Shaking, Olivia lowered her hands. She backed up against the counter for support. Her legs were shaking furiously, and she didn’t think she could stand for much longer. She clamped her eyes shut against the wave of tears that threatened to fall.
She had wanted this confrontation and had known it would come eventually. But she hadn’t been prepared for the raging hormones that coursed through her body. He was still perfect to her. The way he moved, smelled, tasted -- everything came back to her in a flood of desire. She clenched her hands into fists, trying to erase the feeling of his flesh, the way his muscles bunched under her fevered touch.
She had to find a way to suppress her feelings, her thoughts, and her memories if she was going to succeed in her plans. Garrick was going to pay for his sins. Pay for abandoning her when she had been the most vulnerable -- the first time she had turned into a predator of the night ... a werewolf.
Chapter Four
Garrick didn’t want to call a meeting, but he knew that for the sake of the pact, he had to. He hated meetings and, so far, had held only three of them since taking over as alpha of the pack.The first one, naturally, had been right afterCorin’s death, to let the group know he was now in charge and what to expect from him. The second was to oversee and give his blessing for the marriage of two pack members. Now thethird ...
It was obvious that Fisher was about to make an aggressive move against him. The meeting last night had been purely for show. Fisher knew Garrick would never agree to the arrangement. He was much too alpha for that. He also knew that Garrick had been around long enough to know the business of the packs. That get-together had been nothing but a pissing contest and a show-and-tell. Fisher wanted to show Garrick what he had, and what Garrick didn’t.
Olivia had been a big surprise. He’d known one day she would come back, but he hadn’t expected to see her in his rival’s pack.And as lead bitch, no less.
Garrick stood at the front of his living room and watched as key members of his pack filed into the room, sitting on the sofa and chairs or curling up comfortably on the floor. His pack was small but powerful. Not only was it the security of lifelong protection that drew them, but also, he ran his pack like a business. He even provided a perk package, including medical insurance, along with shares in his successful graphic design business. Garrick made sure the members of his pack were provided for physically, mentally, and financially.
Sometimes, being a werewolf had its advantages.
But even with the advantages, some of his pack members had left afterCorin died. They were lulled into Fisher’s pack with promises of more decadent attractions, like drugs, sex, and free rein over the humans that didn’t know they existed. Slowly, due to Fisher’s insistence, their existence was being exposed. The traveling rave clubs were just one problem they could do without. Young people flocked to them in hopes of finding a dark lifestyle they could use to rebel against society, but some of them left with more than rebellion in their hearts ... they became different people. No longer human, but a strange mixture of both animal and mortal.
The life was not an easy one, and Garrick thought it foolish to be changing humans just for the fun of it.
Fisher was reckless and power hungry. He was breeding an army for the sake of his own lust for dominance. He didn’t care about those who would not survive the change, or those that reveled in it too much. The number of “animal” attacks in the city were becoming too much of a problem to ignore. Soon the authorities would clue in that it was more than a bunch of dogs running around biting people.
As the last two members found chairs, Garrick cleared his throat to bring the meeting to order. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.” He looked around at the dozen people, including Tommy, Smith, and Puck, and made eye contact with every one of them. “I was called to a meeting last night by Fisher.
It’s obvious to me that he’s making a play for this pack.”
A blond-haired older woman spoke up. “Let him. He could never beat you in a fight.”
There was a chorus of agreements through the room.
“Thank you, Laura, but I don’t think Fisher will call me to the circle. No, I think he’s going to pick away at our members one by one, lulling them over to his pack.”
“Our numbers have been dwindling.”This from a man in his mid-twenties.
Garrick nodded to him. “Do you know our numbers, Darrin?”
“Last consensus gave us a number around forty-five.”
“Nine months ago we were closer to a hundred,” a man in his late thirties commented. “Corinwould never have allowed those members to leave.”
“You’re right, Jim, but I refuse to threaten and coerce people to stay in this pack. I will not torture family members or blackmail people that do not want to be here.”
A soft murmur spread through the room. They vividly rememberedCorin’s brutality. Some had borne the brunt of such viciousness. Garrick glanced at Laura and remembered stitching up a brutal wound over her stomach thatCorin had given her when she refused to bed him. During the years that Garrick had been a regulator, he had seen the pain and sufferingCorin had exacted on his pack. Over time, Garrick started to care, and that had ended up detrimental toCorin . Garrick had endedCorin’s life just outside the living room doors, in the garden during a full moon. If he sniffed hard enough, he could still smell Corin’s blood seeped deep into the earth beyond his door.
