And without waiting for a response from her, I marched down the hallway, flung open the door to her guest bedroom, and flung it shut behind me. The guest bedroom was pristine, decorated like a show home, with hardwood floors, a dove-gray comforter and a mirrored chest of drawers. I had never in my life been in such a nice room.
“You’re leaving first thing in the morning!” my mother yelled through the door.
“You can count on it!” I called back. Irritation sizzled under my skin. Would she ever grow up and act like an actual parent?
With a sigh of exasperation, I kicked off my shoes and socks. I didn’t have pajamas, so I’d have to sleep in my black work slacks and white T-shirt.
I’d expected that I would toss and turn all night, but instead, as soon as I crawled into bed, I fell into a deep, heavy sleep. All night long, I had the oddest dream. I kept seeing two wolves running through the forest, a white and a gray, side by side.
Three
Killian
Mine,my wolf snarled.Claim her now.
Patience,I growled back.We can’t shift here in the human realm.
I’d been handed a miracle yesterday when I scented Daphne. My fated mate – the reason I kept feeling compelled to come back to this town. She was a half shifter who apparently wasn’t aware of who—or what—she really was. It was a miracle that was going to cause a lot of problems, but I’d worry about that later. Right now, I needed to figure out a way to get her back through the veil and onto pack property.
I lurked behind tall hedges with two of my packmates, watching Daphne pace the parking lot in front of the Lush Life Spa. Apparently, human women liked to go to these things called “spas,” and then they would emerge smelling different and looking different. Why? Daphne is perfect the way she is.
She was waiting for a friend who wasn’t much of a friend and who wouldn’t show up. I knew because I’d made some inquiries at the restaurant where she worked, and also, I was keeping tabs on those idiots from the Iron Claw pack. Royal, Earl, and Duke, the three sons of the late alpha, had already tried to cajole Daphne into going back to their hotel room with her and her friend.
They didn’t want Daphne for the reasons they pretended—although it didn’t matter because she said no.
What they’d wanted to do was kidnap Daphne.
I’d eavesdropped in the parking lot, hearing them move on to planB,which was to take her “friend” Miranda back to their hotel room, seduce her, chat her up, and get her to talk about Daphne so they’d know where to find her.
I’d summoned my packmates and kept watch over her mother’s house all night. We were smart enough to stay quiet. Those Iron Claw fools love to show off, and they howled into the wee hours, advertising their presence like a blinking red flag.
Daphne stopped pacing and walked back to her car, leaning on it and glancing at her watch. My gaze roved over her. A waterfall of golden hair, ocean-blue eyes and full, generous hips that I longed to grip. Apparently, in the human world, men preferred skinny women. Women who looked like they were starving – like their men couldn’t feed them. I could never understand that.
Claim her,my wolf demanded.
Shut up, or I won’t shift for a month,I told my wolf.
Liar.
My wolf was right. If I didn’t shift and run free for a month, if I didn’t hunt, I’d go mad.
Daphne paced in the parking lot, and my wolf and I watched her with desperate, burning hunger. She was everything I wanted and exactly what I shouldn’t have.
My fated mate.
Fated mates are a tricky proposition for an alpha. Dangerous. That’s why most alphas make a political match, a mating of convenience. That’s why my grandfather, our current alpha, had pushed me into a terrible bargain with the Iron Claw pack. I’d agreed to a mating of convenience with their late alpha’s daughter, to be consummated by the next full moon.
Then I crossed over into the human realm one day to stock up on some supplies, and my wolf scented Daphne. I just didn’t know her name at the time. All I knew was that this was a woman I’d dreamed of all my life without realizing it.
Fated mate, fated mate, fated mate!My senses screamed.
Fate has a funny sense of humor.
We’ll have her soon enough,I growled at my wolf.
“Uh, Killian. Alpha Heir. You do know you’re using your out-loud voice, right?” Gage asked.
No, I did not. Showed how distracted I was.