“Who hurt you?”
Juliet doesn’t give me names. She merely shakes her head. “They don’t matter anymore.”
They.
We will kill them all.
I don’t correct my wolf because I don’t disagree.
“You’re right.” It’s all I can do to keep the growl out of my voice.
Juliet’s shocked eyes flicker to mine, and I hold them.
“Tell me their names and then forget them. I’ll make sure you never see them again.”
I wait for her hesitant admission, expecting her voice to be small or the names to come out with sobs.
Instead, the little librarian studies me. And the corner of her mouth twitches. “Thank you. But no.”
She disobeyed my order?
Why am I surprised? That seems to be Juliet’s specialty.
Before I can come up with another argument, she sucks in a deep breath. A bracing maneuver.
Then she nudges the bat out of her way and shifts forward. Juliet doesn’t make to stand. Instead, she rolls to her knees.
And then she crawls, across the linoleum tiles, toward me.
My body remains locked in place as I watch her approach. The moves have an air of determination and a hint of seduction as her hips sway. Red hair spills over her shoulders, brushing against cleavage that is on glorious display at this angle.
Before she even reaches me, I can feel a tightening in my jeans.
When Juliet is directly in front of me, she sits back, stare locked on mine, defiance in the dip of her brows.
“You got on the floor for me,” she says. “You submitted to me.”
Another alpha might deny the move. Most alphas wouldn’t have done it in the first place.
But I’m not any of them.
“I did.”
Juliet sucks on her bottom lip, and I struggle not to groan at the sight.
“I am in charge of my life,” she declares.
“You are.” My response is low and automatic.
To put her further at ease, I drop my gaze again. Shielding my dark eyes. Here, on this kitchen floor, in front of a fierce yet vulnerable woman, I’m willing to humble myself so the bitter smell of fear will ease from her citrus scent.
“Roderick.” Juliet’s palms land on my knees.
The muscles in my thighs clench at the touch, and a shiver travels up my spine at the sound of my name in her husky voice.
I grunt.
She leans closer.
