CHAPTER 12

Three hours later Danica was in the doorway of the living area, gaping. A wander around had confirmed that not one inch of the place was anything but spectacular. There were four floors and each one of them featured dozens of luxurious bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a laundry room. On the fourth floor where Gio, Duda and the enforcers slept was in addition to a laundry room, a pool room, a game room, an office, the huge amazing kitchen and a large living area. The blend of modern and antique furnishings was a feature throughout the entire place, never once clashing. She was nothing short of awed and had found something to gasp at in each and every room. But this room ,whoa. The audio-visual system was state of the art, the decorative swirly carvings on the main wall were amazing, the many armchairs all looked comfy enough to sleep on, but it was the item in the center of the living area that had her attention. Is it a bed? Is it a sofa? The freaking thing looked more like a giant cushion. There had been a sectional sofa in her pack house too, but it wasn"t anything like this. The black leather was clearly top quality and it could comfortably seat at least eighteen people. One end was a gorgeous chaise lounge while the other end had a recliner. It was so big and bulky that not only did her ass sink into it, but her feet didn"t even touch the floor. It totally dwarfed her. Suddenly she felt like one of the Borrowers. Oh she could get used to this luxury. She wasn"t a materialistic person, never had been, and she totally agreed that money didn"t bring you happiness. Still, she"d rather be depressed wearing Prada than dirty rags. "Comfy?" Danica looked at the doorway to see Chris there, scowling. "If I didn"t know any better, I"d think you resented me being comfortable." He shrugged. "I"m not convinced your dad will give us an alliance, which means we"ll have brought all this trouble on ourselves and not even get what the pack needs out of this mating." "Maybe you should"ve thought of that before you kidnapped me, huh?" "Believe me, if I could have talked Gio out of this, I would"ve, but I respect Gio and I follow his orders." "That"s nice. You can leave now. I promise your opinion will be noted." A muscle ticked in his jaw – something which seemed to be a habit with him whenever she was around. "There"s nothing about not wanting Carrick Hart"s daughter in my house or around my pack. They say the apple doesn"t fall far from the tree, don"t they." "Hey, I have a suggestion, why not put a condom over your head if you"re going to act like a complete dick then it makes sense to dress like one." His mouth actually twitched at that, but Danica just sighed and retrieved the remote control from the round pine coffee table. Switching on the T.V., she sought out the sports channels. Chris came to stand beside the sofa. "You watch football?" "I missed the match between Manchester City and Liverpool last night. I just want to watch the repeat so you can watch whatever you like." Frowning, Chris gingerly sat beside her. Well this was a surprise. On leaving his office, Gio had followed the trail of Danica"s delicious scent to track her down. Considering how Chris had been treating her up until this point, the last thing Gio would have expected was to find the pair of them laughing and joking while watching the football match on T.V. Her response to Theresa would have shown the pack that she wasn"t an easy target or someone who took any shit, but he hadn"t thought it would be enough to win anyone"s respect just yet. Clearly he had been wrong. He should have been glad about that. It was a good thing for her to have Chris as an ally. Strangely, Gio found himself wanting to punch his Head Enforcer for putting that smile on her face. His wolf , well, he wanted to gut him. "Ready to go?" She looked up at him, frowning at the strain in his voice. "Sure." Her frown deepened when instead of walking on ahead of her with Ray and Hudson he waited for her to reach his side. She noticed that Duda was smiling the kind of smile that said he knew something she didn"t. Well whatever. Gio remained at her side all the way to the car and even sat with her in the backseat which, for some reason, had Duda"s smile widening. Her wolf enjoyed having her mate so close, and enjoyed having his scent all over her. Unfortunately, just as Danica had feared, it was proving to be uncomfortable for her wolf when they parted for too long. She wouldn"t have thought that five hours counted as ‘long", but her wolf had been restless and on edge until the moment he entered the living area. His presence made her automatically feel safe, reassured, and relaxed. "Has your father been in touch with you yet?" Trey asked her. "No. He"ll