And third, she’d learned that she had zero tolerance for self-absorbed assholes with delusions of grandeur. Been there, done that, thank you very much.
Belle looked up and met Chela’s gaze. “Does Rick know any of this?”
Chela shook her head. “He’s been avoiding Gina ever since he realized what she was up to.”
“Up to?”
“Trying to forcibly become Luna.”
Belle tapped her nails on the wooden desk. “And how was she doing that?”
Chela hunched in on herself, becoming nervous. “By beating up the lesser females and surrounding herself with the strongest. Making sure she was the one who made the decisions normally made by the Luna, citing the fact that she’s the dominant female and Rick had no Luna.” Chela’s shoulders relaxed as she refocused on Belle. “At least, not until now.”
“And don’t you forget it.” Chela’s startled laugh was sweet. “So we need to deal with Gina, first and foremost.” Belle tried to discreetly squirm in her chair, but the pain in her hip was steadily growing. Looks like the Ibuprofen wore off again.
Chela frowned as Ben entered the office, a glass of milk in one hand and a small plate in the other.
“Luna. Chela.” He put the plate and glass on Belle’s desk with a smile. On the plate were two pain pills and some graham crackers. “Rick asks you to meet him for lunch, if your schedule permits.”
Belle smiled at Ben. “Thanks. I’ll meet him.” I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how formal the Woof-Woof set is.
“He also wanted to let you know there’s going to be a Pack meeting tonight. If you’re not back at the apartment by six, he asks that Chela escort you, as the meeting is at six thirty.”
Belle saw Chela nod to Ben before he smiled at both women and left. “If Ben knows you’re in pain, you can bet Rick does. You might want to take that.”
She’d forgotten that, as Marshall, Ben could feel the physical well being of each and every Pack member. He’d know quickly if her medication was wearing off, and knowing Rick, he was under orders to let him know if Belle was trying to hide her pain. Belle quickly took the medication. The last thing she needed was Rick breathing down her neck right now. “Okay.” She leaned forward, her expression intent. “You’re Pack. Born or made?”
“Born.”
“So you have a pretty good idea about what will get Gina to back off, right?”
Chela nodded. “Total annihilation.”
Belle was silent for a moment. “So talking things out diplomatically won’t work, huh?”
Chela ran her hands through her hair, a hopeless look on her face. “Gina Maldonado wants to be you.
She wants to be Luna, and she wants Rick. Always has, always will. If she can find a way to get rid of you without harming Rick, she’ll do it. If she has to share you with Rick, she’ll do it. And if she can kill you without it killing Rick, she will.”
“Oh.”
“I know things are different in the Prides.”
You think? In the Pride a female like Gina would have been Outcast long before now for her treatment of the “weaker” females. Not that any of the “weaker” females would have stood for it. They would have found many, many ways to make Gina’s life miserable…
“I know that grin. The Grinch gets that grin every Christmas on my TV.”
Belle motioned Chela closer. “I have a plan .”
“Does it have tweezers, very hot water, and Sea Breeze astringent in it?”
Belle waited, hoping Chela would explain what the hell she was talking about.
“Um. Never mind.”
“Oh, no. You can’t just let that one sit in my brain and percolate.”
Chela choked on a laugh. “My father made my mother very, very angry one day before he went to work on a big project.”
“Uh-huh. Men do that to women.”
“He called her from work and told her he was very sore after a long day, and that he wouldn’t be back until the next day.”
“Why not?”
“He works construction in New York, and the drive can be murder when you’re hurting. Anyway, he asked what he could do to soothe his muscles.”
“Oh, boy.”
“Yeah. She told him to take a very long, very hot shower, as hot as he could stand. Then, when he got out, he was to splash Sea Breeze all over his body.”
“But…that would…” Belle’s eyes widened as she realized exactly how much pain splashing astringent into wide open pores would be caused.
“Yeah. He had to sit in a cold tub for hours . He called her and cursed her in three different languages and didn’t come home for a month.”
“Didn’t that cause problems?” Now that she’d lived with Rick, even if it was only for a day, she couldn’t imagine spending a month away from him.
“Oh, yes, but his other mate went up and took care of him. Then she and Mom got into a fight—”
“Other mate?”
Chela gulped, and Belle wondered exactly what her expression looked like to make the previously friendly woman look wary. “Yes. It happens sometimes, that a Wolf finds he has two mates.”
Not my mate.
“It’s very rare, though, and unfortunately was the cause of a lot of my parents’ fighting.”
“Where are they now?”
“My mom lives in Santa Fe. My father and Brenda live in Texas.”
“So they don’t live together?”
Chela shrugged. “My father flies up to see my mom once a month. Now that they don’t have to live together, they actually get along fairly well. My mom doesn’t have to take care of him anymore; Brenda does all of that.”
“Huh.”
Belle started when she felt Chela’s hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about it, Luna. Rick has only one mate.”
Belle felt her anger drain away at Chela’s touch, felt the brush of the other woman’s power as it soothed her Puma. She looked at the other woman in wonder as the knowledge of what was going on moved through her with swift assurance. “You’re the Omega.”
Chela’s hand drew back, her expression startled. “What?”
What? How the hell… What the…
It was like knowing Rick’s eyes were blue, or that drinking water would quench your thirst, or that Gina Maldonado was a bitch in both senses of the word.
Belle bit her lip, wondering how to fix what she’d just blurted out. She knew she was right, but how to make Chela see it? “Trust me, nobody these days takes me from pissed to pleased with just one touch.”
“Not even Rick?”
She shook her head slowly, watching the other woman’s face carefully. Belle wasn’t certain how to make Chela see what was so clear to her. “Do me a favor, will you?”
“Sure.”
Chela still looked wary. She’d have to fix that. “I want you to think, really think, about how the Pack feels right now.”
Chela’s head tilted to the side and she frowned. “How the Pack feels?”
“Are they angry? Are they upset? Who’s fighting right now? Who’s in need of a shoulder to cry on?”
Chela’s brow furrowed.
“C’mon, Chela, I know you know the answer. I can feel it in you.” Belle felt something strange moving within her as she concentrated on Chela. “Tell me.”
And that something whipped out of Belle and wrapped around Chela, cocooning her in Belle’s strength.
Chela’s eyes blanked. “Gina is supremely pissed, and heading to the restaurant. Her flunkies are spoiling for a fight. Rick is distracted. Not sure why. Ben is…” Chela looked startled before a muffled laugh erupted. “Um. Not going there.”
Huh. Go Ben. “How does the Pack as a whole feel?”