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Inhaling to hold my annoyance, I caught a whiff of a familiar scent. Beneath Danny's cologne earth and musk hit me. "I see." Anger started to bubble inside me. "Well, I'll take a look for myself. Goodbye, Mr. Ready."
In my car, I phoned the real estate. "Yes, Ms. Cana, we can confirm your appointment tomorrow."
"Excellent, Jessica. Do you have a female agent who can show me through?"
"Ah, yes we do, but Mr. Ready is the property manager."
"Jessica, is there any chance someone else could show me through? I'm still recovering from a rather violent domestic violence relationship. I don't feel comfortable being alone with a man?" Never did I dream I'd play the hell of my past to my advantage.
"Oh, of course. Let me check LeeAnn's diary. That shouldn't be a problem. Can I call you back to confirm a time?"
"That will be fine, thank you, Jessica." Hanging up, I exhaled letting my head thump back against my headrest. My eyes tracked to where Danny was standing out the front of the house. His eyes kept glancing at my car every couple of seconds. Maybe staying local wasn't going to work? The pack was bigger than I thought if at least two members missed dinner last night. Frowning, I realized that the two members not there were those involved in the house sale debacle.
Danny hadn't been the sale realtor, but that's who had the keys for hand over. Picking up my phone again, I searched google and hit the call button. "Hi, I'm after a locksmith..."
* * *
Finishing dinner,I was sitting on the back step with a glass of wine when Dale came down the path from the manor house. Climbing the steps, he sat next to me without asking. "The dog will be fine. It needed a few stitches, but don't worry about the vet costs. It should never have happened. You have my word; it won't happen again."
"The stag is the least of the problem, Dale." Cupping the wine glass in my hands, I stared into the red depths of it. "That's the second time one of your wolves attacked me. And who the hell keeps wolves as pets?"
Considering the wine glass, Dale cleared his throat. "To be fair, the first time you were trespassing. Last night you were responsible for his packmate getting injured."
"What's Howard's issue with me?"
Tensing, Dale blinked. "Why do you…?"
"He was mean to me this morning and looked at me like I was nothing. At least when Malcolm looked at me like that, I knew it was because I couldn't get pregnant. By failing to conceive, I made Malcolm look weak. But Howard, he doesn't know me, so he has no right to look at me like that."
Dale's anger washed over me, stealing my breath from my lungs. Getting up, Dale walked away, putting space between us. "I didn't know he abused you. It won't happen again."
Taking a mouthful of the wine, I stood. "I know it won't. The cottage is yours. I just need enough time to find somewhere else."
"I don't want it anymore. I want you here. You'll be safe here."
"I'm not safe here, that's the problem. I'll sell it to you for what I paid."
Shaking his head, Dale slid his hands into his trouser pockets. "No. I'm not buying it off you."
"Fine, I'll list it on the open market tomorrow. I was giving you first option." Collecting my stuff, I stormed inside. The door opened behind me. Spinning around, my heart hammered in my chest when Dale came inside. "What do you think you are doing? Get out!" Moving to the sink, I put my dish and glass down, placing the bench between us.
"I won't let you sell it. You can't have saved enough money to buy another place, so you'll be stuck here."
Aghast, I turned to face him fully. "Why? You wanted this place enough three months ago that you had your lawyer come to my hospital bed to bully me into getting it back. What has changed so drastically in the past three months?"
"I met you!" Taking a deep breath, Dale calmed and met my eyes. "When I'm with you, something that I've never felt with any other fills me up inside. Like an emptiness, I didn't even know was there until we met. We need to explore that. I want to get to know you. And by the goddess, I want to bury myself so deep inside of you, no other man will ever reach that place within you again."
"Sex?" I glared at him. "You won't let me sell because you want to have fuck me? Fine, let's have sex. You can screw me all night long, get it out of your system, and then buy the cottage tomorrow."
Exhaling, Dale shook his head and shoved his hands in his suit pockets. "No." He lifted his eyes to mine. "You're not selling. You are safe here, and you'll stay here."
My anger burst open. "You're not my alpha! I'm not part of your pack-house, and you can't tell me what to do!"
Dale ground his teeth. "You are a female of our kind. Do you know how rare it is to get full-blooded females? There are two, in this entire country that anyone knows about, and I only know about you because I've met you. Your father hid you instead of celebrating you, and you suffered because of it.
"You missed the introduction. At age sixteen, your alpha should have arranged for you to visit other packs. Introduced to every single one of us until you met your mate." The wave of Dale's anger reducing the oxygen levels made me retreat. "That's protocol. Even with your father ousted, had we known about you, we would have forced Malcolm to protocol. We would have protected you, just on the off chance one of us was your mate."
Meeting my eyes, Dale tensed his jaw, a small cracking sound, and then he shook his head and took a deep breath. The indigo blue of his irises forced out as the chocolate brown striations engorged. As the brown took over, gold bloomed around his pupils and spread. Recognizing those eyes, I didn't understand how it was possible for them to be in a human face.
