Defying Pack Law by Eve Langlais Page B

liver
disease about three years after you left. He can’t hurt you
anymore.”
    Dana had speculated on what had
happened to her father over the years she’d lived in hiding, woken
up more than once in a cold sweat thinking he’d found her and
brought his thick leather belt. She’d also asked herself many a
time how she’d feel if he died. With Nathan’s announcement, she
queried her emotions—and felt . . . nothing. Wait, that’s not true. I’m glad that miserable
bastard died.
    “ Well, that’s the first bit of good
news I’ve heard,” she announced a tad too brightly.
    “ Dana—” Nathan reached to grab her,
but she spun away from him. She didn’t need comforting.
    “ I’m fine, Nathan.”
    “ I know you guys didn’t always get
along, but it’s okay to mourn him.”
    Dana gaped at him. “Didn’t get along? The man
was a sick pig. Remember how your dad used to beat you? Well guess
what? So did mine.”
    Nathan frowned. “What are you talking about? I
know he was strict, but I would have remembered seeing
bruises.”
    Dana laughed, the shrill sound a little crazed.
“My father knew better than to mark a female Lycan where others
would see. Even a dormant one. He did it where people wouldn’t see,
using his fists or his belt depending on his mood. A shirt and
pants cover backs and asses. It didn’t make his abuse any less
real.”
    The pity in Nathan’s eyes made her want to cry.
“I didn’t know.”
    “ And so what if you had? What would
you have done?”
    “ Killed him,” he said in a dark
voice.
    “ Too late. The alcohol beat you to
it. So, now maybe you understand why I think the world is a better
place now that he’s gone. Thanks for making my day. Now, I’m
starved. Where’s the food? I assume you Neanderthals ordered
in.”
    “ Did anyone ever tell you that you
are a feminist? Just because we’re men doesn’t mean we can’t handle
ourselves in a kitchen.” John’s soothing voice from behind her
somehow sucked some of her anger away. The
man is like walking Prozac.
    Dana turned to see John enter the living room
brandishing a wooden spoon. She couldn’t help but smile at him,
thankful for his timely interruption. “Oh please, don’t tell me
you’re a doctor and you cook?”
    John brandished the spoon with mock menace,
then smiled sheepishly. “Actually, I just stir. Nathan there is the
true chef, while Kody is the pastry king.”
    Dana pivoted back to Nathan, who shrugged. “I
needed a hobby to occupy me when you left. Apparently I can’t bash
heads in every day.”
    Dana shook her head. Nathan just kept
surprising her, and reminded her just how little she’d truly known
about him. Actually, how little they’d known about each
other.
    Kody, who’d made it down the stairs, if
somewhat ashen-faced, waved at her and even managed a
smile.
    Chagrin enveloped her, especially when she
realized he wasn’t going to yell at her for hurting him so bad.
“I’m sorry. Instincts, you know.” She shrugged and gave him a small
smile.
    “ Forget it, darling. As one of your
chosen, I count myself lucky because I know you held back from
causing permanent damage. Although, if you insist on kissing it
better, I won’t argue.”
    Dana’s mouth rounded into an O of surprise, and before
she knew it, she’d grabbed a carved figurine from a side table and
whipped it at Kody, who caught it without batting an
eye.
    “ I hope we get this mating thing
over with quick because I’m beginning to doubt my ability to
survive the courtship,” Kody said, turning the statue over in his
hands.
    Dana knew the right thing at that moment was to
tell Kody, and even John, for that matter, that she had no
intention of taking any of them as a mate, including Nathan, but
she didn’t want to. Not just yet at least.
    She didn’t want to analyze her reasons too
closely, but one thing became glaringly obvious. This was the most
fun she’d had in years. Even stranger, even though she had three
Lycans vying