I shake my head. "No. Just a theory we're tossing around. With all the missing shifters… Just find the wolf. Lock her up for trespassing, then come find me or Orion. I don't like the idea of a lone wolf wandering our lands."
Eli nods succinctly and turns to head out of the room. The door slams shut behind him, but Andrea and Stance linger.
"Yes?" I ask, exasperated.
Orion moves his knight across the chessboard. He's one step away from another check. Fuck, I'm off my game. As if he knows continuing to play with me is useless, he gets up and heads down the hall to the kitchen on the other side of the massive cabin.
"Lune…"
I wait for her to continue. When she doesn't, I glance up. Stance looks awkwardly from me, then to Andrea, before huffing and heading toward the front door. We both hear him step outside, but he doesn't go far.
"What do you want, Andrea?"
Her eyes narrow, raking over me. Even casually seated in the leather mahogany chair, my massive frame spilling over the sides, legs eating up the small space between the chair and the table, she eye-fucks me like I've got my dick in my hand.
Andrea boldly steps forward, then kneels down, placing her hands on my legs. Her lean, muscular arms stretch out, palms settling on my worn-denim clad thighs. Her fingertips curl into my knees then drag up, thumbs crawling dangerously close to my cock. My body responds, heat coursing through me, even as my wolf recoils.
I lift an eyebrow and snag her wrist, tightening my grip, then loosening it. "Did I not just give you an order?"
She has the decency to look chastised but doesn't move her hands. Instead, she drags her fingernails over my thigh. "One lone wolf, we can handle. I'll track her down, Lune, don't worry." She looks up again, feigning innocence beneath her thick, fluttering lashes, but my hardened gaze forces her to look down in submission. Still, she presses on. "It's been too long, Grayson. You're clearly in need of release. I could smell your stress down the driveway," she huffs. "Let me take care of you. I need it too. It's been way too fucking long."
I want to say yes. I need to say no. Her pink lips part, and I picture wrapping my hand around her hair, holding it in placewhile I fuck her mouth. It would be so easy. But even as my cock stiffens, something in my chest goes cold.
The last time we fucked, something was wrong.Off. I was balls deep, lost in rhythm, when suddenly my wolf roared and couldn't get away from her fast enough. I felt it deep in my gut that something wasn't right, like something shifted in the universe.
It was New Year's Eve. Hundreds of wolves ran together that night. Howls piercing the night sky, blood pumping, hearts racing. Elder Cora gave a powerful speech about community, bonds that transcend flesh, connections that define us. I remember looking over at Andrea and feeling this weight of loneliness. Wishing I felt something, but found nothing instead.
She and I were never exclusive—just mindless fucking whenever the itch needed scratching. But that last time, she must have sensed I was about to end what little we had. "Bite me," she begged, scraping her neck against my teeth, like that would somehow complete the sacred bond—a ritual cherished by mates, a blessing from the Moon Goddess, binding wolves together in blood and spirit for eternity.
She gave no thought to Orion, my pack mate, whom she never liked, or the many times we agreed it was just sex. We practically grew up together, but she's always wanted from me what I had no interest in giving. I felt like an ass then, for not seeing how she felt about me more clearly. I won't make that mistake again.
That she uses our history together to boldly ignore an order from me just pisses me off. She's an enforcer, and I know she expects the same treatment as the rest of the team.
I stand abruptly, sending Andrea sprawling ass-first onto the ground.
"I gave you a fucking order to track down a rogue wolf in our midst. There are families that live here. Young pups. Elderly.Hilde scented her while off plucking berries to provide meals for you. Your only job is to act as my enforcer in order to keep the clan safe. Do you rebuff this role?" I growl, growing more heated as I talk. "Do you want to drop rank and make a living on your back? Is this what you're asking me?"
Andrea snarls, the suggestion an insult. We have a small cabin, a brothel, on the edge of the woods for some of the wolves to trade or sell sex. As long as it's consensual, I've never had a problem with it, and neither did my father when he was Alpha. It helps the lonelier wolves who never found their mate in life and, for others, to make a living in a way they choose. Andrea dismisses the idea as if it's beneath her. It's not, but I knew she'd find it offensive, regardless.
This is why she'll never be my mate. She doesn't appreciate that every role in this place is just as important as the next. Hilde in the kitchen. Rovie with his daughters and sisters in the laundry house. And yes, Maxine and Venus in the brothel. We function like a well-oiled machine.
"No, Alpha. I'm sorry, I just thought—"
"What, Andrea?"
She scrambles to a stand in front of me, casually brushing her straight, long blonde hair to one side so it drapes over her thin shoulder. A wolf's trick, wafting her scent toward me, as if that will make me lose all sense.
Unfortunately, it works. Just a little. She does smell nice. She always has.
She places her palm on my chest. I don't push her away. God, the need to rut is strong. My cock rises to the occasion, twitching in my jeans, my fingers pausing to either shove her back or pull her closer. But my alpha growls, reminding me we're not actually interested. I'm the alpha of the largest clan in the country. I can handle Andrea. At my conviction, my alpha snorts.
"I just thought we could try again. I'm sorry about last time. I was… caught up in the moment. We've always been so good together. Gray, I'm the strongest female in this pack. I'd make a good Luna, you know I would."
"And Orion? He's my pack mate. My bonded brother. You've never cared for him. He doesn't care for you."
"Orion and I can get used to each other," she pleads. We both hear a faint snort coming from the kitchen.
Andrea ignores it, trailing her fingers down my pecs, tapping at my abdomen. She's right, the sex was good. But it was hollow, too. I never felt satisfied afterward. And to be honest, I'm not sure she did either.
