Dante gave me an ultimatum. Shift on my own or he would force the change on me. He warned me I shouldn't wait for it to come to that.
He allowed me to stay upstairs in his room. Carla brought my dinner last night. For being an enemy and kidnapper, he was taking very good care of us. I couldn't understand.
No one else from my pack tried to contact me after my uncle. I was beginning to panic a little from the silence. The only sounds I heard were the conversations between the rogues. I barely listened to the bits and pieces that drifted upstairs from the first floor. Last night it was about who was going to grab dinner. This morning they hadn't started arguing yet.
The sun glared through the window and woke me up this morning. Someone had come in and drawn back the shades. It woke me out of me dream.
My head was pounding. The moment I sat up I fell back down onto the bed.
"How are you feeling?"
My head snapped to the left. Dante sat in a chair next to his bed. He was the one who opened the shades and let the sun in. He looked like he hadn't slept all night.
"Can you please shift back?" he tiredly begged.
I didn't want to make this easy on him but I didn't want to go through the day eating and drinking out of a bowl. I snuggled under the covers and closed my eyes.
"Can I get some water by any chance?" I asked when I emerged from the sheets.
"Of course."
He stood up and walked into the adjacent bathroom. I took the time to really think while I pulled on the shirt he left out for me. The more I thought about it, the more curious I got. He wasn't so bad to look at and I didn't really know him.
I was determined to talk to him today. I had to learn more about this mysterious mate.
"Here."
I nearly fell off the bed in shock. I was thinking so hard I hadn't heard him come back into the room. I reached a shaky hand out to take the glass of water from him.
His fingers grazed against mine. I almost dropped the glass. Heat radiated through my body from his touch. I was instantly calm.
"Thanks," I spoke after I had a sip of water. The cold liquid felt good against my throat. It was even subsiding the migraine.
"I realize you probably don't like me very much right now."
"You think?" I interrupted a little harshly.
"You better get your attitude in check when you speak to your Alpha."
"Let's get one thing straight here, Dante. You are not my Alpha. My Alpha was my father who was ruthlessly killed almost seven months ago. I will choose who my Alphas is, not you," I declared.
He was seriously disturbed if he thought I would just let him bully me into allowing him to become Alpha of my pack.
Dante's face twisted in anger. His fists clenched and unclenched. He took a deep breath. I could tell he was having a hard time controlling himself from going off on me.
"We will see about that."
"I don't see how you are going to change my mind. I don't belong to you."
I instantly regretted saying it. It was a low blow even for him.
"Are you trying to make me hit you?" he growled. He slammed me into the wall. His hot breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. His hand closed loosely around my neck. I could still barely manage a breath out.
"Please let go," I whispered. I placed my hand on his shoulder.
Regret crossed his face again. He slowly released my neck from his grip. It seemed my touch could calm him down as well.
"I'm so sorry Ari. I didn't mean to hurt you," he quickly apologized. I wasn't sure if I should believe him. But the look in his eyes told me he was being sincere.
"It's okay. Don't let it happen again," I jokingly scolded him. I was trying to lighten the mood and tell him it really was okay.
He raised an eyebrow and gave me a tiny grin. He backed away from me.
"I don't think you are in the position to be threatening me princess."
"I think if you want my cooperation at all then I am in the perfect position to threaten you."
"Are you saying you're going to help me?"
"I'm saying, if you want me to consider helping you then you should think twice before slamming me into a wall and choking the life out of me."
"I suppose I could be a little nicer."
"See, was that so hard? Now are you going to feed me or is there some plan to starve your mate to death?"
"Breakfast should be ready soon. Put some clothes on before you come down. I don't want my pack seeing you like this."
"I don't have any clothes."
"Carla gave me your size. I sent one of the female rogues to do some shopping for you. There are a few outfits in the closet. I will be right back to get you so don't even think about running. I have wolves surrounding the entire pack house."
"It never even crossed my mind," I surprisingly admitted.
Dante left the room. I walked into the closet he pointed at. It was completely filled with women's clothing.
I chose dark jeans and a thick white sweater. I slipped on black hiking boots. Winter was weeks away. I looked out the window and saw a light frost covering the grass. The sun would melt it by lunch.
I took advantage of being left alone. I wandered around a little on the second floor. There were six other bedrooms down the hall and two staircases, one that led down to the first floor and another that led to the third floor.
A thud from the ceiling made me curious. I climbed up the stairs and reached the only door at the top. It was just barely ajar. I pressed myself against the wall behind it. I didn't want them to see me.
