Chapter 5

Dani insisted that he put her down, despite his protests and then she hobbled on one leg over to the living room couch where her mother had been laying since she left at a little before eleven that morning. The TV was blaring, and Dani turned it down, as she surveyed the dimly lit room, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks and refusing to look back over her shoulder at Alpha West.

The room was neat, Dani made sure of that. There was a couch that was threadbare and worn. It had come out west with her father when he had moved out from Texas, which meant that it was quite a bit older than Dani. On either side of the couch was a chair, and each of those had an afghan thrown over it to cover how worn they had been after decades of use.

The coffee table in front of the couch was littered with bottles of medication. There was a plate with a half eaten piece of pizza remaining on it, and a half filled glass of water next to it. Dani had also left a full pitcher or water on the coffee table, hoping her mom would drink more water during the day, even though Dani knew that she wouldn't.

"Momma, I'm home. I'm sorry I'm late. You need to wake up." Dani's voice was soft as she hopped across the room, kneeling down next to her mother, and gently rubbing her shoulder until she woke up. There you go, sit up. You didn't even finish that piece of pizza today. And I left the dinner that I'd gotten for you in the fridge at work. Let me get you something from the kitchen after you take these."

Clara Beth shook her head and Dani frowned in response. "Andraste Daniella Marie. Your Mama can take care of herself. Burnell was over here earlier and he brought me take out and visited with me for a while."

"Mama, no." Dani began to search around the couch frantically.

"Dani Mae. You are not my mother." Clara Beth sat up, swaying gently, her dark hair a cloud around her face. The sharp odor of whiskey finally hit Dani, who was surprised she hadn't noticed it sooner.

"Mama, you know you can't drink that with your medicine. Burnell doesn't understand. None of your friends do. But I am trying to help you get better."

"I am fine Dani Mae." The words came out slurred and Dani sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair back from her Mama's forehead. This night felt like it would never end.

"Mama. Here." She was already sorting pills into the palm of her hand with a practiced air. She could feel Luca's eyes on her from where he was standing on the other side of the room. "Take these."

"I don't need pills Dani Mae." Dani reached out her arm and steadied her mother when it seemed like she might fall over.

"Mama, if you don't take these tomorrow you're going to feel really sick. Remember last time you missed them? You were throwing up for half the day and you had the worst headache. These aren't the sort of pills you can just stop taking like nothing. So here. Please Mama. For me?" She met her mother's eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when she took them and swallowed them quickly, with a gulp of water before collapsing back into the couch.

"You bringing men home now, Dani Mae?" Her mother said in a loud voice, as Dani reached under her pillow and found the bottle that Burnell had left with her, quickly slipping it away. "I thought you only fucked around, around town. Is

that Kent? You reach high baby girl, fucking the Alpha's third in comma-"

"Mama." Dani cut her off, as she heard a low growl come from Luca where he was still standing near the door. She supposed she should invite him and introduce him to her mother, but she really didn't want to. She kept hoping that if she ignored it long enough the entire situation would just cease to exist.

Couldn't this all be a bad dream?

"Mama. I met my mate tonight. I will introduce you to him in the morning, after you sleep off everything you had tonight with Burnell. No more talking. You need rest. In the morning I have big news for you." Limping over to a basket of quilts that was tucked away off one side of the couch Dani scooped one up and carefully tucked it around her mother's legs and waist.

She watched as her mother rolled so her back was towards Dani and the living room, and finally Dani rose and hobbled back over towards Alpha West, taking a deep breath as she avoided meeting his eyes.

"You sure you want to stay here?" He whispered when she finally reached him.

"I am. But you really don't have to stay. Go back to your hotel. I'll still be here in the morning." She motioned to her leg. "I'm not going anywhere."

He trailed his finger tips down her arm, smiling as he watched her bite her lip in response. "No. I just found you.

I'm not going anywhere. Lead the way to your bedroom, Andraste."

She stopped and turned towards him. "No. No one calls me that except my mom. Yes, it's my full name, but it's Dani for everyone else. Including you, Alpha West."

"Yes, ma'am." He said with a smile. Slipping one arm around her waist, he took on the bulk of her weight so that she wasn't using her leg nearly as much. She could see in his eyes that he had been worrying about her as she hopped around the living room, taking care of her mom.

Self consciously she led him through the tiny kitchen that led to her bedroom near the back of the house.

It was small. Her double bed, with it's sky blue sheets and comforter, took up almost the entire room. There was a small desk in the corner, where she had studied before she finished high school, and a fan on the ceiling, because the house wasn't air conditioned. Going to the window she pushed it open, and he noticed the black steel bars on the outside, before she pulled the blinds down to meet the top of the box window fan that was set up against the bottom of the window frame.

Dani disappeared into the small walk in closet and pulled a string to illuminate the bare lightbulb that was attached to the wall just inside of the door. "Make yourself comfortable I guess," she said with a shrug, as if what she was suggesting was not actually possible. "I need to get changed." She squeezed into the tiny closet and shut the door behind her, shimmying out of her uniform and putting it back on its hanger before grabbing a pair of blue basketball shorts and a black tank top. She let her bra fall to the ground, too tired to bother picking it back up.

Finally she turned and limped back out into the room.

Luca had taken off his shirt and was laying back on her bed, his shoes kicked off and his arms behind his head like a pillow. She raised her eyebrows, he had certainly taken the invitation to make himself comfortable literally.

And of course, he was every bit as deliciously perfect as she could have wished him to be. He had abs she could have washed her laundry on, and a perfectly chiseled chest. His shoulders were broad, and as muscular as just about every other part of his body.

I bet women throw themselves at him constantly, she thought to herself, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. The idea did cause a pang of jealousy to shoot through her, but she pushed it away. No. She was not going to be like that. She wasn't going to get sucked in to having feelings for him. She needed to keep her head in the game if she was really going to make an escape, eventually.

"This bed would be a lot more comfortable with you in it." Even his voice affected her in ways that she couldn't control. Stepping carefully back into the room as she pulled the light string to turn the closet light off, put her directly next to the bed. There was a light outside near enough to her window that her room was never truly dark, and so she could still see him clearly.

Dani slid onto the bed uneasily as she slowly let her hair down, shaking it free of the elastic that had been holding it up all day at work, so that it fell around her shoulders in gentle waves. If he wasn't her mate she realized, glancing over at him, she would have been all over him. The realization, and the absurdity of the entire situation, of having this Alpha in her tiny bedroom, on her tiny uncomfortable bed, struck her quite suddenly, and as Dani lay back, careful to keep as much distance between Luca and herself as she possibly could, she felt laughter erupt from her chest.

"What's so funny," he said with a smile, turning onto his side to face her and moving a bit closer to her in the process.

She shook her head and sighed, but was too tired to think of a lie. "I was just thinking that if you weren't my mate, I would already be fucking you."