“Where is Leif?” Sensing his mate’s anger and extreme discomfort, Dante took her hand in his.

“One of your packmates, Grace, took him to the kitchen to get something to eat.”

“Not to be insensitive, but why come here? Your dad is the Alpha of your pack. He’d be the obvious person to go to.”

“My parents are on vacation for ten more days. No one else in the pack could have protected me from him, and I couldn’t have gone to stay with any of my family in other packs, because Blane would know to look there. I thought about going to Josh, but I couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t take Blane’s side and call him. This is the one place that Blane would never expect me to be.”

“And you want to stay here?” asked Jaime, her tone dangerous but empty of any hint of the physical pain she was going through. It had been a while since her wolf had tried so hard to surface, but the animal saw this female in front of her as a threat to her mating.

Sensing her wolf’s state, Dante released Jaime’s hand and slid his palm under her hair to cup her nape. Anybody looking would have interpreted it as simply an affectionate touch, as opposed to a move designed to calm her wolf. Laurie certainly saw, and she didn’t look pleased about it. The move didn’t make Jaime’s wolf back down, but it did make her begin to calm.

“Just until my parents are back.”

“Dante, Jaime,” began Trey, “I think we should talk in my office. In private,” he added when Laurie went to follow.

The second they were inside the office and the door was shut, Jaime announced to her Alpha,

“She can’t stay here.”

He didn’t look surprised. “Jaime, this is—”

“No, she really can’t stay here or I’ll kill her.” She wouldn’t be able to stop herself or her wolf.

“Believe me, I’m not interested in having strangers—particularly one who hurt Dante the way she did—in my pack. The only reason she got through the gate was that she had the kid. I’m not comfortable with sending a kid out there when there’s a chance that he could be hurt.” That was only to be expected, given that Trey’s dad had been abusive. Jaime would have been just as sympathetic if it hadn’t been for one thing. “She’s lying.”

“My instincts tell me that you’re right, but now that I’ve got Kye…” He sighed. “I don’t know how to explain it. Let’s just say that it’s made me a little more protective of the kid than I would’ve been before.”

She turned to her mate. “Do you believe her?”

He shook his head. “I can’t work out what her game is. But, like Trey, I’m not comfortable with slinging Leif out of here. I know what Blane is capable of. Even if he’d never hurt them before, he’ll undoubtedly be furious when he finds out that they’ve run off, particularly that they ran to my pack. I don’t think you’re any more comfortable with throwing him out of here than we are.” He was right, she wasn’t comfortable with it. “Have you already agreed to let her stay?” she asked Trey.

Trey shook his head. “I wanted to talk to you both first. I can understand why this might be hard for both of you, and if you find it too hard, then I will—despite that it doesn’t sit well with me—

tell them to leave. My pack comes first.”

So if she really wanted Bitch Face gone, if she explained just how hard she’d find being around a woman whom her mate had once loved and been partially mated to, Trey would insist that Laurie leave. As much as she appreciated that and truly wanted Bitch Face gone, she—damn her freaking morals!—didn’t consider her feelings to be more important than the safety of a ten-year-old boy. “I can handle it.”

Proud of his mate, Dante curled an arm around her and tugged her to his side. He knew through their bond that she didn’t believe she’d handle it well, but she was willing to deal with it for Leif’s sake. He was sorely tempted to tell Trey to refuse them sanctuary. He wanted to spare his mate this pain and just order away this woman who was nothing more to him than a bad memory. Ten days, he reminded himself. Ten days and she’d be gone from their lives for good.

“But there’s something she needs to hear first.”

Before Dante could ask Jaime what she meant by that, she was out of the office. He and Trey followed behind her as she made her way back into the living area. Then she was in front of Laurie’s chair and bending over so that they were eye to eye.

“As you’ve already guessed,” Jaime began to the rightfully wary female, “the decision is that you and your son can stay. But hear this and don’t forget a word of it. You do not ever, ever touch Dante again. Ever,” she hissed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m hoping you ignore me, because then I’ll have the perfect excuse to drag you out of here by your hair and proceed to smack the shit out of you.

But if you don’t want that, keep your slutty little hands off my mate.” Dante blew out a breath and shook his head a little as he reminded himself that it would be very, very bad to bend Jaime over the sofa and f**k her right there in front of everyone. His wolf growled his disagreement. Her show of dominance had gone straight to Dante’s cock, and if the pained expressions on the faces of the enforcers were anything to go by, it had had the same effect on them. Dante gave them a “Don’t even think it” look. He wasn’t like their Alpha; he didn’t like the idea of others admiring what was his.

“Your mate?” Laurie repeated numbly.

“My mate.”

She looked at Dante, who had come to stand beside Jaime. “I didn’t think you’d imprint again.”

“Neither did I, but I would have imprinted on Jaime. As it turns out, that wasn’t necessary.” Utter shock took over Laurie’s face. “You’re true mates?”

“Yes,” confirmed Jaime. “So you might want to think about that the next time you have an urge to leap at him, which, for the record, was downright pathetic.” With that, Jaime sharply turned and left the room.

Dante’s brows arched as every single female in the room rose from her seat and, casting withering looks at Laurie, also left. It was a show of loyalty to Jaime. It was a gesture that said that Laurie wouldn’t be thought of as one of the females here. It was also their way of saying that they didn’t agree with Trey’s decision. Dante turned to him. “If the other females don’t like it, Taryn isn’t going to either.”