Territory - Prequel (22 page)

“Putting a blanket between us won’t help.  Hell, putting a mile between us wouldn’t help.”

She didn’t know what to say.  “I’m sorry.  I could sleep elsewhere.”

“Don’t apologize.  Don’t ever apologize.  And as for sleeping somewhere else, no you can’t.  I’d follow you no matter w
here you went
.  My wolf is
eager for me to assert my dominance over you.  Don’t run from me, it’ll
call my wolf forth and the hunt will be on.”

She shivered at the warning.  “Good night then.”

“Good night,” he growled before she heard the bathroom door click closed.

God what have I gotten myself into?

Chapter
19

The next morning, as promised, Mama had prepared
a buffet of hot crumbly biscuits, chocolate gravy, sausages, fruit, and coffee. 

Dell filled
a
mug with steaming coffee before handing a second cup to Chloe.  “We’ll eat in the office.”

Mama winked, “Just as I suspected.  There’s a table already set up in there for you two.”

“Cindy and Pony?” Dell demanded.

“Right here,” Cindy spoke from the stairs as she slowly descended. 
“Pon’ll be down in a minute.”  She eyed the dining room.  “Where’s our
guest
,” she asked mockingly.

“Taking his time coming down I’m sure,” Mama pointed her s
patula toward the table, “have a
seat, I’ll make you a plate.”

Cindy did as she was told
.

“Good morning Grama,”
AJ entered the kitchen wiping sleep from his eyes.  Mama crossed the room with spatula still in hand to grab AJ’s
shirt, pulling
him down so she could kiss the top of his
tousled
head. 

Dell took Chloe’s hand
and
smil
ed
at AJ before he
led
Chloe
down the hall to his office.

“Why aren’t we eating with the others?”

“Hayden’s not mated,” he answered simply.

Chloe knew then that Dell wouldn’t be able to handle her in
any
close proximity to Hayden. 
Hell, he’d sent his brother away for his own safety.  She could only imagine the repercussions to Hayden if he even attempted to push Dell. 

Inside the office, Mama had in fact laid out a feast.  The desk had been cleared of paperwork and covered with
a white
linen that housed two plates of steaming biscuits smothered
in chocolate grav
y
next to piles of hickory smoked sausage.  The scent was so enticing that Chloe’s belly rumbled in impatience. 

Dell held out a
chair and Chloe took the seat.  They ate in silence a few moments when Chloe took a sip of coffee and cleared her throat.  “Maybe, with Hayden here and all, it’d be best if I went home today.”

Dell stopped chewing momentarily before fingering a sausage and shoving it whole into his mouth.  “No.”

“Dell, you have to be reasonable.  You have a guest, and my presence here is making the situation volatile.”

He kept his eyes on his plate, “
Hayden
is making the situation volatile. 
You
belong here, he doesn’t.”

She smiled at his possessive tone.  “I could come back next weekend.  I would you know.”

He took another bite, “You’ll stay now.”

“You could come to my place.” she suggested shyly, keeping her eyes on her plate.

“I can’t leave my pack with a stranger amongst them.”

She nodded, “Oh.
”  She took a bite of biscuit
and it practically
melted in her mouth
.
T
he saltiness of the
flaky
bread perfectly complimented
the sweet chocolate gravy.  “How long will Hayden stay?”

“Not long.  It’s best for
traveling shifters to stay with the Alpha of a territory as a sign of respect.  Just settling here without permission could be seen as a challenge.  He claims to have personal business to attend and then he’ll be gone.”

“Do all s
hifters passing through have to
check in?”

Dell laughed, “If they don’t want to be viewed as hostile it is best to
check in.
”

“But how would you know if they hadn’t?  Montana’s a large state, someone could travel through one of the other cities and you’d never know.”

Dell set his fork down and wiped his mouth with his napkin.  “You’re right, we wouldn’t.  But in this city we would.  Shifters can sense one another.  Not to mention we frequently
patrol our territory.  We’d know if an unfamiliar shifter were among us.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Hundreds in North America.  Thousands around the world.”

Chloe
fidgeted nervously with her
napkin
.

“Ask.” Dell commanded.

Her eyes met his, “How did you come to be this way?”

He sat back and threaded his fingers behind his head.  “Our creation
story tells of a young woman from
our tribe that was kidnapped from her people by an enemy band.  She escaped
the enemy band
only to be caught in a blizzard.  A pack of wolves approached and she thought she’d be torn to pieces, but instead they led her to their den whe
re
they fed and warmed her.  Unable to find her way home and not wanting to go back to the enemy tribe, she remained with the wolves for many years.  Over time she came to smell like a wolf and she learned their language.
  She was a wolf for many years.
 

One day, an elderly woman was picking berries near the wolves den.  The wol
ve
s rushed home to warn the young woman who’d now become one of them.  She ventured out to spy on the human and discovered that it was her mother.  She thanked the wolves and returned to her first family, never forgetting what the wolves had done for her
and that they too were her family
. 

Legend says that when she returned to her mother’s camp she took a husband shortly after and when her first child was born it was part human and part wolf.”  Dell unlaced his fingers, “It is from this woman
that we descend.”

“Is that true?”

