As Dante flicked through one of the portfolios placed on the coffee table in the corner of the reception area, he whispered into Jaime’s ear, “Do you think we could get my name tattooed on your ass?”
Gaping, she slapped his upper arm. “I’d laugh if I thought you were joking.”
“It would be the biggest turn-on ever to take you from behind and see my name on your ass.” He was getting hard just thinking about it.
In a voice both sweet and sarcastic, she asked, “Shall I have ‘Chattel of’ tattooed there too?”
“I guess that would be all right.” He chuckled when she slapped his upper arm again.
“Does your girlfriend know that you like to flirt with other females?” asked a deep, rumbly voice.
Dante and Jaime looked up to see Nick Axton breezing into the studio, his eyes fixed firmly on Dominic, who was tucking a folded slip of paper into his pocket.
Sensing that Jaime wanted to intervene, Dante gave a subtle shake of his head. He wanted to see how this played out, wanted to know if his suspicions about Nick’s odd behavior were correct.
That wasn’t going to happen if he and Jaime stepped forward. So far the Alpha hadn’t noticed them in the corner, as his attention was solely on Dominic.
Considering that there was a powerful Alpha glowering at him, Jaime had expected Dominic to either buckle slightly or straighten to his full height and mirror Nick’s confrontational stance.
Instead, he strolled casually toward the Alpha until he was a foot away, not looking in the least bit rattled. Jaime was impressed. But then, he wasn’t an enforcer for nothing.
Cocking his head, Dominic asked, “I have a girlfriend?”
“Does she know that you take other females’ numbers, too?”
“Oh you noticed that. You sure do seem to have a lot of interest in me. I don’t bat for both teams, sorry.”
Nick closed the small distance between them. “Break it off with her.” The words dripped with power and authority. Yet Dominic simply shrugged and said, “It’s going to be hard to do that when I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Dante could see that Nick was surprised by Dominic’s failure to cower. People tended to underestimate just how capable the playful wolf was. Dominic’s dominance was subtle but very much there, and it was clear that Nick was just coming to that realization.
“In any case,” continued Dominic, “the only Alpha I take orders from is Trey. Take care now, Nicky.”
When he tried to walk past, Nick stepped in his path and growled menacingly. “I’m not done yet.”
Knowing that things would quickly escalate from here, Dante stepped toward them. “Let him pass, Nick.” The Alpha didn’t react at all, just continued to stare at Dominic as if imagining which would be the most stimulating way to kill him. “Dominic, go wait in the Toyota. Tao, Ryan, and Shaya are in there waiting for you.”
“Excellent,” said Dominic with a grin, stepping around the Alpha, who was currently watching the Toyota through narrowed eyes.
“Want to tell me what that was all about?” Dante asked Nick, though he was damn confident what it was about.
Nick looked as though he had every intention of walking out without answering, but then he saw Jaime and stopped. “So you haven’t been thrown out yet.” Jaime gave Nick a beaming smile. “Shocking, isn’t it?”
“You find this funny? You’re barely in control of your wolf. You could hurt the people in your pack.”
She snorted. “You’re a fine one to talk about hurting people in my pack, aren’t you? You don’t deserve her.” She ignored Dante’s gaze, now only interested in the jerk in front of her. “She deserves better.”
“She told you,” he surmised in a quiet voice. “I didn’t realize you were so close.”
“So close that I’m seriously considering clawing off your balls and feeding them to you. Not because I’m losing control, but because you’re an ass.” His eyes danced to Dante. “She told you, too.”
“No. I figured it out. It won’t be long before the rest of the pack does, too, if you continue acting the way you have been. I can’t work out whether you’re planning on taking some time before claiming her, or you have no intention to at all.”
“The latter,” Jaime answered for him.
Nick’s focus returned to her. “You must know why I can’t claim her.”
“What I know is that you don’t even have the decency to discuss it with her. You act like she doesn’t exist. You make her feel small and worthless. What kind of male does that to his mate? No male worth his salt ever would.”
Even knowing that Nick was a powerful Alpha, Dante still had the undeniable urge to punch him. He might have told Trey about it and asked him to stop Nick from coming to pack territory if he didn’t know for certain that Trey would want to kill Nick. “If you don’t intend to claim her, you need to stay away from the pack and stick to phone calls from here on out. Taryn won’t be in the least bit merciful if she finds out. Trey turns homicidal if he sees Taryn even the slightest bit upset. What happens won’t be pretty.”
“I know,” the Alpha bit out.
“Then stay away.”
He didn’t say “I can’t,” but his expression said it for him. Jaime felt her mood soften slightly at the sheer and utter torment on his face. Not claiming Shaya was killing him. Still, there was only one way this could go. “Stay away. You owe her that.”
“You’re right, I do.”
But he still wouldn’t stay clear of Shaya. Jaime could tell that much. She could understand that he would feel compelled to seek out his mate, but he was choosing not to claim her, and that meant he had to ignore the draw. Jaime knew exactly what Shaya would do if he didn’t. “There’s a lot you don’t know about Shaya. You think her being submissive means she’s weak? Pfft. There’s nothing weak about that female. If you push her, she’ll react, and not in a way you’ll like.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Unwilling to elaborate, she simply said, “Exactly what I said.” Dante nodded his agreement. “Claim her or leave her alone. Not just because it’s unfair to Shaya, but because it could end up causing a war between our packs.” The Alpha snickered. “Who are you either of you to preach to me about claiming your mate?