Authors: Lorie O'Clare
“He’ll do a good job leading the pack. No worries there. What you need to focus on is exactly what you’re doing. The time is right, and it’s healthy for Malta werewolves to live like Americans do.”
“Like Americans.” Josie found himself automatically following Bruno’s nonverbal order to follow Dimitri and Nicolo and put his car into gear.
“They see the good in others by looking inside and not at their breeding.”
Josie snorted. “Some of them.”
Bruno’s deep chuckle sounded just like it did when Josie was still a pup. For a moment, memories of trying to master the gift and making some horrendous mistakes swarmed around in his brain. Bruno had laughed then just as he did now.
“It’s good to know that you see me as you always have. You’ve got some good
memories.”
Josie frowned. Bruno could see into his mind, but not the other way around. He shoved that thought out of the way, not wanting to piss off his old pack leader and mentor with unappreciative thoughts. If Bruno picked up on it, he didn’t comment.
Bruno looked out the windows as if taking in the town as they followed Nicolo and Dimitri to the restaurant. Josie straightened when the old werewolf looked at him.
“The gift offers us strength and power that many will never understand. It’s a burden and it’s our greatest asset.” Bruno looked at him, searching Josie’s face. “You followed your heart when you killed that little bitch’s mate. It was a good call. Don’t fuck it up now by letting your ego get in the way. You were created to fight the way that you do. When your heart speaks to you, listen. You will do just fine.”
Josie figured Bruno studied him to determine if he understood Bruno’s words. It was best to keep his mind as clear as possible. He would mull over the words later and figure out what the hell Bruno meant.
He pulled into the parking lot of the Eat and Greet and parked next to Dimitri and Nicolo. The two werewolves got out of their car but didn’t seem to notice Bruno.
Interesting.
Josie stared at Bruno, seriously wondering for a moment if his head injuries were worse than he thought. “She thinks I’m the best werewolf there is.”
Bruno nodded. “Yup. And you just proved you can give her what she wants.”
“You coming?” Dimitri asked, standing outside and frowning at Josie when he
didn’t get out of his car.
Josie glanced up at Dimitri but then returned his attention toward the passenger side of his car. There wasn’t anyone there.
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“I’m with you.” Josie jumped out of his car, wondering what the hell Bruno meant and why he decided to choose this moment to appear in Josie’s life.
The “A” in Eat and Greet was burnt out on the front of the square building. Snow blew even harder when Josie headed across the lot to the restaurant. Hostile thoughts flew around in the air almost faster than the snowflakes.
As soon as the door closed behind Josie, Dimitri and Nicolo, the restaurant got quiet. At least everyone quit talking. The noise from the ten or so werewolves’ thoughts was so loud that Josie couldn’t hear his own.
The Americans are pathetic to try to ally with those Malta werewolves
.
Which one of them was in the challenge last night
?
They all look the same
.
Try to tell me those motherfuckers can
’
t fight
.
Look at the size of them
.
Josie didn’t even try to distinguish who was thinking what. Bruno’s bizarre visit didn’t leave him in the mood to deal with assholes.
“You got trouble going on here?” Dimitri intentionally ignored the three
lunewulf
males sitting at a middle table and stood with his back to them as he faced Ollie.
“American werewolves have no problem with any breed of werewolf so long as
they don’t bring trouble to Valle.” Ollie’s broad shoulders and chest were puffed out. In his huge down coat, he looked even larger than usual. “Granted, it’s not too often
lunewulfs
decide to grace us with their presence. Kind of makes a werewolf want to sniff the air a bit more carefully.”
“We’re here to talk to you,” one of the
lunewulfs
said. “If we wanted to talk to Malta werewolves, we would have gone to their pack.”
“But now that we’re here, you want to try to finish what you weren’t able to do last night.” Josie glared at Phil Wagner, the youngest of his den. The other two with him weren’t familiar, but at this close of a range, Phil’s thoughts were easy to pick up. The werewolf was pissed that he couldn’t brag about killing a Malta werewolf today. Josie ignored everyone around him and walked up to the small male. “You had one chance to attack and kill last night. Sucks you weren’t able to pull it off, because today you won’t be able to.”
