The Council

Loretta felt excitement bubbling deep inside her as she headed towards The Dive. Her wolf was prowling hungrily, her own impatience at being separated from their mate for so long, being keenly felt.

She had pulled up, parked and was halfway towards the entrance before she remembered Andrei telling her to use the back entrance the next time she came. Her footsteps faltered for a second and then she forged ahead. It didn’t bother her to walk through a nest of vampires. They’d seen her before, knew Andrei had invited her into his private office. She didn’t feel afraid at the possible reception that waited for her.

Still, there was no point in being completely reckless. Her eyes quickly took in the dimly lit interior as she stepped inside, her footsteps once more faltering as she took in the scene in the booth farthest into the corner of the room. How she made her eyes disengage from what she was witnessing she had no idea.

Red hot fury welled up inside her as she fixed her eyes to the bar area and headed over to it. The same vampire was on bartending duties, his hazel eyes a little more friendly than the first time she had been there. He appeared curious to see her again, a hint of amusement in his expression as he watched her approach.

She kept her gaze fixed to his so she wouldn’t turn her head to look at the object of her fury. She didn’t want to see the black haired vampire draped over Andrei’s lap, or the way his fingers were trailing lightly up and down her bare arm in a manner that screamed intimacy, that told the whole room that he was used to having his hands on that…that…that floozy’s body!

Pietro was amused by the wolf’s appearance. He had no idea what was going on between his boss and the girl but from the fury in her deep brown eyes he figured there was a good chance that there was going to be some entertainment coming up very soon. Marcia’s throaty laughter could be heard from the back booth and the sound seemed to agitate the wolf even more as she sat down on the barstool before him.

Andrei had said the wolf was to be left alone if she came in, that she was to be given whatever she wanted at no charge. The message had been made abundantly clear to everyone who frequented The Dive. Touch one hair on the wolf’s head and Andrei would personally gut them. No one argued with Andrei when he issued an edict, not if they valued their lives.

“What can I get you, Rose?” he asked, his lips twitching slightly as she just glared at him for a moment. She was obviously trying to rein her temper in and finding it difficult to do so. Maybe she would shift into wolf form? Now that really would be fun.

Loretta managed to control her temper long enough to start formulating just how she was going to deal with her philandering mate. Of all the bloody mates she had to choose from she had to pick the one who didn’t understand the basic concept of fidelity?

She ignored the little voice inside her head that told her Andrei didn’t even know he was her mate. Just because she hadn’t actually told him didn’t mean he wouldn’t be feeling the mating pull. After their last meeting that pull would have been stronger, harder to resist.

She smiled slowly at the bartender. “Can I have a bucket of ice please?” she asked sweetly, her tone so sugary it was enough to make her grit her teeth it sounded so false. “If you could fill it with some soda too that would be perfect.”

Pietro stared at her for a moment with a blank expression. What an odd order. He knew she was a wolf but she was in human form at the moment. Was she going to change into her animal form and lap from the bucket? He was tempted to ask but decided against it. Andrei said anything she wanted she could have. If she wanted an ice bucket filled with soda then who was he to argue with her?

“You have a name?” she asked as he turned to fulfil her order. He almost missed her question because he was musing at how grateful he was that he didn’t have to charge her for her ‘drink’. He had no idea how to calculate the cost.

Her question seeped into his mind and he answered without really thinking about it. “Pietro.”

“Hi Pietro, I’m Loretta.”

His head whipped up and he frowned slightly. “I thought your name was Rose,” he growled softly.

Her pretty face turned into a dark scowl and she stiffened slightly. “That was a private joke between me and your asshole of a boss,” she bit out tersely. “Is my order ready yet?” Marcia’s laughter was filtering down to them and Loretta’s eyes were starting to blaze with fury again.

Pietro smothered down a smirk and placed the filled ice bucket on the bar. “It’s on the house,” he told the irate wolf before him. Her face suddenly split into an evil grin.

“Seriously? Andrei is paying for this?” Her tone was full of delight. “How perfect.” She smiled at Pietro who was suddenly wondering if he had just been set up somehow, if he had just made a dire mistake that he wasn’t even aware of.