He looked over at his trusted advisors. He had good people under him; he hoped he could keep them safe in the coming months. Soon, Fisher would try to take one or more out.Just another way to break his ranks, by taking out his lieutenants.
“Why do you think they leave?” Garrick asked.
“A lot of them are young. They go because Fisher offers them fun and excitement,” Laura commented.
Garrick sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Christ, this isn’t a lifestyle choice.”
“We know that, Garrick, but some are still young, and they don’t seem to realize that they can’t go back. Maybe they don’t want to know.”
“Sex.”
Garrick’s gaze settled on his youngest advisor, Vanessa.Corin had turned her a week before his death.
She had only been eighteen when he had raped and savaged her.
Tommy chuckled. “I’ll go along with that.”
“She’s right, Garrick.” Laura spoke up. “There had been some grumbling about the lack of possible mates in the pack. It gets fairly difficult when the men outnumber the women four to one.”
There was a loud murmur of agreement in the room.
Garrick shook his head, at a loss. “Okay, how do we change that?”
“You need to take a mate,” Laura said.
“What? How is that going to increase the numbers?”
“If word gets out that you’re looking for a companion, our female numbers will triple by the end of the week.” Laura grinned. “You’re quite the catch, Garrick. Every unmated bitch within hearing distance would line up for a chance to be yours.”
Smith laughed. “Oh, man, that would piss Fisher off something fierce.”
“Yeah, and after you pick a woman, all the other ladies will stay because they’ll see the leftoversain’t half bad, either.” Tommy laughed and slapped Garrick on the back.
Garrick looked around at the eager faces in his living room. Laura was right. He’d been too preoccupied with his own ego to think of it before. Or, had he been too preoccupied with a memory of something good that he’d pushed away? He rubbed a hand over his face, shoving that thought from his mind. His pack came first. Their well-being came first.
“Fine.If you think it will help our situation, put out the word.”
Laura nodded,then leaned back in her chair, satisfied with the results.
“Now, because of this possible threat, I want each of you to be very aware of your surroundings. Fisher could come after any one of you to prove his point.” He looked pointedly at Vanessa and Laura.
“Ladies, be especially careful. It wouldn’t be beyond Fisher to come after you first.”
Vanessa snorted. “If he thinks we’re weak because we’re female, he needs to rethink his strategy.”
“I agree. I still remember the sparring match we had the other day.” He rubbed his upper arm.
Everyone laughed. The mood lightened instantly, and Garrick smiled as he looked around the room. He really hoped he didn’t disappoint any of his people. Nineteen months ago, he wouldn’t have cared, but now ... things were different. He was different.
“Okay, now that that crap is over with, who wants a drink?”
“Me!” they all chorused in unison.
Garrick laughed and slapped Tommy on the back. “Help me with the beers.”
They moved into the kitchen, and Garrick opened the refrigerator. He handed Tommy a few bottles of beer, but the sound of gravel crunching under tires gave him pause. He glanced up and noticed that Tommy also hesitated, looking toward the back door and the driveway.
“It’s a car, lightweight, maybe a Nissan or Toyota.Definitely not Fisher’s Lexus.”
Garrick pushed past him and went back into the living room. The others naturally had heard the car and were glancing out his big bay window toward the driveway. Passing them, he opened the door just asa silver Camry drove onto his grass and stopped. He didn’t have to see into the vehicle to know who it was.
His nose had been twitching for the past five minutes -- the time it took to drive down his graveled road.
Chapter Five
The car door opened, and Olivia stepped out onto the dewy grass of Garrick’s backyard. He stood in the doorway of his house, his arms stiff and his back up. She swallowed down the bile in her throat when she spied the other faces staring out at her from the big bay window.
Shit, she’d crashed a pack meeting.
Fisher probably knew Garrick would be having one, which would explain why he had insisted she go out to Garrick’s place immediately to deliver another message. Damn Fisher! He was using her to his advantage. She sighed, supposing it was fair, since she was using him for the same thing.