was still uneasy, not completely convinced it would be safe for her, for him to claim her. Otherwise he would simply overcome her objections and go ahead and mark as her as his and worry about the consequences with the council later.
His mating instincts had kicked in with a vengeance, though—mark, breed, protect.
"I can guarantee your safety if you stay within my protection—just until we've taken care of the rogues. Once we've done that, you wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of being tracked. I could assure safe passage."
She looked uncomfortable. He could see she was uneasy about his proposal, but also reluctant to refuse to cooperate.
"You wouldn't be staying here, of course,” he added smoothly since he was pretty damned sure most, if not all, of her uneasiness had to do with his raging hormones. “But certainly inside the community. I'd arrange for you to stay with the female and young pack members."
She looked surprised and somewhat relieved. It irritated the hell of him, but he supposed he could see her point. He'd been all over her. Even if he had managed to reel himself in, she had every reason to doubt he'd be able to continue to control himself. And she was right. He sure as hell wouldn't be able to if he remained in close proximity to her for any length of time.
"This isn't everyone?” she asked hesitantly.
Dante smiled grimly. “Not by a long shot."
She frowned. “I'd be safe, though? If I stayed with the women?"
"There are far fewer females than males. We guard our females very carefully."
"And this would be only until you've had the chance to take care of the rogue problem? And then I could go home?"
His smile widened to a grin. “Unless of course, in the meantime, you changed your mind and decided to stay."
Shilo studied him a little doubtfully and finally chuckled when she realized he was teasing. “Oh no! No chance of that, but I suppose, if it'll help you out, I could stay a few days more. I'd really rather not worry about looking over my shoulder,” she said frankly. “I'm confident that I could manage it if I had to, but it'll be much better if I don't have worry about that, at least."
"Good,” Dante said decisively, rising to his feet and reaching for her hand to draw her up. “We'll take you to check out of your hotel and gather your belongings and then escort you to a safe house."
Shilo discovered she actually felt almost at ease as she settled in the SUV with Dante, and Maurice, Jessie, and Kane piled into the back. She'd been more unnerved than she wanted to admit, even to herself, to learn that she'd become the target of a rogue pack of lycans. She thought she could've managed on her own. After all, she'd been managing for a very long time, but there was a lot to be said for being guarded by no less than four big, strapping lycans—more than that, she supposed, since Dante had said the lycan community was fairly large and he was top ‘dog', so to speak.
Not that she trusted them completely. If she'd been so trusting she would never have managed to elude capture as long as she had—And she was pretty sure she was the only one who was still ‘at large'. She hadn't had contact with any of the other members of the ‘test group’ in years. They'd tried to keep in touch, at first, but discovered that only made it easier for the Feds to find them.
Thinking of the others caused her a pang. She missed them—not that they'd really been close. The circumstances had neither encouraged nor really allowed a chance for them to become close, but most of them had been in the same situation as she had been, snatched from their homes while they were very young, so that they were the closest thing to an actual family any of them had. Except for the control team that had monitored and tested them, there was no one else for any of them, and they'd certainly not felt any connection to the control team—aside from hating them, that is.
"You have a large family?” Dante
His mating instincts had kicked in with a vengeance, though—mark, breed, protect.
"I can guarantee your safety if you stay within my protection—just until we've taken care of the rogues. Once we've done that, you wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of being tracked. I could assure safe passage."
She looked uncomfortable. He could see she was uneasy about his proposal, but also reluctant to refuse to cooperate.
"You wouldn't be staying here, of course,” he added smoothly since he was pretty damned sure most, if not all, of her uneasiness had to do with his raging hormones. “But certainly inside the community. I'd arrange for you to stay with the female and young pack members."
She looked surprised and somewhat relieved. It irritated the hell of him, but he supposed he could see her point. He'd been all over her. Even if he had managed to reel himself in, she had every reason to doubt he'd be able to continue to control himself. And she was right. He sure as hell wouldn't be able to if he remained in close proximity to her for any length of time.
"This isn't everyone?” she asked hesitantly.
Dante smiled grimly. “Not by a long shot."
She frowned. “I'd be safe, though? If I stayed with the women?"
"There are far fewer females than males. We guard our females very carefully."
"And this would be only until you've had the chance to take care of the rogue problem? And then I could go home?"
His smile widened to a grin. “Unless of course, in the meantime, you changed your mind and decided to stay."
Shilo studied him a little doubtfully and finally chuckled when she realized he was teasing. “Oh no! No chance of that, but I suppose, if it'll help you out, I could stay a few days more. I'd really rather not worry about looking over my shoulder,” she said frankly. “I'm confident that I could manage it if I had to, but it'll be much better if I don't have worry about that, at least."
"Good,” Dante said decisively, rising to his feet and reaching for her hand to draw her up. “We'll take you to check out of your hotel and gather your belongings and then escort you to a safe house."
Shilo discovered she actually felt almost at ease as she settled in the SUV with Dante, and Maurice, Jessie, and Kane piled into the back. She'd been more unnerved than she wanted to admit, even to herself, to learn that she'd become the target of a rogue pack of lycans. She thought she could've managed on her own. After all, she'd been managing for a very long time, but there was a lot to be said for being guarded by no less than four big, strapping lycans—more than that, she supposed, since Dante had said the lycan community was fairly large and he was top ‘dog', so to speak.
Not that she trusted them completely. If she'd been so trusting she would never have managed to elude capture as long as she had—And she was pretty sure she was the only one who was still ‘at large'. She hadn't had contact with any of the other members of the ‘test group’ in years. They'd tried to keep in touch, at first, but discovered that only made it easier for the Feds to find them.
Thinking of the others caused her a pang. She missed them—not that they'd really been close. The circumstances had neither encouraged nor really allowed a chance for them to become close, but most of them had been in the same situation as she had been, snatched from their homes while they were very young, so that they were the closest thing to an actual family any of them had. Except for the control team that had monitored and tested them, there was no one else for any of them, and they'd certainly not felt any connection to the control team—aside from hating them, that is.
"You have a large family?” Dante
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