Forbidden Attraction (6 page)

He didn’t ask her for more. And she had no intention of telling him more. When they reached her den, he stood at the bottom of her stairs and waited until she’d entered her living room. When she turned and waved, he trotted off, leaving her alone. Nicolo would have inspected her den to make sure it was safe.

By midafternoon the next day, energy buzzed inside Heidi with enough fierceness she fought not to tremble. After picking up her car, which apparently just had a loose connection, she’d been given permission to pick up more pack supplies.

“You’ll take someone with you,” Bob told her, catching her before she headed out of his den, where he also housed an office for pack business. “I hate that we don’t have a store here that carries what we need, but until we do, whenever we need stuff for pack business, I want you to have an escort when you leave the pack to get things.”

“That’s fine.” She’d smiled easily, excited to get out of town again.

“Why don’t you call Steve? I’m sure he’d ride along.”

She was sure he would too. “I’ll give him a call.”

Of course, she knew Steve and a handful of other werewolves were up the mountain working to clear snow. It wouldn’t be her fault if he didn’t have a signal.

“See if he’ll drive. I’m not sure I trust your car right now.” Bob wouldn’t come out and say that old Otis should retire as pack mechanic. The werewolf was getting up in years and lately had grown hard of hearing.

“Otis had one of his boys check my car out. I’m sure it’s fine. But I’ll do as you say.”

Bob nodded, and she knew he watched her when she headed out the door. She could feel his gaze burning her back.

He wouldn’t intimidate or bully her though. Like he’d said himself, she was a grown bitch. And damn it, she’d make the call on how she led her life.

Bob would throw a fit later tonight and howl all kinds of threats at her, but at the moment, she didn’t care. It had been three days since she’d seen Nicolo. He’d told her they would meet again, and she wanted it to be now.

Maybe Malta werewolves didn’t like bitches chasing after them. She hesitated only a moment before pushing the buttons on her cell phone for directory assistance.

“I need a listing for Nicolo Spalto,” she told the operator.

An automated voice sounded in her ear, telling her the number—which she quickly wrote down—and then offering to put the call through. Her heart thudded so hard in her chest she wasn’t sure she’d be able to talk. Not to mention, what the hell would she say?

And what if it did piss him off that she called?

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A deep baritone came on the line, demanding with no formal greeting that the caller leave a message. The phone beeped in her ear and she cleared her throat, fighting the nervous excitement that climbed in leaps and bounds inside her.

“Nicolo, this is Heidi. I’m heading into Valle today to see if I can buy some supplies there.” She hesitated. Like she would leave a message to come meet her and fuck her.

“Just thought I’d let you know,” she added quietly and then hung up before her voice cracked or she said something foolish.

Her heart had reached her throat, throbbing painfully, and nervous energy rushed through her with so much fierceness she could barely walk. Her bones popped, excitement over her adventure calling the change forward inside her. She fought the urge, biting on her lower lip until she tasted blood while she gathered her purse and coat then headed out the door.

Not telling Bob she headed for Valle instead of Cuchara, and that she made the trip alone, would get a collar wrapped around her neck faster than anything. With that knowledge in her head, she planned on making the best of her day.

And if Nicolo didn’t show up?

Her foot almost slipped off the clutch, and she jerked the steering wheel, causing her car to slide on the recently shoveled road. Damn. If she didn’t get a grip on her nerves, she’d wreck her car before reaching Valle.

She told herself entering American werewolf territory couldn’t be any worse than entering the human town. Deep inside, she knew she sauntered into enemy land, though—or make that slid into their land. Her car obviously didn’t like winter.

Nicolo had told her she needed new tires. But with the meager salary she got working in the pack office, there were only so many extras she could afford each month.

Obviously new tires needed to be bumped up the list.

By the time she reached Valle, her nerves were about shot. She did what she did for her pack though, not just for her own personal interests. Granted, she hoped and prayed she’d see Nicolo. Every inch of her ached to see him, but she had another mission, one a hell of a lot more important than buying office supplies.

