Bitten

mention it to him.

'I'm not sitting around anymore,' I said. 'I can't do it. I tried, but I can't.'

Nick swung his legs over and sat on the edge of his lounge chair. 'I know how hard this is for you, Elena. I know how much you love him-'

'That's not it. Look, I've already been through this with Jeremy. We need Clay back. Whether or not you want to help is up to you.'

'I want to help get him back, but I'm not going to help you get yourself killed doing it.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Just what it sounds like. I saw the way you were a few days ago-'

'Is that what this is about? Because I flipped out three days ago? Look at me now. Do I seem flipped out?'

'No, and that probably scares me more than if you were.'

'I am going,' I said.

'Not without me.'

'Fine.'

'But I'm not going. So neither are you.'

I got up and started for the back door. Nick leapt to his feet and blocked my path.

'What are you going to do?' I asked. 'Knock me out and lock me in the cage?'

He looked away, but he didn't move. I knew he wouldn't do anything. If it came down to it, Nick wouldn't use physical force to stop me. It wasn't in his nature.

'Where's this meeting? he asked at last. 'Is it in a public place? Because if it's not-'

'It's in The Donut Hole. As public as I can make it. No matter what you might think, I'm not doing anything that might endanger myself. I wouldn't do anything to endanger you. The only risk I'm taking is in breaking Jeremy's orders. And I'm only doing that because he's wrong to exclude me.'

'So you'll meet Daniel in the coffee shop and I'll be there. We'll park right out front. We won't go anyplace with him, even for a walk down the street.'

'Exactly.'

Nick turned and walked to the house. He wasn't happy, but he'd do it. I'd make it up to him someday.

***

As I pulled into a parking spot in front of the coffee shop, I could see Daniel through the window. He was sitting in a booth. His shoulder-length auburn hair was pushed back behind his left ear-his only ear, actually, after that little biting mishap a few years ago. His profile was sharp, high cheekbones, pointed chin, and thin nose, not unhandsome in a feral way, but his looks were more fox than wolf, which better complemented his personality.

As I got out of the car, his green eyes followed me, but he didn't acknowledge me in any other way, having learned long ago that I didn't respond well to fawning. His body was lean and compact. Standing, we'd be on perfect eye level, making him no more than five feet ten. Once, when I'd needed to meet Daniel to deliver a warning from Jeremy, I'd worn two-inch heels and had quite enjoyed the sensation of talking down to Daniel, until he told me how sexy I looked. Since then he'd never seen me in anything but my oldest, grubbiest sneakers.

Today Daniel was wearing a plain black T-shirt and blue jeans, which was pretty much what he wore all the time. He copied Clay's monochromatic, construction-worker-casual wardrobe as if it would lend him a certain cachet. It didn't.

Marsten sat across from Daniel. As usual, he was groomed and dressed like he'd stepped from the pages of GQ, which only made Daniel look like a slob in comparison. Okay, Karl Marsten made everyone look like a slob.

As Nick and I walked in, Marsten stood and strolled to the door to meet us.

'You came,' he said to me. 'I'm surprised Jeremy let you. Or does he know?'

I mentally kicked myself. I hadn't thought how it would look if I showed up against Jeremy's wishes. Dissension in the Pack. Wonderful. Trust Marsten to pick up on it in five seconds flat.

'You look good, Elena,' Marsten continued, not waiting for me to answer. 'Tired, but that's to be expected. Hopefully all this will be over soon.'

'That depends on you,' I said.

'In part.' He turned to the server behind the counter. 'Two coffees. Black for the lady and-' He looked over at Nick. 'One cream, two sugars, correct?'

Nick only glared at him.

'One black. The other with one cream, two sugars,' Marsten repeated to the server. 'Put it on my tab.' He paused, then turned to me with a wry smile. 'I can't believe I just said that in a doughnut shop. I have to get out of this town.'

I looked away.

'It's been a long time, Nicholas,' Marsten continued. 'How's your father? I invested in one of his companies last year. Thirty percent return. He certainly hasn't lost his touch.'

Ignoring him, Nick sat on a stool at the counter and studied the doughnut display. Marsten took the stool beside him and waved me toward Daniel.

'I'll keep Nicholas company,' he said.

Daniel didn't look up as I walked over. He stirred his coffee and acknowledged me only with the barest nod. The server delivered my coffee. I pushed it aside and sat on the bench across the table from Daniel. He kept stirring. For a few seconds, I sat there. Under any other circumstances, I would have waited to see how long he could stretch this coffee-stirring feigned indifference before he cracked and looked at me. But the time for games was over.

'What do you want?' I asked.

Still stirring, eyes on the mug as if it might skitter away if he stopped watching it. 'What do I usually want?'

'Revenge.'

He glanced up and met my gaze, then broke eye contact to give me the usual slow once-over. I gritted my teeth and waited. After a few seconds I was tempted to snap my fingers in front of his face and tell him there wasn't that much of me to look at.

'You want revenge,' I repeated to get his brain back on track.

Daniel leaned back in his seat, pulling one leg up to look oh-so-cool and relaxed. 'No, I don't. I've never wanted that. Whatever the Pack did to me, I'm over it. They're not worth my time. But you are.'

'Here we go,' I muttered.

Daniel ignored me. 'I know why you're with them, Elena. Because you're afraid to leave, afraid of what they'll do, and afraid of what will happen to you without their protection. I'm trying to show you that they can't hurt you and they can't protect you. If you want a partner, a true partner, you deserve better than some freak who has to turn around three times before he lies down. I can give you better.'

'So this is all about winning me? Bullshit.'

'You don't think you're worth it? I thought your self-esteem was higher than that.'

'My IQ is higher than that. This isn't about me. It never has been. It's about you and Clay. You think he has me, so you want me. Your motivation is as complex as that of a two-year-old seeing another kid with a shiny toy. You want it.'

'You underestimate yourself.'

'No, I don't underestimate how much you hate him. What happened? Did he always get the bigger slice of birthday cake?'

'He made my life hell. Him and Tonto over there.' Daniel glared toward Nick. 'Poor little Clay. He has problems. He's had a tough life. You should be nice to him. You should make friends with him. That's all I ever heard. All they saw was a cute little runt of a wolf cub. He bared his teeth and they thought it was cute. He ordered us around like a miniature Napoleon and they thought it was cute. Well, it wasn't cute from where I was standing. It was-'

I held up my hand. 'You're ranting.'