Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
It might be worth it to get smacked around by the tailor.
He reached up and touched a curl, twirling it around one finger with an appreciative hum low in his throat.
Shit. I could take her.
“You can’t expect to come out dressed in this hot little number, looking all perfect and untouchable, and just say hi, muzica mea. You’ll give a man a heart attack like that.”
I rolled my eyes at his over-the-top flirting, but deep down inside, I felt like I was having a vagina attack. She wanted him, stat. He was gorgeous in formal wear; his usually unruly hair was slicked back, and the sleek black tux he wore hugged his broad shoulders before coming in to frame his narrower waist. It was ridiculous to feel this turned on when I’d seen him naked, but somehow, that just made it hotter. I was the only one who knew what was under all that fine window dressing. I knew the real man, and I couldn’t wait to peel him out of it all later. Drive him wild, like I knew he could be.
Settle down, hussy. I have to be presentable for at least two hours.
His fingertips grazed the top of my breast, just the swell that crested above the curve of the dress, and my clit tingled with pure, unadulterated lust as I inhaled a deep breath of his scent. The cedar and bergamot was laced with his own answering need as I slid my hands inside his tux jacket.
Fuck, fine, one hour. You just have to make it one hour.
Dirge’s chest was warm and solid under my fingertips, and suddenly, the anxiety about tonight’s event was gone. He was here. He was my touchstone.
A shudder racked me, the last bit of the nerves working their way out, and he frowned down at me.
“Was that?-“
“Bitches, this better be a good night. Because I don’t want to waste all this fine ass on a boring, freaking political dinner.” Leigh strutted into the hallway with both hands on her hips, doing a little spin to show off a fire-red mermaid gown that hugged every curve she had. She stopped with her hip cocked, displaying said ass with flair.
I laughed and felt Dirge’s chest shake with laughter under my fingertips. What else could you do?
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, Leigh. We already know all the Johnson City folks, and I think only a few neighboring alphas are coming,” Brielle stood in front of her own door, Kane appearing at her back as she shoved a white-gold earring into place.
Leigh rolled her eyes. “Listen, I need to get laid, okay? They better have some hot seconds, or I’m going to be hitting the Howler solo tonight, and we all know that’s not a good look.”
I cringed. The Howler was a dive bar about ten minutes off pack grounds where in-the-know humans came to get lucky with a shifter. It was seedy as hell and not at all safe for her to go to alone. The bouncers were good enough, but every now and then, a disgruntled hunter snuck in to take a swipe at a tipsy shifter.
“If you’re looking for a second, look no further,” Gael said smoothly, eyebrow cocked defiantly.
Leigh’s mouth flapped a few times, much like a fish, before she angrily snapped it shut. “You wish you were that lucky. You and your sugarcoated dick are off-limits.”
He threw his head back and laughed, a sound I’d never heard before. “Sugarcoated? My, you must have enjoyed yourself more than I thought.”
The top of Leigh’s head was going to blow off. I was sure of it.
But she just smiled, sickly sweet as poison, and swayed toward him. “Ooh, big bad alpha thinks he’s got a hold on the little she-wolf.” She ran her hands up his chest, and he froze, a deer in the headlights under her fingertips. “But I’ve got news for you. It could be gold fucking plated and I wouldn’t touch it again with a ten-foot pole. The asshole it’s attached to isn’t my style.” She gave him a little shove backward, then stormed down the hallway.
“Those two are going to be endless trouble, aren’t they?” Dirge murmured as we watched him watch her walk off.
“Either that, or they’re going to kill each other,” I agreed, concern about the night growing again as I watched them dance around each other again.
It was starting to look like my inner hussy was going to be disappointed tonight, because we were going to be on babysitting duty.
The event was actually lovely.
They’d chosen an indoor-outdoor party space, though most of the guests were milling around outside chatting under the twinkle lights or gyrating on the dance floor. The music was okay, but not what I’d have chosen. The breeze carried away many of the overwhelming scents, the fresh pine from the woods cleansing as well as soothing.
The food was good too. The waiters had just handed me some sort of seafood things that were too fancy for me to be able to pronounce, but I ate two of them with gusto.
“Do you want to dance?” Dirge asked as we set our empty plates on a passing waiter’s tray, his breath tickling my ear as his arms went around me.
“Mm, yes and no?”
“And why is that?”
I sighed, watching as Leigh danced with a tall, brooding alpha male from Pack Timberwood. He was handsome enough, I supposed, but not at all her type. Meanwhile, Gael was knocking back hard liquor like it was water and pretending he couldn’t see her.
We really didn’t need a multipack altercation added to the pile of shit we were already trying to climb out of.
“Your friend is a grown woman, and while she might bluster in private, I don’t imagine she’d ever do anything to hurt Brielle or Pack Blackwater’s reputation.”
“You’re right,” I said with a sigh, leaning back into his warmth.
A raindrop splattered right on my nose, but before I could wipe it away, another hit my cheek. Then my hair, and then it was like someone opened up the floodgates. Good-natured screams and squeals rang out as people made a mad dash for the indoor space.
I was laughing as I pulled Dirge along, not really all that concerned. Although, I didn’t want to look like a drowned rat either.
The indoor space felt cramped after our freedom, and within ten minutes, the many clashing scents and alpha pheromones were already getting to me.
I had been slowly edging us toward the back door, preparing myself for an early escape as soon as the party started to wind down, when a quick burst of cold air hit the back of my neck, and a too-familiar scent blasted me.
My pulse pounded, and the whole world seemed to narrow as I spun.
“Shay? Are you okay?” Dirge’s voice sounded far away, as if he were yelling down a tunnel.
He was here, and I was not even close to okay.
So I ran.