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Chapter One

S park wasn’t sure how he’d pulled babysitting duty, yet here he sat, waiting for the princess of the Silver Skulls MC, a known werewolf pack, to saunter her ass through the damn door.

He could understand not choosing one of the mated males, since their mating was new, but that left an entire MC and yet Blitz had chosen him.

This job sucked ass. What the hell was he supposed to do with some pampered wolf anyway?

The door opened and the tiniest woman he’d ever seen walked in, hair hanging down past her ass in golden waves.

His beast perked up when her blue eyes swung his way and the soft smile curving her lips made his cock stand at attention.

He didn’t know who the angel was, but to hell with the wolf princess.

Spark had every intention of making this lady’s acquaintance and maybe seeing where things would go from there.

He’d give anything to feel that lush body under his.

“You must be Spark,” she said, holding out a delicate hand.

Spark blinked at her, startled. Had she seen his name on his cut?

“I’m Mina.” Her smile broadened. “My father is the President of the Silver Skulls MC I was told you would be the one to watch over me while he’s gone?”

Oh fuck! “Uh. Yeah.”

He quickly gripped her hand and stifled a groan at how perfect her hand felt in his.

Being attracted to the pack princess was not in the plans.

Now what the hell was he supposed to do?

It wasn’t like he could walk around with a hard-on and just pray she wouldn’t notice.

He was sure that would go over great with her daddy.

Hell, even his own brothers would have his ass if he made a play for Mina.

God. Even her name was perfect.

“Have you eaten?” she asked, motioning to the menu on the table. “Daddy didn’t give me time for lunch and I find I’m starved.”

“I was waiting for the waitress to come take my order,” he said, thankful the table was hiding the bulge in his pants. He watched as she slid onto the seat across from him and picked up the discarded menu. She pursed her perfect, pouty lips as she perused the menu.

“I don’t get to eat out much,” she admitted. “What’s good here?”

“I usually order one of their burgers, but Luna, one of the mates, says she loves their grilled chicken Cesar salad.”

She looked at him from under her lashes. “Do I look like a girl who eats salad?”

Spark cleared his throat, not really sure how to answer that. Was she trying to call herself fat? She had curves to spare, but she was still a tiny thing. He decided not answering was the best course of action.

She went back to looking over the menu and set it down when the waitress came over.

The brunette looked him over and gave him a flirty smile, which seemed to amuse Mina.

The sparkle in her eyes should have warned him she was up to no good, but he still wasn’t prepared for the words that came out of her mouth.

“Do you flirt with everyone’s boyfriends?” Mina asked with an arched brow. “I mean, I am sitting right here.”

Probably a good thing he didn’t have a drink yet.

He’d have choked on it when she called him her boyfriend.

Not that he wasn’t pleased with the notion of being able to claim her as his, but he knew she was just toying with the woman.

The brunette flushed in embarrassment and asked for their drink order.

“I think we’re ready to order,” Mina said. “I’ll have the A1 steak burger, fully loaded, with a side of sweet potato fries, and for an appetizer, I’d love the trio basket with fried squash, fried mozz, and fried pickles.”

Spark stared at her and wondered where the hell she was going to put all that food.

He placed his order and then focused on Mina after the waitress left to place their order.

He wasn’t sure what he was doing with her just yet.

The club was footing the bill for them to stay in a two-bedroom suite at a local hotel, even though Spark had a spare room at home.

Apparently, his place wasn’t good enough for the princess.

“Your club must really like you,” she said. “My dad told them to assign their most trusted member to guard me. Not that I think I need guarding, mind you. What’s the worst that’s going to happen to me in a hotel room? I might break a nail. Hardly a matter of national security, but he worries.”

“You’re his only child?”

“Only girl. I have five older brothers. They’re every bit as protective as Daddy.

You should have seen me in high school. They chased off every guy that paid attention to me, but I sneaked out behind their backs and dated someone for a while.

My oldest brother was furious when he found out I wasn’t a virgin anymore.

I told him that’s what he got for listening to private conversations.

” She smiled. “I bet you never had to sneak out to see someone.”

“Uh, no. My dad was absent from our lives, and mom was more interested in the bottom of her latest bottle. I pretty much had free rein to do whatever I wanted, which is why I started prospecting when I was fifteen. I was patched in on my eighteenth birthday.”

