She opened her mouth to argue, she wanted desperately to stand on the steps with him when the Whites arrived, but before she could speak Dimitris’ mouth captured hers. The kiss surprised her with its emotion, each stroke of his tongue professing his love and devotion to her. She melted into him, willing him to feel the depth of her feelings in the response.
With reluctance, Dimitris broke their contact. “I want you to go to the study and wait for me there. I’ll come in as soon as they leave.” His voice was gruff. She moved forward and kissed him one last time, a gentle peck on the cheek. He leaned into it, closing his eyes for several long seconds. “I love you, my Cate.” Then he stepped away, following the same path Alek had taken.
The White alpha and his second were waiting at the bottom of the steps when he stepped out the front door. Both stood tall and broad, with light brown hair a bit overgrown. The alpha smirked when Dimitris stepped onto the porch, but his second held an impassive face.
Dimitris looked around. Six of his top men were lined on the top step, looking down at the two shifters that had dared to approach Volkov territory. He took his place in the center.
“I will not pretend this visit is a surprise or a pleasure, Noah.” He sneered at the younger man. Noah had only taken over as alpha three years ago after his father had been killed in a car accident. Dimitris knew little of the shifter, but had learned in the past three days that he was known for being impetuous and rash, two traits that put Dimitris and his men on edge. An impulsive shifter was a danger.
“Dimitris, surely you have a nicer greeting for me. After you took all my money at the alpha poker tournament, I would think you be happy to see me again. I believe I provided all your spending money for the week in Vegas.”
Dimitris snarled. “What do you want?”
“I think you know. We’ve heard the rumors of the Wolf Queen. I came to see her for myself. You aren’t hiding her are you? Afraid someone might take her?”
Dimitris ignored the taunt. “She is my mate. It is my responsibility to keep her safe. You will not be seeing her today.”
Noah’s nostrils flared. “I will not leave until I have seen her. If she is the Wolf Queen she belongs to all wolf shifters, not just you. We have all been waiting thousands of years for the Goddess to send her.”
“She is my mate. The Goddess sent her to me. Whether she is or is not the Wolf Queen is no concern to you. If she is, your pack will benefit the same as mine. If she is not, then it doesn’t matter.”
“So you doubt she is the Queen? Did you not witness her silent rebirth.”
Dimitris hesitated before answering. “I did. But until she births a female child we will not know if she is truly the Queen.”
“You know as well as I do that no ordinary human female could handle the intense pain of transition without making a sound. If she was able to endure that in silence, she is the Wolf Queen. I will not leave until I see her.”
Dimitris could feel his rage building. His wolf was on edge and it was taking all his control to keep from shifting. He would love nothing more than to rip the neck from Noah White, but to do so would cause an all-out war. Wolf shifters had lived a fairly peaceful existence for the past three hundred years. He did not want to be the alpha that ended that.
“I’m afraid you will be waiting quite a lon—” The door opened behind him. He knew without turning that it was Cate. Her cinnamon and coffee scent swirled in the cool fall air.
“I’m here.” Dimitris turned to look at her. She had changed into a dark green sweater with a wide neck and pulled her hair to the right so that it draped across her shoulder. The combination displayed her mate mark for everyone to see. He felt a surge of pride and possessiveness. She was advertising her attachment to him.
“Cate go back inside.”
“I’ll be fine, Dimitris. He just wants to meet me. There are plenty from our pack here to keep me safe.” Her words were whispered, too low for Noah or his second to hear from where they stood.
She turned to the two shifters standing on the ground below. Carefully she descended the ten steps so that she stood directly in front of the two men. Dimitris followed her. “It’s good to meet you both. I am new to this shifter thing, but I suspect it’s a lot like the human world. One can never meet too many people, right?” She extended her hand, first to the second and then to the alpha.
Noah held her hand in his, pulling her a bit closer. “Yes, I hope we can get to know one another a lot better, Cate.”
Dimitris couldn’t contain the growl that escaped his throat. The man was far too familiar with his mate. His gaze freely roamed Cate’s body and his hand lingered too long on hers.
“You’ve gotten what you wished,” he said, pulling her next to his side. “You’ve seen my mate. Now you are free to leave.”
Noah looked from Cate to Dimitris. He smiled, but his eyes belied the action. “Thank you for seeing us.”
Noah’s second nodded to the group. “Yes, thank you for allowing our curiosity. We wish you great happiness.” He turned to leave, clasping his alpha on the shoulder.
Dimitris took Cate’s elbow and escorted her up the stairs. As far as he was concerned, she had been outside for too long. His wolf would not calm until she was safely ensconced in his house. As he led her across the threshold, Noah shouted, “I claim alpha rights.”
Dimitris paused, struggling to maintain his composure. He handed Cate to Lukyan and turned to face the man again. “Are you sure you want to do that? No one has claimed alpha rights in hundreds of years. You could be starting a war.”
“I am not a child, Dimitris. I know what I am doing and what the consequences could be. I claim alpha rights. You have two options: you can step down now, or you can fight me for the pack.”
Anger flooded his entire system. “Tonight. Have your second contact my brother to set up a location.”
“Explain it to me.” Cate stood in the middle of the large study, surrounded by the four big shifters, but she looked only at her mate. “I’ve been listening to Lukyan yammer on about every possible scenario that might befall us after this visit, and I don’t recall him mentioning a single thing about alpha rights.” Lukyan dipped his head, embarrassed that Cate had heard him.
