Werewolf Wedding(55)

“Why?” he asked a moment later.

“Well, there’s this thing people say. Psychologists, marketing people. They say that you shouldn’t act like the job you have. You should act like the one you want.”

I had to change it a little from “dress for the job you want” since he got sensitive if I critiqued his fashion choices. All he needed was a big, gold male-symbol pendant to complete the look. I smirked to myself, but killed it so he wouldn’t see. I had to oversell this thing like hell if he was going to buy it.

At first I’d tried subtlety, but as it happened, Dane’s mind – as fierce and strong and powerful as he was – had about the level of subtlety as a locomotive that went off the tracks and then fell off a cliff. And then hit a tree and a nitroglycerine truck.

“So... make this clear for me. Human psychologists think you shouldn’t act like you want your job, you should act like you want a different one?”

It was really hard not to sigh. I could roll my eyes silently, as Dane’s gaze was fixed on the episode of Antiques Roadshow we managed to pick up with only mild image distortion, but if I sighed, he’d hear, and then he’d go on another tear about respect or whatever 1950s male bullshit he could think up.

I thought for a moment, carefully choosing my words for maximum deference. “Close,” I’m talking to him like a fifth grader. “What they mean is that if you’re not happy where you are – like how you are waiting to be the alpha – then you have to act like you already are that. People, or wolves, or whatever, they’ll start to think of you as already having that position. Make sense?”

“Yeah. Hey! Look at this hick on TV! He found a bunch of ugly paintings and thinks they’re worth something. What a moron.”

He stood up and flicked off the set.

The ugly paintings he’d chuffed at were a Monet, a Van Gogh sketch and a couple of things I couldn’t name off the top of my head but knew were from the same period. I’d shoot myself if I had to deal with this kind of snorty, sweaty creature for the rest of my life, and I’m no snob.

Dane sighed and sat back in a comically small recliner. It squeaked a little under his weight. “What’ll it look like?”

“The statue?”

I stared at him blankly for a moment, not realizing he actually asked that. “Well... it’ll be of you. I can make it really big.”

There wasn’t a lot of time, I knew, so I’d somehow have to pass his brother’s sketched out statue for his own. Dane would almost certainly notice, but maybe he’d like it even more if... yeah, he definitely would.

“I can have it done in a few days. Your brother was having one done, but he’s,” I laughed. “Well you know how irrelevant Jake is,” and then gave another psh! for emphasis. “May as well use it for some real purpose, you know?”

The idea of slighting his brother apparently appealed to Dane just the way I figured it would. “Could you have it done in time for the marking?”

I accidentally let out a sigh. The official ceremony was in four days – that coming Saturday night. That was when it’d all come down. If I went through with the whole thing, it would be official – Jake would be exiled, Barney and Jeannie would be set free from their house arrest, and I would be vita to a werewolf alpha so filled with machismo that it smelled a little.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah,” I said, “I can have it done. But I’ll have to work all the time. I won’t be around to make your meals.”

He started growling.

“But Dane! Think about how embarrassing that’ll be for your brother. Think about the look on his face when we pull back the sheet and show your statue that replaced his. He will absolutely flip out.”

“And it’ll leave no question who the boss is,” he was scratching his chin, deep in thought. “He’ll look like such an idiot.”

I nodded. “He will look like a complete idiot. And then you can take over, you can start your war, whatever it is you want to do. You’ll be in charge, Dane. You’ll be the alpha and you’ll have the company and you’ll have me.”

When I said that, he shot his eyes in my direction. “I’ll have you now, if I want you.”

This, I hadn’t considered. Before then he hadn’t really shown much interest in consummating our relationship, but I might have accidentally set him off. “Aren’t we supposed to wait until the marking is official before we...”

“You didn’t wait with my brother,” he said, a growl tickling Dane’s throat. “You let him ravish you straight away. Why should I have it any different? Why should I have any less?”

Sweat popped up on my forehead. Thinking quickly, I came up with a thousand excuses, but none of them would do much more than insult Dane. And that would be a bad thing. “Tradition,” I spat, more for something to say than anything else, but as soon as it was out of my mouth, I was fairly proud of myself.

He eyed me sideways, narrowing his eyes to slits. “What do you care about tradition, girl? You’re not one of us, what the hell does it matter to you?”

I knew that I was treading a dangerous line. I knew that if I screwed up, I’d lose all the headway I’d made, and the plan would fall straight through into the toilet. And if that happened, I’m certain time was too short to come up with anything else.