Page 7 of Bold Mercy

“I’m your alpha,” he said calmly. “Protecting my wolves is what I do.”

“I thought we’d discussed the fact that you’re not exactly—”

“I am your wolf’s alpha.” Now he was angry. “I will protect you.”

“I get it,” I said, surprising him. “You want to protect me. And you know what, Alpha? I want to protect you. That is why I’m here. To tell you that Avis Vine is coming for you, and that I’m going to make sure she doesn’t touch you.” I gave him a brisk nod and strode toward the doorway, smug as I could be.

He was so fast that he was standing in front of me before I realized he’d moved. He blocked the doorway, his hands loose at his sides, his stare dark and just a little frustrated. “You’re going to get hurt.”

I recoiled, my eyes narrow and my heart pounding. “I’ve been hurt before, Alpha. You can’t do anything to me that—”

“Not by me, Kait. Fuck. When will you trust me?” He closed his eyes for a second, clenching his fists. “I’m not Adam Thorne. I’m not my father. And I am not your fucking father.” He grasped my shoulders, squeezing gently. “Kait.”

I was full of emotions and confusion when he slid a hand to my braid and tugged gently, bringing my chin up. He stared down at me, frustrated, angry, hot. “Damn you for being so fucking broken,” he murmured.

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell him he was mistaken. I was far from broken. He had the wrong idea about me. But when I opened my mouth, he covered it with his, and I forgot how to speak. I forgot that I’d even wanted to speak.

The alpha was kissing me, and it didn’t matter that I wanted to fight to the end to make sure everyone knew how strong I was, how unafraid, how badass. I felt that kiss to my soul. And at that moment, it was the absolute only thing that mattered.

My body was suddenly boneless and heavy and though I wanted to lift my arms and wrap them around him, all I could do was hang in his grip while my wolf howled and my heart thudded and my body responded in ways it had never responded to a man before, and that was because no man was my wolf’s alpha. My alpha. God, I wanted him. In all ways.

I wouldn’t admit it, not out loud, but there was no better feeling than giving myself over to him. To letting him take control. My mind shut down and at that moment, I did trust him.

I didn’t fight it, and I didn’t want to.

He held me against him, and every touch was magnified. I felt his restrained strength, his fierceness, his passion. I felt how much he wanted me, and I was satisfied that he wanted me every bit as much as I wanted him.

Heat roared between us like a tornado of fire and he slammed me back against the wall and held me there, his mouth controlling me, his hands roaming where they would. He nipped my bottom lip and it split, swelled, and then healed, and I shook with the excitement of realizing that when two wolves had sex, it was not gentle. It was intense.

I wanted intense.

My body reacted to his roughness and I no longer hung passive and dazed in his grip. I had to touch him. My fingertips throbbed and my body buzzed and I craved him like he was a drug and I was beyond addicted. Yes, I had to touch him.

In the back of my mind, I realized this wasn’t normal. Our snarling, hungry wolves wanted to devour each other and we could only go along with it and hope that when it was over, we weren’t too fucked up. At least that was how I felt. I couldn’t know what was in his head.

My wolf was in heaven. He swept his tongue across mine and sucked my swollen lips and slipped his fingers beneath my clothes, and I was impatient at the barriers, because I needed the feel of his bare skin against mine.

I’d forgotten where we were. Only when he gave a harsh groan and pulled away from me, holding my shoulders firmly when I tried to bring him back, did it begin to sink in that we were in the pristine room, and this was definitely not the place to finally taste the alpha.

The reason for his sudden return to sanity became clear when the sound of heels clicking on the floor wafted to my ears. We were about to be interrupted, and he’d heard her long before I had.

He straightened my clothes and smoothed my hair and finally, as I stared up at him, he winked at me. But there was nothing lighthearted about his expression. I shivered, burning up and freezing at the same time, and I was not embarrassed. Not even when his housekeeper stuck her head into the room, took a quick look, and then hastily withdrew.

“Am I ready yet, Alpha?” My voice was raw and hoarse and even to my ears, it sounded nothing like me. “I think I’m fucking ready.”

“Shit,” he muttered, and put his hands on the wall on either side of me, his heart pounding so hard I could see his chest jerking. He dipped his head and gave me one last, lingering kiss, then stepped away. He ran his hands through his hair, then took my arm and pulled me from the room. “I wonder if either of us is,” he said.

We didn’t say another word as he led me from his house and walked me to my car. To say I was confused was an understatement. I knew the politics and hierarchy and rules of a pack were complicated and somewhat extreme, but come on.

Could we not just have sex like a couple of fully consenting adults and forget the complications?

Apparently not.

I knew it had bothered him when I’d thought he was going to hurt me, but surely that wasn’t what was holding him back. I also knew he believed I wasn’t ready for him. I didn’t know what that meant, not really. My body was ready for him. That was what mattered.

I wasn’t one to stew and wonder, either, so before I got into my car, I turned to look at him. “Why are you hesitating, Jared? We want each other. No strings. Just…” I had to swallow hard before I could get the word out. “Sex.”

Finally, he cracked a smile. “No strings,” he said. Then he huffed a laugh and ran his hand over his face. “No strings.”

I clenched my fists, then turned from him, yanked my door open, and got into my car. “Fuck you, Alpha.”

Before I could slam the door, he caught it. “Do you think I could just fuck you and leave you, Kait?”

My breath caught. “What I think,” I said, my voice calm despite the storm inside me, “is that having sex doesn’t have to change anything. There’s this heat between us, and I…” I shrugged. “I just want to get it out of my system and get on with my life.”

He actually paled. He didn’t say another word, simply stared at me with something in his eyes I couldn’t recognize, then turned and strode away.

“What the hell?” I muttered. “What’d I say?” Then, “Jared,” I yelled. “What the hell?”

“Not ready,” he snarled, and kept walking.

Mystified, I sat there for five minutes before finally, I drove away from Jared’s house. I needed to see Lennon. And it didn’t matter that the alpha was nowhere near me. I still felt him. My body was still full of heat. Damn him. And damn my wolf.

“Assholes, both of you,” I grumbled, then went to see the seer about some wards.