaching Grace, who was cursing “shit, shit, shit” at the frying pan—the woman tended to say “shit” a lot—Jaime gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks for breakfast. I’ll see you later.” As she walked through the network of tunnels to retrieve her backpack from her room, she again found herself marveling at how smooth the light sandstone walls were. The pack lived in caves that had been hollowed out and made into one giant home. Although the ancient dwellings had been modernized over the years, she’d still imagined that it would have a Stone Age appearance. She certainly hadn’t expected the contemporary look, the luxury carpeting, or the solid oak and pine modern furniture. Maybe she should have, though, considering that Lydia—who was a graphic designer—liked anything even remotely creative and she had insisted on decorating the interior.

Taryn liked to call it “Bedrock,” which was why she often called Trey “Flintstone.” Once she had her backpack, Jaime headed outside, descended the smooth stairways that were carved into the cliff face, and entered the concealed parking lot. Finally in her Chevy, she left pack territory—waving to baby-faced Cam, Lydia’s mate, who was guarding the security gate—and drove to the dog sanctuary where she’d worked since she was sixteen.

All the dogs there had been rescued from abusive environments and were so traumatized they couldn’t be rehomed. In a lot of cases, dogs like these would be put down, particularly if they were too wild. This was one of the reasons Jaime worked there most mornings each week—she could relate to them in a way that she could never do with a shifter.

Twenty minutes later she arrived at the sanctuary. After swapping her jeans and T-shirt for navy coveralls in one of the changing rooms, she left her backpack in her locker and made her way over to the section of the sanctuary where she worked. There was a lot involved in the running and upkeep of the sanctuary, but Jaime’s role was to take care of twenty dogs—all of whom she had come to adore.

Squatting beside one of the outdoor dog cages and cooing over a group of German shepherd puppies were two of her coworkers and close friends. They were the only people other than her brother who knew of her secret.

“Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous?” exclaimed Riley, a white-lioness shifter, as she noticed Jaime approaching.

Yeah, Dante. Jaime quickly expelled that thought from her mind, thankful she hadn’t said it aloud.

“You’re late again,” chastised Ivy, but the witch’s tone was playful. “Thank you for finally joining us.”

“Yeah, well, promptness is a quality of the boring.”

In response to a series of beeps, Riley dug her cell from her pocket. Instantly her heart-shaped face reddened, making her white-blonde hair look even lighter.

“A text from Aidan?” Ivy asked cautiously.

“Yes, it was the wild ox himself,” confirmed Riley bitterly.

“So you’re not letting him talk you into giving him another chance.” Ivy’s comment wasn’t so much a question as a suggestion.

“Hell no.”

“Good. Want me to do a little magick and make him impotent?” Ivy’s expression was hopeful.

“I was thinking more along the lines of giving him a sexually transmitted disease.”

“That sounds good.”

Riley nudged Ivy, smiling. “Did you tell Jaime what you did to your cheating ex?”

“What?” Jaime knew it would be good. Ivy was a great person, but she had a ruthless streak when it came to guys. It was no surprise really. Ivy was a unique type of witch—she was a Siren, but not the mythical version who sat on rocks and made sailors drown. Sirens like Ivy used their powerful singing voices to entrance and bewitch. Also, they oozed sex and sensuality, drawing males to them.

Ivy resented that guys were so mesmerized by her surface beauty that they didn’t look any further. It wasn’t often that she chanced having a relationship. If the guy repaid her by crossing her…it was never good.

Ivy’s expression was all innocence. “I kind of put him into a deep sleep while I shaved him from head to toe, paying special attention to his back, sack, and crack.” Typical Ivy, Jaime thought. “What did he do when he woke up?”

“He was pretty angry and did a lot of yelling, but it was hard to take him seriously when he looked like a mannequin. It was a shame, really. He was a cougar shifter and, well, you know that rumor that male feline shifters are extremely good at oral sex because of the slight roughness of their tongues? Those rumors have substance.”

“I know that from experience, too.” Riley shook her head, looking pained. “We need to stop all this talk about guys and sex, it’s making me horny.”

“Me too.” Ivy flicked her raven-black hair over her shoulder, and Jaime again found herself wishing her own hair was that glossy. Jaime had been told enough times that her hair was sleek and radiant, but Ivy’s was something else altogether—it seemed to shimmer and reflect. Depending on how the light hit it, her hair could even appear violet. “It really is time that we did something about our hungry libidos.”

Jaime nodded. “Definitely, especially since I’ve given up on Dante.” Ivy and Riley both gasped. Although neither knew him, they’d heard Jaime talk about him often enough.

“You’re admitting defeat?” Ivy shook her head incredulously. “In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you give up on anything.”

“There’s giving up, and there’s salvaging self-respect.” She told them about the conversation she’d overheard between him and Trick.

“What an ass,” said Ivy.

“Then we definitely need a night out,” declared Riley, “particularly since I’ve practically abused BOB.”

“BOB?” prodded Ivy.

“Battery-Operated Boyfriend. Don’t you have one?”

“Sure. I call mine Jack Hammer. What about you, Jaime?”

“I call mine my Funny Bone.”

