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“The conversation, friend,” she replied. “I meant the conversation. You haven’t been making any concrete decisions.” She hung her head apologetically. “I do not wish to argue with you, Commander. I want nothing but justice for the wrongs that have occurred.”
She was right. “I’m sorry, Galanthia. I’m worried about us—and Macy.”
I turned to find her in the midst of fixing her dress, the motion accentuating her bosom. For a second, I was lost in my lust all over again. Those clouds beckoned me back to her, the way she tasted still faintly clinging to my tongue. Earthly pleasures were truly irresistible, and with Macy, I could barely contain my reaction.
Izdor punched my arm, the likes of which would have sent an earthly man flying. “Focus.”
“I’m focusing.”
Galanthia squinted between me and Macy. “Yes, you’ve been quite focused on this one. Is she more than just a rescue to you?”
“Don’t you dare call her such a thing. You make it sound as if she’s some kind of lost dog.”
“Is that not correct?” Galanthia scratched her head. “She’s a wolf, correct?”
Izdor snorted and then held his hands between us. “Alright, we can talk semantics later. Can we focus on the issue at hand? Those underground bullies atMossare going to want to recover their assets. Now, if we’re being logical, we can assume they’ve been operating there for a brief period.”
“Correct,” Galanthia and I stated simultaneously.
Macy slowly approached us. Electric heat tingled on my left elbow where she drew close. “Things like that happen all the time.”
I looked down at her. Though she was shorter than me, she didn’t by any means look smaller—or weaker, as she had put it earlier. She wasn’t weak at all. Her resolve was incredible. “All the time?”
“There’s sort of a black market for that kind of thing across the country. So, yeah. All the time,” she replied. She played with one of the velvet bags. “I’ve mostly seen them do fighting rings.”
I frowned. “Rings?”
“They take two shifters and force them to shift. They’re locked inside a giant cage until only one of them is standing.” She hugged herself and shuddered. “My elders suggested it once for training me in obedience or whatever.”
My arm moved without my prompting, protectively wrapping around her shoulders. I clutched her to my side. “You’ll do no such thing, little wolf.”
She laughed and pushed my arm away.
The nerve of her to do such a thing in the wake of danger was insulting.
“I’m not little,” she jabbed. “And stop grabbing me so much. I can hug myself, you know.”
“You’re shivering. You’re clearly cold or scared.”
Her expression soured. “Stop treating me like I can’t take care of myself.”
“I must protect you. That means I will respond to your every need.”
“Is that why you ate me out back there? Because you were responding to my need?”
Though the turn of phrase was nearly lost on me, I felt the sudden appearance of hotness in my face. The entirety of my body seemed to respond at once, flushing in waves of hot and cold, a mixture of pleasure and guilt jolting around inside me like unexpressed anger.
But it wasn’t anger. It was something else. It was an innate calling to put her in her place.
I lowered my voice. “The performance in which we found ourselves was merely to sate physical desiresandact as a protective layer against those listening.”
“If that were the case, then why did you claim you were rescuing me? You know…” She shrugged and then studied her nails. “Out loudwhere thoselisteningcouldhear it.”
“You’re ungrateful. That’s what it is.”
She gasped and snatched up one of the velvet bags. “You know what?Fine. I’m ungrateful and I don’t appreciate you taking advantage of my body when I was vulnerable.”
“Ah, but I thought you weren’t weak, little wolf? You keep claiming to be perfectly capable of defending yourself.”