Dell shrugged, “It’s what we’ve been told for generations.  Whether it’s true or not I don’t know
.  What I do know is that we are born this way.”

“Can
shifters be created?”

Dell’s brows hiked as he smiled, “Do you mean can we change a human into a shifter?”

She nodded.

Sobering Dell shook his head once.  “We can, but it
in most cases it
is forbidden.”

“By who?”

“There is a council.  It’s made up of elder shifters from every continent.  For the protection of our kind we’ve established by-laws for self-governance.”

“What would happen if you broke a law?”

“Death.”
Dell took her plate and stacked it on top of his.  “The rules are in place for the safety of us all.  We’ve all agreed to them, so there would be no cause to go against
them
.”

Chloe’s eyes grew wide with interest, “Has anyone ever gone against the council and created a shifter?”

Dell pinned her with his amber eye
s.  “Yes.  It’s happened before, decades ago.  No human has been changed against their will in a very long time.”

“Ag
ainst their will?  Are there people that want to be changed?”

A knock sounded at the door and Chloe turned to look at it before returning her eyes to Dell.  He stood, scowling at the door.  His chin was dropped low to his chest. 

Without a response, the door clicked open and Hayden peeked in.  “Morning all.”  He stepped into the room and Dell growled.
  “Easy big guy.  Just wanted to thank you for letting me stay last night.”  He dropped his eyes to Chloe.  “Wow, no wonder he wants you all to himself.”

“Get out!”

Chloe turned startled eyes to Dell.  His hands were balled into tight fists as he pushed white knuckles into the desk top.

“Hey!  What are you doing?”

Chloe recognized Pony’s voice from the hall. 

“You can’t be in there
.”

Hayden turned to the door and walked out it quickly.  Pony peeked his head in and grimaced at Dell.  “Sorry bro
.  Won’t happen again.”

“Make sure it doesn’t,” Dell ground out between clenched teeth.

Rubbing her sweaty palms down the front of her jeans, Chloe stood.  She knew the tension was the result of Hayden being near her.  She felt at fault for the uncomfortable situation, but didn’t know a remedy.  “Seriously Dell, I’d like to leave and come back once Hayden’s gone.”

“As I said,” Dell frowned at her, “Where you go, I go, but I can’t leave the pack unattended with Hayden here.”

“So what do we do?”

“We stay.”

She cocked her head playfully, “You know a few short days ago you didn’t have to go wherever I went.  What changed?”

Dell’s eyes darkened and he smiled slowly.  “You.”

“Me?”

He stood and circled the desk before slowly walking to her. 
When he reached her, h
e let one hand rest gently on her hip while the other reached up to smooth a thumb along her jaw line.  “I don’t know how to say this delicately, so I’m just going to say it.”

Chloe stared up at him, holding her breath.

“
Me bringing you here was supposed to be a trial.  I needed to see if there was something between us and see if I could resist that something.  I was fully confident that I’d be able to if you chose to walk away, but then last night.”  His eyes darkened
until they were nearly black.  “Last night when you…”  He smile
d,
“When I scented your
desire
.”

Her
cheeks flamed.

“I knew then that I couldn’t resist you.”  He slid his hand down her throat to her shoulder and pulled her harder into him.  “
My need to be
buried deep inside you is almost as
consuming as my need to lick
every drop of cream from
your
…”

Chloe gasped, pulling back, but it was too late.  She couldn’t stop the swell of desire that shot through her and had her moistening in anticipation.

Dell growled and lunged for her, ignoring her shriek as he pulled her close to him and buried his nose in her hair, pressing his body hard into hers.  “God Chloe!  The more I smell it the stronger the need becomes.”  He growled deep in his chest, “You’re
fucking
killing me.”

He pulled back and eyed her, his face inching closer to hers and she licked her lips in
e
x
pectantly.

Just then the cell
phone
in her
pocket shrilled.
  She jumped
and frowned at Dell as he pulled back eyeing her pocket.

The phone rang two more times before she finally jerked it free and answered
.  “Hello?”

“
Mornin’ sweet cheeks.  How’d you sleep
?”

Chloe turned
her back to
Dell, “
Fine Marissa, how was your night?”

“
Good.  I just wanted to call and make sure we’re still on for tonight
.  I called Amanda and Laura and they’re totally down for some Blackbird bashing!”

Wincing, Chloe stalked further from Dell hoping he couldn’t hear the conversation.  “
About that,
” she turned to peek over her shoulder at Dell before lowering her voice, “I’m sorry Mariss, but something’s come up.”

“Aww, come on!  I’m not going to let you mope around your crappy little apartment all weekend.”

“I’m not
,” Chloe answered quickly, “I’m
spending the weekend with a friend.”

There was silence on the line before Marissa spoke, a smile in her voice.  “A
male
friend?”

Chloe didn’t want to affirm but knew that her odds of being forgiven for ditching Marissa on a
girl’s
night out would be
enhanced by the fact.  “Yes.”

“Holy shit!  Who is it?  Anybody I know?”

“No.  Look, I’m sorry about tonight Mariss, but I
gotta
go.”

Marissa laughed, “Yes you do.  If anybody needs to get proper fucked it’s you! 
Have fun, get laid.  Don’t over think it.”