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But that was a few weeks ago. One glance at Jack Walker and I realize that he’s trying a totally different tactic with me today.
The suit is gone; like his Beta, he wore a seat when I saw him last. So is the overtly menacing aura. He’s wearing a t-shirt that shows off his powerful form, denim jeans, and a good pair of hiking boots that are a sure sign he doesn’t plan on shifting right now. He looks closer to thirty than his true age of fifty-two, and his aura exudes pure alpha strength.
I can also smell him. That’s new. While he and Shane skulked around my territory, they did something to cover up their scents.
He smells dark.
Evil.
I want to gag for so many reasons. Probably not the best idea.
I swallow my distaste as I purposely meet his stare. While Theo and Christian fell back in an act of deference to their Alpha, I kept going until only five feet separate us.
He looks at me for a moment, drinking me in, before he gestures to his packmates. “Meet me at my cabin,” he tells them, the words echoing with his command. “Bring the other wolves with you. I’d like to speak to my daughter alone.”
From behind me, I hear Jace murmur my name. I wave my hand at my side.
It’s okay, guys. I got this.
Though it’s obvious that Duke and Jace would much rather stay with me, if we want to get this over with sooner than later, we have to pick our battles. I’m not too happy to be left behind with Walker, but my mom made sure I understood that he’s another stubborn bastard. If he wants to talk to me alone, he won’t say another freaking word until the other four wolves are gone.
One they are, his honey eyes—so like mine, ugh—track down my face, landing on the hollow of my throat. His lips curl when he spies the marks that curve around the side of it, slashing past my collarbone.
My mating marks. As soon as I made the conscious decision to keep them, the wounds from Ryker’s claws went from bloody to silvery to a shocking white by the next morning. On Ryker’s tanned skin, the five claw marks forming a circle over his heart are noticeable, even if I’m the only one honored enough to see them.
Me? I’m much paler than he is. The marks—while in a pretty freaking visible spot—don’t stand out as much, especially from a distance. But from the way Walker doesn’t even try to hide his disgust at my mark, it doesn’t matter if he can see it. He can definitely sense it, and he doesn’t like it.
Ah. Poor guy. It must really suck to realize that all the plans he has for me are useless now that I’ve taken a bonded mate. Nothing can separate me and Ryker now, not even this psycho Alpha.
I can tell the exact moment he realizes that. The dark edge of his scent turns bitter, his eyes deepening to the color of molasses.
Point, Gem.
I reach into my back pocket, using two fingers to pull out the envelope I jammed in there earlier before showing it to him. “Got your invite.”
“Where’s Wolfson?”
Walker has a voice much richer than it has any rights to be. Of course. If he looked and sounded as ugly as he truly was, he never would’ve been able to trick an entire pack into following him. Like his claws and his fangs, he wields his handsome face like another weapon.
My mom warned me about that. She wasn’t even a little wrong.
Looking at him, I could totally see why he had no problem luring half the Wolf District to his bed while he was my mother’s mate. If I wasn’t able to sense the evil clinging to him, I might’ve been fooled, too. His question? Nothing more than a casual way of asking after my mate.
Good thing I know better.
Following his lead, I keep my voice pleasant. “He couldn’t make it.”
“No, but he sent guards to watch over you in his place.”
“The invitation didn’t say I couldn’t bring guests with me.”
His eyes sparkle in a dare. “An alpha doesn’t need guards.”
If he thinks I’m going to bow to him because he’s an Alpha and this is his land, I need to set him straight right away otherwise he’ll get the wrong idea that I’m some kind of submissive wolf.
Nope. I just played one for twenty-five years.
“An alpha doesn’t sneak into another pack’s territory and make off with one of their wolves,” I point out lightly.
