Eddie’s Prize (31 page)

Laura? The motorcycle thug was named
Laura
? A flush crept up his cheeks. “I go by Lobo,” he muttered.

After everybody had shaken hands, Lobo smiled almost bashfully at Lisa. “You’re single, I hear.”

“I guess so.” She steeled herself to smile at him and let him down easy. “But to be honest, I’m not looking for anyone else.”

Lobo’s face showed bewilderment, and she realized he hadn’t been flirting. “Okay,” he said. “Do you still love him?”

Her chest hurt. “Yes, I do.”

Laura looked serious, and gentle, and sweet. For such a tough, muscular man, he did gentle and sweet very well. “Then why did you leave him?”

With the tears crowding her throat, she couldn’t answer. Taye reached and pulled her sleeve up, showing the bruises, a perfect outline of a man’s fingers, each tipped with a scab, dark against her pale skin. The gentle sweetness drained from Lobo’s face. The outrage that replaced it soothed Lisa even as it embarrassed her.

“Your husband did that to you?”

Lisa jerked her arm away from Taye and pushed her sleeve down. “It was an accident. He didn’t mean to.”

Light clicking of paws sounded in the hall behind them, and a small brown and white dog trotted up to Lobo. It growled, lip crinkling to show white teeth. Lobo nodded gravely. “The Beagle doesn’t like him either.”

Lisa’s struggle against tears failed. They poured down her face. “I don’t want to talk about him, I don’t want to see him. I don’t even want to
think
about him. I just want … oh, God, I don’t know what I want!”

Carla patted her. “Come on. You need to lie down and have some quiet for a while. Lobo, it’s nice to meet you. We’ll see you later.”

After Carla had gotten her settled into her bed, Lisa let the agonized tears out. She had mastered the art of crying without sound before she was old enough to go to high school, so though her mouth opened wide and her chest compressed with her misery, no audible wails or sobs came out. In the back of her mind she was proud of that. In the front of her mind, she mourned what she and Eddie could have had.

She loved him. In the past she’d thought she’d loved men. She’d thought she loved Brent deeply, but her feelings for Brent had been just on the surface. Her love for Eddie was sunk deep into her heart and soul. Eddie loved her, but not enough to trust her. The relationship they’d had was a good one, but she didn’t want a good relationship. She wanted a great one. If he was willing to share only a part of himself with her, then she wasn’t his full partner, not his full equal. Why should she settle for less?

There were plenty of men here that would be glad to marry her and share everything with her. With Taye acting as her male guardian and an entire pack of wolves for brothers, only the bravest of men would try to court her.

But she didn’t want any of them. She wanted Eddie.

* * * *

Taye watched his mate and her friend walk away. Over the past three months he’d seen Lisa and Eddie frequently, but had never understood their relationship. Lisa had been quiet, not putting herself forward, and Eddie had been over-protective and suspicious. Taye had a mate he loved and treasured, so he could relate to the protectiveness. What he didn’t get was why Madison treated his wife like a child who couldn’t be expected to behave properly in public. About a week ago they had visited the den, and the coolness between them at that point was clear.

When Carla asked if Lisa could live at the den if she left her husband, Taye had agreed right away. Not only was Lisa his mate’s best friend but he also hated to see a woman so unhappy. After observing the Madisons, Taye hadn’t been surprised when Lisa had shown up at the den last night asking for refuge. It had been only a matter of time before Eddie drove Lisa off. The wolves who had attended the Gala had returned full of furious indignation over the way Eddie had manhandled his wife and how she’d sat mostly alone for the rest of the night. They wanted to beat Madison to a pulp. They might get the chance now.

If Lisa didn’t want to see her former husband, Taye would ensure she didn’t. And the Pack would gladly help.

Taye went out the front door and strolled back to the gate, Snake on his right and Lobo on his left, and Tracker watching cold-eyed from the side of the door. Others of the Pack, in man form and wolf form, were scattered over the yard, watching closely. Eddie was still on the other side of the gate, pacing in small circles to keep warm. Taye could almost smell his impatience.

He stopped at the gate and let his disdain show in his face. “She doesn’t want to see you. She doesn’t want to talk to you. Go home, Madison.”

Madison’s face was set in hard lines.” I want to see my wife.”

Taye arched a brow. “Are you deaf? I spoke to her, and she was very clear that she didn’t want to see you. She didn’t want to talk to you. She didn’t want to even think about you.”