"I think we should wait a few more days. She seems to be warming up to you a little Dante," a low voice spoke out. I recognized his scent as one of the wolves from the forest.
"I agree with you, Cooper. She doesn't trust me yet and it would make things a hell of a lot easier if she was on our side."
"Have you completed the mating process yet?" another voice asked. His scent I did not recognize.
"Not yet. I'm giving her some space."
Damn straight you are.
"You need to do it soon, Dante. If you don't she will never let you near her territory and we won't be able to help her pack."
"I just got her to shift back. She barely trusts me right now. I don't think she's going to be too keen on sleeping with me if I mark her without her consent."
"It has to be done. We cannot protect their land without the assurance of having her at your side for good."
Protect our land? The only protection our land needed was against these men. What did they think they were protecting us from?
"Why can't it wait?"
"Tristan's hold on her is already stronger than yours. He had time to create an emotional tie to her. We are going to have a hard time breaking her of it."
"She will soon forget about him and run by my side."
Like hell I was. If he thought I was going to just bow down to him because he spent a little time being nice to me he had another thing coming. Sure Tristan was on my crap list but that didn't mean I would just submit to Dante.
"It would be foolish to underestimate their connection Dante."
"I'm not."
"I sensed the bond the moment she stepped foot in this house. It's powerful."
"What do you mean? They told me he doesn't even want to claim her as his mate."
I choked back the tears as soon as I heard it. He still didn't want me as his mate? After everything he put me through. I just couldn't believe it.
"We don't know his motives. He could be trying to protect her. They think we want to kidnap Alpha mates. Don't be a fool. You know your brother best."
"You're right. If I know my brother and I do then he would want to protect his property."
My heart skipped a beat. Property? Was that how Dante thought of me? No, he said that's how Tristan thought of me.
I shook my head. That couldn't be true.
"We need to strike fast Dante."
"We are finished now. Let's go down to breakfast. I'm sure Ari has finished dressing and I don't want to leave her alone for too long."
Chairs scraped against the floor. I took that as my cue to scramble back down the stairs without creating too much noise. When I reached Dante's room I noisily closed his door to make it seem like I was just coming out.
"All done?" Dante asked when he entered the hallway with Cooper. I recognized his scent from the room. The other man was lurking in the shadows of the hall.
"Yes, thank you for the clothes," I spoke. I tried to keep my voice straight. I couldn't let them know I had been listening.
"It was no problem. Ready for breakfast?"
"Yes, I am starved!'
They both chuckled and waited for me to go down the stairs first. The other man disappeared into one of the bedrooms.
Loud voices were shouting in the dining room area. We made our way through the house to join them. All the pack members fell silent when I entered the room at Dante's side.
"Everybody, this is Ari," Dante introduced me.
No one spoke.
"So what's for breakfast?" I asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
Still no one answered. They all just stared at me. I looked to the floor. I fidgeted with my hands as I tried to not let it get to me. I couldn't take them all looking at me.
"My mate asked you a question," Dante growled.
"There's some bacon, French Toast, eggs, sausage, and a few other things. If you don't see something you want I can make it for you," a boy answered. He looked around Kevin's age.
The older men just glared. The younger wolves gladly made space for me at their table.
"Why don't you sit down and I'll grab you something to eat," Dante suggested and headed into the kitchen. I took a seat next to the boy who spoke and introduced myself to him. His name was Bobby and he was fifteen. I was right. He was just around Kevin's age.
The other boys eagerly introduced themselves and made conversation with me. Dante placed a plate full of French Toast and bacon in front of me. He knew just what I liked without having to ask. He walked over and took his seat at the table with the men.
"So where do you go to school?" I asked when I finished eating.
Most of the men left the dining room to go to work. The boys stuck around to talk to me. Dante silently watched us from across the room. He had a pleasant smile on his face. He was enjoying watching me interact with his pack.
"We don't really have school. We're not allowed at yours or the human school. We mostly just train in the backyard with Cooper," Bobby replied.
"Are you training today?"
"Yes, we actually should probably get going. Cooper gets mad if we're late."
"Oh," I responded. I was sad they were leaving me.
"Why don't we join them?" Dante suggested when he noticed my disappointment.
"Can we?"
"If that's what you would like to do today, yes."
"Let me go change. I will meet you guys out there," I exclaimed.
I ran back up the stairs and into the bedroom. I walked into the closet and tried to decide what would be suitable for a day of training. I suddenly felt his presence behind me.
I closed myself and allowed myself to lean back into his chest for a moment. It was wrong to let him in like this but my body wanted to respond to him.
His fingers lightly trailed down my shoulders to the hem of my sweater. He slowly lifted it off my body. It fell to the floor without a sound.
