“Why?” It came out a growl; both he and his wolf had no intention of letting that happen.

“After that incident, she’ll see herself as too much of a risk to the pack.”

“It looked to me like all she did was respond to a challenge.” Okay, so there was much more to it than that, but that was pretty much at the crux of it.

“Yeah, but you and I both know that won’t mean squat to Trey, given his overprotective state right now. It won’t mean squat to her conscience either.”

“If she leaves, if she’s without the connection of a pack and without territory, it’ll most likely make her wolf worse.”

“I know,” he croaked. “She’s done so much for me, you know. When our parents died, we went to live with our aunt and uncle, and they were great and all, but they already had five kids of their own to care for. A year later came a set of twins. You know what it’s like to live in a full house.

We were only their niece and nephew, so we came last. Jaime took more care of me than they did—

as if she didn’t have enough to deal with. I hate it that I can’t do anything to help her with this.” So did Dante.

Once they were finally on pack territory, Dante retrieved her from the passenger seat and kept her cradled against his chest as he walked up the stairs of the cliff face. Going by the fact that Trey wasn’t blocking the main door wearing the mother of all scowls, it was clear that neither Tao, Trick, nor Marcus had called to warn him. Dante wouldn’t have blamed them if they had; he’d have understood. He’d have also kicked their asses.

Acting on instinct, he took her straight to his room and settled her down on his bed. No one would dare walk into his room without permission, so he knew she’d be fine in there. Recalling that Gabe had said she’d be out for hours, he left her there and went to Trey’s office. He knew it would only be a matter of time before someone told their Alpha something, and Dante wanted it to come from him. He also wanted to make sure that Trey didn’t make any rash decisions—something he was prone to do at times when the matter concerned his mate.

Not bothering to knock—he was the only one of the pack other than Taryn who didn’t—Dante walked straight inside. His facial expression must have given away some of his anxiety, because Trey was instantly on his feet.

“Is it Taryn?”

“No, it’s about Jaime.”

“Jaime?”

Dante sighed heavily and explained Jaime’s situation in full detail. The look on Trey’s face didn’t bode well for her.

“You know she has to go, don’t you?”

“Trey, you can’t seriously be okay with her being out there on her own. You know what it’s like to be banished.”

“Yeah, I do, and I know that none of this is her fault, but my main concern is that Taryn and the baby are safe.”

Dante held up a placating hand. “I know it’s important that we keep Taryn protected right now, but does it really mean you have to toss Jaime out to deal with this on her own?”

“Yes, it does.”

Coming from anyone else, this reaction to Jaime’s situation would seem cold, but Trey wasn’t like most people. He functioned mostly on logic, on probability. He didn’t make emotional decisions, because he wasn’t an emotional person, except when it came to his mate, which was exactly why logic was telling him that keeping Jaime here wouldn’t be wise.

Dante sighed again. “If you want, I’ll leave pack territory with Jaime and stay with her until…

well, I don’t know exactly what will happen if she’s without a pack, though it’s reasonable to assume things will get much worse for her. I can’t leave her to deal with this on her own. What she needs is support and protection right now.”

Trey looked at him curiously. “She matters to you, doesn’t she?” Mattered to him? Dante wouldn’t say that she mattered to him. Yeah, okay, she mattered to him. “Even if she didn’t, I couldn’t just ignore the fact that she needs help. No one should have to deal with something like that alone.”

Trey was quiet for a few minutes, studying him intently. Anyone else might have squirmed, but Dante merely held his gaze while standing immobile—an act that told Trey he wasn’t going to budge on this.

Finally Trey spoke. “Look, I know it goes against your nature to turn your back on someone who needs protection, and I see that she matters to you…so she can stay…but she needs to be under watch twenty-four/seven. I don’t want her alone at any time, understand?”

“I understand.” Dante didn’t intend to let her out of his sight anyway.

“And if she turns rogue, Dante, she’s dead. I’ve seen what a rogue wolf can do, and I won’t have it happen to Taryn.”

“Neither will I.” But could he really kill Jaime? Even to protect his Alpha female? Dante wasn’t sure that he could, rogue or not. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he could let anyone else hurt her either, which meant that for the first time, his loyalty was divided. No, that wasn’t good.

Whoever invented alarm clocks was an a**hole. Jaime groaned and rolled away from the noise. At the same time as it registered that the noise was a cell phone—one she intended to ignore, as it wasn’t hers and therefore wasn’t her problem—she also realized that she wasn’t in her room. A delicious male scent filled her nostrils. Her eyes flickered open to see Dante sitting on a chair beside the ridiculously huge bed, looking right at her. Without moving his gaze from hers, he took his cell out of his pocket and answered it.

“Hello. Yes, she’s awake,” he said in response to Grace’s question. When she offered to bring a tray of food so that Jaime could have breakfast in bed, Dante’s wolf growled. It sounded like an offer of kindness, but he knew it was also the pack’s way of keeping Jaime apart from them. Stiffly, he said, “Thanks.”

Jaime glanced around the spacious room, noticing how different it was from her own. Not simply because of his very masculine oak furniture, but because it was obsessively neat and everything seemed to have its own place. It looked more like a showroom in a furniture store. By contrast, Jaime seemed to find order in chaos and tended to place something wherever there was space for it to go. She would bet that he would be horrified by some of her habits, like not putting CDs back into their cases and how she kicked her shoes off wherever she was stood at the time.

Dante actually had a shoe rack.

She was going to ask why he’d brought her here instead of taking her to her own room, but the answer quickly came to her. “You don’t trust me to be around the pack.”

“Actually, I brought you in here because I don’t trust you not to run.” That wasn’t entirely true

—he’d wanted her with him.