Ivy burst out laughing. “I like that one. Anyway, poor Jack Hammer needs a break. How about we go to Enigma this weekend?”

Enigma was a local club that was exclusive to preternaturals. Humans were not admitted, because in this particular club, sexual contact wasn’t prohibited. Preternatural beings were casual—although not flippant—about sex. In their culture, two people enjoying intimacy was a beautiful, natural, very basic thing and answered their primal need for touch—social and sexual. There was always an exchange of respect and pleasure. Humans didn’t always understand shifter culture and sometimes became uncomfortable or offended when a shifter attempted to touch them intimately. It had caused a lot of problems in the past, so most shifter clubs didn’t allow humans to enter.

“I say Operation Calm Libido should commence Saturday night.” Riley turned to Jaime. “What do you think?”

“Saturday night at Enigma it is,” drawled Jaime. “Until then, we wear out our vibrators and dream about rough tongues.”

Ivy smiled. “Ooh, good plan.”

With that agreed on, Jaime, Ivy, and Riley went inside the building to get to work. There were cages on both sides of a long aisle. The din was horrendous: dogs howling, barking, growling, and whining. Jaime couldn’t help feeling sorry for the animals stuck there, confused and frightened. All workers were asked to wear ear protectors, which didn’t drown out the noise or hinder conversations with coworkers, but made it so that the din didn’t cause harm to their eardrums.

As was routine, Jaime spent the next few hours taking her dogs one-by-one from their cages to place them in the pen outside while she took out all the old, dirty newspaper from their cages, and rinsed and cleaned the floor. She then placed fresh newspaper, food, and water into the cages before bringing the dogs back inside.

She had a soft spot for all of them, but one in particular plucked at her heartstrings: Ben, a small, thin mongrel with sandy fur, who, as always, was curled up in the corner of his cage, shaking and shivering. He was, as her brother would have described his state, a nervous wreck. Once she was done cleaning all the cages, she sat on the fresh bedding beside the dog and stroked him lightly, talking softly about…well…nothing really. Within minutes he clambered onto her lap, curling up again, while she continued running her hand through his coarse fur.

“You spoil him.” Hearing that familiar deep voice, she looked up to see one of the other workers, Shawn. Although he was dressed in an old, filthy tracksuit, he somehow made it work, looking as strikingly cute as always.

“Yeah, well, it breaks my heart seeing him like that.” She carefully slid the sleeping, sandy dog onto the floor and got to her feet.

“Since your shift is over, I came to ask if you wanted to go for lunch.” God, this guy was tenacious. No matter how many times she had declined, he still asked her out at least once a week. Once upon a time—over five years ago—they’d had a brief fling. He was a nice guy, he was good looking, and her wolf happened to like him. As such, the brief fling might not have been so brief if it hadn’t been for one thing…Shawn was human.

She had nothing against humans, but having anything more than a fling with them wasn’t recommended. Their culture was totally different, so they couldn’t understand the draw or importance of a true mate bond, and as such they weren’t too good at stepping aside if the shifter with whom they’d been in a relationship suddenly discovered a mate. It had led to a lot of brawls in the past—no one should try getting in between mates. Then those “Die Demons” groups got involved, using the incidents as evidence that shifters were abominations and needed to be killed, blah, blah, blah.

Whatfreakingever.

At present, none of that was going to be a problem for Jaime, because even if she found the person who was the other half of her soul, she wouldn’t want to mate with him. Because of her problems with her wolf, there was simply no way Jaime could form that metaphysical link with her mate without risking his life, and that wasn’t something she was prepared to do.

But maybe a brief fling with someone wouldn’t be such a bad thing, she thought as she looked again at Shawn. It wasn’t like he would expect anything from her that she wasn’t able to give. He knew the score, and he certainly knew what he was doing in the bedroom. There was a problem, though. Shawn was on the rebound. Sure, it would only be a fling, so it wasn’t really a big deal, but would it be fair for them to have a fling while they both pined for others? That wasn’t to say she couldn’t spend a little time with him and see if nature eventually took its course, right? She wasn’t the type of girl to be put off by the itty-bitty fact that he was so boring a boomerang wouldn’t go back to him. It was actually kind of endearing.

“Sure, we can do lunch, but just as friends,” she insisted as she locked Ben’s cage. “For now.

You’re still on the rebound, and I’m barely in the process of moving on from someone.” Someone she hadn’t even been dating—how pathetic was that?

Smiling, he nodded. “For now. Maybe what we both need most right now is an uncomplicated friendship anyway.” Twenty minutes later they were in Mo’s Diner. No sooner had Jaime and Shawn placed their orders than the door opened and in strode the object of her dirtiest—okay, most sinful—

fantasies. As usual, he looked dauntless, sharp, capable, and so freaking hot she hitched in a breath.

His dominant, confident, purposeful walk shouldn’t have been so damn attractive, considering it bordered on cocky, but it heated her blood and roused her wolf. Jaime would bet he was just as dominant and capable in bed, would bet—

No, no more pining!

The voice was right. Returning her focus to Shawn, Jaime smiled brightly at him and wished to God that her body was having this reaction to him instead of to the cocky jerk on the other side of the diner. Groan.