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I hugged my jacket tight around me and turned my attention back to the street. Where the hell was Dominick? “Did you force the mate bond because you needed to show a unified front to the delegates?”
When he didn’t respond right away, I swiveled my head around, and the look on his face told me everything. He had deliberately made me his mate so he wouldn’t look weak to my uncle’s men.
“Why di
dn’t you say so, Lucas?” I stuffed my hands in my pockets and tilted my head back, looking up at the bright, beautiful lights of the New York skyline mixed with the icy white curve of the moon. “You say I’m the pack protector, but when a situation arises where I can actually prove myself, you don’t have enough faith in me to let me make the decision myself.”
“That’s not—”
“No, listen to me, please.” My tone was soft, not demanding. I didn’t want to start a fight with him, but I needed him to hear me out. “I don’t want the East Coast packs to belong to the McQueens anymore than you do. Even though they’re technically my blood kin, my loyalty is to you. To your pack.”
“Our pack,” he corrected.
“If you want it to be our pack, you need to trust me with these decisions.”
“Then I need to tell you something, and I need you to not get mad about it because it’s just me being honest.”
“I can’t promise I won’t be mad. Given your past behavior it would be a pretty stupid promise for me to make.” I tried to laugh, but his wince told me I’d hit below the belt while the wound was still fresh. “Go ahead, tell me. I can at least promise not to hit you.”
“It’s nothing I’ve done. Yet.”
“Okay…”
“I need you to understand the pack will always come first. Before my own needs, before my relationship with you, before everything.”
Just what a girl wants to hear: I love you, but I love a bunch of slobbering wolves more. Again, my initial response of annoyance was quashed almost instantly by a swell of empathy. Fucking mate bond, it was going to make it almost impossible to be mad at him. At least when he was able to justify it to himself.
Removing my hands from my pockets, I closed the distance between us and touched both of his forearms, giving him a gentle squeeze.
“The only reason you talked to me in the first place was because of the pack. If you hadn’t recognized me as your mate, you never would have included me in all this anyway. I have to respect that your people will always be the most important thing to you.” The words of a pack protector and wolf queen, and they were coming out of my own mouth without being forced. Bizarre.
He leaned forward without uncrossing his arms and kissed my forehead. I was thankful he didn’t try for more. It had been a long, long night, and I wasn’t ready to be pulled into an embrace quite yet.
“I’ve invited Callum’s delegates to attend the opening of a new business school I donated to Columbia University.” The moment he said the name of the school my skin got cold, and an uneasy feeling started to bubble up in my tummy. Why was that name everywhere, lately? “I’d like you to come with me.”
“Okay.”
“It’s important to me that you be there, so they see you stand with me in all of my decisions, and I… Wait, did you already say yes?”
I patted his cheek, his skin harder than usual due to the coldness in the air. It felt like touching a wax version of Lucas. “You asked, I said yes.”
“No fight? No questions asked? No snarky comments?”
“Come on. Give me a little credit, please.”
He arched a brow at me and repeated, “No snarky comments?”
I sighed. “Fine.” Then, with my voice a few octaves higher, in a spot-on impersonation of my vampire ward Brigit, I added, “Did you, like, want me to wear a leash? Or will the diamond-studded collar that says Queen Bitch be enough?”
There was a long silence, then Lucas roared with laughter. He dipped down and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek and rested his head against mine. “How did I end up with you, Secret?”
“Fate. She’s a tricky mistress.”
Someone cleared their throat, and we noticed Dominick’s arrival for the first time.
“Pardon the interruption,” he said dryly, “but it’s cold as shit out here. Can we go?”
I ducked out of Lucas’s reach and jogged to the passenger side of the car. “Thanks,” I said to Lucas as an afterthought.