Eddie almost flinched, but he shrugged it off. “I want. To see. My
wife
,” he said again, through clenched teeth.

Snake pushed close to the gate. “She’s not your wife, asshole.”

Taye didn’t interfere. This language wasn’t like Snake. Few of the Pack used strong language like the townsmen did. Snake seemed to have appointed himself Lisa’s champion. Taye rolled the word “asshole” around in his mind for a moment before shrugging. It fit.

Eddie Madison wasn’t intimidated by Snake. Taye thought he looked like he wanted to tear the new fence down. “I need to see her.”

“Yeah?” Taye raised one brow. “Like I care what you need.”

Madison’s fingers clenched over the heavy chain links of the gate. “I need to see her. I need to make things right with her.” The desperate, yearning note in his voice almost made Taye waver. Then his tone turned demanding. “Just bring her out here.
Now
.”

Taye yawned as insultingly as possible. “If that’s the way you spoke to Lisa, I’m not surprised she repudiated you.”

Madison didn’t explode. Taye thought his control was impressive, considering the way his face reddened. “I demand to see Lisa.” His voice was almost calm. “’Give me ten minutes with her.”

Snake growled. “What do you want us to do? Grab her arm and drag her out?” His growl was audible as he thrust his chin out. “Maybe that’s how you would do it, but we don’t bruise women here.”

Lobo shifted on Taye’s other side. “Go away, bully-boy,” he said, “or I’ll let The Beagle at you. She tore the last man to hurt one of our women into pieces.”

Madison’s tired, angry eyes shifted from one to another of them. “What exactly are you hinting at?” His voice lifted in a snarl. “That I beat my wife?”

“Hinting?” Lobo’s voice rose. “I saw the bruises myself just now. That sweet woman said it was an accident. You didn’t mean to. You know what I think? I think that’s what a woman who’s afraid of the man who hurt her says.”

“I’ve never hurt Lisa!”

Taye slashed his hand down to keep Snake and Lobo back. “So how’d that bruise in the shape of a man’s hand get on her arm?”

Madison shook his head. “I’ve never hurt her,” he repeated, but there was a thread of doubt in his voice. “I love her.”

“Funny way of showing it,” Snake jeered.

“Go away, Madison.” Taye turned away from the gate.

A clang and rattle sounded when Madison kicked the fence. “Fine,” he called. “But tell her I love her. I’m coming back as often as I have to until she’ll see me!”

Snake spun back to the gate, but Taye grabbed his arm. “Let him go. It’s up to Lisa whether she’ll see him or not.”

“You know he should be dead. Lisa is Pack now, right? Any man who hurts one of our women dies.”

Lobo grunted agreement. Tracker, falling into step with them, nodded.

Taye gestured them to a halt before they went into the den. “Yeah, I’d agree too, but what if Lisa changes her mind? She said she still loves him.”

Snake growled “I won’t allow her to go back to him. Neither will my wolf.”

Laura huffed. “Your wolf has chosen her?”

“No!” yelped Snake. “I didn’t mean it like that. Last night at the party Lisa said I was her little brother. Don’t brothers look out for their sisters? That Madison is no good for her.”

Taye shook his head. “Lisa is an adult. We’ll let her decide what she wants.”

“What if Lisa decides to go back to him and he hurts her again?” Snake protested.

Tracker spoke quietly. “Then we kill him.”

* * * *

After her nap, Lisa went back to the rec room where the fire was warm. Sleeping in a bed alone was cold. Eddie had been warm to cuddle up to, and not just for sex. Lisa had grown up in Minnesota, and even with central heat she had always been cold. It was one reason she’d chosen to move to California. Without central heating, Lisa was perpetually shivering unless she was working in the kitchen or snuggled up to Eddie.

Eddie was no longer her heat source. Feeling alone, she nodded to the four men sitting on the floor playing a card game, walked to the chair by the fire, and dug her pathetic attempt at knitting out of the bag. When Carla had offered to teach her to knit, she’d said a scarf could be a good project because a few messed up stitches wouldn’t affect its warmth. Lisa held up the strip of knitting with a defeated sigh.

Tami, The Grandmother, and Rose came in just as she sighed.

“How is it coming?” Rose asked, as if it wasn’t obvious that Lisa was a failure as a knitter.

“Not so good.” Lisa’s smiled wobbled. “Maybe I’m just not destined to be a knitter.”

