Hunger of the Wolf (5 page)

She could see he didn't believe her, but she didn't care as long as he had no idea why she was on the run and she could see
that
hadn't occurred to him. She shot to her feet. “I appreciate you helping me. Although I didn't
need
your help,” she added. “I'd already taken care of him myself. If you'll just take me back to my hotel, I'll get my things together and leave."

Dante stood as she did, blocking her. “Sit down and at least hear me out."

Shilo sat abruptly, more because her knees had buckled than because he had demanded it.

"He's rogue, and that means he's not concerned with our laws or yours. He wants you, and he isn't going to give up just because you bested him once. The next time he comes after you, he'll be prepared."

"Why does he want me?” Shilo asked uneasily.

"He wants to take over this territory, but he doesn't have the strength to do it, not as things stand. With you, he thinks he would."

Shilo gaped at him in disbelief. “He thinks he could
capture
me and I'd actually cooperate with him? Either you're mistaken or he is! And even if he is crazy enough to believe there's a chance in
hell
he could make me help him, I'm not that powerful. You
saw
. You were there. I knocked him out, but it drained me completely."

"I saw what you're capable of now,” Dante said grimly. “According to Maurice, and I see no reason to doubt his word, if he mated with you, he would give you lycan strengths, including the ability to heal faster. You would be far more powerful than you are now. And I can not, and will not, allow that to happen."

"Mated?” Shilo echoed, seizing on the one thing he'd mentioned that leapt out at her most prominently. “He thinks he can ...
fuck
me into having more powerful electro-kinesis? Why that's the stupidest, most insane ... ! God! Is there no
limit
to the male ego? That's ...
light-years
ahead of fucking the bitch out of a woman, I must say! Or are you saying he means to
breed
a more powerful electro-kinetic? Because if that's the plan, it's almost as insane as the other. I'm past my prime breeding years. I
might
be able to produce one or two, but he sure as hell doesn't have time to breed an army on me!"

Dante caught her wrists, holding her hands firmly against her thighs. There was a mixture of amusement, anger, and unmistakable desire in his eyes. “My guess is that he plans both,” he said tightly. “That's what I'd do if it was me."

Chapter Six

Shilo's belly went weightless as she stared at his taut face. “
If
you were him?"

"But I'm not."

Meaning, if he had a similar motive he wouldn't hesitate to do exactly what he was accusing the rogue of? He'd all but come right out and admitted to being completely ruthless. Did that mean she could trust him because he was honest enough to admit it? Or that she couldn't trust him because he was ruthless?

If she was honest with herself, which she didn't particularly want to be at the moment, the idea of him ‘convincing’ her as he'd suggested left her breathless.

She realized she did trust him, at least to an extent. He hadn't made any attempt to force himself on her despite the fact that he'd had every opportunity of doing so, regardless of the desire she'd seen in his eyes and the even clearer evidence of his arousal. But the other man, Maurice, had implied that it was something about her scent as a psychic, and he'd not only told her he could control it, he'd done so. Moreover, he'd made in painfully clear he considered her undesirable in every other way.

She swallowed against an indecipherable knot of emotion in her throat as she found herself wanting to believe him. Was it something about him? Or was it her—aging, maybe? A by-product of having spent so many years alone now? Had the need for human contact finally reached a point where she couldn't even trust her instincts anymore?

Not that he was human—and maybe her thinking that way was just more evidence she couldn't trust her own judgment?

It didn't help that she was so sexually aware of him, and she wondered if that strange ‘quirk’ Maurice had spoken of went both ways. Was she drawn to lycan because of some chemical thing the same way they were drawn to her?

She didn't think so. The first one had scared her half to death and, although she'd been fortunate enough since that she had managed to elude them and avoid another really nasty encounter, she didn't believe for one moment that she'd subconsciously wanted to be caught.

Maybe she just wanted to believe him because what he'd told her about the rogue had scared her? Because she wasn't completely confident that she could throw the rogue off her trail and it was terrifying even to think of an entire pack coming after her.

She moistened her lips, dragging her gaze from his and looking down at his hands curled around her wrists. “You don't have to hold my hands,” she said finally. “I've never attacked anyone.” She lifted her head again and met his gaze. “I only use it to defend myself."

A faint flush crept beneath his swarthy skin. He uncurled his hands and withdrew them.

"I'd like to go home now."

He frowned. “Haven't you listened to anything I've said?” he asked harshly.