If he pushed the
lunewulf
too far in front of his packmates, that was a real damned shame. Phil’s eyes turned silver instantly and he curled his lip, showing off his growing canines.
“Like hell I won’t,” the little brat said, his voice garbled from his mouth changing shape.
“Take it out back,” Ollie barked.
A path to the back door was quickly made as everyone inside raced from their chairs. More than likely even the employees of the restaurant left their stations and hurried to be witness to the fight. But Josie wasn’t in the mood to give them a good show. He stepped into the cold air and didn’t even blink when snowflakes immediately 142
For Life
clung to his lashes. When Phil Wagner jumped at him, Josie reached out, willing the male’s neck into his hand. The sound of the
lunewulf
’s neck snapping filled him with intense satisfaction.
If he held him in the air a minute longer than need be for theatrics’ sake, he wouldn’t admit to it later. Letting the male fall to the ground in an unceremonious heap, Josie glared at the other two
lunewulfs
.
“Next,” he suggested.
Both of them froze where they were and then slowly looked around them, trying desperately not to let their fear be sniffed out. They failed miserably.
“Looks like the fight is over.” Ollie turned to look at the dozen or so who stood silently, almost panting and waiting eagerly to see who might be next. “Might be a good idea to get to your dens before this weather gets nasty. It will be a good run tonight.”
The conversation was hushed as the American werewolves slowly turned and
headed back into the restaurant. Needless to say, the
lunewulfs
started backing away, probably hoping to get to their cars and out of American territory with their tails still intact. Josie didn’t bother with their thoughts to find out. His own were attacking him too hard to pay attention to anyone else.
“Why do you associate with these Malta werewolves?” one of the
lunewulf
males asked Ollie after most of his pack was back inside. There were only Ollie and Larry, the three Malta werewolves and two
lunewulfs
. Possibly the male found those better odds.
“They steal bitches and then use magic on you. Are you going to try to make me believe he simply reached out and broke Phil’s neck with his sheer strength?”
“You don’t get it, my friend.” Ollie’s soft-spoken growl gave the incredibly false impression that he wasn’t mad at all. “They don’t all have these powers that terrify you.
And truth be smelled out, if I know of someone with a special talent, I’d put that talent to use, not forbid it. A good leader always takes advantage of all strengths around him.
Maybe you should share that advice with your pack leader.”
“This wasn’t my fight.” The other
lunewulf
male, who didn’t look much over twenty, gestured to his dead packmate on the ground and then met Josie’s hard stare.
“But if a werewolf killed one of my den and stole his bitch, he wouldn’t be breathing right now.”
“When you share the good advice the American pack leader here just asked you to give to your pack leader, you might also remind him that the next time a bitch comes to him and begs to be let out of a mating because she’s tired of being used as a punching bag, he might pay attention to her.” Josie exhaled and the snow that melted on his cheeks seemed to cool his temper at an incredible rate. He smiled at the
lunewulf
male, smelling the young pup’s confusion and hearing his thoughts as he wondered if what he’d just heard was true. “And while you’re at it, let him know that Maura is incredibly happy and he’s free to visit her at any time.”
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Just mentioning her name made him suddenly more than eager to go get his mate.
Spending the rest of the day running with her in the snow sounded a hell of a lot better than dumping sand and salt over their uneven and unpaved roads. The snow would melt sooner or later on its own.
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Maria Anthony entered the living room from the kitchen and stopped short, wiping her hands on her long skirt. Her disapproval not only showed on her face but filled the air with a rather distasteful smell. Rosa sat next to Heidi on the couch and glanced at her mother before returning her attention to Maura.
“I agree the fighting won’t bring our breeds closer together, but it’s making us more aware of each other.” Rosa’s soft tone always sounded like whomever she spoke to mattered the most to her. That and her stunning appearance made her a bitch hard not to like. “Nothing happens overnight. But slowly we’re learning more about each other.
