**MateoIt was the dark of the night, and the men and I were all assembled at the outskirts of Marco's territory. He didn't have a lot of it, so surrounding the area closest to the mansion was easy.Too easy."Watch your back," Armando said as though reading my mind.Truer words were never spoken. As we approached the mansion slowly under cover of darkness, we could all see that there were no guards. Not one."They're behind us," I murmured to Armando, who nodded."They've used something to mask their scent," Armando added."Damn." I stood very still and listened. Sure enough, there was a faint rustling behind our circle."I don't suppose we have any idea on numbers?" I asked casually. There was really nothing we could do about it now. We'd expected a trap, anyway. This was a mere inconvenience. I was just rather hoping…Armando turned slightly, listened a bit, then sighed. "I think he's pulled them as young as they can shift."I'd hoped Armando would allay my suspi
**MateoAside from that one "Dad" and the slap across the face, Lucia had not communicated with me at all. For days. The moment we arrived back at our mansion, Lucia had gone to her room and refused to come out."Lucia," I said outside her door for what must have been the hundredth time, "please come out so we can talk about what's bothering you."Silence."Did he hurt you?" I asked, my gut clenching. It hadn't really unclenched since I'd seen the condition her body was in. I had a doctor who was seeing to a healthy diet plan to bulk her back up, but that didn't mitigate what I'd seen.More silence.I sighed and put her tray down in front of the door. "I'm going to my office."I knew there was no point in waiting for her to come out. She was using her wolf senses to see if I actually left, so I wasn't tricking her.In my office, the desk was stacked high with requests. Now that Mateo Castillas was back from the dead, everyone and their brother was petitioning to join my
**MateoAt the end of the day, I'd had enough. I was neck deep in women who'd had it even worse than my daughter, some Armando even brought to the office himself because he was at a loss at what to do. Getting the shifters out, he'd also found humans in trouble. It wasn't as though we could leave them there."Get more doctors," I finally advised. "Some that specialize in human medicine.""Yes, Alpha," Armando said. He looked haggard compared to this morning. I didn't blame him. For all the awful cases he'd brought for me to see, I knew he'd seen many, many more."Then get them set up like the others. They will remain in our territory and enjoy the protection of our pack," I instructed him.Armando smiled tiredly. "You are a good man, Alpha.""Sometimes," I mumbled. I looked towards my daughter's door. "I try, at least."Armando went to make arrangements, and I went to confront my daughter."Let me in," I demanded as I stood outside her door."No," came Lucia's petulan
**CatalinaI was glowing with body glitter under the streetlamps as The Pound's guards shoved me in the back of a limo. I remembered the last time I'd been in one of these. Mateo had been bringing me back to Efrain.Goddess, how I missed him. It ached in my soul.A sleazy middle-aged Italian man was sitting in the back of the limo already. His shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a forest of springy chest hair. "Hey, babe."I swallowed. "Mr. Russo?""Don Russo, but let's not quibble over titles," Russo said. He ran a fingertip down my shoulder, staring at my see-through camisole."Are we… doing it here?" I asked, sniffing the air and realizing he was a shifter. I wondered why he preferred "Don" instead of "Alpha." All the Alphas I knew were dons, but they preferred "Alpha."Russo leaned in and licked my neck, groping my breast through the diaphanous fabric as I felt the limo pull away from the curb. "You smell nice, and you taste good."I choked back a sassy retort. After see
**ArenaI gulped and scooted into the car, hearing the naked Mateo get in behind me. I thought, if Jeeves hadn't been the one to close the door, Mateo would have slammed it shut."I… I think I need to explain—" I started.Mateo didn't let me finish. He took me by the shoulders and shook me as I felt the town car begin to move. "Why?!" he barked. "Why did you do this?!""Alpha, if I may…" Jeeves said from the front seat.Mateo glared at him. "Close the partition, Jeeves.""Alpha, it's a two-hour journey. I'm not sure…" Jeeves tried."CLOSE THE PARTITION, Jeeves," Mateo repeated.Jeeves sighed and closed the partition.Then Mateo turned his focus back on me and gave me another shake. "What the HELL were you thinking, Arena?!""I just wanted you to have your daughter back," I whispered, feeling a tear roll down my cheek.Mateo groaned and pulled me against his naked chest. I could feel his light spray of hair tickling my breasts through the lace I wore. "Never, ever,
**ArenaMateo moved beneath me, and I peeled my eyes open. "Mateo?" I asked groggily."It's alright, mi tesora. We've just arrived at the safehouse," Mateo replied, kissing my forehead.The safehouse. I looked out the window and had to bite back a laugh. It wasn't as big as Mateo's other home, true, but it was still a mansion, not some bunker in the woods."Jeeves," Mateo said once his trusty driver had come to our door, "would you mind going in and getting us a couple of robes? I'm not sure my Arena wants to parade naked in front of our guests."Jeeves nodded and headed into the mansion."Guests?" I looked at Mateo as he got us sitting upright, with me in his lap.Mateo kissed my nose. "Well, we weren't the only ones in danger.""Oh." I wondered who was inside.We waited in companionable silence until Jeeves returned. Jeeves stood next to the town car and held out the larger robe.Mateo stepped out of the car and took the robe from Jeeves, slipping it over his shou
**Efrain"So… you're saying he just came in and took her," I said, narrowing my eyes on Frank Russo, who was sitting on the other side of his desk.Russo shrugged, examining the items I kept in my office. "I wasn't about to fight him for her. She's your bitch, not mine."Catalina was my bitch. MY bitch, not Mateo's. I thought I'd made that perfectly clear at The Pound. Well, I'd tried to, anyway. Whatever supersoldiers Mateo had brought decimated my guards. It was all I could do to escape. "Thanks for nothing, Russo.""You're welcome," Russo said pleasantly. "Now, to business. I'd like to help you with Castillas. He broke into my home, killed my bodyguards, and ruined a perfectly good sex session. I'm a little put out.""Hmph." I didn't much care about his "sessions." He'd killed more of the girls from The Pound than I could count. But I was interested in an alliance against that f*cker Mateo. "My sources tell me Castillas isn't at home anymore. That asshole Armando is, but n
**Efrain"So the bastard is in Naples," I muttered, looking at my tablet screen."Italy?" Jorge asked in confusion.I rolled my eyes. "Florida. Beach. Gulf of Mexico.""Oh. Sorry, Mr. Rodriguez," Jorge said.I couldn't wait for the day when he would call me Alpha. Though I sometimes doubted his smarts, I never doubted his loyalty. "I need you to go get her.""Get her?" Jorge echoed.Maybe I wouldn't make him my Beta after all. Some days, he was too stupid to live. "Yeah, go get her. So we can use her to lure in that bastard Mateo Castillas.""Why don't we just go in with fifty men or so and kill him?" Jorge asked.I shook my head vehemently. "I won't leave our pack fifty warriors short with all the crap going on now. He's got a pack building with mercenaries, and half the packs in the Miami area are still fighting over that f*cking cantina. No, you're going to go up there with five guys and get her for me. Then that f*cker will have no choice but to come here. And the