Page 7 of Kidnapped by the Wolf (Gold Creek Wolves)

CHAPTER SEVEN

ADRIAN

Cassie is still sacked out on the couch when I get up the next morning. The first rays of golden light are streaming in through the back windows, falling across her gorgeous, sun-kissed face. The blanket has slipped down off her shoulders, revealing the sumptuous swell of her breasts.

I feel bad for making her sleep on the couch, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I still don’t know what I’m going to do with her, and if I’d insisted that she take my bed, she’d know something was up.

For whatever reason, my wolf has decided that Cassie is his .

His to protect.

His to keep.

His to claim.

I ran until my paws were bloody trying to snap him out of it, but he only became more insistent.

I can’t tell Cassie my wolf’s caught feelings. Then she’d really think I was a psycho. I just need to buy some time to figure out my next step.

Asleep, Cassie looks as though she doesn’t have a care in the world. Gone is the little crease between her brows and the shadows of hard times that lined her eyes. She looks happy. Serene. I want her to stay that way for as long as she possibly can.

Moving quietly about the cabin, I add wood to the fire, brew a pot of coffee, and open the fridge. Usually I just make a protein shake in the morning, but Cassie looks as though she’s missed a few meals, and my wolf can’t stand the thought of her going hungry.

I pull out the eggs, a pound of bacon, and some sausage links for good measure. Dropping bread into the toaster, I pour myself a cup of coffee and start cooking the meat.

The smell of sizzling bacon causes Cassie to stir, and I glance over at the couch.

My little human is sitting up, watching me with those big brown eyes. Her gaze travels slowly down my chest to my stomach, and I realize I forgot to put on a shirt. Shifters tend to run hot, and I’ve been keeping it extra toasty in here as a courtesy.

But before I can move to go grab some clothes, Cassie bites her lower lip, and I catch a whiff of arousal.

Holy fuck. My naughty girl is checking me out.

My wolf preens in delight, and it’s all I can do to keep a grin from spreading across my face.

I clear my throat so I don’t say something stupid. “You’re awake.”

Cassie nods and stretches like a cat, and I have to suppress a groan as the movement pushes her perky breasts forward.

“Coffee?” I grunt, casting around my kitchen as if I’ve never been here before.

“Yes, please.”

“Do you like cream or sugar?”

Cassie shakes her head. “I take it black.”

“Me, too. The coffee they used to send us in the MREs was terrible. A buddy of mine used to say ‘drink the water, chew the coffee.’”

I don’t know why I’m rambling like this. I’ve never been much of a talker.

“You were in the military?”

I nod. “Briefly.”

“Which branch?”

“Marines.”

I’m not sure if she’s asking because she’s genuinely curious or if she’s still sizing me up.

I left the knife out on purpose yesterday to see what Cassie would do. I was impressed that she managed to cut herself loose, but she walked right out the front door of my cabin without even trying to kill me.

Whatever heinous shit her father’s done, Cassie isn’t like him. When given the chance, her first instinct was to run — not to slit my throat.

I bring Cassie a cup of coffee, and she cracks a smile. Her eyes flutter closed as she takes a deep whiff, groaning softly at the smell. The sound makes me instantly hard, and I turn away before she notices.

Damn. What is it about this woman?

My wolf gives an impatient chuff, and I start cracking eggs to distract myself from the gorgeous human on my couch.

“What’s next on the agenda?” she asks. “Are we going to shoot my proof-of-life video while we have good light?”

Her tone is dry, but the question hits me like a punch to the gut.

It doesn’t matter that my wolf wants Cassie. To her, I’m just the piece of shit alpha holding her hostage — no better than her father.

“I thought we’d have breakfast,” I say. “You must be hungry.”

The toast pops up, and I busy myself with aggressively spreading each piece with butter and jam. Once the eggs are cooked, I plate the food and carry it over to the table. Cassie’s is piled with more bacon and sausage than any human could reasonably consume, but my wolf is insistent that we get as much food in her as possible.

