Wicked Cravings (The Phoenix Pack #2)(79)
Author: Suzanne Wright

Grace looked at her mate oddly from where they were sat on the sofa. “Why? You never picked up on Trey and Taryn.”

“I did, I just hadn’t said anything.”

“Sure you did, honey.” Turning to Jaime and Dante, she smiled. “I had a feeling you guys would imprint, but this is even better.”

Lydia’s smile was ever wider. “A birth and a mating all in one day. How awesome is that?”

“When do you want the mating ceremony to take place?” asked Grace excitedly.

“You have to let me help with it,” insisted Lydia as she leaned forward in Cam’s lap. It was tradition for the other members of the pack to arrange most of the ceremony.

Cam sighed, which earned him a cautioning look from his mate. “I won’t lie and say I don’t still have my worries about Jaime’s wolf,” he said, looking between Jaime and Dante, “but I am happy for you guys.”

Greta huffed. “An insane jezebel as a Beta female? Ludicrous.”

“Yet true, so suck it up, Grandma Grinch,” said Jaime with a sweet smile.

Tao gave Jaime a mock frown. “I guess this means I can’t bitch at you anymore, since you outrank me.”

Ryan nudged Tao with his elbow. “One word: karma.” He then turned to Jaime and Dante.

“Congratulations.”

“Gorgeous, you could do so much better than him,” Marcus told Jaime. Predictably, Dante responded with a low growl. That pleased Marcus so immensely that his clown-wide smile surfaced.

“Congratulations to both of you,” said Trick. “You two getting together was always going to happen, even if you weren’t true mates.”

When Dominic saw that Jaime and Dante’s attention was on him, he shrugged. “What can I say? You’ve shattered my dreams. Jaime, are you really going to ignore this chemistry we have?”

“Dominic,” bit out Dante, giving him a warning shake of the head.

“Come on, you can’t blame me for being attracted to her. Look at that body and those entrancing eyes and that beaming smile.”

“Dominic, seriously, don’t do it.”

Naturally, he ignored Dante. “I swear, when she smiles it lights up the entire room like a candle in the dark.” He winked at Jaime. “Let’s go upstairs and prove it.” His eyes widened as Dante suddenly dove at him. Quickly the pervert darted out of the way, laughing, as Dante chased him out of the room and down the tunnels.

“Boys.” Jaime sighed.

“I don’t know what either of them sees in you anyway.” Greta huffed.

Jaime gave her a sweet smile. “If you don’t stop bothering me, I’m going to fart and watch with glee as you pass out from the smell.” She switched her attention to Gabe, Hope, and Shaya, who were now beside her.

Hope gave her a respectful nod. “Congratulations. You make a good couple. Thank you for being happy for Gabe and me.”

Jaime shrugged, smiling. “You make him happy.” That was all that was important to Jaime.

“You’re looking very pleased with yourself,” she said dryly to her brother.

“I told you he adored you.” He kissed her cheek. “He didn’t have to claim you, Jaime, but he did. He could have walked away, but he didn’t.”

That made her think of someone else. Someone who had been very quiet—an usual thing for Shaya. It struck Jaime that hearing about other people mating might be too painful for her.

Shaya must have known what she was thinking, because she dragged her to the side as she told her quietly, “Don’t you dare think I’m not happy for you, okay? I’m so thrilled for you and Dante.

Both of you deserve to be happy.”

Sensing that she was being truthful, Jaime relaxed a little. “I felt what the urge to claim was like. God, Shaya how do you do it?”

“It’s not easy.”

“Are you still thinking of leaving?” It was the last thing Jaime wanted her to do, but she could truly understand why Shaya might feel that she had to.

She shrugged. “Maybe I won’t have to. He hasn’t been here for a while. Maybe he’s planning to stay away now. God, I hope so.”

“Is it easier when he’s away from you?”

“Not easier where the urge to claim is concerned. But it’s easier here.” She placed her hand over her heart.

“If it makes you feel any better, he’s going through the same pain. I saw it on his face that day in the tattoo parlor.”

“Emotional pain and physical pain are two different things. I’m not saying that I love him or anything. I don’t know him. But when your own mate doesn’t want you or even acknowledge you…

that’s pain.”

Now that she was mated, Jaime could imagine exactly how that felt. That evening as she lay naked on top of Dante, with him still semihard inside her, she said, “I’m not sure that Trey will be as happy for us as the others have been.” They still hadn’t seen the Alphas, who were both spending quality time with their new arrival.

“Yes, he will.” Dante paused in doodling on her back with his fingers and kissed her hair. “I know he will. He gave me his blessing when he knew I wanted to imprint on you.” Startled, she lifted her head to meet his gaze. “You wanted to imprint on me?”

“Obviously.”

“But…after what Bitch Face did—”

He put a finger to her lips. “That was all a long time ago, and yes, I’d stayed clear of relationships because I didn’t want to go through that again. But I knew you were nothing like her.

You don’t play games”—kiss to her forehead—“you’re not self-absorbed”—kiss to her cheek —“you’ve got a big heart”—kiss to her lips—“and you’re loyal to the bone.”

“And I’m broken.”

“Hey, what have I told you? You’re not broken. Don’t say that. You wouldn’t have agreed to imprint, would you?”

“Only because I don’t want you to be hurt. If we’d imprinted and Trey asked me to leave, you would have had to break the bond. I knew you wouldn’t want to go through that a second time, and I wouldn’t have wanted you to.”

“I’m glad she did what she did. I never thought I’d say that, but it’s true, because I wouldn’t be mated to you right now if she hadn’t.” He studied her through narrowed eyes. “You would have left me, wouldn’t you?” She didn’t look even the slightest bit guilty about it. “I would have hunted you down.”