She pulled off the road at the first gas station she saw, adjusted her stocking cap over her head and stuffed her hands in her coat pockets as she sauntered into the station. An indifferent teenager barely glanced at her.

The young werewolf chatted on her cell phone, lowering her voice when Heidi approached her.

“Can you tell me where I can find your pack leader?” she asked, praying her nerves wouldn’t be overly noticeable.

“He’s usually at Bernie’s Den,” the young bitch told her.

Heidi got directions and headed back out. That had been easy. Maybe she got all worked up over nothing. After all, she didn’t have any proof that American werewolves hated her kind. Once again, she witnessed how prejudice spawned from lack of 30

Forbidden Attraction

communication and false assumptions could cause the wrong conclusions to be drawn.

Maybe these werewolves didn’t care one way or the other that she entered their town.

Bernie’s Den turned out to be a flat-roofed building with a large, cleared parking lot in front of it. Quite a few cars were parked outside, which made her skin prickle once again with nerves. It was midafternoon, and maybe when this pack woke up, they started their day here before heading off to work. Her pack usually gathered at the coffee shop. But regardless of their breed, for the most part it had been her experience that werewolves weren’t that different from each other.

She stared over her steering wheel for another moment before forcing herself to turn off her car and get out—before she lost her nerve. Once again tugging on her hat, she zipped her coat up to her neck, then hurried inside.

The bar door closed behind her with a thud, and Heidi inhaled the smells of a room full of werewolves. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She ignored curious stares and walked up to the bar.

“Is your pack leader here?” she asked, cringing when her voice cracked.

The werewolf behind the bar stared at her. He was big—bigger than she thought an American werewolf would be. Arms as thick as her legs were covered with tattoos and the crew cut he sported gave him a rough look. But then, tending a bar, he probably had to appear capable of stopping any barroom brawl. Well, she wasn’t here to fight.

“What do we have here?” A werewolf with dark red hair leaned on the bar next to her. He tugged at her coat. “Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

Heidi backed away from him and immediately felt hard muscle behind her. She jumped clear of another werewolf who’d stepped up behind her.

“Do we have a new bitch in town?” The werewolf behind her grabbed her arm, preventing her escape.

She growled at him, showing her teeth. “Get your fucking hand off me,” she hissed.

“And she’s a feisty one too,” the dark redhead said. “Looking for a little action, little bitch?”

“Not with you, I’m not.” Sweat broke out along her spine while tiny hairs tickled the back of her neck. “I came here to talk to your pack leader. Where is he?”

“Why should he get all the action?” The werewolf at the bar reached for her again and she slapped his hand hard enough that flesh cracked against flesh.

Her act got them even more excited and their scents turned her stomach. This was bad. The bartender simply picked up a rag and casually started wiping the counter, watching all of them like he might see a good show.

“I came here to talk about dead werewolves, not kill one myself,” she snarled while her heart thudded so hard the ringing of blood rushing in her veins made it hard to think clearly.

“We don’t care about killing anyone,” the redhead said. “Just give us some fun and we’ll take care of you just fine.”

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He moved too fast for her, reaching and grabbing her by the waist and throwing her over his shoulder before she could react. Then to her terror, the werewolves around him cheered him on when he turned in a slow circle, showing off his prize.

Heidi kicked and pounded his back with everything she had, fighting not to change right there inside the American werewolf bar. So far they hadn’t said anything about her being
lunewulf
, and she didn’t want to add to the trouble she was already in up to her hips.

Cold air wrapped around her when the door to the bar opened. She froze at the sound of a fierce howl. And so did the werewolves around her.

Someone yanked her off the werewolf’s shoulder and she was sent sprawling across the barroom floor. The skin on her knees burnt through her jeans and her palms hurt from hitting the wooden floor so hard. Finding her wits—and fighting the rising terror inside her—she glanced up at the backsides of three giant werewolves who stood between her and the American werewolves. She got an eyeful of black hair and leather before the yelling began.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” one of them bellowed.