I felt his hot breath on my shoulder. He softly touched his lips to my body. A soft moan escaped my lips. I could feel his mouth twitch into a smile.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"I want to claim what is mine."
I hesitantly stepped away from him. My body felt cold without his touch. His fingertips brushed against my back. He tried to reach out to me but I stepped further away. I wasn't anywhere near ready for him to claim me.
"I have to get changed Dante. Do you mind leaving me alone for a few moments?"
"I'll be waiting right outside then."
A few tears slid down my face as I continued to get dressed.
How could I let him touch me like that? His touch was ten times more exhilarating than Tristan's. But he was the enemy, wasn't he? I needed to be more careful about leaving myself alone with Dante.
My stomach flipped and my heart felt like it jumped into my throat at the thought of staying away from Dante. What was happening to me? Wasn't this the man that got my father killed? How could I feel this way about him already?
I slipped on black yoga capris pants and a hot pink t-shirt. There was a pair of pink and black sneakers sitting on the bed when I exited the closet.
"Hurry up Ari!" Bobby called from outside.
I looked out the window and saw him standing outside with the other boys, Dante, and Cooper.
"I'll be right there," I shouted out the window.
I pulled on the sneakers and walked back down.
I was a little surprised Dante allowed me this much freedom. He wasn't really aware of how quickly I could shift or my running speed.
"Took you long enough, princess," Dante teased as I finally appeared in the backyard.
He placed his hand on the small of my back. He guided me closer to his side and I allowed the light touch. What could it possibly hurt?
I took in my surroundings. It was something my father always taught me to do in unfamiliar territory. The first thing I noticed was the lack of men within a five-mile radius from the backyard out into the woods. I could smell the ones in front of the house but it was empty where we were training.
The next one shocked me a little. Carla's son, Louis, was among the boys out here. He looked like he was happy to be here and fitting in with the others.
"Louis."
"Hello Arianna," he bowed his head in respect.
"What is he doing here Dante?"
"I'm just giving the future Alpha a little training."
"That's not your place to do so. It is his father's responsibility."
"You are right but there's nothing wrong with allowing him to participate while he stays here," Dante tried to reason.
I couldn't really argue with that.
"I'm okay, Arianna."
I just shook my head. I walked over to Bobby, who was beckoning me to hang out with a couple of his friends. They all started asking me questions at once.
Before I could answer Cooper tried to quiet everyone down.
"How about a demonstration, Arianna?"
"I don't think you can handle a girl like me, Cooper."
"Let's see what you got."
"If you insist."
"Give it your best shot sweetheart."
"This should be interesting," Dante mused.
The boys formed a large circle surrounding Cooper and me. I took the moment to glance him over.
He was a good sizable amount taller than me. He certainly had big muscles. It would be like fighting Teague, full force. But his overconfidence would give me the edge over him.
"Go on, attack the girl," I taunted him. I made sure my stance was ready to take a blow or run. It all depended on his first move.
Cooper took the bait. He bent his knees a little and leaned to the left. He was going to hit with his left. He thrust his arm back and took a hard swing with his left arm.
I ducked under the punch and quickly elbowed him in the ribs. He doubled over but recovered straight away. I couldn't put my arm down fast enough to block him. I clenched my abs to take the blow before his fist collided into my stomach.
The blow was softened a little. The pain barely registered in my mind. I didn't waste one second thinking about the wound. Instead I stepped hard on his left foot to distract him.
He once again took the bait. I had enough time to break his nose with my tiny fist. His hand flew up to his nose as blood spurted out onto the ground.
The rest of his body was left defenseless. I took no time thinking about my next move. My fist smashed into his right side, colliding with an organ. The fight was over.
Cooper fell to his knees in pain. The lessons with Teague proved to be more than helpful. I just hoped Dante wasn't too angry I kicked the crap out of his Beta.
I looked to my left and smiled. His face was a mixture of emotions ranging from amusement to pride.
"Are you just going to stand there?" Cooper furiously shouted.
"I can't believe you just got beat up by a girl," Dante responded. He wasn't mad at all. He sounded like he enjoyed the show.
"She's a fucking bitch!" he growled, trying to stand back up.
When he regained his balance he lunged for me. Dante snarled and shoved him to the ground in the blink of an eye. He knelt down and pushed his knee into Cooper's chest.
"Don't you dare attack my mate," he threatened him.
"Don't be a sore looser Coop," I baited him.
I know it was stupid but the fight had kicked up my adrenaline. It was hard to calm down from all the excitement.
