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“That’s okay. I’m happily mated.”
He goes on as if he hadn’t heard me.
“It wouldn’t be fated, but I’ve seen plenty of wolves enjoy themselves with one they’ve chosen on their own.” Though I suddenly know exactly where he’s leading the conversation now, it still has my jaw clenching when he casually asks, “How is Janelle?”
My jaw isn’t the only part of me that reacts. Hearing my mom’s name in his voice has my fingers flexing before forming a fist. I forgot that I was holding the steel fork in my hand. The metal creaks as the fork bends in half.
Whoops.
“Does she miss me?”
I offer him a tight grin as I set my destroyed fork to the side of my plate. “Like a bad case of mange.”
His smile slides off his face.
Good going, Gem. I didn’t even make it one full day before I pushed him past his friendly facade.
What did he expect? My mother is a Luna-damned saint. She put up with this cruel bastard for years, always just avoiding being tied to him for life. He hurt her, he cheated on her, he tried to force her to bond with him… he did everything a forever mate never would, and he has the balls to ask me if she misses him?
“You’re here as my guest. I invited you, and I can easily revoke that invitation.”
“No, you can’t,” I shoot back. Might as well get this out of the way now while we’re still pretending to get along. “You swore to the Luna.”
“I did,” he agrees readily. That should’ve been my first warning, because then he says softly, “Elizabeth, have you told Ruby why I keep you so close?”
Her expression goes stark, her eyes wide. I get the feeling she had hoped that the two of us had forgotten she was there.
I cover for her. It’s not her fault she’s stuck at the table with me and my dysfunctional sperm donor. “No. And stop calling me Ruby. My name is Gemma.”
He ignores that. I’m not surprised.
“You’re quite unique, my daughter. A female alpha. So rare, that I never even realized it was possible. You were part of my pack a whole year and I missed it. Then your mother stole you from me, made me believe I lost my chance at the future. I’m going to fix that, and if I have to, I’ll use Elizabeth to do it.”
“Alpha…” Her voice is shaky. “I don’t—”
“Shut up, Elizabeth,” snaps Walker.
Her mouth immediately clicks shut.
Walker laughs. “I was just telling my daughter that she’s not the only special one. You might not be a female alpha, but your gift is just as rare, isn’t it?”
She knows better not to answer him with words. Instead, she nods miserably.
He doesn’t seem to notice—or, if he does, he doesn’t care. “The silver eyes give her away, you see. She has a very interesting gift. She can help us hide the district. Conceal our scents when she’s near. Even neutralize some alpha gifts,” he adds, “but that’s not all. Do you know what else she can do?”
Gemma. “No.”
And, just now, I’m a little worried to find out.
“One touch,” Walker says. “One touch from my pet and I’ll be free to take my mate back.”
Mate?
He can’t mean…
“You can’t do that.” Forget that I just discovered that it’s seemingly possible. I won’t let him.
“Why not? The Luna gave Janelle to me. Maybe I want her back.”
