As he moved forward, a tsunami of destruction in designer wear, I took in every part of him like he was a piece of art I wanted to buy—only I definitely couldn’t afford him.
Hunter’s ethnicity wasn’t immediately clear, but he had the look and coloring of a Hawaiian guy who’d flirted with me during a shift at O’Malley’s bar last year. His brown skin was flawless, his strong jawline covered in a five o’clock shadow, as if by the time he’d finished shaving there was already growth. He wore a look of impatience, running his hand over inky black hair, cut short on the sides and wavy on top where he’d let it grow longer. I could see his attempts to tame the loose curls with product, but rough hands had knocked a few wayward strands free.
As he stalked through the room, I remained locked in a gaze so dark his pupils and irises were almost indistinguishable from each other.Sweet baby shifter gods. Hunter Reeves was the most dominant, terrifying alpha I’d ever seen in my life, and considering I was in a room filled with the strongest in Golden Claw, that said a lot.
As he moved toward the remaining empty chair, I was hit with the delicious scent of coffee laced in chocolate. Astrongand perfectly noted scent.
NO!Unable to help myselfI breathed deeply, and my wolf jerked inside as my entire world stopped. Hunter Reeves wasmy… scent-match. What the hell?My first day in a shifter city, a goddess blessed true mate had strolled into my life.
Hunter ground to a halt, his nostrils flaring as his energy sent more than half the shifters in the room down to the table, most of them barely avoiding a head-smack against the wooden surface. He threw dominance without trying, and even I felt the push against my wolf.
All the while he never took his eyes off me once.
His gaze grew harder, penetrating deeper into my soul.
A soul that screamed for him.
The need to run hit me and I took a step away, and then another, until my back landed against a wall. From my peripherals, I noticed Warrick turn with me, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from Hunter to see him clearly.
The darkly enticing alpha,who my wolf kept screamingmateat, had me locked in his predatory stare. I felt rather than saw Warrick reach out to grab me, but he never got a chance. Hunter leapt across the table and slammed into the other alpha, sending him flying. When his rumble filled the room, utter chaos broke out.
Chapter
Four
Hunter towered over me, and I mentally readjusted my assessment of his height. How freaking tall was this shifter? Not just height, but breadth and muscles. There was too much, including that sweet mocha scent which had me wanting to climb him like a tree and bury my face in his neck. Gah, scent matches were the worst; they completely clouded the mind and destroyed reasonable thought.
No!Fuck. No.
I had to get myself under control. I could not cave after all these years just because I’d stumbled across my scent match and true mate. An alpha this dominant would destroy me in a heartbeat. He made Mom’s alpha pack look near powerless in comparison.
“Alpha Hunter, what are you doing? Stand down from the omega.” Warrick was nearby, but he didn’t move any closer to the heaving mountain of a male crowding me against the wall.
I couldn’t see anything around his giant form, and no one else made any attempt to subdue Hunter Reeves, leaving me completely at his mercy. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked breathlessly, tilting my head all the way back to meet his gaze while bracing myself for his reaction.
His chest rumbled again, and it was clear his wolf was close to the surface. He held on to his control though, retaining a grasp on his beast. “What’s your name?” he murmured, his deep rasp sending shivers down my spine.
There was no way I could resist if he touched me, but so far he maintained the smallest distance between us. “Emmeline Anders,” I choked out.
Up close, his eyes weren’t quite as dark as I’d thought. They were a gray so stormy it was almost charcoal. As I revealed my name, there was the smallest flash of gold around his pupils, and a predatory tilt to his head as he observed me. “Why would I kill you, Emmeline?”
Sissily, the blond alpha, with impeccable timing, piped up: “We don’t care if you kill the rogue, Alpha Hunter. But, love, could you release us all from your dominance first?”
Love?Now I was the one who wanted to growl, which was wildly inappropriate considering he wasnot my fucking alpha. Nope. No matter how desperately this brutally beautiful shifter called to me, I could never have a mate or pack.
“Looks like you’re being paged,love,” I whispered, swallowing my snarl. “Might want to back up before your girlfriend gets angry and plucks my eyeballs out.”
Even a whisper was heard in a room full of dominant shifters, and I wasn’t surprised when Sissily lost her shit and started raving about how I was a mouthy cunt and all rogues should be put down.
“Shut the fuck up, Alpha Sissily,” another council member snapped. I couldn’t see him of course. I couldn’t see anyone around the giant wall of dominance crowding me. Typical fucking alpha.
“Uh, hello?” I called, hoping someone out there could control Hunter. “Is Alpha Hunter broken? What the hell is actually happening?”
My breath escaped in a harsh rush as Hunter snapped out of his rage, his dominance dying instantly as he took a step away from me. By the time I blinked again, he was gracefully lowering himself into his council seat at the table as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, I’d forgotten how to breathe, and whyfor the love of all that was holydid I feel cold now that his overpowering energy no longer encircled me like a gravitational force.
“Emmeline, please step back to the head of the table.” Warrick sounded calm and unruffled, as if a hurricane hadn’t just blown into the room. “Let’s get this underway.”