"Ari," Dante warned me, "Mark, go get one of the docs to patch Cooper back up while I teach Ari here what it's like to really fight."
"Are you sure you can handle me?"
"Baby, you're going to be begging me to bring back Cooper once I'm done with you," he teased back.
I raised an eyebrow and grinned at him. I was excited that someone finally wasn't going to take it easy on me. On the outside I was calm and collected. On the inside I was a little scared.
No one had truly gone all out on me. I remembered how his hit felt the other night. I was not excited to experience it again. It was a fight I wasn't prepared for.
"Are you ready?"
"Go on then."
Dante wasn't stupid or easily baited like Cooper. He was going to wait me out. I would have to make the first move.
I gave a light swing with my left arm to fake him out. He wasn't buying it and effortlessly blocked my right fist. He twisted my right arm behind my back. I was no longer facing him.
He left my left arm free. I elbowed him in the throat. He coughed out a few times when I made contact with his windpipe.
I tried to twist out of his hold but it was too tight. It sent waves of pain into my shoulder. He moved his foot and swept out both of my feet from under me. He slammed my whole body face first into the ground.
I hastily turned my face to the left so my nose wouldn't break when I hit the ground. Instead I felt my cheekbone under my right eye crack a little from the pressure of the fall.
Even with swift healing I was going to have a bruise tomorrow.
"Give up?" he whispered in my ear.
I didn't respond. I bucked my hips back. He wasn't anticipating it. I managed to flip us over. I was lying on top of him with his back on the ground.
The flip knocked the wind out of him. I took the opportunity to twist out of his hold. I was standing up within seconds.
"You're a good fight, I will give you that. I will outlast you."
He was right. After fighting with Cooper and now him, I was running on fumes.
"At least I'm not the one fighting someone smaller and weaker than me. Got something to prove?" I sarcastically remarked.
I should have kept my mouth shut. It was a nasty habit from fighting with the boys. I always felt the need to bait them so they wouldn't take it so easy on me. I learned these moves for self-defense. Men like Dante and Teague learned these moves for fun and a good time.
"Kick her ass," Cooper sneered while the doctor was fixing his nose.
Dante grinned at his Beta. I was not coming out of this unharmed.
He crouched low to the ground and charged at me.
I barely had the chance to drop to the dirt and slide under him. This seemed to infuriate him even more.
In a flash he had me pinned underneath him. Pain radiated through my arm. I looked down and saw it was unnaturally twisted behind me.
"That was awesome!" most of the boys shouted in amazement.
I bit my lip back to stop myself from screaming out in pain. From his expression that's exactly what it would take for him to let me go.
I peered closer into his eyes and gasped. His cool blue eyes were now solid black. I had taken baiting him too far. His wolf took control to teach me a lesson. He snarled at me.
I reached my right hand up and touched his smooth face. He closed his eyes and welcomed the contact. He pushed his face hard into my hand.
"Breathe," I whispered into his ear.
He complied, taking a few deep breaths before he opened his eyes again. My eyes met his now familiar alluring blue eyes.
"Oh, god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to take it that far," he softly spoke when he realized my arm was popped out of the socket.
"It's okay Dante. It was just a friendly fight. I should have known better than to bait you so much."
"Doc, come fix my mate up," he ordered. He got up and pulled me to my feet.
"I'm fine. I've had worse."
"No, just sit down and wait."
He pushed me down to sit against the side of the house. Bobby and his friends rushed to my side. They all started talking at once. They were all amazed at my moves to fight against both Cooper and Dante. Everyone thought it was cool that my arm was displaced.
I watched Dante walk over to the doctor, who was still looking over Cooper's nose. He spoke with him for a few moments before pulling him over.
"Could you stand back up?" the doctor asked.
Dante helped me back to my feet and turned me to the side.
"This is going to hurt, a lot."
"It's okay. This isn't the first time my shoulder has been dislocated. Just get it over with."
I gritted my teeth and braced myself through the pain. I stared up into Dante's eyes and refused to look away until it was over.
When he finished Dante sent me back up to his room to rest. I didn't complain. His bed was more comfortable than the one I had at home.
I snuggled into the sheets and inhaled his scent. It was completely different from Tristan's sweet scent. Dante's was more manly and alluded power. I could barely contain myself. But I was alone in the room. I allowed myself the indulgence in his scent for now.
I turned to the side and rested my head on the fluffy pillow. My arm slowly swept across the silk sheets under the pillow opposite of me. My hand bumped into something hard.
I grabbed hold of the object and pulled it out. It was a leather bound book. I opened to the first page and read the scrawl at the bottom.
It was Dante's journal.