Page 20 of Wild Games

“You have a patient.” She waves me off, not meeting my eyes. “Do what you need to do. I can handle things from here.”

She’s out the door before I can respond, fleeing. Through the window, I watch her stride away, spine straight, but moving too fast to be casual. Running from what’s just happened.

It’s probably the smart thing to do, but my body disagrees.

“Is she okay?” Melissa asks, bouncing her now-calmer baby as I pack some supplies into a paper bag for her to take with her before placing my written instructions inside.

“Fine,” I lie, turning back to my patient. “Just a bit shy.”

I focus on showing Melissa how to administer the ear drops, but Camille’s scent still clings to the air, making concentration difficult.

After they leave, I stand in the empty clinic, processing what’s just happened. The taste of Camille’s skin lingers on my tongue. The memory of her body moving against my thigh makes my cock throb persistently.

But more than that, I saw through Camille’s mask. The professional investigator facade cracked, revealing something wild and hungry underneath. The sweet, innocent act she puts on for the male competitors is just that. An act.

I got a glimpse of the real Camille, my mate, and she’s brimming with fire and barely leashed need.

My wolf wants to see more of that side, to let her untamed side go free.

Now that he’s had a taste, staying away will be impossible. My wolf won’t allow it.

The investigation is our only safe ground now. I’ll help her solve this case, protect her while she catches whoever’s sabotaging the Games, then get her out of my territory before I do something that can’t be undone.

10

CAMILLE

Ipractically run from the clinic, my body still thrumming with unfulfilled need. His taste lingers on my lips. I can still feel that wild edge beneath his fractured control, the way he commanded my body, like he’d done it a thousand times before, and he’d do it again.

Focus, Camille, on the investigation. A very serious, potentially career-making investigation. Not on the way Jax held your hair and stared into your soul while you ground against his thigh like a teenager in heat.

Blushing at my wanton behaviour, I shake my head hard, trying to force my thoughts back to the case. Obviously, it doesn’t work. I can’t believe I did that. After he rejects me, I’ll have nightmares about that for the rest of my days.

Needing a distraction from my spiralling thoughts and some physical distance from Jax, I decide to head to the obstacle course first.

The huge field is full of apparatuses spreading across a cleared section of forest. Ropes and walls and balance beams create a challenging circuit.

I walk the path slowly, checking for any traces of magic with the runes on my knife that glow in their presence, but my concentration is shot, and too much time has passed for anything to remain out in the open, exposed to the elements like this.

The first rain shower would have washed the remnants away, but it’s still worth seeing the course in person.

There are signs clearly setting out which direction participants needed to move around the various stages. It’s hard to see how any wolf who made it this far in the competition could be confused by the layout, not unless someone was fogging their mind.

Turning, I rest my hands on my hips and stare up at the sky as the sun beams down. It’s a crisp but bright day, and the heat on my face feels calming, something my unsatisfied nervous system badly needs.

God, I’m an idiot.

At least with Raven, I had the excuse of youth. We’d grown up together, trained together, and just assumed fate was working in our favour. When we found out we weren’t fated mates, a pair of wolves chosen for each other by destiny, drawn to each other by a bond so strong, it’s impossible to ignore, it didn’t matter to me.

I was naïve enough to think he’d make me his chosen mate, almost like a human marriage where you bind yourself to the one you love, instead of waiting for lightning to strike and your fated mate to appear.

I believed it right up until Jane walked into his birthday party on his arm, and my whole world shattered.

Destined to be alpha one day, his father didn’t think I was suitable, he told me. And Raven agreed. That we had fun, and I’d always be his best friend, but an enforcer, a female from a lower ranking, could never be the Luna he needed.

The crushing weight of those words still sits on my chest, making me feel less than. And every time he calls me or texts me, acting like we’re still best friends, and that he didn’t rip my heart out and stamp it into the floor, reminds me I’m nobody’s number one pick.

And now?