**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
**Mateo"Okay," I said, indicating for Lucia to enter the bedroom.She didn't."Lucia?" I asked, beginning to stand.Lucia waved me back down. She looked at the floor, biting her lip. "I… I guess I'm a little pissed off at you.""Okay," I said again, feeling my temples begin to throb. Was there anyone who wasn't pissed off at me today? "How can I help? Do you… need a hug?"Lucia snorted. "Don't even try it."Her words hurt. When she was a child, a hug would have healed everything. Now, I couldn't even touch her. "Alright, I won't."Lucia was quiet a long time, then she finally bit out, "I guess I'm pissed off at you about a lot of things.""I understand," I replied. "I—""Stop saying that! I already told you, you couldn't possibly understand!" Lucia barked.I mentally counted backwards from twenty. "I just meant I understand you are pissed off at me, and I understand why you would be. And I'm sorry we haven't worked that out yet. But I do have to go soon, and I th
**ArenaI laid on a chaise lounge out on the patio, next to an oblong pool. I'd opened up Mateo's shirt to get some sun on my skin, and was now laying topless, in my panties, on top of his shirt. It smelled like him, and that just made me more sad. I thought of tossing it in the water.The sliding of the glass door caught my attention. "Miriam?" I asked, starting to tug Mateo's shirt back over me."No." Mateo's familiar, velvet voice carried over the patio.I stopped putting the shirt back on and laid back down with a sigh. "What do you want?" I asked, not looking at him.The chaise creaked beneath me as Mateo sat down on the edge. "I want to apologize. I went all Alpha on you, and I hurt you. And I want to tell you where we stand.""Oh," I said, turning my face away from him.Mateo ran a knuckle over my cheek. "Baby, look at me."I didn't want him to see the hurt and tears in my eyes, but I didn't resist when he gently tilted my chin towards him."Oh… mi tesora…" Mat
**MateoI could still smell my sweet Arena on me as we drove back to Miami. I'd left Jeeves in Naples with Arena and the others, of course, so it was Win and me inside Win's souped up Jeep, heading away from our women and straight towards danger."Armando's assembling the troops," Win said, checking his texts on his heads-up display while he drove. "He'll be ready by the time we get there."I nodded, leaning my chin on my fist and staring out the window."You know she'll be there when we get back, right?" Win turned to me after a pause. "They're both going to be there, and we're going to have a hell of a welcome home."I chuckled. "You might. I think Arena might be angry with me, especially if I come home with so much as a scratch on me."Win shrugged. "War is war. We do what is necessary.""I know," I replied. "I just don't think Arena will be so understanding.""I thought you'd already… you know… you smell to high heaven of her," Win said, wrinkling his nose.I lift
**Efrain"So, your super bright idea is to let them kill all our men in little, manageable batches while we hide out here with Russo," I said slowly, trying to figure out if it was the alcohol or just the fact that my father was too stupid to live."We're distracting them. Getting Castillas to think he's got the upper hand. Then, when he gets here, we squash him like a bug. He won't see it coming," Agustin replied, clearly very pleased with himself.I swirled my glass and downed some whiskey. My father was such an idiot. But, Moon Goddess willing, if the exalted bitch even existed, the wasteful, hair-brained scheme would work. Especially now that they had the backing of Russo's men as well."Remember, when we go through the spoils, I'm getting a cut," Russo said. "And that delicious bitch I didn't get to f*ck before.""You're welcome to her," I responded. "Do whatever you want with her. Do her seven ways to Sunday. I don't give a damn."Russo licked his lips. Having seen hi
**ArenaI woke up in the middle of the night, not quite knowing why. I blinked into the darkness a moment, then groaned and rolled over onto Mateo's side of the bed, breathing in his scent on his pillow.Another sound had me peeling one sleep-sealed eye open. I sat up and stared into the darkness again, sniffing the air.A hand clamped over my mouth, and I let out a muffled scream."Shh," Felix whispered in my ear. "They're here."I stopped screaming and looked up at Felix as he slowly took his hand away. Rochelle was cowering behind him. "Who's here?" I asked."Agustin's men, I think," Felix replied. "We've been found."Shit. I scooted quickly off the bed. "Miriam? Celeste? Lucia?""Came here first," Felix said. "Going there n—"An ear-splitting shriek filled the air."Oh, Goddess," I gasped. The three of us made our way to my door and peeked out into the hall.A shrouded man was hauling Miriam out of her bedroom."Hey!" I yelled, causing Felix and Rochelle to
**MateoAgustin fired, and I felt the bullet burn through my shoulder, in the front and out the back. It didn't stop me from slamming my full weight into the fleshy wine sack, the chair toppling over and Agustin hitting the floor with a loud, "Oof!"The silver-plated gun went spinning away, and I roared in the coward's face."Mercy," Agustin wheezed.'Not today,' I answered. 'You mistreated my mate. You threatened my people. There is nothing in me that's going to let you slink off to do it again.'Agustin's bloodshot eyes bulged with the realization that he was going to die."Well then," he said, grabbing the the decanter that had fallen on its side and spilled most of its contents onto the thick, plush carpet. "You won't begrudge a man a final drink."I waited, my eyes narrow.Agustin took a long pull from the crystal decanter, closing his eyes and smacking his lips. "Alright, then. Make Efrain an Alpha, Castillas."'Where is he?' I demanded, pressing my paw down on