Wolf or Love

Gathered on the fringe of the woods were Mike and a number of males from his pack, including his Beta, Ashley, and bodyguard, Asher – both of

whom Gio recognized from their visit to his home. Not far from them was Carrick with several from his pack, including his bodyguard, Hales, and two of his enforcers, Ben and Matt. They all gave him a brief respectful nod before resuming scowling at Kevin and his followers. The wolf shifters – there were approximately sixty five – that had come to stand at Gio’s side and serve as back up were all grouped together near the security shack. They didn’t look so eager to be there. Gio guessed it was because they hadn’t expected him to be so outnumbered, placing them in a position where they would in fact have to provide back-up.

He stalked toward the closed gate with Duda and Chris flanking him, blanking his expression the way he had done as a child whenever his father

and uncle decided to torment him for their own entertainment – being stoic had always agitated the hell out of both of them. Gio stopped as he came to stand directly where Kevin stood on the opposite side of the gate. His wolf growled inside his head, affronted by this male’s scent and reaching for the surface with his eagerness to get to him. Looking as smug as all shit, Kevin grinned at him. “Time’s up. You really should have just given in to me at the beginning, Gio. I’ll tell you

what, since you’re my nephew and all, I’ll give you one last chance to yield to me.”

Gio couldn’t help that his mouth twitched into a smile, especially since Duda and Chris were chuckling.

“You can’t honestly mean to accept my challenge.”

“And why’s that?”

“Look around you.” He gestured to his numerous supporters. “seventy against one hundred and ninety. I think it’s safe to say that you’re outnumbered.”

“If that bothers you so much, let’s keep this as a one-to-one battle.

Let’s take care of this Alpha to Alpha.”

Kevin’s fear didn’t show on his face, but it could be heard in his voice.

“I don’t think so, Gio – we both know your enforcers would attack me after I’d killed you. They have no honor.”

Duda and Chris growled at the insult and gave Kevin looks that promised he’d pay for that. But Kevin was Gio’s.

“You can’t win this, nephew. You never had any chance of winning it. Not even mating with the daughter of an influential wolf could help you out

with this. I’m looking forward to becoming better acquainted with her, even if she is latent.”

A growl trickled from Gio’s mouth. His wolf wanted to sink his jaws into this male’s throat and feel his blood gush into his mouth. “I’m pissed enough with you as it is, Uncle. If I were you, I’d be very careful about pushing me even further.”

Kevin laughed, but there was a nervous tremor to it. “One last chance. Give in to my requests, and we can avoid this battle.”

As Gio backed away from the gate with Duda and Chris, his uncle smiled – obviously believing Gio was backing down. Snort. Like that would ever happen. “Hudson, open the gate.” The smile immediately fell from Kevin’s face and was replaced by a dark scowl. As the gate creaked open slowly, more wolves stepped out of the trees

– some from behind Gio, some from his left side, and some from his right, until there were approximately one hundred and ninetu wolves standing with him. It didn’t make the numbers strictly even, but it was pretty damn close. He noticed Campbell was grinning like a kid in a toy store. The other nine Alphas that Gio had met at the diner only yesterday looked just as eager and

bloodthirsty. Kevin’s eyes widened and he swallowed hard. His face was a question mark.

Gio cocked his head. “You didn’t really think I’d reveal to the entire pack just how many wolves were joining me when I knew you had an informant who could tell you, did you?” Kevin’s eyes widened even more, though Gio wouldn’t have thought it was possible until then. “Oh yes I

know all about that.” Finally the gate was fully open. “Know this: it doesn’t matter how many wolves you have protecting you, Kevin. I will get to you and I will kill you.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Red in the face, Kevin howled. Taking that as a signal to attack, his supporters instantly shifted into their wolf forms and began galloping through

the gate. Gio’s own allies followed his lead as he ran and leapt, rapidly shifting midway through the leap into his wolf form, and clamped his jaws

closed around one of his enemy’s throats.

“It’s started,” Danica told Lindy, Gary, and Hope. Michey and Lucy, who were on either side of her, already knew through their link with their own mates. Echoes of Gio’s anger and rage reached her through their bond, along with his determination and focus. Even though she knew just how strong and powerful he was, she was so damn scared for him and so damn pissed off that she couldn’t be there. Of course she knew it was best that she wasn’t, but the idea that he could at some point be hurt and she wouldn’t be there to heal him was haunting her, mocking her healing gift. Lucy, who was fidgeting crazily with worry, rubbed a hand over her face. “God, this is nerve wracking.”

Michey’s smile was weak. “They’re going to be fine.” Shakily, she added, “They have to be.”

