December

Belle picked up the little hand-held computer Rick had sent her and smiled. She’d only been out of thehospital for a little over a month, but he text-messaged or called every single day without fail. He’d evenset up the chat program for her. She’d laughed when she saw the handles he’d given them both.

BgBdWlf837:How’s my Luna today?

She started typing on the miniscule keyboard. The concentration helped with the pain, sometimes.

BellaLuna1345:So-so. Therapy was a bitch. No pun intended. I think my therapist was trainedpersonally by the Marquis de Sade in a previous life. You?

BgBdWlf837:Work work work.

Something he very rarely discussed. One of these days she was going to nail his ass down and find outwhat he did for a living.

BgBdWlf837:You get my Christmas present?

She smiled as she thought of the present he’d sent. A beautiful aqua silk scarf, a pair of diamondearrings, and a thin gold chain had been in the exquisitely wrapped present. Knowing men the way shedid, she wondered who he had buy the gifts, or if he’d actually bought them himself.

BellaLuna1345:Yes. Beautiful. Thanks. You get mine?

She’d sent him a watch. On the face was a howling wolf. She’d had it custom made by a friend of hers,who’d done the work for cost or she’d never have been able to afford it.

BgBdWlf837:Yes! Love it! Wearing it now.

That made her grin, even if he was lying through his teeth.

BgBdWlf837:Let me know if I need to come down there and rip the gonads off your PT, k? Andkeep that pussy Beta away from you.

Belle rolled her eyes. He had a real thing against Simon. She wondered who’d told him about her pastrelationship with the Pride’s Beta.

BellaLuna1345:Down, boy. Sit. Good dog. Goooood dog.

BgBdWlf837:ROFL

BgBdWlf837:Merry Christmas, my Luna.

She couldn’t help the big smile. Just seeing his name brightened her day in a way she couldn’t explain. Those times when they actually spoke on the phone were the best, though. Then she could hear thatdeep, rough voice soothing the aches and pains of not just her injury, but her near-shunning.

BellaLuna1345:Merry Christmas, Fido.

Not that she would lethim  know that, off course.

He might be her mate, but she could still play hard-to-get.

January

“Wow, you’re cranky today.” Belle put the phone between her ear and shoulder and scratched blissfully at her arm. The cast had finally come off and she could reach that damn spot that had been bothering her for eight long weeks.

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh, I dunno. The fact that you growled at me, maybe?”

“Oh. That.”

“Simon is mated, Rick. He’s also my Beta. I have to talk to him sometimes.”

“You may have to talk to him, but I don’t have to like it.”

“Really? Huh.” His chuckle was music to her ears. Her gasp of pain as she shifted in her chair, apparently, was not music to his ears. “Don’t growl at me, there’s nothing I can do about it. Besides, you’re the one who agreed to go back north until the doctor releases me for Lunatic duty.”

“Belle.”

She sighed as the pain subsided. It was so tempting to reach for the morphine when the pain got thisbad, but she wouldn’t. Jamie was right; she’d become too dependent on it. They’d mutually decided sheshould go on Ibuprofen instead, counting on her Puma metabolism to get the drug out of her system asquickly as possible.

The night she went off the morphine she’d chosen to text Rick first, not wanting him to hear thewithdrawals she was going through. She kept it short, merely telling him she was having a bad day andshe’d speak to him the next night. He’d responded, but he hadn’t sounded happy. The next night herphone rang before the physical therapist was even done seeing her. That had been two weeks ago.

“I’m fine, Rick. The cast on my arm came off today.”

“Good!”

“Yeah, I can finally scratch.”

“And we all know how much cats like to scratch?”

“Very funny, Fido. Har har. Peed on any hydrants lately?”

“In this weather? Are you nuts? I’d be glued to the damn thing until the spring thaw.”

She laughed out loud, the first one in over a week.

“Now that is the sweetest sound.”

That rough, rich voice slid through her, speeding up her heart rate. And from the look of herno-longer-red nail polish her eyes had turned gold.There go my panties, getting all wet again. Howdoes the man do that when I’m ready to rip my leg off from the pain?

She heard the front door to her small apartment open. Turning, she saw Sarah come in, a smile on herwind-kissed cheeks. “Sarah’s here. Gotta run.”

“Pizza and poker night?”

“Yup. I’ll tell Adrian andSimon  you said hi.”

He wasstill  grumbling when she hung up.

Chapter One

February

“You’re coming home. Three Wolves will be there in the morning to pack your belongings. Your landlady has been informed that your lease will not be renewed, and your medical records have been forwarded to the Pack doctor. Ben and I will pick you up at the end of the week.”

Belle pulled the receiver away from her ear and stared at it. Then she banged it as hard as she could fouror five times against the bottom of her stainless steel frying pan.

“Damn it, woman, don’tdo  that!”

She put the handset back to her ear. “I’m sorry. Did you want to ask me a question?”

He growled. Her Wolf was grumpy tonight. “I need you home.”

She sniffed, secretly pleased he’d said that, but not willing to admit it. “I am home.”

He inhaled noisily. “Belle.”

“My name is Belinda.” She waited for the explosion, sure it was coming.

“Don’t meet the Wolves with a gun, Belle. They have orders to take it from you.”

Oh, poo. There go my shopping plans for tomorrow. “I would never do that, Rick.”

She loved it when his teeth ground together. He did it the most when she pulled out her “airhead”routine. His long-suffering sigh was music to her ears. “Come home to me, Belle.”

Damn. That sexy growl he got when he called her Belle made her panties wet.The big dope.  Just forthat she decided she’d played enough. “I have a few more things to take care of before I head into Winter Wonderland.” She picked up the orange and started slicing it, holding her phone between hershoulder and her ear.For instance,I need to get a Bluetooth or something.  Money had been awfullytight since she’d been fired from Noah’s, and it was about to get tighter. Her medical bills were piling up.