Leader of the Pack (10 page)

“What about it?”

She was almost as good at Kin at
pushing Dan’s buttons. His hands clenched tight on his pen as he glared at her.

“You’re a single female with no
pups. The pack requires a commitment from you or we should seek a new Alpha.”

There were murmurs in support and
growls in disagreement, but
Yohana
kept her gaze
fastened on Dan.
Staring him down.
He’d look away
first. He always did.

“Would you ask this of a male?” She
held his gaze.
Waiting.

“No, they wouldn’t,” Kincaid
affirmed. “It’s ridiculous.”

Dan didn’t look at Kin, merely met
her gaze in defiance. “This is pack business. Not city business,” he hissed at
Kin.

“It’s still of interest to those of
us so closely associated with your pack, young wolf.” Selma
Whitehawk’s
voice cut through the room even as Kin growled under his breath.

“Are you challenging me, Dan?” He
swallowed but refused to back down…yet. She raised her brows as he remained
silent. “Well?”

He could hear the disapproval of his
challenge from most of the crowd just as well as she could, and finally he
looked away.

“Not tonight. But the issue is
valid,
Yohana
.”

She hadn’t planned to address the
issue now, but at this point she had little choice. There were still pack
members who questioned her assurances that she’d fulfill her oath.

“No it isn’t. But I’m attempting to
accommodate the concerns of the pack.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve found a
suitable male.”

“You’ve what?” Selma asked. If she’d
been in her hawk form, her feathers would be ruffled. “What foolishness is
this? Females don’t need a male in order to rule.”

She could afford to say that because
the airborne
shapeshifters
tended to be matriarchal.
Reality among wolf packs was different. Males usually led with an alpha female
at their side, but the alpha bitch still bowed to his leadership just like the
rest of the pack.

“I don’t believe you,
Yo
,” Dan drawled, leaning back in his chair. He waved
around the room. “Where is he? Care to introduce us?”

“He’s in Denver at the moment.”

“Right.”

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at
him. He’d better back off or she’d rip out his throat.

“I’d like to meet him,
Yo
,” Gwyn
Whitewolf
,
a council member, suggested gently. They were cousins and fairly close, yet
Gwyn favored
Yo
being in a committed relationship in
order to lead the pack. “When will he make a visit to town?”

“He won’t. He doesn’t exist. This is
just a ruse,” Dan cut in.

Before she knew what she was doing,
she was across the room and at Dan’s throat. She clutched his hair in her hand,
pulling his head back to bare his throat. He was at her mercy and he knew it.
He took one look at her lengthened teeth and froze.

“No ruse, Dan.” She growled. “He’ll
be here on Saturday.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” She leaned back slightly,
watching his eyes. If he was going to move on her, it would be now.

“Yeah.
Bring him here.
Special council meeting
on Saturday?
Say 1:00 p.m.” He expected her to be alone, unable to
produce her Mate.

“Done.”
She climbed off Dan’s chest and backed away, still yearning
to rip out his throat, but her father had taught her restraint. “Can everyone
be present?”

Council members nodded and verbally
agreed—for the record—while the audience murmured and made plans. Selma smiled
at her and winked, approving her forceful exhibition of dominance. Even Kin and
Drew smiled. She wasn’t used to males approving of her, but she was a damn good
leader and she knew it. If she could just get her pack to concede to it, she’d
be happy.

“Is there anything else on the
agenda tonight?” she asked the city clerk as she stalked back to her place.

“We have some zoning issues and a
liquor license request.”

“Then let’s move on.”

They worked through their business
with good speed. Thank god all the budget debate was done. She was in no mood
for it. If she could have canceled the meeting she would have because she was
far too close to heat. Everything pissed her off. Dan would never have been
able to get to her so easily if she weren’t ready to light up like a
firecracker.

God, she missed
Per
.
She’d had trouble sleeping all week.
Turning toward him in
her sleep, except he wasn’t there.
She’d even dreamed of him. Had really
great dream sex, but then woke up hugging her pillow. She hated this. How could
she feel as if half of her was missing? Like she was bleeding inside?

“
Yohana
?”

She blinked and turned to meet
Selma’s gaze. “Yes?”

The older woman studied her for a
moment, giving her a maternal look that changed to wicked before Selma wiped
her reaction off her face.

“We need to take a vote, dear.”

Shit. She didn’t even know what they
were voting on. “Mary, could you read the last motion and second back to me
please?”

Mary, the city clerk, smiled
slightly but complied.
Yo
sighed in relief as she
realized that they were voting on granting a liquor license to a new catering
business. She called the vote and ended with seven in favor and one opposed.
Zach
Blackwolf
voted no, more out of reflex than
anything else. He owned the only bar in town and he liked having a monopoly.
The catering business owner, Tess
Redwolf
, scowled at
him but he just smirked back.

“The motion passes. Liquor license
granted.
Next item?”

The rest of the meeting passed
quickly. At the end, she banged the gavel to adjourn.
Yohana
gathered up her papers and turned, coming to a dead stop. Dan stood in her
path, glaring.

“Did you have something you wanted
to say?”

