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“You’re at my place. I’ll tell you what happened in a minute, but, first, I want Axel to check you out. Make sure you’re okay.” Cree’s no-nonsense personality is showing strong. He pokes his head out the door and bellows, “Axel.”
I wince at his volume before asking, “Who the hell is Axel?”
“That, dear, would be me,” a rich, soothing voice replies from the door. The man that goes along with said voice is stunning. I swear, my heart skips a beat when our gazes meet. His eyes are narrow with a deep, intense brown tone that is almost onyx in color. His skin tone is a warm, rich sepia, hair just a bit darker brown than his eyes with a closely cropped cut. And his smile, oh, that smile, it is panty-melting.
Shit, I’m in trouble with this one. What the hell is going on with me?
“.… Riley?”
I blink. “Huh?”
Axel walks into the room, coming to sit next to me on the bed. He takes my hand in his, and a tingling sensation travels from the point of contact up my arm, to settle in my chest. He reaches for my neck with his other hand, and when his fingertips make contact with my skin, that tingling sensation returns, traveling from the tips of his fingers to the center of my chest. My heart races, and my breathing quickens, creating a sense of euphoria that has my wolf stirring for the first time in a year.
Mate. My mate. My mates. My wolf hums in my head. Her voice is a stranger to me. Tears brim my eyelids, threatening to break the dam wide open at the sensation of having her so close again. Wait, what did she say?
Fuck me. No … No mate, No mates. I tell her over and over. I do not want, nor do I need, a mate. I get she does, it’s what every wolf wants.
Besides, how the fuck do you know that? There’s no pull, no connection that I feel. I remind her what needs to be there for it to be a true mate bond. I’m being honest with her; I don’t feel that instant connection that we’re supposed to feel when we find our mates, just a tingle. From what I heard growing up in the packs, it’s an undeniable pull that makes you want to mate right then and there. Looking inward, I know this hurts my wolf to hear. She craves that connection, but I just can’t right now. A loss of a mate would kill me.
You’ll see. All are my mates. They feel me. I see her in my mind, squaring her shoulders and holding her head high. Ready to prove me wrong.
Oh, fuck.
“I need a drink.” I sigh.
“No,” Cree barks at me. My head snaps in his direction, and my glare turns deadly.
“Excuse me?”
“I fucking said no, Riley.” Cree declares as though he has some magical control over me.
“Okay,” I state in the sweetest tone possible, an innocent smile crossing my face.
Cree’s eyes narrow as he looks me up and down. His gaze holds mine for a long minute, searching for … something, though I’m not sure what. One brow lifts, and he questions, “Okay?”
“Sure,” I state, nodding my head, my smile never faltering as I slowly rise from the bed and head towards the door.
“Okay. So where are you headed then?”
All the guys are wearing matching, puzzled and suspicious looks.
“Somewhere else,” I sing-song.
Cree jumps from his chair with so much force the wooden seat flies into the wall at his back with a crash. “I don’t fucking think so. You are not leaving this apartment.”
I look him in the eye and whisper, “Then give me a drink.”
“Give her a drink, just one.” I look over my shoulder and watch as Axel’s eyes rake over my body from head to toe, landing on my hands.
I look back to Cree, who has, yet again, a look of utter shock written on his face. “You’re fucking joking, right?”
“No,” Axel says, coming to stand beside me, taking my trembling hand in his and leads me out of the bedroom to a living room.
“For the record, I don’t like this. You don’t give someone with an addiction what they’re craving,” Cree states as he pours a glass of whiskey and brings it to me.
I wrap the throw from off the couch around my shoulders and take the proffered glass from him with a shaky hand. “Noted, but I’m not an addict, so you have nothing to worry about. I’m just exhausted.”
Sipping my whiskey, I relish the burn as it glides down my throat and take a moment to gather myself before the interrogations start. Someone is going to give me answers about what the hell is going on.