Andrei stifled down a deep sigh as Marcia leaned forward and laughed in his ear again. This had seemed like a good idea at the time but the vampire was really irritating him immensely. Usually he enjoyed spending time with Marcia but tonight she was leaving him completely cold. She was trying hard but no amount of wriggling on his lap or breathy laughs in his ear was inciting any reaction within him.

He had to admit defeat with Marcia and it infuriated him to do so. There was only one woman he wanted to be wriggling on his lap at the moment and it most certainly was not the vampire in his arms. He wanted to hit something, anything; he didn’t care what it was.

He tuned out the woman he was with and thought of his conversation with Alexei earlier. Was he as fucked as his brother was? Was his attraction to Loretta more than just lust? Was he about to have to have to concede that he was destined to mate with a bloody wolf of all things?

No way was he going to allow that to happen. Just because Alexei had succumbed didn’t mean he was going to. He’d spent the last two decades working to get himself on The Council. He had now finally achieved that goal and he was not going to let it all fall apart because of a woman, a bloody dog at that.

He had a set goal in mind for where he wanted his future to go and it didn’t include Loretta. When he made up his mind about something he never changed it. Ever! He couldn’t protect Alexei if he lost control of The Council. He’d do his best for the Hanlon pack but his main priority was his twin.

Loretta was nothing to him except a brief moment of madness when he should have been keeping his goals firmly in mind. Then why couldn’t get her out of his mind? Why couldn’t even Marcia tempt him when he had lain with her countless times before and never had a problem? Why did he long for that sweet, spicy scent of cinnamon and a pair of deep brown eyes staring intently into his?

He uttered a deep groan at the same instant he felt warm lips rubbing against his neck and realised Marcia was kissing him. He had to put a stop to this before it got out of hand. He wasn’t interested in her and he needed to let her know before her feelings became too wounded. He reached for her shoulders to push her away from him when he was suddenly overwhelmed with the scent he had been longing for. The scent of rich, hot cinnamon.

A fraction of a second after that he was drenched in freezing cold ice and sticky soda.

Loretta’s fury reached boiling point when she saw the woman kiss Andrei’s neck. She’d had every intention of drenching them both with the icy soda but she took even more pleasure at dumping the complete contents of the bucket over them because of the kiss.

The woman shrieked loudly and flew straight at her but Andrei’s hands were on her shoulders holding her back. Loretta stood her ground as the drenched vampire hissed furiously at her. She didn’t look half as pretty when she was wearing iced soda in her hair and all over her ridiculously expensive dress.

Andrei’s instant reaction was pure utter fury. He was vaguely aware of the sound dying completely in the club as the music screeched to a halt and all eyes turned to the back booth. He was pushing Marcia from his lap, blurring as he whipped around and went for the wolf, snarling loudly as he did so. His hand wrapped around her throat, his vampiric side completely in control, his need to kill something the most dominant thought in his mind.

Loretta’s expression stunned him, halting his initial reaction. She was furiously glaring at him as if he was the one who had done something wrong. She didn’t even look the least bit frightened. He inhaled deeply scenting for her fear and there was none. She just stood there glaring at him, daring him to hurt her, confident that he wouldn’t actually do so.

The woman had to be insane. There was no way he could leave her actions unpunished. But he felt his hand relax slightly around her throat as her scent washed over him and he stared into the deep brown eyes that had been haunting him for the last week. His touch gentled just enough that he was securing her firmly but not hurting her in any way. His anger melted slightly, a little thrill of pleasure coursing through him at the touch of her skin beneath his hand. What was she doing to him? What spell was she weaving over him and how the hell did he break it?

Loretta’s smug smile faltered slightly as Andrei moved so fast she didn’t see him coming. One moment he was restraining the vampire and the next he had her pinned to the side of the booth, his hand wrapped around her throat and with naked fury blazing in his eyes. She swallowed slightly at the rage on his face, surprised to find that she could do so. It took a second to realise that he wasn’t actually squeezing her neck, just restraining her.

“You are dead, dog!” Marcia hissed loudly, her talons coming out as she moved forward towards the wolf, intent on killing the other woman as quickly and painfully as possible.