She scrambled to her feet when Nicolo turned around, and she realized his question was directed at her. He looked anything but happy to see her.

“I was—” she began, brushing her clothes with her hands while meeting his irate expression.

“What kind of pack do you belong to that allows their single bitches so much freedom?” He almost yanked her arm out of her socket when he lifted her into the air and just as quickly pulled her out of the bar.

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Forbidden Attraction

“How dare you condemn my pack!” Heidi screamed at Nicolo the moment they were outside.

Considering how much smaller
lunewulf
females were compared to Malta females, she had more feistiness in her than any bitch he’d ever met. His cock got hard when she struggled under his grip. She almost ran next to him as he took long strides toward her car. More than likely, the American werewolves wouldn’t come out and challenge him for her, but just in case one of them had enough alcohol in his system to think he stood a chance against them, Nicolo wanted Heidi in her car.

“We wouldn’t condemn your pack if you’d come with the escort you were supposed to bring.” Josie’s words made her quit fighting Nicolo. “You are the one giving your pack a bad name running wild like this.”

She turned, obviously speechless as her jaw dropped, and stared wide-eyed at Josie.

Nicolo hated the thought that Josie climbed around in her head, knowing things about her that Nicolo didn’t. And Josie had obviously done just that. His announcement made it clear that Heidi was supposed to have an escort and somehow snuck out of her pack without one.

“I’m not running wild,” she argued, standing tall, which for her brought the top of her stocking-capped head almost to Nicolo’s neck.

He let go of her, but she didn’t move. The three of them stood around her, with her back to her car. As if the little bitch could move if she wanted to. Even if she leapt over her car, at such close proximity, they would overtake her in no time. He doubted Heidi was stupid enough to try such a stunt. Not to mention, she’d called him. She wanted to see him.

“Then what exactly are you doing?” Dimitri demanded.

She turned her hard gaze from Josie to Dimitri, showing no fear. Then, throwing her hands up in the air, she let out a sigh. “I can’t fight the three of you. I doubt you’d hear me out any better than those American werewolves did inside. You might as well do what you want.”

Nicolo’s muscles hardened. The urge to grab her again, to show her exactly what it was he wanted to do to her made his blood boil.

Josie grunted and Nicolo glared at him. The werewolf simply raised an eyebrow.

“I come here to talk to their pack leader and this is what I get. Werewolves are getting killed all over the place and nothing will get solved if someone doesn’t start communicating. But who listens to a single bitch?” She turned her back to them and 33

Lorie O’Clare

yanked her car door open. Her outrage filled the air while she fumbled through her purse.

Several snowflakes floated in the air around them. Nicolo leaned on her car door, watching while she pulled out her keys. The moment he’d heard her message on his machine, he’d headed out of their den. Dimitri and Josie had bounded out the door after him. It didn’t take too many brains to know the bitch walked into a world of trouble. American werewolves despised
lunewulfs
. And one as fucking hot as Heidi would be raped without question. The three of them had shown up just in time.

“What is this about werewolves getting killed all over the place?” Dimitri asked.

Her cell phone chirped in her purse and she growled, an incredibly sexy sound.

“We lost two males the other day. They were almost sliced in two when they ran full speed into barbed wire.”

She grabbed her phone and shoved her keys into the ignition. “Hello,” she said, suddenly not sounding as confident as she had a moment before.

“Interesting.” Dimitri crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Nicolo and Josie. “Now the
lunewulfs
have lost pack members the same way we did.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Josie whispered, speaking under his breath so she wouldn’t hear while she spoke on the phone. “Although she has ulterior motives, she really does want all of our packs to start communicating.”

“Wishful thinking,” Dimitri muttered. “And what are these ulterior motives?”

Josie flashed white teeth when he grinned. “Ask your littermate.”

Dimitri’s growl rumbled through his entire body when he glared at Nicolo. “Don’t give me more headaches.”