Page 44

He leveled me with a dubious stare and shrugged a shoulder. “Can’t do much damage with those teeth. I can handle being marked.”

I allowed my lip to curl back, exposing hooked fangs belonging only to a werewolf. “Sure about that?” At his raised brow, I added, “I’d be more than happy to show you.”

His mouth hardened, a frown marring his features.

My lips coiled into a smug smile.

A calculated glint flashed across his eyes, the cobalt turning cool blue. My stomach pitched at that. Whatever the hell he would say next would be nothing good.

He swept into my office with all the assured confidence belonging to a dominant male, an alpha.

He paused at the lip of my desk and placed his palms on top of the smooth surface.

Bending forward, he dropped his head till we were at eye level.

My lungs stilled. My gaze tracked him, every muscle tensing, awaiting the alpha male’s next move.

“Well, now, we’re onto something.” He cocked his head to the side, his sharp gaze falling to my mouth.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

“There are more… interesting ways to use a mouth like yours.” His eyes grew hooded, shooting a jolt straight to my core.

My clit pulsated. I found I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.

He had ensnared me as thoroughly as any hunter’s snare.

And for a moment, I couldn’t say I was angry to be so hooked.

“Fangs like yours…” Damon’s voice dropped to a low purr. “They’re just right for nipping. Hit the right spot and…” His voice died off, his eyes flicking up to hold mine.

He was so close I could see the silver-blue veins of color bleeding out from the halo of his pupil. It melded with the cobalt of his eyes like a kaleidoscope of different shades of blue.

My chest burned, lungs cried out for air. But I dared not draw in a breath, and let this male see my ragged breathing, eye my chest heave. I would not give him the satisfaction.

A muscle popped along my jaw. “So you’re here to discuss whether I either rip a chunk out of your ass or throat?”

Damon’s eyes narrowed, and his lips pinched at the corners.

I smiled a sweet and innocent look.

He paused. Then the large male drew away, rising to his full height. “As much as you’d like to tear into my hide, that’s not why I stopped by.”

“Oh?” I sat back, folding my arms across my chest. “Pray tell, what brings you here? Need I say unannounced and uninvited?” I shook my head. “No, you already know that.”

A hint of fangs peeked out from beneath his full upper lips. A delicious thrill buzzed in my gut at having rankled the arrogant male. If he expected me to drop to my knees and beg him to take me, then he’d been dappling in too many magic mushrooms in the forest.

“By now you must know about the slaying of humans along the trails that vein through Big Sky.”

I blinked. This is what he came to tell me? Why seek me out for this?

I nodded, urging him to continue.

His lips thinned. “I’ve sent my men out. They’ve been investigating the situation.” He hesitated, as if uncertain whether to voice his next thoughts. His jaw clenched. “Werebears committed the killings.”

The world rocked to a stop. I placed my palms on the desk, my fingernails digging into the wood, seeking to ground myself. So Garret’s suspicions were correct. The werebears were murdering humans, innocents, with no shifting ability. One’s unable to protect themselves from such lethal predators.

A bead of sweat trickled down my spine.

Most of my pack had no shifting ability.

And I had allowed a murderer into my office—his two sentinels were standing in the courtyard.

My claws sliced out. I leaped to my feet and hurried to the window, drawing back the curtain.

Damon didn’t so much as move from where he stood. “Your pack is safe.”

My heart only calmed down when I saw the two werebears standing where I had left them. Though it still frayed my nerves, I slid Damon a cool glare over my shoulder. “Why the fuck did you come here?” My frigid words sounded edged in steel.

Damon held my gaze with unwavering focus. “Because the werebears didn’t kill those humans out of free will.”

A sardonic laugh flew past my lips.

Damon stiffened. A soft growl filled the room.

I turned from the window and faced the alpha werebear. “So you mean to tell me they coerced your bears?”

“In a sense, yes.”

I cast him a severe look. “That shit’s not funny.”

“Who the fuck said I was joking?”

My gaze spanned the length of him, as if I could see the deceit wafting off him. The earnest expression in his eyes, the hard set of his jaw… this male was serious.

I stepped over to my desk and leaned a hip against the edge and raised a brow. “How would werebears be… coerced into killing humans? You bears have a mind that’s like a steel door.”

Werebears’ minds were impenetrable. Out of all the Werekinds, their mental defenses were sound.

It was one of the reasons they were such an invaluable asset during the great war with the Dark Fae centuries ago.