“I’m guessing that wasn’t too long ago. You don’t look very old.”

“I’m old enough. You look barely out of high school.”

Her cheeks flushed. “I’m twenty,” she mumbled. “An adult.”

“You can’t even drink legally.”

Mina folded her arms over her abundant chest. “And just how old are you, Mr. Bigshot?”

“Twenty-four. And I’ve probably seen and done way more shit than you have.”

Mina huffed. “If you’ve gone somewhere by yourself before tonight, then your life has been more exciting than mine. Daddy treats me like I’m made of spun glass and he’s afraid I’m going to shatter at any moment. My brothers are just as bad if not worse.”

“So why are they leaving you behind?”

“It’s the full-moon run and I’m not mated.” Her cheeks warmed. “I’ll be in heat soon and Daddy didn’t want me running loose with a bunch of horny wolves.”

Spark slammed back against the booth. “Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. You’re going into heat? And they’ve left you with an unmated male?”

Her eyes widened. “Daddy was promised a mated male or female would watch over me. I mean, I know I flirted a little when we first met, but it wasn’t serious. I thought you were already taken.”

“This is all kinds of fucked up.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and shot a message off to Blitz, waiting impatiently for a reply.

When his phone chimed, it wasn’t with news he wanted to hear.

Blaze, Crash, and Burn were not going to be able to babysit, and Blitz claimed to trust Spark completely. Asshole! I don’t trust myself!

“It looks like we’re stuck with each other, princess,” Spark said. “So if you want to call your daddy and pull the plug on this entire thing, now is the time to do it.”

She shook her head. “This is the first freedom I’ve ever had. I’m not going to squander it.”

“Suit yourself. But when this ends badly, just remember you were given an out.”

Their food arrived and they ate in silence, with Spark stealing glances at her and catching her looking at him more than once.

They’d just left the fox in the henhouse and he had no doubt hell was going to break loose when he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

It wasn’t that he was setting himself up for failure, but he’d had an instant reaction to her, one that wouldn’t be ignored.

As much as he hated to admit it, he’d just met his mate. And he couldn’t have her.

When they were finished, he escorted Mina outside to her car, a cute little convertible in cherry red.

It suited her from what he could tell and he waited until she was buckled before striding over to his bike.

He swung a leg over the seat and started the engine, not pulling out into traffic until he was certain Mina was right behind him.

He could feel her presence behind him the entire way to the hotel, which just solidified the thought that she was his mate.

He’d never been so aware of anyone before, and it was both a blessing and a curse.

Once they were checked in, he handed her one of the room keys, grabbed her bags and led the way to their room.

He’d packed a few changes of clothes in his saddle bags, but now he wasn’t so sure he’d need them.

Once he screwed up and tried to claim her, he’d be yanked off babysitting duty and exiled to scrubbing toilets.

Hell, Blitz might even boot his ass completely out of the Steel Riders.

“Home sweet home,” he said, pushing the door open.

Mina preceded him into the room and looked around.

There was a bathroom and two closed doors.

She went to the one on the right, pushed it open, and walked inside.

Spark followed with her bags and set them on her bed.

Hell. Being in a room with a bed wasn’t the best idea.

She wasn’t in heat yet, but her scent pulled him in, making him want to rip her clothes off and bury himself inside of her.

Beating a hasty retreat to the other room, he tossed his bag on the bed.

He almost called Blitz and demanded that one of the mated males come sit with Mina, but at the same time, he didn’t want anyone else around her.

The beast inside was already laying claim to her.

Spark knew her father would never approve of him as a mate, not considering he changed into a maned wolf.

Regular wolves, the shifter kind, looked down on his species.

Not a wolf. Not a fox. Stuck somewhere in between.

He heard her rustling around in her room and wanted to go to her, but he held himself back.

Now that she knew he wasn’t mated, the flirting Mina was gone.

She’d smiled at him as he’d held the hotel door open, but she hadn’t spoken much to him since the restaurant.

Spark wasn’t sure if she was worrying about their situation, or if she’d decided to back out of the deal all together and take her chances at home.

Spark stared out the window at the wooded park nearby.

His beast wanted out to run, but he didn’t trust the wily creature, not with Mina so close and so tempting.

Even if she remained in human form, the damn maned wolf would probably try to mark her as theirs.

The beast wanted her every bit as much as Spark did, and it wasn’t taking no for an answer.