"Yes. That's why I'm going to go home. It's ... safe there and, now that I know about the lycans, I'll be extra careful.” She drew a shuddering breath. “I'm sure there's something I could do to throw them off the scent. I'd be happy to listen to any suggestions you might have."

"You'd be safer if you stayed with us."

Shilo stared at him for a long moment and finally turned to look at the others. Color crept into her cheeks as she briefly met their gazes. She hardly knew them, but she was inclined to like them. They'd been pleasant and courteous and friendly. She didn't want to insult them. “The ... uh ... scent thing. Wouldn't that be a problem, though?"

Dante's face darkened. “No, it wouldn't."

He looked more uncomfortable than angry. Shilo frowned, thinking that over. As embarrassing as she found it to talk about it, though, she needed to know for future reference. Maurice had said it was ‘appealing'. Dante had said, though, that he was only aroused because she was a woman, even if she was human. “Is it just ... sort of an identifier, then? It's not ... it isn't like a ... lure, or anything?"

"It wouldn't be a problem. You're under my protection. This is my territory, and it's my job to enforce lycan law within it."

That didn't exactly answer her question. Or maybe it did? She would've felt more relieved if he'd just laid it out in plain English so that she was absolutely sure. “Well, that's nice to know, and, if I should ever come back, which I doubt I will, I'll keep that in mind,” she said, smiling at him. “But I don't live in your territory—in fact, I'm positive it's an area not claimed by any lycans."

Dante wrestled with his rising impatience. He was not accustomed to having his orders questioned. He was willing to make a concession in her case and try to persuade her because she was human and not directly under his authority, but he'd already determined what he intended to do, what would be best, and if he had to hogtie her, she wasn't going anywhere.

It had ceased to be only a matter of protecting her and his territorial interests from the moment Maurice had said she wasn't off limits. He wanted her ... so bad he could taste it. He hadn't been able to think far beyond breeding her since he'd caught his first taste of her scent. If it was true the council wouldn't object, he meant to have her and he had no intention of having to try to track her down to claim her.

He had to take care of the rogue problem first, though.

And then he meant to make some careful inquiries about the laws governing psychics. He sure as hell didn't want to stir up unwelcome interest in her that might result in someone else, of higher authority, swooping in to snatch her out from under his nose.

Of equal concern to him and importance, although he was having a damned hard time focusing on it, he wanted to be sure it wouldn't harm her. He was still uneasy, not completely convinced it would be safe for her, for him to claim her. Otherwise he would simply overcome her objections and go ahead and mark as her as his and worry about the consequences with the council later.

His mating instincts had kicked in with a vengeance, though—mark, breed, protect.

"I can guarantee your safety if you stay within my protection—just until we've taken care of the rogues. Once we've done that, you wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of being tracked. I could assure safe passage."

She looked uncomfortable. He could see she was uneasy about his proposal, but also reluctant to refuse to cooperate.

"You wouldn't be staying here, of course,” he added smoothly since he was pretty damned sure most, if not all, of her uneasiness had to do with his raging hormones. “But certainly inside the community. I'd arrange for you to stay with the female and young pack members."

She looked surprised and somewhat relieved. It irritated the hell of him, but he supposed he could see her point. He'd been all over her. Even if he
had
managed to reel himself in, she had every reason to doubt he'd be able to continue to control himself. And she was right. He sure as hell wouldn't be able to if he remained in close proximity to her for any length of time.

"This isn't everyone?” she asked hesitantly.

Dante smiled grimly. “Not by a long shot."

She frowned. “I'd be safe, though? If I stayed with the women?"

"There are far fewer females than males. We guard our females very carefully."

"And this would be only until you've had the chance to take care of the rogue problem? And then I could go home?"

His smile widened to a grin. “Unless of course, in the meantime, you changed your mind and decided to stay."

Shilo studied him a little doubtfully and finally chuckled when she realized he was teasing. “Oh no! No chance of that, but I suppose, if it'll help you out, I could stay a few days more. I'd really rather not worry about looking over my shoulder,” she said frankly. “I'm confident that I could manage it if I had to, but it'll be much better if I don't have worry about that, at least."

"Good,” Dante said decisively, rising to his feet and reaching for her hand to draw her up. “We'll take you to check out of your hotel and gather your belongings and then escort you to a safe house."

Shilo discovered she actually felt almost at ease as she settled in the SUV with Dante, and Maurice, Jessie, and Kane piled into the back. She'd been more unnerved than she wanted to admit, even to herself, to learn that she'd become the target of a rogue pack of lycans. She thought she could've managed on her own. After all, she'd
been
managing for a very long time, but there was a lot to be said for being guarded by no less than four big, strapping lycans—more than that, she supposed, since Dante had said the lycan community was fairly large and he was top ‘dog', so to speak.

