Filed to story: Luna Lovette and Alpha Kodak Story
“Sir, yes, sir.”
Growling again, he exited the vehicle and opened the driver’s door. She was still wearing that goddamn smirk. At least she’d given up arguing about her ability to let herself out of cars and was indulging him in this. Caging her wrist with his hand, he led her into the studio, ignoring the amused looks that Shaya and the guys were wearing inside the safety of the Toyota.
Dante was surprised by the interior of the studio. He’d expected either a medical, biker, or Zen look. The place was like an art gallery, slash record store. It was very clean and had a calming, welcoming feel, and Dante had to wonder if the latter was because of a little magick, since the people who worked there were, in fact, witches. The accelerating healing that came with being a shifter made it nearly impossible to be tattooed. Witches, however, were able to tattoo shifters effectively.
He wasn’t sure whether it was because they enchanted the ink or because they, too, were preternatural beings.
On the walls were framed photographs of amazing tattoos-the kind that would make you want a tattoo yourself even if you hadn’t thought about it until then. There were, all in all, six tattoo artists at work, and all spared them only the briefest glance, totally focused on what they were doing.
Dominic, who was speaking-well, flirting-with the blushing receptionist, held up his index finger, gesturing that he’d be one minute. Jaime sighed and rolled her eyes. Typical.
As Dante flicked through one of the portfolios placed on the coffee table in the corner of the reception area, he whispered into Jaime’s ear, “Do you think we could get my name tattooed on your ass?”
Gaping, she slapped his upper arm. “I’d laugh if I thought you were joking.”
“It would be the biggest turn-on ever to take you from behind and see my name on your ass.” He was getting hard just thinking about it.
In a voice both sweet and sarcastic, she asked, “Shall I have ‘Chattel of’ tattooed there too?”
“I guess that would be all right.” He chuckled when she slapped his upper arm again.
“Does your girlfriend know that you like to flirt with other females?” asked a deep, rumbly voice.
Dante and Jaime looked up to see Nick Axton breezing into the studio, his eyes fixed firmly on Dominic, who was tucking a folded slip of paper into his pocket.
Sensing that Jaime wanted to intervene, Dante gave a subtle shake of his head. He wanted to see how this played out, wanted to know if his suspicions about Nick’s odd behavior were correct.
That wasn’t going to happen if he and Jaime stepped forward. So far the Alpha hadn’t noticed them in the corner, as his attention was solely on Dominic.
Considering that there was a powerful Alpha glowering at him, Jaime had expected Dominic to either buckle slightly or straighten to his full height and mirror Nick’s confrontational stance.
Instead, he strolled casually toward the Alpha until he was a foot away, not looking in the least bit rattled. Jaime was impressed. But then, he wasn’t an enforcer for nothing.
Cocking his head, Dominic asked, “I have a girlfriend?”
“Does she know that you take other females’ numbers, too?”
“Oh you noticed that. You sure do seem to have a lot of interest in me. I don’t bat for both teams, sorry.”
Nick closed the small distance between them. “Break it off with her.” The words dripped with power and authority. Yet Dominic simply shrugged and said, “It’s going to be hard to do that when I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Dante could see that Nick was surprised by Dominic’s failure to cower. People tended to underestimate just how capable the playful wolf was. Dominic’s dominance was subtle but very much there, and it was clear that Nick was just coming to that realization.
“In any case,” continued Dominic, “the only Alpha I take orders from is Kodak. Take care now, Nicky.”
When he tried to walk past, Nick stepped in his path and growled menacingly. “I’m not done yet.”
Knowing that things would quickly escalate from here, Dante stepped toward them. “Let him pass, Nick.” The Alpha didn’t react at all, just continued to stare at Dominic as if imagining which would be the most stimulating way to kill him. “Dominic, go wait in the Toyota. Tao, Ryan, and Shaya are in there waiting for you.”
“Excellent,” said Dominic with a grin, stepping around the Alpha, who was currently watching the Toyota through narrowed eyes.
“Want to tell me what that was all about?” Dante asked Nick, though he was damn confident what it was about.
Nick looked as though he had every intention of walking out without answering, but then he saw Jaime and stopped. “So you haven’t been thrown out yet.” Jaime gave Nick a beaming smile. “Shocking, isn’t it?”
“You find this funny? You’re barely in control of your wolf. You could hurt the people in your pack.”
She snorted. “You’re a fine one to talk about hurting people in my pack, aren’t you? You don’t deserve her.” She ignored Dante’s gaze, now only interested in the jerk in front of her. “She deserves better.”
“She told you,” he surmised in a quiet voice. “I didn’t realize you were so close.”
“So close that I’m seriously considering clawing off your balls and feeding them to you. Not because I’m losing control, but because you’re an ass.” His eyes danced to Dante. “She told you, too.”
“No. I figured it out. It won’t be long before the rest of the pack does, too, if you continue acting the way you have been. I can’t work out whether you’re planning on taking some time before claiming her, or you have no intention to at all.”
“The latter,” Jaime answered for him.
Nick’s focus returned to her. “You must know why I can’t claim her.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?