Chapter 7

The sound of someone banging on the door woke Dani with a start, and she opened her eyes to find herself pressed against Luca's chest, his strong arms encircling her waist. It was the best sleep she could remember having in years. She felt him tense beside her, and she quickly held onto his hands, panic rising in her chest.

"No, Luca. It's okay. Really." He could hear her pulse rising rapidly, and the scent of fear was clearly radiating from his little mate.

"Who the fuck is banging on your door like this at six a.m?"

"It's probably just one of my mom's friends. Ignore him. He'll go away."

"Why the fuck is he banging on your door?" Luca growled the words, his canines lengthening.

"People get drunk and-" Dani voice trailed off for a moment. Pausing she took a deep breath, "lost, they get lost in the house. So I have locks. Lots of locks. To make sure no one comes in here that I don't want in here." She shook her head as if clearing it of the absurdity of the situation.

He began to pull away from her, clearly moving towards the door, until she reached up, touching his face, and letting her fingers trail down his chest.

It was really the first intimacy of any kind that she had initiated and he froze, even if he suspected that she was only doing it to distract him from killing whoever was on the other side of the door.

"They're still drunk at six a.m?" He murmured, letting her pull him back down onto her pile of pillows.

"Her friends are always drunk." She traced designs on his skin lightly, letting his legs tangle between hers.

"But they're werewolves. How is that even possible?" Luca's voice was clearly disgusted. Did this sort of thing not happen in his pack, she wondered.

"Of course it is," she laughed, but the sound was bitter. "You know we can get drunk, right?" Her tone sounded as though she were talking to a child and he rolled his eyes and nodded. "Well they just keep drinking and they make it something strong." She shrugged. And I guess their livers keep on healing. They're wolves don't really come out after a while."

"And your mom is like that?" He asked the question so quietly she barely heard it.

"No," she shook her head vehemently, thankful that whoever was banging had given up and stopped. "Not usually. She hardly drinks now, which I guess makes it that much worse when she does. She won't even remember last night this morning, I'm sure." Luca stared intently at Dani's profile, while her eyes traced the familiar shapes in the asbestos of the popcorn ceiling.

"She's battled depression my whole life. I do too, but after my dad died." Dani shook her head. "You know how it is with mates. It's better if she takes her meds every day, and if I can be here to make sure she does things like get out of bed and take a shower, because she has a hard time managing that on her own. But if I'm late or I forget, everything goes to hell. That's why I can't forget. And I can't leave her. Ever."

"I'm sorry, Dani." Luca tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, noticing how she bit her lip nervously at his words. "That is a lot for one person, and especially for someone so young to deal with all alone. But now that the two of you are coming to my pack, we can get her the help that she needs."

Dani nodded, nervously. She hated talking about this, but she knew that Luca had already seen more than just about any guy she'd ever dated, and since she couldn't leave her mom behind and he was determined to bring Dani along, he was going to know even more by the end of the day.

She heard his phone vibrate in his pants pocket on the floor and he rolled over and retrieved it. "Hey Lars, surprised to hear from you this early. No you didn't wake me up." He paused and Dani strained her ears but couldn't quite make out the words on the other end of the line.

Luca smile when he saw her forehead wrinkle as she made the effort to try to eavesdrop, and he began to lightly trace her collar bone with the tip his index finger, knowing that the sparks that flew between them every time their skin touched would make it almost impossible for her to think of anything else.

"That's not going to work Lars. We've got to head home first, to get our new Luna and her mother settled. Well this is important too and if it's that important to their side, maybe the meeting should happen on our land. After all, they need us." Dani wiggled her way out of Luca's arms so that she could think more clearly, sitting up near the edge of her bed, cross-legged and watching him.

"And she needs to realize that that isn't appropriate." Dani was only half listening to the conversation now. "Tell her she needs to have her act together before we get back there in a couple hours."

Dani tried to collect her thoughts, but it was hard to think clearly when she was so close to him.

Luca wasn't at all what she expected. Do you still want to run? He wolf whimpered. Of course, was her instinctive response, but her gut was less sure.

Her heart, and if she was honest, her hormones, wanted her to climb on top of him and fuck him then and there. The careful defensive layers she'd spent years constructing around her mind told her that this was far too good to be true. Alphas were men and men were dangerous. Hell, Alphas were the most dangerous of men.

If she was honest with herself she knew that her mind was looking for a reason to hate him, was looking for a reason to run.

But you haven't found it yet, have you. Her wolf pointed out. Give him a chance.

So I can end up heart broken? Or controlled? Or worse? She fired back.

She felt her wolf sulking in the back of her mind.

Turning her head, Dani had to admit that he did look extremely good. And he smelled even better. As he pressed the red button to hang up his phone she made a spur of the moment decision.

Luca's eyes were still on his phone, and Dani took the opportunity to stand, walking to end of the bed and stretching. "My ankle feels a lot better. It's just a little sore." She turned towards him, but he was clearly engrossed in reading something that appeared to be an email. Dani narrowed her eyes. She wasn't used to being ignored.

"I guess I better figure out what to wear today." She said, watching his reaction.

"Mhmm." He was frowning at whatever it was he was reading.

"I should probably take a shower first." His eyes were still on his phone. "It must be important." She mumbled, but he didn't look up.

With practiced fingers she grabbed the bottom of her tank top and slowly stripped it off over her head, her eyes on him, waiting for the moment when he would notice. He was entirely engrossed in whatever it was he was reading.

Shimmying her shorts down over her hips she stood in front of him entirely naked. He still didn't have a clue. She waited for a moment, biting her lip suggestively and finally sighed. "Alpha?" she called impatiently.

"Mhmm." he responded again without looking up and she rolled her eyes. "Is my towel over there next to you? I don't want to walk through the house like this, in case my mom has a guest. I'd hate for anyone else to see me like this. I mean, besides you."

With those words he looked up, his dark eyes wide, the phone falling from his finger tips. "Kitten?" Luca growled and a smile touched the corner of her lips. "What the fuck is it that you are trying to do?"