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Rolling over, I find Ryker’s already up and out of the bed. Rooting around the side of the bed, he’s searching for his jeans from last night. His head turns when he senses my stare on his bare back, eyes blazing.
Yeah. He senses it, too.
Following Ryker’s lead, I get up, looking around for where my clothes ended up. You’d think that, for once, I could strip down and toss them in the hamper where they belonged so that I wouldn’t waste time searching for something to cover up with. Nope. I blame it on us still being in the honeymoon of our mating period, plus how revved up he was after I came back from Muncie. Give me and Ryker an empty room, a few minutes to ourselves, and it’s a race to get undressed. Who the hell knows where our clothes end up half the time?
When all I recover is my shirt and a single sock, I give up. As Ryker yanks on his shirt, I dart past him, aiming for the dresser. Once it became clear that I would be staying in Accalia for longer than I initially planned, he made room in here for me after he went down to Muncie and gathered my stuff for me.
I grab the first shirt I find, tugging it over my head. I think about running out without panties before remembering just how jealous Ryker was yesterday. Probably not a good idea to skimp on them, even if I’m wearing his scent in my skin. Panties first, then jeans.
No time for shoes. Ryker’s already storming toward the hall. I’m not about to let him leave me behind, so I jump up and pad after him in my bare feet.
He doesn’t wait for me. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m pretty sure that, if Ryker thought he could get away with shutting me in the cabin, he would’ve. Since he knows that he’d’ be a fool to even try, he settles on speeding ahead of me.
By the time I catch up to him, he has the front door open, and he’s moved out past the edge of our walkway. His hands are perched on his hips, his legs braced as he positions himself firmly between the male walking out of the forest and our cabin.
It’s a wolf shifter, and not any I recognize. A couple of inches taller than Ryker, with a thick build and paws that remind me of a catcher’s mitt, I might be wary of this dark-haired idiot if his rank was barely a blip on my radar.
That still doesn’t make me any less guarded. Lower-ranked or not, to get this far into Accalia without one of Ryker’s patrols picking up on his approach is impressive. Making it so close to the Alpha’s cabin before me and Ryker were aware is even more so.
Who the hell is this guy?
Ryker asks the question before I get the chance. “Who are you and what the fuck are you doing on my territory without my permission?”
I’ll give the shifter credit. Before we were mated, even I would’ve quailed if Ryker took that tone of voice with me. Though he looks like he wants to, he stays right where he is.
“My name is Patrick. I’m here on behalf of the Alpha of the Western Pack.”
I figured that would be the case, but damn. My bio-dad is really fucking ballsy if he thinks it’s a good idea to send a single wolf into our territory.
“Yeah?” Ryker makes a display of looking behind the wolf. “You alone, Patrick?”
“I am.”
“Funny, ‘cause I thought I sent a message to your Alpha that, unless he returned my packmate to me—unharmed—that I would take any other action as his declaring war on my pack. Is that what you’re doing? Telling me he wants war?”
Patrick swallows roughly. “No. I came with this.” Reaching behind him, he pulls out a white envelope.
I move so that Ryker isn’t acting like a barrier between me and this wolf. I just wanted to get a better look at what he has, but I realize almost immediately that I goofed.
Patrick’s eyes land on me. He’s not looking at my face, though, and not because he’s trying not to challenge an alpha wolf by staring directly at me. Oh, no. His gaze is perfectly angled so that he’s looking at my boobs.
Males. Wolves, vamps, or humans, they’re all the same. I’ve barely got anything there to begin with, and he’s staring like I’m freaking Dolly Parton. Scowling, I glance down to see if maybe my A-cups turned into C’s overnight or something.
Oh. Oh. Yeah… I see what’s going on here. In my haste, I pulled on a plain white tee to cover up—and no bra. Doesn’t matter that I’m basically flat. In the early morning sunlight, you can see everything I have.
Whoops.
A second later, Ryker catches on to what the other wolf is staring at. His expression immediately goes flat, almost as if it doesn’t bother him at all that the wolf is staring openly at my tits.
Yeah. That’s not a good thing.
I’ve known Ryker since I was fifteen, but I’ve only really gotten to know the man behind the roguish smile, the hard eyes, and the mantle of being a young Alpha in the last couple of months. I’d have my own ideas of what kind of male he was, and now that he’s let down his guard enough to let me in, I’m more than willing to admit that I used to be wrong about him.
Still, if there’s one thing I picked up on in the beginning, it’s that the more disinterested and careless Ryker sounds, the more dangerous he really is.
If this wolf doesn’t watch himself, this could end with Ryker plucking out his eyeballs for watching me like that.
Now, I can take care of it myself. As strong as this other wolf appears, his rank is nothing compared to mine. He tops out as a beta wolf. The Wicked Wolf’s new Beta maybe? After the way Ryker won his challenge, my bio-dad was out his last one on account of my mate being forced to put Shane Loup down the way he had. Even so, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t turn me on, knowing that I have a mate who will do anything to stake his claim.