“And you’re hoping for some answers.”

“Not yet. First you need to eat.” She looked like the living dead, but he didn’t say that aloud, figuring it wouldn’t wash down well. They sat, studying each other in silence, until Grace knocked on the door. Without a word, Dante took the tray and gave her a simple nod of thanks. Going by the guilt that was plastered across her face, he guessed that she was feeling bad about the plan to keep Jaime slightly segregated, but that guilt didn’t placate Dante or his wolf.

The silence continued as they ate. As usual, Jaime had only two slices of toast and a mug of coffee, unlike Dante, who demolished a plate filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, biscuits with gravy, and then a pile of pancakes with syrup. Well, he was a growing boy. Only then did he lean back in his seat. “Talk.”

Considering that he already knew most of her secret, there didn’t seem any harm in fully explaining it, particularly since she’d be banished either way. Jaime inhaled deeply. “My parents’ attack…I saw it. Gabe and I were supposed to be staying with our aunt and uncle for the night, but I’d forgotten to take Gabe’s blanket—he wouldn’t sleep without it. I went back to get it, and I heard voices before I even entered the cabin. I thought it was my parents arguing. They were happy together, but they were also very strong personalities, and it meant they argued a lot.

“But when I got inside, I smelled male wolves. I recognized one of the scents, knew it was my mom’s brother. I couldn’t hear every word, but I understood that the guys with him were people he owed money. They had brought him there to get the money. He was a compulsive gambler, always had been, and my mom had often helped him even against her better judgment. I should have gone to get help, I know, but it was like I was frozen stiff. And, well, I don’t seem to have a flight response anyway.”

Dante wondered why he hadn’t heard about this, but then he supposed that since he hadn’t been in contact with anyone from the Bjorn Pack since a few months ago, maybe it wasn’t all that surprising.

“Suddenly all hell broke loose in the kitchen. Everyone had shifted, and they were fighting. I don’t know if I made a noise or one of them scented me, but one of the males suddenly turned and leaped at me. I instantly shifted, gave my wolf the freedom she wanted to protect me. Instinctively, my wolf fought, but I’m pretty sure that if someone hadn’t overheard the noises and come to help, I wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.

“I don’t remember an awful lot of what happened after that, because for the next few weeks my wolf wouldn’t calm down and let me resurface. She was frightened and confused and angry. She didn’t like it when others were close, saw everyone as a threat. She thought she still needed to protect me. It was three whole weeks before she let anyone near and eased back.” Dante could picture it so clearly in his mind. He remembered what her wolf looked like: jet black with a tuft of gray on the end of her tail, almost as if it had been dipped in paint. He envisioned her beautiful wolf pacing back and forth in a confined space, missing the touch of pack members but at the same time fearing it. Fearing every little noise, every unexpected movement, every person or wolf who came within close proximity of her.

“So I ran solo whenever I shifted, thinking that she’d heal eventually, that she’d find peace and go back to her old self. But she never did. Then one day when I shifted, I mistakenly came across another shifter. My wolf almost killed him, almost took over completely. I didn’t feel like I had any other choice but to contain her. And I was so scared that if I shifted again, I’d never come back.” Dante couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to fear your own wolf, to be unable to coexist peacefully with it. A shifter and his or her wolf should act as a unit, as one…not as two completely separate beings who warred with each other. He had no idea how Jaime was sane. He so admired and respected her for that. “How long has it been since you last shifted?” The gentleness in his voice made her eyes fill up. “Four years,” she whispered shakily.

“Oh, baby, come here.” Dante gathered her and placed her on his lap. He held her while she cried silently, hating that he couldn’t help. His wolf, too, hated the feeling of helplessness.

“Don’t worry,” she said as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand a minute later. “I’ll get my stuff together and I’ll be gone within the hour.” She tried to stand, but he tightened his hold.

“Like hell you will.”

“You want me to leave right this second?”

“Do you really think I’d let you go?”

Totally baffled, she shook her head slightly. “You heard what I just told you, right? You saw what happened last night?”

“What I saw was someone fighting—and fighting hard— to stop her wolf from surfacing. Even though your wolf was in that state, you managed to retain some control over her, or you’d have fully shifted.”

“‘Some’ being the key word.”

“I’m not letting you go.”

“I’m not yours to keep. Look, Dante, I understand that this is part of who you are, but you can’t protect me from this. Sooner or later—though I’m pretty sure it’ll be sooner—my wolf will be strong enough to take over. If she turns rogue, there’s only one choice. Trey will know that, and he’ll agree that I need to get my ass out of here.” A hint of smugness glinted in his eyes. “What?”

“I’ve already spoken to Trey. I explained your situation. He’s not thrilled about it, but he’s agreed to let you stay.”

“Then he’s more unstable than I thought. I have to leave here. Even if Trey’s okay with it, the others won’t be.”

“And what about your brother, huh? You’re going to leave him just like that?” The very idea of it made her chest ache, but she didn’t see any other avenue. “Gabe will understand. He knew this would happen at some point. He’s settled here, just like I wanted, like I hoped. He’ll be fine.”

“Physically, he will be,” allowed Dante, rubbing her back in a circular motion. “But emotionally? I’d say he’s going to be a wreck. You’re both very close, and you’re all he has left.”

“He’ll be fine.”

“So you’re just going to give up?”

Her eyes flared. “Excuse me?”

Good, she was angry. Anger was a good source of fuel, and she sure needed that right now.

“You’re giving up. Never had you down as a quitter, Jaime.” She tried to wrestle out of his hold, but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Giving up? If I was a quitter, I’d have bowed down to my wolf years ago. How dare you judge me! You have no idea what it’s like to live like this.”