“I look forward to meeting your…uh…
Mate
.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him.”

“One p.m. sharp on Saturday.”

“Dan, fuck off before I rip out your
throat.”

He took a step back at the
matter-of-fact tone in her voice. She’d be happy to tear him apart right now,
but she controlled herself. He took a deep breath.

“Heat.
You’re going into heat.”

“In due
course.”

“Maybe I ought to hang around.” He
grinned at her.

She raised her brow. “If you want to
lose your balls, go ahead. Even if I went into heat at this very moment there’s
no way I’d let you mount me. No way in hell.”

Yohana
slammed into his shoulder and stalked past. She almost went
for him when she heard his low chuckle, but she kept walking. Damn it. She
wanted
Per
. She wanted to be in his arms and she
wanted him in her bed. But she wasn’t going to cave in. She could hold out
until tomorrow evening. She would.

As she hit the fresh air outside
city hall, her phone rang. She pulled it out and looked down. A thrill shot
through her. It was
Per
. For just a moment, she
considered letting the call go to voicemail but she weakened and answered.

“Hello, Per.”

“It’s good to hear your voice,
älskling
. Have you missed me?”

“Does one miss a toothache?”

He laughed.
“Such
sweet talk.
I just might think you like me.”

“Funny.” She took a deep breath. “Do
you have plans for Saturday?”

Per paused in thought for a moment.
She bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn’t have promised that he’d show up. “No. I
have no plans and I’m not on call.”

“Would you be willing to visit
Whitewolf
?”

“Visit the town or meet your pack?”

“Both.” She cleared her throat then
continued walking to her office.

“Sounds fun.
But why do I get the feeling this isn’t just a friendly
tour of town.”

“It’s not. I’m sorry.”

“You had a council meeting tonight,
didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“So what happened?”

“My cousin Dan—”

“The one who
wants to lead your pack?”

“He’s the one. Anyway, he called me
on my lack of Mate.”

“And now you have to produce me.”

“Right.
Special Council meeting on Saturday at
1:00 p.m.
I’m really sorry—”

“It’s not your fault. It’s your
jackass cousin.”

“It is, but…”
Yohana
paused. “I didn’t want you to be put on display. It’s not fair to you.”

He chuckled. “Of course it is. After
all, I’m flaunting you on Friday night. Turnabout is fair play.”

“Well, maybe it is after all.”

Yo
strolled into her office at city hall, waving off her
assistant and closing the door.
Locked it.
She wasn’t
sure why she bothered to lock the door, but it felt right. She tossed her
paperwork and files onto her desk and rounded it, kicking off her heels and
flopping into her chair. She put her feet up on the desk.

“So what are you up to? You had
surgery today didn’t you?”

“Good memory.
Ja
. I finished my last surgery a short while
ago and the patient is up on the floor. I just crashed at my desk. I’m taking a
break before I go to do evening rounds.”

“Sounds
exhausting.”

“It is, but it’s rewarding.”

“Financially?”

He laughed. “The pay is pretty good.
But I get more from helping a patient reach health than I’ll ever be paid.”

“Very noble.”
She let sarcasm edge her voice.

“Thank you.” His voice lilted with
laughter as he pretended to take her words at face value.

She couldn’t prevent a grin from
spreading on her face. It was good to hear his voice somewhere other than in
dreams, even if the dreams were scorching hot.

“Should I still meet you at your
place at six thirty?”

“
Ja
.
You have the key I gave you?”

“I do. If I get there before you,
I’ll let myself in. What time do we have to be at this fundraiser thing?”

“We’re expected at seven thirty.”

“You know we should get our stories
straight.”

“What do we need to get straight?”

“Like how long have we been dating?
What have you told your boss?
Your co-workers?”

“I told them we began dating three
months ago.”

“Three months? And we’re ready to
get engaged? That’s kind of fast for humans, isn’t it?”

“I told Dr. Frieze that it was love
at first sight.”

“And he bought it?”

Per chuckled. “He’s a romantic.
William isn’t the problem.”

“That suggests that there
is
a problem.”

“You have a Dan. I have a Melinda.”

“Melinda
who
?
And what is her importance?”

“Quit sounding like a pack leader,
Yohana
.”

“I can’t help it. I
am
a pack
leader. So who is she?”

“A former girlfriend I broke up with
when she became too demanding.”

“Demanding?”

“She made noises about getting
married.
That we’d be a great team.
Things like that.”

“You date a woman awhile and she
expects a commitment,
Per
.”

“I couldn’t imagine being her Mate.”

“Why? You share a passion for
medicine. I assume she’s presentable or you wouldn’t have been sharing her bed.
So what gives?”

“She’s also up for partner. And
she’s ambitious.”

“So are you. But I take it that
she’s up against
you
?

“
Ja
.”

“For one
spot?”

“We’re both being considered for
promotion to partner. I think they’ll accept us both if they believe we’re
valuable enough. Melinda’s opinion differs.”

“She thinks you’re up for the same
spot and she’ll gut you if it makes things better for her.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Males.”
Yo
rolled her eyes, even though
he couldn’t see it. “You all think with your dick.”