CHAPTER 19

Jasson shook his head. "He might be pissed off and wish things had happened differently, but it's like Angelina said. He'll be worried I'll defeat him and make him look weak to the rest of his pack. He recognised that my wolf was more dominant than his."

"And the alliance? Do you think we have any chance of getting it?"

Jasson looked at her. "What do you think?"

"I'd say yes," she said. "I saw the look on his face when you asked if an alliance with you wouldn't have meant anything to him. It gave him something to think about."

Daniel tilted his head at her. "He'll switch loyalties that easily from Reynald to Jasson?"

"As long as he gets an alliance with a powerful Guardian out of this, he'll be content. Give it a few weeks for him to finish sulking and he'll make contact, wanting us to meet up. I'll put money on it."

"You're that confident?"

"He's that fickle."

"Well, we'll know for sure on Sunday," said Jasson. "If he comes along with Reynald, he's stating that he allies himself with him, no matter the outcome."

"Do you think Reynald will come as soon as he realizes you've mated Angelina?" asked Daniel.

"Yep. What time's he due to arrive on Sunday?" Jasson asked her.

"Early in the morning."

"Greta's not due back 'til after lunch. She'll be disappointed she missed the confrontation."

"Actually she called earlier to say she'd be arriving in the morning," Trick informed him.

"Greta?" Angelina was glad that none of the possessiveness and jealousy had leaked into her voice. Her wolf snapped to alertness, wondering at the mystery female.

"Grandmother," explained Jasson.

Angelina didn't like the way he was grinning. It said he was aware of her wolf's immediate response to him having said another female's name with such familiarity. She shot him what she knew was a petulant scowl. He laughed silently.

"She doesn't go out much," said Daniel, "but occasionally she goes to stay with her sister who mated into another pack. I think she might be hoping to try and secure an alliance between that pack and ours. It could have been done a long time ago but Jasson was never interested in making them until now."

"Does the Guardian of that pack have many alliances?"

"Not really, but it would be more than what we have now."

"Then I guess it's a good thing my dad's so fickle." Sighing, she smoothly slid off the countertop. "Where's my bag?"

"Jasson's room," Thom told her, his tone unwelcoming. "It's the same room you woke up in last time you were here."

Daniel gestured with his hands as he spoke. "Just take a left at the end of this tunnel. You then need to take your second left after that. Then go straight until you come to a junction and take a right."

When her eyes flicked to his, Jasson thought he might have seen hesitation there. "Go anywhere else and I'll just hunt you down and drag you to bed."

She rolled her eyes. "Easy there, Flinstone."

"Flinstone?"

"If you're Guardian of a place like this, you're Fred Flinstone. I have no intention of hiding from you. You're mistaking me for one of your submissive Jane's. That's not to say there won't be some struggling involved if you expect to get in that bed with me."

"I'll be following you there in about twenty-minutes. We'll let the struggling commence then. But, what with your wolf riding you so hard to complete the mating, I can't see you struggling that much."

"Ah, so you're a resident of La La Land. I bet you're Sultan there too." The sound of Daniel's throaty laugh followed her out of the kitchen.

Damn if psycho boy hadn't been right about her wolf's eagerness though. It wasn't just that her wolf craved the feeling of his body possessing hers. The drive to consummate the claiming also had a lot to do with her wolf being anxious that the mating was incomplete. Being back inside Jasson's bedroom where his scent was overbearing made her wolf a little less restless, but still she didn't like being separated from her male. Not while the mating was half-finished.

Opening the door at the opposite side of the room, she found herself in the most amazing en-suite bathroom. She very much liked the look of the all-glass corner shower, but the masterpiece was the square, spacious bath. It was so humungous you needed to climb a few steps before you could get into it. Unfortunately she didn't have time for a leisurely soak, so corner shower it was.

A thought struck Angelina as she entered the shower…It was well known that mates found it uncomfortable to be apart for the first few months. Would that apply to her and Jasson or would they be spared that because they weren't true mates? She suspected that, in any case, things would always be more trying for her and Jasson due to how both their wolves constantly reached for the surface.

If it was going to be really uncomfortable then that could prove a problem. Although she hadn't known Jasson for very long, she had picked up that he wasn't a touchy-feely person. For shifters, touch was a need. It was as basic as eating and breathing. But Jasson didn't seem to experience that craving, or had conditioned himself to ignore it somehow. Yes, he had slid his hands all over her at the club, but that had been for the purpose of their 'true mate' act. The second they were in the Toyota he had released her and he hadn't touched her since. He always seemed to sit apart or stand apart from the others. If this continued while they were mated, it would be damn hard for their wolves.

As she stepped out of the corner shower she wrapped a thick white towel around herself and went back into the bedroom, all the while ignoring the way her stomach was clenching at the mere thought of having Jasson inside her. Not Jasson as her mate, but Jasson as the man who had an overwhelming effect on her body merely by looking at her.

It was no wonder that he had always reeled in females with little effort. Not that there would be any more reeling. A split second later she realized just how much possessiveness had been in that one thought, and she had to roll her eyes.

Hearing a low growl, Angelina slowly turned her head. Closing the bedroom door was Jasson, staring at her with such heat in his eyes that she sucked in a breath.

"You have tattoos," he all but growled. Jasson had never really thought of them as sexual but the sight of them on Angelina's body had his cock throbbing. He couldn't decide which he liked best, the anklet or the howling wolf on her shoulder.

She grinned wickedly. "So I do."

All Jasson wanted right then was to trace both with his tongue, but he doubted he'd have the self-restraint to take things nice and slow when his lust for her was like a fever in his blood. His wolf was eager to come inside her – another way to mark his mate. But both he and his wolf knew that this was about more than just consummating the claiming. Angelina needed to acknowledge, accept, and admit that she was his mate.