Rose nodded sympathetically. “It took me a while. You should see how my first project turned out.”

“Would you like to try rug braiding? I could show you that,” Tami offered.

Another little rug in her room would be nice to step on instead of the cold floor, Lisa decided. “Yes, that would be great.”

“We have an hour or so before supper. Let’s get started now.”

By supper time Lisa decided she wasn’t destined to be a rug maker either. Tami was a good teacher, but Lisa couldn’t seem to lay her fabric strips in the right order, and when she tried to stitch the resulting wonky braid to the previous coil, it wouldn’t lay flat.

“That’s okay,” Tami said encouragingly. “It takes time to master a craft.”

“I’m not very crafty.” Lisa sighed and went into the dining hall for supper. The dining hall at the den reminded her of the cafeteria in her junior high school. At one end was the service area, where she got a plate and silverware and stood in line to be served whatever the meal was. After her plate was loaded with a far too big portion of shepherd’s pie, she headed for the table where Taye and Carla sat.

Rose obligingly scooted her chair over to make room for Lisa. “You know, I think you might like to crochet,” she suggested. “It’s lots quicker than knitting, and there’s only one hook to hold instead of two needles. I can show you after supper.”

Lisa tried to sound enthusiastic. “Okay, let’s give it try.” She would suck at that too, but it was better than thinking about Eddie and crying.

But she didn’t suck at it. For some reason, using a hand-carved wooden hook to pull a loop of yarn through another loop of yarn made sense to Lisa. Rose sat close to Lisa by the fire in the rec room, with Carla strumming her guitar lazily on the other side of the fire and Snake sitting on the floor beside Lisa’s chair. Lisa glowed with the satisfaction of success as she held the beginning of a granny square up for everyone to see.

“It’s only three rounds so far, and it’s a little crooked, but I did it!” she proudly proclaimed. “What can I do with it?”

She remembered a photograph of her mother as a child wearing a white turtleneck under a hideous granny square vest in avocado green and harvest gold.

“Not a vest!” she said, with only half-joking horror. “Ewww!”

Rose laughed. “No, but you could make a bunch of squares and sew them together to make an afghan.”

Lisa made a face. “Sewing?”

The Grandmother woke from one of her frequent dozes. “Or just keep going and make one big granny square.”

That would be warm. “Do we have enough yarn?”

The Grandmother pursed wrinkled lips. “We have plenty. The great thing about granny squares is that they can use up scraps. Even a yard of yarn can be used. You know, these days nothing goes to waste. We can’t afford to throw out scraps. Snake, go fetch the bag of yarn from the cabinet in the Lupa’s room. If that’s okay, Carla?”

Lisa went back to making careful double crochets in the spaces Rose showed her. This was fun! When Snake set the large canvas bag next to her, she eagerly dove in to see what colors she could find. There was dozens of balls of yarn, some big and some tiny, all fascinating.

Snake hovered close. “How about this one?” He held up a ball of lavender wool and then a dark bright purple. “These go together. And this pink one too.”

More and more men came into the rec room to sprawl on the floor or hang around Carla. Lisa recognized the bald-headed man, Laura. Er, Lobo. He sat against the wall close to where Tracker sat working with a chisel and a small piece of stone. Tami was braiding fabric strips for her rug. Laura’s dog was dashing from one man to the next, begging for affection, with her tongue hanging out until she finally collapsed on Carla’s foot. Taye shoved the dog away to make room for himself on the floor. He smiled at Lisa’s eager treasure diving.

“I like that bright yellow,” he commented. “It goes good with the purple.”

“You must be a Vikings fan,” Lisa laughed.

She laughed again at his blank expression and arranged her yarn by color. This was the happiest Lisa had felt in a long time.

Taye nodded to Lobo. “Lobo has news from the Clan.”

Laura cleared his throat. “The best of news. Wolf’s Shadow and his mate Glory will be parents sometime in August.”

Werewolves could raise the roof when they were excited. They leaped to their feet and howled a feral chorus of joy. Lisa suppressed a pang. She had just finished her period before the Gala. She and Eddie hadn’t been together since then. A baby would have complicated things, but she still felt regret.

Snake sat back down and leaned against her knee. For a second Lisa was afraid he was flirting with her, but his boyish face held only enthusiasm. “A baby!” he said happily. “Isn’t that great?”