I take my seat at the head of the table and motion for her to join me. Cassie stiffens, hesitating, but then her stomach snarls loudly in protest.

I wait for her to sit down before digging into my food. Cassie stares down at her own breakfast but doesn’t pick up her fork.

“What’s wrong?” I growl, feeling frustrated. Does she think I poisoned the food?

Her throat bobs as she looks down at her meal, and when she finally meets my gaze, I don’t think I’m imagining the raw emotion in her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

She gestures down at the eggs and toast, her stomach growling louder.

“You need to eat.”

Cassie immediately tamps down her emotions, narrowing her eyes. “Do you feed all your hostages a hot breakfast?”

“Yes.” Not wanting to scarf my breakfast down like an animal, I set my fork down and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “But in the interest of full disclosure, you’re my very first one.”

“I’m flattered.”

Cassie’s expression is anything but, and I have to fight the urge to laugh.

“So, what’s your big plan?” she asks. “Are you going to start cutting off toes and mailing them to my father one by one?”

Irritation flares hot in my gut, and my wolf gives a low snarl. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but she sure knows how to push my buttons.

I need to regain control of the situation.

“How about this . . .” I begin, resting my elbows on the table and steepling my fingers. “How about you eat some breakfast and I’ll tell you?”

My belligerent little human tosses me a suspicious glare but obediently takes a bite of bacon.

Good girl.

I see it when the salty taste of the meat registers in her hungry brain. Her animal instincts kick into gear, and she immediately starts shoveling forkfuls of food into her mouth.

There’s something intensely satisfying about watching her eat. My wolf is finally content, while the man is anything but. Watching Cassie take dainty bites of bacon and lick her lips makes me want to lick her all over.

Shit. This isn’t how this was supposed to go.

I decide to focus on the more pressing problem — what I’m going to do about the McGregors.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, your father’s bears have been encroaching on my pack’s territory for years. When our old alpha passed and I took over, I thought it would be best to ignore it as he had.”

I pause for a moment, deciding how much to tell her. She doesn’t need to know that I was young and inexperienced at the time, more concerned with being liked and respected than doing what was best for my pack.

“I didn’t want my first act as alpha to be to start a war. But, these last few years, things have gotten worse.”

Cassie doesn’t say a word, waiting for me to continue.

“There have been . . . incidents,” I say, rubbing my upper lip. “There was a fight with a lone wolf not far from here, as well as attacks on my own. Then your father’s pack kidnapped one of our she-wolves, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer.”

At the memory of what Fallon and those females went through, my wolf lets out a low growl that rumbles up my own throat.

Cassie’s face pales, and I know she heard it.

Fury seeps into my gut like poison, and my skin suddenly feels too tight. My wolf is pressing to the fore, hungry for retribution.

Soon, I promise him, cracking my neck and reining in the urge to shift.

“Do you know why your father’s bears were kidnapping she-wolves?” I ask in an acidic tone.

Cassie swallows and shakes her head.

My hand that’s resting on the table curls into a fist. “They were being bought by the Red Feather Lake pack to be used as breeders.”

At those words, I catch a whiff of something bitter and unpleasant. Horror or maybe disgust rolling off of Cassie. She’s stopped eating altogether.

“I . . . didn’t know,” she says hoarsely.

Truth .

My animal’s ability to detect a lie isn’t perfect, but most humans are bad at tempering their body’s natural reactions. Cassie might be better than most, having grown up around shifters, but I don’t smell the sour tang of sweat that usually accompanies a lie, and my wolf relaxes slightly.

“Would you have cared if you had known about it?” The question comes out harsher than I’d intended, and Cassie looks as though I just slapped her.

“Of course I would have cared,” she snarls.

“Really?” I grind my back molars together at the image of Fallon, beaten and bloody. “Because none of the other members of his pack seemed to take issue with it.”

“I-I’m not pack,” she chokes, pressing her fingers into her sternum.

“You’re his daughter.”

