Solstice Heat (13 page)

“What time is it?” Jason asked, turning his head to work the tension out of his sore neck. “We need to come up with a plan.”

“There’s no time. It’s eight o’clock in the morning. But it’s the twenty-first.” Donovan’s gaze was intense. The last time he’d seen that look, he’d lost the use of his legs in the fight. “What’s the plan?”

“We have to assume Dane and his men will be waiting for us. No doubt the entire pack knows that he stole Gio and that she’s mine. So—”

“She’s yours now?” Donovan asked with a hint of humor.

“She was mine long before tonight. I just didn’t see it. When she cracked Dane’s rib because he cracked one of mine, she proved to every man in the room that she’s Alpha. Most of them will be counting down the hours until they see what it feels like to fuck an Alpha. And if we don’t get her out of there, they’re all going to take her; then Dane will kill her just because she’s mine. I won’t let that happen to her.” That had been the easiest decision he’d had to make in the last week. She was not about to suffer for his stupidity. He should have taken care of Dane a long time ago. He should have never given up being Alpha. He also should have told Gio how important she was to him.

“What’s your plan?” Donovan asked again.

“Call your deputies. Have them ready. I’m going to challenge Dane. The rest of the pack will keep the Alpha fight fair, but if Dane loses, expect the worst.” Jason wasn’t stupid. If he left Dane alive, he would have a constant bull’s-eye on his back. Not to mention his punching Gio. For that alone Jason was going to rip him apart.

“While I’m fighting, you get her out of there. Whether I win or lose, you vouch for her and make sure she gets pack protection. I don’t want her vulnerable to Dane or Toni. Even if that means you have to challenge Dane to an Alpha fight yourself.” Jason looked him in the eye. Donovan never wanted to be Alpha. The only reason he’d agreed to be Jason’s beta was because Jason had said he would never put Donovan in a position to be Alpha. He was going to have to break that promise.

“Jason. I can’t—”

“Look. I know you don’t want it, but you can’t be worse than Dane. He’s going to ruin the pack. People will start leaving. Soon everything you love about this town and pack will be gone. Not to mention, when I’m gone, you’ll be the next target.” Jason crawled over to his chair and pulled himself into it.

“I’m going to get cleaned up, and I’ll meet you back here in fifteen.” He wheeled into the connected bathroom, without wincing once, even though every move was excruciating.

He slid into the shower and let the hot water wash away the dried blood and sweat that coated him. He grabbed the soap and started scrubbing.

After twelve minutes he was in the hallway, waiting on Donovan. He would need someone else to push the pack into accepting Gio.
Ambriel
? No, he couldn’t put her on Dane’s hit list, just in case things didn’t go as expected.

“We’ll go to the police station. Dane might decide he wants to try to rough you up again before the fight,” Donovan said, putting his gun holster on and going into his office.

It took them an hour to get to the station. Donovan called his deputies. Abel and Kane met them there. Both men were loyal to Jason and Donovan. Jason hadn’t expected Lucky, the only female deputy, to show up, but she did. Which meant he had a woman who Dane and Toni couldn’t intimidate to vouch for Gio.

The plan slowly came together around him. Donovan would get Gio to Lucky, then keep Dane’s supporters from reaching the women. Kane and Able would make sure the celebration continued as normal.

Six o’clock raced up to greet them. Jason had Donovan carry him to the truck. No need to take the chair with them when he wouldn’t be able to use it. It took them over an hour to drive out to the parking lot on the outskirts of the woods where the celebration would be held. Jason opened the door and shifted before Donovan could come around and try to carry him out.

“Go ahead. We’ll catch up,” Donovan said.

Jason raced through the woods. The solstice celebration was just starting, which meant he needed to hurry before Dane got to Gio and announced her status as a nonpack wolf. Three minutes of running at top speed had him skidding into the clearing just as Dane ripped a hood off her head.

The entire pack was watching Dane. None of them had changed yet. Jason pulled in a breath and pushed hard, making the feeling that overtook him during a shift expand and pressed the feeling outward. The people watching Dane slowly transformed, one by one. Even some of Dane’s men changed. Dane screamed and threw Gio to the ground away from him. Her body was convulsing. Jason’s forced shift was bringing her wolf to the surface too fast. Dane turned and faced him.

“Are you challenging me, Jason?”

Jason nodded. He never took his eyes off Dane. The pack closed around them in a tighter circle.

“This will be a fight to the death. I will kill you and take everything that was yours.” Dane dropped to his knees and turned into a wolf. He’d gotten faster at it than Jason remembered.

Out of the corner of his vision he saw Gio scoot to the edge of the circle. Dane tried to get behind him, but Jason had no intentions of letting the other man near his legs. That was where Dane would concentrate his efforts. Jason needed to use that to his advantage.

Dane surged toward Jason. Jason backed up a step, intending to move to the left at the last second. But backing up on two good legs and one leg that was barely able to hold his weight wasn’t a good idea. Jason just barely managed to evade Dane.

