His wolf surged with approval. His female was defending his decision, defending his pack’s future, with a wit as sharp as any claw.
“You are an outsider who doesn’t understand our traditions,” Howard snarled, leaning towards her. “You come here with your machines and your human ideas, and you poison the well from which we have drunk for generations.”
“That will do.” His voice rolled through the room, infused with enough alpha command that every member of his pack bowed their heads. “Ms. Bailey is here at my invitation. She is a guest, and she will be treated as such.”
“Alpha, I meant no?—”
“You meant exactly what you said.” He held the elder’s gaze until Howard looked away, reluctant submission written in the line of his shoulders. “I expect better from a wolf of your experience.”
The tables had gone quiet around them. He could feel the pack’s attention, the carefully averted eyes of wolves who knew better than to witness an alpha’s rebuke directly. Beside him, Harper sat frozen, but she hadn’t flinched away from him.
“Eat,” he said quietly. “The stew is better warm.”
She ate.
The rest of the meal passed in relative silence at their end of the table. Howard nursed his grievance in sullen quiet, occasionally exchanging looks with the other elders that Adrian catalogued and filed away for later consideration. The younger wolves had returned to their own conversations, though he caught several glances cast in Harper’s direction—most curious, some appreciative, a few hostile.
He watched them all. Noted who looked too long, who whispered to their neighbor, who seemed inclined towards welcome versussuspicion.Just tactical awareness,he told himself, ignoring his wolf’s skepticism.Nothing to do with making sure she’s safe.
When the meal finally concluded, pack members began dispersing to their evening activities. He rose, and she scrambled to follow suit, nearly knocking over her water glass in the process. He gestured towards the stairs. “I’ll show you to your room now.”
“Now? I was going to go back to the office.”
“It’s late. You’ve had a long drive, a busy afternoon, and more… social interaction than normal. You need to rest.” He didn’t phrase it as a suggestion.
“But my systems?—”
“Will be there in the morning.” He started for the stairs, and this time she didn’t argue, her soft footsteps trailing behind him. He led her to the second floor, down a long hallway to the private family quarters. “This is you.”
He opened the door, and she stepped inside, her gasp audible in the quiet room. A large four-poster bed formed from twisted polished branches dominated the space, covered in a cream silk comforter. A small sitting area with a plush sofa and armchair was arranged near a stone fireplace, and French doors opened onto a small balcony with a view out over the forest. It was also directly next to his room so her scent would drift through the walls, a constant, tormenting presence.
“This isn’t what I was expecting,” she whispered, walking to the balcony doors and looking out at the dark forest. The moon was rising, silvering the tips of the pine trees, and he couldn’t resist joining her. “May I?” she asked, gesturing at the doors.
“Of course.”
He followed her out onto the balcony, breathing in the cool pine scent of the surrounding forest, but pulling in more of her scent at the same time. She was looking out at the forest, but he was looking at her, at the moonlight glinting off the silver frames of her glasses, at the way the breeze lifted the pink strands of her hair.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “It’s so… quiet.”
“This is our territory,” he said. “You’re safe here.”
She turned to look at him, her expression unreadable. “Am I?”
The question hung in the air between them, fragile and dangerous. He wanted to reassure her, to promise her protection with every fiber of his being, but the words caught in his throat. He was the Alpha. He was the protector. But he was also the one who had brought her here, into this den of wolves and politics and old resentments.
“You are,” he managed, the words rough. “As long as you’re here, you’re under my protection. No one will harm you.”
She searched his face, those intelligent eyes seeming to look past his defenses, to see the conflict that churned beneath the surface. He held still under her scrutiny, refusing to back down, refusing to show her the crackling tension that her proximity caused in him.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For the office. For this room. For telling me to rest.”
And then she stepped even closer, went up on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
Her lips were impossibly soft, and the world exploded into a supernova of sensation. She tasted like the wildflower scent of her skin and the wine she’d had with dinner, and it was the most intoxicating combination he’d ever experienced. His entire body went rigid with shock, then, as her lips moved against his with a hesitant, questioning pressure, a wave of pure, unadulterated lust washed over him so powerful it almost brought him to his knees.
His wolf, already straining at its leash, howled in triumph.
Mate. Ours.
