His deep voice felt far too intimate and familiar, considering I’d only heard it on two previous occasions. It was hard to keep my reply from spilling free—Who the fuck is he to call me a lamb?But I forced myself to remain silent.
I had a feeling nothing would annoy him more than being ignored.
No one ignored a powerful alpha.
“I can understand why you’d be scared to face me,” he continued, appearing in the elevator doorway. The box shrank around his massive frame as he ducked his head and stepped inside. I swear it bounced in protest at the ten tons of muscle and power entering its domain.
I really hoped this elevator was triple reinforced to withstand an alpha.
Chapter
Ten
Hunter moved closer to me, and I realized my mistake in not leaving when the doors opened. I was completely trapped here with him, but at least he didn’t crowd me, stopping a few feet away and crossing his arms over his chest. He was dressed in black suit pants, a white button-down shirt—no tie at the open collar—with both sleeves rolled up to expose thickly muscled forearms.
Swirls of black tattoos peeked out from under those sleeves, but I forced myself not to spend longer than two seconds staring. I’d love to know what he inked on his skin, since I’d heard it was quite the process for shifters to get a tattoo to stick around. With our natural healing, you had to want them badly, and he appeared to be covered under his designer suits.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come to me, little omega,” he said in a soft, dangerous tone. “Hiding with the Annandale pack doesn’t seem to be your style.”
“How would you know my style?” Instead of snappy, my words come out tired. A little broken. Navigating conversations with Hunter Reeves felt like navigating landmines. You couldn’t ever let your guard down, and there was still an excellent chance you’d get blown up.
“Instinct. Trust in fate’s design. Whatever you want to call it, I possess it in abundance, and I know that my scent match would never cower under the strength of another.”
He had far more faith in me than I’d ever had in myself. “I’ve never had a choice but to stand on my own. Pack Annandale is a nice reprieve from battling everything alone.”
Hunter’s chest rumbled in a light, barely discernible sound. “You shouldn’t have had to battle alone. That’s why we have packs and quintets. That’s why we aren’t human out there stepping on each other to get to the top. We’re shifters, and we bond in ways that meansyou never battle alone.”
I repeated, with more force this time: “Ihadno choice.”
Hunter regarded me more closely, his brow furrowed, and I wasn’t sure what he thought as his lips thinned. “Let’s make a deal,” he finally said. “There’s no single housing available right now, and it’s not safe for you to live alone anyway. Come and live in our pack house while you’re getting yourself settled here. We have a lot of room. You won’t be crowded or forced into any of our lives.”
Horror flooded my system until I felt nauseated, leaving me unable to reply for fear of vomiting.
“You can have your pick of jobs across our businesses. Save all of the money for your plan to run away.” He stated it so matter-of-factly it was clear he was well aware of my intentions to run again. “But youwill notlive by yourself or with another pack.” His expression darkened as he morphed from businessman to hurricane in a split second. When he stepped into my space, I had to tilt my head back to keep his face in view. “If a male shifter gets too close to you, Emmeline, I will kill them.”
There was nothing in his expression to suggest he was kidding.
Finally finding my voice, I scoffed weakly: “Kill them? Feels a touch extreme.” And psychotic.
He shrugged, unconcerned. “Extreme or not, it’s the truth.” He brushed a strand of my hair back behind my ear, sending energy tingling across my skin.
“Stay with us,” he murmured. “It’s our job to keep you safe, and I promise, none of us will force any sort of bond on you. We’re willing to swear it to the council and the goddess herself, if that’s what you need.”
He was a dangerous shifter, and I should be running for my life, but strangely I no longer felt fear as I stood before him.
“Live in our pack house,” he repeated. “Let us keep you safe.”
His scent surrounded me, and being this close to him while trying to make a life and death decision was a bad freaking idea.
Hunter’s gaze dragged over my skin as he leaned against the sidewall. “Kellan said you are absolutely exquisite in your wolf form. All white fur and arctic eyes.” As a powerful alpha, it was possible he could sense her energy, bouncing around inside me. “Which isn’t surprising. You’re exquisite in all ways.”
I was lost for words. All my refusals of living with them died on my tongue. “I want it in writing before the council that no one will force my bond, and you’ll give me fair pay if I work for you.”
As I said those words, I knew it was a terrible mistake, but it was too late to take it back. Hunter would never let me take it back.
“Deal!” His growled reply had me wanting to take a step back, but I was already pressed to the wall. “We’ll have everything moved over to the compound this afternoon. Now, let’s go over your job options, if you’re brave enough to leave the elevator.”
He stepped to the side, giving me room to move past him. “Tomorrow,” I bit out as I finally moved. His scent grewstronger, and I fought the urge to close my eyes and inhale deeply. Being this close to him was intoxicating.
