“Move out,” I order. “And organize a cleanup crew to deal with the rogues. I want them off pack territory within an hour after we arrive.”
The convoy reorganizes, Sienna’s vehicle pulling up directly behind mine. I can feel her there, close enough that my wolf finally starts to settle.
She is protected. She is safe.
Mine, my wolf says.
No. Not mine. Can’t be mine.
I stare out the windshield as we start moving again, my jaw clenched so tightly that it aches.
That was too close. Not the rogue attack—that kind of thing, I can handle. That’s part of being an alpha.
But the moment after…The way my wolf completely overrode my control. Did anyone see that?
I rub my hand over my face tiredly.
Four weeks. I just have to survive a month. Then…well, we’ll face that when we get to it.
The Silvercrest estate finally comes into view ahead, and I’ve never been more relieved to see my home.
Almost there. Almost done with this nightmare of a drive.
My wolf disagrees, rumbling with satisfaction at having her close.
I ignore him and focus on breathing. In and out.
Don’t think about her eyes. Don’t think about how she looked at me. Don’t think about how badly I want to touch her.
Just breathe.
We’re almost home.
Chapter Six
Sienna
The Silvercrest estate house rises against the evening sky as if carved from a single piece of granite, imposing and austere. No decorative flourishes, no softening elements. Just raw strength made permanent. I step out of the SUV and tip my head back to take it in.
The building suits him, I think, and then I’m immediately annoyed at myself for thinking it.
I don’t want to think about Lucas right now. Don’t want to remember the way his wolf approached me after the rogue attack, the gentleness in that massive predator as he nudged me with his muzzle. Or the way he snatched control back from his animal so violently, yanking himself away from me as if my touch stung.
And I definitely don’t want to remember what I saw after he shifted back.
But the image is seared into my brain whether I want it to be or not. His naked body as he stood there, breathing hard, blood trickling down his shoulder from where the rogue had caught him. All lean muscle and powerful lines, his skin still flushedfrom the shift and the fight. I’d had maybe three seconds to take it in before one of his guards rushed over with clothes, but those three seconds were enough to make my mouth go dry and cause heat to pool low in my belly.
Lucas kept his back to me while he dressed, denying me even that.
I felt weak in the knees just looking at him. My wolf urged me to go to him, to touch him and make him touch me.
But he told me to get back in the car, like I was a child being dismissed.
Part of me hates that I may be the only one of us who feels this way. That this overwhelming attraction, this desperate need, is one-sided. That only his wolf wants me, due to the primal nature of the bond, but not him as a man.
How can he not want me? I know there’s nothing wrong with me. I know I’m not ugly. I am intelligent and successful. I’ve never had trouble getting attention when I wanted it. But Lucas looks at me as if he sees me as a problem to be solved rather than a woman to be desired.
I want to believe that’s not entirely true. The connection is there. He feels it. He’s just fighting it with everything he has.
