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Ren
My pulse was thuddingas I walked out of the games room, but the second I crossed the threshold into the hall, my lips stretched into a smile. Thelookon Julius’s face when I’d told him what was what—I was going to treasure that for a good longtime.
I didn’t get to savor my victory very long in the moment. I’d hardly made it two more steps when a hand closed around my forearm. A hint of pine laced the air. I knew my confronter was West before he spun me around to facehim.
“What the hell were you trying to pull in there?” he snapped, his gaze in full glower mode. “That tiger shifter just about bit your headoff.”
I guffawed. “I’d have liked to see him try. He’d have been fried cat before he even got his teethin.”
“You’re still learning control over your shifts. And you don’t know these kin at all. You can’t take risks likethat.”
“I don’t know. Seems like I just did, and the world didn’tend.”
West let out a strangled sound. Suddenly his hand was on the side of my neck, his thumb tracing my jaw as he yanked me closer to him. His head bowed close to mine. His body was just inches away, so close it was almost an embrace. Every nerve inmybody woke up in response. I breathed in his pine-forest scent and held myself back from turning my face that slight distance to kiss him. Let him make the first move here, when he figured out what hewanted.
His breath spilled hot and harsh over my cheek. His grip on my arm loosened. For a second, I thought he was going to grasp my waist and pull me flush against him. And whatever happened after that, I was pretty sure I’d be on boardfor.
Instead, his shoulders tensed. “Listen to me. Don’teverdo anything that stupidagain.”
The rush of attraction faded. I gritted my teeth and shoved West back a step with my free hand. “I wasn’t beingstupid,” I bit out, keeping my voice low. “But it’s nice to know you still see me as an idiot. I was provoking Julius on purpose. I wanted to get a better sense of his emotions, and those of the other kin in the room, to figure out who might be allied with therogues.”
West’s expression blanked. “What?”
“I can read people better when their emotions are on the surface,” I said. “So I wanted to stir things up. He wasn’t even close to trying to actually hurt me. I’d have felt it if hewas.”
“Oh.” West deflated slightly. His fingers flexed around my arm. He looked down at them, into the space between us still narrow enough that I could feel the heat emanating from his body. “Are you so sure your senses work as well on shifters as the human beings you’re used to, Sparks? Because you haven’t really had much chance forpractice.”
“I can read you just fine,” I muttered. “And right now you should be feeling a lot more embarrassed than you actually are, just FYI. Although I appreciate the not-wanting-me-to-get-hurt side of this wholeoutburst.”
West grimaced. He raised his eyes again. There might have been a shadow of an apology in them, but he didn’t bother to voice it. “Did you find out anything useful with all your ‘stirringup’?”
“That depends on how you define useful. Julius has something motivating him other than just wanting the alpha position. I didn’t get the sense he even considered backing down. Whether he wins or not, whether I accept him as a mate or not if he does win, the challenge is about more than that. Enough more that the rest doesn’tmatter.”
“More as in he expects it to work into his plans with therogues?”
“That would be my best guess.” I frowned, thinking about the vibes I’d felt around me in the room. “I don’t think anyone else who was in the room is involved. His kin were curious about what was going on, but none of them gave the impression of feeling at all threatened by me telling him off. Or angry. They just found it entertaining. Anyone who was in on a plot, I think they’d have caredmore.”
West nodded. “That reasoning seems sound.” He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe your gambit gave us some results afterall.”
“Maybe next time you should ask me what I’m doing before assuming I’m being anidiot.”
“Maybe you should stop coming up with plans thatlookidiotic.”
I bit my lip, swallowing my frustration, and West’s gaze dropped to my mouth. The heat between us flared in an instant. God almighty, why did he have to act like a jerk when I knew there was so much compassion—not to mention plain old passion—underneath thatfront?
Every muscle was urging me to just grab him and plant one on him. To draw out the desire I knew he was keeping locked downinside.
But we’d gone down that road already, and that blazing physical encounter hadn’t made things any better. Actually, the moment we’d shared in the avian estate garden had only made me more on edge when I was with him, now that I knew how good the two of us could betogether.
This game of snarking at each other and dancing around our attraction was getting old. I was ready to be done with it, one way or theother.
I turned my hand, sliding it against his arm until my fingers could curl around his. “West,” I said, “I think we should talk.Reallytalk. We’re not getting anywhere like this. Whatever doubts you still have about me, you can just tell me about them. We’ll hash them out. I know I’m still learning here. But I need to know what the problem is before I can fixit.”
The sense I got from my wolf shifter then was completely bizarre, as if a rush of tangled emotions had blown open a door inside him—only to be yanked back in and the door slammed shut. And deadbolted for goodmeasure.
West took another step back, his posture rigid. His hand slipped from mine. “I don’t think this is exactly the time for chatting, Sparks,” he said. “We’ve got a full-blown rebellion tostop.”
And for some reason you’re just as important to me as stopping it, you blockhead,I thought but didn’t let myself say. I’d had my fill of verbal sparring for theday.
