Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
I snarled, my vision going red at his abusive use of power. I didn’t even clock the distance. One second, I was in position with my weapon; the next, I had his throat in my grip, my own dominance raging in the air.
“You lecherous old prick.”
His eyes went wide as I cut off his airway, but Kane was at my shoulder a second later. “Reed and Sergei cleared the building. It’s only these two and whatever security he has out front.”
“What do you want to do with the female?” I snarled, my wolf still making my eyes glow as I stared Varga down, refusing to break eye contact.
Kane rounded on her, keeping his distance. “Are you part of Varga’s pack?”
She nodded, terror and the stench of piss filling the air as the high alpha addressed her.
“I’m his granddaughter’s best friend, Sydney.”
“Can you make your own way off the mountain, Sydney?”
“I’ll call a car. Please don’t take me.”
“Get dressed and leave. Don’t linger here,” he ordered, alpha command lacing his voice, not enough to make her piss herself again, but enough to make her limbs move despite her terror.
“Reed, find this man a pair of pants,” I snarled. “I’m not flying all the way back home staring at this saggy fucker’s junk.”
Kane laughed then, as Reed grumbled and threw a pair of khaki slacks my way.
Something about this didn’t feel right.
THIRTY
Leigh
“You okay, Leigh-bee?” Brielle asked, hip checking me lightly as I stood in front of the world’s most ridiculous sleepover snack spread, waffling. The chef had gone all out, and the entire front of the window had been transformed into a sleepover buffet the likes of which movie sets would cry for. I needed to hurry up and choose, because if Brielle was pulling out nicknames, she was worrying about me. And she didn’t need to worry about me when our men were out risking their lives tonight.
Perhaps a waffle was the answer to all my problems. But syrup sounded heavy, not luscious.
I wished I’d brought Nugget with me to snuggle, but he’d been sleeping so peacefully on my pillow that I couldn’t bring myself to wake him up.
“I’m okay, just worried. And not sure what to do about it.”
“Is it strange having a mate all of a sudden?” Olivia asked, taking a nervous nibble of her ice cream cone, where she perched on the edge of the bed.
Because yes, they’d brought in a tabletop freezer chock-full of handmade ice creams, freshly formed waffle cones, and every topping known to mankind.
Shay was lying on the ground on her back, playing an invisible piano. She’d already demolished two plates, clearly not suffering from the same indecision as me. I was going to blame the baby, because that was my right as a pregnant lady.
Though, if they kept feeding me like this, I would definitely double in size before I had this baby. There were worse ways to gain a few pounds than pregnancy cravings, so I was a-okay with it.
I finally picked up a melty chocolate chip cookie-how did they stay so warm? Seriously, the chef might be a wizard, not a wolf-and turned around to face Olivia and her question. I was curious what-or rather, who
-had her thinking about suddenly having a mate fall in your lap, but I didn’t want to pry.
“I think the weirdest part for me is that it’s actually not instant. I mean, we’ve been around each other for months now and still don’t have marks.”
“You don’t?” she asked, mouth falling open in surprise.
“Nope.” I popped the p, not at all wanting to examine our lack of mate marks. Or my lingering worry that my half-human bloodline meant I might never get them.
“I had no idea it worked like that. I guess I assumed… it was supposed to happen on its own, and it would be seamless.”
“Ha,” Shay said with a snort. “I don’t think any of us have had seamless. My mate bond got messed up by like three different types of magic, and my bond marks came in one painful stroke at a time.”
I chewed my bottom lip, considering. She was right, and while I’d known that her marks hadn’t come in easily or right away, I kind of assumed that it was only because of the fact Dirge had been feral at the time.
“So how did you get them to come in?” I asked, thinking back. She hadn’t mentioned anything specific at the time, other than the fact they were slowly coming in throughout our stay in Texas.
Shay blushed red as a tomato and didn’t answer right off.
Ah.
“Physical contact,” she finally said, sounding embarrassed. My sweet, quiet bestie wasn’t open with her sexuality, and I respected her desire for privacy and didn’t pry. But my brain was more than willing to supply an endless reel of Gael and me and provide snapshots of the sex-a-thon that had created our little Petal.
“So, you didn’t know right away, then?” Olivia asked, ice cream forgotten.
I snorted. “Definitely not. We kind of hated each other for most of the time. But I was so drawn to him, it was even more irritating. Like in my head, I kept thinking, ‘I need to stay away from this guy, he’s so annoying,’ but deeper down, it was like a bee to honey. I couldn’t escape the pull, and one night… it all blew up.” I bit my lip at the memory and how much had changed in the few short weeks since.
“I knew right away,” Shay offered. “My wolf claimed him on sight, even though he was feral at the time.”
“Goddess’s hem,” Olivia said, wide-eyed. “You weren’t scared of him?”
“No, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I was surprised, but he was mine. From the start.”
“That is so sweet,” she said with a wistful sigh.
Bri smiled coyly. “Someone caught your eye?”