Not that she trusted them completely. If she'd been so trusting she would never have managed to elude capture as long as she had—And she was pretty sure she was the only one who was still ‘at large'. She hadn't had contact with any of the other members of the ‘test group’ in years. They'd tried to keep in touch, at first, but discovered that only made it easier for the Feds to find them.

Thinking of the others caused her a pang. She missed them—not that they'd really been close. The circumstances had neither encouraged nor really allowed a chance for them to become close, but most of them had been in the same situation as she had been, snatched from their homes while they were very young, so that they were the closest thing to an actual family any of them had. Except for the control team that had monitored and tested them, there was no one else for any of them, and they'd
certainly
not felt any connection to the control team—aside from hating them, that is.

"You have a large family?” Dante asked, breaking the silence, his thoughts running so close to hers that she wondered, again, if they had some psychic abilities of their own.

"Nope,” she said, smiling.

He frowned faintly when she didn't elaborate.

"They live with you?"

"Oh ... uh.” She bit her lip, turning to look out of the window while she considered the pros and cons of telling the truth. It was usually best to just avoid answering that sort of question. On the other hand, she didn't want him to think nobody would come looking if she disappeared. That was dangerous in another way.

"I only ask because it occurred to me you should probably let them know so they wouldn't worry if you were expected back."

Relief filled her. She hadn't thought about that, but she realized it was the sort of thing families would probably do—worry about each other like that. She turned to smile at him. “If you could stop at a pay phone?"

Dante slid a calculating glance in her direction. It didn't escape him that she hadn't answered directly, and the request to stop at a pay phone was equally telling. She was used to covering her tracks. He merely nodded, however. When they'd reached her hotel, he walked up with her while Maurice, Kane, and Jessie took up positions in the lobby to keep an eye out.

She surprised him again when they reached her hotel room. Except for a couple of wayward articles, everything was already neatly tucked into her suitcase as if she was prepared to leave—except she'd said she'd planned to stay several days.

"You've been here a while?"

"A few days,” she replied easily.

They stopped at a pay phone between the hotel and the safe house he'd chosen for her. Again, he and the others formed a watchful perimeter, but he stationed himself near enough to hear her phone call, counting on the fact that he'd already determined she knew less than nothing about lycans, whatever she'd said to the contrary.

She proved it when she made the call.

After chatting very gaily with a recording for several moments, she hung up, smiled at him, and headed back to the SUV.

She didn't know a damned thing about lycans or she would've realized he could hear both sides of the ‘conversation’ without any difficulty whatsoever.

And she had no one to know or care if she vanished.

That realization pricked at him, aroused a sense of protectiveness in him that went beyond the growing sense of possessiveness he felt toward her and at the same time was uncomfortably at odds with it.

Not that he had any intention of allowing it to deter him from claiming her if it transpired that that was possible. He realized, though, that it was going to be a hell of a challenge.

Everything he'd learned about her was giving off alarms. Her abilities might make her stronger than the average human, but, emotionally, he had a strong feeling wooing her was going to be like walking around on eggshells. She was alone in the world, and he had a feeling she had been most of her life. She didn't dare allow anyone to get close because someone, and he suspected it was the government, had been hunting her for a very long time. It might just be because she was worried about how her fellow humans would react if they discovered what she could do. In fact, that was probably part of it, but it damned sure wasn't all of it. That phony telephone call was the trick of someone accustomed to covering their tracks. In fact, she'd already let it slip that she was ‘used’ to it.

It was also a clear indication, if he'd been in any doubt, that she didn't really trust him.

He was going to have a
lot
of issues to overcome, and his own libido was liable to be his worst enemy. If he unleashed the full brunt of it, she was going to take to her heels and he wouldn't see anything but the dust she kicked up in retreat.

He tamped those thoughts, realizing he was getting ahead of himself. He didn't even know, yet, if he could pursue his inclination. He realized, though, that he was getting in deep, way over his head, fast. The streak of possessiveness that had gripped him right off was getting more pronounced the longer he was around her. The more he allowed himself to think about claiming her, the harder it was to consider that he might end up having to let her go. He couldn't afford to put off the research and focus on the rogues first, he realized. He had to know about Shilo first or he was going to be a raving lunatic before this was over with. Once he knew, for absolute certain, whether or not he could go after her, then he could focus on the rogue problem and get that out of the way so that he could concentrate on nailing Shilo.