Chapter Eleven
Dominic
It wasn’t necessary to turn and see how unbelievable Olivia looked when she walked out of the bedroom; her smooth bare legs leading teasingly to what her t-shirt was barely covering up. He saw enough out of the corner of his eye that Dominic knew if he turned to look at her fully, there’d be no way he could stop himself from wanting her.
But that was exactly what he was going to have to do. Atticus wasn’t going to release him of his duty of protecting Olivia, and with that soft silky tone in her voice, she wasn’t going to let him off easily either. It was going to be up to Dominic to stop anything more from happening. Just the scent of her in the room was enough to rile his wolf inside. He took deep breaths as he sat on the couch trying to clear his mind and calm his insides.
When that didn’t work and seemed to only make things worse, he had made that excuse about being gone for the day to patrol. He had heard that there was going to be a meeting at Atticus’ but Dominic hadn’t exactly been invited to attend. Instead, he’d heard a couple of men in the pack talking about it that morning on his way back to his own cabin. It was the perfect way to get out of Olivia’ presence without making it obvious. The bit about needing to patrol the woods had just been to be extra cautious. By the time he came back, he hoped he’d be so exhausted that she would just leave him alone for the night.
But what was he to do tomorrow? And the next day? How was he supposed to continually avoid her when his main job was to protect her?
With his mind made up to leave for the day, Dominic had stood and caught his first full sight of her for the day. Her mussed hair, the little bit of redness on her chin and cheeks from the stubble that had rubbed her raw the night before while they kissed. And as he had suspected from that first glimpse he’d gotten of her, that tiny t-shirt that barely covered her, was a sight that no man or wolf could ignore.
It took every bit of strength to look away from her before they had a repeat performance of the night before.
Before he could escape from her and make it to the door, her words cut through him like a knife. He couldn’t fight her, he couldn’t find the strength in him to lie, but he wasn’t able to tell her the truth either. As much as he wanted to push her away to ensure he doesn’t ruin his last chance of being in a pack, he hated the tone in her voice. The words that came out like venom. She meant nothing to him and he was just going to love her and leave her like the others. That was how it’d been with the others, but it was the hurt in her voice that was killing him. Loving and leaving was the last thing he wanted to do to her. In fact, if he wasn’t risking everything, he’d have loved her right there again in the middle of the living room.
But that wasn’t an option, not unless he wanted to be removed from the pack and sent off to live the rest of his life as a lone wolf. Instead of arguing with her, which would have been completely useless, he left the cabin and let himself shift out in the woods. Being around Olivia was far too much for him to handle and the only way to breathe was to be wolf. The other way to breathe was to be with her, but that was not an option, so he’d have to settle for sending himself out on his own.
Rather like a lone wolf anyway.
Dominic didn’t stray far and kept close to the cabins, he told himself it was in order to see when the other pack members were going to Atticus’, but he knew the real reason was he wanted to make sure that Olivia was alright in the cabin. Though he had told her that the dangers only lurked at night, he couldn’t have been positive about that fact. There was nothing that he wanted less than to have anything happen to Olivia, and not just because Atticus was counting on him.
When he saw the other men going towards Atticus’ cabin, Dominic shifted and dressed from the clothes in his pack and followed them inside. If Atticus was surprised to see Dominic walking into his own cabin instead of glued to Olivia’s side protecting her, he hid it well and didn’t say a word. It was only fair, Dominic figured, that he be kept informed of what was going on if he was part of the protection.
“I’m glad you’ve all came so I can keep you up to date on what has been happening.”
When Atticus’ voice cut through the chatter of the other men, they quieted instantly to listen to his words.
“As you all know, these attacks have been getting more gruesome as they have gone on and there have been many rumors about what exactly is going on. Well, I’ve got it in great confidence that we now know who is behind them and how they take place.”
Dominic stood by a window in the living room, in perfect position to catch a glimpse of his own cabin and make sure that no one was anywhere near Olivia.
“I had a visitor— a survivor of one of the packs. He was badly hurt, almost didn’t make it through, but as soon as he regained his strength he made it a mission to warn other packs in the hopes of sparing lives. He came to me last night and has already begun traveling again.”
It was so silent in the cabin that Dominic could have heard a mouse crawl as the shifters held their breath and waited to hear what he was going to say next.
“We were right in our assumptions. The attacks are being done by poachers, but it’s not just one group. It seems there is an underground competition happening, the group of poachers get the biggest catch by causing the most destruction to a pack. Each group has one chance to attack a pack. As it goes on, the poaching groups get better at attacking, devising more elaborate plans to strike each time. No group has been able to kill the Alpha family but apparently that is worth a great deal in the competition. They come in the night and pillage the packs. They stop at absolutely nothing.”
Dominic could feel a shiver run through his body. Capturing not only the Alpha but the family was the goal, so Atticus had been right; Olivia was in great danger.
“At no time are any of us to let our guard down until we find a way to put an end to this. Is that clear?”
Atticus’ voice was stern and each of the men mumbled that they were clear on the direction. Even for a pack that consisted solely of the biggest and strongest men in the kingdom, they were all feeling unsure and nervous over what was happening.
“This is our pack and I have no intention of losing it to disgusting humans who are using our deaths as a sport. If and when there is an attack made on us, we are to stop at nothing to keep ourselves safe.”
He looked at each of the men one by one, stopping a second longer on Dominic than the rest of them. Shifters held a very strict rule to never kill a human, but Atticus was telling them that rule was off. They were to do whatever they had to in order to keep them safe.
“The pack comes first, all of us. Am I making myself clear to everyone?”
Again, each of the men agreed with the Alpha’s words.
“Good. Make sure that at night fall you are all in your cabins and are ready to fight at a moment’s notice.”
The pack took turns asking whatever questions came to mind, but Dominic wasn’t listening too much. He was feeling sick to his stomach and wanted to make sure that Olivia was alright. He’d deal with his inner wolf pacing and find a way to keep himself in check if it meant he could keep her safe.
“If there’s no other questions then I suggest you all get home to your cabins. The sun is setting, and I wanted everyone inside by the time the moon is up. Talk to your families, make sure they know to stay inside as well.”
Once again Atticus looked at Dominic, he knew that meant he was well aware of Olivia’s attempts at escaping. Just as he vowed earlier in the day to not let himself fall deeper for her, he also vowed to not let her out of his sight again.