He nodded solemnly. “I get that. You didn’t expect a mate at your side. You expected a sisterhood. But that’s not where we are, and you deserve every single second of princess treatment I give you, and more. So, the ball is in your court. Do you want me to stop?”
I shook my head, surprising myself. “No, don’t stop. I’ll…” I trailed off, unwilling to say I’d get used to it.
I hadn’t been lying to Marciana last night. The pack needed me right now, and I wasn’t planning to leave it. If she thought worse was coming, they wouldn’t stop needing me any time soon.
But some soft, primal part of me wanted what he offered. Wanted it so badly, it hurt. Denying it felt like starving while sitting at a Thanksgiving feast but not letting myself have a single taste.
“You’ll what?” His hoarse whisper filled the enclosed space, making gooseflesh rise on my arms, the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I wanted to run my hands over them. No, Iwanted Valens to run his hands over them, dig in deep, and drag me across the console to devour me. Suddenly, this innocent mission was anything but.
“I— I don’t know. Just drive, before I do something I’ll regret.”
There it was again, that sexy chuckle, the slow grin. Damn, if that man wasn’t my personal kryptonite.
But would I still be Superman without my suit?
My butterfly sword took that moment to bang against my knee as we drove over a bump, so I chucked it into the back seat a little harder than necessary.
Some questions weren’t meant to be answered.
Chapter 24
Valens
After starting with a hell of a bang, the drive was quiet. We stopped for coffee, and I made a mental note of her order for future reference. Added it to the dragon’s hoard of information I was collecting on her preferences, big and small.
Garlic knots? Yes. In spades.
Flavored coffee? Hell no.
There was a weird tension hanging between us that I couldn’t quite read, even as we sipped our giant coffees in seemingly comfortable silence. Something had shifted between us, though she was mum on what it was. I decided not to push things further after putting my foot down first thing. I didn’t want to scare her off. I wanted to treat her like the goddess she was.
I also wanted to put my boot up the ass of the alpha who’d adopted her and then treated her like shit to scrape off the bottom of his boot. I could see the cracks in her facade now that I’d gotten to know her a little better. The places bravado covered up insecurities born of mistreatment.
And every single one made me furious.
She deserved the fucking moon and stars, not to feel inferior. Unworthy.
I glared out the front window, trying to keep my wolf calm as he prowled in my chest. I couldn’t go into an investigation on a hair trigger, or I’d miss something or, worse, get one of us hurt.
I could have used that sparring session this morning more than I realized when we left. But Lucien and Kane both agreed that looking into the supernatural disappearances couldn’t wait. Fortunately, the closest location was just over an hour away.
Unfortunately, it was a lynx shifter clan.
Damn cat shifters.
I was a little surprised to find out they’d made their home so close to Kane’s father’s territory, but apparently, they liked the fringe benefits of having a large, strong wolf pack nearby. Nobody would mess with their territory if they had to worry about Pack Caelestis patrols, that was for damn sure. Except… somebody had messed with them.
So they got a friendly visit from their mortal enemies.
Us.
Kane’s theory was that keeping our investigation party small—and sending me, with my ties to Lucien, who was technically still a member of the IGC, even though he wasn’t currently sitting on the council as he took over the Hungarian pack—would make it look less like pack business and more like neighborly concern from their closest council representative.
Me, on the other hand? I was pretty sure they’d be hissing and spitting the second we stepped foot in their territory.
Forty-five minutes later, my instincts were proven correct as we were stopped by four visibly angry lynxes. Two were in feline form, ears back and fangs bared as they hissed from the trees. The other two were on foot in human form, but their anger radiated just the same.
“Well, shit. We’re investigating the local clowder? Is that wise?”
