Pack

Chapter Seventeen

Dean's eyes narrowed, the lightness in them darkening as his focus shifted to something behind me. Turning in my seat, I found Logan standing at the foot of the stairs, arms crossed over his chest. His upper lip curled up into a smirk, his scarred eyebrow arched in challenge. His look exuded superiority, arrogance even.

"It means you belong to him," Dean growled.

I stared at Logan. Dean's words bounced around in my head, but didn't really make any sense.

"Doll, can I have a word with you?" Logan motioned toward the front door.

Standing, I silently followed Logan out the front door and leaned against the porch railing, crossing my arms over my chest. "What does this bite mark mean?"

"Look, doll." He kneeled in front of me so I didn't have to look up to see his face. "I'll admit that marking you was a bit of a rash decision. I'm usually capable of keeping my wolf restrained, but with the full moon, hunting with the pack and having your scent woven all through my forest, I let up on the reins a little. I want to say I'm sorry, because I think that's what you want to hear, but I'm not. With my mark on you, under werewolf law, other werewolves will see that you're claimed by another. Werewolves know the penalty for touching another's claimed mate is death. It's like an added level of protection for you."

"What do you mean mate? I thought we just fooled around last night, but we were really what, getting married in the woods?"

He started laughing, but I didn't see anything funny about this situation. He could chuckle at me all he wanted, but he wasn't the one with a large bite mark on his throat.

"Kind of." He stopped laughing, but his eyes still sparked with humor. "If you were human, yes we'd be bonded, but since you're not, for us to become mates the circle must be completed. You'd have to bite me. But for now, if other werewolves see your mark, they'll know you belong to someone."

"Okay—" I nodded. "I get that, so then what do you mean by death? As in other werewolves willingly give themselves up or you hunt them down and kill them?" If I wanted to get the hang of this werewolf business, I had to start thinking like a territorial animal.

"To remove my claim from you, they would have to fight me for you." His eyes held mine. "To the death."

"So you could die too?" My voice caught. Crap. Despite my reluctance, and playing it off as his alpha power, I couldn't deny the fact that the thought of him dying upset me.

He scoffed. "Let's just say my pack wasn't always this big. I had to amalgamate three different packs to get the one I have now. And how do you think I did that?"

"Fighting?"

"Fighting," he confirmed, with a grin.

"Oh. I get it." My anger from last night suddenly resurfacing. "You just take what you want? I'm another thing you want to claim?" Why did I have to be so different? Everyone wanted to own me like some collector's piece. Once again, I couldn't help wanting my human life back. What I would give to turn back the clocks, before I knew any of this? I'd lived almost eighteen years in sweet ignorance and I would trade everything I had to go back to it.

"Hey." He reached up to touch my cheek. "I don't pretend around you. I might be a jerk alpha sometimes, but I really do care about you."

I snorted. "I don't even know you."

"You know. That night we met—" the cyan in his eyes suddenly so clear. "I wasn't even going to go to the hunter's nightclub." A small shy smile curled his lips. "But it was the best decision I ever made."

Something about those words, combined with the raw honesty on his face made my anger fade.

"Look, doll, according to werewolf law I can force you to stay here with me. As far as other werewolves are concerned, that mark makes you mine. But if I forced you stay, I would be no better than Jonathan." His eyes lightened to a sea foam color as he spoke. "I want you to choose to be with me. But until then, you need time to get to know your family and your pack. When they come for you, you should go with them. You don't have too." He gave me a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "But I think you should."