Part 5 (1/2)

aWill they come for us right off?a Leila interrupted, thinking longingly of her own .38. Fool that she was, shead left it in the hallway all this time and never thought to pick it back up.

aMost likely not.a Grey kept his eyes on the picture window -- that huge picture window that was suddenly more liability than a.s.set. aTheyare looking for a weakness and havenat found one yet.a aWeall be all right, Mommy.a Lin smiled at her. Patted her hand. Leila smiled back and watched her other hand curl into a fist. Leila needed to make sure they were all right.

Dek leaned over and slid her revolver into her hand. Thank you, Jesus. It couldnat all be a show, because he was back to reading her thoughts without a problem, knowing what she needed the second she did, or even long before. Maybe things were all right after all.

As all right as you could be with a pack of werewolves after you. Inconveniently, she remembered in vivid detail everything Dekas old clipping had said about what might happen. Dek had lost his mother, but head survived somehow. Not everyone was that lucky. If there was an attack, what might happen to her own baby? She hadnat wanted to think about it, but now b.l.o.o.d.y, frightening images crowded in.

aI think Iam feeling a little dizzy.a Leila heard her surprised voice a long, fuzzy way away from her body.

Chapter Eight.

aLeila. Baby. Are you listening? Are you able to hear me? Leila, will you f.u.c.king open your eyes?a That was Dekas voice, d.a.m.n near screaming in her ear. She wanted to respond to the urgency in his tone -- and shut up the shouting -- but she was so tired. He could wait just a little longer, surely, until she got the gray mist cleared out of her brain.

There was something she had to ask, though. Something that couldnat wait. She licked her lips, forced the word through. aLin?a The voice immediately lowered down to a more soothing rumble. aOh, baby. I wondered there ... Lin is fine. Grey has her outside, until we got you moving again. You scared her half to death.a aI didnat faint. I never faint.a aRight. Well, you decided to sit down and take a rest on the kitchen floor for a little too long.a Leila blushed. aIall go see Lin and rea.s.sure her.a aIall carry you.a aStupid.a aStupid yourself. I donat trust you to stand right now. Youad fall over and hit your fool head,a her lover said tenderly, and then she was pulled up, left dangling in the air, with her head spinning all over again. She hung on to Dekas shoulders and let him carry her away.

It was quiet outside as the sun disappeared slowly from the sky. So quiet. She wondered if it was safe to be outside, but she figured the he-men around her, particularly Mr. Head He-Man, who was hauling her around at the moment, would laugh if she mentioned her concern.

aSheas over there.a Grey was propped against the porch. He pointed to where Lin was dangling from a pecan tree limb. aLinas fine. How about her? She doesnat look so good.a He never called her by name if he could help it, but if she strained a little, she thought there might be some faint concern in Greyas voice.

aBetter.a Leila cleared her throat, embarra.s.sed at the squeak in it.

aShe need the ER? We could get her in without anyone knowing about us. Sheas human.a The usual scorn in that word was muted just a little maybe.

aBetter to keep away from them if we can,a Dek said. aBesides, sheas coming to.a aI hate hospitals.a Leila was pleased to realize she sounded much firmer this time.

aIam keeping an eye on her.a Dekas finger lightly traced what must have been a bruise on her cheek. Leila winced. She must have fallen. aThe minute she looks like thereas a problem that some time wonat take care of, Iall get her checked.a aWhatever.a Grey shrugged. aYouare the boss.a ad.a.m.n straight.a Dek kept his hand on her, circling her back in slow, light movements. As if he was checking to see she was all right. As if he wanted to keep being sure of it.

She stared over at Lin, who was running around and around a tree. aYou know, why are you growing pecans anyhow? That doesnat go with your macho image, cowboys.a aSheas feeling better, boss.a aYeah.a Dek squeezed her shoulder a little. aSheas back to being nosy and demanding. Go ahead and answer the ladyas question, Grey.a aWe canat raise animals. They get too skittish around us. And, well, you never know what might happen --a aDuring a full moon. Gotcha.a She pushed away from Dek. aIam starting to feel fine now. Really.a aYou still look a little ragged.a Lowellas voice behind her made her jump. aMaybe you should rest some.a aMaybe you worry about me too much.a The dark jealousy was still there, lurking underneath. The wash of possession, the mix of joy and pure showing-off when he f.u.c.ked Leila in front of his packmate, was gone. But above all that was something more, something worrisome.

