As her retching quieted, she wiped her mouth and sat back on the cold cement of the steps. She kept her head down and wouldn’t look at Garrick.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m really embarrassed.”
“Don’t be, honey.”
She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. She moved her hand and placed it on his thigh. “I like it when you call me honey.”
“Vanessa ...”
She gave him a lopsided grin, but he saw the anguish in her eyes. “Would you kiss me if I didn’t have vomit taste in my mouth?”
He shook his head. “I care about you Vanessa ... like a little sister.”
She snarled. “I don’t want to be your f**king sister.”
Garrick brushed his hand over her hair, but she pulled back and glared at him.
“It’s because of that mutt Olivia, isn’t it?”
He sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “It’s more than just her, Ness. You’re not ... strong enough.”
She jumped up, her hands fisted at her sides. “It’s because I’m damaged goods.”
“No.”
“It is. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me.‘Oh, poor Vanessa. Corbin sure f**ked her up.’”
He tried to touch her, but she batted his hand away.
“I’m strong, Garrick.Stronger than you know. I may not have fought to get into this pack, but I will fight to keep it the way it is.”
Before he could respond, she ran back into the gallery. Garrick sighed and shook his head. He had made a mess of things. He shouldn’t have brought her, knowing full well she had feelings for him. It was stupid and callous to lead her on, especially since they had run into Olivia. Any fool could see how he truly felt abouther ...
Garrick’s head snapped up, and he stared into the gallery. Damn, he knew exactly where Vanessa was going.
Chapter Eleven
Olivia took off her mask and set it on the bathroom counter. She desperately wanted to go home. Being led around by Fisher was bad enough, but to have run into Garrick was torture.
She hated that his being withMalina mattered. That the thought of them together made her stomach roil and herblood simmer . She had no right to him, no claim, but her heart ached anyway. The night they had made love on the rug in his living room, he had marked her for the first time. Since that first mark, he had belonged to her. Nothing she could do, or say, was going to change that. Wolves mated for life.
She turned on the cold tap and splashed water on her face. Makeupbe damned. She needed the cold reality of the water.
As Olivia dabbed at her face with a paper cloth, the bathroom door opened with a bang, and the young female from Garrick’s pack stormed in. She watched in the mirror as the girl approached. Olivia could see the fury in her face.
Olivia turned to her just as the girl rushed forward, her hands clenched into tight, bony fists.
Ducking the first punch, Olivia came up and shoved Vanessa away. She didn’t want to hurt the girl, even if she was defending herself. The color in the girl’s eyes looked like wrath unleashed in all her ferocious glory.
Vanessa came at her again, clawing at her face. Olivia grabbed her wrists right before Vanessa’s long nails could rake her eyes out. The girl was strong as she inched forward. When the nails were half an inch away from her eye, Olivia brought up her knee and pounded the girl in the thigh. Vanessa only dropped her arms a little at the impact, but it was enough for Olivia to pull her arms out to the side and bring her head forward, smashing her forehead into Vanessa’s face.
Olivia heard the impact as much as felt it. Vanessa howled and brought her hands up to her broken nose. Blood seeped from between her fingers.
“Are we done, girl? I don’t want to really hurt you.”
“Fuck you, mutt!” Vanessa shrieked as she rushed Olivia, again aiming for her face.
Olivia stepped to the right and brought her knee up again, plowing it into Vanessa’s midsection. The girl doubled over with a hearty exhalation of air. As she bent over, Olivia kicked at her legs, not enough to break, but sufficient to bring her down. When she was lying on the ground moaning, Olivia stood over her.
“Don’t get up. Whatever this is about, it’s not worth it.”
“Garrick’s worth it,” Vanessa sputtered. “He’s worth every damn moment of pain. If you knew that, you would never have pushed him away.”
“Hey, he rejected me first. So don’t get all righteous about Garrick Blackthorn. He’s an arrogant, selfish bastard, only looking out forhimself .”
“Liar!”
She launched herself off the ground and at Olivia. Surprise caused hesitation, and Vanessa was able to bring her down to the floor. The girl clawed at Olivia’s neck and cheek. Blood seeped to the surface and trickled down Olivia’s flesh to spot the cold tile beneath her body.
Olivia grabbed hold of the girl’s throat and squeezed. She could snap her neck with a twist of her wrist.