Something about that word seems to stoke her ire, and those pretty brown eyes suddenly look as though they might turn the luminous amber of a wolf’s. “I’m the human offspring of a woman he fucked. That doesn’t make me his daughter.”

“I have it on good authority that you’re meant to mate with his second.”

Dammit . The words spill out of my mouth before I have a chance to consider whether it’s wise to reveal what I know. Information is power, and giving up even a scrap of intel is an amateur move.

“ Dane ?” Cassie screws up her face as though the name tastes sour on her tongue, and my wolf gives a satisfied harrumph .

But then the acrid stench of fear wafts toward me, and Cassie’s eyes dart to the side.

She isn’t being deceitful. She’s recalling something — a memory that scares her.

Terror flickers across her face, and her hand goes to her throat. Her fingers linger there as the memory washes over her. Then she seems to come back to herself, tucking her emotions away.

Too late.

A low growl rumbles up my throat at the thought of any male laying a finger on my girl. The stench of her panic is stuck in my airways, and the scent is provoking my wolf. My nails have already started to morph into claws, and they’re digging into my palms.

“Just because Dane and my father think they own me doesn’t make me pack,” she snaps.

“But it’s true,” I say, my voice coming out strangled. “Your father wanted you to mate with this . . . Dane?”

My eyes flick to Cassie’s hands, which have begun to tremble. She quickly tucks them under the table, but not before I see.

“Bear shifters can be . . .” She trails off.

Brutal? Barbaric? Violent and savage? Nothing quite fits the bill, and Cassie doesn’t fill in the blank.

“When my father’s predecessor got too old to lead, Clint challenged him. A fight to the death.” She swallows. “That’s how it’s done in bear packs, unless the old leader pledges his fealty to the new one. My father thinks if I were mated to the next pack leader, Dane might spare his life as a courtesy to me.”

“And you’d do that?” I spit. “Mate with Dane to spare your father?”

Cassie gives me a hard look. “I don’t know how it is in your pack, but where I come from, what a female wants or doesn’t want isn’t really taken into account.”

At those words, I’m hit with an avalanche of shock and fury. She speaks as though she has no real say over her life — as if Dane would be her future, whether she wanted him or not.

My wolf bares his teeth, growling at the thought of another male taking Cassie for his mate. For making her think that she doesn’t have a choice. He is so distraught that for a moment, I see the world through his eyes.

When I finally muster up the focus to speak, I know my eyes have lightened to that golden honey color.

“I assure you,” I rumble, “in my pack, what a female wants is always taken into account. Not a single one of my wolves would ever take that which wasn’t freely given.”

“Except hostages,” Cassie mutters.

I suck in a breath and let it out slowly.

What is it about this woman that I find so exasperating? It’s as if she’s trying to rile my wolf.

“Kidnapping you wasn’t my idea.” And because I have no filter where Cassie’s concerned, I add, “It was Sebastian’s way of . . . forcing my hand. I’ve let this go on for far too long.”

“You could let me go,” she says quietly, peering up at me from under her lashes.

The suggestion stings, which is absurd. Sebastian brought her here against her will, and she’s already tried to escape twice .

“No, I can’t.”

“Or you won’t .”

“An alpha’s job is to protect his pack at all costs,” I grit out. “You, unfortunately, are the cost.”

“Collateral damage, you mean.”

Maybe it’s because she sums up my predicament in the exact same way that Sebastian did, but I have the sudden thought that I should have just let her escape.

There’s no way my wolf will allow me to harm even one hair on this female’s head, and even if he did, I can’t justify sacrificing an innocent woman for her father’s transgressions.

Rubbing my jaw in frustration, I suck in a breath and let it out slowly. What I’m about to propose is insane, but it’s the only solution I can think of. “You wouldn’t have to be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassie bugs out her eyes in alarm, and then a manic little laugh bubbles out of her. “I’m not going to marry you, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She gives another nervous chuckle.

“It’s not,” I snap, irrationally annoyed that the idea of marrying me is so ridiculous to her. “I have a better idea.”