Andrei’s heart thundered loudly in his chest as he kept his body squarely between Loretta and Marcia. He was livid at the wolf for humiliating him in his own domain but he was equally intent on ensuring Marcia didn’t get anywhere close to her. Why he felt this sudden need to protect Loretta he had no idea. If he was too soft to exact the proper punishment then he should step back and let Marcia do so. But she was vicious when riled and wouldn’t think twice about killing the wolf. He just couldn’t allow that to happen.

Like the night they had first met, Andrei found himself unable to let the little wolf die. It had confused the hell out of him then and it was still confusing the hell out of him. How could she have the power to make him act so out of character? She quite literally twisted him up in knots and it infuriated the hell out of him.

The other vampire’s hand shot forward, talons extended and heading straight for Loretta’s face. Andrei’s free hand moved swiftly, gripping Marcia’s wrist hard before she managed to rake her talons across the wolf’s face. His eyes never left Loretta’s, watching her intently as he restrained both her and the vampire.

Not one flicker of fear crossed her face. She seemed so sure that he would protect her, so certain that he wouldn’t let any harm come to her. His breath hissed out loudly. Loretta trusted him. She believed that he was her mate.

“Marcia,” he growled softly, his eyes still intent on Loretta’s face even though he was coiled to turn around and defend her if the vampire didn’t back down.

He sensed Pietro approach and relaxed slightly. “Pietro will see to your needs,” he told the vampire, all the while trying to ignore the smug look on Loretta’s face. She was so certain he was falling into her trap. Fuck, maybe she was right because he knew he couldn’t allow Marcia to touch her. He didn’t know if that was some mating pull or he just wanted to keep the pleasure of wringing her neck to himself

“I have only one,” the vampire spat back. “Give her to me and then we can get back to our entertainment.”

Andrei’s head turned fractionally to the left to look at her. “Leave, Marcia,” he said coldly. “I will attend to the wolf.”

“She ruined my dress,” the vampire growled hoarsely, fury dripping from each word.

His patience almost at an end, Andrei whirled around and hissed furiously at her. He didn’t have time for Marcia’s histrionics. Not when he was trying to figure out what the fuck the wolf was doing to him, why she was turning his life upside down until he couldn’t think straight.

“Fuck off now or you’ll have more than your dress to be concerned about,” he said in a cold, hard tone before turning back to Loretta and grabbing her by the scruff of her neck.

He shot a furious glare at his bartender and then looked pointedly at the ice bucket lying on the floor.

“You said anything she wanted,” Pietro said with a sheepish smile.

Andrei growled in response. “Make sure Marcia is reimbursed for whatever she feels she has lost and then make sure she gets home safely.” Without a word to the wolf in his grasp, he headed off towards the door marked private, tugging her unceremoniously along with him.

Loretta’s wolf was growling furiously inside her and it was all she could do not to shift and bite the stupid vampire at her side. He gave no consideration to her shorter legs, striding so quickly she had to jog to keep up with him. It was either that or have him rip her head off. The hand at the back of her neck was pinching quite hard, giving her no leeway to slacken her pace.

She didn’t even know what he was so mad about. So he got a little wet. Big deal. He should have thought of the consequences of taking up with another woman behind her back. Did he seriously think she would let him get away with that kind of behaviour? Was he really that stupid? She fumed silently as he dragged her down the stairs and into his office.

“Sit!” he said coldly, pointing at the chair in front of his desk. “If you’re not here when I come back I will come looking for you and you won’t like it when I eventually catch up with you.” He strode into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind him.

Andrei took long deep breaths as he leaned against the door and found himself actually trying not to laugh. The sound of Loretta’s heels running down the stairs had been priceless. He had to give her credit. She hadn’t opened her mouth once in complaint even though he knew he must have been hurting her with his rough grasp.

His eyes flashed as he stripped off his sodden clothes and turned the shower on. His initial anger with the wolf was already waning. Instead he found himself actually feeling slightly amused at her little display of temper upstairs. He certainly didn’t need to ask if she believed he was her mate. She had positively reeked of jealously upstairs and still did.

