Even if it meant coming back from the grave.”

Seeing that she was about to leave the room, Gabe stood and took a step toward her. She held up her hand. “I need some time alone, okay,” she said softly. He nodded, smiling.

More specifically, what she needed was to leave the place for good, but if she’d said that aloud, either he, Shaya, or Dominic would most likely have tried to stop her. This was something she had to do whether she liked it or not. It might make her wolf go over the edge, and she might turn rogue within a few days’ time, but she had only been delaying the inevitable. She couldn’t stay here in this place where she was not only unwelcome, but feared. Especially not when it meant Dante’s position as Beta might be in jeopardy. She knew how much he loved his job, and she wouldn’t be the reason he lost it.

“I’d like to think that’s the end of it,” Dante said to Trey as he paced slowly in his office. “But I doubt even the beating they were given will stop them from coming after me again. Or Jaime.” Trey leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table. “You say she got involved in the fight but didn’t lose control?”

“Like I tried to explain, her situation with her wolf isn’t like yours. It’s not that she lives close to the surface and so puts Jaime at risk of turning feral. Her wolf is just…traumatized. It means she’s constantly on the offensive, but it’s because she’s scared. Most of the time Jaime’s in control of her, but sometimes her wolf gets enough strength to lunge for the surface. Despite that she’s been doing that for the past four years, Jaime has kept enough control that she hasn’t shifted forms.”

“So that’s why you started training her. You think if she has better control, if she makes herself stronger, she’ll be able to suppress her wolf.” Trey sighed. “I’m sorry, Dante, but I don’t see how that will work. Oh it’ll work for a while, sure. Maybe even a few years. But soon her wolf will gather enough strength again, because what’s happening isn’t natural. Confining her wolf isn’t natural. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you can truly help her, because you can’t.” Dante shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do, and so do you. It would be the same as the body trying to work without a heart.

Your heart is too much a part of your body just like your wolf is too much a part of your soul. One can’t exist without the other.”

“Maybe her wolf will get used to being confined and stop fighting to surface.”

“You know that she won’t—she’s a dominant wolf. Dante, it doesn’t make you a failure that you can’t help her.”

“And if this was Taryn we were talking about? What would you do?” Trey’s expression was fierce. “Everything I could to keep the crazy woman alive, no matter what it was.”

Dante hadn’t expected any other answer. “Then don’t ask me to give up on Jaime. I won’t.”

“She matters to you even more than I thought,” Trey observed with a frown.

“Jaime’s mine.” The sound of his cell phone interrupted whatever Trey had been about to say.

“It’s Tao,” he told Trey before answering. “Hello.”

There was a hesitant pause and then Tao sighed heavily, almost as if in resignation. “It’s Jaime.”

Dante’s wolf went still. “What about her?”

Another pause. “She left.”

“She what?”

“About fifteen minutes ago,” he answered reluctantly. “She left in her Chevy carrying a bulging backpack.”

“Why are you only telling me now?” A growl trickled out of Dante as realization dawned on him. “You weren’t going to, were you? Christ, Tao!”

“You don’t need to yell at me! I feel bad enough, all right! Just go and get her and bring her back. She’s pack, and she shouldn’t be out there alone.”

“I’ll deal with you later,” Dante promised him before ending the call, only interested in finding Jaime and carting her back over his shoulder.

CHAPTER NINE

Three times Jaime kicked the tire. Not that she thought it would make the car suddenly roar to life or anything, but it sure felt good. So Dante had been right. Her Chevy was on its way out. And now here she was in the middle of a dirt road with no choice but to take her bag and carry it the rest of the way to Ivy’s house. Huffing and cursing, she threw her backpack over her shoulder, slammed the door shut, and began walking.

As she’d left pack territory, she’d seen only Tao, who was beginning gate duty. He’d seen her bag, known she was leaving for good. For a second she’d thought she spotted guilt on his face…Nah.

What she knew for sure was that he’d keep Dante occupied long enough that the big giant wouldn’t realize she was gone until she’d had enough time to get away. She suspected that he might want to come after her. Dante was the most determined person she knew, and he took his job seriously; it wouldn’t sit well with him to think that he’d failed one of his wolves. But Trey wouldn’t let him come after her, he’d talk sense into him, would disconnect her from the pack link with utmost relief.

At that point a countdown would start. She wasn’t sure how long it would be before her wolf finally took over, though she was certain she’d have at least a couple of days. She figured that she’d spend that time with her two BFFs and then…well, Ivy wasn’t going to like what Jaime was about to ask of her. But she was a practical enough person to admit that Jaime was right.

Not saying good-bye to Gabe had been hard, but she’d call him later and explain. He’d be in a homicidal mood for sure, but he’d understand. She’d have to make him swear to take care of Hunk too, she mused.

Hearing the sound of a vehicle in the distance, she turned. Hitchhiking wasn’t the most attractive idea, but it was a lot better than walking all the way to Ivy’s house. It was only as the vehicle approached that she realized what she was looking at. The pack’s Toyota Highlander. Oh.

Great.

Sighing, she waited until the SUV came close. Dante was out almost at the same time that the engine cut off. He stalked predatorily toward her. Her wolf paused in her pacing, unsure whether to regard him as a threat. He stopped in front of her, his face unreadable and blank, giving away nothing of the rage that was practically seeping out of his pores.