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“Ah, yes, but now we have a secret weapon. An enforcer who wants her mate back.” Marie’s shrewd gaze slides to me.
When she wraps an arm around my waist, the fear snaking up my back curls itself around my throat and I don’t know what to say. The looks on Marcus and Bodhi’s faces don’t do anything to ease my nerves.
“If I had a wolf, I could help,” Leah grumbles, and Bodhi rolls his eyes behind her back.
“Yes, well, you can take that up with Rex,” Marie snips. “But for now, Belle is the best chance we’ve got. With your help of course, boys.”
We all stand quietly for a minute, and I’m surprised by how silent my wolf is. Like she is resigned to go along with whatever scheme Marie is concocting.
“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a terrible idea.” Marcus is shaking his head at Marie, but still looking at me intently, sizing me up to see if I can do whatever it is Marie has planned.
“Of course it is,” Marie addresses everyone, “but Hayley’s baby is coming, and this is no environment for a small child to be living in. I won’t have my grandchild at risk if they come after us again.” She turns her attention to me, “That is what you came here for, after all. To end this and let Ethan come home.”
23
ETHAN
The moment I set foot in the foyer my wolf’s hackles go up.
A guy with a busted nose is pacing up and down by the lifts. Feeling his agitation, I tense as I approach, bracing myself in case he tries to start a fight. I’m surprised when he barely reacts to my presence. I subtly sniff the air. The lingering scent of a female wolf, tinged with a little something extra, sends a surge of adrenaline pumping through my veins.
What the hell is going on?
Grey Ridge has done business with this pack plenty of times, and Nathan is here to work with them on their plans to revamp this hotel. We’ve been negotiating the deal for months. I can’t imagine the source of any major issues originated here. It’s far more likely that trouble has followed Nathan and Kim here.
Checking my phone again to see no further updates, I head straight to the room number she sent earlier. She didn’t answer any of my follow-up messages or give me any more details; I’m going in blind. Knocking gently, I’m relieved to see she’s in one piece and that everything looks fine when she opens the door, hastily ushering me inside.
“What the fuck is going on, Kim?” I snap as my knees are almost taken from under me by the unmistakable scent of lust in the air.
Immediately, everything turns to shit.
Things are not fine at all. Nathan’s bound to a chair on the far side of the suite, his face purple with rage as he struggles to free himself.
And the air. The air is so heavy with the scent of a she-wolf in heat that my own poor beast can’t help but react. I’m sporting a semi instantly, despite really not wanting to, but it's biological. The dark-haired beauty writhing in agony on the floor is suffering, her needy body telegraphing loud and clear to every male in the vicinity exactly what will relieve her pain. A male. Specifically, his seed. Pinching my nose, trying to stop her scent from scrambling my mind, I reel back. The female’s scent has aroused all sorts of urges within me; the desire to breed and sire offspring has been running wild since I first laid eyes on my own mate.
But my wolf is keeping it together enough to know that he only wants Belle. There isn’t a wolf alive who wouldn’t be turned on by the pheromones bombarding me right now, but in my beast’s mind, he’s already mated.
“Yours?” I ask, but he doesn’t need to answer. From the way Nathan is staring at her, agony in his eyes, it’s easy to tell she’s his.
“MINE!” he roars, and despite myself, I snarl in response to his possessive growl.
“Kim, what the fuck is this? You said there was an emergency. Get her out of here. Or let me out now.” Kim just smiles, and I’m struck by how even though she looks the same, I can barely recognise my old friend as she sneers at me. Hatred shines in her pale eyes.
“You guys like to share. Remember the Harvest Full Moon last year? You had no problem sharing me. Why not Maya?” When she laughs cruelly in Maya’s face, I wince. I remember that night all right. It seemed like a bit of fun at the time, but now I recognise it for what it was: three lonely people all waiting for their mates, wanting to feel some kind of spark. Nobody was left under the illusion it was the start of some great romance.
“Cut it out, Kim. Let everyone go. There’s no need for this. We’re all friends here. Just tell us what’s going on, and what you need.”
But we’re not friends anymore, not after something like this.
Kim isn’t acting under duress. The evil glint in her eye tells me she’s enjoying this. When Kim orders Maya onto the bed, I know there’s no talking her down.
“Fuck, Nathan. I’m in trouble here.” Exaggerating my symptoms, I sway on my feet and stagger after her, trying to drown Nathan’s pleas not to touch her. All the while, Nathan struggles, ripping his wrists to shreds as he tries to save his mate from this torture.
“Strip, Maya,” Kim orders, and Maya is too far gone to resist. Her fingers twist in her top as she stares guiltily at Nathan, completely torn up over what he’s about to see. I turn away, pretending to be agitated; but really, I’m trying not to look out of respect for her and my friend.
“Ethan, I don’t think there’ll be any coming back to Grey Ridge after this. We might be seeing much more of each other when Toby takes over the pack again.”
She has completely lost it. I don’t antagonise her by reminding her she’s rambling about a dead man. There’s no point. Kim edges closer, pressing her gun into my waist to force me forward, closer to Maya. I can feel her twisted excitement, and it disgusts me.
