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I shouldn’t have been reassured. To him, I was just his temporary property. He wasn’t protecting me for any other reason… right?
But then I recalled what he’d promised after killing the red wolf in the forest: And as for those who hurt you in the past, princess? I’ll destroy them all. One day, we’ll make both Ironwood and Frost Fang pay.
That wasn’t part of our deal. It made me think he might be developing some kind of feelings for me. Still, I didn’t trust him. I couldn’t. The thought of anyone fighting on my behalf because they actually cared about me… all the wolves in my life had made it clear that wasn’t something I could expect, especially from alphas. Except for Flint, who was my mate and was driven to protect me by his instincts.
So, I rolled with my back to Gage and went back to sleep. By the time I woke up, morning light streamed through the window.Flint was already gone again, but I could feel his warmth lingering in the bed beside me.
Outside the room, I could hear Heath and Gage’s low voices, though I couldn’t make out any words until Gage corrected, “whenwe get there” before quieting down again.
The low rumble of their voices sent a surge of warmth through me, my body heating involuntarily. I did my best to ignore it, still troubled by last night.
Every time these men pushed my limits, my body responded by giving me the best orgasms of my life. Yet I always second-guessed my actions afterward. And once again, I couldn’t help but feel… dirty. I’d let them make me come in the middle of a crowded public space without so much as talking back.
Or making any noise at all. Had Heath and Gage commanded my silence because of the setting? Or because they didn’t want to be reminded that I was more than an object they could own?
My mate, Flint… I’d seen how much my enjoyment excited him. He wasn’t a complete gentleman. But I knew he cared about me. His gentle words and the way he’d held me to his chest afterward reminded me he did.
The other two… every time I’d been with them, they’d been using me for their pleasure or as reparation for my actions. And yet… they’d always given more than they’d taken.
From what I’d overheard other women in the Ironwood pack say, not all men were like that.
Most Ironwood women met their mates beneath the moon during a pack run and then spent the rest of their lives serving their mate’s desires. They weren’t allowed to bite their mates back for an equal mating — but apparently that was much more common outside of Ironwood. Yet Flint had wanted me to have an equal mating even before I realized he might be the one.
The thought of us biting each other someday, in the heat of the moment… my body lit up at the thought. My teeth itched,and for a moment, I swore I could feel them lengthening into fangs. With a gasp, I rushed over to the mirror. But my teeth looked normal. Just my imagination, then.
But inside of me, my wolf felt… smug. Like she knew a secret I didn’t. Something about the mating bite, maybe? If I hoped to bite Flint back for an equal mating in the future, my wolf needed to show up.
“You’re going to come out someday, right?” I begged my reflection in the mirror.
Maybe it was the light from the window, but something seemed to glint at the edge of my eye. I leaned in, hoping to catch sight of the wolf’s golden color like I always saw in everyone else’s irises when their wolf was close to the surface. But no, that stubborn pale-blue color persisted.
As I gazed upon my reflection, I wondered why Heath kept insisting on taking my voice. Didn’t he realize how powerless I’d been all my life? Maybe that’s what had sent me into a spiral afterward, despite how good they’d made me feel.
And yet… Even when Heath used me and made me come without a sound the first time, he’d still wanted me to come. And this time… this time he hadn’t stormed off, leaving me alone and uncertain. He’d praised me.
Thinking back, I reexamined the way Heath had acted in the restaurant yesterday. Now that I thought about it, he seemed a little jealous of the attention I’d been giving Flint. He’d repeatedly stolen back my attention, or made me look at Gage.
Heath had seemed pleased by my reactions to his ‘punishment’ right up until the end. It was as though the downturn in my mood had also brought him down. He must have expected a different outcome. And when he hadn’t gotten the reaction he wanted, he’d turned angry. I’d disappointed him, somehow.
Things between Heath and I were messed up, but I felt like I discovered a piece of the puzzle when I remembered how he’d promised that last night was about me. They’d made me come without once suggesting they would use me for their own pleasure.
Maybe they didn’t see me as just their plaything. They’d all been so turned on… When we returned to the safe house, they could have taken turns using my body to seek their own gratification according to the deal. But they hadn’t. They’d given me space, they’d let me get cleaned up, and I’d felt Flint tucking me in as I drifted off to sleep.
I sighed and turned my back on my reflection, knowing I would find no answers there. Only time would tell whether Hugo’s suggestion was true. If the date my adoptive mother had chosen for my birthday was even close to my real birthday, we still had months of waiting to see. And in the meantime, a different deadline was approaching.
My body felt primed and hungry today. If I’d woken up beside Flint, I would have been grinding my body against his already. He’d been so hard yesterday at the restaurant, but when we’d gotten back, he hadn’t pressed me for anything, and I hadn’t been in the mood to give it. To me, that meant my heat wasn’t as close as the guys seemed to think it was.
But now… I wasn’t so sure. I wanted sex, and I wanted it now. I remembered how hard Flint had felt under my hand, and I wanted that hardness inside of me. If I went out there, it would be the first time I’d propositioned him rather than the other way around or by mutual interest. My body buzzed with excitement and nervousness as my hand met the door knob.
But just as I turned it, I heard Gage’s muffled voice on the other side much clearer than before.
“Any chance to fuck over Nira is a good one, as far as I’m concerned,” he growled.
That name shot through me like lightning. Nira, the pack alpha of Frost Fang, had been on Ironwood packlands the night of my fake mating to Luka. She’d been the reason he’d rejected me in front of everyone. She indirectly brought about the worst day of my life.
But to Gage, Heath, and Flint, she’d once been their packmate. Gage’s words left no doubt as to how he felt about her now.
I paused, waiting to hear more. Gage’s footsteps moved back and forth outside my door. The house was tiny, so I was surprised he was taking a call inside. Usually he seemed to prefer privacy for that — away from me, the woman who wasn’t his packmate, and never would be, because he still didn’t like women. His words were a reminder of that fact.