But the girl was not a lethal threat, just a spurned woman with a jealous streak as green as the summer grass.
As the bathroom door banged open, Olivia pushed back on the girl’s neck and sent her flying backwards. She landed in a heap against the tiled wall.
Garrick rushed in, concern furrowing his chiseled face. He glanced at Vanessa, then at Olivia. He looked torn as to who to help first.
Olivia rolled to her knees and got to her feet. “Help her. I don’t need it.”
Garrick rushed to Vanessa’s side and inspected her injuries. She stared to sob the moment Garrick touched her face.
“What happened?” he growled.
Olivia walked to the mirror and inspected the deep scratches on her face and neck.
“She came in here fists flying.”
Garrick met her eyes in the mirror, nodded, and turned his attention back to Vanessa.
The injuries she’d sustained were already starting to heal. No more blood dribbled, and a scab was already forming. Thank the moon for the super-rejuvenating powers of being inhuman.
The bathroom door opened again, and Fisher strolled in. He grinned when he saw Vanessa on the floor, Garrick tending to her.
“I always wondered what women do in here.”
Olivia turned around and glared at him.
He raised a well-plucked brow. “I take it we’re leaving?”
Olivia wanted to rush him, claw out his eyes, and feed them to him like olives. His careless, impassive attitude revolted her. There was no way she could remain in his pack. Not without trying to kill him.
She stormed toward him. “No, I’m leaving. I don’t give a f**k what you do.” When she reached the door, she glanced back at Garrick. “Get her some help.”
Vanessa raised her head and glared at her. “I don’t need your sympathy.”
“Well, you have it nonetheless.”
Olivia went through the door, with Fisher close on her heels. There was a small crowd forming around the bathrooms.
“Olivia.”
She turned to him, her eyes flaring, her hands fisted tightly. “Don’t. You haven’t a compassionate bone in your body, have you?”
“Compassion’s for the weak. You knowthat as well as I do .” He reached for her arm. She pulled away.
“You and I are the same, Olivia. That’s why we make the perfect mated pair.”
As Olivia searched his face, she wondered if it was true. Had she let her anger and quest for revenge turn her into a shallow and soulless coward like Fisher? Was she looking into a mirror when she looked at him? She closed her eyes on a weary sigh, not wanting the answer. She was still too vulnerable for the truth.
“I’m going home, Fisher. Do not follow me. Do not call me. Actually, it would be best for everyone if you forgot I ever existed.”
She turned and pushed her way through the hovering crowd. She needed to change her clothes and shower. Then she would sit down and decide what she was willing to live with. Could she set aside her need for revenge to stop the war she saw racing toward them all?
Chapter Twelve
When she heard the sound of heavy footfalls outside on her porch, Olivia slipped out of bed, pulled on her robe, and padded to the back door. She would slip outside and come up behind the fool stupid enough to invade her home.
The night was still warm, but she shivered as she opened her back gate and walked around the house to the front. Waves of repressed anger flowed to her through the air. Familiar sensations made her body quiver in anticipation. Only one person could make her feel like that.
She didn’t have time to turn as he grabbed her from behind and pushed her up against the cement wall of her house.
“Have you come to avenge your pack?” she whispered, acutely aware of the huskiness of her voice.
The solid feel of him pressed against her back sent delicious shivers up and down her spine. Her reaction to him would always be hormonal. The man brought out the animal in her ... literally.
“I’ve come to claim something for my pack.” As he spoke against the side of her neck, his hot breath tickled her skin, and she quivered under the strong hold of his arms.
“What?”
“You.”
“I’m not up for grabs.”
“I don’t care. You’re mine. You always have been; you always will be.”
Olivia could hear the restrained violence in his voice. He was holding himself back. Under the press of his arms, she felt his muscles quake. She enjoyed the fact that she affected him like this. He came close to losing control whenever he was near her.
She could go on hating him, pushing him away, or she could claim him for her own and revel in his power, in the way he made her feel. Lost and confused. Hot and aroused.
Pushing back, Olivia tried to turn around. He squeezed his arms tighter, forcing her flat against the wall.
“You’re not going anywhere. I have you just the way I want you,” he growled.
Without another word, Garrick flicked his tongue out and licked the side of her neck up to her ear. He sucked in her lobe, lolling his tongue over her sensitive skin.