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They’re not the enemy. We are just negoti…Aiden stopped that thought in its tracks. He could not tell the deadly predator within him that all he was going to do was talk.
“What are you doing?” the witch asked from above him. He couldn’t believe she agreed to his wild plan in exchange for a table of all things. He would have given her the entire house. She was the only bargaining chip he had.
Not true; he could give the idiot teenagers up to the coven. That would solve a couple of problems.
The old alpha had been losing control of his wolf for years. Everyone had known it, but respect for the old man and fear of his feral wolf kept him in power. He’d lasted longer than anyone believed possible, and nobody noticed until it was too late that the next generation was collateral damage.
Instead of a healthy hierarchy and a strong leader, the young ones had grown up convinced of their invincibility. They were mannerless, dominant, and dangerous as hell. It was cute whenthey were twelve. After they grew up and got a bee in their bonnet about witches, it wasn’t cute at all.
He could toss them to the coven and be done with it. But they were his pack. If he could protect them, he would.
So magnanimous,he told himself bitterly.So selfless. You’redefinitelydoing this for them.
He glanced up at Goldie sitting on the horse like it was a rickety barstool. Not for the first time, her beauty hit him. She was tall with wide, dark eyes and wild hair. She was tempestuous, vindictive, and gorgeous. Some deep part of him asked,Where have you been?
He’d known her for half a day and in that time, she’d tripped him, cursed him, tarred and feathered him, and stomped on him with his own shoes. And he wanted her to do it all again.
He slapped that part of him upside the head because keeping a woman locked in his den because she was pretty was… He didn’t have words for it, and words were kind of his thing.
“Stay here. Keep quiet.”
“What are you going to do?”
He rolled his neck, feeling the vertebrae crack into place, a sign the wolf was close.
Just hold on,he told the beast hopelessly.
“How will they know you’re safe?” he asked her.
“What?”
He gripped her calf, and both of them tensed at the contact. “Tell me what to say.”
She glanced into the dark canopy above them for inspiration. “Tell them I want a cup of chamomile and slippery elm tea out on The Point when I get back.”
His wolf’s befuddlement allowed him to get a bit of control over it. “What?”
“Chamomile and slippery elm out on The Point when I get back.”
“Got it. You wouldn’t happen to have anything white on you?”
“White?”
“For a flag so they don’t eat me before we can talk.”
She pulled the collar of her shirt away to reveal a white bra strap. “Only this.”
He blinked at the sudden image seared into his retinas. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to convince them I haven’t hurt you.”
“Probably not.”
“Stay here. No matter what.”
“I’m not gonna renege on our deal.”
“I just mean, if things get bloody.”
She leaned down. “You hurt a hair on their head, our deal is off.”