He needed to end this before Dane got in a lucky shot. Too many people were counting on him for him to fail.

Dane tried to get behind him again. As he sidestepped to match Dane’s move, Gio came into view. She was naked except for a pair of panties he hadn’t gotten around to ripping. His gaze would have swung back to Dane, but he saw Toni working her way up to stand behind Gio.
Shit. Where the hell is Donovan?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dane move. Instead of backing up, he charged too. Dane tried to stop, but he was moving so fast he couldn’t. When they collided, Jason bashed him with his left paw. Jason struck Dane in the right side—the side Gio had snapped earlier.

Dane fell to the ground, and Jason jumped on him and slashed down at the man’s neck with his claws. Dane moved his head to the left, exposing his neck. Jason surged forward and bit Dane in the neck. Dane clawed at him, slashing his paws along Jason’s sides. The roar of the crowd fell silent as Jason felt the slick blood running down his chin. He hated to kill someone like this, but he had no choice. The least he could do was make it painless. No matter what Dane had done he could do that.

Jason flicked his head and snapped Dane’s neck. A lone howl broke the silence. Toni. He looked up to see her friends holding her as she cried. She was going to be a problem. He was sure of that. But she was pack. She was protected. Until she did something to be banished.

Donovan moved to the front of the circle to sit beside Gio. Jason looked around but couldn’t see anyone looking to challenge him. Not yet anyway. Beating Dane hadn’t been the issue—the problem would be the challenges that came from any lone wolf who thought Jason would be easy pickings. Jason shifted and pulled her into his arms.

“I’m sorry.” He traced his hand over her swollen eye and cheek. “What did he do to you?”

“I knew you could do it.” She rubbed her face against his hand. “You’re going to make a great Alpha.”

“Until the next cocky bastard comes in and challenges me.”

“That’s why I’m here. I’ll crack all their ribs before the fight.” She smiled. “You don’t grow up this big not knowing how to fight.”

He smiled and swallowed hard. It had been a barely a week, but he couldn’t imagine living without her. She’d broken down three years of barriers in mere days. What would she do tomorrow?

“So you’ll be with me when the next challenger shows up? That could be a long time from now. Are you sure you’re in it for the long haul?” He knew what he was asking. He also knew that every ear in this clearing could hear their conversation. He looked down at her and saw the uncertainty in her eyes. It wasn’t fair of him to ask her to tie herself to him after such a short time. Not to mention that he didn’t know if he could have children. He’d already stolen one future from her; how could he take another? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Do you want me to stay?” she asked, her voice husky and unsure.

Gio wanted to believe he wanted her. Why else would he bring this up in front of so many witnesses? She wanted to look around, but the right side of her face was so swollen that she could barely see out of her eye.

“Are you crazy? If I didn’t snap you up, I swear Donovan would beat the daylights out of me. You’re mine, and even if you said no, I would hound you day and night until you changed your mind.” He bent and touched his forehead to hers.

He wanted her. She tried to smile but couldn’t make her bruised muscles obey. “Yes. I’ll stay with you as long as you want me.”

He pulled her into a kiss, but her mouth hurt so much she couldn’t enjoy it.

“Owww.” She frowned. Dang it, she wanted to kiss him too.

“You know, if you shift, you’ll be able to heal those wounds,” Donovan said from behind them.

“But first things first.” Jason surveyed the entire pack. “Gio is a new wolf, looking for a pack. Are there any objections to her joining our pack here in Climax?”

No one spoke up. Jason looked over to find Toni. He was sure she wanted to say something, but Becca and a couple of other women were crowded around her.

“Gio, do you agree to obey all the rules of the pack and promise to obey the pack Alpha and beta in all things?” He held her hand.

“Define
obey
,” she said, lifting her left eyebrow.

“That’s good enough for me,” Donovan told him. “Now help the lady shift.”

“Does your wolf want to come out to play?” he asked as his eyes shifted to that familiar bright blue.

Gio nodded. Her wolf wanted to do a lot more than play. In fact, so did she. “Bring it on, big boy.”

Gio felt Jason wheel up behind her and knew he was reading the e-mail on the screen.

“What the hell is that?” he practically yelled.

“That is Cel, agreeing to come spend her spring break and summer here with me—I mean
us
,” she said, turning around to face him.

“What about
you need to disappear
did you not understand?”

“I never agreed to anything. You decided I need to disappear, and I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure how things were going to work out. Now that I’m alive and plan to stay, I will see my sister. Besides, she would have figured it out eventually.”

“You know what could happen? If she becomes a liability, then things could go bad.” He grabbed her wrists. “Are you willing to risk that?”

“I can’t just leave her. She’s my family.” Gio turned her wrists and grabbed his hands. “Besides, she would have searched for me and made her way up here. And there are other humans who know.”

“Yes, but none of them are related to the Alpha pair.” He closed his eyes in obvious frustration.

“We’ll let Donovan assign someone to watch her. She’ll be fine, and so will we.”

“Why do I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well?”

“Because you are a pessimist.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry; what’s the worst that could happen?”