At Danica’s wince, everyone looked at her. “Gio’s gone wild”

“In this instance, it’s a good thing,” said Lindy.

Michey grabbed the glass beside Danica that was filled with another weird concoction of hers. “Here, drink the rest of this.”

Danica shook her head and placed a hand to her stomach. “I couldn’t eat or drink a single thing right now, I feel too nauseous.”

“So do I,” mumbled Lucy.

“It’s the nerves,” Lindy told them. “Where’s Theresa?”

“In her room,” replied Cindy. “She’s refusing to come out and she won’t let me in. She says I’ve betrayed her because I’ve chosen to give my

loyalty to Gio and Danica. To be honest, I always thought Theresa would do that too after a little while. I’ve never seen her so worked up before.”

“Maybe you should go see her,” suggested Gary with an understanding smile. “Theresa acts tough, but she must be worried. No one should be alone right now.” Cindy nodded and left the room.

“How long do you think it will go on for?” Michey asked Danica.

It was Gary who answered. “Could be thirty minutes, could be sixty minutes. It depends whether or not Kevin’s winning. If he’s not, some of his allies might leave. It’s unnerving to think that some of them might have already gotten past our own wolves and are on their way to the caves.”

Lucy made a low whining sound. “Don’t say things like that.”

“We have to be prepared for it happening. There are only few of us out there. Kevin will have brought at least a hundred, if not more.”

Of course Danica knew there were more than just sixty on their side, and she might have said as much – after all, if the informant was sitting in this

very room with her, there wasn’t anything they could tell Kevin that he didn’t already know at this point – but then her vision blurred a little, startling

her.

“Danica, you okay?”

Triple blinking to clear away the haze, she looked to Michey. “Yeah, bfine. Just feel kind of woozy. You don’t think it’s Gio, do you? You don’t think he’s hurt and -”

“Calm down, use your link.”

Taking a deep breath, she felt for Gio and found him immediately. His ass had gone totally wild. Despite a few twinges of pain, he wasn’t seriously

hurt. She exhaled a sigh of relief. “He’s fine.”

“The pregnancy will have you feeling a little off balance at first. Don’t worry.”

Gary gestured to the half empty glass. “Michey is right, you should drink some more of that…whatever it is. You need the nutrients.”

Danica shook her head, grimacing. “No, I don’t feel good.”

Lucy flinched and moaned. “Some asshole just chomped on Richard’s hind leg. He’s okay though, thank God. Hudson helped get the other wolf off of

him.”

Michey gave her a sympathetic smile. “Jeremy’s received some pretty decent scratches and bites, but he’s not tiring or in any real pain. God, I hate

this shit.”

“I need to walk around. Not outside,” Lucy quickly assured them, shifting from foot to foot in restless, nervous movements. “Just through the tunnels. Standing still is killing me.”

“I’ll go with you. Coming, Danica?”

“Thanks, Michey, but I feel too woozy, I need to sit.”

“I can stay with you if you want.”

“She’s fine, she’s got me and Gary,” said Lindy, waving Michey and Lucy out of the room. She turned back to Danica, frowning. “Don’t worry so

much about him.” It was chastising rather than comforting. “God knows he’s been through enough battles and he’s always come back, alive and well.”

“That’s not going to stop me from worrying.” Nothing would stop her from worrying short of Gio standing before her.

“Kevin’s nothing but a little fart anyway. That’s why he’s brought so many with him , he knows he’d never win a one to one challenge with Gio.”

“Why do you think he wants the packs united so badly?”

Lindy huffed. “Kevin’s problem is that although he was born an alpha, he was a weak one – too weak to be a Pack Alpha. His little brother, George –

Gio’s father – on the other hand, was very strong. He was also a horrible bastard. Kevin spent his life walking in George’s shadow, overlooked. But that

didn’t stop him from lodging himself so far up George’s ass that he ended up being made Beta. Then Gio was born and even as a little boy you could tell he was a powerful alpha. Both George and Kevin saw him as a threat and treated him very badly.”

Danica couldn’t help that her upper lip curled in anger. “Yeah, I heard a little about that.”

“When Gio almost killed his father, Kevin was ordered by George to beat him, punish him. But Kevin wouldn’t – he knew he couldn’t. That was

why talk of banishing him started. My guess is no one in the pack forgot Kevin’s fear of a thirteen year old boy and so he’s not being respected or

obeyed as Alpha.”

“Makes sense. If he had been, half of his pack wouldn’t have turned up here to check on my welfare.”

Lindy nodded. “Unless he shows his pack that he can overpower Gio and fix the divide in the pack, he’ll be challenged soon enough and lose his position.”