“It seems you’re hard of hearing,” Zoey spoke up. “She is under the protection of Dominic Lombardi of the Lombardi Pack. And she would have no reason to use her magic on you, so clearly, there’s another explanation. If you must see her, schedule a meet on neutral territory, and we’ll sit down and talk like the civilized animals we are.”
“You do not speak for the Alpha.”
Okay, Roxi was either fearless or stupid. Instantly, the white wolf shifted into a very naked, very pissed off Dominic.
“Down.”
The power of his magic pulsed out to everyone around the room. Romano whimpered but succeeded in staying on his feet. Zoey fared better, burying her face for a moment in Dominic’s arm before looking ahead again.
The lionesses? They were pissed off but couldn’t react. All three struggled to stay on their knees at this point, hissing and spitting at Dominic. They all sounded like very large, very angry cats ready to fight. While she didn’t know much, Kalinda had been told by Zoey that an Alpha male could make other shifters bow under the power of their Alpha status. It also extended to other shifter types, to a point. Dominic had grown stronger taking over as an Alpha, and his power showed.
Roxi recovered the best, getting to a crouch but no longer hissing. “She won’t be allowed to get away with this. We will plan that meet, and we will see you later.”
The last was directed at Kalinda, and she felt the threat down to her toes. And for what? She’d proven she hadn’t poisoned the Leo. And, as Orion stepped out of the building as well, he didn’t look any worse for wear.
If Orion thought his presence as Leo was going to change anything, he had another think coming. More wolves pulled up and stepped out of cars instantly.
Orion lifted placating hands. “We just want her, Dominic. We don’t want war.”
“And I’m making it clear that touching her would be war. Send a message when you want to meet, but we are leaving,” Dominic ordered.
“Come on, Kalinda,” Romano added.
What was going on? None of this made sense. They shouldn’t be this ready to tear her down. She was a caterer, for God’s sake. Sure, if Orion were allergic to peanuts, feeding him some would have been treacherous, but one of the lionesses had already seen that wasn’t the case from the evidence, and tainted food should never had gotten through. This had to be more than about the food, but Kalinda couldn’t figure out what.
Romano wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. “There won’t be a later. You’ll be staying. Dominic, I’ll keep her within the compound.”
She fought against Romano’s restraining arm, but he didn’t let her go. “You can’t do that. I have a business to run. This has all been some big misunderstanding. Let’s just have the meeting and get this cleared up.”
“I’m upset you don’t want to spend quality time with me, sweetheart, but now isn’t the time for debate.”
Once again, she was in Romano’s arms, and he was moving quickly toward the cars, apparently with her as his baby bundle. Zoey and Dominic piled in after them.
“What spell are they talking about?”
Leave it to Zoey to get to the quick of the situation. Bless the woman.
“I’m not sure, really. And the peanut allergy thing doesn’t make any sense. Is it a ruse?”
“Silva called us and told us you were seeing gold and white,” Dominic explained.
Ah, that explained why they’re asking. Note to self: don’t give Silva that raise.
Kalinda shrugged, still on baby status and sitting in Romano’s lap. She shifted to signal wanting to get up, but he only smiled and wrapped her tighter. So … not going anywhere. Got it. She should have fought harder, but she was still feeling weak and shaky from whatever craziness had happened earlier.
Yeah, that’s why she wasn’t fighting to get away.
“Well, you know, Zoey, how I’ve been talking to you about how my magic has been weird?”
Zoey nodded. “Yeah. And you smell different right now.”
Kalinda hadn’t thought about that. Dominic had bitten Zoey, and with everything that had happened, Kalinda hadn’t thought about whether Zoey’s senses or powers had changed.
“The medicine didn’t work?”
“Not exactly. I’ll explain later.” She looked to Dominic for a moment, and he smiled softly, rubbing her stomach.
It was odd seeing the man they’d all thought of as a murderous leech looking soft and sweet, but there was nothing but love when he looked at Zoey.