They were immune to persuasion—the Dark Fae had the power to break into minds and shatter the will of their victims, manipulating them like marionettes.

Damon raked a hand through his unruly locks, making the tussled strands stand on end. It only made his rugged masculinity more apparent, more desirable.

To my inner wolf, at least.

She eyed him with her tongue, almost grazing the floor. The stupid bitch was in heat.

“I know my bears,” Damon said. “None would kill a human. Even if they had a bloodlust for the non-weres, the risk of defying me would’ve shut down any plans in motion.

” His claws sliced out, their wicked tips glinting in the sunlight that streamed through the window.

“I don’t know how the hell it’s happening, but the werebears are being forced against their will to kill humans. ”

“But why? What plausible reason would anyone want to sic werebears on humans? It makes little sense.”

“Damn if I know,” he growled. “Some real shit is going down.” Squaring his shoulders, he slid me a leveled glance. “And I need your help to solve this problem.”

My brows shot up, disbelief punching through my sternum. “Me?” The squeak caused a blush to bloom across my cheeks. I coughed, clearing my throat, and tried again. “What could you need my help for?”

“Your connections with the Silverfang pack can stave off a war. You know your Alpha Ryan will?—”

“Former Alpha.”

“—listen to you. Being that you are—were—his top sentinel.” His gaze darted to the side. “That, and since I’ve already met with him. That meeting went straight to hell.”

I snorted. Damon shot me a withering scowl.

With a roll of my eyes, I said, “Oh, come on! How did you think that would go down? Holding hands and singing carols?”

His eyes narrowed to thin slits. I blinked at him, daring him to refute me.

He heaved a heavy sigh. “I also need your aid, because you know this side of the territory better. The area the humans inhabit is beyond my lands. Plus, you overseeing the care of humans gives you an edge over this situation.”

My chest warmed at his tightened features—the sheer struggle of having voiced those words, to me, a latent, was no doubt killing him. I swallowed the chuckle on the tip of my tongue.

I tapped my chin with an index finger and made a show of peering up at the ceiling. “Hmmm… let me think.”

Seconds ticked by. Damon’s scowl became more severe. My twisted glee became more heightened with each moment that passed. My inner wolf lifted a paw toward me, a soft whine cresting from her throat.

God dammit…

“No.”

Shock colored the alpha male’s features.

“No?”

“You heard me.”

A low snarl. “Why the hell not?”

I pursed my lips. My eyes went half-lidded. I allowed an air of nonchalance to waft over me as I crossed my legs at the ankle, leaning my hip further against the desk.

Blue eyes shot through with flecks of golden amber stared me down. I knew then that I would speak to both the man and the bear.

“You realize that if things unravel further—if they murder more humans—this could throw werewolves and werebears into another war?” He threw his arms out from his sides. “Countless lives could be lost. And needless blood spilled!”

I reached out and snatched up a sugar cookie from the plate atop the oak desk. With a lazy bite, I mumbled, “Not my problem.”

Damon’s fangs punched out. Any lesser dominant would have cowed under the fury of his glare—angled their head and bared the soft flesh of their neck.

But I held a secret weapon. Rejected mate or not, I still held connections to this alpha male.

No male could harm their mate—fated or not.

It went against every instinct belonging to our kind.

A male would sooner slit their throat than cause one scratch to mar their mate’s flesh.

After finishing the cookie, I said. “I’m no longer affiliated with the Silverfang pack.” I dusted my crumble-laced fingers on my jeans. My gaze sharpened, incisors lengthening. “Know this…I will never work with a werebear .”

A flicker of recognition flashed across Damon’s eyes.

But know this. I will never take a werewolf as my mate.

Even now, those prior words Damon uttered still punctured my heart—the muscle spurting blood. My own words mirrored those uttered two years ago by the very male standing before me. When his rejection has shredded my soul more thoroughly than any set of fangs could.

Damon blinked rapidly, and the look of astonishment vanished, replaced by a severe scowl.

I jerked my chin toward the office door.

“Get out.”

He remained looming over me.

I crossed my arms. “Get. Out.”

A pause wrought with tension before he turned on his heel and, back rigid, stepped out of the room.

I watched him, through the window, round up his sentinels and stalk off. I growled at myself as longing and hatred warred for dominance in my soul.

My inner wolf lowered her head into her paws and whimpered.

Let him leave.

Hopefully, I’d never set eyes on him again.