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“Maybe I’ll send Elizabeth on a trip to Lakeview,” he muses cruelly. Then, as if that latest threat of his wasn’t already awful, his golden eyes turn molten. “Or maybe I’ll decide to try out the younger model instead. After all, I’ve already proven I can sire a female alpha.”
In a split second, the disgust returns. Ten-fold.
Only a lifetime of concealing my true self keeps me from giving away just how repulsed I am as soon as I realize what he means. If he’s saying what I think he’s saying…
The leer.
The prowl.
The empty cabin.
Oh, Luna. No. Fuck no.
He thinks he’s so slick. To make matters worse, he’s picked tonight of all nights to talk to me about this.
The Luna is still a few hours from rising, but I’ve been pushing against her pull for days now. I’m not worried about moon fever—I have plenty else to worry about—but to suggest I turn my bed into a revolving door on the threat that he might want a turn…
His lips curve just enough to have my stomach clenching even tighter. I want to hurl so bad, and the bile burns the length of my throat as I clamp my jaws shut, keeping it back.
I won’t give him the satisfaction of throwing up on him. Bastard wants a reaction. He wants to make me squirm. Mom might not have gone into detail on all of the ways he tortured her while they were mates, but even as coddled as I was, a girl picks up things. He’ll probably get off more on how sick I suddenly am than anything he’s ever done in the sack.
Purposely rearranging my features into a neutral expression, I pretend to think about it for a moment before I give my head a little shake. “Thanks for the offer, but like I said, pass.”
“Very well.” His lips curve just a touch higher. “Enjoy your privacy, Ruby.”
Fuck you.
I almost spit the words out. They’re on the tip of my tongue. Prick deserves to hear them, too, but after his not-so-subtle threat, I’m not about to give the sick bastard any ideas.
Instead, I force my own smile. “I told you. Call me Gemma.”
Hell if he gets to call me Gem.
* * *
As soon as Walker leaves,I lock the fucking door.
Will it do any good? I highly doubt it. It’s not a shifter-proof doorknob, not like the one that Ryker installed on his basement door during his year-long struggle with moon fever. One quick snap and anyone can enter the cabin while I’m alone.
Welp. There goes any hope that I’m sleeping tonight…
I give my head another, harsher shake. Later. That’s a problem for Later Gem to deal with. I have something more pressing to deal with at this particular moment.
Now that I know that Ryker is here, I reach for our bond. I hadn’t let myself do that the whole time I’ve been in the district because it was too much of a temptation. Screw that. If he’s here, I’ll be able to tell with one quick tug.
I’d be a huge fucking idiot if I took the Wicked Wolf at his word. I tug, and when I feel him sending reassurances down the line, I nearly sink to my knees.
It’s strong.
It’s real.
Ryker’s here. He’s really here.
I don’t know why; Walker says it’s because Ryker accepted his invitation, but that doesn’t sound like my mate. The whole reason he didn’t join me on this trip in the first place was that someone had to stay behind in Accalia. He shouldn’t be here—but he is.
And, if Walker was telling the truth about that, then he’s currently being offered the chance to break our fated mate bond.
My hands are trembling. Sometime after Walker left the cabin, my claws retracted. Bloody tracks run down the inside of my palms from where I unknowingly pierced myself. I rub them against my jeans, my heart pounding a mile a minute.