He stepped under the shower and quickly began cleaning off the sticky soda.

His thoughts were racing as he tried to work out what to do with Loretta. One part of him wanted to teach her a lesson for being so disrespectful while the other part of him was actually impressed with her temerity. She was pretty spectacular when she lost her temper, a right little spitfire.

He would have to do something to get through to her that she couldn’t publicly humiliate him like that; no matter how justified she felt she was to do so. But her possessiveness struck a chord deep within him. Was this the mating pull Alexei talked about? He should be furiously angry with her and yet, her jealousy and fury at him being with Marcia actually pleased him. She obviously felt a huge level of passion for him and he found himself liking that. Fuck if he was being totally honest with himself he loved it.

Andrei had never wanted to be owned by any woman before but Loretta’s reaction tonight delighted him. Her novel way of putting out a fire which wasn’t actually burning at the time, was pretty inspired. He smiled as he rinsed off and grabbed a large towel to dry himself. He would need to ensure Pietro was quite clear on just what was acceptable to allow Loretta to have in future. If she’d asked for an axe would the bartender have given her that?

He was dressed in a clean pair of jeans and shirt in no time, running a quick comb through his wet hair and re-entering the office. His eyes automatically went to the chair he had instructed Loretta to sit her pretty little ass in, only to find it empty. He didn’t panic, merely turned to the right to see her sitting in his chair with her feet up on his desk.

Disrespectful, disobedient, foolhardy little wench.

That about summed up his wolf. His wolf? He stifled down a groan and sucked in a deep breath at the purely possessive thought in his head. His gaze was fixated on her shoe which was tapping furiously against the desk. He didn’t know whether to fight or just give in. He was a Council member. He was supposed to lead by example. He couldn’t succumb to a woman, a wolf at that. He had plans, goals to achieve. He couldn’t afford to be diverted by Loretta.

Was it pointless fighting what his brother, her actions, and his own hidden feelings were telling him? Did Loretta Simpson belong to him? Was she his mate? He appeared incapable of killing the little she devil, incapable of even maintaining his anger at her. It was now appearing that he was incapable of bedding any other woman since he’d lain with her.

More importantly, his need to protect her upstairs had almost rivalled his need to protect his brother. That completely stunned him. No one had ever come close to being as important to him as Alexei, not even Demetri and he was his closest friend apart from his brother.

His gaze slid along her bare legs up to the hem of her little black dress and further up to her waist. He lingered on her luscious breasts before travelling up to the delicate hollow of her throat and finally to her furious, beautiful face. Her brown eyes flashed angrily at him, hurt mixed in with her rage though she tried to mask it. His heart twisted and he actually felt like a bastard for being responsible for that expression on her face.

Andrei’s earlier thoughts of teaching her a lesson for humiliating him evaporated as he moved towards her slowly. “You’re in the wrong chair,” he remarked idly, his lips quirking as her chin tilted defiantly, daring him to do something about it.

The arrogant tilt of her head, the flashing fury in her eyes was all he needed to answer his questions. She was his and probably had been from the very moment he had laid eyes on her. He could fight as long and hard as he wanted, she would have her way and he knew it. It didn’t matter how much he fought against her, everything about her called to him on an almost spiritual level.

He felt something break free inside him as he silently admitted to himself what he had been denying for so long. He was her mate. There was no more doubt on the matter. She was the only one for him. A deep rush of contentment settled over him as he accepted her unspoken challenge.

He moved swiftly, picking her up bodily and sitting down with her firmly embraced on his lap. His body hardened instantly as she growled and tried to wriggle away from him, only serving to make him harder and less inclined to let her go. And more certain that they were true mates.

His hand caught the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his, a low groan issuing from his chest as she stubbornly held her mouth closed to him, her body rigid in his arms. He brushed his lips slowly over hers, tiny little caresses teasing at her resolve. He knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her; it was only her stubborn anger which was making her resist.

“I didn’t touch her,” he murmured against her lips. “I was going to but she left me cold. She wriggled in my lap just like you’re doing right now and didn’t get the reaction you’re getting, my little wolf.”