Dek didnat like it.

That d.a.m.ned mostly human female. If Leila ever knew what a hold she had on his b.a.l.l.s, head be dead meat. Head chosen to treat that little escapade of hers with Lowell as an experiment. Fun and games. It was, mostly. Alpha females did things like it all the time in their packs, showing their own dominance. Leila was learning to be an alpha b.i.t.c.h, like it or not.

But what if she didnat like what she had to become? She wanted him. She still did. He could feel it whenever she got wet, see it on her face when she looked at him. h.e.l.l, he could touch and taste and smell her wanting whenever they got in the same room. But he didnat think she wanted everything that came with him. Was her slap and tickle with Lowell the start of her trying to pull away from the pack?

That would be a d.a.m.ned shame.

Something was off tonight. Not just the threats and the fainting, but something else. Grey tilted his head, trying to figure it out.

aDaddy, look!a Lin called from the distance.

aYeah, sweetie,a Dek called to her, but he looked at Leila instead. Grey scowled. There was something ... he caught the whiff of her scent mingled with ...

aMaybe you do worry about her too much.a Grey stared, eyes narrowed, at Lowell. The kid s.h.i.+fted his feet.

aI have something to tell all of you.a Lowell spoke abruptly, a little too loudly. He didnat look at Dek directly, not even for permission to speak.

No one answered for a long moment. d.a.m.n it, all of them knew exactly what was up except him. Grey hated that.

aWhatas up, pup?a Fine. He was willing to be the one to ask. Obviously he wasnat going to find out anything if he waited for the rest to speak up.

aI care about all of you. I thought I should say that first. And -- and Iall miss you when I leave.a Lowellas voice was more confident, more certain than Grey ever remembered it being. aThis is good-bye.a Grey stared at the omega. Lowell looked different, just as he sounded different. His head was up, and his shoulders werenat hunched over in that deferential slouch. d.a.m.n. The pup seemed more determined. More adult.

aNo need for that.a No matter what had happened.

aYeah. Yeah there is.a aYouave thought this out, Lowell?a Dek asked. Grey wondered if head ever called the kid by his proper name before. If any of them had. But Dek seemed to know now was the right time for it. aBecause we want you to stay.a aIave been doing nothing but think about it,a Lowell said. aAnd about ... well, about a mate. Iave been thinking too much about what that would be like to be satisfied here.a Dek looked at her. aWhat about you, Red?a aWhat about me?a Leila sounded like the village idiot, but then, Grey wasnat so sure he wasnat gaping at them as if he were a second one.

aAre you staying?a aYou donat want me to? Youad rather I went with Lowell?a Grey gave her credit. She sounded almost as hurt as he would be if Dek had said that to him. But none of this added up. He could live without Lowell or the woman in the pack. But Dek? When the h.e.l.l did he let go of family? Of this woman? It was unimaginable. He didnat understand anything that was going on. Even stranger, somehow Grey found himself being the one who gripped their alpha b.i.t.c.has elbow, holding her steady. She looked like she might just pitch over again if he didnat. Her d.a.m.ned mate was still standing a little away from her, hands shoved in his back pockets. What the h.e.l.l was with Dek? He never had a problem talking.

Dek spoke to her -- to them all -- much too calmly. aItas your choice, Leila. Mostly members of the pack have none. Iam bound -- maybe more bound than anyone else -- to the pack. But Iave been thinking. An alpha doesnat have to be challenged before leaving. She can go before then, when sheas no longer useful to the pack. Or, like Lowell, when he decides to find a new pack or a mate. You can stay, of course. You might be safer with more weres to guard you rather than just one. Iad offer you the choice to do whatever else you want, if it were possible, but it isnat. You and Lin are in too much danger alone.a aYouare giving me any choice? Alphas never give choices.a It sounded like she was finally getting the idea, human though she was. Grey almost relaxed. d.a.m.n. He hadnat even realized he was as tense as the couple in front of him.

aIall always be alpha. But youare a human. Well, mostly human. You need different rules. It doesnat matter what I think about what you should do.a aI see. You could give me up, but not the pack.a Idiot woman. She had missed everything important. Why did non-weres misunderstand the most basic ideas? And Dek wasnat saying a d.a.m.n thing. He just stood there with his fists balled up, staring at the human. Good G.o.d, if everyone stayed silent, she might really leave.