be too busy sulking." "You know there"s a chance he"ll turn up tomorrow with Cody Coleman, don"t you." She sighed. "Yeah, I know." She doubted he would, but there was still a chance. "And you know what will happen if he tries to take you, don"t you." She wondered if he even realized that the hand of the arm he"d hooked around her headrest was now playing with her hair. "Even if he comes, it"ll only Cody who"ll challenge you." "I hope you"re right. I want that alliance with your father, but there"s no chance I"ll be able to hold back my wolf if he tries to take you." The heavy dose of possessiveness in his voice had her lips twitching. What made it more amusing was that she could see how much the unfamiliar sense of possessiveness irritated him. "I did try to warn you that it wouldn"t matter to your wolf that we aren"t true mates." He shot her a glare. "Smart ass." He snorted and faced forward again, resisting the urge to nibble on her bottom lip. And the urge to kiss her. And the urge to lick over his mark. His Wolf, on the other hand, liked all three of those ideas and was growling his encouragement at Gio. His wolf had missed her. He brooded and fretted when he wasn"t around her, pushing at Gio to go hunt her down. Whenever he was around her, his wolf wanted to lick every inch of her and roll around in her scent. It was dumb and it was pathetic and it made Gio want to kick his wolf"s ass. Eventually they arrived at a restaurant in the next territory that Danica knew belonged to the wolf pack that the Mediator was part of. She also knew they wouldn"t be having the meeting inside the restaurant, but within the wooded area behind it a place where many shifters had come to blows in the past when Mediation meetings hadn"t gone so well. Hopefully this wouldn"t be one of those times. Seeing the tension in Gio"s shoulders as he opened her car door and the way he very reluctantly stepped aside, she smiled. "Your wolf doesn"t want me to go, does he? He doesn"t want me being around the naughty wolf." The poor guy was in totally unfamiliar territory with all this protectiveness and possessiveness. He narrowed his eyes on her. "I"m glad you find this amusing." Knowing what would ease his wolf, she did what she hadn"t yet seen anyone do. She invaded Gio"s personal space, sliding her arms around his waist. Oh it could be said that she had been up in his personal space plenty of times while he fucked her senseless, but sexual touching and social touching were two very different things, two very different needs. And it seemed like Gio had conditioned himself to ignore the latter need. He stiffened for a few seconds and then his arms went around her, surprising her. Little by little the tension in him eased as he allowed his wolf to take solace in her closeness and her scent. "Ready?" "Let"s get this over with," he grumbled. In keeping with their true mate act, he took her small hand in his and kept her close as they followed the narrow pebbly path that ran through the wooded area. Although he had been assured that there would be enough security to guarantee that his uncle couldn"t make an abrupt attack, Gio still listened intently as they walked. His hearing picked up nothing other than the scurrying of the small forest animals, the even breathing of each of his pack, and the crunch of fallen dead leaves and sticks beneath their feet. The path stopped at a clearing and there, at a long wooden table, sat his uncle Kevin, three males from Kevin's pack, and a tall dark guy who he guessed was the Mediator. Standing either side of the table were six tall, bulky males who were clearly some members of the security team. His wolf tensed and growled at Kevinl"s scent, offended by it. The memories of the The day Gio attacked his father slapped him hard. He could remember his father"s sneers, snarls and the harsh words that had inevitably robbed Gio of all control. Even now he couldn"t regret what he"d done and he doubted that he ever would. Forcing away the dark feelings attempting to swamp him, he tightened his hold on Danica"s hand as they strolled over to the table. Everyone stood as they reached it, and Gio watched as Kevin"s eyes zoomed in on Danica and the marks covering her. "Let"s all sit, shall we," suggested the Mediator as he took the head seat. Gio sat with Danica and Duda on either side of him while Chris, Hudson and Ray stood behind them. The evil uncle was not at all what Danica had been expecting. It was hard to believe he was actually related to Gio. There was no resemblance there at all except for the strong nose. His squinty eyes, lazy posture, perfectly parted dark hair, and sly smile all gave off the impression of a smarmy, cunning bastard. She couldn"t help feeling satisfied that her presence had thrown him.