And you know how irritatingly slow males can be in smelling out the obvious. It will take a while before
lunewulfs
and Malta werewolves run together.”
Maria grunted. “As long as you remember your bloodline, Rosa.” The older bitch didn’t look at Maura or Heidi, but focused on her daughter, giving her a hard look that was easily understood. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
Rosa sighed and studied her fingernails when her mother left them alone.
“Our breeds aren’t that different. If I had any den around here I’m sure I’d be scolded about giving birth to mutts.” Maura didn’t mind in the least that her den consisted of one dark, and at the moment, rather mysterious werewolf. She looked out the window at the heavy snowfall and wondered where in the hell Josie was.
“They’re all fine. You know that,” Rosa said from the couch behind her, obviously reading her thoughts. “For some reason Josie needs to prove that he can fight. I don’t get why he thinks he failed last night.”
“He didn’t fail.” Maura turned around quickly, the small hairs on the back of her neck quickly standing at attention and making her skin crawl. “How many werewolves walk away after fighting three males? And he killed one of them.”
Rosa put up her hands, grinning as she made a show of surrender. “It’s okay. You don’t have to convince me. I was there. Remember? He’ll get over his tantrum once he sees everyone else smelled his victory.”
“Why would he think he lost the fight?” Heidi frowned, glancing from one of them to the other.
Maura stared at both bitches sitting on the couch. The cold air outside seeped through the windowpane behind her, chilling her backside. Flames danced in the fireplace at the end of the room and warmed her front. The mixed sensations matched her emotions inside. Josie pulled away from her last night, showing her physical attention but staying in his fur so he wouldn’t have to share his thoughts with her. She 145
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wouldn’t have only half of a male as a mate—not when the whole picture was so damned perfect.
“It’s not that.” Even when she frowned, Rosa was so pretty. It was disgusting, but her sweet smell made it damned hard to be jealous of her for any reason. “Probably Josie can’t remember not living without the gift. It’s not like that for me. Dante taught me what I know when I was a teenager, almost a grown bitch.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Maura crossed her arms, pressing against the strange sensation rising in her belly.
“He gave his word in front of the entire
lunewulf
pack.” Rosa nodded toward Heidi and then looked at Maura. “He announced he wouldn’t use the gift during the
challenge, accepting their terms. Imagine agreeing not to fight with your claws or teeth.”
“There’s no reason to imagine that. He fought with honor.” Whatever it was inside her, Maura noted how it twisted and made her feel a bit too warm, even though the cold still drifted in from outside. “That den didn’t even have the balls to ask to draw first blood. Bob, my old pack leader, demanded it on their behalf. More than likely all he wanted was to show me that the Malta werewolf I ran with couldn’t take on a few
lunewulf
males.”
“Which they could do so easily, even without their claws and teeth,” Heidi blurted, her own pride for her mate glowing in her eyes.
“Then I went and fucked it up further,” Rosa said and frowned at her hands twisted together in her lap.
“How did you fuck anything up?” Maura asked.
“He yelled at me with his thoughts not to tell you.” Rosa looked up at Maura and then stuck her chin out. “But I’m not his bitch to boss around,” she said defiantly.
“Who yelled at you?” Maura asked, already guessing it was Josie.
Rosa nodded as if she’d read Maura’s thoughts. Maura fought to clear her mind, deciding the only Malta werewolf she wanted browsing around in her mind was Josie.
“Josie didn’t want me telling anyone that I used the gift during his fight last night.”
She glanced quickly at both bitches. “But no one made me promise not to use it. All I did was keep that young pain in the ass pup from being able to jump on Josie so much.”
“And now he feels that it must appear he couldn’t fight all three of them without help from the gift or someone else.” Maura suddenly understood why Josie remained in his fur last night. She didn’t like it, but he was humiliated and wouldn’t face her. “Is he so damned stubborn not to see how well he did with or without the gift?”
“He’s a male, isn’t he?” Rosa asked.
Heidi laughed easily and continued smiling even when Maura scowled at her. “I swear they’re all the same,” she said. “No matter what breed they are. Their pride is thicker than their hides.”