Ben nodded. “Yeah. She was abused by our previous alpha female, Gina.”
Something inside Steve growled, startling him. It wasn’t enough to throw him off what Ben had said, though. “What do you mean, abused?”
Dave ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the golden brown strands. “My sister was alpha female before Belle got here.”
“And she thought, since Belle was a Puma, she would remain alpha female despite the fact that Rick had declared Belle his Luna, his co-ruler, if you will.”
“Which meant Gina was out of a job, unless Belle proved to be too weak to rule a pack of Wolves.” Dave grimaced. “But Belle is friends with the Alpha, Curana, Beta and Beta female of the Halle Puma Pride, so she knew she’d have to come in and be the Luna in every sense of the word.”
“Which she did, in almost every way, except Gina found a way around it. Or so she thought.”
Steve held up his hand. “This is all very nice, but what does that have to do with Graciela being abused?”
“Gina thought Graciela was weak. Because of that, she…” Dave sighed. “She was alpha female. There wasn’t anything we could do to stop her.”
Ben leaned forward, cradling his drink between his hands. “Alpha females rule all the females unless an acknowledged Luna is present. That means what Gina said went, period. Unless it was proved she was being excessively abusive to the women under her command, Rick’s hands were tied.”
“So it was okay to be a little abusive? Is that what you’re telling me?” Oh, Steve did not like where this was going.
“As alpha female she was the one responsible for rewarding, and punishing, the females. So yes, in a way, it was considered okay. It was one of the reasons Rick wanted to bring Belle here. We needed a Luna, a female strong enough to stand up to Gina and force her to back down, to obey protocol, not just the letter of the law.”
“You’re losing the puny human, guys.”
“Gina beat the living hell out of Chela on a regular basis, okay?” Dave grunted when Ben elbowed him in the side. “What?”
“I thought Rick said Omegas were protected members of the Pack?” Steve was horrified. Who would beat up someone as sweet as Graciela?
And why would the strong woman he’d met, who’d forced him to face his fears with unwavering joy, allow it? Graciela was far from weak. She’d proven that more than once.
“She wasn’t Omega at the time.” Ben frowned. “Or rather, she was, but she hadn’t come into her power yet. It took the Luna to bring it out in her, and now—”
“Chela worships the ground Belle walks on.”
“Thank fuck you got Belle’s approval, Steve, or your ass would bounce as she tossed you down the mountain.”
“I’m not very bouncy, guys.”
They both looked at him with dead-serious expressions. “No, dude. That’s how hard Belle would have thrown you.”
Ben tried to fake-cough into his fist, but Steve heard the puny human loud and clear.
“So Graciela was abused and Belle saved her.” He still wasn’t sure what they were getting at, but he understood he had to take care with Graciela.
They exchanged another look. “Graciela would do anything for Belle.”
“Like roll-around-in-chocolate-pudding-naked anything?”
Ben blinked. “Um…”
Steve hid his grin. “Naked olive-oil wrestling?”
“Dude.” Dave gagged.
“How about—”
“NO!”
Both men shouted so loud his ears rang.
“Gah. Stop trying to gross out the gay men, would ya?” Dave shuddered and finished his cola. Ben had given Dave the stink-eye when the man went to grab a beer, and Dave had backed down without a sound. The vicious migraines he’d been experiencing for years were aggravated by alcohol, so Ben’s reaction made perfect sense to Steve.
Steve was having tequila shots. Hell, he wasn’t fucking Ben. He could drink whatever he wanted. And after the recent furry revelations, he’d needed a little alcoholic haze over everything.
Especially the snarly voice in his head that told him to hunt down this Gina person and rip her goddamn throat out.
With his teeth.
He took another swig of tequila, hoping to drown the voice out. Unfortunately the alcohol wasn’t having the effect he’d hoped it would.
“Steve?”
“Hmm?”
“You might want to lay off the booze, man.”
He eyed Dave blearily. Damn, that was some fine tequila. “Why’s that?”
“You’re growling.”
He picked up his glass, surprised when it was empty. See? This was why he didn’t drink. His glass always wound up empty. “Oh.” He laughed, afraid it sounded more like a giggle than anything. “Cool.”
The two men exchanged a look. “You’re happy that you’re growling?” Ben sounded surprised. “It means you’re turning.”
“Your fangs are showing too.” Dave was grinning as he put his arm on the back of Ben’s chair.
He poured another shot into his glass and raised it. “The better to protect you with, my dear.”
Chela was on cloud nine. She had her mate, she had her home, she was Omega of her Pack, and her life was damn near perfect. She was disgustingly cheery this morning, a fact Belle had pointed out with that vapid smile that had more than one grown man running from the room in total, abject fear.
But not Chela. Not today. No, today she was going to stay disgustingly cheerful no matter how much her Luna snarled. She’d been living with her mate for over a week, and things were blissfully happy between them. They talked, they laughed, and she’d even caught signs that his Wolf was beginning to emerge. Not much was going to get her down today.
Besides, Belle was happy for her. She could feel it, like bubbles in champagne. She’d have to check with Ben, see if Belle’s bad hip was bothering her again today.
Belle was the one who’d talked Rick into installing a heated pool and spa somewhere in the lodge. The exercises the Luna did eased her pain greatly, but even so, Ben had told her that Belle was always in some pain, that it never ended. Unfortunately, the doctor she’d been seeing, Jamie Howard, had lost his mate to a rogue shifter, nearly dying himself. Only the intervention of one of the local Bears had saved him, and rumor had it that the good doctor hadn’t thanked him for it.
Chela couldn’t imagine losing Steve, and she’d only known him for two weeks. The thought of losing him and surviving? She shuddered. It would be like trying to survive without your soul. She prayed that something happened before Dr. Howard lost himself to his emotional pain, or not even Rick would be able to stop him.
Steve was somewhere in the lodge, his scent faint but present. She grinned, hoping she’d be able to meet him for lunch. She had plans for Christmas for both of them, plans she wanted to hint around. She was hoping he liked what she had come up with, or she’d have to figure out how to live in New York.
No respectable Wolf wanted to live in New York. It was run by Coyotes.
Chela shuddered.
She scrunched up her nose at the thought of the New York Coyote Alpha and his relationship with Rick. The two had become friends, even going so far as to grant each other unlimited access to each other’s territory, but still.
Coyotes.
She followed the faint scent of her mate, the tantalizing odor becoming stronger and stronger as she approached Lowell’s restaurant. Damn it. He must be eating already. She peeked inside, hoping to join him.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her mate was there, all right.
And he wasn’t alone.
The blonde with him was curvy, with bright blue eyes and a smile that would send strong men to their knees. She was laughing at something Steve had said, her head back, the throaty sound causing more than one male gaze to flitter her way. For a split second, Chela imagined taking that wealth of blonde hair and holding on to it while she cut her damn head off and played soccer with it.