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I bend over the floor plans spread across the long dining table and stare at the same line without taking in a damn thing. The steps creak under her feet. When she crosses the threshold, her scent fills the place up. I want to show her every room and hear what she’d change.

But I keep my back turned so I don’t overwhelm her. Arousal sweetens her scent. Aya isn’t ready. Her wolf is.

I can’t wait for her heat cycle. When it hits, the waiting’s done. Her wolf will command her to me, and she won’t be able to fight it. That’s the law. But I don’t want the bond doing the work for us. My father thanks my mother when she flattens him with a look. My parents built that together without any help from instinct. I’ll have the same with Aya, whether she cooperates or not.

“So it’s like that?” she asks from behind me, and I smell the hurt on her.

I keep my eyes on the floor plans. “Like what, Aya?”

“You’re not…” She trails off. Rejection sours her scent.

We are not playing that fucking game. This little banter session is over.

I flash across the room and catch her wrist. I kick the door shut behind her, and the windows rattle in their frames. She gasps with her heartbeat jumping under my thumb, but she doesn’t fight me. I back her up until she hits the wood.

My dragon is smug as hell about it. He’s wanted her here for years, in our cabin with no way out.

“Don’t start, Aya.” I tighten my grip. “You know how I feel about smelling rejection on you.”

“I—” She stops short. Under the hurt, her arousal comes through sharp.

I plant a hand on the door above her shoulder and lean in. Her heat soaks through my shirt. Every breath I take is full of her. She tilts her chin up.

“I will never reject you, and you know that,” I growl. “Knock that shit off.”

Her lip trembles. The sadness in her scent is the one thing I can’t stand. My dragon demands I fix it and take away whatever’s hurting her.

Smoke curls from my nostrils and ears when I sigh, and Aya giggles. She always does when my control slips. Hearing it takes the fight out of me.

“All right, Aya, all right.” I release her wrist. “Yes, Aya. I left because of you.”

Guilt creeps into her scent. I cradle her head and stroke my thumbs over her cheeks. None of this is on her.

“Valek and your father are stalling on the cabin build,” I explain. “So I decided to leave the clan and make a statement that I’m not playing around when it comes to you.”

“My dad is giving you a hard time?” Aya asks. Her scent snaps hot, but now her temper is pointed at Levi.

I keep my hands where they are and soak up the warmth of her skin. “Don’t worry about it, Aya.”

“Don’t tell me not to worry about it,” she hisses. There’s the fire I love. “But my pack and your clan are supposed to be neutral.”

I dip my head to kiss her. She stops me with a hand against my chest. “No, Ezra, don’t.”

“I have you here, I have you this close,” I warn her as I crowd in. “You better just smack my face, Aya. There’s no way you’re leaving this cabin without giving me a kiss. You know the drill.”

Her hand stays put, but she doesn’t push. “You know I’m not going to do that,” she whispers. She curls her fingers into my shirt and tugs me down.

I kiss her. My dragon rises hungry for more, but I keep it respectful. I don’t get this often, and when I do, I make it count. I take my time sliding my tongue along her bottom lip until she opens for me. When she whimpers into my mouth, my dick jerks behind my zipper.

Her scent floods my head, and I can’t think straight. I run my hands down to her hips and haul her in. At the drag of her breasts over my chest, I growl low. I break the kiss while I can. She sags back into the door with her breath coming fast.

“Get out of here before you end up in our bed,” I rasp. Her lips part. That’s right, baby, it’s our bed. “I’m not letting you go the moment I get you, and you know that.”

She’s still dazed with it. “But what about my father? Do you want me to talk to him?”

“No.” I make myself step back an inch.

“But—” she argues, and I’m already gone.